More Films and Shorts Announced for STARBURST Film Festival

more films

We’re delighted to reveal even more of our line-up of new films and shorts for the STARBURST International Film Festival, which takes place at Social7 at the Landing, MediaCityUK in March.

Joining the already amazing line-up are the Greek feature film Scopophilia, which is a superb updating of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, told mostly through computer screens. We will also be screening the erotically-charged X, in which a society’s debauched masked balls hide the Foundation’s owner’s darkest secret. Think Eyes Wide Shut meets Slither.

For short films, we have Eric McEver’s Paleonaut, a time travelling love story; dark fantasy in Rebekah Fieschi’s Syphvania Grove; Uisdean Murray’s Demonologist For Hire: Exorcism for Beginners, part of an icky but funny web series; beautiful animation Lost Steps, written, drawn, and directed by Per Nilsson; Jill Gevargizian’s thought-provoking 42 Counts; Alwyne Kennedy’s Indweller sees a young girl befriend a presence in her new home; Simon Pearce’s I Am the Doorway is based on the short story by Stephen King and stars Grant Masters (Await Further Instructions); another animated short – this time digital – is Paul James’ Trap, in which a young girl longs to belong; A neurological experiment could have disastrous consequences in Mark Jepson’s Remembrance; Mick Dow’s claustrophobic Hope in a Box sees two strangers forced to find a way out of being trapped together; and in Cal O’ Connell’s Terminal, we see a future civilisation in which jobs (and gender!) are assigned by computer and the conflict one job centre worker experiences.

The STARBURST International Film Festival takes place at Social 7 at The Landing at MediaCityUK, Salford, Manchester on March 15th and 16th.

Head over to www.starburstfilmfest.co.uk to find out more and book tickets now before they all go at https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Salford/The-Landing/STARBURST-International-Film-Festival/13411270/.

 

Sony Pictures Adapting Rob Liefeld’s SHRINK

Shrink

With a new comic-book adaptation announced on a seemingly weekly basis these days, up next to get the adap treatment is Rob Liefeld’s Shrink.

Deadline broke the news, with Sony Pictures picking the right rights to the property.

Premise-wise, Shrink centres on psychiatrist Dr. Jessica Powers. A strong and smart doctor, Jessica specialises in smoothing the psyches of superheroes.

Shrink began life as a humour-laced webcomic back in 2001. With Jennifer Lopez lined up to tackle the role of Doc Powers, Columbia and Sony had plans to adapt Shrink back in 2005, before those plans ultimately failed to come to fruition. Now though, Sony is again moving forward with Shrink.

Doug Belgrad’s 2.0 Pictures and Adam Fields will be producing Shrink for Sony, with Liefeld to serve as executive producer.

As ever, expect more on Shrink as we get it.

ABC Decides Against Female-Driven Marvel Show

Kate Bishop Hawkeye

With a slew of superhero-driven TV shows constantly in various stages of development, we’ve now got word on one series we won’t be seeing any time soon.

If you remember, last year saw ABC begin early work on a show based on certain female Marvel characters. Back then, Wonder Woman scribe Allan Heinberg was tasked with developing the show for the network. Now though, Deadline is reporting that ABC has decided to pass on ordering a pilot episode for the project.

Right now, it remains to be seen whether this concept has been completely scrapped or whether, instead, the effort is being taken back to the drawing board. Either way, in its intended format, this series has been canned. There’s also the possibility that ABC may have paid Marvel TV a kill fee which means that the series can’t be taken to any other network.

What we’d heard about this untitled show, the plan was to spotlight lesser-known female figures; the Kate Bishop incarnation of Hawkeye and the Kamala Khan take on Ms. Marvel just two such heroines rumoured to be part of the project.

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

Edie Falco Joins the AVATAR Franchise

Edie Falco

Remember how James Cameron is currently working on not one, not two, not three, but a ridiculous four Avatar sequels? Well, the franchise has moved to add another new name to its ranks.

The Avatar Twitter account has revealed that Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Edie Falco is joining the Avatar follow-ups as a character called General Ardmore. Falco, of course, is likely best known for the likes of The Sopranos and Nurse Jackie.

Falco joins a batch of films that will feature the returning Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, Matt Gerald, Dileep Rao and Sigourney Weaver, with fellow new additions in the form of Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Jack Champion and Oona Chaplin.

Filming on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 has been ongoing since late 2017, with the first of these sequels booked in for a December 2020 release. After that, Avatar 3 will follow in December 2021, Avatar 4 in December 2024, and Avatar 5 in December 2025.

Expect more on all things Avatar as we get it.

Sony Sets 2020 Release Date for MONSTER HUNTER

Monster Hunter World

With Sony Pictures having recently amassed the core cast for their upcoming Monster Hunter adaptation, the film has now been given a set release date.

In a press release, Sony has booked in the Paul W.S. Anderson-helmed Monster Hunter for a September 4th, 2020 release. If you remember back, Anderson’s wife and Resident Evil headliner Milla Jovovich is leading the charge in Monster Hunter.

Jovovich heads up a cast that also features Tony Jaa, Ron Perlman, T.I. Harris, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta and Josh Helman, with the Monster Hunter video game franchise itself having begun back in 2004. To date, the franchise itself has sold nearly 50 million units over the multiple games released over the years.

In the film, Jovovich will be heading up a military team who end up in a realm overflowing with all kinds of creatures and monsters. There, the group have to work alongside Tony Jaa’s Hunter to close up a portal and stop these beasties from making in to Earth.

Paramount Cancels WORLD WAR Z Sequel

World War Z

Even before World War Z was released in 2013, there has been constant talk of one, sometimes two, sequels on the way from Paramount. Well, not anymore.

Courtesy of Deadline, Paramount has now decided against moving forward with any World War Z follow-up. As recently as last year, Brad Pitt was to return to star in and produce a World War Z sequel, with David Fincher to direct. Now though, the studio has decided to scrap their sequel plans due to concerns over the budget just such a picture would require.

That 2013 first movie was of course loosely based on Max Brooks’ 2006 novel that centred on the fallout of a zombie outbreak. Pitt headlined the Marc Forster-directed film as Gerry Lane, a UN worker who becomes embroiled in all of this.

Despite continuous rewrites, World War Z managed to bring home a decent $540 million. That said, the budget spiralled to close to $300 million by the time all was said and done.

There is the slight chance that Paramount may reassess and return to World War Z at some point in the future, but for now it appears that this big-screen franchise has shuffled to a halt after just one movie.

The Black Sunday Film Festival Returns This Halloween

black sunday

The Black Sunday Film Festival returns this Halloween season to terrify fans with a plenty of horror delights. Taking place from October 25th to 27th at the Whirled Cinema, London, it promises to be one of the film events you don’t want to miss in 2019.

Founded by indie filmmaker and STARBURST Fantasy Award Winner Scott Lyus (Echoes of the Passed), the Black Sunday Film Festival is a three-day event this year, following their 5 single-day events in 2018. As Scott explains, “Last year we tested the water, got a taste of what works and what doesn’t work, and this year we return putting all that blood, sweat and tears into the best event possible. We finished our 2018 run with two amazing events at the Whirled Cinema and given everyone’s reaction to the venue, we knew we had found our home. So this year, we’re taking over the place for three days this October, brining you the best indie horror, sci-fi and genre goodness from around the world.” Now co-run by Scott and Chris Nials of the London Horror Society, 2019 is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever before.

Sponsored by STARBURST Magazine and Arrow Video, and presented by the London Horror Society, submissions are now open via FilmFreeway, so filmmakers, be sure to get those films in and take advantage of their Early Bird discount which runs until March 31st.

Black Sunday promises to be the perfect weekend to indulge in some truly awesome genre cinema, with the most diehard genre community in the world.

For more information, keep your eyes peeled for announcements here or check out the website.

black sunday

Edgar Wright’s Psychological Horror Gets a Star and Title

Edgar Wright

With January seeing it revealed that Edgar Wright is at work on a psychological horror, now comes some more concrete details on the project.

Courtesy of Variety, we now know that the film is titled Last Night in Soho and will star The Witch and Split’s Anya Taylor-Joy. Wright has penned the Soho-set picture with Penny Dreadful’s Krysty Wilson-Cairns.

Production on the movie is expected to commence this summer.

As ever, expect more on all of this as Last Night in Soho continues to develop.

LEGION to End After Third Season

Legion

While today brings the awesome news that FX is finally bringing Y: The Last Man to life, on the flip side we’ve got word that another genre fave is coming to an end.

As first revealed by The Hollywood Reporter, FX will bring Legion to an end after its upcoming third season. That news was confirmed during yesterday’s TCA press tour.

If there’s one slight silver lining to this news, it’s that showrunner Noah Hawley had always intended for the show to run for three seasons; meaning he now gets to at least tell the tale of David Haller in the way he initially envisioned it. Of course, with that being said, we’re sure many a genre fan would love to see more than three seasons of the show.

Said Season 3 of Legion will premiere this June. After that, that’s a wrap for the adventures of Charles Xavier’s uber-powerful offspring.

And speaking of Professor X, the series has moved to cast Marcella’s Harry Lloyd as Charles in addition to bringing in Mr. Robot’s Stephanie Corneliussen as David’s mother, Gabrielle. Both characters will only appear briefly in Season 3, with simply cameos appearance expected for the duo.

FX Orders Y: THE LAST MAN Series for 2020

Y: The Last Man

Talk about a long time coming, right? Finally a full series order has been put in for that long-gestating Y: The Last Man show.

With a cast being assembled early last year for a pilot offering, now comes word that FX has officially picked up the effort for a full season that will debut in 2020.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news, confirming that Michael Green will be serving as showrunner in addition to executive producing alongside Y: The Last Man creator Brian K. Vaughn. In terms of cast, it’s pretty much exactly what we’d heard last year; Dunkirk’s Barry Keoghan headlining alongside Diane Lane, Imogen Poots, Lashana Lynch, Amber Tamblyn, Juliana Canfield and Marin Ireland.

The early blurb on the show reads:

All of the men are dead. But one. Based on the DC comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, Y traverses a world of women – exploring gender, race, class and survival.

For those not familiar with Y: The Last Man, the 60-issue comic book series ran from 2002 to 2008 and focussed on Yorick Brown, the titular “last man”. When the world suffers a tragic event that kills off every creature with a Y chromosome, Yorick only has his monkey, Ampersand, for company until he finds himself teaming up with a government operative to make sense of what’s happened and why he’s somehow managed to stay alive.

Previously, several attempts have been made to get an adaptation of the property off the ground, most notably with ultimately-doomed live-action movies in 2007 and 2013. Now though, it seems as if we’re finally going to see this fan favourite comic series brought to life, albeit in the medium of TV – which, if we’re being honest, is likely the best format to tell such an engaging story.

As ever, expect more on Y: The Last Man as it continues to develop.