News Shotgun 12/9/23
Here’s all the movie and TV news you need to know from the past week, it’s the News Shotgun
Lucky Hank canceled after one season: Bob Odenkirk didn’t have the same level of success with his follow-up to Better Call Saul, Lucky Hank, on AMC. The show was more comedic than Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad and saw Odenkirk as the chairman of the English department at a struggling Pennslyvania college whose life begins to unravel.
New Maxwell Lord cast for DC Universe: Played by Pedro Pascal in Wonder Woman 1984, for the upcoming reboot of the DC Universe by James Gunn and Peter Safran, Gunn’s brother Sean has been cast in the role. Sean Gunn also played Weasel in The Suicide Squad and was Kraglin in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Sean Gunn will reprise his role of Weasel in the upcoming Creature Commandos animated series.
RIP Ryan O’Neal and Norman Lear: Two legends in the world of movies and TV passed away this week with Oscar-nominated actor Ryan O’Neal and iconic TV show creator Norman Lear. O’Neal was 82 and had been diagnosed with chronic leukemia in 2001 and prostate cancer in 2012. He starred in the TV series Peyton’s Place and movies like Love Story, What’s Up, Doc?, Paper Moon, Barry Lyndon, and Tough Guys Don’t Dance. Norman Lear was 101 and died of natural causes. Lear created some of the most iconic and classic television shows of all time including All in the Family, Good Times, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Maude, Sanford & Son, and Archie Bunker’s Place, bringing social commentary along with laughs to television sitcoms.
Coyote vs ACME back on the market: The saga of Coyote vs ACME continued this week as, after a mountain of backlash against their decision to shelve the movie for tax write-off purposes, Warner Bros. Discovery put the movie back on the market for another studio to try and purchase. Paramount, Apple, and Amazon have all seen the movie and Paramount has put in a formal bid for the rights to the movie but Amazon is apparently still considering making an offer as well. Netflix previously made a bid to get the movie for their streaming service as well. The movie is a live-action/animated hybrid Looney Tunes movie that finds Wile E. Coyote finally taking the ACME Corporation to court after years of selling him faulty gadgets. The reactions coming out of test screenings were incredibly positive.
Twisted Metal renewed for Season 2: Announced at this past week’s Game Awards by star Anthony Mackie, Twisted Metal is returning for a season 2 on Peacock. Mackie will return as the mysterious John Doe alongside Stephanie Beatriz as Quiet and the combo of Will Arnett and Samoa Joe as Sweet Tooth. The second season will feature the Twisted Metal tournament, as *spoilers* John is forced by Neve Campbell’s Raven to be her contender in Calypso’s tournament after he completes her seemingly impossible delivery job. Along with characters featured in the first season, the show teased fan favorites like Axel and Mr. Grimm appearing in the next season for the tournament.
Monsters in My Pocket live-action TV series in development: The classic mini figure toy line Monsters in My Pocket is being developed into a live-action TV series from Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Studios and Altar Rock Pictures. There’s no word on the plot, but the toyline didn’t have any major lore or overarching storyline, so it could be anything involving mini-monsters. There was an animated special in 1992 that was potentially going to be the lead-in to a series but that didn’t happen.
A24 movies coming to HBO and Max: A24’s prestigious catalog of movies is coming to HBO and Max as part of a new deal between the distributor and Warner Bros. Discovery. A24 had a deal with Showtime that expired earlier this year. The past catalog will be available on Max, including Everything Everywhere All at Once, Past Lives, Uncut Gems, and The Whale along with current theatrical movies and future releases like Priscilla, The Iron Claw, Dream Scenario, Zone of Interest, and Alex Garland’s Civil War that will come exclusively to HBO/Max.
Foundation renewed for Season 3 on Apple TV+: Apple’s big sci-fi series Foundation, based on Isaac Asimov’s iconic sci-fi trilogy, has been renewed for a third season on Apple TV+. Lee Pace and Jared Harris star in the series with David S. Goyer showrunning.
Disney releasing Soul, Luca, and Seeing Red in theaters: Originally coming straight to Disney+, a trio of Pixar movies, Soul, Luca, and Seeing Red, are coming to theaters next year. Soul will hit theaters on January 12th, Seeing Red will be out on February 9th and Luca will be out on March 22nd. They’ll lead into Inside Out 2, which is coming out on June 14th next summer. The move is partially due to the extended writers and actors strikes this year, which delayed production on a slew of projects and left the beginning of next year light on content for both theatrical and streaming platforms.
The Accountant sequel being produced by Amazon: A sequel to the extremely solid Ben Affleck action movie The Accountant is coming, with Amazon producing the movie. Affleck is returning to reprise his role as Christian Wolff, an autistic forensic accountant who works for some of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the world. Gavin O’Connor, who directed the first movie, is coming back to direct the sequel (or potentially sequels as the duo has an idea for a trilogy of Accountant movies) and he and Affleck re-teamed in 2020 with The Way Back. Affleck worked with Amazon this year with the Nike biopic Air.
Cruel Intentions remake gets series order at Amazon: Amazon’s remake of the 90s cult favorite Cruel Intentions has gotten a series order of 8 episodes and the full cast was announced. Sarah Catherine Hook, Zac Burgess, Savannah Lee Smith, Sara Silva, Khobe Clarke, John Harlan Kim, Brooke Lena Johnson, and Sean Patrick Thomas will star in the series and the plotline is, “…two ruthless step-siblings will do anything to stay on top of the cutthroat social hierarchy. After a brutal hazing incident threatens the entire Panhellenic system at their school, they’ll do whatever is necessary to preserve their power and reputation, even if that means seducing the daughter of the vice president of the United States”. The original movie starred Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Selma Blair, and Reese Witherspoon.