Four Star Trek Veterans Reunite in Michael Dorn’s Sci-Fi Film Life 2.0

Morning News · Thursday 29 October 2026

Michael Dorn has brought three fellow Star Trek actors together for Life 2.0, a sci-fi film he wrote, directed and stars in, shot entirely in the UK. Also this morning: Hellraiser’s David Bruckner takes on Smile 3, Ben Wheatley steps in to direct Molepeople, a farewell to Peter Medak, the British director of The Changeling, big numbers for Crystal Lake, a Netflix horror series to start your Halloween weekend, and a firm “I’m out” from Linda Hamilton on another Terminator.

The News That Matters

Four Star Trek veterans reunite in Michael Dorn’s sci-fi film Life 2.0

• What happened: Michael Dorn, Worf in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, has written, directed and stars in Life 2.0, and sales company OneTwoThree Media is launching worldwide sales ahead of the American Film Market, Deadline reported
• Who’s in it: Dorn is joined by Marina Sirtis (The Next Generation), Michelle Hurd (Picard) and Dominic Keating (Enterprise)
• The story: Dorn plays an operative in deep-space isolation with only an AI hologram for company, until an enigmatic new companion arrives. An accident uncovers the truth about their origins, forcing a fight for survival against motives engineered back on Earth
• Why it matters: It is Dorn’s feature directing debut, and the first sci-fi film to reunite him with Sirtis since Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002. It was shot entirely in the UK, produced by Emily Corcoran for Cork Films and Dorn for Sabrejet
• UK availability: UK date not yet confirmed

Worf behind the camera is a lovely thought, and a lonely operative with only a hologram for company is a very Star Trek starting point. Dorn and Sirtis both appeared in Picard’s final season, but this is something new: an original story made by the people who grew up in the franchise. It is a busy week for Trek alumni, after John de Lancie’s Q returned in last night’s Evening News, and you can catch up on the rest of the month’s news in our Star Trek News round-up.

Hellraiser’s David Bruckner will direct Smile 3

• What happened: Paramount has announced that David Bruckner, director of Hellraiser and The Night House, will make Smile 3, Deadline reported. Variety was first with the news
• Who wrote it: Nick Antosca (Cape Fear) has written the script
• And Parker Finn?: Finn, who wrote and directed the first two films, is busy directing Paramount’s Possession remake. He developed and pitched the framework for this trilogy-completing film and produces with Temple Hill
• The track record: Smile was the highest-grossing original horror of 2022, and Smile 2, with Naomi Scott, took the franchise past $350 million worldwide
• UK availability: UK date not yet confirmed

Handing the final chapter to someone else is a risk, because Finn’s grinning entity is so tied to his style. Bruckner is a smart choice, though. The Night House was all about grief and something lurking just out of sight, which is exactly the ground Smile covers, and his Hellraiser proved he can take on a much-loved horror icon without losing its nastiness.

Ben Wheatley takes over Molepeople as LaKeith Stanfield and Rob Savage exit

• What happened: English director Ben Wheatley (Kill List, High-Rise) is now directing Molepeople for Paramount, Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Paramount Primal, after Rob Savage stepped away because of scheduling conflicts and LaKeith Stanfield left the cast, Deadline reported. No reason was given for Stanfield’s exit, and Deadline says the changes are amicable
• Who’s still on board: Ben Mendelsohn remains in the cast
• The story: Written by Nathan Elston, the film follows a man who goes down into the abandoned tunnels beneath New York and finds a twisted society living under the streets
• Production: Reports had the film due to start shooting in the UK as soon as the end of November
• UK availability: Paramount has it dated for cinemas worldwide on 27 August 2027. It is not yet clear whether the changes will affect that

Losing a director and a star only weeks after the casting was announced is never ideal, but swapping Savage for Wheatley is hardly a downgrade. Kill List remains one of the most unsettling British horrors of the century, and a creepy underground society is a perfect playground for him.

Peter Medak, director of the ghost story The Changeling, dies at 88

• What happened: Peter Medak, the Hungarian-born British director, has died aged 88. His family said he died peacefully in Los Angeles on Tuesday, The Guardian reported
• The horror classic: The Changeling (1980), with George C Scott as a composer who rents a haunted house, was named by Martin Scorsese as one of his favourite horror films
• British films: He also made The Ruling Class with Peter O’Toole, The Krays with Gary and Martin Kemp, and Let Him Have It, about the case of Derek Bentley
• On television: He directed episodes of the 1980s Twilight Zone revival, Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire, Breaking Bad and Hannibal
• A Bond connection: Let Him Have It was the first produced script by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who went on to write seven James Bond films. They told The Guardian he was “a kinder, more respectful collaborator” than they could have hoped for
• UK availability: No new release; this is an obituary

Medak fled Hungary after the 1956 uprising and built a career in London, starting as a trainee at Associated British-Pathé. The Changeling is the film horror fans will remember him for: a quiet, sad ghost story with a bouncing ball and an empty wheelchair that still give people the shivers. With Halloween on Saturday, there is no better time to rediscover it.

Update: Crystal Lake becomes one of Peacock’s biggest series launches

• New development: The Friday the 13th prequel series was watched for 1.3 billion minutes in its first 11 days in the US, making it Peacock’s fourth-biggest scripted original series debut, NBCUniversal said on Wednesday
• The charts: It ranked No. 3 among streaming original series in Nielsen’s chart for the week of 19 October
• The show: Produced by A24 and created by Brad Caleb Kane, it stars Linda Cardellini as Pamela Voorhees, grappling with the loss of her son Jason in the years before the original film
• UK availability: All eight episodes are streaming on Sky Atlantic and NOW

We first looked at the series when it arrived in our Horror and Sci-Fi Brief earlier this month. Turning the franchise’s first killer into its tragic lead was always a gamble, and these numbers suggest audiences are happy to spend more time at Camp Crystal Lake. A second season would not be a surprise.

Netflix’s Korean horror Dead-End Job opens for business on Friday

• What happened: Netflix premieres Dead-End Job, a Korean mystery-horror series, on Friday 30 October
• The story: Desperate to escape crushing debt, Hyeok-jun takes a job from the mysterious Spider Staffing Agency, which pays 50 times the minimum hourly wage with just one rule: never reveal what happens on the job. Sent to what looks like an ordinary convenience store, he soon finds every shift could cost him his life
• Who’s making it: Directed by Kim Da-min, writer of A Killer Paradox, with D.P. creator Han Jun-hee leading the creative development
• Who’s in it: Lee Jae-wook, Ko Min-si, Kim Min-ha and Lee Hee-jun
• UK availability: On Netflix in the UK from Friday 30 October

Watch the trailer

Night shifts in a convenience store are frightening enough without monsters, and Korean horror has a knack for turning everyday worries, here debt and dodgy jobs, into nightmares. It lands just in time for a Halloween weekend binge.

Linda Hamilton says she is out of James Cameron’s next Terminator

• What happened: Linda Hamilton has said she will not return as Sarah Connor, after JustWatch told her in an interview, published last week, that James Cameron was working on another Terminator film
• In her words: “He did say another? He said that? I’m out. I’m out!” she said, laughing. “The last one didn’t perform well, financially, so I’m very surprised to hear there’s gonna be another one. Thanks for the news!” She added: “I wish everyone well”
• Where the film stands: Cameron has said he is working on a new script and that Arnold Schwarzenegger will not be in it, as he wants “a new generation of characters”. There is no official greenlight yet
• UK availability: No release date yet; UK date not yet confirmed

It is hard to imagine Terminator without Sarah Connor, but Hamilton has earned her rest, and her answer is wonderfully honest. Terminator: Dark Fate took about $261 million worldwide in 2019, a disappointment for a film of its size. If Cameron really is starting again with new characters, he has the freedom to do something bold.

Saw II director Darren Lynn Bousman makes figure-skating thriller Serpentine

• What happened: Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed four Saw films, will direct Serpentine for Dream State Studios, Deadline reported
• The story: In a seemingly quiet New England town, organised crime, crooked police, buried secrets and competitive figure skating collide around a woman trying to escape a dangerous life
• In his words: Bousman said it still has “dread, fear and a real sense of intensity”, but in “this strange, darkly funny, Fargo-esque world”
• Who wrote it: Dream State Studios president Valerie Palencar. Part of the budget will come from brands built into the story from the start
• UK availability: No cast or dates yet; UK date not yet confirmed

Figure skating and the mob is an unexpected mix, which is what makes it fun. Bousman has wanted to step outside pure horror for a while, and a Fargo-style crime story on ice sounds like the right way to do it.

Would you watch a Star Trek reunion that isn’t Star Trek, and which of today’s horror stories has you most excited? Tell us below.

Back tonight at 6pm with the Evening News.