This week marks the launch of the Jackbox Naughty Pack, a new addition to the long-running series of party games that feels inevitable, as it fully leans into all the sex jokes you and your friends were already making in past Jackbox releases. To celebrate the pack’s launch, Steam is having a massive sale on the rest…
This week marks the launch of the Jackbox Naughty Pack, a new addition to the long-running series of party games that feels inevitable, as it fully leans into all the sex jokes you and your friends were already making in past Jackbox releases. To celebrate the pack’s launch, Steam is having a massive sale on the rest…
Warner Bros. has been keeping writer/director Gary Dauberman‘s adaptation of the Stephen King novel Salem’s Lot (buy a copy of the novel HERE) on the shelf for a long time – but they won’t be keeping it there for much longer. The movie, which was supposed to be given a theatrical release back in September of 2022, is now set to be released through the Max streaming service on October 3rd, and with that date right around the corner, a trailer for the film has arrived online! You can watch it in the embed above.
This is the third adaptation of Salem’s Lot. The previous two were both mini-series, which aired in 1979 and 2004. This new take on the concept is said to be set in 1975, the same year King’s novel was first published. Here’s the synopsis: Haunted by an incident from his childhood, author Ben Mears returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book, only to discover the town is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire and his loyal servant.
The film stars Lewis Pullman as author Ben Mears; Makenzie Leigh as Ben’s love interest Susan Norton; Spencer Treat Clark as Mike Ryerson, “one of the town’s simple folk”; Bill Camp as Matthew Burke, “a former high school English teacher who knows about the Marsten House’s evil past and helps out Ben”; Alfre Woodard as Dr. Cody; Pilou Asbæk as the vampire’s familiar Richard Straker, whose style this time around includes a purple cloak, feathered Homburg hat, and push broom mustache; Nicholas Crovetti and Cade Woodward as Danny and Ralphie Glick; Jordan Preston Carter as horror fanatic Mark Petrie; William Sadler as Constable Parkins Gillespie; and John Benjamin Hickey as Father Callahan. Alexander Ward (American Horror Story) might be playing the vampire Kurt Barlow.
James Wan and Michael Clear produced Salem’s Lot for Atomic Monster alongside Roy Lee of Vertigo and Mark Wolper.
Are you looking forward to this new version of Salem’s Lot? What did you think of the trailer? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The post Salem’s Lot trailer: Stephen King adaptation finally reaches Max next month appeared first on JoBlo.
One of my favorite guys to interview is Dave Bautista. He admirably takes his craft seriously and continues to impress with each role he plays. The man is freaking talented, and he works at it. And he is one of the kindest guys to talk to. Sitting across from him and Sofia Boutella to discuss their new film The Killer’s Game was a delight. Sofia opened up about being a dancer, which is quite prevalent in the new movie. The two enjoyed each other’s company as their on-screen chemistry expertly translated into an in-person chat beautifully.
Dave Bautista is one of those guys who are genuinely entertaining to watch. In his latest, he portrays an assassin who discovers he has a terminal illness. The feature, directed by J.J. Perry, has fun blending drama, action, and comedy. And it also helps that Mr. Bautista’s co-star is Sofia Boutella. The two are undeniably terrific together. It’s easy to see a little of the modern action influence from films like John Wick. And yes, the R-rated violence and the wild cinematic assassins this creates have a little gleeful fun with a terrific performance from Bautista and Boutella.
After our interview with the actors, we spoke with J.J. Perry, who presented quite an engaging conversation. The filmmaker discussed his approach to the action and the visuals and was thrilled to work with Bautista and Boutella. It’s a fun movie, and clearly, the team behind it enjoyed the bit of genre mash-up that the project presented to them.
Here’s the film’s official synopsis, courtesy of Lionsgate: In the new action-comedy THE KILLER’S GAME, when top hitman Joe Flood (Dave Bautista) is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he decides to take matters into his own hands – by taking a hit out on himself. But when the very hitmen he hired also target his ex-girlfriend (Sofia Boutella), he must fend off an army of assassin colleagues and win back the love of his life before it’s too late.
Bautista and Boutella are joined in the cast by Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, White Chicks), Scott Adkins (John Wick: Chapter 4, Dayshift, Avengement), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Thunder Force, Westworld), and Ben Kingsley (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Sexy Beast, Schindler’s List).
Take a look at our interviews with the director and stars, then check out The Killer’s Game in theatres this Friday.
The post The Killer’s Game interviews with Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, and director J.J. Perry appeared first on JoBlo.
Plot: In the wake of Carmine Falcone’s death, Oz attempts to legitimize himself among Gotham’s criminal underworld.
Review: In the ever-expanding world of IP, DC has been working hard to differentiate itself from the Marvel Studios behemoth. While The Penguin pre-dates James Gunn’s rebirth of DC Studios, it is rooted in Matt Reeves’ acclaimed The Batman, which exists outside of the new cinematic universe canon of the DCU. Unlike Gunn’s own Peacemaker series, The Penguin exists within the vision of Gotham seen in the 2022 feature film but is not full of references, connections, and cameos. The Penguin is a dark and gritty crime saga that picks up from where The Batman film left the city of Gotham, literally and figuratively drowning in the wake of The Riddler’s plan. With a power vacuum in the criminal underworld, Oz Cobb (renamed from Cobblepot in the comics) steps up to claim what he has long desired, resulting in a wholly distinct look from any prior incarnation of the character or any iteration of Batman mythology. Even better than Todd Phillips’ Joker, The Penguin is a masterful look at an iconic character in a way we have never seen before through the most transformative acting performance Colin Farrell has ever done.
Having seen the full eight-episode series, I can unequivocally state that The Penguin is unlike any other MCU or DC Universe project. While we have seen villain-centric films and series like Joker, Suicide Squad, and Loki, few of them have really dug into a character’s full origin and rise. In The Batman, we saw Penguin as a mid-level lieutenant of the Falcone crime family who, by the film’s end, was in a position to fill the void left by Carmine Falcone’s (John Turturro) death. At the start of this series, Oz begins maneuvers to take control but runs up against Falcone’s children Alberto (Michael Zegen) and Sofia (Cristin Milioti) as well as underboss Johnny Vitti (Michael Kelly). With successors in line to take over the family, Oz must play chess with the various factions in Gotham’s criminal network, including incarcerated boss Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown), the Triads, and more. Oz also enlists the help of street kid Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz), who serves as a protege for the aspiring kingpin. Through the series, we learn more about the inner workings of Gotham City, from the lowest-level thugs to the power at City Hall.
To divulge any plot elements of The Penguin would be a disservice to watching this series, which functions as a long-form cinematic experience rather than a television show. Colin Farrel had all of six scenes in The Batman but is front and center in virtually every minute of this project. Wearing the prosthetic full-body suit, Farrel completely transforms into a different person. At no point did I see Farrel peek through the silicone and make-up while watching The Penguin, making this one of the most impressive performances I have ever seen. While this series is centered on Oz as the main character, we are not forced to sympathize with him. Oz is a villain, and Farrel makes every lie and false promise the character makes a visceral indictment of his lack of humanity. There are flashbacks to Oz’s childhood that show the first glimpses of his capability for evil, which ripples through every interaction he has with Sofia Falcone and even his own mother, Francis (Dierdre O’Connell), who suffers from dementia. Oz’s most honest relationships are with Victor and Oz’s love interest, Eve (Carmen Ejogo), but even those come with caveats.
While Bruce Wayne is not mentioned once in The Penguin, the specter of Batman looms large over Gotham City. The Riddler is referenced, as is the drug known as Drops, and we see Mayor-Elect Bella Real, but this tale centers on Oz and his tenuous relationship with Sofia Falcone. Cristin Milioti delivers a performance that goes toe-to-toe with Colin Farrel in terms of sheer viciousness. Both Farrel and Milioti echo elements from gangster films ranging from Scarface to Goodfellas but avoid falling into the cliche elements of the genre. Sofia gets her own flashbacks and origin story, including Mark Strong portraying a younger version of John Turturro’s Carmine Falcone. The supporting cast includes Theo Rossi as Julian Rush, a doctor at Arkham Asylum, and Shohreh Aghdashloo as Sal Maroni’s wife, Nadia. The entire ensemble populates this corner of Gotham with a distinct look and feel that fits into the world of Matt Reeves’ film but widens the perspective on what the city encompasses.
There is also a significant difference in the maturity level of The Penguin versus The Batman. While The Batman pushed the envelope of what a PG-13 film could show on screen and boasted the lone allowable f-bomb, HBO provides this series with an unbridled platform. The Penguin is chock full of profanity, violence, and bloodshed, which puts any R-rated comic book project to shame. The bloodshed is not gratuitous, characterizing the cutthroat underworld and the players’ stakes in surviving at any cost. Because this series has no filter, Oz and the characters around him talk and act as any real person would. This is consistent with Matt Reeves’ vision of this take on the DC Comics universe, which is a realistic portrayal of a city overcome by crime. But, no matter how gritty they go, this is still a piece of entertainment, and it succeeds in creating characters to love and others you love to hate. Audiences have been drawn to the enigmatic and insane versions of The Joker over the years. Still, The Penguin evolves from the living cartoons played by Burgess Meredith and Danny DeVito. Colin Farrel takes Robin Lord Taylor’s interpretation from Gotham and elevates Oz into a brutal and calculating monster.
Showrunner Lauren LeFranc wrote the first and final episodes, with the other six written by Erika L. Johnson, Noelle Valdivia, John McCutcheon, Breanna Gibson & Shaye Ogbonna, Nick Towne, and Vladimir Cvetko. LeFranc has experience with superhero fare thanks to her time writing on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and series Chuck and Hemlock Grove, but The Penguin is a major leap in the quality of her work. With the entire writing staff focusing on making this a great story and not paying fan service, they have delivered a layered, intense crime drama. Craig Zobel (The Hunt, Z for Zachariah) directs the series on the first three, Helen Shaver (Station Eleven, Lovecraft Country) on episodes four and five, Kevin Bray (Walking Tall) on episodes six and seven, and Jennifer Getzinger (Mad Men, Westworld) on the eighth and final episode. The directors do not go quite as visually dark as Matt Reeves, but they do harness his tone to make The Penguin feel right at home alongside the big screen style of The Batman.
The Penguin easily becomes the best DC or Marvel television series to date, with the bar being raised substantially. Colin Farrell’s performance will easily earn the actor a slew of awards, and it is another jewel in the long-running streak of top-caliber HBO original series. A couple of key moments towards the end of the series will shake up audiences who are unprepared for where The Penguin is headed. Still, it also provides some references that tease us into how these characters will factor into The Batman Part II. Not a single moment in these eight episodes feels wasted or padded, which is surprising since every episode comes close to a full hour, with the premiere and finale going longer than sixty minutes. The Penguin is a sprawling character study of a villain’s rise that echoes Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne’s transformation to become the Dark Knight. Like Batman, we met Oz in the early stages of his journey, the result of which was his evolution from bad guy to supervillain. Comic book roots or not, The Penguin is a masterpiece of a series that will be the defining performance of Colin Farrel’s career.
The Penguin premieres on September 19th on HBO.
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It’s been about four years since the last Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater launched. Since then, Activision has closed up the studio behind the last THPS and seemed uninterested in making more. But legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk himself has confirmed he’s working with the publisher again on “something” that THPS fans will…
It’s been about four years since the last Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater launched. Since then, Activision has closed up the studio behind the last THPS and seemed uninterested in making more. But legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk himself has confirmed he’s working with the publisher again on “something” that THPS fans will…
Chappell Roan, your favorite artist’s favorite artist, recently came under fire for canceling tour dates to rehearse for the 2024 Video Music Awards that took place on September 11 at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. Fans were rightfully disappointed, but after seeing the “Hot to Go” singer get on stage dressed in a…
Chappell Roan, your favorite artist’s favorite artist, recently came under fire for canceling tour dates to rehearse for the 2024 Video Music Awards that took place on September 11 at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. Fans were rightfully disappointed, but after seeing the “Hot to Go” singer get on stage dressed in a…
Universal’s large-scale Wizard of Oz film Wicked was bumped up in its release date to coincide with the premiere of Ridley Scott’s Roman sequel Gladiator II. Gladiator II star Paul Mescal not only welcomed it, but hoped it would become the next Barbenheimer-esque phenomenon. It looks as if Universal is also eager to release the immediate follow-up of Wicked as Wicked: Part Two, which was once slated for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, November 26, 2025, will now be released earlier in the week on November 21, 2025, according to Deadline.
Wicked is the untold story of the witches of Oz. The film stars Emmy, Grammy and Tony-winning powerhouse Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Elphaba, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart.
The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences on her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
The film also stars Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh as Shiz University’s regal headmistress Madame Morrible; Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton, Fellow Travelers) as Fiyero, a roguish and carefree prince; Tony nominee Ethan Slater (Broadway’s Spongebob Squarepants, Fosse/Verdon) as Boq, an altruistic Munchkin student; Marissa Bode in her feature-film debut as Nessarose, Elphaba’s favored sister; and pop culture icon Jeff Goldblum as the legendary Wizard of Oz.
The cast of characters includes Pfannee and ShenShen, two conniving compatriots of Glinda played by Emmy nominee Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) and Bronwyn James (Harlots); a new character created for the film, Miss Coddle, played by Tony nominee Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman) and four-time Emmy winner Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) as the voice of Dr. Dillamond.
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights), Wicked is the first chapter of a two-part immersive, cultural celebration. Wicked Part Two is scheduled to arrive in theaters on November 26, 2025.
This first chapter will be flying into theaters this year on November 27.
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