Hollywood Short Takes: Superheroes, space operas and rom-coms

Isa Briones and her father, Jon Jon Briones.

Filipina American cast in the return of Star Trek's Jean Luc- Picard

Isa Briones, daughter of Jon Jon Briones (The Assassination of Gianni Versace), will be The Asian in the upcoming Star Trek series which brings back Patrick Stewart as Star Trek: Next Generation's Jean-Luc Picard.

Starting with the original Star Trek, which included the iconic Mr. Sulul, as portrayed by George Takei, each Star Trek series have tried to have a diverse cast, which included the one Asian character.

There's not much detail about the character that Isa Briones will play but it could be a career-defining role with the immense following the franchise has developed over the last 50 years. Everything about the series is under tight wraps. All we know is that the story will pick up Picard 20 years after the last episode of Star Trek: Next Generation.

Actor and singer Isa Briones just wrapped the First National Touring Company of Hamilton. Her most recent credits include FX’s American Crime Story: Versace and Next to Normal (East West Players), for which she won an L.A. Ovation Award.

The new series will be aired on CBS- All Access, where Star Trek: Discovery is housed.

Marvel seeking gay Asian for 'The Eternals,' Marvel's new set of heroes

Marvel is reportingly wants an openly gay Asian male to be the lead male role in The Eternals," a race of "good" heroes with superpowers saving the universe from their evil counterparts, fittingly called The Despicaples.

The current frontrunner for the role is Conrad Ricamora, who is best known for playing Oliver on ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder. The addition of a queer person of color to the cast is exciting, as is the studio’s interest in casting an out actor for the role.

Train To Busan star Ma Dong-Seok has joined the ranks of the film. The Wrap is reporting that the actor will have his first American role in the Marvel film but no word on exactly who the actor will be playing. He will be joining actress Angelina Jolie—surprised it took her this long to jump on the Marvel train—and Kumail Nanjaini.

Michelle Yeoh in Star Trek: Discovery, the first Asian captain in the franchise.

Michelle Yeoh, the new queen of science fiction?

Michelle Yeoh has been cast in the upcoming James Cameron Avatar 2. She will be playing a scientist, Dr. Karina Mogue, according to The Wrap.

Is it time we dub Yeoh as the new queen of science fiction? The Malaysian actress has been busy since her role in the box office success, Crazy Rich Asians. She toplined CBS’ Star Trek: Discovery and her character Captain Philippa Georgiou will have it’s own yet-untitled spinoff show on CBS All Access. 

Past credits include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Memoirs of a Geisha. She also has upcoming roles in Paul Feig’s Last Christmas and Joe Carnahans Boss Level as seen on her IMDB.

Avatar 2 will hit theaters Dec. 18, 2020, the newest addition to the five part franchise.

Power duo  of Mindy Kaling and Priyanka Chopra to star in rom-com

After a bidding war, Universal has won the rights to a currently untitled upcoming comedy starring Mindy Kaling and Priyanka Chopra, Deadline reports.

Not much about the wedding comedy has been released besides it being described as a combination of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Crazy Rich Asians, Variety reports.

Chopra will produce for Purple Pebble Pictures, Kaling for Kaling International, and Goor will produce with Howard Klein for 3 Arts Entertainment. Nina Anand Aujla and Heather Morris will executive produce.

BD Wong cast as villain in The Flash

AMC's The Flash has cast B.D. Wong as the voice of one of the season’s new villains, Godspeed, Comicbook.com reports. Wong’s voice made its first appearance on Tuesday night’s episode. His name appeared in the opening credits.

According to Comicbook.com, Godspeed has the ability to separate speedsters from their speed force. This makes him a particularly dangerous villain for the show’s protagonist Barry Allen (The Flash). The character was first introduced in 2016 DC comics.

Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding star in Last Christmas.

And lastly ... Last Christmas will premiere Nov. 8 in time for the holidays

Nov. 8 has been announced for the premiere off the much-anticipated movie Last Christmas starring two of the hottest actors today, Mother of Dragons Emlia Clarke and Crazy Rich Asians hunk Henry Golding.

The romantic movie will debut on Nov. 15, just in time for prime-time for movies.

Based on George Michael's hit, one of his last songs before his death on Christmas Day, 2017.

The film will also star Michelle Yeoh and Emma Thompson, who also cowrote the script. 

In the movie, Kate (Clarke) lives in London, a bundle of bad decisions accompanied by the jangle of bells on her shoes, another irritating consequence from her job as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop. Tom (Golding) seems too good to be true when he walks into her life and starts to see through so many of Kate’s barriers. 

In an Instagram post from Malaysian-born Golding, he wrote, "Mark my words, this one is going to be special." Golden, the male romantic lead in Crazy Rich Asians, is also rumored to be the new James Bond.

Clarke is currently starring in the final season of Game of Thrones as Daenerys Targaryen, or better known as the Queen Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, Lady of Dragonstone, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons.

AsAm News contributed to these reports.

_________________________________________________________

George Takei joins new season of 'The Terror'

ALLEGIANCE

George Takei starred in the musical. 'Allegiance.'

ASAM NEWS

GEORGE TAKEI will star in the second season of AMC’s The Terror, Moviefone reports.

The Terror is a horror drama anthology series produced by Academy Award winner Ridley Scott. The first season centered around frozen Royal Navy ships. The crew aboard the ship struggles to survive the harsh winter, while being stalked by an elusive creature.

According to Screen Rant, the second season, set during World War II, will focus on a bizarre series of deaths that haunt a Japanese American community. Takei will play Yamamoto-san, a former fishing captain and elder. He will also serve as a consultant on the show, Moviefone reports.

Takei, who rose to fame playing helmsman Hiraku Kato Sulu in the original Star Trek TV series, also wrote and starred in Allegiance, a Broadway musical that took place in one of the internment camps and was loosely based on Takei's own experiences in those detention centers.

According to the AV Club, Alexander Woo, the new showrunner, says interment camps are a “blemish on the nation’s conscience.” He hopes that his storyline will convey the terror of the camps.

Production is set to begin in early 2019, Screen Rant reports. Fans can expect the second season to premier in 2019.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.
________________________________________________________________________________

Asians in space: First trailer of 'Star Trek - Discovery' released

Capt. Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and First Officer Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) land on an unknown planet in the first released visuals. 

STAR TREK returns to our universe after the first series ended in 1969 after only 79 episodes.

The first visuals of the CBS offering are out and it looks freaking cool... and inclusionary. There will be more than one token Asian character impacting the story.

From the trailer (see below) released at the CBS upfront event last weekend, Michelle Yeoh figures to play a major role as Captain Philippa Georgiou of the Starship Szenzhou and Burnham's mentor.

Unlike the first Star Trek, which immortalized the characters of Capt. Kirk, helmsman Hiraku Sulu, communications officer Uhuru and Dr. Bones and, of course, First Officer Spock, the new version will be telling multiple stories in the same episode instead of having a linear format (that obeyed the space-time continuum). That means, even though Yeoh won't be on the title ship, stories may still revolve around her adventures.

It time frame for this series takes place 10 years before Kirk captains the U.S.S. Enterprise, so sometimes along the way, if the series succeeds, we might likely see a teenage Kirk and Spock.

In the first trailer released by CBS, Yeoh beams down to a yet-unnamed, desert-like planet with Sonequa Martin-Green, the First Officer Michael Burnham. You may recognize Green from her long-running stint on The Walking Dead.

Rekha Sharma

Contrary to earlier releases, Green won't be First Officer for long. The trailer has a scene in which Capt. Georgiou announces it's time for Turnham to have her own command, She then uses her flip phone communicator to call down the Starship Discovery hiding in the clouds.

Two Asians from Great Britain and Canada will have significant roles in the Star Trek universe.

Rekha Sharma, (who fans of the newest version of Battleship Galactica will remember as Tory Foster, personal assistant to President Laura Roslin) willl be take up the role of Commander Landry, the security officer aboard the U.S.S. Discovery.

Shazad Latif

Sharma was born in Vancouver, Canada, to immigrant parents of Indian descent. Both her father, a Hindu priest, and her mother were from the state of Uttar Pradesh in India before they relocated during the British period. The family resettled in the Fiji Islands before moving to Canada.

It was also revealed that Shazad Latif was originally cast as Klingon commanding officer Kol. Somewhere along the line, producers decided he would be better without all the Klingon makeup and instead, will be playing  Lieutenant Tyler, a Starfleet security officer.

Latif was born in London in July 1988 of mixed English, Scottish and Pakistani descent. He's best known for his role in the TV series Penny Dreadful.

Star Trek Discovery is currently filming in Toronto and other parts of the world. The series will premiere this late summer or early fall on CBS. I can't wait!

George Takei ties Day of Remembrance with the Muslim ban

ACTOR GEORGE TAKEI, who spent part of his childhood behind the barbed wire of an internment camp, has not been bashful when expressing his views about President Trump's attempts to place travel restrictions on refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-dominated countries.

On this day (Feb. 19), the 75th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he goes on Youtube to share those views.

Takei's childhood experiences formed the basis of his historical musical, Allegiance, that was performed on Broadway. 

He is best-known for his portrayal of helmsman Hideki Sulu on the classic Star Trek television series.

Since then, he has become a social justice advocate on a number of issues including LGBTQ concerns and a social media star where he is followed by millions of fans.

###

Beam me up Scotty: It got better for Mr. Sulu

IT GOT BETTER for actor George Takei.

People may laugh to learn that I'm a die-hard fan of the TV show Star Trek, a pop culture icon that doesn't shy away from its science fiction roots. The genre is often looked down upon by the intelligentsia or literary snobs.  

While I can't claim to be a Trekker (Don't call me a Trekkie) I can't tell you how influential Star Trek has been in my life. There may be a book out there already written entitled "All I really need to know about life I learned from Star Trek." If there isn't, there should be. Hmmm?

When George Takei "came out" it was not surprising that the news didn't create such a fuss among  the many fans of Mr. Hikaru Sulu, chief helmsman of the original Enterprise crew. Besides the gadgetry, Star Trek was about diversity, tolerance, passion, compassion, logic and friendship. Also not surprising, most of the cast rallied around him with the notable exception of one starship captain.

With an interracial cast, the sci-fi series has always dealt with race either metaphorically or allegorically. It featured TV's first interracial kiss (Kirk and Uhuru) and a number of episodes dealt with inter-species prejudices and discrimination, just like we deal with race on Earth.

But, I digress.

Despite the daring themes Star Trek tackles, Sulu's role - and I dare say, Uhuru's role too, is just a cut above the red shirts, those unknown cast members who end up dying whenever the crew tackles dangerous missions. Their backstories don't get filled in years after the series ended in the books/novels/comics or follow up movies featuring the characters whose fans won't let them fade away. Only do the characters of Spock and Worf get rounded out.

In the five years since coming out, Takei's career has skyrocketed. To say he has been "busy" is an understatement.

Takei's role as mentor for Asian entertainers and elder statesman continues to grow. He is also cemented as a civil rights activist, not only for gays but for all people living on the Edge. His most recent project is a musical called "Allegiance" about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. The Broadway-bound production also includes Tony-award winner Lea Salonga in its cast.

In the meantime, catch the premier of the documentary "To be Takei" on DirectTV starting  July 3 through August.