Transportation Manager Ryan Doucette on How Warner Bros. Turned “Kung Fu” Season Three Green

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Ryan Doucette is the manager of transportation compliance for Warner Bros. Studio Operations, Canada, and while that title might not immediately bring to mind a job at the forefront of the studio’s efforts at creating ever more sustainable productions, that’s precisely where Doucette finds himself.

“This is probably not as exciting as talking to a cinematographer,” Doucette joked when we spoke, “but it’s really important, and it’s not something we have a choice about.”

Doucette was part of the team that helped Warner Bros. Television’s popular series Kung Fu implement renewable diesel into the production of season three in an effort to make positive impacts on the series’ carbon footprint. More productions at Warner Bros. are gearing up to follow Kung Fu‘s lead, with both the economics making increasing sense and the moral and ethical responsibilities becoming ever more apparent.

We spoke to Doucette about his role, how he sees the future of more sustainable TV creation taking shape, and how a TV or film production will likely look very different in just a few short years.

 

Let’s start with a basic but crucial question: what is renewable diesel, and how is it different from biodiesel?

That’s one of the biggest misconceptions out there—that they’re the same—and there’s a misunderstanding around diesel fuel options. One hundred hydro-treated renewable diesel is not biodiesel. While biodiesel is made from animal and seed fats, it’s got a completely different chemical structure from renewable diesel. The main thing about renewable diesel is it’s a drop-in fuel, meaning that it can be put into any diesel engine, whereas biodiesel can gel in cold temperatures, plug up some of the filters, and has some implications for the manufacturer’s warranties on trucks, so it’s a case-by-case use. Renewable is not that; it’s just a pure, straight, chemically similar compound that you can drop into any existing diesel engine. The fuel can be used year-round in temperate climates like Vancouver and provided seasonally in colder climates and has better cold-weather performance compared to biodiesel fuel blends

I imagine you have to explain this distinction a lot?

When people hear we’re using renewable diesel, they think it’s going to ruin their equipment, so we have to educate them and say that this isn’t the case with renewable diesel.

Walk us through how renewable diesel is being used on sets today.

Renewable diesel is something I learned about from one of our previous transportation coordinators on Superman & Lois. It’s made from one hundred percent renewable materials, which can include everything from food waste, animal fats, and vegetable oils, and it’s produced through a refining process called hydrotreating. The process involves treating the renewable feedstock with hydrogen under high pressure and temperatures, which upgrades the renewable feedstock to a diesel-quality fuel. The final product is really high quality, low carbon intensive renewable diesel, which is comparable to the chemical composition of conventional diesel. Renewable diesel can be used undiluted in diesel equipment, such as motion picture generators and diesel trucks.

There are so many barriers to entry to try and get people to do things differently, so I imagine it’s a huge help to be able to say that you can use renewable diesel in existing vehicles.

For sure. With biodiesel, there’s also an increase in maintenance cost as you’re having to change out filters, and it can even break down some of the rubber housing in the engines. Renewable diesel is a really clean burning fuel, basically a pure diesel fuel that functions identically to fossil fuels, but you get the benefit of lower carbon emissions and environmental impacts. They say it generates 75 to 85 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared to regular fossil fuels, and it’s immediate. You don’t have to do very much, so it’s an easy thing to implement to help lower the carbon footprint of a production.

Do you look at renewable diesel as a stepping stone to an even purer, cleaner fuel, or do you see it as a solution itself?

They’re setting some really aggressive targets here in Canada as well as in the United States to hit zero-emission vehicles, but that takes time, and we need to start making a difference now. We’re starting to explore more EV usage in production, and there are larger vehicles coming online we’re looking into, including fuel cell trucks, but there’s a whole range of different logistics and considerations you need to take into account to make those things work on a production, charging infrastructure being one of them.

What are the logistical challenges unique to TV sets that make electric vehicles more difficult?

We work long hours, we’re running around all the time moving equipment here, there, and everywhere, and we need to have dedicated chargers to charge those vehicles. And if the general public is also fighting for those charging stations, we have to think about that. If we’re trying to get an actor to set and all of a sudden we need a charge, where do we get that? We really want it to work, but we also need as little interruption to the actual process of filmmaking as possible, so renewable diesel is really easy to implement right now.

“Kung Fu” season 3 utilized renewable diesel throughout production. Courtesy Warner Bros.

How widely available is renewable diesel in the Vancouver area?

I’ll start with California because it’ll give you a sense of how far behind we are. You can go to retail gas locations and get 100% renewable diesel right from the pump. In British Columbia, we’re reliant on bulk fuel suppliers and large energy companies. Yes, we have it available; sometimes, depending on the vendor, it can be a little more expensive than regular diesel, so that can be a barrier. Oftentimes, because of carbon credits offered to these energy companies, they subsidize these fuels to bring the cost down to get in line with parody for conventional diesel, which makes it a little more palatable for production managers to say yes, let’s do it. It’s a no-brainer if it’s pretty much the same cost and you’re getting all of these benefits in terms of overall carbon emissions.

Telling the story about how using renewable diesel is making a real impact on carbon emissions has to be a huge part of getting all the necessary players on board. How do you do that? 

The renewable diesel vendor provided calculators to help us see the impact we were making. It was a really helpful partnership; the calculator showed the impact of renewable diesel in terms of the equivalent of cars removed from the road in a year. That was helpful in communicating with our production managers. We can use the calculator to clock past usage, and we can show them, relative to a ten-episode season, how much they’d potentially use and what they’d be offsetting relative to the conventional diesel. It’s important to drive this home and help people see why it’s worth it. But most people are already really aware we need to make a difference, and I’d say many in the motion picture industry are really taking an interest in a transition to clean fuel. Kung Fu deployed renewable diesel for their third season, and the calculator made it possible to see what they achieved and give them a pat on the back for taking that leap and making a commitment.

 

Can you walk me through how Kung Fu and other Warner Bros. productions use renewable diesel?

A lot of productions are focused on the important step of putting renewable diesel into diesel generators because that makes the most impact. Right now, we’re running our diesel generators to power the lights on our sets and various equipment. For our trucks, yes, it’s a good opportunity to put this fuel into them, but in our industry, we drive and we stop; we’re not long-haul truckers. But our generators are running all day long. So Kung Fu made the decision to put renewable diesel into the generators and made the most impact. We have another show called Dead Boy Detectives that’s shooting in BC and Riverdale season 7, and both are taking advantage of renewable diesel. We hope any future production will take the opportunity to use it, and I think it’ll be an easy sell.

What are the economics of using renewable diesel versus the dirty stuff?

Much easier as it becomes more available and comes down in price compared to conventional diesel. Conventional diesel could skyrocket because of certain elements in the marketplace, and suddenly renewable diesel is 15 cents a liter cheaper, and then it’s even more attractive. But the hope is that it becomes pretty much on par so productions will use it.

How does using renewable diesel affect the communities where these productions are being shot?

We’re driving along your streets and parking and shooting in locations around your community, so we’re a part of the community. It makes a big difference when there’s a generator on the side of the road, and someone is out walking their dog and sees that it’s using renewable diesel. There’s this effect that can happen where you see a generator humming along and lighting up a street and all the production’s lights and the hair and makeup trailers and the cast’s trailers, and it’s doing all that with renewable diesel. That really does have an impact on the community. We’ll continue to look at different options, such as hydrogen fuel cells. We’re looking into sustainable alternatives with batteries, water, and electricity—there are lots of implications on how we can roll that out, but it’s happening. We’re also exploring battery energy storage solutions, which are basically big batteries that can power and light the set and help charge our electric vehicles when needed.

The future of the TV and movie set sounds appropriately sci-fi.

The typical TV set will start to look a little different in the next few years, and communities are going to see that—particularly solar options, with trailers that are completely sufficient on solar and battery. In BC, we have the Reel Green  Clean Energy Committee, I sit on that, and Ontario Green Screen, which is focused on moving the needle and driving knowledge into the community and making big differences. Implementing environmentally sustainable practices is a challenge we’re all facing in the industry, but we’re working to find solutions. We still have to make content, but we’re conscious that what we do has an impact on the community and planet.

  To learn more about environmentally sustainable practices at Warner Bros. Discovery, click here.

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Featured image: Olivia Liang in Kung Fu. Courtesy CW/Warner Bros.

Industry Veterans Discuss Diversity in Filmmaking – From Below the Line to Front & Center

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After two alternative years, the Berlinale Film Festival returned in person in February to alleviate the doldrums of late winter Berlin. Per tradition, the Motion Picture Association held their annual topical panel discussion (in the past, they’ve covered themes like artificial intelligence and greening the industry) in conjunction with the law firm Morrison and Foerster. A 100-plus audience crowded into the firm’s office above Potsdamer Platz to hear industry veterans discuss diversity in filmmaking — where it stands and how it can get better — and more broadly, the burgeoning symbiosis between Hollywood and social justice movements.

Charles Rivkin, the MPA’s chairman, opened the discussion. “Audiences around the world demand more authentic and nuanced portrayals of their societies and experiences,” he said, with films and television series a means to broaden understanding and foster empathy. To that end, the MPA, he mentioned, is working “below the line, to help diversify the talent pipeline and create new opportunities for young people of color and other under-represented communities,” which puts the association’s efforts right where the event’s panelists believe they should be.

Remarks from the French director-producer-screenwriter Euzhan Palcy were a springboard for the discussion, led by the MPA’s Vice President of Communications for the EMEA, Sabine Henssler, and Morrison and Foerster’s partner Christiane Stuetzle. Palcy, the recipient of the 2022 Honorary Academy Award, an Oscar for her lifetime achievement, made it her goal at age eleven to become a filmmaker after asking her parents why “they” (Palcy is Black) were not on the screen. “‘We aren’t the ones making the films,’” her parents told her. At the beginning of the discussion, the director laid out the solution, remarking, “There will be no change until people of color are where decisions are made.”

Stuetzle asked Palcy to weigh in on the debate between historical authenticity versus diversity in filmmaking. For the director, the answer was clear — it is destructive and disrespectful to put people of color into the so-called gallery without any meaningful agenda. For fellow panelist John Gibson, the MPA’s Vice President of External and Multicultural Affairs, meaningful visibility is also significant because “if you can see it, you can dream it.” Further resonating with Palcy, Gibson added that the communities being shown in film and television need to be not just represented on screen but understood, and one avenue to make this possible is access, to both support and leadership, for the people from those communities entering the industry. Jennifer Sobol, the Senior Manager of Programmes in Equity and Inclusion International at Warner Bros. Discovery, agreed, pointing out that you have to have a seat at the table to know you belong at the table. If potential newcomers don’t see themselves on screen, she warned, they may shy away from entering the industry.

So how best to kick off this cycle toward meaningful representation? Gudny Hummelvoll, producer, CEO of Hummelfilm, and President of the European Producers Club, cited encouraging statistics from Norway, where requirements for diversity among projects’ cast and crew were established as a condition for funding. After implementation, the share of female directors rose to 44%. Prior to these requirements, Hummelvoll mentioned that she’d often heard the excuse that there simply weren’t women directors — clearly there, the industry just had to look for them (and, it seems, make funding conditional on their participation in the industry).

Casting director Anja Dihrberg-Siebler also mentioned a disconnect between prevailing attitudes and reality, having often heard that “the audience doesn’t want to see it” regarding diversity in casting — in fact, she pointed out, nobody actually asks the audience what they want to see. “Fantasy needs no boundaries,” Dihrberg-Siebler said, and when she receives screenplays she finds herself making suggestions to increase diversity before the casting process begins.

And the industry is listening. Palcy pointed out the significance of a perceived shift in Hollywood after the diverse demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s murder — “Their humanity reacted,” the director said of those who came out to demonstrate, and “that’s why Hollywood decided to try to make an effort.” The panel struck a broadly hopeful tone, and as Palcy summed up, moving forward, “whatever little change we see, we need to encourage, not stay in the negative and complain. We need to support it.”

Featured image: L-r: Patricia Ernst, Morrison Foerster; Cherrie S. Daniels, Cultural Attaché U.S. Embassy Berlin; Christiane Stuetzle, Morrison Foerster; Charles Rivkin, MPA; Anja Dihrberg-Siebler, Casting Director; Euzhan Palcy, Director, Screenwriter, Producer; Sabine Henssler, MPA EMEA; Jennifer Sobol, Warner Bros. Discovery; Gudny Hummelvoll, Producer, Hummelfilm, European Producers Club; John Gibson, MPA)

“Godzilla vs. Kong” Sequel Gets its Title

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Godzilla and Kong are back at it again.

The sequel to the monster matchup is officially titled Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire. And their next battle royale is set to stomp into theaters on March 15, 2024.

The New Empire boasts some familiar faces from the original monster matchup, with Adam Wingard back in the director’s chair, and stars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and Kaylee Hottle all returning. Newcomers include Dan Stevens, Rachel House, and Fala Chen.

Wingard’s original film was centered, naturally, on the mega-battle between the world’s two most iconic behemoths. While it seemed, on paper, like a mismatch, Kong held his own for quite a while against the larger, radioactive Godzilla. That’s when things got tricky, however; with Godzilla taking the upper hand, er claw, it seemed the battle was about to be won in an ultimately decisive, fatal way, but that’s when Mechagodzilla showed up. Kong and Godzilla joined forces to take down the techno-monster. In The New Empire, the two colossal beasts will stay on the same team, as the synopsis revealed by Warner Bros. and Legendary says they’ll “team up to face a world-ending threat so terrifying that neither could survive alone.”

Godzilla vs. Kong was one of the first films to punch its way to success during the pandemic, battling to a haul of $470 million at the global box office back in March 2021 just as theaters were starting their long road to recovery. The appetite for the sequel should be large as they two beloved beasts form the world’s largest super-squad.

For more on the Godzilla vs. Kong franchise, check out these stories:

“Godzilla vs Kong 2” Synopsis Reveals Epic Continuation of Monster Fight

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Featured image: Caption: (L-r) GODZILLA battles KONG in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “GOZILLA VS. KONG,” a Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures

New “Fast X” Trailer Finds Jason Momoa’s Dante Taking on the Family

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The end of the road is now in sight.

The second trailer for Fast X has arrived with a serious bang, with Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his beloved family facing the gravest threat of their utterly insane lives. This new look at the tenth film in the franchise finds our heroes where they’re most comfortable, behind the wheel of various cars and trucks, racing through Rome. Only there’s one problem; they’re being led into a trap by that aforementioned threat, Dante (Jason Momoa), a man with a major beef against Dom and the fam that goes back a decade. Dante promises Dom that he’s going to break his family, piece by piece.

The first trailer revealed that Dante’s vendetta against Dom and the family began during the events of Fast Five (2011) when Dom and the crew took down the Brazilian drug kingpin Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) in Rio de Janeiro. It turns out Dante’s feud with the family is deeply personal; that kingpin was his father, and he watched the entire thing go down. Watching his father get killed turned Dante into the fearless, ferocious lunatic he is today, and he’s spent the past dozen years planning his revenge on Dom.

Dom will need the family and a few extra helping hands. He’ll get them. Not only will he have the family—Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty, Tyrese Gibson’s Roman, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges’s Tej, Jordana Brewster’s Mia, and Sung Kang’s Han—but old friends like Nathalie Emmanuel’s Ramsey, Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw, and John Cena’s Jakob will get involved. There’s more—Scott Eastwood’s Little Nobody, Helen Mirren’s Queenie, and Charlize Theron’s Cipher are all on hand.

The biggest newcomers are Momoa’s Dante and Brie Larson’s Tess, who turns out to be the daughter of Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody. Also onboard are Alan Richtson as Aimes, the new head of the Agency; Daniela Melchior as a Brazilian street racer connected to Dom’s past; and the icon Rita Moreno as Dom and Mia’s Abuelita Toretto.

Check out the new trailer below. Fast X races into theaters on May 19:

For more on Fast X and the Fast & Furious franchise, check out the stories below:

Brie Larson Reveals Her “Fast X” Character

First “Fast X” Trailer Unleashes Jason Momoa’s Villain Dante

Jason Momoa Teases his Androgynous “Fast & Furious 10” Villain

Featured image: Jason Momoa is Dante in FAST X, directed by Louis Leterrier

“Renfield” Stunt Coordinator Chris Brewster Sinks His Teeth Into Hyperkinetic Action-Comedy

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Chris Brewster knows how to make a bloody mess. The stunt coordinator has been making the rounds in Hollywood for over twenty years now and reteams with director Chris McKay on Renfield, following their collaboration on The Tomorrow War (2021), where Brewster served as a fight choreographer.

This time around, Brewster sinks his teeth into a Dracula story that stars Nicolas Cage as the Count and Nicholas Hoult as Renfield, his familiar, who starts to question his evil behavior after falling for a stouthearted cop played by Awkwafina. The comedic tale juxtaposes entertainingly well with McKay’s delightfully violent action sequences. The laughter is in the blood.

In creating the stunts, Brewster shares with The Credits that nothing was off limits. “My favorite meeting with McKay was when I told him this might be a little too far, and he goes, ‘no, no, anything that starts off with ‘this might be too far’ is definitely on the right path.’”

Brewster shares how the collaborative efforts of special effects, visual effects, and the entire production team allowed them to pull off some of the goriest fight sequences in a film this year.

Did you and Chris McKay have an overall approach to the stunt pieces of Renfield?

We both have similar core values when it comes to action in movies. There are all based on the idea that every move needs to be character-driven and story-driven. We don’t believe in action for the sake of action and want to make sure we’re telling the same story through the action we’re telling through the dialogue.

How did you two start to tackle your ideas in preproduction?

We broke down what we like and don’t like about action sequences. Then we looked at the tone, the energy, and the style that we really wanted for this film. Once I got into his head and saw what he was really looking for, we started to get into the character design of how each character would move. Then we broke down the script and took each character and put them in those moments of the script where each piece of action took place. It was all built from the ground up.

Nicolas Cage as Dracula in Renfield, directed by Chris McKay. Courtesy Universal Pictures.

Since you mentioned character design, how did you want Renfield and Dracula to move on screen?

One thing that made action fun to work on in this film was that the characters were so very different. Renfield is old and has been doing what he does for Dracula for years. We wanted to design a style that was not technical but smooth in a way that makes it look like he’s done it a million times. We avoided any specific martial arts form for Renfield, but since he was a soldier, we took military close-quarters combat and added simple flare to it. Because he’s borderline indestructible, he fights without being defensive and is not worried about getting hit. Dracula has a very eclectic style. He goes from being the Prince with an elegant posture to turning into a bull, becoming more animalistic and more aggressive.

 

Another fun character is Tedward, played by Ben Schwartz. He acts tough but is essentially a mama’s boy. How did you want to translate that personality into his fight sequences?  

Teddy is the most un-stylized fighter. He was the prince of the mafia, but he’s not a tough badass. We created a stylized version of fighting that is not a martial arts version of fighting. Once he becomes familiar, he becomes this guy who has never thrown a punch but can now punch really hard. His fighting style doesn’t have any technique. It just has a lot of power and a lot of impact to it.

(from left) Tedward (Benjamin Schwartz) and Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) in Renfield, directed by Chris McKay. Courtesy Universal Pictures.

Is there any collaboration with the actors in designing their character’s choreography?

With action design, it’s our job to come up with a skeleton between taking McKay’s vision and choreographing movement that works for the character. That is the skeleton. Then the actors really build the body onto the skeleton. They basically put their different nuance onto each move. Luckily, the actors on this show were absolutely out of this world. They were incredible performers and could remember the choreography really fast and then add layer upon layer of character and style to what they were doing.

(from left) Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) and Phil (Joseph Mikel) in Renfield. Courtesy Universal Pictures.

The tone of the action gets wildly entertaining. No holds barred. Did McKay let you run with your imagination?

Chris came up with guidelines for each piece of action, and to summarize it very briefly, he said if we have a single piece of action that doesn’t involve Mortal Kombat-level fatalities then we are not doing our job. He told us from day one there are no handcuffs. He encouraged us to go way above and beyond and told us if he needed to, he’d pull us back in.

So scenes like when Renfield rips off someone’s arms to use them as swords make sense now. That entire apartment complex scene was a ride.

There was so much wirework in that scene. We were three and four levels off the ground, so height was variable. We had lots of special effects and other things that could have made the set dangerous, but we had every single department head on our side, and we were all working together. We were able to pull off one of the most over-the-top action sequences that I have ever been a part of without injury, and everyone was happy.

(from left) Director Chris McKay and Nicolas Cage on the set of Renfield. Courtesy Universal Pictures.

Another large set piece has Renfield rescuing Rebecca (Awkwafina) inside Mulates. How did you approach the massive fight sequence?

Chris McKay has us previs every piece of action before we went to camera. Previs is our concept of what we think the action could look like in the story. In doing that, it’s like having a proper dress rehearsal before going to camera. So we basically got to design all the action, choreograph it, and rehearse it before we went to the location to shoot it. Everything is done in the prep work. Because we got to prep and build it, everyone was safe and we got to do some cool, fun stuff.

(from left) Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) and Rebecca (Awkwafina) in Renfield, directed by Chris McKay. Courtesy Universal Pictures.

There were plenty of special effects, visual effects, and blood-laced makeup design in each scene. How was the collaboration among different departments?

Everything you see in this film is what you get when every department works together and is actually one large family. I have never been on a project that was as seamless from department to department as Renfield was. I think it starts all the way at the top with Chris McKay, all of our producers, and the whole production team made it so easy for every department head to communicate and work together. Every person who worked on this crew was incredible and amazing at their job. I really feel like the action specifically is a true testament to what happens when the crew works seamlessly together. It felt like we were surrounded by friends and family doing what we all loved to do. It was genuinely the best experience of my career.

 

Renfield is in theaters now.

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Featured image: Nicholas Hoult on the set of Renfield, directed by Chris McKay. Courtesy Universal Pictures.

Michelle Yeoh to Star in “Star Trek: Section 31” Movie for Paramount+

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Fresh off winning her first Oscar for her stellar work in Everything Everywhere All At Once, Michelle Yeoh has set a new course on her star chart.

Yeoh will be headlining a new Star Trek movie, Star Trek: Section 31, reprising her Star Trek: Discovery role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou. Section 31, which will stream on Paramount+, was initially conceived as a series, but the stars aligned for Star Trek captain Alex Kurtzman to convert the series into a feature.

The Hollywood Reporter scoops that Kurtzman had already been thinking about making the switch with Section 31 from a series to a feature film, but the idea really hit warp speed after he saw Everything Everywhere All At Once and thought that Yeoh would win an Oscar for her performance. Who can blame him for thinking that the world would want more of Yeoh with meaty film roles?

Yeoh was the first person to be cast on Star Trek: Discovery, appearing in its first three seasons. Sources tell THR that Section 31 is being imagined in the same vein as two very popular and very different film franchises—”Mission: Impossible meets Guardians of the Galaxy.” Breathless action sequences mixed with adventures on alien planets and with a cast of colorful, often non-human characters? Sold.

Production on Section 31 is slated to begin later this year, and Kurtzman is planning on releasing a direct-to-streaming Star Trek film on Paramount+ every two years. There’s a lot more going on in the Star Trek universe, including the new teen-focused series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, set to start production in the spring of 2024; the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard, which ends this week; the return of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds this June; the adult animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks will return for a fifth season; and finally, Star Trek: Discovery will bow for its fifth and final season in early 2024.

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

“Dungeon & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” VFX Team on the Owlbear, Talking Corpses & More

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Featured image: “Terra Firma, Part 2” — Ep#310 — Pictured: Sonequa Martin-Green as Commander Burnham and Michelle Yeoh as Georgiou of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Michael Gibson/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Peter Quill Embarrasses Himself in New “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Clip

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A fresh clip from James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 captures, in a single minute, what has made the trilogy so special. We’ve got heartfelt emotion, heartbreak, and drama, all delivered with real feeling. And then the jokes begin. The clip, titled “I Miss You,” is centered on Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) admitting to Gamora (Zoe Saldana) that he’s missed her so much and that maybe, just maybe, if she opened herself up to the idea that the two of them should be together, things could happen. Then Gamora tells him she doesn’t think so, gets his name wrong (she calls him “Quinn” instead of “Quill”), and that’s only the top note of Peter’s song of embarrassment. Turns out, he’s been using his spacesuit’s communications all wrong and everyone in the group has heard every word he’s said. Oof.

The third and final installment in the Guardians trilogy, all of them written and directed by Gunn (who you’ve probably heard has a fairly big new job over at DC Studios), will be the bittersweet coda to a franchise that’s carved out one of the most inventive corners of the Marvel galaxy. The storyline between Peter and Gamora will finally get resolved (we think), one of the more doomed relationships in all of the MCU, and that’s saying something. Peter has pretty much loved Gamora since the moment they first met in the very first Guardians, but that was a different Gamora. The version Peter is trying to connect with now is from a different timeline in the multiverse; the Gamora Peter fell in love with was killed by Thanos years before. This is what we mean by bittersweet.

The Peter/Gamora storyline is but one narrative thread Vol. 3 will be resolving. We’ll also be dealing with a few new villains in the form of The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) and Adam Warlock (Will Poulter). The former is connected to Rocket’s (Bradley Cooper) tragic backstory—he’s the one who masterminded the experimentation on Rocket, and so many others, in his effort to create a “perfect” society. The latter is connected to the Guardians from their adventures in Vol. 2 when the Sovereign queen Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) created a superior being that would hunt down and kill the gang. Whether or not Adam Warlock remains a villain the entire film is yet to be seen.

It’s going to be a wild final ride for the Guardians. Quill, Gamora, Rocket, Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) are coming together for one more epic adventure. This latest clip is a perfect example of why the ride has been so fun.

Check out the clip below. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5:

For more on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, check out these stories:

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Images Tease Rocket’s Heartbreaking Story

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Trailer Reveals Big Changes for Our Galactic Misfits

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Trailer Unleashes Adam Warlock on the Galactic Gang

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Sets World-Record While Still Filming

Featured image: Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, and Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, and Karen Gillan as Nebula in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.

James Gunn Announces Pre-Production Has Begun on “Superman: Legacy”

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It’s Superman’s anniversary today, and new DC Studios co-chief James Gunn is celebrating it in style. Gunn revealed via Twitter that early pre-production has officially begun on his upcoming film Superman: Legacy, which is both writing and directing. Superman’s first appearance on the pages of Action Comics came on April 18, 1938, and now, 85-years later, the most iconic superhero of them all is about to get his first stand-alone film in a decade.

Things are moving fast now over at the reinvigorated DC Studios, with Gunn and co-chief Peter Safran taking the studio in a new, more unified direction, and Superman: Legacy is a major part of that effort and will be the first film released under their leadership. (Upcoming DC titles The Flash, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom were all produced and filmed before Gunn and Safran took over).

Here was Gunn’s reveal on Twitter:

Gunn also responded to some questions from fans on Twitter, including whether or not he’d finished the entire Legacy script or had only completed the title page:

Superman: Legacy will be the first new stand-alone Superman film since Zack Snyder’s 2013 Man of Steel, which, of course, starred Henry Cavill. Cavill went on to portray Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017) and had a brief cameo in Black Adam (2022). Gunn is recasting the role for a younger Clark Kent, and it will be one of the most sought-after jobs in Hollywood, a role that will likely result in multiple films.

Here’s how Peter Safran described Superman: Legacy after he and Gunn unveiled the first part of their DC Studios slate: “It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth, justice, and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks that kindness is old-fashioned.”

Superman: Legacy is slated for a July 11, 2025 release.

For more on James Gunn and DC Studios, check out these stories:

James Gunn Will Direct “Superman: Legacy”

James Gunn Says “The Flash” is One Of The Best Superhero Movies He’s Ever Seen

James Gunn Reveals New DC Slate: New Batman, Superman, Supergirl Films, a Green Lantern Series & More

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)

Rachel Weisz Delivers Double the Trouble in Prime Video’s “Dead Ringers”

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The world needs more of Rachel Weisz. This is made evident anytime the abundantly talented performer appears in anything, and now, thankfully, we’ll be getting a double dose of her in Prime Video’s new series Dead Ringers (streaming on Prime Video on April 21), which is a new take on David Cronenberg’s deeply unsettling 1988 film. Weisz plays both Elliot and Beverly Mantle, a pair of twins who share everything—and we do mean everything. Whether it’s lovers, drugs, or the willingness to eschew medical ethics in their pursuit to bring women’s healthcare to the forefront, the Mantle twins are in lockstep. Beverly and Elliot are doctors, but unlike in Cronenberg’s original film, the new series is a much more female-centered take, with Weisz playing the twins as doctors determined to remake a medical field they find dehumanizing and demeaning to women. The lengths they’ll go to do this, however, are extreme. While Dead Ringers isn’t a straight adaptation from Cronenberg’s original, the series is by no means a polite, easy-going affair.

The Mantle sisters are OG-GYN superstars at the fictional Westcott Memorial Hospital in New York. Beverly has had several miscarriages and really wants a child. She’s sensitive, thoughtful, and buttoned up. Elliot, on the other hand, yearns for control. She’s impetuous, hedonistic, and cruel. Elliot is also more than happy to play god; one of her pet side projects is to see how long she can gestate an embryo outside of a womb. And this barely scratches the surface of where Dead Ringers goes.

So what are the critics saying? The unsurprising but unanimous reaction is that Weisz is sensational in the dual roles, while the adaptation puts a fresh spin on Cronenberg’s body horror freakout.

The first two episodes come from director Sean Durkin, with horror maestro Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body, Girlfight) also onboard, alongside fellow directors Karena Evans (P-Valley, Snowfall), and Lauren Wolkstein (A Friend of the Family, Y: The Last Man)

Here’s a quick peek at some of the reactions thus far:

Check out the trailer below:

Here’s the synopsis for Dead Ringers:

A modern take on David Cronenberg’s 1988 thriller starring Jeremy Irons, Dead Ringers will feature Rachel Weisz playing the double-lead roles of Elliot and Beverly Mantle, twins who share everything: Drugs, lovers, and an unapologetic desire to do whatever it takes—including pushing the boundaries on medical ethics—in an effort to challenge antiquated practices and bring women’s health care to the forefront. The series’ ensemble cast includes Britne Oldford (The Umbrella Academy, American Horror Story: Asylum) as Genevieve, Poppy Liu (Hacks, iCarly) as Greta, Michael Chernus (Severance, Orange is the New Black) as Tom, Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty, Saint Maud) as Rebecca, and Emily Meade (The Deuce, The Leftovers) as Susan.

Filmmaker Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Nest, The Iron Claw) directed the first two episodes and co-directed the last episode of the series. Durkin also serves as an executive producer. The directing team also includes Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body, Girlfight), Karena Evans (P-Valley, Snowfall), and Lauren Wolkstein (A Friend of the Family, Y: The Last Man).

For more on Amazon Prime Video, check out these stories:

“Daisy Jones & the Six” Makeup Department Head Rebecca Wachtel Captures the Many Faces of Stardom

“Daisy Jones & the Six” Cinematographer Checco Varese on Evoking 70s Vibe Through a Contemporary Lens

“Harlem” Costume Designer Deirdra Elizabeth Govan on Season Two’s Evolving Looks

“Spider-Man Noir” Live-Action Series Coming to Amazon

Featured image: Rachel Weisz in “Dead Ringers.” Niko Tavernise/Prime Video

James McAvoy Re-teams With Blumhouse for Horror Thriller “Speak No Evil”

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James McAvoy is reteaming with the studio he worked with on M. Night Shyamalan’s Split and Glass for a new, twisted project.

McAvoy has boarded the film Speak No Evil for the horror maestros at Blumhouse, a remake of the Danish film Gaesterne, which was directed by Christian Tafdrup. Eden Lake and The Woman in Black director James Watkins will helm the film, and Universal Pictures has slated it for an August 9, 2024 release.

The conceit for the film is the classic horror setup; a family takes a vacation to a beautiful country home, not realizing they’re booking themselves into a nightmare. It’s a premise that’s been explored countless times to maximum effect, from Jordan Peele’s excellent sophomore feature Us to M. Night Shyamalan’s recent Cabin in the Woods. 

The original Danish film was a critical darling, earning 11 Danish Film Awards (their version of the Oscars). The script for Speak No Evil will be based on the original script written by Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup.

McAvoy has proven himself more than able and willing to go dark. In Shyamalan’s Split, McAvoy played the Horde, the film’s terrifying villain who unleashed multiple personalities on his victims. It was a bravura performance, and one wonders if he’ll get another chance to flex those mean muscles in Speak No Evil—or—if he’ll be playing a family man faced with unthinkable choices. Either way, it’ll be worth watching.

Here’s a peek at the thoroughly affecting trailer for the original film:

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

“Scream” Queen Melissa Barrera Re-teaming With Radio Silence in Mysterious Monster Movie for Universal

Glen Powell Ready to Twirl in “Twister” Sequel With Daisy Edgar Jones

“Scream VI” Filmmaking Team Radio Silence Helming Mysterious Horror Film for Universal

Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” Trailer Reveals Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Aliens & More

Featured image: NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 14: Actor James McAvoy attend Opening Night for “Cyrano De Bergerac” at BAM Harvey Theater on April 14, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

A Legend Lives Again in Lisa Cortés’s Sparkling New Documentary “Little Richard: I Am Everything”

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Little Richard liked to call himself the King of Rock and Roll, and it’s hard to argue with that claim after seeing the new documentary about the incendiary singer’s wild music and even wilder life. Little Richard, born Richard Penniman, not only pioneered rock attitude with piano-pounding hits like “Lucille” and “Long Tall Sally, but” he also flaunted a gender-bending persona that continues to resonate in the culture three years after his death in 2020 at age 87.

Little Richard: I Am Everything (April 21) chronicles a rollicking life story that began in Macon, Georgia. One of 12 children, Little Richard was kicked out of the house at age fourteen by his pastor/bootlegger father and started performing in drag with traveling medicine shows. Releasing his first single, “Tutti Frutti,” in 1956, Little Richard followed up with a flurry of exhilarating tracks only to renounce rock and roll in 1957 and immerse himself in bible studies. Comebacks, talk show appearances, and troubled times ensued.

Directed by Lisa Cortés, whose Oscar and Emmy-nominated projects include Precious, The Apollo, and All In: The Fight For Democracy, her I Am Everything doc combines rare archival footage with fresh interviews from LGBTQ activists, scholars and artists, including John Waters, Billy Porter, Nona Hendryx, and Mick Jagger.

Speaking from New York, Cortés recounts her meeting with Jagger, describes the challenges of navigating Little Richard’s complicated personality, and explains the too-graphic-for-airplay origins story behind “Tutti Frutti.”

Lisa Cortés

Lisa Cortés: “Can I have a drum roll?”

Bllltttttttttt.

[laughter]

You’d created a vivid body of work before taking on Little Richard. What was the spark that inspired you to make a documentary about this great American rock and roller?

In May 2020, it was the lockdown. We were finishing All In: the Fight for Democracy, the documentary about the long struggle for voting rights in this country, and Little Richard passed away. I started listening to his music all over again. And I became really intrigued by the tributes that seemingly disparate people were giving about Richard and how important he was to them — Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters and Bob Dylan and Elton John — and I’m like, wait a minute, is this the same “shut up!” one-note Little Richard caricature? I started to realize he had an amazing story, and when I learned there had not been a feature-length doc about him, that was the catnip, that was the catalyst.

You interview more than two dozen scholars and artists for this film, including Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, one of the most famous musicians on earth. He doesn’t really give a lot of interviews. Was it tricky to get him on camera talking about Little Richard?

Once Mick Jagger said yes, it happened very quickly. The funny thing is, his rep told me you only have twenty minutes to interview him. But he came to the interview at his office in London and said, “Why don’t you and I talk first,” because I think he wanted to get a vibe about what I knew about the history and what the angle was. We had a lovely conversation, and then he said, “Okay, we’ll do the interview.” Twenty minutes in, I said, “Hey, I want to be considerate of your time,” and he said, “No, I’m fine.” An hour later, we were still talking. He was so genuine in his love and affection for Richard and really asserted the importance of Black artists in rock and roll. He’s also a big fan of Sister Rosette Tharp, so we had many things to explore in our conversation.

The Rolling Stones opened for Little Richard in 1962 when he made a comeback tour in the UK. You unearth some incredible archival footage from that tour with Little Richard tearing off his shirt and running around on stage. You can see how he would have excited a whole generation of British musicians, including the Beatles and David Bowie. What did you learn from Bowie producer Nile Rodgers?

Oh my gosh, what’s that album — “Let’s Dance” — David Bowie comes in and shows Niles a picture of Richard in front of a red Cadillac and says, ‘I want my album to sound like this. I want the music to have the spirit of Little Richard.’ It was fun listening to Niles tell this story because he’s like, ‘Wow, no other artist has ever come to me and said I want to be connected to another artist’s energy.’ Certainly, David Bowie turned it into his own thing; he was such a fan that he wanted to pay homage to the performance and the musicality of Richard.

 

The documentary can feel bittersweet at times. On the one hand, Little Richard brings enormous joy to people through his music. On the other hand, he struggled with his own sexuality. How did you want to weave those themes together?

I think this story is a balance between bittersweet and joy. It’s about experimentation, about being bold, about not being accepted, and all of these things make this a beautifully human story because throughout his life, Richard is like a pendulum, a roller coaster. He’s super religious! Oh no, he’s a rock and roll sinner! He’s gay! No, he’s renouncing his gayness! That is the tension that Richard constantly navigates, and it’s also what makes him such an interesting character to peel back the layers on. Ultimately, this film is about understanding all those different components and then looking at legacy, looking at Richard’s influence on so many places in our culture now.

Little Richard on September 14th, Wembley stadium, London, Great Britain – 1974, (Photo Gijsbert Hanekroot)

You show how Little Richard had an impact beyond music on filmmaker John Waters, drag queen Billy Porter, and many others. Little Richard in the sixties basically invented glam rock when he started wearing glittery outfits – the sparkle suit?

Mirror suit!

Before anybody else was dressing up like that.

When we go from Richard to David Bowie to Harry Styles, they’re not big leaps.

LITTLE RICHARD at Wrigley Fields, Los Angeles, 2 September 1956

In connection with Little Richard’s sexuality, some of the details from your film are kind of startling. Did he really travel through the South as a teenager performing in drag?

He did, as Princess LeVonne.

The film includes reminiscences from Little Richard’s close friend Sir Lady Java, the transgender entertainer. Did that relationship surprise you?

It wasn’t surprising, but I’ll tell you what the difficulty was: Richard did not openly speak about it, for the most part. In the eighties, he’d say, “I used to be gay.” But in exploring the archival material and finding ways for Richard to narrate his story, that’s why we included moments like meeting Sir Lady Java, Richard’s dear friend in Los Angeles, and an LGBTQIA activist. We wanted to give viewers an understanding that Richard’s struggles don’t just start in the eighties. His struggles with his sexuality go back many decades.

 “Tutti Frutti” put Little Richard on the map back in 1956. But it seems the song that people heard on the radio was different from the version he originally wrote?

In the film, we tell you about the original lyrics: It’s “Tutti Fruity, good booty.” I’ll leave it to people’s imagination to take it from there and see the film to learn a little more about what Richard was really writing about before the lyrics got cleaned up.

 

 

Featured image: LITTLE RICHARD at Wrigley Fields, Los Angeles, 2 September 1956

Inside “Succession” Episode 4: Kendall Makes His Move

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“The terrible bubble of grief has burst,” says Succession creator Jesse Armstrong at the top of the latest “Inside the Episode” video, which unpacks the fourth episode, the first in the series to carry forth without Brian Cox’s Logan Roy, the brutal sun upon which all the rest of Succession’s characters and plot points swirled. The promise in the show’s title is now in its final, desperate lurch towards bearing out, and a single scrap of paper left behind among Logan’s personal effects might have huge consequences for the Roy children and the rest of the bloodhounds sniffing around for a piece of the remaining pie.

That scrap of paper had Kendall’s name as the next CEO of WayStar. The name is either underlined or crossed out—it’s unclear—but it’s enough for Kendall (Jeremy Strong) to make a play for the top job.

“I don’t even think it’s Kendall saying I’m going to take the lead here,” says Strong in the “Inside the Episode” video. “I think it’s Kendall saying, ‘Let’s call this what it is—I am the lead here.’”

“To Kendall, it looks like he definitely meant for me to take over,” says J. Smith Cameron, who plays Gerri. “To someone else, it looks like a grocery list he’s half struck through.”

This scrap of paper re-establishes a dynamic between the three Roy children (sans Connor [Alan Ruck], of course, who was never considered as a successor) in which Kendall believes himself to be the obvious choice, yet he takes a less bullheaded approach this time around. In fact, he suggests that he and Roman (Kieran Culkin) share the top job, leaving Shiv (Sarah Snook) out, claiming she’s too green for the job and her inclusion wouldn’t look serious to the board or Wall Street. But, both he and Roman promise their sister she’ll be very much involved in every big decision and will be their co-leader, just not on paper. It’s a dubious promise, made especially so because the Roy family is not known for their honor.

“Previously, I’d go a couple of days without seeing Jeremy in a scene because we’ve been on opposite sides of the fence,” Sarah Snook says, “but then, we’re doing scenes altogether, which has been great.”

The Roy Three, as Kendall, Shiv, and Roman have always been (even if, as Snook said, they were often at odds and not even in the same physical space), all agree with Kendall’s plan, even if Shiv can clearly sense her position is weak and her brothers aren’t trustworthy. But then the Roy Three are given a shock by the sudden appearance of Stephen Root’s Ron Petkus, who they find blathering on about Logan in a bullsh*t-laden toast at their father’s massive New York apartment (soon to be Conor’s, by the way).

“Suddenly, a guy we’ve only met once or twice in the show is giving a speech about your dad as you watch on,” says Jesse Armstrong. “I’ve heard about such events around the deaths of public figures and how the family can sometimes get edged out.”

The arrival of Ron Petkus gives the kids a reason to rally around each other. The scene had special meaning for Strong.

“So much has happened at our father’s house, and I can’t walk in there without feeling the history of that,” Strong says. “Our last day on that set was probably the only time, really, that I felt emotionally the sense of loss of this ending.”

Armstrong says that the way Kendall navigates the discovery of the paper with his name on it is by handling it in a very Logan-ish way; he keeps all his options open. “I don’t think at that point he has decided he’s going to push aside his siblings,” Armstrong says. “I think what he finds unbelievably annoying is their unwillingness to face the facts.”

The episode ends with a greasy suggestion by the WayStar comms team, led by Hugo (Fisher Stevens) and Carolina (Dagmara Domincyzk); they tell the kids that one way to calm the nerves of the market and the business press is by telling them that Logan had been slipping much more than the public realized and that the Roy kids had secretly been running WayStar for a while now. The idea is to make the ascension of Kendall and Roman as the new heads of the company less destabilizing; the kids had been alright the whole time. Roman and Shiv are grossed out by the idea of besmirching their dad so soon after his death, and Kendall claims to agree. But then, he does what he believes Logan would have done; he goes behind his sibling’s backs and tells Hugo to spread the rumors about his dearly departed dad. To do it quietly, without his fingerprints on it.

And so, the endgame has begun. Kendall has made his move. 

Check out the full Inside the Video below.

For more on Succession, check out these stories:

“Succession” Writers Kept Shocking Death From Leaking By Using the Perfect Code Word

Inside the Shocking Death That Rocked “Succession” Episode 3

Inside the “Succession” Season 4 Premiere & Logan Roy’s Bummer of a Birthday

Critics Say “Succession” Season 4 Sees The Series Going Out on Top

Featured image: Sarah Snook, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin David M. Russell/HBO ©2022 HBO. All Rights Reserved.

“Mafia Mamma” Director Catherine Hardwicke Creates a Comedy You Can’t Refuse

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Oscar-nominated actor Toni Collette stars in the title role of Mafia Mamma, a new femme-forward comedy that offers a twist on the gangster film genre. The movie features women in roles both above and below the line, with director Catherine Hardwicke at the helm, writer Amanda Sthers as producer, and Monica Bellucci and Sophia Nomvete as co-stars. 

Filmed in some of the most beautiful locations in Italy, Mafia Mamma tells the story of an unfulfilled American wife, empty nester, and marketing professional Kristin Balbano (Collette), who gets called to Italy when her grandfather dies. She discovers that not only is the family winery a front for one of the two most powerful mafia families in Italy, her grandfather’s right hand, Bianca (Bellucci), informs her she is meant to take over the family business. Through Kristin’s very fish-out-of-water experiences as the new mafia don, she undergoes a transformation and finally steps into her own power.  

Mafia Mamma allows Toni Collette to exercise her considerable comedy chops, so it’s tons of fun to watch. It also brings a feminist lens to a genre overwhelmingly populated by men in front of and behind the camera. The Credits spoke to Catherine Hardwicke about her experience bringing the film to the screen, shooting in locations with hundreds of years of history, and more. 

 

A lot is on the page in terms of Kristin and Bianca’s reactions and interactions being driven by their experience as women over 40. What, though, were some things that came up during the production or filming that Toni and Monica, as real-life women of a certain age working in a challenging industry, brought to it?

Every day we’d think about that. So, wardrobe, for example. How are we going to present ourselves to the public? How’s the hair going to be? What are the styles? The wardrobe actually shows Kristin’s transformation because she starts out much more conservative and frumpy, and by the end, you see that she’s a bit more body-conscious, and she’s happy to live in her body much more than she did before. So I think that’s something that women, as we age, can relate to. Everybody navigates, “How do we dress? What’s our appearance? What do we put forward?” We question if we’re going too youthful or maybe too old. That was interesting to examine.

And for Monica Bellucci? 

In a way, we could talk about sexuality because how often do we give a woman that age permission to be sexual and to admit that they want to be sexual? Monica’s character has a mysterious past. She’s very sexy, and the way she dresses is obviously this amazing femme fatale. So actually, right in the middle of shooting, when we were in the limoncello scene, and you see a mob boss die, I said, “Monica, maybe he was your lover.” Monica said, “I like that. It adds another layer of mystery to her.” So she just improvised.  She said, “Yeah, let me run with that.” And she whispers, “Ciao, Carlito.” She leaned into it.

Monica Bellucci is Bianca in “Mafia Mamma.” Courtesy Bleecker Street.

There’s a gunfight in the streets of an Italian town that has tiny alleyways. How did you approach that?

Yes. That little town is Bracciano, and it’s about an hour north of Rome, on a lake. The town actually was pretty friendly because people live in all those little buildings. So I said, “Let’s have the real people that live there popping out of their windows. Let’s really involve the community.” They were very supportive of that, so when you see a girl looking out the window and shutting the shutters, that’s the woman that lives there. It made it so much fun. I think they were amused by the whole situation, and we did a lot of planning, “We’re going to run from point A to point B… the motorcycle’s coming here.” You did have to plan it all out, but the town was very excited about it.

From left, stars Toni Collette, Monica Bellucci, Eduardo Scarpetta, director Catherine Hardwicke on the set of MAFIA MAMMA. Courtesy of Bleecker Street.”

The Italian locations are gorgeous, especially the villas for both of the families. 

Cattleya was our local Italian production company. They had a great location scout who showed many, many photos, and when I saw those two villas, I thought they looked very cool. And then you get to go, and as a former architect, I was thrilled to get to go scout through the villas, and as you walk through, “This villa is 400 years old.” “This villa is 500 years old. The pope slept here. This cow head on the wall is the cow that gave milk to the pope during World War II.” The history is insane. One of the villas is right on the Appian Way. You’re standing on the rock, the stones. The tree is 1000 years old where they’re stomping the grapes. At one point, the owner asks me, “Hey, do you want to see this tombstone we found in the yard here?” It was a Roman Emperor’s eye doctor’s tombstone. It’s just casually in the backyard. So, as an architect, of course, the cinematographer [Patrick Murguia] and I really tried to show that as much as we could and to give you a sense of the scope and the scale.

 

What were some of the challenges for you and your cinematographer Patrick Murguia in terms of shooting in spaces that were hundreds of years old? The lighting inside the villas was beautiful. 

I’m so glad you noticed that because you’re right, in the villas, the walls all had paintings that have been there for, like, 300 years. You cannot touch it. So how are you going shoot?  You can’t put a spreader on the ceiling, and we don’t really love to have light stands in the rooms because then you can’t move, so we had many challenges. You light through the windows, but the walls are so thick, so you’re trying to shoot light through that, and we would have light stands. The really cool Italian gaffer would follow actors around with a light if we did a moving shot. Patrick was always just like, “New challenge. New challenge. New challenge.”

Toni Collette is Kristin in “Mafia Mamma.” Courtes Bleecker Street

There’s a scene outside under a canopy between Toni and Monica with great lighting.  

We had the canopy, so there was shade, and then that area is actually quite beautiful because it’s in a field with all these flowers, and somehow, the place already looked great.  We shot at the right time of day, at magic hour, and we had some soft bounces around and, yes, they just glowed. They’re gorgeous. I love that scene.

Having worked on so many projects in your career, what did this film offer you that you’d not had before as a filmmaker? 

I don’t think I’d ever got to have this much fun on-set, and get to be quite as creative, because with comedy, even if it’s beautifully written on the page, which it was, with these great actors, you still think, “Can I make it any funnier in the moment? Can I add one more little funny thing?” How do we add one more layer? So all the time, you are trying to, kind of, improv, so then the comedy improv classes that I took, I think they were very helpful. Monica and Toni were just game for everything. Monica would always push things. Sophia Nomvete, who played Kristin’s friend, the lawyer, Oh, my God, when she walked into that courtroom, and she saw the vault and sings? She just did that. I didn’t even know she could sing like that. I’m like, “Oh my god, dude, you are radical.”  This is the first movie she’s ever been in. And the first TV series she’s ever been in is Lord of the Rings. Those are pretty fun for your two first things!

 

Mafia Mamma is now in theaters nationwide. 

 

 

“The Acolyte” Creator Leslye Headland on How Her New Series Will Approach the Jedi Order

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There has been so much going on in the Star Wars galaxy lately that you need an Imperial TIE Interceptor to keep up. Since the Star Wars Celebration in London last weekend, we’ve gotten fresh glimpses of the upcoming series Ahsoka, learned more about James Mangold’s vision for a Biblical epic-style Star Wars he’s referring to as Star Wars Zero, and the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey in a brand new Star Wars movie from Oscar-winning documentarian and Ms. Marvel director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. This brings us to Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte, the first live-action Star Wars series to focus on those dreaded death dealers of the galaxy, the Sith Lords. Yet The Acolyte will also dare to do something that’s gotten previous Star Wars creators into some trouble; it’ll take a more nuanced view of the Jedi Order, not just their sacrifices and triumphs, but their blindspots and mistakes.

The Acolyte is going to be a different kind of Star Wars show. Think about how the excellent Andor functioned as a heist thriller that also happened to reveal how the rebel alliance began fighting back; Headland’s series is being billed as a mystery-thriller that will “take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.” The series is centered on a former Padawan (Amandla Stenberg) who reconnects with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, leading them both into a confrontation with darker forces than they even knew existed.

Headland’s new series boasts a sensational cast—Stenberg is surrounded by Carrie Anne Moss, Jodie Turner-Smith, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Dean-Charles Chapman, Rebecca Henderson, and Charlie Barnett. Those ace performers will help Headland and The Acolyte team offer something rarely explored in the Star Wars galaxy; scrutiny of the Jedi order and how they operate. In fact, Headland said that her series shares this trait with Rian Johnson’s 2017 film The Last Jedi. In that movie, Luke Skywalker shocks Rey by being open about his belief that the Jedi Order caused their own demise through their excessive pride. Rey wasn’t having it. It turned out that some folks online (a smaller number than originally advertised, by the way) weren’t having it, either, and took it upon themselves to act like the Praetorian Guards of a “pure” Star Wars mythology. In their view, there was only one way to depict the Jedi Order; as virtuous cosmic samurais for peace. The problem with this view, one might have pointed out, was that none other than George Lucas had cast doubts about the Jedi way of doing business long before The Last Jedi.

Lucas’s exploration of the fallibility of the Jedi was explored most notably in the prequels when Annakin Skywalker began to get swayed to the Dark Side and those in a position of protecting him pretty spectacularly failed to do so. This was made especially vivid in Lucas’s underrated Revenge of the Sith. While the Jedi Council was squabbling over what to do with Annakin, how to punish or expel him, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious was winning him over to the Dark Side by showering him with attention and promising him that, despite whatever the Jedi Council might say, he was the Chosen One. The Jedi Council failed Anakin, Darth Vader was born, and the rest is galactic history.

In a conversation with Collider, Headland discussed the way the Jedi have been explored in the past and how, even despite the backlash Johnson got for his film, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy supported her desire to explore a more nuanced look at the Jedi Order. Kennedy agreed with Headland that for The Acolyte to work, she had to be able to present a picture of the Jedis that was rich enough to amplify the choices Stenberg’s former Padawan makes. Here’s how Headland explained her conversation with Kennedy to Collider:

“But I think when you think you’re going to tell the story about bad guys, and the Jedis might be the antagonist to those Jedis; I think that makes people nervous. But it didn’t make Kathy nervous. And I will say that in that room when I pitched her, it was probably one of the most exciting things because it felt like a conversation and less like I was up for a job. It felt much more like, ‘Okay, but what are you going to do about this? And what are you going to do about that?’ And so I was able to fold in what I know about Star Wars, and what I love about Star Wars, into what she’s always pushing for, which is, ‘What’s the emotional throughline?'”

It’s far too early for us to know what Headland and her cast and crew have come up with for that emotional throughline, but we can be pretty certain The Acolyte will offer something even the most hardcore Star Wars fans need, even if they don’t know it; a fuller picture of the Jedi Order, warts and all, that makes their heroism all the richer for coming from human beings rather than avatars of nobility.

For more on The Acolyte, check out these stories:

Carrie-Anne Moss Joins Cast of “Star Wars: The Acolyte”

“Star Wars: The Acolyte” Adds “Squid Game” Star Lee Jung-Ja

“Star Wars: The Acolyte” Adding Rising Star Jodie Turner-Smith

New “Star Wars” Disney+ Series “The Acolyte” Eyeing Amandla Stenberg For Lead

Featured image: L-r: Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, and director Leslye Headland on the set of “The Acolyte.” Courtesy Disney+. Photo by Christian Black.

“Scream” Queen Melissa Barrera Re-teaming With Radio Silence in Mysterious Monster Movie for Universal

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Yesterday with learned that the filmmaking team Radio Silence (directors Tyler Gillet and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and producer Chad Villella) are tackling a mysterious monster movie for Universal. Now we know that the Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023) team are bringing in one of their all-stars from those films, Melissa Barrera, who will be joining them on the new project.

The movie’s details are being kept hidden in a locked crypt (for now), but we do know that the film will re-imagine one of Universal’s iconic monsters, much in the way Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man and Chris McKay’s current release Renfield have. We also know that the new film they’re teaming up for was once titled Dracula’s Daughter and was about a group of deeply doomed kidnappers abducting some young people only to find out one of them is, you guessed it, Dracula’s daughter. We’d suggest letting her go and then running!

As they did on Ready or Not (2019) and the two Scream films, Gillet and Bettinelli-Olpin will direct and Villella will produce. Their producing partners include Project X Entertainment’s Paul Neinstein, James Vanderbilt, and William Sherak. The original script was written by Stephen Sheilds, which Guy Busick is currently revising.

Barrera led the ensemble in Scream VI, the highest-grossing film in the franchise. There’s no word yet if she is playing Dracula’s daughter, but our money is always on Barrera making it through the mayhem in whichever horror she’s in.

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

Glen Powell Ready to Twirl in “Twister” Sequel With Daisy Edgar Jones

“Scream VI” Filmmaking Team Radio Silence Helming Mysterious Horror Film for Universal

Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” Trailer Reveals Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Aliens & More

Brie Larson Reveals Her “Fast X” Character

Featured image: Melissa Barrera (“Sam Carpenter”) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

Glen Powell Ready to Twirl in “Twister” Sequel With Daisy Edgar Jones

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Glen Powell is ready to do the twist.

Apologies for the above, but we stand by the joke’s relevance—Powell is in talks to co-star opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones in Twisters, a sequel to Speed director Jan de Bont’s 1996 box office smash that starred Bill Paxton and Helent as a pair of married storm chasers on the brink of divorce whose coping mechanism and form of couples counseling consists of chasing massive, extremely violent tornadoes. The film deployed cutting technology (the flying cows remain a potent symbol of the dawn of a new age of CGI), a script co-written by “Jurassic Park” writer Michael Crichton, and was executive produced by Steven Spielberg. Deadline broke the story.

The sequel will come from the Oscar-nominated director of Menari, Lee Isaac Chung, from a script by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant). Powell broke out playing Hangman in 2022’s super smash hit Top Gun: Maverick and recently starred as another pilot, only this time in the historical war epic, Devotion. Powell’s also got a film coming out that he co-wrote with none other than Richard Linklater, Hitman, that he’s starring in. Daisy Edgar-Jones made her big splash in Hulu’s Normal People, an adaptation of Sally Rooney’s acclaimed novel, and recently starred in another adaptation of a hit novel, Where the Crawdads Sing.

Powell and Edgar-Jones will make for a nice pair in Twisters, which will have CGI technology available that even the crack team that delivered the original would find astonishing.

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

“Scream VI” Filmmaking Team Radio Silence Helming Mysterious Horror Film for Universal

Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” Trailer Reveals Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Aliens & More

Brie Larson Reveals Her “Fast X” Character

Jordan Peele’s 4th Film Officially in the Works & Set for Christmas 2024 Release

“Barry” Season 4 Review Round-Up: A Stunning Coda For Bill Hader’s Hitman Series

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Barry‘s end is nigh—for both the series and, one has to suspect, for Bill Hader’s haunted hitman. Critics are weighing in on the fourth and final season, and it sounds as if Hader and his Barry team have delivered a stunning coda.

Barry is not easy viewing, but it’s been a relentlessly original, occasionally hilarious, and almost always surprising masterclass in storytelling. Hader, co-creator Alec Berg, and the cast and crew have consistently taken the show into deeper, weirder, wilder territory.

“The plot is constructed as a mesmerizing Rube Goldberg machine, a bloody sequence of cause and effect that makes nihilism engaging,” says Vanity Fair‘s Richard Lawson about season 4. “And the series tantalizingly dangles the possibility of an ultimate moral reckoning.”

“The series has felt wholly original from the jump, even as it’s evolved from Hollywood satire into something much darker and deeper,” writes Rolling Stone‘s Alan Sepinwall. “And it is very much going out on its own terms with its incredible fourth and final season.”

Let’s take a brief, spoiler-free stroll through what the critics are saying. Barry returns to HBO for its fourth and final season on April 16:

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

“Game of Thrones” Prequel Focused on “Dunk & Egg” Officially Moving Forward at HBO

“The Penguin” First Look Reveals HBO Max’s “The Batman” Spinoff

“Succession” Writers Kept Shocking Death From Leaking By Using the Perfect Code Word

Featured image: Bill Hader in “Barry.” Photograph by Merrick Morton/HBO

“Game of Thrones” Prequel Focused on “Dunk & Egg” Officially Moving Forward at HBO

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Two beloved characters from George R. R. Martin’s sprawling world of Westeros are coming to HBO.

A Game of Thrones prequel based on Martin’s “Dunk & Egg” books was announced during Warner Bros. Discovery’s April 12 presentation to investors and the press—this was the same presentation in which they revealed the HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming service will henceforth be known as Max. The news about the upcoming Dunk & Egg-focused Game of Thrones prequel is manna from dragon-filled heaven for fans of Martin’s two more loveable creations. The series is called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight.

The show will be adapted from Martin’s novellas following the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and young Aegon V Targaryen (Egg), which is set 90 years before the events in his most iconic work, “A Song of Ice and Fire.” The logline reads: “A century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros… a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.”

Martin will not only serve as executive producer on the series, but he’ll also share writing duties alongside Ira Parker, a co-executive producer on HBO’s other Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon. Also doing double duty from House of the Dragon are the series’ co-creator and showrunner, Ryan Condal, and longtime producer Vince Gerardis, both of whom will executive produce on the new prequel.

There’s plenty of source material to fuel the Dunk & Egg-focused prequel; Martin wrote three novellas about the duo, beginning with 1998’s “The Hedge Knight,” then followed by 2003’s “The Sworn Sword” and 2010’s “The Mystery Knight.” Those three works were combined and published together as “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” in 2015.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms could become only the second Game of Thrones prequel to actually make it to the screen, as the process within HBO for making sure only the tightest, most intriguing characters and storylines from Martin’s epic fantasy world get the full series treatment is a rigorous one.

For more on all things Game of Thrones, check out these stories:

HBO Considering New “Game of Thrones” Prequel About Aegon I Targaryen’s Conquest of Westeros

“House of the Dragon” Costume Designer Jany Temime’s Deadly Elegance

“House of the Dragon” Co-Creator & Co-Showrunner Ryan Condal on Season One & Beyond

“House of the Dragon” Renewed For Season 2

First “House of the Dragon” Reactions Hail “Game of Thrones” Prequel as Worthy Successor

Featured image: “House of the Dragon.” Photograph Courtesy HBO

Marvel’s “Blade” Adds Rising Star Mia Goth

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Mahershala Ali’s half-vampire, half-human superhero is about to be joined by one of Hollywood’s rising stars. Mia Goth, already a queen of the horror world after turning in killer performances in three recent horror films, X and Pearl, in 2022, and Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool this year, will be joining Ali in Marvel’s Blade. It’s unclear what role she’ll be playing.

The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Goth will be joining Ali in director Yann Demange‘s hotly-anticipated, horror-inclined Marvel film, resurrecting a character beloved by Marvel fans but not yet seen in the MCU. Wesley Snipes played Blade in a trilogy of films, beginning with director Stephen Norrington’s 1998 film Blade, followed by none other than Guillermo del Toro’s Blade II and capped by David S. Goyer’s Blade: Trinity. All three films were written by David S. Goyer. Demange’s film will reboot the character with Ali, based on a script by Michael Starrbury.

Goth is about to start filming MaXXXine, a film fans of both her and the powerhouse indie studio A24 (they’re behind the film) are thrilled about. MaXXXine is the third film in filmmaker Ti West’s X series and includes a slew of excellent performers surrounding Goth, including Elizabeth Debicki, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon.

After she’s done filming MaXXXine, Goth will join Ali, Delroy Lindo, and Aaron Pierce in Marvel’s upcoming film. Blade fans have been eagerly awaiting this movie since it was first announced that the two-time Oscar nominee Ali would be playing the character back at 2019’s Comic-Con. The wait is nearly over—production is set to start in Atlanta this year.

For more on all things Marvel Studios, check out these stories:

“The Marvels” Images Reveal Captain Marvel’s New Superpowered Allies—& a New Villain

“The Marvels” Trailer Reveals Brie Larson’s Return as Captain Marvel Alongside New Allies

Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” Trailer Finds Nick Fury Facing Off Against a Skrull Army

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Images Tease Rocket’s Heartbreaking Story

“Deadpool 3” Adds “Succession” Star Matthew Macfadyen

Featured image: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 06: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been shot in black and white. Color version not available.) Mia Goth attends Vanity Fair and Lancôme Toast Women in Hollywood on February 06, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

“The Penguin” First Look Reveals HBO Max’s “The Batman” Spinoff

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“This — this is one of those moments where you gotta ask yourself, what kind of life do I want? The world ain’t built for guys like us; that’s why we gotta take whatever we decide is ours.”

Welcome to the world view of Oswald Cobblepot (Colin Farrell), also known by his unbeatable gangster nickname The Penguin. Farrell’s portrayal of the rotund demigod of the Gotham underworld was one of the many wonderful surprises nested in writer/director Matt Reeves’s excellent The Batman, and now we’ve got our first look at the spinoff series The Penguin. HBO Max (soon-to-be just Max) has released an “in-production teaser,” giving us a glimpse of the series while it’s in the midst of being shot. The Penguin will follow Gotham’s rising crime king after the events depicted in The Batman, in which the Penguin managed to keep his head, and some of his power, while Gotham’s undisputed mob boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) got capped by the Riddler (Paul Dano).

The teaser reveals the dangerous world the Penguin is now trying to take control of, with plenty of people questioning his loyalty after Falcone’s demise. There’s a power vacuum in the Gotham underworld now, and it’ll be the savviest, most lethal man or woman who survives the coming struggle and ends up on top. Oswald Cobblepot is probably a decent bet in this regard.

The teaser also makes it clear that the grimy, shadowy Gotham that Reeves created for The Batman will be explored even deeper, and Farrell remains as unrecognizable as he was in the film, and just as magnetic. “The new kingpin of Gotham,” the Penguin muses at the close of the teaser. That’s certainly his aim.

Farrell is joined by Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, and a slew of great performers like Carmen Ejogo, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Michael Kelly. It’s a bite-sized but enticing morsel of a teaser and has us excited about seeing Farrell get far more runway to waddle down as the Penguin.

Check out the first look at The Penguin below. The series comes to HBO Max in 2024:

For more on DC Studios, check out these stories:

“Joker 2” Director Todd Phillips Shares Photos of Lady Gaga & Joaquin Phoenix as Sequel Wraps

“Blue Beetle” Trailer Reveals DC’s Newest Superhero

“Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham” Composer Stefan L. Smith Draws out the Darkness

Tom Cruise Loved “The Flash” So Much He Called Director Andy Muschietti

Featured image: Colin Farrell stars as Oswald Cobblepot in “The Penguin.” Courtesy HBO Max.