Natasha Lyonne Joins THE FANTASTIC FOUR

natasha lyonne in russian doll series

Natasha Lyonne is the latest star to join The Fantastic Four, once more in an undisclosed role.

Fantastic Four stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, aka The Thing. Julia Garner is, as previously announced, playing the Silver Surfer, while Paul Walter Hauser was recently revealed to star in an undisclosed role. Most recently, we reported on the casting of British actor Ralph Ineson as the big bad villain Galactus, and of prestige actor John Malkovich in another unconfirmed role.

The MCU film is still scheduled to release July 25th, 2025, and hails from WandaVision helmer Matt Shakman, directing from a script by Eric Pearson, Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer.

Natasha Lyonne was recently seen starring in the streaming series Poker Face on Peacock and Russian Doll on Netflix, and she is set to appear in Taika Waititi’s upcoming feature adaptation of Klara and the Sun opposite Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams. The actress is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Nicky Nichols on Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019).

Clarke Award 2024 Shortlist Announced

Clarke Award 2024 Shortlist 1

Awards season continues with the Arthur C. Clarke Award, created in 1987 to promote science fiction. The shortlist for the 38th Arthur C. Clarke Award Science Fiction Book of the Year has been announced.

This year’s winner will be announced on Wednesday, 24th July 2024.

The list of nominees is as follows:

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Harvill Secker)

The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan (Solaris)

In Ascension by Martin MacInnes (Atlantic Books)

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler (Weidenfeld & Nicholson)

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (Orbit)

Corey Fah Does Social Mobility by Isabel Waidner (Hamish Hamilton)

Chair of Judges, Dr Andrew M. Butler, said: “This year’s shortlist takes us from the deepest oceans to furthest outer space – with satire, time travel, aliens, octopuses, supercomputers and a six-legged Bambi. Many thanks to returning judge Stark Holborn and to neophytes Nic Clarke, Tom Dillon, Dolly Garland and Glyn Morgan for selecting six writers new to the Arthur C. Clarke Award. I suspect the final decision will be very close indeed.”

Award Director Tom Hunter added: “In addition to six new writers joining the Clarke Award’s shortlist ranks, we were delighted to receive submissions from a record-breaking 50 eligible publishing imprints this year. We hope this speaks to the future health and depth of the genre across the UK’s publishing industry even as the task of defining science fiction becomes ever more challenging for our judges!”

The winner will receive a trophy in the form of a commemorative engraved bookend and prize money to the value of £2024.00, a tradition that sees the annual prize money rise incrementally by year from the year 2001 in memory of Sir Arthur C. Clarke.

THE RINGS OF POWER Season 2 Gets Release Date, Teaser Trailer

morfydd clark in the rings of power season 2 teaser trailer

Good news, Tolkien fans: Prime Video has just granted us our first look at The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 with a teaser trailer, as well as a confirmed release date. The second season will premiere on the streaming platform on August 29th.

The teaser opens on Sauron’s (Charlie Vickers) face as we hear the voice of Durin IV (Owain Arthur) warning, “an evil, ancient and powerful, has returned.” Per Prime Video’s newly-released synopsis, “In Season Two of The Rings of Power, Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will. Building on Season One’s epic scope and ambition, the new season plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.”

Check out The Rings of Power season 2 teaser trailer below, and read our review of season 1 here.

Last Chance to Back SHAKESPEARE VS. CTHULHU Game Book

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come

Ever wanted to be an Elizabethan superstar fighting cosmic horrors? Jonathan Green’s latest project, Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come allows you to experience just that, but you’ll have to rush if you want to back it on Kickstarter. 

Fans of Fighting Fantasy and similar game books may well know the line ‘You Are The Hero’ but in Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come, you are William Shakespeare himself. Alas, rather than writing a detailed treatise on why you aren’t secretly Sir Henry Neville or transcribing Love’s Labours Won onto some sturdy parchment, you are instead dealing with fishmen (inspired by both Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth and Shakespeare’s The Tempest),  as well as other horrors.

This book, designed to be played with dice or playing cards, comes from Jonathan Green, best known for his Fighting Fantasy books and the ACE Gamebook Alice’s Nightmare in Wonderland.

You can find out more here.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 2 Trailer Drops

matt smith in the house of the dragon season 2 trailer

HBO has released the official trailer for House of the Dragon season 2, the prequel series to the incredibly popular and acclaimed Game of Thrones. This second season is due to premiere June 16th, and will consist of eight episodes.

In those episodes, the story will continue to chronicle the House Targaryen civil war – though after the death of *redacted* in season one’s breathless finale, things are sure to escalate drastically in this coming season, working up to the bloody ‘Dance of the Dragons’ – and is based on George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood. The new season features returning cast members Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans. Additional cast reprising their season 1 roles includes Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall and Matthew Needham.

There’s also several new cast members that have come aboard for House of the Dragon season 2: Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower, Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong, Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull, Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome, Kieran Bew as Hugh, Tom Bennett as Ulf, Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark, and Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne. 

Watch the trailer for House of the Dragon season 2 below:

GODZILLA X KONG Follow-Up Taps Writer Dave Callaham

dave callaham to pen script for godzilla x kong follow-up

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings screenwriter Dave Callaham has lined up his next project, and is due to pen the next instalment of Legendary’s Godzilla v Kong franchise!

The announcement comes soon after the release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Adam Wingard directed the feature and created the story with regular collaborator Simon Barrett, and Terry Rossio. Legendary has signalled a desire to have Wingard return for another round in the director’s chair, but there’s no deal in play at the moment. The director has already lined up his next project, an original film with A24 titled Onslaught.

Meanwhile, this won’t be Callaham’s first round with Godzilla. The writer penned the early drafts (and received a story by credit) for Godzilla in 2014. The screenwriter is best known for originating The Expendables franchise and worked on films like Mortal Kombat, Wonder Woman 1984, and co-writing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Dave Callaham is currently writing the third and final film in the series, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

No word yet on any of the ‘who, what, when’ details of this Legendary Monsterverse follow-up, but stay tuned for more news as we hear it.

Sigourney Weaver Joins STAR WARS Film

sigourney weaver in avatar

She’s escaped face-sucking aliens and run amongst some tall blue folks on a foreign planet, but Sigourney Weaver is now taking her skills to a galaxy far, far away. The sci-fi legend is in talks to join the cast of The Mandalorian & Grogu, which is the first Star Wars film to go into production since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Jon Favreau, who created the series starring Pedro Pascal, is directing the feature. Favreau, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni are producing the feature, which is expected to begin filming later this year. At the time, Favreau had said of his involvement: “I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created. The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting.” Meanwhile, Kennedy had said: “Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have ushered into Star Wars two new and beloved characters, and this new story is a perfect fit for the big screen.”

In the film, Pascal is expected to return as Din Djarin, aka the Mandalorian, a warrior who reluctantly (at first) must ensure Grogu’s (aka Baby Yoda) safety. No word yet on when this film might hit the big screen. Sigourney Weaver was recently seen in James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, and is expected to appear in Avatar 4, 5, and 6. There’s no word yet on who Weaver might play in this upcoming Star Wars title.

Edgar Wright In Talks To Direct BARBARELLA

edgar wright in talks to direct remake of 1968 film starring jane fonda, barbarella

The Barbarella feature, which Sydney Sweeney is expected to star in, may well have found its pilot: Edgar Wright is in talks to direct the film for Sony Pictures, with Jane Goldman and Honey Ross also in talks to pen the script. The project is still in the early development stages, and is planned as a new take on the character that originated in a French comic series from Jean-Claude Forest, but who achieved global recognition as portrayed by Jane Fonda in the 1968 cult movie. In said film, Barbarella, an astronaut from the future, is sent on a mission to find and stop an evil scientist whose invention could spell the destruction of the galaxy.

Sweeney has had a banner year already, having starred opposite Glen Powell in the rom-com Anyone but You, appearing in the ill-fated but highly-publicised Madame Web, and taking the lead role in the Catholic horror Immaculate. Meanwhile, Edgar Wright is best known for helming films like Last Night in Soho, Baby Driver, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and will direct a new adaptation of The Running Man for Paramount Pictures that will, coincidentally, star Glen Powell.

This is not the first time that a remake of the cult favourite film has been attempted. As reported by STARBURST in 2022, when this iteration was first announced, “We’ve gotten close to a new Barbarella adaptation several times over the years, with the likes of Drew Barrymore and Rose McGowan both coming close to slipping on the space boots in 2000 and 2008 respectively. High-profile filmmakers Robert Rodriguez and Nicolas Winding Refn have also been attached along the way, the latter having envisioned it as a TV series for Amazon in 2014 with James Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade on scripting duties.” Hopefully though, with the talent currently attached, this is the one that will make it to the finish line.

Andrew Garfield Joins Luca Guadagnino’s AFTER THE HUNT

andrew garfield in under the banner of heaven

Andrew Garfield is set to star opposite Julia Roberts in the upcoming thriller from Luca Guadagnino, an Amazon MGM Studios feature titled After the Hunt.

Guadagnino will direct After the Hunt from a script by first-time screenwriter Nora Garrett, which centres on a college professor who faces a crossroads in confronting her own dark past when a standout student makes an accusation against one of her colleagues.

Additional cast members will be announced at a later date. Garrett will executive produce with Karen Lunder for Imagine Entertainment, with the company’s executives Brian Glazer and Allan Mandelbaum producing the film with Guadagnino on behalf of his company, Frenesy. Filming is expected to begin this summer.

Guadagnino is best known as the Academy Award-nominated director of Call Me by Your Name, but has made waves in the genre sphere with films like the Dakota Johnson-starring remake of Suspiria, as well as the cannibal romance Bones and All starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell. His other film for Amazon MGM, Challengers, is in cinemas now.

Andrew Garfield is a two-time Oscar nominee that will next be seen in A24’s We Live in Time, starring opposite Florence Pugh. He was recently seen reprising his role as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Tatiana Maslany To Star In Horror From LONGLEGS Director

tatiana maslany in orphan black, to star in keeper from longlegs director osgood perkins

We might still be eagerly waiting for the bizarre horror Longlegs to hit our screens, but director Osgood Perkins has already set up his next movie, another genre flick titled Keeper; Deadline reports that the picture will star Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) and Rossif Sutherland (Brandon Cronenberg‘s Possessor), and that NEON has acquired the rights to the film.

Per the synopsis, “Keeper follows a couple as they escape for a romantic anniversary weekend at a secluded cabin. When Malcolm (Sutherland) suddenly returns to the city, Liz (Maslany) finds herself isolated and in the presence of an unspeakable evil that unveils the cabin’s horrifying secrets.”

Perkins, known for directing The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Gretel & Hansel, helms from a screenplay by Nick Lepard.

Before all that, though, NEON will release the serial killer thriller Longlegs in cinemas from July 12th. Longlegs‘ synopsis is as follows: “FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Nicolas Cage). As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.” Check out the teaser trailer here. You can also read our recent interview with Tatiana Maslany, promoting her most recent film Butterfly Tale.