Cate Blanchett is following in Gerard Butler’s footsteps and reprising her role as Viking warrior Valka, moving from a voice role into live-action portrayal.
The two-time Oscar winner will star in Universal Pictures’ live-action How to Train Your Dragon 2. Dean DeBlois, who co-created the franchise and both wrote and directed last year’s first live-action adaptation, is back as writer, director, and executive producer of the sequel.
Cate Blanchett joins Mason Thames, Nico Parker, Butler, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James and Harry Trevaldwyn in the sequel.
Adapting the second animated installment, which was released in 2014, the film continues the adventures of Hiccup (Thames), the dragon-befriending Viking who opened up his village to the possibilities of coexisting with the flying, fire-breathing creatures. Valka Haddock is Hiccup’s long-lost mother and the wife of leader Stoick the Vast (Butler). She’d been presumed dead after she was abducted during a dragon attack, but was actually living among them for two decades, learning their ways and becoming a fierce advocate of peace between their races. In the second film, she reunites with Hiccup and teaches him more about dragons.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 will be released in cinemas on June 11th, 2027.
Rook Films and Anti-Worlds Releasing have teamed up to release Ben Wheatley’s latest film, BULK, this coming January and February. Wheatley has been presenting the film at genre festivals across the world over the past few months and will embark on a 20-date Q&A tour of the country’s most glorious independent cinemas – starting at London’s boutique grindhouse cinema The Nickel in January and ending at the BFI IMAX. A Blu-ray release will follow on March 2nd.
BULK is a mind-bending sci-fi thriller in the tradition of Alphaville and Primer, but also a love letter to film writing and making. Written, directed, and edited by Ben Wheatley, the film stars Alexandra Maria Lara, Sam Riley, Noah Taylor, and Mark Monero, with narration from Bill Nighy.
When an overzealous scientist pushes his experiments with string theory too far – his brane explodes. Thats ‘brane’ not ‘brain’ – but that means someone has to sort out the mess he has created.
Corey Harlan (Riley) is sent in – kicking and screaming – to find the heart of the brane and its creator Anton Chambers (Monero). Now manifested as a normal townhouse hosted by the enigmatic and multi-dimensional Aclima (Lara) – his adventure begins. A house where opening a door from one room to another can lead you to other worlds not just the kitchen.
Echoing the fate of our protagonists the very fabric of the film – the sets – and even the cameras used to make it film are deconstructed throughout.
Check out this clip:
Wheatley said “BULK is a multidimensional sci-fi adventure, and the tour will be a multidimensional venue trip around the UK- from its smallest and weirdest cinemas to its biggest. BULK is a very personal film for me and made with a spirit of true independence, so we wanted to be able to share it and talk about it with the audiences at the UK independent cinemas.”
The tour dates so far are:
Thursday 15th Jan – NICKEL London
Friday 16th Jan – MAC Birmingham
Saturday 17th Jan – CULTPLEX Manchester
Sunday 18th Jan – FILMHOUSE Edinburgh
Sunday 18th Jan – GFF Glasgow (Evening show)
Monday 19th Jan – DCA Dundee
Tuesday 20th Jan – TYNESIDE CINEMA Newcastle
Wednesday 21st Jan – DUKES THEATRE Lancaster
Thursday 22nd Jan – HYDE PARK PICTUREHOUSE – Leeds
Friday 23rd Jan – PLAZA Liverpool
Saturday 24th Jan – DEPOT Lewes
Tuesday 27th Jan – IFI Dublin
Wednesday 28th Jan – TRISKEL THEATRE Cork
Thursday 29th Jan – BFI IMAX London
Friday 30th Jan – CHAPTER -Cardiff
Saturday 31st Jan – PONTIO ARTS CENTRE Bangor, Wales
Saturday 31st Jan – HOME Manchester (Evening show)
Sunday 1st Feb PHOENIX Exeter
Sunday 1st Feb – WATERSHED Bristol (Evening show)
More dates will be added.
For more information, or to pre-order the Blu-ray and purchase the cool fanzines Ben makes, head over to https://rookfilms.co.uk/
Heir today, gone tomorrow… Glen Powell finds himself with seven people in the way of his inheritance in the trailer for the A24 thriller How to Make a Killing. Hailing from writer and director John Patton Ford, the film also stars Margaret Qualley, Jessica Henwick, Zach Woods, Topher Grace, Bill Camp, and Ed Harris.
Loosely inspired by Robert Hamer’s 1949 Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets, the feature centres on Becket Redfellow (Powell), who has been cast aside by his incredibly wealthy family and will go to any lengths necessary to ensure his inheritance.
“There were seven of them — seven rich pricks between myself and $28 billion,” Powell says in the trailer about his extended family. And as Qualley’s character quips: “Call me when you’ve killed all of them.”
Ford’s screenplay originally appeared on the 2014 Black List under the title Rothchild. In 2019, Jon S. Baird signed on to direct the film, with Shia LaBeouf and Mel Gibson due to star. Development of the project resumed in 2023, with plans for Ford to direct the film, which was then retitled Huntington. The new title, How to Make a Killing, was revealed just last month.
This will only mark Ford’s second feature film, having previously helmed the Aubrey Plaza-starring crime thriller, Emily the Criminal. Powell was most recently seen in Edgar Wright’s The Running Man.
Watch the final How to Make a Killing trailer below, ahead of its release in UK cinemas on March 13th, 2026.
Prepare to be ensnared in a killer cult nightmare, as Lure, written and directed by Oliver Cox, is heading to digital on February 2nd. We have an exclusive reveal of the trailer below…
Lure is a bold and blood-soaked new British horror, that fuses the cutthroat courtship of The Bachelorette with the high-stakes survival of Ready or Not. A wealthy, ruthless heiress believes her bloodline must be preserved at any cost, she curates a shortlist of six seemingly eligible bachelors, each selected for their suitability to father her future heir. She invites the unwitting victims to her remote ancestral estate, but the guests are unaware of the horrific and gruesome games that await them. With escape impossible, each man is tested to their very limits and must decide how far they are willing to go to survive and whether winning is even worth the cost. Twisted, stylish, and bloody, Lure promises to entice with a night of terror that lingers long after dawn.
LURE is available on digital platforms on February 2nd from Reel2Reel Films.
“Every phone call, every killer, has led to this”: a brand-new featurette celebrates the franchise’s legacy in the lead up to Scream 7.
In Scream 7, when a new Ghostface killer emerges in the quiet town where Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter (Isabel May) becomes the next target. Determined to protect her family, Sidney must face the horrors of her past to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all.
Scream 7 is directed by Kevin Williamson, who wrote the script for the original Scream as well as Scream 2 and 4. Also starring in this instalment are franchise veterans Courteney Cox as reporter Gale Weathers, who survived a brutal attack in Scream VI, David Arquette as Dewey Riley (despite having been killed in 2022’s Scream), as well as Matthew Lillard as Stu and Skeet Ulrich as Billy Loomis, the (spoiler) original co-Ghostface killers.
They join Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown as Chad and Mindy, and Scott Foley as (spoiler again) Scream 3‘s Ghostface, Roman Bridger. Rounding out the cast are series newcomers Michelle Randolph, Joel McHale, Anna Camp, Mckenna Grace, Ethan Embry, Mark Consuelos, Jimmy Tatro, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann and Sam Rechner.
Check out the featurette below. Scream 7 releases in cinemas on February 27th.
The team from FrightFest return to the Glasgow Film Festival for its 21st year this March, and is bringing a cracking line-up with them. Running from Thursday, March 5th, to Saturday, March 7th.
FrightFest kicks off with a special world premiere of Jailbroken. Directed by Vasily Chuprina, it takes place entirely in a prison cell and stars David Hayman, Bryan Larkin, Shauna MacDonald, and Armin Karima. This screening is separate to the festival pass.
The event kicks off proper with the UK premiere of Bury the Devil. Next up is the world premiere of Howard J. Ford’s Bone Keeper. The UK premiere of David Kittredge’s documentary covering the notorious ‘bad’ sequel Exorcist II: The Heretic, Boorman and the Devil follows. The UK premiere of Glenn (I Sell the Dead) McQuaid’s sci-fi comedy The Restoration of Grayson Manor. Friday’s entertainment culminates with the UK premiere of Kenichi Ugana’s internet terror The Curse.
The Restoration of Grayson Manor
Saturday’s programme opens with the international premiere of Connor Marsden’s Violence. The Short Film Showcase is next, featuring eight great shorts from the UK and Ireland, with all the directors and select cast in attendance. The UK premiere of Jiro Nagae’s The Convenience Store follows, with the evening screenings starting with the world premiere of Craig Conway’s directorial debut, Red Riding, a new slant on the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale, executive produced by Neil Marshall. The new film from Aleksander Radivojević (co-writer of A Serbian Film), Karmadonna, gets its UK premiere next and the event closes with the Australian fantasy horror Deathkeeper, directed by Tristan Barr, based on the novella series by Vasilios Bouzas.
FrightFest co-director Alan Jones said: “For twenty-one years, FrightFest has joyfully programmed for collective gasps, laughs, screams and applause from our ever-supportive audiences within the Glasgow Film Festival. This year’s prime selection of unusual films will innovate, challenge, thrill and amaze as we platform both features and shorts from the most creative talents working in the genre”.
Karmadonna
FrightFest Passes are £88 and available from 10am on Friday January 16th. Passes will be exchanged for admission wristbands, prior to the first screening on March 6, which must be worn at all times to access all FrightFest films on Friday March 6th and Saturday March 7th ONLY.
Tickets for JAILBREAK, plus individual tickets for the Friday and Saturday films, are on sale to CineCard/CineCard+ members from Friday, January 23rd, at 10am. General sale starts on Monday January 26th at 10am. Prices: £12.00 / £9.60 (concessions).
Please be aware that the FrightFest Thursday night film is not part of the Friday and Saturday pass. This film requires attendees to purchase a separate single ticket.
Individual film tickets will be available from Friday January 23rd at 10am for Cinecard / Cinecard+ members, and from Monday January 26th at 10am for all customers.
Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan, the screenwriting duo behind the award-winning animated film KPop Demon Hunters, have been tapped by Warner Bros. Pictures to pen the screenplay for Tim Burton’s reimagining of sci-fi classic Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.
Burton is directing, and producing alongside Andrew Mittman and Tommy Harper. LuckyChap will also produce and develop the project, with Morgan Begg overseeing on the banner’s behalf. Kai Dolbashian is executive producing.
Originally released in 1958, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman told the story of a wealthy heiress, just released from a stint at a mental institution, who is turned into a giantess and then gets revenge on her philandering husband and his gold-digging mistress.
Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn was previously attached to pen the screenplay for this adaptation, and reportedly produced a first draft.
Jimenez and McMechan released a statement about the news, stating: “We’re obsessed with the idea of a fifty-foot woman wreaking havoc because a man did her dirty. We have a feeling a lot of people will relate.”
There’s little known yet about casting or a release date, nor any plot specifics on this adaptation. So, as always, stay tuned for updates as soon as we learn them.
Shortly after Disney announced they had cast the two lead roles for the live-action adaptation of Disney’s 2010 animated movieTangled, the studio has now confirmed Kathryn Hahn will be adding another villainess to her credits. Hahn, likely best known for portraying Agatha Harkness in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will play Mother Gothel in the forthcoming Tangled adaptation.
Earlier this week, Walt Disney Pictures revealed they had chosen rising Australian star Teagan Croft and Zombies franchise star Milo Manheim for the parts of Rapunzel, the sheltered but plucky would-be princess with magic hair, and Flynn Rider, the cocky thief who breaks into her tower. The role of Mother Gothel promises to be a fun one for Hahn, with delightfully iconic lines and fun musical numbers, including the iconic “Mother Knows Best.”
Better Man and The Greatest Showman helmer Michael Gracey is directing the feature from a script by Do Revenge’s Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. Kristin Burr (Freakier Friday, Cruella) is producing.
Most recently, Kathryn Hahn was seen on the Apple TV+ series The Studio, starring opposite Seth Rogen. She earned an Emmy nomination for the part.
Filming on the live-action Tangled is expected to begin in the UK this summer.
Following the news that Sophie Turner will star as glove-trotting adventurer Lara Croft in Prime Video’s upcoming Tomb Raider series, the rest of the show’s main cast has been revealed.
The video game adaptation has picked up some further names in the forms of Jason Isaacs (The White Lotus, Star Trek Discovery), who play’s Lara’s uncle Atlas DeMornay, Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Ghostbusters, Avatar, and everything else you love) as the mysterious and high-flying Evelyn Wallis, and Celia Imrie (of Celebrity Traitors farting fame) as Francine, a representative of the British Museum.
The cast also includes Martin Bobb-Semple as Lara’s techie friend Zip and Bill Paterson as butler Winston, both characters familiar to Tomb Raider gamers. Additionally, Jack Bannon plays pilot Gerry, Paterson Joseph is government official Thomas Warner, Sasha Luss is Lara’s new adversary Sasha, Juliette Motamed is museum curator Georgia, John Heffernan is exhausted government official David, and August Wittgenstein is illegal raider Lukas.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve) is the show’s lead writer and co-showrunner alongside Chad Hodge, while Jonathan Van Tulleken serves as director. The series is due to begin filming later this month, with a release date yet to be announced.
After much speculation and fan casting, the live-action adaptation of Disney’s 2010 animated movieTangled has found its stars: Walt Disney Pictures has chosen rising Australian star Teagan Croft and Zombies franchise star Milo Manheim for the parts of Rapunzel, the sheltered but plucky would-be princess with magic hair, and Flynn Rider, the cocky thief who breaks into her tower.
Better Man and The Greatest Showman helmer Michael Gracey is directing the feature from a script by Do Revenge’s Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. Kristin Burr (Freakier Friday, Cruella) is producing.
Croft is best known for playing Raven in the DC series Titans, which ran from 2018 to 2023. She also starred in the Australian film True Spirit in 2023. Meanwhile, Manheim starred in the Zombies musical Disney franchise, appearing in four films. He also starred in the series School Spirits and as Seymour in a revival of Little Shop of Horrors.
The other big role left to cast is Mother Gothel, which at one point was going to be portrayed by Scarlett Johansson. She has since exited the project due to scheduling conflicts.
Filming on the live-action Tangled is expected to begin in the UK this summer. Stay tuned for updates as we hear!
