This weekend sees the release of Twisters, a movie that tries to continue the legacy of the classic 1996 film with new stars and cutting-edge VFX and is Universal’s next big hope for a franchise. However, stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell are an unproven commodity at the box office, and no one seems quite sure what kind of opening it will have. One way or another, it’ll open in the top spot, but box office analysts are having a field day. I’ve read reports that run a pretty wide gamut, with some naysayers predicting it won’t open above $40 million, while others, such as the usually reliable BoxOfficePro, expect it to make in the $60-75 million range (an unusually wide spread for them).
The movie’s big selling point, outside the tornadoes, is second-billed star Glen Powell, who Hollywood is positioning as the next big star. While Powell is charming and popular, his biggest hit remains Top Gun: Maverick, which was a Tom Cruise movie all the way. Anyone But You did great business, but over a long stretch of time, it initially opened poorly. While he could become a movie star in time, he’s not guaranteed box office – yet – and it’ll be interesting to see how his career pans out. Hollywood often tips leading men for stardom, but it doesn’t always work. Remember way back in 2005-2006 when Josh Lucas, fresh off of Sweet Home Alabama, was the lead in Stealth and Poseidon? Or Jai Courtenay’s run? Or Armie Hammer? There is no shade on any of these guys, but ultimately, audiences and not executives decide who a star is.
That said, I expect Twisters to open reasonably well, as one of our writers, E.J. Tangonan, told me he was turned away from a paid preview screening last night because it was sold out, which is a great sign. I expect it to make $50 million or so, with the chance it could get some overflow business once Deadpool & Wolverine takes over the box office next weekend. I caught it earlier this week and mostly enjoyed it.
Second place is pretty much a no-brainer, with Despicable Me 4 on track to make in the $25 million range, but third place will be a nail-biter. Everyone will be watching to see whether last weekend’s horror breakout, Longlegs, has (long) legs at the box office or whether Inside Out 2 will be able to overtake it. I think the latter will happen, but not by a huge margin.
Cobra Kai is striking hard and fast on Netflix today with the launch of Season 6 Part 1. The highly-anticipated season brings the core Karate Kid sequel series to what we expect is an epic conclusion as the battle for the Valley reaches a fever pitch. On Wednesday, July 17, 2024, Netflix celebrated Part 1 of the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai ahead of its launch on Thursday, July 18. The screening kicked off with an introduction from Executive Producers, Writers, and Directors Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, who announced that fans will be getting Part 2 of the final season even sooner when it premieres two weeks earlier globally on Netflix on November 15, 2024.
“You heard it here first. Send it to the internet. November 15. Same day as Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson. Netflix Fight Night. No undercard. Two main events. Let’s do it,” said Heald, Hurwitz, and Schlossberg.
It remains to be seen whether moving the Cobra KaiSeason 6 Part 2 launch to the same day as the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight is wise. I’ll watch both, though the battle between Tyson and Paul could distract Netflix subscribers from binging Cobra Kai to the end. Then again, maybe Cobra Kai is the perfect amuse-bouche for the anticipated boxing event.
In Cobra Kai Season 6, Daniel and Johnny continue to sort out their differences as they struggle to balance their martial arts styles. As students look on in disbelief, old rivalries resurface as a war for understanding and raging hormones spiral out of control. With John Kreese out of prison and training a lethal crop of fighters, the Valley falls under attack as the results of the Sekai Taikai – the world karate championships – decide far more than who takes home the trophy.
Ralph Macchio and William Zabka star as their Karate Kid characters Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, and they’re joined in the cast by Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DeCenzo, Peyton List, Vanessa Rubio, and Griffin Santopietro. Martin Kove reprises the role of John Kreese from the film, with Thomas Ian Griffith as The Karate Kid Part III villain Terry Silver and Yuji Okumoto as Chozen Toguchi from The Karate Kid Part II. As of seasons 5 and 6, Alicia Hannah-Kim plays the villainous sensei Kim Da-Eun, with C.S. Lee (Dexter) playing her grandfather, Master Kim Sun-Young, who taught the type of karate used by the students at the Cobra Kai dojo, in Season 6.
Created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, Cobra Kai starts thirty-four years after events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament when a down-and-out Johnny Lawrence sought redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai dojo, reigniting his rivalry with a now successful Daniel LaRusso. A lot has happened, and a lot has changed since that happened.
Are you excited about Cobra KaiSeason 6 Part 2 starting two weeks earlier on November 15, 2024? How do you think the series ends? Let us know in the comments section below.
PLOT: With Cobra Kai eliminated from the Valley, our senseis and students must decide if and how they will compete in the Sekai Taikai — the world championships of karate.
REVIEW: Debuting in 2018, Cobra Kai started out on the now-defunct YouTube Red before shifting to Netflix for its third season. Each new season of Cobra Kai has built on a blend of nostalgia for The Karate Kid saga along with a new generation of wholesome teen melodrama. Bringing back recognizable faces from the big screen franchise, including Martin Kove, Thomas Ian Griffith, Elizabeth Shue, and Tamlyn Tomita, has helped make the series popular with multiple generations. Still, a sense of repetitiveness has crept into the last few seasons. With the sixth season split over three parts comprising five episodes each, the first batch of episodes is supposed to build up towards the dramatic conclusion of the series but ends up treading water and padding out the final season to maximize profits rather than narrative quality. With minimal tension and familiar plotting, Part One of Cobra Kai‘s sixth season starts out underwhelmingly.
Picking up shortly after the conclusion of the fifth season, Cobra Kai was disbanded after Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) paid off a referee to garner a win for Tory Nichols (Peyton List). John Kreese (Martin Kove) also escaped from jail and is on the lam, leaving the students and senseis of Miyago-Do and Eagle Fang unified as they prepare for the international Sekai Taikai competition. With all their squabbling behind them, the combined dojo is led by Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) as a fully unified partnership for the first time. This also means that five seasons of rivalry are gone, and Cobra Kai needs something to stoke the fire between the friends and frenemies. That means a lot of scheming to try and keep rifts between Dimitri (Gianni DeCenzo) and Hawk (Jacob Bertrand), Toory and Sam (Mary Mouser), Miguel (Xolo Mariduena) and Robby (Tanner Buchanan), and Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young) and Anthony (Griffin Santopietro). Some of this falls apart quickly, especially a subplot involving Devon (Oona O’Brien) towards the end of the first batch of episodes.
To try to increase the mystery, the trailers have teased a mystery about Mr. Miyagi that Daniel discovers in a box buried at the dojo. While this is partially explored during Part 1, the true revelation of how it impacts the season remains in Part Two. Much of this first run is designed to weed out all of Johnny and Daniel’s background students as they train for the tournament, where they will have a final showdown with John Kreese. Kreese’s arc involves his return to Korea, where he first learned martial arts and builds a team to defeat his rivals back in the Valley. Martin Kove has always been the best villain in this franchise, and his return to being the main bad guy is welcome. The problem is that keeping the former Cobra Kai sensei on a different continent from the protagonists for all five episodes of Part 1 ends up diminishing what happens over these chapters to not having any true goal or momentum for the final season of a series that has been mining the same plot structure for half a decade.
Because Cobra Kai episodes clock in at right around the half-hour mark, the series has regularly kept the plot of each chapter concise as it centered on one or two characters learning a lesson that helped them hew closer to Mr. Miyagi’s message of balance before dropping a cliffhanger ending leading into the next episode. Part 1 incorporates the message of balance and callbacks to the feature films but struggles with the cliffhangers. Last season’s ending was a nice place to have left the series, and now the characters are left to think about life after high school and life after karate. It is a natural progression for the teenage characters, but the adult arcs feel more forced than ever. A significant twist that wraps up the first part of the season is the most artificial that this story has been thus far in a series that relies heavily on the lightweight conceits of teen melodrama. How these characters have not learned a single lesson that does not involve martial arts is beyond me, and it feels very stale.
Series creators Josh Heald, Hon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg do not have a writing credit until the fifteenth and final episode of the season, their first since the third season’s premiere episode. Joel Novoa directed the first two episodes of Part 1, with Ralph Macchio helming the third chapter and Sherwin Shilati directing the final two. Macchio’s episode is solid, but none delivers much in the way of original action or interesting plot developments. There have tended to be one or two episodes too many in each season of Cobra Kai to date, but this first section of the final season feels bloated and devoid of anything all that exciting. The franchise cameos and connections used to be interesting, but now they feel as telegraphed as the overly choreographed fights. The cleanliness and superficiality of Cobra Kai have always been my least favorite part of the series, and it is overwhelming in these episodes.
Because Cobra Kai VI is being released in three batches of five episodes each, we have to wait until November 28th to see how the middle chapter of the season builds on the setup of these first episodes before waiting until a currently unannounced air date in 2025 for the concluding section of the season. It is difficult to judge the overall season without having seen two-thirds of it, but the five previous seasons of Cobra Kai hit a speed bump in the middle after starting out strong. The concluding episodes of Cobra Kai have historically been the strongest, but this is the first season where the opening chapters completely underwhelmed me. With too many red herrings and retreads of previous conflicts, Cobra Kai VI opens with a disappointing start to what should have been a slam-dunk wrap for this popular franchise. Maybe because a feature film is on the way, there is still hope for this story, but it feels more than ever before like Cobra Kai has run out of steam.
Part 1 of Cobra Kai VI will premiere with five episodes on July 18th on Netflix.
SPOILERS for the season finale of The Acolyte. After eight episodes, The Acolyte has come to an end with plenty of surprises, but it also left a number of dangling threads that will hopefully be picked up in a second season, including a certain cameo from a character who has never been seen in a Star Wars movie or TV show until now.
A mere 12 minutes into the finale, The Stranger (Manny Jacinto) and Osha (Amandla Stenberg) depart in search of Mae, but they’re watched by a mysterious figure lurking in the shadows. While speaking with IndieWire, The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland confirmed that the cameo was none other than Darth Plagueis, the future master of Sheev Palpatine. The character was first mentioned in Revenge of the Sith when Palpatine tells Anakin Skywalker about “the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise,” a Sith who was so powerful he had the power to create life.
Headland always wanted to include the character in The Acolyte. “Plagueis was always in the finale, in every version,” she said, but added that Plagueis was originally set to appear in the final moments instead of the episode’s other cameo. “There was a version where he was the button of the finale [instead of Yoda],” Headland said. “[But] You want to feel Osha’s triumph. You want to feel her joining forces with The Stranger. Plagueis stepped on [that moment].”
Plagueis is known to be obsessed with achieving immortality, so you can understand why he would be interested in Osha and Mae as the first step to his plans. Given what we know of the future, his presence also likely spells doom for Osha and the Stranger. “Even though [Osha and The Stranger] are standing there, sort of looking out at the sunset, ready to conquer the world, the tragedy is we know they don’t,” Headland explained. “We know there can only be two. We know Plagueis is there. We know that these two are doomed in some way. So to me it’s a bittersweet tragedy, this foreboding ending. But that’s because I know about the Sith lineage and all these other things, whereas I think a different subset of the audience can be like, ‘They’re married!’“
Despite a rather divided reaction, The Acolyte has proven to be a success for Disney+ as it was the streaming service’s biggest series premiere of the year. You can check out a review from our own Alex Maidy right here.
As you can see, the Alien: Romulus popcorn bucket is a reproduction of the head of a Xenomorph, but somewhat surprisingly, they’ve chosen to put a lid on the top of the head for the popcorn rather than using the mouth. Feels like a missed opportunity. Are they too worried people are trying to have sex with these things?
Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, Alien: Romulus will follow “a group of young people on a distant world who find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.” The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Industry), Isabela Merced (Madame Web), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (The Batman), and Aileen Wu (Away from Home). In addition to directing the movie, Fede Álvarez also co-wrote the script alongside Rodo Sayagues.
The cast has recently been hyping up the movie, particularly when it comes to scares and gore. Merced said, “I really do believe that there are specific sequences in this film that will scar some kids that sneak into the movie for life.” Jonsson agreed, saying, “You can definitely say goodbye to a 12A (rating). The halfway house with Fede is just not his style. If you’re going to try and scare people, then you scare them.” Spaeny added, “(Fede is always) waiting to do something strange and twisted. And you know he’s got it when you’re right on the edge of going, ‘Should we do this?’ That’s when you know, ‘OK, Fede is in his sweet spot.’“
Merced has previously teased that the movie has a scene so disgusting that many members of the audience will have to look away. Bring it on! Alien: Romulus will be released in theaters on August 16th.
What do you think of the Alien: Romulus popcorn bucket? How does it stack up against the Dune: Part Two and Deadpool & Wolverine buckets?
FX chairman John Landgraf is having a very good day, with the programmer scoring 93 nominations at the 76th Emmy Awards. He spoke with Variety about FX’s good fortune and dropped a few details about some upcoming shows, including the possible title of Noah Hawley’s Alien TV series.
“Noah is deep in work on Season 1 of ‘Alien: Earth’ right now,” Landgraf said. “We’re in post-production, and we are talking to him and watching cuts every week.“
Landgraf continued, saying he’s very optimistic about the series and hopes Hawley will write at least two seasons before returning to Fargo season 6: “We’re pretty bullish on ‘Alien: Earth’ and we’ve told him that assuming, as we hope, ‘Alien: Earth’ is a returning television series, we want him to focus on on at least writing two seasons of it before returning to a possible sixth season of ‘Fargo.’“
Sydney Chandler, who stars in the Alien TV series as Wendy, recently revealed that she has finished shooting the series. Her character is said to be a hybrid meta-human with the brain and consciousness of a child but the body of an adult. The series also stars Essie Davis, Alex Lawther, Kit Young, Adarsh Gourav, Timothy Olyphant, and more.
Noah Hawley has teased that the series will open up the typically confined stakes of the franchise. “The alien stories are always trapped … trapped in a prison, trapped in a spaceship,” Hawley said. “I thought it would be interesting to open it up a little bit so that the stakes of ‘What happens if you can’t contain it?’ are more immediate.“
Corporations, including the infamous Weylan-Yutani, are also said to play a major role in the series. “In the movies, we have this Weyland-Yutani Corporation, which is clearly also developing artificial intelligence—but what if there are other companies trying to look at immortality in a different way, with cyborg enhancements or transhuman downloads?” Hawley said. “Which of those technologies is going to win? It’s ultimately a classic science fiction question: does humanity deserve to survive? As Sigourney Weaver said in that second movie, ‘I don’t know which species is worse. At least they don’t f*ck each other over for a percentage.’“
What do you think of Alien: Earth as the title of the TV series?
Tigers Are Not Afraid filmmaker Issa López, who directed and co-wrote all six episodes of the fourth season of the HBO anthology crime series True Detective (a season that’s known as True Detective: Night Country), is coming back to do another season of the show – and now that True Detective: Night Country has received multiple Emmy nominations, López told Deadline that she is feeling “reinvigorated” as she moves forward with making True Detective season 5, which has a fun, dark story in place.
True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto was the mastermind behind the first three seasons of the show, but once the third season wrapped up, his HBO deal expired and he signed a new (short-lived) deal with FX. HBO retained the ownership rights to True Detective, and with Pizzolatto gone they were interested in bringing in someone who had “a fresh voice with a different point of view” to oversee the show. That search led them to Issa López.
True Detective: Night Country was the most-watched season of the show, averaging 12.7 million cross-platform viewers, with 3.2 million checking out the season finale on the day of its release. Now it’s up for an Emmy in 19 categories, including Best Limited or Anthology Series, Best Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or a Movie (Jodie Foster), Best Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (John Hawkes), and Best Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (Kali Reis), with López nominated in Outstanding Writing and Directing categories. The full list of the show’s nominations can be found on the Emmys website.
When called to comment on the nominations, López told Deadline, “A dear friend of mine came today at 8 a.m. with a bottle of champagne, and it’s still waiting in the fridge. We’re going to crack it open the moment that I’m done with calls. I’m a happy person. I’ve had a beautiful life. This is one of the best mornings in my life.” She added that she’s currently writing scripts for True Detective season 5, which has a “fun, dark, f*cked up story.” She said, “I am so stoked for the new season,” and that she’s aiming to make it even better than True Detective: Night Country.
What do you think of True Detective: Night Country being up for 19 Emmy awards? Are you looking forward to finding out what sort of story Issa López has come up with for True Detective season 5? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Dune: Part Two won’t be our only trip to Frank Herbert’s sci-fi universe this year, as Dune: Prophecy is set to debut on HBO this fall. We’re set to get a fresh look at Dune: Prophecy as it’s been revealed that a new teaser trailer for the prequel series will drop tomorrow. Can’t wait!
Dune: Prophecy will be “told through the eyes of a mysterious order of women known as the Bene Gesserit. Given extraordinary abilities by their mastery of the body and the mind, the Bene Gesserit expertly weave through the feudal politics and intrigue of The Imperium, pursuing plans of their own that will ultimately lead them to the enigmatic planet Arrakis, known to its inhabitants as Dune.” The six-episode series is set “10,000 years prior to the events of Dune and follows the Harkonnen Sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.“
The series stars Emily Watson as Valya Harkonnen, leader of the sisterhood, Olivia Williams as Tula Harkonnen, Valya’s sister, Jodhi May as Empress Natalya, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Princess Ynez, Shalom Brune-Franklin as Mikaela, Faoileann Cunningham as Sister Jen, Aoife Hinds as Sister Emeline, Chloe Lea as Lila, Travis Fimmel as Desmond Hart, Mark Strong as Emperor Javicco Corrino, Jade Anouka as Sister Theodosia, and Chris Manson as Keiran Atreides.
As for where the Dune franchise goes next, Denis Villeneuve will return for Dune Messiah, although he previously said he wanted to take a break from Arrakis after spending the last six years working on the first two movies.
“I felt that it was a good idea to move forward right after Part One. We were already designing, writing et cetera. But it also meant that for six years I was on Arrakis non-stop, and I think it will be healthy to step back a little bit,” Villeneuve said. “First, make sure that we have a strong screenplay. The thing I want to avoid is not having something ready. I never did it, and now I feel it could be dangerous because of the enthusiasm. We need to make sure all the ideas are on paper.“
Villeneuve added, “If we go back, it needs to be real, it needs to be relevant, if ever I do Dune Messiah, [it’s] because it’s going to be better than Part Two. Otherwise, I don’t do it.” Earlier this year, the director said he was already writing the third installment. “That anger [felt by Zendaya’s character at the end of Dune: Part Two] is tremendous,” he said. “I don’t want to reveal what I’m going to do with the third movie. I know exactly what to do. I’m writing it right now. But there’s a lot of firepower there, and I’m very excited about that decision.“
However, Warner Bros. slated an “Untitled Denis Villeneuve Event Film” for a December 18, 2026 release last month, leading some to wonder whether the director could be returning to the franchise sooner than expected.
Be sure to check back here tomorrow for the new Dune: Prophecy teaser trailer!
