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SYFY WIRE The Mandalorian

WIRE Buzz: Mandalorian & Child enter National Portrait Gallery; Welcome to the Blumhouse 2021 lineup; more

By Nivea Serrao
Screenshot of Mandalorian Painting in the National Portrait Gallery

William Shakespeare. Sir Ian McKellen. Baby Yoda The Child. 

The scene-stealing star of the first season of The Mandalorian is the latest famous face to grace the walls of London's National Portrait Gallery, a museum devoted to paintings of famous individuals throughout history. But the tiny tyke isn't the only one featured in the 3' x 2' oil painting, as he's also joined by his adopted father, the Disney+ series' titular bounty hunter — otherwise known as Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal). Together, they're posed in a play on Duccio di Buoninsegna's original painting titled "Madonna and Child," which spawned its own genre of famous artwork. 

The out of this galaxy portrait, which will be exclusively displayed at the National Portrait Gallery, will be open to the public on Oct. 30-31 to celebrate the premiere of the second season of the hit series. The painting will be shown as part of a larger collection of Star Wars-themed portraits which features many familiar faces from around the galaxy, including Sir Alec Guinness, Thandie Newton, Felicity Jones, Ben Morris, Riz Ahmed, and Gareth Edwards.

The display will also include original concept art from The Mandalorian created by artists such as Doug Chiang, John Park, and Christian Alzman.

"We really like the composition of the portrait," said members of the Gallery's Youth Forum. "We’re all so used to seeing the Child as a cute meme, but he’s not in the centre of the canvas, he’s down to one side. It really makes you look carefully to see what the picture is about and what the relationship is with the figure of the Mandalorian."

Check out a time lapse of the portrait being painted below:

Season 2 of The Mandalorian premieres on Disney+ Oct. 30. 


BlumFest 2020 continues! The horror movie production house followed up today's announcements regarding Insidious 5 and Halloween Kills with one about an upcoming film from none other than Academy Award winner John Ridley

According to Deadline, the 12 Years A Slave and American Crime series creator is writing and directing the currently untitled project. The film is based on the recently published Truly*Adventurous article “Project Poltergeist” by Saleah Blancaflor, which tells the story of the true events that scared a young boy in New Jersey in the 1960s, as it focuses on the first alleged haunting in a public housing project.

"This is an incredible true-life narrative of a young man dealing with horrors – both paranormal and racially systemic – in a community that is scarred by hate, yet ultimately brought together by hope," said Ridley in a statement. "I really appreciate Blumhouse’s commitment to telling stories that seek to entertain audiences even as it challenges them." 

"The best scary movies are always based on a real event, and we were very compelled by the material this story is based on," added producer Jason Blum. "I also know that John Ridley is as good as you get as a dramatic storyteller, so we’re confident that infusing this story with John’s brand of drama is a great bet."

That wasn't the only announcement to emerge from the fright fest, as Blumhouse also seized the opportunity to reveal the titles and directors of the remaining four movies that make up the second half of its Welcome to the Blumhouse line-up on Prime Video.

Diehard horror fans can look forward to: The Manor, written and directed by Axelle Carolyn; Black as Night, directed by Maritte Lee Go; Madres, directed by Ryan Zargoza; and Bingo, directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero. 

No release date or official synopsis has been announced yet for any of these titles. 


And finally, Netflix is adapting yet another manga. This time it's Haro Aso's suspense-filled Alice In Borderland — as revealed by its newly released trailer (below). 

Much like the Lewis Carroll novel its title references, the upcoming television series sees its three slacker leads transported into an alternate, almost post-apocalyptic version of Tokyo, one without any sign of other human life. (Or a very late white rabbit!)

As they explore this strange new world, Ryōhei (Kento Yamazaki), Daikichi (Keita Machida), and Chōta (Yûki Morinag) run into a young woman by the name of Saori (Ayame Misaki) who guides them to a set of cell phones as she instructs them on how to survive the "Borderland." They soon learn that the only way is to venture deeper and keep listening to their phones, all while being roped into all manner of strange games, as overseen by the Borderland's egomaniacal ruler. 

Alice in Borderland falls onto Netflix on Dec. 10.