HBO CEO Casey Bloys’ name is mud right now due to revelations he led an effort to troll TV critics (he has since apologized), but there’s one good way to get back into fans’ good graces: give them some positive updates on House of the Dragon season two!
At a press conference this morning, Bloys reportedly revealed that House of the Dragon would return for its second season in “early summer” 2024. This one will also run for eight total episodes, and Bloys also had a teaser trailer for reporters to gawk at. Hopefully we’ll get that online soon.
As for the other Game of Thronesspinoffs? While most are still too early and have yet to be greenlit, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, based on George R.R. Martin’s Dunk and Egg novels, could begin production next spring if the SAG strike comes to an end.
HBO has all of their big guns in the hopper just waiting for their moment to return. A second season of The Last of Us could begin in the spring, as well, for release in 2025. That would be around the same time we’d see Euphoria season 3 and The White Lotus‘ third season. Also arriving in 2025 is It prequel series Welcome to Derry from Andy and Barbara Muschietti.
So it’s a bit of a long wait for HBO’s heaviest hitters, but 2024 is also incredibly stacked. Early next year you can look forward to True Detective: Night Country, the return of Curb Your Enthusiasm for its 12th season (!!!), The Regime starring Kate Winslet, Robert Downey Jr. in Wong Kar-Wai’s The Sympathizer, and more.
In the fall, HBO has The Batman spinoff ThePenguin with Colin Farrell, and Dune: Prophecy, a prequel to Denis Villeneuve’s blockbuster film. [THR]
Biographical dramas, biopics, are the coal that drives the engine of awards season. It can be a bit of a drag watching so many who fail to find new ways to present the information of a subject’s life, because they ALL center on fascinating, worthy people at their core. Netflix’s Rustinis slightly different, though. While the presentation by director George C. Wolfe is indeed very by-the-book, its subject is someone who most people have never heard of even as his chief accomplishment, the March On Washington, is something we all know as pivotal to the civil rights movement.
Rustin shares something else in common with other biopics, and that’s an incredible lead performance. Colman Domingo enters the Oscar season race for his portrayal of Bayard Rustin, a man whose efforts have largely been erased from history. We all know the 1963 March On Washington and the iconic “I Have A Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr.(Aml Ameen), a close personal friend of Rustin’s, but without Rustin’s leadership, coordination, and political savvy it might never have gotten off the ground.
In 1960, Rustin is a major player in the civil rights movement, working closely with the NAACP (led by Roy Wilkins, oddly played by Chris Rock) and his good friend MLK. Rustin’s plan for a large-scale display of civil disobedience is shelved by a threat to reveal his homosexuality to the world. Rustin gambles it’ll all work out; it doesn’t, however, and he’s basically removed from the movement, feeling betrayed by MLK who did nothing to support him.
Set largely in 1963, the year of the March, Rustin follows a strict, formulaic approach. It’s easy to see why, as Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black’s screenplay is meant to inform an audience who have likely never heard of Bayard Rustin before. They don’t know his struggle as a gay Black man, fighting for civil rights that he will only be able to see the benefits from in one respect, but not another. And yet Rustin couldn’t sit back and watch as the horrific perpetrated against Black people continued. He decided to reignite his plan for the March with or without the help of the NAACP. However, he would absolutely need to reconnect with his old friend MLK to pull off the 100,000-person, two-day event meant to force change in Washington.
Wolfe is a playwright at heart, and his film projects can feel a bit stagey and static. Rustin is no different, despite Branford Marsalis’ jazzy score. A clunky screenplay full of oddly-placed monologues and emotional shortcuts do Domingo few favors, and yet the actor prevails tremendously. The film is at its strongest when Domingo is in the center of the action, capturing Rustin’s natural charm and charisma that disarms those who might stand opposed to him, otherwise. Rustin is left to navigate the hypocrisy of civil rights leaders and their homophobia. And while a love triangle between Rustin, a staffer, and a fellow group leader is handled with kid gloves, it is nonetheless fascinating to watch Rustin negotiate his queerness in private and in public.
Rustin is always his whole, true self, which rubs a lot of people the wrong way. If he had chosen to stay quiet and closeted, Rustin’s goals would’ve been achieved much earlier, but his story would be less remarkable. It’s that he refused to hide his homosexuality and still was able to overcome the bigotry to achieve something earth-shattering that is so moving about his story. Rustin might not be the extraordinary work that Bayard Rustin truly deserves. It shows flashes of greatness here and there, but they never coalesce into a consistent whole. The one consistently great aspect to Rustin is Domingo, with a towering performance that makes you believe this one man could pull off such a herculean effort. It also makes you wonder the strings that had to be pulled to keep such a pioneering figure out of the history books.
Rustin opens in select theaters on November 3rd, followed by Netflix streaming on November 17th.
We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to rock out at a free early screening of Trolls Band Together! The third film in the Trollsfranchise features the return of Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick as the voices of Branch and Poppy.
SYNOPSIS: After two films of true friendship and relentless flirting, Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake) are now officially, finally, a couple (#broppy)! As they grow closer, Poppy discovers that Branch has a secret past. He was once part of her favorite boyband phenomenon, BroZone, with his four brothers: Floyd (Golden Globe nominated electropop sensation Troye Sivan), John Dory (Eric André; Sing 2), Spruce (Grammy winner Daveed Diggs; Hamilton) and Clay (Grammy winner Kid Cudi; Don’t Look Up). BroZone disbanded when Branch was still a baby, as did the family, and Branch hasn’t seen his brothers since.
But when Branch’s bro Floyd is kidnapped for his musical talents by a pair of nefarious pop-star villains—Velvet (Emmy winner Amy Schumer; Trainwreck) and Veneer (Grammy winner and Tony nominee Andrew Rannells; The Book of Mormon)—Branch and Poppy embark on a harrowing and emotional journey to reunite the other brothers and rescue Floyd from a fate even worse than pop-culture obscurity.
The screening takes place on Saturday, November 11th at 11:00AM at Regal Majestic. If you’d like to attend, RSVP at the Gofobo link here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you’ll need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
Trolls Band Together opens on November 17th in theaters.
Swimming biopic Nyad is a film constantly at odds with itself. The subject of the film, Diana Nyad, is famous for, at the ripe “old” age of 64, successfully swimming from Cuba to Florida, an arduous trek of more than 100 miles. While the absurd physical and emotional toll of this challenge is depicted quite successfully, the film brushes over the reality that many in the swim community refute Nyad’s accomplishment. The depiction of Nyad by Annette Bening in the film is a bit bitter, preachy, and hard to connect with. Far from the witty, charismatic Nyad seen in archival footage sprinkled throughout, almost like a rebuttal against itself.
And yet, Nyadis still quite a powerful look at the obsession that burns within the heart of a champion. Nyad is single-minded and focused on her goal, which makes her tough and hard-to-love for the people around her. She talks at people like a schoolteacher handing out pop quizzes, her mind perpetually focused on her next achievement. But one thing the film does well is establish that one has to be that way. The swim Nyad attempted would require her to be alone in the water for days on end, facing dangerous aquatic life, pissing and crapping in her wet suit, being fed liquid food from the end of a line. Why would anyone ever want to do this thing, anyway?
The film doesn’t get at that answer. Not really. We see flashbacks to Nyad’s abusive childhood. That doesn’t really work to make us understand her any better. A clearer picture develops when its suggested that Nyad will fail because she’s a woman, and an old one at that. The suggestion fires her up to quiet the critics once and for all. That’s a story we can get behind. Nyad takes off when we have a reason to back her passionate drive. Even after multiple failed attempts drive Nyad to the brink of despair, we don’t want her to ever give up.
Less interesting are the various relationships in Nyad’s life that don’t stand a chance of competing against her one true passion. Jodie Foster has little to do as Bonnie, her best friend, coach, and former lover. She’s the one who tries to guide her friend through the worst of it; absorbing Nyad’s abuses, humoring her, uplifting her, and being there for her when she fails. Casting Foster gives the character a certain kind of lived-in experience, but it also doesn’t ask Foster to do much but be there by Bening’s side. Both actresses are good, and so is Rhys Ifans as sea captain and navigator John Bartlett, who meticulously plotted the course through the Florida Straits, watching the weather patterns and managing Nyad’s sizable ego.
Filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin have put together a handsome, well-made biopic with few visual flourishes. That changes somewhat in the final stretch, as Nyad swims among a sea of glowing, neon-colored jellyfish. Their beauty hides their dangerous potential, seen moments later when Nyad nearly dies from the encounter. One of the things the film does really well is capture how much really goes into the “Everest of Swims”. While Nyad might be alone in the water, it takes an entire team to get her through to the finish. That includes someone who designs an experimental wet suit to repel…well, jellyfish.
Vasarhelyi and Chin previously directed the stirring Oscar-winning doc, Free Solo, which tells a similarly daring tale about the conquering of a rock climb without protective equipment. Nyad doesn’t capture the same death-defying quality, but the extensive swimming sequences are far from dull. The use of timers, maps, and the intense physical wear to Nyad’s body all drive the point home that this is a uniquely rare accomplishment. On dry land, the Hollywood drama of Diana Nyad’s story feels customary in the way awards season prestige dramas too often do. When Nyad takes to the water, it’s a captivating underdog story about a woman who swam against the tide of prejudice and ageism to be the best.
2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes seemed like a natural spot to wrap up the rebooted trilogy. It had been a slight disappointment at just under $500M worldwide, more than $200M shy of 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, both of which were directed by Matt Reeves. Not only that, but the story of Caesar, the ape leader played in incredible fashion by Andy Serkis, had reached its end. But this is Hollywood we’re talking about, and a hit franchise never stays gone for long. Enter director Wes Ball and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which takes the saga into the far-off future.
Ball, best known for directing all three Maze Runner films, takes the helm for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which takes the franchise in a new direction with a much younger cast. Starring in the film are Owen Teague (You Hurt My Feelings) who plays Cornelius, the chimp son of the legendary Caesar. He’s joined by Freya Allen (The Witcher), Peter Macon (The Orville), plus Eka Darville, Kevin Durand, William H. Macy, and Dichen Lachman.
Here is the synopsis, which has mostly been kept under wraps: Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
A lot of hands took to the script, with credit going to Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Patrick Aison. Cause for concern?
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes opens in theaters on May 24th 2024.
We’ve seen that David Leitch’s past experience as a Hollywood stuntman has led to some incredible action flicks that he’s directed, such as Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, and Bullet Train. But it makes the most sense that Leitch would want to take on a big screen version of The Fall Guy, as it centers on a stuntman who goes to some crazy lengths to solve the mystery of an actor’s sudden disappearance.
In the new trailer for The Fall Guy, we see some of Leitch’s stunt experience come into play. Ryan Gosling plays Colt, in the role made famous by Lee Majors in the 1980 TV series. Gosling soars through the air and gets behind the wheel for a crash course in action, led by Leitch and a bunch of veteran pros. Also in the cast is Emily Blunt as Jody, Colt’s former lover and a movie director on her first movie. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays the actor in Jody’s movie who goes missing.
Winston Duke, Stephanie Hsu, Hannah Waddingham, and Teresa Palmer are also in the cast, with Majors himself expected to have a cameo. He damn well better!
Here is the synopsis: He’s a stuntman, and like everyone in the stunt community, he gets blown up, shot, crashed, thrown through windows and dropped from the highest of heights, all for our entertainment. And now, fresh off an almost career-ending accident, this working-class hero has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. What could possibly go right?
Everyone has their favorite actors who might not be household names, but every time you see them it’s in a project that you end up enjoying. For me that actor is Hiroyuki Sanada, whether it’s his Japanese films such as Ring, or his blockbuster work in Speed Racer, The Wolverine, and more recently Bullet Train, Mortal Kombat, and John Wick 4. Fans of Sanada will want to keep an eye out for Shōgun, the long-awaited FX event series that finally hits Hulu in February.
Based on the acclaimed 1975 novel by James Clavell, the series is set in Japan in the year 1600, and follows a shrewd daimyo at odds with his political rivals; an Englishman shipwrecked in Japan who becomes influenced by the unfamiliar culture; and a female samurai from a disgraced family line.
Sanada, who is also a producer on the 10-episode series, is joined in the cast by British musician/actor Cosmo Jarvis, and Anna Sawai who will be seen soon in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
The legendary Toshiro Mifune starred in a previous 1980 series adaptation of Shōgun that won three Primetime Emmy Awards.
Here is the synopsis: FX’s Shōgun, an original adaptation of James Clavell’s bestselling novel, was created for television by Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks. The 10-episode limited series is set in Japan in the year 1600, at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Producer Hiroyuki Sanada stars as “Lord Yoshii Toranaga,” who is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him. When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, its English pilot, “John Blackthorne” (Cosmo Jarvis), comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga tip the scales of power and devastate the formidable influence of Blackthorne’s own enemies — the Jesuit priests and Portuguese merchants. Toranaga’s and Blackthorne’s fates become inextricably tied to their translator, “Toda Mariko” (Anna Sawai), a mysterious Christian noblewoman and the last of a disgraced line. While serving her lord amidst this fraught political landscape, Mariko must reconcile her newfound companionship with Blackthorne, her commitment to the faith that saved her and her duty to her late father.
It’s unfortunate, but too many go straight from Halloween to thinking about Christmas. Poor Thanksgiving. Always a turkey in this scenario. Anyway, for moviegoers, there will be an endless supply of Christmas movies to choose from, but only one will star Melissa McCarthy. That would be the Peacock original, Genie, which has just dropped a new trailer like Santa Clause dropping cookies into a glass of warm milk.
McCarthy stars as a wish-granting genie who is accidentally unleashed by a man whose life is falling apart right around the holidays. Of course, she’s there to help him find the true meaning of Christmas, getting back his family and setting his career back on track.
Looks sweeter than sprinkles on mom’s Christmas cookies. The script comes from a guy who knows a thing or two about holiday films; Love Actually screenwriter Richard Curtis. The film marks the directorial debut of Sam Boyd, known for writing Paul Feig’s Max series Love Life.
Joining McCarthy in the cast are Paapa Essiedu, Denée Benton, Marc Maron, Jordyn McIntosh, Luis Guzmán, and Alan Cumming.
Here’s the synopsis: This Christmas, from Oscar®-nominated screenwriter Richard Curtis, comes Genie, a holiday fairytale comedy about a genie, a man, and landing one last chance to fix the mess you’ve made of your life. With his job, life and family unraveling around him, a despondent Bernard (Paapa Essiedu) dusts off a jewelry box and unintentionally releases genie Flora (Melissa McCarthy), who just might be able to help him. Maybe. It’s a longshot, frankly. In the process, Flora and Bernard will discover that love, and an unexpected friendship, can unleash a special holiday magic all its own.
Writer/director Wendy Wilkins lends her first-hand experience as a policewoman to her feature directorial debut, Death On the Border. It adds a layer of credibility to the film that follows two determined women wronged by a corrupt detective who risks everything to move sex-trafficked girls across the Mexican border and to safety.
Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie) and Kika Magalhães (The Eyes of My Mother) lead the film, and in this new exclusive clip we see how far the two women will go, with one getting her first taste of what being an armed criminal is like.
Also in the cast are Danny Trejo, Frank Whaley, Eric Roberts, Iseluleko Ma’at El 0, Jay Hieron, Robin McDonald, Dutch Johnson, and Wilkins wrote a small role for herself, as well.
SYNOPSIS: Two women who have been wronged by a corrupt detective risk their lives to rescue a group of young women from a sinister human trafficking network with the aid of the fearless priest who has vowed to protect them.
We’re seeing more negative stories written about Marvel Studios now than we have in the past decade. The box offices are lower, the TV division just underwent a major creative overhaul, and now there’s news on one of the most confounding projects announced way back in 2019: Blade.
According to Variety, Kevin Feige realizes that things aren’t going right at the moment, and part of the process of scrapping and restarting projects involves Blade. With Oscar winner Mahershala Ali aboard, the project took some odd turns after going through five screenwriters, including True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto, a pair of directors (Bassam Tariq and Yann Demange), and enduring a weeks-long shutdown due to the writers’ strike.
Oddly enough, Ali nearly walked from the film after one version of the screenplay “morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons”, with Blade dropped to the fourth lead. That’s insane for a movie that’s about a character fans have been dying to see again, but also when you’ve got an actor like Ali in the lead role. You don’t sideline an actor like him.
But Ali is sticking around now that Oscar-nominated Logan writer Michael Green has come aboard. Hopefully, he can help turn things around. Once planned for a 2023 release, Blade was pushed to September 2024, but it’s more likely to land in theaters in 2025 with a budget under $100M. That’s a far cry from the $200M+ of The Marvels which opens next week.
