According to US entertainment media in 2022, Netflix acquired the rights to John Steinbeck’s classic novel East of Eden, with Pugh cast as its lead. Actress and writer Zoe Kazan is writing and producing the Netflix miniseries. Kazan’s grandfather, film director Elia Kazan, also adapted East of Eden in 1955 as a feature film.
In another Hollywood venture happening on New Zealand shores, film production companies Blumhouse and Atomic Monsters have reportedly begun the sequel to the 2022 horror mega-hit M3GAN, which also filmed in Auckland.
US A-list star Allison Williams and Violet McGraw will reprise their roles as roboticist Gemma and her niece, Cady, and Kiwi actress Amie McDonald will be back as the infamous robot doll, M3GAN. Also starring in the movie is our own Jemaine Clement alongside Jen Van Epps, Timm Sharp and Aristotle Athari.
That’s not all either. This week there has been huge speculation that an American movie is being filmed in Rotorua. Spy’s sources say the production is now filming in Te Kuiti.
They say the production has a working title of Back Pack and there is speculation US director Dan Trachtenberg’s name is attached to it.
Trachtenberg is known for directing Prey the 2022 prequel to the Predator franchise. A sequel to Prey has been reported also.
Production is said to be heading to South Head next, the peninsula just north of Helensville. If speculation is to be believed, all eyes out for the famous Predator Alien.
Horror rom-com movie Heart Eyes, starring Fast and Furious franchise star Jordana Brewster and Canadian actor Devon Sawa, is said to be finishing production in Auckland next week.
Brewster has filled Instagram with her two children enjoying time in Auckland, and Sawa was spotted at the Hollywood Avondale Cinema last week.
Spy reported last week that come spring, the Auckland filming of Jason Momoa’s new buddy movie The Wrecking Crew will start. Momoa, known for starring in Aquaman, Chief of War and Minecraft will be co-starring with Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista.
Spy is told Momoa’s time back in New Zealand will also be spent doing some extra filming for his Apple TV+ series Chief of War, which filmed in Auckland and Northland early last year.
This week Lucy Lawless was announced as a guest star in Spartacus: House of Ashur, the fresh follow-up to the original hit series, which has been filming in Auckland over the past few months.
House of Ashur poses the question: What if Ashur, the character being reprised by Nick Tarabay, hadn’t died on Mount Vesuvius at the end of Spartacus: Vengeance and instead was gifted the gladiators’ Ludus (training ground belonging to Batiatus,) in return for helping to kill Spartacus and end the slave rebellion?
The answer will arrive in the premiere episode with Lawless’ character Lucretia reportedly “elevating” all that’s around her. Lawless’ appearance will be instrumental in setting up the “what if” alternate timeline.
But wait there’s more … industry whispers around town that Lawless’ husband, producer Rob Tapert, may bring alive his Evil Dead franchise, with hopes two more movies may film in Auckland next year. If true, local production crews and actors will go into 2025 like gangbusters.
Ricardo Simich is the New Zealand Herald’s Spy editor. Based in Auckland he covers all roads that lead to popular culture.
