“Avatar: The Way of Water” Poised to Make Huge Splash This Weekend
James Cameron’s long-awaited return to Pandora is tracking to make a monster splash in its opening weekend. Avatar: The Way of Water, riding high on a wave of good reviews and overwhelmingly positive reactions to its visual splendor, is looking to overtake Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion, and The Batman for the biggest opening weekend. If current tracking holds, it could also become the largest global opening of the year,
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” Animation Supervisor Brian Leif Hansen Packs Puppets With Emotion
Inside a nondescript warehouse on the outskirts of Portland, a little boy made of wood galvanized efforts by stop motion filmmakers for three years before emerging now to wow moviegoers in Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. This dark stop-motion iteration of Carlo Collodi’s 1882 tale, in theaters and streaming on Netflix, takes place in 1930’s Italy, adding Mussolini and forest witches to the story’s signature evil doers: circus master Volpe (voiced by Christoph Waltz) and the monster whale.
James Gunn Writing New “Superman” Film About Superhero’s Early Days
As you’ve likely heard, Guardians of the Galaxy and Suicide Squad writer/director James Gunn has taken over DC Studios, along with producer Peter Safran, and the two have made major headlines in the past week and change about coming changes to DC’s superhero universe. Now, we have some concrete news—Gunn is penning a new Superman film that will focus on the superhero’s early days, and the role will not go to Henry Cavill.
The First “Scream VI” Trailer Finds Ghostface in New York City
Ghostface is about to take a big bite—er, slash—out of the Big Apple. The mayhem leaves Woodsboro, California, for the first time in the franchise and relocates to the City that Never Sleeps. Ghostface on a crowded F train during rush hour? Talk about a hellish commute! (Apologies).
The first trailer for Scream IV picks up after the horror in Woodsboro from the last film. The four survivors from the last chapter have left Woodsboro—who can blame them—and have moved to NYC to try and get a fresh start.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Composer Ludwig Göransson on the Score’s Secret Weapon
One of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler’s closest collaborators throughout his entire Marvel journey has been composer Ludwig Göransson. Beginning with Coogler’s 2018 Black Panther, Göransson has been by his side, helping him breathe life into the music and sounds of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Along with other key collaborators like costume designer Ruth E. Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler,
“Deadpool 3” Director Shawn Levy Promises Franchise Remains As Hardcore As Ever
Just because the Merc with the Mouth is moving over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, don’t expect him to be any less foul-mouthed, ferocious, or funny. That’s the promise that Deadpool 3 director Shawn Levy is making. In a conversation with Collider, Levy says that what fans have come to expect from the Deadpool franchise remains very much intact as they prep the third film, the first to officially fall under Disney’s MCU banner.
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” Trailer Finds Miles Morales in a Spot of Trouble
The first trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is here, and Brooklyn’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), is in a Spot of trouble. Pun intended, of course, because the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) is one of the villains Miles will be facing in this sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
The trailer reveals Miles and his mother, Rio Morales (Luna Lauren Vélez), having a conversation in which Mama Morales is having a little trouble letting go of her baby boy.
New “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” Images Drop Ahead of Today’s Trailer
The first trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse arrives today, yet Sony has revealed a sneak peek via four new images.
The images remind us of what made Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse such a revelation. Those colors! That fantastic design work! The gorgeous animation makes the world of the Spider-Verse a Spidey fever dream, but the original film was rooted in the epic adventures of Brooklyn’s own Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) as he traversed across the multiverse encountering fellow Spider-People and lunatic villains.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Hair Department Head Camille Friend on The Sequel’s Stunning Looks
Both 2018’s Black Panther and this year’s Wakanda Forever have hugely impacted popular culture, not least by expanding the acceptance and expression of Afro-Futurism in everything from fashion and hairstyles to architecture. Both production designer Hannah Beachler and costume designer Ruth E. Carter won Oscars for their work on the first film and are in the running for a return to the podium with Wakanda Forever.
“Dune: Part Two” Wraps Filming
Co-writer/director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two has officially wrapped filming. We learned this from Paul Atreides himself—Timotheé Chalamet—via an Instagram post. The image shows Chalamet in the desert, along with his father Marc, and the caption “DUNE 2 WRAPPED (with desert dad !!).
Dune: Part Two will now move into post-production, where editing, visual effects, sound, color correcting, and a whole lot more will be fine-tuned.
First “Joker 2” Image Reveals Return of Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck
Joker: Folie À Deux has officially begun filming. How do we know this? Co-writer/director Todd Phillips has shared an image from the sequel to his critical and commercial 2019 hit Joker on Instagram, revealing Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck catching a shave. The caption simply reads: “Day 1. Our Boy. #joker.”
I’m not sure I’d go so far as considering Arthur Fleck my boy, but you can’t fault Phillips for being excited about going deeper on this troubled,
“The Whale” Screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter on Hard-Won Hope
In Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, Brendan Fraser is transformed so completely he is nearly unrecognizable playing the title character. Fraser has been the frontrunner for Best Actor in the Oscars race since the film received a six-minute standing ovation at its Venice International Film Festival premiere in September.
The film is based on Samuel Hunter’s award-winning 2012 play of the same name, which is inspired by Hunter’s own challenges with eating disorders and growing up gay in the Midwest as part of an evangelical community.
Michelle Yeoh Will Star in “Wicked” Movies as Madame Morrible
This is a major casting coup. Michelle Yeoh, coming off a big year with her incredible performance in the astonishing Everything Everywhere All At Once, is joining the cast of director Jon M. Chu’s Wicked films.
Variety reports that Yeoh will be playing Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University, joining a star-studded cast that includes Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.
Bringing Stop-Motion Puppets to Life Through Sound in “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
As the Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) grants Geppetto’s (David Bradley) grief-stricken wish to bring forth a son from his wood carving, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio draws life where there are only puppets and sound where there is only silence. The hearty revamp of Carlo Collodi’s classic is so engrossing, you may not recognize the meta miracle the movie accomplishes in an inanimate world. However, there are endless marvels to be seen and heard.
A Chat With Motion Picture Association Fellows Rhyan Lewis & Billy Davis
This year, the Motion Picture Association partnered with the Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program (EICOP) to launch a first-of-its-kind initiative—the MPA-EICOP Entertainment Law & Policy Fellowship. This is the first entertainment-focused law and policy program to serve outstanding recent graduates from Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs).
The fellowship program, which lasts a year, provides housing, travel, and stipends, eliminating the systemic barriers that would bar a potential Fellow from the experience.
James Cameron Says “Avatar 4” Script “Goes Nuts”
With the early reactions to James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water coming in so overwhelmingly positive (the common theme was, essentially, “never bet against James Cameron“), the prospects for Cameron completing his entire Avatar saga (he has three more films planned) seems more possible than ever. Cameron already shot Avatar 3 and parts of Avatar 4 — they filmed The Way of Water and 3 concurrently — so they’ve already got that footage in the can.
“Bardo” Stars Daniel Giménez Cacho & Ximena Lamadrid on Taking a Trip With Alejandro Iñárritu
As with all films written and directed by Alejandro Iñárritu, the auteur’s new release Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths is difficult to define or categorize. He himself has said it is his most personal work, but viewers who love it have felt their own powerful connection to elements of the story. Without question, it is a cinematic experience that goes beyond suspension of disbelief and calls for surrender from its audience.
The Second “M3GAN” Trailer Introduces You to James Wan’s Terrifying Toy
During the previews before Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, there was a trailer that made people squirm a little in their seats—director Gerard Johnstone’s M3GAN. Now, a second trailer for the Universal Pictures horror flick is here, capturing what gave people an enjoyable jolt in the theater that night. M3GAN is, you’ll see, a robot built by a brilliant robotics engineer working at a toy company. This being a film from horror maestro James Wan (he wrote the story and produces,
“Avatar: The Way of Water” First Reactions: A Stunning Visual Masterpiece
Never bet against James Cameron. This seems to be the overriding theme of the first reactions to his long-awaited sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, which arrives 13 years after his groundbreaking Avatar arrived in 2009.
The initial reactions are more or less uniformly positive, with critics and viewers alike marveling at how, once again, Cameron has seemingly reinvented what’s possible on screen. The staggering visuals, especially the scenes set underwater,
“The Flash” Will Speed Into Theaters a Week Early
Director Andy Muschietti’s The Flash will race into theaters a week earlier than expected, Warner Bros. has announced. The studio revealed on Monday that the stand-alone film starring Ezra Miller as the supersonic speedster Barry Allen will now head into theaters on June 16, 2023, up a week from its previous spot on June 23, 2023. This will give the film a little more distance from Disney’s big release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,
