A WALKING DEAD Movie Could Happen

The Walking Dead

Sadly, more and more viewers seemed to have been steering clear of The Walking Dead as its eighth season recently played out. And while the genre juggernaut is already confirmed for several more seasons, it looks as if there’s a possibility that the action could potentially be taken to the big screen at some point, too.

With Scott M. Gimple handing showrunner duties over to Angela Kang for Season 9, Gimple has been speaking about what could lie ahead for the property as a whole.

As he explained to Vulture, “Right now, I’m working on Fear [the Walking Dead]. I’m working on Walking Dead. I’m working on that new stuff, and there are all sorts of interesting possibilities that I dare not even address specifically. But the most important thing is that when we’re moving forward, whatever we do is different. That we see the world of The Walking Dead in a new way. We’re trying to achieve a variety, and to show ever pocket that we can. There are all sorts of cool things ahead.”

When pushed on whether those cool things could involve a Walking Dead movie happening at some point, Gimple said, “I mean, that kind of variety, that’s what we’re talking about. All the differences of the ways we tell the story, yeah, what we can feature and all that. There’s a whole universe of possibilities.”

This is obviously a long, long way of any sort of solid confirmation of a film definitely happening, but it at least shows that discussions have happened and that something could happen down the line. Whether that ultimately does happen, of course, we’ll have to wait and see.

It’s no secret that AMC’s The Walking Dead has been in a steady ratings decline over the past few years, and that was again highlighted by the recent finale episode of the aforementioned Season 8.

Said season finale brought in 8 million viewers in the US, which is a huge figure that marked it out as the most-watched cable show of the night. The problem is, while The Walking Dead continues to trample its opposition, there’s no getting away from the fact the show itself continues to hit new lows with its ratings. To give an example of this, the 8 million viewers marked the episode out as the lowest rated season finale since the show’s debut season (which drew 6 million viewers). The Season 8 finale also saw a 30% ratings drop when compared to Season 7’s final episode, and it’s nearly half the amount of eyes as the series’ highest-rated season finale – that being the conclusion of Season 5 in which a ridiculous 15.8 million viewers tuned in!

Expect more on all things The Walking Dead as Season 9 starts to take shape over the upcoming months.

The Nee Brothers to Direct MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Nee Brothers

For several years now, Sony Pictures has been working away on a new cinematic take on the famed Masters of the Universe property. The last concrete information we’d heard on the He-Man adventure was that David S. Goyer was in talks to direct the picture before ultimately deciding against it. That was earlier this year, but now comes some more positive news as the long-gestating effort has now filled its director’s chair. Or should that be chairs.

As per Variety, Aaron and Adam Nee have been given to the nod to direct Masters of the Universe. The sibling duo are likely best known for 2015’s Band of Robbers, and now they’ll get the chance to tackle one of the most iconic properties of so many childhoods.

For Goyer’s part, he is still involved in the project, with him still on board to write the film and serve as executive producer. As mentioned, earlier this year he was also mooted to direct the picture, but he ultimately decided against that. Previously, G.I. Joe: Retaliation’s Jon Chu was signed on to direct. He would end up departing the movie entirely, and after that we saw the infamous McG signed on for the directing gig. He would similarly leave the project, and that was when Goyer was the next in line to fill the director’s chair.

Masters of the Universe will follow the story of Adam, Prince of Eternia, who has the ability to transform into the ever-smiling uber-hero He-Man as he battles to protect his world from the nefarious threat of Skeletor. Of course, these bitter rivals have most recently been seen shilling financial products for MoneySupermarket.com…

At present, Sony has Masters of the Universe pegged for a December 18th, 2019 release.

Out Now – ISSUE 448

448 NS

STARBURST celebrates the anti-hero with previews of both SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY – the early years of everyone’s favourite scruffy-looking nerf herder – and DEADPOOL 2, which sees the Merc with a Mouth return to his foul-mouthed and bombastic best. To complement that, we also look at other loveable rogues of cinema.

We also look forward to the animated THE LITTLE VAMPIRE 3D, and interview former DOCTOR WHO PAUL MCCANN and the designer of the upcoming HELLBOY table top game from MANTIC GAMES.

There are also celebrations in order as we look back at 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY as it turns fifty and the fortieth anniversaries of seminal TV series BLAKE’S 7.

In our regular features, we take a look at TOBE HOOPER’s THE FUNHOUSE, heading to HORROR CHANNEL, and Independents Day talks to the man behind some of the most intriguing UFO documentaries.

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

 

Syfy Gives Order to the Russos’ DEADLY CLASS Adaptation

Deadly Class

With comic book adaptations everywhere we turn these days, another one is on the way as the Anthony and Joe Russo’s take on Deadly Class has been given a full series order from Syfy.

For those not aware, Deadly Class is an ‘80s-set tale from Rick Remender and Miles Orion Feldsott. The story itself revolves around a homeless teenager who ends up recruited to a swanky private school that’s reserved for the children of the planet’s top crime families.

Already confirmed to star in Deadly Class are Doctor Strange’s Benedict Wong, Teen Wolf’s Benjamin Wadsworth, X-Men: Apocalypse’s Lana Condor, The Killing’s Liam James, Shock and Awe’s Luke Tennie, Sitiados’ Maria Gabriela de Faria, and Queen of the South’s Michel Duval.

F. Gary Gray to Direct M.A.S.K.

M.A.S.K. F. Gary Gray

We’ve know for a while now that Paramount Pictures had plans for a Hasbro-driven shared cinematic universe, with release dates being set for several such pictures. And now, we have some big news on the long-awaited M.A.S.K. movie.

As per Deadline, Paramount has given the M.A.S.K. director gig to F. Gary Gray. Gray is likey best known to genre fans for the likes of Straight Outta Compton and The Fate of the Furious.

For those not familiar with M.A.S.K., this huge ‘80s favourite focussed on an advanced task force that fought the good fight against the uber-evil V.E.N.O.M. group. Sadly, the series would only run for two seasons, spanning 75 episodes. Elsewhere, plentiful comic books, video games, and, of course, toy lines would also happen.

In addition to M.A.S.K., Paramount’s shared Hasbro realm will feature live-action movies for Visionaries, a cartoon series centred on heroes and villains with holograms on their chest and staffs that represented their own particular supernatural magical powers; Micronauts, a cartoon show that gave the spotlight to subatomic-sized warriors; and ROM: SpaceKnight, a tale of a regular human who volunteers to become a robotic spaceknight who protects the planet of Galador from Dire Wraiths. These films will all shared cinematic existence alongside the existing G.I. Joe franchise, with some hefty crossovers potentially in the works a little further down the line.

Up next for F. Gary Gray is the Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson-starring Men in Black spin-off/reboot that’s booked in for next May.

Ed Skrein in Talks to Play MALEFICENT 2’s Villain

Ed Skrein

With a Maleficent sequel currently in development, the follow-up is close to bringing in its ‘big bad’.

As per Variety, Deadpool’s Ed Skrein is in final talks to play the villain of the picture, although there are no details at this stage on just who that character will be.

So far, we know that Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning will be back for the sequel, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ Joachim Rønning is on directing duties. Jez Butterworth and Linda Woolverton are currently working on the screenplay.

The current plan for Maleficent 2 is for filming to commence at some point later this year.

GREMLINS 3 to “Almost Definitely be a Reboot”

Gremlins Gizmo

For years now, we’ve constantly been hearing about a third Gremlins movie finally happening. And while Chris Columbus has regularly discussed just how close a Gremlins 3 is to making it to screens, all’s been a tad unclear as to whether this would be a straight-up sequel or potentially a rebooting of the franchise. Well now, Columbus has moved to give a little clarification on that matter.

Speaking to Metro UK, the Gremlins creator and writer of both films to date explained, “We are actively talking about [a new Gremlins movie]. So that’s what I am working on with my production company, 1942 Pictures. It will almost definitely be a reboot.”

While that does indeed offer a little bit of clarification on what to expect from this third movie should it indeed happen, the “reboot” term is one that can be applied to a completely fresh start and do-over of the series or it could just as easily be used to mean just relaunching the franchise with a third film that could still end up continuing the narrative seen in the previous two films.

So yeah, we kind of have a smidge more details but still not all that much.

The last we’d heard on Gremlins 3 was that any further film could well actually decide to kill off Gizmo. That all remains to be seen, as does whether said threequel ever gets made.

As ever, expect more on a third Gremlins movie as any significant developments are made.

Spielberg Developing BLACKHAWK Movie

Blackhawk

Having garnered quite the favourable response with his long-awaited Ready Player One adaptation, now Steven Spielberg has turned his attention to the superhero genre.

As announced by Warner Brothers, Spielberg will be overseeing a picture based around DC’s Blackhawk character. At present, the Jaws helmer is set to produce the movie, although there is a good chance that he may well be on directing duties, too.

On this news, The WB’s Toby Emmerich enthused, “We are so proud to be the studio behind Steven Spielberg’s latest hit, and are thrilled to be working with him again on this new action adventure. We can’t wait to see what new ground he will break in introducing Blackhawk to movie audiences worldwide.”

Warners will be teaming with Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment, and, as alluded to by Emmerich, that is a partnership that was in place for the big screen take on Ready Player One. On this Blackhawk project, David Koepp is currently working on the screenplay. Continuing the working partners theme, Koepp has worked with Spielberg in some form or fashion on the likes of Jurassic World, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

For those not familiar with Blackhawk, the origins of the character go as far back as 1941. Playing on the military angles of the day, the Blackhawk Squadron were a prestigious team of World War II pilots led by the mysterious Blackhawk. During those early years, the Blackhawk comic book series regularly outsold heavy hitters such as Batman and Superman. Battling all kinds of warmongers and heavy machinery, the Blackhawks have seen their fair amount of change over the subsequent decades. In more recent years, the group have been upgraded to be a covert unit who specialise in taking down tech-based criminals, with former Hawkgirl Kendra Saunders running the show as Lady Blackhawk.

Up next for Spielberg before any Blackhawk picture are the fifth outing for the Indiana Jones franchise and his take on West Side Story. After that, this Blackhawk project should begin to develop further.

Fourth xXx Movie in Development

Vin Diesel xXx

What does the world need right now? Whatever your answer to that thought-provoking teaser is, we’d put the mortgage on it now revolving around a fourth xXx movie. Well tough, for that’s what’s on the way.

The H Collective has moved to announce that they have purchase the rights to the franchise from Revolution Studios, and that plans are underway for a fourth picture to happen. Revolution will maintain the rights to the previous three instalments in the series.

On this news, The H Collective’s Nic Crawley enthused, “During my time at Paramount I was lucky to be involved in the development and distribution of xXx: Return of Xander Cage. The response from the Chinese box office was unprecedented. Bringing the next installment of the xXx franchise to The H Collective complements our diversified slate and mission to produce content for a global audience.”

While the xXx franchise is one that has often had us at Moonbase Alpha scratching our heads, there most certainly is an audience for these movies. That’s reflected in the near $1 billion combined box office haul of the three pervious films.

Early word on this next xXx effort has xXx: Return of Xander Cage’s DJ Caruso pegged to again direct, with Diesel back to star as Xander Cage. Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum will be producing alongside Diesel’s One Race Films production banner and The H Collective.

The current plan is for this latest adventure to start production this December.

STRANGER THINGS Adds Cary Elwes and Jake Busey

Cary Elwes Jake Busey Stranger Things

One of the greatest TV shows to come along in many a year is the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things. With the series’ second year now in the bag, some big name additions have been revealed for the already-confirmed third season.

Joining the action for Season 3 are Cary Elwes and Jake Busey, with both been more than familiar to genre fans. Elwes famously starred in The Princess Bride, Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Saw, while Busy is likely best known for efforts such as Starship Troopers, The Frighteners and the From Dusk ‘til Dawn TV series. In Stranger Things, Elwes will playing the role of Major Cline and Busey will be playing somebody called Bruce.

In other new additions, Maya Thurman-Hawke has previously been confirmed to be joining the show as an alternative sort who’s fed up on her mundane day job, while Priah Ferguson’s Erica has been bumped up to a series regular for the third year.

Expect more on the third season of Stranger Things as it continues to develop.