News Shotgun 5/12
- The Goldbergs spin-off gets official title: Picked up to series for the fall TV season, The Goldbergs 90’s based spin-off is now officially called Schooled. The show is set at the Goldbergs universe’s William Penn Academy and will follow the trio of guidance counselor turned principal Tim Meadows, gym teacher Bryan Callen and student turned teacher AJ Michalka. The original pilot for the series aired this past season on The Goldbergs as a special when ABC was not going to pick it up but it was retooled and is now on the way.
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine saved by NBC: One of the first shows to get cancelled in the brutal past couple days (full coverage of cancellations, renewals and new shows will be all next week on the site), Brooklyn Nine-Nine, after an overwhelming show of support on Twitter and other social media, has been saved by NBC, who will pick up the show for a new 13 episode season.
- LA’s Finest Not Picked Up By NBC: Speaking of NBC, they have decided not to pick up the Bad Boys spin-off series LA’s Finest after viewing the show’s pilot. The show was going to star Gabrielle Union back as Syd Burnett heading to LA and becoming a detective teamed with Jessica Alba. The team behind the show is shopping it around to other networks.
- Snake Eyes getting a stand alone movie: Another movie added to the burgeoning Hasbro Cinematic Universe is a spin-off from the GI Joe movie series starring Snake Eyes. There’s no word on a plot or if Ray Park will return to star as the silent ninja but Snake Eyes was the only truly awesome part about either GI Joe movie so far, even with The Rock trying to save the franchise in Retaliation.
- Once Upon A Time in Hollywood casting: Tons of new additions to Tarantino’s next film were added this week including Margot Robbie playing doomed actress Sharon Tate, Burt Reynolds playing George Spahn, who owned the ranch the Manson family camped out before the start of their murder streak and Michael Madsen, Kurt Russell, Tim Roth and Timothy Olyphant also joining in unspecified roles. Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are co-starring in the 1969 set movie.
- The Joel McHale Show picked up for six more episodes: The glorious Soup 2.0 that is The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale is getting six more episodes added to it’s original order of 13. The new episodes will be available on July 15th after the show takes a short break.
- The Expanse cancelled by SyFy: SyFy cancelled their excellent sci-fi show The Expanse, so it’s currently airing third season will be potentially it’s last. Alcon Television Group is currently looking for anyone interested in picking up and continuing the series and they own the rights to the original book series, the sets, costumes, basically everything, so there are very little rights hurdles to clear for a new network to pick up the series.
- Bad Boys for Life gets a release date: Sony has set a release date for the third Bad Boys film, Bad Boys for Life, for January 17, 2020. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are returning and Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah directing.
- Cobra Kai renewed for second season: YouTube Red’s sequel series to The Karate Kid has been picked up for a second season on the streaming service. The first two episodes of season 1 are available to watch for free and the rest are behind the subscription fee to the service. The show follows the renewed conflict between Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, with the latter reviving the Cobra Kai dojo.
- Rick & Morty renewed for 70 new episodes: Adult Swim has renewed Rick & Morty for a staggering 70 new episodes, although how that breaks down into specific seasons or when they may start airing is not clear. There was no word either way about the show after Season 3 from either Adult Swim or creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon.
- Jurassic Park: The Ride closing in September: The version of Jurassic Park: The Ride that is currently at Universal Studios Hollywood will be closing in September and updated into a new version that will be based around Jurassic World. The version of the ride at Islands of Adventure in Orlando seems to be continuing on as normal.
- Neo Geo Mini coming from SNK: Following in the footsteps of Nintendo’s insanely popular NES and SNES Minis, SNK is releasing a micro, collectible Neo Geo console that will have 40 of their cult arcade classic preloaded on it, like Metal Slug and King of Fighters. The difference between this and Nintendo’s offerings is that the Neo Geo Mini will be able to be played standalone from a TV, as it’s designed like a mini arcade cabinet and has a screen and controls built into it but it can also output via HDMI and has ports for controllers. There’s no news about a release date or price.
- Star Trek Bridge Crew getting TNG expansion: Arriving on May 22nd for PS4 and PC, an expansion for the highly popular VR (also available non-VR) Star Trek Bridge Crew game is bring The Next Generation to the game, which has the Abramsverse and Original Series currently. The expansion will let players run the bridge of the Enterprise-D in a bunch of new missions, including ones against The Borg.
- Friday Night Lights getting rebooted: David Gordon Green, co-creator of Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals and director of movies like Your Highness and Pineapple Express, is directing a new version of Friday Night Lights. This movie is not a sequel to the original movie or the cult TV show but instead a new story based on the original book by HG Bissinger.
- Fast & Furious Spin-Off shifts release date: The highly anticipated Rock/Statham Fast & Furious spin-off movie has shifted it’s release date. Originally planned for July 26, 2019, it will now arrive August 2, 2019, which will put it against New Mutants and Dora the Explorer.
- Jordan Peele announces new horror film: Jordan Peele announced the follow up to his critically and commercially huge Get Out. His next film is called “Us” and it will arrive in March 2019 and will start Lupita Nyong’o, Elisabeth Moss and Winston Duke but there’s really no plot details except it will focus on two couples, one white and one black.
- In The Tall Grass adaptation coming to Netflix: Another Stephen King adaptation is coming to Netflix with In the Tall Grass. Starring James Marsden, the movie will be based on a King short story where a brother and sister stop at a rest stop near a field of tall grass and hear someone calling for help from the field. Entering to see what’s going on, the duo get lost as the field has strange properties of messing with time and space. Vincenzo Natali, who directed Splice, Cube and tons of episodes of Hannibal, will be directing the movie.
- Lethal Weapon backstage drama: Fox’s TV version of Lethal Weapon has been embroiled in tons of backstage drama revolving around Clayne Crawford, who plays Riggs. Crawford was allegedly abusive and combative on set at various times, getting into a conflict with a guest director who left and an incident where Crawford was directing the episode and a cast member, most likely Damon Wayans, was injured during a stunt. Wayans and Crawford also apparently have completely stopped talking to each other when not on set. There was a report that Crawford was outright fired but that seems to have been walked back and Crawford also made some social media posts indicating he had not heard anything or been officially fired by Fox. Fox was apparently looking into replacing him but have not found anyone yet. The show could still just be potentially cancelled outright but that also has not occurred as of yet.
- Santa Clarita Diet renewed for Season 3: Netflix’s zombie comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant has been renewed for another season on the streaming service. The show will be back in 2019 with 10 new episodes.
- Bill and Ted 3 officially confirmed: After years of rumor and possible ideas, Bill and Ted 3 is officially confirmed with Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter signed on to reprise their roles. The movie is officially called Bill & Ted Face the Music and follows the older duo traveling through time with their daughters to try and figure out the song that is destined to bring harmony to the universe.
- Sherlock Holmes 3 announced: WB announced a third entry in the Sherlock Holmes film series will arrive in 2020. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are back to reprise their roles but it’s not clear if Guy Ritchie will return to direct. The movie will arrive on Christmas 2020, which puts it up against some potentially massive competition in the form of Avatar 2 and a possible new Star Wars movie.
- New Tenacious D movie in development: Despite being one of the biggest flops in movie history, The Pick of Destiny is getting a sequel, according to Jack Black. Black announced on stage at the Shaky Knees Music Festival that a new movie is on the way, possibly as soon as this coming October, but there are no other details.
- The Hitman’s Bodyguard getting a sequel: One of the biggest surprises of late summer 2017, The Hitman’s Bodyguard is getting a sequel called The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. Although there are really no details, the title seems to indicate it will focus on Salma Hayek’s character, who is married to Samuel L. Jackson’s hitman and just as dangerous and crazy as he is. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds are believed to be returning but no word on a director (Expendables 3 director Patrick Hughes directed the first one).