Director Steven Soderbergh (“The Good German,” “Traffic”) is putting together his next high-profile project as he’s now shopping around a package deal for a new spy thriller, “Black Bag.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, the director has a script from screenwriter David Koepp (“Mission: Impossible”) with actors Michael Fassbender (“The Killer”) and Cate Blanchett (“Nightmare Alley”) attached for the main roles of the project.
Plot details for “Black Bag” are being kept under lock and key, but we’re sure a logline will emerge once a studio or streaming service ends up buying the film. However, we could speculate that the title may refer to mystery off-the-book military sites that are used for interrogation/torture purposes by intelligence agencies or simply an operation to collect valuable information from a secured/unsecured location via trade-craft, aka, spying.
UPDATE:THR has shared that Universal’s Focus Features has landed the film after winning a bidding war among multiple studios and streamers. Focus has a good reputation for solid marketing of mature genre flicks and could be a great home for a thriller like “Black Bag.”
Soderbergh once attempted to turn MMA fighter Gina Carano (“The Mandalorian”) into an action star with his spy pic “Haywire,” which could have spawned a new budget-friendly franchise for the filmmaker. That plan didn’t exactly come together as the film only made $34.5 million at the box office and criticisms of Carano being able to lead the film among such other talented actors (Fassbender had a minor role). There is an assumption that the slick visuals and gritty action sequences from “Haywire” could be the template for “Black Bag.”
We’re about to see the start of the Venice Film Festival which includes the premiere of David Fincher‘s upcoming thriller “The Killer,” based on the French graphic novel (written by Alexis Nolent a.k.a Matz and illustrated by Luc Jacamon) with Michael Fassbender set to play a skilled assassin in the Netflix film. It will also see Fincher reuniting, yet again, with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross after previously working with the composing duo on films such as “Mank,” “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” “Gone Girl,” and “The Social Network.”
Ahead of the festival kicking off, Netflix has released some promotional materials for “The Killer” including a teaser poster and a first-look trailer (See both below). The rest of the cast consists of Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, Kerry O’Malley, Sophie Charlotte, Sala Baker, Emiliano Pernía, and Gabriel Polanco.
Netflix has provided us with the film’s official logline:
After a fateful near-miss, an assassin battles his employers and himself on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal.
Fincher said the following about the film during a statement for the Venice Film Festival via ThePlaylist:
“‘The Killer’ is my attempt to reconcile notions I’ve had for years about cinematic stories and their telling. I have always held: “What were you doing in Chinatown?… As little as possible”—to be the single greatest evocation of backstory I’ve ever heard. I was also playfully curious about the revenge genre as a tension delivery system. So when Mr. Walker came aboard and fully embraced these notions/ questions about broad brushstrokes of understanding giving way to the blind stitch of “moment expansion” – I felt we needed to try something. Mr. Fassbender’s 3-hour response time for: “Yes, let’s!” sealed it for us both, and, of course, we all wanted Tilda (Mr. Walker wrote it with her in mind—but please don’t tell Ms. Swinton, she could become insufferable if she knows literally everyone feels this way about her.)“
You can watch that aforementioned first-look trailer below.
David Ficher is returning to genre filmmaking. His latest pic, The Killer, will see actor Michael Fassbender play an assassin in adaptation of the Alexis Nolent’s graphic novel that will have a script from Se7en’s Andrew Kevin Walker.
A man solitary and cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, the killer waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. And yet the longer he waits, the more he thinks he’s losing his mind, if not his cool. A brutal, bloody and stylish noir story of a professional assassin lost in a world without a moral compass, this is a case study of a man alone, armed to the teeth and slowly losing his mind.
The Playlist got word directly from Tilda Swinton in a recent interview that she has joined the cast of the action thriller.
Filming is expected to begin next year in Paris, France with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt (Mank).
While this is the first graphic novel/comic book adaptation for David Fincher, it won’t be his first attempt to tackle genre material as his first feature film was Alien 3 and had been trying to direct a sequel to Brad Pitt’s World War Z until things fell apart.
We couldn’t be more excited about David Fincher returning to the thriller genre and his upcoming film The Killer sounds like something fans can really get behind. It will see him work with actor Michael Fassbender as an assassin in adaptation of the Alexis Nolent’s graphic novel that will have a script from Se7en’s Andrew Kevin Walker.
A man solitary and cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, the killer waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. And yet the longer he waits, the more he thinks he’s losing his mind, if not his cool. A brutal, bloody and stylish noir story of a professional assassin lost in a world without a moral compass, this is a case study of a man alone, armed to the teeth and slowly losing his mind.
Spanish outlet El Diario Vasco (via The Film Stage) spoke with Mank’s Oscar-winning cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, who confirmed his involvement and that they’re hoping to begin shooting this November in Paris, France. Messerschmidt’s previous credits include Raised By Wolves, Legion, Fargo, and Mindhunter.
While not officially attached for a role, Mank actress Lily Collins was spotted meeting with David Fincher in Paris and could signal she’ll join Michael Fassbender in the thriller.
Fassbender has completed production on Taika Waititi’s sports drama Next Goal Wins and David Sandberg’s satirical action flick Kung Fury 2. His recent films Dark Phoenix, The Snowman, Alien: Covenant, and Assassin’s Creed haven’t be huge box office successes, I’m sure the actor is hopeful The Killer will have a greater impact with audiences.
While this is the first graphic novel/comic book adaptation for David Fincher, it won’t be his first attempt to tackle genre material as his first feature film was Alien 3 and had been trying to direct a sequel to Brad Pitt’s World War Z until things fell apart.
A release date has yet to be announced but the film is produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, and will hit Netflix at some point in 2022.
Swedish filmmaker David Sandberg has been putting together a feature film sequel to his crowdfunded Kung Fury trailer that was turned into a short film co-starring Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone. Someone was nutty enough to give him a real budget to work with and make Kung Fury 2 alongside convincing legitimate actors like Michael Fassbender and Arnold Schwarzenegger to appear in it.
David Sandberg also stars as Kung Fury making the project even more bonkers and akin to the VHS era he’s attempting to parody.
Here’s a short synopsis for the bizarre genre mash-up satire.
1985 Miami is kept safe under the watchful eye of Kung Fury and his Thundercops, the ultimate police force assembled from across history to defeat the villainous Kung Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. After the tragic death of a Thundercop sees the group disband, a mysterious villain emerges from the shadows to aid in the Fuhrer’s quest to attain the ultimate weapon. Kung Fury must travel through space and time to save his friends, defend the prestigious Miami Kung Fu Academy and defeat evil once and for all.
UPDATE: David Sanberg posted the first image of Alexandra Shipp (X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix) as Rey Porter on Instagram.
Sandberg revealed on Instagram last month that Kung Fury 2 would be releasing sometime in 2022.
Check out some promo and behind the scenes images from Kung Fury 2’s shoot in Germany and Bulgaria. The pics certainly showcase a lot of the set construction and practical creature effects as Sandberg seemed to add his own version of King Shark but decided against using motion-capture for it. Arnold Schwarzenegger also seems to be able to live out a fantasy of his, becoming the President, a nod to both Demolition Man and The Simpsons Movie.
Here is the original trailer and music video featuring David Hasselhoff. The short film is age-restricted, so you’ll have to head over to YouTube to watch it.
Deadline is reporting that director David Fincher will be reuniting screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker for a feature film adaption of the graphic novel The Killer from Alexis Nolent.
The writer previously wrote screenplays for Fincher’s Fight Club, Se7en, The Game, and Panic Room. Walker also tackled scripts for Joel Schumacher’s 8mm and Joe Johnston’s Universal Monster remake The Wolfman.
Michael Fassbender is currently in talks for the lead role but the outlet couldn’t confirm.
A man solitary and cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, the killer waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. And yet the longer he waits, the more he thinks he’s losing his mind, if not his cool. A brutal, bloody and stylish noir story of a professional assassin lost in a world without a moral compass, this is a case study of a man alone, armed to the teeth and slowly losing his mind.
Given David Fincher’s deal with Netflix, it’s expected that the project will land at the streaming giant. The director recently working with them on his Hollywood drama Mank, about the development of the script for the iconic film Citizen Kane.
We’ve all been extremely interested in what direction the Alien franchise could be getting in the wake of the Disney merger with 21st Century Studios, as it had been confirmed by Ridley Scott himself that he was speaking with studio executives about making a third movie that had once been referred to by the title Alien: Awakening.
While promoting his upcoming science fiction series Raised By Wolves, Ridley Scott has confirmed to Forbes that there is still active development on a third untitled Alien film and potentially gives insight on a new direction for the film, rather than continuing his string of prequels trying to make a new path via Michael Fassbender’s David.
Scott doesn’t come out and say this third movie will be a new take, he alludes that it might not be similar or connected to Prometheus and Covenant.
Here is that quick blurb from his interview with Forbes.
SCOTT: “That’s in process. We went down a route to try and reinvent the wheel with Prometheus and Covenant. Whether or not we go directly back to that is doubtful because Prometheus woke it up very well. But you know, you’re asking fundamental questions like, ‘Has the Alien himself, the facehugger, the chestburster, have they all run out of steam? Do you have to rethink the whole bloody thing and simply use the word to franchise?’ That’s always the fundamental question.”
Some of the ideas for Alien: Awakening were to fill gaps between the events of the last two films or directly seeing David getting his hands on Covenant’s colony of human settlers for future xenomorph experiments leading into the original Alien from 1979 explaining how the derelict ship got on LV-426. However, a lot of fans are not really in favor of Scott misidentifying that element of the original movie.
Another idea for the film was that surviving Engineers from other planets seeking out David to avenge his mass murder on Paradise.
I was a massive fan of all the Engineer and bio-weapon stuff from Prometheus but when Alien: Covenant abandoned all that to become a generic sci-fi slasher it sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. Such wasted potential after Scott spent all that time focusing on the Engineers being such important figures in the Alien universe/mythology only to have David commit genocide against them.
There had been a huge fan response to Neill Blomkamp’s purposed Alien 5 and the return of Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley, the normally coy actress had already been convinced by a pitch from Neill and was on board even before the studio agreed to allow him to develop it formally.
Alien 5 was expected to negate the events of Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, making it a direct sequel to James Cameron’s beloved Aliens with characters such as Newt, Hicks, and Bishop expected to make a return. Cameron seemingly was a fan of the film’s script calling it “gangbusters” during the Aliens 30th Anniversary panel at San Diego Comic-Con in 2016.
Jim’s comments contradicted statements made by Ridley that a script didn’t exist.
The idea had been that while Ripley would have been the main hero of the film, Newt (most likely recast with a new actress) would have taken over the mantle in a hypothetical Alien 6 movie as previously outlined by Neill Blomkamp when he was explaining his vision for his film and how it could revitalize the franchise.
However, there seemed to be a bit of a power struggle behind the scenes between Ridley Scott’s desire to get Alien: Covenant made and fandom’s overwhelming support to see Sigourney return to the Alien franchise with Blomkamp’s film. The two projects may have been in direct competition and Ridley was in a position of power as a producer on Alien 5 to have 20th Century greenlight his sequel instead.
Scott was so hellbent on getting Alien: Covenant made he handed the reigns of Blade Runner 2049 over to Denis Villeneuve and stepped down as that project’s director.
Blomkamp has since moved on to other projects and doesn’t seem very keen on the idea of returning to Alien 5 anytime soon.
This year a new treatment for Alien 5 was making news after franchise screenwriter Walter Hill revealed that he and his partner David Giler tackled a script dated March 2020 that may or may not feed into Blomkamp’s idea of removing Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection from franchise canon, teasing those events may have been a dream.
Scott himself is a busy bee as he has to finish filming his period thriller The Last Duel and is planning on shooting his drama Gucci sometime in the next year or so. At one point, Ridley was attached to direct a Merlin prequel film for Disney but for whatever reason pivoted to other projects instead.
Raised By Wolves debuts today on HBO Max.
RAISED BY WOLVES – The ambitious new sci-fi series centers on two androids tasked with raising human children on a mysterious virgin planet. As the burgeoning colony of humans threatens to be torn apart by religious differences, the androids learn that controlling the beliefs of humans is a treacherous and difficult task.
THE RONIN 