Ever since Ron Howard started pushing for an adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower, there was a plan to include a companion TV series. Well, that TV series is now moving forward and details have been revealed about what that series will entail!

MRC and Sony Pictures have already committed to financing a full season of between 10 and 13 episodes. The number of episodes depends on how the scripts and story arcs develop. They still don't have a distributor, but I don't think it will be an issue finding one. 

The series will be based on King's Wizard and Glass, which provides an epic backstory that focuses on a younger version of gunslinger Roland Deschain and his early tribulations. It centers around "Roland and his ka-tet of fate-forged allies, including the boy Jake, listening to the story of the gunslinger’s past while preparing for the next leg of their journey." EW goes on to explain:

In this framing device for the book, they are camped within reach of a “thinny,” which is a kind of aurora where reality has eroded and people who draw too close can be consumed like it’s a black hole. Roland tells his new friends of his first encounter with such a thing, unspooling a tale about being sent by his father on a mission to the Barony of Mejis, a distant seaside kingdom in the same dimension as his homeland of Gilead.

Idris Elba is set reprise his role as an older Roland as is Tom Taylor, who plays Jake Chambers. The report goes on to explain that: 

That duo will serve as the framing device for the show’s central story, which takes place many years before the events depicted in the film. Since the series will be Roland’s origin story, a younger actor will be cast to play the aspiring gunslinger as a teenager, back before the realm of Mid-World 'moved on' into chaos and bloodshed.

There's no word on if Matthew McConaughey will reprise his role as the villainous Man in Black, but the character plays a major part in Roland’s origin story. The sorcerer often takes on different names and appearances in King's stories, so if they needed another actor to play him, it wouldn't be an issue. 

Throughout the course of the story, "Roland reveals how he fell for the beautiful Susan Delgado, and later tested the faith of his original ka-tet — friends Alain Johns and Cuthbert Allgood." When talking about the show, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman says:

“In the movie, Roland is suffering tremendous loss. The most concrete, personal, existential heartbreak a character can have. If the movie chronicles his final reach toward hope again, the TV show is the loss of that hope. This one has much more fidelity to the story as King wrote it."

So it seems as if this series is going to be more of a straightforward adaptation, which I think fans will be very happy about. If the movie and this first season of the TV series go over well with audiences, there's a good chance that they will continue the story with more film sequels and seasons of the show. 

The Dark Tower series will start shooting in 2017 and it will most likely premiere it in 2018.

Below, you will find a map that was released that "demarcates the various towns and landmarks within the territory of Mejis: the capital, Hambry, along the Clean Sea; Coos Hill, home of the witch, Rhea; Citgo, the oil fields that could help fuel an army; Bad Grass, the toxic meadowlands; and Eyebolt Canyon, where a different thinny cries out for victims."

Demonic possession is typically a hot button issue as Halloween draws near. We're all familiar with the possession films of both the classic and modern era, but do you believe some of them are based on factual events? Regardless of your belief, America has 12 trained exorcists, and one of them conveniently lives in my backyard! That's good to know, because there are two creepy kids that live across the street that I'm thinking of putting a call in on. 

If you've ever wondered what the modern exorcist does, VICE has your answer in the short documentary below. 

Everyone knows "Wonderwall," but aside from that song, my knowledge of British rock group Oasis is extremely limited. (But man, remember "Champagne Supernova"?) The band, led by brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, gained a massive following in an incredibly short time back in the '90s before flaming out, and now there's a new documentary (appropriately called Supersonic, after their insanely popular album) that chronicles it all. This comes from the producers of Amy, the terrific, Oscar-winning doc about Amy Winehouse, and it reminds me a lot of that film both in form and in subject matter.

A24 is releasing the movie in U.S. theaters for a one-night only engagement on October 26, 2016, and you can watch the trailer below:

Via: Deadline

I don't know who keeps asking for it, but The Smurfs are back in their third movie. Here's a description for Smurfs: The Lost Village:

In this fully animated, all-new take on the Smurfs, a mysterious map sets Smurfette and her best friends Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty on an exciting and thrilling race through the Forbidden Forest filled with magical creatures to find a mysterious lost village before the evil wizard Gargamel does. Embarking on a rollercoaster journey full of action and danger, the Smurfs are on a course that leads to the discovery of the biggest secret in Smurf history!

The trailer doesn't tell you much about the story, but it does feature the song "Get Back" by Ludacris. I'm hoping for a red-band trailer featuring the uncensored lyrics.

The new movie is expected in Spring 2017. 

With a little more than a month to go until the premiere of season seven of The Walking Dead, AMC is ramping up its advertising campaign to make sure fans know that the show is coming back. Today, the network released a new piece of art with a threatening Negan front and center, lording above the tagline "We're Just Getting Started," as well as a new 30 second trailer for the upcoming season that features Ezekiel and The Kingdom.

The Walking Dead returns on October 23, 2016. Are you still watching, or did last season's cliffhanger piss you off so much that you've abandoned ship?

The first half of Season 7 sees the group fractured, broken, bereaved, and picking up the pieces while living under the thumb of oppression. Negan will have successfully brought the survivors under his will, brutally convincing them to live under his rules with a deadly and horrific example of what happens if they don’t.

Meet King Ezekiel and the Kingdom when #TWD Season 7 premieres October 23 at 9|8c. https://t.co/C7o8KcvljU

— The Walking Dead AMC (@WalkingDead_AMC) September 21, 2016

Ever since I first heard Dante and Randal talked about the Death Star contractors in Kevin Smith's Clerks, it's been tough to see the Stormtroopers as just faceless cannon fodder in Star Wars battles. The Force Awakens took this to its logical conclusion by having one of them become a deserter and a major protagonist, and now a fan's short film has come along that aims to humanize these white-clad warriors even more.

/Film points us to Jakku: First Wave, a short written and directed by Benjamin Eck that concentrates on three Stormtroopers immediately before the Battle of Jakku. It's definitely reminiscent of Band of Brothers, and does a good job of putting you into these characters' headspace minutes before they risk their lives for their cause.

I'm fascinated by the idea of a Power Rangers movie. Who is it for? Is it for teenagers now, who almost certainly haven't seen the original series? Or is it mostly a nostalgia trip for those of us who grew up watching the show in its first run? I guess we'll find out when the box office receipts start rolling in next year, but in the meantime, Lionsgate has released a handful of new teaser posters for the movie that give us a look at the Rangers suited up and lounging around on their newly-designed Dinozords. We're only given a glimpse of a tiny portion of the zords, so we don't yet know how they're going to look in context (let alone combined as a Megazord), but take a gander and let us know what you think in the comments.

(Also, as io9 points out, the tagline "Go Go," while cheesy, is miles ahead of their previous tagline, "Together We Are More.)

Power Rangers hits theaters on March 24, 2017.

I wholeheartedly believe that ClusterTruck will be a game that withstands the test of time. 12 years from now when today's adolescents are grown they are going...read more on Gametyrant

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Yeah, I'm thinkin' he's back.

Here's the first poster for John Wick: Chapter Two, which sees Keanu Reeves returning to the title role as a retired hitman who's forced back in the game. I enjoyed the world-building of the first movie, and I'm glad we're getting a sequel.

ComingSoon says that the movie is going to be a part of a Lionsgate panel at New York Comic Con on Saturday, October 8, and if you aren't able to make that in person, the panel — which will feature a Q&A with the talent and show off some brand new footage — will reportedly be streamed live on Twitch. 

John Wick: Chapter Two arrives in theaters on February 10, 2017.

Keanu Reeves returns in the sequel to the 2014 hit as legendary hitman John Wick who is forced to back out of retirement by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome where he squares off against some of the world’s deadliest killers.

Couch Tomato and Hulk review Blair Witch, and talk about likes and dislikes of the found footage and horror genre. Listen on PodTyrant

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If Damien Chazelle's La La Land is anywhere as good as his stunningly awesome 2014 film Whiplash, it may end up being my favorite movie of 2016. But before we get a chance to see that movie, editor Jacob T. Swinney is giving us a good reason to think about Whiplash again in a new video he made that compares Chazelle's feature film to his 2013 short film of the same name. The video reveals how the writer/director recreated the entire short within the feature, cutting smoothly back and forth between the two to tell the story. Watching this actually makes me respect the feature more, because Chazelle was able to take a piece that stood so well on its own and add flesh it out into a full-length movie that works equally well.

Paramount Pictures has released five very brief teasers for Scarlett Johansson's live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. They offer us the first intriguing footage from the film, and I like what I see so far. The footage definitely got me excited about seeing more! I assume this means that a full trailer will be coming soon. 

Ghost in the Shell follows the Major, special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic’s advancements in cyber technology.

The film is being directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman), and it's based on the classic manga series that was written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The movie also stars Beat Takeshi Kitano as Daisuke Aramaki, Juliette Binoche as Dr. Ouelet, Michael Pitt as Kuze, Pilou Asbæk as Batou, and Kaori Momoi. The members of Section 9 are played by Chin Han, Danusia Samal, Lasarus Ratuere, Yutaka Izumihara, and Tuwanda Manyimo.

Ghost in the Shell is set to be released in theaters on March 31st, 2017.

Moon and Warcraft director Duncan Jones has been trying to get his passion project Mute off the ground for years. Well, it's finally happening! Jones announced on Twitter that he will start shooting the movie next week! I'm a huge fan of Jones' work, and I'm so excited and happy for him that he is actually making this dream project of his. The sci-fi film project is set in the year 2046, it stars Paul Rudd and Alexander Skarsgård, and this is the synopsis:

Berlin. Forty years from today. A roiling city of immigrants, where East crashes against West in a science-fiction Casablanca. Leo Beiler (Skarsgard), a mute bartender has one reason and one reason only for living here, and she’s disappeared. But when Leo’s search takes him deeper into the city’s underbelly, an odd pair of American surgeons (led by Rudd) seem to be the only recurring clue, and Leo can’t tell if they can help, or who he should fear most.

Sam Rockwell also has a part in the story. He will be reprising his role as Sam Bell from Jones' first film Moon. We aren't sure how big of a role he'll play. Mute takes place in the same universe as Moon, and his character is meant to connect the two.

The movie is inspired by films such as Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, Paul Schrader’s Hardcore, Robert Altman’s MASH, and even Casablanca. When talking about the project a few years ago, he offered the following information:

“There's a couple of villains in there which I'm really excited about. They're so different than anything you've seen. I hope I get the chance to make the film because they're going to be very unique, you're not going to have seen anyone like these two guys before...

“No aliens, nothing like that. It's a very human story, it's about normal, normal people having to live in this future city. Science fiction is more of a backdrop, in some ways, than you might expect. But I like that, because ... if you allow [science fiction] to be in the backdrop and not be what it's all about, then the humanity is what you're really concentrating on and looking at. You see why people are the way they are , and how they've maintained their humanity in these science-fiction settings. Or the opposite, why their humanity starts to be eroded. When they started to lose their humanity because of the world that they live in, and that's what this film is going to be about.”

I'm incredibly excited about this movie, and I can't wait to see how it turns out! 

.@MUTE_Film starts shooting in.... one week from today! :0 pic.twitter.com/hbgQVkPyMR

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) September 21, 2016

We recently got an update from Spawn creator Todd McFarlane on the movie he's been developing forever. I hope one day it happens, but in the meantime, we've got a video of the legendary comic artist drawing Ghost Rider. With the recent premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4, Ghost Rider is back in the limelight and fans are excited. 

It's been a very long time since we've seen McFarlane draw anything other than Spawn. He used to do all kinds of stuff with Marvel and DC characters, but not anymore. So it was a real treat to see McFarlane whip up a badass drawing of Ghost Rider, who shares some similarities to Spawn. It's definitely a fun treat for his fans!

This isn't his first time drawing the hellish character; he drew him while he was working on Spider-Man, in a story where the Webslinger and Ghost Rider teamed up to take on the Hobgoblin. When talking about drawing Ghost Rider on his website, he said:

"A little later when I started Image Comics and Spawn, I added a few of those accessories INCLUDING spikes and chains to Spawn’s Costume because I STILL enjoyed drawing them…and they’re just COOL."

Check it out!

If you're a fan of Dolph Lundgren and bloody violence, you're gonna want to watch this upcoming film Don't Kill It. We have an awesome trailer for you to watch for the film that doesn't hold back on the blood and gore as Lundren awesomely hunts down and kills demons. The movie looks absolutely insane and like a ton of fun. Lundgren even manages to attempt an American cowboy-type accent. 

An ancient evil is unleashed in a small Alaskan town leaving a trail of death and destruction as it passes from host to host. The only hope of survival lies with a grizzled demon hunter (Dolph Lundgren) who has faced this terror before. Together with a reluctant FBI agent he has to figure out how to destroy a demon with the ability to possess its killer.

Don’t Kill It was directed by Mike Mendez (Big Ass Spider), and it's set to premiere this weekend at Fantastic Fest.

Have you ever wanted to see Batman fight Boba Fett? I have! And thanks to legendary artist Alex Ross, who I know you're all familiar with, we have an epic visual of what that battle would look like. Ross posted the piece on his Facebook page with a note saying that his new Batman vs Boba Fett piece will be featured in new exhibit at the Norman Rockwell museum. I want a print of this piece so bad! 

Via: Nerd Approved

Now before you say, "Wait, wasn't Hearts in Atlantis already a movie with Anthony Hopkins and Anthon Yelchin?" The answer is yes... and no. That film was adapted from two of the stories in the book of a collection of tales by Stephen King titled Hearts of Atlantis. Those stories were called “Low Men in Yellow Coats” and “Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling.”

This new film is based on the actual title story from that book, and according to Variety, the movie will simply be called Hearts. The film is set to be directed by Johannes Roberts (The Other Side of the Door).

Hearts is set in 1966, and it's described as "a bittersweet coming-of-age story about a group of college boys and their first time away from home, their obsession and self-destruction, and what it means to be an adult in a world where, in the face of a devastating war no one understands, adults can no longer be trusted."

The story centers on a group of poor freshmen, surviving off scholarships and aid packages, who become obsessed with the highly addictive – and highly vindictive – card game Hearts and find their world starts to slowly unravel. Their grades begin to fall, and one by one they flunk out at a time when life outside college meant the draft and the jungles of Vietnam.

Like most of King's stories, this one is sure to make another great film adaptation.

Deadpool villain Ed Skrein is the most recent actor to join the cast of James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez’s feature film adaption of Alita: Battle Angel. Skrein is set to play another bad guy in this story, and he will join Maze Runner actress Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, and Jackie Earl Haley.

Set in the 26th century, Alita tells of a female cyborg (Salazar) that is discovered in a scrapyard by a scientist. With no memory of her previous life except her deadly martial-arts training, the woman becomes a bounty hunter, tracking down criminals.

According to THR, Skrein will play a character named Zapan, "a villainous cyborg who is in possession of a weapon called the Damascus blade."

Rodriguez will start production on the film in October in Austin. I've been looking forward to this film ever since Cameron started talking about making it years ago. I'm happy that it's finally happening, I just wish it were actually under the direction of Cameron. Hopefully, Rodriguez will give us a great badass movie! 

There have been so many reports about the production of Gareth Edward's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and how it's been in trouble. All I care about is the end result, though. Everything I've seen from it so far looks amazing! I know a lot of fans like me who are more excited for Rogue One than The Force Awakens. Only time will tell if the movie actually is as great as it looks. 

During a recent investors call, Disney CEO Bob Iger talked about the film and also about the future of the Star Wars franchise. I was surprised to learn that they don't think Rogue One will do as well as The Force Awakens did. Iger said, "We never felt it would do the level that Force Awakens did." then added, "The level of interest [in Rogue One] is as high as it was for Force Awakens." 

Even though the level of interest is as high, that doesn't mean the box office numbers will be, or the reviews will be as good. It's strange. You would think with The Force Awakens priming the pump for the future of the franchise a movie like Rogue One would do just as well or better. But who knows, maybe some people aren't sure what to expect from these Star Wars stories because they are breaking from the original saga.

Iger went on to describe Rogue One as, "an experiment, of sorts," and says that "It’s really interesting in terms of Star Wars storytelling. Star Wars has only been told as a saga, and this is a moment in time … we love what we’ve seen." 

It's great to know that they love what they've seen! Of course, if they didn't like it, he wouldn't say that to a bunch of Disney investors. He went on to talk about the future plans of the franchise, confirming they have plans for Star Wars films through 2020, a year in which another Anthology film will be released.

"I had a meeting yesterday with Kathy Kennedy and we mapped out — well, we reviewed — the Star Wars plans that we have ’til 2020. We have movies in development for ‘Star Wars’ ’til then, and we started talking about what we’re going to do in 2021 and beyond."

It's so cool that these Star Wars films are just going to keep coming year after year. It still really hasn't sunk in for me because we've only seen The Force Awakens, but it's going to be exciting once Disney and Lucasfilm start rolling out at least two Star Wars films a year. It's a great time to be a Star Wars fan!

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in theaters on December 16th. I hope it blows Disney's expectations away!

Via: The Playlist

Here's the first trailer for Fist Fight, a new movie that stars the unlikely combo of Ice Cube and Charlie Day. They play high school teachers, and for some reason, Cube wants to knock Day out in a fight after school. The whole trailer basically looks like a slight twist on that recent Will Ferrell movie Get Hard; this time, Day tries to learn what to do and how to fight from other faculty members while constantly making a fool of himself. It's a little cheesy, but it seems like the leads are well-cast for what they're being asked to do here. Let's hope the script is up to snuff.

With a solid supporting cast that includes Tracy Morgan, Kumail Nanjiani, Jillian Bell, Christina Hendricks, and more, this one could end up being pretty funny.

Fist Fight opens on February 17, 2017.

On the last day of the year, mild-mannered high school English teacher Andy Campbell (Day) is trying his best to keep it together amidst senior pranks, a dysfunctional administration and budget cuts that put jobs on the line.  But things go from bad to worse when he accidentally crosses his much tougher and deeply feared colleague, Ron Strickland (Ice Cube), who challenges Campbell to an old-fashioned throw down after school.  News of the fight spreads like wildfire and ends up becoming the very thing this school, and Campbell, needed.