Weird Mind News Room Episode 64: May 13th - 19th

 *music for an imaginary cause*

Hello to all of you wonderful people of all forms, sexes, genders and everything and everyone to the newest episode of Weird Mind News Room where this week we will be talking on a small selection of new releases, a near endless amount of new Trailers and a lot of announcements and discussions from the news section all in the basis of media entertainment. So without wasting too much time, lets get to the discussion of what has come out of this week.

The wonderful world of New Releases

Movies

IF

We shall start the new releases of the week with thinking back to the days of childhood in the all new Family film of IF. The film will follow Bea (Cailey Fleming) who discovers that she has the ability to see the Imaginary friends of those who's kids have grown up, and with the assistance of her upstairs neighbor (Ryan Reynolds), they will find a way to bring these If's back to their kids of the past or find some new ones to be the Imaginary friends for. Reception on this film as of writing has been a little mixed with praise to the cast and premise, but critique for not really going too deep on the concept and feeling a little all over the place in execution. But if you want to reminisce about the past of your childhood IF's, you can catch the new film out now in cinemas.

The Strangers: Chapter One

But if you are looking for more of an unsettling Horror thriller, then look no further then the return to a sleeper saga with the ew prequel of The Strangers: Chapter 1. This film will follow a young couple as while on a road trip see their car break down in an eerie small town, and have to stay in a small cabin that soon becomes a panic inducing experiencing as they are soon terrorized by Three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive. Reception however on this film, like most of the horrors of this year has not been that well recieved with some praise to the tense atmosphere, performances and direction but has been panned for its use of jumpscares, familiar feeling premise and feeling too similar to the original film. Now this is the planned start of a trilogy with the next part planned for release later this year and the conclusion probably next year, but if you want to see where it all began then you can check it out now in cinemas.

TV Shows

Smiling Friends: Season 2

Have you been feeling down and looking for a little cheer up well, you are in luck as we have finally gotten some more new ways to make you smile as we have recieved the now start of the 2nd season to Smiling Friends. The new season will once again see the familiar faces of Pim, Charlie, Alan, Glep and Mr Boss as they make it their mission to make people smile from classic video game characters of the past, Alien enthusiasts and even for the President of America. Now like the first season, the first few episodes have been very well recieved for its concept, humour and approach to the visuals and animation to make each episode feel unique and different (with some critiques at the 2nd episode feeling a little bit flat), but if you are looking for something to put a smile on your face you can catch the new season on the US on Adult Swim (next day on MAX) and on 4 on Demand in the UK and Ireland.

Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1

Its time to dress elegantly and for a bit of a victorian setting of romance, lust and mystery as we have recieved the first part to the 3rd season of Bridgerton. This new season will be following Penelope as she has moved on from her crush on Colin in the new pursuit of finding a husband, one that will allow her to continue her secret life as lady Whistledown and love her for who she is. Reception so far on the first part has been a bit mixed with praise of the performance of Irish lead of Nicola Coughlan and the setting, but critiqued for feeling it is losing its charm as well as a divide on the sex scenes as being "unbearably sexy" or "dull" (which feels odd of a focus for a review about a period piece talking that this sex is ass or arousing), but if you want to head back to a era of upper class drama you can catch the first 4 episodes of the season now on Netflix with Part 2 coming out next month on June 13th.

Doctor Who

The last new release of the week was one that I actually forgot about from last week and it is seeing a new trip with the new interpretation of the time lord with the new season of Doctor Who. This will follow the new adventures of the 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) as he goes on a new cosmic adventure with Sonic screwdriver in hand, his new companion and the vast powers of the Police box as they save the universe from evil creatures. Reception on this new series so far has seen a fair bit of mixed opinion that some critics praise the content and performances but the audience seem a little divided about the new doctor and they label it as "woke" for the purpose of every series at this point being woke or being ruined by stuff when I have not seen any of that in general. But if you want to check out this new series you can catch it on Disney+ in the US and on the BBC in the UK and Ireland.

Trailers to hopefully make you smile

Megalopolis

Starting the trailers for the week is taking us to the new world and passion project from the mind of Godfather director of Francis Ford Coppola with the new trailer for Megalopolis. The film will be telling the tale of the destruction of the decaying metropolis of New Rome and tells the story from Cesar Catilina, an idealist architect with the power to stop time and aims to rebuild the city as a sustainable utopia, while his opposition of corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero, remains committed to a regressive status quo. Now this film has quite the intricate look and feel to it all and seems to be a case that the reception from the currently ongoing Cannes film festival has proven that with a varied mixed response to it all (as well as some questionable accusations towards the director). Now we'll have to wait and see for when this film releases as it is planned for later this year but a date has not been finalized.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2

The next trailer is bringing us back to the ancient days of Middle earth once more as we have recieved a trailer for the 2nd season of The Rings of Power. Now the new film seems to be focusing more on the rise of the all powerful figure of Sauron and this season will explore how he will deceive the people of Middle Earth into creating the Rings of Power that he can use to control them. Now I will say I have yet to actually watch the first season as I have heard a mixed variety of opinions on it but I will give a look into the series in due time and I will try and watch the series before the new season begins on Amazon Prime on August 29th.

House of the Dragon Season 2

Now for the fires to burn bright and rise as we have recieved a final trailer for the upcoming 2nd season of House of the Dragon. This new season will follow on from where the last season ended with betrayal and conflict as the throne that was destined for Rheynyra Targaryen who is out to start a war over betrayal and heartbreak from the death of her son, while the other side of Alicent and her children are preparing to rule the lands of Westeros from the Iron Throne. Now I have enjoyed the return to great work of the world of Ice and Fire after the mixed mess of the end of the original series and I am looking forward to this new season and it is not long to go now as the new season will be premiering in just a months time on June 16th.

Only Murders in the Building Season 4

A mystery is afoot with this new teaser as we have gotten a new first look at the upcoming 4th season to the murder mystery comedy series of Only Murders in the Building. This new season will see the trio of Charles, Oliver and Mabel be whisked away to Hollywood as some big studios are looking to turn their podcast into a big budget film, while at the same time trying to solve the death of another inhabitant from a sniper shot and joining another poor victim of the Arconia. Now I have enjoyed this series from its comedy, charm and the chemistry of the 3 main leads and I am looking forward to checking out another mystery to solve and it will not be long to go as the new season was also confirmed to be premiering on Disney+ on August 27th.

Wicked Part 1

We are off to see the Wizard (well before the focus of the wizard) as we have received an all new full length trailer for the upcoming film adaptation of the musical of Wicked. This new film will tell the story of Elphaba who has been misunderstood because of the colour of her green skin, becomes enrolled in Schizz academy, a place for young magical people where she will soon forge an unlikely but profound friendship with Glinda, a student with an unflinching desire for popularity. Soon after an encounter with the Wizard of Oz, their relationship soon reaches a crossroads as their lives continue to take very different paths. Now I have a bit of a mixed opinion on this film, mainly in the area of the performances. While I can praise Cynthia Ervio for her performance in the trailer as I feel she is giving it her all and such emotion in the performance, something about Ariana Grande as Glinda seems a little off of the performance seems a little flat (something about the delivery of some of the lines in this is a bit hit or miss) but maybe it is just the trailers doing it and more focused on the visuals. It is also the case the only thing I seem to associate this film with at the moment is that it is the cause of some drama, an affair and the divorce of 2 people that worked on the film (but we'll get to that maybe another time). Now I am optimistic about it and will see how this first part will play out when it releases into cinemas on November 29th.

Dune Prophecy

If you have not had your fill of spice yet then you are in luck my friend, as out of nowhere we have also recieved a new look at the upcoming new tv series set in the world of Denis Herbert's novels with Dune Prophecy. This series will take place 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Artredis and follow sisters Valya and Tula Harkonnen as they combat forces that threaten the future of humanity and lead to them establishing the fabled sect of the Bene Gesserit. Now I am intruiged by the concept of this series and I am not sure if this will be based on any of the book or spin offs or if it is its own separate piece but it does look interesting from the first glance and I am sure we will see how it all comes together when it releases onto Max and other streaming services sometime this fall.

Assassins Creed Shadows

We have now gotten a video game trailer after all of this time as its been quiet the last few weeks for them and it is returning to the world of an ancient battle of 2 factions that span the centuries of the past as we will be dawning the hood and hidden blades with the newest entry of Assassins and templars with the first look at Assassin's Creed Shadows. The new game will be set in the backdrop of late 16th century Feudal Japan (a setting that has been a fan demanded area since the series inception) and will see you take on the role of Naoe, a female Shinobi (or Ninja) and Yasuke, an African samurai as you restore peace and order to the lands against the tyranny and bloodshed of the Sengoku period. Now from the cinematic trailer, this looks awesome, though I have seen a lot of disdain towards this game, which I am chocking up to being one of the main characters is a woman and is not attractive, 2. they are unfamiliar with the concept of some of the lore of ancient Japan or 3. People are tired of the series and Ubisoft and maybe are just going to complain about any game or media piece that comes out these days. Either way I am very excited to see this game in action and try it out as the game will be launching on PS5, Series X/S and PC on November 15th.

Never Let Go

Now for something a little more spooky and unnerving of what lies in the woods (a bit of a trope for some of these horrors this year) as we have received a first full trailer for the new film of Never Let Go. This story follows a family consisting of a mother and her 2 children who has been tormented by a malicious spirit for many years from a possible fall from society and trapping them in a woods where they can only live from being tether to the house by a rope. But when one of the boys start to question the existence of this evil, it soon leads the family's sacred bond to begin to break and soon leads to a dangerous fight for survival. Now the trailer seems like an interesting approach of not telling us too much but also giving enough to build a focus on the plot in hand and I am interested in it so far but we will find out the full truth of it all when the film releases into cinemas on September 27th.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die

I have to ask the question of what are you gonna do when they come for you as we have for the 2nd last trailer of the week recieved a final trailer for the upcoming release of Bad Boys Ride or Die. This film will see Detective Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett must team up once more when investigating corruption in the Miami PD when the late captain Conrad Howard is posthumously accused of being involved with Drug Cartel and soon ends up with them on the run as fugitives and must find a way to restore order, clear their name and clear the name of their late captain. Now I did enjoy the last film in the series and I had concerns this may be a rush job given it was going to have wrapped filming about a month and a half ago and releasing within the next 3ish months but after hearing some positive reception from some early screenings, I am leaning more of mild interest in checking this out and you can yourself when the film releases into cinemas on June 5th.

Horizon: an American Saga

The final trailer for the week is bringing us back to the days of the old west as they have released an all new trailer for Kevin Costner's epic of Horizon: American Saga. This will tell the focal story set during the era of the American Civil War and tell of the massive expansion and shows love, betrayal and a journey for safety. Now I know that this is Costner's Bread and Butter as he does make some epic westerns in the past and present (such as his role in the popular series of Yellowstone) and it does sound and look quite exciting and will be worth a look when Part 1 releases into cinemas on June 28th with part 2 out a month and a half later on August 16th.

The messy selection of News

The many announcement release dates for Superheroes

Now there is a lot of new announcements from this week to talk about and it was so many that I was going to categorize them into different groups and sections if they have similar aesthetics so we are going to start with the first of the wave of them and that is in the realm of Superheroes.

So we'll start on the side of the MCU with the confirmation of the final connected Marvel show for this and this comes into the form of the Wandavision spinoff focused on Agatha and after so many different name tags, it is now officially being called (and rightfully so) Agatha All Along. This has the confirmation of releasing with a 2 episode premiere from the 18th of September this year and I am unsure of how many episodes there will be in this series but I feel if it is timed right it may release the finale on Halloween and would that be a spoopy delight. Hopefully it will turn out well cause I did like her character in the original series so lets hope she is up to her old tricks come the fall.

It was not the only Marvel show with an announced date as there was a confirmation of 2 other shows confirmed to be releasing in the following year and that is the confirmation of Daredevil Born again releasing sometime in March and IronHeart releasing sometime later in 2025. So it does sound exciting and it seems to be relating back to the plan I discussed last week delving into how Marvel will be reducing its output for more Quality over quantity and I guess that the production of Daredevil has turned around after the project was reworked back in October so it remains to be seen how these will turn out by their respected releases.
 

Now jumping from Marvel to DC studios, it looks like we know what the next project of the planned films of the DCU will be following next years Superman film and it has been confirmed to be in the form of his cousin Kara as it has been announced that Supergirl: Woman of tomorrow will release the following year on June 26th 2026. So it looks like Gunn may be planning a form of a new film a year to even out the project amongst films, shows, animation and games to balance it out. If to take a case what the next one after will be it may be The Brave and the Bold as it makes sense not to release the Batman film in the same year as the Matt Reeves project so will have to see what info that one brings.

And one final superhero date announcement comes to us in the form from Amazon Prime as while we are waiting for the release of the upcoming 4th season to the Boys. Amazon has already gone ahead and announced a renewal of the show for a 5th season. Now it is unclear of if this season will lead to that recently announced one to be the last given we have not seen the season release yet but I feel they may clear it up closer to the end of the project and will come in due time.

But what are your thoughts on all of these Superhero films and show announcements and renewals and is there any of them you are looking forward to in particular? Let me know your opinions of them all down below in the comments. 

Get Me photos of Spider-Man and have them in monochrome and what happened to the other one?

Ok I know I just did an entire news section on Superheroes, but this one is a bit more of an exception as there is a reason for this one in particular as while all of them were release date announcements, this is more of a confirmation and update on 2 projects based on similar elements and it comes to the form of talking about the web slinging heroes of the Spider-verse. It is fair to say that Spidey has had a massive success over these last few years from massive success in the MCU of the Avengers films, Civil War, their own solo Home trilogy, a trilogy of acclaimed games from Insomniac and of course the absolute work of art that is the 2 films (and short film) so far in the Spider-verse animated trilogy and it is here where we must talk about one of those variants of the Spider-people. If you have watched Into the Spider-verse then you may have remembered one of the members of the group introduced in that one was with detective form of Spider-man Noir, a version that I think is really cool and has a great concept mix from the comics and would love to see more of and it sounds like that is about to come a reality. It was announced on Monday of this week that Amazon Prime has now officially signed on a deal for the creation of a live action Spider-Man Noir series and that it will also bring back the voice of the character from the animated film in the form of Nicholas Cage in the role which is already a win in my book. Now we have no idea on other elements but what we do know is that the series will also be executive produced by Lego Movie and Spider-verse creators of Phil Lord and Chris Miller and Amy Pascal so it has the potential of working really well and I for one am excited to see where this will go once more development in made on the project.

However, while one project gets the greenlight, another will have to be shelved (for the time being IMO) as it was announced on the same day that the planned series based on the Spider-verse character of Silk has now been shelved. The Reason I feel this may have been shelved is either one of 2 reason. The first one could be the usual staple of not having a clear vision or creative difficulties or differences that the vision was just not there and have shelved it for a later time and the 2nd reason may be due to another female led spider-verse based character and that was because of Madame Web. If you remember about 3 months ago, they released Madame web into cinemas and reception and box office was.... a big old oof to say the least and they probably were worried of another spider-woman led project was going to fall apart and they probably shelved it for the time being. Now I did mention that it would be for the time being as I feel it will come down to Noir for working out that if the show is super successful then it could see a revival of the project down the line so it could still have a chance (if it falls apart the other project that would still use her is with the upcoming Animated Spider-verse film with a focus on the female characters like Gwen, Spider-woman and others so it could be that way), but for now I guess time will tell how it will play out in the end.

But what are your thoughts on this new series of Spider-Man Noir, are you excited for it and what other version of Spider-Man would you want to see in their own series and do you see Silk get another chance in the future? Let me know your opinions of choice below and lets discuss them there.

So many sequels and spin offs, so little time

Alright, the next story will be more on some new release date announcements and changes but these are not really more on the basis of superheroes but rather they delve more into some announcements for sequels to projects from adaptations to follow ups on horror and other stuff so lets not waste time on this either and get to that piece as well

the first of the announcements will ask you to test your might once more as after questions and debate about when we will see this project come along, it has finally been announced of when we will be seeing the sequel to 2021's film adaptation of Mortal Kombat and just this week that news was answered. It is now confirmed this next fighting tournament will be releasing in cinemas on October 24th 2025, just in time for Halloween. I'll have to give a rewatch of the previous film to catch up and wonder who else besides Johnny Cage will be added to the roster of new characters for this film but I guess only time will tell for that.

It isn't the only video game adaptation that has received some news of this week as it is not long after that before we will be making a return to the pizzeria and wondering will you be ready for Freddy again, as it was confirmed at the end of this week that we will be getting the 2nd Five Nights at Freddy's film releasing just in time for Christmas on December 5th 2025. I did enjoy the first film, despite the issues and flaws and I will delve into that in my eventual review coming soon, but I am intrigued to see which new animatronics they will be including in this new film but I am sure we will learn as development begins.

Speaking of Horror, we have the announcement of release dates and slight delay for 2 upcoming sequel from Blumhouse and that comes to us in the form of the sequel to The Black Phone and M3gan 2.0. Both projects will also be bowing into cinemas in 2025 with M3gan 2.0 getting a slight delay to June 27th and that bumps Black Phone from that June release all the way to Oct 17th 2025. I am intruiged with what they will do with M3gan and am confused as to how they can do another Black Phone given the end of the last one but I am sure Jason Blum and Scott Derrickson probably have an idea in mind for it.

In a surprise but welcome announcement, it will be time to hit the fairways again real soon as it was announced that we will be getting a sequel to the 90s Adam Sandler comedy classic of Happy Gilmore. The new project will be distributed by Netflix and has confirmed that Sandler will be back as the main lead again and it has also be discussed that the character of Shooter McGavin or Christopher McDonald may also be involved as well as he had dropped rumours about it back in March of this year. Now it is unclear of what this new film will be about or when we can expect it but I am sure we will be playing some golf real soon.

And in the last of the follow ups or spin off discussions comes to us in the form of news from Lionsgate as it has been announced that we will be getting a 2nd spin off film based on universe of John Wick and this will be based on the character introduced in Chapter 4 of blind Assassin of Caine. Now I enjoyed his performance and character in Chapter 4 and I am intrigued to see what they will do with this performance when this film gets underway into development and once I hear anything I will update in a later piece.

But what are your own thoughts on all of these sequel and spin off announcements and dates and which one in particular are you most excited for? Let me know your opinions and thoughts down below.

Wizards Spotted on camera and an apocalypse look looks good on them

So now we have some new first looks at 2 upcoming projects that actually vary in genre and tone that I could've placed them in their own separate story but I said fuck and just went with it and lets talk about it.

So first we will talk on a story I mentioned back in January that it was confirmed that we were getting a sequel series to the Disney Channel series of Wizards of Waverly place, well this week we have received the first official look at the project as well as the official title for the project that will now go by the title of Wizards Beyond Waverly place. The images in particular is focused on the main new cast of characters of Justin's family and both of them will have an appearance of 2 classic characters with Alex and Justin in the image. It is intruiging to see this play out and I hoping that the charm and appeal of the series will still be there as development goes along and the series releases in due time as the likes of follow ups can be a mixed bag from the ok That's so Raven sequel series and to what I feel is a very messy ICarly reboot, but I am sure we will see how it turns out and if any other characters from the original series will make an appearance down the line.

Now going from Wizards to an apocalypse, we are now talking on some content that releases to the upcoming 2nd season of the award winning series of The Last of Us. Now the production of the series is well underway and it has been the case that the project like the first season has been hit with a wave of Leaks from people getting snaps of the set production and the worry of any spoilers floating about, on Wednesday the official pages and the actors dropped the first look at the 2 main leads of Joel and Ellie onto social media. Now while Ellie's look is similar to an outfit she wore back in the first season and we can't see any of the elements like the arm tattoo or outfit, we do see a bit of a change with Joel with him having a few grey hairs and letting the hair grow out a bit in the image and I guess it is to show the passing of time since the first season's story (given it is supposed to jump 5 years ahead) but they are some good first looks. Now I am sure we will get some proper first looks at the other additions to the cast at some point soon but they will probably unveil them overtime as the production on the series continues before its release in 2025.

But what do you think of these first looks and will you check out either of these projects (I know for sure season 2 of Last of Us for me is a must as well as for some others I know as well) but let me know down below of what you think. 

Who's up for exploring some Tombs?

Our final story for this week is delving into the discussion of another new adaptation in the works but in a new form compared to the last 2 times it has been done before. If you are aware (or have watched my video or read my blog on the History of Video Game Adaptations), then you know that besides Resident Evil and Mario, a series of games that has seen a few attempts of making an adaptation for has been with the badass female explorer of Lara Croft Tomb Raider. Since the series inception back in 1996, it has spawned a total of 3 film adaptations with Angelina Jolie in the first 2 from the early 2000s and Alica Vikander in the reboot back in 2018, but now it looks like it is about to get a fresh new take on it but in a much different format. Just earlier this week it was announced that Amazon Prime Video has picked up a tv series version of the character to be released for the streaming service and has also been confirmed to be written and executive produced by the creator and star of Fleabag of Phoebe Waller Bridge. It hasn't been confirmed if she will take on the lead role of Lara or if they will go for a different actress so the speculation on that is currently up in the air. This will now also be joining the other video game series from Prime with the recent success of the Fallout series and the upcoming adaptation of God of War, so it seems it could be in some safe hands and will hope to make it respectful to the source material but I guess we'll have to see as more development is made on the project.

But what are your own thoughts on this project in particular, are you excited for a Tomb Raider tv series and if you had the choice, who would you cast in the role of Lara Croft? Let me know your choices and thought in the comments below.

Special Segment: Abyss Magazine

So before I wrap up, it has been a bit of time since the last one but it is time for another edition of Special segment and this week it is a follow up to an initial special segment from a fair few weeks ago and this is talking on the Irish based creative Magazine of Abyss. Now this magazine is the creative genius of some fellow college acquaintances of mine, including the head creator of Brian with some fellow college acquaintances and friends who have worked on bringing the creation to life from a simple concept idea on a screen to where it is now launching this week in both digital and physical form. Now while my content was unsuccessful in being submitted for the first edition, It is still a very well made and fantastic magazine that you should check out if you have the chance and if you come across a copy, why not buy it and discover the creations and work of hundreds of fantastic creatives and inspire you to submit your own for future editions (as well as support many creators with the investing in the material). All I know is that it seem to be a big success and I wish the best of luck in everything for them in the future and hopefully I will have a piece that will get myself featured in the future but I will see how that turns out in the future.

Now with all of that this bring it all to an end of episode 64 of Weird Mind News Room and I do hope you all enjoyed the excessive amount of content from this week. Let me know your thoughts, reactions and opinions below in the comments and love to have a conversation with you all and as always I hope you all stay being wonderful people and have a great day every day doing many great things and I will see you all in the next piece :)

Take Care, Keep being you, Signing off

Sam H :)