News Shotgun 7/10/21
- George RR Martin Western thriller Dark Winds coming to AMC: George RR Martin and Robert Redford are teaming up to bring the Western thriller Dark Winds to AMC. The show will star Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon as a pair of Navajo police officers in the 1970s as they investigate a grisly double murder case. Vince Calandra, who previously worked on Castle Rock and Sharp Objects, is showrunning the series and it was shot on Navajo land with the approval and support of the Navajo people. The show will be six episodes and debut sometime next year.
- Silverhawks reboot in development: The Nacelle Company, who have created The Toys That Made Us, A Toy Store Near You, and the upcoming Behind the Attraction series, is rebooting the 80s cartoon Silverhawks for a new animated series Action figure company Super7 is also working on the new series and recently put out a series of figures based on the classic toy line and they acquired full control of the IP for toys as well as projects like this new animated series.
- Prime Video signs distribution deal with Universal: Universal has signed a massive multi-year deal with Prime Video to bring future Universal blockbusters to the streaming services. Movies like F9, Jurassic World: Dominion, Sing 2, and Old will arrive on Prime Video four months after they debut on Peacock, who will get the movies immediately after their theatrical runs. The deal will also bring several library titles to both Prime Video and IMDBtv, Amazon’s free, ad-supported service.
- Haunting of Hill House maze coming to Halloween Horror Nights: Speaking of Universal, the first big maze for the upcoming Halloween Horror Nights event has been revealed with The Haunting of Hill House. The maze will be based on the Netflix series and will send visitors throughout the haunted Hill House and see scenes from the series. The maze will be at both Universal Hollywood and Universal Orlando and Halloween Horror Nights begins on September 3rd in Orlando and September 9th in Hollywood.
- The Tomorrow War 2 in development: Based on its huge streaming debut last weekend on Prime Video, Amazon has greenlit a The Tomorrow War 2 with Chris Pratt and director Chris McKay expected to return. There are no plot details about what the new threat to humanity would be.
- Evil renewed for Season 3 on Paramount+: The critically acclaimed series Evil has been renewed for a third season on Paramount+. The show originally aired its first season on CBS but got moved exclusively to the streaming service for its second season, which is currently three episodes in. The show stars Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi, and Michael Emerson and follows a team that explores unexplained mysteries for the Catholic church such as demonic possession, supposed miracles, and hauntings. The show was created by Robert and Michelle King, who also created The Good Wife and The Good Fight for CBS/Paramount+.
- Matthew Vaughn assembles cast for spy thriller Argylle: Matthew Vaughn is moving away from the Kingsman universe but sticking to the spy action genre for his upcoming movie Argylle. Based on a new book series that will publish its first novel next year, Aryglle will star Henry Cavill as the titular character, who is the world’s greatest spy. The movie will be a globe-trotting action/adventure and will co-star, Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson, and Dua Lipa in her acting debut. Lipa is also going to contribute a Bond-style title track and contribute to the movie’s score.
- Marvel and DC skipping Comic-Con@Home: San Diego Comic-Con is going all digital for what is hopefully going to be the last time for the second year of Comic-Con@Home but, just like last time, Marvel and DC Movies are skipping the event. DC is doing their Fandome event again in October, although the TV and Comics divisions will have an appearance at Comic-Con@Home. It’s not clear if Sony will bring any of their Marvel movies to the event but the Disney MCU properties will not be there. SDCC is planning an in-person event in late November but it’s not clear if Marvel or DC will be attending that either.
- Army of Thieves coming to Netflix in the fall: The Army of the Dead universe expands this fall with the release of the prequel movie, Army of Thieves. The movie brings back Mathias Schweighöfer as safecracker Dieter in a prequel movie that finds Dieter joining a crew of thieves for a globe-trotting heist. Nathalie Emmanuel, Ruby O. Fee, Stuart Martin, Guz Khan, Jonathan Cohen, and Noémie Nakai co-star and Schweighöfer will direct the movie while Zack Snyder co-wrote and produced it.
- Zack Snyder developing the sci-fi movie Rebel Moon for Netflix: Speaking of Snyder, he’s also working on another film that he hopes will become a new franchise with the sci-fi movie Rebel Moon. The movie is a tweaking of a pitch he made for a Star Wars film that Disney didn’t pick up. The movie follows a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy that is threatened by the army of the evil Balisarius. The colony sends a young woman with a mysterious past out into the galaxy to find a group of fighters to help them fend off the attack. Much like Star Wars, the movie is heavily inspired by Akira Kurosawa and Snyder hopes to start production early next year.
- Michelle Yeoh joins The Witcher prequel series: The legendary Michelle Yeoh has joined the cast of the upcoming Witcher prequel series on Netflix, The Witcher: Blood Origin. Yeoh will play Scian, the last of a race of nomadic sword-elves, and the series is set in the world of elves 1200 years before the events of the main Witcher series. The series will explore the creation of the very first Witcher and the pivotal “Conjunction of the Spheres” event that reshaped the world forever and joined the worlds of elves, men, and monsters. The show will be a limited, six-episode series.
- Robocop getting a new video game: Robocop is getting a new game for PC and consoles in 2023 with Robocop: Rogue City. The game will feature an original story and has the cooperation of MGM, so it will be able to feature the classic 80s Robocop design and take place in that movie’s universe. Nacon is publishing the game and Teyon is developing it. Teyon previously worked on the pretty abysmal Rambo: The Game but also developed the fairly well-received Terminator: Resistance.
- Cipher spin-off in development for the Fast Saga: Charlize Theron is apparently getting her own Fast Saga spin-off as Vin Diesel dropped during an interview that they are working on a spin-off from the series involving Cipher. There are pretty much no other details but it seems clear that Cipher will be back for at least the 10th movie in the Fast Saga, if not being around to close out the franchise with the 11th and, supposedly, final film.
- RIP Richard Donner: Legendary director Richard Donner passed away early this past week at age 91. Donner directed classic films like 1978’s Superman, The Goonies, the entire Lethal Weapon series, Scrooged, The Omen, and more along with a prolific TV directing career throughout the 60s and 70s, including episodes of The Twilight Zone, Man From UNCLE, Perry Mason and Get Smart.
- Red Notice gets a release date: Netflix has revealed the date for Red Notice, their big action blockbuster starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot. The movie will be out on November 12th this year and follows The Rock as an FBI profiler, Reynolds as a con artist, and Gadot as an art thief who cross paths when Interpol issues a global Red Notice regarding the world’s most wanted criminals. Rawson Marshall Thurber, who directed The Rock in Central Intelligence and Skyscraper, is directed Red Notice.