The Random – Simon Pegg, Invincible, The Child In Time, Transformers, The Purge and more

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Child In Time

• Pulse Films announced today that Katharine O’Brien will direct Lost Transmissions with Simon Pegg (Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Shaun of the Dead) to star. It follows follows Hannah, a shy songwriter, who discovers her friend, respected record producer Theo Ross, has lapsed on his medication for schizophrenia. Hannah rallies a group of friends to help commit Theo to a psychiatric facility, chasing him as he outruns his colorful delusions through the glamour and grit of Los Angeles. From the highs of rock and roll to rock bottom, this is a story of the unsung heroes behind the hits – Pulse
• Michael Keaton is in negotiations to play the villain in the live-action Dumbo movie for Disney. The film would mark a reunion with Tim Burton — their first project together since 1992’s Batman Returns. Colin Farrell is currently in talks to star alongside Eva Green and Danny DeVito – Variety
• Nickelodeon officially announced the greenlight for an all-new, 90-minute Invader Zim TV movie from original creator Jhonen Vasquez, marking the network’s third animated property from its rich library of content to be reimagined for today’s audience. The 2D-animated TV movie, produced by Nickelodeon in Burbank, will show the latest and greatest ridiculous attempt at world domination by the universe’s worst alien invader ever. The movie will also feature original voices from the fan-favorite television series.
• Filming for The Child In Time has begun, with Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire, Trainspotting), Stephen Campbell Moore (The History Boys, The Go-Between) and Saskia Reeves (Luther, Shetland) joining Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Parade’s End) in Stephen Butchard’s adaptation of Ian McEwan’s award-winning novel. Set two years after his daughter went missing, The Child In Time follows Stephen Lewis (Benedict Cumberbatch), a children’s author, as he struggles to find purpose in his life without her. His wife Julie (Kelly Macdonald) has left him and his best friends Charles (Stephen Campbell Moore) and Thelma (Saskia Reeves) have retired to the countryside, battling demons of their own. – BBC

Frolic ‘n Mae from ornana on Vimeo.

• Independent TV studio Blumhouse Television is developing a series based on The Purge franchise, which will air on USA Network and its sister network Syfy. Blumhouse will team up with Universal Cable Productions (Suits) and Purge creator James DeMonaco to develop an entirely new chapter of the franchise for television. In The Purge movies, all laws are suspended for 12 hours and anything that could happen, usually does. The series would mark the dark genre franchise’s first foray into a scripted TV one-hour thriller. Separately, a new Purge feature film from Universal is set to hit theaters in summer 2018.
• Sam Mendes is in early talks to develop through his Neal Street banner and potentially to direct My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, the critically lauded graphic novel by Emil Ferris that Sony Pictures won in a bidding battle last week. Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late ’60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes, filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster magazines iconography. Karen Reyes tries to solve the murder of her enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. When Karen’s investigation takes us back to Anka’s life in Nazi Germany, the reader discovers how the personal, the political, the past, and the present converge. – Deadline
• Michael Bay has revealed that the Transformers writing team has outlined 14 new “stories” for the franchise. He reiterated that ‘The Last Knight’ was to be his swan song, promising fans he was going out on a high. Bay, the director of all five ‘Transformers’ films to date, also announced that he’d shot this summer’s ‘The Last Knight’ natively in IMAX 3D using bespoke cameras, promising that he is “keeping 3D alive” – Yahoo
• Oh God! Lucifer is returning for a third season and it looks like his Dad will be joining the crew. Timothy Omundson (Galavant, Psych will playing God).

• A new Mega Man animated show is heading to Cartoon Network. Aimed at kids 6 to 11, as well as their parents who grew up loving the video games, the new Mega Man animated series will feature exciting new technologies and robots, as well as the introduction of Mega Man’s alter-ego, Aki Light. Aki is a normal, upbeat, schoolboy robot who has nano-core technology that allows him to transform into the mega powered super hero Mega Man! With his Mega Buster arm cannon and iconic helmet, Mega Man battles the wickedest villains Silicon City has to offer. Beloved characters, such as Mega Man’s robotic dog, Rush, will return – while new characters, like Mega Mini™ and Suna Light, will make their debut.
• Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are teaming up with Robert Kirkman to bring the Walking Dead creator’s comic book Invincible to the big screen for Universal. The comic follows Mark Grayson, a normal high school student with just one difference between him and his peers — his father is the most powerful superhero on the planet, and he, too, will inherit his own set of superpowers. – THR
• Colin Farrell is in negotiations to join Viola Davis in Steve McQueen and New Regency’s heist thriller Widows. Liam Neeson, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Rodriguez, Daniel Kaluuya, and Andre Holland are also on board. “Gone Girl” screenwriter and novelist Gillian Flynn will write the script with McQueen. Based on the 1983 British miniseries about a caper gone wrong, the story follows four armed robbers who are killed in a failed heist attempt, leaving their widows to finish the job. – Variety
• Hulu have released a new poster for their new show, The Handmaid’s Tale, based on the novel by Margaret Atwood. The first 3 episodes premiere on Wednesday, April 26th with one each week following.