Exclusive: THE WICKER CHILDREN Poster and Images

STARBURST has teamed with Last British Dragon to exclusively reveal the new poster and screenshots of James Crow’s latest feature film, The Wicker Children. A personal independent film that Crow calls a love letter to the pagan horror films he grew up loving. The film will be released next year with a premiere scheduled near Easter, when he will also unveil the trailer for his company’s next film, The 13th Child. 

The film is a psychological horror following an undercover investigator, Hazel (Mirabel Stuart), looking into the disappearance of a mother, Willow Downing, in a strange cult in the country. There she befriends three mysterious children who tell her stories of the woods and are watched over by an ominous father. 

James Crow, whose 2015 film Curse of the Witching Tree is currently streaming on Netflix and had a rave review from us, said of the new film: “The Wicker Children was a real passion project and work of love. I think we created something really special. I wanted to create something with a feel of something from the sixties and seventies like The Blood on Satan’s Claw. Mirabel Stuart gives an outstanding lead performance, and the three child actors deliver wonderful, natural, and eerie performances. I think the cast is really great and Pete Coleman’s music is outstanding. I can’t wait to finally share it with people”.

Mirabel Stuart, the lead actress, said: “What drew me to playing Hazel was she’s so multifaceted: a policewoman who goes undercover as a live-in nanny which actually gave me the opportunity to play two sides of the character, exposing different layers in how she attempts to solve the case of the disappearance of ‘The Mother’. I think the plot’s clues and twists will really appeal to audiences as they are challenged to piece it all together. Filming in the middle of nowhere in the Welsh countryside and the authentic stately home gave the perfect creepy backdrop to this gripping horror!”

The film was shot on location in wales and co-produced by Benjamin David with Mirabel Stuart also acting as associate producer, alongside Texan Crow Productions, Paul Hughbanks Entertainment and Terrifying Productions.

It’s been a busy year for Last British Dragon and James Crow, as they recently receiving their first government funding to create a short drama From Mariupol to Maidstone, which has been showing at multiple film festivals. Coming next year James has Harbinger, his second film with Shogun films as director, plus The 13 Child starring Peter DeSouza-Feighoney the lead child star of The Pope’s Exorcist and Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare. On what’s coming next, Crow says “I’m working on several new scripts at moment which I’m in exciting talks for but can’t speak about just yet. I am however making a new anthology horror called Urban Monsters, which we’ll be starting soon. It’s a real nod to Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt. We’ve had great fun creating monsters with some terrifying backstories and we’ll be releasing more news soon! The first monster will be played by Les Mills who was the main villain in my film House of Salem plus he delivered a great Krampus in Nightmare on 34th Street. It’s going to be a lot of fun!” 

The film will be heading to film festivals in January and is now going to distributors and sales agents for an expected international release early next year. They’ll also be news soon on how to get tickets for the UK premiere of The Wicker Children and also a special screening stateside in Texas with the director. Watch this space!

SHIVER ME TIMBERS Gets Sequel, Featuring Tarzan

popeye in shiver me timbers 2 teaser trailer

Shiver Me Timbers, one of several recent low-budget horror movies taking advantage of Popeye’s public domain status, is already getting a sequel film. In this one, Popeye and Olive Oyl will be joined by *checks notes* Tarzan and Betty Boop.

The teaser trailer for Shiver Me Timbers 2: Chainsaws Are for Children, has just been released.

Picking up just weeks after the events of the first film, the sequel sees Popeye land in New York for a brutal killing spree in Little Italy. Olive Oyl, now armed with a bionic, super-powered hand, travels to the city to avenge her brother’s death. Her journey leads her straight to the mafia boss’ nightclub, where she bonds with singer Betty Boop.

Meanwhile, the mafia boss learns that his long-lost son, now a grown man, has been found after disappearing as a child during a jungle vacation. However, while attempting to rehabilitate him to civilisation, he escapes, tackling Popeye and taking a puff from his pipe.

As a result, he is transformed into a savage beast man, forging a twisted alliance with Popeye. Olive and Betty, with help from the mafia, must defeat the monstrous duo before it’s too late.

Writer-director Paul Stephen Mann returns, with Tony Greer and Amy Mackie reprising their lead roles as Popeye and Olive.

Alpake Entertainment is launching an Indiegogo campaign on December 20th to fund Shiver Me Timbers 2. Rewards include on-screen victim roles, producer credits, screen-used props, signed merchandise, and more. Check it out here.

Watch the teaser below:

Milla Jovovich And Luke Evans Star In WORLDBREAKER Trailer

worldbreaker trailer still

Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil, The Fifth Element) and Luke Evans (Dracula Untold, The Hobbit franchise) are fighting to survive against monstrous threats in the trailer for Worldbreaker, from Session 9 director Brad Anderson.

The film introduces Breakers, inter-dimensional creatures that infect and gruesomely mutate humans into killers, which were unleashed when ‘The Stitch’ tore open the earth. Men are most vulnerable to the mutation, leaving women to lead the war for humanity’s survival. As such, Willa’s (Billie Boullet) mother (Jovovich) leads on the front lines, while her father (Evans), a battle-scarred veteran, fled the burning cities with their daughter to a remote island. There, he trains her every day, preparing her for the moment the Breakers finally find them.

That moment comes when Willa discovers a lone girl washed ashore from a burning boat. Hiding her from her father, Willa simply dreams of friendship in this lonely world. Yet, when the girl’s infection exposes them, their sanctuary soon comes under siege.

Mila Harris also stars. The screenplay is penned by Infinite Storm’s Joshua Rollins. Martin Brennan, Jib Polhemus, Bradley Gallo, Michael Helfant, and Tracy Mercer produce, with Rollins and Katy Jackson as co-producers.

Worldbreaker releases January 30th, 2026, courtesy of Aura Entertainment. Watch the trailer below:

Paul King Tapped To Direct LABUBU Adaptation

labubu film taps paul king to direct

The thought of a Labubu feature film is perhaps becoming less horror-inspiring with news that Paddington filmmaker Paul King will be helming the pic.

As we reported last month, Sony Pictures picked up the screen rights to the Chinese doll brand with the aim of making a movie, and maybe launch a franchise.

Created in 2015 by artist Kasing Lung, Labubu was born from his The Monsters series, drawing on influences from Nordic mythology. The dolls really exploded in popularity once Pop Mart began selling the figures in blind-box format in 2019, a model that has driven collector frenzy around the world and turned the scruffy plush toys into a fashion statement with Gen Zers.

At this stage, Sony’s Labubu film is still early in development. No writer has yet been attached, and it remains unclear whether the adaptation will be animated or live-action.

Paul King is also set to produce with Department M and Wenxin She. King is best known for directing and co-writing the first two Paddington movies and co-wrote the screenplay for the most recent film, Paddington in Peru. He last directed the not-very-good Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet, but we’ll forgive him that stumble, considering how excellent the Paddington films were.

Mad Max Goes Upbeat In Dimension20: Gladlands

The trailer for the next season of cult favourite actual play series, Dimension 20 has just dropped, and it’s a Mad Max / Wasteland Road Warrior parody.

Dimension20 is the flagship show of Dropout, formerly known as College Humor.  The new season, Gladlands, is set to premiere January 7th with episodes dropping every Wednesday for six weeks. Each episode will be accompanied by an in-dome Adventuring Party talkback, released the following day.

Led by game master Brennan Lee Mulligan, the series is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where people turn to community and kindness for survival. Vic Michaelis and Kimia Behpoornia are new to the D20 dome and will be joining Ally Beardsley, Oscar Montoya, Zac Oyama, and Jacob Wysocki.

The new season is clearly influenced by everything from Gaslands to Car Wars, from Mad Max to The Cars That Ate Paris, with a little bit of Fallout and maybe Gamma World for good measure. The trailer can be found below.

Spielberg’s DISCLOSURE DAY Releases Teaser Trailer

emily blunt in teaser trailer for steven spielberg ufo movie disclosure day

Steven Spielberg’s super-secret UFO film now has both a trailer and a title: Disclosure Day. Universal has revealed a first look at the iconic director’s first new film since 2022’s The Fabelmans, and it looks like a gorgeous return to the genre that he helped define with such classics as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, and War of the Worlds.

Disclosure Day stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth, Wyatt Russell, and Eve Hewson. It is based on a story by the filmmaker, with a screenplay by long-time collaborator David Koepp, whose previous work with Spielberg includes the scripts for Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Though a synopsis hasn’t been released and the trailer doesn’t show us any aliens, it heavily implies that the film will deal with humans learning of the existence of extra-terrestrials.

“If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you?” speaks the voiceover. “People have a right to know the truth. It belongs to 7 billion people,” O’Connor’s character then says in the footage, while another character reflects: “Why would [God] make such a vast universe, but save it only for us?”

Disclosure Day is scheduled to be released in cinemas on June 12th, 2026. Watch the teaser trailer below:

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY Reboot Lands Director

film still from 2007's paranormal activity. reboot

Paramount Pictures’ recently announced Paranormal Activity reboot project is moving forward at a good speed, with news that the Blumhouse-Atomic Monster film has landed its director. Ian Tuason, a rising Canadian filmmaker, is in final negotiations to helm the pic.

The new Paranormal Activity will relaunch the found-footage horror franchise that debuted in 2007. The seven ensuing movies were both low-budget and high-grossing, and helped launch Blumhouse into the genre powerhouse it is today.

Tuason began his writing and directing career with live-action virtual reality horror shorts on YouTube, before making his feature debut this summer with Undertone. The film premiered at Fantasia International Film Festival, where it won the audience award for best Canadian movie, which thrust Undertone into the centre of a bidding war, with A24 landing the deal.

Appropriately, Undertone centres on a podcast host covering spooky content, who moves into her parents’ house to care for her dying mother. When sent recordings of a pregnant couple’s paranormal encounters, she discovers their story closely parallels her own, with each new tape pushing her further into paranoid madness… Which definitely makes it sound like Tuason is the perfect fit for a project like a Paranormal Activity reboot.

Stay tuned as we learn more!

Jacobi Jupe Joins Scarlett Johansson In THE EXORCIST

jacobi jupe in hamnet

Jacobi Jupe, recent standout star of Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, will star opposite Scarlett Johansson in Blumhouse and Universal’s upcoming adaptation of horror cinema classic The Exorcist.

The film is the studios’ latest attempt to revive the franchise following the companies’ panned The Exorcist: Believer, released in 2023. Mike Flanagan wrote the script and is both directing and producing the new feature. The filmmaker has previously made clear that his take on the iconic IP will be neither a remake nor a sequel, but set in the Exorcist “universe”.

The original film, based on the novel by William Peter Blatty and directed by William Friedkin, centred on the demonic possession of a young girl and the priests who tried to free her. The various follow-ups mostly featured stories focused on the grown-up girl, the priests’ backstories, or other demonic cases the detectives from the first film had investigated.

“The Exorcist is one of the reasons I became a filmmaker, and it is an honour to have the chance to try something fresh, bold and terrifying within its universe,” said Flanagan of his involvement when it was announced in May 2024.

Jacobi Jupe, the younger brother of A Quiet Place and Honey Boy actor Noah Jupe (who also appears in Hamnet) stars as the titular character in Zhao’s latest alongside Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. The film is considered a top award contender in the coming season. Jupe has also starred in the Apple+ psychological thriller limited series Before, and played opposite Jude Law in Peter Pan and Wendy. His next acting venture will be the horror thriller Victorian Psycho with Maika Monroe.

 

Get Ready for Fun with THE SUPER ELFKINS

There’s plenty of family fun to be had with The Super Elfkins this Christmas! The animated film opens in cinemas on December 19th, and you can check the trailer out below.

Synopsis:

Elfie’s world flips when she uncovers a high-tech Elfkin gang led by the daring Bo, living on the edge and far removed from her traditional clan. Torn between duty and an appetite for excitement, Elfie joins Bo and discovers a world of gadgets, mischief, and friendship. 

As two Elfkin clans, divided for over 250 years, begin to reconcile, they attract the attention of a policewoman and her feisty cat on a mission to shut them down. With courage, creativity and heart, Elfie must bridge the gap and unite her people, embracing what truly makes a “Super Elfkin”.

Dazzler Media presents THE SUPER ELFKINS in UK and Irish cinemas from December 19th.

STREET FIGHTER Debuts Sneak Peek!

The cast of Street Fighter onstage at The Game Awards 2025 at the Peacock Theater on December 11, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

The cast of Street Fighter surprised the audience at the Game Awards this week to debut the first sneak peek at the upcoming feature film, which included a first look at the video game’s seventeen iconic characters.

Set in 1993, estranged Street Fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) are thrown back into combat when the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament: a brutal clash of fists, fate, and fury. But behind this battle royale lies a deadly conspiracy that forces them to face off against each other and the demons of their past. And if they don’t, it’s GAME OVER!
 
Helmed by director Kitao Sakurai, Street Fighter is set to bring the battle from the arcade to the big screen with Hadoukens, roundhouses, and fans’ favourite characters.

It stars Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Andrew Koji as Ryu, Callina Liang as Chun-Li, Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoai as Akuma, David Dastmalchian as M. Bison, Cody Rhodes as Guile, Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki, Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim, Eric André as Don Sauvage, Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson as Balrog, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Orville Peck as Vega, Olivier Richters as Zangief, Hirooki Goto as E. Honda, Rayna Vallandingham as Juli, Alexander Volkanovski as Joe, Kyle Mooney as Marvin, and Mel Jarnson as Cammy.

Check out the Street Fighter sneak peek below: