John Hyams: Celebs Rumors

Is the COVID-19 pandemic over? That’s up for debate, but Peacock thinks it’s time to start making horror movies about it (or, at least, take place in it). Enter “Sick,” a new horror film co-written by “Scream” scribe Kevin Williamson, about a pair of friends who go decide to go on a vacation mid-pandemic that soon turns into a nightmare.

Peacock has unveiled a trailer and first-look photos for its pandemic-themed horror-thriller Sick, co-written and produced by Scream franchise creator Kevin Williamson, which is set to premiere on the streamer next Friday, January 13.

Are you over the COVID pandemic, or are you over COVID pandemic horror films? Probably both. This makes “Sick” a hard sell: A horror movie born in the pandemic era, set in April 2020, when all but a handful of holdout states in the U.S.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media Projected Picture Works, the production company founded by Sean Penn last year, has signed on to produce “Killers & Diplomats.” The political thriller tells the true story of four American missionary women who raped and murdered in El Salvador in 1980. It follows a young U.S. diplomat who cracked the case by cultivating an improbable source — risking everything to gather the key evidence. The film is based on an article by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Raymond Bonner. “Killers & Diplomats” is from writers Michael Nourse and John Tyler McClain, whose screenplay was featured on the 2021 Annual Black List. It was developed by producers Jordan Foley and Jonathan Rosenthal of Mill House Motion Pictures. Projected Picture Works partners John Ira Palmer and John Wildermuth are producing with Penn, Foley and Rosenthal. Ray Bonner will executive produce with Yeardley Smith and Ben Cornwell of Paperclip Ltd.  

Wilson Chapman editorGet ready to crank up that polka music. “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” the upcoming Roku original film starring Daniel Radcliffe as the beloved parody musician, will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.The film will screen Sept. 8, TIFF’s opening night, as the first film in the festival’s annual Midnight Madness programming series.

MIDNIGHT MADNESSWeird: The Al Yankovic Story – Eric Appel | USAWorld PremiereThe Blackening – Tim Story | USAWorld PremierePearl – Ti West | USANorth American PremiereThe People’s Joker – Vera Drew | USAWorld PremiereProject Wolf Hunting – Kim Hongsun | South KoreaWorld PremiereSick – John Hyams | USAWorld PremiereSisu – Jalmari Helander | FinlandWorld PremiereVenus – Jaume Balagueró | SpainWorld PremiereV/H/S 99 – Flying Lotus, Johannes Roberts, Maggie Levin, Tyler MacIntyre, Vanessa & Joseph Winter | USAWorld PremiereLeonor Will Never Die – Martika Ramirez Escobar | PhilippinesCanadian PremiereWAVELENGTHSFeaturesConcrete Valley – Antoine Bourges | Canada World PremiereDe Humani Corporis Fabrica – Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor | France, SwitzerlandNorth American PremiereDry Ground Burning (Mato Seco em Chamas) – Joana Pimenta, Adirley Queirós | Portugal, BrazilNorth American PremiereHorse Opera – Moyra Davey | USAFestival PremierePacifiction – Albert Serra | France, Spain, Germany, PortugalNorth American PremiereQueens of the Qing Dynasty – Ashley McKenzie | Canada North American PremiereUnrest (Unrueh) – Cyril Schäublin | SwitzerlandNorth American PremiereWill-o’-the-Wisp (Fogo-Fátuo) – João Pedro Rodrigues | Portugal, FranceNorth American PremiereShortsAfter Work – Céline Condorelli, Ben Rivers | United KingdomNorth American PremiereBigger on the Inside – Angelo Madsen Minax | USAWorld PremiereEVENTIDE – Sharon Lockhart | USAWorld PremiereF1ghting Looks Different 2 Me Now – Fox Maxy | Mesa Grande Reservation/USAFestival PremiereFata Morgana – Tacita Dean | United Kingdom, USAFestival PremiereHors-titre – Wiame Haddad | FranceNorth American PremiereI Thought the World of You – Kurt Walker | Canada North

EXCLUSIVE: Marc Menchaca (Ozark) has signed on to star alongside André Holland, Don Cheadle, Alessandro Nivola and Tiffany Boone in the six-episode limited series The Big Cigar, centered on Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton (Holland), for Apple TV+.

EXCLUSIVE: Yeardley Smith’s Paperclip Ltd is looking to turn Tom Wood’s forensic science bestseller Ruxton: The First Modern Murder into an unscripted podcast and a limited scripted series.

EXCLUSIVE: Miramax has greenlit an untitled penned feature thriller from Scream architect Kevin Williamson set during the pandemic which Blockers actress Gideon Adlon will star in.

Filmmakers who create thrillers should absorb the lesson that simpler is usually better. An excellent primer would be John Hyams' lean, mean suspenser that delivers its undeniably familiar plot mechanics in tightly paced, unadorned fashion.

Dennis Harvey Film CriticUnpleasantly effective “Alone” centers on a heroine who wishes she were just that; instead, she’s got insistent, unwanted company in the form of a probable serial killer. John Hyams’ U.S.

Magnolia Pictures and Magnet Releasing have just released a trailer for their latest horror title, “Alone.” The film is directed by John Hyams from a script penned by Mattias Olsson. The film premiered earlier this year at the cozy Mammoth Film Festival and is now slated to be “available everywhere” on September 18.