While Captain Phillips has already stolen much of its thunder, this summer saw the release of a different Somali pirate drama titled A Hijacking. The acclaimed project came from Danish helmer Tobias Lindholm and now we have news on what he’ll do next. According to Screen Daily, he has been set to direct The War, which is set in Afghanistan and sees the return of actor Pilou Asbæk, this time starring as “a soldier on mission.” Set to begin production early next year, there’s no other plot details, only that the film will cover themes of “democracy, violence, the cost of war and the rules of the game.”
Moving over to a very different genre, Variety reports that Etan Cohen, after scripting films such as Tropic Thunder and Men In Black 3, will helm Get Hard with Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart. Set up at Sony, who want to get production going fairly quickly, the film follows a bank manager who gets sentenced with a crime he didn’t commit and must prepare for jail, thanks to the help of his car washer.
In other directing news, after breaking out with this year’s Evil Dead, Fede Alvarez will head into the videogame realm. According to Deadline, he’s been set up with Dante’s Inferno over at Universal. Based on the Electronic Arts videogame, the live-action film will follow Dante Aligheri, described as a “knight who with the help of the poet Virgil ventures into the nine rings of hell to rescue his beloved Beatrice.” So, a dark Super Mario Bros.? Let’s hope Alvarez adds some substance with his clear knack for style this time around.
Lastly, after Warner Bros. is set to release their Lego movie early next year, they already have their sights set on another adaptation of the toy line. According to THR, Charlie Bean (Tron: Uprising) will helm Ninjago for the studio, which is already a Cartoon Network Series. A mish-mash of action, the film will follow “ninjas, samurais, and senseis fight side-by-side against dragons, armies of snake men, and Lord Gagmadon, an evil warlord banished to an underworld who now seeks to return to power.”
Which of the above films are you most looking forward?