These days we’re seeing more and more announcements coming on late Friday night or over the weekend. In an effort to keep up with such news items, I’m firing up this catch-all column. This site runs on a (very) small staff, but we strive to bring you every sizable (or at least interesting) bit o’ news that comes down the pipe and this should help to keep such things from slipping through the cracks. Today’s inaugural entry brings us new film and television developments involving, among other things, Will Smith, The Exorcist, the Coen Brothers, John Carpenter, and…naturally…comic book movies!
is reporting that Will Smith has been cast as the lead in The Gemini Man. A long-in-development science fiction action project, the Skydance-produced film is now set up at Paramount, with Ang Lee sitting in the director’s chair. Smith will be playing both the protagonist and the antagonist, as the plots sees an aging spy on the run and being hunted by a younger clone of himself. Digital de-aging technology, used with increasing regularity these days, will allow Smith to play both parts. The project is currently set for an October 4th, 2019 release.
Moving into the realm of television, Fox recently cast a major role for the upcoming second season of “The Exorcist“. The TV series, which is actually a sequel to the film franchise, sees leads Ben Daniels, Alfonso Herrera, and Kurt Egyiawan returning to tackle a new demonic threat looming over our world. This time our trio of priests is drawn to an island off the coast of Seattle that contains a group home for troubled foster children. This home is run by a former child psychologist named Andrew Kim. Actor John Cho has been cast in the role. Given how great the first season was, I can’t wait to see what the showrunners give Cho to chew on here. “The Exorcist” returns this fall.
The Coen Brothers are in the midst of pre-production on their latest venture, the western event series “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs“. Annapurna Television is producing the project, which does not yet have a network or cable home, but has finally begun casting. According to The Tracking Board, the likes of Tim Blake Nelson, James Franco, Tyne Daily, Stephen Root, Zoe Kazan, and Ralph Ineson have all been cast in prominent roles, with more casting to follow in the coming weeks. Be sure to check out the link above for more detailed information on their characters. The series will consist of six episodes, with each of the initial ones focusing on different groups of characters and culminating in the combination of the separate stories. Shooting is expected to begin this month, with production lasting through late September.
FX has the upcoming series adaptation of Black Hawk Down writer Mark Bowden‘s latest book, “Hue 1968“. The Tet Offensive-centric novel will be adapted as a “kaleidoscopic” event series by Michael Mann, who will direct a large portion of the 8-10 hour miniseries. Producer Michael De Luca is also on board the project, with production expected to begin in Asia later this year.
Continuing in the television realm, legendary genre filmmaker John Carpenter and producing partner Sandy King have linked a deal to produce new TV content for Universal Cable Productions. The overall deal encompasses all of Universal’s television subsidiaries, from NBC to Syfy to their streaming outlets. The first two shows on deck are both earmarked for Syfy. One will be an adaptation of Simon R. Green‘s popular novel series “Nightside“, with Jill Blotevogel (“Scream”) on board to pen the pilot. The other is based on Carpenter’s own comic, “Tales for a Halloween Night“, which will now be adapted into a horror anthology series.
Finally, BBC One is readying a miniseries adaptation of Agatha Christie‘s 1958 novel, “Ordeal by Innocence“. This is the latest in what has become an annual adaptation of Christie’s work, following recent contemporary renditions of “And Then There Were None” and “Witness for the Prosecution“. “Ordeal” will be directed by Sandra Goldbacher, from a teleplay by Sara Phelps. An all-star cast of Catherine Keener, Bill Nighy, Matthew Goode, Eleanor Tomlinson, Ed Westwick, Luke Treadaway, Morven Christie, Anthony Boyle, Ell Purnell, Crystal Clarke, and Alice Eve has been assembled for the miniseries, which is expected to arrive later this year.
And now we return to the realm of cinema with some SUPERHERO NEWS…
“Fresh Off the Boat” actor Randall Park has been cast as SHIELD agent Jimmy Woo in Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and The Wasp. Fans have long wondered why Woo hadn’t been utilized on ABC’s “Agents of SHIELD” series, but it seems that Marvel had bigger plans for renowned Chinese-American super spy! Park joins returning actors Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, T.I. Harris, and David Dastmalchian in the upcoming sequel, which also recently cast actress Hannah John-Kamen in an as-yet-undisclosed role. Ant-Man and The Wasp will be the 20th Marvel Cinematic Universe feature and is expected to arrive in theaters on July 6th, 2018.
Samuel L. Jackson has been as part of the cast of Marvel‘s first 2019 release, Captain Marvel. Jackson will reunite with his Kong: Skull Island and Unicorn Store co-star Brie Larson in what will be the 21st installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Jackson will reprise his long-running role of Nick Fury, with Larson taking on the titular role of Captain Marvel (aka Carol Danvers). Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck will co-direct the picture, which will arrive in theaters on March 8th, 2019.
And there you have it! A nice long digest comprised of everything we managed to miss over the past week! Be sure to keep an eye out next Monday for another edition!
