The most epic movie of the year is here: Godzilla Minus Zero. Yes, we still have Dune 3 and Doomsday in about six weeks, but this is the movie to beat. Our mouths were open in wonderment during some of those majestic aerial battles, while the human story lives up to the 2023 surprise hit from maestro Takashi Yamazaki. Have a safe trip, indeed. 

 

Well, we were off last week so weren't able to mark the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart at 86. There's so much to say about possibly the greatest genre actor of all time.

 

Alec Guinness legitmized it with Star Wars, but Stewart was all in — in our homes, week in and week out as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard — and then moving on to Prof. X, again at a time when comic book movies were not considered art. We, of course, saw him out and about occasionally here in L.A. The last time was at a Gladiator II screening on the Paramount lot, where he looked happy and healthy and posed for photos with well-wishers.

 

Ten years or so, he dropped in to perform an hour of improv at UBC. We just happened to see a flier (where he was second billed) and bought tickets, unsure if it was a prank or if it'd really be him.

 

It was. And he was hilarious, of course, a skilled improvizer. (He had the audience roaring when he called his on-stage daughter, his Blunt Talk co-star Mary Holland, "a sour faced little bitch" in his patrician accent,) 

 

But what struck us was watching him when he was on the sidelines, during a sketch he wasn't even in: he was leaning forward, watching more intently than anyone in the audience, giving his colleagues — who weren't really famous outside of improv circles — the same respect he'd give an Tony winner on Broadway. Honoring those who practiced the craft.

 

We'll miss him.

 

As we went to press with edition, Paramount announced the release date for a long-awaited G.I. Joe movie...Oct. 20, 2028. But why wait so long for something cool? This weekend is going to be a smorgasbord for fans wanting to see comic creators. On Saturday, comic shop Revenge of is throwing its annual Comic Creators Block Party, co-hosted by Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum, which will feature dozens upon dozens of artists, writers and Hollywood types for a giant sign-a-thon.

 

On the other end of the spectrum is L.A.'s first-ever Icon Comic Art & Narrative Art Festival, which will have artists and art collectors mingling and chatting and hanging out. We are moderating a panel on comic art with artist Bill Sienkiewicz, actor Thomas Jane and author Glen David Gold Saturday at 6 p.m. so come by and say hi. 

 

And if you happen to be at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts this afternoon, you may be lucky enough to spot a trio of the artists that will be at the Icon Festival - namely Nick Dragotta (Absolute Batman), Daniel Warren Johnson (Do a Powerbomb!), and Sanford Greene (Bitter Root) - wandering the halls. We're not saying you should go up to them say hi, but we know what we would do. : ) 

 

Well, let's engage ... and head into the weekend into the weekend with some exquisite news... —Aaron Couch and Borys Kit.

 

JAMES TYNION IV IS STAYING IN BUSINESS WITH BLUMHOUSE ATOMIC.

 

The superstar comic book creator and his banner Tiny Onion have signed a first-look deal with the horror power house.

 

The deal begins with a bang as Blumhouse joins Tiny Onion and Lyrical Media in working on an adaptation of Exquisite Corpses, Tynion’s best-selling and award-winning comic book universe centered on a serial killer battle royale. The title, which Tynion created with artist Michael Walsh, is being developed across both film and animation.

 

Blumhouse Atomic and Tiny Onion are already working on a movie adaptation of Tynion’s horror comic Something Is Killing the Children, with Craig Zobel recently boarding as director. The good vibes led to the first-look and partnership on Corpses.

 

Corpses has a killer premise: Every five years on Halloween, the 13 oldest and richest families in America play a game of control in which their so-called champions, recruited killers of various stripes, descend upon an unsuspecting town and fight until the last slayer standing determines the winner. The initial 13-issue series wrapped earlier this year.

 

Corpse bride. 

PARDON HIM WHILE HE BURSTS ONTO A NEW SCENE.

 

Brandon Boyd is going from Incubus frontman to film composer.

 

The vocalist and songwriter has teamed up with indie musician and composer Gregory Rogove to compose the score for Unknown Company, an indie World War Two sci-fi thriller starring The Walking Dead actor Ross Marquand that has completed filming.

 

Unknown Company follows a small unit of American soldiers dispatched behind enemy lines in the final days of World War II to recover the wreckage of an unidentified object. What begins as a military mission becomes a confrontation with something beyond their understanding, testing the soldiers’ loyalty to one another and their sense of what is real.

 

Driving Mr. Boyd.

➤ New Cliff Booth trailer. Plus: Criminal is sexy and violent; Karoshi is just violent but stylishly so; does the Dunkin Donuts' Avengers: Doomsday spot actually explain the movie more clearly than the trailers?; Season three of Percy Jackson and the Olympians promises war.  

 

➤ Sony is staying in the Destin Daniel Creton business and will team up with Lionsgate for his Naruto movie. 

 

➤ Hasbro's Magic: The Gathering movie is casting up, with Maya Hawke to star in the feature. 

 

➤ Valnet, the corporate owner of geek sites like Screenrant and Polygon, settles a $2 million lawsuit brought by freelancers. 

 

➤ The Wrap's Drew Taylor has a this deep dive on the state of animation at Skydance, which now controls three studios.

 

➤ A new Constantine movie is in the early stages at DC Studios. 

 

➤ Classic sci-fi magazine Starlog is back for the first time in 17 years.  

 

➤ The Iceman Cometh: Ben Wang (Karate Kid: Legends, The Long Walk) is the choice to play the character in Marvel's new X-Men movie, beating out Gabriel LaBelle, Jackson Kelly and Rhenzy Feliz.

 

➤ Congrats: to Vault Comics for taking the top spot this week on the latest version of NYT's graphic books and manga list. Vault topped it with Vol. 2 of its Dungeon Crawler Carl line. What make it noteworthy is that, on a list always dominated by book publishers such as Scholastic, HarperAlley and Viz Media, it's the first time that a periodical (AKA floppy) publisher has taken the top spot. 

 

Catch up on these Heat Vision interviews...

 

➤ Godzilla Minus Zero filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki tells THR's Brian Davids that he's "fiffty-fifty" about capping his trilogy. Plus: he explains how Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts wound up acting in the sequel.

 

➤ Rian Johnson's right-hand man, Noah Segan, faced many challenges filming The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, but nore more so than "a guy on the block" named Eddie.

 

➤ Giancarlo Esposito and John Turturro cry tears of love for one another now, but that wasn't the case on the set of Spike Lee's classic, Do the Right Thing.

 

➤ Clayface director James Watkins confirms your favorite scene in the movie wasn't written by Mike Flanagan.

 

➤ Street Fighter's Chun-Li, played by Callina Liang. was all set to lose a finger to prove her loyalty to Lord M. Bison, but the suits at Capcom put their foot down.

IF YOU'RE GOING TO RECREATE THE KING OF THE MONSTERS,  you should probably do it in a king-size way, right?

 

Well, Lego got the memo for its brick-build version of Godzilla, with a gigantic 5,363-piece set that, once finished, will stand 27.5 inches (70 cm) high. Phew!

 

Designed with the adult builder and collector in mind, Godzilla hails from Lego’s Ideas Group, which means it originated as a fan designer’s idea, voted for by fans, and ultimately produced by Lego. 

 

You can pose the tail to the left or right, adjust its head, arms, and wrists, and replace his tongue with his famous heat ray. (And, this being the 2020s, you can gets the building instructions via the Lego app, which offers 3D digital instructions and a way to track your progress.) 

 

The set arrives in time for the holidays, going on sale on Nov. 27, AKA Black Friday. It also comes with a Godzilla-sized price, $449.99.

 

And if you get the set between Nov. 27 and Nov. 30, it’ll come with a Godzilla logo and footprint gift, which is good if you’re going to display your creation.  

WE'RE GOING TO KEEP ON THE KAIJU THEME AS WE CLOSE.

 

The early 2000s were not kind to everybody’s favorite lizard and assorted giant monsters. Godzilla was on the downswing at home, and in America, the less said about the 1998 Roland Emmerich movie, the better. Things were so bad that after 2004'S Godzilla: Final Wars, Toho didn’t make another movie for 10 years.  

 

But in 2006, something remarkable happened: The release of Bong Joon Ho’s The Host.

 

Inspired by Godzilla, Bong made a Korean monster movie that has gone on to become one of the most acclaimed creature feature horror movies of the century. And on its 20th anniversary, Magnolia Pictures is bringing Host, remastered in 4K, back to theaters. It will play Nov. 21 and Nov. 23 23 (the screenings will also include a recorded conversation between Bong and filmmaker Edgar Wright that will play after movie). 

 

Magnolia last week unveiled the poster for the rerelease, and we love it. 

 

Actually a repurposing of the movie’s French release on Blu-ray in 2025, the poster hails from UK-based artist Madison Coby, who was hired by Intermission Film and who leans into the Asian influences of the movie.  

 

We’re very discerning in regards to modern movie posters here at HV HQ, but this one grabbed us tight. Like a tentacle grabbing a little girl, in fact. 

And as we go into the weekend, there is still no official word on Bond. Two different outlets have reported two different names at this point. And we here at HV have heard that there now two mystery actors that have tested, not one like initially thought. And we were told that these two thespians are notable and established names, above the level of the still-rising likes of Callum Turner and company.

 

Enjoy the weekend. We want your thoughts and suggestions. Email us: aaron.couch@thr.com, borys.kit@thr.com. And to share this newsletter with a friend, have them sign up here.