Steven Seagal is back in the news!  Remember him from such great action films as… as… remind me why he is famous?  Well, Russia has appointed him special representative to help strengthen young and cultural, yes I said cultural, ties between Russia and the US.  And young?  The only one who remembers Steven Seagal’s name is his boss at Subway when he calls in sick.

Predator gets some more negative buzz as Edward James Olmos’ character gets dropped on the cutting room floor.  Producers say it is to keep a shorter run time.  Maybe he should change his name to Edward James Almost in the Movie. 

The plane, the plane!  Fantasy Island is getting a film reboot.  This will probably have a darker tone as Blumhouse is known for such films as Get Out, Sinister and The Purge.  Blumhouse is also producing a reboot of White Zombie – a 1932 film starring Bela Lugosi. 

Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie are joining forces.  I wish it was for the Charlie’s Angels reboot – come on, how AWESOME would that be?  They are teaming up for a film that will shed light on the happenings at Fox News.  Theron will play Megyn Kelly. 

Jeremy Renner’s character isn’t even mentioned in Mission Impossible 6 and it isn’t clear why he wasn’t involved for continuity.  In real life we know that Renner couldn’t be a part of MI 6 because of his Avengers filming schedule (and bigger paycheck).  There was a script idea to have a Renner brief appearance where his character dies.  Renner declined.  Maybe after Avengers dies down Renner will pop up in the Mission franchise as a disgruntled ex-agent – isn’t that the basis of most of them? 

Die Hard is getting a prequel and Bruce Willis will be on hand to cast his younger self.  I’d rather see a prequel to Moonlighting. 

Are you just aching to see a National Treasure 3 with Nicholas Cage?  Well, Disney isn’t either.  The sequel hasn’t happened because Disney isn’t interested in spending the money.  Come on!  Cage needs to pay his rent! 

John C Reilly and Steve Coogan play comedy team Laurel and Hardy in Stan and Ollie – a film that depicts the life of classic Hollywood film stars towards the end of their careers.  The film premieres at the London Film Festival and promises to be a heartwarming tale of friendship.

In another historical figure pairing, Kristen Stewart and Chloe Sevigny join forces for Lizzie, a retelling of the Lizzie Borden story that focuses on the pair’s intimacy leading up to the bloody crime.  This should be interesting. 

The Scarface reboot is looking to Denzel Washington to take over Pacino’s character.  Why?  Just why?  Washington will just look pissed off and grumpy when he doesn’t win whatever award he’s nominated for, its his thing.  Denzel hasn’t really done that well at the box office with his last few projects that were supposed to be award winners. 

“You’re killing me, Smalls!”  The Sandlot will get a prequel.  A whaaaaat?  Will this focus on the small group of kids as fetuses?  Actually, it will center around The Beast – the dog next door.  The original team behind the Sandlot franchise is returning, even though both Sandlot sequels were complete flops. 

Doctor Sleep, aka The Shining 2, will bring back the characters of Danny’s mother and his intuitive mentor, Dick Halloran.  Speculation is that the characters will be in flashbacks, as the sequel happens decades after the incident at The Overlook Hotel. 

American Pie 5 is happening… I’m assuming everyone from the cast is free… as long as they get their shift covered at Walmart. 

Remember the magic of Good Will Hunting?  Well, the dynamic duo Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are joining forces to make a movie about a guy who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game to win a mighty sum of money.  Hmmm… doesn’t really shout Oscar to me.  It will be interesting to see their unified producing efforts – clearly, Damon has fared much better than Affleck at the box office.

LeBron James is getting a lot of attention this week.  He will appear in Space Jam 2.  To be honest, I never saw the original Space Jam but understand it was a fan favorite.  I wonder if Trump will see it. 

It seems everyone has a podcast these days, of course none as fabulous as my On the Rocks Radio Show on iHeartRadio and here on Bear World’s website (shameless plug, I know).  Michael Bay’s new project us called Meet Jimmy, about a podcast that makes bad things happen to people that listen to it.  Its like the Ring, just on your smartphone. 

Box Office:

#1:  Mission Impossible – duh

#2:  Christopher Robin – this surprising gem almost beat out MI 6

#3: The Spy Who Dumped Me – I thought this might have gone straight to On Demand – its getting surprisingly good audience reviews

#4: Mamma Mia – Mamma Mia is keeping up with MI 6 in the UK as box office soars overseas

#5: The Equalizer 2 – eye roll