2025 marks the 40th anniversary of director Stuart Gordon‘s 1985 classic Re-Animator (watch it HERE) – and to celebrate the occasion, Ignite Films is giving Re-Animator a 4K release! There will be four editions of this release – an ultimate limited edition box set, a deluxe edition set, a 4K UHD standard edition, and a Blu-ray standard edition – and all are available for pre-order at THIS LINK. The street date is April 3rd. Ignite Films also screened the 4K restoration for producer Brian Yuzna and stars Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs, and you can find out what they had to say about it in the promo video embedded above.

Directed by Gordon from a screenplay he wrote with Dennis Paoli and William J. Norris (based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft), Re-Animator has the following synopsis: Re-animation, the science of bringing dead creatures back to life, is Herbert West’s dream. West tests his secret life-rejuvenating potion on some cooperative corpses at a local morgue. It’s a success But only a temporary one – as the dead spring to life, reacting violently to their re-animation. Zombies are loose and now West cannot control the very beasts he has re-created. The born-again dead are unstoppable, even severed body parts take on life like so many split worms Herbert West has a serious problem – will he become the first in a new breed of headhunters or all of his woes coming to a head? 

Crampton and Combs are joined in the cast by Bruce Abbott, David Gale, and Robert Sampson.

Ignite Films’ ultimate limited edition box set contains: – 4K UHD-HDR/Blu-ray combo – Re-Animator at 40: A Conversation with Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, and Brian Yuzna – Piece By Piece: Cutting Re-Animator: A New Interview with Editor Lee Percy – The Horror of It All: The Legacy and Impact of Re-Animator – I Give Her Life: A Look Back at Re-Animator: The Musical – Re-Animating a Horror Classic: The 4K Restoration of Re-Animator – The Organic Theater Company of Chicago: A 1977 documentary featuring Stuart Gordon – New 40th anniversary 4K UHD trailer – Integral Version (105 mins) – Isolated Score – Audio commentary with director Stuart Gordon and actors Graham Skipper and Jesse Merlin of Re-Animator: The Musical – Audio commentary with Stuart Gordon – Audio commentary with producer Brian Yuzna, actors Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Bruce Abbott, and Robert Sampson – Re-Animator: Resurrectus: Feature-length documentary on the making of the film featuring extensive interviews with cast and crew – Interviews with director Stuart Gordon and producer Brian Yuzna, writer Dennis Paoli, composer Richard Band and former Fangoria editor Tony Timpone – Music discussion with composer Richard Band – The Catastrophe of Success: Stuart Gordon and The Organic Theater: Director Stuart Gordon discusses his early theater roots and his continued commitment to the stage – Theater of Blood: Re-Animator: The Musical lyricist Mark Nutter on adapting the cult classic for musical theater – Extended scenes – Deleted scene – Trailer & TV Spots – Still Gallery – Barbara Crampton In Conversation: The Re-Animator star sits down with journalist Alan Jones for this career-spanning 2015 interview – A Guide to Lovecraft Cinema: Chris Lackey, host of the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, provides a comprehensive look at the many cinematic incarnations of Lovecraft’s work. – Doug Bradley’s Spinechillers: Herbert West, Re-Animator actor Jeffrey Combs reads H.P. Lovecraft’s original classic story – Newly produced bonus features – Legacy bonus features – 150-page hardcover book featuring new interviews with Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, writer Dennis Paoli, and composer Richard Band. Essays by Scout Tafoya, Kate Rife, Will Sloan, Alex Kittle, and Ben Sachs. Preface by Brian Yuzna. – Dr. Hill Collector’s Bobblehead: A must have for fans! With limited quantities available, this exclusive individually hand painted collectible won’t be restocked once it’s gone. – Collector’s art cards. To find out more, click over to the Ignite Films website.

Will you be buying this 4K release of Re-Animator? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Two years have gone by since we heard that director Steven C. Miller (Silent Night) was heading into production on a werewolf horror film that, at the time, was going by the title Year 2. Earlier this month (on December 6th, to be exact), the film was given a wide theatrical release in the United States under the title Werewolves – and over the holidays, it was also given a VOD release! Werewolves is available to rent on Amazon for the price of $19.99, or purchase for $24.99.

Starring Frank Grillo of the Purge and Captain America franchises, Werewolves shows us that a supermoon event triggered a latent gene in every human on the planet, turning anyone who entered the moonlight into a werewolf for that one night. Chaos ensued and close to a billion people died. Now, a year later, the Supermoon is back.

Grillo is joined in the cast by Katrina Law (NCIS), Ilfenesh Hadera (Godfather Of Harlem), James Michael Cummings (City On The Hill) and Lou Diamond Phillips (Young Guns). Miller directed from a screenplay by Matthew Kennedy (Inheritance).

Miller also produced Werewolves with Myles Nestel, The Solution’s Craig Chapman, Monty the Dog’s James Michael Cummings and Jim Cardwell, Pimiente Films’ Luillo Ruiz, and Sevier Crespo. Grillo serves as executive producer alongside Tom Ortenberg, The Solution’s Lisa Wilson, Rainmaker Films’ Clay Pecorin and Russell Geyser, Burke Management’s Victor Burke and Vanzil Burke, and Sherborne Media’s Gary Raskin and Alastair Burlingham.

Werewolves was released by Briarcliff Entertainment and The Solution Entertainment Group. Myles Nestel, who is co-CEO of The Solution, provided the following statement: “Our cast is incredible, from the amazing Frank Grillo to powerhouse performances from Katrina Law and Ilfenesh Hadera. The use of practical werewolves designed and built by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr (known from the Alien and Predator series) takes the genre back to its roots in a fresh and exciting way. We hope audiences will have as much fun experiencing the film as we had making it!“

Werewolves secured an R rating for violence, some gore, and language. JoBlo’s own Tyler Nichols was a big fan of the film, giving it an 8/10 review that can be read at THIS LINK. Tyler also gave Werewolves an honorable mention on his Best Horror Movies of 2024 list.

Will you be watching Werewolves on VOD? Did you catch the movie on the big screen during its theatrical release? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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The sci-fi thriller Companion is coming our way from writer/director Drew Hancock and the team behind the 2022 horror hit Barbarian, but even though over a year has passed since the project assembled its cast and went into production, we still know very little about it. It has managed to stay shrouded in secrecy all this time – and star Jack Quaid (Scream 2022) has advised potential viewers to avoid the next trailer. We don’t know how he would feel about people watching clips from the film, but a clip has made its way online, and you can check it out in the embed above.

There’s an official synopsis that doesn’t give away anything about the characters or what they’re up to: New Line Cinema—the studio that brought you The Notebook—and the unhinged creators of Barbarian cordially invite you to experience a new kind of love story…

This was included in the press release: Hey you. Tired of swiping? Sick of getting ghosted? Are you feeling like a part of you is missing? FindYourCompanion.com is guaranteed to find you a Companion who’s made for you. Text (978) 878-5683 to Find Your Companion today. You agree 2 recurring msgs from WB’s chatbot re: Companion movie. Sent w/ autodialer. Msg/data rates apply. Consent not req’d to purch. Terms: https://bit.ly/3ZI2vMO; Privacy and contact: https://bit.ly/4gDU9fj.

New Line Cinema went all-in on a partnership with Barbarian (watch it HERE) writer/director Zach Cregger and the film’s producers at BoulderLight Pictures. New Line came out the winner in a bidding war over Cregger’s next film, a mysterious horror project called Weapons. They signed a first look deal with BoulderLight Pictures, tasking the company with developing high concept genre projects for them. And they gave the greenlight to Companion, which is being produced by BoulderLight and Cregger.

Hancock wrote the screenplay for Companion, and Cregger was so impressed by it that he considered making the film his directorial follow-up to Barbarian. Instead, Hancock makes his feature directorial debut with Companion while Cregger focuses on Weapons. In addition to Quaid, the cast of Companion includes Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows), Lukas Gage (You), Megan Suri (Never Have I Ever), Rupert Friend (Asteroid City), and Sophie Thatcher (The Boogeyman). The Hollywood Reporter was able to dig up the fact that Thatcher’s character is “more than meets the eye”. They’ve also heard that Friend’s character doesn’t live up to the actor’s last name.

Details on the plot are being kept completely under wraps, but The Hollywood Reporter heard that the makers of Companion are describing it as being “self-contained”. Hancock’s previous writing credits include episodes of Supah Ninjas, Blue Mountain State, Fred: The Show, Suburgatory, Faking It, Mr. Pickles, and My Dead Ex (which he co-created), as well as the movie Fred 3: Camp Fred. While he has never directed a movie before, he has directed episodes of Acceptable TV and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, as well as a Tenacious D music video.

Cregger is producing Companion with Raphael Margules and J.D. Lifshitz of BoulderLight Pictures, as well as Roy Lee of Vertigo. BoulderLight’s Tracy Rosenblum and Vertigo’s Andrew Childs serve as executive producers.

The Motion Picture Association ratings board has given Companion an R rating for strong violence, sexual content, and language throughout. The film is set to reach theatres on January 31, 2025.

Are you looking forward to Companion? What did you think of the clip? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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2026 will mark the 40th anniversary of the release of the musical fantasy film Labyrinth… and if all goes well, we might be able to celebrate the anniversary with a new film that’s set in the world of the original film. Such a project has been making its way through development hell for several years, and now Jeff Sneider of The InSneider has revealed that he has heard that The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman, and Nosferatu writer/director Robert Eggers has closed a deal to co-write and direct the new Labyrinth film!

This project first started moving forward in 2016, when Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel writer Nicole Perlman signed on to write the screenplay. Fede Álvarez (Alien: Romulus) was hired to direct the film in 2017, and he wrote his own draft of the script with Jay Basu. The script was complete by October 2018… but the project didn’t go into production, and Álvarez dropped out in 2020. That same year, Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange) was hired to direct the film. He wrote his own version of the script with Maggie Levin, and Labyrinth star Jennifer Connelly confirmed that there had been conversations about her being involved in the new movie. In late 2023, Derrickson said he wasn’t sure the project would move forward because it was “so imaginative and surreal” that it might not be commercially viable. He was off the project by early 2024.

The new Labyrinth movie is being produced by Lisa Henson, with The Jim Henson Company’s Brian Henson serving as an executive producer. In February of this year, Lisa Henson told Paste, “We just haven’t been able to get the script right. We’ve had a couple of scripts written, and we’re gonna start over again. We’re gonna start with a new script and a new director so it won’t be anytime soon.“

Now, if Sneider’s sources are correct, it looks like Robert Eggers is the new director who will be working on a new script. Apparently his approach is make a follow-up to Labyrinth rather than a reboot of it, and he’s expected to write the script with someone who has collaborated with him previously – meaning either his brother Max Eggers (The Lighthouse) or poet, novelist, lyricist, and screenwriter Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson, a.k.a. Sjón (The Northman). Sneider thinks the co-writer will be Sjón.

Along with Eggers, producers Chris Columbus and Eleanor Columbus have boarded the project.

Directed by Jim Henson (who also crafted the story with Dennis Lee) from a screenplay by Terry Jones, Labyrinth had the following synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Sarah is given thirteen hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue her baby brother Toby when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King Jareth. Connelly played Sarah, with David Bowie as Jareth.

What do you think of the idea of Robert Eggers directing a Labyrinth follow-up? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

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Each live-action Sonic movie introduces another beloved character from Sega’s speedy platformers to the film universe in a post-credits scene, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is no exception. Though the new addition to Sonic’s growing family of anthropomorphic animals doesn’t have any spoken lines in the movie’s stinger,…

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Each live-action Sonic movie introduces another beloved character from Sega’s speedy platformers to the film universe in a post-credits scene, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is no exception. Though the new addition to Sonic’s growing family of anthropomorphic animals doesn’t have any spoken lines in the movie’s stinger,…

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Fire up your ultra-high-definition televisions and Blu-ray players. One of the spicy films from the 90s’ most notorious screen vixen, Sharon Stone, is getting a new 4K remaster. Blu-ray.com has just revealed that the 1993 thriller, Sliver, which stars Stone, William Baldwin, Tom Berenger, Polly Walker and Colleen Camp. Vinegar Syndrome will be distributing the physical media release and it’s been scheduled to hit retailers on January 28.

The description reads,
“Carly Norris (Sharon Stone, Basic Instinct), a new resident of the chic, high-tech, and ultra-thin (like a sliver) Manhattan apartment building 113, is a divorcee looking for a good time. She finds that in her neighbor Zeke (William Baldwin, Backdraft), a wealthy video game designer-cum-playboy who harbors a dark secret which her other neighbor Jack (Tom Berenger, The Substitute) is all too willing to go into detail on. As Carly navigates her sexual tryst with Zeke and Jack’s increasing paranoia, deaths in 113 begin to pile up as do revelations about the prior tenant in Carly’s apartment, who died under mysterious circumstances.

One of the essential erotic thrillers of the early 90s, from director Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games) and writer Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct, Showgirls), who adapted the novel by Ira Levin (Rosemary’s Baby), SLIVER is a marvelously twisted neo-noir with a supporting cast that includes Colleen Camp (Death Game), Martin Landau (Ed Wood), and CCH Pounder (TV’s The Shield). Photographed by acclaimed Oscar-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and scored by three-time Oscar winner Howard Shore (Silence of the Lambs).”

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM OF THE UNCUT VERSION OF THE FILM, supervised director Phillip Noyce
• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
• “The Skinny on Sliver” (32 min) – an interview with director Phillip Noyce
• “Taking Chances on Sliver” (12 min) – an interview with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas
• “Re-Marks on Sliver” (9 min) – an interview with actress Colleen Camp
• Archival Electronic Press Kit interview clips with Sharon Stone, William Baldwin and Tom Berenger
• Behind-the-scenes footage from the Electronic Press Kit
• Alternate scenes from the R-rated edit
• Still gallery
• Original video trailer
• V spots
• Reversible sleeve artwork
• Optional English SDH subtitles

The post Sharon Stone’s thriller, Sliver, will show all the spicy details in a new 4K Blu-ray in January appeared first on JoBlo.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that frequent collaborators Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan – who have worked on Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever together as director and cast member, and have other collaborations that Coogler didn’t direct – have been developing a new project in secret. Coogler has written the script for this project, which is called Sinners and has been described as both a genre picture and a period piece. The project is set up at Warner Bros., has a budget of around $90 million, and is scheduled for a theatrical release on April 18, 2025 (having moved back from a previously announced March release date). A trailer, which can be seen in the embed above, dropped online a few months ago – and over the holidays, a teaser was unveiled. You can check that one out below.

Directed by Coogler with Jordan playing dual roles, Sinners has the following official synopsis: Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back. “You keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home.” 

This project is being kept so tightly under wraps that when it was looking for a studio to call home, “executives and buyers were forced to make the pilgrimage to the Beverly Hills offices of WME, the agency that represents Coogler and Jordan, in order to take a gander on the script and get details.”

Coogler (who is also developing a reboot of the TV series The X-Files) is producing the film with Proximity Media partners Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian. Rebecca Cho serves as executive producer alongside Will Greenfield and two-time Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Goransson (who won his first Oscar for his work on Coogler’s Black Panther and his second for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer).

Jordan is joined in the cast by Jack O’Connell (Unbroken), Delroy Lindo (Get Shorty), Wunmi Mosaku (Loki), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Omar Benson Miller (CSI: Miami), Jayme Lawson (The Batman), Lola Kirke (Mozart in the Jungle), and Li Jun Li (The Exorcist TV series).

Are you looking forward to Sinners? Let us know by leaving a comment below – and check out this teaser (which made its way online before the release date change) while you’re scrolling down:

The post Sinners: Ryan Coogler & Michael B. Jordan’s vampire movie unveils a new teaser appeared first on JoBlo.

When Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was announced, it felt like a potential triumph for science fiction cinema. With the visionary director Luc Besson at the helm, best known for his beloved sci-fi classic The Fifth Element, audiences were promised an extravagant space odyssey based on a series of groundbreaking French comic books. Besson’s ambitious goal was to build a cosmic saga with cutting-edge visuals, a sprawling narrative, and an impressive budget of nearly $200 million, making it one of the most expensive European films ever made. The movie boasted a star-studded cast including Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, and Rihanna, and it had the look and feel of an epic new chapter in science fiction cinema. However, when Valerian hit theaters in 2017, the results were disappointing. While praised for its groundbreaking visuals and vast world-building, it failed to connect with mainstream audiences and ultimately suffered a massive financial blow.

What exactly went wrong with it? Well, today we’re going to dive nto the making of the film, its inspirations, its marketing, and the factors that led to its struggles both critically and financially.

Valerian and Laureline, the comic series on which Besson’s film is based, is a French science fiction comic series created by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières in 1967. Over the years, it built a significant fan base, celebrated for its imaginative worlds, complex narratives, and the dynamic relationship between its protagonists, Valerian and Laureline. The series’ influence spread across generations, and it was a noted inspiration for Star Wars, Blade Runner, and Besson’s own The Fifth Element.

The idea of adapting Valerian and Laureline for the big screen was something that had lingered with Besson for decades. After the success of The Fifth Element, he felt ready to tackle Valerian, yet the technology necessary to fully realize its universe wasn’t available. It wasn’t until James Cameron’s Avatar in 2009 that Besson saw the potential for CGI to bring his vision to life. In his words, Valerian had to wait for technology to catch up. Fueled by his passion for the material, Besson took the risk of assembling an enormous budget to do justice to the story’s scale and intricacies.

To bring Valerian to life, Besson launched what could be described as a one-man production powerhouse. His company, EuropaCorp, secured the film’s record-breaking $180 million budget through a combination of foreign pre-sales and personal investment. The stakes were high, as Besson’s financial commitment was essentially a personal gamble.

The production design and visual effects were critical. Besson and his team spent an extensive amount of time constructing the City of a Thousand Planets, a massive, intergalactic metropolis inhabited by countless alien species. This world-building required extensive CGI, with teams of visual effects artists working to create over 2,500 VFX shots—more than any other film of its time. Legendary concept artist Jean-Claude Mézières, co-creator of the original comic, was brought on board to help bring the comic’s visuals to life, ensuring fidelity to the source material.

Besson also focused on hiring top-tier talents for the cast and crew. He cast Dane DeHaan as Valerian and Cara Delevingne as Laureline, hoping their chemistry and youthfulness would appeal to modern audiences. However, this casting was a point of contention. Many critics felt DeHaan lacked the charisma needed for a heroic lead, while others argued Delevingne’s Laureline was underutilized. While the supporting cast included names like Clive Owen, Ethan Hawke, and Rihanna, they were given limited screen time, making their roles feel more like cameos than integral parts of the story.

Valerian received high praise for its visual grandeur. The film’s design—from its alien inhabitants to the dazzling digital landscapes—was hailed as a feast for the eyes. Certain sequences, like the opening montage showing Earth’s diplomatic outreach to other species and the market on a desert planet, were seen as extraordinary showcases of technical creativity. However, despite its mesmerizing appearance, the story itself felt hollow for many.

The film’s plot followed Valerian and Laureline, two space agents tasked with investigating a mysterious threat to Alpha, the titular City of a Thousand Planets. Despite the high stakes, many found the plot convoluted and difficult to follow. The script was criticized for its lack of depth, sacrificing character development for spectacle. The chemistry between Valerian and Laureline, a core element of the comics, was subdued. Critics argued that the dialogue was often clunky and that the relationship between the two leads failed to ignite the charm and romantic tension seen in the comics.

Besson’s vision of a grand space opera came across as overly ambitious, with the plot often wandering off in different directions. Moments that could have been emotionally impactful were overshadowed by the emphasis on visual splendor. As a result, the narrative structure felt uneven, with certain scenes dragging while others moved too quickly.

Marketing Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was a challenging task. Though Luc Besson had a loyal following, his name alone was unlikely to attract a mainstream audience, especially in markets like the United States where the Valerian and Laureline comics were relatively unknown. The film’s promotional campaign relied heavily on showcasing its dazzling visuals, yet this emphasis on spectacle may have given audiences the impression that Valerian was all style and little substance.

When Valerian was released in theaters on July 17 2017, it faced stiff competition from other franchises and heavy hitters. The likes of Dunkirk and War for the Planet of the Apes, both of which offered critically acclaimed, character-driven narratives, appealed to a broader audience. Ultimately, Valerian grossed around $225 million worldwide, a number insufficient to cover its extensive production and marketing costs. The lack of name recognition, combined with mixed critical reviews, contributed to its poor performance. The two planned sequels were shelved.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is both a cautionary tale and a celebration of boundless creative ambition. It demonstrates the risks involved when a filmmaker pushes beyond conventional storytelling norms to pursue an artistic vision that defies mainstream sensibilities. For fans of Besson and the Valerian and Laureline comics, the movie remains a unique, albeit flawed, cinematic achievement. Despite its financial shortcomings, Valerian has garnered a cult following for its audacious visual design and distinct style.

Interestingly, in the years following its release, there has been a reevaluation of Valerian’s impact, especially as the hunger for non-franchise science fiction films has grown. Viewers have come to appreciate its risk-taking approach and the dedication to world-building, aspects often absent in the increasingly franchise-dominated landscape of cinema.

In retrospect, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a film that deserves to be remembered for its ambition, if not its execution. Luc Besson’s dream of adapting Valerian was a passion project that ultimately became a testament to the challenges of merging personal vision with commercial demands. Though it stumbled in its narrative and failed to capture the hearts of general audiences, its impact resonates within the realm of sci-fi cinema, celebrated for its boldness and visual artistry. While the question of “what happened to Valerian” will likely endure, so will its legacy as a film that dared to dream big and, even if it faltered, left an indelible mark on the genre.

The post What Happened to Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets? appeared first on JoBlo.

Marvel’s latest Disney+ animated series is called Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and it’s another origin story for the webcrawler, but with one brings some hefty changes with it as it explores an alternate history that exchanges Tony Stark’s tutelage for a mentoring Norman Osborne. The first trailer is full of…

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