Marvel Studios’ SHANG-CHI Eyeing Ludi Lin and Ross Butler

Shang-Chi Ludi Lin Ross Butler

With the landscape-changing Avengers: Endgame now in their rear-view mirror, Marvel Studios and Disney are beginning to push forward with several new additions for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And now, we have an update on one of those upcoming projects: Shang-Chi.

Towards the end of last year, it was announced that a Shang-Chi movie was in development, and just this past March we saw Short Term 12’s Destin Daniel Cretton brought in to direct. In this latest news story, two names have emerged as being candidates to play the role of Shang-Chi’s titular Master of Kung Fu.

Courtesy of That Hashtag Show, Power Rangers’ Ludi Lin and Shazam!’s Ross Butler are said to be two names who are interesting Marvel Studios for the Shang-Chi gig. In addition to this, there’s also reports that all-round badass Donnie Yen is wanted for a role in the film; a major part of that being due to Yen’s huge popularity across Asia.

For those not overly familiar with Shang-Chi, he is a character who debuted back in 1973’s Marvel Special Edition #15 as a creation of Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin. The son of Fu-Manchu, Shang-Chi is brought up to be the true master of kung fu – only for that to all take a surprise turn when he realises that his father was actually up to no good. Of course, the creation of this character was done as a way to capitalise on the martial arts boom ushered in by Bruce Lee in the ’60s and ‘70s, and like those kung fu movies of the day, Shang-Chi wasn’t quite so popular by the time the ‘80s rolled around. In fact, his own title – Master of Kung Fu – was cancelled in 1983, leaving him as simply a supporting character who would occasionally turn up in other heroes’ stories. That was until more modern times, though, with Shang-Chi having featured as part of the Secret Avengers and even the main Avengers team more recently.

What makes Shang-Chi so intriguing is that Marvel Studios is looking to put the spotlight on Asian-Americans and their cultures; much like the stunning Black Panther did for African-Americans and African customs. Shang-Chi will feature an Asian lead as the titular hero, with Asian-American screenwriter Dave Callaham having already begun work on the script.

As ever, expect more on Shang-Chi as it continues to develop.

New AMITYVILLE Prequel Movie in Development

Amityville

In the pantheon of long-running, multiple-movie horror franchises, there is no franchise that has as many outings as the Amityville series. And now, you guessed it, yet another Amityville offering is on the way.

As first reported by Deadline, The Wonderfilm Media Corporation is developing a prequel film titled Amityville 1974. The Remaining’s Casey La Scala is on writing and directing duties for the feature.

In terms of the early word on Amityville 1974, that reads:

The focus shifts back to the traumatic murders that reputedly set the supernatural stage for the nation’s most notorious haunted-house legend. In November 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot all six members of his family in a spree killing that took on even more horrific hues a year later when a family bought the notorious property and lived in it for 28 days – a four-week window that became the core story of the Anson novel and its three big-screen adaptations.

Said novel, of course, was Jay Anson’s 1977 The Amityville Horror; a tale that would then be turned into a 1979 James Brolin and Margot Kidder-starring movie from director Stuart Rosenberg.

On this new movie installment, Casey La Scala enthused, “This is a story that takes its jumping-off point from the true events surrounding the Defeo tragedy, but also focuses on the human drama that took place inside a family as they were relentlessly stalked by a terrifying evil.”

In case you were wondering, to date there have been nine Amityville books and a ridiculous 23(!) movies – the majority of which have been straight-to-video fodder.

As ever, expect more on Amityville 1974 as it continues to develop.

BATWOMAN Gets an October Premiere

Ruby Rose Batwoman

After constantly having to refer to it as “premiering at a to-be-confirmed date later this year”, we now have official confirmation of when The CW’s Ruby Rose-headlined Batwoman series will make its bow.

Courtesy of The CW’s Fall 2019 schedule, Batwoman has been booked in to premiere on Sunday, October 6th. That same night will see Batwoman’s first episode followed by the Season 5 premiere of Supergirl.

Looking at the rest of the The CW’s shared Arrowverse of shows, The Flash will premiere its sixth season on Tuesday, October 8th, while Arrow’s eighth and final season will begin on Tuesday, October 15th.

Elsewhere, Season 5 of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has yet to be given a set premiere date, although the show has already been renewed for a fifth year. And finally, while not existing in the Arrowverse, the DC-driven Black Lightning will see its third season premiere on Monday, October 21st.

To circle back to Batwoman, this official blurb on this hugely anticipated new show reads:

Kate Kane (Rose) never planned to be Gotham’s new vigilante. Three years after Batman mysteriously disappeared, Gotham is a city in despair. Without the Caped Crusader, the Gotham City Police Department was overrun and outgunned by criminal gangs. Enter Jacob Kane (Dougray Scott) and his military-grade Crows Private Security, which now protects the city with omnipresent firepower and militia. Years before, Jacob’s first wife and daughter were killed in the crossfire of Gotham crime. He sent his only surviving daughter, Kate Kane, away from Gotham for her safety. After a dishonorable discharge from military school and years of brutal survival training, Kate returns home when the Alice in Wonderland gang targets her father and his security firm, by kidnapping his best Crow officer Sophie Moore (Meagan Tandy). Although remarried to wealthy socialite Catherine Hamilton-Kane (Elizabeth Anweis), who bankrolls the Crows, Jacob is still struggling with the family he lost, while keeping Kate — the daughter he still has — at a distance.

But Kate is a woman who’s done asking for permission. In order to help her family and her city, she’ll have to become the one thing her father loathes — a dark knight vigilante. With the help of her compassionate stepsister, Mary (Nicole Kang), and the crafty Luke Fox (Camrus Johnson), the son of Wayne Enterprises’ tech guru Lucius Fox, Kate Kane continues the legacy of her missing cousin, Bruce Wayne, as Batwoman. Still holding a flame for her ex-girlfriend, Sophie, Kate uses everything in her power to combat the dark machinations of the psychotic Alice (Rachel Skarsten), who’s always somewhere slipping between sane and insane. Armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind, Kate soars through the shadowed streets of Gotham as Batwoman. But don’t call her a hero yet. In a city desperate for a savior, she must first overcome her own demons before embracing the call to be Gotham’s symbol of hope.

Expect more on what lies ahead for all of these shows as we get it.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE FARM Comic Has a Sequel on Kickstarter

slaughterhouse kickstarter

The comic book series STARBURST described as ‘a must-have for any longtime horror hounds’ and ‘pitch perfect and delightfully demented’, is coming back for it’s fifth splatter-soaked instalment, and it needs your help.

 

The four-part indie comic Slaughterhouse Farm, described as ‘The Hills Have Eyes set in Snowdonia’, and given 9/10 by STARBURST, featured a group of troubled teenagers on a team-building trip, being chased by the monstrous Pigf**ker. Now the series continues with Slaughterhouse Z, which sees hulking serial killer ‘Porker X’ carving a swathe of terror throughout the Welsh countryside, and promising as much blood and guts per frame than is (in)humanly possible – as well as a pair of new heroines, brides-to-be Roxy and Serenity, caught up in the carnage.

Produced by the UK-based small press comic production team, Hellbound Media, and the brain child of Matt Warner and his friend A. J. Ballard, Slaughterhouse Z represents their own gloriously gruesome take on the grindhouse horror aesthetic.

To get the comic into print, Hellbound Media have launched a Kickstarter campaign, where Slaughterhouse fans can support the project and get their mitts on a whole heap of merchandise including t-shirts, stickers and postcards, superb original artwork and ultra-limited edition alternative covers. The campaign runs until June 26th, 2019, with the comic due in August this year if the target is reached. So get pledging – or they’ll send Porker X round, and trust us, you really don’t want that to happen!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hellboundmedia/slaughterhousez/description

 

Bradley Cooper in Talks for del Toro’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Bradley Cooper

With the utterly brilliant Guillermo del Toro directing Nightmare Alley for Fox Searchlight, now comes word on who may be headlining the picture.

If you remember back, Leonardo DiCaprio was at one point lined up to star in the film before ultimately turning down the gig. And now, Variety is reporting that Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper is in talks for the role originally pegged for DiCaprio. In fact, the outlet claims that Cooper has already been offered the starring role, with talks currently ongoing.

Written by del Toro and Kim Morgan, Nightmare Alley will be del Toro’s take on William Lindsay Graham’s 1946 novel of the same name. The source material – not to mention the 1947 movie adaptation – centres on a conman who teams with a female psychiatrist to trick some poor saps out of their money.

As ever, expect more on del Toro’s Nightmare Alley as it continues to develop.

TITANS Adds Drew Van Acker as Aqualad

Drew Van Acker

With Titans currently amassing quite the impressive set of new additions ahead of its second season, the DC Universe series has now added yet another famed superhero to its ranks.

As first reported by TV Insider, Pretty Little Liars’ Drew Van Acker has joined the show as longtime Aquaman sidekick, Aqualad. This comes hot on the heels of Natalie Gumede being announced as playing Mercy Graves in Titans, not to mention the previous additions of Esai Morales as Deathstroke, Chella Man as Jericho, Chelsea T. Zhang as Ravager and Iain Glen as Bruce Wayne.

In terms of his comic book roots, Aqualad debuted in 1960’s Adventure Comics #269 as a creation of writer Robert Bernstein and artist Ramona Fradon. Also known as Garth, the young Atlantean hero would often accompany Aquaman on his various adventures before becoming a founding member of the Teen Titans in 1964.

For more recent comic book fans, you’ll be well aware that 2010 saw a second version of Aqualad created. Known as Jackson Hyde or Kaldur’ahm, this incarnation of the character was created for the brilliant Young Justice animated series.

Titans is expected to premiere its second season towards the end of the year or possibly in early 2020.

Blumhouse Carving Up a New BLACK CHRISTMAS Remake

Black Christmas

With a new remake, reboot, redo or reimagining always just around the corner, now comes word on another serving of Black Christmas being carved up.

As officially announced by Blumhouse, a new take on Black Christmas has been booked in for a December 13th big-screen release.

The early word on the film has it pegged as:

Hawthorne College is quieting down the holidays. One by one, sorority girls on campus are being killed by an unknown stalker. But the killer is about to discover that this generation’s young women aren’t willing to become hapless victims as they mount a fight to the finish.

Not just that, but we have some details on who’ll be starring in and handling the picture. In terms of the cast, it’s been announced that Green Room’s Imogen Poots, Charmed’s Aleyse Shannon, Star’s Brittany O’Grady, The Goldbergs’s Lily Donoghue and Choir Boy’s Caleb Eberhardt will feature in the film.

Always Shine’s Sophia Takal is on directing duties for this incarnation of Black Christmas, with Takal working on the screenplay with Widower’s April Wolfe. Jason Blum is on producing duties through the Blumhouse banner, along with Cam’s Adam Hendricks and Rumor Has It’s Ben Cosgrove.

From the early synopsis details, it appears that Black Christmas will largely follow the same narrative as the original 1974 movie. Starring the likes of Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder and John Saxon, that Bob Clark-helmed offering is largely viewed, along with John Carpenter’s Halloween, as starting the slasher craze. A so-so remake was then released in 2006, with the gore amped up for that new spin on the property.

As ever, expect more on Black Christmas as we get it.

Natalie Gumede is TITANS’ Mercy Graves

Natalie Gumede Mercy Graves

Having impressed many with its debut season, the second season of Titans is shaping up rather nicely. And now, we have word on another famed DC Comics character set to join the action in Season 2.

Via Deadline, Doctor Who’s Natalie Gumede has been brought in to play the nefarious Mercy Graves in Titans. Comic book fans will be well familiar with Mercy, for she is the righthand woman of Lex Luthor. Not just that, but she’s a truly ruthless, tough-as-nails sort who can hold her own against some of the very best the DC world has to offer.

In addition to her plentiful animated and comic book appearances, Mercy Graves has also already appeared made her live-action bow. First up, Cassidy Freeman played a pseudo Mercy in Smallville; Freeman’s character of Tess Mercer being a mixture of Mercy Graves, Lena Luthor and Eve Tessmacher. Following that, Tao Okamoto played Mercy in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and more recently we’ve been treated to Rhona Mitra as the character in Supergirl’s excellent fourth season.

Gumede as Mercy is just the latest new addition for Titans, with the show having previously added Esai Morales as Deathstroke, Chella Man as Jericho, Chelsea T. Zhang as Ravager, Joshua Orpin as Superboy, and Iain Glen as Bruce Wayne.

Season 2 of Titans is expected to premiere towards the end of the year, with the series housed on DC Universe in North America and on Netflix in international markets.

COCO Co-Writer to Develop Netflix’s NARNIA Projects

The Chronicles of Narnia

With Netflix currently making plans for movie and series takes on The Chronicles of Narnia, now comes an update on who’ll be developing these projects for the on-demand streaming service.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, Coco co-writer Matthew Aldrich has been brought in to head-up the creative side of things for all things Narnia.

If you remember, last year saw Netflix pick up the rights to the seven-novel world created by C.S. Lewis. At that point, it was confirmed that the streaming juggernaut had plans to develop both films and a TV series based around the property.

For those of you who saw Coco, you’ll certainly agree that the family-friendly Disney Pixar offering was an utterly beautiful film full of emotion, humour and plenty of undead action. In fact, the feature would nab an Oscar for Best Animated Picture in addition to taking home an impressive $800 million at the box office.

This will be far from the first time that The Chronicles of Narnia have been brought to life, of course. C.S. Lewis’ written adventures began life back in 1950 with the beloved The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, and six further novels would follow. Plentiful live-action, animated and radio adaptations have happened over the subsequent decades, with the BBC’s late ‘80s series and the movie franchise of the 2000s likely the best known.

Set in the mystical, magical realm of Narnia, The Chronicles of Narnia’s seven books comprise all kinds of fantastical, wonderous and outright evil characters and creatures, with children from our very real world being thrust into the delights and dangers of Narnia.

As ever, expect more on Netflix’s Narnia plans as they continue to develop.

LOBO Spin-off Series in Development

Emmett Scanlon Lobo

Ahead of the character debuting in Krypton’s second season, now comes word that Syfy is already making plans for a Lobo spin-off series.

Courtesy of Variety, the fan favourite bounty hunter will be getting his own show, with it presumed that Emmett J. Scanlan will reprise the role he’ll be playing in Krypton.

For those unfamiliar with the Lobo character, he began life back in 1984 as a creation of Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen. An intergalactic Czarnian bounty hunter who rides through the stars on his badass motorcycle, Lobo has battled and bested some of the most powerful superheroes on DC’s roster, including Superman, Green Lantern, and the Martian Manhunter.

For years now a Lobo movie has been mooted, with the latest on that project coming last year when Michael Bay was eying a big-screen outing for this no-nonsense sort. Whether that still happens, we’ll have to wait and see. We do know, however, that this massively popular character will be heading to Krypton, though, and then he’ll be getting his own solo series.

Season 2 of Krypton premiered in the US last night, and, as ever, expect more on Lobo as it develops.