Are you ready for a Holes TV series? No? Well, that’s too damn bad! According to Variety, a TV series based on the best-selling book by Louis Sachar has been ordered to pilot at Disney+.

The original Holes novel follows “the story of Stanley Yelnats, an unlucky boy who is sent to a juvenile detention camp for a crime he did not commit. Now incarcerated at Camp Green Lake, Stanley is forced to spend his days digging holes in a dry lake bed. But as the story unfolds, Stanley discovers that both his own story and the story of his family are more connected to Camp Green Lake than he could have ever imagined.” The book was previously adapted into a feature film in 2003, which starred Shia LaBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, Henry Winkler, Patricia Arquette, Jon Voight, and Tim Blake Nelson.

In this new TV series reimagining, “a teenage girl is sent to a detention camp where the ruthless Warden forces the campers to dig holes for a mysterious purpose.“

Drew Goddard will executive produce through his Goddard Textiles banner alongside Sarah Esberg. “My mom’s been a schoolteacher for her whole life and, as such, she’s served as a de facto book scout for Goddard Textiles,” Goddard said. “She always knows what ‘the kids’ are into long before everyone else does.  ‘Holes’ was the first book she suggested to me – this was back in the late ‘90s – and she was positive it was going to be a phenomenon.  It feels good to bring it full circle for Mrs. Goddard and her sixth grade class.” Alina Mankin (Lodge 49) will serve as writer and executive producer on the series, with Liz Phang (Yellowjackets) set as showrunner and executive producer. “They’ve done a wonderful job capturing Louis Sachar’s unique spirit,” Goddard said. “To say much more about what they have in store would spoil all the fun.“

Goddard’s next major project is the next installment of The Matrix franchise, which he will write, direct, and produce. Despite his mysterious social media post, Will Smith won’t be starring in the new film.

The post Holes TV series being developed for Disney+ appeared first on JoBlo.

There’s a reboot of the classic Universal Monsters property The Wolf Man coming our way from Blumhouse Productions and The Invisible Man (2020) director Leigh Whannell, aiming for a January 17, 2025 theatrical release – and while there has been some uncertainty about this one, as fans have been underwhelmed by the glimpses we’ve seen of a Wolf Man design, a SPOILERy clip has now dropped online to show us exactly what the film’s primary wolf man looks like. You can check it out in the embed above.

The leads of this version of Wolf Man are Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom were in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene. Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Garner is playing his wife. Sam Jaeger is also in the cast, along with child actress Matilda Firth, playing a character named Ginger: “Female, 10 years old, white. Blake and Charlotte’s daughter. Smart, precocious, and strong. When her family decides to leave the city for a quieter life in a remote area, she faces her biggest fear, the possibility of losing one or both of her parents forever.”

When Wolf Man was first announced in 2020, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and in fact, it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. (Blum also happens to be married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.) At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.

Whannell first signed on to direct the film in 2020, but dropped out the following year. That’s when Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Gosling and Cianfrance both stepped away from Wolf Man early last year… and then Whannell came back. A collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, Wolf Man is being produced by Jason Blum. Gosling receives an executive producer credit alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell.

The Wolf Man reboot was recently given an R rating for bloody violent content, grisly images and some language. This isn’t the first time a reboot of The Wolf Man has been given an R rating, as the 2010 reboot that was directed by Joe Johnston and starred Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, and Emily Blunt was also rated R, for bloody horror violence and gore.

What do you think of the film’s wolf man design? Share your thoughts on this SPOILER clip by leaving a comment below.

The post SPOILER: Wolf Man clip reveals exactly what the reboot’s wolf man looks like appeared first on JoBlo.

For eight seasons and 96 episodes, from 2006 to 2013, the series Dexter ran on Showtime, telling the story of Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who is also a vigilante serial killer. Clyde Phillips was showrunner on Dexter for the first four seasons, and in 2021 he and Showtime brought us the revival series Dexter: New Blood… which, for a time, also seemed to be the end of it all. But that’s not the case. Showtime has tasked Phillips with continue to build up the Dexter franchise, with the prequel series Dexter: Original Sin premiering last month and a New Blood follow-up called Dexter: Resurrection heading for a June premiere. In recent months, I have been making my way through Dexter (I’m about to wrap up season 7), and one of my favorite characters on the show is Angel Batista, played by David Zayas – so I’m very glad to see that Deadline has reported (and the official Dexter X account has confirmed) that Zayas will be reprising the role of Batista on Dexter: Resurrection, where he will be a series regular! Jack Alcott and James Remar have also been cast as series regulars, with Alcott reprising his Dexter: New Blood role of Dexter’s son Harrison and Remar returning as Dexter’s adoptive father Harry Morgan.

Michael C. Hall played Dexter Morgan in the original series and Dexter: New Blood, and also provides the in-character narration for Dexter: Original Sin. He’s back in the lead for Dexter: Resurrection, and Chris McCarthy, Paramount Global co-CEO and president/CEO, Showtime & MTV Entertainment Studios said in a statement, “We are thrilled to have the brilliant Michael C. Hall reprise his iconic role as Dexter Morgan in Showtime’s most successful series ever… While Dexter: Resurrection will appeal to the tens of millions of longtime fans, Dexter: Original Sin will introduce a whole new generation of viewers into this iconic series by starting from the beginning, which is sure to satisfy existing audiences as well.”

Dexter: Resurrection begins filming this month. A Showtime Studios and Counterpart Studios production, the show is being executive produced by Clyde Phillips, Michael C. Hall, Scott Reynolds, Tony Hernandez, and Lilly Burns. Marcos Siega is the producing director. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Are you glad to hear that David Zayas, Jack Alcott, and James Remar will be series regulars on Dexter: Resurrection? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

The post David Zayas, Jack Alcott, and James Remar are Dexter: Resurrection series regulars appeared first on JoBlo.

As part of his comeback tour, embattled actor Armie Hammer is ready to gear up and dole out some justice as the star of Uwe Boll‘s latest feature, The Dark Knight. Principal photography for Boll’s vigilante thriller begins in Croatia on January 27, with Hammer eager to step into the scene.

According to Variety, The Dark Knight is based on an original script by Boll, with Hammer playing Sanders, “who takes justice into his own hands as he sets out to hunt down criminals. While his crusade transforms him into a social media sensation and a hero in the eyes of the public, the local police chief sees him as a menace to society and aims to take him down.”

“The story of ‘The Dark Knight’ couldn’t be a more current topic, and I’m excited to bring it to life with this excellent cast,” said Boll about his latest endeavor.

The Dark Knight is an interesting choice for Armie Hammer, who recently said his career is experiencing an upswing, so much so that he must turn some offers away because he’s so busy. Hammer is fighting his way back from allegations of sexual misconduct, including rumors that his sexual kinks have resulted in cannibalism. While Hammer was cleared of the charges, stories about his personal life continued to spread like wildfire, damaging his Hollywood ties and leading man status.

The Dark Knight is Uwe Boll’s 37th film after unleashing features of varying quality like Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, Postal, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Story, and more. Boll recently wrapped his latest project, a thriller called Run. In Run, a group of desperate migrants reach the Italian coast after a perilous Mediterranean journey, impacting locals and tourists in a small coastal town. Boll directed and wrote Run, with Amanda Plummer, Kristen Renton, and James Russo taking the lead roles.

Armie Hammer’s latest effort, Frontier Crucible, is in post-production. The Travis Mills-directed Western also stars William H. Macy and Thomas Jane and tells the story of a former soldier with a tragic past who is thrown into an uneasy alliance with three outlaws, a beautiful woman, and her injured husband to battle the harsh elements and hostiles in a desperate bid for survival in the Arizona of the 1870s.

Are you ready for Armie Hammer to come back to the spotlight? Is working with Uwe Boll the right move? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

The post Armie Hammer is taking justice into his own hands as the lead in Uwe Boll’s vigilante thriller The Dark Knight appeared first on JoBlo.

Last year, we learned that Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation director David F. Sandberg is 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. Fans have been wondering how closely the film is going to follow the video game source material – and now it has been revealed that the movie actually has a brand new story and fresh characters.

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.

During a CES 2025 presentation, Stormare said (with thanks to IGN for the transcription), “I have been lucky to be part of Until Dawn since the original, incredible, super terrifying game, and what’s why I’m so excited to be part of this film, because the whole thing is a love letter to horror, and it completely honors the spirit of the game. The movie is going to be full of fresh characters and victims in a brand new story loaded with twists, so whether you’re a longtime fan or discovering it for the first time, get ready for Until Dawn like you’ve never seen it before.“

Brucks added, “The key to successful adapting these games comes down to one thing: respecting the source material. Our close collaboration with PlayStation Productions gives us and our filmmakers the advantage of working directly with the creators of the game. It’s a careful balance of trying to identify and incorporate what the fans love about the game and the experience as well as offering something fresh and exciting to entice newcomers. In adapting Until Dawn, filmmaker David F. Sandberg, who is a big fan of the widely acclaimed game, took the essence of what makes the game great and selected elements we think are the most important to the fans and paid homage to it in the right way. We then built out Until Dawn‘s universe, using the core premise of a group of friends who encounter a variety of terrifying threats to tell a new story that is truly visceral and horrifying.“

What do you think of the Until Dawn movie having fresh characters and a brand new story? Are you looking forward to seeing what David F. Sandberg and Gary Dauberman have come up with? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post David F. Sandberg’s Until Dawn movie has fresh characters and a brand new story appeared first on JoBlo.

For democracy and giant robots! After unleashing a trailer for the second season of The Last of Us, Sony used their time at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) to announce feature film adaptations for two of its hottest gaming properties, Horizon Zero Dawn and Helldivers 2.

Speaking about the projects at the annual technology showcase, Asad Qizilbash, Head of Playstation Productions, said, “Looking ahead as to what might come next, I’m excited to announce we are working with Sony Pictures on developing a film adaptation of our amazingly popular PlayStation game Helldivers 2.” Qizilbash included plans for an adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn and a Ghost of Tsushima anime called Ghost of Tsushima: Legends in his address.

Horizon Zero Dawn takes place in a far-flung future where colossal machines roam and rule the Earth, and pockets of humanity survive in unique tribes among the lush, overgrown ruins of our long-lost civilization. Players take up a bow and spear as Aloy, a young machine hunter and outcast of her tribe. Throughout the adventure, Aloy discovers her origins, the truth of this mysterious world, and her own destiny to save it from impending doom.

Sony announced plans to adapt Horizon Zero Dawn into a Netflix television series. Still, a report by Rolling Stone said twelve staffers accused The Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman of bullying, toxic, and manipulative behavior. Sony’s new plan is for Alot to scale the silver screen, bypassing the episodic route.

Meanwhile, Helldivers 2 “is a 3rd person squad-based shooter that sees the elite forces of the Helldivers battling to win an intergalactic struggle to rid the galaxy of the rising alien threats. From a 3rd person perspective, players use a variety of weapons (pistols, machine guns, flamethrowers) and stratagems (turrets, airstrikes, etc.) to shoot and kill the alien threats. Players can also aim down the sights for a more accurate 1st person camera view. Combat is accompanied by frequent sprays of blood and dismemberment as players exterminate the alien forces or players and squad mates are hit by environmental explosions or friendly fire.”

Rightfully so, many players compare Helldivers 2 to Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 dystopian sci-fi film Starship Troopers. The game carries the same satirical tone and zeal for upholding democracy while beating back one alien invasion after the next.

Lastly, Ghost of Tsushima: Legends finds Takanobu Mizuno (Star Wars: Visions “The Duel”) directing the series at Kamikaze Douga, with Gen Urobuchi writing the story composition. The anime will be produced in collaboration with Aniplex, with Sony Music as the music and soundtrack partner.

Here’s a synopsis for the original game, Ghost of Tsushima:

“The year is 1274. Samurai warriors are the legendary defenders of Japan—until the fearsome Mongol Empire invades the island of Tsushima, wreaking havoc and conquering the local population. As one of the last surviving samurai, you rise from the ashes to fight back. But honorable tactics won’t lead you to victory. You must move beyond your samurai traditions to forge a new way of fighting—the way of the Ghost—as you wage an unconventional war for the freedom of Japan.”

Wow! That’s a lot to process. What do you think about Sony going hard in the paint with movies based on Horizon Zero Dawn, Helldivers 2, and Ghost of Tsushima? Which one are you looking forward to the most? My money is on Horizon Zero Dawn, as I don’t know if anyone can strike the satirical tone of Helldivers, and Ghost of Tsushima is a classic story that is done well. Either way, I’ll be there for all of these projects.

The post Sony announces feature film adapations of its hit video games Horizon Zero Dawn and Helldivers 2 appeared first on JoBlo.

Seven years went by between the time when director Coralie Fargeat made her feature directorial debut with a very cool revenge movie that was appropriately titled Revenge – you can read our 8/10 review of the film at THIS LINK – and when she came back with an “explosive feminist take on body horror” called The Substance, which stars Demi Moore (Ghost), who won a Golden Globe for her performance, and Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). You can read our 9/10 review of The Substance HERE. Now we’re left hoping that Fargeat won’t take another seven years to make her third film – but whatever that ends up being, she has assured all of us that it will not be a sequel to The Substance.

When Variety asked her if The Substance will be getting a sequel, Fargeat answered, “Oh, no. Oh, no. The point of this movie is to present fresh things to the world. No sequels, no prequels, no number two, number three. I’m gonna be so happy to bring something else fresh to the world in a bit.“

In another interview, Variety asked her if she’s having any discussions about her next project. She said, “For now I’m not discussing anything. I’m just enjoying the moment and taking some time as I really want to write my next project. It’s slowly starting to be put in motion in the back of my brain and when things calm down I’ll take it from there.” That next project is “going to be totally different but with a lot of similarities (to The Substance). I love to make bold and surprising films with things that you don’t expect, so definitely that’s what I want to do. And I love the freedom that I gave myself for this film and that’s certainly something I want to keep doing. That was the greatest thing for me on The Substance.“

If you haven’t seen The Substance yet, here’s the official synopsis: It generates another you. A new, younger, more beautiful, more perfect you. And there’s only one rule: You share time. One week for you. One week for the new you. Seven days each. A perfect balance. Easy. Right? If you respect the balance… what could possibly go wrong?

Are you glad to hear that Coralie Fargeat is dedicated to making fresh, original films rather than getting caught up in sequels and prequels? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post No sequel for The Substance; Coralie Fargeat will keep making bold, surprising, original films appeared first on JoBlo.

The world is Jacob Elordi’s oyster after crushing his role as Felix Catton in Emerald Fennell’s sexy and psychotic thriller Saltburn and lining up projects like Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, new episodes of Euphoria, and reteaming with Fennell for her adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Unafraid to pile his plate high with promising parts, Jacob Elordi is in talks to join the cast of Ridley Scott’s pandemic thriller The Dog Stars.

The Dog Stars hails from 20th Century Studios and is based on the 2012 novel by Peter Heller (Burn, The River, The Painter, The Last Ranger). Initially, Scott was reteaming with Gladiator II star Paul Mescal for The God Stars, but scheduling conflicts with his part in Sam Mendes’ Beatles anthology kept him from participating. Sources say Mescal plays Paul McCartney in Mendes’ upcoming film, making him essential to the project.

Elordi would play Hig in The Dog Stars, a civilian pilot living a lonely life on an abandoned Colorado airbase with his dog and a hard-as-nails ex-marine. When a band of scavengers called The Reapers invades their space, Hig and his compatriots must prepare for battle.

Here’s a synopsis of Heller’s novel:

“Hig’s wife is gone, his friends are dead, and he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, Jasper, and a mercurial, gun-toting misanthrope named Bangley. But when a random transmission beams through the radio of his 1956 Cessna, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life exists outside their tightly controlled perimeter. Risking everything, he flies past his point of no return and follows its static-broken trail, only to find something that is both better and worse than anything he could ever hope for.”

Mark L. Smith, who wrote The Revenant and the upcoming Netflix mini-series American Primeval, is partnering with Christopher Wilkinson (Ali, Nixon, Birth of the Dragon) to pen the screenplay. Ridley Scott will likely hunker down on The Dog Stars after completing work on You Should Be Dancing, a biopic focusing on one of the best-selling groups of all time, The Bee Gees.

Would you like to learn more about Ridley Scott’s adaptation of The Dog Stars? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post The Dog Stars: Jacob Elordi in talks to join Ridley Scott’s post-pandemic apocalyptic thriller appeared first on JoBlo.

David Fincher has worked with the Netflix streaming service on three separate projects so far – the crime thriller TV series Mindhunter, which ran for two seasons; the 2020 biopic Mank, which was nominated for multiple Academy Awards and took home two Oscars (for Best Production Design and Best Cinematography); and the 2023 action thriller The Killer. These movies and the TV show are still available to watch on Netflix, but a lot of fans have been wondering if they’ll ever receive a physical media release… and Fincher doubts that will ever happen.

While discussing the 4K release of his film Se7en with Collider, Fincher was asked if his Netflix projects will ever get a physical release, as “the appetite for that is through the roof.” He answered, “That’s very sweet, but I don’t know. I like physical media, but I really like on-demand. I mean, I love liner notes, and I kind of prefer laser discs to anything just because I’m old and I remember what LPs used to be like. I do like the act of holding them. But I can’t imagine there’s any interest in the business plan from Netflix to make packaged goods out of the stuff that I’ve made for them because their whole thing is that mainline that connects your eyeballs to their servers. So, yeah, I doubt it. But I’m with you. I do like having a disc. But I think if you realized how much data compression is going on — at some point, there’ll be an up-res version of 4K where they’ll be able to — I mean, we have HDR now, but bit depth is only going to increase more. I don’t know that film could handle 24-bit color depth.“

Mindhunter had the following synopsis: Catching a criminal often requires the authorities to get inside the villain’s mind to figure out how he thinks. That’s the job of FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench. They attempt to understand and catch serial killers by studying their damaged psyches. Along the way, the agents pioneer the development of modern serial-killer profiling.

Directed by Fincher from a screenplay by his late father Jack Fincher, Mank told a story in which 1930s Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing wit and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish Citizen Kane.

Based on a graphic novel series, The Killer reteamed Fincher with Se7en writer Andrew Kevin Walker (who also did uncredited rewrites on the Fincher films The Game and Flight Club) and showed what happens when after a fateful near-miss, an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal.

Would you like to see these David Fincher projects get physical media releases? Let us know if you’d like to add Mindhunter, Mank, and/or The Killer to your disc collection.

The post David Fincher doubts Mindhunter, Mank, or The Killer will get physical media releases appeared first on JoBlo.

Back in November, we here at JoBlo received a pretty intriguing invitation. We were invited to Los Angeles to get an early look at Nickel Boys, a film based on the novel by Colson Whitehead. Directed by RaMell Ross, the movie’s gotten a ton of Oscar buzz, both for its director and the movie’s stars, Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. In it, Herisse and Wilson play Elwood and Turner, two young men sentenced to a reformatory in the Jim Crow-era South. Once there, they realize there’s a good chance they won’t live through their respective sentences, with the punishment inflicted on them far outweighing the petty crimes they’re supposed to have committed. 

It’s undoubtedly one of the boldest movies of the year, with it shot entirely in a first-person point of view, where the camera literally takes the place of Herisse and Wilson at different points in the narrative. While this technique takes a good deal of getting used to (Ross has admitted that the movie really takes two viewings to take in), it’s immersive in ways few other movies are – and considering the hell Elwood and Turner go through, that aspect makes Nickel Boys a rough, but necessary watch.

Yet, for all of the film’s weight, when we were invited to interview the cast and director afterwards, we were delighted to see how laid-back, easygoing and friendly they all were. In our interviews, we speak to Herisse and Wilson about what it was like acting directly into a camera for the entire shooting schedule, while Ross explains just how he and the DP were able to pull off some of the film’s amazing shots. Finally, the great Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor reveals how she openly campaigned for the role she plays in the movie, having been a huge fan of Ross’s last film, Hale County This Morning, This Evening. Check out the interviews embedded above, and check back for our full review of Nickel Boys later this week as it begins its expansion into more theatres this weekend. 

The post Nickel Boys: We interview the cast and director of this drama with Oscar buzz appeared first on JoBlo.