This week’s Ketchup brings you another ten headlines from the world of film development news (those stories about what movies Hollywood is working on for you next). Included in the mix this time around are stories about such titles as Boo! A Madea Halloween, Masters of the Universe, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, and Star Wars Episode VIII (title pending).
One of the biggest stories in box office news this year, and in the past several years, has been about how Star Wars: The Force Awakens (12/18/15) was able to topple so many box office records despite leaving the May release date target that the franchise had previously called home. Until this week, it had been expected that Star Wars Episode VIII would return to that traditional target, on May 26, 2017. Instead, following this year’s release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (12/16/16), Star Wars Episode VIII has now been moved back seven months to December 15, 2017. The effect is that there are now Star Wars movies scheduled for three Decembers in a row, and if they all prove successful, Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm will probably keep claiming December in perpetuity. This huge change on the release date calendar for 2017 has had several reactions (or reactions to other reactions, etc). For one thing, 20th Century Fox confirmed this week that James Cameron’s Avatar sequel, which had been loosely speculated to be aiming for late 2017, won’t make that year after all. This isn’t the first time Avatar 2 has been delayed from a loose target, as at one time there was talk of Avatar 2 coming out in late… 2014 (yes, over a year ago!). To take the place of Star Wars Episode VIII no longer being a May, 2017 film, the studio has now announced that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will instead be released on May 25, 2017. In other release date news, we also learned this week that Paramount Pictures has withdrawn the tentative sequel to Terminator: Genisys from their calendar altogether. Instead, the film that Paramount will release on May 19, 2017 will be their movie version of Baywatch, starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. Universal Pictures also made the news this week by confirming that their modern day remake of The Mummy (starring Tom Cruise and Kingsman: The Secret Service costar Sofia Boutella as the title monster) is now scheduled for June 9, 2017. As for Star Wars Episode VIII and its newly direct competition, the question is still out there as to whether Warner Bros will move Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One away from its current release date of December 15, 2017.
(Photo by Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)
As one of Hollywood’s most sought after actresses (or the most sought after, period), Jennifer Lawrence continues to develop a large number of films in development for production over the next few years. Lawrence’s most imminent films includes this summer’s X-Men: Apocalypse, the science fiction romance Passengers (opposite Chris Pratt), a drama with director Darren Aronofsky, and It’s What I Do, a war photographer biopic for director Steven Spielberg. Following the acclaim for her role in the Miracle Mop inventor biopic Joy, Lawrence has now lined up another true story film, as she is now attached to star in Sony Pictures’ Cold War romance/thriller Marita, based on the life of German-born Marita Lorenz. In 1959, Marita Lorenz became involved in a romantic relationship with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, which led to her being recruited by the CIA to assassinate Castro in 1960. This also led later to Lorenz being involved with the investigations of the assassination of JFK and the allegations that the Cubans were involved with Lee Harvey Oswald. Marita has a lot of the elements that could make for another awards-season run for Jennifer Lawrence. Marita was written by screenwriter Eric Warren Singer, who cowrote American Hustle (costarring Lawrence), adapted from Marita Lorenz’s 1993 autobiography, Marita: One Woman’s Extraordinary Tale of Love and Espionage from Castro to Kennedy.
Much has been made about Quentin Tarantino’s intended goal of directing just ten feature films and then retiring (The Hateful Eight being his eighth completed film as a solo director). With just two potential films remaining if QT really commits to that, the interest is high in finding out what those last two films will be. Tarantino has talked about a lot of possibilities, including Kill Bill Vol 3, which would feature the grown up daughter of Vivica A. Fox’s character coming after The Bride for vengeance. This week, in a blog interview, Tarantino mentioned another possibility. After previously working on films set in Japan (Kill Bill) and Europe (Inglourious Basterds), Quentin Tarantino may now be considering working in the land of another setting that provided him with many of his “grindhouse” favorites back when he was a video store clerk. Specifically, Quentin Tarantino is talking up the idea of writing and directing a Bonnie & Clyde-style crime story set in Australia in the 1930s. Although there have been some crime films set in Australia (such as the 1880s-set Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger), for the most part, that setting is unfamiliar to most fans of Hollywood films. Might that be a great reason for Quentin Tarantino to turn his attention to Australia and the 1930s next?
Following the (relative) box office success of Sisters, Tina Fey is now looking to work with another female athlete/actress whose career is very much of the moment and on the upswing. Fey and MMA fighter Ronda Rousey are both attached to star in a Universal Pictures comedy called Do Nothing Bitches. (That title, of course, might be changed.) Rousey will play a “no-nonsense instructor” at a work out camp for “wealthy pampered wives.” The inspiration for this comedy reportedly comes from this 42-second YouTube video where Ronda Rousey takes on the concept of Do Nothing Bitches (some of which contains NSFW slang — watch out!). Ronda Rousey’s slate is currently very packed with films in development and production, so it might be a while before Do Nothing Bitches gets produced at Universal. Her production schedule in 2016 includes the Road House remake and her own biopic, My Fight/Your Fight, in which Rousey will play herself.
Triple Frontier is the title of a crime drama/thriller set in the dangerous area around the South American borders shared by Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. When we first heard about it a few years ago, it was soon after director Kathryn Bigelow’s success with The Hurt Locker. Bigelow eventually moved on to directing the Osama bin Laden drama Zero Dark Thirty instead, and has since left the film entirely. Around that time, the potential cast included both Tom Hanks and Will Smith, but Will Smith has passed on it (Tom Hanks may still sign on). Triple Frontier is still alive as an active project, however, as it will now be directed by J.C. Chandor. Chandor’s filmography to date is quite impressive, going 3-for-3 on Certified Fresh films with Margin Call, All is Lost, and A Most Violent Year. Now, Triple Frontier has attracted the interest of another major Hollywood star, as Johnny Depp is now in talks for a role. Triple Frontier has always been treated in publicity as a film for at least three major stars, so it’s not yet known if Depp would be taking the role that might have gone to Will Smith, or if that role might still be open to casting. In other related news, J.C. Chandor has also started development on an English-language remake called The Robber, based upon a German/Austrian film called Der Raüber.
Among the biggest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age of Cinema, there still remain a few who have never really received their own proper modern biopics in the vein of films like Chaplin and The Aviator (which prominently featured both Ava Gardner and Katherine Hepburn). Two such stars that appear to be finally getting their chance are the comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, most frequently credited on posters as just, “Laurel & Hardy.” Steve Coogan (Philomena) and John C. Reilly (Magnolia, Step Brothers) are now attached to star as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, respectively, in the British film Stan & Ollie. As has become more common in recent years, the film will not be a full biopic about their entire lives, but will instead focus on a single chapter in the twilight of their careers. Stan & Ollie will be set mostly around their 1953 comedy tour of England, which started off with low audience turnouts, but with time, eventually became a hit. However, health problems and “long buried ghosts” also challenge their comeback. Stan & Ollie will be directed by British director Jon S. Baird (2013’s Filth).
Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, who last year costarred together as Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron, are set to costar together again in a movie that has nothing to do with Marvel at all. That film will be called Wind River, and it will mark the feature film directorial debut of screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, who had success last year with the crime drama Sicario. Jeremy Renner will play a Fish and Game Department ranger who stumbles upon the body of a raped teenage girl, and he’s joined in the investigation by a rookie FBI agent played by Elizabeth Olsen. Filming of Wind River is scheduled to start in March, 2016 in Park City, Utah, the setting each year of the Sundance Film Festival.
Outside of his roles in the three Expendables movies, martial arts star Jet Li has worked more in Asian film over the last several years than he did earlier in his career. Li will be back in Hollywood soon, however, as he has closed a deal with Revolution Studios to costar with Vin Diesel in the sequel xXx 3: The Return of Xander Cage. After sitting out the second film, as Vin Diesel returns for this third entry, the formula seems to be changing a little bit to be more like Diesel’s Fast and Furious franchise. This time around, Xander Cage appears to be leading a team of agents, with Jet Li cast as the leader of another opposing team. Li’s team may also feature Thai star Tony Jaa, of the Ong-Bak franchise. Diesel, Li, and Jaa will be joined by other previously announced cast members like Samuel L. Jackson, Nina Dobrev, Deepika Padukone, and Ruby Rose. xXx 3: The Return of Xander Cage doesn’t have a release date yet, but it’s expected to possibly be sometime in 2017 (or maybe 2018). This story is one of the week’s Rotten Ideas, not because of Jet Li, but because of director D.J. Caruso’s Tomatometer.
Some movies (especially animation and superheroes) need 2-3 years to get made, most movies get it done in about a year, and then there are others that manage to do it in “just” months. That latter group usually consists of comedies and dramas that don’t involve extensive post-production. One such franchise that seems to be able to announce production relatively close to release is Tyler Perry’s lucrative (relative to budget) comedy franchise featuring his Madea character. Madea has had a Diary (of a Mad Black Woman) and a Family Reunion, she’s gone to Jail and avoided it with Witness Protection, and most recently (in 2013), she celebrated Christmas. For his first Madea movie in three years, Tyler Perry has found inspiration from a joke in the Chris Rock movie, Top Five. That joke, called Boo! A Madea Halloween will become a real movie this year just in time for an October 21, 2016 release date. In the film, Madea will spend “a hilarious, haunted Halloween fending off killers, paranormal poltergeists, ghosts, ghouls and zombies while keeping a watchful eye on a group of misbehaving teens.” The Madea franchise generally hovers somewhere between the 18-to-38 percent range on the Tomatometer, so that’s why we’re calling this one of the week’s “Rotten Ideas.” Tyler Perry’s competition for appealing to Halloween horror fans this year will include the toy adaptation Monster High (10/7/16), The Bye Bye Man (10/14/16), A Monster Calls (10/14/17), Underworld: Next Generation (10/14/16), and Ouija 2 (10/21). (Although at least one of those is likely to be pushed back from October.)
Although He-Man and Skeletor did (technically) get their own Masters of the Universe movie back in 1987, by way of Cannon Films, the notion of a more contemporary big budget remake has been lingering around Hollywood for well over a decade now. One way to look at it is that yes, that movie was schmaltzy and sort of cheap-looking, but in the 1980s and early 1990s, the same could also be said of superhero movies like Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (also a Cannon film) and Captain America (produced by Menahem Golan soon after leaving… Cannon Films). The point here is that comic book and toy adaptations have really improved, on average, since those Cannon Films years. Thus, the notion of a new Masters of the Universe movie persists at Sony Pictures. The studio may have finally found a director for Masters of the Universe in the form of the man who calls himself McG. McG (AKA Joseph McGinty Nichol) is best known for directing the first two Charlie’s Angels movies, but his filmography also includes Ouija, We Are Marshall, and 2009’s Terminator: Salvation. Another distinction McG carries on his Tomatometer is that, of the seven movies he’s directed since making his debut with Charlie’s Angels, none of them has had a score above 49 percent (and that one was We Are Marshall). McG’s next film will be a horror movie called The Babysitter.
