Latest in Universal

Universal has set a January 15, 2021 release date for 355, the ensemble spy thriller that came together during last year’s Cannes Film Festival. The pic directed and co-written by Simon Kinberg stars Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger and Fan Bingbing. The hope is to launch a franchise based…

EXCLUSIVE: Universal's Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw zoomed into Korea on Wednesday, scoring the biggest opening day for the franchise, and through Thursday surpassed 1M admissions. Korea is the last market to release before China welcomes the spinoff next Friday, August 23. Through Thursday, the international…

EXCLUSIVE: The ninth installment of Fast & Furious is getting more muscle with Francis Ngannou. The UFC fighter is joining Universal’s high-speed blockbuster franchise in a role that is being kept under wraps. This isn’t the first UFC fighter to join the franchise. Gina Carano appeared in Fast & Furious 6 while Ronda…

Updated with statement by Hilary Swank: Universal will not be releasing Blumhouse’s The Hunt on September 27 as planned. Deadline hears that a collective decision was made by Universal leadership, led by Donna Langley, with The Hunt filmmaking team. For this particular film, it’s better to…

Donald Trump is on the warpath against "racist" and "dangerous" Hollywood again today, but Tinseltown thinks this is just the latest straw dog in the incumbent's re-election efforts to ignite his base on the back of an upcoming thriller flick. "Pardon my French, but this guy is all bullshit all the time," a top…

EXCLUSIVE: Legally Blonde: The Musical music/lyricists Nell Benjamin and Laurence O’Keefe are in the works on an untitled comedy musical at Universal for which they will write the songs and screenplay. The pic, whose plot is being kept under wraps, is being produced by Scott Sanders and Mara Jacobs at Scott Sanders…

Joe Watts, who suffered a serious head injury in a fall during the production of Universal’s Fast & Furious 9 at Leavesden studios in London last month, is out of the intensive care unit and “doctors are pleased with his progress,” according to a statement Thursday. “While Joe remains in hospital and there is still a…

SUNDAY UPDATE, writethru: Landing in line with Saturday's projections, Universal's Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw got off the starting block with an estimated $120M at the international box office. When including domestic, the global cume through Sunday is $180.8M. Across 63 offshore opening markets, the Dwayne…

5th Writethru Sunday AM after Saturday update: Universal’s Hobbs & Shaw saw a solid Saturday with an estimated $20.6M, which kept the pic on track toward its $60.8M opening this weekend. This is exactly where Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout opened a year ago, which carried us into August, and we can expect…

Universal Pictures has set in a first-look film production deal with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the franchise-launching duo who shared the Best Animated Film Oscar for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and who hatched the Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie franchises. Their…

EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures has preemptively acquired the action spec script Versus. The script by Alex Litvak & Michael Finch is described as a high-concept international thriller that has a badass Running Man meets Bloodsport vibe. The scribes previously sold Medieval to Sony and they wrote Predators and the…

EXCLUSIVE: After optioning Catherynne M. Valente's  science fiction novel Space Opera last year, Universal has hired Joe Epstein to adapt the screenplay, in what is planned to be a music-themed film. Valente's novel, which has tones of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, centers around a fierce…