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 A Bad Moms Christmas, Gears of War, Kingsman 3, and new roles for Will Ferrell, Melissa McCarthy, and Seth Rogen.
Universal Pictures
Earlier this Spring, some fans of were surprised to learn that Warner Bros was reportedly in talks with Jordan Peele (one half of comedy duo Key & Peele and the writer/director of this year’s early surprise hit Get Out) to direct their super long-in-development live-action remake of the anime classic Akira. That still might happen, but we now know it won’t be Peele’s next movie. Instead, he’s signed a two year first-look deal with Universal Pictures, and his next film will be another “social thriller,” presumably in the style of Get Out (which was also distributed by Universal). Peele will write, direct, and produce the yet untitled film, which will have a budget of $25 million, five times the amount Peele had work with for Get Out (which globally has earned $194 million to date).
Lorey Sebastian/CBS Films; Nicole Rivelli/IFC Films
Just last week, we reported on a Scottish historical epic called Outlaw King, which will be something of a Hell or High Water reunion project (same director, same stars). Well, Chris Pine’s been busy lately, because we have another movie of his to report. Pine (Star Trek) and Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea) are now in talks to star in spy thriller called All the Old Knives, adapted by author Olen Steinhauer from his own novel about two spies (one current, one former) and ex-lovers who reunite over memories about “the disastrous hijacking of Royal Jordanian Flight 127, which ended in the death of all on board, a failure that haunts the CIA’s Vienna station to this day.” (RJ 127 is, by the way, a real flight, which doesn’t make this movie at all creepy.) Director James Marsh (The Theory of Everything, Wisconsin Death Trip) is in talks to direct All the Old Knives, and it’s his Tomatometer that gives All the Old Knives its prominent Fresh status.
Jaap Buitendijk/20th Century Fox
Not only is Kingsman: The Golden Circle (9/22/17) still over four months away from release, but it was only last week that we saw the film’s first trailer. Even so, we live in a world where franchises are planned even before the release of the first movie, so this story won’t be much of a surprise. Speaking at an event in London, director Matthew Vaughn revealed that he and screenwriter Jane Goldman have already started work on the third Kingsman screenplay. Much like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Matthew Vaughn describes Kingsman: The Golden Circle as a “bridge” film, the franchise’s own Empire Strikes Back. He described the second film’s new spy agency, the Statesman, as being “to Americana what Kingsman is to Britannia.” What that might mean for the third film is anyone’s guess, but it’s reasonable to assume it might involve a third agency, possibly from an Asian country (or another region)? Unfortuntely, Mark Millar’s The Secret Service comic series isn’t of much help, because it ended where the first movie did.
Gregorio Binuya/Everett Collection
The past week has not been a good one for rapper Ja Rule and his partners on the now infamous Fyre Festival, which was originally planned as a luxury music festival on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma. Everything came apart in a series of revelations from would-be attendees who were left stranded on the island with few accommodations, leading to at least three lawsuits, one of them potentially worth $100 million. In the midst of all of this, Seth Rogen took to Twitter to say: “This seems like a good time to mention the movie we are making with @thelonelyisland about a music festival that goes HORRIBLY WRONG.” The Lonely Island (AKA the comedy trio of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone) likewise soon also tweeted, “For real, thinking about suing #FyreFestival for stealing our idea.” Rogen previously worked with the members of The Lonely Island on The Watch and Neighbors, and the first Lonely Island movie was last year’s Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.
Hopper Stone/Columbia Pictures
Back in 2010, we first learned about a dark puppet comedy called The Happytime Murders, to be directed by Brian Henson (Jim’s son) and produced by the Jim Henson Company. The premise was described this way: “Happytime takes place in a world where humans and puppets co-exist, with the puppets viewed as second-class citizens. When the puppet cast of an ’80s children’s TV show called The Happytime Gang begins to get murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet — with a drinking problem, no less — takes on the case with his former human partner. Think Avenue Q meets L.A. Confidential.” We can now report that the human detective will be played by Melissa McCarthy. The Happytime Murders, which was previously at Lionsgate, will now be released by STX Entertainment, with the extensive puppet work still being handled by the Jim Henson Company. Jamie Foxx had previously been in talks for the same role, so the casting of Melissa McCarthy is something of a surprise.
Warner Bros.; Quantrell D. Colbert/MC
Some actors and actresses fight it, but Will Ferrell (who turns 50 this July) seems to be fully embracing a new career as a movie dad. Ferrell played the dad in The LEGO Movie, he and Mark Wahlberg starred together in 2015’s Daddy’s Home (and its sequel, opening in November), and he and Amy Poehler play the parents of a teen daughter in this summer’s The House. Even so, it’s one thing to play the father of younger children, and then there’s this week’s news. But first, some math: Jason Momoa was born in 1979, making him a member of Generation X, and Will Ferrell just (barely) 19 when he was born. That’s right, there is now an untitled comedy project in which Will Ferrell and Jason Momoa will play father and son (sort of). Ferrell will play a washed up former TV star who reunites with the actor who played his son on the show, who is also now a much, much bigger star. Of course, young actors often play characters much younger than themselves, so it’s possible the screenwriters have this all figured out.
Mark Rogers/20th Century Fox
You may be familiar with director Neill Blomkamp’s (District 9, Chappie) frequently reported plans for Alien 5, which, until relatively recently, he was still claiming would be possible alongside this month’s Alien: Covenant (5/19/17). Blomkamp’s plans were always sort of confusing, because the concept art teased the return of characters that had died in previous movies. One person who seems very familiar with all of this is Alien creator and director Ridley Scott, who still has another film planned after Alien: Covenant. Well, Scott has officially commented on Blomkamp’s project, basically confirming that it’s not going to happen: “There was never a screenplay, just an idea that evolved into a pitch of 10 pages… I was always just a producer, but it didn’t go any further because Fox decided that it didn’t want to do it.” As for Blomkamp’s next film, we don’t know much, but he did tease the world with this last September. We’re calling this a borderline Fresh Development, because, well, bringing back two popular dead characters never seemed like a great idea.
STX Entertainment
When the aforementioned Daddy’s Home sequel hits theaters this November 10th, we’ll be introduced to the two paternal grandpas played by Mel Gibson and John Lithgow (fathers to Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell, respectively). This week, we learned that A Bad Moms Christmas — the sequel to last year’s Bad Moms that opens just one week before Daddy’s Home 2, on November 3 — will also feature the mothers of the characters from the first movie. The three new grandmas will be played by Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski (The Good Wife), and the baby of the three, Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm), the mothers of Kathryn Hahn, Mila Kunis, and Kristen Bell. The last pairing is particularly tight, as Cheryl Hines (born 1965) was only 15 when Kristen Bell was born (1980); as with the Will Ferrell-Jason Momoa movie, that might be part of the joke. Last year’s Bad Moms was a borderline Rotten movie with a Tomatometer score of 58 percent.
Sometimes, when movies are pushed back a year or two, it’s devastating to millions of fans who were eagerly anticipating it, but other times, hardly anyone was even aware the film was in the works at all. In the latter category, you can probably chalk up Warner Bros’ plans to revive Scooby-Doo with a new animated feature film. Yes, columns like the Weekly Ketchup reported on the movie a few years ago, but it wasn’t one people were socially networking about, especially when you consider it was still another 17 months from release. Well, Warner Bros has a lot more time to build that sort of awareness now, because the studio has officially bumped the animated reboot, simply titled Scooby, back almost two years to May 15, 2020. Director Tony Cervone (who’s mostly worked on animated TV shows) is now on board to direct Scooby, apparently replacing Dax Shepard, following the disappointing release of CHiPS in March. We’re calling this a Rotten Idea, because after the two disappointing live-action movies, animation does seem the way to go with Scooby and friends.
gearsofwar.com
Despite some temporary promise last year from titles like Warcraft, The Angry Birds Movie, and Assassin’s Creed, we still have yet to see a video game adaptation with a Fresh Tomatometer score. And yet, a steady flow of video game movies continues to make the news each year. One popular franchise is Gears of War, a third-person shooter five games deep on the XBox that pits human soldiers against a race of reptilian aliens confusingly called the Locust Horde. As of this week, we know who’s going to start working on the project, as Universal Pictures has hired screenwriter Shane Salerno, whose past credits include Armageddon, Aliens vs Predator: Requiem, and the recent video game Ghost Recon: Wildlands. Salerno is also working with James Cameron on the four Avatar sequels recently scheduled for December dates in 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2024.
