Movie News

Warner Bros/New Line’s “Shazam” will easily hold on to the No. 1 spot at this weekend’s box office as it is on pace for a second weekend total of $22.5 million and a 10-day total of $92 million.

But the other comic book film in theaters this weekend, Lionsgate’s “Hellboy,” looks like it is going to flame out with an opening weekend total of just $12 million after making $4.93 million on Friday. That’s below the $17-20 million projections set for the R-rated reboot and below the $23 million opening made by the original “Hellboy” in 2004.

While Guillermo Del Toro’s two “Hellboy” films became cult classics, the $50 million reboot starring David Harbour and directed by Neil Marshall (“Game of Thrones”) is getting weak reception from both critics and audiences. It has been panned on Rotten Tomatoes with a 15% score, and received a 2.5 star score on Postrak and a C from opening night audiences on CinemaScore.

It would appear that “Us” won’t be Elisabeth Moss’ only collaboration with powerhouse production company Blumhouse. The Emmy-winning “Mad Men” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” star has joined “The Invisible Man,” a reboot of the classic monster movie that Jason Blum’s genre-centric studio is producing alongside Universal. Leigh Whannell is helming the project, which was originally announced as part of Universal’s Dark Universe — a venture that was scrapped after the rocky reception to 2017’s “The Mummy.”

It’s been a good month for both Moss and Blumhouse, with “Us” already raking in more than $220 million worldwide against a $20 million budget; its opening-weekend haul of $71 million is the highest ever for a horror film not based on an existing property. The studio behind “Get Out” partnered with director Jordan Peele once again on their continued fruitful collaboration, and Blumhouse may hope to begin a similar relationship with Moss

George Lucas’ involvement with “Star Wars” didn’t end when he sold the multibillion-dollar franchise to Disney in 2012. Following yesterday’s debut of the trailer for highly anticipated “The Rise of Skywalker,” the third and final installment in the new trilogy of sequels that began with “The Force Awakens,” J.J. Abrams has revealed the extent of Lucas’ involvement as a consultant on the new film’s script.

In response to a question about the surprise return of Emperor Palpatine, a character Lucas created as the main antagonist of the first two trilogies, Abrams did what those involved with secretive blockbusters often must do: speak generally, while hinting at a deeper truth.

“This movie had a very, very specific challenge, which was to take eight films and give an ending to three trilogies, and so we had to look at, what is the bigger story? We had conversations amongst ourselves, we

Following last night’s dramatic conclusion to the ongoing standoff between the Writers Guild of America and Association of Talent Agents, a number of WGA members have officially fired their agents.

The Writers Guild left the negotiating table after extending its deadline with the Ata by six days last weekend, with the practice of agency packaging — which the WGA considers to be a conflict of interest that stagnates writers’ salaries — at the root of the conflict. The Ata agreement expired at midnight April 12, and is now replaced by a Code of Conduct that agents must abide by in order to represent WGA writers. The code forbids packaging, agents are not signing it, and that leaves the writers ending agency relationships.

Few WGA members seem happy that it’s come to this, but those speaking out on social media stand with the guild. In addition to Patton Oswalt, Megan Amram, and Jon Cryer,

As a critic, I’m not privy to the backroom financial details of how the new “Hellboy” movie came together. (Those deals are kept close to the vest.) But looking at interviews with the participants, it seems fairly certain that the following things did not happen. Guillermo del Toro, director of the puckishly compelling “Hellboy” (2004) and its heavy-metal-meets-Ray-Harryhausen sequel, “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (2008), did not say, “Man, I’ve had it with this series. It’s so boring to me now. I’ve lost any desire to build on what I did in the first two installments, completing them as a trilogy, bringing the character of Hellboy to a satisfying closure, the way they did with Wolverine in ‘Logan.’ Creatively, nothing could interest me less.”

In all likelihood, Ron Perlman, who played Hellboy with such gruffly charismatic and light-spirited noble-monster élan in the previous two films, did not say,

A modestly budgeted, cannily made survival drama centered on a fictional coal mine explosion in Appalachia, “Mine 9” plays a little like a humble blueprint for a more extravagant Hollywood exercise in high-octane heroism: Squint a little, and you can see how Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg, say, would muscle out the solemn, simple narrative devised here by writer-director-producer Eddie Mensore. That’s not a criticism of “Mine 9,” which is most interesting for the ways it avoids the standard gung-ho dramatics of a disaster movie, treating its male ensemble as heroes and victims in equal measure.

Neither is it a stringent exercise in docu-realism, however, as a streak of heartland sentimentality runs through its gritty tragedy. Dedicated to the hard-up coal-mining community in the closing credits, Mensore’s film aims chiefly to highlight the typical plight of an American underclass that rarely gets big-screen attention. That it does with honesty and conviction,

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week […]

The post This Week In Trailers: Fleabag, Lunatics, Street Food, Walking on Water, Seahorse appeared first on /Film.

Amy Seimetz wouldn’t say if she was among the many women directors that Marvel reportedly contacted about directing “Black Widow,” the long-awaited spin-off around the sole female superhero from “The Avengers,” but her coy smile gave a lot away.

“I’ve taken meetings on a lot of these things, and then I back away, because I don’t want to get stuck,” she said. “It’s not really my voice, and I think it’s important for women to do commercial movies, but when they do commercial movies, they continue to have a sphere to develop their voice, as opposed to suddenly jumping to a Marvel movie.”

It’s a philosophy that speaks to her unique career trajectory. It was late afternoon at New York’s Bowery Hotel, where the restless 37-year-old was in town from Los Angeles to be honored by Rooftop Films at the nonprofit screening series

Star Wars Celebration has kicked off in full force in Chicago this weekend, and that means the title for the new and ninth “Star Wars” movie (and trailer), ‘The Rise Of Skywalker’ has been revealed. And while fans are excited about the new trailer, the title has confused many (we’ve dove into its meaning here a little bit). Does this mean Rey, the last Jedi is a Skywalker?

Continue reading ‘Star Wars’: John Boyega Also Has No Clue What ‘Rise Of Skywalker’ Means at The Playlist.

Warner Bros.’ “Shazam!” is powering its way to a super second weekend, retaining its No. 1 spot at the box office with an estimated $22 million.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s remake of “Hellboy” is getting scorched, with just $12 million estimated from 3,303 domestic locations in its debut weekend. That number would place it at No. 3 after Universal’s body-swap comedy “Little,” with about $15 million.

“Shazam!” has so far generated $76 million domestically for WB and New Line, with another $126 million overseas. David F. Sandberg directed the film, which stars Zachary Levi as the titular superhero.

The third “Hellboy” adaptation is coming in below earlier projections, which had placed it in the $16 million to $20 million range. The film, starring “Stranger Things'” David Harbour in the titular role, took in $4.93 million on Friday. It cost about $50 million to produce, so if estimates hold, “Hellboy’s” start could look ominous.

The original 2004 film, written and directed by Guillermo del Toro,

In fall 2017, a short time before the Game of Thrones cast was scheduled to sit down in Belfast for their Season 8 table read, they received their scripts via email. Daniel Portman, who plays GoT's most loyal squire, Podrick Payne, happened to be in a taxi, on his way to a training session at the gym, when those pages hit his inbox. The cast had been waiting a while to get them, with the scripts arriving fairly close to the date of the table read. According to various accounts, most of the actors began reading wherever they were – …

Shazam! will remain king at the box office for at least another weekend. The film took in $6.6 million on its way to about $21 million in its second frame. So far, the Zachary Levi family comedy has earned $204 million worldwide. As for the newcomers, Little is performing the best among the three. The Big-inspired comedy is on track to bring in $14 million after earning $5.1 million on Friday. That’s about in line with expectations for the film, which stars Regina Hall as a bullying exec who is transformed into her teenage body (played …

Given that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is being billed as the conclusion of the Skywalker saga, it’s only fair that those making the film consulted the guy who started it all. George Lucas famously first conceived of, wrote, produced, and directed Star Wars: A New Hope, changing the faces of cinema and fandom forever. And while Lucas oversaw the original trilogy and then returned to the well in the late 90s to bring his prequel trilogy to fruition (to somewhat mixed results…), the third and final trilogy in his Star Wars franchise moved ahead without his direct …

In Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 2 (available to stream at Netflix), Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka) is finding her place in the darker, sexier witch world, now that she’s left her human friends behind and signed the Book of the Beast, which has changed her life and her hair in noticeable ways. While Sabrina is curious to learn more about her heritage, it causes a strain on her life in the mortal world, pushing her further away from Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch) and into the arms of warlock Nicholas Scratch (Gavin Leatherwood). During this 1-on-1 phone interview …

Qumra is an industry event comprising lectures, masterclasses, labs, and mentoring sessions, held annually in the Qatari capital Doha for the benefit of emerging filmmakers from the region and worldwide, sponsored by the increasingly influential Doha Film Institute.

Fade In: Int. La Starbucks – Morning. A High-powered Studio Exec accidentally spills her coffee and barista Jim, a John Krasinski-type, cleans it up. As he works, the Exec notices a dog-eared screenplay, title visible, sticking out of his back pocket.

Continue reading Black List Founder Franklin Leonard On Changing Hollywood For Screenwriters [Qumra 2019] at The Playlist.

Last summer, Donald Glover snuck off to Cuba to create something — a feature film collaboration, or so the rumors had it, based on scant information other than a photo of Glover and Rihanna posed up during production of their mysterious “Guava Island” project.

Creation is what Glover does best, constantly redefining audiences’ ideas of what he’s capable of and how he chooses to express himself: From his roots as a sketch artist (the Derrick Comedy troupe) and comedy writer (serving as a story editor on “30 Rock”) to an already wide-ranging acting career, Glover is constantly stepping aside when the momentum seems greatest to try his hand at some fresh challenge.

That could explain the otherwise bewildering claims announcing the retirement of his most popular invention yet, falsetto-voiced hip-hop alter ego Childish Gambino. Now, after eight months of speculation over this hush-hush movie brewing in the background of Childish Gambino’s final tour,

There is no shortage of shows about the hilarity and discord that stems from marriage. With relationship dramas monopolizing television, it’s difficult for a show to make its mark with the same infectious immediacy of Amazon’s BBC transplant “Catastrophe.” Created by Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney (who both also star as the focal couple), “Catastrophe” premiered with an abrasive charge at the start, forcing the will-they-won’t-they component to last little more than a scene before propelling us forward into the story, way beyond what other shows may take years to accomplish.

Continue reading ‘Catastrophe’ Proves It’s One Of The Great Modern Comedies [Final Season Review] at The Playlist.

The writer-actor returns with body-swap movie Little. She talks millennial awkwardness and why she’s taking on Hollywood

“Growing up, the only young black female lead that I saw in a movie was in Crooklyn,” recalls Issa Rae. The 1994 film, directed and co-written by Spike Lee, starred Zelda Harris as nine-year old Troy Carmichael, growing up in New York’s Bed-Stuy neighbourhood with her four brothers. “That was the first time I saw a movie and thought: ‘Oh, that girl and her family is like mine,’” says Rae, herself one of five children, who was also nine when the movie came out.

“There was such a dearth of films like that,” she continues. “And the high-school teen movie is a genre that I love. Everything at that age is so heightened and dramatic, and high-school movies capture that so perfectly. But those films are all white, too; there’s no

Universal Pictures is developing a wedding comedy after winning an auction for a pitch by Mindy Kaling, Priyanka Chopra and Dan Goor.

Kaling, who will write the screenplay with Goor, is attached to star alongside Chopra and will potentially direct. Kaling will produce for her Kaling International, Chopra for Purple Pebble Pictures, Howard Klein for 3 Arts, alongside Goor. Heather Morris and Nina Anand Aujla executive produce.

Details of the pitch are being kept under wraps other than being described as “Crazy Rich Asians” meets “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

Kaling will next be seen starring opposite Emma Thompson in Amazon Studios’ “Late Night,” which opens June 7. She previously starred in “Ocean’s Eight” and executive produced “The Mindy Project.”

Chopra broke out in ABC’s drama series “Quantico.” She recently appeared in “A Kid Like Jake” and “Isn’t It Romantic.”

Goor currently has an overall deal at NBCUniversal Television.

The New York Indian Film Festival has announced three of the films it will showcase during its annual week-long event in May.

The festival, which will take place May 7-12 at the Village East Cinemas in Manhattan, will screen “Sir,” “Photograph” and “The Last Color” throughout the week, followed by Q&As with their respective directors.

“We are proud to share a wonderful collection of new films from India,” festival director Aseem Chhabra wrote in a statement. “This selection of exceptional titles showcases the beauty, power and glory of film story telling at its best. Our audience will be excited by the protagonists and fall in love with their journeys.’

The festival will open May 7 with Rohena Gera’s “Sir.” The critically acclaimed film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last May, follows a wealthy Indian man who falls in love with his widowed servant.

“Photograph,” directed by Ritesh Batra,