Fellow Stars Pay Tribute to the Late, Great Maggie Smith

The great Maggie Smith passed away on Friday, September 27, at the age of 89. Her astonishing career on stage and screen played out over seven decades, as she became one of Britain’s most beloved, recognizable, and prolific performers and a two-time Oscar winner to boot—she’s one of the few actresses to win both a Best Supporting Oscar and Best Actress Oscar. Her sons Toby Stephens and Chris Larkin shared this statement with the BBC said on the day of her passing: “It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith.

By The Credits  |  September 30, 2024
Batman Supervillains Bane & Deathstroke Getting Their Own Movie at DC Studios

Two iconic Batman supervillains look to be getting their own film in what could be an epic bad guy team-up film.

With writer/director James Gunn’s Superman done filming and currently in post-production, Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios has arguably the biggest name in all of comics leading off their upcoming slate, titled Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, which includes both feature films and TV series.

By The Credits  |  September 30, 2024
Alan Tudyk Has Secret Role in James Gunn’s “Superman”

James Gunn’s Superman might have wrapped filming this past July, but new revelations about the cast are apparently still possible. Deadline scoops that Alan Tudyk, no stranger to epic sci-fi and action films (he voiced the beloved droid K-2SO in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and reprised the role in Tony Gilroy’s excellent Disney+ series Andor), is involved in Superman.

By The Credits  |  September 27, 2024
Ana de Armas is En Pointe in First Trailer for “John Wick” Spinoff “Ballerina”

Vengeance has a new face.

Ana de Armas is ready to take her place in the John Wick universe, one brutal takedown of a would-be assassin at a time. The first trailer for Ballerina finds our new heroine, Eva Macarro (de Armas), as she begins training as an assassin in the traditions of the Ruska Roma. Ballerina is set during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,

By The Credits  |  September 27, 2024
“The Last of Us” Season 2 Unveils Haunting, Taut New Trailer

We’ve got our first look at The Last of Us season 2, and it’s a taut, tense glimpse at one of television’s most compelling series next move. The trailer opens with Pedro Pascal’s Joel Miller and newcomer Catherine O’Hara as the two sit for what appears to be a therapy session. Heaven knows Joel needs it—the last time we saw him, he was seeing red in a brutal, vengeful bloodbath at a hospital where his charge,

By The Credits  |  September 26, 2024
The Streaming Innovation Alliance’s Mission Continues

The Streaming Innovation Alliance turns a year old today. If you haven’t heard of SIA, you’ve certainly been impacted by its commitment to giving streamers a unified voice so they can keep creating the films and television series you love – and delivering them to audiences when, where, and how they choose to watch. Once viewed as an upstart to traditional entertainment, streamers have become a beloved part of the visual storytelling landscape. As the advent and deployment of digital film capabilities upended but did not replace the use of film on film and TV sets,

By The Credits  |  September 26, 2024

Interview

Production Designer

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Production Designer Mark Scruton’s Masterful Marriage of Art & Architecture

“It was going to be a continuation of the first film and not some sort of reboot,” production designer Mark Scruton says about Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel to the 1988 cult classic that reunites the absurdly talented Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder as everyone’s favorite goth-undead will they won’t they couple.

The story picks up years after the events in Beetlejuice and sees the Deetz family – Ryder’s Lydia,

By Daron James  |  September 26, 2024
Prime Directive: “Transformers One”‘ Writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari on Crafting an Epic Origin Story

When it comes to toy-inspired movie franchises, Hasbro’s Optimus Prime beat Mattel’s Barbie to the punch by several decades. The franchise includes a 1986 cartoon feature, five Michael Bay movies, and two spinoffs. The seemingly never-ending battle between Autobots and Decepticons finally gets its backstory in the animated prequel Transformers One. Featuring the voices of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, and Keegan-Michael Key, the movie follows a young Optimus Prime (Hemsworth) and Megatron (Henry) before they become arch-enemies.

By Hugh Hart  |  September 25, 2024
“Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” Casts Matthias Schoenaerts as the Villain

One of the biggest movies not named Superman currently brewing in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios is director Craig Gillespie’s (I, Tonya, Cruella) Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. The upcoming feature stars House of the Dragon‘s Milly Alcock as Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, in a film inspired by Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s well-regarded, rough-around-the-edges comic about Kara’s hard-scrabble life and her immense powers.

By The Credits  |  September 25, 2024
“Sinners” Trailer Reveals Ryan Coogler & Michael B. Jordan’s Mysterious Horror-Thriller

Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s mysterious feature has finally been revealed. The trailer for their latest collaboration, Sinners, is here, revealing Coogler’s original horror-thriller set in the 1930s Jim Crow-era South. Coogler took to social media yesterday to reveal the film’s poster (which, naturally, features Jordan) and the caption “Dance with the devil…and he’ll follow you home.”

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By The Credits  |  September 24, 2024

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

“My Old Ass” Writer/Director Megan Park on Magic, Mushrooms, and Meeting Yourself

In Megan Park’s wide-eyed, warm-as-the-waning-summer-evenings sophomore feature, My Old Ass, time itself is a trip. 

When Elliott (Maisy Stella) ushers in her 18th birthday with a camping excursion à la psilocybin-laced mushrooms, the last thing she expects is her psyche to conjure up an “old ass” version of herself (at 39 years old), portrayed by Aubrey Plaza. With her last summer in the picturesque lakeside town of Muskoka, Canada, before she heads off to the University of Toronto,

By Natalie Oganesyan  |  September 24, 2024

Interview

Showrunner

“The Perfect Couple” Showrunner Jenna Lamia on Meghann Fahy’s Mesmerizing Merritt Monaco

In part one of our interview with The Perfect Couple showrunner Jenna Lamia, she discussed adapting Elin Hilderbrand’s novel, character development, and writing the script. Now we move on to some of the specifics of how Lamia stuck the landing, delivering a satisfying whodunit on the picturesque island of Nantucket, the playground of the uber-wealthy Winbury clan.

In the final shot of the penultimate episode of The Perfect Couple,

By Andria Moore  |  September 24, 2024
Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” Unsheathes Ferocious New Trailer

A bloody, bold new trailer for Gladiator II, Ridley Scott’s long-awaited followup to his Best Picture Winner, has arrived. The new look is the longest, bloodiest, most thrilling yet. We’re introduced to the art of choosing gladiators, as explained by Denzel Washington’s Macrinus, who is usually sorting through prisoners of war and who sees something special in Paul Mescal’s Lucius, a young man with the requisite rage to survive the Coliseum, and all the lesser,

By The Credits  |  September 23, 2024
Marvel Reveals First “Thunderbolts” Trailer Unleashes the Bad Guys on the Worse Guys

We now have our first peek at Marvel Studios’ upcoming antihero team-up movie Thunderbolts.

The trailer opens with a family reunion—former Black Widow and all-around butt-kicker Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) arrives at the door of her father, Alexia Shostakov (David Harbour), better known as the Red Guardian. The last time we saw these two together was in Black Widow, the one and only stand-alone movie for Scarlett Johansson’s Avenger and former Black Widow herself,

By The Credits  |  September 23, 2024

Interview

Hair/Makeup

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Hair and Makeup Head Christine Blundell on Bringing Out the Dead

Almost four decades after the original, Tim Burton’s follow-up, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, is a hit for Warner Bros. Reprising their original roles, Winona Ryder’s Lydia is now a television talk show host ghost hunter, Catherine O’Hara’s Delia is still a daffy cosmopolitan creative, and Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice remains an undead charlatan pining for Lydia. Lydia also has a teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who misses her late dad, Richard (Santiago Cabrera),

By Susannah Edelbaum  |  September 23, 2024

Interview

Screenwriter, Showrunner

“The Perfect Couple” Showrunner Jenna Lamia on Her Nicole Kidman-led Whodunit on Nantucket

When showrunner Jenna Lamia set out to bring Elin Hilderbrand’s beloved novel The Perfect Couple to life, we were just getting reacquainted with our obsession with mystery and drama. The limited series format, which has seen success in shows like Big Little LiesNine Perfect Strangers, and The White Lotus, ushered in an era of mystery, scandal,

By Andria Moore  |  September 23, 2024

Interview

Director

“Transformers One” Director Josh Cooley on Humanizing the Origin of Optimus Prime and Megatron’s Ancient Feud

Transformers One isn’t the first animated Transformers film, but it has achieved multiple firsts for the iconic franchise. 

The science fiction action film is an origin story that focuses on the early relationship of Orion Pax and D-16, how they changed the fate of their home planet of Cybertron, and how they became Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively. Directed by Josh Cooley, best known for helming Oscar-nominated Toy Story 4,

By Simon Thompson  |  September 20, 2024
“Black Mirror” Reveals Cryptic Teaser & Season 7 Cast, Including Issa Rae, Cristin Milioti, Paul Giamatti, and Awkwafina

The season 7 cast for Netflix’s sensational, eerily predictive Black Mirror has been revealed, and it’s a stellar group. It also includes, new for the series, some returning stars for a sequel to a beloved episode.

The full cast is comprised of Issa Rae (Barbie, Insecure), Emma Corrin (Deadpool & Wolverine), Cristin Milioti (The Penguin), Awkwafina (Jackpot),

By The Credits  |  September 19, 2024

Interview

Editor

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Editor Jay Prychidny on Capturing a Debauched Poltergeist’s Manic Energy

36 years after he first burst onto the screen in his title film—for a grand total of 17 minutes, by the way—Michael Keaton’s debauched poltergeist is back in trademark sinister style, black and white suit and hair akimbo, in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Tim Burton’s sequel turns up the heart, laughs, and gags, a cinematic feast overflowing with gleeful madness only Burton and his regular team of collaborators—longtime costume designer Colleen Atwood and composer Danny Elfman included—could dream up.

By Jack Giroux  |  September 19, 2024

Interview

Costume Designer

Designed to Shred: How “Alien: Romulus” Costume Designer Carlos Rosario Stylized Horror

Previously, we talked to Alien: Romulus costume designer Carlos Rosario about how American farmers’ attire from the 1940s-1960s inspired some of the wardrobe for our Jackson’s Star inhabitants and several sartorial callbacks from the first two films in the franchise. 

In part two, Rosario discusses how director Fede Alvarez’s approach to his ferocious interquel helped the designer account for the wear and tear on the costumes, caused,

By Su Fang Tham  |  September 18, 2024