Telltale Games Cancels THE WALKING DEAD: THE FINAL SEASON

The Walking Dead

We’ve got some tough news for fans of Telltalle’s stunning The Walking Dead video game. Yes, as some of you may have feared, we won’t get to see the end of Clementine’s story.

Over the past few days, it’s been revealed that Telltale Games has had to make some major cutbacks and has let a huge percentage of its workforce go. And now, US Gamer is reporting that the team working on The Walking Dead: The Final Season are amongst those to have lost their jobs.

The Final Season is about to release its second episode, but that’s as far as the game will go. That means that The Walking Dead game as a whole will not get a resolution, and the fate of the hugely popular Clementine will also be left unresolved.

In addition to this, it’s also believed that the massively anticipated The Wolf Among Us 2 has been completely cancelled as part of Telltale’s ongoing struggles.

Chloe Zhao to Direct Marvel’s ETERNALS

With Marvel Studios and Disney currently working on an Eternals movie, now comes word on who’ll be directing that effort.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, The Rider and Songs My Brothers Taught Me’s Chloe Zhao is believed to have landed the gig after impressing the powers-that-be during their search for a Black Widow director. That Widow job would go to Cate Shortland, but Zhao clearly made quite the impression.

Chloe Zhao

From an official standpoint, there’s been nothing announced on this from Marvel or Disney at this stage.

Created by the iconic Jack Kirby back in 1976, the Eternals comic book title was based around a race of age-old humans created by the alien Celestials with the plan being for these humans to serve as Earth’s protectors against the nefarious Deviants. The big-screen Eternals will reportedly be based around the Sersi character who is an energy-manipulating being who is pretty much immortal.

Expect more on Eternals as it continues to develop as the MCU progresses further and further through the stars.

KINGSMAN 3 Set for November 2019?

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

While Kingsman: The Golden Circle maybe didn’t quite hit the highs of the first Kingsman picture, it was still a whole lot of fun. And now, there’s rumblings of a third movie on the way next year.

Courtesy of Exhibitor and IGN, a November 8th, 2019 release date is being suggested for the film, with Matthew Vaughn returning to write and direct. Despite these reports, there’s yet to be anything officially announced by 20th Century Fox or anyone involved in the franchise. As such, it’s best to take all of this with a pinch of salt just for now.

If this November 2019 release date is indeed correct, you’d have to imagine that filming on Kingsman 3 would have to get started before the year is out.

As ever, expect more on all things Kingsman as we get it.

New Names Up for Key BIRDS OF PREY Roles

Birds of Prey

For the last few months, we’ve had an idea of which characters will be joining Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn in Warner Brothers’ Birds of Prey picture – and now comes word on who could be in the frame to nab some of these roles.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, we have some news on who is in consideration to play Black Canary, Huntress, Renee Montoya, and Cassandra Cain.

For the Canary gig, the current names up for the role are Black Mirror’s Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Underground’s Jurnee Smollet-Bell, and Hidden Figures’ Janelle Monae. It’s believed that Warners is currently looking to cast an African-American actress as Black Canary, and Mbatha-Raw is seen as the frontrunner for the part at this stage.

Where Huntress is concerned, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’s Mary Elizabeth Winstead, The Leftovers’ Margaret Qualley, and How I Met Your Mother’s Cristin Milioti are the names linked to the part. Despite initially being introduced as Helena Wayne – the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle – it’s expected that we’ll get the Helena Bertinelli take on Huntress in Birds of Prey. Helena is the daughter of a mob boss, with her becoming a brutal vigilante following some gnarly mob violence.

As for Renee Montoya, One Day at a Time’s Justina Machado and I Love Dick’s Roberta Colindrez are the names up for that role. Montoya was created for Batman: The Animated Series, and has gone on to become a staple of the comic books and a huge favourite of many.

Finally, Cassandra Cain – who was at one point known as Batgirl – there’s no names being reported for the role just yet, but it’s instead believed that Cassandra will be portrayed as a 12-year-old in the picture. An Asian actress is being sought for the part, and it could well be that Cain goes by the Orphan moniker in Birds of Prey.

At present, it looks as if the Cathy Yen-helmed Birds of Prey will start shooting by the time 2018 is out.

First Look at Joaquin Phoenix as THE JOKER

Joaquin Phoenix Joker

Fresh off seeing our first look at him as the pre-Clown Prince of Crime ‘Arthur’, we’ve now been given a look at Joaquin Phoenix in full Harlequin of Hate makeup for next year’s Joker.

Warner Brothers took to their Twitter page to reveal the following:

So, it appears as if Phoenix’s Jester of Genocide will very much have a traditional clown appearance to him – with many already making comparisons to the mask worn by Heath Ledger’s Joker in the opening moments of The Dark Knight.

Titled simply Joker, the Todd Phillips-directed movie will exist outside of the DC Extended Universe, instead being the first picture from the DC Dark banner of more adult-driven comic book films being developed by Warner Brothers.

Set in the ‘80s, Joker will be an origin story for the titular Clown Prince of Crime. Already pegged as a mixture of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, Phoenix will be joined by Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro, Frances Conroy, and Marc Maron in the movie.

At present, Joker is booked in for an October 4th, 2019 release.

ISSUE 453 – OUT NOW!

453 NS

STARBURST returns to Haddonfield and catches up with Michael Myers for HALLOWEEN. Not only do we preview the new movie, we take a look back at what’s gone before and chat to some of the key talent behind the films.

We also look at the history of the SLASHER FILM with an in-depth guide to the subgenre.

Elsewhere, we take a look at some of the most hilarious BOND spoofs in anticipation of JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN and catch up with the DC superheroes of THE CW, namely ARROW, THE FLASH, SUPERGIRL, the LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, and new addition BATWOMAN.

If that’s not enough, we talk to Caspar Noé, controversial director of CLIMAX, and find out about the new book that delves into the history of London’s infamous SCALA CINEMA.

In our regular features, we take a look at ADAM GREEN’s backwoods shocker HATCHET and look forward to the new series of DOCTOR WHO.

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

Bruce Greenwood Joins DOCTOR SLEEP

Bruce Greenwood

As Doctor Sleep continues to expand its cast, the follow-up has added Bruce Greenwood to its ranks.

Courtesy of Deadline, the Star Trek and Gerald’s Game actor will play Dr. John in Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining. Greenwood joins a cast that includes Ewan McGregor as the adult Danny Torrance, Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat, Carl Lumbly as Dick Hallorann, Alex Essoe as Wendy Torrance, and Kyliegh Curran as Abra Stone.

At present, Doctor Sleep is booked in for a January 2020 release.

Allan Heinberg Developing Female-Driven MARVEL Show

Kate Bishop Hawkeye

With a whole host of superhero shows either on TV or in development right now, you can add another Marvel-driven effort to that ever-expanding list.

Courtesy of Deadline, Allan Heinberg has been brought in to develop a new superheroine-centred series for ABC. Heinberg is likely best known to genre fans for co-creating Young Avengers back in 2005, and his other credits include the likes of The O.C., Gilmore Girls, Party of Five, and, err, Sex and the City.

This to-be-titled new series will feature some of the lesser known female heroes of the Marvel world, with some already speculating that we may see the Kate Bishop incarnation of Hawkeye and the Kamala Khan take on Ms. Marvel as two such heroines who could be a part of this new project.

Expect more on all of this as we get it.

Cary Fukunaga to Direct BOND 25

Cary Fukunaga

With Danny Boyle having departed Bond 25, the film has moved to snap up Cary Fukunaga as its new director.

Yann Demange was previously believed to be the frontrunner to replace Boyle, but now Maniac, Beasts of No Nation, and True Detective’s Fukunaga has landed the gig.

On this news, Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have moved to praise Fukunaga for his “versatility and innovation,” adding that he was an “excellent choice” who they were “delighted” to have on board.

The current plan is for Bond 25 – which will be Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007 – to start shooting in March ahead of a February 2020 release.

Aubrey Plaza and Brian Tyree Henry Up for CHILD’S PLAY Remake

Aubrey Plaza Brian Tyree Henry

While many are still a little nonplussed on the idea of a Child’s Play reboot, a couple of big names are now being linked to the redo.

Via Collider, Parks and Recreation and Legion’s Aubrey Plaza and Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry are both believed to be in talks for MGM’s Child’s Play remake.

To be directed by Polaroid’s Lars Klevberg, this new Child’s Play will completely start from scratch, replacing Chucky and his “possessed by a crazed serial killer” tale with a defective doll whose programming goes awry and leads to him becoming murderous. Plaza is said to be up for the mother caught up in all of this, while Henry seems to be lined up as a detective investigating things.

This Child’s Play remake is being developed separately to series creator Don Mancini’s plans for a Child’s Play TV series and another movie that will follow the existing narrative of the main movie franchise that we last saw deliver Curse of Chucky. Mancini is developing those projects with Universal, while a contractual loophole allows MGM to work on their own Child’s Play remake.

As ever, expect more on all things Chucky as they continue to develop.