Mark Ruffalo Joins Emma Stone in Frankenstein Reimagining

Marvel star Bruce Banner confirmed for Poor Things

Mark Ruffalo has recently been confirmed to star opposite Emma Stone in the upcoming Frankenstein re-imagining Poor Things, the latest project from The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Lobster director Yorgos Lanthimos.

Based on the 1992 novel by Scottish author Alasdair Gray, the synopsis is enough to intrigue even the most casual fans of Gothic literature:

Ostensibly the memoirs of late-19th-century Glasgow physician Archibald McCandless, the narrative follows the bizarre life of oversexed, volatile Bella Baxter, an emancipated woman, and a female Frankenstein.

Bella is not her real name; as Victorian Blessington, she drowned herself to escape her abusive husband, but a surgeon removed the brain from the foetus she was carrying and placed it in her skull, resuscitating her.

The revived Bella has the mental age of a child. Engaged to marry McCandless, she chloroforms him and runs off with a shady lawyer who takes her on a whirlwind adventure, hopping from Alexandria to Odessa to a Parisian brothel. As her brain matures, Bella develops a social conscience, but her rescheduled nuptials to Archie are cut short when she is recognized as Victoria by her lawful husband, Gen. Sir Aubrey Blessington.

Emma Stone will of course be playing Bella Baxter and, though unconfirmed, we think it’s safe to assume that Ruffalo will be taking on the role of Archibald McCandless, aka the Doctor Frankenstein of this particular story – though we don’t remember Victor having the hots for his lab experiment.

The news comes after Mark Ruffalo secured his first Golden Globe win last February for his lead turn in HBO’s limited series, I Know This Much Is True. Right now, he is reportedly in production for Marvel’s She-Hulk series, in which he will reprise his role as Bruce Banner/the Hulk – production for Poor Things is scheduled to begin this autumn, with rumours that Willem Dafoe and Ramy Youssef may also join the cast. Nothing is certain yet though, so stay tuned for further casting announcements.

 

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH BEGINS D&D DROW FEST

LEGEND OF DRIZZT Michael Witwer

Wizards of the Coast have announced that this summer will be filled with things inspired by one of their beloved characters, namely the heroic drow Drizzt Do’Urden.

For those unfamiliar with the character,  Wizard’s have produced a short animated piece called “Sleep Sound”, which explains the fascinating origins of the white-haired elf, written by the character’s creator R.A. Salvatore and narrated by none other than Benedict Cumberbatch, who is apparently a fan of Salvatore’s long running fantasy series.

This short video is just the beginning however.   Drizzt and companions will appear in a new book coming out in August 2021 called Starlight Enclave.  The author describes it as ‘a place he wants to go to have some adventures. It will be the first part of the Way of The Drow series and will introduce the Starlight Elves, a culture of Drow that readers will not have encountered before.

Drizzt will also be a character in the forthcoming third-person action role-playing gameDungeons and Dragons Dark Alliance.  Heavily inspired by 2001’s Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance video game, this new game is set to come out late June.  Based loosely on the the first Drizzt book, The Crystal Shard, the game appears to be a heavy button smashing experience with fabulous graphics and iconic monsters to fight.

Fans of Drizzt themed art are also likely to excited by next release for world beating card game, Magic The Gathering. The forthcoming Adventures in the Forgotten Realms expansion for Magic The Gathering comes out in late July 21 and will feature a host of iconic Drizzt inspired heroes and monsters. So a huge bonus for fans of spider-queens and the like.

This release has kicked off a series of rumours about a new animated series or possible guest appearances of the character in the  either the D&D TV or forthcoming movie. This is very unlikely, but we are sure this is not the last we have seen of  Drizzt Do’Urden.

Jenna Ortega joins the Addams Family in Tim Burton’s WEDNESDAY

Actress Jenna Ortega holding script to Tim Burton Netflix series Wednesday, cast as Wednesday Addams

Tim Burton has cast 18-year-old Jenna Ortega as the titular Wednesday Addams for Netflix’s upcoming Addams Family spin-off series, which is simply titled Wednesday.

The eight-episode show has been touted as a sleuthing, supernaturally inclined mystery that will reintroduce fans to Wednesday Addams as a student of Nevermore Academy. Also serving as a coming-of-age story, the Burton-directed and -produced series will see the beloved Addams family member learn to master her emerging psychic abilities, investigate the cause of a killing spree terrorising the local town, and solve a mystery from her parents’ past – à la gothic Nancy Drew, aided by a ragtag team of fellow students.

You may recognise Jenna Ortega from recent projects like the psychological thriller series You and Netflix’s family comedy Yes Day, in which she starred opposite Jennifer Garner and Édgar Ramírez. But rest assured, this won’t be Ortega’s first incursion into the supernatural or horror(ish) genres: she previously showcased her spooky acting talents in Insidious: Chapter 2 and The Babysitter: Killer Queen, and is sure to dazzle once again in the upcoming Scream 5 film. So, who better to entrust the cult character’s legacy to?

There is no word yet on who might be joining the young actress on Burton’s TV directorial debut, but it’s still very early days on the project; more casting announcements are sure to follow in coming months. Until then, fans can look forward to seeing Wednesday return to the big screen in The Addams Family 2, with Chloë Grace Moretz back to voice the character.

 

Horror Channel Goes RABID in June

horror june

The June line-up for Horror Channel has been unveiled and it includes the channel premieres of a pair of FrightFest alumni – the Soska Sisters’ reimagining of Rabid and Jon Knautz’s The Cleaning Lady, co-written and starring Alexis Kendra (The Goddess of Love).

Rabid

 

Rabid, a remake of the David Cronenberg classic, airs on June 12th. It follows a fashion designer who has a revolutionary plastic surgery procedure following an accident. Unfortunately, her the success her new-found beauty brings her comes with a blood lust.

The Cleaning Lady

The Cleaning Lady also includes a scarred woman who gets a little too involved with an unfaithful beautician (Kendra). It screens for the first time on the channel on June 26th.

Alexis Kendra (The Cleaning Lady)

For more information, head over to http://www.horrorchannel.co.uk/ Tune in on Sky 317, Virgin 149, Freeview 68, Freesat 138.

INDIANA JONES 5 Adds Two Marvel Actors to its Cast

indiana jones

The long-delayed and eagerly awaited (by the more forgiving fans at least) fifth entry in the Indiana Jones cinematic universe is all set to finally go before cameras this summer, meaning hang on to your potatoes – there’s a lot more casting announcements to come over the next month or so!

Following on from the recent, and quite wonderful, news that Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen will be along for the adventure (the latter praising the screenplay to be “everything I had hoped for”), comes news of two more additions: Boyd Holbrook and Shaunette Renée Wilson.

Boyd Holbrook in Logan (2017)

Shaunette Renée Wilson at the premiere of Black Panther (2018)

Holbrook will be very familiar to many us after his turns in Logan and The Predator, while Wilson is best-know for her roles in TV series The Resident and Billions. MCU fans will also know her as one of Wakanda’s warrior force, the Dore Milaje.

As we’ve come to expect, all further details such as who they’ll play and what dusty relic Dr. Jones will be chasing this time are completely under wraps for now, but what we do know is that Stephen Spielberg is letting director James Mangold (also Logan) crack the whip this time out (Spielberg will instead produce), Harrison Ford is raring to go, and John Williams will once again create a no-doubt iconic score.

Looking for something to tide you over until we get what looks to be Ford’s swansong as the character? Don’t forget that you can exchange a fortune for glory in the form of the lavish-looking 4K Blu-ray box-set hitting shelves on June 7th!

Indiana Jones and the No Confirmed McGuffin as of the Time of Writing will hit cinemas July 22nd, 2022.

Joe Cornish and John Boyega Back for ATTACK THE BLOCK 2

Attack the Block

It’s somehow ten years since Attack the Block first made its way to the silver screen. To be precise, John Cornish’s picture hit UK cinemas on 13 May 2011. And now, there’s confirmation that a sequel is finally on the way.

Via Deadline, Cornish and star John Boyega have both signed deal to return for what is currently titled Attack the Block 2.

On this news, writer/director Cornish enthused, “I’m thrilled we’re officially announcing our return to the world of Attack the Block on the tenth anniversary of the film’s release. I can’t wait to work alongside John again, bringing audiences an even bigger slice of inner-city alien action”.

In Attack the Block, Boyega’s Moses was the leader of a UK street gang who end up finding themselves positioned as the unlikely defenders as an alien invasion threatens Earth.

For his part, being able to bring Moses back to the screen has been labelled a “huge honour” by John Boyega, who stated how this character is one of the favourite roles of his career.

No plot details or further cast/crew members are known at this early juncture, but expect more on Attack the Block 2 as we get it.

MTV Movie Awards Premieres New MCU Sneak Peeks

mtv

Amongst the myriad teases at last night’s MTV Movie & TV Awards (including the encouragingly slick trailer for G.I. Joe spin-off Snake Eyes), came two new clips from forthcoming MCU projects worthy of your attention.

First up, ahead of its July 9th drop in cinemas and Disney+ Premier Access, Scarlett Johansson (winning the Generational Award) introduced this new sneak peek at an action sequence from Black Widow:

Looking forward to Loki? Us too. And with a few weeks away until its June 9th premiere on Disney+, we’ve just got enough time to squeeze in a few more teases like the following promo, which introduces us to Owen Wilson’s Agent Mobius:

For more from the MCU, here’s a complete rundown of every MCU project heading our way over the next three years…

2021

  • Loki – (Disney+) June 9th
  • Black Widow – (in cinemas) July 9th
  • What If…? – (Disney+) August
  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – (in cinemas) September 3rd
  • Eternals – (in cinemas) November 5th
  • Hawkeye – (Disney+) TBC
  • Ms. Marvel – (Disney+) TBC
  • Spider-Man: No Way Home – (in cinemas) December 17th

2022

  • Thor: Love and Thunder – (in cinemas) February 11th
  • Moon Knight – (Disney+) TBC
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – (in cinemas) March 25th
  • She-Hulk – (Disney+) TBC
  • Black Panther II – (in cinemas) July 8th
  • Captain Marvel II – (in cinemas) Nov 11th
  • The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special – (Disney+) December

2023+

  • Secret Invasion – (Disney+) TBC
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – (in cinemas) TBC
  • Ironheart – (Disney+) TBC
  • Armor Wars – (Disney+) TBC
  • I Am Groot – (Disney+) TBC
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – (in cinemas) TBC
  • Blade – (in cinemas) TBC
  • Fantastic Four – (in cinemas) TBC
  • Deadpool 3 – (in cinemas) TBC
  • Untitled Wakanda Series – (Disney+) TBC

Aubrey Plaza and Danny DeVito Parent the Antichrist in LITTLE DEMON

Danny DeVito and Aubrey Plaza announced to star in new show Little Demon

Little Demon will see Danny DeVito – as none other than Satan himself – get Aubrey Plaza pregnant. Their wee bundle of joy? Only the Antichrist.

Take a moment to digest if you need to, and let’s dive into what we know. Plaza (Legion, Child’s Play, Parks and Recreation), DeVito (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Jumanji: The Next Level, Batman Returns) and Lucy DeVito (Mr. DeVito’s daughter in the real world and fellow actress) are among the voice cast of FXX’s upcoming half-hour animated horror sitcom, Little Demon.

Per the logline, Little Demon takes place thirteen years after the maculate conception (yes, you can check the dictionary), and sees a reluctant mother (Plaza) and her Antichrist daughter (Lucy DeVito) try their best to live an ordinary life in Delaware. That could prove just a tad little difficult, as their plans are constantly thwarted by monstrous and mundane forces. Among said forces is evil incarnate, aka dear old dad, aka the Devil, who desires custody of his daughter’s soul. Not exactly your run-of-the-mill custody battle but, to greatly paraphrase Leo Tolstoy, family is messy.

Created by Darcy Fowler, Seth Kirschner, and Kieran Valla, the team will also welcome Rick and Morty and Community creator-writer Dan Harmon as one of the executive producers, alongside Aubrey Plaza and the DeVito’s. Little Demon is also the newest addition to FXX’s growing animated show family, which includes the long-running and greatly acclaimed Archer and short-form anthology Cake. The show has been in the works for a year now, but finally received a series order this week.

Little Demon seems to have all the delicious ingredients for a riotous show, and promises an exciting new entry to the ever-expanding genre of adult animated sitcoms.   Throw a little horror in there and you can count us sold, even if this writer would give a non-essential toe for this to be live action. Consider it a standing offer.

 

Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill return in ENOLA HOLMES 2

Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes reading newspaper

Some good news for fans of Millie Bobby Brown’s plucky sleuth-in-training, as Netflix finally confirms that Enola Holmes will indeed be returning for a sequel! Considering Enola Holmes remains in the top ten most-watched Netflix movies of all time, it seemed unlikely that the streaming giant would pass up another easy payday, but it’s still nice to see it in writing.

Enola Holmes 2 will of course see Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown return as the youngest of the Holmes siblings, with DCEU star Henry Cavill following suit in his role as the much drooled-over Sherlock Holmes.

Enola Holmes writer Jack Thorne and director Harry Bradbeer will reunite as the creative brains behind the sequel, and though Helena Bonham Carter and Sam Claflin have yet to be confirmed, it’s likely that they too reprise their roles as Holmes matriarch Eudoria and disapproving eldest brother Mycroft, respectively.

Just what the plot to this instalment might be is yet unknown but, considering the first film followed the events of the Nancy Springer’s The Case of the Missing Marquess, it’s likely that Enola Holmes 2 would adapt The Case of the Left-Handed Lady, namely the second entry in The Enola Holmes Mysteries. In this, Enola discovers a hidden cache of charcoal sketches belonging to a Lady Cecily, a girl who recently vanished without a trace.

If that proves true, then the next casting announcement will likely be for Lady C! Stay tuned.

US Remake of BBC’s GHOSTS Adds to Cast

bbc ghosts

For every mega-hit like The Office, there’s an aborted Spaced or Red Dwarf.  We’re talking US remakes of classic British sitcoms here, and while they can on occasion be incredibly successful, the humour more often than not gets lost in translation. (Not that we as a country fair much better, it has to said – ever see our remake of The Golden Girls? Oof.)

Showrunner Greg Daniels and The Office team successfully bucked this trend by wisely borrowing the universal archetypes of Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant’s 13-episode masterpiece, ditched the scripts after a single episode, and created a rich new universe that consistently delivered huge laughs and plenty of heart over the course of nine years. Attempts to port the idiosyncrasies of Spaced were anything but ‘fried gold’, and despite two cracks at it, Red Dwarf crashed and burned.

Next up is BBC’s hit genre comedy Ghosts, which shot its US pilot in December and has since been greenlit for a full series. It makes the headlines again this week as it’s been reported via Deadline that Doom Patrol’s Devon Chandler Long (Flex Mentallo) has joined the cast as a series regular, the Viking Thorfinn, one of the titular spirits. Long will join leads Rose McIver (iZombie), and Utkarsh Ambudkar (The Mindy Project). (And that’s it, so yes, basically we’ve just used Devan as an excuse to voice our trepidation on the project and pimp the original!)

bbc ghosts

Devan Chandler Long

For those who haven’t had the pleasure of checking out the BBC series yet (all available on iPlayer), it follows a young couple – Alison (the supernaturally likable Charlotte Ritchie) and Mike (Stath Lets Flats’ Kiell Smith-Bynoe) – who inherit a mansion. After Alison gets into an accident, she goes full-Hayley Joel Osment and can now see that their new home is riddled with a whole host of interesting dead folk, ranging from a monosyllabic Neanderthal to a Tory numpty. Written and co-starring the talented ensemble of comedians previously best known for bringing the Horrible Histories books to life – Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, and Ben Willbond – the show not only has a superb, potential-filled premise, but it’s damn funny to boot. It’s also rare in that its comedy has a wide-ranging appeal, it’s occasionally more adult-skewing gags never too blue for the younger members of a household.

In short: please don’t ruin it, CBS.

And don’t get us started on their planned remake of This Country.