Trick 'r Treat Sequel On The Way

 

How's this for some fantastic news just in time for Halloween?

A sequel to the utterly fantastic Trick 'r Treat has been confirmed by Michael Dougherty.

The first film had a very troubled journey - initially planned for a cinema release in 2007, the movie finally arrived straight-to-DVD in 2009. It was supposed to be the start of a franchise, but the sheer lack of support it received from the studio seemed to have killed any hope of that.

But the movie gained a lot of praise from horror fans, who loved it's anthology nature, consisting of several small, loosely linked tales set on one Halloween night - sort of a spooky horror version of Love Actually, and now a sequel has finally been announced.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Dougherty said: "It’s funny because when I first dreamt up the idea of making the first film, I thought, “How neat would it be if we made them a series?” I’m a firm believer that October should be filled with Halloween movies, or horror movies. That’s something I remember from childhood. Horror movies and Halloween, they go hand-in-hand. And so the idea was, “Well we could probably do a Trick ‘r Treat movie every year or every other year, and that it would sort of just be a new batch of stories and characters. And the common link between all of them would be Sam [the cloth-headed, child-like creature that linked all the stories: implied to possibly be the literal spirit of Samhain, or Halloween].” Initially that was the plan, and then things changed as the first film had a very delayed, strange journey. I put those dreams on hold for a little while, so it feels good to go back to that initial plan."

While Dougherty said that there is still not a script for the sequel, he did tease that "I can definitely say that we’ll be exploring Sam more and maybe getting into some back story of who and what he actually is."

Personally, I can't wait.

Han To Return (And Bring Indy With Him)? But Arndt Out

While the core cast of the original Star Wars trilogy are all expected to return for Episode VII, rumours are now out there that Harrison Ford has officially signed up to appear in the movie... and beyond.

According to Jedi News (so take this with a pinch of salt) Ford finally agreed to take the Falcon for another spin on the condition that Disney also greenlit another Indiana Jones movie.

Says the site:

"The outstanding points[in Ford's negotiations] that had dragged on but are now resolved are:

    * Ford wanted to see the synopsis for his character's development over more than just Episode 7. He saw this in August and is happy with the story arc.
    * Ford wanted a commitment to Indy 5. He did not get this as there is no plot line or script in place. What did happen was an agreement was made wherein an outline would be developed by the end of calendar year 2014, and if all parties can agree to it moving forward, efforts would be made to move on Indy 5 for release before the end of 2016.
    * Disney wanted a multi film deal with Ford which transcends Episode 7. This has now been agreed."

Again, take this with a pinch of salt, but this does seem to imply that Han will feature in the new trilogy rather extensively, rather than just handing over the torch to a new cast in Episode VII.

Also - another Indy movie! As possibly the only person who loved Crystal Skull, this is great news!

In  other Episode VII news, screenwriter Michael Arndt has left the project, with director JJ Abrams and Star Wars veteran Larry Kasdan stepping in to rewrite the movie.

Sorry, Mike, but you (wait for it)... Arndt involved anymore. BOOM! Nailed it!

No reason for the Toy Story writer's departure has been given, but Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said of the change: "I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and JJ working on the script.

"There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. JJ of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right.

"Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production."

Kasdan also co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He had been consulting on the development of the new trilogy.

Star Wars Episode VII is out in 2015.

Charmed Reboot On The Way?

File this one under "Did Not See That Coming": A reboot series for slutty-witches-have-angst-athon Charmed is in the development stage.

According to The Wrap, CBS is currently working on a "re-imagining" of the series, which originally starred Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, Shannon Doherty and Holly Marie Combs.

Currently, the reboot project consists of a script deal. However, no pilot or broadcast commitment has yet been made.

Chris Keyser and Sydney Sidner have been listed as writers as well as executive producers for the project.

This is an odd move, to be honest. While Charmed had reasonably respectable ratings, there has never been a single viewer who ever thought it was good. All it really was was eight seasons of sexy witches parading about being turned into sexy genies, sexy vampires, sexy gods, sexy superheroes, sexy evil witches, sexy mermai-
Oh. Now I get it...

Lange To Depart American Horror Story?

Screen icon Jessica Lange has revealed to BuzzFeed that she plans on departing American Horror Story after the show's fourth season.

She's still got it...

The actress has had a major role in all three seasons of the anthology series - which entirely changes its setting, plot and characters (and much of the cast) every year, making it essentially a collecton of unconnected mini-series, and has already signed on to star in the fourth. Her performances have bagged her an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

But in the interview, Lange said: "I'll do one more season... That'll be it."

Despite Lange's comments, showrunner Ryan Murphy seems confident that she will continue on the show for the forseeable future.

Laughing off the speculation, he told The Hollywood Reporter "Every year, she says, 'OK, that's my last one'. But she's already committed to the fourth series. I can see American Horror Story going 10 years, 12 years, 15 years.

"I think it's limitless because it re-energises every year, and I would love for Jessica Lange to be part of it every year."

Joss Whedon Not Yet On Board For Avengers 3

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has revealed to Screenrant that Joss Whedon has yet to be hired for The Avengers 3.

"It's still being determined," said Feige.

"All of his efforts right now are in what he's doing for us primarily, obviously, writing and prepping Age of Ultron but also in reading the drafts of the films in Phase Two, watching early cuts and... to inform him where the characters are going to end up in the beginning of Age of Ultron and also to get his input and his wisdom into all of these.

"But right now it's all about leading up to Age of Ultron."

Obviously this news is not particularly problematic on its own: Phase Two is barely underway, so thinking about the finale to Phase Three is massively premature at this point.

But production on Phase Three is gearing up, with Edgar Wright already steaming through the pre-production of Ant-Man.

As Feige notes, Whedon  has been heavily involved in all of the Phase Two movies (as well as Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.) in order to make Age Of Ultron feel as connected to the rest of the Marvelverse as possible, so if they want him to repeat this for Phase Three they need to sign him up, pronto.

The guy is practically the "showrunner" for the entire 'verse at the moment, so losing him for Phase Three could be disasterous.

Stan Lee Media Loses Conan Battle

Stan Lee Media have lost their legal battle with Paradox Entertainment over the ownership of the Conan The Barbarian franchise.

Things are about to get all legalspeak, so for your continued entertainment pleasure, I suggest that you read what comes next in Denny Crane's voice.

ALWAYS good advice...

The company first tried to sue Paradox after the ill-conceived, ill-received, and downright ill-advised Jason Momoa reboot a few years back where, sensing a chance for some money, they claimed that they had been misled into relinquishing the rights against their will during their 2002 bankruptcy crisis. 

The District Court ruled in favour of Paradox, and now the 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals has upheld the District Court's ruling.

"The ruling confirms what we have said all along," said Frederik Malmberg, CEO of Paradox, which controls the rights.

"This was a meritless and frivolous lawsuit to cash in on others' hard work. I'm glad that two courts agree. Denny Crane!*"

 

This is not the first time that Stan Lee Media has been humiliated in court: the company has previously tried to sue Disney - the parent company for the Marvel Cinematic Universe - for the rights to Stan Lee's comic creations. It's worth noting that Stan Lee himself endorses the movies and the use of his characters, and that he actually has nothing to do with Stan Lee Media, and hasn't for over a decade.  The legal term for SLM's actions in attempting this is "dickbaggery". I think. . .

 

This paves the way for the third (non-reboot) Conan movie to go ahead unimpeded, continuing Arnie's surprising return to the throne of Ultimate Screen Action Star.

 

"Suck it, Momoa..."

 

*Okay, he didn't say that last part...

Hiddleston On Thor/Loki Relationship

Tom Hiddleston has been talking to Digital Spy about the relationship between Loki and his adoptive brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth) ahead of the release of Thor: The Dark World.

"There was a deep hidden love between brothers that was then polluted and distorted by the events of the first film," Hiddleston stated. "It's something that Thor continues to appeal to, even though the rest of the Avengers dismiss Loki as a psychopath."

"In this situation [in Thor: The Dark World], Thor has let go of that affection, and that puts Loki in a very different position."

The relationship between the two characters has proven to be the most interesting in the whole of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, and with the two forced to team up to battle Chistopher Eccleston's Malekith The Accursed in the sequel, we're in for even more of their unique form of brotherly love.

See the full interview here.

Also Starring Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Jamie Alexander, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Tadanobu Asano, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Rene Russo, Thor: The Dark World releases in the UK on October 30th, with a US release following on November 8th.