MON 2.22.21: Paramount re-doing THE RUNNING MAN with Edgar Wright
Brett Ratner gets directing gig / NETFLIX Zack Snyder zombie movie gets a date / Charlize + Paul Feig movie and more.
Mornin! Here’s the Hollywood + MediaBiz news to know on MONDAY 2.22.2021.
Where the internet pointed out that “The Simpsons” pretty much predicted the future once again, this time with Ted Cruz.
🎧 MUSIC TO READ BY
New GREEN DAY song - “Here Comes the Shock” YouTube / Spotify / Apple Music
All songs are on this Playlist if you need new tunes:
And if you want this info while driving… it goes up as a podcast by about 11am.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
PARAMOUNT re-doing “The Running Man” with Edgar Wright directing
Will go back to Stephen King… er “Richard Bachman” book source for a new take vs. a re-do of the 1987 Arnold movie.
Edgar co-writing with Michael Bacall (“Scott Pilgrim…”). Simon Kinberg producing. /Deadline
NETFLIX sets Charlize Theron & Kerry Washington to headline “The School for Good & Evil”
Paul Feig directing, based on the popular book series. Currently shooting in Belfast.
Kerry’s playing “Professor Dovey” and Charlize is “Lady Lesso” for any book fans out there. /Variety
LIONSGATE sets Rachel McAdams for Judy Blume movie “Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret”
Abby Ryder Fortson (daughter in “Ant Man” movies) to play "Margaret”. Rachel playing the mom, “Barbara”. Shoot begins in April. /EW
BOX OFFICE:
“The Croods 2” : $1.7 million (crosses $50 mil US)
“The Little Things” : $1.2 million ($12 mil US)
“Judas & the Black Messiah” : $1 million ($3.3 mil US)
“Nomadland” opened to $500k, playing in about half of open US theaters.
MEANWHILE IN CHINA… “Hi, Mom” took in $134 million this weekend. Their top 2 films (produced in China) have taken in $1.2 billion over the past 2 weeks.
ALSO IN MOVIES
Brett Ratner’s gonna direct a Milli Vanilli biopic for MILLENIUM. His Last movie was 2014 flop “Hercules”. It’s been almost 4 years since his sexual harrassment claims surfaced/WB ended his deal. /Deadline
NETFLIX sets Tom Hardy for “Havoc” - Next movie from Gareth Evans (“The Raid”). Tom plays a detective unraveling a web of corruption after a drug deal goes bad. Will shoot this Summer. /THR
Questlove sets new docu on Sly Stone. MRC producing via their new documentary arm MRC Non-Fiction. /THR
NETFLIX sets May 21 for new Zack Snyder movie “Army of the Dead” - Mercinaries go to a zombie stricken Vegas to pull of a heist. /Deadline
WB sets Sept 3 release date for “Reminiscence” in theaters & HBOMAX. Hugh Jackman, Thandie Newton action-thriller from Lisa Joy (“Westworld”). /Variety
EXECUTIVE SUITE:
New Production execs hired at 20th CENTURY STUDIOS. /Variety
Julian Noble now officially UNIVERSAL’s new Head of Int’l Marketing. /Deadline
📺 THE TV SET
JJ Abrams sets new HBOMAX series “Subject to Change”
College student signs up for a clinical trial, that kicks off a mind & reality-bending adventure. So it’s a Spring Break show, cool.
JJ writing pilot, Jennifer Yale (“Outlander”) will be showrunner.
THR coverage also lists the other shows BAD ROBOT has put in motion at WARNER MEDIA since his $500 million deal started - for those of you playing along at home.
Benedict Cumberbatch signs on to limited series update of “The 39 Steps”
From Mark L. Smith, writer of “The Revenant”. ANONYMOUS CONTENT producing, project now going out to networks/streamers. /Deadline
ALSO IN TV
EMMYS agree to keep Talk and Sketch categories separate. /Variety
PEACOCK’S “Amber Ruffin Show” gets test in 130am Friday night rerun slots for “A Little Late with Lily Singh” the next 2 weeks. /Variety
“South Park” returning to COMEDY CENTRAL on March 10 with 1 hour Pandemic special. Which I guess will then stream…. on HBOMAX? I mean, it’s not like PARAMOUNT is launching a streaming service that same week or something.
Chris D’Elia puts out 10 minute… “explainer” video (?) about the claims against him. /THR
Nick Jonas hosting + music guest for SNL this week.
JEOPARDY shifts guest hosts today, EP Mike Richards does this week.
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
DISCOVERY+ to hit 12 million subscribers worldwide by next week
They added 7-8 million subscribers since the US launch in early January.
No breakout of how many of those are people who get it free thru their Verizon mobile subscription. /Deadline
YOUTUBE TV brings back 1980’s CableTV tactics to sell PayTV channels
Add HBOMAX, SHOWTIME and STARZ for $30 a month onto your $65/month YOUTUBE TV subscription. A $5 savings, but sadly no CABLEVISION tote bag.
Hmm. $95/month for a cable TV package plus 3 Premium channels. Does the cable business feel like that scene in “Terminator 2” where Robert Patrick gets his head blown off… and then completely reforms, or just me? /The Verge
SPEAKING OF WHICH… DISH Satellite TV service lost another 130k customers from Oct thru Dec. Now has 8.5 mil. /Deadline
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
APPLE TV+ teaser for “The Mosquito Coast” series. Definitely a different feel from the Harrison Ford movie… Premieres April 30th.
AMAZON PRIME Robert Kirkman animated series “Invincible”. Steven Yeun voices a 17 year old with a superhero dad (JK Simmons), whose legacy… may not be as it seems. Other voice talent: Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Sandra Oh and… a bunch of other big names. First 3 episodes drop Fri March 26th.
APPLE TV+ teaser for “Mythic Quest” season 2. Debuts May 7th.
👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
“The Knick” is finally on HBO MAX! Ok yes, I worked on this show at CINEMAX so I’m biased but - WATCH these 2 seasons! All shot by Steven Soderbergh. Clive Owen and Andre Holland: Medicine, Culture and Race during turn of 1900s NYC - a time when Cocaine was thought to have legit medicinal purposes. Yeah that was fun. Good thing nothing like that has happened since. #Oxycontin.
I’d love to put the link here… but it doesn’t come up in a basic Google search, and is nowhere to be found on the HBOMax.com site. Even on their “New In February” list. And the website has NO “Search” function. Come on guys….
That’s all ya’ll - if you like the newsletter, share it with your team/co-workers
And if you’re feeling generous on a Monday - Hit the like/heart icon below my name. The Substack platform loves to see hearts. Have a great day at school - Hope the kids are nice. On Zoom.
-Sean McNulty