We’ve seen several high-profile directors take shots at Marvel movies over the years, including Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, but Chris Hemsworth isn’t standing for it.

While speaking with The Times, the Thor actor opened up about how it feels to hear such harsh criticism from filmmakers he looks up to. “It felt harsh, and it bothers me, especially from heroes. It was an eye-roll for me, people bashing the superhero space,” Hemsworth said. “Those guys had films that didn’t work too — we all have. When they talked about what was wrong with superheroes, I thought, cool, tell that to the billions who watch them. Were they all wrong?“

Hemsworth added, “Cinema-going did not change because of superheroes, but because of smartphones and social media. Superhero films actually kept people in the cinemas during that transition, and now people are coming back. So they deserve a little more appreciation.“

Chris Hemsworth will next be seen in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga as Dementus. Joining the Mad Max franchise has been a long-time goal for the actor. In fact, he told Entertainment Weekly that he wanted to audition to play Max Rockatansky himself in Mad Max: Fury Road but couldn’t get his foot in the door. “[I] couldn’t even get a call or a meeting or anything,” Hemsworth said. “I just hadn’t done enough to warrant that.” When Fury Road was finally released, Hemsworth got his agent on the phone immediately. “I was completely absorbed and taken for the adventure and the ride. I said, ‘I’ve got to work with this guy, he’s a genius,’” Hemsworth said. “And then, the rest is history.“

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 will hit theaters on May 24th.

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Sony has named existing company veterans Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino as the new heads of PlayStation. Hulst will take over and run a new Studio Business Group while Nishino is in charge of the Platform Business Group. The division of roles replaces former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan, who…

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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is now playing in theaters with an impressive box-office opening which all but guarantees we haven’t seen the last of those damn dirty apes. It remains to be seen how many more sequels we’ll get, but Planet of the Apes franchise producers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, who also wrote Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, told THR that they originally envisioned a nine movie arc for the modern franchise.

“When you first came up with this idea, the Apes franchise way back, you saw nine movies,” Silver said. “We thought, ‘This is crazy ambitious.’ But here we are. We’re at four.“

“I saw nine. I don’t know if we’ll make it to nine. I would love it,” Jaffa replied. “We’ve spoken to not just [director Wes Ball, writer Josh Friedman] and [producer] Joe Hartwick Jr., but to Steve Asbell and Scott Aversano at [20th Century Studios] about what these next movies can be.”

Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes grew into one of the best trilogies out there, and I’ve got high hopes that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will serve as the beginning of its own excellent trilogy. As for what lies beyond? Who’s to say? Maybe we’ll finally reach the point of the original 1968 movie and witness astronaut George Taylor plummet through the atmosphere and crash land on the Planet of the Apes.

Although our own Chris Bumbray felt let down by the second half of the latest Apes movie, he did find plenty to enjoy. “[Wes] Ball ended up making a good Planet of the Apes movie; even if it’s not quite the masterpiece some of those breathless early reactions teased,” Bumbray wrote. “In my opinion, there’s never actually been a bad Planet of the Apes movie, as the premise is just so interesting. Kingdom tries to act as a bit of a bridge between the Caesar trilogy and the original Apes series from the sixties and seventies. They use some of the same iconic shots and locations, and the score by John Paesano nods at Jerry Goldsmith’s classic score for the original in a pretty pleasing way.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes “breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.” Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is now playing in theaters, so be sure to check out our ranking of the entire franchise and vote for your favourite Apes movie!

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We’re big champions of physical media here at JoBlo, and despite ongoing claims that it will soon be going the way of the Dodo, we’ve yet to see its demise. Kevin Costner is also a big fan of physical media, and when asked by Deadline about the supposed “death of the DVD,” he was quick to jump to its defence.

“Death of the what? DVD is not dead, at all,” Kevin Costner said. “That’s what they’d have you believe. Maybe it’s not making the same amount of money, but just try to go ask for that from the studio. They won’t give that up. A lot of people that like my movies, they can’t get to a theater, and they’re waiting for that moment. You can’t make your film for the opening weekend. You have to make it for its life.“

While it’s true that studios haven’t been putting the same importance on physical media as they once did, it’s been great to see boutique labels pick up the slack over the years. Lesser-known movies from around the globe have been given the prestige treatment, and I’ve certainly discovered many new favourites thanks to Criterion, Arrow Video, Kino Lorber, Vinegar Syndrome, Shout/Scream Factory, and more. Additionally, fans are growing tired of content purges on streaming services, which could be leading to a physical media comeback.

Kevin Costner’s next project is Horizon: An American Saga, which will span two parts (and perhaps more). In addition to directing and starring in the two-film saga, Costner also produced the project and co-wrote the script alongside Jon Baird. “In the great tradition of Warner Bros. Pictures’ iconic Westerns, Horizon: An American Saga explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won—and lost—through the blood, sweat, and tears of many,” reads the official synopsis. “Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Kevin Costner’s ambitious cinematic adventure will take audiences on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends, and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America.” Despite the project playing a role in his departure from Yellowstone, I think a lot of fans are very excited about this one.

Horizon also boasts quite the epic ensemble cast, which includes (take a deep breath here) Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Danny Huston, Michael Rooker, Will Patton, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Ella Hunt, Tim Guinee, Colin Cunningham, Scott Haze, Tom Payne, Abbey Lee, Georgia MacPhail, Douglas Smith, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Alejandro Edda, Wasé Winyan Chief, Michael Anganaro, Angus Macfadyen, Jon Beavers, Alex Nibley, Kathleen Quinlan, Etienne Kellici, Amos Jason Charging Cloud, Bodhi Okuma Linton, Gregory Cruz, James Russo, Jeff Fahey, David O’Hara, Chris Conner, Leroy M. Silva, Bernardo Velasco, Tom Everett, Glynn Turman, and more. Phew.

The first part of Horizon: An America Saga will be released in theaters on June 28th, followed by the second part on August 16th. Maybe we’ll even get one of Costner’s famous director’s commentaries for the Blu-ray release.

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Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and its follow-up expanded release, Substance, released on the PS2 all the way back in the early 2000s, dramatically expanding the gameplay systems of Metal Gear Solid and opening the narrative up to wild and unexpected twists and turns.

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Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and its follow-up expanded release, Substance, released on the PS2 all the way back in the early 2000s, dramatically expanding the gameplay systems of Metal Gear Solid and opening the narrative up to wild and unexpected twists and turns.

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With the release of MaXXXine less than two months away, Ti West is setting up his next project, which sounds like another helping of pure ’80s sleaze. According to scooper Daniel Richtman, Zac Efron is reportedly in talks to star in Night Business, a series adaptation of the cult graphic novel by Benjamin Marra, which Ti West will direct.

A24 will produce the Night Business series with Nathaniel Halpern (Legion) writing the script and serving as showrunner. Here’s the logline: “In this 1980s-trash-culture homage where a knife-wielding killer is on the loose, committing extreme acts of violence on exotic dancers. Only one man has a will powerful enough to stop this psychopath: Johnny Timothy. But can Johnny mete out his vengeance before more innocent victims have to die? A nasty brew of power, passion, vigilantes, and dangerous men raining street justice down upon their enemies.” Zac Efron would play Johnny Timothy, the man with two first names.

Night Business sounds like it could be a wild ride, and a team-up between Ti West and Zac Efron has a lot of potential. I’ve always been a fan of West, but Efron has really been stretching his acting muscles lately, particularly with his outstanding performance in The Iron Claw.

As for MaXXXine, the latest installment of the X franchise takes place in 1980s Hollywood, where adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) finally gets her big break. But as a mystery killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.

There have been rumblings that the sequel is a “good old whodunit slasher,” but Goth has teased that she views MaXXXine as more of a superhero movie. “That’s how I read the script,” Goth said. “Maxine, as a character, has come a long way. She’s a survivor, she’s gone through a lot. When we meet her again, in this new world that she’s in, she’s really fought for everything that she has, and she’s not about to give that up. She’s going to fight for what she has. She’s a badass. There’s a strength to her. And she’s a really proactive, determined, focused woman. She goes after what she wants, and she’s not really going to take no for an answer.” MaXXXine will hit theaters on July 5th, and it’s possible the franchise could continue should the film prove to be a success.

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There’s a scene late in Hi-Fi Rush, the rhythm action game by the now-defunct Tango Gameworks, in which protagonist Chai explores a museum dedicated to the antagonistic, oppressive megacorp Vandelay Technologies. In it, the corporation tells a sanitized version of its own history, one that glosses over the impact of…

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There’s a scene late in Hi-Fi Rush, the rhythm action game by the now-defunct Tango Gameworks, in which protagonist Chai explores a museum dedicated to the antagonistic, oppressive megacorp Vandelay Technologies. In it, the corporation tells a sanitized version of its own history, one that glosses over the impact of…

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When Sydney Sweeney brandishes a curiously phallic laser gun for her reimagining of Barbarella, she could be doing so under the watchful eye of Edgar Wright (Last Night in Soho, Baby Driver, Scott Pilgrim vs the World). According to Deadline, Wright is in talks to direct Barbarella, with Jane and Honey Goldman negotiating to co-write the script.

As Deadline notes, bringing Jane Goldman aboard shows how serious Sony is about assigning strong talent to Sweeney’s dream project. Jane Goldman’s writing credits include screenplays for Kick-Ass, Kingsman: The Secret Service, X-Men: First Class, Stardust, the upcoming Kingsman: The Blue Blood, and more.

During the backlash for Sony’s abysmal Marvel film Madame Web, Sweeney said she joined the film to position herself to pitch Anyone But You. The rom-com was an admirable success, with $219M+ worldwide. With Sweeney being a bankable star at the studio, Sony is ready to shoot her into space for an action-packed remake of Roger Vadim’s 1968 science-fiction classic starring Jane Fonda as Barbarella.

In Vadim’s Barbarella, an astronaut in the 41st century embarks on sexy misadventures while seeking to stop a nefarious scientist who threatens to bring evil back into the galaxy. Deadline says Wright has had his eye on Barbarella for a while. He met with Sweeney after the project was announced but had yet to agree to direct it. Now, Wright is adding Barbarella to his list of upcoming endeavors.

Before rolling cameras on Barbarella, Wright is teaming up with Glen Powell, Sweeney’s Anyone But You co-star, for a remake of Stephen King’s The Running Man. Between Wright’s unique visual style, Jane and Honey Goldman’s combined talents, and Sweeney’s rise in star power, Barbarella could be the action blockbuster Sony’s been waiting for.

While talking about the character, Sweeney said, “Barbarella is just such a fun character to explore. She really just embraces her femininity and her sexuality, and I love that. She uses sex as a weapon and I think it’s such an interesting way into a sci-fi world. I’ve always wanted to do sci-fi. So we’ll see what happens.”

Are you excited about Edgar Wright getting behind the camera for Sydney Sweeney’s Barbarella? Are you a fan of the original film? Let us know in the comments below.

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