Glad to see you made it back! This week we’ve got news on industry musicians’ fight for fair pay, director Colm McCarthy’s next horror/thriller movie, some showrunner displacement at Carnival Row and something you never knew you needed: a CW reboot of Walker, Texas Ranger. It was a bit of a quiet weekend all in all, but we’re still coming out of it with some notable headlines.
- The Kristen Stewart-lead Charlie’s Angels movie dropped a poster of its own on Sunday via Twitter. This flick is set to hit theaters exactly one month from today on November 15, 2019.
- The G.I. Joe spin-off, Snake Eyes, has found its Scarlett in Samara Weaving, who you’ll most likely remember from the recent horror flick, Ready or Not. As the crossbow-wielding counter-intelligence agent, Weaving joins the already well established cast including Henry Golding, Haruka Abe, Ursula Corbero, Iko Uwais, and Andrew Koji.
- And, if you really need to burn some time at work, the Disney+ Twitter is listing a truly ludicrous amount of movies and shows it’ll be hosting, one by one, in reverse chronological order. On the topic of Disney+, let’s dive right into our first newser from these last few days.
Industry musicians’ paychecks are getting skimmed when working on made-for-streaming productions
A few members of the entertainment biz had a rough start this weekend – particularly co-chair of Walt Disney Studios Alan Bergman, who was greeted on Friday with protestors outside his home.
Musicians across the industry are making the rounds to “the homes of major film and television studio executives living in the most exclusive neighborhoods in Los Angeles,” according to an American Federation of Musicians statement. The day-long affair, the #BandTogether campaign, was planned as part of workers demands to negotiate a fair TV and film contract, especially in regards to streaming.
Typically, a musician who works on a TV show or movie receives payment in what’s called a residual when said project jumps to a secondary market like Blu-ray – but that’s not the case when it comes to streaming services. In the union’s current agreement with AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers), musicians are only seeing about 25% of what they normally would when not working on a made-for-streaming show or movie, especially for companies like Disney, Warner Bros. and Viacom.
Contrarily, just about everyone else working on those productions – actors, singers, writers, etc. – are all seeing proper pay-days. That contract’s expiration date is November 14 and negotiations picked up again on Monday of this week.
Peaky Blinders director Colm McCarthy has his eye on a Paramount project with Bagman
Colm McCarthy has solidified his next directing gig with Paramount’s contemporary arm, Paramount Players. The Peaky Blinders and Krypton director is creeping into the horror/thriller genre with the announcement for a movie called Bagman.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that the script for this movie is by John Hulme and follows the story of a father in the fight to save his family when his greatest childhood fear comes back to haunt him. Notably, though, this isn’t McCarthy’s first foray into the genre – Black Mirror fans will recognize his stylings from the final episode of the show’s fourth season: “Black Museum.”
The director will be working with Temple Hill studios, which has put its stamp on a variety of films including The Hate U Give, Love Simon, First Man and Twilight. Representatives John Fischer, Marty Bowen and Isaac Klausner will produce.
As Carnival Row showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Travis Beacham bow out, Erik Oleson takes the spotlight
Over at Amazon Studios, a shake up with Carnival Row sees the current showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Travis Beacham swapped out for newcomer Erik Oleson. A Deadline exclusive explains that, although Guggenheim will be returning in a consultation position, Beacham’s exit is much firmer.
Guggenheim’s priorities lie over at The CW – as they have for a long time. He’s credited as one of the major creative forces on both Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and the shows that have spun off of those ones are only gaining in popularity. It follows, then, that even more of Guggenheim’s time is requested for the networks’ next major crossover event; hence his stepping away from Carnival Row. Though, again, he will be involved loosely as a consultant on upcoming seasons.
Beacham, meanwhile, left due to some creative differences with Amazon. Although the studio says it was a mutual decision between the two parties (and turned down a chance to comment), it is a bit sour considering that Beacham penned the script the series was originally based on: A Killing on Carnival Row.
Guggenheim and Beacham’s replacement, Oleson, is a producer on the third season of Netflix’s Daredevil, Arrow and Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle. It’s that track record and his overall deal he signed with Amazon that cemented this recent announcement as Carnival Row’s newest showrunner.
In spite of luke-warm critic reception (including our own), the show’s second season was approved before the first even aired and is beginning filming on it now. Carnival Row is a steam-punk fantasy in which mythological creatures’ homelands have been colonized by humans. It follows Orlando Bloom as detective, Rycroft Philostrate and Cara Delevingne as faerie refugee Vignette Stonemoss.
Supernatural star Jared Padalecki is reborn in an upcoming CW reboot of Walker, Texas Ranger
Jared Padalecki may be turning in his hunter credentials, but The CW is trading them in for a gun, a badge and a whole lot more people calling him Walker than ever before. That’s right, the Supernatural lead is set to star and executive produce in the network’s Walker, Texas Ranger reboot, per Deadline.
The CW’s Walker reimagines the Chuck Norris-lead action/crime show with writing from Anna Fricke, who’s name you may recognize from the army drama series Valor. Fricke also serves as EP on the show along with Dan Lin (Lethal Weapon). As suggested in the phrasing here, Padalecki’s version of Walker, Texas Ranger will be a new interpretation on the character’s roots; there’s no timeline or heritage connecting the two (unless he somehow gets involved with the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover). The series picks up following the death of Walker’s wife; he’s trying to pick up the pieces of his life as he raises his two kids, transition out of being undercover for two years and develop a relationship with his new partner – who’s also one of the first women to join the Texas Rangers.
This series sounds like a perfect fit for the CW’s brand of drama and cheese. Padalecki’s presence doesn’t hurt, either. His 15 season spanning role on Supernatural served as one of the network’s biggest titles and brought an army of fans along for the ride. CW president Mark Pedowitz, out of fandom and graciousness, made it clear in a public statement that the entire Supernatural team would always have a home at the network following its upcoming final season.
As is evident from this show’s existence, Pedowitz made good on that promise in his aggressive bid for the property. Look for Padalecki’s debut in his Walker, Texas Ranger reboot in CW’s 2020-21 lineup.
And, speaking of reboots…
Now that her’s done being Dr. Stark, Robert Downey Jr. is looking to connect with nature in his starring role in Dolittle. As you can see in the trailer’s last 20 seconds or so, his cast of critters is almost Lion King-esque in its recruitment. No, there’s no Beyoncé here, but Downey is working with Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Otavia Spencer and Tom Holland and together they may just be the equivalent of Queen Bey. You can see for yourself when Dolittle takes its first patients on January 17.
Revealed during an Instagram live session with the Rock himself along with a poster, Jungle Cruise is a movie inspired by checks notes a theme park ride. Dwayne Johnson plays a sneaky ferryman with an eye for cash and Emily Blunt is an explorer looking to go deeper into the jungle. Catch them together on their Jungle Cruise when they dock in July of next year.
And, quick as that – that’s the weekend! We’ll see you back here on Friday for your standing appointment with Studio Coffee Run’s Edward Douglas and his stash of all the latest entertainment news.
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