The new official teaser trailer for Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy has been released. The fourth season’s trailer takes audiences to the final timeline where a rescue mission is at hand. The show’s cast returning to their roles for the fourth and final season will includeElliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Justin H. Min, Ritu Arya, Colm Feore, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally and David Cross. Earlier this year, character posters for this concluding season were released and featured cast members on each sheet going for a stroll.
Netflix‘s official synopsis for season four reads, “The Hargreeves siblings have scattered after the climactic showdown at the Hotel Oblivion led to a complete reset of their timeline. Stripped of their powers, each is left to fend for themselves and find a new normal — with wildly varying degrees of success. Yet the trappings of their uncanny new world prove too hard to ignore for very long. Their father Reginald, alive and well, has stepped out of the shadows and into the public eye, overseeing a powerful and nefarious business empire. A mysterious association known as The Keepers holds clandestine meetings believing the reality they’re living in is a lie and a great reckoning is coming. As these strange new forces conspire around them, the Umbrella Academy must come together one last time — and risk upsetting the shaky peace they’ve all endured so much to secure — to finally set things right.”
In Netflix’s Tudum, you can get a sneak peek at the upcoming season with a new featurette. In it, Emmy Raver-Lampman, who plays Allison Hargreeves, boasts, “[It’s] really, really packed with classic Umbrella Academy family nonsense and shenanigans that you look forward to. There’s some unbelievable new characters and villains that are super exciting.” David Castañeda, who portrays Diego Hargreeves, added that he describes Season 4 as his “favorite season.”
Series showrunner Steve Blackman previously expressed, “I’m so excited that the incredibly loyal fans of The Umbrella Academy will be able to experience the fitting end to the Hargreeves siblings’ journey we began five years ago. But before we get to that conclusion, we’ve got an amazing story ahead for season four, one that will have fans on the edge of their seats until the final minutes.”
Executive producers for this time around include creator and showrunner Steve Blackman, Jennifer Cecil, Mike Richardson, Keith Goldberg, Scott Stuber, Beau Bauman, Pascal Verschooris, Jesse McKeown, Abbey Morris, and Jeremy Webb. It is produced by UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, for Netflix.
The fourth and final season of The Umbrella Academy premieres globally on August 8.
We know that Aragorn does not fear death, but does Viggo Mortensen fear returning to the role? Not one bit. With the announcement that another Lord of the Rings movie – in the form of The Hunt for Gollum – will be making that long trek to theaters, it’s hard not to wonder which of the original cast (other than Andy Serkis) will be returning for the film. With so little truly known about the film, there’s no reason not to imagine which of our fan favorite characters could have a spot. And if Viggo Mortensen has a say, he and Aragorn will wield Andúril yet again.
Speaking with British GQ, Viggo Mortensen admitted that he doesn’t know what’s planned for The Hunt for Gollum but is willing to return as Aragorn if it serves a purpose. “I don’t know exactly what the story is, I haven’t heard. Maybe I’ll hear about it eventually. I like playing that character. I learned a lot playing the character. I enjoyed it a lot. I would only do it if I was right for it in terms of, you know, the age I am now and so forth. I would only do it if I was right for the character. It would be silly to do it otherwise.”
The Hunt of Gollum was met with pretty lackluster reception when it was announced earlier this month, with many of our readers not seeing the point of a Gollum-centered feature. But what if some of the original cast would return? If the timeline fits, why not have Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, Elijah Wood as Frodo and Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc, just to name a few of a massive cast?
Whether or not the likes of these actors or characters do return for The Hunt for Gollum, one name guaranteed to be back is Andy Serkis, who is not only reprising the titular bug-eyed baldy but also directing. Peter Jackson is on board to produce while original trilogy scribes Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are back as writers. And if that somehow still doesn’t grab you, there’s always the Gollum fan film…
What do you think? Would Viggo Mortensen reprising Aragorn – or any other original cast members returning – generate more interest from Lord of the Rings fans? Or does a Gollum-focused movie just not sound interesting at all? Give us your thoughts below.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga narrowly beat The Garfield Movie by less than $1 million over the Memorial Day box office weekend, making it clear the film isn’t quite the blockbuster Warner Bros. was hoping it would be. But what does this mean for the next Mad Max movie?
Unfortunately, the news isn’t good, at least for now. A report from THR states that Furiosa‘s disappointing $32 million domestic take is “diminishing hopes for Mad Max: The Wasteland.” Director George Miller had previously acknowledged that the possibility of more Mad Max movies was linked to how well Furiosa performed but added that he wasn’t even going to think about it until after the movie was released.
“There are certainly other stories there. Mainly because in order to tell the story of Fury Road, we had to know the backstory of Furiosa and Max in the year before,” Miller said prior to Furiosa‘s premiere at Cannes. “That was a tool for the cast and crew. We know the Max story from the year before. I’ll definitely wait to see how this [Furiosa] goes, before we even think about it.“
To be fair, it’s been less than a week since Furiosa premiered, so the film could still impress down the road. That said, the franchise has never really been a box office juggernaut, with the first three movies grossing less than $70 million domestically when combined. Mad Max: Fury Road was the biggest success of the franchise, grossing $380 million worldwide, but even that is small potatoes when compared to other big-budget genre movies. However, the cultural impact of the film can’t be denied, especially as it kept fans passionate about the franchise during Furiosa‘s long development process.
As for why Furiosa is struggling at the box office, one studio insider believes the film suffered without Charlize Theron as Furiosa. “People who see the movie love it,” the insider said. “The problem is getting them into theaters. She would have been able to do that.” Perhaps a lower-budget sequel might be in order, but I know fans would love to see more of Mad Max.
The official synopsis for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: “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. 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.” Furiosa is playing in theaters, so be sure to check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray and let us know what you think of the film as well!
After decades of being left out of many Lord of the Rings adaptations, Tom Bombadil is finally getting his moment in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The mystical character is set to appear in the second season of the Prime Video series where he will be played by Rory Kinnear (No Time to Die).
You can check out a handful of first-look photos of Tom Bombadil in The Rings of Power below.
Tom Bombadil appeared in The Fellowship of the Ring novel, helping Frodo Baggins and his friends on their journey. Dressed brightly with a penchant for nature and silly songs, Bombadil is one of the few creatures in Middle-earth that the One Ring has no power over. Described by J.R.R. Tolkien as “older than the old,” his appearance in The Rings of Power, which takes place thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings, fits his character.
While speaking with Vanity Fair, The Rings of Power showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay teased just how Tom Bombadil will fit into their series. “There’s a reason why he hasn’t been in prior adaptations, because in some ways he’s sort of an anti-dramatic character,” Payne said. “He’s not a character who has a particularly strong agenda. He observes drama, but largely doesn’t participate in it. In The Fellowship of the Ring, the characters kind of just go there and hang out for a while, and Tom drops some knowledge on them.” McKay added: “Knowledge that’s not particularly relevant to anything that they’re doing or about to do.“
The second season of The Rings of Power finds Tom Bombadil journeying to the lands of Rhûn, which used to be green and beautiful but has been turned into a dead wasteland. “Tom has gone out there to see what’s happened as he goes on his various wanderings,” Payne said. It’s there that he will encounter the Stranger (Daniel Weyman), as seen in the photos above. “When he finally crosses paths with the Stranger, you could say he has a desire to try to keep the destruction that has happened there from spreading to his beloved lands in the West,” Payne explains. “He nudges the Stranger along his journey, which he knows will eventually protect the larger natural world that he cares about. So I’d say our Tom Bombadil is slightly more interventionist than you see in the books, but only by 5% or 10%.“
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 will premiere on Prime Video on August 29th, and a third season is in development.
It was announced earlier this month that Mike Flanagan was in talks to direct the next installment of The Exorcist franchise, and now it’s official. Flanagan is set to write, direct, and produce what is being described as a “radical new take” on the franchise. While it will still be set in the Exorcist universe, the project will not be a sequel to The Exorcist: Believer, which was largely trashed by critics upon its release last year.
“The Exorcist is one of the reasons I became a filmmaker, and it is an honor to have the chance to try something fresh, bold and terrifying within its universe,” Flanagan said in a statement. “Reuniting with my friends at Blumhouse, with whom I’ve made some of my favorite pieces of work, only makes this more exciting.“
Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse, added, “Mike’s voice and vision are indispensable for horror fans, and we are excited to welcome him back to Blumhouse. I immediately responded to Mike’s new take on the world of The Exorcist and can’t wait for audiences to experience it.“
“It’s an honor to be working with Mike. I think his vision for this franchise is going to stun audiences worldwide, and I could not be more excited to be working with him, Trevor, Jason and the entire Blumhouse Team,” said David Robinson, Chairman and CEO of Morgan Creek, which has the rights to the franchise.
The Exorcist: Believer was intended to be the first of a new trilogy (The Exorcist: Deceiver had been given a 2025 release date), but the lacklustre box office and scathing reviews forced the studio to rethink its plans. Our own Chris Bumbray said that the sequel is an abysmal, dull attempt to relaunch the franchise. “It’s supposed to be the first entry in a new trilogy of Exorcist films, but the movie is so abysmal one shouldn’t hold out too much hope for a follow-up,” Bumbray wrote. “While it may have a strong box-office opening, word of mouth seems sure to be dire. The only thing that saves Exorcist: Believer from being called the worst Exorcist movie ever is the fact that this particular series has some very bad entries.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.
Getting a fresh start with Mike Flanagan will likely be the best thing for The Exorcist franchise, and I’m excited to see what he has cooked up. The man rarely disappoints when it comes to slow-burn horror.
It Takes Two, the award-winning and pretty dang good co-op game, received an update today making it verified on Steam Deck and removing the need to use the EA App launcher. But that update also killed old cloud saves. EA’s solution for fans who might have lost progress: Download this other save file of the completed…
It Takes Two, the award-winning and pretty dang good co-op game, received an update today making it verified on Steam Deck and removing the need to use the EA App launcher. But that update also killed old cloud saves. EA’s solution for fans who might have lost progress: Download this other save file of the completed…
The Exorcist is my choice for the best horror movie of all time. Some may say Rosemary’s Baby or The Shining or Night of the Living Dead, but as a good Catholic boy, nothing has ever gotten under my skin the way William Friedkin’s original did. But, with great success comes the desire for Hollywood to make a hit into a franchise, but Friedkin was not a franchise director. He famously turned down French Connection II, but the studio, perhaps noticing how the second French Connection turned out decently, decided to go ahead and turn it into a franchise. Still, the results, with one notable exception were a disaster. So without any further adieu, here’s our list of Exorcist movies ranked – from worst to best.
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
So, worst is a degree here rather than a black-and-white fact. All of the Exorcist sequels – with that one exception I’ll get to later – are terrible. Yet, of them all, none is quite as bad as the infamous Exorcist II: The Heretic. What’s crazy is that the movie comes from a pretty fantastic director, John Boorman. Still, he’s also a guy who, in between making masterpieces like Excalibur and Deliverance, also made the odd stinker, like Zardoz. Exorcist II: The Heretic is like the overacting Olympics. Poor Richard Burton sweats booze as Father Lamont, who’s having a crisis of faith while investigating the death of Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow was lured back for a small role). He meets with Linda Blair’s Regan MacNeil, who’s now a teenager and seems well adjusted, all things considered. The is a batch of hokum that includes ESP, James Earl Jones dressed as a Locust, a weird Italo-disco score by Ennio Morricone, not one but two tap dancing sequences for Linda Blair, and Burton doing all of his own sweating and looking like he needs a drink – badly. This movie was so bad that Boorman had to physically cut film prints that were already playing theatrically in order to make the movie a little shorter. Yet, as bad as it is, it’s one of the most entertainingly awful movies ever made, and the cinematography by William A. Fraker is legitimately great. Also, no one says Pazuzu like Richard Burton.
The Exorcist: Believer (2023)
While not as poorly made as Exorcist: The Heretic, director David Gordon Green’s Believer is undoubtedly a more boring film (despite the jump scares) and about as lazy a horror movie as you’re likely to encounter. Judging by the toxic word of mouth, you can imagine Universal is kicking themselves by shelling out $400 million for the rights to the franchise, even though none of the sequels have ever been financially successful.
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)
Director Paul Schrader’s Exorcist prequel was considered such a disaster that the studio that made it, Morgan Creek, shelved and remade the entire film. While it’s hip to say Schrader’s movie is excellent, the truth is that despite some interesting moments, it’s very dull. It’s an interesting curiosity, and Schrader would eventually make a masterpiece about faith (First Reformed), but this isn’t it. That said, I’m happy it eventually saw the light of day as I’m not in favor of shelving movies, no matter how bad they are.
The Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
Like The Heretic, this alternate Exorcist prequel by Renny Harlin is of the so bad it’s good variety. Harlin turned the franchise into an action film, with Stellan Skarsgård’s Father Merrin reimagined as a badass priest who even performs a holy head-butt at the film’s conclusion. It isn’t good, but it’s kind of fun. Skarsgård really does his best, and its interesting to compare his Liam Neeson-like action star performance in this to his quiet turn in Dominion.
The Exorcist III (1990)
It’s literally the only good Exorcist sequel. William Peter Blatty initially set out to make a looser kind of sequel, with it being an adaptation of his novel Legion. But, after the movie was completed, Morgan Creek got uncomfortable with his police thriller version of the film, insisting he reshoot the ending to include Jason Miller’s Father Karras and a grand guignol, eighties-horror style Exorcism. Despite being compromised (you can see the reconstituted director’s cut on the Blu-Ray), the movie is still quite good, With George C. Scott excellent as the recast Lt. Kinderman (the original actor – Lee J. Cobb – was dead by this point). Blatty also includes some weird touches, including a cameo by Fabio as an angel. One might also consider Blatty’s The Ninth Configuration as a quasi-sequel given that a minor character from the first film is the star, but the genres are very different. If that one were counted it would place highly on our list of Exorcist Movies Ranked.
The Exorcist (1973)
Simply put, the greatest horror movie ever made. If you’re making a list called Exorcist Movies Ranked, and the original film doesn’t land in first place, what are you even doing? Friedkin was right never to try and make a sequel because it can’t possibly be beaten, or even equaled. That said, avoid 2000’s The Version You Never Saw, as that was Friedkin doing a favour for William Peter Blatty, who hated how vague the director had left the conclusion of his battle between good and evil. I much prefer the darker original. As for the Spider-Walk – who needs it? If you want to see another quasi-horror film from Friedkin, check out the 1980 serial killer thriller Cruising, which is very disturbing and loosely based on a real killer’s exploits. The kicker – this killer was a radiologist who played himself in The Exorcist! It’s weird but true.
How would you rank the Exorcist movies? Let us know by leaving a comment below – and if you watched the TV series from 20th Century Fox Television, add that into the mix as well.
My best friends and I have a typical rotation of games we play on game nights. These are often competitive shooters or cooperative survival games, which lend themselves particularly well to our needs. However, one night about two years back, we came to an impasse until one of us jokingly tossed out, “Let’s just play Ma…
My best friends and I have a typical rotation of games we play on game nights. These are often competitive shooters or cooperative survival games, which lend themselves particularly well to our needs. However, one night about two years back, we came to an impasse until one of us jokingly tossed out, “Let’s just play Ma…
