Check Out The Final Trailer For THE BUILDOUT

the buildout final trailer still

A new and final trailer for The Buildout promises a beautiful, genre-bending adventure through the desert ahead of the film’s February 25th VOD release.

The Buildout is written and directed by Zeshaan Younus and stars Jenna Kanell (Terrifier, Renfield), Hannah Alline (Mayfair Witches), Natasha Halevi, Michael Sung Ho, and Danielle Evon Ploeger.

In the film, “Something is happening in the desert. The epicenter is a strange tent, humming with an imbued esoteric energy. What is found within its walls is incomprehensible. We first meet Dylan and Cameron as they barrel deeper into the desert. One knows exactly where they’re going, the other one is doing their best to be a good friend. On a road trip fueled by junk food and documented by a handheld camera, the women traverse a landscape that feels more like Mars than Earth – the California Desert. This is their last chance to get back – back to what they used to be. Today, they are but mere fragments of their former selves; weighed down by the looming presence of a shared tragedy.  

“A story of rebirth, recovery, closure, and accountability propelled forward by an esoteric conduit. This women-led narrative follows the tectonic shift of a friendship over one fateful day. In the face of the unexplained, they lean into their truest selves and come face-to-face with an unnerving discovery.”

Check out the trailer below:

THE NOWHERE GAME Horror To Star Kiernan Shipka, Mckenna Grace

kiernan shipka to star in the nowhere game. still from totally killer

Directors David Charbonier and Justin Douglas Powell (The Boy Behind the Door, The Djinn) have announced their next film, a survival horror project titled The Nowhere Game. Kiernan Shipka, best known for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and the time-travel slasher Totally Killer, will star opposite Ghostbusters’ Mckenna Grace. Alan Pototsky wrote the screenplay.

“The film follows Carin (Grace) and Allie (Shipka), whose road trip takes a harrowing turn when the two young women are kidnapped by a cold-blooded sadist and thrust into a brutal game of survival. With a short head start, Carin and Allie will be set loose in the forest with limited supplies while being hunted in front of an online audience watching in grim fascination. With no sign of civilization and no way to call for help, the women rely on their wits and each other to evade capture.

“Navigating the hostile wilderness, they discover eerie clues left behind by previous contestants, painting a grim picture of the stakes they face. As the hunter closes in, realization dawns on them: surviving isn’t just improbable — it’s nearly impossible. Carin and Allie must shed their fear and transform from prey to predator to bring this twisted game to its final, bloody conclusion.”

Stay tuned for more info on The Nowhere Game as we hear it.

Another PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Film Is In The Works

the phantom of the opera poster

The classic Gaston Leroux novel The Phantom of the Opera has been adapted countless times over the years, but it appears another film version is on the way, this time from France.

Alexandre Castagnetti, known for Stand by Love, Tamara and A New Girl In Paris, is directing the adaptation said to be “aimed at a young adult audience and taking its cue from the Twilight franchise“, whatever that means. He co-wrote the screenplay with Coco Before Chanel writer Camille Fontaine.

Deva Cassel of The Leopard, Julien De Saint Jean from last year’s The Count of Monte Cristo, and Heartbreaker‘s Romain Duris are attached to star.

Cassel will star as 18-year-old Anastasia, who is newly arrived in Paris and isfull of hopes and dreams as she takes up a position as a ballet dancer at the opera house. Ambitious artistic director, James Figueras (Duris), is reviving Orpheus, the mythic opera by Ernest Dupré, inspired by the Greek mythological figure of Orpheus and his journey into the underworld in search of his dead wife Euridice. One night, Anastasia meets the opera house’s mythical phantom (Saint Jean) and they embark on an impossible love story. Meanwhile the prima ballerina, meant for the role of Euridice, barely escapes death and Anastasia lands the star role.

Filming is due to begin this summer at the Palais Garnier opera house. This Phantom of the Opera is being described as a modern re-reading that will feature fantasy, period, and thriller elements.

Rihanna Is In Her Blue Era For SMURFS Trailer

rihanna as smurfette in smurfs trailer

We got Rihanna as a Smurfette before we got a ninth album. Director Chris Miller’s Smurfs has just dropped its first trailer, with a set release to cinemas on July 18th, 2025 from Paramount Animation. Smurfs is, of course, based on the characters and work of artist Peyo.

The film’s voice cast includes Rihanna, Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Nick Kroll, James Corden, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, Sandra Oh, Alex Winter, Billie Lourd, Xolo Mariueña, Kurt Russell and John Goodman.

Smurfs sees the blue villagers set out on a mission after Papa Smurf gets abducted by a vortex in the sky, leading the group to travel to the human world and land in Paris. From the trailer, it also seems the Smurfs are going on a whole multiverse adventure, including trips to a video game world, pencil sketch world, etc.

“The DNA in Peyo’s original drawings guide so many creative choices in the film,” Miller said at a presentation at the Annecy Animation Festival in June. “It’s the blueprint for the kind of film I want to make. All of the action lines and thought bubbles from the comics are going in the movie, and the comics have inspired the style of animation to be fun and buoyant, with plenty of squash and stretch.”

Rihanna wrote, produced, and sings new original songs for the film. Katy Perry previously played Smurfette in the 2011 film and Demi Lovato in 2017’s The Lost Village.

Watch the trailer below:

See Felicia Day’s The Guild The Musical Live!

2007 Cult smash web series The Guild has been adapted into a musical by the show’s creator, Felicia Day.  A live staged reading of this new show will be streamed online via the LA-based online comedy club Dynasty Typewriter. The stream starts on the 23rd of February, 4pm LA time (that’s midnight in the UK).

The brand new original musical is about a group of online gamers and the “challenges they face when they try to meet up in… *gulp*… REAL LIFE.” The staged reading will feature songs as well; ironically, it’s sold out in person, so the only way you’ll be able to experience this historical moment is by going online.

Staged Readings are stripped-down versions of theatre productions with no sets or costumes. This is a rare chance to see the show before it is developed into something more elaborate. The show has been produced by Buffy The Vampire Slayer alumni Felicia Day and Tom Lenk, from the book by Allison Frasca, music by Mark Schenfisch, and lyrics by Sam Balzac.

The seven-person comedy show features Felicia Day reprising her role as Codex, Phil LaMarr as Vork, Kirsten Vangsness as Clara, Anjali Bhimani as Avinashi, Rama Vallury as Zaboo, Lauren Lopez as Tink and Joey Richter as Bladezz.

The musical is designed to be its own work, so don’t worry if you’ve never heard of The Guild or any of the cast; if you’re a STARBURST reader who’s ever played an online video game, then you’ll love this.

Online tickets can be found via Dynasty Typewriter here.

Critical Role Campaign 3 Concludes

Critical Role Matt Mercer

Critical Role’s third campaign, Bells Hells, will conclude on Thursday, February 6, 2025, at 7 PM PT.  (That means it starts at 3:00 AM in the UK, though there’s a pre-show an hour before, so grab some coffee.).

The hit D&D actual play show celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, and this crew of D&D playing voice actors has spawned everything from their own animated TV series to action figures, plushies and novels. The Bells Hells campaign has seen a plucky band of heroes race against time to both defy and save the gods of Exandria, the world in which Critical Role is set.

This final episode will debut on Thursday, February 6th, 2025, at 7 PM PT, streaming on Critical Role’s membership service Beacon (Beacon.tv), as well as Critical Role’s Twitch (twitch.tv/criticalrole) and YouTube (youtube.com/criticalrole) channels. The finale will also be available after the launch date for those of us who can’t stay up that late. This final episode is also the longest ever; at over 8 hours long.

“This finale for Campaign 3 marks the end of one very epic chapter of Exandrian history,” said Marisha Ray, Creative Director, cast member and co-founder of Critical Role. “But while we celebrate the end of this chapter, I think it’s important to know that the story continues with a simple turn of the page. I’m very excited to see what happens next in this story that remains to be written by the incredible emergent storytellers who are picking up the pen.”

The following week will see the world of Exandria continue with Exandria Unlimited: Divergence. This four-part saga delves into one of Exandria’s most pivotal moments – the departure of the Prime Deities in the wake of the Calamity. Helmed by acclaimed award-winning creator, Game Master and storyteller Brennan Lee Mulligan, the series features a stellar cast including Matthew Mercer, Liam O’Brien, Jasmine Don, Alex Ward and Celia Rose Gooding.

You can find out more about all of this over on Beacon.TV

Cult Theatre Team Gigglemug Returns For 2025

Gigglemug, the theatre group behind cult musicals such as Timpsons! and RuneSical – The RuneScape Musical (which we really liked), have announced their tour plans for 2025.

The tour will consist of two of their shows: Scouts! The Musical and A Jaffa Cake Musical.  Scouts! The Musical, created in partnership with the Scouts, centres around the fictional Scout Games, whereas A Jaffa Cake Musical is inspired by the 1991 tribunal, which determined the true identity of a Jaffa Cake.

Scouts! is a woggle-tastic journey into doing your best and has been well received critically. The tour will during June 2025, to The Crescent Theatre in Birmingham, The Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, Upstairs At The Gatehouse in London, and The Egg Theatre in Bath.

A Jaffa Cake Musical will return to the Edinburgh Fringe in August, with previews in Bath before then.

You can get a taste of what they’re like by watching their production of Runesical online. Find it below.

JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH Trailer Promises Exciting Return To Roots

jonathan bailey and scarlett johansson in trailer for jurassic world rebirth

Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey face off against dinosaurs in the promising first trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth.

This action-packed new chapter sees an extraction team race to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park, inhabited by the worst of the worst that were left behind. Also starring Rupert Friend and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, the film is directed by Gareth Edwards (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) from a script by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp.

Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air within that tropical biosphere hold, in their DNA, the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.

Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure the genetic material. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on a forbidden island that had once housed an undisclosed research facility for Jurassic Park. There, in a terrain populated by dinosaurs of vastly different species, they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that has been hidden from the world for decades.

Ali is Duncan Kincaid, Zora’s most trusted team member; Bailey plays palaeontologist Dr. Henry Loomis; Rupert Friend appears as Big Pharma representative Martin Krebs and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo plays Reuben Delgado, the father of the shipwrecked civilian family. The cast also includes Luna Blaise, David Iacono and Audrina Miranda as Reuben’s family.

Jurassic World Rebirth releases in cinemas from July 2nd, 2025. Watch the trailer below:

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Drops First Teaser Trailer

still from teaser trailer for the fantastic four: first steps

The first trailer for the Fantastic Four’s highly-anticipated MCU debut, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, teases a 60s-inspired retro-futuristic world in which Marvel’s First Family must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer.

Fantastic Four stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, aka The Thing. Julia Garner is playing the Silver Surfer, British actor Ralph Ineson is the big bad villain Galactus, and Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, and Natasha Lyonne also star in as-yet undisclosed roles.

This first teaser doesn’t yet give us any glimpse of the Silver Surfer or Galactus, but we’d expect a fuller look at the film’s narrative landscape once the official trailer drops.

The film hails from WandaVision helmer Matt Shakman, directing from a script by Eric Pearson, Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. Eric Pearson penned the current draft of the script.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be released in cinemas on July 25th, 2025. Watch the teaser below, and stay tuned for the full, fofficial trailer:

Bruce Campbell Heaps Praise on FAILURE!

The iconic Bruce Campbell has come out with praise for Failure!, a one-shot film that wowed FrightFest fans in 2023.

Starring Ted Raimi, brother and frequent collaborator of The Evil Dead director Sam Raimi, the film debuted on North American digital platforms. Campbell said of the actor’s performance in the movie: “Ted Raimi is one of the few actors I would – or could – watch for 87 minutes without a break. Over the years, Ted has spun his character actor threads into leading man gold. You can’t take your eyes off of him!”

We loved the film when it screened over here, and we can’t wait to see writer/director Alex Kahuam’s next film, The Remedy. Stay tuned for more info on this one!