Edgar Wright

[MacGuffin]

Disney Taps Edgar Wright To Helm Johnny Depp In ‘The Night Stalker’ Feature Redo
BY MIKE FLEMING | Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Disney is setting Edgar Wright to direct The Night Stalker, the remake of the ABC telepic and series that the studio is developing as a potential star vehicle for Johnny Depp to play intrepid tabloid reporter Carl Kolchak. Depp and his Infinitum Nihil partner Christi Dembrowski will produce.

Wright, best known for directing Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, comes aboard before the studio has set a writer, and he will oversee and shape the project with Depp and Dembrowski from the ground floor. As Deadline revealed, the film took root at the studio last summer, borne out of Depp and Dembrowski’s fond memories of the original 70s movie and series that starred Darren McGavin. He covered crime for a tabloid and his cases always led to supernatural perpetrators that included zombies, vampires, werewolves and aliens. Of course, neither his editor nor anyone else would believe him or allow him to run what seemed like outrageous stories. But Kolchak would put himself in grave danger each episode. David Kennedy will be exec producer of the film.

The subject matter will be tailored to fit Disney’s family film mandate and likely a PG-13 rating, but the idea of Wright’s hyper-reality style and Depp’s gift for constructing quirky characters sounds like a good match to me. Wright is also attached to direct Ant-Man for Marvel Studios and Disney.

The Night Stalker was one of two films that Depp and Dembrowski set at the studio. The other was a drama about the Midnight Ride made by Paul Revere to warn Colonial militia of the impending British invasion that made him a seminal figure in the American Revolutionary War. Jon Brown and Infinitum Nihil’s Margaret French-Isaac will be executive producers.

Depp next saddles up for Disney with Armie Hammer in the Gore Verbinski-directed The Lone Ranger. Wright’s repped by CAA, Anonymous Content’s Michael Sugar and UK-based Independent Talent.

[Sleepless]

Please be better than the Frank Spotnitz TV show. Also, please don't cast Johnny Depp.

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Working Title And Edgar Wright Plan September Start For ‘The World’s End’
BY MIKE FLEMING | Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Working Title and Edgar Wright have set a September start date for The World’s End, the last in a trilogy of comedies that started with Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz. Wright, who’ll direct, wrote the script with Simon Pegg. Once again, Pegg stars with Nick Frost. Universal Pictures hasn’t yet green lit the film, but is expected to after the modestly budgeted pair of comedies grossed $108 million worldwide between them. The plan is for The World’s End to reach theaters in spring, 2013.

The logline: 20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hell bent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King, a 40-year old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their home town and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub, The World’s End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind’s. Reaching The World’s End is the least of their worries.

The film is produced by Working Title partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, and Nira Park of Big Talk Productions. Wright, who last directed Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, is separately adapting the series The Night Stalker for Disney as a star vehicle for Johnny Depp. Wright’s repped by CAA, Independent Talent Group and Anonymous Content.

[MacGuffin]

Edgar Wright To Direct Paramount’s ‘Collider,’ Mark Protosevich To Write
BY MIKE FLEMING | Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures is mobilizing a sci-fi film called Collider, and it is a collision of several of the top guys in the genre. Edgar Wright will direct the film, and he is co-writing the script with I Am Legend‘s Mark Protosevich. Wright is producing with his longtime Big Talk Productions partner Nira Park and JJ Abrams through his Bad Robot banner.

Like with all Bad Robot fare, a log line was tough to get. The deal comes after Protosevich scripted the Oldboy remake that Spike Lee will direct with Josh Brolin (Protosevich is co-producer), and he also got story credit on Thor and scripted the video game transfer Mass Effect for Legendary.

Wright, meanwhile, next directs The World’s End with his cohorts Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and he certainly perked up Marvel’s Comic-Con Hall H panel when he revealed some rough test-shot footage from Ant-Man, one of the next Marvel live-action films in the offing which Wright will direct. Protosevich and Wright are repped by CAA, and Wright is managed by Anonymous Content.