News Shotgun 9/4/21
- The Accountant sequel in development: A sequel to the Ben Affleck action movie The Accountant has been talked about since 2017, first a movie and then a TV series spin-off but now director Gavin O’Connor said a sequel movie is back on. On a recent podcast appearance, O’Connor confirmed that the deal for The Accountant 2 was finalized and Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal are likely to return. Affleck played Christian Wolff, an accountant with autism who is also secretly an assassin. Bernthal was revealed to be Affleck’s brother and the sequel would have more of Bernthal and if they got to make a third movie, it would be a full-on buddy action movie with Bernthal and Affleck.
- Borg Queen coming to Star Trek: Picard: A major Star Trek: TNG villain is coming to Star Trek: Picard for its second season with 24 and Runaways actress Annie Wersching taking on the role. Alice Krige and Susanna Thompson both previously played the Borg Queen in Star Trek movies and TV shows. Another recurring antagonist, Q, is also back with John De Lancie reprising his role.
- Guillermo Del Toro horror anthology coming to Netflix: After finishing up his animated series Troll Hunters, Guillermo Del Toro is sticking with Netflix for a new horror anthology series called Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Del Toro is writing and directing episodes for the series and there will also be episodes directed by horror directors like Jennifer Kent, Ana Lily Amirpour, Vincenzo Natali, Catherine Hardwicke, David Prior, and Panos Cosmatos.
- The Nacelle Co. acquires rights to Power Lords: The company behind The Toys that Made Us, The Movies That Made Us, and Behind the Attraction are also acquiring some of the IP they’ve spotlighted. The Nacelle Co. has already gotten the rights to Silverhawks and Robo Force and they’ve now acquired the rights to the Revell toyline Power Lords with an eye to developing an animated series, comics, new toys, and more. The original line came out in 1983 and was an attempt to try and capture some of the hotness of Masters of the Universe and Star Wars, as it was a series of alien warriors with a backstory inspired by Star Wars but each figure had an action feature like MotU.
- Vacation Friends getting a sequel: After posting the biggest opening weekend numbers for a Hulu original movie ever last weekend, Vacation Friends has been greenlit for a sequel. John Cena, Lil Rel Howery, Meredith Hagner, and Yvonne Orji will return to star, and writer/director Clay Tarver will write and direct the sequel.
- Unsolved Mysteries returns in 2022 on Netflix: Netflix’s reboot of Unsolved Mysteries will return in summer 2022, although it’s not clear what mysteries will be explored or how many episodes Season 3 will be. If you need new Unsolved Mysteries right now, there is an official podcast that follows a new mystery every week and the original Robert Stack series is on basically every streaming platform.
- Paramount delays major movies again: Possibly triggered by the underperformance of Snake Eyes or just the current, and what they believe is the future, 2021 theatrical market, Paramount has delayed Top Gun: Maverick and Jackass Forever, also shifting Mission Impossible 7 in the process. Top Gun: Maverick will now be released on May 27, 2022, Jackass Forever will be February 4th, 2022 and MI7 will be in September 2022.
- Lord and Miller developing Dennis Rodman movie: If you saw The Last Dance on Netflix, you know one of the craziest stories is when Dennis Rodman disappeared for two days during the 1998 NBA playoffs to go to Las Vegas. Phil Lord & Chris Miller are developing a movie based on Rodman’s wild 48 hours that will follow Rodman and his skittish assistant GM through a whirlwind tour of Vegas, becoming friends in the process.
- New Texas Chainsaw movie coming to Netflix: Following in the heels of Halloween, a new Texas Chainsaw massacre movie that ignores everything but the first movie for a direct sequel is coming to Netflix. Netflix acquired the film, which was in development by Lionsgate that was originally going to have a release date in theaters this year. Fede Alvarez, of Don’t Breath and Evil Dead, produced the movie with David Blue Garcia directing and Olwen Fouere, Elsie Fisher, Sarah Yarkin, Jacob Latimore, and Moe Dunford starring.
- The Rocketeer sequel movie coming to Disney+: Beloved cult classic The Rocketeer is finally getting a follow-up with word of a sequel movie coming to Disney+. David and Jessica Oyelowo are producing the movie and David Oyelowo may star in it as well. The movie will follow a retired Tuskegee airman who becomes the new Rocketeer. There’s no word yet on who will direct or if the original’s stars Billy Campbell and Jennifer Connelly will make an appearance.
- Batwoman casts Poison Ivy for Season 3: After the convoluted mess of trying to figure out a way to have Kate Kane return but not played by Ruby Rose, hopefully, Batwoman Season 3 can be more focused and it seems like new Batwoman Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) will take on some classic rogues, including Poison Ivy. Bridget Regan, previously seen in Agent Carter, White Collar, and The Last Ship, will play Pamela Isley aka Poison Ivy, whose appearance was teased in the final scene of Season 2 as a bag of weapons from classic Batman rogues was washed down a river, including a jar containing Ivy vines that broke and started to grow.
- Jungle Cruise sequel in development: Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt will be back on the river for Disney as a Jungle Cruise sequel has been greenlit. Jaume Collet-Serra is back to direct the sequel but there are no plot details for what the characters will be up to this time. Despite pandemic difficulties, Jungle Cruise currently has over $188 million worldwide at the box office and has remained strong week to week by not seeing any significant drops in box office between weekends.
- The Expendables 4 officially confirmed: Lionsgate has officially confirmed that The Expendables 4 is in development. Stallone, Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture are returning and joined by new cast members 50 Cent, Megan Fox, and Tony Jaa. Simon Waugh, who directed Need for Speed and Act of Valor, is directing the new Expendables, which is expected to be R-rated again after the PG-13 Expendables 3, which Stallone admitted was a mistake.
- Halo TV series coming in 2022: Having been stuck in development hell for years and jumping around networks, the live-action Halo series finally seems like it will arrive on Paramount+ next year. Parmount+ got the rights to the series from Showtime, which are both owned by ViacomCBS. Den of Thieves and American Gods actor Pablo Schreiber is playing Master Chief with Jen Taylor reprising her role of Cortana from the game series.