The upcoming Road House remake is set to premiere at the upcoming SXSW film festival, but director Doug Liman won’t be attending. This isn’t down to any scheduling issue or because he’s busy with another project, but a purposeful choice to protest Amazon not giving Road House a theatrical release.

In a guest column for Deadline, Doug Liman explained why he won’t be attending the Road House premiere, despite considering it to be one of his best movies.

“When Road House opens the SXSW film festival, I won’t be attending. The movie is fantastic, maybe my best, and I’m sure it will bring the house down and possibly have the audience dancing in their seats during the end credits. But I will not be there,” Liman said. “My plan had been to silently protest Amazon’s decision to stream a movie so clearly made for the big screen. But Amazon is hurting way more than just me and my film. If I don’t speak up about Amazon, who will? So here we go.“

Liman added that he had signed on to make a theatrical motion picture for MGM, but when Amazon bought MGM, the streaming giant told Liman, “make a great film and we will see what happens” in regard to its release. Road House has reportedly tested higher than any movie in Liman’s career, more than Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity, and Liman feels that it could be a smash hit in theaters if Amazon would allow it. “Contrary to their public statements, Amazon has no interest in supporting cinemas,” Liman said. “Amazon will exclusively stream Road House on Amazon Prime. Amazon asked me and the film community to trust them and their public statements about supporting cinemas, and then they turned around and are using Road House to sell plumbing fixtures.“

Not only does this voice deprive Jake Gyllenhaal, who Liman says gives a “career-best performance,” the opportunity to be recognized come award season, but it could negatively shape the industry for decades to come. “If we don’t put tentpole movies in movie theaters, there won’t be movie theaters in the future,” Liman said. “Movies like Road House, people actually want to see on the big screen, and it was made for the big screen. Without movie theaters, we won’t have the commercial box office hits that are the locomotives that allow studios to take gambles on original movies and new directors. Without movie theaters we won’t have movie stars.” Liman tried to convince Amazon to give Road House a theatrical release, even asking them to allow him to sell the project to another studio that would, but they said no. You can read the entirety of Liman’s letter on Deadline.

Road House will debut on Prime Video on March 21st in more than 240 territories worldwide.

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The live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie began shooting last week, and there have been a few new additions to the cast.

Julian Dennison (Deadpool 2), Gabriel Howell (Bodies), Bronwyn James (Masters of the Air), and Harry Trevaldwyn (The Bubble) have joined the cast of How to Train Your Dragon as Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut, respectively. In the original animated movie, Fishlegs was voiced by Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Snotlout was voiced by Jonah Hill, Ruffnut was voiced by Kristen Wiig, and Tuffnut was voiced by T.J. Miller.

Dean DeBlois, who wrote and directed all three of the animated movies, will return to write, direct, and produce the live-action movie. It was announced last year that Mason Thames (The Black Phone) would star as Hiccup alongside Nico Parker (The Last of Us) as Astrid. Gerard Butler is also set to reprise his role of Stoick the Vast, the character he voiced in the animated movies, with Nick Frost also cast as Gobber the Belch, Stoick’s trusted friend and advisor.

The original animated movie takes place in a mythical Viking village and follows Hiccup, a young Viking who aspires to continue his tribe’s tradition of becoming a dragon slayer. But after finally capturing his first dragon, Toothless, he learns that there is more to the creatures than he had assumed. It was followed by How to Train Your Dragon 2 and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, with the three films grossing over $1.6 billion worldwide. The franchise also spawned a handful of short films, TV series, video games, and more. The last How to Train Your Dragon movie was said to bring the entire series to a conclusion, but the franchise has been a hugely popular one, so it made sense when Universal and Dreamworks Animation first announced that they would be rebooting it with a live-action adaptation.

How to Train Your Dragon will be released on June 13, 2025.

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A year and a half ago, Get Out, Us, and Nope writer/director Jordan Peele‘s production company Monkeypaw Productions acquired the genre film pitch Goat from writers Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie, the plan being that Peele would be producing Goat as part of Monkeypaw’s overall deal with Universal Pictures. Earlier this month, we learned that Goat is finally moving forward, with Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie) signing on to star in the sports-related horror film as the titular greatest-of-all-time athlete. Now Deadline reports that Wayans is being joined in the cast by Tyriq Withers, whose previous credits include Horror Noire, Senior Year, Tell Me Lies, The Game, and an episode of Atlanta.

Justin Tipping – who made his feature directorial debut with the 2016 drama Kicks – will be directing the film.

Akers and Bronkie’s script centers on a promising young athlete who is invited to train with a team’s retiring star. How exactly horror enters the picture is being kept under wraps. ComicBook.com has heard that the script centers on a rookie QB who goes to train with a retiring star QB who may hold a secret about how he has played so long at such a high level. So obviously the GOAT has been using unusual methods to achieve his success, and finding out about them are going to cause the rookie some trouble.

Withers will be playing the promising young athlete / rookie QB. Deadline notes that “while execs always had their eyes on Wayans for the retiring star, Monkeypaw and Universal met with a number of up-and-comers for the younger star, with Withers rising to the top of the list.”

Writers Akers and Bronkie previously created the Facebook Watch series Limetown, which starred Jessica Biel. Since making Kicks, Tipping has gone on to direct episodes of multiple TV shows, including Black Monday, The Chi, Dear White People, Dare Me, Twenties, Run the World, Flatbush Misdemeanors, and Joe vs. Carole.

Peele is producing Goat with Win Rosenfeld, Ian Cooper, and Jamal Watson. David Kern and Kate Oh serve as executive producers. Universal EVP Production Development Sara Scott and Director of Development Tony Ducret are overseeing the project for the studio.

Does Goat sound interesting to you? What do you think of Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers leading the cast? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

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Everyone’s talking about Palworld, developer Pocketpair’s open-world survival creature-collector that came out in early access on January 18. From the AI allegations to the Pokémon comparisons, this game has become 2024’s first gaming phenomenon. And now, we have some eye-popping data to back that up, as Palworld has…

Read more…

Everyone’s talking about Palworld, developer Pocketpair’s open-world survival creature-collector that came out in early access on January 18. From the AI allegations to the Pokémon comparisons, this game has become 2024’s first gaming phenomenon. And now, we have some eye-popping data to back that up, as Palworld has…

Read more…

Last week’s Call of Duty update brought with it two new guns, the HRM-9 SMG and the TAQ Evolvere light machine gun. In this guide we’ll take a look at getting the most out of the LMG. With a 100-round magazine, the TAQ Evolvere is more than capable of supplying you with enough firepower, but choosing the right…

Read more…

Last week’s Call of Duty update brought with it two new guns, the HRM-9 SMG and the TAQ Evolvere light machine gun. In this guide we’ll take a look at getting the most out of the LMG. With a 100-round magazine, the TAQ Evolvere is more than capable of supplying you with enough firepower, but choosing the right…

Read more…

Roll out the red carpet because Ethan Coen’s upcoming feature, Honey Don’t, is ready to add some of Hollywood’s heaviest hitters to the cast. Coen will reteam with Margaret Qualley (Poor Things, Maid, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) for the new project, with Aubrey Plaza (Ingrid Goes West, Emily the Criminal, Legion), and Chris Evans (The Grey Man, Knives Out, Captain America: The First Avenger) leading the cast. Details about the plot remain a mystery, but whispers around the watercooler suggest it’s a comedy in the vein of Focus Features‘ Drive-Away Dolls.

Coen teased his follow-up to Drive-Away Dolls in July of last year. Coen directs Honey Don’t! from a script he wrote with his wife, Tricia Cooke. The duo paired off for Drive-Away Dolls, starring Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan (Miracle Workers, Rumble). The duo’s Drive-Away Dolls revolves around Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian, who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.

Beanie Feldstein, Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo, Bill Camp, and Matt Damon join Qualley and Viswanathan for Coen and Cooke’s unique crime caper, with Focus handling domestic distribution. Meanwhile, Universal Pictures will bring the film overseas. Robert Graf, Tim Bevan, and Eric Fellner join Coen and Cooke as producers.

After getting delayed because of the pandemic, Drive-Away Dolls comes to theaters on February 23, 2024.

Margaret Qualley recently starred in Yorgos Lanthinos’ Academy Award-nominated feature, Poor Things. She also stars in Lanthimos’ upcoming feature Kinds of Kindness alongside Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Haunter Schafer, Hong Chau, and Mamoudou Athie.

Aubrey Plaza recently reprised her role as Julie Powers for the Netflix animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. With several projects in various stages of production, you can catch Plaza in Marvel’s Agatha: Darkhold Diaries and Francis Ford Coppola’s long-gestating dream project, Megalopolis.

Finally, Evans joins Plaza in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off as the evil ex-boyfriend Lucas Lee. Evans also stars alongside Dwayne Johnson in the upcoming Jake Kasdan-directed holiday comedy Red One, starring J.K. Simmons as a jacked-up Santa Claus, with Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt, Nick Kroll, and Mary Elizabeth Ellis leading the cast.

Are you excited to learn more about Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s Honey Don’t! What do you think the movie is about? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza, and Chris Evans will star in Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s Honey Don’t! appeared first on JoBlo.

Last month, it was announced that Patrick Wilson, who has starred in the likes of three Conjuring movies and three Insidious movies (one of which he directed), is producing a stage musical adaptation of Joel Schumacher’s 1987 vampire classic The Lost Boys (watch it HERE). Now that project is taking a big step forward, as Deadline has learned that there’s going to be an industry presentation of the show next month, with Frozen‘s Caissie Levy, Dear Evan Hansen‘s Nathan Levy, and & Juliet‘s Lorna Courtney having been cast in major roles. This private presentation is scheduled to be held on February 23rd – and even though only industry insiders will get to watch it, that’s enough to inspire the people behind the show to release a teaser trailer for what they’re calling The Lost Boys: A New Musical. You can check it out at the bottom of this article.

Wilson and fellow producers James Carpinello and Marcus Chait are teaming up with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia writer/executive producer David Hornsby, Parade director Michael Arden, and the pop rock band The Rescues to make this stage musical happen, through a special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures. Hornsby is writing the book with Broadway actor Chris Hoch, while The Rescues provide the music and Ethan Popp (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) serves as Music Supervisor. Mark Kaufman and Lauren Shuler Donner are on board as Creative Consultants.

Scripted by Janice Fischer, Jeffrey Boam, and James Jeremias, The Lost Boys has the following synopsis: Teenage brothers Michael and Sam move with their mother to a small town in northern California. While the younger Sam meets a pair of kindred spirits in geeky comic-book nerds Edward and Alan, the angst-ridden Michael soon falls for Star — who turns out to be in thrall to David, leader of a local gang of vampires. Sam and his new friends must save Michael and Star from the undead.

Deadline lets us know that “Caissie Levy will play Lucy Emerson, the recently divorced mom who unwittingly moves herself and two sons to a vampire-infested California beach town. The younger son is Sam, to be played by Nathan Levy. Lorna Courtney will portray Star, the beautiful girl who catches the eye of older son Micheal (no casting announced yet) and a maybe an undead boy or two. In the film, Lucy was played by Dianne Wiest, Sam by Corey Haim, and Star by Jami Gertz.“

Are you interested in seeing how The Lost Boys: A New Musical is going to turn out? Take a look at the teaser trailer, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The Lost Boys: A New Musical gets a teaser trailer ahead of industry presentation appeared first on JoBlo.

Papa Bear’s coming home! In a surprising move, Jon Stewart will return to The Daily Show for a once-a-week hosting spot during the forthcoming presidential election. Stewart returns to the late-night comedy program 25 years after first sitting behind the desk to deliver news with a comedic twist to countless fans. Stewart left The Daily Show eight years ago. Trevor Noah filled the void left by Stewart, enjoying another successful run as the bearer of outrageous news.

In addition to Stewart’s return, a rotating chair of the show’s correspondents will also host. The lineup of guest hosts includes Desi Lydic, Michael Kosta, Ronny Chieng, and Jordan Klepper. Stewart is responsible for hosting Monday nights, with correspondents picking up the torch for other days in the schedule. Stewart’s anticipated return begins on February 12. Additionally, Stewart will executive produce all show episodes through 2024 and 2025 to shift the news program in a new direction for the future. Showrunner Jen Flanz and Stewart’s manager, James “Baby Coll” Dixon, are also executive producers.

“Jon Stewart is the voice of our generation, and we are honored to have him return to Comedy Central’s The Daily Show to help us all make sense of the insanity and division roiling the country as we enter the election season,” said Chris McCarthy, President/CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios. “In our age of staggering hypocrisy and performative politics, Jon is the perfect person to puncture the empty rhetoric and provide much-needed clarity with his brilliant wit.”

One has to imagine that Stewart is overflowing with jokes and commentary about today’s political climate. While he’s only contracted for a once-a-week spot, Stewart’s reputation and comedic knack will kick each week off with a bang.

What do you think about Jon Stewart returning to The Daily Show? Will you watch the Comedy Central show to hear Stewart’s take on the 2024 election cycle? How do you feel about the show continuing with a rotating chair of hosts for the remainder of the week? Does Stewart’s position as an executive producer instill confidence about The Daily Show‘s future? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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