It’s been an active week in Hollywood, and we round up the latest news here.
The estate of Superman co-creator Joseph Shuster, represented by attorney Marc Toberoff, is suing DC Comics and Warner Bros. Discovery over the international rights to the character, according to the Wall Street Journal. The lawsuit alleges that the international rights to the character expired in 2017 and 2021 in countries including Canada, the U.K., and Australia. Warners disputes that claim. The Shuster estate last litigated with DC in 2014, when an appeals court ruled against the estate and the Supreme Court declined to take the case (see “Supreme Court Denies Shuster Appeal“). The lawsuit seeks an order prohibiting Warners and DC from using the character without an agreement.
Netflix will end its series adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman (see “’Sandman’ S2 casting“) after Season 2, which will drop this year, according to Variety. Season 2 was planned as the final season before shooting began in 2023, according to the report. Netflix canceled Gaiman adaptation Dead Boy Detectives after one season last fall (see “Netflix Cancels“), and Prime Video will release only one more episode of Good Omens, without Gaiman’s involvement (see “’Good Omens’ Resolved“), as companies respond to allegations of sexual assault, which he denies.
RoboForce: The Animated Series, from The Nacelle Company and Dwayne Johnson and Dany Carcia’s Seven Bucks Productions (see “’RoboForce’ Show Open“), will debut on free ad-supported streamer Tubi in April, according to Deadline. The six-episode series, directed by Nacelle CEO Brian Volk-Weiss, is one of two series, along with Biker Mice from Mars, in the new Nacelleverse the company is building (see “ICv2 Interview: Nacelle CEO Brian Volk-Weiss“).
IDW Entertainment and Spooky Pictures will adapt the IDW Publishing graphic novel Dungeon as a feature, the companies announced. Dungeon, by Scott Snyder and Hayden Sherma, is part of the Dark Spaces line from IDW (see “ICv2 Interview: IDW Co-Publishers”). Spooky Pictures was formed by Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee (The Ring, IT, Barbarian) and prolific horror producer Steven Schneider (Paranormal Activity) in 2020.
Cineverse will release the Legendary Entertainment production The Toxic Avenger, starring Peter Dinklage, Johnny Coyne, Sarah Niles, Jacob Tremblay, Taylor Paige, Elijah Wood, Julia Davis, and Kevin Bacon (see “’The Toxic Avenger’ Trailer“), on August 29, according to Deadline. Matt Bors is writing a comic series for Ahoy Comics (see “Matt Bors on ‘Toxic Avenger’“).
The fourth movie in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has been given a March 19, 2027 release date by Paramount, according to The Hollywood Reporter. If people keep going, they’re going to keep making them, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 had hit $187.5 million domestic and $336 million worldwide after its first three weekends (see “’Sonic 3’ Hangs In“).Source: ICv2
