Our own Chris Bumbray is currently attending CinemaCon, “the largest and most important gathering of movie theater owners from around the world”, and while there he spotted promotional art for two upcoming Universal releases that have our attention here at Arrow in the Head. One is the “Idris Elba vs. a man-eating lion” survival thriller Beast, which is scheduled to reach theatres on August 19th. The other is the James Wan / Blumhouse Productions collaboration M3GAN, which will be getting a theatrical release on January 13, 2023. Bumbray took pictures of the artwork, and you can see those pictures at the bottom of this article.
Directed by Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband) from a screenplay by Ryan Engle (Rampage), Beast finds Elba taking on the role of Dr. Nate Samuels,
a recently widowed husband who returns to South Africa where he first met his wife on a long-planned trip with their daughters to a game reserve. But what begins as a journey of healing jolts into a fearsome fight for survival when a lion, a survivor of blood-thirsty poachers who now sees all humans as the enemy, begins stalking them.
Sharlto Copley (District 9) plays Nate’s old friend Martin Battles. Also in the cast are Iyana Halley (The Hate U Give) as Nate’s 18-year-old daughter Meredith and Leah Sava Jeffries (Empire) as his 13-year-old daughter Norah. Beast was produced by Will Packer and James Lopez, with Jaime Primak Sullivan and Bernard Bellew serving as executive producers.
Based on a story crafted by Wan, M3GAN was directed by Gerard Johnstone (Housebound) from a screenplay by Akela Cooper (Malignant). Allison Williams (Get Out) plays
Gemma, a brilliant roboticist at a toy company who uses artificial intelligence to develop, M3GAN, a life-like doll programmed to be a kid’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally. After unexpectedly gaining custody of her orphaned niece, Gemma enlists the help of the M3GAN prototype – a decision that has unimaginable consequences.
Williams is joined in the cast by Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians). M3GAN was produced by Wan and Jason Blum, with Williams, Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Ryan Turek, Adam Hendricks, Greg Gilreath, and Mark Katchur serving as executive producers.
Are you looking forward to either Beast or M3GAN? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
