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‘Eurovision’ Teaser: Will Ferrell & Rachel McAdams Sing Their Viking Hearts Out In Netflix’s Ridiculous New Comedy

By
Travis Hopson
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Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the annual Eurovision singing competition was canceled, leaving the international community without one of its most popular, and strangest, events. But don’t worry, because Netflix is here to fill the void with their upcoming musical comedy, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, and if that sounds like a dumb, bombastic title only Will Ferrell could’ve thought up, well…you aren’t wrong.

Netflix has dropped the first look at the Eurovision film, and it’s actually a music video of Ferrell and co-star Rachel McAdams going full-on Game of Thrones, or really cheap Thor: the Dark World, in performing the song “Volcano Man”.  Believe it or not, this wildly over-the-top performance isn’t that out of step for the competition. While it has featured the likes of Celine Dion and ABBA, it also has some of the weirdest groups from all over the globe doing songs that make zero sense. Want a Spanish Elvis with a vibrator guitar? Check. Or a Finnish metal band performing Christian rock while dressed as zombies? You got it.

The film also stars Pierce Brosnan, Demi Lovato, Dan Stevens, Natasia Demetriou, and Jamie Demetriou. David Dobkin directs from a script co-written by Ferrell and Andrew Steele.

SYNOPSIS: When aspiring musicians Lars and Sigrit are given the opportunity of a lifetime to represent their country at the world’s biggest song competition, they finally have a chance to prove that any dream worth having is a dream worth fighting for.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga hits Netflix on June 26th.

Giveaway: Win A Bluray Combo Pack Of ‘EMMA.’ Starring Anya Taylor-Joy!

By
Travis Hopson
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We’re happy to offer our readers the chance to win a Blu-ray combo pack of EMMA., a fresh retelling of Jane Austen’s beloved comedy of manners. The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Austen’s titular heroine, along with Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Mia Goth, Miranda Hart, Josh O’Connor, Callum Turner, and Rupert Graves.

SYNOPSIS: Jane Austen’s beloved comedy about finding your equal and earning your happy ending, is reimagined in this delicious new film adaptation of EMMA. Handsome, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse is a restless queen bee without rivals in her sleepy little town. In this glittering satire of social class and the pain of growing up, Emma must adventure through misguided matches and romantic missteps to find the love that has been there all along.

To enter, simply complete the Rafflecopter contest form below. One (1) winner will be selected randomly from all of the qualified entries. The winner will be notified by email on Monday, May 18th.  Good luck!

EMMA. will be available on Bluray on May 19th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pop! Obsession: Celebrate The ‘X-Men’ Movie Franchise With 20th Anniversary Funkos!

By
Travis Hopson
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My beloved X-Men have been part of the Funko line for a very long time. Trust me, I have them all to prove it. But, the same can’t be said for their cinematic counterparts. 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of Bryan Singer’s first live-action X-Men movie, and Funko is doing the best thing they’ve EVER done and that’s provide a line of figures to celebrate Marvel’s merry mutants.

Time to clear some shelf space…and perhaps move myself into a new part of the house.

This first (of many, I hope)  wave of 20th anniversary X-Men Pops takes us through the original trilogy, X-Men, X-2, and X-Men: The Last Stand. So you get the James Marsden version of Cyclops, the Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender versions of Magneto, a regular and metallic version of Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, the Alan Cumming Nightcrawler, Anna Paquin as Rogue, Fammke Janssen as Dark Phoenix, Halle Berry as Storm, the Kelsey Grammer version of Beast, and of course, two different versions of Hugh Jackman as Logan. Because there aren’t enough Funkos of Wolverine out there already.

The metallic Mystique is a Walmart exclusive, while the Fassbender Magneto is only at Target.

All of these are pretty cool, but the Anna Paquin Rogue is a must-have, the same for Professor X and the Fassbender Magneto. And now I’ll wait patiently for the Ellen Page Shadowcat and Omar Sy Bishop. Please and thank you!

These are available to preorder right now from our friends at Entertainment Earth, shipping later this summer. They have the deepest inventory of Pops, including exclusives, at the best prices anywhere on the Internet. When you click on any of the below images and make a purchase we get a small commission that helps us keep the lights on, at no cost to you at all. Every little bit helps, and we thank all of you who continue to support us and our sponsors. Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phil Lord & Chris Miller To Direct Ryan Gosling In Astronaut Thriller From ‘The Martian’ Author

By
Travis Hopson
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Ryan Gosling is blasting off into space again, and the directors to take him there are Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Variety reports the duo will direct Gosling in the upcoming adaptation of The Martian author Andy Weir’s novel. MGM made a 7-figure deal to acquire the rights back in March.

The book, which is going by the working title of Project Hail Mary, centers on a solitary astronaut on a mission to save the planet. Reunited on the project are Lord, Miller, and producer Amy Pascal, who won an Oscar together for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Sources say Gosling was lobbying to bring Lord and Miller aboard before he even finished reading Weir’s book.

While Lord and Miller have kept plenty busy, the last movie they actually directed was 22 Jump Street back in 2014. That was the year they also gave us The Lego Movie. Of course, they were booted from Star Wars spinoff Solo, and wrote The Lego Movie 2.

Danny Boyle To Direct Michael B. Jordan In Biblical Film ‘Methuselah’

By
Travis Hopson
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Danny Boyle dropped out of directing the latest James Bond film in favor of his feel-good music comedy, Yesterday, and the gambit paid off. The charming little movie made $150M worldwide on a modest budget. That’s all good, but Boyle is ready to tackle something much bigger now, like the long-developing Biblical thriller Methuselah with Michael B. Jordan.

Variety reports Boyle is set to direct Methuselah, which has had Michael B. Jordan attached for quite some time. Jordan actually took over from Tom Cruise, and at one point Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s Jon Watts was going to direct.  Joachim Ronning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) was also involved at one point. Boyle’s frequent collaborator Simon Beaufoy will rewrite the script most recently penned by Tony Gilroy.

With Boyle coming aboard, the plan for the film has changed and it’s no longer just about the Biblical figure who is said to have lived for 969 years. No word on what this new approach is.

For Jordan, this is just another major film and potential franchise. He’s got the Tom Clancy thriller Without Remorse coming up, plus Denzel Washington’s Journal for Jordan, another Creed sequel is in the early stages, and he’ll have a role in David O. Russell’s untitled film with Margot Robbie and Christian Bale.

Amazon Has A ‘Ringworld’ Series In The Works From Akiva Goldsman And Alan Taylor

By
Travis Hopson
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Well, never say that Amazon Prime is lacking in ambitious shows for the streaming service. With the upcoming Lord of the Rings already set to be one of the biggest, most expensive in history, Amazon has now added another gigantic franchise right alongside it: Larry Niven’s Ringworld.

Collider spoke with writer/producer Akiva Goldsman who revealed that he’s working on a Ringworld TV series for Amazon. And if there was any doubt over the scope they have for this, they’ve brought in Game of Thrones and Thor: The Dark World‘s Alan Taylor as director.

Ringworld is a huge multimedia franchise that sprang from Larry Niven’s 1970 book. It’s set in the far-flung future and centers on Louis Wu, a lonely man who agrees to accompany a couple of companions to the mysterious Ringworld, a ring-like space location of unknown origin.  Syfy has tried for years to get a show off the ground with no avail.

“I don’t know what Amazon is looking for, but they seem to like these larger objects that have scope and scale…,” said Goldsman. “I think that these big, comprehensive universes, there are very few of them still available, and I certainly think Known Space is one of them, for those of us who were Larry Niven fans in our high school days. Niven’s world, his universe, dare I say, is incredibly complex and nuanced, and ‘Ringworld’ has always been this entry point. Better minds than mine have tried to crack it, but hopefully we’ll do it this time.”

Amazon has a clear goal in mind and that is to grab the biggest properties they can find in hopes of winning the streaming wars. No word on when Ringworld will get moving, but given the amount of work that will need to go into this, expect it to be a while.

Captain Pike’s Back As CBS All Access Launches ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’

By
Khalil Johnson
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CBS All Access is punching it past warp 9.5 in regards to their Star Trek content.  The new streaming service already has delivered on two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery (which had a rocky start, but really hit its stride in season two) and brought back Sir Patrick Stewart back as everyone’s favorite captain, Captain Picard (I’m more of a Captain Sisko kinda guy) out of Star Trek retirement after 16 years (22 years if you only count Picard on TV versus movies) for Star Trek: Picard.  CBS All Access also has the Star Trek: Short Treks anthology series which showcase mini-stories from both shows as well as other things going on in the Star Trek universe.  Needless to say, Star Trek isn’t going anywhere.  And now, they have a new show on the horizon.

One of the best things about the second season of Star Trek: Discovery was the introduction of Michael Burnham’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) adoptive brother Spock (Ethan Peck), who was previously played by the late-great Lenord Nimoy from 1966 to 2003.  He played Spock at a different time, when he was more volatile and not as full of logic and managed to tap into an interesting brother/sister relationship with Martin-Green’s Michael.  The other awesome new addition to Star Trek: Discovery was Anson Mount as Christopher Pike.  Captain Pike (previously played by Jeffrey Hunter in the rejected Star Trek pilot from the 1960s and replaced with James T. Kirk (William Shatner) for the original show) was always someone talked about, but not shown in Star Trek as he was Kirk’s predecessor.  Anson Mount played as Pike for Star Trek: Discovery as he assumed command of Starship Discovery after they lost their captain via the events of the first season.  Mount’s portrayal was beloved by fans who then were clamoring for him to have his own spin-off show.

It looks like they got their wish as CBS All Access has greenlit production for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for the streaming service.  The new show will take place after the events of Star Trek: Discovery as Captain Pike, Spock, and “Number One” (played by Rebecca Romijn who appeared briefly towards the end of Star Trek: Discovery), Pike’s trusted second in command who fans also have wanted to see since the 1960s, who we now know is named “Una” after 66 years.  Thanks to Coronavirus, production hasn’t started yet, but just the announcement is enough to make us Trekkies get excited for what the future has for the beloved franchise.

Live-Action ‘Percy Jackson’ Series In The Works For Disney+

By
Travis Hopson
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While my love of movies, pro wrestling, comics and video games is well-known, something most are unaware of is that I have an equal passion for the stories of Greek and Roman myth. They’ve always been fascinating to me and the way they try to make sense of the world through the use of fantasy, and cinematic adaptations of those stories are some of my all-time favorites. It’s also one reason why I’m a very big fan of Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief, not so much its sequel Sea of Monsters but even it is pretty watchable. Sadly, those movies aren’t coming back, but a new TV series on Disney+ is in the works.

Percy Jackson author Rick Riordan announced on social media that a live-action series based on his YA novels is in the early stages for Disney+.  The books, of which there were five plus a couple of spinoffs, centered on young Percy Jackson, a demigod born of a human woman and the oceanic god Poseidon. Along with other demigods his age, he trains to become a great hero at Camp Half-Blood.

The movies were led by Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Sean Bean, Brandon T. Jackson, Rosario Dawson (as Persephone!! *swoon*), Steve Coogan, and more. They also aged up the characters considerably, something I’m sure Disney will change to appeal to a younger demographic. While the first film did pretty well, it never quite caught on like Harry Potter, which was clearly the hope Fox had at the time. Funny that when Disney purchased Fox we never really considered they’d do anything with Percy Jackson, and now it seems so damn obvious.

 

‘American Woman’ Trailer: The Patty Hearst Scandal Is Reimagined With Hong Chau And Sarah Gadon

By
Travis Hopson
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Jenny (HONG CHAU) and Pauline (SARAH GADON). Photographer: Greg Middleton.

The term “Patty Hearst Syndrome” comes from the famous case of Patty Hearst, the granddaughter of wealthy publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. Patty was kidnapped by terrorists, held hostage for months, and reemerged fighting alongside her captors. The phenomenon has become a popular topic in Hollywood, and now we’re seeing it explored from a fresh angle in American Woman, which features a stellar cast led by Watchmen and Downsizing‘s Hong Chau.

Rather than focusing on Hearst, American Woman is a fictional reimagining that centers on Jenny (Chau), a former radical who takes in three fugitives, one of them the celebrity granddaughter of a wealthy newspaper magnate who has joined her captors’ cause.

Chau is joined in the cast by Sarah Gadon, Lola Kirke, John Gallagher Jr., and Ellen Burstyn. I told you the cast was stellar. The film was written and directed by Semi Chellas, who wrote the movie Ophelia along with episodes of Mad Men and The Romanoffs. She has adapted the bestselling book by Susan Choi.

American Woman opens in Canada next month, and may arrive here on VOD around the same time.

‘Pirates Of The Caribbean 6’: Jerry Bruckheimer Won’t Say If Johnny Depp Is Still On Board

By
Travis Hopson
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Jack Sparrow could be back on the high seas for PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 6

Like it or not, Disney isn’t ready to sink their Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. For a couple of years they’ve been working on a new film, an apparent reboot without star Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. Despite previous reports seeming to confirm Depp’s being forced to walk the plank, is that really the case?  Producer Jerry Bruckheimer would know, and right now he’s being dodgy about the situation.

Speaking with Collider, Bruckheimer gave an update on the status of Pirates of the Caribbean 6…

“We’re working on a draft right now and hopefully we’ll get it shortly and give it to Disney and hopefully they’ll like it,” Bruckheimer said. “We don’t know. We’ve been working on it for a little bit.”

Presumably, the draft he’s talking about is by Chernobyl writer Craig Mazin and Ted Elliott, the latter one of the franchise’s architects. They took over after the original writers, Deadpool‘s Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, left shortly after landing the gig.

Okay, but what’s the deal with Depp? Is he coming back or what? Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales was the lowest-earning since the first movie, and a big part of that was caused by Depp’s public image which is dogmeat. When asked, Bruckheimer didn’t want to say one way or the other what Depp’s status is…

“The one we’re developing right now, we’re not sure quite what Johnny’s role is going to be,” Bruckheimer said. “So, we’re going to have to see.”

Just looking at what he said it doesn’t make a lick of sense. If you’re developing it now, surely you must know whether Jack Sparrow is in the movie. You’re either planning for Depp to be there, or you’re not. So it seems as if Bruckheimer is simply trying not to piss off those on either side of the issue. We saw how Depp’s presence also hurt box office on Fantastic Beasts 2, so trumpeting that he’ll be in your movie is not a good idea.

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