Studio Coffee Run 12/17/19: POWER RANGERS tries another movie, Benioff and Weiss are back at it and more!

Welcome back Studio Coffee Crew! This last weekend saw quite a bit of action with the Watchmen finale and release dates for Shazam 2, The Flash and The Matrix 4, but we’ve got our eyes on a few other headlines today. Namely, we’ll chat about Paramount’s plans for the next Power Rangers movie, Benioff and Weiss‘ next adaptation and then end on Orlando Jones’ American Gods ousting. Then, to wash out the undoubtedly sour taste, we’ll check out a few of this weekend’s trailers.

Let’s get to it!

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier cast is spreading its wings

• Of course, no details on who they’ll be playing as of yet, but Marvel has announced that Desmond Chiam (Now Apocalypse, The Shannara Chronicles) and Miki Ishikawa (The Terror: Infamy, Yours Mine and Ours, Zoey 101) are joining the Falcon and the Winter Soldier cast alongside Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan in their titular roles and Daniel Bruhl, Emily VanCamp and Wyatt Russell. Look for an August 2020 debut from EP Malcolm Spellman and director Kari Skogland.

The Power Rangers are going back to the movies under the Paramount umbrella

The Power Rangers are shifting into turbo with the announcement of yet another movie – although they’ve morphed from Lionsgate to Paramount. This offshoot of the tinted 90’s team will tread an entirely new path, separate from the 2017 iteration. To begin this new journey, Paramount looks to Netflix’s End of the F—in World creator, Jonathan Entwistle.

Given that 2017’s Power Rangers movie was knocked for a certain edginess that defines the Netflix adaptation Entwistle is known for, it may seem like an odd choice, but fear not. THR reports that this second take will head in the opposite direction, resetting the franchise to its roots.The latest Power Rangers movie takes that concept literally with a story that pulls its cast back into the 90’s for a time-travel adventure back to the present day.

The script is the branchild of Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway writer, Patrick Burleigh. His and Entwistle’s upcoming reboot will be the first Power Rangers movie since the Hasbro’s 2018 acquisition of the franchise from creator Haim Saban.

On the other side of the franchise spectrum…

• Quentin Tarantino has said that his R-rated Star Trek is quickly fading from his purview. He also mentions that he hasn’t had any official conversations, though, so they’ll have a nice surprise when they check out this Consequence of Sound interview.

Following their Star Wars exit, Benioff and Weiss plan to adapt Lovecraft

The two-headed dragon known as David Benioff and D.B. Weiss rears its head again with an adaptation of the graphic novel Lovecraft. Originally based on an unproduced screenplay by Hans Rodionoff, Lovecraft is written by Keith Giffen and drawn by Enrique Breccia. The Vertigo GN “examines the bizarre life of author and recluse, Howard Phillips Lovecraft.”

Recently, the Game of Thrones showrunners were heckled out of Star Wars, then jumped ship on their super controversial alt-history HBO show Confederate for a Netflix deal. With Lovecraft, they’ll head back to Warner Bros with scripters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. Apparently, the untitled thriller will sway a bit from Lovecraft’s biographical nature, instead asking “what if H.P. Lovecraft wasn’t making it up? What if the monsters he created are real?”

Also notably, this announcement appears in a time when many fans of the Eldritch daddy are reckoning with his racist tendencies in media. Time will tell if this latest entry will do the same.

Speaking of Warner Bros., The Birds of Prey movie dropped some new stills this weekend

• Director Cathy Yan chatted with Total Film to mention that BOP will definitively be it’s own thing. She’s quoted saying “Tonally, David Ayer’s world looks different to [Birds’] world, which will look different to James’s world,” she says. “So, no, there’s not a direct connection. But like the comics, it doesn’t cancel out one or the other.” Oh, and she was kind enough to toss a few Harley stills onto the internet.

Apple TV+ hands out a second season to its Little America docuseries

Little America, a show highlighting the stories of immigrants in the United States, gets the second season go ahead from Apple TV+. This news drops a month before the show’s debut, though keep in mind that literally all of the streamer’s other exclusives have, too.

But, before we get too negative, note the folks working on this show in showrunner Lee Eisenberg (The Office), the Big Sick’s Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, Master of None’s Alan Yang and Orange is the New Black’s Sian Heder as co-showrunner. Working from an Epic Magazine feature, Gordon and Nanjiani say “Little America episodes are meant to evoke emotions that are as unique as each immigrant’s experience in this country,” said Gordon and Nanjiani in a statement. “We’re so happy to have the opportunity to be the conduit for these stories, and to have the chance to tell more of them in a second season with Apple.”

Little America lands on Apple TV+ on January 17.

In other news

• Rihanna is working with Peter Berg on a documentary being called an unfiltered look into the performer’s life. Amazon won out the bid for the untitled production which collects over 1200 hours worth of footage spread across the last few years.

Orlando Jones leaves American Gods following showrunner comments that he’s got “the wrong message for Black America.”

Orlando Jones has been fired from the American Gods cast after starring, writing and producing in the show’s previous two seasons. While Fremantle has said after the fact that his departure from the show was simply because his character, Mr. Nancy, would no longer be part of the story, Jones says otherwise.

On Saturday, he went to Twitter to tell his side of the story. Apparently, behind the scenes, though never to Jones’ face, showrunner Charles Eglee said Mr. Nancy’s “angry gets s— done” style” is “the wrong message for Black America.” Jones was also told by coworkers that Eglee (a white man) says he “writes from a black male perspective,” per a Variety interview.

As if this wasn’t enough, Jones was also strung along for months before finally being told he was let go, even attending Salt Lake City Comic Con to promote the upcoming third season. In the season before that, Jones arrived on set and was told no one had written for Mr. Nancy yet. Following that incident, he said “I ended up finding myself in the writing chair for all of the disenfranchised characters.”

Zooming out, the entirety of American Gods has been quite the mess behind the scenes with showrunners and creators being shuffled out with each season. And, on the whole, production company Fremantle is facing much larger backlash as ex-America’s Got Talent host Gabrielle Union raises concerns about toxic culture within the competition show.

Now, a few trailers you might’ve missed

Probably one of the most hyped trailers from the last few days, America’s favorite scientologist hops back in the cockpit for Top Gun: Maverick. Tom Cruise is training young pilot and Goose’s son, Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (that name is a choice, but he’s played by Miles Teller). Together, they’ll rehash Maverick’s past and determine what comes next, in a mission that demands “the ultimate sacrifice.” Top Gun: Maverick hits theaters June 26, 2020.

The folks who brought you Sherlock are back with another literary character of a spookier variety, with Netflix’s Dracula. Danish actor Claes Bang takes on Bram Stoker’s classic toothy title in a series that promises to “flesh out his gory crimes” and “shed some light on his vulnerabilities.” Check it out beginning on January 4.

Okay, full disclosure, this was my favorite trailer from this weekend. Promising Young Woman looks like a true nail-biter – and that cover of Toxic? Chef’s kiss. Killing Eve writer Emerald Fennell is on writing duties, while Carey Mulligan stars in this cathartic flick, set to hit theaters April 17 (which also happens to be sexual assault awareness month).

That’s a wrap for this weekend! Before Studio Coffee Run takes a big old Studio Coffee Nap, Edward Douglas will catch up with you this Friday, though I won’t see you again until 2020. So, happy holidays! Here’s hoping it’s filled with all the TV and movies your heart desires.