News Shotgun 3/2
- New Ghostbusters adds first cast members: Next year’s Ghostbusters sequel has cast it’s first two additions with Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard playing one of the new teens who becomes a Ghostbuster and Fargo/The Leftovers actress Carrie Coon has signed on to play his single mom. There are three other teens who will join Wolfhard as the new Ghostbusters 30 years after Ghostbusters II.
- The Sandlot sequel series getting two seasons with original cast: The Sandlot is a beloved favorite of 90s kids and now the original cast is coming back for a streaming sequel series. David Mickey Evans, who directed the original movie, revealed on The Rain Delay baseball podcast that he sold a sequel series to The Sandlot to an unnamed streaming service with a two-season order and that the entire original cast is coming back. It seems like the idea might be that the original cast all have kids now and they might get into the same hi-jinks on and off the baseball diamond as their dads did.
- Edge of Tomorrow getting a sequel: Warner Bros is finally moving forward with a sequel to Edge of Tomorrow aka Live, Die, Repeat. Doug Liman is coming back to direct and Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are expected to return as well but there’s no hint of what the sequel will be about, except it will obviously have to have some sort of spin on the time loop gimmick of the first movie.
- Rambo V gets a release date: The fifth and final Rambo film will arrive on September 20th this year, as John Rambo gets drawn into a conflict with the Mexican cartels to rescue the daughter of a friend who was kidnapped.
- New Baby-Sitters Club series coming to Netflix: The long-running book series The Baby-Sitters Club is getting adapted into a new Netflix series from GLOW showrunner Rachel Shukert with original author Ann M. Martin as one of the producers. This will actually be the second Baby-Sitters Club show, as there was a 13 episode adaptation back in 1990 on HBO and there was a film adaptation in 1995.
- Will Smith not returning for Suicide Squad 2: Will Smith will not be returning as Deadshot for the James Gunn directed Suicide Squad 2 due to scheduling conflicts. The entire movie could be a reboot, as WB seems to be tossing out any sort of continuity for it’s DC movies, and it’s out on August 6th, 2021.
- Patton Oswalt voicing MODOK on Hulu animated series: Along with writing and producing, Patton Oswalt will also voice the character of MODOK on one of the upcoming Hulu adult animation Marvel shows. The show follows MODOK as he tries to retain control over his evil organization and deals with a demanding family.
- View-Master movie in development: Mattel is apparently developing a movie based on their iconic toy, the View-Master. In case you are a youngster who has never heard of it, the View-Master was a binocularesque looking device that took circular reels that let you see quasi-3D photos of famous landmarks and your favorite cartoons. Mattel has pivoted View-Master into a kid-friendly VR device in recent years, so maybe the movie will be more focused on that but I think there should be a horror movie where a kid finds an old View-Master with some sort of cursed reel that lets them see people’s deaths or their own death or a ghost or something.
- Ray Liotta joins The Sopranos prequel movie: Ray Liotta has joined the 60s set Sopranos prequel movie, The Many Saints of Newark, in an unspecified role. Show creator David Chase wrote the movie and Alan Taylor is directing and Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, Alessandro Nivola, Billy Magnussen, and Corey Stoll were previously cast with Michael Gandolfini taking on the role of a young Tony from his father, the late, great James Gandolfini. The movie is expected to go into production this spring.
- Rami Malek in talks to play the villain of Bond 25: Fresh off his Oscar win, Rami Malek may be taking on Daniel Craig in Bond 25 as he’s apparently in “final talks” to play the villain of that movie, which may be called Shatterhand. The aforementioned Billy Magnussen is also apparently signed on in a role specifically written for him and Lupita Nyong’o is in talks to play the movie’s Bond Girl, although Lea Seydoux is apparently returning from Spectre as well. Cary Fukunaga is directing the movie and it’s coming out on April 10th next year.
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine renewed for Season 7: After rescuing the show from cancellation, NBC has renewed Brooklyn Nine-Nine for a seventh season. The show’s ratings are up from Fox and is performing especially strong digitally for NBC, getting 45% of the key demo of 18-49-year-olds from “non-linear” sources that are not traditional over the air or DVR.
- Fear Street trilogy still in development: Goosebumps has already gotten two movies but RL Stine’s older-skewing Fear Street series is apparently still getting a trilogy of films. Leigh Janiak, the director of the horror movie Honeymoon, is directing the first and third film in the trilogy and Kiana Madeira and Olivia Welch as a queer couple in both the 90s and the 1600s and each movie in the trilogy will follow their relationship’s ups and downs as well as facing the horrors of the small town of Shadyside.
- Aquaman 2 officially on the way: Shocking no one, Warner Bros. officially confirmed a second Aquaman film is in development. Jason Momoa will be back but it’s clear if James Wan will return to direct, or what other cast members will return. The movie has a release date of December 16, 2022. Aquaman is currently the highest grossing film ever based on a DC Comics property, making over $1.1 billion worldwide.
- Sleeping with the Enemy getting a remake: The 90s was a golden age of trashy thrillers and Julia Roberts starred in one called Sleeping with the Enemy that is getting a remake. The original made over $175 million in 1991 and starred Roberts as a woman named Laura who fakes her own death to escape her abusive husband and flees to a small town, changes her name and begins a relationship with a nice teacher. Her husband finds out she’s still alive however and hunts her down. Nia DaCosta, who is directing the Candyman remake, has signed on to write and direct the new Sleeping with the Enemy.
- Nathan Lane joins Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: Last week we had the first big addition to the new Penny Dreadful with Natalie Dormer and now Nathan Lane has signed on as well. Lane is playing a veteran LAPD officer who becomes the partner of the show’s lead, Daniel Zovatto. The show is set in 1930s Los Angeles, which has supernatural forces lurking below the surface.
- Kingsman prequel coming in 2020: The next Kingsman movie is actually a prequel set in World War I and that movie got a release date of February 14th, 2020 this week. Matthew Vaughn is back to direct and the movie features Harris Dickinson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Daniel Bruhl, Stanley Tucci, Rhys Ifans, and Charles Dance. After the prequel, Vaughn is immediately moving on to direct Kingsman 3.
- Disney Villains getting a Disney+ series: Another reason to look into getting Disney+ when it debuts, a Disney Villains series called Book of Enchantment is being developed. The show is apparently based on the Villains series of books, which told classic Disney stories from the villains’ perspective and Michael Seitzman, who was behind Quantico and Code Black, is the showrunner and writing the pilot.
- New Candyman cast for remake: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, most recently seen as Black Manta in Aquaman, has signed on to become the new Candyman for the upcoming, Jordan Peele-produced remake. The previously mentioned Nia DaCosta is directing and the movie will return to the Chicago neighborhood of the original film for a contemporary spin on the horror classic. The movie is coming out on June 12, 2020.
- Escape Room getting a sequel: The first major release of 2019, Escape Room became a pretty big hit worldwide, making $119 million off of a budget of $9 million, so the sequel the movie so blatantly set up is coming soon. Adam Robitel will return to direct and the movie has a release date of April 17, 2020.
- Texas Chainsaw’s gas station now a BBQ joint: The iconic gas station where the ill-fated crew of the original Texas Chainsaw stops at has become a BBQ joint called The Gas Station, with horror memorabilia featured around the restaurant. The Gas Station is located just outside of Austin, TX and you can also spend the night there in one of four cabins and buy Texas Chainsaw memorabilla, like wooden planks for the original gas station seen in the movie.
- Gremlins getting an animated series: WB announced that Gizmo and the Gremlins will be returning in a new animated prequel series that will be an exclusive on their upcoming streaming service (yup, another one). The animated series will follow a young Mr. Wing and Gizmo in various adventures before Mr. Wing opened up his shop in Chinatown.