News Shotgun 9/28
- Bojack Horseman ending next season: The critically acclaimed Netflix animated series Bojack Horseman is coming to an end with its upcoming sixth season. The final season will be broken up into two parts, part one drops in October this year and then part two in January. The show will continue to air reruns on Comedy Central after the series ends, as Netflix and Comedy Central made a deal last October for Comedy Central to get the broadcast rights to the series.
- Uncharted movie gets a new director: The revolving door of directors for Sony’s Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland continues as Bumblebee’s Travis Knight is the latest director to sign on, following the departure of 10 Cloverfield Lane’s Dan Trachtenberg.
- Disney/Sony sign new Spider-Man deal: Speaking of Sony and Tom Holland, they worked out a new deal with Disney to keep Spider-Man in the MCU for at least one more solo film and a potential team-up film. Tom Holland is still Peter Parker and the new movie will hit theaters on July 16, 2021, to hopefully resolve the insane cliffhanger of Far From Home.
- Madame Web movie in the works: In other Spidey-verse news, Sony is developing a movie based around the enigmatic Madame Web, a clairvoyant elderly woman who can see the future. In the animated series and games like Shattered Dimensions, she’s a powerful force who can see and transport people between different dimensions. The writers of Morbius are working on the script for this latest entry in the Sony Spider-Man world.
- Andrew Scott playing Tom Ripley for new Showtime series: Coming off Fleabag and Black Mirror, Andrew Scott will star in Ripley for Showtime, a new take on the Patricia Highsmith character Tom Ripley, best known from the Matt Damon movie The Talented Mr. Ripley. Steve Zaillian, who most recently wrote The Irishman but also Schindler’s List and Gangs of New York, is writing all 8 episodes of the new series.
- First two House of the Dead games getting remade: Forever Entertainment, who is currently working on a remake of the beloved classic Panzer Dragoon, will next tackle the first two games in the House of the Dead series, updating the graphics and gameplay but keeping the same scenarios. It’s not clear if there will be any way to play these new games with a lightgun or if it will be strictly controller controlled (maybe VR?)
- Kevin Feige producing a Star Wars movie: Marvel guru Kevin Feige has pitched and will now develop a new Star Wars film alongside Kathleen Kennedy. It’s not clear what Feige’s movie will be about but he is apparently a Star Wars fanatic and loves the franchise even more than Marvel.
- Hulu not going forward with Ghost Rider: Hulu has decided not to move forward with a series based on Gabriel Luna’s Robbie Reyes aka Ghost Rider, who was introduced on Agents of SHIELD. Hulu is still moving forward with its Helstrom show as well as a slate of animated shows like MODOK and Hit-Monkey based in the Marvel universe.
- Jason Bateman directing the Clue remake: Fresh off an Emmy win for directing, Jason Bateman signed on to direct and co-star in a remake of the classic whodunnit? Clue with Ryan Reynolds. Apparently, the duo may also develop a new script as well. Deadpool team Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick wrote the original script for the remake but it’s not clear if Bateman and Reynolds will go off that script or start completely fresh.
- Samuel L. Jackson becoming first celebrity Alexa voice: Samuel L. Jackson is becoming the first alternative celebrity voice for the Alexa family of smart devices, as users will be able to download a voice pack that transforms Alexa’s normal voice into Jackson, with both a clean and explicit version available. The pack will release later this year and more celebrity voices will be available in 2020.
- Nicolas Cage hunting truffles in new movie Pig: Nicolas Cage has done a lot of strange things over his career and for one of his upcoming movies, he’ll play a truffle hunter who lives alone in rural Oregon with his beloved truffle-sniffing pig. When his pig is kidnapped, he’ll have to travel to Portland to find her. Alex Wolff from Hereditary and Jumanji will co-star.
- Original Jurassic Park trio returning for Jurassic World 3: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum are returning for the upcoming third movie in the Jurassic World series, which has Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow back to direct. Goldblum was in Fallen Kingdom but it was basically a glorified cameo and this will be much more significant roles for the original JP trio. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are back and the movie will presumably have something to do with the fact that dinosaurs are running free across the United States following the end of Fallen Kingdom.
- Micronauts movie gets a director: A movie based on Micronauts, the 70s toyline and Marvel comic, has been in the works for a while as Paramount tries to get its “Hasbro Cinematic Universe” off the ground, which will eventually team-up GI Joe, Transformers, MASK, ROM and Micronauts. Dean Deblois, the director of all three How to Train Your Dragon movies, has signed on to direct the Micronauts movie. The Micronauts is based in the Microverse, a micro dimension where the heroic Mirconauts battle the evil Baron Karza.
- The Batman potential casting: Robert Pattinson may have some co-stars for the upcoming The Batman as Jeffrey Wright is apparently in talks to play Commissioner Gordon and Jonah Hill is in talks to play a villain, although there’s apparently some back and forth about who he should play and how much he wants to get paid that could kill the talks. Matt Reeves is directing the movie and it’s been in development for seemingly ever but will finally arrive on July 25, 2021.
- Walker, Texas Ranger reboot in the works: CBS Studios is apparently working on developing a reboot of Chuck Norris’ iconic series Walker, Texas Ranger with Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki taking over the title role. The new Walker would be returning to Austin after two years undercover and trying to rebuild his relationship with his two kids while working with a new female partner in the Texas Rangers fighting crime. The series is apparently going to be similar to CBS’ Macgyver and Magnum PI reboots but it’s not clear if this would end up on CBS as well. Apparently, The CW is extremely interested in it, thanks to Padalecki being a cornerstone of their network for so long.
- A comedic Christmas Carol in the works with Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds: Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds will be the latest to adapt Charles Dickens’ iconic classic A Christmas Carol in a new comedic, musical version. Sean Anders and John Morris, who wrote Daddy’s Home and We’re the Millers, are writing and directing this new spin on the classic. It’s not clear who the duo will be playing or if it will be a period piece or a modern spin on the material.
- RIP Sid Haig: Horror icon Sid Haig passed away earlier this week at age 80. Haig began acting in the ’60s and has over 100 credits, most notably Captain Spaulding from Rob Zombie’s House of a 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects.
- The Last of Us Part 2 gets a release date: Sony announced that the sequel to Naughty Dog’s critically acclaimed The Last of Us is coming on February 21, 2020. Taking place five years after the first game, you’ll play as Ellie as she sets out on a mission of vengeance.
- Warner Bros. rebooting New Jack City: WB is rebooting the 90s crime movie New Jack City with Snowfall co-star Malcolm M. Mays writing the script. The original was an early 90’s hit, making $48 million off an $8 million budget and starred Wesley Snipes, Mario Van Peebles, Judd Nelson, Ice-T, Chris Rock and more and had Snipes starring as a drug lord in the 80s during the crack epidemic, with Judd Nelson and Ice-T as cops trying to take him down.
- Will Smith starring as real-life criminal Nick Barnes for Netflix movie: Will Smith will be back on Netflix for a new crime drama based on real-life events, The Council. Smith will star as Nicky Barnes, the boss of a syndicate that included six other black men that partnered with the Italian mafia and ruled Harlem in the ’70s and ’80s. Barnes was played by Cuba Gooding Jr. in American Gangster, but that movie focused on Frank Lucas, played by Denzel, who was a rival to Barnes.
- Arrow spin-off officially in development at The CW: The CW is officially developing an Arrow spin-off series that will be set in the future version of Star City that has been seen throughout the series, most notably last season, with Oliver and Felicity’s daughter Mia Smoak taking up her father’s mantle. Katherine McNamara, who played Mia in Season 7, will return in Season 8 and there will be an episode that will essentially serve as the pilot for the new series. Katie Cassidy and Juliana Harkavy would co-star with McNamara as Laurel Lance and Dinah Drake, who are teamed up as the Canaries. It’s not clear if William Clayton (Ben Lewis) or Connor Hawke (Joseph David-Jones) will appear in the new series as well, as both were featured in the Season 7 flash-forwards.