Paramount is planning the return of The Smurfs in 2024. The Russo brothers return to Disney for an unlikely new adaptation. Claudia Black and David O’Hara go hunting for god in a new sci-fi movie. Plus, Catherine Zeta-Jones officially boards the National Treasure streaming series, and more casting for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast prequel. Spoilers now!
Doctor Jekyll
Variety reports Eddie Izzard has been cast as Dr. Nina Jekyll in Doctor Jekyll, a “modern interpretation” of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella from director Joe Stephenson and writer Dan Kelly-Mulhern. The story is said to follow “the reclusive Nina Jekyll “as she finds friendship with her newly hired help, Rob (Scott Chambers), who must work together to prevent Hyde from destroying her life.”
The Smurfs: The Animated Musical
Variety reports a musical, animated Smurfs movie from former South Park writer Pam Brady is now scheduled for a December 20, 2024 theatrical release.
Under Wraps 2
Comic Book also reports a sequel to last year’s Under Wraps remake is now in development at the Disney Channel. The sequel will “pick up as Amy is preparing for her father’s Spooktacular Halloween-themed wedding to his fiancé Carl. However, plans soon go awry when Amy, Gilbert and Marshall discover that their mummy friend Harold and his beloved Rose may be in danger. Sobek, an evil mummy with a thousand-year-old grudge against his best friend-turned-bitter rival Harold, is unexpectedly awakened and out for revenge. With help from his hypnotized lackey Larry, Sobek kidnaps Rose, and Amy, Gilbert, Marshall, Buzzy and Harold must use their skills once again to save her and get back in time to attend the wedding.”
Superfudge
Disney has announced that Joe and Anthony Russo are attached to produce a film adaptation of Judy Blume’s Superfudge at Disney+. [The Wrap]
Deus
Variety has our first look at Deus, a new sci-fi film starring Claudia Black (Farscape) and David O’Hara (Cowboys and Aliens) boasting a premise tremendously similar to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
Deus stars Claudia Black and David O’Hara as astronauts who are sent to investigate when a mysterious dark sphere is discovered orbiting Mars. Waking from an 8-month hibernation aboard their vessel, the Achilles, they discover the sphere is actually a blinding light from which one word is repeatedly transmitted in over four thousand languages: God. The stunned and frightened crew face a series of bewildering questions. Will their encounter with ‘God’ drag them to the edge of insanity? Will the Achilles’crew be the first humans in history to retrieve proof of God’s existence? If so, what does this mean for science, for them, and for humankind?
The Batman
IMAX has released an exclusive poster for The Batman.
There’s more to everyone and everything than meets the eye. #TheBatman @IMAX pic.twitter.com/oAcCbN7XGT
— The Batman (@TheBatman) February 7, 2022
Elsewhere, Batman readjusts his glove on a new motion poster.
New motion poster for The Batman, featuring some of Robert Pattinson’s narration!
Courtesy of CGV Cinemas Vietnam pic.twitter.com/OftYwcYqBV
— The Art of The Batman (@thebatfilm) February 6, 2022
6:45
We also have a trailer for 6:45, a new time loop movie in which a vacationing couple is brutally murdered every day after “stumbling upon a town’s dark secret.”
National Treasure: The Series
As previously rumoured, Catherine Zeta-Jones has officially joined the cast of the upcoming National Treasure TV series at Disney+ as Billie, “a badass billionaire, black-market antiquities expert, and treasure hunter who lives by her own code. She transformed herself from a penniless orphan to a shrewd, stylish businesswoman and adventurer. Billie’s used to getting what she wants — and she wants the Pan-American treasure. But not just for the money. This treasure has deeper stakes for her.” [Deadline]
Beauty and the Beast
Deadline also has word Rita Ora has joined the cast of the new Beauty and the Beast prequel series as “a fugitive with surprising abilities who carries with her a secret that could potentially affect an entire kingdom in the eight-episode limited musical series.”
Los Espookys
Actress Ana Fabrega recently revealed on Twitter that filming has finally wrapped on the second season of Los Espookys.
Finally finished season 2 of Los Espookys after a two year covid hiatus 🖤🥲 pic.twitter.com/DfiAHWgWhO
— Ana Fabrega (@anafabregagood) February 6, 2022
The Book of Boba Fett
Finally, Cad Bane is the latest character to receive his very own The Book of Boba Fett poster — courtesy of Comic Book.
Banner art by Jim Cook