Russell Crowe to Star in New Horror Movie

Russell Crowe

Well, the team of M.A. Fortin, Joshua John Miller, Kevin Williamson and Russell Crowe sounds pretty great, right? Well, that’s the line-up for a new horror movie that’s in development.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, The Final Girls’ Fortin and Miller are writing and directing a new horror film for Miramax. Not only that, but legendary Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer writer Williamson will be producing the picture, with Russell Crowe on board to headline the effort.

Still awaiting an official title, the early word has Crowe playing “a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a horror film. His estranged daughter wonders if he’s slipping back into past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play.”

Expect more on this project as it continues to develop.

HBO Developing a MANIAC COP TV Series

Maniac Cop

Well, this is some news that’s sure to put a smile on the face of certain genre fans. Yes, as the headline suggests, a Maniac Cop TV series is in development.

Courtesy of Deadline, Drive’s Nicolas Winding Refn and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning’s William Lustig are developing the series for HBO. Previously, Refn and Lustig had been making tentative plans for a new Maniac Cop movie – but now they’ve decided to take the property to the small screen.

On this TV take on the 1988 film, the early word on the show reads:

Set in Los Angeles, Maniac Cop is told through a kaleidoscope of characters, from cop to common criminal. A killer in uniform has uncaged mayhem upon the streets. Paranoia leads to social disorder as a city wrestlers with the mystery of the exterminator in blue – is he mere mortal, or a supernatural force?

Refn and Lusting will serve as executive producers on the series, with Refn are acting a showrunner.

Expect more on HBO’s Maniac Cop as we get it.

Sony May Sell New MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Movie To Netflix

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

With Sony having been at work on a new He-Man movie for what feels like an age by this point – seriously, it’s over a decade! – now comes an interesting update on the long-gestating picture.

Most recently, a March 2021 release date has been set for Masters of the Universe, with Band of Robbers’ Aaron and Adam Nee on directing duties. The prolific David S. Goyer is on writing and executive producing duties, and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’s Noah Centineo is seemingly in place to play He-Man.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, though, it’s believed that Sony is now weighing up the prospect of selling this new Masters of the Universe to Netflix. Talks are ongoing between the two parties, and the main reason for all of this seems to be that Sony’s Tom Rothman was stung hard by the disappointing box office return of this year’s Men in Black: International.

After that latest MiB offering did a so-so $250 million globally, Rothman – who serve as the chairman of Sony – is cautious about the possibility of further financial flops. By assembling a deal that would see Netflix taking over distribution rights, that obviously takes away a lot of the risk that Sony would otherwise be having to deal with.

From a Netflix perspective, having this new Masters of the Universe movie housed on the on-demand streaming service makes a whole lot of sense. After all, Netflix is already home to She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and is at early work on the Kevin Smith-developed He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon that will look to tie up any loose ends from the original ‘80s cartoon.

This new live-action Masters of the Universe film will follow the story of Adam, Prince of Eternia, who has the ability to transform into the ever-smiling uber-hero He-Man as he battles to protect his world from the nefarious threat of Skeletor. Of course, these bitter rivals have most recently been seen shilling financial products for MoneySupermarket.com…

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

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Lined Up For New MATRIX Movie

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

With Warner Bros. now at work on a fourth Matrix movie, there’s word on a first new addition to the fourth offering in this genre favourite franchise.

Via Deadline, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is being lined up for a lead role in the picture – with certain speculation even suggesting that he could be playing a younger version of Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus.

Abdul-Mateen II is likely best known for his turn as the nefarious Black Mantra in Aquaman, not to mention his appearances in Us and Black Mirror.

Already confirmed to be returning for this new Matrix effort are Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and writer/director Lana Wachowski.

The current plan is for the film to start production early next year.

Terry Pratchett’s DISCWORLD Heading to Vinyl

discworld vinyl

Demon Music Group has announced they will be releasing the BBC radio adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld as a mammoth vinyl box set.

From the press release:

Following the very successful Good Omens, Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy releases on vinyl, Demon Music Group presents Discworld featuring the following stories:

  • Mort
  • Wyrd Sisters
  • Guards! Guards!
  • Eric
  • Small Gods
  • Night Watch
  • Bonus non-Discworld story Only You Can Save Mankind

41 Discworld novels were written, set on a fictional flat planet, balanced on the backs of four elephants, which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle. It is estimated that more than 80 million Discworld books have been sold in 37 languages.

This beautifully illustrated, lavishly packaged vinyl box set presents seven thrilling BBC Radio dramatisations on 15 pieces of heavyweight 180g ‘DiscSwirl’ vinyl. Each of the seven gatefold albums is stunningly illustrated and features specially commissioned sleeve notes by Stephen Briggs, author of The Discworld Companion, along with full cast and credits. Included within the artwork is a recreation of the Discworld map created across the 15 printed inner bags. The episodes ‘Night Watch’ and ‘Only You Can Save Mankind’ include themed etchings on Side B.

These stories were brought stirringly to life in audio with music, sound effects and a cast of actors including Anton Lesser, Sheila Hancock, Martin Jarvis, Melvyn Hayes, Philip Jackson, Alex Jennings, Geoffrey Whitehead, Patrick Barlow and Mark Heap – with Death, as ever, played by himself.

Terry Pratchett’s Vinyl Discworld, a 15LP vinyl audiobook box set featuring seven classic stories, will be released on Friday November 29th and is available for pre-order now.

Core Cast Announced for Marvel’s HELSTROM

Helstrom

While Hulu may have recently decided to pass on a Ghost Rider series, one Marvel show that is moving forward is Helstrom. And now, that series has announced its core cast.

Direct from Hulu, The Royals’ Tom Austen and Fear the Walking Dead’s Sydney Lemmon will spearhead Helstrom as Daimon Helstrom and his sister, Ana. They’ll be joined in the show by Homeland’s Elizabeth Marvel as Victoria Helstrom, Nashville’s Robert Wisdom as Caretaker, Sweet November’s June Carryl as Dr Louise Hastings, Candy Jar’s Ariana Guerra as Gabriella Rosetti, and A Leading Man’s Alain Uy as Chris Yen.

The early word on Helstrom reads:

Daimon and Ana Helstrom are the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer in Marvel’s Helstrom. The siblings have a complicated dynamic as they track down the terrorizing worst of humanity – each with their attitude and skills.

Lost’s Paul Zbyszewski is on showrunner duties for Helstrom, with the series expected to premiere at some point in 2020.

Nicholas Galitzine Joins the CRAFT Remake

Nicholas Galitzine

With a remake of The Craft currently in development, the redo has added another name to its cast.

Courtesy of Deadline, Chambers’ Nicholas Galitzine has joined Blumhouse and Columbia’s new spin on the 1996 favourite. Already on board for The Craft are Pacific Rim: Uprising’s Cailee Spaeny, The Society’s Gideon Adlon, Selah & the Spades’ Lovie Simone and 15: A Quinceanera Story’s Zoey Luna as the film’s four core characters.

If you remember, a new Craft movie has been being talked about for several years now, with Honeymoon’s Leigh Janiak working on a sequel three years ago. Janiak has long since left the project, and Sony has tasked Lola Versus’ Zoe Lister-Jones with writing and directing this remake.

For those not familiar with the original ’96 movie, the Andrew Fleming-helmed effort centred on Robin Tunney as she makes friends with a trio of young witches played by Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True.

As ever, expect more on this Craft remake as we get it.

Len Wiseman to Direct JOHN WICK Spin-Off

Ballerina

With the John Wick franchise to continue on with a fourth main movie and a spin-off offering, now comes word on who’ll be handling said spin-off.

Via Deadline, Len Wiseman has landed the gig of directing John Wick spin-off, Ballerina. Wiseman is likely best known to genre fans for helming two Underworld movies, Die Hard 4.0 and the Total Recall remake.

The early word on the female-driven Ballerina reads:

Ballerina focuses on a young female assassin who seeks revenge against the people who killed her family.

John Wick: Chapter 3 saw it revealed that Anjelica Huston’s Director trains ballerinas in the same facility where Keanu Reeves’ Wick himself was trained up to become an assassin.

Lionsgate has yet to set an official release date for Ballerina at this stage, although John Wick: Chapter 4 has been booked in for a May 2021 release.

Horror Channel Serves Up a Haunted Halloween

haunted halloween

Halloween is nearly upon us so that can mean only one thing: more horror films! So naturally, Horror Channel has some delights for you in their Haunted Halloween season.

The channel will present 13 nights of scary classics and premieres from October 19th right until Samhain.

It all kicks off with the UK TV premiere of The Unspoken (2015) and the season concludes with the channel premiere of Pay the Ghost (2015), starring Nicolas Cage.

The full line-up is:

Sat Oct 19th – The Unspoken

Sun Oct 20th – Amityville II: The Possession (1982)

Mon Oct 21st – The Innkeepers (2011)

Tues Oct 22nd – Stir of Echoes (1999)

Wed Oct 23rd – The Messengers (2007)

Thurs Oct 24th – Flight 7500 (2014)

Fri Oct 25th – The Woman in Black (2010)

Sat Oct 26th – The Possession (2016)

Sun Oct 27th – The Nun (2005)

Mon Oct 28th – The Eye (2008)

Tues Oct 29th – The Pact (2012)

Wed Oct 30th – Boo (2005)

Thurs Oct 31st – Pay the Ghost (2015)

 

There are, of course, always more terror-filed films showing nightly on Horror Channel, so you won’t go short on scares.

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

Rachel Maddow Cast as BATWOMAN’s Vesper Fairchild

Rachel Maddow Vesper Fairchild

As Batwoman gears up to premiere tomorrow, the show has now announced another familiar comic book character as being a part of the Ruby Rose-headlined series.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Rachel Maddow will be playing Vesper Fairchild in the show. Maddow is best known for her political commentary and is the host of The Rachel Maddow Show. Maddow is actually quite the Batwoman fan, with her even having written an introduction to Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III’s Batwoman: Elegy graphic novel.

For the character of Vesper, she was first introduced in 1997’s Batman #540 and quickly became a love interest of Bruce Wayne. Famously, she became the subject of a whodunnit that saw Bruce pegged as the prime suspect and forced to go on the run.

Interestingly, Vesper Fairchild will reportedly not be seen in Batwoman. Instead, her voice will be heard as a news reporter looking at happenings in Gotham City.

On the casting of Rachel Maddow as Vesper, Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries enthused, “We consider Vesper Fairchild to be the sardonic Voice of Gotham. In addition to Rachel’s interest in Batwoman, we thought she’d be the perfect casting choice because her own hard-hitting journalism wildly contrasts Vesper’s penchant for snark, gossip and criticism of female superheroes.”

Batwoman premieres on The CW tomorrow.