A My Little Pony movie may be coming in 2017; The Martian cast keeps adding familiar faces; Natalie Dormer picks up two gigs; Key & Peele are making a movie; Charlie Kaufman steps in to rewrite IQ 83; and Paul Greengrass signs on for The Tunnels. -

Look out My Little Pony fans, there’s a new film in development for release in 2017.

Hasbro Studios plans to finance and produce the film, which is based on its own successful line of kids’ toys. My Little Pony has also spawned some successful straight-to-DVD movies and a few TV series, including the very popular My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

In fact, the success of Friendship is Magic likely played a huge part in Hasbro giving this film the greenlight. However, a lot can change in 3 years so we’ll have to wait and see where demand is for a My Little Pony movie then.

The Martian cast continues to grow, with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sebastian Stan, and Sean Bean now signing on for the picture.

The Ridley Scott directed flick, an adaptation of Jason Weir’s bestselling novel, has become a regular staple of these wrap-ups thanks to a cast that spells A-list with a capital A. The film was already one to watch because of Scott and lead actor Matt Damon, who plays an astronaut stranded on Mars, but the casting of folks like Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, and Jeff Daniels has only made the project more exciting.

The Martian is slated to start filming next month based on a script by Drew Goddard and will release the following November. That leaves plenty of time to add another dozen high profile actors to the cast.

Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) has signed on for The Forest.

The film uses the real forest of Aokigahara to tell a story with supernatural themes, and Dormer will play a girl who travels to Japan in search of her missing twin sister. Unfortunately, what she finds is that the forest is filled with the angry souls of the dead.

With Dormer on-board, the project is sure to pick up steam and the presence of producer David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight) can’t hurt either. Focus Features picked up the rights to The Forest earlier this year and hope to have it out in January 2016.

Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key (better known as Key & Peele) are set to star in Keanu for New Line.

Peele wrote the script for Keanu with Key & Peele writer Alex Rubens. The film follows two friend’s efforts to infiltrate a criminal organization to get back their stolen cat.

Although Key & Peele have several projects in various stages of development, it sounds like Keanu could be hitting first. The duo hope to begin production in April and regular K&P director Peter Atencio may helm the comedy.

Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) has been hired to rewrite I.Q. 83 for Paramount.

The studio has been trying to crack the project, based on the novel by Arthur Herzog, for years and now has turned to the Oscar-winning Kaufman.

Paramount has already set Steve Carell to star, but without a solid script they project hasn’t moved much further than that.

The story is actually quite interesting and could be a good fit for both Kaufman and Carell. Essentially, I.Q. 83 follows a scientist as he tries to cure a virus that makes the population dumber.

Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips) has signed on to helm The Tunnels, based on a book proposal from Greg Mitchell.

The Tunnels will tell the true story of a group of East Germans who tried to sneak through the Berlin Wall with the help of some American news networks.

That premise in itself sounds well within Greengrass’ wheelhouse, as the director is most known for intense dramas based on real events.

However, with the story only existing as a book proposal it’s hard to tell how far along it is. It could be several years before we actually see Tunnels so who knows if Greengrass will still be on-board by then.

http://screenrant.com/martian-sebast...y-peele-keanu/