News Briefs: Gadot Boards HEART OF STONE; THE TOXIC AVENGER Casting; Statham Circles SMALL DARK LOOK; Pettyfer For PHANTOM OF BELGRADE
Gal Gadot (upcomimg Red Notice) is readying Heart Of Stone, billed as an original spy endeavor in the vein of the 007 and Mission Impossible franchise. Currently in the works at Skydance Media, Greg Rucka (The Old Guard) and Oscar-nominated Allison Schroeder (Hidden Figures) are penning the script with film will be produced by Skydance Media’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger producing along with Gadot and her Pilot Wave producing partner Jaron Varsano, Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn. Gadot will bow this Christmas Day in select theaters and IMAX, and for HBO Max’s first 4K outing for Wonder Woman 1984.
Nearly two years after Legendary acquired the rights to Troma IP, The Toxic Avenger, the studio has since moved forward, casting Peter Dinklage (Game Of Thrones), according to Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr.. Blue Ruin and Green Room actor Macon Blair, who made his directing debut on 2017’s I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore, is tapped to helm the relaunch, centered on a struggling everyman who is pushed into a vat of toxic waste and transformed into a mutant freak, turning him from shunned outcast to underdog hero as he races to save his son, his friends and his community from the forces of corruption and greed. Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz are producing.
Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro notes that a deal is presently in the works to hopefully land Jason Statham for Small Dark Look from Land Of Mine director Martin Zandvliet, a project that Borys Kit at THR describes as a follow-up to David Cronenberg’s gritty 2007 London crime pic, Eastern Promises. Alessandro’s report elucidates the story will center around the Russian Mafia in London. The project is being produced by Paul Webster from a script by Steven Knight, in reunion with his Redemption (a.k.a. Hummingbird) star Statham. The actor’s latest pic, Wrath Of Man from director Guy Ritchie whose next project with Statham, temp-titled Five Eyes, just landed actress Aubrey Plaza.
Actor Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four, Stormbreaker, Echo Boomers) is tackling both sides of the lens for Phantom Of Belgrade, an action thriller based on a true story when in 1979, “a citizen of Belgrade stole a white Porsche and for ten straight evenings drove around the city forcing the police on a wild goose chase in the early hours” while fans cheered the act on as a political statement against the government just as ex-Yugoslav president Josip Tito took an official trip to Cuba. The film will also star Oliver Masucci (The Girlfriend Experience) from a script by David Matillo. Dark Dreams’ Pettyfer will produce with James Ireland and MiLu Entertainment’s Andre L III for camera roll in Serbia in May 2021.
Sources: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter
Native New Yorker. Lover of all things pizza, chocolate, pets, and good friends. Karaoke hero. Left of center. Survivor. Fond supporter of cult, obscure and independent cinema - especially fond of Asian movies and global action cinema. Author of the bi-weekly Hit List. Founder and editor of Film Combat Syndicate. Still, very much, only human.
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