This week’s Ketchup includes development news stories about 23 Jump Street, Legion of Super Heroes and Star Wars Episode VIII, as well as new roles for Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, and Morgan Freeman.
Paramount Pictures’ Terminator: Genisys won’t be released until July 1, 2015, but this week, the studio already scheduled release dates for two sequels in what will form a new trilogy (movies #5, #6, and #7). The 6th film (under the in media res title of Terminator 2) is now scheduled for May 19, 2017 (the week before The LEGO Movie 2). The 7th Terminator film is scheduled for June 29, 2018, which is also a placeholder date for an animated film from 20th Century Fox (possibly Alienology, Left Tern, or Mutts). Although we don’t yet know what character he plays (in Terminator: Genisys), Doctor Who star Matt Smith is expected to return for both of these films in 2017 and 2018. The cast of Terminator: Genisys also includes Emilia Clarke (as Sarah Connor), Jason Clarke (as John Connor), Jai Courtney (as Kyle Reese), Lee Byung-hun, Dayo Okeniyi, J.K. Simmons, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Terminator.
Although its popularity has waned a bit in recent years, in the past, one of DC Comics’ most popular titles was Legion of Super-Heroes. With a “retro futuristic” sheen and sense of fun, LSH depicted the adventures of dozens of teenage superheroes from various planets and alien races in the 30th century. Although Legion of Super-Heroes started as a spinoff of Superboy (and he was a member for a long time, via time travel), some of the versions ditched the connection. Legion of Super-Heroes is also basically a property that is very easy to depict outside any other DC continuity, since it’s in the future, and most of the members have no current analog. And that, right there, might be why so many sources this week picked up on this story, which is currently just a rumor. Reportedly, Warner Bros is looking to start development on a Legion of Super-Heroes movie, basically as a reaction to the success of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. If there’s truth to the rumor, the gist seems to be that Warner Bros is putting out feelers to screenwriters and their agents, looking for pitches on what to do with LSH. So, there’s no writers attached, no directors, no cast, and no idea of a story, because ostensibly, even that isn’t known yet. For Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel started with a group of five members from a list of over 20 members, but Legion of Super-Heroes more than doubles (triples?) that. And, in other DC Comics movie news, we also saw some better images of the Batmobile from 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice appear online. And on the TV front, there were also stories about potential live action TV shows based on Supergirl and (Teen) Titans, featuring Dick Grayson, AKA Nightwing. So, who are some of the commenters’ favorite LSH members that they’d like to see in a live action movie? Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, Bouncing Boy, Infectious Lass, Matter Eater Lad, Plaid Lad, Porcupine Pete, Shrinking Violet, Triplicate Girl, or someone else?
Although J.J. Abrams is still filming Star Wars Episode VII, and there’s also going to be a “spinoff” movie first as well, Disney and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars Episode VIII was the movie this week with the biggest news item. Promoting Infinitely Polar Bear at the Toronto International Film Festival, Mark Ruffalo discussed his friendship with director Rian Johnson, whom Ruffalo worked with on The Brothers Bloom. When asked about Star Wars Episode VIII, Mark Ruffalo said that he sent Rian Johnson an e-mail that read, “Rian, congratulations on everything you?ve been doing. And by the way, if there?s a part in Star Wars, please, anything, please consider considering me to join you.” Mark Ruffalo may indeed have an inside track on such a role, considering that he is also one of Marvel’s biggest stars after his performance in The Avengers revitalized the big screen popular of The Hulk. Star Wars Episode VII is scheduled for December 18, 2015, the first Star Wars spinoff is scheduled for December 16, 2016, and Star Wars Episode VIII is expected to be scheduled sometime in 2017.
For writer-turned-director Kenneth Lonergan, eleven years ended up separating his first movie (2000’s You Can Count on Me) from his second (2011’s Margaret), but it looks like his wait for movie #3 won’t be as long. Matt Damon, who costarred in Margaret, is attached to star in Manchester-by-the-Sea, as a “a Boston-living ne?er-do-well plumber who is forced to return home to the titular town after he learns his brother passed away.” (Manchester-by-the-Sea is a town on Cape Ann, in Massachusetts). Matt Damon is expected to film Manchester-by-the-Sea before starting filming (in November) of The Martian for director Ridley Scott.
Michael Douglas and Orlando Bloom, who both have big movies coming in the next year (Ant-Man and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies), signed on this week to costar in a spy thriller called Unlocked. The two actors join the already cast Noomi Rapace, who will pay a CIA interrogator who “unwittingly provides information to terrorists and then must race against the clock to stop a biological warfare attack on London.” Unlocked will be directed by Michael Apted, whose filmography includes the James Bond film The World is Not Enough, the “Up” documentary series, Gorillas in the Mist, and Coal Miner’s Daughter. Orlando Bloom was also quoted this week as saying that he might return as Will Turner in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean 5 (although he also might… not).
First, Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) was married to her brother Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in Godzilla, and now she will be partnering up with another Marvel star. Olsen, who plays the Scarlet Witch in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, has been cast as “Audrey Mae” in the biopic I Saw the Light. Her character will be the wife of country singer Hank Williams Sr, who will be played by Tom Hiddleston, AKA Marvel’s Loki. I Saw the Light will be the second film as director for prolific producer Marc Abraham, who made his directorial debut with the inventor biopic Flash of Genius in 2008. As for Tom Hiddleston, he got practice with the role this week by performing as Hank Williams at the Wheatland Music Festival in Michigan, probably to people who lined up in the sweltering heat for hours, huddling together in the dark. (We’re just saying, the man does know how to perform for crowds). Okay, now here’s a real link to Tom Hiddleston performing as Hank Williams, Sr at that festival.
Now that the movie’s been out a few months, we can probably safely “spoil” the ending and reveal that the movie ended with Ice Cube’s character telling the two leads (played by Jonah Hill and Chaning Tatum) that their next assignment sends them to medical school. That was then followed by a series of joke titles for some 20 more sequels. This week, we learned that Sony Pictures is indeed now developing a sequel to be called 23 Jump Street. It’s not confirmed that the sequel will in fact send the two undercover cops to “medical school,” but presumably, that is a logical step after high school and college. Screenwriter Rodney Rothman, who cowrote 22 Jump Street (and Grudge Match, and produced Get Him to the Greek and The Five Year Engagement) has been hired to start work on 23 Jump Street.
Australian writer-director Diesel Schwarze (AKA Daniel Schwarze) is described as a protege of Baz Luhrmann, having worked as the title designer on Moulin Rouge!, and now, he’s getting his own directorial debut on a film that seems like something Luhrmann would have himself directed. Dane DeHaan and Rooney Mara are attached to star in Ziggy, an original film musical set in New York City in the 1920s, as, respectively, a “hunchback escape artist” and the woman he falls in love with, who’s engaged to a powerful media mogul.
Morgan Freeman had a busy week, as the acclaimed veteran actor was cast in two different movies (and he’s not even playing God or the President in either of them). Morgan Freeman has signed with Universal Pictures to work with writer/director/voice actor Seth McFarlane in Ted 2 as an “an iconic civil rights lawyer who comes into the picture when Ted needs to resolve some legal issues.” Seth McFarlane and Mark Wahlberg are currently filming Ted 2 in Boston, along with the recently cast Amanda Seyfried, and several celebrities making cameo appearances. Universal Pictures has scheduled Ted 2 for June 26, 2015. Morgan Freeman has also been cast by MGM and Paramount Pictures in the upcoming remake of Ben-Hur. Morgan Freeman will play Ildarin, who teaches the title character how to “become a champion-caliber chariot racer.” The two studios are still working on finding their lead (as it looks like Tom Hiddleston probably won’t take the role, possibly because of the Hank Williams movie), and his friend-turned-rival Messala. The remake of Ben-Hur will be directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), and it’s currently scheduled for release on February 26, 2016.
This was a big year for distribution acquisition at the Toronto International Film Festival. What we’re talking about here are independently produced films which had their debuts at the festival, and then led to them getting picked up for release. The most active company was the Weinsteins’ RADiUS, which picked up three major films: the comedy Adult Beginners (with Rose Byrne and Nick Kroll), Chris Evans’ directorial debut Before We Go, and the romance The Last 5 Years (starring Anna Kendrick), which will be released in time for Valentine’s Day in 2015. Other distribution deals included the vampire drama What We Do in Shadows, the Taylor Lautner action movie Tracers, the awards-friendly Julianne-Moore-with-Alzheimer’s-drama Still Alice, the Hayden Christensen action movie American Heist, Pawn Sacrifice (Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer), and the Chris Rock dramedy Top Five.
We’re feeling generous (or maybe Hollywood is?). No (completely) “Rotten Idea” stories this week.
For more Weekly Ketchup columns by Greg Dean Schmitz, check out the WK archive, and you can contact GDS via Facebook.
