Film Development For 4/28/16: ‘Sherlock Holmes 3’ Finds its Writer, Kevin MacDonald to Helm Whitney Houston Doc, Will Ferrell & Mark Wahlberg Re-Team for Daddy’s Home 2
In other news, two of comic book writer Mark Millar’s properties are optioned anew, Pamela Anderson is a late addition to the Baywatch movie, Chappaquiddick gets a star and a director and Sarah Paulson joins the J.D. Salinger biopic. To read more, click on the link. (SSN)
MGM and Warner Have Found Their Lara Croft, and She’s a Big Time Oscar Winner
Alicia Vikander has been cast in the Tomb Raider reboot that is finally coming together. Norwegian filmmaker Roar Uthaug will direct the action-adventure movie, which is based on the popular Eidos video games that have sold over 35 million units worldwide. Graham King will produce under his GK Films banner. Angelina Jolie originated the role in two earlier films. (TW)
Alec Baldwin: Game Show Host? Actor Will Helm Brand New ‘Match Game’ Reboot
ABC is reviving the show and has signed Baldwin as host. The network has ordered 10 hourlong episodes of the game show from FremantleMedia North America, with plans to debut the revival this summer at 10 p.m. on Sundays as part of a new three-hour game show block launching June 26th. The original Match Game was hosted by Gene Rayburn. (LF)
Legendary, Warner Bros. Sued for Allegedly Stealing ‘Kong: Skull Island’ Story
The movie is set to be released next year — but now there’s an 800-pound gorilla looming over the larger-than-life blockbuster. Artist Joe DeVito claims he created an entire Skull Island universe that ties together the people and events surrounding King Kong, with the blessing of the original creator’s family, and now he’s suing producers of the feature film claiming they stole his ideas from pitch meetings. (HESQ)
Nat Geo Orders First Scripted Series: ‘Genius’ Anthology From Imagine TV, Ron Howard To Direct
National Geographic Channel has given a straight-to-series order to Genius, its first ever scripted series. The anthology drama – telling the stories of the world’s most brilliant innovators — hails from Imagine TV, Fox 21 TV Studios, OddLot Entertainment and EUE/Sokolow. Howard is set to direct the first episode, whose maiden season will focus on famous physicist Albert Einstein, based on Walter Isaacson’s biography Einstein: His Life and Universe. (DH)
The Great Moe Berg Will Finally Get His Day, as Paul Rudd Will Star In ‘The Catcher Was a Spy’
Rudd will play Berg, an Ivy League grad and attorney who played baseball for 15 years for teams that included the Chicago White Sox. What was unknown to his teammates was that Berg doubled as a top secret spy for the OSS (a forerunner for the CIA), who helped the U.S. win the race against Germany to build the atomic bomb. Saving Private Ryan scribe Robert Rodat penned the script, and Ben Lewin is directing. (VAR)
Jamie Foxx Circles Puppet Murder Mystery ‘Happytime Murders’
Oscar-winning actor is in talks to star in the dark comedy-action film directed by Brian Henson and set in a world in which humans and puppets live side by side. Chaos reigns when the puppet cast of an ’80s children’s show turn up dead. In the film, which the Jim Henson Company has been trying to get made since 2008, Foxx would play the human law-enforcement counterpart to “an alcoholic, disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet.” (VUL)
The Massive ‘Dark Tower’ Adaptation Just Added Another Key Piece
Despite the cameras already cranking, the first cinematic adaptation of Stephen King’s series of novels is not finished adding people to its cast. The latest to join up is Vikings‘ Katheryn Winnick, as she joins Idris Elba as main man Roland Deschain (AKA The Gunslinger), Matthew McConaughey as the villainous Man in Black, as well as Jackie Earle Haley, Fran Kranz, Tom Taylor and Abbey Lee. Nikolaj Arcel is directing. (EMP)
Today In Franchise News: 20th Century Fox Moves Forward With ‘The Omen’ Prequel
Antonio Campos, the indie filmmaker who most recently directed the Sundance movie Christine, is in negotiations to helm the supernatural horror thriller titled The First Omen, which is being produced by David Goyer and his Phantom Four banner. The original movie, released in 1976 and directed by Richard Donner, starred the great Gregory Peck as an ambassador who comes to believe that his 5-year-old son may be the living embodiment of the Antichrist. (HV)
Trailer Buzz: ‘Captain Fantastic’
Bleecker Street Films has released the first look at the Sundance Film Festival hit, starring Viggo Mortensen, Frank Langella, Kathryn Hahn and Steve Zahn. Written and directed by Matt Ross, the film opens July 8th. (SF)