Month: October 2024

Wolf Man

There’s a reboot of the classic Universal Monsters property The Wolf Man coming our way from Blumhouse Productions and The Invisible Man (2020) director Leigh Whannell, aiming for a January 17, 2025 theatrical release – and this week, the folks at the Motion Picture Association ratings board have revealed that they’ve given the film an R rating for bloody violent content, grisly images and some language. This isn’t the first time a reboot of The Wolf Man has been given an R rating, as the 2010 reboot that was directed by Joe Johnston and starred Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, and Emily Blunt was also rated R, for bloody horror violence and gore.

The leads of this version of Wolf Man are Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom were in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene. Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Garner is playing his wife, a character described as being a mother whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Sam Jaeger is also in the cast, along with child actress Matilda Firth, playing a character named Ginger: “Female, 10 years old, white. Blake and Charlotte’s daughter. Smart, precocious, and strong. When her family decides to leave the city for a quieter life in a remote area, she faces her biggest fear, the possibility of losing one or both of her parents forever.

When Wolf Man was first announced in 2020, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and in fact, it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. (Blum also happens to be married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.) At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.

Whannell first signed on to direct the film in 2020, but dropped out the following year. That’s when Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Gosling and Cianfrance both stepped away from Wolf Man early last year… and then Whannell came back. A collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, Wolf Man is being produced by Jason Blum. Gosling receives an executive producer credit alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell.

What do you think of Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man reboot getting an R rating? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Venom: The Last Dance

A third film in the Marvel Comics-inspired Venom franchise made its way through production last year, shutting down for several months along the way due to the Screen Actors Guild strike. Now the film, titled Venom: The Last Dance, is aiming for an October 25th theatrical release – and with that date just one week away, the Motion Picture Association ratings board has revealed that the film has officially earned a PG-13 rating for intense sequences of violence and action, bloody images and strong language. Star Tom Hardy had previously teased that the movie could end up being rated R, pointing to the success of the Deadpool films as proof that R-rated Marvel adaptations can be successful, but obviously that wasn’t to be. Which makes sense. Although an R rating was considered for the previous movie, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, it also ended up being PG-13 (as was the first movie) – and if you don’t earn an R rating with the Carnage character, why would you earn an R without him?

The first Venom was scripted by Jeff Pinker, Scott Rosenberg, and Kelly Marcel. Ruben Fleischer directed that film, which made $856 million. But then Fleischer turned his focus to making Zombieland: Double Tap and Uncharted – so Andy Serkis took over as director on Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Which was written by Kelly Marcel, working from a story she crafted with star Tom Hardy. That sequel earned $506 million at the pandemic era global box office. Serkis said he would be glad to return to the helm for a follow-up – but when Venom 3 actually did come up, he opted to focus on other projects instead. So Venom: The Last Dance marks the feature directorial debut of Kelly Marcel. She also wrote the screenplay, based (again) on a story she crafted with Hardy.

Hardy is reprising the role of Eddie Brock / Venom for this sequel, and he is joined in the cast by Juno Temple (Ted Lasso), Clark Backo (Letterkenny), and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). Official details on the new characters have not been revealed – but no, Ejiofor is not playing his Doctor Strange character Baron Mordo, since the Venom films are set in a different universe than the Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

Here is the official synopsis from the studio: In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance. The marketing has revealed that Knull, the God of the Symbiotes, shows up in the movie – and Marcel has said this is “just the beginning” for the villain. Since this is meant to be the last Venom movie, that almost seems to confirm the rumors that Knull will carry on into the next Spider-Man movie.

Are you looking forward to Venom: The Last Dance? What do you think of the film getting a PG-13 rating? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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The Wild Robot review

The Wild Robot is one of the best-reviewed movies of the year. The film is now available to watch on Digitial, but additionally, the Dreamworks Animation movie is set to get a Collector’s 4K Blu-ray just in time for Christmas. According to Blu-ray.com, the physical media versions will be hitting retailers on December 3.

The description reads,
“An adaptation of Peter Brown’s award-winning, #1 New York Times bestseller, THE WILD ROBOT is an epic adventure staring Academy Award® winner Lupita Nyong’o (Us, the Black Panther franchise) as Roz, a robot that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must adapt to the harsh surroundings. Gradually Roz starts building relationships with the animals on the island, including a clever fox voiced by Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian), and becomes the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling named Brightbill voiced by Kit Connor (Ready Player One, Heartstopper). THE WILD ROBOT is a powerful story about self-discovery, a thrilling examination of the bridge between technology and nature, and a moving exploration of what it means to be alive and connected to all living things.

Directed by three-time Academy Award® nominee Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, The Croods), THE WILD ROBOT features an incredible supporting voice cast alongside Nyong’o, Pascal and Connor, including Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), Bill Nighy (Love Actually, Rango), Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fall Guy), Mark Hamill (Star Wars franchise), Matt Berry (“The IT Crowd”, “What We Do in the Shadows”) and Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible franchise, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2). Showcasing music by Emmy® and Grammy® nominated composer and Oscar® winner Kris Bowers, the film also boasts two original songs by Grammy®-winning singer-songwriter and music sensation Maren Morris.”

Special Features and Technical Specs:

  • Optional English SDH, French Canadian, and Latin American Spanish subtitles for the main feature
  • DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
  • DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK
  • COMMERCIAL FOR ROZZUM – An alternate opening to the film in storyboard form, with introduction by writer/director Chris Sanders.
  • MOMENTS FROM THE MIC – Straight from the recording booth, watch the star-studded cast of The Wild Robot perform some of their most memorable lines!
  • MEET THE CAST- How do you give empathy to the voice of a robot, vulnerability to a fox, and wisdom to an opossum? Meet the talented voice cast and learn more about your favorite characters from The Wild Robot.
  • THE OVERPROTECTIVE MOTHER – A deleted sequence from the film in storyboard form, with an introduction by writer/director Chris Sanders.
  • ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: ANIMATING THE WILD ROBOT – Go behind the scenes to see how filmmakers pushed the boundaries of animation to achieve the uniquely immersive world of The Wild Robot.
  • FEELING ALIVE – Learn how filmmakers and cast enhanced the universally relatable thematic elements of Peter Brown’s original story to deepen its emotional connection to audiences.
  • WILD SOUNDS – Explore the incredible music of The Wild Robot – from Kris Bowers’ enchanting score to Maren Morris’ two new songs.
  • HOW TO DRAW – Follow along with writer/director Chris Sanders as he teaches Lupita Nyong’o how to draw Roz and then learn to draw Fink, Baby Brightbill, and Pinktail with story artist/character designer Genevieve Tsai!
  • FLY YOUR OWN BRIGHTBILL – One of Roz’s primary tasks is to teach Brightbill to fly so he can migrate with the other geese. Here, you’ll learn how to create your very own Brightbill Kite so you can help him fly too!

The post The Wild Robot gets a Collector’s Edition 4K Blu-ray this December, already available on Digital appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: Skye Riley (Naomi Scott), one of the world’s biggest pop stars, becomes haunted by a familiar curse on the eve of her new world tour, sending her life spiralling out of control.

REVIEW: 2022’s Smile was quietly one of the most profitable studio movies of the last few years. Originally designed as a low-budget movie for Paramount Plus, a round of excellent test screenings resulted in Paramount Pictures opting to give it a theatrical release. The result was a movie that grossed over $217 million worldwide on a $17 million budget. It immediately established writer/director Parker Finn, who adapted the movie from his own short (Laura Hasn’t Slept) as a horror phenom, and the release of his ambitious sequel is one of the bigger horror events of the year.

So, how does Smile 2 stack up to its sleeper-hit predecessor? Amazingly well, it turns out. Boasting a bigger budget, Parker Finn’s taken what could have been a run-of-the-mill sequel and elevated it to truly dazzling heights. I liked the first movie well enough, but I wasn’t prepared for how much fun the sequel was right off the bat.

Smile 2 begins with a full-on action sequence. Kyle Gallner’s Joel, who ended the first film cursed, tries to pass on his affliction in the most altruistic way, which ends up climaxing in a surprisingly potent shoot-out. Things don’t go as planned, with him unwittingly passing the curse on to someone who doesn’t deserve it. From there, Finn can use his bigger platform in a way that truly pushes the envelope from what we expect from a movie like this. It’s the rare A-level studio horror film, and Finn uses the pop aspect to stage some bravura quasi-musical sequences. This is perhaps the only movie you’ll see that feels equally inspired by Hideo Nakata and Bob Fosse.

The latest Smile 2 featurette gives a behind-the-scenes look at the singing and dancing Naomi Scott had to do to become Skye Riley

He also has an amazing lead in Naomi Scott, who gives the performance of her life as Riley. Riley was already badly unmoored before even being cursed following drug addiction and a nearly life-ending accident. Scott embraces the camp aspect, playing Riley to the hilt as she becomes increasingly demented as the film goes on. It’s the kind of performance you’d expect from someone like Nicolas Cage, in that it’s unapologetically maximalist… and delicious.

She’s ably supported by Rosemarie DeWitt, who grounds things a bit as her opportunistic mother, and Dylan Gelula as her ride-or-die BFF. Lukas Gage also pops up and has a knockout sequence early on in the film, where he gets to chew some scenery. Jack Nicholson’s lookalike son, Ray Nicholson, also shows up as a character in Riley’s orbit and purposely channels his father in his big moment.

My only question about Smile 2 is what its reception by horror fans will be like- the film is so unapologetically camp that I wonder if some fans of the lower-key original might be put off. For me, it was the opposite, as Smile 2 dwarfed its predecessor, but it could rub people the wrong way with its heavy doses of pitch-black comedy. However, Finn also doesn’t skimp on the gore, with it being more gruesome than the original and having a big payoff, which is an all-timer for me as far as these things go. Indeed, I was shocked at how much I loved Smile 2. For me, it’s one of the more entertaining films I’ve seen this year, with the two-hour-plus running time racing by. It’s an all-out gore-soaked blast. 

Smile and Smile 2 writer/director Parker Finn imagines the franchise carrying on through a series of increasingly off-the-rails sequels


Smile 2

AMAZING

9

The post Smile 2 Review: One of the year’s best horror movies appeared first on JoBlo.