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WIRE Buzz: Seth Rogen & Co. blowing Bubble podcast into movie; Saw reboot spirals to 2021; more

By Josh Weiss
Evan Goldberg Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the creative duo behind such memorable films as This Is the End and Sausage Party, are getting into the monster-hunting biz for their next feature.

As Variety reports, the two are working on an animated film adaptation of the 2018 podcast Bubble. Its story revolves around a group of friends who bond over their involvement with an Uber-like monster-hunting app called Huntr.

Evan Goldberg Seth Rogen

The movie, which is being overseen at Sony Pictures (distributor of Sausage Party back in 2016), is described as "an animated pic for mature audiences."

Jordan Morris, creator of the podcast, is adapting the script.

Earlier this week, we learned that HBO Max would debut Rogen's An American Pickle, where he'll play a man who comes to after being preserved for 100 years in pickle brine.


Chris Rock's Spiral, a reboot of the Saw horror franchise, has received a new release date from Lionsgate, per The Hollywood Reporter. Originally supposed to hit theaters later this month, the Darren Lynn Bousman-directed film will now make its big-screen debut on May 21, 2021.

The studio is also moving Antebellum, a mind-bending horror flick starring Janelle Monáe, which was initially scheduled for late April but has now been slated for release Friday, August 21.

Sarah Paulson's scary-mom thriller, Run, which was going to arrive next Friday (May 8), is still without a new date. Like Spiral and Antebellum, it became temporarily undated as the health crisis began to take shape.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate projects John Wick 4 (now May 27, 2022) and The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (Aug. 20, 2021) were delayed by a year, while others retained their release dates, like Nic Cage's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (March 19, 2021) and Doug Liman's Chaos Walking (Jan. 22, 2021), an adaptation of the Patrick Ness novel that was already delayed long before the pandemic hit.

Spiral photo 4

Other stray genre postponements from Lionsgate include Neil Burger's Voyagers (now arriving Nov. 25, 2020) and Daniel Stamm's The Devil's Light (now arriving Jan. 8, 2021).

“As audiences from around the world head back to theaters, most will return feeling that specialness that only the traditional theatrical experience can offer. Lionsgate is thrilled to present such a wide variety of films with many more to come," Damon Wolf, studio CMO and head of global distribution, said in a statement published by THR. "From great branded IP to unique stories from new voices, the terrifying reimagined and some truly hysterical comedy, we join with our partners in exhibition in welcoming movie lovers back to their favorite theaters with something special for everyone.”

For the updated list of new release dates, click here.


THR is also reporting that Conjuring and Aquaman vet James Wan has partnered with Transformers' Don Murphy to produce a big-screen translation of Frank M. Robinson's sci-fi novelette, The Hunting Season. John Wick scribe Derek Kolstad has been tapped to pen the screenplay.

The project — which seems to be ditching the "The" from the main title — will revolve around a lawman from the future who is declared an enemy of the state. By way of execution, he's flung back into the past, where he has three days to evade a hunting party, acclimate to the time period, and blend in.

Based on the report, the film will evoke dystopian classics such as 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Running Man.

James Wan

Robinson's story was first published in a 1951 issue of Astounding Science Fiction Magazine. Primarily known for his techno-thrillers, the author (who passed away in 2014 at the age of 87) was also famous for co-authoring The Glass Inferno with Thomas N. Scortia. The 1974 novel helped inform Stirling Silliphant's screenplay for The Towering Inferno that same year. In addition, he wrote speeches for Harvey Milk prior to the San Francisco politician's assassination in 1978.