Exclusive Sneak Peek of New Horror-Comedy POLTERHEIST

Polterheist

STARBURST is excited to present this exclusive look at the trailer for genre-busting British horror-gangster-comedy Polterheist before it heads to the British Independent Film Festival and has its wider release later in the year. We caught an early screening and found it hard-hitting, creepy and hilarious!

In this tale, two hapless small-time criminals kidnap a psychic medium, forcing her to contact the gangster they murdered to find his buried cash.

Racing against the clock with fear of reprisal from a psychotic gang boss, they accidentally unleash a demon hell-bent on revenge. The film is directed by David Gilbank and stars Jamie Cymbal, Sid Akbar Ali, Jo Mousely, and Pushpinder Chani. Check out the exclusive trailer reveal below.

Blending gangsters, supernatural horror and laced with dark humour, Polterheist is one of the most original British films of the year. Stay tuned for our full review closer to release.

Polterheist is showing at the British Independent Film Festival at Cineworld Leicester Square, London on Saturday, June 2nd. Book tickets https://www.filmfestivalguild.com/biff2018. The film is also nominated in several categories at the festival awards.
Polterheist will be released in UK Cinemas and DVD in Autumn 2018 and has already been selected for several International film festivals.

Check out more on Facebook: @Polterheistmovie, Twitter: @Polterheistfilm, and Instagram: @Polterheist_movie_official.

Polterheist

Major Character to Depart ARROW

Stephen Amell Green Arrow

Woah, woah, woah. Hold on there for a minute, for we’ve got to clarify something before we go any further. Ahead lies some spoilers for The CW’s Arrow. So yeah, if you don’t want to know said spoilers then turn back now. But then that poses the question of just why would you click on this story if you didn’t want to know what’s what.

Here we go, spoilers impending in…

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Still with us? Top banana. Right, so let’s get to it.

As per Entertainment Weekly, another major name is leaving Arrow once the show’s ongoing sixth season comes to a close.

Previously, we’d learned that Willa Holland – the show’s Thea Queen – wouldn’t be returning for Season 7, and now we have word that the brilliant Paul Blackthorne will be joining Holland in departing the series. Blackthorne, of course, plays Quentin Lance in the fan favourite show.

In most cases, actors tend to sign a six-season contract when landing a gig in a show such as Arrow, and so it appears that Blackthorne and Holland’s deals are up and they’ve opted not to return. For the Thea Queen character, she departed Star City alive and well, meaning that she could still return at some point down the line. Right now, it’s being kept hush-hush on how things will play out for Quentin Lance. Given how Quentin has just been made Mayor of Star City following the arrest of Oliver Queen, could it be that Ricardo Diaz or even Black Siren have the new Mayor in their crosshairs?

We’d love to say that Quentin makes it out of the current sixth season alive so that there’s always the chance of Paul Blackthorne returning down the line, but if we were betting sorts, we’d slap the mortgage on him being a casualty of the ongoing war between the Green Arrow and Ricardo Diaz. After all, we’ve heard how there’s going to be a major change-up for the show’s seventh season, with something happening at the end of Season 6 that will change the game. Killing off the ever-present Quentin Lance would be a major move, and we can’t help but fear that the character’s time is numbered right now.

Arrow currently airs in the UK on Sky1 every Thursday at 9pm. Tonight’s episode is the nineteenth of the sixth season, meaning that there’s only four more episodes to come before Season 6 concludes. With Oliver Queen losing everything and everyone close to him, this current season has been absolutely phenomenal so far, and it promises to go out with a bang over the next few weeks.

SWAMP THING Series in Development

Swamp Thing

Fresh of the confirmation that Warner Brothers upcoming DC streaming service is to be titled DC Universe, now comes word of a new exclusive series for the service.

Already, we known that the service will house the live-action Teen Titans show, Titans, not to mention Young Justice: Outsiders and the ongoing Harley Quinn series. Now, they’ve going to be joined by one of the most powerful creatures in the realms of DC Comics.

As revealed by Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment, a live-action Swamp Thing show is no in development. While that in itself is cool enough, even more fan-pleasing is that James Wan is to executive produce the series. Wan, of course, is quite the genre favourite thanks to his work on the likes of the early Saw movies, the Insidious and Conjuring franchises, and is directing this year’s Jason Momoa-starring Aquaman. Marvel’s Daredevil’s Mark Verheiden and IT’s Gary Dauberman are on writing duties, and will both serve as showrunners on Swamp Thing.

Swamp Thing

The early word on this new show reads:

The drama follows what happens when CDC researcher Abby Arcane returns to her childhood home of Houma, Louisiana in order to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus. There, she develops a surprising bond with scientist Alec Holland – only to have him tragically taken from her. But as powerful forces descend on Houma, intent on exploiting the swamp’s mysterious properties for their own purposes, Abby will discover that the swamp holds mystical secrets, both horrifying and wondrous – and the potential love of her life may not be dead after all.

As a character, Swamp Thing began life back in 1971 and has appeared in a whole host of different mediums over the decades. Wes Craven would helm 1982’s Swamp Thing movie, with a sequel following in 1989. On the small screen, a three-season USA Network show ran during the early ‘90s, and there was similarly a far-too-short-lived animated series during those years.

At this stage, Swamp Thing is set for a to-be-confirmed 2019 premiere.

New Sabrina Series Titled CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Ever since a new Sabrina the Teenage Witch series was first announced, many have presumed that the show will pull its title from the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic book series. And now, it’s been confirmed that that is indeed the case.

Series creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa took to social media to reveal the title, complete with star Kiernan Shipka:

The official blurb on this upcoming show reads:

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is based on the comic book of the same name, which reimagines the origin and adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult and, of course, witchcraft. Tonally in the vein of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, this adaptation finds Sabrina wrestling to reconcile her dual nature – half-witch, half-mortal – while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit.

Making up quite the impressive ensemble, Shipka is joined on the series by Lucy Davis, Miranda Otto, Michelle Gomez, Ross Lynch, Richard Coyle, Chance Perdomo, and Bronson Pinchot.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has yet to be given a premiere date, although Netflix has already put in an order for two seasons of the show.

Warner Brothers’ DC Streaming Service Now Titled DC UNIVERSE

DC Universe

We’ve known for a while now that Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment were developing a DC digital streaming service – with some rather impressive exclusive content – and now we finally know what this service will be called.

Straight from the WB and DC, the on-demand service is officially titled simply DC Universe. At this stage, the big selling points for the service are the live-action Teen Titans show, Titans, a new season of Young Justice, and a new Harley Quinn ongoing series.

The official press release on this reads as below:

“The ultimate DC membership,” DC Universe is a first-of-its-kind, immersive digital experience designed just for DC fans with a membership including unlimited access to the following exclusive original series: Titans, the live-action TV series based on the teenage heroes; Young Justice: Outsiders, the long-awaited continuation of the fan-favorite animated series; and Harley Quinn, an all-new animated series starring the villain turned anti-hero.

The powers-that-be have also made it clear that a whole host of further content will be a part of DC Universe when it launches later this year. At this stage, we’ve yet to be given a specific launch date, but safe to say a whole lot of genre fans are eagerly awaiting this streaming service.

First HAPPY DEATH DAY 2 Casting News

Happy Death Day

While Rusev Day is quite the ‘thing’ right now, so too is Happy Death Day. Having impressed many genre fans last year – often described as a mash-up between Scream and Groundhog Day – the film has been a hot topic of conversation since its release. And now, we have some word on the first casting news for the upcoming Happy Death Day sequel.

As per Deadline, Jessica Rothe will be back as Tree Gelbman, Israel Broussard will be retruning as Carter Davis, and Life of Pi’s Suraj Sharma and American Horror Story’s Sarah Yarkin have joined the follow-up. Sharma is playing a characer called Samar Ghosh, “a science enthusiast and geek who enjoys coding in his spare time,” while Yarkin is playing Dre Morgan, a fellow geek and a “tom-boy with a sleepy feline gaze who is Samar’s partner-in-crime.”

In terms of what to expect from Happy Death Day 2, star Rothe has previously talked about how the sequel will look to explain a lot of the things left open from the first picture. Similarly, she described the follow-up as “a Back to the Future type of genre film where the sequel joins us right from where we left off.”

Original direct Christopher Landon is back to helm Happy Death Day 2, with the film to start shooting later this month.

Hasbro Purchases POWER RANGERS and Several Other Saban Properties

Power Rangers

In some pretty major news, Hasbro and Saban have announced that an agreement has been made for Hasbro to purchase some of Saban’s key properties.

A deal worth approximately $522 million has been struck, with that giving Hasbro the rights to the likes of Power Rangers, My Pet Monster, Julius Jr., Popples, and Luna Petunia. The deal itself is said to be made up of cash and stock.

On the Power Rangers side of this news, Hasbro’s Brian Goldner enthused, “Power Rangers is an iconic brand built on a heritage of great storytelling and merchandising with tremendous upside potential when fully executed across Hasbro’s Brand Blueprint. Shortly after entering into our licensing arrangement, it became clear that now was the time to being investing in unlocking Power Rangers’ full potential. We see significant opportunity for Power Rangers across our entire Brand Blueprint, including toys and games, consumer products, digital gaming and entertainment, as well as geographically throughout our global retail footprint. We couldn’t be more pleased with Haim Saban will continue in a consulting role to further guide our development of this valuable property for the next generation of Power Rangers fans.”

From Saban’s side, found Haim Saban added, “25 years after launching Power Rangers, I believe the future for this brand has never been greater. Hasbro’s leadership in innovation, storytelling and brand stewardship make it the perfect company to further develop the global reach and appeal of the Power Rangers property. I look forward to working with Brian and the team in the years to come.”

What this means for the cinematic Power Rangers remains to be seen. It could mean a continuation of the 2017 film, it could mean a reboot, or it could mean absolutely nothing at all.

Raimi and Aja Team for CRAWL

Sam Raimi Alexandre Aja Crawl

In some news that’s sure to please many a genre fan, two horror behemoths are coming together for Paramount’s Crawl.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Evil Dead’s Sam Raimi and Switchblade Romance’s Alexandre Aja will be working together on the low-budget horror effort. Raimi will be producing, with Aja on directing duties.

The early word on the film has it focussing “on a young woman who, while struggling to save her father during a Category 5 hurricane, finds herself trapped inside a flooding house, fighting for her life against Florida’s most savage and feared predators.”

Expect more on Crawl as it continues to develop.

HBO Renews WESTWORLD For a Third Season

Westworld

Well isn’t this pretty rad? Yes, even thought the second season is only a matter of weeks old, HBO has moved to confirm the stunning Westworld for a third year.

On this news, HBO’s Casey Bloys enthused, “It’s been an extraordinary pleasure to work with the exceptionally talented Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, as well as their gifted cast and crew. From their inspired storytelling to the incredible visuals, we are so excited to see where the next chapter will take us.”

Of course, given how Season 2 is only a couple of episodes in, plot details for the third season won’t be known for a fair while right now. That said, expect more on all things Westworld as they show continues to progress.

Michael B. Jordan and Joe Robert Cole Teaming for FAILSAFE

Failsafe

With comic book adaptations a huge thing right now, now comes an update on the adaptation of Failsafe.

As per Deadline, Black Panther co-writer Joe Robert Cole is teaming with Michael B. Jordan – who played the nefarious Kilmonger in Black Panther – to develop a small screen take of Vault Comics’ graphic novel from F.J. Desanto and Todd Farmer. Netflix recently won the rights to the adaptation.

For those not too familiar with the source material, Failsafe focusses on John Ravane, an insurgent hunter who has had his fill of fighting the good fight. Following the kidnapping of his daughter, Ravane has to take out a whole bunch of nanotech-driven super soldiers. Having believed that he’d wiped out the last of these soldiers, we’re fast-forwarded a decade later as plentiful sleeper agents are activated with the sole purpose of taking over New York.

Cole is on writing duties for Failsafe, and Jordan will be producing alongside Alana Mayo through their Outlier Society Productions banner. At this stage, it remains to be seen whether the Creed actor will end up starring in the adaptation, with a decision on that expected to be made once the script has been completed.

As ever, expect more on all of this as it continues to develop.