Tag: Creed III

Posted on in Film News

MGM’s ‘Thomas Crown Affair’ Remake Starring Michael B. Jordan Lands Screenwriter; Produced By The Russo Brothers

MGM Studios is looking to be acquired by Amazon for a massive $8.45 billion and is chugging along with various high-profile projects in development, speaking of which, there is an update on their third Thomas Crown Affair incarnation that will be led by Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther, Without Remorse, Creed) as the titular gentleman thief.

The project, produced by The Russo Brothers via AGBO, has finally landed a screenwriter. Deadline says that Wes Tooke has been enlisted to help with the remake, his credits include Roland Emmerich’s WWII actioner Midway and the Universal Monsters comedy from Lord/Miller.

A director has yet to announced, but given how quickly the Russo Brothers jumped into projects like Cherry and the big Netflix spy action flick The Gray Man, it’s possible the sibling duo could consider directing the remake themselves.

Thomas Crown was previously played by Steve McQueen and Pierce Brosnan in their respective versions.

Michael B. Jordan is a busy guy as he’ll make his feature directorial debut with Creed III that might co-star Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country, Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, Da 5 Bloods, Devotion) along with his potential follow-up to Without Remorse as Rainbow Six could move forward at Paramount/Amazon. Jordan has also mentioned a desire to return to the Killmonger role if/when Marvel wants him, despite the character’s death in Black Panther.

THOMAS CROWN (1999) – Bored billionaire Thomas Crown (Pierce Brosnan) decides to entertain himself by stealing a Monet from a reputed museum. When Catherine Banning (Rene Russo), an investigator for the museum’s insurance company, takes an interest in Crown, a complicated back-and-forth game with romantic undertones begins between them. In an attempt to find out where Banning’s loyalties lie, Crown returns the painting and essentially turns himself in, hoping that Banning’s feelings for him will lead to an escape.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Jonathan Majors In Talks To Play Adonis’ Opponent In ‘Creed 3’ – Will Be Michael B. Jordan’s Directorial Debut

Michael B. Jordan is making the jump to director with MGM’s Creed III while continuing to play Adonis, the son of Apollo Creed from the iconic Rocky movies. The last two movies had Sly Stallone reprising Rocky for the spinoff, but has announced that he won’t be involved with this new film.

It looks like they’ve found an actor to play Adonis’ next opponent as Deadline reports that Jonathan Majors is currently in negotiations for the role. Majors got awareness thanks to roles in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, White Boy Rick, and HBO’s Lovecraft Country. He is officially is playing Kang The Conqueror in Marvel’s Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania as announced by Kevin Feige back in December.

It honestly wouldn’t hurt for Jordan and MGM to hire a seasoned actor to star opposite given that might be considered a weakness with the last two movies. It’s hard to really care about the actors who play Adonis’ opponents as they don’t have the same character that you’d expect.

Quantumania will begin shooting in a couple of weeks in the United Kingdom.

Jonathan Majors recently wrapped on the Korean War film Devotion, directed by J.D. Dillard.

Amazon recently acquired MGM Studios for a massive $8.45 billion.

The sport drama is set to be released by MGM on November 23, 2022.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in News

Amazon Officially Announces Agreement To Purchase MGM For $8.45 Billion – Will “Reimagine” Their Deep Catalog

It’s been reported for days that Amazon was looking to spend almost $9 billion to acquire MGM, a major Hollywood studio that has a heap of IP titles and legacy films. The studio also has a partnership with EON Productions for the James Bond franchise.

Well, the streaming giant made the merger official this morning and dropped a press release confirm it’s going ahead, paying an impressive $8.45 billion for MGM. The press release also mentioned Amazon’s intention to “reimagine” the deep catalog, which likely means turning properties into films and television shows.

“The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team. It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling,” said Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon Studios. 

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and MGM today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire MGM for a purchase price of $8.45 billion. MGM has nearly a century of filmmaking history and complements the work of Amazon Studios, which has primarily focused on producing TV show programming. Amazon will help preserve MGM’s heritage and catalog of films, and provide customers with greater access to these existing works. Through this acquisition, Amazon would empower MGM to continue to do what they do best: great storytelling.

The studio’s film catalog includes 12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed, James Bond, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Raging Bull, RoboCop, Rocky, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Thelma & Louise, Tomb Raider, The Magnificent Seven, The Pink Panther, The Thomas Crown Affair, and many films, over 4,000 of them. Not to mention 17,000 television shows as well.

MGM is already looking to soft-reboot RoboCop with RoboCop Returns from Aussie director Abe Forsythe (Little Monsters). The Russo Brothers are producing a new incarnation of the romantic crime flick Thomas Crown Affair led by Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther, Without Remorse) as the charming thief. Jordan is about to direct and star in Creed III, making his directorial debt on the boxing drama. A new James Bond is expected to be hired for Bond 26, once No Time To Die ends the Daniel Craig era. Alicia Vikander’s Tomb Raider reboot movie is set to get a sequel from director Misha Green (Lovecraft Country). Something like Stargate would be prime for a franchise reboot as it was a feature film that spawned multiple television shows. Those are just some examples that are just the tip of the iceberg and we should expect more projects announced in the coming weeks/months given the deep pockets of Amazon Studios/Prime Video.

Amazon getting their hands on a legacy Hollywood studio should help boost their film/television library but also allowing them to create new original IP content, allowing them to become more competitive against the Netflix originals and could see Amazon attempt theatrical distribution on a larger scale as they could add global box office to their revenue stream.

Some of the high-profile Prime Video shows on the horizon are the expensive Lord of The Rings that is expected to land at least five seasons and at least two seasons of Wheel of Time series led by Rosamund Pike that is based on the Robert Jordan fantasy novels.

SOURCE: AMAZON

Posted on in Film News

Amazon’s Purchase of MGM For $9 Billion Could Be Announced This Week

There have been reports circulating for a while now that streaming giant Amazon is looking to buy Hollywood studio MGM Studios, it would be their first entry into making a huge push into major feature film development.

A deal could be announced as early as this week according to a report from The Wall Street Journal and point towards a figure close to $9 billion. People have pointed out that valuation is a bit steep as the company was valued at around $5.5 billion back in December.

Amazon.com Inc. is nearing a deal to buy the Hollywood studio MGM Holdings for almost $9 billion, said people familiar with the matter, a pact that would turn a film operation founded in the silent era into a streaming asset for the e-commerce giant. An agreement could be announced as early as this week, people close to the situation said, assuming the talks don’t fall apart at the last minute.

MGM is the partner of EON Productions on the James Bond franchise and could mean that Amazon could become the streaming home of the franchise. They’re also behind the Candyman remake from Nia DaCosta (The Marvels), the Creed films with Michael B. Jordan set to direct Creed III, and they’ve been developing a new RoboCop film as well.

Amazon landing a real and established Hollywood studio means that the streaming service could branch-out to global theatrical distribution, as I don’t imagine EON would want to see their Bond franchise become some Prime Video exclusive and could see Amazon originals turn into box office earners.

SOURCE: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Posted on in Film News

Michael B. Jordan Officially Making Directorial Debut With ‘Creed III’ – MGM Sets Release For November 23rd, 2022

Yesterday, MGM announced via Variety that Michael B. Jordan will make his feature film directorial debut with Creed III. Jordan playing Adonis Creed in the previous two films will reprise the role with Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad expected to return as well.

Jordan stars in the boxing franchise as Adonis “Creed” Johnson, son of the fallen boxing champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) — Rocky Balboa’s (Sylvester Stallone) former foe turned friend, who was killed in a match versus Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in Rocky IV.

The script comes from Keenan Coogler (Space Jam: A New Legacy) and Zack Baylin (King Richard) that is based on an outline from producer Ryan Coogler.

MGM has given Creed III a release date of November 23rd, 2022 which would suggest a fall or winter production start.

CREED II – In 1985, Russian boxer Ivan Drago killed former U.S. champion Apollo Creed in a tragic match that stunned the world. Against the wishes of trainer Rocky Balboa, Apollo’s son Adonis Johnson accepts a challenge from Drago’s son — another dangerous fighter. Under guidance from Rocky, Adonis trains for the showdown of his life — a date with destiny that soon becomes his obsession. Now, Johnson and Balboa must confront their shared legacy as the past comes back to haunt each man.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

Michael B. Jordan May End Up Directing ‘Creed 3’ For MGM

As reports swirled that MGM was meeting with Apple and Netflix for the streaming rights for their Jame Bond film No Time To Time (reportedly not happening), Deadline added a neat update concerning MGM’s third Creed film suggesting that Michael B. Jordan may end up making his directorial debut on the Rocky franchise spinoff.

While MGM is working on a Creed sequel that Michael B Jordan is considering to direct…

Michael B. Jordan’s most recent film Without Remorse moved from Paramount Pictures to Amazon Prime Video, an action film set in the world of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan universe as Michael will be playing lead character John Clark. Clark is a Navy SEAL turned C.I.A. operator previously played by Willem Dafoe in Clear & Present Danger and Liev Schreiber in The Sum of All Fears.

CREED II – In 1985, Russian boxer Ivan Drago killed former U.S. champion Apollo Creed in a tragic match that stunned the world. Against the wishes of trainer Rocky Balboa, Apollo’s son Adonis Johnson accepts a challenge from Drago’s son — another dangerous fighter. Under guidance from Rocky, Adonis trains for the showdown of his life — a date with destiny that soon becomes his obsession. Now, Johnson and Balboa must confront their shared legacy as the past comes back to haunt each man.

SOURCE: DEADLINE