LITTLE HOPE Gets a June Release Date

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope

For fans of horror games, The Dark Pictures Anthology has proved to be hugely impressive. And now, we finally have word on when we can expect the third entry in this series to surface.

German retailer Saturn has listed a release date of June 15th for what’s titled Little Hope. That game will follow in the footsteps of Until Dawn and Man of Medan.

The early word on Little Hope is that it will centre on four college student and their teacher as they become stranded in a haunted village called Little Hope. Much like its two predecessors, the aim of the game for players will be making sure as many of this central group as possible survive the horrors that await them.

Little Hope will hit PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Fourth Season of CASTLEVANIA Announced

Castlevania

It hasn’t been even a month since the third season of Castlevania landed on Netflix, and we’re already getting word that a Season Four is on the way.

Netflix itself took to Twitter to officially announce this news.

For any genre fans out there who have yet to sample the delights of this animated adaptation of the legendary vamp-battling video game franchise, you’re in for an absolute treat.

And as alluded to in that Season Four tease, there’s plenty of “bloody business” on display in this fantastic piece of television.

All three existing seasons of Castlevania can be found on Netflix. And as ever, expect more on the show’s fourth season as we get it.

 

Netflix Developing DRAGON’S LAIR Movie

Dragon's Lair

While several projects are being put indefinitely on hold or outright cancelled at this moment in time, we now have news that Netflix is moving forward on a new film that’s sure to put a smile on the face of gamers of a certain age.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, it’s been confirmed that the on-demand streaming service is adapting classic arcade game Dragon’s Lair as a live-action movie. And even better than that, Ryan Reynolds is currently believed to be in talks to headline and serve as a producer on the picture.

Dragon’s Lair first hit the arcade scene back in 1983, with the plot of the game seeing bumbling knight Dirk the Daring on a quest to rescue his ‘one true’, Princess Daphne, from the grips of the nefarious dragon Singe and the mystical, wizardry Mordroc.

At the time, Dragon’s Lair was revolutionary for its design and animation style – which was largely down to Rick Dyer and former Disney animator Don Bluth.

Bluth will actually be involved as a producer on Netflix’s Dragon’s Lair, with Gary Goldman, Jon Pomeroy, Roy Lee, and Trevor Engelson involved in a similar capacity. The LEGO Movie’s Dan and Kevin Hageman are on writing duties, with a director yet to be announced.

Previously, Dragon’s Lair has been turned into an animated series back in 1984, and a comic book series eventually followed in 2003. On the movie front, there have been several attempts to get a Dragon’s Lair film off the ground over the decades – and now it finally looks as if this movie could well become a reality.

As ever, expect more on all of this as we get it.

Brave New Words Award 2020 Nominees Announced

Cover Photos of the nominated books

STARBURST Magazine is happy to announce the shortlist for its Brave New Words Award.
Due to Covid-19, the winner will be announced much later in the year than normal.

The nominees are:

Evan Winter – Rage of Dragons (Orbit Books)
Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar – This is How You Lose the Time War (Jo Fletcher Books)

Tyler Hayes – The Imaginary Corpse (Angry Robot)

Sady Doyle – Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers (MHP Books)
Nisi Shawl – New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color (Rebellion)
Tamsyn Muir – Gideon the Ninth (Tor)

STARBURST invited nominations from publishers and creators earlier this year.  The award goes to an individual, not a specific work. The magazine’s team actively sought out examples published in 2019 that most define a creator’s output. STARBURST editorial staff assembled the shortlist from roughly 100 entries, which included blog posts, comic books, short stories, screenplays, poetry, anthologies and novels. This was then discussed vigorously amongst the team at the Starburst International Film Festival in March.

STARBURST Magazine’s own Literary Editor, Ed Fortune, is the head judge.  He said “Blimey, it gets harder every year. Some very different entries this year, but we are very proud of this year’s short list and recommend any book on this list.”

The panel of judges for the Brave New Words Award includes genre critics and media professionals. The panel includes Urban Fantasy author Russell Smith, media expert Rebecca Derrick, book podcaster Jane Hanmer and book blogger Matt Cavanagh. Finally, we welcome narrative expert Professor Esther MacCallum-Stewart to the team.

A ceremony presenting the awards are planned to take place in October as part of Octocon 2020, The National Irish Science Fiction Convention.

STARGIRL and THE FLASH Hit Delays

Stargirl

As more and more genre projects run into delays caused by the ongoing pandemic that’s sweeping the globe, two DC TV projects are the offerings to be affected by COVID-19.

First up, the series premiere of Stargirl has been pushed back by DC Universe and The CW.  That Brec Bassinger-headlined new show was due to first air on the DC Universe streaming service before airing a day later on The CW. Now, Stargirl has been delayed by a week – meaning that DC Universe will stream the series premiere on Monday, May 18th and The CW will follow suit the very next day.

Elsewhere, The Flash has ran into a delay that will affect the show’s sixth season finale. Coronavirus fears have seen production halted on The CW’s Scarlet Speedster series, and so the aforementioned season finale won’t air as initially planned. The Flash has supposedly got enough new episodes already in the can to take the show through until May 19th. The season finale will air at a later date in the year.

Stargirl and The Flash join the likes of The Walking Dead and Supernatural in being affected by the chaos currently engulfing the world.

Premiere Date Set for Season Two of THE LAST DRIVE-IN

The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs

In some great news for genre fans, the second season of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs has been given a premiere date.

Via an announcement trailer, said Season Two has been confirmed to land on Shudder on April 24th.

The official blurb on this new season reads:

Proving once again that ‘the drive-in will never die,’ iconic horror host and exploitation movie aficionado Joe Bob Briggs is back with an all-new season of weekly Friday night double features streaming live exclusively on Shudder. Over the course of ten episodes, The Last Drive-In series will offer an eclectic selection of movies running the gamut from horror classics to obscurities and foreign cult favourites along with the occasional surprise guest.

Having premiered in July 2018, The Last Drive-In quickly became a go-to of so many a horror hound, with host Joe Bob Briggs giving his ever-insightful thoughts on so many classics of the genre.

Shudder is available through Amazon Prime here in the UK.

A24 Indefinitely Delays SAINT MAUD Release

Saint Maud

For horror hounds, one of the most hotly-anticipated movies on the horizon is Saint Maud. But now, like so many other projects, the release of this psychological horror has been delayed as a direct response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Bloody Disgusting broke this news, with A24 opting to pull Saint Maud from its April 3rd US release and May 1st UK release. From writer/director Rose Glass, Saint Maud was due to hit cinema screens across the world following a hugely positive screening at the Toronto Film Festival last September.

At this stage, A24 is indefinitely delaying Saint Maud while more and more cinemas across the globe are being forced to close as part of measures to contain and minimise the spread of Coronavirus.

The official synopsis of Saint Maud reads:

Saint Maud is a chilling and boldly original vision of faith, madness, and salvation in a fallen world. Maud, a newly devout hospice nurse, becomes obsessed with saving her dying patient’s soul – but sinister forces, and her own sinful past, threaten to put an end to her holy calling.

Saint Maud is just the latest horror offering to be affected by the ever-changing landscape of the plant, with A Quiet Place Part II and James Wan’s Malignant just two such pictures that have recently been postponed.

ANGRY BIRDS Series in Development at Netflix

Angry Birds: Summer Madness

While plentiful projects on both the big and small screen are being delayed or scrapped right now due to the ongoing pandemic that is sweeping the globe, this morning at least brings news of a new project being announced.

Via Deadline, an Angry Birds animated series is in development over at Netflix. An order has been put in for 40 11-minute episodes for a show titled Angry Birds: Summer Madness.

The focus of Summer Madness will centre on Red, Bomb, and Chuck as seen in the two Angry Birds movies seen to date. Right now, it’s not been confirmed whether this series will serve as a continuation of those films, although the same humour and tone displayed in those pictures will be present in this Netflix production.

In Angry Birds: Summer Madness, the aforementioned trio will be joined by a new cast of characters as they embark on a summer camp stay filled with pranks and crazy shenanigans.

Summer Madness is currently pegged to land on Netflix at some point in 2021.

DC Comics Launches DC KIDS CAMP Service

DC Kids Camp Justice League

It’s a crazy time in the world right now, and the entertainment history has been thrown up in the air just as much as anything else. While we all try and adjust to the extremely troubling reality we’re having to face up to, DC Comics is at least trying to deliver some positivity for younger readers.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, DC is launching an online program called DC Kids Camp. This program has been put together by the minds behind DC’s kids and YA graphic novels of recent years – with the aim being to deliver something fun for children to do while in quarantine.

Each new video is due to appear at 10am Pacific Time, which is 4pm in the UK. These online offerings will be posted on the @dccomicskids Twitter account and the @dckids Instagram page.

The first of these videos actually aired yesterday, with Green Lantern: Legacy’s Minh Le presenting Make a Green Lantern Ring with Minh Le. Later today will see Superman Origami with Gene Luen Yang, and Friday is scheduled for Make You Own Superhero with Dustin Hansen.

More videos will be posted with each passing week, as DC Comics looks to give children – or adults – something fun to do in these strange times. Colouring pages and activity sheets are some of the content available for those partaking in DC Kids Camp, and a newsletter will be sent out twice a week for those who sign up for this.

This follows in the footsteps as the UK’s The Phoenix running a similar service alongside 2000 AD.

Michael Biehn Joins THE MANDALORIAN

Michael Biehn

Hot on the heels of Rosario Dawson being cast as franchise fave Ahsoka Tano, now comes word that Michael Biehn is another who’ll be joining the second season of The Mandalorian.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Terminator and Aliens star Biehn will be playing a bounty hunter in the Disney+ offering. There’s no news just yet on whether this bounty hunter will be one familiar to Star Wars fans, and there’s likewise no confirmation on whether the character will be a friend or fie of Pedro Pascal’s lead.

Production actually wrapped on Season Two of The Mandalorian earlier this month, which would indicate that Biehn – like Dawson – has already shot his scenes.

While The Mandalorian is all shiny and new to us UK sorts due to Disney+ only launching here yesterday, the series’ second season is already pegged to premiere this October.