4 Must-Read Comics Before Watching James Gunn’s “Superman”
James Gunn’s Superman soars into theaters July 11. The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy writer/director, along with Peter Safran, are the two new heads of the newly unified and invigorated DC Studios, and they’ve made their ambitions clear. They announced a number of projects in the first chapter of the DC Universe (DCU) dubbed “Gods and Monsters,” in which Superman is the inaugural feature film.
Meet Nikkolas Smith: The Artist Who Painted the Soul of Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” and “Sinners”
In creating one of the year’s most talked about movie sequences, Sinners filmmaker Ryan Coogler assembled his de facto repertory company including Michael B. Jordan, production designer Hannah Beachler, costume designer Ruth Carter, DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw, composer Ludwig Göransson, and a lesser known member of his team: concept artist Nikkolas Smith. Smith previously worked on Black Panther and Wakanda Forever.
Eye in the Sky: How “F1” Aerial Cinematographer Phil Arntz Delivered Cinema’s Most Heart-Pounding Racing Sequences
Continuing in the tradition of his last blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski returns this summer with Apple’s most successful theatrical outing to date, with the sleek and thrilling racing drama F1, grossing north of $144 million on opening weekend. In a world where every fraction of a second could cost you a trophy—or worse, your life— Brad Pitt’s veteran driver, Sonny Hayes, wants to build “a car for combat” in order to salvage his old buddy Ruben’s (Javier Bardem) APXGP team.
“Duster” Production Designer Jonah Markowitz Brings 1970s Arizona to 2025 New Mexico
The moment writer-director-producer J.J. Abrams saw actor Josh Holloway pull up to a pay phone in a vintage mini-muscle car, he knew what his next show would be. Duster, co-created with LaToya Morgan and streaming on HBO through July 3, casts Holloway, revered for his role in Abrams’ ABC hit Lost, as fast-driving rogue Jim Ellis, whose entanglement with drug dealers in 1972 Phoenix warrants the attention of Rachel Bilson’s Phoenix FBI Agent Dana Hayes.
“Jurassic World: Rebirth” Review Round-Up: Dinos Rule Again in Roaring Fun Addition to the Franchise
The dinosaurs are back — and this time, they brought heart. Jurassic World: Rebirth (in theaters now), the seventh entry in the iconic dino-saga, lands with a thunderous roar and a surprisingly soulful step. This film may be the shot of prehistoric adrenaline this 30+ year-old franchise needed. Directed by Rogue One and Godzilla helmer Gareth Edwards, and written by Jurassic Park OG David Koepp,
Inside the Bone Temple: How Designers Carson McColl & Gareth Pugh Crafted the Pagan-Apocalyptic World of “28 Years Later”
Serving as both production designers and costume designers for director Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later was a groundbreaking career moment for Carson McColl and Gareth Pugh.
Not only is the post-apocalyptic coming-of-age horror film the first film they have worked on, but the married couple, known as Hard and Shiny, is best known for their high fashion and for having worked with such icons as Beyoncé and Lady Gaga.
It’s Glen Powell vs. America in the First “The Running Man” Trailer
Glen Powell is in trouble.
In reality, Glen Powell is doing great, but his character, Ben Richards, sure is, in the first trailer for Edgar Wright’s The Running Man, a reboot of the 1987 sci-fi classic starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the same role.
The conceit is tidy and brutal and will sound familiar, even to folks too young to have seen the original but who have seen Squid Game—Ben’s a down-on-his-luck husband and father in desperate need of cash.
“M3GAN 2.0” Writer/Director Gerard Johnstone on Killer Tech, Callbacks, and Respecting Genre
M3GAN 2.0 has gumption. The sequel to the Blumhouse production doesn’t play it safe by rehashing a formula. Instead, writer/director Gerard Johnstone rips up any atypical sequel blueprint and goes for broke in an action-comedy: a mad tech bro or two, a kitchen that kills (thanks to AI), and the proud influence of Steven Segal’s finest pictures.
M3GAN (Jenna Davis) never truly died. Silicon Valley and beyond are still reeling from her dance-happy killing spree from the first movie,
Sylmar Studios: Hollywood’s New Production Powerhouse Built for the Modern Era
Sylmar Studios, a new 230,000-square-foot production facility, has opened its doors in the San Fernando Valley. The state-of-the-art facility offers six soundstages, production offices, support for dressing rooms, wardrobe, green rooms, and a substantial lighting and grip department, along with a massive 600-space parking structure. The studio is also set to receive MPA’s Trusted Partner Network certification, a program designed to meet strict security standards in the media and entertainment industry.
Since opening in January 2025,
The Great Escape: How Wrapbook is Freeing Hollywood from Payroll Hell
Wrapbook was founded with the idea of streamlining payroll and accounting services for the entertainment industry. Since its inception in 2018, the company has made significant strides in achieving this goal by creating a platform that seamlessly combines onboarding, payroll processing, expense tracking, and real-time financial reporting within a single interface.
“At Wrapbook, what’s really been coming together is the integrated experience for a company between payroll, accounts payable, and accounting.
The Secret Behind “M3GAN 2.0”: FX Duo Adrien Morot & Kathy Tse Reveal How They Perfected Horror’s Creepiest Eyes
Early in M3GAN 2.0 (in theaters now), the robotic title character complains to her maker Gemma (Allison Williams) about being confined to the clunky body of Teletubby simply because it/she killed a bunch of people in the first movie. Negotiating for an upgrade to fend off a weapons-grade android, M3gan says, “I want to be stronger. Faster. And while you’re at it, make me taller.”
That last demand posed a challenge to Morot FX Studio principals Adrien Morot and his wife,
From “Seven” to “Karate Kid: Legends”: How Central City Association of Los Angeles Champions Downtown LA’s Star Power
Nella McOsker is the President and CEO of Central City Association of Los Angeles (CCA), an advocacy group for businesses and organizations in downtown LA. I reached out to discuss how filmmaking impacts local businesses downtown during a particularly hectic time, when McOsker, like the rest of the city, was navigating the recent protests that spread across the city. “There’s a way to channel what they’re experiencing or feeling and the values they want to uphold towards supporting small businesses,” McOsker said.
How “F1” Production Designer Ben Munro Built Real Racing Garages That Traveled the World
Architect-turned-director Joseph Kosinski knows how to build action movies modeled, more than most, on analog reality. Following on Top Gun: Maverick, Kosinski has re-teamed with producer Jerry Bruckheimer to put Brad Pitt in the driver’s seat for F-1 (now in theaters). The filmmakers, deploying cinematographer Claudio Miranda’s ingenious camera rigs, worked with producer/ex-driver James Lewis to secure cooperation from the Formula One organization so that Pitt and co-star Damon Idris could get behind the wheels of real cars in front of actual crowds and speed down raceways in UK,
Steven Spielberg’s Universal Legacy Immortalized with Dedicated Theater and Secret Film Reveal
If anyone has earned a movie theater to be dedicated in their honor, it’s Steven Spielberg.
The legendary director was feted on Thursday night at Universal Studios, where a state-of-the-art theater was dedicated to him. On hand were NBCUniversal Entertainment Chairwoman Donna Langley and a slew of A-list stars, there to celebrate his legacy. “It’s not just a place that is founded on his extraordinary legacy, but it is a place of future hopes and dreams of filmmakers,
From Harvard Dorm to Global Crisis: Aaron Sorkin Developing “The Social Network Part II”
Aaron Sorkin has long hinted at the potential for a sequel to his Oscar-winning 2010 film, The Social Network, which he wrote and David Fincher directed. That film, based on Ben Mezrich’s “The Accidental Millionaires,” starred Jesse Eisenberg as a young Mark Zuckerberg, and tracked Zuckerberg’s early years at Harvard when he created the social networking site that would end up becoming the colossus Facebook, and the legal troubles that arose when he was challenged by the Winklevoss twins,
From “Dune” to 007: Denis Villeneuve Will Direct Next James Bond Film
Director Denis Villeneuve is going from the sands of Arrakis to His Majesty’s Secret Service.
Villeneuve, one of the most sought-after directors working today, will helm the next James Bond movie, the first from Amazon MGM Studios. He’ll be aided by Tanya Lapointe, his artistic partner and wife, who will once again serve as his executive producer. Amy Pascal and David Heyman are set to produce.
Villeneuve was,
The Silver Surfer Crashes Dinner in Final “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” Trailer
The final trailer for director Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps has arrived, and in it, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) arrives just before the Four are about to sit down for dinner and proves she’s one of Marvel’s mightiest buzzkills.
“I herald his beginning,” the Silver Surfer says, floating on her cosmic board, looking quite regal, albeit made of a galactic glaze. “I herald your end.” The beginning she’s heralding is that of Galactus (Ralph Ineson),
From Wakanda to Chicago: Riri Williams Returns Home as Marvel’s “Ironheart” Arrives on Disney+
When we first met Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) on screen in Ryan Coogler‘s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, she was a genius student inventor who had skills not seen since Tony Stark was in the game. Riri ended up becoming a massive ringer for Team Wakanda after they tapped Riri and her Tony Stark-level tech to help them in a moment of extreme danger—they’d just lost their Black Panther (the late,
“F1: The Movie” Review Round-Up: Brad Pitt & Damson Idris Blaze Through Joseph Kosinski’s High-Octane Racing Drama
The reviews are in, and F1 has roared onto the scene with all the sound, speed, and spectacle one could hope for in a modern racing blockbuster. Helmed by Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski and bolstered by real Grand Prix footage and a star-powered cast led by Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, F1 is being hailed as a slick, turbo-charged thrill ride, doing for the race track what Maverick did for the fighter-jet-carved skies.
Inside Wes Anderson’s Art Hunt: Curator Jasper Sharp on Securing Real Masterpieces for “The Phoenician Scheme”
Early on in The Phoenician Scheme, Benicio del Toro’s billionaire character Zsa Zsa Korda tells one of his nine sons, “Never buy good pictures. Buy masterpieces.” The line comes and goes in a flash, but Zsa Zsa’s not kidding, and neither was director Wes Anderson. So, Anderson and his team built out a palatial realm brimming with real paintings — not reproductions — created by the likes of legendary artists,
Not Playing Games: “Squid Game” Star Lee Jung-jae on Gi-hun’s Transformation in Final Seasons
Season 2 of Squid Game revealed protagonist Gi-hun’s desperate transformation from spirited and naïve recruit to traumatized and hardened champion. The iconic wide smile he flashed in his player photo has faded with the knowledge that more lives are on the line. Actor Lee Jung-jae appreciated the new depth his character has developed.
“I was really drawn to that personality of Gi-hun, where he is quite optimistic.
Lighting Love in LA: How “Nobody Wants This” DP Adrian Peng Correia Lit Netflix’s Coziest Rom-Com
The moment Nobody Wants This became one of Netflix’s most beloved romantic comedies comes at the end of the second episode. Rabbi Noah (Adam Brody) and podcaster Joanne (Kristen Bell) have been glancing off one another in an uneasy will-they-or-won’t-they start to their relationship that finally ends in a kiss over ice cream. But it’s not just any kiss, Joanne later tells her sister, Morgan (Justine Lupe), but the greatest kiss of her life.
Man of Tomorrow, Today: Official “Superman” Trailer Reveals James Gunn’s Bold Vision for Man of Steel
The official trailer for James Gunn’s Superman has arrived, offering a bevy of new footage of the hotly anticipated feature film that will officially kickstart Gunn’s new-look DC Studios.
The trailer opens with a close-up of David Corenswet’s Clark Kent/Superman and Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane. As Brosnahan teased recently, the film begins with Clark and Lois already in a relationship, and Clark has given Lois the most unbeatable scoop—she can interview him as his alter ego,
Designing Dance: Production Designer Bill Groom’s Meticulous Ballet World-Building in “Étoile”
In the world of ballet as dramatized in Étoile, prickly personalities throw tantrums one minute and dance with exquisite grace the next. Created by former dancer Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Dan Palladino, the Amazon Prime series (now streaming) follows imagines a contentious talent swap between New York and Parisian dance companies desperate to create buzz about their new seasons.
It doesn’t go well.
The quarrelsome characters include Cheyanne (Lou De Laâge) the world’s best ballet dancer and eco-activist who publicly denounces the company’s billionaire arms-dealer benefactor;
From Shadow to Spotlight: How Elizabeth Dulau’s Kleya Became the Hidden Heartbeat of “Andor”
Tony Gilroy‘s masterful Andor has come to an end. The two-season prequel to Gilroy’s 2016 film Rogue One just delivered arguably the finest storytelling in the Star Wars universe since The Empire Strikes Back. That’s a bold and possibly needless assertion, but if you watched the series (and if you’re reading this, you likely did), my guess is you’d agree. While season one fleshed out Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) fitful,
How “28 Years Later” DP Anthony Dod Mantle Mounted 20 iPhones to a Custom Rig For Danny Boyle’s Thrilling Sequel
Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle helped unleash an indie-film revolution as a key member of Denmark’s Dogma movement, utilizing handheld digital video camcorders and available light to shoot dramas of unsettling intensity. In 2002, he drew on that low-tech aesthetic to film 28 Days Later for director Danny Boyle. Now, six movies into their ongoing collaboration, comes 28 Years Later (opening Friday, June 20).
Blues, Blood, & Big Formats: How DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw Brought “Sinners” to Epic, IMAX-Sized Life
Yes, there are vampires, but Sinners also excels as a period piece, a history lesson, a romance, a drama, an action movie, and a music-driven drama in ways that have made director Ryan Coogler‘s fifth movie the top-grossing original film of the decade. Based on his own script about gangster twins Smoke and Stack (played by Michael B. Jordan) who return to their Mississippi roots with a bag of ill-gotten cash and a plan to start their own juke joint in the middle of the woods,
Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie’s Final Dive: “The Final Reckoning” Writer/Director Takes Us Inside the Submarine Stunt That Caps a Franchise
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning closes out a behemoth chapter of writer/director Christopher McQuarrie’s career. For over a decade, he’s crafted missions for Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) to accept, starting with an uncredited rewrite on Ghost Protocol. He stepped behind the camera for his first film in the franchise as director, the muscular Rogue Nation, which included Cruise holding onto the side of an Airbus A400M as it took off and rose to 5,000 feet,
Lethal Intelligence: How DP Martin Ruhe Shot a Decoder’s Revenge in “The Amateur”
Tapping into nostalgia for ‘90s spy thrillers of late, 20th Century Studios’ globe-trotting espionage revenge thriller features Rami Malek’s quietly ingenious CIA decryption analyst as the everyman reluctant hero. “He’s not a killer, he’s not trained with weapons, he probably wouldn’t survive in a fist fight. So, he has to be smarter than everybody else,” says German cinematographer Martin Ruhe (Showtime series The Agency, The Tender Bar) of Malek’s Charlie Heller.
Game Changer: “Squid Game” Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk on his Audacious Ambitions for Seasons 2 & 3
Squid Game is a provocative experiment not only in strategy and skill, but also in the addictive pursuit of risking it all – even death – for a big win. Ironically, the show’s episodes are equally addictive, and fans demanded more after the innovative first season. Series creator, writer, and director Hwang Dong-hyuk didn’t intend to return to the intense filming schedule, but demand drove him to continue the captivating competition.
From Indie Darling to Action Hero: Katy O’Brian on Her Leap from “Love Lies Bleeding” to “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”
If there’s a performer well-suited for the world of Mission: Impossible, it’s Katy O’Brian. The films are wildly ambitious technical endeavors – hugely physical and highly creative. Those are just a few of the characteristics that define O’Brian’s work, both on and off screen. On screen, she’s appeared in a galaxy far, far away in the world of Star Wars (The Mandalorian), mixed it up with superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania),
Marvel’s First Family Finally Arrives: New “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” Teaser Showcases Stunning Retro-Future World
A new teaser for director Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps has arrived, and along with new footage comes the news that tickets are now on sale. The new look situates the importance of family for Marvel’s upcoming reboot, which is fitting considering the Fantastic Four are Marvel’s First Family (they were created by Marvel Comics legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on August 8, 1961, ushering in a new level of realism to the comics medium.) We see glimpses of the Silver Sufer (Julia Garner) arriving in New York as the herald to a coming catastrophe that is the world-eating Marvel supervillain Galactus (Ralph Ineson),
“F1: The Movie” Review Round-Up: Brad Pitt & Damson Idris Blaze Through Joseph Kosinski’s High-Octane Racing Drama
The reviews are in, and F1 has roared onto the scene with all the sound, speed, and spectacle one could hope for in a modern racing blockbuster. Helmed by Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski and bolstered by real Grand Prix footage and a star-powered cast led by Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, F1 is being hailed as a slick, turbo-charged thrill ride, doing for the race track what Maverick did for the fighter-jet-carved skies.
Stitch, Surf, and Studio Magic: DP Nigel Bluck Takes Us Into the Wild World of the Live-Action “Lilo & Stitch”
Lilo & Stitch is charming audiences across the globe. Disney’s latest live-action remake, directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, is not only a box-office smash but also a heartfelt reimagining that has tapped into the power of Zillennial nostalgia in a big way. Based on the 2002 animated film, the new live-action Hawaii-set buddy comedy between young Lilo (Maia Kealoha) and her new alien pal, Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders), is full of energy and light,
“Black Mirror” Creator Charlie Brooker on Remaking Reality
Charlie Brooker is known for many things, and depending on whom you ask, you might get a different answer. In England, where Brooker was born, you may hear about cult comedies The 11 O’Clock Show, Brass Eye, or Nathan Barley, which he wrote, or maybe Newswipe, where he satirizes current events, or the fictionalized reality show Dead Set about zombies attacking the Big Brother house.
Paul Giamatti on Finding Redemption in the Most Human “Black Mirror” Season 7 Episode
Seven seasons in, Charlie Brooker’s anthology series Black Mirror still gets under your skin. Usually, the load is heavy and dark, with characters’ lives driven to unambiguously worse places by technology we don’t yet have, but it feels like it may come frighteningly soon. But there’s one episode in this most recent season, Eulogy, starring Paul Giamatti, that stays in your mind for its emotional rewiring of one lonely man’s core memories.
Behind the Brutal Ballet: Stunt Pro Jackson Spidell on Training Ana de Armas for “Ballerina”
Ana de Armas had some practice acting like a bad ass in 2021 when she appeared briefly as a CIA agent doing field work in Cuba in James Bond’s No Time to Die. But in the John Wick spin-off Ballerina, now in theaters, she takes the fighting to a whole other level as Eve, an orphaned dancer determined to avenge the death of her father no matter how many men,
Watch the “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” Stunt That Earned Tom Cruise a Guinness World Record
It’s been well documented—on this site, no less—the extent to which Tom Cruise has put his body on the line for his Mission: Impossible franchise. Thirty years after we watched Cruise break into the CIA’s Black Vault in director Brian De Palma’s Mission: Impossible, we now have a portion of our cinematic memory bank filled with nothing but Cruise’s stunt work. We have seen him scale the 2,700-foot Burj Khalifa in 2011’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol and held our breath as we watched him hanging off the side of an Airbus A400m in 2015’s Rogue Nation.
How Cinematographer & Director Jessica Lee Gagné Shaped “Severance” Season 2’s Most Devastating Episode
After racking up 14 Emmy nominations for its first season in 2022, Severance returned this spring with a much-ballyhooed set of episodes that fortifies the show’s stature as a dread-saturated mind game drama on par with Twin Peaks and Lost. In the Apple TV+ + series, creepy experiments conducted by cult-like Lumon Industries center on split personalities (Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, and Dichen Lachmann) wrestling with their “innie/outie”
Building the First “Black Mirror” Sequel: How Production Designer Miranda Jones Upgraded the USS Callister Universe
Back in Season 4 of Black Mirror, an enthusiastic programmer, Nanette (Cristin Milioti), gets trapped in a virtual-reality game by its creator and her boss, Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons). Shy and self-minimizing in real life, Nanette’s in-game clone is creative and confident enough to lead the rest of her colleagues, also trapped as crew by Daly on the starship USS Callister, out through a wormhole. Black Mirror picks up the thread with a sequel in Season 7,
4 Must-Read Comics Before Watching James Gunn’s “Superman”
James Gunn’s Superman soars into theaters July 11. The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy writer/director, along with Peter Safran, are the two new heads of the newly unified and invigorated DC Studios, and they’ve made their ambitions clear. They announced a number of projects in the first chapter of the DC Universe (DCU) dubbed “Gods and Monsters,” in which Superman is the inaugural feature film.
Meet Nikkolas Smith: The Artist Who Painted the Soul of Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” and “Sinners”
In creating one of the year’s most talked about movie sequences, Sinners filmmaker Ryan Coogler assembled his de facto repertory company including Michael B. Jordan, production designer Hannah Beachler, costume designer Ruth Carter, DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw, composer Ludwig Göransson, and a lesser known member of his team: concept artist Nikkolas Smith. Smith previously worked on Black Panther and Wakanda Forever.
Eye in the Sky: How “F1” Aerial Cinematographer Phil Arntz Delivered Cinema’s Most Heart-Pounding Racing Sequences
Continuing in the tradition of his last blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski returns this summer with Apple’s most successful theatrical outing to date, with the sleek and thrilling racing drama F1, grossing north of $144 million on opening weekend. In a world where every fraction of a second could cost you a trophy—or worse, your life— Brad Pitt’s veteran driver, Sonny Hayes, wants to build “a car for combat” in order to salvage his old buddy Ruben’s (Javier Bardem) APXGP team.
“Jurassic World: Rebirth” Review Round-Up: Dinos Rule Again in Roaring Fun Addition to the Franchise
The dinosaurs are back — and this time, they brought heart. Jurassic World: Rebirth (in theaters now), the seventh entry in the iconic dino-saga, lands with a thunderous roar and a surprisingly soulful step. This film may be the shot of prehistoric adrenaline this 30+ year-old franchise needed. Directed by Rogue One and Godzilla helmer Gareth Edwards, and written by Jurassic Park OG David Koepp,
Inside the Bone Temple: How Designers Carson McColl & Gareth Pugh Crafted the Pagan-Apocalyptic World of “28 Years Later”
Serving as both production designers and costume designers for director Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later was a groundbreaking career moment for Carson McColl and Gareth Pugh.
Not only is the post-apocalyptic coming-of-age horror film the first film they have worked on, but the married couple, known as Hard and Shiny, is best known for their high fashion and for having worked with such icons as Beyoncé and Lady Gaga.
It’s Glen Powell vs. America in the First “The Running Man” Trailer
Glen Powell is in trouble.
In reality, Glen Powell is doing great, but his character, Ben Richards, sure is, in the first trailer for Edgar Wright’s The Running Man, a reboot of the 1987 sci-fi classic starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the same role.
The conceit is tidy and brutal and will sound familiar, even to folks too young to have seen the original but who have seen Squid Game—Ben’s a down-on-his-luck husband and father in desperate need of cash.
“M3GAN 2.0” Writer/Director Gerard Johnstone on Killer Tech, Callbacks, and Respecting Genre
M3GAN 2.0 has gumption. The sequel to the Blumhouse production doesn’t play it safe by rehashing a formula. Instead, writer/director Gerard Johnstone rips up any atypical sequel blueprint and goes for broke in an action-comedy: a mad tech bro or two, a kitchen that kills (thanks to AI), and the proud influence of Steven Segal’s finest pictures.
M3GAN (Jenna Davis) never truly died. Silicon Valley and beyond are still reeling from her dance-happy killing spree from the first movie,
Sylmar Studios: Hollywood’s New Production Powerhouse Built for the Modern Era
Sylmar Studios, a new 230,000-square-foot production facility, has opened its doors in the San Fernando Valley. The state-of-the-art facility offers six soundstages, production offices, support for dressing rooms, wardrobe, green rooms, and a substantial lighting and grip department, along with a massive 600-space parking structure. The studio is also set to receive MPA’s Trusted Partner Network certification, a program designed to meet strict security standards in the media and entertainment industry.
Since opening in January 2025,
The Great Escape: How Wrapbook is Freeing Hollywood from Payroll Hell
Wrapbook was founded with the idea of streamlining payroll and accounting services for the entertainment industry. Since its inception in 2018, the company has made significant strides in achieving this goal by creating a platform that seamlessly combines onboarding, payroll processing, expense tracking, and real-time financial reporting within a single interface.
“At Wrapbook, what’s really been coming together is the integrated experience for a company between payroll, accounts payable, and accounting.
The Secret Behind “M3GAN 2.0”: FX Duo Adrien Morot & Kathy Tse Reveal How They Perfected Horror’s Creepiest Eyes
Early in M3GAN 2.0 (in theaters now), the robotic title character complains to her maker Gemma (Allison Williams) about being confined to the clunky body of Teletubby simply because it/she killed a bunch of people in the first movie. Negotiating for an upgrade to fend off a weapons-grade android, M3gan says, “I want to be stronger. Faster. And while you’re at it, make me taller.”
That last demand posed a challenge to Morot FX Studio principals Adrien Morot and his wife,
From “Seven” to “Karate Kid: Legends”: How Central City Association of Los Angeles Champions Downtown LA’s Star Power
Nella McOsker is the President and CEO of Central City Association of Los Angeles (CCA), an advocacy group for businesses and organizations in downtown LA. I reached out to discuss how filmmaking impacts local businesses downtown during a particularly hectic time, when McOsker, like the rest of the city, was navigating the recent protests that spread across the city. “There’s a way to channel what they’re experiencing or feeling and the values they want to uphold towards supporting small businesses,” McOsker said.
How “F1” Production Designer Ben Munro Built Real Racing Garages That Traveled the World
Architect-turned-director Joseph Kosinski knows how to build action movies modeled, more than most, on analog reality. Following on Top Gun: Maverick, Kosinski has re-teamed with producer Jerry Bruckheimer to put Brad Pitt in the driver’s seat for F-1 (now in theaters). The filmmakers, deploying cinematographer Claudio Miranda’s ingenious camera rigs, worked with producer/ex-driver James Lewis to secure cooperation from the Formula One organization so that Pitt and co-star Damon Idris could get behind the wheels of real cars in front of actual crowds and speed down raceways in UK,
Steven Spielberg’s Universal Legacy Immortalized with Dedicated Theater and Secret Film Reveal
If anyone has earned a movie theater to be dedicated in their honor, it’s Steven Spielberg.
The legendary director was feted on Thursday night at Universal Studios, where a state-of-the-art theater was dedicated to him. On hand were NBCUniversal Entertainment Chairwoman Donna Langley and a slew of A-list stars, there to celebrate his legacy. “It’s not just a place that is founded on his extraordinary legacy, but it is a place of future hopes and dreams of filmmakers,
From Harvard Dorm to Global Crisis: Aaron Sorkin Developing “The Social Network Part II”
Aaron Sorkin has long hinted at the potential for a sequel to his Oscar-winning 2010 film, The Social Network, which he wrote and David Fincher directed. That film, based on Ben Mezrich’s “The Accidental Millionaires,” starred Jesse Eisenberg as a young Mark Zuckerberg, and tracked Zuckerberg’s early years at Harvard when he created the social networking site that would end up becoming the colossus Facebook, and the legal troubles that arose when he was challenged by the Winklevoss twins,
From “Dune” to 007: Denis Villeneuve Will Direct Next James Bond Film
Director Denis Villeneuve is going from the sands of Arrakis to His Majesty’s Secret Service.
Villeneuve, one of the most sought-after directors working today, will helm the next James Bond movie, the first from Amazon MGM Studios. He’ll be aided by Tanya Lapointe, his artistic partner and wife, who will once again serve as his executive producer. Amy Pascal and David Heyman are set to produce.
Villeneuve was,
The Silver Surfer Crashes Dinner in Final “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” Trailer
The final trailer for director Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps has arrived, and in it, the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) arrives just before the Four are about to sit down for dinner and proves she’s one of Marvel’s mightiest buzzkills.
“I herald his beginning,” the Silver Surfer says, floating on her cosmic board, looking quite regal, albeit made of a galactic glaze. “I herald your end.” The beginning she’s heralding is that of Galactus (Ralph Ineson),
“F1: The Movie” Review Round-Up: Brad Pitt & Damson Idris Blaze Through Joseph Kosinski’s High-Octane Racing Drama
The reviews are in, and F1 has roared onto the scene with all the sound, speed, and spectacle one could hope for in a modern racing blockbuster. Helmed by Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski and bolstered by real Grand Prix footage and a star-powered cast led by Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, F1 is being hailed as a slick, turbo-charged thrill ride, doing for the race track what Maverick did for the fighter-jet-carved skies.
Inside Wes Anderson’s Art Hunt: Curator Jasper Sharp on Securing Real Masterpieces for “The Phoenician Scheme”
Early on in The Phoenician Scheme, Benicio del Toro’s billionaire character Zsa Zsa Korda tells one of his nine sons, “Never buy good pictures. Buy masterpieces.” The line comes and goes in a flash, but Zsa Zsa’s not kidding, and neither was director Wes Anderson. So, Anderson and his team built out a palatial realm brimming with real paintings — not reproductions — created by the likes of legendary artists,
Flesh-Eating Evolution: VFX Supervisor Adam Gascoyne Reveals How “28 Years Later” Infected Got Scarier
In 1964, Queens, a woman named Catherine Genovese was attacked and murdered outside her New York apartment. Even after screaming for help, none of the neighboring witnesses called the police. The case became infamous for what is known as the bystander effect, which suggests that the more people present in a social situation, the less likely anyone is to step in and assist. Now, imagine living in a zombie apocalypse. Not among the infected who want to eat you alive,
Web-Slinger Meets Skull-Crusher: Jon Bernthal’s Punisher Joins Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”
The Punisher is ready to make his big-screen debut.
Jon Bernthal’s lethal vigilante will be making his grand entrance into the MCU after a long stint on the small screen when he punches his way into Tom Holland’s 4th Spidey movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, from director Destin Daniel Cretton. Bernthal’s run as the rough, ruthless Frank Castle began on Netflix when he appeared in the original Daredevil series,
“Duster” Production Designer Jonah Markowitz Brings 1970s Arizona to 2025 New Mexico
The moment writer-director-producer J.J. Abrams saw actor Josh Holloway pull up to a pay phone in a vintage mini-muscle car, he knew what his next show would be. Duster, co-created with LaToya Morgan and streaming on HBO through July 3, casts Holloway, revered for his role in Abrams’ ABC hit Lost, as fast-driving rogue Jim Ellis, whose entanglement with drug dealers in 1972 Phoenix warrants the attention of Rachel Bilson’s Phoenix FBI Agent Dana Hayes.
From “Seven” to “Karate Kid: Legends”: How Central City Association of Los Angeles Champions Downtown LA’s Star Power
Nella McOsker is the President and CEO of Central City Association of Los Angeles (CCA), an advocacy group for businesses and organizations in downtown LA. I reached out to discuss how filmmaking impacts local businesses downtown during a particularly hectic time, when McOsker, like the rest of the city, was navigating the recent protests that spread across the city. “There’s a way to channel what they’re experiencing or feeling and the values they want to uphold towards supporting small businesses,” McOsker said.
From Wakanda to Chicago: Riri Williams Returns Home as Marvel’s “Ironheart” Arrives on Disney+
When we first met Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) on screen in Ryan Coogler‘s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, she was a genius student inventor who had skills not seen since Tony Stark was in the game. Riri ended up becoming a massive ringer for Team Wakanda after they tapped Riri and her Tony Stark-level tech to help them in a moment of extreme danger—they’d just lost their Black Panther (the late,
Red Light, Green Light, It’s Over: The Final “Squid Game” Trailer Has Arrived
The games are finally coming to an end.
Netflix unveiled the final Squid Game trailer last Friday, unleashing one last look at creator Hwang Dong-hyuk‘s world-beating series. The trailer opens with a look back on the life of Gi-Hun (Lee Jung-jae), or player 456, and the happpiness he did have between gambling debts and the perpetual struggle to make ends meet, a happiness that’s been all but erased by the sadistic creators of the Games he’s been laboring in for years.
Fire and Frame: How “House of the Dragon” Cinematographer Vanja Cernjul Created TV’s Most Ambitious Dragon Sequences
While HBO continues to patiently plot out the contours of its expanding world of Westeros—A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is slated for a 2026—House of the Dragon remains the only series to make it to air since Game of Thrones concluded in 2019. And in its two seasons, Ryan Condal’s Targaryen-focused series has achieved something remarkable: it has managed to carve out a distinct narrative path and emerge from the shadows of its predecessor with an identity and an aesthetic all its own.
The Wizarding World Takes Shape: HBO Announces Key “Harry Potter” Series Casting Updates
HBO’s Harry Potter series is coming into focus. Following the casting news of the core three—Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Scout as Ron Weasley—nine new cast members have just been revealed.
The new cast includes the Malfoys and Dursleys, crucial characters in the Potterverse. The first season of the HBO series will cover the events in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Five Alien Nightmares Are Loose on Earth in First “Alien: Earth” Trailer
The first trailer for Fargo creator Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth has landed, and with it, we finally get a sense of the massive scope and scale of Hawley’s ambitions for his adaptation. Once again, Hawley’s attempting to take a beloved film (or in this case, film franchise) and graft the essential components of its DNA into a deeply satisfying small screen experience, trading in adapting the Coen Brothers’ offbeat and singular sensibility for the grand,
“Black Mirror” Creator Charlie Brooker on Remaking Reality
Charlie Brooker is known for many things, and depending on whom you ask, you might get a different answer. In England, where Brooker was born, you may hear about cult comedies The 11 O’Clock Show, Brass Eye, or Nathan Barley, which he wrote, or maybe Newswipe, where he satirizes current events, or the fictionalized reality show Dead Set about zombies attacking the Big Brother house.
Lighting Alex Cross’s World: DP Brendan Steacy on Creating Cinematic TV for Aldis Hodge’s Determined Detective
Created by Ben Watkins for Amazon Prime, the crime thriller Cross feels more like top-tier cinema than a police procedural. Based on James Patterson’s “Alex Cross” novels, the series’ first season (it’s already been picked up for a second) is taut and moody, following D.C. homicide detective Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) as he pursues a serial killer on the job while struggling in his personal life with the murder of his wife, Maria (Chauntée Schuler Irving).
Paul Giamatti on Finding Redemption in the Most Human “Black Mirror” Season 7 Episode
Seven seasons in, Charlie Brooker’s anthology series Black Mirror still gets under your skin. Usually, the load is heavy and dark, with characters’ lives driven to unambiguously worse places by technology we don’t yet have, but it feels like it may come frighteningly soon. But there’s one episode in this most recent season, Eulogy, starring Paul Giamatti, that stays in your mind for its emotional rewiring of one lonely man’s core memories.
How Cinematographer & Director Jessica Lee Gagné Shaped “Severance” Season 2’s Most Devastating Episode
After racking up 14 Emmy nominations for its first season in 2022, Severance returned this spring with a much-ballyhooed set of episodes that fortifies the show’s stature as a dread-saturated mind game drama on par with Twin Peaks and Lost. In the Apple TV+ + series, creepy experiments conducted by cult-like Lumon Industries center on split personalities (Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, and Dichen Lachmann) wrestling with their “innie/outie”
From Converse to Converts: How “The Last of Us” Costume Designer Ann Foley Mapped Ellie’s Dark Journey Toward Vengeance
In a world decimated by zombies, human survivors don’t have much time to worry about fashion, which explains why form follows function in The Last of Us. In the HBO Max drama, which concluded its shocking second season with a May 25 finale, characters primarily focus on staying warm and as dry as possible. Most of our major players in season two had two goals: revenge and killing any of the infected who got in their way.
HBO’s “Harry Potter” Series Casts its Young Harry, Hermione, and Ron
A trio of young wizards has just earned admission to Hogwarts.
HBO’s Harry Potter series has found its Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley in Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Scout, respectively. These three newcomers will take the roles made famous by Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Emma Watson as Hermione, and Rupert Grint as Ron across eight feature films.
“After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann,
“The Handmaid’s Tale” DP Nicola Daley on Bringing the Story of Elizabeth Moss’s June Home
The sixth and final season of The Handmaid’s Tale picks up where it left off: on a train driving away from Gilead. June (Elisabeth Moss) is aboard, headed for Alaska, and so is her former tormentor, Serena (Yvonne Strahovski), the latter woman’s fortunes in Gilead having tumbled after the death of her husband, Fred (Joseph Fiennes). Each with a child in tow, June and Serena are seeking safety, but neither will keep it once they find it.
Building the First “Black Mirror” Sequel: How Production Designer Miranda Jones Upgraded the USS Callister Universe
Back in Season 4 of Black Mirror, an enthusiastic programmer, Nanette (Cristin Milioti), gets trapped in a virtual-reality game by its creator and her boss, Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons). Shy and self-minimizing in real life, Nanette’s in-game clone is creative and confident enough to lead the rest of her colleagues, also trapped as crew by Daly on the starship USS Callister, out through a wormhole. Black Mirror picks up the thread with a sequel in Season 7,
Crafting Continental Studios: How Julie Berghoff Built Seth Rogen’s Fictional Production Powerhouse in “The Studio”
In The Studio, the fast-talking movie executives who make and sell motion pictures to mass audiences might use “on the nose” as a pejorative. But sometimes, the obvious solution can’t be denied. For show creators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, there was only one place to set their behind-the-scenes look at how cinematic sausage gets made: Warner Bros. Studios.
The Burbank, California backlot serves as headquarters for the fictional Continental Studios.
Ground-Level Galaxy: “Andor” DP Christophe Nuyens on Making the Most Visceral “Star Wars” Story Ever Told
The satisfactions of Tony Gilroy‘s Andor were such that many viewers comforted themselves when the series came to an end on May 13 by immediately turning to Rogue One, the 2016 feature film that Andor served as a prequel series for. Such has been the power of Andor—it’s been hard to let go, and there’s no better way to keep the rebel spirit alive than by following Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) story to its bittersweet conclusion.
One-Shot Wonders: How Casting Director Shaheen Baig Assembled the Perfect Cast for “Adolescence”
Co-created by and co-starring Stephen Graham, Netflix’s four-part series Adolescence has been a widely viewed hit for the streaming site. Nothing about casting the show, about an otherwise ordinary boy, Jamie (Owen Cooper), who has been influenced to such a malign degree by his online life that he becomes capable of murdering a classmate, Katie (Emilia Holliday), was standard operating procedure. Each episode is a single take, and finding an actor young enough to play the difficult role of thirteen year old Jamie and do so while shooting repeat one-shots was no small feat.
Rufus Sewell on Playing ‘The Good Guy’s Bad Guy’ in Netflix’s “The Diplomat”
A proper English thespian who originated a role in Tom Stoppard’s Laurence Olivier Award-winning play Arcadia fresh out of acting school, Rufus Sewell has since excelled as a character actor with leading man looks. Over the past few years he’s played a sadistic aristocrat (The Illusionist); a Nazi (The Man in the High Castle); an astrophysicist (Eleventh Hour);
Designing Dance: Production Designer Bill Groom’s Meticulous Ballet World-Building in “Étoile”
In the world of ballet as dramatized in Étoile, prickly personalities throw tantrums one minute and dance with exquisite grace the next. Created by former dancer Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Dan Palladino, the Amazon Prime series (now streaming) follows imagines a contentious talent swap between New York and Parisian dance companies desperate to create buzz about their new seasons.
It doesn’t go well.
The quarrelsome characters include Cheyanne (Lou De Laâge) the world’s best ballet dancer and eco-activist who publicly denounces the company’s billionaire arms-dealer benefactor;
Meet Nikkolas Smith: The Artist Who Painted the Soul of Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” and “Sinners”
In creating one of the year’s most talked about movie sequences, Sinners filmmaker Ryan Coogler assembled his de facto repertory company including Michael B. Jordan, production designer Hannah Beachler, costume designer Ruth Carter, DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw, composer Ludwig Göransson, and a lesser known member of his team: concept artist Nikkolas Smith. Smith previously worked on Black Panther and Wakanda Forever.
Eye in the Sky: How “F1” Aerial Cinematographer Phil Arntz Delivered Cinema’s Most Heart-Pounding Racing Sequences
Continuing in the tradition of his last blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski returns this summer with Apple’s most successful theatrical outing to date, with the sleek and thrilling racing drama F1, grossing north of $144 million on opening weekend. In a world where every fraction of a second could cost you a trophy—or worse, your life— Brad Pitt’s veteran driver, Sonny Hayes, wants to build “a car for combat” in order to salvage his old buddy Ruben’s (Javier Bardem) APXGP team.
“Duster” Production Designer Jonah Markowitz Brings 1970s Arizona to 2025 New Mexico
The moment writer-director-producer J.J. Abrams saw actor Josh Holloway pull up to a pay phone in a vintage mini-muscle car, he knew what his next show would be. Duster, co-created with LaToya Morgan and streaming on HBO through July 3, casts Holloway, revered for his role in Abrams’ ABC hit Lost, as fast-driving rogue Jim Ellis, whose entanglement with drug dealers in 1972 Phoenix warrants the attention of Rachel Bilson’s Phoenix FBI Agent Dana Hayes.
Inside the Bone Temple: How Designers Carson McColl & Gareth Pugh Crafted the Pagan-Apocalyptic World of “28 Years Later”
Serving as both production designers and costume designers for director Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later was a groundbreaking career moment for Carson McColl and Gareth Pugh.
Not only is the post-apocalyptic coming-of-age horror film the first film they have worked on, but the married couple, known as Hard and Shiny, is best known for their high fashion and for having worked with such icons as Beyoncé and Lady Gaga.
“M3GAN 2.0” Writer/Director Gerard Johnstone on Killer Tech, Callbacks, and Respecting Genre
M3GAN 2.0 has gumption. The sequel to the Blumhouse production doesn’t play it safe by rehashing a formula. Instead, writer/director Gerard Johnstone rips up any atypical sequel blueprint and goes for broke in an action-comedy: a mad tech bro or two, a kitchen that kills (thanks to AI), and the proud influence of Steven Segal’s finest pictures.
M3GAN (Jenna Davis) never truly died. Silicon Valley and beyond are still reeling from her dance-happy killing spree from the first movie,
The Great Escape: How Wrapbook is Freeing Hollywood from Payroll Hell
Wrapbook was founded with the idea of streamlining payroll and accounting services for the entertainment industry. Since its inception in 2018, the company has made significant strides in achieving this goal by creating a platform that seamlessly combines onboarding, payroll processing, expense tracking, and real-time financial reporting within a single interface.
“At Wrapbook, what’s really been coming together is the integrated experience for a company between payroll, accounts payable, and accounting.
The Secret Behind “M3GAN 2.0”: FX Duo Adrien Morot & Kathy Tse Reveal How They Perfected Horror’s Creepiest Eyes
Early in M3GAN 2.0 (in theaters now), the robotic title character complains to her maker Gemma (Allison Williams) about being confined to the clunky body of Teletubby simply because it/she killed a bunch of people in the first movie. Negotiating for an upgrade to fend off a weapons-grade android, M3gan says, “I want to be stronger. Faster. And while you’re at it, make me taller.”
That last demand posed a challenge to Morot FX Studio principals Adrien Morot and his wife,
How “F1” Production Designer Ben Munro Built Real Racing Garages That Traveled the World
Architect-turned-director Joseph Kosinski knows how to build action movies modeled, more than most, on analog reality. Following on Top Gun: Maverick, Kosinski has re-teamed with producer Jerry Bruckheimer to put Brad Pitt in the driver’s seat for F-1 (now in theaters). The filmmakers, deploying cinematographer Claudio Miranda’s ingenious camera rigs, worked with producer/ex-driver James Lewis to secure cooperation from the Formula One organization so that Pitt and co-star Damon Idris could get behind the wheels of real cars in front of actual crowds and speed down raceways in UK,
Inside Wes Anderson’s Art Hunt: Curator Jasper Sharp on Securing Real Masterpieces for “The Phoenician Scheme”
Early on in The Phoenician Scheme, Benicio del Toro’s billionaire character Zsa Zsa Korda tells one of his nine sons, “Never buy good pictures. Buy masterpieces.” The line comes and goes in a flash, but Zsa Zsa’s not kidding, and neither was director Wes Anderson. So, Anderson and his team built out a palatial realm brimming with real paintings — not reproductions — created by the likes of legendary artists,
Flesh-Eating Evolution: VFX Supervisor Adam Gascoyne Reveals How “28 Years Later” Infected Got Scarier
In 1964, Queens, a woman named Catherine Genovese was attacked and murdered outside her New York apartment. Even after screaming for help, none of the neighboring witnesses called the police. The case became infamous for what is known as the bystander effect, which suggests that the more people present in a social situation, the less likely anyone is to step in and assist. Now, imagine living in a zombie apocalypse. Not among the infected who want to eat you alive,
How “28 Years Later” DP Anthony Dod Mantle Mounted 20 iPhones to a Custom Rig For Danny Boyle’s Thrilling Sequel
Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle helped unleash an indie-film revolution as a key member of Denmark’s Dogma movement, utilizing handheld digital video camcorders and available light to shoot dramas of unsettling intensity. In 2002, he drew on that low-tech aesthetic to film 28 Days Later for director Danny Boyle. Now, six movies into their ongoing collaboration, comes 28 Years Later (opening Friday, June 20).
Scorching Stunts: “Ballerina” Stunt Coordinator Stephen Dunlevy on Flamethrower Finesse With Ana de Armas
In the first part of our conversation with supervising stunt coordinator Stephen Dunlevy, we covered the delicate balance involved with establishing the first theatrical John Wick spinoff, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, from an action choreography perspective. Ana de Armas’ titular ballerina, Eve Macarro, unleashes a deluge of ultra-violent a**-kicking as she tracks down her father’s killer, crossing paths with the Baba Yaga himself (John Wick,
Fire Hose Fury: How Stunt Coordinator Stephen Dunlevy Helped Ana de Armas Blast her Own Path in “Ballerina”
Steeped in the lore and rituals of the John Wick universe, director Len Wiseman’s From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is a bold attempt at expanding the franchise that put practical action back in the spotlight after the OG John Wick came out in 2014. Taking place somewhere between the third and fourth Wick films, this cortisol-triggering revenge thriller follows Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas),
Fire and Frame: How “House of the Dragon” Cinematographer Vanja Cernjul Created TV’s Most Ambitious Dragon Sequences
While HBO continues to patiently plot out the contours of its expanding world of Westeros—A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is slated for a 2026—House of the Dragon remains the only series to make it to air since Game of Thrones concluded in 2019. And in its two seasons, Ryan Condal’s Targaryen-focused series has achieved something remarkable: it has managed to carve out a distinct narrative path and emerge from the shadows of its predecessor with an identity and an aesthetic all its own.
“Materialists” Writer/Director Celine Song on Why Love Can’t Be Commodified
Celine Song loves love.
And not in the way that middle schoolers doodle in their notebooks about dreamy-eyed crushes, or in the way that newlyweds share song lyrics on Instagram. Celine Song has made it her career to analyze the very foundation of love.
Her latest film, Materialists (in theaters June 13), explores the complexities of navigating love in a society that increasingly values material wealth over all else.
Behind the Brutal Ballet: Stunt Pro Jackson Spidell on Training Ana de Armas for “Ballerina”
Ana de Armas had some practice acting like a bad ass in 2021 when she appeared briefly as a CIA agent doing field work in Cuba in James Bond’s No Time to Die. But in the John Wick spin-off Ballerina, now in theaters, she takes the fighting to a whole other level as Eve, an orphaned dancer determined to avenge the death of her father no matter how many men,
Inside Writer/Director Dean DeBlois’ Secret Formula for Creating His Live-Action “How to Train Your Dragon”
When filmmaker Dean DeBlois found out a live-action reimaging of his award-winning animated hit How to Train Your Dragon was on the cards, he volunteered to write and direct it.
The adaptation, which lands in movie theaters on Friday, June 13, 2025, largely mirrors the storyline of the 2010 original. At the heart of the film is the friendship between a young Viking called Hiccup,
Fight Like a Girl: How Sound Editors Crafted Eve’s Evolution in “Ballerina”
When we first see Eve (Ana De Arma) fight in director Len Wiseman’s From The World of John Wick: Ballerina, you can tell she has yet to hit her peak. She, nonetheless, can irrefutably kick my ass and yours too, but it’s like watching a bear cub trying to climb a tree – it will eventually reach the top but there’s plenty of flopping and flailing on the way up.
From Oscar Nominee to Action Star: Catalina Sandino Moreno on Her Journey Into John Wick’s World in “Ballerina”
“I never saw myself as an action [actor]. But I’ve been in this industry a little bit, and I know you have to have an open mind to everything,” says Catalina Moreno, who stars alongside Ana de Armas in the upcoming From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, the fifth film in the popular franchise. Her teenage son, she says, is “obsessed with John Wick, so when I got the script for Ballerina I thought,
Stitch, Surf, and Studio Magic: DP Nigel Bluck Takes Us Into the Wild World of the Live-Action “Lilo & Stitch”
Lilo & Stitch is charming audiences across the globe. Disney’s latest live-action remake, directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, is not only a box-office smash but also a heartfelt reimagining that has tapped into the power of Zillennial nostalgia in a big way. Based on the 2002 animated film, the new live-action Hawaii-set buddy comedy between young Lilo (Maia Kealoha) and her new alien pal, Stitch (voiced by Chris Sanders), is full of energy and light,
