On the heels of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 plunging into chaos following the firing of writer/director James Gunn, there's more bad news for Chris Pratt. His next film, comicbook adaptation Cowboy Ninja Viking has now been pulled from the release schedule and placed on indefinite hold.
According to Collider, the film – which was to have kicked off shooting in a month – is reportedly headed back into development to work out script issues, with backers Universal unwilling to rush to meet a 2019 release date.
Michelle MacLaren remains attached to make her feature directorial debut with the movie, and Pratt is still aboard to produce and star. Created by writer A. J. Lieberman and artist Riley Rossmo, Cowboy Ninja Viking is an Image Comics series about secret counter-intelligence agents with multiple personality disorders. Various suitable candidates for the 'Triplet' programme were brought together by psychotherapist Dr. Sebastian Ghislain, but when the project collapsed, the subjects went their own ways as hired assassins. Pratt's Duncan, boasting the title traits, is sent to find the others.
The screenplay has so far been through the hands of Dan Mazeau, Ryan Engle, Craig Mazin and Deadpool duo Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. We'd expect to see at least one other writer to take a crack at it, in an attempt to get the movie back on track. While MacLaren had been starting to fill the supporting cast (Priyanka Chopra was reported as in talks), that activity has ceased.
When the film might score another release date remains to be seen, but Universal certainly seems to think it'll still get made; just not yet.
Keep up to date with all the latest movie news, click here to subscribe to Empire on Great Magazines and have the latest issue delivered to your door every month.