The Pokémon trading card game (PTCG) is in a really big mess. And once again, it’s because it has become too popular for its own good. Because if you were hoping to pick up some product from the forthcoming Prismatic Evolutions special sets, well, good luck to you. And March’s just-announced Journey Together set?…
The comedy improv game show Whose Line is it Anyway? became a big hit in the States in the late 90s. So much so that ABC was confident enough to put up against the sitcom juggernaut Friends at one point. The show continued on with a revival on The CW, but some audiences may remember its origin in the UK that was shown on the BBC, which also played on Comedy Central before it was remade on this side of the pond. One of the standout comedians in the UK version was British comedian Tony Slattery. Deadline is now reporting that Slattery has died at the age of 65 due to a heart attack.
His passing would be confirmed by his family to the BBC. His partner, Mark Michael Hutchinson, would release a statement that reads, “It is with great sadness we must announce actor and comedian Tony Slattery, aged 65, has passed away today, Tuesday morning, following a heart attack on Sunday evening.” Slattery is survived by Hutchinson, who was his partner for more than three decades.
American audiences may be familiar with the Whose Line cast, which includes Ryan Stiles, Colin Mocherie, Brad Sherwood and Greg Proops. These cast members would also appear in the original Whose Line incarnation, which was hosted by English chat show host Clive Anderson. For those who are familiar with the performers’ talent at improv, Slattery was a comedian who could match his wits with them in every chaotic scenario in any given game. He was a frequent “host” of the Party Quirks segment, where his confusion from the other performers’ prompts would elicit large laughs from the audience. Slattery had appeared on Britain’s version of Whose Line is it Anyway? for seven seasons.
Slattery was on a path to success as he joined the comedy Footlights group when he attended Cambridge University and eventually became the president. He would work with notable names in that group, which included Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson. Slattery would break into TV work on shows like O.T.T., Saturday Stayback and also went on to appear on a number of panel shows before becoming a regular performer on Whose Line is it Anyway? He also made appearances in films like The Crying Game, To Die For, Peter’s Friends, The Wedding Tackle and How to Get Ahead in Advertising.
The comedian had also garnered an Olivier Award nomination for Best Comedy Performance, thanks to his role as Gordon in Tim Firth’s Neville’s Island. Slattery had recently been touring with a comedy show and hosting a podcast, Tony Slattery’s Rambling Club.
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On January 1, 2024, the earliest versions of Mickey Mouse – seen in the animated shorts Plane Crazy, The Gallopin’ Gaucho, and most famously Steamboat Willie – became public domain… which, of course, means we’re now going to get multiple horror movies that feature characters inspired by Mickey Mouse. Within the first three days of the year, we saw the short film The Vanishing of S.S. Willie, a trailer for the slasher movie Mickey’s Mouse Trap, and an announcement that Terrifier 2 producers Steven Della Salla and Michael Leavy and director Steven LaMorte, who previously made the Grinch-inspired horror movie The Mean One, were teaming up for a Steamboat Willie-inspired horror flick that we now know is titled Screamboat. The film had been aiming for a January 2025 release, but now Iconic Events Releasing has announced (through Variety) that they’ll be releasing it sometime in April – and while doing so, they revealed an image of the killer Steamboat Willie / Mickey Mouse! You can check it out at the bottom of this article.
David Howard Thornton, who plays Art the Clown in the Terrifier films and brought the horror version of the Grinch to life in The Mean One, is playing the horror version of Steamboat Willie in Screamboat. Thornton is joined in the cast by Allison Pittel (Stream), Amy Schumacher (The Mean One), Jesse Posey (Teen Wolf), Jesse Kove (Cobra Kai), Rumi C Jean-Louis (Hightown), Jarlath Conroy (George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead), and Charles Edwin Powell (The Exorcist III). Filming is set to take place this summer, and the press release promises the movie will “feature a number of yet-to-be-announced cameo appearances.”
Screamboat will tell the story of a mischievous mouse that stalks a group of New Yorkers on a late night ferry ride, unleashing murderous mayhem on a relaxing commute. Can the ship’s motley crew of travelers find a way to stop a killer creature who has developed a taste for tourists? A previous press release told us LaMorte and the producers are “promising buckets of blood and unhinged chaos as their miniature mouse attacks a group of ferry commuters against the unmistakable backdrop of New York City’s iconic skyline. Screamboat will feature a mix of practical creature effects, miniatures, and cutting edge virtual production to showcase its very mischievous monster slashing his way through a ferry of fear.”
LaMorte is producing Screamboat with Amy Schumacher, Martine Melloul, and the previously mentioned Steven Della Salla and Michael Leavy. Kali Pictures, Sleight of Hand Productions, Reckless Content, and Julien Didon serve as executive producers. The director provided the following statement: “I’m thrilled to be working on Screamboat with such a killer cast from horror legends to comedy icons. David Howard Thornton is bringing our mischievous and murderous take on Steamboat Willie to life like never before. I can’t wait for audiences to laugh and scream with us onboard Screamboat!“ Thornton added: “I’m beyond excited to join this incredible cast and bring Steamboat Willie to life with a horror twist. Screamboat is going to be a horrific and hilarious big screen thrill ride that fans won’t want to miss.“
Speaking with Variety, LaMorte said, “I’m so excited to share our mischievous monster mouse with the world. Screamboat is my way of paying homage to Disney while putting a sinister, yet comedic twist on the classic. Watching David Howard Thornton bring Steamboat Willie to life with the magicians at Quantum Creation FX has been nothing short of amazing — he’s hilarious and murderously entertaining. I can’t wait for audiences to meet Willie and experience the chaos we’ve created.” Variety notes that the practical effects used to transform Thornton into the murderous mouse were designed by Christian Cordella and built by Quantum Creation.
While we wait for Iconic Events Releasing to confirm the specific release date for Screamboat, Variety has been able to learn that several pre-screening events will take place across the U.S. before we reach the April release date, and the movie will also be promoted at various horror conventions.
Are you looking forward to Screamboat? Take a look at the image of the killer mouse, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
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“Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” The iconic line has been said by countless people, but not once has Michael Shannon delivered it on SNL. That would seem just about right, but as it turns out, Shannon isn’t against the idea of hosting should Lorne Michaels ever actually ask.
Michael Shannon recently sat down for Interview alongside Austin Butler (who hosted SNL in 2022), with the latter saying that Jeff Nichols (a frequent Shannon collaborator who recently directed both men in The Bikeriders) told him he was an excellent improviser, thus making him a good fit for Saturday Night Live. But as Shannon pointed out, “They have never asked me…They’ve never asked me once…I mean, at this point, I’m like, there’s a statute of limitations, man. If I did do it, I’d have to bitch about how long it took for them to ask me to do it. But yeah, I’d do it.” For what it’s worth, Shannon has no relation to former SNL cast member Molly Shannon, so so much for that in.
Michael Shannon also noted that his Chicago ties (he grew up around the ‘burbs) might lend to an SNL gig. “I mean, I know so many people that have been on that show, and I came up acting in Chicago. My theater that I’m a member of is a block away from Second City, and we all used to go to the same bar, all them improv folks.” Remember, Shannon made his big screen debut in Groundhog Day alongside SNL alum Bill Murray…but we see him more excited for WrestleMania tickets than hosting Saturday Night Live. If he did get the job, Shannon could even double up his duties and also serve as musical guest, as he plays in an R.E.M. cover band.
You might not immediately think of comedy — let alone SNL — when you think of Michael Shannon (maybe it’s the face or menacing voice?) but the guy has popped up in movies like The Night Before and They Came Together and you get a pretty good idea that he’s got the chops. He could definitely play off of his trademark style in some sketches, too.
Do you think Michael Shannon would make a good SNL host?
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Last year, we learned that Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation director David F. Sandberg would be re-teaming with Annabelle: Creation screenwriter Gary Dauberman for a movie based on the horror video game Until Dawn. Production began in August, wrapping in October, and the film is aiming for an April 25, 2025 theatrical release. A trailer is expected to make its way online soon – but in the meantime, a teaser video has been released that mixes footage from the film with interview clips where Sandberg and Dauberman explain their approach to the material. You can check it out in the embed above.
As The Hollywood Reporter previously noted, first released in 2015, Until Dawn is an interactive horror video game that follows eight friends and frenemies who are brought together a remote mountain retreat. With live or die scenarios featuring a mysterious killer, cannibalistic wendigos, a cable car, and a long-ago mining cave-in that reverberates into the present day, the members of the group must fight through their fear if they all hope to make it through the night in one piece. The game proved to be a surprise hit with critics and received numerous gaming awards nominations.
Sandberg and Dauberman haven’t revealed what exactly will be going on in their movie version of Until Dawn, but the project is described as being an “R-rated love letter to the horror genre, centering on an ensemble cast.” Dauberman’s script is a rewrite of a previous draft by Blair Butler, who wrote the vampire movie The Invitation.
Until Dawn is set up at Sony’s Screen Gems, where Dauberman has a first-look deal as part of the plan to “rebuild Screen Gems, Sony’s division focused on lower-budgeted fare, into a more productive label, with horror being a top focus.” Dauberman is producing the film through his company Coin Operated while Sandberg and Lotta Losten produce through their Mångata shingle. Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan are also producing. Ashley Brucks and Michael Bitar are overseeing the project for Screen Gems.
The film’s cast includes Ella Rubin of The Idea of You and the upcoming Fear Street: Prom Queen, Odessa A’zion of the recent Hellraiser reboot and the sitcom Fam, Michael Cimino of Love, Victor and Annabelle Comes Home, and Ji-young Yoo of Expats and Smoking Tigers. His fellow new additions are Belmont Cameli of Along for the Ride and Saved by the Bell and Maia Mitchell of The Fosters and Good Trouble. Peter Stormare (Fargo, John Wick: Chapter 2) is also in there, presumably reprising his role from the video game.
Are you looking forward to the Until Dawn movie? Take a look at the teaser video, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
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Jonathon Rees, better known by his stage name, Greg Ellis, was the voice behind Dragon Age’s fan-favorite templar knight and romanceable NPC companion, Cullen Rutherford. He was arrested last week on multiple charges of coercion, unlawful surveillance, and harassment stemming from a 2022 breakup after which he…
Jonathon Rees, better known by his stage name, Greg Ellis, was the voice behind Dragon Age’s fan-favorite templar knight and romanceable NPC companion, Cullen Rutherford. He was arrested last week on multiple charges of coercion, unlawful surveillance, and harassment stemming from a 2022 breakup after which he…
NFL tight end Travis Kelce is going into the playoffs with the Kansas City Chiefs, hoping to make another appearance at the biggest sports event of the year with a three-peat run. Kelce’s fame exceeds football [thanks in part to a very public relationship with pop star Taylor Swift] as he crosses over into acting projects. He has already hosted Saturday Night Live, made an appearance in Ryan Murphy’s latest horror show, Grotesquerie, and he even hosts the game show Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? However, later this year, Kelce is set to make an appearance in Adam Sandler’s upcoming sequel Happy Gilmore 2.
According to Deadline, Kelce recently appeared on The Pat McAfee Show, where he was asked about working on the legacy sequel with Sandler. Kelce said,
That was a dream come true. I thought SNL was going to be the peak of my acting and showman or entertainment career … working with Happy Gilmore himself, the Sandman and Happy Productions, it was off the chain.”
He continued on to say, “They’re so professional and yet so fun to work with. I felt like I was working with like the [Chiefs coach] Andy Reid of the acting world. [Sandler] is every bit as cool off the screen as he is on the screen. That was a dream come true. That was awesome.” The tight end revealed that he was able to squeeze that project in during a Chiefs bye week and said that he’s in “a few scenes” and has “got a pretty hefty load.”
Adam Sandler is no stranger to working with athletes in his movies. Last year, he talked about working with the Chiefs star when he appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, “We have a nice something for Travis. He’s gonna come by.” Sandler continues to profess, “He’s a very nice guy. You guys would love him in real life. What a big, handsome guy. Funny and cool as hell. He’s a stud and he’s so funny.”
Kelce is also reportedly about to try his hand at action movies in the film Loose Cannons, from the creative team behind the John Wick franchise. The concept of the film “centers on how every police precinct, at least in this movie’s world, has a crazy, out of control, rule-breaking officer on staff. But rather than pair them with a straight arrow and by-the-book partner, the premise here is that an unhinged person is paired with someone just as out of line as they are. In Cannons, two loose cannons are forced to partner up after their precincts merge due to budget cuts and no one wants to work with them. The duo end up taking on the cases no one else can. The script is described as having tones of Lethal Weapon, Bad Boys and Rush Hour, all landmarks in the buddy action comedy genres.”
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PLOT: Wendy Darling strikes out in an attempt to rescue her brother Michael from ‘the clutches of the evil Peter Pan.’ Along the way she meets Tinkerbell, who will be seen taking heroin, believing that it’s pixie dust.
REVIEW: It’s always very ambitious for a franchise to announce its plans way ahead of time. It certainly has bit Marvel on the butt, but if you’re going to parody their release schedule, you have to do things full bore. And I think most of us at least chuckled when the Poohniverse was announced. So smack dab in the middle of their release lies Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, a horror take on the J.M. Barrie classic. And it’s a hell of a lot darker than expected.
Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is a very dark and twisted take on Peter Pan as he sucks the souls out of children to remain youthful. We’ve got all the Pan regulars like Peter, Tinker Bell, Michael and Wendy Darling, as well as plenty of others to be used for fodder. Peter abducts Michael and Wendy must try and save him before he winds up like so many other kids in town. Peter DeSouza-Feighoney‘s delivered a great performance in 2023’s The Pope’s Exorcist, so it’s great to see him return to the genre. Despite his age, he brings a strength to Michael that feels like he can take on Peter. Megan Placito‘s Wendy is also clearly set up to be someone important in this universe and she’s great. If anything, I wish the film was more of a two-hander with these two.
Martin Portlock‘s Peter Pan performance is quite interesting but mostly because of the amalgamation of other characters that it feels like. He’s doing a bit of Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise and Heath Ledger’s Joker and it feels inconsistent from moment to moment. Hell, there’s a direct visual parody of the “Pennywise Meets Georgie” moment in the sewer. Only the sewer is replaced by an Evil Dead-style cellar door. He’s easily the most interesting character in the film but he just feels like he’s painting in strokes we’ve already seen long worn. And it doesn’t help that his accent comes and goes from moment to moment. Even still, I really enjoyed his chaotic energy and look forward to seeing more of him.
The Poohniverse take on Tinker Bell is certainly something. She’s an old lady who is essentially a junkie for Pixie Dust. She’s also in a very abusive partnership with Peter, who physically assaults her when she doesn’t fall in line. It’s all so depressing that anytime she’s on screen, it just brings down the mood. I couldn’t believe that they were so adamant about making a serious Peter Pan horror film. Even the acting in Neverland Nightmare is surprisingly competent, with no jarring performances like some of the past films. Oddly though, this almost feels like a mark against it, as hammy acting is essentially a staple of this style of movie.
Anything involving children can make for tough subject matter, so the decision to put child murder at the forefront is a bit iffy. I suppose I thought this series was going to be all about teen death and moral lessons, like many slasher films. But instead, the filmmakers decided to excise the fun and go for darkly disturbing and the story at play just doesn’t allow for that. This is evil Peter Pan. Even just saying that is enough to elicit a chuckle so why not just continue down that path versus trying to subvert expectations?
As far as the look of the film, I’ve always been impressed with the cinematography of these films. Despite their miniscule budgets, the filmmakers clearly know what they’re doing. But this one is less colorful and decidedly more bleak in its presentation. We also don’t get some of the fun set design of Blood and Honey, as most of the sets here are simply worn down houses. At least the opening animation is a big improvement. Most horror fans will be showing up the for the gore, and they’re still sure to kill off plenty of characters in brutal ways. There’s less in terms of quantity, but the quality of the kills feels ramped up. Even still, I found myself let down by the “wallow in this character’s misery” approach to them. But the practical effects still go hard.
Unfortunately, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare didn’t really give me what I want from this series: fun. The biggest difference between the two Blood and Honey’s was this sense of schlocky entertainment. They’ve gotten rid of that in favor of trying to tell a darker story. But this is still a horror movie based on the Peter Pan IP and that alone brings an inherent silliness. I’m worried about the direction of the rest of the Poohniverse and hope they can course correct yet again. Or maybe this series is just becoming something that I don’t jive with. Either way, here’s hoping it can find its audience as Chambers and company at least appear to be making an effort on these public domain titles. Which is more than can be said for others. And even if it’s not for me, I’ll take effort over greed any day of the week.
From Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare arrives in theaters for three days only starting January 13, 2025 until January 15, 2025 only from Iconic Events Releasing. Buy your tickets now at Iconic Events.
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Stanley Tucci was there for the beginnings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing Abraham Erskine in Captain America: The First Avenger. The character was the scientist who created the Super Soldier Serum, and Tucci told Variety that he still considers Dr. Erskine to be one of the greatest roles he’s ever had.
“I loved ‘Captain America: The First Avenger,’ it was one of the greatest roles and jobs I’ve ever had,” Tucci said. “I was there for three weeks and had a wonderful time, and I also loved playing that character. I was cast as a 70-year-old man at the age of 50, so that was disturbing, but that’s all right; I was flattered and insulted at the same time.“
Although Dr. Erskine was killed shortly after giving Steve Rogers the Super Soldier Serum, Tucci did return to voice the character in several episodes of Marvel’s What If…?.
Tucci was most recently seen starring alongside Ralph Fiennes and John Lithgow in Conclave. Directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), the film follows “one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events – selecting the new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake, secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church.“
The film has proven to be quite popular, landing on numerous top 10 lists, but Tucci confessed that he was “shocked at the diversity of the audience. Also, this is a very adult film. But it’s not pretentious. It simply shows you what’s happening. And these people are making it happen or failing and fumbling to make it happen, and I think that’s why people like it.” Our own Chris Bumbray was a big fan of Conclave, calling it “phenomenally entertaining and has a knockout ending that should generate a lot of talk. It’s one to watch for and seems like an Oscar contender.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.
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