Universal
Simon Kinberg to Write New Battlestar Galactica Movie for Universal
The Cylons are preparing for a comeback. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal is working on a new Battlestar Galactica movie, and screenwriter Simon Kinberg has been tapped to both write and produce the franchise. If there’s anyone prepared to explore a beloved franchise like Battlestar Galactica, it’s Kinberg. He spent years building the backbone of the X-Men movies, writing sci-fi flicks like Jumper and Fantastic Four, and producing features like The Martian and Deadpool. Kinberg’s got the experience to helm a project like this, and luckily he’s already promised to remain faithful to the source material, too. “Battlestar Galactica is one of the holy grails in science fiction, and I couldn’t be more excited about bringing something new to the franchise, while honoring what’s mad...
The Bride of Frankenstein Returns With Debut Vinyl Release and New Figurine
It’s a perfect season for mystery and horror and spooky merch. Waxwork Records is delivering on all three with their forthcoming releases tied to Universal’s 1935 Gothic masterpiece The Bride of Frankenstein. In celebration of the film’s 85th anniversary, they’re bringing Franz Waxman’s score to vinyl and evolving their new series of figurines. Proving it’s always better late than never, the debut vinyl release of Waxman’s score features re-mastered audio, new artwork by Phantom City Creative, black and white vinyl, a booklet that includes artwork and original scoring session photography, in addition to liner notes by album producer and restoration engineer Mike Matessino. As they’re wont to do, Waxwork sourced the audio from both Waxman’s archives at Syracuse University and the original m...
Freaky Expertly Balances Horror and Humor for a Hell of a Good Time: Beyond Fest Review
The Pitch: Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton) is a year removed from her father’s death and her family is still grieving. While her sister Char has fittingly taken the role of matriarch, appropriate considering her career in the police force, her mother has taken to the bottle. It’s also senior year for Millie at Blissville High and things aren’t particularly promising; the boy she likes doesn’t seem interested, she’s constantly picked on by teachers and students alike, and she’s anxious at the idea of leaving her mom behind. Keeping her grounded are best friends Josh (Misha Osherovich) and Nyla (Celeste O’Connor). Things take a very sudden turn, however, when she’s attacked by the legendary Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn) with a mystical knife that has them swap bodies. Now, she has 24 hou...
Jurassic World: Dominion Delayed to Summer 2022
Life finds a way … as do big summer blockbusters amidst a pandemic. Alas, Universal and Amblin Entertainment have announced that they’re delaying the release of Jurassic World: Dominion by a whole year. The highly anticipated sequel will stomp away from its July 11th, 2021 release date all the way to June 10th, 2022. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dominion is “a huge priority for NBCUniversal” that involves “theme park tie-ins, merchandising partnerships, live events and more.” With so much uncertainty going into 2021, the two parties “want to ensure that deadlines for retail partners can be met.” Production is currently underway at London’s Pinewood Studios and reportedly three weeks away from completion. Back in August, the expansive shoot was profiled by The New York Times for bei...
The 25 Most Anticipated Movies of Fall 2020
“New year, new decade, new films, right?” That was January, back when we were still looking ahead at 2020 with blind optimism and ill-fated excitement. Sigh, hindsight is 20/20 they say, right? Who knew. At the time, we had 50 exciting new titles we were anticipating, most of which have since been either postponed, dumped to VOD, or relegated to a limbo state. It’s been an unnerving year for the film industry, to say the least. A year fraught with shutdowns, furloughs, layoffs, bankruptcies, and re-evaluations. All of that change has prompted a seismic shift in how everything’s run across the media landscape, and no one truly has a grip on things just yet. Odds are they won’t for quite some time. Because of this, anticipating anything right now — let alone anything in pop culture — seems l...
John Carpenter Confirms Involvement With Blumhouse’s The Thing Reboot
For someone who doesn’t love work, John Carpenter certainly stays busy. On Saturday afternoon, the Master of Horror confirmed a number of projects while speaking with Fantasia Film Festival as he accepted their Lifetime Achievement Award. For starters, Carpenter let it slip that he’s working with Blumhouse and Universal on their forthcoming reboot of The Thing. When pressed if it was a prequel or a sequel, he played it coy and stayed mum as he’s wont to do. As previously reported, that project is reported to be a new reimagining of John W. Campbell Jr.’s Who Goes There?, only Universal and Blumhouse are also planning to pull from its recently unearthed and expanded version of the novella, Frozen Hell. Given that Carpenter is currently working with Blumhouse and Universal on their...
Jordan Peele and Issa Rae Team Up for Universal’s Sinkhole
Jordan Peele is keeping things spooky. As Deadline reports, the Oscar-winning mastermind behind Get Out and Us is teaming up with Insecure star Issa Rae on a curious new genre film for Universal called Sinkhole. Based on Leyna Krow’s short story, the film surrounds a young family that moves into a dream home, only one of the amenities is a gaping sinkhole in the backyard. And said sinkhole tends to fix broken things — possibly people even. As with anything Peele touches, there’s an inherent social commentary within the story. As Deadline notes, the subplot of Sinkhole carries a “commentary on the human condition through the lens of female identity.” Universal nabbed the rights to the story for a seven figure deal, beating out more than 10 studio bidders, which makes this something a coup. ...
Why Summer Blockbusters Won’t Ever Go Straight to VOD
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. All month long, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Josh Spiegel debates whether the blockbuster will ever eschew the theater experience and go straight to our living rooms. Back at the end of March — remember March? Like, even the concept of the month of March? — my wife informed me that our sister-in-law was being proactive. She was starting an online petition regarding an issue about which she felt passionate. Was it related to the dearth of Covid-19 testing throughout the country? Staggered school re-openings in her state or others in the Union? No, she had begun a petition to exhort the Walt Disney Company to release Mu...
Whatever Happened to the Movie Theme Park Ride?
Blockbuster Month is celebrating the true titans of the genre. All month long, you’ll read through a variety of features digging deep into the greatest hits of Hollywood, from popcorn classics to underrated gems. Today, Clint Worthington revisits a time when the theme park ride was often a part of the summer blockbuster experience. I was never a big theme park guy. Between my disdain for crowds and heat and the high-level anxiety I get around rollercoasters, suffice to say I never actively sought them out in my early years. Then my eighth-grade school band was invited (like many bands do) to play at Walt Disney World in high school, so off we went to Orlando for a week of chaperoned magic — both there and at Universal Studios Florida. Yes, the rides were fun, the merch was overpriced (albe...
Peacock Officially Launches: Full List of TV Shows and Movies, How to Sign Up, and Everything Else to Know
Peacock has descended upon us. Today brings the launch of NBCUniversal’s brand new streaming service, and with it comes the arrival of 15,000 hours of television and movies both new and old. On the television front, fans can warm up to classics from NBC’s back catalogue, particularly 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Friday Night Lights, Frasier, Unsolved Mysteries, and all the Law and Order series. On the film front, there are dozens of iconic Universal blockbusters, including Jurassic Park, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Back to the Future, and the list goes on. There is also plenty of original programming to behold, specifically Brave New World, Cleopatra in Space, Curious George, In Deep with Ryan Lochte, Intelligence, Lost Speedways, Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, The Capture, and Where’s...
Wishbone to Bark Up More Literary Tales in New Movie
What’s the story Wishbone? You’d have to ask filmmaker Peter Farrelly. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Oscar winner has signed on to produce a feature film based on the popular ’90s PBS series for Universal and Mattel films. Roy Parker, who was featured on the 2019 Black List, will write the script, which will undoubtedly revolve around a cute Jack Russell terrier chewing on a classic literary tale. As of press time, there’s no director attached. “Our deep library of iconic franchises continues to offer cinematic storytelling opportunities,” said executive producer Robbie Brenner. “We’re thrilled to be working with Peter Farrelly, Roy Parker, and Universal to take the beloved dog classic into a new direction with a modern reimagination of the franchise.” Wishbone was originally a ...
Twister Reboot Gathering Speed at Universal
Food. Food. Fooood: Prepare to re-enter The Suck Zone! According to The Hollywood Reporter, a reboot of 1996’s Twister is gathering speed over at Universal. There’s not much as of press time, though the studio is currently in talks with Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski to helm the picture. A search for writers is underway. The sky’s the limit for this story, no pun intended, especially given the ensuing global warming crisis. Not to get too depressing, but nightmare weather will only be more relatable as the years pass, which could make this lucrative IP for Universal. As to whether this will be a remake or connect to the original remains to be seen. Sadly, star Bill Paxton passed away in 2017 (and Philip Seymour Hoffman in 2014), though who’s to say Helen Hunt won’t return to th...
