Paramount Pictures has released a slew of new character posters for its upcoming animated comedy, Wonder Park. Now you can get up close and personal with Steve, Peanut, Gus and Cooper and more when you check out the posters in the gallery below.
Wonder Park tells the story of a magnificent amusement park where the imagination of a wildly creative girl named June comes alive. Written by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, who together penned the 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot and its sequel, from a story by Robert Gordon and the screenwriters.
Featuring the voices of Jennifer Garner (Alias, 13 Going On 30), Matthew Broderick (The Producers, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), John Oliver (Last Week Tonight, The Lion King), Mila Kunis (Bad Moms, The Spy Who Dumped Me), Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live), Ken Jeong (The Hangover series), Norbert Leo Butz (Dan in Real Life, Fair Game), Brianna Denski and Ken Hudson Campbell.
Blue Planet II creator James Honeyborne signs multi-year deal with Netflix
Netflix is going big on natural history documentaries, and James Honeyborne will be heavily involved. Honeyborne, who created Blue Planet II, has signed a lucrative multi-year deal with the streaming platform, as reported by Deadline.
Blue Planet II premiered on the platform in December of last year, and now Honeyborne will continue to work with them and produce nature and science series via his production company, Freeborne Media.
“Freeborne is excited to be working with Netflix and for the new creative opportunities that will arise from our partnership. Today, wildlife and wild places are facing unprecedented challenges. There is a pressing need to tell important, surprising and inspiring stories about our world. Working with Netflix means we can create game-changing documentaries that can reach and engage a huge global audience,” said Honeyborne.
Previously, Honeyborne was part of the BBC’s Natural History Unit, which he left last month to start Freeborne Media. It’s a move that seems to have paid off.
“James has created some of the most captivating natural history series of our time, with breathtaking sweep and vision,” said Lisa Nishimura, Netflix VP of Documentaries and Comedy. “I am thrilled that he will be working with us at Netflix, bringing his unique exploration of the wonders of the natural world to our viewers.”
In addition to working with Freeborne Media, Netflix is also launching another big-budget entry, Our Planet, from the creators of Planet Earth.
Following the box office success of its predecessor, STX Films and Lakeshore Entertainment have announced that the sequel to the 2016 horror film The Boy officially began production in Vancouver, British Columbia on Monday, January 28, with William Brent Bell returning to helm and Stacey Menear returning to pen the script.
Unaware of the terrifying history of Heelshire Mansion, a young family moves into the estate, where their young son soon makes an unsettling new friend, an eerily life-like doll he calls Brahms.
Principal photography was originally set to begin in Victoria, British Columbia on January 14, but following an unknown two week delay, filming has officially begun to the commercial hit, with Bell (The Devil Inside) behind the camera once again. The cast is made up of Katie Holmes (Batman Begins) as the matriarch to the family, along with Christopher Convery (Gotham) as her son Jude, Owain Yeoman (Turn: Washington’s Spies) as her husband Sean and Ralph Ineson (The Witch) as a character named Joseph.
Penned by the same writer, Menear, The Boy 2 will be produced by Lakeshore’s Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi and Eric Reid, as well as Matt Berenson, Jim Wedaa and Roy Lee. Bell’s The Boy was produced for under $15 million and grossed $68 million worldwide.
Brent Bell has firmly established himself in the cinematic world of horror, having directed The Boy, Wer, and The Devil Inside, and is currently in-development on multiple projects, including Blumhouse Productions’ TV series, Posthumans.
STXfilms and Lakeshore’s recent collaborations include Pierre Morel’s action-thriller Peppermint, starring Jennifer Garner, and the romance-drama Adrift, starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin. STX Entertainment is co-producing The Boy 2 with Lakeshore and will distribute in the US, while jointly handling international sales with Lakeshore.
Harry’s All Night Hamburgers: Ted Melfi in talks to direct time travel movie
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ted Melfi (Hidden Figures) is in final talks to direct the time travel adventure Harry’s All Night Hamburgers for Warner Bros., The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The project was picked up as a spec by Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman.
Harry’s All Night Hamburgers, based on the 1987 Why I Left Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers short story by Hugo Award winner Lawrence Watt-Evans, centers on a down-on-his-luck high school senior who discovers that the roadside diner where he works nights is actually the hangout of parallel universe of travelers. Ignoring the advice of the diner’s irascible owner Harry, he sets off on an adventure through the multiverse in search of his own perfect life, only to learn that happiness doesn’t come as easy as pressing a button.
The script for the project is being described as similar to Back to the Future and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Andrew Lazar (American Sniper) will produce for his Mad Chance production banner with Ben Simpson co-producing. Cate Adams and Paul Perez are shepherding for Warner Bros.
Melfi is currently in pre-production on the animated comedy The Fourteenth Goldfish, based on the book by Jennifer L. Holmes, and the comedy I am Rose Fatou. He is also adapting the comic book Huck into a feature film for Netflix with Neal H. Moritz and Toby Jaffe set to produce.
Zendaya in talks to join Timothée Chalamet in Dune reboot
Following the recent casting of Oscar Isaac, Collider reports that The Greatest Showman star Zendaya is also in talks to join the star-studded cast of director Denis Villenueve’s upcoming Dune reboot. Zendaya would be portraying the role of Chani, who will be the love interest of Academy Award-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet’s character Paul Atreides.
In addition to Chalamet, the ensemble cast includes Stellan Skarsgård (Thor), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Fallout) and Dave Bautista (Avengers: Infinity War).
Isaac has entered talks to star as the father to Chalamet’s lead character for the upcoming reboot. The 39-year-old actor has found success in a range of genres over the past six years from the acclaimed musical black comedy Inside Llewyn Davis in 2013 to the science-fiction psychological thriller Ex Machina in 2014 to the acclaimed Resistance fighter pilot Poe Dameron in the sequel Star Wars film trilogy and its animated spin-off series.
Skarsgård, who recently starred in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, will play Baron Harkonnen in Dune, whose family previously ruled Arrakis and has a long hatred of the Atreides family, plotting with the galactic emperor to destroy it. He is also the uncle to the brutish character to be played by Bautista.
Ferguson will play Lady Jessica in the Dune reboot, the mother of Timothee Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, Within Frank Herbert’s classic novel of the same name, Lady Jessica and Paul are part of a noble family who are forced to flee into the deserts of the planet Arrakis. Paul rises to become the new leader of the nomadic desert tribes. Lady Jessica helps convince the nomads that Paul is their messiah. From those humble beginnings, Paul’s quest will threaten to bring down the Emperor who plotted against his family.
Dune was previously adapted by David Lynch in 1985, and it was also a series of TV miniseries starting in 2000 on SYFY. Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival director Denis Villeneuve will helm the Dune remake. Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts wrote the script, and it is being produced by Legendary Pictures. The new Dune may begin filming as soon as this year, although a release date has not yet been announced.
If Dune proves to have better luck at the box office than Lynch’s film, then there’s plenty of material for sequels. Herbert wrote five additional Dune novels before his death in 1986. Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert and novelist Kevin J. Anderson collaborated on a number of Dune books as well. Brian Herbert and Anderson are both involved with the Dune remake, as an executive producer and creative consultant, respectively.
Apple and WingNut Films have announced a new Beatles documentary to be helmed by director Peter Jackson. The film will compile footage from their January 1969 studio session that resulted in the album Let It Be.
“The 55 hours of never-before-seen footage and 140 hours of audio made available to us, ensures this movie will be the ultimate ‘fly on the wall’ experience that Beatles fans have long dreamt about – it’s like a time machine transports us back to 1969, and we get to sit in the studio watching these four friends make great music together,” said Jackson.
The footage was initially recorded for a TV special, though the project evolved over time, and eventually became the documentary Let It Be. Like the album, it came out 18 months after the Beatles broke up, and was seen as a chronicling of the band’s demise. Jackson added that “the reality is very different to the myth.”
“After reviewing all the footage and audio that Michael Lindsay-Hogg shot 18 months before they broke up, it’s simply an amazing historical treasure-trove. Sure, there’s moments of drama – but none of the discord this project has long been associated with. Watching John, Paul, George, and Ringo work together, creating now-classic songs from scratch, is not only fascinating – it’s funny, uplifting and surprisingly intimate.”
Jackson, who’s coming off his most recent documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old, has never been shy about his love for the Fab Four. In his 1987 debut, Bad Taste, the director can be seen driving a van with a Sgt. Pepper-era window decal.
New trailer for Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral released
Lionsgate has released a brand new trailer for their upcoming comedy Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral, featuring hilarious new scenes from the film. Starring Cassi Davis, Patrice Lovely and Tyler Perry, the movie is set to arrive in theaters on March 1. Check out the video below!
In Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral, a joyous family reunion turns into a hilarious nightmare as Madea and the crew travel to backwoods Georgia and unexpectedly plan a funeral, which threatens to reveal sordid family secrets. Last October, it was revealed that this will be Perry’s last movie playing his iconic Madea character.
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral is the eighth film in the franchise and will be the final film from Tyler Perry that is distributed by Lionsgate. This is not going to be the last we see from Perry however as he signed an exclusive deal with Viacom last year, which will have him working on content in television, film, and short-form video. Under the terms of the agreement, Perry will produce approximately 90 episodes annually of original drama and comedy series for BET and other Viacom networks, and Viacom will have exclusive licensing rights on this programming. In addition, Viacom will have exclusive distribution rights to Perry’s short-form video content. The partnership on Perry’s TV and short-form video content to go into effect in May 2019, following the expiration of Perry’s exclusive agreement with OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Viacom’s agreement will extend through 2024.
The Walking Dead Season 9 midseason premiere photos released
AMC has released new photos from The Walking Dead Season 9 midseason premiere ahead of the series return on Sunday, February 10 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. Check out the photos now in the gallery below!
The second half of The Walking Dead Season 9 finds our groups of survivors, both old and new, continuing to deal with the impact of events that took place during the six years that have passed. Since the disappearance of Rick, many of these characters have become strangers to each other, and in some ways, strangers to themselves. What they do know is that they are in undeniable danger. They will soon realize the world just beyond does not operate as they thought.
The group’s rules and ways of survival no longer guarantee their safety. A whole new threat has crossed their paths, and they soon discover it’s unlike any threat they have encountered or endured before. The group will start to question what they think they see. What may appear to be normal in this post-apocalyptic world could actually be more disturbing and terrifying than when the apocalypse first broke out. All that is certain is the stakes are high and numerous.
Andrew Lincoln left the show earlier this season to star in a Walking Dead trilogy set in the same universe. In his absence, the series stars Norman Reedus (Blade II), Danai Gurira (Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War), Melissa McBride, Alanna Masterson, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Seth Gilliam, Ross Marquand, Austin Amelio, Tom Payne, Xander Berkeley, Khary Payton, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
Newcomers to the series include Ryan Hurst as Beta and Samantha Morton’s Alpha as the leaders of the Whisperers, along with Lauren Ridloff as comic book character Connie, Eleanor Matsuura as Yumiko from the comic series, and Fantastic Beasts star Dan Fogler.
Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics, The Walking Dead reigns the number one drama on television among adults 18-49 for the last six seasons. The series is executive produced by chief content officer Scott M. Gimple, showrunner Angela Kang, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero, Tom Luse and Denise Huth.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. The midseason premiere will air on February 10 on AMC.
Hobbs & Shaw trailer tease debuts, full trailer on Friday
Dwayne Johnson posted a Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw teaser ahead of the trailer debut this Friday, claiming that this will be the biggest showdown in the Fast & Furious franchise. Check out Johnson’s post below!
“I’m what ya call a nice cold can of whup ass” ~ Luke Hobbs
The film will follow Dwayne Johnson’s Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham’s assassin Deckard Shaw. The spin-off features a script from Chris Morgan, who has worked on the franchise since Tokyo Drift in 2006.
Johnson’s Hobbs first appeared in 2011’s Fast Five and has appeared in each Fast & Furious film since then, with Statham’s Shaw making his debut in a post-credit scene during 2013’s Fast Six and serving as the main antagonist of Furious 7 with an appearance in The Fate of the Furious as well. The upcoming spin-off is a separate film from the in-development ninth and tenth films in the series. Fast & Furious 9 will be released on April 10, 2020 with Fast & Furious 10 set to conclude the series on April 2, 2021.
Johnson will produce alongside Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia through Seven Bucks Productions. Statham, Neal H. Moritz for Original Film, and Chris Morgan for his eponymous production company will also produce, with executive producers Kelly McCormick, Steve Chasman, Amanda Lewis, Ainsley Davies, and Ethan Smith.
In addition to Johnson and Statham, Vanessa Kirby (The Crown), Eiza Gonzalez (Baby Driver), Eddie Marsan and Idris Elba (The Dark Tower, Avengers: Infinity War) will be playing the film’s villain. Hobbs & Shaw speeds into theaters on August 2, 2019.
Alita discovers she was a warrior in new Battle Angel clip
20th Century Fox has released another clip for director Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming film adaptation Alita: Battle Angel, featuring our titular cyborg learning more about her previous life. Check it out in the player below!
Visionary filmmakers James Cameron (Avatar) and Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) create a groundbreaking new heroine in Alita: Battle Angel, an action-packed story of hope, love and empowerment. Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita (Rosa Salazar) is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in.
Everything is new to Alita, every experience a first. As she learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield Alita from her mysterious past while her street-smart new friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson), offers instead to help trigger her memories. A growing affection develops between the two until deadly forces come after Alita and threaten her newfound relationships. It is then that Alita discovers she has extraordinary fighting abilities that could be used to save the friends and family she’s grown to love. Determined to uncover the truth behind her origin, Alita sets out on a journey that will lead her to take on the injustices of this dark, corrupt world, and discover that one young woman can change the world in which she lives.
Alita: Battle Angel also stars Jennifer Connelly (Top Gun: Maverick), Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Green Book), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), and Jackie Earle Haley.
Directed by Robert Rodriguez, the film features a screenplay written by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis and Rodriguez. Based on the graphic novel series Gunnm by Yukito Kishiro, Alita: Battle Angel is produced by Cameron and Jon Landau.
February 2019 free games for PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold
Sony and Microsoft have both announced the slate of February 2019 free games that will be available to subscribing PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold members.
PlayStation members will receive For Honor, the melee action game from Ubisoft featuring 18 different PvP maps. Members will also receive Hitman: The Complete First Season where players take on the role of Agent 47, the world’s ultimate assassin. PS4 games will be available until March 5, 2019.
The PS Plus Lineup also includes Divekick and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PS3, as well as Gunhouse and Rogue Aces for the PS Vita. This month’s PS3 and PS Vita games will be available until March 8, 2019. Following this date, PS3 games and PS Vita games will no longer be offered as part of the PS Plus monthly lineup. Previously downloaded games will still be part of your PS Plus games library.
PlayStation VR fans will receive big discounts exclusively for PS Plus members. This includes 50% off Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Gold Edition, 25% off Borderlands 2 VR, and 20% off Astro Bot Rescue Mission. The sale ends on February 5. On top of the game announcements, in early February the cloud storage space will expand from 10GB to 100GB for PS Plus members. You can subscribe to PlayStation Plus via this link.
Xbox Live Gold members will receive four new free games — two on Xbox One and two on Xbox 360 — as part of the Games with Gold program. On Xbox One, Xbox Live Gold members can download Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon for free during the month of February. SUPER BOMBERMAN R will be available as a free download from February 16 to March 15.
On Xbox 360, starting February 1st, Assassin’s Creed Rogue will be free for Xbox Live Gold members through February 15. Then on February 16, Xbox Live Gold members can download Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy for free through February 28. You can subscribe to Xbox Live Gold via this link.
Don’t mess with Liam Neeson in new Cold Pursuit clip
Lionsgate has released a new clip for Liam Neeson’s latest revenge thriller Cold Pursuit, featuring Neeson’s Nels Coxman showing off his violently side. The film is set to hit theaters on February 8. Check out the video below!
Cold Pursuit, formerly titled Hard Powder also stars Emmy Rossum (Shameless) and Laura Dern (Wild), and follows Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson), a local snowplow operator recently named Citizen of the Year of his small Colorado ski town for keeping the roads open through the winter. Nels’ quiet life with his wife (Dern) abruptly spins out of control when their son is unjustly murdered by a local drug cartel. Taking the law into his own hands with only the tools of an outdoorsman and snowplow driver, Nels sets out to find those responsible but inadvertently ignites a gang war that threatens to engulf the town — unless he ends it first.
The film will be produced by Michael Shamberg (Django Unchained, Pulp Fiction) for StudioCanal, the European studio who previously made Neeson’s hit actioner Non-Stop. The film was written by Frank Baldwin (the upcoming The Warriors TV series), and directed by Norwegian helmer Hans Petter Moland, who also directed the original film.
Hanna Super Bowl spot: Be the girl no one saw coming
Amazon Prime Video has released their Hanna Season 1 Super Bowl spot, announcing that the first episode of the series will be available exclusively to Prime members for 24 hours following the game with the full season arriving in March. Adapted from the 2011 action thriller of the same name, you can check out the Hanna spot below!
David Farr, who co-wrote the original film, penned the series adaptation which follows the journey of a young girl with extraordinary skills as she evades the relentless pursuit of an off-book CIA agent and tries to unearth the truth behind who she is.
Mireille Enos (The Catch) plays Marissa, an efficient and ruthless agent, having risen up the ranks of the CIA. However, beneath her cool exterior is a deeply buried secret that continues to haunt her. The reappearance of the titular assassin and her father Erik threaten to expose the past she has worked to repress.
Joel Kinnaman (Altered Carbon) plays Erik, a hardened intuitive and uncompromising soldier and mercenary who, for the past 15 years, has raised his daughter in the remote forest of northern Poland. Isolated from the world he once knew, he has trained his daughter in every method of survival, with his only goal, to keep her safe. But, his teenage daughter begins to seek freedom from the restricted haven he has created.
Esme Creed-Miles (Dark River) takes on her first leading role as the titular character, who has lived all her life in a forest in Northern Poland until becoming the heart of an unraveling conspiracy. Hanna feels she must leave the confinement of the forest to experience life, but once in the world, Hanna is hunted by Marissa and others connected to Hanna’s hidden origins and exceptional abilities.
Enos and Kinnaman previously starred together in the AMC series The Killing, the upcoming Amazon adaptation marking a reunion for the actors.
The series will be executive produced by Mary Adelstein and Becky Clements, as well as NBC Universal International Studios’ Scott Nemes and JoAnn Alfano. Sarah Adina Smith (Legion, Room 104) directed the series, which was shot in March 2018 across Hungary, Slovakia, Spain, and the U.K. and is set to debut on Amazon in March of this year.
