Composer Christophe Beck on Returning for a Second Round of Ice & Earworms in Frozen II
In Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck’s Frozen II, sisters Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) are back, older and wiser and reunited for good. Unfortunately, Elsa, now Queen of Arendelle, is still having trouble with her ice-making powers, a disturbance that arrives this time around via a mysterious siren call she can’t make anything of without following it to the Enchanted Forest, where it turns out an indigenous people, the Northuldra, have been living since the girls’ grandfather made the last state visit decades before they were born...
Flying Stormtroopers & Rey’s Jedi Mind Trick Highlight new Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker TV Spot
We’ve seen Rey (Daisy Ridley) take out Praetorian Guards, best Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) in a lightsaber duel, and generally exhibit an incredible amount of Force ability since she burst on the scene in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. Yet in this new Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker clip, we get to see her use a Jedi mind trick for the first time. The results are so impressive both Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) are both awed and a little concerned...
Leia Holds a Lightsaber in new Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spot
When Carrie Fisher passed away on December 27, 2016, the world lost not only an incredible actress but also a sensational writer—and one of the funniest, most bracingly honest talents in Hollywood. For the world of Star Wars, Fisher’s passing meant that her most iconic role of all—Leia Organa—would now possibly have her arc handled off-screen, a deeply sad development for one of the franchise’s most important characters. Then we learned that she would appear in Episode IX after all (now titled Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) when co-writer and director J.J...
Watchmen’s Costume Designer Meghan Kasperlik on This Extraordinary Series
Now that Watchmen has made its glorious debut on HBO and confounded just about every expectation, we can say with confidence that Damon Lindelof’s adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons iconic graphic novel is a remarkable testament to the original and a bold, powerful piece of original storytelling itself. The reason is Lindelof and his incredible team of writers, directors, actors, and crew hasn’t adapted the graphic novel itself, but rather used it as a launching pad to explore its themes and expand on them...
Tom Hiddleston Watching his Thor Audition is Hilarious
Tom Hiddleston has been one of the most reliably delightful figures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since he first made his sneering entrance as Loki in Joss Whedon’s game-changing Avengers in 2012. Yet did you know Hiddleston actually auditioned for the role of Thor? The two Asgardian brothers really couldn’t be more different. Loki, as the trickster God, is not only a morally vacuous opportunist, he’s also willowy, dark-haired, and petulant. Thor, of course, is the virtuous, muscle-bound and honorable God of Thunder...
Sam Mendes’ World War I Epic 1917 is Being Hailed as a Masterpiece
We knew co-writer/director Sam Mendes’ 1917 was going to be special (he wrote the script with Krysty Wilson-Cairns). He’s a director of extraordinary talent who surrounds himself with the same caliber of cast and crew. When we heard that his cinematographer was not only the legendary Roger Deakins but that the film had been conceived to essentially feel like a single continuous shot, we were even more excited.
The story follows two young British soldiers (George MacKay’s Schofield and Dean-Charles Chapman’s Blake) on their mission to deliver a message that could save 1,600 lives during World War I...
A New The Irishman Featurette Focuses on The Incredible Cast
To say that Martin Scorsese’s new film The Irishman is a movie by a heavyweight and starring heavyweights would be putting it mildly. The legendary auteur has assembled yet another incredible cast (Scorsese has never struggled to attract talent), yet The Irishman‘s ensemble feels almost valedictory. De Niro. Pescio. And, for the first time, Pacino starring in a Scorsese film. And these are just your three leads. The rest of the cast is gangbusters, too...
Writer/Director Noah Baumbach on his Devastating Marriage Story
Writer/director Noah Baumbach’s substantial body of work has often explored families in all their painful, darkly funny dysfunction, evolving from the perspective of an adolescent witness to the break-up of his parents in his 2005 second feature, the Oscar-nominated The Squid and the Whale, to the poignant, middle-aged observations of a son coming to terms with his estranged family and self-absorbed father in 2017’s The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected). But Baumbach’s Marriage Story,...
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy Consulted George Lucas Before The Rise of Skywalker
As we approach the premiere date for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the saga that George Lucas began 42-years ago nears its end. Sure, Star Wars will live on, but the Skywalker Saga that Lucas dreamed up four decades ago and has spanned three distinct trilogies is finally coming to a close. Co-writer and director J.J. Abrams, his cast and his crew will have the final say over the fates of Luke, Leia, and our new heroes like Rey,...
Here’s the First Teaser for The Walking Dead: World Beyond
The world of The Walking Dead is getting even bigger. AMC has revealed our first full look at their latest spinoff, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, which stars Julie Ormond as Elizabeth, a leader of a large, ferocious force contending with, you guessed it, the zombie apocalypse. “We are the last light of the world,” Ormond’s Elizabeth says in the new teaser. “We are the last hope.” Then we see members of her masked forces do some pretty brutal stuff,...
Revel in Four Decades of Star Wars in This New Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Special Look
The new Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker material is coming fast and furious. Disney is giving us all something to be thankful for—a few days early, in fact—before this Thanksgiving with a glut of fresh footage and glimpses at this era-capping epic. We’ve seen an actual clip from the film (!!), a new TV spot, and now this “Special Look” featurette, which takes us back 42-years to the very beginning of the Skywalker Saga. If you can watch this two-and-a-half-minute video without getting chills,...
Stormtroopers Fly in New Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Clip
Stormtroopers fly now. Seriously.
Okay, we knew there would be a flurry of TV spots and a few new photos before Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters in less than a month, but an actual clip from the film? Yeah, this is surprising. If you’re of the mind that you know all you need to before seeing the 9th and final film in the Skywalker Saga, we get that. Don’t watch this clip (which includes,...
Knights of Ren Appear in new Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker TV Spot
A new TV spot for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker gives credence to the notion that this will be the most action-packed Star Wars film in the franchise’s 42-year history. Co-writer and director J.J. Abrams and his huge, talented cast and crew aren’t just ending the new trilogy, they’re delivering the coda to the entire Skywalker Saga. That’s 9 feature films dating back to 1977’s Star Wars: IV – A New Hope. In the new spot we get our clearest glimpse yet at the Knights of Ren,...
Frozen II Head of Special Effects Marlon West on the Sequel’s Epic Ambitions
Frozen II co-director and screenwriter Jennifer Lee says that if the Disney Oscar-winning blockbuster Frozen was about a happily ever after, then Frozen II is about the day after happily ever after. Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf are back, and fans get to see this found family take on new challenges and learn more about themselves and each other. As part of this chapter in their story, viewers are introduced to a number of new characters,...
Watch J.J. Abrams Discuss the Challenge of Crafting Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s Ending
“Endings are the things that scare me the most.”
This comes from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker co-writer and director J.J. Abrams in a new video from Entertainment Weekly in which Abrams discusses the massive challenge—and opportunity—of bringing the 9-film Skywalker Saga to a close. With The Rise of Skywalker due in theaters in less than a month (!!), the world is very close to finding out just what kind of coda Abrams and his team have crafted for a franchise that began 42-years ago...
The First Trailer for Emma is Witty & Winning
Director Autumn de Wilde has updated Jane Austen’s seminal novel “Emma” for the big screen, and now we’ve got our first look. Focus Features has just released the first trailer for Emma, starring the always excellent Anya Taylor-Joy as Austen’s iconic heroine. Austen has been, of course, a much-beloved writer by filmmakers for years now. Her works have been adapted, again and again, for screens big and small, by talented directors from Whit Stillman to Joe Wright...
Waves Writer/Director Trey Edward Shults & Stars Kelvin Harrison & Taylor Russell on Their Powerful Drama
From the moment the new film Waves had its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in August, it started getting awards mentions. Touted were the emotional intensity and authenticity of the script by writer/director Trey Edward Shults, and the powerhouse performances served up by an ensemble cast that included stars Kelvin Harrison, Taylor Russell, Lucas Hedges, and Sterling K. Brown. The story centers on the members of one South Floridian family, and how their personal challenges lead variously to trauma,...
Production Designer Hannah Beachler Dives into Dark Waters
There are a number of reasons why Oscar-winning production designer Hannah Beachler wanted to be involved with Dark Waters, the latest film from director Todd Haynes. The first was the subject matter.
Based on a true story, Dark Waters follows lawyer Rob Bilott’s (Mark Ruffalo) 17-year quest for justice after he discovers that DuPont may be poisoning the small West Virginia town of Parkersburg by dumping toxic chemicals into its soil...
Here are the New Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Character Posters
Even though the final trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was technically the last big, extended look we’re likely going to get at the film, that doesn’t mean we won’t be getting bits and pieces until the December 20 premiere. Those bits and pieces have been coming in fast this week, with a fresh TV spot (that includes new footage) and new photos, including one of Poe Dameron flying the Millennium Falcon...
A Joker Sequel in the Works With Joaquin Phoenix & Director Todd Phillips
When your supervillain origin story makes that big of an impact and hauls in a record-shattering $1 billion for an R-rated hit, a sequel is almost inevitable. The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop that Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix are in talks to return for a Joker sequel. Screenwriter Scott Silver, who co-wrote Joker with Phillips, would return as well.
Yet there’s more—Phillips might be developing the origin stories of other characters within the DC universe...
