Taron Egerton Joins Thriller Film APEX

taron egerton in black bird apple tv+ series

Taron Egerton is joining Charlize Theron in Apex, the Netflix thriller feature from Baltasar Kormákur.

Details are sparse, but the script reportedly centres on a rock climber and adrenaline junkie, played by Theron, who finds out that nature isn’t the only dangerous element out to get her when she sets out on an expedition in the wild. Egerton will play a psychopath stalking her through the woods.

The script hails from Jeremy Robbins. Kormákur is established as a survival thriller filmmaker, having previously helmed Everest, a star-studded survival adventure about mountain climbers caught in a storm; Adrift, about a couple who face one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history; and Beast, about a father and his two daughters being hunted by a rogue lion.

Taron Egerton broke out with Matthew Vaughn’s actioner franchise The Kingsman, starring in both The Secret Service and The Golden Circle. He also earned global acclaim for his portrayal of Sir Elton John in Rocketman, a role which won him a Golden Globe award for best actor in a musical or comedy. The actor recently finished production on the Apple TV+ arsonist series Firebug, which he stars in and produces. Egerton will next be seen opposite Jason Bateman in the Netflix thriller Carry On.

Lupita Nyong’o Joins Christopher Nolan Film

lupita nyong'o in a quiet place: day one

Lupita Nyong’o is the latest star to join Christopher Nolan’s top-secret film project. She joins an already stacked call sheet that includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Zendaya.

Nolan writes and directs the project for Universal Pictures, which is due to release the feature on July 17th, 2026. Nolan earned his first Academy Award for Oppenheimer last year, which was his first project with Universal after having remained loyal to Warner Bros. since 2002. Nolan moved to Universal after Warner temporarily abandoned exclusive theatrical distribution.

Nolan is keeping so tight-lipped about the project that sources can’t even agree on the genre – some have suggested it would be a period vampire thriller, others a helicopter actioner. The filmmaker is producing alongside his wife and partner, Emma Thomas, for their Syncopy banner. Filming is expected to begin in the first half of 2025.

Lupita Nyong’o is having a good year. She was recently seen in the alien invasion thriller A Quiet Place: Day One, and lent her voice to the protagonist of the animated film The Wild Robot. Her upcoming projects include sports drama Strawweight opposite Chloë Grace Moretz and the comedy-drama Lunik Heist, opposite John Mulaney and Jared Leto.

GAME OF THRONES Feature Film Being Developed At Warner Bros

game of thrones feature film in the works

Westeros could end up on the big screen with news that a Game of Thrones feature film is being developed by Warner Bros.

The project is still in its early stages, with no filmmaker, cast or writer yet attached.

This isn’t the first time the franchise has flirted with a cinematic release. The showrunners of the original Game of Thrones series, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, famously wanted to finish the series with a feature film trilogy instead of its divisive season 8. Author George R.R. Martin was reportedly also supportive of the idea. At the time, however, HBO resisted the idea in order to retain the prestige series as an HBO property.

HBO’s attitudes have shifted since then, with several properties hopping from the big screen to the small screen and vice versa. Matt Reeves’ The Batman, for instance, moved to HBO with the spinoff series The Penguin, and Max will be getting Dune: Prophecy as a spinoff from Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films. HBO is also preparing a television adaptation of the Harry Potter novels. By those standards, it’s unsurprising that HBO would now be more accepting of Game of Thrones making a move.

The project is, however, still in early development, so nothing is set in stone. Stay tuned for updates.

STAR WARS Trilogy Taps Simon Kinberg To Write

star wars new trilogy to be written by simon kinberg

Simon Kinberg is heading into a galaxy far, far away, having signed an expansive deal to both write and produce a new Star Wars feature trilogy for Lucasfilm.

Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy will also produce the trilogy. The new story is not intended as a continuation of the Skywalker Saga, state sources, referring to the overall arc of Star Wars Episodes 1 through 9. This trilogy would bring in new characters and a wholly new story, though some characters from previous features may well pop up.

This marks Kinberg’s return to the space opera franchise after co-creating the animated series Star Wars: Rebels with Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck. The Emmy-nominated series’ four-season run ended in 2018. He also worked as a consultant on 2015’s The Force Awakens.

Simon Kinberg is one of the most high-profile writer-producers currently working: as well as helping Paramount to develop their upcoming Star Trek franchise entries, he is also about to go into production on Edgar Wright’s remake of the Stephen King tale The Running Man, also for Paramount.

The next Star Wars project to make it to screens will be the television series Skeleton Crew, which will debut on Disney+ on December 3rd.

Check Out an Exclusive Clip from THE LAST VIDEO STORE!

A love letter to video rental stores and the B-movie treasures that lined their walls, Cody Kennedy and Tim Rutherford’s debut feature, The Last Video Store, is available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video on December 9th and we have an exclusive clip to share with you!

Synopsis: When her estranged father passes, twenty-something Nyla is tasked with the thing she hates the most – cleaning up his mess. Left behind are a collection of VHS tapes, and with them, the burden of returning them to ‘Blaster Video’ a time capsule to an era in which cover art and a catchy movie title were king, run by Kevin, a human encyclopaedia of VHS history and a friend of her father. Amongst the returns is an unknown tape, a movie not even Kevin has heard of. Was this the last movie Nyla’s father watched before he died? The mystery is too much to resist. But when Kevin and Nyla press play, they unwittingly activate a long-dormant curse and a series of classic cinematic villains are plucked from B-movie heaven and hell to be unleashed into the store itself!

With style, charm, and note-perfect performances, The Last Video Store is a must for physical media fans. It is an elegy to the cinephilic havens of movie wisdom that could once be found on every corner and the heroes like Kevin who staffed them.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation

• Original DTS HD M5.1 audio

• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

• New audio commentary by film critics Matt Donato & Meagan Navarro

• The Videonomicon Unleashed, a new visual essay by film critic Heather Wixson co-author of In Search of Darkness

• Nostalgia Fuel, a new visual essay by film critic Martyn Pedlar

• ’Twas the Night of the Tree Beast, a 2012 short by Cody Kennedy & Tim Rutherford

• M is For Magnetic Tape, a 2013 short film Cody Kennedy & Tim Rutherford

• The Last Video Store 2013, the original short from which the feature grew

• The Video Store Commercial, a 2019 short film by Cody Kennedy & Tim Rutherford

• Clips from the first attempted feature version

• Behind the Scenes

• 3 previs shorts

• Trailer

• Image Gallery

• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by film critics Anton Bitel and Alexandra West

• Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by John Pearson

• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by John Pearson

THE LAST VIDEO STORE is released on December 9th and can be pre-ordered here: https://www.arrowfilms.com/blu-ray/the-last-video-store-limited-edition-blu-ray/15639489.html

Retro Indie Horror FRIGHT Hits Prime

Having debuted at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest, filmmaker Dudley Warren’s Fright is now available to stream on Prime in the UK and the US.

Synopsis: 1937: Young Emily (Gwyneth Evans) is trapped in a nightmare, chronic agoraphobia and a strange, domineering mother (Jill Priest) have turned their sprawling gothic mansion into a prison. On the brink of madness, Emily is haunted by lurking malevolent forces, her only hope, the desperate belief her missing father (Daniel Tuite) could save her from this living hell. But as she longs for his return Emily is tormented by visions of a sinister, gnarled black hand—a spectre haunting her earliest memories.

Warren, who made his name in 2012 adapting Dave Roberts’ football memoir The Bromley Boys, is noted as being a strong advocate for independent filmmaking, and Fright, through his production company Sixty6Films, continues his philosophy of creating commercially viable, high-end looking genre feature films on very small budgets. His prolific output includes found-footage horror THE Cutting Room (2015), claustrophobic thriller Cage (2016), Seaside Town (2018), a 6-part football comedy and Six Year’s Gone (2022), which received numerous awards including the London Independent Film Festival’s Audience Award. Warren is also a noted author.

Stream Fright on Prime now.

Trieste Science+Fiction Festival Winners Announced

Over the past week, the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival has taken place, where upwards of 20,000 people enjoyed an array of movies, shorts, presentations, and more. The event’s culmination was a ceremony in which several prestigious awards were presented. The winners were…

Asteroid Award

The Asteroid Award elects the best science fiction, horror, and fantasy film by emerging directors (first, second or third works) in the Neon section of the festival. The international jury was composed of Allison Gardner, Justin Lockey, and João Monteiro.

The winner was U Are the Universe directed by Pavlo Ostrikov (Ukraine, 2024). Synopsis: written and shot during the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, a true marvel and a far-sighted note on how important it is to have contact with a person who understands us during the darkest times. In the near future, space trucker Andriy Melnyk transports nuclear junk on a cargo ship bound for Saturn’s abandoned moon, Callisto. While in orbit, the Earth suddenly explodes and Andriy becomes the only living human. Until he receives a message from Catherine, a French meteorologist on a distant space station. Despite the odds, Andriy sets out to find her.

Méliès d’argent Award – Feature Films

The competition is organised in collaboration with the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF) and is reserved for fantasy feature films of European production. The jury was Jeremy Dyson, Luna Gualano, and Cristian Solimeno.

The winner was After Us, The Flood directed by Arto Halonen (Finland, 2024). Synopsis: in 2064, the world is on the brink of an environmental catastrophe. The UN has developed a way to travel through time, transferring your personality and memories to the moment of birth. Henrik, a brilliant but narcissistic physicist, is chosen for the mission: he must publish the design of his nuclear reactor worldwide and thus prevent devastating climate change. But something goes wrong: Henrik is reborn in the wrong body and must live a new life. An engaging science fiction film that travels through time to investigate friendship, identity, greed and the reasons why man is still unable to stop climate change.

Méliès d’argent Award – Short Films

The competition is organised in collaboration with the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF) and is reserved for short films of the fantasy genre of European production. The award is given to the short film that receives the most votes from the public.

Winner: Où Va Le Monde directed by Mickaël Dupré (France, 2024) Synopsis: in space, the captain of a crew accompanied by his faithful robot decides to abandon his duties to follow a creature called “Intuition”. The creature takes him to a strange and mysterious desert planet where he hopes to find the meaning of life.

Audience Award Winner The Begin Hotels TS+FF 2024

U Are the Universe directed by Pavlo Ostrikov (Ukraine, 2024)

Winner Wonderland Award – Rai4 TS+FF 2024

The Complex Forms directed by Fabio D’Orta (Italy, 2023) Synopsis: there is an ancient villa where desperate people can change their fate by selling their bodies to mysterious entities in exchange for money. When enormous, centuries-old creatures emerge from the grounds surrounding the villa, a series of strange and sinister events pushes three unlikely guests to band together to attempt a desperate escape. A science fiction work that is both sober and excessive, where the austerity of the unity of the place coexists with the wonders coming from Elsewhere, an existential limbo that has always existed but beyond the threshold of our perceptions.

Winner of the Italian Critics’ Award SNCCI TS+FF 2024

Things Will Be Different directed by Michael Felker (USA, 2024) Synopsis: brothers Joseph and Sidney find themselves in a diner after a daring robbery. To escape the police, they take refuge in an abandoned farmhouse where a time portal transports them to another dimension. Once the danger has passed, they try to return to their present, but a metaphysical force they must blindly obey separates them and abandons them to themselves. In addition to bending the laws of space and time, what happens to Joe and Sid will put their brotherly bond to the test. A sci-fi thriller full of plot twists, horrific darkness, and suspense.

Event Horizon Award Winner – INAF TS+FF 2024

U Are the Universe directed by Pavlo Ostrikov (Ukraine, 2024)

CineLab Spazio Corto Award Winner TS+FF 2024

Golden Shopping Arcade short directed by Francesco “Skino” Ricci Lotteringi (Italy, 2023) Synopsis: Carlo Nonessu works at the reception desk of a hospital owned by a multinational that does not admit patients without enough credit to pay for their treatment. When one day, out of pity, he lets in an elderly man with financial difficulties, the boss threatens to fire him.

For more information, head over to https://www.sciencefictionfestival.org/i-vincitori-della-24a-edizione-del-trieste-sciencefiction-festival/.

Dystopian Drama SOUTH OF HOPE STREET to hit Prime

Writer/director Jane Spencer’s fourth film, South of Hope Street, will be released on Prime Video on November 12th and Paramount+ on November 15th.

Synopsis:

It’s 2038. War World 3 is underway. Black boots rule. Mystery and nonconformity are forbidden in a society stridently ignoring the fact that two moons have appeared in the sky. The earth is reaching a tipping point and the government starts building a giant wall in the sky to hide the truth. But Denise (Tanna Frederick) and her alienated friends, including Tom (Judd Nelson) and a group of mountain-dwelling hippies led by Benjamin Flowers (Michael Madsen), decide to fight back…

The cast also includes William Baldwin, Jack McEvoy, Patricia Sluka, Meredith Ostrom, Pascal Ulli, Angelo Boffa, Asser Yassin, Gianin Loffler, Barry O’Rourke and Craig Conway. Music soundtrack includes songs by Donovan, Thunderclap Newman, and Laura Nyro.

Spencer, who was awarded the Producers Without Borders Award at the Venice Film Festival 2023, shot the film in Zurich and in the Swiss Alps of Maloja. Her three previous features were Little Noises with Crispin Glover, Tatum O’Neal and Rik Mayall, which premiered at The Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the coveted ‘Grand Jury Prize’, Faces on Mars and The Ninth Cloud, with Megan Maczko, Michael Madsen, Jean-Hugues Anglade, and Leo Gregory, which was nominated ‘Best Independent Feature’ at the Chicago Arthouse Festival.

EMILY THE STRANGE Gets Animated Feature Adaptation

emily the strange character

Emily the Strange is receiving an animated feature treatment from Warner Bros., the studio announced. Emily the Strange is an illustrated fictional character featured in several comic books, graphic novels and in various merchandise and clothing lines, and was created thirty years ago by artist Rob Reger and his company Cosmic Debris.

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation will be collaborating with producer Bad Robot to bring the character to the big screen, courtesy of screenwriter Pamela Ribon. Ribon is known for her work on Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Nimona and the Oscar-nominated short film My Year of Dicks. Reger and Trevor Duke-Moretz serve as executive producers on the project.

“Both the creative and executive teams we have in place for the movie are incredible,” Reger said in a statement. “Everyone shows up with a keen perspective along with an understanding and respect for the unique connection Emily the Strange has with our ‘real world.’ Emily celebrates all that is weird and different, which in turn makes the strange and unusual in all of us, feel a little less alone. Bringing to life Emily’s universe and many mythologies we have created over the years is truly one of Emily’s best nightmares come true.”

In her own statement, Ribon called animation “the perfect medium for [Emily’s] wild and wonderful inventions and adventures.” She also mused that “I’ve always been drawn to Emily’s risk-taking, genre-bending attitude and style. I mean, brains and bangs? There’s nobody cooler. This one’s going to be so much fun.”

Added Warner Bros. Pictures Animation president Bill Damaschke, “Emily is an enduring pop-culture icon of individuality and empowerment, and Pamela Ribon has a singular and iconic voice. What an honor it is for us as Warner Bros. Pictures Animation to partner with Bad Robot, Rob [Reger] and Trevor [Duke-Moretz] in bringing Emily the Strange to the big screen.”

Warner Bros. Animation‘s official Instagram account shared an animated scene to accompany the news, which can be seen below:

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Kelly Macdonald Joins LANTERNS Series

kelly macdonald in operation mincemeat

Kelly Macdonald, the Scottish actress best known for her work on Boardwalk Empire and No Country for Old Men, has joined the cast of HBO and DC Studios’ superhero crime series, Lanterns. She will star opposite Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre in the series from Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and comic book writer Tom King. The show is being executive produced and written by the trio, with Mundy showrunning the eight-episode season.

The synopsis states the series follows “Hal Jordan (Chandler), a legend amongst the space police force known as the Green Lanterns, as he reluctantly mentors Stewart (Pierre), a younger Green Lantern. The two intergalactic cops get drawn into a dark, Earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.”

Kelly Macdonald will play Sheriff Kerry, a no-nonsense woman deeply devoted to her family and close-knit town. Her resilience, shaped by a complex past that’s hardened her resolve, anchors her when the community’s secrets begin to surface.

“We’re thrilled to bring this seminal DC title to HBO with Chris, Damon and Tom at the helm,” DC Heads James Gunn and Peter Safran said in a statement when the series order was announced. “John Stewart and Hal Jordan are two of DC’s most compelling characters, and Lanterns brings them to life in an original detective story that is a foundational part of the unified DCU we’re launching next summer with Superman.”