Two Marvel animated Hulu shows canceled: Two of the announced animated shows on Hulu featuring Marvel characters have been canceled before they began, Howard the Duck and Tigra & Dazzler. Patton Oswalt’s MODOK and the Hit-Monkey series are both apparently still happening.
Robert Zemeckis signs on Pinocchio remake: Robert Zemeckis has signed on to direct one of the many upcoming live-action remakes of classic Disney films, Pinocchio. Disney was originally working with Paddington director Paul King but that version fell through and now Zemeckis is signed on and co-writing a new script. The movie could go into production later this year for a 2022 release date.
Bambi “live-action” remake in the works: Speaking of Disney remakes, the studio announced they will be giving Bambi the 2019 Lion King treatment with a “live-action” remake that will feature photorealistic animals.
Obi-Wan series on hold: The upcoming Disney+ series focused on Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan has been put on hold while the scripts are totally re-written. Apparently, the series felt too similar to last year’s smash hit The Mandalorian for Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy’s taste. The series is also going from six episodes down to four and production will probably be delayed until next year.
Anaconda reboot in the works: Colombia Pictures is rebooting Anaconda, the lovably wacky 90s creature feature that originally starred Jennifer Lopez and Jon Voight. Colombia is apparently looking to reimagine the concept as something similar to 2018’s The Meg and has hired Evan Daugherty, who wrote Tomb Raider and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to write the script.
Amazon developing Alex Cross series: Amazon is adding another “dad book” hero to its original series list with a series based on James Patterson’s detective Alex Cross. Played by Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry on the big screen, Alex Cross has appeared in 29 books by Patterson. Cross will join Jack Ryan, Jack Reacher and Harry Bosch in Amazon’s roster of dad-friendly crime fighters.
Captain Marvel 2 officially confirmed: Disney/Marvel officially confirmed Captain Marvel 2 is officially on the way with Megan McDonnell, co-writer of the upcoming Wandavision, in talks to write the script. Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are not expected to return for the sequel.
James Mangold directing Matt Damon in The Force: Part of the Ford v Ferrari team is getting back together for an adaptation of the crime thriller novel The Force by Don Winslow. Matt Damon will star as Denny Malone, the head of an elite crime-fighting task force in the NYPD who is under investigation for corruption and is targetted by federal agents, the mob, the mayor’s office, and Harlem drug dealers. James Mangold will direct the movie.
Disney Channel getting a luchador series: Disney has ordered a luchador/superhero series starring Blue Demon Jr called Ultra Violet and Blue Demon. The series will follow 13-year-old Violet, the niece of Blue Demon Jr, who is chosen by a magical luchador mask to be his successor. She trains with her uncle to not only become a champion wrestler but also a superhero. Blue Demon Jr. is executive producing the series and will play himself.
Amazon developing a Fear Agent series: Amazon is adding another comic adaptation to its lineup following the success of The Boys with Tony Moore’s Fear Agent. Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen and Shazam!’s David F. Sandberg are teaming up to develop the series, which follows Heath Huston, the last Fear Agent who travels across time and space to stop various threats.
Rosario Dawson starring in DMZ adaptation: Speaking of comic adaptations, Rosario Dawson will star in an adaptation of DMZ for HBO Max. The comic, created by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli, was set in the aftermath of the Second Civil War, with the island of Manhattan becoming a lawless DMZ dividing the two warring factions. Dawson is playing Alma, a nurse who travels Manhattan saving lives while looking for her son who disappeared.
Karate Kid musical in development: The Karate Kid is coming to Broadway as a new musical based on the movie is in development. Robert Mark Kamen, the original screenwriter, is back to write the script for the new musical with composer Drew Gasparini writing the songs and lyrics.
The Witcher anime movie coming to Netflix: The Witcher universe is expanding on Netflix with an upcoming anime movie set in the world of the Netflix series. The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf is being developed by Studio Mir, which created The Legend of Korra and Netflix’s Voltron. The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is directing the anime movie but it’s not clear yet if Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra or Freya Allan will provide the voices.
Kung Fu remake in the works: Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2 and Hobbs & Shaw director David Leitch has signed on to direct a remake of David Carradine’s Kung Fu TV series. The series followed a master martial artist who fled China when his master was murdered and wandered the American West, helping the downtrodden while dodging assassins. Leitch is also attached to direct a remake of the Bruce Lee classic Enter the Dragon.
Tarantino writing and directing five episodes of Bounty Law: One of the many delightful parts of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was the glimpses at Rick Dalton’s Western series Bounty Law and Tarantino has confirmed he’s written five half-hour episodes of Bounty Law and he thinks it will be about a year and a half before he can get underway with directing them. It’s not clear if Leonardo DiCaprio would return to play Jake Cahill/Rick Dalton but it seems foolish to do anything like that without him.
Bad Robot developing Justice League Dark projects: Justice League Dark projects have been swirling around Warner Bros for years, even at one point having the legendary Guillermo Del Toro behind it but now JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot has signed a deal with WB to develop potentially movies and TV shows featuring the Justice League Dark characters, which includes John Constantine, Zatanna, Swamp Thing, Etrigan the Demon, Deadman and more. Swamp Thing had his well-received but canceled DC Universe series, Constantine had the Keanu Reeves films and Matt Ryan portraying him on TV, currently on Legends of Tomorrow, and there was a DC Animated film that featured the team along with Batman in 2017.
