Max Landis

The Will Smith buddy cop fantasy ‘Bright’ has already gotten a sequel order ahead of its debut on Netflix, and despite terrible reviews.

A beloved detective firm from the mind of Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams is officially shutting down. BBC-A confirms that Max Landis’ take on Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency will not return for a third season after its recent finale.

The sci-fi project, ‘Deeper,’ would be led by Gal Gadot and Bradley Cooper and directed by Hungarian filmmaker Kornel Mundruczo.

Writer-director Max Landis has his fair share of detractors. There are some who accuse the man of failing upwards, that his status as the son of cherished filmmaker John Landis has landed him some choice jobs (the recent sci-fi series Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detection Agency, for one) through good ol’ Hollywood nepotism, despite the fact that his films have almost uniformly performed poorly at the box-office and with critics. His most vocal critics express complete bafflement every time the writer responsible for such widely panned flops as American Ultra, Victor Frankenstein, and Mr. Right lands an increasingly high-profile gig, their only conclusion that the Landis name is what has gotten him this far.

As I watched the Power Rangers teaser yesterday in line at a Dunkin’ Donuts in a highway reststop (VIVA LE CINEMA!), I thought to myself “Man, this really doesn’t look like Power Rangers, but it really looks like Chronicle,” the 2012 film about a trio of high school kids who discover a strange object underground and gain superpowers. Although this Power Rangers still has costumes and big transforming robots and stuff, none of that is in this first teaser. Instead it’s about ... a group of school kids who discover a strange object underground and gain superpowers. Weird.

Those in attendance of Comic-Con 2016 got a first look at BBC America’s take on Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, but the October release has a little more style in the latest glimpse. See for yourself, as Max Landis and Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood bring the wild mystery to life in a second trailer.

It seems like only yesterday we learned that Orphan Black would close down #CloneClub for good with Season 5, but we can’t well wait until summer 2017 for a proper send-off. Thankfully, Comic-Con 2016 will give us the Orphan Black goodbye we deserve, along with an introduction to Max Landis’ Dirk Gently, but where’s Doctor Who?

It certainly is a good time to be Max Landis. The screenwriter who made his mark with Josh Trank’s indie sci-fi hit Chronicle recently sold his Bright script to Netflix for $3 million, with David Ayer attached to direct. And now he’s in the midst of another potentially huge deal as Bradley Cooper has come aboard Landis’ spec for Deeper, a sci-fi drama that’s sparked a bidding war between major studios.

We’d heard some time ago that BBC-America had in mind to adapt Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy creator Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency with controversial writer Max Landis, and now Dirk Gently has a first major star. Lord of the Rings and Wilfred alum Elijah Wood joins the production in a major Dirk Gently role, but not the one you’d think.

Earlier this month, news broke that Netflix was negotiating exclusive rights to Bright, a new fantasy action thriller that will reunite director David Ayer with Suicide Squad star Will Smith. The new film from American Ultra screenwriter Max Landis is Netflix’s biggest deal so far, nabbing a $90 million budget that could have some interesting implications for the streaming giant, particularly since most theater chains won’t screen films that don’t honor the typical 90-day window between theatrical and home / streaming release.