development hell

Your monthly glimpse into Hollywood’s hoped- for future

The Bronze age! DOC SAVAGE

Shane Black has found his Man of Bronze. Stand down, Tom Jones – it’s none other than the Rock who’s in his sights. “Doc Savage is sort of in the ether now,” Black tells Thrillist. “We’re hoping to make it sometime next year. I would very much like to do Doc with a fellow named Dwayne Johnson if we can make that work. I made a decision that Dwayne is the guy. It’s on the back burner while he’s busy.” We like to imagine “busy” for the Rock involves racing supercharged muscle cars while casually saving California from a monster earthquake. A globe- trekking high adventurer from the 1930s golden age of American pulp magazines, Doc last came to the screen in 1975. It’s a dream project for Black, a lifelong fan of the character. “If [ people are] introduced to it they’ll get to know, hopefully, what I came to love as a kid.”

Sea change! AQUAMAN

Crazed maverick James Wan vows his take on Aquaman will inject a volatile compound called fun into the gloomy proto- matter of the DC Universe. “Even my darker horror films generally are still very fun and I think that’s important for me and the kind of films I make,” the Conjuring helmer declares. “Aquaman is a character that a lot of people have made fun of over the years and I just think it’s fun to actually show a really different, cool, badass side to this character, but

at the same time, let’s not forget to have fun with him.” We repeat: fun. Wan’s also excited by the prospect of some deep water exploration. “Isn’t it crazy to think that we’ve explored space more than we have explored the depths of our ocean?” he asks

Slashfilm. “That just fires up my imagination about potential sea monsters and cool creatures.” The

Rum Diary’s Amber Heard has

just signed on as Mera, superpowered Queen of Atlantis.

The Bat fleck rises! BATMAN

Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight just about escaped the omnisuck of

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of

Justice with his dignity intact. Now comes word that he’s still committed to bringing his own vision of the Gotham guardian to the big screen. “There’s a script that he’s written which is a really cool idea,” his longtime agent Patrick Whitesell tells The

Hollywood Reporter. Affleck collaborated on the screenplay with DC Comics supremo Geoff Johns, and BVS helmer Zack Snyder believes the triple- threat star will direct it, too: “Oh yeah, for sure. I think [ directing it] is kind of the prerequisite, hopefully, for him doing it.”

Kevin Smith – who directed Affleck in Chasing Amy and

Mallrats – believes he’ll take the BVS flak to heart. “I guarantee you he’s read everything… and he’s like, ‘ Okay, these are all the pitfalls my script isn’t going to fall into.’” Bring on the sunshine and Bat- puppies, Ben.

Whip-crack away! INDIANA JONES 5

Shorty, we’re home… Yes, it’s a done deal: Harrison Ford will reunite with Steven Spielberg on a fifth Indiana Jones movie, set for release 19 July 2019. “I’ve always thought there was an opportunity to do another,” Ford tells the BBC with a roguish scowl, “but I didn’t want to do it without Steven. And I didn’t want to do it without a really good script. And happily we’re working on both. Steven is developing a script now that I think we’re going to be very happy with.” The screenplay will be written by David Koepp, the man who penned Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull – no, listen, they have top men working on it right now… top men… And franchise veteran Frank Marshall produces alongside Lucasfilm supremo Kathleen Kennedy. Given the time that’s passed since the ’ 50s capers of Skull, will this one see Indy adventuring in the late ’ 60s? Easy Riders Of The Lost Ark, anyone?

Endless pain! SANDMAN

The Dreaming is over for Joseph Gordon- Levitt. He was set to direct – and potentially star in – New Line’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s epic slice of comic book mythology. Now he’s gone, just as the studio announces that Final Destination 5’ s Eric Heisserer will take a shot at the screenplay, working from a treatment by David Goyer. “A few months ago I came to realise that the folks at New Line and I just don’t see eye to eye on what makes Sandman special,” says Gordon- Levitt, “and what a film adaptation could/ should be. So unfortunately I decided to remove myself from the project. I wish nothing but the best for the team moving forward.” A potential film version of Sandman has been tormented by the flames of Development Hell since the mid ’ 90s, but Gaiman, an executive producer on this one, remains zen. “For me, what’s important is the 2,500 pages of Sandman, not a movie that may or may not ever happen.”

Further mutations! THE NEW MUTANTS

We may well see some familiar genetic material in The New Mutants, Twentieth Century Fox’s next evolution of the X- Men universe. Based on the ’ 80s Marvel title that introduced a fresh generation of gifted youngsters, it’s rumoured to include Alexandra Shipp – Storm in X- Men: Apocalypse – and James McAvoy’s Professor X as connective tissue to the core films in the franchise. “Traditionally the New Mutants have some characters that cross over from the mainline X- Men movies,” hints producer Simon Kinberg. “I would say it’s likely that you will see some familiar faces.” Newcomers to Xavier’s school are said to include a couple of rising genre stars: The Witch’s Anya Taylor- Joy as the sorcerous Magik, sister of Colossus, and Game Of Thrones’ Maisie Williams as Scottish lycanthrope Wolfsbane. The Fault In Our Stars’ Josh Boone directs.

Croft’s original! TOMB RAIDER

So you’ve just starred in one of the most humongous blockbusters in movie history. What do you do for an encore? If you’re Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Daisy Ridley – and odds are you’re not – then you’re up for a spot of grunty treasure- plundering in the Lara Croft reboot. “There have been conversations,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m waiting for someone to say, ‘ I want you, let’s do it!’” Ridley chased the role on the advice of fellow Star Warrior – and gamer – John Boyega, who thought she’d be perfect for the younger, more grounded take on Lara inspired by 2013’ s game reboot. “Making Lara Croft feel like a real human being, that’s definitely something we want to bring to the big screen,” director Roar Uthaug tells IGN. “I’m hoping to bring some of my Norwegian sensibilities to the franchise… We’ll want to make it feel like a modern action movie and make what’s going on feel like it’s going on for real.”

I think it’s fun to show a different, cool, badass side to this character