After a packed few weeks, the past couple of days have been a chance to catch our breath. So we’re not complaining…
Here’s what announcements did catch our eye from the worlds of pop culture during this quieter period.
Books & Comics
The online shopping sphere in South Africa is about to undergo a massive shake-up. Although it’s unconfirmed, it looks like Amazon’s online marketplace is finally launching in the country in early 2023 as part of Amazon’s plans to increasingly expand into emerging markets. This is according to leaked business plan documents which list South Africa as one of five markets to gain their own marketplace by April 2023. The other are Belgium, Chile, Colombia, and Nigeria.
South African shoppers have long had access to Amazon markets, but had to pay pricy international shipping – leading consumers to use local etailers instead.
By Crom, Conan comics, past and future, are making the move from Marvel to Titan Comics. Starting May 2023 is a new ongoing comic series centred on pulp author Robert E. Howard’s most famous character, Conan the Barbarian, a warrior and eventual ruler of the Hyborian Age.
The new series is part of a co-publishing venture between Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures, the entertainment management studio which owns the rights to Howard’s creations. Together Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures will embark on a publishing programme of comics, graphic novels and re-mastered archives including the omnibus set previously published by Marvel Comics.
In addition, several comic miniseries and other projects are in development that will feature other heroes invented by Howard, which include the likes of 17th Century Puritan adventurer Solomon Kane.
Before all this, though, in celebration of 90 years of the character in 2022, standalone novel Conan: Blood of the Serpent hits bookstores on 18 October, followed by hardback retrospective Conan the Barbarian: The Official Story of the Film on 1 November.
Film
Coming across like the love child of The Ring and It Follows is upcoming horror film Smile. After witnessing a bizarre incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must try to escape her horrifying new reality.
Smile is written and directed by Parker Finn in his feature film debut, and the project is based on his 2020 short film Laura Hasn’t Slept. Smile hits cinemas on 30 September.
We know a little bit more about Kraven the Hunter, which recently wrapped principal photography. Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as the title character (AKA big game hunter Sergei Kravinoff) in Sony’s newest entry into its Spider-Man spin-off universe, which includes Venom, Morbius and upcoming Madame Web.
According to Taylor-Johnson at the CineEurope conference, “[Kraven] is just a hunter, a human with conviction. An animal lover and a protector of the natural world. He’s a very, very cool character.” Kraven the Hunter, which co-stars Ariana DeBose as Calypso, a voodoo priestess and Kraven’s love interest, was also shot entirely on location, which is unusual for Marvel movies. The film hits cinemas on 13 January 2023.
In casting and filmmaking deals this week, Léa Seydoux has joined the cast of Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune: Part 2. The Spectre actress will play Lady Margot, a noblewoman loyal to the Bene Gesserit order in this adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal novel.
Meanwhile, having delivered the goods with his live-action take on Aladdin, Guy Ritchie will also step behind the camera to adapt Disney’s animated version of the Hercules story. We’re sure he can go the distance.
Television
Just one week until Netflix releases Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 2, which wraps the season with two epic movie-length episodes. This week, to stoke hype even hotter, a trailer dropped for Vol. 2, which actually manages to avoid almost all spoilers from Vol. 1.
Amazon’s ultra-ambitious The Lords of the Rings: The Rings of Power is drawing nearer. The series debuts on 2 September, and this week IGN delivered some exclusive images and an interview with Jamie Wilson, head of The Rings of Power’s prosthetic department, and Lindsey Weber, executive producer on the series, to talk all things Orc.
In short, the series depicts the race of corrupted elves just as they’re coming out of the shadows in small scavenger groups. Smaller and more “raw,” they’ll will be given a predominantly practical makeup effects treatment in the upcoming LOTR series, as opposed to CGI. And, for the first time, audiences will see female orcs.
Gaming
It feels strange to write just one short entry in this section, but here we are after a manic few weeks. The new PlayStation Plus subscription service (PS’s equivalent to Xbox Game Pass) completed its rollout yesterday (23 June) in Europe, the Middle East, India, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
The occasion was marked by the release of an easter egg-stuffed spot called Mr Malcolm, which spotlights the fantastic lives people can lead through the imagination and escapism of video games.
P.S. For PC gamers, the annual Steam Summer Sale has started. It runs for two weeks, until 7 July.