Focus's THE COLDEST CITY Casts Charlize Theron; 'John Wick' Helmers To Direct

Actress Charlize Theron's latest big screen role can be found in director George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road this coming Friday. The film just had its premiere in Los Angeles and is certainly poised to be the start of a possibly epic and successful franchise whilst certainly lending some momentum to the award-winning co-star for her attachment as well.

Of course, time will tell what the future holds in that regard, but the momentum is high for her this week, and with events beginning at Cannes soon, word from Deadline brings good news for the actress comes by way of Focus Features and their latest North American acquisition for the author Antony Johnston's 2012 Oni Press graphic novel publication, The Coldest City. Focus reportedly locked an eight-figure deal to produce the $30 million dollar adaptation from a script by Kurt Johnstad which centers its story of espionage and double crossing on Theron's role - a super spy forced into action to retrieve a list in order to protect the intel community when the MI6 agent smuggling it to the West is killed just before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Theron is set to produce with producers from Denver And Delilah Productions, Closed On Mondays Entertainment and Sierra/Affinity, along with 87Eleven whose founders, Hollywood stunt coordinators and filmmakers Chad Stahelski and David Leitch are also set to direct. The film is just one in a notch of successes between the directors who are currently on par to direct John Wick 2 following last year's hit, as well as help bring Sony's Harbinger Wars movieverse to the big screen, to name a few.

The Coldest City begins rolling cameras in Germany this October. Stay tuned for more info.

Keanu Reeves Is Officially Returning To Shoot More People In The Face In JOHN WICK 2!

If you're a fan of action and managed to go to the movies at any point between last Fall and now, chances are you've seen a little $20 million dollar independent film called John Wick, and you dug lead actor Keanu Reeves with fervor in some capacity. Come to think of it, it really is official as a character now owns on the screen thanks in large part to his action-training cohorts at 87 Eleven Action Design, debut directing duo Chad Stahelski and David Leitch with fight coordinator Jonathan Eusebio designing all sorts of unrelenting brutality in Wick's wake.

So, now what? Well, a sequel was officially announced to be in development back in February by Lionsgate after Stahleski spoke on it earlier, and now the word from Forbes contributor Scott Mendelson dictated that Reeves is officially returning as well. There are no script or story details as of yet, but the fact that this update exists alone is reason enough to stay excited from here on out. The first film, which saw Reeves as a former contract killer for the Russian mob avenge the destruction of his second chance at a better life by targeting Russian mob boss and his son, was reportedly a last minute pick-up by Lionsgate (Summit) before crushing it with well-over $78 million dollars at the box-office and a current 84% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and if you haven't noticed, things have been picking up quite handsomely between the two stuntmen-turned-helmers.

Upcoming works like Universal's Cowboy.Ninja.Viking., Cinemax's new series, Rain and Valiant/Sony's forthcoming Harbinger Wars development are all noteworthy attachments at the moment. In the meantime, the possibility of John Wick 2 is a growing certianty now as we move ahead.

Stay tuned!

After Stathelski, Lionsgate Makes JOHN WICK 2 Official

Not too long after stunt coordinators Chad Stathelski and David Leitch made clear their active development on a sequel to their 2014 directorial debut John Wick, Variety is reporting that Lionsgate has done the same, officially announcing the second installment. However, it was CEO Jon Feltheimer who, during a conference call with analysts to discuss the studio's year-end 3rd quarter earnings, suggesting a possible "multiple-title franchise".

In lieu of this, its likely that lead actor Keanu Reeves will return to reprise his role after turning in such a stellar performance on top of building a longstanding and cohesive partnership with Stahelski and Leitch over at the stunt training facility, 87Eleven. Of course, this also brings into question of who our main protagonist will go toe-to-toe with this time around, and that will depend on the story our directing duo conjures.

Rest assured, let's hope the next bad guy he meets knows not to go anywhere near his new dog.

Stathelski and Leitch are also reportedly on board actor Chris Pratt's Cowboy Ninja Viking, so its nice to see the two spanning their careers into other properties. In the meantime, Reeves will be joining actress Christina Hendricks in Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon which starts rolling cameras at the end of March. Stay tuned for more info!

Chad Stahelski Talks JOHN WICK 2

The careers of Hollywood second unit directors and stunt coordinators, Chad Stathelski and David Leitch, seem to be getting increasingly better since the theatrical release of their partnering directorial debut, John Wick, last year. The film became a box-office hit a little over four months ago and it has since led to other prospects, including re-teaming with the film's lead actor, Keanu Reeves, for the live-action assassin series, Rain, in addition to their recently announcement attachment to direct lead actor Chris Pratt in the graphic novel adaptation, Cowboy Ninja Viking.

However, John Wick is not without its merits for a sequel considering its caliber as an original property with a riveting story of one man's vengeful return to his old life following the death of his inherited dog and theft of his car. If you saw the film, you'll likely understand a bit more about the prospects for a follow-up with Reeves serving one of his best action performances yet in an independently-produced feature thriller, which is why we're finally getting some positive news fron Collider who cited the following excerpt from a recent interview with Stahelski at Movies.com:

"We have ideas for days and without blinking twice we know we can outdo the action from the original,” Stahelski said. “It’s the matter of story and how much you like the character. That’s always the most important. If there’s great action but you have a character that no one likes and doesn’t have charisma you’re not going to watch it. Look at any great action star, whether it’s Harrison Ford or Liam Neeson or Robert Downey Jr., pick a name, you love the guy first. Good action, bad action, you just love them in action. So we want to make sure we have a story and a character that everybody loves and then we’ll dress it with action that we promise will be awesome.”

Well, anyone who is anyone at this point loves John Wick. Hopefully some of these ideas will materialize and solidify things for a much deserved sequel, because now the film has a fanbase, and the prospects for a much larger franchise seem to be getting better and better. Stick around, and be sure to buy your copy of John Wick on DVD and Blu-Ray wherever movies are sold!