Good Boy director Ben Leonberg has found his next horror. Sean Gunn teases Maxwell Lord’s role in the DCU’s future. Plus, Atomfall is making its way to TV. To me, my spoilers!
The Chronicles of Narnia
Appearing as a guest on The Garry and Kenny Show (via World of Reel), The Chronicles of Narnia producer Mark Gordon described the film as a “four-quadrant” project ,” and that it will “likely receive a PG rating.” Gordon also confirmed the involvement of actors Meryl Streep, Daniel Craig, Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, David McKenna, and Beatrice Campbell.
Victorian Psycho
Variety reports Evie Templeton (Wednesday, Return to Silent Hill) has joined the cast of Victorian Psycho as Drusilla Pounds, “the picture of a young lady-in-the-making, but inwardly, she carries an intensity and darkness beyond her years.”
The Neverending Pillow Fort
Deadline reports Elizabeth Cullen, Sofia Rose, David Tennant, Guy Pearce, Teresa Palmer, and Marsai Martin will lend their voices to The Neverending Pillow Fort, an animated feature based on the children’s novel by Will Taylor. The story follows “best friends Maggie (Cullen) and Abby (Rose), whose lifelong bond, built on imaginative pillow fort adventures, is tested when Abby returns from camp eager to embrace the real world and new friendships. When their fort reveals a magical ability to transport them to worlds across the globe, the girls embark on a whirlwind adventure that brings them closer again. But as they journey through strange and wondrous places, Maggie must confront the reality that growing up may mean learning to let things change.”
Anything But Ghosts
Deadline also reports Violet McGraw is the latest to join the cast of Anything But Ghosts in a currently undisclosed role.
Follow Mode
Deadline reports Good Boy director Ben Leonberg’s next project will be a found-footage horror movie shot entirely on drones. Titled Follow Mode, the synopsis reads: “Consumer-grade drones now come with a ‘hands-free’ setting that automatically directs the camera to follow you—in case you’re a surfer taking your next wave, a snowboarder back-flipping off a half-pipe, or a serial killer stalking your next victim. When a group of teens knock this drone out of the sky, they discover that it contains home movies of the killer’s brutal crimes. Now, they must race to expose the killer before becoming his next victims.”
The DCU
Sean Gunn discussed Maxwell Lord’s future in the DCU during a recent interview with Comic Book.
That’s a tough question without revealing anything, but I can tell you that I am very excited to see Maxwell Lord interact with any corner of the DC Universe. I think that his fingerprints are on a lot of things. He isn’t just a billionaire; he is a superbillionaire. He is one of the richest men the world has ever known. We know the kind of power that those people have; he has that power because of his wealth. How will he use that power? How will he exercise it? That’s fascinating to me going forward.
Who are the people who are sort of adjacent to the Maxwell Lord-type characters, and how do they look at the world? It’s a different worldview for people as wealthy as he is. But is there some kind of altruism still in there? Is there a pathway where he’s this wealthy but using it to make the world a better place? Or is he angling for his own sort of power? Or is he angling for his own sort of power? It’s stuff that I’m really pleased to explore… There are different incarnations of the character, and I think we have our own. I think we draw from the comics, but we also have our own path that we’re taking with it. I’m really excited to share that with the audience.
Resident Evil
During a recent roundtable interview attended by Screen Rant, director Zach Cregger alleged he’s “never seen” a Resident Evil movie before, and did not look to them as a source of inspiration for his new film.
I’ve never seen those movies. I have never seen a single one. So the only lessons I could take from them are just in terms of what I’ve gleaned from the trailers that I saw when they were coming out, and frankly, the reason I didn’t see them is that I was such a fan of the games, and they just didn’t look like the games to me. And I mean, it was so obvious that they were not the games that I was like, ‘It’s not for me. Maybe they’re great. I have no idea.’ But I just wasn’t interested in that because I feel like what’s great about the games is they’re shrunk down into this single perspective, and it’s about this pacing and this horror. And those movies just didn’t look like horror things to me. And so I guess that’s the lesson, aim at the games, don’t aim at The Matrix, is kind of how I felt.
In a related interview with Playstation, Cregger stated his film’s protagonist is instead “very much like an avatar for” himself.
Austin is very much like an avatar for me, or what I expect the average video game player would react if they were thrust into the game themselves. So he’s just a normal guy. He’s not particularly good at combat in any way, shape, or form. He’s athletic, but he’s not an athlete, he’s just a guy. He’s just a good natured, hapless dude who gets sucked into a nightmare. And so it was really fun to just think, how would I react authentically if I saw a mutant dog attack me? What would that gamut of emotion look like? And Austin’s just so fun to watch, he’s perfect for it.
sMOTHERed
Shudder also has a trailer for sMOTHERed, the latest film from Joko Anwar described as a modern take on the legend of Malin Kundang.
Atomfall
Deadline reports a TV series based on the post-apocalyptic folk horror survival video game Atomfall is now in development at Rebellion and Two Brothers Pictures. Set within “a walled and militarized quarantine zone in England’s Lake District” after a nuclear incident, “the outside world is assumed to be continuing as normal.” Life within the zone, meanwhile, “has deteriorated into something far stranger. The game follows a protagonist who wakes up inside the Quarantine Zone with no memory of how they arrived.”
Doctor Who
Finally, a questionable press release posted to Reddit alleges that BBC, AMC, and Sony Pictures Television will soon announce a full reboot of Doctor Who boasting a “newly imagined narrative, refreshed cast, and expanded storytelling scope” that still honors “the core mythology” that came before it.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
