There’s already been one attempted reboot of the Saw franchise, 2017’s Jigsaw, and while it did very well, earning $103M for the low-budget horror, it just didn’t spark much audience interest beyond that. But of course, no brand IP as successful as Saw is going to sit idle for long, especially when Chris Rock comes up with a way to keep it going.
And so here we are with Spiral: From the Book of Saw, based on a story by Rock who also stars in the film alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Max Minghella. Today brings the first trailer and this looks as grim and grotesque as ever, except with more of an emphasis on the detectives investigating the latest series of Jigsaw-inspired killings.
The film is directed by Saw veteran Darren Lynn Bousman, helmer of three previous chapters in the franchise. Also in the cast are Marisol Nichols and Zoie Palmer.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw opens May 14th. It’s bounced around the calendar a bit because of COVID-19 and other factors, but was recently moved up to accommodate the reopening of theaters.
A sadistic mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in SPIRAL, the terrifying new chapter from the book of SAW. Working in the shadow of an esteemed police veteran (Samuel L. Jackson), brash Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks (Chris Rock) and his rookie partner (Max Minghella) take charge of a grisly investigation into murders that are eerily reminiscent of the city’s gruesome past. Unwittingly entrapped in a deepening mystery, Zeke finds himself at the center of the killer’s morbid game.
Wherever evil exists, Mumm-ra and movie franchises live!! A ThunderCats movie has been in the works for what seems like forever, and rumors have persisted about it, even that Michael Bay’s 6 Underground was really just a working cover for one. Well, obviously that wasn’t true, and now an actual ThunderCats film is moving forward with Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard.
I guess having proven himself capable of gigantic blockbuster action with fighting animals, Wingard has been set to direct the ThunderCats movie, based on the popular ’80s toys and cartoon series.
The cool thing is, Wingard is a HUGE ThunderCats fan, as evidenced by this recent Deadline interview where he says…
“I’m in a place where Godzilla vs. Kong has gone well with Warner Bros. They love the movie, as we were wrapping it. I heard there was a ThunderCats script out there and it happened to be set up with some of my producers on Death Note. I asked them, I want to rewrite this script with my friend Simon Barrett. This is a huge passion thing for me. Nobody on this planet knows or has thought as much about ThunderCats as I have. They gave me the reins. I saw this as an opportunity to do a new type of fantasy sci-fi spectacle film that people have never seen before. It’s got a rich mythology; the characters are fantastic. The colors. I want to do a ThunderCats film that takes you back to that ‘80s aesthetic. I don’t want to reinvent the way they look; I want them to look like ThunderCats. I don’t want to do it live action, either. I don’t want it to look like Cats, I don’t want those kinds of issues — no disrespect to that director, whom I don’t mean to throw under the bus any more than everyone else has. I want to do a movie you’ve never seen before. A hybrid CGI film that has a hyper real look and somehow bridges the gap between cartoon and CGI. That’s the starting point, and Simon Barrett and I are getting into the script now.”
Well, damn. There you go. ThunderCats takes place on Third Earth, where humanoids known as the ThunderCats are engaged in seemingly endless battle against the eternal evil known as Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living. The team consists of leader Lion-O, the powerful Panthro, wisened Tygra, the agile Cheetara, Lion-O’s protector Snarf, and the kids Wilykit and Wilykat.
Now, my only question is when can we get moving on a Silverhawks movie?
Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds are together again forThe Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, and you’ll be able to see it two months earlier. Lionsgate has announced the sequel to 2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard will open on June 16th, right at the beginning of summer. The film had previously been set for August 20th.
Originally due to open last year on August 28th but delayed because of COVID-19, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is a major film for Lionsgate as they look to create a hit homegrown franchise. The Hitman’s Bodyguard was an unexpected R-rated smash, earning $176M worldwide as people flocked to hear Jackson and Reynolds launch a fusillade of expletives.
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard finds bodyguard Michael Bryce (Reynolds) and hitman Darius Kincaid (Jackson) remaining friends as they try to save Darius’ con-artist wife Sonia (Salma Hayek) from a powerful new threat, played by Antonio Banderas. Also in the cast are Frank Grillo, Richard E. Grant, Tom Hopper, Morgan Freeman, and Gabriella Wright.
Once again behind the camera is Patrick Hughes, from a script co-written by Tom O’Connor, who also penned the first movie.
Mothers’ talking about vibrators is not usual conversation for a wake/shiva but Shiva Baby is not your average coming of age film. In the very new, very hectic and very claustrophobic “trashy” trailer, our protagonist Danielle (Rachel Sennott) is navigating this shiva, seeing her sugar daddy, a past girlfriend, her mother’s mild bi-phobia, and lots and lots of yelling.
The official synopsis is as follows:
A near college graduate, Danielle, gets paid by her sugar daddy and rushes to meet her neurotic parents at a family shiva. Upon arrival, she is accosted by various estranged relatives about her appearance and lack of post-grad plans, while her confident ex-girlfriend, Maya, is applauded by everyone for getting into law school. Danielle’s day takes an unexpected turn when her sugar daddy, Max, arrives at the shiva with his accomplished wife, Kim, and crying baby. As the day unfolds, Danielle struggles to keep up different versions of herself, fend off pressures from her family and confront her insecurities without completely losing it.
Writer and director Emma Seligman adapted this film festival darling from a film school short film she made. Dianna Agron (Glee) pops up as Danielle’s sugar daddy’s wife, complicating matters and bringing Danielle a different kind of grief at the shiva. Molly Gordon (Booksmart), Fred Melamed (Wandavision, In A World…), Polly Draper (Obvious Child), and Jackie Hoffman (Feud: Bette and Joan) also star.
Shiva Baby streams On Demand and in theaters April 2nd.
Two parts ass-kicking and one part hilarity this week on Cinema Royale as the guys look at Bob Odenkirk as an elite assassin in Nobody. Then a check-in with Eric Andre in Bad Trip before diving into the first two episodes of Disney+’s new series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Oh, and make sure to stay to the end as we dissect the amazing trailer for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (spoiler alert: King Shark steals the show!)
All this and more! You can subscribe to Cinema Royale wherever you get your podcasts! Follow the Punch Drunk Critics and Cinema Royale!
The cast of Thor: Love & Thunder just got even more of an A-list boost. Russell Crowe is the latest to join the Marvel sequel, in a role that is being kept secret. Is it possible he’s due for a funny cameo alongside Matt Damon, Sam Neill, Luke Hemsworth, and Melissa McCarthy, who appear to be playing stage actors recreating scenes from Thor: Ragnarok?
That’s just speculation on my part. It’s always possible Crowe is taking on a significant Marvel character, although who that would be is unclear. Deadline confirms the news of his casting, after the actor had been spotted all over Australia with the rest of the cast. So much for keeping his appearance a secret!
Crowe joins Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Christian Bale, Chris Pratt, Jaimie Alexander, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, and director Taika Waititi himself who will return to voice the lovable Korg.
This obviously isn’t Crowe’s first go ’round in superhero movies, having played Jor-El in Man of Steel.
When the Russian sci-fi film Sputnik was released last year, I, like many, assumed it was just another Alien ripoff. But after reading our writer’s review it became clear there was a lot more going on…
“Gratefully though, this is a surprisingly serious film that touches on themes of grief and fear. It shows us how going through a traumatic experience can change somebody for worse and how it can eat us alive.”
Oh shit, aiight then. Well, apparently we’re not alone in thinking there’s more to Sputnik than meets the eye, because The Batman and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves is on board to produce an English-language remake.
Deadline has the news of Reeves’ 6th & Idaho production label teaming with Village Roadshow on an American version of Sputnik. Set in the 1980s, the Russian film centered on a doctor who is assigned to assess a cosmonaut returned to Earth and may or may not have an alien creature living inside of him.
The original film was directed by Egor Abramenko but there’s no word on who will be handling this newer take on it.
Sputnik became a huge hit on digital platforms during the COVID-19 lockdown, ranking high among the most-rented movies on Apple TV. Fedor Bondarchuk, who produced and starred in the Russian film, notes that as one of the reasons there’s been such continued interest…
“‘Sputnik’ was the first big Russian release to go straight to digital platforms during the lockdown, everyone was staying at home and an unprecedented amount of people watched it, the release created a lot of buzz both in Russia and globally. I’m very proud that ‘Sputnik’ now is a rare Russian film to get an English language remake.”
Excuse me for thinking The Night House had already been released, but I remember it from the 2020 Sundance Film Festival where it received some pretty good buzz. Led by Rebecca Hall (in this week’s Godzilla vs. Kong) and directed by David Bruckner (The Ritual), horror film has been on ice ever since but now Searchlight Pictures is ready to release it this summer, where it can creep out genre fans who haven’t had a good theatrical scare in ages.
As the title suggests, an ominous lakeside home is the setting for The Night House, with Hall as a woman who experiences disturbing visions as she uncovers secrets left behind by her dead husband. The cast includes Stacy Martin (Nymphomaniac), Sarah Goldberg (The Report), Vondie Curtis Hall (Die Hard 2), and Evan Jonigkeit (Together Together).
I don’t normally comment on the effectiveness of trailers, but I wish they had sold Hall’s performance a bit more, as that was the main thing people were talking about in Park City.
The Night House opens July 16th which is when I’ll finally catch up with it.
Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth (Rebecca Hall) is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep it together – but then nightmares come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house calling to her, beckoning her with a ghostly allure. Against the advice of her friends, she begins digging into her husband’s belongings, yearning for answers. What she finds are secrets both strange and disturbing – a mystery she’s determined to unravel. THE NIGHT HOUSE stars Rebecca Hall (HOLMES & WATSON, CHRISTINE), Sarah Goldberg (Barry, Elementary), Vondie Curtis Hall (DIE HARD 2, EVE’S BAYOU), Evan Jonigkeit (Togetherish, Sweetbitter), and Stacy Martin (VOX LUX, NYMPHOMANIAC).
We shouldn’t have to wait sixteen years between Guy Ritchie/Jason Statham films. The two, who basically launched their careers together on Brit crime flick such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, haven’t done a movie together since 2005’s Revolver. But with Ritchie on a hot streak thanks to Aladdin and The Gentlemen, and Statham coming off of Hobbs & Shaw, the time was right for a reunion. Thankfully, Wrath of Man looks like familiar territory for the duo.
Badass killers, a heist gone wrong, and vengeance are the ingredients for this one, and fans of Ritchie probably wouldn’t need any more than that. I certainly don’t. The cast includes Josh Hartnett (Lucky Number Slevin), Laz Alonso (The Boys), Holt McCallany (Mindhunter), Jeffrey Donovan (Sicario), Scott Eastwood (The Outpost), Raúl Castillo, Eddie Marsan (The World’s End), DeObia Oparei, Niamh Algar, Chris Reilly, and Post Malone.
Ritchie also wrote the script, based on the 2004 French flick Cash Truck.
Wrath of Man hits theaters on May 7th. Ritchie and Statham will then reteam on spy flick, Five Eyes, and here’s hoping they’re back to making this a regular thing.
A mysterious and wild-eyed new cash truck security guard (Jason Statham) surprises his coworkers during a heist in which he unexpectedly unleashes precision skills. The crew is left wondering who he is and where he came from. Soon, the marksman’s ultimate motive becomes clear as he takes dramatic and irrevocable steps to settle a score.
Godzilla vs. Kong. It promises an epic showdown of two cinematic kaiju titans. We’ve seen them battle before, in 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla. But this one comes with added anticipation, not only because we know this is going to be an insane VFX spectacle, but also because we’ve been so starved for blockbuster movies that demand to be seen in the biggest format possible. We’re talking two of the biggest and most enduring screen monsters in history, how can you not want to see them in the most epic way?
Godzilla vs. Kong delivers in that the clash of these two behemoths looks absolutely f***ing fantastic. Like the rest of Legendary’s MonsterVerse, the action is simply breath-taking and they know how to make this battle truly feel larger-than-life. Will you give two craps about the puny humans scrambling around this fight? Of course not. With the exception of 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, which was actually helped by the humans’ interactions with the legendary ape, the franchise has struggled to find anything remotely interesting for the people to do. They don’t fare well here, either, and the film is far better when it stays from Kong’s perspective. He is the hero here. Godzilla, after a fashion, comes across as the villain, while the humans are NPCs who just sorta get in the way.
The film is basically like a comic book crossover come to life, and those fans will recognize the dynamic right away. The two heroes will always fight over some ridiculous misunderstanding before a true nemesis emerges that demands them to teamup. Godzilla vs. Kong essentially finds the mighty ape, who has been imprisoned by the good-ish people of Monarch, including Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) and her young charge Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a speech-impaired orphan from Skull Island who has formed an emotional bond with Kong, similar to the one between Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown) and Godzilla.
When Godzilla emerges from the depths to attack an Apex facility seemingly unprovoked, it’s Madison who believes there must be a valid reason. So she teams up with a conspiracy theorist (Brian Tyree Henry) and her best friend (Julian Dennison) to find out the truth about Apex and its power-hungry CEO (Demian Bichir). That truth involves a lot of highly-trained actors babbling a bunch of expository nonsense but it basically boils down to “world domination”. It’s better when they show us the hard sci-fi aspects rather than talk to us about them. When the Monarch trio, which includes Alexander Skarsgard as traumatized geologist Dr. Nathan Lind, blast off into a place called “Hollowed Earth”, it recalls Journey to the Center of the Earth, Fantastic Voyage, and the warp travel of Star Wars. When director Adam Wingard finds the right balance between the fun, campy B movies of yesteryear with modern big-budget world-building.
It’s been interesting to watch this MonsterVerse grow under the guidance of indie filmmakers making their first jump into effects-heavy studio spectacles. Preceded by Gareth Evans, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, and Michael Dougherty, Wingard shows a firm grasp on this universe by presenting it as the blood-pumping entertainment fans are clamoring for. Not to say he doesn’t care about the scenes that don’t include the titular monsters, but I got the distinct impression he was eager to get back to Godzilla’s atomic flame singeing the hair of Kong’s mighty paws. There are a number of shots that will leave your jaw on the floor, like Kong swinging a mynock-esque creature like a baseball bat, then drinking from its skull like a king from his goblet. Sure, some of it is pretty silly, too (ancient titan weapons are a thing), but honestly, when you’ve got Junkie XL’s blazing score behind it you’ll be too pumped up to care. Wingard deserves credit for making the action scenes crisp and easy-to-follow with so much devastation filling the screen, and it’s especially impressive in the final battle which gets even busier.
Godzilla vs. Kong is everything it was advertised to be. It’s a mega-monster battle royale on steroids and worthy of being seen at an IMAX near you. Most of its shortcomings are exactly what you expected going in, and while they’re tough to sit through the wait for more kaiju smashing action is worth it.
