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New Line is developing a brand new take on the property, with veteran producer John Davis on-board to shepherd the project. It's still early in the process, so no casting announcements yet; nor who will write and direct this new reboot. John Singleton has already done one reboot, back in 2000 with Samuel L. Jackson taking over for the legendary Richard Roundtree.
(SAA)
Just over a week after speculating that 20th Century Fox would make the movie with him, that speculation has now changed to an announcement, as the director took to Instagram to let the world know that the
Alien film will, in fact, be his next movie. Speculation is that it will take place after the events of
Prometheus 2, which is still in development. Blomkamp’s
Chappie hits theaters March 6th.
(HP)
Just a day after news broke that MTV Networks veteran Van Toffler is leaving VIacom, Larry Jones will also leave is post as TV Land Prext. Jones both helped launch TV Land and launched its push into original scripted series in 2009. On Tuesday, it was revealed that Toffler was to leave Viacom from his post as president of the division that includes MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo in April to start a new venture as an independent producer.
(VAR)
Legendary TV topper Bruce Rosenblum had been looking to appoint a president of scripted television and has now brought in Whitney in that role. The company’s current top scripted executive, EVP Peter Johnson, has extended his contract through 2017 and will now report to her. Whitney reports to Rosenblum, Legendary’s President of Television and Digital Media.
(DH)
Morena Baccarin has landed the role of the Merc With a Mouth’s lady friend, which fits for a women with her level of geek-cred, having starred in the TV series,
Stargate: SG-1,
V,
Serenity and now
Gotham. She joins Gina Carano and T.J. Miller in the cast of the flick, being directed by Tim Miller and currently in production for a February 2016 release.
(THR)
The duo’s last project with the studio, the North Korea comedy
Pyongyang, was torpedoed by the hacking scandal, and now the studio is fast tracking this new project, with Conrad writing and Verbinski attached to direct. Story follows a race which begins as a beta test comparing the vehicles of competing start-up companies looking to dominate the world of driverless cars, but quickly spins out of control when the cars’ passengers try to take control of the experiment.
(COL)
Jay Fernandez, best known for
Hostel,
Gang Related and the film version of
Friday Night Lights, has joined the cast in an unknown role. He joins Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as the crazy/lovable Harley Quinn, Jared Leto as The Joker, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, and Cara Delevigne as Enchantress. David Ayer is directing and the film hits theaters in August of 2016.
(CB)
The author of
Zot! and
Destroy! has just released the original graphic novel, about an actual sculptor who makes a deal with Death when he’s down on his luck. He’s given powers to manipulate all kinds of materials in order to be a great artist again, but the catch is that he’s given only 200 days to live and enjoy the gift. Of course, he falls in love, which makes his expiration date a more tragic issue. Scott Rudin and Josh Bratman will produce.
(FSR)
RadicalMedia plans to bring Norman Mailer's 1967 historic novel to the big screen. Stanley Buchthal, Michael Mailer and Joe Berlinger are also on board. Director Joe Berlinger will blend fiction and reality, with a verite shooting style, while using a fully scripted narrative. The rock and folk music of the time will also be incorporated. No details on casting yet, though it has begun, and shooting will commence later this year.
(TOH)
Let’s face it: A novel and a screenplay are two very different creatures. It’s like comparing a housecat with a bobcat—both are cats, but one you want curled up on your lap and the other, not so much. It can be difficult adapting a novel that runs 300 to 600 (or more) pages. The screenwriter also faces the challenges of meeting the producer’s, studio’s and fan’s expectations. Not to mention the book’s author who can be very protective of his/her work.
(MO)
