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One of this week’s new releases stars Steve Coogan and a penguin, so here’s a film quiz about other actors and their animal co-stars.

They say you should never work with children or animals, but that’s not stopped movie stars teaming up with animal co-stars. There are usually mixed results – even the can’t-lose buddy pairing of “Tom Hanks and a French mastiff” definitely didn’t end happily for both of them (spoilery details here). Now in UK cinemas, Peter Cattaneo’s new movie The Penguin Lessons teams up Partridge and penguin, so we’ve got some quiz questions about other live-action animal star vehicles as part of your usual movie-related trivia safari.

Once you’ve completed this week’s film quiz, you’ll find a link to a separate post with the correct answers at the bottom of this post. As always, this is just for fun,...

With the October 10 show sold out, John Carpenter has added a second concert at the Knockdown Center in Queens, NY on October 9.

“Wow,” Carpenter exclaimed. “New York City, we’re pleased to announce a second show has been added!”

Tickets are on sale now for $58.71. Meet and greet packages are also available.

The master of horror will perform alongside bandmates Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies for their first live show since 2018.

Following the New York dates, the group heads to The Belasco in Los Angeles for shows on October 24, October 25, October 31, and November 1.

They play Carpenter’s classic film cues from the likes of Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York, The Fog, They Live, and more along with original music from their four Lost Themes albums.

Carpenter was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last week.

The post John Carpenter Adds Second New York City...

James Cameron is adamant he doesn’t want to take away jobs, but he also wants AI to cut the cost of VFX work in half.

If you sit through a modern, effects-laden blockbuster, then two factors are likely to come into play.

First, given the demands on modern visual effects houses, you’re going to be looking at a credits crawl that comfortably goes past 1,000 people. Secondly, that the cost of the film – certainly if a studio is footing the bill – will regularly exceed $200m. In certain cases, nearly double that.

Separately, James Cameron has worked his way up the movie industry from one of those names on an end credits crawl. He famously worked on the visuals for Escape From New York for John Carpenter, for instance, and then made a pair of films that warned us of the dangers of artificial intelligence.

Cameron has built a terrific...

John Carpenter finally gets his long-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The iconic - and subversive - director of the landmark Halloween (1978) continues influencing modern horror creatives and putting money in studio pockets.

On April 3, 2025, Carpenter received a tremendous honor acknowledging his five roller-coaster decades in the film industry. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce certainly values his work. It awarded him a coveted place among the legends on Hollywood Blvd. Frequent Carpenter star Kurt Russell joined fellow alumnus from The Thing (1982), Keith David, to honor the director in front of the press.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame star secures John Carpenter's place in cinematic history. He's a legend whose contributions to the horror genre and overall film industry were (and are) significant. However, the path to a permanent place on the sidewalk in front of the Roosevelt Hotel proved rougher than Snake Plissken's Escape from New York (1981).

2019 10th...

April 3, 2025, was the night filmmaker John Carpenter came home…or rather, the day the Master of Horror was recognized for his contributions to film history by finally receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Many a horror fan would argue the moment has been a long time coming for Carpenter. After all, we’re talking about the man who changed the very face of Halloween with the bone-white image of Michael Myers from his groundbreaking slasher, Halloween (1978). He gave us one of film’s most badass rebels in Escape from New York’s Snake Plissken (played by frequent collaborator Kurt Russell). And while it may have underperformed at the box office at the time, his remake of 1951’s The Thing from Another World, simply titled The Thing, is now considered a masterpiece of sci-fi terror that has influenced countless others. A director, writer, producer, composer, and even occasional...

Update: Boosting this article (first posted on March 21st) as a reminder that John Carpenter’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony is happening today, April 3rd, and can be streamed live at WalkofFame.com!

The original article follows:

Back in June of last year, the Hollywood Chamber’s Board of Directors announced that more than thirty new stars are going to be added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2025 (and into 2026), with the latest batch of honorees including legendary filmmaker John Carpenter. Honorees have up to two years after they are chosen to set a date for their ceremonies – and now, it has been confirmed that Carpenter’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, April 3, 2025 at 11:30 Am Pt.

Carpenter’s will be the 2,806th star to be added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the dedication will take place at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Name a more iconic duo than John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Sure, they may not have collaborated on a film in decades, but back in the '80s, they were a lethal pairing, especially when it came to stylish genre films. In total, the pair made five movies together between 1979 and 1996. And today, we're going to rank them.

While Carpenter first gained fame as a horror auteur (the genre for which he's still best known today), he's directed all sorts of movies over the years, and his collaborations with Russell are great examples of that. Only one of the duo's films is a horror flick, while the others span the realms of biopic, science fiction, action-adventure, and comedy. It's an eclectic mix, to be sure, but also a solid one.

Of course, we're splitting hairs a bit on some of these (though we all know what the best one is...

John Carpenter hasn’t directed a movie in 15 years, but the man who gave us Halloween, Escape from New York, and The Thing is keen to get back behind the camera.

While speaking with Variety, Carpenter was asked if he has plans to direct anytime soon. “Plans? I don’t know. I would love to direct again, given the right circumstances,” he said. “But I’m not the same kid anymore who will do it for any amount of money. I can’t back into a budget anymore. I’m too old. It’s too hard. But directing is the love of my life. I’ll never stop loving that.“

Although I won’t hold my breath for another John Carpenter film, it’s good to know that his passion is still there. His last film, The Ward, wasn’t received all that well upon its release in 2010. Carpenter certainly...

Iconic filmmaker John Carpenter is just as keen to get back into directing as his fans are to see another movie from him. The director recently chatted with Variety ahead of his upcoming Walk of Fame star ceremony (taking place April 3) and said he'd "love to direct again, given the right circumstances."

Carpenter has directed several classic horror movies, most notably with the 1978 slasher Halloween, but his remake of The Thing has become even more beloved than the original. Some of his other famous films include Vampires, The Fog, They Live, and Escape from New York. He last directed the supernatural thriller The Ward in 2010.

Over 15 years later, and we're still waiting to see what movie he picks to helm next. According to his recent comments to Variety, the main thing holding him back is that he doesn't want to be backed "into a budget anymore," noting that "it's too hard.

John Carpenter hasn’t directed a film in 15 years, but the “Halloween” and “The Thing” auteur is far from retired. In fact, he’s just waiting for the right project — and budget.

Carpenter told Variety before receiving his a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 3 that he would “love to direct again,” but he would have to have the proper financing. When asked if he had plans to direct soon, Carpenter said, “Plans? I don’t know. I would love to direct again, given the right circumstances. But I’m not the same kid anymore who will do it for any amount of money. I can’t back into a budget anymore.”

He added, “I’m too old. It’s too hard. But directing is the love of my life. I’ll never stop loving that.”

The legendary horror auteur remotely directed 2023 TV series “Suburban Screams,” which was filmed in Prague.

Anyone who’s seen John Carpenter’s 1996 sequel “Escape From L.A.” knows that, in the past, the filmmaker’s feelings about the City of Angels have been mixed, to put it mildly. They’re epitomized by a scene in which Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is enjoying a brief moment of relative peace in the earthquake-ravaged ruins of the city, after almost having his body parted out by the Surgeon General of Beverly Hills (Bruce Campbell), when his running mate of the moment (Valeria Golino) looks at him and observes, “Once you figure out this place, it’s really not so bad.” She is immediately shot in the back..

While Carpenter has occasionally been metaphorically wounded by the slings, arrows and bullets of the city’s entertainment-industrial complex, he’s managed to survive. And in the lead-up to receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 3, he’s...

Beloved filmmaker John Carpenter (“Escape From New York”) has previously mused about a sequel to “The Thing“ in past but has been mainly focused on his music, instead of directing, by scoring the recent “Halloween” legacy sequel trilogy of movies from David Gordon Green and releasing his original music along with live stage tours. A high-profile director has now publicly asked him to score his next film, and Carpenter has agreed.

Continue reading John Carpenter Agrees To Score Bong Joon-Ho’s Next Horror Film After Public Meet Up At Event Celebrating ‘The Thing’: “I Wanna Do Your Score!” at The Playlist.

Is there anything Kurt Russell can't do? There are obviously things he has yet to do. He hasn't won the Nobel Prize for economics, nor has he landed on the Moon. He hasn't cured cancer, and, last I checked, he hasn't set the land speed record for driving a Chevy Nova in reverse. But because he is Kurt Russell, we assume he'll get around to these things in between rounds of golf.

What has Kurt Russell done to merit such confidence in his abilities? Need I say list the titles? "Used Cars," "Escape from New York," "The Thing" "Big Trouble in Little China," "Tango & Cash," "Backdraft," "Tombstone"... the man is the patron saint of afternoon dad cinema. He's a self-deprecating John Wayne — a big, blustery, bluffing tough guy who, despite his occasional oafishness, always comes through in the clutch. He's not afraid to make himself look silly; in fact,...

Horror icon John Carpenter returns. The filmmaking icon best known for the likes of Halloween, The Thing, and Escape from New York has said "yes" to a big-screen comeback. While he won't direct, Carpenter will revisit his film composing skills, as he agrees to create the score for Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho's mysterious upcoming horror action film.

Carpenter and Bong Joon-ho appeared together at a 4K restoration screening of 1982's The Thing, the horror sci-fi classic starring Kurt Russell. Bong, accompanied by his translator, was the moderator for a Q&a session after the screening (via X/Twitter user @karenyhan). Of course, the director of Academy Award-winner Parasite used the opportunity to talk about his future projects. Already turning the page on his recent sci-fi comedy Mickey 17 (which sadly has faltered a little at the box office despite strong reviews), Bong is now developing several new projects. His...

Live on stage, John Carpenter has made a handshake deal to write the music for Bong Joon-ho’s future horror film.

Does a verbal agreement and a handshake count as an official confirmation? If so, then veteran genre filmmaker John Carpenter could eventually compose the soundtrack to Parasite and Mickey 17 director Bong Joon-ho’s forthcoming horror movie.

The seemingly ad-hoc deal was made after a screening of a new, 4K restoration of Carpenter’s 1982 horror, The Thing. Leading the Q&a was Bong Joon-ho, sitting on stage alongside Carpenter himself. In a clip published on X/Twitter/The Dark Place (and shared by World of Reel), Joon-ho asks Carpenter, “Would you be interested in doing music for another film?”

“Oh! I want to do your score,” Carpenter says, nodding.

What Joon-ho says in response is briefly drowned out by – understandably – enthusiastic applause from the crowd. But then the two filmmakers shake hands,...

John Carpenter, the filmmaker behind great horror works like Halloweenand The Thing, is set to be honored next month when he receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The ceremony is set to take place on Thursday, April 3, with guests still to be announced. Carpenter's star will be the 2,806th installation on one of the most important sidewalks in the world, where Hollywood legends have been granted a place in history. The press release lists the exact address of his star as "7000 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel."

Steve Nissen, President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, will lead the ceremony alongside the guest speakers. The event will be live-streamed on the organization's website at 11:30 Am Pt. Per the press release on the Walk of Fame website:

"Few filmmakers have had as galvanizing and enduring an impact on cinema as John Carpenter.

Among the various anthology television series of the 1960s, none are better-known or more influential than The Twilight Zone. A mix of science fiction, fantasy and horror, The Twilight Zone was conceived by Rod Serling as a weekly allegory and modern-day morality play. As an anthology, the series became a revolving door for existing stars and up-and-coming actors over its five-season run.

Premiering on October 2, 1959, The Twilight Zone aired for nearly five years and featured numerous actors at various stages of their careers. With 156 episodes, multiple reboots, and the 1983 movie, it's easy to forget some of the famous faces that graced the original series over the years. Most of them appeared on the show before they became famous, and because The Twilight Zone has stood the test of time, those early performances have become delightful Easter eggs for new fans to discover.

Updated on March 20, 2025, by Ajay Aravind: The Twilight Zone...

This April, Legend is digging deep into the vault of genre-defining cinema with a line-up of channel premieres guaranteed to thrill, provoke and entertain. The network’s spring slate reads like a who’s who of cult filmmakers and action greats, with titles from John Carpenter, Paul Verhoeven, Michael Winner and Neil Marshall all making their Legend debut.

The chaos kicks off on 5th April with Carpenter’s Escape from New York – a dystopian thriller that still bristles with energy more than four decades on. Kurt Russell’s eye-patched anti-hero Snake Plissken remains one of the most iconic figures in genre cinema, and his high-stakes rescue mission across a walled-off Manhattan prison is the perfect way to launch the channel’s month-long celebration of cinematic mayhem.

The channel also brings Michael Winner’s controversial revenge classic Death Wish (18th April) into the spotlight, marking its first appearance on Legend. Charles Bronson...

Did Netflix just drop a surprise for The Walking Dead fans?(Photo Credit –YouTube)

Netflix has quietly dropped a bombshell for zombie apocalypse fans, and it’s one that’s bound to hook you within minutes. Without any grand announcements, all episodes of what many are calling “the best show on TV” have landed on the platform and if you’ve been craving the next big thing in The Walking Dead universe, your search is over.

A Surprise Arrival For US Viewers

The series that has already started receiving significant attention is ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City,’ the spin-off that refuses to be just another offshoot. It is a thrilling expansion of Robert Kirkman’s beloved comic book world and the series takes fan-favorite characters and shoves them into a New York City unlike anything seen before—isolated, decayed, and overrun with dangers beyond just the undead.

Now, US Netflix...

Kurt Russell was born on March 17, 1951, in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks. He started acting at the age of 12 on various television programs. In the 1960s he was signed to a 10-year contract with Walt Disney, which led to his appearance in many of the Disney films of the era. According to the late Robert Osborne of TCM (via Wikipedia), he became the studio's top star of the 1970s.

Those Disney appearances did typecast Russell a bit and he would be stuck playing many roles that were somewhat wholesome in nature. He would turn that image around when director John Carpenter (fresh from the surprise blockbuster success of "Halloween") cast him in the lead role of Elvis Presley in a TV movie called "Elvis!" That television film was really the first time Russell was taken seriously as an actor and it earned him an Emmy nomination. Carpenter and...

Ask any stunt person, and they'll tell you: the ability to sell taking a punch is just as important, and perhaps more so, than credibly throwing one. Ask any editor or sound designer, and they'll corroborate this and then some. If you've ever watched raw dailies from an action movie, you'll note how oddly weightless a lot of fight sequences become when they're robbed of their rhythm and the satisfying Thwam sound of their body blows. All this is to say that action in cinema is so incredibly dependent on selling the total effect of the violence, even more than show-stopping stunts and feats of strength and dexterity. Since it's all in the timing, it's no wonder that so many great action directors either come from or are adept at comedy -- from Buster Keaton to Jackie Chan.

However, there are just as many great action filmmakers who come from the world of horror,...

Ahead of his Los Angeles residency, John Carpenter has announced a one-night-only concert in New York City, marking his first live show since 2018.

The master of horror will perform alongside bandmates Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies at the Knockdown Center in Queens, NY on October 10.

Pre-sale tickets go on sale tomorrow, March 12, at 10am Et, with general admission tickets available the following day.

“As soon as we announced my four-night L.A. residency, the response was incredible, and I wanted to offer my fans on the East Coast a chance to hear our music without having to fly across the country,” Carpenter said. “With a one-night show, we’ll get to really dig deep into our musical souls, which is something I can’t wait to share.”

The band plays Carpenter’s classic film cues from the likes of Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York, The Fog, They Live,...

What’s next for the Radio Silence guys after last year’s “Abigail“? Sorry, John Carpenter fans, it’s not their long-gestating “Escape From New York” remake. Instead, Deadline reports that Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett‘s next outing will be a sequel to “Ready Or Not,” with “Abigail” actress Kathryn Newton set to star.

Read More: ‘Ready Or Not 2’: Radio Silence Says Script For Horror Sequel Is “An Absolute F***king Banger”

Newton joins the returning Samara Weaving, star of the 2019 original, on the cast sheet, with more casting news to arrive later.

Continue reading ‘Ready Or Not 2’: Radio Silence, Kathryn Newton & Samara Weaving To Reunite For Sequel To 2019 Cult Horror Hit at The Playlist.

France-headquartered global media giant Canal+ saw its annual revenue grow 3.6% in 2024 to €6.45bn with 26.9 million subscribers in 52 countries across three continents as the group continues its global expansion.

Ebita was also up for the year by 5.4% to€503m, according to the group’s annual results announced today (March 4).

It is the company’s first full-year results since listing on the London stock exchange (Lse) in December. Despite the solid financial picture, however, the company’s market value has declined sharply since the Lse listing, from £2.9bn initially to around £1.75bn currently.

In an interview with the Financial Times today, CEO...

Canal+ Group, which also houses film production and distribution arm StudioCanal and was recently spun off by Vivendi, reported its full-year 2024 results on Tuesday, ending the year with 26.9 million subscribers in 52 countries across three continents, up slightly from 26.8 million as of the end of 2023, as revenue and earnings rose.

Revenue rose 3.6 percent to €6.45 billion ($6.77 billion), with Ebita up 5.4 percent to €503 million ($528 million). The company also highlighted “a very limited debt level of €355 million ($372 million), which will allow Canal+ to pursue its active M&a strategy.”

A 2.5 percent subscriber gain in Africa and Asia outweighed a 0.7 percent drop in European markets to help the company grow its total user base by 118,000 for the year.

Said CEO Maxime Saada: “2024 was a pivotal year for Canal+. I am thrilled to confirm that Canal+ is now firmly on track to reach its ambition to become a global media and entertainment leader with 50-100 million subscribers.

The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, and Escape from New York. These are the holy trinity of John Carpenter/Kurt Russell collaborations and are generally seen as anything from best cult film of all time to the best horror movie of all time. The Thing would get a prequel movie but that was only after years of being unappreciated and it would take a re-evaluation for that movie to come to life. Big Trouble wouldn’t even get that as the IP would die at the box office and stay dead to the creators. While all 3 would share some form of a collection of video game tie-ins, comic books, toys, and board games, only Escape from New York would get the direct sequel treatment, and even that was 15 years later. While it is not usually held in the same regard as its oft-imitated predecessor, it’s slowly gaining traction...

March 17, 1951 was a great day in history, because that’s the day Kurt Vogel Russell entered the world. And while he would go on to become one of the biggest icons of the eighties and nineties, many folks don’t know that Russell started as a child star for The Walt Disney Company, even acting opposite his future life partner Goldie Hawn in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968) – although they wouldn’t get together until Russell ended up in another movie starring Goldie Hawn, Swing Shift (1984). From the sixties into the seventies, he starred in Disney flicks like The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), but as the studio’s movies started to flop and Russell got older, a change of pace was needed. Arguably, Russell’s career took off when he began working with director John Carpenter, with the first movie being 1979’s TV movie Elvis, but what...

Stars: Sean Cameron Michael, Donna Cormack-Thomson, Suraya Rose Santos, Joe Vaz, Lloyd Martinez Newkirk, Shuraigh Meyer, Gary Green, Ryan Kruger, Warrick Grier | Written by Ryan Kruger, James C. Williamson | Directed by Ryan Kruger

While remakes in general don’t bother me, I have to admit I didn’t think remaking Street Trash was a good idea. The original is the kind of weird, offbeat film it’s almost impossible to sit down and deliberately write, it’s the kind of weirdness that has to come organically, something any number of deliberate attempts at creating cult films have proven.

I did find it encouraging that Ryan Kruger had been picked to direct it. If anyone could pull it off the maker of Fried Barry, a seriously Wtf comedy about a junkie’s encounter with aliens and its aftermath, stood a good chance of being the one to do it. I also...

The past decade has seen some surprisingly high-profile films cancelled, shelved, axed or scrapped. Here they are – all 10 of the poor things.

Film history is littered with abandoned productions, false starts and projects that have withered on the creative vine. What is relatively unusual, though, is for a movie to get through weeks of shooting only for it to be axed at the editing stage.

When we consider how much work goes into a film production before a camera even rolls – casting, building sets, securing locations – the notion that a film could be scrapped at such a late stage seems almost inconceivable. Particularly given that, in the past, films have survived genuine tragedies – The Twilight Zone, The Crow – and still made their way into cinemas.

Over the past decade, however, we’ve seen a number of high-profile films shelved or scrapped. In some instances, they’ve been brought low by...

John Wayne achieved major stardom with the 1939 Western film Stagecoach, which marked his first collaboration, as a leading man, with director John Ford, a relationship that reached its pinnacle with the 1956 Western film The Searchers, which is widely regarded as being the greatest and most influential Western film ever made. Ford and Wayne’s historic partnership has somewhat overshadowed another important directorial collaborator in Wayne’s career, Howard Hawks, who first directed Wayne in the classic 1948 Western film Red River. Following Red River, Ford and Wayne next collaborated on the 1959 Western film Rio Bravo, which, like The Searchers, is now regarded as being one of the greatest and most influential films, of any genre, in history.

Rio Bravo features one of Wayne’s greatest screen performances as John Chance, a small-town Texan sheriff who, after arresting the brother of a powerful local rancher for murder, has to hold the man...

We’ve discussed John Carpenter on this channel as much or more than nearly any other director. Some of his movies, like The Thing, have gotten a different type of show appreciation via discussions on its behind the scenes in a Wtf, a comparison with its novella source material, and a look at what its legacy is in a Deconstructing video, amongst a few others. Looking at his catalogue, there is a wealth of stuff that is firmly in the horror realm from Christine to In the Mouth of Madness, Prince of Darkness to Halloween. While he has some movies that are outside that wheelhouse like the western homage Assault on Precinct 13 or Academy Award winning sci-fi drama Starman, Escape from New York is something special. In addition to being one of my favorite films of all time, full stop, it’s also sneaky in its ability to horrify. While...

The following reveals spoilers for Star Trek: Section 31 now streaming on Paramount+

Star Trek: Section 31 pulls a surprising cameo in its final scene, as Jamie Lee Curtis appears as the team's commander. The actor won huge accolades for her performance alongside Section 31 star, Michelle Yeoh, in Everything Everywhere All at Once. That included a pair of Oscars for the two: Yeoh for Best Actress and Curtis for Best Supporting Actress. The movie itself also won Best Picture.

The cameo feels almost preordained, and while it's always fun to see the veteran actor onscreen, few people could claim that her arrival was unexpected. That isn't quite the end of her appearance in Section 31, however. In fact, her first moment feels far more interesting than her last. The film opens with Curtis' voiceover narration, explaining the setup and the stakes involved. It's a clever homage to a very subtle cameo...

Prime Video has set the global launch date for its premium Swedish show “Paradis City,” a fast-paced dystopian actioner, based on “Snabba Cash” scribe Jens Lapidus’ eponymous stand-alone novel.

The six-part series, due to launch March 7 exclusively on Prime Video, is being showcased as a works in progress today Jan. 29 at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision.

Produced by Lapidus’ shingle Strive Studios, the show is to-lined by Alexander Abdallah (“Snabba Cash”), Julia Ragnasson and Sverrir Gudnason. Fenar Ahmad (“Darkland”) and Alain Darborg (“Red Dot”) serve as directors.

Adapted for the small screen by head writer Björn Paqualin with Michaela Hamilton (“A Class Apart”) and Oliver Dixon (“The Lawyer”), “Paradis City” is set in the near future.

The polarization of Swedish society has reached unprecedented levels and prison-like walls are separating privileged citizens from vulnerable and supposedly dangerous zones, governed by special laws. When the Home Secretary is abducted by masked...

When the sci-fi action flick “Virtuosity” was first released in the summer of 1995, it opened to mixed reviews and modest box office. It was the kind of mid-range studio programmer (it came from Paramount under the Sherry Lansing regime) that came out with dependable frequency in those days, a movie enjoyed by some but quickly forgotten by most before it left theaters to make way for other genre films like “Desperado,” “The Tie That Binds,” and “Hackers.”

Looking back now, studio slates like the ones Lansing oversaw — release schedules that made room for an abundance of medium-budget comedies (“Clueless”), thrillers (“Primal Fear”), sci-fi films (“The Relic”) and adult dramas (“Nobody’s Fool”) in between large-scale blockbusters like “Mission: Impossible,” “Braveheart,” and “Titanic” — seem far more varied and artistically fruitful than they did at the time, when we never knew such range was in any danger of disappearing. It was easy at...

Horror legend John Carpenter has announced a major milestone: his first-ever music residency. Carpenter will perform for four nights at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles from October 24 to November 1, 2025. This marks his return to live performances after seven years.

Tickets are now available for pre-registered fans and will open to the public on Friday, January 31st.

Known for his iconic work on films like Halloween, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, and Escape from New York, Carpenter is also celebrated for his music. His Lost Themes albums, which blend experimental synth-rock with his signature style, have earned critical acclaim.

For this residency, Carpenter will perform a mix of his classic film scores and original tracks from the Lost Themes albums, alongside his son Cody Carpenter and longtime collaborator Daniel Davies.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Lost Themes, the trio is releasing an expanded edition of the album,...

John Carpenter, the legendary filmmaker and composer synonymous with modern horror, is set to electrify fans with his first-ever music residency. The mastermind behind Halloween and The Thing will take the stage at Downtown Los Angeles’ Belasco Theatre for four nights, spanning October 24 through November 1, including an iconic Halloween night performance.

Tickets for this highly anticipated event, John Carpenter Live, go on presale today for registered fans and will be available to the general public starting Friday, January 31, at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. Tickets can be purchased through Carpenter’s official website, with $2 from every sale supporting the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and the Best Friends Animal Society, aiding both incarcerated firefighters and animals impacted by wildfires.

This marks Carpenter’s return to live performances, his first since 2018, and will feature his signature mix of eerie melodies and haunting themes. Joined by collaborators Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies, Carpenter promises audiences a unique experience each night.

Legendary horror director and composer John Carpenter has announced a concert residency in Los Angeles this Halloween, which marks his first live performances in seven years.

The four-night run takes place at the Belasco Theatre on October 24th, 25th, 31st, and November 31st. Carpenter will be joined on stage by his longtime musical collaborators Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies, and each night promises a unique setlist of music pulling from his catalogue of over 20 film scores and four albums. Carpenter is best known for such iconic films as The Thing, The Fog, Christine, Assault on Precinct 13, Escape from New York, and Escape from L.A., and Big Trouble in Little China.

Fans can register for a ticket pre-sale ahead of a public on-sale slated for Friday, January 31st at 10:00 a.m. Pt via Ticketmaster. Carpenter has partnered with PLUS1 to provide $2 from each ticket to the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, which...

Legendary horror director and composer John Carpenter has announced a concert residency in Los Angeles this Halloween, which marks his first live performances in seven years.

The four-night run takes place at the Belasco Theatre on October 24th, 25th, 31st, and November 31st. Carpenter will be joined on stage by his longtime musical collaborators Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies, and each night promises a unique setlist of music pulling from his catalogue of over 20 film scores and four albums. Carpenter is best known for such iconic films as The Thing, The Fog, Christine, Assault on Precinct 13, Escape from New York, and Escape from L.A., and Big Trouble in Little China.

Fans can register for a ticket pre-sale ahead of a public on-sale slated for Friday, January 31st at 10:00 a.m. Pt via Ticketmaster. Carpenter has partnered with PLUS1 to provide $2 from each ticket to the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, which...

What better way to celebrate the peak of spooky season than with John Carpenter?

The master of horror has announced his first-ever music residency at The Belasco in Los Angeles, California.

Marking his first live shows since 2018, Carpenter will perform alongside bandmates Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies on October 24, October 25, October 31, and November 1.

The band plays Carpenter’s classic film cues from the likes of Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York, The Fog, They Live, and more along with original music from their Lost Themes albums.

Presale begins today for fans who have pre-registered, with tickets on sale to the general public beginning this Friday, January 31, at 10am Pt.

Carpetner has partnered PLUS1 to donate $2 per ticket to the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, supporting incarcerated firefighters, and Best Friends Animal Society, helping animals impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires.

“I’ve been setting my nightmares, dreams and visions to music for a very long time,...

January 16th is the birthday of legendary filmmaker John Carpenter, who turns 77 this year – and to mark the occasion, Shout Factory / Scream Factory is having a sale of John Carpenter Blu-rays! While the company has to apologize to later-era Carpenter fans because their 4K releases of his films Ghosts of Mars and Vampires are not included in this sale, the Blu-rays of Assault on Precinct 13, Someone’s Watching Me, Elvis, Starman, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, and Body Bags are.

The Assault on Precinct 13 Blu-ray usually sells for $15.99. For this sale, the price has been dropped to $9.99. Written and directed by Carpenter, this film was originally released in 1976 and has the following synopsis: Isolated and cut off from the city inside a soon-to-be-closed L.A. police station, a group of police officers and convicts must join forces to defend themselves against the gang called Street Thunder, who have taken a...

Escape from New York is one of my favorite movies, so I'm glad the remake appears to have finally died in development. The original 1981 John Carpenter movie has one of the all-time great movie hooks; the most dangerous convict in the world, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), is forced to rescue the kidnapped President from New York, which has been walled off and turned into a hellish prison. Escape from New York is one of Carpenter's best, filled with great sequences and dialogue.

I've always felt that one minor flaw is that the film's modest budget meant it couldn't fully use its setting. Escape From New York's action is relatively small-scale, and it doesn't take audiences to some of the city's most iconic locations, like Central Park or the subway. In theory, a big-budget reboot could really flesh out the concept and make it much larger, but the Escape from New York...

Ryan Kruger has a filmmaking career built on pushing boundaries and exploring the darker corners of genre cinema. Known for his bold visual style and his unique voice, Kruger first made waves with the cult hit Fried Barry (2020), which earned numerous accolades and cemented his place as a visionary in the South African film industry. Now, with his latest project Street Trash(2024), Kruger takes on the challenge of revisiting a beloved cult classic—Street Trash (1987)—while simultaneously charting a new course with a fresh narrative, a unique 2050 setting, and a blend of intense gore and meaningful storytelling. The film is a loose sequel, offering fans a chance to return to the bizarre, melting mayhem of the original but with Kruger’s distinct directorial vision.

Street Trash 2024 follows the dark and twisted adventures of a new set of characters as they grapple with societal collapse and the malevolent forces surrounding them.

Among the many abandoned movie reboots to have fallen by the wayside in Hollywood in recent years, Leigh Whannell’s remake of John Carpenter’s dystopian action movie Escape From New York is one that appears to have been lost in the churn. While there has never exactly been confirmation of what happened to the project based on the cult classic that saw Kurt Russell taking on the iconic role of Snake Plissken, Whannell has addressed the chances of him ever getting to bring the project back to life.

Whannell is currently promoting his new Universal horror movie, Wolf Man, and during an interview with ComicBook, the director said that he would certainly be open to revisiting the classic movie, but doesn’t see it happening anytime soon. He said:

“It’s so funny, with the movie industry, projects can die for various reasons. It can be something as simple as,...

Director Leigh Whannell, a former candidate to lead a remake of Escape from New York, has addressed what the chances are that the project will happen. Originally released in 1981, the sci-fi action film focuses on Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), a former Special Forces soldier who must rescue President John Harker (Donald Pleasence) from inmates in Manhattan. The film has become a classic, with plans for a remake later taking shape under Whannell's leadership in 2019. However, the project has since been shelved, with the director's upcoming Wolf Man film being his primary focus now.

Speaking with ComicBook about Wolf Man, Whannell explained how he would be open to directing an Escape from New York remake in the future, if the project was ever revitalized. Speaking about how some film projects simply don't make it past the planning stage, the director explained how many different factors can result in a movie no longer being made.

Horror fans, brace yourselves for an unmissable day of scares, thrills, and cinematic nostalgia as the Tampa Bay Screams Horror Convention celebrates its 10-year anniversary on Sunday, January 19, 2025. Taking place at the Occ Road House & Museum in Clearwater, Florida, the event promises to be a blockbuster gathering of iconic genre stars, indie filmmakers, and devoted fans.

This year’s convention lineup is packed with 25 celebrity guests from the world of horror and cult cinema. Among the highlights are Alan Howarth, renowned for his collaborations with John Carpenter on Halloween II and Escape from New York, Jill Whitlow from Night of the Creeps, and Barbara Magnolfi, beloved for her role in Suspiria. Horror host Count Gore De Vol and Subspecies star Denice Duff will also be making appearances, alongside notable directors, artists, and Florida’s top indie horror talents.

In addition to a stellar lineup of stars, the convention will showcase the Super-Scream Queen Lineup,...

In a remarkable career spanning over 60 years, Kurt Russell has just about done it all. He's been a Disney child star, an action hero, a serious dramatic actor, an unabashedly silly comedic lead, and Elvis Presley. Though Russell was never a box office titan on par with contemporaries like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis, he is worshipped as a god by genre fandom for having played such iconic s***kickers as Snake Plissken in "Escape from New York," R.J. MacReady in "The Thing" and Jack Burton in "Big Trouble in Little China." Those last two were flops theatrically, but they've gone from being cult favorites to bona-fide mainstream classics. As a result, Russell, at the age of 73, might be more beloved now than he's ever been.

For Russell fanatics, there's a lively discussion to be had over what his best performance outside of that aforementioned holy trinity of John Carpenter movies might be.

VFX artists share how a balance of practical and digital techniques employed in a classic John Carpenter and Kurt Russell feature created visuals that would fit alongside later technological developments. Carpenter is known for helming influential, genre-defining features, including Halloween, They Live, and The Fog. He is a celebrated director because of his lasting impact on the horror genre. Carpenter and Russell began their working relationship with an unlikely project in the form of Elvis, a 1979 TV movie where Russell portrayed the singer looking back on his life and career.

Carpenter and Russell's collaborations would continue throughout their careers, allowing the actor to play characters such as pilot and survivor R.J. Macready in The Thing and truck driver-turned-hero Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China. While there have been times when Russell wasn't always Carpenter's first choice, he nevertheless has struck up a great bond with the performer. And...

The intense 1997 thriller Breakdown, starring Kurt Russell, is making its way to Paramount+.

Starting Jan. 1, 2025, subscribers can stream this gripping film about desperation, deceit, and survival on Paramount+. Directed by Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), Breakdown follows a man’s harrowing quest to rescue his missing wife, blending nail-biting suspense with riveting performances. The film’s relentless pacing and tense atmosphere make it a standout entry in the thriller genre and Russell's iconic career.

A Classic Thriller That Keeps You Guessing

Breakdown remains one of Kurt Russell’s most gripping performances, playing Jeff Taylor, a man whose wife mysteriously vanishes after their car breaks down in the middle of the desert. As Jeff digs deeper into her disappearance, he uncovers a sinister conspiracy and is forced to fight for his life. Praised for its relentless pacing and taut direction, the film has become a standout entry in the thriller genre,...

Robert Zemeckis released an R-rated comedy starring Kurt Russell called Used Cars which is surprisingly very dark. Zemeckis is best known for his incredibly popular and classic films such as Forrest Gump, Back to the Future, and Cast Away. Zemeckis made his feature film debut with 1978's historical comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand, which follows two fans who try to sneak into the Beatles' hotel in New York City before their American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.

While Zemeckis is known for his collabs with Tom Hanks, he has also worked with several other stars such as Kurt Russell in Used Cars, which was just his second directorial effort. Used Cars is one of Russell's career-best comedic performances, even though the actor is best known for his dramatic roles in classic movies such as Tombstone, Escape From New York, and Miracle. While Zemeckis has made plenty of comedy movies,...

A criminally lesser-known sci-fi action movie is all set to land on free streaming in the new year, meaning audiences can start things off right by discovering this delightful B-movie throwback starring MCU actor and Memento star Guy Pearce. Titled Lockout, the action flick borrows from all manner of cinematic greats, including the likes of Die Hard and John Carpenter’s Escape From New York, to deliver an experience that, while not fresh, is all kinds of fun.

Directed by James Mather and Stephen Saint Leger from a script written by Mather, Saint Leger, and Léon: The Professional and Taken’s Luc Besson, who also serves as an executive producer, Lockout stars Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joe Gilgun, Lennie James and Peter Stormare alongside Guy Pearce. The action sci-fi movie is due to hit the free streaming platform Tubi on January 1, and you can check out the gloriously high-concept below.