As the industry heads into the long weekend with Thanksgiving on Thursday, we offer one last collection of news bits from around Hollywood, many involving new projects that have just been announced.
For instance, according to Deadline‘s Justin Kroll, Oscar-winning filmmaker Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) has been attached to direct and oversee a new take on Jason Bourne for Universal Pictures. It’s very early in development for this project with no one else signed on to it, although reportedly, Matt Damon would be the next person they reach out to, in order to see if he would return to the franchise. There are probably many pieces that need to fall into place for that to happen, but considering how successful the franchise has been for Universal, this could be an important project to get off the ground. The last Jason Bourne feature in 2016 reunited Damon with Oscar-nominated filmmakers Paul Greengrass, and it grossed $416.2 million worldwide, opening with $59.1 million in North America.
Meanwhile, Paramount is trying to revive The Saint, the ’60s British spy-thriller series starring a pre-Bond Roger Moore as Simon Templar, and filmmaker Doug Liman has just come on board to direct the reboot, which will star Regé-Jean Page from Bridgerton. The script is being written by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani, based both on Leslie Charteris‘ 1920’s book series and the television series it spawned, with Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Brad Krevoy producing, along with a credit for late producer, Robert Evans. The last adaptation of The Saint was a 2017 TV movie, starring Adam Rayner, and it was 20 years prior when Val Kilmer portrayed Templar in the property’s last theatrical release, which grossed $169.4 million worldwide but cost $90 million to make.
Another big-name producer, Irwin Winkler, attended an awards consideration panel for MGM Amazon‘s hit boxing drama, Creed III, over the weekend, where he confirmed that Creed IV is already in the works with star Michael B. Jordan planning to return to direct that installment as well. Creed III grossed $275 million globally after opening in March.
“We have a really good story, a really good plot,” Winkler said during the panel. “We got a little delayed because of the strikes, but about a year from now we’re going into pre-production.”
“He did such a great job — he was comfortable with the camera,” Winkler added, confirming that Jordan would indeed direct again, as well as star.
Jordan Peele is developing a reboot on the Wes Craven 1991 horror film, The People Under the Stairs, and Doom Patrol writer Ezra Claytan Daniels has been brought on to pen the script. Peele will produce with Win Rosenfeld through Monkeypaw Productions first look deal at Universal. Craven wrote and directed the original movie for Universal, following Brandon Adams‘ “Fool,” who breaks into the home of his family’s greedy landlords, only to discovered a horrifying scene of mutilated boys being kept under the stairs, attempting to escape with their daughter Alice (played by A.J. Langer). The People Under the Stairs would be Monkeypaw’s second horror remake with Universal, following 2021’s Candyman, directed by The Marvels helmer, Nia DaCosta. That movie grossed $61.2 million domestically and $77.4 million worldwide, undoubtedly hindered by the pandemic.
Britain’s Empire Magazine has released its 2024 preview issue, and it includes two first look images from movies opening next year, one from Robert Eggers‘ gothic horror remake of the classic vampire tale, Nosferatu; the second a shot of Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley in the upcoming Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley, his return to that character for the first time in 30 years.
After shifting Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune Vol. 2 back to 2024, leaving November as a bit of a theatrical wasteland, Warner Bros has decided to move the sci-fi sequel forward two weeks, to take the place of Universal’s The Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, which moved to early May last week. Dune has snapped up the latter’s original March 1, 2024 release date to presumably snag those lucrative IMAX screens for a couple extra weeks.
Focus Features also announced the release date for its third movie directed by Australian-Macedonian filmmaker Goran Stolevski (You Won’t Be Alone, Of An Age) as his new film, Housekeeping for Beginners, has been selected by North Macedonia as its International Oscar submission. Focus will release the movie on Jan. 26, 2024 following its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September. It’s close enough to Sundance that it makes one wonder if it might make its North American debut there.
Some news out of Seven Bucks Productions, the production company co-founded by Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia, it announced earlier in the week that it expanded its executive team by adding Scott Landsman and Melissa Fried, as Head of Television and VP of Film Development & Production, respectively, announced by Seven Bucks President of Production Hiram Garcia, stating, “This is an extremely exciting moment for Seven Bucks, as we expand our team with two top-quality executives. Scott has consistently shown his ability to create some of television’s most appealing shows, and his expertise will be invaluable as Seven Bucks continues to scale its television endeavors. On the film side, Melissa’s brilliant instincts on content and her unique ability to partner with and cultivate visionary creators will further strengthen our blockbuster slate. Taken together, these additions represent a major step for Seven Bucks toward continuing the fantastic growth we’ve achieved since our launch roughly a decade ago.”
We head into the weekend with new theatrical releases from Disney in the animated Wish, and the latest from Ridley Scott, his historic epic, Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby. Emerald Fennell‘s Saltburn will also expand nationwide on Wednesday, and you can read reviews of each by clicking on the title.
Not to be confused with the Ted prequel series for Peacock announced last week, Lionsgate released the first trailer for its Blumhouse horror film, Imaginary, which will hit theaters on March 8, starring DeWanda Wise and Tom Payne.
Deadline provided additional reporting for this feature.
