Welcome to The Morning Blend, where we take the news that didn’t make the front page but are still worthy of your attention and blend them all in one place!
In A Bookstore, No One Can Hear You Scream
Well, you shouldn’t be screaming in a bookstore anyway but that’s beside the point. Many people cringe at the mention of the Alien 3 theatrical film, but did you know that Johnny Mnemonic screenwriter William Gibson had written a screenplay that was a direct sequel to James Cameron’s Aliens film? When David Fincher came on board to direct the film, he went in a totally different direction (which is plainly obvious to anyone who saw Alien 3).
But Gibson’s script is not entirely lost. This summer, Titan Books will be releasing this unused screenplay as a full-on novel titled Alien 3: The Unproduced Screenplay on August 31!
You can read more about this exciting project over at Movie Web.
Welcome Back To Comic Cons
Let’s face it. The mecca for us geeks is the almighty comic con. But with the pandemic raging across the county this past year, they were all shut down. We were left longing to be among our tribe as we stared at our computer screens at a lackluster modified version of a con. But now that people are getting vaccinated and infection numbers are decreasing, it seems cons are willing to open their doors for in-person attendance… of course with a catch.
Even though SDCC will be online in July, they will be holding a modified in-person con during Thanksgiving weekend (yeah, that’s another story). New York Comic Con, however, will have a modified in-person con one month earlier in October. (Road trip!) Get the list of other in-person cons and the modifications being planned to be enforced over at Entertainment Weekly.
Kevin Smith Is the Master Of The Universe On Netflix And Dark Horse Comics
Kevin Smith is not only the co-executive producer and writer for the Netflix animated version of Masters of the Universe: Revelation but he is taking it a step further by co-writing a four-issue prequel comic at Dark Horse with co-writers Rob David and Tim Sheridan. You can read all about it over at Games Radar. In the meantime, check out the cover of the issue below:
Masters of the Universe: Revelation #1 is slated to be released on July 7, with issue #2 on August 11, issue #3 on September 9, and the final issue, #4, planned for October 13. The animated series Masters of the Universe: Revelation is scheduled to stream on Netflix sometime this year.
Casting News…
Taylour Paige (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Baxters) has just joined the Toxic Avenger film starring Peter Dinklage. (Deadline)
Taika Waititi is heading to the high seas as the pirate Blackbeard in the HBO Max comedy series Our Flag Means Death. (Variety)
No happily ever afters for Maya Rudolph (The Mitchells vs the Machines. Big Hero 6: The Series), Yvette Nicole Brown (Big Shot, Community), and Jayma Mays (Bill & Ted Face the Music, Glee) as they have been cast as villains in the Disney live-action fairy tale Disenchanted. (Movie Web)
It looks like the cast is complete for the film adaptation of Borderlands. Gina Gershon (Riverdale, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Cheyenne Jackson (Watchment, American Horror Story), Charles Babalola (Broadchurch (UK), Black Mirror), Benjamin Byron Davis (Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Belko Experiment), Steven Boyer (Chicago Fire, Trial and Error), Ryann Redmond (Younger), and Bobby Lee (Magnum P.I., MADtv) have all joined the cast. Head over to Deadline to see who they will be playing.
Lost alum Harold Perrineau will lead the cast of From, a new sci-fi horror series slated to stream on Epix about a town that “traps all those who enter.” (Deadline)
Blake Lively (A Simple Favor, The Age of Adaline) is set to star in the Netflix adaptation of Lady Killer, based on the Dark Horse comic of the same name about a 1950’s housewife who is secretly an assassin for hire. More below in Netflix’s tweet:
?Blake Lively + Diablo Cody?
Lively will produce and star as a 1950s housewife with a secret life as a highly trained killer-for-hire in LADY KILLER. Cody will write the script based on the Dark Horse Comic of the same name.
(? Getty) pic.twitter.com/k43fJjXrCk
— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) May 5, 2021
Vin Diesel Will Be Working With Some Real Steel In Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots
After getting Fast and Furious, Vin Diesel will be joining Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. Yes, the Mattel game where you try and knock off the heads of those plastic robots is going to be adapted into a feature film with Diesel as star and producer.
According to Variety, “The story follows a father (Diesel) and son who form an unlikely bond with an advanced war machine.” (“War machine” = robot)
If the plot sounds familiar, that’s because Hugh Jackman starred in a movie with a similar premise titled Real Steel.
Let’s hope this movie fares far better than Battleship, another Mattel game movie that sunk at the box office.
Netflix Releases New Character Posters For Army Of The Dead
Netflix has released a batch of character posters for Zack Snyder’s upcoming zombie film Army of the Dead which premieres on Netflix on May 21.
Lucifer Meets His Maker In Season 5B Trailer
Good Lord! God has come down and Lucifer now has to deal with a few Daddy issues. The long-awaited second half of Season 5 will soon drop on Netflix and from the trailer below, it will be worth the wait.
Lucifer season 5B ascends onto Netflix on May 28.
George Clooney Invites You To Do Lunch With Him And Amal
George Clooney is infamously known for his practical jokes, and while the video below is hilariously tongue in cheek, the offer is not.
Partnering with Omaze, Clooney is offering to fly one fan to his villa in Italy and have lunch with him and his wife Amal. He mentions how he loves meeting people and that friendships can blossom just out of nowhere. To prove his point, he offers how his friendship with Byron (who you might recognize as comedian Byron Bowers) came to be when he bought a Batman action figure (one without nipples) from him off Craigslist. Unfortunately, the shutdown hit, and Clooney was left having to stay with Byron quarantining with him until the stay was lifted.
We are left to watch as Clooney reveals some intimate secrets like how much he stans Brad Pitt and Oceans 11. The rest, shall we say, is comical history.
Check it out below:
Proceeds of the fundraiser will go to The Clooney Foundation for Justice. If you’d like to enter this charity contest, head over to Omaze to enter!
