BLACK MIRROR Adds Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Anthony Mackie

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Anthony Mackie Black Mirror

Who doesn’t love Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, right? Well, ahead of the upcoming fifth season, two major names have now been confirmed to be appearing in the genre fave.

Courtesy of Deadline, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Anthony Mackie are joining Black Mirror. Both of those names are likely best known to genre fans for their appearances in certain comic book-driven movies, with Abdul-Mateen II recently seen as the nefarious Black Manta in Aquaman and Mackie playing the Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

No further details are known on the upcoming fifth season of Black Mirror whatsoever, bar the fact that it’s expected to arrive later this year.

Two More Join PENNYWORTH

Emma Paetz and Jessica Ellerby Pennyworth

With Pennyworth currently shooting, the upcoming series has moved to add two more names to its ranks.

As first reported by Deadline, Final Girl’s Emma Paetz and Living the Dream’s Jessica Ellerby have signed on for significant roles in the show. For Paetz, she’ll be playing Martha Kane; the future wife of Thomas Wayne and the future mother of a certain Master Bruce. Where Ellerby is concerned, she’s playing a character called the Queen. Whether that means the Queen of England or simply some character who has the moniker of “Queen” remains to be seen.

Jack Bannon is on headlining duties in Pennyworth, with the series to see the young Alfred Pennyworth and his SAS pals tackling the descendants of Jack the Ripper.

Jordan Vogt-Roberts and Michael B. Jordan Teaming for New Monster Movie

Kong: Skull Island

Well, this sounds like it has the potential to be a tad special. Yes, as the headline suggests, Michael B. Jordan and Jordan Vogt-Roberts are teaming up for a new monster movie.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Kong: Skull Island’s Vogt-Roberts is to direct what will be a completely original monster-driven effort, with Black Panther and Creed’s Jordan to produce through his Outlier Society banner. At this juncture, the project has yet to be given an official title.

The hunt is currently on for a screenwriter and a cast for the picture, with it currently uncertain whether or not Jordan himself will ultimately have an on-screen role in the film.

Expect more on all of this as we get it.

Noah Centineo Lined Up for MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Reboot

He-Man Noah Centineo

With a new live-action Masters of the Universe movie long in development, it looks as if Noah Centineo may be the one who has the power.

Courtesy of The Wrap, the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Sierra Burgess is a Loser actor is believed to be in talks to play He-Man in the upcoming reboot. Centineo is co-starring in the Charlie’s Angels reboot, and it’s suggested that his performance in that redo is the main reason why Sony is looking to have him take the starring role in their new Masters of the Universe.

This Masters of the Universe redo has been in development for several years now, with John Chu the first director to sign on for the film. From there, he was replaced by McG, who himself was replaced by David Goyer. The last we’d heard, Band of Robbers’ Aaron and Adam Nee took over the director’s chair this past April. Since then, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway have been brought in to work on the screenplay.

Masters of the Universe will follow the story of Adam, Prince of Eternia, who has the ability to transform into the ever-smiling uber-hero He-Man as he battles to protect his world from the nefarious threat of Skeletor. Of course, these bitter rivals have most recently been seen shilling financial products for MoneySupermarket.com…

Sony had previously pegged Masters of the Universe for a December 18th, 2019 release, although the reboot now looks highly unlikely to make that release date.

KINGDOM Production Hits HOME in Manchester

kingdom

Our friends at the prestigious art space HOME have some exciting news regarding a show they’re putting on as part of the  ¡Viva! festival. We have to say it sounds incredible and if Birdie was anything to go by last year it will be very creative indeed. Read on for details…

Synopsis:

Kingdom is an irreverent cocktail, mixing bananas, consumerism, virile choreographies, commercials, punk rock, King Kong, supermarkets, growth, confusion, expansion, multinationals, shortages, coups d’état, trap music, and very macho men in an endless party. The world is going to shit, so let’s celebrate!

Using video cameras, scale models, video projection and live music, Kingdom continues to develop the idea of cinema-in-real-time. Using the character of King Kong and footage from the original and remakes, Kingdom brings the history of capitalism and bananas together, in a way that has never been told before.

Kingdom, presented by Señor Serrano, runs Tue 9 Apr – Sat 13 Apr 2019, with performances at 7.30pm. The company presented Birdie at HOME in 2017. It’s part of HOME’s annual ¡Viva! festival, which runs this year, its 25th anniversary, 22 March – 13 April 2019.

Tickets available from here

BILL & TED to Finally FACE THE MUSIC Next Year!

Bill

Whoa! After years of rumours and false starts, the eagerly awaited sequel to the cult sci-fi comedies Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is at long last officially a ‘Go Picture’!

Revealed earlier today by the Wyld Stallyns duo themselves, Bill & Ted Face the Music will begin production this summer, with August 21st, 2020 pencilled in as the release date.

As previously reported, Galaxy Quest’s Dean Parisot will helm, with a script by original creators Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon.

Actors reprising iconic roles several decades later can sometimes be disconcerting for some audiences, and considering Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves haven’t played Bill S. Preston and Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan in a whopping 29 years, there’s certainly a little risk here. Harrison Ford only had a 21 year break between Indy adventures, with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels taking 20 years to reprise their once loveable idiot personas Lloyd and Harry in Dumb and Dumber To. Let’s hope this project doesn’t suffer the same fate reception-wise!

Watch on for the announcement from Reeves and Winter themselves, and stay tuned to STARBURST for plenty more coverage of Face the Music as it develops…

CCP Games Kicks Off the EVE Invasion World Tour with EVEsterdam

evesterdam

The first of eight EVE Online community events in 2019 comes to Amsterdam this weekend, March 23rd – 24th. CCP Games, the creators of the in-depth and uniquely player-driven spaceship MMO game EVE Online, has also announced more details on EVEsterdam, the upcoming kick-off event to the EVE Invasion World Tour, a global series of capsuleer conventions for EVE Online fans. The tour will feature announcements, developer roundtables, live streams, the Invasion Tournament Series, unique in-game rewards and stellar parties for fans, bringing EVE Online closer to its community than ever before.

It’s not too late for capsuleers who are keen to attend EVEsterdam to purchase tickets, or they can participate from home via the livestream on CCP’s official Twitch channel. The full EVEsterdam presentation schedule can be found in CCP’s EVEsterdam Megablog.

CCP Games will showcase a wide variety of community-requested changes to EVE Online at EVEsterdam, including game balance updates, commitment to regular quality-of-life improvements and a look into future plans for the technology powering EVE Online. Attendees will discover more about the behaviours, wars, elite players, friendships and incredible stories that break the boundaries between the EVE Universe and reality.

“The EVE Invasion World Tour will both celebrate EVE Online’s magnificent history and salute the game’s glorious future,” said Bergur Finnbogason, aka CCP Burger, EVE Online’s Creative Director. “Kicking off with EVEsterdam, attendees will see first-hand how we’re strengthening the core of EVE Online, as well as how we use our community’s feedback to improve overall game balance. We will be also revealing our commitment to future technological advancements that will help us ensure EVE is forever. Over the course of the World Tour, we will ultimately present our vision for the next decade of EVE Online.”

Future events on the 2019 EVE Invasion World Tour include:

  • EVE Russia (St. Petersburg, Russian Federation), May 4 @ Akakao. Tickets on sale now!
  • EVE Down Under (Sydney, Australia), May 23-26 @ SMC Centre. Tickets on sale now!
  • EVE North (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) June 21-23 @ Delta Marriott. Tickets on sale now!
  • Fanfest HOME (Player’s home, Finland), August 23 @ Kimitoön. Participate via livestream; details to be announced.
  • G-fleet Berlin (Berlin, Germany), September 13-14 @ AltMünze. Tickets on sale March 24.
  • EVE Vegas (Las Vegas, USA), October 25-27 @ venue to be announced. Tickets on sale April 2.
  • EVE London (London, UK), November 23 @ Indigo at the 02 Arena. Tickets on sale August 23.

For more information please visit EVE Updates or follow the hashtag #EVEsterdam on social media. EVE Online can be downloaded for free by visiting www.eveonline.com.

Chella Man is TITANS’ Jericho

Jericho

Hot on the heels of finding the show’s Deathstroke last week, now comes word on DC Universe’s Titans adding Jericho to its ranks.

As officially announced, Chella Man has been brought in to play Joseph Wilson, aka Jericho, in the show. The role will mark Man’s acting debut.

For those unfamiliar with the character of Jericho, he is the mute son of the aforementioned Deathstroke. In terms of powers, Jericho is able to control anybody who he makes eye contract with. This won’t be the first time that Joseph Wilson has appeared in live-action, with the character played by Liam Hall in The CW’s Arrow.

In Titans, NYPD Blue’s Esai Morales has been cast to play Slade Wilson/Deathstroke and he promises to be the ‘big bad’ of the show’s upcoming second season. And if that season continues the quality of the series’ debut year, we could well be in for something special.

Ryan Phillippe to Headline FRANKENSTEIN Cop Show

Ryan Phillippe

Remember how earlier this year we brought word of Frankenstein being reimagined as a cop drama? Well, now comes an update on that small-screen offering.

Courtesy of Deadline, the title of the potential series is Alive and Ryan Phillippe is to lead the charge as this tale’s spin on Frankenstein’s monster. The Cruel Intentions actor joins a cast that currently features Katrina Law, Aaron Staton and Saidah Arrika Ekulona.

Phillippe will be playing a San Francisco homicide detective who is brought back to life after being killed in the line of duty. And the person responsible for bringing him back from the grave? Why, that’d be a certain Dr Victor Frankenstein, of course.

Elementary’s Rob Dohery is developing Alive with Jason Tracey and CBS TV Studios, while Westworld’s Uta Briesewithz is on board to direct the first episode.

Right now, Alive is currently at the pilot stage, with the hope obviously being to get given the A-OK to move forward as a full series.

David Boreanaz Teases an ANGEL Return

Angel

While a completely new and rebooted Buffy the Vampire Slayer series is currently in development, now it looks as if Angel may be doing something.

A spin-off from Buffy, Angel first aired in October 1999 and ran for five seasons up until 2004. And now, whereas Buffy is starting afresh with a new cast in place, Angel star David Boreanaz is teasing that Angel might return in some form or fashion.

Speaking on The Talk, Boreanaz said, “We’re coming up on 20 years. I mean, that’s amazing to have been blessed with a show like that and that’s where I really started my gig in this acting world. I love that character. So, I will say there may be something coming up. I don’t want to give away a lot. I can say, it’s 20 years coming up this fall and we may have something in the works.”

Of course, that doesn’t give all that much away, but it does give fans of Angel something to cling on to. Could we get a reunion of sorts for the Angel cast? Could we get a one-off return episode? Could it be a cast get-together much like the original Buffy cast did?

As ever, expect more on this if and when it develops any further.