Tag: Die Hard

Posted on in Television News

Netflix Hires ‘Die Hard’ & ‘Leviathan’ Screenwriter Jeb Stuart For Their Live-Action ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Series; Recently Worked On ‘Vikings: Valhalla’

Netflix is looking to bring Ubisoft’s video game franchise Assassin’s Creed to the small screen and have reportedly landed on a well-known action film writer to tackle the upcoming live-action series.

The open world games explore the war between the rival secret orders of the Assassins and the Templars as they use advanced machines to access the genetic memories of Assassins in different periods of the past to track down powerful artifacts called Pieces of Eden.

According to a report from Variety, Netflix has tasked writer Jeb Stuart for the new show and had recently worked with the streaming service giant for Vikings: Valhalla. His screenwriting credits are the iconic action flick Die Hard that established Bruce Willis’ acting career, the genre-bending/underrated Leviathan, Harrison Ford’s The Fugitive, Another 48 Hours, and Sly Stallone’s Lock Up.

Casting information hasn’t been announced but it sounds like it hasn’t been given an official series order at this time.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

‘John Wick’ Director Chad Stahelski Developing New Hybrid Action Movie ‘Classified’ – ‘Die Hard’ Meets ‘Indiana Jones’

Deadline reports that New Line Cinema has landed a new action movie, titled Classified, that will see John Wick’s Chad Shahelski attached to direct. A hybrid genre film that combines elements of isolated location similar to Die Hard with the dangerous relics of Indiana Jones.

It’s script will be penned by Andrew Deutschman and Jason Pagan, who previously worked on Project Almanac and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension.

The project is a high octane thriller that was shopped as Die Hard meets Indiana Jones. It is set inside a top secret government bunker, the kind that ends Raiders of the Lost Ark. That bunker contains relics covertly recovered during World War II, and they turn out to be more powerful and dangerous than ever imagined.

Chad is a busy bee, he recently helped consult on The Matrix 4 and is set to direct both John Wick: Chapter 4 and John Wick: Chapter 5 for Lionsgate. He had also been developing a reboot of the Highlander franchise and a car-centric action project for Paramount Pictures. Also, Stahelski is producing a spinoff film Ballerina directed by Len Wiseman, set within the world of John Wick’s hierarchy of assassins.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in News

Disney Combining Hulu and Disney+ To Give Older Subscribers Mature Content Options?

Disney has had huge success with their family-friendly streaming service Disney+, however, the service is indeed geared towards families and younger audiences which means other Disney-owned content can’t really appear there.

A new report from Collider claims things might be changing soon with sources suggesting that their domestic service Hulu is being prepared to be folded into Disney+, Disney is a majority owner of Hulu and plenty of people have suggested this becoming an option given that Hulu doesn’t have an international presence being a domestic service but could with some help from Disney/Disney+ take the leap into the global realm like Netflix.

Sources say Disney is looking to combine its two streaming services into a single juggernaut.

For more than a year now, there has been speculation that Disney might one day fold Hulu into its Disney+ streaming service, and sure enough, Collider is hearing that multiple Hulu executives have been leaving or let go from the streaming service in anticipation of the move, which makes a lot of sense from a business perspective.

They phrase the report’s headline as a question which could mean this might be more of a rumor circulating among reliable people they’re talking to.

If this officially happens, Disney+ adding Hulu’s content, the 20th Century Studios library and their multiple television offerings from 20th Television/FX would add a massive under served demographic to their international streaming service. Another upside is that Disney might be forced into developing mature content with the Disney branding moving into the 21st Century as the media company will need to attract adult audiences as well and move beyond children’s entertainment.

We’ve already seen this with 20th Century Studios moving forward with Predator 5 and Marvel Studios hiring screenwriters for Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 3, both expected to be R-rated offerings. This could be a way for Disney+ to start making mature shows using their budgets that they’ve used for Star Wars and Marvel series. I’m sure that Alien series that Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) wanted to make wouldn’t have as much trouble getting the budget it would need to look proper. It also gives a home to franchise films like Die Hard, Alien/Predator franchises, Logan, and Deadpool.

Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video are doing a lot to attract older subscribers with original content which to some extent HBO/HBO Max is doing as well but like Hulu isn’t on the global stage.

Speaking of HBO Max, does this mean Disney announces this and then throws their entire 2021 slate of films on the combined service? We don’t really know if they’re going to mirror HBO Max’s new release model for 2021 and if this happens it could be another ding on the theatrical runs of future films. Alongside their potential to earn the billions at the box office that Disney is accustomed to. Hulu could be placed in an odd spot here and might see massive layoffs as jobs become redundant.

SOURCE: COLLIDER