Though many want to see George Miller continue his adventures in the world of Mad Max, the director has always been one to divert from expectations and he’ll be doing just that with his newly-announced next project, Three Thousand Years Of Longing. Set to begin production next year, there’s no plot or casting to be revealed, but as one can glean from the title, it’s said to be entirely new territory for the director and “epic in scope,” Deadline reports. Update: THR reports that Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton will star in the film (also going by Djinn), which involves a love story and a genie.
We should be getting the first look at Richard Linklater’s Cate Blanchett-led Where’d You Go Bernadette any day now, but first the director has announced a new project. He’ll be writing and directing a film on the life and career of the late Texas-based comedian Bill Hicks, known for his dark political and social humor. Set up at Focus Features, Collider reports Linklater was a fan of Hicks’s work growing up and the comedian even admired Dazed and Confused, which came out a few months before he died at the young age of 32 from cancer.
After using the cachet of Sicario and Hell or High Water to make his directorial debut with Wind River, Taylor Sheridan is now prepping his next gig behind the camera, and a major star is coming along. Variety reports that Chris Pratt will lead Fast, which Sheridan will write and direct. The film will follow Pratt as a “former special forces commando who is recruited by the DEA to lead a black ops strike team targeting drug dealers who are protected by the CIA.” With a hefty budget in the $75 million range, Warner Bros. will back the film, which Pratt should be able to fit in as Disney and Marvel figure out the future of Guardians of the Galaxy.
Lastly, Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi made a splash a few years back with his dark drama The Tribe and while he puts the finishing touches on his next film, he’s eying his Hollywood breakthrough. He’s set to direct Tiger at Focus Features with producing from Darren Aronofsky and Brad Pitt, who were originally set to team for the film, Variety reports. Based on John Vaillant’s book, it tells the true story set in Siberia of a town being picked off by a nearby tiger as they encroach on his land. Aronofsky has experience shepherding foreign talent, namely Pablo Larraín with Jackie, so here’s hoping for the same success with this project.