The Random: Avatar, Scorsese and DiCaprio team up, Dark Tower, Game of Thrones, Uncharted and more

– EuropaCorp TV Studios has acquired the rights to Howard Chaykin’s classic comic book series American Flagg! for development as a television series. American Flagg! is a satirical look at a high-tech consumerist future in which the U.S. government has relocated to Mars and left the nation’s Earth-bound populace to be governed by the all-encompassing corporation, “The Plex.” The saga’s hero, Reuben Flagg, is a former TV star with a naive understanding of the American dream who is drafted into law enforcement in an utterly corrupt, shopping mall-like Chicago – Deadline

– James Cameron officially began production today in Manhattan Beach on the four Avatar sequels he is shooting in succession. They have an estimated collective budget expected to surpass $1 billion – Deadline

– Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese are teaming up to make a biopic about Teddy Roosevelt.

– Game of Thrones Season 8 has selected the directors that will help conclude the epic HBO fantasy series, the premium cable network announced Tuesday. David Nutter, Miguel Sapochnik, and series creators David Benioff and D.B Weiss will direct the final six episodes of the series. It is unknown how the episodes will be divided up, but it is believed that Benioff and Weiss will helm the series finale – Variety

– Stephen King has been talking about how The Dark Tower didn’t work and it seems they may start again with the TV show – “The major challenge was to do a film based on a series of books that’s really long, about 3,000 pages. The other part of it was the decision to do a PG-13 feature adaptation of books that are extremely violent and deal with violent behavior in a fairly graphic way. That was something that had to be overcome, although I’ve gotta say, I thought [screenwriter] Akiva Goldsman did a terrific job in taking a central part of the book and turning it into what I thought was a pretty good movie. The TV series they’re developing now … we’ll see what happens with that. It would be like a complete reboot, so we’ll just have to see.” – Vulture

– Producer Len Wiseman and his production company, Sketch Films, are developing a TV series based on the Underworld movies.

– Warner Bros has officially announced that Teen Titans Go! will get its own movie next year. No other details were confirmed beyond the name and it is due out in July 2018.

– Kyle MacLachlan has been cast in Amblin’s adaptation of The House With a Clock in Its Walls, the John Bellairs/Edward Gorey novel as Isaac Izard, “the sinister original owner” of the film’s titular house. Owen Vacarro also has joined the film as its orphaned, ten-year old lead.

– Watch the Honest Trailer for Star Trek: The Next Generation

= Channing Tatum’s Free Association has teamed with Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf’s Big Beach to option Zack McDermott’s book Gorilla and the Bird: A Memoir of Madness and a Mother’s Love, for TV series development. Demolition scribe Bryan Sipe is attached to pen the adaptation and executive produce. The memoir chronicles McDermott’s personal battle with bipolar disorder, which affects nearly 6 million Americans and usually presents itself in patients during their mid-twenties, the same age that it affected McDermott – Deadline

– Chevy Chase, Richard Dreyfuss, Andie MacDowell, Lewis Black, Kate Micucci and Chris Parnell have joined the comedy The Last Laugh. Written and directed by Greg Pritikin (Dummy), the Netflix Original from producer Rob Paris of Paris Film, Inc. starts shooting today in New Orleans – After 50 years, talent manager and widower Al Hart reunites with former client Buddy Green who gave up a promising career as a stand-up comedian and instead settled down to have a family. After Al convinces Buddy to perform on a bucket list tour of classic standup venues across the U.S., Buddy gets on last taste of the life he could have had. The Last Laugh shows the rollercoaster ride of two men rekindling friendships, careers and ideas of the past while travelling around the country together.

– Phil Lord and Chris Miller have signed on to direct a film called Artemis, and it’s based on an upcoming book from Andy Weir, the author of The Martian. It centers on Jasmine Bashara, aka Jazz, just another too-smart, directionless twentysomething chafing at the constraints of her small town and dreaming of a better life. Except the small town happens to be named Artemis—and it’s the first and only city on the moon. She’s got debts to pay, her job as a porter barely covers the rent, and her budding career as a smuggler isn’t exactly setting her up as a kingpin, much to her disappointment. So when the chance at a life-changing score drops in her lap, Jazz can’t say no, and she finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself – Deadline

– Bryan Cranston is apparently wanted for a big supporting role in the upcoming feature film adaptation of Uncharted. The film project is being developed by Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) and Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Homecoming) is set to star in the film as a young Nathan Drake – The Hashtag Show

– Universal has acquired an untitled buddy cop comedy hatched by Ruben Fleischer, David Bernad and Murray Miller. This one has John Cena (Trainwreck) and Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick) attached to star in the project – Deadline

– Conan drives with Tom Cruise.