I watched Mark Hamill put on the Pope hat and the room shifted like a carnival barker stepping onstage. You could feel the comic confusion—he didn’t get the show, and he was glad of it. I want to show you why that admission matters more than the costumes.
I’m writing from the cheap seats and the press room; you get to stay up close. Read this the way you watch a scene: for the details that change how you feel about everything that follows.
The moment at FAN EXPO Anaheim
On the convention floor, cosplay engines and camera flashes overlapped into a single noise. Mark Hamill confessed he doesn’t “get” Twisted Metal, and that confession reframes a performance you might otherwise take at face value.
Hamill told Screen Rant that he read the script, watched episodes, and still didn’t fully grasp the show’s appeal — and then he joined it. That’s important: he’s not rejecting the material. He’s offering himself to it, and his unfamiliarity becomes a tool. Playing “the Pope of New York” — an ex-cabbie turned nutty ecclesiastical figure — gives him room to be untethered and unpredictable, which he says benefits the role.
He name-checked Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz, praising their chemistry, and mentioned he’ll be absent for two months of filming. For fans tracking actor availability and release windows, that’s the kind of production detail that shifts expectations.
Why does Mark Hamill say he doesn’t get Twisted Metal?
Because he’s honest about being outside its internal logic. He read the script, watched episodes, and still found the tone strange — then leaned into that mismatch. That reaction is a creative choice as much as a critique: a seasoned actor making oddness work for character, not against it.
Who plays the Pope in Twisted Metal?
Mark Hamill plays the Pope of New York, a role he describes as “nuts” and liberating. If you follow casting buzz on Screen Rant or social recaps from FAN EXPO, that’s the detail fans clip and circulate.
Hamill’s description of putting on the hat and changing is revealing. His performance will likely be a steady, odd counterpoint — as steady as a metronome — to the show’s chaos. That contrast is why his “I don’t get it” line doesn’t undermine the series; it amplifies curiosity.
Red Room adds a title to a very dark project
I refreshed Mike Flanagan’s Red Room Pictures page and the listing blinked into view. The long-gestating Exorcist project now has a name: The Exorcist: Martyrs.
The change, spotted on Red Room’s official projects list, functions like a publishing date on a book you’ve been promising to read. It signals the project is moving from rumor to the next phase of production planning. Keep Red Room Pictures, Deadline, and industry trackers on your watchlist for casting and release updates.
A composer returns to the follow
On a rainy afternoon, I replayed the haunting chord from the original soundtrack and felt it settle in the chest. David Robert Mitchell confirmed to Empire that Disasterpeace will score They Follow, the sequel to It Follows.
That choice matters: Disasterpeace’s sound defines the first film’s dread. Bringing him back is a production cue that the sequel aims to preserve tonal continuity rather than reinvent its audio language. If you track composers via Bandcamp or streaming credits, this will shape early impressions months before trailers land.
A Resident Evil visual with a strange comparison
At my desk, an image of a snarling zombie stopped me cold. Empire published a new image from Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil, and Cregger compared Austin Abrams’ character to Frodo Baggins — an everyman tasked with a sacred, dangerous mission.
Cregger’s framing matters: he says this film feels like “one gigantic sequence” that keeps escalating. That rhythm borrows directly from game design — set-piece to set-piece — and signals a pulse-quickening experience rather than a fragmented horror anthology. Watch for how the marketing leans into that continuous-gamble energy.
Strange new films and casting notes
On my feed, Deadline items kept popping up like chapter headings. Flula Borg and Tony Kotsur wrapped The American Winner, a satirical horror set in a billionaire’s palatial bathroom; Chase Yi joined Paranormal Activity 8; and Ian Tuason is attached to direct.
Flula’s role as a market-manipulating tech billionaire feeding a bizarre progeny promises a tight, theatrical setting. These sorts of contained premises travel well on streaming platforms and genre festivals — keep an eye on Netflix, A24-adjacent distributors, and festival lineups for early pickups.
Creature trailers and teen slasher beats
On a YouTube scroll, I watched a shark thrash in a polluted cave. The trailer for The Devil’s Mouth pits Kathryn Newton and Lana Condor against a mutated bull shark in toxic freshwater — a simple high-concept hook with clear viral potential.
Meanwhile, Denise Richards shows up in the slasher You’re Dead to Me opposite Ella Anderson and Siena Agudong, a story about seniors skipping prom for a secluded cabana and the consequences that follow. Both trailers are built to perform in discovery feeds and algorithmic recs; they’ll rely on short-form clips and influencer shares to build momentum.
Paranormal activity and casting updates
In my inbox, Deadline’s casting alerts arrived like RSVP notices. Chase Yi has joined Paranormal Activity 8, and names continue to roll in for long-running franchises that still trade on brand recognition.
Director attachments and casting reveals are the production milestones that move a title from rumor to financing-ready. If you follow Hollywood trades and production databases like Production Weekly, you’ll see how these announcements map to shooting schedules and saleable rights.
Rick and Morty taps an Ent
On the streaming schedule, an animated clip hit my feed and made me laugh out loud. A clip from Sunday’s new Rick and Morty shows the duo harvesting sap from Ent-like treefolk in “Mortgully: The Last Rickforest.”
That kind of cheeky myth-play is the show’s brand — a detail that keeps long-term viewers engaged and provides easy shareable moments for fandom accounts on X and TikTok.
Want deeper tracking? Watch Deadline, Empire, Red Room Pictures, Screen Rant, and festival lineups for the next wave of announcements. Are you more interested in Hamill’s offbeat approach or Flanagan’s newly christened exorcism — and what does that choice say about your horror radar?