Home Field Advantage: “NCIS: Origins” Showrunners on How Tax Credits Anchored Their Prequel Series in California
Already renewed for a second season, the NCIS franchise spin-off NCIS: Origins has been capturing a new generation of fans. In addition to the 90s set prequel’s heady mix of powerful storytelling, music, and a dynamic young cast, showrunners David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal credit a lot of the show’s appeal to the fact that it’s set in and filmed in California.
The CBS show follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell),
No Character Is Safe: How DP Ksenia Sereda Frames “The Last of Us” Season 2’s Heightened Stakes
Sanctuary is fleeting in The Last of Us. With savage grudges and the ever-evolving infected hordes, who seem to be learning tactics through their cordyceps-controlled brains, no one is safe. Here comes your spoiler alert warning—the savagery proved especially true when antihero Joel (Pedro Pascal) was brutally clubbed to death by vengeful Firefly, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). You don’t need to be a member of the undead to do dreadful things in this world.
“Sinners” Takes a Big Second Bite: Ryan Coogler’s Vampire Thriller Has Historic Second Weekend
Writer/director Ryan Coogler has officially gone five for five.
The 39-year old auteur can now make the very rare claim to have had five consecutive hit films in his first five attempts, as his wildly ambitious, beautifully composed fifth feature, the R-rated supernatural period thriller Sinners, just boasted the most impressive second weekend for any film in well over a decade, pulling in $45 million for the smallest drop for a movie’s second weekend since James Cameron’s 2009 film Avatar.
Ledgers and Lethal Force: Gavin O’Connor on Directing Ben Affleck in “The Accountant 2”
Almost a decade after they first worked together, the action sequel The Accountant 2 reunites director Gavin O’Connor and star Ben Affleck for a third time. First announced seven years ago, the journey to bring the follow-up to the screen has been challenging, but it’s one the Warrior filmmaker is grateful for.
Set and filmed in Los Angeles, Affleck returns as Christian Wolff, the titular number-crunching hero with a brilliant mind and a talent for solving complex problems,
Emergency Realism: Production Designer Nina Ruscio’s Blueprint for “The Pitt’s” Immersive Medical World
Producer John Wells and creator R. Scott Gemmill took a big swing with The Pitt and hit a home run that would have cleared the 410-foot deep left-center field wall of Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. The riveting series, which has garnered the kind of collective enthusiasm we usually associate with dark comedies set at fancy resorts, is powered by gruesome surgical procedures, arcane medical terminology, and volatile personalities. The high concept: each episode constitutes one hour in an emergency room over the course of a 12-hour shift,
No Heroes Available: “Thunderbolts*” Clip Showcases Marvel’s First Villain-Centered Film
The vibe of director Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* (more on that asterisk in a second) is very much evident in this brief but potent minute-long clip just released by Marvel Studios. In the clip, we find Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Valentina Allegra de Fontaine being encircled and seemingly entrapped by the misfit antiheroes, the Thunderbolts, she assembled for a mission. The formidable triple agent spy, who has practiced the dark arts of her work in Black Widow,
“Wednesday” Season 2 Trailer Finds the Return of Jenna Ortega’s Precocious Psychic
Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday Addams is back in the first trailer for Tim Burton’s Wednesday season 2. Burton’s series returns in two parts, with the first part arriving on Netflix on August 6 and the second part on September 3.
Wednesday’s still trying to master her burgeoning abilities in the psychic realm, while also doing her best to sort out and stop a killing spree and help her parents unpack a mystery that’s been plaguing them since season one.
Not Playing Games: “Squid Game” Star Lee Jung-jae on Gi-hun’s Transformation in Final Seasons
Season 2 of Squid Game revealed protagonist Gi-hun’s desperate transformation from spirited and naïve recruit to traumatized and hardened champion. The iconic wide smile he flashed in his player photo has faded with the knowledge that more lives are on the line. Actor Lee Jung-jae appreciated the new depth his character has developed.
“I was really drawn to that personality of Gi-hun, where he is quite optimistic.
From Barbie to Blasters: What to Know About Ryan Gosling’s Standalone “Star Wars” Film
Ryan Gosling is going from the world of Barbie and Ken to Leia and Kenobi.
With the Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo delivering a galaxy’s worth of news, including a new series from Lost co-creator Carlton Cuse and his son, Nick, a veteran of Watchmen and Station Eleven, it would require an interdiction beam (look it up, Star Wars nubes) to pull all the information together.
Mysterious “Star Wars” Series in The Works From “Lost” Showrunner Carlton Cuse
Well before Game of Thrones became the kind of appointment television event that captured the world’s interest and had millions of people tuning in simultaneously, Carlton Cuse’s Lost established the blueprint for serialized TV obsession. When Lost premiered in 2004, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse’s massively ambitious series was evident from the movie-like production values, sprawling cast, and evident chutzpah in telling a story that looked and felt big enough for the big screen.
From Saddles to Switchboards: Sound Maestro George Haddad Crafts the Symphony of “1923”
Now in its second season, Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel, 1923, turns on the hardships of the historic Dutton clan—wolf intrusions, driving snowstorms, and Ellis Island. In Montana, Cara (Helen Mirren) holds down the ranch while her husband, Jacob (Harrison Ford), wheels and deals to keep Zane (Brian Geraghty) and his mixed-race family together. Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) faces a treacherous journey from Europe to the US, then from Texas to Montana.
Game Changer: “Squid Game” Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk on his Audacious Ambitions for Seasons 2 & 3
Squid Game is a provocative experiment not only in strategy and skill, but also in the addictive pursuit of risking it all – even death – for a big win. Ironically, the show’s episodes are equally addictive, and fans demanded more after the innovative first season. Series creator, writer, and director Hwang Dong-hyuk didn’t intend to return to the intense filming schedule, but demand drove him to continue the captivating competition.
Dawn of a New DC: Go Behind-the-Scenes of James Gunn’s “Superman”
Did you notice something in the sky on April 18? It wasn’t a bird or a plane, it was, of course, Superman, officially soaring for DC Studios to celebrate his special day. April 18 is Superman Day, in case you were unaware, and to that end, DC Studios gave us a sneak-peak behind-the-scenes of James Gunn’s upcoming Superman, the first feature film to fly out of the gate for the newly unified DC Studios,
Ryan Coogler Does it Again: The Auteur’s Ambitious Epic “Sinners” Wins Box Office Crown
There was a reason why studios were competing to land Ryan Coogler’s ambitious new film, Sinners, when the writer-director and his star, Michael B. Jordan, were shopping the script in Hollywood. Coogler’s earned the respect of audiences across the world, having put out four excellent films in precisely four attempts, beginning with his 2013 breakout film Fruitvale Station and carrying through his subsequent three films,
Along With “The Amateur,” Sate Your Spy Appetite With These 6 Can’t-Miss Classics
In the wake of the release of director James Hawes’ The Amateur, starring Rami Malek as a CIA decoder who sets out to avenge his wife’s murder despite reluctance from his CIA superiors, now is the perfect time to revisit the genre’s rich history. From breathtaking sets to complex narratives complete with moral dilemmas and characters emblematic of the struggle between good and evil, the spy genre has everything a viewer could want.
From Script to Scream: Stephanie Allain on Producing Blumhouse’s Latest Nightmare, “The Woman in the Yard”
Stephanie Allain is a trailblazing producer. She was the Senior Vice President of Production at Columbia Pictures, where she oversaw films such as Boyz N The Hood and Desperado. From there, she became the President of Henson Pictures and eventually launched her production company, Homegrown Films. Homegrown Films is behind Hustle & Flow, Beyond the Lights, and Exhibiting Forgiveness, a film Allain is deeply proud of.
Devil Went Down to Georgia: How Erik Oleson Crafted Kevin Bacon’s Undead Demon Hunter in “The Bondsman”
Writer/producer Erik Oleson definitely knows a thing or two about characters chasing personal demons. He was the head writer on The Man in the High Castle, and went on to be showrunner and executive producer for seasons of both Marvel’s Daredevil and Amazon’s Carnival Row. It makes perfect sense, then, for him to take on Amazon’s new horror-comedy series The Bondsman.
In it,
Unreliable Narrators: Liz Garbus on Directing Hulu’s Chilling Adoption Mystery “Good American Family”
Good American Family rolled into living rooms last month like a TV Trojan Horse, appearing at first to be a domestic drama peppered with garden-variety stress. Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo plays super-mom Kristine Barnett, acclaimed author of “The Spark,” about her autistic son who gained early admission to Princeton University thanks to her nurturing ways and the loving support of husband Michael (Mark Duplass). Everything changes when the Indiana couple adopts Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace,
“Daredevil: Born Again’s” Stunt Coordinator & Second Unit Director Philip Silvera on Big City Brawling
At the beginning of Season 1 of the Disney+ revival of the Daredevil storyline, Daredevil: Born Again, Marvel vigilante Matt Murdock/Daredevil is operating more or less as a yuppie. Matt has hung up his superhero suit to keep his heroics to the courthouse, working as a defense attorney and taking on clients pro bono when he believes in their innocence, but they can’t afford him. But with the murder of his friend and colleague,
The Architecture of Espionage: Maria Djurkovic on Designing Rami Malek’s Revenge in “The Amateur”
Bohemian Rhapsody Oscar winner Rami Malik switches it up in The Amateur to play buttoned-down CIA analyst-turned-warrior Charlie Heller, who goes rogue in Europe to hunt down the terrorists responsible for the murder of his wife (Rachel Brosnahan). Tough-as-nails CIA handler (Laurence Fishburne) spearheads the Agency’s efforts to squash Charlie’s self-appointed mission, but he soon learns he’s dealing with a determined, lethally intelligent, and remarkably savvy operator who isn’t above blackmailing his own agency to get the revenge he seeks.
