Longtime friend and “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” producer Mike Kaplan confirmed Hodges’ passing on December 20. Hodges died of heart failure December 17 at his home in Dorset, England. He is survived by his wife Carol Laws, two sons Ben and Jake Hodges, and five grandchildren. Hodges helmed gangster thriller novel adaptation “Get Carter,” which starred Michael Caine as hitman Jack Carter who investigates a pornography ring involved in his brother’s murder....

Picking up immediately after the events of Green’s 2018 “Halloween,” “Halloween Kills” follows Laurie Strode (returning franchise star Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer), and Karen’s teenage daughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) as they grapple with the horrifying realization that, nope, Michael Myers is not dead and is still hellbent on murdering them, as well as whoever else gets in his way, even random passerby on the street, anyone....

A new report from Variety confirms it was Hans Zimmer himself who was behind the reworking of “Eclipse” for the “Dune” trailer. The Oscar-winner has spent a majority of quarantine finishing the original score for “Dune,” and he took a break from the main score to oversee the recording of the Pink Floyd cover. Working with a 32-voice Los Angeles choir, Zimmer held eight sessions with four vocalists at a time in order to maintain social distancing measures....

The Jon M. Chu-directed musical, based on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway production, is set apart from most films released anymore in several important ways. The preopening predictions of its gross — inexact these days, since they mostly poll the more limited audience that already has returned to theaters — suggest under $15 million. That would be under several recent debuts, but as always, the initial number might not tell the full story....

The series, which has been in development at Fremantle for years and has now moved to Sony Pictures Television, is based on Richard Flanagan’s 2013 novel, which received critical acclaim and won the Booker Prize. Elordi will star in the adaptation as the main protagonist Dorrigo Evans, an Australian army surgeon imprisoned in a Thai-Burmese camp. The original novel jumps across multiple periods of Evans’ life, from his affair as a young man with his uncle’s wife to his experiences in the war to his days as an elderly man consumed with regret....

While the Ridley Scott film is nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 94th Academy Awards, the Adam Driver and Lady Gaga–led biopic was shut out of all acting categories, even after picking up nominations at the BAFTAs and SAG Awards for Gaga and supporting star Jared Leto. Gaga also was nominated for a Golden Globe and won the NYFCC Best Actress award. Now, Leto is breaking his silence on the Oscars snub, calling Gaga’s lack of a nomination a “shock and a surprise” in a Variety cover story....

Speaking to Variety from the Locarno Film Festival, where he is set to receive the Premio Raimondo Rezzonico for Best Independent Producer, Blum did not mince words about the current state of the franchise and his desire to move on from it. “It has been enough already,” Blum said. “That last ‘Paranormal Activity’ movie was terrible.” Though the production company that bears his name has become synonymous with inexpensive horror movies that often spawn multiple sequels, Blum made it clear that he doesn’t feel the need to extend his franchises forever....