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!
Two-time BAFTA winning filmmaker Joe Wright (Hanna, “Black Mirror“) is set to direct the feature adaptation of post-apocalyptic thriller novel, Juice, Deadline reports today.
Emmy winner Abi Morgan (Shame, “Eric”) will adapt Tim Winton‘s novel for Working Title Films.
In Juice, “A young husband and father is recruited into a top-secret resistance organization, to join the ranks of militia men tasked with targeting the isolated and wealthy culprits responsible for this global catastrophe. When a mission goes wrong, he finds himself on the run, having to fight to the end to survive in this hostile world.”
It’s set in a world ravaged by climate-change disaster.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled that Tim Winton has entrusted us with his extraordinary epic,” Wright told Deadline. “The story is both a thrilling modern family saga and an urgent call to action. I cannot wait for audiences to experience it on the big screen.”
Winton added, “I’m pleased to know a filmmaker of Joe Wright’s calibre has chosen to adapt Juice for the screen. His capacity to portray the turmoil and the turning points of nations and peoples as well as private individuals distinguishes his work as a director and I’m confident that Juice is in good hands.”
Juice was initially published in October 2024 and longlisted for The Climate Fiction Prize 2026.
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