Making over $165 million off a $7 million budget, it’s apparent Warner Bros. is interested in a sequel to Magic Mike, but with Steven Soderbergh stepping away from feature filmmaking, they’ll have to come up with another name and it looks they’ve settled on a choice. According to The Playlist, Greg Jacobs, Soderbergh’s longtime first assistant director and frequent producer, will be taking the reigns ahead of production that will kick off this fall. One can expect much of the cast to return with Channing Tatum and Joe Manganiello being the two that have formally confirmed their return thus far.
After The Secret Life of Walter Mitty didn’t exactly connect the way we imagine Ben Stiller was hoping, he’s aiming to get back into the director’s chair fairly quickly. According to Deadline, he’s looking to direct The Current War for The Weinstein Company. The drama, scripted by Michael Mitnick (The Giver), follows the rivalry between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to create a workably electricity system across the United States. While he still has to sign for the project, Stiller also has lined up his next starring role, as Variety reports he’s set for Alan Ball‘s I Am Chippendales, playing an early member of the dance troupe.
Next up, after Love Exposure, Cold Fish and his most recent, Why Don’t You Play In Hell?, cult director Sono Sion has settled on another project. While he’s currently in post-production on an adaptation of the manga Tokyo Tribeca, Twitch reports he’ll direct another adaptation with Shinjuku Swan, a live-action adaptation of Wakui Ken‘s series. Featuring Go Ayano, Sawajiri Erika, Yamada Takayuki, and Iseya Yusuke, the film follows an aimless youth who secures a job in a talent agency located in the red light district where he’s pulled between talent scouts and the yakuza. Production begins next month.
As MGM continues to mine their library for reboots, the latest victim is The Pink Panther, which will get a re-do in live-action/animated hybrid form. Variety reports they’ve tapped David Silverman to direct, who helmed 2007’s The Simpsons Movie. It’s reported that this plot won’t be aimed around Inspector Jacques Clouseau, rather strictly on the panther itself, with a tone that will “harken back” to Friz Freleng and David De Patie‘s original cartoons and the Peter Sellers-led film.
Last Life in the Universe director Pen-ek Ratanaruang has lined up his next project, according to Screen Daily. The drama Samui Song will star Chermarn “Ploy” Boonyasak and Vithaya “Pu” Pansringarm (Only God Forgives) and follows the former playing an actress whose fears grow when her husband becomes tied to a cult and its leader, played by the latter star. When “a mysterious stranger offers to rid her of her problem….she ends up taking drastic measures to escape falling under the influence of the Holy One.” Said to be a Alfred Hitchcock homage, as well as influenced by Bollywood and Luis Bunuel, production begins next year.
Lastly, after her failed period romantic drama W.E., Madonna is getting back into the director’s chair. THR reports that she’s become attached to Ade: A Love Story, which is backed by Silver Linings Playbook producer Bruce Cohen. An adaptation of Rebecca Walker‘s novel, the film follows an American student who travels Africa with a friend, and ends up falling in love with a Muslim man, but due to cultural forces, they can’t get married. Producers are currently looking to find a screenwriter to adapt.
Which of the above projects are you most looking forward to?