Ella Purnell Stars In Trailer For Bloody Comedy SWEETPEA

ella purnell in trailer for sweetpea series on starz

Described as a deviously twisted, coming-of-rage story, STARZ has just released the full trailer for their six-part series Sweetpea, ahead of its October 10th premiere. Ella Purnell, known for her standout performances in Yellowjackets and Fallout, stars as Rhiannon, a quiet wallflower who develops a vengeful and intoxicatingly liberating taste for murder.

Per the logline, “Rhiannon Lewis doesn’t make much of an impression – people walk past her in the street without a second glance. She’s continually overlooked for a promotion at work, the guy she likes won’t commit, and her dad is really, really sick. Then everything in her life turns upside down. Rhiannon is pushed over the edge and loses control. Suddenly the wallflower is gone, and in its place is a young woman capable of anything… Rhiannon’s life transforms as she steps into a new, intoxicating power, but can she keep her killer secret?”

Starring opposite Purnell are Nicôle Lecky as Julia, Jon Pointing as Craig, Calam Lynch as AJ, Leah Harvey as Marina, Jeremy Swift as Norman and Dustin Demri-Burns as Jeff. Purnell also serves as executive producer of the series.

Sweetpea is adapted from C.J. Skuse’s cult novel of the same name, with a screenplay by Kirstie Swain, Krissie Ducker, Laura Jayne Tunbridge and Selina Lim. Ella Jones directs and serves as executive producer.

Watch the trailer below:

Adria Arjona To Star In Adam Wingard’s ONSLAUGHT

adria arjona in andor

Adria Arjona, who recently starred opposite Glen Powell in the Netflix comedy Hit Man and in Zoe Kravitz’s directorial debut Blink Twice, is reportedly in final talks to star in and executive produce Onslaught, the latest feature project from Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire director Adam Wingard.

According to THR, Arjona will play a mother who falls back on a particular set of skills in order to protect her loved ones after she runs afoul of a threat that has escaped a secret military base.

A24 is behind the action thriller, after winning the package at an auction earlier this year. Details for Onslaught are being kept top secret, but sources have described it as a “gonzo action horror thriller”. The project is expected to begin filming this autumn. Wingard writes the film with Simon Barrett, a frequent collaborator with whom he made the cult hits You’re Next and The Guest.

Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett will produce Onslaught under their Ryder Picture Company banner alongside A24, and Alexander Black for Lyrical Media. Wingard and manager Jeremy Platt will also produce, via their new company Breakaway Civilization, along with Barrett.

Adria Arjona will next be seen in the second season of Disney+’s Star Wars series Andor, which releases in 2025.

SIMS Movie Taps LOKI Helmer Kate Herron To Direct

sims characters

Just the latest in an endless line of random IPs waiting to be developed for the big screen (we literally just got news of John Cena starring in a live-action take on Mattel’s Matchbox toyline), comes news that a movie based on the video game franchise The Sims is well on its way. Amazon MGM Studios announced that the film would be helmed by Kate Herron, known for directing the Disney+ series Loki. She would direct the feature from a script she is co-writing with Briony Redman.

Herron is also known for working on Sex Education and the forthcoming second season of HBO’s The Last of Us. She and Redman also co-wrote an episode for the latest Doctor Who season.

In case you’ve never encountered a video game before, you’ll know that The Sims is a series of life simulation video games. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and is one of the best-selling video game series of all time. It is also part of the larger Sim series, started by SimCity in 1989. The games are largely sandbox games (in that there are no defined goals) and the player creates virtual people, placing them in houses and guiding them through day-to-day life.

No word yet on what a movie adaptation of such a game would look like, but stay tuned.

John Cena Is Going Full Throttle On MATCHBOX Adaptation

john cena driving a car in fast and furious 9

John Cena has signed on to star in Matchbox, a live-action take on the Mattel car toyline from Apple Original Films, Skydance, and Mattel Films. Sam Hargrave, the director behind the Extraction movies, will helm the feature from a screenplay by David Coggeshall and the Adam Project‘s Jonathan Tropper.

Matchbox is the toy brand created in 1953 that was acquired by Mattel in 1997. Mattel competed with Matchbox with its own line of miniature car toys, Hot Wheels. Plot details of the film adaptation are, of course, behind kept top secret. This project is different from the Hot Wheels adaptation, which Mattel Films is also developing but will be produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot.

A Matchbox project is far from the only Mattel toy-inspired feature in the works. As we reported last year, the toy company has confirmed a Polly Pocket film starring Lily Collins, from which director Lena Dunham departed this summer. There are fourteen projects in active development, including Barney, starring Daniel Kaluuya (as Mattel Films producer Robbie Brenner previously explained, “more like a Being John Malkovich… [it’ll] be more adult and have adult themes — and sort of be a little bit off-kilter”), a Magic 8-Ball film (“a PG-13 thriller”), the Vin Diesel Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, J.J. Abrams’ Hot Wheels (which has “real emotion and real stakes to it”), and a UNO movie.

John Cena is known for his lead role in the Peacemaker series, and has recently starred in Jackpot opposite Awkwafina and Ricky Stanicky.

Bong Joon-ho Kills Robert Pattinson (Repeatedly) In MICKEY 17 Trailer

mickey 17 full trailer still

Toni Basil got it wrong: Mickey is not fine. In fact, he’s getting killed over and over, in the first trailer for Mickey 17, the long-awaited follow up to Bong Joon-ho’s Best Picture winner, Parasite.

In the tongue-in-cheek, screwball sci-fi film, Robert Pattinson plays Mickey Barnes, a space colonist known as an expendable. Expendables do the most dangerous jobs the colony has to offer, and often die in the process, only to be brought back to life via human printing technology.

Mickey 17 also stars Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo, with Bong penning the script based on the book Mickey7 by Edward Ashton. In the novel, Mickey 7 – the 7th version of this crewmember – is left for dead on a mission but survives. When he returns to base, he discovers that Mickey 8, a clone of himself, has already been created – which is a problem because the idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they would likely be thrown into the recycler for protein. The feature promises to explore themes of human printing, identity, and space colonisation, with the South Korean filmmaker stating at a prior event that this is the story of “a simple man who ultimately ends up saving the world.”

Watch the full Mickey 17 trailer below. The film releases in cinemas on January 31st, 2025:

VENOM: THE LAST DANCE Trailer Promises An Epic Conclusion

venom the last dance trailer

Tom Hardy is back as Eddie Brock/Venom in Sony’s third chapter of their Venom film franchise, with the new instalment officially titled Venom: The Last Dance. This is expected to be the final film in a trilogy.

In The Last Dance, “Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on their last dance.” They look to be going up against multiple symbiotes, including Knull, who in the comics was essentially the symbiote God. Squeeze in a trip to Las Vegas, and this third film promises a lot of gooey fun.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham also star. The film is directed by Kelly Marcel from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. The film is produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy and Hutch Parker. This marks Marcel’s directorial debut, having written all three Venom films.

Ruben Fleischer directed Venom, while Andy Serkis directed the 2021 sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which co-starred Woody Harrelson as the titular antagonist.

Watch the final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance below, in cinemas from October 25th.

Legendary New York Filmmaker Jeff Lieberman Is Coming To The UK!

The cult director Jeff Lieberman, famous for such iconic movies as Squirm, Blue Sunshine, and Just Before Dawn is flying over to the UK in late October for two unique events.

He is first heading up North to Manchester for the city’s annual Festival of Fantastic Films; the legendary celebration of all things fantastique, which has been running since 1990 and takes place October 25th – 27th at the Pendulum Hotel. Tickets can be purchased at: https://fantastic-films.uk/

Jeff is then heading to the West Midlands, where he will be subject to an intimate and unique celebration of his films hosted by Midlands boutique label Treasured Films. His five features, plus some of Jeff’s lesser-known short works, will be screened at the independent Lume Cinema, Kidderminster, situated near Birmingham.

The event takes place on Nov 2nd – 3rd. Jeff will be in attendance and will be taking part in Q&A sessions, meet and greets and will be signing autographs and posing for photos.

Tickets are limited and can be purchased here: https://www.treasuredfilms.co.uk/events/jeff

Destin Daniel Cretton To Direct SPIDER-MAN 4

tom holland in spider-man: no way home expected to return for spider-man 4. Destin daniel cretton expected to direct.

If it feels like Destin Daniel Cretton is nabbing jobs left and right, that’s because he is: the filmmaker is now in talks to direct Spider-Man 4 for Marvel Studios and Sony. Cretton previously helmed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings for Marvel, and is behind the upcoming Wonder Man series that stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Beyond that, the filmmaker remains attached to direct the live-action adaptation of Naruto, as well as a sequel to Shang-Chi.

This Spider-Man film is expected to see Tom Holland return to the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers are back on script duties. The project will reportedly begin shooting early next year. It is unclear what path the story may follow, since No Way Home ended with the world forgetting Peter Parker.

Destin Daniel Cretton had also been signed on to direct Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (now Avengers: Doomsday, which will be directed by the Russo Brothers) but left the project after dramatic changes in the production schedule and evolution, which stemmed from star Jonathan Majors’ assault trial. Marvel has reportedly been keen to find him another feature to direct ever since.

Stay tuned for further updates on this fourth Spider-Man instalment as we hear them!

Todd Stashwick Joins Marvel’s VISION Series

star trek: picard actor todd stashwick

Star Trek: Picard actor, Todd Stashwick, is joining Paul Bettany and James Spader in Marvel Studios’ untitled Vision series, the follow-up to the Disney+ series WandaVision.

The actor is reuniting with Terry Matalas, who served as showrunner on Picard and will next be helming this MCU series. The pair also worked together on 12 Monkeys, the series adaptation of the Terry Gilliam thriller that starred Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt. It’s unconfirmed who Todd Stashwick will be playing in this upcoming Vision series.

Bettany is reprising his role as Vision, the synthezoid who fell in love with Wanda Maximoff/the Scarlett Witch and was destroyed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. In WandaVision, he returned via Wanda’s grief and magic, but also as a rebuilt android, now white. Spader is reprising his role as Ultron, the defence program-turned-sentient annihilator of humanity, as seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The series is meant to be the third part of a trilogy that began with WandaVision and continues in Agatha All Along, the latter of which debuts on Disney+ later this month and centres on Kathryn Hahn’s villainous witch, Agatha Harkness.

The Vision series is expected to begin filming at the start of 2025, with eyes on a 2026 release date.

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE Writers Tackling ICE CREAM MAN Horror

ice cream man comic adaptation to feature

Sony genre label Screen Gems has acquired the film rights to the horror anthology comic book, Ice Cream Man, with Wednesday creators and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar aboard the project. The pair will produce the adaptation via their Sony-based Millar Gough Ink banner.

Published by Image Comics, the story is described as such: Chocolate, vanilla, existential horror, drug addiction, musical fantasy…there’s a flavour for everyone’s misery. Ice Cream Man is a genre-defying comic book series featuring disparate ‘one-shot’ tales of sorrow, wonder, and redemption. Each instalment features its own cast of strange characters, dealing with their own special sundae of suffering. And on the periphery of all of them, like the twinkly music of his colourful truck, is the Ice Cream Man-a weaver of stories, a purveyor of sweet treats. Friend. Foe. God. Demon. The man who, with a snap of his fingers-lickety split – can change the course of your life forever.

The comic was written and created by W. Maxwell Prince, with Martin Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran creating the artwork. The project is in early development and the studio is actively looking for a writer. Prince will act as executive producer on the feature.

The comic continues to be published on an irregular schedule.