The Lost Boys: A New Musical, inspired by the 1987 vampire movie and produced by Patrick Wilson, is coming to Broadway in 2026
At the end of 2023, it was announced that Patrick Wilson, who has starred in the likes of three Conjuring movies and three Insidious movies (one of which he directed), is producing a stage musical adaptation of Joel Schumacher’s 1987 vampire classic The Lost Boys (watch it HERE). There was an industry presentation of the show in 2024, with Frozen‘s Caissie Levy, Dear Evan Hansen‘s Nathan Levy, and & Juliet‘s Lorna Courtney being cast in major roles. Now, producers James Carpinello, Marcus Chait, and Patrick Wilson have confirmed (via Deadline) that The Lost Boys: A New Musical is coming to Broadway, as it’s set for a spring 2026 debut at the Palace Theatre.
The producers have teamed up with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia writer/executive producer David Hornsby, Parade director Michael Arden, and the pop rock band The Rescues to make this stage musical happen, through a special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures. Hornsby wrote the book with Broadway actor Chris Hoch, while The Rescues provide the music and Ethan Popp (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) serves as Music Supervisor. Mark Kaufman and Lauren Shuler Donner are on board as Creative Consultants.
Scripted by Janice Fischer, Jeffrey Boam, and James Jeremias, The Lost Boys has the following synopsis: Teenage brothers Michael and Sam move with their mother to a small town in northern California. While the younger Sam meets a pair of kindred spirits in geeky comic-book nerds Edward and Alan, the angst-ridden Michael soon falls for Star — who turns out to be in thrall to David, leader of a local gang of vampires. Sam and his new friends must save Michael and Star from the undead.
Lauren Yalango-Grant (Parade) and Christopher Cree Grant (Parade) are handling the choreography for The Lost Boys: A New Musical. The stage production features scenic design by Dane Laffrey (Maybe Happy Ending) and costume design by Susan Hilferty (Wicked). The Telsey Office Craig Burns, CSA and Kristian Charbonier, CSA, and General Management by Bespoke Theatricals are casting. Devin Keudell serves as Executive Producer.
For the industry presentation, Deadline lets us know that “Caissie Levy played Lucy Emerson, the recently divorced mom who unwittingly moves herself and two sons to a vampire-infested California beach town. The younger son is Sam, played by Nathan Levy. Lorna Courtney played Star, the beautiful girl who catches the eye of older son Micheal and a maybe an undead boy or two. In the film, Lucy was played by Dianne Wiest, Sam by Corey Haim, and Star by Jami Gertz.“ It’s not known if any of the actors will be reprising those roles when The Lost Boys: A New Musical comes to Broadway. There will be another private invitation-only industry presentation of the show on March 14, 2025.
The producers told Deadline, “Michael Arden is one of the most dynamic directors working today, and to have him reimagine an iconic film like The Lost Boys is thrilling, especially when we consider how it will come to life at the legendary Palace Theatre. David Hornsby and Chris Hoch have done a remarkable job of honoring this classic film and its beloved characters, creating something new and unique for the stage that will excite the die-hard fans of the movie as well as those being introduced to this timeless story for the first time. From the outset, we imagined a production with soaring melodies, creative storytelling, haunting themes, and an original score that had to be as impactful as the legendary soundtrack of the film. A tall order – but we found all those things, and more, with The Rescues. And while they’ve created an epic new score full of original songs, we’re thrilled that they’ve also been able to breathe new life into a few of their existing melodies, reworking them for The Lost Boys in ways that devoted fans of the band are sure to appreciate.“
What do you think about The Lost Boys: A New Musical coming to Broadway next year? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
The WTF Happened to This Adaptation series takes a look back at Sphere, based on a novel by Michael Crichton
Last Updated on January 31, 2025
You guys really seem to be digging on Michael Crichton huh? Well let’s look at what almost stopped his adaptations from happening. After a heck of a run from his adaptations both good and mediocre, Sphere would be a big enough bomb that it would follow with two straight sub-par adaptations before a quiet death of his worked being put on the big screen. The movie should have been a no doubt success with stars like Dustin Hoffman, Sam Jackson, Sharon Stone and a more than capable, Oscar winning, director in Barry Levinson. What we would end up with is one of the biggest bombs of the late 90s and a movie that is derided or outright forgotten from the annals of 90s cinema. Was it the cast, the story, or the general public being over Chricton things that didn’t have dinosaurs in it that was the culprit. Enter the Sphere and let’s hope this video does better than its subject as we find out what happened to the adaptation of Sphere.
The Movie
After Jurassic Park became one of the biggest movies of the 90s or really, of all time, books by Michael Crichton would become automatic green light projects. The very next year a movie called Disclosure would come out with Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas that was based on a book by Crichton released that very same year. That’s a hell of a turnaround. After that the well would be mined fairly deep with Hollywood going all the way back to 1980 to grab Crichton’s Congo. Check out our adaptation video on that property but suffice to say, it wasn’t a hit along the lines that his prehistoric take would be. Following that would be going back to the dinosaur well with The Lost World: Jurassic Park. While Congo made a respectable 152 million on its 50-million-dollar budget, The Lost World would be a much bigger draw for both critics and audiences making a staggering 618 million on its budget of only 73 million. While this was going on, other Crichton properties would be optioned off including his 1987 book Sphere which would have Warner Brothers assigning Oscar winner Barry Levinson to the director’s chair. Production was taking too long however so he and star Dustin Hoffman would go on to make political satire Wag the Dog.
Levinson would work with Hoffman multiple times throughout their careers with both of them taking home Oscars for Best Actor and Best Director respectively for their most famous collaboration Rain Man. In the realm of horror and sci-fi, Levinson would only have today’s movie and the sneaky good 2012 found footage horror The Bay. Of note, he was also the one to direct the Crichton follow up to Jurassic Park with Disclosure. On the writing side, Kurt Wimmer would get the adaptation credit while Stephen Hauser and Paul Attanasio were given credit for the screenplay. Wimmer has had a fun career that includes big budget movies like The Thomas Crown Affair and the Total Recall remake and cult hits like Equilibrium and Ultraviolet. Hauser only has this movie to his name but has worked with Levinson on a few other movies while Attanasio is a two-time Oscar nominee who also wrote Quiz Show, Disclosure, and Donnie Brasco.
The movie was filmed over 68 days on a Naval base in Vallejo, California and in warehouse-built sets to avoid the same fate of Waterworld and filming on the water. The cast is filled with heavy hitters like Sam Jackson, Sharon Stone, Peter Coyote, and Dustin Hoffman while also using a couple up and comers in Liev Schreiber and Queen Latifah. Hoffman’s stellar, two-time Oscar winning career has almost no horror apart from a 2019 movie called Into the Labyrinth but if you want to see some intense scenes check out Straw Dogs and Marathon Man. Jackson, in his long and varied carrier, has had a few horror films like 1408, Deep Blue Sea, and Cell but notably for this movie he was in Crichton’s most loved adaptation in Jurassic Park. Stone started her career with Wes Craven’s Deadly Blessing but has mostly stayed away from horror apart from Cold Creek Manor. This audience knows her best from Basic Instinct and Total Recall. Peter Coyote, someone I haven’t had the chance to discuss here, has had a sneaky long career and showed up in the 80s iteration of The Twilight Zone as well as regrettably the most recent two Return of the Living Dead movies. He’s also in Southern Comfort which I think is a better watch than Deliverance. Let me know if you want me to cover Southern Comfort, I’d love to. Liev is, like Affleck, the bomb in Phantoms. Finally, Huey Lewis is most famous for killing Weird Al.
The movie was supposed to release Christmas of 97 but was moved to Valentine’s Day the next year to die where, well, it died. It made 73 million on a 73-million-dollar budget and was the beginning death knell for adaptations of the man’s work.
The Book
I don’t really know what else to say about this author as I’ve covered his work pretty consistently in the latter half of 2024. Jurassic Park is and will always be his jam and Congo is way more fun than it has any right to be. The dude was a genius who could do anything he put his mind to from med school to law to programming computer games. Sphere was his sixteenth novel and the 6th one he released under his real name. The story of Sphere was started in 1967 as a sort of companion piece to his runaway hit novel The Andromeda Strain, but he ran into a common problem with alien stories of what the heck do you do? He states that he didn’t want the alien to be a 3-foot grey skin that was overly friendly or a 9-foot-tall murder machine and once he came up with the general idea of what he wanted, he became stuck.
20 years later it would be published in 1987 to generally good reviews with one critic stating that it was a fun read even when you knew what was coming. The book sold well and even though the movie was a huge flop, HBO had planned a TV series based on the novel that as of 2025 has not panned out yet.
What is the same?
A team of scientists with varying specialties and fields along with a support crew and military led personnel are tasked with investigating a mysterious ship that has ended up in the ocean and is estimated to have been there for 300 years. They discover that the ship is actually human in origin and from the future. There is a giant sphere located inside the ship that does seem to be alien in origin. One of the scientists, Harry, thinks that the whole team will die as there was no record of the ship being found and so there would be nobody to record the data of what they found. Harry eventually goes back to the ship and inside the sphere object.
A tropical storm lands above the crew and leaves them isolated inside the vessel while a mysterious being calling itself Jerry begins to speak to them. Jerry causes a lot of trouble by manifesting creatures that shouldn’t exist like massive shrimp, strange jellyfish, and a giant squid. Members of the team begin to succumb to these creatures, and it is revealed that Jerry is actually named Harry. We also find out that Harry, after going into the sphere, is the one that is manifesting much of the chaos. Beth Halprin and Norman end up sedating Harry to try and stop the creatures, but things still happen and the two become weary of each other with Beth even attempting to kill Norman. All 3 of the team eventually go inside the sphere to gain powers and they eventually decide to escape before the ship explodes from explosives set by Halprin. The three survivors end up in a decompression chamber on the surface where they decide to use the frightening power to forget they have the power.
What is different?
The majority of the book is what we see on screen in an unusual change from what we are used to. Apart from some key differences we will go over, this is a fairly faithful adaptation. To begin with, the movie excised one of the scientists that goes after the ship. Norman, Johnson in the book and Goodman in the movie, Beth Halprin, Harry Adams, and Ted Fielding are the ones in the movie but in the book, they are briefly joined by Arthur Levine who gets sick and leaves before much of the action takes place. Other characters that appear in the book but not the movie are Tina Chan and Rose Levy who are both killed. Deaths in the two versions are consistent in who dies but vary on how it happens. Barnes, played by Coyote in the movie, is crushed by a closing door on film but is killed by the giant squid after going after it in the novel. Ted is also killed by the giant squid in the book but on screen has a much more brutal death where he is trapped by falling metal and then burned by an explosion caused by a gas leak and fire.
Other changes occur with how and when the three main scientists enter the sphere as well as the sphere itself. On film it is a golden liquid in the shape of a sphere that is entered by simply walking into it. The novel’s titular object is more silver and has a door like mechanic that opens and closes while deciding who to let in. this was due to the visual effects of the movie lending itself better to that color but it’s still a noticeable change. While the paranoia is similar on page as it is to screen, how Beth tries to kill Norman is different with a drowning attempt in the movie and a decompression chamber murder in the book. Finally, while the three escape the same in both and end up together agreeing to get rid of their powers, the movie has them all forgetting what is going on while the book heavily implies that Beth kept her powers and secrets from the other two. Also Norman almost leaves the other two to die before going back to grab them. Something not present in the movie.
Verdict
I was bored when I rented this movie at the age of 13 and I was slightly less bored on a rewatch for this. It’s not bad by any stretch but the book just flows better and has that patented Crichton charm that is severely lacking on screen. Maybe a miniseries from one of the many streamers could work out well but for now just read the book and call it a day.
A couple of the previous episodes of WTF Happened to This Adaptation? can be seen below. To see the other shows we have to offer, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
Orlando Bloom sympathizes with Keira Knightley’s thoughts on Pirates of the Caribbean but seems to have a more positive outlook.
The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is going through major shake-ups. As it stands, a lot is still on the plank (there’s a reason we update this article so often): Will Johnny Depp reprise Jack Sparrow or will the series sail in a new direction completely? When can we even expect Pirates 6? Who of the original cast actually wants to return? On that last one, Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann) seems the most hesitant…and co-star Orlando Bloom sees where she’s coming from.
Last year, Keira Knightley said that she has mixed feelings about the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, saying they gave her good opportunities but also put her in a position where she was constantly being knocked down. “It’s a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time. I was seen as sh*t because of them…they were the most successful films I’ll ever be a part of and they were the reason that I was taken down publicly. So they’re a very confused place in my head. The hours are insane. It’s years of your life.”
Responding to his own perspective on the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Knightley’s stance, Orlando Bloom (Will Turner) stated, “It was such a huge moment in time that is almost like…it feels almost like another lifetime now. But it certainly was unique and, you know, I’m always grateful. But I definitely understand where Keira was coming from, and she does wonderful things…I have a lot of positive takeaways.”
That’s certainly far from an indication that we’ll ever see Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann back together again. Remember, the characters didn’t have significant roles after the third Pirates movie, At World’s End, sitting out On Stranger Tides and only having cameos in Dead Men Tell No Tales. With that – and their position as fan favorites – we do have to consider if we’ve seen the last of them, as almost seems to be the case. But really, if we could get a sixth Pirates that centers on those two, then you’ve got a packed theater.
Do you want to see Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie? Can the franchise make do without their premiere characters?
Daredevil: Born Again showrunner Dario Scardapane discusses his approach to the MCU / Disney+ show in a new interview
The nine episode first season of the Marvel series Daredevil: Born Again is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on March 4, 2025 – and during an interview with SFX magazine, showrunner Dario Scardapane, who previously worked on Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and the Netflix series The Punisher, said this show will be even darker than the Netflix Daredevil series it follows, with less navel-gazing and more frequent big action sequences.
Although the initial plan was to rework some elements and make Daredevil: Born Again stand separate from the Netflix Daredevil series (despite sharing some cast members), the show underwent a creative overhaul when the writers and actors strikes shut down production in 2023. Now, this series is a direct follow-up to the Netflix series, picking up five years later. Scardapane was brought in to serve as showrunner during the overhaul, and the behind-the-scenes shake-up also led to Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the directing team who were at the helm of multiple episodes of Moon Knight and Loki season 2, being hired as directors on the show. Matt Corman and Chris Ord were previously the head writers on the show, but they were let go.
The cast of the series includes Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Elden Henson, Deborah Ann Woll, Jon Bernthal, Wilson Bethel, and Ayelete Zurer, reprising the roles of Matt Murdock / Daredevil, Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, Murdock’s associates Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, Frank Castle / The Punisher, Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter / Bullseye, and Vanessa Marianna Fisk. Also in the cast are Margarita Levieva as Matt Murdock’s love interest Heather Glenn, Michael Gandolfini as a character named Daniel Blade, Genneya Walton as BB Urich, Jeremy Earl as Anti-Vigilante Task Force member Cole North, and Lou Taylor Pucci, taking on an unspecified role.
Speaking with SFX magazine, Scardapane said that the creative overhaul was necessary because, while the footage that had been shot had some really strong points, “it wasn’t feeling in line with what Daredevil had been established to be.” Cox added, “There was a U-turn after the strike, where we were headed in one direction which was interesting and valid. The argument was, if we’re coming back after all these years, we don’t want to just do exactly the same thing. Marvel looked at the episodes and knew it wasn’t quite working. We shot a whole new pilot and they reorganized what we had filmed to make it feel more like the show we had shot all those years previously. Given what a Herculean task that was, it’s very impressive what they achieved.” So now, the show ties back to the Netflix series. Scardapane said, “At the very end of the Netflix show, Foggy, Karen and Matt had a dream written out on the back of a napkin. We start with that dream. It’s not a dream that needs too much explanation; three good friends go into business together.“
The showrunner did admit that he had to re-think some things so his vision for the show could fit into the overall plan for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which Daredevil has merged into through appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Echo. “Marvel has a master plan, and what you’re doing causes ripple effects. I would pitch stuff very early and I would hear that they had other plans. I have plenty of leeway up until I hit the larger-scale plan for the MCU. So I try to ignore some stuff [from the wider universe]. We establish a very specific Daredevil, both in terms of his dilemma, down to the suit and where we’re picking him up in his life. You can say that Daredevil is canon in the MCU, those other events [in Spider-Man and She-Hulk] happened, but some of them we are not leaning into. His one-night stand with She-Hulk may be one of those things. They’ve moved Matt through other corners of the MCU, and now he’s back in his own story. I don’t want to give anything away, but you’re going to see a character [in our show] you never thought you would, but they get folded into the story in a manner that is organic and exists in our world. New York, in the current state of the MCU, has a lot of stuff going on.“
As for how Daredevil: Born Again compares to the Netflix show, Scardapane said, “There is more fun in the moments with these characters and a lot less navel-gazing than before. The earlier show, at its best, was fantastic. At its worst, it was two characters in a room talking about what a hero is. I felt that had been done. I’m not taking swipes. I just didn’t want to hear characters grousing about their lot in life. I wanted to see them doing things.” As popular as the Netflix Daredevil is, it could be criticized for being too slow and chatty. Having worked on The Punisher for the streamer, Scardapane knows very well why it was paced the way it was. “One of our edicts [at Netflix] was, ‘Longer scenes.’ You had these long five-page scenes of characters hashing it out in order to make space between these massive action sequences. The way stuff has evolved since then, we’re able to do big action sequences at a lot more pace. I really feel that Netflix’s Daredevil, which I know in my blood, was much more noir, and this show is more New York crime story. It has elements of The Sopranos and King of New York. There’s a feeling for those classic ’90s crime tales. It has a pace and a scope that, for a lot of reasons, Netflix wasn’t able to do. They were very dark, cinematically, not necessarily story-wise, although there were some dark elements. We’re much darker. This is as far as a Disney+ show has ever gone.“
What do you think of what showrunner Dario Scardapane had to say about Daredevil: Born Again? Are you looking forward to watching this show in March? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Amazon Prime Video’s new series explores a new adaptation of the famous David and Goliath story in eight epic episodes.
Last Updated on January 30, 2025
It’s perhaps the greatest underdog story next to Rocky. Heck, it’s used as a phrase to describe a match-up that seems so unevenly matched. The David and Goliath tale is one of the most popular stories in the Bible. It tells of a normal man who went up against the fiercest warrior in the land in the biggest size difference imaginable. Amazon’s House of David is a series that will retell the story in eight epic episodes. Three episodes will premiere on February27, with one episode weekly thereafter. The trailer has just been released.
The official description reads, “HOUSE OF DAVID tells the story of the ascent of the biblical figure, David, who eventually becomes the most renowned and celebrated king of Israel. The series follows the once-mighty King Saul as he falls victim to his own pride. At the direction of God, the prophet Samuel anoints an unlikely, outcast teenager as the new king. As Saul loses his power over his kingdom, David finds himself on a journey to discover and fulfill his destiny, navigating love, loss, and violence in the court of the very man he’s destined to replace. As one leader falls, another must rise.”
The series is based on an idea by Jon Erwin(Jesus Revolution) and directed and written by Erwin and Jon Gunn (Ordinary Angels). It stars Michael Iskander as David, who was cast following a four-month international search and is fresh off his role in the Tony Award-winning musical “Kimberly Akimbo.” The series also stars Ali Suliman (Jack Ryan, Arthur the King) as King Saul, Ayelet Zurer (Angels And Demons, Man Of Steel) as Saul’s trusted wife Queen Ahinoam, Stephen Lang (Avatar franchise, Don’t Breathe) as Samuel, and Martyn Ford (Mortal Kombat 2, The Sandman) as Goliath. Dallas Jenkins, the creator and producer-director of The Chosen, is a shareholder and special advisor to Wonder Project.
Additional cast includes: Indy Lewis (Industry, King and Conqueror) as Mychal and Yali Topol Margalith (Tattooist of Auschwitz, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (2024))as Mirab, Saul’s daughters; Ethan Kai as Jonathan (The Turkish Detective, Carnival Row 2), Saul’s son and heir apparent; Sam Otto (Snowpiercer, The State) as Eshbaal, the irreverent middle child; Oded Fehr (Star Trek, La Cocina) as Abner, Saul’s advisor; Louis Ferreira (Shogun, Breaking Bad) as Jesse, David’s father; Davood Ghadami (Eastenders, The Chelsea Detective) as Eliab, David’s eldest brother and decorated warrior in King Saul’s army; Ashraf Barhom (Tyrant, The Last Planet) as Doeg, a mysterious Edomite, and Alexander Uloom (Sari and Amira, Heera) who plays King Achish.
Good American Family, a limited series inspired by the Natalia Grace case, unveils first look images ahead of its Hulu premiere
Back in 2009, a horror film called Orphan told us the story of a married couple who adopts a 9-year-old Russian girl only to discover that she’s actually a criminal adult passing herself off as a child. The film was loosely based on the true story of Barbora Skrlova, a 30-something woman who pretended to be a 13-year-old and did some very twisted things that were very different than what we saw in Orphan. In 2012, a sad case that made it into news reports reminded people of Orphan. It was the story of Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian-born girl with dwarfism who was adopted by American parents who claimed to suspect she was much older than records said she was. The Grace case has been covered on Dr. Phil and the docu-series The Curious Case of Natalia Grace, and now the Hulu streaming service is moving forward with a Natalia Grace-inspired limited series that’s called Good American Family. The show is set to premiere on March 19th with two episodes, followed by one episode weekly, and Hulu has started promoting it by unveiling a batch of first look images, which can be seen in this article.
Good American Family stars Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy) and Mark Duplass (Creep) as the adoptive parents, Michael and Kristine Barnett, with Dulé Hill (Suits) as Detective Brandon Drysdale, “who will serve as the investigator regarding the criminal allegations hurled against Michael and Kristine” and Sarayu Blue (Blockers) as Valika, “one of the parents at Kristine’s daycare center.” Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Jerod Haynes (Project Blue Book) play Cynthia and Antwon Mans, another couple that gets involved with the situation. Imogen Faith Reid, whose previous credits were stand-in and double jobs on The One and Only Ivan, The Third Day, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, plays Natalia.
Written by Katie Robbins, the limited series consists of eight episodes. It is inspired by the true story of Michael and Kristine Barnett, a Midwestern couple that adopts what they believe is an 8-year-old girl with a rare form of dwarfism. But as they begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, they slowly start to believe she may not be who she says she is. As they question her story, they’re confronted with hard questions of their own about the lengths they’re willing to go to defend themselves, falling into a battle that’s fought in the tabloids, the courtroom, and ultimately their marriage.
Robbins and Pompeo are executive producing Good American Family alongside Sarah Sutherland, Mike Epps, Dan Spilo, Niles Kirchner, Andrew Stearn, and Laura Holstein. The show is coming our way from ABC Signature.
Are you interested in the story of Natalia Grace, and would you watch a dramatized series about it? Share your thoughts on Good American Family by leaving a comment below – but first, check out the first look images:
While Scott has a new office job, he reminisces about his time at Pawnee City Hall in the former NBC comedy show.
Adam Scott may have a new office job now, but he’s missing his time at Pawnee City Hall. The actor is currently starring in season 2 of Apple TV+’s hit show Severance. The series is only in its second season and the momentum continues to roll. Our own Alex Maidy gave season 2 a perfect 10 score when he said in his review, “The cast is exceptional, and the direction, led by Ben Stiller doing the best work of his career, improves on what came before it. This is such a rich world that has deepened what the audience knows without sacrificing any quality along the way. Each episode is full of character development that makes you care deeply about what happens to each member of the MDR team and even gives reasons to care about the antagonists as well.”
According to Deadline, Scott recently appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where they played him a clip from Parks and Rec, where his character, Ben Wyatt, attempted to make a claymation video. Scott told the host, Josh Horowitz, “I haven’t seen the show in a long time. Honestly because it makes me sad to see the show, because I miss them and I miss all the actors even though we’re constantly in touch and stuff, but I miss the time of making it.”
The cast of Parks and Rec is said to have been keeping up with each other through a text chain. This includes Amy Poehler, Retta, Rashida Jones, Aubrey Plaza, Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt, Jim O’Heir, Rob Lowe and Aziz Ansari. Scott continued to say how much he misses that era of his life, “It was a really just joyful 5 years — for me, 7 years for the show — getting to go work there every day with that group of people. We had so much fun and we’re making something that meant something to people; it meant something to us.”
Scott stated that he would be up for a reunion show if the original creators, Michael Schur and Greg Daniels, were behind it. However, he also said, “The show itself, the series finale kind of took us to the end. It jumped pretty far ahead into the future, so I’m not sure what else there is to add, but it’s entirely not up to me at all.”
About the Author
E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.
Cinemark is bringing several popular horror movies back to theatres in February for their Love You to Death series
The Valentine’s Day-set slasher movie Heart Eyes is set to reach theatres on February 7th – but that’s not the only horror movie that Cinemark theatres will be celebrating the holiday with. The cinema chain has revealed that they’ll be running a series called “Love You to Death” from February 1st through the 5th, bringing The Silence of the Lambs, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Midsommar, the 1981 slasher classic My Bloody Valentine, and Shaun of the Dead back to the big screen!
On the Love You to Death page, Cinemark writes, “Got a bleeding heart for horror? Our lineup of frightful flicks is swoon-worthy, with plenty of tortured love—and actual torture—to satisfy the most die-hard fans.“
The Silence of the Lambs will be showing in Cinemark theatres on February 1st. Directed by Jonathan Demme from a screenplay by Ted Tally and based on a novel by Thomas Harris, the film has the following synopsis: FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is sent to interview imprisoned killer Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). She hopes he might reveal information about another crazed killer known only as “Buffalo Bill” (Ted Levine), who is abducting young women, starving them, and then killing them. Lecter’s brilliant mind is intrigued by the beautiful Starling, and he begins giving her mystifying clues which could be helpful or merely a game. The terror builds as “Buffalo Bill” grabs another victim and the countdown to death begins again. Finding the madman means Starling must get inside Lecter’s mind. To stop the killer, she must enter a terrifying race against death.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a screenplay by James V. Hart and based on Bram Stoker’s novel, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has the following synopsis: Count Dracula (Gary Oldman), a 15th-century prince, is condemned to live off the blood of the living for eternity. Young lawyer Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) is sent to Dracula’s castle to finalize a land deal, but when the Count sees a photo of Harker’s fiancée, Mina (Winona Ryder), the spitting image of his dead wife, he imprisons him and sets off for London to track her down. This one will be showing in Cinemark theatres on February 2nd.
Writer/director Ari Aster’s Midsommar reaches Cinemark theatres on February 3rd. The synopsis: Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) are a young American couple with a relationship on the brink of falling apart. But after a family tragedy keeps them together, a grieving Dani invites herself to join Christian and his friends on a trip to a once-in-a-lifetime midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village. What begins as a carefree summer holiday in a land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when the insular villagers invite their guests to partake in festivities that render the pastoral paradise increasingly unnerving and viscerally disturbing.
Directed by George Mihalka from a screenplay by John Beaird (and a story by Stephen Miller), My Bloody Valentine is the one I would most like to catch on the big screen. The synopsis: Twenty years ago, a tragic accident in a mine on St. Valentine’s Day took the lives of five miners. The disaster occurred while supervisors left their posts to attend the town’s annual Valentine’s Day dance. The only survivor, Harry Warden, was confined to a mental institution after the ordeal. On the disaster’s first anniversary, he returned to the town for bloody revenge. That was nineteen years ago, and memories have dimmed. Young lovers T.J. (Paul Kelman) and Sarah (Lori Hallier) and friend Axel (Neil Affleck) are among the townspeople attending another Valentine’s party. Then, a box of Valentine candy arrives, containing an ominous message and a blood-soaked heart. Before the night is over, terror will strike again and again and again… It will be showing at Cinemark theatres on February 4th.
Shaun of the Dead has the following synopsis: Shaun (Simon Pegg) is a 30-something loser with a dull, easy existence. When he’s not working at the electronics store, he lives with his slovenly best friend, Ed (Nick Frost), in a small flat on the outskirts of London. The only unpredictable element in his life is his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), who wishes desperately for Shaun to grow up and be a man. When the town is inexplicably overrun with zombies, Shaun must rise to the occasion and protect both Liz and his mother (Penelope Wilton). Edgar Wright directed the film, which will be showing at Cinemark theatres on February 5th, from a script he wrote with Pegg.
What do you think of Cinemark’s “Love You to Death” series? Will you be catching any of these movies on the big screen? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Thanks to An American Werewolf in London and The Howling, I’ve always deeply loved werewolves. Yet, sometimes, a movie will just connect to the viewer in a shockingly deep way. An unexpected way. Leigh Whannell‘s Wolf Man did just that for me. While I’ve certainly seen some of the reviews that did not sing the movie’s praise, there is something about this very personal and frankly pretty sad film that worked for me. Ultimately, something about the tortured Blake was nothing like I’d expected, and the rather heartbreaking performance from Christopher Abbott resonated.
I’ve enjoyed all of Leigh Whannell’s directorial work. Even his turn in the director’s chair for Insidious: Chapter 3 brought some chills for me. Having been at this site for many years, I find it a fantastic experience interviewing Mr. Whannell. He’s always been incredibly kind to JoBlo and is one of the nicest fellows you’d ever run into. While we spoke with the filmmaker earlier, which you can see below, it was nice to get the chance to dig deeper into the feature and the connection that cinema can have with those sitting in the darkness.
Besides getting rather deep and personal with Wolf Man in this extended conversation, he opened up about his other films. The conversation led to other cool avenues, including my curiosity about returning to Invisible Man or Upgrade territory. Leigh is an incredibly gracious and talented filmmaker who always makes himself available and open for an excellent conversation. In other words, he’s a great guy!
Dynamite Entertainment is celebrating their 20th anniversary with the comic book mini-series Red Sonja vs. the Army of Darkness
Founded in 2004, the comic book publishing company Dynamite Entertainment got started with a comic book continuation of Sam Raimi’s 1992 horror comedy classic Army of Darkness. Soon after, they started publishing a book that starred the popular sword-and-sorcery character Red Sonja. Over the years, Dynamite has sent a lot of Army of Darkness crossover comics into the world, having hero Ash Williams cross paths with the likes of Herbert West, Re-Animator; Darkman, the Marvel Zombies, Xena: Warrior Princess, the characters from Hack/Slash, Vampirella, KISS, and Elvis Presley (from Bubba Ho-Tep), among others. Now, to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary, Dynamite is having Ash and Red Sonja team up for the crossover comic book mini-series Red Sonja vs. The Army of Darkness!
SuperHeroHype reports that Red Sonja vs. The Army of Darkness will find wise-cracking Deadite slayer Ashley “Ash” J. Williams hurled through time and space. This time, however, Ash winds up in the Hyborian Age at the same time as the evil wizard Kulan Gath gets his hands on the Necronomicon. Ash is soon coupled with Kulan Gath’s nemesis, the She-Devil With a Sword. However, the two hot-tempered heroes may kill each other before the Deadites and Kulan Gath can manage it.
Hack/Slash creator Tim Seeley, who has previous Army of Darkness experience, is writing the crossover, with Jim Terry (Alice Cooper vs. Chaos!) providing the artwork. Seeley said, “I’ve been obsessed with Army of Darkness since I saw the movie way back in 1992. In fact, the first Hack/Slash story began life as a pitch to get the rights for AoD for comics! Having Red Sonja teamed with Ash, a character I know really well, lets me really emphasize her badass feminist qualities, as Ash is an often befuddled sexist idiot.” Flickering Myth provided another Seeley quote: “What I’d like to do here is use the Army of Darkness dark magic stuff and infuse it into Sonja’s Hyborian age, so we can do a modernized take on those earliest Thomas/Jones/Throne/Buscema comics. Gritty, dark sword and sorcery, full of weird monsters and grim morality tales – the difference being that Sonja is now weighed down by Ash who is, as always, kind of a moron who ruins things and is totally enamored with Sonja.“
Four covers have been created for the first issue of the mini-series, which is set to reach store shelves in April. Those can be seen at the bottom of this article. To see some unlettered pages from the book, click over to SuperHeroHype.
Will you be reading Red Sonja vs. The Army of Darkness? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
