Deadline:

We might not have a clear path to a resumption of production yet, but the material market is certainly back in full bloom. The hot spec package tonight is Ball and Chain, with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt attached to play a bickering couple who receive super powers that only work if they can learn to put aside their differences and work together.

Here’s the description from the four-part comic book published in 1999: Edgar and Mallory Bulson have decided to throw in the towel. That was the plan anyway, until a mysterious meteor bathed the battling couple in extraterrestrial energies that gave them super-powers. Will their newfound abilities be enough to make their marriage work?

Sadly, Jungle Cruise—which, legitimately, was one of the movies I was most looking forward to this Summer—was pushed back to Summer 2021, but clearly, Blunt and the Rock enjoyed working with each other enough to come back for round two.

Also of note, the script for Ball and Chain is written by Emily V. Gordon, of The Big Sick and used-to-book-Meltdown fame.

I’d never heard of the comic before now, but if you’re so inclined, it appears to be a comic you can get pretty cheap.

UPDATE: May 14, 2020 - the movie has been picked up by Netflix.