First “Dune: Part Two” Teaser Reveals Paul Atreides Summoning a Sandworm
How far has Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) come since the first Dune? Well, in our very first glimpse of Dune: Part Two, we find Paul out in the desert of Arrakis, deploying a thumper to lure a sandworm to the surface. The brief teaser—the full trailer arrives today—reveals Paul’s maturation amongst the Fremen, the native Arrakis who dwell in the Spice-rich deserts and have created a symbiotic relationship with the colossal,
“Evil Dead Rise” Production Designer Nick Bassett on Building the Apartment From Hell
The Evil Dead franchise is all about cabin life. The franchise’s iconic location, however, is nowhere to be seen in Evil Dead Rise. The new installment gets a fresh look in director Lee Cronin’s sequel, thanks in part to production designer and art director Nick Bassett.
Evil Dead Rise is focused on two estranged sisters and the hell that’s unleashed once they’re reunited. Tattoo artist Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) lives in a dilapidated bank-turned-apartment complex with her three children,
Pedro Pascal Nearing Role in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” Sequel
Pedro Pascal is getting close to entering the Colosseum.
The star of The Last of Us and The Mandalorian is in talks to join Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel for Paramount. Scott is already hard at work on the sequel to his 2001 Best Picture Oscar winner, which will see Connie Nielsen reprising her role as Lucilla, the sister of Commodus (played in the original by Joaquin Phoenix).
Marvel’s “Blade” Recruits “True Detective” Creator Nic Pizzolatto to Sharpen Story
Marvel’s upcoming Blade is sharpening its knives as it nears a late May production start.
True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto is re-teaming with Mahershala Ali, who starred in season three of Pizzolatto acclaimed HBO crime noir series, to help get Blade into tip-top narrative shape.
The film is one of Marvel’s most marquee upcoming installments, bringing the Oscar-winner Ali into the fold in a reboot for a beloved character (the Wesley Snipes-led Blade trilogy was a New Line production and came out before the MCU) and Marvel’s first proper turn towards the horror genre.
“Polite Society” Writer/Director Nida Manzoor on Her Genre-Melding Feature Debut
Writer/director Nida Manzoor grew up on martial arts, action, and Bollywood, so it makes sense that her feature directorial debut Polite Society would be a genre mashup that includes all that and more. An idea she’s been kicking around since her teen years, the film is a celebration of sisterhood, inspired, in part, by her experiences as a kid learning karate with real-life sister Sanya. Though you might know Manzoor for her iconoclastic and very feminist series We Are Lady Parts,
“The Hunger Games: The Ballads of Songbirds & Snakes” Official Trailer Lures You Back to Panem
Your return trip to Panem has officially been booked.
Lionsgate has revealed the first official trailer for The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the newest installment in the franchise, this one based on Suzanne Collins’ prequel novel. Fans of The Hunger Games will now get a chance to see how the wicked world of Panem came to be.
Director Francis Lawrence returns to the franchise with a brand new cast,
First “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Reactions Say Trilogy Closes With a Thrilling, All-Time MCU Classic
We’re a week away from the premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, the third and final film in James Gunn’s trilogy. It’s a bittersweet ending for Gunn, who, as you know by now, is the new co-chief at Marvel’s rival, DC Studios. Yet his final film is a momentous one for the filmmaker and for the MCU, and now the first reactions from critics are finally here.
The film sees all the original Guardians returning for one final adventure—Peter Quill (Chris Pratt),
“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” Official Trailer Roars New Life Into Franchise
The official trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is here, revealing the franchise’s chest-thumping new direction as a whole new host of metallic alien colossi stomp into view. The new trailer offers a longer, more detailed look at the seventh installment of the Transformers franchise, which is set in 1994 and is inspired by the ’90s Beast Wars cartoon. As we learned when the previous trailer dropped,
Steven Spielberg Saw “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” & Loved It
If there was one person above all that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director James Mangold was hoping to impress, it was Steven Spielberg. Mangold took the Indiana Jones reigns from Spielberg, the first director ever to do so, to steer Harrison Ford on his last adventure as the swashbuckling archeology professor and adventurer. Mission accomplished, Mr. Mangold. Spielberg saw Dial of Destiny, and he loved it.
Christopher Nolan Reveals Riveting “Oppenheimer” Footage at Universal’s CinemaCon Presentation
Theater owners have good reason for loving Christopher Nolan. The filmmaker has been one of the most outspoken champions for the glories and importance of the movie theater experience, and he’s done his level best to provide both theater owners and moviegoers with the types of movies that are tailor-made for the biggest screen possible, from his Dark Knight trilogy to Inception to Dunkirk and Tene. A Nolan movie is as good a reason as there is to head to the multiplex.
Change Begins at Home — Diversity Initiatives Across MPA Member Studios
During the Berlinale Film Festival earlier this year, the Motion Picture Association’s European team brought together a panel of industry veterans to discuss the state of diversity in filmmaking and how to ensure that efforts to foster it have real teeth. The lively, hopeful discussion was indicative of a bigger internal shift taking place across the MPA’s member studios, two of which have recently launched their own ambitious internal diversity initiatives, embarking on new approaches to find and foster talent in previously overlooked regions,
Warner Bros. Unveils Stunning “Dune: Part Two” Trailer at CinemaCon
Warner Bros. has had a very eventful time in Las Vegas at CinemaCon, the annual gathering of theater owners. Their presentation included screening The Flash in its entirety (to delighted, stunned reactions), a glimpse of their upcoming film Wonka, and, the focus of this piece, the first look at Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Dune: Part Two.
The new trailer revealed Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides has matured into the Muad’Dib,
First “The Flash” Reactions From CinemaCon: One of The Greatest Superhero Films of All Time
Yesterday at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Warner Bros. screened director Andy Muschietti’s The Flash for theater owners and assorted media, and the first reactions are overwhelmingly positive. In an echo of Paramount’s screening of Top Gun: Maverick last year, which blew the audiences away, The Flash is now speeding towards one of the best critical receptions in the history of DC Studios.
As the new trailer revealed,
Epic New “The Flash” Trailer Reveals Michael Keaton’s Batman Getting Nuts
Warner Bros. is set to screen director Andy Muschietti’s The Flash for theater owners at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, and now we’ve got a brand new trailer to feast on. How excited are the folks at Warner Bros. and DC Studios about this film? Put it this way—the last film to screen in its entirety at CinemaCon was Top Gun: Maverick because Paramount Pictures knew they had the goods. These are the same vibes we’re getting from The Flash,
Harry Belafonte, Multi-Talented Singer, Actor, Producer & Activist Passes Away at 96
An icon has passed on.
Harry Belafonte, an EGOT winner and civil rights trailblazer, has died at 96 at his home in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, his spokesman Ken Sunshine revealed to multiple outlets. His wife Pamela was by his side.
Belafonte, the Caribbean-American superstar whose “Day-O” gave Calypso music its first national smash hit, was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in November 2014 for his momentous impact.
Denzel Washington Returns as Robert McCall in “The Equalizer 3” Trailer
Robert McCall has some demons.
That’s to be expected considering the type of life McCall (Denzel Washington) led before he retired—the man was a government assassin, after all—which is why he devoted himself to meting out justice for those who would otherwise never get it. In the first trailer for The Equalizer 3, we find McCall’s new life in Southern Italy upended by a pesky little problem—the mafia. Yet knowing McCall,
Sony Unveils 14 Minutes of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” at CinemaCon
Things are heating up in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. At CinemaCon in Las Vegas, the annual gathering of theater owners, the studio unveiled the first look at their bloody, R-rated feature Kraven the Hunter, a new film starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the iconic Spider-Man villain. Then, they gave theater owners an even meatier look at another of their Spidey properties, the hotly anticipated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to their Oscar-winning 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Sony Reveals Bloody, R-Rated “Kraven the Hunter” Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Spider-Man Villain
Venom and Morbius are about to get some company.
Sony Pictures revealed the first peek at Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Kraven the Hunter at their CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas for theater owners. Taylor-Johnson introduced the first look himself via video, including the fact that Kraven will be the first R-rated feature that Sony has produced for their Marvel properties.
The film comes from director J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year,
“The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die” Stunt Coordinator Levente Lezsák on Orchestrating a Viking Melee
Action buffs who enjoy English history will find much to savor in The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die. The Netflix epic (now streaming) follows five seasons of The Last Kingdom to chronicle the bloody Battle of Brunanburh in 937 when native Saxons crossed swords with invading Vikings and warriors from Scotland. Both sides suffered huge losses in the brutal Game of Thrones-meets-Braveheart massacre,
“Chevalier” Screenwriter & Executive Producer Stefani Robinson on Hitting the Right Narrative Notes
The story behind French Creole composer and virtuoso violinist Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, has been largely neglected in music history until recently. His life sounds too incredible to be true. He was born in 1745 in Guadeloupe, the son of an enslaved Senegalese woman Nanon and her captor Georges de Bologne Saint-Georges, and sent to France as a young child to be educated in the best schools. Though he struggled with the bigotry of being a man of color and was limited by racist laws that controlled his life,
