News Shotgun 10/2/21
Here’s your weekly rundown of the biggest movie and TV news for the week:
- Noah Hawley teaming with Russo Brothers for heist movie: Noah Hawley, creator of Fargo and Legion on FX, and the Russo Brothers, the directors of Winter Soldier, Infinity War and Endgame, are teaming up for a new heist movie starring Bridgerton star Rege-Jean Paul. There are no plot details but it’s an original idea created by Hawley. Rege-Jean Paul worked with the Russo Brothers on The Gray Man, an upcoming spy thriller hitting Netflix starring Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling.
- Scarlett Johansson and Disney settle lawsuit: The lawsuit over Black Widow’s streaming debut and the revenue involved has been settled between Scarlett Johansson and Disney. The lawsuit was filed by Johansson in July and alleged that Disney broke her contract by releasing Black Widow in both theaters and as a Premium Access release on Disney+. Disney Studios chair Alan Bergman released a statement saying they are glad they were able to come to an agreement and that the Tower of Terror movie Johansson was attached to star in is back on.
- Friday the 13th rights lawsuit resolved: The long-running lawsuit over the rights to Friday the 13th reached a massive legal decision this week as Victor Miller, the screenwriter of the original Friday the 13th, won in front of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, giving him the legal ownership of the franchise. Miller has been locked in legal battles with producer Sean S. Cunningham for years, with Cunningham claiming Miller wrote the original movie in a “work for hire” capacity that would not allow him to put in a copyright termination notice that would give Miller the rights back. Because of the lawsuit, there has not been a new Friday the 13th movie since the reboot in 2009.
- Aeon Flux live-action series coming to Paramount+: The cult MTV animated series that got a not well-received movie starring Charlize Theron is coming back with a new Aeon Flux live-action series on Paramount+. Teen Wolf creator Jeff Davis is behind the new series and he first started developing it in 2018 when it was planned to bring Aeon Flux back to MTV.
- Puppet Master getting a game: After 14 movies, Puppet Master is now getting a video game as well. October Games, which developed the asynchronous horror game Horror Legends, are working on a Puppet Master game that will let you play as Blade, Pinhead, Tunneler, Jester, Six-Shooter, and other puppets from the franchise as you sneak around and kill home invaders and other enemies. The game will come out on PC late next year.
- The original Law & Order is returning: SVU has dominated the world of Law & Order for years now but the OG Law & Order is returning with Season 21. It’s not clear who will return from the original series but it has been over a decade since Season 20 ended. There’s also no premiere date for the new season but you can catch up with the previous seasons on Peacock.
- Archer renewed for Season 13: Archer has gotten a renewal and Season 13 will air sometime next year with another 8 episode season. This will be the first season without Jessica Walter, who passed away earlier this year but had completed recording all her dialogue as Mallory Archer for Season 12. It’s unclear how the show will address Walter’s passing either in the season finale next week or in the next season.
- Book of Boba Fett gets a release date: The Mandalorian spin-off The Book of Boba Fett has a release date of December 29th this year on Disney+. The show stars Temeura Morrison as Boba Fett, who made his triumphant return to Star Wars in The Mandalorian Season 2 and has taken over Jabba’s former palace on Tatooine. Ming-Na Wen co-stars as Fennec Shand and Robert Rodriguez, who directed The Mandalorian episode where Fett returned, directed multiple episodes of The Book of Boba Fett along with Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Bryce Dallas Howard.
- JK Simmons cast as the villain of The Woods: JK Simmons will play a murderous psychopath in the upcoming horror thriller The Woods. The movie follows a teenage girl who is struggling with anxiety due to a tragic event from her past and finds herself being stalked through the forest by a psychopath. The movie is directed by Simmons’ wife Michelle Schumacher, who also co-wrote the film and previously directed the Sebastian Stan starring drama I’m Not Here.
- The Boys spin-off officially picked up: Amazon has officially ordered a full first season for The Boys spin-off that will follow young superheroes attending a Vought run college. The better the supes do at the college, the better city the city they could potentially be assigned to protect. Michelle Fazekas and Tara Butters, who previously ran Emergence and Agent Carter, are showrunning the series with The Boys producers Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg producing. Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, Shane Paul McGhie, Aimee Carrero, Reina Hardesty, and Maddie Phillips are starring in the series.
- Buy the Conjuring house for $1.2 million: If you’re in the market for a haunted house, you can buy the Rhode Island home that inspired The Conjuring for $1.2 million. The 3,000 square foot home sits on 8 acres of land and was purchased in 2019 by the current owners, who claim there are spirits and paranormal activity within the walls. They currently rent the house out to paranormal investigators as a side business. Ed and Lorraine Warren visited the home in 1971 to investigate the paranormal activity that was affecting the Perron family.
- Babylon 5 reboot in development: Original creator J. Michael Straczynski is working on a “ground up” reboot of his cult sci-fi series Babylon 5. The new series will air on The CW and follow the same premise as the original where Commander John Sheridan runs the five-mile-long space station Babylon 5 and tries to maintain the peace between humanity and the various alien species that live and work at the station. The original series is available to stream on HBO Max.
- Jumanji ride opening in Italy: The first-ever theme park ride based on Jumanji is coming to Gardaland Resort in Italy. It appears to be some sort of roller coaster where guests will enter jeeps on tracks and journey through an indoor journey full of various creatures and dangers. Gardaland Resort currently has attractions based on Kung Fu Panda and Wonder Woman and Jumanji: The Adventure will open in the first half of 2022.
- Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie spy movie gets title and release date: Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie are teaming up again for the spy thriller Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, which was previously known as Five Eyes. The movie features Statham as super-spy Orson Fortune, who must track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology by billionaire arms dealer Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant). Fortune gets a team of operatives including Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone and also involves recruiting Hollywood’s biggest movie star, Danny Francesco, played by Josh Hartnett. The movie is hitting theaters on January 21, 2022.
- Wonka movie in production and adds cast members: Warner Brothers new musical Willy Wonka movie starring Timothee Chalamet is in production in the UK and added several new cast members. Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, and Jim Carter joined the cast, and Paddington director Tom King is directing the movie. The movie is a prequel set before Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and will feature original music from Neil Hannon of the band The Divine Comedy. Wonka is out on March 17th, 2023
