‘Aquaman’ Director James Wan Is Making Secret Horror Movie

James Wan will work on a horror film before starting on the sequel to Aquaman.

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Greetings! Welcome to another edition of The Monitor, WIRED’s culture news recap. The Democratic presidential debates occupied a lot of screen time this week, but that doesn’t mean nothing has been happening in the world of entertainment. Let’s dive in.

Aquaman Director James Wan Making Secret Horror Movie

First thing’s first: Yes, James Wan is still set to direct Aquaman 2. But before he does, he’ll be direct what Variety calls “an untitled secret horror project” for New Line. No plot details are known, but it’s expected that Wan will cowrite the script and start shooting this fall before moving on to the Aquaman sequel in 2020.

Woodstock 50 Is Officially Dead

Whoever had July 31 in the Woodstock 50 death pool, it’s time to collect. The festival, which encountered numerous issues over the past few months, announced Wednesday that the festival would be no more. “We are saddened that a series of unforeseen setbacks has made it impossible to put on the festival we imagined with the great line-up we had booked and the social engagement we were anticipating,” festival cofounder Michael Lang said in a statement. Jay-Z and Miley Cyrus both pulled out of the festival in the last week, the latest in a series of cancelations and setbacks.

Amazon’s Head of Entertainment Taking Year Off

In what kind of feels like peculiar news, Amazon’s head of entertainment, Jeff Blackburn, is reportedly taking a year-long sabbatical from the company. The senior vice president, who also heads up the tech giant’s business development and advertising operations, will take off all of 2020 and return in 2021.

Netflix’s New Oscar Bait: The Irishman Trailer

Are you ready to see de-aged Robert De Niro? Buckle up, partner, because he’s below! The Irishman stars the Oscar-winner as Frank Sheeran, an alleged hitman with connections to Teamsters heavy Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). It’s also Martin Scorsese’s big-deal movie for Netflix, and the streamer’s next shot at Oscar glory.

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