We’re a month into 2019!
IN THIS WEEK’S “Finally, some good news” story, Johnny Depp will no longer appear in Universal’s reboot of The Invisible Man, a source tells TheWrap.
Leigh Whannell, the director of Insidious: Chapter 3 and Upgrade, has signed on to direct the remake of The Invisible Man, which Universal Pictures is developing based on the classic monster movie character, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap.
Whannell will also produce alongside Jason Blum for his Universal-based Blumhouse Productions.
Depp had originally joined the project back in February 2016 as part of Universal’s planned Dark Universe based on its classic monster movie characters. The franchise kicked off with Tom Cruise in The Mummy and was also meant to star Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as planned movies for Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man and others.
And that plan for a shared universe is no more. However, Universal plans to still make projects based on these characters and the Universal monsters’ legacy.
These films will also be rooted in horror and will carry no budget, genre or rating restrictions, with no expectation for the films to be part of a shared universe.
Thank you! One less “Universe” of films to worry about.
IN THIS WEEK’S “Not a Deadpool movie” story, Ryan Reynolds is getting back into the romantic comedy game — but with an action twist.
Reynolds will star in Shotgun Wedding for Lionsgate, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Pitch Perfect filmmaker Jason Moore will direct the film, which centers on a couple whose extravagant destination wedding is overrun by criminals. The couple must save both of their families, and along the way are reminded of why they wanted to get married.
Reynolds is producing via his Maximum Effort banner alongside Mandeville Films’ Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman, both of whom worked with Reynolds on his last romantic comedy, 2009’s The Proposal. Lieberman and Hoberman also produced on Lionsgate’s Wonder.
Shotgun Wedding, which is set to shoot this summer, has a script by Mark Hammer, with New Girl creator Liz Meriwether also set to work on the script. Executive producers include Mandeville Films’ Alex Young and Maximum Effort’s George Dewey.
IN THIS WEEK’S “Some Dune updates” story, Oscar Isaac is the latest star in negotiations to join Legendary’s Dune reboot, sources tell Variety. He will join a cast that includes Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgard, and Charlotte Rampling.
Isaac will play the father of Chalamet’s character in the movie. Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker Denis Villeneuve is directing and is co-writing the script with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts.
Legendary closed a deal with the Frank Herbert estate in 2016 for his famous novel, granting the studio rights to both film and TV properties. The project will be produced by Villeneuve, Mary Parent, and Cale Boyter, with Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Thomas Tull, and Kim Herbert serving as executive producers. Kevin J. Anderson will serve as a creative consultant.
Set in the distant future, Dune follows Paul Atreides, whose family assumes control of the desert planet Arrakis. As the only producer of a highly valuable resource, jurisdiction over Arrakis is contested among competing noble families. After Paul and his family are betrayed, the story explores themes of politics, religion, and man’s relationship with nature, as Paul leads a rebellion to restore his family’s reign.
ADDENDUM: Javier Bardem is in negotiations to join the A-list ensemble of Legendary’s Dune reboot. He boards a cast that already includes Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, and Charlotte Rampling, with Oscar Isaac and Zendaya also in talks to join.
Bardem will play Stilgar, the leader of a tribe that helps Chalamet’s character. Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker Denis Villeneuve is directing and co-writing the script with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts.
IN THIS WEEK’S “Why? WHY?” story, Channing Tatum may have made quite a splash with the announcement that he would lead a remake of the iconic 1984 comedy classic, but so far the news has created more of a ripple effect than a tsunami. The news of the remake came hot on the heels of his 2015 dance comedy Magic Mike XXL, which proved audiences can’t get enough of objectifying the dancer-turned-actor. Tatum’s 22 Jump Street co-star Jillian Bell is also attached to the gender-swapped reboot, and in a visit to the IndieWire Studio presented by Dropbox, she said the project is still chugging along.
“It’s being written currently, so we hope we get to make it within the next couple years,” Bell said, pausing briefly over her words. “I think it’s happening. I’m really excited about it.”
With Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment behind the reboot, there’s no question whether the movie can get funded, but rather if Howard and Grazer decide to go ahead with it. Though unclear, the fact that Bell said it is being written currently suggests some back and forth between producers and writer Maria Lewis-Ryan (6 Balloons), a fairly untested newcomer.
Still, just …WHY?
IN THIS WEEK’S “Candyman comes back” story, Candyman may not be quite as iconic in the horror genre as films like Friday the 13th, Halloween, or Nightmare on Elmstreet, but it certainly has a strong place in many ’90’s kids.
And with the help of Jordan Peele, director Nia DaCosta, and apparently, Lakeith Stanfield, maybe Candyman will earn legendary status in the new millennium.
According to Collider, Stanfield is in talks to star in the upcoming Candyman reboot co-written by Peele and DaCosta and directed by the latter filmmaker.
One important note is that DaCosta and Peele are not hoping that Stanfield will be the titular bad guy. Instead, they’re looking at the actor to star as the protagonist in the film, which featured Virginia Madsen in the role in the 1992 original film.
There’s no release date for the film, but with casting underway, we can imagine that production will begin shortly.
IN THIS WEEK’S “Remember the Hot Wheels movie?” story, Mattel Films is teaming up with Warner Bros. Pictures once again to bring Hot Wheels to the big screen in a live-action film, the toy company announced Wednesday.
The iconic and timeless toy racing cars will speed into theaters in the second partnership between Mattel Films and the studio following the recent announcement of Barbie, starring and co-produced by Margot Robbie.
“We are excited to bring the thrill of a Hot Wheels live-action feature film to the big screen in partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures,” Ynon Kreiz, Mattel’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “Mattel Films has great momentum as it continues to execute on our commitment to bring global audiences new ways to experience the brands they love as we transform Mattel into an IP-driven, high-performing toy company.”
How baffling.
In September, the toy company announced the launch of the new Mattel Films division led by Oscar-nominated producer Robbie Brenner (Dallas Buyers Club), who serves as the company’s executive producer while reporting to Kreiz.
Also currently in the works at Mattel are films based on the Masters of the Universe and American Girl toy collections.
Hot Wheels debuted in 1968 and has sold more than 6 billion individual cars during its storied, 50-year history. With more than 500 million Hot Wheels being sold annually, Hot Wheels is the No. 1 selling toy in the world.
Damn toy companies for trying to cash in on the film industry. What the HELL could this movie be about? Oy.
IN THIS WEEK’S “Quartermass Experiment” story, Legendary Entertainment said it has partnered with Hammer Films for Quatermass, a film based on the British mid-20th-century sci-fi hero Bernard Quatermass.
David Farr, who penned the script for The Night Manager and the sci-fi pic Hanna, is adapting. Hammer’s Simon Oakes (The Woman in Black, The Lodge) is producing. Jon Silk and Jay Ashenfelter will oversee production for Legendary.
The character Professor Bernard Quatermass is a rocket scientist originally created by writer Nigel Kneale, As a pioneering force of the British space program, he encounters terrifying extra-terrestrial lifeforms and must draw from science to save humanity. He appeared in a 1950s BBC series and in three Hammer Film movies in the mid-’50s and -’60s including the 1967 pic Quatermass and the Pit (known as Five Million Years to Earth in the U.S.). Andrew Keir played the lead role.
Farr, who also wrote and produced the eight-episode Season 1 of Amazon’s Hanna thriller series based on his 2011 film that starred Saoirse Ronan, is repped in the U.S. by UTA and in the UK by Curtis Brown Group.
IN THIS WEEK’S “The Batman gets dated” story, Warner Bros. is dating their next rendition of Batman for June 25, 2021. This is the one that Matt Reeves has been attached to as writer and director. Ben Affleck, we hear, will not be donning the Dark Knight’s tights after playing the Caped Crusader in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and Justice League and that’s because this movie will focus on a younger Bruce Wayne.
Reeves boarded Batman in February 2017, taking over for Affleck who was originally set to direct off a script he wrote with DC’s Geoff Johns. Affleck, we understand has a busy plate: As Deadline exclusively broke he is starring in and producing the feature adaptation of Kate Alice Marshall‘s novel I Am Still Alive, which Universal won in a competitive bidding scenario. The two-time Oscar winner is also starring in the Warner Bros.’ Gavin O’Connor drama Torrance. Affleck worked hard on The Batman story, but knew he wasn’t the right one for this particular version. A search is underway for a new Dark Knight.
The Batman will NOT be based on Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One comic which is one of Reeves’ favorites in the Caped Crusader canon.
Ok, so at least we have a date.
IN THIS WEEK’S “Space Oddity” story, Johnny Flynn (Beast) will play a young David Bowie in Stardust, a film about the rock star’s first visit to the U.S. in 1971.
Flynn is coming off a run in London’s West End, playing opposite Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones) in Sam Shepherd’s True West. In Stardust Jena Malone (Vice) will play his then wife Angie. Marc Maron (Glow) is also on board and will play his record company publicist.
Christopher Bell (The Last Czars) is writing the script and Gabriel Range (I Am Slave) will direct. Principal photography commences in June. London-based Salon Pictures is producing. Christopher Figg of Piccadilly Pictures is co-financing.
The shape-changing rock star is also the subject of a new Francis Whatley feature-documentary that will air in the BBC in the U.K. The producers of Stardust said that the film will chart Bowie’s trans-Atlantic trip, which “inspired the invention of his iconic alter ego Ziggy Stardust.”
IN THIS WEEK’S “Parallel diner” story, Do you like adventurous sci-fi movies tinged with romance and adventure? If yes, you should put Harry’s All Night Hamburgers on your radar. Theodore “Ted” Melfi, the filmmaker behind Hidden Figures and St. Vincent, is in final discussions to direct the Black List-approved screenplay, and this sounds like it could be your next favorite movie.
Steve Desmond and Michael Anthony Sherman‘s script made it onto last year’s Black List, an annual compilation of the industry’s favorite screenplays that didn’t make it into production that year. Here’s how The Black List described the plot:
“A down-on-his-luck high school senior discovers that the old roadside diner outside of town is secretly a hangout for parallel universe travelers. He sets off on a mind-bending adventure across the multiverse that takes him beyond his wildest dreams.”
This movie is based on Lawrence Watt-Evans‘ 1987 Hugo Award-winning short story, and Deadline reports that Melfi will likely be the guy to bring it to the big screen. ScriptShadow has a more detailed breakdown/analysis of the script, which tells the story of a 17-year-old kid named Andy, who’s never taken any chances in his life – one time he could have kissed Piper, the girl he loves, but he wimped out and now she’s into another guy. When he takes a job at Harry’s All Night Hamburgers, a 50s-themed diner, he discovers that it’s a haven for multiverse travelers.
Ok, this sounds like potential fun.
IN THIS WEEK’S “Depp does good (hopefully)” story, Bill Nighy has joined the cast of Minamata, Andrew Levitas’ movie about W. Eugene Smith and the first image of Johnny Depp as the celebrated war photographer has been released.
Minami Hinase (Vision), Hiroyuki Sanada (Westworld), Tadanobu Asano (Midway), Ryo Kase (Letters from Iwo Jima) and Jun Kunimura (Midway) have also all joined the cast as production gets underway. The shoot will take in Japan, Serbia, and Montenegro.
The film is based on Aileen Mioko Smith and W. Eugene Smith’s book, Minamata, which has been adapted by David K. Kessler (A Hard Day’s Day). Billed as a redemptive thriller, it follows Smith as he takes on a powerful corporation responsible for poisoning the people of Minamata, Japan, in 1971.
This sounds like a role that reminds us that Johnny Depp is a talented actor, but has done too many pirate movies. Depp, like Nic Cage, needs to take the occasional role like this to make us remember why we should still care about them. Let’s hope this is the case here.
IN THIS WEEK’S “What’s that buzz?” story, IMR International will kick off sales sat the EFM next week on Black Flies with Mel Gibson and Tye Sherdian in final negotiations to star.
Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, who directed Joe Cole in Thai prison drama A Prayer Before Dawn, will direct from the Black List screenplay by Ryan King, based on the novel by Shannon Burke. Mad River Pictures is financing and producing alongside Christopher Kopp, Lucan Toh and Babak Anvari, and Anthony Katagas.
Sheridan will also serve as producer on the film, scheduled to begin production in the second quarter. CAA and Endeavor Content represent US rights.
Black Flies tells of a young paramedic who partners with an experienced medic and is thrust on to the streets of inner-city New York, where he witnesses high crime rates, homelessness, and widespread drug use.
IN THIS WEEK’S “More Dune stuff” story, Javier Bardem is in negotiations to join the A-list ensemble of Legendary’s Dune reboot. He boards a cast that already includes Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, and Charlotte Rampling, with Oscar Isaac and Zendaya also in talks to join.
Bardem will play Stilgar, the leader of a tribe that helps Chalamet’s character. Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker Denis Villeneuve is directing and co-writing the script with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts.
IN THIS WEEK’s “Comedy comes from dark stuff” story, Universal Pictures has given a prime summer release date of June 19, 2020, to Pete Davidson’s untitled semi-autobiographical comedy from director Judd Apatow.
The studio made the announcement Friday, three days after unveiling the project. The Universal Pictures film is written by Apatow, Davidson, and Dave Sirus.
Davidson, who grew up in Staten Island, lost his firefighter father in the Sept. 11 attacks, started performing stand-up comedy at the age of 16, and joined the cast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live in 2014 at age 20. Davidson’s coming-of-age film Big Time Adolescence premiered Monday at the Sundance Film Festival.
Apatow will produce the pic for his Apatow Productions alongside Barry Mendel. Production will be starting this summer in New York City.
Aaaaand, IN THIS WEEK’S “Best eyebrow expression in a Presidential hopeful” story, While the 2019 Sundance Film Festival looked back on the midterms with the crowdpleasing documentary “Knock Down the House,” the field of 2020 presidential candidates has continued to take shape in the outside world. But one Sundance visitor whose name was once floated as a candidate has no plans to announce his run this year: Dwayne Johnson, who produced the festival’s surprise British wrestling comedy “Fighting With My Family,” has been watching the pieces come together from the sidelines — but said in an interview that he hasn’t given up on the idea of a candidacy at some point.
“I saw Kamala Harris’ speech the other day and thought it was good,” he said. “Just for me, I lack the experience, I lack a lot of things. Certainly not right now.”
Johnson first took his name out of the running in a Rolling Stone article last year. Since then, he has kept the possibility in mind, but not for the upcoming 2020 race. “I’m not ruling it out,” he said, “I’m not ruling out this idea that if I could make a bigger impact somehow, or potentially surround myself with good people.”
Of course, a candidacy for the wrestler-turned-movie star formerly known as The Rock would present a challenge to his global star power by injecting partisanship into his brand. Johnson’s manager and ex-wife Dany Garcia, who also produced Fighting With My Family through their Seven Bucks Productions studio, said the idea of Johnson pivoting into politics ran counter to their current focus. “At this point, we’re not in politics, so why leverage this to make our audience feel that?” she said.
“We’re staying in our lane,” he said. “I have a lot of friends who are politicians, many former presidents, senators, former senators. You name it, on every level. While it is extremely flattering that a good amount of people feel that I should run for president, or make a decent president, or not suck at a being president, at the end of the day, I have a tremendous amount of respect for that position.”
Sounds fair. Let Johnson do what he does best for now: make big, crazy action movies that often have heart. But maybe he should just stay in that arena. He’s good at entertaining. Why veer into another lane?
Ok, thanks for stopping by, movie fans. See you next time!