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.
I Know What You Did Last Summer Legacy Sequel in the Works
Sony Pictures has hired Jennifer Kaytin Robinson to direct a sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer, with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. in talks to reprise their roles. The project is in early development. Neal H. Moritz is also in talks to return as a producer. Leah McKendrick will write the script based on an idea from Robinson and McKendrick.
The original 1997 film follows four young friends bound by a tragic accident who are reunited when they find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town. A theatrical sequel and a standalone direct-to-video sequel followed in 1998 and 2006, respectively. The upcoming sequel has been described as a “passing of the torch”-type film, with the goal being to build a new generation cast around Hewitt and Prinze’s returning characters. | Source: Deadline
Warner Bros. Acquires Stephen King’s Billy Summers
Warner Bros. has acquired the Stephen King bestseller Billy Summers with plans to adapt the novel into a feature film. Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz are writing the screenplay, with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way producing. According to sources, there’s a chance that if the script turns out solid, Abrams might direct with DiCaprio playing the title character.
The 2021 novel follows Billy Summers, “a hitman who is looking to retire and takes one last highly lucrative job to feather his nest. The job requires him to embed himself in a quiet town, where he pretends to be an aspiring writer (he actually pours himself into the prose). He sets up in an office with a direct view of where hitman Joel Allen will be delivered to face trial for shooting two men during a poker game. Allen also has committed enough murders for some high-level mobsters to be scared the gunman will incriminate his former employers to lessen his sentence. Summers, a meticulous craftsman, becomes more and more cynical about the mobsters who’ve hired him, and his skepticism is well warranted as things go awry following the job’s completion.” | Source: Deadline
Lidya Jewett to Star in The Exorcist
Lidya Jewett (Hidden Figures) has been cast in The Exorcist, the first film in the upcoming legacy sequel trilogy, which is in production at Blumhouse, Morgan Creek, Universal, and Peacock with David Gordon Green as director.
Jewett joins an ensemble cast that includes Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, and Ellen Burstyn, who is reprising her role as Chris MacNeil from the original 1973 film. | Source: Deadline
New Line Scoops Up Companion & Weapons
Barbarian producer BoulderLight Pictures has set up a new thriller titled Companion at New Line. The film will be the first produced under the banner’s first-look deal with the studio. New Line also recently won a heated auction for Weapons, the second feature from writer-director Zach Cregger to be produced by both BoulderLight and Vertigo Entertainment.
Plot details for Companion are under wraps, though it’s being fast-tracked for production this year alongside Weapons. Companion will serve as the directorial debut of Drew Hancock, who penned the film’s script. | Source: Deadline
More News to Know
- Pennyworth has been canceled at HBO Max after three seasons. (Deadline)
- Guy Ritchie and Jerry Bruckheimer’s upcoming war movie, The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare has added Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, Henrique Zaga, Alex Pettyfer, Cary Elwes, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusanmokun, and Til Schweiger to its cast. (Deadline)
- Netflix has renewed That ‘90s Show for a 16-episode Season 2. (Deadline)
- Paramount has dated the Ridley Scott-directed Gladiator follow-up for November 22, 2024. (Deadline)
- Alexandra Shipp is set to join the cast of Sony’s untitled R-rated comedy starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell. (Deadline)
- Ken Marino, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, and D.C. Young Fly have boarded Prime Video’s holiday comedy Candy Cane Lane (Deadline)
That’s it for the last couple of weeks. What projects mentioned are you interested in seeing once completed? Tell us in the comments!
