News Shotgun 4/13/24
Here’s all the movie and TV news you need to know from the past week, it’s the News Shotgun
Cold Case reboot in development: CBS is in negotiations to bring back the crime procedural Cold Case, with original creator Meredith Stiehm behind the revival. The new series would be set 15 years after the end of the original run and feature a new team of detectives investigating cold cases in the southwest of the US. The original series, which starred Kathryn Morris, was set in Philadelphia.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Renewed, Lower Decks ending: Production is currently underway on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ third season but the show has already gotten a renewal for a fourth season on Paramount+. The show has been a fan favorite for its return to the more episodic style of Trek adventures and appeared on the Nielsen streaming charts top 10 for several weeks. The animated Trek series Lower Decks, which crossed over with Strange New Worlds in the latter’s most recent season, will end with the upcoming fifth season, which is set to arrive in the fall.
Chris Farley biopic in development: A biopic of the beloved comedic actor Chris Farley is in development, based on the Farley biography The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts. Paul Walter Hauser, most recently seen on Cobra Kai and the Apple TV thriller series Black Bird, is in talks to play Farley and Josh Gad is in talks to direct for the first time. Lorne Michaels will produce the movie.
GI Joe/Transformers crossover officially announced: Teased at the end of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Paramount officially announced a new movie featuring both 80s toy juggernauts. The story for the crossover movie is based on the crossover that appeared in Marvel Comics in the 80s. No actors or directors are attached, but Steven Spielberg will be executive producing.
New Blair Witch movie in development at Blumhouse: The horror of the Blair Witch is coming back to theaters with Jason Blum and Blumhouse developing a new Blair Witch movie. There is no word on whether it will be a full reboot or be set in the same universe as the original movie. Blumhouse picked up the thread that Blair Witch started with its Paranormal Activity franchise. This is apparently the first of several reimaginings of established horror franchises that Blumhouse will work with Lionsgate on.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters renewed for Season 2: Godzilla x Kong is currently tearing up the box office and the Monsterverse is continuing on Apple TV+ with Monarch: Legacy of Monsters being renewed for a second season. There’s no official word on which cast members from the first season will be returning. The renewal announcement also came with news that multiple spin-offs from the Monsterverse are also coming to Apple TV+, although the exact nature of the spin-offs is unknown.
Glen Powell starring in The Running Man for Paramount: Glen Powell is continuing his box office starring run by signing on to star in The Running Man for Paramount. Edgar Wright is directing the new movie, which will hew closer to the original Richard Bachman aka Stephen King novella, which set the dystopian gameshow across the entire country instead of the over-the-top arenas and “stalkers” of the Arnold classic.
R-rated TMNT movie in development: Paramount is developing a movie adaptation of the fan-favorite TMNT comic The Last Ronin, marking the first R-rated TMNT movie. Former head of DC films Walter Hamada is producing the movie, which finds a lone Ninja Turtle (whose identity is left a mystery for a while in the comics) battling in a totalitarian future NYC ruled by the grandson of Shredder and his army of robotic ninjas. The three other Turtles and Master Splinter were all killed by this new threat, leaving the last remaining Turtle looking for vengeance. TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman co-wrote the comic book but Tyler Burton Smith, who wrote the upcoming Boy Kills World and 2019’s Child’s Play is writing the movie screenplay.
OJ Simpson dies at age 76: Controversial pop culture icon OJ Simpson died this week from cancer at age 76. Simpson was an all-star NFL player, leading the NFL in rushing multiple times during his career, and later transitioned to movie and TV roles, including The Naked Gun/Police Squad franchise, The Towering Inferno, and Capricorn One. He was also infamously the first choice to play The Terminator before Arnold was cast. He drew the attention of the entire country in 1995 when he was arrested for the murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. The trial was one of the most-watched television events in history and eventually led to a Not Guilty verdict from the jury, which drew equal parts celebration and disgust. He was later arrested in 2007 for leading an armed robbery in Las Vegas and was released on parole in 2017.
Scary Movie reboot in development: Originally debuting in 2000 and spawning four sequels, Scary Movie is getting rebooted by Paramount and Miramax with Fast and Furious producer Neal H. Moritz producing. There is no casting, director, or plot details but with the final Scary Movie hitting theaters in 2013, there’s over a decade of horror that can be parodied.
Melrose Place reboot in development: 90s soap opera Melrose Place is returning to TV with a revival series picking up years after the end of the original series. Heather Locklear, Daphne Zuniga, and Laura Leighton are returning to star in the new series, which finds the former residents of Melrose Place returning when one of their friends dies unexpectedly. The reunion brings up old grudges, romances, drama, and secrets. CBS Studios is behind the revival and is currently shopping the series to both networks and streaming platforms. The original Melrose Place is currently streaming on Prime Video.
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and M3GAN 2 announced: Two of Universal and Blumhouse’s biggest recent hits are officially getting sequels with Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and M3GAN 2 announced at the recent CinemaCon. Both sequels are set for 2025 but there’s no word on directors, plot, or casting yet.
Heroes reboot in development: Tim Kring is trying again to revive his superhero drama series Heroes with Heroes: Eclipsed. The new series is set years after the original Heroes and finds a new group of evolved humans discover and try to control their powers. The original series ran from 2006 to 2010 and then a limited sequel series Heroes: Reborn aired for a single season in 2015. There’s no casting news, either new or returning. Kring most recently showran Treadstone on USA.
Nia DaCosta in talks to direct 28 Years Later: Coming off The Marvels, Nia DaCosta has signed to direct the third entry in the zombie series began by 28 Days Later, 28 Years Later. Alex Garland, who wrote 28 Days Later, is writing the new movie and original director Danny Boyle is producing. DaCosta is currently working on Hedda, a re-imagination of the stage play “Hedda Gabler” that will star Tessa Thompson for Amazon/MGM that DaCosta wrote, produced, and will direct.
Black Samurai finds director: WB is working again with The Color Purple director Blitz Bazawule for the upcoming Black Samurai. The movie follows the story of Yasuke, an African warrior who became a samurai for Oda Nobunaga in 16th-century Japan. Yasuke’s story has been adapted into an anime series on Netflix and was allegedly one of the inspirations for Afro Samurai.
Margot Robbie producing Monopoly movie: Margot Robbie is staying in the world of toys and games as her company LuckyChap is producing a movie based on Monopoly. There’s no plot details, casting, or director news to go along with the announcement.
Lionsgate shuffles release dates: Lionsgate has shuffled around some release dates for some upcoming projects. The Crow shifted a few months to August 23rd this year, Saw XI is shifting a year to September 26th, 2025. The Halle Berry starring Never Let Go will take Saw XI’s original date of September 25th this year. The Judy Greer/Pete Holmes starring Christmas movie The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is shifting a few days from November 15th to November 8th.
CBS renews all FBI shows: Dick Wolf’s trio of FBI shows, FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, and FBI: International were all renewed for new seasons. The original flagship series actually got a three-season renewal, which will take it to season 9 while Most Wanted will be entering its sixth season and International will be entering its fourth season.
Heels coming to Netflix: The Starz wrestling drama Heels is coming to Netflix via a licensing deal with Lionsgate Television. The series starred Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludwig as brothers who are at odds over the direction of their late father’s wrestling promotion. The series was canceled in 2013 by Starz but this new deal has the possibility of a third season produced by Netflix, depending on the availability of its stars and how much of an impact it makes on the streaming platform. Stephen Amell recently signed on to star in the Suits spin-off, Suits: LA and Alexander Ludwig is starring in the MGM+ series Earth Abides, based on the sci-fi novel of the same name.
Levon’s Trade adds more cast members: Several new cast members will join Jason Statham in David Ayer’s Levon’s Trade. Michael Peña, David Harbour, Jason Flemyng and Arianna Rivas joined the cast this week. Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay, which is adapted from the novel by Chuck Dixon that is the first in an 11-part series with Statham playing Levon Cade, a former black ops operator who gets called back into action to find the missing daughter of his former boss. The movie will debut in theaters on January 17th, 2025.