Motion Picture: 'Black Adam' Sequel Is Not Coming Anytime Soon; Lee Isaac Chung's 'Twister' Release Date Announced
Idris elba - Netflix
Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi Black Adam star and producer Dwayne Johnson has announced that the idea of a sequel has been put on pause and that any future Black Adam projects will not be moving forward for the foreseeable future. This announcement comes after James Gunn and Peter Safran were instated as the new heads of DC Studios and after their decision to part ways with Henry Cavill as Superman and scrapping Wonder Woman 3. In a statement posted to Twitter, Johnson expressed that “James Gunn and I connected, and Black Adam will not be in their first chapter of storytelling.” This does not mean that the Black Adam story has been completely discarded, as “DC and Seven Bucks have agreed to continue exploring the most valuable ways Black Adam can be utilized in future DC multiverse chapters,” Johnson continues. Johnson’s role as Black Adam had been fifteen years in the making, expressing at the New York premiere that he “fought so hard for this movie, to get this movie made, and keep it on track.”
Idris Elba’s upcoming film, where he will reprise his role as DCI John Luther as seen in the five-season-long BBC show, has been officially named. The title, Luther: The Fallen Sun, and new images of Elba were released on December 21st, 2022. The film will follow Luther’s escape from prison as he strives to do anything he can to put a stop to a London serial killer. A Hot Set has previously reported on the rest of the cast and first details of the Luther: The Fallen Sun plot. Viewers can stream the film on Netflix in March 2023.
An official release date for Lee Isaac Chung’s upcoming film Twisters, a sequel to the 1996 film Twister, has been announced by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment as July 19th, 2024. While the plot details and cast are currently under wraps, it is known that The Revenant’s Mark L. Smith has written the script and Indiana Jones’ Frank Marshall will produce. Twisters will be co-financed by Warner Bros., who financed the original film.
Sergio Pablos’ Ember will not be moving forward at Netflix. Pablos’ film, a hand-drawn animated feature coined as an “epic adventure tale,” follows the story of Dikika, a young woman on a mission to find a spark of fire in a distant volcano in hopes to save her tribe. The SPA Studios, Pablos’ production company, brought the film to Netflix. Their split was in regard to creative differences. This decision comes after Netflix’s scrapping of several other animated works, including Wings of Fire, Antiracist Baby, and With Kind Regards from Kindergarten. Pablos will present his film to other buyers.
Taika waititi - Daniele Venturelli
Comedy Thor: Love and Thunder’s Taika Waititi has announced that his upcoming soccer comedy film, Next Goal Wins, will be released later than originally planned. Rather than hitting theatres on April 21st, 2023, the film will be released five months later on September 22nd, 2023. Next Goal Wins, with a cast consisting of Will Arnet, Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss, David Fane, Beulah Koale, Oscar Kightley, and Lehi Falepapalangi, will follow the true story of the American Samoa national football team as they try to rid themselves of their underdog status and attempt to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. It is unclear why the Searchlight Pictures film’s release date has been pushed back; however, it is known that Next Goal Wins had to reshoot scenes including Armie Hammer, the previous casting of Coach Thomas Rongen, who will now be played by Arnett.
Shinelle Azoroh - Robert Okine
Drama The Sex Lives of College Girls’ Kasey Inez, Black Lightning’s Jahking Guillory, Babylon’s Damon Gupton, and The Middle’s Pedro Correa have been announced as the cast of Summer of Violence. The coming-of-age drama will be Lincoln Heights’ Nicki Micheaux’s feature writing and directorial debut. The film, which has recently wrapped filming in Colorado, will follow Naomi, a recent college graduate, who decides to follow her passion in poetry instead of going to law school. With many objections from her father, Naomi’s decision leaves her struggling to survive during the Summer of Violence in 1993 crime-ridden Denver. Inez will play Naomi, Guillory will play Frank, her artsy friend, Correa will play Richie, Naomi’s boyfriend, and Gupton will play Thomas, her disapproving father. The film will be produced by Micheaux and her company partner, Johnny Wimbrey, alongside Efuru Flowers and Sean Riggs. Summer of Violence’s release date has not been announced.
Disney has announced that their first feature under their brand Onyx Collective, titled Bruiser, will premiere on Hulu on February 24th, 2023 after its theatrical release on December 2nd, 2022. Disney acquired the feature, which was originally a short film released in 2020, in early September 2022. The cast includes Till’s Jalyn Hall, Moonlight’s Trevante Rhodes, Stowaway’s Shamier Anderson, and Swagger’s Shinelle Azoroh and explores themes of family, fatherhood, and toxic masculinity. Bruiser follows the teenaged boy Darious (Hall) and his interactions with Malcolm (Anderson), his tough yet loving father, as well as with Porter (Rhodes), a drifter. Conflict between Porter and Malcolm forces Darious to be in the middle, leading to family troubles and concern for his own safety. Bruiser marks the feature film debut of Miles Warren.
Ford Foundation
Documentary The Ford Foundation has announced that, through its program JustFilms, they have given over $4 million to fund 68 documentary projects focused on social justice issues. Of the 68 documentary projects, 43 are new documentaries, while 25 are previously funded documentaries that have been given additional grants. 70% of the 68 projects come from filmmakers of color, with the entire cohort spanning multiple countries including the United States, Brazil, and Mexico, among others. The full list of documentaries, along with their descriptions, can be found here. Jon-Sesrie Goff, the program officer for JustFilms, comments that he’s “proud of how these projects further illustrate the complexities of the moment we’re all in now, offering unique perspectives that allow audiences to peer deeper into the stories that shape and define our realities today.”
James J. Murakami - Mathew Imaging
Industry Updates U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled on December 20th, 2022 that movie studios can be sued for false advertising if their movie trailers are deceptive. This comes after two fans of Ana de Armas sued Universal Studios in January after they rented Yesterday because they saw de Armas in the trailer, only to watch the film and realize that de Armas did not appear in the film, as she had been cut out from the final version. Universal argued that trailers are protected under the First Amendment and not regulated by commercial speech laws, while Wilson ruled that film trailers are in fact commercial speech and are thus subject to false advertising laws (in this case, California’s False Advertising Law and California’s Unfair Competition Law). The plaintiffs are seeking a minimum of $5 million “as representatives of a class of movie customers.”
Emmy winner, art director, production and set designer James J. Murakami has died at age 91 on December 15th, 2022 due to complications from a fall. Murakami’s many credits include serving as an art director for The Godfather Part II, and Unforgiven, and working as a production designer for Gran Torino, Changeling, American Sniper, and Sully. He earned an Emmy for his work on Deadwood and an Oscar nomination for Changeling. Murakami was born in Sacramento, California on June 4, 1931. As a child, he and his family were sent to an internment camp at the beginning of World War II. As a young adult, he studied at the Chouinard Art Institute and got a job as a set designer in 1958 at ZIV television studios. He leaves behind his wife, daughter, and two stepchildren.
Netflix has acquired a former Army base in New Jersey and plans to turn it into a new production facility. The streaming giant will invest approximately $848 million into the project, which will take several years to open after two phases of construction. The plan has been approved by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who hopes that the “transformative investment will serve as a cornerstone in our efforts to create a thriving industry from the whole cloth.” The production facility will “generate ‘an entirely new ecosystem’ consisting of industry work, housing, hotels, and ancillary businesses and services.” Netflix claims the new hub will “boost the local and state economy with thousands of new jobs and billions in economic output.”
