In what could be an unprecedented happening, “The Northman” (Focus), the #4 domestic grossing film over the weekend, came in at #1 on Monday. With a take of $1,093,350, it placed ahead of “The Bad Guys” (Universal), “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” (Paramount), and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” (Warner Bros.). All three did better over the weekend than Robert Eggers’ Viking epic. There is some logic to this fluky event....
Pitt said he channeled Chan when starring in David Leitch’s “Bullet Train,” an adaptation of the Japanese novel “Maria Beetle” by Kōtarō Isaka. Pitt plays an assassin who boards a bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto with the mission to collect a briefcase onboard while fending for his life against other trained killers, portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Bad Bunny, Joey King, and Zazie Beetz. “We always talk about Jackie Chan, how much we love Jackie Chan,” Pitt told Entertainment Tonight of filming the action-comedy, in theaters August 5....
There was plenty of new and interesting tidbits about TV’s biggest evening revealed. First and foremost was the announcement that actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer would be serving as host for this year’s ceremony, a choice that is both exciting and low-key historic. Choosing the star of the CBS sitcom “The Neighborhood” isn’t exactly groundbreaking for a year in which CBS will be airing the ceremony, but what is slightly more out of the ordinary is The Eye opting not to put one its late-night stars in the role....
“Being here in this moment feels like our emergence as a community, to come together in this place to celebrate what it means for cinema,” said Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski, who brought “Stillwater” and “Blue Bayou” to Cannes. “You feel the resurgence, a new energy around it.” “There’s a lot to cheer about,” said Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker, who brought British costume romance “Mothering Sunday” to the festival and later acquired Juho Kuosmanen’s Arctic train saga “Compartment Number 6,” which shared the Cannes Grand Prix....
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has made it clear that Cox will be the only actor to play Daredevil in the MCU moving forward, and while Cox denies knowing anything about Marvel’s future plans, he has repeatedly said that he is game to return as Daredevil in any capacity. While Cox’s passion for the character is undeniable, he does not seem to have much passion for the 2003 film that starred Ben Affleck as the blind superhero....
While Feige’s comment does not confirm Cox’s Daredevil is entering the MCU, it does make it clear that no other iteration of the superhero is being considered for the universe. Cox starred as Daredevil on three seasons of Netflix’s eponymous comic book drama before the streamer canceled the show. Fans have been clamoring for Cox’s return ever since. Rumors have swirled that Cox’s Daredevil could pop up in the. upcoming “Spider Man: Far From Home,” while the Disney+ series “Hawkeye” features a character (Echo) with direct ties to Daredevil nemesis Kingpin (played by Vincent D’Onofrio on Cox’s Netflix series)....
“I gotta say that I’m a big fan of Denis; he’s a friend,” Zhao said. “[‘Eternals’ and ‘Dune’] got pushed and shifted because of the pandemic. We got pulled apart and then now we’re back together again at the same time. Even when I was working on IMAX for ‘Eternals,’ I asked him if it was okay for me to watch ‘Dune.’ I knew he did incredible things in IMAX, so I knew I could learn from him....
“The Broken Hearts Gallery” and “David Copperfield” are two of the few new releases that have opened theatrically amid the pandemic along with Nolan’s own “Tenet,” “The New Mutants,” and “Unhinged.” However, about 30 percent of theaters remain closed in the U.S., including those in top-grossing markets such as New York and Los Angeles. Audiences remain resistant to returning: “Broken Hearts Gallery” opened to $1.125 million and a $500 per-theater average, while Warner Bros....
DANA: My first question upon reading the CNN+ announcement this morning was: Why? The obvious reasons are revenue, and because streaming is gaining ground as the dominant business model, but I look sideways at Jeff Zucker’s press-release assessment: “We will offer consumers a streaming product that grows the reach and scope of the CNN brand in a way that no one else is doing.” Certainly, they will do CNN better than anyone else....
Where to Watch ‘Creamerie’: Hulu (the show originally aired in New Zealand on TVNZ) Sociologists will look back at this point in pop culture history and see 2021 as a year that a certain corner of TV immersed itself in fictional pandemics. “Sweet Tooth,” “Y: The Last Man,” and the upcoming “Station Eleven” all kick off their stories with a world in rapid decline. There may be a bit of a placid intro to kick things off, but it isn’t long before things take a drastic, doomed turn....
Along with nods in the Best Drama Series category, each series secured several nominations in the acting races. Jason Bateman and Josh O’Connor are up for Best Actor in a Drama Series, while Olivia Colman, “Crown” breakout Emma Corrin, and Laura Linney all secured spots for Best Actress in a Drama Series. Other Netflix series recognized with multiple nominations include breakout hit “The Queen’s Gambit” and the early 2020 favorite “Unorthodox....
Film reviewers rushed to Twitter following a press screening of “Moonfall,” the latest space-set film. Halle Berry stars as a NASA executive who is forced to team up with a man from her past (Patrick Wilson) and a conspiracy theorist (John Bradley) to save the world after the Moon is knocked out of orbit and threatens to destroy the Earth. Roland Emmerich (“Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow”) directed the film, which also stars Charlie Plummer, Kelly Yu, and Donald Sutherland....
Kaluuya’s win for “Judas and the Black Messiah” marked one of six nominations the Shaka King-directed historical drama received at the 93rd Academy Awards. In addition to its two Best Supporting Actor noms, “Judas” also earned nominations for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Song, and Best Cinematography. The movie’s nomination for Best Picture made history for featuring an all-Black producing team. To play Fred Hampton, fiery orator of the Black Panthers, Kaluuya told IndieWire earlier this Oscars season that he immersed himself in Hampton’s Chicago neighborhood, Mayhood, and reached out to his family....
“Perhaps the problem is that we are in front of too many Marvel movies that are nothing more than a ‘cut and paste’ of others,” Villeneuve said. “Perhaps these types of movies have turned us into zombies a bit… But big and expensive movies of great value there are many today. I don’t feel capable of being pessimistic at all.” The Academy Award-nominated Villeneuve has yet to step into the Marvel Cinematic Universe himself, though he has franchise hopes for his upcoming “Dune” adaptation, for which he plans to make a sequel depending on the success of the sci-fi epic in theaters and on HBO Max October 22....
Meanwhile, Tyler Perry’s blockbuster Madea franchise moved to Netflix in one of the streamer’s most significant franchise acquisitions, with “A Madea Homecoming” immediately taking the top position. The interesting play here is that Janus, whose 179-minute Japanese arthouse title is approaching a stunning $2 million in gross, and score four key nominations including Best Picture, is skipping the higher return PVOD price, usually $19.99. But this makes sense – the audience to pay the higher rate for the rarefied, less known subtitled film is likely limited....
Adapted by “Happy Hour” and “Asako I & II” auteur Ryûsuke Hamaguchi from a short story by Haruki Murakami, “Drive My Car” is a head-on collision between an emerging filmmaker fascinated by the interior lives of women, and a famous author who… is not (to say nothing of his other charms, Murakami is more into mysterious pixie dream girls). But these two wildly disparate storytellers aren’t the only people vying for control of the wheel in this beguiling three-hour gem, as a third major figure is soon introduced to help steer them in the same direction: legendary playwright Anton Chekhov....
The first trailer from 2022 Comic Con unveils the fantasy world behind “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.” The Paramount Pictures and eOne production premieres March 3, 2023 in theaters. Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Sophia Lillis, Regé-Jean Page, and Hugh Grant star in the adventure film based on the hit board game. Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis also star. Co-directors and co-screenwriters Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley helm the project, with Jeremy Latcham producing....
“It doesn’t matter if you do 10 stupid things so long as you do one smart one,” Colonel Tom Parker advises us near the start of Baz Luhrmann’s utterly deranged musical biopic about the King of Rock & Roll, but even a ratio that forgiving would still leave “Elvis” roughly 370 “smart ones” short. If only this 159-minute eyesore — a sadistically monotonous super-montage in which a weird Flemish guy manipulates some naïve young greaser over and over and over again until they both get sad and die — were gracious enough to be as short in any other respect....
“Emily’s [stunt] is so real, I think I put my marriage on the line when I put her in the car,” director John Krasinski recently told the “ReelBlend” podcast about crafting the moment. “That’s true. When I was explaining to her onset all of the things that were going to happen, and I said, ‘You’re going to hit this stuntman. That car’s going to come three feet from you. And then this bus is actually going to clock at 40 miles an hour,’ her face fell and she went, ‘But not really....
Which is what makes today — the final day of Phase 2 voting for this year’s Emmys — the perfect time to start looking ahead to next year, where Emmy races across the board promise plenty of intrigue. Decks will likely be stacked with a whole host of returning favorites, in addition to whatever new programs rise to the top. But before we get to that, another disclaimer for this Emmy season: It’s through no fault of the programs competing that this year’s races seem a bit lackluster....
