Anna Kendrick and Toni Collette enter a spaceship. It may sound like the start of a really lame joke, but it’s actually part of the plot of Stowaway, the upcoming Netflix film from director Joe Penna. The sci-fi thriller also stars Lost alum Daniel Dae Kim and Wynonna Earp‘s Shamier Anderson.
As we see in the debuting trailer, Stoway centers on a crew bound for Mars on a two-year mission, only to face dwindling resources when a stowaway is discovered aboard the ship. Kendrick plays the ship’s medical researcher and the lone dissenting voice against a grim outcome decided by the rest of the team.
“A production designer once told me, ‘never do a movie in a submarine or in space,” Kendrick recalled to EW.“It was so simple and so lean, but totally compelling.”
“I had never really read anything like it,” Collette added. “It is contained and the characters are confined but the questions posed, moral and otherwise, are vast and wide open.”
Netflix will release Stowaway on April 22nd. You can go here to learn more.
On a mission headed to Mars, an unintended stowaway accidentally causes severe damage to the spaceship’s life support systems. Facing dwindling resources and a potentially fatal outcome, the crew is forced to make an impossible decision.
What do you get when one of the creators of the John Wick franchise teams up with the director of brutal action-comedy Hardcore Henry? I know I know, there’s a crucial missing ingredient and that’s unlikely action star Bob Odenkirk, about as far from an ass-kicker as one is likely to see. Well, when you put those things together you get Nobody, a fun-but-forgettable shot of adrenaline that never aspires to be more than that.
The most obvious thing you’ll take away from Nobody is Odenkirk, who has come such a long way from the Mr. Show days. The Better Call Saul star is about as “everyman” as it gets, which is precisely what the film wants you to think about its lead character, Hutch Mansell. A seemingly dull, ineffectual suburban dad with a hot-but-bored wife (Connie Nielsen), two kids including a son who barely acknowledges his existence, and one of those lame number-crunching jobs that screams “middle management”.
Hutch doesn’t have much going on, and shit only gets worse when a pair of armed criminals bust into his home. One of them slugs Hutch’s son right in the face, and at one point he has a chance to take the robbers out but instead backs off. Hutch lets them escape, making him look like even more of a loser in the eyes of his family. The cops who come to investigate don’t mince words about how weak Hutch looks, and the same goes for the guys at work.
But here’s the thing: Just as you don’t fuck with John Wick’s dog, you don’t fuck with Hutch Mansell’s daughter’s kitty cat bracelet. The theft of it triggers something within Hutch, something he had been holding back for years. It’s time to get violent again, and embrace that primal side he’s been hiding since his days as the most lethal government assassin ever.
While imperfect, Nobody is a damn sight better than the Bruce Willis Death Wish remake in capturing a normal man’s vengeful rampage and inner conflict. Perhaps it’s because Odenkirk is just a better actor than Willis is right now. But also, it’s that Nobody better balances Hutch’s turmoil with a heavy dose of comedic violence. Sure, it’s really quite gory as well, such as in a grisly fight on a bus that finds Hutch bloodying his fists against a group of trouble-makers. This being public transportation, the quarters are cramped and a lot of faces gets rammed into steel poles, strung up in “stop” chords, and slung into chairs. The best thing about it is that Hutch isn’t some indestructible superhero; he’s just a guy, and one who is woefully out of practice. He gets his ass beat, too.
The plot is ramped up when one of Hutch’s early victims happens to be the son of karaoke-singing Russian mobster Yulian Kuznetsov (Aleksei Serebryakov), who wants some revenge of his own. Honestly, Yulian is pretty weak and the goons he sends after Hutch even more so, with the exception of one guy, a black Russian Olympic athlete, who is constantly called-out for being…well, black and Russian. I guess that’s rare?
Behind the camera is Hardcore Henry‘s Ilya Naishuller, with a script by John Wick franchise writer Derek Kolstad. He’s also one of the guys behind Marvel’s Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the little-seen action film The Package with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Dolph Lundgren, which is when I first heard of him. He makes testosterone-fueled movies for bros, and that’s cool. When Hutch returns home after indulging in his darker side, he’s suddenly Mr. Machismo to his family again. He’s found renewed vigor by tapping in to that primal urge. This is a theme Kolstad has often embraced in his scripts, but he seems at a rush to get past it here and on to the next fight. Naishuller knows how to balance vicious brawls with a dash of light humor, and of course, Odenkirk is a comedian whose timing is perfection. None of this would work if it weren’t for him and whatever fight training he underwent to get in shape for the role.
However, it’s impossible to escape how thin Nobody is. At a slight 90-minutes there’s little time to create the kind of lived-in world that we got in John Wick. A great deal about Hutch’s past is teased, but not much else. We’re introduced to Hutch’s father (Christopher Lloyd), a retiree who has own violent urges to contend with; while RZA plays an old friend who shows up out of nowhere to save the day. We learn nothing about either of them and it’s like they’re planning a sequel that may or may not ever happen. Some details now would’ve served Nobody quite well, because there’s already a lot to like. It just needs a bit more detail to go from a nobody into a somebody of the action genre.
For 40 years the name Spielberg has been synonymous with excellent filmmaking and the true magic of Hollywood. With a heavyweight industry icon like that it was only a matter of time before a biopic of some sort was made, so who better to make it then the man himself? As we earlier reported Steven Spielberg is writing and directing a film loosely based on his formative years growing up in Arizona and had cast none other then Michelle Williams to play the role based on his mother. It seems the cast is continuing to round out and it does not appear they are going for unknowns to fill these roles. It’s now being reported that Seth Rogen has signed on to the picture to play the filmmaking icon’s favorite uncle.
Things are moving fast on this project, so we can fully expect to see more casting announcements soon. Filming is set to start this summer and they are hoping for a July 2022 release.
I love the idea of this movie, in a way Spielberg’s time as a child is already a well known tale. His is the protoypical “Young boy without a ton of friends spends all of his time making movies with his parents old 8mm camera” story. It is quite literally the template for any fictional story that needs to portray a character as having a lifelong love of filmmaking. That being said, it’s not the Spielberg movie I want to see. I understand the want to portray your childhood, watch any Amblin movie pretty much and it’s obvious the love Spielberg has for that period of endless wonder and imagination in every persons life, however there is a much more interesting period in the directors life. The movie I want wouldn’t be a one-subject biopic but rather an ensemble piece following “The Movie Brats” in the early 70s. Sure, they didn’t have the looks of the brat pack, but a group consisting of Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Brian DePalma carries some weight. A film about these guys coming together and fighting their way through the Hollywood system to become the legends we now know them as…I need to see THAT movie.
Dame Helen Mirren is now goddess Helen Mirren. The screen legend has now joined the DCEU as the villainess Hespera in Shazam: Fury of the Gods, meaning she’ll be squaring off against star Zachary Levi. That should be fun.
Mirren joins the sequel to 2019’s Shazam, with Levi returning as the title superhero. Asher Angel returns as Billy Batson, who transforms into the muscled-up supe when he recites the magic word “SHAZAM!!”, giving him the powers of multiple gods. Of those abilities, one is the stamina of Atlas, the Titan who in Greek myth was punished with having to hold the Heavens on his shoulders. Hespera is one of Atlas’ daughters, so perhaps she’s coming to reclaim her father’s gift?
Also in the cast are Jack Dylan Grazer, the recently-cast Rachel Zegler (West Side Story), Adam Brody, and Faithe Herman. David F. Sandberg is behind the camera, with Shazam: Fury of the Gods set to open on June 2nd 2023.
Netflix is keeping it in the family for their upcoming spy film, Our Man from Jersey. The streamer picked up the film for a hefty sum last year, with Spenser: Confidential‘s Mark Wahlberg attached to star. And now they’ve added Halle Berry to the cast, continuing her relationship with Netflix, who is set to release her directorial debut, MMA drama Bruised.
The duo of Berry and Wahlberg would’ve meant instant blockbuster back in the day, but now they’re perfect as Netflix continues to ramp up their star power. Our Man from Jersey is described as a “blue collar 007” film, with a script by Safe House writer Dave Guggenheim. No other plot details are known, and the film still is without a director.
As Collider rightly notes, Berry doesn’t often sign up for anything unless she knows who is behind the camera, which suggests a couple of things. Either Netflix has a director in mind already, and has made this clear to Berry. Or perhaps Berry is interested in directing the film herself? It’s not as if she’s a newbie to spy movies, right? We all remember her as Jinx in Die Another Day.
Jamie Foxx has been talking about his Mike Tyson drama for at least seven years, but this particular passion project just couldn’t get off the ground. And that was even with Foxx claiming that Martin Scorsese would direct what, at the time, was envisioned as a feature film. But with so much need for content out there now, we’re seeing these pet projects come to fruition more often, and the same has happened for Tyson, albeit in a different form.
A press release confirms Foxx will produce and star in Tyson, only now it’ll be a limited series penned by Colin Preston and directed by Antoine Fuqua. Scorsese is still attached as an exec-producer.
The series is an authorized biographical look at Tyson’s life and career, growing up in the mean streets of Brownsville, to learning to stay out of trouble with the help of legendary trainer Cus D’Amato, and winning the World Heavyweight Championship at the age of 20.
Foxx, who is 53-years-old, just one year younger than Tyson is right now, is expected to play the boxer at all ages, so how is that going to work? We could be looking at some extensive digital work done on this show, something Scorsese knows a great deal about after The Irishman.
This one is still very early on, with no network home just yet. But the moment does seem to be right for this to happen, something Tyson himself has taken note of…
“I have been looking to tell my story for quite some time,” said Tyson. “With the recent launch of Legends Only League and the excitement from fans following my return to the ring, now feels like the perfect moment. I look forward to collaborating with Martin, Antoine, Jamie, and the entire creative team to bring audiences a series that not only captures my professional and personal journey but also inspires and entertains.”
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the “Snyder Cut” of Justice League, or Zack Snyder’s Justice League as they’re officially calling it has been a rousing success. Outside of the 4 hour runtime fans across the board were left wanting when looking for negative critique’s of Snyder’s Opus. Yesterday we posted about an additional Joker scene that didn’t make the cut, on the cusp of that we’ve learned that there is another cut of the film coming. In the spirit of giving in to Snyder’s every whim, WB and HBOMax are set to release a black and white cut of the film to the rising giant amongst streaming services. Why? Yeah, no clue….there’s literally no change to the film outside of the color palette. I worry that the success of this film has proven the wrong point, it’s made it look like everyone should just give the directors everything they want if they want a succesful project, while that worked here it certainly won’t always. Check out this quote from Snyder:
“The ideal version of the movie is the black and white IMAX version…That, to me, is the most fan-centric, most pure, most Justice League experience”
No, Zack, buddy I love you but there’s no way that’s accurate. There’s literally no history to black and white with this property and it in no way elevates a fans appreciation. If anything it diminishes it. Comic fans, outside of a few exceptions, expect colorful, explosive spectacle. I’m not sure what you guys thing, let me know in the comments, but this highlights the one place that Snyder really needs to be reigned in, he goes full monty on the artsy takes every single time. Sometimes it works, like the slo-mo he’s so famous for. Sometimes it doesn’t, like a bunch of Norwegians singing Aquaman off back to the ocean.
The name Peter Farrelly carries a lot more respect on it now that he’s an Oscar-winning filmmaker. The Best Picture award given to his film Green Book wasn’t without controversy, however, with many saying it was just another movie by a white director putting a pretty face on racism. Whatever one thinks about Farrelly, there’s a lot of attention on what he’s doing next, The Greatest Beer Run Ever, which looks to be assembling one Hell of a cast and may have a generous backer in Apple.
Deadline reports Zac Efron, Russell Crowe, and Bill Murray are in talks for The Greatest Beer Run Ever. Damn. That’s the kind of star-powered lineup that would attract a streamer like Apple, which is in talks to produce and distribute the film.
Based on the book The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty and War, the film is set in 1967 and tells the true story of author Chick Donohue as he leaves New York City to have a beer with his buddies fighting in Vietnam. Farrelly will co-write the script with Brian Currie and Pete Jones.
Farrelly’s Green Book star Viggo Mortensen had been eyeing a role but that seems to have fallen through. I’m guessing that part has gone to Crowe. Efron is expected to play Donohue.
My guess is Farrelly will take heat for depicting with kids gloves the Vietnam War. Just call it a hunch.
This one’s comin’ in hot! We’re happy to offer our readers the chance to attend a free virtual screening of Bad Trip, the Netflix prank comedy starring Eric Andre, Lil Rel Howery, and Tiffany Haddish!
SYNOPSIS: From the producer of Jackass and Bad Grandpa, this hidden camera comedy follows two best friends as they go on a cross-country road trip full of hilarious, inventive pranks, pulling its real-life audience into the mayhem. Bad Trip stars Eric André, Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish and Michaela Conlin. The film is directed by Kitao Sakurai from the minds of Dan Curry, Kitao Sakurai, and André – and produced by André, Jeff Tremaine, David Bernad, and Ruben Fleischer.
The screening takes place on Thursday, March 25th at 7:00pm. HOWEVER, THE DEADLINE TO RSVP IS TONIGHT AT 7:00pm EST. To do so, simply RSVP for the event here. Enjoy the show!
You don’t move a film likeBlack Widow to a day-and-date release in July without causing some ripple effects, and Disney wasted no time in making them public. So let’s get to the biggest one, which is that Cruella, which stars Emma Stone as a younger version of the Disney villainess, will now open in theaters and Disney+ Premier Access on May 28th.
Also seeing a major shift is the Pixar film Luca, which is being released similar to Soulin that it’ll be a straight Disney+ release only, no theatrical and no extra fee for subscribers.
Other changes include the Ryan Reynolds video game comedy Free Guy, which will open theatrically on August 13th. The King’s Man, the Kingsman prequel starring Ralph Fiennes, arrives on December 22nd. Deep Water, which stars Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, heads to 2022 on January 14th, while Kenneth Branagh’s sequel Death On the Nile sets sail on February 11th 2022.
Also, now that Black Widow has taken its July slot, Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has found a new home on Labor Day weekend, September 3rd. Historically, that’s one of the worst weekend dates of the movie year. I don’t know if we should read anything into that or not, but the mighty Marvel machine is undefeated and historical trend rarely applies.
