How James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” Uses Practical Filmmaking You’ve Never Seen Before
It has been three years since Avatar: The Way of Water became the third-highest-grossing movie, with $2.3 billion worldwide. The much-anticipated third installment in James Cameron’s cinematic spectacle, Avatar: Fire and Ash, launched this past Friday, once again immersing audiences in the lush forests and pristine oceans of the exomoon Pandora. The epic sci-fi from 20th Century Studios picks up after Jake (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña),
Filming “F1: The Movie”: Stunt Coordinator Gary Powell on Brad Pitt’s Wild Ride From Abu Dhabi to Spa
In the first part of our conversation with stunt coordinator and second unit director Gary Powell, he talked about director Joseph Kosinski’s ambitious vision for Apple’s highest-grossing theatrical release to date, F1: The Movie, starring Brad Pitt (Sonny Hayes) and Damson Idris (Joshua Pearce). The film received unprecedented access to the Formula One organization and was filmed during the 2023 and 2024 seasons at several Grand Prix events,
“F1” Stunt Coordinator & 2nd Unit Director Gary Powell on Training Brad Pitt to Drive 190 MPH on Real Grand Prix Tracks
Amassing over $630 million in global box office since its June release, director Joseph Kosinski and Brad Pitt’s racing drama F1: The Movie is Warner Bros’ second-highest-grossing film in 2025, and partly responsible for the legacy studio’s newly minted status as the first to cross the $4 billion mark this year. Following 2022’s box office juggernaut, Top Gun: Maverick, Kosinski reteamed with Maverick screenwriter Ehren Kruger and cinematographer Claudio Miranda for another adrenaline-pumping,
Scorching Stunts: “Ballerina” Stunt Coordinator Stephen Dunlevy on Flamethrower Finesse With Ana de Armas
In the first part of our conversation with supervising stunt coordinator Stephen Dunlevy, we covered the delicate balance involved with establishing the first theatrical John Wick spinoff, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, from an action choreography perspective. Ana de Armas’ titular ballerina, Eve Macarro, unleashes a deluge of ultra-violent a**-kicking as she tracks down her father’s killer, crossing paths with the Baba Yaga himself (John Wick,
Fire Hose Fury: How Stunt Coordinator Stephen Dunlevy Helped Ana de Armas Blast her Own Path in “Ballerina”
Steeped in the lore and rituals of the John Wick universe, director Len Wiseman’s From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is a bold attempt at expanding the franchise that put practical action back in the spotlight after the OG John Wick came out in 2014. Taking place somewhere between the third and fourth Wick films, this cortisol-triggering revenge thriller follows Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas),
Behind the Brutal Ballet: Stunt Pro Jackson Spidell on Training Ana de Armas for “Ballerina”
Ana de Armas had some practice acting like a bad ass in 2021 when she appeared briefly as a CIA agent doing field work in Cuba in James Bond’s No Time to Die. But in the John Wick spin-off Ballerina, now in theaters, she takes the fighting to a whole other level as Eve, an orphaned dancer determined to avenge the death of her father no matter how many men,
“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,
“Venom: The Last Dance” Stunt Coordinator James Churchman on Tom Hardy, Wild Horses and Flying Kids
When he was nine years old, James M. Churchman bought his first motorcycle and started riding the backroads of his native Florida. A few years later, he became a professional stuntman, and by the late nineties, he’d invented a computerized flying system that is still in use today. In the 2000s, Churchman emerged as a go-to stunt coordinator for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, winning the 2014 Taurus World Stunt Award for staging Iron Man 3‘s 14-man free-fall spectacle.
“Wolfs” Stunt Coordinator George Cottle on Designing Superlative Stunts For George Clooney & Brad Pitt
For stunt coordinator George Cottle, it started on a warm summer’s day in Los Angeles. He and director Jon Watts were shooting an episode of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew when Watts mentioned a film idea he was developing to star Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Watts asked Cottle if he’d like to be involved.
“I’ve done three Spider-Man’s with him. I love the way he works,” says Cottle says.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” Second Unit Director & Stunt Coordinator George Cottle on Capturing Those Cameos
In the last installment of our conversation with Deadpool & Wolverine’s second unit director and stunt coordinator George Cottle, we covered the hysterical dance/action opening sequence and what it took to shoot the bone-crunching brawl inside a real Honda Odyssey minivan. Smashing box office records on every level—the first R-rated movie to open domestically over $200 million, the sixth biggest domestic opening of all time—the film joined the billion-dollar club just 23 days after opening in theaters,
“Deadpool & Wolverine” Stunt Coordinator & Second Unit Director George Cottle on the Comically Ultra-Violent Style
“Suck it Fox, I’m going to Disney World!” So declares our favorite fourth-wall-breaking antihero, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), in Shawn Levy’s hilariously meta threequel, Deadpool & Wolverine, which is back in the #1 spot domestically for the fourth weekend. With Deadpool’s signature brand of acerbic sarcasm and self-deprecating humor, the raunchy action comedy often references the aftermath of the 2019 Disney-Fox mega-merger, which led to the titular duo landing under the Disney banner.
“The Fall Guy” Fight Coordinator Jonathan Eusebio on That Insane Spinning Garbage Truck Chase
Another veteran from the John Wick brand of innovative and high-octane action, stunt coordinator Jonathan “JoJo” Eusebio was thrilled to work on stuntman-turned-director David Leitch’s action comedy, The Fall Guy. Due to the wall-to-wall stunts, he was brought in to assist the main fight coordinator, Sunny Sun. A member of Leitch and Chad Stahelski’s 87Eleven Action Design company, his impressive C.V. includes Deadpool 2,
“The Fall Guy” Stunt Designer Chris O’Hara on Helping Create Ryan Gosling’s Gonzo Performance
Hollywood couldn’t have found a more perfect director for Ryan Gosling’s stuntman rom-com The Fall Guy (in theaters now) than David Leitch. A body double-turned-stunt supervisor on dozens of movies, including John Wick, he understood the stunt world firsthand before moving into the director’s chair for Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train. To oversee stunts on The Fall Guy, co-starring Emily Blunt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson,
“Shōgun” Stunt Coordinator Lauro David Chartrand-DelValle on Lady Mariko’s Last Stand
In part one of our conversation with Shōgun’s stunt coordinator and second unit director, Lauro David Chartrand-DelValle, he shared details about the extensive choreography training for the cast and what made Lord Toranaga’s (Hiroyuki Sanada) fighting style distinctive. Now, we turn toward Toranaga’s two allies, the “Anjin,” English sailor John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), and the woman Toranaga tasks with acting as Blackthorne’s translator, Lady Mariko (Anna Sawai).
When an assassin breaks into Blackthorne’s house to kill him in episode 2,
The Samurai Sword and the Flaming Arrow: Inside the Stunts of “Shōgun” – Part One
It has been a very busy year for stunt coordinator Lauro David Chartrand-DelValle. Not only is he on one of this season’s most-watched scripted series on broadcast—Tracker on CBS—he is also the second unit director on FX’s critically acclaimed hit, Shōgun. Still maintaining its 99% Rotten Tomatoes score after a 10-week run, the historical saga based on James Clavell’s bestselling novel is shaping up to be a frontrunner at the upcoming Emmy Awards.
Defying Death With “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” Second Unit Director & Stunt Coordinator Wade Eastwood
“The action evolves with the story — I’m not trying to invent action just to invent the next big stunt. It’s got to be emotionally engaging through action and fit the character,” says second unit director and stunt choreographer Wade Eastwood of Mission: Impossible’s brand of character-driven action choreography.
An accomplished fixed-wing and helicopter pilot, Eastwood is also a licensed skydiver, rescue scuba diver, black belt martial artist, master stunt driver,
Best of Summer 2023: “Heart of Stone” Stunt Coordinator Jo McLaren on Taking Gal Gadot to New Heights
Jo McLaren is a longtime stunt professional who has worked on a slew of hit films and TV series, lending her talents to hits as disparate as Titanic, Dr. Who, and the Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, and Avengers franchises. As an in-demand stunt coordinator, she has kept productions safe while creating some of the most inimitable action sequences in the business.
“Heart of Stone” Stunt Coordinator Jo McLaren on Taking Gal Gadot to New Heights
Jo McLaren is a longtime stunt professional who has worked on a slew of hit films and TV series, lending her talents to hits as disparate as Titanic, Dr. Who, and the Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, and Avengers franchises. As an in-demand stunt coordinator, she has kept productions safe while creating some of the most inimitable action sequences in the business.
“Fast X” Stunt Coordinator Andy Gill on [Safely] Going Pedal to the Metal
Fast X roared into theaters this past weekend and delivered another pedal-to-the-metal, physics-melting action adventure. Director Louis Leterrier steered the tenth installment, which finds Dominic Torretto (Vin Diesel) and his beloved family of gearheads facing off against a ferocious villain with a passion to burn Dom and the family to the ground. There’s a reason why Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) is so hellbent on destroying the Family—they took down his father, the Brazilian drug kingpin Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida),
“The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die” Stunt Coordinator Levente Lezsák on Orchestrating a Viking Melee
Action buffs who enjoy English history will find much to savor in The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die. The Netflix epic (now streaming) follows five seasons of The Last Kingdom to chronicle the bloody Battle of Brunanburh in 937 when native Saxons crossed swords with invading Vikings and warriors from Scotland. Both sides suffered huge losses in the brutal Game of Thrones-meets-Braveheart massacre,
