Tag: Baby Driver

Posted on in Film News

Edgar Wright To Direct New Faithful Version of Stephen King’s ‘The Running Man’ For Paramount

Deadline is reporting that Edgar Wright is set to direct a new/faithful version of Stephen King’s The Running Man for Paramount Pictures, taking more cues from the original King story than the 1987 film that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film took liberties with the source material to make it conform into a Schwarzenegger action pic.

Wright will co-write the story with Scott Pilgrim collaborator Michael Becall, who will ultimately write the script. The novel published under the faux name Richard Bachman had elements that weren’t used in the film including Ben’s sick daughter and how he signs up for the game show to pay her medical bills.

The Running Man is set within a dystopian future in which the poor are seen more by the government as worrisome rodents than actual human beings. The protagonist of The Running Man, Ben Richards, is quick to realize this as he watches his daughter, Cathy, grow more sick by the day and tread closer and closer to death. Desperate for money to pay Cathy’s medical bills, Ben enlists himself in a true reality style game show where the objective is to merely stay alive.

Given how well Wright handles action I’m sure it will be a substantial modern upgrade.

The original film version became a bit of a cult hit and one of the better Arnold flicks that aged reasonably well given it’s rocky production and a few problematic scenes.

THE RUNNING MAN – In the year 2019, America is a totalitarian state where the favorite television program is “The Running Man” — a game show in which prisoners must run to freedom to avoid a brutal death. Having been made a scapegoat by the government, an imprisoned Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has the opportunity to make it back to the outside again by being a contestant on the deadly show, although the twisted host, Damon Killian (Richard Dawson), has no intention of letting him escape.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

‘Lockwood’: Joe Cornish Reunites With ‘Attack The Block’ & ‘Scott Pilgrim’ Production Designer Marcus Rowland For Netflix Series

The Ronin can confirm that production designer Marcus Rowland has joined Lockwood, the Netflix series based on the books from author Jonathan Stroud will be directed by Joe Cornish (Attack The Block) with Edgar Wright‘s Complete Fiction producing.

Books in Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. series include The Screaming Staircase, The Dagger in The Desk, The Whispering Skull, The Hollow Boy, The Creeping Shadow, and The Empty Grave. Allowing them to make multiple seasons if they’re inclined to.

THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE – For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions. Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .

The project was first announced back in May 2020.

Marcus Rowland is best known for collaborating with Edgar Wright on his films Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The World’s End, Baby Driver, and most recently Last Night In Soho. He also worked with Cornish on his feature films Attack The Block and The Kid Who Would Be King.

This would be the production designer’s first return to television since Edgar’s series Spaced from 2004.

You might remember that Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish co-wrote the original script for Marvel’s Ant-Man before Edgar dropped-out over creative differences with the studio leading to Peyton Reed to be hired as it’s director.

Posted on in Film News

Edgar Wright and Jane Goldman Teaming On Kidnap Thriller ‘The Chain’ For Universal

Deadline has revealed that Universal Pictures has optioned the film rights to the Adrian McKinty novel The Chain with Edgar Wright set to direct and Jane Goldman hired to adapt the book into a script. 

The Chain tells the story of Rachel, who learns that her 11-year-old daughter has been kidnapped. The only way to get her back is to kidnap another child. Her daughter will be released only when that next victim’s parents kidnap another child. If Rachel doesn’t kidnap another child, or if that child’s parents don’t kidnap a child, her daughter will be murdered. She is now part of The Chain, a terrifying and meticulous chain letter-like kidnapping scheme that turns parents from victims into criminals.

Wright is set to release his psychological horror film Last Night In Soho starring Anya Taylor-Joy on April 23rd, 2021, and is also developing the sci-fi film based on the novel Set Heart To Five from Simon Stephenson. 

Jane is best known for films such as Stardust, X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The King’s Man, and had been hired as the showrunner for the first Game of Thrones prequel spinoff series that didn’t move forward beyond a pilot episode. 

It’ll be interesting to see if Edgar ever gets around to making his Baby Driver sequel because he keeps signing on for other projects in the meantime. 

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Lily James Starring In Thriller ‘The Paris Trap’ – Production Eyeing Start In Early 2021

Another project announced at the Cannes Virtual Market via Deadline is a Paris-set thriller titled The Paris Trap from director Pablo Trapero (ZeroZeroZero, The Chain) with British actress Lily James (Baby Driver, Cinderella, Rebecca) set to take the lead role.

The Paris Trap has a script penned by Daniel Taplitz with rewrites from Michael Lesslie.

The Hitchcockian thriller revolves around a young American woman on a visit to Paris who becomes the victim of mistaken identity. Caught up in a secret international government operation, she must play the part to save her own life. James will play the young woman whose character is thrust to the center of the operation and must find her way out of the “trap,” helped by her handler. That role, the co-lead of the film, will be cast shortly.

Pablo’s current work includes the Amazon series ZeroZeroZero and Spanish-language thriller The Clan.

Lily’s most recent projects include Baby Driver, Darkest Hour, Yesterday, and Ben Wheatley’s Rebecca for Netflix. James had just signed-on for Phillip Noyce’s bank robbery film Peggy Jo, where she’ll be playing a female criminal that disguised herself as a man to commit crimes.

Filming on The Paris Trap is expected to begin sometime early next year in Paris, France.

SOURCE: DEADLINE