Star Wars: The Acolyte has finally set its official premiere date on Disney+, with the much-anticipated series launching on the streaming service on June 4th. You can also check out the first poster for the series, which features a blood-streaked lightsaber. Not only that, but the first official trailer for the series will drop tomorrow morning, so be sure to check back here to watch it!

Set hundreds of years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte takes place during the High Republic era of the franchise. The series stars Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Dafne Keen (Logan), Charlie Barnett (You), Jodie Turner-Smith (Anne Boleyn), Rebecca Henderson (Russian Doll), Dean-Charles Chapman (Game of Thrones), Joonas Suotamon (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker), and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix Resurrections).

The logline reads: “An investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.” The first footage from the series was released at the Star Wars Celebration last year, and while there have been leaks, I’m excited to finally see something official from the series.

The Acolyte creator Lesyle Headland has said that the series will flip the script from other Star Wars stories as it won’t always be told from the perspective of the Jedi. “I think that what makes this show different and interesting is that it’s from the perspective of the villains of Star Wars,” Lesyle Headland explained. “These are people who are using the Force in their own way, dipping into the darker sides of the Force and are doing it without being sanctioned by the larger institution, which, in this case, is the Jedi.” Headland added that the series will feature “more Jedi than you’ve seen in any of the Star Wars content,” but also more “morally ambiguous characters” as well.

The Acolyte will premiere on Disney+ on June 4th, and don’t forget about that trailer tomorrow!

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Cake up on some makeup, be ready to dance atop the Highbridge stairs, and smile because early reactions for Joker: Folie à Deux are soft-shoeing their way onto social media. Following a blind screening of Todd Phillips’ hotly-anticipated sequel to 2019’s Joker, entertainment site GoldDerby is spilling the tea about Joker: Folie à Deux!

In a social media post, GoldDerby reveals what it can about Joker: Folie à Deux, including Lady Gaga’s “transformative” performance as Dr. Harleen Quinzel, the film’s musical elements, and how Phillips’ forthcoming film toys with DC lore, taking advantage of the Elseworlds aspect of the setup.

I have not modified the original transcription:

“Parts are chaotic for a reason,” GoldDerby posted online. “Parts are surrealistic also for a reason (and at least in part shot in B&W), parts are bloody (the chaotic part). Can’t spoil how exactly. It’s also very political as you would expect from Joker franchise. The person I spoke with was mighty impressed but caution it’s just on opinion.”

The post continues, “Gaga is indeed equal to Phoenix or even more cnetral. No way to fraud her in supporting. from what I understood, he doesn’t call her Harley buyt a nickname derived from it. I guess that has created a confusion whether she plays Harley or not (she does). They both perform sonds as a duel and some are just her singing. Songs are mix of old songs and new ones. Old one are sand in one part of movie, new/original ones in another. It isn’t all a singing movie. Famous characters appear in it. Some changes to lore since these movies are standalones from certain other DC franchise.”

Gold Derby adds, “Surrealism would be some scenes (can’t specify which) but not the whole movie (it isn’t all a dream/hallucination type of thing). Gaga’s performance is said to be transformative and sensational.”

Joker: Folie À Deux screening blinds are dropping and indeed are very interesting to read

(Source: GoldDerby) pic.twitter.com/ZQnniUoskD

— L (fan account) (@live4ga) March 18, 2024

The part that stands out to me the most is when the individual says, “famous characters appear.” Do they mean characters from the first film, like Zazie Beetz’s Sophie Dumond, or flashbacks to Robert De Niro’s Murray Franklin? Does Joker: Folie à Deux include more known DC characters than Joker and Harley? Could we be in for some surprises when Joker: Folie à Deux waltzes into theaters on October 4, 2024?

Other reactions to the film are making the rounds, with audience members praising Lady Gaga’s electrifying performance and mentioning the film’s altering of classic song lyrics to fit the movie. Reactions to the film could be monumentally unhinged between the project’s musical roots, political leanings, and prioritizing Harley over Arthur. I say, bring it on!

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Before we see It star Bill Skarsgard get revenge in The Crow remake this June, we’re going to have the chance to see him get revenge in another action thriller, Boy Kills World (watch the trailer HERE), which is set to reach theatres on April 26th. In anticipation of the Boy Kills World release, Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have unveiled a poster for the film, along with a batch of character posters. You can check them out at the bottom of this article.

JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray already had the chance to see Boy Kills World a few months ago, and you can read his 8/10 review at THIS LINK.

Produced by the legendary Sam Raimi, the film was scripted by Arend Remmers (Sløborn) and Tyler Burton Smith (Kung Fury: The Movie). The story takes place in a bizarre, dark dystopian universe and centers on a deaf and mute character, Boy (Skarsgård), who navigates this depressing world with his otherworldly imagination. Tragedy strikes when Boy’s family is brutally murdered. When his fight or flight instincts kick in, Boy finds himself on a life-threatening trek into the darkly forested jungle. There, he meets a shaman (Ruhian) who takes Boy under his wing and launches him into a cutthroat coming of age journey where he encourages his new pupil to leave his youth behind and pick up the baton as a highly trained assassin.

Skarsgard is joined in the cast by Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day), Yayan Ruhian (The Raid: Redemption), Andrew Koji (Warrior), Isaiah Mustafa (It: Chapter Two), Famke Janssen (The Faculty), Brett Gelman (Stranger Things), Sharlto Copley (District 9), Quinn Copeland (Punky Brewster), twin brothers Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti (Big Little Lies), and Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey). Dockery plays Melanie, “the sister of the film’s Van der Koy family. Melanie is a satirical powerhouse and sociopath who tries to project a powerful cohesive family image to hide the desperation behind their decaying dynasty.” Janssen, Gelman, and Copley are also members of the antagonistic Van Der Koy family, with Janssen as matriarch Hilda, and Gelman and Copley as Gideon and Glen, respectively.

Sam Raimi and Zainab Azizi are producing Boy Kills World through Raimi Productions, Roy Lee is producing for Vertigo Entertainment, Simon Swart and Wayne Fitzjohn are producing through Nthibah Pictures, and Alex Lebovici is producing through Hammerstone Studios. Stuart Manashil and Dan Kagan are also producers. Reza Brojerdi of Ventaro Film and Andrew Childs are executive producers.

Boy Kills World has been rated R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, language, some drug use and sexual references.

Will you be watching Boy Kills World in April? Take a look at the posters, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Something is going BUMP at Warner Bros. Animation, with President Bill Damaschke looking to turn the studio’s reputation around with an exciting announcement. A new animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat wants to play at WB, and cast members are already creating chaos and giving nervous fish a panic attack. Saturday Night Live and Barry star Bill Hader plays the Cat, with Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary, Miracle Workers), Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live, Fire Island, Wicked), Xochitl Gomez (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Baby-Sitters Club), Matt Berry (What We Do in The Shadows, The IT Crowd) and Paula Pell (Girls5eva, Saturday Night Live) starring as primary cast members.

Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja direct the new feature version of The Cat in the Hat from a script they wrote. Hoping to cause family-friendly havoc in theaters on March 6, 2026, The Cat in the Hat focuses on an imaginative cat trying to cheer up a pair of siblings who’ve moved to a new town. As the adventure unfolds, the Cat introduces the children to his friends, Thing 1 and Thing 2, pulls impossible objects from his bag of tricks and nearly gives a persnickety goldfish a heart attack.

“We are overjoyed to partner with our friends at Dr. Seuss to take audiences of all ages on an adventure into the beloved world of The Cat in the Hat,” said Damaschke. “With this incredible voice cast led by Bill Hader as the fun-loving, agent of chaos himself and our filmmakers Alessandro and Erica at the helm, we look forward to sharing this Seussian cinematic spectacle with audiences everywhere in 2026!”

“We are excited to see such an exceptional group of talent join the effort to bring this iconic propertyto the screen as an animated feature,” said Susan Brandt, the President and CEO of Dr. Seuss Enterprises. “It’s been an amazing experience collaborating with the team from Warner Bros. Pictures Animation so far, as they truly understand what it takes to capture the magic of The Cat in the Hat and share his brand of imagination and joy with a new generation of Dr. Seuss fans.”

Published in 1957, Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat is a staple of children’s book collections and libraries worldwide. Bo Welch directed a live-action adaptation of the story in 2003, starring Mike Myers as the titular Cat in the Hat. The film deposited $133 million in the Cat’s magic bag, with Spencer Breslin (The Santa Claus 3: The Escape Claus, The Kid, The Happening) and Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire, The Equalizer 3) starring as the bored children.

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22 months ago, we caught word that an “edge-of-your-seat survival thriller” starring Jennifer Hudson of Respect and Dreamgirls and Milla Jovovich of The Fifth Element and Resident Evil was about to head into production – and now we finally know when we’re going to have a chance to see the movie, which is titled Breathe. It will be getting a theatrical, digital, and on demand release on April 26th, and with that date just one month away, a trailer has made its way online. You can check it out in the embed above.

Directed by Stefon Bristol, who won a Film Independent Spirit Award for his 2017 short film See You Yesterday, from a Black List screenplay by Doug Simon (Brotherhood, Demonic), Breathe follows a mother named Maya and her daughter, who are forced to live underground after Earth is made uninhabitable due to a lack of oxygen. Only short trips to the surface are made possible by a state-of-art oxygen suit made by Maya’s husband Darius, whom she presumes to be dead. When a mysterious couple arrives claiming to know Darius and his fate, Maya tentatively agrees to let them into their bunker but are they all they appear to be?

Hudson and Jovovich are joined in the cast by Quvenzhané Wallis (Annie, Beasts of the Southern Wild), Common (John Wick: Chapter 2, Wanted), and Sam Worthington (Avatar: The Way of Water, Clash of the Titans).

Thunder Road Films’ Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee produced Breathe with Capstone’s Christian Mercuri. Capstone’s Ruzanna Kegeyan served as executive producer, as did David Haring, Esther Hornstein, and Will Flynn.

Bristol told People that Breathe is a personal story and, “The more personal, the more universal. We want to scare the audience to realize that the Earth can end tomorrow. We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, but we borrow it from our children.” This film marks Bristol’s feature directorial debut. It sounds like he handled it well, because Jovovich told People he was a wonderful collaborator.

What did you think of the Breathe trailer? Will you be watching this movie next month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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As Marvel Studios continues to run damage control on its cinematic universe after the court’s conviction of Jonathan Majors for assault charges, fans wonder what’s become of his pivotal villain character, Kang, in the MCU’s roadmap to re-establishing itself as a box office behemoth in the film industry. With Majors becoming box office poison, Marvel has little choice but to recast him as the Big Bad of the MCU’s current phase of cinematic spectacles. Reports about Marvel replacing Kang as the MCU’s overarching villain continue circulating. Still, industry insider Daniel Richtman says Marvel is sticking with Kang, though Majors is no longer a part of the plan.

According to Richtman, Marvel plans to keep Kang the Conqueror as the central villain of Avengers 5 and the follow-up Avengers: Secret Wars. Initially, Avengers 5 was titled The Kang Dynasty, but Marvel scrapped the title when Major’s conviction reached the courts. However, if Marvel plans to continue using Kang as their central villain, they could revert to the original title. Somewhere, someone at Marvel is screaming into a pillow over this kerfuffle, I assure you.

As I’d said, fans continue to speculate about Majors’ replacement, with Rustin and Fear the Walking Dead star Coleman Domingo being the popular choice to walk in Kang’s mechanized boots. Domingo says he’s open to playing the character, though Marvel has yet to make him an offer, as far as we know. Replacing Jonathan Majors as Kang should not be too hard, considering Kang’s many variants. With so many versions of the character spread throughout the Multiverse, a new Kang could replace Majors’ version with little blowback, at least from a story perspective.

Another aspect of the rumor talks about Marvel introducing another significant villain to the mix, such as Fantastic Four‘s Galactus or Doctor Doom. Marvel’s heroes could defeat Kang sooner than intended, with the planet-eating titan or disfigured Doctor Doom ascending as the MCU’s biggest threat. Doom is the more likely option, as Galactus will likely be a CGI hybrid character with little mobility. Meanwhile, Doctor Doom can be a more “boots on the ground” villain, wielding science and magic with a wave of his armored hands. Doom also presents Marvel with an opportunity to introduce a scarred, traumatized villain with depth and strong ties to Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four.

What do you think about Marvel possibly keeping Kang as the Big Bad of the MCU, at least until someone else takes the throne? Let us know in the comments section below.

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It’s time for a new episode of the Real Slashers video series, and with this one we’re heading back into the glorious ’80s to look at a film that was released during the slasher boom of 1981: Happy Birthday to Me (watch it HERE)! This movie was directed by J. Lee Thompson, whose previous credits included the classics The Guns of Navarone and Cape Fear (not to mention Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes). To hear all about his contribution to the ’80s slasher era, check out the video embedded above.

From here, Thompson would go on to make several films with Charles Bronson, including 10 to Midnight and Death Wish 4: The Crackdown, as well as King Solomon’s Mines and the Chuck Norris adventure Firewalker.

Scripted by Timothy Bond, Peter Jobin, and John Saxton (plus an uncredited John Beaird, who also wrote 1981’s My Bloody Valentine), Happy Birthday to Me has the following synopsis: When pretty student at exclusive High School disappears mysteriously, a terrible chain of events begins…with one gruesome murder following another. As the death toll mounts it becomes obvious that a mentally unbalanced student holds the key. Everything will be revealed at a macabre birthday party where the guests have one thing in common… they are all corpses!

The film stars Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker, Frances Hyland, Tracey E. Bregman, Jack Blum, Matt Craven, Lenore Zann, David Eisner, Michel-René Labelle, Richard Rebiere, Lesleh Donaldson, Lisa Langlois, and Ron Lea.

Here’s what Real Slashers is all about: Ahhh the ’80s. A simpler time where the blood ran red, the boobies swung freely, and the weed was copiously smoked. A time where rampant killers were simply excuses for excessive sex and over the top murder. Yes, we’re looking at an era where the slasher movie ran wild over cinemas everywhere. Today, we’re looking at “Real Slashers.”

The show is Written, Narrated, and Edited by Tyler Nichols, Produced by John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

What do you think of Happy Birthday to Me, and how did you like this episode of Real Slashers? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

A couple of the previous episodes of Real Slashers can be seen below. To see more, and to check out some of our other shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals channel – and subscribe while you’re at it!

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Made on a budget of less than $100,000, director Rhys Frake-Waterfield’s movie Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (watch it HERE) earned more than $6 million during its global release in early 2023, so the sequel Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 is set to receive a three-day theatrical run in the United States on March 26, 27, and 28th, courtesy of Fathom Events, ITN Studios, and Jagged Edge Productions. (Tickets can be purchased online at Fathom Events or at participating theatre box offices.) We’ve previously heard that Frake-Waterfield and producer Scott Jeffrey Chambers are planning to create a cinematic universe with the Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey films and other horror movies inspired by children’s stories, like Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, Bambi: The Reckoning, and Pinocchio Unstrung. Now Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios have officially announced that this cinematic universe, which is being referred to as The Twisted Childhood Universe, is building up to a crossover movie Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble, which will be released in 2025!

Frake-Waterfield explains, “It will be complete carnage. We are heavily influenced by Freddy vs. Jason and The Avengers. We would love to see a horror movie where the villains group together and are going after their survivors. We have some incredible set pieces in mind and some sequences I think will truly shock people. The movies we are working on now as stand alones are all building towards Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble.“

Chambers added, “Similar to The Avengers, we will follow Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Piglet, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Bambi, The Mad Hatter, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell joining forces to wreak havoc. We are working with a larger scale budget on this one and are excited for what the future will hold. When you see the stand alone movies you will see the easter eggs hinting toward the crossover. Some of the villains also will not see eye to eye, which will allow for some carnage within the group in some epic sequences of monster vs. monster.“

Frake-Waterfield will be directing the crossover film, and it has already been confirmed that the cast will include Chambers as Christopher Robin, Megan Plactio as Wendy Darling, Roxanne Mckee as Xana, and Lewis Santer as Tigger.

Stuart Alson and Nicole Holland serve as executive producers on Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble.

What do you think of The Twisted Childhood Universe? Are you looking forward to Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Zack Snyder and Netflix want to kick your work week off with a bang! So, steal a few minutes away from your job, ask your co-worker for a distraction, and bask in the science-fiction spectacle of the Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver trailer. The follow-up to Snyder’s 2023 hit finds Kora (Sofia Boutella) and her motley crew of rebels preparing for the ongoing battle against an oppressive ruling force, the Motherworld.

Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver continues the epic saga of Kora and the surviving warriors as they prepare to sacrifice everything, fighting alongside the brave people of Veldt, to defend a once peaceful village, a newfound homeland for those who have lost their own in the fight against the Motherworld. On the eve of their battle the warriors must face the truths of their own pasts, each revealing why they fight. As the full force of the Realm bears down on the burgeoning rebellion, unbreakable bonds are forged, heroes emerge, and legends are made.

Sofia Boutell returns to Zack Snyder’s dark Star Wars-like world as Kora in the Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver trailer as the Scargiver, with Ed Skrein rising from the grave as the nefarious Atticus Noble. Returning cast members from Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire include Michiel Huisman, Djimon Hounsou, Doona Bae, Staz Nair, and Anthony Hopkins as the voice of evolving robot guardian Jimmy. Part Two also stars Fra Fee, Cleopatra Coleman, Stuart Martin, Ingvar Sigurðsson, Alfonso Herrera, Cary Elwes, Rhian Rees, Elise Duffy, Sky Yang, and Charlotte Maggi.

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver launches on Netflix on April 19, one day shy of, well, you know. You might want to hit your local dispensary a day or two early so you can fly as high as the streaming numbers inevitably will be for the Rebel Moon sequel’s debut. Even without the accompaniment of recreational “refreshments,” Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver is sure to answer burning questions from the original while expanding the world and characters like never before. While Rebel Moon came out of the gate swinging, the second chapter of Snyder’s Rebel Moon could deliver on the promise of being bigger and better than its predecessor.

What do you think about today’s Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver trailer? Do you already have watch party plans? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Last year, Australian filmmaker Peter Weir was given an honorary Oscar for having “illuminated the human experience with his unique and expansive body of work.” Sadly, it’s now official that his filmography is complete, as Weir confirmed during an appearance at the Festival de la Cinémathèque in Paris that he has retired from directing.

Télérama reported (and IndieWire was kind enough to translate their report) that Weir was asked why 14 years have gone by since his last movie. Weir replied, “I am retired. Why did I stop cinema? Because, quite simply, I have no more energy.“

Born in 1944, Weir got his career started in television back in the 1960s, working on the TV projects The Life and Times of the Reverend Buck Shotte and Man on a Green Bike. After contributing a segment to the anthology film Three to Go, he made the 50 minute movie Homesdale and the documentary Whatever Happened to Green Valley? In 1974, he made a horror comedy with a very popular title: The Cars That Ate Paris. The following year, he directed the mystery Picnic at Hanging Rock, which is one of the films he’s best known for. Since then, Weir films have included The Last Wave, The Plumber, Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously, Witness, The Mosquito Coast, Dead Poets Society, Green Card, Fearless, The Truman Show, and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. His last film, the historical drama The Way Back, was released in 2010.

Weir’s honorary Oscar came after he was nominated for multiple Academy Awards over the years, but never won. His nominations include Best Director for Witness, Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show, and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World; Best Screenplay for Green Card; and Best Picture for Master and Commander.

Although Russell Crowe is very proud of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and has said, “Peter Weir’s film is brilliant,” Dead Poets Society cast member Ethan Hawke has previously suggested to IndieWire that the experience of working with Crowe, and dealing with Johnny Depp on an abandoned project called Shantaram, drove Weir away from filmmaking. Hawke said, “I think he lost interest in movies. He really enjoyed that work when he didn’t have actors giving him a hard time. Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp broke him. He’s someone so rare these days, a popular artist. He makes mainstream movies that are artistic. To have the budget to do The Truman Show or Master and Commander, you need a Jim Carrey or Russell Crowe. I think Harrison Ford and Gerard Depardieu were his sort of actors. They were director-friendly and didn’t see themselves as important.“

Are you disappointed to hear that Peter Weir is officially retired? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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