Fresh off of the smash hit success of the indie horror film “Obsession,” Michael Johnston is in talks to join Universal’s upcoming legacyquel to “The Mummy” starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz set to hit theaters in October 2027, TheWrap has learned.

While Johnston previously starred in the MTV series “Teen Wolf,” he has now reached a global audience with his performance in “Obsession” as Bear, an emotionally stunted man who, unable to express his feelings for the woman he has a crush on, makes a wish that she loves him “more than anything else in the world.”

Bear’s wish is granted, as the target of his affections, Nikki, becomes violently obsessed with him, revealing a darker side to Bear that ultimately leads to his downfall.

Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are set to direct “Mummy 4,” which would mark the return of the Universal monster series 26 years after “The Mummy” first hit theaters in 2001. The film stars Fraser as treasure hunter Rick O’Connell, who awakens the evil Egyptian priest Imhotep after thousands of years. The film led to a 2003 sequel, “The Mummy Returns” and a 2008 Chinese-inspired followup, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” which did not feature Weisz as co-star.

Clayton Townsend will produce, with Fraser and Hivemind’s Jason F. Brown as executive producers. David Coggeshall is writing the script, with details on the plot and Johnston’s potential role undisclosed. Universal declined to comment.

The talks were first reported by THR.

A filmmaker grant is looking to help independent female filmmakers shoot their projects on celluloid.

Women Behind the Camera, which is founded by filmmaker and actress Armida López (Boss Level, El Chicano), is behind the grant along with production company 33 & Change Films, MasterBuilt Lenses and ASCF, a nonprofit founded by Thom Kuo and managed by Jessi Spickard that is dedicated to teaching and preserving the art of celluloid filmmaking.

The grantees, which were chosen from a pool of 500 applicants, will receive a full lens package from MasterBuilt Lenses and an additional camera package from ASCF. For the selected winners who will choose to shoot on film, 1,200 feet of free scanning will be provided. A complimentary one-year free membership with the Alliance of Women Directors will also be offered to the grantees.

Grant recipients are filmmakers Anna Remus and LaTajh Simmons-Weaver, and the filmmaking team Mack Breeden and Riley Scott.

Remus has led visual storytelling projects for major brands such as Planet Fitness and Pfizer, and was recently selected for the 2027 cohort of AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women. Her project is titled Eternal.

Simmons-Weaver, whose supported project is titled Rubble, has made films for The Guardian and the Museum of African Diaspora. Most recently, they were behind documentary shorts Hold Me Close and Budget Paradise, the former of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

Breeden and Scott, who collectively run the production company Ginger Tits, will be behind a project titled Gorge. Breeden co-wrote and produced the feature film Horsegirls, and her directorial debut, Praying Mantis, made its international debut at Fright Fest U.K. Scott produced her first feature film, Sisters, winning the Audience Award for Best Film at the InsideOut Festival, and has written films produced by Mar Vista, Lifetime and Tubi.

UPDATED: A Los Angeles judge has ordered singer D4vd (real name David Anthony Burke) to stand trial on murder charges in the killing and dismemberment of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

Burke has been charged with one count each of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

The criminal complaint also includes special circumstance allegations of murder of a witness, murder for financial gain and murder by means of lying in wait as well as a special allegation that Burke personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a sharp instrument, to commit the crime.

“The people have met their burden on all counts,” Judge Charlaine Olmedo said. She ordered that Burke continue to be held without bail. He has pleaded not guilty.

If convicted, Burke could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole. A decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be made at a later date.

“What was presented by our Office over the course of the last week is a small but illustrative fraction of the evidence investigators have accumulated that proves defendant Burke is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the brutal murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. “This has been a parent’s worst nightmare, hearing the ghoulish details of how their child was killed, dismembered and left as trash.”

Burke is to be arraigned on August 31.

PREVIOUS, April 20, 2026: Seeking a quick trial, D4vd entered a not guilty plea Monday in a brief appearance in a downtown Los Angeles criminal court.

Facing first-degree murder and continuous sexual abuse charges with the death penalty over the dismembered killing last year of teen Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 21-year-old singer (whose real name is David Anthony Burke) sat behind a glass barrier this afternoon in L.A. Superior Court Judge Theresa McGonigle’s courtroom.

“We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez,” defense lawyer Blair Berk told the judge and attendees after entering pleas for her client. “We would like to have the evidence come into the light of day, at the earliest opportunity,” Berk added, requesting a fast-tracked preliminary evidentiary hearing. Berk made a point of wanting everything open in court, noting “there have been four months of secret grand jury proceedings.”

In response, Deputy DA Beth Silverman said that her boss Nathan Hochman and the prosecution’s office would be “very happy to put on the evidence we’ve collected against Burke. A formal felony complaint (read it here) against D4vd was filed at the same time in LASC.

Before the judge, Berk lamented the lack of discovery the defense has received so far, and at the same time, as Silverman objected that the evidence collected so far was “voluminous” noted the DA’s office had the time for a detailed press conference on the case earlier Monday. As Silverman cast doubt on there being much material available for a planned follow up hearing later this week, Berk asked the prosecution to endeavor with “conscientious earnestness” to get as much discovery as possible to her team.  

Amidst all that, Hernandez’s parents were seated nearby in the the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center during the arraignment proceedings.

Earlier in the day at a press conference on the case, LA County DA Hochman said the “Romantic Homicide” singer could be executed if found guilty by a jury due to “special circumstances” that permit the rare use of the death penalty in California.

Part of that special circumstance, according to the DA, is for D4vd “lying in wait, murder for financial gain and killing a witness in a criminal investigation” last April. That witness was the then-13-year-old Hernandez, who was allegedly the victim of sex crimes perpetrated by the TikTok sensation. Hernandez was last seen April 23, just before she went over to D4vd’s L.A. home.

D4vd is also facing charges of “lewd and lascivious sexual acts” with an individual under 14 years of age. Similar to the alleged murder of Rob and Michelle Reiner last year by their youngest son Nick, the DA has not made public whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty or go for life without parole for D4vd.

After months of investigation, D4vd was arrested last week at his rented Hollywood Hills residence. The arrest came almost eight months after Hernandez’s decomposed and mutilated body was discovered in the trunk of an impounded Tesla registered in the singer’s name. At that time, D4vd was on tour and out of L.A. Through representatives, he promised to cooperate with the LAPD and other law enforcement on the matter.

Now behind bars without bail, D4vd is scheduled to be back in court Thursday.

Also in court today, Judge McGonigle (who is overseeing the Reiner case as of right now) ordered the L.A. County medical examiner’s office to release the autopsy report for Hernandez. The report is not available because “the Department of Medical Examiner has not yet received notice the court order sealing the case has been lifted,” the department told Deadline.

That paperwork is expected to arrive in one form or another at the medical examiner’s office by Tuesday morning, I’m told.

Denise Petski contributed to this report.