How the Emmy-Nominated “WandaVision” VFX Team Made Magic
Laden with special effects, big-name stars, and an audacious high concept, WandaVision represented a big swing for Marvel Studios when it debuted in January on Disney+. The bet paid off. Creator Jac Schaeffer’s series quickly became one of the season’s most talked-about new shows and it’s now validated all that buzz with a whopping 23 Emmy nominations. The hook? Superheroic witch Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and android Vision (Paul Bettany) disguise themselves as man and wife living sitcom-perfect lives in small-town New Jersey.
John Lithgow Joins Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”
It’s no surprise that a Martin Scorsese movie will have a killer cast, but we’re especially enthused about how the ensemble is shaping up for the legendary director’s next picture (as he calls them.) The latest addition to the cast is John Lithgow, who joins Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Jesse Plemons (to name a few) in Killers of the Flower Moon. Lithgow will play a prosecutor in Scorsese’s crime drama, drawn from ace investigative journalist David Grann’s book.
Marvel’s “What If…?” Series Works For Both MCU Diehards & Casual Fans
The premise of Marvel’s latest Disney+ series, What If…? is catnip for Marvel fans. Narrated by a celestial being called the Watcher (voiced by Jeffrey Wright, no less), the series asks us to consider what might have happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe had different decisions been made at crucial moments by the characters we have come to know over the last 12-years. Based on a Marvel comic series of the same name (which remixed moments in the comics canon),
“Ted Lasso” Casting Director Theo Park on Filling Out AFC Richmond’s Roster
Who would have expected an earnest tale of an American football coach brought on to mind an English soccer team to be the pandemic’s breakout hit? Created by Jason Sudeikis, the titular star of Ted Lasso, the show’s joyful brand of storytelling is up for Emmy awards across the board.
Relentlessly upbeat, armed with a bottomless well of musical and literary trivia and a penchant for encouraging heart-to-hearts,
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II to Star in Dystopian Thriller “By All”
You’re going to be seeing a lot more of the talented Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the future. The rising star, appearing next Nia DaCosta‘s highly-anticipated Candyman on August 27, is set to star director Steven Caple Jr.’s By All in what could end up being the beginning of a new franchise. (Caple Jr. last directed Creed II for Warner Bros. and is now working on Transformers: Rise of the Beasts for Paramount,
Tracey Scott Wilson on Penning the Queen of Soul’s Meteoric Rise in “Respect”
Writing a biopic is no easy task, particularly when the subject is an international icon who was a very private person. Indeed, crafting the screenplay for Respect, the highly anticipated drama chronicling Aretha Franklin’s rise from the church choir to the global stage, proved challenging, as well as rewarding, for Tracey Scott Wilson. But the fledgling feature film screenwriter, with an award-winning background in both theater and television (she co-executive produced Fosse/Verdon,
“The Suicide Squad” Production Designer Beth Mickle on Creating Gonzo Sets
James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is a film filled with highly ambitious, no-holds-barred set pieces, nearly all of which are done with practical effects. It’s a story that takes the characters into all kinds of physical environments as they work together to achieve their objective without dying in the process. Collaborating with Gunn to help make his vision a reality onscreen is production designer Beth Mickle. The Credits spoke with Mickle about how she got this high-profile gig,
“The Suicide Squad” Features Real Stakes For Its Maladjusted Misfits
It’s officially The Suicide Squad day, with writer/director James Gunn’s long-awaited film finally in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. Gunn has promised that there will be real stakes for his misfits, and it’s the unpredictability of who will live and who will die that earns The Suicide Squad its title. As the reviews have noted, however, what elevates the film from gleeful nihilism is the fact that Gunn’s created characters who will,
“The Suicide Squad” Review Round-Up Part 2: A Delightfully Gonzo Epic
Last week we took our first look at what the critics were saying about The Suicide Squad. Now, with the film opening today in theaters and premiering on HBO Max, we’ve updated our round-up. The increase in reviews has only bolstered the initial takes from last week—writer/director James Gunn has hit a home run in his first outing for the DC Extended Universe.
The reviews expand on the rapturous early buzz and reveal a filmmaker who may have found the perfect outlet for his particular gifts,
Get To Know The Cast of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
Marvel Studios has released a brand new Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings video, only it’s nothing like what we’ve seen thus far. Instead of getting a teaser or trailer showing us the action in director Destin Daniel Cretton’s film, the new video, titled “Most Likely To,” gives us a taste of the chemistry between three of the movie’s stars. On hand are Simu Liu, the titular Shang-Chi, and his co-stars Awkwafina (she plays Katy,
“South Park” Creators Trey Parker & Matt Stone’s Epic New Deal Includes 14 Movies for Paramount+
Get ready for a South Park cinematic universe.
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have inked a massive new $900 million deal that will include 14 new films created exclusively for Paramount+, two a year, starting this year. The deal also includes the renewal of South Park through season 30—2022 is the landmark show’s 25th season (the show premiered on Comedy Central on August 13,
New “What If…?” Featurette Teases The Watcher’s Unparalleled Visibility Into The MCU
“Reality is not a straight line,” Jeffrey Wright’s The Watcher says at the top of this new What If…? featurette. “Every passing moment is a chance for a new offshoot. A new variation. In fact there are more realities than you can possibly fathom.”
This is as good a synopsis as any we’ve heard about Marvel Studios’ first-ever animated series What If…?, which was inspired by a line of comics of the same name that explored alternate realities within the Marvel comics universe.
Hold Your Breath During This “Don’t Breathe 2” Trailer
If you’re a character in a movie and are planning on pulling off a little light B&E (breaking and entering), pick anybody else’s place but the house of Norman Nordstrom (Stephen Lang). Then again, there’d be no movie without some misguided folks’ barging in on Norman’s quiet life. In the first Don’t Breathe, a surprise hit from director Fede Alvarez, based on a script he co-wrote with Rodo Sayagues, it was some silly teenagers trying to take advantage of a blind old man and rob him.
A New “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” Featurette Reveals Fresh Footage
This Monday saw the release of the official trailer for director Andy Serkis‘s Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Now, a new featurette reveals just how seriously the multi-talented Serkis took on the challenge of stepping into Venom’s world.
“I’ve been making this directing journey for a decade,” Serkis says at the top of the video. “To enter into this level of fan-based, really adored franchise world,
Final “Annette” Trailer Sheds Fresh Light on Cannes Crowd Pleaser
Fresh from earning a five-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, Amazon has revealed the final trailer for Leos Carax’s Annette. The visionary director behind Holy Motors (2012) and Boy Meets Girl (1984) has dispatched Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard in his latest, genre-defying feature, this one inspired by a chance encounter he had at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013.
That encounter involved Carax meeting the pop/rock band The Sparks at the festival.
New “What If…?” Clip Re-Imagines Peggy Carter as the First Avenger
Yesterday we shared the latest What If…? teaser, which gave us a fresh glimpse at Marvel Studios’ first-ever animated series. Today, Marvel has revealed a clip from the first episode, which is centered on Captain Peggy Carter, a new spin on the Agent Peggy Carter we all know (and Steve Rogers very much loved) from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The clip reveals Captain Carter leading her Howling Commandos on a charge during World War II.
A New “What If…?” Teaser Reveals Marvel’s Mind-Bending New Disney+ Series
What if you combined The Twilight Zone with Marvel Studios and remixed some of the most iconic moments in the latter’s history with the exploratory chutzpah of the former? That’s roughly what Marvel’s new series What If…? offers viewers, and a new teaser asks us to imagine a world where, say, T’Challa (Black Panther to the uninitiated) arrives in Star-lord’s mask and the villain Killmonger is a force for good. Such is the world that What If…?
New Image of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Getting Jacked For “Aquaman 2”
Black Manta isn’t messing around.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is returning for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and he’s making sure he’s prepared. In a brand new Instagram post, the man who plays Aquaman’s nemesis Black Manta can be seen at the gym getting to work. The caption, “Under Construction! #Aquaman2” lets you know that he’s building himself up for director James Wan‘s return trip to Atlantis. (For you weightlifters out there,
Amazon Reveals First Image From “The Lord of the Rings” Series
In case you missed it, Amazon has, at long last, revealed the first image from The Lord of the Rings series that we’ve all been patiently waiting for. What’s more, we now know the release date. You can expect to head back to Middle-earth on September 2, 2022, with each new episode dropping weekly.
Filming for the long-awaited series just wrapped on August 2 in New Zealand, and the first image,
Let “The Green Knight” Director David Lowery Take You Through A Haunting Scene
Writer/director David Lowery is here to walk you through a scene in his ravishing, critically acclaimed The Green Knight thanks to a new “Anatomy of Scene” video from the New York Times. If you’re a reader of The Credits, then you know we’ve been tracking Lowery’s film since we first heard about it last year (it was, like so many other releases, delayed due to the pandemic).
