Director Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim, Baby Driver) has made a career making comedic projects from his British series Spaced to the Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End), but he’ll be attempting something much serious with his psychological thriller Last Night In Soho.
However, we’ll going to have to wait a little longer than expected to see it.
Having the film open during the weekend of Halloween isn’t the worst idea given the creepy elements.
Wright’s cast for Last Night In Soho consists of Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, The Queen’s Gambit, The Northman), Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Terence Stamp (Superman II), Diana Rigg, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao, and Synnøve Karlsen.
Last Night In Soho’s lead Anya Taylor-Joy is a busy lady, as she is set to begin shooting George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa at Fox Studios Australia in August and will be seen in Robert Eggers’ Viking epic that will hit theaters on April 8, 2022.
Edgar Wright is working on a bunch of projects including a remake of the Arnold Schwarzenegger dystopian sci-fi flick The Running Man, the new version at Paramount Pictures is expected to be more faithful to original source material and will be adapted from the Stephen King novel written under his pen name Richard Bachman. Before The Running Man, the filmmaker was developing a sci-fi about robots in 2054 with the Simon Stephenson adaption Set My Heart To Five at Working Title Films.
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO – A young woman, passionate in fashion design, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s, where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer. However, 1960s London is not what it appears, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences.
Netflix is developing a new crime action film from director Gareth Evans, the main man behind the two fantastic installments on The Raid franchise. The new project, Havoc, sounds like it will be a solid crime flick with Tom Hardy and Forest Whitaker headlining the project.
The action pic takes place after a drug deal gone wrong and centers on a bruised detective who must fight his way through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician’s estranged son, while unraveling a deep web of corruption and conspiracy that ensnares his entire city.
Variety reports a string of casting additions have joined Havoc, they include Timothy Olyphant (The Mandalorian, Justified, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), Justin Cornwell (Training Day, Umbrella Academy), Jessie Mei Li (Shadow & Bone, Last Night In Soho), Malaysian actress Yeo Yann Yann, Quelin Sepulveda, character actor Luis Guzmán (Boogie Nights, Carlito’s Way), Sunny Pang (Heatshot), and UFC MMA fighter Michelle Waterson.
The project is part of Evans’ exclusive deal with Netflix.
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.
No Time To Die wasn’t the only studio film to get a bump to later in the year as there were a wave of release changes yesterday. The COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t seem to be letting up over the spring or possibly the summer meaning that theatrical releases are going to be further delayed.
Here is a rundown of those releases changes that took place over the week.
Godzilla vs. Kong – March 26th, 2021 (moved up)
Nobody – April 2nd, 2021
BIOS – August 13th, 2021
The Many Saints of Newark – September 24th, 2021
No Time To Die – October 8th, 2021
Last Night In Soho – October 22nd, 2021
Antlers – October 29th, 2021
Ghostbusters: Afterlife – November 11th, 2021
Nightmare Alley – December 3rd, 2021
Morbius – January 21st, 2022
Uncharted – February 11th, 2022
Ambulance – February 18th, 2022
We’re likely to get more release date changes in the coming weeks as summer movies alongside other spring films might be getting pushed later in the year or to 2022. I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if we saw new dates for films such big films as Black Widow, Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Spider-Man 3, F9, The King’s Man, Top Gun: Maverick, Jungle Cruise and others.
I know people are going to assume that studios will simply throw these projects on streaming services, however, considering the large budgets involved they will be more interested in turning a profit than offloading the films from their slates, they are still businesses that need to generate revenue. Until we get those official announcements it seems a little premature to speculate which projects will end up on streaming as plenty of these releases escaped that fate in 2020 and might continue that in 2021.
I personally believe the best way to go is with reasonable prices for multiple digital renting and buying options along with great access to those choices. Having access to these films suck behind a paywall then given high price of $30 like with what Disney did with Mulan meant that Disney+ subscribers still had to pay a premium price alongside their monthly subscription. At the very least, they should have given a discount to subs asking for $10-20.
We’ll certainly update when further changes are announced.
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.
With the second season of The Mandalorian winding-down, we won’t likely have any new live-action Star Wars until possibly next fall. So, I figured I would give a rundown of what other live-action projects are in the works from Disney+ shows to feature films in various stages of development.
BOBA FETT SERIES: Deadline reported last month that a secret Boba Fett project for Disney+ had begun shooting without mentioning who exactly was starring, writing or directing the thing. We can only assume with Temuera Morrison now firmly in the role for The Mandalorian that this might be the incarnation that this new project tackles.
I have my own speculation that this might actually end up being Season 3 of The Mandalorian given the lack of information on who is working on it and the proximity of when Jon Favreau wanted to start shooting Season 3. While Lucasfilm can be sneaky, this would be the first time they’ve started filming a Star Wars project without us knowing who was at least writing and directing it.
At one time, Josh Trank and Simon Kinberg were developing a Boba Fett movie but the project ultimate didn’t come together after hiccups between the two making Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot. There had even been rumors that James Mangold was in talks to resurrect the series but quickly shot that down along with his involvement with Season 2 of The Mandlorian.
CASSIAN ANDOR PREQUEL SERIES: Diego Luna recently confirmed to Jimmy Kimmel that his Rogue One prequel series focusing on Cassian Andor and K-2SO has already started shooting in London with director Toby Haynes (Black Mirror). Haynes stepped in for Tony Gilroy, who may still end up directing an episode.
The cast for the Star Wars series includes Luna, Alan Tudyk, Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kyle Soller. Andor will skew more in the spy genre and might continue the tone established in Rogue One.
DEBORAH CHOW’SKENOBI SERIES: Ewan McGregor is officially reprising the Obi-Wan Kenobi role but as we all know uses the name Ben Kenobi while hiding out on Tatooine and overseeing the protection of Darth Vader’s son Luke Skywalker from the Empire. Lucasfilm revealed via a franchise timeline that Kenobi will take place around the time of the Corellia scenes in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The series will be directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) and there are assumptions that Joel Edgerton will return to the role of Uncle Owen along with a new actor playing a young Luke Skywalker. It’s unconfirmed if we’ll be seeing flashbacks to the Clone Wars or if Kenobi will ever go off-world at any point.
Casting announcements should be incoming shortly.
Filming according to Ewan McGregor is expected to take place this March. The locations are said to be Pinewood Studios UK and Boston, England as the Pinewood facility will have their own Volume/StageCraft which has been used frequently on The Mandalorian.
THE MANDALORIAN: A third season of The Mandalorian is expected to begin shooting at some point after there was word from showrunner and producer Jon Favreau they hoped to get filming started before the end of 2020. We had heard that Jon is expected to direct at least one episode in Season 3.
It’s also possible we could see spinoff series focusing on Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan and Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano. Those have yet to be announced despite the fan assumptions.
LESLYE HEADLAND’SMYSTERY STAR WARS SERIES: Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) is officially working on a new female-centric Star Wars series that according to Deadline would include martial arts elements and take place at a different point in the Star Wars timeline.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that Disney+ is developing a female-centered Star Wars series, written and showrun by Leslye Headland, believed to be a female-driven action thriller with martial arts elements and set in an alternate timeline from the usual Star Wars universe. The rumored spinoff is said to be separate from this Star Wars project but the situation is fluid.
There has been plenty of speculation of what the show could be or who it could focus on but no details have been confirmed by Lucasfilm or Disney.
I’m sure we’ll learn more about the series soon.
RIAN JOHNSON’S BRAND-NEW STAR WARS TRILOGY: Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson has been developing his own original trilogy for the studio but looks to be more focused on his Knives Out sequel at the moment. There haven’t been much in the way of details concerning Johnson’s project but is expected to take place in another era of Star Wars with new characters. Also, there had been some talk that while Rian would oversee all three films he likely wouldn’t end up directing all them.
Here is how the official press release described the trilogy.
Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Johnson will create a brand-new Star Wars trilogy, the first of which he is also set to write and direct, with longtime collaborator Ram Bergman onboard to produce…In shepherding this new trilogy, which is separate from the episodic Skywalker saga, Johnson will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.
Johnson has also dismissed multiple claims he’s exited.
TAIKA WAITITI’S STAR WARS MOVIE: After dismissing reports of his involvement, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi was officially announced for an upcoming theatrical Star Wars film with Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night in Soho) co-writing the script. This news wasn’t terribly shocking after Kathleen Kennedy suggested wanting to work with him. Taika later getting his feet wet working on Season 1 of The Mandalorian as both director and voicing the bounty hunter droid IG-11.
The Kiwi director is going to be a little busy as he’ll start shooting Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder soon in Sydney, Australia.
JEDI ORIGIN TRILOGY: According to Variety back in October 2019, the Game of Thrones showrunners, D.B Weiss and David Benioff, had been developing a trilogy of films that would have explored the origins of the Jedi.
Benioff and Weiss had ambitious plans to take the “Star Wars” universe in a new direction, one that would exist apart from the Skywalker family saga that comprised the franchise’s centerpiece nine-film series. The Star Wars period the pair was interested in exploring was how the Jedi came to exist. However, Lucasfilm executives and the creators begin to see their visions for the films diverge during meetings last summer.
This would have likely taken place way before eras like the Skywalker Saga, The High Republic or even The Old Republic.
However, the pair left Lucasfilm for a rather pricey deal with Netflix which seemingly squashed the project for the foreseeable future. There are new rumblings online that this project might get resurrected but it’s unofficial for the moment.
THE OLD REPUBLIC TRILOGY:BuzzFeed had once reported that Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Ghost In The Shell, Altered Carbon, Shutter Island) was developing a Knights of The Old Republic film that could eventually become it’s own trilogy.
A movie based on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic — the beloved video game first released in 2003 — is currently being written by Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Shutter Island) for Lucasfilm, three sources close to the project told BuzzFeed News.
Kalogridis is close to finishing the first script of a potential KOTOR trilogy, according to the three sources.
While this was never confirmed, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy teased they’ve had internal discussions about projects in that era during a chat with MTV back in April 2019.
MTV: Knights of The Old Republic, a lot of fans wanna see that, is there any development of that?
KENNEDY: “You know, we talk about that all the time. Yes, we are developing something to look at. Right now, I have no idea where things might fall..”
There is also a film project that would see Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige get involved as a producer but there next zero official information about what and when that would be. I have to assume it’s either something already mentioned like Taika’s film or something that hasn’t been made public.
I’m sure with Disney keen to get more originals for Disney+ that we’ll likely hear about more live-action Star Wars shows in the near future.
THE RONIN 