That Stephen King is so hot right now. The prolific novelist has had many of his books adapted into movies and TV shows, and following the massively successful It, which now stands as the highest-grossing horror movie in U.S. history, another of his titles is getting a reboot. Paramount has officially set a release date — April 19, 2019 — for a new Pet Sematary movie (the 1989 film received mixed reviews) to be directed by Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer (Starry Eyes).
The 1983 King novel centers around a doctor who moves his family to Maine (King’s home state and the site of many of his stories. When his cat dies, he proceeds to bury it in the wrong cemetery. After the cat comes back to life with some notable (read: creepy) changes, odd and tragic happenings begin to befall the doctor and his family. We won’t spoil the rest of the story, but if you like King — especially if you like freaky stuff — you should be satisfied with what happens next.
It’s nothing new to see King’s work adapted for screens. From The Shining to Cujo to Children of the Corn to Stand By Me (and that’s just the 1980s!), the author has proven himself a gold mine for film-friendly horror. Despite a lukewarm reception, this year’s The Dark Tower has made more than $110 million against a $60 million budget. And there’s no end in sight — a Firestarter remake — with Akiva Goldsman behind the camera! — and a Shining prequel are also reportedly in the works. This has been a banner year for King flicks, with Netflix adapting both Gerald’s Game in September and 1922 in October (plus, of course, The Dark Tower and It theatrical releases).
Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian, and Steven Schneider are producing Pet Sematary, and the only film currently scheduled on its release date (Easter weekend 2019) is Playmobil, an animated film from Open Road based on the toy line.
That’s not the only horror-related news coming out of Paramount this week, either. The studio has also set a 2019 release date for a feature-length adaptation of Nickelodeon’s hit ’90s anthology series Are You Afraid of the Dark? Gary Dauberman (It) is set to write the script and produce along with Matt Kaplan.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.