After his ocean-set, one-location thriller with Blake Lively, director Jaume Collet-Serra is returning to his male muse Liam Neeson with The Commuter, and he has now expanded the cast further, Deadline reports. Sam Neill, Elizabeth McGovern, and Breaking Bad favorite Jonathan Banks have all been added to the action thriller in an ensemble that also includes Vera Farmiga and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. The film, which finds Farmiga’s character proposing a dire but enticing offer to Neeson’s character, hits theaters October 13th, 2017.
In related Lionsgate news, Variety reports that the infamous talking puppet Jigsaw is back for a new entry in the Saw franchise, the first one since 2010’s Saw 3D aka Saw: The Final Chapter aka Saw: We’re Just Kidding. The untitled film will be directed by brothers Michael and Peter Spierig (Daybreakers, Predestination). Nothing else is known about the film, but one can be assured it features torture, dingy basements, and probably needles. It’ll arrive a few weeks after The Commuter on October 27th, 2017.
Lastly, the Netflix-distributed, Japanese-manga-to-American-film adaptation Death Note has added Shea Whigham to its growing cast list, Deadline reports. The film is helmed by Adam Wingard (The Guest, You’re Next), which makes for a more promising Americanized adaptation than the slew that have come before and are being planned.
The film follows student Light Turner (Nat Wolff) who uncovers a mysterious notebook that — spoiler alert — kills people if their name is written in it. Wingard has proven that he’s apt at twisting horror conventions on their head while still playing within the general realm of genre-filmmaking for a both surprising and still pleasing experience. The script is penned by Fantastic Four scribe Jeremy Slate, along with additional work by Anthony Bagarozzi, Chuck Mondry, Charley Parlapanides, and Vlas Parlapanides. That’s a lot of hands on a Final Draft document, so hopefully their vision(s) cohesively play out on the screen.