Hollywood Hotline - Memorial Day Weekend 2025
HOLLYWOOD HOTLINE Archives
Howdy Hotliners,
Apologies for missing the last few newsletters. I’ve been working freelance part-time on multiple odd jobs and have been busy most days I would normally put the newsletter together. Rest assured, I’m always bookmarking links, saving them for later, so let’s just see how far down the rabbit hole we can go this week. It might take you all three-day weekend to get through all of these!
Pace yourself!
TOP STORY:
LILO & STITCH vs. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 8: THE FINAL RECKONING This Opening Memorial Day Weekend
Cinema is back, baby! Both movies looking to do major box office damage this weekend although LILO & STITCH got that Hawaiian magic, pushing it into another stratosphere. Both summer blockbusters to kick off the summer! Love Tom Cruise’s AMC Press Tour! Also, for those TOP GUN fans out there, there’s going to be a Las Vegas TOP GUN Experience!
Without further ado, let’s check the Hotline:
FUTURE FILMS:
Oscar Winner Mikey Madison Following Up ANORA with Mermaid Movie
“Kirsten Dunst co-stars. The film centers on a dental hygienist seduced by a mysterious mermaid into the dark and wet underworld of Florida’s exotic animal trade.”
Sounds like my kind of film. Sign me up for a swim.
Kristen Stewart Feature Directorial Debut THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER Debuts at Cannes
“Imogen Poots’ knockout performance was certainly a highlight of Stewart’s adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir of the same name, but just as notable was her directing style — raw, artsy and unflinching. Poots stars as Yuknavitch in Stewart’s non-linear take on the bestselling writer’s life, which includes shocking scenes of sexual abuse by her father and her spiral into drug use juxtaposed with the poetic salvation she found from being in water.”
Brava! Brava! Curious to check out.
“June Squibb plays the witty and proudly troublesome 94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein, who after a devastating loss, tells a tale that takes on a dangerous life of its own.”
Brava! Curious to check out as well.
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock Re-Teaming for Sexy Something On-Screen Sometime
“Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock have re-teamed to star in an untitled romantic thriller film in development at Amazon MGM Studios. Noah Oppenheim (JACKIE 2016) is writing the script, plot details of which are being kept under wraps.”
Loved them in SPEED! Can’t wait to see what this turns out to be!
John Travolta Orca Survival Thriller
Five word pitch. You have a Go-Picture. Sign me up for a tour.
MANDY Director Panos Cosmatos Making Sexy Vampire Movie Woo-hoo!
“Elizabeth Olsenhas joined Kristen Stewart and Oscar Isaac to co-star in vampire thriller FLESH OF THE GODS from director Panos Cosmatos (MANDY 2018). Isaac and Stewart will portray Raoul and Alex, a married couple in glittering ’80s L.A. who descend each evening from their luxury skyscraper condo and head into an electric nighttime realm. When they cross paths with the mysterious and enigmatic Nameless (Olsen) and her hard-partying cabal, Raoul and Alex are seduced into a glamorous, surrealistic world of hedonism, thrills and violence.”
Put it in my veins then suck it out of me.
I SAW THE TV GLOW Director Jane Schoenbrun Follow-up is a Summer Camp Slasher
“In TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA, the infamous Camp Miasma slasher franchise is getting rebooted yet again. But when the latest movie’s director becomes obsessed with the mysterious, reclusive actress who played the “final girl” in the original film, a whole new kind of slasher emerges from the bottom of the lake.”
This sounds awesome. Book me for overnight camp please!
Imagine Going to Prison and Cillian Murphy and Daniel Craig Are Your Cellmates
And some dude named “Damien” is outside your cell filming it all like a sicko going, “YES!…HA HA HA…YES!”
Hot Ratboi Josh O’Connor Starring in Half-Coen-Brother Film
*Joel, not Ethan (thank god). Title: JACK OF SPADES. Shooting in Scotland this summer. Premise being kept under wraps.
What If THE HUSTLER or THE COLOR OF MONEY but with Jenna Ortega and Robert De Niro?
“The pic will follow Jake Kejeune (De Niro), one of the last masters of a vanishing craft — the pool hustler. Having lived and lost by the roll of a ball in smoky backroom halls, Jake encounters Mia (Ortega), a young prodigy whose raw, electrifying talent reignites a fire he thought long extinguished. Sensing a rare opportunity to shape a legend, Jake takes Mia under his wing, honing her instincts and sharpening her natural gift. Together, they plunge into the ruthless world of high-stakes pool, where the line between unimaginable fortune and devastating failure is razor-thin. As Mia’s star ascends and her ambition grows, Jake must confront the ultimate question: can he steer her to greatness, or will her hunger for victory eclipse everything he has taught her?”
David O. Russell directs. Thought he was canceled? Or is about to be canceled again?
IT Director to Make Space Alien Hostage Movie
“When his estranged son vanishes during a space mission, a once-legendary, now fallen from grace shuttle commander, is pulled into a high-stakes hostage exchange in space to get his boy back from captors who are not from Earth.”
What if RANSOM meets CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND?
“Henry Dunham (THE STANDOFF AT SPARROW CREEK 2018) is directing and writing. Cameras roll this summer in Chicago on the reported $25M production. In ENEMIES, a relentless detective and an infamous contract killer collide in a deadly game of cat and mouse.”
SPARROW CREEK was a solid low-budget feature debut. I also read one of his scripts, THE PERDITION IN LIEGE back in 2020 for an actor, which I recommended but got shot down. Was a WWII Nazi hunting American GI type of REVENANT survival film.
James Gray Locks Cast for Gritty PAPER TIGER
“Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller are set to co-star opposite Adam Driver in the upcoming pic…described as a tense and gritty story revolving around two brothers who pursue the American Dream—only to become entangled in a scheme that turns out to be too good to be true. As they try to navigate their way through an ever-more dangerous world of corruption and violence, they find themselves and their family brutally terrorized by the Russian “Mafiya.” Their bond begins to fray, and betrayal—once utterly unthinkable—now becomes all too possible.”
A return to form from Director Gray after his semi-autobiography and Sad Dadsta space mission.
“When you pray for rain, prepare for the mud that comes with it!”*
*That above quote was thee Denzel Washington as told to ME, personally, on a feature film I associate produced with him, of which he got nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. True story!
“Denzel Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Daisy Edgar-Jones are set to star in HERE COMES THE FLOOD, a new Netflix heist film from Fernando Meirelles (CITY OF GOD 2002), the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind the streamer’s lauded drama THE TWO POPES. Written by Simon Kinberg (MR. & MRS. SMITH), the film is described as an unconventional heist flick about a bank guard, a teller, and a master thief in a deadly game of cons and double crosses.”
Sounds like the Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater and Minnie Driver water heist film, HARD RAIN (1998)
Javier Bardem & Penelope Cruz to have Marriage Meltdown inside Doomsday Bunker
“In BUNKER, when an architect accepts a morally ambiguous project — building a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire — his wife begins to question their marriage after 17 years together. The film is described as “a thriller that delves into the emotional and moral challenges a couple faces amid the tensions of the world around them, exploring the fears, doubts, and dilemmas that define our era. Florian Zeller (THE FATHER 2020) wrote the English-language project specifically for Cruz and Bardem, who themselves have been married for close to 17 years.”
What if EYES WIDE SHUT bedroom argument scene but inside a bunker? Sign me up to go underground!
Angelina Jolie Doing Hallmark Adjacent Christmas Eve Comedy
“The feature adaptation of hit Scandi novel ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Fredrik Backman for director Marc Forrester (QUANTUM OF SOLACE). The uplifting comedy, set on the day before Christmas Eve, sees investment banker Zara (Jolie) begrudgingly find herself mingling with a group of strangers at an open house. When a reluctant bank robber inadvertently takes the group hostage, chaos and oversharing ensues, secrets are revealed and literally nothing goes according to plan.”
Eat your heart out, Hallmark!
CONCLAVE Director Sets His Follow-Up THE RIDERS with Brad Pitt
“The novel follows Fred Scully (Pitt), who, after traveling through Europe for two years, winds up in Ireland with his wife and daughter. And on a mystical whim of his wife Jennifer, they buy an old farmhouse that stands in the shadow of a castle. While Scully spends weeks alone renovating the old house, Jennifer returns to Australia to liquidate their assets. When Scully arrives at Shannon Airport to pick up Jennifer and their 7-year-old daughter, Billie, it is Billie who emerges — alone. There is no note, no explanation, not so much as a word from Jennifer, and the shock has left Billie speechless. In that instant, Scully’s life falls to pieces.”
Sounds like Brad Pitt’s trying to tap into something here. Men will literally make a movie about family trauma before going to therapy with their family for the trauma they caused.
What if THE DEER HUNTER meets FIRST BLOOD? Sounds like a great first date movie! They should de-age Stallone to play his younger self. Do it you cowards!
Takashi Miike Remaking BAD LIEUTENANT
“Written by Daisuke Tengan (Audition, 13 Assassins) and based on the IP first produced by Edward R. Pressman, BAD LIEUTENANT: TOKYO will follow the Bad Lieutenant (Shun Oguri), a corrupt gambler in the Metropolitan Police Force, who finds himself thrown into a tangled case after an enigmatic FBI agent (Lily James) arrives in Tokyo to investigate the disappearance of a politician’s daughter (Liv Morgan). Meanwhile, a deviant killer operating in the yakuza underworld seems to be shadowing their moves.”
Will it have male full-frontal nudity though?
MIAMI VICE Reboot Speeding on a Speedboat Right at Us
"Universal Pictures has set Joseph Kosinski (TOP GUN: MAVERICK 2022) to direct MIAMI VICE, a drama based on the iconic ’80s NBC series about undercover cops taking down drug dealers. Dan Gilroy is rewriting a first draft script by Eric Warren Singer. No cast yet.”
“I’m a fiend for mojitos.” Eat your heart out, Michael Mann! They should cast Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx again, LOL
Sydeny Sweeny as Kim Novak with Coleman Domingo as Sammy Davis Jr
“The movie will chart the explosive true story of a forbidden romance at the height of Hollywood’s Golden Age. In 1957, Novak (Sweeney), one of the biggest box office stars of her time and the luminous face of Vertigo, falls for Davis Jr. (Jonsson), the multi-talented Rat Pack sensation who defied boundaries of race and fame. Their affair, unfolding in the shadows of Jim Crow America, sparks a firestorm. With the Mafia circling, studio heads panicking, and even Frank Sinatra walking a tightrope between friendship and fallout, the stakes skyrocket. What begins as passion becomes peril.”
Sounds sexy AF. But is it Oscar-sexy, I mean, worthy?
Anna Nicole Smith Biopic Title HURRICANNA Sounds like a Drink
“The film stars Holly Hunter, Mark Duplass and Sylvia Hoeks. The plot follows the chaotic final 24 hours in the life of Anna Nicole Smith. Told from the fragmented and colliding perspectives of Smith, her psychiatrist, and her former lover, the film explores themes of fame, codependency and self-destruction in a fractured American psyche.”
Sounds like someone took a page out of the movie SPENCER (2021). Which I noped out of.
Al Pacino Saw FERRARI and said, “HOO-HAH-Hold my beer! Give me the keys to MASERATI!”
“Oscar winner Al Pacino has joined the cast of biographical drama MASERATI: THE BROTHERS, featuring Anthony Hopkins, Andy Garcia, Jessica Alba, Michele Morrone and Salvatore Esposito. MASERATI: THE BROTHERS chronicles the rise of the Maserati family and their pioneering legacy in the world of automotive innovation. Al Pacino will portray businessman Vincenzo Vaccaro, who has supported the Maserati family and invested in the early days of the company.”
Still can’t bring myself to watch FERRARI.
ROAD HOUSE 2 with ALADDIN Director Replacing Doug Liman
Guy Ritchie must really owe the British mafia some serious dough for his closet gambling addiction. Never seeing the remake or its sequel. OG GOAT Patrick Swazye FOR LIFE!
SPRING BREAKERS 2 with FREEWAY (1996) Director Replacing Harmony Korine
That’s a hilarious upgrade in director! Still need to see the 2012 original!
STREET FIGHTER reboot coming with Jason Momoa and some other less hawt guys
WHAC-A-MOLE Movie in the Works Because Of Course There Is
This is where we’re at. Should be a fun 4DX experience. /s
MEGALOPOLIS “MEGADOC” on Making of Megaflop
I’m honestly more excited to see this than I am the film it’s based on as I love HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER’S APOCALYPSE more than APOCALYPSE NOW!
TRENDY TV:
Director Jeremy Saulnier Going from REBEL RIDGE to TRIGGER POINT
“The plot has been kept under wraps; the project is a crime drama, sources said.”
I’m sure it’ll be great.
Madonna Limited Series For Material Girls in a Material World
“A Netflix limited series about her life and music is in early development at Netflix, with Madonna and Shawn Levy, whose 21 Laps has an exclusive TV overall deal at the platform, executive producing, Deadline has learned. A rep for Netflix declined comment. The duo, who had been discussing the project for awhile, are starting from scratch: the biographical limited series is not related to the Madonna feature biopic which was previously in development at Universal with three-time Emmy winner Julia Garner as the choice to play the Queen of Pop.”
This honestly feels like the better move than making the standalone Universal Pictures Biopic.
“Who does your hair? Siegfriend or Roy?”
“Jude Law and Andrew Garfield are set to executive produce and play Las Vegas showman-magicians Siegfried and Roy, respectively, in the newly picked up Apple TV+ limited series WILD THINGS from writer, showrunner and executive producer John Hoffman (co-creator/showrunner, ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING). Based on the podcast.”
Hellya, sign me up. Now here’s a series Paul Verhoeven should’ve directed!
Ryan Murphy AMERICAN LOVE STORY on JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessett
“In the first season, focused on JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, what started out as a beautiful union for the young couple, widely regarded as American royalty, began to fray under the stress of the relentless microscope and navel gaze of tabloid media. The pressures of their careers and rumored family discord ended with their tragic deaths when his private plane crashed into the ocean on a hazy summer night off the coast of Massachusetts.”
Eat your heart out Lifetime!
CREED Cinematic Universe Coming to Yo TV Screen
“DELPI is focused on young boxers at the Delphi gym from the Rocky and Creed movies.The Delphi Boxing Academy is the Los Angeles-based boxing gym founded by Tony “Duke” Evers where Apollo Creed trained for many years. Now run by Evers’ son, Tony “Little Duke” Evers, the Delphi gym is home to Apollo Creed’s son, Adonis Johnson Creed, play by Jordan in the movies. From Amazon Prime.”
SCRUBS Reboot Brought Back to Life on OR Table
This is where we’re at. In the old days, when a show got canceled, you’d be sad. Nowadays, when a canceled show gets remade, you are sad.
TANGY THEATER:
“THIS WORLD OF TOMORROW tells the story of Bert Allenberry (Tom Hanks), a forlorn scientist from the future who embarks on a time-traveling quest for true love as he returns again and again to one special day at the 1939 World’s Fair in Queens, New York.”
Hide Yo Autistic Kids! Hide Yo Autistic Wife! Because Sia is Making Another Musical!
This should be interesting since Sia made a musical movie called MUSIC
IN OTHER NEWS:
Darren Aronofsky, Natasha Lyonne, and Agatha Christie’s estate Have Gone Full Corporate Overlord Bootlicker
“Auteur filmmakers” and “Dead Author” on the AI-Studio Jack-Off Train
COMING SOON:
WEAPONS - Eat your heart out, Jordan Peele!
SUPERMAN - Looks like AI made it
THE SURFER - DON’T LIVE HERE DON’T SURF THE WEB HERE
CAUGHT STEALING - Darren Aronofsky doing early Guy Ritchie?
THE LONG WALK - This feels like a Glorified Short™️ but perhaps I’m wrong?
THE SMASHING MACHINE - Could you imagine being the studio exec. who hires The Rock but he doesn’t look like The Rock?
DANGEROUS ANIMALS - Finally, a role Jai Courtney was born to play —a psycho sea captain serial killer!
AMERICANA - Student Feature Certified™️. Couldn’t finish it
THE UGLY STEPSISTER - Now that’s a title
SORRY, BABY - I’m sorry, what? What are you sorry for?
CHIEF OF WAR - Hawaiian Braveheart
ECHO VALLEY - Solid setup
HONEY DON’T - Sequel or spin-off to DRIVE AWAY DOLLS so just don’t
THE OLD GUARD 2 - Boomer dad bait
THE CONJURING: LAST RITES - which number sequel is this? 8? 9?
IT: WELCOME TO DERRY - Stephen King Stranger Things knockoff
STICK - What if THE WRESTLER but teen’s golf coach?
TASK - Looks pretty generic but always nice to see Martha Plimpton
Whew. That’s it for this week (and the three weeks before it ;) Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I’m going to be brunching it up and sunning it up and watching movies in-between! Stay safe and cool!
Until next week, Hotliners! Thanks for calling in.
Hollywood Hotline Back Catalog