Crowdfunding Campaign Launched for Lyndon White’s Magical CANDLES

Candles

Having impressed many with his work on the likes of Sparks and the Fallen Star, The Mind of James Svengal, and Hellbound Media’s Mandy the Monster Hunter, Lyndon White has now launched a crowdfunding campaign for his next project, Candles.

A full-colour, self-contained fantasy graphic novel about a young girl who sets out to steal magic from an evil witch in order to try and save her dying village, Candles looks all kinds of impressive from what we’ve seen so far.

Lyndon has already established an otherworldly quality to so much of his work to date, and Candles again seems to capture that essence perfectly. You can see for yourself by clicking on the below images for a closer look at some of the early pages of this intriguing tale:

Candles Candles Candles Candles Candles Candles

The official word on Candles reads:

Generation after generation, people are taught one thing: never use magic. The evil Witch has cast a plague known as Dark-bark over the land and, one by one, infected villagers are lured into the enchanted forest never to be seen again. As a last resort to save her family, Grace embarks on a quest to steal the Witch’s magic and use it to save her dying village.

Meanwhile, Idris, a flamboyant sorcerer, and his talented apprentice Ava, are outcasted from their town and begin to track the source of the Dark-bark. Wolves howl at the night sky and candles begin to glow. The Witch must be stopped at all costs. However, everything is not as it seems.

Candles is a full colour fantasy graphic novel, written and illustrated by Lyndon White.

For full details on Candles’ crowdfunding campaign and some of the excellent perks available, be sure to head on over to the project’s Unbound page.

NIGHTWING Gets a Name Change

Nightwing

Holy name change, Batman!

Via ComicBook.com, the comic-book Dick Grayson is getting a name change in Nightwing #51. Rather than Dick Grayson, the former Robin will now be known as Ric Grayson. Uhu…

For those keeping up with the funny books these days, you’ll be well aware that there have been questions over Grayson’s future recently. After being shot in the head by the KGBeast, readers have been teased over whether Nightwing had survived this brutal attack. Well, he has and he hasn’t, we guess is the best answer.

Dick survived KGBeast’s bullet, but not entirely. Dick Grayson’s body survived, but his psyche has been altered. As such, Nightwing renames himself as Ric Grayson. In addition to dropping his birth name, many of Grayson’s abilities and memories are no more. Despite this, he’ll still be a hero in his own right as he continues under the Nightwing moniker.

Up first, Ric is tasked with tracking down the person behind the fear germ that’s responsible for killing people in their sleep. With only a few select fighting skills and detective knowhow left, this is a far more difficult task than it would usually be. And even more worrying for Grayson, all signs seem to point to Scarecrow being behind the fear germ.

Nightwing #51 is available from today.

PENNYWORTH Adds Two Series Regulars

Ryan Fletcher Hainsley Lloyd Bennett

Hot on the heels of casting Jack Bannon as its titular Alfred, Epix’s Pennyworth series has added two more to its ranks.

As revealed by Epix themselves, Outlander’s Ryan Fletcher and Casualty’s Hainsley Lloyd Bennett have been confirmed as series regulars on the show, joining Bannon and Ben Aldridge – who is playing Thomas Wayne – in the action. Fletcher will be playing a character called Dave Boy, a hard-drinking Scotsman who has been drinking himself to death since his army days came to an end. For Bennett, he has the role of Bazza, a posh playboy whose speciality is logistics. Both characters are lifelong pals of Alfred.

For this show, the character of Alfred has been pegged as “a boyishly handsome, cheerful, charming, clever young man from London. You would never take him for an SAS killer, thanks to his honest, open-faced, and witty demeanor. Alfred doesn’t know how to reconcile the kind-hearted boy he used to be with the cold, calculated killer he was forced to become, and he doesn’t know what to make of himself yet.”

Quite different to the gentle, wise old fella some of you may be accustomed to, right?

Of course, the announcement of Pennyworth came in the aftermath of the news that Gotham is to be cancelled after its upcoming fifth season. Gotham’s Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon are overseeing Pennyworth for Epix and Warner Horizon Scripted Television. At this stage, the plan is for a ten-episode first season made up of hour-long outings.

The early blurb on Pennyworth reads:

Pennyworth follows Bruce Wayne’s legendary butler, Alfred Pennyworth, a former British SAS soldier in his 20s, who forms a security company and goes to work with a young billionaire Thomas Wayne, who’s not yet Bruce’s father, in 1960s London.

Production on Pennyworth is to start next Monday.

Neil Marshall to Tackle Witches in THE RECKONING

Neil Marshall

As huge Neil Marshall fans here at Moonbase Alpha, it’s all kinds of awesome to hear that MoviePass Films has officially greenlit The Reckoning.

Deadline were the first to break the news, with the picture set to star Ocean’s Eight’s Charlotte Kirk. In terms of plot, the early word on The Reckoning has it set in 1665 England at a time when witch hunts and the great plague are all the rage. Kirk plays Evelyn Haverstock, a young widow who is dealing with the suicide of her husband while also being accused of being a witch by her landlord; a landlord whose romantic advances she’s rejected.

Of course, Marshall is a huge favourite of many a genre fan thanks to the likes of The Descent, Dog Soldiers, Doomsday, and Centurion, with his hotly anticipated Hellboy reboot on the way in April. On the small screen, Marshall has continued to impress with his work on efforts such as Constantine, Game of Thrones, Hannibal, and Westworld.

The Reckoning has been written by Marshall, Kirk, and Ed Evers-Swindell. Evers-Swindell is a long-time collaborator of Marshall’s as far back as Dog Soldiers, and even made his directorial debut with the Marshall-produced Dark Signal.

Following in the footsteps of Dark Signal, The Reckoning will shoot in Wales in January. And if Dark Signal is anything to go by, that means that this could well be an utter visual delight.

Expect more on The Reckoning as we get it.

Could a THEY LIVE Sequel be on the Way?

They Live

Wait, what?! As the headline suggests, could a sequel to They Live be on the way? Maybe…

With Halloween heading to the big screen in a matter of days, John Carpenter recently spoke to Den of Geek about which of his other movies would be ripe for a “refashioning” at some point in the future. When They Live was suggested, the legendary Horror Master teased, “Well, I’m not gonna tell you about that, because it might be closer to reality than you think.”

Now, there was once a They Live remake of sorts in loose development a few years ago. On that, Carpenter said, “There was a feature film. It was a feature film called Resistance, written by, oh, the guy who did the Apes movies. Matt Reeves. But then he moved on. And so, the sequel is, well, we’ll see. We’ll just have to see.”

Elsewhere, Carpenter himself has previously suggested that there could be a Prince of Darkness TV series being discussed. When asked about that possibility, JC added, “I might have done that, huh? You heard it from me. It’s not a lie, but it’s not ready to go yet. So rather than discuss it, I think I won’t.”

Of course, this is all far from official confirmation of a They Live sequel or a Prince of Darkness TV show, but still, just hearing that such projects could possibly happen is certainly something that will put a grin on the face of many a genre fan.

As ever, expect more on all of this if and when we hear any further developments.

Female-led GRIMM Spin-off in Development

Grimm

Still feeling glum that NBC canned Grimm last year after six seasons? Well, there’s a shining light coming to the fore on that front.

Courtesy of The Wrap, NBC is currently developing a new female-led Grimm spin-off. Iron Fist and Beauty and the Beast’s Melissa Glenn will write and executive produce the to-be-titled series, with Grimm co-creators David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf on board as consulting producers.

The early blurb on the show reads:

Building off the mythology of the original series, the new show will feature returning fan favourites while also introducing new characters, new dangers, and epic new mysteries.

As ever, expect more on all of this as we get it.

ANNABELLE 3 Adds Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga

The Conjuring 2

With it now known that the third Annabelle movie will focus on Judy Warren, now comes word that Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga will have a part to play in the picture.

Courtesy of Deadline, Wilson and Farmiga will reprise their roles of Ed and Lorraine Warren in a supporting capacity. Previously, Mckenna Grace was announced as playing Judy Warren – the daughter of Ed and Lorraine – in Annabelle 3, but it wasn’t clear whether the character’s parents would be making an appearance. Until now, that is.

Wilson and Farmiga have played the Warrens in The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, and Annabelle 3 will focus on the duo bringing the infamous Annabelle doll home to their artefact room. Of course, things don’t exactly go smoothly, and the threequel is already being pegged as Night at the Museum with Annabelle thrown into the mix.

It screenwriter Gary Dauberman will write and make his directing debut on Annabelle 3, with the film currently booked in for a July 2019 release.

Jack Bannon to Headline PENNYWORTH

Jack Bannon Alfred Pennyworth

Remember how an Alfred Pennyworth-driven series is in development? Well, the show has now found its headlining star.

As confirmed by Epix – the MGM-owned network who are behind the series – Jack Bannon has landed the titular role in Pennyworth. Bannon is likely best known to genre fans for the likes of Ripper Street, The Loch, The Imitation Game, and Fury.

For this show, the character of Alfred has been pegged as “a boyishly handsome, cheerful, charming, clever young man from London. You would never take him for an SAS killer, thanks to his honest, open-faced, and witty demeanor. Alfred doesn’t know how to reconcile the kind-hearted boy he used to be with the cold, calculated killer he was forced to become, and he doesn’t know what to make of himself yet.”

Quite different to the gentle, wise old fella some of you may be accustomed to, right?

Of course, the announcement of Pennyworth came in the aftermath of the news that Gotham is to be cancelled after its upcoming fifth season. Gotham’s Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon are overseeing Pennyworth for Epix and Warner Horizon Scripted Television. At this stage, the plan is for a ten-episode first season made up of hour-long outings.

The early blurb on Pennyworth reads:

Pennyworth follows Bruce Wayne’s legendary butler, Alfred Pennyworth, a former British SAS soldier in his 20s, who forms a security company and goes to work with a young billionaire Thomas Wayne, who’s not yet Bruce’s father, in 1960s London.

Production on Pennyworth is to start next Monday.

 

Moffat and Gattis’ DRACULA is Official!

Steven Moffat Mark Gatiss

Well, this is certainly news that will grab the attention of many genre fans out there. The team behind Sherlock are now officially sinking their teeth into Dracula!

Via Variety, Netflix and the BBC have brought in Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss to head-up a new incarnation of Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire. Moffat, of course, was the showrunner on Doctor Who up until last year, while Gatiss is a favourite of many for The League of Gentleman, in addition to the pair having created Sherlock.

The first rumblings of this news came last year, but there’s been pretty much radio silence on the topic since then. Now, the series has an official order of three ninety-minute offerings. Rather than providing a modern spin on an old favourite like they did with Sherlock, Dracula will be set in the year that Stoker’s iconic work was first published, 1897.

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

POLTERHEIST Star Passes Away

gemma

STARBURST was sad to learn of the death of actor Gemma Head, who starred and co-wrote the upcoming British independent film Polterheist.

She had waged a long and brave battle with cancer for many months, and both co-wrote and acted in Polterheist while she was seriously unwell.

The film has already screened at 30 film festivals around the world since post production finished in May 2018. It’s expected to be given a general release in the next few months.

Polterheist director David Gilbank said: “Gemma left her mark on everyone she met. She was wildly talented and rebellious with a wickedly dark sense of humour. It’s a shame that such s talent is gone just as she was beginning to receive accolades for her scorching work on Polterheist.”

She leaves behind a loving husband Paul and young son Laurie. STARBURST sends our thoughts to with her family and friends.

Gemma Head 1974 – 2018  R.I.P.