This Week’s Ketchup brings you seven headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as Community, Hellraiser, and Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot.
(Photo by Mitchell Haaseth/©NBC courtesy Everett Collection)
The hashtag #SixSeasonsandaMovie is now frequently used by fans of lots of different TV shows who hope for success for a given show, but it actually had its origins with NBC’s Community. That ensemble sitcom was cancelled after just five seasons before it eventually got its sixth season through the short-lived Yahoo! Screen streaming service, but there’s never been much movement about a movie. Things are looking up, however, for the future of Community. In addition to recently being added to Netflix, many Community creatives have gone on to great things (Dan Harmon and Rick and Morty, and Joe and Anthony Russo have directed some of Marvel’s biggest movies). Joel McHale (who, earlier this week, was the host of the Tiger King reunion special) was asked about the possibility of a Community movie, and his response was, “There’s way more rumblings than there used to be. Alison [Brie] tweeted that she got a phone call from Sony. They still haven’t called me; maybe Matthew Lillard will take over. But I would say there’s a better chance than there’s ever been.” It’s not yet known if the Community movie has been written yet, or who might direct, or who indeed from the cast would return for it.
(Photo by ©Warner Bros. courtesy Everett Collection)
Dozens and dozens of Stephen King novels and stories have been adapted as movies, especially from the first 20 years or so of his career. Yet, while this period is very well represented on film, two of his biggest novels from that time were only ever adapted as TV mini-series, not as movies. The Stand is currently in the works as a new mini-series for CBS All Access, and we can now confirm that ‘Salem’s Lot is also in the works as a movie. ‘Salem’s Lot (short for Jerusalem’s Lot, hence the apostrophe) was a vampire novel in 1975 that became a two-part CBS mini-series in 1979 starring David Soul and directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Poltergeist). New Line Cinema has hired screenwriter Gary Dauberman to direct their adaptation of ‘Salem’s Lot from his own screenplay. Dauberman made his directorial debut last year with Annabelle Comes Home (Fresh at 65%), and as a screenwriter, he worked on films like Annabelle, The Nun, and both IT and IT: Chapter Two. Presumably, the next step we will hear about will be the casting of the human male lead and the Austrian vampire leader Barlow.
(Photo by Chiabella James/Warner Bros. Entertainment)
With the movies originally scheduled for April, May, June, and most of July now being pushed back because of COVID-19, the marketing strategies for the movies scheduled for later in 2020 are also facing new challenges. Many of these movies will probably end up being pushed back to 2021, but one film that appears to be standing its ground is Warner Bros.’ new adaptation of (the first half of) Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel Dune. First adapted to film by David Lynch in 1984, Dune is a sweeping epic with dozens of characters, which lends itself well to having a huge star-driven ensemble cast, and that’s what the new Dune (12/18/2020) from director Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario, Blade Runner 2049) promises. Vanity Fair got the scoop on the first cast images, which include our first glimpses in character (in order) of Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Oscar Isaac, and Jason Momoa, among others.
(Photo by JA/Everett Collectio)
Sometimes movie stars who do biopics bear a striking resemblance to the real life personalities they portray, and sometimes they don’t. Let’s start this story with this mugshot of Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco Restrepo from 1997 when she was 54, so you can quickly see where we’re going with this, because Jennifer Lopez is now attached to star in The Godmother, the biopic about the life of Griselda Blanco. The film is being produced by STXfilms, the same company behind Lopez’ recent hit, Hustlers (also based upon a true crime story), and it will be directed by Reed Morano (I Think We’re Alone Now, The Rhythm Section, TV’s The Handmaid’s Tale) from a screenplay by William Monahan (The Departed, Kingdom of Heaven).
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
(Photo by Jay Maidment/©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing so many films to be delayed and events to be cancelled that there is a strong argument to be made that the only real news these days is when something is not delayed or cancelled. That’s exactly why we’re drawing your attention this week to this update from director James Gunn, who said that there is “no reason” for his next two films to be delayed in any way. Those films are, of course, The Suicide Squad (8/16/2021) and his return to Marvel with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Of course, there is some irony in Gunn saying that the release date for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 won’t be delayed since there isn’t currently a release date for the film in the first place.
(Photo by ©Columbia Pictures courtesy Everett Collection)
There is a long tradition in comics of heroes having the word “green” in their name. The two big screen adaptations we’ve gotten of said heroes (both in 2011, by the way), Green Lantern and The Green Hornet, they were both critical and box office disappointments. (One has to wonder if this is the reason that when the Green Arrow debuted on The CW a year later, it was just called Arrow.) Sony Pictures was the studio behind The Green Hornet, but this week, Universal stepped in instead to acquire the film rights to a reboot project they are now calling The Green Hornet and Kato, ostensibly to focus on the martial arts aspects of the Green Hornet’s sidekick (who literally can do side kicks). As a new project, The Green Hornet and Kato will not feature Seth Rogen or Jay Chou, and it will likely not share that film’s comedic elements, either. The producers also prominently mentioned the Green Hornet’s car, the Black Beauty, so it’s possible the movie might have a lot of “automobile action” as well.
(Photo by ©New World Pictures)
It’s worth noting that enough time has now passed that we’re over a decade past the reboots of horror franchises like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and Friday the 13th (2009), and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) turns 10 this year. Heck, Halloween was rebooted, then given a sequel, and then the franchise got started all over again in 2018 (with two more coming). While all that has been going on, another popular franchise that has been quietly awaiting its own reboot is Hellraiser. That said, we may finally get the Hellraiser remake that promises to reboot the whole franchise with the news this week that Hellraiser is now being developed by Spyglass Media, the company behind the 2011 remake of Footloose. For their Hellraiser reboot, Spyglass has hired director David Bruckner, who recently premiered his film The Night House at Sundance in January. No specifics about Bruckner’s plans for Hellraiser were given, except that his approach was described as “loyal, yet evolved.”
