News Shotgun 11/2/24
Here’s all the movie and TV news you need to know from the past week, it’s the News Shotgun.
Kate Siegel and David Dastmalchian starring in zombie movie Epilogue: Horror stars Kate Siegel and David Dastmalchian are co-starring in the upcoming action/horror movie Epilogue, being produced by The Coven, one of the production companies behind the Terrifier series. The movie is “set one year after the zombie apocalypse has supposedly come to an end, the film will follow a desperate couple who set out to find a cure for their infected daughter.” Mike Flanagan will be an executive producer on the movie, and Michael Fimognari, who worked on The Fall of the House of Usher, will direct.
Tom Holland and Austin Butler co-star in American Speed: Tom Holland and Austin Butler will co-star in American Speed, a racing drama based on actual events. Distributed by Amazon MGM, the movie is based on the Whittington brothers, famous race drivers. Two of the brothers were caught in the 1980 IMSA scandal, in which several drivers were caught funding their teams with proceeds from drug smuggling, tax evasion, and money laundering.
Garret Dillahunt joins Lanterns: After casting its two main Green Lanterns with Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, Lanterns is fleshing out its supporting cast with Garret Dillahunt joining the cast. Dillahunt plays “modern cowboy William Macon, a self-righteous, conspiracy-minded man who masks his ruthless ambition behind a charming and calculated facade” and joins Kelly MacDonald, who was recently cast as the sheriff of the area where Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart are investigating a murder.
Milla Jovovich battling zombies again in Twilight of the Dead: The final entry in George A. Romero’s “Living Dead” franchise, Milla Jovovich is starring in Twilight of the Dead. The Romero estate is working off a treatment that Romero completed before he died in 2017. Jovovich will star with Bett Gabriel in the movie, which follows the last remnants of humanity on a tropical island trapped between different groups of the living dead. Brad Anderson, who directed The Call and The Machinist, is directing the film, and The Walking Dead’s Greg Nicotero will do the zombie effects.
Tom Cruise in talks for a Days of Thunder sequel: Hoping to replicate the success of Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise is in talks with Paramount to star in another sequel, this time to Days of Thunder. There are no details, but presumably, the movie would be set in the world of NASCAR, with Cruise back as hot-headed driver Cole Trickle. The great Tony Scott directed the 1990 original film, which also co-starred Nicole Kidman. In it, she and Cruise met and eventually married for 11 years.
Godzilla: Minus One follow-up in development: Coming off global critical acclaim, box office success, and an Academy Award, Toho has greenlit another Godzilla movie from director Takashi Yamazaki. It’s unclear if this new movie will be a direct sequel to Godzilla: Minus One or a new standalone film. In addition to directing, Yamazaki will oversee the special effects as he did on Godzilla: Minus One.
Cliffhanger reboot casts Lily James and Pierce Brosnan: Originally pitched with Stallone returning, the Cliffhanger reboot has now shifted to Lily James and Pierce Brosnan starrring. Brosnan plays Ray Cooper, a seasoned climber who operates a mountain chalet. When terrorists take him and his guests hostage, his daughter Naomi (James) escapes and has to overcome the trauma of a tragic climbing accident and rescue her family. Jaume Collet-Sera is directing off a script from Ana Lily Amirpour.
Live-action Gundam movie finds a director: Legendary’s live-action version of the iconic anime franchise Gundam has found its director: Sweet Tooth’s Jim Mickle. This will be the first live-action film in the Gundam series, and production is looking to begin early next year.
Anthony Ramos and Ben Mendelsohn are starring in the horror movie Molepeople. In the upcoming film, directed by Rob Savage, they will uncover a twisted horror beneath New York City. The film follows “one man’s nightmarish descent into the abandoned tunnels beneath the streets of New York City, where a twisted society lurks.”
Russell Crowe starring in historical epic The Last Druid: Russell Crowe is back battling the Roman Empire in a new historical epic film, The Last Druid. Crowe plays a Celtic elder who oversees a secret Celtic stronghold in the mountains of Caledonia. When the Roman Empire discovers them and sets out to invade, he must take up arms and protect his people—Will Eubank, who most recently Crow in Land of Bad, is directing the movie.
Paul WS Anderson is directing and writing a new House of the Dead movie: Paul WS Anderson is tackling another famous zombie video game series, as he’s signed on to write and direct a new House of the Dead film. The movie is based on the light gun shooter series, where players take on the role of special agents trying to stop mad scientists and undead outbreaks around the globe. The franchise was previously adapted in the infamously awful Uwe Boll movie that somehow got an even worse sequel.
Three new Lego movies are in development: The Lego Group and Universal have signed a deal this week for three live-action takes on the property, with Jake Kasdan, Patty Jenkins, and Joe Cornish signed on to direct one of the films. It’s unclear what the plot of any of the films will be, although Jenkins’ movie has a script from Geoff Johns, or how the film will adapt the brick building playstyle to live action. All of the previous Lego movies have been almost entirely animated, although designed to look like real Lego bricks animating and moving around.
The Family Plan sequel in development: Apple has greenlit a sequel to their action/comedy movie The Family Plan, with Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan set to return. Simon Cellan Jones, who directed The Family Plan, is also back to direct the sequel. The first movie follows Wahlberg as a seemingly ordinary suburban dad who, in reality, is a retired government assassin. When he’s targeted by dangerous people from his past, he takes his family on a “road trip” to Las Vegas while trying to take down the bad guys covertly.
Lionsgate developing an Outlast movie: Based on the popular video game franchise, Lionsgate is developing an Outlast movie. Producer Roy Lee is producing the film, working with J.T. Lee, who worked on the games and is working on the script. The games find players investigating creepy locales, like an abandoned psychiatric hospital, where horrific experiments and torture occur. The franchise has four games, with the latest, The Outlast Trials, released earlier this year.
Jack Ryan movie in development: John Krasinski is returning as Jack Ryan with a new film continuing the Amazon Prime series in development. Wendell Pierce and Michael Kelly will also return from the series to co-star in the movie. Andrew Bernstein, an executive producer and director of the series, will direct the film. It’s unclear whether it will be a theatrical or original Prime streaming release.
RIP Teri Garr: Beloved comedy actress Teri Garr passed away this week at age 79 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. Garr was best known for starring in movies like Young Frankenstein, Tootsie, Mr. Mom, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and dozens of other TV and film roles. She started her career as a dancer, appearing on shows like The Sonny and Cher Show.
Scary Movie reboot in development from the Wayans Brothers: The Wayans Brothers are back and looking to reboot the Scary Movie franchise with a new film. Paramount and Miramax are producing the movie and The Wayans Brothers are writing the script with Rick Alvarez. Production is looking to begin next year. This will be the sixth movie in the Scary Movie series, with the last film, Scary Movie V, coming out in 2013 to abysmal critical and audience reviews.
Amber Midthunder and Alan Ritchson co-starring in the action movie Painter: Prey’s Amber Midthunder and Reacher’s Alan Ritchson are teaming up for a new action movie written by John Wick’s Derek Kolstad, Painter. Hoping to launch a John Wickesque franchise, the film follows a young woman who must use her formidable skills to rescue her father. Stunt coordinator Garrett Warren, who worked on Avatar, Logan, and Road House, directs the film.
Jumanji 3 gets a release date: The third movie in the recent Jumanji series will be released on December 11th, 2026. Jake Kasdan is in talks to return to direct, and the main cast of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan are also all in talks to return and reprise their roles. The previous movie in the series, Jumanji: The Next Level, was released in 2019 and earned over $800 million worldwide.
