For fans of Dark Shadows, there’s another stake to the heart for the genre favourite property.
Previously, The CW and Warner Bros. TV were looking to develop a new TV series titled Dark Shadows: Resurrections. Unfortunately, that show has now been axed before it could even really get going.
First reported by TV Line, Dark Shadows: Resurrections is no longer in development at The CW and never actually made it to the pilot stage.
Dark Shadows: Resurrections was to serve as a sequel show of sorts, bringing the beloved and creepy Collins family into the modern day. Revenge’s Mark B. Perry had penned a pilot episode for Resurrections.
The original Dark Shadows ran from 1966 to 1971, with Tim Burton then serving up a Johnny Depp-fronted Dark Shadows movie in 2012.
Having been referenced for several seasons now, The Walking Dead is finally to show us Lucille.
Via ComicBook.com, Hilarie Burton has joined the show as Negan’s deceased wife Lucille. The actress is likely best known for playing her six-year tenure on One Tree Hill and was more recently seen in the now-axed Lethal Weapon TV series.
Coincidentally, Burton is the real-life wife of Negan star Jeffrey Dean Morgan. And now, she’ll be playing Morgan’s screen wife in an episode that will utilise flashbacks to show Negan and Lucille together.
Of course, Negan would go on to name his trusty barbed-wire baseball bat after Lucille once the world turned to shit.
The Walking Dead is due to return to action early next year.
Following hot on the heels of certain other genre favourites being axed, we now have the sad news that the plug has been pulled on Castle Rock.
Via Deadline, Hulu has opted to cancel Castle Rock after two seasons. This report actually states that there was never a plan for the series to get a third season, and that the decision to scrap Castle Rock was actually made earlier this year.
Many had thought that a third season of Castle Rock may surface on HBO Max, but that is seemingly not the case for the Stephen King-driven show.
Having heard earlier this year how an Orphan prequel movie was in the works, now comes new that the original film’s main attraction is returning to cause chaos and carnage.
Courtesy of Variety, Isabelle Fuhrman will be reprising her Orphan lead role for a prequel picture that’s now titled Orphan: First Kill – having previously been titled simply Esther.
In Jaume Collet-Serra’s 2009 Orphan, Fuhrman was initially depicted as a troubled child named Esther. The kicker there, though, is that Esther was really a 33-year-old murderous psychopath called Leena Klammer.
At the time of Orphan’s release, Isabelle Fuhrman was 12 years of age and portraying a 9-year-old child. Here in 2020, the actress is nowadays 23 years of age and obviously a fully-grown adult. To get around this issue, Deadline reports that Orphan: First Kill will utilise a combination of forced perspective and extensive make-up work to make Fuhrman once more look like her character from that first movie.
The early words on Orphan: First Kill reads:
Leena Klammer orchestrates a brilliant escape from an Estonian psychiatric facility and travels to America by impersonating the missing daughter of a wealthy family. But Leena’s new life as “Esther” comes with an unexpected wrinkle and pits her against a mother who will protect her family at any cost.
In addition to Isabelle Fuhrman, Orphan: First Kill has also brought in the Bourne franchise’s Julia Stiles, and The Boy’s William Brent Bell will direct from a screenplay in place from Prey’s David Coggeshall.
At this stage, Dark Castle Entertainment and Entertainment One have yet to formally announce a release date for Orphan: First Kill.
While last month saw the core cast of Johannes Roberts’ Resident Evil reboot announced, now comes word on a hugely pleasing addition to the film.
Via Deadline, major genre favourite Donal Logue is heading to Raccoon City as RCPD Chief Brian Irons. In recent times, Logue is best known for playing Harvey Bullock in Gotham’s five seasons, and his previous credits unlike roles in the like of Sons of Anarchy, Blade, The Cloverfield Paradox, Vikings, Sneakers, The Patriot, Ghost Rider, Zodiac, and Shark Night.
Logue joins a Resident Evil picture that will features Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, Robbie Amell as Chris Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine, Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy, Tom Hopper as Albert Wesker, and Neal McDonough as William Birkin.
To be based on the first two stunning entries in the Resident Evil video game franchise, this new Resident Evil movie is tentatively expected to hit cinemas at some point next year.
Of course, this live-action film isn’t to be confused with Netflix’s animated Resident Evil series or live-action Wesker-centric series that are both in development right now.
In some news that admittedly went under our radar over the weekend as we celebrated Halloween, Clive Barker is returning to the realm of Hellraiser.
If you remember, earlier this year saw HBO give the thumbs up for a Hellraiser TV series. And now, Deadline is reporting that the iconic Barker has joined the project as an executive producer. Barker’s 1986 The Hellbound Heart novella was our first introduction into the world of Pinhead and his Cenobites – and that concept was spun into the first Hellraiser movie just a year later.
On this news, Clive Barker enthused, “Delighted the Hellraiser mythology is seeing a new life. It’s time the stories went back to their roots. I’m eager to bring to a new audience the most powerful and ancient elements of horror: the darkest evil invading our human lives and how we must find in ourselves the power to resist it.”
Already, this Hellraiser show has the 2018 Halloween’s David Gordon Green signed on to direct the pilot episode, and Trick r’ Treat’s Michael Dougherty is on writing duties alongside Daredevil’s Mark Verheiden. Green is also executive producing the series with longtime collaborators Jody Hill, Danny McBride, and Brandon James.
From what we’ve heard previously – with the Hellraiser TV rights changing hands earlier this year – this series will maintain the mythology seen in the original Hellraiser films and will look to build on that established canon.
This Hellraiser TV offering won’t have any ties to or knock-on effect on Spyglass’ latest plans for a new Hellraiser movie that director David Brucker and writer David S. Goyer are working on.
To date, there has been ten Hellraiser films, although only the first four were released theatrically; the last of those coming in 1996 with Hellraiser: Inferno. The most recent outing for Pinhead and his Cenobites came just last year in the form of the direct-to-video Hellraiser: Judgment. In addition to those features, the franchise has also included further books, comics, and even a video game.
As ever, expect more on all things Hellraiser as they continue to develop.
With The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope now out on PC and consoles, now comes word on that next installment in this most chilling of video game series.
For those who’ve already managed to complete Little Hope, you’ll have already seen the teaser for the next outing in the franchise – with the series returning with The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes in 2021.
It’s not yet been confirmed which platforms House of Ashes will be released on, although it seems pretty likely that this next Dark Pictures offering will land on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC.
To add further anticipation to House of Ashes, the game will see the action moving over to the Middle East and centring on all sorts of myths and demons – including, for Exorcist fans, Pazuzu!
From Supermassive Games, the Dark Pictures series officially began life with the ghost ship-driven Man of Medan last year before continuing on with spooky witch shenanigans just last week with Little Hope. These games are the first two entries in what’s planned to be an eight-game franchise, with new releases to follow every month.
Of course, before Man of Medan, Supermassive whet their teeth with the phenomenal Until Dawn, which played like a classic slasher movie of yesteryear.
It’s with an incredibly heavy heart that we have to report that Sir Sean Connery has died. The iconic actor was 90 years of age.
When it comes to genre legends, they don’t get much bigger or better than Sean Connery. Forever associated with the James Bond franchise – in which he had seven outings as 007 – Connery fell into acting in his early 20s after three years in the Royal Navy and an enthusiasm for bodybuilding that saw him come third in the 1950 Mr. Universe competition.
Bond is what Sir Sean will so often be thought of for, but Connery had far more strings to his bow than just 007. At the 1988 Academy Awards, he won the Best Supporting Actor gong for his turn in Brian DePalma’s The Untouchables. Elsewhere, Connery is also fondly remembered for his roles in the likes of The Rock, Highlander, The Hunt for Red October, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Man Who Would Be King, Murder on the Orient Express, Robin and Marian, and of course Zardoz.
Sir Sean’s family confirmed his passing earlier today, with him survived by his wife of 45 years Micheline Roquebrune, his son Jason Connery, and a grandson.
The thoughts of all at STARBURST go out to the family, friends, and fans of a truly legendary figure.
The latest release from BFI Flipside is something we’ve been looking forward to! It’s a collection of rare British short films from the ‘40s to the ‘80s entitled Short Sharp Shocks.
It’s the 41st release from the Flipside strand, which highlights obscure films from the underbelly of British cinema. The untold story, if you will. The 2 disc Blu-ray release features the following short films:
LOCK YOUR DOOR Anthony Gilkison, 1949
Master storyteller Algernon Blackwood relates his own tale of an elderly spinster overcome by ghostly voices and a creeping sense of horror in a remote country cottage.
THE REFORMATION OF ST JULES Anthony Gilkison, 1949
There’s something strange in the sky as sci-fi and religious revelation collide – and only legendary Weird Fiction writer Algernon Blackwood can suggest an explanation.
THE TELL-TALE HEART J B Williams, 1953
Stanley Baker gives a virtuoso performance by candlelight as Edgar Allan Poe recounting his classic tale of horror.
DEATH WAS A PASSENGER Theodore Zichy, 1958
A chance encounter with an enigmatic nun on a train evokes eerie, half-forgotten memories of a perilous wartime escape attempt in occupied France.
PORTRAIT OF A MATADOR Theodore Zichy, 1958
An artist becomes unhealthily obsessed with his painting of a dead bullfighter in this bizarre tale of romance, intrigue, insanity and auto-suggestion.
TWENTY-NINE Brian Cummins, 1969
Promiscuous young man Baird (Alexis Kanner, The Prisoner) wakes up in a strange flat, wearing clothes that don’t fit, with a hangover and a half-remembered memory of a visit
to a strip club. What happened last night?
THE SEX VICTIMS Derek Robbins, 1973
The bizarre sight of a naked woman on horseback leads an unwary truck driver into a supernatural spiral of pursuit and destruction in rural England.
THE LAKE Lindsey C Vickers, 1978
The tranquil stillness of a romantic picnic for young lovers Tony (Gene Foad) and Barbara (Julie Peasgood, House ofthe Long Shadows) is threatened by echoes of the horrific violence that happened nearby in this hauntingly evocative ghost story from Lindsey Vickers (The Appointment).
THE ERRAND Nigel Finch, 1980
A soldier at an elite military institution is sent on a strange and increasingly nightmarish mission in this full-on fever-dream thriller from long-time Pete Walker collaborator David McGillivray (House of Whipcord).
Special features
Man With a Movie Camera (2020, 42 mins): interview with Twenty-Nine producer Peter Shillingford
A Crazy, Mixed-up Kid (2020, 43 mins): interview with David McGillivray, writer of The Errand
Telling Tales /Arthur Dent and Adelphi: Films in the Family (2020, 37 mins): Kate Lees, of Adelphi Films, discusses the family business and the discovery of 1953 short The Tell-Tale Heart, long believed lost
Almost Thirty (2020, 15 mins): interview with Renée Glynne, script supervisor on Twenty-Nine
Splashing Around (2020, 18 mins): interview with Julie Peasgood, star of The Lake and House of the Long Shadows
Image galleries for The Tell-Tale Heart, The Lake and The Errand
Script galleries for The Lake and The Errand
Gallery of the original short story The Errand
Newly commissioned sleeve artwork by renowned illustrator Graham Humphreys
***First pressing only*** illustrated booklet with an essay by BFI video producer Vic Pratt and curator William Fowler, co-founders of the BFI Flipside strand and Josephine Botting, curator in the BFI National Archive; notes and credits on each film and notes on the special features
Short Sharp Shocks is released on November 23rd and can be pre-ordered now.
While these past few months have seen show after show cancelled or delayed, there’s at least now some positive news to come from The CW’s Arrowverse.
Like so many other film and TV projects, this shared realm of shows had been placed on hold due to the ongoing global situation. Now though, The CW has moved to confirm premiere dates for the upcoming new seasons for this shared universe of capes ‘n’ tights.
First up, Season Two of Batwoman will premiere on Sunday, January 17. If you remember, Batwoman’s second year will see Javicia Leslie’s Ryan Wilder stepping up to take on the titular Scarlet Knight mantle after Ruby Rose opted not to return as Kate Kane.
After that, Black Lightning’s fourth season will premiere on Monday, February 8, and Season Seven of The Flash will speed to our screens on Tuesday, February 23.
Elsewhere, new show Superman & Lois will debut following The Flash on that February 23 date. In that series, Tyler Hoechlin’s Man of Steel and Bitsie Tulloch’s Lois Lane will be taking centre-stage alongside their twin sons.
Despite these announcements, season premiere dates have still yet to be set for the sixth seasons of Supergirl and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Those shows will return at a to-be-confirmed date later in 2021. As previously reported, this next season of Supergirl will sadly be the show’s final one, for the decision has been made to bring the adventures of Melissa Benoist’s Maid of Might to a close with this sixth season.
