After many setbacks and pushed releases, Sony Pictures has released the full trailerfor Kraven the Hunter, the latest feature from director J.C. Chandor. Landing in cinemas from December 13th, the film is based on the titular Marvel Comic character and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, and Russell Crowe.
Kraven the Hunter centres on the Spider-Man villain who first appeared in the comics in 1964. Taylor-Johnson plays Sergei Kravinoff, who is left for dead by his hunter father (Crowe, doing ham on the Russian accent) after a lion attack. The animal’s bite then appears to gift Sergei with special abilities, and he becomes known as Kraven the Hunter and uses violence to protect the animal kingdom. The movie’s previous trailer had revealed Alessandro Nivola to play Aleksei Sytsevich, aka the Rhino. This newest trailer grants fans a greater look at Nivola, as we glimpse Rhino taking on Kraven in what looks to be the African savannah.
Chandor directed the film from a script by Richard Wenk, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach and David Householter serve as producers.
Watch the full trailer for Kraven the Hunter below, ahead of a December 13th, 2024 cinema release:
Lucasfilm showed off the first trailer fortheir Star Wars: The Skeleton Crew series as part of its D23 presentation. The show centres on a group of kids lost in a galaxy far, far away, as they try to make their way home. The show hails from Jon Watts, who directed the MCU’s Spider-Man trilogy starring Tom Holland, and frequent collaborator Christopher Ford. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are, as per usual, executive producing the series. The show is set in the New Republic era of the Star Wars canon, aka in the years after the Empire’s fall in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
A team of renowned directors worked on the project, including Everything Everywhere All At Once‘s Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, The Green Knight‘s David Lowery, Jake Schreier, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Lee Isaac Chung. The series was written by Ford and Watts, excluding the fifth and sixth episodes which were writeen by Myung Joh Wesner. The cast stars Jude Law alongside young actors Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith and Ryan Kiera Armstrong.
Watch the trailer for Star Wars: The Skeleton Crew below, streaming with a two-episode series premiere December 3rd on Disney+.
Neon has just dropped the first teaser trailer for The Monkey, Longlegsdirector Osgood Perkins’ next project. The horror film, which stars Theo James alongside Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell and Sarah Levy, debuts in cinemas on February 21st, 2025.
The film centres on twins Bill and Hal (both played by James), whose discovery of their dad’s monkey toy in the attic leads to a string of grisly deaths. Perkins both writes and directs The Monkey, which is based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, first published in 1980. Dave Caplan, Michael Clear, Chris Ferguson, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and James Wan are aboard the project as producers.
During a recent interview with THR to promote Longlegs, Perkins said that The Monkey will be far more comedic than any of his previous work. “It’s feeling more like an old John Landis movie or a Joe Dante movie or a Robert Zemeckis movie,” the filmmaker said at the time. “I saw an opportunity to make a wry, absurdist comedy about death. It’s about the very basic fact that we all die — and how fucking funny and weird and impossible and surreal is that shit? And to come at it from a tragicomedy kind of voice felt like it fit.”
Perkins continued, “At the end of the day, if you want to reduce it, it’s the haunted toy or evil toy subgenre, and I couldn’t imagine doing a serious one of those. To me, it rang utterly false to approach it that way, so I just went in the other direction.”
The award-winning documentary (K)nox: The Rob Knox Story, which tells the story of the Harry Potter actor who was tragically killed, is getting a special screening at Picturehouse Central in London on Saturday, September 28th.
The film was followed by a panel discussion with BAFTA-nominated actor Ray Winstone – patron of the Rob Knox Film Festival, Aaron Truss – director of the Rob Knox Film Festival, and Rob’s father, Colin Knox. It will be hosted by Paul McEvoy from FrightFest and Stark Raving Cinema podcast.
The film recounts the story of 18-year-old Rob Knox, who is out celebrating his big break in Harry Potter when he learns that his little brother has been threatened at knife point. He and his friends rush to disarm the man, but during the struggle, Rob is stabbed several times and is killed. Now, his family must try to navigate their grief and anger while under the ever-watchful eye of the invasive British media machine. Meanwhile, more young people than ever are losing their lives on the streets. Something has to be done. The tragic incident led to the creation of the Rob Knox Foundation and Rob Knox Film Festival.
Earlier this year, Aaron Truss, director of the Rob Knox Film Festival, announced that the Bromley Picturehouse would be the future venue of the festival, housing the permanent memorial to Rob. However, after successful negotiations with senior group management following the cinema’s closure, it has now been relocated to Picturehouse Central, which will continue to honour the young actor’s legacy.
Aaron Truss says, “After the closure of Bromley Picturehouse, discussions were held between myself and Picturehouse Cinemas. Both parties wanted to ensure the continuation of the Rob Knox London Film Festival, and I’m happy to say that an agreement was reached and a contract signed. Rob Knox’s legacy will live on, and it will live on in the heart of London’s West End at Picturehouse Central”.
Clare Binns, Managing Director for Picturehouse Cinemas, says, “We’re very happy to be able to continue our work with the Rob Knox London Film Festival at Picturehouse Central, and especially to have found a new place for Rob Knox’s memorial: overlooking Piccadilly Circus in our Members’ Bar. We very much look forward to hosting our first event with the festival in September”
The Rob Knox London Film Festival will return in 2025.
All ticket money from this event will go straight to the Rob Knox Foundation and can be bought here.
Inspired by the works of the cinematic legend and Master of Suspense, born on this day in 1899, Hex Studios’ latest venture, Black Chariot, has launched on Kickstarter. The film promises to be an intense and deeply disturbing supernatural horror. Director Lawrie Brewster (Lord of Tears) will be drawing from Alfred Hitchcock’s dark thrillers like Rebecca (1942) and Psycho (1960), to invoke the master’s spirit in his latest spine-chilling horror noir.
Director Lawrie Brewster shared, “Black Chariot is a love letter to the Master of Suspense, and my greatest cinematic inspiration, Alfred Hitchcock, so it seemed only fitting that we launch our campaign seeking support for the film on the date of his birth. Our eccentric pitch video even sees me pay a more personal homage to the great director, which I’m hoping fellow fans will enjoy!”
Starring horror legend Laurence R. Harvey (The Human Centipede), Black Chariot follows the plight of three young men who have fallen prey to the manipulative schemes of a nefarious bank manager (Harvey) who plans a heist to steal a mysterious red case, harbouring something of great value.
However, not all is as it seems, and not everything goes to plan. In the chaos, a guard is shot dead, and a frightened girl is taken hostage.
With the police on their heels, the three must press on into the dead of night, for somewhere deep within these eerie woods, a sinister figure known only as ‘The Devil’ awaits them.
Co-starring upcoming genre talent Megan Tremethick, Novarro Ramon, Dorian Todd, and Sam Barclay, as well as veterans Richard Pate and Nick Ford, the film is currently exclusively available to pre-order on Kickstarter, with a general release expected in April 2025.
You can sign up to the Hex Studio’s Patreon to keep up to date with news here.
James Wan, a pillar of contemporary horror cinema and the creator of the Saw and The Conjuring franchises, is developing a new take on the classic Universal monster feature, The Creature From the Black Lagoon. According to THR, Wan is in early talks to direct the feature film.
A writer will now be hired to write a script for the remake of the 1954 classic, working alongside Wan and Universal. This is the first project Wan has attached himself to as director since his company’s production banner, Atomic Monster, merged with Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions.
Wan will, of course, also act as a producer on Creature From the Black Lagoon, with Atomic Monster’s Michael Clear and Judson Scott serving as executive producers.
The original film, a black-and-white, 3-D horror, featured a prehistoric, water-dwelling, humanoid monster and followed the group of scientists that aim to capture and study him. Jack Arnold directed the ’54 creature feature from a script by Arthur A. Ross, which starred Julie Adams and Ben Chapman as the Gill-Man. Wan’s take is described as being a grounded, modernized retelling that will lean into visceral horror, while still paying respect to the original.
Full Moon Features puts a modern spin on the classic vampire tale with their upcoming film Death Streamer, for which the first trailer was recently released.
In the film, “A modern day vampire opts to adapt to the modern age by employing technologically advanced glasses that enable him to not only hunt his victims in and out of the virtual world…but also LIVE STREAM his bloody feasts for all to see. As this high-tech ghoul continues to glut on his screaming victims, his internet-based cult of personality expands, and soon, he finds himself with a rabid fanbase, all of them addicted to watching his sickening slaughter. But when an intrepid trio of young supernatural investigators lock-down on the trail of the “Death Streamer”, the fiend turns the tables and begins stalking them. As supernatural murder continues its vile viral media-onslaught, will our three heroes be able to stop the unholy monster in his tracks, or just end up as more gory “content” for his channel?”
The film is directed by Charles Band and stars Maddy may, Emma Massalone, Piper Parks, Llana Barron, Aaron McDaniel, Sean Ohlman, and Kaitlin Moore.
Full Moon Features is an American independent production and distribution company headed by B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series Puppet Master, Trancers, and Subspecies.
Death Streamer will release from September 27th, 2024. Watch the trailer below:
Patricia Arquette and Tom Felton are on board to star in They Will Kill You, the thriller produced by the new horror label Nocturna Pictures, which was created by Skydance and Andy and Barbara Muschietti.
New Line is co-financing and distributing the feature, which will be directed by Kirill Sokolov when filming begins in mid-September. Sokolov co-wrote the script with Alex Litvak.
Zazie Beetz is toplining the film, which is being described as a horror laced with black comedy, and tells the story of a woman (Beetz) who answers a help wanted ad to be a housekeeper in a mysterious high-rise in New York City, not realising she is entering a community that has seen a number of disappearances over the years and may be under the grip of a Satanic cult. The project has also been described as a tonal mix of Radio Silence’s Ready or Not and The Raid.
Arquette reportedly plays the head of the co-op in They Will Kill You, while Felton will play a member of the cult. Patricia Arquette is best known for her work on Boyhood, True Romance, and the television series Medium, and has recently starred in Apple TV+’s Severance. Tom Felton is best known for portraying Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter film franchise.
The First Purge director Gerard McMurray has boarded Goons, a new horror feature set amid the eerie backdrop of Louisiana’s cane fields and plantations. Power‘s Michael Rainey Jr. and The Exorcism andSwarm‘s Chloe Bailey will star in the movie, which has begun filming in New Orleans and surrounding areas.
Tommy Oliver is producing via his Confluential Films company, which will make the project under its new genre label, New Fear Unlocked Productions, which is dedicated to “bold, elevated, culturally specific horror films from creators of colour”. “I can’t wait for audiences to see what Gerard and I are cooking up with the kick-ass squad we’ve assembled. I also couldn’t be more excited to kick off New Fear Unlocked with this film from such a talented director,” said Oliver.
McMurray directs from a script he co-wrote with Hodge K. Johnson. “I’m beyond excited to direct a film in the horror genre,” says McMurray. “Goons is a love letter to my hometown of New Orleans, and a deeply personal story for me. Producing this film along with Confluential/New Fear Unlocked shows the power of Black storytellers with a collaborative spirit.”
McMurray is known for having directed Burning Sands, The First Purge, and an episode of The Twilight Zone.
Fans of the stop-motion genius Ray Harryhausen will be delighted to hear a free exhibition of some of his work will take place in Sale, Manchester from October 26th.
Developed in partnership with The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, The Lost Worlds of Ray Harryhausen exhibition will feature rare and previously un-exhibited pre-production artwork for some of his classic and much- loved films including Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts, and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Artwork ranging from early sketches through to detailed key drawings will show the creative process behind his groundbreaking special effects, containing some of his most iconic creatures and sequences.
Additionally, sketches, key drawings and prototype models for un-realised Harryhausen projects such as The War of the Worlds, Baron Munchausen, People of the Mist, and Force of the Trojans will also be displayed, many of which for the first time. For every project that Ray was able to produce for the cinema going audience, there were several which remained uncompleted and which live on through the incredible collection cared for by the Harryhausen Foundation.
As Connor Heaney Collections Manager from the Ray Harryhausen Foundation explains: “This exhibition presents a unique insight into Ray Harryhausen’s lifetime of imagination and creativity. Featuring artwork which spans his earliest experiments in the 1930s through to the unrealised Story of Odysseus in the late 1990s, this display will demonstrate the true extent of his genius. Fans of cinema will be fascinated to see alternate artwork for some of Ray Harryhausen’s most iconic creations, alongside previously unseen prototype models from the Foundation’s archive. Given the special historic connection between Ray Harryhausen and Cosgrove Hall Productions, Waterside Arts represents the perfect venue to showcase these unique and unseen treasures”.
This exhibition will also feature some of Ray’s work from unseen projects and untold stories that connect his artistry to the North West – a largely unknown connection. In 1996, Manchester-based and internationally acclaimed animation studio, Cosgrove Hall Productions approached Ray for a project inspired by his own work. This became the un-realised The Story of Odysseus (1996-1998) – an ambitious project aimed to create a 75-minute film, followed by 26 episodes, combining traditional stop motion and new technology at the time. This will be the first time audiences will be able to see objects and clips from this unfinished work together, reuniting the Cyclops housed by the Cosgrove Hall Film Archive with other work from the lost production.
Rosy Whittemore, Project Curator, Cosgrove Hall Films Archive comments: “This is a very special exhibition for all of us at Waterside, working collaboratively with The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation to bring John Walsh’s Lost Movies book to life. I think people will really respond to seeing Harryhausen’s creative process in a new way, how he shaped and built his characters and creatures. Using his untold stories as a springboard, visitors will see rare and more experimental work from the animation legend for the first time in the North West and we are thrilled that we are the current custodians and guardians of such cinematic greatness.”
Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Leisure, Arts, Culture and Heritage, Cllr Catherine Hynes adds; “We are honoured to be hosting this wonderful and unique exhibition at Waterside. This reinforces the importance Trafford Council places on culture for all residents and reflects on our commitment to fostering rich, real and accessible cultural experiences for everyone.”
The Lost Worlds of Ray Harryhausen: Creatures, Martians and Myths runs at The Lauriston Gallery, Waterside, Sale from October 26th, 2024 – January 4th, 2025
