We’re happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free early screening of No Hard Feelings, starring Jennifer Lawrence!
SYNOPSIS: Maddie (Lawrence) thinks she’s found the answer to her financial troubles when she discovers an intriguing job listing: wealthy helicopter parents looking for someone to “date” their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy, and bring him out of his shell before he leaves for college. But awkward Percy proves to be more of a challenge than she expected, and time is running out. She has one summer to make him a man or lose it all.
The screening takes place tomorrow, June 20th at 7:00pm at Regal Majestic in Silver Spring. If you’d like to attend, simply RSVP at the Sony Pictures site here. Please remember all screenings are first come first served and you’ll need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
We all know that Zack Snyder isn’t a guy who takes “no” for an answer. When Lucasfilm shot down his pitch for a Seven Samurai-influenced Star Wars movie, he instead took it to Netflix. And the streamer was all in, giving Snyder two huge franchises: Army of the Dead, and this December’s Rebel Moon.
As part of Netflix’s Tudum fan event, new footage and the below featurette were released for Rebel Moon. The massive film centers on citizens of a peaceful colony who band together and fight back against a tyrranical empire. Sound familiar?
Here’s the synopsis: “When a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of the tyrannical Regent Balisarius, they dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past named Kora to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them take a stand.”
Of course, the cast is gigantic here and full of familiar names. Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Bae Doona, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam, Anthony Hopkins as the voice of Jimmy, Cary Elwes, Corey Stoll, Jena Malone, Fra Fee, Cleopatra Coleman, Alfonso Herrera, Stuart Martin, Staz Nair, Sky Yang, Rhian Rees, E. Duffy, and Charlotte Maggi comprise the ensemble, many of them having worked with Snyder in the past.
Remember David Benioff and D.B. Weiss? You may have tried to shove the Game of Thrones creators out of your mind because the final season sucked or whatever, but they are still around and quite busy. That’s what $200M will do, and that’s what Netflix paid them to create streaming content rather than do a Star Wars movie. And their first project out of the gate is 3 Body Problem, an adaptation of the Chinese sci-fi novel by Liu Cixin.
Teaming up with Alexander Woo (The Terror), Benioff and Weiss’s series follows the generations-long repercussions of a fateful decision made in the 1960s. Here’s the synopsis:
“A young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and time to a group of brilliant scientists in the present day. As the laws of nature unravel before their eyes, five former colleagues reunite to confront the greatest threat in humanity’s history.”
The massive ensemble includes Jess Hong, Benedict Wong, Eiza González, Jovan Adepo, Alex Sharp, John Bradley, Saamer Usmani, Liam Cunningham, Rosalind Chao, Jonathan Pryce, Marlo Kelly, Sea Shimooka, Ben Schnetzer, and Zine Tseng.
Rian Johnson, Rosamund Pike, and Brad Pitt are aboard as exec-producers, adding to what looks to be a powerhouse project from Benioff and Weiss.
There’s still quite a wait, though. 3 Body Problem hits Netflix in January 2024.
Gal Gadot’s future as Wonder Woman is still up in the air, but her schedule is apparently free enough for a return to the Fast & Furious franchise. She might also have another franchise on her hands with Heart of Stone, the Netflix spy thriller in the vein of James Bond.
A new trailer for Heart of Stone has dropped during Netflix’s Tudum event, and in it, we can see other influences including Mission: Impossible and Jason Bourne. Here’s the film synopsis:
“Rachel Stone is an intelligence operative, the only woman who stands between her powerful, global, peace-keeping organization and the loss of its most valuable — and dangerous — asset.”
Also in the cast are Jamie Dornan, Ali Bhatt, Archie Madekwe, Matthias Schweighofer, Sophie Okonedo, and Jung Lusi.
Behind the camera is Wild Rose director Tom Harper, working from a script co-written by Allison Schroeder (Hidden Figures) and Greg Rucka, a comic book veteran and crime novelist whose comic The Old Guard was adapted into a huge Netflix film that’s getting a sequel.
Well, there go the hopes of more Ezra Miller as Barry Allen. This was always going to be an uphill climb for The Flash, after a couple of years of controversial headlines and serious allegations against the actor. But the $55M 3-day launch and $64M through the 4-day holiday is way below early estimates. Worldwide, the film opened slowly at just $139M. There’s really no way to sugarcoat this; this is really terrible, and probably spells doom for The Flash as part of James Gunn’s DCU. The funny thing is, it was Gunn who heavily pushed the film as “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made”, and audiences don’t seem to have cared. Nor do they agree with his assessment, giving the film a ‘B’ Cinemascore and 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics felt less about it, giving it 65% on RT for now. Those scores actually aren’t bad, but hardly superlative. And this speaks to what can happen when your star can’t do any press. Speaking from my own perspective, I’ve had a lot of people tell me they refuse to see the film because of Miller and the accusations against them. When bad buzz spreads, studios would be wise to pay attention, and Warner Bros. is especially deaf to this stuff. They ignored it when bad buzz about Johnny Depp threatened to hobble their Fantastic Beasts franchise…and then it did.
Ice cold right from the jump was Pixar’s Elemental. This one had the stench of death written all over it, as early reviews were lukewarm at best. And frankly, Pixar has been in a death spiral for a while now, and this didn’t look like the kind of groundbreaking movie to pull them out of a creative rut. The $29.5M 3-Day total and $33.3M 4-day aren’t indicative of the response from audiences, though. It has an ‘A’ Cinemascore and current 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics also liking it at 76%.
3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse– $27.8M/$280.3M
Horror/comedy satire The Blackening opened at $6M and should clear around $7M through the Juneteenth holiday. The Tim Story-directed film doesn’t feature any big names, but leans on a funny Scream-esque premise that makes light of horror tropes, only those impacting characters of color.
7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3– $5M/$344.3M
8. The Boogeyman– $3.8M/$32.7M
9. Fast X– $2M/$142.4M
It’s a good thing Fast & Furious has long since gone global because international is the only thing keeping the franchise afloat. While the film sunk like a stone here, worldwide it has still sped to a whopping $676M.
10. Asteroid City– $790K
Powered by an incredible $131K per-site-average, Wes Anderson’s latest, Asteroid City, opened in six theaters in LA and NY for $790K and likely $890K through the holiday. Damn. It’s another odd little bauble of a comedy from Anderson, this one taking place at a Junior Stargazers event in a small desert town. Anderson die-hards are clearly down for it, and it’ll be interesting to see how it fares after expanding next week.
Ever since Keanu declared loud “I’m back” in the first John Wick, there have been many copycats for the hard-core heavily stylized gun and fight stunt coordination films (many directed by former stuntmen including this film). At the height of the pandemic, Netflix released Extraction. Written by Joe Russo (of the Russo Bros and Marvel fame) and directed by stuntman Sam Hargrave (in his directorial debut), Extraction was full on nonstop, pulse-pounding action and had one hell of a single-take fight scene. It showed that Chris Hemsworth would have a blockbuster career beyond being Thor in the Marvel movies and Netflix had a hit on their hands. It’s no surprise that Netflix would quickly greenlight a sequel Extraction 2, even though it wasn’t clear if Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake was even alive by the end of the original.
Don’t worry, Extraction 2 starts revealing that despite Tyler getting shot, stabbed, and everything in between in the original film, it’s revealed that he survived… barely. After recuperating back to health Tyler is rehabbed and enjoying “retirement” from his work as a mercenary. His partner Nik Kahn (Golshifteh Farahani) set him up with a cabin to enjoy himself in solitude. However, one day he is approached by Alcott (Idris Elba) who recruits him for a job. Turns out Tyler’s ex-wife Mia (Olga Kurylenko) has a sister Ketevan (Tinatin Dalakishvili) who happens to be married to a Georgian mobster and after being sent to prison, the mobster with all his political connections has his wife and children sent to the prison “for their protection,” and it’s up to Tyler to go into the prison to break them out.
The prison break in Extraction 2 is fantastic! Director Sam Hargrave shows that the impressive filming of the fight sequences and that awesome one-take shot in the first movie is no fluke. This time a full 21 minutes of nonstop carnage, plenty of John Wick-styled gun-fu, and even helicopter vs minigun on a train shooting spree. Some of the “hidden cuts” are glaringly obvious, but cinematographer Greg Baldi keeps the adrenaline pumping during the escape sequence. However, getting out is only the beginning. Now that they are out, they are being chased by Uncle Zurab (Tornike Gogrichiani) and countless numbers of their “Nagazi” army. Extraction 2 knows you’re here for the action, so it keeps moving from one setpiece to the next and giving you your fill of just insane fun action. Both Golshifteh Farahani and Adam Bessa expand their roles of Nik and Yaz Kahn, brother and sister members of Tyler’s mercenary crew.
Extraction 2does have a few moments where it slows things down and gives insight into Tyler Rake’s mind, his relationship with his ex-wife, and his relationship with Nik Kahn. Hemsworth of course can do dramatic work and for the most part, it works, but honestly, we know what we are here for. It’s the fun Russo’s styled hardcore action, and Extraction 2 completely delivers on that front! It also helps that Tornike Gogrichiani is an engaging and charismatic villain. He not only orders the henchmen to do crazy stuff in battle, but he’s there in lockstep with them.
There is one weak link in the story and that pertains to Sando (Andro Jafaridze) one of the children being rescued, but he’s infatuated with his father’s criminal lifestyle. There were numerous moments in the film where he was just as stupidly annoying as Tariq was in the early seasons of Starz’s Power. And it’s not actor Andro Jafaridze’s fault as he does a great job playing a confused teen, but his actions create so many unnecessary moments that screw things up for the good guys. Editing his character arc down to not do so many stupid mistakes might have served the film better.
Overall, Extraction 2 does exactly what it means to do. We have Hemsworth being a bonafide action hero who kicks all sorts of ass efficiently in this new age of highly stylized well-choreographed action films. And with the ending revealing that there’s a bigger story to tell in this world, don’t be surprised if Netflix announces a sequel in the immediate future.
Thanks to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, interest in the wallcrawler is at an all-time high. What better time than now for Sony Pictures to announce two Sony/Marvel release dates in 2024 and 2025 that are widely expected to be Spider-Man and Venom sequels.
The two dates Sony has locked down are November 8th 2024 and June 27th 2025. Tom Holland has been chatting up Spider-Man 4 a lot lately, confirming the film is coming together nicely even though the writers strike means it can only go so far. Not only that, but Holland wants to take some time off after Apple’s The Crowded Room. That makes the 2025 date the most likely place where Holland will turn up next as Peter Parker.
That means Venom 3 is a good candidate for the 2024 date. Tom Hardy is obviously returning as Eddie Brock, with Kelly Marcel taking over as director. The two previous Venom movies opened in October, although the returns weren’t so good for Let There Be Carnage which may explain the slight change in plan.
Not only that, but both films will be in IMAX theaters, too, so it’s almost certainly going to be a Spider-Man and Venom. Besides, the other Sony/Marvel projects, such as Kraven the Hunter, El Muerto, and Madame Web already have dates set with little reason for them to move.
There have been, in terms of taking genuine risks with the MCU, few examples greater than Captain America: The Winter Soldier. At a time when Marvel was especially prone to formulaic, homogenous superhero stuff, here came along this paranoia-fueled thriller about a massive government conspiracy.
It was goddamn fantastic.
Secret Invasion is probably the closest we’ll get to Marvel returning to that genre anytime soon after Falcon & the Winter Soldier, and it does so by picking up on a major loose thread from 2019’s Captain Marvel. That film saw Samuel L. Jackson’s youthful Nick Fury helping to save the alien Skrulls from annihilation from the Kree. When it was all over, Skrull refugees remained here on Earth. But that was more than three decades ago. What have they been doing since? And how did “The Blip”, the five-year disappearance of millions when Thanos infamously snapped his fingers, affect all of them?
Fury was seen way off-planet, hiding out on a SWORD space station working on some mysterious project. What Secret Invasion shows us is that Fury’s absence, and The Blip, have had serious consequences for the Skrulls. With The Avengers seemingly MIA, and Fury having not lived up to his promise to help them find a new home, Skrull forces led by Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) have decided to take Earth for themselves. Also on the enemy side is G’iah (Emilia Clarke), who has a connection to Fury’s friend, the Skrull known as Talos (Ben Mendelsohn).
The first two episodes provided to press totally orient around Fury. Looking haggard and broken, this is unlike any version of Fury we’ve seen before. Sure, he’s still the coolest guy in the room, but he also looks like a defeated man, haunched from the weight of the world on his shoulders. He used to carry it standing upright so easily. But we see how this broken promise to the Skrulls has haunted him, and how he knows this coming fight is all his fault. Jackson has always been so in-tune with this character that Marvel Comics creatively bent over backwards to make their version of Nick Fury like his. He embodies the character and his burden magnificently here. Jackson makes us feel the pressure Fury is under, and the depth of his loneliness so that a twist conclusion to the second episode makes all of the sense in the world.
So there isn’t a ton of action on display early on, and who knows? Secret Invasion might not have much for the long haul, as it’s a show where characters exist in the margins, lurking in shadows and acting in moral shades of gray. The execution can be a bit clunky, as well, with loads of characters to keep track of including Martin Freeman’s Everett K. Ross, Cobie Smulders who returns as Maria Hill, and there’s also Oscar-winner Olivia Colman as MI6 leader Sonya Falsworth. Falsworth gets the most disturbing scene of the opening episodes, revealing her to be brutally and gleefully efficient at getting what she wants. Even Don Cheadle shows up, reprising his role as James “War Machine” Rhodes, to throw his weight around and cause problems for Fury.
Secret Invasion sets you up for a slow burn series, but what it doesn’t do at this early stage is live-up to the promise of using the Skrulls as villains. As they infiltrate the world’s power structures by impersonating key political figures, we’re meant to wonder if anybody is who they say they are. But that mystery is largely left dormant, the intrigue left aside for now and that’s disappointing. Other than a pair of shock conclusions at the end of the first two episodes (One I saw coming and am furious over!), Secret Invasion is light on surprises and thrills. This is a laying of groundwork stretch, and it doesn’t feel like it’s quite over. Our investment in Fury is the thing that grabs us, but soon this series will need to fully take shape and reveal its true form.
Secret Invasion launches on Disney+ beginning June 21st and runs for six episodes.
The Flash opens this weekend, and based on soft Thursday preview numbers of $9M, it could be a tough debut. However, that’s not affecting the relationship between Warner Bros. and director Andy Muschietti. Last week’s rumor that he is the frontrunner to direct DCU Batman movie The Brave & the Bold have panned out to be true, as Muschietti has officially signed on.
Muschietti will direct The Brave & the Bold as part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DCU as part of DC Studios. The film will center on Bruce Wayne and his son, Damien Wayne, who if like in the comics is a bit of a psycho.
This will be a separate Batman from the version seen in Matt Reeves’ movie, and with Ben Affleck done and Michael Keaton not a fit, it’s unclear who will be suiting up as the Caped Crusader. The Flash actually teases this mystery in a key scene.
There are Batman action scenes in The Flash that felt like Muschietti auditioning for a future Batman movie, and it seems to have worked.
It’s actually quite a good day for the Muschiettis. Along with this news, Andy and his sister/producing partner Barbara Muschietti have inked first-look deals with Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Television/Max lasting multiple years. Coming up from the Muschiettis banner is the It prequel series Welcome to Derry. [Deadline]
Persian Lessons, directed by award-winning filmmaker Vadim Perelman (House of Sand and Fog, The Life Before Her Eyes), is a powerful and poignant film set during World War II. The story follows Gilles, a desperate man who narrowly escapes execution by lying about his identity and claiming to be Persian. He barely escapes with his life by only mere minutes when he possesses an Iranian book inscribed to that Persian family’s son, Reza. However, this lie leads him down a path of more profound tension, fear, and tragedy as he has to invent a language he has never heard spoken before. With incredible attention to detail and outstanding performances, Persian Lessons captivates from start to finish.
From the moment the film begins, viewers will be mesmerized by a gripping narrative that explores the lengths people will go to survive. Nahuel Pérez Biscayart delivers a superb performance as Gilles, perfectly portraying the character’s struggles, fear, and resilience. Lars Eidinger shines as Head of Camp Koch, bringing depth and complexity to a uniquely stubborn yet strangely likable character with his conflicting desires. The chemistry between the two actors adds tension and intrigue to the story, leaving viewers on the edge of their seats.
Every scene in Persian Lessons is crafted with meticulous attention to detail, immersing the audience in the harsh reality of occupied France during World War II. The cinematography by Vladislav Opelyants captures the era’s essence, showcasing the somber tones and contrasting moments of hope. The sets and costumes are flawless, transporting viewers to the bleakness of what lies ahead. The result is an atmospherically somber experience that will keep audiences captivated.
The film’s music complements each scene’s mood beautifully and meticulously. Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine’s score adds depth and emotion to the film, enhancing the audience’s connection with the characters and their struggles. The haunting melodies and subtle compositions further elevate the tension and poignancy of the story, leaving a lasting impact.
Persian Lessons is a touching and powerful film that demands the attention of its audience; including Ilja Zofin’s wonderful writing adaptation from the foundation of the novel by Wolfgang Kohlhaase. Vadim Perelman’s direction and outstanding performances by Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Lars Eidinger create a gripping narrative that explores the complexities of survival, deception, and the human spirit during one of history’s darkest periods. With its attention to detail, immersive visuals, and captivating music, Persian Lessons is a must-watch film that leaves an ever-lasting impression.
Persian Lessons will hit DC and other select theaters on June 16th. Expanding further nationwide on June 23rd.
