News Shotgun 3/30/24
Here’s all the movie and TV news you need to know from the past week, it’s the News Shotgun
Freak Friday 2 coming from Disney: Disney is making a sequel to their Jamie Lee Curtis/Lindsay Lohan body-swap comedy Freaky Friday with Freaky Friday 2. Nisha Ganatra, who most recently directed episodes of Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales, is directing the movie and Curtis and Lohan are in talks to return.
RIP Louis Gossett Jr.: Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. passed away at age 87 this week. Gossett Jr. won Best Supporting Actor for his role in An Officer and a Gentlemen. He also appeared in projects like Roots, Iron Eagle, The Punisher, Jaws 3-D, Toy Soldiers, The Deep, and, most recently, last year’s The Color Purple.
Alex Garland’s Warfare adds cast members: Alex Garland’s Civil War is coming up in a few weeks in theaters but work is progressing on his next project, Warface. The movie’s plot is under wraps but Kit Connor, Cosmo Jarvis, Will Poulter, and Finn Bennett joined the cast this week. Garland is working with his collaborator Ray Mendoza, who was the military supervisor on Civil War, and the pair co-wrote and will co-direct Warface.
The Monkey adaptation adds cast members: One of the upcoming Stephen King adaptations, The Monkey, recently wrapped filming this past week, and the full cast was revealed with Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, and Sarah Levy co-starring with the previously announced Theo James. James Wan is producing the movie and it follows a pair of twins who discover a toy monkey that belonged to their father in the attic of their home. After gruesome events seemingly tied to the toy occur to them, the twins discard and slowly drift apart. They are forced to reunite as adults when the monkey reemerges and the deaths begin again.
Benny “The Jet” Urquidez documentary in development: Keanu Reeves and Fisher Stevens are teaming up to develop a documentary about the life of kickboxing and karate legend Benny “The Jet” Urquidez. The movie will be titled The Jet and follow Urqidez’s career, which includes training actors, being a fight coordinator, and appearing on-screen in movies like The Octagon, Road House, Wheels on Meals, and Grosse Pointe Blank. In his fighting career, he was undefeated for 20 years and held six world titles.
Austin Butler starring in Caught Stealing for Darren Aronofsky: Hot off Dune: Part Two and Masters of the Air, Austin Butler is starring in Darren Aronofsky’s next movie, Caught Stealing. The movie is a crime thriller that follows a former baseball player who finds himself dragged into the criminal underworld of 90s NYC. The movie is based on a book of the same name written by Charlie Huston, who is writing the script for the movie version.
Primitive War adds cast members: The upcoming sci-fi horror movie Primitive War has added several cast members with Jeremy Piven, Tricia Helfer, Ryan Kwanten, and Nick Wechsler. The movie is being directed by Luke Sparke and based on a series of books by Ethan Pettus. During the Vietnam War, a squad of soldiers is sent to an isolated jungle valley to find a squad of missing Green Berets and instead find dinosaurs that they have to battle to survive.
Among Us animated series adds cast members: The upcoming animated series based on Among Us added some voice talent this week with Dan Stevens, Liv Hewson, and Kimiko Glenn. Randall Park, Ashley Johnson, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Elijah Wood were previously cast. The show will allegedly follow the game’s premise where one member of a crew of a spaceship has been replaced with an alien impostor, who is looking to kill all the other crew members. CBS Studios is producing the series and Titmouse is doing the animation.
Alan Ritchson starring in action/sci-fi movie War Machine: Reacher star Alan Ritchson will star in the upcoming action/sci-fi movie War Machine for The Hitman’s Bodyguard director Patrick Hughes. Netflix acquired the film from Lionsgate and it follows a squad of potential Army Rangers in the final 24 hours of their hellish training when a “threat beyond their imagination” arises.
Scott Derrickson directing new version of Night of the Hunter: Scott Derrickson has signed on to direct a new version of Night of the Hunter for Universal. Based on the book by Davis Grubb, the story follows a pair of children who are hunted by their murderous stepfather, Harry Powell, who is desperate to find a cache of money hidden by the children’s father. The book was previously turned into a classic film in 1955, which featured an unforgettable performance from Robert Mitchum as Powell. Derrickson is writing the movie with his long-time collaborator, C. Robert Cargill.
Tony Hawk developing animated series: Tony Hawk is getting animated with a new cartoon series, Skatebirds. The show will follow, “a group of young skateboard enthusiasts, who just happen to be birds, who flock together to support their hometown and show the world that when they put their feathers together, they can do anything they set their minds to”. Hawk is working with animation studio Laughing Dragon Studios.
Cast revealed for Fear Street: Prom Queen: The next entry in Netflix’s Fear Street series, Prom Queen, announced its main cast this week. India Fowler, Suzanna Son, Fina Strazza, David Iacono, Ella Rubin, Chris Klein, Lili Taylor, and Katherine Waterston joined the movie, which will be set in 1988 and follow a group of “It Girls” who are busy readying for prom season. An outsider gets nominated for the prom court and the competition starts to mysteriously disappear. Matt Palmer is directing the movie.
Julia Roberts starring in Luca Guadagnino’s new movie: Julia Roberts is set to star in the upcoming thriller After the Hunt from director Luca Guadagnino. The movie follows a college professor, “who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light”. Amazon MGM Studios is producing the movie and Guadagnino previously worked with Amazon for his remake of Suspiria.
The Bad Guys 2 coming from Dreamworks: Dreamworks announced that a sequel to The Bad Guys is coming in 2025, August 1st to be exact. The original movie was based on a series of best-selling books by Aaron Blabey and followed a group of animal criminals who are trying to live a reformed life. Sam Rockwell starred in the first movie and will return for the sequel, along with Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Awkwafina, Zazie Beats, Anthony Ramos, Richard Ayoade, Alex Borstein, and Lilly Singh.
Cillian Murphy starring in Blood Runs Coal: Fresh off his Oscar win for Best Actor, Cillian Murphy has signed to star in an adaptation of the non-fiction book Blood Runs Coal: The Yablonski Murders and the Battle for the United Mine Workers of America. The story follows a corrupt coal miners’ union leader who murdered his rival and most of his family. The surviving son, a lawyer, made it his life mission to take down the union leader, protect the coal workers, and get justice for his family. Murphy will play that crusading lawyer, Chip Yablonski. There is no director attached yet but the script is being written by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, the duo who wrote Edge of Tomorrow and also wrote Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, Ford v Ferrari, and Spectre.
Scarlett Johansson is in talks to star in the new Jurassic movie: Scarlett Johansson may be taking on some dinosaurs, as the star is in talks to star in the new Jurassic World movie. Gareth Edwards is directing the new movie, which will be a complete reboot of the Jurassic series and will be released on July 2 next summer.
