WIRE Buzz: From a Buick 8 director; Army Of The Dead replaces Chris D’Elia with Tig Notaro; Blumhouse

Thomas Jane is heading back into Stephen King’s oeuvre, and he’s found a director for his latest dive into the author’s spooky canon.

Back in December, the frequent King adaptation actor announced his intention to fund a From a Buick 8 film — one of King’s many stories about a creepy car, this time what looks like a 1953 Buick Roadmaster (but might be a portal between worlds). Now he’s landed director Jim Mickle.

According to The Kingcast (h/t Slashfilm), Jane explained that the In the Shadow of the Moon director was helming the project for Jane and Courtney Lauren Penn’s new production company Renegade Entertainment.

“We’ve signed Jim Mickle on. It is [exciting], and we’ve got a couple of fantastic writers that Jim has worked with in the past, and here’s the funny part,” Jane told the podcast. “Everybody was so excited and we had meetings all around town, but if you’ll recall, From a Buick 8 is essentially about a platoon of state troopers in Pennsylvania, right. When the pandemic hit and then the craziness with the riots and all that and the anti-police stuff hit, we were like, ‘Okay, maybe it’s not the best time to pitch a story about a platoon of Pennsylvania state troopers.'”

While the film may be postponed a bit until this sentiment either exits the forefront of the national media or the filmmakers figure out a way to approach its police-filled cast in a way that acknowledges the global anti-racism movement, a signed director is a sign of progress.

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Next, an actor accused of sexual misconduct towards a minor is being replaced in filmmaker Zack Snyder’s upcoming Netflix film.

Army of the Dead has already wrapped its production, but during reshoots it’ll replace Chris D’Elia (dropped from many projects after claims against him broke in June) in favor of comedian/actress Tig Notaro, according to Deadline. She will take part in both filming and acting opposite a partner “on green screen with CG mixed in.”

The zombie film, which takes place in Las Vegas and centers on a mercenary group pulling a heist in its midst, features a cast including Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana De La Reguera, Theo Rossi, Huma Qureshi, Omari Hardwick, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Matthias Schweighöfer, Raúl Castillo, Nora Arnezeder, and Samantha Win.

Army of the Dead’s reshoots timeline is still vague as the pandemic continues to hinder production safety.

Finally, Blumhouse has released first-look images from the four films that will kick off its Welcome to the Blumhouse run with Amazon Prime. That means The Lie, Black Box, Nocturne, and Evil Eye are all offering up a glimpse at the aesthetics behind the logline.

Check them out:

Creepy twins, odd headwear, and devastating phone calls — all look to frighten fans this Halloween season.

Murderous The Lie comes from writer/director Veena Sud, while mind-bender Black Box comes from writer/director Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. Both will launch on Oct. 6. Directors Elan Dassani and Rajeev Dassani’s romance-turned-nightmare Evil Eye and director Zu Quirke’s debut haunted notebook feature, Nocturne, will follow on Oct. 13.

Four more Blumhouse films look to hit Amazon in 2021.