Disney+ Adding THE MUPPET SHOW, Including ‘Lost’ Seasons 4 and 5!

muppet show

After much fan-mithering, the House of Mouse has delivered and are finally releasing all five seasons of the classic variety series The Muppet Show on their streaming platform, Disney+!

With the DVD releases stopping at Season 3 in 2008, fans have been left without access to Seasons 4 and 5 for far too long, so this will certainly go a long way to make it up to Henson-heads who were, yet again, left bitterly disappointed by the latest Disney-produced Muppet project, Muppets Now. While not as appalling handled as the 2015 adult-skewing sitcom, Muppets Now felt stale and rushed, quickly putting paid to any notions that Disney had finally figured out what to do with the beloved creations.

While we leave them to have another crack at it, we can at least rest easy now that we’ve got the original show back in our lives and at the push of a button! Read on for what Kermit had to say about the news in a statement, and a quick Disney+ promo featuring that classic opening!

“It’s going to be great to welcome back longtime fans, and to give a new generation of fans a chance to see how we got our start, how Miss Piggy became a star and so much more. Today, I’m proud to say: ‘It’s time to play the music, light the lights and meet the Muppets on Disney Plus tonight!’ And as for Statler and Waldorf, the two old guys in the balcony, I can only add: ‘Sorry, guys, but… here we go again.”

Hopefully this aspect ratio won’t carry over to the episodes when they launch, as we all know it should be 4:3 and they’ll just have another controversy on their hands akin to The Simpsons debacle that they had to scramble to fix. Don’t you dare, Disney…

The Muppet Show will be available on Disney+ February 19th.

Horror Channel Unveils February Line-up

horror february

There’s a host of shockers and fantastic action in February on Horror Channel, including three premieres.

The Saturday night premieres start on February 6th with actor Jason Flemying’s directorial debut Eat Locals (2017). This bloodsucking comedy horror stars Mackenzie Crook, Dexter Fletcher, and Annette Crosbie and was a hit at FrightFest several years ago.

James Wong’s martial arts drama The One (2001) follows on February 13th, It stars Jet Li as a rogue Multiverse agent looking to kill alternate versions of himself. Also starring Jason Statham.

February 20th sees the UK TV premiere of Chee Keong Cheung’s Redcon-1 (2018) in which a zombie outbreak is tackled by a special forces team led by Mark Strange.

Elsewhere, you can catch favourites such as I Spit on Your Grave (2010), John Carpenter’s remake of Village of the Damned (1995), Splice (2010), Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tragic zombie thriller Maggie (2015), and the brilliant A Lonely Place to Die (2011).

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

Tune into Horror Channel on Sky 317, Virgin 149, Freeview 68, Freesat 138.

Screenlife Thriller SEARCHING Gets a Sequel

searching john cho

It’s been confirmed that a sequel to 2018 mystery thriller Searching is in the works. Will Merrick and Nick Johnson have been tapped to make their directorial debut on Searching 2, having worked as editors on the first movie.

Though plot details are still under wraps, the sequel will have little to do with its predecessor. Searching starred Star Trek’s John Cho as a father looking for his missing 16-year-old daughter (Michelle La) through clues left on her laptop. Searching’s mystery is told entirely through computer and smartphone screens, using CCTV footage, social media, instant messaging, and online banking transactions to communicate events. Arguably the most successful movie shot in the so-called “Screenlife” format to date, one may even go so far as to say that Searching is to Screenlife what The Blair Witch Project is to found footage.

And while Searching 2 will of course employ the same format as its predecessor, it will tell a brand-new story and feature a new cast of characters. Aneesh Chaganty, who directed the first film, explained that “with such restrictive visual parameters, a movie like Searching 2 requires a fresh visual style to separate it from the original. I’ve contributed what I can to this growing sub-genre. But if there’s anyone on the planet with the potential to take it even further, it’s Nick and Will, who were there from the beginning.” Chaganty will be involved as producer.

JOHN WICK Writer to Pen DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TV Show

JOHN+WICK

John Wick writer Derek Kolstad is to develop a Dungeons & Dragons TV-series for eOne, the entertainment media wing of toy and game manufacturer Hasbro.

Kolstad’s other recent projects include The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV mini-series for Disney+, and an adaptation of the Just Cause video game.

This news comes on top of recent reports that actor Chris Pine has been slated to star in a Dungeons and Dragons movie.

The tabletop game has enjoyed a huge revival in recent years thanks to shows such as Critical Role, Questing Time and Oxventure, as well as the game’s Fifth Edition, which has a far more accessible and inclusive rules-set.  The game has many famous players including the likes of Joe Manganiello, Jon Favreau, Felicia Day, Mark Meer, Dan Harmon,  Stephen Colbert and Rufus Hound.

Wizards of the Coast, the company that produces D&D for Hasbro, have been releasing a lot of content for the game recently, fleshing out the various worlds that players can visit. With mystery adventure setting Candlekeep slated to come out in March, the game already has fully realised settings that include things such as flying cities, draconic civil wars, dimension hopping wanderers, Hammer Horror style weirdness and much much more.

Time will tell if Kolstad will bring a world such as Dark Sun, Dragonlance or Eberron to life, or if he’ll invent something new. Given Kolstad’s previous work, STARBURST wonders if D&D’s very own bad-ass, the double scimitar wielding warrior Drizzt Do’Urden will feature.

LORD OF THE RINGS Series Synopsis Teases Its Main Villain

The highly anticipated Amazon Lord of the Rings series has finally, three years after it was announced, released its official synopsis!

“Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.

“Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.”

The Second Age was when the Rings of Power came into existence, hence the mention of “great powers [being] forged”, and it’s more than likely that “the greatest villain” is a reference to Sauron, rather than Morgoth. Amazon’s upcoming show is currently planned as a minimum five-season series, with between 8 and 10 episodes per season.

The show has also amassed a massive cast, including Robert Aramayo (Game of Thrones), Nazanin Boniadi (Scandal, How I Met Your Mother), Morfydd Clark (Saint Maud), Ismael Cruz Cordova (The Mandalorian), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Power, Arrow), Maxim Baldry (Years and Years), to name but a few recognisable names amidst a mostly unknown pool of talent. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director J. A. Bayona will direct the first two episodes, but no word yet on when we might expect the show to premiere.

Patrick Dempsey Returns With Amy Adams In ENCHANTED 2

Once upon a time (14 years ago, to be precise) Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams starred together in Disney’s live-action musical, Enchanted. Adams was Giselle, a fairy tale princess who was banished to New York City by her evil stepmother (Susan Sarandon) before she could marry our favourite himbo, Prince Edward (James Marsden).

After landing herself in Times Square, Giselle is reluctantly taken in by divorce lawyer Robert Philip (Dempsey), and the two eventually fall in love. After all, what woman can resist an Upper West Side apartment? And what man wouldn’t fall in love with someone with the power to summon a city’s worth of CGI pigeons, rats, flies, and cockroaches?

However, it would seem that ‘happily ever after’ was not quite the end of the story for the power couple, as Dempsey recently confirmed he will return for the ominously titled sequel, Disenchanted. McDreamy broke the news during an interview with Good Morning America, revealing he had “just got this script for the second movie.” With the film planned for Disney+, Dempsey hopes that, coronavirus guidelines permitting, “we’ll start shooting that in the spring, which is exciting.”
Amy Adams will also return (obviously), and the sequel will reportedly find Giselle “questioning her happily ever after and accidentally triggering events that make everyone’s lives turn upside down in both the real world and in the animated kingdom of Andalasia.”

Fingers crossed for more magical singing and dancing throughout Central Park (and no, the cockroaches’ choreography in Cats did not hit the spot). Amy Adams in a big poofy dress is our last hope to distract us from this Grimm reality.

New Trio of Horror Soundtracks Coming from Terror Vision Label

US-based reissue soundtrack label Terror Vision just dropped a promo video for the 2021 instalment of their subscription service, the Unhappy Campers Club, which gets fans exclusive versions of every title the label releases over the course of the year, along with bonus swag like t-shirts, enamel pins, a slipmat, a tote bag, and more.

While a fun, retro commercial vibe permeates the 40-second spot, the split-second shot of coming attractions is what really makes the video worth noting. While label head Ryan Graveface had mentioned that the label would be releasing the soundtrack for Tibor Takács’ 1987 horror film, The Gate, during a Mondo panel during the 2020 San Diego Comicon, we now know that Terror Vision will be bringing us the vinyl debuts of Don Peake’s score for the 1991 Wes Craven urban horror of The People Under the Stairs, as well as Richard Band’s score for the 1982 sorority slasher from Mark Rosman, The House on Sorority Row (better known here in the UK as House of Evil).

No details as to whether or not The Gate finally brings those metal songs to the public for the first time or if The House on Sorority Row features the power-pop cuts from 4 Out of 5 Doctors, the band who plays the movie’s party sequence, but we have our fingers well-crossed in hope.

Subscriptions can be acquired here: https://www.terror-vision.com/store/terror-vision-subscription

First Look at MORTAL KOMBAT

first look mortal kombat

The popular video game is heading back to cinemas with 2021’s Mortal Kombat and we have the first look images for you. Directed by Simon McQuoid for New Line Cinema, the film stars Lewis Tan (Deadpool 2), Jessica McNamee (The Meg), Josh Lawson (Bombshell), and is produced by James Wan, Todd Garner, E. Bennett Walsh, and McQuoid. The film will be released worldwide by Warner Bros Entertainment and is based on Oren Uzeil’s Mortal Kombat: Rebirth and with a screenplay by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham.

The synopsis is as follows:

MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down.  Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with.  Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark.  Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.  But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?

First Look Images (click to expand):

It’s the Ultimate Gross-over! Get Ready for MADBALLS vs. GARBAGE PAIL KIDS…

Freddy vs Jason. Alien vs Predator. Godzilla vs King Kong. Kramer vs Kramer. We love a good crossover here at STARBURST, and today brings news of one that we NEVER saw coming, an event designed to send the ‘80s kids amongst us into a nostalgia overload…

Later this year, the stars of gross-out ‘80s bubblegum card phenomenon the Garbage Pail Kids will go head-to-head with Madballs, the iconic ‘80s toy series that took your humble sports ball and gave it an equally grotesque spin. If you ever owned one, you’ll know that while they were indeed very cool-looking (to us weirdos at least), their function as an actual ‘ball’ was sorely lacking, useless for accurately bouncing or kicking. But look at that protruding, bleeding eye!!! Eww! Awesome!

 

Quite what Screamin’ Meemie, Wolf Breath, Skull Face and the rest of the Madballs gang have against the GPK remains unclear, but the beef will play out over a variety of merchandise ranges including Topps trading cards, action figures, vinyl collectables, clothing lines, pins, a mobile game, and comic books. (What, no movie?!)

Who will you be rooting for in this crossover?

For more info on this partnership, visit Licensing International.

Netflix Casts Lashana Lynch and Emma Thompson in MATILDA Film

netflix matilda

After news that Captain Marvel’s Lashana Lynch (who, according to legends, will also star in the fabled No Time To Die) was joining Netflix’s musical feature adaptation of Matilda, the streaming giant also confirmed that two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson and newcomer Alisha Weir had been cast in their upcoming film.

After adapting Roald Dahl’s 1988 children’s novel into the stage musical back in 2010, Dennis Kelly will this time adapt the stage show book into the film’s screenplay. Joining him is fellow Matilda alum Matthew Warchus; Warchus directed the West End musical and will now direct this feature adaptation. Having raked in their fair share of Olivier’s and Tony’s during Matilda’s West End and Broadway runs, it’s safe to say Netflix’s project is in capable hands.

Warchus had previously said that, “Matilda will be an imaginative and fresh retelling of the award-winning musical, Matilda, featuring talented young newcomers, alongside established stars. I look forward to introducing this beloved and powerful story to a new generation of fans around the world.”

The story centres on an ultra-bright young girl (Weir) who discovers she has magical abilities and uses them to overcome bullies and protect her school friends. Miss Honey (Lynch) is the sweet teacher who encourages Matilda’s academic prowess and love of books while, in a perhaps unexpected casting decision, cruel headmistress and hammer throw champion Miss Trunchbull will be played by Thompson.

It was previously reported that Ralph Fiennes would be taking up Miss Trunchbull’s mantle, and reasons for the casting change are still unclear. Mara Wilson, who starred in the 1996 Danny DeVito movie as non-other than Matilda, has expressed interest in making a cameo appearance.