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 Fast 8, Speedy, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and the sequels to both Blade Runner and Edge of Tomorrow.
This is a continuation of a story that was first reported in early February, but it wasn’t until this week that this big news was finally confirmed. After starring last year as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, Charlize Theron has signed on for another movie involving lots and lots of driving. Theron has signed on to play a new character in Fast 8 (4/4/17) as what is being described as the “new adversary” for Vin Diesel’s character Dominic Toretto and his friends. That was confirmed by the official Twitter for the franchise, saying “Our crew will face its greatest adversary in our next film. Welcome Charlize Theron to the Fast family. 4.14.17. #F8.” Fans of Game of Thrones will see another familiar (but new) face in Fast 8, because Norwegian actor Kristofer Hivju — who plays the red-haired wildling leader Tormund Giantsbane on GoT — has been cast as one of the lead henchmen in the film. That wasn’t the only Charlize Theron news this week, however, as she is also planning on an independent reunion project about “motherhood.” The untitled film would reunite Charlize Theron with the director (Jason Reitman) and screenwriter (Diablo Cody) of her 2011 film Young Adult (though it’s not necessarily, and proably isn’t, an actual sequel to Young Adult).
On Saturday, former WWE Champion Dave Bautista took to his Twitter account to post an image of himself looking at a foil origami unicorn, with the caption, “I can’t wait to share some really exciting news…” If it was intended as a subtle hint, many fans seemed to get the message almost immediately. That’s because in Ridley Scott’s 1982 science fiction classic Blade Runner, foil origami unicorns were the calling card of the character Gaff, as played by Edward James Olmos. Two days later, sure enough, it was confirmed that Dave Bautista had indeed been cast in an “important supporting role” in the sequel to Blade Runner. Bautista will join the returning Harrison Ford, as well as new cast members Ryan Gosling and Robin Wright. It’s not yet confirmed if Bautista’s character will indeed have a direct connection to Gaff, as the origami unicorn suggests. The Blade Runner sequel will be directed by Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Enemy, Prisoners), with Ridley Scott producing (while he himself will direct Alien: Covenant at around the same time). Warner Bros has scheduled the Blade Runner sequel for wide release on January 12, 2018 (which might be part of an awards-season-friendly platform release).
If you’re a fan of the (formerly) NBC comedy series Community (and possibly, even if you’re not), you may have heard the many anecdotal “behind the scenes” stories about the show’s production, and especially about original cast member Chevy Chase. (And if you’re not, try Googling “Chevy Chase Community Feud” or some variation of that). In lieu of that, just to get a (relevant) taste of it, you can read this account from costar Joel McHale about the time he and Chevy Chase almost got in a physical altercation. Now that it’s established that Chevy Chase’s relationship with Community, and Joel McHale, was “rocky”, here’s where we get to the punchline: Netflix has cast McHale to play Chase in their film about the early years of comedy magazine National Lampoon, the home to several future comedy stars. That film will be called A Futile and Stupid Gesture, and like other recent Netflix feature film productions, it may also receive a theatrical release. There was a lot of casting news for the project this week, including that of Will Forte and Domhnall Gleeson playing the film’s focus characters, National Lampoon co-founders Douglas Kenney and Henry Beard. Chevy Chase won’t be the only SNL member portrayed in the movie, as there will also be John Belushi (John Gemberline of Broad City), and Bill Murray (Jon Daly of Kroll Show). Rick Glassman (Undateable) will play future Ghostbusters star Harold Ramis, and Veep costar Matt Walsh will play the publishing executive, Matty Simmons, who encouraged the expansion of National Lampoon into movies (like Animal House and National Lampoon’s Vacation). A Futile and Stupid Gesture will be directed by David Wain, who previously worked with Netflix on the TV spinoff Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.
Now that economic relations between the United States and Cuba are starting to thaw from decades of Cold War policies, it is looking like this will lead to more films either about Cuba, or that would benefit from being filmed in Cuba (such as any film needing lots of old cars). Leonardo DiCaprio is on the front of this impending trend, with the news this week that his production company, Appian Way, is producing a film about the history of Cuba’s criminal underworld. The movie will be an adapation of the upcoming book The Corporation: An Epic Story of the Cuban American Underworld, by author T.J. English. Benicio del Toro is already attached to star in The Corporation as Jose Miguel Battle Sr, AKA “El Padrino,” the longtime leader of “The Corporation,” which, as the name suggests, was Cuba’s equivalent of Lucky Luciano’s The Commission. The Corporation will be adapted by screenwriter David Matthews, who currently works on HBO’s new drama Vinyl.
As a good example of how slowly many film projects move through development, let’s start this one off by pointing you to the Weekly Ketchup from over six years ago, on February 26, 2010. As that week’s Rotten Idea, we covered the news that comedian George Lopez had signed with Warner Bros to star in an animated feature film about Speedy Gonzales. Fast-forwarding like… someone very fast, we now come to the year 2016, and Warner Bros is still planning on a Speedy Gonzales movie, but their new choice for the industrious little mouse’s voice might signal a change in their approach. Mexican TV actor, comedian, and director Eugenio Derbez has signed with Warner Bros to star in the animated feature which now has the shorter title of just Speedy. Explaining his enthusiasm about Speedy, Derbez said, “He was like a superhero to us, or maybe more like a revolutionario like Simon Bolivar or Pancho Villa. He watched out for the little people, but with a lot of bravado and a weakness for the ladies.” Matching some of what Derbez said, Speedy is reportedly being crafted to be a Robin Hood-style origin story and “heist caper” about a crafty and heroic super speedster who helps the poor mice of Mexico by stealing from the film’s animated equivalent of “the rich.” It’s not yet known if frequent Speedy-chaser, Sylvester the Cat, will also costar to try to stop Speedy from stealing the re-distribution of cheese to the masses.
If you haven’t seen last year’s spy action movie Kingsman: The Secret Service, this story pretty much revolves around a huge spoiler for that film. Having said that, this story is about a spoiler being used for the sequel’s marketing, so by the time Kingsman: The Golden Circle comes out next summer, it might be that “everyone” will be spoiled, through cultural osmosis if nothing else. The movie’s young star, Taron Egerton, has revealed the first poster for the sequel, and it appears to indicate that the character played by Colin Firth will be back. That’s because the poster displays the text “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” under a pair of glasses with one lens shaded out (referencing a crucial scene in Kingsman: The Secret Service). Speaking of shocking character deaths, we also learned this week that Pedro Pascal, who played Oberyn Martel in S4 of Game of Thrones, has been cast as a character called “Jack Daniels.” (It’s been hinted for a while that the sequel will heavily feature references to whiskey and other liquors.) Matthew Vaughn is returning to direct Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and other new cast members include Halle Berry and Julianne Moore. 20th Century Fox has scheduled Kingsman: The Golden Circle for release on June 17, 2017.
Despite earning over $370 million worldwide, some people perceived the 2014 science fiction action movie Edge of Tomorrow as a box office disappointment (which had much to do with it being more expensive than most Tom Cruise films). Indeed, within the scope of Cruise’s own filmography, Edge of Tomorrow is actually his seventh biggest worldwide box office hit (in between Mission: Impossible III and Minority Report). Some people also thought the title was generic, after it was changed from the original manga title of All You Need Is Kill, and the post-theatrical marketing also used the promotional quasi-title, Live. Die. Repeat. Although there is talk of Warner Bros scaling back some of its production (see below), one film the studio is continuing to develop is an Edge of Tomorrow sequel. We know that because two screenwriters have been hired to work on the film, and they are the team of Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, whose most recent film was the Jesse Owens biopic Race. It was also confirmed this week that the Edge of Tomorrow sequel will be directed by Doug Liman, who also directed the first film, as well as Mena, the drug war drama that Tom Cruise will also star in (1/16/17). If this sequel films next, that will mean Doug Liman will have worked with Tom Cruise for three movies in a row.
Here’s another example of the many ways films in development go through different transformations before actually getting produced (if they ever do). The Rosie Project is an adaptation of a book by Graeme Simsion which previously had both Jennifer Lawrence and director Richard Linklater attached. Now, they’re both gone, and Ryan Reynolds is circling to star in it. If he signs on, Reynolds would play a “socially inept genetics professor who comes up with a scientifically sound survey to find the perfect mate,” until he meets a woman named Rosie who goes against everything his theories suggested would be his ideal match. Sony Pictures is still searching for suitable replacements for Linklater and Lawrence.
Oh, true stories. You sometimes give us such ridiculous “actual” stories that writers of fictional stories can basically do anything. A recent issue of New York Times Magazine, for example, ran this story about a group of Minnesota friends in 1968 who, after a long night of heavy drinking, decided to plan a snowmobile trip to the North Pole. And someone, somewhere, read that and thought “Hey, that sounds like a Will Ferrell movie!” Two weeks later, here we are. Sony Pictures is teaming up with producer Will Ferrell on an adaptation of the true story, Ice Pack: An Insurance Salesman and a Doctor Walk Into a Bar, and End Up at the North Pole (which will probably be shortened down to just Ice Pack). The story was written by Guy Lawson, who also wrote the true story article that became the inspiration for the upcoming Jonah Hill/Miles Teller comedy War Dogs (8/19/16).
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had a very good first weekend (arguably because so many opening weekend tickets were already ordered before the reviews started rolling in). That was before the second weekend drop of 69 percent, and now Warner Bros appears to be working on damage control and strategies for the future (presuming “make better movies” is not as easy a remedy as it might sound). The not-yet-confirmed news that dominated the cycle this week was the notion that Warner Bros might be looking to produce fewer movies. This is described as being not just a reaction to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but also the disappointing results for other recent releases, like Jupiter Ascending (26 percent on RT), Pan (26 percent), and In the Heart of the Sea (42 percent). If the rumors are true, Warner Bros may instead focus more on three main production paths: their continuing LEGO franchise, their DC Comics movies, and the Harry Potter spinoffs like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (and the already planned sequels). We’re calling this not just a potentially “Rotten Idea,” but really, sort of a shame. Warner Bros has had some critical and box office flops, sure (what studio hasn’t?), but they are also a studio that has recently given us movies like Argo, Godzilla, Interstellar, American Sniper, Creed, and Mad Max: Fury Road. And all of those films might have possibly fallen outside those three pathways to production and release. And it might be that we’re already seeing news that supports this rumor/theory. For example, the news broke this week that Warner Bros has put their adaptation of the manga Death Note into turnaround, and the film from director Adam Wingard (You’re Next) has been picked up by Netflix, the new masters of picking up other studio’s castoffs and dusting them off.
