Paramount and Hasbro have tapped Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 & 2, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol) to assemble what THR‘s Borys Kit is reporting as an “ensemble piece” in the G.I. Joe screen saga.
Ice Cube is reportedly negotiating to star opposite actor Dave Bautista in D.J. Caruso’s upcoming adaptation of Jay Bonansinga’s 1997 novel, Killer’s Game. The project, according to Mike Fleming Jr. at Deadline, marks the latest development following 20 years of languishing between hands of studios and directors who’ve passed it up, including Jason Statham.
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.
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.
They say “…if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, invariably, in the case of Tom Cruise and Chris McQuarrie, it appears they’re not fixing shit after totaling near $1.5 billion dollars between the last two Mission: Impossible films.
Trade news sources are confirming a September 18, 2020 release date for Tom Clancy novel adaptation, Without Remorse. The news arrived on Monday on the same day the film’s lead actor Michael B. Jordan, landed a lucrative first-look TV deal with Amazon Studios.
Chris Pratt is at the center of Hollywood’s attention with any hopes of another Guardians movie clamped down accordingly after the circus this past summer. After news of circling a new Taylor Sheridan pic, Paramount Pictures now wants him for The Saint.
(Left) Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images North America; (Right) Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images North AmericaBorys Kit at The Hollywood Reporter has the latest on Antoine Fuqua‘s potential involvement in Paramount’s new thriller, Infinite. The celebrated director of Training Day and the latest two big screen revivals of classic TV drama, The Equalizer, is in talks to helm with Lorenzo di Bonaventura set to produce with Mark Vahradian.
Paramount is reportedly developing a sequel to Ridley Scott’s acclaimed sword-and-shield arena epic, Gladiator. As Deadline notes, Scott, currently directing his first TV series in South Africa for TNT, is eyeing a directing role for the film which Universal may possibly co-finance.
Paramount
Screenwriter Andrew Dodge (Bad Words) has reportedly been hired to pen the script for a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles induction for Paramount. As Borys Kit notes over at The Hollywood Reporter, the move comes in the wake of Jim Gianopulos’s arrival as chairman and CEO prior to his recent-stated commitment to reviving the studio’s franchise potency.
Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller will produce the reboot via Platinum Dunes, taking cues once more from the cult classic 1984 comic IP created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, telling of four turtles accidentally mutated into full-grown ninjas of legend, trained under the tutelage of wise mutant rat, Master Splinter. Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath Of The Titans) and Dave Green (Earth To Echo) respectively helmed the 2014 and 2016 CGI hybrids that saw Megan Fox join a quartet of mo-cap performers and select voice actors to shepherd the characters on the big screen.
Both measured low with critics with the 2016 sequel faring less at the box office than the first. I myself haven’t seen the sequel but mainly appreciated the mindless popcorn fun of Liebesman’s film and I can really only wonder what the treatment and tone will look and feel like for the next if it’s a reboot, per se.
What do you think? Let us know if you’d like to see Ninja Turtles back on screen in the comments below or on our Facebook or Twitter pages.
Borys Kit over at The Hollywood Reporter has an exclusive update officially announcing James Avery and J.J. Abrams for what’s been described as none other than a subversive take on the superhero genre. The Heavy is the name and sounds like an original, inviting concept on which Abrams will produce with Avery at the helm.
News of the film comes following last week’s festive appeal to attendees during Paramount’s panel at CinemaCon in Vegas for the Son Of A Gun director’s latest period WWII horror sci-fi, Overlord. That film, penned by Billy Ray and Mark L. Smith and telling of American paratroopers on D-Day who discover Nazis’ hidden experiments with the undead, opens on October 26.
It’s been an undoubtedly busy week at CinemaCon with an amazing slate of surprises and announcents rolling out. The past 24 hours or so have especially been bustling over news confirmed for at least two Star Trek films following Justin Lin’s Star Trek: Beyond in 2016.
Lin’s own induction reportedly underperformed at the box office, reasonably leaving to question whether or not a new film would happen at all. It didn’t really take long for that conversation to get going, really, even before the film was released with talk of Chris Hemsworth reprising as Geroge Kirk, father of franchise star Chris Pines’ character, James Kirk.
Fast forward to now and long after talk of Quentin Tarantino’s own R-rated Star Trek film forthcoming, Vatiety’s own Justin Kroll has the exclusive on what would be the fourth film in line with S.J. Clarkson (Dexter, Bates Motel, Orange Is The New Black, Jessica Jones) circling as the first woman in Star Trek history to potentially direct a film.
The Hemsworth/time travel twist is still in tow for the pending storyline with a screenplay from J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. J.J. Abrams who catapulted a 2009 reboot to sequel success in 2013 at the helm for both before producing Beyond, will produce once more with Lindsey Weber at Bad Robot with Skydance’s David Ellison and Dana Goldberg executive producing.
I wondered what actor Bradley Cooper might be up to these days apart from his upcoming fall release, A Star Is Born. Deadline then came out with an exclusive last week that I found interesting as it pertains to his latest attachment to a longstanding spy character immortalized in the work of now late author Don Hamilton with title character, Matt Helm.
Before Hamilton’s death in 2006, Hamilton’s 27-novel franchise took off from 1960 through 1993 designating Helm on a series of missions after serving as a U.S. special agent and government assassin with an interest in a quiet family life in Santa Fe cut short by his imminent return to the field. The film has seen its legacy shared with other media, most prolifically with four feature films starring Dean Martin.
The Voyage Of Doctor Doolittle scribe Tom Shepherd, repped by WME, Think Tank Management and Jackoway Tyerman, is set to adapt a screenplay based on Hamilton’s work for Paramount Pictures. George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci will executive produce in addition to Steven Spielberg’s own involvement.
I’m never informed enough about Indian cinema to give an expert opinion. What I can tell you is that the ones I have seen have all been a fascinating and striking experience in some capacity, most recently S.S. Rajamouli’s two-part sword epic, Bahubali, which all but signals the continued reptutation of just how insanely big Indian films can get. Especially period pieces.
Moving forward, I suspect Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ninth film to date, Padmavati, will be no different in leaving a similar impression with actress Deepika Padukone (Hollywood breakout co-star of xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage) starring in the title role. The film takes its cues from a 14th century poem which tells of an ancient Mewar ruler, and his wife, a legendary Rajput queen who commits self-immolation in defense of her own honor in the wake of a Warlord’s attacks and invasions motivated only by his lust for her.
The production itself has endured quite its fair share of backlash from right-wing political groups trying to sabotage the film. Gladly this hasn’t stopped its progress and its not hindering the film’s day-and-date rollout on December 1 in India with Paramount Pictures handling distribution worldwide.
via Screendaily:
“I am very proud to announce that Paramount Pictures will lead the international release of our epic filmPadmavati,” Ajit Andhare, COO at Viacom18 Motion Pictures, said. “This is a first ever such collaboration with Paramount Pictures releasing a Viacom18 Hindi feature across international markets. We are breaking new ground with Padmavati and its marketing and release strategy.”
Paramount president of worldwide distribution and marketing Megan Colligan said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Viacom18 Motion Pictures on this exciting new release. Padmavati has all the makings of a hit film and we are excited to bring Sanjay’s incredible vision to audiences across the international market place.”
The official trailer has been out for several weeks now and with over 40 million views as of this post and footage clicking in over three minutes, I totally get the excitement. Check it out for yourself below.
Obviously something like this will hit a sour note for anyone who’s paid attention to the dialogue on the treatment of Asian IPs and films like Ghost In The Shell and Death Note are all recent examples of this. The choice to do an adaptation of this nature does bring some interest, however, and so one can only hope that the film will acquire all the right ingredients needed to make it work. I still need to see Shinkai’s film and I’ll be sure to do that before long.
Cameras reportedly start rolling this Fall with previous reports citing locations slated for the U.S. and U.K., as well as Ireland, Spain and Switzerland. (Deadline)
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