News Shotgun 2/1/25
Here’s all the movie and TV news you need to know from the past week, it’s the News Shotgun.
Dan Stevens in talks to return to the Monsterverse: One of the best parts of last year’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Dan Stevens is in talks to return as Titan veterinarian Trapper in the next Monsterverse movie. Kaitlyn Dever was recently cast in the untitled sequel featuring Godzilla, Kong, and new Titans.
The Odyssey adds more cast members: The ranks continue to swell for Christopher Nolan’s take on The Odyssey as four new cast members join the historical epic. Himesh Patel, Elliot Page, Bill Irwin, and Samantha Morton were cast this week to join Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Benny Safdie, and Charlize Theron. The movie is an adaptation of Homer’s epic poem that follows Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan War, facing Cyclops, Sirens, the sorceress Circe, and more. The movie arrives in theaters on July 17, 2026.
The Sandman canceled at Netflix: Amid the sexual assault and misconduct allegations against Neil Gaiman, Netflix has canceled their adaptation of The Sandman, with the upcoming second season being the final season. Allan Heinberg, the show’s showrunner, said the plan was already in place before filming to make the second season the final season based on the material left in the source comic.
RIP John Erwin: Voice actor John Erwin was revealed to have died in late December this past week at age 88. Erwin was the voice of Prince Adam/He-Man on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon and Reggie in the various Archie Comics-based cartoons starting with 1968’s The Archie Show. He was also the voice of Morris the Cat, the spokescat for 9 Lives brand cat food starting in the 1970s.
Three join new André Øvredal horror movie: Melissa Leo, Jacob Scipio and Lou Llobell were cast in the upcoming untitled horror movie from André Øvredal, who previously directed Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and The Last Voyage of the Demeter. The plot is being kept under wraps.
Timothy Olyphant co-starring in Apple’s Lucky: Timothy Olyphant will co-star with Anya Taylor-Joy in the upcoming Apple TV+ limited series Lucky. Taylor-Joy plays the titular character, ” a young woman who left behind the life of crime she was raised in years ago and now embraces her darker criminal side one final time in a desperate attempt to escape her past.” Olyphant will play her father, and the show is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Marissa Stapley.
The Toxic Avenger reboot gets a release date: After debuting at Fantastic Fest in 2023, the reboot of The Toxic Avenger has been stuck in limbo, but Cineverse, the distributor behind Terrifier 3, has picked up the rights and has given the movie a release date of August 29th this year. Peter Dinklage stars as janitor Winston Gooze, who is transformed by toxic waste into Toxie, a mutated vigilante who brutally battles “freaks, gangsters and corrupt CEOs.” Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, and Elijah Wood co-star.
Eric Bana joins Apex on Netflix: Eric Bana will co-star with Charlize Theron in the upcoming Netflix thriller Apex. The movie follows “a rock climber who finds herself being hunted in the wild.” Taron Egerton co-stars, and Baltasar Kormákur is directing.
Audition remake in development: Cult favorite Japanese horror movie Audition is being remade with Focus Features and Hyde Park Entertainment behind it. Christian Tafdrup, who wrote and directed the original Speak No Evil, is directing the remake and writing with his brother Mads Tafdrup. The original 1999 movie was directed by Takashi Miike and followed a middle-aged widower who holds “auditions” of young women to be his new girlfriend but finds that the woman he selects has a dark side.
Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley return to Scream: Two more legacy characters of the Scream franchise will return for Scream 7, with Matthew Lillard and Scott Foley reprising their roles. Lillard will return as Stu Macher, the original co-killer with Skeet Ulrich’s Billy Loomis, who appeared as a ghostly vision to his daughter Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) in the two most recent entries in the franchise. Stu was seemingly killed along with Billy, so it’s not clear how Lillard will return to the franchise. Scott Foley will return as Sidney’s half-brother, Roman Bridger, who was revealed to be the killer in Scream 3 and was also seemingly killed at the end of that movie.
Jake Gyllenhaal will star in the new M. Night Shyamalan movie: The writer-director is collaborating with romance novelist Nicholas Sparks on the project. Sparks is writing a novel of the story, while Shyamalan is writing the screenplay for his film version. It’s unclear what the plot is or even what the project’s title is.