Daisy Ridley has signed on to star in We Bury the Dead, a survival thriller being directed by 1922’s Zak Hilditch

Star Wars sequel trilogy star Daisy Ridley is set to return to the Star Wars universe for another film that is meant to launch “the next chapter” of the franchise – but before she picks up Rey’s lightsaber again, Deadline reports that Ridley will be starring in We Bury the Dead, a survival thriller from Zak Hilditch, the director of the Stephen King adaptation 1922 (which featured an incredible performance from star Thomas Jane).

Scripted by Hilditch, We Bury the Dead is said to be “a story about grief, loss, and the undead.” Ridley will be taking on the role of Ava, a desperate woman whose husband is missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. Hoping to find him alive, Ava joins a “body retrieval unit,” but her search takes a chilling turn when the corpses she’s burying start showing signs of life.

The project has been fully financed by Screen Australia, Screenwest, Lotterywest, the WA Regional Screen Fund, and Gramercy Park Media. It will comply with the terms of the MEAA / SAG-AFTRA agreement as part of Global Rule One, and therefore will be able to begin filming in Western Australia in February of 2024, whether or not the Screen Actors Guild strike has come to an end by then.

We Bury the Dead is being produced by Kelvin Munro and Grant Sputore of The Penguin Empire, as well as Ross Dinerstein of Campfire Studios and Joshua Harris and Mark Fasano of Gramercy Park Media. Nathan Klingher and Ford Corbett are executive producing.

Australian distribution has already been secured with Umbrella Entertainment. Neon and UTA Independent Film Group will be handling international and domestic sales at the American Film Market.

Sputore provided the following statement: “We’re thrilled to join forces with Zak and Campfire on this project. Zak is uniquely gifted when it comes to making movies that are just as moving as they are terrifying. Bringing one of his projects to our home state of Western Australia is especially exciting.“

Dinerstein added: “Zak is an immensely talented storyteller, and we’re ecstatic to reteam for our third feature together. With the brilliant Daisy Ridley onboard and Zak’s spectacularly unnerving and poignant script, we can’t wait to dig into production and bring this film to audiences.“

And Hilditch had this to say: “Having Daisy play the role of Ava is an absolute dream come true. She embodies the perfect mix of vulnerability, grit, and determination that Ava exudes throughout the film.“

Does We Bury the Dead sound interesting to you? What do you think of Daisy Ridley starring in a story of the undead? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

J.J. Abrams’ Constantine TV series has been officially scrapped, but development got further ahead than you might have thought.

It was announced several years ago that J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions was developing a new Constantine TV series for Max, but a recent report from Variety confirms that the project has officially been scrapped. I know, not exactly a surprise, but the series got further ahead than you might have thought.

According to the report, the Constantine TV series was far enough along that they were already in talks with an actor to play the leading role before it was scrapped. There had been rumours that Sope Dirisu (Gangs of London) was being eyed to play Constantine, but nothing was ever confirmed. The series would have been set in contemporary London, and four scripts had been written.

While we might not see Constantine on the small screen, Keanu Reeves is still slated to return for the long-belated Constantine sequel. Francis Lawrence will also return to direct the sequel, which is aiming for an R-rating this time around. The WGA strike obviously brought the project to a halt, but Lawrence recently confirmed that it’s back in the works now that the strike has concluded.

“So Constantine 2 got obviously held up by the writers’ strike. And we had to jump through a bunch of hurdles to get control of the character again, because other people had control of the Vertigo stuff,” Lawrence said. “We have control. Keanu and Akiva Goldsman and I have been in meetings and have been hashing out what we think the story is going to be, and there’s more meetings of those that have to happen–the script has to be written–but really hoping that we get to do Constantine 2, and make a real rated R version of it.“

Should Constantine 2 move forward, it likely won’t be part of the new DC Universe being cooked up by James Gunn and Peter Safran, but would fall into the DC Elseworlds banner occupied by Joker: Folie à Deux and The Batman Part II.

Warner Bros’ upcoming Salem’s Lot remake could debut on Max instead of theaters after being delayed for over a year.

It’s been well over a year since Warner Bros. removed the Salem’s Lot remake from its schedule, leaving fans wondering just when the movie will get released. According to Variety, the studio is considering releasing Salem’s Lot on Max rather than in theaters.

Variety’s report reads: “A source with knowledge of the back-and-forth says the move is not a reflection of the film’s quality but is due to the fact that the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike has created a growing need for Max content. ‘Salem’s Lot’ is one of a few Warner Bros. films deemed to make the jump.” In response, a Warner Bros. spokesperson said, “No Decision has been made about the film’s future distribution plans.” If the studio really does decide to release Salem’s Lot on Max, I can only hope that it might see a theatrical release as well; it’s a movie I was really looking forward to seeing on the big screen.

The Salem’s Lot remake was written and directed by Gary Dauberman (Annabelle Comes Home) and stars Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick) as Ben Mears, an author haunted by an incident from his childhood who returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book, only to discover that the town is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire and his loyal servant. In addition to Pullman, the film also stars Makenzie Leigh (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk), Alfre Woodard (The Gray Man), William Sadler (The Mist), Bill Camp (Joker), and Pilou Asbæk (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom).

Lewis Pullman teased late last year that the Salem’s Lot remake will be very faithful to the Stephen King novel. “Gary Dauberman, the director, is really keen on doing justice to the book,” Pullman said. “But also, the previous adaptation was a two-parter, because it’s such a hefty book and there are so many different moving parts and so many characters. So there are some parts where Gary had to press and find what was really at the heart of the movie to keep in, but for the most part, he’s really true to the book and keeping a lot of the original dialogue in there. He’s a Stephen King hound dog so he doesn’t wanna do Stephen dirty.“

Salem’s Lot was originally slated to be released on September 9, 2022 before being pushed to April 21, 2023 “due to Covid-related delays in the post-production realm.” Warner Bros. then took the film off the schedule entirely, giving the date to Evil Dead Rise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s becomes the most-watched movie on the Peacock streaming service in its first five days of release.

Blumhouse and Universal Pictures’ Five Nights at Freddy’s has been setting a few box-office records following its debut last week, but it also broke a big record on the Peacock streaming service.

The streaming service announced today that Five Nights at Freddy’s has become the most-watched film or series on Peacock in its first five days, breaking previous records held by Halloween Ends, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Bel-Air, and The Best Man: The Final Chapters.

Based on the popular video-game franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s follows Mike (Josh Hutcherson), “a troubled young man caring for his 10-year-old sister Abby (Piper Rubio), and haunted by the unsolved disappearance of his younger brother more than a decade before. Recently fired and desperate for work so that he can keep custody of Abby, Mike agrees to take a position as a night security guard at an abandoned theme restaurant: Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. But Mike soon discovers that nothing at Freddy’s is what it seems. With the aid of Vanessa, a local police officer (Elizabeth Lail), Mike’s nights at Freddy’s will lead him into unexplainable encounters with the supernatural and drag him into the black heart of an unspeakable nightmare.“

The film had one hell of a box-office opening, grossing $132.7 million globally, which places it behind only The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the second biggest opening weekend of all time for a film based on a video game. It also represents the biggest opening weekend for a horror film directed by a woman (Emma Tammi).

It’s interesting to note that Five Nights at Freddy’s has quite the gap between the opinions of critics and the audience, with the film sitting at 28% on Rotten Tomatoes but with an audience score of 89%. Our own Tyler Nichols wasn’t a big fan, although he admits that he doesn’t have a connection with the video game franchise. “I’m sure there are going to be a lot of young people that enjoy Five Nights at Freddy’s and finally seeing these characters up on the big screen,” Nichols wrote. “But as someone with no connection to the games and a desire for some kind of narrative that makes sense, this just wasn’t for me. It fails to scare, fails to entertain, and fails to set up an interesting world. One night at Freddy’s was more than enough.” You can check out the rest of Nichols’ review right here.

Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy confirms that Logan is still canon, addressing fan concern that the movie could be ignored.

Hugh Jackman had played Wolverine for nearly twenty years when he finally hung up the claws with Logan. The James Mangold movie was a fitting conclusion for the character, but just a few years later, Ryan Reynolds convinced Hugh Jackman to return to his famous role for Deadpool 3. However, there was concern among fans that Jackman’s appearance in Deadpool 3 could mean that the events of Logan would be ignored or changed, but director Shawn Levy has said that won’t be the case.

“I have always said that I can’t wait for Deadpool 3 to come out because all I want to do is give interviews alongside Ryan where we talk about our reverence for the movie Logan,” Shawn Levy told BroBible’s Post Credit Podcast. “Logan is canon. We love Logan. That happened. I want the world to know, as the producer and director, all of us share a deep love and respect for Logan, every aspect of how it’s crafted, and all the events that take place.“

Logan director James Mangold said earlier this year that he’s “thrilled” Hugh Jackman is playing the character again. “Whether one way or another, I knew Logan wouldn’t be the last time we see a Wolverine movie,” Mangold said. “We had our moment to kind of let that movie play and I’m really moved by how much that picture lives in people’s memories. You can’t put a moratorium on characters.”

In addition to Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, the upcoming sequel will see the return of Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Shioli Kutsuna as Yukio, Stefan Kapičić as the voice of Colossus, and Rob Delaney as Peter. Deadpool 3 will also star Emma Corrin, who is expected to play the villain, and Matthew Macfadyen in an undisclosed role.

The biggest addition to the Deadpool 3 cast is Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, who finally broke down after being pestered by Ryan Reynolds for so many years. Reynolds said that the sequel will present a new challenge for Jackman. “I think [Jackman] was excited and what we pitched him was enough of a divergence from the character that he knows and the character that he’s left behind,” Reynolds said, “that it gives him something completely new to play and something that he’s really excited to do.” Clearly, all that pestering paid off. “I mean, I never stopped,” Reynolds said. “I was just pestering him like a gnat over the last many years. I actually just think… I believe in timing … and I think he was ready.“

Deadpool 3 was slated for a May 3, 2024 release, but with production currently on pause due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, it has been pulled off the schedule.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 director Rhys Frake-Waterfield revealed that the larger budget has allowed for more than 30 kills

Made on a budget of less than $100,000, director Rhys Frake-Waterfield’s movie Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey (watch it HERE) earned more than $6 million during its global release earlier this year. Frake-Waterfield is now in the midst of working on a sequel that has a substantially larger budget (more than ten times the budget of the first movie, in fact) – and during a conversation with Variety, the filmmaker revealed that the larger budget has enabled him to pack more than thirty kills into this follow-up!

A.A. Milne’s 1926 children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh and the characters in it lapsed into the public domain at the start of last year, and that’s how Frake-Waterfield was able to make these movies happen, no permission required. In the build-up to the release of the first movie, the filmmaker explained to Variety that Pooh and Piglet (go) on a rampage after being abandoned by a college-bound Christopher Robin. “Christopher Robin is pulled away from them, and he’s not [given] them food, it’s made Pooh and Piglet’s life quite difficult. Because they’ve had to fend for themselves so much, they’ve essentially become feral. So they’ve gone back to their animal roots. They’re no longer tame: they’re like a vicious bear and pig who want to go around and try and find prey.”

Frake-Waterfield said, “In comparison to the first film everything’s stepped up massively. It’s a horror film. A lot of the times people are going there for the death scenes and for those elements and we’ve really upped the ante. I think the last time I did a count there was over 30 deaths in the movie, which is quite substantial compared to most movies. I think that’s at least over three times what the first film had and there’s various massacres and stuff. So there’s a lot of blood and a lot of gore.“

While Winnie used whatever weapons he could get his hands on in the first movie, in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 he’ll have a signature weapon: a bear trap. One murder sequence Frake-Waterfield is really looking forward to letting the audience see involves Winnie and Owl going after a group of girls in a motor home.

The higher budget also allowed for a redesign of the Winnie the Pooh costume. This time it has fur instead of being latex. Working with the fur proved to be challenging, but it sounds like the added difficulty was worth it. As the director explained, “It was very hard. Because we’ve really pushed the boat as much as we can and it was a very difficult shoot. And elements like that, like having fur on the creatures, it does add an extra level of complexity. For continuity, if you’re going in between when they’re soaked in blood and they’re not soaked in blood, it is harder for those guys to clean them off. But it actually adds a lot, especially on close ups, when you see all of fur and the dimensions to it. It doesn’t just look like latex and rubber, it makes it feel more real.“

Matt Leslie, writer/producer of Summer of 84, wrote the screenplay for the sequel, working from a story he crafted with Frake-Waterfield. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it has been said that this time “Pooh and friends will be leaving the 100 Acre Wood to take their fight to the quiet community of Ashdown“.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 is heading toward a February 14, 2024 release – and since the popular Tigger character becomes public domain in January of 2024, he is joining his pals Winnie, Piglet, and Owl in this film.

Are you looking forward to seeing the murder and mayhem of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2? Let us know by leaving a comment below.