Scarlett Johansson To Star In THE EXORCIST

scarlett johansson to star in the exorcist from mike flanagan. still from jurassic world: rebirth

Marvel and Jurassic World star Scarlett Johansson has been tapped to star in Mike Flanagan’s upcoming adaptation of horror cinema classic The Exorcist. The film is Blumhouse and Universal’s latest attempt to revive the franchise following the companies’ panned The Exorcist: Believer, released in 2023.

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.

Flanagan, who is known for directing Stephen King adaptations such as Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game as well as creating series like Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Hill House, is producing via his Red Room Pictures banner. David Robinson is producing for Morgan Creek Entertainment, while Jason Blum and Ryan Turek serve as producer and executive producer, respectively, for Blumhouse.

Johansson was recently seen leading Jurassic World: Rebirth, and made her directorial debut with Eleanor the Great.

Glen Powell Goes On Murder Spree In HOW TO MAKE A KILLING Trailer

glen powell in a24 trailer for how to make a killing

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. “If I were to prune a few branches of the family tree …”

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 only just revealed.

This will only mark Ford’s second feature film, having previously helmed the Aubrey Plaza-starring crime thriller, Emily the Criminal. Powell can right now be seen in Edgar Wright’s The Running Man.

How to Make a Killing lands in cinemas on February 20th, 2026. Watch the trailer below:

Two Warhammer Giveaways Excite Fans

cavill warhammer

Old school fans of all things Warhammer may be shocked and awed to learn that the Nottingham-based miniature giant is running not one but two giveaways this November.

This is uncommon for Games Workshop, which is usually too busy promoting its tournaments and painting contests to do simple giveaways. Typical, you wait ages for one and then two come along at once.

Giveaway One celebrates that 2025 marks the 50th Anniversary of the first Games Workshop store opening. Things are very different these days; not only has the name changed to Warhammer, but 50 years ago, they mostly stocked tabletop role-playing games.  To enter this competition, you just need to create a My Warhammer account before the 25th of November. Full details can be found here. The prize is a big pile of Games Workshop goodies and games, including the forthcoming Warhammer Quest set.

Giveaway Two is a team-up with Best Coast Pairings, who handle all sorts of cool tournament stuff for miniature gamers. Sign-up to Best Coast Pairings via your Warhammer account, and you’ll be in for a chance to win every Codex/Battletome book GW currently produces. More details can be found here. Good Luck!

A24 Horror From THE FIRST OMEN Director Reveals Cast

the first omen

Emma Corrin (Nosferatu), Hunter Schafer (Cuckoo), Havana Rose Liu (Bottoms, Lurker), and Sophie Wilde (Talk to Me) have been announced to join A24’s as-yet-untitled horror film from The First Omen writer-director Arkasha Stevenson.

In talks to also star are Josh Hutcherson (Five Nights at Freddy’s), Frank Dillane (Fear the Walking Dead), Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out), and Whitmer Thomas (Weapons). Stevenson is directing from a script she co-wrote with Tim Smith, with whom she’d previously collaborated on The First Omen.

While the logline remains under wraps, the story reportedly centres on a bachelor party that spirals into terror.

Hereditary and Midsommar‘s Ari Aster will executive produce through his Square Peg banner. Smith, Lars Knudsen, Emily Hildner, Harrison Huffman, and Chrstina D’Souza are producing.

This will mark Stevenson’s second feature film, having previously directed episodes of Channel Zero, Briarpatch, and Legion.

Corrin appeared alongside Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman last year in Deadpool & Wolverine, and were recently seen leading 100 Nights of Hero, which closed the London Film Festival. Schafer is soon set to star opposite Michelle Yeoh in Prime Video’s series Blade Runner 2099, and will next be seen in the A24 film Mother Mary, which also stars Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel. Rose Liu was recently seen in the feature Tuner and the horror-thriller Lurker. Wilde is best known for her acclaimed role in Talk To Me, also an A24 horror.

THE HUNGER GAMES: SUNRISE ON THE REAPING Teaser Drops

the hunger games sunrise on the reaping poster

The first teaser trailer and poster for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping have dropped, a full year ahead of the film’s release, currently slated for November 20th, 2026.

The sequel to 2023’s The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes returns to Panem, this time following a young Haymitch Abernathy, 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games and beginning on the morning of the reaping for the Second Quarter Quell.

Francis Lawrence, who helmed the previous four instalments, directs this latest franchise entry from a script by Billy Ray (also the writer on the first Hunger Games), based as always on the novel by Suzanne Collins.

Though the film adaptation was announced to be in production on June 6th of last year, the novel was only published on March 18th, 2025.

The film stars Joseph Zada as Haymitch, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Ralph Fiennes as now-President Cornelius Snow, an unrecognisable Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Lili Taylor as Mags Flanagan, Billy Porter as Magno Stift, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee.

Check out the teaser trailer and poster for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping below:

GRIM Comic Adaptation In Works From WEDNESDAY Creators

grim comic cover

Wednesday creators Al Gough and Miles Millar have been tapped to turn Boom! Studios’ horror-fantasy comic Grim into an adult animated series for Netflix. Gough and Millar are working on the project alongside Love, Death + Robots supervising director Jennifer Yuh Nelson.

Grim, written by Stephanie Phillips with artwork by Flaviano, is a supernatural saga that follows Jessica Harrow, a newly recruited Reaper tasked with ferrying souls to the afterlife. Unlike her fellow Reapers, Jessica has no memory of her death or her life before. Her search for answers quickly pulls her deeper into the invisible architecture of the afterlife, revealing hidden forces, cosmic secrets, and a shocking connection to Death itself.

Millar and Gough will also executive produce for their banner, Millar/Gough Ink, alongside the company’s Head of Film Aaron Schmidt and Yuh Nelson. Stephen Christy and Adam Yoelin executive produce for Boom! Studios, with Mette Norkjaer co-executive producing. Phillips and Flaviano also co-executive produce.

The news of an adaptation comes after the Grim comic ended its 25-issue run this month, having debuted in 2022.

Further to Wednesday, Gough and Millar’s writing credits include Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, I am Number Four, and the iconic television series Smallville.

Next On The Toy-To-Movie Projects List? LABUBU

labubu toys from pop mart getting movie adaptation from sony pictures

You hate to see or hear it, but the toy line of cute-ugly dolls, the dastardly Labubu, may well be getting their very own film. Sony Pictures has picked up the screen rights to the Chinese doll brand with the aim of making a movie, several outlets have reported.

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 very early in development. No director, writer, or producer has been attached yet, and it’s not yet clear whether the adaptation will be animated or live-action. According to reports, the studio also sees the potential for a larger franchise, should the planned movie find success.

Whether the film will lean into the eerie, Nordic-inspired roots of Kasing Lung’s illustrations or go for a more playful, branded-vignette feel remains to be seen. One thing’s for sure, this will only boost sales for Pop Mart.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA Drops First Look At Live-Action Film

bo bragason as zelda in the legend of zelda

Nintendo has cracked open the gates to Hyrule’s next great adventure, leaping from a console to the big screen in the movie adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. First-look images have been released via the Nintendo Today app, offering a sunny peek at Bo Bragason’s Princess Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth’s Link, the iconic duo sporting lovingly realised Hylian costumes.

At the helm of this long-anticipated quest is Wes Ball, the filmmaker behind Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and the Maze Runner trilogy.

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, who is producing the film, revealed the casting earlier this year, writing: “I am pleased to announce that for the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda, Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason-san, and Link by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth-san. I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen.” If Miyamoto is giving his seal of approval, likely that fans can breathe a little easier about this adaptation.

Bragason was previously seen in BBC One’s Three Girls and The Jetty, Disney+’s Renegade Nell, and the vampire comedy The Radleys. Ainsworth, meanwhile, voiced the famed puppet in Robert Zemeckis’ Pinocchio, and appeared in The Haunting of Bly Manor and Netflix’s The Sandman.

The Legend of Zelda will debut in cinemas on May 7th, 2027. Check out the first-look images below:

Lamberto Bava Heading to Romford for World Wide Weird Special

World Wide Weird marks its tenth anniversary of bringing cult vultures together for psychotronic double bills to fans in London, often with very special guests attending. But that’s nothing quite as elaborate as the irresistible line-up on offer this December at Lumiere cinema in Romford. Lumiere is one of the most exciting independent cinemas in the UK that also specialises in all things cult that is easily accessible from London via the Elizabeth Line.

World Wide Weird is present a day of cult cinema with screenings of Macabre (1980), Hell of the Living Dead (1980). and Sayara (2024) featuring special guests director Lamberto Bava, actor Margie Newton, and director Can Evrenol. Each guest will be doing a post screening Q&A covering the films their careers and meeting fans offering table selfies and autographs for a fee. Autograph and Selfie: Lamberto Bava £30, Margie Newton £30, Can Evrenol £20.

Guests will sign items brought to their table and will also have a limited quantity of their own, individually priced merchandise and photos for sale. Limited numbers of signed Cannibal Worlds published by Pulse Books will be available for sale price.

Schedule of the day (TBC)

11.30 pm Hell of the Living Dead
1.30 pm Q&A with actor Margie Newton
2.30 pm Q&A with author Eugenio Ercolani – UK Launch of Cannibal Worlds
4 pm Macabre
5.30 pm Q&A with director Lamberto Bava
7.30 pm Sayara
9.10 pm Q&A with director Can Evrenol

Tickets must be presented at the Lumiere box office on the day to receive a wristband, which must be shown to enter the screenings and Q&As. You can order your tickets here.

Hideo Kojima’s DEATH STRANDING Gets Series Adaptation

death stranding isolations cover image concept art

Hideo Kojima’s beloved video game franchise, Death Stranding, is expanding to the small screen. A new animated series adaptation is heading to Disney+, due to premiere sometime in 2027.

Launched in 2019 by Kojima Productions, Death Stranding became a bestseller and instant classic among video game fans, who praised its deep world-building and stunning cinematic visuals. The game was also highly estmeed for featuring renowned actors like Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Margaret Qualley, Troy Baker, Tommie Earl Jenkins, and Lindsay Wagner in prominent roles. A sequel game, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, was released this summer. There’s also the previously announced feature film adaptation in the works at A24.

Kojima is confirmed to executive produce the animated series. The show will be directed by Takayuki Sano (Bullet/Bullet, Gridman Universe) with new concept art by Ilya Kuvshinov, who served as character designer for Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045.

Presenting the project in Hong Kong, Kojima also promised the series would have new and different characters. He revealed the series would employ traditional hand-drawn 2D animation style, with top Japanese animation studio E&H Production currently working on the project.

Per the synopsis: “Once, there was an explosion… Lonesome souls of the dead manifest in the physical world, reaching in search of the living. However, the connection they create triggers a massive explosion that eradicates anything of this world—a phenomenon referred to as the Death Stranding. These events wipe out nations, as well as civilization itself. People who remain are now isolated, withdrawn, and without connections. As humanity stands at the brink, a legendary porter set out to transport both cargo and wishes of its senders, reconnecting people in the hope that they might still be saved…

“[The series] follows in the footsteps of the original in spirit and ideas and depicts the world of Death Stranding through a bold and yet subtle touch and top-class hand-drawn animation.

“Somewhere in North America, just as Sam Bridges walks through the continent in order to save America, the someones are also trying to deal with their isolation in their own way. An old man trying to realise salvation through ways outside of the connection advocated by Bridges. A female warrior who tries to kickstart a world of constant fighting. A boy with a grudge against Bridges. A girl who embraces loneliness. On the precipice of the end of humanity and the world, their fates and hopes converge, as another story of Death Stranding begins.”

Check out the Disney+ poster below: