This week’s Ketchup brings you more headlines from the world of film development news, covering titles such as sonic the hedgehog 3, Kung Fu Panda 4live action Pac manand David Leitch The fell guy.
TOP STORY OF THE WEEK
THE FUTURE OF TOM CRUISE INCLUDES MUSIC AND THE GROSSMANS
(Photo by ©DreamWorks)
by Tom Cruise Top Gun: Maverick (96% Ferrsh certified) has now soared over $1.3 billion worldwide, even though the star recently filmed Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 (07/14/2023), and is currently filming the eighth film in this franchise, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 2 (28/06/2024). These last two films are directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who is also working with Cruise on three other projects, which McQuarrie also writes. Tom Cruise will likely dance in two of them, as one is a “song and dance” musical with Cruise in the lead, and another is a solo Les Grossman spinoff. Cruise created his sleazy Les Grossman studio persona in 2008 Thunder in the tropics (Certified 82% Fresh), in which he also showed off his dance moves in a bold costume. The third upcoming collaboration between McQuarrie and Cruise is described as an action movie with the potential to branch out into its own franchise. Also looming in Cruise’s future is the untitled project he will film in outer space, in collaboration with NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. None of these four movies have a release date, but they’re all likely for 2025 or later.
Other great titles
1. DC COMICS UPDATES: BLACK CANARY, blue ladybug ONGOING
(Photo by DC)
Following Warner Bros. Discovery setting aside the $90 million already filmed bat girl movie, many fans have wondered about the fate of several other DC Comics adaptations. The answer is that it is “confusingand varies from film to film. In one category, there are filmed projects like black adam, Shazam! Fury of the godsand Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (not so fast, the flash), which is still scheduled to open in theaters. The only new DC Comics image recently lit is Joker: Madness for two (04/10/2024) with Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga and the recently announced Zazie Beetz from the first movie. Development of many DC Comics projects like Zatanna, Static shockand Ta-Nehisi Coates Superman reboot have slowed down. Two projects that should make further progress are the Latino-focused blue beetle (2023-08-18) and a solo spin-off for Jurnee Smollett’s black canary character of Birds of prey (Certified Fresh at 79%). There may also be other unannounced film projects as part of the larger 10-year plan for DC Comics films (such as the sequel to The Batman).
2. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 RUN YOUR WAY IN 2024
(Photo by ©Paramount Pictures)
SEGA video game character sonic the hedgehog (63% Fresh) has come a long way since its digital design in the first trailer was so mocked by fans that it was totally redesigned (to be closer to video games). This was followed by sonic the hedgehog 2 (Fresh 69%), which was one of the first box office hits of 2022. Paramount Pictures is apparently sticking to a two-year plan, as sonic the hedgehog 3 is now should hit theaters as of December 20, 2024. It’s unclear which cast will return for the third movie (especially since Jim Carrey talked about to retire from acting).
3. PAC-MAN TO ENCLOSURE HIS PATH IN LIVE ACTION
(Photo by Aaron Ontiveroz/Getty Images)
The success of films like Pokemon: Detective Pikachu and sonic the hedgehog continues to inspire a new wave of video game adaptations. The latest project announced is a live-action adaptation of the wildly popular 1980s arcade hit Namco, Pac man. It’s not clear exactly what a live action is Pac man the movie would look like whether it was a human actor going through a maze or a CGI hybrid (which is probably more likely).
4. EMILY BLUNT JOINED RYAN GOSLING IN DAVID LEITCH’S THE GUY WHO DROPS
(Photo by Vera Anderson/Getty Images)
When 2022 moviegoers think of Ryan Gosling in a “fun retro adaptation,” they’re probably thinking of this image of Gosling as Ken in the next year. Barbie (21/07/2023). There is, however, another such project that people may not yet be aware of, namely The fell guy, based on the 1980s stunt television show starring Lee Majors. The female lead in the TV show was Heather Thomas, and now we know who’s taking her place, because Emily Blunt joined the project. The fell guy will be led by David Leitchwhose previous films include Atomic Blonde (Certified Fresh at 79%), Deadpool 2 (84% Certified Fresh), and this week High-speed train (54% rotten).
5. STEPHEN KING’S NOVEL REGULATORS TO ADAPT TO THE BIG SCREEN
(Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
As an author, The prolific bibliography of Stephen King is nearly matched by the number of movies and TV shows that have been adapted from his works. Stephen King’s Last Novel to start film development is his 1996 book Regulators. In the novel, life in a quiet suburban neighborhood is disrupted when four vans full of “regulators” armed with shotguns show up and start shooting at people. It’s way too early in development for there to be any casting news for Regulators.
6. MICHELLE YEOH AMONG STAR STUDDED SETS IN NETFLIX ELECTRICAL STATUS
(Photo by Araya Doheny/Getty Images)
Earlier this year, it was announced that the Russo brothers (Avengers: Endgame, The gray man) will direct Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Evans in a futuristic sci-fi film for Netflix titled electrical condition. This project has gone from two fan favorites to a legit set of stars like its cast now includes Michelle Yeoh, Jason Alexander, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate and Stanley Tucci. Millie Bobby Brown will play the role of an orphan teenager who goes on an adventure in the American West with a robot and a mysterious wanderer.
7. TREY PARKER AND MATT STONE REVEAL THE SECRET PLANS BEHIND ABSOLUTE JUSTICE
(Picture by https://www.youtube.com/c/SassyJustice)
At the end of 2020, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of South Parkreleased a series of parody videos called sassy justice who used “deepfake” technology on celebrities like Donald Trump, Michael Caine and Mark Zuckerberg. At the time, these shorts looked like a side project demonstrating the dangers of deepfake technology, but they revealed this week that the videos were from something else. As it turns out, sassy justice was actually part of a feature film Stone and Parker were producing at the start of 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic slowed everything down. The project relied on “timely” humor (likely the 2020 presidential election), which is why the film was scrapped.
8. KUNG FU PANDA 4 OFFICIALLY SCHEDULED FOR 2024
(Photo by ©DreamWorks Animation)
Late Friday afternoon, the news that Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation have set a release date of 2024 for a fourth payment in the kung fu panda animated film franchise, which also spawned three television series and several short films. Jack Black stars in the series as the voice of Po, a clumsy panda who becomes an unlikely martial arts master and unites with a team of skilled warriors to fight evil. Although previous episodes have included the voices of stars like Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen and David Cross, everything we know about Kung Fu Panda 4 so far is its release date, so its cast (minus Black, who will likely return to reprise his role as Po), crew, and backstory are still a mystery.
