The Tracking Board’s Daily Debrief (03.10.17)

JAIME KING LANDS FEMALE LEAD IN SYLVESTER STALLONE’S “ESCAPE PLAN 2” (EXCLUSIVE)

Sin City star and Hart of Dixie alum Jaime King has landed the female lead alongside Sylvester Stallone in ESCAPE PLAN 2, the Tracking Board has exclusively learned. Her deal isn’t quite closed yet, but she’s in negotiations to join the action-packed sequel.

JAMES CAMERON’S “AVATAR 2” DELAYED AGAIN, PROVING RELEASE DATES CAN’T BE TRUSTED

James Cameron is prepared to spend the next eight years of his life making four Avatar sequels, but what is the point in announcing release dates that filmmakers can’t make?

LAUNCH PAD ALUM DANNY NEWELL SIGNS WITH ENERGY ENTERTAINMENT (EXCLUSIVE)

Described as The Hunger Games meets The Purge, Newell’s manuscript tells the story of what happens when all the parents of a remote island community begin to murder their children for no apparent reason, and the 17-year old girl who must fight to save her younger brothers from the people who are supposed to love and protect them.

 More News From Around The Web

• WWE star John Cena has been booked to re-up his cameo from Daddy’s Home in the film’s sequel with Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson, and John Lithgow. Cena will seem to have a larger role in this film than the first and will have a close relationship with Wahlberg’s character Dusty. (Deadline)

• AMC has dropped the premiere date for season two of Preacher, which will return to air Monday, June 19 at 9 pm. (Deadline)

• Gary Busey’s son, Jake, has joined the cast of the 2018 film The Predator starring Sterling K. Brown, Trevante Rhodes, Boyd Holbrook, Jacob Tremblay, Olivia Munn, Augusto Aguilera and Keegan-Michael Key.

• Insecure writer and co-star Natasha Rothwell has been added to the cast of Simon vs. The Homo Sapien Agenda alongside Jennifer Garner, Katherine Langford, Nick Robinson, Alexandra Shipp, Talitha Bateman and Logan Miller. (Deadline)

• The Night Of’s Paul Sparks is boarding the cast of the P.T. Barnum biopic Greatest Showman. Sparks joins stars Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson and Zendaya in the Michael Gracey-directed film.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower alum Logan Lerman cast as the voice of Robert Conroy in the animated film Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero about the most decorated dog in United States Military history. (Deadline)

• Freya Mavor has been tapped as the female lead next to David Kross in the biopic about German soccer goalie Bert Trautmann.  Mavor will play Trautmann’s wife, Margaret, in German director Marcus Rosenmuller’s first English language film.  (Deadline)

• Sylvester Stallone has found a co-star for the sequel to his 2013 film Escape Plan. Dave Bautista, best known as Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy, will join Stallone in the prison break sequel directed by David C. Miller. (The Hollywood Reporter)

• George Furla and Randall Emmett have teamed up with Nik Richie to created a scripted series based on Richie’s memoir Sex, Lies, and the Dirty, which chronicles Richie’s rise to prominence as a gossip blogger through his blog TheDirty.com. (Deadline)