I Have News | Series of Unfortunate Events, Spiderman & Shadowhunters on TV!?

This is the launch of another little project that is slightly different from everything else that you’ll see on this blog. I’ll be sharing news that I come across – whether that is in the book-world, TV-world or movie-world and I’ll be sharing some – hopefully – pretty exciting things. But, all the things that I come across I will have found on the internet so there is a chance that the news isn’t 100% accurate – but I’m just acting as messenger and I have no actual evidence – only hope – that these things are true. If things are definitely, 100% confirmed, then I will state that clearly too. So…onwards…

1) SHADOWHUNTERS TV SHOW

This is something that has been around for a while and I’m only just getting to talk about it now. THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS IN BEING TURNED INTO A TV SHOW (and it might actually be quite good…) although I haven’t read TMI (yet…I stress the yet) I am still very excited. It’s going to be showing on ABC Family in early 2016 – I think – and was officially picked up back in March, so I am very late to the party. The show began filing in Toronto back in late May, and there are a ton of pictures of the antics on set if you want to take a look. The cast is also really interesting. Obviously, I can’t compare the castings to my visions of the characters (as I haven’t read the books…yet) but there are two cast members that particularly excite me. One is Dominic Sherwood, who appeared in the Vampire Academy movie which I really liked and I really liked him in it. I think anything that he appears in has got to be worth a watch and I think the general consensus of him at the moment is a positive one. My second cast favourite is HARRY SHUM. JR as Magnus! I adored him in Glee (playing the cutie and awesome dancer Mike Chang) and I am beyond excited to see him in the TMI world. I do know Magnus (not personally…he was in The Infernal Devices) and I think Harry is a great pick. He’s not exactly what I would have gone for, but I really love him.

All this just basically means that I need to read those books soon (or at least have read the first book by the time the TV show comes out). I’m not sure about if – or when – this show will be coming to English shores but I’m sure that…you know…if you search around on Google long enough, you’ll find it.

2) A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS TV SHOW (via Netflix)

This news is very, very exciting. It seems that Netflix has acquired the rights to one of my favourite book series as a kid – A Series of Unfortunate Events, with plans to adapt it as a live action series. A director hasn’t yet signed up on the show but Netflix is producing the show, alongside Paramount. Paramount were also the people who produced the Series of Unfortunate Events movie back in 2004 (which I really enjoyed).

That’s all the news that there currently is – but I have hope! If this goes ahead, I am definitely on-board for this to become a thing. I do have a quote from Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) and Netflix:

“I can’t believe it,” Snicket said, from an undisclosed location. “After years of providing top-quality entertainment on demand, Netflix is risking its reputation and its success by associating itself with my dismaying and upsetting books.” Netflix went on to say, “Mr. Snicket’s participation will be limited, given his emotional distress, but the project has the full involvement of his legal, literary and social representative Daniel Handler, who is often mistaken for him.”

UPDATE: Watch a very short teaser trailer here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/dania11/netflix-just-dropped-a-teaser-for-lemony-snickets-dssi#.alRo1ajvM

3) A NEW SPIDERMAN HAS BEEN CAST!

And it’s Britain’s very own Tom Holland who has managed to seize the part. But unlike the previous two reincarnations the new Spider-Man will exist within Marvel Studios’ established cinematic universe, part of a deal announced in February by Marvel, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company, and Sony. The character is expected to first appear in Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Civil War, which is currently filming, and will open May 6, 2016. He will then headline his own feature film from Sony Pictures, to be produced by Marvel Studios Chief Kevin Feige and former Sony Pictures Co-Chair Amy Pascal. That film is scheduled to open on July 28, 2017. The studios also announced on Tuesday that the new Spider-Man film will be directed by Jon Watts — an independent film director who got his start working for the satiric Onion News Network. Watts’ most high-profile feature film, Cop Car, is a comedic thriller about two 10-year-old kids who find a seemingly abandoned cop car, while the cop (played by Kevin Bacon) strives to get it back. It debuted at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival to decent reviews, and will open in theaters on Aug. 7.

Now – I have a confession. I haven’t actually seen The Amazing Spiderman 2 – but I have seen the first one and I loved it. I don’t know which side of the fence I’m sitting on in terms of which Spiderman I prefer but I did think that Andrew Garfield’s time was up, although I do love him as a person. Obviously, I’m really happy that a British actor managed to get the part – and I am sure that he will do a fab job. However, there has been many, many, many annoyed fans about the fact that this new Spiderman is again a white male. And I do know that in the original comics Peter Parker was white but I think things do need to be altered to fit into this new, diverse world that we live in or the world that we at least want to live in. There have been a load of fan-casts of African-American actors that could have taken the part but it has been given to Tom. I do really like all of Tom’s credentials but I think that if there is ever another reincarnation of the Spiderman saga, then the casting needs to be shaken up a little, with a different actor.

Some news that might just be new to me: authors Tahereh Mafi and Ransom Riggs are married! AND, Stephen King (one of the most well known authors ever) is the father of Joe Hill (who is the authors of Horns, with inspired the film Horns that Daniel Radcliffe stared in!)

Let me know in the comments: how do you feel about the new Spiderman casting? And who would YOU cast if you held that power?