With US Thanksgiving only a matter of weeks away, 20th Century Fox has served up an absolutely splendid new poster for next year’s hotly-anticipated Deadpool sequel.
As you can see, Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth is joined by a whole host of familiar faces – not to mention some nice new additions. This time out, Reynolds’ Wade Wilson is joined by Josh Brolin as Cable, Zazie Beetz as Domino, Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Stefan Kapicic as Colossus, T.J. Miller as Weasel, with roles for Hunt for the Wilderpeople‘s Julian Dennison and The Strain‘s Jack Kesy; Kesy playing the villain of the piece, believed to be the nefarious “Black” Tom Cassidy.
For a larger look at the full poster, be sure to click on the thumbnail below:
To be directed by John Wick‘s David Leitch, Deadpool 2 is currently set for a June 1st, 2018 release.
With Thor: Ragnarok now in the record books, all eyes are looking ahead at the next entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Said next entry, of course, is Ryan Coogler’s Chadwick Boseman-headlined Black Panther. And now, Marvel Studios have revealed a whopping eleven new characters posters for T’Challa’s upcoming outing.
As well as Boseman, here we get a good look at many of the film’s key players – such as Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger, Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia, Danai Gurira’s Okoye, Angela Bassett’s Ramonda and Andy Serkis’ Ulysees Klaw – ahead of the picture arriving early next year.
Be sure to check out the full selection of new posters below, and click on the respective images for full size looks.
The official synopsis for Black Panther reads:
Marvel Studios’ Black Panther follows T’Challa who, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king. But when a powerful old enemy reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king—and Black Panther—is tested when he is drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people and their way of life.
Black Panther roars to UK screens from February 12th, 2018.
Thirty years after it broadcast nine of ten planned episodes, Star Cops is coming back. Chris Boucher’s show is being updated as Big Finish imagines a big-budget second series and brings it to audio.
The original show followed Nathan Spring (David Calder) as he took over as Commander of the International Space Police Force, non-affectionately known as ‘Star Cops’. David Calder is back for these adventures, as is Trevor Cooper (who played the loyal Inspector Colin Devis) and Linda Newton (the Australian Pal Kenzy). The core cast are supplemented by actors Rakhee Thakrar (Eastenders, Big Finish Doctor Who) and Philip Olivier (Brookside, Big Finish Doctor Who).
The series will be released over two boxsets under the title Star Cops: Mother Earth. and they will be released in May and December 2018. Producer David Richardson was working at the BBC when Star Cops was made, and had this to say:
“I got to read all the scripts, and watched much of the recording in studio. I fell in love with the series and its magnificent cast – but I could never have suspected that 30 years later I would be producing brand new episodes!”
Not without its flaws, Star Cops has stuck in the mind of many fans, and this promises to be a welcome addition to the Big Finish portfolio. Full details can be found on the Big Finish website.
When it comes to video game adaptations, we’ve not exactly been overrun with classics of the silver screen over the past few decades. While efforts such as Silent Hill and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider may have been largely well-received, there’s plenty of turd-tastic adapts such as Super Mario Bros., Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Doom, Hitman, Max Payne, Prince of Persia and then the diminishing returns of the Resident Evil franchise. One upcoming adaptation that has plenty of eyes on it right now is Metal Gear Solid, and the picture has moved to bring an impressive writer into its ranks.
As per Variety, Derek Connolly has been hired to write the latest Metal Gear Solid draft for Sony Pictures. Connolly is best known for his writing work on Jurassic World and Kong: Skull Island, not to mention he’s penned the screenplay for next year’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and is one of the writers involved in 2019’s Star Wars: Episode IX.
The Metal Gear franchise began life in 1987, although it was 1998’s Metal Gear Solid that saw the property become a truly huge and iconic part of the gaming community. To date, there have been – if our calculations are correct – a total of twenty-one different Metal Gear games across various platforms. Audio tales and graphic novels have similarly followed, and a live-action movie has been loosely in development as far back as 2006.
For those unfamiliar with the Metal Gear series, the general focus of the franchise is on the totally badass Solid Snake, a retired soldier who ends up having to tackle a whole host of nefarious threats – such as terrorists, corrupt organisations, and a whole bunch of other no-good sorts.
The addition of Derek Connolly to the film will see the scribe reunited with Kong: Skull Island’s Jordan Vogt-Roberts, with Vogt-Roberts having been attached to direct Metal Gear Solid since 2014.
As ever, expect more on this as it continues to develop.
It’s been a little quiet lately where the remake of Dario Argento’s iconic Suspiria is concerned. Now, though, we’re getting word that the remake definitely, definitely, definitely isn’t a remake. That’s the latest from director Luca Guadagnino, at least.
Speaking to Criterion, Guadagnino explained, “I have three months until I finish it. It’s a very special film, and I’m proud of it. I wonder all the time how people will react to it, being that it is based on a masterpiece. I often find myself in the position of saying, ‘Oh, it’s ridiculous!’ when I hear stories that they want to remake a movie like 8 1/2, so I don’t know if I’m going to be served the same dish. But I can say that my Suspiria is a very personal film; it’s like oxygen to me. When I saw the original movie thirty-two years ago, the emotion I felt was so strong, so mind-blowing, and so important to my upbringing. I wanted to investigate the experience I had watching that film.”
As he explained to Allocine, “It’s inspired by the same story, but it goes in different directions, it explores other reasons. It’s semantics, of course, but I think people really have to understand that this is not a remake, because the word ‘remake’ gives the impression that we want to erase the original, and the opposite is what we tried to do.”
For those unfamiliar with this all-time classic, the synopsis for Suspiria reads:
A young American ballet dancer travels to a prestigious dance academy in Europe, only to discover it is something far more sinister and supernatural. She becomes increasingly terrified after a series of gruesome murders ensue and she slowly unravels the dark history of the academy.
This new take on Suspiria has a cast headed up by Dakota Johnson, Chloe Grace-Moretz and Tilda Swinton, with original star Jessica Harper also involved. Elsewhere, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has proved the score for the film.
At this stage, Suspiria has yet to be booked in for a set release date, but expect more on all of this as we get it.
Right now, Stranger Things is one of the hottest things going in the world of genre. As such, those involved with the fan favourite Netflix series have seen their respective stocks soaring, including executive producer and director Shawn Levy. And now, we’re starting to get word on Levy’s next project.
As per Variety, the Night at the Museum, Real Steal and The Pink Panther director is in talks to tackle 20th Century Fox’s Crater. Already being pegged as a sci-fi spin on Stand By Me, it sounds as if Levy would be a perfect fit given his work on Stranger Things and even Real Steal.
The current early synopsis for Crater reads:
After the death of his father, a boy growing up on a lunar mining colony takes a trip to explore a mysterious crater, along with his four best friends, prior to being permanently relocated to another planet.
As ever, expect more all all things Crater as it continues to develop.
Oh dear. While the official word is that Universal’s shared Dark Universe is still happening, the shared cinematic realm of monsters has now had another setback.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, the creative minds behind the whole shared universe – Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan – have departed the project. This comes hot on the heels of Universal now not having any further films booked in for solid release dates. If you remember back, of course, only last month saw pre-production indefinitely halted on Bill Condon’s Bride of Frankenstein while the script for that movie is given a bit of a reworking. Similarly, Bride‘s February 2019 release date was scrapped.
For the Dark Universe, the plan was to use Kurtzman’s Sofia Boutella and Tom Cruise-headlined The Mummy to launch a shared universe of monster movies that would see Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Johnny Depp as the Invisible Man, Javier Bardem as Frankenstein’s famed monster and rumours of Dwayne Johnson as the Wolfman, Scarlett Johansson as the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Angelina Jolie as the aforementioned Bride of Frankenstein – all in addition to plans to dish out further films focussing on Dracula, the Phantom of the Opera, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The point being, Universal had high hopes for this shared realm and had some huge names signed up or in mind.
Unfortunately for the studio, The Mummy completely bombed at the ever-important North American box office, bringing in just $80 million in that market on its way to a global box office return of just over $400 million. To put that in to perspective, including advertising, The Mummy cost Universal just shy of $350 million.
However this plays out, Universal still always have the option of producing individual standalone pictures for some of these famed characters, with it being possible to do such films without them all having to be linked together. Then again, the studio may have someone else in mind to replace Kurtzman and Morgan in overseeing the creative side of the greater Dark Universe.
As ever, expect more on all of this as and when it continues to develop.
Well, this is nice isn’t it? Our shiny new website, we mean. Pretty rad, right? You’re damn right it is. And this right here, well this is, we guess, the first ‘new’ news story to adorn our swanky new home. As the title suggests, it is indeed a story revolving around The Rock’s Black Adam.
Of course, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been long, long, long signed on to play Black Adam in the DC Extended Universe, with him confirmed to be getting his own solo movie instead of the previous plan of him being the ‘big bad’ of David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! And now, it’s being reported that Johnson’s villainous all-powerful Teth-Adam could well be introduced in Suicide Squad 2.
As per The Wrap, one element of the Gavin O’Connor-penned Suicide Squad sequel may see the film’s titular Task Force X team on the hunt for a weapon on mass destruction. That weapon? You guessed it – it’s Black Adam!
Where things currently stand with Suicide Squad 2, the plan is for the follow-up to start shooting in October 2018. For O’Connor, as well as writing the screenplay, he’s also the current favourite to fill the director’s chair. On the Black Adam front, it’s believed that his role in Suicide Squad 2 wouldn’t be a major one, and instead would be a small side quest of sorts for the rag-tag team of misfits to embark on.
As ever, we’ll bring you more on Suicide Squad 2 as it continues to develop.
After the disappointing box-office and fan reaction to 2016’s Blair Witch, many assumed that would be the end of the franchise for the foreseeable future.
Speaking on the latest episode of film podcast, Diminishing Returns [hyperlink: www.dimreturns.com], Eduardo Sanchez (co-director of 1999’s The Blair Witch Project), revealed that he and the original creative team are developing a TV series follow up.
In the interview, Sanchez points out that he and the rest of the film’s creative team no longer own the rights to the property, so any decisions will ultimately be up to Lionsgate, but he sees it as a viable future for the series.
“For us, it’s a very natural thing to go and say ‘Hey, let’s do a frickin’ Blair Witch show and you can say it’s from the original creators and we can bring in a whole bunch of interesting directors to direct episodes’.”
Pressed whether it might take the form of an anthology series mixing prequel content with found-footage, Sanchez responded:
“Well, you know, I can’t really discuss. I think that the idea of a Blair Witch anthology has always been very – just a really interesting thing. You’re close. You’re in the ballpark. The more you think about it, you’re like ‘That might be the perfect [continuation]… a TV show’. So, we’ll see what happens, but I think that’s the next big thing for Blair Witch. Probably TV.”
You can listen to the full interview, which covers everything from the production of the original film to 2016’s Blair Witch’s similarities to The Force Awakens here .
Fans of Italian horror will be in their element as Demon Music Group release a spectacular double album of classic Italian gore soundtracks.
Vault of Horror: The Italian Connection collects some of the most spectacular pieces of music from some of the most famous films from the sixties to the mid-eighties. Tracks from films by the likes of Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Antonio Margheriti, Umberto Lenzi, Joe D’Amato, and Enzo G. Castellari are included in the set. Composers such as Ennio Morricone, Fabio Frizzi, and Stelvio Cipriani are represented and it’s a stunning mix selection of music.
Not only does the album sound great, it looks amazing, too. From the exclusive sleeve painted by the amazing Graham Humphreys (known for his work for the video art of many great films in the eighties such as The Evil Dead and A Nightmare on Elm Street and recent releases from Arrow Video) to the notes on each track by FrightFest’s Alan Jones, an authority on the Italian horror genre. Not only that, but the double vinyl album comes complete with a CD copy (in a replica card wallet) and a 12”x12” art print of the amazing artwork.
Vault of Horror: The Italian Connection will be released on December 8th. For more information, head over to Facebook. You can pre-order your copy now.
The full tracklist is:
DISC 1 SIDE A
Carlo Rustichelli – ‘Atelier (totoli)’ from ‘Blood And Black Lace ‘(‘Sei Donne Per L’Assassioni)’
Franco Micalizzi – ‘Seq 1’ from
‘The Last Hunter’ ‘(L’Ultimo Cacciatore)’
Nico Fidenco – ‘Seq 6’ from ‘Porno Holocaust’
Roberto Donati – ‘Main Theme’ from ‘Eaten Alive’ ‘(Mangiati Vivi!)’
Francesco De Masi – ‘New York One More Day’ from ‘The New York Ripper’ ‘(Lo Squatatore Di New York)’
DISC 1 SIDE B
Franco Micalizzi feat. Warren Wilson – ‘Bargain With The Devil’ from ‘Beyond The Door’ ‘(Chi Sei)’
Stelvio Cipriani – ‘Small Town Pleasures’ from ‘Tentacles’ ‘(Tentacoli)’
Roberto Donati – ‘NYC Main Title’ from ‘Cannibal Ferox’
A. Blonksteiner – ‘Apocalypse’ from ‘Cannibal Apocalypse’ ‘(Apocalypse Domani)’
Carlo Maria Cordio – ‘Absurd’ from ‘Absurd’ ‘(Rosso Sangue)’
