'Birds of Prey' has shorter 108-minute runtime

Are you tired of watching films that run north of two hours all the time, especially if you're watching a superhero film? DC's upcoming flick, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), is looking to buck the trend. According to IFCO, which classifies film releases in Ireland, the film will run for 108 minutes, which is one hour and forty-eight minutes. If you consider the credits, then the film could be around one hour, forty-five minutes, which is a good length for Birds of Prey.

Lead star and producer Margot Robbie told Variety before that they are taking a non-linear, off-kilter approach to telling this tale, which is an apt approach to her character. She said, "We pulled a lot of references from the comics that we love, from different movies we love—we were really gravitating toward the idea of not having such a formulaic sort of structure, Trainspotting being of one of our favorite films. We would look at a movie like that, and then we'd break it down scene by scene, minute by minute. And funnily enough, it follows a three-act structure to the T, like, to the page, to the minute. And so we would look at a lot of films like that, like: 'How did they achieve this feeling of this beautiful chaos, but within it, everything feels satisfying?' So the non-linear aspect of the film came from those sorts of conversations... It jumps around. And then it becomes linear for the third act. You go on a ride, and it's all pretty chronological from there. It took a while to get it together, and get it approved by the studio. And then finally we got it greenlit. And we were off to the races."

Source: LRM Online

DC Universe cancels ‘Swamp Thing’ after debuting the first episode of season 1

CREDIT: WARNER BROS. TELEVISION

Just fresh out of the swamp, the Swamp Thing will have to return there after this season is over. Based on the DC Comics characters created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, the one-hour drama series follows CDC researcher Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed), who returns home to Houma, Louisiana to investigate a lethal swamp-borne virus. She gets involved with scientist Alec Holland but later finds him tragically taken from her. As she investigates the swamp and its mysterious properties, she discovers that there’s something mystical happening and her boyfriend might not be dead after all.

The series also stars Virginia Madsen, Andy Bean, Derek Mears, Henderson Wade, Maria Sten, Jeryl Prescott, and Will Patton. Mark Verheiden and Gary Dauberman serve as writers and executive producers alongside James Wan and Michael Clear, who are executive producing through Wan’s Atomic Monster banner. Atomic Monster’s Rob Hackett also serves as a co-producer. Wan’s production outfit produces the series in association with Warner Bros. Television. With Warner Bros set to launch its own streaming service before the year ends, it seems the company is questioning both the content it puts out and what it is going to do with its DC Universe streaming platform. We're sure to get updates as time goes by.

Source: Variety