Captain America: Civil War star Anthony Mackie and A Private Warstar Jamie Dornan are in talks to topline sci-fi thriller Synchronic from The Endless directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead.
The pair will play two New Orleans paramedics, whose lives are ripped apart after encountering a series of horrific deaths linked to a designer drug with bizarre, otherworldly effects.
The film is produced by David Lawson Jr., who produced The Endless, along with Benson and Moorhead for Rustic Films. The script is written by Benson. XYZ Films is handling international sales, with XYZ co-repping domestic rights with UTA Independent Film Group. [Source]
11.03
News: Anthony Mackie to Star In ‘Synchronic’
11.03
News: Anthony MackieJoins George Nolfi-Helmed ‘The Banker’
Director George Nolfi has set Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Nicholas Hoult and Nia Long to star in The Banker, a fact based drama that Nolfi wrote with Niceole Levy. Romulus Entertainment is financing the film, with Brad Feinstein of Romulus (Fences, Beatriz at Dinner) producing.
The drama is based on the true story of two African American entrepreneurs, Bernard Garrett (Mackie) and Joe Morris (Jackson), who during the 1950’s tried to circumvent the racial limitations of the era and take on the establishment by recruiting a working class white man, Matt Steiner (Hoult) and training him to pose as the head of their business empire while they posed as a janitor and a chauffeur. Bernard’s wife Eunice (Nia Long), plays a key role in setting up the enterprise. Garrett and Morris become two of the wealthiest and most successful real estate owners in the country with Steiner as their front man, but their success brings about unforeseen risk of exposure that threatens everything.
Nolfi last directed the Bruce Lee pic Birth of The Dragon and before that The Adjustment Bureau after scripting such dramas as The Bourne Ultimatum and Ocean’s Twelve. The film is just underway in Atlanta. Also producing are Joel Viertel, Nolfi, Nnamdi Asomugha, Jonathan Baker and Mackie. As financier, Romulus just wrapped the Max Winkler-directed Jungleland, with Charlie Hunnam, Jack O’Connell, and Jessica Barden starring. [Source]
11.03
News: Falcon-Winter Soldier Limited Series in the Works With ‘Empire’ Writer
Marvel heroes Falcon and Winter Soldier are teaming up for a potential limited series at the Disney streaming service.
Variety has learned exclusively that Malcolm Spellman has been tapped to write a series featuring the two superheroes, which is currently in development at the streamer. It is the first of the proposed Marvel limited series to find a writer.
Marvel and Disney declined to comment.
Falcon and Winter Soldier, played by Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan respectively, have both appeared in multiple Marvel films to date, including the recent blockbuster “Avengers: Infinity War.”
While Winter Soldier was a key character in the second “Captain America” film, the character who became the Winter Solider — Bucky Barnes — first appeared in the original “Captain America” film in 2011. Falcon made his first appearance in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”
Spellman previously worked as a writer and co-executive producer on the hit Fox series “Empire” and wrote the screenplay for the feature film “Our Family Wedding.” He is repped by CAA and Industry Entertainment Partners
News of the development comes after Variety exclusively reported that Marvel and Disney were prepping multiple limited series centered on characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe who had yet to appear in their own standalone films. At that time, it was reported that characters like Loki and Scarlet Witch would also be the subject of their own limited series. The series are expected to be six to eight episodes.
Unlike other Marvel shows like “Daredevil” and “The Punisher,” the series on the Disney streaming service will be produced by Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige, who has headed up the MCU for years. The shows are also expected to have large budgets compared to other television projects. [Source]
08.16
News: Anthony Mackie Joins ‘The Woman in the Window’
Anthony Mackie is in negotiations to join Amy Adams and Julianne Moore in Fox 2000’s adaptation of A.J. Finn’s bestseller “The Woman in the Window,” sources tell Variety.
Joe Wright is directing with Tracy Letts adapting the screenplay. Gary Oldman, Wyatt Russell, and Brian Tyree Henry are also on board to star. Scott Rudin and Eli Bush are producing “The Woman in the Window.”
“The Woman in the Window” debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list and remains the best-selling adult fiction title of the year. With more than one million copies sold in the U.S., the novel has topped the bestseller charts in multiple countries and is currently in print in 38 languages.
Mackie is best known for his roles in “The Hurt Locker” and as Falcon (aka Sam Wilson) in the Captain America films. He will wrap the Netflix remake of the French thriller “Point Blank” before shooting “The Woman in the Window,” which is expected to being production this fall. [Source]
07.27
News: Anthony Mackie Takes Over Lead Role in Altered Carbon Season 2
Netflix has renewed Altered Carbon for Season 2, albeit with a number of significant tweaks. The biggest change: Avengers staple Anthony Mackie is replacing Joel Kinnaman as Takeshi Kovacs. Additionally, Alison Schapker (The Flash, Fringe) has come aboard as co-showrunner.Kinnaman’s departure from the body-swapping series was not unexpected. As established in Richard K. Morgan’s sci-fi novels, the lead character’s journey spans hundreds of years and myriad different bodies.
Back in February, Kinnaman himself foreshadowed his exit, telling TVGuide.com, “We have no idea what the second season would be, but my guess is… it’s sort of going to be an anthology show where maybe a couple of the characters continue into the next season.” (Kinnaman’s recent casting in Amazon’s Hanna opposite Killing co-star Mireille Enos served as another clue that he was parting ways with the show.)
Schapker, meanwhile, will work alongside returning co-showrunner Laeta Kalogridis. The duo will serve as EPs alongside David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Marcy Ross and James Middleton.
For Mackie, Altered Carbon reps his first significant series gig. Prior to this, his most noteworthy TV role was playing Martin Luther King, Jr. opposite Bryan Cranston’s Lyndon B. Johnson in HBO’s All the Way. In addition to his role as Sam Wilson/The Falcon in the Marvel films, his big screen credits include Million Dollar Baby, 8 Mile, Notorious and The Hurt Locker.
The big-budget Altered Carbon dropped its 10-episode first season last January. It received mixed reviews, with TVLine’s Kim Roots calling it “gorgeous yet uneven.” Season 2, which will consist of eight episodes, will likely bow in 2019. [Source]
06.25
News: Anthony Mackie Joins ‘Point Blank’ Remake
Frank Grillo and Anthony Mackie will star in the Netflix thriller “Point Blank.”
Joe Lynch is directing from a script by Adam G. Simon. Joe Carnahan and Grillo are producing via their War Party banner, along with Johanna Byer producing for Gaumont. The film is a remake of Fred Cavaye’s 2010 crime drama of the same title.
Production is set to start this summer.
The pic tells the story of the unlikely pairing of Paul (Mackie), an emergency room nurse, and Abe (Grillo), a wanted murder suspect, as they are pitted against rival gangsters and corrupt cops in a deadly race to save the lives of Paul’s kidnapped wife and unborn son. [Source]