Welcome to Rumorville! Here you can learn about casting news that’s about to break in Hollywood. These speculations might be only rumors, but that doesn’t mean you can’t follow the trail all the way to the audition room.
“Attack the Block 2”
“Attack” may soon be back, according to Joe Cornish, and with John Boyega returning as the lead! Appearing as a guest on the “Script Apart” podcast, Gizmodo reports, the filmmaker revealed he had recently met with Boyega to discuss a potential sequel to the 2011 action-comedy. The original film, helmed and written by Cornish, followed a teen gang in South London who defend their block from an alien invasion. Boyega starred with Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard, Nick Frost, and more. Obviously, Boyega has been busy in recent years with his work on the new “Star Wars” trilogy, but says Cornish, “the longer you leave it, the more interesting it is,” so we could be seeing said sequel later rather than sooner. Either way, veteran Nina Gold was the casting director for the first film, although she is very busy as well, she could return for the second, especially considering she’s been a repeat collaborator with Cornish on more recent projects, such as last year’s “The Kid Who Would Be King.” Learn what she is looking for in auditions here at Backstage!
“Action Park”
A death-defying theme park might be getting an equally thrilling small-screen project. First reported by Variety, Hulu is developing a comedy series about the notorious New Jersey theme park Action Park, based on the book “Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America’s Most Dangerous Amusement Park” by Andy Mulvihill and Jake Rossen. The streamer and 20th Century Fox recently acquired the book’s rights to turn into a half-hour series that will be told through the eyes of Mulvihill, the son of the park’s owner, Gene Mulvihill. This is the second time the park has been the subject of an onscreen project, following 2018’s “Action Point” starring Johnny Knoxville. Jason Winer and Jon Radler will executive produce the series via their Small Dog Picture banner, which has also produced NBC’s “1600 Penn” and “Perfect Harmony.”
“Deacon King Kong”
A National Book Award winner will also soon see a screen adaptation. Global company Sister has won the rights to James McBride’s “Deacon King Kong” to develop as a TV series. McBride will come on board to pen the adaptation and executive produce with Brian Taylor. The story takes place in 1969 and follows a community in a Brooklyn housing project, where a church deacon kills the project’s drug dealer, affecting the overlapping lives of everybody in the community. Sister has been responsible for producing several major projects lately, including HBO’s “Chernobyl,” Sky’s “Gangs of New York,” and more, including the recently greenlit “This Is Going To Hurt, for BBC and AMC. “Deacon King Kong” is only in the beginning stages of development, so be sure to keep an eye out for any updates as the project hopefully gets off the ground.
Looking for remote work? Backstage has got you covered! Click here for auditions you can do from home!
