Moviefone Editorial

Tag: jeremy slater

  • Will Forte Talks ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’s Cancelation and Future

    Wile E. Coyote in 'Coyote vs. Acme.'
    Wile E. Coyote in ‘Coyote vs. Acme.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Discovery.

    Preview:

    • Will Forte has commented on twitter about ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’s future.
    • Warner Bros. opted to use it as a tax write-off rather than a release.
    • The movie also stars John Cena and Lana Condor.

    It was all going so well for ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’… Until it wasn’t.

    The movie, a blend of live-action and animation had a fun concept, a great cast led by John Cena and Will Forte, and was on track for a prime summer 2023 release.

    Until Warner Bros. got cold feet about the idea of the movie being a success (despite positive reviews from friends and family screenings), handed its date to ‘Barbie’ and then announced it was pulling a ‘Batgirl’ again, putting the movie on a shelf and taking a tax write-off instead of spending the money to market and release it.

    A cavalcade of complaints from filmmakers who have seen the finished film led to a brief process of inviting bids from other companies, but now according to Forte, who hit twitter to share his feelings on the matter, it’s likely to never see the light of day.

    Related Article: Warner Bros. has Opted to Shelve Completed John Cena Live-Action/CG Movie ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’

    What’s the story of ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’?

    Wile E. Coyote and Will Forte in 'Coyote vs. Acme.'
    (L to R) Wile E. Coyote and Will Forte in ‘Coyote vs. Acme.’ Photo: Warner Bros. Discovery.

    ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’ follows Wile E. Coyote, who after ACME products fail him one too many times in his dogged pursuit of the Roadrunner, decides to hire a billboard lawyer to sue the ACME Corporation.

    The case pits Wile E. and his lawyer (Forte) against the latter’s intimidating former boss (Cena), but a growing friendship between man and cartoon stokes their determination to win.

    Dave Green directed the movie, from a script by Samy Burch, itself derived from a story crafted by Jeremy Slater and James Gunn (yes, the current chief of DC Studios at Warner Bros.) The original idea came from a 1990 New Yorker humor piece written by Ian Frazier.

    Aside from Cena, the cast includes Lana Condor, P.J. Byrne and Eric Bauza (who voices Wile E. Coyote).

    Will Forte on ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’

    Here’s Forte’s statement in full via his twitter post:

    He finishes with this line:

    “You would be so proud of it — a movie that should be seen but won’t. Please know that all the years and years of hard work, dedication and love that you put into this movie shows in every frame.”

    It’s telling that the movie was greenlit by a previous Warner Bros. administration, and that the current one is on a huge cost-cutting run, slashing talent and producer deals and looking to stick to big potential successes such as ‘Dune: Part Two’.

    The attitude has not won it many fans among filmmakers in particular, who have reacted much like Forte. But as the studio pushes ahead making deals with stars such as Tom Cruise, it may not worry too much about that.

    Will Forte in 'MacGruber.'
    Will Forte in ‘MacGruber.’ Photo: Universal Pictures.

    Other Looney Tunes Movies: 

    Buy Will Forte Movies On Amazon

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  • James Mangold in Talks for ‘Swamp Thing’ Movie

    DC Comics' Swamp Thing.
    DC Comics’ Swamp Thing. Photo courtesy of DC.com.

    Just yesterday, DC Studios Co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran made the first of what will likely be several big announcements about the future of DC movies, TV series and video games, which they’re aiming to link together in one unified universe (excepting the likes of ‘The Batman’ and ‘Joker’, which will exist as ‘Elseworlds’ titles).

    While Gunn didn’t go into many details about other filmmakers who will be involved in crafting the movies and series in his actual announcement, he did drop a few names. “Tom King has been my partner throughout all of this. He was giving me answers to shit before I took the job,” said Gunn in a presentation. “So me, him, Christal Henry who worked on ‘Watchmen’ and is doing ‘Waller,’ Christina Hodson who wrote ‘The Flash,’ Drew Goddard, and Jeremy Slater, who just did ‘Moon Knight.’ That group of people we’ve been meeting with and, you know, putting all of this together.”

    One name he didn’t drop was James Mangold, but the director dropped a teasing hint about his potential collaboration by posting a ‘Swamp Thing’ image on social media.

    That immediately sparked speculation that he might be involved in the movie, which was one that Gunn mentioned in his announcement. And now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he’s in early talks to write and direct the ‘Swamp Thing’ film but wasn’t brought up because the deal isn’t done yet.

    “This is a film that will investigate the dark origins of Swamp Thing,” Safran said on the DC blog the day of the announcement. It’s intended as a horror movie, but Swamp Thing will end up interacting with other characters down the line.

    As a character, Swamp Thing was created by writer Len Wein and horror artist Bernie Wrightson, first appearing in a stand-alone story in 1971’s ‘House of Secrets # 92.’ The character proved popular enough that he got his own book soon after, although it was short-lived. Swampy achieved his peak in the 1980s during a seminal run written by Alan Moore and drawn by John Totleben and Stephen R. Bissette and has since gone on to become a key figure in the darker side of DC, spurring the creation of the Vertigo imprint.

    ‘Swamp Thing’ first appeared on screens in 1982 in a movie directed by Wes Craven, while ‘The Return of Swamp Thing’ landed in theaters in 1989. There was a live-action TV series that ran for three seasons in the 1990s, an animated series and a short-lived live-action show on the equally short-lived DC Universe platform.

    Mangold, meanwhile, has form with comic book based movies with ‘The Wolverine’ and the acclaimed ‘Logan’. Next up for him is ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’, headed to theaters on June 30th this year. And after that’s complete, he still intends to make a film about Bob Dylan’s early life starring Timothée Chalamet.

    James Mangold arrives on the red carpet of The 90th Oscars®
    Oscar® nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay, James Mangold arrives on the red carpet of The 90th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, March 4, 2018. Photo: Ross Costanza Photography.
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  • ‘Mortal Kombat’ Sequel in the Works

    Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero in 2021's 'Mortal Kombat'
    Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero in 2021’s ‘Mortal Kombat’

    Warner Bros. and New Line clearly feel that ‘Mortal Kombat’ was punching above its weight last year, as the companies have started the early work on a sequel.

    Jeremy Slater, who most recently was head writer on the Oscar Isaac-starring Marvel/Disney+ series ‘Moon Knight’ (headed to screens starting next month), will write the script for the new movie.

    Directed by Simon McQuoid and written by Greg Russo, Dave Callaham and Oren Uziel, the 2021 ‘Mortal Kombat’ starred Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Joe Taslim and Mehcad Brooks.

    In the story, an MMA fighter seeks out Earth’s greatest champions to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a battle for the universe and the safety of our planet. Released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max last April, it didn’t garner the strongest reviews, but was a success at the box office and on the streaming platform, where it became one of the highest-viewed offerings on the relatively new service.

    No details of the new movie are available – beyond Slater, we don’t know who will be involved creatively and any returning/new cast has yet to be announced. The 2021 story did end with a tease for more action, and the next movie will likely answer fans’ demands for an actual tournament this time around. There are plenty of clashes in the most recent offering, but no formal competition, as in the game.

    (L to R) Mehcad Brooks as Jax Briggs and Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero in 2021's 'Mortal Kombat'
    (L to R) Mehcad Brooks as Jax Briggs and Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero in 2021’s ‘Mortal Kombat’

    We also don’t know when the new movie might be released – Deadline’s report on Slater’s hiring doesn’t specify, though you can imagine that New Line and Warner Bros. will want to have it out within the next couple of years.

    ‘Mortal Kombat’ already has quite the video game and cinematic history. Created by Ed Boon and John Tobias in 1982, the Midway Games title became a big hit in both arcades and on home consoles, generating plenty of sequels as fans enjoyed the beat ‘em up action of pitting various fighters with unique abilities against one another.

    The games became famous for their finishing moves, or ‘Fatalities’, in which the victorious fighter kills their defeated opponent, often in gruesome fashion.

    It was adapted into a movie in 1995, leading to the 1997 sequel ‘Mortal Kombat: Annihilation’, which didn’t perform as well at the box office. Various comics, novels and animated shows have followed, along with anything that companies could slap its name onto. There was even a live, touring stage show featuring martial artists and stunt teams showing off some of the game’s moves.

    Alongside ‘Moon Knight’, Jeremy Slater has a few projects in the works, including a movie called ‘Thread’ he wrote and will direct for Screen Gems and James Wan. The ‘Malignant’ director also has him adapting the Stephen King story ‘The Tommyknockers,’ and Slater wrote in-development Netflix film ‘Uprising’, which has ‘Bumblebee’ director Travis Knight attached.

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  • Stephen King’s ‘Tommyknockers’ Nabs Writer Jeremy Slater

    Stephen King’s ‘Tommyknockers’ Nabs Writer Jeremy Slater

    ABC

    The upcoming adaptation of horror master Stephen King‘s 1987 novel “The Tommyknockers” is moving forward, nabbing a writer to pen the script.

    TheWrap reports that Jeremy Slater has been tapped for the project, which is hailing from another horror great, James Wan. Wan is producing, and will likely also direct the flick.

    Slater is a natural fit for the feature, having previously written episodes of Fox’s “The Exorcist” series, which ran for two seasons. He also penned the screenplays for the films “The Lazarus Effect” and the 2015 version of “Fantastic Four” (probably not the credit he brings up most, based on all of the film’s problems).

    As with most of King’s work, “The Tommyknockers” is a curious blend of genres, touching on horror and sci-fi (and, like “It,” the book also received the early-’90s miniseries treatment, featuring stars Jimmy Smits and Marg Helgenberger). Here’s its premise, per TheWrap:

    “The Tommyknockers” is about the residents of Haven, Maine, who experience changes from a metal object that turns out to be an extension of a long-buried alien spacecraft. Once it’s exposed, the spacecraft releases an invisible gas into the atmosphere that gradually transforms people into beings similar to their alien visitors.

    Expect production to begin once Wan he wraps work on the upcoming “Aquaman.”

    [via: TheWrap]