Tag: Invincible

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Oblivion Song’: Jake Gyllenhaal To Lead Feature Adaptation Of Robert Kirkman’s Dimension-Hopping Comic Book

Another Robert Kirkman (Invincible, The Walking Dead) property is being developed as a live-action project, as his sci-fi comic book Oblivion Song had it’s film rights secured by New Republic Pictures, after previous involvement from Universal Pictures.

The Hollywood Reporter brings us the news and adds that Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Prisoners) will both star and produce the movie based on the comic published by Image Comics.

The comic — which Kirkman created with artist Lorenzo De Felici in 2018 — takes place a decade after 300,000 citizens of Philadelphia were suddenly lost in a cataclysmic event named Oblivion. The government made every attempt to recover them, but after many years they gave up. But protagonist Nathan Cole hasn’t, making daily trips to find those lost.

Gyllenhaal’s most recent films include Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, Bong Joon-ho’s Okja, Velvet Buzzsaw with upcoming releases such as Michael Bay’s Ambulance and Antoine Fuqua’s thriller The Guilty. Other projects on the horizon include the survival drama Suddenly alongside Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Hobbs & Shaw, The Crown), the Navy SEAL action flick Combat Control, and the video game film The Division that will co-star Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) at Netflix.

Kirkman’s The Walking Dead franchise and Invincible are also poised to also get feature films. He was recently involved with Chris McKay’s Universal Monsters pic Renfield starring Nicholas Hoult helping craft it’s story.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Renfield’: Nicholas Hoult To Lead Universal Monster Horror-Comedy From ‘Tomorrow War’ Director Chris McKay

Universal Pictures is trying to develop a bunch of various films within the Universal Monsters branding and an upcoming project is one focused on Dracula’s familiar Renfield. The project was developed from a story idea by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Invincible) and has a script from Rick & Morty writer Ryan Ridley.

It was originally going to be directed by Dexter Fletcher (Eddie The Eagle, Rocketman) but has since been replaced with Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie, The Tomorrow War).

McKay compared the film to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 when speaking with The Hollywood Reporter giving us an idea of what to expect from the horror pic’s tone.

“Renfield is a story about Dracula’s assistant set in modern times, and it’s kind of a codependency success story. And it’s a comedy. It’s a horror movie. It’s an action movie. It’s about bad bosses. It’s written by Ryan Ridley, who worked on Rick and Morty, and it’s a really funny and emotional. It’s gonna be like a hard-R action movie, crazy-violent in an Evil Dead 2 kind of way. That’s gonna be fun,” the filmmaker revealed about his upcoming Renfield project at Universal Pictures. 

Deadline has now revealed that British actor Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class, Mad Max: Fury Road, Those Who Wish Me Dead) has been tapped to star just a week after landing the Searchlight thriller The Menu co-starring with Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes.

The film is said to be set during present day.

Universal is also developing a new Wolf Man film starring Ryan Gosling and a Dracula hybrid genre film from Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao (Nomadland, Eternals), the latter might already have quietly started shooting.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Producer Seth Rogen Announces Animated ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Movie Releasing August 2023 – Helmed By ‘The Mitchells Vs. The Machines’ Co-Director Jeff Rowe

Yesterday, producer Seth Rogen took to Twitter to announce that his CGI-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is going to be released on August 11, 2023. The film is directed by Jeff Rowe, who wrote on Disney’s Gravity Falls and Netflix’s Disenchantment. He most recently co-directed the Netflix film The Mitchells Vs. The Machines.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise was birthed by a mature comic book that was later adapted into a successful toyline, multiple cartoon series, five live-action films, and various video games since the 1980s. It focuses on a group of pizza-obsessed teenage turtles that have been turned into humanoids thanks to a mutagenic ooze with alien origins and are trained by their master/father figure Splinter, a giant rat.

Most of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s experience with comic book properties have been with television projects such as AMC’s Preacher, Netflix’s The Boys, and Amazon’s popular mature animated series Invincible based on the Robert Kirkman comic. Their film credits include Superbad, Pineapple Express, This Is The End,The Interview, and the raunchy animated flick Sausage Party. The producing duo are also involved with Disney’s Darkwing Duck series revival, so they’re not only making mature entertainment.

A new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film was reportedly also in the works, but concrete movement hasn’t been mentioned in ages.

SOURCE: SETH ROGEN

Posted on in Film News

Adam Wingard & Robert Kirkman Team For Universal’s Feature Film Adaptation of Sci-Fi Comic Book ‘Hardcore’

Director Adam Wingard’s profile has risen thanks to the box office success of Godzilla Vs. Kong, the crossover film set in Legendary’s Monsterverse has become the biggest box office earner since the pandemic began as it crossed $400 million globally and is inching towards reaching $100 million domestically.

Another genre project has arrived.

Universal is also trying to get on team Wingard as there are reports via The Hollywood Reporter that the filmmaker will co-write and direct a feature film based on the comic book Hardcore with co-creator Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Invincible) writing the film’s story and producing. The script will be worked on by Wingard and Will Simmon, which is based on the comic created by Kirkman and Marc Marc Silvestri.

The Hardcore Program can turn anyone—your neighbor, your co-worker, your spouse—into a human drone to get to targets normal soldiers can’t. Agent Drake is the best soldier Hardcore has to offer, until he’s stranded in a body with only 72 hours to discover who’s hijacked the Program. But who can he trust when his enemy can change their appearance as easily as you change your shirt?

It’s unknown where Hardcore lands on the project pecking order as Adam Wingard has other movies he’s attached to. The filmmaker has since been reportedly linked to another Monsterverse film, possibly Son of Kong, and is making a hybrid animated/CGI feature film for Warner Bros. based on the cult hit cartoon ThunderCats.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

‘Tomorrow War’ Director Chris McKay Tapped For Universal Monster Flick ‘Renfield’

A while back it was announced that Rocketman and Eddie The Eagle director Dexter Fletcher was circling a new Universal Monsters project focused on Count Dracula’s brainwashed lackey, Renfield. The script is penned by Rick & Morty’s Ryan Ridley based on an original outline from Robert Kirkman (Walking Dead, Invincible), Ridley’s involvement suggesting a comedic-bend to the horror movie.

Fletcher has exited the project to focus on Paramount’s The Saint reboot starring Chris Pine and Universal has hired Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie, The Tomorrow War) to replace him as director, according to Deadline.

Renfield believed if he was loyal enough, his master Dracula would give him immortality and is institutionalized. The incarnation of Renfield that standouts personally for me is Tom Waits’ take in Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula from 1992 that starred Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Keanu Reeves.

The studio attempted to re-brand the Universal Monsters by launching their own modern cinematic universe, Dark Universe, starring with Tom Cruise’s The Mummy only for the film to flop. Leading the studio to kill the Dark Universe and retool their plans by getting Leigh Whannell to direct a new take on The Invisible Man with the help of Jason Blum’s Blumhouse. Renfield is part of a wave of new Universal Monsters projects, the next one is expected to be a Wolfman remake from Whannell and starring Ryan Gosling. Some of the other movies include a genre-hybrid Dracula remake from Chloe Zhao (Eternals, Nomadland), Van Helsing from director Julius Avery (Overlord), talk of the studio still trying to get a director attached for a Bridge of Frankenstein remake and other various films in development.

McKay’s sci-fi action flick The Tomorrow War starring Chris Pratt was recently sold by Paramount to Amazon for a hefty $200+ million and will be released on July 2, 2021.

SOURCE: DEADLINE