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 #183

The MacGyver cast has been busy in recent months. There are several projects in post-production; most of them being released this year.

Christmas family photo with Lucas Till (via Dana Till)

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

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Upcoming Projects for the MacGyver Cast
Several cast members of the MacGyver Reboot have projects in post-production. Sadly, there isn’t much information yet. Most of the cast members have been laying low on social media and didn’t post much themselves. But some were tagged in photos and videos by other people – mostly in work-related projects, but also after work.

The IMDb entry for The Collective with Lucas Till keeps getting updated, but it’s a slow process. Director Tom DeNucci isn’t very forthcoming with material revealing faces or names. In his latest podcast episode, he mentioned that there are still a few surprises coming our way.

George Eads spending Christmas with friends (via Carrie Berkman Lewis)

Some of the crew members uploaded short video snippets as an end-of-year-review. We got a few snippets with Lucas; e.g. by Instagram Accounts “Keyy West” or “brandnamekel“. So far, no one has posted a nice BtS photo in good quality. This makes it a lot harder for fans to share content and promote the movie.

Filming for The Comic Shop with Tristin Mays has wrapped just before Christmas. We got several BtS photos of Tristin with co-stars and crew members; e.g. by David Lautman, by director Jonathan Bowen or by producer Eduard Osipov. There is still no official information yet about Bang, the movie that Tristin filmed last Summer in Thailand.

Jesse Metcalfe and Tristin Mays in a BtS photo on set of The Comic Shop (via David Lautman)

Levy Tran plays a coroner in action movie For Cory. The release date for Expend4bles has been set for September.

Justin Hires filmed a pilot presentation in Atlanta recently. After finishing Half Baked 2, he’s now working on the script for Homecoming again (a movie that has been in development for quite some time).

Movie Jamojaya with Henry Ian Cusick will premiere at Sundance Film Festival on January 23. Including the premiere, there will be 7 screenings. Meanwhile, there are only two more episodes left for Season 3 of Big Sky. The ratings aren’t that great, so current predictions lean towards cancellation.

George Eads spending Christmas with friends (via Chaz Dean)

Meredith Eaton tweeted in November that she has several projects in the pipepline, but there hasn’t been any indication that she’s been filming a project. Maybe it’s the book she talked about wanting to write?

We got several sightings while the cast celebrated Christmas; e.g. of Lucas (by Mama Till) or of George Eads (by ex-wife Monika Casey).

MacGyver on TV
ICYMI: CBS streaming service Paramount+ was launched in German-speaking regions on December 8. I’ve seen several tweets about the MacGyver Reboot not being available (presumably because it’s currently on Amazon Prime here) and the Original Show not being available in HD.

Promo Tweet for MacGyver on ion Mystery

Starting January 8, the reruns of the MacGyver Reboot ionTV will be replaced by reruns of Bones. Instead, the reruns of MacGyver will air on ion Mystery. Starting today with the first 10 episodes of Season 1, it will be back on Fridays.

German FreeTV channel Kabel 1 aired four episodes back to back on Saturdays since mid-November. Sadly, after airing Episode 2×03 before the Christmas Break, it has already replaced them with reruns of Hawaii Five-0. At least, German FreeTV channel Nitro started airing the Original Show again.

Other MacGyver-related News
ICYMI: Original MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson and his Stargate SG-1 co-star Amanda Tapping attended the Paris Manga Sci-Fi Show on December 3rd and 4th. They attended two panels and several hours of photo and autograph sessions. In Episode 252 of the YVR Screen Scene Podcast (uploaded on January 4), Amanda talked about her projects and that she talks (or texts) with RDA all the time, even though they don’t see each other very often.

Levy Tran and her Jiu Jitsu class (via Roberto Traven)

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

• Sandrine Holt has been cast in Disney+ Series Daredevil.
• The German DVD/BluRay of Secret Headquarters will be released on January 19, 2023.
• Starting today, the MacGyver Musical Album can be pre-ordered. You can find the track list and the pre-order link here. The release date is set for January 27.

MacGyver Reboot Update #182

The MacGyver cast has been busy in recent months. Fans will get to enjoy several movies of their favorites next year.

Cast announcement for The Collective (via Deadline)

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

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New Projects for the MacGyver Cast
Filming for The Collective with Lucas Till has wrapped. Sadly, the fans didn’t get more BtS material with Lucas yet since director Tom DeNucci made sure to hide the identity of the cast in the handful of BtS clips. There were a few hints at potential co-stars (e.g. Mercedes Varnado aka Sasha Banks, Tyrese Gibson or Ruby Rose), though.

On December 8, Deadline finally posted the official press release; confirming a few suspicions (e.g. Don Johnson starring) and providing new information. The article got shared on social media by several producers, crew and cast members and also by Justin Hires. Meredith Eaton shared the post by Mama Till a few days later.

Stunt Rehearsal Shirt with Logo (video screenshot via Devin Powell)

The IMDb entry has been updated as well, but isn’t complete yet. Here’s the extended storyline:

(…) a group of righteous assassins called The Collective take aim at a highly sophisticated human trafficking ring backed by a network of untouchable billionaires. (…) The Collective has no choice but to put their most important mission in the hands of rookie assassin, Sam Alexander (Till). What he lacks in experience he makes up for in savvy, grit, and a keen ability to improvise in the most dangerous situations. (…)

Deadline, November 8, 2022

I did see some wrap posts by crew members (e.g. the costume departement) before Thanksgiving; assuming that filming was done. Yet filming resumed after the holidays, but with different crew members.

As it turns out, some of the crew had gone on strike at the end of November; asking for a union agreement along with industry standard benefits and protections. According to the Ipswich Local News, the production company was charged for “committing numerous unfair labor practices” by IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees).

Jesse Metcalfe and Tristin Mays in a BtS photo on set of The Comic Shop (via Micah Giovanni)

According to an Insta Story by Micah Giovanni, Tristin Mays has been filming scenes for an indie movie called The Comic Shop, starring Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives). Tristin also picked up a new hobby recently, creating charcuterie boards (which are already sold out in her Etsy Shop). Her Twitter account has been deleted once again.

ICYMI: Levy Tran is part of action movie For Cory, which is currently in post-production. She plays a coroner, but we don’t have any details about her character or the storyline via IMDb yet.

Movie Jamojaya with Henry Ian Cusick will premiere at Sundance Film Festival (January 19 to 29). Meanwhile, he’s still busy filming episodes for Big Sky. Sundance is a very prestigious festival, so lets hope he gets some time off to attend.

Henry Ian Cusick in a BtS photo on set of Big Sky (via Amy Puente)

What are Cast and Crew up to?
Meredith Eaton tweeted on November 19 that she has several projects in the pipepline and that she can’t wait to share them with us. So far, she hasn’t revealed any concrete news.

ICYMI: In the latest episode of his Urban Legendz podcast, Justin Hires talked about filming his pilot presentation in Atlanta (he didn’t reveal what the project is about).

There will be another rerun of The Christmas Sitters with Tristin Mays on ionTV on December 24. The movie is also available in German (e.g. via Amazon, AmazonPrime or YouTube).

Cover Preview for Burn It Down (via Amazon Germany)

Paramount+ launching in Europe
ICYMI: CBS streaming service Paramount+ was launched in German-speaking regions on December 8. I’ve seen some tweets about MacGyver not being available (presumably because it’s currently on Amazon Prime in Germany), but Levy Tran’s movie Secret Headquarters is accessible.

Other MacGyver-related News
Original MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson and his Stargate SG-1 co-star Amanda Tapping attended the Paris Manga Sci-Fi Show on December 3rd and 4th. They attended two panels and several hours of photo and autograph sessions.

Apparently, both have been invited to attend Fedcon in Germany next May. While Amanda already scheduled an attendance, RDA hasn’t decided yet.

Amanda Tapping and Richard Dean Andersin at Paris Manga Sci-Fi Show (via Objectif Festival)

Reruns of the MacGyver Reboot keep airing ionTV. While they don’t do any advertizing for the show anymore, the numbers must still be good enough. Since November 12, German FreeTV channel Kabel 1 airs four episodes back to back on Saturdays.

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

• The first episode of Henry Ian Cusick’s The Wingfeather Saga aired on December 2.
• Sandrine Holt has been cast in Disney+ Series Daredevil.
• The German DVD/BluRay of Secret Headquarters will be released on January 19, 2023. The listed bonus material for the DVD reads “The Secret Headquarter”, Gag Reel, Extended and Deleted Scenes. The BluRay has additional extras.
• Maureen Ryan’s book about toxic showrunners and toxicity in Hollywood will be released on June 6 next year.

MacGyver Reboot Update #181

It’s been confirmed that Lucas Till is working on several projects; including an action movie. Meanwhile, Tristin Mays explored more of her creative side.

BtS video screenshot for The Collective (via Tom DeNucci)

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

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New Projects with Lucas Till
It has been an exciting time for Lucas Till fans. After a long drought, it’s been confirmed that he is working on several projects. For episode The War Bride of the podcast True War Stories: Mission Report, Lucas voices parts of the narration of war veteran Stephen Spencer. In the BtS interview for the episode, he talked with producer Nat Mundel about several topics (e.g. about finding a Boston accent and taking care of his garden).

Video screenshot of Tristin Mays being creative (via Instagram)

On November 7, we realized that Lucas is working on a new movie in Boston. In the following weeks, we got several exciting material via social media:

• A photo of Lucas posing with co-star Holly Sullivan on Rexhame Beach.
• A glimpse of Lucas in an Instagram video; wearing a white suit (with stains looking like fake blood).
• An impressive pre-production video of Lucas doing stunt rehearsals.
• Several BtS clips by director Tom DeNucci; e.g. a BtS video of Lucas preparing to film a driving scene.
• An Instagram Story showing a Make-Up Work Station with a Call Sheet on it.

There are several projects called The Collective on IMDb, but only one entry has been updated recently (on November 10). In case you missed it, here’s the synopsis:

A young recruit to a mysterious agency of assassins finds himself going rouge on his first assignment, tracking down a dangerous group of human traffickers.

The Collective (IMDb)

There’s still no cast attached to the IMDb entry. Considering that there’s no entry for Tristin Mays’ movie Bang either (which was filmed in early Summer), it might take a while.

Henry Ian Cusick in a BtS photo on set of Big Sky (via Angelique Cabral)

What are Cast and Crew up to?
Meredith Eaton tweeted on November 19 that she has several projects in the pipepline and that she can’t wait to share them with us.

According to IMDb, Levy Tran is part of action movie For Cory, which is already in post-production and was filmed in Atlanta this fall. The BtS photos and clips I’ve seen on Instagram look very action-heavy, but I haven’t seen Levy in any BtS stuff. She plays a coroner, so it’s possible that her role isn’t as big as we’d like. Several names of the cast members are familiar, as they have been in the stunt crew on the MacGyver Reboot.

BtS photo of Half Baked 2 (via Justin Hires)

Filming for Justin Hires’ Half Baked 2 wrapped on November 11. There’s no release date yet. In the latest episode of his Urban Legendz podcast, he talked to Diallo Riddle about just returning from Atlanta to film his pilot presentation (it’s not stated when the podcast episode was recorded).

There was a rerun of The Christmas Sitters with Tristin Mays on ionTV on November 27. There will be another rerun on December 24. The movie is also available in German (e.g. on DVD via Amazon or on streaming via YouTube or Amazon Prime).

Tristin also picked up a new hobby in creating charcuterie boards (which she sells in her new Etsy Shop). The first batch has already been sold out.

DVD Cover for The Christmas Sitter, German Version (via Amazon Germany)

Paramount+ launching in Europe
ICYMI: CBS streaming service Paramount+ was launched in France yesterday. It will be available in Germany, Switzerland and Austria on December 8.

I haven’t seen anything about the availability of the MacGyver Reboot (since it’s currently available on Amazon Prime in Germany), but Levy Tran’s movie Secret Headquarters will be available.

Other MacGyver-related News
Reruns of the MacGyver Reboot keep airing ionTV. Reruns of FBI starting in January will air on Mondays, so the reboot is probably safe for now with its episodes airing on the weekends. Since November 12, German FreeTV channel Kabel 1 airs four episodes back to back on Saturdays.

Brad William Henke as Jonah Walsh in MacGyver (via MacGyverOnline)

In sad news, guest star actor Brad William Henke has passed away at the age of 56. He played Jonah Walsh in Episode 2×23 (MacGyver + MacGyver). In April last year, he revealed in a tweet that the initial idea had been to bring back his character in Season 3:

(…) they told me they were going to bring me back the next season for five episodes and then they just ghosted me.

Brad William Henke, via Twitter (April 30, 2021)

There’s no further information about why the character had been dropped. Nevertheless, it sparked several ideas for FanFiction as many fans lamented a missed opportunity on a very interesting storyline idea. My guess is the constant rotation of writers and the difficulties in the writers room due to ex-showrunner Peter Lenkov.

One of the writers of this episode (David Slack) didn’t come back for Season 3. It’s possible that the character for this storyline had been his idea and therefore, it “disappeared” – similiar to the character of Jill Morgan, played by his wife Kate Bond (the character was written off in the first episode of Season 3).

Tristin Mays in Sweeney Todd (via Kevin Bennylee)

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

• Citing a “restructuring and streamlining of leadership at CBS Entertainment”, Kelly Kahl has been let go as CBS Entertainment President by the end of the year. It’s not clear if this might affect the MacGyver franchise in any way.
• The first episode of Henry Ian Cusick’s The Wingfeather Saga airs today.
• Original MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson and his Stargate SG-1 co-star Amanda Tapping will attend the Paris Manga Sci-Fi Show (on December 3rd and 4th).
• The German DVD/BluRay of Levy Tran’s movie Secret Headquarters will be released on January 19, 2023. There’s no information regarding bonus material yet.

MacGyver Reboot Update #180

It has been an exciting month for Lucas Till fans. After a long drought, it’s been confirmed that he is working on several projects; including an action movie.

Lucas Till and Holly Sullivan between takes (via Cindy Sullivan)

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

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New Lucas Till Projects
In my last blog post, I lamented the lack of Lucas Till news. Just a day later, Mama Till posted about Lucas being involved in an episode of the podcast True War Stories: Mission Report. In episode The War Bride (uploaded on October 26), Lucas voices parts of the narration of war veteran Stephen Spencer.

A few days later, Lucas made a comeback on Instagram. Over a year after his last post, he added the Season 2 trailer of the podcast. In the BtS interview for the episode, he talked with producer Nat Mundel about finding a Boston accent, about living in Atlanta and taking care of his new garden. He revealed that he’s working on a few projects, but that he doesn’t want to talk about them until they’re done and ready to be released.

Stunt Rehearsal Shirt with Logo (via Tom DeNucci)

Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long: On November 7, we got photos of Lucas working on an action movie set at Rexhame Beach in Boston. (Guess the Boston accent wasn’t just for the podcast, huh.) The proud mother of his co-star Holly Sullivan posted a few photos on Facebook. One of them shows Lucas wearing a Go-Pro camera and a leather jacket; looking happy and rested. A few days later, she deleted the photos of Lucas and altered the description – but didn’t delete the two photos with just her daughter.

There was also a glimpse of Lucas in an Instagram video; wearing a white suit (with stains looking like fake blood). Sifting through older material, I found a few pre-production videos of director Tom DeNucci. There’s an impressive video of Lucas doing stunt rehearsals, and it looks like the movie will be very action-packed. There’s also a BtS video of Lucas preparing to film a driving scene.

Make-Up Work Station (via Jessica Galdy)

On November 11, MakeUp Artist Jessica Galdy posted an Insta Story of her work table – maybe not realizing there was a call sheet revealing the title of the project. (Tom DeNucci confirmed the title yesterday.)

There are several projects called The Collective on IMDb, but only one entry has been updated recently (on November 10). Here’s the synopsis:

A young recruit to a mysterious agency of assassins finds himself going rouge on his first assignment, tracking down a dangerous group of human traffickers.

The Collective (IMDb)

There’s no cast or crew attached to the entry yet – but if this is Lucas’ project, it sounds very interesting. (Be aware that even people not involved in the production can add stuff on IMDb, which often leads to confusion, errors and double entries.) According to a Facebook Group, it’s a low budget movie.

Last week, Lucas started following actress Ruby Rose. Considering he’s rarely active on social media anymore, it’s possible that she’s going to be in this (or another) project with him.

What are Cast and Crew up to?
Henry Ian Cusick’s The Wind & The Reckoning screened at the Hawaii International Film Festival. Ian also attended the Hawaiian premiere; posing with fans and giving interviews.

Henry Ian Cusick at the Hawaii International Film Festival (via Fe Maria Vasquez)

ICYMI: Almost two years ago, Justin Hires had written a first draft for movie Half Baked 2. Justin filmed a little cameo (as a character named Curtis), but otherwise has nothing to do with casting or producing. According to Deadline, production was already wrapped by November 11. Fun Fact: One of the lead actors is Dexter Darden, who worked with Lucas in Son of the South and is friends with Tristin Mays.

ICYMI: MacGyver stunt coordinator Daniel Hargrave recently posted a 2nd Unit BtS photo; tagging Levy Tran alongside several stunt people. Hargrave is the stunt coordinator on CBS rookie show True Lies (which is filming in Atlanta). It’s possible we might see Levy in one of the episodes next year – but even if she doesn’t show up after all, it’s still worth checking out (since there’s a lot of former MacGyver crew people working on it). The show will premiere next February.

BtS photo of Half Baked 2 (via Justin Hires)

ICYMI: Last month, Tristin Mays uploaded a Sweeney Todd tribute video on Instagram. We got the first photo of Tristin in that pirate project (filmed September last year) and an appearance in another short video with boyfriend Marlon Webb (who’s playing a werewolf in this one). She didn’t share any BtS material about any of these projects (and didn’t post much in general lately).

Her movie The Christmas Sitters will have two reruns on ionTV this year (November 27 and December 24).

Paramount+ launching in Europe
ICYMI: CBS streaming service Paramount+ will launch in France on December 1 and in Germany, Switzerland and Austria on December 8.

Tristin Mays in the Enchanted Manor (via Peerspace)

In Germany, the MacGyver Reboot is currently available on Amazon Prime, so I’m not sure if the original show and/or the rebooted show will be accessible on Paramount+. Since the cinematic release was scrapped, Levy Tran’s movie Secret Headquarters might be available. If it’s not, you can pre-order the German DVD and/or BluRay (release date: January 19, 2023).

Other MacGyver-related News
ICYMI: The third cycle of MacGyver Reboot episode reruns ionTV concluded on November 13; directly followed by reruns of Season 1 episodes. The Reboot also came back to German FreeTV. Since November 12, Kabel 1 airs four episodes back to back on Saturdays.

True War Stories: Mission Report Cover Art (via Voyage Media)

While Tristin Mays reactivated her Twitter account a while ago, David Dastmalchian has deactivated his account (as a protest against the new Twitter owner and his politics). The account of Henry Ian Cusick got suspended (presumably after protesting against the new Twitter policies).

Other MacGyver-related news you might have missed:

• The first episode of Henry Ian Cusick’s The Wingfeather Saga will air on December 2.
• Original MacGyver Richard Dean Anderson and his Stargate SG-1 co-star Amanda Tapping are scheduled to appear at the Paris Manga Sci-Fi Show (on December 3rd and 4th).
• Citing a “restructuring and streamlining of leadership at CBS Entertainment”, Kelly Kahl has been let go as CBS Entertainment President by the end of the year. It’s not clear if this might affect the MacGyver franchise in any way.