When the Road House remake was announced, we all wanted to know who would be taking the lead role, one that helped solidify Patrick Swayze as a marquee star of ‘80s cinema. At one point Rhonda Rousey was attached to a remake, which would have been one hell of a showdown in a fantasy match against Swayze. So, who would win in a Road House fight between Swayze and Jake Gyllenhaal, who stars in Doug Liman’s movie as Elwood Dalton (as opposed to Swayze’s James Dalton)? The victor may be Jake…at least according to Gyllenhaal.
When asked by Collider who would come out on top between the two Daltons of the two Road Houses, Jake Gyllenhaal says he thinks he gets a certain advantage, although Swayze would get the edge if the time was right. “Well, we all know that size doesn’t matter right from that movie, right? That is a line from the movie, the original movie…You remember that line, right?…Well, he’d certainly dance the shit out of it, so I couldn’t win there. I think, due to technology and the advancements in technology, I’m going to say that I think that my Dalton would win. But if we were face-to-face in the ‘80s, I’d give it to Patrick…It depends on the decade, and I would just say no one ever wins a fight…” Ironically, them there is some fightin’ words!
Gyllenhaal may get an edge overall, though, as he may do something that Swayze never got a chance to do: lead a Road House sequel, which Gyllenhaal is definitely on board for if it makes it to the table, saying, “I would love to. I love the role, I love the character. I love his humor. I love where he could go. The first thing I ever read in the script was the scene where he asked about insurance, if they have insurance, asked if their bikes are outside, and the essence of that character is there, and there’s so much more to explore in that space. So, yeah.”
The Jake Gyllenhaal Road House has been doing quite well with its target audience, so much so that there was a major call for the movie to be released in theaters as opposed to VOD, a decision that stirred up a lot of debate between not just fans but those directly involved with the movie.
Who would win in a Road House showdown: Jake Gyllenhaal or Patrick Swayze? What gives them the edge? Place your bet in the comments section below!
So maybe Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire hasn’t exactly been a worthwhile installment in the ongoing franchise (then again, what has since the ‘80s?). But it has at least given fans another slice of nostalgia, bringing back the surviving core Ghostbusters, not to mention Janine and that dickless Walter Peck. But there are still a few familiar faces that are sorely missing. So, where were Dana and Louis? Well, it turns out they weren’t really even considered for returns.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Frozen Empire director Gil Kenan partly dodged why both Rick Moranis’ Louis Tully— the one-time possessed neighbor of Sigourney Weaver’s Dana Barrett, was absent. “That would be a Jason Reitman question. That was more of an Afterlife story. We never wrote a role for Louis Tully in FrozenEmpire. We’ve got enough characters in this story. I love Tully by the way. I’m a huge Rick Moranis fan. Louis Tully was an indelible element of Ghostbusters.” Notably, Moranis has been on a hiatus from acting, although was in talks to return for a sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. In fact, he hasn’t appeared in-person in a movie since 1997’s Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves.
And so what about Weaver’s character, who we actually got a cameo from in 2021’s Afterlife? As Kenan tells it, “Dana Barrett is also one of my favorite characters in these films, but there was no story for Dana Barrett in FrozenEmpire. But if we’re lucky enough to make more of these films, I would love for Dana to have more to do in these stories.” Certainly she is deserving of it, playing love interest-turned-wife to Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empiremay not have worked out as most of us had hoped but we all know that even the inclusion of characters such as Louis and Dana — or even Vigo the Carpathian — couldn’t have saved it from being an unbalanced follow-up to Afterlife. Even still, seeing a number of the original cast members does keep fans going and hoping for more should the series continue.
What do you think? Would more original Ghostbusters cast members have helped Frozen Empire? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
After posting Friday numbers that had the industry thinking that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire would fall short of Afterlife’s $44 million opening, the sequel rallied to a so-so $45.2 million 3-day opening. While that’s certainly good news as far as bragging rights go (and above the $40 million we had it pegged at), for a movie that cost upwards of $100 million to make (and God knows how much more to market), this opening can’t be considered more than a middling success. When you consider inflation and the fact that Afterlife opened during the pandemic, it can’t be denied that the Frozen Empire audience has shrunk. The B CinemaScore cited by Deadline is problematic, as it doesn’t bode well for the film having much in the way of legs, especially with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire opening next (Easter) weekend. Hopefully, the holiday will help it grow its audience a bit, or I’m afraid this could be the Ghostbusters last big-screen adventure for a while.
Meanwhile, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two managed to eclipse Kung Fu Panda 4 for an impressive $17.6 million finish, only 38% off from last weekend. The movie currently has a total of $233 million domestic ($574 million global), with a $300 million domestic finish still being a strong possibility. Kung Fu Panda 4 comes in third with $16.8 million and a $130 million domestic total, making a finish north of $200 million unlikely unless it has tremendous legs at the box office over the next few weeks.
In fourth place is Neon’s Sydney Sweeney-led horror flick, Immaculate, with $5.3 million. While that sounds bad, it’s actually Neon’s biggest opening to date and not a bad finish for a very divisive movie. Mark Wahlberg’s Arthur the King finished fifth with $4.36 million. It seems like this family movie might have been better off going direct-to-streaming, an area Wahlberg has excelled at in recent years with movies like Spencer Underground and The Family Plan.
Probably the weekend’s biggest (and most unlikely) success story is Late Night With the Devil. This well-reviewed horror flick cleaned-up with $2.83 million, which is the distributor, IFC Films, biggest opening ever. Look for our interview with star David Dastmalchian tomorrow! Holdovers dominated the rest of the top ten, with Blumhouse’s Imaginary making $2.8 million for a $23 million domestic total. That’s not terrible for a movie that was widely disliked by the horror community.
A24’s Love Lies Bleeding seems to be having trouble connecting with a mainstream, non-arthouse audience, making only $1.58 million this weekend. It looks likely to finish with a sub-$10 million domestic finish. Angel Studios’s Cabrini made $1.37 million for a ninth-place finish. Its domestic total stands at $16.1 million, but I’m expecting the movie to get a nice bump next weekend, as it’s Easter, and the faith-based audience may make it their holiday movie of choice. Bob Marley: One Love rounded out the top 10, finishing just over $1.1 million. Its current domestic total is just a few million short of $100 million, so it’ll be interesting to see if the upcoming holiday weekend propels it past the century mark.
What do you think of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s opening? Do you think the Ghostbusters franchise has had its day as far as the big screen is concerned? Let us know in the comments!
Arnold Schwarzenegger made a whole slew of classic 80s action movies. Still, one remains totally obscure despite being released smack dab in the middle of his amazing The Terminator to Predator run of movies from 1984-87. That film in 1986’s Raw Deal. A formulaic 80s action flick, it’s the most modestly mounted Schwarzenegger action epic of the era, with Arnie coerced into starring in it to complete a long-standing contract he had with producer Dino De Laurentiis following Conan The Barbarian.
In it, Schwarzenegger is somewhat unconvincingly cast as a small-town sheriff named Kaminski, who used to be an FBI agent but was forced out of the bureau after roughing up a suspect. He’s recruited by his old mentor (The Night Stalker’s legendary Darren McGavin) whose son was killed by the Chicago mob. He wants Kaminski to go undercover in the mob and tear them apart from the inside.
Again, Arnie is cast in a role that doesn’t suit him at all. For one thing, it’s hard to swallow him ever being smooth enough to go undercover in the mob. Stallone might have been able to pull it off, but Schwarzenegger? Yet, the film is surprisingly entertaining. It’s well-directed by journeyman director John Irvin (The Dogs of War and Hamburger Hill), and the supporting cast is top-shelf. The warring heads of the Chicago mob are played by the formerly blacklisted Sam Wanamaker and Law & Order’s Steven Hill, while the great Robert Davi plays Arnie’s mob nemesis. Darren McGavin is also terrific as Arnie’s mentor, while Murphy Brown star Joe Regalbuto is solid as a snivelling, crooked lawyer. The sexy Kathryn Harrold, from Albert Brooks’ Modern Romance, is good as Arnie’s quasi-love interest, while the movie, which is curiously short of action for most of its running time, ends with a classic shootout.
Alas, it was a big box office flop when it came out but it became a popular VHS rental. In this video by our resident Arnold Schwarzenegger expert Adam Walton, we dig into this obscure entry into Arnie’s filmography and determine whether it deserves a little more love.
Yesterday, I posted my Ghostbustersmovies ranked list, and I was intrigued by some of the comments regarding what folks thought of the sequels and follow-ups. Interestingly, the 2016 Ghostbusters was getting a warmer reception than I thought, which got me thinking: what is the Ghostbusters movie, besides the original, that people like the most? Obviously, if I were to ask what Ghostbusters movie people like the most, they would choose the original, which is why I’m not including it here. But let’s see which follow-up people like the most. I’m very curious to see what the results are.
What's your favorite Ghostbusters movie (besides the original)?
Of all the current action stars, there’s likely no current draw with the expertise in fight scenes that Scott Adkins does. Not only has he starred in dozens of low-budget actioners (including the great Undisputed films), in addition to his roles in bigger films like John Wick: Chapter 4, but he also hosts an amazing YouTube show called The Art of Action, where he deconstructs fight scenes in classic movies alongside their original stars. This weekend, like many folks, Adkins decided to watch Prime Video’s Road House remake, and while he had high praise for the movie, he also criticized the use of CGI in the fight scenes.
As posted on X, “I really enjoyed Road House. Doug Liman – great job subverting genre & Gyllenhaal in amazing shape, respect! What a debut from @TheNotoriousMMA happy when a movie like this does well as it’s my bread & butter but c’mon, what’s with the CGI fight scenes?! Swayze didn’t need it.”
Indeed, if you watch the film, several of the fights seem to have been sweetened with CGI, with the opening fight sequence with Post Malone an especially unconvincing (and unfortunate) way to kick off a film with such good action. In a follow-up tweet, Adkins elaborated on CGI use in fights, saying that it can be very effective when used sparingly (to demonstrate impact). To illustrate this, he linked to a video interview he did with Vietnamese-American actor/ choreographer Johnny Trí Nguyễn, who openly used some CGI in his excellent martial arts film, The Rebel, but in a limited, creative way. Adkins says the result blew him away when he realized what had been done. Clearly, this was more convincing to him than the fights in Road House.
Did you notice any CGI cheats in the Road House fight scenes? Let us know in the comments what you think.
The debate, considerations and fear over whether or not artificial intelligence will ultimately have a positive or negative impact within the entertainment industry presses on. Now, a new poll points to just how those in Hollywood think AI will affect their careers.
A new poll by the National Research Group (via IndieWire) found that 42% within the film and television industry believe that artificial intelligence will ultimately be harmful to their profession, while 32% believe it will benefit people within the field. Meanwhile, the remaining quarter of those polled either didn’t know, weren’t sure of an impact or were pre-programmed to be apathetic…
It should be noted that the overall poll was not exclusively limited to those within Hollywood but also those with “high degrees of creativity and autonomy.” So, how do these numbers stack up against other creative fields? Those within the entertainment industry are, predictably, on the higher end of those concerned about their professions, up there with photography (41%), graphic design/illustration (42%), the music industry (45%), journalism (48%), and literature/creative writing (49%). As such, they are within the lower range of professions that think artificial intelligence will be beneficial. The groups that have the most confidence that AI will be a perk are software development, web design and the gaming industry.
While some industries are split over just how artificial intelligence will have an impact going forward, there is a general consensus that intellectual property ownership is at the forefront of the conversation, as 85% of those polled across the target professions said there will need to be laws and regulations over IP and copyright protections, a major sticking point during last year’s Hollywood strikes.
There is also the matter of disclosing when artificial intelligence is actually being used. The most recent example of this stems from horror film Late Night with the Devil, whose filmmakers used a small selection of AI images, which they did not tell audiences about ahead of the release, instead essentially being outed by social media. (While humans did touch up these AI-generated pics, fans are still in an uproar.) On the matter, more than 75% of those polled say it should be disclosed whenever a piece of material has AI origins.
Where do you stand on the matter? Which industries do you see being most impacted by artificial intelligence use over the next few years?
We live in an era where we all know exactly what “content” means – or, rather, what it has transformed into. But is it something that is harmful to the industry as a whole or do the benefits outweigh that? Well, Judd Apatow has a few things to share…
Apatow gave his thoughts on the relation between the penny-pinching ways of studios and the seemingly constant passing back and forth of programs due to contracts that limit when a movie/TV show is available to stream on any given platform. “It’s a scary thing as a creator of television, because of all the streamers going, ‘Wait a second. We don’t need to spend $200 million on a new show. We can just bring back Barnaby Jones.’ They’re going to do it, then you’ll get fewer new shows. They realize, Oh wait, Netflix can just buy shows from HBO, and I would assume they’re cheaper than making new ones. Then at some point, Netflix will sell its shows to HBO, and it’ll just be passing around all the episodes of Ballers for the rest of our lives.”
To this point, Netflix does greenlight a lot of shows, throwing some serious cash at those they have faith in, like Stranger Things, One Piece and The Sandman, which has an estimated budget of $15 million per episode. At the same time, so many are prematurely put on the chopping block even if they are hits with audiences, discarded to the point that they just feel like padding until the next piece of “content” arrives. Further to Apatow’s point, HBO’s Sex and the City will be arriving on Netflix next month, which one could interpret as a way to feature “content” without having to produce a similar series of their own.
Apatow added that entities and doings such as these studios can only be harmful to creativity and the industry as a whole. “I don’t know if they’re obsessed with quality filmmaking in the way other owners of these entities have been in the past. That’s why they started calling it “content.” All of a sudden, they diminished it as much as it possibly could be. I don’t think it would be that weird if you read something in the paper that Pornhub bought Paramount+.”
So, is The King of Staten Island – released VOD and not theatrically – considered “content”? (Granted, this move came as a direct result of theater shutdowns.) Was Apatow’s The Bubble part of the problem when he released it exclusively on Netflix? Will he put This is 50 on a streaming service even though This Is 40 made $90 million worldwide?
Are you in agreement with Judd Apatow that studios are too obsessed with “content” rather than quality filmmaking? Are studios’ collaborative dealings harmful to the industry? Share your thoughts below.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…to tell you about this Prince jukebox musical headed our way. It has been announced that Ryan Coogler will be producing a new film for Universal that will rely heavily on the music of The Purple One.
No plot or cast details have been made public, but considering just how expansive Prince’s catalog is, no doubt there will be a wealth of tracks to choose from to help guide the film. Hopefully it can be a little more creative than having Darling Nikki driving a little red Corvette while wearing a raspberry beret as purple rain falls…
Considering how successful, controversial and eccentric Prince was, it’s a bit of a surprise that no proper biopic has been made. Then again, he has always been extremely protective of his image. But, really, who could capture the essence of Prince, let alone even try to play ping pong as well as him? As such, a jukebox musical does seem like the perfect way to go, with the music normally guiding us through a designated moment, like how Across the Universe used the Beatles to hit the tumultuous ‘60s or how Mamma Mia! used ABBA to figure out who Amanda Seyfried’s dad was. One of the big questions now is, When will this film take place and how will Prince’s music be the lead? Whatever ends up being the case, it’ll be brimming with however much sex appeal 5’2” can hold.
This Prince jukebox musical has actually been in the works for several years now, first coming to our attention in 2018. There, too, was a planned documentary on His Royal Badness from Ava DuVernay, but she left over “creative differences.” Prince died in 2016 at the age of 57 from an accidental fentanyl overdose.
Prince had his first gold record with 1979’s “I Wanna Be Your Lover”, hitting #1 five years later with back-to-back hits “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy”, solidifying himself as one of the most popular and best-selling artists ever. And who can forget the Batdance?!
Which Prince songs do you want to see featured in this jukebox musical? Give us your dream set list below!
THE STORY: A New York cop is unwillingly recruited as an assassin for a top-secret government agency, CURE. Re-christened Remo Williams (Fred Ward), he’s sent on the trail of an unscrupulous weapons dealer, but first must survive his training with Chiun (Joel Grey) master of Sinanju.
THE PLAYERS: Starring: Fred Ward, Joel Grey, Kate Mulgrew & Wilford Brimley. Music by Craig Safan. Directed by Guy Hamilton.
THE HISTORY: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS…and ends, with this, the lone big-screen adventure of Remo Williams, the veteran of well over a hundred pulp novels (published as “The Destroyer” series – written by Warren Murphy & Richard Sapir). This was an attempt by Dick Clark (of all people) and the then-fledgling Orion Pictures to launch their own James Bond-style series of adventures. While people may laugh at the attempt now, they definitely had reason to think this could work, with the brain trust at Orion the same bunch who worked at United Artists when the Bond films were greenlit. They even managed to get some legit 007 veterans, like director Guy Hamilton, who did four Bonds (including Goldfinger), and writer Christopher Wood (The Spy Who Loved Me and – ahem – Moonraker).
Despite some good reviews, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins was a flop, opening in fourth place at the box office (behind Commando, Jagged Edge & Silver Bullet), eventually eking out only $14 million, not nearly enough to sustain a franchise. It eventually did well enough on cable and VHS that a pilot TV movie with a different cast was made, but it ultimately went nowhere.
WHY IT’S GREAT: Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins was a movie I loved as a kid. As a young’un, I remember catching a chunk of it on TBS one evening, which encouraged me to go rent the VHS, and I just about wore the bloody thing out with how much I watched it that weekend. What I liked about it then (and now) is how Remo is such a unique Hollywood hero, especially for the eighties. The middle-aged Fred Ward looks like a blue-collar, regular guy, and his recruitment and eventual transformation into an unstoppable hero (able to breathe underwater for an hour and dodge bullets at close range) was exciting escapism for me at the time.
More than thirty years after its initial release Remo Williams holds up, with some caveats. The elephant in the room is the very white Joel Grey as the Korean Chiun. His performance was so well-received at the time that he garnered a Golden Globe nomination (the makeup used on him was nominated for an Oscar). His chemistry with Ward is excellent, and their banter is fun (I always enjoyed Chiun’s love of American soap operas), but it’s dated.
If you can ignore this, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins has a lot to offer, such as great stunt work, a few really good set pieces, and an amazing score by Craig Safan, which ranks as one of the best action scores of the eighties. Sadly, the production apparently ran out of money towards the end of the shoot, meaning the conclusion is anti-climactic, and the villain is the generic type you’d see every week on “The A-Team”. Still, this is a damn fun slice of eighties nostalgia, and something of a seminal title for film geeks of my generation. Also, the late Fred Ward is amazing in a film that really should have launched him as a proper action star.
Great heroes need great villains; our movie villain was a guy selling cheap rifles to the government. We told them about that out there in Lala Land but of course they were all geniuses so nobody would listen to us. Too bad. – Interview with Warren Murphy
BEST SCENE: In the mid-eighties, the Statue of Liberty was undergoing construction, which meant it had a giant scaffolding surrounding it. The production was able to use this to brilliant effect in a show-stopping scene where Remo has to dodge assassins (one is Jon Polito!) while being chased all over – in a moment worthy of Hitchcock. Nothing else in the movie is quite able to match up to it, but it’s such a classic moment I can’t, in good conscience, post it here – as it needs to be seen in the film proper.
I had one day. But I was doing the one day on the Statue Of Liberty, which was in the process of being refurbished, so the island was closed to people, for the most part. I mean, there was nobody there. We only used the actors that were given permission to shoot. All I really did was chase the lead guy [Fred Ward] all over the Statue Of Liberty. So I had nothing really to do. The funny part about that movie is, I’m kind of known at this point for my voice, my gravelly voice. But in fact, they dubbed in my first line with some actor from England. – Jon Polito- Random Roles Interview
SEE IT: Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins is a niche title, but it’s fared well on Blu-ray. You can easily find it and it’s also streaming as well.
PARTING SHOT: Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins is a flawed, but exciting, piece of eighties action cinema. Fred Ward makes for a truly unique action hero, and the movie is fast-paced and fun, although the casting of Chiun is…problematic. If you can watch it in the right context, you’ll have a lot of fun with it.
