“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story” Editor Bob Ducsay on Cutting a Razor Sharp Whodunit

Posted on by babrams

Award-winning editor Bob Ducsay has been cutting blockbusters for decades, including 1999’s The Mummy and 2015’s Godzilla, and has worked with Rian Johnson since 2012’s Looper. He edited both The Last Jedi and Johnson’s first film in the Benoit Blanc series, Knives Out, in 2019. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which hits theaters on November 23 and then Netflix on December 23rd, marks Ducasy’s 10th year as Johnson’s collaborator. Together, the two recently won the Variety Collaborators Award at the Middleburg Film Festival. 

In order for this ensemble mystery to succeed, the tone of Glass Onion, which like Knives Out has been lauded by critics, has to keep a tight balance of suspense, humor, and drama. It is Ducsay, working in partnership with Johnson, who must maintain the story’s nuance and attention to character to maintain the very finely calibrated balance required by a whodunit.

The Credits asked Ducsay about his longtime collaboration with Johnson and his work on Glass Onion, which has placed him as a potential contender in the 2023 Best Editing Oscars race. 

 

You’ve been collaborating with Rian Johnson since Looper in 2012. How has working with him shaped you as an editor?

In many, many ways. The thing about the relationship between a director and an editor is it’s very nuanced. There’s so much micro stuff going on, the way a filmmaker works, and so you learn stuff, inevitably. I’ve been doing this for a long time, but every film is a new adventure, and you learn from the movie and you learn from the director. I think one of the most important things, and I don’t wanna say learned, but appreciated about Rian, is how in the construction of the edit, he places such a high emphasis on simplicity. I’ve always thought that was just generally a good goal. Why do you cut? What is it that you’re trying to do by, in a 24th of a second, switching what the audience is seeing? 

A million things could go into that decision.

The thing is, there are judgments that you can make that cause you to cut that if you now have the guidance that you should always be keeping it as simple as possible, the emphasis might change a little bit. By that, I mean I might look at something, and I might want to cut away because I have this great reaction of somebody, and it does enhance the scene in a way, but is it enough to trump the goal of simplicity? That’s always on my mind when I’m cutting, and not just Rian’s movies. That’s something that came from an emphasis that he puts on editorial, which I couldn’t appreciate more because it’s not a minor thing. It’s actually a very significant thing.

Rian edited his first two films. Do you try to think like a director sometimes, as he thinks like an editor sometimes? 

Well, first of all, he understands the job really well, so that’s always a benefit. The more someone understands what you do, the better you can communicate about it, so I see that as nothing but a big plus. Regarding the interaction, I think it took a little while for him to adjust to not cutting his movie when we did it first on Looper, but he came very quickly to see the advantage of it. To your question about whether I have to think like a director, I try to do that with the specific director I’m working with. When I’m working with Rian, and this is especially true now that we’ve worked together for a decade, and over time because your job is to interpret the director’s vision, the question is how do we want the movie to be? The better you understand the nuance of that, the better everything works, especially in my job, because you’re making so many small choices. This take versus that take, be on this person versus that person, use this sound versus that sound, I mean, it is tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of micro-decisions in putting a movie together for the first time. 

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). (L-R) Edward Norton as Miles, Madelyn Cline as Whiskey, and Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix © 2022.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). (L-R) Edward Norton as Miles, Madelyn Cline as Whiskey, and Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix © 2022.

Having worked together for so long has, I imagined, helped in getting the editing done efficiently.

The better you know somebody, the better you understand their instincts and their goals, and the more you can be on the same page earlier, which is nothing but advantageous. At the same time, I still have to bring something to it, and you can’t always be second-guessing, and our taste and our judgment get more and more aligned on every single movie, but it’s not 100%. Those things that are me versus Rian, those are the extra things that you can bring to it, but it’s always within the focus of delivering his point of view, delivering his vision, and taking care of the movie. It’s absolutely a symbiotic relationship. I’m gaining from him all the time, learning, getting more insight, but he’s also gaining and understanding the additional things that I bring to that idea, the enhancements that go beyond if he sat and did it himself. He’s gaining another point of view, another aligned point of view, but another point of view that is not exactly his.

Collaboration makes all art better. 

Absolutely, because collaboration is a huge part of moviemaking, right?

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc and Janelle Monáe as Andi. Cr: John Wilson/NETFLIX
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc and Janelle Monáe as Andi. Cr: John Wilson/NETFLIX

You have characters in Glass Onion who are representative of what we’re dealing with in our society now. That could have led to something over the top but doesn’t, for example, with the close-up speech by Edward Norton as Miles Bron. It must be really tricky to edit leaning into the tone you’re after and keeping that balance of comedy, suspense, and drama. 

Here’s the thing, with tone in general and with the approach, it’s not just the characters, but the overall tone of the movie that is always one of the more complex things that you do. If there’s violence in the film, is it too far for the kind of film it is? It’s not that you don’t want dynamics in the film, you absolutely want dynamics. You don’t want to just be safe, but it has to be the right feeling for the movie. The same thing is true of the characters in the film, and it’s especially fun in a movie like this because you have many different actors that take very different approaches to things, and you want to kind of tune the whole thing up so that it feels all of one, and unified.

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Edward Norton as Miles. Cr: Courtesy NETFLIX
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Edward Norton as Miles. Cr: Courtesy NETFLIX

Rian has to wrangle that great ensemble cast. 

Exactly. A big part of that is what Rian is doing on the set with the actors, how the actors are interpreting things on their own, and the casting. All of those things are incredibly critical, in how it all works in the film, but there is an enormous amount of detailed work that’s done. We should be bigger here, we should be smaller there. All these actors are giving you wonderful things, but sometimes it’s too big, sometimes it’s too small. So we might realize we really need to change a take, so we need to find something that is less of a thing, something that’s smaller, or sometimes it’s just taking it out because it’s the line that does the damage, not the way it was performed. It’s the greatest fun of a film like this when you have a big ensemble cast of great actors across the board. Every single one of them just gives a brilliant performance, but I get to go in there and tune things. 

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY. Courtesy Netflix.
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY. Courtesy Netflix.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery releases in theaters on November 23rd, and streams on Netflix on December 23rd. 

 

For more on big titles on Netflix, check these out:

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” Writer/Director Rian Johnson Unpeels His Whodunit

Visit the Dreamworld With Jason Momoa in New “Slumberland” Trailer

“Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” Production Designer Tamara Deverell’s Twisted World

Featured image: GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Jessica Henwick as Peg, Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc and Janelle Monáe as Andi. Cr: John Wilson/NETFLIX

 

 

“Devotion” Director J.D. Dillard on Leading Jonathan Majors in His Emotional War Epic

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The new historic war epic Devotion is based on the bestselling book by Adam Makos of the same name. The true story centers on the first Black aviator in Navy history, Jesse Brown (played by Jonathan Majors), and his fellow fighter pilot Tom Hudner (Glen Powell, who also acts as producer on the film), and their heroic actions during the Korean War. 

Director J.D. Dillard, who helms this exciting and emotional film, was better known as a genre filmmaker focused on horror before joining Devotion. He grew up the son of a Naval aviator, with his father Bruce Dillard becoming only the second African American to fly with the Navy’s Blue Angels, so Dillard jumped at the chance to tell a story that resonated with him from his own family history. He hired a number of talented Black creatives below the line, including famed production designer Wynn Thomas, the first African American production designer in the history of American film.  

Director J.D. Dillard with Jonathan Majors on the set of Columbia Pictures’ DEVOTION.
Director J.D. Dillard with Jonathan Majors on the set of Columbia Pictures’ DEVOTION.

The Credits spoke to Dillard about his collaboration with Thomas, working with his dad as a consultant on the film, and those dramatic dog fighting scenes in vintage airplanes. 

Can you talk about the technical aspects of filming both the aerial footage of the airplanes on missions and filming inside the cockpit with the pilots?

All the aerial work was shot in camera, and that was a laborious but very fun process, sourcing all of these warbirds from across the US, getting them painted to be in the same squadron, getting them to the same location, and then starting with pre-vis, and building out what some of these scenes were going to look and feel like, one shot at a time. It was taking them up into the sky with Kevin LaRosa and his team and checking off the shots on our shortlist. It sounds easier when I just say it like that, but it involves a gigantic team and a lot of planning to pull that off. 

Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) in Columbia Pictures' DEVOTION.
Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) in Columbia Pictures’ DEVOTION.

And inside the cockpit?

Then inside the cockpit, there were two approaches. The first aviation scene in the movie is in the Bearcat, and I wanted to make sure that we took that as an opportunity to introduce the audience to aviation, so we shot the cockpit parts of that scene a little differently, where we put Jonathan and Glen in the backseat of a two-seater, filled the cockpit with cameras, and then play that scene actually from the sky. That gave us a really healthy reference point about how we were going to build, once we came into the war section, and all the boys were in the Corsairs, how all of that was going to look and feel. What we did there was we built a set design piece of cockpit, and we played the scene in front of the LED volume, which is super hip these days, but we shot all of these background plates for real, put our guys in the cockpit, and played it in front of the background plates. In a weird way, even though you still need visual effects to put more planes in the background and exploding flak, when you’re sitting there at a monitor it still gave you a fully in-camera aesthetic, because your foreground element is real, your background element is real, and the cameras are in the cockpit with the boys. Those were the two big approaches for all of our aerial work.

Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) in Columbia Pictures' DEVOTION.
Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) in Columbia Pictures’ DEVOTION.

The first Black pilot that flew with the Blue Angels was Donnie Cochran in 1985. And then your dad, Bruce Dillard, was the second, in 1989. Your dad spent time on the production with you. What were the most useful and powerful lessons he offered that had an impact on the finished film?

You know, it’s funny, I feel like when I tell folks that my dad was a consultant on the film, they assume that all of my questions were about protocol and how to salute, what the language is in the cockpit, and speaking to your wingman. While all of that is true, where he was most helpful, and I think where his imprint is most on the film, is actually asking about the quieter moments. It was asking him really how it felt and how the conversation went down when he told my mom he was going on his first cruise. If he was in a bad headspace or upset about something, where would he go on the ship to just find quiet? It was during those moments, the emotional reality of being a Black aviator, that his feedback and insight were really bespoke to this movie. 

Director J.D. Dillard with Jonathan Majors on the set of Columbia Pictures’ DEVOTION.

What was your collaboration like with cinematographer Wynn Thomas? He was breaking barriers around the same time as Donnie and your dad. How did you work together to mesh his aesthetic with what you wanted as director?

Wynn is such a wizard in that he will fight to preserve the heartbeat of the film at every level of production detail. His very specific attention to detail, his emotional specificity that he has in his work is really, to me, one of the things that makes Devotion feel rich. I think his process fit Devotion very well because he pulls a lot of real-life reference. He finds books that have been out of print forever that just give such a specific look into the world that we’re exploring. It was actually intensely immersive. You go to Wynn’s office, and it’s just filled with things that you did not even know existed from the period, just as a means to get you into that headspace. The other thing about Wynn is that he’s just a legend. There’s always this paradox, I feel, as a director, where everyone on your set has made more movies than you, but it’s in collaborators like Wynn. That’s exactly what puts the wind in your sails because he has such a body of work. 

Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors), Tom Hudner (Glen Powell), Dick Cevoli (Thomas Sadoski), Carol Mohring (Nick Hargrove), Bill Koenig (Daren Kagasoff), Marty Goode (Joe Jonas) and Bo Lavery (Spencer Neville) in Columbia Pictures’ DEVOTION.
Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors), Tom Hudner (Glen Powell), Dick Cevoli (Thomas Sadoski), Carol Mohring (Nick Hargrove), Bill Koenig (Daren Kagasoff), Marty Goode (Joe Jonas) and Bo Lavery (Spencer Neville) in Columbia Pictures’ DEVOTION.

Can you use an example of a scene or environment that speaks to who he is as a production designer? 

I’ll use two, and they’re very different. One is the reading room on the ship. It’s the room where the boys all get their orders and hang out in between missions. You would think he would just look at a couple of pictures and put it together, but when I stepped into that room for the first time, I was really taken by not just how immersive it was but how worn in it was, how lived in it was. The one thing about making a military film is that you do have lots of references, but with Wynn, it was the difference between “this looks like the picture” and “I feel like I walked into the picture.” That’s everything from the details on the CO’s desk to the chairs. Wynn was able to actually get them from one of the ships that is still period-accurate that currently acts as a museum. We got all of those chairs on loan. You actually were walking into the picture because those chairs are in the picture. That’s just one example that’s very small and specific. 

And the other? 

On a bigger scale, it was turning River Street in Savannah into the French Riviera, and the vision it took to pull that off, and the flexibility I was given to be able to look in each and every direction when filming. We were wholly in France and could certainly be nowhere further from, so it’s in both the big and small. It was incredible to watch Wynn sort of conjure a reality.

(L to R) Tom Hudner (Glen Powell), Bill Koenig (Daren Kagasoff), Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors), Bo Lavery (Spencer Neville) and Marty Goode (Joe Jonas) in Columbia Pictures' DEVOTION.
(L to R) Tom Hudner (Glen Powell), Bill Koenig (Daren Kagasoff), Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors), Bo Lavery (Spencer Neville) and Marty Goode (Joe Jonas) in Columbia Pictures’ DEVOTION.

This is obviously a very special movie for you. How has the film changed you as a filmmaker? 

I think I can split that answer into two halves. On the one, I’m not accustomed to this amount of responsibility, in terms of being a guest in other people’s real-life legacy, and it’s certainly not something anyone in the production took lightly. When you’re writing a creature feature, and you want to switch it up, you don’t need to ask anybody. You don’t need to worry. Being predominantly a genre filmmaker, it’s a whole other set of circumstances. I have been so incredibly grateful to join this story for a moment, but with that comes an enormous sense of clarity and pride. You could feel it on our set, from grips to gaffers, all the way up and down the cast and crew; everybody had read the book because of the journey we were on. When you feel that level of synergy, you start to feel it’s bigger than a movie. The other thing that I grew and learned and felt on this movie is going forward, everything has to feel like this. This movie reset the bar for even just my own emotional connection to the material. It has to feel like this, and that should be agnostic to genre or true story. Working on a movie takes years, and I don’t think I could survive working on one thing for that long if it didn’t feel the way I felt working on Devotion. 

Devotion plays in theaters across the country on November 23rd. 

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

“The Walking Dead” Showrunner Angela Kang to Lead Marvel’s “Silk: Spider Society” For Amazon & MGM

Daniel Kaluuya Joins “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” as Spider-Punk

Jonás Cuarón Will Direct Bad Bunny in Sony’s Marvel Film “El Muerto”

 

Featured image: Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) and Tom Hudner (Glen Powell) in Columbia Pictures’ DEVOTION. 

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Production Designer Hannah Beachler Reveals Her Guide to Talokan

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When Chadwick Boseman died unexpectedly after leading the cast as the title character in 2018’s Black Panther, it shocked and saddened the world. There was, understandably, some doubt as to whether a sequel could succeed without him. What director and co-screenwriter Ryan Coogler did with Wakanda Forever, however, honored the actor’s legacy while balancing the excitement of a Marvel superhero-driven adventure with a story centered on resilience in the face of loss. 

The burden of carrying on without T’Challa fell largely to the women of Wakanda. Wakanda Forever finds Queen Remonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and the Dora Milaje trying to keep Wakanda safe from global threat after King T’Challa (Boseman)’s death. Namor, the superhuman ruler of Talokan, a secret underwater civilization whose citizens have their own special powers, sees a threat to the existence of his own world in Wakanda’s newfound openness to the “surface world” that came about at the end of the first film. Wakanda and Talokan must band together; otherwise, Namor will take matters into his own hands and put everyone on Earth, including Wakanda, at risk. 

Early in the production for Wakanda Forever, Oscar-winning production designer Hannah Beachler wrote a 400-page guide to the fictional world of Talokan for herself, Coogler, and all their collaborators on the film. She shared a few elements of that guide in conversation with The Credits and spoke about an important way in which her adoptive city of New Orleans offered inspiration for the new film. 

Production Designer Hannah Beachler behind the scenes of Marvel Studios' BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER. Photo by Eli Adé. © 2022 MARVEL.
Production Designer Hannah Beachler behind the scenes of Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER. Photo by Eli Adé. © 2022 MARVEL.

The world of Talokan took two years to develop. There’s a whole mythology, history, and culture built for the civilization, which is in part inspired by the Mayan world. What are a few examples of what you included in your 400-page guide that helped to create the undersea kingdom?

As far as the hard research goes, one of the things I really wanted to understand was the path they traveled through the ocean. I needed to know where they started, migrated to, and why? When they went into the ocean, what was the path they traveled to get to where they are? Where were they? So we got a map, we got some satellite shots of the Yucatan, of the gulf, and all the way out to the Atlantic, a big overhead shot. We started to trace, really beaming into where we thought that they could be. We were looking at shipping routes between 1750 and the turn of the century, which would have taken them almost into the Atlantic. We needed to understand that.

Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor in Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER. Photo by Annette Brown. © 2022 MARVEL.

So figuring out how long they took to get where they wound up and their path determines their culture.

Right. Every spot, how long were they there? What was their architecture like when they were at that point? What were they using when they were in shallower waters in the Gulf? They were in the world of Grand Cayman. What were the materials that they were using just to sustain life? What were they eating? Were they fishing? How were they building? How did they have lighting? The Puerto Rican trench a thousand miles off of the Puerto Rican coast is where they ended up. James Cameron shot The Abyss as the Puerto Rican trench, even though no one’s ever been down in it. It’s 26,000 feet deep, and Talokan is at 12,000 in the abyssal layer. That’s all in there.  

Tenoch Huerta as Namor in Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.
Tenoch Huerta as Namor in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

No wonder it’s 400 pages.

There was also the growth rate of their population. I did a lot of studies on different population growth rates, so I could understand that in 1792, they went into the ocean with this many people, and in over 500 years, how had their population grown? I looked at different rates around the world between the 1900s and present day, to understand how people move and grow. There are different speeds of development around the world. Then I did a breakdown of 300 years of the evolution of architecture from the time they went into the time they landed in the Puerto Rican trench, so we could understand the different eras. They are 500 years separated from Maya by the time they were in the Puerto Rican trench, so what did that look like? How do they have color, have lighting, how do they travel underwater? How do they heat? They would be in very cold circumstances. We started studying hydrothermal vents. How might they harness that power over 300 years, because they’re utilizing them to heat and move people through the city and to power the hydro-currents as well, that take them through the city at high speeds? There was all of that and more in the guide.

Tenoch Huerta as Namor in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

You collaborated and worked very intentionally with cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw and costume designer Ruth E. Carter, especially on the color palettes and how the look of Wakanda can help project the story forward. Can you give specific details on that?

I think it was a really important partnership. For Ruth and I, we’d sit down and talk about colorways. For Wakanda, we had a grip on what those color stories were going to be. It was more about how we were going to expand on that in fresh and new ways. Then what did Autumn see for it, her and Ryan? What’s the tone of the film? Because we’re dealing with grief and mourning, and there are some parts of that that wanted to be a little more contrasted in the lighting, so then how did the sets need to change? Even the sets we saw in the last movie changed a bit, so that was a huge conversation. When we’re in Shuri’s lab, you can tell that it’s a little bit different than the punchiness of the first one. 

(L-R): Danai Gurira as Okoye, Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda, and Letitia Wright as Shuri in Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER. Photo by Eli Adé. © 2022 MARVEL.

Can you talk about the sacred grove? Those scenes are so gorgeous and moving.

When we were moving to the sacred grove, which is the traditional communal area, I came to Autumn and told her I wanted it to be punchy green. I wanted it to feel like an old and sacred place, and have the trees and ground covered in moss, and be this punchy green around them. We just came from Shuri’s lab, and we were in this very dark place, and then we’re coming into this letting-the-grief-in place, with them in white. That’s renewing for people. We punched the color down on the green a little bit but turned the color up on the white. When we get to North Triangle in the procession, you can see the color elevate in the buildings and in the world around you, which goes back to what we remember of Wakanda. People are singing and dancing in the procession, very much like a second line. Me being from New Orleans, it’s very much in that manner of a jazz funeral, where grief is also about the celebration of life. We didn’t want it to have the fog of grief but the hope of moving forward through the grief. And that’s why that seems a little punchier, in the way that it’s shot and the colors that we use in the buildings.

A scene from Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.
A scene from Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

In New Orleans, grief is so much a part of life, and celebration is always part of honoring the dead. 

I grew up in rural Ohio, but I’ve been in New Orleans for 20 years, so I feel like I am a local at this point. I believe when I moved to New Orleans, I found home. A lot of what the first Black Panther was about was Killmonger searching for home. It was Shuri and T’Challa asking who they are, and what home means, and if it should be exposed to the world. I think even from the first one; it was very much a part of the experiences of my life. 

So jazz funerals in New Orleans were an inspiration? 

When we first started talking about a procession, the first thing I said to Ryan was a jazz funeral. I had shown him some video of what that looked like, so he could see the grief that you do still experience in a jazz funeral, with the brass band playing. What that is, in the diaspora, in the Caribbean communities, and in many countries in the African communities, specifically West African communities, and of course, a lot of African Americans that were trafficked here came from West Africa, they brought those same traditions with them. It’s clear that that’s where the second line, and jazz funeral, and that way of grief came from. We worked with experts of West Africa on the many different cultures and how they grieve, as well, and we wanted to connect the people of the diaspora in that way.

 

Wakanda Forever is now playing in theaters across the country. 

 

 

For more on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, check out these stories:

How “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw Used Light & Shadows

Let’s Discuss That “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Mid-Credits Scene

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Makes Box Office History

Featured image: Behind the scenes of Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER. Photo by Annette Brown. © 2022 MARVEL.

Marvel’s “Blade” Names “Lovecraft Country” Director Yann Demange as New Helmer

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Marvel’s Blade has found the man ready to wield the studio’s mighty sword of a movie.

The Mahershala Ali-led film will be directed by Yann Demange, the helmer of the pilot of HBO’s devilish Lovecraft Country. Demange will be directing from a brand new script to be written by When They See Us scribe Michael Starrbury. This means that Blade has now undergone a complete creative revamp after original director Bassam Tariq stepped aside in September.

It was probably a very wise move for Marvel to take a minute to have a closer look at this hotly-anticipated film and consider not just a new director but a new direction. A page one rewrite, guided by Ali (he helped pick Starrbury, according to The Hollywood Reporter), seems like a smart way to make sure their giving themselves the best chance to create something fresh.

The plot specifics on the new Blade are, of course, being kept a state secret, but all indications thus far are that the film will fall on the grittier end of the Marvel spectrum. The character was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan back in 1973 as a half-mortal, half-immortal who starts hunting vampires to avenge his mother’s death at a vampire’s fangs. The original Blade films, starring Wesley Snipes, were beloved for their edge, humor, and for Snipes’s performance as the vampire hunter with a nasty sat of fangs himself. Blade is set to go into production in Atlanta in 2023, with the release date set for September 6, 2024.

Demange has worked not only on HBO’s lush, darkly brilliant Lovecraft Country but also the thrillers ’71 and White Boy Rick. 

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

“The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” Drops New Featurette Revealing Epic Cameo

How “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw Used Light & Shadows

David Harbour Teases Marvel’s Mysterious Phase 5 Capper “Thunderbolts”

Let’s Discuss That “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Mid-Credits Scene

Featured image: ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – OCTOBER 01: International Feature Film Jury member Yann Demange attends the Jury Photocall during the Zurich Film Festival on October 1, 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. The 11th Zurich Film Festival will take place from September 23 until October 4. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

New “Avatar: The Way of Water” Trailer Reveals the Battle for Pandora’s Oceans

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The second trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water is here, revealing an even closer look at the upcoming return trip to the lush planet of Pandora. The new trailer gives us a bit of insight into where we’re at ten years after the events in the original Avatar. The trailer opens with Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saladaña), and their family moving from the forests of Pandora to the vast watery parts, where members of the Na’vi tribe have mastered how to ride some of the planet’s aquatic animals much in the same way Neytiri’s tribe learned how to harness and ride the majestic flying banshees.

The new trailer further confirms just how much of Cameron’s sequel will be set both above and below the water, utilizing bespoke technology to capture novel shots and brand-new creatures. The Way of Water required specialized VFX artists who created a new kind of underwater motion capture technology. The look of the sequel’s many invented beasts, producer Jon Landau said, is photorealism.

Cameron has made it plain that The Way of Water is directly inspired by the besieged marine ecosystems here on Earth. The film will find Jake, Neytiri, and their fellow Na’vi people having to fight off a looming threat that hopes to plunder the vast natural resources of Pandora’s waterways and oceans, much in the way the forests were in danger in the original Avatar. 

Returning alongside Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington from the original film are Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine and Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch. Two of the big-name newcomers include Vin Diesel and Kate Winslet.

Avatar: The Way of Water is due in theaters on December 16. Check out the trailer below.

Here’s the official synopsis for Avatar: The Way of Water:

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, “Avatar: The Way of Water” begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

For more on Avatar: The Way of Water, check out these stories:

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“Avatar 4” Has Begun Filming

Featured image: A scene from “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Courtesy 20th Century Studios.

New “Babylon” Featurette Reveals Margot Robbie & Brad Pitt in Damien Chazelle’s Madcap Hollywood Drama

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In Damien Chazelle’s latest film, the musically inclined director of Whiplash and La La Land turns his sights on the formative years in Hollywood, when debauchery, madness, and an unhinged sense that anything might happen was the prevailing vibe. Despite having not only pulled off the highly intricate La La Land and the riveting drama First Man, Chazelle says that Babylon is the most ambitious thing he’s ever tried to do.

But you can hear from the man himself in a new Babylon featurette just released by Paramount, which gives you an inside look at his latest. Babylon is set in 1920s Los Angeles, just as the movie industry transitioned from silent films to the talkies. Our guide to the story is Diego Calva’s Manny Tores, who has come to Tinsel Town with big dreams. “He’s our eyes and ears from an outsider’s point of view,” Chazelle says in the video. “He’s a dreamer, someone who is trying to find his way,” Calva adds.

Margot Robbie’s Nellie LaRoy is an aspiring actress, and someone Robbie likens to a tornado. Nellie’s drive is matched by her reckless abandon, and the new featurette, like the previous trailer, reveals that Nellie’s thirst for life includes all that life, especially life Hollywood, has to offer. That includes alcohol, drugs, and debauchery on an epic scale. This is a town of make-believe where the regular rules (of decorum, of moderation) don’t apply.

The reigning king of LA, or one of them, anyway, is Brad Pitt’s Jack Conrad, a movie star at the apex of his powers. the type of guy who claims he made acting a respectable profession but who is no soberer than Nellie is.

The cast is incredible—joining Robbie, Tores, and Pitt are the likes of Tobey Maguire, Jean Smart, Katherine Waterston, Eric Roberts, Max Minghella, Flea, Lukas Haas, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Samara Weaving.

Chazelle told Vanity Fair that he’s been mulling over the idea of Babylon since he first moved to LA around 15 years ago. “The basic idea was just to do a big, epic, multicharacter movie, set in these early days of Los Angeles and Hollywood, when both of these things were coming into what we now think of them as,” he said. That movie is now a reality.

Check out the featurette below. Babylon hits select theaters on December 25.

Here’s the official synopsis for Babylon:

From Damien Chazelle, BABYLON is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

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

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Featured image: Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in Babylon from Paramount Pictures.

“The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” Drops New Featurette Revealing Epic Cameo

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It’s officially the holiday season, with Thanksgiving a mere few days away, and Marvel Studios is getting into the holiday spirit. Behold, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which finds everyone’s favorite galactic goofballs trying to do something sweet for one of their own. The mission? To create an unforgettable Christmas for Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) by taking the once-upon-a-time Earthling back to his home planet to find the perfect gift. That perfect gift turns out to be an amazing cameo, but we’re not spilling the beans on that just yet.

If you think this is just Marvel trying to dominate the holiday-themed TV movie realm as they’ve done in the feature film world, well, you’re not entirely correct. “This is the very first thing ever conceived from Marvel Studios before Disney+,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige tells us in this new featurette. “This is a story vomited from the brain of a mad genius,” Chris Pratt tells us, talking about writer/director James Gunn, who is, of course, leading the proceedings here.

The new featurette reveals that Gunn came up with the idea on the set of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2. “We all had a laugh and thought that would be great,” Feige says. “And then they wrote. In, like, three days.” As for the Christmas present the gang has dreamed up to give to Quill, let’s just say it connects to every other Marvel cameo by a minimum of six degrees.

Check out the new featurette below. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special arrives on Disney+ on November 25.

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Featured image: (L-R): Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord and Dave Bautista as Drax in Marvel Studios’ The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Jessica Miglio. © 2022 MARVEL.

How Three-Star Dominique Crenn Chef & Production Designer Ethan Tobman Served Up “The Menu”

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Ralph Fiennes stars as a brilliantly deranged chef Julian Slowik in The Menu, but he’s periodically upstaged by gorgeous close-ups of his culinary co-stars, beginning with compressed and pickled cucumber melon, milk snow, and charred lace. That’s the “amuse bouche” served to unsuspecting foodies (including Anya Taylor-Joy, John Leguizamo, and Nicholas Hoult) who gradually find themselves trapped in Chef Julian Slowik’s restaurant from hell.

Inspired by co-writer Will Tracy’s visit to a secluded island restaurant off the coast of Norway a few years ago, The Menu (opening Nov. 18) serves up a horrifically surreal vision of haute cuisine perfectionism run amok, but director Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones) anchors Chef Slowik’s reign of terror in a realistically sleek dining space from production designer Ethan Tobman (Free Guy, Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero music video). The dishes themselves are overseen by Chef Dominique Crenn, owner of the three–Michelin–starred restaurant Atelier Crenn in San Francisco. Tobman says, “During the shoot, Dominique came up with the idea that we were dancing together on this film,” says Tobman. “We were very close-knit to make sure the set design aided the dishes themselves, like the perfect frame around a piece of art hanging in the gallery.”

Speaking from New York City, Crenn talks about teaching Ralph Fiennes to act like a chef while Tobman deconstructs his restaurant-as-church concept.

 

The island restaurant in this movie has a minimalistic Nordic vibe that brings to mind the world-famous Danish restaurant Noma. Where did you actually shoot The Menu?

Tobman: We were supposed to go to Scotland, inspired by Puget Sound, northern Europe, rich, rainy topography. But at the last minute, the Delta Variant made shooting in Europe impossible, so we switched to Savannah, Georgia, of all places. It became our unexpected job to cover Spanish moss and marshland with Italian cypress, carved topiaries, and spice fields. We’d built miniatures and 3-D models of this island, and when we were done, we realized every frame of this film was actually created.

The cast of the film THE MENU. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
The cast of the film THE MENU. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

So everything had to be built?

Tobman: Every single tree and bush and pathway, four tons of white limestone, black mulch – – we created an environment that this fascistic, controlling artist is in charge of. It feels like you’re going down the rabbit hole as you go from the boat to the restaurant.

The movie was filmed on an actual island?

Tobman: It’s a mix. There’s a beach where we brought in driftwood. The dock was built, the boat was built, and then the spice fields were right in the heart of the city of Savannah — all their plants died the week before we shot there [laughing]. The exterior of the actual restaurant is on a place called Tybee Island. We built thirty feet of the interior so our diners could walk into this fake restaurant that we built on a soundstage.

Ethan Tobman on the set of THE MENU. Photo by Eric Zachanowich. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.
Ethan Tobman on the set of THE MENU. Photo by Eric Zachanowich. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures.

The guests enter the Hawthorn restaurant through this corrugated metal front gate that clangs shut behind them. The door looks minimalistic and elegant but also slightly foreboding.

Tobman: That door was actually inspired by cattle farms I saw years ago when I was traveling in Norway, where they shepherd the animals into these structures. And I thought, god, it would be so interesting to treat people like protein. [laughing]. This is high-end hospitality, so you’re supposed to feel good, but there’s something just a little off about it.

(From L-R): Judith Light, Reed Birney, Paul Adelstein, Janet McTeer, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, Aimee Carrero, Rob Yang, Arturo Castro, and Mark St. Cyr in the film THE MENU. Photo by Eric Zachanowich. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
(From L-R): Judith Light, Reed Birney, Paul Adelstein, Janet McTeer, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, Aimee Carrero, Rob Yang, Arturo Castro, and Mark St. Cyr in the film THE MENU. Photo by Eric Zachanowich. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

Dominique, the plates of food Chef Julian Solwik serves his guests are beautifully composed. Did the scriptwriters come with these sophisticated dishes themselves or did they lean on you for input?

Crenn: It was a partnership. When I got the script, they had this menu, but there were some dishes that needed adjustments, so we came back with a detailed mood board that fit with the storytelling. For example, that first dish, the melon and the lettuce — there’s a lightness to it, and then you build [from there to] where it becomes a little bit more crazy.

A course from the film THE MENU. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

The “Breadless Bread Plate,” with its gem-like emulsions dotting the plate, looks great. But can the actors actually eat these creations?

Crenn: Everything in the dishes we created, it’s all edible. The idea was not to be prop food. With the writing, the characters, and Ethan’s design, you want to bring authenticity to this movie, and the food is at the core of that. It was very important that the actors could eat the food. One time, two times, three times.

Courtesy of Searchlight Picture
Courtesy of Searchlight Picture

The raw diver scallop course comes served on top of a pretty large rock. How does that connect with Chef’s concept?

Tobman: So many of the things in this restaurant, from the architecture to the food, needed to be harvested from the island. Chef is obsessed, I would even say haunted by the perfectionism of nature. Dominique taught us about the artistry of “the vessel” — what the food is served on. For one of our dishes, we took some of the slate on the floor of our kitchen and made plates out of that. Art imitating life imitating art which leads us to the final day of shooting the movie when Dominique came up to me and asked me to re-design her restaurant.

A course from the film THE MENU. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
A course from the film THE MENU. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

Really! You’re re-designing Atelier Crenn in San Francisco?

Tobman: Yes, in January or February.

Crenn: I’ve been on movie sets before. This didn’t feel like a set. This was like Ethan taking me to wonderland. It felt good to be in a place where I could make him shine with me. All of a sudden, you have to hire him to do your restaurant.

In the movie, one of the characters mentions the Netflix series Chef’s Table, which included an episode about Dominique. Ethan, had you seen that show?

Tobman: Yes. I was, of course, obsessed with Crenn’s episode, but we were so inspired by the way some of that food was shot that we actually hired [Chef’s Table creator] David Gelb to produce some of our food dishes.

How much tweaking did food stylists do to make the dishes look more photogenic on camera?

Crenn: None! What you see is what you get. There is nothing that we added or anything like that. That’s why you need someone like David to capture it. Chef Slowik is giving back to nature, so the visuals are important with this food. It’s all about the ecosystem and what’s going on in his brain.

Courtesy of Searchlight Picture
Courtesy of Searchlight Picture

Dominique, did you coach Ralph Fiennes on how to behave like a chef?

Crenn: Yes. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner on set for many days, and he was lovely. I said to Ralph, “I’m not going to teach you how to be a chef. What I’m going to invite you to think about is this: You are in front of incredible people playing instruments. You are the conductor. This is your symphony. You have them consider attention to detail. When you walk into that room, you let them know that you see everything.” That’s how I am in the kitchen, front of the house, back of the house. It’s always a dance, but I am the conductor, and people know their place. When you add them to your team, there is a sense of respect. The intensity in this film is incredible, but Ralph isn’t playing the type of chef who would beat up people or yell. In a way, he’s very austere. Chef Slowik respects his team. People are ready to die for him!

Ralph Fiennes and Hong Chau in THE MENU. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
Ralph Fiennes and Hong Chau in THE MENU. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

Chef Slowik runs an open kitchen and presents each dish almost as if it’s a performance. Ethan, did you conceptualize the restaurant as a kind of theater space?

Tobman: Absolutely. Whenever you have an open kitchen, you’re cognizant of being studied by patrons and food critics, but for me, the kitchen was really an excuse to build a church. I wanted it to feel ecclesiastic, so we have Ralph standing in front of a cross on the back wall. And he’s raised up just a little bit, so in effect, he’s sermonizing, and they [the kitchen staffers] are genuflecting. And then the diners are one more floor further down at the lowest height level. It was really interesting to play with the iconography. I mean, modern chefs have cult-ish qualities, and restaurants that are impossible to get tables at have a religious mystique.

The cast of the film THE MENU. PPhoto by Eric Zachanowich. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
The cast of the film THE MENU. PPhoto by Eric Zachanowich. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

The Menu reflects pop culture’s skyrocketing interest in fine dining, which has sometimes included reports about toxic behavior in the pursuit of perfection.

Tobman: It’s a lot of pressure.

Crenn: I knew Anthony Bourdain. A few months before he passed away, I saw him in the Cayman Islands, and we had a pretty intense conversation about the world and pain and mental health and all that. A lot of people talk about the toxicity of the kitchen, but there’s also toxicity outside the kitchen.

Tobman: Everybody’s complicit. The food critics, the bloggers…

Crenn: Imagine people coming after you every second and hating what you do. I think we need to consider the humanity of these people who work so hard in restaurants. Instead of trashing them, instead of judging others, we should believe in more humanity. I want people to see this movie and say, “Wow, this is a thriller but let’s peel back a layer and look at the pain of this man.” Chef is not a monster.

 

Featured image: Ralph Fiennes in THE MENU. Photo by Eric Zachanowich. Courtesy of Searchlight Picture

“The Walking Dead” Showrunner Angela Kang to Lead Marvel’s “Silk: Spider Society” For Amazon & MGM+

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Longtime Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang is leaving the land of zombies for the world of Marvel superheroes. Reports are in that Kang has moved her overall AMC deal to Amazon and will now oversee the upcoming Marvel’s Silk: Spider Society. This will be the first Marvel TV series that will be based on the Sony Pictures universe of superheroes (a whopping 900 characters). Those characters include Spider-Man, all of Spider-Man’s villains, Venom, Morbius, Black Cat and Silver Sable, and about 885 others. What’s more, the series will be executive produced by two people well versed in that world; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse writers/producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The series will air domestically on MGM+ (right now, the cable network is called Epix) and then globally on Amazon Prime Video. The news confirms that Amazon is working with Sony on a slew of new TV series based on their Marvel characters.

“Amy Pascal, Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Sony’s recent live-action and animated reimagining of the Spider-Man franchise has represented some of the most dynamic superhero storytelling in film,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, in a statement. “Together with Angela Kang’s creative vision, we couldn’t be more pleased to bring Silk: Spider Society to our MGM+ and Prime Video customers.”

Kang knows what it takes to run a massive series—she’s been with AMC’s juggernaut The Walking Dead since season two and has been the showrunner since season 9, steering the zombie epic through its 11th and final season. She also developed the upcoming spinoff series starring TWD star Norman Reedus’s character Daryl Dixon, which she is now exiting. As a Korean-American, she feels a special pride in bringing the character of Silk to audiences.

“I’m beyond thrilled to be joining the Amazon Studios family for this next chapter of my career,” Kang said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the executive team on diverse, character-forward, watercooler shows for a global audience and am so excited to dive into my first challenge — bringing Korean-American superhero Silk to life on screen.”

Silk is based on characters created by Humberto Ramos and Dan Slott. The series will follow the character of Cindy Moon, a Korean-American woman who is bitten by the same pesky, superpower-imbuing spider that bit Peter Parker and changed his life. Cindy escapes imprisonment and goes on a journey to find her missing family. In the process, she becomes the superhero called Slik.

“Angela is a pro’s pro whose perspective and creativity we greatly respect and admire,” Lord and Miller said in a joint statement Thursday. “She’s also a hell of a lot of fun. She loves these characters, and we feel really lucky for the chance to work with her to bring Cindy Moon’s story to the world.”

For more on all things Sony and Spider-Man, check out these stories:

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Featured image: Angela Kang attends ‘The Walking Dead’ Photo Call during Comic-Con International 2018 at Andaz San Diego on July 20, 2018 in San Diego, California.

Disney Legend Floyd Norman on the New Doc “Mickey: The Story of a Mouse”

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As Walt Disney once famously said, “It all started with a mouse.” Steamboat Willie, which starred a mouse that became an icon, was released on November 18th, 1928. To commemorate the anniversary of that historic short, Disney+ is airing a new documentary called Mickey: The Story of a Mouse, which examines the character’s continued cultural significance in the US and around the world. 

What makes this documentary so fascinating is it not only considers the evolution of Mickey through his nearly a hundred years in existence, but it also highlights traditional animators, both those working inside the studio now and those influential to Mickey’s progression from the early days of Disney. The documentary follows a new short being made, Mickey in a Minute, created with 2D animation by three traditional animators still working inside the studio. Mickey: The Story of a Mouse director Jeff Malmberg doesn’t shy away from considering the darker aspects of Mickey’s history and the character’s influence on counterculture, which gives the film more heft than you might expect from a studio that’s filming a documentary about its own legendary icon on its own streaming platform, Disney+.   

“Disney Legend” and longtime Disney employee Floyd Norman is perhaps the only interviewee who knew Walt personally. Norman worked at the studio starting in the 50s and became the first Black artist to remain at Disney on a long-term basis. He started as an in-betweener on 1959’s Sleeping Beauty, was a story artist on  1967’s The Jungle Book, spent over a decade working on Mickey Mouse comic strips and went on to contribute to the Pixar story department on Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc. The Credits spoke to Floyd Norman about the documentary and about how Disney’s iconic and beloved character impacted his life and career.  

 

What do you remember of Mickey Mouse as a child? I know Bambi and Dumbo are what inspired you to want to work for Disney, but how did Mickey figure into all of that?

Mickey was a big part of my life as a kid, mainly because I loved reading Mickey Mouse comic books. I don’t know why, but for some reason, those adventure stories in the comics were the thing that really got me as a child. I absolutely fell in love with them. On quiet summer afternoons, I would sit in the backseat of my father’s car with my stack of Mickey Mouse comic books and just read of these amazing adventures that the mouse would take us on, never knowing that one day I would be able to craft my own set of Mickey Mouse adventures, years and years in the future. That was my introduction to Mickey, and then consequently, he became a big part of my life and career.

When you started working for Disney in 1956, you briefly worked on a Mickey short at that time. It had to be for The Mickey Mouse Club.

Yes. There were a number of things going on in the 1950s at Disney. Disney had just made the move into network television, so we had the weekly Disneyland show on ABC, plus a daily Mickey Mouse Club on ABC television. In a sense, you might say Mickey Mouse was pulled out of retirement because The Mickey Mouse Club on television put Mickey back center stage, and of course, there was that famous song. He had everybody singing it, from little kids to us soldiers marching and singing in formation. We did that as well when I was in the military, believe it or not. We were all marching and singing The Mickey Mouse Club song. It was just part of our culture and in all of us. We all grew up watching Mickey Mouse, and he stayed with us into adulthood. 

"Mickey: The Story of a Mouse." Courtesy Walt Disney Studios/Disney+
“Mickey: The Story of a Mouse.” Courtesy Walt Disney Studios/Disney+

You’ve worked on both traditionally animated and CGI films. There are only a few 2d animators working inside Disney Animation, but the studio started a 2D hand-drawn trainee program in 2022. Why do you think 2D animation is so important to the Disney legacy going forward?

Well, that’s what it’s all about, the Disney legacy. The Walt Disney Studio is built on the foundation of traditional hand-drawn animation. Mickey Mouse honestly looks his best as a hand-drawn character. Not that Mickey cannot be animated in CGI, he can be, and the computer can do amazing things, but when you get right down to the emotional resonance of a character like Mickey Mouse, that really needs to be done the old-fashioned way, with pencil and paper. It’s almost as though the animator’s spirit flows from his hand, through his pencil, onto the paper. The animator truly brings life to the drawn character. That doesn’t happen with CGI because you have the computer interface that kind of gets in the way, but there’s a purity, a simplicity about hand-drawn animation. That’s why Mickey Mouse is best realized as a hand-drawn character. I think he’ll always be animated most effectively if he’s hand drawn.

"Mickey: The Story of a Mouse." Courtesy Walt Disney Studios/Disney+
“Mickey: The Story of a Mouse.” Courtesy Walt Disney Studios/Disney+

In the documentary, you see Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, and Eric Goldberg working on the new short and how they’re capturing the spirit of all the eras of Mickey. You can really see through his entire history how important 2D is to his character.

It’s really interesting, having been on the front lines myself as an animator when you put that blank sheet of paper on your drawing board, that’s what you’re starting with, an empty sheet. There is literally nothing on the paper until you put pencil to paper, and so that creation, that drawing, flows out of the artist through the pencil onto the paper, and you give that drawing life. Those men and women who can do that and do it well are to be highly regarded because it is a very difficult task. It may look simple and easy, but it involves so much, everything from draftsmanship to performance, to design, to all the things that take the flat, dead pencil drawing and gives it the magic of life. That’s some pretty heavy stuff when you think about it.

You scripted the Mickey Mouse comic strip for years. You took him from the Ozzie Nelson figure he’d become, and you made him an Indiana Jones-type adventurer you remembered from your childhood comic books. What were some of the guiding forces for you in that work? 

In a sense, we were somewhat handicapped by the Mickey Mouse that was in the comics at that time. I inherited Mickey Mouse from the original artist and writer Floyd Gottfredson. What had happened is, as happens to all of us, Floyd Gottfredson had gotten older. He had been with the studio since the 1930s, and as Floyd grew older, Mickey grew older along with him. So consequently, the Mickey Mouse that I inherited was honestly, as you said, more like Ozzie Nelson, less like Indiana Jones, and I wanted to bring Mickey back to the young, dynamic, vital, energetic Mickey Mouse that I grew up with. I wanted to inject more life back into Mickey, and after begging and pleading with the syndicate, as well as with the studio bosses at Disney, they allowed me to go back and write Mickey Mouse as an adventure comic and no longer the stay-at-home dad hanging around the house, giving advice to the nephews. I was able to get Mickey out of the house, put him back on the road, take him down to wherever the next adventure would lead and create an energetic, dynamic Mickey Mouse once again. I think Indiana Jones is a good role model, and Mickey Mouse was Indiana Jones before Indiana Jones.

The documentary talks about a point in history when Mickey sort of splits into two, traditional Mickey and counterculture Mickey. Why is it so essential to allow cultural and pop interpretations of the character? 

You know why? Because Mickey represents all of us. No one group. No one nation. In terms of spirit, nobody owns Mickey. We all own Mickey. We’re all part of Mickey. He represents us, no matter who we happen to be. I think that’s part of the magic of Mickey, that he’s one of us. He’s our best friend, our best buddy; he’s there to help us when we need a helping hand. He’s there to inspire us. He’s there to remind us that there are good things worth doing and that life is worth living. Mickey is the ultimate optimist, much like Walt Disney was the ultimate optimist, seeing the good in everything and being enthusiastic and energized by the promise of a glorious future. It sounds corny, but Walt Disney said he loved corny, so Mickey Mouse is corny, but so was Walt.

"Mickey: The Story of a Mouse." Courtesy Walt Disney Studios/Disney+
“Mickey: The Story of a Mouse.” Courtesy Walt Disney Studios/Disney+

 Mickey: The Story of a Mouse streams on Disney+ starting November 18th. 

 

 

For more stories on Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Marvel Studios and what’s streaming or coming to Disney+, check these out:

How “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw Used Light & Shadows

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Let’s Discuss That “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Mid-Credits Scene

Featured image: L-r: “Mickey: The Story of a Mouse.” Courtesy Walt Disney Studios/Disney+; Floyd Norman, Film Subject. (Credit: Disney/Ty Popko)

Willem Dafoe Gets Trapped “Inside” in Feverish First Trailer

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Willem Dafoe is a national treasure, as far as we’re concerned, and any movie he’s in benefits from his singular blend of intensity and passion. Whether he’s reviving his iconic turn as Norman Osborn in Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: No Way Home or depicting, with heartbreaking rawness, Vincent Van Gogh in Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate, there’s really nothing the man can’t do. Which brings us to the first trailer for Inside, a literally feverish thriller that finds Dafoe playing an art thief appropriately named Nemo trapped inside a beautiful fishbowl of a penthouse in New York City. Nemo’s there on a job to steal some extremely expensive works of art, but the high-tech apartment goes into lockdown mode, sealing him inside. As if that’s not bad enough, the temperature inside starts to rise, and rise, and rise, effectively boiling Nemo alive.

Inside comes from director Vasilis Katsoupis, from a script by Ben Hopkins, and the conceit is such that the film is essentially a one-man show. With shades of David Fincher’s precise, tense 2002 thriller Panic Room, which made use of Jodie Foster’s immense skills, Inside will let us see how Nemo puzzles his way out of his dire situation. Or not. The trailer indicates that our high-end art thief will start to lose his mind while trapped inside this sweltering, multi-million-dollar cage. How Nemo attempts to escape, what lengths he’ll go to, and how badly it will get before the end credits roll are all part of the excitement. Getting to see Dafoe use his considerable gifts in a fun, ferocious genre film is worth the price of admission alone.

Check out the trailer below. Inside arrives in theaters on March 10, 2023.

Here’s the longline for Inside:

Inside tells the story of Nemo, an art thief trapped in a New York penthouse after his heist doesn’t go as planned. Locked inside with nothing but priceless works of art, he must use all his cunning and invention to survive.

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

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How “Tár” Costume Designer Bina Daigeler Dressed Cate Blanchett in Power

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How “TILL” Costume Designer Marci Rodgers Captured the Racial Dynamics of 1955 America

Featured image: Willem Dafoe stars as Nemo in director Vasilis Katsoupis’ INSIDE, a Focus Features release. Credit: Wolfgang Ennenbach / Focus Features

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” Writer/Director Rian Johnson Unpeels His Whodunit

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When released in 2019, Rian Johnson’s star-studded, deliciously delightful who-done-it Knives Out was met with universal acclaim and became a smash hit. In it, star Daniel Craig shed all remnants of his Bond persona to play the quirky Southern genius detective Benoit Blanc in a performance so winning and a film so enjoyable even a character’s sweater became a sensation. (Granted, that character, the spoiled viper Ranson Drysdale, was played by Chris Evans). The stage, therefore, was immediately set for Johnson’s second installment, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. The new release, another darling with critics, has the envious holiday release dates of November 23rd in theaters and December 23rd on Netflix. 

Much like its predecessor, Glass Onion features a stellar ensemble cast. Craig’s Benoit Blanc is invited for a lavish weekend to a private island off the Greek coast by billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton).  Blanc is the odd man out in a yearly gathering of friends that includes Connecticut governor Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn), right-wing social media star Duke (Dave Bautista), scientist and futurist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom Jr), fashionista and former supermodel Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), and Bron’s estranged former business partner And Brand (Janelle Monáe). Each character has their secrets, and when one of them is murdered, it is down to Blanc to find the killer and separate the truth from lies while keeping himself alive. 

The Credits spoke to writer/director Rian Johnson about the newest film in his Benoit Blanc series, which is inspired by the best Agatha Christie mysteries and their classic 70s and 80s cinematic interpretations. He talks about his collaboration with Daniel Craig, his love of whodunits, and how he drew from his brushes with the crazy world of billionaires and celebrities to make Glass Onion equally funny and up-to-the-minute.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). (L - R) Writer/Director Rian Johnson, and Daniel Craig. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix © 2022.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). (L – R) Writer/Director Rian Johnson, and Daniel Craig. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix © 2022.

How has Daniel Craig acted as your muse to collaborate in creating a 21st-century detective like Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot? 

The interesting thing is I had grown up with Poirot so much in my head that when I sat down to create this character, Benoit Blanc, I messed myself up a little bit because I started going down the wrong path. I started thinking in terms of like the great detectives like Poirot or Miss Marple or Nero Wolf; I started thinking in terms of quirks. I started thinking in terms of the superficiality of what I knew about them, so I started trying to build a version of Benoit Blanc, like, what’s his thing? Does he have two different colored eyes? It was awful. So I just had to clear the deck and say no quirks. I’m gonna give him a slight southern accent because he’s in the Northeast for the first movie, so that will make him a little fish out of the water. I decided to write him very straight, and then I’d find an actor. I didn’t know who it would be, or who I’d collaborate with. 

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022.

Enter Daniel Craig.

Daniel really found, literally, Benoit Blanc’s voice, but also, one thing that I love that he has in common with Poirot is that he loves hearing himself talk in that slightly pompous, self-elevated, but endearing way. That, and the other thing that was important to me to capture was I always loved the moments where Poirot connects on an emotional level. There’s always a moment where he has an aside, like a heart-to-heart with one of the characters, or sees the good in someone, or even the good trying to get out from under the evil, and tries to have a sincere appeal. That heart at the center of it was something that I’ve tried in both of these movies to have Blanc always have. Whereas there’s so much cynicism in the motives for murder and money and everything, centering these movies around an emotional core where Blanc sees the good in somebody and is engaging with that is something that felt important.

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc and Janelle Monáe as Andi. Cr: John Wilson/NETFLIX
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc and Janelle Monáe as Andi. Cr: John Wilson/NETFLIX

Specifically, in the Hercule Poirot novels, there is always a political element to the way that he approaches his work, where it’s about the haves and have-nots, and his heart-to-hearts tend to be about people feeling a loss, feeling like they’re been left behind. That’s certainly present in your Benoit Blanc films. 

Yeah, I mean, even down to Christie’s decision to make Poirot Belgian, to make him a foreigner, and what that meant in British society at that moment, and how that meant he was seen and regarded. That was the other big ingredient for me and the motivation for making these. For such a long time, whenever you saw a whodunit, it was a period piece set in England because it was usually a Christie adaptation, but Christie wasn’t writing period pieces; she was writing to her time and to her place. The notion of doing the genre well and doing it in America, right now, and not in a message-y type way, but not being afraid to engage with the culture right now at this moment, that, to me, was a big motivating factor for what was exciting about doing this.

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY. Courtesy Netflix.
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY. Courtesy Netflix.

You started out just a normal person going to film school but have become a noted filmmaker making some pretty huge movies. You’ve probably had some experiences in the rarified air where some of the characters in Glass Onion live. How much of what you’ve seen, with celebrities or perhaps a completely over-the-top billionaire, wound up in the movie? 

That’s a phenomenally perceptive question because it’s exactly the case, and it’s something that I don’t really talk about because I’m not sure how to, but just having had exposure to this other world, and feeling the way that Blanc feels when he shows up on the island of this movie, feeling completely lost, thinking, “This is a planet that operates under rules that I just don’t understand,” it’s very strange. A lot of the details of that went, in a subliminal way, into the experience of this movie. It just also felt like there was so much comedy to be mined from that. It’s also crazy because you get exposed to some of this stuff, and you realize what’s in the movie is not really that inflated; it’s probably even tamped down a little bit compared to some of the stuff that’s out there. It was fun working with Edward Norton on it, too, because he’s in the tech investor world and has been very successful, so he also knows a lot of, like, the inside baseball of this stuff. We had a lot of fun riffing and coming up with little details we could put in there and stuff to lampoon. Also, so much that we touch upon in the movie is happening everywhere around us. The big thing that was on my mind was just big blatant lies, and big blatant lies being forwarded by complicity based on self-interest, that’s also still in the air. 

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). (L-R) Edward Norton as Miles, Madelyn Cline as Whiskey, and Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix © 2022.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). (L-R) Edward Norton as Miles, Madelyn Cline as Whiskey, and Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix © 2022.

And somehow, Glass Onion is still very funny. 

It’s like nuclear war and Dr. Strangelove.  There’s no other way to come at it than to hopefully point out how horrible it is by laughing at it. 

Some of the funniest moments were those clearly inspired by James Bond. From the score, cinematography, and then, in specific, Daniel Craig’s bathing costume. What kinds of discussions were there around those?  

I loved the idea, and I actually I can’t take credit for this; a friend of mine, Michael Lerman, pitched me this joke even before I started writing the movie that Blanc never takes his shirt off. He’s the kid at the pool party who wears his shirts into the pool. That cracks me up, and so I went with that. Then Daniel worked with Jenny Eagan, our costume designer, and it was Daniel who went down this route of thinking, in terms of Blanc’s role in this movie, that he’s affecting a sort of Jacques Tati’s Monsieur Hulot-type vibe, so he’s got the hat, he’s even got his physical characteristics. There’s a lot of Tati that he’s bringing to it, and it’s Tati by way of Cary Grant by way of James Bond. Even with the setting, I think in the script when I was describing Miles Bron’s lair, I wrote, “It’s kind of like a Bond lair,” then I put in parentheses, “Sorry, Daniel.” 

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Edward Norton as Miles and Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc. Cr: Courtesy NETFLIX
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Edward Norton as Miles and Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc. Cr: Courtesy NETFLIX

Can you talk about the production design by Rick Heinrichs? Where was the film shot? What was the inspiration for the interior, and who made the art in the art gallery? 

The exteriors were all Greece. The interiors, and all the sets, including the big room with all the art, were built on a stage in Belgrade. I worked with Rick on The Last Jedi, and he’s done a bunch of work with Tim Burton. He’s incredible at communicating nuanced character through very large palettes, through big scale, and that’s what we needed for this movie. With the artwork, Rick is very knowledgeable in terms of the art world. I’m not, actually, so I was very much relying on Rick. It’s a combination of actual reproductions of classics. There’s a Rothko, and a Hockney, although the Rothko is upside down because I feel like Miles would hang it the wrong way, then also, there are some original pieces that are kind of pastiches of different styles of art by all local Belgrade artists. 

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Jessica Henwick as Peg, Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc and Janelle Monáe as Andi. Cr: John Wilson/NETFLIX
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Jessica Henwick as Peg, Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc and Janelle Monáe as Andi. Cr: John Wilson/NETFLIX

Those are all very narcissistic.

Exactly. Down to the big painting of Edward that looks like it’s out of Fight Club. I just cracked up when they showed that to me. 

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Kate Hudson as Birdie, Leslie Odom Jr. as Lionel and Kathryn Hahn as Claire. Cr: Courtesy NETFLIX
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (2022) Kate Hudson as Birdie, Leslie Odom Jr. as Lionel and Kathryn Hahn as Claire. Cr: Courtesy NETFLIX

Lots of writers forget to write strong female characters, especially those that are women of color, but they’re a main feature in this film series. 

When you have actors like Janelle Monáe and Kathryn Hahn and Kate Hudson and Madelyn Cline and Jessica Henwick, when you’re writing, knowing that you’re going to have people like that coming up to bat, the amount that you can build into it knowing that they’re going to amplify it and take it up to another level, it’s pretty joyous. It’s pretty cool to see. So in that way, it’s an entirely selfish thing to work with fantastic actors like that, who I know are gonna take whatever I write and just make it better.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery releases in theaters on November 23rd and streams on Netflix on December 23rd. 

Featured image: Daniel Craig in “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story.” JOHN WILSON/NETFLIX © 2022

 

Quentin Tarantino Eyeing TV Project, Reveals Which Comic Book He’d Adapt

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At an event in New York to promote his new book, “Cinema Speculation,” Quentin Tarantino had a few interesting nuggets to share. Tarantino told event host and moderator, film critic Elvis Mitchell, that he’s eyeing a TV project that will have him shooting an eight-episode series in 2023. If you’re curious, as we are, which series that will be, Tarantino wasn’t offering more than that. Perhaps the man who brought us Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, and Once Upon a Time In Hollywood is going to shepherd the second season of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? Okay, probably not, but whichever series Tarantino is helming, new or continuing, it won’t be the first time the auteur has worked in the medium.

Back in 2005, Tarantino filmed two episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He’s been linked to the revival of FX’s beloved neo-western Justified this year, too. Tarantino told Mitchell a slew of interesting near misses and almost weres, including that he was offered an opportunity to rewrite Samuel L. Jackson’s 2000 reboot of Shaft, but that he rejected the offer. He also wrote a play before Once Upon a Time in Hollywood began filming. Who wouldn’t love to see Tarantino on Broadway? Or off Broadway, for that matter.

Considering our current cinematic landscape is in many ways the domain of comic book characters, it was only natural for Mitchell to ask Tarantino which comic book he’d adapt if he was given the chance. Tarantino’s answer isn’t surprising—he chose one that would reunite him with his muse, Samuel L. Jackson, by adapting “Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos.” The comic book follows Nick Fury (played by Jackson in the Marvel films and upcoming Marvel series on Disney+, Secret Invasion) and his Howling Commandos World War II unit, a group that was featured in Chris Evans’ first film in the MCU, Captain America: The First Avenger. 

There were other projects that came and went, perhaps most notably, the Star Trek film Tarantino had been circling after pitching an R-rated story to J.J. Abrams. It seems as if that spaceship has sailed—Tarantino told Mitchell that he was no longer pursuing the project.

“Cinema Speculation” is Tarantino’s essay collection on movies, offering readers a deep dive into the films that shaped and inspired one of our most passionate, singular filmmakers. It’s worth a read for all film fans and Tarantino appreciators.

Featured image: Quentin Tarantino, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt on the set of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. Photo Credit: Andrew Cooper

Visit the Dreamworld With Jason Momoa in New “Slumberland” Trailer

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If you’re going to enter the world of dreams, wouldn’t you want Jason Momoa as your guide? Such is the luck of Nemo (Marlow Barkley), who meets Flip (Momoa) in the dreamworld called Slumberland, where she’ll need Flip’s help to make it through this illogical, often insane place to achieve her ultimate goal—seeing her late father again. The second trailer for Slumberland has arrived, a mere two days before its premiere, giving us a deeper look at what director Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games) and his cast and crew have dreamed up for us.

Dangers certainly lurk in Slumberland, and as a guide, Flip seems less concerned with safety than he is with having a good time. That should be a recipe for success for younger viewers—an adorable stuffed animal (a pig) that’s come to life will help—but the excellent cast and filmmaking chops of Lawrence make Slumerbland the type of kid’s movie adults can not-so-secretly love.

Lawrence directs from a script by David Guion and Michael Handelman. Joining Momoa and Barkley are Kyle Chandler, Chris O’Dowd, Cameron Nicoll, Weruche Opia, India de Beaufort, and Antonio Raine Pastore.

Slumberland arrives on Netflix on November 18. Check out the trailer below:

Here’s the official synopsis for Slumberland:

Slumberland takes audiences to a magical new place, a dreamworld where precocious Nemo (Marlow Barkley) and her eccentric companion Flip (Jason Momoa) embark on the adventure of a lifetime. After her father Peter (Kyle Chandler) is unexpectedly lost at sea, young Nemo’s idyllic Pacific Northwest existence is completely upended when she is sent to live in the city with her well-meaning but deeply awkward uncle Phillip (Chris O’Dowd). Her new school and new routine are challenging by day but at night, a secret map to the fantastical world of Slumberland connects Nemo to Flip, a rough-around-the-edges but lovable outlaw who quickly becomes her partner and guide. She and Flip soon find themselves on an incredible journey traversing dreams and fleeing nightmares, where Nemo begins to hope that she will be reunited with her father once again.

For more on big titles on Netflix, check these out:

“Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” Production Designer Tamara Deverell’s Twisted World

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” Official Trailer Reveals a Very Dangerous Game

“The Midnight Club” Production Designer Laurin Kelsey on Creating a Haunting Hospice

Featured image: SLUMBERLAND – (L-R) Marlow Barkley as NEMO and Jason Momoa as FLIP in Slumberland. Cr: Netflix © 2022

George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” Prequel “Furiosa” Just Found Its VFX House

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Movie lovers have had their engines running for a new film from George Miller from his Mad Max franchise. After the high-octane blast that was Mad Max: Fury Road—one of the best action movies of the century—all eyes have been on Miller for a follow-up. When we learned that he’d be filming a prequel based on Charlize Theron’s beloved Furiosa, we were as thrilled as everyone else. Now, a crucial step in the pre-production process has been completed—Miller’s Furiosa has found its VFX house, a brand new facility that’s being built by DNEG in Miller’s native Australia, in Sydney.

DNEG Sydney will be a full-service VFX studio (think Industrial Light & Magic in California or Weta in New Zealand) that will take the lead on highly detailed projects, from feature films like Miller’s upcoming prequel to episodic projects. The studio will also feature DNEG Animation, which was the animation house behind Kid Cudi’s animated love story Entergalactic for Netflix.

The man running DNEG Sydney will be Oscar and BAFTA-winning VFX supervisor Andrew Jackson (an Australian native), Jackson’s resume includes Mad Max: Fury Road (of course), Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (which he nabbed an Oscar and a BAFTA award for), Dunkirk, and his upcoming Oppenheimer. Jackson will have a talented team, including VFX wizards like Dan Bethell, who will as the DNEG VFX supervisor on Furiosa and who recently worked on Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder. 

The creation of DNEG Sydney continues the country’s growing footprint in the VFX world. Being the lead house to work on Furiosa is an incredible place to start building your legacy. The film will find Anya Taylor-Joy playing Furiosa before the events in Fury Road, joined by Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke. Filming has already begun.

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

First “Shaq” Trailer Reveals an Inside Look at the Life of a Legend

“The Sex Lives of College Girls” Star Reneé Rapp on Leighton’s Sexuality, Her Debut EP & More

“Black Adam” Editor Michael Sale Breaks Down That Epic Justice Society Fight

Featured image: Charlize Theron is Furiosa in “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Courtesy Warner Bros.

“Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” Production Designer Tamara Deverell’s Twisted World

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As the afternoon light waned in Toronto, production designer Tamara Deverell recently found herself sitting on the floor of an abandoned psychiatric hospital on break from the new Sofia Coppola movie she’s working on. With dusk approaching, she joked, “I’m getting scared because it looks like I’m in this spooky Guillermo del Toro room right now!”

If anybody would know about spooky spaces, it’s Deverell. She earned an Oscar nomination earlier this year for designing Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley and recently completed work on Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. The eight-episode anthology series, now streaming on Netflix, draws inspiration from shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone to explore a warped universe filled with creepy creatures and haunted houses.

Deverell, who started working with del Toro back in 1997 when she art directed his insect horror movie Mimic, spoke to The Credits about creating habitats for giant rats, stunted trees, and alien artifacts.

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Kevin Keppy as Blobman in episode “The Viewing” of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Kevin Keppy as Blobman in episode “The Viewing” of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022

In terms of sheer logistics, it must have been daunting to design eight shows for eight different directors simultaneously. How did you organize that?

I had a head start because Guillermo asked me to be involved even before hiring the directors. I’d read some of the stories he was basing the tales on. Then I realized this would be one of the most incredibly difficult projects of my life because not only was I going to be representing Guillermo’s vision — that was the easy part because I’m in synch with him — but I also had all these directors with very different personalities. To be quite honest, it was exhausting.

Breaking down your work for specific episodes, can you talk about the tunnels in Graveyard Rats?

Technically, that was probably the most challenging build. It wasn’t just our department. We had to have cameras on a track custom-built to go through these tunnels. My amazing art director Brandt Gordon worked with the grips, electric people, and camera department to make that happen. And then they were building the animatronic rats in L.A. and shipping them up here, so we had to interact with that to figure out how big the tunnels had to be.

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Episode “Graveyard Rats” of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Episode “Graveyard Rats” of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Kevin Keppy as Corpse in episode “Graveyard Rats” of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Kevin Keppy as Corpse in episode “Graveyard Rats” of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022

Designing a maze of rat tunnels — that would be a first for you?

Actually, my first foray into the tunnel world was building sewage tunnels for Mimic when I was still art directing for the wonderful production designer Carol Spier. And then when I worked on [TV series] The Strain, another Guillermo thing, where we did tunnels for vampires, subway tunnels, sewage tunnels. I have to say; it’s fun building weird things like that. If I ever got another courtroom set or doctor’s office, shoot me in the foot, like, I’d just run. I run toward the danger of doing something like Cabinet of Curiosities, which has so many different looks.

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities. David Hewlett as Masson in episode “Graveyard Rats” of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022

The Viewing episode, directed by Panos Cosmatos, culminates when guests invited to this eccentric man’s compound try to make sense of a strange glowing object.

We called that “the artifact,” the thing that came from outer space or from the middle of Panos’ brain [laughing]. This wonderful guy Andy Tsang, who works in 3D modeling, modeled it up. Then we handed it over, and the whole piece was hand carved. One thing Guillermo likes to do is to use practical effects and creature effects to great advantage. His new Pinocchio speaks to that, being so tactile and reality-based.

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Kevin Keppy as Blobman in episode “The Viewing” of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Kevin Keppy as Blobman in episode “The Viewing” of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022

In The Murmuring, bird watchers live in this magnificent mansion by the sea. Where did you find that house, and how did you make it so spooky?

Well, we built that house.

What?

Entirely built. There was another movie, Scary Stories, which, full disclosure, I did not design, but they’d built a mansion set which they kept in a trailer. We re-assembled that, and, like any good dog, I peed in all the corners. But it had great bones, a staircase, and some paneled walls. We added the kitchen and the turret room. The director Jennifer Kent is wallpaper crazed, and so am I, so we went a little nuts with this beautiful William Morris period wallpaper. And we painted the whole house deep blue to set the mood. It’s a period look within a period film because the original house is the 1930s when ghost mother and son were alive, and then [the main story takes place in] the 1950s, so everything’s covered in dust. Very poetic, I thought.

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Essie Davis as Nancy Bradley in episode “The Murmuring” of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. David Lee/Netflix © 2022
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Essie Davis as Nancy Bradley in episode “The Murmuring” of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. David Lee/Netflix © 2022

Dreams in the Witch House features this spooky forest thick with stunted trees. How did you approach that setting?

We kicked around the idea of shooting in an actual forest, but it was too difficult to do in November in Canada. The director Catherine Hardwicke made the Red Riding Hood movie, and they’d built the forest for that. We wanted this ethereal life-or-death no man’s land, so we looked at all this different imagery and found these truncated trees that looked like giant tuning forks. We took actual bark from locust trees in front of the house, where we shot the childhood home at the beginning. I noticed that bark was so twisty and strange, so we cast the bark and molded it as the skin of our trees, which were made from metal armature covered in foam. Once we put the skin of the bark on, we painted that and added moss. That was our forest-in-a-studio set.

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Rupert Grint as Walter Gilman in episode “Dreams in the Witch House” of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Rupert Grint as Walter Gilman in episode “Dreams in the Witch House” of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. (L to R) Rupert Grint as Walter Gilman, Tenika Davis as Mariana in episode “Dreams in the Witch House” of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. (L to R) Rupert Grint as Walter Gilman, Tenika Davis as Mariana in episode “Dreams in the Witch House” of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022

You built most of the environments on the soundstage, but did you also use real-world locations?

Yes. It was a big challenge to shoot 1920’s Boston for Pickman’s Model. We had just one night to shoot the cobblestone streets of Toronto’s Old Distillery District. It used to be that we could control that area because nobody but us lunatics in the film industry went there. But now it’s gentrified and full of restaurants. That was tough because we only had six hours to dress the streets before the crew came in. “We have to cover the security cameras!” and this and that. Shooting in a studio is easier because you have complete creative control.

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Ben Barnes as Thurber in episode “Pickman’s Model” of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Ben Barnes as Thurber in episode “Pickman’s Model” of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022

The Cabinet of Curiosities itself, featured in the introductory segments, looks like a fiendishly complicated piece of furniture.

Guy Davis, one of Guillermo’s long-standing collaborators, did the initial concept sketch. I took that and did 3-D renderings. We actually built three cabinets: a shortened one, like the first tier of a wedding cake that would pop up with CGI. The second one, made from oak, was a mind-boggling build for our carpenters because it had all these secret compartments, drawers within drawers. And then a third one for different camera angles.

Each introduction includes a tiny statue of that episode’s director. Did you see that coming?

I thought Guillermo had lost it when he said he wanted a little netsuke — a Japanese statuette — of each director. We drew them on paper, and two of our sculptors carved them up. For Panos, we put horns on him, and [Rat Graveyard director] Vincenzo [Natali] was surrounded by rats. We had fun with it.

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities. Executive Producer Guillermo del Toro in episode “Lot 36” of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities. Cr. Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities. Executive Producer Guillermo del Toro in episode “Lot 36” of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities. Cr. Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022

You’ve designed for Guillermo del Toro many times over the years. What’s he like to work with?

He’s very respectful, very collaborative, truly a gentleman, and he’s an artist. I’m able to speak to Guillermo artist to artist, storyteller to storyteller. A lot of time, we don’t talk in words. Instead, we draw together. I’ll bring my iPad to set and show him something, and he’ll grab my stylus and draw over my drawing.

Guillermo del Toro is known for his sketchbooks. It seems like he can probably get very specific when it comes to visual ideas.

Guillermo has such an understanding of geometry and architecture and structure. When he says, “Let’s make this ceiling really low, like seven feet high,” he means it. He knows what he wants, and he knows how to communicate. Just look at the way he worked with eight directors on this series and how he pulled these stories out of them! It’s not like he’s a puppet master but more of a collaborator in the way he gently helped us reach this high level of artistic achievement.

Anything else you like to add?

I have many stories, but I have to go because it’s getting dark.

You’re in an abandoned psychiatric ward. I get it.

Seriously, it’s getting creepy in here.

 

 

For more on big titles on Netflix, check these out:

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” Official Trailer Reveals a Very Dangerous Game

“The Midnight Club” Production Designer Laurin Kelsey on Creating a Haunting Hospice

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” Early Reactions: A Stop-Motion Masterpiece

 

 Featured image: Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities. Lize Johnston as Keziah/Witch in episode “Dreams in the Witch House” of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities. Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix © 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                       

 

 

 

How “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw Used Light & Shadow

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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw helped co-writer/director Ryan Coogler realize his ambitious vision for the sequel. Speaking at the EnergaCameriage cinematography film festival in Torun, Poland, Durald Arkapaw explained how she helped capture Wakanda Forever’s mood, shot with a “texture of grief throughout the film,” over the loss of King T’Challa, and the star who played him, Chadwick Boseman.

“As far as aesthetic choices for this, because of the importance for [Coogler] of grief, rebirth, migration, and all of this stuff that is so textural and delicate, we decided to de-tune and modify some T-series lenses,” Durald Arkapaw said. “And then we used a wider lens for close-ups.”

Letitia Wright as Shuri in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

“And then with lighting, I tend to light moodier, and it was embraced here, and Ryan’s very specific in what he wants out of a scene and how he captures the scene and where the cameras should be,” Durald Arkapaw said. “For me, light shouldn’t fall everywhere. A character should be coming in and out of light, like it happens in real life. And there’s so much texture and drama to a face, and if you just don’t shape it, then you don’t feel that emotion. So I think it was just very important for this story.”

(L-R): Dorothy Steel as Merchant Tribe Elder, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Danai Gurira as Okoye in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

Durald Arkapaw cited two iconic blockbusters for their ability to blend VFX into a natural environment to create something seamless—Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Both films, Duran Arkapaw said, “told you a. lot in the darkness just as much as the light.”

As for the scenes set in Namor (Tenoch Huerta)’s underwater kingdom of Talokan, Durald Arkapaw said Coogler made the decision to embrace the darkness.

 “It was very important to Ryan to have a deep space movie underwater. Things are dark,” she said. “It creates more tension, they’re textural, there’s a lot of turbidity, the clarity’s off. When you make a decision like that, that’s brave; everyone has to be on the same page. So we shot everything underwater that we could so we had a reference, and we also shot it dry-for-wet, and they took both of those and were able to make something that was very beautiful and felt real – as real as it could with people walking and talking underwater. That was very important to Ryan from the beginning.”

Tenoch Huerta as Namor in Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.
Tenoch Huerta as Namor in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever shoot was a labor of love, lasting 130 days, in which everyone involved wanted to give Coogler and the memory of Boseman their absolute all.

“This film is so important culturally and to so many people, and it’s not just another action film,” she said. “So you always have that in mind too. You’re paying homage to an individual but also a character that was beloved. And every person and head of department that came before me worked very hard on the first one. And so, game on, on the second one to do it justice. Also, everyone loved [Boseman] on set as well, so you’re always reminded of that. So [this job] was very important for me.”

For more on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, check out these stories:

Let’s Discuss That “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Mid-Credits Scene

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Makes Box Office History

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Reviews Call Ryan Coogler’s Sequel a Soulful, Rousing Epic

Featured image: Danai Gurira as Okoye in Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.

“Yellowstone” Season 5 Premiere Wrangles Ratings Record

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The Kevin Costner-led neo-western Yellowstone rounded up an astonishing 12.1 million viewers on Sunday night.

This haul is the biggest overnight launch for Taylor Sheridan’s juggernaut series, and, according to Samba TV (via The Hollywood Reporter), this makes Yellowstone the top scripted series premiere of 2022.

The numbers for Yellowstone are the kind that TV creators and studio executives dream of. Sheridan’s western was up double digits in every demographic, which includes growing 52% among adults 18-34, growing 10% from season four with 8.8 million viewers for its first airing on Paramount Network, a number that rose first to 10.3 million when you include simulcast airings on CMT, TV Land, and Pop, and then to 12.1 million when you include encore telecasts. All in all, it’s a ravishing start for TV’s premiere series.

Yellowstone follows the Dutton family’s efforts to protect their Montana ranch from all would-be usurpers. The two-episode premiere leaped forward to give us a seminal moment in John Dutton (Kevin Costner)’s life, as he’s sworn in as governor of Montana. Dutton keeps his staff a family affair, appointing his daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) as his chief of staff, while his son Jamie (Wes Bentley) arrests his own political interests—for now—to help his sister steer his father’s career. The sibling rivalry is but one of the series’ boiling subplots, as the Duttons are often under some kind of assault, be it from the political scene in Montana, outsiders threatening Dutton family ranchers or tragedies within the family itself.

Sheridan’s prolific writing and creating have become so pronounced there was a story from last week that he might have broken another record when he wrote the pilot for another one of his series, Tulsa King, in a single day. That show, starring Sylvester Stallone as a formerly incarcerated mobster relocating to Tulsa to start afresh, is now streaming on Paramount+. And then just yesterday we got the first teaser for the Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren-led Yellowstone: 1923, the second Yellowstone prequel to arrive (along with 1883), which will feature Ford and Mirren as Jacob and Cara Dutton.

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

First “Yellowstone: 1923” Teaser Reveals Harrison Ford & Hellen Mirren as Jacob & Cara Dutton

Lupita Nyong’o Will Lead “A Quiet Place: Day One”

“Tulsa King” Trailer Reveals Sylvester Stallone as Mafia Don on a Mission

“Confess, Fletch” Cinematographer Sam Levy Modernizes the Crime Caper

Featured image: Kevin Costner is John Dutton in “Yellowstone.” Courtesy Paramount Network.

David Harbour Teases Marvel’s Mysterious Phase 5 Capper “Thunderbolts”

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David Harbour is set to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the Red Guardian, so the man knows what he’s talking about when he starts dishing on one of the most mysterious upcoming MCU films.

Harbour is reprising his lovable Soviet antihero from Black Widow for Thunderbolts, the mysterious Phase 5 capper that Kevin Feige teased during San Diego Comic-Con 2022. The film will be Marvel’s version of The Suicide Squad, getting a bunch of antiheroes together to save the day. When Harbour sat down with Collider to discuss his upcoming Christmas action flick Violent Nights, he gamely took a few questions about returning to the MCU. 

The first thing to know is Thunderbolts is still a ways off—Harbour said that the script isn’t finished yet. But he does know what the story is about, and he promises that it’s going to be something different for MCU fans. “It’s not what you’d expect. It incorporates a couple of new elements, new things that we have yet to see in the universe.”

Harbour expanded on the film to Collider and riffed a bit about some of co-stars. They include Julia Louis Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (fresh from her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Florence Pugh returning as Yelena Belova from Black Widow, Sebastian Stan returning as Bucky Barnes from a slew of MCU movies, and Wyatt Russell returning as John Walker from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier:

“It’s really cool. We introduce a thing that’s super cool. It’s vital. I’m psyched that Julia Louis Dreyfus’ character is going to be, in a bigger way, explored. One of the things you’ll probably know is that the me and Florence [Pugh] dynamic will be in there and explored in a way that’s really cool. But all these guys, Sebastian’s character, Wyatt’s character, I just love this mercenary element in the MCU. MCU has always been sort of elevated in a certain way. Captain America, even Iron Man, although he has an ego, are always in it for the right reasons or ultimately does the right thing. And I like these guys who are a bunch of losers or a bunch of guys who can’t quite get it right. And so far, what they’ve pitched me just feels really cool.”

The above group—Harbour’s Red Guardian, JLD’s mysterious Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Florence Pugh’s Black Widow (the non-Scarlett version), Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier, and John Walker’s disgraced former Captain America aren’t the only MCU troublemakers in the film. Olga Kurylenko returns as Taskmaster, and Hanna John-Kamen as Ghost, from Black Widow and Ant-Man and the Wasp, respectively, are also onboard. The movie might have a deeper ensemble than any other Marvel flick that doesn’t have an Avengers in its title.

Thunderbolts is due to close Phase 5 when it premieres on July 26, 2024.

L-r: Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), Alexei (David Harbour), and Yelena (Florence Pugh) in Marvel Studios' BLACK WIDOW. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2020.
L-r: Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), Alexei (David Harbour), and Yelena (Florence Pugh) in Marvel Studios’ BLACK WIDOW. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2020.

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

Let’s Discuss That “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Mid-Credits Scene

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Makes Box Office History

“Deadpool 3” Director Shawn Levy in Talks to Helm a “Star Wars” Film

New “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Images Arrive Day Before Premiere

How Ryan Reynolds Got Hugh Jackman to Return as Wolverine for “Deadpool 3”

Featured image: Alexei (David Harbour) in Marvel Studios’ BLACK WIDOW, in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

First “Shaq” Trailer Reveals an Inside Look at the Life of a Legend

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Make room for the big man.

The first trailer for the HBO documentary series Shaq is here, and it’s mannan from basketball heaven for all you NBA fans. The doc will give us the first in-depth look at the legendary life and career of one of the greatest to play the game, centered on the story from the man himself and rounded out by interviews with family members, fellow NBA legends, and former teammates. What’s thrilling about the trailer is how Shaq reminds us just how otherworldly Shaquille O’Neal was in his prime, how ferocious he was as a competitor, and how dominant he was with his size and skill. It also reminds us that while the Shaq that younger generations have gotten to know—a lovable presence on TV leading a massively successful post-NBA career—the Shaq who dominated the NBA was a force to reckon with. For those foolish enough to get in his face, Shaq would put you on your backside.

“We kept this documentary real from the start, and I do feel like it is the most honest look into my life and career up until this point,” Shaq said in a statement when the doc was announced. “This process allowed me to reflect publicly in a way I haven’t before, and I’m so proud of the work everyone has done to put it all together.”

The interviews in Shaq include a slew of legends. His former teammates and coaches, like Penny Hardaway, Dwyane Wade, Dennis Scott, Brian Shaw, Derek Fisher, and Rick Fox offer thoughts and memories. Former head coaches Phil Jackson and Pat Riley discuss what it was like to lead a team with him at center.  Former Los Angeles Lakers General Manager Jerry West on Shaq’s effect on the Lakers franchise and the sport. Members of the O’Neal family weigh in, including his mother, Dr. Lucille O’Neal, siblings Jamal and Lateefah Harrison, and three of his children — Taahirah, Shareef, and Myles. This will be the definitive look at the life, thus far, of Shaquille O’Neal.

The series is four episodes long and will take us through Shaq’s origins in a military household throughout his career, from the Orlando Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers and, finally, the Miami Heat.

Check out the trailer below. Shaq premieres on HBO on November 23.

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

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