Ben Wheatley Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

This is an interesting package: Deadline reports that Bob Odenkirk will star in Ben Wheatley‘s next film, “Normal,” with a script from “Nobody” writer Derek Kolstad. For those who don’t remember, Odenkirk starred in the 2021 actioner as a John Wick-type ex-assassin who comes out of retirement to take down bad guys.

Ben Wheatley undoubtedly blew some cinephile minds a few years ago when he was announced as the director of “Meg 2: The Trench,” a follow-up to 2018’s fun-enough August blockbuster “The Meg.” Turns out Wheatley’s attempt at being a popcorn salesman ain’t so good, but the pitch must have been spectacular: sea explorers navigating unchartered darkness and facing its monsters like “Alien”; massive, unforeseen creatures like “King Kong“; a bombastic human buffet like “Jurassic Park”; a big freakin’ shark à la “The Meg,” but now with even more sharks, with a pre-packaged Jason Statham kicking their tails one at a time.

While three vaccines and dwindling case numbers (for now) inspire hope worldwide that the COVID-19 pandemic may soon offer us a return to some semblance of normalcy, U.K. director Ben Wheatley has a different perspective.

What does one even make of Ben Wheatley, at this point? That the same director is responsible for films as wildly divergent as “Sightseers,” “A Field in England,” “Free Fire,” “Happy New Year, Colin Burstead,” and last year’s “Rebecca” remake should be impressive – the variations present, in genre and tone, indicated a good old-fashioned journeyman director, and three cheers for that.

Ben Wheatley has been a busy man during the current pandemic. Not only did he put the finishing touches on his recent Netflix thriller, “Rebecca,” but he’s also prepping work for his action film, “Tomb Raider 2.” But that’s not all.

Ben Wheatley is at a very interesting crossroads in his career. In the past week, Netflix released his latest feature film, “Rebecca,” which is a remake of a film from Alfred Hitchcock and finds the filmmaker working in the realm of thrillers.

English filmmaker Ben Wheatley has had a terrifically eclectic and genre-hopping career. In fact, just this week, as his most lush and lavish picture, “Rebecca” premieres on Netflix, we covered the versatile director’s career in an Essentials Retrospective.

Watching a Ben Wheatley film can be a wonderfully disorienting experience. Wheatley enjoys getting under his audience’s skin: he lives to make us uncomfortable and delights in showing us images that may make us lose our lunch.

Somewhere between the transcendent Alfred Hitchcock original and a total misfire lies Ben Wheatley’s shiny new “Rebecca.” An innocuous adaptation of the 1938 novel by Daphne Du Maurier, the latest Net-flick should reignite debate over the reasons why certain properties are exhumed while others aren’t. For something like Hitch’s 1940 classic, a decent justification might be that the new version fleshes out latent meanings in a more satisfying way—the queer relationship between Mrs.

So, imagine a world where you’re an acclaimed filmmaker that has released four films and directed multiple episodes of TV over the past five years. Not only are you prolific, but you have just signed on to helm what might be the biggest film of your career, a sequel in a franchise with a major leading lady.

Lily James and Armie Hammer battle the shadow of Rebecca in the trailer for Netflix’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s beloved 1938 gothic novel.