CINE SCOPE STAR WARS
There´s movement on an Obi - Wan Kenobie Movie
AMERICAN GODS What to expect
DOCTO WHO
And why representation matters Why
HAMILTON has heat
We Need To Talk
Wonder Woman Budget
CONTENIDO = OCTOBER 2017 =
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Star Wars: There´s Movement On An Obi-Wan Kenobi Movie
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We need To Tal About The Wonder Woman Budget
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Doctor Who: And Why Representation Matters
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American Gods: What To Expect
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Why Hamilton Has Heat
Editor´s Letter
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eavy is the weight on Wonder Woman’s shoulders. Not only is the film charged with helping to turn around the reputation of the flailing DC Comics cinematic universe, there’s also the not so small matter that it’s the first major female-led super hero movie of the current wave. The future fortunes of other super heroine movies may very well depend on how the Gal Gadot-starring film is received. Though, some actresses have some what quizzically shied away from declaring their obviously feminst-themed project as actually, you know, feminist, Gadot does not. When Entertainment Weekly asked the star if she thinks her character is feminist, she basically responded, “yes, duh.” “Wonder Woman is a feminist, of course,” she said. “I think people have a misconception about what feminism is. People think hairy armpits and women who burn bras and hate men. That’s not it. For me, feminism is all about equality and freedom and [women] choosing what we want to do. If it’s salaries, then we get paid equal to men. It’s not men vs. women or women vs. men.” The only bad news is that everyone else still has to wait two more weeks to see it. Pamela González Editor-in-Chief Staff Directora Editorial Pamela González Mejía Directora Crevativa Pamela González Mejía Directora Comercial Karla Peña Colaboran en este número Jessica Mejía, Mario Arturo. Iliana Peña, Alejandro Rogers. Redaccion y Administración 2301, Reserva Territorial Atlixcáyotl, Puebla, Puebla, México, C.P. 72453 / cinescope@gmail.com Domicilio Legal Blvd. Kukulcan Km 13, La Isla, Zona Hotelera, 77528 Cancún, Q.R.
Star Wars: There´s Movement On An Obi-Wan Kenobi
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ccording to The Hollywood Reporter‘s Borys Kit, there’s movement on the long-rumored Obi-Wan Kenobi standalone film. Per the report, Stephen Daldry, the Oscar-nominated director of Billy Elliot and The Hours, is in early talks to direct the film. “Sources say talks are at the earliest of stages and that the project has no script,” explains Kit. “If a deal makes, Daldry would oversee the development and writing with Lucasfilm brass. It’s not known at this stage if Ewan McGregor will reprise his role.” An Obi-Wan movie is one of several rumored projects gestating behind the scenes at Lucasfilm. ºvIt would make sense for an Obi-Wan film to be in the on-deck circle, however, especially if the eventual film would star Ewan McGregor, who played the character in the prequels. Now 46, McGregor would be in the sweet spot, age-wise, to play ObiWan in between the end of the prequels and the start of the original trilogy. In recent interviews, McGregor
has come out and said that he’s open to playing the character again. Because honestly, who wouldn’t be? As we’ve learned recently from statements by director Rian Johnson, The Last Jedi will do some exploration of the family history of Rey. If that family history includes a link to Luke Skywalker’s original protector and mentor Obi-Wan (which would be fun), perhaps an Obi-Wan movie would explore that subject a little further. If there’s anything Disney subsidiaries like Lucasfilm and Marvel enjoy, it’s connective tissue. - Pamela González
A director is in talks, but no word yet on Ewan McGregor.
We Need To Talk About That
Wonder Woman Budget
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ecently, it’s been reported to much acclaim that not only will the budget for Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot be $100m, but that it is the first film directed by a woman to do so. First of all: Yay, this is amazing news. But as it turns out, Wonder Woman is not, in fact, the first to reach this mark. That record instead belongs to Kathryn Bigelow’s 2002 submarine thriller K-19: The Widowmaker, with a reported budget of $100m. But regardless, this is great news, right? Maybe not. It’s been tough for women behind the camera in Hollywood and all signs point to it just becoming tougher. Fox recently announced their slate of films for the next two years without a single woman attached as director. While both Canada and the UK are taking action towards gender equality in film industry hiring practices, Hollywood has gotten worse prompting a federal investigation and threat of lawsuits. Despite its strategic positioning in the DC cinematic universe, and positive fan reaction, Wonder Woman is working with not just one of the lowest budgets of Warner Bros’ films, but of any current superhero film.
But it gets worse. Much worse. Let’s travel back in time. In 2008, Marvel launched a studio division to try and capitalize on their properties instead of continuing to license their characters for peanuts. It’s hard to imagine now, considering the juggernaut that Marvel has become, but back in the days of the first Iron Man, the studio and the film were considered to be doomed projects. They even had a difficult time finding a director willing to take the job of adapting what was a C-list catalog character into a summer action film for an uncertain studio. Despite all this, Iron Man was produced for $140m. It’s hard to say if the budget for Wonder Woman represents Warner Bros’ lack of confidence in the franchise, or is representative of the film industry’s attitude towards women as whole.
It’s not all good news for Princess Diana of Themyscira. One thing that’s certain is even though Wonder Woman gets to play with the big boys, she’s not allowed to have as many toys. We might as well just call it the superhero wage gap. Deadpool had to deal with these cuts when the long-developed project got produced for $58m. So director Tim Miller had to get creative by reducing locations, making action scenes smaller, and combining multiple characters into one. The film ended up paying off for Fox with huge box office returns, but it was a success that caught most by surprise, and you can bet that the inevitable sequel will have a lot larger budget at their disposal. The big difference is that Deadpool, despite being part of Fox’s X-Men cinematic universe, was not expected to be more than a one-off. Wonder
Woman, on the other hand, is the 4th installment of the DC cinematic universe’s continuing storyline, and part of the basis for the Justice League. It’s one piece of an always intended much larger puzzle. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are often referred to as the DC Trinity and attempting to marginalize one-third of that based on gender is worse than insulting – it’s predictable. However, there is a lot of awesome in this Wonder Woman news, and while it does mean positive strides for the grossly underrepresented women who work in this industry, we still have a long way to go. The Amazon Warrior may have struck a serious and noticeable blow for justice, and victories should be celebrated, but tomorrow the fight continues. - P.Pamela G
Movie Budgets Batman Begins
$150m
Iron Man
$140m
Deadpool
$100m
Wonder Woman
$100m
Doctor Who
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ollywood and its portrayal of women are changing for the better. But in a case such as Doctor Who, faith has to be given in Chris Chibnall. This is one place in the universe that Doctor Who hasn’t gone yet, so it may take time to adjust to a female Doctor. But with everything we’ve seen from Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker so far, it looks like it will be a good time to be a woman in the Doctor Who universe.With Doctor Who being the latest franchise to take a turn to the pink side. When I was growing up, I was a gigantic nerd. I would find myself turning to characters like Kim Possible, The Powerpuff Girls, Princess Fiona from Shrek, Mulan, and Jessie from Toy Story. These characters were more than just a pretty face, they were girls who kicked ass, had a personality, and were just overall more than their gender. I wanted to be something powerful when I was younger, like a superhero or a spy, because I saw that if these girls can be amazing, so can I. This was a result of well written female characters.
And Why Representation Is Only Beginning
The success of films like Wonder Woman and Frozen, films with strong female characters that are well written, show that these stories are possible and that mainstream audiences are hungry for them. Yet, when Jodie Whittaker was announced as the Thirteenth Doctor on Doctor Who, so much hate was thrown not only her way but toward the show’s current showrunner, Chris Chibnall. Though most of the hate was because of sexist trolls angered by a female lead, there is some concern from feminists about how the Doctor being female will impact the writing. - Karla Peña
It’s time to reflect back on the past and where strong female representations have taken us, and why it matters.
American Gods What To Expect
Bryan Fuller is full-on adapting Neil Gaiman’s
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ere’s what book readers and novices can expect from the Starz show. American Gods is finally coming to television. Published in 2001, the book by Neil Gaiman is more than cinematic enough to warrant an adaptation, but it’s never made it to the screen until now. And thank God for that. The season’s eight 1-hour episodes are set to cover, according to Neil Gaiman, the first third of the plot. But the resulting pace is far from slow, instead giving the action room to play out as it should. There are no corners cut, no scenes or characters combined for the sake of efficiency. This is a real boon for Executive Producer and Co-Showrunner Bryan Fuller, creator of NBC’s critically-acclaimed but ultimately cancelled Hannibal. American Gods, to put it simply, is Bryan Fuller unleashed. Make no mistake — American Gods is bloody. But while the vio-
lence is rampant, it’s delightfully stylized. When the blood flows, it’s not quite the consistency or color of blood. It’s a more vibrant red, almost pink. And it’s thinner, not so much flowing as splashing. It is, in a word, beautiful. American Gods takes place in our world — it’s just governed by laws we haven’t paid attention to before. And the surreal realism of the visuals intentionally destabilizes us and blurs our understanding of what we’re seeing. Another thing that’s handled well is the issue of race. It’s far from swept under the rug in the book, of course — the horrors of slavery are discussed frankly, and while Shadow is unsure of his heritage, he knows for certain that he’s not white. But the show goes deeper. Rather than declare itself colorblind the show works the matter of race into the fabric of the script. American Gods premiers in the US this Sunday, April 30th, at 9 pm. You can watch it on television on Starz or download the Starz app to stream it online. Outside the US it will be available for streaming on Monday, May 1st, through Amazon Prime. - Mario A. Glez
Why
Hamilton Has Heat
The mega-buzzy bio-musical about Alexander Hamilton and the founding fathers.
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pened to glowing accolades unlike any in memory. It received 11 Tony Awards, including best musical, and 16 Tony nominations, the most nominations in Broadway history. It won the Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy Award. In his review, Ben Brantley writes: “Yes, it really is that good.” It’s one of the most talked about Broadway shows since “The Book of Mormon” in 2011. Why? It’s a theatrical rarity: a critically acclaimed work, written by a young composer, that’s making a cultural impact far beyond Broadway’s 40 theaters. That it’s told through the language and rhythms of hip-hop and R&B — genres that re-
main mostly foreign to the musical theater tradition — has put it in contention to redefine what an American musical can look and sound like. As Mr. Brantley wrote in his review of the show Off Broadway, the songs in “Hamilton” could be performed “more or less as they are by Drake or Beyoncé or Kanye.” Ethel Merman it ain’t. So what’s the story behind a show that’s become a Broadway must-see with no marquee names, no special effects and almost no white actors? It’s a Genuine Smash. “Hamilton” is on track to become one of the biggest critical and commercial hits in Broadway history. It won 11 Tony Awards, including best musical, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for drama and a Grammy Award for best musical theater album. Other awards include the Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History and the George Washington Book Prize. Mr. Miranda received a “genius grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The love isn’t just from theater circles. Mr. Miranda and several cast members performed at the White House, where Mr. Miranda freestyled for President Obama, and Michelle Obama, the first lady, called “Hamilton” the “best piece of art in any form that I have ever seen in my life.” Mr. Miranda has appeared on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and in Vogue, photographed by Annie Leibovitz. “Hamilton” is also a hit in the acting world, after the show’s producers agreed to share some of the profits with original cast members who performed in its development and first productions. An open-ended run of “Hamilton” is to begin in Chicago this fall, with a separate national tour set for 2017. - Jessica P. M