DOCTOR WHO Serial MARCO POLO Gets LP Release

marco polo

The latest release from Demon Records and the BBC is the long lost Doctor Who serial Marco Polo.
The William Hartnell-era story will be presented as a narrative TV soundtrack, with all seven parts pressed on four ‘desert sandstorm’ coloured vinyl. A must for any collector, we’re sure you’ll agree!

From the press release:

When the TARDIS breaks down in Central Asia, its occupants are met by the explorer Marco Polo. The year is 1289, and Marco is crossing the Gobi desert to Peking, for an audience with the emperor Kublai Khan. Marco sets his mind on offering the TARDIS as a gift to the Khan, despite the Doctor’s protests. The time travellers must endure a long journey, fraught with danger, as they join Marco’s caravan in the company of the treacherous warlord, Tegana. Can the Doctor ever win back his magical blue box?

Presented across 4 x 140g vinyl, with an etched TARDIS Side B, this 1964 TV soundtrack – no episodes of which survive as film recordings – is narrated by William Russell, who co-stars with Jacqueline Hill and Carole Ann Ford as the Doctor’s companions Ian, Barbara and Susan. Mark Eden co-stars as Marco Polo himself, with Derren Nesbitt and Zienia Merton among the supporting cast. Incidental music is composed by Tristram Cary, and the familiar strains of the Doctor Who theme are courtesy of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

The coloured vinyl LPs are presented in fully illustrated sleeves which, when assembled together, form the cover image. Original episode billings, and full cast and credits, are also supplied.

You can pre-order the album here.

Noah Centineo to Play Atom Smasher in BLACK ADAM

Noah Centineo Atom Smasher

For over a decade now, Dwayne Johnson has been on board to star in a Black Adam movie. And while the ongoing global pandemic has caused that film to again hit delays, the picture has now finally added a new cast member.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, Noah Centineo has signed on play Atom Smasher in Black Adam. Centineo is best known for To All the Boys I’ve Loved and for recently landing the gig of He-Man in Paramount’s Masters of the Universe reboot.

As for the character of Atom Smasher, Albert Rothstein has superhuman strength and has the ability to change size. Despite beginning life as a rival of Black Adam, he and Adam would go on to become pals over the years.

For those fans of The CW’s The Flash, you’ll have seen Atom Smasher turn up in the show’s second season, with WWE star Adam ‘Edge’ Copeland playing the character for a couple of episodes of the show.

The Shallows’ Jaume Collet-Serra is on directing duties for Black Adam, with the film yet to be given a set release date. The last we’d heard from Dwayne Johnson, he had tentative plans to start shooting Black Adam at some point in 2021.

Horror Channel Delivers a Host of UK TV Premieres This August

channel august

There are some great titles that first appeared at the annual FrightFest screening for the first time on Horror Channel this August, including four UK TV premieres.

Kicking the month off is The Windmill Massacre (2016) on August 1st. Killer Mermaids (2014) will draw you in with a Siren song on August 8th, while things get spooky with The Diabolical (2016) on August 16th. Barbara Crampton stars in the Carrie-esque Reborn (2018) on August 22nd and stranded students become victims of Witches in the Wood on August 29th.

Also screening on August 30th is the channel premiere of the John Cusak thriller Identity (2003), which also stars Rebecca De Mornay and Ray Liotta.

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

Tune into Horror Channel on Sky 317, Virgin 149, Freeview 70, Freesat 138.

Jon Hamm to Star in FLETCH

Jon Hamm Fletch

A new Fletch offering has seemingly been in development for a couple of decades by this point, but now the return of Irwin Fletcher is once more back on the table.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, Mad Men’s Jon Hamm has signed on to headline Warner Bros. and Miramax’s revamped Fletch. In addition to starring in the picture, Hamm will also serve as a producer on the project.

Superbad’s Greg Mottola is on directing duties for Fletch, with Chuck’s Zev Borrow penning the screenplay.

Plot details are remaining relatively hush-hush on Fletch right now, although it’s believed that the picture will pull inspiration from the second book in Gregory Mcdonald’s Fletch series, Confess, Fletch. In Confess, Fletch, I.M. Fletcher finds himself accused of multiple murders and has to prove his innocence whilst also trying to track down his fiancée’s stolen art collection.

The first of Mcdonald’s Fletch novels was release in 1974, with a further ten books following that original read, not to mention a spin-off series for Inspector Francis Xavier Flynn.

Most famously, Fletch was given the movie treatment in 1985 with Chevy Chase in the titular role. While that film was well received, 1989 sequel Fletch Lives was a stinker that killed off any plans for future Fletch movies.

In the years since then, Kevin Smith was at one point making plans to do Fletch Won with Mallrats star Jason Lee on headlining duties. Smith and Lee have always been gold together, and the prospect of a Fletch picture from that duo was something many genre fans were hoping would come to fruition. Sadly, that never happened, and more recent years saw We’re the Millers’ Jason Sudeikis circling a Fletch offering that ultimately likewise never came together.

Expect more on Jon Hamm’s Fletch as it continues to develop.

Netflix Adapting USAGI YOJIMBO as SAMURAI RABBIT

Samurai Rabbit

Well, this sounds all kinds of fun! Yes, as the headline suggests, Netflix is adapting Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo as an animated series.

The on-demand streaming juggernaut has announced that they’ve given a series order to a CG animated show to be titled Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles. The comedy-action series will also have James Wan and his Atomic Monster banner on producing duties alongside Sakai.

From Netflix, the official blurb on Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles reads:

Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles will tell the story of teenage Rabbit Samurai Yuichi, descendant of the great warrior Miyamoto Usagi, on his epic quest to become a true samurai. But he isn’t alone! He leads a ragtag team of misfit heroes – including a roguish bounty hunter, a cunning ninja, an acrobatic pickpocket, and a faithful pet lizard – as he battles depth-charging moles, metal-tipped winged bats, and monsters from another dimension, all in the pursuit to become the best samurai Usagi!

Stan Sakai’s Usaji Yojimbo was first published back in 1984, with badass rabbit Miyamoto Usagi at the centre of this tale. In addition to his own long-standing titles, Usagi has even gone on to appear alongside the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles both on comic book pages and on the TV screen.

As ever, expect more on Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles as it continues to develop.

Cox and Kinnear Team for Horror-Comedy SHINING VALE

Courteney Cox Greg Kinnear

With horror TV having had a huge surge in quality and popularity in recent years, now comes word on a new horror-comedy series on the way.

Via Deadline, Courteney Cox and Greg Kinnear are teaming for Starz pilot offering titled Shining Vale.

From Divorce creator Sharon Horgan and Trial & Error’s Jeff Astrof, Shining Vale is looking to be picked up for a full season of half-hour episodes.

The early word on Shining Vale reads:

Written by Horgan and Astrof, Shining Vale is about a dysfunctional family that moves from the city to a small town into a house in which terrible atrocities have taken place. But no one seems to notice except for Pat (Cox), the mom, who’s convinced she’s either depressed or possessed – turns out, the symptoms are exactly the same. Everyone has their demons – but are Pat’s real? Or is the portrait of a typical family torn apart by mental illness? Kinnear will play Terry Phelps, Pat’s sweet, sensitive husband.

Warner Bros. Television and Lionsgate are working with Starz on the pilot.

Shudder Announces Third Season for THE LAST DRIVE-IN

The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs

In some brilliant news for horror hounds, there’s plenty more Joe Bob Briggs content on the way over at Shudder.

Not only has Shudder moved to confirm a third season of The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs for next year, but there will also be a summer special, too.

Dubbed a ‘summer sleepover’ double feature, this special was taped before the world entered lockdown and will see Hatchet filmmaker Adam Green joining other special guests as they visit the trailer park. That special will air on August 14.

As well as confirmation of this summer special and a third season, Shudder revealed that there will be certain other The Last Drive-In specials for later in this year and into early next year – although exact specifics on those outings have yet to be served up.

Considering that 2018’s 24-hour The Last Drive-In marathon was intended to be Joe Bob Briggs’ swansong and final farewell as a TV host, it’s fantastic to see that the demand for Briggs and this most fantastic of shows means that there’s still plenty of The Last Drive-In antics still to come.

Kelly Marie Tran Joins Hulu’s MONSTERLAND

The Last Jedi

With Hulu currently working on Monsterland – a TV adaptation of Nathan Ballingrud’s North American Lake Monsters short stories – now comes word that Kelly Marie Tran has joined the series.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Star Wars star Tran has signed on to appear in an episode titled Iron River, MI, where she’ll play a woman who returns to her small hometown where her best friend went missing when they were 16 years of age.

In Monsterland, Tran joins Hannibal’s Jonathan Tucker, Booksmart’s Kaitlyn Dever, The Prodigy’s Taylor Schilling, and Luke Cage’s Mike Colter in the monster-driven anthology offering.

The early word on Monsterland reads:

Encounters with mermaids, fallen angels and other strange beasts drive broken people to desperate acts in an attempt to repair their lives, ultimately showing there is a thin line between man and monster.

Preacher screenwriter Mary Laws is the creator, writer, and executive producer on Monsterland.

The Soska Sisters to Helm BLINDSIDE Adaptation

Soska Sisters Rabid

In some fantastic news, Jen and Sylvia Soska have found their next project.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, the Twisted Twins will be tackling an adaptation of audio adventure game BlindSide. Jen and Sylvia will be writing and directing the picture, with the movie to have the title Unseen.

From Radar Pictures, the early word on Unseen has the film pegged as being “about a Boston couple who wake up blind in a terrifying world they cannot recognize. As the couple claw their way through this terrifying new reality, they fear their sanity slipping away. They sense the presence of a strange new species, one for which light is not a priority.”

In a public statement, the Soskas enthused, “Unseen is a horror film experience completely unlike any other before it. This film will truly bring the fear of the unknown to life by putting the focus of storytelling on what you hear.”

After making their feature film directing debut in 2009 with Dead Hooker in a Trunk, Jen and Sylvia have gone on to become major modern-day genre favourites thanks to offerings such as American Mary, See No Evil 2, Vendetta, and last year’s impressive remake of David Cronenberg’s iconic Rabid.

Expect more on Unseen as we get it.

Ben Stiller Adapting Stephen King’s RAT

Stephen King If It Bleeds

Only yesterday we said how barely a month goes by without news of a new Stephen King adaptation in the works, and today brings yet another King-driven project in development.

Via Deadline, Ben Stiller has picked up the option to turn King’s Rat into a feature film. Not just that, but Stiller has plans to star in, write, produce, and direct this picture.

Rat is from King’s recent If It Bleeds collection, with yesterday’s news being that fellow If It Bleeds tale Mr. Harrigan’s Phone was being adapted for Netflix by Blumhouse and American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy.

The synopsis for Rat reads:

The story centres on a writer named Drew Larson. He’s given himself over to academia because every time he tries to turn a good idea into a novel, things go seriously bad – mentally, physically, or both. But his latest concept, a Western thriller, is gangbusters, and he goes out to an old family cabin in the woods to get the novel done. When storms, insecurities, and sickness hit, Drew strikes a sinister bargain with a rat that turns out to be a thought-provoking spin on a Monkey’s Paw situation. The rat offers to get rid of his writer’s block in exchange for one of Larson’s loved ones dying.

Consisting of four unreleased King stories, If It Bleeds was released this past April. With Stiller at work on Rat, that means that all four of these tales are being adapted – with Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa banner having the rights to The Life of Chuck, and HBO having tentative plans to adapt the titular If It Bleeds into their The Outsider.