Marvel Studios is not intending to play around after the sub-optimal run that the brand has been dealing with lately. Not only is the studio proudly touting around its just released Deadpool & Wolverine with a surprise SDCC screening along with cameo guests but upon the company’s return to Hall H, some Fantastic Four teasing would be in the cards for the fans. Pedro Pascal had recently released a wholesome group photo of Marvel’s first family as the cast members for Matt Shakman’s upcoming The Fantastic Four had recently gotten together.
Now, Deadline reveals that our world has gotten a little preview of what it’s like when the grand-scale villain of The Fantastic Four looms over the San Diego sky. Marvel would give fans a display of an illuminated drone show, which came together to form the shape of Galactus, the planet-eating threat of the Fantastic Four comics. In the 2007 film, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, his previous incarnation was simplified into a giant space cloud-like entity. However, the new film is promising a more faithful adaptation with his distinct look from the comics. Check out the show from Deadline’s video below.
Julia Garner stars in Fantastic Four as the Herald of Galactus, Silver Surfer, while Paul Walter Hauser assumes an undisclosed role. Some fans think Hauser plays Mole Man (the first villain to fight the Fantastic Four) in the upcoming film, but his part remains a mystery. Fantastic Four arrives in theaters on July 25, 2025, with WandaVision’s Matt Shakman directing from a script by Eric Pearson, Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer, with contributions from WandaVision’s Peter Cameron. That’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen, which worries me, but I’m holding out hope.
Other Fantastic Four cast members include Ralph Ineson as Galactus, Natasha Lyonne in a mysterious role (though some say she could play Ben Grimm’s beloved Alicia Masters), and John Malkovich in an undisclosed role.
Previously, Shakman teased that the movie will be unlike anything we’ve seen from Marvel so far. “It’s different in so many ways,” Shakman said. “I wish I could be specific. I wish I could say more. But we are doing things very differently from a story standpoint, from an approach to the filmmaking standpoint, that really fits the material. I wish I could say more. I would love to, but I can’t. But I think it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve seen before, and certainly unlike anything at Marvel that you’ve seen before.”
Lionsgate will be bringing a new version of The Crow to theatres on August 23rd – and while we had previously been referring to this project as a remake, Lionsgate recently let it be known that this is not to be called a remake, but rather a new adaptation of the source material, the comic book series created by James O’Barr. With the release date right around the corner, a clip from the film has arrived online to give us a preview of a brutal action scene, and that can be viewed in the embed above. A new poster has also been unveiled and can be seen at the bottom of this article.
Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) directed this version of The Crow, working from a screenplay by Oscar nominee Zach Baylin (King Richard). The film is produced by Victor Hadida, Molly Hassell, John Jencks, and Edward R. Pressman. Dan Farah serves as executive producer. Here’s the synopsis: Soulmates Eric (Bill Skarsgard) and Shelly (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.
As the synopsis mentions, Bill Skarsgard plays the lead character and is joined in the cast of The Crow by singer FKA twigs, who takes on the role of Shelly, the love of Eric’s life. Danny Huston (Yellowstone) plays the lead villain. David Bowles (Brothers), Isabella Wei (1899), Laura Birn (A Walk Among the Tombstones), Sami Bouajila (The Bouncer), and Jordan Bolger (Peaky Blinders) are also in the cast.
Based on the comic book series created by James O’Barr, the first version of The Crow was released in 1994. Following the production of three sequels (each about a different resurrected character), a redux was first announced in late 2008… then it had to make a long journey through development hell. Several screenwriters came and went, scripts were written and scrapped, studios went bankrupt, and directors like Stephen Norrington, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Corin Hardy, and Francisco Javier Gutiérrez were all involved along the way. Actors up for the lead role during the long development period included Bradley Cooper, Mark Wahlberg, Tom Hiddleston, Luke Evans, Jason Momoa, and Jack Huston.
What did you think of the clip from The Crow reboot? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
A couple of years ago, it was announced that Warner Bros. and producer Akiva Goldsman‘s company Weed Road are working on a sequel to the 2007 Richard Matheson adaptation I Am Legend (watch it HERE), which will see Will Smith reprising the role of Dr. Robert Neville, now joined in the cast by an unspecified character played by Michael B. Jordan. We haven’t heard much about I Am Legend 2 as time has gone by – but Goldsman, who is producing and writing the project, says there will be “good news” to share about it soon.
During a panel appearance at Comic-Con, Goldsman said (with thanks to Deadline for the transcription), “There will be some good news shortly.” He wrote the first draft of the script, had a meeting with Smith and Jordan to discuss that draft, then wrote a second draft. He didn’t give away any story details, but did say, “The world returns in a way that is kind of spectacular – an exciting playground for all of us – not your father’s I Am Legend.“
Directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Goldsman and Mark Protosevich that was based on the Matheson novel, I Am Legend had the following synopsis: Robert Neville, a brilliant scientist, is a survivor of a man-made plague that transforms humans into bloodthirsty mutants. He wanders alone through New York City, calling out for other possible survivors, and works on finding a cure for the plague using his own immune blood. Neville knows he is badly outnumbered and the odds are against him, and all the while, the infected wait for him to make a mistake that will deliver Neville into their hands.
The version of I Am Legend that reached theatres ended with Neville sacrificing himself (using a grenade to blow up himself and the attacking “Darkseeker” creatures) to protect other characters. But that ending was actually a reshoot. The original ending was more low-key, with Neville making peace with the Darkseekers after realizing that he was the monster in the eyes of these creatures. That alternate ending was included on the special edition home video release of I Am Legend – and Goldsman has previously told Deadline that I Am Legend 2 will continue on from the ending where Neville survived, not the theatrical ending where he died. He reiterated that during the Comic-Con panel, saying, “We’re sequelizing the alternative cut, where Will lives and things don’t go well for humanity.“
Are you interested in seeing Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan share the screen in I Am Legend 2? Share your thoughts on this sequel by leaving a comment below… and when this good news Goldsman is promising arrives, we’ll let you know here on JoBlo.
The Garden State soundtrack was an insanely popular compilation with the likes of The Shins, Coldplay, Iron & Wine, and more. So championed it was that you might be surprised to learn that it actually won the Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album. Also up that year was Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 2, whose selection of Johnny Cash, Shivaree and Ennio Morricone had to “let go” of the gold to Zach Braff’s jukebox.
Zach Braff remembered that Quentin Tarantino had a far better attitude about Kill Bill losing out to Garden State than he did Pulp Fiction falling to Forrest Gump. As he told The Ringer, “Tarantino jokingly said, ‘You stole my f*cking Grammy, man,’ and then gave me a big smile and a hug. He was super sweet and supportive. I was the kind of film-school kid that would have put a Reservoir Dogs poster on my wall.”
Braff didn’t expect Garden State to win at all, fully anticipating that Kill Bill: Volume 2 would be winning the Grammy. “I was up against Quentin Tarantino. I certainly didn’t think there would ever be a chance where I would beat Quentin Tarantino at anything. My father wanted to come, and I was like, ‘Dad, there’s no way I’m gonna win a Grammy. Tarantino is winning the Grammy, and you’re wasting your trip from Jersey out here.’ And then we f*cking won! I couldn’t believe it.”
Garden State marked a huge breakout for Zach Braff as a filmmaker, although the indie’s reputation has taken a turnpike-sized hit in subsequent years, something that Braff had to learn to overcome. It would be another decade until he helmed another movie, 2014’s Wish I Was Here, and nearly another until his third feature, 2023’s A Good Person. He also directed a number of episodes of Scrubs, ABC sitcom Alex Inc. and even one of Ted Lasso, earning a DGA nomination for season one’s “Biscuits.”
The soundtrack for Garden State went platinum in the United States and Gold in Canada. Those aren’t exactly The Bodyguard numbers, but pretty good for an indie.
Are you a fan of the Garden State soundtrack? What’s your favorite track from it?
Few directors have enjoyed as successful a run as John Carpenter did from the late 70s to the late 80s. The writer-director-composer cranked out nine notable theatrical flicks from 78 to 88, and while not many of them were theatrical hits, they’re all now considered classics, either of the bona fide or cult variety. The 90s, however, were not so kind to the man. Starting with the ill-fated Memoirs of an Invisible Man, which was a difficult production and, ultimately, a box office bomb, Carpenter struggled to mirror the success he’d enjoyed in the 80s. There’s no doubt that some of the titles have their supporters: In the Mouth of Madness is a genuinely entertaining nightmare of a movie, and his Showtime anthology Body Bags is enjoyable, if fairly forgettable – save for Carpenter’s extremely amusing performance as our undead host. And while yours truly is not a fan, you can’t deny Escape from L.A. can be considered a guilty pleasure… depending on the sequence, anyway. Lost in the shuffle is Carpenter’s remake of Village of the Damned, the 1960 chiller that was an adaptation of John Wyndham’s novel The Midwich Cuckoos. If there’s one movie in Carpenter’s filmography that hasn’t built up a following of any significance, it’s this one, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth another look – especially for those of us who’ve really only seen it the one time. And on that note, how and why did this remake go awry? Hide the children – especially the white-haired ones – because we’re going to find out just WTF Happened to John Carpenter’s Village of the Damned.
Village of the Damned had been pegged for the remake treatment long before Carpenter got involved. In fact, it was the success of Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1978 that convinced the rights holder, Lawrence Bachmann, that the time was right to remake the film. Bachmann lamented he wasn’t allowed to properly adapt John Wyndham’s novel in the 60s thanks to heavy censorship; in those days you couldn’t even mention impregnation, let alone abortion. Obviously, the remake did not get off the ground at that time, and it would take another decade before it gained some momentum.
The project eventually wound up at Universal Pictures, and found a champion in the executive vice president of the studio, Tom Pollock. In a Variety article from April 1990, it was announced Tom Holland, coming off Child’s Play, was in talks to direct the film. Alas, Holland never stepped behind the camera for it. Another notable name in the genre came in to take the reins: Wes Craven, who’d made several movies with the studio, including Shocker and The People Under the Stairs. While it’s unknown how far advanced the talks were between Craven and Universal, evidently the negotiations fell apart and the director walked away from this particular village.
Around that time, John Carpenter was trying to get his remake of The Creature from the Black Lagoon out of the swamp and into the production at Universal. While there was a script and even creature designs from the legendary Rick Baker, the project stalled at one point and never regained steam. As Carpenter had a deal with Universal, he was still under contract to direct a picture for them. Tom Pollack approached Carpenter with Village of the Damned seeing a natural fit between the creepy material and the filmmaker. Carpenter saw the project in very simple terms, later admitting in an interview that the movie was quote “an obvious choice,” and “a pretty easy movie to make.”
The script given Carpenter was written by David Himmelstein; it was the screenplay Wes Craven was working on before departing. According to Carpenter, the script had deviated greatly from the central ideas in Wyndham’s book and the subsequent 1960 movie. Carpenter found that the screenplay had even gotten rid of the idea that the phenomenon befalling the small town was the result of an alien invasion. In addition, the children were telekinetic in addition to being telepathic, something Carpenter apparently didn’t care for. Carpenter reasoned that there was no need to stray from the source material, and took to re-writing the screenplay himself to bring it closer to its roots.
Ultimately, Carpenter’s movie would end up being an incredibly faithful update of the original – with an interesting twist: Carpenter found that the original film mainly took place from the point-of-view of the male characters, and he thought the new one – understandably – should focus more on the women who suddenly find themselves pregnant and then giving birth to eerie alien children.
Carpenter immediately figured out the perfect location for production: in and around Point Reyes, California, about 50 miles north from San Francisco. Carpenter knew the area well: he had a house there, which he purchased not long after shooting a bulk of The Fog in the town. As the director put it in an interview, “you can stand anywhere, put the camera down and shoot, and you’ve got it.” A few scenes from The Fog and Village of the Damned were even shot on the same block.
Unfortunately, some of the locals didn’t appreciate their private paradise being disturbed by the likes of a Hollywood production. Supposedly, some folks were doing their best to sabotage the filming process, using methods such as firing up lawnmowers or chainsaws nearby while the crew was trying to record sound. Allegedly there were even some break-ins to the equipment trucks. While production continued in the neighborhood until the picture was wrapped, it was a somewhat sour experience for Carpenter, who considered the place his second home.
Cast in the film were Christopher Reeve, having put the Superman cape aside many years earlier; Cheers star Kirsty Alley, more known for her comedic chops at the time than her dramatic ones; Crocodile Dundee’s main squeeze Linda Kozlowski; and Luke Skywalker himself Mark Hamill, making this his second collaboration with Carpenter after appearing in Body Bags.
Obviously the ensemble of children playing the “damned” alien tykes would be crucial to the success of the movie. One young actor who climbed aboard was Thomas Dekker – who would later go on to play John Connor in the Sarah Connor Chronicles and appear in the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Dekker later recalled that during auditions for the part, the other children would go out to play while he would stay behind and attempt to learn his lines. Since his character in the film is something of an outcast thanks to his humanity, Dekker staying away from the other children endeared him to the producers and got him the role.
Playing the main antagonist would be Lindsay Haun, then nine years old. Lindsay recollects auditioning many times for the part, which had its challenges in terms of the language the character speaks. The villainous child has the intellect of a genius, so Lindsay had to grapple with the complicated dialogue which was filled with words and concepts she didn’t understand. Haun would also fondly remember working with Christopher Reeve, who she said treated her like she was a professional on his level, something she always appreciated.
Understandably, aside from having chemistry with each other on the screen, one of the main requirements for the young actors was being able to nail the critical death-stare the children break out whenever they’re ready to inflict some damage. All of the kids auditioned had to give their best death-stare into the camera, and if they were able to properly intimidate, they had a leg up in nabbing the role.
In order to achieve the signature white hair the alien kids rock, all of the children had their hair dyed blonde, then spray-painted white. While several critics would mock what they thought were bad wigs on the young actors, those bleach-blonde locks are the real thing. The kids would even travel around in a group sometimes, freaking out the locals.
To get the children to be in lockstep with each other, as the aliens basically all share the same brain, Carpenter relied on his longtime friend Peter Jason, who’s appeared in They Live and Prince of Darkness for the director. In addition to playing a role in Village of the Damned, it was up to Jason to get his young co-stars on the same wavelength, so that they’d move and react in the exact same way. Jason marched the kids around singing a military-style song, acting as a pseudo-drill instructor for the young cadets until they were one little unit.
Another signature of the alien children is when their eyes glow right before they do something destructive. Initially, Carpenter wanted all of the children to wear black contact lenses, which would then light up via CGI whenever the kids were up to no good. However, it quickly became clear that the contacts were going to be severely uncomfortable for the kids, so the idea was scrapped. Eventually, the eyeball effect was done digitally by Industrial Light and Magic.
Doing practical effects on the film were KNB, the busiest effects house in Hollywood. While creating corpses and gory wounds was nothing special for them, one challenge did present itself for an ambitious yet ill-fated sequence. Soon after the alien babies are born, there was to be a scene where all of the infants stood up by themselves and looked in the same direction, which would certainly be an alarming sight for any parent or nurse. KNB created three animatronic babies for the sight gag and shot them standing up and turning their heads three separate times, as it would all be put together in post-production. But for reasons unknown, the sequence was never completed and left on the cutting room floor. It’s possible Carpenter simply didn’t dig how those fake babies looked.
It would turn out that more scenes were to be trimmed or outright dropped from the film by Universal; one scene involved Thomas Dekker’s empathetic character learning how to play piano, while another saw the alien children lay waste to a group of teenage bullies. The studio apparently meddled with the film in post-production to the extent that Carpenter’s buddy Peter Jason didn’t consider it Carpenter’s film anymore; other actors similarly felt as though large chunks of the movie had gone missing, causing continuity and character problems. While Carpenter remained magnanimous regarding his collaboration with the studio, it would appear as though Village of the Damned‘s issues might be blamed more on Universal than Carpenter.
The studio gave the film an April 28, 1995 release date; considering it had wrapped in November of ’94, there was not a ton of time for post-production work. While the film most likely had plenty of things going against it, no one could have foreseen the tragedy that was about to rock the entire nation: on April 19th, a domestic terrorist’s bomb destroyed a federal building in Oklahoma City. The Village of the Damned crew were actually in New York City doing press for the film when the Oklahoma City bombing happened. Suddenly everyone’s minds were focused on that terrible event, not so much anything at the box office, let alone a movie like Village of the Damned which was grim and violent – not to mention the fact it ends with a barnful of small children exploding.
Village of the Damned opened in fifth place its first weekend and quickly petered out at $9 million domestic, not even coming close to its reported $22 million budget. In an interview many years later, Carpenter admitted he was not passionate about the film and that it was a contractual assignment that he had to do, though he was proud of the performance Christopher Reeve gave in it.
Thankfully for the iconic director, he has a host of better films to his name – everyone is allowed a clunker or two, after all, and when you have a filmography like Carpenter does, a film like Village of the Damned is as rare as having a telepathic alien baby.
A couple of the previous episodes of WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
SAG-AFTRA game actors are currently on strike against some of the biggest companies in the industry over AI, but that won’t impact the most anticipated game of 2025: Grand Theft Auto VI. It’s one of several in-development projects that is exempt from the labor action.
SAG-AFTRA game actors are currently on strike against some of the biggest companies in the industry over AI, but that won’t impact the most anticipated games of 2025: Grand Theft Auto VI. It’s one of several in-development projects that is exempt from the labor action.
If you’ve ever been on the set of a movie or TV show, you know just how boring it can get – there is a lot of standing around and waiting. But what if even when the cameras are rolling you have nothing to do? That was something that the cast of The Office ran into with each episode, having to look like they are actually working the receptionist’s desk or crunching numbers in spreadsheets while others had lines. And they did it by doing what we all do at work: screwing around.
As Jenna Fischer recalled on the Office Ladies podcast – which she co-hosts with Angela Kinsey – John Krasinski set everybody up with online usernames so they could chat with each other while filming was taking place. She noted that her username was receptionitis15, while Kinsey remembered hers being MSaccountant, keeping in line with their professions. We can only imagine what he set up for Rainn Wilson…
But Fischer went a bit farther, staying in touch with The Office fans more than the rest of her cast. “We weren’t just IMing each other either, I would IM with fans during scenes. Remember when we had MySpace? Somehow I would get the IMs of fans through MySpace, and I would write things, and I would say, ‘When you watch the episode ‘Healthcare,’ there’s going to be a scene where Dwight is talking about hot dog fingers, and I’m IMing you during this scene.’” Imagine getting that message from Pam Beesly and anticipating that season three episode – a screenshot and printout of the IM seems worth framing for that Office superfan!
It’s been no secret that the cast of The Office made good use of their background time when filming under the fluorescent lights of Dunder Mifflin– it’s why you see so much computer solitaire being played, especially by Meredith. In the first season, though, the cast’s computers didn’t actually function like that, so they were told by producers to bring in paperwork of any kind to keep – and look – busy.
How do you keep busy at work when you’re not doing work? Don’t worry, we won’t tell your boss.
SPOILER WARNING: This article contains spoilers for both the Deadpool & Wolverine SDCC event and the movie itself. So be warned, bubs!
The San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) is notorious for the surprises it brings every year in late July. There is plenty to be found on the program, but you just never know what will happen – what will be unveiled, who will pop up randomly, which planned event will turn itself on its head…As Marvel returned to Hall H – which has a capacity of over 6,000 – they made good use of their time at SDCC, surprising attendees with a special screening of Deadpool & Wolverine.
Our own Mike Conway was on the scene for the Deadpool & Wolverine SDCC event (yes, he had the Wolverine popcorn bucket), sharing a few pics below. The night also came with a post-screening Q&A panel where the team celebrated the movie coming out. By most accounts, fans really dug the movie, which shouldn’t be a surprise by any means, considering how it has been tracking with audiences.
As you can see from the second pic, the SDCC panel featured Marvel president Kevin Feige, Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy, and stars Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Emma Corrin (Cassandra Nova). Hugh Jackman – whose return as Logan in Deadpool & Wolverine is undoubtedly one of the biggest draws of an already hyped movie – told the SDCC attendees, “We’ve been all around the world with this movie, but the icing on the cake is right here, right now.”
But if you think Deadpool & Wolverine Fivesome would be left hanging without any special guests, you clearly don’t know how SDCC operates! As it turns out, the movie made room for a lot of cameos (some more subtle than others), so if you thought everything was spoiled in the trailers and set leaks, you were still in for plenty of treats…After the screening, Chris Evans (Johnny Storm), Jennifer Garner (Elektra), Wesley Snipes (Blade), Dafne Keen (Laura), and Channing Tatum (a failed Gambit solo movie) all turned up.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Kevin Feige told the SDCC audience that screening Deadpool & Wolverine at SDCC was “the best movie experience in my life.” Feige has indeed been one of the movie’s biggest hypemen – of course, it would be a bad look if he wasn’t, but he comes off genuinely pleased with how the entire project came to be. He, too, hopes that Marvel can help get people into theaters. Right now, that shouldn’t be an issue, as Deadpool & Wolverine is currently tracking around a $170 million opening, which would easily surpass those currently at the top: yes, they are the first two Deadpool movies.
Judging by box office projections, post-SDCC screenings, and your own thoughts on the movie, Deadpool & Wolverine is looking to be just what Marvel fans and the summer needs.
From the creators of Sharknado comes Methgator, a new drug-fueled creature feature with its jaws set on Marvel’s foul-mouthed golden boys of summer, Deadpool & Wolverine. Courtesy of The Asylum, we’re pleased to share the exclusive first look at the brand-new Comic-Con poster for Methgator, which features the narcotic-driven reptile chowing down on Deadpool and Wolverine. I don’t know if they can quip their way out of this one.
In the vein of Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear, the official synopsis reads: “In a 2019 news bulletin, police warned residents to refrain from flushing methamphetamine down the toilet to prevent ‘meth-gators.’ Down in Sweet Water Point, Florida, they didn’t listen.” They never do. The film stars Robbie Rist (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), LaRonn Marzett (Birdie), Vanessa Tamayo (Monster Grizzly), and the one and only Patrick Labyorteaux, who played one of my favourite characters on Little House on the Prairie, Andy Garvey.
Directed by Christopher Ray from a screenplay by Joe Roche and Lauren Pritchard, Methgator will have its own panel at San Diego Comic-Con today at 9:00 p.m. PST in Room 32AB. “Join us for an exciting discussion about METH GATOR, the latest film from The Asylum (producers of Sharknado, Z Nation and Black Summer),” reads the panel description. “Featuring cast and crew, this panel promises exclusive behind-the-scenes insights and an opportunity to pitch your own movie ideas to the Asylum executives.” That sounds like fun. Mega-Tornadoes vs The Apocalypse! Alien: Remus! Transmorphers: Origins! Speedy the Porcupine! Santa Down: The Search for Father Christmas! Sharknado: Multiverse Madness! Let us know some ideas in the comments!
Last year, during Sharknado‘s 10th anniversary, The Asylum put together a fun Barbie-inspired poster to promote the theatrical re-release of the cult favourite movie.
Methgator will be released in theaters and on VOD on August 2nd.
