‘Shang-Chi’ Director Destin Daniel Cretton Exits Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Kang Dynasty’

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Bytedance, the unlisted Chinese tech giant that owns TikTok, is poised to slash part of its games operations, including Nuverse, which publishes ‘Marvel Snap,’ according to financial news sources. News was reported by Bloomberg, Reuters and other tech news providers The Information and The Verge on Monday that Bytedance will retreat from its mainstream video games operation with the loss of some 1,000 jobs. “We regularly review our businesses and make adjustments to centre on long-term strategic growth areas,” a ByteDance representative said in a statement sent to some media. “Following a recent review, we’ve made the difficult decision to restructure our gaming business.” Variety has also reached out to Bytedance for comment. Nuverse, the unit for most of Bytedance’s games, is understood to have told employees that it will halt nearly all games that have not yet launched.

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Waldron has been tapped to write Marvel Studios‘ Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Waldron had already been set to write the installment that would follow Kang Dynasty and will now write both films. Waldron has become one of Marvel’s most trusted creative minds having previously created and served as showrunner of season 1 of Loki as well as writing Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness and the move make sense to the studio to have him pen both films. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will produce.

When Marvel finds a writer or filmmaker they like, particularly Kevin Feige, the studio tends to hang on to them. And perhaps recently, no one in the current Marvel Studios bullpen has done more repeat business with Marvel Studios with writer/producer Michael Waldron.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Loki” creator Michael Waldron has been hired to write the screenplay for “Avengers: Kang Dynasty.” He was already on board to pen the sequel, “Avengers: Secret Wars,” which will conclude this stretch — known as the Multiverse Saga — of the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe. The films will presumably be connected, à la the two-part tale of 2018’s “Infinity War” and 2019’s “Endgame,” “Kang Dynasty” is currently scheduled to land in theaters on May 1, 2026. It will be succeeded by “Avengers: Secret Wars” on May 7, 2027.

Lupita Jones stepped down and released a statement, Miss Universe called a press conference to announce the official appointment of Cynthia de la Vega as the new director of Miss Universe Mexico.Cynthia has extensive experience in beauty pageants, having participated in various editions, such as Elite Model Look Mexico in Sanya, China, in 2008. She also participated in Nuestra Belleza Mexico, where she was the first finalist in 2010.

Hill Harper is not returning in The Good Doctor season 7.

Sony Pictures is launching an immersive entertainment destination next month called Wonderverse at the giant Oakbrook Center mall near Chicago with attractions from the studio’s film, TV series and video games including Jumanji, Ghostbusters, Bad Boys, Zombieland and Uncharted.

EXCLUSIVE: Li Lu, the award-winning writer, director and producer behind the three-part docuseries A Town Called Victoria, broadcast nationwide last week on PBS, has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.

Will Tizard Contributor Cinematographer and director Warwick Thornton scored top honors Saturday at the Camerimage cinematography film festival for his magical tale of an aboriginal youth, “The New Boy,” which film jurors called a distinctive “portrait of an extinguished spirituality.” Thornton, in accepting the Golden Frog, said he had been so moved by the cinematography work onscreen at the fest, a top global event for directors of photography, he’d been “tearing for a week.” Ed Lachman, director of photography for Pablo Larrain’s horror fantasy “El Conde,” inspired by the life of Chilean tyrant Augusto Pinochet, won the Silver Frog for what the jury called “cinematic high poetry,” while the Bronze Frog and Audience Award went to cinematographer Robbie Ryan for his Gothic dream-like imagery in Emma Stone-starrer “Poor Things,” directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Actor Peter Dinklage, honored with a festival director’s prize, expressed his gratitude for the Frog statuette, noting actors are “nothing without our collaborators,” followed onstage by cinematographer Mandy Walker, who also served as main jury president, also honored for her work on films such as “Elvis” and “Mulan.” Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi, one of the founders of the European Film Academy, was also feted for lifetime achievement in directing, as was cinematographer Peter Biziou (“The Wall,” “The Truman Show”) in the closing gala, held in Camerimage’s cavernous Jordanki screening hall.

Disney is poised to be the top entertainment industry beneficiary of a potential improvement in U.S.-China relations, according to a veteran Wall Street analyst.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese authorities have banned artist and film director Guo Zhenming from traveling to Singapore for the world premiere of his documentary film “Tedious Days and Nights.” The film is scheduled to play at the Singapore International Film Festival on Dec. 4 in the festival’s Standpoint strand. It was advertised as including a Q&A session with the director.

Variety reported on Thursday.According to the outlet, it has not been confirmed how many episodes she will appear in before leaving the NBC drama.Killmer joined the Dick Wolf-created series in Season 3 in 2014 and has appeared in 193 episodes. She’s also appeared as her character in “Chicago P.D.” and “Chicago Med.”More recently, Brett developed a romantic relationship with Matt Casey, portrayed by Jesse Spencer.

While he’s already in “Star Wars” in Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian” and leads HBO’s “The Last Of Us,” Chilean actor Pedro Pascal is not done taking on prominent franchise roles. The actor is reportedly in talks to join Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” as the lead character Reed Richards, aka Mr.

Following a not-very-great week for Marvel, the box office flop of “The Marvels,” change is afoot at Marvel studios, and a pretty major one at that. Filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton, who was all set to direct the next major ‘Avengers’ movie, “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” has exited the film.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline hears that filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton has decided to step away as director of Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Kang Dynasty to focus on his other Marvel projects. This is an amicable exit, I understand, as Cretton remains fully in the Marvel Studios family.

Marvel‘s upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has just lost it’s director!

Earth Wind and Fire has embraced these past few years.In 2022, they toured with guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana on their ‘Miraculous Supernatural Tour.’This year, Philip Bailey, Verdine White and co. hit the road alongside R&B icon Lionel Richie on the ‘Sing A Song All Night Long Tour.’ Next up, they’ll share the stage with classic rockers Chicago on their summer 2024 ‘Heart and Soul Tour.’From July through September (no, they’re not booked on Sept.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Toronto’s Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary film festival, has appointed Hussain Currimbhoy as its artistic director. He replaces Shane Smith, who left the organization in June, and will assume his role immediately. Currimbhoy has worked as a film producer, director and film curator since 2002.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Marvels” narrowly missed the top spot at the mainland China box office on its opening weekend. And its debut was far short of its blockbuster predecessor. Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway shows “The Marvels” earning RMB82.7 million or $11.5 million between Friday and Sunday in Chinese cinemas. Of that some $2 million or 17%, was earned in Imax theaters. The film’s debut weekend haul was a fraction below the RMB84.2 million ($11.7 million) earned by Chinese film “Last Suspect” in its second weekend of release.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter There’s nothing super about the opening weekend of Disney’s superhero adventure “The Marvels,” which whiffed at the box office with $63 million internationally and $110 million globally. Those figures are far behind expectations (heading into the weekend, Disney hoped for $140 million or more, and even that wouldn’t have been great for the $220 million-budgeted tentpole) and rank as one of the worst worldwide debuts in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “The Marvels” is the 33rd MCU film and the sequel to 2019’s billion-dollar behemoth, “Captain Marvel,” which debuted to a massive $302 million internationally and $455 million globally.