The director of Masters of the Universe discusses Skeletor’s new voice. A Megalodon somehow fits inside a prison in The Black Demon sequel. Fay Weldon’s Puffball could become a TV series. And the Scary Movie franchise returns with a timely parody of Ma. Build High for Happiness, it’s Morning Spoilers!
Increase
Variety reports Matilda Lutz, Suzanne Clément, Holt McCallany, and Fernanda Urrejola will star in Increase, a “futuristic thriller” from director Nicolas Bary said to “blend psychological thriller elements with transhumanist themes and body horror influences.” Based on a script of Bary’s co-written with Sheila Erdmann and Mary Noelle Dana, the story concerns Genie (Lutz), “a professional runner whose life is shattered by an unwanted pregnancy and later transformed by a catastrophic accident that leaves her without both legs. Fitted with technologically advanced prosthetics connected directly to the brain, Genie not only learns to walk again but surpasses the limits of human performance as a Paralympic athlete. As she takes the world by storm, suspicions emerge over whether her amputation was really accidental — or a deliberate choice.”
The Black Demon: Atlantis
Bloody-Disgusting has word Jack Kesy, Julio César Cedillo, Harold Torres, Vanesa Restrepo, and Anthony Del Negro will star in The Black Demon: Atlantis, a sequel to the 2023 megalodon movie from cinematographer-turned-director Carmen Cabana. The story is set in Atlantis, “a remote maximum-security prison in the Pacific Ocean. Undercover DEA agent Jerry Simms (Kesy) arrives at the offshore fortress run by the enigmatic Warden Reyes (Restrepo) after his operative (Del Negro) mysteriously disappears while investigating inmate deaths tied to Diego Núñez (Torres), a feared cult-like killer rumored to wield ancient powers. As mutilated bodies surface around the prison and whispers of blood rituals spread through the cell blocks, Atlantis spirals into fear, violence, and chaos. Forced to rely on Chato (Cedillo), a haunted inmate who knows the prison’s hidden underworld, Jerry is pulled into a desperate fight for survival when the legendary Black Demon tears into Atlantis, turning it into a nightmarish war zone.“
Scream 8
Hayden Panettiere stated she’d be “thrilled to come back whenever” as Kirby Reed in future Scream sequels during a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
You can ask. It doesn’t mean you’re going to get it. And there are loopholes. It took a couple films for them to bring me back into the Scream franchise. And obviously, I wasn’t in the last one, but I’m still alive and kicking in that universe so I would be thrilled to come back whenever.
Masters of the Universe
In conversation with Screen Rant, Masters of the Universe director Travis Knight discussed the reasoning behind Skeletor’s divisive new voice.
So, Skeletor, for me, was one of the most iconic villains of the ’80s and it was because there were a variety of factors. I think most villains at that time, they looked cool or they were scary or they were funny or they were intimidating. Skeletor was all of those things, so it’s just a really interesting combination of flavors.
Now the origin of the Alan Oppenheimer voice was that they made this cartoon for kids, and he looked scary, so they needed to find a voice that was not scary. So, they purposely came up with this silly comical nasal voice that took the edge off of a skull-faced character. So, when I was speaking with Jared, we recognized that we wanted to honor all those aspects, including a distinctive voice and an interesting laugh, but we did not want to engage in mimicry. We did not want it to be him doing an impression of Alan Oppenheimer. And it was important for him to get the voice right. So, there was a lot of exploration to figure out, ‘Okay, what does Skeletor sound like?’”
Ultimately, we arrived at this, which I love because I think it has menace, it has theatricality, which is always a part of Skeletor. He was always putting on a show, and then being disappointed when he didn’t get the response that he wanted. Ultimately, he’s a very insecure man and that becomes a part of his character. He’s a power-hungry man who’s deeply insecure and that was a fun thing to dive into and figure out how we could dramatize that character. He is fun. He’s incredibly fun to watch. He’s scary, he’s horrible, but he’s really, really entertaining.
Relatedly, a new clip has our forgetful Adam becoming He-Man for the first time in forever.
Scary Movie 6
Eight new Scary Movie 6 posters parody Weapons, Get Out, Sinners, The Substance, Smile, Ma, Nope, and Backrooms.
The Punishing
Deadline also has our first look at The Punishing, a horror film “rooted in Scandinavian folklore” starring Cara Delevingne and John Boyega.
EXCLUSIVE: While Cara Delevingne’s buzzy Cannes UCR title ‘Club Kid’ takes the festival by storm, the actress is also starring in a buzzy market horror in the shape of ‘The Punishing.’
As we previously revealed, Delevingne stars with ‘Star Wars’ alum John Boyega in the… pic.twitter.com/xgIor37PXb
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) May 18, 2026
Buzzheart
A young woman’s parents run a series of “tests” to gauge the suitability of her new boyfriend in the trailer for Buzzheart.
Her Private Hell
After a mist engulfs a futuristic metropolis, an entity is unleashed in the trailer for Nicolas Winding Refn’s first film in a decade, Her Private Hell.
The Curse
Elsewhere, a self-isolating Moroccan student in Paris hides from a demon that may or may not exist in the trailer for The Curse.
Puffball
Deadline reports a TV series based on Fay Weldon’s 1980 supernatural novel, Puffball, is now in development at Firebird Pictures with Olivier Award-winning playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcolm attached to write. Previously adapted to the screen by Nicolas Roeg in 2007, Puffball concerns “a young London couple, Liffey and Richard, who move to the country with the expectation of having children. Their neighbors are Mabs and Tucker, a farming family with five children of their own. Mabs, jealous of the newcomers’ easy life, sends Tucker to sleep with Liffey while Richard is away, priming her with an herbal aphrodisiac, but she becomes angry when Liffey becomes pregnant and finds that she herself is suddenly unable to conceive.”
Rick and Morty
Summer runs errands for Rick in a clip from the ninth season premiere of Rick and Morty.
Rooster Fighter
Finally, Adult Swim has released a clip from this Saturday’s new episode of Rooster Fighter.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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