Disney Developing a SPACE MOUNTAIN Movie

Space Mountain

Following the news that Disney’s Haunted Mansion is getting the movie treatment once more, now comes word of another of the House of Mouse’s famed attractions getting its own feature film.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Disney has brought in Joby Harold to write a film based on Space Mountain. Harold is currently working on the Disney+ Obi-Wan Kenobi series and has also been involved in penning Zack Snyder’s upcoming Army of the Dead picture, and he’ll be producing Space Mountain with his wife Tory Tunnell through their Safehouse Pictures banner.

The Space Mountain rollercoaster opened at Florida’s Walt Disney World Resort back in 1975, before Disneyland then delivered its own version of the ride. Since then, Space Mountain has become a prime feature of the Disneyland parks in Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.

While plot specifics are not known at this early juncture, Space Mountain is being pegged as a family adventure movie that Disney is determined to giving a full cinema release to rather than taking the option of having the film go straight to Disney+ or home video.

Of course, Disney has had huge success with its Pirates of the Caribbean franchise – which was similarly based on a ride – and there’s currently a Jungle Cruise movie on the way next year.

As ever, expect more on Space Mountain as it develops.

Space Mountain

Seth Grahame-Smith to Serve as GREEN LANTERN Showrunner

Jessica Cruz Simon Baz

With a Green Lantern TV series having been in some form of development for a while now, the series has finally landed itself a showrunner.

Courtesy of Variety, Seth Grahame-Smith will be overseeing the adventures of the Emerald Knights. Marc Guggenheim will be writing Green Lantern alongside Grahame-Smith.

Seth Grahame-Smith is likely best known for working on The Lego Batman Movie and Dark Shadows, with him also having penned the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies novels.

As for what we know about HBO Max’s Green Lantern, the show’s debut season will consist of ten episodes and will feature several of DC Comics’ famed Emerald Knights. While Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and Kyle Rayner are currently not going to be featured in Green Lantern, we will get to see Jessica Cruz, Simon Baz, Guy Gardner, and the original Green Lantern Alan Scott taking centre-stage. Alongside these members of the Green Lantern Corps., we’ll also see the hulking GL trainer Kilowog and hero-turned-supervillain Sinestro.

Green Lantern is just one of several new DC-driven shows in development for HBO Max, with Justice League Dark, Peacemaker, and a GCPD-based The Batman spin-off all likewise on the way. Then there’s The CW, where the Arrowverse has Superman & Lois joining the existing ranks of Supergirl, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and Batwoman – although it was recently revealed that Supergirl will be coming to an end after its upcoming sixth season.

As ever, expect more on all of these new DC shows as we get it.

Netflix Renews JURASSIC PARK: CAMP CRETACEOUS

jurassic world

While the next big-screen outing for the Jurassic Park franchise has recently been delayed until 2022, there’s some good news for fans of Netflix’s Jurassic Park: Camp Cretaceous.

The on-demand streaming juggernaut has moved to officially renew Camp Cretaceous for a second season. And not just that, but Netflix has served up a fancy new clip to confirm that news.

It was only last month that Jurassic Park: Camp Cretaceous premiered on Netflix, but the show quickly impressed many. Tied to the first Jurassic Park picture, Camp Cretaceous centres on six teenagers who find themselves on a mission of exploration and survival on Isla Nublar.

Season Two of Jurassic Park: Camp Cretaceous has yet to be given a specific premiere date, although we know to expect the show’s return at some point in 2021.

Starburst Brave New Words 2020 Winner Announced

The winners of the Starburst Brave New Words Award and the Starburst Hero Award for Literature have been announced.

The awards were  part of the opening programming for Octocon 2020: The National Irish Science Fiction Convention via their Twitch stream. The awards were announced by the award-winning comedian John Robertson. The full ceremony was online and the video is embedded below.

The winner of the Brave New Words Award this year is Nisi Shawl for her work on editing New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color. The judges felt that Nisi had brought together an astonishing collection that challenged the readers and opened them up to new perspectives and ideas. This is very much what the Brave New Words Award is about.

The award is special version of Starburst Magazine’s own Robotto award, a shiny metal robot.

The Starburst Hero Award went to Commissioning Editor Jenni Hill.The Starburst Hero Award For Literature is an award for an outstanding contribution to genre literature. Specifically it’s aimed at people who are active in the industry and doing great work that helps change and improve the shape of genre literature. This year it is a leather shield, designed by Jez Hunt, a reknowned leather worker who produces outstanding work for fantasy movies.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2 Announced for October 2021

The Addams Family

Having won its fair share of fans last year, MGM has now announced a sequel to The Addams Family.

While things can obviously change at the drop of a hat these days, The Addams Family 2 has been given an October 8, 2021 big-screen release date.

The majority of the central Addams cast of that first movie – Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Krill, Bette Midler, and Snoop Dogg – will be back for this sequel, and Wanna Walton has signed on to play Pugsley Addams (in place of Finn Wolfhard) and Bill Hader will be playing a new character called Cyrus.

The Addams Family director Greg Tiernan will be in the saddle for more fun and frolics from the iconic Addams clan.

Kate Mulgrew to Return as Captain Janeway for STAR TREK: PRODIGY

Kate Mulgrew Captain Janeway

In some major news for Star Trek fans, Captain Kathryn Janeway is returning to action!

As revealed by Nickelodeon and CBS Studios during the New York Comic Con Star Trek panel, Kate Mulgrew will be picking up her Star Trek: Voyager Janeway role for the upcoming Star Trek: Prodigy animated series.

On this news, Mulgrew enthused, “I have invested every scintilla of my being in Captain Janeway, and I can’t wait to endow her with nuance that I never did before in Star Trek: Prodigy. How thrilling to be able to introduce to these young minds an idea that has elevated the world for decades. To be at the helm again is going to be deeply gratifying in a new way for me.”

From Emmy winners Kevin and Dan Hageman, and overseen by Nickelodeon, Naito, and executive producer Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek: Prodigy will centre on a group of lawless teens who stumble across an abandoned Starfleet ship and use it to embark on a slew of adventures.

At present, the CGI-driven Star Trek: Prodigy is planned to debut on Nickelodeon at some point in 2021.

Doctor Strange to Appear in SPIDER-MAN 3

Doctor Strange

Hot on the heels of Jamie Foxx reprising his Electro role for the Spider-Man: Far From Home follow-up, now comes the huge news that Benedict Cumberbatch’s Master of the Mystic Arts will be appearing in the film.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange will join Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in the next outing for ol’ Web-head. Given how the news of Foxx’s Electro turning up in the Far From Home sequel already had many thinking that the picture may incorporate the concept of the multiverse, the inclusion of Stephen Strange only further adds fuel to this particular fire – particularly as Sony Pictures has access to every Spider-Man movie to date.

We already know that the next solo movie for Strange will be Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and that opens up so, so many possibilities for the MCU – including having the respective worlds of Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men on the table. Foxx’s Max Dillon, of course, faced off against Garfield’s Wall-crawler in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

At present, the to-be-titled Spider-Man: Far From Home follow-up is set for December 2021, while Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will arrive on March 2022.

Gemma Chan and KiKi Layne Join DON’T WORRY DARLING

Gemma Chan

With Olivia Wilde directing and starring in hotly anticipated psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling for New Line Cinema, now comes word on two new additions for the film.

As first reported by Bloody Disgusting, Captain Marvel’s Gemma Chan and The Old Guard’s KiKi Layne have now boarded Don’t Worry Darling – joining Wilde, Florence Pugh, Chris Pines, and Harry Styles on the picture.

The early word on Don’t Worry Darling reads:

A psychological thriller about a 1950s housewife whose reality begins to crack, revealing a disturbing truth underneath.

Katie Silberman – who penned Wilde’s massively impressive Booksmart – is doing a rewrite of an earlier script put in place by The Silence duo of Shane and Carey Van Dyke.

Expect more on Don’t Worry Darling as it continues to develop.

Sam Raimi to Produce Supernatural Horror UMMA

Killing Eve

With Sam Raimi forever with his fingers in multiple pies, now comes word on an upcoming horror called Umma.

Via Deadline, Raimi Production, Sam Raimi, and Zainab Azizi will be produce supernatural offering Umma, and Killing Eve star Sandro Oh is on board to headline the picture.

The early word on Umma reads:

Umma, which is the Korean word for mother, follows Amanda and her daughter living a quiet life on an American farm, but when the remains of her estranged mother arrive from Korea, Amanda becomes haunted by the fear of turning into her own mother.

H7N3’s Iris K. Shim has penned Umma’s script and is on directing duties, with the rest of the cast including Fivel Stewart, Dermot Mulroney, Odeya Rush, Tom Yi, and MeeWha Alana Lee.

At this stage, Umma has yet to be give a release date.

GIANT BOULDER Cult Film Hits Prime

giant boulder

Way back in 2016, we screened a New Zealand film This Giant Papier-Mâché Boulder is Actually Really Heavy at our STARBURST International Film Festival. The director, Christian Nicolson, attended the event and received the Independents Day Award for his work. The film (and Christian) is lots of fun, and now you can finally view it in your own homes as it’s arrived on Prime Video!

The film tells the story of a three geeky friends who get zapped into the world of a low budget ‘60s B-movie. Christian plays the lead, and it’s full of low-fi references to well-known sci-fi hits. We wholeheartedly recommend it!

You can see the film for free if you’re a Prime member, or rent and buy it if you’re not. Head over to Prime to watch now. You won’t regret it!

If, like us, you prefer to have something to hold in your hands, you can buy the film on Blu-ray or DVD from Christian himself, by heading to https://thisgiantpapiermacheboulderisactuallyreallyheavy.com – there are also books and poster to grab too – tell him we sent you!

If you don’t believe how awesomely hilarious this film is, check out the trailer: