As Gru and his Minions continue to dominate global box office charts, DESPICABLE ME 4 will be available exclusively on digital platforms to own or rent tomorrow, August 6, 2024, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Hailed as “The funniest movie of the summer” (Dave Morales, Fox TV Houston), this latest installment now includes two never-before-seen Minion Mini-Movies, Benny’s Birthday and Game Over and Over, only when you purchase from participating retailers nationwide including Amazon, Apple, Fandango at Home (formerly Vudu), Comcast Xfinity, Cox, and Verizon.
The world’s favorite supervillain-turned-Anti-Villain-League-agent returns for a bold new era of Minions mayhem in Illumination’s DESPICABLE ME 4, now with 2 mini-movies. Gru, Lucy and their girls welcome a new member to the family – Gru Jr. – who is intent on tormenting his dad, as a new nemesis shows up and forces the family to go on the run. This latest blockbuster chapter in the biggest global animated franchise in history is packed with nonstop action and filled with Illumination’s signature subversive humor.
Directed by Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage, DESPICABLE ME 4 stars Steve Carell (The Office, Despicable Me franchise) alongside Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live, Despicable Me franchise). The cast also includes Will Ferrell (Anchorman, Elf), Sofia Vergara (Modern Family, Griselda), Joey King (The Kissing Booth, The Act), Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Monsters vs. Aliens), and Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly, Despicable Me franchise).
BONUS FEATURES:
TWO EXCLUSIVE MINION MINI MOVIES
Game Over and Over – After stumbling upon a powered-up game controller inside Gru’s lair, the mischievous Minions discover its ability to control one another, unleashing mayhem as they compete for high scores.
Benny’s Birthday – Benny finds himself trapped in a time loop of a Minion-style birthday party, encountering uproarious mischief at every turn.
We’re just days away from having the chance to see director Fede Álvarez’s contribution to the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus, which is set to reach theatres on August 16th – and during an interview with SFX magazine, Álvarez revealed that he was so dedicated to trying to make his movie look like Ridley Scott’s original Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, he even compared his shots to scans of a 35mm print of Alien and drew inspiration from concept art that was created for that film and its sequel.
Álvarez told the magazine, “We have a scan of the original 35mm print of Alien and we put it on the screen side by side with ours. Obviously that would do nothing if we didn’t do our job on the day (with the lighting).” The events of this film take place in between the events of Scott’s Alien and Cameron’s Aliens, and the director said that, “Visually, half of the work is that: just making sure that it looks like you’re in that universe.“
Álvarez added that he and production designer Naaman Marshall worked hard to make sure the Alien: Romulus sets would look like the Alien and Aliens sets and went through concept art Ron Cobb created for those movies. “We dug out a lot of concept art that was done for those movies that wasn’t even used, and figured out a way to be inspired by that and put it in this movie.“
When this project was announced near the start of 2022, it was said that Álvarez pitched the idea to Ridley Scott years ago and it stuck with Scott. So in late 2021, he called Álvarez and asked if he still wanted to make an Alien movie. Clearly, the answer was yes. 20th Century Studios division president Steve Asbell told The Hollywood Reporter that they picked up the project “purely off the strength of Fede’s pitch. It was just a really good story with a bunch of characters you haven’t seen before.“
It has also been said that the story Álvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues crafted for Alien: Romulus is not connected to the other films in the Alien franchise – but it’s not ignoring any of the other entries, either. Álvarez has been clear about the fact that his story takes place within the established franchise continuity. In fact, it slots right in between the events of Alien and Aliens. It has the following official logline: The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), Isabela Merced (Madame Web), David Jonsson (Industry), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (The Batman), and Aileen Wu (Away from Home). Merced has previously said there’s a scene in the film that’s so disgusting that a lot of viewers will have to look away. Graphic and gruesome is what we expected from this movie as soon as it was announced that it was being made by the director of Evil Dead 2013 and Don’t Breathe. It has received an R rating for bloody violent content and language.
Are you looking forward to Alien: Romulus, and are you glad to hear that Fede Álvarez was so dedicated to making sure his film looks like Alien and Aliens? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The Jeepers Creepers franchise began with a bang in 2001, capturing the imaginations and nightmares of horror fans with its introduction of the Creeper, a demonic entity that awakens every 23 years to feast on human flesh. Directed by Victor Salva, the original film stood out for its eerie atmosphere, relentless suspense, and the enigmatic terror of the Creeper, portrayed by Jonathan Breck. It struck a chord with audiences, becoming a sleeper hit and grossing over $59 million worldwide. The sequel in 2003 continued to build on this mythology, focusing on a group of stranded teenagers and further cementing the Creeper as a formidable horror icon despite mixed reviews. However, the third installment in 2017 signaled a steep decline, with a disjointed narrative, lackluster special effects, and a failure to capture the franchise’s original suspense and terror. Despite these ups and downs, the franchise’s enduring legacy and dedicated fanbase prompted a reboot with Jeepers Creepers: Reborn (watch it HERE). The announcement of this new film sparked hope for a revival, especially with the fresh creative vision promised by new director Timo Vuorensola. However, this latest film has not only failed to revive the franchise but has also plunged it into deeper disarray, alienating long-time fans and failing to attract new ones. Let’s find out if this rebirth of The Creeper is worth breaking out cigars over as we find out what happened to Jeepers Creepers: Reborn.
The Jeepers Creepers saga began in 2001 and was directed by Victor Salva, an actual creeper. It was a fresh, terrifying entry in the horror genre, drawing comparisons to classics like Duel. With a modest budget and a compelling premise, the film became a sleeper hit, grossing over $59 million worldwide. The sequel, Jeepers Creepers 2, continued the story and expanded the Creeper’s mythology. Set during the last day of the Creeper’s 23-day feeding frenzy, it focused on a school bus full of a high school basketball team stranded on a remote highway. It was an interesting idea, drawing inspiration from Jaws and Hitchcock’s Lifeboat. I have a fun little side story about this film. I actually auditioned for the part of nerdy kid Andy Buck. My audition seemed to have gone well, but then I decided to be a know-it-all and drop a little knowledge for the filmmakers. Having just graduated from high school, I told them they might want to change the script since the story takes place in the spring, and high school basketball is a fall/winter sport unless the director was keen on having a large number of shirtless jocks in the film. The casting director agreed, and I didn’t get the part. Oh well. Despite mixed reviews, it performed well at the box office, cementing the Creeper’s status as a horror icon. In 2006, a third film was announced. However, unable to find financing, MGM backed out. After a long hiatus, the third installment, Jeepers Creepers 3, was released in 2017 without the involvement of Francis Ford Coppola, the producer of the first two. This film, set between the events of the first two movies, failed to capture the suspense and terror that initially captivated audiences. Plagued by a disjointed narrative and poor special effects, it signaled a decline in the franchise’s quality.
The journey to the rebirth of the Creeper began in 2018 when the film was first announced. However, it faced several delays, largely due to legal issues surrounding Victor Salva. Salva’s criminal past, involving a conviction for sexual misconduct with a minor in 1988, resurfaced and created a backlash against his continued involvement in the franchise. This led to the decision to distance the project from Salva, both creatively and in terms of promotion. Enter Timo Vuorensola, a Finnish director known for his work on the cult sci-fi comedy Iron Sky, to helm the project. His appointment was seen as a chance to revitalize the series with a new creative vision. The script was penned by Jake Seal and Sean-Michael Argo. Reborn is Seal’s only writing credit, but he produced Jeepers Creepers 3 as well as Willy’s Wonderland. Sean Michael Argo also doesn’t have much to his name other than low-budget sci-fi films. The idea was to set the film at a horror festival, tapping into the meta-horror trend. This concept, while innovative, proved challenging to execute effectively. The script attempted to weave in self-aware horror elements, but the result was a disjointed narrative that failed to build tension or deliver effective scares.
The cast includes Sydney Craven as Laine and Imran Adams as Chase, the central couple attending the ill-fated horror festival. Craven is known for her work on the BBC TV series EastEnders as well as appearing in the 2023 horror comedy Slotherhouse. Adams only has five credits to his name, mostly British TV work like the series Ghosts. Despite their potential, their performances were hampered by a lackluster script and underdeveloped characters. The supporting cast featured a mix of festival-goers, including a horror vlogger and various other attendees, who served primarily as fodder for the Creeper. The characters lacked depth and emotional resonance, making it difficult for audiences to invest in their fates. However, the most well-known cast member is Dee Wallace, who appears in the film’s opening segment.
The movie follows couple Chase and Laine as they head to the Horror Hound festival in BFE Louisiana. Chase, a paranormal enthusiast, is especially fascinated by the local legend of The Creeper, who has been dormant for the past 23 years. During a stop at a gift shop, Laine experiences a disturbing premonition upon touching a mysterious artifact. The shop owner, Lady Manilla, cryptically warns them about the Creeper. At the festival, Laine picks up a supposed weapon of The Creeper and discovers an unexpected skill in throwing it. As the festivities continue, the Creeper arrives, knocking out the internet and beginning its hunt for fresh victims. Chase and Laine win a raffle for a night at an abandoned plantation house, now an escape room, hosted by festival organizer Madam Carnage. As they prepare to visit the house, Laine starts having visions of herself in a ritualistic scenario.
Joined by a cameraman, his crew, and local tour guide Stu, the group heads to the plantation. They pass through an old graveyard where the Creeper ambushes them, killing the cameraman and kidnapping Laine just as Chase proposes. Laine wakes up bound on a table, her abdomen pierced by the Creeper.
Inside the house, chaos ensues as the group argues over their predicament. Stu fires his pistol, attracting the Creeper’s attention, which leaves Laine and hunts the rest through the house, killing everyone except for Chase and Stu. Laine manages to free herself and reunites with them, revealing her pregnancy and the Creeper’s specific interest in her.
They uncover a horrifying truth: Madam Carnage, Lady Manilla, and others have been worshiping the Creeper and luring victims to the house for its feeding. Determined to survive, they devise a plan to lure the Creeper outside. Laine blinds the Creeper with the shuriken, and Chase and Stu push a weathervane onto it, impaling the monster. A murder of crows descends, consuming the Creeper and inadvertently killing Stu by pushing him off the roof.
As Chase and Laine leave the scene, thinking the ordeal is over, the film closes with the Creeper regenerating and unleashing a chilling roar, hinting that the terror is far from over.
As with many film productions in recent years, Jeepers Creepers: Reborn faced significant delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming locations and schedules had to be adjusted to comply with health guidelines, adding to the already complicated production timeline. This disruption further hampered the creative process, forcing the team to make compromises on set designs and special effects.
Timo Vuorensola approached this project with all the finesse of a sledgehammer. The pacing was erratic, the scares were telegraphed from a mile away, and the tension was non-existent. Vuorensola, appeared to struggle with transitioning from sci-fi comedy to horror. His direction failed to capture the suspense and atmosphere that are crucial for a successful horror film. The cinematography by Simon Rowling did nothing to elevate the material. The festival setting, which could have been a vibrant, chaotic backdrop, was instead a murky, poorly lit mess. The Creeper’s scenes, intended to be the highlight, were shot with such incompetence that it was hard to discern what was happening. The creature’s design, which once had a primal, almost Lovecraftian appeal, now looked like something out of a cheap Halloween store.
In an era where even low-budget films can achieve decent special effects, “Jeepers Creepers: Reborn” seemed determined to buck the trend. The CGI was laughably bad, making the Creeper look like a Halloween store mask. The effects fared no better; gore and creature designs that should have been visceral and terrifying came off as amateurish and uninspired. The soundtrack, much like the rest of the film, was a cacophony of missed opportunities. There was no memorable score to speak of, just a series of generic, uninspired tracks that failed to build atmosphere or tension. Sound design, an often-overlooked aspect of horror, was equally lackluster. The Creeper’s growls and the screams of victims were mixed in such a way that they became grating rather than terrifying.
The movie was only released in the US in September 2022 for only a few days, although it was supposed to be released a year prior. The production company behind the previous two entries, Myriad Pictures, filed a lawsuit against Infinity Films Holdings, claiming the film was made without Myriad’s knowledge. A trial was originally set to begin in January 2024, but as of now, the case is still pending.
Setting the film at a horror festival could have been a stroke of genius. The meta-narrative potential, the opportunity to play with horror conventions and audience expectations, was immense. Yet, Jeepers Creepers: Reborn squandered this potential at every turn. The festival, rather than being a lively, engaging setting, became a backdrop for a series of uninspired kills. The Creeper, a character that once held a place in the pantheon of horror icons, was reduced to a joke. There was no mystique, no terror, just a tired monster going through the motions. The film’s attempts to delve into the Creeper’s origins and motivations were half-baked and unnecessary, stripping away the enigma that made the character interesting in the first place.
Every now and then, a film comes along that’s so bad it’s good—a true masterpiece of unintended comedy and cinematic ineptitude. Think of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room with its bewildering dialogue and earnest yet incompetent performances. Or Neil Breen’s Fateful Findings, a surreal trip through the mind of a filmmaker who defies all storytelling conventions. These films cross into the realm of cult classics because their failures are endearing, their sincerity palpable. Jeepers Creepers: Reborn, however, barely skirts this line. It flirts with unintentional comedy but never fully commits. It’s not enjoyably bad; it’s just bad. There’s even a scene in the movie where Laine constantly enters the room in a new outfit that was straight out of a 90s flick. The only thing missing was the song by Right Said Fred.
Given the overwhelmingly negative reception, the future of the Jeepers Creepers franchise is uncertain. While there is always the potential for a more competent filmmaker to step in and restore some dignity to the series, Jeepers Creepers: Reborn has undoubtedly left a sour taste in the mouths of fans. It’s a reminder that reviving a franchise requires more than just a recognizable monster; it requires a genuine understanding of what made the original films resonate with audiences.
So, do yourself a favor. Skip this one. Go back and watch the original Jeepers Creepers, flawed though it may be, and remember a time when the Creeper was a figure of genuine terror. Because Jeepers Creepers: Reborn is a resurrection that should never have happened. In the grand tapestry of horror cinema, this film is a stain that only reminds us of what could have been. It’s a movie that fails on every conceivable level, a disastrous attempt to cash in on a legacy that deserved better. As horror fans, we can only hope that this misstep leads to more thoughtful and inspired contributions to the genre in the future.
A couple of the previous episodes of WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
Following the success of their feature debut, the horror film Talk to Me, the directing duo of Danny and Michael Philippou signed on to make a new film adaptation of the Street Fighter video game franchise, started developing a Talk to Me sequel titled Talk 2 Me, and let it be known that they had already shot some sort of Talk to Me prequel (but it’s not clear if or when we’ll get to see that footage), had an action drama project they’d like to make, and also had a horror script called Bring Her Back that they wanted to get into production. They were so dedicated to getting Bring Her Back made that they droppedStreet Fighter in favor of their horror movie, which started filming earlier this year. Now Michael Philippou has taken to social media to let his followers know that Bring Her Back has wrapped after 41 days of filming!
Bring Her Back is coming our way from A24, the company that also sent Talk to Me out into the world. The film is being produced by Talk To Me producers Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton of Causeway Films. A Deadline report about the film revealed that the Philippous are also working on “a documentary project inspired by their own journey into the world of international underground deathmatch wrestling.”
Plot details are also being kept under wraps, but we do know that the cast of Bring Her Back includes Billy Barratt (Invasion), Jonah Wren Philips (Sweet Tooth), Sally-Anne Upton (Wentworth), Stephen Phillips (The Leftovers), newcomer Sora Wong, and two-time Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins of The Shape of Water and Blue Jasmine. Details on the characters these actors will be playing have not been revealed.
In case you missed Talk to Me, that movie has the following synopsis: When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. Sophia Wilde (You Don’t Know Me), Miranda Otto (Annabelle: Creation), Alexandra Jensen (Frayed), Joe Bird (First Day), Otis Djanji (Aquaman), and Zoe Terakes (Wentworth) star.
Are you a fan of Talk to Me, and are you looking forward to seeing what the Philippous do with Bring Her Back? Now that filming has wrapped, let us know by leaving a comment below.
Who needs another Nintendo Direct when the company is willing to randomly dish on its next Zelda game with an unexpected five-minute trailer? The latest info dump for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom gives a tour of the Hyrule players will get to explore in the series’ latest top-down sequel for Switch, and it…
Who needs another Nintendo Direct when the company is willing to randomly dish on its next Zelda game with an unexpected five-minute trailer. The latest info dump for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom gives a tour of the Hyrule players will get to explore in the series’ latest top-down sequel for Switch, and it…
The video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s (read our review HERE) quickly became Blumhouse Productions’ highest-grossing movie when it reached theatres and the Peacock streaming service back in October, surpassing the likes of Split, The Invisible Man, The Black Phone, M3GAN, the recent Halloween sequel trilogy, and the Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and The Purge franchises with its haul of $295 million. So, of course, there’s a sequel coming our way, aiming for a December 5, 2025 theatrical release, and the folks at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the company that provided the animatronic creatures for the first film, are hard at work, putting together the animatronic creatures for the follow-up. Behind-the-scenes images of the process are shared on the FNAF-ScottGames X account – and a recently posted image has stirred up speculation that Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 might feature the video game character known as Toy Chica!
Here’s the image that caused the Toy Chica speculation:
That image wouldn’t mean anything to most onlookers, but fans of the Five Nights at Freddy’s video games say that’s enough for them to recognize the face of Toy Chica.
A Fandom site informs us that “Toy Chica is a major antagonist and one of the toy animatronics of the Five Nights at Freddy’s series, first appearing in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. She is Chica’s redesigned counterpart from the past and an improved replacement of Chica’s pre-rebuilt incarnation Withered Chica, serving as the backup singer of the newly refurbished Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza of 1987. Toy Chica takes the appearance of a stereotypical feminine character. She is a yellow-orange chicken with an orange beak, blue eyes, purple eyelids, long eyelashes, and orange feet. She has a few stray “feathers” that stick out from the top of her head. She has reddish pink cheeks, like the other toy animatronics, though hers are pink rather than red. She wears a reddish pink pants. Unlike her original counterpart, Toy Chica’s body is noticeably curvy, rather than simply round and ovular like the original Chica’s. Just like the original Chica, Toy Chica has a bib. However, her bib reads “LET’S PARTY!” rather than “LET’S EAT!!!” The bib also has tiny colorized flecks (being green, blue, yellow and pink) like the original Chica, which appear like tiny pizza slices or confetti. She wears a pink bikini bottom on her lower body and almost always carries a pink cupcake with large eyes, similar to the one her original counterpart held on the Show Stage. While on the Show Stage, Toy Chica can be seen with her normal eyes, eyelids, and beak. However, she removes them once she leaves the stage, and she can be seen beakless and eyeless—save for her glossy-black eyes with white pupils (for paranormal reasons)—in the cameras in various rooms. Without her beak, her endoskeleton teeth, which resemble human teeth, are visible. She looks like she’s smiling when lacking her beak. Her eyelids are also missing, exposing the metal ones of an endoskeleton.“
Five Nights at Freddy’s stars Hutcherson alongside Matthew Lillard (Scream), Mary Stuart Masterson (Benny & Joon), Elizabeth Lail (You), Piper Rubio (Holly & Ivy), and Kat Conner Sterling (A Week Away). The film follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.
Stunt performers Kevin Foster (WandaVision), Jade Kindar-Martin (Interview with the Vampire), and Jess Weiss (Mayfair Witches) play the animatronics Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, and Chica.
The video game takes place in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a darker version of Chuck-E-Cheese, where an animatronic animal band performs kiddy songs by day, and goes on murderous rampages by night. The goal of the game is survive a night locked inside, knowing that a furry death machine might jump out of the dark at any moment.
The adaptation was originally set up at Warner Bros., where Gil Kenan (Monster House) was going to direct the film from a screenplay he was writing with Tyler Burton Smith (the Child’s Play remake). Then the project moved over to Blumhouse, where Chris Columbus (Home Alone) was attached to direct it for several years. It finally went into production with Emma Tammi – director of The Wind, Into the Dark: Delivered, and Into the Dark: Blood Moon – at the helm, working from a screenplay she wrote with Seth Cuddeback (Mateo) and video game creator Scott Cawthon. Tragedy Girls writers Tyler MacIntyre and Chris Lee Hill share story credit with Cawthon.
Five Nights at Freddy’s was produced by Blumhouse, in association with Striker Entertainment. Cawthon is a producer alongside Blumhouse founder Jason Blum. Russell Binder is executive producing. As mentioned, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop handled the special effects that bring the homicidal animatronic animals to life on the screen.
Are you a Five Nights at Freddy’s fan, and are you hoping to see Toy Chica in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
In the build-up to the release of Evil Dead Rise last year, the Evil Dead franchise rights holders Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Rob Tapert let it be known that they’re planning to boost this franchise in a major way, making a new sequel every two or three years. They’re staying on track for that, as it has already been announced this year that Sébastien Vaniček will be writing and directing one new Evil Dead movie while Francis Galluppi writes and directs another – and the filmmakers are given creative control over their additions to the series. Raimi also wants to make another Evil Dead movie with Campbell in the lead as franchise hero Ash, but Campbell insists that he’s retired from the role… when it comes to live-action, anyway. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Campbell confirmed that two new movies are coming our way, and that he’s also planning to voice Ash in an Evil Dead animated series!
When asked about the future of the Evil Dead franchise, Campbell told EW, “The future is two more damn movies. We’ve got two new fabulous directors that have two new scripts in the shoot, and we think we’ve suckered a studio into coughing up the dough for both, since they seem to still make money. The funny thing is, the Evil Dead movies, the last one made $140 million, and the Evil Dead movies don’t usually make that much money. They’re cheap, so they don’t have to make that much — but now that they’re making real money, it’s kinda hard to look away. And we want to do it — the last one was 10 years ago, Fede [Álvarez’s reboot] was 2013! So we want to get a little more of a pipeline for folks who still follow it, who want to see it. They want to see it in the new incarnation! We’re out of the cabin, Sam [Raimi] doesn’t have to direct, I don’t have to star as Ash. The trick is to take the elements that people like, which is innocent people being tortured by a malicious entity, and it’s people who have no skills to stop it.“
As for his future as Ash, “We are developing an animated version, like a series. I’ll do that. I’ll do Ash’s voice all day long, because my voice hasn’t aged as much as I have.”
The animated series has been in development for a while, with Campbell having said that they were “actively pursuing” the idea back in March of last year. He has also hinted that it could pick right up from the futuristic ending of the Ash vs. Evil Dead TV series.
What do you think of the future of the Evil Dead franchise? Are you looking forward to the two movies and/or the animated series? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
James Cameron’s The Terminator is celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, it’s the latest one of the director’s movies to get a radical 4K restoration done by Park Road Post, a post-production facility owned by Peter Jackson’s WingNut Films. This company is behind some of the most incredible, acclaimed restorations in recent memory, including Peter Jackson’s WWI documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old, and his The Beatles’ Get Back documentary.
But they’ve also been controversial, with James Cameron using them to significantly alter the looks of several of his films as they hit 4K. Notably, each film had been completely wiped of any film-like grain, making them look more like contemporary films than those made in the 1980s and 90s. This was especially noticeable in Aliens, which always sported a grainy look due to the high-speed film stock used. With the AI-assisted transfer, Cameron made the movie look flawless, but this led to some consternation from purists, who claimed he was doing revisionist filmmaking.
This notion hit a fever pitch when the long MIA True Lies finally hit 4K, which looked radically different than in the previous transfers or theatrically. For that one, Cameron used Super35 film stock, which allowed him to shoot in a spherical format, making it easier to do pan and scan transfers back in the VHS era without simply lopping off the sides of his image. The downside to this technology was more film grain, but when it hit 4K, you’d swear True Lies was shot using the latest technology. The transfer was so controversial here on JoBlo that film preservationist Robert Harris, who gave the transfers high marks, wrote to us to clarify what was happening with the Cameron transfers, writing, “The work performed was a re-visualization. An entirely new digital product, which (to varying degrees of success) appears to have achieved Mr. Cameron’s goals.’
Some fans love the new Cameron transfer, but many fans hate them. Whatever the case, Cameron’s The Terminator has now undergone a similar “re-visualization,” which I caught theatrically yesterday. Note that The Terminator was a low-budget movie by 1984 standards, with Cameron shooting the film using a 1:85:1 matted aspect ratio. It was never as visually polished as the director’s latest films, and to be sure, Cameron hasn’t done anything too radical with the transfer here. It doesn’t suddenly look like it was shot with IMAX cameras (like True Lies), nor is it as wildly re-imagined as Universal’s recent Jaws 3 restoration.
However, the film has no grain whatsoever, and it looks pristine in a way that the film never looked back in 1984. To me, this is Cameron’s prerogative, as given how timeless the film has become, he probably wants it to look as good as it can for younger generations. I honestly thought it looked really good. My issue with the restoration has more to do with the sound mix than anything.
The Terminator was initially shot in Mono, but in the early 2000s, Cameron had the film remixed in Dolby 5.1, and it sounded a lot different than it did initially. The new restoration has a similar sound, with some of the SFX sounding “too new” in a movie shot in 1984—another movie with that problem is Tim Burton’s Batman. If Cameron had included the original mono track in the UHD release, I wouldn’t have cared, but the mono track has been unavailable for some time.
In the end, The Terminator’s 4K release will undoubtedly prove to be another controversial Cameron upgrade for film purists, and I’m sure we’ll be writing about it again in the months to come. I’m curious: Did anyone else check it out in theatres this weekend? Let us know how you thought it looked in the comments.
Both movies and TV will be seeing a boom in 2025 as last year’s strikes put a delay on many planned projects originally slated to release sooner. According to Deadline, the popular premium cable channel HBO, now just as popular in streaming, has just released a trailer that teases the bevy of upcoming original programming that is scheduled for later this year as well as next year. In the new preview, we’re given a look at new footage of the upcoming season of White Lotus, the upcoming season of the Sex and the City continuation, And Just Like That…, the new spin-off of Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and the upcoming season of the hit adaptation of The Last of Us.
In the teaser, we get a first look at Catherine O’Hara’s role in season 2 of The Last of Us. Her scenes previewed primarily involve her interactions with star Pedro Pascal in a deep-rooted character study scene. It still has not been announced what role specifically she will be playing, but from Everything We Know about season 2, the most important casting decision was Abby, a main character, with Kaitlyn Dever being selected for the role. Isabelle Merced, most recently seen in Madame Web, was chosen to play Dina. Other new characters include Jesse, played by Young Mazino (Netflix’s Beef), Mel played by Ariela Barer, Nora, played by Tati Gabrielle, and Owen played by Spencer Lord. Danny Ramirez will play Manny with Gabriel Luna returning as Joel’s brother, Tommy.
The preview footage of the next White Lotus season revealed a first look at newcomers Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook and Sam Nivola, as well as returning season one star Natasha Rothwell. We are also given sneak peeks at anticipated shows like Colin Farrell’s The Batman spin-off, The Penguin (September 19), the Dune films spin-off, Dune: Prophecy (November), The Franchise and James Gunn’s DC Studios animated series Creature Commandos (December). Also included in the trailer is footage of the upcoming 2025 slate: Duster, The Pitt and the prequel It: Welcome to Derry.
Additionally, we get a look at other returning shows like Industry (returning August 11), Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears (August 6), My Brilliant Friend (September 9), Harley Quinn (November), The Sex Lives of College Girls and The Gilded Age (2025).
