With Amy Madigan winning an Academy Award for her unforgettable performance as the creepy Aunt Gladys in Weapons, there was no way she’d be gone forever. Director Zach Cregger began talking up a potential spinoff last year, and now that film is officially moving forward.
Deadline was first to report on Gladys, the current working title, hiring Zach Shields to co-write the screenplay with Cregger. Given the hilarious, ironic fate that befell Gladys at the end of Weapons, it makes sense that this new film is a prequel.
When Cregger first brought up the idea, he already had an idea in mind on how to revisit the Gladys character…
“It is real, and I’ve been talking to Warner Bros. about it. There’s a story, and I’m pretty excited about it. It’s not bullshit,” Cregger said. “I was ready. I had it kind of in my pocket before the movie came out.”
In short, Cregger knows what he’s doing.
Shields’ most notable work has been in the Monsterverse, writing Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and co-writing Godzilla vs. Kong, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
It’s easy to see why Warner Bros. and New Line are eager to stay in the Weapons business. The film was a massive hit worldwide, earning $270M on a modest budget. Don’t be surprised if they are already whispering in Cregger’s ear about more ways to expand this franchise.
In movies, going away for a weekend retreat at an isolated location is a sure sign of disaster. Ostensibly, they are meant to be relaxing, rejuvenating, and a chance to rebuild a lost connection with a loved one. Never turns out to be the case! And it’s certainly not in Jorma Taccone’s dark comedy, Over Your Dead Body, which stars Jason Segel and Samara Weaving as a couple with secret plans to kill one another.
I guess you could also add that inviting Weaving, who we just saw slaughter an entire family in Ready or Not 2, isn’t the wisest move on Segel’s part.
Taccone has never swung and missed as a director. The Lonely Island member previously directed the hilarious comedies MacGruber and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.
Over Your Dead Body has a script by SNL writers Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney.
Here’s the synopsis: A dysfunctional couple head to a remote cabin to supposedly reconnect, but each has secret plans to kill the other.
Also in the cast are Timothy Olyphant, Juliette Lewis, Paul Guilfoyle, and Keith Jardine.
In the mix as well as 87North, the David Leitch-created studio that delivers hard-hitting actioners such as Nobody, The Fall Guy, and the recent flick Pretty Lethal.
Over Your Dead Body hits theaters on April 24th. I can’t wait for this one.
I’m happy to offer DC area readers the chance to attend a free early screening of Beast, the MMA drama starring Daniel McPherson, Luke Hemsworth, and Russell Crowe who is also co-writer.
Synopsis: After years away from the cage, a once-feared MMA champion is pulled back in for the fight of his life when his younger brother is put in danger. Reuniting with the trainer who once made him a legend, he commits to one final showdown against the reigning title-holder — a brutal fighter determined to dismantle the ex-champ’s legacy in front of the world. Pushed to his breaking point, the contender’s stakes are simple: win, or lose everything he’s built. Starring Daniel MacPherson, Luke Hemsworth, and Oscar® winner Russell Crowe (Actor in a Leading Role, Gladiator, 2000).
The screening takes place on Monday, April 6th at 7:00pm at AMC Georgetown. If you’d like to attend, RSVP at the Lionsgate site here. Please remember, all screenings are first come first served and you’ll need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
Some movie moments feel exciting while you are watching them, but fade almost immediately after. Others stay with you long after the credits roll. You think about them later, sometimes without even realizing why. That second type is what defines a strong year in film, and 2025 has delivered a surprising number of those moments.
That connection is not random. Student life today is layered and often overwhelming. Academic deadlines, expectations, and constant digital input create a mental environment where even small emotional cues stand out more than they used to. There are even moments when students joke about things like what is homework backwards, not because the answer matters, but because flipping something simple is a way to cope with everything feeling complicated.
Many students try to stay organized and manage that pressure using structured tools like Studyfy.com while still making time for things like movies that help them step away from that intensity for a while. That balance between responsibility and small moments of escape is part of what shapes how films are experienced today.
So instead of guessing, here are eight real moments from 2025 films that students keep talking about – and why they matter more than they seem.
1. “Zootopia 2” – When Growth Feels Uncomfortable
One of the most discussed moments from Zootopia 2 is not action-driven or comedic. It is a quiet realization scene where the main character understands that growth does not feel good in the moment. It feels confusing, slow, and uncertain.
That kind of honesty resonates strongly with students. The idea that progress can feel messy instead of rewarding right away is something many experience but rarely talk about openly.
What makes it powerful is how normal it feels. There is no sudden solution. Just awareness.
2. “Superman” – Choosing Restraint Instead of Action
The 2025 Superman film surprised many people by focusing less on spectacle and more on emotional decision-making. One scene stands out where the character chooses not to act, even when action seems like the obvious choice.
Students connected with that moment because it challenges a common belief that doing more is always better. In reality, knowing when to pause, step back, or wait is often harder.
That idea feels especially relevant in academic life, where constant productivity is expected. The scene suggests that restraint can also be a form of strength, which is not something students hear often.
3. “Sinners” – Accepting Pressure Instead of Escaping It
Sinners became widely discussed not because of its plot alone, but because of its psychological depth. One moment in particular stood out. The main character stops trying to escape pressure and instead accepts it as part of their identity.
It is not a comfortable scene, and that is exactly why it works. Students often feel defined by expectations – grades, performance, outcomes – and this moment reflects that internal shift from resistance to acceptance.
The scene does not offer a solution. It simply shows what it feels like to stop running.
4. “Wicked: For Good” – Seeing Yourself Through Someone Else’s Eyes
Wicked: For Good delivered a visually strong performance, but the moment that stayed with students was more personal. A character sees themselves through someone else’s perspective for the first time. This shift is subtle but powerful. It is the difference between how you think you are perceived and how you actually are.
Students experience this often, especially in environments where feedback and comparison are constant. That moment of realization – sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes clarifying – becomes a turning point. The scene works because it does not try to resolve the feeling immediately. It simply allows it to exist.
5. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” – Realizing the Weight of Your Choices
In Avatar: Fire and Ash, one moment stood out not because of visuals, but because of what it represents. A character realizes that their decisions affect more than just themselves.
That shift from personal choice to shared responsibility feels very real for students. At some point, decisions stop being small. They begin to shape long-term outcomes. The scene captures that transition without making it dramatic. It feels quiet, but heavy.
6. “Jurassic World Rebirth” – When Control Slips Away
One of the most talked-about moments in Jurassic World Rebirth is built around failure rather than success. A character tries to control a situation completely and realizes that it cannot be managed the way they expected.
Students relate to this more than they might admit. Trying to control everything – deadlines, results, expectations – is common, but not always realistic.
The scene reflects that loss of control in a way that feels honest rather than exaggerated.
7. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” – Beginning Without Confidence
In The Fantastic Four: First Steps, a key moment happens early in the story. A character steps into something new without feeling ready.
There is no dramatic build-up. Just hesitation and uncertainty. That is what makes it relatable. Students often move forward without confidence, not because they feel prepared, but because they have no other choice.
The scene captures that exact moment where action comes before certainty.
8. “A Minecraft Movie” – Building Without Knowing the Outcome
A Minecraft Movie surprised many people with how grounded some of its moments felt. One scene in particular stood out. A character starts building something without knowing what the final result will look like. That idea resonates strongly with students. Much of academic life feels like that. You start working, studying, planning – without a clear picture of where it leads.
Even small phrases students joke about, like krowemoh in Latin, reflect that same mindset – trying to make sense of something by looking at it differently.
Final Thoughts: Why 2025 Movie Moments Feel Different
2025 has been a strong year for film, not just because of big releases, but because of how stories are being told.
The most talked-about moments are not the loudest ones. They are the ones that feel accurate. Honest. Slightly uncomfortable in a way that makes sense. For students, that matters more than anything else.
Because sometimes, one scene explains something you have been feeling better than anything else can.
Last summer, Michael Shanks’ relationship body horror Togetherwas a summer indie darling, winning praise from critics and audiences alike. I expected it to do more at the box office, but it still did pretty well with $34M. Now, Shanks is back with a much bigger film, a mystery sci-fi comedy that will see him team up with director Adam McKay and Sony Pictures.
THR reports that McKay will direct this new project from Shanks’ screenplay. Sony Pictures just scooped up the film, but firm plot details are being kept a secret for now. Also aboard is producer Andrew Mittman, whose work on the Netflix series Wednesday and Tim Burton’s Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman remake place him firmly in this genre space.
Shanks and McKay already have another project in the works together, the sci-fi film Hotel Hotel Hotel Hotel that Daniel Kaluuya is attached to lead. McKay is producing that one, with Shanks directing it as his follow-up to Together.
McKay hasn’t directed anything since Netflix’s disaster comedy Don’t Look Up back in 2021. He is one of the most successful comedy filmmakers ever with huge hits under his belt including Anchorman, Anchorman 2, Step Brothers, Talladega Nights, and The Other Guys. He made a successful move to political comedy with The Big Short and Vice.
Almost exactly two years ago, Lionsgate and Blumhouse announced plans to remake the seminal found footage horror, The Blair Witch Project. There hasn’t been much heard about it since, and now on April Fool’s Day of all days, it’s being reported that Dylan Clark has been named as its director.
The story comes from scooper Daniel Richtman, so take it with a grain of salt until there’s an official announcement. Clark is set to make his directorial debut on the upcoming religious horror Portrait of God, with producers Sam Raimi and Jordan Peele. That film is based on Clark’s impressive short viewed by millions on YouTube.
Released in 1999 at the height of Y2K paranoia, The Blair Witch Project followed three curious documentarians who vanish while investigating local folk tales of an infamous witch in the Maryland woods. The film, shot for just $60K, earned $248M at the box office and set a high standard for future found footage horrors. There have been two sequels, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, released in 2000, and 2016’s Blair Witch reboot.
So the reviews for Scream 7 weren’t great, with the film receiving a franchise low 31% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. But what does that matter when it’s also the first movie in the series to break $200M globally? That suggests bringing back veteran writer Kevin Williamson to direct and co-write was a smart move. But it was a one and done for Williamson, as Scream 8 is in the works with a brand new writing team.
Deadline reports Lilla and Nora Zuckerman, hot off their work on the series Poker Face, are writing Ghostface’s inevitable return in a sequel. The duo also recently wrote the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale pilot that Hulu controversially rejected.
The news arrives as Scream 7 is available digitally, just 30 days after its theatrical release. The film’s box office takes the franchise above $1B worldwide, making it one of the most reliable horrors ever.
As for Williamson, he recently confirmed to The Ankler that Scream 7 was always meant to be a one-shot for him, and that Neve Campbell returned specifically for that reason.
The search will be on for a new director to take over. Perhaps Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day), who was going to helm Scream 7 following Radio Silence’s departure, can be convinced to come back?
A24 has dropped the new trailer for David Lowery’s Mother Mary, the filmmaker’s first project since the underwhelming Peter Pan & Wendy. Since his 2013 breakout Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Lowery has been crafting moody genre pieces, along with the occasional Disney family film. But now he’s back with a pop music drama that, based on the footage, appears to be more of a gloomy, weird chamber piece.
The mysterious Mother Mary stars Michaela Coel as an iconic costume designer, think along the lines of Phantom Thread, and Anne Hathaway as a pop music diva who benefited most from her designs. Reunited as the singer prepares for a comeback tour and is in need of new costumes, the film appears to be just the two of them arguing back-and-forth with occasional glimpses of a concert performance.
Also in the cast are Hunter Schafer, Jessica Brown Findlay, Sian Clifford, and FKA Twigs, with Twigs offering new music alongside Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX. In fact, the soundtrack may prove to be one of the film’s biggest draws. Included in this trailer is the brand new track, “My Mouth is Lonely For You,” the pulsating single performed by Anne Hathaway and written by FKA twigs.
Described as a “psychosexual pop thriller”, the film began shooting in 2023 and there hasn’t been a lot of buzz around it. Be that as it may, Lowery is a powerhouse filmmaker whose work on Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Pete’s Dragon, and The Green Knight speaks for itself. I have faith that he’ll make this the best movie it possibly can be.
SYNOPSIS: Long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel) on the eve of her comeback performance.
A24 will release Mother Mary into NY and LA theaters on April 17th, nationwide on April 24th.
One of the many reasons video game movies have long had a bad rap, is that most were based on titles that only gamers would give a damn about. But everyone, I mean EVERYONE, knows who Mario and Luigi are. 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, worked precisely because Super Mario is an iconic brand, and put together with Illumination’s familiar and proven animation style, it was so good it had milllons yelping “It’s a me, Mario!!!” on the car ride home. The sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, is less like a sequel and more like a companion piece; a gorgeous, Easter Egg-heavy expansion of the budding Nintendo Cinematic Universe. Just like its predecessor, the more you know about the games themselves, the more this one will send you warping into the great wide galaxy with excitement.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a toadstool full of wild video game surprises and cameos. But what shocked me most was how much this one resembles Star Wars in structure, and how much more I love Bowser (voiced once again by Jack Black) this time around. It’s safe to say that while the first film focused, rightfully so, on Italian plumber bros Mario (Chris Pratt) and his timid twin Luigi (Charlie Day), this one is about the Bowser clan. Turns out, they really love painting in that weird Koopa family. The thorny-shelled Bowser, still a tiny captive since the first movie’s conclusion, soothes his savage heart by painting elaborate paintings of himself and his beloved Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). But, when his evil estranged son Bowser Jr. (voiced by filmmaker/actor Benny Safdie) shows up to rescue him, he’s wielding a magical paintbrush with which he can paint almost anything into existence. Awwww! The turtle shell doesn’t fall far from the…tree?
This being based on the 2007 Nintendo Wii video game, you probably know some things to expect. The debut of the magical Princess Rosalina, voiced by Brie Larson? Check. Of course, we already know one of her beloved children, the Lumas, thanks to that deranged, nihilistic prisoner Luma from the first film. They’re a lot cuter and cuddlier now. And they also love being told bedtime stories about Princess Peach…but why? When Rosalina’s kingdom is attacked by Bowser Jr. and his massive robot, she defends it using powers we’ve never seen before. But when she is defeated and princess-napped, it’s up to Peach, Mario, Luigi, Toad (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), and…oh yeah, Yoshi (!!!), everyone’s favorite egg-pooping dinosaur, to come to her rescue. Yoshi, voiced by Donald Glover somehow, is my favorite Mario character full stop, so yes I let out a little yelp of glee when he first shows up quite early into the film. I wish he had a bit more to do and was more central to the plot, but hey, at least he’s here, and Nintendo can start working on a Yoshi’s Island movie right away.
On the one hand, it’s great that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie doesn’t have a crapload of backstory to wade through. The action is brisker and stays at a high level throughout. The problem is that there really isn’t much of a story here, as the film is overloaded with characters to maximize the Nintendo brand. Some have already sussed out the debut of another iconic Nintendo hero, the roguish Fox McCloud from the awesome Starfox video games. But there are also amazing cameos, like in a casino world where the gang encounters all of the major villains from the maligned Super Mario Bros. 2 game. Honestly, the references come so fast and furious it’ll make your head spin like the spinning launch stars that send our heroes hurtling through the cosmos.
Filmmakers Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic return and they go even deeper into Nintendo lore than before. It’s unsurprising the way they both skewer and embrace the Mario mythology, given their time ripping DC Comics on the animated series Teen Titans Go! Illumination has stepped up visually, as well, with clever homages to Mario’s 8-bit history mixed with gorgeous modern CGI. And we can’t forget composer Brian Tyler, who knows exactly when to needle drop those unforgettable Super Mario beats, especially from the infamous dungeon boss levels.
If I were being cynical, I would let it get me down that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is such an obvious cash grab, but that would be silly. Of course, it is. The Yoshi merch at your local theater and the Mario Galaxy Happy Meals tell you that, already. That’s not just a product of this film, but of literally every entertainment business in existence. But I’m not going to let that stop my enjoyment of seeing Starfox, Yoshi, and more characters I’ve loved since childhood on the big screen from folks who clearly hold the same feelings for them as I do.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opens in theaters tomorrow, April 1st.
Kane Parsons is just 20 years old, and is maybe one of the youngest ever to be at the helm of a major, multi-million-dollar production. Parons was 17 when A24 set him to direct an feature film version of his YouTube series sensation, Backrooms, and now the first teaser for the creepy new paranormal flick has arrived.
Unsurprisingly, the footage takes us into ominous spaces that could lead into another reality, highlighting the basic premise of Backrooms. Parsons’ YouTube series centered on a research facility known as Async, which discovers The Backrooms and attempts to explore it as people suddenly go missing within it. The anthology has scored more than 200M+ viewers, and that’s likely to climb with the release of a feature adaptation.
The synopsis is tantalizingly vague, too: A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom.
Parsons has a cast that any veteran filmmaker would kill for: Academy Award nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, along with Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, Lukita Maxwell, and Avan Jogia. Shawn Levy and James Wan are among the big-name producers, as well. This thing has a ton of high-powered support.
