• Hot on the heels of scoring his long-awaited star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, celebrated character actor James Hong’s newest film, kung fu comedy Gimme My Money, will be shopping at Cannes for Taiwan/L.A.-based Organic Media Group. Hong is joined by Marci Miller and Raymond J. Barry, with a script by director Bill Vigil “about a tough, mysterious woman who calls on the mob to collect and makes sure that this time, crime is going to pay.” (Variety)
• AMC’s Shudder and RLJE Films are partnering on Destroy All Neighbors. Directed by Josh Forbes and starring Jonah Ray Rodrigues (Mystery Science Theater 3000) and Alex Winter (Bill and Ted franchise), 2023-dated film is written by Mike Benner, Jared Logan, and Charles Pieper, and centers on a struggling prog-rock musician William Brown (Rodrigues) who finds himself in a living nightmare when he accidentally kills Vlad (Winter), the neighbor from hell. Casting is underway and production is set to commence this July. (Deadline)
• Richard Linklater (Boyhood) will direct and co-write Hitman starring Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) and Adria Arjona (Morbius), about “a Houston cop who’s been working undercover as the most in-demand hitman in Houston, until one day he breaks protocol in order to help a desperate woman trying to escape an abusive boyfriend.” The film takes its cues from a 2001 Texas Monthly article about a real-life hitman, and will shop for buyers at Cannes under AGC International, whose parent company AGC Studios is financing the pic for its October start. CAA Media Finance and Cinetic will co-represent domestic rights. (Variety)
• Cold Pursuit star and director duo Liam Neeson and filmmaker Hans Petter Moland will reunite for Thug, about “an ageing San Pedro gangster (Neeson) who attempts to reconnect with his children and rectify the mistakes in his past, but the criminal underworld won’t loosen their grip willingly.” The film is written by Tony Gayton and shoots in October, and hails from Sculptor Media and Electromagnetic Productions, with Mossbank and CAA handling sales at the upcoming Marche du Film. (Deadline)