Comics
‘Dredd’s Karl Urban Becomes One of “The Boys”!
Dredd, Riddick, Star Trek, and Lord of the Rings‘ Karl Urban has landed the starring role in Amazon Studios’ ultra-violent straight-to-series superhero drama “The Boys”, reports THR.
“The Boys” takes places in a world where superheroes embrace the darker side of their massive celebrity and fame, and centers on a group of vigilantes known informally as “the boys” who set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.
Urban will play Billy Butcher, who is described as mysterious and brutal with a personal but secret agenda. He approaches Hughie (Jack Quaid), claiming to be a shadowy government operative. Butcher capitalizes on Hughie’s rage over his girlfriend Robin’s (uncast) accidental death at the hands of Superhero A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) and enlists Hughie as part of his plan to bring down the superhero system. Karen Fukuhara, Erin Moriarty, Antony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Chace Crawford, and Nathan Mitchell co-star.
Supernatural creator Eric Kripke will serve as creator and showrunner on “The Boys”, which will be directed by Seth Rogen and his longtime producing partner Evan Goldberg. The trio will exec produce with Original Film’s Neal H. Moritz (“Prison Break”), Ori Marmur (“Preacher”), Pavun Shetty (“New Girl”) and James Weaver of Rogen and Goldberg’s Point Grey Pictures. Comic author Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson are on board as co-executive producers. The Boys marks a reunion for the Preacher team of Rogen, Goldberg, Moritz and Ennis. Sony Pictures Television Studios, also home to Rogen’s AMC comic book adaptation Preacher and his Hulu comedy Future Man, will co-produce with Amazon.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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