DC's ‘Sgt. Rock' Movie May Not Be So Dead After All
James Gunn talks about what he's looking for to add films to his DC universe. James Marsters may have let slip his role in the Buffy revival. Blumhouse has gotten its hands on the Saw franchise. Plus, what's coming on Rick and Morty. To me, my spoilers!
Saw
Deadline reports Blumhouse has officially acquired the rights to the Saw franchise from Twisted Pictures and plans to bring James Wan and Leigh Whannell 'back into the fold' to 'guide the future of the franchise.'
Sgt. Rock
In conversation with Entertainment Weekly, James Gunn confirmed the Sgt. Rock movie is still moving forward at DC Studios.
I feel like we're in a pretty good place. We're still moving forward, but it's not going to be … What would [DC Studios co-head Peter Safran] want me to say here? … So it's still moving forward, but, yeah, right now it wasn't exactly where I wanted it to be creatively, and so it needs to change a little bit.
Untitled DC Project
In the same interview, Gunn revealed he's received a pitch for an 'Elsewords' story from 'a very, very, very famous actor.'
The script still needs to be good. We're not going to make it unless we like the script. But I think that there are exceptions. I told it to one person who came in and pitched something that was an Elseworlds tale. It was a very, very, very famous movie actor. I said, 'It depends on how the screenplay comes out…If it's a masterpiece, I'll make it, but it has to be a masterpiece.' [Laughs] And he is like, 'I don't know if it's a masterpiece.' He got all funny. He's still working on it, though. He is still trying to do it, so we'll see. Masterpiece might be pushing it, but it's got to be really great.
James Bond
According to insider Jeff Sneider, directors who have pitched for the next James Bond movie include Edward Berger, Denis Villeneuve, Edgar Wright, Jonathan Nolan, and Paul King, as 'Alfonso Cuarón recently took himself out of the running.'
BREAKING: Directors who have pitched/are pitching for the next JAMES BOND movie include Edward Berger, Denis Villeneuve, Edgar Wright, Jonathan Nolan, and Paul King, as Alfonso Cuarón recently took himself out of the running. Of these, I'd keep an eye on J. Nolan and Paul King…
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) June 20, 2025
The Long Walk
According to Variety, Jeremiah Fraites of the Lumineers has been hired to write the score for the upcoming film adaptation of Stephen King's The Long Walk.
Zombie Plane
Variety also has word Zombie Plane–a film which includes Ice-T, Brian Austin Green, Vanilla Ice, Sophie Monk, and Chuck Norris playing fictionalized versions of themselves–has wrapped filming. The story concerns a team of celebrities who 'are seen by day as the faces we know and love, but by night they are saving the world from under-wraps [supernatural] attacks.'
Silent Night, Deadly Night
According to Deadline, the new Silent Night, Deadly Night will be released in theaters unrated on December 12, 2025.
Return to Silent Hill
Additionally, Return to Silent Hill is now scheduled for a January 23, 2026 release. [Deadline]
M3GAN 2.0
The cast and crew of M3GAN 2.0 discuss the homicidal robot becoming an antihero in the upcoming sequel.
Please Don't Feed the Children
After a virus seemingly wipes out all adults on Earth, a group of orphaned children are kidnapped by Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery in the trailer for Destry Allyn Spielberg's debut feature, Please Don't Feed the Children, premiering on Tubi later this month.
Else
Relatedly, a new virus causes people to somehow physically merge with their surroundings in the trailer for Else, streaming on Fandor this July 8.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
James Marsters may have accidentally revealed his involvement with the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer during his recent appearance at HellMouthCon.
I've been told, in no uncertain terms, that I need to shut my damn mouth. And I would not say that you should take anything from that. It's just that we are trying…. [Marsters then corrects his pronoun usage] what I will say is that the people behind the camera are some of the best people in Hollywood. Chloe Zhao who is directing the pilot, directed Nomadland, and understands all about intimate character-driven drama. And she also directed a Marvel movie, man! She's one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood.
[The Nerdist]
Ironheart
A new Ironheart promo introduces the pyrotechnic Clown, the hacker Slug, the cage-fighting Blood Siblings, the knife-throwing H.R., and Eric Andre as Rampage.
Rick and Morty
Morty doesn't like the idea of blowing up the cryogenically-frozen crew of an ark ship in a clip from this Sunday's episode of Rick and Morty.
Wednesday
Finally, Steve Buscemi leads a tour of Nevermore Academy in a new promo for the second season of Wednesday.
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Forbes
14 minutes ago
- Forbes
Will ‘Superman' Fly High Or Stay Grounded This Summer Movie Season?
With just three weeks until writer-director James Gunn's Superman soars into theaters on July 11th as the first superhero would-be blockbuster of 2025 summer movie season and the official live-action kickoff of the DCU. Superman hit tracking this week, and early estimates were sort of all over the place. But will Superman fly high or stay grounded this summer movie season? David Corenswet stars in "Superman." Source: Warner The early tracking for Superman ranges from $90-125 million, or $125-145 million, depending on who you ask (the studio points to the lowball numbers). So $125 million is either the high end or low end, and $112 million threads the needle. WBD and DC Studios are sticking to the conservative lower-end predictions, while other tracking and press lean toward the higher range, or at least where the overlap exists. That's why you see competing tracking estimates depending on which media you pay attention to, and why some is lower (again, trying to hedge bets and not get expectations so high that a good opening creates an impression of being 'low'). My current numbers suggest it'll probably open around $120-130 million domestic, with a lowest end of about $100 million and a high end swinging way out to $150 million. This is just domestic box office, remember, without international box office figured in. Forbes Superman Returns (Again) - How James Gunn's Reboot Defines DC's Future By Mark Hughes Where it winds up depends on word-of-mouth over the weekend. So watch the Friday night grade it gets at Cinemascore — A or a A+ grade suggests it will land closer to the higher end or exceed it, and A- grade probably means it'll hit closer to the middle, and anything lower means the low end of expectations. Once we have the weekend numbers, then we can look at the audience grades and how much competition there is for the same demographics in the first two weeks, and from that we can tell what the final multiplier will be — The final multiplier is simple, it just means you look at the total opening weekend box office and then multiply it by a number to get the final box office at the end of it run. For example, if a movie opens at $100 million and has a final multiplier of 3x, that means it's total gross at the end of it theatrical run is three times the amount that made on opening weekend, or in this example $300 million. So if Superman opens to $120 million domestically, then a 3x final multiplier would hypothetically mean it finishes its theatrical run with about $360 million domestic. We need to find out what the final multiplier will be, and as I said that depends on audience word-of-mouth and competition. The Cinemascore grade helps a lot here. Generally speaking, the higher the grade the higher the final multiplier. With a B+ grade for example, you might expect a near 2.5x final multiplier. With an A+ grade, you could get anything from a 3.3x to 4x final multiplier. It's obviously not exact, but it gives you a pretty fair idea of the range. My own moderate guess right now is that Superman will open to $120 million domestic, anywhere from $100 million to $150 million overseas, and with an A audience grade. And I'm currently estimating an opening between $220 million worldwide to $270 million worldwide, with the sweet spot being $245 million, give or take a few million. Forbes New 'Superman' Trailer Hopes To Inspire Audiences To Look Up Once More [Updated] By Mark Hughes If those numbers hold up, including the A grade I'm predicting, then the final multiplier would be anywhere from a low-end 3x to high-end 3.7x is my guess. And that translates to about $660 million to $999 million in total global box office by the end of Superman's theatrical run (I don't expect that high-end number, honestly). The mid range is roughly $830 million. Then we need to consider the competition, and that's where a big secondary question is gonna hold a lot of sway. Jurassic World: Rebirth open a week earlier, and it's probably going to be the biggest film this summer if it's even halfway good. This film should wind up in 2025's final top tier of earners, with Avatar: Fire and Ash undoubtably taking the crown while the rest fight it out for the remaining top spots on year-end charts. Smurfs opens a week later, and while I don't think this one is going to be a runaway animated blockbuster hit to the tune of Disney and Pixar releases, it'll still be successful. I expect $400 million-$500 million, but I haven't done all of my math on this one yet. Then comes Fantastic Four: First Steps two weeks after Superman opens, as probably the biggest relevant challenger. It's going to be a big film, regardless of which of these superhero movies winds up with the biggest numbers for the year. There's a wide range on this MCU franchise-starter, anywhere from $750 million range if it has a softer play, to possibly making a run at $1 billion if it delivers the Marvel goods and plays more like the studio's typical big summer releases. Superman shares some key target demographics with each of those above films, the most important being superhero movie fans and families. Which means week by week, there will be varying forms of competition for some of Superman's key demos. The Jurassic Park sequel will cut into some of the general mainstream audience, particularly those looking for popcorn spectacle, and lots of action fans. Smurfs will, of course cut into the younger audiences and family audiences, but it remains to be seen just how much this will wind up mattering across July (where Superman will make the vast majority of it box). Fantastic Four is the movie that most targets the same audience demographics as Superman . Coming in two weeks later, it has the potential to eat more into Superman's weekly holds. But as we have seen in the past, audiences are also more than willing to reward multiple big movies that are in theaters at the same time, if they're good. In fact, if they're good enough, often times movies like this will make audienced so happy that they go out to see the other films as well, actually boosting one another's box office instead of suppressing it. But that's a magical situation we can't really count on or gauge with our numbers, so it's just something to keep in mind as an unexpected hypothetical. Forbes Box Office Predictions Summer 2025: 'Superman,' 'Jurassic Park' And More By Mark Hughes I don't expect any magical outlier scenarios here. It appears inevitable that some audience will drop off from Superman once there's another superhero film on the market. The question is how much all of these films (opening a week before Superman , a week after, and two weeks after) suppress Superman's potential box office. If as I suspect Jurassic Park is the biggest film of the summer, the second-biggest of summer should wind up being one of these superhero movies. I'm inclined to give Marvel the edge, because history suggests they have it. But we are in very different times, so it's hard to say for sure. As much enthusiasm as there is for Superman , it's undeniable that audiences mostly turned against DC's brand for a while, so we'll find out if viewers are ready to give DC another shot, or if people instead take a wait-and-see approach. A wait-and-see approach could potentially be a problem for Superman , because anything longer than about 10 days of waiting and it becomes increasingly more likely those audiences will decide to see the Marvel movie in theaters and catch DC on streaming. I'm not saying this will be a big portion of audience, I just think it's relevant enough that I'm inclined not to expect Superman to finish at the highest end of potential, unless we see opening weekend and second weekend numbers pointing in that direction. That's not saying it won't do well, since I do think it will be a huge hit in one of the years biggest blockbusters. Taking all of this together now, I think we are looking at maybe 15-20% suppression rate of demographic attendance across Superman's second, third, and fourth weekends. So I am currently guessing it will finish somewhere between about $600 million and $800 million worldwide. But this is still early, so as we enter July the data will get better and we'll have enough pre-sales and awareness data to make much better predictions. The two big unknown factors on which it will all hinge are, as I said, Fantastic Four's performance, and the 'Krypto factor.' That awesome dog could wind up being so popular and pull in many people who otherwise wouldn't have shown up, and could be a breakout star with kids in the audience. That's the sort of thing that we can't gauge yet, but if it happens, then it introduces a much better chance of a rising tide lifting all boats toward higher end of potential. If anyone can deliver that, it's James Gunn. His track record (box office and qualitatively) speaks for itself, and I think everything we've seen from this movie so far looks like everything Superman needed in order to have a chance at reaching his full box office potential. If the movie delivers on the promise of the trailers and is as good as early scenes look, then it's bound to succeed — because if it doesn't, then frankly I don't even know what you could possibly do with this character that audiences would show up for anymore. As long as Superman does at least $700 million, DC Studios and Warner Brothers are going to be happy. Anything north of that, and they're gonna be ecstatic. Forbes Counting Down And Ranking All 11 Superman Movies From Best To Worst By Mark Hughes Anything less than $700 million, though, and it starts to look even more similar to what happened last time than it already does. I don't expect this type of outcome at all, but if it happens, then I would guess it's because Jurassic Park is so immensely popular it keeps eating the box office, plus Fantastic Four shows up and picks up where Jurassic Park left off by owning too much of the box office as well. Meanwhile, Smurfs overperforming even a little bit and generating a moderate equivalent of 'Minions fever' among younger kids would make it into a long haul competitor as well. If all of this happened, and if audience disinterest in DC movies continued to linger too much, and if Superman itself was actually not as good as the trailers look, and if as a result the film is front loaded with fans and interested parties getting those advance tickets (thus causing a big drop off week to week after a huge debut, akin to Batman v Superman having a record-setting worldwide opening weekend but then falling off the cliff at the box office each subsequent weekend, then I think Superman would in this scenario wind up at the lower end of potential. In this obviously HIGHLY unlikely series of negative events piling up, Superman would probably wind up finishing somewhere in the $500+ million range. That's not good, to be sure, but the reason even this train wreck scenario still gets it to a non-trainwreck number (again, the last nine DCEU releases in a row across five years each failed to reach $400 million except the Aquaman sequel that limped across that threshold) is because those advance ticket numbers, it's online footprint, and the related overindexing demographic data all suggest enough interest to put the right number of the right butts in seats. But technically, if everything went bad enough, and the movie absolutely sucked, and if some huge economic disaster took place nationwide, then it could certainly flop to the tune of something like $350 million-$400 million. It happens sometimes, more so recently, as we've seen. Hopefully, though, it's clear how unlikely all of that is. If we walk backwards from here, then it starts to become more clear that the context and theatrical marketplace is all primed for the arrival of Superman . Putting up $700 million, after the past nine years of DCEU films struggling to reach $400 million, would signal a reversal of fortunes for WBD's plans for a larger shared universe of their most valuable stable of characters. Forbes 'Superman' Soars In His Best Film With 4K 40-Year Anniversary Release By Mark Hughes While I do think it would've perhaps been a bit wiser to wait an additional year to put even more distance between Superman and the previous DCU, it's also impossible to predict what the future holds in store – another pandemic? worse economic pain? a war? social and political unrest? Any of those, or all of them combined as the unfortunate situation may be, could lurk around the corner. Audience tastes also change, and technology moves forward in ways that could disrupt everything even more (AI is increasingly adopted into filmmaking, more than most of the public and even folks working in Hollywood seem to grasp yet, and it will only increase in the coming months and year). So my own sense that it would've been best to let the DCEU memories fade more, I also expected The Batman: Part II to release this year or next, and without that there's more reason for DC to want and need Superman sooner instead of later. Fans should rest easy that all signs, even from a conservative reading, point to this movie doing well enough to be successful, even if that success is only moderate compared to expectations and hopes. A bad scenario, while possible, would more likely look like about $500 million worldwide gross and involve enough external factors to call it a mulligan, especially if reviews and audience scores are good, and if The Batman sequel and other DC projects are shaping up well. Of course, as the days and weeks progress, I will continue fine-tuning my estimates and have more solid final numbers before opening weekend arives. More likely is that Superman is catching the mainstream global public's attention in a way he hasn't for a long time (although the fantastic Superman & Lois series was sort of proof of concept that a more earnest and relationship-driven approach was a winning formula). While I do currently expect Marvel to win the superhero match up this summer, I don't think it's at all a sure thing and I think with Krypto's help Superman definitely has a fair chance to score an upset victory.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘Golden Girls' Creatives Spill the Tea on Bitter Feud Between Betty White and Bea Arthur — and Making a Classic Anyway
Creatives behind The Golden Girls shared funny and, at times, very candid behind-the-scenes stories — namely, among the long-rumored feud between stars Betty White and Bea Arthur — during a 40th-anniversary celebration of the long-running hit show on Wednesday night. The sold-out event, held at NeueHouse Hollywood as part of the monthlong Pride LIVE! Hollywood festival, featured a panel of writers, producers and others who worked on the show, which ran for seven seasons on NBC, from 1985-92. The series, created by Susan Harris, starred Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, Betty White as Rose Nylund, Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux and Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo. (The Hollywood Reporter is the presenting media sponsor of Pride LIVE! Hollywood.) More from The Hollywood Reporter K-pop Star Bain is Ready to Open a New Chapter Following Historic Coming Out: "I Can Finally Be Free" The 'Wizard of Oz' of Gay Erotica OUTtv: They're Here, They're Queer, They're Canadian! Co-producer Marsha Posner Williams brought up a topic that has been much-discussed and speculated on: whether Arthur and White got along in real life. 'When that red light was on [and the show was filming], there were no more professional people than those women, but when the red light was off, those two couldn't warm up to each other if they were cremated together,' she quipped. Arthur 'used to call me at home and say, 'I just ran into that c' — meaning White, using the c-word — 'at the grocery store. I'm gonna write her a letter,' and I said, 'Bea, just get over it for crying out loud. Just get past it.'' In fact, the panelists shared that Arthur called White the c-word more than once. 'I remember, my husband and I went over to Bea's house a couple of times for dinner. Within 30 seconds of walking in the door, the c-word came out,' Williams said, and Thurm noted that he heard Arthur call White that word as well while sitting next to her on a flight. It's a story he shared a few years ago on a podcast and then got surprised at the internet's response over his revelation. The panelists differed on their theories about why the two didn't get along. Co-producer Jim Vallely thought it was because White got a lot more applause during cast introductions ahead of tapings, but Williams shot that down, noting that Arthur hated doing publicity and came from a different background (theatrical) than White (television). 'The show would have continued after seven years,' she shared. 'Their contracts were up and … the executives went to the ladies, and Estelle said, 'Yes, let's keep going,' and Rue said, 'Yes let's keep going,' and Betty said, 'Yes, let's keep going.' And Bea said 'no fucking way,' and that's why that show didn't continue. … And Betty would break character in the middle of the show [and talk to the live audience], and Bea hated that.' Script supervisor Isabel Omero remembered it differently, noting that the two used to walk 'arm in arm' to get notes together after the first of two tapings. Williams joked that was in case they were walking across the lot and a golf cart got out of control, suggesting that one of them might push the other in front of it. Casting director Joel Thurm was there from the beginning for the casting of all four leading ladies. He shared that Brandon Tartikoff, then-head of NBC Entertainment, originally did not want Arthur in the show, but Harris was dead-set on her, having previously worked with the actress on Maude (she wrote several episodes, including the legendary abortion episode). Thurm said Tartikoff's resistance to casting Arthur had to do with her low Q scores in likability. '[This] created a big problem, but I never knew how dug in Susan was, because I just wasn't in the room where those kind of discussions happened,' he shared. 'So my job, according to Brandon, was to find someone that Susan would be happy with instead of Bea Arthur. I should have realized that she wouldn't have been happy with anybody besides Bea, but I was too naive, and I thought, 'Oh, I have someone. Her name is Elaine Stritch. She has the same acidic quality, you know, stare at you and give you the same thing that Bea does.'' Thurm shared that when Stritch came in for her audition, 'None of the people associated with Golden Girls wanted her. So this woman had to walk into a freezer of an office and try to make it funny. Stritch asked Susan one thing, it was something like, 'Is it OK if I change something?' And Susan said, 'Yes, only the punctuation.' There was no love in that room. I felt so sorry for poor Stritch because she wasn't her fault. She didn't do anything. And had I known that, that Susan was immovable on this, I wouldn't have done what I did and then try to find somebody else.' Williams, however, shared a different view of Stritch. 'I want to just say that I worked on a pilot, and Elaine Stritch was a guest star for one day,' she chimed in. 'Before the day was half over, we were calling her 'Elaine Bitch.'' Meanwhile, Getty, who was then an unknown actress, came in to her audition and nailed it: 'She did her homework and prepared for the part,' Thurm said, noting she was the first one of the four leads to be cast. Incidentally, Cher was supposed to guest-star in the episode focusing on the death of Sophia's son, playing his wife, but she never replied to the offer, and Brenda Vaccaro was cast instead. The event kicked off with a highlights reel of some of the show's LGBTQ moments, including Blanche's brother coming out as gay, Sophia's coming to terms with her cross-dressing son and a politician's revelation that he was transgender. But behind the scenes, things weren't so progressive, shared writer Stan Zimmerman. 'People have to remember back then, we were told by a representatives to stay in the closet, so nobody knew we were gay,' he shared. 'Our first day on the set, we noticed Estelle come running towards us, and she's like … 'I know. Your secret's safe with me. You're one of us.' I thought she meant Jewish,' he quipped. 'But she meant gay. She wasn't gay, but she was probably the first ally ever.' Zimmerman added that he was telling his co-workers how he had bought some vintage sweaters at a garage sale one day, and they told him to 'go home and burn those sweaters because it was probably somebody that died of AIDS. … That was the climate then.' I know you see all these progressive scenes and you think, 'Oh, it was one big gay party there,' but we couldn't be who we really were.' Omero, who came out as transgender in 2019, shared that she was in the closet for all seven seasons of the show. She said that one day, Arthur offered to give her an Indian sari that she had picked up on a trip. 'In my closeted, panicked, paranoid brain, all I knew is that at that moment Bea Arthur was offering me a dress to wear around the house, and I wish I had been in a place where I could have said something, to even accept the gift without ever using it, just so I could express something to someone. But fear and shame is a big thing,' Omero said. Asked why The Golden Girls tackled so many different LGBTQ issues, Vallely replied: 'I think it's because we knew … we had a gay audience. They would play [the show] in [gay] bars across the country. … It was a big deal for middle America to see these women embrace the gay culture.' The panel, which also featured story editor Rick Copp and was moderated by New York Times bestselling author Jim Colucci (Golden Girls Forever), ended with a highlights package of cut scenes from the pilot, which originally featured a live-in gay housekeeper and cook named Coco, who was played by Charles Levin. The character was cut from the show because Sophia — initially meant to be a recurring character — was so popular that they made Getty a regular; unfortunately for Levin, that meant another character had to be cut. Among those in the audience were actress Deena Freeman, who played Dorothy's daughter Kate in an episode of the show, and production designer Michael Hynes. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sara Burack Dies: ‘Million Dollar Beach House' Real Estate Agent Was 40
Sara Burack, a real estate agent who appeared on Netflix's Million Dollar Beach House, has died following a hit-and-run accident in Hampton Bays, NY, according to multiple media reports. She was 40. Burack was found unconscious on Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays at around 2:45 am Thursday. She was rushed to a local hospital with serious injuries consistent with a hit-and-run where she later died, according to local media outlet Dan's Papers, citing Southhampton Town Police. More from Deadline 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries Anne Burrell Dies: Food Network's 'Worst Cooks In America' Host & Celebrity Chef Was 55 International Insider: '28 Years Later' Arrives; Landmark Netflix-TF1 Deal; NHK At 100 Police are still searching for the driver. Burack previously sold properties in Manhattan and the Hamptons as an employee for Nest Seekers International, according to her LinkedIn. She also worked as the events and new business development coordinator for Social Life magazine. Burack appeared on Million Dollar Beach House, a six-episode reality series that aired on Netflix for one season in 2020. The show followed a group of young and ambitious agents, part of the Nest Seekers International, selling multi-million dollar deals on luxurious listings in The Hamptons. Saying Goodbye: A Video Tribute To The Hollywood & Media Figures We've Lost In 2025 Best of Deadline 2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries 2024 Hollywood & Media Deaths: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Remembering Shelley Duvall: A Career In Photos
