Plus: A news roundup, the best FSR articles, and five perfect shots.
It might be difficult to remember, but Robert Downey Jr. is not just Tony Stark. For the last decade the actor’s filmography has been dominated by the role, with a little Sherlock Holmes thrown in for good measure, but other than that there have been very few gigs the actor has taken outside the franchise world.
But now there comes word, via THR, that Downey has booked his first major non-Marvel role in a little bit, and it’s quite the departure: Doctor Doolittle.
You know the good Doctor, he who can communicate with the animals and uses this power to, I don’t know, doctor them? Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady) first brought the character to life on the silver screen back in 1967, and of course there’s the Eddie Murphy franchise complete with a couple spinoffs that started in 1998, but if the talent behind the camera is any indication, this is going to be a … unique take.
The film – which is tentatively entitled The Voyage of Doctor Doolittle – is being written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Traffic, as well as Syriana. Quite the departure.
These are really the only details provided at present, with the big question being: is this the start of a new franchise, or intended to be a standalone? Likely it’s the former – this is Hollywood, after all, if it ain’t broke sequelize it – but that will all depend on how Voyage is received. The other thing you might be wondering is, will this new version be a musical like the original? There wasn’t any mention of this, and I have a hard time imagining Gaghan whipping up some jaunty tunes, but with Downey’s pipes, don’t be surprised if that’s how it turns out.
No release date, either, but as Downey has two Infinity Wars films currently in production, start thinking late next year.
In other news and points of interest…
…We finally got to meet the full cast of Fargo season 3 thanks to a teaser released by FX…
…That scandalous Life/Venom rumor gets addressed by the former film’s director, Daniel Espinoza…
…and Tom Cruise has been preparing for one stunt in M:I-6 for a real long time.
Over in our corner of the internet we had a lot of really interesting posts go up yesterday, including Jake Orthwein’s examination of the changes to Netflix’s rating system, Liz Baessler’s exploration of the purity of John Wick, Christine Makepeace’s suggestions for improving Passengers, Christopher Campbell’s analysis of the Beauty and the Beast box office, and a montage of loneliness in cinema.
And lastly, take a look at five of the most popular shots we tweeted over the last 24 hours. Want more? You know where to find us.
Related Topics: One Perfect Shot
