Weekly ·
Dungeon Crawler Carl Hits Peacock, Cyberpunk 2077 Movie at Paramount, Artemis Fowl Animated — Pop Culture Digest — October 12, 2026
Peacock's Dungeon Crawler Carl is officially shooting in 2027, with the audiobook narrator cast as Princess Donut — and Carl still uncast. Paramount is making a live-action Cyberpunk 2077 movie with producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. Plus Artemis Fowl returns as an animated Disney+ series, Crazy Rich Asians is finally getting its sequel as an HBO show, and Naruto lands a new anime and a new manga.
Peacock's Dungeon Crawler Carl Is Really Happening — and They Still Haven't Cast Carl
The cult LitRPG saga is officially headed to the screen. At New York Comic Con, author Matt Dinniman and Universal executives revealed that the live-action Dungeon Crawler Carl series will begin shooting in 2027 — and that every script will be written before cameras roll.
The show hails from Universal Global Television, with Chris Yost and Eric Heisserer leading the adaptation and Seth MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door banner executive producing alongside Dinniman, who is a co-executive producer. Universal's scripted chief Kelsey Balance told the panel they're already in "soft prep," hiring line producers, production designers and directors, and that more details are coming "very soon, within the next few weeks." The official logline promises an alien invasion, a sadistic intergalactic game show, and a stuck-up talking cat named Princess Donut.
The one piece of casting locked in is a fitting one: Jeff Hays, who narrates the best-selling audiobooks, will voice Princess Donut. Carl himself remains uncast. "I want Carl to be played by someone who embodies the role," Dinniman said, "someone who can be both goofy and give off that really, really scary vibe."
Paramount Is Making a Live-Action Cyberpunk 2077 Movie
Paramount has confirmed it is developing a live-action film based on Cyberpunk 2077, the open-world RPG from CD Projekt Red. Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is attached, and CD Projekt Red — which owns the franchise — is producing.
The game launched in December 2020 after a famously chaotic development, was initially savaged over performance problems, and then became a genuine phenomenon, selling 40 million copies worldwide; its Phantom Liberty expansion has moved another 15 million. The movie would bring Night City to life — the seedy neon metropolis where players, as the mercenary V, share their head with a digital Johnny Silverhand, played in the game by Keanu Reeves.
It lands Paramount in the middle of Hollywood's video-game gold rush, alongside its Call of Duty film with director Peter Berg and Taylor Sheridan, and Street Fighter, due in theaters October 16.
Sources: Variety · The Hollywood Reporter · Deadline
Artemis Fowl Gets a Second Chance — This Time as Animation
Six years after Disney's live-action Artemis Fowl became a punchline, the studio is trying again. At New York Comic Con, author Eoin Colfer announced that an animated Artemis Fowl series has been greenlit for Disney Channel and Disney+, with Colfer serving as an executive producer. Ben Juwono and Colleen Evanson join him as executive producers.
The books launched in 2001 and have now been in print for 25 years, following a 13-year-old criminal mastermind who discovers an armed, dangerously high-tech underground fairy world and plots to capture a fairy to steal its magic and save his dying mother. "I am proud and delighted to be part of the formidable team that is putting the Artemis Fowl animation on screen," Colfer said. Disney's Ayo Davis said the series will "introduce a new generation" to the world while honoring the longtime fans.
Sources: Deadline
Crazy Rich Asians Is Finally Getting Its Sequel — as an HBO Series
Crazy Rich Asians ended on a tease eight years ago, and the sequel never came. Now it is arriving as television instead: HBO has greenlit an eight-episode, one-hour drama, with Constance Wu, Henry Golding and Ronny Chieng returning as series regulars and Michelle Yeoh recurring — all reprising their roles from the 2018 film.
Adele Lim, who co-wrote the movie, is showrunner and executive producer; director Jon M. Chu returns as an executive producer. "This series is the sequel we've been waiting for," Lim said, "but instead of just one movie, we get eight episodes to delve into the characters and worlds of Kevin Kwan's brilliant books." The film grossed $239 million worldwide on a reported $30 million budget.
Sources: Variety
Naruto Is Getting a New Anime — and a New Manga
The Naruto franchise is expanding in two directions at once. The series is getting a new anime that crosses over with the manga NINKŪ, supervised by Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto and NINKŪ creator Koji Kiriyama — with Team 7 (Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura) lost in another world. Kishimoto is also launching a new Naruto manga, Shadow Rising, with more details promised at Jump Festa 2027 in December.
The panel also carried a message from Destin Daniel Cretton, director of the live-action Naruto movie, who said the team is deep into its worldwide search for the actors who will play Team 7.
Sources: Variety
Nuggets
- Nicolas Cage let his True Detective season slip — and swore off Amazon. At New York Comic Con, Cage said he is "probably going to do another season of television… I think I might do a season of True Detective." He also revealed he refused to sign an AI waiver on Prime Video's Spider-Noir and won't work with the studio again: "Amazon is a very AI-friendly company." Deadline · The Hollywood Reporter
- Marvel announced its first new live-action series in more than a year. Zodiac, a live-action spy thriller, is set for a 2028 release — shooting in London in the spring, with casting starting "in the next couple of weeks." Variety
- A $100,000 horror film just sold for seven figures. Focus Features and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster snapped up Play House, Nicolas Curcio's debut feature — made for not much more than $100,000, and premiered at Fantastic Fest last month. It hits theaters in 2027. Deadline
- Stephen King finished the Talisman trilogy for his late co-author. Other Worlds Than These, out now, completes the saga King began with Peter Straub in 1984 — after Straub sent him a long letter of notes before his death in 2022 left King to carry it across the finish line. Polygon
- Sadie Sink is headed to the Hamptons. A24 and Square Peg are in exclusive negotiations for Emma Cline's novel The Guest, with Sink in talks to star and produce and Hustlers director Lorene Scafaria set to write and direct — beating roughly 12 other buyers. Deadline
Sources: Variety · Deadline · The Hollywood Reporter · Polygon
More Weeklies
Content on Anagnorisis is summarized, paraphrased, and editorialized from publicly available sources for length and clarity. Original sources are linked where available. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.
