Author: Simon Andrews

The presence of notable wrestlers in movies these days has become something of an intriguing little tool for filmmakers to utilize. Back in days of old, the use of high profile wrestling alumni tended to be limited to non-speaking or heavily dubbed henchmen roles. And yet these days we’re almost spoiled for choice. Dwayne Johnson has become the messiah of action franchises, and is soon to make the jump to DC. Dave Bautista has earned his spurs in a number of grafting roles, before breaking through the field into Marvel and Bond. And now John Cena’s hilarious cameo in Trainwreck…

Four years after the release of 2012’s ‘Dredd’, with the prospects of a straightforward movie sequel looking pretty remote, fans of Mega City 1’s most famous son have now become emboldened by the irresistible rise of original and adopted content on streaming platforms. The success stories of Daredevil/Jessica Jones on Netflix, and Ripper Street/The Man In the High Castle on Amazon have made a significant impact on the industry, causing producers to rethink the traditional ways of financing and bringing a TV show to an audience. Would this newly evolved style of production benefit 2000AD’s most stern and unforgiving lawman?…

It’s being reported that word coming out of the Netflix/Marvel camps is that Jon Bernthal has impressed Executives so much with his performance as Frank Castle that groundwork has now begun on an individual Punisher Netflix series. First off, let’s not get too excited. This is something well outside the carefully laid plans that were initially announced by the two companies, and they do have a habit of sticking to their plans. Neither company has commented on this when they’ve subsequently been approached and asked for a quote. Secondly, this rumor is actually nothing new. A couple of months back…

One of the drawbacks of planning a franchise so far in advance is that it provides even more material for journalists to ask difficult and probing questions about. So inevitably, being as Marvel have their Phase 3 offerings publicly mapped out for the next 4 years, when Joe and Anthony Russo were being quizzed by journalists last week about the forthcoming ‘Captain America 3: Civil War’, they were also asked how 2018’s ‘Infinity War’ was shaping up. And it was Joe Russo’s reply to that question that immediately set the Internet alight in a frenzy of fan speculation: “We have…

As the number of films they release increases, and the superhero market becomes more and more crowded, it feels like Marvel’s work seems to come under more and more scrutiny. They continue to turn out perfectly serviceable and commercially successful movies that are managing to stay faithful to both the franchise, and the source material. And yet a pervading air of dissatisfaction seems to have settled on their work. Almost like critics and audiences are waiting for a first cinematic mis-step to jump on, and then declare the whole endeavor doomed to failure. What hasn’t helped Marvel’s cause is their very…

It’s been a right old roller-coaster of a cinematic year, with some absolutely ground-breaking offerings, and some distinct misfires. Next year’s crop of big releases is shaping up to be even more busy and divisive, but what were the ones this year that floated your boat, and the ones that really really annoyed the hell out of you? We’ve polled the ScreenGeek.net office staff, and here’s a flavor of the PTO winners and losers in the battle for the cinematic crown of 2015: Mark Salcido Best Film – Creed This was a surprise hit for me and so many others.…

Whilst fan demand for a Dredd sequel continues unabated, there seems little in the way of actual forward momentum to put the iconic lawman of Mega a City One back onto the big screen. Maybe it’s understandable that studios are nervous. In his two cinematic outings, one ended a pantomime, the other deemed a financial failure. But we live in an age of kickstarters and crowdfunders, so has this fan frenzy got the potential to be harnessed and converted into action? Surely enough money for a Dredd animated film could be produced. How much would you donate to a project…

For the last 41 years (give or take…) Frank Castle has been going head-to-head with the biggest and baddest that the MCU has to offer. A firm fan-favorite who’s appeared across numerous imprints, and made the (admittedly troubled) jump from comic book to a number of different media platforms, the legend of The Punisher is now firmly established. A dark avenging angel that fears naught, and will never stop. He’s fought and dispatched countless opponents, using all manner of weaponry and circumstance to achieve his aims, even returning from the dead on a number of occasions to pursue his quest. So…

My read on the ‘Dredd’ sequel as it stands is this, and feel free to jump in and correct me at any point. Despite a monumental outpouring of love from the fans, the chances of a film are currently nil because it didn’t make enough money at the box office. One shining ray of light on the horizon for Dredd fans has been the ongoing success of the Marvel and Netflix collaboration, which has given a great deal of hope that a Dredd TV pilot or series might become a possibility –  and rightly so. With over 30 years of…

Whilst the future continues to look bright for the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (well, apart from for Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s ‘Quicksilver’…), one anti-hero that doesn’t seem to feature anywhere in Marvel’s plans is Johnny Blaze, AKA The Ghost Rider. Having been the subject matter of arguably the worst Marvel-related sequel that the studio has put its name to, and consider they had a hand in Punisher: War Zone, Marvel Supremo Kevin Feige recently confirmed that despite the very vocal desire of Nicolas Cage for further sequels, the studio had shelved the character indefinitely. Now, I don’t believe it’s right…