News Shotgun 10/12
- RIP Robert Forster: Legendary actor Robert Forster passed away this week at age 78. Forster had over 200 roles on IMDB going back to the late 60s and has had extremely memorable turns in movies and TV shows like Breaking Bad, Delta Force, Twin Peaks, Jackie Brown, Banyon, Karen Sisco, Heroes and most recently, El Camino.
- Walker, Texas Ranger reboot ends up at The CW: Jared Padalecki is staying at The CW as the network has picked up the Walker, Texas Ranger reboot he will be starring in. The new Walker is returning home to Austin after being undercover for two years. Walker is a widower with two daughters and rejoins regular Texas Ranger duty with a new female partner. The show seems likely to debut in the 2020-2021 TV season.
- Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks re-teaming for World War II Apple TV+ series: Band of Brothers and The Pacific are finally getting a follow-up from Spielberg and Tom Hanks as Apple TV+ is getting a World War II series from the duo called Masters of the Air. The new series will follow the Eighth Air Force and the air war over Europe and is based on the book Masters Of The Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought The Air War Against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller.
- HBO getting a Maniac Cop series: Maniac Cop is coming to premium cable as HBO has ordered a series based on the cult films with Nicholas Winding Refn and John Hyam (director of Universal Soldier: Regeneration) running the series. Refn and Hyams have been trying to get a Maniac Cop reboot made for a while as a film but decided they had too much material they wanted to explore and turned it into a limited series.
- Wayne Brady coming to Black Lightning: Wayne Brady is coming to Freeland as super-soldier metahuman Tyson “Gravedigger” Sykes in early 2020 on Black Lightning. In the comics, Gravedigger was sort of a Captain Americaesque character who returned home from World War II and refused to live in a segregated America and defected to Markovia to create a sovereign nation for metahumans.
- Training Day prequel in the works: Warner Bros. is developing a prequel to Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day that is set in 1992 and follows a younger version of Denzel Washington’s Alonzo Harris two days before the Rodney King verdict sets Los Angeles ablaze in riots.
- Masters of the Universe movie may end up on Netflix: Netflix may be the future home for the live-action Masters of the Universe movie that Sony has been developing with To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before co-star Noah Centineo as He-Man/Prince Adam. Apparently, Sony is possibly working on a deal to sell the movie to Netflix as opposed to a theatrical release and Netflix would be an extremely suitable home for it, as it has the reboot of She-Ra and an upcoming MotU series from Kevin Smith that is continuing the classic 80s animated series.
- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II joins Matrix 4: Aquaman and Black Mirror star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has joined the cast of Matrix 4 in an unspecified role. Abdul-Mateen II is the first non-original cast member after Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss were confirmed to be returning with Lana Wachowski behind the camera. The rumor is that Matrix 4 will be a prequel of some kind that will feature a younger Morpheus.
- Marvel’s Helstrom finds it’s cast: While Ghost Rider was not picked up, Hulu is still getting a series set in the darker areas of the Marvel Universe with Helstrom and the cast of the show was revealed this week. Tom Austen and Sydney Lemmon will play Daimon and Ana Helstrom, siblings whose father was a notorious serial killer and they travel the world hunting down the vilest of villains and demons. Elizabeth Marvel will play their institutionalized mother Victoria and Robert Wisdom will play Caretaker, an occult guardian who fights demons June Carryl, Ariana Guerra and Alain Uy will co-star.
- John Wick spin-off in development: A female-led spin-off of the John Wick series is in development called Ballerina. The movie will follow a female character who is motivated for revenge after her family is killed. John Wick 3 seemingly introduced where this character may be coming from with Anjelica Huston’s dance academy/assassin school that John himself attended. Underworld’s Len Wiseman has been hired to direct the movie.
- Doom Eternal delayed until March 2020: The highly anticipated sequel to Doom (2016) has been delayed until March of next year. The game was set for a November but id Software and Bethesda announced on Twitter they are taking more time to polish the game. The game will now come out on March 20th, the same day as the new Animal Crossing game hits Switch and also the same day Doom 64 will be available on all consoles. Doom 64 is now a pre-order bonus for all versions of Doom: Eternal as well.
- The Rock hosting Disney ride docuseries: The Rock will be hosting a new docuseries on Disney+ called Behind the Attraction that will dive into the history of Disney theme park attractions. The company behind The Toys That Made Us on Netflix is working on this series and it will feature interviews with Imagineers and superfans of each attraction. The Rock obviously has a special interest in Disney rides as he’s starring in Jungle Cruise next year inspired by that iconic ride.
- Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie re-teaming for a new action movie: Some of Jason Statham’s earliest starring roles were in Guy Ritchie movies like Lock, Stock and Snatch and the duo is re-teaming for an upcoming action movie at Miramax. The movie is currently untitled but the plot, “follows H, a cold and mysterious character working at a cash truck company responsible for moving hundreds of millions of dollars around Los Angeles each week. Weaving through a suspenseful and carefully constructed narrative, the film shifts across timelines and between various characters’ perspectives for a thrilling and mind-bending experience”.