Dwayne Johnson Will Rock Disney’s ‘Jungle Cruise’ Movie Adaptation
Johnson will lead the film, as the Mouse House has tapped Crazy, Stupid, Love. directors and Focus writers/directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra to pen the script, but it’s unclear at this point if they’ll also direct. The idea behind this take is that it’ll be a period piece in the vein of the 1951 Humphrey Bogard/Katharine Hepburn classic The African Queen, which itself was an inspiration for the ride. (COL)
At Long Last, Former ‘Electric Company’ Star Morgan Freeman Sets a Return To TV
The Madam Secretary producers scored a big-time Oscar winner for the drama’s second season premiere episode – and they didn’t have to go any farther than their own soundstage to find him. Freeman, who serves as an executive producer and director on the CBS drama, will make a cameo in the drama’s premiere episode in October. (EW)
Whoopi Goldberg Gets Behind a Fourth Project Now In Development About Emmett Till
Keith A. Beauchamp (director of the 2005 doc, The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till) and Frederick Zollo have teamed up with Goldberg to produce a scripted film that will be based on Beauchamp’s documentary and Simeon Wright’s Simeon’s Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till. The film, to be titled simply Till, is set to go into production early next year. Other projects include two films and an HBO mini-series. (SAA)
Columbia Pictures Drafts a Marvel Writer For Its ‘Masters Of the Universe’ Reboot
Following his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe on both Thor: The Dark World and the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, screenwriter Christopher Yost is paying a visit to Eternia. He will lend his talents to Sony’s long-gestating Masters of the Universe movie. Originally launched as a popular Mattel toy line in 1982, it spawned several animated series (including the female-drive spinoff cartoon series, She-Ra: Princess of Power) along with a 1987 live-action film. (CBR)
Warner Bros. Is Descending Into the Depths Of ‘Dante’s Inferno’
Studio has picked up a pitch for a new big screen take on the first third of Dante Alighieri’s 14th century epic poem, The Divine Comedy. The pitch hails from screenwriter Dwain Worrell, who scripted the 2010 low-budget zombie film, Walking the Dead. Apparently, this new version will see Dante travel “through the nine circles of hell to save the woman he loves.” (CS)
Luc Besson’s Next Big Sci-Fi Epic Adds Clive Owen To the Cast
Clive Owen has joined Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne in the project, in which DeHaan and Delevingne would play the time-traveling Valerian and his sidekick Laureline. Besson will write and direct, while Virginie Besson Silla will produce on behalf of EuropaCorp, which will finance, produce and distribute. Production is set to begin in December with a global release planned for the summer of 2017. (VAR)
CBS Is Working With ABC Studios On a Facebook-Inspired Comedy
The network has picked up an untitled script about a group of 20-somethings who find a unique way of making new friends. Will & Grace alum Jhoni Marchinko will pen the script and executive produce the single-camera comedy. Reports suggest that the “unique way” of making friends is inspired by Facebook’s “People You May Know” feature. (TLF)
Lionsgate’s Summit Picks Up Sci-Fi Spec Script In Vein Of ‘Lucy’
Mini-major acquired an untitled spec script from screenwriter John Gary, described as a “grounded” sci-fi thriller which is a character-driven property in the vein of Luc Besson’s 2014 box office smash. The original script was called Sarah. The project will be produced by The Gotham Group’s Eric Robinson and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein. Gary wrote the script based on an original idea from Robinson. (DH)
Cord-Cutting Ramps Up as Pay TV Sees Record Subscriber Losses
Pay-TV services recorded their biggest-ever quarterly drop in subscribers, losing 625,000 TV customers, according to a report Thursday from the research firm SNL Kagan. While about 100.4 million households still pay for traditional pay TV, the report underscored investors’ fears that cord-cutting is gaining momentum and starting to fray the TV industry’s business model. (AA)
Screenwriters: Script Notes — Major Character Types, “Reflection”
Aprotagonist’s reflection character is far too frequently the most underutilized of the five character purposes, especially by less experienced scribes. Without well-constructed reflection characters, the audience has no reminders of the physical and emotional impact or risks involved with the protagonist’s choices and goals. (SM)