Negromancer News Bits and Bites: June 15 to June 21, 2014 - Updated #6

NEWS:

From The Wrap:  Meryl Streep makes a move to television as she will play opera legend Maria Callas in a television film for HBO.  Director Mike Nichols is adapting the Broadway play, "Master Class," which tells the story of Callas' life.

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From Variety: The next "Bourne" movie, starring Jeremy Renner, has been moved from August 14, 2015 to July 15, 2016,  That film will ostensibly be a sequel to the Renner-starring The Bourne Legacy.

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From Variety:  Apparently the F. Gary Gray N.W.A. biopic will take Bourne's August 2015 release date.

From Cinema Blend:  Speaking of the N.W.A. biopic, the film reportedly has its actors to play the lead characters, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, and Dr. Dre.  O'Shea Jackson, Jr. will apparently play his father, Ice Cube, whose birth name is O'Shea Jackson.  At one point, Michael B. Jordan was eyed to play Cube, but his role in the Fantastic Four reboot may have squashed that.

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From Yahoo:  John Cusack and Adrien Brody join Jackie Chan in the Chinese-language film, "Dragon Blade."  It looks to be the most expensive Chinese-language made to date at $65 million.

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COMIC BOOK MOVIES:

From Marvel:  Rosario Dawson joins Marvel's Netflix series, "Daredevil," which is scheduled to debut in early 2015.

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From The Wrap:  Jon Spaihts who wrote Ridley Scott's Prometheus is apparently writing Marvel Studios' planned "Doctor Strange," movie, which would be based on the surgeon turned Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange a/k/a/ Doctor Strange.  Scott Derrickson, who directed the low-budget hit horror film, Sinister, is apparently directing the film.  Jared Leto and Benedict Cumberbatch are the top choices to play Strange.

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From Yahoo Celebrity: Ben Affleck buffs up for Batman role in Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.


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STAR WARS News:

From Yahoo:  Harrison Ford broke his leg, not his ankle.

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From Heat Celeb News:  More on Harrison Ford's injury on the set of Star Wars Episode VII.

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From GoSanAngelo:  Here is an interesting article about fans who spend much money and time to build their own Star Wars droids.  There is even a club, Astromech.net.

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MISC:

Surprising article from a few years ago:  I was a drunk teenaged wizard.

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From Yahoo: In this installment of Hollywood Time Capsule, the 1999 flick, Wild Wild West, gets a look-back via Entertainment Weekly.

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OBITS:

From the New York Times and Indiewire: Casey Kasem, the famous American disc jockey, radio personality, and voice actor, died Sunday, June 15, 2014.  He was 82-years-old.  Kasem was born Kemal Amen Kasem in Detroit on April 27, 1932 to Lebanese immigrant parents.

I remember Kasem for several reasons.  First of all, I was a big fan of his syndicated radio show, "America's Top 40." Beginning in 1970 and continuing for 24 years, Kasem played the top forty songs on Billboard magazine's weekly "Hot 100" singles chart.  There was also a syndicated television version of the show in the 1980s that showed the music videos for the top ten songs of the week on the "Hot 100" singles chart, and sometimes for songs on Billboard's other singles chart.

But I most treasure and love Casey Kasem as the voice of cartoon character, Norville "Shaggy" Rodgers, beginning with the animated series, "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" (1969) and continuing until 1997.  He also provided the voice of Robin on "Super Friends" and Alexander on "Josie and the Pussycats."

Negromancer sends condolences to Casey Kasem's family and friends.  R.I.P. Shaggy.

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From Yahoo Sports:  Former Major League Baseball player, Tony Gwynn, died today, Monday, June 16, 2014 at the age of 54.  He was one of the greatest hitters in the history of Major League Baseball and the greatest pure hitter of his generation.  He played with the San Diego Padres for 20 years (his entire career) and was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.  He was named on 532 of 545 Hall of Fame voting ballots, for one of the highest percentages ever, 97.61.  Negromancer sends its condolences to Tony Gwynn's family, friends, colleagues, and teammates.  R.I.P. slugger.

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From the New York Times and Yahoo Sports:  I think I've stated before that the Pittsburgh Steelers are my favorite NFL team.  Well, I was saddened to learn that beloved head Coach Chuck Noll died Friday night, June 13, 2013.  Charles Henry Noll was born on January 5, 1932.  He was 82-year-old.

Noll built the "Steel Curtain" Steelers of the 1970s, one of the most dominant teams in NFL history.  The Steelers won the Super Bowls in the 1974, 1975, 1978, and 1979 seasons.  They were the first team to win four Super Bowls.  Noll coached the Steelers from 1969 to 1991 and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, his first year of eligibility.

Rest in peace, Coach.  Negromancer offers condolences to Chuck Noll's family and friends.