A year and a half ago, Get Out, Us, and Nope writer/director Jordan Peele‘s production company Monkeypaw Productions acquired the genre film pitch Goat from writers Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie, the plan being that Peele would be producing Goat as part of Monkeypaw’s overall deal with Universal Pictures. Earlier this month, we learned that Goat is finally moving forward, with Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie) signing on to star in the sports-related horror film as the titular greatest-of-all-time athlete. Now Deadline reports that Wayans is being joined in the cast by Tyriq Withers, whose previous credits include Horror Noire, Senior Year, Tell Me Lies, The Game, and an episode of Atlanta.
Justin Tipping – who made his feature directorial debut with the 2016 drama Kicks – will be directing the film.
Akers and Bronkie’s script centers on a promising young athlete who is invited to train with a team’s retiring star. How exactly horror enters the picture is being kept under wraps. ComicBook.com has heard that the script centers on a rookie QB who goes to train with a retiring star QB who may hold a secret about how he has played so long at such a high level. So obviously the GOAT has been using unusual methods to achieve his success, and finding out about them are going to cause the rookie some trouble.
Withers will be playing the promising young athlete / rookie QB. Deadline notes that “while execs always had their eyes on Wayans for the retiring star, Monkeypaw and Universal met with a number of up-and-comers for the younger star, with Withers rising to the top of the list.”
Writers Akers and Bronkie previously created the Facebook Watch series Limetown, which starred Jessica Biel. Since making Kicks, Tipping has gone on to direct episodes of multiple TV shows, including Black Monday, The Chi, Dear White People, Dare Me, Twenties, Run the World, Flatbush Misdemeanors, and Joe vs. Carole.
Peele is producing Goat with Win Rosenfeld, Ian Cooper, and Jamal Watson. David Kern and Kate Oh serve as executive producers. Universal EVP Production Development Sara Scott and Director of Development Tony Ducret are overseeing the project for the studio.
Does Goat sound interesting to you? What do you think of Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers leading the cast? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
Roll out the red carpet because Ethan Coen’s upcoming feature, Honey Don’t, is ready to add some of Hollywood’s heaviest hitters to the cast. Coen will reteam with Margaret Qualley (Poor Things, Maid, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) for the new project, with Aubrey Plaza (Ingrid Goes West, Emily the Criminal, Legion), and Chris Evans (The Grey Man, Knives Out, Captain America: The First Avenger) leading the cast. Details about the plot remain a mystery, but whispers around the watercooler suggest it’s a comedy in the vein of Focus Features‘ Drive-Away Dolls.
Coen teased his follow-up to Drive-Away Dolls in July of last year. Coen directs Honey Don’t! from a script he wrote with his wife, Tricia Cooke. The duo paired off for Drive-Away Dolls, starring Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan (Miracle Workers, Rumble). The duo’s Drive-Away Dolls revolves around Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian, who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
Beanie Feldstein, Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo, Bill Camp, and Matt Damon join Qualley and Viswanathan for Coen and Cooke’s unique crime caper, with Focus handling domestic distribution. Meanwhile, Universal Pictures will bring the film overseas. Robert Graf, Tim Bevan, and Eric Fellner join Coen and Cooke as producers.
After getting delayed because of the pandemic, Drive-Away Dolls comes to theaters on February 23, 2024.
Margaret Qualley recently starred in Yorgos Lanthinos’ Academy Award-nominated feature, Poor Things. She also stars in Lanthimos’ upcoming feature Kinds of Kindness alongside Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Haunter Schafer, Hong Chau, and Mamoudou Athie.
Aubrey Plaza recently reprised her role as Julie Powers for the Netflix animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. With several projects in various stages of production, you can catch Plaza in Marvel’s Agatha: Darkhold Diaries and Francis Ford Coppola’s long-gestating dream project, Megalopolis.
Finally, Evans joins Plaza in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off as the evil ex-boyfriend Lucas Lee. Evans also stars alongside Dwayne Johnson in the upcoming Jake Kasdan-directed holiday comedy Red One, starring J.K. Simmons as a jacked-up Santa Claus, with Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt, Nick Kroll, and Mary Elizabeth Ellis leading the cast.
Are you excited to learn more about Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s Honey Don’t! What do you think the movie is about? Let us know in the comments section below.
Last month, it was announced that Patrick Wilson, who has starred in the likes of three Conjuring movies and three Insidious movies (one of which he directed), is producing a stage musical adaptation of Joel Schumacher’s 1987 vampire classic The Lost Boys (watch it HERE). Now that project is taking a big step forward, as Deadline has learned that there’s going to be an industry presentation of the show next month, with Frozen‘s Caissie Levy, Dear Evan Hansen‘s Nathan Levy, and & Juliet‘s Lorna Courtney having been cast in major roles. This private presentation is scheduled to be held on February 23rd – and even though only industry insiders will get to watch it, that’s enough to inspire the people behind the show to release a teaser trailer for what they’re calling The Lost Boys: A New Musical. You can check it out at the bottom of this article.
Wilson and fellow producers James Carpinello and Marcus Chait are teaming up with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia writer/executive producer David Hornsby, Parade director Michael Arden, and the pop rock band The Rescues to make this stage musical happen, through a special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures. Hornsby is writing the book with Broadway actor Chris Hoch, while The Rescues provide the music and Ethan Popp (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) serves as Music Supervisor. Mark Kaufman and Lauren Shuler Donner are on board as Creative Consultants.
Scripted by Janice Fischer, Jeffrey Boam, and James Jeremias, The Lost Boys has the following synopsis: Teenage brothers Michael and Sam move with their mother to a small town in northern California. While the younger Sam meets a pair of kindred spirits in geeky comic-book nerds Edward and Alan, the angst-ridden Michael soon falls for Star — who turns out to be in thrall to David, leader of a local gang of vampires. Sam and his new friends must save Michael and Star from the undead.
Deadline lets us know that “Caissie Levy will play Lucy Emerson, the recently divorced mom who unwittingly moves herself and two sons to a vampire-infested California beach town. The younger son is Sam, to be played by Nathan Levy. Lorna Courtney will portray Star, the beautiful girl who catches the eye of older son Micheal (no casting announced yet) and a maybe an undead boy or two. In the film, Lucy was played by Dianne Wiest, Sam by Corey Haim, and Star by Jami Gertz.“
Are you interested in seeing how The Lost Boys: A New Musical is going to turn out? Take a look at the teaser trailer, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
Papa Bear’s coming home! In a surprising move, Jon Stewart will return to The Daily Show for a once-a-week hosting spot during the forthcoming presidential election. Stewart returns to the late-night comedy program 25 years after first sitting behind the desk to deliver news with a comedic twist to countless fans. Stewart left The Daily Show eight years ago. Trevor Noah filled the void left by Stewart, enjoying another successful run as the bearer of outrageous news.
In addition to Stewart’s return, a rotating chair of the show’s correspondents will also host. The lineup of guest hosts includes Desi Lydic, Michael Kosta, Ronny Chieng, and Jordan Klepper. Stewart is responsible for hosting Monday nights, with correspondents picking up the torch for other days in the schedule. Stewart’s anticipated return begins on February 12. Additionally, Stewart will executive produce all show episodes through 2024 and 2025 to shift the news program in a new direction for the future. Showrunner Jen Flanz and Stewart’s manager, James “Baby Coll” Dixon, are also executive producers.
“Jon Stewart is the voice of our generation, and we are honored to have him return to Comedy Central’s The Daily Show to help us all make sense of the insanity and division roiling the country as we enter the election season,” said Chris McCarthy, President/CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios. “In our age of staggering hypocrisy and performative politics, Jon is the perfect person to puncture the empty rhetoric and provide much-needed clarity with his brilliant wit.”
One has to imagine that Stewart is overflowing with jokes and commentary about today’s political climate. While he’s only contracted for a once-a-week spot, Stewart’s reputation and comedic knack will kick each week off with a bang.
What do you think about Jon Stewart returning to The Daily Show? Will you watch the Comedy Central show to hear Stewart’s take on the 2024 election cycle? How do you feel about the show continuing with a rotating chair of hosts for the remainder of the week? Does Stewart’s position as an executive producer instill confidence about The Daily Show‘s future? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
It’s been a longer wait than expected (the movie was once set to reach theatres last November), but Dune: Part Two, the second half of director Denis Villeneuve’s two-part adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel Dune, is now scheduled to be released on March 1st – and with that date just over one month away, the main theatrical poster has been unveiled. You can check it out at the bottom of this article.
Scripted by Villeneuve, Eric Roth, and Jon Spaihts, Dune: Part One (watch or buy it HERE) introduced viewers to Paul Atreides, “a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding”, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence – a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential – only those who can conquer their fear will survive. Coming to us from Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment, Dune: Part Two will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
Timothée Chalamet stars as Paul and is joined in the cast by fellow returning Dune: Part One cast members Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Josh Brolin, as well as new additions Austin Butler, Tim Blake Nelson, Christopher Walken, Florence Pugh, Souheila Yacoub, and Léa Seydoux.
Villeneuve is producing Dune: Part Two with Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe, and Patrick McCormick. Spaihts serves as executive producer alongside Josh Grode, Herbert W. Gains, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Thomas Tull, Richard P. Rubinstein, and John Harrison. Kevin J. Anderson is creative consultant.
Villeneuve and Spaihts wrote the screenplay for Dune: Part Two, and The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin has revealed that he worked on the script as well.
Are you looking forward to Dune: Part Two? What do you think of the main theatrical poster? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Prime Video knows how much people love Reacher, and they’re ready to share some exciting details about the third season of the series. According to Amazon MGM Studios, Reacher Season 3 will be based on the book Persuader, the 7th book in the Jack Reacher series, written by Lee Child. In addition to the source material confirmation, the studio says Maria Sten (Swamp Thing, Big Sky, Channel Zero) will return to the show, reprising her role of Frances Neagley alongside Reacher star Alan Ritchson.
The plot of Reacher Season 3 revolves around Reacher going undercover to rescue an informant held by a haunting foe from his past. For more details, check out Amazon’s official description for the Lee Child novel Persuader below:
Jack Reacher lives for the moment. Without a home. Without commitment. And with a burning desire to right wrongs – and rewrite his own agonizing past. DEA Susan Duffy is living for the future, knowing that she has made a terrible mistake by putting one of her own female agents into a death trap within a heavily guarded Maine mansion.
Staging a brilliant ruse, Reacher hurtles into the dark heart of a vast criminal enterprise. Trying to rescue an agent whose time is running out, Reacher enters a crime lord’s waterfront fortress. There, he will find a world of secrecy and violence – and confront some unfinished business from his own past.
Viewership numbers for Amazon’s Reacher are impressive. The December 18-24 stretch saw the “Dad TV” show banking 1.2B minutes. By the way, you might not want to call Reacher “Dad TV” if Alan Ritchson is around. He doesn’t like that label. Speaking with GQ, Ritchson addressed the idea of Reacher being “Dad TV” by saying that the description is “weird.”
“It’s funny: I’ve shown my kids the show. I let them watch season one – but I wouldn’t let them see the naked guy hanging crucified on the wall [who had his bollocks chopped off and was forced to swallow them whole], but everything else was… Within context, it all made sense,” Ritchson added. “They loved it, man. For me, it’s not ‘Dad TV’, it’s ‘family TV’. I walk down the street and little ladies on their walkers are like [adopts the voice of a decrepit old woman] “Reacher… Reacher…” It’s such a misnomer to me to qualify this as ‘Dad TV’. But I am a father, and I, too, love the show. Maybe it does work.”
I love that Ritchson’s idea of family entertainment includes a crucified man being fed his own testicles. That’s an opinion for the books if I ever saw one. Go on, king!
Are you excited about Reacher Season 3? Have you read Persuader by Lee Child? Let us know in the comments section below.
The Top 10 Most Anticipated Horror Films of 2024 article and video were written by Mike Holtz.
We happen to be lucky enough to live in a timeline where horror is unquestionably crushing at the box office and otherwise. People are lining up in droves not only to see men in tights throwing down to save the universe in superhero flicks but to see monsters and ghouls doing horrible and heinous things to human beings. And no, I’m not talking about congress. I’m talking about some good old-fashioned wear your brown pants to the theater and leave the kids at home (or don’t I don’t judge) , horror flicks. I can’t promise you everything is going to be okay in 2024. Not with Ezra Miller roaming the streets, but I can promise you this… we’ve got a lot of great horror flicks headed our way. Probably. Well, they sound cool. Here are our top ten most anticipated horror films of 2024. Starting with the opening monologue of the 2024 Golden Globes. No wait, that already happened.
Starting with ALIEN ROMULUS.
Alien: Romulus is expected August 16th, 2024, and is to be directed by the same man who left us recoiled in absolute disgust, fear and OH MY GOD STOP STABBING THAT PERSONS FACE WITH A NEEDLE SO MUCH I CAN’T TAKE IT repose with the 2013 Evil Dead Remake as well as with a lifelong fear of ripped old men with turkey basters in Don’t Breathe, Fede Alvarez. The film is allegedly to take place between the events of Alien and Aliens but is to be its very own standalone story unconnected to the rest of the franchise mostly… mostly.
The only thing we really know about the story is that it’s set to feature young people from a distant world who come to face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe… Harvey Wein-I’m just kidding, I’m sure it’s a Xenomorph or twelve! I say this as someone who loved Prometheus and liked Covenant a whole lot but with Fede Alvarez and his style of filmmaking behind the camera, this sure is sounding a whole hell of a lot like an Alien movie that’s going to be focused far more on horror than the deeper themes of the previous films and I expect that to be welcomed by alien fans with arms wide open. It’s been said that Ridley Scott himself saw the film and told Fede Alvarez it was “F*ckin’ great”. And this isn’t marketing… this was said to Fede by Ridley Scott. Who, you and I both know would not lie about something like that. If he hated it he would have throat punched him and kicked him into an empty hole in the earth “this is Sparta” style in front of a live TV audience with zero cares. I have high, high hopes for Alien Romulus this August.
Next up? Return To Silent Hill. Currently in post-production with no solid release date yet but expected this year, Return to Silent Hill features the return of the director of the first Silent Hill, Christophe Gans. Not to be confused with Garth Brooks alter ego, Chris Gaines whose album cover is still scarier than any Silent Hill movie will ever be.
Gans first go at Silent Hill was hit or miss but you can hardly deny he nailed the atmosphere and vibe of the games before it. It’s definitely a great candidate for a film that should get a second chance at life which won’t come in the form of a remake as Gans says the film is an adaptation of the video game Silent Hill 2 and will feature the character of James Sunderland (played by Jeremy Irvine) heading back to the town in search of his long-lost love and encountering all kinds of AHHHH! Real Monsters in the meantime. Personally, I’m old enough to remember the smoking section at the Golden Corral Buffet in the mid-90s which was equally frightening and pretty much the same thing. In all seriousness, Gans was onto something in the original film and if some of those kinks are ironed out, this one could be special.
You know who else plans to be special in 2024? MaXXXine. Ti West’s A24 trilogy capper releases sometime in 2024 and will feature Mia Goth’s character Maxine heading to Hollywood after enduring the slicing, dicing and elder love making that was X. To tell you the truth, some nights when I can’t sleep I’m still haunted by that moment. MaXXXine boasts an insane cast that will be the latest addition to the horror film credits of the great Kevin Bacon. The film will be set in LA during the 1980’s and will feature Maxine trying to make it as a star in Hollywood as the bodies pile up around her, unfolding itself to be a whodunit slasher. My Scream senses are tingling too… but SURPRISE SIDNEY! MaXXXine is said to be more of an homage to the Giallo sub-genre instead. Either way, we’re psyched to see all this sex and violence unfold and in no what is that weird.
The 2024 Election ads won’t be the only thing sucking out our will to live in 2024 as the NOSFERATU remake drops its fangs upon our necks this year as well. Robert Eggers latest effort is set to release this Christmas and feature a version of the titular character unlike any we’ve ever seen. The film stars Bill Skarsgard as Count Orlok himself who’s makeup, according to The Witch and Lighthouse director, leaves him completely unrecognizable. Eggers says, “I’ll say that Bill has so transformed, I’m fearful he might not get the credit that he deserves because he’s just….he’s not there”. Which, worked out really well for Patrick Bateman. Eggers continued to get us all jacked up by promising the film would be scary, saying,“It’s a scary film. It’s a horror movie. It’s a gothic horror movie and I do think that there hasn’t been an old-school Gothic movie that’s actually scary in a while. And I think that the majority of the audience will find this one to be the case.”The film also stars Emma Corrin, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and WILLEM mother effin’ Dafoe who plays vampire hunter Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz. Jesus. Could your name BE any longer?Will all this talent involved and the promise from Eggers of true fear? Nosferatu easily places itself on our most anticipated of 2024 list.
This August, M Night Shyamalan returns to the dinner table with TRAP. Look, you say Shyamalan horror flick and I’m handing over my ticket money. Yes, I am aware that a Shyamalan film is no guarantee of perfection (cough The Village) but that’s why these films are such an event. The man always swings for the fences and tries to make something special regardless of the outcome. Which is something that will have me in the theater seat every time. In the case of Trap, most of the details are being kept secret at the moment and we wouldn’t have it any other way. What we DO know is that the film is a psychological thriller set during a concert. Trap is the first film of his first-look directorial agreement with Warner Bros and is said to be very different from his last few films. The best part is that the movie will star the far too seldom seen acting talents of one Josh Hartnett who many will notice from his fantastic performance in the recent Oppenheimer. But we all know him and love him as the kid selling drug pens in The Faculty or H20. Maybe Forty Days and Forty Nights? He’s been in tons of great roles but it’s always great to see him on the big screen. It’s a big fat mystery what we’re going to get with Trap in 2024 but isn’t that the funnest part of a Shyamalan project?
Speaking of not knowing what we’re going to get, FACES OF DEATH allegedly started shooting in April of 2023, so you have to imagine we’ll hopefully see it in 2024 as well, despite no release date being set. Faces of Death is indeed based off those VHS tapes we used to watch as teenagers that allegedly featured real footage of horrible murders, dismemberments, and various other activities. Most of these were staged or added onto and exaggerated but by-god we believed it and it scared the living bejesus out of us as unsupervised kids.
The movie, however, is up front with the fact that it is fiction and will feature a story about a video website moderator who comes across videos of some sick buckaroos recreating the murders from the original movie. The movie is directed by Cam director Daniel Goldhaber and will star Stranger Things favorite Dacre Montgomery and Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira. There’s of course no way of knowing how this will turn out but one has to imagine the possibility we could be looking at a frightening movie that uses disturbing footage style clips. Something like what we saw in Scott Derickson’s Sinister to such great effect.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking right now? Let’s say it at the same time 3, 2, 1….Lawnmower scene! Dear God, that still haunts my dreams. The power of the nostalgia and creepiness that was Faces of Death mixed with a good storyline could make for a great horror movie and that’s why we’re so excited for this one. No promises though. I’d hate to get your hopes up and end up being tranquilized in a parking garage by someone wearing a pig mask. I’ve seen it a thousand times. Well, ten times. And I’m happy to see it an eleventh!
Yes, I am talking about SAW XI people! Game over! Not! The baffling eleventh entry in the “holy guacamole that stings!”, franchise will come out THIS September 27th, 2024, barely a year after Saw X was met with such rave reviews. That is unfortunately ALL we know about the upcoming installment other than the fact that the writers of Saw X, Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg will surprisingly not be returning for this one. With the quick turnaround and change in writers, one wonders if a script had already been prepared before or during Saw X.
You have to imagine that the film will be another mid-quel that features Tobin Bell back as Jigsaw considering the fact that his presence and performance were in large part responsible for both the box office and critical reception. Everyone knows Tobin Bell was the bomb in Saw X, yo! Considering the post credits sequence teased the return of Detective Hoffman or as I like to call him “the dude with the huge yet exceedingly handsome face” a betting man would also wager we get some more of his story in Saw XI as well as the return of Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young. Will that kid who REALLY loves to kick the soccer ball at that wall at very inconvenient and inappropriate hours return as his apprentice? We’ll have to find out on this years version of “Do you want to play a little game? Again? Again-gan? AGAIN?
TERRIFIER 3 will grace the big screen this year just in time for the Halloween season on October 25thand we’ll have Halloween on Christmas asArt the Clown will be terrorizingfolks on Christmas Eve in the town of Miles County. That’s right! Terrifier 3, much like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon is a Christmas film and no one ever argues over it! The teaser trailer for the movie had some folks feeling rather rageful as it hints at the idea of Art The Clown coming down the chimney and then possibly harming a little girl who mistakes him for Santa Clause….but there’s no telling if that scene is even in the film or not as it may have just been filmed for the advertisement. Either way, the film is sure to be a nice family event, a perfect pairing with The Buttercream Gang and a nice fire. Perhaps some chianti. In all seriousness, Terrifier 2 shocked audiences with not only its extreme gore but its fun storytelling and surprisingly in-depth lore. Not to mention the amazing performances from Lauren LaVera and David Howard Thornton. I can’t wait to watch Terrifier 3 the same way I watched part 2….in a packed movie theater so that I can get extreme joy out of watching the shocked and appalled faces of the audience members around me. It’s an absolute blasty blast. Count me among those who thought a 3-hour long Art The Clown movie wouldn’t work but was absolutely proven wrong with Terrifier 2. We can’t wait to see what kind of absolutely degenerate and despicable behavior Director Damien Leone and crew come up with next. You should be ashamed of yourselves, sickos! Keep it up!
Hopefully you’ll forgive me for having so many sequels on this list…..nothing gets me more excited than a great looking original horror film but you can only be excited for what you know, you know? And what I know is that one of the funnest of those aforementioned original horror movies was 2022’s Smile which makes us very excited for the next film on our list, SMILE 2, releasing this October. The plot details for Smile 2 are kept smartly under wraps but what we do know is that the Director and Writer of the first film, Parker Finn, will return in the same capacity. We also know that Naomi Scott (who played the Pink Ranger in the latest theatrical Power Rangers movie) will star. For my money, the best part of Smile was the way it mixed several horror movie tropes together like the ones seen in It Follows or The Ring but was able to do so in a creative and original way that had its own identity. Oh, and that mother effin teeth monster head thing! Absolute metal! Practical Horror FX for the win every single time and twice on Sunday. Whether Chick Fi-La is open or not.
Nicolas Freakin’ Cage is on our list with LONGLEGS releasing some time in 2024, or atleast we assume, as the film has been completed and rated (R in case you were wondering! Up top!). Though we don’t have a trailer or anything to go off of yet the reason Longlegs managed to make the list is because if Nicolas Cage doing another horror project isn’t exciting enough (and it is), his pairing with The Blackcoat’s Daughter director and son of Anthony Perkins, Osgood Perkins, directing this project takes it over the top. Along of course with the addition of It Follows star Maika Monroe who’s creating quite a horror filmography for herself if I might add.
Longlegs is about an FBI agent on the hunt for a serial killer who murders innocent families and has ties to the occult. But what’s REALLY fun about all this is that Maika Monroe plays the FBI agent and Rage Cage plays the serial killer. Which, you just know is going to be amazing whether he plays it reserved or completely unhinged. I think we all know what we’re hoping for.
Well, if we don’t get out of here soon it’s going to be 2025 already, so I unfortunately must leave the list at ten but would be remiss if I didn’t atleast mention some other films we’re all looking forward to in 2024 which include (deep breath) A Quiet Place Day One, Beetlejuice 2, The Crow, Lisa Frankenstein, The Strangers: Chapter 1, Late Night With the Devil, Monolith, The Wolf Man, The Untitled Universal Monster Project from Radio Silence and shockingly The First Omen.
Thanks for watching and cheers! Here’s to a great 2024 in horror and not a horrific 2024 in real life! Remember, movies don’t create psychos! Movies make psychos more creative!
Michael Mann and Edgar-winning author Meg Gardiner are at it again, folks! Mann announced today that the duo will collaborate on a new original story that fans of Mann’s signature style will lose their heads for. According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, the new novel focuses on “an intense global manhunt launched by a renegade federal agent and a stateless operator on a vendetta, in a highly authentic global arena.” A Michael Mann manhunt novel, you say? Do go on!
Mann and Gardiner’s new novel is aiming at having franchise appeal. As the first book in a new series, the project is Mann’s second novel from Michael Mann Books after signing a three-book deal with HarperCollins arm William Morrow. Jennifer Brehl, who served as the editor of Mann and Gardiner’s Heat 2, will also work her magic on the new novel.
Speaking with Deadlinelast year, Mann said a theatrical adaptation of Heat 2 is his next project after Ferrari. “Yes. Meg Gardiner and myself wrote the novel Heat 2, which came out right when we were shooting Ferrari. It did very well. I plan to shoot that next.” And when the outlet asked if he would also bring Driver with him to play the younger incarnation of De Niro’s Neil McCauley, “Perhaps. We don’t talk about that yet. Let me put it this way: Adam and I got along like a house on fire [on Ferrari]. We have the same work ethic – which is pretty intense. We like each other, and we had a great time working together artistically.”
Mann and Gardiner’s Heat 2 is a prequel and a sequel to the 1995 movie. You can read Amazon’s official description of Heat 2 below:
One day after the end of Heat, Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) is holed up in Koreatown, wounded, half delirious, and desperately trying to escape LA. Hunting him is LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino). Hours earlier, Hanna killed Shiherlis’s brother in arms Neil McCauley (De Niro) in a gunfight under the strobe lights at the foot of an LAX runway. Now Hanna’s determined to capture or kill Shiherlis, the last survivor of McCauley’s crew, before he ghosts out of the city.
In 1988, seven years earlier, McCauley, Shiherlis, and their highline crew are taking scores on the West Coast, the US-Mexican border, and now in Chicago. Driven, daring, they’re pulling in money and living vivid lives. And Chicago homicide detective Vincent Hanna—a man unreconciled with his history—is following his calling, the pursuit of armed and dangerous men into the dark and wild places, hunting an ultraviolent gang of home invaders.
Meanwhile, the fallout from McCauley’s scores and Hanna’s pursuit cause unexpected repercussions in a parallel narrative, driving through the years following Heat.
Mann will direct and produce the theatrical version of Heat 2, about which we expect to hear more later this year. Are you excited about Mann and Gardiner’s manhunt novel? Let us know in the comments section below!
The fifth film in the Legendary Monsterverse (following Godzilla, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Kong: Skull Island, and Godzilla vs. Kong), Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was once set to reach theatres and IMAX on March 15th, then it slid back to April 12th before recently being moved back up to March 29th. Hopefully they’ll stick with that date. It seems pretty certain that we’ll be seeing the movie very soon regardless, especially since it just happens to have received its rating from the Motion Picture Association ratings board. FilmRatings.com reports that Godzilla x Kong has officially been rated PG-13 for creature violence and action. Exactly what we’ve been expecting from it.
Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard is back at the helm for this one, working from a screenplay written by Simon Barrett (You’re Next) that follows up the explosive showdown of Godzilla vs. Kong with an all-new cinematic adventure, pitting the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own. The epic new film will delve further into the histories of these Titans, their origins and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.
The story sees the legendary Titans Godzilla and Kong team up to face a world-ending threat so terrifying that neither could survive alone.
We’re previously heard that Terry Rossio (the Pirates of the Caribbean series) and Jeremy Slater (Moon Knight) were also involved in the scripting process.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire stars returning Godzilla vs. Kong stars Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry, who reprise the roles of Monarch linguist and Kong expert Dr. Ilene Andrews and Apex Cybernetics technician turned cult podcaster Bernie Hayes, as well as Kaylee Hottle, who made her screen acting debut in the previous Godzilla / Kong movie. Joining the mix are Fala Chen (Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Alex Ferns (Wrath of Man), Rachel House (Hunt for the Wilderpeople), and Wingard’s The Guest star Dan Stevens. Stevens describes his character Trapper as “a specialist in these creatures… If you’ve got a sick titan, Trapper is your guy.“
Are you glad to hear that Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has gotten a PG-13 rating for creature violence and action? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
Special effects legend Greg Nicotero is the creative supervisor on the Shudder series inspired by the George A. Romero / Stephen King anthology Creepshow, he directed more than forty episodes of The Walking Dead, and he’s now an executive producer on the Walking Dead spin-off The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Now Deadline reports that Nicotero will also be executive producing a TV series adaptation of the post-apocalyptic novel Swan Song, written by Robert McCammon. Nicotero will be directing the pilot episode of the series as well.
Coming our way from Monarch Media and Greg Nicotero and Brian Witten’s Monster Agency Productions, this action horror series has this set-up: Following the U.S. government’s nuclear showdown with an unprecedented malevolent enemy, America as it was is gone forever. Now the remaining citizens must fight to stay alive in a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies.
Nicotero and Witten will executive produce Swan Song through Monster Agency, while Steve Barnett, Alan Powell, and Vicky Patel executive produce through Monarch Media. McCammon will also be receiving an executive producer credit. Brandi Hagedorn is co-producing. The project is currently searching for a writer.
Nicotero provided the following statement: “Being a longtime fan of Robert’s novels, his story of survival in a world forever changed by political mistrust and international intrigue intertwined with a supernatural force has always been one of my favorites. The time is perfect to delve into this world.“
Barnett, Powell, and Patel added: “The post-apocalyptic world of McCammon’s novel is incredibly compelling, and unlike anything we have seen before in film or television. We’re very excited to bring this world to life and can’t imagine any better partners for the series than Greg and Brian, particularly with Greg’s years of experience in expanding the world of walkers in The Walking Dead.“
In addition to Nicotero working on Swan Song, James Wan is developing a series adaptation of McCammon’s Stinger for the Peacock streaming service and Patrick Brice is set to direct a film based on McCammon’s He’ll Come Knocking for Paramount Pictures and Temple Hill Entertainment. Universal Pictures picked up the rights to McCammon’s World War II werewolf story The Wolf’s Hour ten years ago, but that one still hasn’t made it into production.
Are you excited to hear that Greg Nicotero will be directing and executive producing a TV series adaptation of Swan Song? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
