Paramount took to social media to announce that production has begun on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and no one looks more thrilled than Paul Giamatti. The Academy Award-nominated actor is a big Star Trek fan and is set to play the main villain of the series. You can catch him in the image below throwing up the double Vulcan salute with his fellow cast members outside the Star Trek Stage at Pinewood Studios in Toronto.

Taking place in the 32nd-century era of Star Trek: Discovery, Starfleet Academy will follow a new class of Starfleet cadets as they come of age in one of the most legendary places in the galaxy. The series stars Kerrice Brooks (My Old Ass), Bella Shepard (Wolf Pack), George Hawkins (Tell Me Everything), Karim Diané (One Of Us Is Lying), Zoë Steiner (Significant Others), and Sandro Rosta (Snitches Get Stitches). The cast also includes Holly Hunter (The Incredibles) as the captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy. There will also be a few familiar faces. Tig Notaro, Oded Fehr, and Mary Wiseman will be reprising their Discovery roles of Jett Reno, Admiral Vance, and Slyvia Tilly, respectively. Additionally, Robert Picardo will be playing the Doctor, reprising the role in live-action for the first time since Star Trek: Voyager.

I’m very excited to see what Paul Giamatti will bring to Starfleet Academy, particularly as he’s such a big fan of the franchise. During the Star Trek Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con, franchise producer Alex Kurtzman spoke about how wonderful it felt to have “one of the greatest actors in the world” want to come join them. They gave Giamatti a few options for possible roles as they didn’t think he’d have much time in his schedule, but the actor wanted the full experience. “We thought it was going to be one episode because his schedule is so busy, and he was like, ‘No, I want to play the villain,’” Kurtzman said. “And we’re like, ‘That’s the whole season,” and he said, “Great, let’s do it.’“

We’ve got plenty of Star Trek to look forward to in addition to Starfleet Academy, including a third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (with a fourth season already ordered), the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks, the Section 31 movie starring Michelle Yeoh, and a live-action comedy series in development from Justin Simien and Tawny Newsome.

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Francis Ford Coppola told Rolling Stone that he didn’t want Megalopolis to be looked upon as “some woke Hollywood production,” which is why the cast includes a few controversial actors.

Megalopolis features a sprawling ensemble cast, which includes Jon Voight, noted for his conservative views and being a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, as well as Shia LaBeouf, who has been accused of sexual assault. “What I didn’t want to happen is that we’re deemed some woke Hollywood production that’s simply lecturing viewers,” Coppola said. “The cast features people who were canceled at one point or another. There were people who are archconservatives and others who are extremely politically progressive. But we were all working on one film together. That was interesting, I thought.“

Coppola did add that things were tense between himself and LaBeouf. “Shia [LaBeouf] really took to it,” Coppola said. “I had no experience working with him prior to this, but he deliberately sets up a tension between himself and the director to an extreme degree. He reminds me of Dennis Hopper, who would do something similar, and then you’d say, ‘Just go do anything,’ and then they go off and do something brilliant.“

A new trailer for Megalopolis was released last week, but it was pulled just hours later when it became apparent that the quotes from negative reviews of Coppola’s previous movies, such as The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, had been faked. “Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis,” said a Lionsgate spokesperson. “We offer our sincere apologies to the critics involved and to Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope for this inexcusable error in our vetting process. We screwed up. We are sorry.“

The official synopsis for Megalopolis reads: “Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.” The film is currently slated to hit theaters on September 27th.

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Mike Flanagan has been one of my favourite horror directors in recent years, but could he take his spooky talents to the DC Universe? There have been rumblings that Flanagan could be taking a DC gig. While nothing has been announced, the filmmaker told the crowd at Fan EXPO Canada that he’d be down to join the team.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of James Gunn as a person and filmmaker, and that is a universe that I would absolutely love to be a part of,” Flanagan said. Some fans have pointed to Flanagan hanging with DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran at the Paris Olympics (with a number of other DC folks in attendance) as evidence that something is in the works, but we’ll have to wait and see.

It was reported last year that Flanagan had pitched a Clayface movie to Warner Bros. There weren’t many details, only that the project wouldn’t depict the character as a straight-up villain. In response, Flanagan clarifed that the Clayface news was “entirely speculative” and that “when or if something like that ever becomes real, I promise I’ll tell you guys.” It’d be interesting to see what Flanagan could do in the DC Universe, particularly as the franchise does have a lot of horror-centric characters.

However, before Mike Flanagan gets involved in any potential DC project, he’s set to take the helm of another major franchise: The Exorcist. It was announced earlier this year that Flanagan had signed a deal to write, direct, and produce what is being described as a “radical new take” on the Exorcist franchise. While it will still be set in the Exorcist universe, the project will not be a sequel to The Exorcist: Believer. “The Exorcist is one of the reasons I became a filmmaker, and it is an honor to have the chance to try something fresh, bold and terrifying within its universe,” Flanagan said in a statement. “Reuniting with my friends at Blumhouse, with whom I’ve made some of my favorite pieces of work, only makes this more exciting.” The last installment of the franchise, The Exorcist: Believer, was intended to be the first of a new trilogy (The Exorcist: Deceiver had even been given a 2025 release date), but the lacklustre box office and scathing reviews forced the studio to rethink its plans.

Which DC project could you see Mike Flanagan directing?

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A new report claims that Crash Bandicoot 5 was greenlit by Activision, but was then canceled very early in development due to Crash 4 selling poorly and the publisher wanting to focus more on live-service titles, like Call of Duty: Warzone. Interestingly, this game would have seen the wumpa-fruit-loving marsupial…

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A new report claims that Crash Bandicoot 5 was greenlit by Activision, but was then canceled very early in development due to Crash 4 selling poorly and the publisher wanting to focus more on live-service titles, like Call of Duty: Warzone. Interestingly, this game would have seen the wumpa-fruit-loving marsupial…

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A Lego replica of the iconic church where Aerith tends her flowers in Final Fantasy VII recently sold for a shockingly high amount at auction. The Square Enix giveaway fetched $12,500 over the weekend as fans bid over the rare collectible.

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A Lego replica of the iconic church where Aerith tends her flowers in Final Fantasy VII recently sold for a shockingly high amount at auction. The Square Enix giveaway fetched $12,500 over the weekend as fans bid over the rare collectible.

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Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater might not have a release date yet, but Konami has released some new screenshots of the upcoming remake and the game looks awesome.

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Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater might not have a release date yet, but Konami has released some new screenshots of the upcoming remake and the game looks awesome.

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Black Myth: Wukong is taking over on PC at the moment, propelling Steam to new heights as players flock to the old-school feeling action game. The fan mods are already flooding in as a result, and it was only a matter of time before Dragon Ball Z’s Goku became a playable hero in the spiritually-linked fantasy tale.

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