Despite being drowned out by the slap heard ‘round the world, geek showbiz news was flying over the last week, and we round it up here.

Sony’s Morbius (see "’Morbius’ Trailer"), starring Jared Leto, opened at #1 with $39.1 million in domestic box office grosses, according to Variety.  That’s nowhere new the box office for the biggest superhero films of the past year, The Batman and Spider-Man: No Way Home, but on Morbius’ smaller budget is still a respectable start to the film’s theatrical run.

The reboot of The Crow is to start production in June with Bill Skarsgard (It) as the star and Rupert Sanders (Ghost in the Shell) directing, according to Hollywood Reporter.  The film, with a script by Zach Baylin (King Richard), will be produced by Edward R. Pressman, who’s long been associated with the property, and Malcolm Gray (21 Bridges). The most recent effort to make the reboot had Jason Momoa attached in 2017 (see "’The Crow’ Lands a Distributor"), but fell apart the next year (see "Sony Clips ‘’The Crow’ Remake’s Wings”).

Paramount+ has released a second trailer (below) for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the upcoming series centering on the voyages of the Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike (see "’Strange New Worlds’ Trailer").  The character of James T. Kirk will be introduced in the second season (see "Kirk Cast for ‘Strange New Worlds’").

HBO’s Game of Thrones spin-off series House of the Dragon will premiere on August 21, the network announced.  First footage from the long-awaited series, which was delayed by the Covid pandemic, was revealed last fall (see “’House of the Dragon’ Trailer”).

Sharon Stone has been cast as Virginia Kord, the wife of Blue Beetle Ted Kord, in the upcoming Blue Beetle feature, according to Deadline.  The film will be the first from DC to be based on a Latino superhero, and will star Xolo Mariduena (Cobra Kai), directed by Angle Manuel Soto, and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (see "’Blue Beetle’ News").

Disney+ has begun production on the new series based on Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese, actor Ke Huy Quan revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week.  Along with Quan, the series stars Michelle Yeoh and others who Quan described as "a wonderful cast."  Quan cited producers Melvin Mar, Jake Kasdan, and Kelvin Yu. News of the series first broke last fall (see "’American Born Chinese’ in Development").