Pfangirl.com will always be more about opinion than news – and thoughtful reviews demand time. That said, we thought we’d try a more curated approach (i.e. what excites us) to covering some of the biggest announcements of the past week across pop culture. Here’s what stood out for us over the past seven days or so.
Movies in development
We may not be getting another Birds of Prey movie (boo!), but a Black Canary spin-off is evidently on the cards for HBO Max, with Jurnee Smollett returning in the role of street smart, super-screamed vigilante Dinah Lance. Smollett’s Lovecraft Country showrunner Misha Green is developing the project with the actress. More here.
In other repeat collaborator news, when Anya Taylor-Joy has a gap in her busy schedule, the future Furiosa should be joining her The VVitch writer-director Robert Eggars for a remake of groundbreaking vampire tale Nosferatu. Brace for arty and disturbing. More here.
Movie trailers
New trailers for two upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies dropped over the past week. Because, in case you forgot, we’re due both before the end of the year. While the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on release schedules, the ambitiously epic Eternals is currently set for a November 5, 2021 opening, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, which dives deep into the Multiverse, comes out December 17, 2021.
Streaming service news
This week we got our first proper look at the cast of Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop, a live-action version of the iconic sci-fi anime series, which starts streaming November 19. More here.
The cross-media vampire resurgence is gaining strength. AMC’s Interview with a Vampire TV series has its leads. Australian actor Sam Reid will be the hedonistic Lestat, while Game of Throne’s Grey Worm, Jacob Anderson, is Lestat’s conflicted protege Louis. Lestat and Louis were played by Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, respectively, in the 1994 film adaptation of Anne Rice’s bestseller. More here.
In October 2021, Blood Psalms, an African fantasy epic, comes to streaming service Showmax, in conjunction with CANAL+. In a homegrown first for Showmax, the ten-part series, which is set in the ancient past, focuses on a fierce princess who must navigate her people through curses, tribal vendettas and the wrath of the gods. More here. You can also watch the teaser trailer.
Gaming
A digital edition of Gamescom, arguably the world’s biggest gaming event, is underway right now. The most exciting news from our perspective – that we haven’t covered already, anyway – is that Horizon Forbidden West officially has a release date. The highly anticipated sequel to open-world sci-fi adventure Horizon Zero Dawn is out 22 February 2022, for PS5 and PS4.
Otherwise, the following are two great gamescom-related resources for news that has us pumped. Xbox’s gamescom stream summary, neatly packages all of the publisher’s latest announcements, with more on Age of Empires IV, Forza Horizon 5, The Gunk, cloud gaming plans and Xbox Game Pass day one partnerships.
For indie game enthusiasts, the Indie Arena Booth is a shared exhibition space that spotlights almost 120 games and development studios from all around the world. These games would have been on the floor of gamescom in the “old times,” but here they are all showcased digitally for you to dip into.