Welcome to Development Hell, the fiery pit into which we fling recent developments in casting, distribution, and everything else that’s new and mildly interesting in the Boschian phantasmagoria of the entertainment industry.
We usually like to drop in some kind of reference to the hottest news of the day in this intro paragraph, but we’d rather not spend any additional time today thinking about the Supreme Court or Donald Buttface’s butt face. Anyway, here’s some pop culture news:
- The last information we got about HBO’s Watchmen adaptation came from some leaked set photos that clearly indicated at least some of it would take place after the comic, with signs leading citizens to a “squid shelter” and a newspaper headline indicating that Adrian Vedit—the book’s secret villain—has died. Today, HBO has announced that Jeremy Irons has been cast in a “lead role” in the show, supposedly as the “aging and imperious lord of a British manor.” That doesn’t connect to anyone from the original comic, just like all of the previous casting announcements, which leads credence to Damon Lindelof’s assurance that this will be a “remixed” version of the story and not a straight sequel (whatever that means). [via Deadline]
- Lindsay Lohan says she’s developing a new reality show for MTV about her chain of international beach clubs, which is a thing we didn’t know she had until today. We don’t know if MTV is actually involved or if she’s just picturing it as an MTV-friendly concept, but it’ll apparently be like Vanderpump Rules—just with the self-described “normal” Lohan running things instead of those lovable fuck-ups. [via The New York Times]
- Will Smith is now the co-owner of a German movie distribution company. There’s not really a joke here, it’s just a pretty weird thing. We don’t know how much Smith paid, but we do know that the Smith Family Circle company he runs with Jada Pinkett Smith bought German company Telepool GmbH with director Marc Forster’s Zurich-based Elysian Fields. [via Deadline]
- All The Money In The World wasn’t enough Getty family drama for us here in the United States, which is why we also got Danny Boyle’s FX show Trust—which also deals with the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III but with Donald Sutherland as the elder John Paul Getty. Now, our mates across the pond will get to enjoy that alternate take on the story as well, with the BBC picking up the rights to Trust. [via Variety]
- Remember when Donald Buttface said “no puppet, you’re the puppet” during one of the debates? Well, get to think about that all over again because Fox is developing an American version of Les Guignols, a satirical puppet show that ended its 30-year run in France just last week. It sounds like the show will have a political angle, so we’ll definitely get to see a puppet Buttface, but it will also be about pop culture in general. [via Variety]
- Streaming platforms are totally legitimate these days, and there’s no shame in a project moving from a traditional network to an internet network. Make sure to keep that in mind when we tell you that On Becoming A God In Central Florida—a dark comedy about a water park employee who climbs to the top of a pyramid scheme—has moved from AMC to YouTube. There’s nothing wrong with that, if only because the show will star Kirsten Dunst and that’s cool. [via Vulture]
- Rocket Raccoon and Nebula were the only members of the Guardians left standing at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, but James Gunn has turned a draft of the script for Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 in to Marvel Studios anyway. Comic book deaths always stick, so the same is probably true for comic book movies, which means we can’t possibly imagine any way for the old gang to come back in Avengers 4. Guardians 3, a.k.a. the Rocket Raccoon movie, will start filming early next year. [via Collider]
- It: Chapter 2 has found its grown-up bully. Teach Grant has signed on to play adult Henry Bowers in Andy Muschietti’s sequel, joining Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader (among others). You may know Grant from Damnation or Netflix’s Altered Carbon. [via Variety]
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