So many actors have their beginnings on the stage, doing routines that might seem cringe but are 100% part of who they are: a pre-teen Ryan Gosling with those retro dance moves and MC Hammer pants, Rodney Alcala smoothly winning over the ladies on The Dating Game and – OK, maybe that second one doesn’t quite qualify. But here’s another that does: Alan Ritchson on American Idol. That’s right, the star of Reacheronce tried to make it big by wooing Paula Abdul.
While Alan Ritchson moved onto Hollywood during the third season of American Idol, he was ultimately cut, with the eventual winner being Fantasia Barrino, who we should note is not a small screen action hero. Ritchson’s standout moment came when he stunned judge Paula Abdul just by being in the room, bringing a smile to her face. He would subsequently personally serenade her with Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”, prompting her to call him “totally hot.”
The video may be two decades old, but many – ourselves included – are just now getting wind of Alan Ritchson’s dreams to be an American Idol. Plus, it’s always sort of fun to track the beginnings of some of our favorite screen presences. The appearance would prove to be effective, as Alan Ritchson was soon cast as Arthur Curry aka Aquaman on Smallville. While his superheroics would be limited after that (partly due to not taking the chance to play Thor seriously), he has done quite well for himself regardless, turning up in franchise fare tied to The Hunger Games, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Fast & Furious.
Even more recently, Amazon Prime Video’s Reacher has been renewed for a third season and Alan Ritchson will co-star with none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger in Christmas action-comedy The Man with the Bag, which has the following plot: “When Santa’s magic bag is stolen, he turns to his naughty list to find Vance, a former thief, to help him get it back. Along with his daughter, Santa, and a group of misfit elves, Vance will have to pull off the greatest heist of his life to save Christmas.” Now, if we can just get Ritchson to sing Stevie Wonder’s “Someday at Christmas” in the movie, we’ll have a full circle moment.
What is your favorite pre-celebrity fame video? Drop your pick in the comments section below.
Earlier this week, Carrie Coon became ever more beloved among film fans when she told Jimmy Fallon that she and her husband Tracy Letts (writer of Killer Joe, Bug and more) have over 10,000 movies on Blu-ray, praising physical media. Recently, we sat down with Coon to discuss her role in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and couldn’t help but ask her to elaborate on her physical media comments. She took the opportunity to double down on the importance of collecting movies:
“I guess I didn’t understand what we would be losing with streaming. Tracy (Letts) really did educate me about the fact that so many of these films now are completely inaccessible if you don’t own them yourself.” She also took the opportunity to give a shout-out to boutique labels like Kino Lorber, Arrow Video, Criterion, Shout Factory and more: “And, of course, there are all these companies putting out new imprints of original films and doing beautiful work. Some of them are really small companies and need our support. Tracy is an avid supporter of all these companies, and we’ve amassed this incredible collection.”
Indeed, Coon says Letts is constantly showing her new movies from their collection. She says that one of their marriage arrangements is that if she goes into their basement to watch a movie with him, he gets to choose the film. “So every night for me is a surprise. It’s like not knowing the gender of your child.”
At this point, Paul Rudd, who was also in the interview, couldn’t help but ask her what the last movie she watched was. She’s said it was David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, pointing towards a recent tweet she put up about it:
As avid fans of physical media, we’re thrilled Carrie Coon and Tracy Letts are using their fame to advocate for the medium! Watch out for more from our interview with her and Rudd this week!
In this week’s Box Office Predictions column, I went against the grain of what box office gurus were predicting. They seemed to think Kung Fu Panda 4 would have an easy win over Dune: Part Two, but I had a feeling audiences were really starting to love Villeneuve’s film, with some returning to see it a second or third time. Thus, I predicted Dune 2 would return to first place. While it’s too early for me to brag about being right, it seems both movies are in a dead-heat battle for number 1.
According to Deadline’s early numbers, the final tally for both is too close to call, with Kung Fu Panda 4 and Dune 2 heading towards a $27-30 million weekend finish. Panda is looking to dip somewhere in the area of 48% in its second weekend, while Dune is only dropping 35% in its third weekend. Villeneuve’s movie has become the first film of 2024 to cross $200 million at the domestic box office and with the numbers holding up so well, a finish near $300 million isn’t out of the question.
As expected, the Mark Wahlberg vehicle Arthur the King (which our critic noted felt like a streaming movie) is looking at a weekend finish of under $8 million, which is low for a Walhberg movie. That’s only slightly better than Wahlberg’s controversial, R-rated faith-based movie, Father Stu. Meanwhile, Blumhouse’s Imaginary is sinking like a stone, with it on track for a second weekend in the $4 million range (for more on our problem with Blumhouse – check out this column). The Christian film Cabrini seems to be having a steeper drop than expected, with it likely only to make $2.6 million. Meanwhile, A24’s Love Lies Bleeding is having a disappointing weekend, with it on track for only $2.3 million in a semi-wide break. That’s too bad, as it’s a bit of a gem.
What are you seeing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
We get it, you’re probably very into Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Unicorn Overlord this week. So are we. And if you’re stuck on a tricky boss fight, unsure of who to take out on a date, or want to finish that capture quest, we’ve got you covered.
We get it, you’re probably very into Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Unicorn Overlord this week. So are we. And if you’re stuck on a tricky boss fight, unsure of who to take out on a date, or want to finish that capture quest, we’ve got you covered.
Last week saw the release of a pretty terrible Blumhouse horror movie in Imaginary. This followed their other terrible outing this year, Night Swim. Both of these were PG-13 ventures which failed on nearly every conceivable level. This is the same company that produced great horror films like Get Out, The Invisible Man, and The Black Phone. Those films had such imagination and respect for the genre. So what the hell happened?
The biggest issue with Blumhouse these days is that there’s no apparent passion behind these PG-13, middle-of-the-road horror movies like what we’ve seen from them this year. They used to take unproven filmmakers, give them a chance with a low budget, and get results. Sure, those results would vary, but there was at least some kind of momentum that was more than just profit-based. Because the Blumhouse of new seems to just be chasing trends. What’s that? Paramount is making a new film about an imaginary friend? We better make our own horror version.
I don’t outright hate this idea, but there needs to be some care put behind it. Otherwise, it just ends up looking like something The Asylum would do. With Imaginary, what we got was a script that could have been AI-generated that hardly even takes advantage of its concept. Rather than a labor of love, it just felt like they were trying to beat the other film’s release date. And I get it. Films are expensive to make and market so you’ll take any advantage that pops up. But that doesn’t excuse the lack of, well…imagination.
When it comes to something like Night Swim, I can’t help but think of an old Jason Blum interview. He said that if they make a movie with teens as their leads, they want it to be PG-13 so that those same teens can see it in a theater. Essentially saying that they reserve the R rating for more mature fare that deserves it. This is where I’d like to point out that the main plot point of Night Swim is Wyatt Russell’s former pitcher character, coming to grips with the fact that, that part of his life is over. He’s a family man now. Shouldn’t that be aimed at an older audience that can relate? So why, rather than an intense character study about identity do we receive teens getting jump scared and silly ghosts? It’s almost like Blumhouse forgot their own rule.
And, even though I don’t count myself amongst them, there’s a lot of hatred around The Exorcist: Believer. So much so that its sequel is being completely retooled, with David Gordon Green having left the series. I can’t say I’m disappointed in this, as general audiences clearly didn’t jive with the take in Believer. But it’s further proof that the Blumhouse formula of throwing some legacy actor into an old franchise was no longer working.
Even the company’s most successful film Five Nights at Freddy’s was still a steaming pile of crap to a lot of us (it made Awfully Good’s Worst of the Year list). The game series has a large fanbase on the younger side, so it’s not surprising to see it succeed. But it was shocking how lazy Blumhouse was with the filmmaking side. They essentially went “We’ll just pander to game fans” versus actually making a satisfying story for first-timers. And hell, for a game series that’s known for its jump scares, having its film counterpart be near tension-free is an odd choice. But they made a ton of money, so I doubt they’ll be changing the formula on that one.
That said, I’m not going to pretend like Blumhouse is making nothing but crap. Just last year they released the underrated film The Passenger with Kyle Gallner. They gave an unproven filmmaker a chance and it makes for an extremely unique film. Yet has anyone heard of it? How could they when the film was dropped onto MGM+ without so much as a whimper? It’s tough subject matter so I’m not saying it deserved the same widespread release of an Imaginary, but it deserved more than it got. Because it’s getting to the point that when the Blumhouse logo appears, audiences groan. And if the company isn’t careful, there will be no coming back and it’ll be left with a reputation in tatters.
And the only way they’re going to do that is by stopping these soulless releases. They need to get back to giving unproven filmmakers low budgets and creative freedom. Because every time they release one of these low-effort films, the brand is tainted more and more. And the last thing we need is for them to become the new Platinum Dunes (God forbid).
That said, Blumhouse does have some promising fare coming out over the next year or so. Scott Derrickson is returning to the fold for The Black Phone 2 (find out everything we know about it here), Leigh Whannel has a highly anticipated re-imagining of The Wolf Man coming, while their Speak No Evil remake has an outstanding cast.
What do you think? Has Blumhouse lost their way? Are there any hopes of saving them? Am I overreacting? Let me know in the comments below!
Some cliche somewhere said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ This has proven to be the case for me and especially when it comes to fan art. I have always sought out great fan art and have wanted to share it with as many people as possible. “Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net” is the outlet for that passion. In this column, I will showcase the kick-ass artwork of some great artists, with the hopes that these artists get the attention they deserve. That’s the aim. If you have any questions or comments, or even suggestions of art or other great artists, feel free to contact me at any time at theodorebond@joblo.com.
Gaming culture is vast and multifaceted, stretching beyond the realm of digital play itself and into areas like online streaming, fast food merchandise and, of course, ill-advised celebrity clothing lines. This week’s news was something of a sampler platter. Sure, we covered big gaming announcements like everything…
Gaming culture is vast and multifaceted, stretching beyond the realm of digital play itself and into areas like online streaming, fast food merchandise and, of course, ill-advised celebrity clothing lines. This week’s news was something of a sampler platter. Sure, we covered big gaming announcements like everything…
Although Wonder Woman 1984 was nowhere near as good as its predecessor, there were still plans for Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot to return for Wonder Woman 3. However, that all changed when James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios and decided not to move forward with the project. While speaking on the Talking Pictures podcast, Jenkins said that her journey with Wonder Woman is over “for the time being, easily forever.“
Jenkins added that she doesn’t believe DC Studios is “interested in doing any ‘Wonder Woman’ for the time being,” but she doesn’t hold any ill will. “It’s not an easy task, with what’s going on with DC. James Gunn and Peter Safran have to follow their own heart into their own plans,” Jenkins said. “I don’t know what they are planning on doing or why, so I have sympathy for what a big job it is and they have to follow their heart and do what they’ve got planned.“
I’m certain that Wonder Woman will have a part to play in the DC Universe, just not immediately. For the moment, the only Wonder Woman project in development is the Paradise Lost prequel series for Max. Set in Themyscira, home of the Amazons and birthplace of Wonder Woman, the series focuses on the genesis and political intrigue of an island of all women.
During the same podcast, Jenkins mentioned that she returned to the Rogue Squadron movie after Wonder Woman 3 fell apart. While nothing is official, she did say that she’s signed a new deal with Lucasfilm to direct the Star Wars movie. “When I left Star Wars to do Wonder Woman 3, I thought maybe I’ll come back to Star Wars after Wonder Woman 3,” Jenkins said. “So we did a deal for that to happen, started a deal, but I thought I was doing Wonder Woman 3. So when Wonder Woman 3 went away, Lucasfilm and I were like, ‘oh, we gotta finish this deal.’ We finished the deal right as the strike was beginning. So I now owe a draft of Star Wars and so we will see what happens there.“
