‘Black Adam’ Producer Says Delay Due To Swamped VFX Industry

In 1983, producer Jerry Bruckheimer was flipping through the May issue of California magazine when he was struck by a story. "Top Guns" read the headline, with a large photograph from inside the cockpit of an F-14 fighter jet.The story opened: "At Mach 2 and 40,000 feet over California, it’s always high noon." "I saw that cover and I said, ‘We gotta do this.This looks great,'" recalls Bruckheimer. "It's 'Star Wars' on Earth." And at the box office, "Top Gun" did nearly reach "Star Wars" proportions.

A follow-up to the $130M-plus grossing movie Law Abiding Citizen is happening with producer Lucas Foster and screenwriter Kurt Wimmer returning, as well as Gerard Butler and his G-Base partner Alan Siegel reprising their roles as producers.

Before “Shang-Chi”, some people in Hollywood didn’t see Simu Liu’s star power.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe planned “Wonder Twins” live-action movie at HBO Max is no longer going forward, Variety has learned.The news comes just over a month after it was announced that KJ Apa and Isabel May had been cast in the lead roles in the DC film as the titular twins. It also arrives in the wake of the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger and Discovery boss David Zaslav’s pledge to cut approximately $3 billion in costs at the newly merged company.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDisney is throwing a pass at spring football.The entertainment giant said it struk a multi- year rights deal with the XFL, tte start-up football league led by actor Dwayne Johnson. The pact will put XFL games on ESPN, FX and ABC and gives Disney more footfall just as rivals Fox and NBC play up games from the USF, in which Fox is an investor.“We have entered into an exclusive multi year deal with our partners with Walt Disney to produce and distribute all of our games,’ Johnson told attendees at Disney’s upfront presentation Tuesday.

Zack Sharf “Pirates of the Caribbean” producer Jerry Bruckheimer reminded fans in a recent interview with The Sunday Times that the future of his Disney mega-franchise does not currently include Johnny Depp. The actor appeared as Jack Sparrow in all five “Pirates of the Caribbean,” earning an Oscar nomination for “Curse of the Black Pearl.” The most recent “Pirates” movie, “Dead Men Tell No Tales,” was released in 2017. Bruckheimer said two “Pirates” scripts are currently in development, but neither include Depp’s former franchise mainstay.“Yes.

"Rust" producer Anjul Nigam claimed the film will be "completed" despite the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Nigam made the claim at Cannes while discussing another film he and Alec Baldwin are working on together. "'Rust' is obviously a horrific tragedy," Nigam said (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Comedy is back on NBC’s fall schedule with an hourlong Friday block — comprised by Dwayne Johnson’s Young Rock and new George Lopez series Lopez vs. Lopez — but The Blacklist is not, put on the bench until midseason only for the second time in its 10-season run. As expected, the Quantum Leap reboot, starring Raymond Lee, landed the post-Voice Monday slot while La Brea is back in the Tuesday 9 PM slot where it launched with a bang last fall.

Editor's note: This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). With the recent deaths of beloved pageant competitors, many within the community are reeling and wanting to shed light on the larger, global mental health crisis.  Jennifer Lloyd, who is well-versed in the world of pageantry and honed her craft after competing for decades with recent accolades including earning the Mrs.

That woman! The Proposal gave new meaning to unorthodox romance with the love story of Margaret Tate and Andrew Paxton.

Katherine Tulich Australian pay-TV operator Foxtel has renewed its film and TV supply deal with Hollywood studio Sony Pictures. The multi-year agreement covers new release movies, library titles and TV series.Foxtel, which is owned by News Corp. and Telstra, will be able to play the content on its pay-TV channels as well as its 2020-launched streaming service Binge.Sony has enjoyed a succession of movie hits in the past year.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s adventure comedy “The Lost City” arrives on Paramount+ today, following a surprise box office success last month.

More than eight months after wrapping “Black Adam”, Dwayne Johnson is back at work on the upcoming superhero flick.

wait even longer to see Dwayne Johnson’s superhero debut in “Black Adam,” but there’s a good reason why the film’s release date was pushed back from July to October.“I think we’re just in a world right now where there was a huge and understandable freeze-up when the pandemic hit and a lot of productions were put on hold,” producer and president of production at Seven Bucks Productions Hiram Garcia told TheWrap during a recent interview about NBC’s “Young Rock” series. “Now that the industry has really roared back, the pipeline for VFX is so jammed.

Megan Thee Stallion Day in Houston, where the rapper grew up.Megan Pete was honoured at a ceremony on Sunday (May 1) in which Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner along with members of Houston City Council celebrated her philanthropic achievements, which include launching the Pete and Thomas Foundation in 2021.The non-profit, set up to honour Pete’s late mother and father, focuses on programs that address education, housing, health and wellness in Houston, Texas, and elsewhere.“Megan Thee Stallion has an extraordinary entertainment career, but we wanted to honor her for what she does offstage to lift people’s lives in underserved communities,” Turner said while presenting Megan with the key to the city.“She assisted people after the 2021 winter storm, during the pandemic, and helped those struggling with homelessness. I look forward to watching her grow as an artist and humanitarian.”May 2 is a significant date for Meg, whose mother and grandmother were both born on the date.