covid

16 Apr

In the Earth: Ben Wheatley Explains How COVID Changed Horror Movies

New DVD releasechanged, covid, earth, explains, horror, movies, wheatley

British filmmaker Ben Wheatley had his Rebecca remake in the can and was in pre-production on the sequel to 2018’s Tomb Raider reboot (which he is now no longer attached to) when the coronavirus began tearing its path around the globe. It would soon shut down almost all film production in addition to all other aspects of society. At first stunned and frightened like everyone else, Wheatley — whose iconoclastic filmography also includes the nerve-rattling Kill List, the psychedelic period piece A Field in England, and the satirical crime thriller Free Fire — did what all creative people always do:…

Read More

07 Apr

How The Nevers Weathered COVID Delays and Joss Whedon’s Departure

New DVD releasecovid, delays, departure, nevers, weathered, whedon

For a show called The Nevers, HBO’s latest fantasy endeavor doesn’t say no to a lot. The series, developed by erstwhile TV titan Joss Whedon, brings quite a few competing elements to the table. For starters, it’s set in a steampunk version of Victorian-era London. Ladies wear corsets, men wear bowlers, and everyone wears the same dour expression as they smell the rancid air around them. Then, in addition to its steampunk leanings, The Nevers goes full on X-Men with its hook. Due to a mysterious event, a sizable percentage of London society (though predominantly women) have developed supernatural mutant-like…

Read More

27 Feb

Bringing The Walking Dead Season 10 Back During Covid-19 Meant Big Changes

New DVD releasebringing, changes, covid, during, meant, season, walking

There’s never been a season of The Walking Dead quite like this one. With six additional episodes added on as an epilogue to its original finale, season 10 will go down as the longest season in the show’s history. This, of course, wasn’t the plan, but when the Covid-19 pandemic forced productions to grind to a halt last March, AMC had to figure out how to shoot its popular zombie drama safely, while also considering what kind of material it could realistically film when crowded hordes of walkers in tight spaces are no longer an option. The first step was…

Read More

09 Feb

Malcolm & Marie and the Rise of Quarantine Filmmaking in COVID

Netflix, New DVD releasecovid, filmmaking, malcolm, marie, quarantine

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when accomplishing even the simplest tasks had taken on the burden of the impossible, Netflix’s “secret pandemic movie,” Malcolm & Marie, became a way to process a year of stalled projects and compromised creative control. A Deadline feature retraced how Zendaya, one half of the two-hander’s cast, reached out to Euphoria creator Sam Levinson with the plea for a self-contained project when COVID delayed the HBO drama’s new season. As Levinson rushed to write a script based loosely on his own experiences of failing to thank his wife at a movie…

Read More

15 Jan

Locked Down Review: Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor Pioneer the COVID Rom-Com

New DVD releasechiwetel, covid, ejiofor, hathaway, locked, pioneer, review

For as long as 2020 dragged its miseries across our lives, a curious refrain became constant in my line of work: ‘We never could have predicted something like this year while working on our project.’ That comment, and its many variations, was repeated en masse during interviews, press conferences, and Zoom chats about the handful of films, TV series, and other assorted media that managed to be released during a pandemic. But as HBO Max’s Locked Down signals, that’s about to change. Up until this point, most of the films released last year were filmed in 2019 or earlier, creating…

Read More

07 Oct

How Fear the Walking Dead Season 6 Changed Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic

New DVD releasechanged, covid, pandemic, season, walking

Back in February, I visited the set of Fear the Walking Dead in Austin, TX as the cast and crew were filming season 6, which is set to premiere on Oct. 11 on AMC. Nobody on set that cold, wet day had any idea that, just a few weeks later, the entire production would be shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking to Den of Geek on a Zoom call ahead of the Fear the Walking Dead season 6 premiere, the show’s cast reflected on how the production changed in midst of the pandemic and how this new, real-world…

Read More

17 Sep

The Batman Resumes Production After Robert Pattinson’s COVID Case

New DVD releaseafter, batman, covid, pattinson, production, resumes, robert

In a development that should relieve fans, The Batman, Warner’s developing DC Extended Universe reboot movie, is now back on track after a COVID scare earlier this month from a positive test, reportedly from star Robert Pattinson, resulted in the production coming to a standstill. Warner has issued a statement announcing its return to production on director Matt Reeves’s The Batman, although the studio remains ambiguous on the details, especially since it never officially confirmed the now-accepted notion originally reported by Vanity Fair that the on-set positive case that caused the shutdown was star Robert Pattinson himself. Yet, we can…

Read More

21 Aug

I Am Not Okay With This Canceled at Netflix Due to COVID

New DVD releasecanceled, covid, netflix

Though it’s been largely business as usual for Netflix during the coronavirus crisis, the streaming giant may have just suffered its first COVID-related cancellations. Deadline reports that Netflix has canceled teen superpower drama I Am Not Okay With This, cutting it short after one season. Additionally Netflix will not be moving forward with the previously announced The Society season 2.  Netflix had not officially announced I Am Not Okay With This season 2 yet, but per Deadline the show had quietly picked up for a second season, with scripts having been written and production set to begin. The difficulties (and…

Read More

27 Jul

New Taskmaster Now Filming: How Covid-19 Will Change Series 10

New DVD releasechange, covid, filming, series, taskmaster

Absurdly fun comedy show Taskmaster, in which comedians are set and awarded points for completing a series of brilliantly nonsensical challenges, is a tonic for heart-heaviness. It is joyful nonsense and precisely the cleanse required for those occasions when the real world gets a bit much. Watched the news? Dismayed by Twitter? Let Noel Fielding disguised as a banana make it all better. Series 10 is currently filming and being readied for its new home on Channel 4 following last year’s move from Dave. Den of Geek chatted to the Taskmaster and Little Alex Horne to find out how social…

Read More

07 Jul

Tom Hanks Criticizes the Maskless, Compares COVID-19 to World War II

New DVD releasecompares, covid, criticizes, hanks, maskless, world

Tom Hanks certainly has a unique perspective about the ongoing scourge of COVID-19, seeing as he and wife Rita Wilson contracted the disease back in March; an occurrence that made him the highest profile early case for what would rapidly escalate to the pandemic we all know today. Now, having thankfully pulled through, the two-time Best Lead Actor Oscar winner is using the publicity platform for his imminently-arriving World War II Apple TV+ movie, Greyhound, to address the dangerously widespread nonchalance of those who opt not to wear protective masks in public. Appearing remotely on NBC’s Today show for an…

Read More

06 Jul

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 Release Date Impacted by COVID-19

New DVD releasecovid, fantasy, final, impacted, release, remake

In an interview with The Guardian, Final Fantasy 7 Remake co-director Naoki Hamaguchi and producer Yoshinori Kitase confirmed that development on Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 has slowed down due to complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I am pained and saddened to see so many people around the world suffering with the virus and even losing their lives,” Kitase says. “At this current time, the team are still making the next game via remote working. Our performance will temporarily drop below 100% efficiency because of this, but I do not think there should be a big impact in…

Read More

25 Jun

UK Cinemas Get Covid-19 Safety Guidelines Ahead of Reopening

New DVD releaseahead, cinemas, covid, guidelines, reopening, safety

Following the UK government’s go-ahead to start reopening cinemas from 4th July, a 29-page document called ‘Cinemas – keeping workers and customers safe during Covid-19’ has been published detailing safety guidelines that should be adhered to in England during the pandemic. The UK Cinema Association and the Department for Culture Media and Sport are behind the new guidelines, with help from the BFI Screen Sector Task Force, the Independent Cinema Office, Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive. The document recommends that queuing should mainly take place outside, where patrons should use hand sanitiser before entering the building.…

Read More

17 Apr

Michael Shannon on New Film Losing SXSW Debut Amid COVID-19, Industry’s Future

New DVD releasecovid, debut, future, industry, losing, michael, shannon

It’s fair to say that our new reality caused by the coronavirus pandemic has upended everything we took for granted. Concerts and comic-cons are gone, movie theaters are closed, and for that matter movie festivals like SXSW are cancelled too. Yet in that void, plenty of original films that were supposed to open in theaters or at festivals, such as Scott Teems’ The Quarry, are finding their way to VOD. Previously scheduled for a SXSW premiere, The Quarry just debuted on VOD, bringing an original idea and major talent like Michael Shannon and Shea Whigham to your living room. Based…

Read More