Like an Apollo Creed uppercut to the senses, we’ve learned that Carl Weathers, the iconic actor in the Rocky film franchise, Predator, The Mandalorian, Happy Gilmore, Action Jackson, and so much more, has passed away at 76.
“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers,” his family said in a statement. “He died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, February 1st, 2024. … Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner, and friend.”
Born on January 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Weathers was a titan of the silver screen and television domain with over 75 credits across his 50-year career. He is best known for playing Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa’s rival-turned-friend in the Rocky film franchise. As the Master of Disaster, Apollo Creed was partly inspired by Muhammad Ali and remains the Italian Stallion’s most iconic opponent alongside Dolph Lundgren’s Ivan Drago.
As a champion of action cinema, Weathers played Colonel Al Dillon in 1987’s Predator. Attached to Major “Dutch” Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in the fight against a hostile alien game hunter, Dillon’s ability to wreck shop alongside Dutch is aspirational and the stuff of action cinema legend.
Weathers also leads the 1988 crime comedy Action Jackson. In one of the actor’s most unforgettable roles, ‘Action’ Jackson pursues a power-hungry auto magnate who eliminates his competition until he corners the market. With snappy one-liners galore and adrenaline coursing through his veins, Weathers’ performance in Action Jackson delivers heat, humor, and grandeur.
Neon has previously released four quick and creepy teaser trailers for Longlegs, the latest horror project from The Blackcoat’s Daughter (a.k.a. February), I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and Gretel & Hansel director Osgood Perkins. Today, a new teaser trailer has arrived online, and this shows a little more than we’ve seen previously, including multiple people committing acts of violence, scenes with Maika Monroe of It Follows and The Guest, and even glimpses of the character being played by Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario). You can check it out in the embed above. Longlegs is set to reach theatres on July 12th.
The cast of the film also includes Alicia Witt (Urban Legend) and Blair Underwood (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D). The story Perkins crafted for the film is said to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers.” Monroe takes on the role of FBI Agent Lee Harker, a gifted new recruit assigned to the unsolved case of an elusive serial killer (Cage). As the case takes complex turns, unearthing evidence of the occult, Harker discovers a personal connection to the merciless killer and must race against time to stop him before he claims the lives of another innocent family.
Cage has said (while speaking to John Carpenter) the film is about “a character who’s hearing voices. It’s kind of like a possessed Geppetto, who’s making these dolls”. Production took place in Vancouver, Canada. Cage is producing Longlegs through his company Saturn Films, which recently had success with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Pig. Also producing are Dan Kagan, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Dave Caplan, and Chris Ferguson. Jason Cloth and Fred Berger of Automatik serve as executive producers with John Friedberg of Black Bear International.
In addition to directing the films mentioned at the top of this article, Perkins directed an episode of the recent revival of The Twilight Zone. He has also worked on the screenplays for the thriller Removal, the crime thriller Cold Comes the Night, and the horror film The Girl in the Photographs.
What did you think of the latest teaser trailer for Longlegs? Will you be seeing this movie in July? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Back when we heard that Georgina Campbell was starring in the psychological horror film Lovely, Dark, and Deep, she was best known for winning a BAFTA TV leading actress award for her role in the 2014 TV movie Murdered by My Boyfriend. Since then, we’ve seen her name around here quite a lot, due to her roles in films like All My Friends Hate Me, Barbarian, Bird Box: Barcelona, T.I.M., and the upcoming The Watchers, Cold Storage, and Psycho Killer. As for Lovely, Dark, and Deep, it’s set to receive a VOD release on February 22nd, and we have the trailer embedded below.
This project marks the feature directorial debut of Teresa Sutherland, who previously wrote Emma Tammi’s horror western The Wind and was a staff writer on the Netflix / Mike Flanagan series Midnight Mass. The story of this “cosmic thriller” sees Campbell taking on the role of Lennon, who seizes the opportunity to assume the coveted role of a back-country ranger at a remote outpost. While adapting to her solitary existence in the wilderness, she becomes aware of a lurking, sinister presence. Driven by the need for answers, Lennon embarks on a journey through the ominous terrain, seeking to unveil the long-standing mystery that has haunted her since childhood.
Campbell is joined in the cast by Wai Ching Ho, who played Madame Gao on the Netflix / Marvel shows Daredevil, Iron Fist, and The Defenders, and the awesomely named Nick Blood, best known for playing Lance Hunter on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Here, Ho is playing District Ranger Zhang, “the most senior ranger in the national park, who will do anything to protect it”, while Blood takes on the role of Jackson, “a seasoned park ranger encountered by Lennon deep in the backcountry”.
Lovely, Dark, and Deep was produced by Josh Waller of Woodhead Creative. Stefanie Coimbra of House of Quest Films serves as executive producer alongside QWGmire’s Molly C. Quinn, Matthew M. Welty, and Elan Gale.
Are you interested in Lovely, Dark, and Deep? Check out the trailer and poster below, then let us know by leaving a comment.
I remember exactly where I was when I discovered Philip Seymour Hoffman had died. I was at a revival screening of the 1979 version of Battlestar: Galactica at a Montreal theatre, waiting for the film to start when my email blew up. Here at JoBlo, whenever an icon dies, it tends to become a thread that allows us all to vent a little, and Hoffman’s death destroyed many of us.
It shook me up in a lot of ways, as I had just seen him at the Sundance Film Festival a few weeks earlier, where he had two films, A Most Wanted Man and God’s Pocket. In hindsight, it’s easy to say he didn’t look quite right, but honestly, I had no clue anything was wrong with him. Of course, in the days following his death, we learned that addiction had taken its toll on perhaps the most outstanding actor of his generation, leaving a bereaved family behind.
It’s incredible to think Hoffman has been gone for a decade now. Meanwhile, his son, Cooper Hoffman, is all grown up and leading movies of his own, such as Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza. Rather than dwell on his death, let’s take this opportunity to appreciate his work. Here’s a list of what I think are his five best performances, and it would be very, very cool if everyone reading this chimed in with their favourites in the talkback.
So, without any further adieu, here are my favorites:
Sidney Lumet’s last movie was one of his best, thanks to four great performances by his leads – Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. In it, Hoffman and Hawke play brothers who conspire to rob the jewelry shop owned by their parents, with the robbery leaving their mother dead and their bereaved father seeking revenge. Hoffman plays a desperate addict who goes from being a white-collar criminal to a die-hard killer by the time the credits roll, delivering a chilling (and oddly empathetic) performance, making his monster all too human.
Owning Mahowny:
This little-seen Canadian drama gives Hoffman a rare leading role (he typically played supporting roles) in a wild true story. In it, he plays a bank executive who embezzles money he uses to gamble, eventually running up a $10 million tab. Two other great character actors who have since passed away have excellent roles in this, with Maury Chaykin playing his bookie, while John Hurt is a satanic casino manager.
Capote:
Hoffman won an Oscar for playing Truman Capote in this biopic charting the fraught time in the author’s life when he wrote: “In Cold Blood.” Many play Capote as a caricature, but Hoffman didn’t overly concern himself with delivering an uncanny physical portrayal. Instead, he found the man’s soul, and the result is perhaps a career-defining performance. Ironically, whenever I think of Capote, I now picture Hoffman rather than Capote himself. It’s strange how that happens sometimes.
Almost Famous:
In Hoffman’s character roles, quantity wasn’t king – it was quality. He doesn’t have much screen time in Cameron Crowe’s rock n’ roll masterpiece but is superb as real-life rock critic Lester Bangs. In the film, he’s the cynical rock journalist who mentors the surrogate Crowe character at the movie’s heart. Hoffman was ill with the flu the whole time he shot the film, but you’d never know.
Magnolia:
Honestly, I could have had every movie Hoffman did with PT Anderson on this list, but it wouldn’t have done a great job digging into the scope of his career. Instead, I’m picking my favorite performance of his in an Anderson film, with him never warmer than as the caregiver Phil Parma, who desperately tries to help his employer (Jason Robards in his final role) reconcile with his long lost son, who happens to be Tom Cruise’s iconic Frank “T.J” Mackay. Hoffman and Cruise play brilliantly off each other – so well that Cruise reused him (to significant effect) as the villain in my favorite Mission Impossible movie.
Now it’s your turn. What are your favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman performances? Let us know in the comments.
Jobs. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em. In Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Jobs are simply another term for “Class,” and switching them up will alter your characters’ stats and reward them with new abilities as you increase their ranks. Some Jobs can be equipped on multiple characters, while others are…
Jobs. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em. In Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Jobs are simply another term for “Class,” and switching them up will alter your characters’ stats and reward them with new abilities as you increase their ranks. Some Jobs can be equipped on multiple characters, while others are…
Spotify is all-in to keep The Joe Rogan Experience on its streaming platform. Today, the music, podcast, and audiobook platform announced it’s inked a multi-year extension to host Rogan‘s top-rated program. However, rather than make Spotify the only place you can listen to The Joe Rogan Experience, the interview podcast is going non-exclusive, opening the door up for listeners across a spectrum of streaming services.
Other platforms set to host The Joe Rogan Experience include Apple, Amazon, and YouTube. Spotify began laying the groundwork for Rogan to expand his reach in 2023, and now that shift is happening. Instead of letting Rogan roam free, Spotify “will work closely with Joe and his team to continue to maximize the audience of the show across platforms.”
Streaming competitors have kept close watch over the expiration of Rogan’s current deal, which some estimate was for $200 million. Knowing other platforms would poach Rogan without hesitation, Spotify began cutting its existing podcast lineup to retain the chart-topping interviewer. Details about the new contract remain a mystery, though The Wall Street Journal estimates Spotify paid $250 million to stay seated. It’s no mystery why Spotify is determined to stay in business with Rogan. His popularity surged in 2023, with a 45% leap in revenue from the money-making podcast. That’s huge for a show that’s been active since 2013.
The Joe Rogan Experience is a pillar of Spotify’s podcast network. The sometimes controversial program hosts a variety of guests, from high-profile filmmakers and executives to up-and-coming comedians and musicians. If you scroll through the show’s history, you’ll find people like the comedian Bobby Lee, the MMA fighter Joe Pyfer, sex neuroscientist Dr. Debra Soh, and Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan as guests.
What do you think about The Joe Rogan Experience expanding its reach beyond Spotify? Would you prefer to listen to the interview-style podcast on a different platform? Do you have a favorite episode of the long-running show? Is there someone Rogan has yet to interview that you want to guest on the podcast? Feel free to leave your answers to these questions in the comments section below.
It’s been over a decade since we’ve gotten a BioShock game and no official follow-up has been announced, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something on the horizon for fans of the franchise. Upcoming shooter Judas looks to be a BioShock game in everything but name, and it’s helmed by none other than Ken Levine, the…
