Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson are no strangers to the science fiction genre. Ferguson can currently be seen in the epic new chapter of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, while Pratt is known for bringing Star-Lord to the screen in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. The Hollywood Reporter has now revealed that the Pratt and Ferguson sci-fi thriller that the two are set to co-star, Mercy, is set to be released theatrically next summer on August 15, 2025. Mercy is an Amazon MGM Studios production and will have Timur Bekmambetov at the helm. Bekmambetov is the action director behind such projects as Night Watch, Wanted, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and the ill-fated Ben-Hur remake.

Mercy comes from screenwriter Marco van Belle and the synopsis states that Pratt plays “a detective in the near future who finds himself accused of a violent crime and having to prove his innocence in a society where capital crime is on the rise.” The movie is produced by Charles Roven, the frequent Christopher Nolan collaborator who is currently enjoying the recent Academy Awards sweep for their film Oppenheimer. Roven will be producing along with Atlas Entertainment SVP Robert Amidon, Bekmambetov’s BEL studio, and film producer Majd Nassif. Cameras intend to roll this spring.

While Roven brought this property to Amazon MGM, the studio is currently finding ways to revive many IPs from the roaring lion’s slate. This includes the legacy franchise of the James Bond films as well as Robocop and the upcoming Road House remake. Mercy director Bekmambetov had released a statement about his involvement with the project, “Amazon is the ideal partner for telling this crucial story about the future challenged by artificial intelligence and for engaging in this conversation with a wide audience. I’m happy to reunite with Chris Pratt on this project, who, since the release of ‘Wanted,’ has become one of the highest-grossing actors of our time. Collaborating with Chuck Roven will help us create an epic cinematic experience.“

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While Bloodsport, the 1988 martial arts tournament movie, is widely considered by fans to be Jean-Claude Van Damme’s best film, it almost never saw the light of day. Indeed, according to Nick De Semlyen’s book, “Last Action Heroes” (buy it here), the film was deemed unreleasable by Cannon Pictures head Menachem Golan. The film sat on the shelf for fourteen months and was considered so bad that Golan intended to release the movie direct-to-video.

Things got so heated that Golan refused to go ahead with a proposed sequel to Lone Wolf McQuade, which would have featured Van Damme teaming up with Chuck Norris (who was an early mentor to JCVD). He wanted Michael Dudikoff instead.

According to the book, Van Damme, who had returned to his old job as a limo driver when the movie wrapped, convinced the studio to allow him to re-edit the film with Towering Inferno editor Carl Press. The two reworked the fight scenes and trimmed down some of the drama, resulting in a faster-paced cut that the studio allowed them to release.

However, in 1988, the studio was on the verge of going under, thanks to their attempt to hit the big time with a trio of would-be blockbusters in 1987. The films Over the Top, Masters of the Universe and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace all tanked at the box office, and in 1988, the studio could barely afford to promote Bloodsport. Thus, JCVD and the film rolled out in Asia and Europe before hitting North America, and by then, the film’s international success meant that the film was already profitable. It only grossed $11.7 million domestically, but overseas, it made over $50 million, all on a budget of only $2.3 million. On VHS, it became one of the biggest-selling titles in the Warner Bros library.

It’s incredible that Menahem Golan didn’t think the film was worth releasing, given how bad some of the product Cannon put out in their heyday was. Most studios would have never released Superman IV in the shape it was in theatres. Of all the films Cannon produced, Bloodsport is arguably the one with the most staying power. It is considered by many (myself included) to be one of the best American Martial Arts movies ever made.

Of course, after Bloodsport was a hit, JCVD was immediately put into two more Cannon films, Cyborg and Death Warrant. But the time the latter film came out, Golan had left the company. If JCVD had been stuck in a long term contract with Cannon, many believe his career would have never taken off. Take for example what happened to Michael Dudikoff. He should have been cast in bigger movies post American Ninja and Avenging Force, rather than smaller films. In many ways, their spendthrift ways doomed him to a career dominated by DTV movies.

Do you think Bloodsport is JCVD’s best movie? Let us know in the comments.

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The Fall Guy had its world premiere at SXSW just last night and reviews right out of the gate are explosive, with many calling it one of the best action comedies in years. This is pretty awesome to hear considering the movie is based on a TV show that most of us likely never watched and some of us may have never heard of.

But the hype is real for The Fall Guy, so let’s check out some of the praise:

Ahead of the first screening of The Fall Guy, star Ryan Gosling introduced the movie alongside director David Leitch, sharing stories from the set and working to give stunt people their due, something that Gosling and co-star Emily Blunt also did during Sunday’s Academy Awards in a special presentation of cinematic stunt work (although we all know the category still deserves real recognition). Gosling also noted that The Fall Guy was meant to be a genuine crowd-pleaser, which seems to hold based on the initial reactions.

As such, it’s great to see that this combination of on-screen charisma and stellar stunt work has worked. Hopefully this translate to the box office as well, as The Fall Guy is in a prime position for Universal to help kick off the summer, landing a May 3rd release date that puts it ahead of franchise movies Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Bad Boys 4, and Inside Out 2.

While it’s too early for a projected Rotten Tomatoes score, we’re absolutely looking at The Fall Guy being fresh and now officially one of the must-see movies of the first half of 2024.

None other than Steven Spielberg shared his love of the movie with Gosling at the Golden Globes, much to the star’s surprise…so it looks like all those that also dug The Fall Guy are in some pretty good company! On this interaction, Gosling said, “As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter anymore what happens. Steven Spielberg liked it. That was an all-time moment for me. I’m really excited for people to see it. I think it’s a really special movie.”

Here is the plot of The Fall Guy: “Ryan Gosling plays Colt Seavers, a stuntman laid low by an on-set performance gone so wrong that it nearly killed him, while Emily Blunt is Jody Moreno, a former camera operator (and former love) getting her big break as the director of a ridiculously extravagant sci-fi Western that needs his help.” Lee Majors, who starred in the series of the same name, is expected to make a cameo…But no, Gosling will not be singing the theme like Majors did.

Are you looking forward to The Fall Guy more now that reactions were strong out of SXSW? Let us know in the comments section below!

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While Sony’s Spider-Verse movies Madame Web and Morbius both laid eggs at the box office (to put it mildly), another live-action franchise from the studio has been minting money – the Venom films. Despite pretty awful reviews, the first movie made $856 million worldwide. The sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, only made just over $500 million (still a lot of moolah), but that was due to opening during the pandemic (it was actually the third highest-grossing movie of the year). With the third film pretty much guaranteed to make money no matter how it fares with critics, Sony is moving it up slightly on the release calendar, with it now set for October 25th, 2024. The movie also has a new title, Venom: The Last Dance. 

This pre-Halloween weekend propelled Five Nights at Freddy’s to a huge opening, and Sony is no doubt hoping to score with horror audiences as well as superhero fans. It has some competition with Leigh Whannel’s The Wolf Man, so I would expect the latter film to move off that date. Venom: The Last Dance features Tom Hardy returning as Eddie Brock/ Venom, with Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor in undisclosed roles—no news yet on whether or not Michelle Williams will return as Brock’s love interest. For a movie that’s been filming for months, there’s impressively little info out there about it. Kelly Marcel, who wrote the other two films, makes her directorial debut with this one. Hardy has previously said this will be the end of the Venom trilogy. Indeed, the title seems to suggest Hardy might be done with the franchise, which has proved to be a big moneymaker.

Meanwhile, another Tom Hardy action movie, Havoc, directed by Gareth Evans, is supposed to (maybe) come out this year via Netflix, while Hardy will also soon be seen in Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders. 

Are you looking forward to Venom: The Last Dance? Let us know in the comments. 

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Zack Snyder doesn’t seem like the type of guy who is overly concerned with reviews, but audiences did take notice when the much-anticipated Rebel Moon received the worst reviews of Snyder’s career (our own Chris Bumbray did enjoy it). With the release of Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver just a month away, Snyder responded to the backlash, admitting that his movies tend to be polarizing.

“I don’t really have a rebuttal to the reviews,” Snyder told Empire. “For whatever reason, the reaction to my movies is very polarising, and it always has been. The movie, it doesn’t seem like there’s that much in it that would warrant such visceral responses.“

Following the release of The Scargiver, Snyder will be releasing R-rated director’s cuts of both movies, which will include “all the gore and the hard R-ness and the nudity and the violence and crazy shit.” He added that he’ll be interested to see what the critics say about the director’s cuts because they’re a “different kettle of fish.” We still don’t know exactly when they will be released, but Snyder recently said that they will likely drop this summer on the same day, encompassing six hours total.

Here’s the official logline for Rebel Moon: “When a peaceful colony on the edge of a galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger living among the villagers, becomes their best hope for survival. Tasked with finding trained fighters who will unite with her in making an impossible stand against the Mother World, Kora assembles a small band of warriors — outsiders, insurgents, peasants and orphans of war from different worlds who share a common need for redemption and revenge. As the shadow of an entire Realm bears down on the unlikeliest of moons, a battle over the fate of a galaxy is waged, and in the process, a new army of heroes is formed.“

Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver will continue “the epic saga of Kora and the surviving warriors as they prepare to sacrifice everything, fighting alongside the brave people of Veldt, to defend a once peaceful village, a newfound homeland for those who have lost their own in the fight against the Motherworld. On the eve of their battle the warriors must face the truths of their own pasts, each revealing why they fight. As the full force of the Realm bears down on the burgeoning rebellion, unbreakable bonds are forged, heroes emerge, and legends are made.“

Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is streaming on Netflix and will be followed by Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver on April 19th.

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George Lucas handpicked Jake Lloyd to play young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace out of thousands of kids. However, time hasn’t been kind to Lloyd, as the actor has faced a variety of mental and legal issues, which some believed were exacerbated by the negative reaction to The Phantom Menace.

Jake Lloyd’s mother, Lisa, recently spoke with Scripps News to provide an update on her son and to set the record straight on what he really thinks of Star Wars.

She explained that Jake first started having issues in high school when he began talking about “realities” and not knowing whether he was in this reality or a different one. One doctor suggested that he might have bipolar disorder, but the medications didn’t work and the delusions got worse. He even had to drop out of college after missing too many classes, all the while telling his mother that people were following him. He was eventually diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, but when the medications stopped working or he decided to self-medicate, he found himself in trouble with the law. Things got even worse with the unexpected death of his younger sister. “He just couldn’t handle it,” Lisa said. “He didn’t know how to process it. Someties he would just start saying that he really missed Madison. That’s about as much of a conversation as we’d have about it.“

One year ago, Lisa said that Jake suffered a full-blown psychotic break when driving home from McDonald’s with her. “He said he wanted to turn the car off. And he turned the car off in the middle of the three lanes, and we were in the middle lane,” Lisa explained. “There was a lot of yelling and screaming. The police got there, and they asked Jake some questions. He was talking to them, but none of it made sense. It was all word salad.” Thankfully, Jake wasn’t sent to jail, but rather ended up in a mental health rehabilitation facility which seems to be helping quite a lot.

He’s doing much better than I expected. He is relating to people better and becoming a little bit more social, which is really nice. It’s kind of like having more of the old Jake back, because he has always been incredibly social until he became schizophrenic.

Lisa also commented on her son’s thoughts towards Star Wars. “He loves all the new Star Wars stuff,” she said. “People think Jake hates Star Wars. He loves it.” She also disagreed with the belief that the reaction to The Phantom Menace contributed to Jake’s mental illness. “It would have happened anyway,” she said. “I believe that it was genetic. And his psychiatrist also agrees that Jake was going to become schizophrenic.” Lisa also stated that she did her best to shield her son from the prequel backlash.

“I protected him from the backlash. He was just riding his bike outside, playing with his friends. He didn’t know. He didn’t care,” Lisa said. “Everybody makes such a big deal about that. And it’s rather annoying to me because Jake was a little kid when that came out, and he didn’t really feel all that stuff because I didn’t let him online.” She added that her son didn’t quit acting because of Star Wars but more because of family issues, as she was going through a divorce at the time. “People say he quit because of ‘Star Wars.’ Well, that’s not true. It didn’t have anything to do with ‘Star Wars.’ It had more to do with our family,” she explained. “And we were going through a divorce. Things were unsettled and kind of rough. And Jake didn’t seem to be having a lot of fun auditioning anymore.“

Although Jake still has a ways to go, the future is looking brighter. “We’re in a lot better place. And we do have a lot of things to look forward to,” Lisa said. “We all love Jake, and we want to be around him. I just want him to be happy.“

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Owen Wilson is a well-known golf fan who is ready to take his love of the sport to the small screen. The actor is set to star in an untitled comedy series for Apple TV+, which is in development from Ford v Ferrari co-writer Jason Keller.

Wilson will star in the ten-episode series as Pryce Cahill, “an over-the-hill, ex-pro golfer whose career was derailed prematurely 20 years ago. After he gets fired from his job at an Indiana sporting goods store and his wife walks out on him, Pryce hedges his bets entirely on a troubled 17-year-old golf phenom.” In addition to starring in the series, Wilson will also executive produce alongside Keller. Propagate Content’s Ben Silverman will also executive produce the series with Howard T. Owens and Rodney Ferrell, Entertainment 360’s Guymon Casady, Piece of Work’s Lee Eisenberg and Natalie Sandy, and Chris Moynihan. The series will be directed by Jonathan Dayton & and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine).

Before Owen Wilson hits the links for Apple’s golf series, he will start shooting Lips Like Sugar, a crime thriller set during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Woody Harrelson will star alongside Wilson, with the pair playing Phil Harris and John, two homicide detectives who are working “to solve a possible serial killer case while police and city officials demand that all murders in LA be labeled Missing Persons until the Olympic torch is doused and the international media has left town. The detectives’ paths cross with Tracy Anderson and Andi Campos (Kathryn Newton and Sasha Calle), a pair of teenage girls that have formed a fast and intense friendship, with Montana transplant Tracy recently arrived in town with her mother (Juliette Lewis) and enamored of all things Hollywood. When Tracy disappears, Carr, Harris and Andi race a ticking clock to find her.” Music video director Brantley Gutierrez is set to helm the movie from a script by Anthony Tambakis (Warrior).

The post Owen Wilson to hit the links for golf comedy series at Apple TV+ appeared first on JoBlo.

Owen Wilson is a well-known golf fan who is ready to take his love of the sport to the small screen. The actor is set to star in an untitled comedy series for Apple TV+, which is in development from Ford v Ferrari co-writer Jason Keller.

Wilson will star in the ten-episode series as Pryce Cahill, “an over-the-hill, ex-pro golfer whose career was derailed prematurely 20 years ago. After he gets fired from his job at an Indiana sporting goods store and his wife walks out on him, Pryce hedges his bets entirely on a troubled 17-year-old golf phenom.” In addition to starring in the series, Wilson will also executive produce alongside Keller. Propagate Content’s Ben Silverman will also executive produce the series with Howard T. Owens and Rodney Ferrell, Entertainment 360’s Guymon Casady, Piece of Work’s Lee Eisenberg and Natalie Sandy, and Chris Moynihan. The series will be directed by Jonathan Dayton & and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine).

Before Owen Wilson hits the links for Apple’s golf series, he will start shooting Lips Like Sugar, a crime thriller set during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Woody Harrelson will star alongside Wilson, with the pair playing Phil Harris and John, two homicide detectives who are working “to solve a possible serial killer case while police and city officials demand that all murders in LA be labeled Missing Persons until the Olympic torch is doused and the international media has left town. The detectives’ paths cross with Tracy Anderson and Andi Campos (Kathryn Newton and Sasha Calle), a pair of teenage girls that have formed a fast and intense friendship, with Montana transplant Tracy recently arrived in town with her mother (Juliette Lewis) and enamored of all things Hollywood. When Tracy disappears, Carr, Harris and Andi race a ticking clock to find her.” Music video director Brantley Gutierrez is set to helm the movie from a script by Anthony Tambakis (Warrior).

The post Owen Wilson to hit the links for golf comedy series at Apple TV+ appeared first on JoBlo.

Besties don’t snitch on each other, but I guess controversial Kick streamer Adin Ross didn’t get that memo. According to a recent Rolling Stone report, the 20-something content creator accidentally ratted out his homie Andrew Tate during a livestream sometime last week, which apparently landed the self-professed…

Read more…

Besties don’t snitch on each other, but I guess controversial Kick streamer Adin Ross didn’t get that memo. According to a recent Rolling Stone report, the 20-something content creator accidentally ratted out his homie Andrew Tate during a livestream sometime last week, which apparently landed the self-professed…

Read more…