WIRE Buzz: Stephen King's From a Buick 8 film; Lupita Nyong'o nabs 'Us' nomination

The Stephen King adaptation train keeps on rolling, though a different vehicle will be at the heart of the latest film based on the horror titan’s work. From a Buick 8 is getting its own film from the new company Renegade Entertainment, formed by frequent genre and King star Thomas Jane and producer Courtney Lauren Penn.

According to Deadline, the company’s first film will be based on the King novel, the rights to which have now switched over from the company that had them in 2018. From a Buick 8 — not to be confused with Joe Hill’s car-based horror story NOS4A2 which got its own AMC adaptation this year — is about a spooky 1953 Buick Roadmaster. Or what looks like one, at least. The faux vehicle’s real purpose and abilities, like perhaps acting as a portal between worlds, cause the town of Statler, Pennsylvania and its residents all sorts of grief.

“From a Buick 8 is a thrilling and deeply personal project for us,” said the Renegade pair, “as we explore a uniquely structured mystery spanning the 70s, 80s, 90s and post-9/11 era, centered around a son’s search for the truth behind his father’s sudden death. Along with first love and grief, terrifying and philosophic mysteries are spawned by inexplicable events connected to the titular car. We are honored that Stephen is supporting our vision of his brilliant, provocative novel.”

No production timeline has been given for the film, though King is already on board with the project.

Next, awards season’s early days are upon the film world and historically, that meant that genre films were to be quietly confined to categories highlighting technical achievement: special effects, score, production design. But recent history has been elevating the status of horror, fantasy, and sci-fi in the eyes of these awards bodies, with no greater champion heralding genre forward than Jordan Peele. Now Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o has nabbed an early win for Peele’s second feature, Us.

The New York Film Critics Circle, a longtime institution in the world of film criticism, announced its awards today, with Nyong’o honored with Best Actress for her spooky dual performance in the horror film.

Take a look:

This could mark the beginnings of another upset year for Peele’s second film, which was a box office winner even if it failed to reach the exceptional popular and critical heights of his debut, Get Out. The NYFCC also awarded its Best Animated Film award to Netflix’s I Lost My Body, which beat out heavy-hitters from both Disney and Pixar like Frozen II and Toy Story 4.

Finally, hot on the heels of the latest video game release from Hideo Kojima, some news on the Metal Gear Solid movie. The franchise that made Kojima a household name for a certain sect of the gaming community has had a film in development from Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts for a long time. Now Vogt-Roberts has given fans an update.

Capping off a long reaction thread to Marvel's Black Widow trailer, the director dropped some knowledge on the MGS script.

Take a look:

Vogt-Roberts co-wrote this version of the story, though Derek Connolly (Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World franchise and The Rise of Skywalker co-writer) penned the actual screenplay. The film promises to be full of "Kojima-quirk and full Military surrealism," which are only things that MGS fans will really understand, while the director teased that he'll be meeting with an actor soon — possibly to discuss the lead role of Solid Snake.

While this is a slight update for the video game adaptation, any news is good news when projects like this can get iced with little to no fanfare.