The Kingdom Hearts franchise is finally coming to Steam next month (most of it is, at least), and now people who don’t like the Epic Games Store will be able to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s story from start to finish. But like any long-running franchise, the series has had its high points and low points. With a bunch…
The Kingdom Hearts franchise is finally coming to Steam next month (most of it is, at least), and now people who don’t like the Epic Games Store will be able to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s story from start to finish. But like any long-running franchise, the series has had its high points and low points. With a bunch…
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines director Lindsey Anderson Beer has a whole lot of projects in the works at Paramount, from a new version of Sleepy Hollow to a film inspired by the American Girl toy brand – but that isn’t stopping her from teaming up with Universal Content Productions and genre regular James Wan (as well as his wife Ingrid Bisu) to develop a TV series called 1313, which is described as being a darker reimagining of the 1964 classic sitcom The Munsters. If 1313 gets a series order, Anderson Beer will be serving as the showrunner.
According to Deadline, 1313 will be “a horror series that plays on the Universal Monsterverse,” which makes sense, since the Munsters family included vampires, a little werewolf, and a version of Frankenstein’s Monster. As for the title of this new project, it comes from the fact that the Munsters lived in a house with the address 1313 Mockingbird Lane.
The Munsters ran for two seasons, from September 1964 to May 1966, and consisted of 70 episodes. (You can buy the complete series at THIS LINK.) Over the decades, those episodes have been followed by an animated one-hour special called The Mini-Munsters, a syndicated series called The Munsters Today (which ran for 72 episodes), a Bryan Fuller reimagining called Mockingbird Lane (the pilot episode was aired, but the show wasn’t ordered to series), and several feature films: Munster, Go Home!, The Munsters’ Revenge, Here Come the Munsters, The Munsters’ Scary Little Christmas, and Rob Zombie’s The Munsters. Back in 2004, the Wayans were said to be developing a Munsters movie, but that didn’t go anywhere. Neither did Seth Meyers’ 2017 idea to drop the Munsters into modern-day Brooklyn.
Details on the horror approach Anderson Beer, Wan, and Bisu are taking to the property have not been revealed.
1313 is coming our way from Atomic Monster and Lab Brew. Anderson Beer and Wan will be executive producing the show with Michael Clear and Rob Hackett while Bisu serves as co-executive producer.
What do you think of this creative team reimagining The Munsters as a horror series called 1313? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage feel the brotherly love over at Amazon MGM for their upcoming action comedy Brothers. Amazon MGM snapped up the worldwide rights to the star-studded project, which has Brendan Fraser (The Whale, Batgirl), Glenn Close (Hillbily Elegy, Fatal Attraction), Jennifer Landon (Yellowstone), Taylour Paige (Zola), and the late M. Emmet Walsh in one of his final roles, leading the cast. Lining up a theatrical and streaming release, Brothers goes to cinemas on October 1 and on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide on October 17.
Brothers stars Brolin as a reformed criminal whose attempt to lead a clean life meets a curveball when he’s reunited with his twin brother (Dinklage). As their patience for one another is tested, the sibling duo embark on a road trip for a score that could set them up for life. With the cops on their tail, the brothers dodge bullets, an overbearing mother, and more as they try to survive each other’s company. Can they heal the ties that bind? Will they refrain from killing each other long enough to enjoy the fruits of their latest crime? I’m excited to find out.
Palm Springs director Max Barbakow directs Brothers from a screenplay by Macon Blair based on a story by Etan Cohen.
Meanwhile, we’re all waiting to see Peter Dinklage in Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger. Although a red-band trailer for the anticipated horror film arrived last year, we have yet to experience Dinklage’s version of the radioactive hero, Winston Gooze. Horror fans are climbing the walls in anticipation of the remake, which also stars Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood.
With filming for Brothers completed, Josh Brolin is gearing up for Zach Cregger’s Weapons. The upcoming horror mystery focuses on the disappearance of high school students in a small town. Weapons stars Julia Garner (Fantastic Four), Benedict Wong (3 Body Problem), June Diane Raphael (Year One), and Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story).
Are you excited to see Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage, two accomplished actors in their prime, argue it out as twin brothers in the upcoming Max Barbakow-directed action comedy? Let us know in the comments section below.
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We’re about to witness one of the most brutal battles in the entire Mad Max saga. Immortan Joe and Dementus were nothing compared to our heroine’s final and most deadly enemy: a chubby orange cat named Garfield. Indeed, we’re about to see one of the biggest and most unlikely box office battles of the summer. While most box office analysts believe audiences will choose Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, George Miller’s epic prequel to Fury Road, as their Memorial Day movie of choice, family audiences heading out this holiday weekend may make The Garfield Movie a stronger-than-expected opponent.
I’m expecting Furiosa to make about $40 million this weekend, with Garfield in a close second place with $35 million. Why so low on Furiosa? I have a few reasons. For one thing, even if Fury Road is one of the greatest action films of all time, it was only a modest box office success, opening to $45 million in 2015 when the movie theatre business was much healthier. With shrinking windows, declining attendance, and the fact that two big stars from the last movie, Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, are absent, I think this will have a good but unspectacular start. However, word-of-mouth should be strong in the weeks to come. Furiosa targets an adult audience, and they don’t tend to rush out and see movies opening weekend.
Garfield, on the other hand, should have a strong weekend with kids off school. Matinees will be huge on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, with there even being a chance it could narrowly outgross Furiosa. I don’t think that will happen though, as the overseas numbers, while good, don’t point to this being a global blockbuster along the lines of star Chris Pratt’s last animated movie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie (which paired him with Furiosa herself, Anya Taylor Joy).
Another movie that will target the family audience over the holiday weekend is John Krasinski’s IF, which is coming off a softer-than-expected weekend. Given the A CinemaScore, many expect word of mouth to be excellent, so it should have a $20-25 million weekend.
Here are our predictions:
What do you think will rule the box office this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
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Martin Scorsese has a new smash hit on his hands. No, it’s not a Chanel ad or an epic Oscar nominee but yet another TikTok video courtesy of daughter Francesca Scorsese. But this one stands out in how it gives fans a look at his movie shrine, complete with vintage posters, props and, of course, a home theater.
The video is a play on TikTok’s We Are trend, with a general format that goes something like: “We’re ____, of course we _____.” The TikTok trend can be a fun way to poke fun at or champion cliches and stereotypes, but when Scorsese does it, it’s purely out of love for cinema…and directing his daughter. In the first clip, Francesca begins with, “We’re movie lovers, of course we have film posters all over our house.” Unfortunately, she doesn’t give the right delivery for hyping The Paradine Case and I Know Where I’m Going!, prompting another take.
From there, Martin and Francesca Scorsese continue the TikTok tour of the house by showing off movie cameras, director chairs and some movie memorabilia. Scorsese doesn’t only have the automaton from his own Hugo but the titular ballet slippers from 1949’s The Red Shoes – or at least that’s what he says, remembering that they are out on loan. And no movie buff’s home tour is complete without a stop at a sizable screen, this one showcasing Turner Classic Movies, which Marty has taken an active role in alongside Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson. But the best part might be when Francesca references her father’s controversial statements about Marvel movies not being cinema, saying, “We’re movie lovers, of course we’re gonna tell you what cinema really is” before the camera pans to an eyebrow-raised Marty.
Francesca and Martin Scorsese have had a lot of fun in the past with their TikTok videos, mostly at the expense of the octogenarian director, who would go on to say his daughter duped him into the viral hits. In one, we saw Scorsese gesturing with only his head to pick some of his favorite films, while another found him trying to decipher the nearly incomprehensible slang of Gen Z.
Nobody would have expected Martin Scorsese to be a viral sensation, but with content like this, we are all here for it!
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Everyone knows the mongoose is one of nature’s slipperiest animals. Not only can they run at 20 mph, but they’re also resistant to snake venom! If honey badgers and mongooses ever teamed up, we’d be in big trouble. Why all this talk about fast-moving mammals? One of Hollywood’s most devious action stars, Liam Neeson, will star in a cross-country car chase movie, Mongoose, for Amazon. See, it all makes sense.
Mongoose quietly made the rounds at Cannes, with Amazon Prime Video pre-purchasing most of the international rights in a deal nearing $20M.According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, Liam Neeson plays Ryan “Fang” Flanagan in Mongoose, “a war hero who, accused of a crime he didn’t commit and with nothing to lose, leads police on an epic televised cross-country car chase, helped by members of his former Special Forces Army battalion and closely monitored by a fascinated public rooting for his safe getaway.”
Audiences can expect Mongoose to be fast-paced and nail-biting, with veteran stunt performer Mark Vanselow in the director’s chair. Vanselow wears many hats in Hollywood as an action sequence director, action designer, stunt coordinator, and stuntman. He’s worked on films like Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Ice Road, and more. Reckoning scribe Thomspon Evans is in charge of the screenplay.
“We are so very fortunate to be able to make another picture with the extraordinary Liam Neeson and the enormously talented Mark Vanselow. We look forward to another creative journey with our partners and friends,” said Code Entertainment’s Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt.
One of Liam Neeson’s upcoming film projects is a reboot of The Naked Gun. Neeson leads the comedy as Frank Drebin Jr., with Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, Danny Huston, and Cody Rhodes also starring. Speaking with THR, Neeson told the outlet why he’s keen to star in the comedic role.
“It’s funny because right before Christmas, my sons and I were looking through the Academy screeners and trying to find something silly, some silly, stupid movie that we could giggle at,” Neeson explained. “There was none, of course, as they were all very heavy and international. I mean, brilliant movies but all very heavy. When Seth MacFarlane approached me about it — this was about two years ago, now — I thought, yeah, I guess I could do that as long as I play it dead seriously and not try and imitate Mr. Leslie Nielsen. He was wonderful. Akiva Schaffer is directing it and he’s from the [Saturday Night Live] world. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a good script, and there’s a few laugh out loud moments in it.”
As Neeson mentioned, Akiva Schaffer is set to direct The Naked Gun reboot, which Dan Gregor and Doug Mand will script.
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What is the best Australian movie ever made? Walkabout? Wake in Fright? The Piano? Picnic at Hanging Rock? The Babadook? All worthy contenders, no doubt, but they’re all wrong answers. The only acceptable response regarding the best movie from the Land Down Under is Mad Max, George Miller’s marauding motorist mania that celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2024. Never mind the billion-dollar franchise it spawned, the creative ingenuity and low-budget DIY filmmaking of the original remains one of the most impressive cinematic feats on record.
A true independent movie with a rebellious spirit, Mad Max was made in just 12 weeks for a paltry $350,000 yet went on to gross $185 million worldwide. The film introduced the world to Mel Gibson, who would go on to play the badass road-racing Main Force Patrol officer Max Rockatansky twice more en route to becoming a bona fide Hollywood action star. Now, with the law-enforcing legacy (that includes our picks for two of the best action movies of all time) continuing with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga this week, it’s only right to peer through the rear-view mirror and find out What Happened to the trailblazing O.G. After all, some of the crazy production details and insane behind-the-scenes stories defy belief. Of course “They say people don’t believe in heroes anymore. Well damn them! You and me, Max, we’re gonna give them back their heroes!”
Mad Max was developed as George Miller’s feature-length film debut in the early ‘70s following Miller’s time working as an Emergency Room doctor in Sydney. Miller grew up in rural Queensland and witnessed three of his close friends die in violent motorcycle collisions and often witnessed the types of fatally gruesome injuries seen in Mad Max in the ER. In 1971, Miller enrolled in film school and met fellow filmmaker Byron Kennedy, who would go on to share screenwriting credit with Miller for Mad Max. The duo made a short film titled Violence in Cinema Part 1, a semi-blueprint for Mad Max. Miller also hired newspaper editor James McCausland to flesh out the script after realizing the best Hollywood screenwriters, such as Ben Hecht and Herman Mankiewicz, had journalistic backgrounds.
Despite being his first feature-length film, Miller had a clear vision to make a visceral, hyperkinetic “silent movie with sound,” relying on classic filmmaking techniques introduced by such pioneers as Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. With zero screenplay experience, Miller focused on the action scenes and overall structure. Meanwhile, McCausland concentrated on the dialog and subtext, using the 1973 Australian oil crisis as inspiration for the post-apocalyptic setting. Miller also found inspiration in the 1975 post-apocalyptic road movie A Boy and His Dog. However, in 2015, Miller admitted that the dystopian atmosphere was not part of the original screenplay and was born out of necessity. Due to the small budget, Miller could not afford many extras and well-maintained buildings. Instead, Miller opted for a desolate wasteland to place the story. As such, the opening title card was added to signify the story occurs after a world war.
Miller and McCausland presented a 40-page treatment to the Australian government, which funded most of the film. Miller and McCausland also raised money by performing medical house calls, with the former treating patients and the latter driving. The filmmakers ultimately raised $350,000 to $400,000 to make Mad Max, which equals roughly $1.6 million when adjusted for inflation in 2024.
When the casting process approached, Miller considered an American to play Max Rockatansky to broaden the movie’s appeal. After venturing to Hollywood to recruit, Miller backtracked realizing that a big-name American actor would be too costly. By design, Miller hired unknown actors to play roles in the film so viewers wouldn’t be distracted by stars from previous projects. Miller’s first choice to play Mad Max was Irish actor James Healey, who turned down the script due to its sparse dialog.
Once Healey declined, casting director Mitch Matthews recruited several new grad students from Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art, searching for “spunky young guys” to play various roles. American-born actor Mel Gibson wowed Miller and Matthews during his audition and was cast as Max Rockatansky while still a drama student. Gibson was paid $10,000 for his performance. Meanwhile, Gibson’s friend and school roommate Steve Bisley was cast as Max’s police partner, Jim Goose. Bisley also encouraged Gibson to audition for the film. The main biker villains Nightrider (Vince Gil), Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne), and Fifi (Roger Ward) all appeared in the 1974 biker gang movie Stone, which also inspired Miller. Of course, Keays-Byrne, who patterned his performance in the original after Genghis Khan, went on to play Immortan Joe in Mad Max: Fury Road 36 years later.
Due to the limited resources and time allotted, many background biker extras In Mad Max were members of real-life outlaw motorcycle gangs in Australia that were paid in beer for their services. Several members of Toecutter’s gang were real members of The Vigilantes, a motorcycle club in Melbourne. The movie exudes a lawless sense of anarchy because of the genuine guerilla filmmaking tactics and practical moviemaking methods demonstrated throughout the production.
Charged with $400,000 budget tops, principal photography on Mad Max began in November 1977 and wrapped by December. The film was originally planned for a 10-week shoot, with six weeks dedicated to first-unit photography and four weeks on second-unit stuntwork and car chases. Unfortunately, four days into filming, original actress Rose Bailey was injured in a bike accident. Bailey, who was set to play Max’s wife Jessie Rockatansky, was replaced by Joanne Samuel after a two-week production delay. All told, first-unit filming on Mad Max took six weeks in 1977, while second-unit photography was completed over another six weeks in 1978. The majority of the film was shot in and around Melbourne in Victoria. Miller chose to film Mad Max in a widescreen anamorphic format, attempting to use lenses discarded by Sam Peckinpah for his 1972 film The Getaway. Only one of the lenses worked; a 35mm lens Miller and Director of Photography David Eggby used to film Mad Max. For one scene, Eggby held a camera while riding as a passenger on a motorcycle going 110 miles per hour. The death-defying filmmaking methods perfectly embody the spirit of the movie. Early on, road signs reading Anarchy and Bedlam can be seen, two apt descriptors not fabricated for the film. The roads genuinely exist.
A handmade labor of love in every sense, Mad Max reflects the manic antiauthoritarian energy of the production techniques themselves. Described by Miller as true “Guerilla Filmmaking,” shots were flat-out stolen by mounting cameras to the top of cars, closing roads without legal permits, and capturing footage in areas forbidden by the authorities. For example, the first scene filmed involved Tim Burns, who plays Johnny the Boy, busting the chain on the overpass phone. If you look closely, Burns appears rushed because he was. Miller lacked legal permission to film the scene and raced to capture the footage before authorities arrived. As for Burns, he remained in character during the production, annoying his cast mates to no end.
Miller and his crew avoided using walkie-talkies to remain undetected by Police scanners and often cleared road wreckages by themselves after filming crash scenes. Ironically, Miller’s attempts to avoid the authorities while making Mad Max backfired when the local police became interested in the production and assisted the filmmakers by escorting vehicles and shutting down roads to accommodate filming. The police cars in the film are not props; they are real decommissioned police vehicles that were more affordable than the alternative.
As a first-time filmmaker with a restricted budget, Miller faced several problems early on. It got so bad that Miller felt he couldn’t complete the film and quit the project. Producer and co-writer Byron Kennedy phoned fellow Aussie filmmaker Brian Trenchard-Smith and asked if he would take over directorial duties. Trenchard-Smith declined and advised Kennedy and Miller to hire a talented first assistant director instead. Miller pressed on, and completed the film, with Ian Goddard replacing Alex Rappel as the First AD. Goddard also doubled as the safety coordinator for Mad Max. Despite being a low-budget first-time film, Goddard and his four assistants were so organized in their radio communications that no road accidents occurred while filming.
Although no road accidents occurred during filming, several controlled crashes did. A local Kawasaki dealer donated 14 Kz1000 demo motorcycle models for production, only three of which were returned in complete condition. The others were deliberately crashed for the adrenaline-fuelled action scenes. By the end of filming, 14 vehicles were purposely destroyed for the crash and chase sequences. Some claim Miller’s blue Mazda Bongo van was crushed in the opening chase scene, but it was only used for the establishing shot before another was replaced for the crash.
When filming the blue van crash scene, the engine was removed from the vehicle before off-screen assistants pushed into traffic. The engineless van weighed so little that it spun out of control on impact and accentuated the explosive spectacle. Milk buckets were placed atop the van’s roof to add to the chaos.
Nightrider’s infamous death crash was filmed using a military-grade booster rocket installed in the back of his tricked-out 1972 Holden Monaro. The car was meant to crash into the fuel tanker but sped out of control, veered away, and missed its mark. The car flew off the road into a field and continued for a quarter-mile. The graphic explosion of Nightrider’s crash was filmed separately using a towed car under safer conditions.
One of Mad Max’s most memorable scenes involves Jim Goose giving the three-wheeled cyclist a “get out of jail free card.” This was a sly in-joke among Miller and his cast and crew. The real-life biker gang members used as extras were forced to drive themselves to the set because the budget couldn’t accommodate travel. As a precaution, Miller gave each biker written letters to present to police officers to get them out of trouble if they were pulled over. Due to their authentic appearances, the real-life bikers were often discriminated against and treated poorly in town.
Speaking of Goose, his fiery death was considered too graphic in New Zealand, and the film was banned in the country. The death was also similar to a real-life incident involving a biker gang in New Zealand shortly before the film came out. Following the success of The Road Warrior, Mad Max was eventually exhibited in New Zealand in 1983.
As for other real-life injuries, actress Sheila Florence, who plays Max’s friend May, also suffered a mishap. While running with the antique shotgun, Florence fell and broke her kneecap. Her hip and leg were placed in a plaster cast and Florence returned and completed her scenes.
For gearheads especially, it’s hard to discuss Mad Max without mentioning the killer cars seen onscreen. Max drives two vehicles in the film, a yellow “Interceptor” and a black “Pursuit Special.” The Interceptor was a tuned-up 1974 Ford Falcon XB that cost $3,500 to build, 3.5 times Gibson’s salary, and 1/10th of the overall budget. The Interceptor was also a former Victoria police car. Meanwhile, the Pursuit Special was a 1973 Ford XB Falcon GT351, a limited-edition hardtop model discontinued in 1976. The badass road burners are among the most iconic movie cars ever constructed and helped popularize Mad Max when it skidded into theaters.
The small budget and lack of resources for Mad Max also led to several cost-cutting measures that give the film a tactile, homemade quality. For instance, no stunt doubles were used during the fistfights; the actors performed the combat alone. Meanwhile, Mary’s home is an abandoned farmhouse that had to be furnished by the filmmakers with their personally owned items. Only Mel Gibson wears genuine leather clothing, everyone else appearing in leather wears much cheaper vinyl outfits. Looking closely, you can see several characters’ pants split horizontally at the kneecap due to the cheap material. For instance, when Max fights Johnny his left knee is torn. When he gets shot later, his right knee is ripped. When Max handcuffs Johnny in the movie, plastic toy cuffs are utilized despite Max saying they’re made out of “high-tensile steel.” The fact that Mad Max was filmed in 12 weeks with such limited resources only makes the ingenuity of Miller and his crew more impressive.
Part of the impressiveness derives from the patient post-production process. Once principal photography wrapped, Miller and Kennedy edited the film during a 4-month process in their friend’s apartment in North Melbourne. More stunning yet, they cut the film on a homemade editing machine that Kennedy’s father engineered for them to use. Editor Tony Patterson spent four months cutting the film until he had to leave for another film. Miller then worked closely with editor Cliff Hayes for three more months to finish the process. Despite Hayes and Patterson receiving official editorial credit, the final cut of Mad Max was edited by Miller and Kennedy. According to Miller, Kennedy would edit the sound in the living room while Miller would cut the images in the kitchen. Even through the post-production phase, Mad Max was stitched together by hand, giving the movie an undeniable organic quality that remains timeless.
Another unforgettable part of Mad Max is the Gothic musical score arranged by Australian composer Brian May. Not to be confused with the Queen guitarist of the same name, Brian May was instructed by Miller to create an ominous, Bernard Herrmann-style score reminiscent of classic Hitchcock movies. Miller became a fan of May after hearing the score for the 1978 sci-fi film Patrick. According to May, he and Miller spent substantial time working on the music despite having little money.
Of course, the grand irony of Mad Max – if not the historical legacy – is that it set a Guinness Book of World Record for the most profitable film in 1979. The film cost roughly $400,000 to produce and grossed over $100 million worldwide, becoming the most financially successful independent movie ever made. Mad Max held the record until The Blair Witch Project broke it in 1999. For 20 years, Mad Max reigned supreme as the king of independent movie success. The film put Australia on the map as a cinematic power player. It also launched the illustrious career of George Miller, whose legacy continues to be defined by Mad Max and its highly entertaining sequels.
Speaking of, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga blazes into theaters on May 24, 2024, continuing the lasting legacy Miller began 45 years ago. Following Furiosa, Miller plans to make Mad Max: Wasteland with Tom Hardy, which could develop as a TV show. Until then, it’s time to sign off and say, that’s What Happened to Mad Max!
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There’s something uncanny about dancing in video games. It’s a fun activity, but once it’s put in an unexpected context, things start getting weird. The dancing village in Elden Ring is one example of that, but there are also real-world events like the dancing plague of 1518 (a thing you should read about) that are…
There’s something uncanny about dancing in video games. It’s a fun activity, but once it’s put in an unexpected context, things start getting weird. The dancing village in Elden Ring is one example of that, but there are also real-world events like the dancing plague of 1518 (a thing you should read about) that are…