James Gunn's DCU Hit With First Major Setback, And It Involves Colin Farrell And Sgt. Rock
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
Colin Farrell already has more than enough DC Comics media cred from his Golden Globe-winning performance as Oz Cobb in The Penguin, but in the last few month, we've learned he's been making moves to join the new DC Universe franchise. Back in March, it was reported that Farrell was on deck to replace Daniel Craig in Sgt. Rock. However, word's now come in that this upcoming DC movie is no longer moving forward, which arguably marks the first major setback for the James Gunn-spearheaded DCU.
This update comes to us from The Wrap, which reports that Sgt. Rock is no longer set to film this summer in England. No specific reasoning was officially provided for why the shoot has been scrapped, though one insider who spoke with THR said the publication stated that it 'came down to the project's scheduling needs of shooting outdoors.' Another insider claimed that there was concern from the DC brass about director Luca Guadagnino's ability to tackle an action-heavy movie like this.
Although the DC Universe certainly hasn't faced challenges since James Gunn and Peter Safran, who run DC Studios together, announced the franchise in early 2023, this is the first time one of its projects has been outright cancelled. That being said, there is a little glimmer of hope. The article mentions that Sgt. Rock would be 're-assessed' at the end of this year and potentially get back off the ground for a summer 2026 shoot.
Otherwise, this version of Sgt. Rock has been set aside. Even if the 2026 shoot happens, there's no guarantee that Colin Farrell and/or Luca Guadagnino would still be able to work on it. If Sgt. Rock ends up being revived, I wouldn't be surprised if a new director and lead actor are tapped to replace them. Who knows, maybe this could be how Jeremy Allen White actually gets involved.
THR's report mentioned that Sgt. Rock was early on into the casting process before the shutdown occurred. Just like in the comics. Colin Farrell's version of the title character was going to lead the combat unit Easy Company to bring the hurt to Nazis during World War II. Mike Faist, who worked with Luca Guadagnino on Challengers, was reportedly being lined up for a role. The publication's sources also said there would be a female French Resistance fighter as a major character.
The good news is that even with Sgt. Rock being put on ice, there's still a way to see him and Easy Company in action in the DC Universe. The soldiers appeared in the third episode of Creature Commandos Season 1, which can be streamed with a Max subscription. As far as the wider DC Universe goes, Superman kicks off the cinematic side of the franchise on July 11, and then Peacemaker Season 2 hits the 2025 TV schedule in August.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Alan Alda, Mike Farrell Among Those Paying Tribute to Loretta Swit: 'A Supremely Talented Actor'
Hollywood is paying tribute to Loretta Swit after news of her death was announced Friday. According to a police report, the M*A*S*H star died of suspected natural causes at her home in New York City, her publicist, Harlan Boll, announced. More from The Hollywood Reporter Renée Victor, Voice of Abuelita in 'Coco,' Dies at 86 Devin Harjes, 'Boardwalk Empire,' 'Daredevil' and 'Gotham' Actor, Dies at 41 Sherry Robb, Literary Agent, Talent Manager and Producer, Dies at 81 Swit appeared in all but 11 episodes of M*A*S*H during its 11-season run, earning two Emmys for her portrayal of Maj. Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan. Notably, she was nominated for 10 Emmys, one for every season she appeared in except season one. After her tenure in the medical war drama, she went on to star in several films, including Freebie and the Bean (1974), Race With the Devil (1975), S.O.B. (1981) and BoardHeads (1998). Alan Alda, Swit's longtime M*A*S*H co-star, paid tribute to her on X. 'Loretta was a supremely talented actor. She deserved all her 10 EMMY nominations and her 2 wins. But more than acting her part, she created it,' he wrote on Friday. 'She worked hard in showing the writing staff how they could turn the character from a one joke sexist stereotype into a real person — with real feelings and ambitions. We celebrated the day the script came out, listing her character not as Hot Lips but as Margaret. Loretta made the most of her time here.' Mike Farrell, who joined the series in season four, shared a photo of the late actress on Instagram, writing, 'Loretta… 1937-2025.' In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Jamie Farr, who portrayed Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger in M*A*S*H, said, 'Our dear Loretta was so talented, beautiful and an exceptional friend. There is a void in my life now and I shall always have a very special place for her in my heart. May her memory be eternal.' Also in a statement to THR, Journey Gunderson, the executive director of the National Comedy Center, said, 'Loretta Swit's portrayal of Margaret 'Hot Lips' Houlihan was groundbreaking – bringing heart, humor, and strength to one of television comedy's most enduring roles. Her talent extended well beyond that iconic character, with acclaimed work on both stage and screen that showcased her intelligence, versatility, and passion. That legacy endures through the cultural impact of MASH, which is proudly represented in the National Comedy Center.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘The Better Sister': Jessica Biel, Elizabeth Banks on Wanting the Audience to Root for Their 'Messy' Characters and That 'Rallying Cry' Ending
[This story contains spoilers from all eight episodes of Prime Video's .] What's a family without some drama? But add in a murder, lingering secrets and scandals and you get the recipe for Prime Video's The Better Sister starring Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'The Better Sister' Stars React to Murder Mystery Reveal: "They Totally Threw Me Off and I Was There" 'Lee Soo Man: King of K-Pop' Director and Subject Talk New Prime Video Documentary Nicole Clemens Hired to Head Amazon MGM's International Originals Biel and Banks star in the eight-episode series, from showrunners Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado and adapted from Alafair Burke's novel of the same name, as estranged sisters Chloe Taylor (Biel) and Nicky Macintosh (Banks) who despite living opposite lives — Chloe leads a picturesque existence with her lawyer husband Adam (Corey Stoll) and teenage son Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan), while Nicky struggles to stay clean — must come together when Chloe's husband is murdered. To make matters more complicated, Nicky is also Adam's ex and Ethan's biological mother. While viewers follow the mystery of who killed Adam, they get glimpses into Nick and Chloe's harrowing past, trauma and the mistakes that haunt them. Depicting this estranged relationship, the power of sisterhood and motherhood and flawed human beings all drew Biel and Banks to the series. 'I saw myself in both of these women,' Biel tells The Hollywood Reporter. 'It's like two opposite forces coming together.' 'It felt like Greek tragedy to me,' Banks adds. 'I, for one, felt like it's going to be really satisfying for the audience to watch them struggle to build this family back up, knowing all the history and the secrets that they hold. We want the audience to root for them, like a love story, to figure out how to be together and be connected as a family again.' Ahead of the premiere, Biel and Banks spoke with THR about portraying the secretive sisters, showcasing 'unlikable women' taking on a system attempting to tear them down, the series' twists and turns and why that surprise ending felt like a 'rallying cry.' How did this project come to you, and what about the story made you want to be a part of it? JESSICA BIEL Craig Gillespie, our director of the pilot, and Olivia [Milch] and Regina [Corrado], our amazing showrunners and writers were honored to read the material and get to take a look at these amazing women. We were able to read the book kind of all at the same time. My first question [was] who's going to play Nicky? And hearing that it was possibly Elizabeth [Banks] and all of these elements coming together all sort of at the same time, for me, was just a jumping off point of 'Oh this is something that could be really, really interesting!' And I think also just the nature of [the story being on] human beings [that are] flawed, beautiful, complicated, smart, hiding things, keeping secrets, as we all do, I saw myself in both of these women, and specifically, really saw my way into playing Chloe and thinking about how exciting it would be to to work in the world of someone who keeps everything inside and contains, contains, contains, while her counterpart, everything is external. It's like two opposite forces coming together. So it was a pretty thrilling opportunity. ELIZABETH BANKS I agree with Jessica. All the elements were really exciting to me. And I also felt like the story had a really large canvas to play with. It felt like Greek tragedy to me. The murdered husband, the two wives, the shared son living in his father's shadow, talking to ghosts, the past sort of having an impact on the present, the betrayals and the lies. So I love that we were going to have this big canvas. I love that it was set in New York, which felt like another character, and that we were actually going to be able to shoot it there, which is such a blessing to get to do. Then great partners like Jessica to play with. So I really loved the entire endeavor from jump. I thought it was such an interesting opportunity. I also really appreciated that the central relationship was sisterhood and motherhood. Nicky and Chloe especially are seemingly bonded by secrets but also both struggling with their identities whether it be personally or as sisters. Can you talk about who you wanted Chloe and Nicky to be individually and get across with who they were? BIEL They're two sides of the same coin. They both have their secrets. They both know these truths that they've been telling themselves. I mean, really more Chloe, I guess. Nicky has been on her path and on her process of self discovery and self forgiveness. These characters, they are our friends. They are our sisters. They are ourselves. We contain multitudes of everything. Human beings are capable of everything. So I think Elizabeth and I just really wanted to have these people feel really authentic with all their flaws, with all their beautiful things, with all their messy beauty, whatever it is, we just wanted it to feel real, and we wanted it to feel like you could recognize yourself in these people. BANKS I think also, at the end of the day, this sense of a need for connection between the two of them is very deep, and they built real walls against it. So through this tragedy that happens in their lives, they get the opportunity to break down those walls and reconnect in a deep way. And especially for Nicky, this is the only family that they have there. Their parents are dead. It's Ethan and the two of them. This is it. This is the family unit now. And I, for one, felt like it's going to be really satisfying for the audience to watch them struggle to build this family back up, knowing all the history and the secrets that they hold. We want the audience to root for them, like a love story, to figure out how to be together and be connected as a family again. The show explores Nicky and Chloe's childhood and how the both of them had different experiences especially given their difference in age. What were your thoughts on their backstory and how their childhood shaped how themselves and each other? BANKS I know that Olivia and Regina really appreciated this notion and theme that children can get different versions of their parents, depending on birth order and time. That really struck a chord with me. I'm the oldest of four kids, and my younger brother is 11 years younger than me, so of course, my parents were different people a decade into parenthood than from when they had me. When I read that that made a lot of sense to me. I also think this is about alcoholism and how it affects families and the lessons that are learned and the protection that older siblings have for younger siblings and the protection that gets put in place when the bad things start happening to one sibling. We want to protect the younger one. Nicky got a very different version of her father and her mom than her sister did, and I think that came to bear on their lives in really profound ways and what it means for them is that they don't have a shared reality of their past. They don't have a shared sense of their history. They have two different histories, and revealing to each other. What was really going on is part of the rebuilding process that I'm talking about that's going to connect them as family again. They don't share the same facts, and when you don't, it's very hard to agree on what happened and to not blame and carry shame and guilt about it. There's a push and pull with Nicky and Chloe where they take steps forward together then take steps back because there's this trust between them that was destroyed at a time. And though by the series end they decide to team on a book and tell their story, what did you make of their relationship by the series end? Do you think they can forgive and forget or is there always going to be some distrust there and things to hash out between them? BIEL I don't think that there's any distrust. I think they've been through quite an experience together, and they have been the most vulnerable that they possibly can be. And at this point, it's the first layer of trust [and] the foundation has been poured again. Now they're really starting from a different place. They have a common goal and a common enemy, and they have a common interest in protecting Ethan no matter what. I think they have no reason at this point to not trust each other. I mean, of course, stuff is going to come up. Family shit just comes up. But they have to trust each other. They only have each other now, and if they can't trust that, then what are we even doing here? Because that's the point of what we're trying to say and what we're trying to tell as Elizabeth was saying. It's like they are going to be successful in overcoming this estranged relationship and overcoming this thing that Nicky had to carry for so long that Chloe didn't know about, which caused their two separate experiences. That's over now. Chloe has shattered her glass house, her pristine world. Now they're level playing fields. They're backing back, like arms linked, kind of feeling. BANKS They came to this scenario with their own secrets, and now they have a shared secret, and I think that's really powerful for them as a way to keep fighting for each other and for Ethan. One thing Nicky and Chloe share in common is their love for Ethan. Though we see he has built relationships with both of them, by the series end he's also left to reexamine his childhood and himself and what's true and isn't. I'm curious for your thoughts on where Nicky and Chloe's relationship with Ethan stands. Do you think there's some resentment there with both Nicky and Chloe or what do you make of their relationship now? Not to mention he doesn't even know the truth of what happened to his father. BANKS I think it's tenuous at best. I think that what's interesting is what we're trying to impart the entire time is that carrying secrets is detrimental to your relationships and to your mental health, to your sense of belonging, and yet we are going to keep a big secret from him. I think we both know it's a danger to our future relationship, to the future bonds that we'll have with him. I think we both know that it's a big risk, but it's one we feel like we have to take — for now. (Laughs.) I don't know! I like that we leave it flawed. You plug one hole, [and] you fix one thing and another leak pops up. That's life. That's the fun of the these characters. They are messy. They are flawed. We don't wrap it up with a bow. At the end, we learn that Nicky was in fact the one to kill Adam. What did you both make of that reveal? Then Elizabeth, can you talk about why Nicky kept it hidden even after Ethan was blamed and the drama aftermath? BANKS Obviously we knew the whole time what had happened. And I think what's fun is going back the clues are all there. I mean literally, I think in episode three, I say, 'I'll say I did it. Just put me in jail instead,' and everyone tells me to shut up, and that's stupid (Laughs.) She couldn't be more open. She goes to AA and says, 'It was a bad idea me coming here.' I know that Nicky came with good intentions. When you know better, you have to do better. And Nicky finding out that Adam didn't change, that she can't disclaim herself: he is the villain of the story; she is going to save her sister and Ethan from him. And he [Adam] turns to what he always does with his violence. And so it was in self defense. I think she believes that all the entire time. She shows up thinking that the tracks were hidden. She doesn't realize what Ethan did. There are so many things being revealed to Nicky when she shows up. She had a plan, and it's gone sideways. That being said, this is the first time that Nicky has had real access to her son and to her sister. She went there with the purpose of making sure Adam did not continue to steal her family from her. And she still has that goal. So I think when she's told you can't say anything, you'll go to jail and lose Ethan and Chloe again, her goal is to not let Adam win. The reason I don't say anything is because I know that at the end I always can. I have a card. I can always play it, but let's play this out and hope that Adam doesn't win. Let's get Ethan off. Let's go home together. Let's be a family. He's got to play a longer game of chess than she realized, but that's what's happening. She's taking the long view. She just has to be a strategist so that she can get her family back and not let Adam win. BIEL What the Nicky character does for Chloe when she commits that act of violence is the greatest sister sacrifice and loyalty ever. On some level, I think Chloe can't even believe that someone stood up for her in that way. That this person whose life she ruined, basically, even though she didn't have all the information, but she took this life from this beloved sister, and she did all these things that put her life spinning down one path, and her sister's life spinning down another path — like she did that for me? To just make sure that I didn't have a life that would go on and on and on with violence and pain and suffering in private, because she knows I would never say anything? And Ethan can't live this way. It's a humongous sacrifice and it's the greatest act of love in this dysfunctional, fucked up family. BANKS I'm the big sister protector, and they set it up in the series. You see us in our past, I'm supposed to keep Chloe from drowning. And I take that seriously as an adult. I felt very alone with pain that I had over Adam for so long. So to know that I actually share it with my sister, it's an incredible relief that I am actually not alone, but I'm not going to let her suffer in the way that I did. There was a moment where Nicky says it was better for Chloe to be with Adam because she could handle it better than she could. So it felt like a full circle moment that she'd be the strong one to ultimately put an end to it all. BANKS But Nicky has done a lot of work to get to that place and believe in herself, right? I think that's a survivor. She had to actually survive it to believe she could be a survivor. We see Nicky really committed to her sobriety and attending AA meetings and working the program. What sort of discussions did you have with the showrunners about it and what research of your own did you do to understand that? BANKS I've actually played a recovering alcoholic a couple times so I've spent time with AA and Al-Anon. I have friends and family who have worked those programs, so I was really honored to represent it onscreen that way. It's one of my absolute favorite organizations; I think it's incredible. It gave me a lot as an actress to work with as Nicky because I know how those meetings go and I know what the steps look like, and I know how much work, internally, and honesty someone has to bring to that process to stay sober. So I know that Nicky had done a lot of that work and that she was trying to introduce her truth to her sister in the show, so it helps me to play this role a lot. We also see Detective Guidry (Kim Dickens) be on to Nicky and seemingly know that though they arrested Bill Braddock (Matthew Modine) for the murder of Adam, that's not what happened and he's not the murderer. Do you think Nicky is still at risk of being exposed by Detective Guidry or do you think they'll find a way to keep what happened a secret? BANKS You know, I have no idea if we will ever get the opportunity to explore this further. I love that there's still a sense of danger for this family going forward. Jessica and I talked a lot about why we had to pin it on somebody else. Why did we have to do that? And that was about protecting Ethan. Ethan was accused of this crime and that accusation was going to follow him and we needed to offer up another idea. Because even though he was acquitted, there was always going to be this shadow over him that maybe he did it. I feel like Nicky, at the very least, couldn't live with this idea that Ethan had to go through the rest of his life with people believing he had murdered his father. So finding another avenue for us was a way to fight the system that had been holding us down throughout. We're two villains in this piece. I mean, we're unlikable women. I'm a bad mom who's a drug addict and an alcoholic who loses her son, and Chloe is a cheating, (laughs) ambitious social climber with a target on her back, you know? We live in a system that wants to hate us, that wants to tear us down. And so it brings out all of our fighting instincts, and Bill Braddock is the embodiment of that system that is holding us down, of that oppression. So be able to nail him for it felt really right to me as a sort of a rallying cry for us as two women in the in the series. Given the series is called I think while watching the series the answer to who is actually the better sister can change and be something hard to even answer. But what is your take on that question that lingers with the series with who is the better sister and why? BIEL I'm with you on that one. It is unanswerable. You cannot point to one or the other at the end of the series. I think that's what I love about the title. It is subverting the expectation of that title, because initially on the out front you think, 'Oh, I'm going to be able to pick it out.' And you probably think it's Chloe at first and then you think it's Nicky, and then you think it's Chloe. And then it goes back and forth the whole time. Then it kind of points to other people too. Just because the word sister is there doesn't really necessarily mean you have to be pointing at us. We are all culpable. We're pointing at everybody. So many different people have a hand in this thing. There's just this big, very gray area that question is living within. BANKS The better sister is not a statement, it's the question. I think it invites the audience to play with the series, as Jessica says, and go back and forth like I think one thing, and now I think another. One of my favorite things about the writing is these cliffhangers at the end. You're pointing in one direction, or you're walking down a certain path, and then all of a sudden we're taking massive right turns and U-turns, and I think it's a it's a great way to pose a question to the audience that invites them to investigate alongside us. *** All eight episodes of The Better Sister are now streaming on Prime Video. Read THR's interview with the series' showrunners. Hilary Lewis contributed to this story. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘The Better Sister' Stars React to Murder Mystery Reveal: 'They Totally Threw Me Off and I Was There'
[The following story contains spoilers from the Prime Video limited series .] When the execs at production company Tomorrow Studios were talking to people about producing a TV adaptation of Alafair Burke's The Better Sister, they would ask prospective partners after reading the first episode who they thought was behind the story's central murder mystery of who killed Adam Macintosh, played in the Prime Video limited series by Corey Stoll. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Lee Soo Man: King of K-Pop' Director and Subject Talk New Prime Video Documentary Frank Gehry, Theaster Gates and Wendy Schmidt Earn "Legend" Status at Star-Studded MOCA Gala Keanu Reeves Applauds Ana de Armas' "Joy for the Action" as She Joins 'John Wick' Universe 'People had different answers,' Tomorrow Studios president and Better Sister executive producer Becky Clements told The Hollywood Reporter at The Better Sister's New York premiere last month. 'And for us that was perfect, because you wouldn't be able to predict.' Even the Better Sister actors were surprised when they learned who did it, despite helping to realize the narrative. 'I was shocked because they put so many twists and turns,' Maxwell Acee Donovan, who plays Adam's son and murder suspect, Ethan Macintosh. 'Even after we made it and I've been watching it, they totally threw me off and I'm like, I was there. I did not see it coming.' That sentiment was echoed by the actors behind a number of other key characters in Ethan's murder trial. 'I was shocked,' Austin Smith, who plays the prosecutor making a case against Ethan told THR. 'As somebody who usually figures it out, I was shocked. So I'm hoping audiences will be as well.' And Bobby Naderi who plays Detective Bowen indicated he was upset he wasn't able to connect the dots: 'I was like I can't believe I didn't see it. But I was genuinely paying attention because I know what type of world I'm in but I was like I can't believe I missed that. The nuggets are there but you just have to be super observant and into that world.' And Lorraine Toussaint, who plays Chloe's (Jessica Biel) mentor Catherine, hopes audiences get caught in the story's twists and turns as she did. 'I got screwed up several times when reading it because I thought, 'I know who the murderer is; I know who the murderer is' and, 'Oh God, it's not that person; it's not that person,' so I was really shocked when it turned out to be the person it turned out to be,' she said. 'So I think the audience is going to go on the same kind of journey I did, which is a lot of wrong guessing, which is the fun of it all.' In addition to learning who killed Adam, viewers see Chloe and Nicky (Elizabeth Banks) come together to protect Ethan, who has learned the truth about why he was taken away from his biological mother and raised by his aunt. For Ethan, who's already been through so much in the series, Donovan says what he thinks comes next for his character involves some real psychological work. 'He's in such a different place than we found him at the beginning. He's going to have to basically rebuild his life and kind of redefine what he means and how he interacts with the world,' Donovan said. 'It's interesting because he's still 17. He's still a kid. He's got that opportunity to reinvent himself at a very young age, but I don't think it was anything that anyone was expecting him to have to do.' As for Chloe, Biel has a radical suggestion of what her character should do next. 'I hope Chloe changes careers fully and moves away, starts a new life, gets a new haircut — not that I don't love the bob — but I think she needs new color, new vibe, new wardrobe,' she told THR. 'I think she needs a full re-do, start over situation, with her new family.' Though The Better Sister is a limited series and based on a book with a beginning and end, showrunners Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado told THR they were open to telling more of the sisters' journey, with Milch specifically teasing, 'Even though at the end of the season, so many secrets have been revealed and so many mysteries sort of have been solved, there's now this new set of lies agreed upon, and secrets and choices that have been made that are setting things in motion.' Speaking to THR again at the Better Sister premiere, Milch stressed that she and Corrado wanted the limited series to feel 'satisfying and complete as a story,' but as for what's next for the characters, 'I think for us the question is, 'What happens now that the sisters are now back together?' They start so far apart, and then have to find each other once again. So where does that go? Is it possible? You find each other. Do you forgive? Can you move forward and what does that look like?' Corrado added, 'There's so much that's unresolved too. It's the big stuff that was resolved but not the internal.' Tomorrow Studios' executive vp, development, and Better Sister executive producer Alissa Bachner, said the production company would be open to continuing on the Better Sister journey if the opportunity presented itself. 'Yes, of course we would,' she told THR. 'Olivia and Regina are incredible storytellers and creators and if they want to keep telling the story, we would love that.' All eight episodes of The Better Sister are now streaming on Prime Video. Read THR's interview with Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks and the series' showrunners. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
