Slow-motion isn’t just for Zack Snyder films anymore! A Baywatchreboot is in the works at Fox, and the beach will never be the same again! Fox is requesting a sizable script and a penalty deal for the time-honored (and arguably horny) lifeguard drama, with Fremantle and Fox Entertainment co-producing.
We’ve known about a Baywatch reboot since April when Deadline reported Fremantle’s desire to bring fun in the sun back to televisions. At the time, Fox was developing another lifeguard drama, Rescue: HI-Surf, from John Wells Productions. Rescue, a co-production between Warner Bros. TV and Fox Entertainment, is still going forward, with a fall 2024 launch as the project’s window. Regardless of prepping Rescue: HI-Surf, Fox is ready to hit the sands with more than one lifeguard drama, hence the Baywatch reboot.
The new “action-packed” Baywatch reboots hails from writer and showrunner Lara Olsen. According to Deadline‘s description, the reboot focuses on “daring ocean rescues, pristine beaches, and iconic red bathing suits are back, along with a whole new generation of Baywatch lifeguards, who navigate complicated, messy personal lives.” So, you know, Baywatch.
In addition to writing and showrunning the series, Olsen executive produces alongside Batwatch creators Michael Berk, Greg Bonan, and Doug Schwartz.
The original Baywatch series starred David Hasselhoff, Pamela Anderson, David Charvet, Yasmine Bleeth, Jeremy Jackson, and Nicole Eggert, to name a few. The mega-popular show occurred at a Los Angeles beach and focused on a team of lifeguards led by Lieutenant Mitch Buchannon (Hasselhoff). C.J. Parker (Anderson), Caroline Holden (Bleeth), Hobie Buchannon (Jackson), and Summer Quinn (Egghert) join Lieutenant Mitch Buchannon in his quest to save lives, fight crime, and participate in over-the-top adventures daily. Baywatch is the definition of “fun in the sun,” with plenty of slow-motion to keep audiences focused on what matters most… personal lifeguard drama. What did you think I was going to say? Get your head out of the gutter!
When the show was on the air, Baywatch was a phenom in television spaces. The show paved the way for the Baywatch spin-off, Baywatch Nights, and the two-hour reunion movie Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding. There’s also the 2017 Baywatch movie starring Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, and Alexandra Daddario, which is a not-so-guilty pleasure of mine.
Are you excited about Fox returning to the beach for a Baywatch reboot? Let us know in the comments section below.
It’s about time! Thirteen years have gone by since the release of Final Destination 5, but we’ve been hearing rumblings that another sequel was on the way for years. A while back, Jon Watts, director of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far from Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, came on board to produce the sixth film in the Final Destination franchise alongside Dianne McGunigle, Sheila Hanahan Taylor, and Craig Perry. Back in September of 2022, we learned that the duo of Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, who previously directed the 2018 film Freaks (starring Emile Hirsch and Bruce Dern) and the 2019 live-action Kim Possible movie, would be directing Final Destination 6. Last October, it was revealed that the film will be called Final Destination: Bloodlines… and now cinematographer Christian Sebaldt has shared an image that indicates Final Destination: Bloodlines will be heading into production soon! (If it hasn’t already.)
The image, which can be seen on Instagram, simply shows Sebaldt with a sign that names him as the director of photography on Final Destination: Bloodlines. His previous credits include Feardotcom, Starship Troopers 2, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Species III, Desperation, multiple episodes of Lucifer, Addams Family Reunion, a couple Casper movies, and much more.
According to entertainment industry scooper Daniel Richtman, Final Destination: Bloodlines has the following synopsis: Just as she’s about to leave home for college, 18 year old STEFANI, who’s been having horrific nightmares about dying in a tower accident in the 1960s, discovers that her dream is actually a premonition that happened to her grandmother, Esther, who thwarted death fifty years ago but is now running out of time. Stefani learns that though her grandmother thwarted Death (until she died in her 80s), and Death has been going after the would-have-been victims of that long-ago catastrophe, killing them off and then going after their children. Stefani and her family realize that their bloodline isn’t safe from Death, who will take them violently and gruesomely, in order, unless someone like Stefani figures out a way to stop it.
We’ve previously heard that Tony Todd will be reprising the role of mortician Bludworth in this film.
Final Destination is my favorite horror franchise of the last 25 years, and it’s ridiculous that we’ve gone so long without a new sequel. I’m very glad to see that Final Destination 6 / Final Destination: Bloodlines is finally heading into production.
Are you looking forward to Final Destination 6 / Final Destination: Bloodlines? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
When the great George A. Romero (my personal favorite of the “masters of horror”) passed away in 2017, he left behind an unfinished manuscript for a zombie novel called The Living Dead. Daniel Kraus was the author chosen to finish what Romero started, and the completed novel was published back in 2020. Now it has been revealed that Kraus has completed another unfinished Romero manuscript, resulting in a novel called Pay the Piper, which will be published on September 3rd! Copies are available for pre-order on multiple sites, including on Amazon.
Publisher Union Square & Co. gives the back story on how Pay the Piper came to be: In 2020, while sifting through University of Pittsburgh Library’s System’s George A. Romero Archival Collection, novelist Daniel Kraus turned up a surprise: a half-finished novel called Pay the Piper, a project few had ever heard of. In the years since, Kraus has worked with Romero’s estate to bring this unfinished masterwork to light.
And here’s the description: A terrifying tale of supernatural horror set in a cursed Louisiana bayou, from the minds of legendary director George Romero and bestselling author Daniel Kraus.
Alligator Point, Louisiana, population 141: Young Renée Pontiac has heard stories of “the Piper”—a murderous swamp entity haunting the bayou—her entire life. But now the legend feels horrifically real: children are being taken and gruesomely slain. To resist, Pontiac and the town’s desperate denizens will need to acknowledge the sins of their ancestors—the infamous slave traders, the Pirates Lafitte. If they don’t… it’s time to pay the piper.
Our friends at Bloody Disgusting were able to get a statement from Kraus: “It has been the highest honor of my life to shepherd Romero’s incomplete novels to a finished state. Romero’s work helped raise me since the age of five and I see this as going a small way toward repaying that favor. I’m especially excited about Pay the Piper because it expands our understanding of what interested Romero and what he was capable of. It’s most assuredly a horror novel but it has nothing to do with zombies! He loved zombies, of course, but they also boxed him in. Pay the Piper, which includes some of the finest writing of his career, gave him a blank canvas on which he could paint a character-focused, atmosphere-drenched, utterly surprising tale of terror. My job was to pick up his brush and fill in the missing pieces. Maybe put a nice frame around it too.“
Romero had a lot of ideas that he wasn’t able to bring into the world. He left behind treatments and scripts that never became movies, and apparently a couple unfinished novels. It’s great to see some of his “lost works” being revived so we can hear some of the stories he wanted to tell us but wasn’t able to during his lifetime.
Will you be picking up a copy of Pay the Piper? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Dick Wolf, the creator of the beloved police procedural drama Law & Order, is partnering with Netflix for his next project, Homicide: New York. Debuting on March 20, today’s Homicide: New York trailer depicts the first chapter of a true-crime docuseries built with franchise potential. The next installment of the presentation, Homicide: Los Angeles, will launch later this year. Each series is five episodes long, with the project hailing from Wolf Entertainment, Dan Cutforth, and Jane Lipsitz’s Alfred Street Industries.
Homicide: New York explores the Big Apple’s most notorious murder cases by following the detectives and prosecutors who solved them. Wolf’s Homicide franchise is not part of his deal with Universal Studio Group.
In the Homicide: New York trailer, law enforcement individuals share first-hand accounts of some of their gruesome cases. As the footage continues, we hear tales of murder, deception, and depravity happening in the City That Never Sleeps. The images conjured for each case are not for the faint of heart, with detailed descriptions digging deep into the horror humans are capable of. Don’t be surprised if the Homicide: New York trailer sends shivers down your spine as you learn about execution-style killings, Central Park slayings, and how solving extreme cases “takes a piece of your soul.”
Homicide: New York is Wolf Entertainment’s first series for Netflix. Dick Wolf is a titan in the true-crime television space. Wolf has nine current series across three franchises, including the Chicago and Law & Order franchises on NBC and the FBI dramas on CBS. You’d be hard-pressed to walk into any home in the United States and not find one of Wolf’s series playing on the television. I recall going to my friend Mish’s house throughout the week. Her mom always had an episode of Law & Order playing in the background as she constructed crafts between tending to her Farmville farm.
With no shortage of devastating cases to explore, it will be interesting to see which stories Wolf chooses to share for the docuseries. Will some of them sound familiar? Will people feel safe visiting the Concrete Jungle after hearing what Wolf’s series has to say? We’ll find out beginning on March 20 exclusively on Netflix.
More than two years have gone by since we heard that photographer Caitlin Cronenberg, daughter of legendary filmmaker David Cronenberg, would be making her feature directorial debut with a thriller called Humane. Now, more than a year after the project wrapped production, we finally know when we’re going to have the chance to see it: Variety reports that IFC Films and the Shudder streaming service have picked up the U.S. distribution rights, with IFC planning to give the film a theatrical release on April 26th. It will then move to Shudder at a later date. Elevation Pictures will be handling Canadian distribution.
Written and produced by Michael Sparaga of Victory Man Productions, Humane is described as a “dystopian satire” takes place over the course of a single day, months after a global environmental collapse has forced world leaders to take extreme measures to reduce the earth’s population. In a wealthy enclave, a recently retired newsman invites his four grown children to dinner to announce his intentions to enlist in the nation’s new euthanasia program. But when the father’s plan goes horribly awry, tensions flare and chaos erupts among his children.
The film stars Emily Hampshire (Chapelwaite), Jay Baruchel (Random Acts of Violence), Peter Gallagher (Grace and Frankie), Sebastian Chacon (Emergency), Alanna Bale (Cardinal), and Sirena Gulamgaus (Transplant).
Humane was executive produced by Martin Katz and Karen Wookey of Prospero Pictures, Todd Brown and Nick Spicer of XYZ Films, and Adrian Love and Laurie May of Elevation Pictures.
Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks’ Film Group, provided the following statement: “Caitlin has crafted a provocative directorial debut exuding a timeliness and evocative social critique that highlights one of the most assured and exciting new voices to contend with. We are honored to distribute Caitlin’s first full-length feature for its theatrical release and presence on our streaming platform, Shudder.“
Emily Gotto, Shudder’s VP of global acquisitions & co-productions, added: “With Humane, Caitlin has delivered a wickedly smart, humorous and socially relevant thriller with exceptional performances from its outstanding cast. We can’t wait to share this chilling, prescient satire with Shudder members.“
And Caitlin Cronenberg had this to say: “It’s thrilling that my directorial debut is being released by IFC Films and Shudder, two of the most fearless and supportive distributors out there. Scott Shooman and his team have such a keen understanding of horror films, and are the perfect partners to bring this genre-bending film to audiences.” More from Cronenberg can be found at the Variety link.
Are you looking forward to seeing what Caitlin Cronenberg has done with Humane, and are you glad to hear the film is getting a theatrical release before going to Shudder? Let us know by leaving a comment below – and while you’re scrolling down, take a look at this image from the film:
Code 8 was a crowd-funded flick that debuted on the big screen in 2019 before COVID-19 shut down movie theaters. Netflix picked up the rights to the movie featuring Arrow star Stephen Amell and The Flash actor Robbie Amell, who also served as producers on the movie and the short film that inspired it. A solid genre offering, Code 8 almost immediately was on pace for a Quibi sequel series before that platform went belly up. Director Jeff Chan and the Amell cousins joined forces for a feature sequel titled Code 8 Part II (check out our review here).
Picking up five years after the first, Code 8 Part II follows Connor (Robbie Amell) after his release from prison after taking the fall for criminal friend Garrett. Garrett (Stephen Amell), is the leader of a drug ring that sells with the support of the Lincoln City Police, namely King (Alex Mallari Jr). In this world, a minority population is gifted with superpowers ranging from harnessing fire and electricity to shapeshifting and telekinesis. When young Pav (Sirena Gulamgaus) loses her brother to the cops, she seeks the help of Connor to protect her. What follows is an action-packed thrill ride that explores this fictional world in new ways. Code 8 Part II, already a big hit on Netflix, is far superior to the first film.
I got the chance to chat with the stars of the film. Robbie Amell talked about the new direction for his character, Connor, and working with Sirena. Sirena talked about joining the cast and what it was like being a part of this world as well as her favorite scene as Pav. Stephen Amell talked about whether his character is an anti-hero and where this franchise could go in Part III and beyond. Alex Mallari Jr talked about the influence for his character, King, and how it felt coming back in an expanded role for this second chapter. Check out all the interviews in the embed above.
PLOT: 1908. Chief (Mario Van Peebles) returns from years of hiding in Mexico to claim stolen reparations gold hidden in the hills of Montana but is chased by Angel (William Mapother), whose rationale to the gold leaves a trail of dead bodies.
REVIEW: Mario Van Peebles is in the enviable position of being a writer, director and actor who can make the kinds of movies he wants with the people he wants. He was able to gain recognition on his own merit, outside of his father’s work, as he appeared in films like Heartbreak Ridge with Clint Eastwood, Ali with Will Smith, as well as cult classics like Gunmen which co-stars Christopher Lambert. He would work with him again in Lambert’s franchise sequel, Highlander: The Final Dimension. Plus, Van Peebles would gain acclaim as a director with the films he’s pulled double duty on — such titles as New Jack City with Wesley Snipes and Ice-T, Panther and Posse.
As a filmmaker, Van Peebles would be able to use his clout and work independently from the studio system, much like his father, Melvin Van Peebles. And in the current age, where indie filmmaking has been made incredibly accessible to the masses, the man has remained a constant worker in the movie business. This brings us to his newest film, Outlaw Posse. Van Peebles returns to the American Western genre that could work as a spiritual sequel to his 1993 film.
Mario Van Peebles’ character, Chief, is introduced as a recluse in Mexico. He is brought out of hiding when he embarks on a mission to retrieve hidden Confederate gold. As he assembles a posse, an enemy from the past named Angel, played by William Mapother, catches wind of his plan and blackmails Chief’s son, who is played by Mario’s real-life son Mandela Van Peebles, to join his father so that he can lead Angel to the gold or else he would kill his family. Chief gathers a rag-tag group that includes Southpaw (Jake Manley), a left-handed quick draw expert, Spooky (DC Young Fly), a bawdy vaudeville performer, Carson (John Carroll Lynch), an enforcer and former partner-in-crime, and Queeny, (Amber Reign Smith), a knife-wielding saloon girl.
Much of the film concentrates on the wildly different members of Chief’s gang as they come together to work as a team. A big theme of the film is about unity in such an especially rambunctious time as the Wild West. Unfortunately, the cast performance and individual scenes with the posse are the only elements that help to carry the movie from being a low-tier, cheaply-made flick that’s made available in the endless sea of independently produced titles on streaming. What’s frustrating about this film is that the ingredients are there, and there is a load of potential that can come from this script, but the movie, unfortunately, comes across like something that’s just a cut above an Asylum film. It’s hard to fault the movie on its budget since it’s a monumental task to get a production together, and Van Peebles’ passion for the movie can get pretty infectious, but a lot of the problems stem from the limited resources that he had to work with.
The movie feels like it had to rush through a lot of the details that audiences can take for granted while watching a movie. The development of the story and the theme are present, but it isn’t fully realized. The overall immersion into the movie’s setting is hindered by the lack of technical aspects in the filmmaking — which I plead guilty for sounding superficial — however it does go a long way. The cinematography in a lot of scenes is a bit too flat and un-cinematic, which makes it seem like you’re watching an old television show (which could have worked in its favor if that was the style they tried to emulate, but I get the feeling they wanted it to be grittier).
A lot of the production design also seems to be rushed in certain places where you aren’t able to buy the world you’re in. Everything looks too clean, too tidy. For an era where people worked with their hands, lived off the land and weathered harsher conditions, the characters wear immaculately pressed clothes that don’t seem to have been worn anywhere else but on the day they shot, and the sets and props look fresh off the shelves. The world doesn’t feel “lived in,” which was a big factor that something like the original Star Wars could hold over other sci-fi movies of the time and let the audience instantly become immersed in a fantastical setting, even if it’s in a galaxy far, far away. Unfortunately, the look of Outlaw Posse doesn’t show much quality beyond a Hallmark movie.
It almost feels like Van Peebles had too much on his plate, which left many of the story elements and the subplots with various characters to feel undercooked. A lot of these cosmetic shortcuts really undercut the tension of the movie too, even if you’re trying to ignore the shortcomings. A sequence in the finale supposedly takes place in a cave that, again, showcases the limitations of their resources as the set is just passable enough that you can identify where they’re supposed to be. However, you don’t feel the sense of danger one would get in an uncertain, claustrophobic area like a cave. Then, when the action ramps up, the special effects for some of the bigger visuals end up looking too computerized and too synthetic that the movie loses its teeth due to the underwhelming compositing.
I would like to reiterate that the movie had clear signs of potential. There are some fun ideas, including an amusing twist on the legend of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Van Peebles looks like he’s having a ball, and the ensemble in the posse, for the most part, has chemistry. Some of the energy in the individual scenes made the movie more of a joy to watch, but as a whole, it just ends up short. Van Peebles’ message in the film is also a refreshing one for the particular genre, even if it was in danger of crossing the line into hammy territory.
The movie also boasts an impressive list of an all-star cast, including Edward James Olmos, Whoopi Goldberg, Cedric the Entertainer, Neal McDonough, Cam Gidget and M. Emmet Walsh. However, many of the notable names only appear briefly and are barely given anything to do. Van Peebles has a clear love of the genre and the history of America. His vision seemed much grander for the film, and perhaps he was a little too overzealous to make it. It’s a delicate job to get a western right and when trailers for movies like Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga gets released, it makes you wish Van Peebles had the same kind of playground to work with.
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. One year later, the release of 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. For a complete list of theatre locations, check out the Fathom Events website – but take note that theatres are subject to change. With the release date just weeks away, we’ve gotten our hands on a batch of EXCLUSIVE stills from the film, and you can check those out at the bottom of this article.
A.A. Milne’s 1926 children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh and the characters in it lapsed into the public domain at the start of last year, and that’s how Frake-Waterfield was able to make these movies happen, no permission required. In the build-up to the release of the first movie, the filmmaker explained to Variety that Pooh and Piglet (go) on a rampage after being abandoned by a college-bound Christopher Robin. “Christopher Robin is pulled away from them, and he’s not [given] them food, it’s made Pooh and Piglet’s life quite difficult. Because they’ve had to fend for themselves so much, they’ve essentially become feral. So they’ve gone back to their animal roots. They’re no longer tame: they’re like a vicious bear and pig who want to go around and try and find prey.”
Matt Leslie, writer/producer of Summer of 84, wrote the screenplay for the sequel, working from a story he crafted with Frake-Waterfield. Here’s the synopsis for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2: Deep within the 100-Acre-Wood, a destructive rage grows as Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Owl, and Tigger find their home and their lives endangered after Christopher Robin revealed their existence. Not wanting to live in the shadows any longer, the group decides to take the fight to the town of Ashdown, home of Christopher Robin, leaving a bloody trail of death and mayhem in their wake. Winnie and his savage friends will show everyone that they are deadlier, stronger, and smarter than anyone could ever imagine and get their revenge on Christopher Robin, once and for all.
The film stars Ryan Oliva, Scott Chambers, Eddy Mackenzie, Marcus Massey, Tallulah Evans, Kelly Rian Sanson, Simon Callow, Alec Newman, Nicola Wright, Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, Lewis Santer, Tade Adebaio, and Nichaela Farrel.
Frake-Waterfield and producer Scott Jeffrey 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 and Bambi: The Reckoning.
Are you looking forward to Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2? Let us know by leaving a comment below – but first, take a look at these exclusive stills:
Daniel Day-Lewis may have drank his last milkshake after all. Despite some chatter that the three-time Oscar winner may be coming out of retirement, director Jim Sheridan is quelling the rumors, saying that any meetings they have had weren’t what fans may have been hoping for.
Speaking with Deadline at the Doha Film Festival in Qatar, Sheridan – who directed Daniel Day-Lewis three times, more than any other director – said that he and the actor did in fact meet but it was for a project that would have found the actor working behind the camera. “We were talking about a project. Daniel was only going to be involved, if he did get involved, as an executive producer, not as an actor.”
As for what this mystery project even was, Sheridan said, “It was on the life of Joe Kennedy, the patriarch of the Kennedy family…we haven’t advanced it, we were just talking.” Had Daniel Day-Lewis actually even been in talks to play Kennedy Sr., it would have been fitting at least, considering he has played historical politicians in the past, even turning our image of one on its stovepipe-clad head.
Rumors of Daniel Day-Lewis emerging from retirement after a seven-year absence came about due to the aforementioned meeting, which Lincoln director Steven Spielberg was also in attendance for. And when Day-Lewis honored Martin Scorsese with the National Board of Review award for Best Director, the filmmaker pondered if “Maybe there’s time for one more”, following 1993’s The Age of Innocence and 2002’s Gangs of New York.
While we don’t have concrete evidence that Daniel Day-Lewis will never grace the big screen again, Sheridan’s words have only deflated our hopes. Then again, he retired once before after 1997’s The Boxer, only to reemerge for Gangs of New York, so, as it goes in Hollywood, never say never.
On his retirement, Daniel Day-Lewis said – particularly in regards to what stands as his final film, 2017’s Phantom Thread – “I dread to use the overused word ‘artist,’ but there’s something of the responsibility of the artist that hung over me. I need to believe in the value of what I’m doing. The work can seem vital. Irresistible, even. And if an audience believes it, that should be good enough for me. But, lately, it isn’t.”
What is your favorite Daniel Day-Lewis performance? Give us your pick in the comments below.
As Marvel Studios seeks to revamp its brand after a rocky year, many who have criticized the recent output have compared it to the past projects, which seem to have more care put into the content. The company under the Disney umbrella rose to power after their movies built up a universe that started to pay off with the first crossover event in the MCU, The Avengers, in 2012. Interestingly, that year, Christopher Nolan’s conclusion to his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, would release and seemingly signify the end of one era with the beginning of another one.
Now that we’re in a post-Madame Web world, the last year or so has intensified the notion that superhero fatigue is now setting in. Although Marvel has become a target for their recent critically underwhelming projects, Captain America himself, Chris Evans, is putting a more positive spin on things as he appeared at Emerald City Con 2024. According to Variety, the publication Total Film reports that Evans explained to an audience, “Comic book movies in general, for whatever reason, don’t always get the credit I think they deserve. They are these big, giant movies. There’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen. But the empirical evidence is in: They are not easy to make. If it was easier, there would be a lot more good ones. I’m not throwing shade! I’ve been a part of a few that missed. It happens. Making a movie is tough. More cooks in the kitchen doesn’t make it easier. I don’t want to highlight specific films in the Marvel catalogue but some of them are phenomenal. Like independently, objectively great movies and I think they deserve a little more credit.”
The first three phases of Marvel’s film universe produced a bevy of well-received films by fans and critics alike. One of those is Evans’ own personal favorite, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He commented, “It’s my personal favorite Marvel movie that I was a part of. It’s not just for the movie itself but the experience. The first film, I was so nervous. You know what you’re stepping into and as a result you’re playing defense and you’re playing not to lose. When ‘Winter Solider’ came around, we were playing to win. And it’s the first movie with the Russo Brothers. We were taking more risks and the character felt more fleshed out. It was one of the more satisfying experiences I’ve had in my Marvel run.”
