20th Century Studios Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

While James Cameron has been intensely busy with his “Avatar” sequels, the filmmaker has been developing many projects over the years concurrently over at 20th Century Studios. One of those is a sequel to “Alita: Battle Angel” that he’s been speaking with Disney and Robert Rodriguez about—logistics such as budget and platform, surely part of the conversation.

Big news for the Mouse House. Longtime Walt Disney Studios president Sean Bailey is departing the studio.

Great news, “Predator” fans: a new pic in the franchise is on the way. And no, it’s not “Prey 2,” although that’s still very much in development.

Is 20th Century Studios high on their latest “Planet Of The Apes” movie or do they not want to have it vie against the upcoming Warner Bros. behemoth “Furiosa“? Either way, “Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes” moves up two weeks from its original Memorial Day weekend release to May 10.   READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2024 The new release date now pits the fourth installment in the reboot series against the Amy Winehouse biopic “Back To Black,” Sony‘s “Horrorscope,” and an untitled film from Angel Studios.

Even though he didn’t direct “Alien 3” or “Alien: Resurrection,” the “Alien” franchise is arguably Ridley Scott‘s.

It’s been seven long years since Jeff Nichols dropped “Midnight Special” and “Loving” on moviegoers back in 2016. Now he’s back with his latest film, “The Bikeriders,” fresh off its world premiere at Telluride last weekend.  And given reviews out of the festival, it sounds like “The Bikeriders” will be worth the wait (read The Playlist’s review of the film here).

20th Century Studios is cooking up a sequel to 2004’s “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” with original star Vince Vaughn now attached to reprise his role of Pete LaFleur, the very laid-back and casual owner of Average Joe’s Gym. Deadline reports that the studio has assigned writer Jordan VanDina (“The Binge“) to pen a script for the sports comedy sequel.

With Fede Alvarez‘s “Alien” movie in production now and a TV series in development over at FX (likely for FX On Hulu), it’s safe to say that the “Alien” franchise lives on. But don’t expect its main heroine to appear in future installments.

Did anyone ask for a “White Men Can’t Jump” remake? Doubtful, but the ’90s classic gets the reboot treatment thanks to screenwriters Kenya Barris and Doug Hall. A property like this could be in worse hands, though.

For over a decade, there’s been an exhausting attempt to remake John Carpenter‘s 1981 dystopian flick “Escape From New York,” which had Kurt Russell flexing his action chops for the first time. However, the project has seen its fair share of developmental hiccups over the years, with it now attached to 20th Century Studios instead of New Line Cinema.

Studio figured out long ago that remaking John Carpenter‘s filmography is a lot easier than coming up with original ideas. Take David Gordon Green‘s latest take on the “Halloween” franchise, for example.

With roles in “Jeepers Creepers,” “Drag Me To Hell,” and “Tusk,” Justin Long has never shied away from horror movies. But what’s he up to in his latest foray into the genre? 20th Century Studios is having a little bit of meta fun with that in its new trailer for “Barbarian,” calling the movie instead “Justin Long’s New Movie.” READ MORE: ‘Barbarian’ Trailer: Check Into Bill Skargård’s Rental From Hell On August 31 The latest “see it theaters” trailer sees Long’s character, ostensibly playing a facsimile of himself, gradually get swept into the movie’s events.

Last month, it was revealed announced that Owen Teague would star in a new “Planet Of The Apes” movie for 20th Century Studios. Now, Deadline reports that “The Witcher” star Freya Allan joins Teague in the film’s cast, and the film also has a new title: “Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes.” READ MORE: Owen Teague Cast As Lead In New ‘Planet Of The Apes’ Film The new film begins an all-new chapter in the “Planet Of The Apes” series, picking up decades after 2017’s “War For The Planet Of The Apes.”  Peter Macon (“The Orville“) also stars in the upcoming film alongside Allan and Teague.

Nell Tiger Free had her first break-out TV role in “Game Of Thrones” as doomed scion Myrcella Lannister. But she really grabbed viewers’ attention in her starring role on Apple TV+‘s “Servant,” with its fourth and final season still to come.

When you think of influential films of the ‘80s, there are the teen comedies of John Hughes and there are the action films by Steven Spielberg. There are also films, such as “Working Girl,” which didn’t have a huge budget or live on to become the best-of-the-best, but they still have become iconic in their own right.

The fifth and latest film in the “Predator” franchise, “Prey,” hits Hulu this August. And don’t let the direct-to-streaming release fool you into thinking this new film will be as shoddy as something like “Alien Vs.

The last “Alien” installment, “Alien: Covenant,” from director Ridley Scott did lackluster business at the global box office, and while there had been some comments from Scott about a third prequel film, he was developing, the filmmaker seems to have pivoted elsewhere in recent years. Maybe that’s for the best, as it looks like another ‘Alien’ movie project was quietly gestating behind the scenes as the beloved R-rated franchise may still have life in it yet.

We really haven’t had any huge announcements from 20th Century Studios in quite some time and that seems to have changed as we’ve gotten a handful of updates from the head of the studio in a recent one-on-one interview about various franchises the studio oversees for Disney. The Hollywood Reporter was able to speak with 20th Century Studios President Steve Asbell about the upcoming films that audiences can look forward to in the future beyond the four “Avatar” sequels directed by James Cameron, as Asbell was adamant the studio will hit its December 2022 release for “Avatar 2.” READ MORE: James Cameron Explains Why He Shot 3 ‘Avatar’ Sequels At The Same Time The studio boss promised the studio has “more ‘Free Guy‘ movies coming.” Adding it’s already busy in the scripting stage of development, “We’re awaiting a script that is days away.

Director James Mangold is about to complete the final leg of photography on Disney‘s “Indiana Jones 5,” but he’s already developing yet another biopic after helming movies such as “Ford v Ferarri” and movie “Walk The Line.” His next project will explore a Hollywood icon, Buster Keaton. Deadline reports that Mangold is going to direct and produce a feature film focused on the life of Buster Keaton, the legendary film star that did his own stunts and was sort of doing Jackie Chan-level daredevil acts for the entertainment of audiences before it was commonplace.

The last time we got a trailer for Kenneth Branagh’s “Death on the Nile” was in August 2020. Back then, the end of the pandemic was in sight (or so we thought) and the vaccine was going to fix everything.

Remember the glory days of the pre-pandemic society when Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas would joyfully dating and everything seemed right in the world? The duo met while leading the cast of the erotic thriller “Deep Water” and it seemed as if we were going to be able to watch their love unfold on the big screen. Well, the pandemic happened, the couple split up (Affleck is now with Jennifer Lopez, obvi), and “Deep Water” never saw the light of day.

Ridley Scott is no stranger to films that underperform at the box office. Hell, one of his most famous films, “Blade Runner,” is often thought of as a box office bomb.

It’s been nearly 10 years since Josh Trank‘s “Chronicle,” the sci-fi hit that launched his career, now-disgraced screenwriter Max Landis‘ career and boosted the viability of actors like Dane DeHaan and Micheal B. Jordan.

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the release of Joe Cornish’s directorial debut, “Attack the Block.” And though that film has gone on to become a cult favorite and launch the career of actor John Boyega, Cornish has only directed one feature since, 2019’s “The Kid Who Would Be King.” Well, it appears that we won’t have to wait too much longer for the next Cornish film, as he’s signed on for a sci-fi epic, “Starlight.” READ MORE: Joe Cornish & John Boyega Are Still “Working On” A Sequel

We have some sad news to share from the world of animation as Deadline reports that Disney is closing down Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox‘s once successful animation company. It’s seemingly suffering a similar fate to Fox 2000, a live-action branch of 20th Century Studios that was axed post-merger as similar projects were shifted over to Searchlight Pictures.

The dominos are beginning to tumble, folks. As everyone expected, with films like “Morbius” and “No Time to Die” vacating the spring release timeframe, we’re beginning to see the rest of the major films begin to move to later in 2021, including a group of films from Disney and its subsidiaries.

I do not envy anyone writing a horror franchise, much less those writing on one that only has one good installment like “Predator.” John McTiernan‘s 1987 film with Arnold Schwarzenegger is god-tier classic. Still, unlike James Cameron’s “Aliens,” this franchise was never able to find a second installment that breathed new life into it.

Two strange things are going on in the theatrical industrial complex.

You wouldn’t be wrong for thinking “The Woman in the Window” has already been released. The film was originally scheduled to be released in October 2019 but was delayed by Disney (who was set to release the film under its 20th Century Studios banner) until 2020.