For one actor, today will go down as the most momentous day of their career. A day that will determine if they land a key role that will undoubtedly be mentioned in the headline of their obituary years from now.
Yes, it's James Bond testing day. And Callum Turner, Jack Lowden, Josh O'Connor and likely one more mystery man are in contention for 007 for Amazon MGM Studios. We've heard, reliably so, that Harris Dickinson and Nicholas Hoult, are not the 4th person. Testing is said to be occurring today and going into the weekend.
When Daniel Craig was cast as Bond 21 years ago this month, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was still rocking the country, movies like Saw II, A History of Violence and Doom were among the top movies in theaters, and Amazon had just launched its Prime delivery subscription service a few months earlier. (And if you want to see some vintage Bond screen tests, we've got you covered.)
What will the world look like the next time there's a Bond casting?
Well, as we ponder the future of Bond and the world, this first scoop comes from a franchise that has always painted a bleak portrait of the future and of mega-corporations like Bond's new owner...—Aaron Couch and Borys Kit.
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IN SPACE, YOU MAY NOT HEAR SOMEONE SCREAM, but you will hear the click clacking of a keyboard. That's because Ridley Scott has tapped writer Aaron Guzikowski to pen a new Alien movie.
This one is not connected to Alien: Romulus, but said to follow Scott's most recent Alien entries: 2012's Prometheus and 2017's Alien: Covenant. Michael Fassbender is not attached to return...at this stage...but his android David would be the connective tissue.
As for Guzikowski, he worked with Scott on the TV series Raised by Wolves, and penned Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners. The busy genre scribe is working on an animated Death Stranding movie, writing an original sci-fi feature film for Jon Watts at Twentieth Century Studios, and adapting a Philip K. Dick short story for Sony Pictures.
Arc of the Covenant.
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CALL IT A SIGN OF THE TIMES.
An international actress gains Hollywood attention with a pair of Oscar-worthy movies. She lands in a big blockbuster. Then Marvel comes calling.
Yes, as rumored, we can confirm that Oscar-nominee Sandra Hüller is in Avengers: Doomsday. Sources describe it as a cameo for the Project Hail Mary star.
Hüller’s role is, naturally, being kept secret. The rumor mill has her potentially playing Doom’s mother, a witch, or part of select group of hooded enchantresses known as Latverian Witches. Marvel displayed color-coded robes at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.
As for Doomsday, it is deep in post as it heads toward its Dec. 18 release date.
Howling Hüller
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➤ It's a crowded weekend at the box office. DC Studios has Clayface, which is looking to be a solid hit given its modest budget, while helping assuage the pain of Supergirl. And you wouldn't know it, but there's a new Taika Waititi-Jenna Ortega movie out this weekend. Klara and the Sun earned a shockingly low $85,000 in previews on Thursday. THR's review called it a "wretched mess."
➤ Keanu Reeves and James Wan are teaming up for Wan's next directorial effort,
➤ The Arena, the upstart production company that has multiple gaming adaptations in the works, has added one more. Altered Carbon creator Laeta Kalogridis is penning the script for Samurai Spirits, based on a Street Fighter-esque '90s arcade game set in feudal Japan.
➤ Nobody knew this video game existed. Then its trailer got 70 million views. Graeme McMillan looks at 1001 Threads of Mizan, a big IP play from the middle east.
➤ RIP to Michael Gray, the teen idol who starred in the 1970s Shazam! TV show as Billy Batson. He was 75.
➤ And speaking of xenomorphs earlier, Tom Skerritt, one of the stars of the original Alien, dies at 93.
➤ Mike Flanagan's adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie getting a season two .
➤ Video game giant Electronic Arts laying off 3 percent of its workforce, its game studio BioWare is shutting down, early development on the next Mass Effect is ending, and more not great news.
➤ Marvel comics writer Jonathan Hickman reveals he consults for the movie side and reads "almost all the movies that they're making while they're in development."
➤ Harry Potter and Wolf Hall actor Harry Melling is circling a leading role in Zach Cregger's ensemble sci-fi thriller The Flood. No offer yet but definite interest.
Catch up on these Heat Vision interviews...
➤ Street Fighter director Kitao Sakurai says Jordan Peele was a valuable "sounding board" during development, before explaining why he had the former directors, the Philippou brothers, cameo in the film.
➤ When 20th Century insisted on an epilogue to Whalefall, director Brian Duffield and star Austin Abrams resisted the idea.
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JASON BLUM SCORED WITH HIS ANNUAL HALLOWEEN PARTY.
Unlike some years, it was easy to spot the Blumhouse Atomic Monster principal, who eschewed heavy makeup or masks in favor of a hockey jersey, going as Connor Storrie from hockey hit Heated Rivalry. Obsession's Cooper Tomlinson (above) went as Dewey from Scream, while his date went as Gale Weathers.
Those on the guest list enjoying the In-N-Out truck and churros included Happy Death Day's Jessica Roth, sisters and Blumhouse regulars Madeleine McGraw and Violet McGraw, Insidious' Lin Shaye and Brandon Perea, screenwriter (and Blum's) wife Lauren Schuker Blum, star comic book writer James Tynion IV, Violent Night and Sonic the Hedgehog scribes Josh Miller and Pat Casey, producer and manager Scott Glassgold, Evil Dead producer Romel Adam, Cape Fear TV show creator Nick Antosca and Eat the Cat's Alex Hedlund, Final Destination: Bloodlines co-director Zach Lipovsky, Seth Kleinberg of title card company Filmograph, and
Blumhouse Atomic Monster execs Abhijay Prakash and Michael Clear.
There were cocktails nodding to some of the game-changing hits the company was involved in — Obsession and Backrooms. We tried the One Wish Willow, but the Liminal Space was also popular.
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KEEPING CLAYFACE IN MIND, we're featuring the off-kilter side of DC in our fan-favorite auction section.
Hitting the gavel this weekend is this cover for Amazing World of DC Comics No. 13 by Sergio Aragonés, the longtime and popular Mad Magazine cartoonist and creator of Groo the Wanderer.
He drew his cover for DC’s house fanzine that was only available by mail-order. In its 13th issue was a humor special. While Wonder Woman and Jonah Hex make appearances, look for off-beat DC characters such as Cain and Abel, Fox and the Crow, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Bat-Mite, and more, all drawn in Aragonés busy cartoony style.
Ahead of this weekend’s International Comic Art Signature Auction, the piece is hovering just under $2,000 ($1,937.50 to be precise) before live bidding begins. |
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