News Shotgun 1/6/24
Here’s all the movie and TV news you need to know from the past week, it’s the News Shotgun
Samuel L. Jackson joins Peackock’s Fight Night: Samuel L. Jackson has joined the cast for Kevin Hart’s limited series, Fight Night, which will be a Peacock exclusive. Jackson is playing the “Black Godfather”, Frank Moten, an underworld crime kingpin in the true crime series that details an armed robbery at an afterparty following a boxing match between Muhammed Ali and Joe Quarry, which became one of the largest armed robberies in US history. Hart will produce and star in the series.
Julia Garner starring in The Wolf Man: Ozark star Julia Garner is joining her Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene co-star Christopher Abbott in Blumhouse’s revival of The Wolf Man. Leigh Whannell, who directed The Invisible Man reboot, is directing the movie, which will star Garner as the mother of a family whose family is being terrorized by the titular predator. Ryan Gosling was going to star but had to bail out but will still be producing the movie.
Gerard Butler returning in live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie: At least one star of the animated How to Train Your Dragon franchise is coming to the live-action version with Gerard Butler signed on to reprise his role as Stoick in the new movie. Mason Thames and Nico Parker are playing Hiccup and Astrid and Dean DeBlois, who directed and wrote the original trilogy of movies, is writing, producing, and directing this new live-action version.
Ke Huy Quan starring in action movie With Love: Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan has signed on to star in an upcoming action movie produced by David Leitch, With Love. Plot details have not been revealed but the movie will directed by Jonathan Eusebio in his directorial debut, after being a 2nd unit director and stunt coordinator for projects like Violent Night and Obi-Wan.
Cast additions for Flight Risk: Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace have signed on to join Mark Wahlberg in the upcoming, Mel Gibson-directed, thriller Flight Risk. Wahlberg plays a pilot who is flying an Air Marshall, played by Dockery, who is transporting a fugitive, played by Grace, to trial. As the flight goes on, everyone on board is not who they appear to be and tensions rise.
Shout! Studios get rights to Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, and other Henson projects: Shout! Studios have gotten worldwide rights to Jim Henson classics Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and behind-the-scenes specials. The Jim Henson Company previously gave Shout! Studios the rights to Farscape and The Storyteller. Shout! now has streaming, on-demand, digital download, and packaged media rights to the movies as well as limited theatrical rights. Shout! has announced they are planning on a massive push of the movies, starting with making them available digitally on February 6th.
Blumhouse and Atomic Monster merge: Jason Blum and James Wan have officially joined forces under one roof as Blumhouse and Atomic Monster announced a merger between the two production companies. Wan has been co-producing and directing a few Blumhouse titles for years and will now be a 1/3 owner with Jason Blum and Comcast. The company will retain both brands as separate labels and they have a first-look contract with Universal. Atomic Monster was looking to utilize Blumhouse’s infrastructure to get more resources for their projects and Blumhouse has been looking to ramp up production on movies and TV shows, looking to put out about 7 or 8 movies a year along with TV shows for platforms like Peacock.
Jack Black starring in Minecraft movie: Jack Black has joined Jason Momoa in the upcoming Minecraft movie, playing the face of the franchise, Steve. It’s still not clear who Momoa is playing or what the plot will entail. This will reunite Black with his Nacho Libre director, Jared Hess, who is directing Minecraft.
RIP Tom Wilkinson: Tom Wilkinson passed away just before New Year’s last Saturday at age 75. Wilkinson was best known for his many supporting roles, including an Oscar-nominated turn in Michael Clayton. He also appeared in The Full Monty, Shakespeare in Love, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Rush Hour, Batman Begins, The Green Hornet, and Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol.