Now that we’re once more on top of pop culture news after Monday’s big catch-up, it makes things a lot more manageable. Below you’ll find our standout stories, plus some bonus tidbits, from this week.
Film
Action movies where a timid, socially integrated everyman (or woman) is revealed to be a deadly assassin are nothing new. But there’s novelty to seeing Everything Everywhere All at Once comeback kid Ke Huy Quan in the role. Bonus points for the film coming from the same production house behind Nobody, Violent Night, Bullet Train, Atomic Blonde and The Fall Guy.
In Love Hurts, Ke Huy Quan plays Marvin Gable, a seemingly mild-mannered realtor with a dark past as a hitman alongside his crime lord brother (Daniel Wu). Marvin thought he got out, until one of his old partners, Rose (Ariana DeBose), re-emerges, with the bad guys in tow.
Love Hurts comes to cinemas from 7 February 2025.
After multiple delays brought on by strikes and departing directors, plural, Deadline is reporting that Disney has officially removed its Blade remake, starring Mahershala Ali, from the company’s 2025 movie release calendar. The film, which is to bring the vampire slayer into the MCU is now very much in TBA territory (though a 2026 release is very credible still). Meanwhile, Prey follow-up Predator: Badlands, with Elle Fanning, takes Blade’s vacated 7 November 2025 slot.
Here’s a breakdown of all the Marvel film and TV projects expected to debut over the next two years, or you can check out this handy list. One final interesting fact is that three untitled Marvel movies are now dated for 18 February 2028, 5 May 2028 and 10 November 2028.
Some other movie-making news for you:
- Dune: Part Three has a tentative filming start window of 2026, with director Denis Villeneuve revealing the film will complete the Paul Atreides arc from Frank Herbert’s books, and kick off 12 years after the events of Dune: Part 2.
- Meanwhile star Tom Holland has announced that Spider-Man 4 will likely head before the camera around mid-year 2025, and offer fans something quite wild and different.
Series
Apple TV+, arguably home of the best prestige science fiction on the small screen, isn’t just bringing fans the return of dystopian Silo next month. Premiering 17 January is the long-awaited return of slow-burn mystery thriller Severance, after production was impacted by last year’s Hollywood strikes.
In Severance, a grieving Mark Scout (Adam Scott) has accepted a position at Lumon Industries, a powerful company whose employees have undergone a procedure which surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. In season two, Mark and his friends learn the consequences of trifling with that barrier. The likes of Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, John Turturro, Christopher Walken and Patricia Arquette all return, with some new faces joining the cast.
Also on the TV news front:
The Haunting of Hill House’s Mike Flanagan, who has become the go-to for Stephen King adaptations (like Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game), will be overseeing a “bold and timely reimagining” of King’s Carrie. The series will be made for Prime Video, which is Flanagan’s new project home after several years working under the Netflix banner.
Also, the third and final season of Good Omens, on Prime Video, was to be six episodes. Now, it’s been revealed that the novel adaptation/continuation, based on the work of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, will cap with a single 90-minute episode. Gaiman is also no longer involved with the project at an executive producer level, having been accused of sexual assault by several women in recent times.