As the film world waits for Amazon MGM and EON Productions to reboot James Bond, the gaming world will be able to play 007 as an up-and-comer in the spy world with Project 007. IO Interactive, the developers of the popular Hitman video game series, has been working on a hush-hush James Bond project where players will be able to play the younger version of Ian Fleming’s famous character. According to IGN, IO Interactive boss Hakan Abrak says that the development on this new game is going “amazingly well” and there will be “a lot of cool stuff coming up.”

Abrak is excited for gamers to be introduced to Bond in this way as he stated, “We absolutely feel like 20 plus years of training for the agent fantasy, creating an agent that travels the world and globetrotting whatnot, has given us some know-how on that. But obviously James Bond is a different IP. It’s a huge IP. It’s not our IP. It’s actually the first IP that is not our original IP from ground up.” He adds, “But what’s exciting about that project is that we actually got to do an original story. So it’s not a gamification of a movie. It’s completely beginning and becoming a story, hopefully for a big trilogy out there in the future. And equally important and exciting, it’s a new Bond. It’s a Bond we built from ground up for gamers. It’s extremely exciting with all the tradition and all the history there is there together to work on this together with the family of creating a young Bond for gamers; a Bond that the gamers can call their own and grow with.”

Years after Daniel Craig hung up his gun and martini, fans everywhere are anticipating the new incarnation of Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007. Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said, “The global audience will be patient. We don’t want too much time between films, but we are not concerned at this point.” For some time, it was rumored that Aaron Taylor-Johnson would take over the role and it was even thought that he would be confirmed earlier this year. However, Salke said, “There are a lot of ideas [about potential actors] that have popped up that I thought are interesting. I think there are a lot of different ways we can go. We have a good and close relationship with Eon and Barbara and Michael. We are not looking to disrupt the way those wonderful films are made. For us, we are taking their lead.”

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A new episode of the What Happened to This Horror Movie? video series has just arrived online, and in this one we’re looking back at the 1990 film Predator 2 (watch it HERE), which blends the genres of horror, sci-fi, and action. This one isn’t as popular as its predecessor, but does have a solid fan following of its own. To hear all about it, check out the video embedded above!

Directed by Stephen Hopkins (Judgment Night) from a screenplay written by Predator writers Jim Thomas and John Thomas, Predator 2 has the following synopsis: Los Angeles is enduring a heat wave and a crime wave, so the pressure on police officer Mike Harrigan to solve a strange string of murders is mounting. Harrigan thinks the culprit can be found among the warring gangs and drug cartels, but FBI Special Agent Peter Keyes knows the horrible truth: Their killer is a fearsome extraterrestrial with keen hunting abilities that include superior night vision and the power to make itself invisible.

The film stars Danny Glover, Kevin Peter Hall, Gary Busey, Ruben Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso, Bill Paxton, Lilyan Chauvin, Robert Davi, Adam Baldwin, Kent McCord, and Morton Downey Jr.

This is what the What Happened to This Horror Movie series is all about: Hollywood has had its fair share of historically troubled productions. Whether it was casting changes, actor deaths, fired directors, in-production rewrites, constant delays, budget cuts or studio edits, these films had every intention to be a blockbuster, but were beset with unforeseen disasters. Sometimes huge hits, sometimes box office bombs. Either way, we have to ask: What Happened To This Horror Movie?

The Predator 2 episode of What Happened to This Horror Movie? was Written by Eric Walkuski, Edited and Narrated by Tyler Nichols, Produced by John Fallon and Andrew Hatfield, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

A couple of the previous episodes of the show can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!

What do you think of Predator 2? Let us know by leaving a comment!

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Anthony and Joe Russo, the Russo Brothers, have directed some of the biggest movies of all time, with their film Avengers: Endgame coming in second place just behind James Cameron’s Avatar – and today, a teaser trailer for the new movie, the sci-fi adventure The Electric State, has dropped online! This teaser, which reveals that the movie is set to begin streaming on Netflix on March 14th, can be viewed in the embed above.

The story of this film begins in July of 2017, when Free League launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new narrative artbook from acclaimed artist and author Simon Stålenhag – a book called The Electric State, which had the following description: In late 1997, a runaway teenager and her yellow toy robot travel west through a strange USA, where the ruins of gigantic battle drones litter the countryside heaped together with the discarded trash of a high tech consumerist society in decline. As their car approaches the edge of the continent, the world outside the window seems to be unraveling ever faster as if somewhere beyond the horizon, the hollow core of civilization has finally caved in. 

The Russos teamed with screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who worked with the brothers on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and The Gray Man, to turn Stålenhag’s story into a film that has the following synopsis: The Electric State is a spectacular adventure from the directors of Avengers: Endgame set in an alternate, retro-futuristic version of the 1990s. Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) stars as Michelle, an orphaned teenager navigating life in a society where sentient robots resembling cartoons and mascots, who once served peacefully among humans, now live in exile following a failed uprising. Everything Michelle thinks she knows about the world is upended one night when she’s visited by Cosmo, a sweet, mysterious robot who appears to be controlled by Christopher — Michelle’s genius younger brother whom she thought was dead. Determined to find the beloved sibling she thought she had lost, Michelle sets out across the American southwest with Cosmo, and soon finds herself reluctantly joining forces with Keats (Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy), a low-rent smuggler, and his wisecracking robot sidekick, Herman (voiced by Anthony Mackie). As they venture into the Exclusion Zone, a walled-off corner in the desert where robots now exist on their own, Keats and Michelle find a strange, colorful group of new animatronic allies — and begin to learn that the forces behind Christopher’s disappearance are more sinister than they ever expected.

Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, and Anthony Mackie are joined in the cast by Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Ke Huy Quan (The Goonies), Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade), Woody Harrelson (Zombieland),  Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada), Brian Cox (X-Men 2), Martin Klebba (the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise), Woody Norman (C’mon C’mon), Jenny Slate (It Ends with Us), and Jason Alexander (Seinfeld).

The Russos produced the movie with Mike Larocca, Angela Russo-Otstot, Chris Castaldi, and Patrick Newall. Markus, McFeely, and Stålenhag executive produce alongside Tim Connors, Nick van Dyk, Jake Aust, Geoffrey Haley, Jeffrey Ford, Julia Angelin, Russell Ackerman, John Schoenfelder, Anthony Muschietti, and Barbara Muschietti. Anthony J. Vorhies, Joseph Micucci, and Murtaza Kathawala are co-producers.

What did you think of The Electric State teaser trailer? Will you be watching this movie when it starts streaming in March? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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After a surprising takeover at the box office last weekend by the scrappy Terrifier 3, expect horror to once again rule the roost. Parker Finn’s eagerly anticipated horror sequel, Smile 2, is set to dominate the weekend box office, but despite some great reviews (including ours), the outlook for the movie is surprisingly middling.

The original Smile is one of the biggest success stories to emerge from the pandemic. Originally shot as a low-budget horror movie for Paramount Plus, the studio execs noticed how strong test screenings were. With the marketable smile gimmick, they gave it a theatrical release, and it ended up making over $200 million worldwide. The original film opened with $22.6 million, but despite being an even better movie than the original, the sequel likely won’t open quite as strongly. 

At the moment, tracking suggests the film will open in the $15-20 million range, but I’m thinking that if Terrifier 3 can open with $18 million, there’s no reason Smile 2 can’t eke out $20 million. However, it can’t be denied that Damien Leone’s slasher flick will take a big bite out of Smile 2’s audience. Horror fans who didn’t turn out to see Terrifier 3 last weekend might find themselves torn between it and Smile 2. The latter will likely still perform strongly, as it’s a good horror date movie (Terrifier 3 is a touch too gruesome for that), but some horror fans might decide Art the Clown is the guy they want to spend the weekend with. As such, going deeper into spooky season I expect Terrifier 3 to make in the $10 million range.

Otherwise, The Wild Robot, despite being on PVOD, should have no trouble hitting third place, with about $8 million, while Beetlejuice Beetlejuice should do in the $5 million range. Joker Folie a Deux should tumble to fifth place with a horrifyingly bad $4 million weekend, on its way to a quick VOD bow.

Here are our predictions:

1. Smile 2: $20 million
2. Terrifier 3: $10 million
3. The Wild Robot $8 million
4. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: $5 million
5. Joker: Folie a Deux: $4 million

Do you think our numbers are right? Let us know in the comments!

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It ain’t cheap being a superhero, but it’s the suits where they really get you. Deadpool & Wolverine featured plenty of variants of the title characters, including an appearance from Logan in his classic John Byrne brown and tan suit. The suit appears on screen for just 10 seconds, but it cost more than many of us make in an entire year.

ComicBookMovie.com spoke with Deadpool & Wolverine editors Dean Zimmerman and Shane Reid, who revealed that the brown and tan suit cost a whopping $100,000. Quite the price tag. As the production couldn’t afford to spend that on a whole bunch of Wolverine variant suits, Zimmerman explained that they had to choose more cost-effective variants such as Old Man Logan and Wolvie on a cross.

“One of our storyboard artists was a huge comic book fan and he gave us a list of, like, ten of them. There was also, and maybe no one really likes to hear this, time and budget issues you have to deal with as well. Here’s a perfect example: the brown and tan, we spent around $100,000 building that suit. They’re expensive,” Zimmerman said. “To build this kind of stuff…we have to get a little economical with what we could actually come up with and do. So, yeah, ‘Hugh, can you take your shirt off be bolted to a cross?’ ‘Yeah, I can do that, no problem.’ ‘Great, let’s get a bunch of pink skulls, throw ‘em down there, and light it in the way of the comic book.’ ‘Can you be an old man?’ ‘Sure!’ They were all thought out but also done with budget in mind and also time. We didn’t have much time. Once we resumed shooting, our deadline on this movie was so tight. When we went back to photography in London, we did have a finite amount of time and even coming up with all those ideas, once we got back, we were like, ‘Hey everyone, we’re going to do this’ and everyone’s heads are exploding. How are we going to do this in the time we have left?“

$100,000 may be a drop in the bucket for a movie which has grossed $1.3 billion, but holy hell. That said, the brown and tan suit did look pretty fantastic. I just wish we had seen more of it.

Taking place six years after the events of the last movie, Deadpool & Wolverine finds Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) toiling away in civilian life with his days as Deadpool behind him. But when his homeworld faces an existential threat, he must suit up once again and convince a reluctant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to help save his universe. In addition to Reynolds and Jackman, the cast also includes Matthew Macfadyen, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, Rob Delany, Stefan Kapičić, and more.

Our own Chris Bumbray had a lot of fun with Deadpool & Wolverine, which sounds like a real crowd-pleaser. “Have you ever been to a concert and wished that your favourite band would stop playing their not-as-good new stuff and play the hits? That’s exactly what Marvel is doing with Deadpool & Wolverine,” Bumbray wrote in his review. “After a rough run of movies, with many saying their Phase 5 has been disastrous, this feels like an everything but the kitchen-sink attempt by the company to win back those fans who feel alienated by the new direction the company seemed to be heading in. With this, you have a rock ‘em, sock ‘em thrill ride that delivers fans exactly the movie they wanted to see, with nary a message to be found amidst all the charred, sliced and diced corpses our heroes leave in their wake. It’s glorious fun.” The film will be available to purchase on 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray/DVD on October 22nd.

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Liam Payne, a former member of One Direction, is dead at the age of 31 after falling from the third floor of his hotel room in Argentina.

The hugely popular boy band was originally created by Simon Cowell and consisted of Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Liam Payne. The group became one of the highest-selling boy bands of all time, selling over 70 million records worldwide. They embarked on massive world tours, selling out stadiums and winning hundreds of awards. The late Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) directed the group’s first concert film, One Direction: This Is Us. The 3D concert documentary was released in 2013 and became a huge success. It’s still one of the highest-grossing concert films of all time, standing behind concert films by Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, and Taylor Swift.

Following Malik’s departure in 2015, the group continued as a foursome for another year before they decided to go on indefinite hiatus. Each member embarked on their own solo career, including Payne. He released LP1 in 2019, which included singles such as Strip That Down, Get Low, and Bedroom Floor.

According to La Nación, police were called after the manager of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires City informed them of “an aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.” Other reports from TMZ state that Payne had been acting erratically earlier, smashing his laptop and having to be carried back to his room. “We were alerted about a person who was in an internal courtyard of Casa Sur Hotel. [First responders] arrived and confirmed the man’s death. We later learned that he was a singer in a musical group. Unfortunately, he had injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall, so we had to confirm his death. There was no possibility of resuscitation,” said Alberto Crescenti, head of the state emergency medical system.

Liam Payne shares a seven-year-old son with Cheryl Cole, who actually judged Payne’s first appearance in the fifth season of The X Factor in 2008. The pair dated from 2016-2018. Some very sad news; 31 is far too young. Our thoughts go out to Payne’s family and friends.

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Superman director James Gunn revealed the first look at Krypto the Superdog yesterday, but some fans have already criticized his breed. While Krypto is typically depicted as a white Labrador Retriever, he has appeared as many different breeds over the years. Not exactly the most consistent pup. For the film, Gunn chose to model Krypto after his own dog, Ozu.

In response to Gunn’s reveal of Krypto on Threads, one fan said, “Not to be ‘that guy,’ but isn’t Krypto supposed to be something akin to a Labrador or something similar?” Gunn replied, “No. Krypto is historically a generic white dog, sometimes also a lab, white shepherd, husky, or Dalmatian. But obviously he’s an alien so he wouldn’t necessarily be exactly any one of these things.“

Superman stars David Corenswet (Pearl) as Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Ms. Maisel) as Lois Lane. The cast also includes Nathan Fillion (The Rookie) as Guy Gardner, a charismatic and slightly obnoxious member of the Green Lantern Corps; Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) as Hawkgirl; Edi Gathegi (X-Men: First Class) as Mister Terrific; Anthony Carrigan (Barry) as Metamorpho; María Gabriela de Faría (Deadly Class) as The Engineer, a member of The Authority; Sara Sampaio (At Midnight) as Eve Teschmacher; Skyler Gisondo (The Righteous Gemstones) as Jimmy Olsen; Wendell Pierce (The Wire) as Perry White; Neva Howell (Logan Lucky) as Martha Kent; Pruitt Taylor-Vince (The Walking Dead) as Jonathan Kent; and Nicholas Hoult (The Great) as Lex Luthor.

The members of the Daily Planet newsroom have also expanded for the movie, with Beck Bennet (Saturday Night Live) set to play Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover (The Suicide Squad) as Cat Grant, and newcomer Christopher McDonald as Ron Troupe.

DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran has previously teased that Superman will not be an origin story and will focus on “Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. Superman represents truth, justice and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned.” Superman is slated to hit theaters on July 11, 2025.

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Earlier this month, Monsters creator Ryan Murphy predicted that Erik and Lyle Menendez could be released by Christmas, and it may actually happen. Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is said to be mulling an early release for the Menendez brothers as he seeks re-election.

“Given the totality of the circumstances, I don’t think they deserve to be in prison until they die,” Gascón told ABC News Nightline co-anchor Juju Chang in a recent interview. In a statement to Deadline, Chang said, “He is tipping his hand to the totality of evidence that his office has been considering. He also added that there are deep differences of opinion about this case within the DA’s office and that this is not a decision he is taking lightly.” The full interview, IMPACT x Nightline: Menendez Brothers: Monsters or Victims?, will stream on Hulu on October 17th.

A number of Menendez family members gathered outside Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center today to demand leniency for the brothers. One of the new pieces of evidence is a letter allegedly written by Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano eight months before the murders. “I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening Andy but it’s worse for me now. I can’t explain it. He’s so overweight that I just can’t stand to see him. I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy,” said Erik in the letter.

Thanks to Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and the true-crime documentary The Menendez Brothers, interest in the case has returned to heights not seen since their highly publicized trial in the ’90s. A new court hearing has been set for November 29th, which will determine whether the Menendez brothers should be resentenced in light of new evidence.

“We have been given evidence. We have been given a photocopy of a letter that allegedly was sent by one of the brothers to another family member talking about him being the victim of molestation. We’ve also got evidence that was provided by the defense, by his lawyers, that one of the members of the Menudo band alleged that he was molested by the father. None of this information has been confirmed,” Gascón announced on October 3rd. “We are not at this point ready to say that we either believe or do not believe that information, but we’re here to tell you is that we have a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us and make a determination based on a resentencing side, whether they deserve to be resentenced, even though they were clearly the murderers, because they have been in prison for 35 years and they have paid back their dues to society, or whether behaviors is appropriate. If there was evidence that was not presented to the court at that time, and had that evidence been presented, perhaps a jury would have come to a different conclusion.“

Do you think the Menendez brothers will see an early release?

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Longlegs, the latest horror project from The Blackcoat’s Daughter (a.k.a. February), I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and Gretel & Hansel director Osgood Perkins, reached theatres back in July (JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray gave the movie a 9/10 review you can read at THIS LINK), and during its theatrical run it managed to earn over $100 million at the worldwide box office, becoming the biggest independent film release of 2024 and the top grossing R-rated horror film of 2024. Now, distributor Neon has announced (and Broadway World reports) that they’re bringing Longlegs back to theatres nationwide from Wednesday, October 23rd through Halloween, Thursday, October 31st… and these screenings will include an exclusive sneak peek of Perkins’ upcoming Stephen King adaptation The Monkey, as well as a conversation between Perkins and The Monkey actor Theo James. Tickets are available now at participating theatres.

Neon will be giving The Monkey a theatrical release on February 21, 2025.

Maika Monroe (It Follows), Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario), Alicia Witt (Urban Legend), and Blair Underwood (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) star Longlegs. The story Perkins crafted for the film has been described as being “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers.” Monroe takes on the role of FBI Agent Lee Harker, a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer. As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.

Perkins wrote the screenplay for The Monkey, working from a King short story. The film will tell the following story: When twin brothers Hal and Bill discover their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths starts occurring all around them. The brothers decide to throw the monkey away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years. But when the mysterious deaths begin again, the brothers must reunite to find a way to destroy the monkey for good before it takes the lives of everyone close to them.

Theo James (The White Lotus) plays the twins in later years, while Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth) plays them in their younger days. Also in the cast are Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings), Tatiana Maslany (She–Hulk: Attorney at Law), Colin O’Brien (Wonka), Rohan Campbell (Halloween Ends), and Sarah Levy (Schitt’s Creek).

Will you be attending a theatrical screening of Longlegs later this month and checking out the sneak peek of The Monkey? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Wait! What year is it? After finding tremendous success with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, Mattel Films is partnering with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Escape Artists to pull the lever on a live-action View-Master movie inspired by the iconic toy. The device, which displays 3-D pictures inserted onto a rotating disc, gives viewers a window to other worlds, distant locations, animal habitats, famous cartoon landscapes, and anything your imagination can think of.

According to Mattel’s official press release for its View-Master film, View-Master has entertained children and adults since its introduction in 1939. The stereoscopic viewing device has been a popular childhood staple for generations and has taken its fans all over the world with its 3-D image reels, creating worlds of imagination and storytelling for every adventure seeker at heart.

“View-Master has inspired generations to embark on boundless adventures, offering a treasure trove of storytelling possibilities for this film,” said Robbie Brenner, President of Mattel Films. “We’re thrilled to work with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Escape Artists’ Todd Black to bring this Mattel franchise to life. Their creative and filmmaking expertise sets the stage to introduce a modern take on this beloved toy to audiences everywhere.”

“View-Master has long been a window to the wonders of the world, sparking imagination in kids and adults alike,” said Todd Black, Producer for Escape Artists. “Teaming up with Robbie Brenner and Mattel Films gives us the chance to honor that legacy while creating an entirely new adventure for today’s audience. We can’t wait to bring this treasured toy’s sense of exploration to the big screen.”

I feel old. I’m sitting here looking at View-Master designs throughout the years, and it’s wild how much the toy has changed since I played with one in the 1980s. I remember National Geographic, Sesame Street, Disney, and Nickelodeon slides. You needed to hold the View-Master up to a light source to enjoy the full benefits, but man, those images looked good. Oh, and that satisfying “click” of the orange lever. Delicious.

What do you think Mattel’s View-Master movie is about? I bet the plot revolves around an enchanted View-Master that takes a group of kids (and maybe one or two hapless adults) into the pictures they view through the device. Get Jason Momoa or Jack Black on the line! Cut the check, Sony! Are you excited about Mattel’s View-Master movie? Let us know in the comments section below.

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