Dominic Brunt Enters Post-Production on New Werewolf Movie

dominic brunt post-production

Things have gotten hairy for celebrated actor/director Dominic Brunt (Evie) as he has entered post-production on his latest film, a werewolf horror thriller entitled Wolf Manor. The movie is described as being ‘full-throttle and gore-filled’, and was written by Pete Wild and Joel Ferrari.

The official synopsis is:

Shooting a vampire flick in an old, abandoned manor house should have worked like a dream, but the film crew are out of their depth, over schedule and desperate to get the shoot finished and go home. However, as the moon turns full, the nightmare begins. Blood flows and the body count rises as cast and crew meet the manor’s resident werewolf…

Wolf Manor stars James Fleet (Bridgerton), Jay Taylor (Misfits), Thaila Zucchi (Evie), Rupert Procter (Luther), and John Henshaw (The Keeper). The creature design was by Shaune Harrison, who has worked on Star Wars films, Game of Thrones, and much more. Makeup design is by Katie Wrigley and costume design is by Lance Milligan. The film is produced by Joanne Mitchell (Before Dawn) and exec produced by Pete Wild.

Dominic said of the film: “‘Wolf Manor does exactly what it says on the tin. A werewolf film with a rocket up its behind. Buckets of blood, beautiful countryside, a stellar cast and world-class prosthetics make Wolf Manor a wild ride and, (we humbly feel), it’s a worthy addition to the werewolf movie cannon.”

Wolf Manor is expected to be released to festivals later this year.

Sissy Spacek & JK Simmons Portal To Space In NIGHT SKY Trailer

JK Simmons and Sissy Spacek as the Yorks on deserted planet in Night Sky trailer

What if your old shed held a mysterious portal that transported you to a faraway planet? Such is the case for Irene and Franklin York (played by Oscar-winners Sissy Spacek and JK Simmons) in Prime Video’s new sci-fi thriller series Night Sky, which has released its first trailer ahead of release on May 20th.

Years ago, the Yorks discovered a chamber buried in their backyard which inexplicably leads to a strange, deserted planet. They’ve carefully guarded their secret ever since but, after all these years, Simmons’ character does begin to wonder: “Maybe it’s time we finally tell someone else.”

Sissy Spacek and JK Simmons in Prime Video series Night Sky

The situation grows more complicated when neighbours begin to suspect something is amiss and when an enigmatic young man (Chai Hansen, The 100) appears through the portal. The Yorks’ existence is quickly upended when the mysterious chamber they thought they knew so well turns out to be much more than they could ever have imagined.

Created by Holden Miller and Daniel C. Connolly, Night Sky also stars Adam Bartley, Julieta Zylberberg, Rocío Hernández, Kiah McKirnan, Beth Lacke, Stephen Louis Grush, and Cass Buggé.

All eight episodes of Night Sky will release May 20th on Prime Video. Watch the trailer below:

The Best Sports Gambling Movies Based In New York

gambling movies

Young and old, some of the most beloved and critically-acclaimed gambling movies of all time have been filmed here in the Empire State.

New York is the fourth most populous state in America, and New York City is home to several historic and iconic sports franchises, including the NHL’s Rangers, NBA’s Knicks, MLB’s Yankees and Mets and the NFL’s Giants and Jets.

In January, mobile sports betting went live in New York. Popular sportsbooks like BetMGM New York, FanDuel New York, Caesars New York Sportsbook and DraftKings New York have taken off in the Empire State. Some of these sportsbooks, including BetMGM, are offering risk-free bets for new customers.

Not even a full quarter of the way through 2022, the state of New York has already in more than $5 billion worth of mobile sports wagers.

Considering how much the sports gambling industry has taken off here, perhaps we’ll see several more blockbuster gambling films be set and filmed in New York in the not-so-distant future.

With that all said, let’s take a look at the three best popular gambling movies that were based in New York.

 

Uncut Gems (2019)

 

Billy Madison, Big Daddy and Mr. Deeds star Adam Sandler took center stage for this crime thriller.

Uncut Gems was directed by brothers Benny and Josh Safdie. Sandler plays the main character, Howard Ratner. The cast also includes Idina Menzel, Julia Fox and Lakeith Stanfield.

Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett also stars as himself, and his career with the Boston Celtics is a focal point of the film plot.

Ratner, who owns a jewelry store in New York City, has a gambling addiction problem that takes a toll on his personal life. He also puts himself in danger by getting involved with criminal loan-sharkers.

Uncut Gems received high acclaim from pundits. Fox earned a nomination for the Breakthrough Actor Award at the 2019 Gotham Awards, which Taylor Russell went on to win for her role as Emily Williams in Waves.

Aside from the high entertainment value, Uncut Gems also provides the audience with a warning as to how gambling addiction can take over and greatly damage one’s life.

The film greatly demonstrates the need for sports fans and gamblers to bet responsibly.

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Rounders (1998)

 

1998 was a great year for award-winning actor Matt Damon. Two of his most popular films, Saving Private Ryan and Rounders, were both released that year.

Saving Private Ryan performed much better at the box office and is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. It’s probably a stretch to put Rounders in that category, but the film received very favorable reviews.

Rounders also stars Edward Norton (one of his breakout films), John Turturro, John Malkovich and Famke Janssen, known for her performance in the James Bond film GoldenEye.

Set in The Big Apple, the film follows the friendship of longtime friends Mike McDermott (played by Damon) and Lester Murphy (played by Norton). Having lost tens of thousands in a poker game, McDermott tries to learn from his mistakes and quits poker altogether.

But Murphy gets the two of them into trouble when he gets carried away with immense gambling habits. The two of them suddenly find their lives in danger, and now McDermott must find ways to get his professional and personal life back on track.

 

The Gambler (1974)

 

The cast for this popular ‘70s film includes James Caan (known for his role in The Godfather), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), Lauren Hutton (Paper Lion) and Broadway performing legend Morris Carnovsky.

The Gambler was directed by Karel Reisz and produced by Robert Chartoff and Rocky and popular producer Irwin Winkler.

Like Uncut Gems and Rounders, gambling addiction is a central part of the plot for The Gambler.

Caan’s character, Axel Freed, struggles with gambling as he tries to balance his professional life (a college professor) with his family. Freed finds his life in danger when he gradually racks up a debt worth tens of thousands of dollars from the mafia.

Caan received a nomination for the Best Performance in a Motion Picture – Drama at the 32nd Golden Globe Awards. Jack Nicholson won the performance for his role as J.J. Gittes in Chinatown.

A remake of the film (also titled “The Gambler”) was released in 2014. It starred Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Brie Larson and Michael K. Williams.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Movie Gets Title!

Dungeons & Dragons movie official title poster

The upcoming Paramount and eOne Dungeons & Dragons movie will be called Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, it has finally been announced.

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley – co-directors of 2018’s hilarious Game Night and writers of Spider-Man: Homecoming – will direct from a screenplay which they co-wrote with Michael Gilio – itself from a story the latter developed with Chris McKay. Filming on the feature reportedly wrapped last summer, and the project is now in post-production.

The plot of the Dungeons & Dragons movie is being kept under wraps and, given that the original fantasy tabletop game offers limitless storytelling avenues, we won’t even venture a guess as to what the story might entail. The project has also attracted a star-studded cast, including Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Hugh Grant, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Chloe Coleman and Daisy Head.

A series adaptation of the classic RPG game, helmed by Red Notice director Rawson Marshall Thurber, is also in the works at eOne.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is set to release March 3rd, 2023.

PIG Director To Adapt Graphic Novel SABRINA

Cover of graphic novel Sabrina by Nick Drnaso

Pig filmmaker Michael Sarnoski is set to write and direct a feature adaptation of Nick Drnaso’s critically acclaimed graphic novel, Sabrina. 

New Regency and RT Features (a partnership which birthed both The Lighthouse and Ad Astra) are producing the film, based on the story of a grieving man whose girlfriend Sabrina goes missing. After moving in with his old friend – a recently divorced Air Force surveillance expert agent living on a remote military base – a grisly videotape is sent anonymously to news outlets that causes Sabrina’s disappearance to go viral.

It’s only a matter of time until the two men are targeted by vitriolic conspiracy theorists that threaten their sense of the truth and their faith in each other. The graphic novel, which has been described as “a perspicacious and chilling analysis of the nature of trust and truth and the erosion of both in the age of the internet,” explores the damage which these false narratives have on the lives of the victim’s friends and families.

This adaptation is unlikely to be Sarnoski’s next project however, as the up-and-coming director was previously tapped to helm an upcoming instalment of John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place franchise, so fans might be waiting a while to see Drnaso’s work hit the big screen.

 

 

Dragonlance and Spelljammer announced for D&D

Minsc and boo spelljammer

Wizards of the Coast  have announced a raft of new products for the world’s most played RPG, Dungeons and Dragons, as part of their D&D Direct (which can now be viewed on YouTube).

First off, the new D&D Movie will be called “Dungeons & Dragons – Honor Among Thieves” which will have a release date of March 3rd, 2023.

The big news is that Spelljammer: Adventures in Space will be the next new campaign setting. This setting mixes piracy and high-seas themes with space fantasy, which means it’s the D&D setting with big wooden ships in space.

The campaign setting will be a set of three books in one slip-case, each a 64-page hardcover book.

The Astral Adventurer’s Guide™: A campaign setting book that includes space-based character options, spells and magic items, deck plans and descriptions for spelljamming ships.
Boo’s Astral Menagerie™: Featuring over 60 creatures found in Wildspace and the Astral Sea, including astral elves, cosmic horrors, lunar and solar dragons, murder comets, and space clowns.
Light of Xaryxis™: An adventure for Dungeon Masters set in the Astral Plane and designed for characters of levels 5–8.

The set will also have a double-sided poster map of the Rock of Bral, an asteroid-city that can serve as both an adventure location and a campaign hub in the Astral Plane, as well as a four-panel Dungeon Master’s screen designed for use with the books in this set.

Lead Games Designer Chris Perkins has told the press that this book was a passion project of his that was produced during the pandemic.  The setting draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources, everything from classic RPG Star Frontiers to the Tobe Hooper movie, Life Force.  Those familiar with the previous versions of Spell Jammer may be interested to learn that Phlogiston, the ‘sea of space’ has been abandoned in favour of the Astral Sea. The concept of Realm Space (the local mystic space-sea for various D&D settings will be covered in another product, the forthcoming Spell Jammer Academy).  There will also be a soundtrack available for Spell Jammer.

Dragonlance is coming back to D&D later this year. They will launch two products; a battle game called Warriors of Krynn and a D&D adventure/setting book called Shadow of the Dragon Queen. The book will be a complete campaign, with setting specific information, races (such as Kender), Orders of Wizards and Knights and so on. The book will feature a lot of cameos for fans of the original 80’s game, but the focus is on the player characters. A major villain from Dragonlance features heavily in the book though Wizard’s have not confirmed which one it is. (Though Lord Soth didn’t appear in Ravenloft, so it seems likely he’ll be here.)

The two products will synergise with each other.  The new books will be set during the War of the Lance, the same period of time as the original Dragonlance books from the 80s.  It’s a new story and will feature some of the major villains from the War of The Lance storyline.  Scenarios and battles are designed so you can flip from epic battle mode to more traditional RPG styles.

The new Starter Set – Dragons of Stormwreck Isle has also been announced. It promises to have a few sneaky references to the classic Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon and has been stream-lined to be very accessible to new players. Though it’s not connected thematically to the other two starter sets, it does seem to be designed to capture young imaginations.

They’ve also announced a new range called Campaign Case. There will two types; the Terrain case will let you create a flat terrain/ dungeon and the create case will let you add monsters.  Speaking of miniature style things, Wizkids are producing a D&D themed skirmish game called  D&D Onslaught.

Scott Bakula Joins Steven Soderbergh-Produced DIVINITY

Scott Bakula to star in Steven Soderbergh-produced Divinity; still from NCIS: New Orleans

Steven Soderbergh and Eddie Alcazar’s upcoming indie Divinity has topped off its cast, announcing that Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap, Star Trek: Enterprise) and Bella Thorne (The Babysitter) were joining the production.

Deadline also confirms that Chris Santos, Danielia Maximillian, Lydia Bielen, and Emily Willis, will join the previously announced Stephen Dorff (1998’s Blade), Jason Genao (Logan, The Get Down), Moises Arias (Ender’s Game), Karrueche Tran (The Nice Guys), and Mike O’Hearn (World’s Finest).

Divinity follows two mysterious brothers (Genao and Arias) hellbent on stopping a mogul (Dorff) who is close to unravelling the secrets behind immortality. Meanwhile, a seductive woman (Tran) helps them launch a journey of self-discovery.

Little else is yet known about the sci-fi thriller, nor do the casting announcements come with any news on who the newcomers will be playing. However, sources report that Divinity is aiming to wrap production ahead of the film festival circuit, so we should have updates for you soon enough.

This marks Soderbergh and Alcaraz’s second collaboration, having previously partnered on the latter’s sci-fi feature debut Perfect; for Divinity, Alcaraz will once again be in the director’s seat, with Soderbergh in a producing role.

 

Alma Har’el To Direct Adaptation of Walter Tevis’ MOCKINGBIRD

Mockingbird sci fi novel cover

Honey Boy filmmaker Alma Har’el has found her next feature project, an adaptation of Walter Tevis’ seminal science fiction novel, Mockingbird. 

The novel, which was first published in 1980 and nominated for the prestigious literary Nebula Award, paints a post-apocalyptic future in which the human population is in dramatic decline – those who survive spend their days in narcotic bliss or choose a quick suicide over slow extinction. Setting in which art, children, and books are a thing of the past, humanity’s future hinges on a love triangle between a suicidal android, a man, and a woman.

Walter Tevis is also known for having penned The Man Who Fell to Earth, which has recently been adapted to series starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Naomie Harris; the show premieres later this week, April 24th.

Mockingbird book cover by Walter Tevis

The Searchlight Pictures film will be produced by Oscar-winner J. Miles Dale (Nightmare Alley, The Shape of Water) and Robert Schwartz (Iron Will), alongside Har’el and her partner Christopher Leggett. Alejandro Laguette and Rafael Marmor are also on board to exec produce.

“I’ll never forget the first time I read Mockingbird on the shore of the Sinai peninsula in Egypt when I was 24 years old,” said Har’el. “This book has changed my life and I’ve been pursuing it for over a decade. I knew that Searchlight was the perfect home for it and I’m thrilled they are partnering with me to bring this to the big screen.  Walter Tevis wrote a novel that refuses genre and time, choosing instead to awaken every fibre of your being.”

Har’el is additionally in production on Apple TV+’s Lady in the Lake, itself based on the mystery novel by Laura Lippman, and which stars Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong’o. Har’el created the series, serves as executive producer and directs all the episodes.

 

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE Delayed, MADAME WEB Sets Date

Miles Morales, Peter B. Parker and Gwen-Stacy in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Sony Pictures has announced that the theatrical release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is being pushed back from October 7th of this year to June 2nd, 2023. Its prior release slot will instead be filled by the live-action/CGI musical comedy Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.

Across the Spider-Verse is the first of a two-part sequel to 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse, coming from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Meanwhile, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse II has been confirmed for a March 29th, 2024 release.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part One teaser

Shameik Moore returns as the voice of Miles Morales, a teenage Spider-Man who is transported to another universe where he comes into contact with Spider-Man 2099 (aka Miguel O’Hara), voiced by Oscar Isaac. They will join forces with a new team of Spider-People to face off against a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.

The returning cast also includes Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen and Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker/older Spider-Man, with Issa Rae joining the sequel as Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman.

Though fans are likely disappointed about the added eight-month wait, the new June 2023 release date promises an exciting summer for Spider fans. Also announced is Madame Web’s premiere date, which has been set for July 7th, 2023, and will star Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney.

 

 

 

Horror Channel Celebrates Genre History with Vintage Vault

horror channel vintage vault

Sundays nights throughout May will be the time to celebrate the history of genre cinema as Horror Channel presents The Vintage Vault, a season of double bills of horror and sci-fi classics. These films include the cream of the Universal Horror cycle and the best of the Atomic Terror and Creature Features from the ‘50s.

The full line-up is:

May 1st

9pm – The Invisible Man (1933)

10.25pm – Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

May 8th

9pm – The Mummy’s Hand (1940)

10.20pm – Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943)

May 15th

9pm – It Came From Outer Space (1953)

10.35pm – Tarantula (1955)

May 22nd

9pm – Revenge of the Creature (1954)

10.35pm – It Came From Beneath the Sea (1956)

May 29th

9pm – Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956)

10.40pm – The Mole People (1957)

For more information, head over to http://www.horrorchannel.co.uk

Tune in on Sky 317, Virgin 149, Freeview 69, Freesat 138.