News Shotgun 2/8/25
Here’s all the movie and TV news you need to know from the past week, it’s the News Shotgun.
Owen Wilson and Alan Ritchson starring in thriller Runner: Owen Wilson will co-star with Alan Ritchson in the upcoming thriller movie Runner. Directed by Scott Waugh, who most recently directed The Expendables 4, it is about Hank Malone (Ritchson), a high-end courier who takes a job to transport an organ to save a seven-year-old girl but finds that a crime syndicate leader is also after the organ. Wilson plays Ben, a medical courier who joins Hank on his job.
Youngblood reboot in development: Aircraft Pictures and Dolphin Entertainment are developing a reboot of the cult 80s hockey drama Youngblood. The original movie from 1986 starred Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, and Keanu Reeves, with Lowe playing Dean Youngblood, a hockey prodigy who journeys to Canada and joins the Hamilton Mustangs team. The new movie will star Ashton James, Blair Underwood, Shawn Doyle, Alexandra McDonald, Henri Picard, and Donald Maclean Jr., with Hubert Davis directing. The film has been shooting in Hamilton and Barrie, Canada.
Kiernan Shipka and McKenna Grace starring in thriller The Nowhere Game: Kiernan Shipka and McKenna Grace, who are probably frequently confused for each other, will co-star in the upcoming thriller The Nowhere Game. The pair play friends Carin (Grace) and Allie (Shipka), who are kidnapped while on a road trip. Forced into a deadly survival game, the duo are given a short head start into the forest with limited supplies and will soon be hunted in front of an online audience. David Charbonier and Justin Douglas Powell, who recently directed The Djinn, are directing the movie.
The Creep Tapes renewed for second season: Shudder/AMC+ have renewed the found-footage horror series The Creep Tapes for a second season. A continuation of the Creep films from Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice, the show features different videographers who are lured into a job to make a documentary but then find themselves the latest victims of Duplass’ secluded serial killer. The first episode of The Creep Tapes was one of the most-watched series debuts on Shudder and one of the biggest overall November debuts.
Bakugan movie in development: The mid-2000s toy line and anime series Bakugan is getting a live-action movie with Brad Peyton directing. Peyton will write and produce the film along with directing. The toy line featured a combination of toys and a card game, with the spherical Bakugan figures being rolled onto special metal cards that caused them to spring open. Across various series, there are over 300 episodes of Bakugan.
Samuel L. Jackson and Daveed Diggs starring in hitman thriller: Samuel L. Jackson is returning to familiar territory playing a hitman in an upcoming thriller from director Ernest Dickerson. The movie is currently untitled. Jackson stars as Morris Stokes, a recently retired hitman for mob boss Easy-A. When Stokes’ nephew Leslie (Diggs) is suspected of stealing a massive amount of money from Easy-A, he calls Stokes out of retirement to help his nephew recover the money or put him down.
John Malkovich and Mark Ruffalo join Wild Horse Nine: John Malkovich and Mark Ruffalo have joined the upcoming Martin McDonagh movie Wild Horse Nine, which stars Sam Rockwell and Parker Posey. The movie’s plot is being kept under wraps, but filming begins in March on Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island. This will be the third time Rockwell has worked with McDonagh, following Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Seven Psychopaths.
Robert De Niro starring in crime thriller The Whisper Man: Robert De Niro is sticking with Netflix for the upcoming crime thriller The Whisper Man. Based on the novel by Alex North, the movie follows a widowed crime writer whose 8-year-old son is abducted. Going to his retired police detective father for help, he soon learns there may be a connection between the abduction and the decades-old case of a serial killer known as “The Whisper Man.” James Ashcroft is directing the movie and The Russo Brothers are producing.
Ke Huy Quan and Lili Reinhart star in horror movie Bad Boy: Ke Huy Quan and Lili Reinhart are starring in a new horror movie from a unique perspective, Bad Boy. The film will be shot entirely from a dog’s perspective as a young woman struggles to escape a serial killer. The movie is from the producers of Longlegs and M3GAN and is directed by Jacob Chase.
Cast revealed for sci-fi action movie Kill Him ‘Til He’s Dead: The main cast was revealed this week for a new sci-fi action movie Kill Him ‘Til He’s Dead with Byron Mann, Milo Ventimiglia, Ashley Greene, and Anson Mount starring. The film follows Mann as a hitman who wakes up in different bodies as he tries to rescue the love of his life (Greene) from the grips of an evil tech mogul (Ventimiglia). Mount plays a killer working for Ventimiglia. Michael Winnick wrote and directed the movie, which just wrapped production.
Hysteria! canceled on Peacock: The “Satanic Panic” series Hysteria! has been canceled at Peacock after 1 season. The show follows a high school heavy metal band that tries to lean into the mania over demonic and satanic imagery that takes over their town but finds themselves as the main suspects when a series of bizarre disappearances and murders start to occur.
Ben Affleck starring in and directing Animals for Netflix: Ben Affleck has found his next directing and starring role with the kidnapping thriller Animals. The movie will stream on Netflix, but other than that, it’s about a kidnapping; there are no other plot details. Gillian Anderson will co-star with Affleck. Affleck is coming off of starring and directing Air for Amazon.
Mark Strong joins Neuromancer series: Mark Strong is jumping from Max to Apple TV+ for his next TV series as he joins the cast of Neuromancer. Based on the seminal cyberpunk novel by William Gibson, the show follows Callum Turner and Briana Middleton as hackers and assassins who are looking to pull off a heist against a massive corporation. Strong will play their mysterious employer, Armitage. Graham Roland and JD Dillard created the show.
Ethan Hawke remaking The Gunfighter: Ethan Hawke is tackling a Western classic by writing and producing a remake of the Gregory Peck film The Gunfighter. Peck starred as notorious gunfighter Jimmy Ringo, who rides into town to see his true love but finds she doesn’t want to see him. He also finds a ton of trouble. Hawke has said the film is his favorite movie of all time.
Guy Ritchie’s Wife & Dog rounds out cast: Guy Ritchie’s new movie Wife & Dog has rounded out its cast with Cosmo Jarvis, James Norton, Paddy Considine and Pip Torrens. The film is set in the world of the British aristocracy, and Benedict Cumberbatch, Rosamund Pike, and Anthony Hopkins are starring. The movie started shooting in the UK this past week.
Rhys Ifans joins Star City: Rhys Ifans has signed on to star in the upcoming Apple TV+ series Star City, a spin-off of For All Mankind. The show is set in the Soviet Union, which, in the For All Mankind universe, won the space race and landed men on the Moon first. Star City will follow the Cosmonauts and engineers in the Soviet space program who worked toward that goal.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot in development at Hulu: Hulu is working on a pilot order for a follow-up to the beloved cult series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Continuing where the original series ended, Oscar winner Chloé Zao, a lifelong Buffy fan, is directing the pilot, with Nora and Lilla Zuckerman of Poker Face writing it. Sarah Michelle Gellar is expected to return as Buffy Summers, but it’s not clear if other cast members will return.
Oh, The Place You’ll Go getting a movie adaptation: Dr. Seuss’s Oh, The Places You’ll Go is the latest Seuss book to get a movie adaptation. An animated film is developing at Warner Bros.with Wicked’s Jon M. Chu co-directing with Jill Cutton. The movie will be a musical with several original songs.
