DARYL Sequel TV Show in Development: The 1985 sci-fi movie DARYL is getting a sequel that is in development over at TBS. Tony Hale will play the older DARYL, a government-created humanoid robot with superhuman reflexes and mental capabilities that was designed to be a Cold War super-soldier. The show seems very meta and self-aware in its description and it will be a full-on comedy where a former 80s superweapon is trying to live a normal life in the present day.
Margot Robbie starring in new Pirates of the Caribbean movie: Margot Robbie is heading from DC to Disney as she’ll star in a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. This new movie is separate from the proposed reboot that is in development as well and neither film will have any connection to the previous quintology featuring Jack Sparrow. Bumblebee and Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson is on board to write the script.
The Boys are back in September: Amazon’s wonderfully over the top comic book show The Boys is back for its second season on September 4th. The release schedule will change with the first three episodes dropping on that date and then new episodes will release weekly.
Two Gerard Butler sequels are on the way: Two Gerard Butler “classics”(?) have sequels that are in development. A new (Blank) Has Fallen movie is in development, which Butler teased during an interview with EW about his upcoming disaster movie Greenland. There’s also the Den of Thieves sequel, which Butler said he’s getting script pages for every day from writer Christian Gudegast and it will send franchise to Europe and the diamond district of Marseilles.
Jurassic World Dominion bringing back another classic character: The Jurassic World franchise has continuously thrown back to the original JP trilogy and the next movie, Jurassic World Dominion, will continue that trend by bringing back the enigmatic Dodgson, although with a new actor in the role. Dodgson appeared in the original Jurassic Park as an agent for INGEN’s chief rival, Biosyn, and he hired Dennis Nedry to steal the dinosaur DNA. Campbell Scott, most recently seen in the Amazing Spider-Man movies and Royal Pains, will play Dodgson in Dominion, who is now the CEO of Biosyn and it seems like a decent bet that he may be the chief human antagonist. Fun fact: in the novel The Lost World, Dodgson WAS the main human antagonist, who decided to take matters into his own hands after Nedry failed in the first novel.
George Romero’s The Amusement Park getting a release: A lost film for decades, George Romero’s The Amusement Park may finally be seeing a release. Yellow Veil Pictures has gotten the worldwide rights to the film, which was recovered and restored a few years ago. They are currently looking for buyers to distribute it. Romero shot the movie in 1973 and it follows an elderly man who believes he’s heading out to a normal day at an amusement park but it turns into a hellish nightmare.
Horror rom-com The Hills Have Eyes For You coming to Netflix: A horror/comedy superteam is forming to bring Netflix a new romantic comedy/horror hybrid. Eli Craig, director of Tucker & Dale vs Evil, and David Stieve, who co-wrote Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, are teaming up for The Hills Have Eyes For You. There are not any plot details or release info at the current time.
The Magic School Bus getting a live-action movie: The Magic School Bus series has taken many forms over the years but it will soon be a live-action movie with Elizabeth Banks starring as Miss Frizzle. Scholastic and Universal are producing the movie but it’s not clear if it will be based on a specific Magic School Bus book, like say Lost in the Solar System. The most recent incarnation of the series was on Netflix with a reboot that featured Kate McKinnon as Fiona Frizzle, Miss Frizzle’s sister.
Cyberpunk 2077 anime coming to Netflix: Cyberpunk 2077 was delayed again to November this year but there’s much more of that world coming after that with an anime series coming to Netflix in 2022. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, developed by Studio Trigger, who is behind Kill la Kill and Promare among other anime projects.
Splash Mountain being redesigned to The Princess and The Frog: Disney announced a massive change to one of the signature rides at both of their US theme parks as Splash Mountain is being redesigned and rethemed to The Princess and The Frog. Despite its popularity, Splash Mountain has drawn controversy essentially since it opened in the late ’80s by being based on Song of the South. Disney says they have been working on this retheming since last year and the ride will take place after the events of the movie as Princess Tiana and her alligator Louis get ready for their first Mardi Gras performance.
David Leitch directing new action movie Bullet Train: Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde and Hobbs & Shaw director David Leitch has signed on to direct a new high-concept action movie called Bullet Train. The movie is set on a bullet train in Tokyo that happens to have a group of assassins with different goals all riding at the same time.
Twister reboot in development: 90s classic Twister is getting a reboot over at Universal. Joseph Kosinski, director of Tron: Legacy and the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick, has signed on to direct a new version of the storm chasing action/disaster movie. The original movie starred Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt and followed a plucky scientific storm-chasing team as they tried to get their specialized analysis equipment into a tornado to gather information about how they form and gain strength. It’s not clear if the plot will be the same as the original or if it will be a new spin on storm chasing.
Spongebob heading directly to VOD: The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run, is following the lead of Scoob! and heading directly to Premium VOD instead of theaters. The movie was originally scheduled for May 22nd this year but was delayed until August 7th but now it will skip theaters altogether and arrive in early 2021 on VOD and then will be a CBS All Access streaming exclusive shortly afterward.
Michael Keaton in talks to return as Bruce Wayne/Batman: Michael Keaton may don the cowl again as he’s in talks to return to WB/DC as Bruce Wayne/Batman for the long-delayed The Flash movie from Andy Muschietti. Keaton would return and be a “Nick Fury-like” figure and could potentially appear in other movies like the upcoming Batgirl movie. This would have no impact on the Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which is working in its own continuity away from the main DCEU continuity, whatever that might be at the present. If Keaton comes back, part of his return would be to explore what the character has been up to since Batman Returns, which seems like it could be setting up some sort of multiverse idea for the DC movie universe.
RIP Joel Schumacher: Director Joel Schumacher passed away this past week at age 80. Schumacher had a long and diverse career directing since the mid-’70s and is most famous (or infamous in some circles) for Batman Forever and Batman & Robin in the ’90s but he also directed The Lost Boys, St. Elmo’s Fire, Flatliners, Phone Booth, Falling Down, A Time to Kill and more.
Crash Bandicoot 4 announced: After the massive success of the remade Crash trilogy, Crash is back for a proper fourth entry in his platforming series with Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, developed by the N. Sane Trilogy developers Toys for Bob. Crash, Coco, and the gang are back to stop the evil trio of Dr. Neo Cortex, Uka Uka, and Dr. N. Trophy from unleashing their latest evil scheme. Along with revamped graphics and gameplay, the game’s big new feature is Quantum Masks, which gives Crash different abilities, like The Time Mask that lets him slow down time. The game is out on PS4 and Xbox One on October 2nd.
Cobra Kai heading to Netflix: Since YouTube has pretty much given up on developing new original shows for their YouTube Premium (or is it still YouTube Red?) subscription model, Cobra Kai is jumping ship and heading to Netflix. The 1st and 2nd seasons of the show will be available sometime later this year on Netflix and season 3 will be Netflix exclusive.
