Romeo Must Die and Doom director Andrzej Bartkowiak is set to direct the supernatural thriller The Dire Wolf

Andrzej Bartkowiak got his start in the entertainment industry working as a cinematographer, working on such films as Terms of Endearment, Prizzi’s Honor, Twins, Falling Down, Speed, Species, Dante’s Peak, The Devil’s Advocate, U.S. Marshals, Lethal Weapon 4, Thirteen Days, and Trespass. But back at the turn of the century he also got into directing, working mainly in the action genre: Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 the Grave, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Maximum Impact, Dead Reckoning. His most well-known movie, for better or worse, may be the action horror video game adaptation Doom. Now Deadline has announced that Bartkowiak is treading back into horror territory, as he has signed on to direct the supernatural thriller The Dire Wolf.

Coming our way from Steelyard Pictures, The Dire Wolf has a screenplay written by Ry Cook and is expected to start filming in New Mexico soon, aiming for a 2024 release. The story centers on Hank Whitmore, a sharp and stubborn New Mexican sheriff who aligns with the Navajo Nation when a series of supernatural events threatens his family, his town, and his way of life.

The film is being produced by Leone Marucci alongside Tetrad Studios’ Roy Scott Macfarland, Legacy Media Ventures’ Jeffrey Katz, and Randy Mendelsohn. Matthew Coates and Kenneth Heilfron serve as executive producers.

Marucci provided the following statement: “American cinema has long wrestled with our native culture’s spiritual connection to the natural world. The extinct Dire Wolf was [once] indigenous to North America. Today the wolf spirit symbolizes trust of intuition, guardianship, and the courage to walk one’s own path. We’re thrilled to enlist such a renowned filmmaker to bring The Dire Wolf to the screen.“

How does The Dire Wolf sound to you? Are you interested in seeing a new supernatural thriller from the director of the Doom movie? Share your thoughts on Andrzej Bartkowiak taking the helm of this project by leaving a comment below.

I can’t say I’ve been blown away by any of the Bartkowiak directorial efforts that I’ve seen, but I’m interested in seeing how The Dire Wolf is going to turn out.

The Exorcist: Believer is now playing in theaters, so let us know what you thought of the horror sequel in the comments!

What an excellent day for an exorcism… again. For the first time in nearly twenty years, The Exorcist franchise has returned to the big screen with The Exorcist: Believer, which is expected to be the first of a brand-new trilogy. The new film serves as a direct sequel to the 1973 original and features the return of Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil.

“Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding has raised their daughter on his own,” reads the official synopsis for The Exorcist: Believer. “But when Angela and her friend Katherine, 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, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil.” In addition to Ellen Burstyn, The Exorcist: Believer also stars Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Lidya Jewett, Olivia Marcum, and more. The film was directed by David Gordon Green, who also helmed the Halloween trilogy, from a script he co-wrote with Peter Sattler.

The sequels (and prequels) which followed the original Exorcist were fairly hit or miss, and unfortunately, The Exorcist: Believer is shaping up to be the latter. While the film is expected to have a fairly decent box-office opening, the reviews haven’t been kind. In his review, our own Chris Bumbray said that the sequel is an abysmal, dull attempt to relaunch the franchise. “It’s supposed to be the first entry in a new trilogy of Exorcist films, but the movie is so abysmal one shouldn’t hold out too much hope for a follow-up,” Bumbray wrote. “While it may have a strong box-office opening, word of mouth seems sure to be dire. The only thing that saves Exorcist: Believer from being called the worst Exorcist movie ever is the fact that this particular series has some very bad entries.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.

Universal and Blumhouse have already slated another sequel, The Exorcist: Deceiver, which is set to hit theaters on April 18, 2025, but the reception towards this one could change things. The film is currently sitting at 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, which surprisingly places it in the middle of the pack, above Exorcist II: The Heretic at 9% and Exorcist: The Beginning at 11% but behind Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist at 30%, The Exorcist III at 58%, and The Exorcist at 78%.

Let us know what you thought of The Exorcist: Believer in the comments below!

Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman says the upcoming movie will be unlike anything we’ve seen at Marvel so far.

We’ve seen the Fantastic Four on the big screen several times over the last twenty years, but fans are hopeful that the next incarnation will finally get it right now that Marvel’s first family has come home. The new Fantastic Four movie will launch Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and director Matt Shakman teased the project while speaking with Collider.

“It’s different in so many ways,” Matt Shakman said. “I wish I could be specific. I wish I could say more. But we are doing things very differently from a story standpoint, from an approach to the filmmaking standpoint, that really fits the material. I wish I could say more. I would love to, but I can’t. But I think it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve seen before, and certainly unlike anything at Marvel that you’ve seen before.“

Now that the WGA strike has concluded, work can resume on the script, but we shouldn’t expect to hear anything regarding casting until the SAG-AFTRA strike is over, despite all the rumours. “We’re in the middle of a SAG strike, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they get a great deal really soon and we can go back,” Shakman said. “Then, once that’s resolved, there’ll be a plan at that point, but I can’t say too much. There will be an announcement at some point! I know that the internet is very excited to find out, and I’m excited to share it. I just can’t do it yet.“

As this will be the third Fantastic Four movie (or fourth if you count the unreleased ’90s movie), Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has said that they won’t simply be retelling the team’s origin. “A lot of people know this origin story,” Feige said. “A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before?” As the Fantastic Four have decades of history behind them, Feige admitted, “We’ve set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen.”

Marvel has big plans for the superhero team, with Kevin Feige saying that Fantastic Four will be a big pillar of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Fantastic Four is the foundation for everything that came after in the comics. There’s certainly been versions of it [on screen], but never inhabiting the storytelling of the MCU. And that’s something that is really exciting for us.” Feige said. “People will start to hear more about that soon. We plan on that being a big pillar of the MCU going forward, just the way they’ve been in the comics for 50 or 60 years.” Fantastic Four is scheduled for a May 2, 2025 release.

Guillermo del Toro reveals that Christoph Waltz has joined the cast of his long-awaited Frankenstein movie which starts shooting next year.

Guillermo del Toro has wanted to direct an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for decades, and at long last, he’s finally going to do it. It was reported earlier this year that the Frankenstein movie is set to star Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield, and Mia Goth, but while speaking with Collider at the 10th anniversary IMAX 3D screening of Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro dropped one more name: Christoph Waltz.

“I’m doing Frankenstein,” Guillermo del Toro said. “We’re working on it. We start shooting in February, and it’s a movie I have been wanting to do for 50 years since I saw the first Frankenstein. I had an epiphany, and it’s basically a movie that required a lot of growth and a lot of tools that I couldn’t have done 10-20 years ago. Now I’m brave or crazy enough or something, and we’re gonna tackle it. It’s Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield, Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth, and we’re working on it.“

Christoph Waltz has worked with Guillermo del Toro before, lending his voice to Count Volpe in the director’s stop-motion animated Pinocchio movie. Speaking of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, the film is set to receive a lovely 4K release courtesy of the Criterion Collection on December 12th.

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There’s no word on who Christoph Waltz would play in the Frankenstein movie; perhaps a Doctor Pretorius type of character?

The project was once set up at Universal over a decade ago with Doug Jones set to play Frankenstein’s monster, and the director said that it would be the most personal film he’d ever make. “I’m being very faithful to trying to encompass the whole narrative of the novel,” del Toro said at the time. “I’m being very faithful in that I’m trying to capture the spirit of the novel, when I read it as a kid, and how it impacted me. I recognize that it’s both biography and prophecy about my life. It’s a very personal film. In many ways it’s the most personal film I’ll ever make, because my connection with the creature is very profound and deep and I don’t think there’s any other monster that has affected me as much.“