It’s a rich media environment we live in, and we round up the news here.
Crunchyroll will stream the Trigun Stampede anime, a new anime in the Trigun franchise, planned for 2023, the streamer announced. The anime will be produced by Studio Orange (Beastars, Godzilla S.P., Land of the Lustrous). Madhouse produced the first Trigun anime series in 1998, and it later ran in the U.S. on Adult Swim (see “New Anime on Adult Swim“). The 26-episode series was available on disc from Geneon, and later from Funimation (see “Funimation Acquires ‘Trigun’“). A feature, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, was released in 2010 (see “New ‘Trigun’ Anime Feature“). Dark Horse Comics has the U.S. license for the original manga, on which the first anime series was based, and a second series, Trigun Maximum.
HBO is developing a sequel series to Game of Thrones around Jon Snow, with original series star Kit Harington attached to play the role, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The character, who discovered that his true identity was Aegon Targaryen, a potential heir to the throne, went North of the Wall with the Wildlings at the end of the final season of the original series. The network’s first spin-off series, Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon, will debut on August 21, 2022 (see “’House of the Dragon’ Trailer“).
Lady Gaga is in early talks to play Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie a deux, a musical sequel to 2019’s Joker, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Joaquin Phoenix is in talks to return in the starring role. Todd Phillips and Scott Silver, who wrote the first film, have also written the sequel. Phillips plans to direct. While it appears far-fetched at first glance, the parties involved have musical experience: Phillips produced A Star Is Born, which starred Lady Gaga, and Joaquin Phoenix played (and sang as) Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line.
Justin Lin (Fast and Furious, Star Trek Beyond) is in talks to direct a live-action adaptation of One Punch Man, based on the manga, according to Deadline. Scott Rosenberg and jeff Pinkner (Venom) wrote the most recent script. The VIZ Media manga series was on our Top Manga Franchises chart regularly from Fall 2015 through Summer 2019, and again last fall (most recently, for Fall 2021, see “Top Manga Franchises – Fall 2021“).
Marvel Studios is developing a series based on Wonder Man for Disney+, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) will executive produce, and Andrew Guest (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Community) will write, with the two acting as co-creators for the series.
Three animated Avatar: The Last Airbender features are currently in development from Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon, according to Entertainment Weekly. The first of the three was announced last year (see “’Avatar’ Feature“); Lauren Montgomery (Voltron: Legendary Defender) is now attached to direct. Original series creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko will exec produce. The three movies have unconnected storylines, according to the report. Netflix is currently in production on a live-action adaptation (see “Daniel Dae Kim in Live-Action ‘Avatar’“). Source: ICv2
