If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably already watched the incredible sequel that is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

But did you know the brief LEGO scene near the start of the movie was actually animated by a 14-year-old fan? That fan is Preston Mutanga from Minnesota.

Apparently Mutanga had always had a flair for finding creative solutions, often scrapping the instructions for sets of LEGO blocks in favour of his own designs.

According to Mutanga via a recent interview: “I also used to make comics when I was younger. Looking back at them now, they’re not the greatest — I’m not going to lie — but it was good practice for telling stories.”

However, it was last December that he began a project that would change everything. He decided to use his dad’s old computers to recreate the trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse shot for shot, but in the LEGO style.

He’d already been making LEGO-style short computer-generated videos for several years, so by this point it was a piece of cake. And it quickly got the attention of LEGO Movie directors and Spider-verse writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

Here’s the tweet that led to what happened next:

Well, it led to Christina Steinberg, another Spider-Verse producer, to contact Mutanga and ask if he’d like to animate a LEGO segment of the movie.

Here’s what Miller had to say:

“We found out that it was a 14-year-old kid who made it and we were like, ‘This looks incredibly sophisticated for a nonadult, nonprofessional to have made. It blew us all away, including some of the best animators in the world.”

It took Mutanga several weeks working on this project after his homework each night – and getting feedback from Miller who would check on his progress every other week and provide detailed input.

Now this high school kid has professional industry experience, he’s understandably looking forward to becoming a full-time animation director, and we can well see that happening!

Mutanga said: “I adored the first movie and was so hyped for the second one, so getting to work with the people who actually made this masterpiece was honestly like a dream.”

We love stories like this here at Geek Native – just a reminder that anything’s possible when you really put your mind to it.

Source: Yahoo! News

These new Rebel Moon photos and details, courtesy of Vanity Fair give us plenty to get excited about when it comes to Zack Snyder’s new sci-fi thriller!

The images (below) give us some all-important visual insight into what we can expect from the film (including the Star Wars influences), with several characters and settings pictured below. We’re not gonna lie, it looks pretty damn fun so far!

So, what’s the premise? Well, it’s set in a “peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy that finds itself threatened by the armies of the tyrannical Regent Balisarius. They dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them take a stand against the Tyrant.”

You can definitely see why this is an idea that Snyder pitched to Lucasfilm years ago! So, what separates Rebel Moon from Star Wars now?

Snyder said:

“This movie was me going, ‘Of course it’s a space opera, but let’s not lens it that way. Let’s lens it in a more intimate way, so that the sci-fi elements feel more grounded.’ We’re not always saying, ‘Look at how big our spaceships are or how weird our planets look!’ That happens, but it happens as an organic part of the world you’re in. You’re there, and so the things you see on that journey are not forced upon you or spoon-fed to you.”

He went on to describe one of the starships featured in the film, called ‘The King’s Gaze’:

“That ship is a world destroyer. There’s, like, 8,000 soldiers on that ship. They’ve got, like, 200 dropships and 100 tanks, and it has this huge boom-boom howitzer. It could raze the surface of a planet. If they just fired on a planet for three days straight, there’d be nothing left. They do that a lot.”

The Star Wars influence is definitely strong in this one (get it?)! However, you may be pleased to learn that the lightsabers have been replaced by… FLAMING SWORDS! Doona Bae‘s character Nemesis is the one that gets to wield these, but here’s what Snyder had to say about that:

“These swords are powered by the gauntlets that she holds. The gauntlets are these ancient [artifacts] from her home world, and part of the rite of passage of being a warrior in her world is you have to cut your arm off, and then you put these kind of robot arms on. That allows you to wield these molten-metal blades.”

So, without further ado, let’s take a lookit at some of these images!

Rebel Moon is set to be released in two parts, the first one coming to Netflix on the 22nd December. There will be a regular-length version of both, as well as extended, R-rated cuts – in case you fancy something a touch more hardcore.

Source: GeekTyrant

Breaking Infinity is an indie sci-fi film from director Marianna Dean, starring Neil Bishop, Zoe Cunningham, Martin Bishop, Zed Josef and Jonny Phillips.

A scientific researcher named Liam, who has become unstuck in time, travels to the ancient past and distant future. He witnesses the end of the world in the future, an apocalypse that he may have caused.

Free physical copies of the lightweight tabletop RPG are available today and likely tomorrow at UK Games Expo.

If you’re not there or prefer digital, then you can download the free RPG from BaffleBox Games (PDF link).

Breaking Infinity, according to marketing at the event, will come to Amazon Prime, Netflix and other streaming platforms. It’ll be aired at the gaming convention first.

Film Inquiry said of the movie;

Director Marianna Dean and writer David Trotti have crafted an engaging, time-travel mystery that drops the viewer into the plot and keeps the intrigue flowing.”

Quick Links

• BaffleBoxGames

Timely? Imagine a war created by the AI once designed to protect humanity. Also, what if it’s been directed by Gareth Edwards, the director of Rogue One, and written by Edwards and Chris Weitz.

The Creator is a sci-fi flick which stars the likes of Allison Janney (The West Wing, Finding Nemo), John David Washington (Tenet, BlacKkKlansman) and Gemma Chan (Hack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Capitan Marvel).

Deadline Hollywood surfaced the synopsis;

Amid a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, Joshua, a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife, is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war—and humankind itself

John David Washington plays Joshua, and filming started in Thailand only last year, finishing in a few months. The Creator was initially due for an October release but has moved to September.

If the movie studio bringing the movie forward is a good sign, it’s also worth noting that this is officially Gareth Edwards’ follow-up to Rogue One, so, well, no pressure!

Additionally, Benedict Wong was initially cast but had to drop out and was replaced by Ken Watanabe. What a wealth of talent!

Quick Links

• The Creator

Famous fantasy and Dungeons & Dragons artist Jeff Easley painted the promotional mini-poster given out at early screenings of the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie. 

“Finally scored a copy of the giveaway print….THEY TOOK MY SIGNATURE OFF THE PAINTING!”

Over a month after the giveaway was made available to fans, the artist obtained a copy of the mini-poster. He noted that Hasbro erased his signature from the print.

Update: 30th April – Paramount Pictures handled the distribution for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Paramount, or their marketing partners, may have directed the removal of Jeff Easley’s signature. If so, the erasure is not specifically attributable to Hasbro, but instead, this came from their partner in the D&D movie.

On April 28th, Jeff wrote in the Fans of the art of Jeff Easley Facebook group that he acquired a copy of the print that was first released on March 29. He did not call out the delay in obtaining a copy of his work; instead, the artist revealed that the printed version of his painting had been edited to remove his stylized signature. 

Jeff Easley’s Honor Among Thieves poster, along with the d20 popcorn bucket from AMC theaters, are among the best souvenirs associated with the movie. Taking the artist’s name off of the finished product robs him of the customary credit he deserves as the author of his work; which might be apropos for a movie that has “thieves” written into the title. 

Cropping an artist’s signature out of an illustration can occur when the original image meets the layout artist. Every artist working in publishing knows that cropping, where the image is trimmed, can occur. In this instance, Easley’s signature was not cropped off, but digitally removed. The residue of the erasure is still visible beneath where the “E” in “Easley” originally resided.

Likely done by Hasbro or eOne, the production company that filmed the D&D film, this change was an unexpected, and arguably needless, alteration to the original work. 

In this case, removing Jeff Easley’s mark contrasts with the signature policy of some of Hasbro’s subsidiaries. Wizards of the Coast (WotC), Hasbro’s subsidiary that publishes the Dungeons & Dragons RPG as well as Magic: The Gathering card game, does not remove artist’s signatures from the artwork that they source.

In fact, Jeff Easley provided artwork for the 2021 Magic: The Gathering core set, Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms as well as other card art over the years. His signature was left intact unless cropping was required. His artwork for The Den of the Bugbear (Dungeon Module version) Magic: The Gathering (MtG) card clearly shows his signature. MtG goes further in celebrating the artist by listing their name on the bottom of each card. 

It’s notable that WotC’s standard MtG art policy clashes with Hasbro or eOne’s handling of this promotional poster. This incident may be attributed to a difference of policies within different arms of Hasbro’s corporate empire.

At other times, this erasure might have flown under the radar were it not for Hasbro’s recent history of troubling public incidents like sending the Pinkertons to a fan’s house, the OGL crisis, Bank of America’s scrutiny over their MtG prices, and other heavy handed decisions. Needlessly erasing Jeff’s signature is yet another incident to add to Hasbro’s list of ill advised decisions thus far in 2023. 

Despite the fact that the alteration to the printed artwork could be taken as an insult, Jeff Easley’s reaction was professional and lighthearted. In the same thread where he announced the signature revelation, he stated that he found this “more amusing than anything else…” The creatives that work for Hasbro and similar companies cannot control, and are not at fault for, their management’s decisions. As with any of the difficulties he’s experienced in his long career of working for corporate clients, Jeff Easley proves he’s a class act. 

Update 2: 1st May – On Facebook, Jeff Easley shared his thoughts on the incident. His point of view and attitude are the hallmarks of professionalism. 

“To be fair, none of the other promo art I saw was signed. None of the 50’s and 60’s poster artists ever got credit for their work. I would just think my association with early-ish TSR would be the only reason I got the job.” – Jeff Easley – April 30, 2023

Update 3: 6th May – Jeff Easley, the artist of the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves promotional poster, is selling prints of the painting. These are similar to the free giveaway, but done with a greater attention to detail. Jeff Easley’s versions come in several sizes, they’re printed on higher quality stock, and produced by a printer that captures the details from his artwork. Best of all, Jeff’s version includes his original signature. You can pick up a copy of Jeff’s version from his website.

[Editor’s note: Both Egg and Girdy are keen to do the right thing and note that while Jeff called attention to this certain reactions from fans would make life challenging for the artist. Please be considerate.]

Wild Boys is a new indie action comedy film with equal parts physical comedy and heart, inspired by ’80s and ’90s classics like The Goonies, Ace Ventura, and George of the Jungle.

In this story, our heroine, Kate, enjoys mystery, adventure, and friendship with two wild young men she meets while on a treasure hunt mandated by her late father’s last will.

Wild Boys, an action comedy, marks Morten Forland’s directorial debut. Kate Frampton Davis, Vince Major, Alyssa Padia, Patrick J. Andersen, Bill Hoversten, and Kaylie Gipson are among the cast members of this film, which was produced by Morten Forland, Steph Cheng, Joanna Fang, and Vincent Catalina (who also stars). Alexander Arntzen, a multiple-award winner, composed the score for the film (Last Man Down, Unmothered)

Where can you watch the madcap outside hijinks? Several streaming platforms are picking up the Indie Rights distributed title. You’ll be able to grab it at Amazon Prime (out now), Google Play Movies (which I thought had merged into YouTube), YouTube (later) and Tubi (blocked in Europe).

Morten Forland told the press;

“I make movies that would excite my 12 year old self. Making this film was about reigniting the passion and excitement I felt when making my first films, playing Star Wars characters and running around our neighborhood. It was about conquering the fear of feeling like an outcast and embracing my own weirdness.”

Geek Native has an exclusive clip from the sci-fi epic and indie movie Colonials.

Epic Pictures Group has picked up the movie for North America, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Africa, India and South Asia. This European is aware of which countries are missing from that list!

The movie hits some theatres on the 7th and then goes digital on the 11th.

What’s it all about? Here’s the synopsis;

On his mission from Mars, a space colonist’s ship is attacked by a Moon-based civilization and crash lands on Earth. Having lost his memory, he joins forces with the Resistance to save the galaxy from human extinction.”

Or, in the words of director Joe Bland;

Colonials is a large-scale sci-fi action feature film with a contagious adventure maneuvering through grand landscapes and epic digital sets. We have the most talented cast and crew you could ask for. Greg Kriek and his co-stars bring the characters to life and make you feel a part of the Colonial experience. From creation to promoting the film on stage at Comic-Con, we can’t wait for everyone to get the chance to watch Colonials in theaters or in your own living room!”

Colonials trailer

Colonials features Greg Kriek (The Serengeti Rules), Sean Kanan (The Bold And The Beautiful), Daniel Roebuck (The Fugitive), Jon Provost (Lassie), and Allie Ayers Lindsey.

Quick Links

• Fandango movie search for Colonials.

I have something to admit; I’ve not yet seen John Wick 4 and went to see Shazam: Fury of the Gods instead.

Was that a mistake?

I’m told John Wick 4 is a good laugh at times, poking fun at itself. In reply, I’ll say that Keanu Reeves, aka John Wick, has also been in a superhero movie of sorts with Constantine.

Data from JustSearch has something to say about that. Do you think Constantine is in the top 10 most popular Keanu Reeves movies? Does it compete with Bill and Ted, the Matrix, Speed, or that classic Point Break?

There you have it. The platform says Constantine is more popular than Speed and Point Break.

If JustSearch is correct, then Bill and Ted don’t even make the top 10. I have some doubts about that.

IMDB gives us some exciting news as well. There’s a BRZRKR movie coming, which we knew, John Wick 5 and… Constantine 2.

DISCLAIMER: If you’ve read my blog ‘The Best and the Worst of The Dark Tower‘, you’ll know that I’m passionate about The Dark Tower book series. It’s been almost six years since The Dark Tower movie came out. Six years since I sat in a cinema, in horror, watching one of the worst travesties in modern cinema unfold. 

I’m still not over it. I originally published the below as a Facebook post, but now six years on, and with The Dark Tower TV series in the works from Mike Flannagan, I’ve edited this to include spoilers and reflect on what made it so bad, in the hope that Mike Flannagan himself will read this and take note. 

I never normally do this. It’s been a while since I reviewed films as an entertainment editor, and most people know that if I’ve seen a film, I’ll maybe comment a little bit on my Facebook check-in, or tell them in person. Maybe on Messenger if I feel that strongly about it. Usually if they ask.

But the raging, soulless, steaming pile of shit in the name of The Dark Tower made me so fucking angry I wanted to punch through walls (Dear Reader, I was indeed, very fucking angry). In fact, I almost walked out of the cinema. 

What was the point of making the film, if they changed EVERYTHING that made it good? Okay, the cast wasn’t terrible. That’s NOT what made it terrible – in fact, the cast was one of the only things not terrible about this movie. 

So, what made it terrible? Literally everything else. 

Sais Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinkner, Anders Thomas Jensen and Nikolaj Arcel have really outdone themselves in making one of the worst screen adaptations/reboots/whatever the fuck you’d call it that I’VE EVER SEEN!!! Fucking cringeworthy.

Nothing made sense. The plot was awful. The dialogue was awful. But, but, BUT – here are some of the really ‘special’ shit nuggets that particularly outraged me: 

The heavy use of the word ‘shining’ when describing Jake’s talents

Too on the nose. This was never mentioned in the books, but the writers clearly looked at how The Dark Tower universe seemed to work, and shoehorned it in because it seemed like a good opportunity. Thanks, I hate it. Bad and wrong. 

The ‘breakers’ all being children who ‘shone’ 

Again, it’s lazy, borrowing from Doctor Sleep and HUGE DEVIATION from the book. 

“Thank you, sai” 

It’s THANKEE SAI. You fuckwits. You had one job. 

“Tall, dark and handsome” 

I’m sorry, what? I beg your pardon? Did you just use this vanilla, overdone phrase WHEN DESCRIBING OUR BELOVED ‘LONG TALL AND UGLY’ ROLAND DESCHAIN?! Get in the fucking sea. 

The MOTHERFUCKING portals looking like something out of Stargate SG1!!!

They’re supposed to be old-fashioned looking wooden doors. You’re trying to appeal to the kids by crushing the soul of the source material, with heavy metal sodding space doors. 

Slipping in the name ‘PENNYWISE’ to coincide with IT 

I see you. I see what you were trying to do. You failed. 

The stupid fucking ending 

It’s bad. It has nothing to do with what happens in the books. Did I mention it’s bad? 

Only bringing Jake into it – and in a way that never happened in the books

Where are Susannah and Eddie? What was the point of any of this? 

No Oy. 

Why have Jake without Oy? Oy was one of the most endearing things about the books. “Ake?” 

No real look at Roland’s past

Save for the first very vague scene (which was also a big deviation) and the odd bit of confusing dialogue. 

The whole man in black vs Roland thing and WHAT THEY DID TO IT

It’s past the need for spoiler warnings now, so I’ll just tell you how insulting it was that Roland took out the Man in Black with a cheap crapshot trick. What was the fucking point? 

No Mordred 

Mordred would have been fun. 

Final thoughts

There are so many other things wrong with this movie that I could be here all day – so only one question remains. Why did they do us so dirty? It felt worse than if someone had given me a beetroot popkin (and I hate beetroot). 

At least with the new series coming up from Mike Flannagan, we’re given another shot at some hope, and for that we can say thank ya. 

Epic Pictures Group, based in Hollywood, has picked up distribution and sales rights for Thailand’s monster movie The Lake.

A limited theatrical release is scheduled for March 10, with a digital release due on the 14th and pre-orders for the blu-ray opening on the same day.

Once its egg is stolen, a massive and violent creature rises from a lake and unleashes its wrath on the people of a town, leaving a trail of destruction and death in its wake. Bueng Kan, now cut off from the rest of the world, must unite its leaders and inhabitants and a group of scientists doing research in town to trap this predator before it’s too late.

The eco-thriller is a Hollywood Thailand production directed by Lee Thongkham and produced by Watson Boy Homsangpradit with executive producer Patrick Ewald.

Lee Thongkham said,

This movie will bring back the nostalgia of when we first loved the original monster movies with animatronics and puppets. But the most exciting thing about the movie is watching this monster movie with 40% CGI. You will feel the real and spectacular scope and scale from Thai cinema. The realness of the monster stomps. The realness of our monster roars and so forth.

This monster genre has been used in so many territories. But what makes our monster stand out from the rest is that it is real and it has a unique ability which we can’t give out the main plot point. But be assured that there will be a reason why we chose to use animatronic gigantic monsters in the story”

Jordu Schell, a Hollywood special effects master, devised the film’s spectacular colossal monster, which was brought to life with a blend of life-sized practical animatronics and CGI.