Zoe Lister-Jones to Tackle THE CRAFT

The Craft

With it now known that Blumhouse and Columbia Pictures are remaking 1996’s The Craft, now comes an update on who’ll be handling the redo.

Courtesy of Bloody-Disgusting, it’s been confirmed that Zoe Lister-Jones will be writing and directing this new take on The Craft. Lister-Jones is likely best known for writing and starring in the likes of Lola Versus and Band Aid.

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, but it appears that the notion of a new Craft picture is something that’s been kept gestating.

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.

Black Mass Hits Kickstarter Target in 3 Weeks

mass

Black Mass, the latest project from writer/director Scott Lyus, responsible for festival hits Silently Within Your Shadow and Echoes of the Passed, has taken over Kickstarter and there’s still a few days left to join the gothic horror army and help bring this unique and terrifying horror to life.

Having smashed their target in less than 3 weeks, becoming the number 1 horror film project on Kickstarter, and rising to the 5th most popular film project in the world during their second week, the filmmakers now look to hit their ever important stretch goals and go above and beyond in the creation of their new horror icon Darkness.

For those unaware, Black Mass is a dark and atmospheric story about a demonic presence that haunts a bereaved Father and his two adopted daughters. The film promises to be Lyus’ most ambitious project to date, and he has assembled an incredible cast and crew to bring it to life.

Black Mass is a film that is born out of my own personal battle with depression and the depths it has taken me to. For me, it has been the darkest and scariest period of my life, and while it’s a battle I still suffer with, it’s something I’m ready to be open about and help shine a light on. The story is a passionate take on a very tough subject and I don’t want to shy away from or sugar-coat what people with depression go through and horror is the perfect genre to explore that story. I promise Black Mass will be the scariest and darkest film I have ever made.

The film also has one hell of a cast, with Johnny Vivash, Charlie Bond and Sophia Eleni stepping in front of the camera to bring this terrifying gothic horror to life.

Johnny has featured in multiple award-winning productions such as Book of Monsters, Charismata and The Creature Below. Charlie has been a stalwart of British indie films, having appeared in The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan, Hellriser and King Lear. Sophia is most well known for her roles in American television series Tyrant and romantic comedy feature Finding Fatimah, as well as upcoming TV mini-series Whatever After.

The film will be produced by both Lyus and Chris Nials of The London Horror Society; Director of Photography is Neal Parsons, who was part of the crew behind 2017’s Oscar-winning short film A Silent Child behind the camera and musician Mitch Bain creating a unique and spine-tingling score. And helping to bring Darkness to life is VFX guru Ryan J. Thompson, who has worked on a bunch of cult horror hits, including horror mega hit The Birch which was picked up by Eli Roth’s CryptTV and has hit a record breaking 15 million views on YouTube alone.

With Black Mass already a runaway success, the question now is how much of a Kickstarter success story is this little film going to be? Having an award winning team behind it, and a strong message about depression and mental illness at its core, this is one horror project you will want to be a part of. Darkness is Coming horror fans.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scottlyus/black-mass-a-gothic-horror-film

Yahya-Abdul Mateen II is NOT Replacing Tony Todd in CANDYMAN…

Candyman

While it was previously reported that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II had signed on to take the title role in Nia DaCosta’s upcoming Candyman movie, now comes a slight update on that matter.

Originally, it was believed that Abdul-Mateen II – recently seen as the nefarious Black Manta in Aquaman – was taking on the Daniel Robitaille/Candyman role played so famously by Tony Todd in the three Candyman pictures to date. Now though, DaCosta herself has clarified that that isn’t technically the case.

Speaking to Collider, DaCosta explained, “Well, it’s been slightly misreported. I can’t say what’s happening in the film because we want it to be a surprise, but he’s not replacing Tony Todd. That’s been reported, and I was just like, ‘I don’t know what to say about this. This is not right.’”

What we do know is that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is definitely signed on to star in what’s seemingly just titled Candyman right now. One school of thought is that Abdul-Mateen II is playing a new character who somehow ends up taking on the moniker of Candyman. And if that is indeed the case, well, that certainly throws up the opportunity to have Tony Todd make an appearance in the film…

To be produced by Jordan Peele, Candyman will see the feature return to the area that once housed the Cabrini-Green housing projects. This time out, we find a new group of poor souls wishing to explore the legend of the infamous Candyman. Which we all know, we likely not end well for the majority of those involved.

At this point, Candyman is booked in for a June 12th, 2020 release.

GOLLUM Video Game in Development

Lord of the Rings: Gollum

With the recent Shadow of Mordor games wowing gamers, now comes word on an interesting new Lord of the Rings game in development. And yes, as the headline suggests, the focus of the game will be on the ever-troubled Gollum.

As announced by Daedalic Entertainment, a narrative-based adventure effort titled Lord of the Rings: Gollum is being worked on for a 2021 release. The game won’t be directly based on the Lord of the Rings movies, per se, but will instead take inspiration from the written works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Lord of the Rings: Gollum

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Daedalic CEO Carsten Fichtelmann enthused, “We have the story that we all know from the book, but everything that happens to him before he appears in the book are the main things we will see in our game. We will tell the story before he first appears in the books.”

Fichtelmann added, “You already have the big conflict in the character, two voices talking to you continuously, which means there is a good reason there are decisions to make in the game: the Smeagol decisions of the Gollum decisions.”

To be released on PC and all major consoles, Lord of the Rings: Gollum is expected to be released to coincide with Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series.

William Sadler Returning for BILL & TED 3; Rufus Update

Bill & Ted Death

With Bill and Ted officially set to make a most triumphant return for Bill & Ted Face the Music, now comes word on another familiar face who’ll be joining the duo in their third big-screen outing.

After many fans have asked the question, the official Bill & Ted Twitter account has revealed that William Sadler will indeed be back as Death:

As a character, Sadler’s Grim Reaper appeared in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey when the Wyld Stallyns duo end up killed off by their evil robot doppelgangers. From there, a brilliant set of sequences play out as Bill and Ted engage in a slew of games with Death in order to be brought back to life so that they can save their princesses and put a stop to Chuck De Nomolos’ plans to rewrite history. Of course, by this point Death is helping out with the mission to save the day.

Now while Death was a key part of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, one character who was key to both Bogus Journey and its predecessor, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, is Rufus. Played by George Carlin, Rufus became the mentor to Bill and Ted as he helped to make sure that the all was well with the duo and their path to rock superstardom (and a utopian future for the planet) runs smoothly. Sadly, the brilliant Carlin passed away in 2008.

When asked whether Rufus may be recast for the threequel, it was revealed that Rufus’ absence will play a key part in the picture:

Currently, the plan is to start shooting Bill & Ted Face the Music this summer ahead of an August 2020 release. Galaxy Quest’s Dean Parisot is on directing duties, with a script in place from the first two movies’ scribes Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon.

Blumhouse Remaking THE CRAFT

The Craft

It was only earlier this month that we saw the core cast of The Craft reunite at Monster Mania – their four’s first time together since 1996 – and now comes word that the movie itself is to get the remake treatment.

Courtesy of Production Weekly, those rumours of Blumhouse remaking The Craft are indeed said to be true. At this stage, it’s being reported that Blumhouse is currently in talks with a director, although it’s yet to be revealed just who said director is.

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, but it appears that the notion of a new Craft picture is something that’s been kept gestating.

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.

Zac Efron and Amanda Seyfried Join Animated SCOOBY-DOO Movie

Zac Efron Amanda Seyfried Scooby-Doo

With Warners currently at work on a new big-screen animated Scooby-Doo movie, now comes word on who’ll be lending their vocals to Fred Jones and Daphne Blake.

Courtesy of Variety, Zac Efron has signed on to voice Fred and Amanda Seyfried will be voicing Daphne. The duo join a cast that currently includes Will Forte as Shaggy, Gina Rodriguez as Velma Dinkley and Tracy Morgan as Dick Dastardly.

Titled Scoob, the animated offering will focus on the famed Mystery Machine guys, gals and hound as they team with other Hanna-Barbera characters to save the universe from the nefarious Dick Dastardly. Space Jam’s Tony Cervone is on directing duties, with a script from The Addams Family’s Matt Lieberman.

At this stage, Scoob is booked in for a May 2020 release.

Chelsea T. Zhang is TITANS’ Ravager

Chelsea T. Zhang Ravager Titans

Following on from the recent castings of Deathstroke and Jericho, now comes word on Titans adding another member of the infamous Wilson family.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Andi Mack’s Chelsea T. Zhang has signed on to play Rose Wilson in the show’s upcoming second season. Better known as Ravager, Rose is the daughter of Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke.

The official character description for Rose reads:

Daughter of the deadly assassin Deathstroke, Rose Wilson was forced to undergo the same procedure that granted her father nearly superhuman abilities, becoming a weapon known as Ravager. Ever resentful, she seeks out the Titans not only for their protection but to get back at her father. Knowing how dangerous it is to be the offspring of their deadliest foe, the Titans take her in but that doesn’t necessarily mean they trust her.

As alluded to, the last couple of weeks have seen Esai Morales brought in to play Deathstroke and Chella Man to play Slade’s son Joseph Wilson/Jericho. And now, we know that Slade’s daughter and Joseph’s sister will be a part of Titans’ second year.

Season 2 of Titans is expected to arrive at a to-be-confirmed date towards the end of the year.

SUPERNATURAL to End Next Season

Supernatural

Yes, you read that right. The ridiculously long-running urban fantasy TV series Supernatural will be coming to a final conclusion at the end of its next and fifteenth season, as has been announced via a pair of videos posted to series star Jensen Ackles’ Instagram page.

 

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Well, it’s official. One more round for the Winchester brothers. Though nothing ever really ends in Supernatural…does it? ?

A post shared by Jensen Ackles (@jensenackles) on

 

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The rest of the vid. #spnfamily for life.

A post shared by Jensen Ackles (@jensenackles) on

The series follows brothers Sam and Dean Winchester as they battle monsters from myth and legend, angels, demons, gods, and primordial entities as old as the universe, all the while gaining and losing family members both biological and chosen, and engaging in a great deal of angst and brooding. Although it often felt as though the series could survive nuclear war along with the cockroaches, it seems that all things must eventually come to an end, and by the ultimate finale it will have aired over 320 episodes.

Although an air date for the final season’s premiere hasn’t been announced, it will almost certainly be in later this year in September or October.

Taika Waititi Voicing THE MANDALORIAN’s IG-88

IG-88

While public details are being kept to a minimum where Jon Favreau’s in-development The Mandalorian is concerned, one thing we do know is that the live-action show will feature robot bounty hunter IG-88. And now, well now we know who’ll be providing the voice for the Empire Strikes Back alum.

Favreau himself has taken to Instagram to confirm that genre fave Taika Waititi will be lending his vocal chords to IG-88:

 

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Sure, Waititi may be on the crest of a wave after directing hugely popular recent efforts such as Thor: Ragnarok and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but this ridiculously talented New Zealander is just as impressive in front of the camera or behind it. Up next for Waititi in terms of acting is World War II-set comedy drama Jojo Rabbit, where he’ll be playing Adolf Hitler.

For his role as IG-88 in The Madalorian, this won’t be the first time that Waititi has carried out voice work; the Eagle vs. Shark helmer famously voicing Korg in his own Thor: Ragnarok. And if you remember, Waititi is also on board to direct an episode of the Disney+-exclusive The Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian will be headlined by Game of Thrones’ Pedro Pascal, with the series expected to arrive on the Disney+ streaming service later this year.