Movie News
“The Color Purple,” a vibrant adaptation of the book-turned-beloved-movie-turned-hit-Broadway-musical, dominated at the box office on Christmas Day.
The film has outperformed expectations with $18 million from 3,152 North American theaters. It’s the largest Christmas Day opening for a film since 2009, and the second-biggest Christmas Day opening of all time.
Those ticket sales were enough to lead the way on Monday ahead of two other newcomers, Neon’s racing drama “Ferrari” and director George Clooney’s inspirational sports story “The Boys in the Boat.” Warner Bros. impressively held the top three spots on domestic charts as “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” and “Wonka” swam to second and third place, respectively.
Boosted by positive reviews and a glowing “A” CinemaScore, “The Color Purple” marks the first musical in some time that’s resonated at the box office. The film, backed by Warner Bros. and directed by Blitz Bazawule, collected more in a single...
The film has outperformed expectations with $18 million from 3,152 North American theaters. It’s the largest Christmas Day opening for a film since 2009, and the second-biggest Christmas Day opening of all time.
Those ticket sales were enough to lead the way on Monday ahead of two other newcomers, Neon’s racing drama “Ferrari” and director George Clooney’s inspirational sports story “The Boys in the Boat.” Warner Bros. impressively held the top three spots on domestic charts as “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” and “Wonka” swam to second and third place, respectively.
Boosted by positive reviews and a glowing “A” CinemaScore, “The Color Purple” marks the first musical in some time that’s resonated at the box office. The film, backed by Warner Bros. and directed by Blitz Bazawule, collected more in a single...
- 12/26/2023
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety - Film News
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” led the worldwide box office with a $108 million debut weekend, according to numbers released by Comscore.
Warner Bros. and DC Studio’s “Aquaman 2” also topped the U.S. box office over the weekend.
In second place, “Wonka” continued its stellar run with a worldwide weekend of $50.9 million and now has a total of $247 million.
Indian action epic “Salaar Part 1 – Ceasefire,” led by “Baahubali” star Prabhas and directed by “K.G.F.” filmmaker Prashant Neel, debuted in third position with $39 million. This included $5.5 million in North America, where it also bowed in third place.
Another Indian film, immigration drama-comedy “Dunki,” headlined by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and directed by hitmaker Rajkumar Hirani, was in fourth position with $22.9 million over the weekend. The film has a total of $23.8 million as it opened on Thursday, Dec. 21.
Monday, Christmas Day, is a public holiday in India, but as the festival...
Warner Bros. and DC Studio’s “Aquaman 2” also topped the U.S. box office over the weekend.
In second place, “Wonka” continued its stellar run with a worldwide weekend of $50.9 million and now has a total of $247 million.
Indian action epic “Salaar Part 1 – Ceasefire,” led by “Baahubali” star Prabhas and directed by “K.G.F.” filmmaker Prashant Neel, debuted in third position with $39 million. This included $5.5 million in North America, where it also bowed in third place.
Another Indian film, immigration drama-comedy “Dunki,” headlined by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and directed by hitmaker Rajkumar Hirani, was in fourth position with $22.9 million over the weekend. The film has a total of $23.8 million as it opened on Thursday, Dec. 21.
Monday, Christmas Day, is a public holiday in India, but as the festival...
- 12/25/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety - Film News
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” opened to $80 million at the international box office, which isn’t all that super considering those ticket sales are on par with eventual big-budget superhero disappointments like “The Flash,” “The Marvels” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”
The comic book sequel, starring Jason Momoa as the king of Atlantis and directed by James Wan, has generated $120 million globally to start, including a weak $40 million in North America. The Warner Bros. and DC film cost $205 million and is shaping up to be the latest underperforming tentpole for DC following this year’s string of misfires: “The Flash,” “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and “Blue Beetle.”
Beyond the terrible reviews and mediocre audience scores, “Aquaman 2″ is struggling because it has been positioned as a lame duck in the DC Extended Universe. It’s the final installment before DC’s new bosses, James Gunn and Peter Safran, reset the sprawling superhero universe…...
The comic book sequel, starring Jason Momoa as the king of Atlantis and directed by James Wan, has generated $120 million globally to start, including a weak $40 million in North America. The Warner Bros. and DC film cost $205 million and is shaping up to be the latest underperforming tentpole for DC following this year’s string of misfires: “The Flash,” “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and “Blue Beetle.”
Beyond the terrible reviews and mediocre audience scores, “Aquaman 2″ is struggling because it has been positioned as a lame duck in the DC Extended Universe. It’s the final installment before DC’s new bosses, James Gunn and Peter Safran, reset the sprawling superhero universe…...
- 12/24/2023
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety - Film News
“If you really missed not seeing us on screen together, then ‘The Goldfinger’ is your opportunity to do so,” says Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau of his new crime movie where he is again paired with Tony Leung Chiu-wai (“In the Mood for Love”).
The film releases at the end of the month in different parts of Asia and North America (from Dec. 30). Pre-release marketing and promotional efforts make much of the Lau-Leung repairing some twenty years after the “Infernal Affairs” trio of hit movies. The movies were both critical and commercial hits and contained an iconic rooftop scene in Hong Kong’s Wanchai district with the police undercover agent and the mobster’s mole facing off guns drawn.
The pair clearly rate each other highly for their acting skills and for the kind of professionalism that has kept them both a the top of the game for more than two decades.
The film releases at the end of the month in different parts of Asia and North America (from Dec. 30). Pre-release marketing and promotional efforts make much of the Lau-Leung repairing some twenty years after the “Infernal Affairs” trio of hit movies. The movies were both critical and commercial hits and contained an iconic rooftop scene in Hong Kong’s Wanchai district with the police undercover agent and the mobster’s mole facing off guns drawn.
The pair clearly rate each other highly for their acting skills and for the kind of professionalism that has kept them both a the top of the game for more than two decades.
- 12/24/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety - Film News
It’s been five years since Netflix’s Bird Box became one of the streamer's biggest successes, kicking off a horror franchise set in the movie's intriguing post-apocalyptic world. Bird Box Barcelona asks fans to keep their eyelids peeled while a new group of survivors joins forces to escape the maddening creatures capable of making anyone who looks at them commit suicide.
- 12/26/2023
- by Marco Vito Oddo
- Collider.com
Jonas Govaerts's Cub (or Welp) might just be the nastiest backwoods slasher to come creeping out of Belgium since The Ordeal by Fabrice Du Welz traumatized moviegoers in 2004. In Govaert's 2014 directorial debut, a group of unfortunate cub scouts find themselves in the crosshairs of a demented father/son duo with a proclivity for corpse hoarding and hunting humans in the French countryside. Viewers expecting a slasher flick in a similar vein to Friday the 13th need to look elsewhere. Govaerts’s Cub is a brutally original movie with a clear identity. Yes, there are a ton of little nods to Sleepaway Camp, The Final Terror, and Just Before Dawn scattered throughout, but Cub’s direction and writing are a cut above these films. The director never resorts to the tactics we’ve come to expect from these slashers. The first thing that marks a significant departure is that he...
- 12/26/2023
- by Alan Kelly
- Collider.com
We’ve been lucky to interview Willem Dafoe several times over the years. The 68-year-old actor, whose resume should put him on the shortlist for an honorary Oscar at this point, has always been, at worst, politely pleasant, but he’s never suffered fools. It was enlightening then, when speaking last month, to find him beaming while discussing his role in “Poor Things.” Dafoe knows when he’s in a special movie and Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest creation is just that.
Continue reading Willam Dafoe On The “Quite Amazing” Yorgos Lanthimos & How Bella Symbolizes Hope in ‘Poor Things’ [Interview] at The Playlist.
Continue reading Willam Dafoe On The “Quite Amazing” Yorgos Lanthimos & How Bella Symbolizes Hope in ‘Poor Things’ [Interview] at The Playlist.
- 12/26/2023
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
John Ford’s The Searchers is one of the most divisive films in history. The 1956 Western has been thoroughly criticized by many, both at the time of its release and in the decades since, for its depiction of racist characters and themes. But it is also considered by many filmmakers and cinephiles to be one of the greatest technical achievements in the history of film and one of the best works in Ford’s storied career. It has been regularly cited by many of the most prominent filmmakers of later years as a favorite film of theirs and a significant source of inspiration for their own work. One filmmaker on whom the film’s influence is especially pronounced is Martin Scorsese.
- 12/26/2023
- by Gregory Mysogland
- Collider.com
Casey Kramer, the daughter of film director Stanley Kramer who acted on stage and screen, has died at 67 years old, her family announced. She passed away at her home in Chicago, Illinois on December 24. No cause of death was given.
Born in Los Angeles, California in 1955, Kramer made her big screen acting debut in her father’s 1979 drama film “The Runner Stumbles” and went on to appear in television series such as “Falcon Crest,” “General Hospital,” “The Young and the Restless,” “Criminal Minds,” “Southland,” “Baskets,” and “Transparent,” among others. Her film credits included “Behind The Candelabra” and the indie movies “A Rose For Emily,” “Mississippi Requiem” and “Darkness in Tenement 45.” A long time member of the Actor’s Studio, Kramer also acted in stage plays such as a production of “My Sister In This House” with Deanne Bray at Deaf West Theatre.
Kramer was the daughter of Stanley and Anne Pearce.
Born in Los Angeles, California in 1955, Kramer made her big screen acting debut in her father’s 1979 drama film “The Runner Stumbles” and went on to appear in television series such as “Falcon Crest,” “General Hospital,” “The Young and the Restless,” “Criminal Minds,” “Southland,” “Baskets,” and “Transparent,” among others. Her film credits included “Behind The Candelabra” and the indie movies “A Rose For Emily,” “Mississippi Requiem” and “Darkness in Tenement 45.” A long time member of the Actor’s Studio, Kramer also acted in stage plays such as a production of “My Sister In This House” with Deanne Bray at Deaf West Theatre.
Kramer was the daughter of Stanley and Anne Pearce.
- 12/26/2023
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety - Film News
Netflix's new film, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire from director Zack Snyder has been panned by critics, currently sitting at a 24% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, audiences were much more kind, resulting in Rebel Moon becoming the most-watched English-language film on the streaming platform during the week before Christmas. The sci-fi epic, heavily influenced by the Star Wars franchise, led the pack with 23.9 million views from Dec. 18 to Dec. 24.
- 12/26/2023
- by Justin Klawans
- Collider.com
2023 will go down as the year that the superhero movie bubble finally popped. Dating back to Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" in 2002, Hollywood has been chasing the comic book movie dragon and, particularly since 2008 when the Marvel Cinematic Universe launched with "Iron Man," these movies have been the meat and potatoes of the box office. But this year's only outright successful live-action superhero film was "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" ($845 million worldwide). That narrative is not going to change with the release of "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," sad to say.
The final entry in the Dceu, which launched in 2013 with Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel," was the big holiday release this year heading into the Christmas weekend. While the original "Aquaman" was the highest-grossing DC movie in history (making $1.15 billion worldwide in 2018), the sequel is not going to repeat that success. Director James Wan's follow-up did debut...
The final entry in the Dceu, which launched in 2013 with Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel," was the big holiday release this year heading into the Christmas weekend. While the original "Aquaman" was the highest-grossing DC movie in history (making $1.15 billion worldwide in 2018), the sequel is not going to repeat that success. Director James Wan's follow-up did debut...
- 12/26/2023
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Zack Snyder is currently leading the Netflix charts with his space opera “Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire,” and he recently got a huge sign of support from none other than Christopher Nolan. In a profile published by The Atlantic, Nolan said Snyder’s influence on cinema is so dominant that part of his touch can be felt in any “superhero science-fiction film coming out these days.” Nolan served as a producer on Snyder’s “Man of Steel” (2013), which was based on a story Nolan cracked with his “Dark Knight” trilogy co-writer David S. Goyer. Nolan and Snyder have remained friends ever since.
“There’s no superhero science-fiction film coming out these days where I don’t see some influence of Zack,” Nolan said. “When you watch a Zack Snyder film, you see and feel his love for the potential of cinema. The potential of it to be fantastical,...
“There’s no superhero science-fiction film coming out these days where I don’t see some influence of Zack,” Nolan said. “When you watch a Zack Snyder film, you see and feel his love for the potential of cinema. The potential of it to be fantastical,...
- 12/26/2023
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety - Film News
Like many here, I, in all my friend groups, have always been the go-to "movie person." People have always reached out to me for recommendations or asked me if I've seen their favorite movies, what my favorite genre is, and the works. Though the one movie that I haven't seen that raises the most questions is The Exorcist. It's not just my friends or co-workers who are shocked, but my own parents, old college professors, cousins, neighbors, the list goes on and on. It's one of the most widely celebrated horror films of all time, heck, it's the first horror film to ever receive a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. How can I not have seen it?...
- 12/26/2023
- by Nate Richard
- Collider.com
To refer to Jackie Chan as a filmmaking legend is nothing short of an understatement. The iconic actor constantly demonstrates his unmatched talents in martial arts and comedy, bringing together the two strengths to create some of the most enjoyable action-comedy romps put on screen. Chan is not only famous for pushing Hong Kong cinema to new heights and combining Eastern and Western movie-making magic, but he was also indirectly responsible for the creation of Rotten Tomatoes. The list of accolades is as extensive as his filmography, including notable awards such as an honorary Academy Award, several Hong Kong Film Awards, and even a couple of Kid's Choice Awards. However, Chan's trophy case of accomplishments isn't just reserved for his on-screen achievements, as the actor's diverse skill set helped him set two Guinness World Records for his 2012 film, CZ12 (Armour of God 3) also known as Chinese Zodiac.
- 12/26/2023
- by Emmanuel Ronquillo
- Collider.com
You’d be pardoned for thinking that ‘Hostage Negotiator’ wouldn’t be something on the curriculum vitae of maximalist maestro Baz Luhrmann. As it turns out, the on-set drama of his breakthrough teenage classic Romeo + Juliet was a lot less teen fantasy romance and a lot more Silence of the Lambs, although fortunately in this case, no one got hurt (too badly) and no one had to recruit a serial killer to catch the culprits. Nevertheless, in a turn of events more hardcore than anyone was expecting, Luhrmann revealed in a 1996 interview that hairstylist Aldo Signoretti was kidnapped and held for ransom. Luhrmann doesn’t specify for how long, but he does specify how they got him back.
- 12/26/2023
- by Orestes Adam
- Collider.com
When the curtains prematurely closed on Mean Girls’ Broadway run - another victim of the early days of the pandemic - fans around the world who had never seen the stage adaptation were left heartbroken. Sure, they could always rely on the good ol’ trusty original Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams-led 2004 film on which it was based, but they knew they were missing out on a blend of dance, drama, and musical faves like “Meet The Plastics” and “World Burn”. Thankfully, Tina Fey said “Not on my watch” and paired up with Paramount to bring the world what it so desperately needed - a screen adaptation of the stage adaptation of the film adaptation of the original book. With the release of Mean Girls just around the corner in the new year, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sat down with the leading stars Renée Rapp, Angourie Rice, Bebe Wood, Jacquel Spivey,...
- 12/26/2023
- by Britta DeVore
- Collider.com
Prestige TV fans, particularly the true heads who prefer the old-school classics from turn-of-the-century HBO, will absolutely want to watch Generation Kill, the 2008 HBO miniseries that presents a dramatized account of a marine battalion during the first few weeks of the 2003 United States invasion of Iraq. The series was based on a book of the same name by journalist Evan Wright, which detailed his experiences as an embedded reporter with Bravo Company of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion.
- 12/26/2023
- by David Hunter
- Collider.com
Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon: Part One — Child of Fire” replaced “Leave the World Behind” as No. 1 this week on Netflix’s Top 10 Movie list. But the big news here is that Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” considered a prime awards contender and given a nationwide, four-week theatrical release, dropped off the list after only four days.
Among new releases on PVOD, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” (Lionsgate) placed No. 1 at Vudu and Google Play, second at iTunes (where the reduced-price “Oppenheimer” returned to No. 1). “Trolls Band Together” (Universal) placed No. 2 at Vudu, but lower elsewhere.
It may be unfair to judge the response equivalent to broader interest genre titles like the sci-fi “Rebel Moon.” We don’t expect highly acclaimed specialized titles to compete on equal footing in theatrical box office lists.
Still, “Maestro,” positioned as Netflix’s top contender among several acclaimed releases, with Cooper...
Among new releases on PVOD, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” (Lionsgate) placed No. 1 at Vudu and Google Play, second at iTunes (where the reduced-price “Oppenheimer” returned to No. 1). “Trolls Band Together” (Universal) placed No. 2 at Vudu, but lower elsewhere.
It may be unfair to judge the response equivalent to broader interest genre titles like the sci-fi “Rebel Moon.” We don’t expect highly acclaimed specialized titles to compete on equal footing in theatrical box office lists.
Still, “Maestro,” positioned as Netflix’s top contender among several acclaimed releases, with Cooper...
- 12/26/2023
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
2023 has been quite a year for Warner Bros. movies at the domestic box office. It's rare that a studio goes through a calendar year with a number of crushing disappointments and still has some of the most remarkable victories in the history of cinema. Warner Bros. celebrated its 100th anniversary in April of this year, and it's fair to say they've made a splash. Along with successes on a smaller scale like Meg 2: The Trench and The Nun II, Warner Bros. also had the most stunning victory of the year with Greta Gerwig's Barbie, which made a sensational $636 million domestic on top of $803 million worldwide for over $1.439 billion grossed.
- 12/26/2023
- by Chris McPherson
- Collider.com
2023 was filled with some amazing original horror and new filmmakers that are set to hunt genre fans’ nightmares for decades. 2024 looks to be no different with the first major release being Night Swim from director Bryce McGuire. Based on his 2014 short film of the same name, this Blumhouse-produced terror is swimming into theaters in just over a week. Now, as the water turns blood-red, Night Swim’s latest featurette lets your imagination run wild.
- 12/26/2023
- by Shane Romanchick
- Collider.com
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s fascist parable retools the Marquis de Sade’s extreme avant-garde text and relocates the horror to Nazi-occupied Italy in 1944. Few films have generated the kind of controversy Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom has over the years. The premise involves The Libertines, a cabal of despots who round up a group of teenagers, forcing them to participate in stomach-churning acts of degradation and depravity. Salò skews so often into bad-taste territory it is easy to overlook the fact Pasolini had a politically motivated reason for making the film in the first place. He wanted to express his disgust at the modern world and how corporate takeovers and mass marketing are responsible for the erasure of culture. The story is a tough one to sit through but does work as both a meditation on cruelty and power and is a horror film that would even offend the...
- 12/26/2023
- by Alan Kelly
- Collider.com
The latest installment of the series Fargo: Year 5 is set in Minnesota and North Dakota in 2019 and follows Dorothy “Dot” Lyon (Juno Temple) as she finds herself in a bit of trouble involving her past. Being on the radar of North Dakota Sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm), someone she very much does not want back in her life, has turned Dot’s simple Midwestern existence upside down, leading her to want to fight for her family by any means necessary. On the other hand, Roy has been in search of Dot for some time and is determined to make sure she sees things his way.
- 12/26/2023
- by Christina Radish
- Collider.com
Romance can be pretty complicated when you're a Starfleet Officer, especially if you're Lieutenant Commander Worf, a Klingon who was raised by humans. Worf, played by Michael Dorn, was a major character on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," and "Star Trek: Picard," and over the course of those three series he was given two major, tragic love interests. His romance and marriage with Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) on "Deep Space Nine" has become a favorite pairing of many "Star Trek" fans (myself included), but he had another love affair that ended in despair, with a half-Klingon ambassador named K'ehleyr, played by Suzie Plakson. Originally, however, there were plans for a different character played by Plakson to end up in a romance with Worf, leading to a bit of a spat between the writers on "The Next Generation."
In the book "Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete...
In the book "Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete...
- 12/26/2023
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
Director Satyajit Ray was the godfather of Indian cinema, and widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. He specialized in realist dramas and character studies, which took elements of Italian neorealism but relocated them to settings in India, usually rural Bengal. He's particularly famous for his coming-of-age trilogy about the character of Apu, which is frequently cited as a landmark of world cinema.
- 12/26/2023
- by Luc Haasbroek
- Collider.com
The original books chronicling the exploits of Oz were published for decades across the early years of the 20th century, with the most famous of these sagas being "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," the first installment in the series which spawned the hit 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Across many installments, author L. Frank Baum and other writers introduced a slew of other characters, distinct locations in the domain of Oz, and even crossovers with other Baum novels like The Sea Fairies and Sky Island. The Oz lore went so deep that readers even got to eventually discover what the Tin Man's name was. There's so much material in here to exploit, one would've expected Hollywood to have already adapted these various follow-ups dozens of times over.
- 12/26/2023
- by Lisa Laman
- Collider.com
With the premiere of What If...? Season 2, Episode 6, Marvel's animated anthology series ventures into new territory, the kind that elevates the series for the better. The episode, "What If...Kahhori Reshaped the World" will introduce audiences to Kahhori (Devery Jacobs), a young Mohawk woman living in a pre-colonial Haudenosaunee Confederacy who one day falls into a magical world, and discovers she has the power to reshape her world in a way she never could have imagined.
- 12/26/2023
- by Arezou Amin, Therese Lacson
- Collider.com
Next year's Mean Girls will bring back the story everyone knows and loves, but with a twist. The movie will be an adaptation of the musical that took Broadway by storm in 2018, with original songs written by Jeff Richmonds and Nell Benjamin. But the cast of the film is ready to clear any doubts regarding how much story will come from the original Mean Girls, the Broadway musical and from the minds of directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., respectively. The concept of "Mean Girls Math" should make everything clear, with Angourie Rice and Auli'i Cravalho giving their take on the matter.
- 12/26/2023
- by Diego Peralta
- Collider.com
The Color Purple opened enormously on Christmas Day to take top spot at the domestic box office, trouncing its nearest competition Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in the process. Wonka finished in third for a top-three triumph for Warner Bros. The Color Purple smashed expectations with an $18.5 million debut, almost double initial projections of $8 million to $10 million. The musical cinematic adaptation of the theatrical show, produced by Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, stars Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks and Colman Domingo. The movie is also based off both the Alice Walker novel and the Tony-winning Broadway production.
- 12/26/2023
- by Chris McPherson
- Collider.com
Michael Mann's first feature in eight years, Ferrari, is now in theaters. Starring Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, and Shailene Woodley, this biopic takes a close look at a paramount time in Enzo Ferrari's life, during the early summer of 1957. The renowned auto engineer was still mourning the death of his son with his wife and business partner, Laura Ferrari (Cruz), when their luxury empire was facing a decline, adding pressure to showcase his life's work in the final deadly Mille Miglia.
- 12/26/2023
- by Steve Weintraub, Tamera Jones
- Collider.com
When a story evolves from a movie into a Broadway musical and then back into a musical movie, you know you have a winner. We're talking about the musical rendition of Mean Girls, which promises to be so fetch. The story of the 2004 comedy Mean Girls, was originally based on a non-fiction self-help book written by Rosalind Wiseman in 2002 called Queen Bees and Wannabees. The book focuses on social cliques in high school and the damage that bullying can inflict on students. It was directed by Mark Waters and written by comedy queen Tina Fey.
- 12/26/2023
- by Rachel Sofaer
- Collider.com
How does this sound: Nicolas Cage indignantly peddling an old orange bicycle while clad in a black leather jumpsuit? How about this: Nicolas Cage wearing an old football helmet and swinging around a katana attached to his arm? If that's not enough, try this: Nicolas Cage furiously giving a rousing speech at the top of his lungs to a rapt audience. For any other actor, these moments may all comprise a career-spanning montage of outrageous moments. For Cage, this is just Prisoners of the Ghostland. At this point, it should be obvious, and you can take it from Cage himself, Prisoners of the Ghostland is a pretty crazy movie. It's a post-apocalyptic Samurai-Western that comes from the director Sion Sono, an infamous Japanese auteur with an eye for madcap excess. What one might not expect, however, is how these two renegades combine their distinct sensibilities to actually say something. Underneath...
- 12/26/2023
- by Connor Scott
- Collider.com
Do second-chance adaptations have a better shot at doing justice to the source material? The film versions of Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" book series received mixed reactions, and for good reason — their narratives failed to capture the nuances of Riordan's beloved novels and deviated heavily from the established canon. However, the small-screen adaptation of the book series, also titled "Percy Jackson & the Olympians," recently debuted its first two episodes on Disney+ to positive reviews. As Riordan himself is actively involved with the project, this adaptation is more faithful to its source material than its movie counterparts and reflects the ethos of Riordan's fantasy world in authentic ways.
While a second season of the show has not been officially greenlit at the time of writing (as a renewal hinges on how the first installment performs), the show's executive producer, Jon Steinberg, has confirmed the show's creatives...
While a second season of the show has not been officially greenlit at the time of writing (as a renewal hinges on how the first installment performs), the show's executive producer, Jon Steinberg, has confirmed the show's creatives...
- 12/26/2023
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
Fifty-six French stars, including Carla Bruni, Charlotte Rampling and Carole Bouquet, signed an open letter defending Gerard Depardieu, the Oscar-nominated actor who has been charged with rape and accused by more than a dozen other women of sexual assault, harassment or groping.
The essay, published in the conservative-leaning French newspaper Le Figaro, reads, in part: “We cannot remain silent in the face of the lynching targeting him, the torrent of hate being dumped on his personality” (via AP). “When Gerard Depardieu is targeted this way, it is the art [of cinema] that is being attacked. … Depriving ourselves of this immense actor would be a drama, a defeat. The death of the art. Our art.”
Other signatories included actors Pierre Richard, Victoria Abril and Nathalie Baye, and directors Bertrand Blier and Francis Veber.
Depardieu has not been convicted in connection with any of the allegations and denies wrongdoing. He called the open letter “beautiful” and its signatories “courageous,...
The essay, published in the conservative-leaning French newspaper Le Figaro, reads, in part: “We cannot remain silent in the face of the lynching targeting him, the torrent of hate being dumped on his personality” (via AP). “When Gerard Depardieu is targeted this way, it is the art [of cinema] that is being attacked. … Depriving ourselves of this immense actor would be a drama, a defeat. The death of the art. Our art.”
Other signatories included actors Pierre Richard, Victoria Abril and Nathalie Baye, and directors Bertrand Blier and Francis Veber.
Depardieu has not been convicted in connection with any of the allegations and denies wrongdoing. He called the open letter “beautiful” and its signatories “courageous,...
- 12/26/2023
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety - Film News
The Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, is one of the most influential directors ever and a founding figure in the horror and thriller genres. Few filmmakers in his day were more daring or more skilled at operating within the limits of the Hays Code. Although limited in what he could show on screen, over his multi-decade career, Hitchcock produced several classics, from Psycho to Vertigo to North by Northwest.
- 12/26/2023
- by Luc Haasbroek
- Collider.com
It is not uncommon for some of the best films to end up flying under the radar, especially in the horror genre, and even more so in the found footage subgenre. One of the biggest examples of this unfortunate tendency is the 2014 horror pseudo-documentary The Taking of Deborah Logan, not simply because it missed out on a theatrical run, but because it's a horror entry that is unlike anything the genre has seen. Psychological, supernatural, body, and medical horror are only a few of the scares that this smaller-budget film has to offer. In a sea of less-than-satisfactory pseudo-documentaries, The Taking of Deborah Logan, while sharing similar elements to others of its kind, is a rare film that combines found footage with elevated horror. Despite this, the feature film debut of horror director Adam Robitel has quietly lived on various streaming services for the past decade. The 90 minutes of twists and turns,...
- 12/26/2023
- by Gabrielle Grady
- Collider.com
This article contains spoilers for "Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire."
Hear me out: "Rebel Moon" isn't actually as bad as you might think. Sure, Netflix's latest team-up with bro auteur Zack Snyder can feel more like a love letter to older, better movies than it does a story all its own. The streamer's request for a more family-friendly version of Snyder's vision also didn't help, as the PG-13 cut of the film seems woefully incomplete in some respects. But even with the knowledge of a reportedly better, R-rated cut of "Rebel Moon" sitting hostage on some Netflix executive's hard drive, there's still a lot to like about the film as is.
With "Rebel Moon," Snyder set out to remix epics like "Star Wars" and "Seven Samurai" — and if you squint, his liberal homages serve this story quite well, especially where the characters of "Rebel Moon" are concerned.
Hear me out: "Rebel Moon" isn't actually as bad as you might think. Sure, Netflix's latest team-up with bro auteur Zack Snyder can feel more like a love letter to older, better movies than it does a story all its own. The streamer's request for a more family-friendly version of Snyder's vision also didn't help, as the PG-13 cut of the film seems woefully incomplete in some respects. But even with the knowledge of a reportedly better, R-rated cut of "Rebel Moon" sitting hostage on some Netflix executive's hard drive, there's still a lot to like about the film as is.
With "Rebel Moon," Snyder set out to remix epics like "Star Wars" and "Seven Samurai" — and if you squint, his liberal homages serve this story quite well, especially where the characters of "Rebel Moon" are concerned.
- 12/26/2023
- by Lyvie Scott
- Slash Film
The lucrative Mission: Impossible franchise has made its name on the ingenious clout of its action sequences, and rightly so. Almost every sequel has excelled at the trickiest of dilemmas: surpassing its predecessor with entertaining cleverness and a scale of execution that's practically unmatched. Beyond the fun spy antics and found family banter, viewers have been treated to increasingly wilder stunts performed by Tom Cruise over the years. The latest franchise installment, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One gave us Cruise motorcycling off a cliff for crying out loud!
- 12/26/2023
- by Kelcie Mattson
- Collider.com
The “Scream” franchise keeps taking the hits. Following the loss of its leading scream queens, “Scream VII” filmmaker Christoper Landon has exited the film he announced this week on Twitter over the holidays and described the project as a “nightmare.” Furthermore, he said he left the project weeks ago, which is not a surprise given the recent controversies.
Read More: ‘Scream 7’ Faces Creative Reset & Considers Bringing Back Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox & Patrick Dempsey
“I guess now is as good a time as any to announce I formally exited Scream 7 weeks ago,” Landon wrote on Twitter over the weekend.
Continue reading Christopher Landon Drops Out Of ‘Scream VII’ Calling The Project A “Dream Job Turned Nightmare” at The Playlist.
Read More: ‘Scream 7’ Faces Creative Reset & Considers Bringing Back Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox & Patrick Dempsey
“I guess now is as good a time as any to announce I formally exited Scream 7 weeks ago,” Landon wrote on Twitter over the weekend.
Continue reading Christopher Landon Drops Out Of ‘Scream VII’ Calling The Project A “Dream Job Turned Nightmare” at The Playlist.
- 12/26/2023
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Saltburn.]Saltburn is loaded with big personalities, many of whom can come across as quite suspicious. Is Felix (Jacob Elordi) really a golden boy who will always treat Oliver (Barry Keoghan) as a true friend? Is Farleigh (Archie Madekwe) as much of a threat to Oliver as he presents? And what about Oliver himself? Is he a diabolical mastermind or do uncontrollable impulses and immaturity risk him losing all ties to Saltburn for good?...
- 12/26/2023
- by Perri Nemiroff
- Collider.com
There is no doubt Steven Levitan knows how to make a great sitcom. Aside from creating one of the most beloved shows on network television, Modern Family, he also wrote and produced numerous other popular shows, like Frasier and Wings. In 1997, Levitan created Just Shoot Me!, which ran for seven seasons. Though the show regularly jumped around in the NBC lineup, it retained respectable ratings throughout its tenure. With a cast of unique characters and Levitan's scintillating dialogue, the series offered a hilarious look at office politics. Even though Just Shoot Me! takes place at the fictional fashion magazine Blush, almost everyone can relate to the workplace tension and co-worker disdain depicted in the show. But this light-hearted sitcom offers so much more than belly laughs. At its core, it is the epitome of the contradiction that is '90s feminism.
- 12/26/2023
- by Blythe Chadim
- Collider.com
You know Spenser Granese from memorable roles on Better Call Saul, Fear of the Walking Dead, Pam & Tommy, and, perhaps most memorably, the character of Bevel in the final season of Barry. On this episode, he talks about landing that role after trying hard to get on the show for three seasons and the incredible working environment he found on set. He opens up about his unique approach to the craft having no formal training, why he keeps the lines barely memorized, avoids expectations, operates on his instinct, and much more! Back To One can be found wherever you […]
The post “I Just Wanna Play the Good Guy, But Not the Boring Good Guy:” Spenser Granese, Back To One, Episode 274 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Just Wanna Play the Good Guy, But Not the Boring Good Guy:” Spenser Granese, Back To One, Episode 274 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 12/26/2023
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
One of the great things about the old broadcast TV model, in which seasons stretched to 20+ episodes, mere months separated one season from the next, and production schedules were thus unforgivingly demanding, was that producers always had an insatiable need for new talent. Filming 22 consecutive 42-minute episodes over the course of a few months? Your principals aren't going to be enough to cover all the ground your story will invariably traverse, and besides, they wouldn't have the time or energy even if you asked.
The solution to this problem? Guest stars!
Series from this golden age of television, from sitcoms like "Friends" and "Frasier" to dramas like "Charmed" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," were powered by guest stars in the same way the larger Hollywood machine is powered by the legions of extras, bit players, and uncredited walk-ons who fill each frame with glorious humanity. Those last two series in...
The solution to this problem? Guest stars!
Series from this golden age of television, from sitcoms like "Friends" and "Frasier" to dramas like "Charmed" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," were powered by guest stars in the same way the larger Hollywood machine is powered by the legions of extras, bit players, and uncredited walk-ons who fill each frame with glorious humanity. Those last two series in...
- 12/26/2023
- by Ryan Coleman
- Slash Film
Season 2 of Marvel's animated anthology series What If...? premiered earlier this week, bringing fans another wave of stories set across the vast multiverse, all guided by the omniscient being, The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright), who guides us all through the realm of possibilities. While some of the standalone stories of Season 2 pick up with familiar characters we know and love from the MCU, the most exciting development is the introduction of Kahhori (Devery Jacobs) in Episode 6, and Collider is excited to exclusively present a clip of her episode today.
- 12/26/2023
- by Arezou Amin
- Collider.com
We're further out now from The Wheel of Time's Season 2 finale, but given everything that goes down in that epic episode, we knew we needed the help of some of the show's cast to wrap our heads around it all. While Rand al'Thor (Josha Stradowski) finally accepts his role as the prophesied Dragon Reborn (with the help of some channeling from Rosamund Pike's Moiraine), the original Two Rivers bunch finally reunites in full, looking out on the city of Falme in the wake of an epic battle between Seanchan, Whitecloaks, Aiel, and... wait, there's yet another Forsaken (Laia Costa) lurking softly, softly from the shadows?...
- 12/26/2023
- by Carly Lane
- Collider.com
There are a number of things that define a Christopher Nolan movie. There's the way time flows; it's never linear but instead hops from past to present and occasionally into the future. There are the star-studded casts, which more often than not feature a few familiar faces that've worked with Nolan in the past. Finally, there's an immense sense of scale — no matter the genre, the man loves to go big. These tropes are present throughout Nolan's entire body of work, from The Dark Knight trilogy to his historical epic Oppenheimer. But there's proof that Nolan's signature style works just as well in his smaller, earlier films. In fact, Nolan delivered some of his best work with those early films.
- 12/26/2023
- by Collier Jennings
- Collider.com
It's time to rent a Family Truckster, cue up Lindsey Buckingham's "Holiday Road," and hope our wife doesn't catch us checking out a mysterious hot babe in a sports car -- because it's time to rank all of the films in the "Vacation" franchise. Part family drama, part romantic comedy, part slapstick showcase, and 100 percent a showcase for Chevy Chase to prove why he's Chevy Chase and we're not, National Lampoon's "Vacation" series is home to some of the best bits in American comedy cinema.
Whether they're staying at home for the holidays, pressing their luck in Vegas, traveling cross country, or flying overseas, the Griswolds have set the bar hellishly low for family vacations (which means the only place to go is up for the rest of us). Sure, some of the jokes have seen better days, but the longevity of the series lies with the relatable family...
Whether they're staying at home for the holidays, pressing their luck in Vegas, traveling cross country, or flying overseas, the Griswolds have set the bar hellishly low for family vacations (which means the only place to go is up for the rest of us). Sure, some of the jokes have seen better days, but the longevity of the series lies with the relatable family...
- 12/26/2023
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Most movie-goers were first introduced to the highly intelligent and charismatic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, famously played by Anthony Hopkins, in the movie The Silence of the Lambs. The movie is based on the book by the same name, written by Thomas Harris in 1981. Before Hopkins even appears in the movie, the audience is forced to imagine the monstrosity that is Dr. Lecter, or “Hannibal the Cannibal,” through dialogue between characters who know of the horrendous acts he committed prior to his incarceration. Once he is formally introduced, it becomes apparent that everything he does is extremely calculated, leading people to wonder how he got caught in the first place. What was his life like before his incarceration? As more movies followed, the timeline understandably got a little more confusing. This article should help clear things up as a breakdown of the timeline of the life of Hannibal Lecter.
- 12/26/2023
- by Dana Noraas
- Collider.com
Who would have expected a Hayden Christensen comeback to be in the cards in 2023? Although the Star Wars prequel trilogy actor caught a lot of criticism for his portrayal as the younger version of Anakin Skywalker at the time of the film's release, time has been kind to the performance and Christensen himself. He has now returned in full force to the Star Wars franchise with his performances in the Disney+ shows Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka.
- 12/26/2023
- by Liam Gaughan
- Collider.com
Seeing is not the same thing as knowing. And certainly not the same thing as understanding.
Never before in the history of our species have humans been asked to process so much visual information all the time, often at the same time. Yet whether the endlessly multiplying screens we direct our eyeballs to are actually causing us to be smarter or wiser or more empathetic is still unclear. That’s not news to anyone familiar with terms like “cut through the noise,” or aware of the impulse toward “curation” to find what’s actually good or what anything actually means. Movies and TV, though, have always suggested “seeing” is the highest value: the cameo of a beloved star, the Easter egg, the desire to visualize anything and everything in pixel-perfect VFX, “you’ll believe a man can fly.”
Some of the most compelling visual media of 2023 went in a different direction.
Never before in the history of our species have humans been asked to process so much visual information all the time, often at the same time. Yet whether the endlessly multiplying screens we direct our eyeballs to are actually causing us to be smarter or wiser or more empathetic is still unclear. That’s not news to anyone familiar with terms like “cut through the noise,” or aware of the impulse toward “curation” to find what’s actually good or what anything actually means. Movies and TV, though, have always suggested “seeing” is the highest value: the cameo of a beloved star, the Easter egg, the desire to visualize anything and everything in pixel-perfect VFX, “you’ll believe a man can fly.”
Some of the most compelling visual media of 2023 went in a different direction.
- 12/26/2023
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Have you ever read a comic book and thought that one of the characters seemed like a copy of another from a different book? You are far from the first. Comics, specifically those of the industry's rival superpowers, Marvel and DC, are full of original, vibrant heroes and villains. But sometimes, a few of them resemble guys from the other property a bit too much, either in abilities, backstories, personalities, designs, and so on.
- 12/26/2023
- by David Caballero, Matthew McDonough
- Collider.com
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