Here’s all the movie and TV news you need to know from the past week, it’s the News Shotgun.
FX developing series based on That Texas Blood: FX is developing a new drama series based on the Image Comics series That Texas Blood.  The comic comes from Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips and is described as “Cormac McCarthy meets John Carpenter”. Jim Mickle and E.L. Katz are set as the writers and executive producers on the series, and they previously collaborated on the Sundance TV series Hap and Leonard.
Zac Efron starring in Angel Heart: Zac Efron is starring in a new HBO drama series, Angel Heart.  The series is based on the 1978 novel Fallen Angel and its sequel, Angel’s Inferno, by William Hjortsberg. Efron stars as a down-and-out NYC paparazzi who is hired to find a missing woman and uncovers a cover-up by powerful people and possibly even something supernatural. The 1978 novel was previously adapted into the cult 1987 movie Angel Heart, which starred Robert DeNiro, Mickey Rourke, and Lisa Bonet. HBO is partnering with A24 on the series, and Zach Baylin, who most recently created Black Rabbit for Netflix, is writing and executive producing it.
Chris Hemsworth starring in motocross racing movie: Chris Hemsworth is starring and producing a film based on the Tatts Finke Desert Race in Australia. Celebrating its 50th race this year, the Tatts Finke Desert Race is a two-day off-road motocross and is considered one of the most difficult courses in the world. Along with a narrative film, Hemsworth and his production company, Wild State, will produce documentary content, including a project that follows motocross legend Robbie Maddison as he competes in the race for the first time.
John Rambo gets a release date: The upcoming Rambo prequel, John Rambo, has been set for June 4th next year. Noah Centineo stars as John Rambo, tracing his origins from fighting in the Vietnam War to becoming the unstoppable one-man army we see in the other movies in the franchise. David Harbour co-stars as Col. Trautman and Sisu director Jalmari Helander is directing. Stallone is signed on as an executive producer.
Moriarty series in development: Sherlock Holmes nemesis Moriarty is getting his own series with a new crime drama in development. Fremantle and Archery Pictures are developing a series set in the modern day that follows James Moriarty, a professor of criminal psychology at Durham University. He’s also secretly the mastermind behind most of the crime in the North of England, but when a rival starts to threaten his criminal empire, he joins the police as a consultant to investigate his new foe.
Michael Connelly’s Nightshade being adapted at HBO Max: Michael Connelly’s crime novel Nightshade is being adapted into a series for HBO Max by David E. Kelley, who is wrapping up another Connelly-based series, The Lincoln Lawyer, on Netflix.  The new series, titled Welcome to Catalina, follows a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detective, Stilwell, who is “exiled” to Catalina Island, where most crimes are petty theft and drunk and disorderly, but things get serious when a body is found at the end of the harbor. The new show is using the production method used by The Pitt, where the series is planned to return each year and can shoot a sizable number of episodes at a moderate cost.
Blood on the Promontory finds main cast: The upcoming Western Blood on the Promontory has found its main cast with Sam Worthington, Jai Courtney, Jack Quaid, Jaeden Martell, and LaMonica Garrett signed on. The movie is directed by Ray Mendoza, who co-directed Warfare last year with Alex Garland, and follows five criminals who try to escape through the mountains while shackled together at the feet.
Dutton Ranch sets Paramount+ records: Yellowstone spin-off Dutton Ranch has become the biggest debut in the history of Paramount+. The series had 12.9 million views in its first week, shattering the record set by another Taylor Sheridan series, The Madison, earlier this year, at just over 8 million views. Preliminary Nielsen data, which won’t be finalized for about a month, should put Dutton Ranch on top as the most-streamed series domestically for the week of May 11th. Yellowstone was infamously unavailable on Paramount+ because a deal had been made with Peacock to stream the series, which is still the case.
Paddington 4 finds writer: Paddington 4 has found a writer with Armando Iannucci signed on. Iannucci is best known as the creator of the TV shows The Thick of It and its remake, Veep, as well as Avenue 5, and films like The Death of Stalin.  Paddington in Peru director Dougal Wilson is also in talks to return to direct the fourth film.
Spartacus: House of Ashur canceled: Starz has decided not to continue the revival of the Spartacus series, House of Ashur, and has canceled it after one season. According to Starz, the series didn’t have the same buzz and viewership as the original, and it also wasn’t connecting with women and underrepresented audiences, which has become a primary focus for Starz. Lionsgate, which produces House of Ashur, is looking to shop the series to other networks.
The Birds limited series being shopped out: A new spin on the Hitchcock classic The Birds is hitting the market. A limited TV series, the new show stars Sarah Snook and is a modern reimagining of the film. Set in Alaska, Snook stars as a new character, Myra Massey, a traveling magistrate who returns to her isolated hometown for a death hearing and instead finds her childhood friend’s bullet-ridden body. While trying to figure out what happened, the town is attacked by hostile birds.
