Marvel’s THE ETERNALS Adds Ma Dong-seok

Ma Dong-seok

Avengers: Endgame is now within touching distance, and that means that we can expect to soon start getting new information on several upcoming MCU movies. With that in mind, then, we now have word on a new addition for the impending Eternals offering.

Courtesy of The Wrap, Train to Busan’s Ma Dong-seok has signed on for the picture in a mystery role. This will mark Ma’s American film debut, and the actor joins a cast that’s currently made up Angelina Jolie and Kumail Nanjiani.

At this stage, details are still sketchy on The Eternals, with – much like so many impending MCU movies – more concrete information expected to be revealed once the landscape-altering Avengers: Endgame hits the big screen next week.

Created by the iconic Jack Kirby back in 1976, the Eternals comic book title was based around a race of age-old humans created by the alien Celestials with the plan being for these humans to serve as Earth’s protectors against the nefarious Deviants. The big-screen Eternals will reportedly be based around the Sersi character who is an energy-manipulating being who is pretty much immortal, with that being the role that Angeline Jolie will be taking on.

With Chloe Zhao on directing duties, expect more on The Eternals as it continues to develop.

Pablo Schreiber is HALO’s Master Chief

Halo Pablo Schreiber Master Chief

It seems like Showtime’s Halo series has been in development for an age now – in reality, it’s barely been a year – but finally the show has found its Master Chief.

Via Deadline, Pablo Schreiber has been brought in to play the headlining act of this adaptation of the famed Xbox video game franchise. Schreiber is most likely best known to genre fans for the likes of American Gods and Orange is the New Black.

Currently just titled Halo, an order has been put in for a ten-episode first season to be based around the monumental gaming property. Awake’s Kyle Killen is on board as writer, showrunner, and executive producer, while Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ Rupert Wyatt has signed on to direct several episodes and also executive produce.

The official word on the TV take on Halo reads:

Reinventing how people think about video games, Halo has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon. The franchise has sold more than 77 million copies worldwide and has grossed more than $5 billion in sales.

In the Showtime adaptation, Halo will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001, dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. Halo will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure, and a richly imagined vision of the future.

As ever, expect more on all things Halo as we get it.

John Cena in Talks for SUICIDE SQUAD Sequel

John Cena

As James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad continues to flesh out its core cast, now comes word on another potential addition for the sequel-cum-reboot.

Courtesy of Variety, John Cena is said to be in talks to join the Task Force X effort in an unknown role. Multiple-time WWE Champion Cena has begun to make roads into the acting world over the past several years, and he most recently impressed in this year’s all-kinds-of-fun Bumblebee. Even more recently than that, of course, Cena returned to his Doctor of Thuganomics roots to lay a beating on Elias at this month’s WrestleMania 35.

Where The Suicide Squad – and yes, the sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad is titled The Suicide Squad – is concerned, we know that Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Will Smith’s Deadshot won’t be returning for the picture. The rest of the primary cast of Suicide Squad are expected to return to action, although the only confirmed cast members at this stage are Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang.

In terms of new additions, King Shark, Ratcatcher, Polka-Dot Man and Peacemaker are joining the action in The Suicide Squad and Idris Elba has a to-be-revealed role in the follow-up.

To be written and directed by James Gunn, The Suicide Squad is set for an August 2021 release. After production wraps on the sequel, Gunn will then turn his attention to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Travis Knight to Direct THE SIX BILLION DOLLAR MAN

The Six Million Dollar Man

With a Six Billion Dollar Man movie having long been in development, now comes word on a major step forward for the project.

Courtesy of Variety, Warner Bros. has brought in Travis Knight to take on directing duties for the effort. Genre fans will be well aware of Knight thanks to him having helmed fantastic genre efforts such as Kubo and the Two Strings and this year’s Bumblebee.

This is a feature, of course, that has been in some stage of development as far back as 2014. Back then, we saw Mark Wahlberg sign on to headline the picture as Steve Austin.

Not to be confused with the beer-drinking, finger-waving, stunner-giving wrestler, The Six Million Dollar Man’s Steve Austin is a former astronaut who ends up badly injured after a plane crash. Saved by doctors, Austin is fitted with bionic legs, a bionic right arm and a bionic eye. With these new bionic-based skills, he winds up working as an agent for the Office of Scientific Intelligence.

It was way back in 1973 that Lee Majors headlined the much-loved Six Million Dollar Man TV series as Austin; that show running for five seasons and eventually getting a spin-off in the form of The Bionic Woman. When the big-screen new take on this old favourite reared its head in 2014, however, there was the realisation that $1 million wasn’t quite as gigantic a figure as it was back in the ‘70s. Hence why this new feature is titled The Six Billion Dollar Man.

To elaborate on just why this film has been spinning its wheels for five years now, that is down to several key factors. The ever-familiar “creative differences” is certainly one element, but an even bigger factor was the collapse of The Weinstein Company, who had initial rights on the property. Since then, Warner Bros. swooped in to pick up those rights and have had Bill DuBuque penning a new screenplay for the movie.

As ever, expect more on The Six Billion Dollar Man as we get it.

Stephen King’s SLEEPING BEAUTIES to Awaken on AMC

king

AMC has announced a deal with Stephen King and his son Owen to bring their 2017 bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties to the small screen. Owen King is set to write the script and aims to create an open-ended TV show so that if there is a great reception to the pilot they can continue to produce the show.

The story of the novel takes place in the near future in a small town in the Eastern Regions of America, Appalachia. It, of course, contains the usual King flair of thrills and scares but ultimately covers a timely symbolic story about what would happen if men were left alone in the world whilst women sleep. The titular ‘Sleeping Beauties’ are the women of Appalachia who, when they go to sleep, become cloaked in a cocoon. If the cocoon is broken, the women become feral.

Executive producers, Sugar23’s Michael Sugar and Ashley Zalta recently spoke to deadline.com and stated: “Owen and Stephen King found the perfect canvas to tell a haunting and gripping story that sparks a relevant conversation about gender equality and individuality. We couldn’t be more excited about this collaboration with the Kings and with AMC, who have so often boldly redefined genres.”

Stephen King was also quoted in voicing his pleasure at working with Sugar23 and AMC on the project claiming that “I’m tremendously excited to see Sleeping Beauties brought to life in a format the will allow the story to be told as it was meant to be told, in all its mystery and drama.”

More information on Sleeping Beauties TV adaptation as it develops.

Alden Ehrenreich to Headline New BRAVE NEW WORLD Adaptation

Alden Ehrenreich

Having starred as the younger Han in last year’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, now comes word on Alden Ehrenreich headlining another famed sci-fi effort.

Courtesy of Deadline, Ehrenreich will star as John Savage in the long-gestating Brave New World series. Previously, USA Network was to be the home from this small-screen adaptation, although now it looks as if Brave New World may end up being one of the main shows on NBCUniversal’s upcoming streaming service that’s on the way next year.

From Aldous Huxley, Brave New World is a major favourite of so many genre fans – not least the guys ‘n’ girls behind our Brave New Words podcast – and has already been adapted back in 1980 and 1998. In those previous adaptations, Kristoffer Tabori and Tim Guinee, respectively, played the role of Savage.

Whether it ends up at USA Network, NBCUniversal’s streaming service or A.N. Other network or service, what we do know is that the brilliant Grant Morrison is on writing duties along with David Wiener and Brian Taylor for Brave New World. Wiener will also act as showrunner on the 2020 series.

WESTWORLD Brings in Lena Waithe

Lena Waithe

With a third season of HBO’s stunning Westworld on the way next year, now comes word on a new addition for the jaw-dropping series.

As first reported by Deadline, Lena Waithe has signed on in a role that’s believed to be tied to a critical plot point of the show’s third year. Waithe is likely best known to genre fans for Ready Player One and This Is Us.

This is the second major new addition for Season 3 of Westworld, with Breaking Bad’s Emmy-winning Aaron Paul having previously been confirmed to be joining the series.

Plot details remain thin on the ground for Westworld’s third season, although we know that Season 3 won’t be arriving until some point in 2020.

FX’s Y: THE LAST MAN Series Cancelled?

Y: The Last Man

With a Y: The Last Man pilot having been recently put together ahead of hopefully being taken to a full series order, now comes an update on the show.

Depending on what you believe, the small-screen take on Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra’s beloved Y: The Last Man – seemingly just titled Y – has either been cancelled completely or is undergoing some major creative changes.

Firstly, Bleeding Cool reported that FX had decided to scrap Y entirely, with showrunners Michael Green and Aida Croal taking to social media to confirm their exits from the project. After that, The Hollywood Reporter followed this up with word that Green and Croal had indeed left Y due to creative differences, but that FX is now on the hunt for new showrunners to lead the project forward.

That Hollywood Reporter story added that Y will move forward with the same cast that filmed the pilot episode. On board for that pilot were Barry Keoghan, Diane Lane, Amber Tamblyn, Imogen Poots, Juliana Canfield, Lashana Lynch and Marin Ireland.

The early blurb on the show reads:

All of the men are dead. But one. Based on the DC comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, Y traverses a world of women – exploring gender, race, class and survival.

For those not familiar with Y: The Last Man, the 60-issue comic book series ran from 2002 to 2008 and focussed on Yorick Brown, the titular “last man”. When the world suffers a tragic event that kills off every creature with a Y chromosome, Yorick only has his monkey, Ampersand, for company until he finds himself teaming up with a government operative to make sense of what’s happened and why he’s somehow managed to stay alive.

Previously, several attempts have been made to get an adaptation of the property off the ground, most notably with ultimately-doomed live-action movies in 2007 and 2013.

As ever, expect more on the future of Y as we get it.

A Sequel to THE NUN is Happening

The Nun

With plentiful plates spinning in the Conjuring Universe, now comes word on another upcoming new entry for the sinister shared realm franchise.

Courtesy of Deadline, we now know that a sequel to Corin Hardy’s The Nun is now in development and will be penned by Akela Cooper. Cooper is likely best known for her writing credits on genre efforts such as Luke Cage, American Horror Story and Grimm.

On this Nun follow-up, producer Peter Safran told EW, “We have a really fun storyline for that teed up, so I think that’s the next one that will be written.”

To date, last year’s The Nun is the highest grossing movie in the Conjuring franchise. So far, the greater Conjuring Universe has seen five features make it to the silver screen – The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Conjuring 2, Annabelle: Creation and The Nun – and this shared world doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon.

We say that because Michael Chaves’ April 19th release The Curse of La Llorona is indeed a part of the Conjuring Universe, with that to be followed this July by Annabelle Comes Home and then September 2020’s The Conjuring 3. In addition to those pictures, there’s still also plans for The Crooked Man to follow at some point down the line.

It’s not known what spooky terrors Valak has in mind this time out or whether director Corin Hardy will be returning to helm the feature, but expect more on this Peter Safran and James Wan-produced Nun sequel as it continues to develop.

Michelle Yeoh Joins the AVATAR Franchise

Michelle Yeoh

Having recently impressed many in Star Trek: Discovery, genre fave Michelle Yeoh has now joined the Avatar franchise.

Courtesy of the official Avatar Twitter page and a press release, Yeoh will be playing Dr Karina Mogue in the franchise.

In addition to her turn as Philippa Georgiou and her mirror universe counterpart in Discovery, Yeoh is also known for the likes of Supercop, Crazy Rich Asians and Master Z: IP Man Legacy.

By joining James Cameron’s four in-development Avatar sequels, Yeoh joins the returning Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao and fellow new additions Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Brendan Cowell and Oona Chaplin.

In terms of plot specifics, very little is known about these upcoming Avatar outings right now. What we do know, however, is that Avatar 2 is set for December 2020, Avatar 3 for December 2021, Avatar 4 for December 2024 and Avatar 5 for December 2025.

To date, James Cameron’s first Avatar is still the highest-grossing movie in history; nabbing a whopping $2.7 billion at the global box office.