THE BOY 2 Brings in Christopher Convery

Christopher Convery

Hot on the heels of Katie Holmes being announced for The Boy 2, now comes word on another new addition for the sequel.

Courtesy of Deadline, Christopher Convery has joined the follow-up to play the son of Holmes’ character. The youngster is likely best known to genre fans for roles in Gotham and The Girl in the Spider’s Web. William Brent Bell will be back to direct, and Stacey Menear is back to pen the sequel’s screenplay.

The early word on the follow-up reads:

Unaware of the terrifying history of Heelshire Mansion, a young family moves into the estate, where their young son soon makes an unsettling new friend, an eerily life-like doll he calls Brahms.

Sure, The Boy wasn’t all that bad, but was a sequel ever particularly demanded or needed?

Expect more on this as it continues to develop.

David Harbour Boards Thriller DHAKA

David Harbour

As we wait to see him headlining in next year’s Hellboy reboot, now comes word that David Harbour has boarded Dhaka.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, the Stranger Things star has joined the upcoming action-thriller that’s being produced by the Russo brothers. The early word on Harbour’s role is that he’ll be playing a mercenary in the picture. Already on board for Dhaka – which is currently shooting in India and Indonesia – is the Thunder God himself, Chris Hemsworth.

In terms of plot, Dhaka will centre on a young boy who becomes embroiled in a murky underworld of traffickers and weapons dealers. Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake is a down-and-out fella who embarks on a suicide mission of sorts to rescue the youngster.

Netflix is handling Dhaka, with a script in place from Joe Russo. Making his directorial debut on the film is Sam Hargrave, who’s best known for his stunt work across the Marvel Cinematic Universe and in Atomic Blonde.

As mentioned, Harbour is soon to be seen playing the titular Big Red in Neil Marshall’s Hellboy this coming April.

AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Renewed for Seventh Season

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Ahead of its sixth season arriving next year, we’ve now got word that Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has already been given the okay for a seventh season.

Deadline broke the news, with a thirteen-episode seventh year greenlit, presumably to arrive in 2020. Before that, Season 6 will premiere in summer 2019.

As ever, plot details are thin on the ground right now, but the landscape of all things Marvel has been shuck up by a certain Infinity War. Of course, that huge event wasn’t particularly referenced as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fifth season concluded, but there was a certain cliff-hanger at play when all was said and one in that most recent season.

Expect more on the future of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as we get it.

NBC Developing a BONE COLLECTOR TV Series

The Bone Collector

As old ideas continue to be rehashed for new generations, next up to get the rejig treatment is The Bone Collector.

Via The Wrap, NBC is developing a TV series around a premise that began life as a novel by Jeffrey Deaver before being turned into a movie in 1999. Said movie was directed by Phillip Noyce and starred Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.

In this small screen take, the show will centre on Lincoln Rhyme, a retired forensic criminologist who’s been left paralyzed after a job went wrong. Drawn back to action by an intriguing new case, Rhyme will team up with an up-and-coming detective, Amelia Sachs.

Expect more on this as we get it.

Travis Knight to Direct GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3?

Travis Knight

With Disney and Marvel Studios currently on the hunt for a director to handle Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, now comes word on a new name in the frame for the gig.

Via The DisInsider, Travis Knight is reportedly now in the running to helm the third Guardians picture. Knight is likely best known to genre fans for his work on Coraline and ParaNorman, before making his directorial debut with the stunning Kubo and the Two Strings. Up next for the director is Bumblebee, which hits cinemas this December.

The last we’d heard on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was that James Gunn’s existing script was still to be used on the threequel, although Gunn is still out in the cold where any other involvement was concerned. If you remember back, the writer/director was fired by Disney earlier this year after some of his controversial old social media posts resurfaced.

Since then, the House of Mouse has been on the hunt for a director for Guardians 3. One name previously rumoured for that job was Taika Waititi, who already has previous with the Marvel Cinematic Universe after directing Thor: Ragnarok.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was due to start shooting early next year ahead of a 2020 release, but all of that has been put on hold while the search for a director continues.

As ever, expect more on Guardians 3 as it continues to develop.

DOCTOR WHO: BBC Confirm Series 12 to Broadcast in 2019

who

Rumours about both the immediate and longer term future of Doctor Who have been flying around the Internet this week. In a bid to either discover the truth or put those rumours to bed, STARBURST has been in touch with the series’ production office for confirmation one way or the other.

The BBC was happy to go on the record about the programme’s short-term future. There had been a lot of chatter about Jodie Whittaker’s second run in Series 12 being planned for a broadcast in the spring of 2020, rather than in the autumn of 2019 as everyone had originally assumed. This is not true.

We were told that Series 12 went into production this week, and that it will definitely be broadcast next year, as part of the autumn 2019 TV schedule.

That’s one rumour that has now been scotched.

The second rumour that’s currently doing the rounds is that new showrunner Chris Chibnall hasn’t been happy behind the scenes, and is set to quit after Series 12.

We can only speculate as to his possible reasons – if indeed the story is true – but Chibnall told us quite firmly in January 2013 that he didn’t want the showrunner job, and it’s possible after the success of Broadchurch that the BBC pursued him for it against his better wishes. Or simply that he changed his mind.

Either way, if there is any truth to this rumour then it’s also been said that Jodie Whittaker would not want to continue on as the Doctor without Chibnall at the helm, and would leave at the same time as he did.

Both Chibnall and Whittaker have certainly looked happy enough during the pre-publicity for Series 11, and with the ratings success they’ve had it would be a loss for them both to go after one more series. But the BBC is an odd, double-headed beast (the programme is essentially now a co-production between the BBC and its autonomous subsidiary BBC Studios), and Chibnall would seem to be happier working with his own production company on series like Broadchurch. We have been somewhere very like this before, with Christopher Eccleston’s departure after just a single series in 2005.

In other news, the BBC has also this week confirmed that this year’s seasonal special will be broadcast on New Year’s Day rather than in the traditional Christmas Day spot – as we revealed back in September.

Could the 2019 run of episodes be set to finish with another regeneration for the Doctor? It’s unlikely we’ll know for sure one way or the other for some while yet. But one thing’s for sure, if Whittaker should leave the series after only two series, and with 2018 having seen some of Doctor Who’s highest ratings yet, it won’t be because the ‘experiment’ in changing the Doctor’s gender was a failure.

More news on this when we get it.

Chris Pratt in Early Talks for THE SAINT

Chris Pratt The Saint

These days, Chris Pratt is one of the hottest stars on the planet. And now, it looks as if the ever-charming actor is eyeing up a new take on an old favourite.

Via Deadline, it’s being reported that Pratt is in early talks to headline Paramount’s upcoming reboot of The Saint. A relaunch of this beloved property has been in the works since 2016, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura on board to produce.

The Saint is a major favourite of so many genre fans, with the adventures of Simon Templar first hitting the screen back in 1938. Created by Leslie Charteris, The Saint began life as a book series in 1928, and since then there have been several different iterations over the decades – most notably the Roger Moore-headlined TV series that began in 1962. Elsewhere, Val Kilmer headlined a 1997 movie that was so-so at best. More recently, Adam Rayner headlined a direct-to-TV Saint movie only last year. Character-wise, Simon Templar is essentially a better dressed Robin Hood figure, technically a criminal but whose main mantra is working for the greater good, all while quipping wise and being smoother than smooth.

For Chris Pratt, this would be just the latest Hollywood blockbuster on his ever-expanding CV. The Parks and Recreation star has become one of the biggest names in the game thanks to his roles as Peter Quill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Emmit in The LEGO Movie (and its upcoming sequel), and as Owen Grady in the Jurassic World pictures. Up next for Pratt is Vincent D’Onofrio’s western effort, The Kid, although his hotly anticipated Cowboy Ninja Viking movie has recently been  scrapped.

Expect more on Paramount’s new take on The Saint as we get it.

DEVIL MAY CRY Animated Series in Development

Devil May Cry

Having impressed with Netflix’s animated Castlevania, now producer Adi Shankar is looking to tackle another fan favourite video game franchise.

Via IGN, Shankar is developing an animated series based on Capcom’s Devil May Cry offerings. And interestingly, this new series will exist in a shared universe with Castlevania. Said shared universe is currently being referred to as “the bootleg multiverse”.

For those still fearful of video game adaptations bombing, Shankar enthusiastically explained, “I’ve acquired these rights myself so that the jabronis in Hollywood can’t fuck this one up too.”

As for Devil May Cry, the video game series got its first outing back in 2001 on the PlayStation 2. Three sequels have followed, with Devil May Cry 5 on the way next March. An action-adventurer, players control Dante as he looks to slash his way through a plethora of demons as he seeks to avenge his mother.

Expect more on this Devil May Cry series as we get it.

Jon Cryers is SUPERGIRL’s Lex Luthor

Jon Cryer Lex Luthor Supergirl

With the nefarious Lex Luthor previously confirmed to make an appearance in Supergirl’s current fourth season, now comes word on who’ll be playing this iconic rogue.

Courtesy of TVLine, it’s been reported that Emmy Award winner Jon Cryer is to play Lex in the Melissa Benoist-starrer. Cryer is likely best known as a mainstay of Two and a Half Men, and the eagle-eyed of you out there may also remember him as playing Lex Luthor’s nephew in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

On this news, executive producers Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller enthused, “We are enormous fans of Jon Cryer, and he was instantly our dream actor to play the iconic role of Lex Luthor. Jon is a super talent, and the fact that he played Lenny Luthor in Superman IV brings an added layer of legacy to his casting. We’re beyond thrilled to welcome Jon to the Supergirl family.”

Cryers’ Lex is due to debut next year – in the fifteenth episode of the fourth season, to be precise.

Issue 455 – Out Now

455 NS

STARBURST goes under the sea with an issue that comes from the depths. As well as looking forward to AQUAMAN, the latest entry to DCEU, we count down our favourite watery genre icons including THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and those paragons of false advertising, the SEA-MONKEYS!

Elsewhere, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of anime classic AKIRA and uncover the troubled fortunes of distribution company MANGA UK.

Another birthday is also commemorated, as SOOTY reaches the ripe old age of 70.

If that’s not enough, we talk to JOHN MCPHAIL, director of the brilliant horror-comedy-musical ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE and cult legend ADRIENNE BARBEAU tells us all about her career, working with JOHN CARPENTER, and voicing Catwoman in BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES.

In our regular features, we take a look at Horror Channel’s season of classic HAMMER films and Independents Day focuses on JENNIFER PHILLIPS, director of BLOOD CHILD.

Plus all your favourite COLUMNS, NEWS, REVIEWS and much MORE from the worlds of SCI-FI, HORROR and FANTASY!