We round up here the geek showbiz news from the past week.
Pixar has released the first trailer for Lightyear, the next movie in the Toy Story universe, which tells the origin story for Buzz Lightyear. The movie will spawn a giant wave of kids merch in the run-up to the planned release on June 17, 2022 (see "Best in Shows – 2022").
The webtoon GremoryLand, by A. Rasen for the WEBTOON platform, is being adapted for the screen by playwright and author Gabriel Bergmoser for Roy Lee’s Vertigo Entertainemnt and Wattpad WEBTOON Studios. The story follows six friends brought together as the only visitors of GremoryLand, a new horror theme park where each must face their individual fears to survive.
Principal photography will begin in December in the Dominican Republic on The Black Demon, based on Attack at Acapulco: A Black Demon Tale, the first comic from Scout Comics’ new Latinx comics imprint Chispa Comics, the publisher announced. The film will star Josh Lucas (Forever Purge, Ford v Ferrari) as an oilman visiting Bahia Azul, where he encounters a massive megalodon, the Black Demon. Adrian Grunberg (Rambo: Last Blood) will direct. The first look at the comic was an ashcan distributed at New York Comic Con (see "Scout Comics Adds Latinx Imprint").
HBO Max has put a series based on BOOM! Studios series Misfit City, by Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith (10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde) and Kurt Lustgarten and illustrated by Naomi Franquiz, into development, according to Deadline. The story, described as in the vein of The Goonies and Stranger Things, follows a teenager planning to escape her hometown until she discovers a centuries-old pirate map.
Hasbro, with Cityneon and Victory Hill Exhibitions, will launch Transformers: The Experience, a live activation around the Transformers brand, in North America in Summer 2022 and in China in Q4 2022, the companies announced. Guests of the immersive exhibition will pick a side in the battle between Autobots and Decepticons to experience hands-on interactives and high-tech immersion. Launch cities will be announced in the coming months.