Welcome back to PCR’s Newsletter. Kicking things off this week, we have a trailer for legendary filmmaker Zhang Yimou’s next feature, an update on Jennifer Lawrence, Avatar news, and many more! Read on to find out about all happenings in film in the third week of April.
Trailer: Martial-Arts Drama Shadow
Zhang Yimou returns with his first feature since 2016’s The Great Wall. The Chinese martial-arts period film will premiere at Cannes next month, and we have a trailer for your viewing pleasure!
Casting News: Michelle Yeoh Boards Avatar Sequels
Actress Michelle Yeoh (Crazy Rich Asians) has joined the cast of James Cameron’s Avatar series! According to Variety, Yeoh will be playing scientist Dr. Karina Mogue.
Avatar 2 will hit theaters December 2020, with the subsequent sequels Avatar 3 arriving December 2021; Avatar 4 on December 2024; and Avatar 5 on December 2025.
Trailer: Netflix Body-Horror The Perfection
Netflix has officially released the trailer for Richard Shepard’s horror flick The Perfection. The film stars Allison Williams (Get Out), a musical prodigy who becomes obsessed with a star cello student at her former school, played by Logan Browning (Dear White People).
Jon Watts in Negotiations for Methuselah
Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts is in negotiations to direct high-concept fantasy Methuselah for Warner Bros.
Based on the Biblical story of a man who lived to be 969 years old, the film has Michael B. Jordan attached to star and produce under his Outlier Society label.
Progress Report: The Nun Sequel
Akela Cooper has been hired to write the screenplay for the sequel of The Nun. Cooper’s most notable screenwriting credits include Hellfest, Netflix’s Luke Cage series, and an acclaimed episode of American Horror Story.
Trailer: Child’s Play
Orion Pictures have released a second trailer for the upcoming remake of Child’s Play!
The horror flick which stars Aubrey Plaza, Mark Hamill, and Brian Tyree Henry, is set to open June 21. in the US.
Casting News: Jennifer Lawrence Surfaces for A24 Film
Jennifer Lawrence is set to return to the big screen after a year-long hiatus. She will be starring in a currently untitled film for A24 which will be directed by acclaimed theater director Lila Neugebauer.
Although details of the project are being kept under wraps, Variety can confirm that principal photography will begin mid-June in New Orleans.
Trailer: Sundance Horror Hit The Lodge
Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the directing duo behind Goodnight Mommy have returned with a new horror film titled The Lodge.
“In this psychologically chilling slow burn, a young woman and her reticent new stepchildren find themselves isolated in the family’s remote winter cabin, locked away to dredge up the mysteries of her dark past and the losses that seem to haunt them all.”
Watch the trailer below:
Casting News: Sophia Lillis Starring in Gretel & Hansel
It breakout Sophia Lillis is set to star in a “re-imagining” of the German children’s fairy tale Hansel and Gretel.
Gretel & Hansel is described as a fairy-tale thriller in which a young girl leads her little brother into a dark wood in desperate search of food and work, only to stumble upon a nexus of terrifying evil. The film is set to open Jan. 31, 2020.
Casting News: Spielberg’s West Side Story Adds to Cast
Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake added three news members to its cast this week. Mike Faist will play Riff, the leader of the Jets. Ana Isabelle will play Rosalia, whereas Maddie Ziegler will play a member of the Jets.
West Side Story is an adaptation of the 1957 musical of the same name which explores forbidden love, and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. Filming for the movie is set to begin in the summer of 2019.
Travis Knight Revives WB’s Six Billion Dollar Man
Travis Knight, the acclaimed director behind Bumblebee and Kubo and the Two Strings, has been hired to direct Warner Bros. Six Billion Dollar Man.
The film is an adaptation of the classic 1970s sci-fi show of the same name. Mark Wahlberg is attached to play Col. Steve Austin, a downed pilot who is saved by an operation that makes him part machine.
Casting News: Black Panther Breakout Boards Star-Studded Death on the Nile
THR has exclusively revealed that Black Panther breakout star Letitia Wright has landed a major central role in Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile.
The film is an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s detective fiction novel of the same name, and is currently amassing an A-list cast comprised of Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name), Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), and Kenneth Branagh returning to both act and direct!
Death on the Nile is currently slated to release in late 2020.