A teaser trailer has been revealed for director Steven Kostanski’s “tiny terrors” horror comedy Frankie Freako

Almost exactly one year has passed since we heard that production had wrapped on Manborg, Father’s Day, The Void, Leprechaun Returns, and Psycho Goreman director Steven Kostanski’s horror comedy Frankie Freako, which is said to be a “commemoration of various practical FX-led projects including Gremlins 2: The New Batch and Ghoulies Go to College.” We still don’t know of a release date for this one, but the movie did just have its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival, and we got our hands on the teaser trailer, which you can watch in the embed above. Shout! Studio holds the U.S. distribution rights to Frankie Freako.

The story follows Conor Sweeney (The Editor) as a workaholic yuppie with a dilemma: no one in his life respects him! Not his boss, not his coworkers, not even his wife Kristina, who thinks he’s an uptight “square”! Conor sees no way out of this existential rut until one night channel-surfing he catches a bizarre ad for a party hotline hosted by a strange dancing goblin: Frankie Freako. Conor is entranced by Frankie’s promises of wild and freaky adventures, just a phone call away – could this be the recipe to spice up his flavorless life? Home alone for the weekend, Conor works up the courage to dial the number for the Frankie Freako hotline. As soon as the call connects, it unleashes chaos into his white-collar world, releasing Frankie and his troublemaker friends from their dimensional prison. It’s a race against time as Conor must defeat the rambunctious ruffians and clean up their trail of destruction before Kristina returns from her trip, all while going on an unexpected journey of self-discovery.

Sweeney is joined in the cast by Adam Brooks (The Return) and Kristy Wordsworth (The Spy Who Never Dies).

Kostanski provided the following statement to Bloody Disgusting: “The little monster movie is a subgenre beloved by horror fans. Franchises like Critters, Ghoulies and Puppet Master are still immensely popular despite there being no recent entries in the franchises. Frankie Freako is my vision for the next tiny monster franchise, brought to life through a combination of modern visual effects as well as old-school practical puppeteering techniques. Additionally, I envision the film as my personal take on the Evil Dead 2 format: it is a contained story centered around one flawed man fighting an onslaught of tiny terrors, with each set-piece escalating in absurdity and inventiveness. Frankie Freako is meant to be the complete antithesis of the current trend of overly self-serious A24- style horror films, with a tone more akin to early Tim Burton films like Beetlejuice or Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.“

Sounds like a good time to me!

Are you interested in Frankie Freako? Take a look at the teaser trailer, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

Ryan Reynolds & Hugh Jackman recreate Wolverine meme to celebrate the massive box-office success of Deadpool & Wolverine.

Deadpool & Wolverine is a massive success, grossing over $444.3 million over its opening weekend, instantly making it the eighth highest-grossing movie of the year. This is especially impressive considering that this is Marvel’s first leap into R-rated waters. To celebrate the movie’s success, Hugh Jackman has recreated the classic Wolverine meme (you know the one) on Instagram.

In response, Ryan Reynolds posted his own take on the Wolverine meme. Love it.

The success of Deadpool & Wolverine has even spilled over to other movies, such as The Proposal, the 2009 romantic comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock. Fans have been revisiting the movie since the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, which has caused it to shoot up to #15 on Hulu in the U.S.

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Wesley Snipes discusses coming back to play Blade one more time

Taking place six years after the events of the last movie, Deadpool & Wolverine finds Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) toiling away in civilian life with his days as Deadpool behind him. But when his homeworld faces an existential threat, he must suit up once again and convince a reluctant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to help save his universe. In addition to Reynolds and Jackman, the cast also includes Matthew Macfadyen, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, Rob Delany, Stefan Kapičić, and more.

Our own Chris Bumbray had a lot of fun with Deadpool & Wolverine, which sounds like a real crowd-pleaser. “Have you ever been to a concert and wished that your favourite band would stop playing their not-as-good new stuff and play the hits? That’s exactly what Marvel is doing with Deadpool & Wolverine,” Bumbray wrote in his review. “After a rough run of movies, with many saying their Phase 5 has been disastrous, this feels like an everything but the kitchen-sink attempt by the company to win back those fans who feel alienated by the new direction the company seemed to be heading in. With this, you have a rock ‘em, sock ‘em thrill ride that delivers fans exactly the movie they wanted to see, with nary a message to be found amidst all the charred, sliced and diced corpses our heroes leave in their wake. It’s glorious fun.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s spoiler-free review right here, and don’t forget to let us know what you think of Deadpool & Wolverine as well!

The Clone High revival has been cancelled by Max after two seasons, bringing the Clone saga to an end… again.

Clone High has, er uh, been cancelled after two seasons by Max, bringing the saga of the clones to an end… er uh, again.

“Although Max will not proceed with a third season of Clone High, we will always cherish our creative partnership with Chris Miller, Phil Lord, Bill Lawrence, Erica Rivinoja, Erik Durbin, Judah Miller, Corey Campodonico, Alex Bulkley, and the team at MTV Entertainment Studios,” Max said in a statement obtained by TVLine. “The incredibly talented voice actors, writers, cast and crew provided the opportunity to thaw out these legendary characters.“

The original Clone High series was created by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Bill Lawrence, all of whom have returned for the revival. Dubbed a “modern refresh” of the original series, Clone High is “set at a high school for clones of historical figures. After a high school that was secretly being run as an elaborate military experiment to clone the greatest minds in history was put on ice, the clones have been thawed out 20 years later to resume the experiment with new clone classmates – all while navigating a new set of cultural norms and overly dramatic teen relationships.“

The returning cast included Will Forte as Abe, Nicole Sullivan as Joan, Phil Lord as Scudworth, Chris Miller as JFK and Mr. B, Donald Faison as George Washington Carner, and Judah Miller as Scangrade. Christa Miller, who voiced Cleo in the original series, instead voiced Candide Sampson. The role of Cleo was filled by Mitra Jouhari. The rest of the new cast included Ayo Edebiri as Harriet, Vicci Martinez as Frida, Kelvin Yu as Confucious, Neil Casey as Topher Bus, Jana Schmieding as Sacagawea, Sam Richardson as Wesley, Mo Gaffney as Ms. Grumbles, Al Madrigal as Frederico; Danny Pudi as Dr. Neelankavil, Emily Maya Mills as Ethel Merman, Michael Bolton as Michael Bolton, Mandy Moore as Mandy Moore, Ian Ziering as Ian Ziering, and Steve Kerr as Steve Kerr.

One of the original Clone High characters was not featured in the revival. Of course, I’m talking about Gandhi. The character sparked protests in India, as they were outraged by the show’s depiction of the real-life figure. In the revival, Gandhi was left on ice, with Lord saying, “The reason the show was cancelled in the first place was because of Gandhi, so we didn’t want to have it cancelled again before it even started.” Miller added, “We’re stupid, but not that stupid.“

I’ll admit that the Clone High revival didn’t quite hit the same buttons as the original did for me, but I’m still saddened that it’s been cancelled. What did you think of the series?

Ridley Scott teases that Gladiator II will open with biggest action sequence he’s done in his entire career.

It’s fair to say that Ridley Scott knows a thing or two about action, but the director tackled what could be the biggest action sequence of his career with Gladiator II.

“We begin the film with probably the biggest action sequence I’ve ever done,” Scott teased to Empire. “Probably bigger than anything in Napoleon.” The first trailer for Gladiator II teased quite a number of crazy action sequences, including a flooded Colosseum and a rampaging rhino. Speaking of that rhino, Scott had originally envisioned it for the first movie, but it was deemed too expensive at the time. Thanks to modern technologies, he was finally able to pull it off.

“Computerisation and AI — you have to embrace it,” Scott said. “I can have a computer read every molecule and wrinkle on a rhino and then cut it on a thick piece of plastic, absolutely as a rhino’s body, which is then tailored to a skeleton shape. I have this thing that can do 40 miles an hour, spin on the spot, wag its head and snarl. A two-ton rhino with a guy on its back! I mean, it’s a lot of fun.“

“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.“

Gladiator II is set to hit theaters on November 11th, the same day as Wicked, which has some hoping that we’ve got Barbenheimer 2.0 on our hands, including Gladiator sequel star Paul Mescal. “Wickdiator doesn’t really roll off the tongue does it? I think my preference would probably be Glicked if it has a similar effect to what it did for Barbie and Oppenheimer,” Mescal said. “It would be amazing ’cause I think the films couldn’t be more polar opposites and it worked in that context previously. So fingers crossed people come out and see both films on opening weekend.“

Florence Pugh jumped off the second tallest building in the world for an impressive stunt in the upcoming Thunderbolts movie.

We learned a lot more about Thunderbolts during Marvel’s presentation at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, but Florence Pugh dropped one more tidbit while speaking with Variety. When asked what was the most “massive stunt” she did in the upcoming Marvel movie, Pugh said, “Jumping off the second tallest building in the world” before making a quick exit.

For the record, the second tallest building in the world is Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At 678.9 m, only the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is taller, at 828 m. During the Thunderbolts Comic-Con panel, Pugh said, “I think we all feel cool doing stunts… This movie is so wonderful and bizarre, and it’s very brave and it’s because of this cast.“

In addition to Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Thunderbolts also stars Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster. Geraldine Viswanathan will also make an appearance, replacing Ayo Edebiri, who was originally attached. Lewis Pullman is also on board as The Sentry, taking over for Steven Yeun, who was cast in the role before he had to leave. Harrison Ford will also appear as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, reprising his role from Captain America: Brave New World.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige added that the group doesn’t take its name from Ford’s character, but when asked for an explanation regarding the asterisk in the title, he would only say, “You have to see the movie.” A trailer for Thunderbolts was also screened at Comic-Con, showcasing Yelena catching up with Red Guardian. We then see the individual characters tricked into meeting up, where they realize they’ve each been set up on dangerous missions. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine says, “We’re brought up with this belief that there are good guys and bad guys. But really, there are bad guys and there are worse guys.“

Thunderbolts* will be released in theaters on May 5, 2025, as the final installment of Phase Five.

The Apple TV+ series Time Bandits hasn’t premiered yet, but Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, and Iain Morris are already working on season 2

Back in 1981, director Terry Gilliam and his Monty Python cohort Michael Palin brought the world the cult classic fantasy adventure film Time Bandits – and now, Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi has teamed with his frequent collaborators Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords, What We Do in the Shadows) and Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners, Next Goal Wins) to create an Apple TV+ series version of Time Bandits. The first two episodes of the ten-episode first season will premiere on Wednesday, July 24th… and while doing the press rounds for the show, Clement revealed that season 2 is already being written!

Produced for Apple TV+ by Paramount Television Studios, Anonymous Content’s AC Studios, and MRC, Time Bandits is an unpredictable journey through time and space with a ragtag group of thieves and their newest recruit: an 11-year-old history buff named Kevin. Together, they set out on a thrilling quest to save the boy’s parents — and the world. The eccentric crew of bandits embark on epic adventures while evil forces threaten their conquests, and life as they know it. As the group transports through time and space, the gang stumbles upon fascinating worlds of the distant past while seeking out treasure, depending on Kevin to shed light on each situation. The “Time Bandits” witness the creation of Stonehenge, see the Trojan Horse in action, escape dinosaurs in the prehistoric ages, wreak havoc during medieval times, experience the Ice Age, ancient civilizations and the Harlem Renaissance, and much more along the way.

The cast of the series includes Lisa Kudrow (Friends), Kal-El Tuck (Unseeing Evil), Tadhg Murphy (Conversations With Friends), Roger Jean Nsengiyumva (You Don’t Know Me), Rune Temte (Eddie the Eagle), Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up), Rachel House (Heartbreak High), Kiera Thompson (Martyrs Lane), James Dryden (Ready Player One), Felicity Ward (The Office Australia), Francesca Mills (Harlots), and Imaan Hadchiti (Thor: Love and Thunder), with special guest appearances by Waititi and Clement.

Waititi, Clement, and Morris executive produce, write, and direct select episodes, with Clement and Morris serving as co-showrunners. Garrett Basch, Tim Coddington, and Handmade Films’ Jane Stanton also serve as executive producers.

While speaking to ComicBook.com, Clement and Waititi were asked if a second season has been discussed yet and if there’s a historical time period they didn’t get a chance to visit in the first batch of episodes that might make it into season 2. Clement answered, “We are actually writing a second season, but it depends on if people watch the first season. If no one watches it, we throw it away in a bin. But I cannot tell you because I don’t want to spoil the second season.“

The two episode premiere of the show will be followed by two new episodes every Wednesday through August 21st.

Will you be watching Time Bandits so there might be a possibility of Time Bandits season 2 going into production? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

Twisters star Glen Powell pays tribute to Bill Paxton, the star and storm chaser of Jan de Bont’s 1996 thrill ride.

Last Updated on July 24, 2024

As Twisters churns and thrashes its way into theaters, one of the film’s stars, Glen Powell, is paying tribute to the late actor Bill Paxton, who helped make the first film a classic. Paxton starred alongside Helen Hunt in Jan de Bont’s 1996 action blockbuster as Bill Harding, an accomplished storm chaser on the verge of changing the way extreme weather patterns. Despite not getting along on set, Paxton and Hunt’s chemistry in Twister is electric, and the film would only be nearly as memorable with Paxton’s energy, bravery, and entertaining approach to the material. In a post on social media, Powell remembered the late Paxton, whom he worked with on the 2013 film Red Wing.

“As we release Twisters into the world today, I just wanted to look up and tip my hat to the legend that is Bill Paxton,” Powell shared on Twitter. “A great friend of mine who saw poetry in the natural world. His boots are impossible to fill, but this life is all about chasing the greats.”

As we release Twisters into the world today, I just wanted to look up and tip my hat to the legend that is Bill Paxton.

A great friend of mine who saw poetry in the natural world.

His boots are impossible to fill, but this life is all about chasing the greats.

🌪️❤️🌪️❤️🌪️ pic.twitter.com/Vlvpdfj4SG

— Glen Powell (@glenpowell) July 19, 2024

Twisters is off to a great start at the box office after whipping up $10M in previews. Some analysts think Twisters could spin up close to $40 million during its opening weekend, but others at BoxOfficeMojo say it could carve a path toward $60-75 million.

The official synopsis for Twisters reads:

Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Golden Globe nominee Anthony Ramos, In the Heights), to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew; the more dangerous, the better.

As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed. Kate, Tyler, and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.

Twisters features an exciting new cast, including Nope’s Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane (American Honey), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Nik Dodani (Atypical), and Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney (Beautiful Boy). From Amblin Entertainment, Twisters is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and is produced by Oscar nominee Frank Marshall (Jurassic and Indiana Jones franchises) and by Patrick Crowley (Jurassic and Bourne franchises). The screenplay is by Mark L. Smith, writer of the Best Picture nominee The Revenant.

Do you plan to check out Twisters this weekend? Let us know in the comments section below.

The first collaboration between McFarlane Toys and Marvel will feature figures of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Deadpool, and more.

Last Updated on July 24, 2024

With great power comes some pretty great looking action figures. The first-ever collaboration between McFarlane Toys and Marvel is now up for pre-order ahead of their September 24th mass release. Even more special, some of the designs are based on artwork by Todd McFarlane himself.

The Marvel properties that are slinging to the web this fall via McFarlane Toys are 1:10th scale figures of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, and Deadpool, while Captain America gets the 1:6th scale treatment. Both Spidey and Captain America come from McFarlane’s own Spider-Man #6 and The Amazing Spider-Man #323, respectively, while he has gone back to the archives for Jim Lee’s Wolverine (X-Men #1), John Romita Jr.’s Iron Man (The Invincible Iron Man #126) and Rob Liefeld’s Deadpool (The New Mutants #8). You can check out detailed images and specs of each on the McFarlane Toys website.

When this Marvel lineup was announced in May, Todd McFarlane had the following to say: “For literally decades, thousands of Marvel fans and fans of my McFarlane Toys have deluged me with requests of wanting to see a Marvel and McFarlane Toys collaboration. Thanks to the invaluable support and collaboration from Marvel in making these new products a reality, I will now get this wonderful opportunity to not only be able to produce statue-like figures based upon my own artwork (who wouldn’t jump at the chance to turn their own 2-D drawings into 3-D reality?), but I will also have the great pleasure of being able to create products based upon some of the amazingly talented peers in our wonderful comic book industry. As fun as it will be to play with some of my own artwork, I am really looking forward to developing figures based upon the finest creators in comics. Get ready, everyone!”

Each of the Marvel figures in this initial lineup of McFarlane Toys comes with an environmental base and diorama backdrop, adding more dimension to the characters for your display case.

McFarlane has definitely assembled a strong lineup of Marvel characters here, with each serving as a tribute not only to the superhero but also the men who have spent years with them. Earlier this year, Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld announced that he would be stepping away from the Merc with a Mouth after more than 30 years. Romita Jr., of course, is the son of the legendary Marvel artist John Romita Sr., who passed away last year.

Will you be pre-ordering any of these McFarlane Toys Marvel figures? Which renditions do you want added to a future wave?

The Conjuring: Last Rites, the fourth and final Conjuring film, reveals character descriptions on a casting call

The Conjuring film franchise is set to come to an end with the fourth installment, The Conjuring: Last Rites, which Warner Bros. set to give the film a theatrical release on September 5, 2025 release. We had previously heard that this movie would be filming in the Atlanta, Georgia area, but apparently they’ll be doing some work across the pond as well, with filming scheduled to take place in London, England from September 10th through October 10th this year. Industry scooper Daniel Richtman has gotten his hands on a casting call that reveals some details on a few supporting characters that will be required on the set in London.

We don’t have any plot info on The Conjuring: Last Rites at this time, all we know that the story takes place in the United States in the 1980s, but thanks to Richtman and the casting call we know about these characters:

[ CARLY ]
7 to 9 years old, White girl. This character identifies as she/her. She is strong and spirited, youngest sibling, a twin. US accent. We are looking for a child with a deep emotional intelligence and the ability to convey strong emotions. Role for minor: requires no mature content. SIGNIFICANT SUPPORTING ROLE.

[ JASON ]
Man / 24-29 /White / Description: A young man experiencing the birth of his child…SUPPORTING

[ HILARY ]
Female / 24-29 /White. A young woman giving birth…SUPPORTING

The lead roles go to returning franchise stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, coming back to play paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren again. Michael Chaves, who previously directed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, The Nun II, and the Conjuring Universe-adjacent The Curse of La Llorona, is at the helm of The Conjuring: Last Rites, working from a screenplay written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who also wrote The Conjuring 2 and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.

Franchise producers James Wan and Peter Safran are producing the film, with Michael Clear and Judson Scott serving as executive producers alongside Hans Ritter.

Are you looking forward to The Conjuring: Last Rites? What do you think of the character descriptions on the casting call? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The MCU officially launched with Iron Man but Marvel president Kevin Feige thinks Blade and X-Men deserve more credit.

Getting the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the point where it is today was like skating uphill. Sure, pretty much every one of them is going to put butts in movie theater seats – and many will even show up in costume or their favorite faux-vintage tee – but it wasn’t always a guarantee. Iron Man was a monumental risk in practically every front that, thankfully for the studio, paid off in dividends. But current Marvel head Kevin Feige doesn’t just look to Iron Man as the launching point but rather some perhaps unexpected choices.

Speaking with Deadline, Kevin Feige gave credit to a pair of Marvel movies that came before he stepped into his role in 2007, the year before Iron Man hit theaters. “I said for a long time that the one-two punch for Marvel, pre-dating me, was Blade and then X-Men. Blade was a character that nobody knew from the comics, or very few people knew. It wasn’t advertised as being from Marvel Comics. X-Men was the No. 1 bestselling comic for the 15 years before the movie came out.”

Feige added that Marvel properties like Blade ($131 million worldwide) and X-Men (just under $300 million worldwide and one of the highest-grossing of 2000) gave both himself and the studio confidence that there was so much more to what could work on the big screen than he imagined. “Both of them did extremely well, and that instilled in us the notion that it is less about how many issues did you sell or how famous was the animated show or the live-action series in the ’70s, but how engaging can you make the character, and how much of a new experience of a world can you bring to cinemas with that character.”

Of course, the studio has a lot on their docket right now, but Feige and company are still all-on on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Phase Six – which officially launches with this month’s Deadpool & Wolverine – will even feature a revisition of the Blade character, while the X-Men will make their return with writer Michael Lesslie tapped to pen the screenplay. Hopefully we get some updates – however minor – on both at this year’s SDCC, where Marvel will be taking over Hall H.

Do you think Blade and X-Men deserve more credit for the comic book movie boom? If not, does it belong to Iron Man or another flick?