The Banshees of Inisherin Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan is in negotiations to join the cast of Paramount’s sequel to Gladiator that has Ridley Scott returning to direct and Paul Mescal set to star.

Scott also will produce, along with Scott Free President Michael Pruss as well as Doug Wick & Lucy Fisher via Red Wagon Entertainment. David Scarpa penned the script.

Also returning from the original film are costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max. The new film follows the 2000 blockbuster Gladiator, which earned over $460M in worldwide box office and was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, winning five including Best Picture.

Keoghan is expected to play Emperor Geta if a deal closes. (via Deadline)

This October, Marvel Comics reopens the crypt with a new installment of CRYPT OF SHADOWS! The hit one-shot that spotlights the mystical, monstrous, and downright terrifying characters of the Marvel Universe is back for another year of horrors, and this time around, Agatha Harkness plays hostess, introducing stories and adventures that will keep readers spooked all throughout the Halloween season! As All Hallows’ Eve approaches, the heroes of the Marvel Universe find themselves once again facing the terrors that lie in the dark! From creatures that lurk in the deep to sinister sorcery, don’t miss out as your favorite heroes get put through the wringer and are forced to face down the malevolent forces of the Marvel Universe! Pick up this terrifying tome at your own peril, True Believers!

Here’s what to look forward to:

· Prepare to be spellbound Agatha Harkness guides you through the danger and mystery that awaits! But beware--there’s always a ulterior motive with this witch. Discover what Agatha is really brewing in a delightful framing story from current Scarlet Witch scribe Steve Orlando and artist Claire Roe.

· The Curse of the Man-Thing spreads from the swamp to the seas, placing him in the crosshairs of the King of Atlantis, Namor! See them duke it out in this gruesome tale from writer Benjamin Percy and artist Raffaele Ienco.

· Kraven the MONSTER Hunter! The iconic Spidey villain dares to target Jack Russell, Werewolf By Night, but bites off more than he can shew when Blade arrives to help his old friend! Find out who is left standing in this bloody battle written by Jason Loo and drawn by Carlos Magno.

· Joshua Jovan, the seasoned monster hunter from Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation Werewolf by Night, makes his comic book debut in a story by writer Chris Condon and artist Djibril Morissette. Jovan falls through the Last Door and finds himself face-to-face with his greatest prey yet—the Scarlet Witch!

Josh Brolin will not be wearing the ring, after all. The actor has passed on an offer to star in Lanterns, the DC Studios series based on the Green Lanterns superhero character, THR is reporting. Brolin was eyed to play Hal Jordan, the cocky Green Lantern hero previously played by Ryan Reynolds in the ill-fated 2011 Green Lantern movie. According to multiple sources, the actor received on offer at the end of August. By the end of this past weekend, his mind was made up. No other details were available. Lanterns is described as having a gritty True Detective vibe as it focuses on Jordan reluctantly mentoring a younger Lantern, John Stewart, who in DC publishing history was one of the company’s first Black superheroes. The story sees the two characters investigating an Earth-bound murder with larger implications. Sources say that DC and the producers are looking for a young, more fresh-faced actor for the role to play opposite an older and bigger name.

For the last few years, Marvel Comics has ended the year with a bang in special one-shots that pack epic stories and provide glimpses at the next years’ worth of storytelling. This mighty Marvel tradition continues this December in TIMESLIDE #1! Written by Steve Foxe (Dark X-Men, Spider-Woman) and drawn by Ivan Fiorelli (Fantastic Four), TIMESLIDE will star the X-Men’s resident time-travelling soldiers, Bishop and Cable, as they blaze through the timestream to prevent a villain from eliminating mutantkind from history. During this high stakes mission, they’ll pay witness to things just on the horizon for your favorite Marvel heroes including upcoming events, new characters and more! An X-Man from the future arrives in the present with a dire warning: One of mutantkind’s most hyper-advanced foes is eating his way through time, trying to stop the X-Gene from ever evolving in the first place. Only two X-Men can stop this chronal predator from achieving his goal – if they can tolerate working together long enough. Join Bishop and Cable on a trip through futures past, present and beyond. “I was thrilled when Tom Brevoort reached out about Timeslide,” Foxe said. “These annual mega-issues have become a perennial favorite of mine, both as a standalone story of their own and as a sneak peak of what’s to come for the year ahead. Getting to structure this one around Cable and Bishop—two of my favorite mutants, and two I didn’t write much during my prior X-tenure—was icing on the chrono-cake. “Ivan Fiorelli can truly draw anything, and this story proves that era by era on a tour of some of the X-Men’s most notable moments as a new threat opens his maw and threatens all of mutant history. We build on Cable and Bishop’s tumultuous relationship from Children of the Vault for a pulse-pounding ride that touches on some of my favorite parts of X-stories past—and teases some exciting upcoming mutant tales. And while the flash-forwards in this issue aren’t only X-related, it was exciting, as a diehard X-fan, to write the first Timeless that became TIMESLIDE!” Your first look at the most unforgettable stories of 2025 begins here! Check out Kael Ngu’s cover and stay tuned for more news about TIMESLIDE #1 in the months ahead!

Eisner and multi-award-winning creator J.H. Williams III (Echolands, The Sandman: Overture, Promethea) is dreaming up a new horror nightmare this October with Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio. The stunning storybook retells the classic Dracula tale, featuring over 150 pages of painted illustrations and accompanying story passages, luring readers into a beautiful and terrifying gothic world. The hardcover Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio book hits shelves this October, just in time for Halloween season. Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio has a unique storybook format, much like an illustrated children’s book, juxtaposing paintings with pages of story, allowing Williams III to sink his teeth even deeper into the Dracula monster myth. New York Times bestselling writer and artist Williams III creates a fantastical and absorbing storytelling experience that goes beyond the typical expectations of an art book, making for a potent combination of illustration and prose. “Since I talk about what inspired this project in the foreword inside the book, I'll just say that I'm excited to have it come out,” said Williams III. “I don't think I've seen a book quite like this in the modern era. I sought to make it a different kind of thing than what some would expect, an attempt to marry portfolio illustrations with brief passages to create a narrative structure that most art books don't tend to focus on. Because of it having a single narrative subject, the illustration choices are reflective of that. I gave the prose sections a subtle older style, but delivered with a somewhat brisk sensibility. All with a desire to have it call back to classic storybooks that often became annual favorites of the young and old. Every aspect of the book, with the assistance of Image Comics’ Drew Gill, is geared toward that simple but pleasant idea. The result is unique and hopefully satisfying.” Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio, featuring a cover by Williams III (ISBN: 9781534371569, Lunar Code 0624IM266) will be available at local comic book shops on Wednesday, October 9 and independent bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo, and Waterstones on Tuesday, October 22. Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired North American rights to writer-director Nick Hamm’s medieval action-drama William Tell, which has its world premiere tonight in Toronto. Starring are Claes Bang (The Square), Connor Swindells (Sex Education), Golshifteh Farahani (Extraction), Jonah Hauer-King (The Little Mermaid), Ellie Bamber (Nocturnal Animals), Rafe Spall (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) and Emily Beecham (Little Joe), with Oscar winner Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) and Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes). The release is being lined up for early 2025. Inspired by the legendary tale, Claes Bang takes on the role of William Tell, a noble huntsman whose peaceful life is shattered when the ruthless Austrian Empire invades his homeland of Switzerland. Unwilling to bend the knee before his country’s oppressors, William Tell is thrust into a perilous trial, one that draws him and his family into the epicenter of a revolution that will shape the destiny of his nation. (via Deadline)

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will keep swinging in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” director Destin Daniel Cretton in early talks to helm the film. In addition to the Simu Liu-led “Shang-Chi,” Cretton’s other credits 2013’s “Short Term 12,” 2017’s “The Glass Castle” and 2019’s “Just Mercy.” He was previously set to direct the now-scrapped “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” but departed the project in November 2023. Cretton has stayed in the Marvel family and co-created the upcoming “Wonder Man” miniseries, starring Yahya Abdul Matteen II. Cretton has also been developing a sequel to “Shang-Chi,” but a source close to the production says that “Spider-Man 4” is currently the priority for the studio. No further details about the fourth film in the franchise have been revealed yet. (via Variety)

Brainstorm Media has picked up the action-thriller 72 Hours, directed by Christian Sesma and starring Sam Trammell and Twilight actor Cam Gigandet. A Nov. 1 theatrical and on-demand release is planned for 72 Hours, which centers on two brothers — a dedicated FBI agent and a crypto international money launderer — putting aside their differences and joining forces to save their family. But a dangerous mission deep into kingpin territory has them facing life-threatening challenges in a race against time. The ensemble cast includes Nicky Whelan and Jana Kramer (One Tree Hill). (via THR)

Starting today, September 9, all five episodes of Marvel Studios’ I Am Groot Season 2 are coming to Marvel HQ! Full-length episodes will be released each day this week on the Marvel HQ YouTube channel, Marvel’s official family-friendly destination for kids. Released previously on Disney+ last year, the troublemaking twig returns to mischief in the second season of “I Am Groot.” This time, Baby Groot finds himself exploring the universe and beyond aboard the Guardians’ spaceships, coming face-to-face—or nose-to-nose—with new and colorful creatures and environments. Throughout September and October, Groot will take the spotlight on Marvel HQ as part of the Marvel’s Super Heroes Assemble program. Join over 8.8 million other YouTube subscribers around the world to celebrate with action-packed animated series, motion comics, short form content, activations, and unique product collaborations all year long. Families and fans can also get a look at more original content featuring Groot, the Avengers, Spidey and His Amazing Friends, and more throughout the year, as well as full length episodes from Marvel’s animation library such as Marvel’s Avengers Assemble and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Maximum Venom (coming just in time for October’s Halloween season)! Don’t forget to subscribe to Marvel HQ so you never miss an episode and look out for more family friendly fun on the Marvel HQ YouTube Channel!

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice came in better than expected at $111M after a solid Sunday of $27.4M, -34%. Warner Bros owns four out of the five top openings for September. The movie cost $100M before Prints & Advertising. Also, the Tim Burton directed sequel’s opening is the third largest opening weekend of 2024 after Deadpool & Wolverine‘s $211.4M and Inside Out‘s $154.2M; Warner Bros. fourth No. 1 opening this year and the best start for a PG-13 rated pic in September. The top 10 locations overall were 1. AMC Burbank Los Angeles, 2. AMC Universal Citywalk Los Angeles, 3. Santikos Casa Blanca San Antonio, 4. Regal Riverpark Fresno, 5. AMC Disney Springs Orlando, 6. AMC Grove Los Angeles, 7. AMC Lincoln Square New York, 8. Cinemark Rialto Los Angeles, 9. Harkins Estrella Falls Phoenix, and 10. Harkins Mountain Grove Los Angeles. (via Deadline)

Do you remember all the title changes for the Agatha Harkness lead spinoff series? We know it’s going to be Agatha All Along now, but it was introduced as Agatha: House of Harkness, then changed to Agatha: Coven of Chaos and finally Agatha: Darkhold Diaries… I might even have missed a name or two. So where did the idea for the changing title come from? Series executive producer Mary Livanos told the Hollywood Reporter: “Hats off to Jac Shaeffer on that one, and our incredible writers’ room, with the best day of brainstorming I think we’ve ever had, figuring out all those titles. It was a real blast to release crazier and crazier ones as the production went on, and our cast was so game, too. The nature of the stunt felt very Agatha, very liar. So, it felt very on theme, and it was fun to do.” Livanos worked with Jac Shaeffer on WandaVision and now Agatha All Along and while she was willing to reveal that part, any information on the fate of Wanda herself she’s keeping a secret. “ Well, I can tell you that Agatha has been trapped in Wanda’s distorted spell, and of course, after the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda was taken off the table. So I think fans will have to tune in to find out more. That’s all I can say.“