This Week in Movie News: Hannah John-Kamen is ‘Red Sonja,’ Thomasin McKenzie to Portray Kerri Strug and More

Need a quick recap of the past week in movie news? Here are the highlights:

Red Sonja to star a Marvel villain: Comic book heroine Red Sonja is getting another movie, and now that movie has a new star. According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog, Hannah John-Kamen, best known as the villain Ghost in Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, will star in the sword-and-sorcery action fantasy film. The character previously hit the big screen in 1985 with Brigitte Nielsen in the title role. This new Red Sonja will be directed by Afternoon Delight helmer Joey Solloway.

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Thomasin McKenzie is Perfect: Speaking of portrayals of tough women, Jojo Rabbit and Leave No Trace star Thomasin McKenzie is hitting the mat for a biopic about Olympian Kerri Strug. Deadline reports the actress will play the gymnast, who famously won a gold medal in 1996 despite performing on the vault while seriously injured. Booksmart helmer Olivia Wilde is directing the movie, which is titled Perfect and is expected to focus mostly on that achievement at the summer games in Atlanta 25 years ago.

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Kaitlyn Dever is Rosaline: Speaking of Booksmart, the teen comedy’s star, Kaitlyn Dever, has been cast in the latest spin on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. According to Deadline, the actress will play the title role in Rosaline, which retells the tragic romance from the point of view of Romeo’s ex, who in the original version is also Juliet’s cousin. The comedy, based on the 2012 novel When You Were Mine, is set in modern day with some of the names and relationships changed from the classic play.

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Andy Muschietti welcomes The Doubtful Guest: Speaking of exciting adaptations, Kumail Nanjiani will star and co-write a movie based on Edward Gorey’s The Doubtful Guest, about a family whose home is overrun by a strange, uninvited penguin-like creature. Variety reports Nanjiani will again be collaborating with his wife, Emily V. Gordon, with whom he partnered on the Oscar-nominated, autobiographical script for The Big Sick. The Doubtful Guest will be helmed by Andy Muschietti, who has a good track record for creepy creature adaptations following his success with the two cinematic chapters of It based on Stephen King’s novel.

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Gareth Edwards and John David Washington find True Love: Speaking of directors known for creature features, Godzilla reboot and Monsters helmer Gareth Edwards has a new original sci-fi movie in the works called True Love, which he also wrote. According to Deadline, the filmmaker, who also helmed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, has cast Tenet and BlacKkKlansman star John David Washington in a lead role. While nothing is known about the plot of True Love, it will reportedly be set in the near future.

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Amy Adams to play Mother Tree scientist: Going from science fiction to science fact, Arrival star Amy Adams will play another scientist involved in exploring communication, this time with trees rather than aliens. Deadline reports the oft-Oscar-nominated actress will produce an adaptation of Suzanne Simard’s memoir Finding the Mother Tree and portray Simard, an ecologist who discovered how trees “talk” to one another. The movie will also be produced by Adams’ Nocturnal Animals co-star Jake Gyllenhaal.

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