UPDATE: Deadline is now reporting that Sgt. Rock is not canceled after all. Instead, it is getting a big delay. As noted in the original report, Sgt. Rock was set to shoot this summer, reportedly targeting an August start date, with plans to film largely on location in Europe. However, the team behind the DC action movie didn’t feel it could hit that date in time without compromising the pre-production phase and a winter shoot was out of the question due to the requirements of filming on location. As a result, Deadline claims that Sgt. Rock will now aim to film next summer with Luca Guadagnino, Colin Farrell, and Mike Faist all attached to bring the film to life. We’ll continue to keep you posted if anything changes.
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The original story follows below
DC has canceled the Sgt. Rock movie from Challengers and Queer director Luca Guadagnino, despite plans to shoot this summer. The brand new DC universe is about to kick off with its first theatrical movie in the form of Superman. The new movie will reboot the DC universe and will be followed by a number of other projects including Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, a new Batman film separate from the Matt Reeves universe, and much more. While the aim is to have yet another connected universe, DC boss James Gunn also wants to allow world-class directors the opportunity to come in and tell new stories in this sandbox.
Perhaps the most interesting project on the slate so far has been Sgt. Rock, a movie about a somewhat niche, cult classic DC character. The film was set to be directed by Luca Guadagnino and Sgt. Rock was expected to be played by Colin Farrell, allowing him the opportunity to play both The Penguin in Reeves’ universe and a hero in Gunn’s universe. Rumors swirled for a few months last year that Guadagninio would reunite with Daniel Craig for the role of Sgt. Rock, but he supposedly never fully committed to the role and eventually dropped out of talks for unknown reasons. Nevertheless, the action movie was barreling toward an imminent production start until very recently.
Sgt. Rock Movie Canceled at DC Studios; First Plot Details Revealed
The Hollywood Reporter has noted that DC’s Sgt. Rock movie has been scrapped. Insider and journalist Umberto Gonzalez reported that the reason for the cancellation came down to scheduling as the movie needed to start shooting this summer, but it was looking like that would not be possible. Still, the film was in pre-production and casting was well underway on the project. Sgt. Rock would’ve starred Colin Farrell in the titular role and Challengers star Mike Faist as a member of East Company.
According to THR, the movie would’ve seen East Company teaming up with a French resistance fighter in the midst of World War II. The group would’ve been searching for the Spear of Destiny, a spear that was used to wound Jesus Christ during his crucifixion, before the Nazis could get their hands on it. In the story, it is believed that the spear possesses supernatural qualities, making it a lucrative tool or potential weapon for the Nazis. Unfortunately, this version of Sgt. Rock won’t see the light of day, despite apparently having a solid script penned by Justin Kuritzkes.
As of right now, it’s unclear if Sgt. Rock will ever appear in live-action in the DC universe. A Sgt. Rock movie has been in the works for many decades and it seemed like this would be the version that would finally make it to the big screen, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Luca Guadagnino is attached to direct a number of other movies, including a new version of American Psycho, so he still has plenty to keep him busy. Perhaps Farrell will be freed up to go make a second season of The Penguin now.
Would you have been interested in Sgt. Rock? Let me know in the comments.
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