Here’s a superhero project nobody saw coming. THR reports Ben Stiller will join with Cate Blanchett for a film adaptation of 1960s British superhero espionage series The Champions.
Stiller will not only star in the film along with Blanchett, but will make this his first directorial effort since 2016’s Zoolander 2. The series, which ran for 30 episodes from 1968-1969, centered on a trio of U.N. agents whose plane crash lands in the Hamalayas, only for the survivors to be rescued by an advanced civilization who grant them incredible powers. The trio continue working for their secret government agency, known as Nemesis, battling global threats such as fascists, Nazis, and more.
“I’ve long wanted to work with Ben — the director and the actor,” Blanchett said. “He is one of the most engaged and versatile directors working today. Anyone who can make both ‘Zoolander’ and ‘Escape at Dannemora’ is a creative force to be reckoned with.”
Stiller added, “I’m a huge fan of Cate’s for a very long time. I’m hoping this project will help people to finally take her seriously as an actress.”
Believe it or not, attempts to bring The Champions to the big screen have been ongoing for a while. Guillermo Del Toro was attached to a version back in 2007 that he would write and produce. A year later, Christopher McQuarrie joined as co-writer. Somehow it never came to be. Let’s hope this one gets off the ground.
Why do you love movies? Everybody has a different reason and can point to the moment when they fell hard for the art of cinema. David Fincher, continuing his near decade-long association with Netflix, will explore the connection people have with film through his documentary series Voir.
The six-episode series amounts to personal essays and stories about how specific movies, scenes, actors, and more affect them on a deep level. Some of the journalists involved are familiar faces to the film critic scene, such as Drew McWeeny, Taylor Ramos, Sasha Stone, Tony Zhou, and Walter Chaw.
Voir is exec-produced by Fincher and David Prior. The partnership between Fincher and Netflix has been a fruitful one and includes House of Cards, Love Death + Robots, Mindhunter, and the Oscar-winning film Mank.
Netflix will debut Voir on December 6th.
From executive producers David Fincher and David Prior, VOIR is a series of visual essays celebrating Cinema and the personal connection we each have to the stories we see on the big screen. From intimate personal histories to insights on character and craft, each episode reminds us why Cinema holds a special place in our lives.
The biggest franchises in Paramount’s arsenal, Transformers and Star Trek, have been away from the big screen for a while, but it hasn’t been for lack of trying. And now as they actually seem to be moving pretty quick on Steven Caple’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and a new ‘Trek’ from WandaVision director Matt Shakman, both films have been pushed out deeper into 2023.
Even though principle photography is completed on Caple’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the film has still been pushed a full year from June 24th, 2022, to June 9th, 2023. Damn. The cast for that one includes In the Heights star Anthony Ramos and The Deuce actress Dominique Fishback in a story that will introduce the Beast Wars characters into the mix to fight alongside Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.
That summer release date had been occupied by a new Star Trek movie from Matt Shakman, but it has now moved to December 22nd 2023, the date recently vacated by Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron. Gee, you think Paramount leapt at the chance to have a prime holiday spot without serious Star Wars competition? You betcha.
Shakman is the latest director attached to man Star Trek into the final frontier. SJ Clarkson had been set to be the first female to helm a movie in franchise history, but she ultimately gave way to Noah Hawley who couldn’t get his project into the air. And of course, there was that whole flirtation with Quentin Tarantino. It remains unclear what this new version will look like, and if it will include Chris Pine and his co-stars.
Tomorrow isn’t just another Friday. It’s also been designated Disney+ Day, and there are expected to be loads of updates, promos, and teasers for programming that will be arriving on the network soon. Or, as Disney CFO Christine McCarthy says, they’ll be certain projects coming in the latter half of 2022, and those include Rogue One prequel series Andor, the Ms. Marvel series starring Iman Vellani, and Robert Zemeckis’ live-action Pinocchio film starring Tom Hanks as the fatherly Gepetto.
McCarthy: Says Q4 2022 for Disney+ will have content from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, and Nat Geo.
MS. MARVEL, ANDOR, and PINOCCHIO were just announced for Q4 2022. $DIS
Tomorrow is shaping up to be huge. We can expect to see more from the upcoming Hawkeye series which drops on November 24th, plus other completed shows like She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and The Book of Boba Fett. There’s a good chance Disney will also tease Ahsoka, Armor Wars, Ironheart, and perhaps some things we don’t even know about yet.
This doesn’t even count films and series that have nothing to do with Star Wars or Marvel. Basically, November 12th is going to be hella busy so best to pack a lunch and get ready.
Every movie from Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino can be called personal, reflecting some aspect of his life or personality. But nothing strikes closer to the filmmaker than his latest, The Hand of God, a coming-of-age film that reflects all of his many loves and pet themes: love, sex, spirituality, family, and soccer. Boy, does soccer play a role in a way that is completely unexpected.
The film stars Filippo Scotti, along with The Great Beauty lead Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo, Marlon Joubert, Luisa Ranieri, Renato Carpentieri, Massimiliano Gallo, Betti Pedrazzi, Biagio Manna, Ciro Capano, Enzo Decaro, Lino Musella, and Sofya Gershevich. Tragedy, humor, and an ironic twist of fate involving football star Diego Maradona all mix to create a vivid portrait of Sorrentino’s childhood in Naples.
The Hand of God debuted to critical acclaim at Venice earlier this year, and also played extremely well at Telluride and Middleburg, which is where I saw it and also raved about it. There’s no question that it’s Italy’s submission for the international awards at the Oscars.
Netflix will release The Hand of God into theaters on December 3rd, followed by streaming on December 15th.
From Academy Award-winning writer and director Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty), comes the story of a young man’s heartbreak and liberation in 1980s Naples, Italy. The Hand of God follows Fabietto Schisa, an awkward Italian teen whose life and vibrant, eccentric family are suddenly upended—first by the electrifying arrival of soccer legend Diego Maradona and then by a shocking accident from which Maradona inadvertently saves Fabietto, setting his future in motion. Sorrentino returns to his hometown to tell his most personal story, a tale of fate and family, sports and cinema, love and loss.
In the words of the great dude/philosopher Dalton, played by the late Patrick Swayze in Road House, “Pain don’t hurt.” And maybe that’s true, but for fans of that classic 1989 action beat ’em up might be hurting over the news of a remake that MGM is trying to fast track. On the plus side, the purveyor of zen philosophy could be played by Jake Gyllenhaal, and you know what? That’s pretty cool.
Deadline reports that MGM is once again moving ahead with a Road House remake. This one has Jake Gyllenhaal circling the lead role of a Yoda-esque bouncer hired to clean up the roudiest bar in town, the Double Deuce. In talks to direct is Doug Liman, whose action cred is up to par with his work on The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Edge of Tomorrow.
Writers are being sought right now to rewrite a previous version of the script by Anthony Bagarozzi & Charles Mondry. An earlier reboot attempt had Ronda Rousey set to star, but that never got off the ground. It’s unclear if Gyllenhaal will be playing Dalton or some brand new bouncer dude with a penchant for dropping philosophical dimes as heavy as he drops elbows.
Look, I adore Road House and don’t think it needs to be touched. However, I’m always down for a good brawler that combines eastern and western culture. Gyllenhaal definitely has the ripped bod to play Dalton, and Liman knows how to shoot for this kind of action. This could end up being a lot of fun.
For now, check out my Reel Action video for Road House and see why the original is so goddamn great!
I quite loved Joanna Hogg’s insightful, wrenching semi-autobiographical The Souvenir, in which her cinematic younger self, played wonderfully by Honor Swinton Byrne, copes with her filmmaking aspirations and the emotional toll of loving someone with a secret double life. While Hogg had always conceived of this story as a two-parter, it never felt to me like a sequel was truly needed. I’m not sure The Souvenir Part II changes my feelings on that, but as it explores grief and the overcoming of it through art it does have me thinking a third chapter is warranted.
Set shortly after the tragic events of the first film, The Souvenir Part II finds Julie Harte (Swinton Byrne) still reeling from the overdose death of her lover, Anthony, a man whose addictions often played out in abusive mood swings followed by acts of devotion. This cruelly affected her emotional state through most of the last film, and Julie still struggles with her feelings towards him. An aspiring filmmaker who has been laboring to find her creative voice, Julie decides to make a loving tribute to Anthony in the form of her thesis project.
Good luck with that.
Making a movie is tough even when your mind is clear and objective focused, but Julie doesn’t have either of those working in her favor. Much of the film finds Julie grappling with her memories of Anthony and how that meshes with her creative vision. Her uncertainty causes clashes with her colleagues and the school’s staff, who at one point threaten not to pass her if she proceeds with the sloppy film she can barely bring herself to describe coherently. Most interesting are Hogg’s personal insights into the movie-making process, especially at the sub-arthouse level; the grind of shooting on a budget, the creative compromises, the clashes. I would argue this was the most interesting aspect of The Souvenir Part II and wish there was more of it than Julie’s lingering over Anthony, a character whose presence, while charismatic at the time, does not loom over this sequel at all.
There are beautiful, quiet moments between Julie and her somewhat clueless parents, one of which is played by Swinton Byrne’s real-life mother the great Tilda Swinton. I like that their interactions can be a little bit messy. Early on, Julie tells her mother that her period is late, and she really doesn’t know what to tell her daughter. Then the dad comes in and he’s just sort of happy to be there. While they might not be perfect parents, you always feel they want to be part of Julie’s life and to show their support. They accept their daughter’s continued grief over Anthony, who was a tough person to like.
The thing about The Souvenir Part II is that you REALLY need to be invested in Julie to care about any of it. Hogg, in exploring her personal memories of this period in her life, has created a film that feels like she’s finally taking a deep breath and unloading a heavy burden. But it’s also a very specific sort of situation for someone living a very exclusive kind of life and not everyone will be able to connect with it. Moments of humor are few and far between, with most coming from Julie’s pompous colleague Patrick, played once again by the hilarious Richard Ayoade. With his wild hair reaching ambitiously to the stars, Patrick goes into a screaming fit when everyone, including Julie, fails to properly describe what they like or dislike about his movie. Then, running into Julie in an alley one night, arrogantly describes how he left the film in the final edit, and how he always wanted to be the next Orson Welles.
In the way Tilda Swinton frequently works with the same filmmakers repeatedly, I hope Swinton Byrne and Hogg becoming a continuing pair. Hogg looks back at her youthful self with a discerning eye, refusing to veer into oversentimentality or to cut herself any slack. Swinton Byrne cooly reveals Julie’s overwhelming despair over Anthony, and her frustration over wanting to honor his memory properly. The result? A pretty insane, meta exercise that ends as quickly as the rest of The Souvenir Part II was deliberate. It also leaves you wanting to see the next phase of Julie’s life and career. While I think Hogg could have left well enough alone after the first movie, the sequel continues a story surprisingly rich with the hope that only art, and the creation of it, can provide. It makes you want to see how Julie evolves further on a professional and romantic level. Perhaps Hogg still needs to get a bit more distance to tell that story.
It’s no secret that I love Henry Cavill as Superman. I thought the British actor was perfect in Man of Steel and in his subsequent appearances in Batman v Superman and Justice League. Unfortunately, there’s no timetable for him to return to the role, at least not as far as we know. And Warner Bros. seems ready to move on with a pair of takes that involve Black versions of the Kryptonian, and even a Supergirlplayed by Sasha Calle.
But Cavill believes he’s still got more left to do as Superman, telling THR…
“There is still a lot of storytelling for me to do as a Superman, and I would absolutely love the opportunity.The killing of Zod [in ‘Man of Steel’] gave a reason for the character never to kill again. Superman falling to the ground and screaming afterward — I don’t think that was originally in the script, but I wanted to show the pain he had. I did far more emotional takes they didn’t choose; tears were happening. He just killed the last remaining member of his species. That’s the choice he made in that moment, and he’ll never do that again. There’s an opportunity for growth after that, to explore the psyche of Superman as a deep, seemingly invulnerable god-like being but with real feeling on the inside. As I always say, ‘The cape is still in the closet.’”
So while Cavill is definitely into finishing his run as Clark Kent, he thinks having multiple versions is the right thing for right now…
“It’s exciting — Superman’s far more than skin color. Superman is an ideal. Superman’s an extraordinary thing that lives within our hearts. Why not have multiple Supermen going on? Joaquin Phoenix did a wonderful Joker movie; so what if it’s not tied to the rest of [the franchise]? They have multiple Superman comic book storylines happening at the same time.”
Meanwhile, Cavill is open to the idea of playing other comic book heroes, perhaps even for the Marvelous competition. If you were to ask me who he’d be perfect for, it’s exactly the character Cavill talks about here. Good to know that he and I are on a similar wavelength…
“I’m never going to say a Marvel character that is already being played by someone else, because everyone’s doing such an amazing job. However, I have the internet and I have seen the various rumors about Captain Britain and that would be loads of fun to do a cool, modernized version of that — like the way they modernized Captain America. There’s something fun about that, and I do love being British.”
Um, yes please. He’s powerful, British, and can fit in both the superhero world and the world of espionage as he was a member of MI13. His partner on that team? Dane Whitman aka the Black Knight, recently seen in Eternals played by Kit Harington. A rumor once had them teaming up for a movie, and who knows? Maybe it can happen. Whatever does, I can’t think of a better fit for the guy who has starred in both Man of Steel and The Man from UNCLE.
Cavill will be seen next reprising his role as Geralt of Rivera in The Witcher season 2 beginning December 17th on Netflix.
*NOTE: This review was previously part of our Middleburg Film Festival coverage. Belfast opens in theaters on November 12th.*
This has been another year of deeply personal awards season dramas at Middleburg. A couple of years removed from Roma, this year we’ve got Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand of God and Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast. Of the bunch, it’s Branagh who delivers the most rousing, crowd-pleasing look at his childhood growing up in Belfast, Ireland, at a time of great religious conflict in the 1960s. Coming in at a svelte 97 minutes, the film paints a joyous picture of community that would color the director’s future.
If you’ve seen the trailers for Belfast before, the opening, a colorful travelogue-esque introduction, might come as a surprise. It takes a moment for the black & white scheme to settle in, but when it does we are introduced to Buddy (Jude Hill, a real find), whose bright, smiling face shows his immense love for the people of Belfast. He runs wild in the streets with the other kids, swinging a fake sword and shield. In a place like this, everyone feels like family, and Buddy’s adult neighbors chime in with jokes and warnings that it’s time for him to get home. It’s a place of constant activity, the hustle and bustle of people going about their lives a constant reminder that this is a place full of many stories to be told.
Along the way, Buddy might stop to visit the little girl he intends to marry, or stop off to see his grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds), who have lived there for decades. But the film revolves around Buddy’s love for the people at home: Ma (Caitriona Balfe) and brother Will (Lewis McAskie), and Pa (Jamie Dornan) who is frequently away in London for work. Conflict arises in the clashes between Protestant and Catholic groups, constantly battling with one another on the streets, threatening to turn this friendly place into a warzone. Pa, as someone who refuses to choose sides, has become a target of violence. But rather than give in to those who would turn neighbor against neighbor, the family must decide whether to stay or flee to London and safety.
Belfast isn’t a particularly deep film as it’s from the perspective of a nine-year-old boy. As insubstantial as certain stretches are, what you do get are the details that only a child would notice because they made him so happy. Despite disputes over Pa’s gambling, Buddy’s parents are lovingly devoted to one another, matching the lifelong devotion seen in Buddy’s grandparents. The adults have their own little love language that a kid might not understand, and they are always in physical contact, showing an intimacy that need not be spelled out. One can easily imagine Branagh’s wide smile as he films these little snapshots, committing them to the screen for eternity.
All of the performances are excellent, but credit goes to Branagh for getting the most out of Hill in what I believe is his first major screen role. Putting a lot of dramatic weight on a kid’s shoulders is always risky business, but Hill is terrific as the adorable, precocious Buddy who is only just beginning to learn of a world outside of his beloved Belfast. While you expect greatness from veterans such as Dench and Hinds, their heartbreaking story forming the film’s most emotional subplot, it’s Balfe as Ma who really takes your breath away as a true rock of the community. Because of her strength and resolve, she refuses to be bullied from the place she holds dear, but must also weigh the safety of her children. And of course, her love for Pa, which Balfe and Dornan make feel real and lived-in. You never get the sense that their marriage has been easy, but that they’ve overcome a lot and come out stronger, more in love than ever.
Branagh and DP Haris Zambarloukos tease the director’s future filmmaking career with splashes of vibrant color. As the family goes to the movies to see One Million Years B.C. and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (which leads to a burst of song you might want to join in on), suddenly Buddy’s world becomes a lot more colorful and wide open. Westerns such as High Noon and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance break through as influences on Buddy and his Pa. Look out also for a quick appearance by Thor, doing more to explain Branagh’s brief Marvel stint than all of the interviews he could ever give.
Is Belfast the Best Picture frontrunner that many claim it to be, though? Of that, I’m not so sure. It could use a bit more meat on the bones, and I’d be lying if I said the deep Irish accents are always easy to understand. Subtitles would have been handy, especially with the busy Belfast streets buzzing in the background. What’s inescapable is Branagh’s passion for these characters, this place, and this moment in his life. That feeling is infectious, and Belfast will have you beaming when the credits roll.
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free advance screening of King Richard, starring Will Smith as Richard Williams, father to tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams! Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, the film also stars Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Tony Goldwyn and Jon Bernthal.
SYNOPSIS: From Warner Bros. Pictures comes “King Richard,” starring two-time Oscar nominee Will Smith (“Ali,” “The Pursuit of Happyness,” “Bad Boys for Life”), under the direction of Reinaldo Marcus Green (“Monsters and Men”). Armed with a clear vision and a brazen 78-page plan, Richard Williams is determined to write his daughters, Venus and Serena, into history. Training on Compton, California’s abandoned tennis courts – rain or shine – the girls are shaped by their father’s unyielding commitment and their mother’s balanced perspective and keen intuition, defying the seemingly insurmountable odds and prevailing expectations laid before them. Based on the true story that will inspire the world, “King Richard” follows the uplifting journey of a family whose unwavering resolve and unconditional belief ultimately delivers two of the world’s greatest sports legends.
The screening takes place on Monday, November 15th at 7:00pm at AMC Tysons Corner. If you’d like to attend, go to the Warner Bros. ticketing site here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you will need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
King Richard opens in theaters and HBO Max on November 19th.
