It’s the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the United States, which means things are pretty quiet on the news front. We’re not complaining, though. With the unexpected lull, we’re going to blast through the notable entertainment and lifestyle announcements of the past week below. Let’s start now.

Film

In what has become tradition, South African cinema chain Ster Kinekor has a one-day-only special for today, Black Friday (24 November). Throughout the day, all 2D movies at all SK cinemas are priced at R60, while you can get a small drink-and-popcorn combo for R39. Black Friday bookings can be made through the SK website, the SK App and at the self-service kiosks at all the cinemas.

The Scream film franchise is about to undergo a dramatic change in direction. This week, star of the past two entries in the slasher series, Melissa Barrera was booted from the franchise after comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Meanwhile, Jenna Ortega who plays Barrera’s younger sister in the reinvigorated series, has had to step aside because of her filming commitments to Netflix’s Wednesday, which has a greenlit Season 2.

The casting announcements keep coming for James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy, a fresh take on the Man of the Steel, which is set for release in July 2025. Nicholas Hoult is the new Lex Luthor, following Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey and Jesse Eisenberg, who have also played Superman’s most famous foe on the big screen.

Joining Hoult (once a frontrunner to play Superman himself) is Booksmart’s Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, the Daily Planet photographer who works alongside Clark Kent (David Corenswet) and Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). Portuguese model Sara Sampaio will be Miss Teschmacher, Lex Luthor’s assistant and mistress.

This week we got first looks at two highly anticipated 2024 releases. The first is Nosferatu, from The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman filmmaker Robert Eggers. Empire Magazine posted a teaser image from this gothic horror tale – a remake of the 1922 vampire classic, which was previously remade in 1979, and revisited in 2001’s Shadow of the Vampire with Willem Dafoe. In Eggers’ film, Bill Skarsgård plays the sinister Count Orlok, while Lily-Rose Depp is the woman, Ellen Hutter, who falls under his dangerous spell. Nicholas Hoult play Ellen’s husband, estate agent Thomas. Read Empire Magazine’s feature on Nosferatu here.

Meanwhile, this week the first official image was released for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley, with Eddie Murphy back for the fourth time as the smart-mouthed, street-smart cop. The sequel is out next year, courtesy of new rights holder Netflix.

Also set for a big screen return is the hard-hitting Bourne espionage franchise. Things are a bit complicated though. All Quiet On The Western Front filmmaker Edward Berger has been singled out to direct the sixth entry in the series, but original star Matt Damon has reportedly been working on restarting the franchise for some time now, separate to Universal’s plans. The last Bourne film, for the record, was Jason Bourne in 2016.

Series

Dave Filoni has been named Lucasfilm’s New Chief Creative Officer. What does that mean? The writer, director and producer will be involved in “narrative development for Star Wars shows and movies earlier and in a more expansive capacity.”

You can check out Filoni’s Star Wars resume here, but it’s an expansive one. Selected by George Lucas to create the company’s first animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars back in 2008, Filoni followed this up Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Resistance, and, more recently, Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Tales of the Jedi. Shifting into live-action, Filoni worked on The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett before taking the creative lead on this year’s Ahsoka. He is also executive producing the upcoming Star Wars series, Skeleton Crew, as well as making an upcoming film set in the New Republic era of the franchise.

Although it means relatively little these days, as streamers backtrack on approvals regularly, dystopian anthology series Black Mirror has been given the thumbs for a Season 7, by Netflix.

Lifestyle

We’re ending this week’s pop culture news recap on a disappointing note. The first ever Comic Con Africa Cruise, which was announced earlier this year, has been cancelled.

The themed cruise promised pop culture fans in South Africa the unique opportunity of a Comic Con experience at sea. The themed cruise was set to take place on the MSC Splendida cruise ship over four days from 15 – 18 March, with passengers travelling along the country’s coast from Durban to Cape Town.

There were various promotions to sell tickets for the cruise, including 2 for 1 specials during this year’s Comic Con Africa (extended from late September into early November), and an incentive that the first 500 bookings would include a goodie bag and tickets to either Comic Con Africa 2024 or Comic Con Cape Town 2024. Evidently none of these measures were enough to drum up bookings to the amount required (the cruise wasn’t scheduled during school holidays, out of interest), and this week, the cruise was stripped of its theme.

Comic Con Africa has yet to issue a statement on the cancellation, while MSC Cruises sent this email to affected passengers on Tuesday, 21 November:

Regrettably, we have had to make the tough decision of removing the theme from this cruise and cancelling the onboard events linked to the theme. We understand that this may come as a disappointment, and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.

The Comic Con team worked tirelessly, alongside MSC Cruises, to create an unforgettable experience and looked forward to delivering an exciting event for all attendees.

Although the theme has been removed, MSC Cruises will continue with the 3-night cruise from Durban to Cape Town as scheduled, on the 15 – 18 March 2024 and will offer a full entertainment programme to ensure that guests are entertained for the duration of their time onboard.

We are aware that you have booked a cruise and paid an entertainment fee to participate in the Comic Con theme and onboard events, and because of these changes to your cruise, the following options are available to you:

  • Keep your booking and still cruise on the 3-night itinerary from Durban to Cape Town.
  • If your booking has been paid in full, use the entertainment fee paid for the Comic Con Cruise towards any onboard packages that you may wish to purchase.
  • Move to another cruise within the local South African 23/24 cruise season. Should you select a cruise longer than your current 3-night cruise, the difference for the additional nights will be charged.