Denis Villeneuve will be making Nuclear War: A Scenario before he returns to the Dune franchise, but he is writing Dune Messiah right now
Before receiving a digital release last week, Dune: Part Two racked up nearly $700 million at the worldwide box office, paving the way for the third Dune film that writer/director Denis Villeneuve and stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya all expressed interest in making during the build-up to the second movie’s release. While the first two Dune movies were both based on the story told in Frank Herbert’s novel Dune, the third movie would move on to different source material: Dune Messiah, the second book in Herbert’s series. During an interview with The New York Times, Villeneuve confirmed that he’s writing Dune Messiah right now!
Villeneuve said, “That anger (felt by Zendaya’s character at the end of Part Two) is tremendous. I don’t want to reveal what I’m going to do with the third movie. I know exactly what to do. I’m writing it right now. But there’s a lot of firepower there, and I’m very excited about that decision.“
The novel Dune Messiah has the following description: Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known-and feared-as the man christened Muad’Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne-and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence. And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family’s dynasty.
Chalamet and Zendaya play Paul Atreides and Chani in these movies.
Villeneuve has previously said that he won’t make Dune Messiah unless he can make sure that it will be even better than Dune: Part Two. He’ll have a little while to work on the script, because he’s expected to direct the film Nuclear War: A Scenario for the Dune producers at Legendary before he returns to the world of Paul Atreides.
Are you glad to hear that Dune Messiah is already being written? Share your thoughts on this franchise by leaving a comment below.
Also in the works is a TV series spin-off called Dune Prophecy.
About the Author
Cody is a news editor and film critic, focused on the horror arm of JoBlo.com, and writes scripts for videos that are released through the JoBlo Originals and JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channels. In his spare time, he’s a globe-trotting digital nomad, runs a personal blog called Life Between Frames, and writes novels and screenplays.
Matilda Firth has joined Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, and Sam Jaeger in the Wolf Man reboot from Blumhouse and Leigh Whannell
A while back, Blumhouse sent out a casting call in search of the right young actor to fill the role of a 10-year-old female character named Ginger in the Wolf Man reboot they’re making for Universal Pictures with The Invisible Man (2020) director Leigh Whannell. Now it looks like we know who’ll be playing Ginger, as Deadline reports that child actress Matilda Firth has been added to the cast of Wolf Man.
Firth’s previous credits include Hullraisers, Christmas Carole, and Typist Artist Pirate King. Ginger was described as being “Female, 10 years old, white. Blake and Charlotte’s daughter. Smart, precocious, and strong. When her family decides to leave the city for a quieter life in a remote area, she faces her biggest fear, the possibility of losing one or both of her parents forever.”
The leads of the film are Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom were in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene. Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Garner must be playing his wife, because her character is described as being a mother whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Sam Jaeger is also in the cast.
When Wolf Man was first announced in 2020, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and in fact, it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. (Blum also happens to be married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.) At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.
Whannell first signed on to direct the film in 2020, but dropped out the following year. That’s when Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Gosling and Cianfrance both stepped away from Wolf Man early last year… and then Whannell came back.
A collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, Wolf Man is being produced by Jason Blum. Gosling receives an executive producer credit alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell.
Wolf Man is scheduled to reach theatres on January 17, 2025. A teaser was recently shown at the CinemaCon event, and was said to open with “Christopher Abbott’s character and his daughter talking, with the daughter asking about death and how ‘everybody dies eventually.‘ We see clips of people running, Julia Garner looking terrified, a bloody arm, and an intense scream from Abbott as he (possibly) becomes the Wolf Man.”
Are you looking forward to Wolf Man? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
A spinoff set in The Office universe casts Ex Machina star Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore to lead the comedic project.
Greg Daniels and Michael Koman could return to The Officeuniverse, with Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus) as cast members of the proposed spinoff. Gleeson and Inpacciatore would be part of an ensemble for the project, which Deadline says is close to entering production. Plot details about The Office spinoff remain a mystery.
We know only a little about the project beyond its setting in The Office universe. Daniels wants fans to know it’s not a reboot, even though it takes place in the same arena as the Steve Carell-led mockumentary series focusing on the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company employees. Daniels says the new show could feature a camera crew doing a documentary about a subject outside the day-to-day lives of office workers surviving the daily grind and their toxic boss.
Domhnall Gleeson launched his acting career in 2001 as a character named Byrne in an episode of Rebel Heart. Several years later, he landed the minor role of Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter film series. He appeared in films like Dredd, Anna Karenina, and Frank before starring alongside Oscar Isaac in Alex Garland’s Ex Machina. His unforgettable role in Garland’s film led to more starring roles in the Star Wars universe, the Peter Rabbit film series, and other exciting projects like The Patient, White House Plumbers, and more.
Impacciatore is known for her role as hotel manager Valentina in the second season of HBO’s The White Lotus. For this role, she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She recently completed work for Julian Schnabel’s In the Hand of Dante, a crime drama following the dark and violent path of a man who plunges into a metaphorical hell until he reaches paradise in search of his forbidden and impossible love. Schnabel’s film stars Gerard Butler, Martin Scorsese, Al Pacino, Jason Momoa, John Malkovich, Gal Gadot, and Franco Nero.
What do you think about Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore leading a spinoff of The Office? Are you a fan of the series starring Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, and Jenna Fischer? Let us know in the comments section below.
About the Author
Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.
The Black Sheep looks back at the 2007 sequel-to-a-remake The Hills Have Eyes 2, co-written and produced by Wes Craven
The Hills Have Eyes 2. No, not that one. That’s The Hills Have Eyes PART 2 and has one of the greatest things ever filmed where a dog, an actual dog, has a flashback and its just, muah, chef’s kiss. While I actually think that original 1985 sequel is way too much fun for its own good – it was written and directed by Craven, brings back Michael Berryman, has Harry Manfredini give us the score, and oh yeah, has a dog flashback. A DOG, FLASHBACK – I’m not here to talk about that one that is probably so bad it’s good. I’m here to discuss the true black sheep of this inbred mountain family and give you all a look at the movie that is not a remake of the sequel but rather a sequel to the remake. The Hills Have Eyes 2 (watch it HERE) is a slept-on piece of mid 2000s horror that should be viewed with the others instead of living in its outcasted cave where it currently resides.
A couple months ago, Lance took a look at the Alexandre Aja directed remake of The Hills Have Eyes from 2006. That is a nasty piece of work that is uncompromising, mean, and at times a very uncomfortable watch. It is by far and away the best remake of Craven’s films and is the feather in the cap of the director who has a ton of great watches under his belt. It got me thinking about this long lost to time sequel that I remember watching on video and thinking meh, but it did pretty decently in theaters making almost 38 million on its 15-million-dollar budget. It brought back Cravens, both Wes and son Jonathan, to write it and it kiiiiiiiiiiiiiind of relates to that original sequel that is now almost 40 years old.
In that original sequel, Ruby, who is a survivor of the first film and turncoat mutant ends up back in the desert to face off against more hills that have more eyes. That’s a dumb joke but if IMDB is to be believed, and who are we to question it, the original title of today’s movie was supposed to be The Hills Have Eyes 2: The Hills Still Have Eyes. That is almost as stupendously dumb as the dog flashback. What was part 3 supposed to be? 3 eyes, 3 hillz with a z? I’d accept it. Annnnnnnyway, the movie originally involved a survivor of Aja’s movie, the character Brenda being so messed up from her ordeal that she joins the National Guard to sort out her problems. The actress, Emilie de Ravin, was actually in for it but was on mega hit confusion fest LOST on TV and couldn’t fit it into her schedule. Craven kept the bones of the story and just had a National Guard team go into the titular hills on a mission.
The director is Martin Weisz who was chosen after original director M.J. Bassett was unavailable. If you haven’t seen Bassett’s 2002 movie Deathwatch, go give it a look. Weisz is primarily a music video director with only two other films to his name, including one that is a grim watch in, well, Grimm Love starring Keri Russell. The other writer besides Wes, Jonathan, the other Craven meat, is along the same lines as the director with only some music videos that he helmed even if he did write a few episodes of the Freddy TV show and the way too stupid to be bad Mind Ripper.
The acting is mostly full of solid THAT GUY actors so we will focus on the 3 main characters. Missy is played by Daniella Alonso and in addition to headlining Wrong Turn 2 the same year as this, she has also been in The Collector for us horror fans. Apart from the genre we love, she also has done a ton of TV including 64 episodes of Dynasty. Jessica Stroup plays Amber who is a stand in character for what would have been the returning actor and character. On the horror side, she would show up in both the remake of Prom Night on the big screen and True Blood on the small screen. Finally, we have Michael McMillian as unlikely hero Napoleon. McMillan has this as his only horror movie but was a major character on True Blood and has done a lot of other TV too.
So. Why do I like this movie. Well, it does feel like it was written by a teenager as all of the National Guard soldiers have sweet nicknames like Stump, Crank, Barbie, and Sarge and there is plenty of colorful language and bloody violence. Colorful language and bloody violence are two of our main food groups in the pyramid here at JoBlo so that lends itself wonderfully to us. The movie opens with a fun piece of trickery as Sector 16 is the former nuclear testing area that we saw in the first movie. We see a few scientists and a military commander get absolutely jobbed but it does a few things right. There is plenty of gore, but we don’t really see what is attacking the poor dudes. In fact, whether for budgetary reasons or a conscious choice to maintain the mutant mystery, we don’t see the radiated cannibal family for much of the runtime. Some things here and there, sure but a lot of quick cuts and near misses. When you do get to see them, it is much more impactful than it could have been.
Speaking of the mutant baddies, there is a logical progression and more than just a copy paste job that they could have gone for. While there is the giant leader who has more hit points than most final bosses in video games and the harmless one trying to help the heroes, there are also a few other cool ones. The one who dresses up in military garb, the chameleon one who can blend into the walls and ground due to his own specific mutation, and one just called Stabber who, well, you get it. The gore and gross factor go all in too. From the rather disgusting birth scene in the beginning and its thematically relevant sexual assault of Missy near the end of the movie to bayonets going into eyes and a scientist crawling out of a port-a-potty to attempt to warn them only to die from what I assume is disgust, or like sepsis I don’t know. Can you imagine though? He’s all cut up and definitely got that stuff in his wounds.
The movie’s plot is rather predictable and boiler plate unfortunately. After we see the scientists and lead military guy bite it in the beginning, we are introduced to our rag tag group who fails their training mission that is presented to us as a real-life operation. Of course, their commanding officer riles them up and tells them how ill prepared they are and of course that same leader is gunned down by friendly fire by one of the troopers who then feels guilty about it until his death. They get picked off mostly one at a time and lose most of their ammo and supplies in the process while also having no way out. One of the soldiers who is seen as the weakest and least prepared, becomes the hero that they didn’t know they had amongst their ranks. This description could be a ton of different movies and has been done to death but are you really watching The Hills Have Eyes 2 for its stellar storytelling ability?
As they get dwindled down and picked off, oddly enough with two of them being shot to death and two of them dying from falling, probably due to the budget, they enter a cave system that the original soldier told them about before he takes himself off the board for good. The caves are dark, again helping with the look of some of the stuff on screen, but also look pretty good and were designed by the same team that did the caves for one of my all time favorites The Descent. They slide down some tube tunnels and use up all of their ammo while thankfully taking out a couple of the threats. Missy is kidnapped and its pretty clear that her, Amber, and Napoleon are going to be the final 3. That’s exactly what happens after some gnarly fights and an ill-timed explosion.
The final confrontation is a fun one with all three of the remaining soldiers seeking revenge for either themselves in Missy’s case or for their fallen comrades in the case of Napoleon and Amber. Papa Hades is no pushover though and is able to toss them around like a parent playing with their toddlers. He can also take quite the amount of damage due to his being a mutant and all. They are able to stab him with a pole that feels reminiscent of the American flag kill from the first movie but even that doesn’t put him down for good. The bayonet sure does the trick, however. As most horror movies, and nearly all sequels, end though, our heroes make it out of the caves only to be spotted on repurposed military equipment used by mutants in another area of the desert.
There would be no part 3 however and that’s a shame. While this movie probably isn’t going to show up on anyone’s favorite films of all time list, it could have continued the series on the direct to video market. Series like Hellraiser and Wrong Turn absolutely thrived in that arena and these films could have churned out low budget but consistently fun entries every couple years. The Hills Have Eyes 2 doesn’t belong where its critical score shelves it nor where the fans discuss it. It has a lot of fun with the premise and makes good on what you would expect to see. A good black sheep is one that defies its odds and labels to be something that makes you say “well actually…” when someone asks for a recommendation, particularly within an established series of films. Seek this one out any way you can and bask in the glory that is a schlocky sequel to one of our finest remakes.
A couple of the previous episodes of The Black Sheep can be seen at the bottom of this article. To see more, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga has a 15-minute action sequence that took 78 days to shoot with nearly 200 stunt performers.
Mad Max: Fury Road was a symphony of well-choreographed, thrilling action, but Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will hopefully give it a run for its money. I have faith that director George Miller will deliver the action goods, but if you need a tease, Miller’s producing partner Doug Mitchell told Total Film that Furiosa has a 15-minute action sequence, which took almost three months to shoot.
Mitchel teased that Furiosa “has one 15-minute sequence which took us 78 days to shoot,” with nearly 200 stunt people working on it each and every day. The sequence was known as Stairway to Nowhere during production and is said to mark a turning point for Furiosa.
Furiosa star Anya Taylor-Joy added, “George and I would have these big conversations about why this particular set-piece was so long. It’s because you see an accumulation of skills over the course of a battle, and that’s very important for understanding how resourceful Furiosa is, but also her grit. It’s the longest sequence any of us have ever shot. On the day we finished, everybody got a ‘Stairway To Nowhere’ wine!“
A six-minute sneak peek of Furiosa was recently screened at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, which our own Chris Bumbray attended, and it sounded pretty epic.
In addition to Taylor-Joy as Furiosa, Chris Hemsworth also stars as biker warlord Dementus, and it was a role that he’s called the best experience of his career. “I came into that film exhausted. I thought, ‘How am I going to get through this?’” Hemsworth said. “Week one of rehearsals with [Miller], all of a sudden it was this reigniting of my creative energy.” The actor said the production of Furiosa was “by far the best experience of my career, and something I feel the most proud of. It made me think, the work isn’t what’s exhausting it’s what kind of work it is, and how invested I am in it and if it is challenging in the right way.”
The official synopsis for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: “As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland they come across the Citadel presided over by the Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.“
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will hit theaters on May 24th.
Abigail battles Civil War for the #1 spot at the weekend box office.
Last Updated on April 22, 2024
Update: As we enter the weekend, Radio Silence’s Abigail is duking it out for the #1 box office spot with Alex Garland’s Civil War, with both films currently projected to take $11M+ this weekend. Who will walk away with the #1 spot? We’ll soon find out.
Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare will likely take the #3 spot, with the WWII period action film expected to take in somewhere between $9M-$11M. Taking the #4 spot, we’ve got Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which will finish its fourth weekend at the box office with $8.5M, bringing its domestic total to $170.66M.
— Original article follows —
Radio Silence’s Abigail is pirouetting atop the Thursday box office by taking a bite out of $1M in tickets sold. Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare earned $1.45M, which includes nearly $600K in advanced screenings from last weekend. Meanwhile, Spy x Family Code: White embarked on its silver screen mission with $670K from shows beginning at 4 PM.
It’s too early to tell if Abigail will plie around Alex Garland’s Civil War, which enters its second weekend. Analysts expect Abigail and Civil War to walk away from the weekend with $12M+ apiece after Civil War led the charge for Thursday films in regular releases with $1.6M. Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare started its Thursday previews at 6 PM. Abigail began her previews at 5 PM in 2,800 last night and will expand to 3,384 locations today.
Early buzz around Abigail suggests that the Radio Silence horror film is Ready or Not meets Dracula, which sounds like a winning combination. Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Abigail stars Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Giancarlo Esposito, and Matthew Goode. The film focuses on a group of criminals who kidnap the ballerina daughter of an influential underworld figure; they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they’re locked inside with no ordinary little girl.
Meanwhile, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire screened at 3,847 markets and saw a third Thursday of $893K, -3% from Wednesday for a week of $19.7M and a running total of $162.1M. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire still haunts 3,350 cinemas with $7.3M in its third week. Kung Fu Panda 4 is still kicking on 3,104 screens in its sixth week with an estimated $7.2M. Finally, Dune: Part Two plays on 2,401 screens in week 7 with $5.9M.
If you’re looking for an exhilarating animated film this weekend, check out Spy x Family Code: White! Directed by Takashi Katagiri from a screenplay by Ichirō Ōkouchi and produced by Wit Studio and CloverWorks, the film stars Loid, Yor, and Anya Forger in a hilarious and action-packed spy thriller that’s as beautifully animated as the story is engaging. Our 8 out of 10 review for Spy x Family is here!
What do you plan to see in theaters this weekend? Let us know in the comments section below.
Disney’s Space Mountain movie is still happening, as the studio has tapped Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec to pen the script.
In case you’ve forgotten (I certainly did), Disney has been developing a Space Mountain movie based on the popular theme park attraction. It’s been a while since we last heard about the project, but THR reports that the studio has tapped Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec to pen the script.
Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec are best known for writing Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but from what I understand, the Space Mountain ride doesn’t really have any memorable scenes or characters like those found in Pirates of the Caribbean, so the project could really go in any direction.
The Space Mountain movie was first announced close to four years ago, with Joby Harold (Obi-Wan Kenobi) set to write and produce. Although Harold will be passing scripting duties to Appelbaum and Nemec, he’s still attached as a producer alongside Tory Tunnell of Safehouse and Jonathan Eirich of Rideback.
The first Space Mountain attraction was introduced in Florida’s Walt Disney World Resort in 1975 and was followed by another at California’s Disneyland in 1977. More Space Mountain installations popped up in Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland. The attraction is periodically rethemed as Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain.
When it comes to other upcoming movies based on Disney attractions, we’ve got another Pirates of the Caribbean movie to look forward to, but it may happen without Johnny Depp. Franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer recently said that the project will likely be a reboot, so they don’t have to wait on a performer’s availability. “You don’t know how they come together. You just don’t know,” Bruckheimer said. “Because with Top Gun you have an actor who is iconic and brilliant. And how many movies he does before he does Top Gun, I can’t tell you. But we’re gonna reboot Pirates, so that is easier to put together because you don’t have to wait for certain actors.” There was also a female-led movie starring Margot Robbie, but that’s no longer moving forward.
Dean Winters and Lee Tergesen star in Oz short film from original creator Tom Fontana which will premiere on YouTube next month.
Before The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Six Feet Under, The Wire, or any of the other popular HBO shows, there was Oz. The one-hour drama chronicled the lives of the staff and inmates at the Oswald State Correctional Facility, a maximum security penitentiary home to the most violent offenders in the state. It’s been over twenty years since the series concluded, but creator Tom Fontana is back with an Oz short film starring Lee Tergesen as Tobias Beecher and Dean Winters as Ryan O’Reily.
Titled Zo, the short film actually premiered at the ATX Festival in 2021, but few people were able to see it. Thankfully, Zo will premiere on YouTube on May 1st, giving fans around the world the chance to finally see it. According to Kirk Acevado, who starred in Oz as Miguel Alvarez, it could even lead to a sequel series if the short film gets enough buzz.
I’m sure you guys all remember a show I did on @HBO called OZ…
Well my good friend Tom Fontana who created OZ and many other prolific TV shows made a short film about OZ after prison. It will premiere on YouTube starring Dean Winters and Lee Tergesen!
Oz is one of my favourite TV shows of all time. I probably re-watch it once a year, so the thought of a potential sequel series is very intriguing. Will it happen? Who knows, but I’m excited for the chance to reconnect with Tobias and Ryan at least one more time with this short film.
Over the course of six seasons, Oz featured one of the best ensemble casts on television. In addition to those I’ve already mentioned, you had Ernie Hudson, Harold Perrineau, J.K. Simmons, Edie Falco, Christopher Meloni, Eamonn Walker, Rita Moreno, Terry Kinney, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, BD Wong, Mark Margolis, Luis Guzmán, Lance Reddick, Reg R. Cathey, Luke Perry, and so many more. The series also pushed the envelope in ways that had never been seen on television before, with full-frontal nudity, frequent coarse language, and gruesome violence. It’s a rough series, but still one of HBO’s absolute best, even two decades later.
Kevin Durand teases Proximus Caesar, the “narcissistic” villain he plays in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Set almost 300 years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will introduce an entirely new world of characters, including Proximus Caesar, the latest villain of the long-running franchise.
Kevin Durand, who plays Proximus Caesar, spoke with GamesRadar about his character, and while he admits that “he’s the baddie,” he doesn’t want to describe him as an out-right villain. “It’s coming down to, you know, homosapiens or apes and obviously he’s on the side of the apes, so he’s willing to do whatever needs to happen, by any means necessary, to ensure a future for apekind,” Durand said. “From the perspective of the narrative, he’s definitely the baddie but yeah, when you watch the movie, you’re like, ‘Well, was he really that bad?’ I mean, he’s definitely narcissistic, but, you know, he’s just trying to ensure that his kind will go on.“
Getting to perform motion capture was a thrill for Durand. “It was incredible,” he said. “I mean, every movement, every expression came from the performance but they just have this wizardry going on over at Weta in New Zealand where they can really trick the human eye into seeing what they want you to see. It’s pretty phenomenal to get to be a part of that, it was definitely a great highlight in my career.“
Our own Chris Bumbray recently caught an extended preview of the movie at CinemaCon in Las Vegas and was impressed, calling the footage “pretty jaw-dropping” and a worthy continuation of the modern trilogy.
Directed by Wes Ball, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes “breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.” Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will hit theaters on May 10th.
Kevin Durand can currently be seen starring in Abigail, the new vampire horror/comedy from Scream directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. You can check out a review from our own Michael Conway right here.
We have compiled a list of everything we know about 28 Years Later, a trilogy of sequels to Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s 28 Days Later.
Fans of 28 Days Later and its follow-up 28 Weeks Later have been waiting seventeen years for another entry in the franchise, hoping we’d someday see a movie called 28 Months Later. We’re not getting that one, but 28 Days Later director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland are currently working on reviving the franchise, and they’re going to make this revival worth the wait. Not only are we getting a new movie called 28 Years Later, we’re actually getting a whole trilogy of sequels! Compiled below is everything we know about this 28 Years Later sequel trilogy.
LONG IN THE WORKS
Way back in 2009, we heard that Paul Andrew Williams (The Cottage) was on board to direct 28 Months Later… but that project didn’t make it into production. Since then, we’ve heard Boyle and Garland mention 28 Months Later every once in a while. They would say there was a great idea for the sequel, then later say it might never happen. In a 2022 interview, Boyle said Garland had already written the script, and it might finally be the time to make it into a movie. In the middle of 2023, the collaborators confirmed to Inverse that they were having serious talks about the sequel, which they were calling 28 Years Later. Garland said, “A few years ago an idea materialized in my head for what would be really 28 Years Later. Danny always liked the idea.“ Boyle added, “So we’re talking about it quite seriously, quite diligently. If he doesn’t want to direct it himself I’ll be well up for it if we can execute a similarly good idea.“
28 Weeks Later wasn’t as successful as its predecessor, making $65.8 million on a budget of $15 million vs. 28 Days Later‘s $84.6 million on a budget of $8 million. That’s part of the reason why another sequel hasn’t happened sooner – along with the fact that Garland wasn’t overly pleased with 28 Weeks Later, which he didn’t write. Garland told Inverse, “I resisted [making a sequel] for a long time because there were things about 28 Weeks that bugged me. I just thought, ‘F*ck that. I’d rather try to write a different story in a different world.’“ Now he’s ready to write not just one but three new stories in the 28 Days Later world.
DIRECTORS
Alex Garland is expected to write the scripts for all three of the 28 Years Later movies, but apparently didn’t want to direct them. Danny Boyle will only be directing the first one. For the second film, possibly titled 28 Years Later Part 2, he’ll be passing the helm over to Candyman and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta. Production on DaCosta’s sequel will begin immediately after Boyle wraps filming on his. They wanted to have the sequel director signed on before filming on the first movie begins, as they want to “make sure each director is on the same page in regard to the story while also having time to bring their own vision to life.”
CILLIAN MURPHY
In 28 Days Later, Cillian Murphy played bicycle courier Jim, who wakes up from a coma to find himself in an apocalyptic England that’s overrun by people who have been infected by a rage virus. Boyle and Garland went through several endings for the film before landing on the one movie-goers saw in theatres – and that ending was the only one where Jim survived. So he’s still out there, ready to live through another rage virus nightmare 28 years later. If Boyle and Garland decide to put him in the story.
While doing the press rounds for Oppenheimer last year, Murphy told Collider, “I was talking to Danny Boyle recently, and I said, ‘Danny, we shot the movie at the end of 2000.’ So I think we’re definitely approaching the 28 Years Later. But like I’ve always said, I’m up for it. I’d love to do it. If Alex [Garland] thinks there’s a script in it and Danny wants to do it, I’d love to do it.“ Despite the fact that Murphy is willing to reprise the role of Jim and is on board 28 Years Later as an executive producer, we still haven’t heard confirmation that he’ll actually be in the movie. While talking to Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast a couple months ago, Murphy said (with thanks to Coming Soon for the transcription), “It’s for (Danny Boyle and Alex Garland) to speak about, I suppose, but I think it’s been brewing for a while. The first movie was so important for me, as an actor. I love working with those guys. Alex has an idea. And Danny directing is just huge. Watch this space.”
CAST
While we wait to hear for sure if Cillian Murphy is or isn’t in the movie, other casting rumors have been floating around. According to industry scooper Daniel Richtman, Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) and Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) are in talks to play the lead roles. Details on the characters they might be playing are, of course, being kept under wraps.
DISTRIBUTION
There was a bidding war over the distribution rights to the 28 Years Later trilogy, with Warner Bros. and Sony emerging as the final competitors – and Sony taking the win in the end. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Each movie will have a budget in the $60 million range but it’s unclear how goalposts or compensation may have changed during the high-stakes negotiations. A theatrical release was of great import to the filmmakers.” Sony had an edge in this race due to the fact that it’s headed up by Tom Rothman, who used to be at Fox and worked with Boyle on eight different movies there. Release dates have not yet been announced.
Boyle and Garland are producing 28 Years Later with Bernie Bellew, original producer Andrew Macdonald, and Peter Rice, who was the head of Fox Searchlight Pictures when that company backed 28 Days Later. As mentioned, Murphy is executive producing.
And that’s everything we know about the 28 Years Later trilogy at this point. Are you looking forward to these films? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
