Several More Major Genre Projects Delayed

Wonder Woman 1984

As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause chaos across the globe, this morning brings word on several further genre offerings affected by the uncertainty that’s been created by this pandemic.

Following the delays of several movies and TV projects, Warner Brothers has moved to confirm postponements for both Wonder Woman 1984, Scoob!, and Malignant.

Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman sequel has seen its June 5th release date switched to August 14th, while the animated Scoob! has been indefinitely removed from The WB’s release schedule and will not be hitting the silver screen on May 15th as initially planned.

Elsewhere, James Wan’s Malignant has likewise been removed from Warners’ release schedule for now. That mysterious horror offering was originally booked for August 14th.

On the small screen, the season finale of The Walking Dead’s tenth season is being delayed due to Coronavirus fears. That final episode of Season Ten was due to air on April 12th, but that has been made impossible due to COVID-19 restrictions meaning that post-production on the season finale cannot be completed.

As such, The Walking Dead’s current season will conclude on April 5th, with the planned season finale to “appear as a special episode later in the year.”

STUART GORDON 1947 – 2020

Stuart Gordon

In some sad news, filmmaker Stuart Gordon has passed away at the age of 72.

This tragic news began to circulate across social media throughout the night, with several of Gordon’s friends and fans paying tribute to the genre favourite.

Of course, Stuart will forever be thought of for helming Re-Animator and for delivering pitch-perfect Lovercraftian style in From Beyond and Dagon. Elsewhere, he co-wrote Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Body Snatchers, The Dentist, and was in the director’s chair for offerings such as Castle Freak, The Pit and the Pendulum, and Dolls.

In more recent years, this highly talented sort found himself working within the LA theater scene, in particular directing Re-Animator star Jeffrey Combs in Nevermore… An Evening with Edgar Allen Poe and also tackling the fantastic Re-Animator: The Musical.

The thoughts of all here at STARBURST go out to the family, friends, and fans of Stuart Gordon. Rest in peace, sir – and thanks for the memories.

Vestra Pictures Open Call for Filmmakers

vestra

Filmmakers from around the world are being invited to collaborate on some great-sounding anthology films by Tony Newton at Vestra Pictures.

Known for such low budget portmanteau epics such as Virus of the Dead, Grindsploitation, and 60 Seconds to Die, Newton has teamed up with YouTuber Shawn C. Phillips to present Amityville Hex, a found footage shocker about the titular cursed game. Filmmakers involved include Julie Anne Prescot, Rheanon Nicole, James Balsamo, Sam Mason Bell, Lauren Francesca,  Sarah Schultz, Josh Schultz, and Ken May. Actors and filmmakers wishing to get involved can get in touch with Tony for more information on [email protected].

Submissions are also open for another project: Ghosts. Vestra Pictures is looking for short films to become part of the anthology. They are looking for short horror films to be a part of the film itself that feature ‘ghosts, the paranormal, demonic forces, demons, satanic curses, and scary films that make you jump out of your seat!’ Closing date for submissions for this film is April 30th 2020, so why not make use of being stuck at home and enter your short! Email [email protected] with the header ‘Ghosts Anthology’.

Newton and Vestra Pictures have also wrapped production on Dark Web: Mystery Box, in which various filmmakers and actors filmed themselves in their own homes with the theme of mystery boxes! We look forward to checking it out soon.

Classic Sci-Fi Movies Come to Horror Channel

horror sc-fi

Following the success of the Universal Monsters season, Horror Channel will be celebrating the golden age of science fiction B-movies with the Classic Sci-Fi Weekend in April.

The amazing line-up starts on Saturday April 11th at 14.00 with The Thing from Another World (1951), famously remade by John Carpenter in the eighties, this is the original and is unmissable! At 15.45, there’s the channel premiere of It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955), whichis followed at 17.20 by the brilliant This Island Earth (1955), featuring the famous Metaluna mutant! Saturday’s line-up is rounded out with the channel premiere of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), which features more of Ray Harryhausen’s awesome effects.

On Sunday April 12th, you can catch the channel premieres of the beloved (for all the wrong reasons) The Giant Claw (1957), the astounding The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), with more Harryhausen visual delights. The weekend celebration concludes with Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969), a rare live-action outing for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson (Thunderbirds)

For more information, head over to http://www.horrorchannel.co.uk/
Tune in on Sky 317, Virgin 149, Freeview 70, Freesat 138.

Diamond Stops All Comic Book Distribution

Marvel Comics DC Comics

With a slew of movie and TV projects already impacted by the Coronavirus, now comes news of this global pandemic hitting the biggest players in the comic book industry.

Diamond Comic Distributors is at a point where they have decided to stop any further shipments of comics, toys, games, and merchandise.

For those unaware, Diamond is the exclusive distributor for all things Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, Dynamite, Dark Horse Comics, BOOM! Studios, and many others comic book companies. So what this means, is that the comic book industry is effectively grinding to a halt for the foreseeable future.

While several European countries are already experiencing varying levels of lockdown, many US comic book stories have voluntarily opted to close their doors over COVID-19 fears. Given how this pandemic isn’t going to miraculously go away overnight, it will be only a matter of time before all comic book shops will be indefinitely closing.

For now, Diamond has confirmed that there’ll be shipping out the comics currently in their warehouse, but that’s it for now.

Of course, certain comic book powerhouse companies have the facility to put out comics digitally, so it remains to be seen whether the likes of Marvel, DC, and Image will continue to maintain a digital presence amidst this global chaos.

Albert Uderzo 1927 – 2020

Albert Uderzo

In some tragic news, Albert Uderzo has passed away at the age of 92.

Uderzo will forever be tied to Astérix, with the comic book artist creating that character and world alongside writer Rene Goscinny back in 1959. In addition to his Astérix art duties, Albert would also write these tales until 2009 following the death of Goscinny in 1977.

Across Europe, the reach of Astérix is undeniable – with the property selling staggering numbers of comics, being translated into more than 100 languages, being adapted in animation and live-action, and even spawning Astérix-centric theme parks.

Albert would retire in 2011, leaving behind him a stunning career of work that touched so many.

The thoughts of all here at STARBURST go out to the family, friends, and fans of Albert Uderzo. Rest in peace, sir.

GOD OF WAR Prequel Comic Coming This June

God of War: Fallen God

In these times of uncertainty, there’s at least some good news for fans of the God of War series.

Since the original game hit the PlayStation 2 back in 2005, the God of War franchise has gone on to become a huge favourite of so many gamers. And now, a God of War comic book has been announced for this coming June.

Dark Horse has revealed that a title called God of War: Fallen God will debut this summer, with the tale to be a prequel offering of sorts set between God of War III and 2018’s reboot of the franchise – essentially put together to explore what happened to Kratos post-God of War III.

The early synopsis on Fallen God reads:

God of War: Fallen God follows Kratos after conquering Zeus and thwarting Athena. Believing himself to be finally free of his bondage, he sets sail for the desert in an attempt to distance himself from his home and his shame only to find his rage and guilt follow close behind. Kratos rages against the one foe that has proven to be unconquerable – himself. But a war against oneself is unwinnable, and only invites madness.

From writer Chris Roberson and artist Tony Parker, God of War: Fallen God #1 is currently set for a June 24th release.

Paramount Fast-Tracks SONIC’s Digital Release

Sonic the Hedgehog

Like several other recent silver screen releases, Sonic the Hedgehog is being fast-tracked from a digital release.

In the past week, Leigh Whannell’s stunning The Invisible Man and Sony’s Vin Diesel-headlined Bloodshot have been announced for early digital releases despite still being in cinemas. And now, Sonic is following suit.

Paramount Pictures has announced that Sonic the Hedgehog will available for digital purchase as of Tuesday, March 31st.

For those wanting a physical release of the movie, the previously planned May 19th date will be stuck to for the 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD release of Sonic. There will also be a 4K and Blu-ray combo pack which will include a limited edition comic book featuring Sonic and Sheriff Tom Wachowski.

Despite plentiful concern over whether the film will actually be any good, it turns out that Sonic the Hedgehog is an absolute blast – and right now we’d recommend the picture as a fantastic piece of popcorn entertainment for those who are maybe looking to take their minds off the increasingly desperate situation we’re seeing unfold across the globe.

Given how the UK government has now officially instructed all cinemas to close for the foreseeable future, it’s certain that Sonic the Hedgehog won’t be the last recent or upcoming offering to be given an early digital release.

THE WALKING DEAD: WORLD BEYOND Delayed

The Walking Dead: World Beyond

As upcoming film and TV projects continue to experience delays and postponements due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, AMC has moved to hold off on premiering The Walking Dead spin-off, World Beyond.

Taking to Twitter, AMC confirmed that The Walking Dead: World Beyond is being delayed until later in the year.

Of course, the Coronavirus situation is a fluid one that is changing on a daily, if not hourly basis, and so there is no way of knowing when World Beyond and other affected offerings will realistically be upon us. But right now, there are clearly far more pressing matters to worry about.

World Beyond has already wrapped production on its first season, so the ongoing pandemic has not directly hit filming of the show. Production has recently been halted on Fear the Walking Dead, while the shooting schedule for Season 11 of The Walking Dead is up in the air right now.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond will explore the first generation of survivors to grow up during the post-apocalyptic landscape of The Walking Dead. AMC has already announced plans for the spin-off series to be capped at just two seasons.

 

THE MANDALORIAN Season 2 to Feature Ahsoka Tano

Ahsoka

In the most exciting Star Wars news we’ve heard in a long time, the guys over at /Film have exclusively revealed that fan favourite character Ahsoka Tano will appear in The Mandalorian Season 2, and Rosario Dawson herself will be playing her.

Rosario Dawson

To say the one-time Padawan has had a turbulent time navigating fandom is an understatement. First introduced in the animated theatrical release Star Wars: The Clone Wars in 2008, she was met with an overwhelmingly negative response from the few folk who actually bothered turning up for the film, but has since defied all odds to go on to become one of the most popular characters in all of the canon, traversing several of the animated series into novels and comic book appearances. The Rise of Skywalker featured her voice, but The Mandalorian would mark her first live-action appearance proper.

Dawson, while a favourite of many of us here due to her appearances in the Netflix Marvel shows such as Daredevil and Luke Cage, is somewhat of a surprising choice. She famously campaigned to play Tano through social media back in ’17, but the character has been perfectly portrayed vocally by Ashley Eckstein for 12 years now. Will Dawson provide the physical performance, while Eckstein delivers that iconic voice? Could we accept an Ahsoka Tano who didn’t sound like, well, Ahsoka Tano? Either way they approach it, it will be great to see more from one of the most complex characters in all of the galaxy far, far away.

The Mandalorian Season 2 will arrive in October, but if you want to learn more about Ahsoka Tano then check out our latest issue (available digitally for just 99p below) for a wonderful celebratory feature by GFFA expert Mark Newbold. For a quicker visual fix, Disney+ will finally arrive in the UK on March 24th, and will be carrying all six seasons of the excellent animated series The Clone Wars from launch day.

Source: /Film