It's All Been Done
Entertainment
New ideas are tough, which is why I once spent a year of my life rewriting Picnic at Hanging Rock scene-for-scene but set at a present-day Montana wellness retreat in a novel endeavor that even my imagination didn’t end up greenlighting. But in the era of the reboot, it does seem that even movies and television that are technically original are starting to look a little bit familiar.
For example, the man who gave us the “time is a flat circle” show where all the women characters were either agency-less sex holes or headless torsos or both, Nic Pizzolatto, is once again teaming up with Matthew McConaughey for a show that might as well be called Veracious Minister. It’s based on the novel The Churchgoer, and McConaughey will play “a former minister turned dissolute security guard, whose search for a missing woman in Texas leads him through a corruption and criminal conspiracy, as his past and present impact and entwine around a mystery of escalating violence and deceit.” If it ain’t broke, etc. [Entertainment Weekly]
The executive producer of The Nanny is creating a multi-cam comedy for Netflix starring a down-on-her-luck brunette woman played by Katherine McPhee who gets a job nannying for a handsome dark-haired man. Why does that sound so familiar? [Deadline]
Adam Sandler to give us four more of the same, also over at Netflix. [Variety]
Another Matrix movie is now freshened by the addition of Priyanka Chopra. [Variety]
Rose Byrne will be headed back to TV in a dramedy that sounds promising about a 1980s housewife who finds enlightenment through jazzercise. [Deadline]
The always delightful and criminally underutilized Gabrielle Union will be getting an HBO Max show from Insatiable and Sabrina writer Jenina Kibuka. [Deadline]
Tell me again how Kevin Hart was canceled? [The Playlist]
Jodie Foster is directing a film about the Mona Lisa being stolen. [Variety]
Benedict is making a Cumberbatch. I’m sorry. It’s Friday, and I’m too tired for anything but fruit so low-hanging it’s basically potatoes. [Deadline]
The Property Brothers are going to teach your kids how to do construction around your house, an all-round win: your kid gets something to do and you get free repairs. When they’re finished with your house, please send your children over to install my floating shelves. [Deadline]