A new retro-style poster for the Finn Wolfhard horror comedy Hell of a Summer pays tribute to the slasher classic Prom Night

A while back, Stranger Things and Ghostbusters: Afterlife actor Finn Wolfhard made his feature directorial debut with a horror comedy called Hell of a Summer, which he directed alongside Billy Bryk, who also appeared in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray had the chance to watch the movie at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and gave it a 5/10 review than can be read at THIS LINK. The film secured a U.S. distribution deal with NEON last summer, with their plan being to give it a theatrical release on April 4th. Earlier this week, we saw a retro-style poster for the film that paid tribute to the 1981 slasher classic Happy Birthday to Me, and now our friends at Bloody Disgusting have shared another retro-style Hell of a Summer poster, created by Creepy Duck Design – and this one pays tribute to the 1980 slasher classic Prom Night! Both the Prom Night poster and the tribute poster can be seen at the bottom of this article.

Months before Hell of a Summer was officially announced, Wolfhard said that he was planning to make his feature directorial debut with “a horror-comedy-slasher movie that takes place at a camp.” Sure enough, that’s what this movie is. The story follows counselors who are getting Camp Pineway ready the night before campers arrive when a masked killer begins slaughtering the staff. Here’s the official synopsis: The film follows 24-year-old camp counselor Jason Hochberg, who arrives at Camp Pineway thinking his biggest problem is that he feels out of touch with his teenage co-workers. What he doesn’t know is that a masked killer is lurking on the campgrounds, brutally picking counselors off one by one. Variety notes that Wolfhard and Bryk have said they wrote the film with a goal of upending Gen Z stereotypes.

Wolfhard and Bryk both star in their directorial effort and are joined in the cast by Fred Hechinger (the Fear Street trilogy) as Jason Hochberg, plus D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs), Abby Quinn (Mad About You), and Pardis Saremi (Career Opportunities in Murder and Mayhem).

30West financed and executive produced Hell of a Summer. Hechinger produced the film alongside Aggregate Films, Parts and Labor Production, Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan, Drew Brennan, and Jay Van Hoy. Filming took place in Ontario, Canada.

Are you looking forward to Hell of a Summer? Check out the Prom Night tribute poster, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

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.

Netflix has ordered a pilot for a sequel series to A Different World, which was a spin-off of the Cosby Show.

It was reported last year that a sequel to A Different World was in early development, and now Netflix has ordered a pilot for the potential sitcom. The streaming service typically gives straight-to-series orders, and this is only the second pilot pickup at the studio that we know of.

A Different World was a spinoff of The Cosby Show, which followed Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and her classmates at Hillman College. However, Denise was written out of the series after the first season when Bonet announced that she was pregnant. Although showrunner Debbie Allen was in favour of writing Bonet’s pregnancy into the show, Cosby vetoed it. He said that Lisa Bonet could be pregnant but not Denise Huxtable.

When the show came back for a second season, it was focused on the love story between Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison). The sequel series will center on the couple’s youngest daughter, Deborah Wayne, and her experience at college. Casting for the role of Deborah, as well as the other students, is now underway.

The sequel series comes from writer/executive producer Felicia Pride, with Debbie Allen, Mandy Summer, Tom Werner, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Bythewood also executive producing the project. Allen will direct the pilot, with production looking to get underway in Atlanta in June.

Given the multiple sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby, I would imagine that Netflix would want to downplay any connection. While I doubt that Cosby will have any direct involvement in the Different World sequel, he is credited as the creator of the original series. He also co-wrote the theme song with Stu Gardner and Dawnn Lewis.

There could be trouble in the Spyverse as Citadel season 2 has been delayed and the various spinoffs have been put on hold.

Last Updated on March 31, 2025

THR reports that Citadel season 2 has been delayed. Not only that, but the various spinoff series are being put on hold. This is just the latest in a long line of issues for Amazon MGM’s hugely expensive spy series. Extensive reshoots of the first season made it one of the most expensive TV shows of all time, with the six episodes reportedly costing $300 million. Yikes.

Production on Citadel season 2 wrapped up last November. The new season was originally planned to debut in fall 2025, but that’s been pushed back to spring 2026. Sources tell THR that Amazon MGM is “unhappy with what they have seen so far of season two.” It seems clear that the second season is having issues similar to the first, which went through some major creative turmoil.

Josh Appelbaum (Without Remorse) was originally the showrunner of the first season of Citadel, but he departed in December 2021 (along with several others) after creative differences with the studio and the Russo brothers. David Weil (Hunters) was brought in to rewrite the series, and cinematographer Thomas Sigel (Drive) helmed the reshoots.

The show is meant to be an “Avengers-style spy show,” as it features spies from all over the world coming together for the ultimate mission. Two spinoffs have already been released, including Italy’s Citadel: Diana and India’s Citadel: Honey Bunny. Both shows have reportedly performed well in their markets, but any further spinoffs have been put on hold. They may pick up again once the second season of Citadel is back on track, but the report wonders if this could be the end of the franchise altogether. Citadel was supposed to be Amazon’s James Bond, and now that the company actually owns Bond, Citadel doesn’t feel as important.

Reviews of the first season were rather mixed, but our own Alex Maidy was a fan. “From the excellent special effects to the intense fight choreography, there is almost nothing I did not love about Citadel,” Maidy wrote. “The marketing push behind this series is well deserved, as Amazon is about to have another marquee hit on its hands. Richard Madden never needs to be James Bond on the big screen as he has found an original character that sets himself apart from the 007 legacy.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.

David Fincher and Brad Pitt are rumoured to be reuniting on a new movie, and it might be a sequel to a film Fincher didn’t direct.

David Fincher has worked with Brad Pitt on three films: Se7en, Fight Club, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. According to WorldofReel, the pair are looking to reunite on a new Netflix movie which could even be the director’s next project.

Take all of this with a grain of salt for now, but the report states that the project will be a sequel to a movie Fincher didn’t direct. Interesting. I wonder if this could be a resurrected version of the World War Z sequel, which Fincher was once slated to direct before it fell apart. Either way, Fincher and Pitt have done good work together, and it would be a treat to see them collaborate once again.

After the World War Z sequel was scrapped, Fincher said he was glad it didn’t move forward as it was too similar to The Last of Us. “Well, it was a little like The Last of Us,” he said. “I’m glad that we didn’t do what we were doing, because The Last of Us has a lot more real estate to explore the same stuff. In our title sequence, we were going to use the little parasite… they used it in their title sequence, and in that wonderful opening with the Dick Cavett, David Frost-style talk show.“

Fincher has several projects in the works, including Bitterroot, a western crime thriller that reportedly revolves around an elderly rancher whose life savings have been stolen. He turns to robbing banks and hunting down the thieves while being pursued by his son, the sheriff. There’s also an English-language Squid Game series, a potential remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope, and a Chinatown prequel series which was scripted by the late Robert Towne. Fincher is a regular Guillermo del Toro when it comes to unrealized projects, so I wouldn’t count on anything until it’s actually been released.

If David Fincher and Brad Pitt do reunite, what type of project would you like to see from them?

Denzel Washington isn’t officially attached to Black Panther 3, but director Ryan Coogler is dying to work with the actor.

While doing press for Gladiator II, Denzel Washington accidentally let it slip that Ryan Coogler was writing a part for him in Black Panther 3. As Washington has yet to make a deal to appear in the movie, nothing is official, but Coogler said on the Nightcap podcast that he’s really looking forward to working with the actor.

“I’ve been dying to work with Denzel,” Coogler said. “I’m hoping we can make that happen. I’ve got every intention of working with him on that movie. As long as he’s interested, man, it’s going to happen. He’s a living legend and a great mentor for so many of us. He’s all about looking out for us, now.“

After Washington revealed the Black Panther 3 news, he quickly realized that he probably shouldn’t have said anything at that point and called Coogler to apologize. “I called him the other day. I forgot what it was about — no, I called him to apologize,” Washington said. “That’s right. I called him. I said, ‘I’m sorry, man.’ He’s like, ‘No, man, it’s all good.’ I FaceTimed, and right there next to him was his lady. They were editing. They were hanging out.” As for what the role could be, Washington doesn’t have any details. “I don’t know what he’s got cooking for me,” he said. “I love Ryan, because he’s like, he won’t say things. ‘You know what I’m saying? Like, you know what I’m saying?’ Well, at least that’s when he talks to me. It’s like, ‘You know what I’m saying?’“

Black Panther producer Nate Moore revealed his hopes that Washington will appear in the movie. “If that manifests, which we’re gonna try, I think it will probably be somebody from canon. Who that is, is early days,” Moore said last month. “We honestly haven’t had really substantive creative conversations with Ryan, mostly because he’s finishing his film Sinners, which is gonna come out this year and is gonna be great. So again it’s too early to say, but obviously if an actor of the caliber of Denzel Washington wants in, we’re gonna figure out a way to make that happen.“

Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which stars Michael B. Jordan as twin brothers, will hit theaters on April 18th.

While WB told us they would replace all defective discs, many readers report radio silence from the studio despite repeated emails.

Last Updated on March 31, 2025

A few weeks ago, we dropped what turned out to be a bombshell story here on JoBlo. As I wrote previously, almost every DVD manufactured by Warner Bros between 2006-8 is unplayable now. The list of DVDs affected contains many titles that are out of print and nearly impossible to replace, including many classic Hollywood titles, vintage WB cartoons, TV series, and many more. It’s a devastating loss in some ways because one of the appeals of physical media has always been its permanence. When you buy a film digitally, you’re really only buying a long-term license. Physical media was supposed to be different, but now it turns out that discs are very prone to laser rot, where not only will a DVD essentially “go bad” at some point, but there’s nothing you can do about it. You could have a factory-sealed DVD, but it is still affected by laser rot. Basically, if you have a DVD manufactured by WB between 2006-8, it’s an expensive coaster now. The same goes for HD-DVDs, although I doubt anyone is too broken up about that.

Worse than that, it seems Blu-rays are also somewhat prone to laser rot, although not to the same extent, and it’s not as specific an issue – so far. VHS tapes, on the other hand, seem to hold up perfectly well, as do compact discs. Why are DVDs affected? It has something to do with the layering, but at any rate you can learn more about it here. Usually a DVD should hold up just fine, but something went wrong during the manufacture of these dics, which came along at a time when WB was easily the most prolific disc manufactures, as it was around this time that they really opened up their vaults For me, the biggest loss has to be the fact that all the amazing box sets they put out, including most of their famous Film Noir ones, no longer have playable discs. WB has issues many of the titles digitally or through the Warner Archive on Blu-ray, but they’ve also lost the rights to many titles, which are hard to find now.

The silver lining, if there was one, was that Warner Bros reached out to us and promised that they would do right by their customers, promising to replace DVDs when possible, and if the films didn’t happen to be in print, they’d offer customers something of equal value. Here is their official statement:

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is aware of potential issues affecting select DVD titles manufactured between 2006 – 2008, and the company has been actively working with consumers to replace defective discs. 

Where possible, the defective discs have been replaced with the same title.  However, as some of the affected titles are no longer in print or the rights have expired, consumers have been offered an exchange for a title of like-value.

However, it’s come to my attention that WB has been less than responsive to the many readers who have contacted them via the email address we were given ([email protected]). I’ve received dozens of complaints from readers, while none have contacted me saying they successfully got replacement discs. 

So what’s going on? Was Warner Bros Home Entertainment not serious when they stated they would replace the discs? To be sure, we were NOT the first ones to reveal that there was a problem. This was a known issue in the home media forums for months before we wrote about it. It seems like our story shone a particular light on the issue, subsequently covered by Forbes, Morning Brew, John Campea, and several other big outlets. 

To give WBV a chance to have their say, I reached out to the same contact who sent me their initial response. Here’s the statement I received back (in full):

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and its customer support partners will respond to all product inquiries.  We appreciate our customers and thank them for their ongoing support. 

So, they maintain they will respond to product inquiries (note they dropped the part about replacing the discs), but the people who have contacted me have said otherwise. At this point, I’d like to open it up to our readers and see if anyone has successfully gotten replacement discs or even an answer from WB. We want to be fair with them, as it’s possible some readers have had success with the company. So please let us know in the comments (or you can email me at [email protected]) with your experience.

Last Updated on March 31, 2025

Some cliche somewhere said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ This has proven to be the case for me and especially when it comes to fan art. I have always sought out great fan art and have wanted to share it with as many people as possible. “Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net” is the outlet for that passion. In this column, I will showcase the kick-ass artwork of some great artists, with the hopes that these artists get the attention they deserve. That’s the aim. If you have any questions or comments, or even suggestions of art or other great artists, feel free to contact me at any time at [email protected].

Batman: The Animated Series by Tom Walker

Darkwing Duck by Oleg Yurkov

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero by Bill Walko

Hulk Hogans Rock N Wrestling by Kevin Bolk

Inspector Gadget by J.C. Grande

Jem and The Holograms by Ninjaunk

Masters Of The Universe by Mike McGee

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Dayne Henry Jr.

Transformers by Patrick Thornton

X-Men by Julien Rico Jr.

The Actor is the latest film from Duke Johnson, who previously co-directed Anomalisa with Charlie Kaufman.

Last Updated on March 31, 2025

The Actor has been in development for quite a while. Adapted from the Donald E. Westlake novel Memory, the film follows an amnesiac actor, played by Andre Holland, who finds himself stranded in a small Ohio town in the 1950s. It comes from director Duke Johnson, who previously co-directed the stop-motion comedy/drama Anomalisa with Charlie Kaufman. Known for his work in stop-motion, which includes stints on Community and more, Johnson makes his solo directorial debut.

Recently, we had the chance to talk to Johnson about his long-gestating project, with it initially having been earmarked for Ryan Gosling, before being reconfigured as a vehicle for Andre Holland. Widely acclaimed for his starring role on The Knick, Holland is a rising star, and we were lucky enough to chat with him and his co-star in the film, Gemma Chan, who many of our readers will know from her star-turn in Marvel’s Eternals.

The Actor, which comes from Neon, is a highly unique film that you can catch in limited release, as well as on VOD. Check out our interviews above and let us know what you thought of the movie in the comments!

Here’s the film’s synopsis: Actor Paul Cole suffers memory loss after an assault in Ohio. Stranded in an unfamiliar town, he strives to return home and recover his past.

Snow White is in the midst of a disasterous second weekend at the box office, while Statham shows some surprising muscle.

Last Updated on March 31, 2025

Snow White’s disastrous opening weekend proved to be the talk of the town this week, with many blaming the polarizing Rachel Zegler as having turned off audiences from seeing this pricey remake. Whatever the case, the hope was that it would pull a Mufasa, and hold on to its audience in week two. That’s not proving to be true, with Deadline reporting that the movie will suffer an awful 68% second-week decline, with it only on track for a second weekend in the $13 million range. That’s a full $7 million less than we predicted, and we were rather glum, as folks expected a better hold.

However, Snow White’s misfortune is Jason Statham’s opportunity, with his well-reviewed (by us anyway) A Working Man looking at a solid $15 million weekend. That’s pretty close to what The Beekeeper made last year, and that happened to come out on a holiday weekend. While the B CinemaScore is nothing to write home about, Statham certainly seems to have a strong core audience, and given that the movie was modestly budgeted, it should turn into a valuable library title for Amazon/MGM once it hits streaming. While it’s unlikely to have the same kind of hold Beekeeper had (with it buzzing its way to a $66 million domestic total), the movie shows that there’s still a place for old-school action at the box office, with Den of Thieves 2: Pantera also performing well earlier this year. Audiences still like meat-and-potatoes action flicks. 

Universal’s Blumhouse movie, The Woman in the Yard, is performing about the same as usual for the studio, with it on track for a $9 million opening, which isn’t bad. However, A24’s had its second flop in a row, with the star-studded Death of a Unicorn whiffing at the box office with an opening in the $5 million range. That’s pretty bad for a movie that boasts two pretty big stars in leading roles: Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega. In fact, outside of A Working Man, the only new release to show much muscle was another collection of episodes from The Chosen, with The Last Supper – Part 1 – on track for a very solid $12 million. 

We’ll be back tomorrow with a full box office round-up!

Jon Lovitz and co-creator Al Jean are ready to bring back animated series The Critic, which only aired for two seasons.

Last Updated on March 31, 2025

By and large, the movies that Jay Sherman reviewed on Coming Attractions stunk. But here’s some news that doesn’t: Jon Lovitz is ready to get The Critic back on the air, and he even has the support of one of the show’s creators.

Jon Lovitz took to social media this week to share news that he is ready for The Critic to return, saying that co-creator Al Jean (The Simpsons) is also on board. (Mike Reiss, who co-wrote a number of classic Simpsons episodes with Jean, was also a co-creator.) “Critic Fans!!!!  You keep telling me you want it back. I’ve been trying for years! Well, now, creator Al Jean is on board!!! If you want it back, we need your help! Please like this post and spread the word! So we can show the studio, how many people want it!”

If Lovitz is taking a count on how many people want The Critic back, you can count me in that list. I can’t begin to figure out the number of times I’ve watched the show, which, considering it only has 23 episodes over just two seasons, really says something. The show would totally benefit from a revival. Not only would it offer some clever parodies of modern flicks but it could even incorporate today’s business model. Maybe we find Jay Sherman ousted from his job through personnel cuts, forced to review movies that only hit streaming and yelling, “It stinks!” from his couch.

The Critic originally aired from 1994 to 1995, later being revived for a series of webisodes. The show had a rough time during its short run, jumping between ABC and Fox, changing time slots and even failing to capitalize on a Simpsons crossover (season six’s “A Star Is Burns”). But none of this ultimately worked and The Critic would be canceled after two seasons. Now 30 years on, it might be time to bring back Jon Lovitz to reprise one of his all-time great characters.

You can currently stream The Critic on Tubi or pick up the Complete Series on DVD.

Would you be down for a revival of The Critic?