There’s a lot of breaking news in Hollywood happening every minute. In the age of the blockbuster, it’s easy for some smaller movie and television news to slip through the crack. Last Week in Hollywood is our new weekly series highlighting all the interesting news from the last week that we thought didn’t warrant its own post, but was still worth mentioning. It’s less personal opinions and more a hearty roundup of what you might have missed.
Michael Sarnoski to Direct A Quiet Place Spin-Off
Paramount Pictures has hired Pig director Michael Sarnoski to direct the next instalment in the A Quiet Place franchise. Sarnoski is currently in negotiations, but if brought on he would also pen the script.
Jeff Nichols was previously set to direct the Quiet Place spin-off film, but he left the project in October of 2021. Not much is known about the spin-off other than it is based on an idea from John Krasinski and will not focus on the main characters from the first two films in the horror franchise.
Paramount Pictures Announces To Catch a Thief Remake
Eileen Jones (Prodigal Son) is set to write the remake of the classic thriller To Catch a Thief for Paramount Pictures. Additionally, Gal Gadot is attached to star in and produce the film.
Plot details on the remake are unknown at this time. The original 1955 film was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and “starred Cary Grant as a former thief who must prove his innocence after being suspected of returning to his former occupation.”
Denzel Washington Confirms Equalizer 3 Talks
During a recent interview with Collider, Denzel Washington revealed that a third Equalizer film had been written. He said:
“They have written the third ‘Equalizer,’ so I’m scheduled to do that. So I gotta get in shape and start beating people up again. I get to beat people up again. ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ and then going and beating some people up. Can’t get any better, right?”
Additionally, Antoine Fuqua, who directed the first two films, is apparently in negotiations to return to direct the third film. Fuqua previously stated back in 2018 that he would like to take Washington’s Robert McCall overseas to have him enact some international vigilante justice.
Disney+ Working on The Santa Clause Sequel Series
Tim Allen is set to star in and executive produce The Santa Clause (working title), a new original series in the works for Disney+. The upcoming streaming series will act as a sequel to The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause and will continue the story of Scott Calvin / Santa Claus more than 15 years after the last film.
Production is slated to begin this March in Los Angeles. Jack Burditt (Modern Family) is on board as the showrunner. No word yet on who else from the previous films might be returning, but fingers crossed for the rest of Calvin’s extended family.
In the sequel series, “Scott Calvin is on the brink of his 65th birthday and realizing that he can’t be Santa forever. He’s starting to lose a step in his Santa duties, and more importantly, he’s got a family who could benefit from a life in the normal world, especially his two kids who have grown up at the Pole. With a lot of elves, children, and family to please, Scott sets out to find a suitable replacement Santa while preparing his family for a new adventure in a life south of the pole.”
MGM & Amazon Secure Rights for Gyllenhaal-Ritchie War Movie
MGM and Amazon have secured the U.S. and international rights for the upcoming Jake Gyllenhaal-Guy Ritchie untitled war movie (previously titled The Interpreter). Filming begins this month in Spain, with additional casting set to be revealed soon. The budget for the film is reported to be $55 million with Amazon contributing more than 50 per cent of that budget. Prime Video has picked up streaming rights in Europe, Australia, Canada, Latin America, and South Africa as well as post-theatrical rights in the U.S. Meanwhile, MGM will release the film in U.S. theaters via its United Artists Releasing banner.
In the action-thriller, Gyllenhaal will play “Sgt. John Kinley, who is on his last tour of duty in Afghanistan when he is teamed with local interpreter Ahmed to survey the region. When their unit is ambushed on patrol, Kinley and Ahmed are the only survivors, and with enemy combatants in pursuit, Ahmed risks his life to carry an injured Kinley across miles of grueling terrain to safety. Back on U.S. soil, Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given passage to America as promised. Determined to protect his friend and repay his debt, Kinley returns to the warzone to retrieve Ahmed and his family before the local militias reach them first.”
A Christmas Story Gets (Another) Sequel
Warner Bros. and Legendary have announced a sequel to the holiday classic A Christmas Story. Titled A Christmas Story Christmas, the sequel will star Peter Billingsley reprising his role as Ralphie. Clay Kaytis (The Christmas Chronicles) will direct from a script by Nick Schenk (Gran Torino).
The new film will take place in the 1970s and follow “an adult Ralphie return to his house on Cleveland Street to deliver his kids a magical Christmas like the one he had growing up.” Other plot points include the “now-father reconnecting with childhood friends” and “reconciling the passing of his Old Man.” And don’t worry, there will be plenty of callbacks to the original film. Production begins in February in Hungary.
Other Film Updates
- Netflix has revealed that Knives Out 2 will release in theaters and on the streaming platform in the last quarter of 2022. (Variety)
- Paramount has secured the rights to Tomi Adeyemi‘s epic fantasy series, Children of Blood and Bone. The project is being fast-tracked with producers Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen, both known for work on The Twilight Saga and Maze Runner trilogy. Paramount acquired the rights after a fierce bidding war that included Universal, Amazon, and Netflix. Lucasfilm was previously set to develop the novel into a film franchise, but let the rights lapse as they focused on expanding their Star Wars universe. (Deadline)
- Netflix is in the early stages of putting together a back-to-back shoot for two sequels to Red Notice. The hope is to begin production in early 2023, depending on deals and schedules. The plan is to Ocean’s 11 this franchise by bringing back the original trio (Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds) while adding new characters to flesh out this heist franchise. (Deadline)
That’s it for last couple of weeks. What projects mentioned are you interested in seeing once completed? Tell us down in the comments!
