It was a big week for showbiz news, and we round it up here.
[Note: We incorrectly reported in an earlier version of this article that a ten-year-old Variety story about talks between Dreamworks Animation and Hasbro referred to current talks. That was incorrect, and we apologize for the error.- ed.]
Prime Video has released an official teaser trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 (see below). In Season 2, Sauron has returned and is rebuilding his strength and overseeing the creation of the Rings of Power. New cast members were added for the second season (see “’LotR: Rings of Power’ Adds Cast“). The new season will premiere on August 29.
Max has released an official teaser for Dune: Prophecy, the new Dune prequel series (see below) planned for release this fall. The series has gone through some changes on its way to the screen, including at least two showrunners (see “Second Showrunner Exits“). The series, originally titled Dune: The Sisterhood, is set 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Atreides, before the universe knew them as the Bene Gesserit. It’s based on the Sisterhood of Dune novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, and stars Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Jodhi May, Mark Strong, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Josh Heuston, Chloe Lea, Jade Anouka, Faoileann Cunningham, Edward Davis, Aoife Hinds, Chris Mason, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Jihae, Tabu, Charithra Chandran, Jessica Barden, Emma Canning, and Yerin Ha.
MGM+ and Prime Video have given a series order for Noir, the new live-action series based on the 2009 Marvel Spider-Man Noir comic series, which featured an alternate reality Spider-Man who lived during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Nicolas Cage has been signed to star, and Harr Bradbeer (Killing Eve) will direct. Oren Uziel and Steven Lightfoot (The Punisher, see “’Spider-Man Noir’ Adds Co-Showrunner“) will be co-showrunners and exec produce along with the team behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal. The series will debut on the MGM+ linear channel, followed by global release on Prime Video.
Prime Video has ordered a Tomb Raider series with Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) as writer and executive producer. The series will be produced by Embracer Group subsidiary Crystal Dynamics and Amazon MGM Studios, to stream on Prime Video worldwide. As part of the new partnership, Amazon MGM Studios will also have the right to develop Tomb Raider stories in film. Crystal Dynamics issued a license for a new Tomb Raider RPG to Evil Hat Productions earlier this year (see “New ‘Tomb Raider’ RPG“).
Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) is in talks to direct a film based on Barbarella, starring Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria), according to Variety, with Jane Goldman and Honey Ross in talks to do the screenplay. The 1968 Roger Vadim film starring Jane Fonda was based on the Jean-Claude Forest bande dessinée; it’s not clear what the source material for this new film will be. The original BD was released in a new English-language translation by Humanoids in 2014 (see “Humanoids Reissues Classic Sci-Fi“).Source: ICv2
