Warner Bros. really hopes you dug what you saw with last year’s Shazam, because they’re doubling down in a big way.
Deadline reports the recently-announced Shazam sequel will hit theaters on April 1st 2022. That’s almost exactly three years after the first movie, which starred Zachary Levi and made $364M at the box office. David F. Sandberg is expected to return to direct, with Henry Gayden rehired months ago to work on the sequel’s script. Other than Levi, it’s unclear which members of the cast will also suit up, but with so many members of the Marvel family introduced we can expect some or all of them to have a role to play. Also, the first film teased the return of Mark Strong as Dr Sivana, joined by the talking alien worm, Mister Mind.
A lot is being put on the shoulders of this franchise, because Shazam 2 arrives less than four months after its spinoff, Black Adam, hits theaters on December 22nd 2021. That film, which stars Dwayne Johnson as Shazam’s less-scrupulous rival Teth-Adam aka Black Adam, will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. The two films are expected to eventually crossover, assuming the numbers prove it to be worth it. That’s potentially a big ask, but assuming the budgets remain on the low-ish side each film maintains the fun of the first it should be no problem.
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free early screening of The Song of Names, starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen.
SYNOPSIS: Martin Simmonds (Tim Roth) has been haunted throughout his life by the mysterious disappearance of his “brother” and extraordinary best friend, a Polish Jewish virtuoso violinist, Dovidl Rapaport, who vanished shortly before the 1951 London debut concert that would have launched his brilliant career. Thirty-five years later, Martin discovers that Dovidl (Clive Owen) may still be alive, and sets out on an obsessive intercontinental search to find him and learn why he left.
The screening takes place on Monday, December 16th at 7:00pm at Landmark E Street. If you’d like to attend, RSVP to WDCMOVIES@gmail.com. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you will need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
What happens when a bunch of crusty old war veterans get into a scrap with some punk mutant druggies? Well, we’re about to find out in the upcoming film VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), but my guess is that punk mutant druggies get their asses kicked, especially when those veterans include Stephen Lang (Avatar), William Sadler (Bill & Teds Bogus Journey), Martin Kove (The Karate Kid), and Fred “The Hammer” Williamson (Black Caesar).
This slice of B-grade awesomeness is directed by Joe Begos (Bliss), and produced by the folks behind S. Craig Zahler’s hyper-violent Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99, and Dragged Across Concrete. Yes, please! I remember hearing a lot about this one out of Fantastic Fest, and this trailer does not disappoint. The cast includes Dora Madison, David Patrick Kelly, Sierra McCormick, and Tom Williamson.
SYNOPSIS: A typical night for a group of war veterans at the local VFW turns into an all-out battle for survival when a teenage girl runs into the bar with a bag of stolen drugs. Suddenly under attack from a gang of punk mutants looking to get back what’s theirs – at any cost – the vets use every weapon they can put together to protect the girl, and their VFW, in the biggest fight of their lives.’
VFW hits select theaters, digital, and VOD on February 14th, perfect for a really screwed up Valentine’s Day.
Does anybody want to see the Griswolds of National Lampoon fame when they’re not on vacation? Speaking solely for myself, the answer is “Hell no”, but HBO has other ideas. They’re teaming with Big Bank Theory‘s Johnny Galecki, one of the many actors who played Rusty, on a new comedy series for HBO Max.
There aren’t a ton of details yet, but we do know that Galecki will produce The Griswolds, a single-camera comedy which will take a look at the Griswolds when they’re at home, rather than on one of their doomed vacation trips. Galecki was the third actor to play son Rusty Griswold, starring in 1989’s Christmas Vacation. It was preceded by the classic National Lampoon’s Vacation in 1983, and the less-funny but still pretty good sequel, 1985’s European Vacation. A fourth film followed with 1997’s Vegas Vacation, then in 2015 we got a soft reboot simply-titled Vacation. Chevy Chase and Beverly D’angelo featured in the first four movies as Clark and Ellen Griswold, then had cameos in the final movie.
Since HBO Max doesn’t even launch until May it’s way too early to know more. But I have to assume that Galecki is involved as more than just a producer, right? Perhaps it’ll follow Rusty as he plays the accident-prone patriarch of his own family? Maybe there will be a complete reimagining of the Griswold clan, recasting the Clark Griswold role for the first time? Doubtful Chase can be convinced to return at this point, and I don’t know if anybody can play the role better than he did. [THR]
Next week is shaping up to be pretty dope for sci-fi/fantasy fans. Not only will December 20th bring the next Star Wars movie, but Netflix will drop their anticipated swords and sorcery series, The Witcher, starring Henry Cavill as the famed monster slayer Geralt of Rivia.
The final trailer for The Witcher has arrived, and it teases the Nilfgaardian invasion into the kingdom of Cintra to kidnap Princess Ciria (Freya Allen), a young woman with a dangerous secret that could save or destroy them all. Fortunately for her, she’s got some protection in the form of Geralt and the powerful sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra).
Is The Witcher the next big live-action series for Netflix? We’ll find out next week.
The last few days have seen a lot of back-biting about The Last Jedi, as if that will somehow make people want to see The Rise of Skywalker even more. So it’s good to have something Star Wars related that is just simple, easy fun. A couple of years ago, before we had seen The Last Jedi, Josh Gad and Daisy Ridley did a funny bit where he tried to get her to spill story secrets. Well, Gad is at it again, and he’s brought some of his Disney friends.
In the latest attempt, Gad comes right at Ridley again with the question that is STILL on everyone’s mind: Who are Rey’s parents? Of course, she shoots him down, and so Gad calls on Disney pals Anna Kendrick, Sterling K. Brown, Awkwafina, Kumail Nanjiani, The Mandalorian‘s Pedro Pascal and Gina Carano, Tina Fey, Tom Holland, Brian Tyree Henry, and so many more. This must’ve been a blast to shoot.
So check it out, have a laugh, and then maybe we’ll get some answers on December 20th.
So what will you have accomplished by the time you hit 40? At the age of 39, Lin-Manuel Miranda has won a Tony, an Emmy, a Grammy, and earned an Oscar nomination. He even has a Pulitzer Prize. While it’s only a matter of time before his cultural phenomenon, Hamilton, gets adapted for the big screen, his first big Broadway hit In the Heights comes first, and today brings the musical’s first trailer.
A winner of four Tony Awards, In the Heights takes place over three days in the largely Hispanic-American neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City. While Miranda starred in the original stage version, the film will be led by Anthony Ramos, who played key roles in Hamilton and has since made his move to the screen in Monsters and Men, A Star is Born, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. He’s surrounded by a cast that includes Leslie Grace, Corey Hawkins, Jimmy Smits, Stephanie Beatriz, Marc Anthony, and Melissa Barrera.
If the musical numbers have a familiar energy it’s because Jon Chu is behind the camera, known for his work on the Step Up franchise. Of course, he’s done a lot more than that, including GI Joe: Retaliation, Now You See Me 2, and Crazy Rich Asians.
SYNOPSIS: A feature version of the Broadway musical, in which a bodega owner has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother’s fortune.
Perspective is everything. A great movie can be ruined if the story is told from a perspective that undercuts its strengths. Such is the case with Seberg, which takes the compelling true story of liberal actress and activist Jean Seberg, a target of Hoover’s FBI, and sidelines it in favor of one of her pursuers. It’s an unusual choice by director Benedict Andrews and the writing duo of Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel, but fortunately for them they have Kristen Stewart holding it together as best she can.
Stewart plays Jean Seberg, the French New Wave icon whose 1960 film Breathless cemented her as a giant of the movement. Seberg saw herself as “woke”, and to a certain extent she was, sympathized with political groups considered radical at the time, primarily the Black Power Movement. She donated much of her wealth to their cause, attending their functions and becoming a close friend, then lover to controversial leader Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie). But this also made her a focus of the FBI’s COINTELPRO operation, which had her under intense surveillance, and set out on a campaign to smear her in the press and harass her at every turn.
Seberg is a terrific story, one that approaches governmental corruption and abuses of power in a way very similar to Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell. Interesting that two movies covering much of the same ground are opening in the same week. And the film is truly captivating when focused on the impact the FBI’s disinformation campaign has on Jean Seberg professionally and personally, with Stewart capturing her slow descent into madness. Lies are spread about her that have a deteriorating effect on her grip with reality, and it’s heartbreaking to watch, especially because Stewart fleshes her out so well in fairly limited time. What’s interesting about the Seberg portrayal is that, while she is someone who genuinely seems to care about the causes she champions, she’s also very shallow and easy to manipulate. Jamal is someone who had a reputation for taking advantage of wealthy white women and bringing them over to his cause (Gale Benson, for one, which ended violently), and Seberg was an easy mark.
So then why is so much of the attention centered on a fictional character, conflicted FBI agent Jack Solomon (Jack O’Connell), who goes along with but regrets the destruction he has done to Seberg and her family? We follow Jack as he lives the life of a company man; we see his boring by-the-numbers marriage (with Margaret Qualley wasted as his new wife) and are supposed to sympathize with him, but he’s not particularly interesting. Nor is he the one having vicious rumors spread about him by the most powerful government entity in the country, so….why do we care about him and his internal struggles? There’s no tension in his story; but it all comes back the moment Seberg returns to focus, as she tries to hold on to her marriage, her career, and being a mother. It’s no wonder she starts to crack.
Also of little use in this movie is Vince Vaughn in a bland role as a racist agent who just wants to see Seberg destroyed. Zazie Beetz doesn’t fair much better as Jamal’s jealous wife, with Mackie not being given much to work with, either. Lots of star power that could’ve been put to better use.
There’s a better movie about Jean Seberg out there that’s dying to be made. Maybe the best that’ll come from Seberg is that someone else will pick up the mantle and do it justice. Sadly, what’s going to be lost is another great performance by Stewart in a film that few will see and less will remember.
Although he’s yet to begin filming on his upcoming Elvis Presley film with Austin Butler and tom Hanks, Baz Luhrmann already has eyes on what’s next. A long-sought passion project has come together with Luhrmann securing the rights to satirical Russian novel The Master and Margarita.
Deadline reports Luhrmann will produce and possibly direct an adaptation of Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov’s book, The Master and Margarita, considered by many to be one of the finest literary works of the 20th-century, although it was banned during the author’s lifetime . A biting satire of Russian society (dangerously written during Stalin’s regime) and Christian philosophy, the story partially centers on the arrival of Satan to the atheist Soviet Union of the 1930s; another aspect takes place in Jerusalem during Pontius Pilate’s trial of Jesus.
Multiple international adaptations have already been made, while Roman Polanski was approached by Warner Bros. to direct one in 1989. That fell through when the studio decided it was no longer relevant after the Berlin Wall’s collapse…well, that and they were worried about the budget. Which makes Luhrmann’s approach interesting because budgets tend to balloon under his watch.
Luhrmann begins work on his Elvis biopic in February, so it’ll be awhile before he has time for anything else.
Earlier this year, Her Smell director Alex Ross Perry decided to join in the litany of Stephen King adaptations with the little-known book, Rest Stop. Where that production stands currently is unknown, but it looks as if Perry has decided to move on to another King adaptation, instead. Deadline reports Perry will write and direct The Dark Half, based on King’s 1989 horror novel.
Like many of King’s books, The Dark Half springs from a very specific event in the author’s life. It follows alcoholic author Thad Beaumont whose literary works are pretty unsuccessful, but the violent crime novels he writes under the pseudonym “George Stark” are wildly popular. When Thad’s authorship of the Stark books is uncovered, he decides to hold a mock burial, only to have Stark become real and begin murdering people. King came up with the idea after his pseudonym “Richard Bachman” was revealed to the world. Zombie maestro George A. Romero directed a previous adaptation in 1993 that starred Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, and Michael Rooker.
Perry’s version is being described as a “reinvention”, which isn’t surprising. Perry will want to put his own spin on the story, having proven he’s very good at capturing horror elements in his previous films. That said, he’s never done a straight-up horror movie before, so this should be interesting.
This awards season Perry has been campaigning hard for Her Smell star Elizabeth Moss to get some love. Her Indie Spirits nomination shows it to be working. They’ve worked together multiple times already (Listen Up, Phillip and Queen of Earth included) and I wouldn’t be surprised if The Dark Half is their next collaboration.
