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.
It’s hot as Hell out there today, so we might as well try to keep our minds off the heat by focusing on the latest twists and turns of Hollywood, from a veteran comic who won’t let you remember, to the latest cool news from the M. Night Shyamalan Cinematic Universe.
- The Men In Black reboot/spinoff/etc. continues to overload itself with excellent talent, with The Wrap reporting that Kumail Nanjiani and Rafe Spall (from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) have just been added to the June 2019 film. They join a cast that already includes stars Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Liam Neeson.
- Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen pilot at HBO continues to accrue stars whose roles we can’t even begin to guess, because of the whole “remix” approach he’s taking to the Alan Moore-based project. Per Deadline, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sara Vickers have joined the show’s cast, playing superheroes, or maybe fictional pirates, or maybe just some people hanging out on the street. Who knows? Remix!
- Pixar’s continuing its efforts to branch out into more short films (and also maybe more female representation among its ranks); according to Slashfilm, the studio just announced the next offering from its experimental short films program, Kristen Lester’s Purl. (It’s about a sentient ball of yarn, obviously.)
- Star Trek: Discovery continues to shake up and redefine its creative team in the wake of losing another set of showrunners, with The Closer creator James Duff signing on to help Alex Kurtzman run the show’s writer’s room. Duff previously wrote for the franchise in the form of a first-season Enterprise episode, “Fortunate Son”. [via Deadline]
- M. Night Shyamalan, never a guy to shy away from a provocative image, has released the first poster for his upcoming Unbreakable/Split sequel, Glass. The image contrasts the “superhero/villain” sides of Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy, and Bruce Willis’ characters with their actual reduced circumstances, tying in the color motifs that made Unbreakable such a low-key visual treat. [via Collider]
- ITV/PBS drama Grantchester has added Outlander’s Tom Brittney to its cast, replacing former star James Norton. Like Norton’s character, Brittney will be playing a crime-solving religious leader, working alongside a police detective in 1950s England. [via Deadline]
- Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Entertainment—through which he runs most of his increasingly staggering number of film and TV projects—has added a new cultural executive to its ranks. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Kamil Oshundara has joined the company in a role designed to do academic and cultural research in order to ensure the company’s productions are “critically conscious media”.
- Finally, we’ve got news on a new horror film that sounds especially horrifying, not because of any exaggerated supernatural elements, but for how plausible it is: Deadline reports that Blumhouse and Automatik are producing Run Sweetheart Run, from Boundaries director Shana Feste. The film’s premise is simple: A woman is forced to walk home at night after a blind date turns violent, with the guy in question in pursuit. Ugh.
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