News Shotgun 1/13/24
Here’s all the movie and TV news you need to know from the past week, it’s the News Shotgun
Laurence Fishburne joins The Witcher: Laurence Fishburne will join the cast of The Witcher in season 4, when Liam Hemsworth takes over as Geralt from Henry Cavill. Fishburne will play Regis “a world-wise Barber-surgeon with a mysterious past” who will join Geralt as he attempts to reunite with Ciri.
Top Gun 3 in development: Tom Cruise is heading back into the cockpit as Maverick as Top Gun 3 is in development at Paramount. Ehren Kruger, who co-wrote Top Gun: Maverick, is writing the sequel, and Miles Teller and Glen Powell are returning from Maverick. Joseph Kosinski, who directed Maverick, will either direct or produce this new sequel but no decision is official yet.
David Gordon Green exits The Exorcist: Believer sequel: David Gordon Green won’t complete the new Exorcist series like he did for Halloween, as he has exited the sequel to The Exorcist: Believer, The Exorcist: Deciever. Believer was not well received by critics and didn’t do that well particularly at the box office, both of which were not good news to Universal, who spent a ridiculous $400 million on the rights to The Exorcist. A search for a new director is underway. Deceiver was set to come out in April 2025 but that may get pushed depending on how it takes to find a new director.
John Krasinski and Natalie Portman starring in the new Guy Ritchie movie: John Krasinski and Natalie Portman will co-star in Fountain of Youth for Guy Ritchie, an Apple/Skydance production. The movie is an adventure/heist movie where two estranged siblings are forced to team up on a global quest to find the Fountain of Youth. Skydance and Apple teamed up recently with The Family Plan starring Mark Wahlberg, which became the biggest movie debut in Apple TV+ history.
Elfquest series is coming from Fox: The long-running fantasy series Elfquest is getting an animated drama series from Fox. Susan Hurwitz Arneson, who previously worked on Preacher, South Park, and Bordertown, is writing and showrunning the series. The comic started in 1978 and follows a community of elves trying to survive on a primitive, Earth-like planet and co-exist with the other fantasy species that live in that world.
The Last of Us Season 2 gets major casting additions: The Last of Us Season 2 has found its three main additions to the cast from The Last of Us Part II who will join Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal as Ellie and Joel. Kaitlyn Dever, who was originally in the running to play Ellie, has been cast as Ellie’s nemesis Abby while Isabela Merced is playing Ellie’s love interest Dina and Young Mazino is playing Jesse, Dina’s ex and an ally to Ellie and Dina. It’s not clear how Season 2 is going to tackle the massively expanded narrative of The Last of Us Part II but showrunner Craig Mazin has said Part II will be split between multiple seasons.
28 Days Later sequel in development: Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are re-teaming for a new entry in the 28 Days series, 28 Years Later. The duo collaborated on 28 Days Later but they both only executive produced the sequel, 28 Weeks Later. Boyle will direct the new movie and Garland will write it and there is talk of a potential new trilogy of movies, which Garland would write all 3 of. There’s no word on the casting or plot of the new movie.
Supergirl testing underway: James Gunn and Peter Safran are apparently starting the hunt for their Supergirl, as a trio of actresses are going to begin testing for the role. Milly Alcock from House of the Dragon, Emilie Jones from CODA, and Meg Donnelly of Disney’s Zombie series are all in contention to play Kara Zor-El. One of the projects in Gunn and Safran’s new DC Universe is Supergirl, Woman of Tomorrow, which is based on the critically acclaimed Tom King series from 2002.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall, and Sean Penn starring in the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie: As usual, PT Anderson is already assembling an all-star cast for his next movie, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall, and Sean Penn signed on to star. The title and plot of the movie are being kept under wraps but shooting is expected to begin later this year. PTA most recently directed Licorice Pizza, which earned 3 Oscar nominations.
Our Flag Means Death canceled on Max: The fan-favorite comedy series Our Flag Means Death has been canceled at Max after two seasons. The series starred Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi and was very loosely based on the real-life of gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet, played by Darby, with Waititi playing Blackbeard. In a sad statement on the current nature of streaming, it had to specifically be mentioned that the two seasons of the series won’t be removed from Max with the show’s cancellation, but who knows when you’re dealing with Warner Bros. Discovery.
RIP Adan Canto: After a private battle with cancer, Adan Canto passed away this past week at age 42. Canto was a co-star on Designated Survivor and The Cleaning Lady along with previously appearing on The Following and in X-Men: Days of Future Past, Bruised, 2 Hearts, and Agent Game.
Season 2 of Ahsoka confirmed: Disney and Lucasfilm have confirmed a second season of Ahsoka is coming to Disney+. Dave Filoni, who was recently promoted to Chief Creative Officer at Lucasfilm, is actively developing Season 2 of Ahsoka, the first season of which left plenty of plot points dangling for a follow-up.
Mandalorian & Grogu movie announced: In other Star Wars news, Jon Favreau will be directing a theatrical entry in The Mandalorian series with Mandalorian & Grogu. There’s no word on a plot and Season 4 of the TV series is also in development. It wasn’t officially confirmed if Pedro Pascal will reprise his role as Din Djarin in the new movie.
Ed Brubaker’s Criminal coming to Amazon: Amazon is getting another comic book series for Prime Video with Ed Brubaker’s Criminal getting a series order. The series, written by Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips, is described by Brubaker as, “…the interweaving saga of several generations of families tied together by the crimes and murders of the past”. Brubaker wrote the script for the pilot and will showrun the series with crime fiction author Jordan Harper.
Jacob Elordi playing Frankenstein’s Monster: Hot off Priscilla and Saltburn, Jacob Elordi is becoming Frankenstein’s Monster for Guillermo Del Toro’s long-anticipated take on Mary Shelley’s horror classic. Andrew Garfield was previously cast in the role but had to bail out due to schedule conflicts brought on by the strikes last year. Oscar Isaac is playing Victor Frankenstein with Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz co-starring.