Ex Machina becoming a Movie: Brian K. Vaughn’s comic series Ex Machina is becoming a movie at Legendary Pictures, although the movie will be called The Great Machine to avoid confusion with Alex Garland’s Ex Machina. The comic follows Mitch Hundred, a civil engineer living in NYC who develops the ability to communicate with and control machines and eventually becomes the mayor of the city.
Scott Derrickson drops out of Doctor Strange 2: Scott Derrickson is no longer director Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness due to “creative differences” but he will remain credited as an executive producer. The movie is scheduled for May 7th next year and will co-star Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch.
Mark Hamill guest-starring on What We Do in the Shadows: FX’s hilariously brilliant What We Do in the Shadows is back in April and it was revealed at a big FX presentation in NYC this past week that Mark Hamill will be one of the guest stars joining Nandor, Nadja, Guillermo, Laszlo and Colin Robinson in the second season. It’s not clear who Hamill will play but Jermaine Clement also revealed that they are going to try and expand the supernatural world with ghosts and witches being introduced.
The Howling remake coming to Netflix: One of the most beloved werewolf movies is getting a remake on Netflix with IT’s Andy Muschietti directing. Joe Dante directed the original movie, which followed a reporter who is traumatized while helping police catch a serial murderer and checks in to a remote psychiatric clinic to recover. Her colleague tries to figure out what happens and discovers the existence of werewolves. The original movie spawned seven sequels, including the absolutely absurd Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf.
Nicholas Hoult joins MI7 and MI8: Nicholas Hoult has signed on to join the next two Mission: Impossible sequels, most likely as the new villain facing the IMF team. Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson are returning and Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Shea Whigham are joining the cast along with Hoult. MI7 is in theaters in July next year and MI8 is in theaters in August 2022.
Last of the Mohicans TV series coming to HBO Max: HBO Max continues to fill out its lineup for its launch later this year and they have brought in current No Time to Die director Cary Fukunaga to executive produce an adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans. The novel was written by James Fenimore Cooper and is set during the French and Indian War. It’s been adapted multiple times but the best remembered is 1992’s Michael Mann version, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
Hans Zimmer scoring No Time to Die: Speaking of No Time to Die, Hans Zimmer will be taking over scoring duties for the new Bond movie after previously chosen composer Dan Romer left the project. Zimmer is obviously a composing legend and most recently scored movies like Blade Runner 2049 and Dunkirk.
The CW renews most of their shows: Pretty much every CW show that is not officially ending is getting another season, including The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning and Batwoman for the Arrowverse and Nancy Drew, All-American, Charmed, Dynasty, Roswell, New Mexico, and Riverdale. They also ordered more episodes of the upcoming Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene. Arrow and Supernatural were announced to be ending before the new seasons started in the fall, with Arrow being replaced by Green Arrow and the Canaries, which will star Katherine McNamara as Mia Smoak.
Knives Out Sequel in Development: Rian Johnson’s whodunnit? Knives Out has been a massive success at the box office, making over $130 million domestic and a sequel with Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc is in the works. It will most likely see Blanc head out on another case featuring a slew of famous suspects. Johnson is currently developing the sequel and wants to hopefully start making it within the next year.
Timothee Chalamet playing Bob Dylan: Musical biopics have been pretty hot recently with Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody and now Timothee Chalamet will portray Bob Dylan for a movie based on the folk-rock legend. James Mangold will direct the film, called Going Electric, that will trace his rise to fame.
Christian Bale in talks to join Thor: Love and Thunder: Batman may be coming to the MCU as Christian Bale is in talks to join the third Thor movie, Thor: Love and Thunder. It’s not clear who Bale would be playing but he would appear alongside Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Natalie Portman, who is returning to the MCU as Jane Foster and will become the female version of Thor that recently appeared in the Marvel Comics. Taika Waititi is back to direct as well.
