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WIRE Buzz: Nicolas Cage fights through Willy's Wonderland; Universe’s Most Wanted; Beacon 23

By Jacob Oller
Willy's Wonderland nicolas cage

Nicolas Cage is battling animatronic animals in his newest horror film, and now fans can get a look at the madness in its first teaser. The film formerly known as Wally's Wonderland is now Willy's Wonderland and gives fans premium Cage content courtesy of writer G.O. Parsons and director Kevin Lewis.

A night janitor (Cage) is stuck in a Five Nights at Freddy's-style haunted amusement center with killer 'bots. Now he and a group of teens need to survive until morning. Yes, it's going to be bonkers.

Check it out:

"Nic plays a janitor who gets trapped in this children’s funhouse-amusement park with Willy, the animatronic weasel, and his gang," Lewis told EW. "I call them the Psychopathic Animatronic Misfits. You’ve got Willy the Weasel, Artie the Alligator, Gus the Gorilla. There’s eight of them, and they spring to life and attack him and others, and Nic has to battle his way out. It’s like man versus machine! They’ve been doing this in the past and they picked the wrong guy: Nic."

Also starring Emily Tosta, Beth Grant, Caylee Cowan, and Ric Reitz, Willy's Wonderland will be released in 2021.


Next, Dave Bautista is expanding from being simply a Guardian of the Galaxy. Now the Drax actor is going to be one of the Universe's Most Wanted.

According to Deadline, the sci-fi film from Rampage director Brad Peyton has cast Bautista as ones of its leads -- specifically, an intergalactic peacekeeper who helps a small-town Earth sheriff's son corral some escaped alien cons. That's a perfect job for an actor who's consistently shown action and comedy chops. In fact, it sounds a little like Lilo & Stitch. With a screenplay by F. Scott Frazier and Jimmy Loweree, the film looks to be a big-budget tentpole affair.

Universe’s Most Wanted looks to enter into production next spring.


Finally, Spectrum Originals and AMC have a new sci-fi series on the way from genre favorite Zak Penn.

Deadline reports that the long-coming adaptation of Hugh Howey’s sci-fi novel/short story amalgamation Beacon 23 got a series order two years after it was originally commissioned. The series, which follows two people trapped in a lighthouse at the edge of the universe (a little more romantic than Hitchhiker's Guide, despite the similarities), comes created and showrun by Penn.

“The notion of a lighthouse in outer space grabbed me the second I looked at the cover of Hugh Howey’s Beacon 23,” Penn said. “Once I read all the other pages, I knew I had a story I could translate to another medium.  For the past two years, with Hugh’s help and the generous indulgence of our wonderful partners at Spectrum Originals, Platform One Media and AMC, I’ve been able to assemble an incredible group of scientists, astronauts, and many of my ideal collaborators to help create an entire universe for this show."

No word on when the spacey series will enter production, but when it's finished, it'll live on Spectrum Originals for nine months before heading over to AMC.