On April 5th, 20th Century Studios will be giving a theatrical release to The First Omen, which serves as a prequel to the 1976 horror classic The Omen (watch it HERE) – but some reviewers, including JoBlo’s own JimmyO, have already had the chance to see the movie, and their largely positive reactions started hitting social media last night. We have assembled some of them below (including, yes, JimmyO’s), and some of the descriptions used in these reactions include disturbing, chilling, stunning, fascinating, and unrepentantly ghoulish.

The film stars Nell Tiger Free of the Apple TV+ series Servant, and will be hitting the big screen with an R rating for violent content, grisly/disturbing images, and brief graphic nudity… although it nearly got an NC-17.

The First Omen was directed by Arkasha Stevenson, based on characters created by David Seltzer. Here’s the synopsis: When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her own faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.

Free is joined in the cast by Tawfeek Barhom (Mary Magdalene), Sonia Braga (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ralph Ineson (The Northman), and Bill Nighy (Living).

The film was produced by David S. Goyer and Keith Levine, with Tim Smith serving as executive producer with Whitney Brown and Gracie Wheelan. We first heard that a prequel to The Omen was in development way back in 2016. At that time, Antonio Campos (The Devil All the Time) was in talks to direct First Omen from a script by Ben Jacoby (Bleed). Later The Conjuring writers Chad and Carey Hayes came on board to work on the script, and they were followed by author Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl). The film ended up in the hands of Arkasha Stevenson – who has previously directed episodes of the genre shows Channel Zero, Legion, and Brand New Cherry Flavor. Stevenson rewrote the script with her writing partner Tim Smith, then Firestarter‘s Keith Thomas worked on it as well.

The Omen (1976) was followed by Damien: Omen II in 1978, Omen III: The Final Conflict in 1981, Omen IV: The Awakening in 1991, and a 2006 remake. So this is the sixth entry in the film franchise.

Are you looking forward to The First Omen? Let us know by leaving a comment below – but first, take a look at these reactions:

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Austin Butler may not be confirmed to be co-starring in Michael Mann’s Heat 2, but the Masters of the Air actor has now been reported to be set to be the lead in Caught Stealing. Since 2022’s Elvis, Austin Butler’s star has really taken off. The former Disney and Nickelodeon child actor is capitalizing on his breakout film with roles in the recently released Dune: Part Two, where he plays the ruthless Feyd-Rautha. However, Butler hasn’t turned his back on smaller films, as he is set to co-star alongside Tom Hardy in Jeff Nichols’ period drama, The Bikeriders.

Now The Hollywood Reporter is saying Butler will be working with Darren Aronofsky for Sony’s crime drama that “follows Hank Thompson, a burned-out former baseball player, as he’s unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of ‘90s NYC.” Caught Stealing will be penned by Charlie Huston, who is also the author of the book that the movie will be based on. Huston is no stranger to this process as he adapted his novel The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death for HBO, as well as his novel Already Dead, which can be seen on Max. He is also a seasoned TV scribe as he has written pilots for FX, Fox, Sony and Tomorrow Studios. Huston also served as a consulting producer for Fox’s Gotham, and worked in several development rooms. Aronofsky will be producing this film via his Protozoa Pictures.

Aronofsky is coming off the critically acclaimed film The Whale, which catapulted Brendan Fraser back into the movie spotlight as he earned his first Academy Award win. Aronofsky talks partnering up with Sony to make this new film with Butler, “I am excited to be teaming up with my old friends at Sony Pictures to bring Charlie’s adrenaline-soaked roller coaster ride to life. I can’t wait to start working with Austin and my family of NYC filmmakers.” Sanford Panitch, president of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, also shared his excitment of working with Aronofsky on Caught Stealing, “Darren is one of the most brilliant audiovisual storytellers in the world, and adapting these wonderful books by Charlie Huston for Austin to star was too exciting an opportunity to not be a part of.”

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Back in 2018, Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters director Paul Feig brought us the mystery A Simple Favor, which starred Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in the story of “mommy blogger Stephanie (Kendrick), who befriends Emily (Lively), a secretive upper-class woman who has a child at the same elementary school. When Emily goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to investigate.” A couple years ago, we heard that Amazon MGM Studios and Lionsgate were teaming up to produce a sequel to A Simple Favor… and now The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Feig, Lively, and Kendrick are all coming back for A Simple Favor 2. Filming is expected to begin this spring, and the film is heading for a streaming release on Prime Video.

Jessica Sharzer, who wrote the screenplay for the first film (which was based on the 2017 novel of the same name by author Darcey Bell), returned to write the sequel, with Feig and Laeta Kalogridis also working on the script.

A Simple Favor 2 will see Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively) heading to the island of Capri for Emily’s lavish wedding. The destination nuptials between Emily and a wealthy Italian businessman are set to include murder and betrayal on the itinerary.

A Simple Favor cast members Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua Satine, Ian Ho, and Kelly McCormack will all be reprising their roles from the first movie. Feig and Laura Fischer are producing A Simple Favor 2 for Feigco Entertainment, while Sharzer serves as executive producer.

Are you a fan of A Simple Favor, and are you glad to hear that A Simple Favor 2 is moving forward? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

I have seen A Simple Favor, I probably watched it sometime in early 2019… but I remember nothing about it aside from the fact that it was directed by Feig and starred Lively and Kendrick. I couldn’t tell you what it was about or anything that happened in it. Even after that refresher in the opening paragraph, I’m still blanking on this one. So I’m obviously going to have to rewatch A Simple Favor if I’m going to check out A Simple Favor 2.

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Earlier this month, it was announced that Platinum Dunes, the production company headed up by Michael Bay and Bradley Fuller, are teaming up with director Jonathan Liebesman – who they previously worked with on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and their 2014 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – to make a werewolf movie called Wolf Night. Now Deadline reports that Wolf Night has found a home at Sony’s Screen Gems.

Michael Bitar is overseeing the project for Screen Gems, while Alex Ginno does the same for Platinum Dunes.

Screen Gems has put out a whole lot of horror movies over the years, with titles including Don’t Breathe, Resident Evil, Underworld, Deliver Us from Evil, The Grudge, Carrie, The Stepfather, Prom Night, The Pope’s Exorcist, Insidious: The Red Door, and the upcoming Tarot. They recently secured a first-look deal with Gary Dauberman, who worked on the two-part adaptation of Stephen King’s novel It, scripted the Conjuring Universe films Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, and The Nun, co-created the 2019 Swamp Thing TV show, and wrote and directed Annabelle Comes Home for Warner Bros / New Line Cinema. At Screen Gems, Dauberman will “create projects for himself while curating a slate featuring established and up-and-coming filmmakers.”

Deadline wasn’t able to dig up much information on Wolf Night, but they did learn that the project is being described as “District 9 by way of The Purge“. Will Honley, whose writing credits include Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, wrote the screenplay with April Maguire. Honley and Maguire also have the sci-fi thriller Subservience coming our way.

In addition to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Liebesman has also directed Darkness Falls, The Killing Room, Battle Los Angeles, Wrath of the Titans, and episodes of Halo and The Shannara Chronicles.

I’m of the opinion that there aren’t enough werewolf movies in the world and definitely not enough great werewolf movies, so I’m always glad to see another werewolf project moving forward. Here’s hoping this will be something we can add to the list of greats.

Are you interested in Wolf Night? What do you think of the project landing at Screen Gems? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Just barely 60, Nicolas Cage may actually be nearing retirement, saying he only has a handful of movies left in him. And according to the Oscar winner, National Treasure 3 will not be one of them, throwing shade at Disney, saying there was no treasure to be found at the studio. With that, that might be the nail in the coffin of a National Treasure 3, as now mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer is saying a third installment won’t go forward without Cage’s involvement.

Bruckheimer recently told MovieWeb that he personally has hopes for a threequel but it all falls on Cage. “Well, we hope there’s a National Treasure 3. We’ve been working on it for quite a while. We have a brilliant writer working on it right now, so hopefully, if we get a script in a timely fashion, we’ll send it to Nic [Cage] and, if he likes it, we’ll make another one. We certainly would like to.” And so that seems like the true end of National Treasure 3, which fans of the first two have been clamoring for ever since Book of Secrets came out 17 years ago. Instead, we got stuck with a lame Disney+ series that got canceled after one season.

Nicolas Cage had previously expressed bewilderment that National Treasure 3 made it to the big screen. After all, the first movies collectively grossed $788 million worldwide, making them two of Cage’s biggest hits. As recently as January of this year, Cage did seem to hint at a possible interest in returning as Benjamin Franklin Gates, saying, “I’m still kind of amazed that Disney hasn’t wanted to make a third one. I thought the movies brought a lot of joy to the public, and it’s certainly interesting about history, and I think all of that is worthwhile filmmaking.” So it’s a bit confusing – and disappointing – that Cage has evidently walked this back, apparently not finding National Treasure 3 “worthwhile” enough to work into his last run of films. Fine, then we’ll just take a proper Face/Off sequel and drop it!

The National Treasure movies seemed so silly at the time – and, OK, still are – but they remain a lot of fun, showcasing Cage at his peak of family-friendly entertainment. Do you think National Treasure 3 is permanently done for? Or do you think Cage could be roped in for one more installment?

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When you think of the great directors in cinema history – Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, etc. – chances are the first films that come to mind are Goodfellas, Jaws and Vertigo. But every brilliant filmmaker has their duds. Now, Rolling Stone – you know, the publication that doesn’t think Roseanne and Bill Cosby had historic shows just because of their wrongdoings – has put out a list of the 50 worst movies by some of the most renowned directors…And yes, they have missed the mark considerably.

In the list, titled “50 Terrible Movies by Great Directors”, there are plenty of bottom-barrel films, those that are absolutely anomalies in otherwise remarkable careers. We wouldn’t argue that man-child family comedy Jack (#1) isn’t Francis Ford Coppola’s worst movie or that Rob Reiner’s North (#2) wasn’t worthy of Roger Ebert’s famed “hated, hated, hated, hated, hated” review. Those guys didn’t make anything worse than either one. But what about those that are being unjustly lumped with this crap?

We didn’t love Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (#3) when it came out, but that’s mostly comparing it to the Indiana Jones trilogy which came before it. Really, aren’t 1941 and Always more in the running for Spielberg’s worst movie? The problem with some of these “worst of” lists is that they sometimes unfairly automatically go after sequels and remakes. OK, there’s a case to be made for Piranha II (#6) being James Cameron’s worst, but at the same time it’s a B movie that gave Cameron the chance to get a feel for how to make a movie and so why pick on it? The same goes for Scorsese’s Boxcar Bertha, ranked at #13. Uh, New York, New York, anyone? And I thought Gus Van Sant’s Psycho (#4) was a ballsy experiment that, to me, took the place of 2015’s The Sea of Trees.

A similar case could be made for Alfred Hitchcock’s inclusion, 1929’s Juno and the Paycock (#21). Why go after this era when he has plenty of self-parodic tripe after he long solidified himself as a master? I’d put 1964’s Marnie, 1969’s Topaz or 1966’s Torn Curtain on the list before any of his pre-Hollywood fare. There aren’t a whole lot of amazing films on this list – although Sidney Lumet’s Garbo Talks (#38) is actually pretty solid and films like Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain (#49) has a serious following – but it also doesn’t seem like enough context and perspective were considered as much as they should be when compiling such a list.

Let’s take a look at some other movies that made the list and how we could replace them. William Friedkin’s Jade #16) is pretty lousy, but what about 1983’s Deal of the Century? Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her (#19) is a sin to put anywhere near this list – it might actually be one of his best – with the director having no fewer than a half-dozen other movies that could have replaced it (Welcome to Marwen, Beowulf, etc.). And Ridley’s Scott’s A Good Year (#18) is no peach but how can it be included when The Counselor exists?

There’s a lot to explore on Rolling Stone’s list of the worst movies by great directors, but we’ll let you take a look yourself to see where they got it right and where they were completely off base.

Surely we shouldn’t take too much stock in virtually any “best of/worst of” list because it’s just another person or publication’s opinion, but we do want to hear from you. So, what do you think is the worst movie from your top directors? Give us your list in the comments section below!

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A year and a half ago, it was announced that Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner – who both have experience working in the Scream franchise, as Fitzgerald was in the Scream TV series and Gallner appeared in the 2022 Scream movie – were set to star in the “cat and mouse thriller” Strange Darling. Now we know when we’re going to have a chance to see this movie, as Variety has confirmed that veteran producer Bob Yari’s new company Magenta Light Studios has secured the U.S. distribution rights to the film and they’re planning to give it a wide theatrical release on August 23rd.

Plot details on this thriller are being kept under wraps, and Variety notes that reviews from audience members who saw the movie at Fantastic Fest last year ” hint that the film works best with as little information as possible going in.” Apparently it has something to do with a spontaneous hookup gone terribly wrong.

Strange Darling was written and directed by J.T. Mollner (Outlaws and Angels), and filming took place in Portland, Oregon. The film was produced by former Miramax CEO Bill Block, Chris Ivan Cevic, Steven Schneider, Roy Lee, and actor Giovanni Ribisi, who also served as the director of photography.

Fitzgerald and Gallner were joined in the cast by Oscar nominee Barbara Hershey (The Entity) and Emmy nominee Ed Begley Jr. (Better Call Saul). According to IMDb, the cast of the film also features Madisen Beaty (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Bianca A. Santos (Ouija), Steven Michael Quezada (Breaking Bad), Eugenia Kuzmina (Bad Moms), Denise Grayson (The Social Network), and Duke Mollner – who happens to be the director’s father, and also had a role in Outlaws and Angels.

Bob Yari told Variety, “We are thrilled to be bringing nationwide theatrical audiences this unique and exceptional film with terrific performances by Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner. This second feature from talented writer-director JT Mollner is destined to become a cult classic that defies conventional storytelling.“

Kyle Gallner is a genre regular whose credits also include Red, The Haunting in Connecticut, Jennifer’s Body, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Red State, The Walking Dead, The Cleanse, Alien Code, Ghosts of War, Smile, The Passenger; Mother, May I?; and the upcoming Smile sequel. Willa Fitzgerald doesn’t have as many horror credits as Gallner, but she was in the Netflix series The Fall of the House of Usher, which was headed up by Mike Flanagan.

Are you interested in Strange Darling, and are you glad to hear the movie is getting a wide theatrical release in August? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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25 years ago The Sci-Fi channel (SyFy these days) brought onto the airwaves a series unlike any ever seen before.  Farscape took the idea of weird and ran with it in a universe filled with the bizarre, the beautiful, and both at the same time.

Created by Rockne S. O’Bannon, the man behind Alien Nation, Farscape introduced viewers to creatures and aliens of all different shapes and sizes.  Some of them were people and others were beyond anything we could imagine.  And we all saw it and experienced it alongside lost astronaut and scientist John Crichton, played by Ben Browder.  Crichton was the only ACTUAL human around and was the perfect stand in for the rest of us.

The series would be brought to life by the Jim Henson Creature Shop under the eye of Brian Henson (who we interviewed yesterday).  The shop would create and design various aliens that were both puppet and person…and a bit of both.  Over 4 seasons and a miniseries, Crichton and company would change the universe they were in as well as our own.  

Farscape became a fan favorite and would grow a fanbase that would be ravenous for the show.  They’d bring it back from the dead a couple of times over its run when cancellation was in the cards.  This love for the series came from seeing a crew that would accept pretty much anyone, no matter how odd they might seem.  Family didn’t mean you had to look alike and even those with a past of mistakes could find some forgiveness.  It was an amazing message brought to the screen that played out in a world that was just as amazing.

I was lucky enough to chat with three of the cornerstones of the Farscape universe.  Actor Ben Browder (John Crichton), creator/exec producer Rockne S O’Bannon, and creature maker/exec producer Brian Henson to look back 25 years later on Farscape’s past and a possible future as well as how the show changed the game for science fiction on TV.

In celebration of the anniversary, Shout! TV will be introducing new commercial break interstitials to Farscape TV, including trivia, production memories, and more featuring Ben Browder and Gigi Edgley. Farscape is available to stream at Farscape.TV and through the Shout! TV app.  

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Yesterday, it was announced that Katherine Waterston (Alien: Covenant), Lili Taylor (The Conjuring), Chris Klein (American Pie), India Fowler (The Nevers), Suzanna Son (Red Rocket), Fina Strazza (Paper Girls), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty), and Ella Rubin (The Idea of You) are set to star in Fear Street: Prom Queen, the continuation of the Fear Street film franchise that began with the release of the trilogy of Fear Street Part One: 1994, Fear Street Part Two: 1978, and Fear Street Part Three: 1666 on the Netflix streaming service back in the summer of 2021. Apparently yesterday was also the day when the project went into production, and Ariana Greenblatt from Barbie was spotted on the set in Toronto – and now OneTakeNews have been able to confirm that Greenblatt is in the cast.

Author R.L. Stine has written over 100 books that have been published under the various Fear Street banners. While the initial trilogy of films wasn’t directly based on any specific Fear Street book, the new movie will be telling a version of the story Stine crafted for his 1992 book The Prom Queen. Here’s the description: A spring night… soft moonlight… five beautiful Prom Queen candidates… dancing couples at the Shadyside High prom — these should be the ingredients for romance. But stir in one brutal murder — then another, and another — and the recipe quickly turns to horror. Lizzie McVay realizes that someone is murdering the five Prom Queen candidates one by one — and that she may be next on the list! Can she stop the murderer before the dance is over — for good? The official synopsis says Fear Street: Prom Queen takes us back to the town of Shadyside, Ohio, where prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night. 

Back in 2022, we heard that Chloe Okuno, who recently made her feature directorial debut with the thriller Watcher, would be directing the next Fear Street movie, but she left the street behind at some point in the last couple years. The film is actually being directed by Matthew Palmer, who made his feature directorial debut with the 2018 Netflix thriller Calibre. Palmer has written the screenplay with Calibre cast member Donald McLeary.

Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, and Kori Adelson of Chernin Entertainment are producing Fear Street: Prom Queen, with Yvonne Bernard, Joan Waricha, and Jane Stine serving as executive producers. Caroline Pitofsky is overseeing the production for Chernin Entertainment.

In addition to Barbie, Greenblatt’s previous credits include A Bad Moms Christmas, Avengers: Infinity War, Stuck in the Middle, Love and Monsters, Awake, In the Heights, 65, and Ahsoka. She has a role in director Eli Roth’s upcoming video game adaptation Borderlands – and Roth has said that he and Greenblatt are currently collaborating on a horror script.

What do you think of Ariana Greenblatt being part of the Fear Street: Prom Queen cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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As if Dune: Part Two needed any more praise. Now, Denis Villeneuve’s newest sci-fi spice epic has the ringing endorsement from one of the most prolific directors in movie history. The run for the second part in the Frank Herbert novel adaptation has been a triumph, with many praising the sequel as one of the best sci-fi movies of all time; not only that, but it’s been consistently riding sandworms at the top of the box office, grossing over $500 million worldwide and counting. 

World of Reel has revealed that one big fan of the sequel is none other than Steven Spielberg. Spielberg recently sat down and spoke with Denis Villeneuve for The Director’s Cut – A DGA Podcast, where he would have some of the highest praise that someone could ever offer a director. Some soundbites of Spielberg’s compliments for the Timothée Chalamet-starring film include, “It’s one of the most brilliant science fiction films I’ve ever seen […] That scene surfing the sandworm is one of the greatest things I have ever seen. Ever […] The casting is absolutely remarkable […] This has some of the greatest fighting in it.”

Obviously, with the incredible reception that the movie is getting, the question of more sequels comes into play. Especially since Dune: Part Two ends on a note that sets up an even bigger story. Villeneuve mentioned in an interview with Empire that he will only make a third film if he’s sure it will be better than Part Two. Villeneuve states, “I did both movies back-to-back, which makes absolute sense for me. I felt that it was a good idea to move forward right after Part One. We were already designing, writing et cetera. But it also meant that for six years I was on Arrakis non-stop, and I think it will be healthy to step back a little bit. First, make sure that we have a strong screenplay. The thing I want to avoid is not having something ready. I never did it, and now I feel it could be dangerous because of the enthusiasm. We need to make sure all the ideas are on paper.“

Villeneuve added, “If we go back, it needs to be real, it needs to be relevant, if ever I do Dune Messiah, [it’s] because it’s going to be better than Part Two. Otherwise, I don’t do it.”

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