METROPOLIS NORTH
Caped avengers assemble in Van
Vancouver’s comic book universe, which already includes Arrow, The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, may be expanding with news that Supergirl could be heading this way.
Deadline.com is reporting that Warner Bros. TV wants to cut the show’s budget and is considering moving Season 2 production of the television series to Vancouver to take advantage of the lower Canadian dollar and B.C. film tax credits.
Film and television productions in B.C. receive production services tax credits of 33 per cent and digital animation/visual effects credits of 17.5 per cent.
However, Finance Minister Mike de Jong announced this week that those subsidies would be scaled back to 28 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, come Oct. 1.
The show, starring Melissa Benoist as the caped wonder, was reportedly unable to obtain tax credits from the California Film Commission.
CBS has yet to renew Supergirl for a second season, but Deadline reporter Nellie Andreeva says there is a good chance that The CW, the network home for Arrow, The Flash and Legends, will pick up the series if CBS cancels it.
Canadian actor Tom Cavanagh, who plays Dr. Harrison Wells on The Flash, hinted that Supergirl might be flying north during an appearance on the Fox talk show Hollywood Today Live when he was asked about The CW’s super hero community in Vancouver.
“We like to call it an empire, but, ya, we can go with community. I think Supergirl is coming up next week … all the super heroes are up there,” Cavanagh said.
SPACE COMEDY
Vancouver will be a lot funnier this summer with Seth Rogen, Bill Hader and Zach Galifianakis in town filming the space comedy The Something.
The movie, which will mark the directorial debut of screenwriter Rodney Rothman (22 Jump Street), follows a crew of astronauts who encounter another space ship, after being stuck in space for years.
According to the Directors Guild of Canada production list, shooting on The Something is scheduled to begin July 11.
The Vancouver-raised Rogen is a busy guy these days with two movies coming out this year — Bad Neighbours 2 on May 20 and the Vancouver-produced animated feature Sausage Party on Aug. 12. He’s also completed work on a pair of films directed by his Freaks & Geeks buddy James Franco, The Masterpiece and Zeroville.
Disney Channel alum and teen heartthrob Ross Lynch (Austin & Ally) has signed on to star in the just-announced Status Update, a feature film that will begin shooting here in June.
The comedy, backed by two Chinese financiers, D.N.A. Pictures and Heyi Capital, also stars Olivia Holt (I Didn’t Do It) and Courtney Eaton (Mad Max: Fury Road). The movie is described as “Big meets 17 Again for the millennial generation.”
MOM’S THE REAL MVP
On Sunday (that’s Mother’s Day, kids), Lifetime Canada will air The Real MVP: The Wanda Durant Story, a Vancouver-shot biopic about NBA superstar Kevin Durant’s mother.
The movie’s title refers to the tearful speech given by Durant when he accepted the 2014 NBA MVP award.
“You kept us off the street. You put clothes on our backs, food on the table. When you didn’t eat, you made sure we ate. You went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us. You’re the real MVP,” Durant said of his mother,
The Washington Post says Mama Durant, a single woman who raised two kids in a tough neighbourhood of Washington, D.C., had a frontrow seat during the moviemaking process from script consulting to casting and watching “the dailies” in Vancouver.
“Never quitting and believing that you will succeed for you and your children, that’s the message I want to come across more than anything,” Wanda says of her small screen moment.
Cassandra Freeman (Inside Man) stars as Wanda, while Daniel Bellomy plays Kevin. Queen Latifah served as the film’s executive producer.