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Bad Bunny to play first Marvel Latin superhero in El Muerto; K-drama Soundtrack#1 heads to OTT; Venom & Ghostbusters: Afterlife to get sequels; Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse to add 200 new characters

There are quite a few interesting bit of news coming from the Hollywood stable. Right from the OTT release of K-drama Soundtrack #1 to Bad Bunny roped in to play newest Marvel superhero to sequels of Venom and Ghostbusters: Afterlife to hit floors soon to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to add 200 new characters; here’s what’s making the headlines.

Read on for more details in our Hollywood roundup.

Bad Bunny is newest Marvel superhero, to lead 'El Muerto'

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Puerto Rican record producer-singer-actor Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, who is better known by his stage name Bad Bunny, has been roped in for the standalone comic book film, El Muerto, reports 'Variety'. With this move, he has become the newest Marvel hero in Sony Pictures' portfolio of super characters. As per 'Variety', El Muerto is set to hit theatres on January 12, 2024.

Introduced by Sony Motion Pictures Group president Sanford Panitch at CinemaCon, the annual gathering of movie theatre owners in Las Vegas, Ocasio will be the first ever Latino actor to headline a live-action Marvel movie. "To bring El Muerto to life is just incredible .. so exciting," the rapper told the crowd as quoted by 'Variety', adding that he grew up a fan of wrestling.

Known as Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez in the comics, El Muerto is a wrestler whose powers are handed down by ancestry in the form of a mask (which, according to Marvel's official site, gives him superhuman strength). In past comic narratives, El Muerto has gotten in the ring with Spider-Man himself. On stage at CinemaCon, Sony brass suggested Ocasio will portray an antihero on the verge of inheriting his father's power.

Sony's adaptive Marvel rights have yielded three Spider-Man iterations over 20 years, with the current Tom Holland-led series most recently enjoying a massive hit in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Additional franchises include Tom Hardy and Michelle Williams' Venom, Jared Leto's Morbius and the Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
 

'Venom' and 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' sequels to soon go on floors

Following the consecutive box office successes of Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the third instalment in the Tom Hardy-starrer Venom franchise has been greenlit by Sony Pictures, reports 'Variety'.

As per 'Variety', the studio has also announced its plans for another Ghostbusters movie, which will serve as a follow-up to 2021's reboot Ghostbusters: Afterlife which raked in $200 million globally. The announcements were made during a presentation at CinemaCon, the annual trade show for theatre owners. Though the studio did not share any details about either movie, it revealed that new instalments were on the way.

The announcement came in the form of a mash-up reel, which included footage of the Whitney Houston biopic, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Kraven the Hunter, The Equalizer 3, never-before-seen clips from Tom Hanks movie A Man Called Otto.

'Variety' added in its report that Jason Reitman directed Ghostbusters: Afterlife taking the reins from his father Ivan Reitman, who helmed the original 1984 film Ghostbusters. The first movie - featuring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Harold Ramis as ghost-catching parapsychologists - was critically and commercially successful, later spawning sequels, animated series, video games and an ill-fated 2016 reboot.

'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' adds over 200 new characters

The never-before-seen footage of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which is a sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, was unveiled to a packed audience at CinemaCon, the annual exhibition trade show, which is currently underway in Las Vegas, reports 'Variety'. They're also upping the body count. While the first movie had 40 characters, the sequel has 240.

After turning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse into a critical and commercial smash, the filmmakers hyped up a crowd of movie theatre owners by showing an exclusive look at the first 15 minutes of the follow-up Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. As per 'Variety', producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller also announced the next instalment, previously denoted as 'Part II' will be titled Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

Across the Spider-Verse continues the story of Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore). Lord and Miller also teased some details about the sequel before unveiling it to the audience. The new movie will take place in six universes. Theatre owners were treated to footage so raw, the computer-generated graphics were not in their final form. Lord and Miller have plenty of time to touch up the animation. Across the Spider-Verse is not set to release until June 2, 2023, and Beyond the Spider-Verse is not opening until March 29, 2024.

OTT release of K-drama 'Soundtrack #1' on April 27

South Korean drama series, Soundtrack #1 is all set to bow down on OTT. The series, which centres around the lives of two best friends who put everything on the line when they move in together, stars popular Korean actress Han So-hee known for her work in The World of The Married and K-pop star Park Hyungsik.

The story of Soundtrack #1 has been crafted by Ahn Saebom and sees celebrated director Kim Heewon (Vincenzo) at the helm of affairs and features an impressive soundtrack composed of some of Korea's most talented musical artists. The series, which will be streaming on OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar, marks the platform's second Korean drama in India after Snowdrop.
 

Set in modern-day Korea, the romantic series focuses on the lives of two best friends, Han Sunwoo (Park Hyungsik) and Lee Eunsoo (Han Sohee), who have known each other for over 20 years. As they start living together for a two-week period, love blossoms between them, threatening to either elevate or end their friendship forever. Soundtrack #1 will be available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar from April 27 and will also be available with Hindi dubs.

 

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