Superman test screenings prompt shocking reactions from crowds for James Gunn’s highly-anticipated superhero adventure.

This article contains potential spoilers for James Gunn’s Superman, proceed with caution…

Test screenings can be a blessing and a curse in Hollywood. On the one hand, positive early buzz can set you up for success, while negative feedback could tank your project before it reaches theaters. Regarding James Gunn’s Superman, the film launches DC Studios’ Chapter One: Gods and Monsters arc, and a hostile reception to the Big Blue’s latest adventure could make or break the DCU before it has a chance to strut its stuff. Last night, on an episode of the Hot Mic, Jeff Sneider said a recent test screening of Superman revealed a massive cameo that made audience members pop.

Sneider considers the character’s identity a significant spoiler and keeps his thoughts brief. However, speculators gonna speculate, and according to whispers, the character could be Superman’s father, Jor-El. While including Jor-El in the film is hardly surprising given his relation to placing his child inside a pod and shooting them into space, we hear it’s the actor who plays Jor-El that gives audiences a reason to sit up bolt-right in their seats.

According to other insiders like Daniel Richtman and MyTimeToShineHello, another screening yielded mixed reactions to Gunn’s superhero spectacle. Richtman says people “loved it,” while MyTimeToShineHello says the reactions were “decidedly mixed.”

Audiences having mixed reactions to Superman is hardly surprising. Everyone has different tastes, and mileage for Superman varies from one person to another. Some people don’t like the character flat-out, while others worship the fictional ground he walks on. Expectations for Superman are undoubtedly all over the map. Additionally, have you looked at the internet lately? It’s a sewer of opinions, with knee-jerk reactions, faux outrage, genuine enthusiasm, and assumptions muddying the waters. The best fans can do is hope the character’s spirit rings true while being open to Gunn’s interpretation of the Son of Krypton.

Thankfully, the Superman teaser trailer gives us a good sense of Gunn’s approach, with action, heart, and heroics as the film’s blueprint. It won’t be long before we enter a bold, new era of DC Universe filmmaking, and we’ll take every positive word as a reason to get excited about the movie.

If Jor-El shows up in the movie, who do you think Gunn cast as Superman’s father? Let’s see your predictions 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.

David F. Sandberg, director of the video game adaptation Until Dawn, has shared a video that looks at some of the film’s practical effects

Last year, we learned that Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation director David F. Sandberg would be re-teaming with Annabelle: Creation screenwriter Gary Dauberman for a movie based on the horror video game Until Dawn. Production began in August, wrapping in October, and the film is aiming for an  April 25, 2025 theatrical release. With that date just weeks away, Sandberg has taken to social media to share a video about some of the cool practical effects that were created for the film, and you can check that out in the embed below.

As The Hollywood Reporter previously noted, first released in 2015, Until Dawn is an interactive horror video game that follows eight friends and frenemies who are brought together a remote mountain retreat. With live or die scenarios featuring a mysterious killer, cannibalistic wendigos, a cable car, and a long-ago mining cave-in that reverberates into the present day, the members of the group must fight through their fear if they all hope to make it through the night in one piece. The game proved to be a surprise hit with critics and received numerous gaming awards nominations.

Sandberg and Dauberman didn’t reveal what exactly will be going on in their movie version of Until Dawn, but the project is described as being an “R-rated love letter to the horror genre, centering on an ensemble cast.” Dauberman’s script is a rewrite of a previous draft by Blair Butler, who wrote the vampire movie The Invitation. The story centers on Clover, a young woman who visits a remote cabin with her friends in the wake of her sister Melanie’s disappearance.

Until Dawn is set up at Sony’s Screen Gems, where Dauberman has a first-look deal as part of the plan to “rebuild Screen Gems, Sony’s division focused on lower-budgeted fare, into a more productive label, with horror being a top focus.” Dauberman is producing the film through his company Coin Operated while Sandberg and Lotta Losten produce through their Mångata shingle. Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan are also producing. Ashley Brucks and Michael Bitar are overseeing the project for Screen Gems.

The film’s cast includes Ella Rubin of The Idea of You and the upcoming Fear Street: Prom Queen, Odessa A’zion of the recent Hellraiser reboot and the sitcom Fam, Michael Cimino of Love, Victor and Annabelle Comes Home, and Ji-young Yoo of Expats and Smoking Tigers. His fellow new additions are Belmont Cameli of Along for the Ride and Saved by the Bell and Maia Mitchell of The Fosters and Good Trouble. Peter Stormare (Fargo, John Wick: Chapter 2) is also in there, reprising his role from the video game.

Are you looking forward to Until Dawn? Let us know by leaving a comment below – but first, take a look at the practical effects video:

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.