Jonathan Majors to Play Dennis Rodman

Plus there is news on ‘Now You See Me 3’ and director Robert Eggers has found his cast for horror movie ‘Nosferatu’.

(L) Jonathan Majors as Nat Love in 'The Hard They Fall.' Photo courtesy of Netflix @ 2021. (R) Legendary NBA player Dennis Rodman. Photo courtesy of the NBA's YouTube channel.

Jonathan Majors has enjoyed quite the successful last couple of years in his career. He’s established one of the most complicated, watchable characters for the MCU in ‘Loki’, made an impact in Western ‘The Harder They Fall’ and is flying back to cinema screens for new Korean War drama 'Devotion’. Oh, and in 2023, he’ll not only have his big-screen MCU debut in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,’ but will also prove a formidable opponent to Michael B. Jordan in ‘Creed III’.

You can understand, then, that he’s a man in demand. And now he’s considering taking on a plum role as Dennis Rodman in based-on-truth basketball movie ’48 Hours in Vegas’.

Jordan VanDina wrote a spec script based on the crazy story of how basketball star Rodman went on a madcap adventure with his skittish assistant General Manager in the middle of the 1998 NBA Finals. According to Deadline, “the film will detail a budding friendship that neither one of them ever thought was possible but will end up solving both of their problems.”

Though the story was covered comprehensively in Michael Jordan-Chicago Bulls documentary ‘The Last Dance’, VanDina wrote his script before the movie came out, and sounds like it could be a fun romp.

Lionsgate won the rights to the script, which also boasts the producing power of Phil Lord, Chris Miller and their business partner Aditya Sood via their Lord Miller company.

No director is aboard yet, but with Majors close to a deal, we figure this one will be hitting the production court next year.

Elsewhere in the Lionsgate empire, moves are being made to conjure up a third movie in the ‘Now You See Me’ franchise. Ruben Fleischer, who directed ‘Venom’ and ‘Uncharted,’ is now locked in to oversee the new pic.

2013’s ‘Now You See Me’, directed by Louis Leterrier, introduced us to the Four Horsemen (in that film, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher), a group of magicians who pull off elaborate heists while being hunted by the authorities.

In 2016, Jon M. Chu directed the sequel, ‘Now You See Me’ (which really should have been called ‘Now You Don’t, but nobody asked us), and saw the return of the three men, joined this time by Lizzy Caplan for more illusions and further run-ins with the law.

Little is known about the plot for the third (beyond that it’ll include magic tricks and probably elaborate schemes) but given that Fleischer also worked with Eisenberg and Harrelson on the two ‘Zombieland’ movies, we’d expect them to be back.

“There are three things in this world I absolutely love… Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and magic,” says Fleischer. “To have the chance to work with these two talented actors, as well as rest of the incredible cast of the ‘Now You See Me' movies is a dream come true. I am a lifelong fan of heist movies – I love getting drawn in by the twists and the mystery where nothing is what it seems. And that’s even more true when the thieves are magicians – the opportunities are endless. Eric was able to unlock a fresh and exciting way into a new movie and fun new characters, so I’m excited to dig in even further.”

“Eric” is Eric Warren Singer, who wrote the original drafts of the movie, but Seth Grahame-Smith is now working on a new re-write.

(L to R) Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, and Dave Franco in 2013's 'Now You See Me.'

Finally – and stepping outside of Lionsgate – there is news of ‘The Northman’ director Robert Eggers’ next movie.

He’s been developing his own take on classic vampire tale ‘Nosferatu’ for Focus Features and has now locked down his leading duo.

Bill Skarsgård, probably still best known for playing Pennywise in the ‘It’ movies, is back in a horror mood for the new film, alongside Lily-Rose Depp.

Per Deadline’s report, in the new reimagining, ‘Nosferatu’ is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman (Depp) in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire (Skarsgard) who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.

This is one that Eggers has been trying to make for a while – its development pre-dates ‘The Northman’ and at one point he had Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy and Harry Styles attached to star.

With Eggers writing and directing as usual, the movie should be shooting next year if the schedules line up. Time for Eggers to finally do some vamping…