It doesn’t take much to rev people’s engines regarding anticipation for George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa, but we will hit the nitrous anyway. According to a thread on Reddit, attendees for a Furiosa test screening are giving brief, spoiler-free impressions of the film despite signing a strict NDA not to spill the beans. The Furiosa test screening happened in Burbank, Los Angeles, California, with lawless audience members saying the high-octane prequel is “VERY GOOD!”

In the Reddit post, the author says, “Furiosa is VERY GOOD. Really good. One person described it as a film for Mad Max fans first and general audiences second. While still being an amazing experience.”

While reactions to Furiosa’s first trailer were mixed, the Reddit user says the VFX team has upgraded the visuals significantly. I’m not going to say I told you so, but yeah. Polishing effects take time, and promotional campaigns for blockbuster films tend to start several months before a film’s release.

The Reddit user also says a new trailer is coming “very soon,” as the Furiosa playlist on YouTube was updated two days ago.

It’s important to remember that none of this information comes from an official source, so take everything you read here with a grain of salt.

“As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus,” reads the Furiosa synopsis. “Sweeping through the Wasteland they come across the Citadel presided over by the Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.”

There have also been rumblings that the film will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next year. “We kept an extraordinary memory of the world premiere of ‘Fury Road’ at Cannes,” Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux told Variety in October. “It would be wonderful to welcome them again with ‘Furiosa,’ especially since George Miller was a marvelous jury president in 2016. I know he’s working on the film and I hope it will be at Cannes.”

How excited are you about Furiosa racing into theaters on May 24, 2024? Let us know in the comments section below.

The post Furiosa test screening reactions paint a promising picture of the prequel designed for fans appeared first on JoBlo.

Director Renny Harlin (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) and producer Courtney Solomon have teamed up to make a trilogy of movies inspired by the 2008 film The Strangers (watch it HERE), and we’ve previously heard that Lionsgate will be releasing these Strangers movies – which are said to be titled The Strangers: Chapter 1, The Strangers: Chapter 2, and The Strangers: Chapter 3 – to theatres throughout 2024. We know for sure that The Strangers: Chapter 1 is set for a theatrical release on May 17th, and today a new poster for the film has arrived online to remind us that it’s coming soon. You can check out the new poster at the bottom of this article.

The cast of these films includes Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale), Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer), Rachel Shenton (All Creatures Great and Small), Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy), and Ema Horvath (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power). The Strangers: Chapter 1 centers on Petsch’s character as she drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers. Lionsgate plans from there to expanding the story in new and unexpected ways with its sequels.

The new Strangers trilogy was filmed in Slovakia, and all three movies were shot simultaneously. Solomon produced them with Mark Canton, Christopher Milburn, Gary Raskin, Charlie Dombeck, and Alastair Birlingham. Andrei Boncea, Dorothy Canton, and Roy Lee serve as executive producers. Rafaella Biscayn, Frame Film SK, Johanna Harlin, Juan Garcia Peredo, and Alberto Burgueno are co-producing. 

Harlin has said The Strangers: Chapter 1 “is close to the original movie in its set-up of a young couple in an isolated environment in a house and a home invasion happening for random reasons.” Then Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 “explore what happens to the victims of this kind of violence and who the perpetrators are of this kind of violence. Where are they coming from and why?“

Madelaine Petsch and Courtney Solomon will be appearing at the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle this weekend, where a “first conversation about The Strangers: Chapter 1” panel is scheduled to be held tomorrow evening, so we’ll probably be hearing more about this movie very soon. In the meantime, take a look at the new poster, then let us know if you’re looking forward to this Strangers trilogy.

The post The Strangers: Chapter 1 of Renny Harlin trilogy gets a new poster appeared first on JoBlo.

Helldivers 2 is on a tear and showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. This week alone has been huge for the massively popular co-op shooter, as the community collectively mourned the loss of a planet they’d fought hard for. With the defeat behind them, Helldivers 2’s zealous player base has its eyes on the battles…

Read more…

Helldivers 2 is on a tear and showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. This week alone has been huge for the massively popular co-op shooter, as the community collectively mourned the loss of a planet they’d fought hard for. With the defeat behind them, Helldivers 2’s zealous player base has its eyes on the battles…

Read more…

PLOT: Cash is trying to live an honest and quiet life, but when Big Cat forces him back into her services, he proves capable of anything to protect the town and the only family he has left.

REVIEW: After 2020’s Fatman, I’ve been patiently waiting to see what the Nelms Brothers would get up to with their next venture. Their more low-budget approach to action has a lot of potential, especially with the right lead. And while they don’t have Mel Gibson, they do have Orlando Bloom re-entering the action genre. But this isn’t some bombastic, new take on blockbusters. Red Right Hand is similar to the action fare you’d find in the bargain bin at Walmart. The action itself is very staged and low impact. And the story fails to surprise, following down the same expected path that these movies often take. But there are some moments that stand out.

After his brother fails to pay back money for their farm, Cash must return to a life he’d left. Forced to commit crime for his family, he decides enough is enough, and takes the Queenpin of the area on. It’s a pretty basic setup, but it allows the audience to easily connect with the story’s purpose. Cash’s brother is a drunk who can’t take care of himself, let alone his teenage daughter. So Cash is tasked with doing both, all while trying not to get killed during his night job.

Orlando Bloom is pretty decent as Cash, a man who’s got a past but is clearly trying to live an honest life. I was a little thrown off by his accent at first, but he settled into it. The role is about as stereotypical as you can get, but it mostly works as Bloom is always easy to root for. When I first heard about Red Right Hand, I was most interested in Andie MacDowell‘s turn as a villain. I really enjoyed her in Ready or Not, so I was happy to see this darker side to her. She seems to be reveling in it and is a clear highlight.

If, like me, you were hoping for a significant role of Garret Dillahunt then prepare to go on quite the journey because he was my favorite aspect. I won’t pretend it’s not a bumpy road getting there though. His preacher character doesn’t really come into his own until the second half and does feel a little roped in. Would have helped if he’d appeared in the first half a little more. The bad guys are comically evil, eating food that’s not theirs, laughing at their misdeeds, and treating everything like it’s their property. It’s pretty easy to root against these guys, even if the payoff isn’t entirely satisfying. The acting is a little all over the place, with many of the bad guys hardly able to even get their lines out.

Unfortunately, the script is insanely weak, with nothing but small-town logic applied to the crimes. They seem to excuse everything with this just being set in the Appalachian Mountains. Characters are very quick to pull a gun intended for murder, even if it’s a cop. And the events unfold in the most obvious and stupid way possible, with characters appearing at opportune moments. Hell, there were even instances where the person firing the gun, didn’t make sense for the character placement in the scene.

I thought the one “sure thing” going into this film would be Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” blaring out at some point. But we just never receive that. I just sat there, waiting for it to happen. And I think that’s a good summary of the film: just waiting for something to happen. When it finally does, there are some good moments, but those are few and far between. I liked where Red Right Hand ended up but the journey getting there was rather bland. Here’s hoping the next Nelms Brothers film finally puts all the pieces together.

RED RIGHT HAND IS AVAILABLE DIGITALLY NOW!

Orlando Bloom

AVERAGE

6

The post Red Right Hand Review appeared first on JoBlo.

Music is one of humankind’s most potent art forms. Music can help heal the deepest depths of depression, call to higher powers for prosperity and nourishment, and, in Ned Benson’s upcoming dramatic comedy The Greatest Hits, facilitate traveling back in time to relive romantic memories. Today, Searchlight Pictures is proud to announce the release date of The Greatest Hits, with the film coming to select theaters on April 5 and to Hulu on April 12.

Ned Benson, the director of films like Four Lean Hounds, The Westerner, Yes, and the Disappearance of Elenor Rigby trilogy, directs The Greatest Hits from his own script, with Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody, Murder on the Orient Express, Sing Street), David Corenswet (Superman: Legacy, Pearl, We Own This City), Justin H. Min (After Yang, Beef, The Umbrella Academy), and Austin Crute (Booksmart, Atlanta, Daybreak) leading the cast.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Greatest Hits courtesy of Searchlight Pictures:

Harriet (Lucy Boynton) finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time – literally. While she relives the past through romantic memories of her former boyfriend (David Corenswet), her time-traveling collides with a burgeoning new love interest in the present (Justin H. Min). As she takes her journey through the hypnotic connection between music and memory, she wonders – even if she could change the past, should she?

In addition to announcing The Greatest Hits release date, Searchlight Pictures shared a gallery of images from the upcoming film:

In the pics, Harriet is perusing a record shop, possibly searching for the next song to take her back in time. In the other images, Lucy Boynton, David Corenswet, and Justin H. Min embrace, creating heightened emotions and confusion as Harriet realizes she must choose between the two lovers.

If music could permit you to travel back in time, would you? What bands of songs would have the most significant impact on your journey? I would give anything to relive my first time attending All Tomorrow’s Parties New York, with bands like My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr., Lightning Bolt, Mogwai, The Silver Mountain Zion Orchestra, Shellac, Built to Spill, Tortois, and more shredding my soul and eardrums. Let us know where you’d go and what bands you’d listen to in the comments below.

The post The musically-driven time-traveling comedy The Greatest Hits drops the needle on a release date and images appeared first on JoBlo.

Directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead have been busy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe lately, directing episodes of Moon Knight, Loki season 2, and the upcoming series Daredevil: Born Again – but before they entered the Marvel universe, they were known for making genre films like Resolution, Spring, The Endless, Synchronic, and Something in the Dirt. Variety reports that they’re executive producers on the upcoming sci-fi thriller Things Will Be Different, which stars Riley Dandy of Christmas Bloody Christmas and Adam David Thompson of A Walk Among the Tombstones. The film is set to have its world premiere at SXSW Film & TV Festival on March 11th, and in anticipation of that screening, a clip from Things Will Be Different has made its way online. You can check it out in the embed at the bottom of this article.

The feature directorial debut of Michael Felker, the film sees Dandy and Thompson taking on the roles of siblings Joseph and Sidney, who are on the run from the law. The mysterious farmhouse they are staying in inexplicably transports them through time. While attempting to return to their present, a cryptic force emerges and traps them on a strange plot of land, giving them a deathly ultimatum in order to escape.

Benson also happens to be in the cast, along with Chloe Skoczen (Get Me Back Up There) and Sarah Bolger (Emelie).

Things Will Be Different was produced by Felker (under his Last Life banner), Shane Spiegel, Jacob Rosenthal, and David Lawson Jr. of Rustic Films. Lawson provided the following statement: “Felker has been an irreplaceable member of the Rustic Films family since before we were even a company. He has been with us since day one when we filmed Resolution as our production assistant straight out of film school. When he came to us with this project, there was never a question of whether or not we would do everything in our power to help him make this the best film it could be. Rustic Films isn’t what it is today without Felker’s contributions over the years.“

Does Things Will Be Different sound interesting to you? Are you a fan of the works of Benson and Moorhead? Check out the clip, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Things Will Be Different: Riley Dandy stars in sci-fi thriller produced by Benson and Moorhead appeared first on JoBlo.

After being stuck with a day and date HBO Max release at the height of the pandemic, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two is getting a conventional theatrical release. This means audiences will finally get to experience the epic Frank Herbert adaptation the way it was meant to be seen: on the big screen (and in IMAX). While the first movie only opened to a modest $41 million, we fully expect the sequel to make double that this weekend. The obvious reason, of course, is that the movie won’t be available on MAX, but I also think word of mouth on this one will be stronger than it was for the first film. While Dune was great, it can’t be denied that there’s a massive quality jump in the sequel, with many saying it’s the Dark Knight compared to the first film’s Batman Begins and should establish Villeneuve as one of the biggest directors in the world. 

So the question remains: will it crack $100 million this weekend? It seems unlikely at the moment, as this is a winter release, but anything is possible. However, even if it “only” makes $80 million, it’s worth remembering that it has very little competition over the next few weeks, Kung Fu Panda 4 hits theaters next weekend, but it’s going for a different audience than Dune is. In fact, the movie will have no real competition until Ghostbusters Frozen Empire in three weeks.

Otherwise, the box office should be relatively quiet this weekend, with holdover Bob Marley: One Love expected to make around $7 million, which should be good enough to put it just a bit ahead of the next batch of episodes opening for The Chosen, which should make around $6 million. Fourth place will likely be a battle between the faith-based Ordinary Angels, which seems bound to lose some of its audience to The Chosen, and Madame Web. Ordinary Angels should make about $4 million. In comparison, Madame Web should collapse into fifth place with under $3 million, pretty much ending any chance that the film has of crossing the $45 million mark at the domestic box office.

My predictions:

1. Dune: Part Two: $80 million
2. Bob Marley: One Love: $7 million
3. The Chosen Season 4: Episodes 7-8: $6 million
4. Ordinary Angles: $4 million
5. Madame Web: $3 million

Are you going to see Dune: Part Two this weekend? Let us know in the comments! 

The post Weekend Box Office Predictions: Dune 2 to double the original film’s opening appeared first on JoBlo.

According to Tomb Raider fans, the best version of the recently released Tomb Raider I-III Remastered collection isn’t on Steam or Xbox. Instead, it’s on the Epic Games Store. Or, well, it was, until today when the studio behind the remaster patched it out of existence, leaving some players frustrated.

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According to Tomb Raider fans, the best version of the recently released Tomb Raider I-III Remastered collection isn’t on Steam or Xbox. Instead, it’s on the Epic Games Store. Or, well, it was, until today when the studio behind the remaster patched it out of existence, leaving some players frustrated.

Read more…