Let’s go! The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer is finally here, and people have some opinions. First of all, the animation looks perfect and the casting of Charlie Day as Luigi couldn’t be more fitting.
That being said, people are kind of upset at Chris Pratt‘s voice, as expected. Rather than donning the trademark high-pitched Mario voice, Pratt opts for using his regular voice. To be fair, it seems like he’s making a really lazy attempt at a New York accent.
When the movie was first announced, people were upset that Mario’s voice actor was Chris Pratt. Especially when Charles Marinet, Mario’s voice actor since 1990, was completely available. A lot of people have pointed this problem out, though. Rather than just using readily available voice actors for existing characters, Hollywood almost always opts for bringing major stars in instead. If you look at the cast of the film, you’ll quickly notice how star-studded it is.
Let’s pop over to Twitter to get a read on how people are feeling.
People are also picking on Chris Pratt for struggling to remember the name of Mario’s main enemies:
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is scheduled for release on April 7, 2023. While as of now that’s the only major Mario movie we know of, there are potential spin-offs and sequels on the horizon. There have been rumors of a Donkey Kong spin-off, as well as a Luigi’s Mansion adaptation after Charlie Day expressed interest.
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When the trailer for the Sonic the Hedgehog animated movie premiered, fans freaked out. Whoever appeared in that trailer was not Sonic the Hedgehog. And they freaked out so loudly that Paramount actually decided to delay the movie and make the character look more like the version of the critter from the games. It all worked out; Sonic looked better, the movie was a hit, and got a sequel.
There will be no such complaints about The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Mario looks like Mario. Bowser looks like Bowser. But the first trailer for the movie suggests there could be other issues. Chris Pratt plays the voice of Mario and he sounds nothing like the Mario of the games. Gone is Mario’s big cartoonish Italian accent. Instead, Mario basically just sounds like regular old Chris Pratt. He doesn’t even say “Here we gooooo!” he says “Mushroom Kingdom, here we come!”
See (and hear) for yourself below:
I mean, maybe people won’t care at all. Chris Pratt is a really good voice actor; just watch The LEGO Movies for proof of that. But when have you known fans to be cool and chill with things they do not expect?
There’s also a first look at Luigi from the movie as well:
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (collaborators on Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Illuminations’s Minions: The Rise of Gru), the film stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is scheduled to open in theaters on April 7, 2023.
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As a general rule, Netflix and the biggest theater chains do not get along well. And why would they? They are essentially competitors; Netflix wants you to stay home and watch Netflix all the time, which is sort of against the ethos of movie theaters, which require you to leave the house to enjoy their goods and services. While Netflix has released some of its bigger movies to select theaters, mostly arthouses and smaller indie chains, their titles have essentially never played in the bigger multiplexes around the country.
But that will change with Netflix’s upcoming holiday blockbuster, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. The original Knives Out was a surprise hit in theaters back in 2019, and clearly theater chains think the sequel could be again, even if the film will be streaming on Netflix a short while later. Today, director Rian Johnson announced that Glass Onion will be playing for one week only in major chains AMC, Regal, and Cinemark around Thanksgiving. Its streaming debut follows one month later.
In a second tweet, Johnson noted, “this is the first time a Netflix movie has been in all of these theater chains, which is a very big deal.”
This follow-up film to Knives Out sees Daniel Craig reprising his role as master sleuth Benoit Blanc, this time solving a murder mystery on a gorgeous private island in the Mediterranean. Besides Craig, there’s an entirely new cast, including Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Jessica Henwick, Ethan Hawke, Leslie Odom Jr., and Dave Bautista.
Glass Onion will play in theaters for one week, from November 23-29. The film then premieres on Netflix on December 23. Tickets for Glass Onion’s theatrical run go on sale on Monday at this website.
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The biggest mystery in David O. Russell’s Amsterdam — far bigger than the one surrounding the dead body at the film’s center — is how did a movie with so many stellar elements turn out so mediocre? This movie has an absurd number of A-list stars, a.promising premise, a timely message, maybe our greatest living cinematographer, and a director who has made some excellent movies in the past. And yet even with all those outstanding components, something feels off about the end result. Sometimes you can get all the ingredients in the recipe right and still bake a bland cake. That’s Amsterdam: Looks fantastic, totally devoid of flavor.
Again, the early scenes are promising. Writer/director David O. Russell introduces us to Burt Berendsen (Christian Bale), a World War I veteran living in 1933 New York City. Burt works as a doctor with a somewhat unconventional approach to his job, particular with regards to medicine. Hampered by war injuries like a missing eye, and racked with constant pain, he laments the lack of effective medications to treat his maladies. When all else fails, he invents his own. It rarely goes well.
Then things get even worse after Burt is summoned by his old war buddy Harold (John David Washington) to help him with a medical procedure — which turns out to be an autopsy of the body of a great general (Ed Begley Jr.) they both served under in WWI. The general’s corpse sends Amsterdam off in two directions. Flashhacks reveal the origin of Burt and Harold’s friendship, and their mutual connection to a woman named Val (Margot Robbie) who nursed them back to health during the Great War. Meanwhile, in the present, Harold and Burt get framed for a crime and must go on the run to prove their innocence while simultaneously solving the mystery of their dead general. (The two cases are connected, naturally.)
That’s more than enough complication for a solid period thriller. But Russell seems totally disinterested in suspense, and pauses his story over and over for momentum-killing digressions. Some of the narrative back alleys the film explores are intermittently amusing. Mike Myers and Michael Shannon show up early in the film as a pair of businessmen with ulterior motives, and they return later to liven up what’s already become a fairly sedate mystery. Their scenes at least bring a little energy to the picture, thanks to Myers and Shannon’s witty interplay and larger-than-life characters. But even after all the flashbacks to World War I, Russell keeps wandering away from his A story. Right when the real killer is finally going to be exposed, the whole movie grinds to a halt for a series of musical numbers. At one point, everyone stops to watch someone play the glass harp.
One of the film’s few saving graces is its gorgeous cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki. Even if you didn’t know he shot Amsterdam, it’s obvious within minutes that someone with a great eye was its director of photography. At a time when more and more moves look like they are designed to be “watched” at home by people distracted by their phones, here is a film with rich colors, detailed sets, gorgeous actors, and magnificent costumes. Amsterdam’s plot doesn’t deliver much in the excitement department, but Lubezki’s visuals alone keep things from getting too tedious — and Margot Robbie has never looked better onscreen than in this film. There are some close-ups of her face here that are legitimately jaw-dropping. (If only the murder plot had similarly shocking qualities.)
Amsterdam doesn’t ask much of Bale that he’s never done before in other, more compelling pictures (including at least one by David O. Russell; Burt is another American hustler who gets mixed up in an enormous conspiracy). But Bale brings his typical level of commitment, and is always a joy to watch. Earlier this year, he added incredible pathos to an underwritten villain role in the otherwise superficial Thor: Love and Thunder. He was almost too good; his Gorr was such a tragic figure he made it harder to laugh at the film’s goofy subplots like Thor having relationship problems with his magic axe.
In Amsterdam, Bale once again plays a role that isn’t much on the page. But he channels so much intensity through his eyes (well, through one eye; the other’s a fake) that we come to care about Burt anyway. Bale is so good so often, even in middling movies like Amsterdam, that I think we’ve begun to take him for granted. Today’s movie lovers are fortunate to be around to see his prime — and so is Amsterdam. This movie would be almost unwatchable without his soulful performance.
Amsterdam’s ultimate message about freedom and democracy couldn’t arrive at a better time. Whether audiences will be in the mood to hear it after two hours of lovely-looking monotony remains to be seen. This feels like the sort of movie someone might discover in a decade or two, see the cast involved, and wonder “How have I not heard of this movie?” Then they’ll watch it, and understand why.
RATING: 5/10
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RRRis monumental. Not just as a foreign film, but as a film in general. For those unfamiliar, RRR is an Indian film which tells the story of two actual historical figures living under British rule. While the characters are real, the film is thoroughly embellished. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have some of the insane action scenes, the excellent musical numbers, or the expertly choreographed dance sequences.
The film has been a hit with both audiences and critics in the United States since its debut earlier in the year, and now the film’s producers are pushing for it to be nominated for Best Picture at the upcoming Academy Awards.
Despite the absolute spectacle that is RRR, it’s facing some pretty heavy odds. Only one film that wasn’t in English has ever won an Oscar, that being Bong Joon-ho’s tale of class warfare, Parasite. For whatever reason, it seems like Americans really have an issue watching films if they’re required to read subtitles. Maybe it’s oversaturation in the Hollywood market, which means that most people don’t go out of their way to watch foreign films.
Whatever the outcome at the Academy Awards, RRR is completely worth seeing. If you can’t find it in some local arthouse theater or something like that, your best bet is to hop onto Netflix. It’s currently streaming there, albeit only in a Hindi-language version. Still, it’s better than not seeing the movie at all.
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There’s really never been a film franchise quite like what’s about to happen with Avatar. Some studios have taken on a chance on making two sequels back-to-back; the last two Back to the Futures were shot that way, as were the first two Matrix sequels. But James Cameron isn’t making two Avatar sequels back to back; he’s making four back to back to back to back. And while the first of these movies, Avatar: The Way of Water, doesn’t even debut until December, Cameron has already shot a significant portion of the fourth film — which isn’t even scheduled to open in theaters under the best circumstances for another four years.
Franchise producer Jon Landau presented some footage from The Way of Water at the Busan International Film Festival this week, where he gave this information on the state of the franchise (via Variety):
We’ve completed most of the first act of ‘Avatar 4’ and there were logistical reasons why we needed to do that. We’ve designed most of the whole movie for ‘Avatar 4’ but we haven’t actually filmed all of it – just the first act.
The degree of complexity and size of these movies, and the organizational skills needed to pull this off is basically beyond my comprehension. To already be shooting Avatar 4, you’ve got to not only have Avatar 2 finished, you’ve got to feel confident enough in your plans for Avatar 3 that the film won’t change significantly. Unless, I suppose, you figure you can always reshoot Avatar 4 down the line if you need to.
When people say they don’t really care about Avatar or they aren’t interested in seeing the sequels, this is the reason I dismiss those complaints. Even if you don’t care about Jake Sully or the other characters, Cameron is doing something unheard of here. Why wouldn’t you want to see what he comes up with?
The late film critic Gene Siskel famously had this test for movies, where he would ask: Is this thing I just watched as interesting as a documentary about the actors sitting around and eating lunch together? It feels like there should be some kind of expanded version for Avatar: Is this sequel as interesting as just watching James Cameron try to wrap his brain around making four gigantic films with tons of groundbreaking special effects simultaneously?
Avatar: The Way of Water is scheduled to open in theaters on December 16, 2022. Avatar 4, which doesn’t have an official subtitle yet, is currently planned for December 18, 2026.
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Who says video game movies never live up to the hype? It’s not a hard rule. Will Speck and Josh Gordon are stepping up to the plate to adapt The Oregon Trail. Somehow, it seems like video game adaptations are treated as sacred. You have to really care about the source material, otherwise, rabid fans aren’t going to be happy. The Oregon Trail does hold a special place in the hearts of many kids of the ’80s and ’90s. But it’s a weird game overall.
The Oregon Trail wasn’t really something many people went out of their way to play because it was their first choice. They played it in school, usually. It simulates the westward expansion of American pioneers, many of whom took the Oregon trail to reach their destination. Along the way, they died of dysentery, starvation, thirst, or even something as small as an infected cut.
With how absurd the premise is, it could make for a delightful dark comedy. Not only that, but Speck and Gordon are taking it one step further, by also adapting the game as a musical. They have some experience with this whole thing; their latest movie, Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, is a musical as well. Collider recently spoke with the pair, where they really dug into where this idea came from.
“It always had this dark band of humor running through it, because your chances of dying from everything from dysentery to a cut to anything was … basically, every move you ended up dying. For us, that’s returning a little bit to our roots in comedy, marrying it with the fun of doing a big musical, and also just the ambition of taking that very seriously as well and making a big historical westward expansion epic that’s also about dying from dysentery.”
They also explained a little bit about how they actually went about getting the rights. They said:
Well, it’s owned by a publishing company, and we had to do what we often have to do, and what we had to do for Lyle, which is to give them a sense on multiple phone calls and Zooms of what our intentions are and how exploitive we want to be and how truthful we want to be to the original material and what it’s going to look and feel like. People are very protective of their IP as they should be.
As of now, there’s no specific release date for The Oregon Trail, but Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile hits theaters on October 7.
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Todd McFarlane, the creator of the hit ’90s comic Spawn, has been talking about making a new movie based on his signature character for a long time. Five years ago, Blumhouse had McFarlane slotted to direct a new Spawn himself, based on a script that he wrote. The following summer, Jamie Foxxsigned on to play the lead hero in the movie. (The original Spawn’s star, Michael Jai White, has voiced somewhat interesting thoughts about the film.)
After at least five years of development, Blumhouse still doesn’t have a Spawn film to show for it. So now things are moving in a new direction.The Hollywood Reportersays new writers are being brought in to write a new script for the film. Scott Silver, who co-wrote Joker, Malcolm Spellman, who worked on Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the upcoming Captain America: New World Order, and Matt Mixom are now collaborating on the script.
As for whether McFarlane remains the director of the project, he told THR they will likely look for someone else to take over:
If we’ve got an A-list actor, A-list producers, A-list writers, then do you want to shoot for A-list directors, A-list cinematographers? The answer is, ‘of course.’ Let’s keep the momentum going.
Foxx remains attached to the project, although the status of his previously announced co-star, Jeremy Renner, is still up in the air. The Spawn comic has been published by Image since 1992; the original film was released by New Line in 1997. There’s also been an animated series of the character on HBO.
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I thought I had seen every single possible permutation of the Die Hard formula — or at least I had exhausted my desire to see any further permutations. But then came Violent Night. Which is basically Die Hard on Christmas — well, okay Die Hard was Die Hard on Christmas, that is true. But this Die Hard on Christmas actually features Santa Claus in the John McClane role.
And we’re not talking, like, a mall Santa who has to save the mall where he works after it gets overrun by terrorists. Now, this is the legit, lives-in-the-North-Pole, hangs-with-flying-reindeer Santa. He’s played by David Harbour and he is ready to kick some butt — and because the movie is produced by the same company that gave us John Wick, Atomic Blonde, and Nobody, he’s going to do it in inventively violent and bloody fashion. (The gag with the sharpened candy cane … ouch.)
I cannot imagine anyone not wanting to see this movie from the description alone but if you need more convincing here is the trailer:
Here is the film’s official synopsis:
From 87North, the bare-knuckle producers of Nobody, John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw comes a coal-dark holiday action-comedy that says you should always bet on red. When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus (David Harbour, Black Widow, Stranger Things series) is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.
The opportunities for bad Christmas action hero puns are literally endless. Violent Night will open in theaters on December 2. Ho ho ho.
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It’s been almost exactly one year since the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western film Rust. Hutchins was killed when she was struck by a live round discharged from a gun held by star and producer Alec Baldwin. (Director Joel Souza was injured in the same incident as well.) Amidst a criminal investigation into the incident, Hutchins’ family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the producers of the film. But now, per Deadline, that suit has been settled, and filming on Rust will actually move forward, with Hutchins’ husband, Matthew, listed as an executive producer on the project.
Hutchins released this statement about the news:
We have reached a settlement, subject to court approval, for our wrongful death case against the producers of Rust, including Alec Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions, LLC. As part of that settlement, our case will be dismissed. The filming of Rust, which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board in January 2023. I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin). All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.
In an interview in late 2021, Baldwin claimed he had no idea how a live round wound up inside the gun. He also insisted he did not even pull the trigger of the weapon during the incident, and that the gun went off while he was rehearsing a shot and cocking the hammer of the pistol.
Following the announcement of the settlement, Baldwin wrote on Twitter “Throughout this difficult process, everyone has maintained the specific desire to do what is best for Halyna’s son. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the resolution of this tragic and painful situation.”
The state of New Mexico, where the shooting took place, has not made a final decision about who if anyone will be prosecuted in the criminal case stemming from the incident. In August, the district attorney’s office was reportedly seeking the money needed to prosecute up to four individuals in connection with Hutchins’ death.
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Here are the oldest films available on Netflix in a variety of genres. Some are as recent as the late ’90s; others are over 100 years old.
Everyone is so focused on the big reveal of the new Black Panther at the end of the latest Wakanda Forever trailer that they may have missed a glimpse of another Black Panther earlier in the clip.
The key word here is may. You can see the evidence for yourself below. Slow down the trailer and freeze frame it at 1:29. You’re looking for the shot of Namor slamming his weapon into the ground. In the background of the frame, all the way to the right, is a Black Panther…
Here is a freeze-frame (admittedly, a sort of blurry one):
A Twitter user noticed this Panther by slowing the trailer down to .25 speed. They’re convinced it’s “another“ Black Panther, different from the one at the end of the trailer.
For sure, there are differences between this shot of Black Panther and the one at the very end of the trailer. Most obviously and importantly, this “second” Panther behind Namor doesn’t have the white dots around the eyes and on the forehead of the helmet that the Panther at the end of the trailer has. Here is a high-res shot of that final Panther reveal.
For sure, the Panther helmet in that shot with Namor is not identical to the one in the last shot of the trailer. But, we’re also not sure that means there’s a “another” Black Panther in this movie. When you put the images of the two Panther helmets side by side, they do look very similar. The one from the Namor shot is missing the white dots on the forehead and around the eyes, but all of the other details, like the gold accents on the eyebrows, forehead, and cheeks, are present. And none of those details appeared on the Black Panther helmets worn by T’Challa or Killmonger in the first Black Panther film.
The two helmets are close enough that we suspect that “second” Panther is the same one revealed in the last shot, but for some reason, is shown in that shot behind Namor in a slightly different helmet. It could be that Marvel changed the female Black Panther’s costume late into production (which does sometimes happen) and that the earlier version didn’t have those distinctive white dots. Or maybe there really is a second Black Panther in this movie! (Fans are already speculating about the possible return of Killmonger in the film.) We here at ScreenCrush are we’re pretty skeptical about that — at least based on this shot alone.
Ultimately, we just don’t know — and we won’t know for sure until Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in theaters on November 11.
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Netflix has only existed since 1997, and until 2015 they never produced or released their own titles. Before that, they were in the business of sending DVDs to customers through the mail. Later, they began licensing pre-existing films and shows from other companies to stream on their website.
That goes a long way towards explaining why Netflix’s catalogue leans so heavily on recent movies. As Netflix’s streaming service became more and more successful, the studios that had previously sold their libraries like Disney and Warner Bros. began hoarding their old content to populate their own streaming services like Disney+ and HBO Max. Netflix compensated by ramping up production of their own original films and shows — but until Reed Hastings invents a time machine, that won’t really change the fact that Netflix’s selection is dominated by stuff made in the last 10 to 20 years.
One of the nice things about Netflix is you can actually arrange their library chronologically if you know where to look. If you browse the “Movies” tab under different genres, you’ll find an option to list the movies by “Year Released.” The ones at the top are the most recent, so if you scroll to the bottom you’ll find the vintage options. In some genres, Netflix’s catalogue doesn’t go past the late 1990s. In other cases, they go much farther back — up to a couple of things that are 100 years old.
Here’s each of the oldest films available on Netflix right now in every permanent genre on the service (keeping in mind that Netflix cross-lists some things in multiple genres, so a few titles appear multiple times.)
The Oldest Movies on Netflix in Every Genre
Here are the oldest films available on Netflix in a variety of genres. Some are as recent as the late ’90s; others are over 100 years old.
The last time there was a Super Mario Bros.movie in theaters, the year was 1993 and Mario looked like Bob Hoskins, King Koopa looked like Dennis Hopper, and there were no mushrooms in sight. If nothing else, this new Mario Bros. movie — which is animated, instead of in live-action, will have no such issues with not looking like the game.
The first image from the new Super Mario Bros., unveiled as a teaser poster for the film, looks like it could come right out of a Nintendo, and features Mario (or at least the back of Mario) beholding at an enormous Mushroom Kingdom. Take a look; get in for a real close inspection and you’ll see a lot of familiar characters and locations from the long game series…
And here is the film’s official synopsis:
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (collaborators on Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Minions: The Rise of Gru), the film stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
We still don’t know the movie’s premise or plot, but we’ll probably get a better idea of that this weekend, when the first trailer for this Mario movie debuts at New York Comic-Con. Super Mario Bros. is scheduled to open in theaters on April 7, 2023.
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Is Killmonger secretly coming back for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? We think he might be — and we think the latest trailer for Wakanda Forever might give us some huge clues pointing to him as the movie’s secret, unseen villain.
That’s one of the theories, hidden Easter eggs, and little details you might have missed in the latest trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. And in our latest Marvel video, we go through all of them. We tell you why it’s almost guaranteed now that Shuri is the new Black Panther (it’s all about a couple of little dots on her forehead), we explore all of the differences to Namor in Marvel Comics and the new Namor of Marvel Cinematic Universe, where Namor’s kingdom of “Talocan” comes from in real world history, and Namor’s connection to Kukulkan, the real (well, people believed in him anyway) Mayan deity that is supposedly the name that Namor’s subjects refer to him by. See them all below:
If you liked that video breaking down the new Black Panther: Wakanda Forever trailer, check out more of our videos below, including Marvel’s future after Phase Six the potential of a “Mutant Saga,” our video on all of the Easter eggs in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 7, and look at whether Wong remembers Peter Parker in the MCU. Plus, there’s tons more videos over at ScreenCrush’s YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to catch all our future episodes. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is scheduled to open in theaters on November 11, 2022.
Given the intensity of the original movie’s fans, maybe this isn’t too shocking but:Hocus Pocus 2is a big hit on Disney+. According to a press release, it is now the #1 film premiere on Disney+ to date “based on hours streamed in the first three days of its release.”
Nearly 30 years after the original film — which was a flop in theaters in 1993 but became a cult favorite thanks to endless replays on cable and home video — Disney was able to reunite the original Sanderson sisters, Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, for a movie that sees their witches return to life yet again to haunt modern day Salem.
While the film has proven popular with streamers, it hasn’t gotten fabulous reviews. It’s currently at 62 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and our own review at ScreenCrush said:
Kids: Don’t try this at home. In fact, maybe don’t try watching Hocus Pocus 2 at home either, even though the movie is going straight to streaming on Disney+. Fans of the original Hocus Pocus beware: This movie seems to have put more thought into the pharmacy product placement than coming up with a reason the wicked Sanderson sisters would return to Salem — or why it took them 29 years (since the events of the first movie) to do it.
That Hocus Pocus 2 has been watched a lot by Disney+ subscribers isn’t surprising. The real perplexing part is why Disney didn’t release this movie to theaters in the first place. The original movie made $39 million in U.S. theaters. You’re telling me this long-awaited sequel wouldn’t have made more than that? More than double that? The decision to go straight to Disney+ and leave that money on the tape still confuses me.
Hocus Pocus 2 is now available on Disney+. (So is the original movie.)
His role was ultimately cut down to a tiny cameo, and he was credited only as “Unseen Arkham Prisoner,” but Barry Keoghan was The Batman’s version of the Joker. In the film, he appears in a very brief scene near the end of the story, where he strikes up a conversation with a fellow Arkham innmate, the Riddler, played by Paul Dano.
As it turns out, Keoghan got the role of the Joker(ish) after initially auditioning for the role of the Riddler, who was the main villain in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. And now Keoghan’s audition tape has been put online. The two minute clip is very theatrical, and contains no dialogue — but does use some clever staging (and a little fake blood) to tell a twisted little story. Watch it for yourself below.
Although The Batman didn’t confirm Keoghan’s character’s identity, Warner Bros. released a deleted scene that featured him in conversation with Robert Pattinson. This sequence made it much more obvious who he was meant to be playing: The latest movie version of the Joker. If you missed it, here it is:
Keoghan’s role seems to tease an appearance in a sequel down the line; and back in April, Warner Bros. did announce a follow-up to The Batman, although they’ve yet to confirm Keoghan or the Joker’s involvement. Warners has put a new Joker movie into production — but that film will star Joaquin Phoenix’s version of the character, opposite Lady Gaga has Harley Quinn. Will Warner Bros. want to have two versions of the same DC villain appearing in theaters one right after another? We’ll have to see…
The Batman is currently available to stream on HBO Max.
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A Sister Act 3 was first announced for Disney+ way back in 2018, before the service ever actually debuted. Whoopi Goldberg confirmed her involvement in the movie in the fall of 2020, but two years later, we still have no new Sister Act to show for it.
Usually the kind of delay means a film is trapped in development hell, and likely never to escape. But Goldberg herself says the project is still alive and could be moving forward soon. In an interview with Collider she said that she is “waiting for the script at the end of the month” — i.e. October. So it’s just a matter of days before things could proceed.
The film is being produced by Tyler Perry; on a recent episode of The View, Goldberg said Disney, who produced the earlier Sister Act movies, was “lukewarm for the longest time” about making another film, claiming “nobody wanted to see it” — until Perry got involved:
The original Sister Act, which starred Goldberg as a lounge singer who disguises herself as a nun after she witnesses a murder, came out in 1992, and became one of the biggest comedy hits of the early 1990s. It was followed just one year later by a sequel: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, which featured Goldberg and much of the original cast. The second film was less successful than the original, but still a reasonable hit.
Since then, there has been a Sister Act stage musical in London and on Broadway, and there’s been talk of a remake — but nothing ever came together. Goldberg did appear briefly in the Sister Act musical in a supporting role, and had been announced to reprise her lead role as Deloris in a new production in England in the summer of 2020, but the run got postponed due to Covid.
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Marvel continues to staff up its upcoming two-part Avengers sequels, The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars. In recent weeks, we heard that Shang-Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton would direct, from a screenplay by Jeff Loveness. While Secret Wars has yet to find (or at least announce) a director, it looks like a Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran will return to write its script.
Deadline reports that Michael Waldron has drawn the assignment to write Secret Wars. Marvel zombies know him as the creator of the Disney+ series Loki. Waldron also worked on the screenplay for Marvel’s recent hit Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Here’s more, via Deadline:
Insiders say meetings for the job took place last month, and while a number of writers met, many believed Waldron was the front-runner given how much trust the studio has in the writer. Waldron has been on a roll with the studio during the past year, starting with last year’s smash hit Loki series for Disney+. Waldron served as exec producer and showrunner on the series, which was so popular it became one of few Marvel series to receive a second-season renewal.
Waldron clearly has a very strong relationship with Marvel’s Kevin Feige; even before Secret Wars, he was already working with Feige on his hush-hush Star Wars project, the details of which still have yet to be made public. Interestingly, Marvel’s previous Avengers sequels, Infinity War and Endgame, were written and directed by the same creative team. So far, The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars are shaping up to be made a little differently, with separate writers (and possible directors) on both movies.
Given that Waldron was a key creator in the show that officially introduced the multiverse to Marvel, he clearly has a good grip on the concept. It’s only fitting that he be the one to write the end of “The Multiverse Saga” when Avengers: Secret Wars opens in theaters on November 7, 2025.
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Just when you’d thought you’d heard the last of American Pie, a new film is announced. Actor/director Sujata Day is developing a new film in the franchise. We don’t really have any plot details at the moment, because the film is in the very early phase of its production. That being said, we do know the movie will be based on an original pitch from Day, which promises to offer a fresh take on the series.
We can’t say for sure what exactly that “fresh take” is going to look like. All we can really do is look at some of her previous work. She acted in a web series called The Misadventures Of Awkward Black Girl, and played Sarah in the television series Insecure. In 2020, she made her directorial debut with the film Definition Please, a movie about a spelling bee champion and her estranged brother.
It would be strange to see an American Pie movie that seriously incorporated a drama angle, but it’s not quite impossible. Even if that’s not the “fresh take” referred to earlier, it could be an interesting angle. The American Pie franchise is a strange one. It almost feels like a relic of the time it was made. Of course, you had movies like Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds, which eventually kind of morphed into something like American Pie.
The issue is, it’s 2022. A lot of the content in those films was questionable at the time, and it’s definitely questionable now. American Pie isn’t quite as egregious as some of the earlier films, so maybe that’s why it doesn’t get a ton of flack. Either way, it appears that the franchise does have some sort of life in it. We’ll just have to wait and see when production is a little further along.
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Okay maybe Armor Wars was a little too ambitious. How about just one armor war instead?
The title will probably remain Armor Wars — that was the name of the Iron Man comics storyline that the concept is based on — but what was originally conceived as a TV series for Disney+ is now being reworked as a movie.
The Hollywood Reporter says Marvel is prepping Armor Wars as a feature instead of the six-episode show it had previously been pitched and announced as. They write…
Marvel had been eyeing a 2023 start of production on the series, but the few people who were gearing up for that were notified Thursday of the change of direction. No directors had been officially attached and it is unclear when an Armor Wars feature would pop on Marvel’s timeline of its phases of movies and Disney+ series.
They also don’t specify whether this Armor Wars movie would be intended for theaters, or whether it would still go straight to Disney+. While Marvel hasn’t made Disney+ movies yet, they are beginning to experiment with “specials”; by the end of the year they are releasing the horror-themed Werewolf By Night and the Christmas-y Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
The original “Armor Wars” comics followed Tony Stark as he attempts retrieve his technology after it is stolen and sold to a variety of super-villains. The TV version will star Don Cheadle as the late Stark’s best friend, James Rhodes, presumably doing much the same for his buddy’s armor after it somehow falls into the wrong hands. Marvel’s Kevin Feige recently said that the show (now film) would spin out of the events of the upcoming Disney+ series Secret Invasion, which will also feature an appearance from Cheadle.
The Armor Wars series didn’t have an official release date, so it’s not clear when this new film will debut either.
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