Alien Star Tom Skerritt Dies at 93 — plus Halloweentown 5 and More

Morning News · Friday 23 October 2026

Hollywood has lost the man who commanded the Nostromo. Tom Skerritt, Captain Dallas in Alien and Viper in Top Gun, has died at 93. This edition also has a Jack the Ripper found-footage chiller from Britain, a fifth Halloweentown, a serial-killer romance for Prime Video, new writers for Marvel’s Zodiac, a $1bn bet on the owner of Star Trek, and casting for Michael Keaton’s Western and Ramy Youssef’s A24 comedy.

The News That Matters

Tom Skerritt, captain of the Nostromo in Alien, dies at 93

• New development: Skerritt died of natural causes on Wednesday 21 October, his publicist confirmed to Variety the following day
• Best known for: Captain Dallas in Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), Commander Mike “Viper” Metcalf in Top Gun (1986) and Sheriff Jimmy Brock in Picket Fences, which won him an Emmy in 1993
• Genre roles: Stephen King’s The Dead Zone (1983), Poltergeist III (1988) and Robert Zemeckis’ Contact (1997)
• UK availability: Alien streams on Disney+ in the UK, and Top Gun is on Paramount+

Skerritt was top-billed in Alien, ahead of Sigourney Weaver, and his calm, weary captain made the horror that followed even more shocking. He had first turned the part down when the film had a small budget and no director, then said yes once Ridley Scott came on board.

Born in Detroit, he served in the US Air Force before making his film debut in 1962. He worked twice with Robert Altman, in MASH and Thieves Like Us, played the preacher father in Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It and turned up as himself in Ted. He is survived by his wife, Julie Tokashiki, and four children.

British found-footage horror Snapshot hunts a monster in Jack the Ripper’s London

• New development: US distributor Dark Star Pictures has bought the North American rights, Deadline reported on Thursday 22 October
• The story: In 1888, an amateur inventor builds the first moving-image camera to follow a society of women ghost hunters, who believe the Whitechapel murders are the work of a monster, not a man
• Behind it: The debut feature from director Joseph Archer, starring Tom Stourton, of All My Friends Hate Me, and Cathy Wippell. It is shot in a pinhole-camera style in a square 1:1 frame
• UK availability: It premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and played FrightFest in London in August. UK release date not yet confirmed

Dark Star plans a US cinema release in early 2027, followed by a digital release, and the film plays the Thessaloniki festival in November. It also has fun with the Victorian press, where made-up stories sold papers, which makes it feel surprisingly modern.

If you want a horror fix sooner, Prime Video has added Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor, which is one of tonight’s three picks.

Disney is developing Halloweentown 5, two decades after the last film

• New development: Disney is in early development on a fifth film, Variety reported on Thursday 22 October
• Writers: Lily Houghton, who wrote the 2026 horror comedy Forbidden Fruits, and Ryan Koehn, of HBO Max’s Gossip Girl
• Where it stands: Not yet greenlit. There is no plot, director or cast, though several of the original stars have said they would like to return
• UK availability: If it goes ahead, it will air on Disney Channel and Disney+. Halloweentown and its sequels are on Disney+ in the UK

The first Halloweentown arrived in 1998, with Debbie Reynolds as a witch grandmother and Kimberly J. Brown as the teenager who discovers she is one too. The fourth film, Return to Halloweentown, came out in 2006.

The films have become a seasonal tradition on Disney+, and the script is based on characters created by Paul Bernbaum, who wrote the original.

Emma Laird and Thomas Doherty to play rival serial killers in Prime Video’s Butcher & Blackbird

• New development: Amazon MGM Studios has bought the film for a worldwide release on Prime Video, Deadline reported on Thursday 22 October
• The story: Based on Brynne Weaver’s BookTok hit, two competing killers who only target other serial killers try to outdo each other, and fall for each other
• Behind it: Chris McKay, director of The Tomorrow War and Renfield, directs from a script by Laura Kosann
• UK availability: Prime Video, which streams in the UK. UK date not yet confirmed

English actor Laird was most recently seen in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple and has Apple TV’s Neuromancer coming up. Scottish actor Doherty currently stars in Paradise.

The novel is the first in Weaver’s Ruinous Love trilogy, which has sold more than five million copies, so there is a ready-made franchise if it works.

Update: Marvel’s spy series Zodiac finds its writers

• New development: Amit Cohen and Ron Leshem will write the Disney+ series, Deadline reported on Thursday 22 October
• The story: Two spies chase targets who have special abilities
• The writers: The pair created Hulu’s No Man’s Land and Israeli dramas including 8200 and Traitor. Leshem also co-created the original Israeli Euphoria
• UK availability: Due on Disney+ in 2028, with filming in 2027. UK date not yet confirmed

Marvel only confirmed Zodiac at New York Comic Con on 8 October, as we reported at the time. Marvel has not commented on the writers.

It arrives as Marvel’s live-action TV slate shrinks: VisionQuest finishes on 10 November and Daredevil: Born Again ends with season three next year.

Elon Musk invests around $1bn in Skydance, the new owner of Star Trek and HBO

• New development: Semafor first reported the investment on Thursday 22 October, and CNBC confirmed it with a source familiar with the deal
• The company: Skydance is the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, which closed its merger on 6 October. It owns Star Trek, DC, Paramount+ and HBO Max
• Why it matters: Skydance is raising money as it targets $6bn in savings, with debt of close to $80bn
• UK availability: No change for UK viewers. Paramount+ and HBO Max both stream in the UK

Neither Musk nor Skydance has commented, and the size of his stake has not been disclosed. Musk has links with the Ellisons: Larry Ellison put $1bn into Musk’s purchase of Twitter in 2022 and used to sit on Tesla’s board.

It comes a day after Roddenberry Entertainment said Star Trek is at a crossroads following the studio mergers.

Baby Reindeer’s Richard Gadd joins Michael Keaton’s Western Rode to Ruin

• New development: Gadd, Bill Camp and Ray McKinnon have joined the cast, Variety reported on Thursday 22 October
• The story: A retired US Marshal’s 40-year search for his wife’s killer leads him to an ageing outlaw who is losing his memory
• Cast: Keaton directs and stars, with Morgan Freeman and Laura Linney. Gadd plays Clive McKinney, the charismatic leader of an outlaw gang
• UK availability: Angel Studios plans a cinema release in 2027. UK date not yet confirmed

Filming is under way in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is a big change of scene for Gadd, whose Netflix hit Baby Reindeer won him Emmys for acting and writing.

Amanda Seyfried joins Ramy Youssef’s A24 comedy Martha & Muhammad

• New development: Seyfried will star opposite Youssef and Sharon Stone, Deadline reported on Thursday 22 October
• Behind it: Youssef’s first film as director, from his own script. Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein are among the producers, and A24 is paying for it
• Plot: Being kept under wraps
• UK availability: No release date yet. UK date not yet confirmed

Seyfried was recently in the thriller The Housemaid with Sydney Sweeney, and has just finished Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Octet. Youssef created and starred in Ramy.

Netflix’s Ted Sarandos becomes chair of the American Film Institute’s board

• New development: Sarandos was elected by acclamation, The Hollywood Reporter reported on Thursday 22 October
• Who he replaces: Bob Daly, who stepped down after 17 years in the role
• UK availability: An industry appointment, with no UK release involved

Sarandos takes over just as the AFI prepares to honour Tom Cruise, who will receive its Life Achievement Award in April. Kathleen Kennedy remains chair of the separate board of trustees.

Which Tom Skerritt role will you remember him for?