Guillermo del Toro’s Horror Anthology Series ’12 After Midnight’ Enlists ‘Nightmare Alley’ & ‘The Strain’ Production Designer; Jennifer Kent Also Directing

A new horror anthology from writer/producer Guillermo del Toro is coming to Netflix with the show titled Guillermo del Toro Presents 12 After Midnight (formerly 10 After Midnight), and it allows the filmmaker to honor the genre he loves. Guillermo del Toro is directing some episodes of the anthology alongside Australian director Jennifer Kent (The Nightingale, The Babadook). More directors will be announced later on. 

In this new genre-defining anthology series, acclaimed Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro will present a collection of personally curated stories, that are both equally sophisticated and horrific. Creator and executive producer del Toro will bring his own visionary style as both a writer and director to certain episodes. In addition, he will handpick a team of the genre’s best writers and exciting new filmmakers to bring his selection of stories to life.

The Ronin can confirm that the horror series has added seasoned production designer Tamara Deverell (Star Trek: Discovery), who had recently worked with del Toro on his latest feature film Nightmare Alley and his vampire series The Strain. Deverell will work alongside art director Brandt Gordon (Nightmare Alley, Crimson Peak, Total Recall, Suicide Squad, Shazam!)

We’ve also learned that the production team will have visual effects supervisor Dennis Berardi, who has a fantastic body of work with projects such as Shazam!, Crimson Peak, Monster Hunter, Antlers, The Shape of Water, The Strain, Nightmare Alley, Vikings, and The Strain. 

Filming is already underway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and will wrap sometime in February. 

A longtime producing partner of del Toro, J. Miles Dale, is behind the series. His credits consist of Nightmare Alley, Antlers, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, The Shape of Water, The Strain, Mama, Shadowhunters, The Thing (2011), and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. 

12 After Midnight will drop on Netflix sometime in 2022. 

‘Black Adam’: ‘Aladdin’ Actor Marwan Kenzari Joins Dwayne Johnson In DC Comics Movie

The Hollywood Reporter is confirming a fall report from The Illuminerdi that Aladdin and The Old Guard actor Marwan Kenzari is joining the New Line Cinema film Black Adam, a solo DC Comics film starring Dwayne Johnson in the titular role.

The original report from October claimed that Kenzari was being considered to play DC villain Sabbac, however, the new update isn’t mentioning the part actually is.

Marwan joins a growing cast that includes Noah Centineo as Al Rothstein aka Atom Smasher, Aldis Hodge as Carter Hall aka Hawkman, and Quintessa Swindell as Maxine Hunkell aka Cyclone.

Filming is set to begin this April in Atlanta, Georgia.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER & ILLUMINERDI

‘Shazam! Fury of The Gods’: ‘Kingsman’ & ‘The Old Guard’ Production Designer Paul Kirby Confirmed For DC Comics Sequel

The Ronin can confirm that production designer Paul Kirby has indeed joined the upcoming production team for David F. Sandberg‘s DC Comics sequel Shazam! Fury of The Gods. Kirby’s credits include Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Old Guard, Jason Bourne, Captain Phillips, and the Hellboy reboot.

Sandberg returns to direct from a script penned by Henry Gayden.

Other DC Comics productions on the horizon include The Flash and Black Adam with The Batman still shooting in the United Kingdom.

Fury of The Gods is set to be released on June 2nd, 2023.

SHAZAM! – We all have a superhero inside of us — it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In 14-year-old Billy Batson’s case, all he needs to do is shout out one word to transform into the adult superhero Shazam. Still a kid at heart, Shazam revels in the new version of himself by doing what any other teen would do — have fun while testing out his newfound powers. But he’ll need to master them quickly before the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana can get his hands on Shazam’s magical abilities.

‘Resident Evil’: Reboot Horror Film Adds ‘Shazam!’ and ‘Crawl’ Cinematographer Maxime Alexandre

The Ronin has been able to confirm that cinematographer Maxime Alexandre to the production team of the Resident Evil feature film reboot, as filming has been taking place in the Toronto area with the Canadian leg of the shoot expected to finish this month.

Maxime’s credits include The Nun, Shazam!, Crawl, The Hills Have Eyes, High Tension, Silent Hill: Revelations, and the Netflix series The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Johannes Roberts will be directing and it’s been confirmed that it will be an origin story taking place at Raccoon City in 1998.

Previously announced cast members include Kaya Scodelario (Crawl) as Claire Redfield alongside Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ready Player One) as Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell (Upload) as Chris Redfield, Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy) as Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap) as Leon S. Kennedy, Neal McDonough (Yellowstone, Band of Brothers, Captain America: The First Avenger) as William Birkin, Donal Logue, Chad Rook and Lily Gao.

A release date for Resident Evil has yet to be announced.

‘Resident Evil’ Reboot Film Adds ‘Shazam!’ Production Designer Jennifer Spence

The Ronin has been able to confirm that production designer Jennifer Spence has been hired for the Resident Evil reboot film, which is based on the classic Capcom zombie horror video games.

Jennifer’s extensive horror credits include Lights Out, Insidious: Chapter 2, Insidious: Chapter 3, Paranormal Activity 2, The Lords of Salem, Paranormal Activity 3, Paranormal Activity 4, Rob Zombie’s Lords of Salem, Annabelle: Creation, The Nun, and most recently The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.

She also worked on DC Comics film Shazam! as well.

They’ve also added art director Tony Ianni, who does extensive work on the sci-fi series The Expanse as art director and now as the show’s production designer.

Some character tidbits that leaked suggested that the new film will focus mostly on iconic characters from the video game franchise rather than continuing the Alice story from the Paul W.S. Anderson films that starred Milla Jovovich.

There is a live-action Netflix series in development as well.

Filming is expected to begin in/around the Toronto area on October 13th and complete by December 19th.

DC FANDOME: ‘Shazam!’ Sequel Officially Titled ‘Shazam!: Fury of The Gods’

Another short panel from DC FanDome and it includes a special cameo from comedian Sinbad.

While director David F. Sandberg and the cast didn’t share much they did reveal the title for the Shazam sequel will be Shazam!: Fury of The Gods.

SHAZAM! – We all have a superhero inside of us — it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In 14-year-old Billy Batson’s case, all he needs to do is shout out one word to transform into the adult superhero Shazam. Still a kid at heart, Shazam revels in the new version of himself by doing what any other teen would do — have fun while testing out his newfound powers. But he’ll need to master them quickly before the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana can get his hands on Shazam’s magical abilities.

Shazam! 2 is set to be released on November 4th, 2022.

SOURCE: DC FANDOME

DC FANDOME: New ‘Black Adam’ Concept Art – Dwayne Johnson Confirms Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Hawkman

We already know that Dwayne Johnson will be playing the titular character Black Adam in the upcoming DC Comics film with Noah Centineo playing Atom Smasher.

During the DC FanDome event today it was confirmed by Johnson that Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Hawkman coming together alongside Noah’s Atom Smasher to form the Justice Society.

Sadly, no new casting announcements were made.

Jaume Collet-Serra is set to direct the project sometime next year as Johnson still has to complete Netflix’s Red Notice, which is expected to resume filming in September.

There is an expectation that we’ll see Black Adam and Shazam! eventually crossover.

Black Adam is set for release on December 22nd, 2022.

SOURCE: DC FANDOME

Henry Cavill “Frustrated” By Superman Rumors/Speculation But Would Love To Reprise DC Comics Role

Not too long ago there was a rumor circulating from Deadline that Henry Cavill was in early discussions with Warner Bros. about reprising the Superman role in a non-solo film, but that seemingly spiraled into a massive amount of fan speculation that ballooned into him coming back for a Man of Steel sequel and folks guessing where he’d show up next. 

While speaking with Variety, Henry Cavill revealed he’s frustrated by those Superman rumors and speculation online, even more so that he can’t publicly comment on them. 

However, isn’t opposed to the regular fans speculating as they normally do. 

CAVILL: “They get wilder and wilder by the day. The amount of speculation, the stuff I read on the Internet, is extraordinary and sometimes frustrating. It’s when you see people stating stuff as fact. Like, ‘No, that’s not the case. That hasn’t happened, and that conversation isn’t happening’. But the important thing is that people are excited about it, and I think it’s important to be excited about a character like Superman. Superman is a fantastic character. If people are chatting about it, and even if they’re making stuff up, it’s okay, because that means they want to see the character again. And in an ideal world, I would absolutely love to play the character again.”

He also mused about using an alias to comment on those rumors. 

CAVILL: “I’m not going to lie; I’ve been very tempted, but there’s something about that, that feels deeply immoral. When it’s about Superman, and if I’m representing Superman, it just feels like the wrong thing to do. I’m just going to let this all play out. Me saying something isn’t going to make a difference. What does it really matter? One day, people will know the truth, and if they don’t know it now, it’s okay.”

Henry is a little busy at the moment as he’s expected to resume production on his Netflix series The Witcher soon in the United Kingdom. 

Superman had a brief cameo in Shazam! which I called back in the summer of 2018 after previously confirming the new movie was indeed set in the DCEU. Because talks broke down between the studio and Cavill he wasn’t able to portray the hero in that scene. There is a good chance since Shazam! established Cavill’s Superman exists in that film having him show up in the sequel would be a good bet to make.

SOURCE: VARIETY 

‘Shazam!’ Director David F. Sandberg Returning To Horror With Lionsgate’s ‘The Culling’

Deadline is reporting that David F. Sandberg would be returning to the world of horror for a new project from Lionsgate titled The Culling. The filmmaker is best known for directing the DC Comics film Shazam! for New Line Cinema and is attached to also direct it’s sequel. His roots are within the horror genre tackling films such as Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation.

The original horror film is from a spec-script penned by Stephen Herman.

A troubled priest confines himself to a remote cabin in the middle of the woods where he attempts to make a last stand against the demon that terrorized his family when he was a child.

Mångata and Fear Content will produce.

David is expected to shoot his sequel to Shazam! next as the film has a release date of November 4th, 2022. This release date would suggest that they plan to begin filming the superhero film sometime in 2021.

SOURCE: DEADLINE