News Shotgun 2/24/24
Here’s all the movie and TV news you need to know from the past week, it’s the News Shotgun
Josh McDermitt joins Suits: LA: Walking Dead veteran Josh McDermitt is joining Stephen Amell for the upcoming Suits spin-off, Suits: L.A. McDermitt will play Stuart Lane, an old buddy of Amell’s Ted Black who joined Black to form Black Lane Law, a powerful LA firm that specializes in criminal and entertainment law. Production on the series starts in March and Aaron Korsh, the original creator of Suits, is back to showrun Suits: L.A.
True Detective renewed for fifth season: Hot on the heels of the Night Country finale, HBO has renewed True Detective for a fifth season with Issa Lopez back to showrun and she has also signed an overall deal with HBO. Night Country was the most watched season of True Detective, building an audience weekly and peaking with 3.2 million viewers for the finale episode and a total number of viewers at 12.7 million across HBO and Max. It’s not expected that Jodie Foster or Kali Reis will return, as the show follows an anthology model with new leads every season.
Lionsgate shifts around release dates: Lionsgate has shifted around some release dates for a few upcoming releases. Ballerina, the John Wick spin-off starring Ana De Armas, has been shifted from June of this year to June 6th next year. Chad Stahelski, who has directed the entire John Wick franchise, will work with Ballerina director Len Wiseman to add more and bigger action sequences to the movie. Meanwhile, the remake of The Crow, starring Bill Skarsgard, has moved into the June timeslot vacated by Ballerina. Rupert Sanders is directing the movie and it will be directly against the latest from M. Night Shyamalan, The Watchers.
Alan Ritchson and Kevin James starring in new action/comedy: Alan Ritchson and Kevin James will be co-starring in a new action/comedy film, Playdate. James is playing a down-on-his-luck dad who is fired from his job and becomes a stay-at-home dad. He brings his son to a playdate and meets Ritchson’s character, who turns out to be the target of a deadly conspiracy that forces the dads to go on the run with their sons. Luke Greenfield, who previously worked on The Girl Next Door, is directing the movie and filming begins in March.
Gareth Edwards signs on to new Jurassic movie: Unable to get David Leitch, Universal is in final negotiations with director Gareth Edwards to direct the new Jurassic World movie. Edwards previously directed Rogue One, Godzilla, and last year’s The Creator. The new Jurassic movie is a fresh start with no characters from either the legacy movies or the recent Jurassic World trilogy.
Sam Mendes directing four Beatles biopics: Director Sam Mendes, director of 1917, Skyfall, and Spectre, is tackling an ambitious film series based on The Beatles. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison have given the rights to their life and music and Mendes will direct a movie from each of the Beatles’ perspectives that all lead to the band’s break-up in 1970. There’s no casting yet or release dates for each movie.
EC Comics returning: The OG creepy comic publisher EC Comics, which is probably most famous for Tales from the Crypt, is returning from Oni Press. Oni has made a deal with William M. Gaines Agent, Inc., which owns the rights to EC Comics, to produce a pair of new series with the EC branding. Ephitets from the Abyss will be an anthology horror series in the vein of Tales from the Crypt while Cruel Universe will be a sci-fi anthology series. The comics will be out this summer.
Destin Danel Cretton directing a Naruto movie: Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton is tackling the fan-favorite manga/anime series Naruto for a live-action movie. Cretton is also writing the movie but there aren’t any other details at this time. Lionsgate is distributing the movie.