Andrew Lee Potts Added to STARBURST Media City Festival Bill

potts

We’re pleased to announce that Andrew Lee Potts will be attending the STARBURST Media City Festival in March. An ever-popular convention guest, Andrew will be discussing his web series Wireless, in which he not only stars but direct, edits, and co-writes!

After the success of Primeval, where his character Connor Temple became a firm fan favourite, Andrew went on to play Hatter in the US TV adaptation of Alice in 1999 alongside an all-star cast, as well as appearances in the comedy Ideal, Dracula (the TV series), and a major role in the first series of Stan Lee’s Lucky Man.

Wireless has become a popular web series with fans all over the world. Andrew will be on hand to reveal behind-the scenes-secrets of what goes into making it and perhaps even teasing what’s to come.

We’re delighted to be welcoming Andrew to the festival, which takes place at The Landing at MediaCityUK in Salford, Manchester on March 16th and 17th.

The last batch of free tickets has just been released but these are expected to be gone very soon. Please add yourself to the waiting list if they have.

Check the website for more information about the STARBURST Media City Festival and to see the line-up of fantastic films. Watch this space for more independent film announcements too!

Note: all guests appear subject to work commitments. Guests may charge for autographs/photographs at their discretion.

the landing at mediacityuk

Fourth PURGE Movie Now Titled THE FIRST PURGE

The First Purge

We’ve known for a little while now that a fourth Purge movie was in development – franchise creator James DeMonaco confirming that to us as far back as December 2016 – and now comes an update on what this next entry in the series will be titled.

With a July 4th, 2018 release long announced, the film was initially dubbed The Purge: The Island. That title’s now been changed, though, with the picture now simply known as The First Purge.

The early word on the film reads:

To push the crime rate below one percent for the rest of the year, the New Founding Fathers of America (NFAA) test a sociological theory that vents aggression for one night in one isolated community. But when the violence of oppressors meets the rage of the marginalised, the contagion will explode from the trial-city borders and spread across the nation.

2016’s The Purge: Election Year was actually the most successful outing for the series so far, hence why there was demand for a fourth movie in this fan favourite franchise.

For this fourth entry, this will be the first film in the series that won’t have DeMonaco in the director’s chair. He has, however, written the picture and will serve as a producer alongside Jason Blum, Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form. In terms of cast, Y’Lan Noel, Lex Scott Davis, Jovian Wilde, Luna Lauren Velez and Marisa Tomei are on board to face the threat of the very first Purge Night. Gerard McMurray is on directing duties this time out.

METROPOLIS Show in Development

Metropolis Lois Lane Lex Luthor

With Warners Brothers getting set to launch their DC digital service later this year, yet another new show has been announced for this project.

As announced by Warner Bros. Television and DC Entertainment, a live-action series dubbed Metropolis is now in development. The early word on the show reads:

Set in the wondrous and awe-inspiring City of Tomorrow before the arrival of Superman, Metropolis follows Lois Lane and Lex Luthor as they investigate the world of fringe science and expose the city’s dark and bizarre secrets.

While the aforementioned digital service will indeed launch later this year, Metropolis is not expected to premiere until 2019. Production will commence before 2018 is out, with a thirteen-episode run confirmed for the first season.

Gotham’s John Stephens and Danny Cannon are to service as executive producers on Metropolis, with Cannon also directing the first episode.

Metropolis is the fourth announced show for the DC digital service, with the live-action Titans and animated Young Justice: Outsiders and Harley Quinn series also currently in development.

As ever, expect more on all of these new shows as they continue to develop.

DETECTIVE PIKACHU Brings in Bill Nighy and Chris Geere

Bill Nighy Chris Geere

As the upcoming Detective Pikachu continues to flesh out its cast, the film has now moved to bring in Bill Nighy and Chris Geere.

Legendary has announced the news, confirming that the duo will play a father and son tandem. Nighy, of course, has a laundry list of credits to his name, with him currently working on Fergle Gibson’s Payne & Redemption. As for Geere, he’s likely best known for the likes of You’re the Worst and Modern Family.

Already on board for Detective Pikachu are Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Ken Watanabe, and then Ryan Reynolds as the voice of the titular character. Goosebumps’ Rob Letterman is on directing duties, with him having penned the screenplay alongside Nicole Perlman.

Sam Raimi in Talks to Direct THE KINGKILLER CHRONICLE

The Kingkiller Chronicle

With Showtime currently developing a TV series based around Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicle, now comes word on a big-screen adaptation for the property.

As per Variety, Sam Raimi is currently in talks with Lionsgate to direct a cinematic effort based on The Kingkiller Chronicle. In addition to Raimi possibly helming the effort, Lin-Manual Miranda is already on board as executive producer and to provide the musical score for both the movie and TV show.

To clarify, The Kingkiller Chronicle is planned as an all-encompassing franchise from Lionsgate, with a TV series, feature film, and interactive games all being developed in a way that will see them loosely tie together. The movie will be based around the first book in this magical fantasy trilogy, The Name of the Wind. Dungeons & Dragons’ Lindsey Beer is working on the script for that picture at present. Then there’s Robert Lawrence, who has been involved with all of these plans since their inception and will serve as a producer on both the film and TV series. Similarly, the aforementioned Miranda and Rothfuss will also be involved in both the big-screen and small-screen action to help develop story arcs and characters. Where that TV show is concerned, as alluded to, Showtime have picked up the series, with The Player’s John Rogers serving as showrunner.

So far, The Kingkiller Chronicle has been made up of two books in a planned trilogy; The Name of the Wind released in 2007, The Wise Man’s Fear released in 2011. Author Patrick Rothfuss has plans for a third and final book in the series, although a release date has yet to be announced.

Where this extensive, bold upcoming spin on the property is concerned, the early word on all of this reads:

Set in the world of the wildly popular fantasy series by Patrick Rothfuss, The Kingkiller Chronicle will follow a pair of wandering performers on their adventures through the unique and startling world of Temerant, immersing audiences in a universe of unexpected heroes, mystical places, and terrifying dark forces. It is a world that has delighted readers and critics alike, selling more than 10 million copies in 35 languages across the globe. The television adaption is a subversive origin story of legendary proportions set a generation before the events of the trilogy’s first novel, The Name of the Wind.

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

WWII-Set OVERLORD to be Fourth CLOVERFIELD Movie

Cloverfield

The Cloverfield world wouldn’t be the Cloverfield world if it wasn’t often shrouded in mystery. And now, we’ve got confirmation that, as previously speculated, Overlord is indeed going to be part of the greater Cloverfield realm.

/Film revealed the news, going on to add that filming is now completed on the World War II-set effort. This would mark the fourth entry in the Cloverfield universe, following Cloverfield, 10 Cloverfield Lane and the upcoming God Particle.

On the topic of God Particle, the Daniel Bruhl and Elizabeth Debicki-starrer is reportedly close to being acquired by Netflix. There’s also rumours that the film could be retitled as Cloverfield Station and may even have its first trailer air at this Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Back to Overlord, the Julius Avery-helmed picture stars Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Jacob Anderson and Iain de Caestecker, with the synopsis for the film reading:

On the eve of D-Day, a group of American paratroopers are dropped behind enemy lines to carry out a mission crucial to the invasion’s success, but as they approach their target, they being to realise there is more going on in this Nazi-occupied village than a simple military operation. They find themselves fighting against supernatural forces, part of a Nazi experiment.

At present, Overlord is booked in for an October 26th, 2018 release through Paramount.

BIRTHRIGHT Movie in Development

Birthright

With comic book adaptations all the rage right now, yet another property is getting adapted for the big screen.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan’s Birthright has had its rights picked up by Universal Pictures. Moving quickly, Despicable Me’s Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul are working on the screenplay.

Image Comics and Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment began to put out the Birthright title in 2014, and this upcoming movie is being developed as part of Skybound’s first-look deal with Universal. Kirkman will serve as producer along with Bryan Furst, Sean Furst and Jeb Brody.

The official blurb on Birthright reads:

Birthright begins like a traditional tense drama as the Rhodes family finds themselves looking for their youngest son Mikey who has gone missing. After a year of searching with nothing to show for it, a fully grown and Conan-like man appears claiming to be their son. Mikey reveals in the year he was away that he was in a fantastical land called Terranos and that he’s only been able to return home now that he has defeated the tyrannical God-King Lore in the other world. But things are not as they seem as more things from Terranos begin to make their way into the real world bringing magic and destruction.

On this news, co-creator Williamson enthused, “Birthright is a giant fantasy epic but at its core it’s a story about family, and I’m really excited that a creative team who values those same storytelling elements will be developing Birthright. Andrei and I have put so much of ourselves into developing the Birthright comic and we know that Cinco, Ken and the entire Skybound team will do the same as they adapt it for the big screen.”

Expect more on this as we get it.

HAPPY! Renewed for a Second Season

Happy!

While we’re sadly still waiting for the show to find a UK home, Syfy has moved to confirm Happy! for a second season.

The series has one a whole lot of fans in the US, with Christopher Meloni and Patton Oswalt heading up the small-screen take on Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s graphic novel. Meloni plays Nick Sax, a heavy-drinking, corrupt former cop who’s now making ends meet as a hitman. When one of his hits goes wrong, he’s visited by an imaginary blue winged horse with a ridiculously positive attitude. That horse? Why, he’d be the Oswalt-voiced Happy.

On this news of a second season, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment’s Chris McCumber enthised, “Happy! struck a chord with our Syfy audience and disrupted the TV landscape with its unique storytelling and outrageous performances led by Christopher Meloni. If people thought this season was crazy – I can’t wait for fans to see what Grant Morrison, Brian Taylor and the entire cast have in store for Sax and Happy!”

As it happens, the first season’s season finale airs tomorrow in the US. Here’s hoping the show finds a UK home sooner rather than later, for this is one that many genre fans are desperate to check out.

Plans Still in Place for a DON’T BREATHE Sequel

Don't Breathe

In the land of the dark, blind man is king…

One of the greatest thrillers of recent years is easily Fede Alvarez’s Don’t Breathe. It was already explained last year that a sequel to that 2015 effort was being planned, and now star Stephen Lang has reiterated those plans.

Speaking to Screen Rant about whether there were still plans for a follow-up, Lang kept it brief and to the point. As he put it, “Oh yeah, we’re doing a sequel.”

Given how the film took home an impressive $150 million from a $10 budget, it seemed like a no-brainer to develop a second Don’t Breathe movie. In fact, producer Sam Raimi has already said how the current plan for the sequel is “the greatest idea for a sequel I’ve ever heard.”

That first movie saw three young thieves breaking into the house of a blind war veteran who is known to have quite the stash of cash hidden in his abode. While the trio see him as an easy target, Stephen Lang’s vet isn’t quite the sitting duck they had anticipated, and it soon becomes an out-and-out battle for survival with twists and turns aplenty.

While we don’t know any specifics on what to expect from a sequel or when to expect it, we’ll bring you more on any further Don’t Breathe offerings as and when we get it.

Dileep Rao Returning for AVATAR Sequels

Dr Max Patel Avatar

With James Cameron currently working away on his four Avatar sequels, another familiar face has been confirmed to be returning to the franchise.

As per Deadline, Dileep Rao will be reprising his Dr Max Patel role in the Avatar follow-ups. In addition to Avatar, Rao is also known to genre fans for the likes of Inception, Drag Me to Hell and Mr. Robot.

Already confirmed to return for the Avatar sequels are Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, Matt Gerald and Sigourney Weaver. In terms of new additions, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis and Oona Chaplin are on board to venture to Pandora and beyond.

Shooting on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 started back in September, with the plan being to film those to back-to-back before having a brief break and then filming Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 back-to-back.

At present, Avatar 2 is set for December 2020, Avatar 3 for December 2021, Avatar 4 for December 2024, and Avatar for December 2025. To this day, Avatar remains the highest-grossing film of all time, bringing in a huge box office of $2.7 billion. Whether there’s a demand for four sequels, though, we’ll have to wait and see.