Some exciting stuff happened today, so I’ll skip the niceties and just tell ya.
Fincher, Affleck, and Gillian Flynn to Reunite on ‘Strangers’
Deadline spilled the beans on what might be today’s coolest story: Fincher is remaking Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. The plot synopsis has be a little weirded out, though. Affleck will star as an actor campaigning during Oscar season. While trying to get to LA, his plane breaks down, and he is offered a spot on board the plane of a wealthy weirdo. This makes me wonder how much Affleck will be playing himself, or if this will somehow attempt to satirize Hollywood. Other sites have taken to calling the project ‘Strangers on a Plane’, but the Deadline article says pretty definitely that it’s just called Strangers (for now). Gone Girl author/screenwriter Gillian Flynn will most likely write this as well, which should please fans of Gone Girl (like myself). Deadline says this one is on the “express train”, which pleases the hell out of me.
Edgar Wright’s ‘Baby Driver’ Gets Financing, Distribution, a Synopsis, and a Potential Star
Variety reported today that Media Rights Capital and Tristar will finance Edgar Wright’s “rock and roll car chase movie”, Baby Driver. Sony will distribute the film. Ansel Elgort (The Fault In Our Stars) is currently in talks to star as “a talented, young getaway driver who relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. But after being coerced into working for a crime boss, he must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love and freedom.” This is another fast-tracked production, as Edgar Wright is already signed up to direct Grasshopper Jungle after his work on Baby Driver is complete.
‘Ghost In The Shell’ Gets a Release Date
There’s no point to padding this out, so here it is: April 14, 2017. Scarlett Johansson will star, Bill Wheeler scripted it, and Rupert Sanders will direct.
Richard Armitage Cast as Francis Dolarhyde on ‘Hannibal’
While I certainly never imagined Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield from those Hobbit movies) all tatted up as Francis Dolarhyde, I can see it now. TVLine broke the exclusive news earlier today, and it looks like he’ll play a role in the last six episodes of the show’s upcoming third season. Six episodes would make The Red Dragon seem like a relatively minor villain in the scheme of things, so I’m a bit concerned about how his story will be adapted into the show’s gnarled and complex canon. It’s not yet known if he’ll continue on to the fourth season, but I’d be surprised if Fuller stretched the Red Dragon story across two seasons. Hell, we’re not even sure Hannibal will get a fourth season, especially because it’s never been a huge ratings hit. Hannibal has done nothing but reward my optimism, so fuck it: I’m psyched.