M. Night Shyamalan’s 2021 Universal Movie Delayed

M. Night Shyamalan

Following in the footsteps of plentiful other movies right now that have hit delays, so too has one of M. Night Shyamalan’s two upcoming Universal offerings been pushed.

Via Deadline, the two “original thrillers” that Shyamalan is due to direct for Universal Pictures are still to go ahead – just that one of these has been indefinitely pulled from the studio’s release schedule.

That particular picture was original booked in for February 26th, 2021, with no new date confirmed at this uncertain time. As for the other film that the Glass and The Sixth Sense director is tackling for Universal, that is still tentatively pegged for its original February 17th, 2023 release.

Plot details are unknown on either of these movies at this stage, and the only thing we really know is that Shyamalan will write and direct both offerings.

The first of these films was actually already in pre-production, yet the ongoing COVID-19 crisis has seen the entertainment industry – much like so much the world – grind to a halt right now.

 

Universal Remaking THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER

The Night of the Hunter

Well, this sounds all kinds of intriguing. Yes, as the headline suggests, The Night of the Hunter is getting the redo treatment.

Courtesy of Variety, Universal Pictures is looking put a fresh spin on the 1955 Robert Mitchum-starring The Night of the Hunter – itself based on the novel of the same name from Davis Grubb, which in turn pulled inspiration from the real-life Harry Powers.

In director Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter, Mitchum put in a stunning performance as Reverend Harry Powell. Here, Powell and his murderous intentions end up honing in on an unsuspecting widow and the $10,000 left behind by her deceased husband.

For this new take on this old favourite, Operation Finale’s Matt Orton has already been pegged to pen the screenplay for Universal, with Amy Pascal and Peter Gethers on board to produce.

As ever, expect more on this new The Night of the Hunter as we get it.

HUGO AWARD 2020 Finalists Announced

ConZealand

The finalists for the 2020 Hugo Awards and associated awards have been announced.

CoNZealand, the 78th World Science Fiction Convention, announced the finalists via a live webstream.
The award adminstators received Hugo Awards nominations from 1,584 members.

The Hugo Awards are major indicator of the state of Science Fiction as Worldcon members tend to be genre’s most dedicated fans. They tend to consume a great many new works of science fiction every year and are willing to travel across the world to attend genre book conventions. The Hugos are followed closely by fans and professionals alike for this reason.

The awards will be presented at CoNZealand which will now run online from 29 July to 2 August 2020. These will be the first Hugo Awards in history to be presented in this format.

STARBURST would like to offer congratulations to everyone nominated.

Best Novel

  • The City in the Middle of the Night, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan)
  • Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com Publishing)
  • The Light Brigade, by Kameron Hurley (Saga; Angry Robot UK)
  • A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK)
  • Middlegame, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
  • The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow (Redhook; Orbit UK)

Best Novella

  • “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom”, by Ted Chiang (Exhalation (Borzoi/Alfred A. Knopf; Picador))
  • The Deep, by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes (Saga Press/Gallery)
  • The Haunting of Tram Car 015, by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing)
  • In an Absent Dream, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
  • This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (Saga Press; Jo Fletcher Books)
  • To Be Taught, If Fortunate, by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager; Hodder & Stoughton)

Best Novelette

  • “The Archronology of Love”, by Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed, April 2019)
  • “Away With the Wolves”, by Sarah Gailey (Uncanny Magazine: Disabled People Destroy Fantasy Special Issue, September/October 2019)
  • “The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye”, by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, July-August 2019)
  • Emergency Skin, by N.K. Jemisin (Forward Collection (Amazon))
  • “For He Can Creep”, by Siobhan Carroll (Tor.com, 10 July 2019)
  • “Omphalos”, by Ted Chiang (Exhalation (Borzoi/Alfred A. Knopf; Picador))

Best Short Story

  • “And Now His Lordship Is Laughing”, by Shiv Ramdas (Strange Horizons, 9 September 2019)
  • “As the Last I May Know”, by S.L. Huang (Tor.com, 23 October 2019)
  • “Blood Is Another Word for Hunger”, by Rivers Solomon (Tor.com, 24 July 2019)
  • “A Catalog of Storms”, by Fran Wilde (Uncanny Magazine, January/February 2019)
  • “Do Not Look Back, My Lion”, by Alix E. Harrow (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, January 2019)
  • “Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island”, by Nibedita Sen (Nightmare Magazine, May 2019)

Best Series

  • The Expanse, by James S. A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
  • InCryptid, by Seanan McGuire (DAW)
  • Luna, by Ian McDonald (Tor; Gollancz)
  • Planetfall series, by Emma Newman (Ace; Gollancz)
  • Winternight Trilogy, by Katherine Arden (Del Rey; Del Rey UK)
  • Wormwood, by Tade Thompson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Best Related Work

  • Becoming Superman: My Journey from Poverty to Hollywood, by J. Michael Straczynski (Harper Voyager US)
  • Joanna Russ, by Gwyneth Jones (University of Illinois Press (Modern Masters of Science Fiction))
  • The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick, by Mallory O’Meara (Hanover Square)
  • The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein, by Farah Mendlesohn (Unbound)
  • “2019 John W. Campbell Award Acceptance Speech”, by Jeannette Ng
  • Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, produced and directed by Arwen Curry

Best Graphic Story or Comic

  • Die, Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker, by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, letters by Clayton Cowles (Image)
  • LaGuardia, written by Nnedi Okorafor, art by Tana Ford, colours by James Devlin (Berger Books; Dark Horse)
  • Monstress, Volume 4: The Chosen, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Image)
  • Mooncakes, by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker, letters by Joamette Gil (Oni Press; Lion Forge)
  • Paper Girls, Volume 6, written by Brian K. Vaughan, drawn by Cliff Chiang, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher (Image)
  • The Wicked + The Divine, Volume 9: Okay, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Clayton Cowles (Image)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

  • Avengers: Endgame, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Marvel Studios)
  • Captain Marvel, screenplay by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Studios/Animal Logic (Australia))
  • Good Omens, written by Neil Gaiman, directed by Douglas McKinnon (Amazon Studios/BBC Studios/Narrativia/The Blank Corporation)
  • Russian Doll (Season One), created by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler, directed by Leslye Headland, Jamie Babbit and Natasha Lyonne (3 Arts Entertainment/Jax Media/Netflix/Paper Kite Productions/Universal Television)
  • Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, screenplay by Chris Terrio and J.J. Abrams, directed by J.J. Abrams (Walt Disney Pictures/Lucasfilm/Bad Robot)
  • Us, written and directed by Jordan Peele (Monkeypaw Productions/Universal Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

  • The Good Place: “The Answer”, written by Daniel Schofield, directed by Valeria Migliassi Collins (Fremulon/3 Arts Entertainment/Universal Television)
  • The Expanse: “Cibola Burn”, written by Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck and Naren Shankar, directed by Breck Eisner (Amazon Prime Video)
  • Watchmen: “A God Walks into Abar”, written by Jeff Jensen and Damon Lindelof, directed by Nicole Kassell (HBO)
  • The Mandalorian: “Redemption”, written by Jon Favreau, directed by Taika Waititi (Disney+)
  • Doctor Who: “Resolution”, written by Chris Chibnall, directed by Wayne Yip (BBC)
  • Watchmen: “This Extraordinary Being”, written by Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson, directed by Stephen Williams (HBO)

Best Editor, Short Form

  • Neil Clarke
  • Ellen Datlow
  • C.C. Finlay
  • Jonathan Strahan
  • Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas
  • Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form

  • Sheila E. Gilbert
  • Brit Hvide
  • Diana M. Pho
  • Devi Pillai
  • Miriam Weinberg
  • Navah Wolfe

Best Professional Artist

  • Tommy Arnold
  • Rovina Cai
  • Galen Dara
  • John Picacio
  • Yuko Shimizu
  • Alyssa Winans

Best Semiprozine

  • Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor Scott H. Andrews
  • Escape Pod, editors Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya, assistant editor Benjamin C. Kinney, audio producers Adam Pracht and Summer Brooks, hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart
  • Fireside Magazine, editor Julia Rios, managing editor Elsa Sjunneson, copyeditor Chelle Parker, social coordinator Meg Frank, publisher & art director Pablo Defendini, founding editor Brian White
  • FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, executive editor Troy L. Wiggins, editors Eboni Dunbar, Brent Lambert, L.D. Lewis, Danny Lore, Brandon O’Brien and Kaleb Russell
  • Strange Horizons, Vanessa Rose Phin, Catherine Krahe, AJ Odasso, Dan Hartland, Joyce Chng, Dante Luiz and the Strange Horizons staff
  • Uncanny Magazine, editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, nonfiction/managing editor Michi Trota, managing editor Chimedum Ohaegbu, podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky

Best Fanzine

  • The Book Smugglers, editors Ana Grilo and Thea James
  • Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus, editor Janice Marcus, senior writers Rosemary Benton, Lorelei Marcus and Victoria Silverwolf
  • Journey Planet, editors James Bacon, Christopher J Garcia, Alissa McKersie, Ann Gry, Chuck Serface, John Coxon and Steven H Silver
  • nerds of a feather, flock together, editors Adri Joy, Joe Sherry, Vance Kotrla, and The G
  • Quick Sip Reviews, editor Charles Payseur
  • The Rec Center, editors Elizabeth Minkel and Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

Best Fancast

  • Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace
  • Claire Rousseau’s YouTube channel, produced & presented by Claire Rousseau
  • The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
  • Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce and Tansy Rayner Roberts, producer Andrew Finch
  • Our Opinions Are Correct, presented by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders
  • The Skiffy and Fanty Show, presented by Jen Zink and Shaun Duke

Best Fan Writer

  • Cora Buhlert
  • James Davis Nicoll
  • Alasdair Stuart
  • Bogi Takács
  • Paul Weimer
  • Adam Whitehead

Best Fan Artist

  • Iain Clark
  • Sara Felix
  • Grace P. Fong
  • Meg Frank
  • Ariela Housman
  • Elise Matthesen

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (not a Hugo)

  • Catfishing on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
  • Deeplight, by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan)
  • Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee (Disney/Hyperion)
  • Minor Mage, by T. Kingfisher (Argyll)
  • Riverland, by Fran Wilde (Amulet)
  • The Wicked King, by Holly Black (Little, Brown; Hot Key)

Astounding Award for the best new science fiction writer, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo)

  • Sam Hawke (2nd year of eligibility)
  • R.F. Kuang (2nd year of eligibility)
  • Jenn Lyons (1st year of eligibility)
  • Nibedita Sen (2nd year of eligibility)
  • Tasha Suri (2nd year of eligibility)
  • Emily Tesh (1st year of eligibility)

The results of the Retro Hugo Nominations for 1945 were announced via the same livestream, and it can be found here.

BLOOD SHARK 3D to Bring Giant Mutant Sharks

Horror Shark 3D

Here at Moonbase Alpha, we love a good shark movie. Truth be told, we’ve even got a lot of love for some of the less stellar shark movies out there. And so, that means a new movie titled Blood Shark 3D most certainly has our attention.

Bloody Disgusting were the first to report on the news, with Blood Shark 3D – which is also going by the title Horror Shark 3D – to be China’s first ever 3D shark movie.

Soldier Grandpa’s Wang Liang is on writing and directing duties for Blood Shark 3D, with a cast made up of Fang Lishen, Zhou Wietong, Meng-sheng Shen, Ziging Liu, Wen Dongjun, Tara Clance, and Wang Liang himself.

Plot-wise, the bonkers story of Blood Shark 3D centres on a swimmer and a marine trainer who somehow find themselves in the middle of a huge conspiracy about giant mutant sharks.

If you ask us, this all sounds nuts in the most glorious of ways.

As ever, expect more on Blood Shark 3D as we get it.

Universal Adapting Tracy Wolff’s CRAVE

Tracy Wolff Crave

Even though Tracy Wolff’s Crave is only officially released today, this hotly anticipated novel has already been picked up to be adapted for the big screen.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, Universal Pictures has nabbed the rights to turn Crave into a feature film.

The official word on this vamp-tastic book reads:

My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods… or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.

Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me. Which could spell death for us all.

Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally – as bait.

All sounds hugely intriguing to us.

Expect more on Universal’s spin on Crave as it continues to develop.

2019 Kitschies Award Winners Announced

Kitschies

The 2019 Kitschies have been announced via virtual ceremony.

The Kitschies are  a “prize for the year’s most progressive, intelligent and entertaining novels containing elements of the speculative and the fantastic”. The award is famous for it’s unique Tentacle trophies.

The Red and Golden Tentacle awards were judged by Claire North, Kirsty Logan, Alasdair Stuart, Tasha Suri, and Michaela Grey. The Inky was judged by Sharan Matharu, Kaiya Shang, James Spackman, and Kim Curran.

The Red Tentacle (Novel)

  • The Fire Starters by Jan Carson

The Golden Tentacle (Debut)

  • Jelly by Clare Rees

The Inky Tentacle (Cover Art)

  • The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, Cover Art by Tyler Comrie (Vintage)

The Black Tentacle (Special), AKA The Glentacle

A discretionary award in memory of Glen Mehn, aka The Glentacle, for services to the SF/F community.  It was awarded to three people this year.

  • Nazia Khatun
  • Claire North
  • Leila Abu El Hawa

Jeff Loveness to Pen ANT-MAN 3

Ant-Man

While Black Widow and now Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness having both been delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there’s at least some positive news for the MCU where it pertains to Ant-Man.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios and Disney have brought in Rick and Morty’s Jeff Loveness to pen the third outing for Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly’s Hope Van Dyne.

The addition of Loveness follows a pattern of sorts, with Rick and Morty’s Michael Waldron currently tasked with serving as the head writer on Disney+’s Loki series, and fellow Rick and Morty alum Jessica Gao overseeing the streaming service’s She-Hulk show.

Director Peyton Reed is already on board to return for Ant-Man 3, and we likewise know that Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michelle Pfeiffer are returning. It’s yet to be confirmed, but it’s also expected that Emma Fuhrman will be back in the Cassie Lang role she played in Avengers: Endgame.

At this stage, Ant-Man 3 has yet to be given an official release date.

CANDYMAN and DOCTOR STRANGE 2 Delayed

Candyman

As more and more movies become postponed or even outright cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two more big hitters have been pushed back from their original release dates.

First up, the Nia DaCosta-directed, Jordan Peele-produced Candyman has been removed from its planned June 12th release. Instead, that spiritual sequel has tentatively been pencilled in for September 25th.

Elsewhere, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has seen another one of its pictures delayed due to the ongoing uncertainty across the globe. Much like Black Widow was postponed, now so too is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Rather than May 7th, 2021, this Sam Raimi-helmed Doctor Strange sequel will be conjured to the silver screen on November 5th, 2021.

Already, we’ve seen the likes of A Quiet Place II, The Matrix 4, and Wonder Woman 1984 delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and we’re sure that Candyman and Doctor Strange 2 won’t be the last movies affected by this.

The CW’s SUPERMAN AND LOIS Adds Dylan Walsh

Dylan Walsh

With so many movie and TV projects up in the air right now due to the pandemic that’s causing such chaos and uncertainty across the globe, one offering that is currently still scheduled to start production later this year is The CW’s Superman and Lois series. And now, that show has added a new name to its ranks.

Via Deadline, Nip/Tuck’s Dylan Walsh has signed on to play General Sam Lane in this new Arrowverse series. In case you hadn’t guessed it, the General is the father of Lois Lane.

For the eagle-eyed out there, you’ll be aware that the Sam Lane character has already appeared in this shared universe of shows, with Glenn Morshower playing Sam in Supergirl. Now though, Walsh will be portraying the character going forward.

Following the events of the epic Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, we now know that Tyler Hoechlin’s Man of Steel and Bitsie Tulloch’s Lois Lane will have two sons when their own show debuts. On that front, Jordan Elsass and Alexander Garfin have been cast as Jonathan and Jordan Kent, respectively.

The original plan was for production on Superman and Lois to start up imminently, with the series to premiere towards the end of the year. Like so many other shows, it remains to be seen whether it’s possible to adhere to those plans due to the ever-changing situation the world finds itself in right now.

As ever, expect more on Superman and Lois as it continues to develop.

 

A QUIET PLACE PART II Gets a New Release Date

A Quiet Place Part II

One of the first movies to be hit by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place Part II. Initially pegged for a March 20th release, Paramount moved to completely scrap that cinema release as the entertainment industry adjusts to the ever-changing landscape we find ourselves in – and now the hotly anticipated sequel has been given a new release date.

Straight from Paramount, A Quiet Place Part II has been booked in to hit the silver screen on September 4th.

Of course, that new release date all depends on where the world finds itself in five months’ time. At present, more and more countries across the globe are being placed under varying levels of lockdown, with cinemas being just one of so many businesses forced to close their doors for the foreseeable future.

The official blurb on A Quiet Place Part II reads:

Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realise that the creates that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.

A Quiet Place Part II is one of several major movies to have been delayed in recent weeks, with Black Widow, No Time to Die, The New Mutants, and Wonder Woman 1984 just a handful of others to see their planned release temporarily scrapped.