Ready or Not star Samara Weaving says she’s “all in” on returning for the recently announced Ready or Not 2

Five years ago, genre regular Samara Weaving starred in a very cool horror comedy called Ready or Not, which was directed by Radio Silence members Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who went on to make the two most recent Scream sequels and the “Dracula’s daughter” movie Abigail. Earlier this year, it was announced that a sequel is now moving forward, with Escape Room director Adam Robitel taking the helm of a Ready or Not 2 that Radio Silence, still on board as producers, has promised will be “an absolute banger.” Now, during an interview with ComicBook.com, Weaving has confirmed that she is “all in” on the sequel.

When the subject of Ready or Not 2 came up, Weaving told ComicBook.com, “I’m all in. I think we’re all in, I don’t know. I think we’re all in. I don’t know if we’ve had our blood handshake, but pretty much. We’ve done the spit handshake, but we haven’t cut each other’s hands and rubbed our blood together.“

Ready or Not was written by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy. Weaving took on the role of a young woman who is invited on the night of her wedding by her new husband’s rich, eccentric family to participate in a time-honored tradition that turns into a lethal game with everyone fighting for their survival.

She was joined in the cast by Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien, Elyse Levesque, Henry Czerny, Melanie Scrofano, Kristian Bruun, Nicky Guadagni, John Ralston, Liam McDonald, Ethan Tavares, Hanneke Talbot, Celine Tsai, Daniela Barbosa, Andrew Anthony, and Andie MacDowell.

In addition to Escape Room and Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, Robitel directed The Taking of Deborah Logan and Insidious: The Last Key, and wrote Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension. Weaving is doing the press rounds to promote her action horror film Azrael, which is set to reach theatres on September 27th, and has recently been in Kentucky filming the romantic thriller Carolina Caroline.

Are you interested in Ready or Not 2, and are you glad to hear that Samara Weaving is “all in” on coming back to star in the sequel? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

Beef and Surfside Girls actress Miya Cech joins the cast of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender series as Toph Beifong!

Netflix has cast Miya Cech (Surfside Girls, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, Always Be My Maybe) as the best character in Avatar: The Last Airbender, the earth bender Toph Beifong. What? I said what I said. Production for Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 is underway, with the show already renewed for a third and final season. Netflix revealed Cech’s casting on Thursday as part of Netflix’s Geeked Week live event with a teaser featuring Cech as the beloved badass.

As the classic Avatar theme swells, the camera slowly pans along the ground in the Avatar: The Last Airbender production teaser. When the song’s intensity increases, we see Toph’s signature green-colored wrapping around Cech’s bare feet. Before the teaser ends, Cech draws a line in the dirt, daring enemies to cross it before stomping the earth, sending debris flying into the air. After that, the hairs on my arms stood on end, and I might have let out a little squeal of delight. I don’t know. Who can say? You can’t prove anything.

In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Toph Beifong is a blind teenager who (eventually) agrees to train Aang in the ancient art of earth-bending. According to the Casting Call: “She is sassy, confident and unfiltered. For most of her life her strength and formidable earthbending skills have been suppressed, but now on the run as the Avatar’s earthbending master she is uninhibited to become the fierce warrior she believes she is inside.”

“Water. Earth. Fire. Air. The four nations once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, master of all four elements, keeping peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads, the first step taken by the firebenders towards conquering the world,” reads the official description. “With the current incarnation of the Avatar yet to emerge, the world has lost hope. But like a light in the darkness, hope springs forth when Aang, a young Air Nomad — and the last of his kind — reawakens to take his rightful place as the next Avatar. Alongside his newfound friends Sokka and Katara, siblings and members of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang embarks on a fantastical, action-packed quest to save the world and fight back against the fearsome onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai. But with a driven Crown Prince Zuko determined to capture them, it won’t be an easy task. They’ll need the help of the many allies and colorful characters they meet along the way.”

Miya Cech’s casting for Avatar: The Last Airbender is giving me life this Friday afternoon. Not only is Toph my favorite character in the series, but Miya Cech is a brilliant actress who will undoubtedly crush the role. Let’s go!

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.

Baby Reindeer scored big at Sunday’s Primetime Emmy Awards, nabbing four, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.

Winning Emmys for a series you conceived, wrote, produced, directed, and starred in is just about the highest achievement you could imagine. But when that series is wrapped in controversy, it’s hard to avoid it even amid the celebration. Richard Gadd, the man behind Baby Reindeer, tried his best, however, on the night that the Netflix drama took home four Emmys.

In the press room at Sunday night’s Emmys, Richard Gadd was posed with a question about Fiona Harvey – the supposed inspiration for Martha Scott – who has launched a $170 million lawsuit against Netflix for the harmful depiction in Baby Reindeer, chiefly tied to defamation and emotional distress. But Gadd wouldn’t take the bait, redirecting with, “This is a night of celebration. I really don’t want to talk about any of that stuff. It’s easy in this day and age to focus on the negatives. This has touched the lives of so many people.” Here, Gadd is referring to a reported uptick in abuse reports since Baby Reindeer started streaming in April. “Nobody seems to be talking about that enough.”

That attention has been lured away from the positive outcomes of Baby Reindeer – even amid its multiple Emmy wins – is terribly unfortunate. Even still, we shouldn’t be surprised that the ongoing claims and lawsuit have drawn the most attention. As it stands, the lawsuit claims, “As a result of Defendants’ lies, malfeasance and utterly reckless misconduct, Harvey’s life had been ruined. Simply, Netflix and Gadd destroyed her reputation, her character and her life.” Gadd has denied all of this and says he will testify if it comes to that point.

Baby Reindeer was one of the top winners at Sunday’s Primetime Emmy Awards, taking home Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, as well as Outstanding Lead Actor, Supporting Actress and Writing in that same category. With these, it stood alongside The Bear and Shōgun for most wins in the major categories. A few nights prior, Baby Reindeer won Outstanding Casting and Outstanding Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series at the Creative Arts Emmys.

Do you think Baby Reindeer will ever escape the controversy surrounding it or will it always be tied to it?

The release of Gladiator II is still two months out, but director Ridley Scott already has an idea for Gladiator III.

Are you prepared for a third helping of blood and sand? It may have taken Ridley Scott twenty years to get the ball rolling on Gladiator II, but a third movie might arrive before we know it. While speaking with THR, Scott was asked about a different potential new project, but he pivoted back to Gladiator. “I’d rather get on into Gladiator III,” Scott said. “There’s already an idea.” Scott echoed similar comments to Premiere, but I’m going to put a SPOILER WARNING here before we get into them, as they may give a pretty big hint as to the ending of Gladiator II.

Scott mentioned that he would be taking inspiration from The Godfather for the next sequel. “I’m already playing with the idea of Gladiator 3,” Scott said. “No, seriously. The end of Gladiator II evokes that of the Godfather, with Michael Corleone who ends up with a job he didn’t want, and who wonders, ‘And now, Father, what am I doing? ‘The next film will therefore speak of a man who does not want to be where he is.”

Whether a third Gladiator movie actually happens will depend on how Gladiator II performs, but Ridley Scott feels as though he’s made a damn good movie. The director said last month that Gladiator II is “the best thing I’ve ever made,” before correcting himself. “One of the best things,” he said. “I’ve made a few good ‘uns.“

“From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome,” reads the official Gladiator II synopsis. “Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.” The film is set to hit theaters on November 11th.

We haven’t seen Gladiator II yet, but would you be down for Gladiator III?

Pretty Little Liars, the fourth TV series based on Sara Shepard’s novel series, has been cancelled after two seasons at Max.

It’s been announced that Pretty Little Liars has been cancelled after two seasons on Max. The show was the fourth TV series in the Pretty Little Liars franchise, all based on or inspired by Sara Shepard’s novel series.

“While Max will not be moving forward with a third season of ‘Pretty Little Liars,’ we are so grateful to our co-creators, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring, as well as the team at Warner Bros. Television, for reintroducing fans to this new iteration of liars who band together to fight the latest creepy villain terrifying Millwood,” Max said in a statement. “Their unique and modern creative vision – combined with the immense talent of our cast and crew – gave the series a fun, horror-filled point of view that paid tribute to its original Rosewood roots.“

The first season of Pretty Little Liars went under the subtitle Original Sin, while the second was subtitled Summer School. The original Pretty Little Liars series gathered a passionate following over its seven-season run. It spawned two other spin-offs, Ravenswood and The Perfectionists, but both were cancelled after a single season.

The first season of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin takes place twenty years after a series of tragic events almost ripped apart the blue-collar town of Millwood. “A disparate group of teen girls — a brand-new set of Little Liars — find themselves tormented by an unknown Assailant and made to pay for the secret sin committed by their parents two decades ago…as well as their own,” reads the official synopsis. “In the dark, coming-of-age, horror-tinged drama Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, we find ourselves miles away from Rosewood, but within the existing Pretty Little Liars universe — in a brand-new town, with a new generation of Little Liars.“

Upon the second season renewal, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin creators Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa and Lindsay Calhoon Bring said, “We are beyond excited to continue telling stories with our amazing group of little liars—exploring their friendships, their romances, their secrets, and their status as scream queens supreme! Eternal thanks to the fans who have embraced this new, horror-version of “Pretty Little Liars”—which we’ll be continuing, of course—as well as our partners at HBO Max, Warner Bros. Television, and Alloy Entertainment. As Tabby would say, ‘There’s a sequel in the offing!’” Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Content at Max, added, “We are so proud of the incredible response both critically and from fans that PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: ORIGINAL SIN has received. Viewers have embraced our new generation of Liars, and Roberto and Lindsay’s brilliantly dark, horror-fueled take on this iconic franchise. Along with Alloy and Warner Bros. Television, we are thrilled to continue the ‘Pretty Little Liars’ legacy.”

Julia Garner shines but this Rosemary’s Baby prequel is a little too formulaic and cheap to be considered a worthy continuation.

PLOT: A struggling dancer finds herself drawn into dark forces by a peculiar couple promising her fame.

REVIEW: I would consider Rosemary’s Baby to be one of the greatest films of all time, horror or otherwise. Mia Farrow’s performance is absolutely sublime and paranoia can be felt in nearly every frame of celluloid. There’s plenty of intrigue with the cult of Satan that is deadset on birthing the Antichrist. It’s such a descent into madness and shows the extremes of gaslighting (to say the least). So it’s easy to be a bit nervous about a prequel coming along for such a beloved film. But then you add Julia Garner in the lead role and they seem to be on the right path. If only they’d kept on that path…

Rather than following a couple desperate for a baby, Apartment 7A follows a single lady, Terry (Garner), as she struggles to be a dancer in New York City. She meets a mysterious older couple and suddenly all of her dreams are coming true. She just has to follow their guidance. You can probably guess where this is going but I appreciated that it focuses on how someone would be susceptible to this situation. She’s had her world taken from her and is just looking for a way out. It’s easy to shout at the screen, imploring her to run but the stakes are properly ramped up subtlety. Though I do wish her back was more against the wall. Instead, her issues come entirely through ego.

Julia Garner is great in everything she does and here is no different. Her eyes say so much that the camera can just linger on her and so much is conveyed. Pretty sure this woman could play a stick and make it interesting. But the Terry character is ego driven and not nearly endearing enough. She also doesn’t cross over into paranoid mode until further into the story than I’d have liked. There’s a lot of setup and it can be a bit meandering. Terry also doesn’t feel nearly as isolated as Rosemary was, even being able to leave the apartment with little to no problem. She’s a single lady in New York City yet they never take advantage of the fear and isolation that can cause.

Ruth Gordon’s performance as Minnie Castevet in the original is so deliciously evil that made the role no cakewalk to replicate. And while there are elements that carry over, Dianne Wiest makes it her own. There’s something off about her from the beginning, and she only gets more and more controlling as the film progresses. Kevin McNally has such a jovial “dadness” to him that it’s all the more terrifying when he makes the switch. The cult itself doesn’t get as much screentime as you’d expect, with the story taking a similar path to the original.

The biggest issue I have with Apartment 7A is that it simply looks cheap. Everything about this feels like a streaming movie which clashes with everything about the original. Polanski’s film is so old school in its approach so it’s baffling as to why director Natalie Erika James took such a modern approach with the material. There are two different designs for Satan and one of them is this bejeweled monstrosity that gets far too much screentime. The other design looks better but we hardly even get a proper look at it.

In the end, Apartment 7A is a mixed bag. While Garner and Weist are absolutely fantastic, there’s little else to latch onto. Sturgess is severely underutilized and anyone who’s seen the original is going to know where this film ends up. While that can work (see: The First Omen) it’s hard to get invested here. This is another one of those films that feels like it would have been better served to just be entirely separate from the film it’s trying to connect itself to. I was desperate for them to try something different, though when they did, it came off as awkward. It’s a Catch-22 and results in a unsatisfying viewing experience.

APARTMENT 7A IS STREAMING ON PARAMOUNT PLUS ON SEPTEMBER 27TH, 2024.

James McAvoy was offered a role in the first Star Trek movie from J.J. Abrams, but wound up turning it down.

James McAvoy is a big Star Trek fan, and although he hasn’t appeared in the long-running sci-fi franchise, he did once come very close. While speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, McAvoy revealed he was actually offered a role in J.J. Abrams’ first Star Trek movie, but ultimately turned it down because he didn’t think he was right for the part.

“I got offered something. I didn’t want to do that. I suggested I can do something else,” McAvoy said. “They wanted to camera test me and I was like, ‘Do you know what, it’s alright, don’t worry about it.’  Not because I wouldn’t, because I just didn’t think I was right.“

McAvoy didn’t reveal which role he was offered (although Horowitz guessed McCoy, and there were rumblings he was up for Scotty back in the day), but he added that Abrams did end up choosing the right actor for the part. “What I said to J.J. about what I thought the role should be and the kind of actor that should be, they absolutely got. I’m not saying that he got that because I said that,” McAvoy said. “But the kind of person I thought that I’m not, is exactly the person who got it. And it’s brilliant. And I love the new ones. I love J.J.’s films. They are excellent.“

Perhaps one day, James McAvoy will appear in a Star Trek project. He once said he would love to play a young Jean-Luc Picard.

McAvoy can currently be seen in Speak No Evil, a psychological horror thriller which follows an American family who are invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation. But what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare. Our own Tyler Nichols was a fan, particularly of McAvoy’s performance. “James McAvoy is absolutely the star of the show and gives a riveting performance as Paddy. He’s electric from one moment to the next and brings such a chaotic energy,” Nichols wrote. “This is an all-time performance from McAvoy and will likely stand out as a career-best. As evil as the trailers make him out to be, the performance is much more nuanced and he draws you in. He’s like a dog playing with a new toy, just testing how best to tear it apart.” You can check out the rest of Nichols’ review right here.

At the world premiere of Terrifier 3, director Damien Leon confirms that Art the Clown will return for more carnage in Terrifier 4.

The much-anticipated Terrifier 3 had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest today, and during a Q&A following the movie, director Damien Leone was asked what’s next for the franchise. “I love that you’re still thinking about the next one after [watching all] that,” Leone said. “So — yes, there will be a Terrifier 4.“

Leone wouldn’t spill any details on what’s to come in Terrifier 4, but it’s a good bet that audiences will be in store for more over-the-top gruesome kills. As for Terrifier 3, the sequel takes place five years after the events of the last movie during the Christmas season. Many classic Christmas horror movies serve as inspiration, including Tales from the Crypt installment All Through the House and Black Christmas. “That’s one of my favorite subgenres of horror — Christmas horror,” Leone said. “I just love that tone. It’s the perfect marriage of horror and Christmas. So that was a big inspiration. And then obviously there’s a lot of Black Christmas homages in this movie. Just that combination of being terrified and cozy at the same time — I mean, there’s nothing cozier than Christmas […] And then [you] just [take as much advantage of] that as possible, and add as much sacrilege.“

“After surviving Art the Clown’s Halloween massacre, Sienna and her brother are struggling to rebuild their shattered lives,” reads the description for Terrifier 3. “As the holiday season approaches, they try to embrace the Christmas spirit and leave the horrors of the past behind. But just when they think they’re safe, Art the Clown returns, determined to turn their holiday cheer into a new nightmare. The festive season quickly unravels as Art unleashes his twisted brand of terror, proving that no holiday is safe.“

The film features David Howard Thornton reprising the role of Art the Clown alongside Lauren LaVera as Sienna, Elliot Fullam as Jonathan, Samantha Scaffidi as Victoria, Chris Jericho as Burke, and Daniel Roebuck as Santa. Tom Savini, Jason Patric, Antonella Rose, Krsy Fox, Jon Abrahams, and Clint Howard are also set to appear in the film. Terrifier 3 will debut in theaters on October 11th.

A trailer has been released for the werewolf movie The Forest Hills, which stars Shelley Duvall and reaches theatres next month

The legendary Shelley Duvall sadly passed away back in July at the age of 75 – but not long before she passed, she returned to acting after a twenty year break to take a role in the creature feature The Forest Hills (and, by the way, the creature in question is a werewolf). That movie is now set to reach theatres in the United States and Canada on October 4th, and with that date right around the corner, a trailer for The Forest Hills has arrived online. You can watch it in the embed above.

Written and directed by Scott Goldberg, The Forest Hills tells the story of a man who is tormented by nightmarish visions after enduring head trauma while camping in the Catskill woods.

Duvall is joined in the cast by Chiko Mendez (Smothered by Mothers), Edward Furlong (Terminator 2: Judgment Day), Dee Wallace (Critters), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Stacey Nelkin (Halloween III: Season of the Witch), Marianne Hagan (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers), and Linda Flores (Cops and Robbers). Duvall’s character is “the mother of the mentally and emotionally disturbed Rico (Mendez), who serves as his inner voice.”

Goldberg told Deadline he was inspired to cast Duvall in The Forest Hills because she “contributed to The Shining being an absolute masterpiece by giving her all, and performing in a way that really showcased the fear and horror of a mother in isolation.“

Goldberg has previously directed multiple short films, a few documentaries (including the Scream Factory Blu-ray bonus featurette Underground: A Look Into the Day of the Dead Mines), and the horror feature Dead End Massacre.

Scott Hansen produced The Forest Hills with Dreznick Goldberg Productions and Digital Thunderdome Studios. Goldberg serves as co-producer.

What did you think of the trailer for The Forest Hills? Are you looking forward to watching Shelly Duvall’s final performance on the big screen in October? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

To find out if The Forest Hills will be showing in your area (and to purchase tickets if it is), head over to TFHScreenings.com.

While making appearances for The Killer’s Game, Bautista is turning heads with a dramatic new look as he shed a lot of weight.

Last Updated on September 17, 2024

Although he’s predominantly played comedic characters in some fairly light-hearted films, Dave Bautista is taking his crossover into movies seriously. The muscular star, who is one of the few truly successful wrestler-turned-actors, has a new action-comedy coming out with J.J. Perry’s The Killer’s Game, in which he takes on a bevy of hitmen looking to close on a price on his head. While he remained bulked up for the film, fans may be noticing how slimmer and trimmer the former WWE and Guardians of the Galaxy star is looking while on press tour and for the premiere.

According to Variety, Bautista is strategically trimming down in order to play more diverse roles in his career going forward. He explains, “I started trimming down because I got really big for a role. Uncomfortably big. For Knock at the Cabin I got really big. I was around 315 pounds…I put the weight on really fast and I put on an uncomfortable amount of weight and it took forever to shed it out.” He continues, “The more I trimmed down the better I looked on camera and the better I looked next to other actors. I’m still a large human being. At 6’4 and 240 pounds next to your typical actor, I look like a gorilla and it’s distracting. I’ll probably lose a few more pounds. I’m just killing myself to be this trim. I’m training hard.”

Recently, Bautista spoke about how he never gets offered against-type roles like a romantic lead, and after he addressed that aspect of his career, the universe would answer back. At the Los Angeles premiere of The Killer’s Game, he found himself surprised when he said his comments “sparked quite a conversation, but I started getting a lot of phone calls after that.” He continues, “I said that and started getting calls immediately. So we’ve got a couple that we’re developing that are actually really funny.” Finally, he said he’s “making his way there, like a full-on rom-com. Not like an action rom-com, a full-on rom-com.”

The synopsis of The Killer’s Game reads,
“In the new action-comedy THE KILLER’S GAME, when top hitman Joe Flood (Dave Bautista) is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he decides to take matters into his own hands – by taking a hit out on himself. But when the very hitmen he hired also target his ex-girlfriend (Sofia Boutella), he must fend off an army of assassin colleagues and win back the love of his life before it’s too late.”

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.