Mardi Gras is around the corner, and the parade of showbiz news keeps on rolling in. It’s time for another round-up!
Neflix has cast Ferdinand Kingsley as Hob Gadling in The Sandman series. The casting selection was confirmed by Neil Gaiman on his Twitter account (see below). Kingsley, son of Sir Ben Kingsley, is best known for his role on Masterpiece’s Victoria series as Mr. Francatelli. Netflix had previously announced several cast members back in 2021, including Tom Sturridge and Gwendoline Christie (see “‘The Sandman’ Casting“).
Sony Pictures cast Fred Hechinger to play Chameleon in the upcoming Kraven the Hunter movie, according to Deadline. In the comic books, Chameleon (a.k.a. Dmitri Smerdyakov) is the diabolical illegitimate son of the Kraninoff family and the half-brother of Kraven. Hechinger joins a cast featuring Russell Crowe and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is signed on to play the title character (see “Kraven“).
Paramount Pictures announced that the upcoming Transformers: Rise of the Beasts movie will release in 2023, and it will be the first movie in a new trilogy of movies. They also confirmed that the Transformers Earthspark animated series will arrive this fall (see “‘Transformers’“), and the in 2024, they will release a CG animated Transformers theatrical film.
Paramount+ renewed Halo the Series for S2, prior to the release of S1 on March 24, 2022. This original series is based on the hit video games, and will stream exclusively on Paramount+ (see “‘Halo’ Series “).
FX revealed new details about the Noah Hawley’s Alien TV series, as reported by the The Hollywood Reporter. The new information about the series was imparted to reporters by FX chief John Landgraf during the Television Critics Association press tour. The series is a prequel to the first Alien movie, and will take place on Earth near the end of the 21st Century. Additionally, this series will not feature any characters from the original Alien movie, which includes Sigourney Weaver’s character Ellen Ripley. Hawley first mentioned that he was developing this series back in January (see “Developing ‘Alien’ Series“).
Rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s G-Unit Film & Television optioned Christopher Priest’s Xero for development into a live-action film, according to Deadline. Xero was originally published by DC comics and ran from 1997 to 1998, and in 2008, the rights reverted back to Priest. The comic told the story or Coltrane Walker (Trane Walker), a government assassin who could phase step through solid walls. Also attached to this project as producers are Erika Alexander and Ben Arnon from Color Farm Media, and Joseph Illidge, Executive Editor of Heavy Metal and new CEO of Illuminous (see “Joseph Illidge“).
Source: ICV2
