The Meg 2 coming from Ben Wheatley: There’s more giant shark action on the horizon as Warner Bros. is moving ahead with a sequel to The Meg. Ben Wheatley, director of the new adaptation of Rebecca on Netflix along with Free Fire and High-Rise, has signed on to direct and Jason Statham is expected to return as Jonas Taylor. There’s plenty of book material to draw from as The Meg had seven book sequels, including The Trench.
Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke will be in the Snyder Cut: Teased at the end of the original cut of Justice League, it seems like Joe Manganiello will be in more of the movie via the upcoming Snyder Cut. It’s not clear if Zack Synder shot more footage originally with Manganiello or if this is new footage. The Snyder Cut is going to be four, 1-hour episodes on HBO Max sometime next year.
Creepshow Animated Special coming next week: Shudder’s TV series reboot of Creepshow is getting an animated Halloween special on October 29th next week. The special features two stories, one from Stephen King and one from Joe Hill, with Kiefer Sutherland starring in the first story and Joey King starring in the second.
Scarlett Johansson starring in a reimaging of the Bride of Frankenstein: Scarlett Johansson has signed on for a new A24/Apple project called Bride, which will be a reimagining of the Bride of Frankenstein character. Johannsson’s character is, ” woman created to be an ideal wife — the singular obsession of a brilliant entrepreneur — rejects her creator, and is forced to flee her confined existence, confronting a world that sees her as a monster. It is on the run that she finds her true identity, her surprising power, and the strength to remake herself as her own creation”. It sounds similar to how The Invisible Man was revamped and with Apple onboard, will most likely be an Apple TV+ exclusive.
Tim Burton producing a new Addams Family TV series: Tim Burton is finally putting his spin on the kooky and ooky Addams Family by executive producing, and possibly directing, a new live-action TV series based on franchise. MGM TV is behind the project but there’s no casting or network information. The latest version of the Addams Family was the animated film from Illumination that is getting a sequel and starred Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron.
First Look at Tom Holland as Nathan Drake:
Quibi is dead: Despite launching on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV this week, Quibi is officially dead, as co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg announced the service is shutting down completely soon after only six months in operation. The timing of the app’s launch is the cause being put out most as the cause of the failure but there are many other factors, like not being able to cast the shows to another device or not having the ability to share GIFs or video from the app to social media and just the general lack of truly compelling content.
Smokey and the Bandit getting a TV series: Smokey and The Bandit is getting a TV reboot from a comedy supergroup. David Gordon Green, Jody Hill, Danny McBride, and Seth McFarlane are teaming up for a new TV version of the Burt Reynolds classic about bootlegging and running from the cops in a sweet muscle car. No word on casting or what service/network it would be on but there are strong ties to HBO from Green, Hill, and McBride, who have developed three excellent comedy shows for the network.
Jamie Foxx starring in vampire action movie for Netflix: Jamie Foxx is returning to Netflix and getting his Blade on a for a vampire action movie called Day Shift. John Wick’s Chad Stahelski is producing and his stunt coordinator for John Wick Chapter 2, JJ Perry, is making his directorial debut. Foxx plays a single dad who cleans pools in the San Fernando Valley by day but secretly hunts vampires at night.
Denis Villeneuve bringing The Son to HBO: Denis Villeneuve is teaming with Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy for a new HBO series based on the best-selling novel The Son. Jake Gyllenhaal will re-team with his Prisoners director to star in the series, which is set in Oslo and follows an escaped convict named Sonny Lofthus, who is addicted to opioids and can’t remember his past while on the run from the law.
Willow Disney+ series officially confirmed: The follow-up to the cult 80s classic Willow is officially on the way to Disney+ as the company announced this week that Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu is directing the series. Warwick Davis is returning as Willow and Ron Howard is returning to produce the series. The series will continue from the movie as Willow Ufgood meets all-new characters on a brand new fantasy adventure.
JCVD saves a chihuaha: Jean Claude Van Damme was a real life hero recently as he saved a chihuaha named Raya from euthanasia by intervening in a bizarre legal battle between Norway and Bulgaria. Raya was sold to owners in Norway but had a fake Bulgarian passport and she could not be sent back to Bulgaria due to EU live animal transport laws and was facing death until JCVD started a social media campaign to have Bulgaria accept Raya back, which they eventually did and Raya is back up for adoption in Bulgaria.
Fast & Furious will officially end in two more movies: The Fast Saga will end with an Infinity War/Endgame style final chapter spread across the tenth and eleventh movies in the franchise. Justin Lin will return to direct both of the final films, although there are no plot details yet.
