Akiva Schaffer directing Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers Movie: There was news about a Chip N Dale movie almost five years ago but the project has taken a major step this week with The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer being hired to direct. Schaffer directed Hot Rod and Popstar and this Chip N Dale movie is going be a live-action/CG hybrid that is “meta, something self-referential and cool”.
The Batman News: Some major DC movie news this week as it seems like the next Batman is going to be either Robert Pattinson or Nicholas Hoult (Most of the news said it was Pattinson but then later reports said it’s between those two) for The Batman. Matt Reeves, directing of Dawn and War for the Planet of the Apes, has been working on the movie basically since Ben Affleck was cast for Dawn of Justice. Whichever actor gets the cowl, reports are saying he’ll be facing off against possibly half a dozen rogues, including specifically Catwoman and The Penguin. The movie currently has a June 21, 2021 release date.
Hulu getting Stephen King’s The Eyes of the Dragon: Hulu is getting some more Stephen King on their platform as, along with Castle Rock, they are turning King’s fantasy novel The Eyes of the Dragon into a TV series. The book is King’s only foray into full fantasy, set in the medieval kingdom of Delain and following the royal family and a plot being put in place by the king’s magician, Flagg. Seth Grahame-Smith is writing the pilot and will serve as the showrunner.
Mel Gibson starting to gather the new Wild Bunch: Mel Gibson has been attached for a while to direct a reboot of Sam Peckinpah’s classic western, The Wild Bunch, and now he seems to be starting to assemble his gang as Michael Fassbender, Jamie Foxx, and Peter Dinklage are apparently in early talks to join the movie.
Deathstroke getting a CW Seed animated series: The Arrowverse’s version of Deathstroke is getting an animated series on CW Seed, Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons. The series follows Slade Wilson as he has to defend his family from the terrorist Jackal and HIVE. It’s not clear if Manu Bennett will return to voice Slade. CW Seed is also getting a live-action horror series called The Pledge that takes place in a haunted sorority house.
Paramount adapting Atlas Comics properties into movies: In what’s probably another doomed attempt at a shared universe, Paramount has gotten the rights to adapt various Atlas Comics properties into movies. Atlas was the home for many Marvel heroes, like Human Torch, Namor and Captain America before Marvel got the rights to those characters but the characters who will most likely get movies are characters like Tiger-Man, World War II hero Sgt. Stryker and Devilina. Akiva Goldsman is overseeing the writers room for this new universe and the first movie will most likely arrive in 2021.
James Wan directing The Magic Order Netflix pilot: Part of the Millarworld sale to Netflix, Mark Millar’s The Magic Order is becoming a Netflix series and James Wan will be directing the pilot. The comic follows five families of magic wielders who live normal lives during the day but at night battle the forces of evil as sorcerers, magicians, and wizards.
Crisis on Infinite Earths details: Some details about the massive Arrowverse crossover that is happening next season were revealed at the Upfronts this past week. Crisis on Infinite Earths was teased during last year’s Elseworlds crossover and during the season finales of Arrow and Flash so far. The crossover will be 5 hours long and spread across Arrow, Flash, Supergirl, Legends and the new Batwoman show over two nights sometime in December. This event will most likely be the final appearance of Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, as Arrow is ending next year with a shortened 10 episode season.
The CW ends Netflix deal: In other CW news, the network has chosen not to renew their deal with Netflix where new seasons of their shows automatically arrived on Netflix 8 days after the season finale airs. Going forward, new shows will be shopped around and Netflix could still end up getting them, they’ll just have to bid against other streaming platforms, and the previous seasons of shows like Arrow, Flash, and Riverdale will stay on Netflix.
The Tick canceled by Amazon: The new Tick series has been canceled by Amazon after it’s second season. Tick creator Ben Edlund said they are looking to see if the series can move to a different platform.
Disenchantment back in September: Matt Groening’s well-received fantasy series Disenchantment will finally return in September this year for the second half of its first season, specifically on September 20th.
Chris Rock rebooting Saw: Despite the awfulness of Jigsaw, Lionsgate is continuing on with more Saw movies, with a spin-off conceived by…Chris Rock? Rock is apparently a huge Saw fan and pitched a new movie in the franchise that Lionsgate loved and they tasked Saw veteran, Darren Lynn Bousman, to direct the new movie. It’s not clear if or where it will fit in with the Saw timeline but it can only go up after Jigsaw.
Snowpiercer series moving to TBS: A strange move among the Turner networks as the upcoming Snowpiercer TV series is moving from TNT to TBS. The series will be TBS’ first drama series and is based on the movie from 2013 with Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs starring. The series got an early season 2 renewal and the first season will debut sometime in spring 2020.
Mortal Kombat movie filming later this year: The long in development movie reboot of Mortal Kombat is finally going into production this fall with James Wan producing. Commercial director Simon McQuoid will be making his feature film debut and Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Kano, Raiden, Sub-Zero, and Scorpion will be featured along with possibly more characters. The movie has been getting worked on in various forms since 2016.
Simpsons reruns going to Freeform: The Simpsons are heading to Freeform as part of Disney’s new strategies for it’s Fox properties. FXX will still be the main source older Simpsons episodes but starting in September reruns will also start to air on the channel formerly known as ABC Family. The entire Simpsons back catalog will also be available on Disney+ when it launches in the fall.
RIP Tim Conway: Legendary comedian Tim Conway passed away this past week at age 85. Conway was a co-star on The Carol Burnett Show and was famous for his series of Dorf comedic how-to videos. He also appeared on shows like Married With Children, CSI, Yes Dear, Coach, Mad About You, The Drew Carey Show, 30 Rock and Two and a Half Men.
Next Star Wars movie is from Game of Thrones creators: In what will surely cause no controversy whatsoever, the next Star Wars film following this December’s Rise of Skywalker is the mysterious project from Game of Thrones’ David Benioff and DB Weiss. The movie is scheduled for 2022 and the rumors are it may be set in the Old Republic era. The duo is writing and producing the new trilogy of films.
Disney assumes full control of Hulu: Speaking of Disney, they have also acquired full control over Hulu this week thanks to a deal with Comcast. As part of the deal, NBCUniversal will continue to license content to Hulu but they can start as soon as next year begin to pull content that was exclusive to Hulu and by 2022 they can outright cancel any licensing deals with Hulu. NBC is looking to try and possibly launch it’s own streaming service next year, possibly pulling The Office and Friends from Netflix as part of its launch strategy.
Honey I Shrunk the Kids reboot on the way: Also on the Disney front, there is a reboot of Honey I Shrunk the Kids on the way with Josh Gad set to star. Gad will star as Nick Szalinski, the grown son of Rick Moranis’ Wayne Szalinski, who has created his own version of his father’s iconic shrink ray but history repeats itself and he accidentally shrinks his own kids. The movie is titled Shrunk and is set for a theatrical release (it was originally reported this might be one of the Disney+ original offerings).
The Purge ending next year with the fifth and final film: The Purge franchise is coming to a close next year with the fifth and final movie in the series. It’s not clear where it will fit in the timeline as far as possibly between The First Purge and The Purge or if it will wrap things up post-Election Year. It’s not clear yet if series creator James DeMonaco will return to write and/or direct the final film but it is based on an idea he’s had for a while. The Purge will continue on USA, as the second season of the TV series is coming sometime in the future.
