Posted on in Film News, News

‘Pacific Rim’: Guillermo del Toro Reveals He Originally Wanted Tom Cruise For Idris Elba’s Part In The Kaiju Action Pic

Once upon a time, there was a time when Guillermo del Toro and mega-star Tom Cruise almost worked together on a massive R-rated feature film version of “At The Mountains of Madness.” The film obviously didn’t come together because of creative differences between del Toro and Universal, along with the insane demands from the studio to get the budget to where it needed to be. Mainly, attempting a PG-13 version which likely would have deflated the vision del Toro for his take on the H.P. Lovecraft sci-fi horror tale.

Well, while speaking with Collider, the filmmaker revealed another sci-fi project they almost worked on together and it was his big mainstream attempt at a robots versus kaiju film, “Pacific Rim.” Instead of Cruise being wanted for the main role in the film they had actually wanted him to play Idris Elba’s mentor and commanding officer character, Marshal Stacker Pentecost. Of course, when they decided to pursue Elba after Cruise wasn’t an option they ended up rewriting the part.

Stacker Pentecost Suite | Pacific Rim (Original Soundtrack) - YouTube

“Oh yeah. The two models for ‘Pacific Rim,’ the two models for the screenplay, are ‘Hoosiers’ with Gene Hackman and Top Gun. So, the part that Idris Elba plays, Tom Cruise was gonna do it, and I even had a karaoke. The deal couldn’t be made. He wanted to do it. We were developing stuff, and he couldn’t do it. I thought, ‘You know what? Let’s go with Idris Elba then. He’s a god.’ Obviously, I had to rewrite it for that, but I thought it was gonna be an interesting analog to do that. It would have been a lot of fun.”

Of course, Tom Cruise did attempt to dabble in more action-centric sci-fi genre projects such as “Edge of Tomorrow” and “Oblivion” which came out the same year as “Pacific Rim” before mostly sticking to his “Mission: Impossible” films alongside the recent “Top Gun” sequel “Maverick.” Stacker would end up dying in the film only for a son we had no idea even existed, played by John Boyega, who became the main lead in the studio’s follow-up installment “Pacific Rim: Uprising.” It’s still pretty wacky that Universal and Warner Bros. wasted a potential team-up between Cruise and del Toro, another fuck-up of epic proportions by agencies/studio executives.

Hopefully, the two will eventually work together at some point.

PACIFIC RIM: Long ago, legions of monstrous creatures called Kaiju arose from the sea, bringing with them all-consuming war. To fight the Kaiju, mankind developed giant robots called Jaegers, designed to be piloted by two humans locked together in a neural bridge. However, even the Jaegers are not enough to defeat the Kaiju, and humanity is on the verge of defeat. Mankind’s last hope now lies with a washed-up ex-pilot (Charlie Hunnam), an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi), and an old, obsolete Jaeger.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Film News, News

Christoph Waltz Joins Cast Of Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ Movie Alongside Andrew Garfield, Mia Goth & Oscar Isaac

During a chat with Collider, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro‘s has revealed that two-time Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Christoph Waltz has joined the cast of his upcoming retelling of the iconic sci-fi horror story, “Frankenstein.” Waltz is likely best known to audiences for working alongside director Quentin Tarantino in the period action films “Django Unchained” and “The Inglourious Basterds.” A film that del Toro says he’s been trying to make for 50 years but now believes he’s “crazy or brave” enough to attempt it now.

The actor joins a cast that already boasts talent such as Oscar Isaac (“Ex Machina”), Mia Goth (“Infinity Pool,” “Pearl”), and Andrew Garfield (“The Social Network”).

Frankenstein | Book by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Bernie Wrightson, Stephen King | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster

You might remember that a while back when Universal was trying to resurrect the Universal Monsters franchise, an attempt was made by del Toro to get a new “Frankenstein” move off the ground there but ultimately that didn’t happen. Luckily, for the filmmaker since the story is from the Mary Shelley novel published back in 1818 and is in the public domain, he was free to try again at Netflix but would have to come up with his own Frankenstein design that doesn’t infringe the one copyrighted design by Universal Pictures.

There is now an assumption the design del Toro has landed on is from the late comic book artist Bernie Wrightson, who himself did illustrations for a version of the Frankenstein story (pictured in the above header image). His version of Dr. Frankenstein is the spitting image of Oscar Isaac, which could suggest that’s the role he’s been cast in. Wrightson also helped co-create DC Comics anti-hero “Swamp Thing,” a character that del Toro nearly put on the big screen in his incarnation of the “Dark Justice League” before he eventually moved on to other things.

Another tidbit about production was revealed too as they hope to get cameras rolling sometime in February, but likely will rely on the actors’ strike being resolved in the near future by the AMPTP offering/accepting a fair deal with the union.

Guillermo won an Oscar statue earlier this year for his other Netflix feature film, “Pinocchio.” And previously earned two other Oscars for “The Shape of Water” such as Best Picture and Best Director back in 2018, the filmmaker’s take on “The Creature From The Black Lagoon.”

You can watch his exchange with Collider below.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot: Director Matt Shakman Confirms Filming At Pinewood Studios UK, May Begin In The Spring

“Fantastic Four” is one of the next big feature film productions for Marvel Studios. Director Matt Shakman recently spoke with Collider giving us a few minor updates on their plans for the reboot of Marvel’s “First Family.” While Shakman kept mum on any specific castings, he was able to confirm they’ll be shooting in the London area on the Pinewood Studios stages. Also, they’re hoping to get cameras rolling in the Spring, that’s if the SAG-AFTRA strike is resolved in the near future.

Yes, we are definitely gonna go in front of cameras next year. Probably the spring,” Shakman said of the looming production start on “Fantastic Four.”

Also, the filmmaker promises it to be a lot “different” than the other MCU films we’ve seen.

“It’s different in so many ways. I wish I could be specific. I wish I could say more. But we are doing things very differently from a story standpoint, from an approach to the filmmaking standpoint, that really fits the material. I wish I could say more. I would love to, but I can’t. But I think it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve seen before, and certainly unlike anything at Marvel that you’ve seen before.”

Avatar 2 trailer could reveal how Quaritch returns

Screenwriter Josh Friedman, who had been hired to tackle rewrites on the film’s script is expected to resume writing very soon as the WGA strike has been resolved after a tentative deal was reached with the AMPTP. His previous credits include James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequels, Apple’s sci-fi series “Foundation,” Steven Spielberg’s “War of The Worlds,” “Terminator: Dark Fate,” and the fourth installment of 20th Century’s modern “Planet of The Apes” franchise with “Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes” from filmmaker Wes Ball.

Of course, Pinewood (used more often these days) is a stage facility used by Marvel Studios for productions such as “Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania,” “Guardians of The Galaxy,” “Doctor Strange,” “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Eternals,” “Black Widow,” and the yet-to-be-completed “Deadpool 3.” The latter is Marvel’s big attempt at an “X-Men” adjacent project since securing the rights to use mutants in their films and will bring Hugh Jackman back the Wolverine role after retiring it for James Mangold’s “Logan.” A film that gave the grizzled character a fitting end and death.

I have to assume once “Deadpool 3” wraps up production it’ll be time for “Fantastic Four” to move in as Shawn Levy has stated they only got 50% of filming completed before the SAG-AFTRA strike paused filming. Which why a spring start for Marvel’s other reboot would make logical sense.

However, we’re still in the dark about the casting of the film, and despite rampant rumors online of who exactly has been cast or has been in the mix, no official announcements have been made. The four main roles of Reed Richards (previously played by John Krasinski in Earth-838), Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm are sure to be over-analyzed by fans given the last two attempts at the live-action franchise didn’t really impress folks. Although, Shakman seems to indicate that the casting announcement isn’t too far off once the strike is resolved.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in News, Television News

Marvel’s ‘Agatha,’ ‘Daredevil,’ & ‘Ironheart’ Getting Big Release Delays According To US Copyright Filings

Today marks the release of the second season of Marvel’s “Loki” and there had been previous delays on the other streaming shows. We now might have an idea when two of them are going to be released next. MCU Direct is suggesting the upcoming Disney+ series “Ironheart” is expected to begin airing on September 3, 2025 (A huge push given they’ve completed filming), and “Agatha” is coming out on September 1, 2024. These dates come from listings on the United States Copyright Office, which would make them slightly more official than just a regular rumbling online.

“Agatha” is a magic-focused series and spinoff of “WandaVision” featuring Kathryn Hahn returning as the titular Agatha Harkness along with actors such as Aubrey Plaza as Rio Dival, and Sasheer Zamata in the role of a key horror-occult character, Jennifer Kale.

Dominique Thorne‘s Riri Williams made her debut in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” as a brilliant college student who builds her own armor suit from scratch. “Ironheart” is expected to continue those adventures and will introduce the supernatural villain, The Hood, who has “In The Heights” actor Anthony Ramos in the role. “Solo: A Star Wars Story” actor Alden Ehrenreich is also in the series and rumored to be playing the son of “Iron Man” villain Obadiah Stane portrayed by Jeff Bridges.

Other live-action MCU shows on the horizon include “Echo” on January 10, 2024, and “Daredevil: Born Again” on January 2025.

These delays stem from Disney+ juggling multiple original series from Marvel Studios and the “Star Wars” shows coming from Lucasfilm. They’re also looking like a bit of a content gap is coming next year in the wake of the strikes (long expected). Disney’s Bob Iger had also suggested to the public that they are considering slowing down the volume of Marvel shows to keep the studio from stretching itself too thin as their aim is to get the feature films on track.

SOURCE: UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE

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Chad Stahelski Not Looking To Resurrect John Wick For A “Cash-Grab” But Has Notebooks Filled With Ideas For Another Five Movies

Sometimes franchises stall or simply end. The popular “John Wick” movies are certainly in a very odd place with “John Wick 4” seemingly killing off our skilled protagonist (that taking place off-screen) and while the head of Lionsgate keeps telling the public they’re working on “John Wick 5” it doesn’t seem like that is happening anytime soon, potentially at all.

Director Chad Stahelski, who tackled all four installments, recently spoke with Inverse detailing that the ambiguity of the death of John was done on purpose and ties back to the mythology/fairytale angle they had been aiming for with the franchise.

“We just rationalize that any Greek hero like Odysseus or anybody else over a long enough timeline, every story’s a tragedy. The hero always dies. You just don’t know when. And we also know if you’re a bad guy, you do bad things, bad things happen to you. That’s just the way it goes. So, we always had that hard, hardboiled sensibility. And we got done with 3, and we kind of knew when we were doing the press tour, we’re like, ‘Fuck. We didn’t really end it. We didn’t stick the landing.’ And we had a couple of ideas. And Keanu and I put some things together, and that’s how we built No. 4: ‘OK, this is the swan song.'”

Keanu Reeves ist John Wick: Alter schützt vor Kugeln nicht

Still, it’s not like Chad and Keanu are saying a fifth installment or more is completely off the table. Stahelski brings up Reeves being game for another one alongside having notebooks full of ideas for another five films (maybe an exaggeration) but waiting for the right “idea” that clicks to get the two of them back. Rather than simply doing another installment because they want to make money from it.

“I have notebooks and notebooks of shit behind me, John Wicks 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. We have ideas for days. We just don’t have the story locked. I have no interest in doing the cash grab of bringing John Wick back for something. Is he a character I like? Of course. And if I did a couple of John Wick movies, great. Keanu would do one again in a second if we had a good story. We leave that open-ended. I know that the studio would love us to say we have another one.”

I wouldn’t be terribly shocked if they had killed John Wick, the myth. Allowing John, the man, to potentially live a peaceful life somewhere else away from the grip of The High Table and retribution for all the killing he’s been doing. However, if they did another installment something would have to drag him back What exactly that could be is indeed a head-scratcher.

John Wick 4's Donnie Yen wants to spin-off Caine

The filmmaker also commented on Lionsgate’s interest in spinoffs like next summer’s “Ballerina” starring Ana de Armas as Rooney, taking place between the events of “John Wick 3” and “John Wick 4” with Reeves set to appear in the action pic. The end of the recent film indicated that they could do another untitled spinoff featuring Donnie Yen’s Caine and Rina Sawayama’s Akira, with the latter seeking revenge for the death of her father in Osaka.

“Keanu and I are always interested in that, but we leave it hanging out there a little bit to figure out if we have something that we’d want to watch. Second, we have a studio that’s very enthusiastic and not just financially motivated, but they’re just interested in seeing what we could do with it. So, they’ve been super cool of us this year about branching off. I know the term is ‘spin-offs’ or ‘ancillaries’ or whatever you want to call it. Keanu and I both went back, and we all said, ‘Look, we have ideas for the John Wick world, other characters that aren’t John Wick-centric. Would you guys be interested in exploring that?’ And they were super cool, and they said, ‘Yes, we’d be very interested in that.’ Characters that weren’t in any of the movies that had fallen to the sidelines because they just didn’t fit in our storylines, and some existing characters that we’d like to see other things.”

Giving everyone involved some breathing room is likely a good idea creatively. Keanu Reeves likely wants to do other things and Stahelski is attached to helm multiple other films such as Lionsgate’s reboot of “Highlander” that has Henry Cavill attached alongside his samurai pic “Ghost of Tsushima” (based on the video game) for Sony Pictures. Perhaps, they’ll reunite for more “John Wick” movies but it does sound like they’re also open to the idea of simply moving on as well.

SOURCE: INVERSE

Posted on in Film News, News, Television News

Live-Action ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Project Officially In Development At Anonymous Content

With the release of a massive update to the video game “Cyberpunk 2077” from developers alongside the “Phantom Liberty,” the new expansion story. It looks like there is now some renewed interest in adapting further incarnations into other forms of media after the Netflix anime series “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.”

Today, the video game developers CD Projekt Red (“The Witcher”) have announced they have partnered with Anonymous Content (“True Detective,” “Spotlight”) to put together a “live-action project.” The press release stops short of revealing if they’re aiming for it to be aired on TV/streaming or will head to the big screen. But does mention they’ll now be seeking a screenwriter, which could indicate the desire to do a feature film within this mature cyberpunk universe. Also, stating it’ll be a “brand-new story,” likely means they won’t be adapting existing plots for this project.

CD PROJEKT RED Partners With Anonymous Content to Develop Live-Action Project

“The new project is at an early development stage and has currently commenced searching for a screenwriter to tell a brand-new story set in the world of ‘Cyberpunk 2077,'” the developers said in their official press release. “Anonymous Content’s AC Studios will serve as the studio on the project. The project will be developed in close collaboration with the ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ creative team.”

In “Cyberpunk 2077,” users play as V, as they attempt to navigate the seedy world of Night City and the newly explored Dogtown. A near-future fictionalized dangerous cyberpunk world filled with corporate espionage, gangs, advanced weapons, robotics/cyborgs, and cybernetic body enhancements. Taking all the best elements from sci-fi properties like “Dredd,” “Ghost In The Shell,” “Elysium,” and “Akira.”

John Wick 4's Director Used An Unusual Method To Cast Rina Sawayama

I think of I’m getting sick of Hollywood’s version of cyberpunk mostly revolving around white characters when a huge aspect of the sci-fi sub-genre is steeped within the aesthetics and culture of Japan. It would be really smart on the part of AC Studios to consider hiring an actor of Asian descent to play the project’s protagonist. One person who jumps out to us is singer and “John Wick 4” breakout Rina Sawayama.

Given CD Prokect Red’s working relationship with Netflix for “The Witcher” and “Edgerunners” I don’t think it would shock anyone if Netflix got their mits on “Cyberpunk.” Interestingly enough, both action stars Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba are already featured as supporting in-game characters. Hopefully, they end up getting involved and reprising their “Cyberpunk” roles in this new project given how quickly fans have embraced their involvement. Having those two attached, the famous faces of the game could get a lot of eyeballs and it does a lot of the heavy lifting to convince fans to support it.

SOURCE: CD PROJEKT RED

Posted on in Film News, News

Robert Rodriguez Would Love To Revisit ‘Desperado’ Franchise But Worries About Glorifying Gun Violence

Director Robert Rodriguez has been keeping himself extremely busy over the last decade with his kid films on Netflix such as the recently released “Spy Kids” reboot “Spy Kids: Armageddon,” tackling the “Star Wars” universe with “The Mandalorian” and his own spinoff series “The Book of Boba Fett,” the Ben Affleck thriller “Hypnotic,” and had worked with James Cameron by helming his ambitious cyberpunk adventure pic “Alita: Battle Angel,” a live-action adaptation of the popular Japanese manga series.

During a recent chat with The Wrap, Rodriguez states that he would be interested in returning to his El franchise, which consists of “El Mariachi,” “Desperado,” and “Once Upon A Time In Mexico.” That action-packed trilogy focused on a gun-toting Mexican folk hero, a former musician, going up drug cartels and corrupt military leaders. However, the director is a bit uncomfortable with the idea of glorifying gun violence given the current climate of shootings and other real-life violence connected to the cartels.

Rod-Tino Tuesday: Once Upon A Time In Mexico – Couch Cruisin'

“I would love to revisit the ‘Desperado’ series. I thought it was way ahead of its time. It’s really hard to do today, for me, anything with guns. Gun violence has gotten out of control. Even those are those are very tongue-in-cheek and kind of fun. It’s just hard to do. There’s always some terrible shooting and you just go, I don’t know if I can responsibly do anything with guns. I really love those films, they are so fun. They’re like ‘Spy Kids’ for grownups, with guitar cases that fired missiles and gadgets galore. It was still made by a kid. Still, the glorification of it would be hard for me to pull off responsibly.”

There is certainly some shared DNA between those fun shoot-em-up films and the four “John Wick” movies from Chad Stahelski, they both make a point to establish they’re not set in a grounded cinematic universe. Something that “Once Upon A Time In Mexico” fully leans into as it comes off more like an action film mixed with a fairytale with over-the-top characters and ridiculous plot points. Not unlike his two extremely violent “Machete” films that are glorious love letters to the exploitation genre.

Speaking of Machete, we’re still waiting on Rodriguez to round out his trilogy with “Machete In Space.”

There was also a brief update/comment on the status of the “Battle Angel” sequel. While there haven’t been any formal announcements from Disney/20th Century Studios concerning “Alita 2,” Rodriguez reiterates that he’s still been keeping in contact with Cameron about the potential sequel and is hopeful that the studio is willing to make it as post-acquisition 20th Century is making more of their own movies again.

“Yeah, Jim and I always talk about how we’d love to do another ‘Alita.’ That studio [20th Century] was bought by another studio [Disney]. They’re starting to make movies now. But that for a while 20th Century wasn’t making any of their movies. I think now you’re seeing a few rolling out. We would love to.”

Previously, there had been some indications that deals or ideas had been thrown around behind the scenes as “Alita: Battle Angel” ended on a cliffhanger revealing Edward Norton as Nova, the next big villain Alita would have to face. Originally, when Cameron was attached to direct the plan was to shoot and release a trilogy of films. The global box office take of $405 million on a budget of $170 million wasn’t exactly on the scale of “Avatar” but seemingly was still enough for the studio to consider at least making one more installment given the mostly positive reception from audiences that did end up seeing it.

Then again, it’s hard to ignore all of the would-be film projects Rodriguez has developed over the years that simply never crossed the finish line such as “Barbarella,” “Red Sonja,” “Fire & Ice,” “Escape From New York,” a revival of the animated anthology film “Heavy Metal” spearheaded by Tim Miller/David Fincher, and his live-action “Jetsons” movie. We’ll simply have to be patient to see what he does next.

SOURCE: THE WRAP

Posted on in Film News, News

Studio Ghibli Producer Indicates Hayao Miyazaki Already Developing Next Movie, No Retirement In Sight

At the Toronto International Film Festival during the screening of “The Boy & The Heron,” it was revealed by Studio Ghibli VP Junichi Nishioka that iconic anime filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki wasn’t ready to retire and was mulling around their offices kicking around ideas for what could be next for him. Well, it looks like those ideas have morphed into the development of his next potential feature film.

French outlet Liberation (via GamesRadar) was able to speak with Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki, who seemingly confirmed (translation pending) that Miyazaki has moved on from those idea sessions to actively developing his next untitled feature film.

“[Hayao Miyazaki] thinks about this new project every day, I can no longer stop him, I have given up on that. I’m no longer trying to dissuade him, even if it might be a bad film. In life, only work enchants him,”

“We spoke again earlier today,” Toshio Suzuki continued. “He started talking about this new project, so I’m not stopping him anymore. As long as he works I will not retire. He is 82 years old, I think he will continue until he is 90 years old and I’ll be going along with him for the ride.”

Suzuki stopped short of explaining the details of that “new project” but given the semi-autobiographical angle of his latest release, it’s possible Miyazaki could be considering more introspective storytelling or exploring more elements from his past.

“The Boy & The Heron” will be making its North American debut on December 8.

A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship, from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.

SOURCE: LIBERATION

Posted on in Film News, News, Trailers

‘Silent Night’ Trailer: Legendary Action Director John Woo Returns With Blood-Soaked Revenge Pic This December

John Woo is arguably one of the most influential action directors of the 1980s and 1990s, he basically helped make Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat an international action star while also ushering in gun-fu, essentially an action sub-genre where gunplay is just as visually stunning as any martial arts fight. Those action pics such as “The Killer” and “Hard-Boiled” eventually caught the attention of Hollywood leading to him making “Face-Off,” “Broken Arrow,” “Harget Target,” “Paycheck,” and “Windtalkers.” The filmmaker is making his grand return to Hollywood after 20 years thanks to Thunder Road and Lionsgate, the folks behind the “John Wick” franchise.

Woo is very much back to the genre he helped popularize over 40 years ago with Lionsgate’s “Silent Night” starring Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman (“The Suicide Squad”) playing a grief-stricken father who is looking to get bloody revenge during the holiday season after the death of his son. The kicker and main gimmick of the film, our protagonist doesn’t speak. The film’s tagline is “Action Speaks Louder Than Words” and the trailer they dropped yesterday (See below) very much indicates that’s the case.

Here is the official logline of “Silent Night” via Lionsgate:

“From legendary director John Woo and the producer of ‘John Wick’ comes this gritty revenge tale of a tormented father (Joel Kinnaman) who witnesses his young son die when caught in a gang’s crossfire on Christmas Eve. While recovering from a wound that costs him his voice, he makes vengeance his life’s mission and embarks on a punishing training regimen in order to avenge his son’s death.”

Other cast members include Scott Mescudi, Harold Torres, and Cataline Sandino Moreno.

Another Hollywood project on the horizon for Woo is a Western remake of his iconic Hong Kong pic, “The Killer.”

“Silent Night” will be blasting into theaters on December 1 and you can watch that new trailer below.

SOURCE: LIONSGATE

Posted on in Film News, News

Blumhouse Hopeful ‘Spawn’ Will Come Out In 2025 & Still Keen To Make A ‘Friday The 13th’ Movie

Blumhouse is obviously one of the bigger names in studio-made horror films and it doesn’t sound like they’re in any mood to end that string of success. What’s interesting are some of the various IP they’ve been trying to secure over the years such as their long-gestating live-action remake of the Image Comics character “Spawn.” A government assassin that becomes a soldier in Hell’s army, aka, a Hellspawn after a brutal execution at the hands of his black ops handlers. His last request is to return to Earth to see his wife one last time only to become a violent protector that goes up against the mob, crooked cops, fellow assassins, and even angelic killers working on behalf of Heaven to eliminate the latest incarnation of the Hellspawn.

At one point, comic book creator and rights holder Todd McFarlane was hoping to make his feature film debut as a director on the remake he had been personally developing internally with the aim to have Jamie Foxx in the role of Al Simmons/Spawn and Jeremy Renner as the persistent/logical police detective Twitch. Of course, since then, both actors have had their medical issues/recoveries, and remains to be seen if they’ll ultimately end up doing the film.

However, Jason Blum, the head of the studio, suggested a release window to ComicBook for the project that suggests they might finally be gearing up to get cameras rolling sometime next year and potentially have the remake in theaters by 2025.

“2025 is when Spawn is going to come out. I stand by that,” Blum said of the status of their “Spawn” remake.

While that determination to get the movie made and in theaters by 2025 is certainly ambitious, we still don’t know if they’ll be going for a more faithful comic book adaptation (minus the villains and supporting characters they’ve lost the rights to) or will go the low-budget horror film route that McFarlane originally intended. Since the project has undergone various rewrites. Also, we’re still not entirely sure who is actually going to direct it. There have been signs more recently that McFarlane could step aside from that role, but it’s not exactly official if that is happening.

“Spawn” isn’t the only existing project Blumhouse wants to get their hands on as they’ve previously been open in interviews about gunning for the rights to make a new “Friday The 13th” feature film. The rights issues seemingly have been settled as A24 is currently developing a prequel series titled “Crystal Lake” with the aim to mostly focus on Pamela Voorhees, the original killer of the franchise and mother of Jason.

While speaking with Inverse, Blumhouse’s Ryan Turek is still hopeful after tacking a new “Halloween” trilogy their desire is to get the ability to make new “Friday The 13th” movies. In which the studio would very much consider a proud feather in their cap if they can actually secure the rights and get the machete slashing again.

“Jason [Blum] and I are definitely in agreement that ‘Friday The 13th’ is the thing we would love to get our hands on. I really want to go back to the basics. You don’t need too many ingredients for a Friday the 13th film. You need summer camp, you need campers, and you need Jason Vorhees in a mask. Listen, I’ve gone on the record saying ‘Halloween’ is the ultimate slasher film for me. That’s my favorite slasher film of all time. But ‘Friday The 13th’ as a franchise is one that I just bow down to. I just love everything about it. And if we were able to live in both worlds, like we do with ‘Halloween,’ then to be able to live at Crystal Lake for a while would be so incredible.”

We’ll have to wait and see if Blumhouse is able to get either project off the ground. Although, given Blumhouse’s reputation of persistence it wouldn’t be that wild of a situation if they did end up getting their hands on Jason Vorhees. A studio that is mainly focused on the horror franchise’s legacy might have better intentions than a studio only looking to squeeze money out of it, which I’m sure horror fans would get behind. Then again, there had been mixed reactions to how they’ve handled their trio of “Halloween” installments and predictable groans concerning their recent release, “The Exorcist: Believer.”

SOURCE: INVERSE & COMICBOOK