“The Last of Us” Concept Illustrator & Designer Pouya Moayedi on Imagining a Deadly Green World
HBO’s brilliant The Last of Us is, inarguably, the most successful video game adaptation in TV history. The series is based on the critically acclaimed video game of the same name, which was created by Neil Druckmann and Naughty Dog, and when it bowed at the beginning of this year (adapted by Druckmann and Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin), it was an immediate sensation. Here was a slow-burn, character-focused zombie show that felt utterly different from any in the genre.
HBO’s “The White Lotus” Begins Casting For Season 3
Mike White’s brilliant The White Lotus is gearing up to bring a fresh group of cosseted tourists to a new resort location for season 3. After a gangbusters murder mystery in season two—set in the unimprovable location of Sicily—White is bringing the third season of his critically acclaimed series to Thailand, with production potentially beginning next February, Deadline reports. Meanwhile, casting has begun—there are few jobs more coveted in the TV world than landing a spot on The White Lotus roster—now that the SAG-AFTRA strike is over.
Cinematographer Oliver Curtis on Bringing Intimacy and Opulence to “The Buccaneers”
With director Susanna White’s The Buccaneers, an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s unfinished final novel set in the 1870s, Apple TV+ adds a period drama with a modern spin to its lineup. If any 19th-century chronicler of the era’s mannerisms can withstand a contemporary update, it’s Wharton, whose insight into upper-class idiosyncrasies on both sides of the pond ring true, even set to a modern soundtrack and present-day dialogue as is the case here.
Marvel’s Upcoming “Echo” Series Will Kickstart New Chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
While Marvel Studios’ upcoming new series Echo is directly connected to their previous series, Hawkeye, featuring Jeremy Renner’s ace sharpshooter and his unasked for protegé, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), it also represents a new approach to how Marvel will handle some of their upcoming series. Echo, which stars Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, was a nominal villain in Hawkeye, a gifted fighter who was thrust into the underworld at a young age and was a ferocious enforcer.
How “Lessons in Chemistry” DP Zachary Galler Created a Show-Within-a-Show
In writer Susannah Grant’s adaption of the novel Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, currently airing on Apple TV+, Brie Larson plays a budding chemist, Elizabeth Zott, thwarted in her work by her male colleagues who put politics and patriarchy above credible scientific achievement. Shut out of any hope of a chemistry career despite her brilliance, Elizabeth falls into a television career. It’s the early 1950s, and cooking shows are still relatively new,
“The Bear” Season 3 Officially Happening
FX’s brilliant series is coming back for a third course.
Hulu has officially renewed The Bear, FX’s critical smash focused on Carmen Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), a top-flight chef returning to Chicago and taking over his late brother’s sandwich shop. Of course, for lovers of The Bear, that description barely scratches the surface of what this often very funny and equally dramatic series brings to the table, so to speak.
HBO’s “Dune” Prequel Series Gets New Title & Release Date
While we’ll be eagerly awaiting Dune: Part Two to hit theaters on March 15, 2024, it’s not the only story coming to the screen that’s based on “Dune” author Frank Herbert’s rich, complex sci-fi world. A prequel series for HBO, previously titled Dune: The Sisterhood, has been in the works for some time. Now, according to IGN, HBO has confirmed that the official title for the new series is Dune: Prophecy,
“The Last of Us” Season 2 Will Likely Begin Production in Early 2024
HBO chief Casey Bloys gave us some good news at a press conference on Thursday morning—the second season for Craig Mazan and Neil Druckmann’s stellar The Last of Us is expected to enter production in early 2024.
The critically acclaimed adaptation of the video game Druckmann created for Naughty Dog was one of the best series of 2023 (and the best video game adaptation of all time), turning its two leads,
“Gen V” Director Shana Stein on Penultimate Episode’s Tie-In With “The Boys”
Gen V, the quick-footed spinoff to Prime Video’s debauchery-filled superhero satire The Boys, mimics its collegiate environment in its primed-for-combustion filming style. In the inaugural season’s penultimate episode, titled “Sick,” the main characters are confronted with institutional roadblocks and a boiling fervor on campus regarding supe rights.
“What I think the writers have done so beautifully and brilliantly in The Boys and Gen V is they’ve taken current issues and put the superhero spin on them to make social commentary,” Shana Stein,
Marvel’s “Daredevil: Born Again” Series Get New Showrunner & Directors
Daredevil: Born Again is, apologies for the pun, born again. Marvel Studios has given the upcoming series a creative overhaul, bringing in a showrunner and new directors to retool the series, which was in mid-production in New York when it had to pause due to the writer’s and actor’s strike. The show had been under the direction of Chris Ord and Matt Corman, who were both the head writers.
The new showrunner stepping in is Dario Scardapane,
Family, Friends, and Fellow Stars Remember Matthew Perry
As you likely heard, Matthew Perry passed away this weekend at 54. Perry, who played numerous roles across his career, became a huge star playing Chandler Bing on NBC’s Friends, utilizing his peerless comedic timing and razor-sharp wit to immortalize a lovable, anxious character who helped make the series one of the biggest hits in TV history. Perry died this past Saturday night in his Los Angeles home, law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times.
How Disney’s 100 Year Journey Began With Four Pages and Four Signatures
The Walt Disney Company celebrated its 100th anniversary on October 16th. That’s a century’s worth of mythmaking and storytelling, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to their upcoming animated feature Wish (hitting theaters on November 22), with a slew of iconic films, characters, a media empire, and theme parks across the world in between. The breadth of Disney’s reach is hard to overestimate. Take the company’s mascot, Mickey Mouse—Mickey is a global icon,
“The Crown” Season 6, George C. Wolfe’s “Rustin,” David Fincher’s “The Killer” And More Highlight Netflix’s November Titles
A new sizzle reel for Netflix’s November slate has dropped, revealing a slew of high-profile upcoming films and series bowing in the coming month. One of the biggest titles is the return of The Crown season 6 (November 16), which will explore arguably the darkest, most explosive moment in the monarchy’s history as it centers on the growing relationship between Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) and Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla) before their tragic car journey in Paris that rocked the entire world.
“Fellow Travelers” Director/ Executive Producer Daniel Minahan’s Scorching Trip Through Turbulent Times
Director and executive producer Daniel Minahan wanted to be part of Fellow Travelers as soon as he read the first script by Ron Nyswaner, an Oscar nominee for Philadelphia.
“It was a beautifully devised script. Ron saw parallels between the 1950s persecution of gay people in government and what happens in San Francisco with activism and trying to survive AIDS in the ‘80s,” said Minahan. “Ron and I worked together before [on the series Ray Donovan] and knew each other socially from Provincetown.
“Saturday Night Live” Thrives in Bad Bunny “The Age of Discovery” Spanish Sketch
Bad Bunny brought his multifaceted talents to Saturday Night Live this past weekend as host and musical guest in a buoyant episode that made excellent use of not only his Spanish but Spanish-speaking SNL cast members, too. One sketch in particular, “The Age of Discovery,” finds Bad Bunny playing the King of Spain in the 16th century alongside his son, the prince (Marcello Hernández). They’re seated in the throne room,
“Lessons in Chemistry” Makeup Department Head Miho Suzuki Captures the Pressure Cooker of Being a 1950s Woman
Chemical reactions can be calculated and quantified, but matters of the heart are far less predictable. When scientist Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) finds herself pressed toward domesticity from all sides, she realizes that the way to pursue her passions, empower women, and advocate for equality may be through the kitchen after all. Lessons in Chemistry – based on the hit novel by Bonnie Garmus – follows Zott’s evolution from student to TV star.
Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter on Stitching Together Her Legendary Career
With more than 70 films to her credit, including Malcolm X (1992), Amistad (1997), Selma (2014), Black Panther (2018), and Dolemite Is My Name (2019), costume designer Ruth E. Carter has created a visual representation of Black history and the Black experience for generations of moviegoers.
“Costumes can be another character in the film. For Do the Right Thing,
Godzilla Stomps to the Rescue in New “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” Trailer
The first thing you see in the new trailer for Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is the most iconic of monsters rising from the Pacific Ocean. Such is the luxury enjoyed by showrunner Chris Black (Severance) and the rest of the Monarch creators—their series boasts the most famous cinematic beast of them all.
The trailer takes us back to the events depicted in Gareth Edwards’ 2014 Godzilla when the titular Titan arrived on the shores of San Francisco and wreaked havoc.
Hilarious “Saturday Night Live” Sketch Forces Pete Davidson to Revisit a Humiliating Moment
Saturday Night Live gave Pete Davidson the Wired treatment last night. Davidson returned to the program to host the season 49 premiere, and one of the funniest sketches of the night had the Staten Island-born funny man play a sweet-natured TV star forced to revisit some of his, um, less stellar moments in his personal history. The sketch is a spoof on Wired‘s autocomplete interview series,
“The Fall of the House of Usher“ Production Designer Laurin Kelsey Reanimates Edgar Allan Poe for Netflix
It’s October, the right time of year for an Edgar Allan Poe revamp. Creator Mike Flanagan delivers, with a contemporary mini-series adaptation for Netflix of The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe’s 1839 short story about the creepy undoing of wealthy but disturbed Roderick Usher. In Flanagan’s updated version of the story, Roderick (Bruce Greenwood) and his sister, Madeline (Mary McDonnell), are the filthy rich heads of an unscrupulous pharmaceutical company,
