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Exhibitor Daniel Crown and indie producer Daniela Taplin Lundberg have joined forces to create Red Crown Productions, which will focus on high-end specialty films in a market place filled with big budget franchise features. Their first project will be an adaptation of Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon’s graphic novel Tumor. A Nightmare on Elm Street director Samuel Bayer is set to helm this action-adventure, which focuses on a dying private investigator who takes on one last case....

Scott Derrickson directed 2016’s Doctor Strange, bringing Benedict Cumberbatch into the MCU as the Master of the Mystic Arts. The news of Marvel eying Scott Derrickson, who is best known for making horror films like Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, to direct Doctor Strange came as a surprise to many at the time. But after numerous pitch meetings, Derrickson had convinced the studio that he was the best person to make the film and ultimately landed the directing gig....

Cameras are rolling on the second season of Severance, and with new episodes in the works comes the addition of eight new cast members. Per THR, Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones, Lucifer) has joined the show’s ensemble series, landing her next series role ahead of the launch of Wednesday on Netflix next month. Other newcomers to the cast include Bob Balaban (The French Dispatch), Robby Benson (Beauty and the Beast), Stefano Carannante, John Noble (Fringe), Olafur Darri Olafsson (The Tourist), Alia Shawkat (The Old Man), and Merritt Wever (Nurse Jackie)....

South Korean starlet Jun Ji-hyun will star in Blood Vampire, the live-action English-language remake of the hit Japanese animated film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Blood Vampire, by Hong Kong director Ronnie Yu (Jet Li’s Fearless), is a $30 million production from Hong Kong rainmaker Bill Kong and France’s Pathe Entertainment and is in preproduction. Jun is known in Asia for roles in the Korean blockbuster Il Mare, (remade by Warner Bros....

The new CBS series Star Trek Discovery is one of those projects that is slowly starting to reveal itself in bits and pieces. We’ve seen a few STD teasers, and the upcoming sci-fi adventure drama had a big presence at Comic-Con. Today, we learn who the main protagonist will be and what her name is. And it’s not what you might expect at all. The lead character in Star Trek Discovery will not be a Starfleet Captain....

Paramount Pictures has recently announced that it plans to push back J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek until May 8th, 2009. According to Variety, the studio decided that the sci-fi franchise motion picture had greater potential as a summer release. DreamWorks’ has also announced that the 2008 Ben Stiller summer comedy Tropic Thunder will be moving from July 11 to Aug. 15. Other changes on Paramount Pictures schedule are as follows: Eddie Murphy ’s family picture Nowhereland is moving from Sept....

The relationship between Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and former Padawan Anakin Skywalker has been an important centerpiece of Star Wars throughout the ages. Their descent from comradery to rivalry was a pivotal moment for the franchise as it was a driving force behind the most emotionally excruciating character arcs. The two were first acquainted on Tatooine prior to the Battle of Naboo where it was Kenobi’s master Qui-Gon Jinn who was adamant that Anakin was the Chosen One....

Starz announced today the greenlight of its next original drama series, Flesh and Bone, created by Emmy award-winning Breaking Bad writer and executive producer, Moira Walley-Beckett. Flesh and Bone follows a young ballet dancer, Claire, who has a distinctly troubled past, as she joins a prestigious ballet company in New York. The dark and gritty series will unflinchingly explore the dysfunction and glamour of the ballet world. Acclaimed dancer Sarah Hay (Black Swan) has been cast in the lead role, joining an already stellar cast of world-renowned dancers, including former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Irina Dvorovenko and current soloist Sascha Radetsky, along with Royal New Zealand Ballet artistic director and former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Ethan Stiefel attached as choreographer....

While Stephen King movies have been bringing in some big business at the box office in recent years, the new reboot of Firestarter has failed to ignite on its release this weekend. The film, which stars Zac Efron and has previously been said to right the many wrongs of the original 1984 adaptation, actually ended up delivering a worse opening weekend than its predecessor did almost four decades ago. It is worth pointing out, though, that the film also premiered this weekend on Peacock as a dual release, which could have impacted its box office performance....

Although it hasn’t always been this way, the lovable Steve Harrington has been stealing the show ever since he got more involved in the grander Stranger Things picture. Those who have been around since season 1 are aware that, for the most part, Steve was known as Nancy Wheeler’s pretentious jock boyfriend, who was part of the “cool kids” clique. Indeed, the show introduced them as a couple right away, although it didn’t make sense to many — at least, at first....

Potential spoilers ahead for Stranger Things Season 4 Stranger Things Season 4 is aging like a fine wine. The show recently passed an incredible amount of hours viewed, and we are already hearing small whispers of what the show’s fifth and final season may bring. Among the show’s terror, humor, and adventure, the heart of the series is very much a coming-of-age tale. Much like many movies and television shows before it, Stranger Things uses this to deepen its characters and their actions, and by extension, reactions to certain scenarios....

Stranger Things has held many plot twists over the course of its four seasons. However, season four played a huge role in revealing massive details or creating plot twists for the story and characters. The plot twists ranged from being vital to the main characters, such as how Max Mayfield ended up being so central to the plot, to creating theories over what year the Upside Down is frozen in. In addition, Stranger Things’ fourth season leads to a massive finale, with many episodes that build to the season’s final confrontation between Vecna and everyone else wishing to defeat him....

DVD SALES SPIN DOWN For the first year since DVDs came on the market a decade ago, studios and retailers are expected to report a sales decline in the format this year. The New York Postreported today (Tuesday) that sales for the year are expected to come in at around $23 billion, down from $24 billion last year. The deficit could be erased if a few of the blockbuster titles being released this month perform beyond expectations....

HEARTBREAKS AT THE BOX OFFICE The box-office turned out to be a heartbreaker on many levels over the weekend. First of all, the DreamWorks/Paramount release The Heartbreak Kid, which analysts had predicted would trounce the competition with ticket sales of $24-28 million, took in only $14 million. The fantasy film The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, from 20th Century Fox and Walden Entertainment, which critics had compared (mostly unfavorably) with the Harry Potter movies, bombed in its debut with just $3....

DISNEY LAUNCHING A BOYS’ CHANNEL Saying that it plans to focus on “tween” and younger boys but include girls, the Walt Disney Company on Thursday announced the creation of Disney XD, which will combine a cable channel offering sports and action programing with a website offering games, music and social networking. Until now, much of Disney’s specialized cable programming for the 6-14-year-old set has been aimed principally at girls, with such shows as Hannah Montana, Kim Possible, the High School Musicalspecials, and the upcoming Jonas Brothers series....

The latest film from cult Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike can be found on DVD and Blu-ray this November. Sukiyaki Western Django will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 22. This will be the first film from First Look Studios to feature BD Live and Digital Copy. The standard disc will cost $28.98 SRP and the Blu-ray disc will be proced t $34.98. The film stars Hideaki Ito, Koichi Sato, Yusuke Iseya and Quentin Tarantino....

Summer Camp Island is the latest series to be axed by HBO Max and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. The streaming provider has been in the process of pulling dozens of unscripted and animated shows to reduce costs before the eventual merger of HBO Max and Discovery+. Along with the recent cancellations, around 70 workers have received layoffs leading many to speculate on the future success of the streaming service....

The Academy Award winning makeup designer discusses his favorite creatures from the film, the diversified movie slate of KNB EFX and possibly working on Sin City 2 and Hostel 2 As one of the owners of the highly in demand KNB EFX Group, Howard Berger isn’t letting the fact that he just won an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Makeup for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe slow him down....

Warner Bros. is looking to get back into the swing of things with a new Tarzan movie by taking a unique approach. The studio is considering hiring two writers to pen separate drafts of the script, and will decide which way to go when both screenplays are completed. The studio has reached out to Adam Cozad (Untitled Jack Ryan Project) and Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) to write the scripts. This tactic has been used before, and, at times, the draft which isn’t chosen is saved for a potential sequel....

In the comic books, Talia al Ghul is the mother of Batman’s son, Damien, and the daughter of his archenemy, Ra’s al Ghul. In director George Miller’s proposed Justice League of America film, Talia al Ghul was going to be one of the villains and actress Teresa Palmer (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) was set to play the role, but unfortunately the film was never made. Currently director Christopher Nolan is casting two unknown female roles in The Dark Knight Rises, one of which is rumored to be a villain....