Ryan Murphy and Blumhouse Adapting Stephen King Tale

Stephen King If It Bleeds

It feels as if barely a month goes by these days where we don’t hear news of a new Stephen King adaptation on the way – and now, King’s Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is getting the movie treatment.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy is teaming with Blumhouse to adapt the tale – with Mr. Harrigan’s Phone featured in King’s new If It Bleeds collection.

In terms of story specifics, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone centres on a young boy who becomes pals with an old billionaire who lives in his local neighbourhood. After the old fella passes away, it soon becomes apparent that he’s able to communicate from beyond the grave… courtesy of his iPhone.

Holy product placement, Batman!

The Blind Side’s John Lee Hancock is on writing duties for the picture, with Mr. Harrigan’s Phone to be housed on Netflix.

Universal Developing Family-Friendly Monster Movie

Universal Monsters

With several monster movies in various forms of development at Universal, now comes word on a new family-friendly monster offering from the studio.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley is to write and helm a picture called Little Monsters. The project is being pegged as an “all-ages approach” to some of the classic monsters under the Universal banner.

This news comes hot on the heels of The Invisible Man helmer Leigh Whannell being in advanced talks to direct Ryan Gosling in a new spin on The Wolfman.

Elsewhere, a new Bride of Frankenstein is in development, with Angelina Jolie circling the project; the Ghostbusters reboot’s Paul Feig is directing a monster mash-up titled Dark Army; Bohemian Rhapsody director Dexter Fletcher is to tackle a film based around Dracula’s famed henchman, Renfield; Elizabeth Banks will star in and direct The Invisible Woman; and new takes on in the works for Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula.

Expect more on all of these movies as they develop.

GCPD TV Series to Tie to THE BATMAN

Gotham City Police Department

In some great news for fans of all things Gotham City, a new Gotham-centric TV series is in development.

Via SuperHeroHype, The Batman director Matt Reeves is teaming with Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter to develop a Gotham-set series for HBO Max.

From what we know about the to-be-titled show, it will be focussed on the Gotham City Police Department and will exist in the same world as the Robert Pattinson-fronted The Batman. As is so often the case with the GCPD, a large part of the show will be the corruption that’s famous for running wild amongst Gotham’s finest.

Winter will be penning the series, with Reeves’ involvement part of his recently-inked deal with Warner Bros. TV Group.

Given how The Batman has Boardwalk Empire and Westworld favourite Jeffrey Wright on board as Jim Gordon, could that mean that Wright will be expanding that role in this TV offering? That would certainly seem a logical school of thought – even if that is just us thinking out loud at this early juncture.

As ever, expect more on this massively intriguing series as it continues to develop.

CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA to End with Fourth Season

Sabrina

Ahead of the fourth season of Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina arriving later this year, the on-demand streaming service has moved to confirmed that this will be the final season for the Kiernan Shipka-starrer.

Said fourth season – or Part Four, as Netflix refers to it – has yet to be given an official premiere date at this stage, although the streaming juggernaut is promising a spooky, sexy, and supernatural finale for the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

The official blurb for this fourth and final season reads:

The Eldritch Terrors will descend upon Greendale. The coven must fight each terrifying threat one-by-one (The Weird, The Returned, The Darkness, to name a few), all leading up to… The Void, which is the End of All Things. As the witches wage war, with the help of The Fight Club, Nick begins to slowly earn his way back into Sabrina’s heart, but will it be too late?

As soon as we hear of the return date for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, we’ll update you on when the series will be back on your screen.

Javicia Leslie is the New BATWOMAN!

Javicia Leslie

Following Ruby Rose’s Batwoman departure earlier this year, the series has now found its new Scarlet Knight.

Remember, following Rose’s exit, the minds behind Batwoman quickly moved to reveal how Rose’s Kate Kane character would not be recast, but that it would indeed be a completely new character stepping into the Batwoman mantle.

Now, via EW, God Friended Me and MacGyver’s Javicia Leslie has been cast as Ryan Wilder – aka, the new Batwoman!

On this news, Leslie enthused, “I am extremely proud to be the first black actress to play the iconic role of Batwoman on television, and as a bisexual woman I am honoured to join this groundbreaking show which has been such a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community.”

Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries added, “As a lesbian who’s been working as a writer for the past 15 years, I’m well aware of the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope and I have no interest in participating in it. That’s why it’s important to me as the showrunner to clarify any misinformation out there about Kate Kane and recasting Batwoman. Like you, I love Kate Kane – she’s the reason I wanted to do the show. We’ll never erase her. In fact, her disappearance will be one of the mysteries of Season Two.”

We’ve previously heard how Ryan Wilder will be a likeable, goody character who is nothing like Kate, and who has a murky past as a drug runner. Raw and passionate, the character is depicted as far from your usual all-smiling cookie cutter hero.

Batwoman’s second year is expected to premiere early next year.

HALLOWEEN KILLS Delayed; Releases First Teaser

Halloween

Talk about a double-edged sword.

Unfortunately, Halloweens Kills has been delayed by a year… but the silver lining of this news is that we’ve had a fantastic first glimpse at the follow-up to David Gordon Green’s 2018 Halloween.

The iconic John Carpenter took to Twitter to reveal this news, with Halloween Kills just the latest in a long line of movies that have been pushed back due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of arriving this October, Halloween Kills will now hit the silver screen on October 15, 2021.

As for the brilliant first glimpse we mentioned, you can find that below – with Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode screaming in horror as the services rush to rescue Michael Myers from the basement of Strode’s burning home.

Previously, Halloween Kills was to be followed in 2021 by Halloween Ends. Now though, Halloween Ends has subsequently been bumped to October 14, 2022.

Leigh Whannell in Talks for THE WOLFMAN

A month or so ago, we first heard words that Ryan Gosling was to star in Universal’s new spin on The Wolfman, and now comes another hugely intriguing update on that project.

Via Deadline, Leigh Whannell is now in talks to direct the picture. Major genre favourite Whannell, of course, most recently helmed Universal and Blumhouse’s stunning The Invisible Man.

In addition, to The Invisible Man, Whannell’s other directing credits are Upgrade and Insidious: Chapter 3, with the ridiculously talented Australian having created the Saw and Insidious franchises with pal James Wan.

When we caught up with Whannell earlier this year to discuss The Invisible Man, we posed him with the question about whether he’d have any interest in tacking any of the other famed characters in the Universal vault.

Most interestingly, Leigh explained how he would never do a project purely based on the status of it or the name value associated with it, adding how it’s all about finding an idea that would keep him up at night. “It would have to be something that excited me that much for me to do it,” he explained, “I certainly wouldn’t direct something just because it made business sense.”

Knowing that, it’s even more encouraging to hear that Whannell is in the frame for The Wolfman – for it would indicate that there’s a really good nugget of an idea at the core of this project.

If you ask us, there really isn’t a better choice to direct a new take on The Wolfman than Leigh Whannell – and given how Jason Blum himself has acknowledged this story on social media, it looks extremely hopeful that Whannell ends up in the director’s chair for The Wolfman.

The original version of the IP saw Lon Chaney Jr. star in The Wolf Man back in 1941. Since then, there have been so many various incarnations of the character and his world, most recently with Benicio del Toro starring in 2010’s The Wolfman.

As ever, expect more on Gosling’s Wolfman as it continues to develop.

Jude Law in Talks to Play Hook in New PETER PAN

Beasts

With Peter Pan the latest Disney project to get a new live-action do-over, now comes an update on that picture’s Captain Hook.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, two-time Academy Award nominee Jude Law is in talks to play Hook in a movie titled Peter Pan & Wendy.

Pete’s Dargon’s David Lowery is on directing duties for Peter Pan & Wendy, which also has youngsters Resident Evil: The Final Chapter’s Ever Anderson and Claude’s Alexander Molony on board.

Peter Pan & Wendy is the latest in a number of Disney projects given a fresh lick of paint for modern audiences, joining the likes of The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Aladdin, and The Lion King in being redone in recent years.

As ever, expect more on Peter Pan & Wendy as it continues to develop.

Elisabeth Moss to Headline CANDY

Elisabeth Moss

Having wowed in Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man earlier this year, Elisabeth Moss has now signed on for Candy.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Moss will headline as Candy Montgomery in the based-on-true-events TV series.

Back on Friday, June 13, 1980, Montgomery brutally murdered her friend with an axe. And now, Universal Content Productions is developing that series into a small screen show which is currently being shopped around premium networks and streaming services.

The early official blurb on Candy reads:

Set in 1980 Texas, Candy had it all – a loving husband with a good job, a daughter and son, and a nice house in the new suburbs – and killer her friend from church with an axe.

Channel Zero’s Nick Antosca is serving as executive producer on Candy, with Moss, Robin Veith, and Lindsey McManus joining Acosta in overseeing the project.

Expect more on Candy as we get it.

Paul Hyett’s PERIPHERAL Gets Release Date [Update]

hyett peripheral

Peripheral, the latest film from Paul Hyett (Howl, The Seasoning House) is set to get a digital release on August 3rd.

Update -check out the new poster for the release:

The official synopsis is:

Bobbi Johnson (Hannah Arterton) is a young literary sensation facing her difficult second novel. Already dealing with a crazed stalker and her junkie ex-boyfriend, Bobbi is convinced by her publisher to use new smart editing software and finds herself going head-to-head with an artificial intelligence determined to write her book for her. As the machine manipulates her work to suit its own nefarious ends, Bobbi begins to realise that she is being controlled in ways far more sinister than she suspected. She may, in fact, be a pawn in a conspiracy of social mind control. Too far down the rabbit hole to turn back, Bobbi must keep writing, fighting her own addictions and hallucinations as she rushes to beat her deadline without selling her soul in the process. This dark sci-fi horror also stars Jenny Seagrove, Tom Conti, Rosie Day and Elliot James Langridge.

Check out the trailer below:

Peripheral (2020) – Official Trailer from SC Films International on Vimeo.

It has a fantastic blending of sci-fi and horror and is not to be missed. Peripheral is released courtesy of Blue Finch Films via iTunes, Amazon, Google, Sky, and Virgin on August 3rd.