News broke on Monday that legendary filmmaker William Friedkin had passed away at the age of 87. Director of films such as The Exorcist, The French Connection, and Sorcerer, Friedkin left an indelible mark on American cinema over the course of his career, and it came as no surprise to see so many in the entertainment industry pay tribute to the filmmaker after the news of his passing made the rounds. Among those who penned messages about Friedkin was Ellen Burstyn, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role as Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist.

"My friend Bill Friedkin was an original; smart, cultured, fearless and wildly talented," Burstyn said in her statement. "On the set, he knew what he wanted, would go to any length to get it and was able to let it go if he saw something better happening. He was undoubtedly a genius."

Burstyn will actually be reprising her role as Chris MacNeil in a new Exorcist film from the Halloween reboot trilogy director David Gordon Green. With MacNeil's appearance, The Exorcist: Believer will have direct connections to Friedkin's original film.

Jason Blum on William Friedkin

The Exorcist: Believer, like the Green's Halloween films, comes from hit-making horror studio Blumhouse. Jason Blum, producer and founder of the company, also took some time on Monday to pay tribute to Friedkin. Blum said that he is "personally indebted" to Friedkin for his contributions to horror, and that he's "intensely grateful" for the work of the filmmaker.

"I am personally indebted to William Friedkin and saddened by his loss," Blum said. "More than any other filmmaker, he changed both the way directors approached horror films and also the perception of horror films in the broader culture. We are deeply saddened to hear of his passing and intensely grateful for the body of work he has left behind."

Scott Derrickson, whose Black Phone was released by Blumhouse last year, took to social media to share his thoughts and memories about Friedkin, a massive inspiration to his work.

"It was an honor to have numerous lengthy chats via Twitter with William Friedkin," Derrickson wrote. "He also sent word through his wife to one of my producers that he watched & loved The Black Phone -- a gesture I will always treasure. The Exorcist and Sorcerer are 2 of the greatest films ever made."

William Friedkin's Final Film

Prior to his passing, Friedkin completed work on one final film. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial stars Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Clarke and is set to make its debut at the Venice Film Festival in a few weeks.

Over the course of five films, the Final Destination franchise would often focus on all-new groups of characters, though the earliest entries included some attempts at offering connective narrative tissue. Creator of the franchise Jeffrey Reddick recently recalled that this wasn't always the plan for the series and that, had schedules permitted, Final Destination 2 would have starred both Devon Sawa and Ali Larter from the original film and seen the pair having a child together. Larter did return to reprise her role as Clear, but he hoped that Sawa's Alex would have been the focus of the franchise.

"I wanted to bring both Alex and Clear back. There were some issues with scheduling and stuff with getting Devon Sawa back, and I got annoyed how they just killed him off with a brick, which I thought was a big F you. That's really my only complaint with Final Destination 2," Reddick revealed to Collider. "If I had them both back, I had always planned on killing Clear, but I wanted to keep Alex alive. I had a cool twist at the end where it still was, you know, she has a life that saves her life, but then death gets her once she has the kid and Alex is still kind of the torch-bearer."

He added, "That was my original take, but with the scheduling stuff, we ended up with no Alex. And I'm like, 'Ah, if I'd known we weren't gonna bring Alex back, I would have not have killed Clear,' because I love bringing original people back, but I don't like killing them."

While that first sequel didn't directly focus on Larter's Clear, the surviving protagonists instead reached out to her to ask for assistance, knowing that she had similarly escaped death, at least temporarily. After Clear's death in that film, future sequels were almost entirely disconnected from their predecessors.

In Final Destination 5, however, the protagonists survive a tragedy in the opening scene and some of these figures survive the events of the rest of the film. The finale confirms that these survivors don't escape death forever, as they die in the plane crash that Alex had escaped in the original film, revealing itself to have actually been a prequel to the debut movie.

A Final Destination 6 is currently in the works.

Do you wish Sawa returned for Final Destination 2? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

Hitting theaters in September is The Nun II, a sequel to the spinoff from The Conjuring 2, which adds another chapter to the ever-growing horror franchise. With the series being inspired by the real-life exploits of Ed and Lorraine Warren, there can sometimes be challenges when it comes to finding ways to continue or expand the franchise, though The Nun II director Michael Chaves recently pointed out that there are still plenty of years left to explore for these characters and that the supernatural nature of the premise means not all endings are as final as you might think. The Nun II hits theaters on September 8th.

"There's a line in the movie: 'Demons are infinite,'" Chaves shared with SFX Magazine, per GamesRadar, about getting a The Nun 3. "I like the idea that she's always been here in different forms. I think that there's still more stories of Valak the demon nun to be told."

The further the spinoffs get from the Warrens, the further that films get from real-life encounters, but Chaves noted that The Nun II definitely "plays a part" of the core franchise.

"I wouldn't want to give anything away, but this is continuing the timeline. Anyone who saw the first Conjuring knows that Maurice is possessed and then exorcised by the Warrens, and we know that that happens in the late '60s in the Conjuring timeline. This is set in the '50s so we're still a ways off from that," the filmmaker explained. "The events of what happens in between this starts to fill out that story a little bit more. There's other big ideas and big swings in there, and it's filled with a bunch of cool Easter eggs. Without giving anything away it continues to fill out the picture and the bigger canvas."

The upcoming film is described, "1956 -- France. A priest is murdered. An evil is spreading. The sequel to the worldwide smash hit follows Sister Irene as she once again comes face-to-face with Valak, the demon nun."

Taissa Farmiga (The Nun, The Gilded Age) returns as Sister Irene, joined by Jonas Bloquet (Tirailleurs, The Nun), Storm Reid (The Last of Us, The Suicide Squad), Anna Popplewell (Fairytale, The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy), and Bonnie Aarons (reprising her role from The Nun), surrounded by an ensemble cast of international talent.

Michael Chaves (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) directs, from a screenplay by Ian Goldberg & Richard Naing (Eli, The Autopsy of Jane Doe) and Akela Cooper (M3GAN, Malignant), with a story by Cooper, based on characters created by James Wan & Gary Dauberman.

The Nun II hits theaters on September 8th.

Do you hope we get The Nun 3? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

The event that kicked off the debut season of Stranger Things was the disappearance of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and his closest friends embarking on a quest to find him in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. Over the course of the next three seasons, Will struggled with trying to find his place among his friends and family, with creators of the series Matt and Ross Duffer teasing that the final season of the series will put prominence on Will once again. Due to the ongoing writers' and actors' strikes, it's unknown when production on Season 5 of Stranger Things could be moving forward.

"Will really takes center stage again in 5," Ross Duffer shared with Variety. "This emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together. Will is used to being the young one, the introverted one, the one that's being protected. So part of his journey, it's not just sexuality -- it's Will coming into his own as a young man."

Despite his disappearance igniting the events of the series, Season 1 largely saw Will being incapacitated in the Upside Down. Upon his rescue, Seasons 2 and 3 saw Will struggling to connect with his friends, due in large part to how much they had been through together while attempting to save him. In Season 4, Will struggled not only with that feeling of being an outsider, but also his own sexuality, largely centered around his unrequited feelings for Finn Wolfhard's Mike Wheeler.

Ever since Will's rescue, the character has exhibited bizarre after-effects of his time in the Upside Down, with some of these symptoms also being witnessed by other characters. In the Season 4 finale of Stranger Things, the rift between the real world and the Upside Down saw the two realities start to overlap, with Will specifically feeling attuned to the dark forces of the otherworldly dimension.

These comments echo remarks that Schnapp himself made last year about Will.

"I can just tell you that I'm very very excited for what's to come. I think they did a great job with Will's character this season, and beautifully addressed everything they needed to," Schnapp shared with Forbes in December of 2022. "The way they closed the show is just perfect -- the story started with Will, and it'll end with Will."

Stay tuned for updates on the final season of Stranger Things.

Are you looking forward to the final season of the series? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

Back in 2013, Sharknado was unleashed on unsuspecting SYFY viewers who weren't prepared to witness an adventure in which a bizarre weather pattern picked up sharks from the ocean and carried them across the country, but the outlandish premise and absurd execution quickly caught the world by storm. While Sharknado and its many sequels have been broadcast on SYFY countless times over the years, this month will see Sharknado land on the big screen for a special two-night event. Additionally, this remastered release will feature upgraded special effects and extended sequences featuring even more kills. The tenth-anniversary screenings of Sharknado will be happening nation-wide on August 15th and 16th.

Per press release, "It's the 10-year anniversary and Sharknado and the creators are bringing on the celebration. The Asylum and Rubey Entertainment present a special theatrical release of Sharknado: The 10th-Anniversary Edition, featuring an all-new remastered version with never-before-seen kills and thrills! Fans can catch the newly restored iconic moments from one of cinema's greatest cult classics for two nights only on in select movie theatres nationwide. Fully remastered in 4k with hundreds of new visual effects, the story of a freak tornado that attacks Los Angeles with gale0force winds, metric tons of water, and thousands of nature's most ruthless killers is finally ready for the big screen."

Throughout the '90s and '00s, the SYFY network was known to deliver audiences unbelievable experiences featuring outlandish premises. Whether they be monsters, aliens, or robots, the title of a film often garnered more excitement and delivered more creativity than the film itself. Understandably, the title "Sharknado" immediately conjured ludicrous imagery in the minds of audiences.

What really thrust Sharknado into the spotlight was the attention of the then-burgeoning social media platform Twitter, as various prominent users were quick to share posts about their reactions to the ridiculous movie. This live-tweeting of an early broadcast drew thousands of viewers to the movie, making it an unexpected hit.

Over the next decade, the Sharknado franchise would spawn five sequels, the last of which is 2018's The Last Sharknado: It's About Time. As the title implies, that final film incorporated elements of time travel, with the events of that final film seeing a timeline correction that reset the events of the outlandish franchise back to the beginning.

Sharknado plays in select theaters on August 15th and 16th. You can head to sharknado10th.com to see participating theaters and purchase tickets.

Will you be checking out the film on the big screen? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

"Science transformed him into a monster. Love changed him even more!" Those words are the tagline of Wes Craven's Swamp Thing, the 1982 live-action adaptation of the DC superhero horror comic book. 41 years later, the monster of the marshlands is transformed once again -- in 4K. MVD Visual will release the remastered Swamp Thing as a 4K Ultra HD collector's edition on August 8th, marking the first time Craven's cult classic is available in the enhanced format. First pressings feature a limited edition slipcover, with each set packaged with a collectible "4K LaserVision" mini-poster of the cover art (below).

The two-disc set includes a 16-bit scan of the original camera negative, restoring both the US theatrical PG cut and the unrated international version in 4K, and a new HD restoration of both versions presented in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio on Blu-ray. Pre-orders are available on Amazon now.

The official synopsis: "Deep in Florida's darkest everglades, a brilliant scientist, Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise, Robocop) and a sexy government agent, Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau, John Carpenter's The Fog) have developed a secret formula that could end world hunger and change civilization forever. Little do they know, however, that their arch nemesis, Arcane (Louis Jourdan, Octopussy) is plotting to steal the serum for his own selfish schemes. Looting the lab and kidnapping Cable, Arcane douses Holland with the chemicals and leaves him for dead in the swamp. Mutated by his own formula, Holland becomes 'Swamp Thing' -- a half human/half plant superhero who will stop at nothing to rescue the beautiful Cable and defeat the evil Arcane... even if it costs him his life."

FEATURES:
DISC 1: 4K ULTRA HD
2023 4K Restoration (16-Bit Scan of the Original Camera Negative) of both the US Theatrical PG Version and Unrated International Version of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio in Dolby Vision / HDR
Audio: DTS-HD Master 2.0 Mono, Spanish Mono
Optional English SubtitlesAudio Commentary with Writer/Director Wes Craven moderated by Sean Clark (Theatrical / PG Version)
Audio Commentary with Makeup Effects Artist William Munn moderated by Michael Felsher (Theatrical / PG Version)
Collectible "4K LaserVision" Mini-Poster of cover art
Limited Edition Slipcover (First Pressing Only)

DISC 2: BLU-RAY
2023 HD Restoration of both the US Theatrical PG Version and Unrated International Version of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Wes Craven moderated by Sean Clark (Theatrical / PG Version)
Audio Commentary with Makeup Effects Artist William Munn moderated by Michael Felsher (Theatrical / PG Version)Audio: DTS-HD Master 2.0 Mono, Spanish Mono
Optional English Subtitles
"Tales From the Swamp" (Remastered) with Actress Adrienne Barbeau (HD, 16:56)
"Hey Jude" with Actor Reggie Batts (HD, 14:30)
"That Swamp Thing" with Len Wein, Creator of Swamp Thing (HD, 13:19)
"Swamp Screen: Designing DC's Main Monster" featurette (HD, 20:32)
"From Krug to Comics: How the Mainstream Shaped a Radical Genre Voice" featurette (HD, 17:34)
Posters & Lobby Cards - Photo Gallery
Photos from the Film - Photo GalleryWilliam Munns' Behind the Scenes Pictures - Photo Gallery
Behind the Scenes Photos by Geoffrey Rayle - Photo Gallery
Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:31)

Created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson in the pages of 1971's House of Secrets #92, Swamp Thing went on to become a central figure of the supernatural side of the DC universe alongside such characters as John Constantine, Deadman, Zatanna, and the Phantom Stranger. Alan Moore's '80s revamp of the character, collected in Saga of the Swamp Thing, inspired director James Mangold's announced reboot as part of James Gunn and Peter Safran's new DC film and television universe for DC Studios.

The reviews for Ben Wheatley's sequel to The Meg may have been pretty dire, but they don't seem to be hurting the film at the international box office. Meg 2: The Trench brought Jason Statham back into action for another round of enormous shark hunting, and the early returns from around the globe have been very encouraging for the picture. Meg 2: The Trench delivered a massive opening weekend, thanks in large part to international markets.

According to Variety, Meg 2: The Trench hauled in a whopping $142 million over the course of the weekend, which is especially impressive given its reported budget is around $130 million. $112 million of that total came from markets outside North America, showing that international audiences are the ones carrying Meg 2 safely to shore.

China was the biggest market for Meg 2 this weekend, taking in a total of $53.3 million in the country. The film had a much more difficult time in North America, where it opened to just around $30 million. That mark is significantly lower than the first Meg's $45 million domestic opening.

Potential Sequel to Meg 2

The big opening weekend for Meg 2 could eventually pave the way for a third film in the shark-hunting franchise. Wheatley, who took over directing duties for the second movie, thinks there are a lot of opportunities for more stories to be told in the franchise.

"The international-ness of it is very interesting," the director told GamesRadar. "What's so smart about the first film is that it's not Rush Hour. It's not East-meets-West, 'Oh, we're all confused about each other' ... It's just people working together, and being in an everyday adventure, and the people just happen to come from places all over the world. I think that's good for audiences, and it's a good message as well."

What Is Meg 2: The Trench About?

Here's the official synopsis for Meg 2: The Trench:

The film is described, "Dive into uncharted waters with Jason Statham and global action icon Wu Jing as they lead a daring research team on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival. Pitted against colossal Megs and relentless environmental plunderers, our heroes must outrun, outsmart, and outswim their merciless predators in a pulse-pounding race against time. Immerse yourself in the most electrifying cinematic experience of the year with Meg 2: The Trench -- where the depths of the ocean are matched only by the heights of sheer, unstoppable excitement!"

Statham and Wu Jing lead a cast that includes Sophia Cal, Page Kennedy, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Skyler Samuels, and Cliff Curtis.

On October 8th, 2003, Image Comics published The Walking Dead #1, the first issue of Robert Kirkman's zombie saga. Written by Kirkman with art by Tony Moore, the black-and-white comic book saw comatose cop Rick Grimes wake up after an epidemic of apocalyptic proportions swept the globe -- causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. Originally conceived as "the zombie movie that never ends," The Walking Dead comic book spawned one-shots, specials, spin-offs, and a live-action AMC television series that launched its own ongoing TWD Universe. But in 2019, without warning, Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard ended their long-running comic book after 193 issues.

To mark the 20th anniversary of The Walking Dead comic book this October, Image Comics and Skybound Entertainment will release four limited edition box sets collecting all 193 issues across 32 volumes. Each spanning eight trade paperback volumes of the original black-and-white comics -- not the colorized reprintings in the ongoing Walking Dead Deluxe -- the four box sets are sold separately and will retail for $125. Pre-orders are available on Amazon now.

Below, we've detailed what's contained in the four individual box sets scheduled to release weekly throughout October.

The Walking Dead 20th Anniversary Box Set #1 (October 4th, 2023)

• Volume 1: Days Gone Bye (issues #1-6)
  
• Volume 2: Miles Behind Us (issues #7-12)
• Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars (issues #13-18)
  
• Volume 4: The Heart's Desire (issues #19-24)
  
• Volume 5: The Best Defense (issues #25-30)
  
• Volume 6: This Sorrowful Life (issues #31-36)
  
• Volume 7: The Calm Before (issues #37-42)
  
• Volume 8: Made to Suffer (issues #43-48)

The Walking Dead 20th Anniversary Box Set #2 (October 11th, 2023)

• Volume 9: Here We Remain (issues #49-54)
• Volume 10: What We Become (issues #55-60)
• Volume 11: Fear the Hunters (issues #61-66)
• Volume 12: Life Among Them (issues #67-72)
• Volume 13: Too Far Gone (issues #73-78)
• Volume 14: No Way Out (issues #79-84)
• Volume 15: We Find Ourselves (issues #85-90)
• Volume 16: A Larger World (issues #91-96)
  

The Walking Dead 20th Anniversary Box Set #3 (October 18th, 2023)

• Volume 17: Something to Fear (issues #97-102)
• Volume 18: What Comes After (issues #103-108)
• Volume 19: March to War (issues #109-114)
• Volume 20: All Out War - Part One (issues #115-120)
• Volume 21: All Out War - Part Two (issues #121-126)
  
• Volume 22: A New Beginning (issues #127-132)
• Volume 23: Whispers Into Screams (issues #133-138)
• Volume 24: Life and Death (issues #139-144)

The Walking Dead 20th Anniversary Box Set #4 (October 25th, 2023)

• Volume 25: No Turning Back (issues #145-150)
• Volume 26: Call to Arms (issues #151-156)
• Volume 27: The Whisperer War (issues #157-162)
• Volume 28: A Certain Doom (issues #163-168)
• Volume 29: Lines We Cross (issues #169-174)
• Volume 30: New World Order (issues #175-180)
• Volume 31: The Rotten Core (issues #181-186)
• Volume 32: Rest in Peace (issues #187-193)
  

The Walking Dead 20th Anniversary box sets will hit stores just as The Walking Dead Deluxe reaches the milestone issue #75 in October. Along with the limited-edition box sets, Image Comics will reprint The Walking Dead Deluxe #1 (2020) as a new Newsprint Edition. The Walking Dead Deluxe issues #72-75 and their variant covers will feature the "20 Years" emblem depicting the katana-wielding Michonne.

"I can't believe we're already celebrating 20 years of The Walking Dead!" Kirkman exclusively told ComicBook in a statement. "What an insane benchmark for us to reach and to have the deluxe color reprint series reaching its 75th issue in this moment is just staggering. These are the greatest fans in the world and their support of this world is unprecedented. I'm so thankful for all the things they've allowed us to accomplish."

Added editor Amanda LaFranco, "We're thrilled to be bringing readers a packed month of The Walking Dead this October! For 20 years, the iconic series has been with us, and what better way to celebrate than with TWD Deluxe in your shop weekly and new iconic images to boot! Leading up to the explosive 75th issue, we're excited to feature a series of covers with grisly walkers and the high-stakes moments the series is beloved for." (See The Walking Dead 20th Anniversary variant covers here.)

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

One of 2023's most controversial horror movies is now streaming on Hulu. Kyle Edward Ball's experimental supernatural horror film Skinamarink is now streaming on the platform, nearly seven months after its North American box office release in January 2023. The film had previously streamed on Shudder earlier this year. In Skinamarink, two kids find themselves alone in their home with no parents in sight in the middle of the night trapped by an unseen force that has somehow removed the windows and doors from the home. The unusual film did very well with critics, but the controversy comes in because many audiences just don't agree.

Many audiences found Skinamarink to be more "boring" than scary, with some audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes decrying the film for having "no plot" and being tedious with no payoff. Critics were kinder. The film presently has a 72 percent Fresh approval rating on the review aggregate site with the critical consensus reading: "Skinamarink can be more confounding than frightening, but for viewers able or willing to dial into its unique wavelength, this unsettling film will be difficult to shake."

What Is The Meaning of Skinamarink?

Earlier this year, Ball spoke with Inverse about some of the film's meanings.

I've had people DM me like, "What? So, what is this?"' Also, it doesn't matter what I think anymore. Now it's your movie. When I was shooting and editing it, I was like, "This is how I want the viewer to feel." It's been so amazing seeing people actually feel the way I planned it.

Skinamarink Was Almost Derailed by Piracy

After a successful debut at Fantasia Film Festival in 2022, Shudder picked up the film for a brief theatrical release before sending it to stream on the horror streaming service. However, soon after, hackers downloaded the film and others from a European genre festival and uploaded them to YouTube. Skinamarink went viral, but for a moment, Ball though it was all going to fall apart.

I was terrified," Ball told Vulture. "I felt like I won the lottery, then it was like, 'Maybe you didn't win the lottery. You'll find out in a couple of months.'"

Ultimately, Shudder didn't back out of anything, they simply moved up the film's release date from October 2023 to January.

What Else Is Now Streaming on Hulu?

Skinamarink isn't the only movie that is finally streaming on Hulu this month. The fan-favorite comedy film Game Night is also on Hulu. Starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, Game Night follows a married couple as they battle criminals across the city as part of a game night gone awry. The film was popular with both fans and critics alike when it was originally released in 2018.

Will you be checking out Skinamarink on Hulu? Let us know in the comment section.

Saw X is gearing up to hit theaters at the end of next month, and the tenth film in the franchise looks to revitalize the audience's need for more Saw movies. Lionsgate has already released the first official trailer for Saw X, and it revealed that John Kramer has cancer and that a clinic made him believe that they cured it, and he placed them into a new game for the small slight they committed against him. Now that marketing has begun for the film, it seems that the studio is releasing some unexpected merchandise in the form of socks. The official Saw Twitter page revealed that they will release some bloody-themed socks called "SAWX", which is a fun play on the title for the latest film, and they're actually pretty good.

You can check out the Saw X "SAWX" below.

prepare your little piggies before it's too late. get your #SAWX today: https://t.co/ZH7nPG4wMf

-- Saw (@Saw) August 4, 2023

What is Saw X About?

Here's Lionsgate official synopsis for Saw X: "John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back. The most disturbing installment of the Saw franchise yet explores the untold chapter of Jigsaw's most personal game. Set between the events of Saw I and II, a sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer - only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, the infamous serial killer returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through devious, deranged, and ingenious traps."

When the Saw franchise began they ended up releasing seven installments, with James Wan's (Aquaman) first film in 2004 starting off the franchise, and ending it with 2010's Saw 3D: The Final Chapter. After the film franchise finished, Saw was left in a frozen state for a few years, until they attempted to reboot the franchise two times. Jigsaw (2017) told the story of Kramer's secret first apprentice, who was recruited from the early stages of his evilness before the events of the first Saw film. After that, Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) unveiled a film that featured a copycat killer that has the same M.O. as Jigsaw to begin an era of even more killings. Both attempts at rebooting the franchise were met with middling results, which is probably why Lionsgate is going back to the drawing board by bringing back a fan-favorite director and the franchise star in Saw X.

Saw X is scheduled to hit theaters on September 29th. Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for more updates on the Saw franchise as we learn it.

What do you think about these Saw X "SAWX"? Are you excited to see the film when it finally arrives in theaters? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!

Lionsgate is getting ready to release the tenth installment of the Saw franchise, and it has fans of the movies pretty excited about what comes next. From everything we've seen in the first trailer for Saw X, they're going in a direction that no one could have foreseen and are bringing back John Kramer (Tobin Bell). Billy the Puppet is also back for Saw X, and we got to see our first look at him in action in the trailer as well as a previous first look that confirmed his return. With the franchise going back to its roots with the return of John Kramer and Billy, it only makes sense for them to pay some sort of homage to the first few Saw films, and the team behind the movie has confirmed that it indeed does.

How Does Saw X Pay Homage to Original films?

While at the Midsummer Scream 2023 convention (Via The Direct), Saw X's production team was featured in a panel for the upcoming movie, and they revealed some interesting things about the upcoming tenth film in the franchise. Director Kevin Greutert, production designer Anthony Stabley, cinematographer Nick Matthews, and producer Oren Koules all attended the panel, but the latter two revealed exactly how the film pays tribute to the horror franchise.

"I think for Kevin and I, it was really important that we were able to pay homage to all the early films, we love that the early films are 1:85 (ratio), we love that they're textural, that they're gritty, that there's these really bold, yellow color palettes, and we want to do our work to hearken to that, with pervasive darkness, and really throwing the audience subjectively right into this graphic, gritty world," Matthews said. "So it was just a lot of fun for me to be able to enter this world and then also bring a certain elegance and beauty to it at the same time. I love beauty and brutality. And I want that in everything that I do."

"John is absolutely... the protagonist in this movie. He is a man who's ill. He's a guy who was looking to extend his life. And in this process of him thinking, he's getting his life extended, shit goes down. There it is, but he's absolutely the hero of this movie. He's in this movie... [I haven't] done the math, but probably [more than] the last six or seven movies combined. This is his movie... This is John Kramer's story as a human, not as Jigsaw--we'll get there, trust me, but as a human, and like, you know, his fears and what's going on in his life at the time." Koules added.

What is Saw X About?

Here's Lionsgate official synopsis for Saw X: "John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back. The most disturbing installment of the Saw franchise yet explores the untold chapter of Jigsaw's most personal game. Set between the events of Saw I and II, a sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer - only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable. Armed with a newfound purpose, the infamous serial killer returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through devious, deranged, and ingenious traps."

Saw began by releasing seven installments, with James Wan's (Aquaman) breakout film in 2004 starting off the franchise, and concluding with 2010's Saw 3D: The Final Chapter. After the film franchise concluded, the franchise was left in stasis for a few years, before attempting to reboot the franchise two times. Jigsaw (2017) told the story of Kramer's secret first apprentice, who was recruited from the early stages of his evil deeds before the first Saw film. Meanwhile, Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) unveiled a film that featured a copycat that uses Jigsaw's legacy to begin an era of even more wrongdoings. Both attempts were met with negative reactions, which is why Lionsgate is going back to a fan-favorite director and the franchise star in the latest installment.

Saw X is scheduled to be released on September 29th. Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for more updates on the Saw franchise as we learn them.

What do you think about these comments? Are you excited to see Saw X when it arrives in theaters next month? Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!

While the upcoming The Exorcist: Believer is set to serve as a direct sequel to the 1973 horror masterpiece The Exorcist, the film also isn't just hitting copy-paste when it comes to the film's demon, either. According to filmmaker David Gordon Green, The Exorcist: Believer isn't bringing back the demon Pazuzu and, instead, will utilize a new demon -- though he didn't give specific details.

"We use a new demon, no Pazuzu," Green told IGN. "We feature a demon who studied demonologists might know."

He also explained that the film won't follow the sequels to The Exorcist, though the film doesn't ignore them completely.

"We're not dismissing the other sequels, there's just not a real relationship," Green said.

Will Original The Exorcist Star Linda Blair Appear in The Exorcist: Believer?

Green shared with Entertainment Weekly that Blair, who played Regan MacNeil in the original The Exorcist, participated in the sequel as a consultant, but didn't confirm any additional participation.

"We were lucky and had Linda as a technical advisor," Green said. "She helped us bring excellent performances out of young actresses. It was really valuable having a relationship with her and being able to get her as part of this conversation."

What is The Exorcist: Believer About?

Here is the official synopsis for The Exorcist: Believer: "Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding (Tony winner and Oscar nominee Leslie Odom, Jr.; One Night in Miami, Hamilton) has raised their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett, Good Girls) on his own.

But when Angela and her friend Katherine (newcomer Olivia Marcum), disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, see out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like this before: Chris MacNeil."

The Exorcist: Believer "also stars Emmy winner Ann Dowd (The Handmaid's Tale, Hereditary) as Victor and Angela's neighbor, and Grammy winner Jennifer Nettles (Harriet, The Righteous Gemstones) and two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz (Fosse/Verdon, Bloodline) as the parents of Katherine, Angela's friend.

The Exorcist: Believer is directed by David Gordon Green from a screenplay by Peter Sattler (Camp X-Ray) and David Gordon Green, from a story by Scott Teems (Halloween Kills), Danny McBride (Halloween trilogy) and David Gordon Green, based on characters created by William Peter Blatty.

The film is produced by Jason Blum for Blumhouse and by David Robinson and James G. Robinson for Morgan Creek Entertainment.

The executive producers are Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, Stephanie Allain, Ryan Turek and Atilla Y?cer. Universal Pictures presents a Blumhouse/Morgan Creek Entertainment production in association with Rough House Pictures."

The Exorcist: Believer lands in theaters on October 13th.

Are you looking forward to The Exorcist: Believer? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!

The long-awaited adaptation of Stephen King's The Long Walk just got a very disappointing update. Andr? ?vredal, who had previously been attached to direct the film, recently told Collider that he is no longer attached to the project. The filmmaker went on to say that not getting to make The Long Walk is one of the big regrets of his life. ?vredal's next project, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, is set to open in theaters on August 11th.

"I'm unfortunately not," ?vredal said when asked if he was still attached to The Long Walk, "but it's one of the big regrets in my life to not have made that movie."

?vredal had previously been announced as the director for the film back in 2019, teasing at the time that the film would be "very claustrophobic".

"It'll be very claustrophobic, because we never leave that road," ?vredal said at the time. "I think the studio and producers really liked my work on The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and compared it to this, because it's very intimate. You're walking right there with these kids; the fact that it has an expansive nature around it, as opposed to just walls, is a variation, but it's going to be an extremely claustrophobic movie."

"In a way, the book is about the long walk of life," the director noted. "You watch your family and friends die around you as you go through life, and there's a human connection there to the horror these kids are experiencing that goes way beyond the smaller story going on right in front of you. As a director, it's extremely inspiring to be able to tell a story that is so human and so gruesome at the same time. It's like man vs. the machine in a way, and about the innocence of these boys and how they don't really grasp what they've gotten themselves into until it's way too late."

What is The Long Walk About?

The Long Walk was first published in 1979 under the pen name Richard Bachman and centers around a group of 100 teenage boys who are forced to march across the country by a militaristic dictator. If a boy falls below a certain speed, or falters in any other way, they are in danger of being shot dead by soldiers riding alongside the road. The novel particularly centers around 16-year-old Raymond Davis Garraty whose life is turned upside down by the contest.

?vredal Had Previously Cited COVID-19 as Complicating the Film's Progress

Prior to this confirmation from ?vredal that he is no longer involved in the film, the filmmaker's last update was back in 2020 when he told ComingSoon that the pandemic was a major factor in complicating progress on the film but assured that it was alive and well.

"COVID is just wrecking everything," ?vredal said and added that the project is "alive and well and moving along."

At this point, it's unclear what's next for The Long Walk. The novel is one that has a long history of adaptation attempts. Previously, Frank Darabont, who directed the King adaptations The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist, had been attempting to develop the film and held exclusive rights to an adaptation. James Vanderbilt had previously written drafts of an adaptation, even without the actual rights, so when Darabont lost the rights, the project was revived with New Line Cinema.

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on what's next for The Long Walk.

A24 recently released their latest horror film with Talk to Me from directors Michael and Danny Phillippou, best known as the RackaRacka brothers, and fans have been checking it out since it hit theaters. Talk to Me follows a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits, and things get out of hand. From everything we've seen in the trailers, Talk to Me looks like one of those horror films that you probably don't want to miss out on. But it seems that one country does want to miss out on the movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kuwait has banned Talk to Me.

Why was Talk to Me Banned in Kuwait?

Talk to Me wasn't banned because of the content of the movie but because of the identity of star Zoe Terakes. Terakes identifies as nonbinary and trans masculine, with the actor undergoing gender-confirming surgery last year. Kuwait has banned films that feature LGBTQ scenes or references before, with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Thor: Love and Thunder, Lightyear, West Side Story, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Eternals also being banned in recent years.

Talk to Me Directors on Sequels and Prequels

Michael and Danny recently revealed that they shot an entire prequel to Talk to Me already as well as their plans for a sequels.

"We actually shot an entire Duckett prequel already," Danny revealed. "It's told entirely through the perspective of mobile phones and social media, so maybe down the line we can release that. But also while writing the first film, you can't help but write scenes for a second film. So there's so many scenes. The mythology was so thick, and yeah, if A24 gave us the opportunity, we wouldn't be able to resist. I feel like we'd jump at it."

"We have a lot of original stories that we want to tell, but the Talk to Me stuff is exciting to us, too. So the idea of a sequel, we wouldn't be opposed to it." Michael added.

Talk to Me Cast

Talk to Me features a cast that includes Sophia Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Marcus Johnson, Alexandria Steffensen, Zoe Terakes, and Chris Alosio. Danny and Michael Philippou directed the film from a screenplay the former wrote with Bill Hinzman.

Here's Talk to Me's official longline: "When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces."

Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for more updates on Talk to Me and A24 as we learn them!

What do you think about Talk to Me being banned in Kuwait? Are you excited to see the movie when it arrives in theaters? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @NateBrail up on Twitter!

James Wan (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, The Conjuring franchise) took to his Instagram account in a since deleted post to reveal that he had a recent medical scare that landed him in the hospital for a few days. In the Instagram story, we see Wan in his hospital bed alongside a vague caption that thanks the hospital staff for taking care of him. No further details have been provided as to why the director was admitted to the hospital.

Aquaman 2 Director James Wan Reveals Recent Hospital Stay

Multiple fans have since taken a screenshot of the now deleted post and posted it to their pages in support of the director. You can check out Wan's full comments about his hospital stay below:

"It has been an extremely rough and scary couple of days and nights," the now taken down Instagram story read. "You never want to rush to ER in the middle of the night and then have to stay in the hospital. Cedars Sinai is truly the best!! The best doctors, nurses, technicians, just the most wonderful people. James is safe now and on the mend."

You can also check out the post below.

Prayers up for James Wan ? pic.twitter.com/3JxG2SvypF

-- Home of DCU (@homeofdcu) August 3, 2023

What is James Wan Releasing Next?

James Wan has been pretty busy with the upcoming sequel to 2018's Aquaman, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which will act as the final installment of the DC Extended Universe. The sequel has been in the news a lot lately due to the large number of reshoots that it has undergone, an inflating budget and poor test screenings. Wan has also been very busy with his Atomic Monster production company which recently released M3GAN and will release The Nun 2 next month. With no details given about why Wan was in the hospital, we can only hope that this is a small hiccup that won't slow the creator down.

DC Studios describes Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom as follows, "When an ancient power is unleashed, Aquaman must forge an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally to protect Atlantis, and the world, from irreversible devastation. The film will see the return of Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Patrick Wilson as Orm, Amber Heard as Mera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, and Randall Park as Stephen Shin. Game of Thrones alum Pilou Asbaek has also joined the cast in an unknown role, while Jani Zhao will play new character Stingray, Indya Moore will play Karshon, and Vincent Regan will play Atlan, who was previously portrayed by Graham McTavish in Aquaman."

Stay tuned for more updates on James Wan, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Conjuring franchise as we learn it!

The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is still happening and ComicBook.com is covering this year's events and the many genre films that are making their world premiere. We've got three more reviews from this year's event, ranging from the Satanic panic documentary Satan Wants You, the horror-themed period film Where the Devil Roams, and the documentary/film essay Home Invasion, which has the most unique look of any movie at this year's festival. Here are three quick reviews of some of the films from this year's Fantasia.

Satan Wants You

Filmmakers Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams have completely dismantled the 1980s "Satanic Panic," and by extension, its modern version related to various conspiracy theories in this must-see documentary. Rooting itself in a specific text from that time, the best-selling Michelle Remembers, Satan Wants You is able to convincingly reveal how this book started a movement that made the world lose its mind; while also noting that the book itself was created purely for profit (and lust).

At its best, Satan Wants You will cement the absurdity of Satanic conspiracy theories by reveling in their irony. It's a little hilarious how a few people worked together to quickly make a buck while blaming a vast, unknowable cabal on unprovable claims of Satanism, Devil worship, human sacrifice, abuse, etc. The real kick in the pants, of course, is when the movie quickly pivots to the modern lens, revealing how these conspiracies have only grown and offer journalists who were covering the Satanic Panic of the 1980s a chance to admit that their debunking at the time seemingly didn't matter at all. Sadly, the same fate will perhaps fall on this movie, too.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Where the Devil Roams

Fresh off their hit indie horror film Hellbender, The Adams Family filmmaking troupe (made up of actual family John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser) are clearly aiming for something more unique in an attempt to stretch their storytelling muscles. With Where the Devil Roams they present audiences with a period horror film about a group in the circus scene in the early 1900s that also have a fondness for murder. There's value to be found in their ability to have created a period look while clearly working on a budget, but in the end, this one plays less like a traditional narrative and instead finds itself becoming a horror tone-poem that is more interested in aesthetics than anything else. After the wildly inventive Hellbender, it's hard not to feel like Where the Devil Roams is a step down, especially since it seems to be derivative to its own detriment.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Home Invasion

Described as a video essay -- one where the essay portion is emphasized, since you'll spend the entire run time reading -- Home Invasion has an interesting premise that is squandered by some of its irritating creative choices. Presented entirely through a warped, fisheye lens, a la a door peephole, the film examines the history of the doorbell in relation to class struggles and its modern-day place in the larger realm of surveillance as a tool for authority. Add on to that how the escalating advancements have been used as tools in horror and thriller fiction and there's an interesting point being made...or is there? It's an inherently unique idea, and one that does carry some interesting thematic arcs, but its irritating sound design (best described as Skinamarink-like) and inability to really say anything beyond casual observations won't earn this one many fans.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

There are a lot of movies and TV shows in various stages of development that come from the mind of R.L. Stine, with today seeing the confirmation that the movie based on his book Zombie Town has secured a PG-13 rating. The film earned the rating for "some language and bloody images," so while live-action adaptations of his Goosebumps books have been a bit more tame, it seems like Zombie Town will really be honoring the decaying corpses from its title. The film getting a rating also confirms that the film has been completed, though there's no official release date or platform that has been revealed.

The novel is described, "This used to be such a nice, quiet town. But that was before all the zombies. When 12-year-old Mike and his friend, Karen, go to see a horror movie called Zombie Town, the last thing they expect is for the title characters to come down off the screen and chase them through the theater. And it's not popcorn these hungry creatures want to chomp on - it's human brains! Now Mike and Karen frantically try to flee through the panicked streets of their hometown before shuffling bands of zombies turn every last citizen into a ravenous flesh-eater. But if Mike thinks he'll be safe once he reaches his house and warns Mom and Dad, he'd better think again. When the zombies say it's lunchtime, no home is safe! Zombie Town is R.L. Stine's delightfully spooky take on the horror genre that's infecting the world, bite by bite."

Marlon Kazadi and Madi Monroe star as the young heroes of the film, with Mission: Impossible's Henry Czerny, as well as Kids in the Hall stars Scott Thompson and Bruce McCulloch being members of the cast. The project will also offer the feature-film reunion of Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd, though it's unknown if the pair will share any scenes together.

John Gillespie, Trimuse Entertainment founder and executive producer, shared in a statement about the film, "We are delighted to bring the pages of R.L. Stine's Zombie Town to the screen and equally thrilled to be working with such an exceptional cast and crew on this production. A three-time Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award winner with book sales of over $500 million, R.L. Stine has a phenomenal track record of crafting stories that engage and entertain audiences."

Stay tuned for details on Zombie Town.

Are you looking forward to the film? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

The night HE came home... is coming home in new steelbook packaging. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has revealed the Rob Zombie Halloween 1 & 2 Double Feature Blu-ray steelbook, a two-disc set collecting Zombie's 2007 Halloween remake and its 2009 sequel Halloween II. Available to pre-order exclusively at Walmart with a September 12th release date, the special-edition packaging is part of the Lionsgate horror steelbooks line that includes SAW 1-8, Leprechaun 1-8, and the Blair Witch Project Double Feature. Also available is a Rob Zombie triple feature containing the Firefly trilogy: House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, and 3 from Hell.

"Celebrate the scariest time of year - Halloween - with a set of spine-tingling, hair-raising SteelBooks! Lionsgate's series of Walmart-exclusive Blu-ray + Digital multi-film SteelBooks, inspired by the vivid, eye-catching artwork of vintage pulp novels, rises from the grave on September 12," reads the official description. "Included in this collection are the terror-tinged The Blair Witch Project and its evil twin, Blair Witch; the reimagined Halloween I & II and unhinged Firefly trilogy (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, and 3 from Hell) from fright master Rob Zombie; and an 8-film round of repulsion care of SAW (including Jigsaw) and the devilish hijinks of the Leprechaun. It's an endless SteelBook scare-a-thon!"

The set includes a Blu-ray disc and digital copy for each film, packaged in a steelbook case with new artwork by the artist Bond. Included are the R-rated theatrical cuts of Halloween and Halloween II -- not the unrated director's cuts.

Released on August 31st, 2007, Rob Zombie's Halloween unmasked Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) as a tormented 10-year-old (Daeg Faerch) turned serial killer. The film rebooted the decades-old continuity that branched out of 1978's original Halloween, re-imagining Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) and Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) for modern-day audiences. After the hulking Michael Myers escapes Smith's Grove Sanitarium, where he was committed for 17 years, he goes on a rampage through Haddonfield to find his younger sister.

Zombie's Halloween II picks up one year later and delves into the mental states of a PTSD-stricken Laurie, her best friend Annie (Danielle Harris), and a mostly maskless Michael, who is haunted by visions of his late mother (Sheri Moon Zombie).

Poorly received by audiences and critics alike, the two Zombie films grossed a combined $120 million at the box office. A third film, titled Halloween 3D, was announced in 2009 without Zombie returning to direct. After years of languishing in development hell, Blumhouse purchased the rights to produce David Gordon Green's Halloween reboot trilogy set decades after the 1978 original: 2018's Halloween, 2021's Halloween Kills, and 2022's Halloween Ends.

Also set for release this Halloween season: the Halloween H20: 20 Years Later 25th Anniversary steelbook, the Scream 3-Movie 4K Collection, and new 4K editions of Friday the 13th, Rosemary's Baby, and The Exorcist.

The original A Quiet Place was a major hit with both audiences and critics alike, resulting in the development of A Quiet Place Part II, which similarly impressed moviegoers when it was unleashed back in 2021. While the spin-off movie A Quiet Place: Day One is confirmed to be landing in theaters in 2024, A Quiet Place Part III was announced as having a 2025 release. As far as whether that third film will see star of the first two entries Emily Blunt reprising her role, she recently confirmed she would only be interested if the sequel brings back John Krasinski as director and Cillian Murphy as her costar.

"Well, Cillian and I were having a chat with John about it last night. We were sitting on the rooftop, all together, drinking wine," Blunt recalled to the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "I think it would have to be that we all do it together, I don't want it to be a different director if we did it again."

The original movie wasn't just directed by Krasinski, as he also starred in it alongside real-life wife Blunt and rewrote the original screenplay. After that film's success, he returned to direct the sequel, though he only starred in the opening scenes. With his character dying in the first film, Part II focused on Blunt's character raising their children, which ultimately saw them cross paths with other survivors of the alien invasion, including Murphy's character.

The upcoming Day One spinoff was directed by Pig director Michael Sarnoski. As implied by its title, the upcoming film will be set in the world of A Quiet Place but follow a different group of characters who are all attempting to survive the otherworldly invasion.

While Blunt might not be sure whether she would return for a third film, Paramount Pictures and Krasinski have both confirmed that a third chapter would be happening. However, with Part II introducing more characters, along with Day One set to bring new figures to life, it's possible that the third film could pivot and shift focus from the heroes of the first two films or introduce a new filmmaker.

With Krasinski having announced the third film, it would seem likely that he would be involved in bringing it to life in some capacity.

"I set up a couple of tiny little Easter eggs in [Part II] that not only explain more about [the original], but would allow for more mythology," the filmmaker revealed to Total Film in 2020. "But, being a Boston Catholic, I can't be like, 'Yeah, of course, there'll be a third!' No, not at all."

A Quiet Place: Day One is set to hit theaters on March 8, 2024. A Quiet Place Part III is expected in 2025.

Are you hoping Blunt will return to complete the trilogy? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Director Andr? ?vredal brought to life a number of creepy tales from the beloved books for his Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark movie in 2019, with the film's successes resulting in a sequel being announced in 2020. Between the coronavirus pandemic and the current writers' strike, ?vredal confirmed to IGN that plans are still in the works to move forward with a follow-up, but that progress on the sequel has stagnated. Additionally, the filmmaker has spent the last few years bringing his new film The Last Voyage of the Demeter to life, so it's unclear when development will resume on his Scary Stories sequel.

"We have a story. We have a script. We've been working on the script as late as last year and even slightly into this year," ?vredal detailed to the outlet. "The process obviously stopped with the strike -- but it's alive, for sure. COVID and then [The Last Voyage of the Demeter] eating up two years of my life certainly put a dent in the progress."

In the original film, it's 1968 in America. Change is blowing in the wind ... but seemingly far removed from the unrest in the cities is the small town of Mill Valley where for generations, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large. It is in their mansion on the edge of town that Sarah, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, written in a book that has transcended time -- stories that have a way of becoming all too real for a group of teenagers who discover Sarah's terrifying home.

The structure of that first film allowed its protagonists to become entwined in iconic stories from the original books, written by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell. While the film ended with a tease that the friends who fell victim to these supernatural events would be saved, it's unknown if a follow-up will continue that narrative or find another way to adapt beloved stories.

?vredal previously teased that one difference he was planning on embracing for the sequel was incorporating more visual nods to the artwork from Gammell than the first movie.

"I learned so much on Scary Stories, but also about Scary Stories and I do think that we'll tap even more into Gammell's visual world in the sequel than we did in the first movie," ?vredal shared with Collider in 2020.

Stay tuned for updates on the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark sequel.

Are you looking forward to the sequel? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Marvel Comics thawed out a new subspecies of Xenomorphs in Alien (2023) -- but an even greater threat is about to burst free in the new Alien #1. On stands November 15th from Marvel Comics' 20th Century Studios imprint, the Alien title relaunch re-teams writer Declan Shalvey and artist Andrea Broccardo, who will conclude their "Thaw" storyline with Alien (2023) #5 on August 16th. After a pale-white Xenomorph began terrorizing a scientific base on the frozen moon LV-695, it will be Alien vs. Alien when the Xenomorph war unfolds in October's Alien Annual #1.

The double-sized standalone issue, on sale October 4th, pits the Xenomophs against their deadlier descendants and sets up the next era of Alien comic book storytelling. Then, in November, Marvel's Alien #1 launches the "Descendant" story arc, which is connected to the current series but offers a fresh start for new readers.

"It's such a joy to continue to build out our own little corner of Marvel Comics' Alien universe with this new 'Descendant' story arc," Shalvey told Marvel.com. "We're building on what we've done before (with some nods to previous stories) and get to dig a bit deeper in this arc (both figuratively and literally). It's also a real treat for me to draw a section of the story."

The new series takes place in two time periods, with Shalvey drawing flashback scenes of a doomed earlier crew in each issue. As readers learn more about the mistakes and goals of the first mission (with art by Broccardo), they'll discover the full unsettling scope of what the present-day protagonists have gotten themselves into. Here's how Marvel describes the Alien renumbering:

Everyone will hear you scream! The next great Alien story starts in Alien Annual #1 and continues in the all-new Alien #1! In deep space spins a world infected by the universe's greatest killers. Most people - sane people - would construct a barrier thicker than the hulls of ten Nostromos and leave it to rot. But where most people see a death trap, Weyland-Yutani sees the biggest payout in the history of civilization. And if it costs a few human lives to secure? Those come cheap here. Prepare for more corporate corruption, personal betrayals and extraordinary violence!

The current ongoing 2023 Alien series is set in the year 2195 and follows Talbot Engineering Inc. scientist Batya Zahn, her partner Dayton, and her daughter Zasha, who arrive on the frigid moon to research its water resources. After the five-part "Thaw" story arc concludes in August's Alien (2023) #5, October's Alien Annual (2023) #1 starts a new chapter that will explore the darker depths of the Alien mythos in November's all-new Alien #1. See the official solicits below.

ALIEN ANNUAL #1 (2023)
Written by DECLAN SHALVEY Art by DANNY EARLS
Cover by DECLAN SHALVEY
On Sale 10/4

ALIEN #1
Written by DECLAN SHALVEY
Art by ANDREA BROCCARDO & DECLAN SHALVEY
Cover by JAVI FERN?NDEZ
On Sale 11/15

With each passing day, it seems as though a new comic book adaptation is announced that is inspired by any number of American storylines, as the Marvel and DC franchises have become the most profitable and well-known brands in movies and TV. The film Dampyr, on the other hand, looks towards other areas and perspectives to tell a thrilling and ambitious tale, as it is based on the Italian series of the same name that was created by Mauro Boselli and Maurizio Colombo and written by Giovanni Masi, Alberto Ostini, and Mauro Uzzeo. Ahead of Dampyr's debut on Digital HD on August 8th, you can check out the opening ten minutes of the film above to get a taste of the action.

Dampyr is described, "Based on the popular comic book series, Dampyr follows Harlan Draka, a con artist. Haunted by nightmares, Harlan Draka wanders through the war-torn Balkan countryside, making money out of ridding superstitious villagers of imaginary monsters. But after being hired by soldiers who are under attack by actual vampires, Harlan discovers the truth: he's a Dampyr, half-human and half-vampire. While trying to stop a Master of the Night and his undead army, Harlan will have to learn to manage his newfound powers and uncover his origins."

Dampyr stars Wade Briggs, Stuart Martin, Frida Gustavsson, Sebastian Croft, David Morrissey, and Luke Roberts. The movie was directed by Riccardo Chemello from a screenplay by Mauro Boselli, Giovanni Masi, Alberto Ostini, and Mauro Uzzeo, which was based on a story by Boselli and Maurizio Colombo.

Much like comic book-inspired projects have dominated pop culture, the horror genre is full of stories of vampires, making them one of the most popular monsters in all of cinematic history. Dampyr, however, is based on the Balkan myth of the dhampir, which are said to be the children of a vampire and human union. Not only does this new film honor the comic series it was based on, but its roots go back much further in how it depicts these mythical creatures.

Dampyr is said to be kicking off the Bonelli Cinematic Universe, which would feature adaptations of other beloved stories from the publisher. This movie is based on the first two issues of the comic book series, which runs to 300 issues.

Dampyr debuts on Digital HD on August 8th.

Will you be checking out the movie? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

The Walking Dead Universe will walk on despite Hollywood's first double strike since 1960. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since May after failing to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP). In July, the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined writers on the picket lines -- effectively shutting down Hollywood's film and TV industry. As the writers' and actors' unions seek fair pay from the studios, AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan says the work stoppage won't begin to impact AMC programming until "well into 2024."

"We greatly value the work of our creative partners and hope these disputes can be resolved as quickly and fairly as possible," Dolan said Friday during AMC's second quarter earnings call (via Deadline). "In the short term, the reality for AMC Networks is that we have a pipeline of finished shows that will allow us to continue to serve our viewers across all of our platforms for the remainder of this year and well into 2024."

AMC debuted Maggie and Negan spin-off The Walking Dead: Dead City in June and will premiere The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon this September alongside the new season of Ride With Norman Reedus. The remaining six episodes of Fear the Walking Dead's eighth and final season will begin airing October 22nd. AMC has also completed production on The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, the Rick Grimes & Michonne spin-off slated to premiere in 2024. (AMC announced second season renewals for Dead City and Daryl Dixon at San Diego Comic-Con in July, but development will remain paused until after the WGA and SAG strikes are resolved.)

Between Daryl Dixon season 1, Fear the Walking Dead season 8B, and The Ones Who Live season 1 -- all consisting of six episodes -- AMC has banked a total 18 new Walking Dead Universe episodes to air through the remainder of 2023 and into 2024.

While the company's advertising revenues decreased 17% to $167 million due to "anticipated linear ratings declines, softness in the ad market and fewer original programming episodes within the quarter" that ended on June 30th, that loss was "partly offset by digital and advanced advertising revenue growth."

AMC also touted The Walking Dead: Dead City series premiere as the #1 season premiere in the history of streaming service AMC+ in terms of viewership across all new and returning series. Linear viewership for the first episode attracted a total premiere audience of 2 million viewers, according to the company. Along with AMC+ becoming the exclusive streaming home of the first seven seasons of Fear the Walking Dead, the company successfully negotiated the early return of rights for acclaimed and popular AMC Networks library titles including Killing Eve, Brockmire, The Terror, The Son, Preacher, Lodge 49 and others.

"Six months into my tenure as CEO, I am impressed with our team's ability to do what this company has always done best: produce high-quality content and make it available to viewers across an expanding array of platforms," said Dolan. "We accomplish this through a measured, opportunistic and disciplined strategy that drives free cash flow. Even during a period of industry-wide uncertainty and change, we are seeing the benefits of our strategy play out in our financial results, which for the second quarter include year-over-year increases in free cash, streaming subscribers, and streaming revenue, as well as healthy margins. It's clear we have the programming, the platforms and the partners necessary to continue to operate a very profitable business that delivers long-term shareholder value."

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon premieres September 10th on AMC and AMC+, followed by Fear the Walking Dead season 8B on October 22nd and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live in early 2024.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is still happening and ComicBook.com is covering this year's events and the many genre films that are making their world premiere. We've got three more reviews from this year's event, focusing on the International part of the festival's namesake. Ranging from the Japanese thriller #Mahole (the hashtag is important) to the South Korean thriller Devils and the South Korean animated movie Mother Land. Here are three quick reviews of some of the films from this year's Fantasia.

#Manhole

Thrillers about a person stuck in a single place for the entire run time require a major buy-in from the audience, if only to keep things interesting for the entire time. Typically this can be achieved quickly with the lingering questions of "How?" and "Why?" but with #Manhole, filmmaker Kazuyoshi Kumakiri not only makes one consider those questions, but tacks on escalating plot twists that make its biggest lingering question, "What the hell is going on?"

Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, #Manhole is a film that manages to keep your attention at every turn. Even though its first hour is built on a unique situation and the tensions surrounding it, the movie is able to find new ways to keep your attention, in part because you're going to keep wondering if you missed a key detail due to how many revelations compound on top of each other. It's not confusing for the sake of being obtuse, but the story finds itself building twist upon twist until its final moments culminate in a major reveal. Even with other movies existing in this style, you'll never guess where it goes, and even by me telling you there are a lot of twists, that can't prepare you for what you'll see.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Devils

This South Korean thriller from director Kim Jae-hoon is a unique spin on the body-swap movie, pitting a sadistic killer and a cop in a game against each other, while they also happen to be in each other's bodies. The biggest hurdle for Devils is buying into its premise for the first half of the film, something that even its other characters can't quite seem to get a grasp on, but there's a moment where things click and, from that point to the end, Devils is a roller coaster that was worth the build-up. Devils does have some shaky foundation, however, as it fails to find a use for any characters that aren't men, treating women as either frantic beings that can't be soothed or props for the killer to find joy in dismembering. One thing you can absolutely say about it, though, is that you've never seen a movie quite like it.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Mother Land

Billed as the first feature-length stop-motion animated movie out of South Korea in decades, Mother Land is an interesting watch, but also one that stretches itself a little thin. Set in the tundra of Siberia, its story is one worth telling as it follows the nomadic tribes of the area and how they butt up against Russian officials that are eager to displace them from their lands. Writer/director Park Jae-beom delivers a fun use of this animation style, one that feels a little closer to classic Rankin-Bass animation than what the kind you might expect from Laika. Even though the movie only clocks in at 68 minutes, it still feels like it's working overtime to get to that point. Animation fans will find something to like here, but most audiences will get lost in its tedium.

After four seasons on The CW, Nancy Drew has caught a lot of people's attention for an unexpected reason. Earlier this week, a behind-the-scenes video from the live-action series went viral on Twitter, for showcasing an impressive look at one of the series' latest villains, The Sin-Eater. The video, which shows some impressive practical effects used to bring the monster's mouth to life, has prompted a lot of conversation -- both among those marveling at the real-life elements, and those confused as to why such a grotesque monster is on a Nancy Drew adaptation.

Of course, for those who have been following the Drew Crew across the show's existing seasons, that supernatural bent has become the norm.

The special effects here are insane!!?
The "Sin Eater" Portrayed by twistytroy for the tv series: @NancyDrew season 4. Makeup produced by #mastersfxstudios.
Sculpted and designed by #chrisdevitt13 #nancydrew #horror pic.twitter.com/x5rO7Ba5Nv

-- Spiral Direct (@SpiralDirect) August 2, 2023

Why Is Nancy Drew Ending?

Nancy Drew is nearing the end of its tenure on The CW, a decision made amid programming shifts and cost-cutting measures at the network under its new parent company, Nexstar.

"We are so honored and proud to have brought Nancy Drew's iconic determination, individuality and resilience to life in a years-long collaboration with incredible creative talents in front of the camera, behind the scenes and among our studio and network partners," showrunners Noga Landau and Melinda Hsu said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter). "Our hearts are full of gratitude, knowing that we are able to bring this chapter to a close with intentionality, inclusivity and kindness -- and of course with plenty of sleuthing twists, supernatural scares and star-crossed romance along the way. We are especially indebted to our wonderful fan community, whose connection with our themes and stories has meant the world to us. Season four will be a worthy and resonant payoff for their continued love and support."

What Is Season 4 of Nancy Drew About?

Nancy Drew follows the legendary teen detective as she solves mysteries-both earthbound and supernatural-in her haunted hometown of Horseshoe Bay, Maine. Nancy (Kennedy McMann) leads a sleuthing team of close-knit friends: George Fan (Leah Lewis), whose desire for justice has brought her fighting spirit to the courtroom as an aspiring law school student, a path she must forge despite her disadvantaged background; Ned "Nick" Nickerson (Tunji Kasim), whose broken engagement with George has left him single, back on the dating scene, and focused on becoming a rising star as a local businessman; Bess Marvin (Maddison Jaizani), who is eager to become the town's guardian of dangerous supernatural secrets, only to encounter a threatening new foe who's hellbent on leading a witch-hunt to undermine Bess's mission; and Nancy's star-crossed love Ace (Alex Saxon), who must confront the deathly curse keeping him and Nancy from acting on their feelings for each other.

Season four of Nancy Drew begins as Nancy launches a new investigation to find a group of missing bodies from Horseshoe Bay's cemetery that have been dug up and stolen-or have possibly risen. As Nancy is drawn into this ghostly case, a string of unexplained paranormal crimes leads the Drew Crew to believe that the literal sins of the town's past have returned to haunt the living. Meanwhile, Nancy struggles with yearning for Ace, the man she loves. But when a slow-burning attraction begins between Nancy and the son of Ryan Hudson's newest enemy, Nancy must decide whether this love interest is worth the ire of both her father and Ace-whose own heart may also be tempted by a new relationship. Nancy's exploits this season will bring the Drew Crew numerous standalone cases, stunning twists, humor, and unexpected romances as they are drawn into a season-long mystery unlike any they have had to solve before. When Nancy's efforts to protect her seaside hometown from the sins of its past backfire, she must do the unthinkable to save her friends from both the supernatural and earthbound threats coming for them-and it could cost her everything, and everyone, she's ever loved.

What do you think of this behind-the-scenes look at Nancy Drew's Sin-Eater? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Last weekend, Talk to Me gave A24 its biggest theatrical debut since Hereditary back in 2018, becoming an instant hit for the indie studio. Fans of the possession thriller have already started pondering if the success of the film will result in a sequel, especially since the world of Talk to Me leave plenty of opportunity for one. Nothing official has been announced on the sequel front, but the twin directing duo of Danny and Michael Philippou have revealed that they already shot an entire prequel's worth of footage for Talk to Me, following the story of the characters from the film's opening scene.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Philippou brothers said that they shot a prequel film centered around Duckett, the first person in Talk to Me that is shown to be possessed. They revealed that the footage tells Duckett's story entirely through phones and social media, and that they hope to release it at some point.

"We actually shot an entire Duckett prequel already," Danny said. "It's told entirely through the perspective of mobile phones and social media, so maybe down the line we can release that. But also while writing the first film, you can't help but write scenes for a second film. So there's so many scenes. The mythology was so thick, and yeah, if A24 gave us the opportunity, we wouldn't be able to resist. I feel like we'd jump at it."

Believe it or not, Talk to Me is the second A24 horror film in recent memory to shoot a prequel ahead of the initial movie's release. When Ti West's X was released in theaters last year, a tag at the end of the credits revealed that West and star Mia Goth had already shot a prequel film, Pearl, which made its debut a few months later.

Talk to Me Sequel

In addition to the Duckett prequel movie, the Philippou brothers also have ideas for other stories within the world of Talk to Me.

"We have a lot of original stories that we want to tell, but the Talk to Me stuff is exciting to us, too," said Michael. "So the idea of a sequel, we wouldn't be opposed to it."

Talk to Me Cast

Talk to Me stars Sophia Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Marcus Johnson, Alexandria Steffensen, Zoe Terakes, and Chris Alosio. Danny and Michael Philippou directed the film from a screenplay the former wrote alongside Bill Hinzman.

The logline for Talk to Me reads: "When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces."

The ongoing writers' strike means that development on any number of major productions has been halted, which includes the long-awaited Final Destination 6. Filmmakers Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein have been tapped to direct the film while Lori Evans Taylor and Guy Busick are on board to write the script, with franchise creator Jeffrey Reddick recently offering an update on the project, stating that once the writers' and actors' strikes are resolved, the project should be ready to go almost imminently. Given the number of other projects that have been announced for movie and TV that likely haven't had any substantial development since announcement, this should come as a relief to Final Destination fans.

"There is a sixth one that's planned the minute, again, the AMPTP comes back to the table, that movie is ready to go. It's just nice as a genre fan to have something created that has become a part of the public zeitgeist. Again, I couldn't have asked for more," Reddick revealed to Collider. "We're gonna get a winner, and also I spoke to Guy Busick, he did the Scream reboot, and [Lori] is his writing partner, and they were so gracious because they actually -- I'm friends with Craig Perry to this day. We're really tight. [He] produced it, and he's like, 'They called me.' They wanted to talk to me about the first film and the second film, about what my thoughts were on what makes a Final Destination film -- kind of the key elements that are crucial to me."

He continued, "It's just really nice because you don't get that a lot. I'm friends with Eric Bress, who wrote part two. You become friends a lot of times with people just crossing paths, and Eric [Heisserer] who wrote part five is amazing. But it's nice when the filmmakers actually call you and are like, 'We wanna make sure that we get the essence of what's important to you and what you think makes these Final Destinations, what you found connects with the fans.' So, they have gone into the story with the best heart."

The first film debuted in 2000, showcasing what happened when a teen had a horrible vision of a deadly tragedy, which he and his friends avoided by exiting their aircraft. With the plane then going on to explode, the friends were then being hunted down by the specter of death, with a variety of outlandish scenarios resulting in their deaths. The most recent film in the franchise was Final Destination 5 in 2011.

Reddick kept a tight lid on the potential story for the new film, but expressed his enthusiasm that the franchise still has passionate fans.

"And then Jon Watts who was behind the new Spider-Man movies came up with a story. I mean, I was just like, 'This is the f-cking A-team!'" the filmmaker recalled. "Craig will tell me stuff, and I can't repeat it obviously because I'm very good at that because I know I don't wanna spoil anything, but every time that I've heard anything that they're doing, or any scene that they're doing or planning, it just makes me smile. The fans are gonna be -- it's gonna be well worth the wait."

Stay tuned for details on Final Destination 6.

Are you looking forward to the new movie? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

Back in 2020, Funko teamed up with Spirit Halloween to release Pop figures based on the 2009 Halloween horror anthology Trick 'r Treat. The first featured Samhain sitting with his Jack O' Lantern which was followed by an exclusive featuring Sam with his candy blade. Fast-forward to 2023, and a new version has been released of the Sam with razor candy Pop that features a flocked (fuzzy) texture on Sam's pajamas. Pre-orders for this version are live here at Spirit Halloween and here on Amazon now.

Note that the original version of the Trick 'r Treat Sam with razor Funko Pop is still available to order here at Spirit Halloween. You can check out Spirit's entire lineup of Funko Pop figures (many of which are exclusives) right here. While you're at it, make sure to check out the full lineup of Funko's Wednesday Pop figure drops for the week of August 2nd, 2023.

Will Trick 'r Treat's Cast Return For a Sequel?

During an interview last year, director Michael Dougherty revealed that the long-awaited sequel is in "very-active development" but won't include the cast of the original movie.

"No, because I feel like that's very much American Horror Story's approach and style," Dougherty said when asked if the cast would return in different roles. "I'd rather stay consistent. If I'm bringing cast members back, it would be in the same roles, not that that's currently a plan within the piece. To me, it would throw me off. I do like it in American Horror Story. I think it works for them, but it'd also feel like we're just ripping them off if we did that." He later added, "If I've learned anything from this experience, it's all about patience and persistence."

Move aside Cocaine Bear, there's a new killer beast in town. Wednesday, the first full-length trailer for Slotherhouse saw release, introducing movie-goers to a murderous sloth that slaughters the residents of a sorority house. Packed to the brim with camp, the teaser shows fans just how meta of a movie the feature will be.

"Slotherhouse tells the story of college senior Emily Young, who aims to be voted president of her sorority. When she adopts an adorable sloth, she realizes the animal can serve as the house's new mascot and help her win votes, dubbing the animal Alpha," an official synopsis for the film reads. "The new pet is a beloved addition to the sorority house until a series of deaths point toward the sloth as the prime murder suspect. The film becomes a survival story of sisters versus sloth as the girls wonder if they can make it out of Sigma Lambda Theta alive (sloths, of course, are not known for being fleet of foot)."

While Cocaine Bear and Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey were both rated R for their hyper-violent takes on murderous animals, the teaser suggests Slotherhouse will receive a more tame PG-13 rating. Because of the notoriety surrounding the latter, a cinematic universe of sorts is already in the works that will turn public domain children's characters into axe murderers and the like.

"The idea is that we're going to try and imagine they're all in the same world, so we can have crossovers," Blood and Honey helmer Rhys Frake-Waterfield said in chat with THR earlier this year. "People have been messaging saying they really want to see Bambi versus Pooh."

Slotherhouse was written by Bradley Fowler and the story comes from the minds of Fowler and Cady Lanigan. The film stars Lisa Ambalavanar, Sydney Craven, Olivia Rouyre, Kelly Lynn Reiter, Bianca Beckles-Rose, Andrew Horton, Sutter Nolan, Grace Patterson, Milica Vrzi?, Annamaria Serda, Rudi Rok, Tiff Stevenson and Stefan Kapi?i?.

Slotherhouse is produced by Cady Lanigan, Bradley Fowler, Mark David, Dan Lanigan, Patrick D. Gillespie, Jason Sada, David Albert Pierce, Michael J. Weiss, Milan Todorovi?, Ryan Gibson, Joe Price, Matthew Goodhue, Jason C. Henry, and Victoria Matlock Fowler.

Slotherhouse will be released on August 30 in North America and internationally.

After two tremendous successes with 2022's Scream and this year's Scream VI, directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin will be handing the reins of the franchise over to Happy Death Day 2U and Freaky director Christopher Landon, as confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter. The directors, along with producer Chad Villela, will serve as executive producers on the new film, with their exit from directing the franchise being due to their commitments to an Untitled Universal Monster movie. Both the Universal Monster Movie and Scream 7 are currently on hold due to the writers' and actors' strikes, with it currently being unclear who could script the upcoming sequel. While James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick wrote both Scream and Scream VI, Landon has written his Happy Death Day films, Freaky, and his most recent project, Netflix's We Have a Ghost.

Landon being tapped to helm a new Scream pays off his wishes from 2019, when he expressed his passion for the franchise, though it was a franchise that had laid dormant for years.

"Scream is an amazing franchise, especially the first movie, which blew my mind when I saw it back in the day," Landon shared with ComicBook.com previously. "And I think [writer] Kevin Williamson is so crazy talented and also a friend of mine. I also just think that there are a lot of stories to tell and I think that when you step back into a franchise, you better be doing it for the right reasons and it better be because you have a really good story to tell. And so I think there's sometimes an unnecessary appetite for sequels and reboots. If you've got a cool story to tell, yeah, go for it, man. But otherwise, let's just do something new."

Interestingly, this directing news comes on the birthday of the late filmmaker Wes Craven, who directed the first four Scream films. Given Craven's inherent influence over the entire franchise, many fans had given up hope of ever getting a new installment.

"It's the granddaddy of meta-horror, meta-slashers," Landon expressed. "But what's interesting about watching how the trends move, I think [2018's] Halloween was so successful as a reboot/sequel because it wasn't attempting to be anything but very genuine. And, it was, in many ways, good fan service, but it was also like, 'We have a character-driven story to tell here.' And so that, for me, is like, there's a reason to make that movie. That's not just a cash grab."

Stay tuned for details on Scream 7.

Are you excited by the directing news? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

Throughout its history, the Star Wars saga has delivered audiences plenty of adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi themes, with one genre it typically overlooks being horror. Even though Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine are monstrous villains, they are balanced out by heroic figures, but with the all-new comic miniseries Star Wars: Dark Droids, writer Charles Soule detailed that the book will explore the darker corners of the galaxy far, far away for a more unsettling experience. While speaking with StarWars.com, Soule revealed the inspirations he had for his work, which include films like Evil Dead, The Thing, and Alien. Star Wars: Dark Droids #1 is on sale now.

"Dark Droids draws inspiration from horror masterpieces like Frankenstein, The Thing, and the Evil Dead series, among many more," Soule detailed to the outlet. "I often put reference images into my scripts. Usually, they're things like, 'Here's the specific model of stormtrooper I'd like to use' or 'This is what Burryaga's lightsaber hilt looks like.' For Dark Droids, though, the reference images were key shots from horror films designed to evoke mood or moments -- something from Alien, and even things like the music video for Herbie Hancock's 'Rockit.'"

He added, "I am a big fan of horror across all mediums, and getting a chance to import that into Star Wars has been a fantastic opportunity. Series artist Luke Ross has been doing a spectacular job of bringing the scares to the book -- Dark Droids doesn't look like anything else out there, within Star Wars or without."

The new series is described, "In Dark Droids, a mysterious new threat called the Scourge corrupts droids, cyborgs, and everything in-between, spreading chaos throughout the galaxy. Ajax Sigma, who first appeared in last year's Star Wars: Revelations #1, will play a role in the saga -- though his true intentions remain unknown."

Even though horror might not be the first genre audiences think of in connection to Star Wars, this isn't the galaxy far, far away's first foray into the realm. In recent years, various incarnations of Vader's Castle stories from IDW Comics have told anthological tales of terror that allow for more overtly unsettling subject matter to be delivered, which even led to the development of the LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales, a Disney+ special that similarly used Vader's Castle as a jumping-off point.

Rather than just straightforward horror, Soule teased other sci-fi elements he aimed to explore with the new series.

"Dark Droids doesn't shy away from examining the way droids exist in Star Wars, which for me, as a writer of science fiction, is really exciting," the writer explained. "We're reckoning with a moment in the real world where 'droid intelligence,' a.k.a. AI, is something we're being forced to stare at with open eyes. If created sentience can exist, what will we think about it once it arrives? More importantly -- and this is the central question of the series -- what will it think of us?"

He continued, "By the end, the story touches many parts of the Star Wars universe and draws in all your favorite characters from the era. I'm really glad I got to write something like this as part of my work in the galaxy and can't wait for the reader to see what I, Luke Ross, and the rest of the team have built."

Star Wars: Dark Droids #1 is on sale now.

What do you think of the story? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

The release date for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is coming quick, and publisher Gun Media has announced the first ever livestream of the game. The stream will take place on Thursday, August 3rd at 3 p.m. ET. The developers will use the opportunity to cover "all things Metagame." Streamers will be able to do watch parties for the event, though anyone interested in catching the stream directly can do so at Gun Media's Twitch channel. Unfortunately, there have been no details provided on how long the stream will last, so Texas Chain Saw fans will just have to tune in to find out!

A promo image for the event can be found below. Readers interested in watching the stream can find Gun Media's Twitch channel right here.

In The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, players are cast in the role of either one of the game's killers or its would-be survivors. In the films that inspired the game, Leatherface is the primary antagonist, but the scariest thing about him is that he isn't alone; his family members are a major part of the threat. That dynamic provides The Texas Chain Saw Massacre with its biggest hook, as there are always three killers chasing victims, as opposed to just one. As others have pointed out, this could also make things less lopsided than other asymmetric horror games; in Friday the 13: The Game, if an inexperienced player controlled Jason, it could make for a less exciting experience for everyone.

It will be interesting to see this dynamic play out during the stream, and how the game is shaping up overall. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is releasing August 18th, and the stream could help to win over anyone still on the fence about trying out the game. Online games tend to live and die based on how many players they can attract and keep invested, so hopefully Gun Media has something fun to showcase tomorrow!

Do you plan on watching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre livestream? Are you still on the fence about the game? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all things gaming!

Filmmaker Richard Kelly has a history of delivering audiences ambitious and confounding narratives, with films like Donnie Darko and Southland Tales both earning reputations for being complex and layered experiences, with arguably his most straightforward film being 2009's The Box. based on Richard Matheson's 1970 short story "Button, Button," the film starred James Marsden, Cameron Diaz, and Frank Langella, and even though it was a more digestible narrative than his previous films, Kelly recently confirmed he'd like to revisit the project to inject sequences that were scrapped for the theatrical release. The filmmaker pointed out that there might not currently be plans in place for the release but it is definitely on his "wish list."

When asked by The Film Stage about talks regarding an extended cut, Kelly detailed, "No, nothing official yet. I've always talked about that as something on my wish list to do. There have not been any official discussions as of yet. I would love to get to that -- it's on my priority list, that's for sure. I think it's just a question of timing and the arsenal of stuff I have in the works. When -- knock on wood, hopefully -- the floodgates open and I'm really, actively making new stuff again, I would love if that could ever happen. There's visual-effects costs associated with doing that; there's lots of footage."

He added, "But some of the sequences that could, hypothetically, go back into that movie, there would be some visual-effects costs. It's not anything obscenely expensive, by any means, but it's not just throwing in a couple... it's a fair amount of CGI and sound-mixing and opening up the edit. I would absolutely love to do that at some point, and I know that, now in the era of streaming, there's more of an appetite for that."

The story focuses on a mysterious man (Langella) appearing at the home of a married couple (Marsden and Diaz) to tell them that, if they push a button within a box, someone they don't know will die, but they will be granted $1 million. The box is then taken to another couple who is presented with the same offer.

"In the trailer that they released for that movie there were a lot of shots that are not in the movie that are from the deleted scenes," Kelly detailed of a recent in-person screening that highlighted scenes cut from the film. "So he had still images of James Marsden and Cameron Diaz in the padded room, the white and mysterious padded room; Cameron in the NASA hanger. These scenes are not in the movie! And he had cards printed up with color still frames, and he was using them like he was at a NASA presentation or a pitch meeting, and it was so funny: I was walking everyone through all the really cool, exciting stuff that we shot. It's a lot of big, cinematic stuff. So I don't know."

He continued, "It was not easy having to lift those scenes out, but I think now -- in hindsight -- people would appreciate them more. It was some abstract stuff: transcendental gateways and NASA conspiracy stuff. It's wild stuff, but the movie is just one big, elaborate experiment -- a psychological, transcendental experiment -- and it's not meant to make sense at the end of the day."

Stay tuned for details on an extended cut of The Box.

Would you like to see the film get an extended release? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Legendary horror director George Romero's final zombie apocalypse movie Twilight of the Dead has gotten an exciting production update: Roundtable Entertainment has made a deal to finance the film. A script by writers Joe Knetter, Robert Lucas, and Paolo Zelati has been completed, based on a film treatment they worked out with Romero before his death in 2017. Romero's widow and estate manager Suzanne Romero has reportedly been in talks with a potential director for the project, and casting was said to have been taking place before the SAG-AFTRA Strike went into effect. Despite the strike, the team behind Twilight of the Dead is still aiming to start production in late 2023, with filming reportedly set to take place in Puerto Rico.

Producers of Twilight of the Dead include the aforementioned Suzanne Romero, along with John Baldecchi, Sarah Donnelly, Paolo Zelati, and Ardvella Entertainment's Stephanie Caleb. Executive producers include Dominic Ianno, Alex Dundas, Jason Resnick, Chris Roe, and Luis Riefkohl.

In a statement to the press, Suzanne Romero said: "I'm delighted to be joining forces with Roundtable to bring the eerie evolution of Romero's universe to the screen. Roundtable impressed me with their long-term and deep love of George's work. I believe they have the vision to produce the best version of this movie that honors the Romero legacy. I can't wait to start filming!"

Roundtable's Head of Scripted John Baldecchi also offered a statement, saying: "We're thrilled to be working alongside Suzanne, Paolo, and Stephanie to bring the final installment of this epic series. It is the perfect ending to one of the greatest horror legacies of all time, with a powerful and timely message about how humanity is the cause of its own destruction, over and over and over again. There is a lot of excitement in the creative community to be involved and we'll be making decisions on that shortly".

What is Twilight of the Dead About?

Twilight of the Dead will "delve into the dark nature of humanity from the perspective of the last humans on earth who are caught between factions of the undead". True to the Romero oeuvre, it is being framed by the producers as "thought-provoking sociopolitical commentary wrapped in a genre piece".

It is said that George Romero made Twilight of the Dead the culminating chapter of his entire 'Living Dead Saga,' which began in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead. Since then, the Living Dead films have included six total films by Romero:

1. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
2. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
3. Day of the Dead (1985)
4. Land of the Dead (2005)
5. Diary of the Dead (2007)
6. Survival of the Dead (2009)

In addition to Romero's core series, there have been two remakes of his works (Night and Dawn); at least six spin-off films, and numerous unauthorized works based on Romero's vision. The complicated history of how Romero was and was not properly credited and rewarded for his work will make Twilight of the Dead an important "official" ending to the saga, for diehard fans.

Twilight of the Dead is looking to start filming in late 2023.

via: Deadline

UPDATE: It has since been confirmed that Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will serve as executive producers while Christopher Landon serves as director of Scream 7. Original story continues below.

Scream VI's directors are reportedly not returning for Scream VII. Over at Bloody Disgusting, their sources indicated that a scheduling conflict might be to blame. Radio Silence, aka Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet, handled both Scream (V) and Scream VI for Paramount. Both movies led to a reinvigoration of the franchise with a lot of movie-goers. (It also serves as Gen Z's first brush with the series as they enter adolescence in earnest. Or at least the first one to feel like a phenomenon amongst them.) Basically, Radio Silence is directing a Universal Monster Movie right now. That might complicate their return.

If that wasn't enough, Paranormal Activity director Christopher Landon is reportedly in talks to helm Scream VII. If Radio Silence couldn't finish up their Universal project quickly enough, the director could end up stepping in. Landon presents a choice that is very familiar with the workings of the horror genre. He also has turned the Paranormal Activity series into one of the mainstays of the multiplex with all those titles over the years. His interpretation of Scream would also diverge a bit from Radio Silence's approach, if he were hired on. Nothing is set in stone yet.

What Universal Movie Are Radio Silence Working On?

As of right now, that Universal Monster movie in development is shrouded in mystery. The movie studio has put their weight behind trying to make their illustrious monsters catalogue into something for modern sensibilities. Hiring creative minds like Radio Silence is one way to get there! ComicBook.com's Patrick Cavanaugh spoke with the duo about what's next for the.

"We're out here right now, we're in Dublin, we're hopefully starting to shoot in a few weeks, it's very fast. It's a Universal Monster movie and that, for us, is insane that we're making a Universal Monster movie," Bettinelli-Olpin shared with ComicBook.com.

"We are, as the guys who brought you Scream 5 and 6, very much fans of original, standalone movies. Kids of the '80s and '90s, we miss that. Obviously, that's not really where the world is right now, especially with studio movies, and that's fine, because there's other ways to do that," he continued. "And I think our approach is always, it sounds weird, but that's our approach on Scream 5 and Scream 6 and that's our approach on this one. Let's make this original movie, it's a standalone movie, there is a monster in it, that much is for sure."

Does Radio Silence Want to Return For Scream VII?

ComicBook.com's Patrick Cavanaugh also asked Radio Silence about another possible sequel. While they seemed open to the idea of coming back for Scream VII, they don't have a crystal ball that can tell the future. Check out their response down below.

"I think that it's hard to not fall in love with the thing that you're making. In fact, I would say that, at its most basic level, the job, right? Is to really love the process," Gillett mused. "You have to love that thing in order to see it across the finish line. Making a movie is too hard to not love it. I would also say, though, that we never expect to have another one, you know what I mean? And I think that that's just an important way of creating. You leave it all on the field.

"We try to make 5 and then 6, we tried to make those, tried to cram as many of the good ideas that we had into those as possible, not ever knowing if there's gonna be another one. I think that what you end up with is a story that feels like it's a full thought," he added. "It's not teasing, it's not a trailer for what's next, it's its own thing and it's got a close-ended character resolution at the end. I think that's just, also, the job. I think it's, for us, our taste and the thing that we love is to arc out a character over the course of one story."

Are you liking this choice for Scream VII? Let us know down in the comments!

The witch Thessaly is a powerful, compelling character introduced in the pages of The Sandman. The Sandman Universe Special: Thessaly #1 pairs her with Tommi, a woman who is her polar opposite. Tommi is a woman caught in the wake of the world around her, moving at whatever pace, in whatever direction her lover or boss might set for her. Thessaly is a woman who moves and expects the universe to move with her or get out of the way. "The universe moves, and you move with it," she tells Tommi late in the story. "When I move, I move the universe," she concludes, while the arcane energies summoned to support her assertion flow around her like a river upon which she floats.

Thessaly hasn't lived for centuries and gained this much power by chance. As revealed in the chronicle of her life told via text pages created by AndWorld Design, which change form from scrawled parchment to illuminated manuscripts, and finally a screenplay on a laptop screen to track her passage through the ages, it took many bargains to extend Thessaly's life for this long. Tommi is about to make her first.

Deals with devils are a topic of conversation from the issue's first page. Tommi, who works in the entertainment industry, and her lover, Mike, consider how attitudes towards the occult have changed over the years. Where the demonic were once clear villains, agents of evil, now we wave "teenage witch" shows where the "likable lead characters" are "worshipping Satan" and the protagonist is "literally signing away her soul to the devil." One is left to wonder on which axis those changes have turned. It's a seemingly hypothetical exercise that bores Tommi but becomes increasingly relevant as the story progresses and the subject takes on more practical applications in her life.

Tommi's willingness to consider such bargains are plain from those opening pages. As Tommi and Mike share a kiss, the world drops away, and artist Maria Llovet frames her lush, fleshy linework in a plain white background, making the kiss both singular and empty. It happens again shortly after, becoming one with the negative space of the page's gutter. Both contrast with the kiss Tommi shares with her boss, backlit by a warning shade of yellow.

As Tommi spends time with Thessaly, the witch's singular focus and force of will begins to appeal to her. Thessaly offers to share a taste of that lived experience with Tommi, but at what cost? The warnings are present in the subtly suggestive colors, with wafting Fuchsia vapors and lavender backgrounds as Thessaly teases Tommi's unspoken yearning out of her and turns to hot pink like an alert as she finally speaks the words. How does one learn to define and reach for what they want without becoming a slave to Desire?

The first hint of an answer to that question reaches Thessaly through surprising means, and she is not pleased with its implications. Writer James Tynion IV knows what buttons to press, ones that strike at Thessaly's very perception of herself while sending chills down the spines of any longtime Sandman reader with what they may foreshadow, and casting Thessaly's role in The Sandman saga in a new light. She thought that pursuing what she wanted regardless of cost had made her strong and freed her of the forces that bound mere mortals. But what if walking that path put her in the thrall of another she had not expected? Well, Thessaly has (seemingly) already gotten away with being involved in one act of whatever is beyond deicide. What's to stop her from becoming a repeat offender?

And yet, for all that the issue suggests that Thessaly may have built the bars of her cage, it also implies that there's something valuable in the strength that Tommi gains from her encounter with Thessaly. She kisses Mike again, and the world doesn't fall away. Their surroundings remain real. She doesn't meekly submit to Mike's wishes but asserts her desires. It seems she got something worthwhile from her dalliance with the devil.

Watching this slow-burn, character-focused story, punctuated with disturbing moments of horror, play out as engrossingly as one might expect coming from Tynion, a writer who has now won three consecutive Eisner Awards for writing, and Llovet's artistic style makes it all feel seductive - like the reader is being put under one of Thessaly's spells. The Sandman Universe Special: Thessaly #1 is an issue that holds up perfectly well by itself, yet by the end, the full consequences of Thessaly's transaction with Tommi remain uncertain, and that's a story readers will likely have a great desire to follow.

Published by DC Comics

On August 1, 2023

Written by James Tynion IV

Art by Maria Llovet

Colors by Maria Llovet

Letters by Simon Bowland

Cover by Reiko Murakami

DVD isn't dead. AMC and Lionsgate Home Entertainment have announced The Walking Dead Complete Collection, a 54-disc DVD edition exclusive to Walmart. The set contains all 11 seasons of The Walking Dead -- 177 episodes in total -- and will be released just in time for Halloween on October 24th in the U.S. (According to Lionsgate, The Walking Dead complete series will also be available on Blu-ray, with details to come.) Pre-orders for the Walmart-exclusive The Walking Dead Complete Collection DVD are live and priced at $129.96 on the Walmart website.

The set features original packaging and disc artwork by Clio Award-winning artist Oliver Barrett, who designed The Walking Dead season 11B key art that covered the final season Blu-ray. The just-released artwork depicts some of the show's fan-favorite characters: Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), Carol (Melissa McBride), Michonne (Danai Gurira), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Glenn (Steven Yeun), Judith (Cailey Fleming) and Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs), Morgan Jones (Lennie James), and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).

For the first time on physical media, the set comes complete with an exclusive bonus disc containing the behind-the-scenes documentary The Walking Dead: Making of the Final Season, an hour-long special that aired on AMC and AMC+ in November. The Walking Dead Complete Collection DVD comes months after The Walking Dead: The Complete Series Blu-ray box set -- a limited edition of just 1,200 copies -- released exclusively in the U.K.

Product specifications:

Studio & Production Company
Lionsgate
Title
Walking Dead Complete Collection (Seasons 1-11)
Duration
7788 min
Actors
Lauren Cohan; Chad L. Coleman; Danai Gurira; Emily Kinne;, Andrew Lincoln; Sonequa Martin-Green; Melissa McBride; Josh McDermitt; David Morrissey; Norman Reedus; Chandler Rigg;, Scott Wilson; Steven Yeun
Original Languages
English
Series Title
Walking Dead
Assembled Product Dimensions
(L x W x H) 0.98 x 5.40 x 7.50 Inches

The Walking Dead: The Complete Collection DVD box set is available October 2023 from Walmart. Stay tuned for news on The Walking Dead complete series Blu-ray U.S. edition, expected this fall.

Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow @CameronBonomolo and @NewsOfTheDead on Twitter for more TWD Universe coverage.

John Kramer is returning to the big screen this fall with the release of Saw X, the 10th film in the long-running horror franchise. This new installment in the series actually takes place between Saw and Saw II, and follows Jigsaw as he attempts to receive experimental treatment for his terminal cancer. Not only does Saw X seem to be one of the Jigsaw-heaviest installments in the entire series, it will also likely be the longest Saw film to-date.

Kevin Greutert, who helmed the sixth and seventh installments in the Saw franchise, has come back to direct Saw X. While speaking at the Midsummer Scream 2023 convention (per The Direct), where the Saw X trailer made its debut, Greutert revealed that the latest Saw will run longer than the previous entries.

"There's so much more to this film than even the amazing amount that was there. I can say it's the most epic, and this might sound scary, but I think it's the longest Saw movie," Greutert said. "We don't waste. When we're editing a Saw movie, we do not waste time. So the fact that it's long, I think, is a testament to just how well done it is."

Most of the Saw films have run just about an hour and a half. The longest film in the franchise is Saw III, which goes for a total of one hour and 48 minutes. Needless to say, none of the movies have been very long to this point, so Saw X doesn't have to be very lengthy in order to be the longest of the series.

Saw X Has a Lot More Than the Trailer Shows

Greutert also addressed the trailer itself while speaking at Midsummer Scream. The recently released trailer for Saw X may seem to show off quite a lot about the film, but the director assured those in attendance that there's quite a lot that hasn't been revealed.

"I'm so grateful to Lionsgate for the amount of attention that they put into bringing this movie out to you and letting everybody in the world know about it," he explained. "And, you know, as much as this trailer shows, the thing that really blows me away is kind how little it does at the same time. So, I think anybody who thinks, 'Well, I've seen that movie now,' is very, very wrong."

What Is Saw X About?

Here's the official Saw X synopsis from Lionsgate:

"John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back. The most disturbing installment of the Saw franchise yet explores the untold chapter of Jigsaw's most personal game. Set between the events of Saw I and II, a sick and desperate John travels to Mexico for a risky and experimental medical procedure in hopes of a miracle cure for his cancer - only to discover the entire operation is a scam to defraud the most vulnerable," the press release reads. "Armed with a newfound purpose, the infamous serial killer returns to his work, turning the tables on the con artists in his signature visceral way through devious, deranged, and ingenious traps."

Next month, the long-running Saw franchise will return to theaters with another grisly chapter in the story of John Kramer. Saw X is set to hit the big screen on September 29th, and it will further complicate the already strange timeline of the franchise by taking place between the original Saw and Saw II. Odd timeline decisions aside, the Saw series still has a lot of fans, and those fans now have a much easier way to stream the franchise ahead of Saw X's theatrical debut.

On Tuesday, Amazon's Prime Video added the majority of the Saw franchise to its streaming lineup. Saw, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, and Saw VI were all added to Prime Video at the start of August. With Jigsaw already available on the service, seven of the nine existing Saw movies are now streaming in one place.

The only Saw movies not available on Prime Video are 2010's Saw 3D and the Chris Rock-led offshoot Spiral: From the Book of Saw, which was released in 2021.

New Movies on Prime Video

The Saw films represented some of the most popular additions to Prime Video's lineup at the start of the month, but they were far from the only movies to debut. Here's the full list of movies that were just added to Prime Video on August 1st:

3 Idiotas
A Shot in the Dark
Amadeus
American Gigolo
Behind the Sun
Braddock: Missing in Action III
Cahill: U.S. Marshall
Cantinflas
Charlie St. Cloud
Chato's Land
City of Men
City Slickers
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Dirty Harry
Filth
Frost/Nixon
Galaxy Quest
Gonzo
Hazlo Como Hombre
Hollywood: The Great Stars
I Wish
I'm Still Here
Killers
Me, Myself and Irene
Missing In Action
Missing In Action II: The Beginning
Monster's Ball
One for the Money
Paranormal Activity 2
Pinero
Posse
Punisher: War Zone
Red 2
Red Dawn
Rio
Rio 2
Road to El Dorado
Rumor Has It
Saw
Saw II
Saw III
Saw IV
Saw V
Saw VI
Stealth
Steve Jobs: The Man In The Machine
Support Your Local Sheriff!
Swordfish
The Addams Family (2019)
The Black Stallion
The Day of the Jackal
The Goonies
The Lincoln Lawyer
The Many Saints of Newark
The Punisher
The Watch
Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead
Traffic
Un Padre No Tan Padre
Valentina's Wedding
Walking Tall: The Payback
What a Girl Wants
When Harry Met Sally
Ya veremos
Yes Man

Are you excited to see the majority of the Saw series finally streaming in the same place? Will you be rewatching ahead of Saw X? Let us know in the comments!

The death of actor Angus Cloud has sent shockwaves through the entertainment world, with fans and industry professionals paying tribute to the Euphoria star. Cloud, who was best known for playing Fezco "Fez" O'Neill on the hit HBO series, passed away suddenly at the age of 25 on Monday -- but it sounds like audiences will still get to see one of his projects posthumously. According to a new report from Variety, Cloud had finished production on the currently-untitled Universal Monsters horror movie prior to his passing. Cloud's involvement in the film, which is directed by the Radio Silence duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, was first announced earlier this spring.

While the currently-untitled film is currently expected to debut in April of 2024, the report indicates that production on it is not finished, and has been put on hold because of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The cast of the live-action movie also includes Kathryn Newton, Dan Stevens, Giancarlo Esposito, Alisha Weir, Kevin Durand, Will Catlett, and Melissa Barrera.

What Are Angus Cloud's Movies and TV Shows?

Cloud was born Conor Angus Cloud Hickey in Oakland, California on July 10, 1998. As a teenager, he sustained a traumatic brain injury, which partially led to his distinct onscreen voice. After attending the School of Production Design at Oakland School for the Arts, he was actually scouted by Euphoria casting director Jennifer Venditti while working in a New York restaurant. Playing Fez in Euphoria would be Cloud's first onscreen, and his portrayal would go on to be one of the most tweeted-about characters of the past decade.

Cloud would go on to have appearances in the 2021 movie North Hollywood, as well as the recently-released The Line. He also appeared in a trio of music videos in recent years -- Noah Cyrus' "All Three", Juice WRLD's "Cigarettes", and Becky G & Karol G's "Mamiii".

How Did Angus Cloud Die?

The news of Cloud's passing, which occurred in Oakland, CA, on Monday, July 31st was confirmed in a statement from to TMZ. The Oakland Fire Department reportedly responded to a call of a medical emergency at 11:30 am on Monday, but Cloud was determined to be dead upon arrival. The cause of death is currently unknown at this time, and reportedly remains an "active death investigation" for the Oakland Police Department. Cloud's death occurred just days after his father had passed away.

"There was no one quite like Angus. He was too special, too talented and way too young to leave us so soon," Euphoria creator Sam Levinson wrote in a statement shortly after the death was announced. "He also struggled, like many of us, with addiction and depression. I hope he knew how many hearts he touched. I loved him. I always will. Rest in peace and God Bless his family."

Our thoughts are with Cloud's family, friends, and fans at this time.

Back in 1998, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later was released in theaters and marked for a seminal entry into the beloved Halloween franchise for a number of reasons. As the title implies, the film marked the 20th anniversary of the original Halloween, with the sequel also bringing back Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode for the first time since 1981's Halloween II, allowing the film to serve as somewhat of a reset of the whole franchise. In honor of Halloween H20's 25th anniversary, the sequel is getting a 4K Ultra HD SteelBook release, which is set to hit shelves as a limited edition on September 26th.

Per press release, "Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis returned as Laurie Strode in 1998 for a terrifying reunion with Michael Myers, 20 years after the original Halloween. Now the dean of a Northern California private school with an assumed name, Laurie must face the horrifying events of her past as the life of her own son hangs in the balance.

"Directed by Steve Miner and written by Debra Hill, John Carpenter, and Robert Zappia, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later features a sensational supporting cast, including Josh Hartnett (in his feature film debut), Michelle Williams, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adam Arkin, LL Cool J, and horror icon (and mother of Jamie Lee Curtis) Janet Leigh. Leigh was of course famous for her starring role in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later makes multiple allusions to the classic thriller.

"The Limited-Edition 25th-Anniversary 4K Ultra HD SteelBook features the remastered film in stunning 4K Ultra HD and access to a Digital copy of the film. Presented with haunting original artwork, this collectible SteelBook is a perfect addition to any horror fan's collection."

Halloween H20 marked a shift for the franchise in various ways. Outside of Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the series had a continuous narrative, which shifted focus from Laurie Strode in the franchise's fourth, fifth, and sixth installments. Halloween H20 was initially set to mark original director John Carpenter's return to the franchise, which enticed Curtis to reprise her role, before those talks fell apart. The movie ignored the events of its three predecessors, marking the first of many times the long-running narrative retconned what came before it.

While Curtis' Laurie Strode was a significant component of the sequel, the success of teen-oriented horror films like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer in the years leading up to Halloween H20 saw the narrative focus more on a younger cast. In this sense, the sequel also served as many horror fans of a new generation's first exposure to Michael Myers.

The Halloween H20: 20 Years Later hits 4K Ultra HD SteelBook hits shelves on September 26th. Pre-orders are live on Amazon now.

Will you be adding the new SteelBook to your collection? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

One of the most frightening theatrical experiences of the summer was the adaptation of Stephen King's The Boogeyman from director Rob Savage, but if you missed the thrilling adventure on the big screen, you'll be able to check out the film from the comfort of your own home later this month. In addition to being able to immerse yourself in the unsettling journey, a handful of special features will offer up an inside look at how the movie came together. The Boogeyman will be available on Digital HD on August 29th and on Blu-ray and DVD on October 10th.

The film is described, "High school student Sadie Harper and her younger sister Sawyer are reeling from the recent death of their mother and aren't getting much support from their father, Will, a therapist who is dealing with his own pain. When a desperate patient unexpectedly shows up at their home seeking help, he leaves behind a terrifying supernatural entity that preys on families and feeds on the suffering of its victims. "

The Boogeyman, directed by Rob Savage (Host) with a screenplay by Scott Beck & Bryan Woods (A Quiet Place) and Mark Heyman (Black Swan), based upon the short story by Stephen King, stars Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets), Chris Messina (Birds of Prey), Vivian Lyra Blair (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Marin Ireland (The Umbrella Academy), Madison Hu (Bizaardvark), LisaGay Hamilton (Vice), and David Dastmalchian (Dune). The producers are Shawn Levy (Stranger Things), Dan Levine (Arrival), and Dan Cohen (The Adam Project), with Emily Morris (Rosaline), John H. Starke (Sicario), Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, Adam Kolbrenner (The Tomorrow War), Ryan Cunningham, and Robin Meisinger serving as executive producers.

Bloody Disgusting reports that the special features will be as follows:

• Into the Darkness Featurette - Open the door into the dark world of The Boogeyman as the cast and crew share how the terrifying tale, based on Stephen King's classic short story, was crafted.
• Outtakes - It's not all just jump scares and bumps in the night. Join the cast for some lighthearted fun in the outtakes.
  

Given the potential storytelling opportunities of the franchise, director Savage has teased possibly continuing the adventure with a follow-up or spinoff, making it a great time to catch up on the creepy story.

The Boogeyman will be available on Digital HD on August 29th and on Blu-ray and DVD on October 10th.

Will you be adding the film to your collection? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Dead by Daylight is adding Alien DLC to the game, developer Behaviour Interactive confirmed this week. The new Chapter was confirmed in a teaser trailer that showed off what appears to be a new Alien-themed map as well as the unmistakable Xenomorph. No release date for the Chapter was given yet, but Behaviour did say that we'll be able to learn more about the DLC on August 8th whenever we presumably get the full trailer that confirms what all the Chapter will entail.

Our first look at the Alien DLC coming to Dead by Daylight was a brief one, though that's to be expected given how these kinds of Chapters are typically rolled out. Now that the teaser is out, August 8th should give us a better look at the Xenomorph and the rest of the Chapter, though it may still be awhile before we get a detailed breakdown of what the Xenomorph will be able to do as a Killer.

Alien has long been one of the licensed horror franchises that has topped Dead by Daylight players' wishlists in regards to which kinds of DLCs they want to see added to the game, so this reveal should be a welcome one for many. Earlier in the year, people thought that Behaviour and 20th Century Studios were gearing up for an Alien reveal to coincide with Alien Day as well as Dead by Daylight's anniversary celebration that usually takes place during the summer. Those predictions were a bit off, but it looks like the Alien DLC was planned regardless even if it wasn't at the time people expected.

Dead by Daylight Chapters typically release in a couple different forms with varying amounts of content, but the full package is always a Killer, a Survivor, and a new map. We've essentially got two of those confirmed from this teaser trailer -- the Xenomorph will definitely be the Killer with its own unique power and set of perks, and given the focus on the environment in the trailer, we're almost certainly getting a new map, too, which might be the Nostromo ship from the first Alien movie. Sigourney Weaver's Ripley character from Alien would be the most obvious choice for a Survivor if we're getting one of those characters with this DLC, though we hopefully won't have to guess anymore come August 8th.

A24 has another horror hit on its hands, as Talk to Me is finding quick success at the box office. The buzzy Sundance hit was acquired by the indie studio and released into theaters this past weekend, where it scared up $10 million and set A24 up for success. Of course, with box office success comes talks about potential sequels, especially where horror films are concerned. For directors Danny and Michael Philippou, a Talk to Me sequel is absolutely on the table.

The film's conclusion is slightly open-ended, leaving things open for a sequel if one ever happens. While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the Philippou twins shared that it'd be hard to turn down a return to that world.

"Part of me is like, 'Yeah, maybe it is done,'" Danny said. "The other part of me is like, 'Oh, my God. Give me a sequel, please.' I've got these set pieces that I'm like, 'Oh, my God, I so badly want to shoot this. This is the coolest thing ever.' So, if A24 came to me and said, 'You know what? We'd like a sequel.' I wouldn't be able to resist. I'd want to do it so bad."

"I guess a question would be, would you continue the story around Mia and those characters, or do you go to another part of the world? That's a debate," added Michael.

Talk to Me Winning at the Box Office

Talk to Me may not have cost very much to produce, but it's already turning into a money-maker for A24. This weekend, the film debuted on more than 2,300 screens across North America and earned over $10 million. That's enough for the second-biggest opening weekend in A24 history.

The only A24 movie to earn more in its opening weekend was Ari Aster's instant horror classic Hereditary. That film earned $13.6 million in its first weekend. Talk to Me doubled its opening weekend projections and looks to be a smash horror hit for A24, even when going up against the biggest movies of the year.

Talk to Me Cast

Talk to Me stars Sophia Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Marcus Johnson, Alexandria Steffensen, Zoe Terakes, and Chris Alosio. Danny and Michael Philippou directed the film from a screenplay the former wrote alongside Bill Hinzman.

The logline for Talk to Me reads: "When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces."

The current box office conversation revolves almost entirely around the massive successes of Barbie and Oppenheimer, but a horror movie with a whole lot of buzz behind it is proving to be the little engine that could after its debut in theaters this weekend. Talk to Me, the chilling film that has been getting a lot of attention since it was shown at Sundance earlier this year, was given a wide release by popular indie distributor and studio A24.

The gamble paid off for A24, as Talk to Me delivered the second-biggest debut weekend in the company's history. Talk to Me earned more than $10 million at the box office this weekend, playing on 2,300+ screens across the country. The only A24 movie to earn more in its opening weekend was Ari Aster's instant horror classic Hereditary. That film earned $13.6 million in its first weekend.

Talk to Me doubled its opening weekend projections and looks to be a smash horror hit for A24, even when going up against the biggest movies of the year.

Talk to Me Is Both a Horror and Drama Film

Ahead of Talk to Me's debut in theaters this weekend, directors Danny and Michael Philippou spoke with ComicBook.com about making sure the characters were always at the center of the film's story.

"We knew that we wanted all the horror to be rooted in character, and we didn't just want a splatter film where people are getting picked off here and there," Michael explained. "We wanted scenes to have the impact that was necessary. We wanted it to be rooted in reality for the film to work as both a horror film AND a drama film."

"We wanted it to be current," added Danny. "We wanted to make something that was modern. Gen Z and the problems they face with social media are just a part of life now. It's a lot of what we understand and where we come from. We came to realize that some of the things we wanted to say worked well in focusing on that."

Talk to Me Cast

Talk to Me stars Sophia Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Marcus Johnson, Alexandria Steffensen, Zoe Terakes, and Chris Alosio. Danny and Michael Philippou directed the film from a screenplay the former wrote alongside Bill Hinzman.

The logline for Talk to Me reads: "When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces."

Netflix sees plenty of changes to its streaming roster each and every month, and August is no exception. In the coming month, Netflix is preparing to add several movies and TV shows to its lineup. Unfortunately, it will also be losing quite a few titles as well. From beloved sitcoms to hit horror films, there are some major titles set to exit Netflix over the course of the next several weeks, beginning with a historical drama in the middle of the month.

The exits in August begin on August 12th, as both seasons of Knightfall make their way off the streamer. The biggest day for exits, however, is at the end of the month.

On August 31st, Netflix will be saying goodbye to hit films like Mean Girls, Paranormal Activity, The Ring, Open Season, and Sleepless in Seattle. It will also be losing all three seasons of the Scream TV series and every season of Sister, Sister.

Everything Leaving Netflix in August 2023

Here's the full list of movies and shows exiting Netflix next month:

Leaving 8/12/23
Knightfall: Seasons 1-2
Leaving 8/14/23
Winx Club: Seasons 6-7
Leaving 8/15/23
Les Mis?rables
Leaving 8/24/23
Jobs
Leaving 8/31/23
A Knight's Tale
If Beale Street Could Talk
InuYasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time
InuYasha the Movie 2: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass
InuYasha the Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler
InuYasha the Movie 4: Fire on the Mystic Island
The Italian Job
Mean Girls
Moving Art: Seasons 1-3
Open Season
Open Season 2
Paranormal Activity
The Ring
Salt
Scream: Seasons 1-3
She's Gotta Have It
Sister, Sister: Seasons 1-6
Sleepless in Seattle

Netflix's New August Additions

Netflix may be losing some big titles in August, but the streaming service also has quite a few movies and TV shows making their way to its lineup next month. As always, the first day of the month will be the biggest day for new additions. That day will see five Fast & Furious movies make their way to Netflix, along with all four seasons of ABC's Ugly Betty.

Here's everything coming to Netflix on August 1st:

2 Fast 2 Furious
Bee Movie
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
Coming to America
Despicable Me
Despicable Me 2
Eat Pray Love
Fast & Furious
Fast Five
The Fast and the Furious
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Friends with Benefits
It's Complicated
The Jerk
Just Go With It
Lost in Translation
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
No Strings Attached
Pawn Stars: Season 14
Poms
Terminator Genisys
Ugly Betty: Seasons 1-4
Untold: Jake Paul the Problem Child -- NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

Disney's new take on the Haunted Mansion is off to a difficult start at the box office. The film debuted in theaters this weekend and faced an uphill battle, going up against the second weekend of record-breaking box office behemoths Barbie and Oppenheimer. With those two movies still commanding all of the big screen attention, Justin Simien's Haunted Mansion is having trouble getting any attention, opening below its already soft expectations.

Heading into the weekend, Haunted Mansion was eyeing an opening between $25 million and $30 million. Sunday's updated estimates, according to Variety, indicate that the new Disney live-action film won't even reach the lower end of that range. Haunted Mansion is currently looking at an opening weekend total of $24.6 million in North America, alongside just $9.1 million internationally.

With just around $33 million globally after one weekend, Haunted Mansion is going to struggle to make back its reported $150 million budget over the course of its theatrical run. There are a lot of factors playing into the muted debut for Haunted Mansion, with Barbie and Oppenheimer's success front and center, but the timing of the release is certainly a head-scratching move. Haunted Mansion is the type of movie that feels much more suited to a fall release, timing its debut closer to Halloween season and not in the middle of a summer blockbuster run. Not only would the theaters be less crowded with other films, but the season itself would make more sense for the movie's content.

Haunted Mansion Sequel Potential

Haunted Mansion's struggles out of the gate don't bode well for a potential second movie, but things could change after this weekend. Elemental recovered from a rough opening to become a surprising box office hit for Pixar, and there's no reason Haunted Mansion couldn't do the same. It could also find big success with home sales or on Disney+. There are paths forward for the potential franchise beyond the box office.

Haunted Mansion director Justin Simien told ComicBook.com's Brandon Davis that there are absolutely ways a sequel can work, and that the film itself leaves the door open for the possibilities.

"It definitely leaves a door open for more and for other spaces where, you know, ghosts might materialize," Simien explained.

Haunted Mansion Cast

LaKeith Stanfield leads and all-star Haunted Mansion cast that also includes Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jared Leto, Winona Ryder, Hasan Minhaj, and Dan Levy amongst others. Simien directed the film from a script written by Kate Dippold.

Did you see Haunted Mansion in theaters? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!

Earlier this week, Sony announced an updated list of their release schedule, which saw some major films getting pushed back. There were also a couple of movies on the list that have been removed from the schedule altogether, including the Blumhouse movie, They Live. Originally, the film was supposed to be released next month but was recently delayed until August 2, 2024. Now, the film is listed as "TBC" on Sony's line-up.

Blumhouse's They Listen is set to star John Cho and Katherine Waterston and will be directed by Chris Weitz, who is best known for helming About a Boy, The Golden Compass, and The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The film will also feature Riki Lindhome, Lukita Maxwell, and Greg Hill. The film marks the eleventh collaboration between Cho and Weitz who originally worked together on American Pie. For now, the plot of They Listen is unknown. Jason Blum, Weitz, and Andrew Miano are producing the project while Bea Sequeira, Dan Balgoyen, Britta Rowings, and Paul Davis are serving as executive producers.

When Is Bluhouse Merging With Atomic Monster?

Last year, it was announced that Blumhouse would be merging with James Wan's Atomic Monster.

"I don't have one idea to turn into a horror movie," Jason Blum told The New York Times. "Not one. I built a business by recognizing great ideas from other people." Wan added, "I have so many ideas - so many ideas - more than I can handle by myself...It really allows me a bigger canvas to paint on, if you will. Universal is very supportive of filmmakers and brilliant at marketing. To have partners that trust you, that believe in you, that goes a long way." The outlet added that Wan has ambitions to expand their partnership beyond horror films and extend into horror video games plus "podcasts, live events and perhaps merchandise."

Last month, Blum told The Wrap the merger was "dangerously close" to closing.

Sony's New Release Schedule:

• Gran Turismo (Columbia Pictures) - August 25, 2023
• Untitled Bad Boys Sequel (Columbia Pictures) - June 14, 2024
• Untitled Venom Sequel (Columbia Pictures) - July 12, 2024
• Madame Web (Columbia Pictures) - February 14, 2024
  
• Untitled Ghostbusters Sequel (Columbia Pictures) - March 29, 2024
• Kraven the Hunter (Columbia Pictures) - August 30, 2024
• Karate Kid (Columbia Pictures) - December 13, 2024
  
• Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation) - TBC
• They Listen (Columbia Pictures/Blumhouse) - TBC
  

How do you feel about these release date shifts? Tell us in the comments!