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‘Becoming’ Trailer: Netflix Reveals Documentary On Michelle Obama’s Life Post-White House

By
Travis Hopson
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There’s a reason so many people are clamoring to see Michelle Obama get back into politics, possibly as a VP choice. While that is unlikely to ever happen, she remains a beloved figure who used her time as First Lady to champion causes that help those who need it most. And she did it in a way that respects everyone, even those who may oppose her ideologically. That’s why this new clip from the upcoming documentary Becoming is so moving, because it serves as a reminder of the humanity missing from the political discussion today.

The Netflix doc Becoming follows Michelle Obama as she tries to settle back into normal life after she and husband President Barack Obama left the White House. In this scene, all we see is Michelle talking with a group of young girls, many of them young women of color. We’ve seen Michelle’s life depicted in movies before, including a very good one in Southside with You, but this will be a look at who she really is like we’ve never been privy to before.

The Obamas have been working with Netflix extensively of late, producing a pair of acclaimed documentaries including Oscar winner American Factory. This would appear to cement that relationship even further.

Directed by Nadia Hallgren, Becoming hits Netflix on May 6th.

SYNOPSIS: BECOMING is an intimate look into the life of former First Lady Michelle Obama during a moment of profound change, not only for her personally but for the country she and her husband served over eight impactful years in the White House. The film offers a rare and up-close look at her life, taking viewers behind the scenes as she embarks on a 34-city tour that highlights the power of community to bridge our divides and the spirit of connection that comes when we openly and honestly share our stories.

‘New Mutants’ Images Give Best Look Yet At Demon Bear And Limbo

By
Travis Hopson
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For months one of the big questions surrounding The New Mutants was whether Disney would choose to even release the X-Men spinoff in theaters. At the time, going straight-to-VOD would’ve been a final, embarrassing blow the mutant franchise, but now it would be totally normal! With the movie officially off the schedule due to the pandemic, don’t be surprised if that’s how it goes. But for now, check out some brand new stills that tease some Hellish encounters.

Courtesy of the New Mutants Updates Twitter account we’ve got some great new images of our best look yet at the Demon Bear. The Demon Bear is a malevolent spirit that frequently stalks Danielle Moonstar (Blu Hunt), and in one of these images it looks like they’re battling in Limbo, Marvel’s version of Hell. That’s backed up by another photo, featuring Illyana “Magik” Rasputin (Anya Taylor-Joy) carrying her Soulsword and preparing to enter Limbo by the looks of it.

In another we see a horrific, smiling creature that’ll be giving me nightmares tonight. I’m not sure what role that thing plays in The New Mutants, but it seems to be bursting through the doors of the hospital facility where the team is trapped.

Another image gives us what I think is our first look at Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga) using her forcefield powers, confirming once and for all that she will be a mutant in the film. There was some debate whether she would retain her abilities.

With all of the moves Disney has been making lately, we should hear something soon about The New Mutants. The wait has been three long years and it’s hopefully about to come to an end.

 

 

‘A Quiet Place’ Writers Teaming With Sam Raimi On New Sci-Fi Film

By
Travis Hopson
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Following the huge box office for A Quiet Place, writers Bryan Woods and Scott Beck went against the grain by choosing not to return. They decided to have no part in building the horror into a franchise, and have been keeping busy elsewhere. One of those stops was directing an episode of Sam Raimi’s Quibi horror series 50 States of Fright, and the experience must’ve been a good one because they’re teaming up with him again on a different genre.

Variety reports Beck and Woods will write and direct an untitled sci-fi movie with Raimi on board as producer.  There aren’t any details, but the combo of Beck, Woods, and Raimi was enough to launch a bidding war that Sony Pictures eventually won. No word on a release date as this is super early, but all parties are excited to get moving on this soon.

“Raimi Productions is proud to be teaming up with Scott Beck and Bryan Woods,” said Raimi. “They have exceeded all expectations in my experience with them at Quibi and we have the utmost confidence in their brilliant story. I am honored to once again be joining forces with our partners at Sony Pictures. We have a wild and thrilling blockbuster that we can’t wait to share with the world.”

Beck and Woods continued, “After ‘A Quiet Place’ we knew we had a responsibility to reinvest back into the ecosystem of original ideas. We are so proud to have partnered with a studio that believes in a theatrical landscape that looks for launching new stories. Our producing team at Raimi Productions helped foster our vision for this film as directors before we introduced the spec script to the town. Sam Raimi is not only one of our heroes, but one of the only filmmakers to successfully master both independent film and the studio blockbuster. We can’t imagine a more perfect mentor to help us transition into big studio filmmaking.”

 

Nicolas Cage To Play Joe Exotic In TV Series Because It’s Just Too Perfect

By
Travis Hopson
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Every now and then we need proof that there are good things in the world. That sometimes, we get the things we want, even if we don’t know we want them. Well, this is it. Nic Cage is going to be playing Joe Exotic.

Variety reports Nic Cage will be playing Tiger King breakout Joe Exotic in an untitled series by Dan Lagana and Paul Young. Lagana is probably best known as showrunner of the Netflix series American Vandal. The scripted show won’t be based on Tiger King, the wildly-popular docuseries that made Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, and expired Walmart deli meat pizza known commodities. It’ll instead be adapted from Leif Reigstad’s Texas Monthly article “Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild.”

This marks the first regular TV series for Cage, and I can’t think of a better way to start than tackling the crazy world of Joe Exotic. Given some of the…odd, choices Cage has made and his reputation as someone who is completely off the reservation, the casting couldn’t be more perfect. He can just rock the same mullet hairpiece from Con Air.

After a couple of really strong films in Mandy and Color Out of Space, Cage has a really oddball stretch ahead of him. He’ll play a janitor taking on evil animatronics in Wally’s Wonderland, followed by Pig in which he plays a truffle hunter, and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent in which he plays himself trying to land a Tarantino movie.

Vin Diesel Hypes Script For Next ‘Chronicles Of Riddick’ Sequel

By
Travis Hopson
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Outside of the massive global blockbuster that is Fast & Furious, Vin Diesel has a bunch of smaller franchises to keep afloat. Basically, he keeps these alive through the support of his extremely loyal fanbase. The one that has been around the longest is the Chronicles of Riddick, which began with 2000’s Pitch Black and continued with 2004’s The Chronicles of Riddick, a sequel that was better as a video game than a movie. Seriously. In 2013, Diesel literally put everything on the line (including his house!) to finance the third movie, Riddick (reviewed here), and it paid off big enough that Diesel is ready to go on a fourth.

Reaching out to his fans on Instagram, Diesel wrote “Happy Furyan Friday… The latest Chronicles of Riddick script comes in next week. GRRR!”

“Furyan” is the alien race of Diesel’s character, the criminal and mercenary Richard B. Riddick. Following the release of Riddick, Diesel and co-creator/director David Twohy began work on a fourth script, titled Furia, that was supposed to tie-in to a TV series that never happened. Diesel has done what he’s always done which is give sporadic updates, but this is the first big step in a while.

The Riddick movies are interesting in that they drastically shift in scope and scale. The first movie was basically independent and keeps a low profile. The Chronicles of Riddick saw Universal throw a ton of money their way, and so the universe is expanded on tremendously. But since the movie failed at the box office, Riddick was scaled-down and so a smaller story, in which Riddick battles a bunch of bounty hunters, was the direction. This fourth movie is likely to be pretty small, unless Diesel can convince some international investors to back him the way they do XXX.

A New ‘Demolition Man’ Is Being Worked On By Sylvester Stallone

By
Travis Hopson
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Many actors, even the great ones, go through rough patches as they try to evolve with the times. For Sylvester Stallone, this period was definitely the ’90s, when he made a number of questionable choices best left to the dustbin of history. But one film became something of a cult classic, and that’s 1993’s Demolition Man. The bizarre sci-fi action flick was not only a box office hit, but features goofy unforgettable performances by Stallone and Wesley Snipes, inspiring fans to wonder why there’s never been a sequel.

Well, Demolition Man might be the latest Stallone franchise to rise from the grave. Answering a fan’s question on Instagram, Stallone says he’s working with Warner Bros. on a new Demolition Man movie…

“I think it is coming. We’re working on it right now with Warner Brothers and it’s looking fantastic, so that should come out. That’s going to happen.”

Maybe now we’ll finally found out how the seashells work.

If you get that reference, then you’re probably one of those who has experienced the full weirdness of Demolition Man. Stallone plays a no-bullshit cop who is frozen and released in the far-off future to defeat his arch-nemesis Simon Phoenix (Snipes), who is running roughshod over a police force ill-equipped to handle violent madmen. Stallone basically brings his old school swagger into the future, while a blond-haired Snipes hams it up to an extreme level. The film also features Sandra Bullock in one of her earliest roles.

I don’t know how much demand there is for Demolition Man outside of its most loyal fans, but speaking just for me it can’t get here soon enough. Any future in which Taco Bell rules as the last-remaining fast food chain is okay with me.

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Answering the audience

A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) on

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Official: Taika Waititi To Direct New ‘Star Wars’ Movie Co-Written By ‘1917’ Writer

By
Travis Hopson
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Taika Waititi has an Oscar to his credit, a smash Marvel film in Thor: Ragnarok, and directed episodes of beloved series The Mandalorian. And yet it’s now that we can officially say he’s hit the REALLY big time. Rumored since late last year, Disney has made it official that Waititi will direct a Star Wars movie for the big screen.

Joining Waititi will be 1917 co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns (who we interviewed here), with the duo penning the script together. Wow. Of course, there aren’t any details on the story or anything, but this is Star Wars Day and who knows how things will shake out. Rumors tend to sprout plentiful on May 4th.

So now we can say we have an idea of at least one movie Lucasfilm has planned. Waititi’s movie definitely won’t hit the 2022 release date they’ve already staked out. He’s simply too busy with the upcoming Thor: Love & Thunder and other stuff for that. But it’s impossible Lucasfilm clears that 2022 date completely and sets a new one for Waititi that’s a bit further off.

Excited? What Star Wars movie would you want to see Waititi do? With films like What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and Jojo Rabbit, Waititi can do pretty much whatever he wants and find a way to make it funny. Star Wars could use a dose of humor, I think.

 

‘The Green Knight’: David Lowery Hopes For Theatrical Release, But Isn’t Sure It’ll Happen

By
Travis Hopson
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The Green Knight

There aren’t a ton of movies to look forward to for the rest of 2020, but one of them is definitely David Lowery’s The Green Knight. The film, which stars Dev Patel in an interpretation of the chivalric poem, is sort of in limbo right now as A24 mulls its options between a theatrical release and digital. And at least according to Lowery, he’s got no idea what the future holds for his movie right now.

Speaking on The A24 Podcast, Lowery said…

“No one knows. That’s the case with everything at the moment. No one knows anything. All I can say is that at some point audiences will see it. And they’ll see it in the best way possible, given the circumstances. Hopefully, that’s in theaters. Hopefully, theaters survive. I’m a big-time defender of the theatrical experience, and one of the things I love about A24 is that they are as well.”

“Given the circumstances” is quite the caveat, but Lowery’s just echoing the confusion just about every filmmaker is feeling right now. If everything had stayed on track, The Green Knight would’ve had its world premiere a couple of months ago at SXSW. But Lowery says not being there was actually a good thing, because it gave him time to properly complete it…

“We were really rushing to try to get done by SXSW, and the movie, if we showed it there, would not have been fully finished. It would have been close, but not quite done. If we had to release the movie tomorrow, it would be pretty close to where it needs to be. But we’re able to take a breather and sit with it.”

The Green Knight was planned to open on May 29th but was pulled by A24. We’ll update you when there’s an update.

Chris Hemsworth Thanks Fans As ‘Extraction’ Breaks Netflix Records

Is Tyler Rake Netflix's John Wick?

By
Travis Hopson
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So, is Chris Hemsworth’s merc-for-hire Tyler Rake the next John Wick? Netflix certainly think so, and it seems they’ve got the numbers to back it up. The streamer’s projections are that Extraction, the action flick produced by the Russo Brothers and directed by Sam Hargrave, will be viewed in 90 million households over 4 weeks, making it the biggest ever in their history.

Hemsworth has now reached out to fans through social media to thank them for Extraction‘s success…

For context, last year’s most-watched Netflix movie was Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston comedy Murder Mystery with 73 million views in the first four weeks.

From the beginning, Extraction looked like the start of a potential blockbuster franchise for Netflix, which is something they’ve been lacking. While the movie ended ambiguously, these numbers are going to have Netflix, the Russos, Hemsworth, and Hargrave doing whatever it takes to get a sequel going, and quickly.

WWE Champion Becky Lynch May Have A Marvel Role In Her Future

By
Travis Hopson
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Becky Lynch has been recruited to Starfleet.

Say what you want about the world of professional wrestling, but being a champion is a pretty good way to catch Hollywood’s eye. The latest may be “The Man” herself, Becky Lynch, who already has scored a guest appearance on the Showtime series Billions, and might be turning her attention towards Marvel for her next role.

Take this with a grain of salt, but ex-Variety reporter Kris Tapley says Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch is headed to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in an upcoming movie…

Over the last year Becky Lynch has become the most popular WWE superstar in a very long time. Before now her only feature role was in The Marine 6: Close Quarters, which I’ll add was the best of that long-running franchise.

As for the Marvel film she could be in? Black Widow springs immediately to mind, but I could also see her getting into a scrap with Shang-Chi. But Tarpley’s comment suggests the role is coming soon, so maybe she’s one of the lesser-known Eternals? Lynch has also done some stuntwork, previously on the series Vikings, so maybe that’s what’s in the cards.

With Lynch set for her biggest movie role, Sasha Banks rumored for The Mandalorian and other roles, plus CJ “Lana” Perry in the Bruce Willis/Frank Grillo flick Cosmic Sin, it does seem like the WWE women are breaking out into the Hollywood mainstream like we’ve never seen before.

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