Rashida Jones will star alongside Kate McKinnon in sci-fi drama In the Blink of An Eye, a Searchlight Pictures production from Oscar-winning director Andrew Stanton.
Stanton is best known for his animated classics Finding Nemo and WALL-E. In the Blink of An Eye, on the other hand, will be a live-action story and sets out to explore no less than the entire history of the world.
Spaceman scribe Colby Day wrote the script, which focuses on three intersecting storylines spanning thousands of years and tackling the nature of life, love, hope and connection. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia have been mentioned as touchstones.
Rashida Jones’ character is an anthropology professor who is taking care of her dying mother. No word yet on who McKinnon may be playing.
McKinnon is best known for her expansive SNL run and for starring in the all-women reboot of Ghostbusters. The comedian and actress will next be seen in Greta Gerwig’s highly-anticipated Barbie. Jones, meanwhile, is likely best recognised for her work on sit-coms like Parks and Recreation and The Office, though she’s also worked behind the camera on high-profile projects like Toy Story 4 and Black Mirror.
There’s no information yet on when In the Blink of An Eye might release, but production on the film begins next week in Vancouver.
The Watermill Theatre in Berkshire, England, will host a musical adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy story, The Lord of The Rings,from July 25th until October 15th, 2023. It will be a semi-immersive, open-air production, taking full advantage of the area’s gorgeous gardens and the historic Watermill Theatre itself.
Located near the River Lambourn, the musical will feature tunes created by A.R. Rahman (Bombay Dreams, Slumdog Millionaire), Värttinä and Tony Award-winner and Grammy-nominated Christopher Nightingale (Matilda the Musical), with set design from Simon Kenny, who’s critically acclaimed work includes the ‘Pie Shop’ production of Sweeney Todd and Hope Mill’s The Wiz. It will be directed by Paul Hart. Or, to put it another way, there’s a lot of exciting talent involved in putting this singing Hobbit show together.
The show’s venue, The Watermill Theatre, recently had its funding cut by Arts Council England and stated at the time that it was facing a “significant challenge” in maintaining its current operation. The Berkshire-based site is not too far away from Oxford (especially by tourist bus). Oxford currently has an active ‘Tolkien Tour’ tourist trade, and it’s very likely that savvy Middle-earth fans will add a quick visit to Berkshire onto their itinerary.
The Lord of The Rings Musical premiered in Toronto, Canada, at the Princess of Wales Theatre in 2006, before a re-written version of the show travelled to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. The show struggled to find an audience then, despite having very well-reviewed songs and being described as the “definitive megamusical”. This new production sounds like it plans to mix the joys of Middle-earth with stunning songs and set design.
The musical has the blessing of the Tolkien family, and tickets can be obtained here.
BBC Studios have announced a brand-new multiplatform story called Doom’s Day as part of the Doctor Who 60th-anniversary celebrations.
The titular Doom will caper across space and time in what sounds like a blatant excuse to cover the greatest hits of all things Doctor Who. The multimedia caper will bring together various Doctor Who branded media, including Big Finish and BBC Audio, Titan Comics, Penguin Random House, East Side Games, and Doctor Who Magazine, in what appears to be a cross-branding exercise reminiscent of 1996’s Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. (Fans with long memories will recall that led to many more spin-offs.)
Each piece of media will concentrate on an hour of Doom’s time, as she zaps across time and space and has a very bad 24 hours. The standalone stories will also have an overarching narrative that will play out before the finale, which will release on Doctor Who digital channels.
Doom herself will be performed by the amazing stand-up comedian Sooz Kempner, who is well known for her frantic stand-up, musical skill, and versatility.
Star Trek Actor George Takei will be signing copies of his autobiographical graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy at the Forbidden Planet Megastore London on Sunday, March 26th, 2023 from 1:00pm – 2:00pm.
The book is an award-winning graphic memoir that revisits Takei’s childhood; he was one of over 100,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II. It will be the only book he is signing. George is best known to Starburst readers for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the original series of Star Trek. However, he’s appeared in everything from Scooby Doo to Entourage, with a career spanning almost seventy years.
At the age of 85, George is still very active in the industry, although signing events like this are rare due to logistical reasons.
The signing will be limited to 100 people, and to gain entry to the event, attendees will need to obtain a wristband, available on a first-come-first-served basis. More information can be found here.
The forthcomingfantasy movie Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves has recruited D&D fan and comedy superstar Sue Perkins to record the audio description for the movie. Audio description is a vital feature for those with partial or full visual impairment, as it provides key visual information.
Perkins was part of the Comic Relief Plays D&Devent in 2020 alongside Nish Kumar, Ed Gamble, Sara Pasco and Ted Lasso actor Paul Foxcroft. Perkins said about the audio description gig, ‘I got very lucky with this dice-roll – not only is the film itself a joyous romp, but I got to play a part in making sure that experiencing it in the cinema is as inclusive a ride as possible.’
Kezia Williams, Managing Director at eOne Film, UK, commented: “We’re so grateful to Sue (Perkins) for recording this terrific Audio Description for the film. Dungeons & Dragons celebrates the magic that happens when a group of diverse adventures come together to overcome a whole host of challenges; in the same spirit, we are passionate about ensuring the film is available to all audiences in the most exciting and evocative formats possible”
Hasbro subsidiary, eOne Film, is the company behind Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves. They’ve also teamed up with Picturehouse Cinemas and The Light to provide caption format versions of the movie across the UK from Wednesday, March 29th, two days ahead of the film’s official release.
Picturehouse Cinemas and The Light will continue to offer captioned performances across the film’s opening weekend and throughout its run in cinemas. Front-of-house staff across both cinema chains will be given the opportunity to participate in basic BSL training before the film is released, enabling them to give d/Deaf cinemagoers a warm welcome to the screenings. Lessons have been organized by a qualified BSL teacher through British Charity Chloe and Sophie’s Special Ears Fund [CSSEF].
Karen Jackson from Chloe and Sophie’s Special Ears Fund [CSSEF] said, “It’s 2023, we need to wake up and realise that with over 11 million d/Deaf people in the UK, cinema just hasn’t been accessible. Change needs to happen, and eOne have taken a bold step by previewing exclusively in caption format at 37 cinemas across the UK for the release of ‘Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves’. Changing the cinema experience for Deaf people is a huge passion of ours at CSSEF – with half of our charity team having previously worked for 30 years in the cinema industry – we are very excited for this change to be happening now. At long last, our worlds are merging together.”
And finally, special charity screenings of the movie will take place on Saturday, March 25th, to raise money for the charity Medicinema. On the same day, patients in hospital will also be treated to a special preview at the in-hospital cinemas run by MediCinema: at the Serennu Children’s Centre in Newport, the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, Guy’s and the Chelsea and Westminster Hospitals in London.
We live in an age of wonders, with news of Artificial Intelligence grabbing all the headlines. Hasbro has gone one step further by launching an Optimus Prime toy that is actually a programmable robot.
The new Robosen Elite Optimus Prime is a highly advanced and innovative robot that can be programmed and will actually transform. This is an updated version of a previous toy (which was also a programmable robot). However, the new version is lighter, better designed for play and also cheaper.
Standing at 16 inches tall, this toy is modelled after the original generation one toy. With 125 different sound effects, including performances from the voice of Optimus Prime himself, Peter Cullen. With over 5000 components, 27 servo motors, and an app that allows you to programme complex commands into this toy, Robosen Elite Optimus is your best defence against Megatron.
Hasbro has relaunched one of their most sought-after roleplay/cosplay style items; a working Star-Lord helmet. This fancy hat won’t actually turn you into a legendary outlaw, but is a full (1:1) scale reproduction of Peter Quill’s helmet, as seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Previously impossible to get for less than the cost of a cybernetic arm or leg, this very fancy toy can be pre-ordered at Hasbro Pulse UK, with a retail price of about £140. With movie-accurate sculpting and detailing across the helmet, this cool bit of merch will generate movie-inspired sound effects, and pressing a button on the side of the helmet will make it light up.
Perfect for any Guardians of The Galaxy fans and the start of a fun project for very serious cosplayers, the Marvel Legends Series Star-Lord Electronic Role Play Helmet is adjustable and might just help you save the galaxy!
