Wait, what month is this? Well before May 4 spoils Star Wars fans with news, trailers, and teases for exciting things coming to a galaxy far, far away, Disney+ is here to share the debut trailer for Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, a six-episode follow-up to Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi—all six episodes of the upcoming series premiere exclusively on Disney+ on May 4, 2024.
According to Lucasfilms’ official press release, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire “is a six-episode journey into the fearsome Galactic Empire through the eyes of two warriors on divergent paths, set during different eras. After losing everything, young Morgan Elsbeth navigates the expanding Imperial world toward a path of vengeance, while former Jedi Barriss Offee does what she must to survive a rapidly changing galaxy. The choices they make will define their destinies.”
The talented voice cast includes Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth), Meredith Salenger (Barriss Offee), Rya Kihlstedt (Lyn aka Fourth Sister), Wing T. Chao (Wing), Lars Mikkelsen (Thrawn), Jason Isaacs (Grand Inquisitor) and Matthew Wood (General Grievous).
Dave Filoni created the series and is the supervising director. He is also an executive producer along with Athena Yvette Portillo and Carrie Beck. Josh Rimes serves as co-executive producer, and Alex Spotswood is the senior producer.
In today’s Star Wars: Tales of the Empire trailer, Morgan Elsbeth and Barriss Offee encounter corruption and strife while navigating the Empire, a faction built on pain and suffering. While on separate journeys, they meet new and old characters who change their fates forever. The trailer includes scenes of Jedi violence, betrayal, and a side of the Force darker than you’d expected.
In addition to the Star Wars: Tales of the Empire trailer, Disney+, and Lucasfilm debuted images and key art for the upcoming series, featuring the show’s main character and signature Star Wars drama.
What do you think about the Star Wars: Tales of the Empire trailer? Are you a fan of the original series? Is there another era of the Star Wars universe where you’d like to get the animation treatment? Let us know in the comments section below.
About four and a half years ago, it was announced that Amybeth McNulty of the Netflix shows Anne with an E and Stranger Things (although she hadn’t been on Stranger Things yet at the time) had signed on to star in a suspense thriller called Maternal. If you’ve been wondering what happened with that project, we finally have an update to share with you today: Maternal has been retitled She Came Back, and it’s now available to watch through Dark Matter TV, Apple, Vudu, Google Play, and Microsoft Xbox. It can be rented for $3.99 or purchased for $9.99.
Part of the reason for the long delay is the fact that Maternal started filming in early 2020, then the production got disrupted by the pandemic lockdowns. The project had to be put back together at a later date so filming could be finished.
Coming our way from TriCoast Worldwide, Red Hill, and Ideal Entertainment, She Came Back was directed by Megan Follows from a script by Christina Vegas. The story centers on 16-year-old Charlie McLeod (Amybeth McNulty) who on the way to her father’s wedding, is involved in a serious car accident, leaving her in a fight for her life. For a brief moment, she dies on the operating table and has a near death experience, where she reconnects with her deceased mother, Claire (Megan Follows). Charlie ultimately survives but Claire’s spirit was so moved by the re-connection with her daughter, she has no intention of letting go. She believes that Charlie was supposed to die with her and now insists Charlie join her in the afterlife.
McNulty and Follows (Reign) are joined in the cast by Kris Holden-Ried (Underworld:Awakening), Athena Karkanis (Saw IV), and Colm Feore (The Umbrella Academy).
TriCoast Worldwide’s Strath Hamilton provided the following statement: “Amybeth McNulty is compelling as the tormented survivor in She Came Back. In the past audiences have seen characters who would voluntarily leave their life to be with a recently deceased loved one, but what if the recently deceased loved one initiates the process? That is what her character encounters.“
Are you interested in She Came Back (formerly known as Maternal), and are you glad to hear that it’s finally making its way out into the world? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
Going to the theater is different from it used to be. Back in my day, going to the cinema meant purchasing an overpriced ticket and concessions, then experiencing a film alongside a group of strangers in silence with occasional outbursts of laughter or surprise. Today, boutique theaters double as restaurants for outrageously priced pub-style food, with beer, wine, and cocktails to get you sauced for the evening’s feature presentation. Some people enjoy this kind of atmosphere. However, Danny McBride thinks serving food and drinks in cinemas is absurd, and he has an idea about improving the theater-going experience – marijuana!
Speaking with GQ magazine, Danny McBride said, “I hate it, I can’t stand it,” about serving dinner and drinks in the middle of a movie. “I also don’t think it makes sense to combine booze with movies. You’re going to have to piss. Doesn’t alcohol make you want to get up and get loose? You don’t want to sit there, drink beer, and just be quiet. I would have no interest in going to see a movie and just pounding IPAs. Just fucking falling asleep.”
While alcohol affects people differently, McBride’s argument about increasing the odds of using a bathroom during the film is sound. I barely touch my drink anytime I go into a theater, especially if I’m seeing a multi-hour epic like Dune: Part Two. I typically use the washroom right before the movie (during the commercials) and hope for the best.
While McBride is against eating food and imbibing alcoholic beverages, he thinks letting patrons smoke pot while they watch the movie could be a winning combination. “Movies and weed go together fucking perfectly,” McBride proclaims.
“McBride, [David Gordon] Green and their film-school buddy Jody Hill had at some point kicked around the idea of opening a theater with a built-in dispensary,” reads the GQ article. “Green Screen, they’d planned to call it. ‘If I went to a theater, and it was like, “Here’s your popcorn and here’s fucking weed,” I feel like that would be an awesome little combo right there,’ McBride said. Green wondered: ‘Why did we not do anything with that?’ Too busy, McBride replied.”
I don’t know about you, but I can almost hear lawyers rubbing their claws together at the thought of suing theater markets for damage caused by smoke inhalation. You’d probably need to sign a waiver upon entering the cinema, absolving the theater chain of any health-related problems caused by frequenting the establishment. Still, imagine the rewards program or ordering a bucket of popcorn and a pop alongside a spliff of Ghost Train Haze or Alaskan Thunderf*ck. The hotbox experience would be intense with the smoke from so many strains swirling in the air.
What do you think about ordering food and drinks in theaters? Is it perfectly okay? Super distracting? Should Danny McBride and his friends follow through on their Green Screen theater idea? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Dublin, Ireland. Headquarters of Guinness, Jameson, and the most overpriced beer you can find in the Temple Bar area. Steeped in history, Dublin boasts landmarks like Trinity College and Dublin Castle, emblematic of its medieval heritage. Amidst its historical allure, the city’s streets thrive with the energy of bustling pubs resonating with music and culinary delights. However, beyond its libations and cultural landmarks, Dublin harbors a lesser-known connection to vampire folklore.
Since early childhood, my mother took me to the movies weekly. And horror was always a shared love. It was an obsession I’m sure many of us share. My love for vampire films and stories began as soon as I was introduced to The Lost Boys. But Ireland was special for us. Having ancestral ties to the majestic island, we always dreamed of visiting it and taking in the stunning landscape one day.
So, how do vampires and Ireland come into play? Located in Dublin is Marsh’s Library, the oldest public library in Ireland, housing tens of thousands of rare texts and manuscripts. Within these hallowed halls, Bram Stoker, the legendary horror author and Dublin native, immersed himself in his youth, laying the groundwork for his literary masterpiece, “Dracula.” And now, the fair city can add another tale to its vampire legends.
Recently, Universal Pictures invited JoBlo to the second-largest island of the British Isles to visit the set of its newest vampire film, Abigail, which has just gotten a new trailer:
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (collectively known as Radio Silence) from a screenplay written by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick, Abigail follows: “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.” As with Radio Silence’s previous outings, the cast is stacked with top-tier performers, including Melissa Barrera (Scream franchise, In the Heights), Dan Stevens (Gaslit, Legion), Kathryn Newton (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Freaky), Will Catlett (Black Lightning, True Story), Kevin Durand (Resident Evil: Retribution, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Angus Cloud (Euphoria, North Hollywood) as the kidnappers. Alisha Weir (Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, Darklands) stars as Abigail, and the esteemed cast includes Emmy nominee Matthew Goode (The Crown, Downton Abbey) and five-time Emmy nominee Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) as Lambert, the efficient organizer of Abigail’s kidnapping.
While waiting for night to fall during the city’s extended daylight hours, Marsh’s Library brought an unexpected and welcomed encounter with Stephen Shields, the Dublin-based screenwriter. His insights into the horror genre resonated deeply, adding a serendipitous layer to our excursion through the library’s storied corridors.
STEPHEN SHIELDS: “The first film my father ever showed me at a young age was The Lost Boys, so it kind of started from there. And then I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street 2. I kind of go backward in horror. We’re lucky enough here in Dublin as well that every October, we have a horror film we never got to see before. So, we get to see stuff like Dario Argento movies. I did a film a couple of years ago at Sundance called The Hole in the Ground with Lee Cronin, who directed Evil Dead Rise. So, yeah, I love horror. Who doesn’t? It’s the best (genre) ever.”
When asked about his favorite horror film, he smiles and points to my Ghostface earrings.
“My favorite scary movie of all time? Scream.”
After grabbing the smoothest pint I’ve ever had at the Guinness Storehouse, we traveled just outside Dublin’s city limits to the Glenmaroon House: a once party house for the descendants of the Guinness family, now the setting for one of the bloodiest films of the year. Just looking at the house from the outside is breathtaking due to its size. But what it holds inside is what I was eagerly anticipating. As I entered, I was greeted by the splendor of the lobby, characterized by expansive staircases ascending to the upper levels. The aesthetic transformation within was nothing short of astonishing, with thorough attention to detail evident in every surface of its design—from the intricate branch-like light fixtures to the exquisite taxidermy and lavish furnishings that adorned the space. All of which had recently been added. However, the subtle yet unmistakable presence of simulated blood hinted at the dark narrative unfolding within. Immediately, the set felt reminiscent of the duo’s acclaimed 2019 film, Ready or Not. As a fan, I eagerly anticipated what the atmospheric locale had next in store.
Just as the cast and crew were setting up for the next scene, we caught up with William Catlett, who plays the Rickles. He describes his character as:
WILLIAM CATLETT:“(He) has a military background. He is the shooter of the film. He’s the one who keeps everything grounded.”
Catlett agrees the house is “a great backdrop for the film.”
He adds, “When I first walked in here, it’s creepy. Especially when you walk through doors, there’s a cold mist on your face, but there’s nothing there.”
“Welcome to Dublin,” our host jokingly interjects. “There’s nothing like a cold mist of a figure of a ghost in the corner.”
What element of the production are you most excited for people to see?
“To be honest with you, the crew, you know? Ten-hour days. You don’t get ten-hour days in the States. You have the same crew on Monday that you had on Friday. You know, usually, the crew is dead by Friday. That’s been impressive. Everybody is mindful of people’s time, which is very respectable. Sometimes, in this industry, depending on who the number one is or who the number two is, it’s a hierarchy type of thing. But this feels like artists have come together to create something kind of magical.”
He continues on the process of working with the directors.
“Those guys. We’re doing 39…40 set-ups. It’s unheard of that you can do that many set-ups and still complete the day. They have a nice system that they work with. I actually talked to my wife. I said ‘you know, actors look for things to complain about. I ain’t got nothing to complain about.’” He laughs. “You know, the food is good, the crew is cool. It’s been a joy.”
Filming is about to commence. We settled in an opposing room, waiting for “Action” to be called. Gathered in front of a couple of monitors, we witness Melissa Barrera’s character, Joey, covered in blood and cautiously walking down a hallway. It’s a quick scene, yet one thing her character mentions captures my curiosity: there are bodies in a pool. Her intensity lets us know something truly terrifying has happened.
Fresh off shooting the scene, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett join us briefly to welcome us to the set.
We were taken through some of the many rooms and corridors of the estate to the setting of a previously filmed scene. The setting: A control room, or rather, what was left of one. As I watched my step, careful not to slip on the pools of blood and guts, I marveled at the practical artistry of gore splattered all over the room. So much was to be taken in, and I wondered what exactly happened here and whose intestines and pieces of skull remained. The gorehound in me couldn’t be more thrilled.
From there, we entered a portion of the house not used for filming: a church. Yes, there was a full-sized church in this mansion. But I wasn’t the only one just as dumbfounded by this addition. Kathryn Newton enters the room, dressed in a jumpsuit and covered in faux tattoos.
KATHRYN NEWTON: “This place just got weirder. I didn’t know it was possible. It is a little magical, though, right? I keep thinking about Alisha (Weir) and how much fun it must be because it’s kind of like a haunted house, but it’s not that scary. It’s mostly beautiful but still cool with spiderwebs and weird dolls. It’s a little magical.”
After showing us her “hacker” outfit and knuckle tattoos, she explains who her character is.
“So, my character’s name is Sammy, and she’s a hacker. But she’s really kind of a mystery because the main question I keep asking myself is, ‘How did she get here? Why is she here?’ And I think it’s because she likes to be entertained. As you’ll find out about her, there’s a lot you don’t know that, on the surface, isn’t who she is. And I’ve had so much fun playing this character because she has the best transition of any character I’ve ever played in my whole life. “
She elaborated on her collaboration with the directors and their receptiveness to input on her character.
“The freedom of collaboration has made this job just a joy. Everyone’s happy, and, like, it’s fun. It’s Fun! For me, it was a no-brainer. When I read the script, I was like, this role is going to be way too fun not to do. It was different once I came on board. I think there was an idea of Sammy in the script, and then, with the collaboration, it turned into something better than I imagined with them.”
Regarding her character’s interactions with the rest of its motley crew, she continues,
“There are a lot of unexpected relationships. A lot reveals itself between unlikely characters. People you’d never think you’d be friends with, you get really close to. We have a bunch of people who don’t make sense together, and we put them in this situation where now they have to rely on each other. And I think anyone can relate to that. Like a human condition, human experience, all being different from different places in life, all trying to survive this one night together. So, there is an understanding there that I think anyone can relate to watching a movie.”
With her role as a hacker, I asked her if she had done any research into the role.
“My research comes from a place of ‘what do I want her to look like and feel like?’ So, I watched The Talented Mr. Ripley, which is random, but that’s where I came from for my character and how she carries herself but falls apart immediately. But that’s where I wanted her to start. Someone who isn’t as who she seems.”
Recently, it has been teased the film is ”extreme and hilarious.” Ms. Newton confirms this, dishing out the most bizarre thing she has had to shoot so far, further expanding on the pool Barerra’s character was talking about.
“This movie – oh my gosh – it’s the most traumatic experience I have ever had in the best and coolest way. The grossest and most difficult, physically. I just did a Marvel movie, and this is harder. Way, way harder, physically. I had to do something where I jumped into a pool of bodies. All I was thinking about was the audience because that was the only thing getting me through. It was comfortable, but I was sweating so much. I was hot because I was working so much. They did everything to make me comfortable. Everyone did their job. It was so gross. It was heavy. The blood, the screaming, but it looks so, so good. So, what I thought of before every take was, ‘Don’t go watch this movie and be disappointed you didn’t kill it because you’re already doing this anyway. So that was the best scene I’ve ever shot. 100 percent.”
When it comes to the young Alisha Weir, it was a recurring theme shared by the entire cast.
“She’s the sweetest girl you’ve ever seen and the most talented kid I’ve ever met. Our relationship is a really great working relationship. She’s so open and listens and so much smarter than anyone I have ever met.”
Stay tuned for way more from our Abigail set visit, including interviews with Dan Stevens, Melissa Barrera, the directors and so much more! Abigail opens only in theaters on April 19.
Coming our way from Vertical, TPC, and SSS Entertainment, the thriller Lazareth is set to receive a theatrical and VOD release on May 10th – and with that date just one month away, a trailer for the film has arrived online. You can watch it in the embed above.
Written and directed by Alec Tibaldi (Spiral Farm), Lazareth tells the following story: Following the death of their parents, Lee adopts her nieces, Imogen and Maeve, and raises them in a remote cabin as a deadly pandemic rages on around them. For over 10 years, the girls are raised to never leave the woods, avoid any and all interaction with outsiders, and ultimately rely on Lee as their only connection to the outside world. Lee has convinced the girls this is the key to survival in what is now an infectious and violent world. But when Imogen and Maeve discover an injured man in the nearby woods, Lee’s absolute control begins to disintegrate as their faith in her, and everything they’ve ever known, begins to unravel.
Ashley Judd (Heat), Katie Douglas (Ginny & Georgia), Sarah Pidgeon (Tiny Beautiful Things), Asher Angel (Shazam!), and newcomer Edward Balaban star. I have been a fan of Ashley Judd’s acting work since the mid-’90s, thanks to movies like Heat, Normal Life, Kiss theGirls, and a deleted scene from Natural Born Killers, so I’m on board to give this one a chance.
Lazareth was produced Robert Ogden Barnum and Eric Binns of The Barnum Picture Company. Vertical’s Peter Jarowey, Rich Goldberg, and Kristin Harris serve as executive producers alongside TPC’s David Gendron, Ali Jazayeri, Viviana Zarragoitia, and John Bails, and The Syndicate’s Michael Lurie and Jeffrey Giles. Vertical’s Sammi Farber is the associate producer.
Barnum had this to say about the project: “We are thrilled to be partnered with Vertical again on a fantastic production. With Alec’s great script, direction and experience in this genre, coupled with the incomparable Ashley Judd leading the cast to bring his words to life, we fully expect audiences to embrace the film when it is released to market.“
Jarowey added: “Rob Barnum came to us early with Alec’s impressive script and we jumped at the chance to work together again on such an edge-of-your-seat thriller. We are incredibly proud of the progress of our partnerships thus far in creating a streamlined process for fully financing projects.“
What did you think of the Lazareth trailer? Will you be watching this “edge-of-your-seat thriller” when it reaches theatres and VOD next month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Seal the vents and watch the monitors because Patton Oswalt (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Ratatouille), Debra Wilson (Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Mickey Mouse Funhouse), Phil LaMarr (Samurai Jack, Futurama), and Wayne Knight (Seinfeld, Jurassic Park) are getting sus for CBS Studios‘ Among Us animated series.
In the adaptation of the wildly popular social deception game, Patton Oswalt is the voice of White, a contest winner who abides by the mantra of no trauma, no drama. Oswalt’s White would instead leave the heavy lifting to others and believes wealth can be a personality trait.
Debra Wilson voices Yellow, also known as Ship Cook #1. Indignant, opinionated, and a relentless prankster, Yellow’s pleasure is making pizza and sharing a slice with their best friend, Brown (LaMarr).
Phil LaMarr voices Brown, also known as Ship Cook #2. Unlike Yellow, Brown is chill, supportive, and accountable. Brown is a pizza enthusiast and a fan of Yellow’s shenanigans.
Wayne Knight voices Lime, the ship’s Engineer. Lime is a doomsday prepper and conspiracy theorist whose tinkering keeps the ship running smoothly – most of the time. Lime is afraid of intimacy and suspicious of everyone and everything.
Featuring in the adaptation of the wildly popular social deception game is Randall Park as the voice of Red, Captain of the Skeld. Red is a people pleaser and blowhard. As a confident leader, Red is the type of crewmate who will fail upwards.
Ashely Johnson plays Purple, Chief of Security. Concerned with safety, prone to suspicion, and confident, Purple is a crewmember with trust issues.
Yvette Nicole Brown plays Orange and is a member of the HR department. Orange is a “spineless corporate shill” in charge of eliminating redundancies redundantly. Orange will fire you via email before thinking twice about it.
Finally, Elijah Wood plays Green, an unpaid intern. Happy to be aboard, Green does whatever needs doing, with pizza as compensation.
Launched in 2018, Among Us shot to popularity in 2020. Alongside games like Fortnite and Minecraft, Among Us became a gaming sensation for streamers across YouTube (4 billion views) and Twitch (1.2+ billion views). The Among Us video game is primarily a multiplayer experience, though a practice mode where players can check out a solo mystery is available. The best version of Among Us revolves around gathering friends for an elaborate game inspired by the party game Mafia and John Carpenter’s The Thing. Using deduction skills and observing other players is critical to surviving the experience. It also helps if you’re a good liar. Once you become accused of being an imposter, you’ll need to lie your pants off to convince other players of your innocence. The game recently released a new map (The Fungle) and continues to boast millions of players daily.
Owen Dennis executive produces alongside Forest Williard, Marcus Bromander, and Carl Neisser of Innersloth, with Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio, and Ben Kalina of Titmouse. Eye Animation Productions is the studio associated with Innersloth.
Are you an Among Us fan? What do you think about turning the game into an animated series? How do you feel about the cast? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.
About two and a half years have gone by since it was announced that Delroy Lindo – whose credits include Get Shorty, Da 5 Bloods, The Core, Malcolm X, and The Harder They Fall (plus more than 65 others) – had signed on to join Mahershala Ali in the cast of the Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot of Blade. While we wait to see if that Lindo will still be in that vampire hunter movie when it finally goes into production (since, after all, Aaron Pierre was also cast in the film at one point, but then written out), The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that Lindo has been cast in the mysterious genre project that’s coming our way from 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. This project is shrouded in secrecy, but is rumored to be a vampire story.
Coogler has written the script for this project, which is being described as both a genre picture and a period piece that Coogler will be directing and Jordan is attached to star in. The project is set up at Warner Bros., is expected to have a budget of around $90 million, and is scheduled for a theatrical release on March 7, 2025.
The folks at World of Reel have shared that this movie is RUMORed to be about vampires battling the Ku Klux Klan! They have heard that “Coogler’s film would be set in the ’30s South, centering on vampires, with dual twin roles for Jordan and that it would be heavy in ‘anime influences.’ The ’30s Jim Crow South setting is not an accident. There’s been word that the plot would center on Vampires going to war against the Ku Klux Klan. That actually makes total sense given the setting of the film which is smack dab in the middle, and during, the height of the Klan.“
Jack O’Connell of Unbroken is in talks to play the villain. There’s said to be “a musical element” to Lindo’s character.
This project 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) will be 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). Production is set to begin in April.
What do you think of Delroy Lindo being cast in Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s mysterious genre project? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
It’s nice to see so many original stories heading to theatres as of late. And one that is likely on your radar is the thrilling Monkey Man. Not only is Dev Patel taking on an intense leading performance, as well, it is his feature film directorial debut. And let’s just say he has learned a thing or two from the great action flicks we’ve seen over the past few years starting with John Wick. Monkey Man is a lean and mean revenge thriller that is a potent mix of violence and culture. And yes, Mr. Patel does a marvelous job both behind and in front of the camera. The film also features a terrific performance from Sharlto Copley, and if you like action, you are in for a treat.
We recently had the wonderful opportunity to sit down face to face with Dev and talk about his latest. Yet even before the conversation began, he joined a few of us waiting to speak to him just to chat. Mr. Patel couldn’t be any nicer. The man is wonderfully charming, and he took great pleasure in talking about the new film. One of the things we discussed before going on-camera is an excellent training sequence that occurs in the action packed feature. During the interview, Dev discussed that, and taking on such a massive project for his directorial debut. Monkey Man opens this Friday, and action fans are going to have much to get excited for with this one.
PLOT: A young novitiate in Rome (Nell Tiger Free) is warned by an ex-communicated priest (Ralph Ineson) that she’s at the center of a sinister conspiracy at her church dedicated to spawning the anti-Christ.
REVIEW: I’ve always really enjoyed The Omen as a franchise. Even as a kid, I found something about the original trilogy centring around Damien Thorn especially gripping. However, I never had much use for the cheap TV movie sequel (Omen IV: The Awakening) or the scene-for-scene remake, which, despite a game cast, didn’t come close to recapturing the grisly spirit of Richard Donner’s original.
As such, I figured The First Omen would be just another would-be franchise starter, but I have to give 20th Century Studios and Disney credit – they made one hell of a cool horror flick (pun intended). In some ways, it’s a bit like Wonka (bear with me) in that it’s a prequel that does its own thing without shitting all over the original, with the Donner film and the original movies that follow all existing in the same universe this does.
Director Arkasha Stevenson (of SyFy’s Channel Zero) will likely come off this as one of the fastest-rising new names in horror. She’s made an Omen film that’s distinctly not what fans feared it might be – watered-down and overly safe. It’s actually quite provocative, with several images, including a gruesome birthing scene, pushing the limits of the R-rating in a way I didn’t expect from a movie bankrolled by Disney.
Without giving too much away, The First Omen basically sets up the events, eventually leading to the birth of Damien Thorn. They do so by telling the story of a young, would-be nun who travels to Rome to work with the seemingly kind priest (Bill Nighy) who helped raise her. Once there, people begin dying in grisly Omen-fashion, with Ralph Ineson’s Father Brennan warning her that a child she’s helping care for, Carlita (Nicole Sorace), is at the center of a vast conspiracy.
If you remember your Omen films, you’ll know Damien always had many devout followers, and this film does a good job laying the groundwork for a new series of Omen flicks that could, theoretically, exist alongside the original films. It’s helped by the surprisingly gruesome and grim tone that feels right in league with the original films.
Nell Tiger Free makes for a terrific lead, with her having had years of work on Apple TV +’s Servantto prep her horror bonafides. Her Sister Margaret is a believable lead in the same way that Gregory Peck was in the original, in that both are victims of a vast conspiracy they have no idea how to fight, with the movie having a cool moment towards the end that mirrors a particular scene with Peck in the original that I won’t share. Notably, Margaret isn’t an action heroine; she is believably conflicted and vulnerable throughout. She’s well supported by Ineson, who fills a similar role to what Leo McKern did in the original, with his unhinged stories of a conspiracy in the church being one Margaret doesn’t want to believe but eventually must. Sonia Braga, who I’ll always remember for her henchwoman role in Clint Eastwood’s The Rookie, also has a nifty role as one of the nuns at Nighy’s church who – wouldn’t you know it – might be up to no good.
The film is set in early 1970s Rome. Stevenson takes a different approach than the people in the similarly themed Immaculate in that she doesn’t ape Dario Argento, which is a temptation many horror directors can’t seem to resist. Instead, she makes the film in the vein of Richard Donner’s work on the original, meaning it’s more reality-based and evocative of the era it’s set in. I enjoyed one especially impressive sequence set at an Italian discotheque. Stevenson does a better job making this in the spirit of the original than David Gordon Green did recently when he tried to riff on William Friedkin’s style for his abysmal Exorcist sequel. The score by Mark Korven (The Lighthouse) is also quite good, initially seeming a little too subtle until, as the horror starts to ramp up, it starts playing with the classic Jerry Goldsmith themes in a delicious way.
All in all, I was shocked by how much fun I had with The First Omen. My only complaint is that despite a few shocking bits, too much of the gore had that CGI look, which is a trend I wish horror movies would get away from. Even still, that’s a minor complaint, and I have to say that I’m actually interested in seeing where this new Omen franchise will go. It’s a worthy follow-up to the original trilogy.
A Universal Monsters project is coming our way from Radio Silence, the filmmaking team that previously brought Ready or Not, Scream (2022), and Scream VI to the screen. Universal has scheduled an April 19, 2024 theatrical release date for the film, which was once going by the title Dracula’s Daughter and now going by the less informative title of Abigail. With the release date just a couple weeks away, the film has gotten a new Dolby Cinema poster, and you can check it out at the bottom of this article.
Radio Silence members Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett directed the film, while the third member of the trio, Chad Villella, is a producer. Their Scream movie collaborators William Sherak, Paul Neinstein, and James Vanderbilt of Project X Entertainment are also producing the monster movie alongside their Ready or Not producer Tripp Vinson. Ron Lynch and Macdara Kelleher serve as executive producers. Jay Polidoro, Holly Goline, Kelly Cannon, and Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project for Universal. Stephen Shields wrote the initial screenplay for this take on Dracula’s Daughter, and Guy Busick (who co-wrote the two recent Scream movies with Vanderbilt) did some revisions.
Abigail has the following synopsis: Children can be such monsters. After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.
Kathryn Newton (Freaky), Dan Stevens (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire), Melissa Barrera (Scream), William Catlett (Black Lightning), Kevin Durand (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and Angus Cloud (Euphoria) star as the kidnappers, with Alisha Weir (Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical) as Abigail. Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) is also in the cast.
Universal previously indicated to The Hollywood Reporter that the project falls in the lane of such films as Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man and Renfield, Chris McKay’s take on a Dracula side character — movies that provide “a unique take on legendary monster lore and will represent a fresh, new direction for how to celebrate these classic characters.” Universal released a movie called Dracula’s Daughter in 1936, telling the story of “Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden), the daughter of Count Dracula and herself a vampire. Following Dracula’s death, she believes that by destroying his body, she will be free of his influence and live normally. When this fails, she turns to a psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger). The Countess kidnaps Dr. Garth’s assistant, Janet (Marguerite Churchill), and takes her to Transylvania, leading to a battle between Dr. Garth and the Countess in an attempt by him to save Janet.”
Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett were hoping they’d be able to move on from Abigail to directing Scream 7, but studio executives weren’t willing to wait for them to finish working on their vampire project, so they were “exited” from the slasher sequel. We recently learned that a Ready or Not sequel is moving ahead without Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett at the helm as well.
Are you looking forward to Abigail? What do you think of the Dolby Cinema poster? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
A press release notes that, “Dolby Cinema offers guests the complete Dolby movie experience. Dolby Cinema unlocks the emotional impact of every film, allowing you to see the subtle details and ultra vivid colors of Dolby Vision, and hear the immersive sound of Dolby Atmos. Dolby Cinema is specially designed to elevate every type of movie experience – and Abigail will be no exception.”
