The Random: The Equalizer 2, Will Ferrell, The Gifted, Batman, Black Samurai and more

– Director Rian Johnson shared the above image from behind the scenes of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

– Crazy Stupid Love writers/director Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are in talks to write, direct and produce the upcoming Joker and Harley Quinn film. The film is described as a “criminal love story,” according to one source, featuring the two murdering maniacs who are cornerstones in the Batman mythos. One insider offered this: “an insane and twisted love story. When Harry Met Sally on benzedrine” – THR

– A Black Samurai TV show is being developed by Jerry Bruckheimer and RZA . It looks like Common will play the lead. The drama follows Robert Sand (Common), a highly trained American Army Ranger whose life is transformed when he meets a legendary Japanese master who invites him to train as a samurai. After his beloved sensei and samurai brothers are killed by mercenaries, Sand is thrust on a worldwide journey of both revenge and self-discovery. Starz notes that the potential series will be updated from the original novels and subsequent 1977 blaxploitation film that starred Jim Kelly. The drama will be a mashup of the spy and martial arts genres and infused with the heart, soul and music of Common and the Wu-Tang Clan, creating a modern-day international action star – THR

– Director Adam Wingard has been talking about Godzilla vs King Kong – “Ours is more in continuity with the sequel to Godzilla right now. They’re doing Godzilla 2 with Mike Dougherty directing, so our film is in present day. We have a couple characters from Godzilla 2 in ours, but it’ll be interesting to see how Kong has fared over the years. You see him in that film and he’s just constantly under attack. Things are going wrong and there’s probably been lots of human intervention since then. It’ll be interesting to see a more rugged, a bit more aged Kong in this film” – /Film

– EPIX has renewed its series Get Shorty, based on the Elmore Leonard novel, for a second season. The show from MGM Television will return to the cable network in 2018 with 10 all-new episodes.

– Here is our first look at Thomas Jane in 1922. Zak Hilditch directs the film that is based on a short story by Stephen King. “A simple yet proud rancher in the year 1922 conspires to murder his wife for financial gain, convincing his teenage son to participate.”

– Chris Hemsworth and Jeff Bridges are in talks to play the lead roles in Bad Times at the El Royale for Twentieth Century Fox. Drew Goddard wrote the script and is directing and producing the pic, which is aiming for a January 2018 start. The story is set in the 1960s at a run-down hotel near California’s Lake Tahoe named the El Royale and centers on a cast of characters whose own shady agendas will violently collide – THR

– David Oyelowo has been cast in Lionsgate’s and director Doug Liman’s upcoming sci-fi adventure Chaos Walking. He will play Aaron, a controversial militant figure in the New World and the foe — along with Mayor Prentiss (Mads Mikkelson) — opposite Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley. Lionsgate has scheduled the release for March 1, 2019. The sci-fi movie is based on the book from Carnegie Award-winning author Patrick Ness – Deadline

– Will Ferrell is producing and starring in the CBS Films comedy The 100 Year-Old Man. The project is based on bestselling author Jonas Jonasson’s The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. Jason George (Narcos) is set to write the screenplay. No director is yet attached. Ferrell will play a man named Allan who escapes from a nursing home on his 100th birthday. His time on the run reveals that he took part in several defining events of the 20th century – Variety

– Ruben Ostlund’s Palme d’Or winner The Square is Sweden’s choice to represent it in the race for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The Square stars Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West. The satirical drama set in the art world is about a sense of community, moral courage and the affluent person’s need for egocentricity in an increasingly uncertain world. Ostlund also wrote the script – Deadline

– Marvel’s The Gifted gets a few new character posters.

– Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman are back for The Equalizer 2 to co-star alongside Denzel Washington for Sony Pictures and director Antoine Fuqua. Leo and Pullman are set to reprise their roles as Susan and Brian Plummer, the great friends of Robert McCall (Washington) when he worked in counter-terrorism. Susan was McCall’s handler. The cameras will roll in Boston on September 14 – Deadline

– The Batman director Matt Reeves had been talking about the film. “Well I have a vision for a way to do something with that character [Batman] that feels like it resonates with me personally, and a perspective that can grow out into other things. When they [Warner Bros.] approached me, what they said was ‘look, it’s a standalone, it’s not part of the extended universe’” – KCRW This doesn not mean it won’t be part of the DCEU, just that it will focus on Batman.

In my comments from a while back about not being part of the DCEU, I was talking about The Batman being a story specifically about Batman…

— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) August 24, 2017

– Rebecca Thomas (Electrick Children, Stranger Things) has been hired to direct the sci-fi film Intelligent Life for Amblin Entertainment. The story centers on a United Nations employee who monitors outer space and makes contact with a beautiful woman who may be an alien – THR

– Check out some new character posters for Marvel’s The Inhumans.

– Anna Diop (24: Legacy) has landed one of the leads, the series-regular role of Starfire, in the new live-action series Titans, from Greg Berlanti, Akiva Goldsman, Geoff Johns, Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros TV. She joins Australian newcomer Teagan Croft, who was cast as another lead, Raven, in the series that’s slated to premiere in 2018 – Deadline