“Deadpool & Wolverine” Official Trailer Unleashes Mutant Mayhem on Marvel

The official Deadpool & Wolverine trailer has arrived, and it opens by riffing on a classic moment in Logan (Hugh Jackman) lore. When we first met Logan in 2000’s X-Men movie, he was cage fighting in a bar, a feral, ferocious mutant with nothing and nobody to lose. When he wanted to have a few (dozen) drinks afterward, he was told that “his kind” (mutants” weren’t allowed to drink there. Now, 24 years later, we find Logan once again in a bar, once again being told his kind isn’t welcome; what’s different this time around is, for starters, the language—an F-bomb makes it clear that Deadpool & Wolverine, as promised, another R-rated installment in the franchise. The second difference is this time, Logan actually does have a friend in the world, sort of, and his name is Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), who says, “Hi Peanut, I’m going to need you to come with me right now.” And just like that, Deadpool & Wolverine remixes a legendary moment in Logan’s life for laughs. Perfection.

It turns out, Wade Wilson has popped up in Wolverine’s world because he needs the surly mutant’s help in saving his own. The trailer is absolutely chock-a-block with adult languages, adult situations, and childish humor—precisely how we want and love our Deadpool films—only now it boasts Jackman’s beloved, be-clawed mutant in the long-awaited frenemy pairing with Reynolds’ Merc with the Mouth.

The trailer also reveals, for the first time, Emma Corrin’s villain, Cassandra Nova, who can be seen matching Wolverine’s fury with abundant powers she seems almost bored to use on him. She’ll be a potent enemy.

Joining Jackman, Reynolds, and Corrin is Matthew MacFayden as the Time Variance Authority’s Mr. Paradox, and returning stars like Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Rob Delaney as Peter, and Morena Baccarin as Vanessa. The trailer is a blast and indicates why Marvel Studios felt pretty great about having only Deadpool & Wolverine on their 2024 slate—this movie is going to be huge.

Check out the trailer below. Deadpool & Wolverine slashes its way into theaters on July 26.

For more on Deadpool & Wolverine, check out these stories:

“Deadpool & Wolverine” Director Shawn Levy Teases Raunchy, Riotous Super Team-Up

Kevin Feige Unleashes 9 Minutes of “Deadpool & Wolverine” at CinemaCon

First “Deadpool & Wolverine” Images Tease the Start of a Beautiful Relationship

“Deadpool & Wolverine” Makes History as Most Watched Trailer Ever

Featured image: Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson in Marvel Studios’ DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2024 MARVEL.

“Despicable Me 4” Deploys Nikola Jokić in UnbeGruvieable New Campaign

Nikola Jokić arrived for the Denver Nuggets’ Saturday playoff game against the Los Angeles Lakers dressed like a certain sartorially sharp animated character beloved by millions. Jokić is a superstar, and his pre-game arrival for a playoff game is always going to get photographed, so it took very little time for the internet to make the connection between Jokić’s attire and the aforementioned character:

Once the world became aware that the man affectionately called The Joker was dressed exactly like Gru, it was brought up by reporters after his Nuggets beat the Lakers 114-103.“I love the guy, and I love the cartoon,” Jokić told reporters after the game. “Why not?”

Why not, indeed? Especially considering it turned out that it was all part of a new marketing campaign for Despicable Me 4, in which Jokić appears in a new commercial for the film, confiding in a therapist that he’s got a big problem—not only does he apparently dress like Gru, he’s being followed by the Minions who think he’s Gru. It’s a clever 30-second spot, with the Joker displaying some heretofore unknown acting skills.

This isn’t the first time the franchise has come up with a smart new way to go viral. In 2022, teenagers showed up to movie theaters in tuxedos and suits to see Minions: The Rise of Gru, which turned out to be part of a #GentleMinions trend. And it was (apparently) totally organic.

For Despicable Me 4, a slew of superstars have joined the franchise, including Will Ferrell, Sofia Vergara, Stephen Colbert, Chloe Fineman, and Joey King. Ferrell plays one of Gru’s (Steve Carrell) new nemesis, Maxime Le Mal, while Vergara plays his girlfriend, Valentina. Another new addition is newcomer Madison Poland, onboard playing one of Gru’s daughters. Returning stars include Pierre Coffin, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Steve Coogan.

Thanks to Maxime Le Mal’s shenanigans, Despicable Me 4 will find Gru going on the run. The film is directed by returning helmer Chris Renaud and co-director Patrick Delage, based on a script by Ken Daurio and Mike White.

This marks the sixth film in the installment, which began with 2015’s Minions and has become a box office juggernaut. In fact, the entire franchise is the most successful animated series in history by global ticket sales.

Despicable Me 4 hits theaters on July 3.

For more on Universal Pictures, Peacock, and Focus Features projects, check out these stories:

“Wicked” Star Jonathan Bailey Circling New “Jurassic World” Movie Starring Scarlett Johansson

Dreams Come True: Ryan Gosling Delivers “Papyrus 2” Sequel Sketch on “Saturday Night Live”

Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu” Sinks Its Teeth Into CinemaCon

Featured image: L-r: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 20: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets handles the ball against LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the fourth quarter in game three of the Western Conference Finals at Crypto.com Arena on May 20, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images). Featured image: A still image from DESPICABLE ME 4. Courtesy Universal Pictures and Illumination

Tom Holland Slings a Hopeful “Spider-Man 4” Update

Tom Holland was willing to sling some Spider-Man 4 updates this past weekend at the Sands International Film Festival in the beautiful Scottish town of St. Andrews.

Holland was one of the big names to attend the festival as a guest of honor, with a slew of his previous films having played there over the years, including the Russo Brothers’ Cherry and director Antonio Campos‘s riveting The Devil All the Time. Holland was there this time around to show Last Call, a short film he stars in alongside Lindsay Duncan that his brother, Harry Holland, wrote and directed. During a golf outing (you can’t go to St. Andrews and not golf—the sport is part of the festival’s broader slate of offerings), Holland offered a few choice updates to Deadline about another little project he’s a part of that you may have heard about—the Spider-Man franchise—explaining where Spider-Man 4 currently stands.

The last time Holland suited up for some web-slinging was in 2021’s gangbusters Spider-Man: No Way Home, which boasted the return of previous Peter Parkers played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. The film was a massive smash, a critical and commercial super-success, and, therefore, a tough act to follow. It’s for this reason that Holland said the creative team behind the potential Spider-Man was not rushing the process.

“We have the best in the business working toward whatever the story might be. But until we’ve cracked it, we have a legacy to protect,” Holland told Deadline. “The third movie was so special in so many ways that we need to make sure we do the right thing.”

Holland was very open about how much he loves the role of Peter Parker and made it clear that when it comes to Spider-Man movies, he’s unlikely ever to want to stop.

“The simple answer is that I’ll always want to do Spider-Man films,” he told Deadline. “I owe my life and career to Spider-Man. So, the simple answer is yes. I’ll always want to do more.”

As the team works on cracking that Spider-Man 4 storyline, one new aspect for Holland is how much earlier he’s been involved in the process.

“This is the first time in this process that I’ve been part of the creative so early,” he said. “It’s just a process where I’m watching and learning. It’s just a really fun stage for me. Like I said, everyone wants it to happen. But we want to make sure we’re not overdoing the same things.”

For more upcoming films from Sony Pictures, check out these stories:

Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum Orbit Each Other in “Fly Me to the Moon” Trailer

How “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” Cinematographer Eric Steelberg Brought Slimer & the Firehouse Back to Life

“Bad Boys: Ride or Die” Trailer Calls Will Smith and Martin Lawrence Back Into Action

“Venom 3” Gets Official Title & New, Earlier Release Date

Featured image: Tom Holland is Spider-Man in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Courtesy Sony Pictures.

Spice Up Your Stream: “Dune: Part Two” Has Come Home

While Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two was, without a single Spice grain’s worth of doubt, a movie you had to see on the big screen, you can now stream this genuine epic at home.

Eventually, Dune: Part Two will be available on Max, but thus far, no release date has been set (although this summer seems like the most likely landing date). So, if you can’t wait that long (reader, we can’t) and you’re really jonesing for a return trip to Arrakis and Geidi Prime, you’ve got a bevy of options for renting or buying the film.

Dune: Part Two is available in 4K Ultra HD on Apple TV, Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, and more. There’s also the option to own a physical copy of the film on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc.

Dune: Part Two was a critical and commercial smash, building on the sandworm-sized set-up of Part One and riding it into thrilling new territory. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) journey from a princeling to a tortured messiah was the backbone of the story, but Part Two wasn’t just about his journey. We had the thrilling arrival of his “goth rock god” rival in Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler), a terrifying psychopath played with undeniable ferocity by Butler. Then there’s the complicated relationship between Paul and Chani (Zendaya), the latter’s conviction the Fremen don’t need a savior from the outside, and her growing impatience with those like Stilgar (Javier Bardem) who put all their faith in that very prophecy. And, of course, there are the many thrilling action sequences, from Paul learning how to ride a sandworm to the gloriously gothic gladiator battle on Geidi Prime—Part Two delivered and then some.

And now you can take all that in on your couch, which has its advantages. Granted, we’d love to see Part Two on IMAX about a dozen more times, but we’ll take seeing it in the comfort of our own homes, too, where at least we can pause it when we need to use the bathroom.

For more on Dune: Part Two, check out these stories:

Desert Power: The Lasting Success of “Dune: Part Two” & Future Adaptations

First “The Sympathizer” Trailer Reveals Robert Downey Jr.’s Twisty New HBO Series

Steven Spielberg Anoints “Dune: Part Two” a Masterpiece

“Dune: Part Two” Cinematographer Greig Fraser on Finding Clarity in Chaos

“Dune: Part Two” Cinematographer Greig Fraser on Poisoning the Light of Giedi Prime

Featured image: Caption: TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET as Paul Atreides in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “DUNE: PART TWO,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

First Trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s “Trap” Reveals Josh Hartnett as a Killer Dad at a Pop Concert

Josh Harnett is about to break some hearts, and not in the way we’re used to him doing, in M. Night Shyamalan’s new mystery thriller Trap.

Harnett joins Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, and Marnie McPhail in Shyamalan’s latest, which finds a father and teen daughter’s trip to a pop concert devolving into a nightmarish event.

The trailer reveals Hartnett’s dad and his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) arriving at the event to see Lady Raven, in some pretty choice seats, too. “This is literally the best day of my life,” Riley enthuses to her pop. As the show’s underway, dad heads off to the bathroom where he finds out that there’s a suspected lunatic on the premises—the Butcher, a “nutjob that goes around chopping people up,” one of the vendors confides in Harnett’s dad. It turns out, the Feds have set up a trap at the concert for the Butcher. In fact, the whole concert is one big trap. The Butcher, whoever he is, is a rat in a cage.

Only the Butcher—by now you’ve surmised it’s Hartnett—is a smart guy, and he’s not going to go down without a fight.

When speaking about Trap at an event this week in Los Angeles called “The Summer of Shyamalan,” the director spoke about his project, as well as his daughter Ishana Night Shyamalan’s upcoming feature The Watchers, which she wrote and directed. And, the pop star in Trap, Lady Raven, is played by Shyamalan’s other daughter, Saleka, who is a singer/songwriter and wrote songs for the film.

At the event, Shyamalan said the appeal of making Trap was getting to tell the story from the perspective of Harnett’s killer. “It kind of led more and more to this dark humor angle that Servant has and The Visit and Split had,” he said. 

As for casting Harnett, who is recently coming off a pretty meaty role in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, Shyamalan said he’s looking for someone willing to take risks, and that often means finding someone at just the right time in their own lives.  “What I’m looking for is someone that’s willing to just let go completely, give themselves over like a play to the movie, and leap, leap, leap — don’t protect yourself. That beautiful electricity that requires the right actor at the right time in their life. And that’s where Josh was when when I met him.”

Check out the trailer via Shyamalan’s tweet here. Trap is due in theaters on August 9.

For more on Warner Bros., Max, and more, check out these stories:

James Gunn’s “Superman” Finds its Martha Kent in Neva Howell

James Gunn’s “Superman” Casts Crucial Role of Jonathan Kent

First “Joker: Folie à Deux” Trailer Unleashes a Twisted Duet

Bong Joon Ho Reveals a Multiplicity of Robert Pattinsons in First “Mickey 17” Trailer

Featured image: The poster for M. Night Shyamalan’s “Trap.” Courtesy Warner Bros.

Composer and Virtuoso Guitarist Byeong Woo Lee on Scoring Films For Bong Joon Ho

Byeong Woo Lee is a man of many talents. He’s a virtuoso guitarist and guitar designer, a successful pop musician, a graphic designer, and an educator. As a classical guitarist, he’s performed with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Korean Symphony, and more. After stints in Vienna and Seoul, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he continued his ongoing study into musical traditions at Johns Hopkins’ Peabody Conservatory. It was there that he broadened his musical aperture to include film composing.

Now, he’s also a world-class composer, having worked on some of Korea’s most beloved films with some of its most revered filmmakers, including Kim Jee Woon’s A Tale of Two Sisters, Joon-ik Lee’s The King and the Clown, JK Youn’s Ode to My Father, and Jae-rim Han’s The Face Reader. Yet it’s his scores for multiple Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho that have arguably brought him the most attention—including the director’s 2006 sci-fi monster romp The Host and his 2009 noir masterpiece Mother.

Ahead of Lee’s performance at Town Hall in New York, followed by a screening of Mother with a live score, we spoke to the endlessly inventive guitarist and composer about collaborating with one of cinema’s most daring filmmakers, how he adapts his scores for various genres and more.

Can you describe the conversations you had with Bong Joon Ho about Mother before you started your work on the score? For example, did he ask for specific musical cues for particular scenes or moments? 

Bong Joon-ho’s work was phenomenal. He imposed no restrictions on me as the composer. However, there was a reference piece of music used during the filming of the movie’s iconic opening scene, where the mother dances in the field, and I composed it to match the tempo of that music.

Were you inspired or informed by any of his previous work or any other films, whether they’re noir detective films or another genre entirely?

For me, every film score I work on begins with a blank canvas. My musical background spans from pop to classical to contemporary music, all played on the guitar. So, it’s relatively easy for me to adapt to any genre because of my experiences.

 

Do you have a favorite moment in Mother in which you feel like your music is most effective? How about for The Host?

I love all the music in the movie Mother. People have remarked how the music in the serious scene, where detectives recreate the crime scene, wasn’t serious, which made it memorable. In The Host, I composed a comical piece for a serious escape scene, which gave director Bong Joon-ho some pause.

 

I’m curious how you came up with the contrasting melodies in your work.

Bong Joon-ho’s films are characterized by their heavy subject matter, but he has a special gift for putting things about the absurdity of life into situations that make us laugh. For example, there is an ironic scene in Mother where a tragic event in the neighborhood becomes a kind of circus for the spectators because it is the first time something dramatic has happened there in a long time. When I thought of this unique development, I had to think of a completely different kind of music, not the usual heavy, tense music of serious situations.

Kim Hye-Ja in the lead role in Bong Joon-ho’s 2009 film MOTHER

How do you deploy your specific musical talents, including your guitar skills, to a cinematic landscape? 

The instrument I know best is the guitar. But to me, it doesn’t matter which instrument it is as long as there are dynamics, phrasing, and articulation. If it sounds different from other music, that’s the best. 

Is there any specific element of scoring films you find most compelling or enjoyable? Any parts of it that you find most challenging, as compared to your other work as a multi-hyphenate musician?

The most interesting thing about film music is that there are no correct answers. The hardest part of the job is having to communicate with others within a given time frame. Today, they might say the music is good, but by tomorrow, the film could be edited differently, requiring new music. Yet, over time, the difficulties are always forgotten, and only the happy memories remain.

How do you feel now that you’re coming to New York and having your Town Hall debut? 

I’m really excited and a bit overwhelmed at the idea of debuting at Town Hall on April 20th, to be in that space with 100 years of musical history in the air. It’s going to be very special. We are actually performing new music for the Mother live score, music I wrote that never made it into the film!

 For those in the New York City area, tickets for the Town Hall event can be found here.

Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johannsson & Brian Tyree Henry Highlight First “Transformers One” Trailer

Chris Hemsworth as a young Optimus Prime before he was Optimus Prime? And Brian Tyree Henry as the young Megatron, pre-villainous turn towards leading the Decepticons? This and more await you in the first trailer for Transformers One, a star-studded animated epic that will reveal the origin story behind the most bitter feud in Transformers history.

Hemsworth and Henry aren’t the only stars voicing alien robots in director Josh Cooley’s Transformers One—Scarlett Johansson voices Elita, Jon Hamm voices Sentinel Prime, Keegan-Michael Key voices a young Bumblebee, and Laurence Fishburn voices Alpha Trion. Oh, and the always welcome Steve Buscemi is involved, too, although we’re not yet sure who he plays.

The trailer sets the stage for how the young Prime, called Orion Pax, and the young Megatron, called D-16, were once pals. Not only that, they were hardly the Alpha-robots we’ve come to know in the various Transformers live-action films—in Transformers One, they’re workers toiling below, not even capable of transforming. Yet that changes when Orion Pax gets the group to travel to the surface of their home planet of Cybertron, where a major problem is brewing and these young, soon-to-be proper Transformers will be called into action.

When Paramount Pictures revealed Transformers One at CinemaCon, Hemsworth, Henry, and Johansson were on hand (the latter via video) to enthuse about the film. Hemsworth told the audience inside the Colosseum at Caesars Palace that they could expect “something truly spectacular.” Henry added: “This origin story is how they transformed from brothers in arms to sworn enemies.”

The first trailer reveals a film that looks like it will lean into the youth and optimism of its young protagonists, with plenty of jokes and lots of action. Yet it will also inevitably show us how these two young friends become enemies, a spat that will eventually involve the entire universe, especially Earth.

Cooley works from a script by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari.

Transformers One hits theaters on September 13. Check out the trailer below:

 

For more on the Transformers franchise, check out these stories:

Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, and Brian Tyree Henry Reveal “Transformers One” at CinemaCon

“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” Director Steven Caple Jr. on Getting Gritty With It

“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” Ciara Whaley on Recreating That Strong 90s Style

“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” Review Round-Up: Fan-Favorite Maximals & Human Story Supercharge Blockbuster

Featured image: L-r, Brian Tyree Henry (D-16), Keegan-Michael Key (B-127), Scarlett Johansson (Elita-1) and Chris Hemsworth (Orion Pax) star in PARAMOUNT ANIMATION and HASBRO Present In Association with NEW REPUBLIC PICTURES. A di BONAVENTURA PICTURES Production A TOM DESANTO / DON MURPHY Production. A BAY FILMS Production “TRANSFORMERS ONE”

James Gunn’s “Superman” Finds its Martha Kent in Neva Howell

Superman’s Earth parents have now been established.

Neva Howell has joined the cast of James Gunn’s Superman as Martha Kenta, joining Pruitt Taylor Vince, who was recently cast as Jonathan Kent, The Wrap scoops. Clark Kent’s adoptive parents are now snug as a bug and ready to welcome the infant Kryptonian into their Kansas home.

Howell follows Diane Lane, who most recently played Martha Kent in Zack Snyder’s 2013 film Man of Steel and again in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Before her, Eva Marie Saint played Martha in 2006’s Superman Returns, and then it was Phyllis Thaxter in Richard Donner’s seminal 1978 film Superman.

Gunn’s upcoming Superman is the first feature to come out of the revamped DC Studios under his and Peter Safran’s leadership. It will kick off the first phase of their slate, “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters,” which will unify the DC Universe across feature films, TV, and games. “Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters” will include a TV series set on Wonder Woman’s home island of Themyscira called Paradise Lost, the introduction of a new Batman in The Brave and the Bold, the film Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow starring Milly Alcock, and Swamp Thing, in development with director James Mangold, which will return the infamous monster to the big screen.

Howell and Taylor Vince have joined an ensemble that includes David Corenswet as Clarke Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer, and Gunn’s longtime collaborator Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner.

Howell has a long list of credits to her name, including Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky and Fox’s hospital drama The Resident. 

Superman will fly into theaters, including IMAX, on July 11, 2025.

For more on Superman, check out these stories:

James Gunn’s “Superman” Casts Crucial Role of Jonathan Kent

“Superman” Getting Super-Sized: James Gunn Filming his Man of Steel Pic in IMAX

Nicholas Hoult on Becoming the New Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s “Superman”

The Daily Planet Gets a New Boss: Wendell Pierce Joins James Gunn’s “Superman”

“Civil War” Production Designer Caty Maxey on Designing an America in Ruins

Picturing the United States as a divisive hellscape juxtaposed with bucolic vistas of the East Coast, Civil War imagines a not-too-distant future in which Americans settle their differences by executing each other at close range. In the movie—in theaters now—writer-director Alex Garland follows four reporters (Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson) as they trek from New York to Washington DC so they can document the last days of the republic while insurgent “Western Forces” assault the White House.

Along the way, the journalists encounter one massacre after another.

To bring the heroes’ journey to life, Garland enlisted production designer Caty Maxey, who previously art-directed Jurassic World and Jason Bourne, to help lend a visceral verisimilitude to an American gone berzerk. Maxey spoke to The Credits about Jesse Plemons‘ shocking cameo, how she helped make the horrific travelogue feel all too plausible and more.

 

Civil War benefits from this ingenious structure in which all the over-the-top horrors are grounded in this classic road trip narrative.

That was actually the code name for this movie – “Road Trip.”

The journey begins in New York City, which is in shambles. How did you stage that?

The Brooklyn streets we shot in Atlanta. For that very first sequence, Alex wanted some clue that when we went around the corner, it was going to be chaos. You’re in normal Brooklyn for a few blocks, and then, “Oh my God!” So what’s the hint? Fire hydrants. There are maybe 20 hydrants over five blocks, and they’re all busted. Then you turn the corner, and all these people are outside a water truck fighting for water. We didn’t dwell on “Ooh, is that the perfect color?” but the guts of the scenery had to work. Like, if you’re going to blow something up and it’s a column made of concrete, you can’t use Styrofoam. You’ve got to put something that has the right texture, the right density. The underpinnings of the set were very specific.

Kristen Dunst in “Civil War.” Courtesy A24
Kristen Dunst in “Civil War.” Courtesy A24

All that anarchy was meticulously planned?

Yeah. Like if you know a tank is coming through the gate, you’ve got to make sure you’ve got clearance on the top and sides unless you want the tank to bust through the gate, and then you’ve got to make the gate a little too small for the tank. These discussions went on constantly between visual effects, special effects, the stunt coordinator, our military liaison, the gaffer, the DP, and Alex just to make sure everybody was on the same page.

Director Alex Garland on the set of “Civil War.” Credit: Murray Close

Once the reporters leave New York, they come across this abandoned shopping mall littered with corpses and wrecked cars. Where did you find that location?

That shopping mall was pretty close to our production offices in Atlanta. It had been abandoned two years ago except for one store, which was still open. We built a barricade so you couldn’t see their signage. We built three different structures. One was like a deli but just the foundation, and we put debris around it as if the place had just been blown up. The big building had other signage, but we didn’t want that [company] in there, so they added JCPenney in the post to make it more American. What’s more American than JCPenney, right? All the burning buildings in the background were visual effects. In spite of the horror, it was beautifully shot.

Then, the reporters arrive at this huge community of refugees living in tents and RV’s. What did you look at for reference?

We looked at camps just like the one in the movie because they do exist. Alex just ramped it up. We had all kinds of light sources because we didn’t want people to sit in the dark in the cold. We wanted to think of it as a home. The set decorator did a great job finding stuff from lawn chairs to coolers. We had our production assistant learn to knit so she could sit and knit these things because that’s what these people would do.

A scene from “Civil War.” Credit: Courtesy of A24

Where’d you source all those tents?

We bought used tents, dirtied them up, and also got some brand-new tents because we wanted a mix. Maybe somebody just got there last week and bought their tent at the hardware store but the next guy’s been there six months and he’s dug in.

Kristen Dunst in “Civil War.” Courtesy A24

SPOILER ALERT — Then the camera pulls back, and we see that all these people are living inside a huge graffiti-covered sports stadium! Is that VFX, or. . .

No. The stadium was really there outside of Atlanta, and people were really living there. We made arrangements [to take care of them]. It was a horrible place, but there was a certain life there you couldn’t deny. These people are surviving.

(L-R) Cailee Spaeny, Kirsten Dunst Credit: Courtesy of A24

How did there come to be an abandoned stadium in the middle of nowhere?

I don’t think I ever knew. It might have been a college.

And the graffiti?

All there, every bit of it. We didn’t have to do anything.

Next, the reporters happen onto “Winter Wonderland,” this charming theme park with whimsical reindeer statues — but suddenly, snipers start shooting at the reporters. How did you come up with Winter Wonderland?

Alex saw that on a scout and added it to the story. We took pictures, measured it all, made deals with the owner, set it up, and then blew it up.

SPOILER ALERT – Civil War‘s most chilling sequence features Jesse Plemons as a militia man who coolly executes the journalists’ friends. Nearby, a truck dumps dozens of corpses into a hole in the ground.

It was a mass grave. About 40 feet long.

 

What was it like for you to work on that sequence?

It was hard. Ukraine had just blown up when we started this film. Per Alex’s request, I’d go home at night and look at the footage to see what was happening out there in real-time. My assistant did research on mass graves and gave me a binder three inches thick with twenty or thirty images. Then I had to do a model to figure out how many people we needed, so I went online looking for the right size model people to fill up the model dump truck to figure out how big the mass grave is and how many bodies should go in it. I had to leave my room and take a half-hour walk. It was just too much. Everybody tried to be as calm as they could be, but we all knew this was going to be the toughest scene.

Where did you film that sequence?

We shot it on this incredibly beautiful field by a river with the trees and the breeze, and then you walk over the rise, and there’s this big hole in the ground, and my stomach did flips, even talking about it now. Not because of what it was [in the movie] but because it’s happening in our world as we speak. Right? It’s here. And what we’re filming is [reporters] documenting this tragedy, foretelling — well, not foretelling because we don’t know what’s going to happen — but it felt so real and very heartbreaking.

(L-R) Cailee Smith Credit: Murray Close

From a technical standpoint, did you populate that open grave with dummies or with real actors?

Both. We actually had several layers. The ones at the very bottom were very rough dummies, just shapes and wigs, not even clothes. Then, more articulated dummies. And then there were real stunt people mixed in with the dummies.

So that top layer, when Jessie [Cailee Spaeny] crawls over corpses to get out of the ditch — that was made up of motionless stunt actors?

Yes. Cailee was so stoic, so brave. All the actors were.

For Civil War‘s third act, your team built a base camp for the “Western Forces,” you combined the streets of Atlanta with blue screen backdrops for the attack on Washington D.C., and you used Tyler Perry’s White House soundstage blended with your own custom-built sets. Looking back on all the work you put into Civil War, what’s your takeaway?

I don’t think the making of this film is ever going to leave me. You’re staring in the face of hate. Every single day. But in the midst of all that horror, it was a beautiful experience.

Courtesy of A24

Featured image: An image from “Civil War.” Credit: Courtesy of A24

Martin Scorsese Circling a Frank Sinatra Biopic With Leondaro DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence

Age is (mostly) a state of mind, as is being proven by a slew of older directors still putting out great work. They include Ridley Scott (86 and currently in post-production on Gladiator 2), Francis Ford Coppola (85 and set to screen his long-gestating passion project, Megalopolis, at Cannes), David Cronenberg (81 and set to screen his latest, The Shrouds at Cannes) and the ever-busy Steven Spielberg (77, working on a new sci-fi film with a script from his Jurassic Park scribe David Koepp.)

And that concept of age as merely a mentality is certainly true for Martin Scorsese, the 81-year-old legend who is coming off his epic Killers of the Flower Moon, which was nominated for 10 Oscars last year and is hardly going to be a coda on his remarkable career. Scorsese has a slew of projects he’s eyeing, including shooting two films back-to-back: one about Jesus and the other a Frank Sinatra biopic.

Scorsese isn’t waiting for a studio to sign onto his Life of Jesus film, which is based on Shūsaku Endō’s 1973 book—instead, he’s going to independently finance the film much like he did with his last Endō adaptation, his 2016 film Silence, about Jesuit priests in the 17th century traveling to Japan to search for their mentor. Scorsese is reportedly eyeing one of the stars of Silence, Andrew Garfield, for his Life of Jesus project (it’s unclear if Garfield would play Jesus or one of his disciples). Variety provides details that Life of Jesus is slated to shoot later this in Israel, Egypt, and Italy, but this could change given the fact that Israel is at war with Hamas in Gaza.

As for the Sinatra film, that hinges on whether Sinatra’s daughter, Tina, gives her blessing. Tina Sinatra controls her father’s estate, yet Scorsese is putting together the type of cast that would be hard for nearly anyone to resist—led by his longtime collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio playing Sinatra, and Jennifer Lawrence co-starring as old Blue Eyes’ second wife, the legendary actress Ava Gardner. What’s interesting is that Garnder is the woman whom Sinatra left his first wife for—Nancy Barbato, Tina Sinatra’s mother. Unlike The Life of Jesus, Scorsese’s Sinatra biopic would almost certainly be a huge draw for studios, with Apple, his Killers of the Flower Moon backers, as well as Sony, both in the mix.

And then there’s the collaboration in the offing between Scorsese and Steven Spielberg on a Cape Fear TV series for Apple TV+, with Scorsese and Spielberg producing the series, which is based on both Scorsese’s 1991 film (which Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment produced) and Universal’s 1962 version.

Another common sentiment is that when you love what you do, it’s not work—perhaps that’s what keeps these filmmakers eternally young.

Featured image: NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 19: Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio attend The Museum Of Modern Art Film Benefit Presented By CHANEL: A Tribute To Martin Scorsese on November 19, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Museum of Modern Art)

Who is The Ghoul? Watch Walton Goggins Become the Gritty Gunslinger in Prime Video’s “Fallout”

If you haven’t heard yet, Prime Video’s new series Fallout, an adaptation of the super-popular video game from showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner, is a critical smash. It’s currently sitting at 94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics hailing its vivid and captivating universe, its fearless weirdness, and its singular approach to transforming a world well-known to millions of gamers into a universe accessible to newcomers. In short, Fallout is a blast.

In a new video, Walter Goggins takes us behind the scenes of the creation of one of the two characters he plays, the radiated, post-apocalyptic gunslinger called The Ghoul. Fallout is set 200 years into the future after a nuclear war. “The Ghoul is a bridge between the world before the nuclear fallout and this world that we find ourselves in,” Goggins says.

The post-nuke world The Ghoul lives in is not pretty. In fact, it’s “kill or be killed,” as Goggins explains, a vast, dangerous radioactive wasteland where the insects and animals have been transformed into monstrous versions of themselves and the humans, well, they’re even crazier. Goggins also plays Cooper Howard, a gentle husband, father, and actor in 1955 who starts the series entertaining at a children’s birthday party, one that ends on a sour note—a nuclear bomb explodes in Los Angeles. There goes the end of the world, the end of Cooper Howard, and the start of Fallout. Yet Cooper doesn’t die, however—he transforms—and 200 years later, he’s still lurking about, a changed man, noseless, his skin a livid red, and his gentleness exchanged for a ruthlessness and a will to survive as The Ghoul.

To turn Goggins into The Ghoul required the mastery of special effects makeup artist Jake Garber, who Goggins calls “one of the best special effects makeup artists in the world.” The incredible artistry on display here allows Goggins’ Ghoul to really look like a man who was transformed by radiation into a nearly timeless, monstrous version of his former self, yet the true genius of Garber’s work is that it doesn’t obscure the Ghoul’s humanity or pile so much makeup onto Goggins that we can’t see the nuances of his performance.

“Walton completely embodies the character, and it can be pretty terrifying working opposite him,” says Fallout star Ella Purnell.

Check out Goggin’s transformation into The Ghoul below. Fallout is streaming on Prime Video now:

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Featured image: Walter Goggins is The Ghoul in Fallout. Courtesy Prime Video.

James Gunn’s “Superman” Casts Crucial Role of Jonathan Kent

Veteran character actor Pruitt Taylor Vince will be taking on the role of Clark Kent’s adoptive dad, Jonathan Kent, in James Gunn’s Superman.

Jonathan Kent, aka Pa Kent, adopts Clark alongside his wife, Martha, when the infant arrives on Earth in a Kryptonian spaceship in the fields behind the Kent’s house. The last time someone took on the role was none other than Kevin Costner in Zack Snyder’s 2013 film Man of Steel. Before that, it was Glenn Flord playing Pa Kent in Richard Donner’s seminal 1978 film Superman. The Wrap scooped the Taylor Vince casting, yet another big addition to Gunn’s film.

Gunn’s upcoming Superman is the first feature to come out of the revamped DC Studios under his and Peter Safran’s leadership. It will kick off the first phase of their slate, “Chapter One: Gods and Monsters,” which will unify the DC Universe across feature films, TV, and games.

Taylor Vince joins a growing ensemble that includes David Corenswet as Clarke Kent/Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer, and Gunn’s longtime collaborator Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner.

Taylor Vince has a big TV project in the works at the moment—he’s starring in Apple TV+’s starry adaptation of Laura Lippman’s novel Lady in the Lake, which features Natalie Portman and, wait for it, David Corenswet. Taylor Vince has also appeared in Netflix’s Stranger Things, AMC’s The Walking Dead, HBO’s True Blood, and ABC’s Murder One, which netted him an Emmy.

There’s a lot going on at DC, with Superman as the most marquee title but hardly the only huge swing that Gunn and Safran are taking. “Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters” will include a TV series set on Wonder Woman’s home island of Themyscira called Paradise Lost, the introduction of a new Batman in The Brave and the Bold, the film Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow starring Milly Alcock, and Swamp Thing, in development with director James Mangold, which will return the infamous monster to the big screen.

Superman will fly into theaters, including IMAX, on July 11, 2025.

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James Gunn Reveals New Title For “Superman: Legacy” on First Day of Filming

Featured image: L-r: Featured image: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – APRIL 18: Director James Gunn attends the press conference for “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3” at the Conrad Hotel on April 18, 2023 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images). A Superman costume from the 2013 Man of Steel film worn by Henry Cavill and designed by Michael Wilkinson and James Acheson is on display at the DC Comics Exhibition: Dawn Of Super Heroes at the O2 Arena on February 22, 2018 in London, England. The exhibition, which opens on February 23rd, features 45 original costumes, models and props used in DC Comics productions including the Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman films. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Pamela Anderson Set to Star in “Naked Gun” Remake Opposite Liam Neeson

Pamela Anderson is ready to join another iconic franchise.

Anderson is set to star opposite Liam Neeson in Paramount’s upcoming Naked Gun remake, which will revise the crime caper comedies from the late 1980s and early 90s. Anderson adds immediate star power to the revival, which made headlines back in February when Neeson was announced as the lead. It was an especially interesting bit of casting considering Neeson’s made a late-ish turn in his career to playing ruthlessly efficient types with very particular sets of skills—it’ll be interesting to see him playing a bumbling detective prone to hilarious catastrophes, especially now that Anderson will be one of his main screen partners.

The reboot comes from director Akiva Schaffer, a longtime Saturday Night Live writer and director of the deliriously funny Andy Samberg-led Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping. Schaffer directs from a script he co-wrote with Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, the trio behind Disney+’s Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Seth McFarlane is on board as a producer. 

The original Naked Gun franchise, written by Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams, was based on their television series Police Squad! Although the series was short-lived (6 episodes), Leslie Nielsen was pitch-perfect as the hapless yet oddly effective detective Frank Drebin. 

While the story is being kept in the evidence room, it’s been reported that Neeson will play Drebin, and Anderson will play a role similar to the one played by Priscilla Presley in the original film, Drebin’s love interest.

Leslie Nielsen is seduced by Anna Nicole Smith in a scene from the film ‘Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult’, 1994. (Photo by Paramount/Getty Images)

Anderson’s career has gone from the pages of Playboy to the beaches of Baywatch to her big-screen debut in Barb Wire, an adaptation of a comic book. She went on to star in the Sony TV series V.I.P. as a hot dog stand employee turned bodyguard (what a premise!), the horror satire Scary Movie 3, and more. She was also the focus of a recent Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story, which aired after Hulu’s Pam & Tommy, which featured Lily James as Anderson. With Naked Gun, Anderson takes yet another interesting turn in her long and fruitful career.

Paramount has their new Naked Gun set to premiere on July 18, 2025.

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Featured image: HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 30: Pamela Anderson attends the premiere of Netflix’s “Pamela, a love story” at TUDUM Theater on January 30, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

“Sonic 3” Gets a Major Boost With Keanu Reeves Signing on to Voice Shadow

Nobody knows a speedy franchise better than Keanu Reeves.

The superstar is slipping off his trademark black John Wick suit for the black fur of a speedy hedgehog in Paramount’s upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Reeves will be voicing the character of Shadow.

Shadow has a very big role to play in Sonic 3. As revealed during Paramount’s presentation at CinemaCon last week, footage from Sonic 3 found Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carey) getting his groove back after his disastrous turn in Sonic 2 by creating Shadow the Hedgehog, a character that hails from the video game Sonic Adventure 2 back in 2001. While Shadow is as speedy and powerful as Sonic, he’s his polar opposite in personality, preferring a dark vibe. If you’re going to cast Keanu Reeves to voice an animated character, Shadow the Hedgehog seems like a fit as snug as John Wick’s Brioni suits.

The Sonic franchise has raced off to success ever since it burst onto the scene in 2020. Director Jeff Fowler returns once again—he’s directed all the installments—with voice stars including Ben Schwartz as Sonic, James Marsden as Sonic’s human buddy Tom Wachowski, and Idris Elba as Knuckles.

Reeves has been a busy man. He’s helped make the John Wick franchise a global phenomenon, with John Wick: Chapter 4 breaking its own records last year. He rebooted his iconic role of Neo for 2021’s The Matrix: Resurrections and has parts in Aziz Ansari’s upcoming Good Fortune, as well as returning as Wick for a small part in the Ana De Armas-led John Wick Presents: Ballerina.

For more films and series from Paramount and Paramount+, check out these stories:

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Featured image: LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 06: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white) Keanu Reeves attending the “John Wick: Chapter 4” UK Gala Screening at Cineworld Leicester Square on March 06, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

“Wicked” Star Jonathan Bailey Circling New “Jurassic World” Movie Starring Scarlett Johansson

Universal already has a good idea of what Jonathan Bailey is capable of. Bailey plays Prince Fiyero alongside Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in their upcoming two-part adaptation Wicked, one of the biggest films on the 2024 release schedule. He was sensational in Showtime’s excellent limited series Fellow Travelers, which earned him a Critics Choice Award, and he made a splash in Netflix’s Bridgerton as  Lord Anthony Bridgerton. Now, Bailey is in early talks to take on a leading role in another of the studio’s major projects, Universal’s new Jurassic World, a scoop courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter.

If Baily punches his ticket to Isla Nublar to join the dinos, he’ll also be joining star Scarlett Johansson, the biggest name yet to join the project. The latest Jurassic World movie will be helmed by The Creator director Gareth Edwards, from a script by original Jurassic Park scribe David Koepp. Staying in the family, Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment is partnering with Universal on the film, which will be the seventh installment in the franchise.

In the run of the franchise, Spielberg kicked things off with his iconic 1993 Jurassic Park, followed by his 1997 film The Lost World. Joe Johnston took over for Jurassic Park III in 2001, then the dinos were dormant for more than a decade. Finally, in 2015, Colin Trevorrow directed Jurassic World, the first film in a new trilogy starring Chris Pratt as Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing. The final film in the new World trilogy, Dominion, saw the return of original Jurassic Park stars Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum.

The new film with Johansson and possibly Bailey will be centered on new characters. Johansson is no stranger to major franchises, having starred as Black Widow in multiple Marvel Studios films, including her own standalone film, while still finding time to work on smaller prestige projects, like her two Oscar-nominated turns in Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit. (She also starred, many years ago, in Jonathan Glazer’s nearly flawless sci-fi thriller Under the Skin, in case you want to put that on your watch list.)

Bailey and Johansson would be stepping into one of the most storied franchises in the movie business and one that might launch them into a brand new trilogy. They’d make a stellar pairing. Koepp’s script for the new Jurassic World will almost certainly not be a period piece, so we’re looking at sticking with the present day. We’ll share more details when we get them, as Universal is moving at a brisk pace to meet their current scheduled release date of July 2, 2205.

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Featured image: MILAN, ITALY – JUNE 20: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been converted to black and white.) Jonathan Bailey is seen ahead of the Giorgio Armani fashion show during the Milan Fashion Week S/S 2023 on June 20, 2022 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)

First Trailer for Netflix’s Animated “Thelma the Unicorn” Boasts Singing Phenom Brittany Howard in First Acting Role

If you’re going to make a movie about a music-obsessed pony who goes to extreme lengths to share her singing abilities with the world, it’s a great decision to have the multi-talented Brittany Howard in your title role. Howard’s voice is one of the most singular in the music business, and you can a sample of it in the first trailer for Thelma the Unicorn.

Thelma the Unicorn is based on Aaron Blabey’s beloved children’s books, with the adaptation scripted by director Jared Hess and his wife, Jerusha. Howard stars as the titular “unicorn,” who in actuality is a barn pony who dreams of one day headlining Sparklepalooza, the biggest musical event of the year. Thelma is told that nobody is eager to give a regular barn pony a stage and microphone, which makes her believe that to fulfil her dreams, she needs to be somebody different. After a mishap turns this dreamy pony a glittery pink, Thelma turns her accident to her advantage and takes on the persona of a unicorn, the type of true show pony people will put on a stage. When people want to know what kind of magical things this clearly magical unicorn can do, Thelma unleashes her stellar singing voice. Now that’s magic.

Thelma’s life changes really quickly after she takes on her new identity, drawing the kind of attention she wants (a music career!) and the kind she didn’t count on (jealousy and more). Does Thelma need to pretend to be someone else to be special, or was she special all along?

Hess is no stranger to turning a kind eye on unique characters and making movie magic (see Napoleon Dynamite). Hess has a bevy of talented folks on the roster to join Howard, including his old Napoleon Dynamite star Jon Heder, and a cast of comedy heavyweights like Will Forte, Zach Galifianakis, Jermaine Clement, Fred Armisen, and Edi Patterson. yet the star is Howard, the Alabama Shakes’ powerful frontwoman, who is making her acting debut.

Check out the trailer below. Thelma the Unicorn arrives on Netflix on May 17.

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Featured image: An image from Thelma. Courtesy of Netflix.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” Director Shawn Levy Teases Raunchy, Riotous Super Team-Up

Marvel Studios only has one movie coming out in 2024, but it’s a big one. The MCU will be unleashing its first official Deadpool movie (the franchise used to belong to Fox), Deadpool & Wolverine, which boasts the long-awaited team-up between Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with the Mouth and Hugh Jackman’s beloved, be-clawed mutant. (Yes, Jackman’s Wolverine died in James Mangold’s 2017 banger Logan, but this is the multiverse-happy MCU).

The title Deadpool & Wolverine has a lot of meaning, director Shawn Levy told Screen Rant, as it was a very conscious decision to give Wolverine title billing and not call the film Deadpool 3.

“As far as crafting the Deadpool and Wolverine story, I just felt privileged every day because you’re talking about two massive movie stars in their most iconic roles,” Levy told Screen Rant. “It also gave me an opportunity. It’s the third Deadpool movie, but it’s not Deadpool 3. It’s a different thing that’s very much Deadpool and Wolverine. And it’s not trying to copycat anything from the first two movies. They were awesome, but this is a two-hander character adventure.”

Levy promised Screen Rant, as he has promised previously, that Deadpool & Wolverine wasn’t going to be any less raunchy than its predecessors just because it’s now officially part of the MCU. “It’s going to be gnarly,” he told Screen Rant, and he also revealed that early screenings of the film have been “extremely, extremely promising.” The screenings helped Levy and his team “feel where the pace wants to tighten; you feel where you can afford to slow down and have a deeper, more durable character moment.”

Considering he got to work with two of the most beloved characters—and performers—it’s safe to say Deadpool & Wolverine will have plenty of durable character moments. And insanity.

Deadpool & Wolverine arrives in theaters on July 26, 2024.

L-r: Ryan Reynolds is Wade Wilson/Deadpool and Hugh Jackman is Logan/Wolverine in “Deadpool 3.” Courtesy Ryan Reynolds/Marvel Studios

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Featured image: Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson in Marvel Studios’ DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2024 MARVEL.

Dreams Come True: Ryan Gosling Delivers “Papyrus 2” Sequel Sketch on “Saturday Night Live”

Ryan Gosling returned in triumphant fashion this past weekend to host Saturday Night Live, the first time he’s been back to Studio 8H since way back in 2017. Gosling was once again on point, delivering a pitch-perfect cold open that revisited a beloved alien abduction sketch he first did back in 2017, then using his opening monologue to do a big song and dance number devoted to his last role, Ken, of course, from Barbie. That bit was interrupted by Emily Blunt, his co-star in The Fall Guy, their upcoming action-comedy-romance that doubles as a love letter to the stunt professionals who make the movie industry go.

Gosling’s a busy man, and SNL was packed with good stuff (including a cameo by college basketball phenom Caitlin Clark, who visited the Weekend Update set to roast Michael Che), so much so that perhaps the one sketch SNL fans and Gosling stans were hoping for, a sequel to the iconic Papyrus digital short from 2017, wasn’t on the live broadcast. The good news for us is that SNL uploaded it to Twitter and YouTube for our viewing pleasure.

A quick recap of the original Papyrus sketch from 2017—dreamed up by former SNL writer and current feature film director and actor Julio TorresPapyrus centered on Gosling as Steven, a man who is deeply, pathologically troubled by the fact that James Cameron’s original Avatar used the most basic font they could think of for their logo—yes, the absurd Papyrus. Torres first suggested the idea during an SNL Monday morning pitch meeting, which was based on one of his Tweets: “Every day I wake up and remember that Avatar, a huge international blockbuster, used the Papyrus font for their logo and no one stopped them.” 

Torres and the SNL team worked his Tweet into a legendary sketch—which was the perfect vehicle for Gosling, who saw the cinematic potential in the idea of a man who can’t shake Cameron’s bizarre font choice. Payrus follows Steven as he tries to work out his anger over the font choice with his therapist (played by Kate McKinnon), to no avail. “He just highlighted Avatar. He clicked the drop-down menu, and then he just randomly selected Papyrus.” Steven’s friend (Chris Redd) tries to calm his growing monomania by pointing out that they made some slight modifications to the font in the Avatar logo, hoping this technicality will soothe Steven. Hard no. Steven begins to view the font choice as a crime and eventually tracks down the graphic designer responsible (Kyle Mooney), screaming, “I know what you did.” 

 

Which brings us to Papyrus 2, in which Steven’s back and doing his best to “avoid triggers” and stay in control of his papyrus-based demons. Anytime Steven comes into contact with the font, whether it’s helping a man pick up flyers off the street written in papyrus or seeing it on a falafel truck, he’s plunged back into his own personal nightmare. As Steven works to make his steady, incremental improvement, he learns that Avatar: The Way of Water changed the font, which is huge news for the tormented man. Perhaps Steven and his years of dedication to bemoaning the papyrus font choice had an effect on James Cameron? Perhaps all is right in the world now that Avatar‘s design team saw the light? Or, is something seriously sinister going on, and did Cameron do the unthinkable and return to Papyrus in a new and even more hurtful way? Is Steven’s new girlfriend involved in this crime? This is the conceit of the sequel sketch, and it’s a perfect way to kickstart your week if you haven’t seen it:

 

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Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, and Brian Tyree Henry Reveal “Transformers One” at CinemaCon

Get ready for a Transformers-sized, star-studded animated epic that will reveal the origin story behind the most bitter feud in Transformers history.

Paramount Pictures arrived at CinemaCon this year ready to deliver on the news they broke last year, revealing an extended trailer and a scene from Transformers One, their animated epic that boasts Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, and more voicing characters. Those three introduced the extended trailer and the 3D scene. Hemsworth and Henry were there in person, while Johansson delivered a recorded message via video from New York, where she’s working on her directorial debut, Eleanor the Great. Johansson plays Elita-1 in the film.

Hemsworth told the audience inside the Colosseum at Caesars Palace that he was playing Orion Pax, the young Optimus Prime, and that they could expect “something truly spectacular.” Hemsworth said that Orion Pax will reveal a side of the proud, noble Prime that audiences have never seen before. Hemsworth also gave a shout-out to longtime Prime voice actor Peter Cullen, who imbued Prime with “strength, gentleness, and compassion.”

Hemsworth then introduced Henry, who plays D-16, the young Megatron. “This origin story is how they transformed from brothers in arms to sworn enemies,” Henry said of the relationship between his D-16 and Hemsworth’s Orion Pax. That’s the crux of Transformers One, this bitter, brutal feud between these two immensely powerful alien robots.

The cast also includes Keegan-Michael Key as B-127, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion, and Steve Buscemi.

Transformers One is directed by Josh Cooley, who won an Oscar for his work directing Toy Story 4. Cooley works from a script by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari.

Transformers One hits theaters on September 13.

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Featured image: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 11: (L-R) Brian Tyree Henry and Chris Hemsworth appear on stage during the Paramount Pictures 2024 CinemaCon Footage Presentation on Thursday, April 11, 2024 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)

Marvel Lets “Captain America 4” Footage Fly at CinemaCon

Anthony Mackie is finally stepping into the solo spotlight and nobody is more prepared. Mackie joined Kevin Feige in Las Vegas to reveal footage from Captain America: Brave New World, which finds Mackie’s Sam Wilson now fully invested as the new Cap.

Feige said that for Mackie and director Julius Onah’s upcoming film, the vibe is decidedly more of a grounded, gritty action flick, like the beloved Captain America: The Winter SoldierWinter Soldier was Mackie’s first MCU film, where he became a crucial ally for Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers/Captain America going forward. Sam Wilson was, without a doubt, the man Cap could count on the most, which is why he was selected at the end of Avengers: Endgame by an aged, retired Steve Rogers to carry on the shield.

We saw Sam Wilson wrestle with this new responsibility in the Disney+ series Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which was released in 2021 and followed The Winter Soldier‘s vibe as a full-bodied action thriller. Becoming Captain America was an especially difficult experience for Sam as a Black man replacing a white icon and savior figure. By the end of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam has accepted the role and proven himself more than capable of carrying the shield.

Captain America: Brave New World finds Sam after he’s accepted and grown into the role. It also introduces Harrison Ford into the MCU as he takes over for the late William Hurt as Thunderbolt Ross. Danny Ramirez returns as Joaquin Torres, the young man who takes over from Sam as the Falcon. The cast also includes Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, Carl Lumbly (reprising his role of Isaiah Bradley from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), and Shira Haas.

The footage shown at CinemaCon revealed Sam arriving at the White House, where Thunderbolt Ross, now the president, wants Sam’s help rebuilding the Avengers. The footage then moves to a tense moment when Ross, thanking Sam and Torres for helping out, is interrupted by blaring music, which sets off Isaiah Bradley, a former Super Soldier, who tries to kill Ross.

Captain America: Brave New World will fly into theaters on February 14, 2025. It’s preceded by Deadpool & Wolverine, which arrives this July 26, and followed by The Fantastic Four, which will arrive in theaters on July 25, 2025.

For more on Captain America: Brave New World, check out these stories:

Mark Ruffalo Not Returning as Hulk in “Captain America: Brave New World”

Harrison Ford Joins the MCU With Role in “Captain America: New World Order”

“Captain America 4” Has Its Director in Julius Onah

Featured image: (L-R): Harrison Ford as President Thaddeus Ross and Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America in Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo by Eli Adé. © 2024 MARVEL.