It’s been another long week in these dog days of summer, but Friday is upon us at last. Before you head out to the theater this weekend to catch Suicide Squad, today’s Movie Morsels has enough goodness to make you grin like the Joker himself. Including news on Star Wars superstar Daisy Ridley‘s next science-fiction project, a new red band clip from the raunchy animated comedy Sausage Party, and much, much more!
Chaos Walking
Yeah, yeah, I know… So it’s another dystopian YA book series brought to the screen by Lionsgate, which means it could be kind of good, like The Hunger Games, or, kind of a misstep, like Divergence. But the difference this time around is that Chaos Walking—about a future society in which “all living creatures can hear each others’ thoughts”—is based on a Carnegie-winning book trilogy and will be directed by Doug Liman (of Edge of Tomorrow and The Bourne Identity fame) and written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine). It will also star the lead actor in the most popular film franchise in the world today, one Daisy Ridley. So color me excited for this cerebral sci-fi epic, which enters production next year.
[Variety]
Sausage Party
We have another new red band clip from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Sausage Party! Here, the film’s supermarket escapee food products wind up tormenting a recreational drug user voiced by James Franco. Which means that even in animated form, Franco winds up getting abused by his buddy Rogen! Ah, ya just gotta love it…
Co-starring the voices of Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Paul Rudd, Nick Kroll, David Krumholtz, Edward Norton, and Salma Hayek, Sausage Party opens everywhere on August 12.
[Sony]
Peter Rabbit
It appears James Corden just didn’t get enough of children’s stories with Into the Woods (pictured above), because the actor-turned-talk show host is now in talks to star alongside Rose Byrne in Peter Rabbit, based on Beatrix Potter’s beloved bunny tale. Will Gluck has signed on to direct this “live-action/CG hybrid adaptation.”
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
The age of gender-swapped remakes continues! In the wake of the rebooted Ghostbusters and this week’s news about a Splash remake that will feature Channing Tatum in the mermaid role, Rebel Wilson (pictured above in Pitch Perfect) is in talks to star in a remake of ’80s comedy favorite Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. (Which is itself based on the Marlon Brando-starring 1964 Bedtime Story.) If cast, Wilson will star alongside another woman in the con-artist roles made famous by Steve Martin and Michael Caine.
[Variety]
Red Sparrow
Last but not least for this week… Joel Edgerton, who was most recently seen scaring the holy bejeezus out of me in his directorial debut The Gift (pictured above), will join Jennifer Lawrence in the espionage thriller Red Sparrow. Based on the novel of the same name by Jason Matthews, the film will see the two actors play Russian (her) and U.S. (him) secret agents pitted against each other yet also attracted to one another. Lawrence’s Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence will helm the project.
[Deadline]
What do you think of today’s top stories? Let us know below!
Featured Image: Lucasfilm
Images: Lucasfilm, Disney, Sony, STX Entertainment, Universal
