Film Based On BEYBLADE Toy Franchise In Development

Beyblade anime

Producer extraordinaire Jerry Bruckheimer – the man you can thank for Top Gun, Crimson Tide, Con Air, Armageddon, Black Hawk Down and the Beverly Hills Cop, Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure and Bad Boys franchises (!) – is now developing a live-action film with Paramount based on the popular toy franchise Beyblade.

Deadline also confirms that Neil Widener and Gavin James are aboard to script the project, though plot details are being kept under wraps for now.

Beyblade is a line of spinning top toys that fight in a battle arena setting, similar in many ways to Pokémon – which just so happened to be the brand’s biggest competitor.

Bakuten uses Beyblade in anime

These toys have already been at the centre of countless mangas, animated television series, films, video games, and comic books, all primarily developed in Japan. But with many toy franchises like Transformers and Lego having received the cinematic treatment in recent years, it’s very possible that Beyblade could become the next brand to make it big in Hollywood.

Only time will tell. Stay tuned for further updates on the project.

 

 

 

 

 

Check Out an Exclusive Clip from THE LAST JOURNEY

last journey clip

The Last Journey is a sci-fi action thriller, starring Hugo Becker, Jean Reno, Lya Oussadit-Lessert, and Paul Hamy, which will be available on DVD and digital from March 7th. You can watch an exclusive clip of the film’s first 10 minutes below to whet your appetites.

Directed by Aware Lowri, the film won the Best Film Award at the famous Sitges Film Festival in 2020 and is produced by Fannie Pailloux and David Danesi. Here’s the synopsis:

The red moon threatens existence on earth. The only hope is the enigmatic Paul WR, the most talented astronaut of his generation. But a few hours before the start of his great mission, Paul disappears.

Altitude present The Last Journey on DVD and digital on March 7th.

BABYLON 5 Reboot Pushed To 2023

Babylon 5 space station from original series

Fans will have to wait a while longer still for the hotly-anticipated Babylon 5 reboot series, as The CW pushes J. Michael Straczynski’s project back to the next development season.

As we wrote in September last year when news first broke of plans for a “from-the-ground-up reboot” of the beloved 1990s series, the new series will centre on John Sheridan, an Earthforce officer with a mysterious and complicated background who is assigned to Babylon 5, a space station designed as neutral ground for galactic diplomacy and trade in the aftermath of several major inter-species wars.  Set during a subsequent and uneasy peacetime, Sheridan’s arrival “triggers a destiny beyond anything he could have imagined, as an exploratory Earth company accidentally triggers a conflict with a civilisation a million years ahead of us, putting Sheridan and the rest of the B5 crew in the line of fire as the last, best hope for the survival of the human race”.

Babylon 5 1990s series main cast

While the Babylon 5 reboot was intended for release this coming autumn, Straczynski updated the series status on his Patreon with some (temporarily) unfortunate news. As Deadline relays, the showrunner explained that the series concept was not being picked up: “99.999% of the time, that’s the end of the road for the project.”

However, the creator also explained that The CW’s CEO, Mark Pedowitz, is a “long-time fan of B5… Calling the [reboot] pilot ‘a damned fine script,’ he said he was taking the highly unusual step of rolling the project and the pilot script into next year, keeping B5 in active development while the dust settles on the [prospective] sale of the CW.”

“Here’s the bottom line: Yesterday, Babylon 5 was in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2022. Today, Babylon 5 is in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2023,” Straczynski clarified.

“That is the only difference.”

 

PRIMITIVE WAR Novel Is Being Adapted As Sci-Fi Horror Film

Primitive War novel being adapted to film

Luke Sparke, best known for directing the science-fiction action flick Occupation and its sequel, Occupation: Rainfall, will write and direct a film adaptation of Ethan Pettus’ first novel in the ongoing Primitive War book series, titled Primitive War: Opiate Undertow.

The film adaptation will come as a sci-fi horror set in 1968 Vietnam. The Primitive War film will follow a search and rescue team known as the Vulture Squad as they are sent to an isolated jungle valley to uncover the fate of a missing Green Beret platoon. As the team hunt through the primordial depths of the valley and the number of confirmed casualties grow, the Vulture Squad are forced to embrace their savage instincts if they are to survive the ancient horrors of the jungle… including the ultimate apex predators, the dinosaurs.

Pettus shared, “It’s a dream come true. Primitive War is a story that’s larger than life, and I think Luke and his team can make it into a cinematic masterpiece.”

Meanwhile, writer-director Sparke also expressed his excitement: “Dinosaurs in the Vietnam war? What’s not to love about that concept?! When I first heard about the books, I loved the ideas and concepts Ethan brought into them, and we’re shaping our film version into an exciting survival-horror film.”

 

 

 

MEG 2 Gets Some Fresh Bait

The Meg 2 adds to its cast

Meg 2: The Trench has added three new appetisers to its menu; Sienna Guillory (Resident Evil: Afterlife, Clifford the Big Red Dog), Skyler Samuels (The Gifted, Scream Queens), and Sergio Peris-Mencheta (Snowfall, Rambo: Last Blood) have boarded the Warner Bros. sequel to the very fun, 2018 shark attack film The Meg. 

Jason Statham of course returns as Jonas Taylor to fight the titular megalodon, with Cliff Curtis, Shuya Sophia Cai and Page Kennedy also reprising their roles from the first film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, which first broke the news, Peris-Mencheta will be playing one of Meg 2′s antagonists, a hard-edged mercenary. Guillory plays the head of an applied sciences division, while Samuels is one of Statham’s submarine crew.

Dog swimming away from The Megalodon; casting announcement for Meg 2

Next-to-nothing is known about the plot for this next film, but it’s reasonable to expect more gigantic sharks, blood, and action. And promisingly, the studio has tapped none other than Ben Wheatley – the man who directed High-Rise and In The Earth – to helm he adventure thriller sequel from a script by Jon and Erich Hoeber.

Meg 2: The Trench begun shooting last month in the UK, with a release date TBA.

 

 

[Updated] First Look at WALKING AGAINST THE RAIN

walking rain first

The feature debut of Black Mass director Scott Lyus, the apocalyptic monster road movie, Walking Against the Rain, has entered post-production and we have some first-look images to share.

The movie is a graphic tale of two strangers navigating their way through a barren landscape, was shot in fifteen days in locations including Kirklinton Hall & Gardens, Eden Valley Railway and Lake Buttermere.

Lyus’s UK-produced film, which he also wrote, stars Cruel Summer’s Reece Douglas, newcomer Sophia Eleni, Johnny Vivash (Book of Monsters) and James Swanton as monster creation ‘The Forsaken’.

The Forsaken creature design was created by renowned SFX artist Dan Martin (Host, Lords of Chaos).

Update February 24th:

The official poster for the film has now been revealed, designed by Colm Geoghegan’s Creepy Duck Design.

Director Scott Lyus commentated: “I am blown away with our official poster from Colm and Creepy Duck Design. It perfectly captures the threat of our humanoid creatures The Forsaken, while putting the human drama of Blair and Tommy’s story front and centre. I cannot wait to unleash this film on the world, and Colm’s artwork is the perfect tease.”

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Synopsis: Set six months after a biblical plague has fallen upon the world, WALKING AGAINST THE RAIN tells the story of two strangers, Tommy (Reece Douglas) and Blair (Sophia Eleni) who are navigating their way across a barren landscape in a desperate attempt to find each other. With their only form of communication being two soon-to-die battery-operated radio mics and with a new evil in the shape of ‘The Forsaken’ tracking them down, they must learn to confront loss and rediscover a trust in humanity. Or die.

Co-producers and long-term collaborators Scott Lyus and Chris Nials have created several successful short films, including Silently Within Your Shadow, Echoes of the Passed, and, most recently, the multi award-winning Black Mass, all of which have screened at the STARBURST International Film Festival.

Lyus commentated: “Production on Walking Against the Rain was a dream come true. The crew delivered above and beyond, with the cast bringing each character to life in breath-taking ways. I got to work with some of the most talented people in indie film, with everyone pulling in the same direction to create a unique and spellbinding monster movie. I cannot wait to put the film together and unleash it upon the world.“

WALKING AGAINST THE RAIN is a Crossroad Pictures production, written and directed by Scott Lyus. The film is produced by Scott Lyus, with Line Producer Chris Nails and Assistant Producer Mel Morley. The film is executive produced by Malcolm Winter and Monika Gergelova of M & M Film Productions and funded by Red Rock Entertainment.

TRUE HAUNTING Tells The Story Of The World’s First Televised Exorcism

True Haunting casts Erin Moriarty, who previously starred in Jessica Jones

The Boys’ Erin Moriarty and Jamie Campbell Bower (Stranger Things, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) have signed on to star in True Haunting, based on Edwin F. Becker’s book of the same name.

Directed by Gary Fleder (Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, Runaway Jury)  from a screenplay by Richard D’Ovidio (The Call, Hypnotic), True Haunting is based on a true haunted house story. When Ed and Marsha Becker (yes, same Becker family as the book author) purchased their first home, they soon discovered the house was haunted by the ghosts of a sinister family who had previously died there.

Desperate for help, the Beckers sought out an exorcism – which also turned out to be the first ever exorcism to be televised. The 1971 NBC news segment might have become a huge success, but the exorcism was not. Instead, it made things worse for the young couple who lived there. Much worse… This event was also the basis for the Paranormal Witness episode “The Tenants”, which aired in October 2012.

Moriarty and Campbell Bower will presumably play Ed and Marsha, with further casting yet to be announced. In the meantime, check out some creepy footage from the infamous NBC report.

KRAVEN THE HUNTER Casts Its Chameleon

Marvel supervillain Chameleon is the half brother of Kraven the Hunter

Kraven the Hunter has added Fred Hechinger to its cast. The Pam & Tommy and Fear Street star joins Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Russell Crowe – the latter in an unknown role – in the upcoming entry to Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters.

Meanwhile, rumour has it that Hechinger will play the Chameleon, Spider-Man’s first ever adversary who debuted in the initial issue of The Amazing Spider-Man in March 1963. The supervillain is usually depicted as a master of disguises, known for his ability to impersonate virtually anybody. More relevant still is that Chameleon is also the half-brother of Kraven the Hunter.

Other Spider-Man spinoffs in development at Sony include the long-delayed Morbius, which still looks to release next month, and a Madame Web film starring Dakota Johnson. Kraven the Hunter hails from director J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year, Triple Frontier) and has a screenplay by Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (Iron Man, Men in Black: International) and Richard Wenk (The Equalizer).

 

Frank Grillo Plays A Cult Leader In His Son’s Directorial Debut

Frank Grillo to star in Man's Son -- still taken from Boss Level

Frank Grillo (Captain America and Purge franchises) will soon play a cult leader in Man’s Son, a modern horror thriller from his son, first-time director Remy Grillo.

The story centres on a young couple hoping to create an aesthetically pleasing audition tape for an upcoming Charles Manson film – making the feature’s title a clever play on words. However, when the couple chooses an eclectic desert Airbnb as the perfect backdrop, the dark events of the audition reel begin to bleed into their reality, until they find themselves entwined in an occult leader’s (Grillo Sr.) sinister plot.

The script is inspired by real-life occult activity in the California desert, reports Deadline, and is written by newcomers Josh Plasse and Brev Moss.

Man’s Son is scheduled to start production next month in Yucca Valley, California. The thriller does not yet have a release date.

 

Simu Liu Joins Sci-Fi Thriller HELLO STRANGER

Shang-Chi star Simu Liu joins cast of Hello Stranger

Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings star Simu Liu is joining the cast of thriller Hello Stranger, which already includes Sam Worthington (Avatar franchise), Jordana Brewster (Fast and Furious franchise), Robbie Amell (The Flash, The Tomorrow People) and Alicia Sanz (From Dusk Till Dawn: the Series).

Hello Stranger follows Faye (Brewster), a woman who attempts to replace her recently deceased husband, Evan, with an android simulant (SIM). Although SIM Evan appears like human Evan in every way, Faye does not feel the same love for SIM Evan as it does for her. SIM Evan tries to win Faye “back” while at the same time as being on the run from a government agent who is chasing down SIMs who have become conscious and could pose a threat to the future of humankind.

It’s unclear at this time who Liu will be playing. The casting announcement, first reported by Deadline, follows the recent news that the MCU actor had boarded Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which also stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.  

April Mullen (Wander) directs Hello Stranger from a script by Ryan Christopher Churchill. Filming is currently underway in Canada.