MA Sequel In The Works With Octavia Spencer Returning

octavia spencer in ma set for sequel

Octavia Spencer is back for a sequel to the psychological horror thriller, Ma, in which she starred in 2019. Blumhouse announced that the follow-up film is in development, and that Oscar winning actress Spencer would return as Sue Ann, the lonely woman with a dark side.

In Ma, an isolated woman befriends a group of teens, allowing them to use her basement for parties. Yet things take a sinister turn as she begins implementing a series of strict rules for the kids hanging out at her house, including never venturing upstairs. Perhaps a little oddly, Blumhouse stated at its business of fear event that part of the reason they greenlit a sequel for Ma was due to the number of memes inspired by the film, interpreting that as a sign that the feature has staying power in pop culture.

“Ma has proven to be a social phenomenon since its release in 2019, with fans eagerly embracing the film and Octavia’s iconic performance as Ma. Ma likes to say ‘don’t make me drink alone,’ so we’re thrilled Octavia will join us again for a second round,” said Jason Blum.

There’s no word yet on who might direct or write the sequel. Stay tuned for more.

WICKED: FOR GOOD Releases First Trailer

still from trailer for wicked: for good starring cynthia erivo and ariana grande

The second chapter of the Wicked film adaptation comes later this year, and the trailer for what is being titled Wicked: For Good has now been released.

Directed once again by award-winning director Jon M. Chu and starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the final chapter of the untold story of the witches of Oz begins with Elphaba and Glinda estranged and living with the consequences of their choices.

Elphaba (Erivo), now demonized as The Wicked Witch of the West, lives in exile, hidden within the Ozian forest while continuing her fight for the freedom of Oz’s silenced Animals and desperately trying to expose the truth she knows about The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). 

Glinda, meanwhile, has become the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, living at the palace in Emerald City and reveling in the perks of fame and popularity. Under the instruction of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), Glinda is deployed to serve as an effervescent comfort to Oz, reassuring the masses that all is well under the rule of The Wizard. 

As Glinda’s stardom expands and she prepares to marry Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) in a spectacular Ozian wedding, she is haunted by her separation from Elphaba. She attempts to broker a conciliation between Elphaba and The Wizard, but those efforts will fail, driving Elphaba and Glinda only further apart. The aftershocks will transform Boq (Ethan Slater) and Fiyero forever, and threaten the safety of Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), when a girl from Kansas comes crashing into all their lives.

As an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, Glinda and Elphaba will need to come together one final time. With their singular friendship now the fulcrum of their futures, they will need to truly see each other, with honesty and empathy, if they are to change themselves, and all of Oz, for good.

Wicked: For Good releases in cinemas from November 17th, 2025. Watch the trailer below:

BLACK PHONE 2 Drops Trailer

the black phone 2 trailer still with the grabber

Blumhouse has revealed the first poster and trailer for Black Phone 2, the highly-anticipated sequel to 2021’s horror thriller The Black Phone. Scott Derrickson returns to direct the feature, with four-time Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke also returning to his role as The Grabber.

In this new film, The Grabber seeks vengeance on Finn (Mason Thames) from beyond the grave by threatening his younger sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw).

The cast also includes Demián Bichir, Arianna Rivas, Miguel Mora, and Jeremy Davies returning as Finn and Gwen’s father, Terrence. Maeve Beaty and Graham Abbey will also appear.

Black Phone 2 is again written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, based on characters created by Joe Hill. The film is produced by Jason Blum, Derrickson and Cargill. The executive producers are Adam Hendricks and Ryan Turek. The film is set to open in cinemas on October 17th, 2025.

In June 2022, Derrickson said that while Joe Hill was protective of his story, the author had pitched him a “wonderful idea” for a sequel that he was open to directing if the first film was a success. Two months later, the pair confirmed they were in discussions with the studio to make a sequel. Hill said that his inspiration to writing a sequel was based on the “iconic imagery” of the Graber’s masks.

Watch the trailer below:

SPLIT FICTION Adaptation To Star Sydney Sweeney, Jon M. Chu Directing

split fiction video game trailer graphic

Amazon MGM Studios is finalising a deal to acquire Split Fiction, Deadline reports, a hot feature package based on the 2025 action-adventure video game of the same name. The film would see Wicked filmmaker Jon M. Chu and Sydney Sweeney team up to adapt it.

The script hails from Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the duo behind the recent MCU film Deadpool & Wolverine.

Split Fiction centres on two writers, Mio Hudson and Zoe Foster, who become trapped inside a simulation created by a tech company that uses AI to mine authors’ ideas (eerily relevant, we know). The pair must work together to escape as they navigate surreal environments, inspired by their respective genres of sci-fi and fantasy. Sweeney will play one of the two authors, though her specific role hasn’t been disclosed.

Story Kitchen’s Dmitri M. Johnson & Mike Goldberg will produce the feature take, with Timothy I. Stevenson executive producing. Electric Somewhere is also producing, with Hazelight Studios’ Josef Fares and Oskar Wolontis exec producing.

“Even in early development here at Hazelight, it was clear how much potential ‘Split Fiction’ had to become a kick-ass movie,” Wolontis told Variety on Monday. “We now know it’s got a shot at becoming something truly special with such an amazing creative team behind it. Jon M. Chu, Sydney Sweeney, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, together with Story Kitchen, have all been champions and true fans of this project since day one, and we can’t wait to see their vision for this movie come to life! Amazon MGM has shown intense interest in this project and we’re happy to see them show both confidence and clear intent to bring this movie to all current and future fans of ‘Split Fiction’ out there. We look forward to holding them to that and working together to bring Mio and Zoe to screen.”

Cult TV shows Coming to LEGEND

Two much-loved cult TV shows are heading to the LEGEND channel in June and August.

Firstly, from June 9th, Colt Seavers is back as The Fall Guy, a staple of Saturday night entertainment in the ‘80s. Lee Majors drops his Six Million Dollar Man handle to become a Hollywood stuntman who fights crime in his spare time, which leads to some spectacular sequences! The show joins channel favourite The A-Team as part of its retro line-up.

Heading to LEGEND in August is ‘70s hit show Charlie’s Angels, which became a worldwide success and launched a thousand hairstyles. The initial series starred Farrah Fawcett (who was married to Lee Majors at the time!), Jaclyn Smith, and Kate Jackson as an elite crime-busting trio working for the mysterious Charlie (an unseen John Forsythe).

For more information, head over to https://www.legend-tv.co.uk/


Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN Drops First Teaser

still from the teaser trailer for Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein for Netflix

The first teaser trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein was revealed at Netflix’s Tudum event this weekend, ahead of its release this November. The long-in-the-works adaptation of the 1818 Gothic classic from Mary Shelley sees Oscar Isaac star as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature (Jacob Elordi) to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both creator and creation.

Del Toro has been working on the film, which he’s described as his passion project, for over a decade. At Tudum, he called it the “culmination of a journey that has occupied most of my life,” and added that “monsters have become my personal belief system. There are strands of Frankenstein through my films.”

Coming off his third Academy Award win for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, another literary adaptation for Netflix, Frankenstein also stars Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, Lars Mikkelsen, David Bradley, Christian Convery, Charles Dance and Christoph Waltz.

Del Toro directs from his own script and produces alongside long-time collaborator J. Miles Dale, as well as Scott Stuber. Although Shelley’s novel is credited as being the first sci-fi novel and is recognised as a cornerstone of the Gothic horror genre, del Toro has stated his adaptation is not a horror movie, but a very emotional story.

Check out the gorgeously filmed teaser trailer below:

AREA 51 Conspiracy Thriller In The Works From Colin Trevorrow

area 51 signage

Jurassic World and Safety Not Guaranteed director Colin Trevorrow is helming an untitled conspiracy thriller set at the renowned Area 51, Deadline reports. The film is being directed and produced by Trevorrow for Paramount Pictures, with Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort also on board to produce the feature.

All we know so far is the film is “set in the late 1980s” and “follows the local Last Vegas TV news journalist who first broke the story of Area 51.” The screenplay was written by The LEGO Ninjago Movie duo Tom Wheeler and William Wheeler.

As any self-respecting genre fan/STARBURST reader will of course know, Area 51 is the highly classified United States Air Force facility located in Southern Nevada that many believe is a top secret base to study extra-terrestrials and other UFO activity. Some even believe that alien specimens and technology are kept on-site, Independence Day style.

If the “late 1980s” setting is anything to go by, it’s likely the film will centre, or at least feature, the story of Bob Lazar. In 1989, KLAS-TV’s 5pm newscast aired a live interview with an anonymous man (Dennis, later revealed to be Lazar), who alleged that the US military was secretly studying alien technology in the Nevada desert base. Lazar claimed to work at Area 51’s Sector Four (S-4) and that he was contracted by the Pentagon to reverse-engineer an alien spacecraft the government had in its possession.

Stay tuned as we find out more about this upcoming project!

THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB Trailer Teases A-Lister-Packed Whodunit

the thursday murder club netflix trailer still with helen mirren pierce brosnan and ben kingsley

If we had a pound for every trailer about murder in a retirement home that dropped this Thursday, we’d have £2. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird it happened twice. That is to say, beyond the trailer for Pete Davidson’s The Home, we also now have the trailer for the feature adaptation of The Thursday Murder Club.

Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie star in this whodunit, co-produced by Netflix and Amblin, and based on Richard Osman’s 2020 bestselling novel of the same name. Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Tom Ellis, Jonathan Pryce, David Tennant, Paul Freeman, Geoff Bell, Richard E. Grant, and Ingrid Oliver round out the A-lister-packed cast.

Chris Columbus, best known for his directorial work on the Harry Potter franchise, directs from a script by Katy Brand (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) and Suzanne Heathcote, of Fear the Walking Dead.

In The Thursday Murder Club, four irrepressible retirees – an ex-spy (Mirren), a former union activist (Brosnan), a retired psychiatrist (Kingsley), and a former nurse (Imrie) – spend their time solving cold case murders for fun. However, their casual sleuthing takes a thrilling turn when they find themselves with a real whodunit on their hands.

“There’s a wonderful mystery at its core, so mystery fans will be very happy,” says Columbus. “But thematically it’s interesting that we’ve got four elderly people who are living in a retirement community and who are fascinated by death and murder. They are facing their own demise, yet at the same time they are obsessed with studying cold cases. I fell in love thematically with that. It’s comedic, but it’s also very emotional.”

The Thursday Murder Club releases on Netflix on August 28th. Watch the teaser trailer below:

THE HOME Horror Trailer Stars Pete Davidson

pete davidson in trailer for the home horror film

Pete Davidson stars in the trailer for the chilling, psychological horror film The Home, from The Purge helmer James DeMonaco. The Saturday Night Live alum plays Max, a young man sentenced to community service and caring for the elderly residents of a retirement facility, only to come in contact with the off-limits fourth floor, where residents require “special care”.

“There’s something very wrong with this place,” an older woman tells Max. Before long, Max is facing bloody violence and strange medical experiments in the nightmarish facility.

DeMonaco said of The Home: “When I set out to create The Home, I aimed to capture the spine-chilling eeriness of 70’s horror, where suspense simmers and ultimately erupts into glorious chaos. Joining me is my Staten Island brother, Pete Davidson, who unveils a darker, dramatic side as his character navigates a bizarre group of residents in an old age home. The growing tension culminates in an epic blood-soaked finale, designed to leave audiences gasping, terrified, and cheering. I can’t wait for everyone to visit The Home. Cover your eyes, folks.”

DeMonaco and Adam Cantor co-wrote the script, with Bill Block and Sebastian K. Lemercier producing. John Glover, Bruce Altman, Ethan Phillips and Marilee Talkington also star. The film hails from Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.

The Home releases in cinemas from July 25th. Watch the trailer below:

Matthew Lillard Airbender TTRPG Funds In Record Time

An officially licensed adventure game for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game smashed its crowdfunding goals within 30 minutes of launch.

Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game allows gamers to explore the world of the classic animated TV show Avatar. This newly funded accessory, Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game – Voyage of the Unity, is a full campaign that sees your heroes explore the four nations in a mammoth seafaring research vessel. The game is set in the Roku era, which is just over 100 years before the events of The Last Airbender. It has been produced by Scooby-Doo actor Matthew Lillard’s own gaming company, Beadle & Grimm’s.

This, of course, means that the set will be absolutely stuffed with hand-outs, scrolls, maps, gaming screens and other associated tools, including your very own water-bending scroll. With critically acclaimed game designers and some of the finest artists involved, we are not surprised how quickly this was funded.

You have till 20th of June to back the campaign, which can be found here.