MacGyver Reboot Update #197

The SAG strike has been over for a while now, but casting and project news are still slow.

Lucas Till and Y’lan Noel in The Spook Who Sat By The Door (via Scott P Murphy)

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The Collective with Lucas Till
The Collective was released digitally and on DVD in Australia and New Zealand on November 8. The DVD and BluRay-Release for the German version is set for December 14. If you want to treat yourself with a little Christmas gift, you can pre-order it here. The only bonus material listed is the trailer; and it looks like there won’t be any subtitles available.

The German voice of Lucas was dubbed by Ozan Ünal, who also dubbed him in MacGyver. There’s a preview clip on YouTube and GooglePlay, and it should be available on iTunes and Sky in Germany. If you’re in Switzerland, you can buy it via BlueTV.

DVD Cover Preview for The Collective (via Amazon Germany)

The trailer used for the German streaming services is the international version that was released as the second trailer. The one with the most views on YouTube is still the first official trailer by US distributor Quiver Distribution. It has almost 460’000 hits by now.

With a limited release, it’s difficult to get numbers on how well it has been doing. Also, my usual source (Flixpatrol) is now restricting their information; providing certain data for Premium Users only. Before the restrictions, it has been listed in the Amazon Prime Top 10 in several categories (e.g. Rank 1 for more than 40 days in total, Rank 4 in calendar week 36, Rank 8 in September).

Lucas Till in The Collective (via Bryan Marchulaitis)

It’s currently on Rank 67 for Amazon Prime in 2023; being in the Top 10 for more than 108 days. The Collective also reached the Top Ten for iTunes in Argentina and Salvador and for GooglePlay in Paraguay.

Expend4bles with Levy Tran
Since the release of Expend4bles, Levy Tran gained several thousand new followers on Instagram, even though she didn’t post much. On November 13, she posted an Instagram story about attending several weddings with her (presumed) boyfriend Mark – only to deactivate the account on the next day. It has been back up since December 4, but she cleaned up her archive and unfollowed many accounts.

Levy Tran as Lash in an Expend4bles photo shoot (Japan Promo)

It’s unclear if she got harrassed online or if she had simply deactivated to focus on her martial arts training. According to Team Traven, she recently achieved the blue belt in Jiu Jitsu.

What are Cast and Crew up to?
Production Designer Scott P Murphy uploaded several stills of the unaired pilot for The Spook Who Sat By The Door on his website. Thankfully, three of them show Lucas Till. Although the project has been said to be in re-development, I haven’t heard any news about it. The status on the IMDb entry has been changed to “completed” on October 14.

Marlon Webb and Tristin Mays at the DREAM SCENARIO After Party in Los Angeles (Photo by Stewart Cook/Getty Images)

According to Tristin Mays, her Les Miserables Pirates Musical Short with Marlon Webb will be released on December 24. She also set up a Twitch account; teasing that her first stream will drop next week. On November 6, Tristin and Marlon attended a Special Screening of A24s Dream Scenario; a movie with Nicolas Cage.

Justin Hires mostly used his social media accounts to promote the Stand-Up Comedy Special he had uploaded on YouTube on October 31st. There’s still no news regarding the release of Half Baked 2: Totally High (that he wrote the script for).

German DVD Back Cover Preview for The Collective (via Videobuster)

ICYMI: Rebooted Murdoc David Dastmalchian is the new brand ambassador for Titan Casket, a company that sells caskets online and helps with end-of-life planning. David has also been cast in feature film Dust Bunny; acting alongside Mads Mikkelsen and Sigourney Weaver. According to Collider, the story is about an eight-year-old girl who enlists the help of her intriguing neighbor to kill the monster under her bed that she believes ate her family.

NCIS: Hawaii started filming last week. We don’t have confirmation yet if Henry Ian Cusick will be back as character John Swift, but he’s currently sporting the right look for it. There haven’t been many news regarding the MacGyver crew, either. While some of the writers are back at work, others just lost their job as several shows got cancelled in the aftermath of the SAG strike (e.g. The Rookie: Feds).

Levy Tran presenting her blue belt (via Team Traven)

Other MacGyver-related News
Back in 2019, Koch Films teased OG MacGyver fans about the German release of an exclusive BluRay box set. CBS and the pandemic halted the production several times. In the meantime, Koch Films has been rebranded as Plaion Pictures. This week, Plaion has been teasing the reveal of their next exclusive item in a live stream on December 12; providing several hints towards MacGyver.

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

  • Richard Dean Anderson attended Comic Con Brussels (November 4 and 5) and Hero Festival in Marseille (November 11 and 12). He is scheduled to appear at Basingstoke Comic Con (London, May 10 to 12, 2024).
  • Kate Bond (who played Jill on the MacGyver Reboot) was a guest star in the latest episode of Magnum PI. Episode 5×17: Consciousness of Guilt was co-written by her husband David Slack.

MacGyver Reboot Update #196

The writers are back at work. Meanwhile, fans are waiting for the SAG strike to be over, too.

Levy Tran in Expend4bles (via CSFD)

(For more material and to discuss your favourite topics, you can find me on Twitter and on the MacGyverOnline Forums.)

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The Collective with Lucas Till
The Collective was released digitally in the Netherlands and Belgium on September 21. The release date for Australia and New Zealand has been set for November 8. I haven’t found any information regarding release dates for Italy, France or Spain.

The US-Version of the DVD was released on September 19. For the Netherlands and Belgium, there’s a DVD- and BluRay version with a different cover (released on October 11). The DVD and BluRay-Release for the German version has been set for December 14. The only extra listed so far is the trailer.

Official Still of Lucas Till in The Collective (via Pathé Thuis)

The trailer with the most views on YouTube is the official trailer by US distributor Quiver Distribution; reaching 300’000 hits on August 30. It has almost 387’000 hits by now.

With a limited release, it’s difficult to get numbers on how well it has been doing. Also, my usual source (Flixpatrol) started restricting their information last month; only providing certain data for Premium Users now. Before the restrictions, it has been listed in the Amazon Prime Top 10 in several categories (e.g. Rank 1 for more than 40 days in total, Rank 4 in calendar week 36, Rank 8 in September).

It’s currently on Rank 32 for October and on Rank 66 for 2023; being in the Top 10 for more than 60 days.

Levy Tran as Lash in an Expend4bles photo shoot (via Line Today)

Expend4bles with Levy Tran
Action movie Expend4bles with Levy Tran has been released internationally last month. Sadly, Levy couldn’t promote it due to the SAG strike. That’s why there were only a handful of video interviews (pre-recorded on set last year). She attended a screening with some of her Ju Jitsu friends in Atlanta.

Since the release, she has gained several thousand new followers on Instagram, even though she doesn’t post much. Otherwise, she’s been back in martial arts training.

What are Cast and Crew up to?
Justin Hires posted a teaser trailer for his Stand-Up Comedy Special that will hit YouTube on October 31st. You can subscribe to his email-list to watch it early.

Screenshot of Justin Hires and Henry Ian Cusick for the Urban Legendz Podcast (via YouTube)

Justin also did a new episode for his Urban Legendz Podcast; this time with Henry Ian Cusick. They talked about MacGyver and the cancellation, about Ian leaving social media and what they’ve been up to lately. When Ian asked for any news regarding Lucas Till, Justin said he would tell him in private afterwards, but that he is doing very well.

MacGyver was the most fun I’ve ever had on a show.

Henry Ian Cusick; Urban Legendz Podcast, September 24, 2023

Rebooted Murdoc David Dastmalchian is the new brand ambassador for Titan Casket, a company that sells caskets online and also helps with end-of-life planning. David will appear in marketing materials and be the face of the company.

In recent weeks, David attended several conventions and carpet events; promoting his upcoming Count Crowley comic (to be released on November 8). On November 12, he will take part in the T21 Walk by the Down Syndrome Association Los Angeles.

David Dastmalchian attends Knott’s Scary Farm 50th Anniversary (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images)

Otherwise, there haven’t been many sightings of the MacGyver cast and crew:

  • David Dastmalchian and Tate Donovan volunteered at the local food bank in LA a few weeks ago.
  • Meredith Eaton added another puppy to her household.
  • Tristin Mays helped her mother with some painting events for Halloween.

After the writers strike was over, some of the MacGyver writers joined the SAG picketing sites in LA; e.g. Teresa Huang. As she posted on Instagram, she was back at work by October 10. She continues holding free crash courses for Assistant Writers.

Levy Tran in Expend4bles (via Aktualne)

Other MacGyver-related News
Dick Butkus passed away this month. The NFL star played character Earl Dent in several episodes of Original MacGyver.

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

  • Richard Dean Anderson is scheduled to appear at Comic Con Brussels (Belgium, November 4 and 5), at Hero Festival (Marseille, November 11 and 12) and at Basingstoke Comic Con (London, May 10 to 12, 2024).
  • Kate Bond (who played Jill on the MacGyver Reboot) is listed as a guest star for an upcoming episode of Magnum PI. Episode 5×17: Consciousness of Guilt was co-written by her husband David Slack.
  • Executive Producer Henry Winkler will start his book tour on October 31 in New York. Several event stops have already been sold out.
  • Ex-Showrunner Peter Lenkov is attached to write the script for Demolition Man 2.

MacGyver Reboot Update #195

The Collective will be released in the Netherlands and Belgium next week. Meanwhile, fans are waiting for their favorite actors to pop up on social media soon.

Official Still of Lucas Till in The Collective (via Pathé Thuis)

(For more material and to discuss your favourite topics, you can find me on Twitter and on the MacGyverOnline Forums.)

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The Collective with Lucas Till
Since August 4, The Collective has been released in several countries. Turkey had an official premiere event for the cinematic release; with goodies (e.g. tote bags) for the attending guests. The movie aired on 89 screens on opening weekend and made about 6’800 USD in box office.

The trailer with the most views on YouTube is the official trailer by US distributor Quiver Distribution; reaching 300’000 hits on August 30. It has almost 345’000 hits at the moment.

BtS photo of Mercedes Varnado and Lucas Till in The Collective (via Frankie Tarr)

With a limited release, it’s difficult to get numbers on how well it has been doing. It has been listed in the Amazon Prime Top 10, though:

  • Rank 1 in several African countries; e.g. South Africa (29 days in total, six consecutive days on Rank 1), Zimbabwe or Kenya (each 25 days in total).
  • Rank 4 in calendar week 36
  • Rank 9 in calendar week 37
  • currently Rank 5 in September

How to watch The Collective with Lucas Till?
US distributor Quiver Distribution lists several streaming services on their website: AppleTV, Amazon, Vudu-Fandango, Microsoft, Google Play, Comcast, Spectrum, Cox, DirecTV, Dish and Verizon. Other sites also list Hoopla and YouTube.

Blu Ray Cover Preview for The Collective in the Netherlands (via Bol)

There aren’t release dates for all the countries with distributors yet, but it will premiere digitally on September 21 in the Netherlands and Belgium. I haven’t found any information regarding release dates for Germany, Italy or Spain. France doesn’t seem to have a distributor listed yet.

The US-Version of the DVD will be released on September 19. Checking the backcover preview, it doesn’t look like there’s any bonus material included. For the Netherlands and Belgium, there’s also a Blu Ray version with a different cover preview (to be released in November). There’s no information about any bonus material as there’s no back cover preview yet.

Levy Tran in Expend4bles (via Ropa Carlo)

The Promo that was (Encore)
We got many interviews with director Tom DeNucci for smaller outlets. Sadly, we didn’t get any promo by the cast due to the SAG-AFTRA strike rules.

On August 8, Tom DeNucci did a podcast episode about the movie, but he didn’t reveal much more than he already had in the interviews. Nevertheless, the episode is his second most-watched of all the podcast episodes (about 61) so far. He also mentioned in his latest podcast episode that he would love to do a sequel.

DeNucci made an appearance at the Brimfield Comic Con (September 5 to 10). He hasn’t posted any new material lately.

David Dastmalchian volunteering at the local food bank (via Box Lunch)

What are Cast and Crew up to?
There haven’t been many sightings of the MacGyver cast:

  • Rebooted Murdoc David Dastmalchian volunteered at the local food bank in LA a few days ago.
  • Henry Ian Cusick attended DragonCon in Atlanta (August 31 to September 4).
  • Justin Hires continued with Comedy Stand-Up appearances and recording podcast episodes. Filming his Stand-Up Special in New York fell through.

The US release date for Expend4bles (aka The Expendables 4) is set for September 22, but Levy Tran probably can’t promote it (unless they pre-recorded some stuff on set).

It’s a pity that after Secret Headquarters, another big movie with Levy falls through regarding promo (last time due to Paramount pushing the movie to streaming instead of the cinematic released they had initially planned, this time due to the strike).

Levy Tran as Lash in an Expend4bles photo shoot (via Line Today)

ICYMI: A new credit has been added to the IMDb page of Tristin Mays recently: Short Film Hopeless Romantic, which was filmed in March 2022. It was screened at Climax Film Festival in November 2022). She postd a few photos from a Beyoncé concert but otherwise, she wasn’t as active on social media as usual.

Maureen Ryan is still doing interviews for her book Burn It Down. She mentioned Lucas Till in an interview with Adam Conover:

He actually said to me in our very first conversation: “I don’t care if I never work again. I cannot take the work environment my colleagues are being put through.” And then it came out what that work environment was doing to him.

Hollywood’s Toxic Underbelly with Maureen Ryan, August 23, 2023

There were some more sightings of MacGyver writers, cast and crew members and guest stars at the picketing sites in LA and NY though; e.g. Teresa Huang, Kate Bond, David Slack, Joy Sunday, Alexandra Grey, Tate Donovan or Jeri Ryan.

Levy in Ju Jitsu class (via Elen Catiuce)

Other MacGyver-related News
Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

  • Movie Million Followers with Henry Ian Cusick was shopped at TIFF (Toronto Film Festival, September 7 to 17).
  • Richard Dean Anderson is scheduled to appear at Comic Con Brussels (Belgium, November 4 and 5), at Hero Festival (Marseille, November 11 and 12) and at Basingstoke Comic Con (London, May 10 to 12, 2024).
  • Another volume of David Dastmalchians comic series Count Crowley hits stores on November 8. Unlike with movie projects, he’s allowed to promote the comic.
  • Kate Bond (who played Jill on the MacGyver Reboot) is listed as a guest star for an upcoming episode of Magnum PI. Episode 5×17: Consciousness of Guilt was co-written by her husband David Slack.

MacGyver Reboot Update #194

The Collective was released on August 4 in the US. While the reviews were mixed, fans are still eager to share and promote the movie on social media.

Mama Till and Lucas Till (via Dana Till)

(For more material and to discuss your favourite topics, you can find me on Twitter and on the MacGyverOnline Forums.)

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The Collective with Lucas Till
Since August 4, The Collective has been released in several countries. Turkey also did an official premiere event for the cinematic release; handing out goodies (e.g. tote bags and postcards) for the attending guests.

While many reviews are mixed and user ratings are rather low, the interest is still there to check it out and search for it online: The trailer with the most views on YouTube is the official trailer by US distributor Quiver Distribution; reaching 280’000 hits today. It’s now in the Top 12 of all their videos. They also gained more than 1800 new subscribers since the trailer was released.

Official Poster for The Collective in Turkey (via Beyazperde)

With a limited release, it’s difficult to get numbers on how well it has been doing. And The Collective isn’t treated with respect much (Amazon lists only three actors in the cast list with Lucas as the lead not even being one of them). But the movie is listed in the Amazon Prime Top 10 for several countries; e.g. South Africa (six consecutive days), Malawi and Uganda.

How to watch The Collective with Lucas Till?
As it’s a limited release, you best check on a cinema website if there’s still a screening nearby. I’ve seen screenings listed for locations in California, Georgia, Texas and Florida.

US distributor Quiver Distribution lists several streaming services on their website: AppleTV, Amazon, Vudu-Fandango, Microsoft, Google Play, Comcast, Spectrum, Cox, DirecTV, Dish and Verizon. Other sites also list Hoopla and YouTube.

Official Cinema Promo for The Collective in Turkey (via Alican Yenice)

There’s a few more international upcoming release dates (to be found either on IMDb or on the distributors’ websites); e.g. September 21 for the Netherlands and Belgium.

Amazon US lists the DVD to be released on September 19. Checking the backcover preview, it doesn’t look like there’s any bonus material included (at least not in the US version).

The Promo that wasn’t (Encore)
Sadly, we didn’t get any promo by the cast due to the SAG-AFTRA strike rules. And knowing that most actors and crew members move on when a project is further behind them (and they’re busy with new projects), it’s not very likely that we will get to see much BtS material in the future.

DVD Back Cover Preview for The Collective (via Amazon US)

Since it doesn’t look like the strike is resolved any time soon, people will be so happy to be back at work that they will mostly share stuff from the projects they’re currently working on (and not old ones released months ago).

The best chance for new material would be if we get international screenings after the strike, but that doesn’t seem very linkely (since action movies without A-listers aren’t a good candidate for festival circuits).

The writers, producers and directors don’t have the same strike rules regarding promo. Therefore, Director Tom DeNucci continued posting more BtS videos. He didn’t offer much material with Lucas, though. And we also didn’t get any BtS material regarding the photoshoot for the poster.

Character Poster for Levy Tran in Expend4bles (via ScreenRant)

The Promo that was: Interviews (Encore)
We got many interviews with director Tom DeNucci for smaller outlets (because due to the strike, he couldn’t share the workload). Here’s an overview of the interesting tidbits:

  • Written interview with The Knockturnal (the movie was filmed within 15 days)
  • Written and video interview with The Action Elite (DeNucci praised Lucas and how quickly he took to the physical acting)
  • Written and video interview with Screen Rant (developing Lucas’ character Sam in collaboration with Lucas and having the same sense of humour)
  • Video interview with WorldFilm Geek (the potential of a sequel)
  • Video interview with Movie Show Plus (DeNucci and Lucas played video games together)
  • Video interview with Watch or Pass (Lucas was very nice on set to everybody; despite the pressure of being Number 1 on the call sheet)
  • Video interview with LRM Online (Lucas does the majority of his own stunts)
  • Video interview with Fandomize (the “Pistol Puppet” and the science of film making)
  • Video interview with The Screen Chatter Interview Page (fight choreography)
  • Video interview with Nerds Rule The World (the duality of Lucas having a baby face and the quiet assertiveness)
  • Video interview with Deepest Dreams (Lucas having the all the intrinsical qualities of a hero; including a gentlemanly way of carrying himself)
  • Audio interview with Castle Bridge Media (Lucas being the quarterback of the movie)
  • Video interview with The Jan Price Show
  • Audio interview with Slice of SciFi (the precision of Lucas’ fight scenes)
  • Written interview with MovieWeb (there might be a BluRay release in October)

It’s interesting how many of the interviewers asked about the potential of a sequel or how many reviews brought up the potential of this being a TV show instead of a movie.

Stephanie Hicks, Aleks Biskis, Monica Macer and Curran Sullivan (via Teresa Huang)

On August 8, Tom DeNucci did a podcast episode about the movie, but he didn’t reveal much more than he already had in the interviews. Nevertheless, the episode is his second most-watched of all the podcast episodes (about 58) so far.

In spite of these shortcomings, The Collective manages to salvage itself through sporadic bursts of action and character-driven intrigue. The film’s pacing keeps audiences engaged, and its thematic exploration of vigilante justice and morality adds a layer of depth to the proceedings. While not groundbreaking, the movie serves as a competent entry into the action thriller genre.

Been To The Movies, August 14, 2023

DeNucci will make an appearance at the Brimfield Comic Con (September 5 to 10); but it’s not clear if he will talk about The Collective some more.

What are Cast and Crew up to?
Lucas Till didn’t just have a movie release, but also his 33th birthday to celebrate. Mama Till was so nice to provide us with a new/old photo (probably taken in autumn; judging by the trees in the background).

We don’t know how he spent his birthday, but he got some birthday wishes on social media by friends and co-workers; e.g. MacGyver Still Photographer Guy D’Alema.

Levy Tran in Expend4bles (via Ropa Carlo)

In recent weeks, several MacGyver cast and crew members and guest stars have hit the picketing sites in LA and NY; e.g. Joy Sunday, Tate Donovan or Jeri Ryan. Writer Teresa Huang met up with Showrunner Monica Macer, actress Camille Mana and writers Stephanie Hicks and Aleks Biskis.

With Levy Tran being very low-profile on social media lately, it was nice to see her out with friends for ice cream. The US release date for Expend4bles (aka The Expendables 4) is still set for September 22, but she probably can’t promote it (unless they pre-recorded some stuff on set).

A new credit has been added to the IMDb page of Tristin Mays recently: Short Film Hopeless Romantic, which was filmed in March 2022. It apparently already had screenings at film festivals last year (e.g. Climax Film Festival in November 2022). Interestingly, one of the producers and co-stars is Jack Kesy (lead actor of the movie Bang she filmed last Summer).

Tristin Mays at a networking event (via Plus1 Network)

In one of his podcast episodes, Justin Hires talked about being “the quota black guy” on TV and what he would do differently now. He’s currently in New York for several Comedy Stand-Up appearances (and maybe also filming his Stand-Up Special).

Other MacGyver-related News
Henry Ian Cusick was scheduled to attend East European Comic Con in Romania (August 25 to 27), but once again cancelled a convention appearance (the reasons are unknown, but maybe related to the recent wildfires in Hawaii). Another volume of David Dastmalchians comic series Count Crowley hits stores on November 8.

MacGyver Reboot Update #193

The wait is over: The Collective is being released in the US today. Fans are very excited; sharing and promoting on social media while cast and crew can’t.

Lucas Till in an Official Still for The Collective (via Great Escape)

(For more material and to discuss your favourite topics, you can find me on Twitter and on the MacGyverOnline Forums.)

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The Collective with Lucas Till
About seven months ago, we realized that Lucas Till is filming a new movie. And for once, the wait until the release wasn’t too long (remember that it took about two years for Son of the South to be released and about four years for Monster Trucks).

On June 27, we got the first official trailer and some official stills. Several accounts uploaded it to YouTube (and still do every day). The trailer with the most views has more than 250’000 hits.

Official Poster for The Collective (via IMDb)

On July 11, we got a new poster in a different style and color tone; matching the trailer credits (presumably for the theatrical release). Quiver Distribution provided two slightly different posters in the same style, but with half the cast each (the good ones vs. the villains) on July 20. On the same day, yet another poster in a different style (tagline: When all else fails, they don’t) became the official poster on IMDb.

On July 25, we got an exclusive clip with Lucas Till and Tyrese Gibson by Movie Webb. In the clip, Tyrese’s character Hugo is not too happy with Lucas’ character Sam because he has no military or special ops trained background to take on the mission.

On July 27, Middle East distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment uploaded a completely different trailer with many new scenes and different artwork used for the title credits. They uploaded the trailer again on July 31, providing a release date for a week earlier and a new poster (tagline: Judge. Jury. Executioners.).

Official Poster for The Collective (via Quiver Distribution )

How to watch The Collective?
As it’s a limited release, you best check on a cinema website if there’s a screening nearby. I’ve seen screenings listed for locations in California, Georgia, Texas and Florida.

US distributor Quiver Distribution lists several streaming services for the R-rated movie on their website: AppleTV, Amazon, Vudu-Fandango, Microsoft, Google Play, Comcast, Spectrum, Cox, DirecTV, Dish and Verizon.

There’s also a few international release dates (to be found either on IMDb or on the distributors’ websites):

  • August 10 for the Middle East
  • August 18 for Turkey
  • September 21 for the Netherlands and Belgium

Amazon US lists the DVD to be released on September 19. Checking the backcover preview, it doesn’t look like there’s any bonus material included (at least not in the US version). The DVD Cover Preview has yet another color style and tagline (Justice takes aim) and shows the logo implemented into the writing.

DVD Cover Preview for The Collective (via Amazon US)

The Promo that wasn’t
Sadly, we didn’t get any promo by the cast. Because it’s an indie production (which usually have lower budgets), fans didn’t expect much promo anyway. But the SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild) joining the writers in their strike had diminished the additional promo by the cast to basically zero. And because the studios and networks are stalling negotiations, this strike will be a long one.

According to the strike guidelines, promo and publicity services for actors are forbidden; meaning no attendance of red carpet events and no promo on social media. Blockbusters like The Meg 2 let the fans and non-union “celebrities” do the photo ops with the occasional introduction of the director; probably to make use of the venues booked and merchandize produced months in advance. But they also have the advantage of BtS interviews filmed on set months ago.

The writers, producers and directors don’t have the same rules regarding promo. Therefore, Director Tom DeNucci continued posting BtS videos.

Lucas Till in an Official Still for The Collective (via Yale Entertainment)

In an interview with Indie Wire (posted on July 24), DeNucci said that he wants to wait until the stars can promote it, but that the release plans are too far along to be rolled back.

As I stated in my last blog post, it’s a pity that promo for yet another project of Lucas has been hindered. Although Son of the South did get some promo in the form of international screenings (after the worst of the pandemic was over), it would have been nice for him to have an event in the US where family and friends can attend as well. And I think he would have liked doing video interviews with some of his co-stars.

The Promo that was: Written Interviews
We got several interviews with director Tom DeNucci for smaller outlets (because the poor guy didn’t have anyone to share the workload with).

In the interview with The Knockturnal, DeNucci revealed that the movie had been filmed within 15 days. In the interview with The Action Elite, DeNucci praised Lucas and how quickly he took to the physical acting during rehearsal with Stunt Coordinator Anthony Hoang. He also teased that Lucas “does something very unique with a couple of shrimp skewers”. With Screen Rant, he talked about developing Lucas’ character Sam in collaboration with Lucas and that they have the same sense of humour.

Official Poster for The Collective (via Front Row Films)

The Promo that was: Video Interviews
In the video interview with WorldFilm Geek, they talked about the potential of a sequel. In the interview with Movie Show Plus, DeNucci revealed that he and Lucas played video games together after work. In the video interview with Watch or Pass, he mentioned Lucas being very nice on set to everybody; despite the pressure of being Number 1 on the call sheet. He also stated that Lucas does the majority of his own stunts; which he repeated in the interview with LRM Online.

At Fandomize, the interviewer turned out to be a Lucas fan as well. DeNucci elaborated on the “Pistol Puppet” used in a scene with Lucas and talked about the science of film making. For The Screen Chatter Interview Page, DeNucci talked about fight choreography.

MacGyver Reboot Reunion Picket Announcement (via Teresa Huang)

We also got some reviews (beware of spoilers!); e.g. by WorldFilm Geek (who gave it a B+ rating) or by Voices from the Balcony (who gave it 3,5 Stars out of 5).

The Collective is a pretty good action thriller which has little nuances of horror (humans chained and locked in cages) and crime drama, but overall fun entertainment. Lucas Till continues his rise as a future action star and Mercedes Varnado makes an excellent feature debut as the ruthless enforcer of the villains. A fun popcorn flick.

World Film Geek, July 31, 2023

What are Cast and Crew up to?
In recent weeks, several MacGyver cast and crew members have hit the picketing sites in LA; e.g. writers Teresa Huang and David Slack or actresses Kate Bond and Sheryl Lee Ralph. On July 27, Teresa tweeted about a MacGyver Reboot Reunion Picket on Monday; inviting former writers, cast, crew and fans to attend.

The group that met up was small, but some MacGyver guest stars were sighted at other picketing locations that day (e.g. Joy Sunday in New York, Sebastian Roche in LA).

Aina Dumlao, Monica Macer, Alex B., Teresa Huang and a Friend on the picket line at Amazon Studios (Amanda Edwards via Getty Images)

Instagram Stories by Meredith Eaton indicated she’s in Hawaii for a few days. Some low-budget productions got a “waiver” from SAG-AFTRA to continue filming (as long as they agree to all the terms that the unions have demanded from the studios). But I haven’t heard anything about someone from the MacGyver cast being back on a film set.

ICYMI: Levy Tran did a podcast episode for Poddywood UK (released on July 3), but wasn’t able to talk about Expend4bles (aka The Expendables 4) much. Due to the strike, it’s unclear if she’s able to do any promo for the movie at all. The US release date is still set for September 22. Her video is the third-most watched of all 99 videos on the Poddywood YouTube account, so fans clearly want to see more of Levy.

With Levy being very low-profile on social media lately, it was nice to see her out with friends for ice cream.

Levy Tran on an ice cream date with friends (via Kinetic Motions)

Despite the strike, David Dastmalchian was able to attend San Diego Comic Con; mostly to talk about his upcoming comic and merchandise projects. He also had a screening for indie movie Late Night with the Devil (according to his Instagram post, the screening was “SAG/strike approved as an independent cinema event”).

The first episode of the animated short series Pizza Girl with Tristin Mays was released on June 19. There has been no news about further episodes (though production probably would have had to stop anyway due to the strike). On July 18, Celeb Secrets released a video interview with the cast. Tristin stated that the loved doing voice acting and that the response to the first clip had been great.

She was spotted at different social events in the last few weeks; e.g. at a networking event, a wedding and at a screening in LA for the movie Talk To Me. She’s probably busy now as she’s become an auntie again.

Video screenshot of Tristin Mays (via Celeb Secrets)

In a short video, Justin Hires revealed that his main YouTube account (that he’s been using since 2009) has been deleted. He hasn’t decided yet if he will re-upload some of his videos as he is still in the process of trying to get it back.

He’s also been preparing to film his first Comedy Stand-Up Special in September in New York.

Other MacGyver-related News
Original MacGyver‘s daughter Wylie Anderson directed her first short movie last year. It was screened at the LA Shorts film festival on July 24. The release date on IMDb was changed from December last year to August 2nd this year. Apparently, she also has the funding ready to direct another project soon.

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed (beware of changes due to the strike):

  • Henry Ian Cusick is scheduled to attend East European Comic Con in Romania (August 25 to 27).
  • Henry Winkler is scheduled for a book tour for his memoir; starting October 31. He has planned stops in Atlanta and LA.

MacGyver Reboot Update #177

Fall TV Season starts in about two weeks. Meanwhile, MacGyver fans are waiting for casting news regarding their favorite cast members.

BtS photo of Secret Headquarters (via Levy Tran)

(For daily news and to discuss your favourite topics, you can find me on Twitter and on the MacGyverOnline Forums.)

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What are Cast and Crew up to?
ICYMI: On August 12, Levy Tran’s movie Secret Headquarters was released on Paramount+. The movie has reached Rank 1 in the streaming charts in five countries so far. The IMDb ratings are rather low, but according to Paramount+ (see this article), Secret Headquarters was their most-watched original movie in the first seven days since its debut on the streaming service.

BtS photo of Secret Headquarters (via Dustin Ingram)

Justin Hires keeps doing comedy shows and podcast episodes. New episodes of his Urban Legendz Podcast interviews should air in September. He has recorded an episode with actor and comedian Alex Thomas, but there’s no release date yet.

During Episode 16 of his F your Feelings podcast, he revealed that he had done a table read with the producers for a TV series named Killing It, but that he didn’t book the role.

ICYMI: Almost three years ago, Justin had written a first draft for the sequel to Half Baked. The movie had been greenlit after getting a tax credit in California; just before the pandemic started in 2020. There hadn’t been any news about the project since then (besides Justin stating months ago that someone else was doing rewrites).

Justin Hires at the Burbank Comedy Festival (Michael S. Schwartz via Getty Images)

On Instagram, Justin recently mentioned that the movie was finally happening, but that he has no say in casting. According to Business Report, filming will take place in Lousiana. According to the Baton Rouge Film Commission, they are currently looking for crew members.

The last sighting of Lucas Till was over a month ago. His brother Nick had a birthday last week, but there were no mentions of a sighting, either. Lucas’ last tweet was September a year ago, so he seems to enjoy the time off social media.

Tristin Mays recently revealed that she is renting out two of her homes by the hour; one of them being the Atlanta home she lived in during filming MacGyver, formerly named The Disco Room (listed now as Boho Loft). The other one is listed as The Enchanted Manor, where she has done several personal photoshoots lately.

Tristin Mays in the Enchanted Manor (via Peerspace)

Interestingly, it appears that she isn’t following Meredith Eaton anymore on Instagram (and vice versa). It’s all speculation, but they might have had a fallout after Tristin working with Ex-Showrunner Peter Lenkov again (and also spending time off work together).

MacGyver on DVD
ICYMI: In France, both the Season 5 DVD and the Complete Series Box Set with 24 discs have a release date of September 21. The DVD cover previews are the same ones as in Germany.

And while CBS Home Entertainment is very busy promoting their other shows on DVD (with lots of bonus materials), there’s still no word about a single Season 5 DVD release in the US for MacGyver.

Nick, Lucas and Mama Till (via Dana Till)

Fall TV Season
The only CBS show currently filming in Georgia area is True Lies (which had moved production after filming the pilot in Toronto in Spring). So far, none of the MacGyver cast or of the writers is attached to any of the CBS rookie shows, but CBS seems rather slow on updating show information on IMDb this year.

Other MacGyver-related News
The MacGyver novel Meltdown is now available as an audiobook. You can order it here.

Crew Calls for Half Baked 2 (via Baton Rouge Film Commission)

In the last few months, the CSI: Vegas social media accounts posted at least three old clips of CSI that had George Eads as fan favourite character Nick Stokes in it. CBS has brought several original characters back to the “sequel” so far, but there has been no information if Nick will visit the CSI labs in Vegas anytime soon.

On August 8, the third cycle of MacGyver Reboot episode reruns started on ion Television; ending with Episode 2×15 on August 29. After a short break, the show will move to Saturday and Sunday mornings; continuing with Episodes 2×16 to 2×18 tomorrow. The Monday block is reserved for reruns of Criminal Minds; probably to promote the return of new episodes on Paramount+ in a few months.

Preview of the French Complete Series DVD Collection (via Amazon)

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

  • The French DVD for Un Fils du Sud (aka Son of the South) with Lucas Till was released on August 23.
  • Filming for Magnum PI Season 5 should start on September 19. The first casting calls for Extras and Stand-Ins are up.
  • Henry Ian Cusick has been cast as a recurring character on the 3rd season of ABC show Big Sky. His first episode will air on September 21.
  • MacGyver Reboot writer Andrew Klein co-wrote the script for RIPD 2: Rise of the Damned, one of Lenkov’s upcoming TV movies. The streaming premiere is set for November 15.
  • The first episode of The Wingfeather Saga (with Henry Ian Cusick) will air on December 2.

MacGyver Reboot Update #176

Levy Tran’s new movie Secret Headquarter is out. Meanwhile, MacGyver fans are waiting for casting news regarding the other cast members.

BtS photo of Secret Headquarters (via Dustin Ingram)

(For daily news and to discuss your favourite topics, you can find me on Twitter and on the MacGyverOnline Forums.)

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What are Cast and Crew up to?
Last Friday, Levy Tran’s movie Secret Headquarters was released on Paramount+. There was just a tiny glimpse of Levy in the trailer, and she wasn’t in any of the 50 Official Stills on IMDb. At least she’s in an Official Still provided in an article by CBS Watch Magazine. There was a red carpet premiere in New York on August 8, but Levy didn’t attend the carpet nor the press day.

Levy Tran as Virginia in Secret Headquarters (Hopper Stone/Paramount Pictures via CBS Watch Magazine)

We got a new BtS photo by fellow actor Dustin Ingram; presumably taken during a break in between weapons training lessons. A few days later, he posted a BtS photo from set. Levy herself posted some BtS photos on Instagram as well.

Reviews so far aren’t overwhelming, and Levy doesn’t have as many scenes as I hoped, but being in a fun family movie might open doors for different roles. The movie has reached Rank 1 in the streaming charts in five countries so far. Because of the push to streaming, the cinematic release in several countries (e.g. Germany) has been cancelled. Since Paramount+ isn’t available in German-speaking countries yet, the movie might get a direct-to-DVD-release instead.

More than 5 months after her episode of Magnum PI aired, Levy also posted some BtS photos.

Nick, Lucas and Mama Till (via Dana Till)

ICYMI: Last month, we got new photos of Lucas Till with Nick and Mama Till. On August 10, Lucas got many birthday wishes on social media. There was a Twitter mention of a sighting in Canada, but no photos nor any further mentions, so we don’t know how he spent his special day.

Justin Hires directed a project in Atlanta a few weeks ago, but we don’t have any further information about it yet. Maybe another music video? He keeps doing comedy shows; mostly in the LA and Florida area. While popping in during the Day 1s Podcast recently, he revealed that he will record more Urban Legendz Podcast interviews soon. The new episodes will presumably start airing next month.

Justin Hires during a stand up comedy set (via Michael Schwartz)

ICYMI: Henry Ian Cusick has been cast as a recurring character on the 3rd season of ABC show Big Sky which is currently filming in New Mexico.

MacGyver on DVD
ICYMI: In France, the Season 4 DVD was released on August 17.

Both the Season 5 DVD and the Complete Series Box Set with 23 discs have a release date of September 21. The DVD cover previews are the same ones as in Germany. There’s no further information about the bonus material yet.

Tristin Mays recording for the MacGyver Musical Concept Album (via MacGyver Global)

MacGyver The Musical
ICYMI: A few weeks ago, they declared RJ Christian as the winner who will sing as Angus MacGyver on the MacGyver musical concept album. He has already recorded his part.

There hasn’t been any confirmation if the release date for the album is still set for September. The official website simply says “fall” and that there will be a few surprises.

CBS Pilot Season (encore)
ICYMI: NBC has ordered 20 more episodes of Magnum PI; split into two seasons. Filming is supposed to start next month, so it will be a midseason show. According to the writers, they will have the same writing crew as for Season 4, so there might be a chance of Levy’s character coming back for another guest appearance.

Lucas Till with friends (via Stephan Perez)

So far, none of the MacGyver cast or of the writers is attached to any of the CBS rookie shows, though some of the MacGyver writers are still working on some older other CBS shows (e.g. Star Trek). Also, CBS seems rather slow on updating show information on IMDb this year.

Other MacGyver-related News
Since last year, Showrunner Monica Macer had been attached to a drama series with Henry Ian Cusick and director David Straiton. Her entry as a producer has been recently removed from the IMDb movie page, while two other producers have been added. It looks like the interest is still there to get the series made, but it might still be stuck in “development hell” for quite some time.

Preview of the French Season 5 DVD (via Amazon)

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

  • MacGyver Reboot writer Andrew Klein co-wrote the script for RIPD 2: Rise of the Damned, one of Lenkov’s upcoming TV movies. The movie (which is actually a prequel) is currently in post-production. Fun Fact: One of the main characters (played by Richard Fleeshman) is actually named Angus.
  • On August 8, the third cycle of MacGyver Reboot episode reruns started on ion Television.
  • According to Amazon France, the DVD for Un Fils du Sud (aka Son of the South) with Lucas Till will be out on August 23.

MacGyver Reboot Update #175

The first trailer of Levy Tran’s new movie is out. Meanwhile, MacGyver fans are waiting for news regarding the other cast members.

ionTV website header

(For daily news and to discuss your favourite topics, you can find me on Twitter and on the MacGyverOnline Forums.)

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What are Cast and Crew up to?
ICYMI: End of June, we got two photos of Lucas Till with Bob Zellner (presumably for an event by Shirts Across America). On July 13, we got a new sighting of Lucas attending a bachelor party in Austin, Texas. His mother Dana Till provided new photos of herself with her sons on July 23.

Lucas Till and Bob Zellner (via Shirts Across America)

Levy Tran’s movie Secret Headquarters will premiere on August 5 on Paramount+. They released an official poster plus the trailer on July 14. There’s just a tiny glimpse of Levy in the trailer, so I’m hoping for more material. About 50 Official Stills have been added on IMDb, but Levy isn’t on any of them and her character doesn’t have a name yet.

Justin Hires was out and about in Atlanta this week. It looks like he filmed a project with some fellow comedians, but we don’t have further information yet. It might be a commercial or a comedy bit. According to an Insta Story a week ago, he also took a Pole Dance Lesson.

BtS photo of Justin Hires (via Teague Hagans)

ICYMI: Henry Ian Cusick attended Mississippi Comic Con; happily posing with fans on photo ops (sometimes even as Russ Taylor). On July 4th, he spent time with some of his LOST-costars in Hawaii. As Deadline reported on July 18, he’s been cast as a recurring character on the 3rd season of ABC show Big Sky.

Tristin Mays hasn’t posted much since wrapping her scenes for Bang, a movie co-written and produced by Ex-Showrunner Peter Lenkov. We got an Instagram Story sighting of her with Alain Uy (who guest-starred in MacGyver Reboot Episode 5×14). He didn’t give any information about location and reasons, but it looked like they’re standing in front of a stage set wall. There was also a sighting at a friend’s birthday party this week.

Tristin Mays sighting (via Alain Uy)

MacGyver on DVD
ICYMI: In Germany, the Season 5 DVD was released on June 30. All the extras (deleted and extended scenes for Episodes 5×06, 5×13, 5×14 and 5×15) have a runtime of about 9 minutes. You can order the DVD here. On the same day, they also released the German version of the Complete Series Box Set with 24 discs. The bonus material is the same as for the single season editions.

In Japan, the Special Selection Season 4 DVD Box and the Season 5 DVD were both released on July 6.

Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim and Henry Ian Cusick (via Josh Holloway)

Overview of the upcoming DVD releases in France:

  • The Season 4 DVD will be released on August 17.
  • The Season 5 DVD will be released on September 21.
  • The Complete Series Box Set with 23 discs will be released on September 21.

MacGyver The Musical
ICYMI: There was a contest of who will sing as MacGyver on the MacGyver musical concept album. Check here for more information on who made it into the public voting phase. Voting ended on July 25. The finalists will be announced on August 1, the winner on August 4.

Tristin Mays recording for the MacGyver Musical Concept Album (via MacGyver Global)

There’s an official poster for the album, but no release date (though it’s been mentioned that it will come out in September).

MacGyver on ionTV
Since July 11, ion Television airs several episodes of Leverage: Redemption on Mondays. To make room on the schedule, ionTV reduced the number of MacGyver reruns; airing 10 episodes instead of 16. The second cycle of reruns will end on August 8; followed by the start of the third cycle on the same day.

Lucas Till with friends (via Shawn Toao Hughes)

CBS Pilot Season (encore)
ICYMI: NBC has ordered 20 more episodes of Magnum PI; split into two seasons. There’s no release date and they haven’t started filming yet, so it will probably be a midseason show. According to the writers, they will have the same writing crew as for Season 4, so there might be a chance of Levy’s character coming back for another guest appearance.

So far, none of the MacGyver cast or of the writers is attached to any of the rookie shows, though some of the MacGyver writers are still working on other CBS shows (e.g. Star Trek).

Other MacGyver-related News
Check out the official SaveMacGyver website and their social media accounts to keep up with news about the #SaveMacGyver movement.

Nick, Lucas and Mama Till (via Dana Till)

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

  • David Dastmalchian has been filming for Late Night With the Devil in Australia. He’s booked for several upcoming movies.
  • MacGyver Reboot writer Andrew Klein co-wrote the script for RIPD 2, one of Lenkov’s upcoming TV movies.
  • Since last year, Showrunner Monica Macer had been attached to a movie with Henry Ian Cusick and director David Straiton. Her name has been recently removed from the IMDb movie page.
  • OG MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson’s daughter Wylie is an actress as well. Her movie Don’t Worry, Darling will premiere at the Venice Film Festival. It’s not clear yet how big her part is and if she and/or her dad will attend the screening.

MacGyver Reboot Update #174

While Tristin Mays has wrapped her scenes for a new movie, MacGyver fans enjoy rewatching their favourite show on DVD.

Bob Zellner, Ms. Wanda and Lucas Till (via Shirts Across America)

(For daily news and to discuss your favourite topics, you can find me on Twitter and on the MacGyverOnline Forums.)

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MacGyver on DVD
ICYMI: In the US, the Complete Series DVD Box (including Season 5) with 21 discs was released on June 14. You can order it here. Sadly, the box set doesn’t include any bonus material. There’s also no release date so far for a single Season 5 DVD edition in the US.

In Germany, the Season 5 DVD was released yesterday. As bonus material, there’s several deleted and extended scenes. They all belong to scenes filmed under new showrunner Monica Macer (Episodes 5×06, 5×13, 5×14 and 5×15) and have a runtime of about 9 minutes. You can order the DVD here.

MacGyver Season 5 DVD back cover (German version, via World Of Games)

They also released the German version of the Complete Series Box Set with 24 discs. On the box, the bonus material listed is the same as for Seasons 1 and 2.

Overview of the upcoming DVD releases in France:

  • The Season 4 DVD will be released on August 17.
  • The Season 5 DVD will be released on September 21.
  • The Complete Series Box Set with 23 discs will be released on September 21.

Overview of the upcoming DVD releases in other countries:

  • In Japan, the Special Selection Season 4 DVD Box and the Season 5 DVD will both be released on July 6.

What are Cast and Crew up to?
On Tuesday, we got a new sighting of Lucas Till and Bob Zellner (presumably for an event by Shirts Across America).

Tristin Mays enjoying some downtime (via Peter Lenkov)

Tristin Mays has wrapped her scenes for Bang, a movie co-written and produced by Ex-Showrunner Peter Lenkov. During downtime, they visited an Elephant Resort, took a boat ride or had dinner in a rooftop restaurant. She hasn’t posted for a while. It’s possible she has left Thailand by now.

Henry Ian Cusick has been cast as the voice actor for “Peet the Sock Man” on the Wingfeather Saga; an animated series based on the books by Andrew Peterson. Last week, he attended Mississippi Comic Con; happily posing with fans on photo ops (sometimes even as Russ Taylor).

Henry Ian Cusick at Mississippi Comic Con (via Erika Lovingfoss)

MacGyver The Musical
ICYMI: Last month, they finished recording the MacGyver musical concept album – or so we thought. As it turns out, there is a contest of who will sing as MacGyver. The winner will be flown to New York City for a recording session. Check here for more information (e.g. submission guidelines) or check out the announcement by Tristin.

There’s an official poster for the album now, but no official release date (though it’s been mentioned that it will come out in September).

MacGyver on ionTV
ICYMI: ion Television is currently airing the second cycle of reruns. There will be no reruns on July 4th.

Cover for the MacGyver musical concept album

Starting July 11, ionTV will air Leverage: Redemption on Mondays. To make room on the schedule, they will reduce the number of MacGyver reruns; airing 10 episodes instead of 16. I’ve seen a lot of posts on Twitter and FB by people who just started watching the Reboot, so it’s nice they keep airing it.

CBS Pilot Season (encore)
A while ago, CBS and their affiliate network The CW cancelled almost a dozen shows. This morning, they also axed Tom Swift, the CW show MacGyver-writer Teresa Huang had worked on. One of the set designers of the Reboot had also worked on Tom Swift in Atlanta, which is why he had been able to re-design the Phoenix Foundation stage plane and bring it over to the new stage location.

Justin Hires doing Comedy Stand-Up at the Laugh Factory (via Justin Hires)

In further news, cast contracts for Magnum PI ran out yesterday, and it looks like they waited until the last moment to get negotiations done. According to Deadline, NBC has ordered 20 more episodes split into two seasons. There’s no information yet when filming is supposed to start.

Even though the show is saved, there probably won’t be any characters of fully-owned CBS shows (e.g. Angus MacGyver) showing up for a crossover. I’m also not sure if Levy Tran could come back as the character she played in Season 4. It might depend on the writer’s room (aka which writers and producers will be brought back).

Other MacGyver-related News
ICYMI: Lenkov recently posted some stories about the Unaired MacGyver Pilot script (presumably the edited version he “MacGyvered” out of the script used for filming the unaired pilot).

(Note: I’ve written several blog posts about the Unaired Pilot Script. You can find an overview of these posts here.)

Excerpt of the revised Unaired MacGyver Pilot Script (via Peter Lenkov)

Check out the official SaveMacGyver website and their social media accounts to keep up with news about the #SaveMacGyver movement. There still very active; engaging the community.

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

  • Reign Edwards was a speaker at the 6th annual Women in Entertainment Summit on June 22.
  • According to Variety, David Dastmalchian has been cast in the movie Late Night With the Devil. The movie is currently shooting in Australia.
  • Levy Tran’s upcoming movie Secret Headquarters will premiere on Paramount+ in August. There are no promo photos nor a poster yet.

MacGyver Reboot Update #173

While Tristin Mays is busy filming a new movie in Thailand, most of the MacGyver cast have disappeared from social media.

Complete Series DVD Box Cover (US version, via Nothing But Geek)

(For daily news and to discuss your favourite topics, you can find me on Twitter and on the MacGyverOnline Forums.)

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MacGyver on DVD
In the US, the Complete Series DVD Box (including Season 5) with 21 discs was released on June 14. You can order it here.

As a photo of the back cover reveals, the box set doesn’t include any bonus material. Sadly, the entire box looks rather cheap. There’s also no release date yet for a single Season 5 DVD edition in the US.

Complete Series US DVD Box Back Cover (via Minnie Mama)

Overview of the upcoming DVD releases in Germany:

  • The Season 5 DVD will be released on June 30. The listed bonus material says there will be deleted and extended scenes. You can pre-order it here.
  • The Complete Series Box Set with 24 discs will be released on June 30. So far, the bonus material listed is the same as for Seasons 1 and 2.

Overview of the upcoming DVD releases in France:

  • The Season 4 DVD will be released on August 17.
  • The Season 5 DVD will be released on September 21.
  • The Complete Series Box Set with 23 discs will be released on September 21.

Overview of the upcoming DVD releases in other countries:

  • In Japan, the Special Selection Season 4 DVD Box and the Season 5 DVD will both be released on July 6.

What are Cast and Crew up to?
Tristin Mays has boarded the movie Bang, co-written by Ex-Showrunner Peter Lenkov. It’s currently filming in Thailand; also starring Peter Weller (who played Elliott Mason on the MacGyver Reboot). While Weller had his last filming day yesterday, Lenkov just arrived today in Bangkok; visiting the set already.

BtS photo of Tristin Mays in Bang (via Wych Kaosayananda)

Based on BtS photos by the director, it looks like Tristin plays the girlfriend of one of the lead actors. BtS photos can be deceiving, though. And there’s still no IMDb entry for the project with further information.

Henry Ian Cusick has been cast as the voice actor for “Peet the Sock Man” on the Wingfeather Saga. The animated series is based on the books by Andrew Peterson and should be released this Winter.

There have been no sightings of Lucas Till, Levy Tran or Meredith Eaton lately.

MacGyver Promo (via ionTV)

Back in January, Tristin pondered on Twitter if she should delete the app; stating that she keeps forgetting on having an account and needing to set reminders to even post there. This week, she DID delete Twitter and also cleaned up once again her Instagram account; deleting the majority of posts.

The fact that she’s working with Lenkov again (who’s been fired for abusive behavior and creating a toxic work environment) plus some of her recent posts on social media caused quite a bit of an outcry. It’s not clear if this was a reaction to it. Both her and Levy Tran have cleaned up their Instagram accounts before: Tristin went from about 900 posts in June last year down to about 150 at the moment; Levy went from about 460 posts last June down to 200.

Cast announcements (via The Wingfeather Saga)

MacGyver on ionTV
ICYMI: ion Television is currently airing the second cycle of reruns. The Monday schedule has one episode of NCIS: New Orleans, followed by 5 episodes of NCIS: LA and 16 episodes of MacGyver.

The website announced that Leverage: Redemption will air on Mondays as well; starting July 11. It’s not clear yet if MacGyver will stay (e.g. by reducing the number of episodes) or not. I’ve seen a lot of posts on Twitter and FB by people who just started watching the Reboot on ionTV, not knowing about the show before. It would be nice if the networks keeps the reruns going.

CBS Pilot Season (encore)
ICYMI: CBS and their affiliate network The CW cancelled almost a dozen shows. One of these shows is Magnum PI, the last of the Lenkoverse shows.

MacGyver Promo (via ionTV)

As Deadline reported, talks are underway for NBC and/or USA Network to keep the show going. Cast contracts are presumably running out by the end of the month, but there haven’t been any news regarding a potential renewal since my last blog post. Even if the show is saved, there probably won’t be any characters of fully-owned CBS shows (e.g. Angus MacGyver) showing up for a crossover.

Other MacGyver-related News
ICYMI: Lenkov recently posted some stories about the Unaired MacGyver Pilot script (presumably the edited version he “MacGyvered” out of the script used for filming the unaired pilot).

(Note: I’ve written several blog posts about the Unaired Pilot Script. You can find an overview of these posts here.)

Excerpt of the revised Unaired MacGyver Pilot Script (via Peter Lenkov)

Check out the official SaveMacGyver website and their social media accounts to keep up with news about the #SaveMacGyver movement.

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

  • Reign Edwards is a speaker at the 6th annual Women in Entertainment Summit on June 22.
  • Henry Ian Cusick is scheduled for photo ops at Mississippi Comic Con on June 25 and June 26.
  • Levy Tran’s upcoming movie Secret Headquarters will premiere on Paramount+ in August.
  • The concept album for the MacGyver musical should be out in September.