Movies
FOX’s Greed Causing ‘Locke & Key’ Complications?
With news of “Preacher” getting a pilot over at AMC, it reminded me of the heartbreak that ensued when FOX passed on the “Locke & Key” series, based on Joe Hills revolutionary comic.
In speaking with MTV, Hill talked about how the failed pilot is causing a huge headache for him and producers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
“It’s been snared in an endless series of contractual negotiations. Universal took a long, long time to come through with an acceptable contract for myself and IDW,” said Hill. “Now they’re dealing with a bureaucracy as labyrinthine and implacable as their own: FOX TV. Uni wants to avoid spending $25 million on a movie, and then have FOX steal their thunder by releasing a three-year-old pilot.
“FOX wants to see some coin on all the money they sank into the pilot in the first place. The lawyers all have to validate their salaries. That said, Alex and Bob are the two most tenacious people I’ve ever met, and if anyone can see ‘Locke & Key’ through the contractual maze, and on into production, it’s them.
“Of course all this could’ve been avoided if FOX had just made the series. I know I’m biased, but I kinda think they bet on the wrong ponies that season.”
MTV rightfully jokes about “those ponies”, which included “Terra Nova,” “Alcatraz,” and “The Finder,” all three of which were cancelled after a season!
Movies
Matilda Firth Joins the Cast of Director Leigh Whannell’s ‘Wolf Man’ Movie
Filming is underway on The Invisible Man director Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man for Universal and Blumhouse, which will be howling its way into theaters on January 17, 2025.
Deadline reports that Matilda Firth (Disenchanted) is the latest actor to sign on, joining Christopher Abbott (Poor Things), Julia Garner (The Royal Hotel), and Sam Jaeger.
The project will mark Whannell’s second monster movie and fourth directing collaboration with Blumhouse Productions (The Invisible Man, Upgrade, Insidious: Chapter 3).
Wolf Man stars Christopher Abbott as a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator.
Writers include Whannell & Corbett Tuck as well as Lauren Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo.
Jason Blum is producing the film. Ryan Gosling, Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner and Whannell are executive producers. Wolf Man is a Blumhouse and Motel Movies production.
In the wake of the failed Dark Universe, Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man has been the only real success story for the Universal Monsters brand, which has been struggling with recent box office flops including the comedic Renfield and period horror movie The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Giving him the keys to the castle once more seems like a wise idea, to say the least.
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