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Not long before all hell broke loose and he was fired by Disney/Marvel, James Gunn (Slither, Guardians of the Galaxy) had been hyping up a new horror project he was producing, which was shrouded in secrecy. We later learned that the film was titled BrightBurn, directed by David Yarovesky (The Hive). Today, IGN debuts a brand new trailer.

Elizabeth Banks stars in BrightBurn, which looks to be a super-villain origin story that takes the core concept of Superman and flips it. In the film, a young boy not of this world is taken in by human parents who believe him to be special. But not all who wear capes are heroes…

James Gunn had announced six months ago, “About a year ago my brother Brian, my cousin Mark, director David Yarovesky, producer Simon Hatt and I started coming up with an idea for a horror film that excited me in a way nothing outside of Guardians has in years – it was personal, and different, and perfectly suited for our times. And, yes, terrifying.”

BrightBurn is set to arrive in theaters on May 24, 2019.

Back in 2014, director Robert Stromberg and Angelina Jolie reimagined the tale of an iconic Disney villain with Maleficent, a dark fantasy origin story that proved to be a pretty massive hit at the box office. Naturally, a sequel is coming soon, and it’s just been given the official title Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, along with a new (and much earlier) release date.

Originally planned for release on May 29, 2020, the sequel has been bumped up this week to October 18, 2019, seven months earlier than expected!

Check out the official poster below, which is brand new today.

Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) directed the film. Elle Fanning is also back, with Deadpool star Ed Skrein playing the film’s villain.

The full cast was recently announced, and it includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Robert Lindsay, Harris Dickinson, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville. Michelle Pfeiffer has also been confirmed as Queen Ingrith!

The sequel “picks up several years after Maleficent, in which audiences learned of the events that hardened the heart of Disney’s most notorious villain and drove her to curse a baby Princess Aurora. Maleficent II continues to explore the complex relationship between the horned fairy and the soon to be Queen, as they form new alliances and face new adversaries in their struggle to protect the moors and the magical creatures that reside within.”

Joe Roth is producing the film, with Jez Butterworth and Linda Woolverton penning the latest script. Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster wrote the most recent draft.

Here’s the official festival one-sheet for the horror-thriller Tone-Deaf, the newest film from Richard Bates Jr., director of Excision, Suburban Gothic and Trash Fire. The film will hold its World Premiere on Sunday, March 10th (11:55pm).

Saban Films had acquired the film that follows millennial Olive (Amanda Crew) who, after losing her job and imploding her latest dysfunctional relationship, leaves the city for a weekend of peace in the country, only to discover the shockingly dark underbelly of rural America.

She rents an eccentric, ornate country house from Harvey (Robert Patrick), an old-fashioned widower who’s struggling to hide his psychopathic tendencies — and the two collide.

TONE-DEAF – SXSW Schedule – Midnighters Section
Mar 10, 2019 @ 11:55pm – ALAMO RITZ 1
Mar 11, 2019 @ 11:55pm – ALAMO LAMAR E
Mar 14, 2019 @ 5:45pm  – ALAMO LAMAR B

Artwork by Eshwin Dhir

Vertical Entertainment has acquired Dominique Swain and Michael Welch-fronted feature Blood Craft and is set to release the witchcraft-centric horror film in the U.S. in April, reports Deadline.

The film, which was previously known as Together, follows two sisters who suffered abuse as children at the hands of their sadistic father decide, after his death, to use witchcraft to bring his spirit back to get revenge. Madeleine Wade, who has starred in The Wolf of Wall Street and Westworld, and Red Oaks star Augie Duke play the sisters, while Face/Off star Swain and Welch, who starred in Twilight, also star.

James Cullen Bressack directed the film opening digitally on April 9th.

Remember that $375 Collector’s Edition for Playdead’s Inside? You know, the one that had iam8bit and Real Doll involved? Well, the thing was supposed to ship out Q1 2019, but has now been pushed back.

“The INSIDE Collector’s Edition is still in production… and it’s getting closer to completion.

Thank you for giving us the time to perfect the details of this amazingly special and unique package. We’re working diligently with our partners at Playdead and Real Doll to ensure that this [REDACTED] is of the utmost quality. No one has ever made something like this before, so the R&D time is vital to producing a high quality [REDACTED].

As promised, the INSIDE Collector’s Edition will ship in 2019.”

According to the order page (which is still up), the Collector’s Edition contains a PlayStation 4 disc version of Inside, Steam keys for both Limbo and Inside, and just whatever the heck Real Doll is working on.

Inside was released for the PlayStation 4 in 2016, alongside the Xbox One and PC. The game was later released for the Nintendo Switch in 2018.

With Bend Studio’s Days Gone not having much farther to go before its April 26th release date, preview footage and screenshots have hit the net from a variety of outlets. We’ve gathered the footage here for your convenience.

You can check out new screenshots from PlayStation Blog, IGN and Famitsu.

To the surprise of no one, Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding is facing slight delays.

In an interview with Japanese website J-Wave, Kojima stated that due to the process of constantly adjusting and playtesting Death Stranding, the project is slightly behind schedule.

However, Kojima (and according to Google’s translation) states that “Many studios lag behind the planned release date,” despite the fact that we still don’t know when Death Stranding is being released.

However, Kojima reassures fans that the game, his first since leaving Konami, is “not much delayed”, and that he’s not compromising on the quality of the title in spite of the delays.

“If you are an amateur artistic work you can make it satisfactory. However, because there is a delivery date, it is possible to set goals and prioritize them. Because I’ve been making for a long time without a delivery date, I can do my best because I have a delivery date and I can do what I can do so. However, I can not put out when I fall below my passing line.”

Death Stranding is due out for PlayStation 4.

Earlier today, star Jared Leto let us know that filming began about a week ago on Sony’s Morbius, while also sharing the first sneak peek of his character. And Variety now reports tonight that Tyrese Gibson is in talks for a role. Character details are unknown at this time.

Jared Harris, Matt Smith and Adria Arjona also star.

Michael Morbius is a scientist who, in trying to find a cure for a rare blood disease, accidentally transforms himself into a living vampire. Though disgusted by his own bloodlust, he chooses to prey upon criminals he deems unworthy of life.

Morbius was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane and first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #101, the first issue not written by Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee.

Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless wrote the script.

Morbius arrives on July 31, 2020.

Imagine you are at home. You go outside and you start watching the buildings in front of you. Look deep into the details: the houses, departments, maybe some clothes stores, one restaurant, and a pub on the corner. The second house from the left has two big windows, one next to the other. This rather insignificant detail stays in your mind, because of reasons.

Now turn back, you forgot to pick up your mobile phone. You return your view to the street again and now the house has one window. “That’s funny,” you think, “I’m sure there were at least two windows there”. When you cross the street, you notice the pub on the corner is gone, too. You start grabbing your head with both hands. Something’s wrong. You turn around, decide it’s time to go home, lock every damn door and stay in bed. But guess what: your house isn’t in the place it’s supposed to be. Now it’s on the next street, on your right, with the same white walls and black roof. For some unfathomable reason this is happening, and you can’t do anything to change it.

When you start your short but intense ‘journey’ in FAITH, an indie horror game with a retro ZX Spectrum visual style, the sensation of everything moving happens in your first few steps. You leave your car in the middle of a highway and you walk into a forest. Each scene has some trees and maybe an object of interest, like a small fountain. Reaching the end of the current scene, you get into a new one and see yet more trees, this time with some rocks around. You think you should have tried another direction before, so you go back from where you originally came to find out that the fountain is gone and the trees are displayed differently. The screens change randomly, so does the way to the destination. If you add a huge and horrendous white spider which screams in Latin coming for you every now and then, the recipe for a small mental breakdown is right there.

Being in a maze or a non-linear path with an unclear destination could be a stressful activity itself. But if the maze is also changing while you are going through it, it’s madness. Our sense of direction can help us find the way to go, or at least make us feel secure about where we are standing on space. The lack of visual references eliminates this feeling of security, and anxiety begins to rise. Where to go now? Why are these puddles here? I was here a moment ago. What is this shriveled tree doing there? Luckily enough for us, this “section” doesn’t last long, when we find the mansion and its key we can stop listening to that terrifying music and tell that displeasing spider to go to hell.

Inside the mansion, this continuous change of perception doesn’t exist. The orange rooms, with small ‘touches’ of other colors in specific objects, are fixed. However, you have another resource for fear and restiveness. You are searching for Amy, the daughter of a couple who has been possessed by some evil spirit. ‘Nobody’ is home apparently, but you can feel a presence wandering around. In certain moments you will see two brief ‘cutscenes’ which show you the spirit in first person. The disturbing effect it produces is almost tangible. Aghast I walked between rooms when I was attacked and immediately killed. Then the cutscene started again. I reached another room, and was again slaughtered by this spirit. The same five seconds of cutscenes played again. This cycle repeated itself, again and again.

Usually, when you see a specific scary image or experience a unique jump scare, the effect produced starts decreasing as you see it repeatedly. You get used to the stimulus –this is called Habituation. Nevertheless, I never stopped feeling nervous every time I watched the cutscene. Was it because of the briefness of the moment? Maybe the image itself is disturbing enough and it doesn’t get old? The music and sounds wrapping the moment? No, it’s none of these possible answers. Actually, it’s a more deep and disturbing feeling: the sense of despair created by inevitability.

“Wait a moment”, you may exclaim. “You are speaking about a ‘game over’ scene, one that can be easily be avoided by just not getting killed”. Yes, you are right, my dear reader. However, that’s not specifically what I’m thinking about. You see, there are five different endings in FAITH. Without getting too much into spoilers’ territory, almost all of these endings have a tragic outcome. Only one has a kind of positive vibe, but when you think about the bigger picture, it’s more ambiguous than anything. How can we stop another possession like Amy’s before happening? How can we be sure this evil spirit won’t appear again, anytime soon? What’s the point in trying to stop it again, anyway? When you are in a cyclic journey and events begin to repeat themselves, even before you reach the “beginning” of the cycle, it’s hard not to feel a little lost. Both the first forest scene and these reiterative cutscenes made me wonder: what if we are doomed to repeat the same thing over and over again? We are trapped in this cycle, and maybe there isn’t a way out.

I honestly don’t know. Maybe the upcoming sequel of FAITH will tell us a different story.

FAITH is available on PC via itch.io

Based on the novel by Frank De Felitta, 1983’s supernatural thriller The Entity is headed to Collector’s Edition Blu-ray this coming June, Scream Factory just announced today!

“Extras are pretty much finalized but we’ll confirm more on a later date,” the company teases. “What we can announce today though is that all extras from the prior DVD will be ported over and we have new exclusive interviews with actor David Labiosa, Film Editor Frank J. Urioste, legendary genre Composer Charles Bernstein and the star of the film herself, Academy Award nominee Barbara Hershey!”

Hershey stars as Carla Moran, a hard-working single mother whose life becomes a nightmare when she is attacked in her bedroom by someone – or something – that she cannot see.

Disbelieved by her friends and dismissed by skeptical psychiatrists, Carla begins to lose her grip as she is repeatedly attacked in her car, in the bath, and even in front of her children. Could this be a case of hysteria, a manifestation of childhood sexual trauma, or something even more horrific? Seeking help from a group of daring parapsychologists, Carla will attempt an unthinkable experiment: to seduce, trap and ultimately capture the depraved spectral fury that is The Entity.

National street date for U.S. only (Region A) is June 11th. Pre-order your copy today.

It’s a damn shame that less people are watching “The Walking Dead” than ever before right now, as the current ninth season has been a welcome course-correction for the series. But the good news this week is that this past Sunday night’s episode, which took us behind enemy lines to learn more about the Whisperers, actually had a nice little spike in viewership.

Steady with the previous week, Sunday’s ‘Guardians’  posted a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49, with 4.71 million total viewers. That’s a bit up from last week’s 4.39m total viewers.

For the sake of context, here are the episode-by-episode numbers for Season 9:

• Episode 9.1 – 6.08 million
• Episode 9.2 – 4.95 million
• Episode 9.3 – 5.04 million
• Episode 9.4 – 5.10 million
• Episode 9.5 *Rick’s Final Episode* – 5.41 million
• Episode 9.6 – 5.40 million
• Episode 9.7 – 4.79 million
• Episode 9.8 *Mid-Season Finale* – 5.09 million
• Episode 9.9 *Mid-Season Premiere* – 5.16 million
• Episode 9.10 – 4.54 million
• Episode 9.11 – 4.39 million
• Episode 9.12 – 4.71 million

Only four episodes remain in Season 9, and with a compelling/horrifying villain at the center of the season in Oscar-winner Samantha Morton’s Alpha (who brutally beheaded one of her own this past Sunday night), we wouldn’t be surprised to see the season finish pretty strong in the ratings. On that note, we’re thinking you won’t want to miss these final four episodes.

If the comics are any indication, true horror awaits.

Coming soon, the holiday horror anthology Deathcember will open 24 doors to Hell for “the ultimate advent horror anthology movie.” The anthology will feature 24 shorts by 24 directors from around the globe, each one taking a look at the dark side of the festive season.

We’ve learned today that director Vivienne Vaughn‘s segment “A Christmas Miracle” wrapped filming over the weekend, and it stars horror legend Barbara Crampton!

In “A Christmas Miracle,” a grieving mother (Clarke Wolfe) who suffered a stillbirth is spending Christmas alone, when she is visited by an apparition (Crampton) that promises to bring her child back to life – but at what cost?

“Proud to say that our crew was almost entirely women – the cast, all of the producers, camera and G&E departments all female,” Vaughn told us. “We also had SFX makeup by the legendary Bruce Spaulding Fuller and his wife, Gabriela Quinonez.”

Deathcember‘s line-up of directors includes big names as well as up-and-comers, from genre mainstays such as Lucky McKee (The Woman) and Trent Haaga (68 Kill) to festival favorites like Isaac Ezban (Parallel) and Lazar Bodroza (Ederlezi Rising) to exciting fresh talent, such as Sam Wineman (The Quiet Room) and Ama Lea.

Also attached as directors are names like Pollyanna McIntosh (Darlin’) and, as a special surprise, the living genre legend, Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust)!

Not only do the heroes of “The Walking Dead” have to deal with the creepy Whisperers in the back half of Season 9, but a group of pirates known as the Highwaymen are also lying in wait.

In this sneak peek clip from this coming Sunday’s new episode, the Kingdom gets a threatening letter from the Highwaymen, whose symbol was glimpsed this past Sunday night.

In ‘Chokepoint’…

Daryl’s daring rescue mission forces Alpha to unleash a group of her own to retrieve what belongs to her, even if the price is paid in blood; the Kingdom’s plans to reunite the communities are put in jeopardy.

The new episode airs Sunday night, March 10th.

The Scream franchise is so intertwined with director and horror master Wes Craven that it’s difficult to imagine another film in any other director’s hands, no matter how often the potential for Scream 5 or a reboot comes up. And it does come up quite frequently, even still. Throughout the four films, Craven remained the beating heart of the series, and yet he very nearly passed on directing the first film.

Then titled Scary Movie, Craven initially rejected the offer to direct. The project was shopped around, reluctantly as Craven was always the first choice, but other directors also either passed or producers and screenwriter Kevin Williamson felt they didn’t quite get the project. It wasn’t until Craven learned Drew Barrymore had signed on to star as Sidney Prescott (before she chose to play Casey Becker instead), and a 12-year-old told him that his horror had gone too soft, that he changed his mind.

What if he’d never changed his mind, though? We thought it’d be fun to look back at some of the directors who were approached to helm Scream and speculate on how very different the film could have been…

Sam Raimi

Just about every major horror director was approached to direct Scream, and of course that included the man behind the Evil Dead trilogy. Army of Darkness wrapped up the series years prior, though with a fizzle at the box office, and Sam Raimi had written and directed a Universal horror movie take on the superhero with 1990’s Darkman. By the mid-90s he’d moved outside of the genre space, shifting into producing, writing, and directing comedies, action, and even a western.

Though Raimi never shied away from extreme brutality in his horror, he usually merged it with his life-long love of The Three Stooges, bringing a physical splatstick style of comedy to the horror mix. Army of Darkness marked his last foray into horror until 2009’s Drag Me to Hell, which remained on brand for his usual biting and physical humor with gross-out horror. Well, there is also 2000’s The Gift, which was billed as a supernatural thriller and played it much straighter than usual. All of this to say, it’s very easy to speculate that Raimi would’ve placed a much higher emphasis on the comedic aspects of Williamson’s script. Poor Sidney Prescott would probably have endured a much goofier and more physically grueling battle with Ghostface that left her far more blood-soaked.

George A. Romero

There’s a lot of horror movies George Romero very nearly directed, and Scream was another he was offered. He was more than just the director who changed the way cinema defined zombies, though the major impact of that remains just as prevalent today as it was in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead. His progressive social commentary and subversive take on the zombie apocalypse in his Dead franchise looms large over his legacy, but he was also well versed in Stephen King, with films like The Dark Half and Creepshow, and gave new twists to vampire and witch lore with Martin and Season of the Witch.

Despite having a much wider range in horror than just zombies, it’s still difficult to picture what Romero might have done with Scream. It’s quite plausible that Romero would have dug deeper into Billy Loomis’ memorable line, “Movies don’t create psychos, movies make psychos more creative.” It’s a brilliant minefield of a line, a reflection on current social mindsets that you can bet Romero wouldn’t have left alone.

Danny Boyle

In 1994, Danny Boyle made one impressive debut with Shallow Grave. Based on the film, it’s easy to see why Boyle was approached. Shallow Grave follows three friends that discover their new flatmate has died, leaving behind an unexplained large amount of cash. It’s a suspenseful thriller with tension, surprise twists, and an underlying current of dark humor. The suspense and humor combination sound exactly in line with Scream.

Though tonally Boyle’s version would’ve edged closer to Williamson’s script, blending the horror more seamlessly with the satirical elements, but his distinct style would’ve made for a very different final film. With his frequent use of point-of-view shots, high and low camera angles, vivid colors, and a strong use of surreal and dream sequences, as evidenced in films like The Beach, 28 Days Later, and Sunshine…well, his take may not have resonated as strongly with audiences in the end.

Tom McLoughlin

Tom McLoughlin previously helmed horror movies One Dark Night and Sometimes They Come Back, as well as four episodes of Friday the 13th: The Series. But his most popular horror film is Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, the very fun final entry in the Tommy Jarvis trilogy. He loved Kevin Williamson’s script, but felt the comedic elements too similar to Jason Lives, so he passed, as revealed in a Facebook chat. Like Craven, he too had changed his mind, but it was too late.

Being that he saw the script for Scream as similar in tone and humor to Jason Lives, it’s easy to imagine that his version of the film would be a lot more playful and comedic. A horror comedy with emphasis on the comedy, and understated on the horror.

Robert Rodriguez

Of all the directors who could’ve possibly directed Scream had Craven not assumed the role, Robert Rodriguez is quite possibly the only one we don’t have to really speculate as to how his vision for the film would’ve played out. Beginning in Scream 2, the sequels featured the Stab slasher series, or fictional movies within the movie based on Sidney Prescott’s life. There are 7 Stab movies scattered throughout the 3 Scream sequels, and one notable director’s name keeps popping up on them: Robert Rodriguez. If he did indeed direct the Stab segments, he’s uncredited in the actual film credits, but I’d like to think that this is precisely what we’d get with Rodriguez at the helm. Just with slightly less camp.

Bonus: Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino wasn’t actually approached to direct Scream at all. But his good buddy Robert Rodriguez was approached, which likely got Tarantino thinking about how he would’ve handled the project. He infamously maligned Craven’s work on the film, stating in an interview with Vulture, “I actually didn’t care for Wes Craven’s direction of it. I thought he was the iron chain attached to its ankle that kept it earthbound and stopped it from going to the moon.”

Considering that he’d penned From Dusk Till Dawn, which arrived in theaters 12 months earlier than Scream, it’s fair to use that as an example of what kind of approach he would’ve taken to Scream at the time. Especially when paired with his comment about taking it “to the moon.” Meaning, Tarantino’s version of Scream would have amplified the lengthy monologues in Tarantino’s distinctly verbose way and surely gone off the rails in terms of an insane final act. At least in the violence department, anyway. Craven himself ran afoul with the MPAA, with the initial cut of the film receiving an NC-17, so Tarantino likely would’ve had a much bigger battle with his brand of stylized violence.

In any event, we can thank our lucky stars that Wes Craven did indeed direct Scream and its sequels, marking the third decade in a row that he redefined the genre.

The fifth season of AMC’s spinoff “Fear the Walking Dead” is headed our way later this year, and Deadline reports today that actress Karen David has signed on as a new regular.

David (“Galavant”) will be playing a character named Grace.

The actress joins series stars Lennie James, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, Danay Garcia, Garret Dillahunt, Maggie Grace and Jenna Elfman.

Also recently announced, Ruben Blades is coming back for Season 5, and “The Walking Dead” star Austin Amelio will be bringing his character Dwight into the spinoff.

Reinert Kiil’s latest directorial venture, The House (aka Huset), sees two Nazi soldiers, Jurgen Kreiner (Mats Reinhardt) and Andreas Fleiss (Frederik von Luttichau), as well as their Norwegian prisoner Rune Henriksbø (Sondre Krogtoft Larsen), fighting to make their way through a forest in the dead of a Scandinavian winter. The men eventually end up off-course and stumble upon a vacant house. With no other choice than to enter or risk freezing outside, the soldiers commandeer the house only to find that they may not be the only inhabitants.

Few low-budget films have the ability to fully immerse viewers into their settings, but The House manages to do just that. Each moment the camera spends in the wintry wilderness of Norway is another minute the bitter cold seeps into your soul. The characters’ makeup and details lend themselves to the realism of the scenes, presenting wind-chapped, blue skin and frosty clothing. By the time the characters make their way to the house, we’re as desperate as they are to escape the frigid outdoors. As the film presses on and the house becomes more foreboding inside, the alternative of returning outside is too daunting to even consider. We’re fully sold on the fact that these men need to remain indoors, even if it means that they may come face-to-face with angry spirits.

Relatedly, The House boasts some haunting imagery on the inside. Two particular moments stand out: a shot of an ominous, cramped corridor and a room that suddenly becomes covered in crosses and crucifixes across its walls. Both instances showcase how these tiny moments, among others, could have so easily been mundane and lackluster, but cinematographer John-Erling H. Fredriksen takes care to ensure that no scene looks cheap.

The drawback is, however, that the story itself is both confused and confusing. Although there are several interesting shots, none of them seem to have much to do with the narrative – they’re just creepy for the sake of it.

Additionally, the film tries to combine too many horror elements with no clear direction. There are time loops, symbols that may or may not conjure spirits and demons, undead people, possessions and exorcisms, all on top of the overarching ghost story. Perhaps there were just too many ideas to be executed at once, or just simply not enough money to carry out that idea. Regardless of the reason, it doesn’t work. Sometimes less really is more. The House makes the mistake of doing too much and subsequently comes up short across the board. The film may have been better off sticking to just one of these concepts and really nailing the scares.

On the topic of scares, The House doesn’t really work to create enough actual horror. Through its imagery and score, the film does achieve a wonderfully dark tone. However, aside from an object moving slightly from time to time, there isn’t very much going on. There are hardly any scares to speak of. Tension often builds only for the scene to cut before anything happens. It’s disappointing for The House to work so hard to create a perfect ambiance only to mishandle and abandon what most of the audience is waiting for.

Overall, The House has good bones but doesn’t meet its potential. The look and feel of the film are attractive, but the story is ultimately too convoluted and the horror too mellow for the movie to be fully satisfying.

Fresh off starring alongside Denzel Washington in Fences, Russell Hornsby has just landed the title role in NBC’s pilot “Lincoln,“ an adaptation of Jeffrey Deaver’s The Bone Collector that will see Hornsby playing the character Lincoln Rhyme, played by Denzel in the 1999 film.

The news comes courtesy of Deadline today.

The series follows legendary forensic criminologist Lincoln Rhyme, who was seriously injured during his hunt for the diabolic serial killer known as the Bone Collector.

Called back into action when the killer re-emerges, Lincoln forms a unique partnership with Amelia Sachs, a young beat cop who helps him hunt the deadly mastermind while also taking on the most high-profile cases in the NYPD.

The project hails from writers VJ Boyd and Mark Bianculli (S.W.A.T.), Universal Television and Sony Pictures Television, in association with Keshet Studios.

Seth Gordon will direct the pilot episode.

The 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, which takes place April 24 – May 5, has just unveiled its feature film lineup that’s jam-packed with genre debuts.  The full program includes 103 films from 124 filmmakers. Some notable inclusions are the World Premiere of Joe Begos‘ (Almost Human, The Mind’s Eye) new movie, Bliss, as well as Ant Timpson‘s (The ABC’s of Death) Come to Daddy, and Jeremy Gardner and Christian Stella‘s Something Else. Here are the full selections of genre films.

MIDNIGHT: Tribeca’s Midnight section provides a space for fans to discover new projects in genre filmmaking. Past films include Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio’s Cropsey (2008), Ti West’s The House of the Devil (2009), Panos Cosmatos’ Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010), and Mickey Keating Psychopaths (2017).

Bliss, directed and written by Joe Begos. Produced by Joe Begos, Josh Ethier, Graham Skipper, Caroline Metz, Lyle Kanouse, Audrey Wasilewski. (USA) – World Premiere, Feature Narrative. In need of creative inspiration, a professionally stagnant and hard-partying Los Angeles artist recklessly indulges in a series of drug binges. As the narcotics fly out of control, so does her newfound and inexplicable, yet unquenchable, craving for blood. With Dora Madison, Tru Collins, Rhys Wakefield, Jeremy Gardner, Graham Skipper, George Wendt.

Come to Daddy, directed by Ant Timpson, written by Toby Harvard. Produced by Mette-Marie Kongsved, Laura Tunstall, Daniel Bekerman, Katie Holly, Emma Slade. (USA, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland) – World Premiere, Feature Narrative. After receiving a cryptic letter from his estranged father, Norval travels to his dad’s oceanfront home for what he hopes will be a positive experience. If only he’d known the dark truth about his old man beforehand. With Elijah Wood, Stephen McHattie, Martin Donovan, Michael Smiley, Madeleine Sami, Simon Chin.

Knives and Skin, directed and written by Jennifer Reeder. Produced by Brian Hieggelke, Jan Hieggelke. (USA) – North American Premiere, Feature Narrative. In the rural midwestern town of Big River, the sudden disappearance of a teen girl drives the town’s small population into a surreal nightmare of fear, suspicion, and guilt. With Kate Arrington, Marika Engelhardt, Audrey Francis, Kayla Carter, Ireon Roach, and Grace Smith

Something Else, directed by Jeremy Gardner and Christian Stella, written by Jeremy Gardner. Produced by David Lawson Jr., Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Arvind Harinath. (USA) – World Premiere, Feature Narrative. Dealing with a girlfriend suddenly leaving is tough enough. But for Hank, heartbreak couldn’t have come at a worse time. There’s also a monster trying to break through his front door every night. With Jeremy Gardner. Brea Grant, Henry Zebrowski, Justin Benson, Ashley Song, Nicola Masciotra.

You Don’t Nomi, directed and written by Jeffrey McHale. Produced by Jeffrey McHale, Ariana Garfinkel, Suzanne Zionts. (USA) – World Premiere, Feature Documentary. Released in 1995, Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls was met by critics and audiences with near universal derision. You Don’t Nomi traces the film’s redemptive journey from notorious flop to cult classic, and maybe even masterpiece. With Peaches Christ, Jeffery Conway, April Kidwell, Haley Mlotek, Adam Nayman, David Schmader.

INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE COMPETITION: The New-York based Festival breaks its geographical boundaries with the International Narrative Competition, welcoming filmmakers from abroad to join a global platform for contemporary world cinema.

The Gasoline Thieves (Huachicolero), directed by Edgar Nito, written by Alfredo Mendoza, Edgar Nito. Produced by Victor Leycegui, Annick Mahnert, Joshua Sobel. (Mexico, Spain, UK, USA) – World Premiere. Propelled by a need for cash to impress a crush, 14-year-old Mexican farmhand Lalo finds himself dangerously in over his head after entering into the country’s underworld of illegal gasoline extraction. With Eduardo Banda, Pedro Joaquin, Regina Reynoso, Fernando Becerril, Pascacio López, Leonardo Alonso.

SPOTLIGHT NARRATIVE

Charlie Says, directed by Mary Harron, written by Guinevere Turner. Produced by Cindi Rice, Jeremy M. Rosen, John Frank Rosenblum. (USA) – North American Premiere. Charlie Says, directed by masterful filmmaker Mary Harron, tells the Charles Manson story through the fresh eyes of his most devoted followers: Leslie van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Susan Atkins. With Suki Waterhouse, Hannah Murray, Matt Smith, Annabeth Gish, Merritt Wever, Chace Crawford. An IFC Films release.

Only, directed and written by Takashi Doscher. Produced by Eyal Rimmon, Gabrielle Pickle. (USA) – World Premiere. After the onset of a mysterious plague that affects only females, Eva may be the only woman left on Earth. Longing for freedom after months of secret quarantine, she and her partner Will venture out into the unknown. With Freida Pinto, Leslie Odom Jr., Chandler Riggs, Jayson Warner Smith, Tia Hendricks.

MOVIES PLUS: A Tribeca tradition, Movies Plus offers audiences the unique opportunity to continue the experience of a film through buzzworthy conversations or performances after each special screening.

I Am Human, directed, written, and produced by Taryn Southern, Elena Gaby. (USA) – World Premiere, Feature Documentary. Advancements in neurotechnology are revolutionizing what it means to be human. Following three subjects who undergo brain interface treatment, I AM HUMAN examines the ethical quandaries in brain exploration and simulated cognitive evolution.

● After the Premiere Screening: a conversation with co-directors and producers Taryn Southern and Elena Gaby, neurotech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital Dr. Andres Lozano. Moderated by the CEO of Futurism Alex Klokus.

TRIBECA CRITICS’ WEEK

In Fabric, directed and written by Peter Strickland. Produced by Andy Starke. (UK) – New York Premiere, Feature Narrative. British auteur Peter Strickland follows The Duke of Burgundy with a dazzling sensory overload of genre film pastiche in a fresh package: the dreamlike saga of a cursed scarlet dress that passes through the lives of several characters. Once again, Strickland unites disorienting cinematic trickery with deadpan comedy to astonishing results. With Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hayley Squires, Leo Bill, Julian Barratt, Steve Oram, Gwendoline Christie. An A24 release.

You have our attention, Freeform.

Deadline reports today that Freeform has just given a 10-episode order to “Motherland: Fort Salem,“ an hourlong drama from Claws creator Eliot Laurence and executive producers Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick.

“Set in an alternate America where witches ended their persecution 300 years ago by cutting a deal with the U.S. government to fight for their country, “Motherland: Fort Salem” follows three young women — two of them played by Taylor Hickson (above) and Jessica Sutton — from basic training in combat magic into early deployment.”

“In this world, the traditional roles of gender and power are flipped, with the more dominant women on the front lines fighting looming terrorist threats that are familiar to our world — but with supernatural tactics and weapons.”

Amalia Holm and Demetria McKinney co-star in the series, written/created by Laurence.

“We’re so excited to be able to tell this story rich with female empowerment, complex storytelling and an incredibly creative canon,” said Tom Ascheim, president, Freeform. “While set in an alternative universe, Motherland: Fort Salem will continue the authentic and issues-driven storylines that our network is known for, and what our audience has come to expect. We are thrilled to be working with Eliot, Will, Adam and Kevin on this exceptionally creative tale and look forward to bringing this even further to life.”