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.

TOMB RAIDER Sequel in Development

Alicia Vikander Tomb Raider

With Lara Croft having returned to the big screen last year, now comes word that the Tomb Raider will be returning to the silver screen once again.

Courtesy of Deadline, Warner Bros. is developing a sequel to 2018’s Alicia Vikander-starring movie; Vikander being on board to reprise the Lara Croft role. But while Vikander will be back, screenwriters Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Alastair Siddons will not be returning for the follow-up. Instead, High Rise’s Amy Jump has been tasked with penning the film.

Elsewhere, there’s no word on whether or not Tomb Raider director Roar Uthaug will be returning to helm the sequel.

As ever, expect more on this Tomb Raider sequel as it continues to develop.

Alan Tudyk Returning to Voice K-2SO in CASSIAN ANDOR

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

With several new Star Wars projects currently in development, we now have an update on Disney+’s Cassian Andor series.

It’s been known that the series will see Diego Luna reprise his Rogue One of Andor, and the show will serve as a prequel of sorts to the first Star Wars Story offering. Now, as revealed during the Disney Investor Day 2019 presentation, Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed that Alan Tudyk will be returning for the series. In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, you’ll remember that genre fave Tudyk provided the voice for K-2SO, and that will again be the case in Cassian Andor.

Elsewhere, StarWars.com has revealed that The Americans’ Stephen Schiff will be serving as showrunner and executive producer on this hotly anticipated now show. Production on Cassian Andor will begin later this year, although the series itself isn’t going to premiere until 2021.

In an official statement, Cassian Andor was described as a “rousing spy thriller [that will] explore tales filled with espionage and daring missions to restore hope to a galaxy in the grip of a ruthless Empire.”

Cassian Andor will join Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian on Disney+, with Favreau’s Pedro Pascal-headlined series to premiere this November.

Iain Glen is TITANS’ Batman

Titans Iain Glen Batman

Holy casting news, Batman!

With Titans recently adding Deathstroke and his offspring to its upcoming second season, we now have word that a major genre favourite will be turning up as the Caped Crusader.

Courtesy of Deadline, Iain Glen has signed on to play Bruce Wayne when Titans returns for its second year. Glen is likely best known to genre fans as Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones, not to mention having a recurring role in the Resident Evil franchise.

For those who have already checked out the impressive debut season of Titans, you’ll be aware that Batman does indeed make an appearance in the season finale. Played by Kickboxer: Vengeance’s Alain Moussi there, we saw a murderous Dark Knight snap and finally start killing off some of his longtime foes. It ultimately comes down to Dick Grayson to track down his former mentor and put him out of his misery. In true comic book fashion, mind, the World’s Greatest Detective’s rampage would all merely be part of a hallucination.

As alluded to, Glen will join fellow new additions in the shape of Esai Morales as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke, Chella Man as Joseph Wilson/Jericho, Chelsea T. Zhang as Rose Wilson/Ravager and Joshua Orpin as Superboy.

Adding these new characters to the mix of a show that has already laid some fantastic foundations with its first season? Well, that could lead to some truly special TV.

Season 2 of Titans is expected to premiere towards the end of the year.

BLACK WIDOW Brings in O-T Fagbenle

O-T- Fagbenle

As the long-demanded solo movie for Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow continues to amass its core cast, now comes word on another new addition for the feature.

Courtesy of Deadline, O-T Fagbenle has landed a to-be-revealed leading role in Black Widow. Best known for The Handmaid’s Tale and appearing in Doctor Who, Fagbenle joins a cast that currently includes Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Rachel Weisz.

Details and characters for Black Widow are being kept hush-hush at this stage, although it’s believed that the film will be a prequel of sorts that takes place before Johansson’s Natasha made her MCU debut in Iron Man 2.

To be directed by Cate Shortland, Black Widow has yet to be given an official release date just yet, although it’s expected that the picture will nab a May 2020 or November 2020 release.

Much like several other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe outings, it’s expected that more concrete information will be revealed once the landscape-changing Avengers: Endgame hits cinemas later this month.

THE MEG Duo to Pen Paramount’s MIGHTY MOUSE Movie

Mighty Mouse

From giant carnage-causing shark, to pint-sized miniature hero. That’s the path to be taken by Jon and Erich Hoeber.

Courtesy of Deadline, the screenwriters behind The Meg have been signed up to pen Paramount’s Mighty Mouse movie. Said picture has been floating around in development hell since as far back as 2004, and now the studio is seemingly moving forward once more with an offering that’s being positioned as a mixture of live-action and animation.

The character of Mighty Mouse has been around since way back in 1942, created by Paul Terry as a parody of sorts of a certain Man of Steel. As such, the teeny, tiny hero was gifted super strength, flight and X-ray vision as part of his superpowers. In the decades since, audiences have seen Mighty Mouse given a whole host of animated adventures, and now we’ll seemingly have one more cinematic outing for the little scamp.

As ever, expect more on Paramount’s Mighty Mouse as it continues to develop.

Three New Marvel-Driven Disney+ Projects in Development

Hawkeye

The upcoming Disney+ streaming service is shaping up rather nicely, with a slew of exclusive Marvel-driven shows already announced for the service. And now, we have word on three more Marvel offerings.

Courtesy of Variety, Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton is to be thrust into the spotlight in his own miniseries. With Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow now confirmed to be getting her own movie, Renner’s Hawkeye was the only original Avenger to not have his own feature film. While that is still the case, he’ll now at least be getting to take centre-stage in a miniseries that’s said to be six to eight episodes.

Renner is indeed reprising his role for the series – which is seemingly just titled Hawkeye – and the focus of the action will be on Clint passing the torch to his protégé. Yes, as in Kate Bishop. Comic book fans will know that name as the person to take on the Hawkeye mantle after Barton died. Well, we say died, but he totally died in the true sense of comic books; as in he was soon alive and well and became Kate’s mentor. Right now, the search is on for a creative team to handle Hawkeye.

Elsewhere, there are two more factual, documentary-esque series being developed for Disney+. As first reported by Nerdist, Jiro Dreams of Sushi’s David Gelb, Amanda Knox’s Brian McGinn and Five Came Back’s Jason Sterman have signed two-year deals to develop nonfiction offerings for the on-demand service. First up, the trio and their Supper Club banner are working on a show called Marvel 616. While the title is a nod to the mainstream Marvel universe, the series itself will look at “the intersection between Marvel’s rich legacy of stories, characters and creators and the world outside your window.” Expect plentiful talking heads as Marvel 616 looks at the ever-expanding impact of the Marvel world felt in everyday life.

Thirdly, Vital Thrills broke the news that one other upcoming project is Marvel’s Hero Project. Details on the team behind that series has yet to be released just yet, but the attention here will be on the humanity involved in being a hero as the spotlight is put on kids who have worked to make a positive change in their own communities.

All three of these shows will, of course, be joining Loki, Vision and Scarlet Witch, Falcon and Winter Soldier and supposedly a solo miniseries for Lady Sif on Disney+.

POLTERGEIST Getting Remade Again?

Poltergeist

Wait, what?! Yes, it looks as if another Poltergeist remake could be on the way.

Courtesy of Deadline, it’s being reported that MGM has come to a working agreement with Anthony and Joe Russo’s AGBO Films. The Russos, of course, have had a ridiculous few years in which they’ve directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and this month’s landscape-changing Avengers: Endgame.

Where does Poltergeist fit in all of this, you ask? Well, the deal between MGM and AGBO has largely been made so that AGBO can delve into the library of MGM classics. While a Michael B. Jordan-headlined new take on The Thomas Crown Affair is believed to be the first movie of this working relationship, the initial Deadline report cited a new Poltergeist remake as a priority project for the brothers Russo.

You’ll likely be well, well aware that Tobe Hooper’s 1982 Poltergeist has already had the remake treatment; Gil Kenan serving up a so-so redo back in 2015. That Sam Rockwell-led remake was met with a largely negative response from fans and critics alike, whereas the ’82 offering is still viewed as an all-time favourite of many a genre fan.

Expect more on all of this if and when this reported second Poltergeist remake continues to develop.