Geek News

Geek News on the Radio for December 2nd, 2019

ET Sequel?

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. It has the power to reboot franchises on screens big and small. The sheer force of well-placed nostalgia can practically move mountains. Or can–at the very least–get us in our feelings for a minute or two. Holidays are fuel for nostalgia. Big movies like Star Wars come out, playing on our childhood loves, while Christmas commercials prey on our memories of yesteryear. But you can’t exactly blame the companies that use old characters to sell us new things–it works. Which is why we’re here to admit we’re total suckers for this new commercial from Xfinity. Not only does it feature characters we’ve known and loved for almost 40 years, but it also reunites them in a truly special way. Behold, the reunion between E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and his dear friend Elliott, with Henry Thomas back as the adult version of the beloved character.  Read More

Scary Christmas Carol

Renfield Getting His Own Movie

Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been adapted so often that we’re all very familiar with the bloodsucker’s tale. Even Van Helsing, the famed Dracula hunter, has gotten time in the spotlight. Now we’re getting a movie about Renfield, the psychiatric patient who gobbles spiders and flies while pining for his vampire master. Renfield will be part of the new Universal Monsters renaissance—along with Leigh Whannell’s soon-to-be-released Invisible Man and Paul Feig’s in-development Dark Army—that’s happening in the wake of the Dark Universe flameout. It’ll be directed by Dexter Fletcher, who made Rocketman and also famously stepped in after Bryan Singer’s departure to complete Bohemian Rhapsody. The Hollywood Reporter notes that “this take on the project is described as a comedic, lighthearted approach in the vein of Taika Waititi’s vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, in which Renfield realizes he is in a bad, co-dependent relationship,” an idea that was pitched by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and scripted by Ryan Ridley (Rick and Morty). Read More

The Invisible Woman

Now you see her… Following her directing and acting work on the Charlie’s Angels movie, Elizabeth Banks will now helm and star in The Invisible Woman for Universal Pictures, EW has learned. Now, this isn’t to be confused with The Invisible Man, which is directed by Leigh Whannell and stars Elisabeth Moss as a woman plagued by her abusive and newly invisible ex (played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen). It’s certainly in the vein of the kind of horror stories the studio is developing with Blumhouse, though The Invisible Woman is not a Blumhouse project. The movie is a separate Universal release, based on an original concept by Banks. The Girl on the Train screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson penned the latest draft of the screenplay, while Banks and her producing partner at Brownstone Productions, Max Handelman, will produce. Alison Small will executive-produce. 1940 saw the release of The Invisible Woman as a sci-fi comedy, following a model who agrees to be a guinea pig for an experiment involving an invisibility machine. She uses her literal transparency to take revenge on her old boss. This news comes after reports recently surfaced of Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher helming Renfield, a film said to be about Dracula’s henchman.  Read More

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Cancelled

Host Jonah Ray shared the news that the revival would not return for a third season.

Host Jonah Ray shared the news that the revival would not return for a third season. Add Mystery Science Theater 3000 to the scrap heap at Netflix. Host Jonah Ray revealed that the revival would not be returning to the streaming giant for a third season. Netflix confirmed that the series has been canceled following its two-season run. “So, Netflix decided to not do another season of MST3K. We are off to Get Down in Lilyhammer while the OA helps us take it One Day at a Time. We will be in group therapy with Tuca & Bertie, Jessica Jones & Lady Dynamite. The sessions will be run by Gypsy (w/ Naomi Watts.)” Ray tweeted in a thread that name-checked the other shows that Netflix has canceled over the years. He went on to note that MST3K has always found a way “figure out how to survive,” singling out runs on Comedy Central, Syfy, Rifftrax and Cinematic Titanic. “Now if only I can convince @shudder to pick us up and let us share a night with Joe Bob Briggs?” MST3000 was created by Joel Hodgson, who spearheaded a record-setting Kickstarter campaign to help land the show at Netflix in July 2016. Shout Factory acquired the rights to the cult hit in November 2015, and teamed with Hodgson for a new incarnation of the cult favorite. At the time, Hodgson hoped the Kickstarter campaign would raise at least $2 million — enough to make three new feature-length episodes — with an ultimate goal of $5.5 million, the amount needed to make a full season of 12 episodes. The campaign raised $5.7 million, ranking as the highest-funded film and TV crowdfunding campaign in history.   Read More

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