Johannes Roberts Keen on Helming CHRISTINE Remake

Christine

One of the most promising horror directors of the past few years has been Johannes Roberts, and now there’s some news on one potential new project for the Brit.

While promoting the hotly-anticipated The Strangers: Prey at Night, Roberts was asked about the work of John Carpenter. Having cited Carpenter’s beloved The Fog as a huge influence on follow-up to Bryan Bertino’s 2008 effort, Roberts has talked about how he’d like to oversee a remake of the Master of Horror’s Christine. In fact, he specifically discussed how Christine played a part in inspiring an automotive element of Prey at Night that sees the film’s trilogy of killers slowly stalking their targets from a Ford 100.

Speaking to Bloody Disgusting, Roberts enthused, “[Christine’s] possibly my favourite movie. It’s certainly one of my favourites. Visually I think it’s incredible. It was just something I really wanted to play around with but it was something when I met the truck for the first time in real life, I was like yeah, there’s something about the Ford 100. It was just a great looking car and I just thought, ‘Fuck, this is going to be an amazing character in the movie.’ There’s something creepy about empty cars with the radios playing, cars in silhouette. It just became this character in its own right. It just became really fun to play around with that.”

For those unfamiliar with Christine, the 1983 movie was based on novel of the same name from the iconic Stephen King. Following a demented sentient Plymouth Fury, the vehicle has the likes of Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, and Harry Dean Stanton in its headlights.

In a separate interview with Latino Review, Roberts went as far as to outright outline his hope of handling a Christine remake. As he told the outlet, “I go into Sony every week under the pretence of doing something else. Like, ‘Oh yeah, you got this news… so about Christine…’ I don’t know what’s happening with that. I’ll get it one day.”

While part of this is clearly a little tongue-in-cheek, the fact that Johannes Roberts has spoken to several different outlets about his love of Christine should suggest he’s maybe trying to put the idea out there a tad. In addition to this, he’s also made mention of possibly remaking Carpenter’s Chevy Chase-headlined Memoirs of an Invisible Man.

Having impressed many with the likes of F, The Other Side of the Door, and 47 Meters Down, Roberts’ The Strangers: Prey at Night is released in the US this Friday. Where UK fans are concerned, there’s actually a few select advanced screenings this week ahead of a full release for the sequel on May 4th.

Don’t Miss the Liverpool Comic Con This March

liverpool comic con

There’s not long to wait now until the first ever Liverpool Comic Con, which will bring some of Hollywood’s finest to the waterfront Exhibition Centre on the weekend of March 10th and 11th.

Among the guests confirmed for the event are Dirk Benedict, best known for the TV shows The A-Team and Battlestar Galactica (where he was the original Starbuck!), Lou Ferrigno, the Incredible Hulk himself, ‘Mini-Me’ Verne Troyer, Paul McGann (Saturday only) – who played Doctor Who in the 1996 TV movie, as well as providing a scene-stealing performance in Withnail and I, Joonas Soutama, who has taken over the mantle of Chewbacca in the new Star Wars films, and Ian McNeice, instantly recognisable from his roles on TV and in film (and playing Winston Churchill several times in Doctor Who).

Also appearing on the Saturday is Spencer Wilding, who stepping into the shoes of Darth Vader for Rogue One as well as appearing in Guardians of the Galaxy and Game of Thrones, and on the Sunday is another Doctor Who star Sophie Aldred.

A pair set to excite wrestling fans are Gail Kim and Adam Copeland, best known by his ring name ‘Edge’, but also known for appearing in TV shows Vikings, The Flash, and Haven.

If that’s not all, there will be some fantastic props on display, including full-size replicas of Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced X1 fighter, Batman’s Batwing, and the stunning Colonial Viper from the original Battlestar Galactica.

Tickets are on sale now for the event, and you can pre-book autograph and photo tickets for the guests at the Liverpool Comic Con website.

The BBC Developing a DISCWORLD TV Series

Discworld

In some potentially brilliant news for genre fans, it looks like a small-screen adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s iconic Discworld is on the way.

As per Deadline, BBC Studios is developing a six-part series based on the legendary Discworld novels. At this stage, it’s believed that the working title for the show is The Watch. Simon Allen is overseeing the series, and he’s likely best known for giving the famed Musketeers a contemporary refresh with the BBC’s The Musketeers. In addition to the BBC handling this series, Narrativia – the Pratchett-founded production company now run by his daughter Rhianna and longtime business manager Rob Wilkins – will co-produce with the Beeb.

The Discworld series began life back in 1983, with the adventures set in a fictional flat disc world that’s balanced on the back of four elephants which are similarly placed on the back of a giant turtle. Full of fantasy tropes and plentiful humourous elements, Discworld sees dragons, monsters, trolls, and a whole bunch of other familiar staples take centre-stage as the fantasy world clashes with modern civilisation – all with lashings of satire and social commentary drenched throughout. In total, there are 41 Discworld novels and the series has sold more than 80 million books across the globe, with the works having been published in an impressive 37 different languages.

Expect more on all of this as we get it.

Questions Arise Over Danny Boyle’s BOND 25 Involvement

James Bond

It was only last month that Danny Boyle was being talked up as the clear favourite to direct the next outing for 007, but now it looks as if the Slumdog Millionaire helmer’s chances of overseeing Bond 25 are up in the air.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Boyle has agreed to team with Richard Curtis for a new to-be-titled comedy effort. This project will be Boyle’s next movie, with him directing from a script by Curtis. A musically-driven effort, the current plan is for the film to start shooting as early as this coming summer.

Where this throws a spanner in the works for Bond is that EON Productions were looking to get things rolling on that later this year ahead of the picture’s already-booked November 8th, 2019 release date. That means that EON has to decide whether they’re prepared to wait for Boyle to get finished with this new comedy before they start production on Bond 25.

Previously, reports claim that the current script in place for Bond 25 has been tailored with the belief that Danny Boyle will be directing. A new director could be put in place, but that then may mean another rewrite of the screenplay or reverting to one of the early versions put in place before Boyle was in the frame.

Expect more on this as it continues to develop.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Moved Forward; New MCU Release Dates Confirmed

Avengers: Infinity War

With Avengers: Infinity War edging ever closer, the huge ensemble piece has actually been brought forward a little for certain markets – in addition to Disney announcing release dates for a whole bunch of other Marvel Cinematic Universe efforts.

The House of Mouse has moved to now confirm Infinity War for an April 27th release in North America, with the picture already booked in for that date here in the UK. Still, territories such as Australia, France, Italy, and Sweden will get the film even earlier, with the latest outing for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes booked in for April 25th there.

Elsewhere, Disney has booked in release dates for some mystery MCU movies – May 7th, 2021; July 30th, 2021; November 5th, 2021; February 18th, 2022; May 6th, 2022; July 29th, 2022; and has brought forward another MCU film from August 7th, 2020 to July 31st, 2020.

Of course, in addition to next month’s Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp will follow this July, Captain Marvel in March 2019, a fourth Avengers picture in May 2019, the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel in July 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 at some point in 2020. Then there’s all of those other MCU movies that are planned or rumoured, such as a third Spidey film, that long-demanded Black Widow solo effort, and a whole host of potential others.

Interestingly, there’s also the prospect of 20th Century Fox’s Marvel properties. With Disney having recently agreed a deal to purchase Fox, that means that they’ve now picked up the cinematic rights for the X-Men, Deadpool, and the Fantastic Four. Given how the FF – often dubbed Marvel’s First Family – are such a key component of the Marvel comic book world, seeing them finally done justice on the silver screen is something many longtime fans have been hoping for. Could they be lined up to nab one of the release dates reserved for MCU movies? We guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Expect more on all things Marvel Cinematic Universe as we get it.

HIGHLANDER Reboot Moving Forward

Highlander

There can be only one! Or, y’know, several movies, a few TV series, some animated efforts, and then plentiful books and comics. Anyway, we now have some news on Lionsgate’s upcoming Highlander reboot.

As per Deadline, Lionsgate has decided that Colony’s Ryan Condal is the person they want to pen the screenplay for the redo, with the film to start pre-production later this year. We’ve already known that John Wick’s Chad Stahelski will be directing the effort, but things can’t fully move forward until Stahelski gets finished with the upcoming John Wick 3.

On this news, Lionsgate’s Patrick Wachsberger enthused, “We’ve finally got a screenplay we’re happy with. We have set up the story so it has sequel potential.”

And for those of you keeping an eye on all things Highlander, yes, this is indeed the same reboot of the franchise that has been spinning its wheels since way back in 2008. As alluded to by Wachsberger, the current plan is reportedly for a new trilogy of pictures should all go to plan.

For those unfamiliar with the Highlander franchise, the series began life back in 1986. Christopher Lambert played Connor MacLeod, an Immortal who – with the help of fellow Immortal Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (Sean Connery) – is on a collision course with the Kurgan, a vicious, unrelenting Immortal played by Clancy Brown. With the tagline of “There can be only one,” these Immortals are sworn to hunt each other down all in the pursuit of beheading their rivals. After that original movie, Highlander II: The Quickening followed in 1991, Highlander III: The Sorcerer in 1994, Highlander: Endgame in 2000, Highlander: The Search for Vengeance in 2007, and Highlander: The Source also in 2007. That wasn’t all, though, for 1992 saw the TV spin-off Highlander: The Series; itself spun-off as Highlander: The Raven in 1998. But that still isn’t the whole picture, for Highlander: The Animated Series premiered in 1994, which then spawned the animated movie Highlander: The Adventure Begins later that year. Books and comic books series – most notably from Dynamite Entertainment – would also be plentiful, and there would even be numerous audio tales for the MacLeod clan and their fellow Immortals.

So yeah, that’s quite the lengthy history for this genre favourite franchise.

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

Final Wave of Indie Films Announced for STARBURST MediaCity Festival

mediacity festival

The final wave of independent films has been announced for the STARBURST MediaCity Festival that takes place at The Landing at MediaCityUK, Salford, Manchester on March 16th and 17th.

Joining the already stellar line-up of feature films is the brilliant atmospheric supernatural thriller The Child Remains, directed by Michael Melski and starring Suzanne Clément (Mommy), Shelley Thompson (Labyrinth), Allan Hawco (Frontier), and Geza Kovacs (Scanners). Short films added to the line-up are The Dog Walker, a whimsical short directed by Peter Mckerinon, Toll Booth, a terrifying and eerie tale from Martin Stocks, Sam Saffold’s thoughtful and atmospheric A Welcoming Place and Scott Robson and Andrew Jaksch’s Thalamos, which is a stunning-looking sci-fi short with a retro feel and amazing effects.

For more information, head over to starburstfilmfest.co.uk. Tickets for the two-day event have sold out, but you can join the waiting list for any returns here.

Cast Returns Confirmed for Season 2 of WESTWORLD

Westworld

One of the most hotly anticipated returns of 2018 is HBO’s mesmerising Westworld – and now we have some more concrete details on just which characters will be returning when Season 2 of this genre favourite premieres next month.

Showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy revealed a little more info on the second season when speaking to EW, confirming that Ed Harris’ Man in Black and Jimmi Simpson’s William will be back to once more play a key part as the show progresses through its second year. Those two characters, of course, are actually one and the same; a twist finally revealed in the season finale.

Also returning to action for Season 2 are Shannon Woodward’s Elsie Hughes and Luke Hemsworth’s Ashley Stubbs, two characters who will now get the chance to experience Westworld as guests rather than from a managerial position looking in from the outside. Tessa Thompson’s Charlotte Hale is another who’ll be back, too, but she is another who will be under threat from the hosts. Then there’s Thandie Newton’s Maeve, who will begin the season with Simon Quaterman’s Lee Sizemore as her hostage.

Another hugely important part of the impressive ensemble of the first season was, of course, Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores. Not only will she be back, but so too will Dolores’ father Peter Abernathy, as played by Louis Herthum.

Wrapping up the returns, Angela Sarafyan will be back as Clementine Pennyfeather, while Dr Robert Ford will actually be reappearing in the second season. Anthony Hopkins’ Dr Ford was killed off by Dolores in the season finale, but a new actor will be brought in to play a younger version of Ford in some flashback sequences dotted throughout Season 2.

Season 2 of Westworld will premiere on HBO on April 22nd in the US, with the new season airing simultaneously on Sky Atlantic here in the UK – meaning the show will air at 2am on April 23rd.

Chris Hemsworth in Talks for MEN IN BLACK Spinoff

Chris Hemsworth

With Thor: Ragnarok now available on Blu-ray and DVD, not to mention with the Thunder God set to join Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in this May’s Avengers: Infinity War, now comes word on a potential new project for Chris Hemsworth.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Hemsworth is currently in talks to join the new Men in Black movie. While the MiB and Jump Street crossover is now seemingly off the table, this upcoming effort is being pegged as a spinoff of sorts from the Men in Black trilogy that we’ve seen over the years. Neither Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones will be back for this new film, and the first early plot details say that the spinoff will take place in London and be based around a new batch of characters that include “a white character, a black woman, and an older man.”

Straight Outta Compton’s F. Gary Gray is on directing duties for this new MiB picture, and Transformers: The Last Knight’s Matt Holloway and Art Marcum are working on the screenplay.

At present, the Men in Black spinoff is booked in for a June 14th, 2019 release.

Kristen Wiig in Talks for Cheetah in WONDER WOMAN 2

Kristen Wiig

We brought news earlier this week that Oscar winner Emma Stone has turned down the villainous role of Cheetah in Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman sequel, and now comes word on who else may be in the frame to play this longtime rival of the Amazon’s.

As per Deadline, Kristen Wiig is believed to be in talks to play the sequel’s ‘big bad’. Wiig is likely best known for her work on Saturday Night Live and efforts such as Whip It, Bridesmaids, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Skeleton Twins, Sausage Party and the Ghostbusters reboot.

Cheetah Wonder Woman

For those not familiar with Cheetah, the first incarnation of the character debuted back in 1943’s Wonder Woman #6. The version of the rogue who is expected to appear in Wonder Woman 2 is the Barbara Minerva one. 1987’s Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #7 was when Minerva made her bow. A British archaeologist, she is gifted the powers of a cheetah by Urzkartaga – basically, a bizarre kind of plant god. With 2011’s ill-fated New 52 refresh of the DC Comics realm, Minerva was reimagined as a contemporary of Wonder Woman’s at times. This time possessed by the Goddess of Hunt, that’s how she becomes the supervillain Cheetah. Of course, DC wasn’t happy with just one do-over, and The New 52 was scrapped in favour of DC Rebirth in 2016. In that rehashed continuity, Cheetah is again given a fresh lick of paint. A well-travelled archaeologist, her fascination with the Amazons would see her become close friends with Diana and would even help her to learn English. Urzkartaga would again come in to play, this time actually marrying Barbara – and from there, she would become Cheetah and blame Diana for this whole transformation.

In addition to Gadot obviously returning for Wonder Woman 2, the film will also features Ewen Bremner’s Charlie, Said Taghmaoiu’s Sameer, and Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor. Just how Trevor returns to action, we’ll have to wait and see. In terms of timeline, the latest news is that the sequel will take place in the 1980s and see Diana and Co. take on the Soviet Union.

At present, Wonder Woman 2 – which will again have Patty Jenkins on directing duties – is set for a November 1st, 2019 release.

Expect more on this as we get it.