Netflix’s GOOD MORNING, MIDNIGHT Brings in George Clooney

Good Morning, Midnight

With George Clooney’s Catch-22 having now premiered, we have word on another new project for the one-time Batman.

Via Variety, Clooney has signed on for Netflix’s adaptation of Lily Brooks-Dalton’s Good Morning, Midnight. Much like Catch-22, Clooney will be on acting and directing duties.

For those not familiar with the 2017 sci-fi novel, the official blurb on Good Morning, Midnight reads:

The post-apocalyptic tale follows the parallel stories of Augustine, a lonely scientist in the Arctic, and an astronaut on board the Aether spacecraft, which is trying to return home to Earth, as Augustine races to make contact with the spaceship.

Clooney will be playing Augustine in the Netflix movie adaptation, with The Revenant’s Mark L. Smith penning the project.

Expect more on Good Morning, Midnight as it continues to develop.

A New SWAMP THING Movie is a Possibility

Swamp Thing

Despite DC Universe cancelling Swamp Thing after just one episode had aired, it looks as if this iconic character may get to continue his antics on the big screen.

This is all far from being set in stone, but We Got This Covered and Bloody Disgusting are reporting that Warner Bros. is looking at the possibility of developing a Swamp Thing movie. This is down to the positive reaction to Swamp Thing and the noise generated over the show being axed.

Sadly, these reports state that, if such a film does happen, the cast of the TV series would be replaced by an all-new cast. However, Swamp Thing producer James Wan would still be involved in some capacity in what would be an out-and-out horror picture.

Where Swamp Thing’s cancellation is concerned, the main reasons for the series being canned seem to be creative differences and an issue with tax in the North Carolina locale that the show was shot in.

As a character, Swamp Thing began life back in 1971 and has appeared in a whole host of different mediums over the decades. Wes Craven would helm 1982’s Swamp Thing movie, with a sequel following in 1989. On the small screen, a three-season USA Network show ran during the early ‘90s, and there was similarly a far-too-short-lived animated series during those years.

Like we mentioned, a new Swamp Thing movie is far from official right now. But at least it’s good to hear that something may at some point happened.

Expect more on all of this as and when we get it.

Sony Still Planning a BLACK CAT Movie

Black Cat

It seems that a Black Cat movie has been in some loose form of development for years now, and now we have word that Sony is again making plans for Felicia Hardy to get her own movie.

Producer Amy Pascal confirmed the news in an interview with Screen Rant. As Pascal put it, “I like Black Cat a lot, I think she is a really great character. We had her a little bit in the Amazing [Spider-Man 2] movie, but she’s kind of that character that we didn’t really turn into the Black Cat yet.

When asked whether there were still plans for Black Cat and Silver Sable to be brought to big-screen life, Pascal added, “We’re still working on that. I think we have plans for that.”

Previously, there were plans for a Silver & Black team-up picture that would focus on Silver Sable and Black Cat. Since then, those plans were seemingly scrapped in favour of giving both characters their own solo outings.

All of this, of course, was to be a part of Sony’s shared cinematic realm that began with Venom and will next continue with the Jared Leto-headlined Morbius, the Living Vampire. In addition to films for Black Cat and Silver Sable, there are also plans to give movies to Nightwatch, Kraven the Hunter, Silk, Jackpot, and the Sinister Six. Bar Morbius, mind, none of these pictures have been given anything remotely close to an official release date.

Focussing on Black Cat, Felicia Hardy is a character who debuted in 1979 and is essentially Marvel’s spin on Catwoman. A cat burglar who can bring bad luck to people, this villain-cum-antihero has also been romantically involved with Peter Parker at times over the years. As alluded to by Amy Pascal, Felicia was previously brought to live-action life by Felicity Jones in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

The last we heard on Sony’s solo Black Cat movie, Gina Prince-Blythewood is serving as a producer on the project. Prince-Blythewood was original tasked with directing Silver & Black before that film was scrapped.

As ever, expect more on all of Sony’s upcoming Marvel movies as they continue to develop.

Taika Waititi Developing Animated FLASH GORDON Movie

Right now, Taika Waititi is one of the hottest names in genre filmmaking. And if directing a live-action take on Akira wasn’t enough for the hugely talented New Zealander’s upcoming slate, it’s now been revealed that he’ll also be tackling Flash Gordon.

Courtesy of Deadline, Waititi is overseeing an animated Flash Gordon movie for Disney and Fox. There are no further details whatsoever at this stage, and it remains to be seen whether he’ll ultimately end up directing the picture or if Waititi will simply be on board to put together the loose story of the film.

Since debuting as a comic book strip back in 1934, Flash Gordon is a character who has been featured in film serials, radio, novels, cartoons, games, the iconic 1980’s movie, and a whole host more. However, this Waititi-driven animated offering will be the first time that an animated Gordon film has made it to the silver screen.

As ever, expect more on this animated Flash offering as we get it.

James Marsden in Talks for CBS’ Take on THE STAND

James Marsden

With CBS’s take on The Stand being just one of plentiful Stephen King adaptations currently in development, now comes an update on who’s in talks to star in the series.

Via Collider, X-Men and Westworld star James Marsden is in talks to headline as Stu Redman, the first person discovered to be immune to the god-awful virus that had decimated the landscape of the tale.

Elsewhere, The Ward and Aquaman’s Amber is being lined up to play Nadine Cross, a teacher with a skewed sense of destiny that sees her wanting to be at the side of the story’s nefarious Randall Flagg.

Other names said to be in various stage of negotiations for a role in The Stand are Ghost’s Whoopi Goldberg, Little Miss Sunshine’s Greg Kinnear, Assassination Nation’s Odessa Young and The New Mutants’ Henry Zaga.

The Fault in Our Stars’ Josh Boone and SEAL Team’s Ben Cavell are on writing duties for the ten-episode take on King’s 1978 novel.

The Stand, of course, was previously given the TV treatment back in 1994. Then, Mick Garris helmed a miniseries that clocked in at just over the six-hour mark in total, with names such as Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe, Miguel Ferrer, and Ossie Davis starring.

For those not familiar with The Stand, the loose plot centres on a decimated post-apocalyptic world in which a deadly plague has wiped out a huge chunk of the population. Two rival groups form, with the vastly differing views of the leaders of these groups putting both sides on a collision course as good battles evil.

Expect more on The Stand as it continues to develop.

Jeffrey Combs Amongst New CREEPSHOW Additions

Jeffrey Combs

Hot on the heels of David Arquette, Tricia Helfer and Dana Gould joining Shudder’s upcoming Creepshow series, now comes an update on several other genre favourites joining the series.

It’s been officially announced that Re-Animator’s Jeffrey Combs, X-Men’s Bruce Davison, Supernatural’s DJ Qualls and Emmy-winning Outkast duo Kid Cudi and Big Boi.

These new additions join a show that already has the likes of Adrienne Barbeau, Tobin Bell, Giancarlo Esposito, Paul Dini, Joe Hill and Tom Savini involved in some capacity, with the iconic Savini directing an episode based on Hill’s By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain.

Developed by the ever-brilliant Greg Nicotero, Creepshow is due to land on Shudder later this year. Each episode of this anthology series will be handled by a different director and tell its own individual story – much like the EC Comics-influenced 1982 Creepshow movie from George A. Romero.

As ever, expect more on Creepshow’s return as we get it.

THE CRAFT Remake Conjures Up Cailee Spaeny

Cailee Spaeny

Earlier this year, we heard how Sony Pictures was at work on remaking 1996’s The Craft. And now, we have confirmation of the first cast member to sign up for the redo.

Originally reported by Variety, Cailee Spaeny will be playing one of the four witches at the centre of the tale. Spaeny is likely best known to genre fans for the likes of Pacific Rim: Uprising, Bad Times at the El Royale and Vice.

If you remember, a new Craft movie has been being talked about for several years now, with Honeymoon’s Leigh Janiak working on a sequel three years ago. Janiak has long since left the project, and Sony has tasked Lola Versus’ Zoe Lister-Jones with writing and directing this new take on an old favourte.

For those not familiar with the original ’96 movie, the Andrew Fleming-helmed effort centred on Robin Tunney as she makes friends with a trio of young witches played by Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True.

As ever, expect more on this Craft remake as we get it.

Marvel’s BLACK WIDOW Adds Ray Winstone

Ray Winstone

As Marvel Studios’ Black Widow movie continues to flesh out its core cast, the film has now added Ray Winstone to its ranks.

Courtesy of Deadline, the Sexy Beast star has landed a mystery role in the picture. Winstone will be joining Scarlett Johansson, Fighting with My Family’s Florence Pugh, The Handmaid’s Tale’s O-T Fagbenle, Stranger Things’ David Harbour and The Mummy’s Rachel Weisz on the movie.

In terms of what we know about Black Widow, the offering will reportedly be a prequel affair detailing Nat’s time being trained as ruthless killer for the KGB. Obviously before she then broke free of the KGB and became an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. when we saw her make her MCU debut in Iron Man 2.

Lore’s Cate Shortland is on directing duties from a script by Jac Schaeffer, with Black Widow yet to be given an official release date at this stage.

Jill Soloway to Write and Direct RED SONJA

Jill Soloway

With a new Red Sonja movie having been in development for a good few years now over at Millennium Films, the picture has finally found a new director.

If you remember, previously Bryan Singer was attached to handle the film before he was dropped from Red Sonja this past March. And now, The Hollywood Reporter has word that Emmy winner Jill Soloway will be writing and directing Red Sonja. Soloway is likely best known for the likes of Transparent, United States of Tara and Six Feet Under.

As a character, Red Sonja began life back in 1973 as a creation of Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas, and Barry Windsor for Marvel Comics. A truly badass warrior who is at the absolute peak of human conditioning, Sonja quickly became a major favourite of many. To this day, the comics are still published, albeit through Dynamite Entertainment nowadays.

Elsewhere, Sonja was previously given the silver screen treatment when Brigitte Nielsen starred in 1985’s Red Sonja. In addition to Rose McGowan once being up to play the character in more recent times, Amber Heard was another who was being lined up to tackle a new incarnation of Sonja once McGowan had to drop out of the running due to an arm injury. On the small screen, the character – as played by Angelica Bridges – made an appearance in the Conan TV series of the late ‘90s, with former WWE grappler Sable positioned to headline a Sonja series in 1999 before that also fell apart. Bryan Singer has since flirted with the idea of a TV effort at several points, but that similarly seems to have gone nowhere up until now.

Expect more on Red Sonja as it continues to develop.

KINGSMAN Prequel to be Titled THE KING’S MAN

The King's Man

While it was previously known as Kingsman: The Great Game or simply “that Kingsman prequel”, Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming new Kingsman movie has been given a swanky new title.

As confirmed by the film’s official Twitter account, 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney Studios have settled on The King’s Man:

 

Not just a title, but we’ve also been given an official synopsis for this prequel offering:

A collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in The King’s Man, directed by Matthew Vaughn, coming to theaters February 2020.

The King’s Man is rumoured to be set during World War I, although that setting has yet to be confirmed as of yet. What we do know, however, is what names are signed on for the prequel.

Whilst the likes of Taron Egerton and Colin Firth obviously won’t be a part of The King’s Man do to it being a prequel, some of the names currently set to be involved in the movie are The Beach Rats’ Harry Dickinson, Captain America: Civil War’s Daniel Bruhl, Twin Towns’ Rhys Ifans, Quantum of Solace’s Gemma Arterton, Game of Thrones’ Charles Dance, Watchmen’s Matthew Goode, Kick-Ass’ Aaron Taylor-Johnson and In Bruges’ Ralph Fiennes.

Expect more on The King’s Man as we get it.