Animated THE AMAZING STAN Series in Development

Stan Lee

It still brings a tear to the eye to think that the iconic Stan Lee left us last November, but now comes word on a new project that will see The Man’s legacy live on in animated form.

Via Deadline, POW! Entertainment and Pure Imagination Studios are working together on an animated series called The Amazing Stan.

The show will reimagine Stan as a mischievous schoolboy, and the idea itself was conceived by Pure Imagination’s John P. Roberts and Sanjee Gupta. The pair reportedly pitched the idea to Lee and got his approval before his passing last year. Phineas and Ferb’s Scott Peterson is the person tasked with bringing animated lee to The Man.

On this news, Roberts enthused, “Stan Lee turned his childhood daydreams into a universe that features superheroes that have resonated with generations of all ages and cultures. Now, his millions of fans can look forward to seeing him appear as an animated version of his younger self for the very first time.”

At this stage, The Amazing Stan has yet to find a network home or be given any sort of rough premiere date – but expect more on the show as we get it.

Excelsior, indeed!

BATMAN BEYOND Getting Remastered Anniversary Release

Batman Beyond

Yes, yes, yes! In some fantastic news for Bat-fans, Batman Beyond is getting remastered for a new Blu-ray release.

If you remember, last year saw the absolutely jaw-dropping release of Batman: The Complete Animated Series as each and every episode of BTAS was given a shiny new clean-up – complete with the Mask of the Phantasm and SubZero movies also cleaned-up and included. And now, well now Batman Beyond is to get the same treatment as the show celebrates its 20th anniversary.

Batman Beyond: The Complete Animated Series will see all three seasons of the fan favourite series remastered, plus the six-disc set will also feature the iconic (and utterly chilling!) Return of The Joker film in remastered form. Elsewhere, a whopping 15 featurettes will be included in the release.

Batman Beyond

As announced as San Diego Comic-Con, this new Batman Beyond boxset will be released on October 29th.

Ed Furlong Returning as John Connor for TERMINATOR: DARK FATE

John Connor Edward Furlong

In some awesome news for long-standing fans of the Terminator franchise, it’s been revealed that Edward Furlong will be back as John Connor for this year’s Terminator: Dark Fate.

Fresh from San Diego Comic-Con, James Cameron – director of the first two Terminator movies and producer of Dark Fate – confirmed that Furlong will be reprising his T2 role of the man tasked with saving mankind from the rise of the machines.

Given how Terminator: Dark Fate will ignore all three films since Terminator: Judgment Day and has Linda Hamilton back as Sarah Connor, many were left massively disappointed that Furlong wasn’t a part of this latest picture. Now, those frowns can be turned upside down.

In the years after Judgment Day, Furlong impressed in offerings such as American History X, Detroit Rock City and Pecker, but the actor’s career took a nosedive after his well-publicised drug and alcohol issues that led to several run-ins with the law.

To be directed by Deadpool’s Tim Miller, Terminator: Dark Fate is set for an October 23rd release.

Arrow Video FrightFest Guests Announced

frightfest guests

Details of some of the amazing special guests who will be attending the Arrow Video FrightFest this August have been announced, as well as the shortlist for the coveted Screen Genre Rising Star Award.
From the press release:

As previously revealed, genre icon Dario Argento and The Soska Sisters will be attending and other returning alumni include Abner Pastoll, here with the closing night film A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND, alongside many of the cast, producer/director Ant Timpson for opener COME TO DADDY, BLISS director Joe Begos, joined by stars Dora Madison and Graham Skipper, DANIEL ISN’T REAL helmer Adam Egypt Mortimer and Paidraig Reynolds, director of DARK LIGHT, accompanied by his cast including Jessica Madsen (Leatherface). Plus, Jordan Barker returns with WITCHES IN THE WOODS, with lead actress Hannah Kasulka, Dan Bush with THE DARK RED, accompanied by lead actress April Billingsley and the Pierce Brothers are back with THE WRETCHED.

This year’s International talent making their FrightFest debut include KNIVES AND SKIN director Jennifer Reeder, DRIVEN writer/lead actress Casey Dillard, alongside co-star Glenn Payne, EAT BRAINS LOVE director Rodman Flelder, ROCK PAPER AND SCISSORS co-director Martin Bousson, accompanied by Argentinian leading ladies Valeria Giorcelli and Agustina Cervino, Henry Jacobsen, marking his directorial debut with Blumhouse production BLOODLINE and  Ireland is represented by Paddy Murphy, who is also making his directorial debut with THE PERISHED. Plus we have Eric Pennycroft, director of SADISTIC INTENTIONS, with actress Taylor Zaudtke (who also features in FrightFest entry FINGERS), I TRAPPED THE DEVIL lead actor & producer Scott Poythress, Brandon Croft for TRUE FICTION. THE DEEPER YOU DIG co-directors John Adams and Toby Poser (who also stars in the movie), VOILITION director Tony Dean Smith, alongside star John Cassini, (who also stars in TRUE FICTION), FINGERS director Juan Ortiz, THE FURIES director Tony D’Aquino and Jason Axinn, here with TO YOUR LAST DEATH.

Homegrown talent will be present in abundance this year. CRAWL star Kaya Scodelario is in the house, alongside cast and crew from MADNESS IN THE METHOD, including Busted singer/songwriter and actor Matt Willis. TALES FROM THE LODGE director Abigail Blackmore is joining us with her all-star cast, including Mackenzie Crook and Laura Fraser. Plus, Lawrie Brewster returns with anthology FOR WE ARE MANY, accompanied by crew and cast including Nicholas Vince. Tom Paton is also back with STAIRS, along with HERE COMES HELL director Jack McHenry and Andrew Desmond, director of THE SONATA.

Staying with UK talent, the FIRST BLOOD strand goes from strength to strength and all the helmers will be around, supported by their cast and crews: So let’s welcome DEATH OF A VLOGGER director Graham Hughes, A SERIAL KILLER’S GUIDE TO LIFE director Staten Cousns-Roe, CRIMINAL AUDITION  director Samuel Gridley, DARK SENSE director Magnus Wake and Fredi Nwaka, director of ARE WE DEAD YET?

Established in 2016 to celebrate the work of emerging UK genre talent, FrightFest is proud to team up for the fourth year running with Screen International to present the ‘Screen Genre Rising Star Award’. This year’s short list salutes the work of Abigail Blackmore, director of twisty, terrifying black comedy horror TALES FROM THE LODGE, Staten Cousins-Roe for his highly original and compelling debut feature A SERIAL KILLER’S GUIDE TO LIFE, actress Rebecca Rogers for her stunning lead performance in STALKED, Jack McHenry for his exuberant genre cocktail of caviar and carnage HERE COMES HELL and director/actor Fredi Nwaka for his devilishly clever feature ARE WE DEAD YET?. The winner will be revealed on Monday 26 Aug, 6,30pm at the Cineworld Leicester Sq.

Other events this year include the UK launch of Dario Argento’s autobiography ‘Fear’. The genre icon and giallo legend will take to the stage to talk about the book and life at the top during Rome’s Golden Horror Era. Argento’s life-long friend and FrightFest co-director Alan Jones, who adapted, edited, annotated and illustrated the FAB Press publication, will be the master of ceremonies at this must-attend event followed by a signing session.

The discovery of new voices in the world of genre filmmaking is close to FrightFest’s darkly beating heart and the festival has teamed up with UK distribution outfit Blue Finch Films and short film funding company Genera, to launch a new initiative to help finance genre short films that are in the latter stages of development.  With a £1000 fund on offer, the finalists will pitch their films to an industry panel and the winning film will be announced at the end of the festival. Hosted by FrightFest’s Short Film programmer Shelagh Rowan-Legg, the panel will  include filmmaker actress Joanne Mitchell and Blue Finch Films’ Mike Chapman.

Rosie Fletcher, editor of Den Of Geek, will host FROM PAGE TO SCREAM, featuring top horror authors whose work has been adapted or optioned for the screen. They’ll talk about the processes and pitfalls of getting a novel turned into a show or film, what it’s like seeing their creations come to life and about how the landscape of horror is changing in books, film and TV.

FrightFest, in association with Supermassive Games, presents a special preview of MAN OF MEDAN, the first game in The Dark Pictures anthology. Hosted by Barry Keating, they’ll be a live Q & A with the key development talent behind the game. The much anticipated interactive narrative horror adventure, developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, brings supernatural horror on board a ghost-ship adrift in the South Pacific. It is set to be released on Aug 30, 2019.

There’s no party like a film party and to celebrate FrightFest’s 20th year the Duke Mitchell team have once again scoured the Earth to find the weirdest pieces of film & cinema ever to have flashed into our eyeballs. Add to the mix some very SPECIAL guests, endless giveaways and brilliant trailers and it means the ‘DUKE MITCHELL FILM PARTY’ is the only place to be on a late night Saturday at FrightFest!

Arrow Video FrightFest runs from August 22nd-26th at Cineworld Leicester Square and The Prince Charles Cinema.

Single tickets go on sale Sat, July 20th at noon and, alongside the few remaining Festival and day pass sales, are available to buy online: http://www.frightfest.co.uk/tickets.html

For full programme details: http://www.frightfest.co.uk/

 

Javier Bardem in Talks for THE LITTLE MERMAID

King Triton Javier Bardem The Little Mermaid

On the heels of the news that Harry Styles is to play Prince Eric in the movie, now comes word on who may be playing King Triton in Disney’s upcoming live-action take on The Little Mermaid.

Courtesy of Variety, Javier Bardem has reportedly entered talks to play the father of Ariel. Academy Award winner Barden is best known for his roles in the likes of No Country for Old Men, Skyfall and mother!, and he’s now being eyed to take on a role that was voiced by Kenneth Mars in the beloved 1989 animated movie.

Should Bardem indeed sign on for The Little Mermaid, he’ll join a cast that includes Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Awkwafina as Scuttle, and the aforementioned Styles as Prince Eric. Melissa McCarthy is another in talks to join the picture, with her lined up to play the nefarious Ursula.

Right now, The Little Mermaid has yet to be given a set release date, although production is looking to get started early next year. This, of course, is the latest Disney classic to being getting the live-action treatment, following in the footsteps of the likes of The Jungle Book, Dumbo, Aladdin and The Lion King.

Issue 463 – Out Now!

463 ns

In the new issue of STARBURST, we celebrate the talent that is Quentin Tarantino, with a look back at his career and a look forward to Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood. In keeping with the film’s setting, we uncover the Dark Side of Hollywood, delving into the tragic events that have happened over the years.

We also preview Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs & Shaw, which sees Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham team up in a spin-off from the hit series. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Sixth Sense, we countdown the best and worst twists in cinema and TV.

And that’s not all, we also chat to composer Cliff Martinez about his work on the new Nicolas Winding Refn Amazon Prime series Too Old to Die Young and author Cornelia Funke tells us about adapting Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth for a new book.

Plus Horror Obscura looks at another overlooked shocker plus all your favourite COLUMNS, NEWS, REVIEWS and much MORE from the worlds of SCI-FI, HORROR and FANTASY

Tade Thompson Wins The Clarke Award

Tade Thompson Rosewater

Rosewater by Tade Thompson (Orbit) has won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award. The award is chosen by a panel of industry professionals, and is often compared to the Man Booker Prize in terms of impact and importance.

The ceremony for the 33rd Clarke Award took place at Foyles Bookshop in London. The event is one of the highlights of the UK science fiction scene. Tade Thompson received a commemorative engraved bookend and prize money of £2019.00.

Dr Andrew M Butler, Chair of Judges, said: “Alien invasion is always a political subject, and Tade Thompson’s debut novel Rosewater expertly explores the nature of the alien, global power structures and pervasive technologies with a winning combination of science fictional invention, gritty plotting and sly wit.I would like to pay tribute to our judges for this year, it was an incredibly close but good-natured argument over which novel would triumph.”

The judges were composed of members of the British Science Fiction Association, the Science Fiction Foundation and the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival.

WARHAMMER 40K’s Eisenhorn Coming to TV

Eisenhorn Warhammer TV Show

Games Workshop’s iconic character Eisenhorn is to get his own live-action TV show. X-Files & The Man in the High Castle producer Frank Spotnitz is to be the showrunner of this gothic sci-fi/fantasy television series. Spontnitz brings with him the award winning Big Light Productions.

Warhammer 40,000 is a world famous franchise. Set in a grim-dark future, mankind’s vast galactic empire teeters on the brink of annihilation. The TV series will focus on the Imperial Inquisitior Gregor Eisenhorn and his band of agents, whol lead the charge in the fight against the mutant, the heretic and the alien.

The Eisenhorn series is based on novels written by New York Times bestselling author Dan Abnett, who is perhaps known for creating the story that the Guardians of The Galaxy movies are based on.

The books chart the journey of this troubled hero, who begins with the purest of motivations but is constantly tempted by darker forces as things get more and more desperate. The Starburst team are eagerly anticipating casting, not only for Gregor himself, but for his team. It would be intesting to see who they cast as the likes of Harlon Nayl, Kara Swole and Cherubael.

Dan has told the press “Gregor Eisenhorn is a relentless force in the dark future of the Warhammer universe: a destroyer of daemons and a purger of heretics, implacable, powerful and dedicated. But the appeal to me, from the moment I started writing him, was his complexity. He is not the simple, ruthless hero he appears to be. His battle with the Warp leads him into dark places and forces him to question his duty, his understanding of the Imperium, and his own identity. With Eisenhorn, it’s not just the adventures, and they are certainly vivid: it’s the journey he takes to the very limits of what he is and what it means to be loyal.”

Frank Spotnitz, series showrunner and Big Light Productions CEO, has added: “We are delighted to collaborate with Games Workshop to develop the beloved visionary world of Warhammer 40,000 into a TV series. Warhammer 40,000 is steeped in rich and complex lore, with a myriad of traditions and stories that have accumulated over time in this thrilling and complex world, making it one of the most exciting properties to adapt for television audiences and the franchise’s loyal global fanbase. There is nothing else like it on television, and we are incredibly excited to tap into our own experience creating imaginative, complex and compelling worlds to bring this incredible saga to the screen.”

Take Part in the EVE Aether Wars Phase Two Playtest

aether

Gamers have something amazing to look forward to as Vanguard playtest will showcase new 10,000 player battle in August. London-based tech start-up Hadean and CCP Games, creators of the biggest single-shard spaceship MMO game of all time EVE Online, have revealed the date for their hugely ambitious EVE Aether Wars: Phase Two playtest: Sunday August 18th.

Announced at EVE North, EVE Aether Wars: Phase Two is the next iteration of the partnership between Hadean and CCP Games that resulted in the original EVE Aether Wars, the ground-breaking tech demo that brought together 3,852 players in a single battle that saw the destruction of 88,988 ships live at Game Developers Conference earlier this year.

Phase Two is even bigger and better, with Hadean and CCP Games targeting 10,000 players in a single battle while also offering a richer, deeper gameplay experience that will set new standards in large scale multiplayer simulation. EVE Aether Wars: Phase Two is a rare opportunity for players to take part in a large-scale space battle involving thousands of players. Check out this video for a glimpse of what’s being worked on:

To take part, PC players can sign up for free by visiting hadean.com/eveaetherwars. The playtest will take place at 13:00 EDT / 17:00 UTC on Sunday August 18th, which has been selected based on feedback from the EVE community following the original EVE: Aether Wars playtest.

As with the original, EVE Aether Wars: Phase Two will be powered by Aether Engine, Hadean’s cloud engine for persistent, massively multiplayer games. With Hadean focusing on the engine powering Phase Two, CCP Games is driving development of its gameplay, as part of its ongoing research and development with large-scale multiplayer technology to push the boundaries of what’s possible in EVE Online.

EVE Aether Wars proved that the underlying technology works; Phase Two will demonstrate what exciting and compelling gameplay experiences look and feel like when thousands of players are battling each other at the same time.

“This is the start of something special,” said Craig Beddis, CEO of Hadean. “We wanted to show the world that our Aether Engine technology can perform flawlessly under unprecedented strain. We’ve done that. Now we want to show the world unique and exciting gameplay experiences that can only be delivered by our technology. It’s not just gamers who will be thrilled by EVE Aether Wars: Phase Two but the games industry as well. We can’t wait for everyone to join us in this ambitious project.”

“We are keen to build on the success of our joint efforts with Hadean on EVE Aether Wars and push our prototype even further,” said Hilmar V. Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games. “By using this technology to test the limits of the virtual worlds we can build, we hope to open up new possibilities for developers, the industry and ultimately the players themselves. We’re eager to explore the boundaries of what can be achieved in large-scale multiplayer gaming, which may even lead to the creation of spectacular new genres.”

Hadean will be attending Gamescom in Business Hall 2.2 in booth B-057, with appointments available for delegates who want to learn more about the Aether Engine tech powering EVE Aether Wars: Phase Two. For further details on Hadean and the Aether Engine, visit hadean.com

For more information about CCP Games and the EVE Universe, visit ccpgames.com/products.

CRAWL Scribes’ THE UNHEARD Finds a Director

Crawl

As UK audiences await Alexandre Aja’s Crawl stalking its way to the silver screen this August, now comes word on a new project for the Crawl writing team.

Courtesy of The Wrap, Monster Party’s Chris von Hoffmann has been brought in to direct the Michael and Shawn Rasmussen-penned The Unheard. The brothers Rasmussen will also serve as executive producers on the film.

At this point, there are absolutely zero plot details known about The Unheard, but expect more on the picture as we get it.

In the meantime, Crawl hits UK cinemas August 23rd. Having managed to check out an advanced screening, trust us, this is one terror-tastic effort you do not want to miss.