Yellowstone: 1923 is a prequel, of course, to the massively successful Yellowstone and yet another outpost of creator Taylor Sheridan’s growing western universe. A new teaser from Paramount+ reveals the third series from the ever-busy Sheridan, who has tapped some major film talent to lead his new show. If you’re going to extend your already burgeoning western project, who better to enlist than Harrison Ford and Hellen Mirren, who lead a new generation of Duttons in 1923? The answer is no one.
This brings us to the first teaser for Yellowstone: 1923, which reveals Ford’s and Mirren’s Jacob and Cara Dutton as Jacob saddles a horse on the Yellowstone Ranch. “Violence has always followed this family from the Scottish Highlands to the slums of Dublin, and it followed us here,” a voiceover tells us over scenes of all sorts of mayhem. “Where it doesn’t follow, we hunt it down. We seek it.” 1923 won’t skimp on the action—the Yellowstone universe thrives on skirmishes of one type or another—and the teaser ends with Ford’s Jacob aiming his rifle at an unseen threat.
Yellowstone: 1923 is set between Sheridan’s two other series—the Kevin Costner-led Yellowstone and the prequel series 1883. The new series tracks Jacob and Cara Dutton’s lives as they lead the Yellowstone Ranch through a particularly volatile point in American history. Prohibition, drought, a pandemic, and the coming Great Depression are all bearing down on the Dutton family, the same as they are for every American. 1923 will follow a two-season arc, with Ford and Mirren joined by Sebastian Roché, Jerome Flynn, Darren Mann, Michelle Randolph, James Badge Dale, Marley Shelton, Brian Geraghty, Aminah Nieves, Jennifer Ehle, Julia Schlaepfer, Brandon Sklenar, and Robert Patrick.
Check out the teaser below. Yellowstone; 1923 begins streaming on Paramount+ on December 18.
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There was little doubt that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was going to be a huge movie, but shattering the record for November releases is still something to behold. Co-writer/director Ryan Coogler’s phenomenal sequel brought in $180 million domestically and $330 million globally, which makes it the all-time biggest launch of any film in November. It clawed past The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which took in $158 million in November of 2013. It’s the second biggest opening for the year for Marvel, just shy of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which pulled in $187.4 domestically, and it knocked Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam from its perch.
The international haul proves, yet again, the massive interest in the Black Panther franchise overseas. Wakanda Forever gobbled up $150 million internationally as audiences poured into the theater in places like the U.K., France, Mexico, South Korea, and Brazil. It also had the highest opening in history in Nigeria, where it had its African premiere.
Wakanda Forever currently ranks as the 13th biggest opening ever, and its Friday opening alone was historic. It pulled in $84 million, just about tying it to Avengers: Age of Ultron as the 9th largest single-day haul. The reviews only fueled more people into theaters (Wakanda Forever enjoys an A CinemaScore), and those audiences were diverse. According to PostTrak, the audiences were led by Black moviegoers (34 percent), followed by Caucasians (31%), Latinos (21%), and Asian/Other (14%). Another impressive stat speaking to the massive interest in the sequel is that females made up 45% of the audience, a much higher percentage than is usually the case for a superhero film.
Then there is the fact that Wakanda Forever isn’t like other superhero films and was never going to be. The original Black Panther obliterated the lie that audiences wouldn’t go see a film made by and starring a predominately Black cast. Wakanda Forever then had another humongous challenge when Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman tragically passed away back in August 2020. Coogler and his team refocused Wakanda Forever on his loss and found its narrative thrust in how the women of Wakanda, led by Ramonda (Angela Bassett), dealt with that loss and carried on. Ramonda, Shuri (Letitia Wright), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) were the heart and soul of Wakanda Forever, and their journey, and the crowning of a new Black Panther, led to an immensely satisfying, bittersweet cinematic experience. The introduction of a new, immensely powerful figure in Namor (Tenoch Huerta), and a brand new, gorgeously evoked world in the underwater empire of Talokan, made Wakanda Forever the rare intimate epic. The box office numbers, while historic, are unsurprising when you factor in all this talent and all this heart.
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A tremendous number of spoilers ahead—if you haven’t yet seen Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, back away from this story.
Co-writer/director Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had a massive weekend. It conquered the box office with the biggest November opening of all time, commanding $180 million domestically and $330 million globally. There was huge interest in this franchise, of course, and for a sequel that had to find its way without Black Panther star and leader Chadwick Boseman, who died tragically in August of 2020. There was a palpable desire for fans of Boseman and the franchise to be together in a theater, and, even for an MCU film, there was a tremendous amount of curiosity about what the world of Black Panther could even be without Boseman. Rarely (if ever, frankly) has a comic book movie, let alone a blockbuster, felt so bittersweet and cathartic and personal.
Coogler and his co-writer Joe Robert Cole had to completely retool the script after Boseman’s death. Originally, the Black Panther sequel was going to focus on T’Challa (Boseman) as he grew into his role as the Wakandan King and Black Panther, looking squarely at what being a leader meant to him and how he absorbed the responsibilities of the dual role of king and literal protector. After Boseman passed, Coogler and Cole had to shift the focus onto an entirely different character, had to fashion a script that doubled, in a way, as a tribute to both Boseman and T’Challa, and find a new Black Panther to contend with Namor (Tenoch Huerta), the ancient, immensely powerful ruler of the Talokan Empire.
Incredibly, Coogler and Cole pulled it off. Wakanda Forever is told primarily through Shuri (Letitia Wright)’s eyes as she buries herself in her work after the death of her big brother. Shuri blames herself for being unable to cure T’Challa of the disease that kills him—Wakanda Forever wastes not a second putting us into Shuri’s wrenching situation, trying to come up with a solution in her high-tech lab in the Wakandan capital for T’Challa’s disease. She’s too late. T’Challa dies within a few minutes of the film’s opening, and Coogler then moves us into one of the most stunning sequences in any Marvel movie to date, T’Challa’s funeral procession. Here, with all Wakanda citizens dressed in white as the Dora Milaje carry T’Challa’s casket through the capitol, the work of Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler stun.
During the funeral, Shuri is thunderstruck and furious—she’s not one to believe in the ancestor worship or rituals of Wakanda and would rather be in her lab. Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) is the iron-will force that will keep what’s left of her family intact and the entire nation of Wakanda from believing they are leaderless and in danger (even if they are). In a brief scene after the funeral, when Ramonda takes Shuri out into the countryside to try to get her to re-connect with T’Challa’s soul and tells her daughter of how she felt T’Challa’s presence and in the wind, Shuri makes her case clear—her brother is gone, and if she thinks too much about it, all she feels is a desire to watch the world burn. Little to their knowledge, they’re being watched and listened to. Enter Namor, who has breached Wakandan security forces and emerged from the water as quietly as an angel. Yet he is not here to help them mourn. He tells them that thanks to T’Challa revealing the existence of Wakanda to the world, now Namor’s Talokan people are in danger as the Americans, French, and everyone else search the sea for Vibranium. (The Talokans have their own stache under the sea). Either join Talokan and go to war with the rest of the world, or Wakanda will fall. The search for a new Black Panther is now even more pressing.
Eventually, Shuri finds a way to synthetically re-create the heart-shaped herb, the vibranium-infused native plant that has given Black Panthers their immense powers in the past and that Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) burned in the first film. With the new herb re-created, Shuri takes up the mantle of the Black Panther herself. Yet there’s a complication—when Shuri ingests the liquid form of the heart-shaped herb to get guidance on the ancestral plane from T’Challa, she’s greeted, instead, by Killmonger. It’s his vengeful, ferocious spirit that Shuri currently contains, and Killmonger challenges her directly, asking her if she’s going to be like her father, a traitor (he had Killmonger’s father killed), her brother T’Challa, too noble to be an effective protector of Wakanda, or will she be like him, strong enough to do what’s necessary?
The fight against Namor and the Talokan requires more than just the Black Panther’s superpowered protection. The Wakandans are massively out-numbered, and it takes new super-suits invented by Shuri, the help of the American teenager and genius inventor Riri Williams (Dominque Thorne), and, crucially, Shuri’s slow burn maturation into the kind of leader her brother T’Challa could admire to save her people. After the climatic final battle between Shuri and Namor, Shuri has him where she wants him. As the new Black Panther, she could kill him. Instead, she demands he yield and force his army to stand down, and in return, Wakanda will protect the secret of the Talokan Empire. Namor agrees.
This leads us to the mid-credits scene. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was less invested in the business of extending ongoing and upcoming MCU narrative threads than most films in the franchise, considering its focus was so squarely on honoring Boseman, positioning a new Black Panther, and introducing a gorgeously rendered new world in Talokan. So it’s fitting that the mid-credits scene was not in service of connecting Wakanda Forever to some upcoming Phase 5 film but rather in deepening the film’s study of its characters and the future of Wakanda. Shuri travels to Haiti to visit Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) to do what Ramonda had wanted her to do out in the country before they knew Namor existed—burn her funeral clothes and move on to a new phase of mourning T’Challa.
Shuri sits on that Haitian beach alone, watching her white funeral robes burn and thinking of T’Challa. It’s the first time in the entire film, since the opening credits when the Marvel logo’s superhero lineup is made up entirely of T’Challa, that we see images of Boseman from the first film. Shuri openly weeps, only now, her tears feel cathartic, almost replenishing, sourced by an undercurrent of gratitude that she’d had all those years to be T’Challa’s little sister. Then we see Nakia approach, holding a little boy’s hand. This is Nakia’s son, Toussaint (his namesake is Toussaint Louverture, a former slave who led the Haitian Revolution in the late 18th century), and Shuri is once again thunderstruck. Only now, it’s with awe and wonder—Nakia had kept Toussaint’s existence a secret, and it explains why Nakia herself has been absent from Wakanda for all the years. Only Ramonda knew. Then, Toussaint tells Shuri his Wakandan name—he shares it with his late father—T’Challa.
This is how Wakanda Forever ends, giving us a living illustration of its title. Shuri will carry on the mantle of Black Panther, while Toussaint/T’Challa will eventually carry on the name and character of T’Challa for the MCU. It’s a quiet, devastating scene (Letitia Wright’s performance, here and throughout, is wondrous), equal parts heartache and hope. Heartache that Boseman is gone and hope in a future that’s as bright as we’re willing to make it. Wakanda Forever managed to be both a mega-blockbuster in the massive, sprawling, ever-expanding colossus that is the MCU and an aching portrait of grief, fury, and hope. It’s a marvel.
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“It was a total restart,” production designer Chris Kennedy tells us of the Apple TV series Shantaram, which follows the daring life of an Australian prison escapee named Lin (Charlie Hunnam) as he hopscotches his way to Bombay to avoid being captured. While filming portions of the first two episodes in Bhopal, India, production halted due to pandemic restrictions. Those scenes were eventually scrapped and the entire crew picked up and left for Bangkok, Thailand. Everything from the props, dressing and vehicles were shipped to Southeast Asia (although the cars never cleared customs in time for their shoot days).
Even with the hiccup, Kennedy designed a number of period authentic sets that transport viewers back to the 1980s storyline where a Bangkok backlot (and areas of Melbourne) fill in for the slums of India. Below, Kennedy details the seemingly impossible transition, how it affected the production design and the challenges behind filming in Bangkok.
In Shantaram, you have this compelling novel from Gregory David Roberts to pull from. I’m curious; whate were the initial conversations in developing the imagery and color palette?
The weird thing about the process you allude to here is that there were not many substantive initial conversations in this regard. I went on a location scout to Thailand and Malaysia with producer Richard Sharkey, looking for a stand-in location for India, as India was out of the running due to Covid at the time. We spent three two-week stints in hotel quarantine and two weeks scouting Thailand. In the end, Bangkok became the preferred base, just as we got out of quarantine in Malaysia, so that leg was abandoned. This was truly a Covid evolved production process!
Outside of pandemic restrictions, were there any challenges from a design perspective?
I think the most difficult task for me was illustration and convincing people about the historical differences of the time period and place, Bombay in the ‘80s, and the design aesthetics and color palette involved. Even the notion of using bare bulbs and random fluorescent lighting required turning some heads around. But in the end, this was all largely embraced and appreciated.
A scene from “Shantaram,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
What’s compelling about the series is that we’re pushed into the story immediately and see Lin make a daring escape from prison. Those scenes are shot at Pentridge Prison in Melbourne, which closed in the ‘90s. Were all the elements of the escape available at the practical location, or did you have to blend set builds with practical ones?
The exterior and rooftop in the prison escape sequence are in the exact location of the original escape. Also, the interiors were shot in the remaining wings of the old prison. The interior roof space was a studio set, and the building site section was another location that matched architecturally. Numerous other small sets made up parts of the escape, crawl spaces, manholes, etc., and provided transitional elements to tie the pieces together.
Charlie Hunnam in “Shantaram,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Speaking of practical, the storyline has scope, traveling from Australia to India. What conversations are you having with the location scout to find the ideal settings?
Basically, we were presented with a backlot location in Bangkok, a development site in Chinatown, consisting of several interconnecting streets and numerous blocks of old multi-storied buildings. When dressed, this became the Colaba streets of Bombay circa the 1980s. The slums were built on about four acres of backlot land at Studio Park outside of Bangkok. These two backlots provided the insulated space, which allowed us to continue shooting during the worst of the pandemic.
Shubham Saraf and Charlie Hunnam in “Shantaram,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
And what about what you filmed in Australia?
In Melbourne, we shot all of the studio sets, Melbourne locations, and various Bombay locations where possible. There was also a seaside interface section of the slum set built in Melbourne. Other locations in Melbourne included the train station in episode twelve, which we built in an old railway shed. The real issues around location sourcing were losing them to Covid and having to constantly re-imagine and reinvent solutions to an ever-shifting situation. To say that this was the most difficult job of my career is to grossly understate the reality we faced over a year and a half throughout the pandemic.
We get to see the famous Chowk Bazaar when Lin initially lands in India. How did you go about recreating it for the series?
It was a fully controlled, dressed, and populated set within the Bangkok Chinatown backlot location. The original iteration of the show – the first two episodes – was shot in India, and this scene utilized a real street. In that instance, they couldn’t control very much or make many changes; as a consequence, the scene was full of largely contemporary elements, signage, costume, colors, vehicles, etc. In Bangkok, we were able to fully dress every shop, create every sign, and build and decorate every element of the entire town. In this way, it was authentic to the period and place. Additionally, it was very practical from a production point of view, as we owned the streets 24/7.
A scene from “Shantaram,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Reynaldo Café is one of the mainstay sets where all the “business” is conducted in the pilot episode. How did you want to approach the build?
It was all shot in the Bangkok Chinatown location. My desire was to build the location into a real location to bring the street life into the interiors. The Reynaldo’s Café set very much benefited dramatically from seeing the real street life passing by from the interior, they blend together. There is so much of the atmosphere of India and the thrill and excitement of the mood being created around the lead characters. Originally a studio set was built in Melbourne for Reynaldo’s, but when the Bangkok location came up, I really pushed to set it there.
Shubham Saraf and Charlie Hunnam in “Shantaram,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
One of the more sinister places in the first episode is The Palace with Madame Zhuo. The use of cyans, blues, and darker earthy hues give it an ominous tone. Was that something you pilot cinematographer Stefan Duscio collaborated on?
Yes, very much so. There were various discussions with the directors about being able to see out the window, but my thought was that this is a hidden, mysterious place. Zhou is like a spider in her lair, in the dark – all seeing but unseen. Much restraint was needed to keep the curtains shut and hold this mood, although she does get to glimpse comings and goings through a gap from time to time.
Gabrielle Scharnitzky is Madame Zhou and Rachel Kamath is Parvati in “Shantaram.” Courtesy Apple TV+
Bangkok during a pandemic cannot be an easy challenge. Any advice you can share for those looking to film there?
It was a matter of constantly improvising. And during the wet season, storms sweep in and can destroy your sets, only for you to go back and put it all together again the next day. So, my advice? Take a good drinking buddy, you’ll need them!
Shantaram is currently streaming on Apple TV+.
Featured image: Shubham Saraf and Charlie Hunnam in “Shantaram,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Hispanic Heritage Month ended on October 15th, but that doesn’t mean we stop celebrating the incredible films and series that focus on Hispanic culture. We figured it’s always the perfect time to create a list of binge-worthy content from across the wide spectrum of Hispanic and Latino-focused streaming content. From the lighthearted camaraderie of On My Block to the mouth-watering imagery of The Taco Chronicles to the quiet beauty of Oscar-winner Roma, here’s an incomprehensive-but-eclectic list of films and series to tuck into.
Luis Miguel: The Series
Arguably, this is the best Spanish-language biopic on Netflix. This Netflix original, co-produced by GatoNegro and MGM, tells the authorized version of the life of singer Luis Miguel. The multi-Grammy winner, aka “The Sun of Mexico,” started his larger-than-life career as a child in the 80s. To this day, Luismi enjoys the loyalty of a millions-strong fan base throughout Latin America. Netflix houses other great stories about musical legends of Hispanic and Latino heritage: El Rey, about ranchera singer Vicente Fernandez, and Mariposa de Barrio, about Chicana superstar Jenny Rivera.
The Queen of Flow
It’s 2022, so when you mix Telenovela with reggaeton, you get a worldwide success. This Colombian telenovela follows the steps of Yeimy as she rises to fame while planning her revenge against those who destroyed her life. The drama of The Queen of Flow will introduce you to one of today’s most popular music genres and one of the best Puerto Rican exports in history, reggaeton. And if you fall for the intoxicating beats of reggaeton, you must know that Bad Bunny—the history-making icon of the genre—is on Netflix as well, not on The Queen of Flow, but rather on the third season Narcos: Mexico, as Kitti Páez.
A splendid ode to the ballroom culture in New York in the 80s, Pose immerses us in the dramatic scene where African American and Afro-Latino queer stars walked for the recognition of their peers. Pose made history this year at the 79th Golden Globes awards, with MJ Rodriguez winning the award for Best Actress in a TV Drama, the first ever for a transgender actress.
Halftime
Jennifer Lopez’s documentary depicts the legend’s bumpy road to success. We see her turning 50 as she rose from her beginnings as a dancer in In Living Colors to her ground-shaking performance during halftime of the 2020 Super Bowl. The doc offers viewers a rare, very intimate look at J. Lo putting in the work, celebrating the legendary Bronx native as she kickoffs the second half of her life. It’s a thrilling look at how Jenny from the Block has become a global icon.
On My Block
In this Netflix original, life in South Central Los Angeles is depicted with nuance, authenticity, and honesty. This Goonies-like coming-of-age story features an amazingly diverse cast, led by Afro-Latina Sierra Capri. On My Block manages to showcase multidimensional and relatable characters that we don’t often get to see on screens.
One of the things that unite Latinos of all walks of life is our profound love and pride for our food. We’re lucky because we actually have of the best gastronomies in the world (not that I’m biased). In fact, Mexican gastronomy is part of Humankind’s Intangible Heritage. Taco Chronicles provides a beautiful exploration of Mexico’s signature dish: tacos. The two-season series has been dubbed “a love letter to Mexico,” with each of its 13 episodes dedicated to a specific variety of taco: pastor, carnitas, canasta, barbacoa, and so on. Narrated from the point of view of a taco, this legit documentary is going to leave you hungry. If your cravings go beyond tacos and you’d be in for a Colombian ajiaco or a Peruvian ceviche, you’re going to appreciate Street Food Latin America, also available on Netflix.
There’s little chance you haven’t heard about Bruno and why we don’t talk about him: After spending more than 3 months topping Billboard’s charts, Lin-Miranda’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” became Disney’s most popular song ever, further contributing to the success of Disney’s vibrant animated feature. The film pays homage to Colombian culture, magical realism, and the family values that characterize Latino cultures. The tender way it addresses healing from intergenerational trauma has been praised by audiences everywhere.
One Day At a Time
This family-centered series will captivate you with its heartwarming allure. A reimagined version of the 70s classic, this Netflix original tells the everyday life of a Cuban American family, headed by a vivacious single mom and nurse, Penelope (Justina Machado), and a fabulous abuelita played by legendary Rita Moreno. One Day At a Time was not renewed by Netflix after three seasons, so you’ll have to catch the fourth and last season on Pop.
Studios and streaming services are more than ever realizing the importance of having more Hispanic and Latinos represented on screen and telling stories as diverse as the public who’s watching. Our last pick, Netflix’s first multi-Oscar-winning film, is a perfect example of the great things that can happen when a powerhouse in the streaming industry actively amplifies the voices of Latino filmmakers. I’m talking about Roma, Alfonso Cuarón’s black and white masterpiece that made history at the 2019 Oscars, winning Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Foreign Language Film. Roma is an exquisite portrait of life in the capital city of Mexico in its turbulent 70s, and it shook audiences for centering a point of view not commonly seen in Hispanic and Latino productions, that of a young indigenous woman.
Not only will these selections entertain, but they’ll give you an enhanced panorama of mainstream Hispanic and Latino culture. Disfruta!
Featured image: Diego Bonte and Jade Ewen in “Luis Miguel: The Series.” Courtesy Netflix.
Keanu Reeves returns as the unkillable John Wick, and this time, he’s facing Pennywise the Clown from It.
Okay, not exactly, but Wick’s rival in John Wick: Chapter 4 is Bill Skarsgård’s villain Marquis de Gramont. Skarsgård is a top-notch performer, and he’s proven he knows how to crush a villain role; he was absolutely terrifying as Pennywise in director Andy Muschietti’s It films. Lionsgate has revealed the official trailer for Chapter 4, and the franchise hasn’t lost a step in the insane stunt sequences department. Reeves is, of course, a huge part of that, deploying the gun-fu style he’s been honing for years now. Director Chad Stahelski, who returns to shepherd the mayhem, is a crucial component of the franchise’s success.
Wick can do it all, with any weapon, but he appears to be facing a formidable challenge in Marquis de Gramont, who offers Wick his freedom, but only if he can defeat foes from across the world who appears as skilled in the deadly arts as he is. It’s single combat, folks, and the set-up lets Wick prep for the big match like a boxer preparing for his title fight. You want nunchucks, car chases, battles on horseback, fighting with axes and swords? You’ve got it.
Chapter 4 was written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch. Joining Reeves and Skarsgård are Ian McShane, Donnie Yen, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, and Scott Adkins.
Check out the trailer below. John Wick: Chapter 4 premieres on March 24.
The wait is over. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is finally here. And to celebrate the film’s release (it opens in thousands of theaters, here and abroad, on November 11), Marvel Studios has unleashed one final teaser. This last glimpse offers the longest look yet at the new Black Panther, whoever she may be (we have our suspicions).
You know the basics by now. Co-writer and director Ryan Coogler and his cast and crew had to somehow craft a sequel without their star, Chadwick Boseman, who passed away tragically in August 2020. Coogler and his co-writer, Joe Robert Cole, rewrote the script entirely, scrapping what was supposed to be an exploration of T’Challa (Boseman)’s growing maturation as a leader and instead reframing the story from an entirely new perspective, centered on the loss of T’Challa and a looming new threat in the form of Tenoch Huerta’s Namor.
The position of Black Panther within Wakanda society is one that’s passed from hero to hero, so while Boseman’s T’Challa was not recast, Wakanda Forever will introduce a new Black Panther. The final teaser gives us a thrilling look at whoever she is, arriving at the 0:22 second mark as she leaps into battle.
It will be a bittersweet moment for the millions of fans of both Chadwick Boseman and the Black Panther franchise when they tuck into their seats tomorrow. The wait is finally over, but more tears are likely to come.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens wide on November 11.
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will open wide, on thousands of screens, on November 11. The film has already received stellar reviews, with movie critics and those lucky enough to catch the scattered premieres across the globe marveling at director Ryan Coogler’s rousing, soulful sequel. Wakanda Forever does something truly remarkable—it’s a comic book movie that looks squarely at the loss of Black Panther himself, Chadwick Boseman, and delivers a meditation on grief and a thrilling superhero epic.
The new images give us fresh looks at some of Wakanda Forever‘s most crucial characters. We’ve got Letitia Wright’s Shuri, T’Challa’s brilliant sister, who is the frontrunner in almost everyone’s mind to take over as the next Black Panther. We’ve got Michaela Coel’s new character Aneka, a combat instructor in the Dora Milaje with feelings for one of the fiercest members of that vital Wakanda force, Florence Kasumba’s Ayo. We’ve got the main image, featured above, of the Dora Milaje leaping into action. We’ve got Winston Duke’s M’Baku, leader of the Jabari Tribe and one of T’Challa’s most important allies from Black Panther. We also have our first still image of Dominque Thorne’s Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, the engineer with Tony Stark-level genius. And finally, we have a new shot of Tenoch Huerta’s Namor, the film’s ostensible villain, the leader of the Talocan people, and one of the most formidable and longest-standing Marvel characters of them all.
The unthinkable happened in August of 2020 when Boseman passed away at just 43, and his Black Panther collaborators, especially Coogler, could have been forgiven for not seeing a way forward. Instead, they found a path toward making a movie that honored Boseman and, incredibly, delivers a moving tribute with all the action and excitement an MCU movie demands. There’s nothing left to do now but see the film. Bring tissues.
Universal Pictures has tapped Black Panther: Wakanda Forever co-writer Joe Robert Cole and veteran director Allen Hughes (Menace II Society, Dead Presidents) to steer the project. This will be the first definitive biopic to capture the rap icon (and major entertainment mogul), with Snoop set to be heavily involved, including as producer, alongside Hughes and Sara Ramaker. The film will mark the first film for Snoop and Ramaker’s Death Row pictures. Unsurprisingly but crucially, the film will include music from his legendary career.
“I waited a long time to put this project together because I wanted to choose the right director, the perfect writer, and the greatest movie company I could partner with that could understand the legacy that I’m trying to portray on screen, and the memory I’m trying to leave behind,” said Snoop in a statement. “It was the perfect marriage. It was holy matrimony, not holy macaroni.”
There are few living musicians with a richer history and career to mine than Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr.’s—snoop’s real name. He became a household name and mega-star back in the early 1990s, one of the leading lights of the West Coast rap scene, collaborating with another living legend, Dr. Dre, and then going on to release solo albums that only bolstered his status as one of the best in the game. Snoop’s “Doggystyle” and “The Dogfather” rocketed him into superstardom and set the stage for a career that would go on to include successful business ventures and a larger role in the broader entertainment industry, including as a tech entrepreneur, food and beverage, the cannabis world, and increasingly meaty TV and movie roles. As Day Shift director J.J. Perry recently told us about casting Snoop in his vampire thriller, “Selfishly, Snoop is a massive star. When I think of L.A., I think of palm trees and Snoop Dogg. He was a total pro and an asset, and I’d love to work with him again.”
As varied a career as Snoop has had, as many areas of the business and entertainment worlds as he’s conquered, the music will likely always come first. With 17 Grammy nominations and 35 million albums sold, his incredible music career is more than enough to fuel a film.
“Snoop Dogg is one of the most internationally beloved figures in hip-hop,” said director Allen Hughes in a statement. “There’s just something about his energy that brings people of all walks of life together. Snoop Dogg, not just the artist, but the man and his brand, has transcended generations with his connection and appeal to audiences. His story is so authentic and utterly inspiring, and to have the opportunity to tell his story allows me to go back to the hood 30 years after Menace II Society, and say more now than I could then.”
“Snoop Dogg’s life and legacy makes him one of the most exciting and influential icons in popular culture,” stated Donna Langley, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. “We met with Snoop shortly after he acquired Death Row Records and had the opportunity to hear his story in his own words. We are humbled to be able to create the lasting document of this singular artist.”
And Universal is a great home for this project. It’s the same studio that brought out Eminem’s 2002 film 8 Mile (essentially a biopic) and F. Gary Gray’s 2015 film Straight Outta Compton, which captured the West Coast rap scene just before Snoop arrived when Dr. Dre N.W.A. changed the game.
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Featured image: NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – AUGUST 28: Snoop Dogg attends the 2022 MTV VMAs at Prudential Center on August 28, 2022 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
The immensely busy director Shawn Levy might be taking on his biggest film franchise yet. The helmer of the Night at the Museum franchise earlier in his career is already poised to direct Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Deadpool 3, as Wade Wilson and Wolverine finally get to team up years after their, shall we say, unbeloved encounter in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (in that film, Reynolds’ Wade Wilson had his mouth sewn shut). Now, Deadline has reported that Levy is in talks to develop and direct a Star Wars film, which he’d start working on in earnest after he completes his work on Deadpool 3.
Levy’s a very busy man. Not only does he have Deadpool 3 on the horizon, but he’s also just now finishing work on an adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s best-selling novel All the Light We Cannot See for Netflix. This project is a 4-episode limited series, and Levy directed all four. Also at Netflix, Levy will be helming at least two episodes of Stranger Things’ final season (he’s also an executive producer on the series). Staying with the streamer for a second, Levy also worked with Reynolds for the Netflix film The Adam Project.
Meanwhile, at Disney, Levy doesn’t just have Deadpool 3 in the works but also a potential sequel to his hit action/comedy film Free Guy (again starring Reynolds). With his sights next set on a Star Wars film, he joins Taika Waititi, Patty Jenkins, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy as premiere directors plotting their course to a galaxy far, far away.
For more on all things Star Wars, check out these stories:
“I would like to go back,” says former U.S. soldier Lynsey (Jennifer Lawrence) to her physiotherapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson), who is overseeing her rehabilitation following a traumatic brain injury from an IED while serving in Afghanistan. But her reasoning for returning is more than a flashy comeback story found on the front page of a sports magazine. Her wounds run deeper, and the question of “should she go back” is the resonating theme of director Lila Neugebauer’s (Maid, Room 104) debut feature.
Biding her time until she can redeploy, Lynsey picks up a job cleaning pools and meets James (Brian Tyree Henry), who lends a helping hand in fixing her truck. Their relationship flourishes into an affinity for one another, leading her on an unexpected path. Tasked with photographing the intimate visual language was cinematographer Diego Garcia (Tokyo Vice, Too Old to Die Young).
Cinematographer Diego Garcia and Jennifer Lawrence on the set of “Causeway.” Courtesy Apple TV
Framing the narrative with an ARRI Alexa LF and Panavision H series lenses, the widescreen (1.85:1) format invites us into Lynsey’s psyche without getting close, a choice that viscerally complements her independence, her desire to keep those close to her at arm’s length – especially her fickle mother (Linda Emond) – as well as her physical and emotional struggles. Layered through a vivid tapestry of colors and symbolism, for instance, the continuous presence of water representing Lynsey’s journey to cleanse her body and mind, Causeway was beautifully shot, exploring an unconventional (yet welcoming) side of PTSD. Not to mention Lawrence and Henry are both phenomenal in their roles. Garcia shares how the color palette impacted his approach and the defining moment for Lynsey in this subtle and subtly moving film.
Blue hues are the dominant color palette in Causeway. We see them in the locations, lighting, costumes…pretty much everywhere. Did you discuss that creative idea with director Lila Neugebauer and production designer Jack Frost early on in the process, or was it something already established when you joined the project?
There was nothing established before I joined the project. The whole idea of the visual language was explored and founded on the way of making the film as an open creative process. It’s true; blue is an important color in the palette. In life, you can see different kinds of blue in the sky and sea, so it’s a direct representation of depth and open spaces. It was probably a way to create a visual connection between Lynsey’s interior world into her process of re-adaptation, healing, and personal seeking.
When you are working with a prominent color as a cinematographer, how does that affect your approach to photography?
I try not to force my approach or think in a rational way about how to use color. There are some conceptual and symbolic bases that I integrate into my creative process, and once I have them in me, it’s easier for me to flow with them and make creative decisions on a practical level during prep or on set. It feels that they come out more in a natural way. This sometimes resonates and pays back later on the final result.
There’s a subliminal nuance to the blue palette that plays into Lynsey’s recovery. There’s almost this turning point for the character when she has drinks with James at the bar. The atmosphere becomes warmer.
It’s true that the bar scene comes at a turning point in the story, especially in Lynsey’s and James’ relationship. This is probably the night when they open themselves in a more intimate way. The red as a counterpoint or contrast from the prominent blue and cold tones was something that appeared on the way spontaneously. Jack Fisk did wonderful work going around the city, doing research in different neighborhoods just by driving or walking around. He found this iconic bar, and he thought it was rich in character and that it could give the scene a warm vibe at that particular moment for the characters. I loved the energy of the place, and I thought my job was to take whatever the bar was offering already and just tune up the lighting for the atmosphere of the scene, keeping the real essence.
Bryan Tyree Henry and Jennifer Lawrence in “Causeway.” Courtesy Apple TV.
How did you want to approach lighting that bar scene?
The lighting in the bar scene was based on the real ambiance the bar already had. I did want to keep the warm tones and the mood. I decided to enhance the lighting on them by adding three different lighting qualities. I used a tungsten bulb on an unbleached pancake, trying to keep some clean skin tones. Also, there’s some red coming from the practical fixture, and I also added a fluorescent tube coming from the outside, which I thought was a nice blend with the neon sign. In general, my intention was to create a cozy vibe atmosphere where they could feel comfortable and be themselves.
Lynsey’s relationship with James is unique. Did you want to address their arc in a specific way through coverage?
The structure and dramatic arc of the film changed in many ways over the whole process of the film. So what I think worked better for the creative process was to frame with intuition for what we thought was emotionally correct and connected with the characters’ moments in each scene. For me, it was more like absorbing the locations, staying present on the blocking, and zooming out while being aware of the dramatic importance of the scene and making them part of the whole picture.
Brian Tyree Henry and Jennifer Lawrence in “Causeway.” Courtesy Apple TV. premiering November 4, 2022 on Apple TV+.
There are a number of pool scenes with Lynsey cleaning them or swimming. It’s a place where she feels at home, and maybe a place where she’s cleansing her mind of her tragedy. One scene in particular that breaks that idea is when she invites James to swim, and it ends in an argument. Can you share how you wanted to approach that scene?
The Octavia pool scene was probably one of the most challenging ones. It is a sensitive moment in the film where there’s an important change of tone in their relationship. We wanted to stay close and intimate with them and also give them a sense of freedom. For the first part of the scene, we used a Techo Crane so the camera could stay re-adjusting in position on the surface of the water. Then for the kiss part, we used splash bags and we did handheld, so the camera could stay close with a human pulse flowing with their slow movements. For lighting, I used tungsten light units in the pool with water housings. I bounce them on the surface of the pool, picking up the blue that the pool originally had, and I just tried to find interesting angles to shape it. I thought of using the light coming from the water as the key.
Bryan Tyree Henry and Jennifer Lawrence in “Causeway.” Courtesy Apple TV.
While on the topic of composition, what I liked about Causeway is its static frame. It adds more tension to Lynsey’s character as she copes with the trauma of Afghanistan. Was that something you and Lila Neugebauer wanted to do from the start?
I believe each frame in this film is linked to the emotional and physical state of our characters. Composition is probably one of the stronger tools it has to translate their feelings and psychology into a visual expression – the unspoken language where the empty space and depth is telling us about them in a silent way. For me, each composition is like a little window into their time and reality.
Interestingly, Lynsey’s home isn’t where she wants to be. How did you want to present that idea photographically?
Lynsey is constantly working on her recovery and re-adaptation. Finding her place and her space. New Orleans and her house open her past, and this makes her want to move on. We tried to be respectful in the way we photograph her spaces. Rooms in her house, streets in the city, pools. The distance of the camera from her and how we present her reality. Framing and lighting were not trying to accentuate this oppression but just to keep a natural and subtle approach into her world.
Jennifer Lawrence in “Causeway.” Courtesy Apple TV
Was there anything you took away from photographing this wonderful film?
I would say a big lesson that I took from this film was to be patient and always open and receptive to whatever the process is, always flowing and focused on linking the storytelling to the visual language, even in small and imperceptible ways and details.
Causeway is streaming on Apple TV now.
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Keanu Reeves is reprising one of his (many) iconic roles. Colliderbroke the story that Reeves is in Prague, prepared to reprise his role as John Wick in the Ana de Armas-led Ballerina, a John Wick spinoff.
Reeves will now join Ian McShane, who is also returning to the franchise as Winston, the manager of the Continental Hotel.
Lionsgate, the studio behind John Wick and Ballerina, have yet to confirm Reeves’ casting, but they did confirm that McShane is returning. Ballerina will find Ana de Armas playing a young assassin on a path of vengeance against those who killed her family. So yes, her motivation is just slightly more pressing than John Wick’s was in the very first movie, when he was avenging the death of his dog Daisy. That’s about all the information anyone has on the plot of Ballerina, nor is anyone quite sure how big of a role Reeves will have in the film.
Ballerina producer Basil Iwanyk did confirm that McShane’s role will be meaty. “We’re thrilled to have Ian McShane joining us for a pivotal role in Ballerina,” Iwanyk said in a statement. “He’s been such an integral part of the franchise since the original John Wick. It’s been fun to have him on this journey as the Wick universe expands.”
Ballerina will be directed by Len Wiseman from a script by Shay Hatten. We’ve already seen how capable De Armas is in an action role—she nearly stole No Time To Dieright out from under Daniel Craig in her brief, thrilling turn as a Paloma, a CIA agent working in Cuba. Before we see her kicking butt in Ballerina, however, we’ve got Reeves and McShane teaming up once again in John Wick: Chapter 4, which is due in theaters on March 24, 2023.
Featured image: Keanu Reeves stars as ‘John Wick’ in JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM. Photo by Niko Tavernise. Courtesy Lionsgate.
The reviews are pouring in for co-writer/director Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and while they’re not surprising, it’s still heartening and amazing that the Black Panther team pulled this off. Marvel Cinematic Universe fans and movie fans, in general, are still brokenhearted over the loss of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who passed away at 43 in August 2020. A sequel without him seemed unthinkable until it was a reality, and even given the immense talent involved, it was still hard to imagine how Coogler and his team were going to pull this off. Even Coogler himself admitted that he struggled initially with how they might move on without their North Star.
Coogler had to completely re-tool the script for Wakanda Forever after the tragic loss of Boseman, and the result is a powerful, soulful, riveting sequel that pays its proper respect to its lost star. Boseman’s portrayal of T’Challa in Coogler’s 2018 Black Panther meant the world to millions of people, especially young Black boys and Black men the world over. That film changed the landscape not only of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but arguably for the broader film community. Wakanda Forever offers an MCU film that deals directly with the grief over Boseman’s absence.
RollingStone‘s K. Austin Collins, for example, writes in his review that viewers should both be “prepared to weep” in the theater. The headline of his review calls the film a “grief-stricken tribute.” Coogler has created a “messier movie trying to reckon with a messier range of feelings.” This is not, it goes without saying, typical for a superhero film.
Among many facets of the film that critics are applauding are the performances Coogler got from his cast, specifically returning star Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda and newcomer Tenoch Huerta as the film’s villain Namor. The cast, which includes returning stars Letitia Wright as Shuri, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, and Winston Duke as M’Baku, had to bring their everything to a shoot that must have felt very much like an extended, painful tribute to the memory of their colleague and friend.
Now, with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever mere days away from its premiere (November 11), critics are telling the world what Coogler and his cast and crew have known for a while now—they gave it everything they have.
Without further ado, let’s take a brief, spoiler-free look at what the critics are saying:
Get ready for all the feels when you watch #BlackPanther: Wakanda Forever, a profound (and, naturally, action-packed) story about life, loss and family legacy https://t.co/92FLvjyS64
What Ryan Coogler accomplishes w/ #WakandaForever is astonishing, imo. Aside from the pressure of delivering a sequel to #BlackPanther, itself a global phenomenon, he had to do so while he & his cast & crew were mourning the loss of star Chadwick Bosemanpic.twitter.com/JM8uvQCZC1
Grief is not felt in slow motion. It hits hard and fast like waves on the shore. #BlackPanther#WakandaForever is a true epic, offering catharsis whether you’re mourning Chadwick Boseman or someone more personal. My review on Marvel’s most moving film yet: https://t.co/qRABVvtK7A
#BlackPanther has so much swagger. Wright fulfills leading woman shoes w/ ease, Bassett crushes, but Huerta’s Namor is my rockstar. Brilliant use of music / costumes too. And shoutout MCU Boston! Criticisms are minuscule – this is the theatrical course correction Phase 4 needed. pic.twitter.com/Mjo6iAyB7M
#BlackPanther#WakandaForever is absolutely brutal and absolutely beautiful. It drags out just a little too long in some parts, but so much of it is genuinely exhilarating that I almost didn’t mind. I am in awe for so many reasons. pic.twitter.com/XcWEDFU6Tu
#BlackPanther#WakandaForever contributes different stakes to the MCU that feel fresh and exciting. Angela Bassett is magnificent. Killer soundtrack. Highly cathartic and respectful to Chadwick Boseman’s memory and the impact he made on the world. pic.twitter.com/nPbWEB3PyC
Reneé Rapp’s eyes light up as she excitedly discusses the November 11 release of her upcoming debut EP, EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE. It’s something she’s wanted for a long time.
“I always wanted to do music,” she tells me over Zoom. “That was all I ever wanted to do.”
While an incredibly talented actor in her own right, music has been the driving force behind most of the decision making in her budding career. In high school, she sought to convince her parents to let her skip college and try to make it as an artist.
“My parents were like, well, ‘You have to go to college,’ and I was like, ‘No, no, no, I want to be Beyoncé,’” she jokes. “And they were like, ‘No, no, no, you have to make money.”
Renee Rapp in “The Sex Lives of College Girls.” Courtesy HBO Max.
She continued making music anyway but wasn’t making any money. And the consistent rejections by record labels and managers weren’t helping her case.
“I was basically just told, like, ‘Look, we don’t understand you,’” she said, recounting failed meetings she had with potential labels. “‘We don’t think it makes sense.’ And so I honestly got very spiteful. And I was like, OK, I’m going to make you pay attention to me (I hope).”
She made up her mind that she needed to go to a performing arts high school after researching a West End star who got her start winning regional and national high school musical theater competitions.
“I was like, well, music is in New York for me right now,” she explains matter-of-factly. “So if I can do that and get a job working in New York or on Broadway, then my parents will let me not go to school, and I’ll have a job, and I’ll be able to make a name for myself.”
And that’s exactly what she did.
In 2018, she won the Jimmy Awards — a national high school musical theater competition. A year later, she made her Broadway debut as Regina George in Mean Girls.
But when the pandemic hit, temporarily postponing her Broadway career, Rapp thought it was as good of a time as any to hunker down and work on her music, but her agents had other plans.
“My agents at the time were like, ‘You should audition for this TV show,’” she said. “And I was like, ‘I really don’t think I’m cut out to do that.’”
Spoiler: she was precisely cut out to do that. She booked the role of the closeted queer mean girl, Leighton Murray, in Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble’s HBO comedy, TheSex Lives of College Girls.
“And so now, I…am also an actor,” she admits sarcastically, with the self-deprecating humor of someone who isn’t used to bragging about themselves.
With a phenomenal vocal range and a starring role on a hit HBO show, Rapp is still incredibly humble. She has a charisma and wit that is hard to pinpoint, and a down-to-earth personality that easily endears her to others.
But despite her success, Rapp admits she has struggled with imposter syndrome. It’s something she has made progress in overcoming, but said her initial transition from Broadway to TV was “intimidating.”
“I didn’t think I was able to act even when I was on Broadway,” she says. “So to me, I was still just so scared when I started working on the show. It was really intimidating. And I had a hellifide amount of imposter syndrome. And that’s not to say that I don’t anymore, but it definitely was a big part of my life for a really long time.”
On Sex Lives, Rapp’s character has a very poignant storyline in Season 1: hiding her sexuality from herself and everyone around her, and struggling with the internal pressures she’s facing in labeling her identity. It isn’t until the season finale that we see Leighton finally start to embrace her identity.
Rapp has said in the past that she sees some of her own experience reflected in Leighton — something she confirms now that she uses to guide Leighton’s choices and add context to her actions.
“I’ve learned over time that the only way to do it right is to just try to be as myself as I possibly can be,” she explains carefully. “So a lot of times, it’s like not thinking about what I’m doing, and just doing it and executing it in the way that Reneé would…that’s how Leighton will show up — just embellished a little bit.”
Renee Rapp and Midori Francis in “The Sex Lives of College Girls.” Courtesy HBO Max.
Because of her role and her openness about her own sexual identity, Reneé has become somewhat of a queer icon both on TV and on TikTok with her fans — a responsibility she does not take lightly.
“I pay attention very specifically to what people say and to [how] people resonate with the character, because I want that,” she says emphatically. “I’m not solely playing this character for myself.”
Her biggest fear? Disappointing people, but especially her fans and the community she has built.
“I truly, literally, don’t want to disappoint people,” she says.
It’s hard to imagine Rapp could ever disappoint her fans. She has amassed a TikTok following of 666,000 (and growing) who she frequently interacts with — answering questions about her music, the show, and posting hilarious behind-the-scenes clips of her and castmember Alyah Chanelle Scott (Whitney) on set.
Alyah Chanelle and Renee Rapp in “The Sex Lives of College Girls.” Courtesy HBO Max.
She loves that TikTok has given her such ease of access for direct communication with her fans.
“I really feel like I am never understood unless I am singing,” she says. “And I feel like Tik Tok is a perfect medium for me as not only a human being, but also, really importantly, to me as a songwriter, to be able to find that community and that sort of level of friendship because I feel like I’m fans of my fans.”
There is a noticeable change in Rapp’s confidence when she talks about music — she’s comfortable. The passion she feels for her craft is practically pouring out of her.
Maybe one day we’ll be lucky enough to see Leighton sing a few bars on the show…
Reneé Rapp’s debut EP, EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE comes out this Friday, Nov. 11. And Season 2 of Sex Lives of College Girls airs Nov. 17.
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has caught another massive star in its web.
Daniel Kaluuya has officially joined the cast of the upcoming Spider-Versesequel. The Oscar-winner will lend his voice to a cast that includes Shameik Moore as Miles Morales/Spider-Man, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacey/Spider-Gwen, Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara, Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker, Issa Rae as Jessica Drew, Brian Tyree Henry as Jefferson Davis, Jorma Taccone as the Vulture, Jason Schwartzman as Jonathan Ohnn/The Spot, and Shea Whigham as George Stacey. The sequel is to be directed by the trio of Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson.
We don’t know much about the plot for Across the Spider-Verse, but we do know that Miles Morales (Moore), Brooklyn’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, will be reteaming with Spider-Gwen (Steinfeld) and a new crew of Spider-People to help take on a supervillain. Kaluuya’s Hobart “Hobie” Brown, better known as Spider-Punk, was created by writer Dan Slott and artist Olivier Coipel in 2015. In their telling, Brown, a homeless teenager, takes on the role of Spider-Punk and becomes a hero for New York’s oppressed in his universe.
Kaluuya recently turned in another stellar performance in Jordan Peele’s sci-fi epic Nope and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his brilliant performance in Judas and the Black Messiah. He adds yet more star power to a film that’s already boasting a great ensemble cast.
Into the Spider-Verse veterans Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham wrote the script, with the original film’s directors, Peter Ramsey and Bob Persichetti, executive producing alongside Aditya Sood. Across the Spider-Verse is set to hit theaters on June 2, 2023.
Across the Spider-Verse will be the middle installment of what’s planned as a trilogy, with Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse pegged for a March 29, 2024, release date.
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Featured image: LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 28: Daniel Kaluuya attends the UK premiere of “NOPE” at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on July 28, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Universal)
One of the most surprising bits of news to hit the movie world in recent months was that somehow, some way, Hugh Jackman is reprising his role as Wolverine for Deadpool 3. After years of their fun-loving back-and-forth, Ryan Reynolds had gotten Hugh Jackman to don the adamantium claws for another go-round, this despite the fact that Wolverine definitively dies in director James Mangold’s Logan. It’s movie magic, people—anything’s possible.
Now, thanks to an interview with Collider, we know how Reynolds managed to get Jackman back into the fold. Reynolds was chatting with Collider to discuss his upcoming holiday film Spirited, but he had to have known he was going to get The Jackman Question. And sure enough, Reynolds was game to answer, revealing that he had a little bit less to do with actually getting Jackman to star in Deadpool 3 as one might expect. Or perhaps he was being overly modest?
“I think you’re giving me too much credit. I don’t believe that I’m responsible for Hugh coming back,” Reynolds told Collider. “I always wanted Hugh to come back. My first meeting with Kevin Feige when Disney bought Fox years ago, maybe three years ago, or three and a half, four years ago, I’m not sure, was about doing a movie with the two of us, a Deadpool Wolverine movie. And that was not possible at the time. And then Hugh just happened to call at that perfect moment and express that he’d be interested in coming back and doing this one more time. And the contents of that conversation, I’ll let Hugh [explain] because I know it’s only inevitable that you and Hugh are going to speak at some point soon, I’m sure. I’ll let Hugh answer that on his own. But he expressed interest in coming back, and then it was my job to take that to Kevin Feige one more time and sell it.”
Reynolds said that getting to see Wade Wilson and Logan in a film together was “beyond any dream I was audacious enough to have.” More from Reynolds:
“It’s not like adding Hugh Jackman to a movie like this is a hard sell. It’s an immediate and emphatic, unqualified yes. It’s a lot of moving parts and Fox and X-Men and all that kind of stuff that Marvel needs to sort through. A lot of red tape in order to make that happen. And they did it. And I’m really grateful that they did it because, for me, working with Hugh is a dream come true. But working with Logan and having Logan and Wade together in a movie is beyond any dream I would ever be audacious enough to have. So I’m really, really super f**king excited to do this film.”
For you who have been keeping the Wolverine-and-Deadpool score, you know that this is not the first time Jackman and Reynolds have appeared in a film together in these roles; it’s just that when that did happen, for 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Reynolds’ Wade Wilson was a shade of the character he’d re-introduce to the world in 2016 with Deadpool. For that 2009 version, Wilson’s mouth was literally sewn shut, which is hilarious in retrospect, considering one of the biggest draws of Reynolds as Deadpool is his unstoppable, hilarious yammering. In fact, that first version of Deadpool was so far from what Reynolds wanted for the character that in a credit sequence for Deadpool 2, his current iteration of the character goes back in time to kill that first version.
The point being? That Deadpool 3 will give us the team-up between Reynolds’ Wade Wilson and Jackman’s Logan that fans, and these two stars, have wanted for a long time. Deadpool 3, to be directed by Shawn Levy, is due in theaters on November 8, 2024.
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Featured image: NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 28: Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds attends “The Adam Project” New York Premiere on February 28, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
The cast of Star Wars: The Acolyte keeps getting better and better.
Disney+ has confirmed the cast for the upcoming series, and it includes Carrie-Anne Moss, fresh from reprising her iconic role as Trinity in The Matrix series. Moss joins Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Dean-Charles Chapman (1917), and Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna). It’s a great ensemble joining an already potent cast.
Moss and company are joining series lead Amanda Stenberg (The Hate You Give, Bodies Bodies Bodies), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim, After Yang), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), and Manny Jacinto (Nine Perfect Strangers).
The new series is led by writer/director/producer/showrunner Leslye Headland and is centered on Stenberg’s titular Acolyte, a term for a student studying the Dark Side under the instruction of a Sith Lord. The series is being billed as a mystery/thriller and is set during the final days of the High Republic era. I will be the first live-action Star Wars series to focus on the galaxy’s most feared and loathed force practitioners. The dark-side powers that will be on display in The Acolyte will put a former Padawan and her Jedi Master who are investigating a series of crimes to the test.
The Acolyte will join the galaxy’s growing list of live-action shows on Disney+, which includes The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Andor, which is currently streaming.
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Featured image: Caption: CARRIE-ANNE MOSS as Trinity in Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and Venus Castina Productions’ “THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
The official trailer for writer/director Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery reveals, at long last, a bit more of the film’s plot. Yet don’t expect the new trailer to unpeel the entire Glass Onion, or even the facts of the case, but it does offer us the setting, and a bit of set-up, to Johnson’s sequel.
Here’s what the trailer reveals: Edward Norton’s Miles Bron has gathered a slew of guests to an epic Greek mansion to play a little game of murder. The idea is this; Bron has scattered clues around the property that will lead the guests to the murderer—the victim is Bron himself—and whoever pieces together the crime gets to win the prize. The funny thing is one of the guests is none other than detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, of course), so the game would seem to be rigged. Who among the rest of the assembled oddballs could best Blanc in detective skills? So, something is clearly amiss, and an actual murder will, of course, take place. Yet the trailer seems to suggest that even Blanc is having trouble with the rules of this particular game while the murderer is on the loose and likely to strike again.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will have a one-week theatrical run starting November 23 (making it eligible for Oscars) and then start streaming on Netflix on December 23. For quite a few critics who have already seen Glass Onion, it surpasses the original. There are reasons galore to be excited for this film.
Joining Craig and Norton is a phenomenal cast that includes Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista. This list doesn’t include the cameos, but those folks, like the film’s many twists and turns, are part of the secrets Johnson and the rest of us want to stay hidden.
Check out the official trailer here:
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Black Adam editor Mike Sale, who worked alongside editor John Lee, says they wanted to make a film where the title character, played by the ever-magnetic Dwayne Johnson, did not turn into a hero by its end, which, as far as superhero blockbusters go, is decidedly not the norm. What they wanted to do was develop a narrative that plays into what is good (or evil) and how perspective can frame that viewpoint. The theme is finely threaded throughout director Jaume Collet-Serra’s film, leaving you on edge, wondering who will be left standing—and whether you can root for Johnson’s enigmatic, hugely powerful Black Adam.
We first learn that Black Adam, or Teth Adam as he’s called until the climatic final sequence, has been entombed for 5,000 years for using his divine powers for vengeance. Now released, thanks to some timely hieroglyphic reading from Adrianna (Sarah Shahi), he’s back hovering in the streets of Kahndaq, where its people look at him as a grand champion. As told by Adrianna’s son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui), their hope is to be freed from a villainous group known as Intergang that has taken over their village. But when Black Adam begins to flex his muscles, the Justice Society – Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) step in to stop him.
But sorry, Justice Society, this is Black Adam. He’s going to do what he wants.
The epic fight that ensues is a delicate balance of exposition, character introduction, and action that is a masterclass in superhero editing. The scene demanded heavy lifting from visual effects, but it all started out in preproduction with a detailed previs from additional editor Krisztian Majdik. The team benefited from a production delay due to the pandemic allowing Collet-Serra to spend more time in the previs stage.
“We brought Krisztianon as an additional editor through post, so instead of this divide between picture editors and the previs editors, there was this amazing continuity,” says Sale. “The reason why we could elevate that scene to that level was because we had the storytellers and the people designing all those great fight moments working together all the way through post.”
The sequence is a firestorm of heroics as each member of the Justice Society is introduced, wielding their immense powers. None more impressive than Doctor Fate recreating the entire city of Kahndaq as it was long ago as a distraction for Hawkman to pummel Black Adam. When Cyclone enters the fight, a storm of debris and scaffolding is lifted into the air like a feather blowing in the wind. She shoots the metal pieces toward Black Adam, creating a cell-like prison. And for thepièce de résistance, a gigantic Atom Smasher rushing in to smash Black Adam into the ground underneath his palm…
Sale and Lee tightened and tweaked the sequence, piecing together the finishing touches, including moments of comic relief like when Atom realizes he’s running in the wrong direction to the fight. Music from Lorne Balfe added a layer to each character’s theme as the editors wanted to “give everyone a hero moment” in the action. The editors also asked for specific visual effects shots to tie up loose ends and removed storylines that didn’t focus on the fight among the heroes. For example, an earlier cut had more of the Kahndaq people involved, but it was “pared down to keep it cleaner.” The motif in cutting the non-stop action was to keep the audience guessing about who was going to prevail. “We wanted to make it murky but not confusing,” notes Sale.
Black Adam works because it tells a different type of story in the superhero genre. It leaves it up to the audience to decide who’s good, who’s bad, and who deserves to win… until the very end.
Featured image: Caption: (L-r) DWAYNE JOHNSON as Black Adam and ALDIS HODGE as Hawkman in New Line Cinema’s action adventure “BLACK ADAM,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had a historic premiere in Lagos, Nigeria on Sunday evening. It marks the first time a Marvel movie has held a premiere here, and some of the biggest stars from the film were on hand for the black carpet rollout. Wakanda Forever played on multiple screens at Filmhouse Cinemas IMAX Lekki. The Nigerian premiere was held in association with the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) and FilmOne Entertainment. The AFRIFF is now in full swing, running from November 6 to 12. Wakanda Forever co-writer and director Ryan Coogler will be giving a masterclass there.
Coogler and returning Black Panther stars Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, and Winston Duke were on hand in Lagos, joined by newcomers to the world of Wakanda—Tenoch Huerta and Michaela Coel. Producer Nate Moore was also in Lagos, along with soundtrack artists and producers.
Wakanda Forever opens wide on Friday, November 11—it has already made its world premiere in Los Angeles and made its European debut at Cineworld Leicester Square in London this past week.
Chioma Ude, the founder of AFRIFF, said this about the premiere being hosted in Nigeria and its association with the festival: “We are excited and proud to be a part of the premiere of this milestone film here in Africa. This is huge for the continent of Africa as it symbolizes to us further bridging of the gaps between the global film industries,” she said.
The first Black Panther, which starred the late Chadwick Boseman, remains the number one film in both East and West Africa. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens wide in Nigeria on November 11, the same as it does in the U.S., while its international release date begins officially on November 9 in France. Needless to say, it’s one of the most highly-anticipated films of the year.
For more on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, check out these stories:
