Okay, so Avengers: Doomsday is shaping up to be kinda nutty. With Robert Downey Jr. returning as Doctor Doom, and Chris Evans reportedly back as Nomad, now comes news from Deadline that Hayley Atwell will reprise her Captain Carter role, too.
Atwell first played Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger, and has returned to the role multiple times including the short-lived Agent Carter TV series. She returned as Captain Carter, an alternate universe version in which she took the Super Soldier serum and not Steve Rogers, in the animated What If…? series and in live-action in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Would it be crazy to think that Captain Carter and Nomad might be together? Steve and Peggy still a couple just in a totally different way? That would be cool.
So it seems that Avengers: Secret Wars won’t be where all of the Multiverse insanity takes place, but we should still expect that film to go out with a bang as Marvel brings the Phase to a close.
Avengers: Doomsday opens May 1st 2026 with Secret Wars a year later.
One of the cool things about the Middleburg Film Festival is how open it is. You can walk around the cozy little town, and the resort hotel at the heart of it, and meet the filmmakers and actors from the movies you’ve come to see, and just have a conversation with them. I ran into John Magaro multiple times at the festival this year, and each time he pressed on me to see his new movie, September 5. It had been my plan to, but just couldn’t find a way to fit it in. John’s a cool guy; very down to earth, a big sports fan, and he loves to talk movies. I told him his rock music drama Not Fade Away was the first film I reviewed on my Cinema Royale podcast (which you can find here). He called that a “deep cut.”
Something else about John Magaro is that he LOVES to talk about September 5. I promised him that it would be top priority for me once the festival was over. Honestly, I shouldn’t have cleared time to see it much sooner because once it was over I could see why he was so pumped to talk about it. The film, which takes a look at the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack from the perspective of the ABC Sports news team broadcasting it to the country in real-time, is a true labor of love. A real pressure-cooker film that explores the ethical implications of their coverage and the hard work to get it right, is one of the best movies of the year with an incredible ensemble led by Magaro along with Peter Sarsgaard, Ben Chaplin, and Leonie Benesch.
It’s been a treat to watch September 5 pick up in critical buzz this awards season, and for Magaro’s performance. He’s been deserving of more notice for a long time, and now he’s finally starting to get it.
I had the pleasure of speaking with John Magaro and September 5 director Tim Fehlbaum about the film. Magaro revealed that he had been an extra on Steven Spielberg’s film Munich, and how that prepared him for September 5. Fehlbaum talked about the process of capturing the distinct look and feel of the era, and what he wants people to take away from the film when they see it in theaters. They both talked about the extensive research that went into the movie, including talking with some of the people who were there. This interview was a blast.
September 5 is open in theaters now. Check out the interview below.
Olympic athlete Alexi Pappas has taken her athletic career and used it to launch a completely different career in Hollywood. Pappas has co-directed, co-written, and starred in Tracktown and Olympic Dreams, both sports-oriented films alongside filmmaker Jeremy Teicher. But the duo is taking on a completely different theme for their next project, Not an Artist, which takes a satirical look at the creative process.
This one looks super cool because it has RZA as a possible cult leader at the center of an artist-in-residency program. He’s got an ultimatum for all of the distressed artists under his charge: either reach your full creative potential or quit being an artist forever.
Pappas and RZA are part of a great ensemble that includes Haley Joel Osment, Betsy Sodaro, Rosalind Chao, Ciara Bravo, Matt Walsh, Robert Schwartzman, Paul Lieberstein, Dan Bakkedahl, Gata, Morgan Walsh, Clark Moore, and Lauren Knutti.
The film is directed and written by Pappas and Teicher, with Walsh also part of the screenplay team.
Here’s the synopsis: In an exclusive artist-in-residency program overseen by an enigmatic patron (RZA), artists in turmoil face a make-or-break ultimatum: unlock their full creative potential or abandon art forever. Yet, the unexpected intrusion of an outsider (Matt Walsh, Veep) jeopardizes the program’s delicate balance. Also starring Cleopatra Coleman (Last Man on Earth), Paul Lieberstein (The Office), and Rosalind Chao (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), among others.
Utopia releases Not an Artist digitally on January 31st 2025.
After slowing down for a few years, Anne Hathaway has had a fire lit all of a sudden. In recent weeks she’s signed on for new films by Christopher Nolan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, plus the next Colleen Hover adaptation Verity, but she’s hardly done. Deadline reports Hathaway will star with Dave Bautista in an untitled wedding sting action-comedy for Amazon MGM and the Russo Brothers’ label AGBO.
The film is based on a real-life sting in which two agents posed as a couple to bust up a criminal operation, leading to an actual staged wedding. Hathaway and Bautista will be paired up as mismatched undercover FBI agents forced into the phony wedding arrangement.
Jonathan Tropper will pen the screenplay. He’s the writer behind This is Where I Leave You, The Adam Project, and the upcoming cop comedy The Wrecking Crew. Tropper is quite busy himself, and recently signed on to showrun Reese Witherspoon’s AppleTV+ series Luckystarring Anya Taylor-Joy.
Bautista can be seen now opposite Pamela Anderson in The Last Showgirl (review here), which is open in LA now before a wider rollout next month. It’s receiving a ton of buzz and possible awards for star Pamela Anderson.
No director is attached yet, but with Hathaway and Bautista aboard it shouldn’t take long to find one.
Stallone! Eastwood! Two of the most meaningful names in movie history are coming together on a new action film, Alarum! Okay, so Sylvester Stallone spends most of his time on the Paramount+ series Tulsa King now, and the Eastwood in question is Clint’s son Scott, but it’s still pretty cool, right? I’d put those last names on the poster in big bold letters! That said, they’re surrounded by a great cast for a film full of cool spy stuff.
Alarum stars Eastwood and Stallone along with Willa Fitzgerald (Strange Darling), Mike Colter (Luke Cage), Brazilian actress Isis Valverde (Angela), and Joel Cohen. It’s directed by Michael Polish, who is best known for the movies he’s made with his brother Mark such as Twin Falls Idaho, Northfork, and The Astronaut Farmer.
Here’s the synopsis: Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone, Scott Eastwood, Mike Colter, and Willa Fitzgerald star in this explosive action-thriller about two married spies caught in the crosshairs of an international intelligence network that will stop at nothing to obtain a critical asset. Joe (Eastwood) and Lara (Fitzgerald) are agents living off the grid whose quiet retreat at a winter resort is blown to shreds when members of the old guard suspect the two may have joined an elite team of rogue spies, known as ALARUM.
One look at the trailer and it seems Stallone has another easy gig on his hands. In his recent film Armor (review here), Sly was heavily promoted but was only on set for a day and didn’t carry much of the action.
Alarum opens in theaters and digital on January 17th 2025.
Carol Kane has been a staple in Hollywood for decades. Despite a long and impressive filmography, she hasn’t received the recognition she deserves. This is changing with her new film Between the Temples. Released earlier this year, Kane plays a retired woman who decides to get Bat Mitsvah’d later in life and grows closer to her canter (Jason Schwartzman) in the process. It’s a role that feels on-brand for Kane yet totally different from any she’s played before. She is funny, quirky and independent, but there’s a maternal calm to her performance. She bounces around the screen with a childlike zeal. Her chemistry with Schwartzman is electric and their time onscreen makes the film special.
Audiences and critics know this. A few days before I sat down to interview her, she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and was named Best Supporting Actress by the New York Film Critics Circle. When I asked her how she was, she was still feeling the excitement about the award and nomination even a few days later. “Things are going in sort of a fairytale fashion.” For her the only thing that would make it better would be “if my Jason were nominated with me.”
Both she and Jason spend a lot of this film singing to each other, which she quickly corrected me on. “It’s not singing. It’s chanting. I have never chanted before.” Breaking down the difference she tells me, “It’s a real specific melody but it’s not a song. It’s hard to get.”
We also chatted about her recent career recognition, how Between the Temples was filmed, and about the films she starred in that didn’t get their due. It was no surprise she listed quite a few titles, calling out Carnal Knowledge, Hester Street, Hunters, and even The World’s Great Lover with Gene Wilder. “But that’s the luck of the draw. That’s why it’s so gratifying and shocking that this tiny little movie is getting this recognition because you can never count on that.” But you can always count on Carol Kane to deliver a brilliant performance. You can catch Between the Temples on-demand. Watch my interview below.
Earlier this week, we learned that Chris Evans is coming back to the MCU for Avengers: Doomsday. This opened up speculation on who he would play, since Steve Rogers was old and had passed the shield to Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson. Also, with Robert Downey Jr. coming back as Doctor Doom, it just felt like Evans could be anybody. Well, maybe not anybody, but if rumors are true, he definitely won’t be Captain America.
According to Jeff Sneider on The Hot Mic, Evans will play Nomad in Avengers: Doomsday. So who is Nomad? In the page of Captain America #180, Cap learns that a high-ranking elected official (probably Tricky Dick Nixon) is actually a member of the evil Serpent Society. Growing disillusioned with the United States government, he abandons the Captain America mantle and becomes Nomad, a hero who serves no country.
Following events in Captain America: Civil War and heading into Avengers: Infinity War, fans thought Evans would be playing the Nomad version of Rogers, but the Russo Brothers said [via LRMOnline] only in “spirit.”
“Some people have suspected that he may be Nomad heading into ‘Avengers 3’ and I wouldn’t say that he is exactly Nomad, but he is the spirit of that character.”
So how could this version of Steve Rogers fit into the MCU? It’s likely to be a Multiverse thing, and if so it would create an entirely new dynamic between Rogers and Stark, whose ideologies have never quite aligned.
Warner Bros. did Looney Tunes fans a disservice when they shelved the anticipated comedy Coyote vs. Acme, despite efforts by stars John Cena and Will Forte. There hadn’t been a non-Space Jam theatrical featuring Bugs Bunny and the gang since Looney Tunes: Back in Action way back in 2003, and that one was a big ol’ flop. But the studio must still have some love for the animated ‘toons because there’s a new feature-length movie opening in Los Angeles today before it goes nationwide in February.
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck as Earth’s last hope against a secret alien mind control plot.
While it’s good to see WB giving these legendary cartoons some shine, they’re technically not distributing this one as they sold the rights to Ketchup Entertainment last summer. However, if the film does well at the box office it may encourage the studio to invest more in Looney Tunes and maybe…just maybe…they’ll give Coyote vs. Acme a second look.
The film is directed by Pete Browngardt, known for his work on HBO Max’s Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry shows. Eric Bauza reprises his voice role as Daffy and Porky, joined by Candi Milo as Petunia Pig, Peter MacNicol as the alien Invader, Fred Tatasciore, Laraine Newman, and Wayne Knight.
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie gets an awards qualifying run starting today in Los Angeles, before opening nationwide on February 28th 2025.
During the opening minutes of Netflix’s new thriller Carry-On, I jokingly posted on social media “A new Christmas classic?”, fully expecting to forget the film almost as soon as it was over. I’m okay admitting when I’m wrong, as I am in this case because what a surprising holiday treat this turned out to be. A welcome throwback to the high-octane thrillers of the ’80s, it’s clear that director Jaume Collet-Serra wants to bring back that Die Hard feeling, and with Taron Egerton attempting his best Bruce Willis, he largely delivers.
Egerton, who will probably always be either that Kingsman guy or that dude who played Elton John, is lowly TSA agent Ethan. After failing the police entrance exam, Ethan is pretty much checked-out at this current gig at LAX. However, he’s got a lot to look forward to. He’s about to become a father with his girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson), a manager at the same airport. She wants Ethan to reapply, to feel motivated again. Even his colleagues at work (including Dean Norris as his boss and Sinqua Walls as his best friend) can see that Ethan’s heart isn’t in it. But on this busy Christmas Eve, Ethan recommits to the job, even convincing his pal to give up his spot at the baggage security checkpoint to show he’s a team player.
But that initiative Ethan is showing comes with a price. Finding a Bluetooth earpiece, followed by a text telling him to use it, Ethan is commanded by a mysterious Traveler (Jason Bateman) to allow a piece of luggage through security checkpoint without being flagged. If Ethan doesn’t do it, someone will die. And if he tries to alert anyone, someone Ethan cares about will pay the price. “One bag for one life” he’s told, menacingly. With help from his tech accomplice (Theo Rossi) in a nearby van, they’ve discovered everything they need to know about Ethan and they have him dead to rights.
Collet-Serra might be best known for recent studio duds such as Jungle Cruise and Black Adam, but he also directed Liam Neeson in a string of thrillers similar to Carry-On, such as Non-Stop and The Commuter. One can easily imagine that TJ Fixman’s script was written with Neeson in mind, with the lead role aged down considerably with Egerton aboard. Whether that’s true or not, Egerton is a much better fit. He’s still got that everyman quality but he’s young, athletic, and earnest. You can easily believe he’s a good guy who has lost his way a little bit. You also feel his shame at all of the shady things he must do to obey the Traveler’s wishes, including spiking his friend’s coffee to get him busted out of a key checkpoint. But Ethan has no choice. While he tries to push back against the criminal’s demands, he quickly learns the fatal consequences of defiance.
The trick for a movie like Carry-On is to keep finding clever ways to dial up the tension with unpredictable scenarios. For the Traveler, his arrogance leads him to constantly underestimate Ethan, who devises a nifty way to find the ballcap-wearing villain. For Ethan, he is frequently thrown off by the Traveler’s cold demeanor. He claims he’s not a terrorist, just one of the few people in the world who can facilitate things for bad people. We don’t know immediately what’s in the suitcase but we can take a guess. Nor does it really matter in the larger scheme of things.
The film is about Ethan and the choices he must make in a constantly evolving, fluid environment. An airport like LAX has thousands of people moving through it at all times. On Christmas Eve that number probably doubles. It’s impossible for anyone to predict what will happen from moment to moment, and that causes more and more trouble for Ethan and the Traveler. Fixman’s script keeps track of all of the spinning plates in the air, and calculates how the crashing of one impacts another. The introduction of Danielle Deadwyler as dogged detective Elena Cole throws the situation into greater chaos, amping up the excitement even further.
Carry-On is a smartly-crafted, heartstopping thriller that would be a blast to watch on the big-screen, but will do just as well on your living room TV. It keeps raising the stakes without straining credulity, no easy feat. Egerton gives Ethan loads of personality, and Bateman’s smugness comes through both as a threatening voice over the phone and when Traveler’s forced to get his hands dirty. Collet-Serra is doing what he knows best, but is there a better way to get back on track after a couple of blockbuster flops? So maybe Carry-On isn’t going to win any awards or anything like that, if it’s something you can rewatch again and again over the holidays, doesn’t that make it a gift that keeps on giving?
And there’s a new target on Ghostface’s hit list. Deadline reports Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire‘s McKenna Grace is the latest to join the Scream 7 cast. She joins the returning Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, plus new franchise cast members Isabel May, Celeste O’Connor and Asa Germann.
Other than Campbell, this is starting to look like an all-new direction for Scream, which is probably warranted given the raft of exits since the last movie which starred Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega. Both actresses have left the sequel for different reasons.
It’s unknown who Grace will be playing. With Isabel May cast as Sidney’s daughter, it’s possible Grace will portray another of her three kids with husband Mark. It’s also unclear if Patrick Dempsey will reprise that role, and the same goes for Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers, although the veteran reporter is expected back.
Franchise writer and creator Kevin Williamson will finally step behind the camera as director. He’ll have a script by Guy Busick.
