Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Jason Momoa (Zack Snyder’s Justice League) are teaming up for The Wrecking Crew, a new movie from Blue Beetle director Angel Manuel Soto. Described as a “buddy action movie,” few other details are out there, according to TheWrap, who first reported the deal. Presumably the contracts are not yet complete, with the report saying that they were “in talks” before the Screen Actors Guild went on strike, but it sounds like it’s more or less a done deal, with the pair developing the movie since 2021 and The Wrecking Crew set up at MGM after a bidding war.
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Soto is expected to write the movie as well as direct. He has a number of irons in the fire already, with a Transformers spinoff reportedly in the works for Paramount as well as an upcoming live action/animated movie with Ryan Reynolds in the lead role. He has also been working in TV of late, with the documentary series Menudo Forever Young and a second project currently in development at Amazon, which has even fewer details than this one.
Soto’s Blue Beetle had a soft, but not catastrophic, opening at the box office this weekend, taking home the #1 spot with $25 million after Barbie had previously held it for four weeks in a row.
Bautista and Momoa remain two of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood. Having just wrapped up the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and, by extension, his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Bautista has a second Dune movie on the horizon, as well as a sequel to the family action-comedy My Spy, which is already in post-production. Momoa’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set for release in December, after what might have been a teaser in a post-credits scene for The Flash.
From Warner Bros. Pictures comes Blue Beetle, which arrives in theaters on August 18th, marking the DC superhero’s first time on the big screen. The film, directed by Angel Manuel Soto, stars Xolo Maridueña in the title role as well as his alter ego, Jaime Reyes. Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero BLUE BEETLE.
Starring alongside Maridueña are Adriana Barraza, Damían Alcázar, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Raoul Max Trujillo, with Oscar winner Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez (the “Rio and “Smurf” franchises). The film also stars Belissa Escobedo and Harvey Guillén. Soto directs from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, based on characters from DC. John Rickard and Zev Foreman are producing, with Walter Hamada, Galen Vaisman and Garrett Grant serving as executive producers.
