Motion Picture: Guillermo Del Toro's 'Pinocchio' Trailer Drops And Daniel Kaluuya Joins 'Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse'
Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi: Netflix gave viewers a first look at Guillermo del Toro’s animated directorial debut with the release of the first Pinocchio trailer. Del Toro’s film will follow the classic tale of Pinocchio “on an enchanted adventure that transcends worlds with the period setting shifts and reveals the life-giving power of love.” Del Toro worked with stop-motion expert Mark Gustafson and voice actors Ewan McGregor (The Talking Cricket), Gregory Mann (Pinocchio), David Bradley, (Geppetto), Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, and Burn Gorman to create the musical. Del Toro, along with directing, wrote the screenplay and was a producer alongside Lisa Henson, Gary Ungar, Alex Bulkley, Corey Campodonico, Melanie Coombs, Gris Glimly, and Blanca Lista. Pinocchio is set to be released by Netflix and select theatres, on December 9, 2022.
Viola Davis is set to star in and produce G20, an action-thriller film from Amazon Studios and MRC Film. The film follows the story of the G20 Summit, where terrorists take over. Davis has been cast as the President of the United States, Taylor Sutton, who bears the responsibility of de-escalating the conflict and protecting not only those close to her but the entire country. Davis shares production credits with her husband Julius Tennon, as well as Andrew Lazar, with Patricia Riggen directing. Julie Rapaport, head of movies at Amazon Studios, comments that “Viola is truly a one-of-a-kind talent both in front of and behind the camera, and we can’t wait to watch her bring the dynamic character that is President Sutton to life.” G20 will be released on Prime Video, although a date has not yet been set.
Salma Hayek has been cast in Netflix’s upcoming mystery film Seesaw Monster. With Netflix’s recent acquisition of the rights to Kōtarō Isaka’s work, production has begun on the action-comedy film. Hayek, as well as producing with Ventanarosa Productions, will star alongside Anne Hathaway, who will also be producing for Somewhere Pictures. The women will play two rivals that must work together, but other than this, not much else about Seesaw Monster is known. Other producers include Akiva Goldsman, Gregory Lessans, Ryosuke Saegusa, Yuma Terada, Jose Tamez, and Siobhan Flynn, with Johnathan Rice and Olivia Milch as executive producers.
The sequel to the animated hit Into the Spider-Verse titled Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has added Daniel Kaluuya (Nope) to the cast. Kaluuya will voice Spider-Punk, also known as Hobart “Hobie” Brown, a teenager living a double life as a homeless youth and a hero to the disadvantaged people of New York. Although the plot is being kept tightly secret, Kaluuya’s co-stars include Shameik Moore (Miles Morales), Hailee Steinfeld (Spider-Gwen), Oscar Isaac, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Greta Lee, Issa Rae, Rachel Dratch, Jorma Taccone, Shea Whigham, and Jason Schwartzman. Justin K. Thompson, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Kemp Powers will direct the animated feature; the directors of the first film in the franchise, Peter Ramsey and Bob Persichetti, will act as executive producers. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is scheduled to be released in theaters on June 2, 2023. A third installment, titled Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, will be released on March 29, 2024, although it is unclear whether Kaluuya will reprise his role.
Bowen Yang - Taylor Hill
Comedy: The upcoming animated Garfield movie has added Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live, featured cast member since 2019) and Brett Goldstein (Thor: Love and Thunder) to its all-star cast. Although it is unclear what roles Yang and Goldstein will take on, they will voice-act alongside Chris Pratt (Garfield), Samuel L. Jackson, Nicholas Hoult, Hannah Waddingham, Cecily Strong, and Ving Rhames. Alcon Entertainment and Sony Pictures will release Garfield in theatres on May 24, 2024. Mark Dindal will direct, with the screenplay being done by David Reynolds, Paul Kaplan, and Mark Torgove. Garfield will be animated and produced by DNEG Animation.
Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) will star alongside Mark Duplass in IFC Film’s recently picked up Biosphere. Brown and Duplass play the last two men on Earth in a comedy film set in the near future, where they will have to come together to save the world. Biosphere is the directorial debut of producer Mel Eslyn, with production credits going to Eslyn, Zackary Drucker, Shuli Harel, Maddie Buis, and Mark and Jay Duplass. IFC films plans to release the film presumably to theatres and exclusively on AMC+ in 2023.
Jeffrey Wright - Jesse Grant / Stringer
Drama: A Snoop Dog biopic is in the works—a project that the rap legend himself will be heavily involved in. Universal Studios is championing the project, with Allen Hughes directing. Snoop Dog will also act as producer alongside Sara Ramaker and Hughes. The biopic will include Snoop Dog’s past music and will be the first film from his production company Death Row Pictures that he runs with Ramaker. In a statement regarding the biopic, Snoop Dog commented:
“I waited a long time to put this project together because I wanted to choose the right director, the perfect writer, and the greatest movie company I could partner with that could understand the legacy that I’m trying to portray on the screen, and the memory I’m trying to leave behind. It was the perfect marriage. It was holy matrimony, not holy macaroni.”
The cast and release date have not yet been announced.
MRC and T-Street have cast Jeffrey Wright (The Batman) to star in their untitled film based on Percival Everett’s novel Erasure. Cord Jefferson has written the adaptation, making it his directorial debut. Wright will play an English professor named Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, who writes about the hypocrisy of the publishing industry under a pseudonym. Production was recently wrapped in Boston, with Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Jermaine Johnson, and Cord Jefferson producing. The film’s release date has not yet been announced.
Apple Original’s Project Artemis, scripted by Rose Gilroy and directed by Greg Berlanti, has cast Donald Elise Watkins (Emergency) and Anna Garcia (Hacks). Although not much is known about the project, the film is said to take place during the 1960s space race. This will be Garcia’s feature film debut, in which it is rumored that she will have a “sizeable role.” Garcia and Watkins join a cast that already includes Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Jim Rash, and Ray Romano. Apple recently acquired the film for around $100 million this past spring. Garcia and Watkins’ roles have not yet been announced.
Production has recently wrapped for Mario Van Peebles’ Outlaws, a Western feature starring Whoopi Goldberg, Cedric the Entertainer, Edward James Olmos, John Carrol Lynch, William Mapother, and M. Emmet Walsh. Van Peebles will star as the cowboy protagonist, Chief, who must put together a diverse team of “new and old friends in order to ride into the dangerous unsettled territory to retrieve gold from an abandoned mine.” Mapother will play Angel, a Civil War veteran with a need for revenge which is after Chief. Goldberg will play Stagecoach Mary. Quiver is behind the film, and comments concerning Van Peebles that “we’re thrilled to partner with Mario and this epic ensemble cast for a one-of-a-kind action-adventure set in the west, at the dawn of America’s Age of Invention.” Outlaws’ release date has not been announced.
Ting Poo - Kevin Mazur
Documentary: Ting Poo (Val) has been hired to direct a new documentary for Time Studios and Roc Nation about pop star Christina Aguilera. The documentary “will offer unprecedented access to her life story, opening up her personal archive for a look into the past and present” and will also include “never-before-seen footage and exclusive behind-closed-door moments.” The film has been in production for the last 18 months, where the team has followed Aguilera through her travels and performances. On Aguilera, who has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, Poo states that she “is one of the most iconic artists of our time, whose music has inspired millions of people around the world.” Poo is “truly honored” to be working on the documentary and believes that it will “equally inspire.” The documentary is not yet named, and it is unclear when the film will be released.
Shripriya Mahesh, Lulu Wang, and Patrick Gaspard
Industry Updates: Shripriya Mahesh (Spero Ventures), Lulu Wang (writer, director, and producer for A24), and Patrick Gaspard (leader in government, philanthropy, labor, and global diplomacy) are the newest members of The Sundance Institute’s Board of Trustees. Ebs Burnough, Board Chair of The Sundance Institute, claims that the three new hires “will continue to strengthen ways to champion independent storytellers.” With their addition to the team, the nonprofit board for Sundance Film Festival consists of 45% men, 55% women, and 11 out of 31 members identify as people of color.
