We just heard that Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts 3 will not be commencing production in London tomorrow due to safety in the current coronavirus climate. In addition, the studio’s Will Smith tennis drama King Richard, which was filming in Los Angeles, is also temporarily stopping.

It has yet to be determined when both shoots will resume.

King Richard, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, follows how tennis superstars Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena Williams (Demi Singleton) became who they are after the coaching from their father Richard Williams (Smith). Jon Bernthal, Liev Schreiber and Dylan McDermott also star. King Richard is set to open the Wednesday before Thanksgiving on Nov. 25.

Fantastic Beasts 3, directed by David Yates, is the continuing story in the Harry Potter spinoff feature series from franchise creator J.K. Rowling, picking up where the second installment left off. Fantastic Beasts 3 is set to open on Nov. 12, 2021.

As with the first two films, the third will take place on new continents, exploring wizarding cultures across the globe. The first Fantastic Beasts film was set in 1927 NYC, the second in Paris and the third film will be set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The first two movies in the series have grossed $1.47 billion worldwide. Returning are Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, Jude Law as Albus Dumbledore and Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald along with Ezra Miller (Credence / Aurelius Dumbledore), Alison Sudol (Queenie Goldstein), Dan Fogler (Jacob Kowalski), Katherine Waterston (Tina Goldstein) and Jessica Williams as Professor Eulalie “Lally” Hicks.

Yesterday, we exclusively told you that Warners closed down the UK shoot of Matt Reeves’ The Batman for at least two weeks until the whole coronavirus situation calms down.

Earlier this week, Deadline broke the global news that the studio’s Baz Luhrmann Elvis Presley movie in Gold Coast, Australia was put on hold as that pic’s star Tom Hanks, and his wife Rita Wilson, were diagnosed with the coronavirus. In the wake of that news, Hanks has taken to social media, in addition to his sons Colin and Chet, telling the world that they’re managing and in good spirits. [Source]

Christmas 2021 can’t come fast enough with this news.

I’m told that Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne has signed up to play the title character in “Jacob Marley,” the Disney Scrooge movie to be written and directed by another Oscar winner, Bill Condon.

With Redmayne in place, offers are going out for the various characters, including Scrooge in this re-telling of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” told through the eyes of Scrooge’s business partner.

They’ve got to use Aimee Mann’s great song, “Jacob Marley’s Chain.”

Tony winner Stephen Schwartz, whose hits run the gamut from “Pippin” to “Godspell” to “Wicked” is writing the songs. Glenn Geller, Dan Jinks, and Greg Yolen are producing.

Fingers are crossed on this one. It’s not like Marley’s descendants are going to show up protesting the veracity of the story or demanding producers credits. I have a good feeling here. [Source]

FilmNation has boarded sales on hot project The Good Nurse, starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne.

We first broke news of the thriller in 2018. Based on the book by Charles Graeber and scripted by 1917 scribe Krysty Wilson-Cairns, Tobias Lindholm (The Hunt) is set to make his English-language feature directing debut.

Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa is producing with FilmNation. We hear the film is being budgeted at around $30M. It was previously being set up with Lionsgate but is now on the open market.

The pic tells the true story of the pursuit and capture of Charlie Cullen, a nurse who is regarded as one of the most prolific serial killers in history. Now called “Angel of Death,” Cullen was a married father who was thought to be a responsible caretaker, but his secret compulsion to take life led to his implication in the deaths of as many as 300 patients over 16 years, spread across nine hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Redmayne will play Cullen, who was caught by two former Newark homicide detectives who wouldn’t let go, aided by a nurse who worked alongside Cullen and risked her job and family’s safety to stop him. Chastain will play the nurse whose dogged pursuit helped end the killing spree. [Source]

Nearly a year ago, pre-production on Aaron Sorkin’s long-gestating true story of The Trial of the Chicago 7 was suddenly shut down in order to allow the acclaimed writer some time to work on his Broadway adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. But a few months later, the movie was getting back together with a stacked cast assembling. Now the movie has added Michael Keaton, and Paramount Pictures has set The Trial of the Chicago 7 release date right at the start of awards season. Find out more below.

For those who don’t know, The Trial of the Chicago 7 follows the infamous 1969 trial of seven men charged by the federal government with conspiracy, arising from the counter-cultural protests in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. It was a headline-making affair and was the focus of much controversy and conversation for years to come. It has been in the works for over a decade and was originally intended to be a movie for Steven Spielberg to direct. Now it’s in the hands of Aaron Sorkin, who not only wrote the script, but will be making this his sophomore effort as a director.

The cast of The Trial of the Chicago 7 already includes Sacha Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman, Eddie Redmayne as Tom Hayden, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Richard H. Shultz, William Hurt as John N. Mitchell, Mark Rylance as William Kunstler, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Bobby Seale, Jeremy Strong as Jerry Rubin (a role that previously belonged to Seth Rogen), and Frank Langella as Julius Hoffman. As for Michael Keaton, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed he’ll be playing Ramsey Clark, a progressive lawyer who was also a key figure in the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-20th century.

Production will take place next year with filming in Chicago and New Jersey, and it’ll have quite a quick turnaround in post-production with Box Office Pro revealing that Paramount Pictures has set the movie for a limited release on September 25, 2020, followed by a wide release on October 2, 2020. With that kind of release date, the movie is likely to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festval, or maybe even at the Venice Film Festival or the smaller Telluride Film Festival. But either way, Paramount thinks they have an awards contender on their hands. We’re just hoping that this movie has been worth the long wait to see it get in front of a camera. [Source]

Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne will be reunited on screen at this year’s BFI London Film Festival in adventure movie The Aeronauts.

The pair were both Oscar-nominated for 2014’s The Theory of Everything with Redmayne winning for his portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking.

This year’s festival will host the European premiere of The Aeronauts.

It tells the story of an attempt to fly a gas balloon higher than anyone has before.

It was previously been announced the 11-day long celebration of film will open and close with two other European premieres - Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield and Martin Scorsese’s mob epic The Irishman, which stars Oscar winners Robert de Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.

Other films that will be shown during the Festival include whodunit mystery Knives Out, starring Daniel Craig and Avengers star Chris Evans, and The King, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts One and Two and Henry V, starring Timothée Chalamet and Robert Pattinson.

There will also be Gala Premieres of Avengers star Scarlett Johansson’s two most recent movies, the wartime satire Jojo Rabbit, where she plays the mother of a young boy whose imaginary friend is an idiotic version of Hitler, and Marriage Story where she stars opposite Star Wars actor Adam Driver in the story of a couple’s difficult break up.

The festival will screen a total of 229 features with around one in three of those coming from female film-makers representing a slight increase from last 2018’s programme.

KATE Moss and Eddie Redmayne are among a number of celebrities who have donated personal items to be sold at a charity auction.

Proceeds from the sale, which also includes a signed Gareth Bale Real Madrid shirt, is part of a bid to raise £3.9 million to extend Sue Ryder’s neurological care centre in Aberdeen.

Model Moss donated a signed copy of her book Kate, and the actor a signed copy of his original script from The Theory of Everything, the Stephen Hawking biopic.

Redmayne said: “I’m delighted that funds raised from my donation will help to support people living with motor neurone disease and other life-changing conditions.”

A blind auction is live at www.givergy.com/charity/sue-ryder and bids can be placed until 11.59pm on Monday. Holly Spiers, Sue Ryder’s director of hospices and fundraising, said: “We hope this will really put Sue Ryder on the map when it comes to charity retail, while also raising vital funds so we can provide more palliative, neurological and bereavement care.” [Source]

“The Theory of Everything” stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones are in negotiations to re-team in Amazon Studios’ “The Aeronauts,” sources tell Variety.

“War & Peace’s” Tom Harper is attached to direct from a script by Jack Thorne.

The screenplay is based on the true story of balloon pilot Amelia Wren (who would be played by Jones) and scientist James Glaisher (Redmayne) who, in 1862, embarked on an extraordinary journey to discover the secrets of the heavens. In the process, they flew higher in an open balloon than anyone had before or has since. They made breathtaking discoveries, but as they ascended to the highest points of the atmosphere, they were forced into an epic fight for survival.

Mandeville Films’ Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman are producing the pic. Harper is also producing.

Amazon nabbed the spec last winter after a heated bidding war. It’s currently unknown when production will commence.

Redmayne, who won an Oscar for playing Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything,” is now the star of the “Harry Potter” spinoff “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” He is filming the sequel, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” which bows next November.

Jones received an Academy Award nomination for her role as Jane Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.” She recently starred in “Star Wars: Rogue One.” [Source]

Wizards are returning to the big screen once again!

With Justice League getting released this weekend, marking Warner Bros. biggest movie of the year, it would make sense for the studio to roll out trailers for some of next year’s big releases. That’s certainly happening, as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2 is teasing its first look this Thursday.

The DC film opens in theaters on Thursday night, and the Fantastic Beasts Twitter account revealed that something special from the Harry Potter spinoff sequel will be accompanying its release.

“Wands at the ready,” said the tweet. “On 11.16.18 the Fantastic Beasts story continues. Check back tomorrow for more Magic in Progress.”

Thursday marks exactly one year from the release of the film, so it would make sense for the first look to come this week.

David Yates is returning to helm the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sequel, with a script written by franchise creator J.K. Rowling. Eddie Redmayne, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Johnny Depp and Zoe Kravitz are all returning for the second film, and the film Jude Law will be making his franchise debut as a young Albus Dumbledore.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2 will hit theaters on November 16, 2018. [Source]