Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” Reveals Official Trailer
We can think of no filmmaker better suited to adapt Carlo Collodi’s iconic story about a wooden marionette who’s magically brought to life to help heal the soul of a grieving woodcarver than Guillermo del Toro. And now, at long last, we have our first really good look at what the visionary behind Nightmare Alley, The Shape of Water, and Pan’s Labyrinth has done with the material.
The trailer introduces us to Sebastian J...
Netflix to Expand “The Gray Man” With a Sequel & Spinoff
Netflix’s spy thriller The Gray Man was only the beginning.
The streaming giant has big plans to turn the Russo Brothers’ breathless caper, starring Ryan Gosling as a prodigiously talented assassin for the CIA, into a franchise. With the film bowing this past Friday night, Netflix has already revealed plans to add a sequel starring Gosling and a spinoff, both of which are already in development.
For the sequel, Gosling will return in another Russo Brothers-helmed flick,...
“Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” Director Will Be “Shang-Chi” Filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton
Avengers, assemble.
After Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige revealed the MCU’s big plans to bring back the Avengers in Phase 5 and 6, the question became who would direct these mammoth super-team epics. The Russo Brothers helmed both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the latter of which closed out what Marvel Studios called their Infinity Saga and ended a definitive chapter in the MCU’s expansionist history. Since Endgame, the MCU has broadened considerably to include new superheroes and even new realms...
Listen to “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Prologue Soundtrack With Tems’ “No Woman, No Cry”
With the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer exploding with 172 million views in 24 hours, a lot of people wanted to know, who’s cover of Bob Marley’s iconic “No Woman, No Cry” can be heard throughout it? The answer is the Nigerian artist Tems, and her cover is one of the three tunes that Hollywood Records and Marvel Music have released in a prologue soundtrack.
Tems’ version of “No Woman, No Cry” also includes a Kendrick Lamar sample of “Alright,”...
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Trailer Explodes With 172 Million Views in 24 Hours
The desire to see Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther follow-up Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is immense. In fact, the first trailer for Coogler’s sequel drew one of the biggest responses in Marvel history, nabbing an astonishing 172 million views in its first 24 hours, a source close to Marvel confirmed with Variety.
The trailer was revealed this past weekend as part of Marvel Studios’ massive presentation at Hall H, where Coogler and members of the cast were on hand to give the world its first glimpse at the sequel...
New “Black Adam” Sneak Peak Brings Out the Beast in Dwayne Johnson
“My powers are not a gift, but a curse.”
This is how Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) describes his immense, DCEU-shaking abilities in the new sneak peek at Black Adam that was revealed this past weekend at San Diego’s Comic-Con. Johnson’s titular superhero, or perhaps more accurately, super anti-hero, was “born out of rage”—murdered thousands of years ago as a slave, he was resurrected through his son making the ultimate sacrifice. Reborn and next-level powerful, Black Adam is definitely not the warm and electrically cuddly type like Shazam...
Marvel Studios Reveals Two New “Avengers” Movies & More at Comic-Con
Still buzzing from that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer? Us, too. Yet Marvel had more to share during their time in Comic-Con’s Hall H. Three years after Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige unveiled the plans for Phase 4 there, he was back to discuss Phase 5 and even hint at what’s in store in Phase 6.
Before we can get to Phase 5 and 6, however, we need a glimpse of what’s left in Phase 4...
First “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Trailer Honors a Lost King & Introduces a New Threat
The very first look at co-writer/director Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever pulses with feeling. The teaser opens to Tems’ cover of Bob Marley’s deathless “No Woman, No Cry,” with Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) standing on a gorgeous coastline, silently taking in the beauty of her surroundings and, we imagine, the immensity of her loss. Wakanda Forever was supposed to see Chadwick Boseman reprise his role as T’Challa/Black Panther, of course, but Boseman tragically passed away in August 2020,...
The First “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” Trailer is a Magical Romp
San Diego’s Comic-Con is officially underway, and the first major studio film to grace the vaunted Hall H was Paramount’s long-awaited Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. This is the first time in three years that Hall H has been populated, and the Dungeons & Dragons team didn’t disappoint. Nor does the first official trailer, which reveals the star-studded epic led by Chris Pine, Regé-Jean Page, and Michelle Rodriguez.
D&D stars Pine,...
“Nope” Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema on Capturing the Epic Scope of Jordan Peele’s Latest
Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema failed to get into two Dutch film schools, so he worked in a soap factory, played in a band, and survived unemployment as a self-described “slacker” before finding his creative footing at a renowned cinema academy in Lodz, Poland. Since then, he’s made up for lost time through collaborations with A-list auteurs, including David O. Russell (The Fighter), Sam Mendes (Spectre), and Spike Jonez (Her)...
“The Gray Man” Composer Henry Jackman Breaks Down His 17-Minute Suite
Classically trained at Oxford University, British-born musician Henry Jackman moved to Los Angeles in 2001. Within five years, he’d landed an apprenticeship gig at Hans Zimmer’s music company, and from there, Jackson quickly rose through the ranks to become one of Hollywood’s most versatile composers. Credits range from Kong: Skull Island and Tom Hanks’s tense, fact-based drama Captain Phillips to half a dozen zany animation features, including Wreck-It Ralph. Along the way, Jackson forged an especially fruitful bond with Joe and Anthony Russo,...
“Mortal Kombat” Sequel in the Works With Director Simon McQuoid Returning
The deadliest tournament on the planet is returning.
Deadline reports that a Mortal Kombat sequel is in the works with director Simon McQuoid returning. The original film did quite well at the box office when it was released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max in April 2021. In fact, Mortal Kombat was one of the first films to lure folks back into theaters, and can credibly claim, along with F9 and A Quiet Place Part II, ...
“A Quiet Place: Day One” & John Krasinski’s Next Film Starring Ryan Reynolds Set for 2024
Paramount has shuffled its upcoming film slate a bit.
First up, A Quiet Place: Day One—kudos for them nailing that title, by the way—will hit theaters on March 8, 2024. This is a slight move from the original release date of September 23, 2023. John Krasinski has ceded the directorial duties to Michael Sarnoski, who directed 2021’s deliciously wild Pig, starring Nicholas Cage. Krasinski will produce A Quiet Place: Day One alongside Michael Bay,...
First “Halloween Ends” Trailer Finds Laurie Strode Fighting Michael Myers One Last Time
Might Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) finally find a way to kill the seemingly unkillable Michael Myers? That’s the underlying question in Halloween Kills, the final film in director David Gordon Green’s critically acclaimed trilogy. Myers has been haunting, stalking, and tormenting Strode for years, and she, in turn, has thrown everything at him—at last, we have a confrontation that promises some finality.
The first trailer eschews dialogue (save for one memorable line from Strode when she beckons Michael with some colorful language)...
First “Nope” Reactions Say Jordan Peele’s Latest Stunner is Out of This World
You’ll never look at the sky the same way again.
This is one reaction we’re seeing a lot of from critics who have seen Jordan Peele’s Nope, his eagerly-anticipated third feature set on a horse ranch outside of Los Angeles, and involving some unexpected visitors in the sky. Nope has been hyped as Peele’s most ambitious project yet, which says something considering the big swings he took with his Oscar-winning debut Get Out and his sensational follow-up Us. ...
Adam Scott Joins Dakota Johnson in “Spider-Man” Spinoff “Madame Web”
Madame Web ensnares another star.
Deadline reports that Adam Scott has joined Dakota Johnson in the upcoming Spider-Man spinoff for Sony, with director S.J. Clarkson helming the feature. Scott, fresh off earning an Emmy nomination for his starring role in Dan Erickson’s excellent sci-fi series Severance for AppleTV+, joins a cast that also includes Emma Roberts, Celese O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, and Sydney Sweeney.
Madame Web will star Johnson as the titular superhero,...
“Top Gun: Maverick” Now the Biggest Film in Paramount Pictures History
Eight weeks into its release and Top Gun: Maverick continues to go Mach 10.
The Tom Cruise-led mega-blockbuster soared yet again this weekend, adding another $19.2 million from 65 overseas markets, bumping it up to $619 million internationally. Add another $617 million domestically, and you’ve got $1.23 billion (and counting). It’s official—Top Gun: Maverick is now the highest-grossing film in Paramount Pictures history.
Maverick continues Paramount’s hot streak, with the studio notching hits this year with Scream,...
Isabelle Huppert on the Beauty & Depth of “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”
Isabelle Huppert, one of the world’s undisputed queens of stage and screen, has won nearly every award an actor could possibly receive. In France, she is an Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, an Officer of the National Order of Merit, and a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, the highest honors given to citizens of the country. She is now co-starring in the ensemble cast of Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,...
How “Where the Crawdads Sing” Production Designer & Cinematographer Captured Nature’s Challenging Splendor
After delighting in the alluring visual tapestry throughout director Olivia Newman’s adaptation of the beloved novel Where the Crawdads Sing (in theaters now), you might find it hard to believe production faced a crippling onslaught of rain. So much so, that it flooded the practical set of protagonist Kya’s (Daisy Edgar-Jones) home.
Production designer Sue Chan, whose work includes Shang-Chi, Gone Girl, and Punch Drunk Love (the latter two as supervising art director),...
“Where the Crawdads Sing” Director Olivia Newman on Capturing the Haunting Beauty of a Beloved Novel
Based on Delia Owens’ best-selling novel of the same name, Where the Crawdads Sing (playing in theaters now) tells the stirring story of Kya, a young girl abandoned by her family and forced to raise herself in the marshes of North Carolina. Shunned by her town as the “marsh girl,” she becomes the prime suspect in the murder of an ex-boyfriend.
Daisy Edgar-Jones delivers a captivating, stand-out performance as Kya, alongside David Strathairn, Harris Dickinson, and Taylor John Smith...
