QUICK BITES
Michael Fassbender Confirms Alien: Covenant Will be Way Scary
By Max Evry
20th Century Fox's Alien: Covenant is currently in post-production, and Collider has spoken to star Michael Fassbender to confirm that the crew of the title ship are in for a scary ride in the Ridley Scott film.
"I have to say, this Alien is going to be – I'm really excited to see it and everybody in the film was saying that there's a film that we all wanna see," Fassbender stated. "It's much scarier than 'Prometheus,' but it's got that sort of same scope as 'Prometheus,' that imminent sort of disaster feel that 'Alien' had."

FeoNote: You know, nothing against Michael, who is often one of the best things in any movie and any role, but this isn't saying a lot. There have been episodes of Spongebob Square Pants that were scarier than PROMETHEUS.

Read the full article at ComingSoon.

AND

Ryan Reynolds Paid Out Of His Own Pocket For Deadpool Writers To Be On Set
By Jay Jayson
To make sure Deadpool was the hit that it was, its star, Ryan Reynolds, went above and beyond. Several times, he dipped into his own pocket to make sure the financial constraints 20th Century Fox placed upon production didn't interfere with his and director Tim Miller's vision. As an example: Reynolds shelled out $10k just so that Wade Wilson can wear a t-shirt with an image of Golden Girls star Bea Arthur, an actress Deadpool obsessively fawns over in the comic books, in the hilarious pizza delivery sequence.

Continued at ComicBook.

FeoNote: I KNEW IT! I just knew the current studio heads at Fox were too inept at their jobs to have pulled off a success story like DEADPOOL. It was just too Marvel to be a bonafide Fox success. Kudos to Ryan Reynolds for not letting a major studio Wolverine and Green Lantern him for a 3rd strike.

It all makes sense now. All is right with the world.

HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
I rarely wish Happy Birthdays to dead people, but I do make exceptions for exceptionally influential people.

First on my list is the first person who created both the first Science Fiction novel and the first Horror novel, cementing the so-called Mad Scientist into the lexicon of Science Fiction and Horror from books to movies to song.

Happy Birthday to the Mother of the two most successful genres in the history of literature,
What mortal remains that remains of Writer Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Novels -FRANKENSTEIN: Or The Modern Prometheus, THE LAST MAN.
Movies - exhaustively extensive.) are 219 today.
Actor Elden Henson (JAWS: THE REVENGE, IDLE HANDS, O, EVIL ALIEN CONQUERORS, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT, RISE: BLOOD HUNTER, THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - Part 1 & 2, DAREDEVIL [TV]) is 39.
Writer, Producer Laeta Kalogridis (BIRDS OF PREY [TV], PATHFINDER, AVATAR, SHUTTER ISLAND, WHITE HOUSE DOWN, TERMINATOR GENISYS) is 51.
Actor Ely Pouget (FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES [TV], COOL BLUE, THE RIFT, DARK SHADOWS [TV 1991], THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR., DEATH MACHINE, MURDER SHE WROTE [TV], LAWNMOWER MAN 2, TOTAL REALITY, OUTPATIENT) is 55.

QUICK BITES
RIP'N FOR GENE
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Sad news today is, legendary comedy genius, Gene Wilder died. Gene tried his hand at a couple of Horror comedies, but only one took. That was his brilliant tour du force with Mel Brooks in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.

The box office smash hit went on to become a smash Broadway hit nearly 40 years after its release in 1974.

Gene made a large number of successful comedies that retain their appeal generation after generation, but it's for YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN that I honor his memory today.

More at Variety.

AND

TOM HOLLAND RETURNS!
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Over at Tom Holland's Terror Time, the latest buzz is the man himself. The man who brought us the original FRIGHT NIGHT and CHILD'S PLAY is back in the driver's seat for a new Horror Thriller feature called ROCK, PAPER, DEAD. Members of the team include co-writer Victor Miller (FRIDAY THE 13th), composer Harry Manfredini (FRIDAY THE 13th, HOUSE, DEEPSTAR SIX), and SFX wizard, Vincent Guastini (VIRUS, DOGMA, DOOM, HOOD OF HORROR).

Get the ful scoop at THTerrorTime.

PLUS

Did Dean Cundey Just Reveal The Biggest Secret Of THE THING?
By Rob Galluzzo
Words alone can not sum up exactly how much I love John Carpenter's THE THING. It's the go to response when someone complains about remakes. "Well, what about John Carpenter's THE THING? That's a classic!" Although it wasn't heralded as such upon its release, it sure as hell is considered one nowadays, especially by die-hard horror enthusiasts.

Scream Factory is giving it the special edition treatment with a brand new Blu-Ray release. And as they tweak one minor glitch in the original test discs, they've set the release date for October 11th.

Continued at Blumhouse.

ALSO

A Horrifying Accident On The 'Blade Runner 2' Set Leaves One Dead
By Dave Walsh
A ton of work goes into the production of each and every film that is released, with much of the movie magic happening because of the unsung heroes in the industry. For a film with a very set aesthetic like Blade Runner, the sequel has big shoes to step into, and recapturing the look and feel of the cyberpunk classic is paramount for the success of Blade Runner 2.

The recreation of that aesthetic means immaculately-detailed sets, and an incident involving one of the sets has led to a terrible accident in Hungary,

Continued at UPROXX

WASSMOR

Bill Murray's Zombieland role was originally written for Patrick Swayze
By Devan Coggan
There are many memorable moments in 2009's Zombieland. There's Woody Harrelson's obsession with Twinkies. There's Jesse Eisenberg's specific guidelines for surviving the zombie apocalypse, including cardio and seat belts. And of course, there's that insane Bill Murray cameo, in which our band of survivors encounters Murray only to think he's a zombie and shoot him dead. As he lies there, dying, he's asked if he has any regrets. His only response? "Garfield, maybe."

That ridiculous cameo, however, almost didn't happen.

Continued at EW.

QUICK BITES
The Lost Boys Series
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
First some back story.

Feo Fans know that I generally have no love for reboots and remakes.

Well okay, maybe that's a caveat instead of a backstory. No wait. Here is the backstory.

When you have to reach back 30 years or more to prove that remakes can work (David Cronenberg's THE FLY, John Carpenter's THE THING), it means you're ignoring all of the tons of miserable remake crap that deservedly bombed (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2010, THE THING 2011, TOTAL RECALL 2012, CARRIE 2013, ROBOCOP 2014, POLTERGIEST 2015, GHOSTBUSTERS 2016).

Sequels are generally no better. Reaching back over 30 years to prove they're workable in duos like ALIEN and ALIENS, HELLRAISER and HELLBOUND, or in trilogy's like Romero's first LIVING DEAD series, Coscarelli's PHANTASM, Lucas and Spielberg's INDIANA JONES, ignores the steep drop off point of the hackneyed amatuer hour of all the sequels that came after.

Studio or independent doesn't matter, although if the property gets so butchered it's sold off to Dimension films, that's generally the kiss of death (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, HALLOWEEN, CHILD'S PLAY, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN). Not counting all of the lowered expectation children that the major studios never respected in the first place (FRIDAY THE 13th, CHILDREN OF THE CORN to name a few), but kept churning out only for that first weekend cliff dive of penny profit. Sequels are nearly as bad as remakes.

Nearly as bad, but not quite, and that's where Rob Thomas comes in.

Rob created the wonderfully cultish and cerebral TV series, VERONICA MARS. He created the refreshingly intricate, iZOMBIE TV series (based on the creation of writer Chris Roberson and Michael Allred's DC Vertigo comic title).

The thing about Rob is, he knows the genre, knows how to tell a good to great story, and he knows the kind of story that not only fascinates the Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense audience, but draws the non-genre audience, thus enlarging the fanbase and giving the arc a long life to fully reveal itself.

In short, he's that damn good. So when Rob says he can think of a whole lot of great stories in THE LOST BOYS world - something that stewards of the franchise, with their Direct to Video sequels, proved beyond all doubt that they could not - I'm totally on board with that.

I don't like remakes, I generally don't trust sequels, and I'm totally down with Rob Thomas wanting to breathe fresh life into THE LOST BOYS. Rock it, Rob!

First reported by Deadline.

AND

While we're on the subject of THE LOST BOYS

PLUS

CERNtainly was no Human Sacrifice: Oh, Nerds Just Wanna Have Fu-un
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Until I know more about this, I'm accepting it on the face of it. Everybody was cosplaying, everybody was consenting, and folks in high pressure jobs like to let off steam in their own way like the rest of us in whatever we choose to be our own way.

But yeah, I can still see how all of the people who are responsible for building, maintaining, promoting, and further investing in CERN, look at all of this and say, "Aw, DUDE!"

Full story at Independent.

ALSO

Natalie Portman is DONE with Marvel!
Or IS she...?

Now a self-described ex-employee of Warner Bros. has come forth. Yeah, Warner Bros. has caught the same flack, deservedly so, as Sony Pictures and for the same hideously bad slates they throw up every single year.

But this isn't any disgruntled employee, this person calls herself Gracie Law!

Fans of John Carpenter's BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA know what that means. Gracie Law is a lawyer who goes snooping for injustice like a detective, calling out the perpetrators even though she won't get a dime for it. All out of her own sense of doing what's right.

Obviously I have no idea how much of the fictional character of Gracie Law courses through the veins of this person who recently posted an open letter to Warner Bros. and named names.

But Holy Freaking Shit!

"Gracie Law's" open letter just nuked Warner Bros. from orbit (it's the only way to be sure).

Continued at Pajiba.

AND Speaking of Sony's gross incompetence,

Sony's 'Ghostbusters' Loss Likely to Come to About $50 Million, Sources Say
By James Rainey
UPDATED: As Sony Pictures Entertainment struggled a year ago to recover from a computer hacking debacle and a string of box office flops, the studio and the new chairman of its motion picture group, Tom Rothman, could look forward hopefully to a turnaround that would include a rebooted "Ghostbusters."

But nearly a month after the release of the female-powered comedy, Sony has had to push its turnaround date farther on to the horizon — to fall or winter and much-anticipated offerings like the Western "The Magnificent Seven," and the space odyssey, "Passengers," starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt.

Nearly a month after its release, "Ghostbusters," has brought in just $180 million worldwide. And with a total take projected to end up at something like $240 million, the reimagining of the 1984 favorite will not come close to making back its large production and marketing budgets.

Continued at Variety.

PLUS

FeoNote: Hey fellow writers! From books to movies I see an awful lot of you writing about technology that has already passed you by. I mean, it's not futuristic anymore and you barely understand it anyway. So here, get a headstart with this,

12 sci-fi technologies already changing the way we live
By Scott Gerber
Technology is advancing at a rapid rate, with many new developments, from drones to brain scanning headbands, resembling devices from a science fiction movie.

So what cutting-edge technology can we expect to experience in our lives in the near future, and what will be developed next? To find out, I asked a group of entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:

Continued at TheNextWeb.

ALSO

VAMPIRE HUNTER D PAVING THE WAY FOR THE FUTURE
By Jessica Fisher
Recently, we posted an article on the Vampire Hunter D (VHD) Kickstarter which is helping create an American comic book based on the series as well as an RPG supplement for Pathfinder. VHD, created by Hideyuki Kikuchi, is a rich and fascinating sci-fi vampire tale told in Japanese books and anime.

The Kickstarter is focused on creating a series of comics based on a short, unpublished story called Message from Cecily. Kurt Rauer and Scott McLean, of Unified Pictures, were kind enough to sit down and explain in more depth, how this simple project may help open some doors for roleplaying, television, movies, and more.

Continued at GeekAndSundry.

WASSMOR

Looks like the search for the rumored Nazi ghost train is back on
By Amanda Macias
The search for a lost Nazi gold train is back on.

Last August, two amateur treasure hunters said they had "irrefutable proof" of the existence of a World War II-era Nazi train, rumored to be filled with stolen gold.

Andreas Richter and Piotr Koper claimed they used ground-penetrating radar to locate the train, which is somewhere alongside a railway between the towns of Wroclaw and Walbrzych in southwestern Poland.

Continued at BusinessInsider.

YOU STAY AND WATCH. I'LL GO SEE WHAT THAT NOISE IS

QUICK BITES
Guillermo Del Toro Funds $666 Project After Budding Filmmaker Fan Tweets The Director
By Simon Thompson
On August 8, 2016, 24-year-old Shane Vader launched his Indiegogo campaign to fund a teaser trailer for Higher Powers, a film he had written a script for. The goal was $666.

Not long after, the aspiring filmmaker from Minneapolis, who is also inspired by the Coen Brothers and Sam Raimi, contacted his favorite director, Guillermo del Toro, on Twitter with a link to the funding page and a request for a retweet. Not only did Vader get a retweet from the Academy Award-nominated helmer of such films as Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, Hellboy, and Cronos, but del Toro also personally contributed $618 to the campaign, ensuring it hit its target.

In an exclusive interview, I asked Vader about where he got the idea for the film, why he took a chance on tweeting his hero and what he plans to do next.

Continued at Forbes.

AND

Def Con: The hackers bringing Mr Robot to life
By Mark Ward
From the latest Jason Bourne movie to CSI Cyber and countless other films and TV shows, hacks, hackers and hacking have never been more mainstream.

But few people who work in computer security can stand those programmes or movies because, in their words, they are so technically inept.

One TV show that has proved popular with hackers is NBC Universal's Mr Robot which centres around Elliott Alderson - a security pro by day but who is also a member of an anti-establishment hacker group called FSociety that wants to use his technical skills to change the world.

Continued at BBC.

PLUS

'Suicide Squad' Unlikely to Get China Release
By Patrick Brzeski
Chinese fans had hoped the movie's PG-13 rating would help it get past censors.

David Ayer's Suicide Squad is set to hit theaters around the globe this weekend, but the world's most populous nation — and No. 2 movie market — probably won't be joining the party anytime soon.

The Warner Bros. tentpole has yet to receive a release date in China, and sources close to the decision-making process in Beijing say it appears increasingly unlikely to get the official nod.

Continued at THR.

ALSO

10 SLAVIC SPIRITS AND MONSTERS YOU'VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF
By Marina Brown
Existing alongside Egyptian and Greek paganism, pre-Christian Slavic deities remain among the most mysterious ancient beliefs in history. Passed down for generations before the first written documentation, these creatures of folklore evolved completely apart from Western influence.

Continued at AllDay.

WASSMOR

Inside 'Stranger Things': The Duffer Bros. on How They Made the TV Hit of the Summer
By Melissa Leon
Twin brothers Matt and Ross Duffer had only a few scattered credits to their names when they unloaded the sleeper TV hit of the summer, the addictively thrilling supernatural horror Stranger Things. The nostalgia-heavy tale of small-town terror, friendship, and wonder is a warmly familiar tapestry of influences: Stephen King, John Carpenter, and Steven Spielberg weigh as heavily as Alien, Japanese anime, and video games.

Continued at TheDailyBeast.

HEAVY METAL TURNS 35
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
From THE THING 2011 to ROBOCOP 2014 to GHOSTBUSTERS 2016 to everything tentpole in Hollywood, it's all a bleached remake or redo or re-imagining of the incredible stuff the former movie capital and Madison avenue was once capable of creating.

The most profitable thing Hollywood is doing right now is trotting out hoary old DC and Marvel comic book superheros from back in World War II, and that success is largely on the shoulders of Stan Lee and the singular brilliance of Kevin Feige!

With all we hear about the heyday scandals, drugs, etc. of pre-21st century Hollywood and New York publishing (like that doesn't happen now), the suits of yore were not only more willing to take great artistic risks, they generally knew how to make them pay off.

Today's crop of movie studio and publishing house execs are overwhelmingly barren, uptight, and repressed by comparison to their grandparents from 30 or more years ago.

We've all seen it, and many writers have documented it, but for another nail in the coffin, HEAVY METAL the movie turns 35 today.

What is the royalty of remakes and old ideas, Sony Pictures, doing about it? Not a whole hell of a lot. Even though the past is all the staggering stewards of Sony have anymore.

So see why Hollywood is dying with this blast from the past review of HEAVY METAL, from author Steven Woeste. 35 years ago he was just a kid when it happened! He saw it!

Continued at FeoAmante/HeavyMetal.

QUICK BITES
You Can Finally Own the Ultimate Version of This Iconic Big Trouble In Little China Poster
By Germain Lussier
When someone thinks of John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China, they think of the image above. It's from the theatrical one sheet that was originally drawn by iconic artist Drew Struzan and now, it's being re-released in a whole new way.

Continued at Gizmodo.

AND

New animated series 'Transformers: Combiner Wars' targets a very specific audience: adults
By Jevon Phillips
In the newest Transformers series, "Transformers: Combiner War," the beloved onetime Autobot leader Optimus Prime and evil Decepticon leader Megatron are no longer in charge, relics in a new age of peaceful co-existence between the long-battling sides of Transformers.

For those who have not kept up with the many iterations of Transformers, "Combiner Wars," which launched Aug. 2, offers a different, and more grown up, look at the world of animated fighting robots.

Continued at LATimes.

PLUS

If first generation Godzilla (height 50m) appears on the Tokyo of 2016
by Shinobu Yoshino
Look for the teeny little Godzilla in red.

Continued at Twitter.com/FUKUBLOG.

ALSO

12 lingering questions we have after watching the first season of Stranger Things
By Andrew Liptak
We really dug the first season of Netflix's show Stranger Things. It's a great mix of nostalgia for the films of the 1980s and a great story about a town getting to the bottom of a strange disappearance of a local boy. Like any good show, it left us wanting a bit more, and left us some questions to chew over while we wait for another season.

Spoilers for the first season ahead! Seriously, we're digging into the big questions from the top.

Continued at The Verge.

WASSMOR

Stranger Things: New York pizzeria now serves special Barb slices
by Dana Getz
For those already craving another serving of Stranger Things, Vinnie's Pizzeria has your fix: The Brooklyn eatery is now selling slices inspired by the supernatural series' cast.

Their latest specials are an homage to Barb (Shannon Purser), a.k.a. Nancy's (Natalia Dyer) best friend who cares too much for her own good. Menu items include...

Continued at EW.

'NOTHER THING

Guillermo del Toro: 'I love monsters the way people worship holy images'
By Jordan Riefe
When film-maker Guillermo del Toro was directing his 2006 fantasy, Pan's Labyrinth, he told his art department to conjure a make-believe world more real than the actual world. He was talking about the alternative realm into which his protagonist disappears in order to avoid the harsh realities of fascist Spain, but he could have been talking about his own Bleak House, a Westlake Village residence crammed full of mementoes, toys, illustrations, models, literature and art, all centered on the macabre. While it may seem like the indulgence of a rich Hollywood egomaniac, instead it is the brain trust of the most prolific and distinctive horror and sci-fi/fantasy film-maker working in movies today.

Continued at TheGuardian.

FINALLY

First FANG-tastic issue of family friendly horror comic "SUPERED-UP MONSTER KIDS" to premier at SCREAM LA
By Kevin M Glover
Pasadena, Calif., Aug 5, 2016. Indie horror comic label Scary Tales Publishing announced the release of the premier issue of their first family friendly comic book, "SUPERED-UP MONSTER KIDS". This first issue collector's edition tells the origin story for this new super-team; revealing how four, marginally dorky, horror movie loving kids, become the monster-powered heroes known as Draculad, Frankenteen, Mummy's Girl and Zomboy.

Written by Scary Tales publisher and founder, Kevin M. Glover, a life-long monster kid himself, the series promises to deliver light-hearted adventures the whole family can enjoy. Says Glover, "Think Teen Titans; Transylvania style with sort of an Archie Comics' small town vibe thrown in for good measure. In their first adventure, the novice heroes must defend their home town from invading Martians. Talk about launching with a bang!".

This first 20-page issue was illustrated by relative newcomer, Mohamed Fouad. Even though Fouad hails from Egypt, he deftly adds a comedic, Americanized touch to his panels. Juanfran Moyano, the front cover artist, is from Spain, so the book is quite an international collaboration.

The book retails for just $5.00 and will be officially released at the Scare LA Horror convention at the Pasadena Convention Center the weekend of August 6th and 7th.