News Shotgun 12/14
- Power Rangers reboot movie in the works: Saban’s Power Rangers in 2017 was much better than expected but it was still a financial bomb for Paramount, who is trying again with a new reboot of the franchise with the creator of Netflix’s The End of the F***ing World Jonathan Entwistle signed on to direct.
- Doctor Aphra Disney+ show rumored to be in production: A lot of Star Wars fans were disappointed when the Expanded Universe was wiped away when Disney bought the franchise but there have been some great new additions to the canon, one of them being Doctor Aphra. Aphra is an archaeologist hired by Darth Vader who specializes in tracking down ancient and rare tech, especially anything droid related. The rumor is that a show based around her is not only being considered but is already secretly filming and could debut next year.
- RIP Danny Aiello: The great Danny Aiello passed away this week at age 86. Aiello is most famous for his starring roles in movies like Do the Right Thing, Moonstruck, Hudson Hawk and The Professional and was nominated for an Oscar for his Do the Right Thing performance.
- Game of Thrones creators working on a Lovecraft movie: David Benioff and DB Weiss are working on a movie based on the graphic novel Lovecraft, based obviously on HP Lovecraft. The Game of Thrones creators are developing a movie that will explore his life but also create a world where his fantastical creations are real. Director Karyn Kusama, who most recently directed Destroyer with Nicole Kidman, is also a producer on the movie.
- Movie Release Dates: Shazam 2 is coming on April 1, 2022, The Matrix 4 is on a collision course with John Wick Chapter 4 on May 21, 2021, and The Flash is finally possibly arriving on July 1, 2022. The new Mortal Kombat movie is also moving up from its original March release to January 15th, 2021.
- Brockmire ending next season: IFC has announced that its brilliant baseball comedy Brockmire is ending with the upcoming fourth season. The show has been an incredible showcase for Hank Azaria, who plays the disgraced former MLB announcer Jim Brockmire. After learning his wife was cheating on him, Brockmire went off on an insane rant on-air and was fired and the show has been about him slowly trying to get back into the big leagues again after years of debaucherous living outside the US.
- Vacation TV series The Griswolds coming to HBO Max: A new TV series based around the disaster-prone Griswold family is coming to the upcoming HBO Max streaming service. Johnny Galecki, star of The Big Bang Theory and Russ Griswold in Christmas Vacation, is producing the series, which will be a half-hour sitcom following the everyday life of The Griswolds when they are not on Vacation or celebrating Christmas.
- TMNT Creators reunite for a new story: Thanks to Netflix’s The Toys That Made Us, original TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird reunited and healed their falling out and are now working on a new TMNT story for IDW. The story is entitled “The Last Ronin” but there are no other details at this time. It seems like it will be a return to the dark, black and white style of the duo’s original comics.
- The Dark Half getting rebooted: The Stephen Kingaisance continues as The Dark Half is getting a reboot with director Alex Ross Perry at the helm. The story was originally turned into a film in 1993 with the great George Romero at the helm and the story follows an author who writes grisly crime novel under an alias. When his alter-ego is revealed, he and his wife “bury” the alias in a ceremonial burial but people start getting killed and it seems like the alias has come to life.
- New Additions to the National Film Registry: The National Film Registry announced this week their annual list of movies that will be preserved in their archives for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” relevant. 25 films are added every year and this year includes movies like Purple Rain, She’s Gotta Have It, Clerks, Old Yeller and Platoon.
- Thomas Lennon appearing on Supergirl: Post-Crisis, Thomas Lennon will be antagonizing the Girl of Steel as Mr. Mxyzptlk. Mxyzptlk previously appeared on the show in Season 2 with actor Peter Gadiot trying to romantically woo Kara but causing chaos around National City in the process.
- Home Alone reboot casting: A reboot of Home Alone is coming to Disney+ and the first members of the cast have been revealed. Jojo Rabbit co-star Archie Yates will star as the kid left Home Alone, but he won’t be a new version of Kevin McAllister. Ellie Kemper and Rob Delaney were cast as well, although it’s not clear who their characters are yet as they will not be the parents of Yates’ character. Dan Mazer, director of Sasha Baron Cohen’s recent series Who is America?, is directing with a script by CollegeHumor/SNL writers Streeter Seidell and Mikey Day.
- Predator game arriving in April on PS4: The hunt begins on April 24th next year with the release of Predator: Hunting Grounds on PS4 and PC. The game takes cues from games like Friday the 13th and Dead by Daylight as it tasks one player as taking on the role of the Predator, with the rest of the players cast as soldiers trying to survive and take out the Predator before they all get hunted down and killed. The game is actually developed by IllFonic, which did also develop the Friday the 13th game.
- Resident Evil 3 getting the remake treatment: After the massive success of Resident Evil 2 this year, Capcom is, unsurprisingly, bringing back another classic RE game with Resident Evil 3: Nemesis getting the same style remake treatment as RE2. Nemesis will arrive on April 3, 2020, running under the gorgeous new RE Engine that powered RE2 and RE7 and the previously announced Resistance multiplayer game is now revealed to be a part of this Nemesis remake.
- New Bioshock game in development: 2K Games has officially announced that a new Bioshock game is in development. The game is several years away, so there are no plot details at the current time. The last game in the series was Bioshock Infinite and its DLC, which was commercially successful but garnered criticism at the time and since its release for both gameplay (or lack of gameplay promised) and its story and themes.