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Welcome to the Weekly Intel Update! Here, you will find a rapid-fire review of news items that have hit during the week all in one place. For the first round of Weekly Intel, we have Nobody’s Bob Odenkirk returning to action, The Star Wars Mandalorian film setting a release date and the upcoming Alien film secures a title (which was what they were calling it all along). Strap in and get informed by scrolling below!
Bob Odenkirk Returns to Action!
Deadline is reporting that Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul fame as well as the surprise action hit Nobody is reuniting with his Nobody screenwriter Derek Kolstad once again with a new movie that is going to be helmed by Free Fire and High-Rise director Ben Wheatley. This new film is titled Normal and and the official synopsis reads: “follows Ulysses (Odenkirk), who is thrust into the temporary role of the sheriff for the small sleepy town Normal after the previous one’s untimely death. When the town’s bank is robbed by an out-of-town couple, Ulysses arrives on the scene to find that the town is hiding much more sinister deep-seated secrets under its surface and everyone – from the bartender to the priest – is in on it. And now Ulysses, who’s up-till-now focused only on running away from the demons of his past, must uncover the full extent of this criminal conspiracy.”
“I was very surprised by Nobody. I had initiated that project because I had a feeling that the character I was developing in Better Call Saul was the kind of character you see in an action film. He has earnest desires and he was willing to sacrifice himself…I still train multiple times a week and if I get my way you’re going to see me doing more action. I found the action sequences a great deal of fun and close to doing sketch comedy…I love the early Jackie Chan films which had humour in them. I’d like to get that in future,” Odenkirk said in an official statement.
Odenkirk made waves after stepping out of his comfort zone and playing in the John Wick-esque type world of John Wick with Nobody so this should bode weel for fans as we know he is much more than just a comedic actor.
The Mandalorian & Grogu Sets a Release Date!
Disney CEO Bob Iger has made it official that The Mandalorian & Grogu will, in fact, be the first movie of a new slate of Star Wars movies, and that it will as of now hit theaters sometime in 2026.
With this announcement, Disney right now has two Star Wars movies on the schedule for 2026 which are May 22, 2026, and December 18, 2026 respectively. Specifically announcing and mentioning along with other comments says that The Mandalorian & Grogu will most likely occupy that first slot. We all know that this can change day by day and especially with Disney and what they have done with the Star Wars property so stay tuned.
The Mandalorian & Grogu will be helmed by Jon Favreau who created the series and wrote and directed several episodes. Favreau will also produce along with Kathleen Kennedy and Dave Filoni with the cameras set to roll sometime later this year.
Fede Alvarez‘s Alien Movie Cements Title! Alien: Romulus
I’ve always been on record in saying that the next Alien film should have been the one from filmmaker Neil Blomkamp who had been actively developing a new project which would have brought Sigourney Weaver back as Ripley and also Michael Biehn’s Hicks character from Aliens. Alas, it was never meant to be because franchise creator Ridley Scott wanted to focus on his prequels that went absolutely nowhere.
We are getting a new Alien film still from director Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead 2013 and Don’t Breathe) and Disney has confirmed that the new movie will indeed be called Alien: Romulus which was the worse secret ever. The synopsis sounds rather bland and I’m not very excited for it but it will focus on “focus on a group of young people. On a distant colony, the group finds themselves in a fight for their lives with the titular alien, a creature known as a Xenomorph, whose race propagates by implanting eggs into people’s stomachs via face-huggers, with the juveniles eventually violently bursting out of the host’s chest.”
So basically, it’s like a slasher movie with the Xenomorph taking the role of Jason or Michael Myers, Excuse me while I contain my excitement. I will say that it will be fun to watch the Alien slice its way through everyone until we get to the final girl which will be Cailee Spaeny who heads the movie. It is also said to take place between Alien and Aliens in terms of a timeline.
There’s also an Alien TV series coming from FX so maybe that one will hopefully do whatever this movie cannot. The show is said to be set on Earth, and FX CEO John Landgraf has said that the series will take place roughly seventy years from now. The Weylan-Yutani corporation will play a role in the series but no characters from any of the films will be a factor. The Alien series as of now has no release date but it will be released after Alien: Romulus comes out.
There you go Action-Flix faithful! A heaping dose of Weekly Intel to make your day a little brighter. Until next time, Lock N Load and remember, we are your destination for your Action Fix!!!
