Don Cheadle has signed on to lead the musical thriller ‘Canyon’.
The 59-year-old actor is set to star in director Colin Tilley’s upcoming movie for Alcon Entertainment, which will follow Canyon – a part-time jazz musician and a full-time assassin – who finds himself as the unlikely protector of a young siren who has been dragged into an all-out war between feuding crime families. Tilley, known for his innovative music video work, brings his unique visual style to his first major feature film.
‘Canyon’ will be written by ‘John Wick’ scribe Derek Kolstad, while Cheadle and Karyn Smith-Forge produce under their This Radicle Act banner alongside Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, John Davis and Jeremy Stein. Kolstad’s previous work on the John Wick franchise has grossed over $1 billion worldwide.
While there has not been any confirmation as to when audiences can expect to see ‘Canyon’ in theatres, the film will likely move into production once Kolstad finishes his work on ‘Nobody 2’. Industry insiders suggest a potential 2025 release date.
Cheadle is best-known as War Machine – aka James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) – and starred as the hero from ‘Iron Man 2’ in 2010 until his most recent appearance in the Disney+ TV show ‘Secret Invasion’. His portrayal of War Machine has appeared in seven MCU films to date.
In 2020, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige announced War Machine would be receiving his own spin-off show ‘Armor Wars’, though the project was shifted from the small screen to the big screen two years later. The decision reflected Marvel’s growing focus on theatrical releases.
However, since Marvel confirmed ‘Armor Wars’ would now be a movie, word on the project has mostly gone silent, and Cheadle recently admitted he had no idea what was going on with the film.
“I think the word that’s the most salient in that sentence is ‘switched,'” the ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ star said when TVLine asked for an update on ‘Armor Wars’ last month. “I don’t know, I’m not sure where anything is right now. I think things are going through a lot of changes, and we’ll see what happens. We’ll see what it is.”
When it was first reported ‘Armor Wars’ would instead be a film instead of a Disney+ series, sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Marvel were “committed in getting the story told the right way” and in the development process, realized “a feature was better suited” for the project. The transition from series to film represents a significant shift in Marvel’s content strategy.
As of now, Cheadle is still attached to the movie, as well as who was initially hired as head writer for the TV show. The project’s budget is expected to exceed $150 million, typical for Marvel’s theatrical releases.
While Marvel had intended to start production on the series last year, those plans never came into fruition and it is now unknown when work will commence since there is still no director officially attached. The delay reflects broader changes in Marvel’s production schedule.
Even though the fate of ‘Armor Wars’ is up in the air, Cheadle previously said he had “lots of fun” working alongside Samuel L. Jackson – who plays S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury – on ‘Secret Invasion’ and teased he hoped he would get another outing as War Machine. Their on-screen chemistry has been praised by critics and fans alike.
“It’s kind of a thriller and a different kind of show than you usually see in the MCU, which is great that we can continue to keep changing it up and switching it up. It’s lots of fun,” he said about ‘Secret Invasion’. The series represented a departure from traditional superhero storytelling, embracing elements of political thriller and espionage.
With ‘Canyon’, Cheadle continues to expand his diverse portfolio of roles, adding a musical thriller to his impressive repertoire that includes an Academy Award nomination and multiple Emmy nominations. The unique combination of jazz and action elements promises to showcase new dimensions of Cheadle’s talents as both an actor and producer.
