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Rumor: ‘Supergirl’ Movie Shelved As WB Eyes ‘Man Of Steel’ Sequel

By
Travis Hopson
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Remember that Supergirl movie Warner Bros. was hoping would fill the Kryptonian gap vacated by their unwillingness to do a Man of Steel sequel? Well, if a new rumor, and I stress this is a rumor, by Heroic Hollywood is true, they’ve now changed their minds and want to bring Superman back to the big screen first.

So the story goes that Supergirl is now on the shelf, with plans to move forward on Man of Steel 2. Why? Well, because the only reason they moved away from Superman in the first place was the utter failure of Justice League, which dashed their hopes of a successful cinematic universe. However, the successes of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam have changed their minds. So now the plan is to push Supergirl back for a while, and focus on Superman, instead.

Supergirl was to have a script by 22 Jump Street writer Oren Uziel, but there hasn’t been much news on it lately.

As for who would don the Kryptonian’s cape? The story suggests Henry Cavill will return, seeing as he’s still in the good graces of WB execs, and honestly, that seems like the right move. He wasn’t the cause of the DCEU’s troubled launch, and fan reaction to his performances have generally been good.

I guess we’ll have to wait longer before we see Michael B. Jordan as the Man of Steel? That rumor never really felt solid, anyway, and depended on Cavill being gone. If that’s no longer true, then Jordan will have to find another superhero role to take. He’d make a damn good John Stewart. Just sayin’.

Neve Campbell Says She’s Negotiating A Return For ‘Scream 5’

By
Travis Hopson
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The Scream franchise is coming back, not as another TV series but as a movie, the first since 2011. From the very beginning, one actress has been most closely associated with it, Neve Campbell, but there are still questions as to whether she’s coming back for this latest chapter.

Speaking with Rotten Tomatoes (via People), Campbell says she’s spoken with incoming directors Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (aka Radio Silence, known for directing Ready or Not), but it’s unclear if a return as Sidney Prescott is in the cards…

“The timing’s a bit challenging because of COVID. You know, we only started the conversation maybe a month and a half ago, so it’s going to take some time to figure out how it’s all going to work out. We’re negotiating, so we’ll see.”

Campbell revealed that the filmmakers sent her a “touching letter” about the passing of director Wes Craven, the horror legend behind the Scream franchise. That has apparently gone a long way in easing her mind about a return, but there is still some apprehension…

“I originally had been really apprehensive about doing another ‘Scream’ without Wes [Craven] because he was such a genius and he is the reason they are what they are,” she said. “But the directors who have come to me with such a great appreciation for Wes’s work, and they really want to honor it. That meant a lot to me.”

No word on when Scream 5 will get rolling, but it’s unlikely to happen until coronavirus restrictions lift.

‘Babyteeth’ Trailer: Eliza Scanlen Stars In Shannon Murphy’s Acclaimed Teen Dramedy

By
Travis Hopson
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The name Eliza Scanlen is still unknown to a lot of people, but if you saw her heartbreaking performance as Beth March in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, you know it won’t be that way for long. But that wasn’t the only acclaimed role she had last year, or even the first. Shannon Murphy’s directorial debut Babyteeth, a story of unlikely lovers, saw Scanlen make waves at Venice and London, and next it’ll attempt to do the same in the U.S.

Babyteeth is based on the stageplay by screenwriter Rita Kalnejais, and stars Scanlen as a terminally-ill who falls crazy in love with a drug dealer, much to the chagrin of her parents. The cast includes Ben Mendelsohn, The Babadook‘s Essie Davis, and Toby Wallace as Scanlen’s lover. The film marks the debut feature for Shannon Murphy, a director on upcoming episodes of Killing Eve.

IFC Films will release Babyteeth on June 19th.

SYNOPSIS: When seriously ill teenager Milla (Eliza Scanlen) falls madly in love with small-time drug dealer Moses (Toby Wallace), it’s her parents’ (Essie Davis and Ben Mendelsohn) worst nightmare. But as Milla’s first brush with love brings her a renewed lust for life, traditional morals go out the window, leaving her parents wanting to hold tighter to their little girl. Milla soon teaches everyone in her orbit – her parents, Moses, a sensitive music teacher, a budding child violinist, and a disarmingly honest, pregnant neighbor – how to live like you have nothing to lose. What might have been a disaster for the Finlay family instead leads to letting go and finding grace in the glorious chaos of life. BABYTEETH joyously explores how good it is to be alive and how far we will go for love.

Dwayne Johnson And Emily Blunt Will Have Super-Powered Marital Troubles In ‘Ball And Chain’

By
Travis Hopson
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The delay of Disney’s Jungle Cruise is forcing us to wait longer to finally see the superheroic duo of Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt in action. Fortunately, they’ll be reuniting pretty quickly on an entirely different movie, one that actually places them in the role of superheroes.

THR reports Johnson and Blunt will play married superheroes in Ball and Chain, from a script by Emily V. Gordon, Oscar-nominated writer of The Big Sick. The premise is pretty cool, too, as it centers on a superhero couple who experience marital issues, which is a problem because their powers only work in tandem.

The film is an adaptation of the comic by former X-Men scribe Scott Lobdell, and is being described as the superhero version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as married assassins. A director for the movie has yet to be named.

It’s somewhat amazing that neither Johnson or Blunt has played a superhero yet. Johnson has the long-delayed Black Adam coming up next year (?), making him a part of the DCEU. Blunt came close, as she was a finalist for the role of Black Widow in Iron Man 2, which went to Scarlett Johansson, of course.

This is still pretty early on, but it looks as if Ball and Chain will head to Netflix, which makes sense considering Johnson’s next film, Red Notice, is already there.

 

 

Review: ‘Arkansas’

Clark Duke's Directorial Debut Makes For A Slow, Tedious Journey

By
Cortland Jacoby
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Drugs. Witty one-liners. John Malkovich. Plenty of Violence. The new film, Arkansas seems to truly have it all. Based on the pulp fiction novel by John Brandon, Arkansas examines the greed and violence that comes with being a part of the “Dixie Mafia.” First time director and known character actor Clark Duke teamed up with  Andrew Boonkrong to write this Southern neo-noir with a sense of humor. However, it’s a joke that goes on way too long.

Quickly rising through the ranks of a prominent Southern drug organization, Kyle (Liam Hemsworth) and his partner Swin (Duke) soon find themselves in over their heads with their organization after a series of unfortunate events leaves them without their boss (John Malkovich). Not sure what to do next, the pair tries to continue business as usual before their mysterious boss, Frog (Vince Vaughn) finds out.

Divided into chapters, the piece often feels like a series of vignettes rather than one cohesive story. Duke and Boonkrong pack a lot of the pulp fiction novel into the narrative that doesn’t need to be there. So much screen time is spent on Frog’s backstory and not enough on Kyle’s. While Duke clearly wants us to walk away feeling the ambiguity of man’s ability to appear all good or evil, the lack of backstory for Hemsworth’s character leaves little to sympathize with.

Arkansas wanders aimlessly, its first 45 minutes feeling more like two hours. You don’t really know where the film is going for the first 75% of the runtime. Though the dynamic between Kyle and Swin is endearing and Malkovich is fun to watch, it’s not enough to keep the film’s momentum.

Luckily, witty quips and a vibrant soundtrack provide moments of reprieve. An entire repertoire of Southern rock and country classics like “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “A Country Boy Can Survive,” are covered exclusively by psychedelic rock staples The Flaming Lips. Easily one of the best soundtracks of the year so far, the music propels the film forward and sometimes into music video territory, though that doesn’t hinder the film.

Despite a very gallant effort, Duke fails to capture the intensity of the pulp fiction novel, falling into the trap an over-eager first-time director. There are some very palatable nuggets within this behemoth of a film, however fundamental flaws within the story’s structure and pacing fail to make the journey through Arkansas worth it.

You can watch Arkansas on-demand and most streaming platforms.

Charlize Theron Leads A Team Of Immortals In First Look At Netflix’s ‘The Old Guard’

By
Travis Hopson
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Netflix is looking to conquer the one arena that has alluded them up to this point: blockbuster filmmaking. With the success of Extraction leading to a possible franchise, they’re now turning to Charlize Theron to launch another with The Old Guard, and we’ve got the first look.

The Old Guard stars Theron as leader of a group of centuries-old immortals capable of healing from any wound. Just as a new immortal has awakened, they learn someone has discovered their secret and have to fight to remain free.

Theron is joined by an incredible cast that includes Kiki Layne, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthias Schoenaerts, Luca Marinelli, Marwan Kenzari, and Harry Melling.  Just as strong is the talent behind the camera, with Gina Prince-Bythewood (Beyond the Lights) directing from a script by acclaimed Batman comics writer Greg Rucka.

The Old Guard hits Netflix later this year.

Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’ Hits Netflix This Summer, Teaser Poster Revealed

By
Travis Hopson
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Spike Lee is continuing his relationship with Netflix, after the streamer ran his TV series She’s Gotta Have It for two seasons. The BlacKkKlansman director revealed that his upcoming film, Da 5 Bloods, will hit Netflix on June 12th. And he did it while wearing another ridiculous hat. He loves him some ridiculous headwear. The first teaser poster was also part of the announcement.

Da 5 Bloods stars Chadwick Boseman, Paul Walter Hauser, Norm Lewis, Delroy Lindo, and Jonathan Majors. Also in the cast are Clarke Peters, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Melanie Thierry, Jean Reno, and Giancarlo Esposito. The story follows five Vietnam War vets who return to locate the remains of their missing squad leader, and recover buried treasure. The film will clock in at a whopping 155 minutes in length.

This is Lee’s first film since 2018’s BlacKkKlansman, which would go on to be the biggest box office success of his career, while also earning him an Oscar for Best Screenplay and his first nomination for Best Director.

Benedict Cumberbatch Spy Film ‘Ironbark’ Gets A Lame New Title And Summer Release Date

By
Travis Hopson
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The Benedict Cumberbatch spy drama Ironbark is getting a new title, one that makes it sound like a Jason Statham action flick. Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions have renamed it The Courier, and set a release date for this summer.

The Courier will now open on August 28th, with the current plan to have it in theaters. Whether that sticks, we’ll just have to wait and see, but cinemas are beginning to open in some locations, with the expectation of more in the coming weeks.

This year’s Sundance Film Festival is where The Courier had its world premiere, earning solid ratings in the process. Based on a true story, it stars Cumberbatch as British businessman who is recruited by MI-6 and the CIA into a dangerous mission to head off the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Dominic Cooke (On Chesil Beach) directs, with Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley, and Merab Ninidze co-starring.

SYNOPSIS: The Courier is the true story of an unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch) recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. At the behest of the UK’s MI-6 and a CIA operative (Rachel Brosnahan), he forms a covert, dangerous partnership with Soviet officer Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) in an effort to provide crucial intelligence needed to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.

‘Westworld’ Creators Unsure When Series Will Come To An End

By
Travis Hopson
-

Before Westworld concluded its third season, HBO had already green lit a fourth with rumors the series could stretch as long as six seasons. With ratings down and a mixed reaction to the recent season finale, creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy Nolan are saying it’s unclear how long the series will go.

Speaking with Variety, Nolan addressed the rumor directly and says nobody knows when Westworld will come to a close…

“Well, I just want to clarify, you know, Lisa and I have never actually talked about a number of seasons.[T]here’s been reporting about deals and other stuff like that. But we’ve never actually talked out loud about how many seasons we imagine this thing going, because I think you’d be foolish to. Things change, circumstances change. I think when we sat down to do the show, we didn’t quite realize how difficult it would be to make this show — [laughing] how many years it would take per season. So we’ve never actually talked about how many seasons that plan was, and indeed I think when we had the plan it didn’t actually map out to a specific number of seasons, exactly. It was a beginning, a middle and an end.”

What he says next, I think, is the crucial part…

“When you have a show going like this, you want to stay as long as you’re telling a compelling story. We’re heading towards that end, but we haven’t completely mapped it out. At this point, part of the work is looking at the rest of the story we have to tell. It’s two impulses, one against the other. You don’t want to walk away from people who are as talented and cool as this. They’re all lovely, lovely people, and they love working together, we like working together. At the same time, you don’t want to outstay your welcome. You have a story to tell, and you want to go out without feeling like you’ve outstayed your welcome. So we’re trying to balance those things a bit.”

That sounds like someone who is ready to go after one more season. Westworld wasn’t able to hold my attention past season 2, and we’ll see how much audience they retain going into season 4.

‘Snowpiercer’ Trailer: TNT Doesn’t Trust That You’ll Remember To Watch

By
Travis Hopson
-

After numerous delays, production issues, and network changes, TNT is desperate for you to know Snowpiercer still exists. They won’t let you forget it. This is approximately trailer number one million for the series based on the graphic novel Le Transperceneige and Bong Joon-ho’s 2013 movie. It will star Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connelly. Here’s the synopsis:

Set more than seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland Snowpiercer centers on the remnants of humanity, who inhabit a 1001 car, perpetually-moving train that circles the globe. Class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival play out in this riveting television adaptation based on the acclaimed movie and graphic novel series of the same name.

Snowpiercer isn’t a straight adaptation of either the book or the movie, but is set eight years prior to it as part of an extensive timeline that includes the original graphic novels and a prequel trilogy. You check out the full continuity below.

TNT debuts Snowpiercer on May 17th. Please don’t forget it, or they’ll try to squeeze in one more trailer.

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