Paramount To Adapt The CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE Trilogy

Novel cover for Tomi Adeyemi novel Children of Blood and Bone

Following an intense bidding war, Paramount Pictures has landed the rights to the Children of Blood and Bone fantasy series based on the YA novels by Nebula and Hugo Award-winning writer Tomi Adeyemi.

Children of Blood and Bone follows a young orphan named Zélie Adebola as she attempts to restore magic to the kingdom of Orïsha, in defiance of the ruling class kosidáns’ brutal oppression of her people, the magic-practicing Maji. The Nigerian-American author’s debut novel released in 2018 with its sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, releasing in 2019. The third and final book is rumoured to be out in 2023.

Book cover for Children of Blood and Bone sequel

Deadline reports that multiple studios, including Universal, Amazon and Netflix were in the mix to acquire the property, considered to be one of the more notable YA IPs since The Hunger Games. Adeyemi will adapt, write the script and executive produce the film adaptation, which is being fast-tracked at Paramount with a guaranteed theatrical release. Also aboard to produce are Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen of Temple Hill Entertainment (which produced the Maze Runner and Twilight film series) and Karen Rosenfelt of Sunswept Entertainment (which made the Percy Jackson films).

“Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone has not only become a phenomenon in the YA world, it has transformed every expectation of what world-building fantasy can be,” stated Co-President of Paramount, Daria Cercek. “It’s with enormous pride that our studio – along with Tomi and our partners Wyck, Marty and Karen – set out to bring this franchise to life on the big screen. With its thought-provoking and timely themes, we know that this story will resonate with a global audience.”

 

 

 

Pete Davidson To Star In THE HOME, From THE PURGE’s James DeMonaco

The Home : The King of Staten Island star Pete Davidson to star in DeMonaco's The Home horror thriller

Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson is set to star in The Home, a new horror thriller from The Purge helmer James DeMonaco.

Davidson has been cast as Max, a troubled young man who begins work at a retirement home and soon realises that its residents and caretakers harbour sinister secrets. As he investigates the building and its forbidden fourth floor, he begins to unearth connections between the home and his own upbringing as a foster child.

The Home is just the latest addition to Miramax’s excellent horror series slate, which includes Halloween, Scream, Dracula and Hellraiser. The studio’s Bill Block and Sebastian K. Lemercier will produce, with DeMonaco and Adam Canto sharing writing duties. Production is scheduled to begin later this month, likely with eyes on a release at the end of the year.

Davidson proved his acting star potential last year with an incredible turn in Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island, as well as his role in Hulu’s comedy, Big Time Adolescence and a small but hilarious role in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.

 

Horror Channel Announce February Premieres

horror february

A host of fabulous premieres have been announced for February on Horror Channel, with something to keep everyone in front of the screen.

Receiving a UK TV premiere are Colin Minihan’s What Keeps You Alive and Paul Hyett’s tale of manipulative technology Peripheral.

Peripheral

The movies screening are:

Saturday, February 5th – The Midnight Man (2016)

Saturday, February 12th – Death Trench (2017)

Sunday, February 13th – What Keeps You Alive (2018)

Saturday, February 19th – Devil (2010)

Friday, February 25th – Peripheral (2018)

Saturday, February 26th – Zombeavers (2014)

The Midnight Man

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

Tune in on Sky 317, Virgin 149, Freeview 68, Freesat 138.

PIG Director Michael Sarnoski To Tackle A QUIET PLACE Spinoff

Michael Sarnoski to direct A Quiet Place 3

Following Jeff Nichols’ departure from the project in October last year, Paramount Pictures has tapped Pig director Michael Sarnoski to helm the as-yet-untitled A Quiet Place spinoff, according to Deadline. Sarnoski would also assume writing duties.

Little is known about the upcoming instalment, other than it is based on an idea from A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II actor-director John Krasinski. Neither a prequel nor direct sequel to the aforementioned titles, this third film would be a spinoff still set in the same silent, creature-filled world. Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller are producing alongside Krasinski and partner Allyson Seeger.

The Nicolas Cage-fronted Pig is Sarnoski’s first feature directorial effort, a thriller-drama which put the filmmaker on the map and earned him the Chicago Film Critics Association’s Most Promising Filmmaker award last year, as well as the National Board of Review Award for Best Directorial Debut. The film has also put Cage in the Best Actor Oscar conversation.

 

Dave Grohl Makes Killer Music In Foo Fighters’ STUDIO 666 Trailer

Dave Grohl in Foo Fighters horror Studio 666

Dave Grohl goes full Dave Ghoul on his Foo Fighters bandmates in the first full trailer for their horror-comedy feature, Studio 666. 

Written by Jeff Buhler (Pet Sematary, Grudge) and Rebecca Hughes and based on an original story by Grohl, Studio 666 is inspired by the true story behind the band’s tenth album Medicine at Midnight. The setting for the film, a mansion in Encino, California is the same house in which the band recorded said album, and a site which Grohl believes is haunted. As he succinctly told NME, “when we walked into the house in Encino, I knew the vibes were definitely off but the sound was fucking on.”

The band’s frontman reported strange happenings at the time: instruments would be detuned overnight, recording software would experience interference, tracks would be deleted and new ones would appear with strange open mic noise. The band then set up secret cameras and captured unexplainable appearances… exactly what those were however, they cannot disclose.

Dave Grohl in Studio 666 trailer

“When we found out about the history of the house,” Grohl recounts in that same interview, “I had to sign a fucking non-disclosure agreement with the landlord because he’s trying to sell the place. So, I can’t give away what happened there in the past but these multiple occurrences over a short period of time made us finish the album as quickly as we could.”

NDA or not, it seems the events provided Grohl with plenty of inspiration for this wacky haunted house comedy, which is directed by BJ McDonnell – though we hope the rock icon going full murder demon, “one flew over the cuckoo’s nest crazy” on his bandmates is a strictly fictionalised element. Alongside the Foo Fighters, Studio 666 also stars Whitney Cummings, Leslie Grossman, Jenna Ortega, Will Forte and Jeff Garlin.

Studio 666 releases February 25th. Watch the trailer below.

 

 

Zoe Kravitz Is On The Run In Cyber-Thriller KIMI

Zoe Kravitz stars in Kimi from director Steven Soderbergh

HBO Max has released the trailer for Kimi, a new sci-fi cyber-thriller from Steven Soderbergh starring The Batman‘s Zoë Kravitz as an agoraphobic voice-stream interpreter, who becomes convinced that she has overheard a murder.

The titular KIMI is a voice-activated digital assistant not unlike Amazon’s Alexa; unsettlingly, it also records every sound and image around their homes, feeding its parent company invaluable insights into people’s personal lives. Set during the COVID-19 pandemic in Seattle, Kravitz’s unnamed, blue-haired protagonist discovers evidence of a violent crime while reviewing a KIMI data stream; when she tries to report it to the device’s company however, it becomes clear that those in charge will do anything to keep secret just how invasive their technology really is.

Directed from a script by David Koepp – whose credits include Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, Panic Room and Mission: Impossible, Soderbergh’s latest also stars Byron Bowers, Jaime Camil, Erika Christensen, Derek DelGaudio, Robin Givens, Charles Halford, Devin Ratray, Jacob Vargas and Rita Wilson.

Kimi will stream exclusively on HBO Max from February 10th. Watch the trailer below:

VAN HELSING The Complete Collection is Available Now

van helsing

Dazzler Media has released the final season of hit fantasy-horror series Van Helsing, alongside The Complete Collection boxset. The show is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and download-to-own now.

 

Van Helsing has become one of the most exciting and entertaining fantasy-horror shows of recent times, combining brutal action with compelling storytelling and memorable characters. Inspired by the Helsing graphic novel series, the show has gone on to earn a loyal fan following worldwide.

Following an event referred to as “The Rising”, vampires now dominate the world. Vanessa Van Helsing (Kelly Overton, True Blood, Legends), the great-great-great-granddaughter of vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, is resurrected to lead the surviving humans in their struggle against the vampires.

 

 

Van Helsing The Complete Collection features all 65 episodes from every season, including the eagerly awaited fifth and final season.

You can WIN a copy of Season 5 here.

You can buy Van Helsing here.

Dystopic Fever Dream BOY KILLS WORLD Casts Andrew Koji

Boy Kills World casting announcement

Snake Eyes and Warrior star Andrew Koji joins the ensemble cast for the action-fantasy film Boy Kills World, from first-time feature director Moritz Mohr. Sam Raimi and Roy Lee are on board to produce, with Bill Skarsgard (It, Hemlock Grove), Jessica Rothe (replacing Samara Weaving, who had to exit the project due to scheduling conflicts), Isaiah Mustafa (It: Chapter Two, Shadowhunters) and Yayan Ruhian (The Raid, Beyond Skyline) also starring.

Described as a one-of-a-kind action spectacle, the wittily-titled Boy Kills World is set in a dystopian fever-dream reality and follows a boy who deaf and mute, and who possesses a vibrant imagination. When his family is brutally murdered, he escapes to the jungle and is taken in by a mysterious shaman who teaches him to repress his childish imagination, and trains him to become an instrument of death.

Arend Remmers pens the script with Tyler Burton Smith, from a story co-created by Remmers and Mohr. Production on the action flick is due to begin early this year.

THE NEVERS Star Joins Marvel’s Halloween Special

The Nevers star Laura Donnelly cast in Marvel halloween special

Laura Donnelly, best known for her starring role in the science fiction drama The Nevers, has joined Gael Garcia Bernal (Old, The Motorcycle Diaries) in Marvel Studios’ untitled Halloween special for Disney+.

In typical Marvel fashion, plot details are being kept under lock and key, but Deadline reports that Bernal will likely be playing a character based on Werewolf by Night. The mantle was given to two separate characters in the comics, Jack Russell and Jake Gomez, both of whom are able to transform into a werewolf while retaining their human intellect.

Marvel's werewolf by night for halloween special on Disney+

Although it seemed more likely that Bernal would play Russell, given Gomez is a 17-year-old Native American in the comics, the synopsis posted to Production List reads:

“A new Werewolf by Night is prowling the Southwest, but all is not as it seems! A young man, a family curse and an unholy experiment prove a dangerous combination for a small town in Arizona. All young Jake wants is to protect his people, but who will protect him from the monster within?”

If Bernal plays Russell, it could well mean that Donnelly will take on the role of Nina Price/Vampire by Night, his niece and a vampire-werewolf hybrid. Unlike her uncle, Price cannot control her werewolf instincts, and turns into a white wolf rather than a humanoid werewolf. Otherwise, it’s unclear who else the actress would play in the upcoming project.

Could it be that the Halloween special will feature both Werewolves by Night? Or will Bernal play another role entirely? Your guess is as good as ours. On the upside, answers will undoubtedly come soon – with production starting next month, you can expect the special to land on Disney+ as early as Halloween 2022!

Cynthia Erivo Develops Savant Abilities In BLINK SPEED

Cynthia Erivo to star in and produce Blink Speed

Two-time Academy Award nominee and British actress Cynthia Erivo (who, at just 35 years old, is already just an Oscar shy of an EGOT) is set to star in and produce Blink Speed, an upcoming Netflix science fiction film.

Erivo will play a woman plagued by a rare and mysterious savant ability, which she suddenly develops following a near-death experience. Turns out, her new skill may also be the key to unlocking the truth behind her fractured memory and past.

The film, which is co-produced by Matt Jackson (The Trial of the Chicago 7, Molly’s Game), is based on a short story by Virex trilogy and Helix author Eric Brown. Brown is also on board to write the screenplay.

Blink Speed is just the latest in a long line of projects for Erivo, who will next be seen opposite Tom Hanks in Disney’s Pinocchio (the Disney live-action adaptation, not the identically-titled Guillermo del Toro film that’s also releasing this year) and is currently in production on Luther with Idris Elba. And if that’s not enough, she will also be beginning production on Jon Chu’s Wicked this summer, starring as Elphaba opposite Ariana Grande.