When Beetlejuice first hit cinemas in 1988, it was a weird, wonderful, and wildly original experience. Tim Burton’s dark yet playful aesthetic, Michael Keaton’s chaotic performance as the titular ghost, and the film’s quirky humor combined to create something truly special. Beetlejuice became a cult classic, a film that embodied Burton’s trademark balance of the macabre and the whimsical while introducing a unique world that spawned an equally unique and dedicated fandom.

Now, more than 35 years later, the Beetlejuice sequel has arrived, and like so many remakes before it, it’s struggling to capture the essence that made the original so beloved.

The sequel brings everything you would expect in the way of nostalgia but also an influx of brand partnerships: a whopping 35 in total. While brand collaborations are nothing new, Beetlejuice 2 has taken cues from the successful marketing strategy of Barbie, leveraging creative partnerships that aim to enhance the viewer’s experience. The key phrase being ‘aim to’.

The film has been criticized for tipping the balance, with some fans feeling the brand integrations are too heavy-handed. This turns the movie into more of a commercial showcase than a sequel that speaks honestly to a dedicated fandom that has embraced the original for decades.

Surely this won't impact creators at all!

Earlier this week, a rumor went around alleging Warner Bros. was looking to start up a new Goonies movie. It sounded slightly official thanks to claiming the original cast was set to return, Steven Spielberg (creator of the first film’s story) would direct, and that this would-be film was set for release sometime in 2026 or 2027. Things were further exacerbated by Sean Astin—or rather, whoever runs his social media—seemingly putting his support behind it. But it’s not to be, as fellow original stars Corey Feldman and Martha Plimpton shot that rumor down hard. Feldman said he had “no info” of any sequel in the works, while Plimpton was more direct in her words.

“There’s no Goonies 2 script, there’s no one attached. Spielberg is not directing, it’s not real,” she said on Instagram. What IS real is CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION AND VOTE!!!!”

Much like with Beetlejuice 2, there’ve been plenty of rumors and hopes over the years of a new Goonies movie coming to fruition. After the cast reunited for a virtual COVID-19 fundraiser in 2020, Spieberg admitted he’s talked over potential sequel ideas with co-writer Chris Columbus, the late director Richard Donner, and producer Lauren Shuler Donner, but they never settled on anything concrete. Funnily enough, there’s a show about the Goonies movie in the works called Our Time, but as far as an actual continuation, it seems those dreams will have to stay dreams.

From director Bong Joon Ho, comes Mickey 17 - only in theaters January 31, 2025.

The Watch Dogs movie is being produced by New Regency, the studio behind films like The Lighthouse, Bohemian Rhapsody, and the 2016 Assassin's Creed adaptation. Directing the film is Mathieu Turi, whose previous work includes smaller films such as The Deep Dark, which didn't exactly set the box office on fire. Hopefully, this time will be different.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17581294

The new horror and science fiction anthology, “Deepest, Darkest,” has added yet another cast mate to its already stellar lineup of genre heavyweights.

Rahul Kohli, a beloved member of Mike Flanagan’s Flanaverse (“The Haunting of Bly Manor,” “The Fall of the House of Usher”) and essential teammate in the crime-solving “iZombie” series, has officially joined the star-studded cast of “Deepest, Darkest,” a new horror anthology from writer and director Marc Bernardin and actor Tiffany Smith.

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Kohli joins the previously announced cast of Smith (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”), Rosario Dawson (“The Mandalorian,” “Ahsoka”), Ernie Hudson (“Ghostbusters”), Yetide Badaki (“American Gods”), Phil LaMarr (“Futurama,” “Samurai Jack”) and “Quantum Leap” stars Raymond Lee and Caitlin Bassett.

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The anthology promises a genre-blending mix of horror, dark comedy, suspense and sci-fi, with a pitch that reads: “Have you ever had a secret? One so big, so awful, so horrifically extreme that you had no choice but to keep it to yourself? Something that if anyone else knew, that revelation would shift your world on its axis? What if there was someone whose job it was to listen to those secrets — because she could never remember them? What would you pay for absolution?”

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The film is currently raising funds through a Kickstarter campaign, which has raised $128,000 toward its $250,000 goal. “Kickstarter is always a gamble,” says Bernardin. “But I believe there’s an audience out there that might embrace a collection of cinematic short stories that aim to thrill and scare and provoke while also celebrating voices who don’t often get to be at the center of narratives like this.”

I'm joking BTW it's an acquired film with a budget of $11m

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Things_like_These_(film) https://www.google.com/search?q=%E2%82%AC10+million+to+usd

The owner of Framestore, the special effects powerhouse behind the visuals in many Marvel movies, has revealed that it is still reeling from the strikes which gripped Hollywood for more than six months last year and caused its revenue to plummet by $46.7 million to $665.6 million.

Framestore has worked on more than ten movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe including all of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and next year's Fantastic Four. It is in a prime position to get the work as it is the leading SFX agency in the United Kingdom where many Marvel movies are shot due to the lucrative government incentives on offer to studios.

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The dark clouds began to gather in May last year when writers downed their tools in a bid to boost their pay and royalties from streaming shows. They were followed by actors two months later and although the curtain came down on the dispute in November, by then studios had delayed the release dates of many movies including this year's chart-topper Deadpool & Wolverine, which Framestore also worked on.

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The financial statements confirm that "due to the challenges faced by the group arising from the writers’ and actors’ strike an impairment of $19,852,000 has been recognised in the year ended 31 December 2023 against the investment held in Infinity Bidco Limited."

The value was written down despite an improvement in the fortunes of Framestore's direct operating company Guidedraw, which retained its value. Its revenue rose 8.1% to $376.2 million in 2023 as the decline in business from North America was more than offset by an increase from British productions which were not part of the Hollywood strikes. Combined with careful cost control, this helped it to generate a $7.9 million operating profit, up from a $6.3 million loss in 2022.

Archive

Blumhouse’s 2025 lineup seems to be spitting in the face of originality with Megan 2.0, An Untitled Insidious Movie, The Black Phone 2, and Five Night’s at Freddy’s 2 all expected to release. And who knows what foreign remake they’ll target now that Speak No Evil is a nice little success. This is why it’s on us as the audience to seek out great cinema and not go simply because it’s the weekend’s new release. The studio and Indie world will just become more and more intermingled as we lose out on more and more mid-tier films. And we just have to hope that those meddling execs who usually focus on the bigger fare, don’t start setting their sights on their low-budget offerings. Because otherwise, horror is doomed.

Now, I fully acknowledge that Indie Horror is capable of being absolute shit. There are entire YouTube channels dedicated to all the awful films that get made on a daily basis. And sometimes too much creativity and lack of supervision can be a bad thing. But I will take something that’s trying to fulfill some kind of creative niche versus solely trying to eek out a profit. Longlegs, Cuckoo, and Strange Darling are amongst the year’s best and they are completely original works where the filmmakers were allowed to see their vision through. And I’ll take that over a bloodless CGI bear.

One of the most hotly anticipated horror movies in the remainder of September is the action-horror movie Azrael starring Samara Weaving (Ready or Not, Scream VI), in theaters September 27. While you wait, IFC Films has debuted a first-look clip via Rotten Tomatoes.

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The high concept action-horror film from Republic Pictures stars Samara Weaving and was directed by E.L. Katz (Channel Zero, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Cheap Thrills) from an original script by Simon Barrett (The Guest, You’re Next, Godzilla x Kong).

“In a world in which no one speaks, a devout female-led community hunts down a young woman (Weaving) who has escaped her imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, Azrael is to be sacrificed to pacify an ancient evil that resides deep within the surrounding wilderness – yet she will stop at nothing to ensure her own freedom and survival.

“From the seeds of this gritty, relentless parable of sacrifice and salvation, comes an immersive, real-time, action horror tale.”

Clip

Kevin Smith reveals how and why KillRoy Was Here became an NFT release

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Two years after his horror anthology KillRoy Was Here received an NFT release, Kevin Smith has revealed exactly how and why that happened

By Cody Hamman

September 16th 2024, 9:14am

Two years have passed since Kevin Smith's horror anthology KillRoy Was Here made its way out into the world as an NFT -- and to this day, the only people who have seen the movie are those who have either bought the NFT, been given access to one of the NFTs, or attended a special screening. Which means so few people have seen KillRoy Was Here, it could almost be described as Smith's "lost movie." Now, while speaking to Entertainment Weekly and promoting his new film The 4:30 Movie, Smith has revealed exactly how and why the movie became an NFT release.

Directed by Smith from a script he wrote with Andy McElfresh, KillRoy Was Here was made on a minuscule budget as a project with film students at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. The movie is a throwback anthology horror film featuring a creature that kills evil adults at the behest of victimized kids. The creature at the heart of the story is KillRoy, inspired by the "Kilroy was here" graffiti that became popular during World War II, showing a long-nosed man peeking over a fence. In this case, KillRoy started out as a Florida man named Roy Huggins, who was a soldier in the Vietnam War, not World War II, and when he was captured by enemy soldiers he got loose, killed a whole lot of people, and cannibalized one of the corpses. He had to be locked up in a mental institution, and when the place caught on fire Roy was left to burn. Now he's a supernatural being who stalks the Florida swamps, and his burns have left him looking a lot like that figure in the Kilroy graffiti. They say he has a psychic connection to kids, and if someone says his name three times he'll show up with his machete and start hacking away at anyone who has wronged a child.

The cast includes Harley Quinn Smith, Jason Mewes, Chris Jericho, Betty Aberlin, Ralph Garman, Daisy McElfresh, and Justin Kucsulain.

Smith told Entertainment Weekly, "We made this movie KillRoy Was Here with the kids at the Ringling College of Art and Design. I wound up with possession of the movie. When it was all done, I had this movie; perfectly watchable, Creepshow type of movie. So I reached out to Shudder and I was like, 'Hey man, you guys wanna run this? It's a Kevin Smith original, kind of horror movie. 30 grand.' That was it. Shudder was like, 'This is terrible. This isn't good enough for Shudder.' Then our producer on the movie, David (Shapiro), he goes, 'I met with this company, they are interested in buying a movie to release as an NFT. The first movie to release as an NFT, and what they wanna do is use it to showcase their blockchain technology.' And I was like, 'Oh, all right.' Perhaps this is another version of indie film, this is a new playground to go play in. Company paid us over a million dollars. I made a million dollars off of this movie. 'Not good enough for Shudder.'" Now, with that explanation, the whole NFT release strategy finally makes sense.

KillRoy Was Here may not meet up to Shudder's standards, but here's hoping more of Smith's fans will have the chance to see the movie eventually.

With Hollywood budgets being what they are, a budget under $10 million is practically tiny. Despite this, many films have gone on to make a killing at the box office from budgets that barely scratch the surface of their competition.

So, here are 14 smaller-budget movies that made the big bucks at the box office:

1. Juno
2. Mad Max
3. Paranormal Activity
4. Little Miss Sunshine
5. El Mariachi
6. The Blair Witch Project
7. Annabelle
8. Super Size Me
9. Rocky
10. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
11. The Devil Inside
12. Halloween
13. Moonlight
14. Napoleon Dynamite

It's around here that a normal review would subtly transition to a summary of the plot. Unfortunately, Megalopolis is such a rambling, boring slog, I'm not sure I grasped the story writer and director Francis Ford Coppola actually had in mind.

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Inaccessible to the point of satire, Megalopolis also tarnishes Coppola's legacy. This is no Godfather. It is not The Rainmaker. It's not even Jack. It is, however, among the worst big-budget productions ever made — a late-career echo of Heaven's Gate, the sprawling vanity project by The Deer Hunter director Michael Cimino that was so monumentally awful it ruined Hollywood's trust in auteur directors for decades.

With mostly his own money at stake, Coppola's latest may not have as big an effect on the future of film. But navel-gazey to the point of irresponsibility, sanctimonious to the point of insulting, Megalopolis is still a cautionary tale — though not about the entropic nature of empires and civilization. It's a warning about what too much money, too much self-seriousness and too little editing can do to an artist.