Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE in Talks with Oscar Isaac

Oscar Isaac

To say that Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is shaping up nicely would be a huge understatement. And now, the picture is close to adding another impressive name to its cast.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar Isaac is in early talks to play Duke Leto Atreides in Villeneuve’s upcoming take on Frank Herbert’s iconic 1965 novel. Leto is the father of the tale’s central character, Paul Atreides.

If the Star Wars actor does indeed sign on for Dune, he’ll join a cast that includes Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as Paul’s mother Lady Jessica, Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Mohiam, Stellan Skarsgard as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and Dave Bautista as the sadistic nephew of Skarsgard’s Baron Harkonnen.

Dune began life back in 1965, with Frank Herbert’s original novel tying for the 1966 Hugo Award and then winning the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. Set in the distant future, the story centres on Paul Atreides as his family takes control of the desert planet known as Arrakis. With valuable resources key to the tale, what unravels is a plot that’s full of politics, betrayal, and man’s relationship with nature. A Kyle MacLachlan-starring, David Lynch-helmed movie followed in 1984, which went on to become a cult classic, and then Syfy developed a Dune TV series in 2000. As for written works, Herbert penned five sequels himself before Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert expanded that written world even further.

At this stage, Villeneuve’s Dune has yet to be given a release date.

Syfy Developing a CHILD’S PLAY TV Series with Don Mancini

Child's Play 2

We’ve heard for a while now that Don Mancini was working on a Child’s Play TV series, and now comes some major news on the project.

Courtesy of Deadline, Syfy has picked up the rights for the series; Mancini to serve as producer alongside David Kirschner and Nick Antosca.

On this news, Mancini enthused, “I’ve long wanted to bring Chucky to television and Syfy is the perfect network for us. The show will be a fresh take on the franchise, allowing us to explore Chucky’s character with a depth that is uniquely afforded by the television series format, while staying true to the original vision that has terrorized audiences for over three decades now.”

Staying true to the original vision, you say? That’s refreshing for longtime franchise fans to hear, with MGM already bringing a totally-unnecessary Child’s Play remake to cinemas this June. In that redo, the killer doll will be more tech-driven this time out.

While fans have shown minimal interest in said remake, far more appealing is the concurrent news that Mancini is working on a Child’s Play TV show and a further entry in the existing Child’s Play movie franchise that last gave us Curse of Chucky.

For those unaware, Don Mancini has co-wrote all seven Chucky movies to date, turning his hand to directing for the most recent trio of pictures. As it happens, MGM approached Mancini and franchise producer David Kirschner to work as executive producers on their Child’s Play remake; the duo declining.

So to clarify all of this, MGM’s Child’s Play remake will arrive in June and will have zero ties to the Child’s Play franchise that we know and love. Elsewhere, Syfy has now optioned Don Mancini’s Child’s Play TV series that will exist within the same world as the seven-movies-long film franchise, with Mancini still having plans for an eighth movie in that world.

Expect more on all things Child’s Play as these projects continue to develop.

More Films Added to STARBURST Film Festival Line-Up

more films

We’re delighted to announce the next batch of films to be screened at the STARBURST International Film Festival, which takes place in March.

Joining the already stellar line-up are short films Laboratory Conditions, directed by Jocelyn Stamat and starring Marisa Tomei and Minnie Driver, Adrian Hedgecock’s zany cannibal musical Pleased to Eat You!, Aurora Fearnley’s stunning sci-fi drama Pulsar, Robert Duncan’s fun faux-documentary Revenant Relocation Officers, and Pete Tomkies’ Once Bitten…, in which Lauren Ashley Carter falls foul of a vampire plumber – or does she?

Joining the retro screenings will be the 1982 Ozploitation classic Next of Kin, which was praised by Quentin Tarantino, who compared the pacing and atmosphere to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

The STARBURST International Film Festival will take place at Social7 at the Landing in MediaCityUK on March 15th and 16th. Guests of Honour will be Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma Entertainment and legendary director of films such as The Toxic Avenger, and Italian filmmaker Luigi Cozzi, who went from working with Dario Argento to directing the cult classics Starcrash and Contamination.

Tickets are available now from Skiddle but they are limited, so hurry! For more information, head over to www.starburstfilmfest.co.uk and keep watching for more announcements!

Lakeith Stanfield to Star in New CANDYMAN?

lakeith stanfield

Right now, the Jordan Peele-produced new Candyman movie is still to officially announce any of its cast. And today brings word on who may end up having one of the lead roles in the picture.

Treat this purely as a rumour for now, but Super Bro Movies is reporting that Lakeith Stanfield will be starring as a character called Anthony. Stanfield is best known to genre fans for appearing in Peele’s stunning Get Out, and the role of Anthony is essentially being pegged as similar to Virginia Madsen’s Helen Lyle in the original Candyman movie; as in, murders began to happen around Anthony as he continues to research the urban legend of the Candyman.

Interestingly, Anthony is actually the name of the baby featured in the 1992 film.

Candyman itself actually began life as a short story in Clive Barker’s Books of Blood. Originally titled The Forbidden, the story was famously adapted as a 1992 Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen-starring movie from Bernard Rose. Plot-wise, the movie version took place in the aforementioned semi-demolished housing development in Chicago. Todd’s Candyman was an artist and the son of a slave, murdered by bees by his lover’s father after first having his hand lopped off.

From there, the urban legend of the Candyman is that if you say his name five times while looking in the mirror, he’ll appear behind you – and likely slice you up good ‘n’ proper. Sequels followed with 1995’s Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and 1999’s Candyman: Day of the Dead, and despite mild rumblings over the decades, the franchise has remained dead since that ’99 effort.

To be directed by Little Woods’ Nia DaCosta, MGM has set a June 12th, 2020 release date for this new entry in Candyman lore.

Netflix’s LOCKE & KEY Adds Sherri Saum

Sherri Saum

As the series continues to amass its core cast, Netflix’s Locke & Kay has added another new name to its ranks.

Via TVLine, Sherri Saum has signed on to join the adaptation of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s much-loved comic book tale. Saum is likely best known for the likes of Gossip Girl, How to Get Away with Murder and Revenge. The actress joins a cast the currently features Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones and Jackson Robert Scott.

The early blurb on Netflix’s Locke & Key reads:

Locke & Key is a horror/fantasy series that revolves around three siblings who, after the gruesome murder of their father, move to their ancestral home in Massachusetts only to find the house has magical keys that give them a vast array of powers and abilities. Little do they know, a devious demon also wants the keys, and will stop at nothing to attain them.

The Good Wife’s Meredith Averill and Bates Motel’s Carlton Cuse will serve as showrunner on the series.

If you remember, Hulu had previously taken Locke & Key to the pilot stage before then deciding against putting in a series order for the show. Said pilot was completely scrapped, with Netflix swooping in to pick up the rights and start from scratch.

DETECTIVE PIKACHU Sequel Already in Development

Detective Pikachu

The first movie may still be several months from release, but there’s already a Detective Pikachu sequel in the works.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary Pictures is already moving forward with a follow-up and has brought in Oren Uziel to work on the screenplay. Uziel is likely best known for working on the likes of 22 Jump Street and Shimmer Lake in addition to this November’s Sonic the Hedgehog, not to mention currently on board to pen the upcoming Supergirl and Mortal Kombat movies.

Of course, before any sequel there’s the small matter of the first Detective Pikachu outing. With Ryan Reynolds lending his vocals to the titular role, the film will star Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Ken Watanabe, Bill Nighy and Rita Ora.

The official synopsis on Detective Pikachu reads:

The story begins when ace private eye Harry Goodman goes mysteriously missing, prompting his 21-year-old son Tim to find out what happened. Aiding in the investigation is Harry’s former Pokémon partner, Detective Pikachu: a hilariously wise-cracking, adorable super-sleuth who is a puzzlement even to himself. Finding that they are uniquely equipped to communicate with one another, Tim and Pikachu join forces on a thrilling adventure to unravel the tangled mystery. Chasing clues together through the neon-lit streets of Ryme City—a sprawling, modern metropolis where humans and Pokémon live side by side in a hyper-realistic live-action world—they encounter a diverse cast of Pokémon characters and uncover a shocking plot that could destroy this peaceful co-existence and threaten the whole Pokémon universe.

Detective Pikachu will hit cinemas this May. And, as ever, expect more on any sequel as we get it.

JAY AND SILENT BOB REBOOT to Start Filming Next Month

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Did somebody say “nooch”?

Having been planned for a little while now, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is now officially a thing after Saban Films and Universal Pictures were confirmed to handle the project.

Not only is the follow-up to Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back now official, but the picture is due to start shooting next month.

Smith himself took to Facebook to reveal this grin-inducing news:

For their part, Saban’s Bill Bromiley enthused, “Jay and Silent Bob is a global franchise which has a very loyal fanbase. Partnering with Kevin at script stage on the next chapter of these iconic characters is a huge milestone. This is the beginning of a new initiative at Saban Films, to partner on IP with seasoned filmmakers and talent early on in the creative process all the way through distribution.”

Since debuting in Smith’s iconic Clerks back in 1994, Jay and his hetero life mate Silent Bob have been a hugely popular duo. With Smith as Bob and long-time BFF Jason Mewes as Jay, the pair went on to appear in Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma before getting their own flick with 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. After that, the stoner couple would return to action in Clerks II and then in the animated Jay and Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie.

Since Cartoon Movie, there have been plenty of rumblings of Clerks III, a Mallrats sequel in either film or TV form, and then Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. And now, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is powering forward and soon to be in front of cameras. In Reboot, the movie will poke fun at reboots, remakes and sequels while actually serving as all three itself.

Given the slew of brilliant cameos in Strike Back, many fans are already eager to see just who’ll be popping up in Reboot. On that front, Smith has got tongues a-wagging by this little exchange on Twitter:

Expect more on Jay and Silent Bob Reboot as we get it.

Creator Confirms STAN AGAINST EVIL is Dead

Stan Against Evil

After three seasons, there’s now the sad confirmation that Stan Against Evil has been cancelled.

Show creator Dana Gould revealed the news on his Dana Gould Hour podcast, explaining that IFC has scrapped the horror-comedy favourite.

As Gould explained, “Stan Against Evil, I am sad to report, will not be returning for a fourth season. It had a great run of three seasons. It’s not coming back. Will it show up in some other form on some other network someday? Maybe. But right now, as we like to say, it’s dead as Kelsey’s nuts.”

Gould added that he is currently working on “some other cool crap that will hopefully come your way” at some point soon.

Centred on an aging police sheriff who reluctantly joins forces with a younger sheriff to go up against some sinister demons that have targeted their little town, Stan Against Evil aired on FOX here in the UK.

Alexandre O. Philippe to Tackle THE EXORCIST in New Documentary

The Exorcist

Over the past several years, Alexandre O. Philippe has made quite the name for himself when it comes to documentaries. And now we’ve got word on another hugely intriguing project for the filmmaker.

Announced by Philippe at Sundance this past weekend, it’s been revealed that he’s actually already shot a documentary focussed on The Exorcist. Not just that, but Philippe is working with William Friedkin on the doc.

Speaking to Bloody Disgusting about all of this, Philippe enthused, “So, on The Exorcist, I’m working with William Friedkin. I’ve been working with him now for a year, a little more than a year actually. It’s very different. This is just going to be him and it’s basically about his very personal process. The approach was to do a film on The Exorcist using the Hitchcock/Truffaut model of interviews. I said to him, ‘I just want to sit with you for days and crack open The Exorcist and get into your process as a filmmaker.’ We’ve had four and a half days of interviews. As you can imagine, we went pretty much in depth.”

Of course, The Exorcist has been the focus of countless documentaries over the decades. When asked about how his film will differentiate from those others, Philippe explained, “There’s no talk at all about special effects, about the cinematic tricks. Instead we talked about art. We talked about music, about opera, about movies from Citizen Kane to Ordet by Dreyer, to 2001, The Third Man. It’s a very intimate chamber film about William Friedkin as an artist and his process in the making of The Exorcist.”

To date, Alexandre O. Philippe has wowed with documentaries such as The People vs. George Lucas, Doc of the Dead, 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene and Memory: The Origins of Alien (which screened at Sundance ahead of a release later this year), and his comic book work over at Fried Comics.

Expect more on this Exorcist doc as we get it.

Jeffrey Combs to Voice Edgar Allan Poe in New Autobiography

Alone: The Life of Poe

Who doesn’t love Jeffrey Combs, right? The Re-Animator star is a long-time favourite of many a genre fan, and now comes word on him tackling Edgar Allan Poe once more.

Currently building its initial production funds via Indiegogo, Combs will voice Poe in a ten-hour audio drama called Alone: The Life of Poe. For those unaware, the actor has previously played the legendary Edgar Allan Poe on the stage in Nevermore.

In Alone, Combs will be joined by Lana Wood as Maria Clemm, Mackenzie Menter as Virginia and roles for Paul Day Clemens, Debbie Rochon, Brinke Stevens and a whole host of other names as part of a character list that is truly huge.

Mark Redfield is responsible for writing, directing and producing Alone: The Life of Poe, with Jennifer Rouse to handle the sound design and act as composer on the project.

The early word on Alone reads:

The Life of Poe chronicles the tragic life of one of America’s favourite and most influential writers, from his birth in Boston in 1809 to travelling actors, to his mysterious death in Baltimore in 1849.

At this stage, the plan is for Alone: The Life of Poe to head into production this spring ahead of a January 2020 release.

For more on the project, you can find the campaign’s trailer below: