Casting News: Paxton, Ryan, Paul

"The Slap Heard Around the World," aka "Slapgate," aka "The Oscars Slap" is referenced in this months action movie sequel Bad Boys: Ride or Die, with star Will Smith receiving feigned comeuppance for striking comedian Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards back in 2022. The movie moment reportedly happens when Smiths character, Mike Lowery, is having a panic attackwhich results in him being slapped multiple times by Lawrences Marcus Burnett.

Mike Flanagan, one of modern horror's most interesting auteurs (Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) is taking over the revamping of The Exorcist franchise for Blumhouse, and has now offered a terrifyingly promising update regarding his horror sequel. After Jason Blum's company teamed up with Morgan Creek Entertainment for a new trilogy, David Gordon Green led the project and directed The Exorcist: Believer, the 2023 follow-up to the original 1973 feature.

Academy Award-winning writer, director, and producer Akiva Goldsman is teaming up with Mattel and Universal for a new live-action Monster High movie. Debuting in 2010 as a line of fashion dolls based on monsters from pop culture, movies, and folklore, Monster High has since become a global sensation, branching off to include a number of entertainment mediums such as animated movies, video games, books, and a web series.

Great news for fans of Oppenheimer star and Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, as Lionsgate has now acquired distribution rights in North America, the UK and Ireland to the upcoming movie Small Things Like These. The adaptation of Claire Keegans acclaimed novel stars Academy Award winner Cillian Murphy and Emily Watson and is directed by Tim Mielants.

Creed star Michael B. Jordan is excited to team-up with Oscar winner Will Smith for the long-awaited post-apocalyptic sequel, I Am Legend 2. The actor has now offered a promising update on the sequel while speaking with People, revealing that a script is currently being written, with everyone involved working hard to ensure the I Am Legend follow-up is up to par.

The Emmy-winning comedian, who will receive the inaugural Innovator Award at IndieWire Honors, tells IW about his weird, very fun Netflix talk series: "You have Jerry Seinfeld, and he's sitting next to a coyote expert. That was a North Star from the beginning."