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WIRE Buzz: Dungeons & Dragons movie finds a champion; RoboCop joins Mortal Kombat; more
Fans driven to virtual hangouts and fantastical Dungeons & Dragons video calls may have some big-screen reflections of their efforts sooner rather than later. The D&D movie that gained steam last summer (by landing writer/directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley) has found a new home and a new champion.
Variety reports that Entertainment One signed a first-look deal with Jeremy Latcham, a producer and ex-Marvel Studios exec (behind films like, oh, The Avengers) — and the first movie under the agreement is the D&D film. That’s some brand synergy right there, because eOne was bought by Hasbro, which in turn owns Wizards of the Coast, which is behind Dungeons & Dragons. Follow all that? The main takeaway is that it’s good news for this thing ever seeing the light of day. Corporate needs aligning means a lot less red tape.
“Jeremy is a massively talented producer with a track record of creating true-to-brand films with size and scope that resonate with audiences and excel on a global scale,” said Nick Meyer, eOne’s president of film, in a statement. “In our exciting new era with Hasbro, we’re thrilled to begin this new partnership and look forward to sharing the amazing projects that are to come.”
While this is a move in the right direction, there’s still nothing that’s been announced as set in stone — like a release date — so dungeon-crawling fans should keep their amulets close and stay on good terms with their respective deities.
Next, Mortal Kombat is known for krazy krossovers, but the latest addition to the fighting game franchise’s roster is a melding of geeky genre franchises unmatched by any previous effort. That’s because the latest content addition for Mortal Kombat 11 will bring RoboCop into the ring.
The “franchise-first story expansion,” called Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, is bringing the Peter Weller character from Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 sci-fi classic into fighting competition. In addition to some other features (like script-flipping non-Fatalities known as the Friendships) coming in the expansion, Aftermath’s biggest draw for genre fans will be the cyborg police officer done wrong.
“RoboCop has been a big influence on the creative endeavors of many here at NetherRealm,” writes Dominic Cianciolo of NetherRealm Studio. “I don’t think any of us thought we would get a chance to expand his lore or work with the great Peter Weller to bring his RoboCop back to fans. Once we had that chance, we were determined to make the most of it.”
Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath drops on May 26.
Finally, Stranger Things’ Shawn Levy is producing another genre project at Netflix, this time taking genre fans forward, beyond an apocalyptic event, with Blake Lively leading the way.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Levy and Lively will produce Dark Days at the Magna Carta, an original film from writer Michael Paisley (The Witcher). Envisioned as a trilogy, the movie will see Lively as the disaster-driven heroine out to save her family — name a disaster movie, alien movie, or movie starring The Rock and fans are probably some of the way there.
The other details of the script are being kept secret; all we know for now is that its apocalypse isn’t pandemic-based. No timeline or director has yet been announced for the film.
