In-Development

REMINISCENCE: ‘Westworld’ Showrunner Sets Action Sci-Fi Directing Debut For Late 2019 Start

It was back in January ahead of EFM that Hugh Jackman and actress Rebecca Ferguson (The Greatest Showman) were circled for roles in the forthcoming action sci-fi, Reminiscence. It was reportedly a hot package among buyers and thus, developments this week bring word that Warner Bros. has acquired global rights to the project with principal photography commencing around late October in New Orleans and Miami. Mike Fleming Jr. who has extensively covered the film’s development at Deadline since January, states that the film aims to share that similar layered, complex tone and vision that Lisa Joy has become known for in applying her craft to the hit HBO series, Westworld, on which she serves as writer and showrunner with Kilter Films’ Jonathan Nolan. Both will produce Reminiscence which will also mark Joy’s solo directing debut from her script. Reminiscence follows one man’s journey to find the woman he loves after […]

MAFIA X: ‘Den Of Thieves’ Director To Tackle War Between Organized Crime And Global Terrorism For Thunder Road, Pioneer

Lee B. Golden III

While we wait for developments on a Den Of Thieves sequel, Deadline has it on good terms that it’s director, Christian Gudegast, will leave another mark on his film credentials with Mafia X. This one is based on his own pitch and is being described as “high concept action thriller inspired by the true stories of organized crime groups banding together to fight terrorism.” Gudegast is best known for screenwriting A Man Apart and London Has Fallen, and for rolling out from the top of 2018 with upwards of $80 million dollars for his directing debut on Den Of Thieves for STX Entertainment. He will direct from a script he will also co-pen with JP Davis (upcoming Naja) after just closing a deal with Thunder Road Pictures and Pioneer Pictures. Basil Iwanyk, Robert Kravis, and Karl Herrmann are producing.

Warner Bros. Advances EDGE OF TOMORROW Sequel With New Writer

Lee B. Golden III

On Friday, Mike Fleming Jr. over at Deadline confirmed interest at Warner Bros. in a sequel to the 2014 hit sci-fi, Edge Of Tomorrow (a.k.a. Live. Die. Repeat for its home release). The film featured Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt in the story of an untrained public relations officer swept into a timeloop forcing him to re-live his death as he trains to survive amid an alien invasion. Based on Sakurazaka Hiroshi’s “All You Need Is Kill” manga, the film grossed $370.5 million dollars for the studio along with co-fi partner Village Roadshow. Talk of a sequel had since been stirring even through the press rounds for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation among others, while Deadline has it on good terms that a pitch by Matthew Robinson (The Invention Of Lying) is breathing new life into sequel prospects. Robinson will write the sequel following a draft by Joe Shrapnel and […]

Warner Bros. CEO Confirms Interest In Rebooting THE MATRIX

Lee B. Golden III

A new LA Times interview with Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara is putting The Matrix franchise back in the spotlight. The Wachowskis’ – Lana and Lily (then Larry and Andy at the time of the films’ popularity), directed the trilogy from 1999 through 2003, spawning the franchise from a multitude of mediums and influences drawing from religion, philosophy, pop culture, anime sci-fi and kung fu. Tsujihara gave the franchise a mention amid answering questions on what other franchises he would like to see rebooted – this, after a lengthy discussion on life at at Warner Bros. following AT&T’s purchase of TimeWarner Inc. (now branded WarnerMedia) for $85.4 billion dollars last year, and adapting to the evolving atmosphere in the world of entertainment. “We have incredible franchises on the features side such as ‘The Matrix.’”, he said. “We’d love to work with George Miller on furthering the ‘Mad Max’ franchise. We […]

BLACK BETTY: Writer/Director Nicholas Ortiz To Expand Short For Independent Webseries/Feature Film

Lee B. Golden III

Independent filmmaker Nicholas Ortiz has begun pre-production this week on Black Betty, a female-fronted action thriller webseries now in production via his NYC-based Deviant Children Productions banner. The project will be spun from his original Spring 2018 proof pilot which snagged three awards in two categories at the sixth Urban Action Showcase Film Festival. “Nick is on his bullshit!” jokes dancer/choreographer and actress Krystal Pizarro who led the narrative in the title role, earing Best Actor in the Angels Of Action category at the UASE. “There’s a reason why his company is called Deviant Children Productions – that man always has something up his sleeve and he knows what the hell he’s doing.” In the proof pilot, Betty is a black leather-clad vigilante heading through a gauntlet of henchmen as she fights her way from captivity out of a nightclub. The webseries, which will be tethered as a workable feature […]

Action Thriller, FAST, Circles ‘Warrior’, ‘The Accountant’ Director

Lee B. Golden III

Gavin O’Connor’s 2016 action drama, The Accountant, was a homerun in 2016 which grew into sequel development the following summer. As of late, O’Connor and actor Ben Affleck are well on the way with sports drama, Torrance, hopefully this year while sequel business on the former remain pending with updates. In the meantime, Variety‘s own Justin Kroll has it on good terms that the director of the hit 2011 MMA drama, Warrior, is in negotiations to sit in and direct Fast at Warner Bros. According to Kroll, the film would have followed-up Sicario 1 and 2 scribe Taylor Sheridan’s credentials as director after Vile (2011), the hit neo-Western murder mystery, Wind River (2017), and Paramount Network series, Yellowstone. Sheridan penned the script and actor Chris Pratt was attached a few weeks ago, but a deal with Sheridan couldn’t be finalized which now also leaves casting in limbo. Fast centers on […]

Erik Matti Says YO!, Check This Out!

Lee B. Golden III

Celebrated BuyBust and On The Job director Erik Matti’s recent departure from upcoming superhero pic, Darna, hasn’t discouraged him from aspiring toward shepherding family adventure projects – particularly ones with stylish, visionary action. The latest indicator of this is now available with Yo!, a proof-of-concept trailer that easily likens itself to titles like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World which carries almost that exact same visual, energetic vibe. Matti is unveiling the proof this weekend as one of several projects he and the gang at Reality Entertainment have under way – this, in association with Mothership Inc. Front and center is Tae Kwon Do wunderkind Pauline Lopez who Matti now eyes as the hopeful lead of this project, and he credits her among a number of highlights elucidated in his testimony on Saturday posted accordingly on his Facebook page. There’s no start date just yet, but long story short…a female-fronted martial […]

Dark Stallone Superhero Pic, SAMARITAN, Lands At MGM

Lee B. Golden III

Well on the way with his final bow as the title role in Rambo: Last Blood, actor Sylvester Stallone of Creed and Creed II fame can now be seen active with what’s being described as a “dark, fresh take on the superhero genre” according to Amanda N’Duka at Deadline. The film? Samaritan, now home at MGM following a bidding war that closed this week. News of the film broke back in October last year with Stallone set to star. The film sits among a raft of forthcoming productions from Stallone’s Balboa banner. Stallone is developing Samaritan along with Braden Afternoon and MGM. Bragi F. Schut, who penned the upcoming Inversion starring Samuel L. Jackson, wrote Samaritan and will exec produce.

EC Comics, Hivemind Signal TV/Film Collab For WEIRD FANTASY Series And William Gaines Biopic

Lee B. Golden III

EC Comics is partnering with Hivemind for a new film and T.V. venture as of last of week, now eyeing Weird Fantasy to be the first of the roster. Based on the seminal 1950 comic series, William M. Gaines Agent, Inc., the proprietors of EC Comics will be joining Hivemind to grow a series aimed at tackling the kind of shocking and subversive sci-fi/fantasy lore and social concious issues that made a name for company over the years. “The EC library is a timeless literary achievement that deserves to stand alongside the works of Stephen King, Philip K. Dick, and H.P. Lovecraft,” said producer and Hivemind Co-President Dinesh Shamdasani. “WEIRD FANTASY is a truly historic property that shattered many barriers, and our goal is to make the television series just as fearless and forward-thinking as the stories that inspired it.” Through EC Comics, Gaines’s influence helped shape the zeitgeist of […]

Marc Webb To Tackle YOUR NAME For Paramount

Lee B. Golden III

There’s already a bit of brouhaha about this update, but word has it from Deadline on Thursday that Marc Webb (500 Days Of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man films) will be behind directing duties for a live-action adaptation of Shinkai Makoto’s star-crossed romantic fantasy adventure Your Name. I haven’t seen the original anime from 2016 (I want to and actually hope to soon as possible), but I’m keen on the kind of harrowing love story that Webb may be able to achieve here with a plot that centers on two distant high schoolers who are drawn closer while mysteriously switching bodies ahead of a disastrous event. Screenwriter Eric Heiserrer (Arrival) is penning Webb’s vision that centers instead on a young Native American woman living in a rural area, and a young man from Chicago. Instantly, grievances behind Americanizing a beloved Japanese property that’s gotten rave reviews take center stage, which is […]

MGM TV’s EL GATO NEGRO: NOCTURNAL WARRIOR Picks Up Steam With Diego Boneta Attached To Star

Lee B. Golden III

2019 is turning out to be quite the coming out party for Latinx superheroes so far between the release of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, and the forthcoming May 3 theatrical release of Ben Hernandez Bray’s feature debut, El Chicano. Going forward, we now turn our attention to the small screen as we’re learning from Deadline that MGM Television is officially in the works to develop a live-action series adaptation of Azteca Productions comic series, El Gato Negro: Nocturnal Warrior. The comic franchise launched in 1993 from the mind of creator and author Richard Dominguez whose 2004 evolution of the series centers on Francisco Guerrero, a Texas social worker who one day takes on his grandfather’s nom de guerre to avenge a friend’s death. As Erik Pedersen reports, actor Diego Boneta (The Titan, Luis Miguel: La Serie, Rock of Ages) is attached to star in the series and will exec produce […]

THE DEER AND THE CAULDRON: Pang Ho-Chung To Adapt Classic Jin Yong Novel Series

Lee B. Golden III

Love trilogy director Pang Ho-Cheung is boarding an adaptation of the late Jin Yong’s novel series, The Deer And The Cauldron. Bravos Pictures is repping internationally at EFM in Berlin, signaling as Pang’s first period production set in the Qing Dynasty. Pang’s Making Film Productions will produce and roll cameras for the first installment this summer with a story whose lead character profile reads as Wei Xiaobao, “a charming and mischievous hero rather than a wu xia martial arts champion”. The first installment is set for release in 2021. (Variety)

KILL THEM ALL: Paramount Sets ‘Sherlock Holmes 3’, ‘Puncture Wounds’ Scribe To Pen Script

Lee B. Golden III

Paramount Pictures is now on a mission with the development of graphic novel adaptation, Kill Them All. The Kickstarter-backed novel was published in 2017 by Oni Press and is now on the desk of screenwriter James Coyne to adapt for the big screen per an exclusive from The Hollywood Reporter. Here is how Oni describes it: A betrayed murderess wants revenge. A hard drinking former cop wants his job back. For either to get what they want, they’re going to have to fight their way through fifteen flights of criminals, assassins, drug lords, murderers, yup, even accountants, and… KILL. THEM. ALL. Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec are producing the film with Elizabeth Raposo and Jon Gonda overseeing for Paramount. Applebaum and Nemec are also producing Michael B. Jordan headliner, Without Remorse, for Sicario: Day Of The Soldado director Stefano Sollima.

GREENLAND: ‘Angel Has Fallen’ Star And Director To Reteam For Diaster Pic

Lee B. Golden III

Last weekend saw big news out of Berlin with actor Gerard Butler set to star in upcoming disaster pic, Greenland. STXinternational is repping the film intermatonally for buyers in Berlin and releasing in the UK. Production in Toronto is currently slated for May with the actor set to reteam with director Ric Roman Waugh, both whom are currently in talks. Greenland hails from Thunder Road and Anton, with Butler leading the tale about one family’s fight for survival in the face of a cataclysmic natural disaster. Producing the film is Thunder Road’s Films Basil Iwanyk (A Star is Born, Sicario, John Wick) who developed the project with Butler and Alan Siegel via their G-BASE banner. Anton is fully financing with Anton’s Sébastien Raybaud and Harold van Lier exec producing. CAA Media Finance reportedly arranged the film’s financing and will rep the film’s domestic rights alongside Anton. Butler and Waugh’s Angel […]

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Kitamura’s Marine Action Thriller, DOORMAN, Casts Ruby Rose To Star

Lee B. Golden III

Do I still want a Versus 2? Yes. Am I deluded at this point? Probably. Still, director Kitamura Ryuhei is someone I’ve been long proud of since stumbling upon his films back in college in 2001, and it gives me great pleasure to see reported at Deadline that his latest, Doorman, has installed actress Ruby Rose. Rose will play Ali Gorski, a decorated Marine officer, homeward bound and looking for an opportunity to heal from battlefield trauma. Her newfound refuge as a doorman at The Carrington, a historic, labyrinth apartment in New York City, is short-lived with the arrival of deadly mercenaries bent on retrieving precious art hidden in the walls of the building. Doorman is penned by Lior Chefetz, Joe Swanson and Harry Winer, and with story by Greg Williams and Matt McAllester. DDI is at EFM in Berlin this week with Doorman included in its slate, now two […]

THE HEART Beats For Sierra/Affinity At EFM, Casts Rockwell, Spencer And Janney

Lee B. Golden III

Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (The Descendants, Fox Seachlight’s upcoming Downhill) are set to reunite with fellow Academy Award-winners Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney (The Way Way Back) for new movie, The Heart, which rolls cameras at the end of the year. The two actors will be joined by Academy award-winning Octavia Spencer (The Shape Of Water, Hidden Figures), from an original script by Faxon and Nash. THE HEART tells the story of Joe (Rockwell) and Lucy (Spencer) who, while desperate for cash, take the job of delivering a human heart from New York to Florida in 24 hours. When they realize that their delivery is destined for a black-market buyer who illegally skipped the donor list, they attempt to reroute it to its rightful recipient, but they are soon hunted down by multiple insane criminals — including the greedy millionaire buyer, his scorned brother, and Lucy’s own drug-dealing ex-boss […]

Greg Russo Confirms MORTAL KOMBAT Script In Development, Confirms Character Addition (For Now)

Lee B. Golden III

Yes, I’m a little triggered. But in a good way. Thanks in large part to the tenacious Mortal Kombat fans on Twitter, screenwriter Greg Russo breathed new life in the long-awaited reboot of the classic gory tournamemt fighting game, confirming that fighting character Kabal would be in it. (You can read Russo’s reply to the fan account by opening the tweet). Who’s getting excited? I know I am. #MK #MortalKombat pic.twitter.com/aGTAtuW1Ar — Greg Russo (@WriterRusso) February 4, 2019 As game lore has it, Kabal, a former member of Kano’s Black Dragon outfit, was introduced in part three of the then-Midway-owned franchise, and was once partner to NYPD Special Riot Control officer Kurtis Stryker. Prior to surviving on a respirator with a mask to hide his horrific disformed face, Kabal was ambushed during Earth’s invasion, rendering him disfigured and near death. He’s since been imbued with powers of his own due […]

DEAD OR ALIVE: Gracie Legacy Centers New BJJ Origin MMA Period Drama At Netflix

Lee B. Golden III

Who says MMA movies are out of fashion? Netflix is staking its claim with Dead Or Alive, described by THR/Heat Vision‘s Borys Kit as a period drama, an origin story, and “a no holds-barred MMA showdown!”. José Padilha (O Mecanismo, Elite Squad, Robocop, Netflix series Narcos) is set to direct from Peter Maguire’s script and will also produce with Greg Silverman and his Stampede banner. According to the report, Dead Or Alive sets its story stretching from 19th century Japan to present day North America, chronicling the life and times of Maeda Mitsuyo and Rickson Gracie, two men from vastly different worlds who spread their influence through the evolution of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Kit highlights in his report that Maeda was a martial arts ambassador whi arriving in Brazil via a circus in 1914 during his travels to the Americas to showcase the fighting art. After meeting Carlos Gracie (uncle to […]

HOT WHEELS Is Revving Up Once Again At Warner Bros.

Lee B. Golden III

And to think it was just three years ago that Legendary was grooming Justin Lin to helm a Hot Wheels movie thirteen years after its development started at Columbia Pictures and then Warner Bros. A lot happens in so few years when it comes to these projects and thus, project is back at Warner Bros. with Mattel, Inc. now making their case to the iconic and timeless toy racing car franchise to its first ever live-action feature film release. Hot Wheels is just one of two Mattel IPs they’re spotting next to its recently-announced Barbie feature-film starring and to be co-produced by Academy Award-nominated actress Margot Robbie. Ynon Kreiz, Mattel’s Chairman and CEO said: “We are excited to bring the thrill of a Hot Wheels live-action feature film to the big screen in partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures. Mattel Films has great momentum as it continues to execute on our […]

QUARTERMASS: British Sci-Fi Hero Adaptation In The Works For Legendary

Lee B. Golden III

Screenwriter David Farr is officially leading the charge for Quartermass, a feature film adaptation based on iconic British sci-fi hero “Bernard Quatermass”. Legendary Entertainment is backing the film in partnership with Hammer Films whose Simon Oakes is producing. Made popular by the successful BBC 1950s series, and a trio of films from Hammer Film Productions from the mid-50s to the mid-60s, the Quatermass character is often pointed out as a precursor to “Dr. Who.” Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional rocket scientist originally created by writer Nigel Kneale who, as a pioneering force of the British space program, encounters terrifying extra-terrestrial lifeforms and must draw from science to save humanity. Heralded as Britain’s first television hero alongside Sherlock Holmes, Quatermass’ monumental influence spanned films, television serials, radio programs and print media over a fifty-year period. Hammer Film Productions’ Quartermass And The Pit is perhaps the best-known iteration of the character; […]