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STRANGER THINGS Clips Explain Why Steve Didn’t Die, Go Behind the Scenes

It still feels like such a long time before October 27 and we can finally head back to Hawkins, IN to catch up with Sheriff Hopper, Joyce Byers, Mike and Nancy Wheeler, that girl called Eleven, and all the other great characters both friend and foe in the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things season two. It’s going to make for a pretty fantastic Halloweekend viewing, but it’s still over a month off. WHAAAA!!! Luckily, the people behind the show know how antsy fans are getting and the Stranger Things Twitter account has been sharing tons of behind the scenes pictures and featurettes.

First up, we have producer Shawn Levy and the Duffer Brothers explaining the importance of science–and science teachers–to both the show and to kids. We also find a very clearly delineated list of things that the Duffers do and do not find scary (hint: mostly it’s aliens.)

Aliens are real. Also ghosts. The Duffers say so. #StrangerThursdays pic.twitter.com/bSd73CleUK

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) September 14, 2017

Next, we have Natalia Dyer (Nancy) and the Duffers discussing the oft-misunderstood character of Steve. They explain that Steve was initially going to die in season one, but that due to the casting and performance of Joe Keery, they decided to keep him around. (Personally, though: even though Keery is clearly a charming actor, I never warmed to Steve. Bullies be bullying. Anyway, it made the end of the season more complex, for sure.)

Steve Harrington’s story didn’t always end happily, says @nataliadyer. #StrangerThursdays pic.twitter.com/W6k6GpS7gd

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) September 14, 2017

The Twitter account also shared a fair amount of photos of the kids and of David Harbour just having fun in between set-ups.

Bus break. #BTS #StrangerThursdays pic.twitter.com/13s7V9etjy

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) September 14, 2017

Kids break. #BTS #StrangerThursdays pic.twitter.com/PVmqSbIn4j

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) September 15, 2017

Chill break. That includes you, @FinnSkata. #BTS pic.twitter.com/bJFTTGM3in

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) September 14, 2017

Another clip finds Millie Bobby Brown explaining how hard it is to scream while in that underwater apparatus.

You try screaming in one of those things, amirite @milliebbrown? #StrangerThursdays pic.twitter.com/QBpWNYVM4i

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) September 14, 2017

And this one, from Friday morning, lets you relive some of the keywords and terms from the first season.

Find a quiet place to study these Stranger Words.
Don’t let Steve Harrington distract you. #StrangerRewatch pic.twitter.com/nHtJgrBJA1

— Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) September 15, 2017

The Stranger Things Twitter account is a treasure trove of things like this, plus a billion gifs we’re sure you’ll find entertaining for those long (but shortening) weeks before the new season starts!

Images: Netflix

More Stranger Things Things!

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New HALLOWEEN Will Feature Jamie Lee Curtis Playing Laurie Strode Again

When it comes to the Halloween movies, pretty much everyone can agree on two things: the original, 1978 movie directed by John Carpenter is amazing, and the 1981 sequel that Carpenter wrote and produced is mostly good. From there, not even the people making it can agree, and Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, and Halloween: H20 have all effectively been the third movie in the franchise. Blumhouse’s new outing, from director David Gordon Green and co-written by Danny McBride, is said to be following on from Halloween II again…and somehow Jamie Lee Curtis will be in it.

The announcement was made (totally without context) by Blumhouse’s Twitter account, stating the movie’s release date of October 19, 2018, along with a picture of Curtis standing in front of the iconic Myers House, with the William Shatner-masked killer, who is also her older brother, stalking behind her.

Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode in HALLOWEEN, released by Universal Pictures October 19, 2018. #HalloweenMovie pic.twitter.com/6tbbz2W1ZV

— Blumhouse (@blumhouse) September 15, 2017

According to the official press release, the plot is: “Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, who comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.”

When we initially told you about the project, and how Carpenter was backing it 100 percent and even said he’d be interested in doing the score for it, Green and McBride (who are both executive producing as well) said they’d be following on from Halloween II and not rebooting, which I initially speculated would mean the movie would be set in 1978, or at least shortly thereafter. But with Curtis coming back to reprise her role, and Laurie evidently dealing with Michael four decades later, I’m both incorrect and puzzled.

As I mentioned up top, the Halloween series keeps trying to find a proper follow-up to the 1981 sequel. Halloween III: Season of the Witch was an attempt to make the series something like Tales from the Crypt, with a banner title allowing for different Halloween-set horror tales, but the public loudly cried that they wanted more Michael Myers. So that led, in 1988, to Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, which was effectively the third part. Curtis was not involved, and instead Laurie’s young daughter was the target. Two sequels followed in that storyline, but they got progressively worse.

Then in 1997, Curtis did return for Halloween: H20 (which I will never not call Halloween: Water) which totally ignored movies 4-6 and established that Strode went into hiding after escaping the hospital in 1978. That movie–which is very good, it has to be said–was followed by a frigging terrible entry called Halloween: Resurrection, which opened with Laurie in a mental hospital and having her third (!) final confrontation with her brother. She died in that one.

And now we’re getting yet another continuity rewrite. I’m very intrigued by this, but also slightly dubious; following on from Halloween II has been done several times already, and bringing back Laurie Strode has too. That would also mean that Michael Myers would be in his mid-60s. What if he has arthritis or has bad knees? That’s not gonna make for a super scary killer.

What’s your take on this? Let us know your Halloweeny thoughts in the comments below!

Images: Compass/Trancas/Dimension Films

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist and the host of the horror documentary series One Good Scare. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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Claire Foy is the New Lisbeth Salander in THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER’S WEB

This weekend, The Crown‘s Claire Foy is one of the leading contenders to win an Emmy for best actress. But regardless of the Emmy outcome, Foy has already ended this week with one of the most coveted roles in Hollywood: Lisbeth Salander.

Sony has revealed that Foy will step into the part made famous by Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara in the adaptations of Stieg Larsson‘s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. For the reboot series of films, Larsson’s second and third novels are being skipped in favor of David Lagercrantz’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web. The director of the film will be Fede Alvarez, who is coming off of the unexpectedly successful Don’t Breathe and the intense remake of Evil Dead.

This will be the very first adaptation of The Girl in the Spider’s Web, which continued the story of Lisbeth after the death of Larsson, the original author. The story is a direct sequel to the final novels by Larsson, so it’s unclear if the new movie will address that gap or simply ignore it. Within the novel, Salander goes up against a Russian criminal organization called the Spider Society while dealing with unwanted scrutiny from the NSA. Mikael Blomkvist plays a major role in the story as well, and a new actor will likely be chosen to take over for Daniel Craig in the new film.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web will begin filming next January, and it will hit theaters on October 19, 2018.

What do you think about the casting of the new Lisbeth Salander? Hack into your thoughts within the comment section below!

Images: Sky One Productions/Titan Comics

Will HBO’s Plan to Fight GAME OF THRONES Spoilers Work?

HBO thinks they can spoil the spoilers, but will shooting multiple false endings for Game of Thrones work? Spoiler alert! That’s what we discussed on today’s Nerdist News Talks Back, as well as what to make of Mario’s nipples, and all the latest superhero movie news.

Lady Jessica of House Chobot called her banners today and Mothership writer Amy Vorpahl, along with editors Alicia Lutes and Dan Casey answered. The Nerdist army tried to figure out just what HBO has planned for all of those false finales they are going to film to try and fight leaks and spoilers. What might they look like? Will this plan work? And are there any wild fan theories they hope might turn out to be true?

But while Game of Thrones might be the biggest show in the world, the biggest topic on the internet right now are those oh-so-weird nipples of Mario that led to some NSFW reactions from the world wide web (which we totally spent all day looking at). A huge internet overreaction, or silly fun? Either way, whatta happened to-a Mario’s tribal tattoo-a!

Finally, they ended with a superhero roundup, including: the first look at David Harbour as Hellboy, new Nightwing details from director Chris McKay, and that photo of Vision wearing glasses on the set of Avengers 4.

But don’t forget, you could have joined in on the conversation with us today, because Nerdist News Talks Back airs live every weekday at 1:00 p.m. PST on our YouTube and Alpha channels. We really could have used your help answering the biggest existential question mankind has ever faced: why does a superhero named Vision need eyeglasses?

But that’s okay, because we want you to talk back to us now in the comments below by telling us your thoughts on today’s topics.

Want more from Westeros?

HBO will shoot multiple fake endings for Game of Thrones
History of Thrones: Gods Eye and the Isle of Faces
Eugene Simon shared a painful story from the set on Mothership
The fan theory on where the Night King is headed

A Bunch of STAR WARS Short Stories are Coming FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW

One of the many fans favorite aspects of Star Wars is the vast number of aliens, background characters, and creatures that populate the galaxy far, far away. We all just want to learn more about the characters that fill in the frames and flesh out the universe but never get much dedicated screen time. Thankfully, we’re getting exactly that with Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View a new anthology that tells multiple stories, each written by a different author, from the various perspectives of background characters in A New Hope. With the book due out in October, Del Ray Publishing took to Twitter to reveal several of the 40 stories written for the book with the #FromACertainPOV hashtag.

AND SO IT CAN BE REVEALED. For #FromACertainPOV, I’m tackling a certain droid-hating cantina barkeep… pic.twitter.com/vP5TI5V8Ev

— Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) September 14, 2017

If you’re looking to learn more about the anti-droid bartender in the cantina Chuck Wendig has you covered with “We Don’t Serve Their Kind Here.”

My story in #FromACertainPOV opens the anthology by bridging the gap between ROGUE ONE and A NEW HOPE! Pre-order: https://t.co/RflvIppUzV pic.twitter.com/fwsy5d6KUk

— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) September 14, 2017

Gary Whitta’s “Raymus” promises to further close the gap between Rogue One and A New Hope.

Looked up an old friend for my From A Certain Point of View story, celebrating A New Hope’s 40th birthday! Preorder: https://t.co/aQpbP1o5CI pic.twitter.com/Mh6HobGZSg

— Charles Soule (@CharlesSoule) September 14, 2017

Or perhaps you would like to check in on Lando and the Millennium Falcon courtesy of Charles Soule’s “The Angle.” Hopefully this story reveals more about how the ship left Lando’s possession and ended up being piloted by Han Solo.

#ACertainPOV. Pre order link! https://t.co/cs3zvQAlUq pic.twitter.com/vTzaanMh7r

— Greg Rucka (@ruckawriter) September 14, 2017

Greg Rucka’s “Grounded” will focus on the effects the Empire’s destructive path has on a single person.

So, who am I writing for From A Certain Point Of View? As if I could resist. #FromACertainPOV Preorder link: https://t.co/ME9Nbe47m5 pic.twitter.com/v3nBenLtoq

— Kieron Gillen (@kierongillen) September 14, 2017

Kieron Gillen’s “The Trigger” promises to delve deeper into some of Doctor Aphra’s history.  If you’re not already an Aphra fan check out Gillen’s ongoing comic book series about the character to learn more about her mysterious history.

This is Boba Fett. @Paul_Dini #FromaCertainPOV pic.twitter.com/b7YDINYkp7

— Star Wars Books (@DelReyStarWars) September 14, 2017

Batman The Animated Series and Harley Quinn co-creator Paul Dini spins a Boba Fett yarn in “Added Muscle.” Who among us doesn’t love a good Fett story?

Get inside Tarkin’s head on the very eve of his triumph in my forthcoming short story. #FromACertainPOV pic.twitter.com/w2rb9YVOV6

— Pablo Hidalgo (@pablohidalgo) September 14, 2017

Pablo Hidalgo is a walking Star Wars encyclopedia, so his take on Tarkin should be insightful and littered with easter egg references.

Find out more about Breha Organa in From A Certain Point of View, u can pre-order now

Here’s How The New FUTURAMA Episode Came to Life

The reports of Futurama‘s death have been greatly exaggerated. While the fan-favorite sci-fi series is no longer gracing our airwaves, Nerdist partnered with Jam City’s game studio TinyCo (the creators of the addictive new Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow mobile game) to create a brand new episode of Futurama, written by Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, and the Futurama writers in the form of a double-sized Nerdist Podcast episode!

The epic radio drama reunited the show’s original cast—Fry (Billy West), Bender (John DiMaggio), Leela (Katey Sagal), Professor Farnsworth (Billy West), Zoidberg (Billy West), Amy (Lauren Tom), and Hermes (Phil LaMarr)—and featured special guest star Chris Hardwick in an epic audio adventure. By now, you’ve likely crammed this delightful new podcast into your earholes faster than Fry can eat a gas station sandwich, but what was the making-of this one-of-a-kind podcast actually like? Good news, everyone! We captured exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews with the show’s cast and creators to show you how the Slurm is made…by which we mean how this brand new Futurama episode came to life.

If you haven’t heard the new episode of Futurama on the Nerdist Podcast, click right here! What was your favorite moment of the new episode? Let us know in the comments below, and download Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow to enjoy even more exclusive episode content in-game.

MORE FROM FUTURAMA:

The essential Futurama episodes you should revisit.
Listen to Billy West and John DiMaggio on previous episodes of The Nerdist Podcast.
Could a Futurama scheme stop global warming?

Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@DanCasey).

Image: Fox

GAME OF THRONES Touring Exhibition Kicks Off in Spain in October

Winter is coming, and so is the Game of Thrones Touring Exhibit! The huge new interactive fan experience we told you about this summer now has a start date, and it will be kicking off next month from one of the show’s favorite countries to film in, Spain.

The joint venture between HBO and GES Events will premiere on October 28th at the Museu Marítim in Barcelona for a limited engagement. They say the 10,000-square-foot exhibit “will allow fans worldwide to experience the craftsmanship and artistry of the Game of Thrones production up close,” with “a unique mix of immersive environments, interactives, and multimedia content” featuring props, costumes, and sets from the show.

The exhibition will include displays for the North, the Kingsroad, King’s Landing, Meereen, Castle Black, the Wall, the House of Black and White in Braavos, and the most iconic locale of all, the Iron Throne room.

Tickets are already on sale at gameofthronesexhibition.com, but there’s no word now as to where it will be heading next. If they try to go for authenticity and use Daenerys’s travel plans as a guide, it will stay in Spain for four long years before suddenly changing locations every week.

Although, considering how many characters meet horrible ends on the show, maybe authenticity isn’t the way to go. We’re okay with just seeing all the cool costumes and sitting on some awesome chairs.

Which location in Westeros or beyond the Narrow Sea would you most like to experience? Tell us what part of the exhibition you’re most excited for in the comments below.

WANT MORE GAME OF THRONES?

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Watch The Hound, Jorah, Tormund, and Beric throw down with dueling banjos!

Images: HBO/GES

John Carpenter Just Made a Music Video for CHRISTINE

John Carpenter is one of the all-time cinematic masters of horror, with an impressive legacy of films to his credit; but he is also an accomplished musician who scored many of his own movies. Next month, Carpenter is revisiting his greatest film tunes with “Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998.” To promote his new album, Carpenter has directed and starred in a new music video featuring his updated theme from Stephen King‘s Christine. This time, Carpenter’s the man in the driver’s seat!

This stylish video captures the flavor of Carpenter’s 1983 film. In the movie and in King’s original story, Christine is the name given to a restored red-and-white 1958 Plymouth Fury that takes on a malevolent life of its own and goes on a murder spree. There’s nothing quite as bloody in this video, although Christine does menace a woman (played by Rita Volk) who has the misfortune of meeting the car alone at night.

As we reported last month, Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998 will also feature Carpenter’s new take on his themes from In the Mouth of Madness, Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog, Prince of Darkness, Vampires, Escape From New York, Halloween, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, The Thing, Starman, Dark Star, and the Christine remake from this video. The album will be released on October 20, and Carpenter will kick off a short North American tour in support of it on October 27 in Las Vegas. You can find the rest of Carpenter’s tour dates at his official site.

What did you think about Carpenter’s new music video? Rev up your engines and share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: Columbia Pictures

David Lynch Is Considering More TWIN PEAKS

The long awaited return of Twin Peaks wrapped up recently, after 18 mind bending installments on Showtime. Although the series pretty definitively wrapped up the long standing cliffhanger from the original 1990 show involving Agent Dale Cooper’s evil doppelganger, in typical David Lynch fashion, the new series left a lot of new dangling plot threads of its own. Not the least of which  – Spoilers for the last season – the fate of Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) and just where and when Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) are in the final episode.

Ever since the last episode aired, fans have been wondering if there would be a fourth season on Showtime, or whether this was meant to be David Lynch and Mark Frost’s final word on Twin Peaks for all time. All the actors involved with the last season have been very vocal about their desire to return should the opportunity arise, and Sherilyn Fenn mentioned in an interview that Lynch told her if fans reacted positively, there could be more down the line. But until now, no one had heard directly from Lynch.

But thanks to Welcome to Twin Peaks, we now know what Lynch has to say. While supporting his “Small Stories” exhibition at the Belgrade Culture in Serbi, David Lynch appeared via Skype for a Q&A session to an eager audience, his first time appearing in public since the Twin Peaks finale aired. Lynch remained vague about some of the dangling mysteries (specifically that of Audrey Horne’s fate), saying that it was up to audience to decide.

However, he didn’t rule out more Twin Peaks, but he told fans that they would have to be patient. He told the crowd in attendance it was too early to say anything about a season four, reminding them “It took me four and a half years to write and film this season.”  It’s not a definite yes, but it’s also far from a definite no.

Twin Peaks fans waited 25 years between Fire Walk With Me and Showtime’s new season. If we just have to wait a few more years for some new installments, I think we’ll survive. And if more Twin Peaks happens, expect it to be even more surreal than the last installment, given where we left our main characters.

One more reason to think more Twin Peaks might be on the way – David Lynch announced the recent Showtime series, which was marketed as Twin Peaks: The Return, will be hitting DVD and Blu-ray in December. Curiously though, it’s now being called Twin Peaks: The Third Season, the first time it’s officially been called that. Could that be CBS’ first hint that a fourth season is on the way? Fingers and toes crossed, Peaksies.

Dear Twitter Friends,

The stars turn and a time presents itself.

December 5, 2017.

Blu-ray and DVD! pic.twitter.com/aTbiKTZSC6

— David Lynch (@DAVID_LYNCH) September 14, 2017

Are you excited about the prospect of further Twin Peaks, or are you content to leave things where they are? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: CBS / Showtime

Monster ‘Fatberg’ as Massive as a Blue Whale Backs Up London Sewer

Here’s a riddle for you: What’s made up of oil, grease, wet wipes, fecal matter, and condoms, smells like death, and frequently plugs up the sewers underneath major cities? Give up (on ever eating again)? It’s a fatberg! And there’s currently an 820-foot-long one as massive as a blue whale really cloggin’ up ye olde pipes underneath London. But make no mistake about it, at one point or another, the fatberg comes for us all.

Report of this particularly phenomenal fatberg comes from BBC News, who spoke with Matt Rimmer, head of Thames Water. “It’s a total monster,” Rimmer said of the fatberg, “and taking a lot of manpower and machinery to remove as it’s set hard.” There you have it folks. A hard monster fatberg. That is a string of words nobody should ever want or have to see. But you just have. And if you really want an up close and personal look at what a fatberg’s like, watch the following clip from BBC Earth Lab:

The origin story of the monster fatberg is really a retelling of the classic villain origin story. That is to say, it all begins with the dark side of humanity. Or at least in this case, the side of humanity that flushes oil down the sink and wet wipes down the — we’re talking about London here – “loo.”

The problem is twofold. First, room-temperature oil and heated fats that are poured down the drain eventually hit the cold sewers where they both begin to congeal and harden. Second, people keep flushing wet wipes down the toil-loo, and they don’t disintegrate like normal toilet paper. In fact, they’re designed with hearty fibers to be quite resilient. The hardened oils and fats cling to the wet wipes, and suddenly it’s Fatberg ahoy! 

The most recent fatberg found in London, from September 2017. 

Don’t look down your sump pump at London as the only place where fatbergs lurk, however. A little digging reveals fatbergs underneath many major cities, including New York City, which, according to The New York Times, paid about $4.65 million in 2014 to clear up what it referred to as FOG or “Fat Oil and Grease” from its sewers. Although FOG doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as fatberg does it? Incidentally, the sewer Titanic capsized when it couldn’t see through the FOG and hit a fatberg. RIP sewer Titanic.

As for what you can do to help prevent fatbergs, the advice is pretty simple: “Bin it, don’t block it,” London water management says. Or you can just take Leela’s advice.

What do you think about this hulk of a fatberg? Clog the comments section below with your thoughts!

Images: BBC Earth Lab

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