Latest news with #LeighWhannell
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
9 Movies And TV Shows With Competitions As Twisted As Squid Game
After three seasons and a little under four years of making us question what we would do for millions of dollars, Squid Game has come to an end. The final season debuted earlier today, and in a disturbing way I'll address with my therapist in the future, I want more of those twisted mind games. And I know a lot of you do too. Squid Game was an elite depiction of how human morality becomes fluid in the face of self-preservation and greed. Gamifying survival is the basis of almost every video game, but it becomes terrifying to watch when real people are involved. In movies and shows like the Saw franchise and Black Mirror, normal people will sacrifice children, vote for strangers to be killed, and rip people's guts out—just to save themselves. If you want more of the type of deadly competition that made Squid Game Netflix's most popular non-English TV series ever, here are nine movies and TV shows to scratch that sick itch of yours. Before dystopian mindfucks like Black Mirror and Squid Game turned survivalism into lethal games, Saw had people desperately ripping keys out of other victims' stomachs to unlock bear traps poised to rip their own heads off. Created by the twisted minds of James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the franchise mostly centers around sociopath Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), who kidnaps morally flawed people and forces them into deadly games to test their will to live. People have tried to gouge their own eye out to retrieve a lock combination, crawl through a furnace to recover a syringe with a nerve gas antidote, and even fill a bucket with their own blood to survive. Squid Game turned childhood games into nightmares. Saw turned nightmares into living hell. In Escape Room, six strangers are tricked into a game of survival after being invited to participate in what they believe is a fun, immersive puzzle game for a cash prize. Each room is a deadly trap crafted sadistically around their past traumas. One person survived a plane crash, so one of the rooms heats up like a plane fire. Another person survived a car accident, so the room simulates a smoky, toxic crash environment. All of this is happening while they're being watched and manipulated by a shadowy organization (sound familiar?). Similar to Squid Game, players have to balance common human decency with staying alive—and that usually leads to people sacrificing someone to save themselves in an icy cabin, or letting someone fall to their death in a zero-gravity room. If you miss the interpersonal turmoil of Squid Game, run to Escape Room. The first time I watched Funny Games, I was 9. I'm now 37, and I had a nightmare about it last night. Put simply, Funny Games is Squid Game if the torture was more targeted and there was no cash prize to assuage the pain. In the film, a family's vacation is terrorized by two young men who force them to play sadistic games—like a deadly round of 'Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe' in which their lives hang in the balance. In Squid Game, the twisted logic that governs who lives and who dies sometimes gives way to no logic at all, as when remaining players are forced to sleep in the same quarters and even the time between 'games' becomes a deadly free-for-all. Similarly, in Funny Games, the rules can shift on a whim, with bone-chilling consequences. Make sure you watch the 1997 version of the film after you're done with the final season of Squid Game to enjoy one of the best psychological thrillers ever. Not every Black Mirror episode is centered on a deadly test of human morality dressed up like a game. But, when the dark futurism of the Netflix series is conveyed in lethal competitions, it exposes unsettling truths about the humanity we all share. There's the episode 'Shut Up and Dance,' in which blackmailed people have to complete humiliating and illegal tasks like fight another blackmailed victim to the death or unknowingly be the getaway driver for bank robbers. Another episode has people ride stationary bikes to exhaustion in order to earn virtual currency to enter a televised talent competition. Squid Game gamified survivalism, while Black Mirror made it less of a competition and more of a sick test with no winners. There's workplace drama in corporate America, and then there's The Belko Experiment. The Greg McLean-directed psychological thriller pits 80 American office workers against one another as they're trapped in a corporate building and forced to kill each other—or be killed—before the end of numerous countdowns. All human decency goes out the window when four people's heads explode after no one is killed before the first countdown is done. By the final countdown, the only person who can live is the one with the highest kill count, essentially transforming office workers into killers by manipulating their primal instincts to live. There's no Red Light, Green Light kids' game or sleeping quarters for socializing like in Squid Game. But The Belko Experiment does mirror the Netflix juggernaut in its depiction of the moral degradation that slowly happens as people realize their fellow man's death directly affects the betterment of their own life. Squid Game's perverse competition takes place on a secluded island hidden from the outside world. In Alice in Borderland, Ryohei Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) and his friends fight for their survival in a parallel world called Borderland. That similarity alone illustrates how divorced from reality one must be in order to do the inhumane to win a game. In the series, people play deadly competitions to earn 'visa days' that help them stay in Borderland. If their visa expires, a laser shoots from the sky and kills them instantly. People will lock others in a room to burn them alive, form alliances even though only one person can win, and voluntarily keep playing after being given a chance to escape—because they feel they have no life in the outside world. As we see in Squid Game, when societal norms are no longer around to keep people in line, their true selves roam free in the deadliest ways. This Amazon Prime teen thriller series is one of the most underrated shows of the 2020s. Based on the Lauren Oliver novel of the same name, the show follows a group of graduating high school seniors so entitled, they engage in an illegal and, yes, deadly game to give themselves some excitement in their lives before they go off and become boring adults. These kids willingly get buried in a coffin, jump off a cliff into pitch-black water, and enter a cage full of venomous snakes—all for a chance at winning $50,000 in a competition no one knows who runs. And this is a yearly tradition. As weird as it may sound, The Prisoner is one of my favorite comfort TV watches. Sure, it's a psychological thriller about a former British Intelligence agent who is psychologically tortured on a creepy island. But Patrick McGoohan's performance as Number Six has some of the greatest emotional range you'll ever see on a screen. The Prisoner doesn't have the deluge of blood and gore that accompanies the morality tests of Squid Game. It does, however, showcase a similar stripping of one's mental stability as those in control work to expose their subjects' true, carnal motivations in life. In one of the best episodes of the show, Number Six is placed in an Embryo Room where he's forced to relive different stages of his life—or possibly die. Unfortunately for Patrick, there is no cash prize at the end of his torture, just an ambiguous future he may never escape from. Circle features the type of social experiment that would fit perfectly in Squid Game. In the film, 50 strangers are unable to move from their spots in the dark room they mysteriously wake up in, and are forced to collectively vote on who dies every two minutes. If they don't, a sinister device in the center of the room randomly kills someone. They only have 120 seconds at a time to essentially play God. The most depraved aspect of the show is the logic they develop for determining who deserves to die. Some align on the thinking that children and the elderly should die because they're weaker. Others choose people based on their race. They even turn on a pregnant woman. These mind games have real consequences—like they do in Squid Game—and it begs the question: Are you really a winner in a game where you lose your humanity? 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India.com
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- India.com
This 1 hour 43 minute film is the 'scariest' movie ever, you will scream after every scene, don't watch it alone, name is lead actors are...
This 1 hour 43 minute film is the 'scariest' movie ever, you will scream after every scene, don't watch it alone, name is lead actors are... For nearly two decades, Insidious (2010) has been bringing spine-chilling nightmares to the screen. Created by veterans Leigh Whannell and James Wan, the long-running franchise is written by Leigh Whannell, and stars Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Barbara Hershey. The story revolves around a married couple whose boy inexplicably enters a prolonged state of unconsciousness and becomes controlled by demonic entities. The horror film was premiered on September 14, 2010 at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and was released theatrically on April 1, 2011. Less than 12 hours following the screening, the U.S distribution rights of the film were picked by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions. In 2011, the film was also screened at South by Southwest. Insidious Box Office Collection Insidious garnered positive reviews from masses and critics. The film opened with $13.3 million, and hold the number 3 position at the US box office. Made in a budget of $1.5 million, the film grossed a total of US$54 million in the US and $46.1 million internationally. After Insidious became a success both commercially and critically, the film had its both sequels and prequels, including Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013), Insidious: The Red Door (2023), Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015), Insidious: The Last Key (2018), Insidious: The Red Door – July 6, (2023). Insidious 6 no longer releasing in 2025 However, the sixth installment of Insidious was originally planned for release on August 29, 2025, but the film won't be meeting that date. In fact, it won't be released until 2026. Reportedly, the film will also be expanded upon with the spinoff Thread: An Insidious Tale, which doesn't yet have a release date. The spin-off would have Nanjiani and Moore play a husband and wife who cast a spell to move back in time in order to prevent the death of their young daughter. For now, no news on the project has been out since the initial announcement.
Gizmodo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
DC's ‘Sgt. Rock' Movie May Not Be So Dead After All
James Gunn talks about what he's looking for to add films to his DC universe. James Marsters may have let slip his role in the Buffy revival. Blumhouse has gotten its hands on the Saw franchise. Plus, what's coming on Rick and Morty. To me, my spoilers! Saw Deadline reports Blumhouse has officially acquired the rights to the Saw franchise from Twisted Pictures and plans to bring James Wan and Leigh Whannell 'back into the fold' to 'guide the future of the franchise.' Sgt. Rock In conversation with Entertainment Weekly, James Gunn confirmed the Sgt. Rock movie is still moving forward at DC Studios. I feel like we're in a pretty good place. We're still moving forward, but it's not going to be … What would [DC Studios co-head Peter Safran] want me to say here? … So it's still moving forward, but, yeah, right now it wasn't exactly where I wanted it to be creatively, and so it needs to change a little bit. Untitled DC Project In the same interview, Gunn revealed he's received a pitch for an 'Elsewords' story from 'a very, very, very famous actor.' The script still needs to be good. We're not going to make it unless we like the script. But I think that there are exceptions. I told it to one person who came in and pitched something that was an Elseworlds tale. It was a very, very, very famous movie actor. I said, 'It depends on how the screenplay comes out…If it's a masterpiece, I'll make it, but it has to be a masterpiece.' [Laughs] And he is like, 'I don't know if it's a masterpiece.' He got all funny. He's still working on it, though. He is still trying to do it, so we'll see. Masterpiece might be pushing it, but it's got to be really great. James Bond According to insider Jeff Sneider, directors who have pitched for the next James Bond movie include Edward Berger, Denis Villeneuve, Edgar Wright, Jonathan Nolan, and Paul King, as 'Alfonso Cuarón recently took himself out of the running.' BREAKING: Directors who have pitched/are pitching for the next JAMES BOND movie include Edward Berger, Denis Villeneuve, Edgar Wright, Jonathan Nolan, and Paul King, as Alfonso Cuarón recently took himself out of the running. Of these, I'd keep an eye on J. Nolan and Paul King… — Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) June 20, 2025 The Long Walk According to Variety, Jeremiah Fraites of the Lumineers has been hired to write the score for the upcoming film adaptation of Stephen King's The Long Walk. Zombie Plane Variety also has word Zombie Plane–a film which includes Ice-T, Brian Austin Green, Vanilla Ice, Sophie Monk, and Chuck Norris playing fictionalized versions of themselves–has wrapped filming. The story concerns a team of celebrities who 'are seen by day as the faces we know and love, but by night they are saving the world from under-wraps [supernatural] attacks.' Silent Night, Deadly Night According to Deadline, the new Silent Night, Deadly Night will be released in theaters unrated on December 12, 2025. Return to Silent Hill Additionally, Return to Silent Hill is now scheduled for a January 23, 2026 release. [Deadline] M3GAN 2.0 The cast and crew of M3GAN 2.0 discuss the homicidal robot becoming an antihero in the upcoming sequel. Please Don't Feed the Children After a virus seemingly wipes out all adults on Earth, a group of orphaned children are kidnapped by Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery in the trailer for Destry Allyn Spielberg's debut feature, Please Don't Feed the Children, premiering on Tubi later this month. Else Relatedly, a new virus causes people to somehow physically merge with their surroundings in the trailer for Else, streaming on Fandor this July 8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer James Marsters may have accidentally revealed his involvement with the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer during his recent appearance at HellMouthCon. I've been told, in no uncertain terms, that I need to shut my damn mouth. And I would not say that you should take anything from that. It's just that we are trying…. [Marsters then corrects his pronoun usage] what I will say is that the people behind the camera are some of the best people in Hollywood. Chloe Zhao who is directing the pilot, directed Nomadland, and understands all about intimate character-driven drama. And she also directed a Marvel movie, man! She's one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood. [The Nerdist] Ironheart A new Ironheart promo introduces the pyrotechnic Clown, the hacker Slug, the cage-fighting Blood Siblings, the knife-throwing H.R., and Eric Andre as Rampage. Rick and Morty Morty doesn't like the idea of blowing up the cryogenically-frozen crew of an ark ship in a clip from this Sunday's episode of Rick and Morty. Wednesday Finally, Steve Buscemi leads a tour of Nevermore Academy in a new promo for the second season of Wednesday.
Geek Tyrant
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Blumhouse Officially Takes Over the SAW Franchise, James Wan Returns to Produce — GeekTyrant
Blumhouse has officially closed the deal to take over the Saw franchise, and with it comes a bloody homecoming for James Wan. The horror powerhouse now owns the rights to all future Saw films, shows, and media featuring Jigsaw and his terrifying legacy. The franchise's longtime producers, Oren Koules and Mark Burg, have stepped away from their ownership stake. Koules explained: 'it felt like the right time to pass the baton,' while Burg added that he's ready to 'move on and tell new stories.' Despite the change in ownership, Lionsgate, who's been behind all ten films to date, will remain in the mix, keeping its 50% stake and handling distribution moving forward. Wan, who launched Saw with the original low-budget gorefest in 2004, is officially returning to the franchise for the first time in nearly two decades. His production company, Atomic Monster, merged with Blumhouse in 2024, making this transition feel like a natural next step. Jason Blum, founder of Blumhouse, called Saw a cornerstone of modern horror: 'Saw had defined a generation of horror. Its cultural impact continues to grow, making this a strategic investment in one of the most recognizable and successful genre properties of the last two decades.' He confirmed that both Wan and Saw co-creator Leigh Whannell will be 'back in the fold' to help shape what's next. Wan echoed that excitement: ' Saw holds a special place in my heart,' he said. 'Coming back to this world with a fresh perspective is both thrilling and deeply personal. 'For me, this will mark a significant creative return to the Saw franchise for the first time since the early days, and I'm very much looking forward to embracing the original spirit whilst pushing the legacy forward in bold, unexpected ways.' With Blumhouse now holding the keys to Jigsaw's twisted kingdom and the original creators steering the vision again, the future of Saw is going to be interesting. Source: Variety
Screen Geek
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Screen Geek
Blumhouse Officially Gets 'Saw' Rights With James Wan & Leigh Whannell Involved
The Saw film franchise has been in a difficult time following the success of Saw X . In fact, it was unclear if fans were ever getting an eleventh Saw movie. Now things have taken a turn for the better with the announcement that Blumhouse has acquired the rights to the Saw franchise. As shared via Deadline, this deal will also allow James Wan and Leigh Whannell to return to the franchise in a creative capacity. Though details are being kept under wraps at this time, this is all due to Blumhouse's acquisition of the rights owned by Twisted Pictures. Lionsgate still owns the other 50% of the franchise and they will continue to be involved as a partner. Fans of the franchise are quite familiar with James Wan's contributions, having specifically directed the original 2004 film that started it all. Leigh Whannell, on the other hand, operated as a co-writer on the 2004 movie alongside Wan. Whannell returned to contribute his writing to Saw II , later writing Saw III based on a story he co-wrote with Whannell, and thus passing the series off to new creators with Saw IV . Wan continued to receive an executive producer credit on the following films, though he was no longer involved creatively. Now that Blumhouse has the rights to the Saw franchise, this will give Wan an opportunity to be involved once again, especially since his own Atomic Monster label recently merged with the studio. An eleventh Saw film has yet to enter production – though one was previously announced for a September 2025 release date. Big plans are currently being put into place here, however, so we'll likely have more news regarding the franchise's future soon. Saw X recently rejuvenated the brand quite successfully, so hopefully fans will see the series continue in that direction. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the Saw film franchise as we have them – especially now that Blumhouse has acquired Twisted Pictures' share of the rights. Exciting times are ahead for fans of the long-running horror franchise.
