DC Universe content moving to HBO Max: DC Comics had a pretty rough week as the company suffered massive layoffs at the hands of parent company Warner Media. Jim Lee was moved into the COO position and confirmed the comics line will be cut by 20-25% but they will still be publishing comics monthly. Lee also confirmed that all content that was on DC Universe will be moving to HBO Max shortly, including Titans and Young Justice. Harley Quinn and Doom Patrol had already moved over to the HBOMax app.
Amazon getting Blumhouse horror movie series: Hulu has Into the Dark, Netflix has some exclusive Blumhouse content and now Amazon is getting into the Blumhouse business with the new horror movie series, Welcome to the Blumhouse. There will be 8 exclusive Blumhouse movies coming to Prime Video, 4 this October, and the other 4 sometime next year. The movies are focusing on up and coming directors and each movie, “presents a distinctive vision and unique perspective on common themes centered around family and love as redemptive or destructive forces.” The first two movies will be available on October 6th and the next two will be released on October 13th.
Cyberpunk 47 Ronin Movie in Development: Netflix is distributing a sequel to the Keanu Reeves movie 47 Ronin, which strangely will jump ahead to the 2300s and tell a similar story in a cyberpunk setting. Ron Yuan, co-star in the upcoming live-action Mulan, is directing and has a few other directing credits but is mostly a stunt performer, fight choregrapher, and fight coordinator. 47 Ronin was a gigantic bomb at the box office, grossing $151 million worldwide against a budget of $175 million.
Harriet the Spy TV Series coming to Apple TV+: Louise Fitzhugh’s pint-sized sleuth Harriet the Spy is coming to Apple TV+ as a new TV series. The show will be animated with Beanie Feldstein providing the voice of Harriet. It’s not clear if the TV show will follow the first book, which was also the basis of the 1996 Nickelodeon movie if it will incorporate the three other Harriet books are tell new stories. Jane Lynch and Lacey Chabert will co-star in this new series and Titmouse Animation, who most recently did Star Trek: Lower Decks, will be providing the animation under The Jim Henson Company and Rehab Entertainment.
The Babysitter Sequel in Development: Netflix’s solidly fun horror/comedy The Babysitter is getting a sequel, arriving next month, called The Babysitter: Killer Queen. Judah Lewis is back as Cole, who managed to defeat a satanic cult of hot high schoolers, led by his seemingly sweet babysitter Bee, played by Samara Weaving. The biggest blow against the sequel is that Weaving is not coming back, having rightfully blown up and starring in movies like Ready or Not and Bill and Ted Face the Music, but most everyone else is, even though most of them died in the first movie. Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Hana Mae Lee, and Andrew Bachelor are back as the Satan-worshipping popular kids and Ken Marino and Leslie Bibb are back as Cole’s parents. McG is back behind the camera and the movie hits Netflix on September 10th.
Netflix picks up Fear Street trilogy: A trilogy of movies based on RL Stine’s Fear Street novels has been in development for a while and they are coming to Netflix next summer during what the company has dubbed “The Summer of Fear”. One movie in the trilogy will drop on Netflix every month during the summer next year. The movies were all directed Leigh Janiak and tell a story that covers three different time periods, including the 1600s and 1994 in the town of Shadyside, OH. Kiana Madiera and Olivia Welch will star as gay teenagers who will play different characters in the 1600s and 90s time periods as they try to navigate their relationship as creepy things start to happen around them and Benjamin Flores Jr, Gillian Jacobs, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Ashley Zukerman, Fred Hechinger, Julia Rehwald, and Jeremy Ford co-star.
The World’s Last Blockbuster is Available on AirBnB: The ultimate 90s sleepover is available now on AirBnB as the famous Blockbuster in Bend, OR will soon be available on AirBnB. For one weekend next month (the 18th, 19th, and 20th), the Bend Blockbuster is hosting three reservations for one night stays in the store, where they’ve setup a living room space but the entire store would be available to roam around and party in. The reservations are only $4 but they will probably be gone almost instantly. The reservations go live on August 17th at 1 PM PST.
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Getting Dramatic Remake: Will Smith’s classic sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is coming back with a reboot series but with a twist that it won’t be a comedy, but a serious drama. Based on a viral video by Morgan Cooper for a serious take on Fresh Prince, the video apparently caught the eye of Will Smith himself, who will be producing the reboot alongside Cooper, who will write, direct, and co-executive produce the series. The series is currently being shopped to streaming services, HBOMax is currently the home of the original Fresh Prince.
Clive Barker’s Books of Blood coming to Hulu: Clive Barker’s six-volume horror anthology Books of Blood is getting adapted into a movie for Hulu. The movie will feature three, unspecified, stories from the books and will arrive on October 7th, just in time for Halloween. A number of the stories from Books of Blood already got standalone movies, including Candyman, Midnight Meat Train, Lord of Illusions, and…Rawhead Rex.
Spongebob spin-off starring Patrick in development: Spongebob’s best friend Patrick Star is getting his own series with the appopriately named The Patrick Star Show. Bill Fagerbakke is returning to voice Patrick and the premise is apparently that Patrick has his own late-night talk show in the vein of The Larry Sanders Show or Comedy Bang! Bang! and Patrick’s family will be co-starring. There will apparently be a slew of new characters but Spongebob regulars are expected to show up in guest roles as well.
Tron 3 in Development: After a decade since Tron: Legacy, Disney is finally moving ahead with a third movie in the series. Garth Davis, an indie drama director, is directing the sequel, which will star Jared Leto. There’s no word on the plot and if it will continue any of the threads from Tron: Legacy, like Quora (Olivia Wilde) now being in the real world, the possible resurrection of Tron or a central villain role for Cillian Murphy as Edward Dillinger Jr. It’s also not clear if Daft Punk will return to score the new movie.
MacGruber TV show officially picked up at Peacock: MacGruber is officially returning as a Peacock original series as the show has been given an official series order. Will Forte, Ryan Phillipe, and Kristen Wiig are returning as the main trio, taking on a new villain from MacGruber’s past, Enos Queeth. Jorma Taccone, who directed the movie, is returning to direct all 8 episodes of this new series and it’s expected to be on Peacock sometime next year.
NYCC 2020 going all digital: In a move that should not shock anyone given how the year has been going, New York Comic Con 2020 will be an all-digital event like the recent Comic-Con @ Home. Unlike that event, which by all accounts was mostly a failure, the panels for NYCC 2020 will be live-streamed and encourage audience participation via chats and comments. Starz, CBS All Access, Dreamworks Animation, and Hulu/FX are the main partners announced to be having panels so far and all the panels will be streamed from the NYCC YouTube channel. The event is October 8th-10th.
