Before we kick off with this week’s highlights from the worlds of film, television and gaming, one quick mention must go to 61-year-old actor Tom Sizemore, who is in critical condition after suffering a brain aneurysm. Apart for his long and public battle with drug addiction, Sizemore is probably best known for his appearance in war films like Saving Private Ryan, Pearl Harbour and Black Hawk Down, and for major roles in the Quentin Tarantino written True Romance and Natural Born Killers.

Film

Just one notable film trailer this week, and that’s for upcoming supernatural horror The Pope’s Exorcist. Demonic possession-centred films are a dime a dozen these days but The Pope’s Exorcist features its own special hook, setting it up to stand against the likes of The Conjuring as a “terrifying true story.” It’s inspired by the memoirs of real-life Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican. Russell Crowe plays Amorth as the priest investigates a young boy’s terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden. The Pope’s Exorcist comes to cinemas on 14 April.

If you enjoyed Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, which currently has a very good chance of winning Best Animated Feature at this year’s Oscars, you’ll be pleased to know the filmmaker has another stop-motion animation project lined up for Netflix. Del Toro will adapt The Buried Giant, based on the fantasy novel by Nobel Prize-winning writer Kazuo Ishiguro. The novel follows an elderly couple, Axl and Beatrice, living in a fictional post-Arthurian England in which no one is able to retain long-term memories.

Good and bad news regarding The Marvels, the third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 5 (following Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3). Initially planned for release on 28 July, the film has been pushed back to 10 November. This is in line with Disney’s plans to better space out its superhero offerings for budgetary and breathing room reasons; and to allow for more post-production retooling if necessary to avoid more Quantumania disappointment.

So that is potentially both disappointing and hopeful news at least. Definitely good news, however, is that the release date shift was accompanied by the unveiling of a new teaser poster which shows the three protagonists of The Marvels in their costumes.

From Candyman filmmaker Nia DaCosta, The Marvels brings together the 3 “Marvel-lous” heroines Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), fangirl turned superhero Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), the daughter of Carol’s best friend, who gained her powers in the WandaVision series.

One other piece of movie news to keep an eye on:

There’s another Hellboy film in the works, and actually it starts filming in April. Hellboy: The Crooked Man features a script by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola himself, and promises to faithfully adapt the nightmarish 3-issue comic arc of the same name, leaning more into “lean and mean creepy folk horror.” in The Crooked Man, a younger Hellboy faces a powerful minion of the devil in 1950s Appalachia.

Series

Your top TV series trailer of the week belongs to Netflix’s fantasy series Shadow and Bone Season 2. Following a very well received first season, Season 2 continues the story laid out in Leigh Bardugo’s hit young adult novel series. This time around, fledgling Sun Summoner Alina Starkov and childhood best friend Mal Oretsev must undertake a continent-spanning journey to find two mythical creatures that will amplify Alina’s powers. It’s her only chance to defeat General Kirigan and his seemingly indestructible new army. Along with introducing new allies and enemies, Season 2 will also see gold-hearted criminal band the Crows attempt a deadly heist.

Shadow and Bone Season 2 premieres on 16 March, so if you need a refresh, it’s probably a good idea to start your Season 1 rewatch now.

All aboard the hype train too for Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian. Season 3 (or Season 4 if you consider how the story continued in The Book of Boba Fett) premieres less than 1 week from now, on 1 March, and will consist of 8 episodes released weekly. To celebrate the approaching new season, which depicts greater galactic events in the New Republic after Return of the Jedi, a set of character posters have been revealed, depicting title character and bounty hunter The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) with Grogu; head of the Bounty Hunters’ Guild, Greef Karga (Carl Weathers); and Mandalore warrior Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff).

Some other series news tidbits:

  • Brace for controversy. Fox is reimagining 70s buddy cop classic Starsky and Hutch as a woman-led crime-fighting series set in the present day. The official plot: “detectives Sasha Starsky and Nicole Hutchinson solve crimes in the offbeat town of Desert City while staying true to their friendship, their awesomeness, and somehow also trying to unravel the mystery behind who sent their fathers to prison 15 years ago for a crime they didn’t commit.”
  • With Disney hellbent on cost-cutting, especially in relation to content on its streaming service Disney+, three original series have now been chopped. Sports dramas Big Shot and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers have both been cancelled after 2 seasons. They join The Mysterious Benedict Society, which was binned at the end of January.

Gaming

First up, some gaming news relevant to South Africans:

While PS VR2 officially released globally on Wednesday, 22 February, local fans are still waiting to experience it. “Bad weather” is reportedly to blame for the delayed shipment, and as of today 24 February, stock is still nowhere in sight. For the record, the new-generation PlayStation Virtual Reality set-up will cost you R13,500 locally, and R14,500 if you get it bundled with Horizon VR spin-off Call of the Mountain.

Meanwhile, PlayStation’s big console rival Xbox has just extended its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Friends & Family subscription offer to South Africa, as one of six new countries to now have access to the plan. Friends & Family allows people to add up to four people to their membership, all with their own unique access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games, content, and benefits. While you must be in the same country, you don’t have to live under the same roof. You can also all play at the same time. In South Africa, a monthly subscription will cost you R199. A single user Game Pass Ultimate membership is R119 per month by comparison.

Fans of horror movies and scary games, we have some good news. Blumhouse Productions is starting up a game division to complement its specialist genre film offering. Blumhouse Games will focus on “original, horror-themed games for console, PC, and mobile audiences.” At least to begin with, the company will be working with indie devs to realise projects with budgets “below $10 million.” On the movie-making side, Blumhouse has been responsible for the horror hit likes of Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, Split, Get Out, Happy Death Day, Halloween, The Invisible Man, Freaky, The Black Phone and M3GAN.