SNAKE EYES Movie Close to Landing a Director

Snake Eyes

For the past year or more, we’ve heard how a Snake Eyes movie was in early development. And now, there’s a big update on the G.I. Joe spin-off picture.

Courtesy of Variety, Paramount Pictures has begun talks with Robert Schwentke to direct the movie. Schwentke is likely best known to genre fans for helming R.I.P.D., RED, and two of the Divergent films. If he does indeed end up involved with Snake Eyes, he’ll be working from a script put together by Beauty and the Beast’s Evan Spoliotopoulos.

In the history of the G.I. Joe property, Snake Eyes has always been seen as one of the coolest characters out there – be that in toys, comic books, animated shows, or even in the live-action G.I. Joe films. Where those films are concerned, genre fave Ray Park has played this mysterious martial arts master. One school of thought is that Snake Eyes will be a reboot of sorts not attached to the G.I. Joe movies that we’ve already seen, meaning that Park’s involvement would be unlikely in that case.

At present, Paramount has a March 2020 release date booked in for a new G.I. Joe effort, although it has yet to be officially confirmed whether said effort is Snake Eyes.

Expect more on this as we get it.

Patrick Stewart’s Picard Series to Premiere in 2019

Patrick Stewart Captain Picard

One of the news stories that had genre fans grinning from ear to ear this year, was the reveal that Sir Patrick Stewart’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard would be getting his own TV series. And now we have an update on said show.

Via The Wrap, we now know that the to-be-titled series will premiere on CBS All Access in late 2019. CBS’ David Nivens revealed the news at the same time as reiterating how the second season of Star Trek: Discovery will premiere in the first half of next year. In addition to these two shows, Star Trek: Lower Decks is another new series on the way, and then there are the regular rumblings of a show based around Michelle Yeoh’s Emperor Georgiou.

This Picard series marks the first time that Stewart has reprised the role in a live-action setting since 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis. In the years since then, Stewart has provided vocals for Picard in video games and in animated shows such as Family Guy and Robot Chicken.

Expect more on all of these Star Trek efforts as we get it.

M. Night Shyamalan Confirms TALES FROM THE CRYPT Reboot is Dead

Tales From the Crypt

First it was on, then it was off, then there was still some slight hope of it happening, but M. Night Shyamalan has now seemingly confirmed that his planned Tales From the Crypt reboot is completely dead in the water.

If you remember back, Shyamalan’s Tales From the Crypt was to be part of a TNT block of horror content along with Creatures and Time of Death. That news was first made official over two years ago, but now Shyamalan has some less than encouraging words on the project.

Speaking to Digital Spy, the genre favourite explained, “I think it’s dead. We tried everything that we could. That was so mired in people that had rights to it. Constantly mired from the original comic books, to the people that did the original show, and that was a very contentious era for that show and who was involved and all the stuff that had nothing to do with me.”

Shyamalan added, “I begged them, ‘Please just give me the rights. We’ll do it this way, you’re going to be really happy’. But it didn’t work out that way and here we are.”

So there we have it, a rights issue deeming this project as dead as the Cryptkeeper himself.

Marvel Studios Developing a Shang-Chi Movie

Shang-Chi

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to ever-expand, we now have word on an exciting new film for the hugely popular MCU.

Courtesy of Deadline, Marvel Studios is now at work on a Shang-Chi movie. Granted, some of you out there may be mouthing “who?”, but we’re going to go out on a limb and say that you might’ve thought the exact same thing when a ragtag bunch known as the Guardians of the Galaxy were first confirmed for their own big-screen outing. And much like the Guardians, spotlighting Shang-Chi is yet another move by Marvel Studios and Disney to continuously diversify this shared cinematic realm.

For those not overly familiar with Shang-Chi, he is a character who debuted back in 1973’s Marvel Special Edition #15 as a creation of Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin. The son of Fu-Manchu, Shang-Chi is brought up to be the true master of kung fu – only for that to all take a surprise turn when he realises that his father was actually up to no good. Of course, the creation of this character was done as a way to capitalise on the martial arts boom ushered in by Bruce Lee in the ’60s and ‘70s, and like those kung fu movies of the day, Shang-Chi wasn’t quite so popular by the time the ‘80s rolled around. In fact, his own title – Master of Kung Fu – was cancelled in 1983, leaving him as simply a supporting character who would occasionally turn up in other heroes’ stories. That was until more modern times, though, with Shang-Chi having featured as part of the Secret Avengers and even the main Avengers team more recently.

Marvel Studios is currently on the hunt for an Asian director to tackle this Shang-Chi picture, with the plan being to build a corner of the MCU that focuses on Asian and Asian-American themes. As part of that, Chinese-American writer David Callaham has already been brought in to pen the Shang-Chi movie. Callaham has recently been involved in co-writing Wonder Woman 1984, the initial drafts of Zombieland 2, created The Expendables, and has already been pegged to pen the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

As ever, expect more on this Shang-Chi film as we get it.

Brave New Words Award 2019 Launches

BNW award

STARBURST Magazine, the world’s premier platform for new and exciting genre media, is pleased to announce that submissions are now open for its ground-breaking Brave New Words books prize.

The Brave New Words Award has opened its submissions window for works produced in 2018. The Award ceremony will be at Edge Lit, the UK’s premiere indie book event.

Edge Lit is an annual UK based genre event. It will be held at the Derby Quad, UK, on 13th July 2019. Guest of honour is Tim Lebbon. You can find out more on Edge Lit Website.

The Brave New Words Award is for someone who produces break-out literature that is new and bold. We are looking to highlight exciting work that breaks new ground in the field of Cult Entertainment.  editors, writers, publishers, and bloggers can be nominated. We are looking for works produced in 2018. A shortlist will be announced early 2019 and the winner will be announced in special ceremony later this year.

Last year’s winner was given to Margrét Helgadóttir for her work as editor of Pacific Monsters, published by Fox Spirit Books.  Pacific Monsters brought together genre voices from that region of the world into one volume.

The panel of judges include genre critics and media professionals. The head judge is STARBURST Magazine’s Literary Editor, Ed Fortune.

Those wishing to submit nominations have until February 16th 2019 to send them in. The guidelines for submitting to the long list is below.

There is no submission fee for the Brave New Words award, nor is there a limit on the number of titles that can be submitted.

Please bear in in mind that STARBURST is a magazine grounded in the field of Cult Entertainment and we are always highlighting indie and cutting-edge media.

The award goes to an individual, not a specific work, so we are looking for examples that most define the creators output.  We want full works: a complete novel or anthology or an example of the writer’s essays. For editors, we are looking specifically at works the editor has curated. We will require one copy of the work in physical or electronic form. If the work makes it to the shortlist, we may require an up to five additional copies. We prefer electronic submissions in all cases.

The work must have been published in the UK (or online) during 2018. The deadline is February 16th 2019.

The email address is [email protected] (marked BNW Awards) and the address to send physical publications is:

BRAVE NEW WORDS AWARD SUBMISSIONS

c/o STARBURST Magazine

PO Box 4508

Manchester

M61 0GY

Physical submissions must be clearly marked as intended for the award – mark the package and include a note with each copy. Good luck to all of you!

Ben Mendelsohn to Headline HBO’s Take on Stephen King’s THE OUTSIDER

Ben Mendelsohn

It feels as if barely a week goes by where we don’t hear news of a new Stephen King adaptation. And this week is no different, for King’s The Outsider is now up for the adap treatment.

The Outsider itself was only actually released this past May, and now HBO is developing a small-screen take on the tale. Not only that, but Star Wars: Rogue One and Ready Player One’s Ben Mendelsohn is on board to headline the series, with Jason Bateman executive producing the show and directing its first two episodes.

A murder mystery of sorts, the synopsis of the source material reads:

An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively readable stories.

An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face?

Expect more on HBO’s The Outsider as it develops.

Nick Nolte Joins THE MANDALORIAN

Nick Nolte

With The Mandalorian beginning to flesh out its core cast, we’ve now got word on another new addition for the live-action Star Wars series.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, Nick Nolte has now signed on to head to a galaxy far, far away. At this earlier stage, however, there are absolutely zero details on what role the Cape Fear and Hulk actor will be playing.

Nolte joins a cast that features Game of Thrones’ Pedro Pascal as the titular character, and we also know that Deadpool’s Gina Carano has landed a role in the series. In terms of timeline, the small-screen spectacle will take place a few years after Return of the Jedi.

Genre fave Jon Favreau is on writing duties for The Mandalorian and will serve as executive producer along with Star Wars favourite Dave Filoni. Already on board to direct episodes are Taiki Waititi, Rick Famuyiwa, Deborah Chow, and Bryce Dallas Howard.

The Mandalorian is expected to premiere on Disney+ – the upcoming new streaming service – at some point in the second half of 2019.

Troma’s LLOYD KAUFMAN Confirmed for SIFF 2019

Festival

STARBURST is pleased to announce the 2019 STARBURST International Film Festival (SIFF) will take place at MediaCityUK in March.

On March 15th and 16th, 2019, STARBURST will once again descend on The Landing at MediaCityUK for two days of fun, films, and frolics! We’re also delighted to reveal that the legendary Lloyd Kaufman will be in attendance, straight from Tromaville. Lloyd will be on hand to meet fans, take part in panels and introduce his latest film Return to Return to Nuke ‘Em High aka Vol. 2 as well as give us a sneak peak of his next opus Shakespeare’s Shitstorm. We will be honouring our special Guest of Honour with the ‘STARBURST Hall of Fame Award’ at the closing ceremony.

As with previous years, a large focus of the festival will be on new and independent filmmakers, and submissions are now open at FilmFreeway for you to submit your features and shorts, which will go into competition. As well as taking home the coveted Roboto statue at the STARBURST Fantasy Awards, we also have a fantastic prize for the winning independent feature – more on that soon.

As any past attendee will attest, SIFF is a blast – a perfect place for film fans to unwind and discover some great new movies, and an even better environment for indie filmmakers to network over a beverage or five. With this year promising to be the best yet, make sure you don’t miss out!

A very limited number of tickets are on sale now at a special early bird price. Head over to Skiddle now before they all go!

The Russos to Take an MCU Break Following AVENGERS 4

Joe and Anthony Russo

These days, Anthony and Joe Russo have become synonymous with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But once the fourth Avengers movie is out of the way, the Russo brothers are taking a step back from the MCU for at least a little while.

Making their MCU debut with the stunning Captain America: The Winter Soldier back in 2014, the Russos have gone on to helm Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. It’s safe to say, all three of those movies are up there are some of the finest films that the MCU has served up, which is quite the high praise considering the constant high quality of this shared realm. In fact, many view The Winter Soldier and Infinity War as possibly the two very best MCU offerings of the lot.

Following a special screening of Avengers: Infinity War last night, Anthony and Joe revealed that they’re going to be taking a break from the superhero game for the foreseeable future. The brothers haven’t ruled out a return to the MCU down the line, and Joe even teased that they’d be coming back once Marvel Studios and Disney are ready to push forward with a take on the iconic Secret Wars tale.

What’s next for the Russos remains to be seen, but they’ve surely got their pick of projects right now. Having already impressed many with Arrested Development and Community before they tackled the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Anthony and Joe Russo are two of the hottest names in Hollywood right now. But yeah, Secret Wars…? This isn’t the first time that the beloved ‘80s comic book tale has been pegged as a future happening in the MCU, and maybe it’s not the last we’ve heard of that. After all, once the threat of Thanos is in the rear-view mirror, all eyes will be on the next huge ‘event’ storyline.

The still-to-be-titled fourth Avengers movie is set to (Hulk) smash its way to the silver screen in May, with Captain Marvel up next this coming March.

KINGSMAN Prequel Brings in Daniel Brühl and Charles Dance

Daniel Bruhl Charles Dance Kingsman

With a Kingsman prequel on the way, that third movie in the franchise is starting to amass some pretty major names.

Courtesy of Collider, director Matthew Vaughn has brought in Captain America: Civil War’s Daniel Brühl and Game of Thrones’ Charles Dance to join the picture. Elsewhere, Twin Town and The Amazing Spider-Man’s Rhys Ifans is in talks to join proceedings.

Dubbed Kingsman: The Great Game, this third Kingsman outing will be a prequel which showcases the origins of the Kingsman organisation during World War I. As such, don’t be expecting the likes of Taron Egerton and Colin Firth to be a part of the action. That said, there are plans in place for a fourth Kingsman that would continue the story of Eggsy, Harry and Co.

Right now, that fourth Kingsman is being planned as the final movie in the franchise, with Vaughn then to take the Kingsman realm to the small screen for a TV series based on America’s Statesman group.

Kingsman: The Great Game is due to start shooting in January.