Netflix’s Sandman series may have finally landed some key players. A Lord of the Rings reunion is on the way for The Boys. Thomas Jane...vampire hunter? Plus updates on Evil Dead Rise, Lost in Space, Locke & Key, and more. Spooky spoilers today!
Beast
Idris Elba will star in Beast, a new killer lion movie from Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, Adrift) described as “being in the vein of The Shallows but instead of sharks, a lion with be involved as the central antagonist.”
[Deadline]
Slayers
Deadline reports Abigail Breslin, Thomas Jane, Kara Hayward, and Malin Akerman have joined the cast of Slayers, an upcoming horror-comedy pitting Youtube personalities against vampires. The story is said to follow a “group of internet influencers who are drawn to a reclusive, seductive billionaire’s mansion (Akerman), only to find themselves trapped in the lair of an evil vampire. The only way out is to be saved by a famous online gamer (Hayward) and an old school vampire hunter (Jane).” Breslin is said to plays the role of Jules, “a smart-mouthed fitness guru who faces off against the vampires.”
Star Trek 4
Appearing as a guest The Talk, Zachary Quinto referred to the Star Trek franchise as a “saturated market,” adding the cast of the Kelvin Timeline is still “here if they want to beam us up.”
Absolutely. We talk about it all the time as the crew of the Enterprise, we’re all incredibly close friends in real life and I think all of us would welcome the opportunity to go back and keep telling those stories. Seems like a bit of a saturated market at this point, so I’m not sure what the plans are for the feature film versions of the franchise, but we’re all here if they want to beam us up.
Untitled Ben Wheatley Project
Little White Lies reports Ben Wheatley has wrapped filming on a new micro-budget project described as “a response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the result of a datedness that he perceived in the titles released to VOD that couldn’t take the new status quo into account.”
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins
In conversation with NME, Henry Golding described the upcoming G.I. Joe spinoff as “much more of a martial arts film than a superhero movie.”
It’s definitely much more of a martial arts film than a superhero movie. It’s very, very physical. I fucking hated it in the beginning because I couldn’t even squat down and go to the bathroom. The first week was literal hell. I think I cried on the phone to my manager. I was like: ‘I don’t know what I’m doing!’
Evil Dead Rise
Meanwhile, director Lee Cronin described Evil Dead Rise as “a roller coaster of terror” in a new interview with Comic Book.
For me, the key thing I kept reminding myself of, when you’re in the trenches and you’re developing something, was to make sure it’s a roller coaster. To make sure that it has twists and turns and that it’s visceral and engaging. To sum all that up, to come back to what I just said, I wanted to create a roller coaster of terror. That was really the key for me. My memories of Evil Dead, when I watched them at a young age, always marveling at ‘how does this even exist?’ It just continues to poke at my brain and refresh every time I watch it. So to boil it down to an even simpler thing was that it’s experiential. It has to be a horror experience. And that’s the key and that’s what I’m trying to achieve with this.
Greenland
Good news! The upcoming Morena Baccarin/Gerard Butler disaster movie will now be available for purchase on October 13 on VOD with the option to rent on October 27.
[/Film]
Jason Never Dies
Bloody-Disgusting has concept art and story details for Jason Never Dies, Tom McLoughlin’s proposed sequel to his own Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI said to concern “a group of Catholic high school girls who are supposed to go on a retreat over the Thanksgiving Day weekend.” Click through to have a look.
The Haunting of the Mary Celeste
The same dimensional rift responsible for the disappearance of the Mary Celeste begins knocking off modern-day merchant ships in the trailer for The Haunting of the Mary Celeste.
Hubie Halloween
Adam Sandler investigates when the residents of Salem, Massachusetts begin to mysteriously disappear in the latest trailer for Netflix’s Hubie Halloween.
Under ConTROLL
A troll planning to open a portal to the underworld possesses a woman named Vanessa in the trailer for Under ConTROLL, starring Eva Habermann and Troll 2's George Hardy.
Sandman
Collider reports Tom Sturridge is currently “in talks” play Morpheus in Netflix’s upcoming Sandman series, which, according to Neil Gaiman, is scheduled to begin filming in less than three weeks. Additionally, /Film reports it “has learned from sources close to the production of The Sandman that The Hunger Games star Liam Hemsworth and Stranger Things‘ Dacre Montgomery are in the running to play The Corinthian in Netflix’s TV series adaptation of Neil Gaiman‘s beloved comic book series.”
Lost in Space
Grimm’s Russell Hornsby has joined the third and final season of Netflix’s Lost in Space. According to Deadline, details on his role are currently “under wraps.”
Sweet Tooth
Stefania LaVie Owen has joined the cast of the Sweet Tooth adaptation as Bear, “a teenage, dystopic activist who’s the leader of the Animal Army. Her army of teens leads a moral crusade, fighting against the humans that lead to society’s collapse while protecting all Hybrids.”
[Deadline]
Locke & Key
Deadline also reports Aaron Ashmore and Hallea Jones have been promoted to series regulars for Locke & Key’s second season. Additionally, Brendan Hines joins the cast to play Josh Bennett, “a charismatic and mysterious new history teacher at Matheson Academy with a secret agenda. Liyou Abere will also guest star.
Legacies
Ben Levin (who plays the werewolf, Jed) will be promoted to series regular when Legacies returns for its third season.
Riverdale
E! Online additionally reports Drew Ray Tanner (Fangs Fogarty) will also be promoted to series regular when Riverdale returns for season five.
The Boys
A surprise Lord of the Rings reunion as John Noble was announced to play Billy Butcher’s dad on this week’s episode of The Boys.
Nightbreed
In a new interview with Coming Soon, Clive Barker revealed he’s currently writing a Nightbreed television series with Josh Stolberg. Michael Dougherty (Trick ‘r Treat, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) is attached to direct.
It’s exciting, after 30 years, to go back to these characters and find out who’s still speaking to me, who wants their story told. My tongue isn’t in my cheek when I say that as when I start a piece, it’s listening. The writing is a piece of listening, I’ve always said I was a journalist and what I was reporting on was the space between my ears.
The Powerpuff Girls
Genndy Tartakovsky weighed in on Diablo Cody’s live-action Powerpuff Girls series during a recent interview with Comic Book.
The lines between live action and animation are so blurred. I think anything could work. I mean, Dexter can work, and Samurai can work, and Primal could even work if you have a cool CG. I mean, if you take something of quality, Jurassic Park, animated T-Rex, and you have a big burly caveman with her, it can be super cool. It’s super expensive, the jungle has everything, to make it look and feel right. You give The Revenant feel and tone to Jurassic Park, and all of a sudden now you got something crazy. So, I think everything can cross over, But does it need to? Does it want to? Is it deserving?”
The thing is, there’s gotta be a reason for it to be an animation or live action. And so, I imagine everything as drawings, because I’m such an animation enthusiastic. And so, that’s kinda how it exists. And I have to work my way into live action and kind of picture it live and see where it goes. I guess we’ll see. It’s certainly interesting.
I didn’t create it, but obviously I worked on it a lot,” he says.”When you try to do a certain thing and then you’re successful at it, and then somebody else takes it, and now is gonna make it a different thing, is that good? Is it bad? I mean, they made an anime from Powerpuff Girls. And then it was like straight anime, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, it lost a lot of some of the charm that I thought we had in the American version.’ But it was good in a different way too. So, that’s the thing. It’s always, ‘Who’s gonna do it? Is it gonna be sincere? Is there a purpose for it besides just, ‘Oh, people know Powerpuff Girls, so let’s do it.’
Banner art by Jim Cooke.