Yet another Universal Pictures film has been given an release delay as Jurassic World: Dominion has been pushed from June 11th, 2021 to June 10th, 2022.
Director Colin Trevorrow said the following about the release being pushed an entire year.
TREVORROW: “For the past three months, I’ve worked with an extraordinary cast and crew on a film we can’t wait to share with the world. Even though we’ll have to wait a bit longer, it will all be worth it. Let’s stay healthy and take care of each other until then.”
The studio also released new teaser poster.
Filming had been taking place in Vancouver, London, and Malta.
Deadline is reporting actor Ryan Gosling has signed on to star in an untitled stuntman drama for Universal Pictures that will be directed by David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 3) from a script penned by Drew Pearce (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Iron Man 3, Hotel Artemis, Hobbs & Shaw).
Plot details on the project are currently tight-lipped but Ryan previously played a stuntman in the thriller Drive for director Nicolas Winding Refn.
Universal landed the project with a seven-figure deal after reported interest from Netflix, Paramount Pictures, and MGM Studios.
Leitch is currently making the Brad Pitt action flick Bullet Train for Sony Pictures.
Gosling recently attached himself to a new Wolfman film from Invisible Man writer/director Leigh Whannell that is at Universal Pictures as well.
Ryan is also set to co-star with Captain America actor Chris Evans on the Netflix spy thriller The Gray Man directed by The Russo Brothers, one of the most expensive films ever produced at the streaming service.
Universal Pictures has officially moved their new Candyman movie from Captain Marvel 2 director Nia DaCosta to unnamed spot in 2021 after a previous release date of October 16th. The move is likely due to the weak box office as theaters have slowly reopened and allows Candyman to have a theatrical release.
DACOSTA: “We made Candyman to be seen in theaters. Not just for the spectacle but because the film is about community and stories–how they shape each other, how they shape us. It’s about the collective experience of trauma and joy, suffering and triumph, and the stories we tell around it.”
“We wanted the horror and humanity of Candyman to be experienced in a collective, a community, so we’re pushing Candyman to next year, to ensure that everyone can see the film, in theaters, and share in that experience.”
The film has been called a “spiritual sequel” while I was able to dig up details about Candyman which includes them making the events of the original film canon in this new installment.
We’ll have to wait and see how long we’ll be expected to wait for the horror movie.
CANDYMAN – For as long as residents can remember, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood were terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror. In present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II; HBO’s Watchmen, Us) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris; If Beale Street Could Talk, The Photograph), move into a luxury loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by upwardly mobile millennials. With Anthony’s painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini Green old-timer (Colman Domingo; HBO’s Euphoria, Assassination Nation) exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman. Anxious to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifying wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.
Scott Derrickson Teases Remaking John Carpenter’s ‘They Live’ – Matt Reeves Almost Made A Reboot Of The Film For Universal
Yesterday there was an update that John Carpenter and Blumhouse would be working together on an upcoming remake of The Thing based on the lost manuscript Frozen Hell, the longer original version of Who Goes There? written by John W. Campbell.
It was interesting to see another John Carpenter remake being brought-up by Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson. He says his kids are trying to convince him to remake the 1988 film They Live starring Roddy Piper and Kieth David. The film was a political satire covering classism wrapped around an alien invasion action film.
My 17-year-old is trying to convince me to pursue a remake of THEY LIVE.
— N O S ⋊ Ɔ I ᴚ ᴚ Ǝ ᗡ ⊥ ⊥ O Ɔ S (@scottderrickson) August 22, 2020
They Live has seen a newfound relevancy given what is currently going on in the United States with violence and misinformation being used to pacify citizens questioning authority, the system, and current leadership. It was a direct product and commentary of the Ronald Reagan era from Carpenter.
THEY LIVE – Nada (Roddy Piper), a wanderer without meaning in his life, discovers a pair of sunglasses capable of showing the world the way it truly is. As he walks the streets of Los Angeles, Nada notices that both the media and the government are comprised of subliminal messages meant to keep the population subdued and that most of the social elite are skull-faced aliens bent on world domination. With this shocking discovery, Nada fights to free humanity from the mind-controlling aliens.
Scott recently exited Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness and is now attached to make a sequel to Jim Henson’s Labyrinth.
Like The Thing, They Live was an adaptation of an existing science fiction story turned into a screenplay by John Carpenter. In the case of They Live, it was loosely based on Ray Nelson’s short story Eight O’Clock In The Morning.
While we’re not sure of any active plans for a reboot, there have been attempts in the past with Universal Pictures hiring Matt Reeves in 2011 to both write and direct the project. Reeves seemingly being hired after he successfully did an English remake of the Swedish vampire film Let The Right One In with his version Let Me In.
Of course, Reeves ended up making Dawn of The Planet of The Apes and War For The Planet of The Apes for 20th Century Fox instead of tackling a They Live remake for Universal Pictures. He’s currently in production on The Batman reboot in England which recently dropped an impressive teaser trailer cobbled together with footage from a shoot that was only 25-30% complete when it was placed on hiatus due to the pandemic.
It doesn’t seem like Reeves is in any position to return to the They Live reboot given that he’s been talking about complete a Batman trilogy with Robert Pattinson’s incarnation of the DC Comics hero.
There is a strong chance that Universal, Blumhouse, and John Carpenter could eventually make a deal for They Live after reviving Halloween and is expected to remake The Thing as well.
Variety is reporting that Universal and Blumhouse are indeed developing a reboot of the classic science fiction horror film The Thing and are getting John Carpenter involved, not unlike with their recent revivals of the Halloween franchise.
This isn’t exactly new information, however, John Carpenter’s reported involvement certainly is. What his exact role on the project will be isn’t clear but becoming an executive producer and consultant would be an excellent bet to make.
Back in January, it was announced by John Betancourt that Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions were aiming to fast-track a new version/remake of The Thing based on the lost manuscript version Frozen Hell, which is much longer and predates the original novella Who Goes There? from author John W. Campbell Jr.
“In 1938, acclaimed science fiction author John W. Campbell published the novella Who Goes There?, about a team of scientists in Antarctica who discover and are terrorized by a monstrous, shape-shifting alien entity. The story would later be adapted into John Carpenter’s iconic movie The Thing (following an earlier film adaptation in 1951). The published novella was actually an abridged version of Campbell’s original story, called Frozen Hell, which had to be shortened for publication. The Frozen Hell manuscript remained unknown and unpublished for decades, and it was only recently rediscovered.”
The novella was adapted into two films with John’s 1982 film The Thing and 1951’s The Thing From Another World, there was also a disastrous prequel to 1982 film released in 2011 which was a commercial flop for Universal and famously ruined practical effects by painting CGI all over it.
Variety also points out that Carpenter revealed talks with Blumhouse and their plan to reboot The Thing has taken place during a Q&A at the Fantasia International Film Festival.
CARPENTER: “I have? I don’t know about that, but we’ve talked about — I think he’s going to be working on The Thing, rebooting ‘The Thing.’ I’m involved with that, maybe. Down the road.”
It was suggested back in January it was being fast-tracked but a screenwriter isn’t being named in this new report.
The Carpenter film is considered the apex of practical special effects.
THE THING – In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings and canines in the camp and they discover that the beast can assume the shape of its victims. A resourceful helicopter pilot (Kurt Russell) and the camp doctor (Richard Dysart) lead the camp crew in a desperate, gory battle against the vicious creature before it picks them all off, one by one.
While speaking with Collider to help promote the upcoming horror film Antlers, producer Guillermo del Toro revealed that he is still extremely keen on making feature films based on the H.P. Lovecraft story At The Mountains of Madness and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Teasing he’d like to make a trilogy about the latter.
DEL TORO: “I’ve always imagined it as a two to three-part story, because in order to encompass the book you have to change points of view and it’s a complex exercise.”
Both projects had been in various development stages in the past before Guillmero was ultimately pulled away from those films to focus on other stuff. Seemingly, when he was developing At The Mountains of Madness it got the furthest along as Tom Cruise and his Hellboy actor Ron Perlman had been attached for roles until the budgetary issues with Universal Pictures put the horror project on ice for the foreseeable future.
The director was hellbent that Mountains needed to be R-rated and was likely another issue between himself at the studio.
Universal had been tinkering with trying to resurrect their Universal Monsters with a Bride of Frankenstein reboot starring Oscar-winners Angelina Jolie and Javier Bardem. The studio had been reportedly courting new directors which included Sam Raimi before he took over duties from Scott Derrickson on Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness.
Here is del Toro speaking about Bride of Frankenstein back in 2012 at the Academy screening series A Monstrous Centennial: Universal’s Legacy of Horror at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Guillermo is expected to resume filming on his period thriller Nightmare Alley this fall in Toronto and had been previously attached to direct a remake of the sci-fi film Fantastic Voyage for a pre-Disney owned 20th Century Studios.
Variety is reporting that Universal Pictures is currently in negotiations to distribute the untitled science fiction action film from director Doug Liman (American Made, Edge of Tomorrow) and starring Tom Cruise, the eye-grabbing gimmick of the film is that it will be shot in space something that really hasn’t been done with a studio blockbuster.
They mention that the budget could be over $200 million which is expected given that the costs involved with shooting in space, something that really hasn’t been undertaken when it comes to a narrative studio feature film. Cruise himself could end up earning something in the range of $30-60 million.
Details about the movie are scarce but it’s a given that it will be in the science fiction genre and we likely won’t get an official synopsis until an official deal is done.
Tom and Doug had also been trying to made a sequel to Edge of Tomorrow, but it doesn’t seem that will be happening anytime soon despite Liman’s optimistic statements made last year. Cruise is expected to resume filming on Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8 for Paramount Pictures soon in the United Kingdom.
When they plan on shooting the untitled project is currently a mystery.
It looks like Blumhouse and Universal Pictures has found the director for their upcoming Wolfman reboot starring Canadian actor Ryan Gosling (Blade Runner 2049).
Deadline reports that Leigh Whannell has been tapped and is currently negotiating to direct.
Leigh gave Universal their post-Dark Universe hit with Universal Monsters character The Invisible Man, the modern remake of the H.G. Wells story. That success likely is behind the reason why Universal/Blumhouse wanted him to tackle another iconic monster like the wolfman.
Whannell wrote the treatment with Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo tackling the script.
There had been some previous comparisons to thriller Nightcrawler and will have a modern setting.
When filming is expected to begin is a little unclear.
Deadline is reporting that Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow is already putting together another film at Universal Pictures after he completes Jurassic World: Dominion (expected to resume production next month at Pinewood Studios UK), which will seemingly stick to genre film making.
The project titled Atlantis is a thriller that will focus on the mythical lost society that has advanced technology. It’s story was development by Colin and Bridge of Spies screenwriter Matt Charman with a script penned by Dante Harper.
Atlantis is set on a lost continent in the Indian Ocean between Africa, India and Oceania. It is a multicultural civilization with its own advanced technology.
Atlantis has been done a lot in pop-culture and most recently was explored in James Wan’s DC Comics film Aquaman. There is expectation that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will also tackle their own version of Atlantis with the character Namor The Sub-Mariner.
Colin had been originally hired to write and direct the final installment of the new Star Wars trilogy before he exited over creative differences and his version Duel of The Fates didn’t make the rounds online until after the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Dante’s credits include the original Edge of Tomorrow script, worked on Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, and most recently he tackled Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One follow-up Forever.
Trevorrow’s Metronome Film Co. will produce.
Jurassic World: Dominion was originally set to be released on June 11th, 2021 but delays might bump the sequel to a later date.
Deadline has revealed that Universal Pictures has optioned the film rights to the Adrian McKinty novel The Chain with Edgar Wright set to direct and Jane Goldman hired to adapt the book into a script.
The Chain tells the story of Rachel, who learns that her 11-year-old daughter has been kidnapped. The only way to get her back is to kidnap another child. Her daughter will be released only when that next victim’s parents kidnap another child. If Rachel doesn’t kidnap another child, or if that child’s parents don’t kidnap a child, her daughter will be murdered. She is now part of The Chain, a terrifying and meticulous chain letter-like kidnapping scheme that turns parents from victims into criminals.
Wright is set to release his psychological horror film Last Night In Soho starring Anya Taylor-Joy on April 23rd, 2021, and is also developing the sci-fi film based on the novel Set Heart To Five from Simon Stephenson.
Jane is best known for films such as Stardust, X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The King’s Man, and had been hired as the showrunner for the first Game of Thrones prequel spinoff series that didn’t move forward beyond a pilot episode.
It’ll be interesting to see if Edgar ever gets around to making his Baby Driver sequel because he keeps signing on for other projects in the meantime.
THE RONIN 