William Gibson’s ALIEN III Getting an Audio Adaptation

Michael Biehn Aliens

With Dark Horse having recently brought William Gibson’s unproduced Alien III script to comic-book life, now comes news that the tale is being adapted as an audio book.

Officially confirmed by Audible, not only are we getting Gibson’s Alien III as an aural delight, but we’re also getting the return of Michael Biehn as Hicks.

The official press release on all of this reads:

Audible is bringing William Gibson’s lost Alien III script to life in audio for the first time, to mark the 40th Anniversary of the birth of the Alien Franchise.  

Alongside a full cast Michael Biehn reprises his iconic roles as Corporal Hicks and Bishop from the 1986 film Aliens. 

Father of cyberpunk, William Gibson’s original script for Alien III, written in 1987 as a sequel to Aliens, never made it to our screens, although it went on to achieve cult status among fans as the third instalment that might have been after being leaked online. 

This terrifying, cinematic multicast dramatisation – directed by the multi award-winning Dirk Maggs, is the chance to experience William Gibson’s untold story and its terrifying, claustrophobic and dark encounters between humans and aliens, as a completely immersive audio experience. 

The story begins with the Sulaco on its return journey from LV-426. On board the military ship are the cryogenically frozen skeleton crew of that film’s survivors: Ripley, Hicks, Newt and Bishop. 

We travel aboard and hear an alarm blare. Our heroes are no longer alone….

Starring: Tom Alexander, Barbara Barnes, Michael Biehn, Cliff Chapman, Samantha Coughlan, Ben Cura, Dar Dash, Harry Ditson, Mairead Doherty, Graham Hoadly, Lorelei King, Laurel Lefkow, Martin McDougall, Sarah Pitard, Michael Roberts, David Seddon, Andrew James Spooner, Siri Steinmo, Dai Tabuchi, Keith Wickham, Rebecca Yeo.

As per AvP Galaxy, Alien III is set for a May 30th release.

Leonardo DiCaprio in Talks for del Toro’s NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Leonardo DiCaprio

One of the most prolific and busy people in the movie industry these days is the magical Guillermo del Toro, and now comes an update on one of the several new projects on the way for the huge genre favourite.

Via Deadline, it’s been reported that del Toro’s adaptation of Nightmare Alley is in talks with Leonardo DiCaprio. Fox Searchlight is handling the movie, with del Toro producing and directing his own unique take on William Lindsay Graham’s 1946 novel. GDT has penned the screenplay along with Kim Morgan.

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.

Laura Donnelly to Headline Joss Whedon’s THE NEVERS

Laura Donnelly

Joss Whedon’s The Nevers has been spinning its wheels in development at HBO for nearly a year by this point, but now we’ve finally received our first piece of casting news for the upcoming sci-fi effort.

Courtesy of Deadline, Laura Donnelly will be on headlining duties as Amalie True, a character described as the most damaged and reckless hero of her time. Donnelly is best known to genre fans for the likes of Beofwulf: Return to the Shieldlands and Outlander.

For The Nevers, Whedon is penning the series alongside his former Buffy the Vampire Slayer collaborators Jane Espenson and Doug Petrie. The Victorian England-set show will centre on a group of women who develop unique abilities.

As ever, expect more on The Nevers as we get it.

James Wan Developing a New Adaptation of SALEM’S LOT

Salem's Lot

In terms of modern horror, one of the absolute finest names out there is James Wan. And now, we have word on this major genre fave tackling one of Stephen King’s famed tales.

Courtesy of The Wrap, Wan will be producing a new adaptation of King’s Salem Lot. Gary Dauberman, best known for penning It and The Nun, is on writing duties for the new adap. There’s no information just yet on who will be directing the movie for New Line.

With the source material having been released back in 1975, Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s Tobe Hooper previously directed a 1979 adaptation of the novel. Jump forward a few decades and 2004 saw the vamp-tastic book turned into a TV mini-series. Vamp-tastic, you say? Why, that’s because the plot of Salem’s Lot saw a writer return to the town of Jerusalem’s Lot only to find out that everybody he used to know is now a blood-sucking vampire.

Expect more on this new take on Salem’s Lot as we get it.

The Russo Brothers Developing a STAN LEE Documentary

Stan Lee

While the landscape-changing Avengers: Endgame is literally only a matter of days away now, many fans are still mourning the loss of the legendary Stan Lee. But now, we have word that two of the minds behind Endgame are to delve deeper into the life of The Man.

Courtesy of an interview with The India Times, Anthony and Joe Russo have revealed that they’re working on a documentary based on Stan Lee. In addition to directing Avengers: Endgame, of course, the Russos also helmed MCU offerings Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War.

Speaking to the outlet, Anthony Russo enthused, “We love Stan Lee and I think it’s incredibly special that Endgame will be his final cameo. We are fascinated by the life of Stan Lee and we are actually developing a little something that has to do with his work in the history of Marvel.”

Russo would go on to emphasise that the documentary is in the very early stages right now, so don’t be expecting to be seeing the project any time particularly soon.

Having created so many of our favourite comic book characters and stories, Stan passed away in November at the age of 95. And, quite simply, the world has been a duller place since then.

Jerome Flynn Joins Amazon’s DARK TOWER Series

Jerome Flynn Game of Thrones

With Amazon Prime currently assembling the cast for their upcoming small-screen take on Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, now comes word that Jerome Flynn has joined the series.

Courtesy of Birth.Movies.Death, the Game of Thrones actor has signed on to join Sam Strike and Jasper Pääkkönen in the show. The current speculation is that Flynn may be playing Eldred Jonas, the leader of the Big Coffin Hunters group who have ties to Roland Deschain.

For the series, Strike is playing Roland Deschain/The Gunslinger, while Pääkkönen is playing Randall Flagg/The Man in Black. In the movie take on The Dark Tower, those roles were played by Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba, respectively, of course.

Originally, this Dark Tower TV show was to be tied to the aforementioned film. That was until, frankly, the feature disappointed on plentiful levels. As such, Amazon decided to change gears and instead make this TV offering a more faithful adaptation of King’s famed books.

The Walking Dead and Damien’s Glen Mazzara is acting as showrunner and executive producer on the series.

Issue 460 – Out Now!

460 NS

Get ready to catch ‘em all as STARBURST looks forward to Pokémon Detective Pikachu with an in-depth feature on the phenomenon and the film.

We also look at clones in movies to coincide with the home entertainment release of Keanu Reeves’ latest Replicas and some real movie curses come under the spotlight – were the cast of Poltergeist and The Exorcist damned by their involvement? Make your mind up after considering the facts.

One of the most maligned films of the eighties is set for re-appraisal on Blu-ray, so find out everything you need to know about Howard the Duck – the character and movie.

If that’s not all we chat to legendary actor Sam Elliot about The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot, classic horror author Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl, directors of Prospect, Nicolas Pesce tells about his follow-up to The Eyes of My Mother, Piercing.

Horror Obscura looks at a brace of alien invasion movies and Independents Day chats to Jared Bentley, the director of Intensive Care.

Plus all your favourite COLUMNS, NEWS, REVIEWS and much MORE from the worlds of SCI-FI, HORROR and FANTASY!

Fox Cancels THE GIFTED After Two Seasons

Marvel's The Gifted

In some news that may come as a surprise to some, Marvel’s The Gifted has been cancelled after two seasons.

Courtesy of Variety, Fox has moved to scrap the mutant-driven show after the ratings for the series just simply weren’t up to what the network was hoping for.

After a first season that was viewed by 3.3 million US homes, the ratings for Season 2 suffered a major drop to 1.9 million viewers. As such, the decision was made to axe The Gifted.

Premise-wise, The Gifted centred on a family who are forced to go on the run from the government after they discover that their two teenage children have mutant abilities. Existing in the larger world of the X-Men, we see an underground group of mutants doing their best to survive in a world of prejudice and hatred.

Three More Names Sign on for PICARD

Sir Patrick Stewart

With a Picard series just one of several new Star Trek shows in development, now comes word on three new additions for the hotly-anticipated return of Sir Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc.

Courtesy of Deadline, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and AHS: Cult’s Alison Pill, The Crown’s Harry Treadaway and American Crime Story’s Isa Briones have all signed up to join Stewart in the series. At this stage, there’s no word on which roles the trio have landed.

In terms of what we do know about this small-screen offering – seemingly just titled Picard – the landscape of the show will pick up several years after Star Trek: Nemesis. Other than that, details are being kept under wraps bar the fact that Hanelle Culpepper and Jonathan Frakes will be directing two episodes a piece for the CBS All Access-housed series.

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

Aliens Invade Horror Channel in May

alien horror

Aliens are coming to Horror Channel in May with the Invasion Season. You’ll be able to catch recent delights such as Chris Gorak’s The Darkest Hour (2011), the Vicious Brothers’ Extraterrestrial, Scott Stewart’s Dark Skies and Greg and Colin Strause’s Skyline over consecutive Saturdays from May 4th.

Also heading to the channel for the first time are the Amicus classic portmanteau Tales That Witness Madness, Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil: Retribution, Neil LaBute’s Lakeview Terrace, and the UK TV premiere of Roxy Shith’s brilliant Painkillers.

Head over to the Horror Channel site to find out more. You can tune in via Sky 317, Virgin 149, Freeview 70, Freesat 138.