The film franchise that turned Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson into global stars is returning to theaters, and now we know when.
Lionsgate has announced that all five Twilight films will return to theaters from October 29 to November 2. Twilight (2008) will kick off the series on October 29, followed byNew Moon (2009) on October 30, Eclipse (2010) on October 31, Breaking Dawn – Part I (2011) on November 1, and Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012) on November 2.
“Twilight fans are some of the most passionate anywhere, making this iconic movie franchise the epitome of a modern-day classic which Fathom Entertainment is thrilled to help bring back to the big screen in this special cinematic engagement,” said Ray Nutt, chief executive officer, Fathom Entertainment. “With our partners at Lionsgate, we celebrate 20 years since Stephenie Meyer’s first Twilight book was published and encourage fans to relish The Twilight Saga.”
The Twilight franchise began with director Catherine Hardwicke’s 2008 film, which followed Bella Swan (Stewart) moving to a small town in the Pacific Northwest, where she meets and falls in love with Edward Cullen (Pattinson). Their love story has a major complication—Edward is, of course, a vampire, and he’s not the only supernatural being in town. There are other vampires who don’t take so kindly to their relationship, and Bella’s friendship with Jacob (Taylor Lautner) proves an issue when it’s revealed that Jacob is a werewolf. Their love story and the complications that arise from it fueled the five-film saga.
The franchise was a blockbuster, launching the careers of Stewart, Pattinson, and Lautner. (A young Anna Kendrick was also in the franchise.) The cast also included Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, Ashley Greene, Jackson Rathbone, Justin Chon, Michael Welch, Christian Serratos, and Sarah Clarke.
Warner Music Group will also rerelease the soundtracks from Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse on October 31. Before all this begins, on September 12, the Twilight in Concert tour will be traveling to 60 cities across the U.S., lasting until November 30.
There are still legions of Twilight fans, so much so that there’s still more to come—there’s currently an animated TV reboot being worked on.
Featured image: ROME – OCTOBER 31: (EDITORS NOTE: THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN DIGITALLY ENHANCED) Actors Kristen Stewart (R) and Robert Pattinson pose for the ‘Twilight’ Portrait Session at the ‘De Russie’ hotel, during the 3rd Rome International Film Festival held at the Auditorium Parco della Musica on October 31, 2008 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Franco S. Origlia/Getty Images)
We’ve got our first look from the set of Star Wars: Starfighter, and it comes with a major update—Amy Adams and rising star Aaron Pierre have joined Ryan Gosling in the upcoming film from Deadpool & Wolverinedirector Shawn Levy.
“I feel a profound sense of excitement and honor as we begin production on Star Wars: Starfighter,” Levy said in a statement as production kicks off in the United Kingdom. “From the day Kathy Kennedy called me up, inviting me to develop an original adventure in this incredible Star Wars galaxy, this experience has been a dream come true, creatively and personally. Star Wars shaped my sense of what story can do, how characters and cinematic moments can live with us forever. To join this storytelling galaxy with such brilliant collaborators onscreen and off, is the thrill of a lifetime.”
Adams and Pierre are joined by Flynn Gray, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, and Daniel Ings as the cast’s new additions. It was previously announced that Mia Goth and Matt Smith are on board as villains.
Starfighter is not a part the Skywalker Saga, which began with George Lucas’s 1977 original and carried on through that trilogy, his prequel trilogy, and the most recent Star Wars films directed by J.J. Abrams (The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker) and Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi, the middle film in the latest trilogy). Starfighter exists, of course, in the larger universe, and is set five years after Abrams’ trilogy-capping The Rise of Skywalker, which revealed that Rey (Daisy Ridley) was Emperor Palpatine’s granddaughter.
In the first image from the set, we’ve got Gosling’s character and Flynn Gray, presumably the youngster that Gosling’s character must protect. The script comes from Jonathan Tropper—details are, cue the age-old Star Wars reference—being kept in carbonite. Gray’s casting reveal is a major one, considering Levy and his team conducted an extensive search for the right person for the role—ditto for the role of his mother, presumably being played by Amy Adams.
Star Wars: Starfighter is due in theaters on May 28, 2027.
You might not recognize the name The MBS Group right away, but if you ever wandered through legendary studio lots like Radford Studio Center, Culver Studios, Raleigh Studios, or Symmetry Park Studios London, you’ve stepped onto one of the nearly 50 studio campuses they operate globally. The company is the world’s largest studio operator, running top-tier campuses in iconic entertainment hubs like Los Angeles, New York, and London. But they’re not just renting out space — they’re the behind-the-scenes powerhouse designing studios, planning productions, and delivering the technical backbone of the entertainment industry.
At its core, MBS Group is a creative industry problem solver, building a complete ecosystem for content creators. Over the years, they’ve grown into a full-service juggernaut, tackling every phase of the production pipeline. For instance, MBS Equipment Company operates an equipment rental division, supplying lighting, grip, and more to over 650 soundstages worldwide. MBS Innovations (MBSi) serves as their think tank, inventing cutting-edge technology and enhancing production workflows. Studio Art & Technology is their custom manufacturing arm, and ISS Props has the goods to dress any set. But the crown jewel? That would be The MBS Media Campus in Manhattan Beach, a cutting-edge lot featuring over a dozen soundstages and a full-on New York backlot. It’s not just impressive; it is home to James Cameron’s Lightstorm Studios.
As a member of theCalifornia Production Coalition, we reached out to Jason Hariton, Chief Studio and Real Estate Officer of The MBS Group, to inquire about the business helping power James Cameron’s Avatar franchise, how the streaming age has impacted the way studios operate, the time Netflix’s Ted Sarandos challenged him to envision the future, and more.
Do you have a defining moment in your career that helped shape your leadership style or business philosophy?
While it’s tough to pick a singular moment that helped shape my philosophy, one story immediately comes to mind. Just a couple of days in at Netflix, I sat down for my first formal meeting with Ted Sarandos. I asked what he needed from me in my new role leading global studio and production operations. I was then a department of one. Ted matter-of-factly explained that Netflix would soon be producing over 1,000 productions per year throughout the 190 countries that it serves, and he tasked me with ensuring that we had the necessary infrastructure, equipment, and crew required to execute that mission. I remember thinking it was pure insanity—1,000 productions? Impossible. But I could see that he believed it, and that was inspiring. He calmly asked me to come back with a plan. I did just that – I came back with a phased multiyear plan to create the largest infrastructure footprint in the content industry. To establish new resources where they’d never existed, and to ring-fence the rest. I wrote it up in a Netflix-style memo and sent it out for his review.
What was Ted’s reaction?
When I sat down with him, I could tell that he’d read the memo thoroughly. He asked educated questions, and I did my best to answer. I figured this was all just a market research exercise. As the meeting ended, he told me to go for it. To make it happen. “Which part?” I asked. I wondered which of the many recommended elements of Phase 1 he was greenlighting. “All of it,” he said, as if surprised I didn’t already know. My department of one would soon be staffed with hundreds, and the initial plan would be accomplished within the first 24 months. Ted’s support never wavered. And, he was right: Within a couple of years, we were producing more than 1,000 productions per year.
What is the long-term vision for The MBS Group?
It is difficult to have a crystal ball when we are in the midst of such interesting times for the industry, but the hope is to see MBS grow alongside existing and new content studio clients. To stay nimble, to innovate, and to adapt as they adapt. In practical terms, I see MBS expanding into new regions, servicing both English and local language content production at scale.
How has the evolving landscape of television and streaming content changed the way studios’ facilities want to streamline operations or support productions?
The evolution of streaming content has turned what was once a disparate mix of local and regional content producers into a truly global and interconnected industry. Before streamers, there was local-for-local content and then we had global English language content. Those lines are now blurred and eroding rapidly. We see more local-for-global content that’s elevating new stories and voices, with advancements in dubbing and subtitling that remove language barriers, such as shows like Netflix’s La Casa De Papel (aka Money Heist) or Squid Game.
These successes are leading to more regional and localized content spending, including higher budgets, increased title volume, and better production values, while proving that local stories can and do play well to a worldwide audience. That, in turn, drives demand for larger and more advanced regional infrastructure and equipment. And, reciprocally, we are seeing more tentpole global-for-local content that incorporates culturally diverse talent, stories, and locations that not only appeal to the mass market but also speak directly to local audiences.
What trends will define studio facilities in the next 5 years?
Over the next five years, we anticipate that technology, largely driven by advances in artificial intelligence, will precipitate a significant leap forward in production methodologies. While the unknown can be intimidating and may bring challenges, some initial indications are exciting. As more work can now be done in-camera – take virtual production as an example – the increasingly large LED volume screens require larger, taller soundstages, with an abundance of electrical power and robust roof structures to hang screens.
“Brain bars” need to be developed at facilities to handle the computing required to power tomorrow’s productions. As larger and more technologically advanced set pieces replace traditional practical locations, there’s a need for more advanced 3D printing, automation, and tools for world creation. As these elements enter the soundstage, we require larger doors, advanced MEP systems, and new lighting solutions that communicate directly with the camera’s sensors in real-time.
MBS MENA Limited is a newly formed division of The MBS Group with an operating presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It manages and operates AIUIa Studios in Saudi Arabia. With films like Kandahar and F1 being shot in areas of Saudi Arabia, how has the region influenced the MBS Group’s footprint in the country?
To quote Abeer M. AlAkel, CEO of The Royal Commission for AlUla: “…In just five years the RCU has welcomed more than 440 international, regional, and local productions, including 85 in the past year alone. And behind each of these productions is a growing community of Saudi creatives, many from AlUla itself, who are finding their voice and their place in this global industry. Through hands-on training, real-world experience, and mentorship, we’re opening new pathways for the next generation of storytellers.” We had looked at many exciting MENA opportunities over the past few years, but none presented the right fit for our first regional footprint; not until we learned about AlUla and the vision of the RCU.
How is The MBS Group adapting to the rise of virtual production and other emerging technologies?
MBS has leaned in to virtual production (VP) and LED technology. Most recently, we acquired the UK/Europe’s foremost provider of virtual production solutions, VSS, also known as Video Screen Service. In line with our solutions-centered ethos, we are not exclusive to any one software or hardware solution. We’ve provided unique VP solutions for tentpole projects at Warner Bros. Leavesden, Amazon’s Fallout in NYC, Apple TV’s Masters of the Air in London, Warner Bros./Legendary’s Dune in Budapest, among others. TheMBS Media Campus in Manhattan Beach is also home to Avatar, as well as The Mandalorian and its spin-offs.
The MBS Media Campus has been around since 1999. What would you say makes it different from the other major studios?
The MBS Media Campus in Manhattan Beach – our company’s namesake – is special in that it is relatively new infrastructure for the greater L.A. market. Massive state-of-the-art 25,000 sqft soundstages with 45’ clearance. Since 1999, the Media Campus’ design and specs have served as a model for many of the newer soundstages built around the world. The scale of the project has enabled it to serve as the home of James Cameron’s Lightstorm Studios and his Avatar franchise for the last decade.
MBS Media Campus in Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles.
MBS Equipment Company provides services to numerous studios worldwide. Let’s say a production is shooting in multiple locations, and plans to use MBS Equipment Services across different studios serviced by MBS. Is there an incentive or deal there for a production to make?
Absolutely. We have enterprise deals with many of the major content studios and production companies, and we incentivize productions to utilize our services on and off the lot, across multiple studio facilities and locations, and across various service lines, including lighting, VFX, props, armory, production planning, and more.
A grip working for MBS Services.
Before we let you go, how important was the passing of California’s Film & Tax Incentive Program 4.0?
It was incredibly important! Hollywood is hurting. The labor strikes and the fires have exacerbated a crisis that has been affecting friends and family for a long time. Unemployment for California’s motion picture workers is at a record high. It’s dire, with many people losing homes and being forced to find new careers – often out of state. This new legislation is critical. I was proud to help start the California Production Coalition, and I thank all those involved in this monumental effort, including the MPA. I pray we see some positive effects over the coming months.
This article is part of an ongoing series that raises awareness among businesses and individuals in the film and television community. The MBS Group is a member of the California Production Collation. You can find more about themhere.
Cinematographer Matthew Libatique grew up in Queens. He knows New York City, which is a good thing because his knowing eye lends luster to a pair of urban thrillers hitting screens this month courtesy of directors Spike Lee and Darren Aronofsky. Libatique, Oscar-nominated for Black Swan, A Star Is Born, and Maestro, shot four previous movies for Lee before helping the iconic New Yorker in his latest, the Denzel Washington-led thriller The Highest 2 Lowest (limited in theaters, streaming on Apple TV+ starting September 6). And he collaborated on six acclaimed arthouse features with Aronofsky before taking on the auteur’s East Village action comedy Caught Stealing (in theaters August 27), featuring Austin Butler and ZoëKravitz.
Libatique, who filmed the movies back-to-back, says, “Spike is very fluid. Darren is extremely precise. For me, as a spectator of sorts, it was fun to see how these two great filmmakers interpret an amazing city.”
Speaking from his Brooklyn home, Libatique discusses his “languid camera” strategy for filming Denzel Washington and recounts the time he crouched down behind a rolling cart to follow Austin Butler as they both raced through a New York City grocery store.
How did Spike Lee ground you in his vision for Highest 2 Lowest, which is inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic High and Low.
From the beginning, Spike said this is not a remake, it’s a re-interpretation. That gave me a little bit of a paved road for how to approach the cinematography. In Kurosawa’s original, for example, one of the things I found stunning was this view at the beginning where they set up the relationship between the have-nots at the bottom of the hill and the haves — [actor Toshiro] Mifune — standing inside this room looking out the window.
Highest 2 Lowest echoes that relationship with this epic opening shot of the city’s skyline that lands on Denzel Washington, as music mogul David King, standing on the balcony of his Dumbo penthouse in Brooklyn overlooking Manhattan.
We’re getting the lay of the land of the story, and in every frame, we’re getting a sense of the character because of how opulent and luxurious and playful everything is.
The camera even moves differently, it seems, in the first act.
We pretty much did static shots and dolly moves, trying to keep it a little more traditional—a little more of a languid camera.
“Languid” can work when you have Denzel Washington in focus.
With Denzel or any performer of that magnitude, that talent, that skill, that celebrity, that magic, as a cameraman, you’re dealing with less is more. You’re just trying to stand in front of him and capture the performance. Then, when conflict ensues, all of a sudden, there are detectives in the penthouse, so there are more cameras involved, and the camera language starts to get a little messier.
Denzel Washington, Ilfenesh Hadera. Credit: Courtesy of A24
SPOILER ALERT
Circumstances force “David King” to leave his luxurious world and get on the subway crammed with rowdy baseball fans traveling north through Manhattan to Yankee Stadium. How did you film Denzel Washington, one of the biggest stars in the world, in a public subway?
With a lot of help from the New York Film Commission and the MTA. We’re trying to travel from Borough Hall [in southern Manhattan] all the way up to 161st Street, but in New York, there are only a few platforms you’re allowed to shoot. We got maybe two stops. We’d travel one way and then flip everybody to the other side and do it again. The platforms were tricky, too, because when we went from, say, Union Square to 42nd Street, they’d have to change all the signs and use different extras. [First Assistant Director] Joe Reidy and production designer Mark Friedberg did a fantastic job.
Denzel Washington. Credit: David Lee
Intercut with the subway ride is this wonderfully chaotic set piece in the South Bronx centered on the Puerto Rican Day Parade, where Eddie Palmieri and his band are driving the crowd wild.
The late, great Eddie Palmieri, R.I.P.
Eddie Palmieri. Credit: Courtesy of A24
How did you capture all this mad vitality?
We started by doing about eight takes with Eddie. None of the music was pre-recorded. I couldn’t believe he could give that performance eight times in a row! So, we covered that first, recorded the music, played some back, and then cut to the crowd for their reaction. We spent three straight days photographing this event because that was the mandate from Spike. We wanted to capture every last detail, down to the people crushing sugar cane, shaving ice, and playing dominoes, to show something that’s quintessentially New York.
Credit: Courtesy of A24
The look of the film shifts throughout the course of David King’s journey. Did you use different kinds of cameras along the way?
At the beginning, we wanted a more austere approach, so we shot with a more studio-type camera – the Alexa Mini LF.
And then the subway?
We introduced 16 millimeter and also started shooting multiple film stocks, reversal film stock as well as positive. As we got closer to the Puerto Rican Parade, we used Kodak Super 8 cameras. The idea behind it was to create as much different perspective as we could. There’s a line that Asap$ Rocky says to Denzel in their first phone call, “You’re not in control anymore.” That’s what we’re trying to convey.
You shot High 2 Low in New York, then went straight into Caught Stealing. What kind of economic impact do projects of this scale have on the local filmmaking community?
For those of us who are fortunate enough to have work, I feel like it’s incumbent upon me to employ as many people as possible. The lifeblood of the filmmaking industry is the working class, and coming off Covid and the writers’ strike, that created some pretty bad situations. For me to be able to employ people, it goes beyond feeling good — it feels like a responsibility. I just hope we find a way for this country to be able to hold some of the filmmaking inside its borders.
You’ve been collaborating with Darren Aronofsky since the early nineties, when you guys met as students at the American Film Institute’s AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles. How did this project differ from the previous movies you’ve made together?
Usually, with Darren, if you look at The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, Noah, The Whale, everything stems from the subjectivity of the main character. For Caught Stealing, Darren sort of set aside the obsessions of his past to make a fun popcorn movie, for lack of a better term. In this film, you don’t get that same sense of subjectivity because there are so many characters who all have to share space in the frame.
Yvonne (Zoë Kravitz) and Hank (Austin Butler) connect back at Hanks apartment in Columbia Pictures CAUGHT STEALING. photo by: Niko Tavernise
And one of those characters seems to be the city itself?
Location scouting is kind of how Darren and I developed the movie. Just walking through the East Village, you see something that inspires you, sparks a conversation, and then you circle back to what we’re doing in the story.
Each neighborhood has a distinctive personality, starting with the East Village, where Austin Butler’s bartender character, Hank, resides.
Then he goes to Chinatown, then we go over the Manhattan Bridge and to a Greenpoint storage facility in Brooklyn, then to Flushing Meadows, and eventually the film takes us to Brighton Beach. The story takes you to all these iconic neighborhoods. It’s a different kind of love letter to the city from Highest 2 Lowest, but they’re both New York.
Russ (Matt Smith) and Hank (Austin Butler) on the move in Columbia Pictures CAUGHT STEALING. photo by: Niko Tavernise
What kind of cameras did you use for Caught Stealing?
For the majority of the film, I used the Sony Venice 2 in combination with old Bausch and Lomb Baltar lenses [designed in the 1930s] that I bought from [four-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer] Ed Lachman. I also used the DJI Ronin 4D-8 K, because we shot almost everything except Hank’s apartment inside actual locations, and needed to move the camera freely within these small spaces. It’s an internally stabilized camera that has a stabilizing neck on it that allows us to shoot more like a Steadicam rather than handheld.
In one wild chase sequence, Hank’s racing through a grocery store at top speed with Vincent D’Onofrio’s character in hot pursuit. How did you capture that chase on camera?
I sort of hunched over on a sandbag cart, getting pushed by two people as I held the camera really low while Austin goes sliding under this forklift. We were just trying to move the camera as fast as possible.
And you’re right in the thick of it.
[laughing] Going as fast as they can push me.
In both of these movies, New York City adds so much texture to the storytelling. It’s not Anywhere USA.
Not at all. Nobody ever comes here to make it look like somewhere else. There’s only a few cities where you don’t do that. London. Paris. Tokyo. And you don’t do that in New York.
Featured image: L-r: Denzel Washington. Credit: David Lee. Hank (Austin Butler) with Bud (“Tonic” the cat) on Coney Island gains confidence in plotting his next move in Columbia Pictures CAUGHT STEALING. photo by: Niko Tavernise
Director and producer Jay Roach, known for making some of the most iconic comedies of the last 25 years, is now helming a reimagining of another classic with The Roses. Written by two-time Oscar-nominee Tony McNamara, The Roses is a fresh take on Danny DeVito’s classic 1989 movie The War of the Roses.
While the original boasted the iconic pairing of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, the Meet the Parents and Austin Powers filmmaker has Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman as a picture-perfect couple pitted against each other, as one’s career rises and the other’s crashes and burns. The Roses ensemble cast also includes two SNL legends in Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg, as well as Ncuti Gatwa and Allison Janney.
Here, Roach and McNamara explain the power of language, the effectiveness of a well-placed curse word, and more.
The Roses is the first time Benedict and Olivia have appeared on screen together. That must have been fun to pair them for this.
Jay Roach: I couldn’t believe they hadn’t worked together. This came to me with them attached, so I didn’t have to think too hard about it. I jumped in because I imagined that their chemistry might be fantastic. I knew Benedict a little bit. He’s so fast, so funny, and he doesn’t get to do as much comedy as I think he could. I’ve known how hilarious Olivia is since Peep Show, so imagining them doing Tony’s dialogue seemed inevitable. It was even better than I expected.
Tony, you’ve written for Olivia before in Yorgos Lanthimos’s scathing, hilarious The Favourite. Did you write this with her in mind?
Tony McNamara: I similarly came in knowing it was Olivia and Benedict, and it was Searchlight and they that brought it to me. I love both of them, and I wanted to work with her again because she’s so brilliant and fun. They asked, ‘Do you want to do a remake?’ and I said, ‘No, but I’ll do a reimagining.’ Because of those two, I went, ‘We’ve got these incredibly verbally brilliant actors. We’ll just make it more of a verbal, character-driven black comedy, and that will suit their style.’ Because they’re such great dramatic and comic actors, I knew they had this great range, and I’d be able to throw a lot of tone through it.
Was there a particular moment when you knew this was working?
Roach: The first thing we shot with them together was in the Crab Shack, and I could see how they connected and cared so much about each other. Another was after his fortunes had collapsed, she was trying to cheer him up and mentioned that they could focus on the kids now. It’s such a beautifully warm scene, but it’s also really funny. Even in the read-through, they were amazing.
McNamara: They read it for us on Zoom, and it was so good. We couldn’t believe it.
Roach: Everyone was laughing so hard, and the other actors were losing it. That was when it became clear we’d made a good decision to get involved.
Tony, your writing showcases the power of a really well-placed curse word, and you’re not afraid to use the C word. You’re from Australia, and this was shot in the UK, and both places have different cultural attitudes towards its usage compared to the US.
McNamara: I remember we did it in The Favorite, and there was a sense of wondering how the American audience would go with it. In Australia and England, it’s an affectionate term, and it’s a curse. In America, we were worried, but I think because it was placed truthfully, it made sense, and if it lands the right way, maybe we get away with it. We don’t always get away with it. I’m sure my mother would walk out of the cinema. I never try to use it to shock; it’s always used rhythmically or coming from a certain place.
Roach: It’s a big moment since it’s used in the first scene of the movie. Olivia’s character, Ivy, is listing off the ten things she hates about Benedict’s character, Theo, and then lands it with the C word. I was saying, ‘Okay, it’s real. That’s how she would talk.’ They each find it hilarious that they’ve gone that far, which is also part of the scene’s beauty. American audiences often do gasp and howl at the same time. It’s almost an education in language.
What made you decide to film The Roses in the UK?
Roach: It was more to do with the actors’ schedules and availability than anything. I enjoy the movie magic of doing that. I shot in New Orleans for 1940s LA with Trumbo. We never got to shoot Austin Powers in England; that was always on studio back lots. I embraced it, but it was occasionally challenging. South Devon is so beautiful, and they let us take over this amazing restaurant, called The Winking Prawn, but we built the house and everything else on stage at Pinewood. I got to work with an all-English crew, other than our production designer, who is American. I felt like Ted Lasso because I wasn’t grasping the language as much as I wanted to.
Do you have any examples of the language barrier between the Queen’s English and your own?
Roach: They say we are two countries divided by a common language. I remember Tony wrote a scene that we called “sex on the bonnet,” and I thought the bonnet was the top of the car. I kept looking for a car with a roof strong enough to have sex on, and he was like, ‘No, you idiot, the bonnet is the hood. It’s the thing over the engine.’ There were multiple times like that when some translation was necessary.
In the restaurant scenes, the food is a star in its own right. Did you bring someone in for that?
Roach: We had a food designer, Dorothy Barrick, who was incredible. We also had a consultant, Ollie Dabbous, who’s a great chef from Hide. We really wanted it to feel like it was a manifestation of Ivy’s taste and her creative capability. I love the way it looks.
Did you have to make many adjustments to make the UK look like the US?
McNamara: When we went to Devon, we weren’t sure that it would look like Northern California, but we were stunned that it did. I don’t think I had to do any rewriting to make that work.
Roach: The only thing that was challenging was the museum. Trying to find the right place that was American enough meant we ended up doing that with visual effects, and cooking up the idea that it was a Maritime Museum in the East Bay.
The weather in the UK can be unpredictable. Did that cause any issues?
Roach: There was one bad night at the Crab Shack in Devon, when it was raining so hard, and there was no place to stand and no place for the crew. It was during the actual storm that we were recreating that there was a giant storm, and I was crazy. Most of the time we got lucky. We didn’t always have cover sets, so we would have been in trouble if there had been a serious amount of storms.
The industry has been debating the importance of comedies getting theatrical releases. What are your thoughts?
Roach: The pandemic took some steam out of the comedy momentum. I got to be part of so many really enjoyable comedies, and I got to see a bunch of comedies when I was starting out in the film business. I hope people are reminded how fun it is to sit in the dark and laugh with strangers. Also, I don’t want too many more of those high-back seats where you can’t hear everybody. I like those old-fashioned, crappy seats where you can feel everybody laughing next to you. We need to remind people how enjoyable and important it is as a community thing to just laugh your ass off altogether in waves.
McNamara: I came up in theater, and that was all about sitting with an audience and hearing them laugh and stuff. It has been lost a lot. When I was growing up, you went to comedies all the time with your friends, and that was part of your culture and how you understood each other. It has gone out of fashion, but when we did a test screening for The Roses with 250 people, it was funny because we had that experience. We were like, ‘Oh my God, I forgot what it was like to sit in a cinema for 100 minutes and have people laugh all the time and feel like you had an experience together’. There was something quite special about it.
The Roses is in theaters from Friday, August 29, 2025.
There’s a very healthy cross-section of book and movie lovers who are eager, dare I say thrilled, that writer/director Chloé Zhao’s upcoming feature is an adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s moving novel, “Hamnet.” In that piece of brilliant historical fiction, O’Farrell treated us to the tortured origin story, if you will, of William Shakespeare’s deathless work “Hamlet,” which, we learn, was inspired by his wife’s struggle to overcome the loss of their only son, Hamnet. Hamnet was taken from them by the Black Death, and O’Farrell brought readers into the 16th-century life of Agnes, her husband Will, and the grief that infused their often hectic, yet intermittently happy home.
In Zhao, Hamnet might have its ideal filmmaker to explore the creation of a masterpiece and the very human loss that centered it. The film centers on Jessie Buckley’s Agnes and Paul Mescal’s Shakespeare, with Emily Watson and Joe Alwyn starring as Mary and Bartholomew, siblings close to Agnes and William and their family. Chao’s working with Cold War and The Zone of Interest cinematographer Lukasz Zal, veteran production designer Fiona Crombie (who knows from Shakespeare—she designed Justin Kurzel’s moody Macbeth in 2015), and her Nomadland composer Max Richter. It’s a starry ensemble of creatives working to enhance a starry ensemble cast, with Mescal and Buckley leading the way, two of the most accomplished performers of their generation.
In short, Hamnet is one of this season’s potential Oscar darlings—its December 12 release date puts it squarely in the award season mix—the first trailer is a sumptuous glimpse, and moving, too.
The first trailer for The Savant offers a chilling statistic—between 1994 and 2020, there were 893 extremist attacks in America. The people committed to doing their best to protect us from even more of them aren’t often the ones who might think of it. In fact, we mostly don’t know they exist. Jessica Chastain’s character in Savant is one such person—a suburban mom by day, a tireless hunter by night. Chastain, who was excellent in Kathryn Bigelow’s masterpiece Zero Dark Thirty, is not new to ripped-from-the-headlines thrillers that deal in serious political and legal gray areas, and she’s once again back in these murky waters for Apple TV+’s new series.
“My job is pretending to think like them,” Chastain’s character tells one of her children, “to stop those people from doing really bad things.” She’s so good at it, she’s earned herself a nickname—yup, the Savant—on beginning on September 26, we’ll see Chastain pitted against snipers, bombers, ambushers, and homegrown terrorists of all stripes. One case in particular has been front and center of her work, with a massive potential plot underway that, Chastain later tells us, is the “kind that history refers to with a month and a date.”
Eventually, Chastain’s Savant keeps pushing deeper into this larger plot, and in doing so, puts her family in harm’s way. With her job and her family life now terribly intertwined, The Savant promises to show us what happens when the best at what she does faces an enemy just as cunning but even more ruthless.
Check out the trailer below. The Savant arrives on September 26.
For more stories on Apple TV+ series and films, check these out:
All aboard the first trailer for director Simon Stone’s The Woman in Cabin 10, starring Keira Knightley as a travel writer who boards a luxury cruise ship that looks just a little too good to be true. Knightley plays Laura Blacklock, an award-winning journalist who finds herself at the center of a dangerous mystery once the yacht sets sail. A passenger is thrown overboard—Laura sees it happen—only to find that her fellow passengers, a wealthy lot who themselves all seem suspicious, insist Laura was seeing things. Gaslighting at sea, a tale as old as sea travel itself.
The film is based on Ruth Ware’s best-selling novel of the same name, and is clearly intended to be a proper thriller that centers on Laura’s desire to reveal the truth while everyone around her treats her as if she’s losing her mind. But Laura is no shrinking violet, and nor was she intended to be.
“Lead female characters have had a bit of a bad rap. It’s always the woman whose sanity we’re doubting,” Stone told Colliderlast year. “I wanted Lo to feel more like the lead characters from ‘70s paranoid thrillers — Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Gene Hackman in The Conversation. You never question them. You just believe they’re right. That’s what I wanted for Keira.”
Knightley is surrounded by an excellent cast, including Guy Pearce, Hannah Waddingham, David Ajala, Art Malik, Kaya Scodelario, David Morrissey, Daniel Ings, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Check out the trailer below. The Woman in Cabin 10 arrives on Netflix on October 10.
Here’s the official synopsis from Netflix: While on board a luxury yacht for a travel assignment, a journalist witnesses a passenger thrown overboard late at night, only to be told that it didn’t happen, as all passengers and crew are accounted for. Despite no one believing her, she continues to look for answers, putting her own life in danger. Based on the bestselling novel The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware.
Two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard knows that Eden isn’t the kind of movie you’d expect him to make, which is one of the reasons he made it.
Based on real events, it tells the story of a group of outsiders who settle on a remote island in the Galapagos but quickly find out that the biggest danger they face isn’t the environment or the wildlife, but each other. Eden boasts an ensemble cast including Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Brühl, and Sydney Sweeney.
Here, Howard, who co-wrote and directed the film, discusses his favorite scene, reveals why the period piece has parallels with the world today, and shares his thoughts on the industry in 2025.
When people think about a Ron Howard movie, they perceive different things. What is a Ron Howard movie in 2025?
I guess it’s Eden, but I’m always looking for movies that can transport an audience, whether that’s through laughter, fantasy, human interactions, where they’re happening, and who they are. Eden is a movie that surprises some people because it’s coming from me. It’s a cautionary tale, a true crime thriller, and the first time I’ve tackled that narrative framework. It’s an interesting collision of characters that happened, making it one of those stranger-than-fiction stories. It was the perfect mix of personalities, motivations, hopes, twists, and turns. It’s like a season of reality television, and a producer couldn’t have cast it better.
Jude Law and Vanessa Kirby on the set of ‘Eden.’ (Courtesy of Vertical/Jasin Boland)
Eden is a period piece, but it has parallels with the world today.
I stumbled upon this story in a museum in the Galápagos Islands. It is an infamous story there, and they had a room dedicated to it. At the time, I didn’t see it as immediately relevant. I saw it as an interesting drama. I was fascinated and intrigued, but I wasn’t ready to make it as a movie, and didn’t necessarily believe audiences would engage with it. As time went on, unfortunately, I began to feel it was more immediately relevant.
You filmed Eden in Australia. Was that decision based on logistics and practicality? Were incentives a factor?
Incentives are a big deal, but I also had a fantastic experience the previous year making Thirteen Lives. That was set in Thailand but shot in Australia for efficiency, financial, and production reasons. I did scout the Galápagos, but we couldn’t film there because it’s a nature reserve. It’s tremendously limited, and it would be wildly expensive. One of the producers, Bill Connor, and I started saying, ‘Didn’t we see this terrain in Australia?’ so we were like, ‘Let’s go check out Queensland.’ We also visited the Canary Islands and scouted Puerto Rico. However, it was in Queensland that we immediately found the kind of desert island foliage. With a bit of set dressing and some set extensions achievable through shooting plates in the Galápagos, it looked right. Combine that with a great tax incentive and an infrastructure of talented people, and we could make our movie there efficiently and effectively.
(from left) Daniel Brühl and Jude Law in ‘Eden.’ (Courtesy of Vertical/Jasin Boland)
I assume you had a good network of local creative talent.
Oh, yeah. They have a great infrastructure. We transported very few people. The cinematographer, Mathias Herndl, is German, but lives in Vancouver. I worked with him on Genius and liked him very much. I thought he could bring an aesthetic and cultural authenticity. Getting Daniel Bruhl to join us also meant a lot in terms of just the subtleties of German culture.
What is it about Mathias’s eye that made you feel he could capture a contemporary feel with a period hue?
He did a fantastic job. Mathias, Daniel, and composer Hans Zimmer, the three Germans who are close to all of this, kept talking about the psychological pressure people were feeling at that time. You feel it when you visit Floriana. One thing we had to do was find ways to make Queensland less beautiful. We began experimenting and doing camera tests to try to take some of that out of the landscape. Whether it was in a camera movement or the light, because there is very little artificial light in this film, we had to convey that sense of place, but also the psychological element.
(from left) Felix Kammerer, Ana de Armas and Toby Wallace in ‘Eden.’ (Courtesy of Vertical/Jasin Boland)
Did you shoot on digital or film? Capturing period colors and tones on digital with natural light can be challenging.
You’re right from a technical standpoint, but we shot digital. It did create a challenge in the Digital Intermediate, but it was something we started on in prep. Matthias was working with the colorist before we ever shot anything for the movie.
That’s not the normal process, right?
No, that’s pretty unusual. We did it because we had to convey changes in the environment. There were storms and a drought, so we needed to transport the audience visually.
Vanessa Kirby in ‘Eden.’ (Courtesy of Vertical/Jasin Boland)
Do you have a favorite scene? I love the scene on the cliff where everybody is in silhouette. It’s reminiscent of 1930s monster movies.
It’s definitely a very gothic moment, and that’s where the story begins to be almost Shakespearean or Greek. It becomes very tragic in powerful ways. My favorite scene was the luncheon. We bring everyone together for a symbolic burying of the hatchet, honoring Ana de Armas’ character. She is larger than life, dreams of being a hostess to the elite through this hotel she’s going to build, and is trying to show herself off. They are all together, simmering, checking each other out, and trying to position for a little more power or leverage. We shot it very quickly, over one day, and there were eight, nine, or ten pages for this confrontation. The psychology of it, what the actors brought to the scene, and the way we had to approach it visually, made it one of my favorites to stage and shoot.
Felix Kammerer, Ana de Armas and Toby Wallace in ‘Eden.’ (Courtesy of Vertical/Jasin Boland)
G. Allen Hancock, an incredible character, is dropped into this. He’s a huge part of LA and Hollywood history whose life story would make a great movie.
I couldn’t believe this was the same Hancock of Hancock Park and La Brea Tar Pits fame, but in his era, he was very important to the growth of Los Angeles. At that time, if you were the wealthiest of the wealthy, you couldn’t think about going to space or diving deeply under the ocean, but you could outfit a yacht and go on expeditions, and that’s what some of these guys did. Hancock was dedicated to that. You can go online and see so much about the island of Floreana and these people, because he had a camera team with him, and he shot extensively. He even made a tongue-in-cheek silent movie starring the Baroness, Ana de Armas’ character. All of that informed our film and gave the actors a lot to build upon.
Ana de Armas as the Duchess in ‘Eden.’ (Courtesy of Vertical/Jasin Boland)
What is the Ron Howard sniff test of the industry right now?
It’s definitely in a period of upheaval and transformation, but there are great creative opportunities out there. It’s a struggle to get things made, but if you’re determined, you can find a way to make almost anything. The new tools and technology are presenting a lot of questions, but also a lot of opportunities for filmmakers to think about ways to get their ideas onto screens. When it comes to distribution systems, it’s anyone’s guess as to how that’s going to continue to evolve, so it’s a difficult time to figure out what to invest in. However, it’s a great time to be making cinema. Long form, short form, big screen, small screen, it’s all cinema. It’s all using that language. It’s more meaningful than ever. It’s part of everyone’s regular life. So, as a career storyteller and filmmaker, that’s encouraging to me, even though the industrial part of it remains a question mark, and is going to be a challenge.
2025 is the 40th anniversary of Cocoon. Would you revisit it?
Cocoon is caught up in some sort of legal quagmire, so it’s hard to get. You can’t find it anywhere, and it’s very frustrating. I’ve consulted with various business affairs executives, but I still don’t fully understand why it’s so difficult to find and why it’s tied up. Friends of mine are constantly asking me about it and saying, ‘I want to show my kids Cocoon, but I can’t find it.’ I think the best you can do is go on eBay and buy an old DVD. If someone came to me with an idea of how we could further explore those characters, or characters like them, I’d be open to it. It was a turning point for my career. It was my first big-screen movie that demanded special effects and had to be cinematically potent. I’m very proud of it, and it’s one of my favorites in my filmography. This year is also the 30th anniversary of Apollo 13, and we’re going to have an IMAX rerelease, which is thrilling.
Eden is in theaters now.
Featured image: Director Ron Howard on the set of ‘Eden.’ (Courtesy of Vertical/Jasin Boland)
It feels like a piece of casting that has to happen. Nicolas Cage is in talks to star in season 5 of HBO’s moody, character-driven crime drama True Detective, a series in which the lead detectives get plum, multifaceted roles that feel tailor-made for a performer who loves nothing more than to disappear into a role.
The last season of the anthology series, True Detective: Night Country, took us into the frozen climes of Alaska in the fictional town of Ennis, and followed Chief of Police Elizabeth Danvers (Jodie Foster) and her former partner, Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis), on an investigation into horrors discovered at a research facility that might be connected to the unsolved murder of an indigenous woman in the community. Night Country was nominated for 19 Emmy Awards, the most-nominated season in the series’ history, which included Jodie Foster winning for Lead Actress. Previously, standout seasons included, of course, the first, which thrilled viewers with a gothic, gruesome, southern-fried noir with stellar lead performances by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as Rustin Cohle and Marty Hart, respectively, two Louisiana State Police detectives investigating the ritualistic murder of a prostitute named Dora Lange. Season one also raked in the accolades, with 12 Emmy nominations, including for both McConaughey and Harrelson.
This history of excellence makes for a hearty meal for an actor of Cage’s abilities and sensibilities. Night Country‘s showrunner, Issa López, is likely returning for season five, which HBO revealed earlier this year would be set in Jamaica Bay, New York. Cage is in talks to snag the lead role of Henry Logan, a New York detective pulled into the case that will be at the center of the new season.
Cage is coming off a run of acclaimed films, including Pig, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Dream Scenario, and the recent, utterly bananas The Surfer.
Deadlinefirst reported on Cage’s potential involvement.
Featured image: US actor Nicolas Cage poses during a photocall for the film “The Surfer” at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 17, 2024. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE SIMON / AFP)
HBO Max has just dropped the first trailer for season two of The Pitt, and it manages, in just over a minute, to remind you what made the first season such a thrill ride. The 15-episode first run, nominated for 13 Emmys, covered one 15-hour shift at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center (inspired by the Allegheny General Hospital, which was used in filming for the entrance, helipad, and rooftop). The shift, usually 12 hours, went over 3 hours due to a shooting at the Pitt Fest, a concert where Jake (Taj Speights), the son of Dr. Robby (Noah Wylie)’s former romantic partner, is hanging out with his girlfriend. In what had already been a thrilling high-wire act of a medical drama, the best in years in our humble opinion, the final episodes flirted with unbearable tension, with friendly faces from earlier in the season returning, either to aid in an overloaded trauma center, or because someone they loved had been shot. It was a devastating, engrossing final few hours in one of the best dramas of the year.
The season two glimpse gives us a lot of the familiar faces—joining Dr. Robby, we have season one stalwarts Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa), who appears not have made good, quite yet, on her promise to retire, young doctors-in-training like Dr. Javadi (Shabana Azeez) and Dr. Santos (Isa Briones), and the troubled but brilliant Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball), who was exposed at the tail end of last season to be struggling with addiction to pain meds. The new season begins on the Fourth of July, with Dr. Langdon returning from a stint in an inpatient rehab program.
Wylie’s Dr. Robby is the pater familias of this sprawling medical team, and while he’s gangbusters at his job, he’s far from trauma-free himself, as we learned in season one. (Wylie will also direct an episode this season.) In fact, one of the primary lessons the younger doctors learned during their first shift was the heavy toll their chosen profession can take on a person.
The intrapersonal dramas, the mile-a-minute medical jargon that never felt heavy-handed (due not only to superb performances, but the fact that real doctors and medical experts consulted with the writers and producers), the relentless pacing, and respect the production had that they audience wouldn’t only keep up, but care, made The Pitt season one a phenomenon. There’s no doubt that we’ll be clocking in for our second shift when the series returns in January.
Mr. Milchick is about to go from Lumon Industries to New York City.
Tramell Tillman, one of the breakout stars from Apple TV+’s Emmy-darling Severance, has been cast in director Destin Daniel Cretton’s upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Variety reports. Tillman will join Tom Holland, returning for his fourth swing as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Jon Bernthal, playing Frank Castle/Punisher, Mark Ruffalo, returning to the MCU fold as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, and Zendaya, reprising her longtime Spidey role of MJ. Tillman’s not the only one whose character hasn’t been revealed; he joins Sadie Sink and Liza Colón-Zayas in undisclosed roles (the speculation on Sink is that she’s playing a young Jean Grey, a powerful member of the X-Men). The cast is rounded out with Jacob Batalon, returning as Ned, and Michael Mando, playing Mac Gargan/Scorpion.
The fourth film in the Holland-led Spider-Man franchise has already begun shooting, with the first day on set bringing a first for Holland’s Spider-Man tenure—fans flocking to the location. The details of who, precisely, Tillman will be playing are being kept under wraps and webs, but the quickly rising star is coming off a banner year already, having played an even larger role in Severance season 2 and playing a key role opposite Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning as Captain Jack Bledsoe, the commanding officer of a submarine that Cruise’s Ethan Hunt catches a ride from during one of the movie’s most thrilling set pieces.
Tillman’s role as Seth Milchick, a middle manager at Lumon Industries responsible for running the severed floor, earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, the first openly Black gay man to receive the nomination. He also nabbed SAG and Independent Spirit Award Nominations. Tillman’s currently working on the Amazon MGM Studios’ film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, as well as Lena Dunham’s Netflix film Good Sex.
Tillman’s also a longtime star of the stage, having made his Broadway debut alongside Brian Cox in “The Great Society.” Speaking earlier to Variety for a cover story, Tillman reflected on making history with his Emmy nomination: “I’m not playing small for nobody. I’m not dimming my light for anybody. I have spent years doing that, and those days are done. Myself, stepping into that level of thinking and embodying, that is my own form of revolution.”
Featured image: CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 14: Tramell Tillman during the “Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning” photocall at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival at on May 14, 2025 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Leading this year’s Emmys pack with 27 nominations, the sophomore season of Severance goes deeper into the cult-like and twisted Lumon Industries, where a group of employees chose a surgical procedure that permanently bifurcates their work memories (“innies”) from their true selves (“outies”). Created by Dan Erickson, the slow-burn workplace thriller follows severed employee, Mark (Adam Scott), and his colleagues who work on the labyrinthine severed floor under the supervision of Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman). One of the emotional bedrocks this season centers around what really happened to Mark’s allegedly deceased wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman). Shot in the Tri-State area, the series received $39.6 million in New York tax credits for its first season and an estimated $9.2 million in New Jersey tax credits across both seasons.
Dichen Lachman and Adam Scott in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Nominated for an Emmy, set decorator David Schlesinger (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Knives Out) worked closely with production designer Jeremy Hindle (who is also nominated) to expand the singular aesthetic of Lumon, which required fabricating substantial amounts of set dressing locally and importing items from Europe to create the distinct look. “About 30% to 40% of our set dressing was designed and fabricated mostly in the area. We wanted everything to be a little off and not recognizable because, in theory, most of the things on the severed work floor would have been made by Lumon. So that’s why we fabricated so much in-house.”
Dichen Lachman in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
What was it like to jump right into the second season?
Jeremy Hindle and I are old friends; we did True Story together. He offered me season one, but I was on hold for another project. But I wasn’t sure that I could do it at first, and jumped in with some research and conversations with Jeremy. So, season two was not brand new to me.
What were some of the changes in season two from a visual aesthetic perspective?
There wasn’t really a change, except that we spent more time in the outie’s world and explored other areas of Lumon, like the testing floor, where we found many new sets. I expanded on season one—I wanted more of a corporate feeling in the furniture. So, we repeated things—you have the same folding chairs from Cappellini everywhere like the break room and the Mammalians Nurturable room, or the goat room. I brought in a drafting table from [Italian office equipment manufacturer] Olivetti, which we used in the Mammalians and the management office and closet to convey that sense of sameness.
“Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
How did you settle on that style from Olivetti?
Olivetti made typewriters and business equipment in the ’60s, a line of office furniture which I don’t think was imported into the United States, so it was pretty unusual to find here. I wanted to find things that people didn’t recognize. I thought it was amazing, so I just started buying them up.
What were some of the main locations where Severance was shot?
Our stages were in the Bronx, and we had many locations upstate in Minnewaska State Park, in Kingston, New York. Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey, is where the Lumon building is. And we shot in Newfoundland for Episode 8, that’s set in [the fictional town of] Salt’s Neck.
Lumon Industries headquarters Photo: Apple TV+
How big was your team?
My core team included two assistant set decorators and two buyers, plus a coordinator. The set dressing crew could be up to 50 on some days.
Was the style of Severance too unique to rent a lot from prop houses?
We bought a lot because of our schedule and we go back to a lot of sets. So, rentals are a little difficult. We do some but for the most part, we bought items.
How much of the furniture and decorations were sourced on location?
I source all over—New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, and we also shipped things in from Europe. Wherever we could find things, we went far and wide. We also fabricated a large amount of the set dressing.
Robby Benson and Dichen Lachman in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
What was the design and fabrication process like on a show this extensive?
I’d come up with a concept, discuss it with Jeremy, and then work with an illustrator or the set designer. We’d make it in-house or have an outside fabricator, depending on the complexity. We have an in-house sculptor who made the duck rabbit sculpture in Milchick’s office and the bust of Lumon’s founder, Eagan. Our shop space was in the Bronx at our stages.
A jarring piece of art greets the innies as they exit the lobby elevator—the “Kier Pardons His Betrayers” mural—where four people are buried up to their necks in sand.
That was something that Jeremy worked on with our in-house illustrator to develop the concept. Once Ben approves it, our scenic department created it.
Sarah Bock in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Are most of the art pieces created in-house?
For the art on the “severed” floor, we worked with graphic designer Tansy Michaud to come up with a concept to present to Ben and Dan [Erickson], the writer. Those were based on WPA [Work Projects Administration] posters. There’s only one piece of art on that floor that we did not create in-house, the painting of the iceberg in Milchick’s office, which was by local artist Lisa Lebofsky. There’s so much you don’t see in an iceberg under the surface, much like what’s happening at Lumon.
Sydney Cole Alexander in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
How did that idea come about?
We had a conversation with Trammell about his office, which was a redo of Cobel’s office, and he mentioned the idea of an iceberg.
What were some of your favorite furniture or art pieces this season?
There’s so much! Fans of design often mention the furniture on the testing floor and Gemma’s suite. But one thing that people may miss is the new desk in Milchick’s office. It’s a pretty amazing piece, circa 1965 for Lehigh Leopold, designed by renowned architect Warren Platner. He worked with architects Eero Saarinen and Kevin Roche in the ’60s, who designed Bell Labs, which is our HQ for Lumon. So, it’s very likely that the desk would have been in the executive’s offices. I think we bought that from an antique store, Merit, in Los Angeles. We designed and fabricated the sofa, bed, and chair in Gemma’s suite. The idea is it’s a modular system that would’ve been maybe 3D printed by Lumon. So, we ended up 3D printing pieces of it.
Dichen Lachman in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
What was behind the white and purple chairs in the break room, where the innies are forced to watch that uprising reform video?
Those are the Nimrod chairs by Marc Newsom. We revamped the break room for the new and improved Lumon because they wanted to be “fun.” The projector was straight out of the ’60s. When we use an actual object, we often have to make some alterations. We painted it and created a control panel to make it feel like something Lumon would’ve created. We also fabricated the screen. The crazy balloon lamps, I just stumbled upon those and I was like, ‘These are fun! In the corners, there are some lava lamps from Ukraine. We bought quite a bit from Ukraine, like some of the toys in Dylan’s house, because I wanted things that felt a little foreign.
Adam Scott, John Turturro, Zach Cherry and Britt Lower in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Where did you get those 1990s desktops in the cubicles?
Those were fabricated for season one, including the keyboards, I think, based on research at the Rhode Island Computer Museum, which was one of the things I’d suggested to Jeremy.
Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, John Turturro, Britt Lower and Adam Scott in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
What were some of your favorite items or scenes from this season?
Episode Seven is probably my favorite because we covered so much; the testing floor is entirely new. We have flashbacks to Mark and Gemma’s house, Ganz College, and Gemma’s office, which are traditional sets, but they’re still packed with character—we’re trying to identify who these people are and where they come from. The Salt’s Neck episode in Newfoundland, Canada, was totally different from the rest of the show. The Drippy Pot Café at first glance feels like a regular café, but if you dig deeper, it’s very bizarre. Everything is monochromatic—there may be three colors in that whole place, which is something we do a lot with Lumon. The new visitation room is all one color. We wanted to show that Lumon has their hands in everything, even the café in this little town.
James Le Gros in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
How did you decide on thecolor palette?
We have a pretty strict palette and camera-test a lot of our materials to maintain that palette. For instance, red is very rarely used. And if it is, it’s loaded with meaning. Blues, greens, and grays are our world.
Britt Lower in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
The show has such a distinct look that really sets it apart.
This is such a unique project, and I’m really proud of the work we’ve done. We have an amazing team. The ability to fabricate so many items and create this bizarre, but not over-the-top, world that only exists in Lumon has been a great project.
Severance is streaming on Apple TV+.
Featured image: Adam Scott, John Turturro, Zach Cherry and Britt Lower in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
As the longest-running sketch comedy show in US television history, Saturday Night Live has not only shaped generations of comedians and cultural commentary, but it’s also become an institution for live performance. Some of its most iconic moments are when cast members can’t help but laugh themselves. But behind the humor is a bustling backdrop of production design, costumes, hair, makeup, lighting, and camera work that makes the magic happen.
For SNL50: The Anniversary Special, Studio 8H turned into a living museum of sketch comedy, where its director, Liz Patrick, helmed a love letter to live television with the help of a cast and crew to make it all possible. Every beat was choreographed, every set was imagined to its full potential, and every sketch was fine-tuned for maximum entertainment.
Below, production designer Leo Yoshimura, speaking on behalf of his team, and the entire editing team, made up of film unit editors Ryan Spears, Paul Del Gesso, Christopher Salerno, and editors Daniel Garcia, Sean McIlraith, and Ryan McIlraith, relive the historic episode and share how they recreated and shaped five decades of comedy, celebrity, and musical performances into one epic live event.
The production design team: Akira “Leo” Yoshimura, production designer, N. Joseph DeTullio, production designer; Patrick Lynch, art director; Melissa Shakun, art director; Charlotte Hayes Harrison, art director; Sabrina Lederer, set decorator.
How did the team start planning for the episode?
As best as I can remember, Joe DeTullio and I started work on the 50th anniversary special in June 2024. The 49th season had just ended, and we both felt that the summer would be a good time to work on some visual ideas for the show. I think, as we discussed, the show became clearer to me that ‘simpler was best’ and what the audience would immediately recognize as Saturday Night Live was more important than historically acknowledging 50 years of scenery.
How did you decide on a visual theme for the special?
We had to add 150 more seats to our Studio 8H, which can accommodate 325 for an evening performance. Early in July, Joe and I decided to use the signature look of New York’s Grand Central Station. This had been our signature look for many years, and we realized that an audience would remember “where they were” and “what show they were watching” if we used New York’s Grand Central Station as a visual anchor.
SNL50: THE ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL — Pictured: Chris Rock during goodnights & credits on February 16, 2025 — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)SNL50: THE ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL — Pictured: (l-r) Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jon Hamm and Alec Baldwin during the Audience Q&A sketch on February 16, 2025 — (Photo by: Todd Owyoung/NBC)
Were there any sets you wish you could have seen again for SNL50?
In retrospect, I wish that we could have recreated two sets: the very first SNL sketch, The Wolverines, two walls with painted wallpaper, two chairs, and an old, worn rug. And one other, our first home base, a basement club in New York. All the rough brick textures, the rickety wooden stairs, and a meaningful collage of antique artifacts. And the real brick homebase platform that was positioned in the center of our studio, with an artist studio skylight above it.
What moment from the episode stood out for you?
We first learned about the musical guests before the comedy sketches. I loved the idea of Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter. Old and young. Simply done on our homebase. This was a tribute to our show, a moment of great television. ‘Homeward Bound” was their song.
Editing SNL50
How did you approach editing the archival footage to create the Physical Comedy tribute?
Editing team: The 50th Anniversary and, in particular, the Physical Comedy tribute was the culmination of not only SNL’s storied history, but it also brought together so many of those who have worked on the show both in front and behind the camera over the years.
Our post supervisor, Matt Yonks, made sure all of the episodes were digitized and at the ready, and then our post coordinator, Rachel LaBianca, with the help of assistant editor Katie Higgins, started digging through the seasons and stringing out the footage by category and cast member. From there, it became a workflow of passing pieces between editors, each one focused on a different aspect or section, then bringing it all together to make this piece.
We knew the final video probably couldn’t be much longer than four minutes, so the cut started out very long and over the days leading up to the show, we whittled it down to its final form. It was overseen by Oz Rodriguez, who served as the show’s creative director, and he was instrumental in curating the final clips, features, and putting us all to work on different aspects of the piece.
Chevy Chase and Chris Farley set the tone for physical comedy at SNL. Did the team feel it had to jump off with Chase?
The opening section with Chevy Chase was really the only possible way to start this piece. An original cast member, the first breakout star from the show, and arguably the person most known for their physicality, we felt proud that this pre-tape was the moment in the anniversary special to give him his flowers. Ryan Spears found that Cold Open from the first season, where Chevy tells Lorne he’s not going to do a fall, which was the perfect setup to ignite this high-energy edit.
Do you have a favorite moment from the clip?
The moment that is definitely our favorite, though, is the section with Molly Shannon. Watching all of the Mary Gallagher sketches from her tenure, she is literally tossing herself full blast into metal fold-up chairs, through walls, and onto tables. She is a force of nature, and while audiences typically associate SNL’s physical comedy with Chevy Chase, Chris Farley, or John Belushi, we wanted to remind audiences of one of the greatest ever to do it. She went through a lot of pain to earn your laughs!
SNL50: THE ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL — Pictured: (l-r) Molly Shannon Molly Shannon as Sally O’Malley and Emma Stone during the Intro Physical Comedy sketch on February 16, 2025 — (Photo by: Todd Owyoung/NBC)
Featured image: SNL50: THE ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL — Pictured: (left) Steve Martin during the monologue on February 16, 2025 — (Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC)
When Saturday Night Live first aired in October 1975, no one could have predicted it would become a cornerstone of American culture. Now, five decades later, Lorne Michaels and company have celebrated another milestone with SNL50: The Anniversary Special, a three-hour telecast directed by Liz Patrick, which brought together Studio 8H legends onto one stage.
With a star-studded cast that included current performers, alumni, and surprise guests, the hair and makeup departments faced one of their most ambitious challenges to date. Led by hair department head Jodi Mancuso and makeup department head Louie Zakarian, the teams brought back a number of beloved characters, their specific looks intact. With a little bit of precision and creativity, the glam squads looked to custom wigs, bald caps, and prosthetics to help performers slip seamlessly back into characters some hadn’t played in decades – all of which required a complete transformation under a very tight turnaround.
Below, Mancuso and Zakarian sort through the blur of brushes and tools to share how they brought back some of SNL‘s most beloved characters, one perfectly coifed wig at a time.
HAIR
The hair department consisted of: Jodi Mancuso, department head hairstylist; Cara Hannah, key hairstylist; Inga Thrasher, hairstylist; Amanda Duffy Evans, hairstylist; Chad Harlow, hairstylist; Gina Ferrucci, hairstylist; Brittany Hartman, hairstylist; Katie Beatty, hairstylist; makeup – entire special.
Jodi, with so many eras and iconic characters, when did you start hearing about sketches so you could manage the inventory?
I started to hear sketch ideas along the way. I also had a few meetings about what the possibilities could be. So I had my team prepare for all of it! We truly did not have anything solid until that week. My department and wigshop prepared over 80 wigs for the Friday music special and the three-hour live 50th special.
SNL50: THE ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL — Pictured: (l-r) Aidy Bryant, Jon Hamm, Kate McKinnon, Will Forte, Woody Harrelson during the “Close Encounter” sketch on February 16, 2025 — (Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC)
What hurdle did your team have to overcome?
One of the biggest challenges was that we did not have a full dress rehearsal. So you just gave it to wig gods in the hopes it would all go smoothly. We also tried not to damage the guests’ hair, as most had just stepped off the red carpet, been pulled from the audience to perform, and then had to return looking the same.
That doesn’t sound easy to achieve.
One of my favorite moments was Meryl Streep! She is just so laid back, professional, and just a lovely human. I put her wig for Close Encounters in her dressing room for rehearsal. I told her I would be back to put it on her for her sketch. I went back to put the wig on, and Meryl and the wig were gone! I giggled, knowing she put it on herself, and when I saw it on her, she did a great job of it. I asked her if she was available to work in the hair department! She said ‘oooh, that sounds like fun.’
Were there any specific looks that you felt a special responsibility to get exactly right?
The Bronx Beat wigs are especially close to my heart. The sketch originally was based on me. I designed those wigs for my friends Amy and Maya, knowing that Mike Myers’ Linda Richman was going to be in it! I was so excited to see these two worlds collide. It was a lovely SNL moment for me.
MAKEUP
The makeup team: Louie Zakarian, department head makeup artist; Jason Milani, key makeup artist; Amy Tagliamonti, key makeup artist; Rachel Pagani, makeup artist; Young Bek, makeup artist; Stephen Kelley, makeup artist; Joanna Pisani, makeup artist.
Louie, with the longer runtime, how did the team approach coordinating the makeup?
Unlike a regular season episode, there would be no dress rehearsal this time. We had to time the changes from a loose rehearsal without most of the cast that would eventually be in the sketch. Everything was prepped in advance and staged in the makeup room to be ready to apply.
What was the most challenging transformation to pull off?
In the John Mulaney musical number, there were a number of cast members who would be playing political characters needing four or five bald caps and facial hair. We had to time out the application of each of these make-ups. In the case of Kate McKinnon as Rudy Giuliani, I had to omit certain parts of the make-up (like the cheeks prosthetics) I usually do because there would not be enough time to apply and remove them all. There was also a bald cap on Emil to make him look like De Niro from Taxi Driver.
The Close Encounter sketch saw Pedro Pascal and Woody Harrelson with Meryl Streep popping in. Is the best approach to keep things simple with their characters?
That character is always best when downplayed. Less is really more for sure, and once Kate gets into it, it’s magic. Meryl was a late addition; I believe I didn’t know about her until that day, but I coordinated with her and had her make-up slightly toned down.
Featured image: SNL50: THE ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL — Pictured: (l-r) Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Mike Myers as Linda Richman during the “Bronx Beat” sketch on February 16, 2025 — (Photo by: Theo Wargo/NBC)
In just six years, including five of the film industry’s most challenging periods, powerhouse filmmakers David Leitch and Kelly McCormick have founded and grown 87North Productions, making it a formidable force in Hollywood and beyond.
Anchored in the action genre, the production and action design company’s catalog includes the third and fourth John Wick movies, Bullet Train, Violent Night, The Fall Guy, Nobody, and now its sequel.
The sequel sees Bob Odenkirk reprise the role of ex-government assassin and family man Hutch Mansell, who leaves his double life behind in suburbia and heads off on a family vacation. However, trouble follows, and before too long, a chain of events unravels secrets about the pasts of both him and his wife. As well as Odenkirk, Nobody 2 boasts a starry ensemble cast that includes Connie Nielsen, John Ortiz, RZA, Colin Hanks, Christopher Lloyd, and Sharon Stone.
Here, McCormick and Leitch explain the secret of their successes both on screen and as a business, tapping into Canada’s amazing creative talent base, and more.
87North continues to grow and evolve. What is the key to your success?
David Leitch: We try to make audience pleasers and put the audience first. Are they going to enjoy this? Is it going to be an entertaining ride? Is this worth going to the theater for? We also focus on material that features a relatable, iconic character in the middle. When you look at Hutch in the Nobody movies, Santa in Violent Night, or The Fall Guy or Bullet Train, they’re action movies and sometimes comedies, but they’re always character films. There are many actors who get to chew up the scenes, delivering great character work and connecting with the audience. When you do that, you set yourself up for potential sequels because people want to go on continuing adventures. That’s where our brand is focused.
Kelly McCormick: We have a style book and pillars. It’s about boldness and being entertaining. These commitments guide our choices, keeping us focused on what to do and what to avoid, and ensuring we stay true to our values. We also want to be good partners to everybody in the process, from the creatives to our financiers and studio partners. We’re thoughtful across the board.
(from left) Brady Mansell (Gage Munroe), Sammy Mansell (Paisley Cadorath), Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk), David Mansell (Christopher Lloyd) and Becca Mansell (Connie Nielsen) in Nobody 2, directed by Timo Tjahjanto.
For Nobody 2, you created Midwestern Americana in Winnipeg, Manitoba. You made the first film there, too. What was the draw to return?
McCormick: We love Winnipeg. We’ve created a film family there. Before we got there, they mainly made Hallmark movies. Now that we’re going into our fifth picture there, we’ve grown a team of action filmmakers who will turn down other projects to work on ours, even if they’re offering them more salary. It’s amazing. They’re a loyal bunch of committed, dedicated artists and skilled crafts people who want to give it their all. Also, they want to stay in Winnipeg. They love it there. What we did best in Nobody 2 was to make it seem like we weren’t in the same place. That was down to the impressive work by the production designer, our locations team, and our commitment to finding things we had never seen before in Winnipeg. The carnival is about 20 minutes out of town. It’s a real water park and that is a summer carnival. We ended up having to shoot after they were finished with their summer season. We extended their rental for about two weeks, and they fed us with cotton candy. It was great fun.
Sharon Stone as Lendina in Nobody 2, directed by Timo Tjahjanto.
Is everything there that you need?
McCormick: Depending on the movie, we bring in three to five stunt teams, some of whom are from other places in Canada. However, there is a crew of stunt performers we use in Winnipeg called Skene Stunts. We’re building a little bit of strength there, too, and giving people another reason to get into the business and hone the craft as locals. We typically bring in a DP, who then utilizes the rest of the team we’ve built there. The operators and the assistants are running our DPs on other projects, too. Our films have such a specific look that we add a DP that we’ve worked with before every time.
Does filming in Canada give you more bang for your buck?
McCormick: Between the incentives and the exchange rate, it’s almost unbeatable for this size film, and especially when you don’t need a specific landscape in any way. They are film-friendly, and they want the work. When we shot Nobody 2, there were four other films there. They are partly growing because of the exposure they’ve had because of us. There are other things too, but they’re doing it right, and the unions are really helpful.
You continue to grow the 87North team in the US. Is 87North Canada part of the evolution?
McCormick: We do have a little postage stamp in Vancouver. After Deadpool 2, we put a little plot there. We do all of our post on these little movies there. We have a hub and a couple of stunt performers that we work with regularly.
Leitch: Having been a stunt performer for so long, during the heyday of my career, I worked all over the world. We weren’t making movies in the States at that time, so I have connections to stunt teams all over. When we go to different places, we reconnect with old friends who are fostering young stunt performers. One of our unique skills is that we have access to that international base.
Italy was discussed as a possible location for Nobody 2, but the family headed to the Midwest. Could we see Nobody 3 go international and utilize that creative network?
Leitch: You’re right, we had talked about that in the beginning. In the first film, they mentioned their vacation in Italy; however, we focused on making it more of an Americana experience in this one, but nothing’s off the table. When you create such a lovable, relatable character, the world is our oyster in terms of where we want to take it. It’ll be a case of getting the team together and brainstorming something fun the audience will love.
McCormick: The family is at the core of both movies. We’ve grown Connie’s character, Becca, and RZA’s Harry in this movie, and honestly, the kids, too, to the point where I wonder what we can do with them next. It’s about how they’ll fall out of sync, and we’ll bring them back together. We can do that in many places and various ways.
RZA as Harry Mansell in Nobody 2, directed by Timo Tjahjanto.
Movies like Nobody 2 still work on streaming, but they play best in theaters. How can we consistently bring audiences back to the movies?
Leitch: There are a lot of people with a lot of different interests scratching their heads, including the theater owners, the studios, and the filmmakers. We all want this to happen. It’s a combination of several factors. We need to make entertaining films. We need to make diverse films across different genres to attract audiences. We’re alienating all these other people and their genres. To do all that costs money, so the studios have to reconcile that with their advertising budgets. Then, the theater owners have to make the theaters comfortable and make those experiences worth the $100 that it takes to bring a family. All those conversations have to happen within the industry, and everyone has to do their part to keep this thing alive. It’s not one-sided.
Audiences are increasingly savvy when it comes to picking how the movie they are seeing is being presented, whether that is IMAX or Dolby. Is it heartening to know they understand and appreciate that?
Leitch: It is because you put a lot of effort into all the details. When you’re working in post with your great sound team, the visual effects team, or your great colorist, you’re doing it because you want it to be experienced on the highest quality system. There are hours and hours of people’s lives that go into making that experience and enhancing it. It’s exciting to see the blacks being super black, to experience Dolby Surround Sound, and see large formats, all of which can only happen in the theater.
What does the future look like for 87North?
McCormick: We will have made six films by the end of this year, which will be released over two years. We are moving on to Violent Night 2 from our current location in Pittsburgh, where we’re making a movie, and we’ve got some exciting things lined up for next year. Honestly, we feel incredibly fortunate to be making movies, and we’re working hard to be thoughtful about the ones we choose, ensuring they’re worthy of both theatrical release and your time.
Freakier Friday, directed by Nisha Ganatra, really is freakier than its predecessor, 2003’s Freaky Friday, as the number of characters unwittingly swapping bodies has risen to four. Anna (Lindsay Lohan) and her teenage daughter, Harper (Julia Butters) land in each other’s corporeal forms, while even weirder for the group, Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her step-granddaughter-to-be, Lily (Sophia Hammons) find themselves swapped.
The medium for this switch is a disarmingly hacky multi-hyphenate palm reader, Madame Jen (Vanessa Bayer), although the real culprit is the four characters’ intractable domestic strife. Anna is a single mom by choice, now engaged to Lily’s father, Eric (Manny Jacinto). Lily is English and does not want to be in Los Angeles, much less have her late mother imminently replaced. Harper is a checked-out surfer with limited patience for her mom and absolutely none for her arrogant future stepsister. Tess, having ingested a major chill pill in the last movie, is still pretty cool—her worst faults are being a bit too helpful at “co-grandparenting” and trying to on-the-spot psychologize everybody into harmony.
Costume designer Natalie O’Brien (No One Will Save You, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon) makes it easy to follow this four-way switcheroo through the characters’ looks. Being trapped in Tess’s body doesn’t dampen Lily’s outré fashion, while Harper, as her mother, clads herself in fashion ranging from diffident tomboy to confused vamp (the latter out of necessity, as the girls try to break up their parents). With the older women steering the ship, the younger girls transform into toned-down, neatly presented versions of themselves.
We spoke with O’Brien about developing Anna’s cool mom style with Lohan, bringing in references to the first film, and getting Curtis into the Y2K fashions so inexplicably adored by a certain Gen Z cohort.
How did you develop Anna’s look, and was Lindsay Lohan involved?
She is a big collaborator. She is also very tactful and smart, and she knows where her character goes. We knew we wanted to keep her rocker mom vibe, but we didn’t want it to be as hardcore as she was when she was a teen. It has to flatten out, and she has to be a mother as well. Music is in her bones, and it’s still something she does as her job. Her three-piece pink Frankie Shop oversized blazer look with the vest was something that felt David Byrne-esque, musically inspired, but also like a boss and cool mom at the same time. It also showed a nice switchover for when we see Harper in her lavender look with the vest. Their looks become congruent. You’re trying to trickle these different pieces in, so that when they do the switch, it’s like a perfect ice cream swirl.
How did placing Easter Eggs and any other references to the first movie play into the looks you developed for the sequel?
We didn’t want to hit people over the head with it, because it’s such an iconic film already. Obviously, it’s nice to put little bits in there. But no matter what, there will be no recreating Freaky Friday, the original. One of the only pulls that I wanted to do was the original Diane von Furstenberg dress that we put on Bess, who is Chad Michael’s love interest later on. That was a big one, and that was a hunt to find. There’s also a little moment when you see Anna playing Harper in this black asymmetrical dress, it is Isabel Marant. That was a similar structure to when she’s playing guitar with Pink Slip on the stage. I wanted to put in little peeks and nods.
Lily, the aspiring fashion designer, is all new. What did you want to convey with her outrageous outfits?
I think that the amount of stuff that she has in her clothing is masking something, in a way. It’s kind of [like], “Whoa, this is me. Look at this, but don’t question some things, because I don’t know if I’m open enough to show you.”
There was a clear sense that Tess retained the lessons of the first film. How did you bring that into what she wore?
It was important for her to feel a little bit cooler, a little bit more like she’s gotten into her own skin, 20 years later. I wanted her to be cool, affluent, and a touch bougie with her cashmeres and her scarves. You see a lot of that at the Brentwood Country Mart, this place in LA that’s a very put-together, California, hip spot. It was important, because she had switched with a 15-year-old already, so that stays. And at the end of the film, you have her with Lily’s inspiration, totally changing the way that she is both psychologically and through her styling and her wardrobe. I wanted to do that with everybody at the end. They all absorbed a part of their switched character and their switched persona, and it changed them. It paved the way for them to be a better version of themselves.
How did you figure out the level of fashion you wanted to use to depict Lily navigating the world in Tess’s form?
Jamie did not love everything that she was in, but that’s the perfect thing, because if she is comfortable in her outfit, you are not playing a 15-year-old girl. You have to be very uncomfortable and out of place to feel like you are Lily trapped in this sixty-something-year-old body. The costuming is storytelling. It helped us find the characters and let them find their characters. So let’s say, the pink dress. We made that dress. It’s very loud. It’s very Y2K. It’s also an homage to Trading Places. Jamie and I were talking about it, and I said, ”Okay, show me the body parts you want to hide. Talk to me about the things you’re okay with seeing. And let’s still make it look chic and young and loud for this moment that you have a monumental conversation with everybody at the table.” Because her conversation is loud, her voice is loud, so we wanted to turn it up. We also Easter egg it in the beginning and show that it’s something that she wears as a Spice Girl. It’s the same dress that’s on the postcard.
And the volume only turns up even more when Lily-as-Tess is forced into a pickleball tournament.
Jamie asked Josh [Bramer, the prop master], because she’d worked with him before on Everything Everywhere All At Once, to get the mouth guard and all the other stuff, all in pink. I was going back and forth, showing him our photos. Jamie put it all together, and it was drop-dead hilarious. We had a lot of fun. I know it was out of her comfort zone. But I even saw her at the premier afterwards, and she was like, “You know, I didn’t like the outfits, but it all worked.” It was strange and bizarre, but it made sense.
Speaking of fun and bizarre, wow, did you pull off the big food photo shoot scene for Ella (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan)?
With the beautiful costume houses of LA, we are able to capture these things that are available to us. I really wanted to honor that, in a way. I was thinking about how a stylist would think of what this photo shoot would be. First, we knew that her album was [called] “Hungry.” So, we made it all food-oriented. I wanted to find as many food-style walkabouts—these costumes that you can get in—as we could get. I had found the cake, and we bedazzled it, adding more roses and flowers. And then we just went to town. We had hot dogs, we had strawberries, we had the grapes, and we made the teddy bears. We had some Christian Siriano pieces. That was a wild day. It was about 15, maybe 20 changes altogether for everybody.
On a night filled with laughter, legacy, and magic, Saturday Night Live marked its 50th anniversary with an unforgettable celebration. The milestone episode infused nostalgia that paid tribute to its past with new memorable moments. But what audiences saw on screen is only a fraction of the story. Behind the scenes in the iconic Studio 8H, an enormous production effort had been unfolding for months. From production design, hair, makeup, editing, and everything in between, SNL50: The Anniversary Special became the iconic show’s biggest collaborative effort ever, capturing an episode worthy of five decades of history.
Helmed by Liz Patrick, the technical challenge for the crew was planning a three-hour special without a traditional dress rehearsal that the weekly show receives. Special sets were constructed, hair and makeup faced the daunting task of transforming performers into characters spanning eras, archival material was reimagined, and returning alumni were blended with current cast members in a tribute to the show’s evolution.
Below, Patrick discusses how the team prepared for the historic night and the sketch that the director looked forward to the most.
In terms of prep, how did this special compare to others in the past?
The 50th anniversary special presented several challenges, including limited set storage, set transitions, camera traffic, and reduced shooting areas. These issues stemmed from the need to accommodate additional tiered seating for former cast members and celebrities in Studio 8H, as well as an extra music performance stage. When preparing to direct the 50th special, I went back and did some research and watched the 25th and 40th anniversary specials that were done before I arrived at SNL in the fall of 2021. While watching again from a director’s point of view rather than as a fan, I started to think this show might actually be easier than a regular show for us.
Really?
I quickly realized I was wrong; the 50th was going to be one of the most challenging shows. We doubled the number of live sketches, most of which were in large three-wall sets. This made all the transitions for sets and cameras more difficult, especially with the obstacle of our seating bleacher.
How did you approach it technically?
Our typical camera complement for our show is four pedestal cameras and a Chapman crane. Sometimes we bring in a handheld camera, a steadicam, or a robotic camera for a specialty shot if the creative in a sketch lends itself to needing such a shot. Due to the limited depth in certain shooting areas of the special, we employed handheld cameras on wheels with a wide lens. This allowed us to capture the entire set within our frame, without the need for a pedestal camera to impede the set and take away space from the cast and guest actors.
How did rehearsal help to put all the puzzle pieces together?
On our first rehearsal day without actors, I had limited sketch ideas and scripts, but we set up and looked at each set, figuring out which camera complement would work in each setup for each sketch. Our staging crew, camera operators, utilities, and stage managers worked so hard and were instrumental in helping me figure out this puzzle.
We also had to take into consideration where we were in the show before the sketch and where we were going next in the show. All in hopes the running order of the show would t change too much. Having this day was so crucial for us to have to get the ball rolling before bringing in cast and guest stars for rehearsals.
Did you sketch a scene you were looking forward to directing?
There were so many great moments of the 50th. From Meryl Streep in Close Encounter, Robert DeNiro in Debbie Downer, to Will Ferrell in his short shorts for Scared Straight. Some of the most special for me were working with the former cast members, guest stars, and former writers whom I’ve admired for years.
When Bronx Beat got combined with Coffee Talk, I jumped with excitement. Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler are two of my all-time favorites, and then to add Mike Meyers to the mix as Linda Richmond was surreal. Growing up, one of my favorite sketches was the Coffee Talk sketch that included Mike as Linda Richmond, Madonna as Linda Rosenberg, and Roseanne Barr as Liz’s mom. At the end of the sketch, Barbara Streisand makes a surprise cameo behind Mike and Madonna. This moment is priceless, and I feel like we paid homage to it in the 50th when Mike popped up as Linda Richmond behind Amy and Maya in Bronx Beat. It felt like we were creating another SNL moment.
What did it mean for your career to be picked to direct this episode?
I’m extremely grateful and honored to be given the opportunity to direct this series and now the 50th anniversary special. I’ve worked on so many cool pop culture shows in my career, and this one will go down in history as one of my favorite accomplishments. I’m a lifelong fan of SNL. I grew up watching this show. I started my TV career in NYC before heading off to LA, and to get to return to NYC to work on this iconic show and the 50th special means everything to me. It’s a real pinch-me moment.
Things were quiet in Gotham when it came to news about Matt Reeves’ The Batman sequel for quite some time. Sure, we had the sensational spinoff series The Penguinto sink our beaks into, giving us a deep dive into Gotham’s criminal underworld via Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb and his equally standout screen partner, Cristin Milioti, whose Sofia Falcone was as cunning and ruthless as Oz. But when it came to news about when Robert Pattinson would be donning the cape and cowl again in The Batman Part II, we waited quite a while for confirmation, despite DC Studios co-chief (and Superman writer/director) James Gunn promising us Reeves was onto something good.
Then last week, we got that confirmation—The Batman Part II would be hitting screens in 2027, with Reeves having completed his script this past June. Now, Jeffrey Wright has offered even more news to Den of Geekabout the script, shedding specific light on how his Gotham PD detective Jim Gordon’s role will expand in the sequel.
Wright was speaking to Den of Geek about his upcoming part in Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, starring Lee’s longtime collaborator Denzel Washington. When asked about where things stood with The Batman Part II, Wright admitted that he hasn’t read Reeves’ script yet himself. But, he said, “I’ve heard some things.”
What we already knew about Reeves and co-writer Mattson Tomlin’s script was that James Gunn read it and said, “It’s great,” and that production had been approved to begin in early 2026. Yet Wright did offer this morsel:
“I’m liking what I’m hearing,” he told Den of Geek. “And I have huge respect for Matt’s Gotham-building skills. So I’m excited to jump in there and read what he has, which I’m sure will be rich and satisfying to play, and ideally for audiences to take in as well.”
Wright’s version of Gordon was a proper detective (as Gary Oldman’s Jim Gordon was at the start of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy—he’s promoted to Commissioner after the Joker kills the former holder of the office in The Dark Knight), working alongside Pattinson’s Batman to try to unpuzzle the Riddler’s (Paul Dano) sadistic game. Reeves was adamant that in his Gotham, Batman is a vigilante detective of sorts, and in Gordon, he’s got his unofficial partner.
While there’s no word on what the script’s actually about, it seems likely that a few stars from The Batman will return alongside Pattinson’s Batman and Wright’s Gordon, including Farrell’s Oz Cobb, Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle, and Andy Serkis’s Alfred. One question on fans’ minds is whether a certain Arkham prisoner who had a very small role in the film will have a larger one in Part II…that would be Barry Keoghan’s laughing lunatic. Perhaps you could guess who he was supposed to be?
After the rapturous opening few weeks for the writer/director/studio chief’s Superman, which officially kicked off the feature film portion of his new DCU, the DC Studios co-chief was in New York for the second season premiere of Peacemaker alongside star John Cena.
Before we get to what Gunn and Cena had to say about how the second season of Peacemaker connects to the broader DCU, first, let’s touch upon Gunn’s update on his Superman world that he’s building out. “I’ve already finished the treatment for the next story in what I’ll call the Superman Saga,” Gunn told The Hollywood Reporter at the Peacemaker season two premiere. “The treatment is done, which means a very, very worked-out treatment. I’m working on that and hopefully going into production on that not too far away from today.”
That would be a quick turnaround, considering Superman is still in theaters. This means that for the new legion of fans of David Corenswet’s Man of Steel, and the world of metahumans and villains Gunn built out for Superman, the sequel would arrive sooner than expected.
As for Peacemaker, Gunn and Cena were on hand in the Big Apple alongside Gunn’s DC Studios co-chief Peter Safran. “I don’t think there’s anything I’ve ever done that I love more than this season,” Gunn told THR about Peacemaker season two. And for this season for Cena’s beefy, conflicted antihero Christopher Smith, the stakes are raised as his fate becomes intertwined with the larger unified DC universe that Gunn and Safran are building out.
“It’s a big part, definitely Superman leads directly into Peacemaker; it should be noted that this is for adults, not for children, but Superman leads into this show and then we have the setting up of all of the rest of the DCU in this season of Peacemaker, it’s incredibly important,” Gunn told THR on the carpet. “Lots of guest stars coming up, lots of characters that are showing up that we’ve already met in Superman. I don’t think there’s anything that I’ve ever done that I love more than this season of Peacemaker, so I’m so excited for people to see it.”
In case you missed it, Cena’s Peacemaker appears in a post-credits scene in Superman, appearing on a talk show to critique the Man of Steel. Now, Cena said, Peacemaker season two will fully lean into Gunn and Safran’s vision for a fully interconnected DCU. “Instead of standalone properties, all of the DCU is now connected, as you saw Peacemaker show up in Superman,” Cena said on the red carpet. “I think what you see in season two is just a forward of that narrative. That whole DCU through line—it takes the 11th Street Kids through their next adventure, but it also has a lot to do with the DCU going forward.”
Cena is joined in Peacemaker by Danielle Brooks, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee, and Frank Grillo.
Season two starts streaming on Aug. 21 on HBO Max.
For more on all things Superman, check out these stories:
Featured image: James Gunn, John Cena at the HBO Max Original Series “Peacemaker” Premiere held at AMC Lincoln Square on August 13, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images)
