Everyone has a sequel they’re waiting for someone to greenlight. Some of our favorite video game franchises exist in a sad state of limbo. It’s only natural that after decades of companies making games and trying to earn the most money from them, that some good titles would fall through the cracks, never to become a…
Several months ago, we got our first look at the “crazy vampire hunter” character Willem Dafoe plays in The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman writer/director Robert Eggers‘ remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu (watch it HERE) – but we still haven’t gotten a good look at the title character, who is brought to life this time around by Bill Skarsgard (It). It would probably be for the best if we don’t see Skarsgard’s Count Orlok until the film reaches theatres on Wednesday, December 25th – but during a new interview with Esquire, the actor did discuss the process of playing the character, which he said was like conjuring pure evil.
During his conversation with Esquire, Skarsgard revealed that, during the Nosferatu production, he had to spend three to six hours every day getting the makeup and prosthetics put on so he could become Count Orlok. He mostly stayed away from his co-stars and worked with an opera singer to bring his voice down to its lowest possible pitch. He said, “It took its toll. It was like conjuring pure evil. It took a while for me to shake off the demon that had been conjured inside of me. … I do not think people are gonna recognize me in it.” When asked if the vampire is sexy, he replied, “He’s gross. But it is very sexualized. It’s playing with a sexual fetish about the power of the monster and what that appeal has to you. Hopefully you’ll get a little bit attracted by it and disgusted by your attraction at the same time.“
Eggers was also asked how into character Skarsgard got. He said, “I remember early on, him trying to talk to me about what it meant to be a dead sorcerer—and I’m into some pretty heavy occult shit, but he was on a different level. I was like, ‘This sounds accurate, but I don’t know how to converse about this with any fluidity.’“
An unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the original Nosferatu has the following synopsis: In this highly influential silent horror film, the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) summons Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder). After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok’s servant, Knock (Alexander Granach), prepares for his master to arrive at his new home.
Eggers’ Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.
Skarsgard and Dafoe are joined in the Nosferatu cast by Lily-Rose Depp (The Idol) as Ellen Hutter and Nicholas Hoult (Renfield) as her husband Thomas – a role Skarsgard was going to play at one point. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train) is in there as Thomas’s friend Friedrich Harding, with Emma Corrin (The Crown) as Friedrich’s wife Anna, Ralph Ineson (The Witch) as Von Franz’s cohort Dr. Wilhelm Sievers, and Simon McBurney (The Conjuring 2) in an unspecified role.
Are you looking forward to seeing Bill Skarsgard’s character and performance in Nosferatu? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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The next chapter of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out film series, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, is sharpening with exciting additions to the cast. After announcing co-stars like Josh O’Connor, Cailee Spaeny, and Andrew Scott, Daniel Craig’s Kentucky-fried detective, Benoit Blanc, is poised to cross paths with Kerry Washington (Scandal, Ray, The School for Good and Evil) in the upcoming Knives Out mystery. Washing joins the expanding cast, with Rian Johnson directing and writing the third installment of the murder mystery saga.
Plot details remain scarce, though it’s safe to assume more intriguing stars will join the cast in the coming weeks. The first film in the series, Knives Out, occurred in a stately manor and revolved around a corrupt and toxic family’s dark secrets and desires. In contrast, the second chapter, Glass Onion, finds Benoit Blanc traveling to a remote island to disrupt a posh dinner party with murder on the menu. While Knives Out debuted exclusively in theaters, Netflix paid $450 million for two sequels.
Kerry Washington is a multi-hyphenate filmmaker, actor, producer, and director. Famously known for her Emmy-winning role as Olivia Pope in the Scandal series, Washington appears in films like Django Unchained, The School for Good and Evil, Bad Company, Save the Last Dance, and Fantastic Four.
One of her latest television projects is the original Hulu series Unprisoned. Washington plays Paige Alexander in the series, which also stars Delroy Lindo and Faly Rakotohavana. Unprisoned follows a therapist and single mom whose life turns right-side-up when her dad exits prison and moves to her house to live with her and her teenage son.
Kerry Washington is also partnering with Tyler Perry for the filmmaker’s latest project, Six Triple Eight, about 855 women who joined the war to fix the three-year backlog of undelivered mail. Faced with discrimination and a country devastated by war, they managed to sort more than 17 million pieces of mail ahead of time. Susan Sarandon, Dean Norris, and Sam Waterson star as lead cast members.
What do you think the plot for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is about? Are you excited by the cast announcements? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Amazon-MGM is getting back in business with the star of their streaming smash, The Idea of You, with the studio signing Nicholas Galitzine to star as He-Man in their big-screen Masters of the Universe film. Set to be directed by Bumblebee‘s Travis Knight, the road to the big-screen for this would-be fantasy epic has been long and twisted.
While everyone is aware of the famous (or rather infamous) Cannon Films version starring Dolph Lundgren, over the years, many studios tried to reboot the classic property, which is based on Mattel’s famous line of toys and the old cartoon show. In it, Prince Adama defends Eternia against the evil Skeletor with the help of his Power Sword, which transforms him into the ripped god of a man, He-Man.
Netflix previously came close to rebooting this saga, with Noah Centineo having been signed to play the role, even documenting his physical transformation on social media. The streamer ended up pulling the plug on the film, although they did launch a controversial animated reboot written by Kevin Smith.
While the film is being produced for an eventual Prime Video release, the expectation is that the movie will make its debut in theatres, with the studio staking out a June 5, 2026, release date for the hoped-for tentpole. It’ll be interesting to see if Galitzine’s streaming stardom will transfer over to the big screen; he’s been the star of three of the biggest streaming movies of the last few years – Purple Hearts for Netflix, The Idea of You and Red, White and Royal Blue for Prime Video. The latter film is due to get a sequel, which Galitzine will film before Masters of the Universe. Certainly, the actor will need time to buff up for the musclebound part. As for me, I’m more interested in who will play Skeletor. Say what you will about the Awfully Good 1987 film, but Frank Langella was a blast in the role.
What do you think of Galitzine landing the role of He-Man? Let us know in the comments.
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A lot of movies (and TV shows) are too damn dark these days. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down to watch something made in recent years to end up gradually getting frustrated that I can barely see anything on the screen. Usually, it seems intentional, like directors want you to struggle to see the image for some reason. It was jarring when we saw how dark Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was, but now that seems to be normal. But the overwhelming darkness isn’t always intentional – for example, director Michael Mohan has taken to social media to let viewers know that his psychological horror film Immaculate (you can read our review HERE) was not meant to be as dark as it is on most streaming services.
X user Sgtzima complained, “Immaculate is comically dark. I’m watching it in a dimly lit room in the evening and can barely make out what’s happening on screen. Why would anybody do this intentionally?” Mohan replied, “I know, man. This was absolutely not done intentionally. We have no control over the compression specs of each platform. It’s a real problem that truly bums me out, and after comparing them all, iTunes is the closest to what we wanted / brighter than the rest.“
I knew movie theatres setting their projector lights too low can result in movies being dark, but I didn’t know streaming services were getting in on these darkening shenanigans as well.
Scripted by Andrew Lobel, Immaculate stars Sydney Sweeney, who previously worked with Mohan on the erotic thriller The Voyeurs and the Netflix series Everything Sucks! Sweeney takes on the role of Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Her warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside is soon interrupted as it becomes clearer to Cecilia that her new home harbors some dark and horrifying secrets.
Simona Tabasco (The White Lotus), Alvaro Morte (Money Heist), Benedetta Porcaroli (Baby), and Dora Romano (The Hand of God) are also in the cast.
Sweeney (who first auditioned for the project when she was a teenager, at which time the lead character was a high schooler rather than a nun) produced the film through her company Fifty-Fifty Films, alongside Jonathan Davino. Also producing are Teddy Schwarzman and Michael Heimler of Black Bear and Middle Child Pictures’ David Bernad, who developed the project with Sweeney after they worked together on the Emmy-winning series The White Lotus. Will Greenfield and Black Bear’s John Friedberg and Christopher Casanova serve as executive producers. Black Bear provided the financing.
Have you seen Immaculate the way Mohan intended it to be seen, or did you watch a too dark streaming version? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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We’ve known from the start that director Zack Snyder intended to released extended director’s cuts of his movies Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire (read our review HERE) and Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver (read our review of that one HERE), which were rated PG-13 in their shorter form. At the start of this month, we learned that the director’s cut of Rebel Moon: Part One has been given a R rating for brutal bloody violence and gore, sexual content, graphic nudity and language. Now the Motion Picture Association ratings board has revealed that the director’s cut of Rebel Moon: Part Two has been rated R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, strong sexuality, nudity and some language.
We don’t know a release date for the director’s cuts just yet, but Snyder has said that the director’s cuts of both films will be released through the Netflix streaming service on the same day, possibly in August.
Snyder has always been open about the fact that he’s hoping “a massive IP and a universe that can be built out” from the foundation of Rebel Moon. He crafted the story for Rebel Moon with 300 co-writer Kurt Johnstad, and the pair wrote the screenplay with Army of the Dead co-writer Shay Hatten. The events of the two films, which draw inspiration from Seven Samurai, are set in motion when a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical regent named Balisarius. Desperate, the colonists dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them make a stand.
Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver continues 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 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.
The films star Sofia Boutella (The Mummy), Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Djimon Hounsou (A Quiet Place Part II), Ray Fisher (Justice League), Doona Bae (The Host), Jena Malone (Sucker Punch), Staz Nair (Supergirl), E. Duffy (whose previous credits are all short films), Charlotte Maggi (MaveriX), Sky Yang (Tomb Raider), Michiel Huisman (Game of Thrones), Alfonso Herrera (Ozark), Cary Elwes (Saw), Corey Stoll (Ant-Man), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal), and Stuart Martin (Army of Thieves).
Snyder, his wife Deborah Snyder, and Wesley Coller are producing the Rebel Moon films through their company Stone Quarry. Eric Newman is producing via his banner, Grand Electric, while Grand Electric’s Sarah Bowen executive produces.
Are you looking forward to the Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver director’s cut? What do you think of the reason given for the R rating? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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One of the classic movie tropes of studio comedies, and especially in the 70s and 80s- is the ever-clever “slobs vs snobs” tale. You know, the blue-collar underdog against a preppy, often annoyingly sophisticated social elite. Movies like Revenge of the Nerds, Animal House, Wayne’s World, or Caddyshack make this the crux of their stories and often use multiple characters in each category to drive the shenanigans all the way up. But in some cases, a movie will tell the story with just one slob and one snob- and crank them both to their absolute extremes- and then throw in a heist because… we love that stuff.
In today’s episode of Revisited, we’re going to be talking about 1988’s buddy comedy classic- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. This movie stars Steve Martin and (the now retired) Michael Caine as two con artists who make an old western-style bet to run each other out of town. The bet? Whichever con can scam a rich tourist out of $50,000 first gets to keep the cash and claim the quaint French Riviera all to themselves. If the plot of this movie sounds familiar, that’s because this movie is a remake of the 1966 film called Bedtime Story starring Marlon Brando in the Steve Martin role (what????) and David Niven in the Michael Caine part (ok, that at least makes sense). There was also a 2019 remake starring Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway called The Hustle.
Although I am a fan of each of these films, I would be lying if I said that this version was anything less than my favorite. I mean, we’re talking Steve Martin and Michael Bloody Caine here. So, if you want to watch an incredible nostalgic movie but you’ve only got 15 minutes to do it- then step into my time capsule once again as we flash back to 1988 and watch Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
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Boy Kills World is one of many box office victims from this year. However, after its April release, Lionsgate is preparing to bring the mayhem home in crisp clarity on July 9 as the Bill Skarsgård actioner has been announced to have a 4K UltraHD Blu-ray release, courtesy of Blu-ray.com. The film had a pretty warm, but mediocre reception, getting a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a 72% audience score. But our own Chris Bumbray was grinning ear-to-ear with it, saying in his review, “The movie itself is a pretty wild, dystopian action epic with heavy doses of black comedy and outrageousness mixed in. […] Overall, I had a total blast with this demented actioner. Director Moritz Mohr makes an impressive debut, and the film includes enough world-building that it could easily spawn a franchise.”
The description reads,
“Skarsgård stars as ‘Boy’ who avows revenge after his family is murdered by Hilda Van Der Koy (Janssen), the deranged matriarch of a corrupt post-apocalyptic dynasty that left the boy orphaned, deaf and voiceless. Driven by his inner voice, one which he co-opted from his favorite childhood video game, Boy trains with a mysterious shaman (Ruhian) to become an instrument of death and is set loose on the eve of the annual culling of dissidents. Bedlam ensues as Boy commits bloody martial arts mayhem, inciting a wrath of carnage and blood-letting. As he tries to get his bearings in this delirious realm, Boy soon falls in with a desperate resistance group, all the while bickering with the apparent ghost of his rebellious little sister.”
The details and specs for the film have yet to be released. However, the film notoriously sports two different cuts that involve the narration aspect of the film. It could be possible that the Blu-ray releases had alternate tracks where you can switch from both.
The plot depicts Skarsgård’s Boy character as being a deaf-mute, but he still has an inner monologue. In the TIFF version, Skarsgård would naturally provide the voiceover. According to Chris Bumbray’s multiple viewings of the different cuts, in the final version, “Skarsgard himself doesn’t provide the voice-over, which H. Jon Benjamin of Archer fame does. The conceit is that the narration is the last voice Boy heard before going deaf, being the voice of an over-the-top 80s-style arcade game. In the version that I saw originally, this idea was dropped, with Skarsgard narrating the whole film himself in an unaffected voice. I believe there’s yet another cut out there where Skarsgard himself does the video game voice, which was teased in a promo trailer that leaked months before the movie played TIFF.”
If you saw Boy Kills World, what were your impressions? Would you be interested in hearing the alternate narrations?
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If you play League of Legends and have roughly $450 burning a hole in your pocket then rejoice, then boy does developer Riot Games have the bundles for you. The new cosmetics in question are themed to LoL esports player Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as Faker, and even in a world of ludicrous microtransactions, players…
If you play League of Legends and have roughly $450 burning a hole in your pocket then rejoice, then boy does developer Riot Games have the bundles for you. The new cosmetics in question are themed to LoL esports player Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as Faker, and even in a world of ludicrous microtransactions, players…