Sci Fi Movies This Week: Weekly column tracking what is coming in the current week in the way of sci fi, fantasy, and horror releases as well as news and updates on genre films, streaming and theatrical.
Sci Fi Movie Premieres This Week:
This weekend brings quite a number of sci fi and fantasy releases, but with Summer also over, none of them count as Blockbusters. Arriving in major release on Friday is the next entry in the Insidious franchise, Out of the Further. Also getting notable exposure theaters on Friday in the fantasy entry The Magic Far Away Tree. In limited release on Friday, the indie sci fi film Hot Spot arrives as well as the horror movies It Ends, Blood Shine (also On Demand), and Bury the Devil. You can see highlights for this week below, and you can see the schedule of all the current and upcoming sci fi and fantasy movies at this link.
Insidious: Out of the Further (In Theaters, August 21st): Amelia Eve stars as Gemma, a young mother raising her daughter in the house she grew up in who discovers she can travel into The Further, the purgatorial realm of lost souls at the heart of the Insidious universe. When something evil comes after her, Gemma discovers an ability that changes everything: she doesn’t just enter The Further, she can bring what lives there back to the real world. Once the demons realize her power, our world becomes their playground.
Directed by: Jacob Chase
Starring: Amelia Eve, Brandon Perea, Lin Shaye
The Magic Far Away Tree (In Theaters, August 21st): Based on the worldwide best-selling novel, The Magic Faraway Tree follows Polly, Tim, and their three children as they begin a new life in the remote countryside. When the kids discover a magical tree hidden near their home, they are welcomed by its extraordinary residents and swept into spectacular, fantastical lands beyond their wildest imagination. With every adventure, the family discovers the magic that helps them reconnect with what matters most – each other.
Directed by: Ben Gregor
Starring: Claire Foy, Andrew Garfield, Rebecca Ferguson, Matthew Chausse, Nonso Anozie, Joe Simpson, Simon Farnaby, Michael Cornelius, Sam Mendes
Hot Spot (In Theaters-Limited, August 21st): set in a near future society ruled by sentient A.I., a private eye investigates a murder case only to discover a rebel group capable of undermining the digital overlord. As the detective’s identity slowly unravels, his world enters a state of hypnotic meltdown.
Directed by: Agnieszka Smoczynska
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Executive Producers Beata Rzeźniczek, Andrzej Konopka, Marcin Czernik
Sci Fi Movie News of Note:
An adaptation of Forrest Brazeal‘s upcoming debut novel Paradox Inc. is in the works from Phil Lord’s and Christopher Miller’s production company Lord Miller. Deadline gives the following description of the property:
Paradox Inc. is about the rivalry between a scrappy startup and a dysfunctional Big Tech company racing to build the world’s first consumer time machine. The prize: control of reality itself. Maybe… The tech industry’s version of time travel doesn’t seem to work quite the way you’d expect.
Daniel Roher (Tuner) has been set to direct and Matthew Robinson (The Last House) is penning the script, and Universal Pictures will be the studio. Expect this one to arrive in theaters late 2027 or 2028.
Zack Snyder’s “requel” (a mix of a reboot and a sequel) to John Carpenter’s 1981 cult classic Escape from New York is moving forward, and he may have found his Snake Plissken. The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan has expressed a strong interest in joining the movie:
I just read some announcement that he was going to do a new version of Escape from New York. Bro, don’t think I’m not texting him or calling him. I already am. I mean, I think that Snake will probably be a little younger than I am, but you know, there’s some roles in there… Grizzled Snake wouldn’t be bad, by the way. It would be cool. Look, I’m going to do my due diligence and stalk him for a little bit, because that’s one of my all-time favorite films.
Morgan has not been confirmed in the role yet, even though some venues are reporting that he has, and Snyder may prefer a younger lead (Wyatt Russell has been mentioned as a possible replacement for original star Kurt Russell). But Morgan would definitely have some scenery-chewing fun with the role.
In Box Office news, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has surpassed Deadpool and Wolverine as the highest-grossing R-rated film having earned over $1.33 million and still going strong as it heads into its sixth week. And Spider-Man: Brand New Day has crossed $2 billion world wide after three weeks, becoming the first film in that franchise to do so. More recent Box Office results at this link.
Recent Trailers
Wildwood (In Theaters, October 23rd): From the makers of Coraline, Wildwood is a sweeping, darkly magical adventure about Prue, a young girl who journeys into a hidden forest to rescue her younger brother. Along the way she encounters warring factions, extraordinary creatures, and a world unlike anything she’s ever known.
Directed by: Travis Knight
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett
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