In-Development

Jason Statham, Guy Ritchie Reunite For Return-To-Form Action Thriller Inspired By 2004 French Crime Pic

Nicolas Boukhrief’s 2004 film, Cash Truck, is said to be the motivator for a new untitled thriller at Miramax. The project follows Jason Statham in the role of H, described as “a cold and mysterious character” tasked with moving hundreds of millions of dollars every week. Mike Fleming Jr. at Deadline goes on to elucidate the film’s vision as one that weaves through “a suspenseful and carefully constructed narrative”, shifting between various timelines and perspectives “for a thrilling and mind-bending experience.” As the report confirms, the tentatively untitled film will see Statham pair-up once more with Guy Ritchie, returning the director to the kind of “frenetic Cockney action-comedy” titles he doled out years earlier with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Miramax CEO Bill Block and Ivan Atkinson will produce. Ritchie just came off of Disney’s live-action Aladdin with upcoming gangster ensemble, The Gentlemen, currently in tow for […]

GIDEON FALLS: James Wan, Hivemind Partner For New Hour-Long Horror Drama Based On Eisner-Winning Comic Series

Lee B. Golden III

A new series adaptation is in development as of last week’s announcement from Hivemind for Gideon Falls, based on the 2019 Eisner Award-winning comic series from Image Comics. James Wan will exec produce the hour-long series under his Atomic Monster banner in a freshman partnership with Hivemind. Gideon Falls will be Hivemind’s latest add to its current IP which also lists Netflix series The Witcher, Amazon’s The Expanse, and Sony Pictures’ 2020 Valiant feature adaptation, Bloodshot. Created by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino who authored the comic, the atmospheric new horror mystery drama follows an ensemble cast of seemingly random strangers: a washed-up Catholic priest, an uncompromising female sheriff, and a young recluse obsessed with unraveling a conspiracy buried in his city’s trash. As the series progresses, they will become drawn into a mystery connected to a long-forgotten local legend. Wan will be joined by Michael Clear at Atomic Monster. […]

THE OUTLAW JOHNNY BLACK: Michael Jai White Hails Second Phase Of His Jaigantic Production Slate

Lee B. Golden III

Martial arts cinema star, actor Michael Jai White is officially in pre-production with The Outlaw Johnny Black. The movie is a spirited follow-up to his 2009 cult hit, Black Dynamite, in the vein of a Western-themed period blaxploitation opus, offsetting crowdfunding efforts last Spring. The project will be the first of a raft of titles now being tended to under White’s own Jaigantic banner, marking a new phase for his company that also brings the long-awaited Blood And Bone sequel back into the spotlight since its release in 2009; Director Ben Ramsey shared his own director’s cut of his film via Vimeo in October of 2015. “My company @jaiganticstudio has the perfect the partnership & we’ll be bringing you the type of movies you’ll never see anywhere else, like The Blood and Bone Sequel and much more!” White Tweeted on Thursday. “Thank you everyone for your continued support & loyalty! […]

HELL HOUSE: Indie Film’s Cast Revealed

Christina Ortega

Indie horror film Hell House has announced its cast. The cast will include Stefanie Scott (Insidious: Chapter 3, Insidious: The Last Key), Odessa Adlon (Fam, Nashville), Jess Weixler (It: Chapter 2, The Good Wife), Gene Jones (No Country for Old Men), and Michael Abbott Jr. (The Death of Dick Long). Hell House focuses on “the complicated relationship between small town high school peers Dawn (Scott) and Makayla in the Deep South, on the eve of a religious-themed Halloween attraction or “hell house” grand opening, and the various townspeople who try to keep the two apart, with disastrous results.” Written and directed by Andrew Gori, the movie is set to start filming this fall. Stay tuned for more details!(DEADLINE)

SHIELD-LESS: Actor/Producer Dennis Jusino Back In Development With Feature Revenge Thriller

Lee B. Golden III

It’s been around seven years since we’ve touched on actor and producer Dennis Jusino, who at the time starred in Gerald J. Godbout III’s crime thriller short, The Trade. With plenty of time past as is the usual case for the development of any independent project, Jusino is officially moving forward under his Jusino Productions banner with crime thriller, Shield-Less. “Shield-Less is one of those stories that never die.” says Jusino who made the announcement on Thursday in a Facebook post. “I believe timing is everything and the timing to begin writing this feature script has never been better.” Jusino began conceiving the project with concept trailer back in Spring 2012 with a local cast and crew locked in at the time. While cutting the trailer, eventually moving on to other projects, including action drama, MMA, currently standing tall with well over twenty wins in the festival circuit including the […]

KILLER STUDIES: An Interview With Filmmaker/Author John Borowski

Christina Ortega

In early September, I attended HorrorHound Weekend in Indianapolis. Hosted by the magazine of the same name, it is a horror movie, television, and pop culture convention. A whole weekend full of all things horror! It was at this convention that I met independent filmmaker/author John Borowski. I’m not a stalker or anything, but since I heard him lecture, I’ve picked up a book of his, watched two of his films, and have followed him on three forms of social media. Nope, not stalking. If you are interested in true crime tales, you may already be familiar with Borowski’s work. He has written books and made films about Ed Gein, H.H. Holmes, and Albert Fish. I recently interviewed him via email, so other true crime geeks like myself could get to know him better: What drew you into the true crime genre? It was my love of horror films and […]

INVISIBLE CITY Begins Filming

Christina Ortega

Brazilian folklore stories will be coming to the small screen in an upcoming Netflix original series. Invisible City has begun production in Brazil. This series will be director Carlos Saldanha’s Netflix debut. Saldanha’s first live-action series will “take Brazilian folklore stories to the world under a contemporary perspective.” Here is the synopsis from a media release: After finding a strange dead animal on a beach in Rio de Janeiro, the policeman engages in a secret murder investigation and finds himself in the middle of a battle between two worlds – ours, as we know it, and another inhabited by mythical entities, invisible to humans. The cast includes Marco Pigossi as a detective and Alessandra Negrini as the owner of a nightclub. Caito Ortiz, Maresa Pullman, and Marco Anton are the executive producers with Mirna Nogueira as the head writer. Invisible City will be available only on Netflix in 2020. Stay […]

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NEW JACK CITY: Warner Bros. To Reboot Mario Van Peebles’ 1991 Gangster Drama

Lee B. Golden III

On a day when quite a few folks in my line of vision are already triggered by at least one reboot on Monday, developments are now underway for another. Malcolm M. Mays (Snowfall) is reportedly attached to script a reboot of 1991 crime opus, New Jack City for Warner Bros. Pictures. Bill Gerber (A Star Is Born) is producing. This is especially one film most people might least expect to see rebooted or remade given its rich, vast and organic nature with respect to the period and time it was made; New Jack City was originally directed by Mario Van Peebles who joins a cast led by Ice-T and Judd Nelson. Both play oil-and-water members of a police squad charged with infiltrating the Cash Money Bros., led by the sinister, seemingly untouchable leader, Nino Brown, played by Wesley Snipes, and younger brother G-Money, played by Allen Payne. There’s too much […]

CBS’s WALKER: TEXAS RANGER Reboot Circles ‘Supernatural’ Star

Lee B. Golden III

With popular features like the Missing In Action trilogy, The Delta Force 1 and 2 among others in his wake, it was in 1993 when martial arts star Chuck Norris brought the hits to television with hit series, Walker: Texas Ranger. The show ran eight seasons from 1993 through 2001 with Norris delivering on screen with Walker’s own brand of justice, along with his own initial theme song composed by Tirk Wilder to boot. Fast forward to 2019 with CW series, Supernatural, well on its way to an end after fifteen seasons and apparently whose own Jared Padalecki is poised to star in a Walker: Texas Ranger television reboot according to the trades reporting on Monday. As a follow-up report from Variety notes, network attachment hasn’t been found yet as Padalecki makes his segue into potentially filling the shoes of a well known martial arts hero to many; Nellie Andreeva […]

SAMARITAN: Stallone Courts ‘Overlord’ Director

Lee B. Golden III

After retiring two of his own franchises, actor, producer and star Sylvester Stallone still has a full plate being readied over at Balboa Productions. Samaritan will be his next project for MGM according to Deadline‘s Mike Fleming Jr. who reports that Julius Avery will take the director’s chair, following up on his riproaring thriller, Overlord. The film was announced last October described then as “a dark, fresh take on the superhero genre”. Fleming Jr.’s report follows up a bit more on the premise and word of an early 2020 start: Based on an original idea, the thriller centers on young boy who is out to discover if a mythic superhero, who vanished 20 years earlier following a tragic event, is still alive. Samaritan is the latest addition to Avery’s workloard following The Heavy with J.J. Abrams at Bad Robot, and a previous partnership with Kingsman helmer Matthew Vaughn for a […]

Disney’s Next Live-Action Adventure: KNIGHTS

Christina Ortega

Disney is planning to take you and your family back to the European Middle Ages. According to a Deadline exclusive, this live-action family-adventure is called Knights and “will follow a headstrong young woman who joins a knight on his quest to destroy a world-threatening artifact before it falls into the wrong hands.” Matt Orton (who wrote Operation Finale) is working on the screenplay and will likely hit theaters rather than Disney’s upcoming streaming service. Disney’s live-action executives Jessica Virtue and Chaz Salembier are overseeing the project. Want more of the Middle Ages? Disney is also working on a Sword in the Stone reboot and The Merlin Saga. Stay tuned for more updates as more information is released.

INVISIBLE MONSTERS To Become A Series

Christina Ortega

You might know the name Chuck Palahniuk as the author of the books Fight Club and Choke were based on. But now one of his novels is being adapted for TV. Invisible Monsters, published in 1999, has been optioned by Fabrik Entertainment. Jennifer Yale will be adapting the novel. Yale has written for Outlander, Legion, and Dexter. The executive producers will be Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate, the CEO and President of Fabrik respectively. In a statement, Bastin and Aouate said, “We are delighted to bring to life a book that has moved readers and built a devoted global following over the past two decades. This thrilling novel offers a rare combination of rich character work and shocking revelations that only Palahniuk can deliver, and in Jennifer Yale’s talented hands we are confident this will be an engaging, cinematic experience that will be sure to grab attention and make headlines.” […]

NBC to Offer Streaming Service, Reboots Some of Your Favorite Shows

Christina Ortega

It seems like the cool thing for networks and companies to do right now is have their own streaming service and NBC is jumping on the bandwagon: NBC has announced that April 2020 will be the launch of their own streaming service, Peacock. As with any other streaming service, Peacock will offer a mix of entertainment: there will be new shows, access to old favorites, and my least favorite thing: reboots. Which once beloved shows will be rebooted in an effort to cash in on the older generation’s taste for nostalgia? Saved by the Bell Fans of the original series will remember that the four season show took place at Bayside High in California and followed a group of six unlikely friends by high school standards: the prep, the jock, the nerd, the fashionista, the prom queen, and the brains. (Die hard fans will remember when the show only had […]

Diego Boneta’s EL GATO NEGRO Moves Forward At Apple TV+, Robert Rodriguez Directing

Lee B. Golden III

It wasn’t that long ago that a fan film began stirring about to help bring cult comic book favorite, El Gato Negro, to the mainstream. The beloved crimefighting luchadore, created by Richard Dominguez, is gaining a lot more traction these days having gotten attention from TV producers for a hopeful series. That vision, since circling upcoming Terminator: Dark Fate actor Diego Boneta, is taking on some new life now at Apple TV+ with Robert Rodriguez set to direct and exec produce for MGM Television. Boneta, who will also exec produce via his Three Amigos banner, will debut the character for the first time since Dominguez birthed the comic franchise in 1993. That incarnation explored the trevails of a legendary Mexican wrestler who also applied his skills to thwart crime while Dominguez’s 2004 focused on a Texas social worker’s search for vengeance under his grandfather’s nom de guerre. I’ve yet to […]

DARK ARMY: Universal Taps Paul Feig To Direct Driven Thriller Tied To Studio’s Classic Monsters Legacy

Lee B. Golden III

I’m still pining for a Spy sequel, but director Paul Feig apparently has other plans, and with none other than Universal Pictures for a new project called Dark Army. Feig will direct from his own script – based on an from an original idea, and will produce from his Feigco banner with Laura Fischer at Universal. Plot details are scant though word from Deadline‘s Mike Fleming Jr. states the film will have a connective tissue to the studios’s Classic Monsters legacy, much like Upgrade helmer Leigh Whannell’s upcoming The Invisible Man. Universal’s ambitious attempt at a Dark Universe fell flat with Tom Cruise’s 2017 starrer, The Mummy. Plans for a cinematic universe pretty much came to a full stop as the studio regrouped to try and find a more viable way to approach its classic monsters line-up. By January with Whannell’s hire came the studio’s formal efforts to bring, according […]

SHADOW FORCE: Brown/Washington ‘Mr. And Mrs. Smith’-Style Action Thriller Courted By Lionsgate

Lee B. Golden III

Lionsgate has acquired the rights to the forthcoming production of espionage action drama, Shadow Force. Deadline‘s Mike Fleming Jr. broke news on the bidding process last month and follows up with his latest update on final talks with the studio. Billed as a fresh take on the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie 2005 spectacle, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Shadow Force is set to star Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us, Hotel Artemis, upcoming The Rhythm Section) and actress Kerry Washington (TV series Scandal, upcoming American Son and miniseries Little Fires Everywhere). Brown will also produce with Danielle Reardon under their Indian Meadows banner with Washington producing via Simpson Street alongside Pilar Savone, and Made With Love Media’s Stephen “Dr” Love.

UNHINGED: Russell Crowe Road Rage Thriller Hits In August 2020

Lee B. Golden III

Academy Award winner Russell Crowe and actress Caren Pistorius are set to lead director Derrick Borte’s new psychological thriller, Unhinged. Carl Ellsworth and Lisa Ellzey serve as producers with a date now set for August 28, 2020 by Solstice Studios’ newly-installed Head of U.S. Distribution, Shari Hardison, who takes her seat on September 23. Unhinged takes an ordinary, everyday incident to its most terrifying conclusion in telling the story of Rachel (Pistorius), a mother who leans on her horn at the wrong time, to the wrong guy (Crowe). Road rage doesn’t begin to describe what he’s about to do to her and everyone she knows. Solstice initially launched last October to produce low-to-median budgeted films with global appeal – primarily in the action, thriller and action-comedy genres for wide release next to its other acquisition endeavors. Split Second was the first title to be announced for its priority list while […]

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DARK SHADOWS: Classic ABC Horror Series Gets A Sequel

Christina Ortega

Gothic horror fans will soon get to travel back to Collinsport, Maine to continue the story of the Collins family. Warner Bros. Television made a deal with the CW to develop an hour-long gothic horror drama called Dark Shadows: Reincarnation, based on the 1966 cult classic soap opera Dark Shadows. According to a Deadline exclusive, the show will be a modern-day continuation of the Collins family story: “For the past 400 years, they’ve lived under a curse that bedevils their blue blood with every imaginable supernatural creature and horror. The intention here is to harken back to the original…” Mark B. Perry will be writing the pilot. For those who don’t recognize the name, Perry has worked on shows like Ghost Whisperer and Party of Five. Perry, a huge fan of the original show, has been trying to get the rights for two years: “As a first-generation fan, it’s been […]

Nicolas Cage and John Travolta in FACE/OFF (1997)

Paramount Will FACE/OFF Once Again With Oren Uziel Penning The Reboot

Lee B. Golden III

If the last several years of an internet obsessed with Nicolas Cage and John Travolta memes weren’t enough, get a load of this from Deadline: A reboot of the 1997 hit action spectacle, Face/Off is in the works at Paramount Pictures. John Woo directed the original, casting the two aforememtioned actors for stoic LAPD detective Sean Archer, whose desperate undercover mission to save the city from a terrorist finds him swapping faces in a top-secret medical procedure with his sworn, now comatose archenemy, Castor Troy. The procedure is a success. However, before Archer can complete his mission, Troy awakens from his coma, undergoes the procedure to wear Archer’s face and eliminates anything and anyone knowledgeable of Archer’s status. With time running out and his family in danger, Archer has no choice but to make one daring move after another to claim his family back before it’s too late. A bit […]

SNAKE EYES: Iko Uwais Is In Talks To Join The G.I. Joe Spin-Off

Lee B. Golden III

The Hollywood Reporter‘s Borys Kit reports Iko Uwais is being tapped to play the Hard Master in the Paramount/Skydance/All-Spark G.I.Joe off-shoot centered on franchise favorite Snake Eyes. G.I. Joe lore describes the Hard Master as the tough-as-nails Arasghikage clan martial arts master who trained and crafted the talents of his ninja disciples, Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes. His murder would drive the rift between both blood brothers, diverging them toward their factions with Storm Shadow joining Cobra Commander’s army, and Snake Eyes with the titular Joes. Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) will lead the movie as Snake Eyes opposite Andrew Koji (Cinemax series, Warrior) as Storm Shadow. Robert Schwentke (Red) is directing from a script by Evan Spiliotopolous (Beauty And The Beast). Uwais’ progression into global stardom has been long and hard-earned from his heyday as a prospective freshman martial arts star in Gareth Evans’ Merantau and The Raid 1 […]