Pierce Brosnan Joins Dwayne Johnson in “Black Adam” as DC Hero Dr. Fate

Yesterday we wrote about how the great Helen Mirren was joining Shazam! Fury of the Gods. In that piece, we mentioned how Shazam’s most formidable rival, Black Adam, has his own movie in the works starring Dwayne Johnson. Black Adam is due to start filming in a matter of days. Now, Pierce Brosnan’s inclusion in Black Adam marks another heralded actor joining the DC extended universe, stepping into the role of Dr. Fate in director Jaume Collet-Serra’s hotly-anticipated upcoming film...

Future Critics: Kyle Perez on Canadian Filmmakers & Loving the Classics

In the third installment of our Future Critics series, we raise the age range a touch but we sure don’t the passion for film on display. We’ve been schooled on composers by East Coaster Benji Cherukuri, given a crash course in the importance of female filmmakers from West Coaster Elisa Monagas, and now we head north to learn what inspires Canadian film lover, film world employee—and film and TV influencer (more on that in a second)—Kyle Perez. ...

“Stowaway” Trailer Reveals Netflix’s Mission to Mars Drama

Director Joe Penna’s upcoming film Stowaway presents an intriguing central dilemma—what do you do when a spaceship on a two-year mission to Mars with precisely enough oxygen for three people finds itself having to account for a fourth? This problem is what animates Penna’s new film, and he’s assembled a great cast to tease out its implications. Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Toni Collette, and Shamier Anderson star, working from a script from Penna and Ryan Morrison, and a new trailer from Netflix highlights the movie’s driving conundrum—how do you decide who gets to live and who must die?...

Helen Mirren Joins “Shazam!” Sequel as the Villain Hespera

The Shazam! sequel just landed one of the best in the business. The Oscar-winning and all-around powerhouse performer Helen Mirren will be playing the villain Hespera in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Poor Billy Batson won’t know what hit him.

Mirren joins another Shazam! newcomer, Rachel Zegler, who is fresh off starring in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming West Side Story, and early word is Mirren and Zegler will be playing sisters...

“Black Widow” Will Premiere in Theaters & on Disney+ Premiere Access Simultaneously

We now have a clear picture of how Disney will be approaching their release schedule this year. The headline news is that Disney has decided to release Marvel Studios hotly anticipated Black Widow in theaters and on Disney+ Premiere Access simultaneously. If you opt to watch director Cate Shortland’s film about Scarlett Johansson’s super-spy and former Avenger Natasha Romanoff at home, you’ll have to part with $30 to do so, the same price point for its recent releases Mulan and Raya and the Last Dragon...

“Promising Young Woman” Writer/Director Emerald Fennell Will Pen “Zatanna” For DC Films

Emerald Fennell is having a very good start to her week and a very good year, period. The talented actress, writer, and director just nabbed the WGA Award for original screenplay this past Sunday night for her feature Promising Young Woman, which also garnered five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Then came Monday, March 22, when Deadline revealed that Fennell will be penning the DC movie Zatanna for Warner Bros...

“The Mitchells vs. The Machines” Brings Tech-Anarchy to Netflix This April

The Mitchells vs. The. Machines has the kind of A-list cast and top-flight pedigree you like to see in your animated comedies. Hailing from the folks who brought you a little film called Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the new feature focuses on the titular Mitchell family, trying to connect to each other in a world that wants them to connect to everything but each other. Sound familiar? Only the Mitchell’s battle against omnipresent technology is even more dire than our own—in their world,...

Oscar-Nominated Makeup Department Head Gigi Williams on “Mank”

David Fincher‘s Mank is the most Oscar-nominated film of the year, amassing ten, thanks to the beauty and brilliance of its black-and-white execution. One of those nominations belongs to makeup department head Gigi Williams, a veteran who picks her work based on her belief in the director. In Fincher, she was collaborating with one of the most precise filmmakers in the business, and in Mank, working off a script from his father Jack Fincher,...

A New “Making The Snyder Cut” Video Reveals How This Epic Came to Be

By now you’ve seen Zack Snyder’s Justice League—if not, you’re going to want to step away from this Mother Box (JL joke!). If you did take in the Snyder Cut, you’re probably still parsing all the implications the film raised for the DCEU, and all the new stuff Snyder included in the film. The Anti-Life equation! The Martian Manhunter! Steppenwolf’s fealty, and fear, of Darkseid! And of course, that Joker cameo...

Early Reactions to “Godzilla vs. Kong” Revel in the Monster Melee

If you’re going to make a movie called Godzilla vs. Kong, you know the most important thing to do is get the title fight right. It sounds as if director Adam Wingard succeeded in that first and most crucial respect. It almost goes without saying that in almost all of these mega-monster movies, the human characters are often filler (and also very often a snack for the titans). It’s hard to share the screen with someone forty, or four-hundred,...

Watch Oscar Isaac’s Stunt Training For Marvel’s “Moon Knight” Series

Oscar Isaac sure looks ready to take on the mantle of Marvel superhero Moon Knight. In a new video released by his production company’s Instagram account, Mad Gene Media, Isaac is hard at work doing fight choreography. You’ll note that one of the hashtags included in the video is #TheOneYouSeeComing, which is a direct quote from Moon Knight in the comics. (“Moon Knight #5 to be exact.)

We’ve been tracking this project since it was first announced that Isaac would be taking on the role...

“In The Heights” Coming to Theaters & HBO Max One Week Early

Good news on a Friday is extra sweet. Director John M. Chu’s In the Heights will be arriving a full week early. Chu’s film, adapted from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s and Quiara Alegría Hudes’s musical was slated for a June 18 release, but you can now expect it in theaters and on HBO Max on June 11. The change comes a few days after the release of two new trailers, which jacked up the already considerable excitement for the film...

New “Godzilla vs. Kong” Photos Reveal Fight of the Century

Warner Bros. has released a Godzilla-sized cache of new photos for their upcoming battle of the titans, Godzilla vs. Kong. We’ve seen enough footage now to know that director Adam Wingard’s film is at least setting us up to root for Kong here. That was made evident in the first trailer, where we learned that Kong seemed to be the protector of an orphaned girl named Jia (Kaylee Hottle). As we wrote at the time,...

An Update on How “Black Widow” Will Be Released

So the good news is, we are going to see director Cate Shortland’s Black Widow, almost certainly in theaters, this year. Let’s just take a moment to appreciate this fact. As with all the major, would-be 2020 releases, Black Widow underwent several delays due to Covid-19 and was eventually moved entirely to 2021. As of today, it’s slated for a May 7 release.

The question has been exactly how Disney will release Black Widow...

You Can Now Stream “The Office” For Free on Peacock

You’ve got exactly one week to stream every episode of The Office, for free, on Peacock. To celebrate the now-iconic comedy’s 16th anniversary, Peacock will be streaming all nine seasons of the series beginning today, March 18. Fans will also be able to compete for a Dundie Award, and all that’s required is, of course, a Peacock subscription. If you remember the Dundie Awards from the series, you’ll recall that Michael Scott (Steve Carell) would give them out for a variety of absurd “accomplishments”...

“Justice League” Premiere Day: Ryan Reynolds, Jared Leto’s Ad-Lib & More

Don’t worry, we haven’t just spoiled Ryan Reynolds making a cameo in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, but it wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. Now that we’ve made it to premiere day, a final flurry of Justice League reveals feels like a fitting capstone to our countdown. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Snyder reveals, among other things, that yes, he had envisioned Reynolds appearing in Justice League,...

How “Justice League” Producer Deborah Snyder Re-Assembled Superheroes

You may have heard we’re one day away from the premiere of a little film called Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max. It’s been a long, winding road from the theatrical release of Justice League back in 2017 to March 18, 2021, and there would be no new-and-improved superhero epic without producer Deborah Snyder. Snyder worked alongside her husband Zack to not only convince WarnerMedia that a Snyder Cut was worth it but to make it possible to pull it off in the midst of a global pandemic...

Oscar Nominees Mia Neal & Sergio Lopez-Rivera on the Hair & Makeup of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”

I got a chance to speak to hair department head Mia Neal and makeup artist Sergio Lopez-Rivera about their work in George C. Wolfe’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom before the Oscar nominations were announced. Tasked with, among other challenges, turning Oscar-nominee Viola Davis into the real-life Ma was no easy feat, least of all because there wasn’t a ton of photographic evidence to work with. Add to that scorching temperatures during much of the shoot (they filmed in Pittsburgh in the summer of 2019) and the heavy makeup,...

Here’s When “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” is Set

We know that the Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) haven’t always gotten along (they were straight-up enemies in Captain America: The Winter Soldier), but when they team up for Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, their partnership will be taking place at a time when the world will really need them to put past differences aside. Granted, Sam and Bucky have been on the same side since Captain America: Civil War, ...

New “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” Images Reveal Super-Sized Epic

We’ve shared the early reactions, the final trailer, and now, a huge cache of new photos—all there’s left to do is watch the darn thing. At long last, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is upon us, premiering on HBO Max on March 18. With a runtime of four hours, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is easily the longest superhero film ever released—longer than both Avengers: Infinity and Avengers: Endgame. Yet thanks to these strange times we live in,...