From Academy Award® winner Barry Jenkins and based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, “The Underground Railroad” is a new series that chronicles Cora Randall’s desperate bid for freedom in the Antebellum South. After escaping a Georgia plantation for the rumored Underground Railroad, Cora discovers no mere metaphor, but an actual railroad beneath the Southern soil.
ILM contributed 122 shots to the series spanning 7 episodes including some of the most emotionally charged sequences in the series. The work was handled by ILM’s Vancouver team under the supervision of Ivan Busquets and Jeff White who collaborated with the production’s visual effects supervisor, Dottie Starling. The work included environments ranging from a CG recreation of the Chicago Train Hub, a sprawling network of underground tunnels and train tracks, and the fire-stricken plains of Tennessee. Among the challenges was also a tremendous amount of FX simulations of smoke, ash, floating particulates, and highly detailed fire simulations.
The effects work was painstakingly art directed to add subtle nuances to realize Barry Jenkins’ vision and contribute to the emotional significance of each scene in this incredibly poignant story.
Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family (Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe) must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.
Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love And Thunder stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman and Christian Bale. Directed by Taika Waititi.
The Stand is Stephen King’s apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil. The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg) and a handful of survivors. Their worst nightmares are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård), the Dark Man.
ILM was the primary visual effects house on the production and was involved from the earliest stages of the project’s development. Of the 3,000 visual effects shots in the show, ILM took on half, handling all of the CG creatures, Flagg’s powers, the tube necks, Mother Abagail fixes, and all of the Las Vegas environment work which includes Nadine’s Fall and the Hand of God sequence.
Marvel Studios’ Eternals features an exciting new team of Super Heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows to reunite against mankind’s most ancient enemy, the Deviants.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, the new Disney+ special event series starring Ewan McGregor as the iconic Jedi Master, will begin shooting in April.
The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is directed by Deborah Chow, director of two critically acclaimed episodes of The Mandalorian Season 1. The series also marks the return of Hayden Christensen in the role of Darth Vader.
Joining the cast are Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, and Benny Safdie.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is executive produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Deborah Chow, Ewan McGregor, and writer Joby Harold. The casting director is Carmen Cuba.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is available exclusively on Disney+.
The Mars documentary attacks! Amazon Studios, Film 45, Amblin Television, and Tripod Media are co-producing Good Night Oppy, a feature about the Mars exploration rover Opportunity.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory also is along for the voyage, as is Industrial Light & Magic, which created the visual effects. JPL, which successfully landed Opportunity’s “younger sister” Perseverance on Mars last month, is providing the filmmakers with access and unique footage in the filming of this documentary, along with their scientific expertise and knowledge of Oppy’s mission.
