Well, there may be a new reason to subscribe to CBS All Access, if you’re a fan of Jordan Peele, that is. The Get Out director is confirmed to host and narrate a new reboot of TheTwilight Zone series, after the project was green lit last year. Peele will be taking over from the great Rod Serling, and you can see the transition from one host to the next in the new teaser.
“Rod Serling was an uncompromising visionary who not only shed light on social issues of his time, but prophesied issues of ours,” Peele said in a statement to THR. “I’m honored to carry on his legacy to a new generation of audiences as the gatekeeper of ‘The Twilight Zone.’”
The original Twilight Zone ran from 1959 to 1964, with its anthology format and collection of strange, surrealist stories setting the stage for shows like Black Mirror and The X-Files. While we don’t know Peele’s specific vision, we can guess he’ll be shining a light on society just as he did with Get Out and Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman. Look for TheTwilight Zone series to hit CBS All Access in fall 2019.
Disney is taking viewers to the darkest corners of the web in Ralph Breaks the Internet, the sequel to 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph. That means less of the nostalgic coin-op feel of the first movie, replaced by online memes, pop-up ads, cat and dancing videos, and selfies selfies selfies.
The latest trailer expands on the story a little bit, but still keeps a lot under wraps. The ham-fisted Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) and his hyper sidekick Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) venture into the Internet to buy a new steering wheel for her broken Sugar Rush game, otherwise it’ll be shut off forever. But to do it they’ll need to get some money, and puts them in a racing showdown with Shank, a new driver voiced by Wonder Woman‘s Gal Gadot. Looks like Shank will become more than a rival, but another guiding influence much like Ralph. Because this is the Internet we’re talking about, plenty of random weirdness happens, too. A poor dog meets an unfortunate Sharknado-inspired demise, and I don’t know why one ugly creature has his “little brother” growing out of his neck.
The film also features the voice of Taraji P. Henson as Yessss, an algorithim for BuzzTube, Alan Tudyk as a search engine, plus the return of Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch as Fix-It Felix and wife Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun.
For the entirety of his stay in the WWE, CM Punk aka Phil Brooks aka leader of the Straight Edge Society (*fist raised in the air*) was my favorite wrestler, and it killed me when his run as the then longest-reigning WWE Champion came to an end. Ever since he quit professional wrestling, CM Punk has been dabbling in other pursuits, like stopping closed fists with his face in UFC, and Hollywood acting. He’s had roles on IFC series Maron and an upcoming spot in The Soska Sisters’ remake of David Cronenberg’s Rabid.
Punk has also wrapped on his first lead role, in hausted house horror film The Girl on the Third Floor, and EW has the first look. Marking the directorial debut of producer Travis Stevens (Buster’s Mal Heart), the story centers on Don Koch, “a man who is failing as a husband. He now views fixing up an old house as a chance to make up for past mistakes. Meanwhile, his wife, Liz Koch, is concerned about the renovation timeline as they have a baby on the way. As Don tears the house apart, it begins to tear him apart as well, revealing the rot behind the drywall.”
Joining Punk are co-stars Trieste Dunn (Banshee), Elissa Dowling (We Are Still Here) and Sarah Brooks. The film was shot in the Chicago suburbs in a house alleged to be haunted. Yeah, okay, and the Undertaker is really a dead man, right?
Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9 hits theaters this weekend, and it will probably cause a few tense political conversations over the dinner table. When the holidays come around a lot of families ban any talk of politics because of the tensions they cause, and that’s probably a good idea for most households. If you’re a bystander, though, a good ideological row between relatives can be a blast to watch, and that’s what Ike Barinholtz’s comedy The Oath promises.
A new red band trailer for the film features more F-bombs than you usually get over Thanksgiving dinner conversation. Barinholtz, who you may recognize from Neighbors, Suicide Squad, and more, wrote, directed, and stars in the comedy about a family on different sides of the political spectrum when the President asks people to sign a loyalty pledge. When two government agents show up to enforce the policy, all Hell breaks loose.
Tiffany Haddish plays Barinholtz’s wife, with Billy Magnussen, John Cho, Carrie Brownstein, Meredith Hagner, Jon Barinholtz, Nora Dunn, and Chris Ellis making for a funny lineup. I just saw the film yesterday and all I’ll say is that the trailer doesn’t show you half of the insanity Barinholtz has dreamed up. I also identified waaaaaayyyy too strongly with his character who has to have the news on at every minute of the day. It’s a habit I’m trying to break.
Barry Jenkins took eight years between his acclaimed debut film Medicine for Melancholy and Best Picture Oscar winner Moonlight. Thankfully the wait won’t be nearly as long for his next film, If Beale Street Could Talk, and if the early buzz is right it may be a short trip before Jenkins returns to the awards stage.
A new trailer has hit for Jenkins’ adaptation of James Baldwin’s book, which apparently will stick very close to the source material. Kiki Layne and Stephan James star as Tish and Fonny, who must overcome the odds when Fonny is falsely convicted of a murder, and Tish must fight to free him before the birth of their child. The stars flocked to be a part of Jenkins’ latest, and the cast is the best he’s ever had. Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna,Pedro Pascal, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry, and Regina King are all on board making for a terrific ensemble.
Some will disagree with this and that’s okay, but I think Bond 25 just got a serious upgrade, and the loss of Danny Boyle may have been an unexpected gift. With Boyle recently leaving the 007 franchise over creative differences, mostly over casting decisions, Deadline reports that he has now been replaced by True Detective director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, a decision that is tremendously exciting.
Fukunaga comes aboard Bond 25 just as we are learning of a plan to basically start the film over from scratch with a script by franchise scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. The producers decided to ditch Boyle and John Hodge’s story altogether, which makes sense even though it means a longer wait time. As for how long that wait is, it’s been confirmed the start of production will be next March, with the film set to open on February 14th 2020, the first time since 1989’s License to Kill that a Bond movie has opened domestically outside of the November timeframe.
In news that surprised me, Fukunaga now becomes the first American filmmaker to direct a Bond movie. He wins out over a number of top notch candidates mentioned for the job, including Edgar Wright, Jean-Marc Vallee, and recent contenders S.J. Clarkson and Yann Demange. This will be a wild change of pace for Fukunaga, but to be fair his career has already been pretty diverse. He recently gained notice with 2009’s immigration drama Sin Nombre, followed by Victorian thriller Jane Eyre, still my favorite version of that classic story. From there he upped the scale with Netflix’s Beasts of No Nation, and he’ll soon rejoin the streaming service for his Maniac series with Emma Stone and Jonah Hill. Obviously, he’s done nothing quite the size and scope of Bond, and I can’t wait to see what he does with a project of this magnitude. I expect he’ll want to take a pass at the script himself, but he’ll need to be quick in order to hit the March start date.
Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig announced today that #Bond25 will begin filming at Pinewood Studios on 4 March 2019 under the helm of director, Cary Joji Fukunaga with a worldwide release date of 14 February 2020. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/Oyzt826sXd
“We are delighted to be working with Cary. His versatility and innovation make him an excellent choice for our next James Bond adventure,” said Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. (2/2)
You hear that blood ‘n gore maestro Eli Roth (he of the Hostel flicks) is making a Halloween movie and the last thing to expect is a kid friendly treat like The House with a Clock in its Walls. A Spielberg-esque adventure (it’s produced by Amblin Entertainment, after all) full of modest frights and lots of magic, the film marks Roth’s latest diversion away from the horror genre and is far more enjoyable than his recent Death Wish remake. While he’s always been given to explicit displays of violence rather than psychological scares, Roth shows a surprising skill for the warm-hearted, whimsical, and weird.
This oddball confection is set in 1955, free from the cold, impersonal technology that I think has made modern day horrors less effective. Illustrator Edward Gorey’s creepy, mischievous art translates well to the big screen, capturing the shadowy corners of an old Victorian home. That’s where we’re introduced to Lewis (Owen Vaccaro), a shy young orphan who has been sent to live there with his bizarre uncle Jonathan (Jack Black) in a small Michigan town. Turns out Jonathan’s house is just as strange as he is; while he walks around decked out in kimonos and unfortunate hats, his house is full of ticking clocks, dozens of them. Bright stained-glass windows, a terrifying amount of life-sized dolls, and other dusty antiques cast a cryptic pall over the place, but it is by no means boring.
Turns out, Lewis’ uncle isn’t just an eccentric, he’s a warlock, and his home is full of magical things, like a living chimera topiary, a sofa that behaves like a dog, and stained-glass window is never the same twice. Jonathan isn’t a powerful warlock but his neighbor and best friend, the purple-clad Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett), is powerful although a past tragedy has affected her confidence. She’s feisty, though, and trades insults with Jonathan like an old married couple. Don’t tell them that, though. Still, Lewis is lonely and just wants to make friends. He wears a sentimental pair of goggles that make him an outcast around school, and he carries an8-ball that he hopes will bring messages from his dead parents. The lengths Lewis goes to cure his loneliness eventually get him and his newfound family into big trouble.
The best part of the film is its colorful cast of characters, including the house itself, a virtual treasure chest of curiosities and whatnot. It’s perfect for a young boy like Lewis to explore and get into trouble with, like that huge vault door Jonathan warns him never to open. Of course, it WILL get opened at some point. Kids will also be drawn in by the wonderful visuals, with credit going to the film’s talented production team. A scene where they fight a horde of attacking jack o’lanterns is matched in creepiness only by the living dolls, which made my skin crawl at the thought of their touch. *shudders* While I found Vaccaro’s performance as Lewis lacking in childlike spark, it was more than matched by the playful banter between Black and Blanchett. While we expect Black to be a little off his rocker, Blanchett is delightfully nutty here, as well.
Screenwriter Eric Kripke knows how to have fun with the supernatural, literally, as creator of the long-running CW series, Supernatural. He walks a tonal balance between scares and humor that doesn’t always fit, and gets lost when the plot actually gets set into motion. When Lewis inadvertently resurrects the evil mage Isaac Izard (Kyle MacLachlan), it sets off a chain of convoluted and less-interesting events when all we really want to do is explore the wonders of this spellbinding world. The occasional blood ritual and talk of making keys out of a dead wife are about as close as it gets to resembling an Eli Roth movie.
Bellair’s novel led to a number of sequels, and if a hit The House with a Clock in its Walls will probably get at least one. It comes across a little like Harry Potter-lite, but the gothic setting and unique array of characters create their own kind of magic worth paying a visit to this Halloween.
Following on the heels of the new Captain Marvel trailer, Marvel Studios is putting even more of a focus on their roster of female superheroes. Deadline reports ABC and Marvel TV are developing an hour-long drama series from Wonder Woman writer Allan Heinberg, centered on an all-woman team of lesser-known characters.
Details are being kept under wraps at this early stage, but this news brings to mind all of the recent talk about an all-female Avengers movie. While it seemed to have some steam early on with Tessa Thompson, Scarlett Johansson, Zoe Saldana, and other actresses really pushing for it, the idea has quietly faded.
At this point there’s no suggestion this new TV series would feature any characters previously seen, and I’m guessing it probably won’t. I’d kill for it to be a Lady Liberators series, though. Just sayin’. And She-Hulk has to be a part of this, right? Between this news and Marvel shows on Disney’s streaming service there’s going to be more superheroes on the small screen than ever.
Thinking AMC’s The Walking Dead is limping along on its last legs, especially with next season’s departures of Andrew Lincoln and Lauren Cohan? Think again, because the franchise is actually growing, and reaching out into other arenas beyond the small screen.
AMC CEO Josh Sapan recently said a plan was in place for the next decade’s worth of The Walking Dead, and now thanks to Bloomberg we have an idea of what they have in store. None of it should come as any surprise. While the O.G. series will keep on rolling, along with spinoff Fear the Walking Dead, AMC also will produce “multiple movies and new TV shows”. These films are being developed in the hopes they will then lead to other TV series, with the expectation that at least one spinoff will be set outside of North America. Yep, The Walking Dead is going global.
These projects would be hugely expensive, approximately costing in the hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s a lot for the tight-budgeted AMC to handle, so they’re looking to possibly partner up with other media companies, which could mean bringing these projects to a streaming service like Netflix who could shoulder the costs and increase viewership. Scott Gimple, longtime producer, writer, and showrunner, will oversee all of these new projects.
At this point is there really a demand for more of The Walking Dead, though? Ratings have been sliding and the loss of such fan-favorite characters is going to deal a big blow. Sure, these would basically be brand new projects but there’s the risk of diluting the brand. AMC has to do whatever they feel is necessary to keep their most profitable franchise alive, though, so let’s see where this goes.
Every time there’s any kind of update on Space Jam 2, which has happened once or twice a year for quite a while now, the reaction is always the same: “This is a real thing?” Well…yeah, it is. Why is everybody so surprised to find out the animated b-ball hit would get a sequel, and that it would star LeBron James? How is that any different than when Michael Jordan led the 1996 movie? Simply put, it isn’t, and that sequel is definitely happening now, with the surprise addition of Black Panther director Ryan Coogler on board.
LeBron James confirmed to THR some of what we already knew, that Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty) will direct, and let’s hope he brings some of his unique animation style to Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes crew. The big news is Ryan Coogler joining the film as a producer, which is just plain cool. Maybe someday it leads to James getting his own Black Panther 2 role? Too soon to think that far ahead?
James said about the news, “The ‘Space Jam’ collaboration is so much more than just me and the Looney Tunes getting together and doing this movie. It’s so much bigger. I’d just love for kids to understand how empowered they can feel and how empowered they can be if they don’t just give up on their dreams. And I think Ryan did that for a lot of people.”
Shooting probably won’t kick off until early next year when James is less busy playing hoops. For now, check out this cool Instagram post confirming the Space Jam 2 starting lineup.
