Tag: Paramount Pictures

'The Running Man': Paramount & Edgar Wright Remake Casts Glen Powell In Lead Role
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‘The Running Man’: Paramount & Director Edgar Wright Tap Glen Powell To Star In Sci-Fi Action Remake

Another interesting bit of news coming out of the Paramount Pictures panel today at CinemaCon 2024 is that Edgar Wright‘s remake of the sci-fi actioner “The Running Man” has tapped rising star Glen Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick”) to play the lead role of Ben Richards that previously was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980s feature adaptation of the Stephen King novel.

The remake from Wright is said to be closer to the original novel that saw Richards being lured into participating in the deadly game show known as The Running Man to get money to help his sickly daughter get medicine/medical care. Elements from the King novel that were sort of pushed aside to make Schwarzenegger’s involvement a little more believable in an action-focused incarnation.

Powell was most recently seen in “Anyone But You” opposite Sydney Sweeney; there have been rumblings online that Wright could end up directing her in Sony’s feature remake of the classic French comic book film “Barbarella,” which starred Jane Fonda in the 1960s.

Wright, of course, is best known for his Cornetto Trilogy (“Shaun of The Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” “The World’s End”) alongside things like “Baby Driver” and the thriller “Last Night In Soho.”

SOURCE: PARAMOUNT PICTURES VIA CINEMACON 2024

Paramount Developing R-Rated Live-Action 'TMNT' Movie Based On 'The Last Ronin' With 'Boy Kills World' Writer
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Paramount Developing R-Rated Live-Action ‘TMNT’ Movie Based On ‘The Last Ronin’ With ‘Boy Kills World’ Writer

Today, there was a big shocker from Paramount Pictures as THR reports that the studio is looking to make an R-rated live-action movie set within the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” franchise by adapting the mature storyline “The Last Ronin” as a live-action feature film. A puzzling pursuit since “The Last Ronin” is set in an alternative future where only one of the Turtles is alive while the other three have been killed, making it certainly a strange project from a branding standpoint.

Tyler Burton Smith is set to pen the adaptation after working on films such as “Boy Kills World” and 2019’s “Child’s Play.” The former project from the screenwriter co-wrote with director Moritz Mohr and looks to be an action-packed satirical experience led by Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård as a highly-skilled fighter looking for revenge. A seemingly perfect fit for another revenge-fuelled action story like “The Last Ronin.”

Paramount just last year released “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” which is officially getting a follow-up installment seemingly focused on the Shredder becoming the main antagonist. So, it’s a little odd the studio is going all-in on an R-rated film that will likely be set in an entirely different universe from these animated movies that have already successfully rebooted the Ninja Turtles for a new generation.

Then again, the original comics had graphic violence, and the movies mostly came about because of the toyline and cartoon series being massively popular with children. A similar demographic continues to support the franchise, and I’m sure having an R-rated movie alongside one for kids might become a bit confusing to audiences, potentially more so to parents.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ Sequel Officially Coming To Theaters On October 9, 2026

It was announced by Paramount Pictures that their follow-up to the acclaimed animated film “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” would be swinging onto the big screen on October 9, 2026, and is expected to see the return of director Jeff Rowe. The last film focused on a group of mutant baddies led by Superfly that attempted to turn all the creatures on the planet into mutants and ended with the tease of Shredder becoming the sequel’s antagonist.

Shredder would be expected to scoop up Bebop and Rocksteady as his own mutant minions like in previous animated incarnations alongside bringing back the Foot Clan, his group of masked ninja henchmen that are easily beaten up by the Turtles. With a connection to T.C.R.I. executive Cynthia Utrom could be bankrolled by the company to capture our heroes in the next film. “Mutant Mayhem” altered the origins of the turtles and Splinter, so, we should expect a new take on Shredder and the Foot too.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Mondo Gecko joins the roster as he was a standout in the first installment. There is also the possibility that the sequel could include characters such as Casey Jones, the heroic samurai rabbit Miyamoto Usagi, the evil alien Krang with his Technodome, and the dinosaur-like alien species Triceratons.

The impressive voice cast consisted of Nicolas Cantu (Leonardo), Sharon Brown Jr. (Mikey), Micah Abbey (Donnie), Brady Noon (Raph), Jackie Chan (Splinter), Ayo Edebiri (April), Ice Cube (Superfly), Seth Rogen (Bebop), John Cena (Rocksteady), Paul Rudd (Mondo Gecko), Rose Byrne (Leatherhead), Post Malone (Ray Fillet), Hannibal Buress (Genghis Frog), Natasia Demetriou (Wing Nut), Maya Rudolph (Cynthia Utrom), and Giancarlo Esposito (Baxter Stockman).

SOURCE: PARAMOUNT PICTURES

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‘Top Gun 3’ In The Works At Paramount With Director Joseph Kosinski Reportedly Returning

In the wake of the news that Tom Cruise had secured a new non-exclusive deal with Warner Bros. to help develop, produce, and star in new films at the studios, it looks like more work might be done at Paramount Pictures. Puck News first reported that Paramount has hired “Top Gun: Maverick” co-writer Ehren Kruger to write “Top Gun 3” with The Hollywood Reporter adding that director Joseph Kosinski is also expected to be returning to direct the third installment in the franchise focused on Navy combat pilots.

The 2022 sequel took decades to come together and became the first billion-dollar hit for Tom Cruise by earning an impressive $1.5 billion at the global box office. Apparently, the aim here is to reunite Cruise with actors Miles Teller (Rooster) and Glen Powell (Hangman) in a new sequel.

In the most recent film, Maverick (Tom Cruise) who is now a test pilot is reluctantly forced by U.S. military brass to train a group of highly skilled pilots at the Top Gun school for an upcoming suicide mission in a fabricated country. Instead of letting the team fail, he insists on joining them despite being extremely long-in-the-tooth and about to be shown the door by the Navy after decades of disobedience.

Cruise is currently working alongside Christopher McQuarrie (Who contributed to the “Maverick” script) to finish up “Mission: Impossible 8.” That spy flick could be the action star’s final outing with that franchise for the foreseeable future. He’s also been putting together a reunion with Doug Liman (“Edge of Tomorrow”) for a space project at Universal Pictures that is expected to film sequences at the International Space Station, which is expected to be the next feature film he shoots once “MI8” is completed. We’re still awaiting official word on the status of “Edge of Tomorrow 2,” which has been in various development stages going back at least four years with Liman attached to direct, but there had been multiple scheduling conflicts due to Cruise’s commitments at Paramount.

We’ll see how long this development process will take since Cruise has a busy schedule that has now been increased by this new Warner Bros. deal that will add on projects that likely haven’t even been announced.

SOURCE: PUCK NEWS & THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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‘Star Trek’: Paramount Hires ‘Andor’ Director Toby Haynes For Mysterious Prequel Movie Penned By Seth Grahame-Smith

“Star Trek” is indeed coming back to the big screen after some major hiccups with some other projects such as Quentin Tarantino‘s film getting thrown into development limbo and the studio still trying to iron out what they’re doing with their fourth installment that once had Matt Shakman set to direct before moving on to do Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” reboot. A new report from Deadline has revealed that director Toby Haynes (“Andor”) and screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith have been selected by Paramount to make a new mysterious feature film set in the “Star Trek” universe.

While a synopsis and plot details aren’t being made public, the report claims the new film won’t be “Star Trek 4” but rather a story that takes place before the events of the 2009 reboot that had been directed by J.J. Abrams. We’ll likely know a bit more once the studio and folks involved start talking up the project in the press. Abrams’ production company is still going to be involved as Bad Robot is still named as being part of the producing team for the untitled movie.

More to come.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘The Saint’: Regé-Jean Page Replaces Chris Pine For Paramount’s Spy Reboot From Director Doug Liman

There has been a long-gestating remake of “The Saint” in the works at Paramount Pictures that previous had a popular TV series from the 1960s and a lesser-known feature film remake starring Val Kilmer (“Heat”) and helmed by Phillip Noyce (“Clear & Present Danger”) that released back in 1997. A new report from Deadline has revealed things are up and running again with Doug Liman (“Bourne Identity”) set to direct and actor Regé-Jean Page enlisted for the role of Simon Templar. A master of disguise, not that dissimilar to Ethan Hunt, who uses the names of Roman Catholic saints as his aliases while on various impossible missions.

The British actor will be replacing his “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” co-star Chris Pine (“Star Trek”), who had originally been attached to the remake back when Dexter Fletcher (“Eddie The Eagle”) was set to direct. Pine had previously attempted to restart the Jack Ryan film franchise for Paramount before his installment was unsuccessful and eventually the studio selected John Krasinski to lead the Amazon Prime series. So, Pine’s hiring was always a bit bizarre after their experience on “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.”

Page has recently dabbled in the spy genre playing a heel in The Russo Brothers’ Netflix action pic “The Gray Man,” but didn’t really get a chance to do much action in that one in comparison to the other actors in it.

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It’s maybe worth mentioning that Roger Moore, the original actor from the ’60s TV series would eventually take over the James Bond role in the early 1970s after Richard Lazenby decided not to return for more installments. Page (35) has been long considered by UK tabloids as a strong contender to become the next 007, although, EON/MGM have yet to announce who they’ll actually cast other than a desire to hire an actor in their 30s.

Here is the official synopsis for the 1997 incarnation:

Based on the popular spy series, this film follows suave international thief Simon Templar (Val Kilmer), who is contracted by Russian oil magnate Ivan Tretiak (Rade Serbedzija) to steal a formula for cold fusion. So Templar, nicknamed “The Saint” because of his use of Roman Catholic saints as aliases, finds scientist Dr. Emma Russell (Elisabeth Shue), seduces her, and steals the information. However, because the formula was incomplete, Tretiak now wants to kill Templar and kidnap Russell.

Like “Mission: Impossible,” “The Saint” has an earworm of a theme song that got reworked by Orbital for the 1997 film.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Martin Scorsese’s Western Crime Drama ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ Lands Global Wide Release On October 20

Many film fans are extremely excited about the prospect of a new Martin Scorsese film is just around the corner with “Killers of The Flower Moon” heading to theaters this fall and there has been an exciting development on that front. Today, it was announced by Apple that the film will no longer have a limited release date as that has since been replaced with a global-wide release on October 20. Securing audiences will be able to see the film in a theatrical setting and that includes the IMAX format, before its streaming debut on Apple TV+ later on.

Just yesterday, it was revealed by “Killers of The Moon” author David Grann that the next film Scorsese will be making is an adaptation of Grann’s shipwreck novel “The Wager” which already has the backing of Apple Original Films and will see Marty’s longtime muse DiCaprio take the lead role for their seventh movie together.

At the turn of the 20th century, oil brought a fortune to the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight. The wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers, who manipulated, extorted, and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder. Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), “Killers of the Flower Moon” is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal. Also starring Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, and Jillian Dion, Killers of the Flower Moon is directed by Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Eric Roth and Scorsese, based on David Grann’s best-selling book.

Check out the new posters Apple released below as the announcement was made on Twitter.

SOURCE: APPLE

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Oscar-Winning Composers Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross Will Score ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’

In early August, Paramount is releasing the latest incarnation of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” with their all-new animated film “Mutant Mayhem.” They’ve also put together one hell of a voice cast but that isn’t the only big draw for the upcoming soft-reboot as they’ve enlisted some series talent to help put the film’s score together.

After reports (via RollingStone and PitchFork) that iconic skateboarder Tony Hawk leaked the news about Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“Watchmen”) working on the film’s score on a podcast. It was later backed-up by both director Jeff Rowe and producer/co-writer Seth Rogen on their official social media account expressing their excitement having the two Oscar-winners composing the score.

The film’s supporting cast is rather spectacular with Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Jackie Chan as Splinter, Rogen as Bebop, John Cena as Rocksteady, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog, Ice Cube as Superfly, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom, and Post Malone as Ray Fillet. Alongside the youngsters tapped to voice the turtles such as Micah Abbey as Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, and Brady Noon as Raphael.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is set to be released in theaters on August 2 and is starting to look like it might end up becoming a good contender for best animated film nominations. This idea stems from Rowe’s last effort “The Mitchells vs The Machines” landing an Oscar nomination in 2022 and in 2021 Reznor/Ross’ film “Soul” from Pixar earned them awards statues for Best Score alongside fellow composer Jon Batiste.

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, after years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.

SOURCE: JEFF ROWE/SETH ROGEN

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Jeff Nichols Bails On ‘A Quiet Place’ Spinoff Movie To Focus On Another Sci-Fi Project At Paramount

Director Jeff Nicholas (Mud, Midnight Special) has been trying to help studios get IP film projects off-the-ground with his longtime gestating remake of the James Caan-led sci-fi buddy cop action flick Alien Nation for 20th Century Studios before Disney bought them, he since has been trying to convince them to pick up a television incarnation (the original film spawned a TV show) after they passed on the movie.

He then moved on to Paramount Pictures and was assigned to write/direct a third film in the A Quiet Place franchise, the project being described more of a spinoff than a direct sequel to the last one. However, according to Deadline, he’s exiting that one too.

The report says he’ll instead focus on his other sci-fi project at Paramount that was first announced over the summer without any clear plot details or a synopsis. Exiting the spinoff on good terms and the studio is now seeking a replacement.

Hopefully, Nicholas is able to actually make a movie soon because it’s starting to get weird seeing him struggle to get projects made when he’s so talented.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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‘Mission: Impossible 7’ Has Finally Wrapped After A Long & Exhausting Shoot

Christopher McQuarrie has taken to Instagram to announce that they’ve finally finished production on Mission: Impossible 7 starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. This after almost a year and a half of filming with various pauses/hiccups due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mission: Impossible 7 is part one of a two part story with Mission: Impossible 8 expected to shoot a some point, but likely won’t get going anytime soon as it was reported that it will no-longer shoot back-to-back. Given the lengthy production on this film, we shouldn’t be surprised.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTrSQEas8-U/

The rest of the sequel’s cast includes Esai Morales, Rebecca Ferguson (Dune), Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger), Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby (Hobbs & Shaw), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.2), Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire), Henry Czerny (Mission: Impossible, Clear & Present Danger), Cary Elwes (Saw, Stranger Things), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones, Obi-Wan Kenobi), Rob Delaney (Deadpool 2), Charles Parnell (The Last Ship), and British character actor Mark Gatiss (Sherlock).

Filming took place in London, Rome, Abu Dhabi, and Norway.

Paramount Pictures recently bumped the film’s release date to September 30, 2022 after putting Top Gun: Maverick in it’s previous spot of May 27, 2022.

SOURCE: CHRISTOPHER MCQUARRIE