The Delta Film Awards Return!

delta awards

Once a mainstay on the festival scene, the Delta Film Awards are returning this year at their natural home, the Festival of Fantastic Films.

The Delta Group was a band of enthusiastic amateur filmmakers who got together in the ‘60s and had fun making shorts. This later developed into regular meetings of like-minded fans and the launch of the Festival of Fantastic Films in 1990. That festival returns this year, and the Delta Film Awards are back. Short films are being invited to enter (uniquely, for free!) and there will be three award categories: science fiction, horror, and fantasy. The overall winner will be presented with the inaugural Norman J. Warren trophy.

Named after the late director who was a regular at the festival and much-loved by all who attends, the award will honour his memory and celebrate the art he loved.

From the Festival committee:

“‘New wave’ British horror director Norman J. Warren was a fan of the festival and attended most years, as both official guest and regular punter. A friend and an inspiration – truly “the nicest man in the business” – he always had time to talk to people, encourage fledgling filmmakers, chat with fans and discuss his films. Norman died in 2021.

He is very much missed but his memory lives on. Our best-in-festival short film award has been named in Norman’s honour.

The DELTA Awards incorporating the NORMAN J WARREN trophy: we hope to attract submissions from genre filmmakers around the world. Entry is free, and we are looking for short films in three categories: Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy.

The festival judging panel will award a Delta to the best Science Fiction short film, the best Horror short film, and the best Fantasy short film. The best film overall will receive the Norman J Warren Trophy.

We are pleased to confirm that the Chair of Judges for 2022 is cult screenwriter, critic and ‘Truffaut of smut’ David McGillivray, a lifelong friend of Norman’s. They met in 1967 when Norman was editing his first feature, Her Private Hell. Subsequently, David wrote two screenplays for Norman, Satan’s Slave (1976), and Terror (1978). Part of Susu (2018), Norman’s final film which he produced, was shot in McG’s house in London’s King’s Cross.”

David McGillivray – himself a wonderful raconteur and jolly nice chap (although he’ll deny it) will be in attendance at the event, which takes place at the Pendulum Hotel, Manchester on October 28th – 30th, 2022. Also confirmed as attending is League of Gentleman/Ghost Stories writer Jeremy Dyson. Tickets are available from Eventbrite and you can find updates on further guest announcements at https://fantastic-films.uk.

Filmmakers can submit their shorts to the competition via FilmFreeway.

The 2019 festival line-up with the organisers:
Pauline Peart, Norman J. Warren, Janina Faye, festival co-founder Tony Edwards, Julian Richards, Dez Skinn, Giannetto De Rossi, Sergio Stivaletti, Dana Gillespie, and Gil Lane-Young

Last year’s festival was a subdued affair since the man fundamental in keeping the event going for so long, Gil Lane-Young passed away only weeks before it was due to take place. Thanks to the hard work and passion of those involved, it did take place and featured fan favourite Frazer Hines and the legendary Britt Ekland as guests. Previous guests have included Ray Harryhausen, John Landis, Roger Corman, Ingrid Pitt, Jean Rollin, Paul Naschy, Ruggero Deodato, Umberto Lenzi, Crispin Glover, plus many more. It’s unique, relaxed family atmosphere makes it a joy to attend. We’ll see you there!

George R.R. Martin Joins Forces With Marvel Comics

Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin is bringing his Wild Cards stories to Marvel Comics. Marvel is adapting Martin’s 1987 first Wild Cards book, which continued as a three decade-long anthology series with stories by over forty contributors.

Spanning more than 25 novels and 20 short stories, the Wild Card series is set in an alternate history of post-World War II United States and follows humans who contracted the alien Wild Card virus, one that rewrites DNA and mutates survivors. Of those that survive, many acquire crippling or repulsive physical mutations and are thereby known as “Jokers”. Meanwhile, a minority of survivors acquire superpowered abilities and become known as “Aces” – of those, the people who acquire powers deemed trivial or useless are known as “Deuces”.

“As my fans may already know, the Wild Cards World holds a special place in my heart,” the author stated. “So to have the privilege of announcing that an industry titan like Marvel is going to produce the narrative from the beginning as a comic book brings me no end of joy.”

Paul Cornell and Mike Hawthorne have signed on as writer and artist, respectively, to create the limited comics series for Marvel. “Wild Cards is still a unique take on super heroes, a creation story that’s influenced everything since, but still maintains its power,” Cornell said. “It’s an honor and a pleasure to bring all these wonderful stories to their natural home at Marvel, and I hope to give George, Melinda and the rest of the Wild Cards Collective the credit they deserve for making the super hero myth new again.”

There have also been previous attempts to adapt Wild Cards to television, most recently at Peacock.

Marvel’s Wild Cards: The Drawing of the Cards #1 hits stands June 1st. Check out the full cover art by Steve Morris below:

Wild Cards comic book at Marvel first issue

Picocon 39 -Apocalypse – announced for March 2022

Picocon, the UK’s smallest long-running Science Fiction convention, has finally announced  details of the event. The convention will be in-person, hosted at Imperial College, London, on March 5th. The theme will be Apocalypse. The event will be capped at 100 attendees.

On-site guests include: the multi-award-winning novelist Bryony Pearce, who is known for both her YA and Adult fiction and debut author Louise Mumford, who’s novel Sleepless has been critically acclaimed.  Online only guests include Detroit-based apocalyptic Sci-Fi author A.J. Flowers and the Edgar Allen Poe award winning writer, Brendan DuBois.

Content will be streamed online for those who cannot attend the physical event.

Picocon is the annual Science Fiction & Fantasy convention run by the Imperial College Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, ICSF. It usually takes place on a Saturday in late February/early March, at the Imperial College’s Student Union. The event usually involved talks, panels, games and a pub quiz. It has a strong tradition of intelligent sci-fi combined with playfulness.

Tickets can be purchased here.

F*CKING IDENTICAL TWINS Is The R-Rated Musical Comedy You’ve Been Waiting For

Megan Thee Stallion, Bowen Yang, Nathan Lane to star in musical F*cking Identical Twins

A24 and Chernin Entertainment have set their sights on a new, star-studded, R-rated musical comedy titled F*cking Identical Twins, writes The Hollywood Reporter. 

The film is said to be a subversive twist on The Parent Trap, telling the story of two successful but rival businessmen who figure out that they are identical twin brothers and decide to trade places to get their divorced parents back together – yes, even as grown a*s men.

F*cking Identical Twins is written by Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, who also wrote the songs with Karl Saint Lucy. Jackson and Sharp will also star in the musical, with Borat director and Seinfeld alum Larry Charles directing.

The cast announced so far includes Nathan Lane (Only Murders in the Building, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels), Megan Mullally (Will & Grace, The Disaster Artist), SNL’s Bowen Yang and hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion in her acting debut.

Header image: Shareif Ziyadat/FilmMagic

 

 

Stephanie Beatriz And Paul Wesley To Star In HISTORY OF EVIL Horror

Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Stephanie Beatriz cast in History of Evil

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Encanto and In The Heights star Stephanie Beatriz will star opposite The Vampire Diaries’ Paul Wesley in the upcoming horror-thriller film History of Evil, Deadline reports.

The film follows a family on the run from a corrupt state, as they take refuge in a safe house with an evil past – a terrifying last stop on a near-future Underground Railroad. History of Evil is written and directed by Iranian-American filmmaker Bo Mirhosseni, with Shudder boarding the film. XYZ films and Two & Two Pictures are producing.

“We are thrilled to be working with XYZ and Two & Two Pictures as we continue to spotlight new and emerging storytellers within this genre, and Bo’s thrilling film debut is no exception,” said Emily Gotto, VP Global Acquisitions and Co-Productions at Shudder. “We are excited to have such talents as Stephanie and Paul on board to bring these dynamic characters to life and look forward to sharing the film with Shudder members.”

Filming is due to begin in spring this year, which likely means a release date at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023.

Rupert Grint Cast In M. Night Shyamalan’s KNOCK AT THE CABIN

Servant star Rupert Grint to star in Knock at the Cabin by M. Night Shyamalan

M. Night Shyamalan’s next horror-thriller feature, titled Knock at the Cabin, has cast Rupert Grint.

Deadline reports that the Harry Potter and Servant star (an Apple TV+ series also produced by Shyamalan) and Old‘s Nikki Amuka-Bird join the previously announced Dave Bautista (Army of the Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy). As always with films by the King of Twists, any and all details of the much-anticipated project are being kept under lock and key, in a vault, inside a bunker, buried underground.

This marks Rupert Grint’s first lead role in a big-budget film for many years. He is currently in production on season 4 of Servant, and will next be seen starring in Guillermo del Toro’s anthology series for Netflix, Cabinet of Curiosities.

Knock at the Cabin releases in cinemas February 3rd, 2023. 

 

 

John Cena To Star In Looney Tunes Pic COYOTE VS ACME

Coyote vs Acme film in the works starring John Cena

After getting a taste for speed in F9: The Fast Saga, John Cena is back for more in The Fast and Furry-ous. The Peacemaker star has been tapped to appear in the live-action and CG animation feature Coyote vs Acme, a Warner Bros. film centring on the Looney Tunes character, Wile E. Coyote.

Wile E. Coyote is the devious, hungry coyote who repeatedly attempts to catch and eat the Road Runner, but is only successful in catching the blue bird on rare occasions. Every episode, the coyote will hatch absurdly complex plans and build impossible contraptions in order to try and catch his prey, and these will usually backfire in extreme, comedic fashion. Many of the items he uses for his traps are mail-ordered from the Acme Corporation.

Wile E. Coyote gets his own film in Coyote vs Acme

Coyote vs Acme will tell the story of a down-on-his-luck lawyer (the human kind) who takes on Wile E. Coyote as a client in his lawsuit against Acme over its defective products. To make matters more complicated, the attorney soon finds out that Acme is being represented by his former boss.

That ex-boss will be played by Cena, though we don’t yet know what other cast members will join him. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows filmmaker Dave Green will direct the picture, with Chris DeFaria and James Gunn producing. Samy Burch writes the latest draft of the script, which is set on the 1990 New Yorker article “Coyote v. Acme” by Ian Frazier.

 

 

Third SONIC Film And KNUCKLES Spinoff Series Confirmed

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 confirmed at Paramount

With a full trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 only released last week, Paramount has already confirmed that a third Sonic film is currently in early development, in addition to a live-action series centring on the Idris Elba-voiced Knuckles, a character who will debut in the upcoming sequel. The series is set to launch next year, with a creative team yet to be announced – though Elba will reprise his voice role.

Idris Elba voices Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 super bowl ad

Sega CEO Haruki Satomi stated: “We are delighted to announce that the third Sonic theatrical film and the first live-action Sonic series for Paramount+ are being actively developed. We’ve got a remarkable partnership with Paramount, and we are excited to continue expanding the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise with them. 2022 is shaping up to be a significant year for the franchise with the second film being released this April, as well as Sonic Frontiers, the highly anticipated video game title, coming this holiday. Sonic has been beloved by fans across the world for over 30 years and we look forward to continuing to bring memorable moments and experiences to them for many years to come.”

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 joins an impressive line-up of movie projects at Paramount studios, including a fourth Star Trek film starring Chris Pine, and a third A Quiet Place instalment.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 releases April 8th in the US, and April 1st in the UK. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 does not yet have an anticipated release date.

 

 

 

Chris Pine’s Enterprise Crew To Return In STAR TREK 4

Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine to return for Star Trek 4

Finally, Chris Pine’s Enterprise crew is getting back together for a fourth outing. The J.J. Abrams-reboot, which begun in 2009, follows James T. Kirk (Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) in their early Starfleet years and takes place in an alternate reality, allowing the franchise to break from established continuity.

No casting deals on the new film have yet been confirmed, but Paramount will soon be entering negotiations for Pine, Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana and John Cho to reprise their respective roles from the trilogy as Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Bones, Uhura and Sulu. This is a long-awaited breakthrough for this fourth big screen outing, following a number of stumbles involving talent in front of and behind the camera.

Star Trek 4 logo

This time, it’s WandaVision director Matt Shakman who will direct, with Josh Friedman (Avatar 2) and Cameron Squires (WandaVision) rewriting a script from Lindsey Beer (Sierra Burgess Is a Loser) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel).

Abrams announced the news: “We are thrilled to say that we are hard at work on a new Star Trek film that will be shooting by the end of the year that will be featuring our original cast and some new characters that I think are going to be really fun and exciting and help take Star Trek into areas that you’ve just never seen before. We’re thrilled about this film, we have a bunch of other stories that we’re talking about that we think will be really exciting, so can’t wait for you to see what we’re cooking up. But until then, live long and prosper.”

The as yet untitled Star Trek instalment will land in cinemas December 22nd, 2023. 

 

 

J.K. Simmons and Ryan Kwanten To Star In Supernatural Horror GLORIOUS

J.K. Simmons, Oscar-winner for Whiplash, will star in Glorious

True Blood alum Ryan Kwanten and Oscar winner J.K. Simmons (who is again nominated this year for his role in Being the Ricardos and was most recently seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home) will star in supernatural horror film Glorious, Deadline reveals.

The film, which is almost completed, follows a young man (Kwanten) who is spiralling out of control after a messy breakup. His situation only worsens when he finds himself locked inside a rest stop bathroom with a mysterious figure (Simmons) speaking to him from an adjacent stall. As he tries to escape, he realises he is an unwilling player in a much bigger, graver situation than he first thought.

Rebekah McKendry (All the Creatures Were Stirring, Psycho Granny) directs from a script by Todd Rigney, Joshua Hull (Chopping Block) and David Ian McKendry.

James Norrie of AMP International, which has launched sales on the project, promises that “Glorious is so deliciously bonkers that people are going to be talking about it for years.” Meanwhile, McKendry adds that “Glorious speaks to my love of cosmic horror, gore, absurdist humour, philosophy, and the type of transgressive movies that leave you thinking, ‘I can’t believe I just saw that.'”

That sure sounds promising!