In September, we got our first good look at the upcoming live-action Minecraft movie. And it looked weird. Now, we have a new trailer for the film and while it still looks odd, at least it’s jam-packed with stuff from the original Minecraft game, including scary nighttime enemies, Redstone contraptions, wolf taming,…
There’s a new entry in the Jurassic Park / Jurassic World franchise heading our way, with Jurassic World Rebirth set to reach theatres on July 2, 2025 – and during an interview with Empire, director Gareth Edwards said that the new movie goes back to what he loved about the original Jurassic Park.
News of the new Jurassic World movie first hit back in January, when it was revealed that the screenplay – by original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, returning to the franchise for the first time since The Lost World: Jurassic Park – had already been written. The project was assembled in a mad scramble after that, with Godzilla and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards ending up at the helm. This new Jurassic World movie won’t be featuring any returning lead characters from the previous Jurassic Park / Jurassic World movies, so describing it as a “Rebirth” could be accurate. The characters played by Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern are out, as are the ones played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. The new characters are played by the likes of Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton), Mahershala Ali (Green Book), Rupert Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi), and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer) – all of whom had their roles directly offered to them. Luna Blaise (Manifest), on the other hand, had to (according to Deadline) “beat out a number of actors” to land her role. David Iacono of The Summer I Turned Pretty, child actress Audrina Miranda, Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), and Béchir Sylvain (Diarra from Detroit) are also in the cast… along with a bunch of hungry dinosaurs.
Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) was also offered a role, but he turned it down because he felt his presence in the movie wouldn’t help it. He did say that the script is great, though.
Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley are producing the film for Kennedy/Marshall. Steven Spielberg is executive producing through Amblin Entertainment. Universal’s executive vp of production development Sara Scott and creative executive Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project for the studio.
Here’s what we know about the plot now: Jurassic World Rebirth sees an intrepid team racing to secure DNA samples from the three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air. Five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.
Johansson’s character is Zora Bennett, “a skilled covert operations expert contracted to lead a team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on an island where they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades.” Bailey is playing paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis, with Ali as Zora’s most trusted team leader, Duncan Kincaid.
Edwards told Empire, “It goes back to what I loved about the original, with an embarrassment of riches of different set-piece-type scenarios and tense, fun action moments. There were a lot of opportunities as a filmmaker to have a lot of fun and try and play games with the audience.” The movie will be packed with the dinosaurs movie-goers are hoping to see, as “there are certain dinosaurs it would be a crime against cinema not to include.” And the director also took the opportunity to build up Johansson’s character, saying, “She’s looking for meaning in her life after leaving the military, and this opportunity comes along where [after it] basically she’d never have to work again. But through that journey, she starts to question the ethical rights and wrongs of what they’re doing.“
Are you looking forward to watching Jurassic World Rebirth next year? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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How To Train Your Dragon may only be 14 years old, but that doesn’t make it immune from Hollywood’s current obsession with live-action remakes. The adorable DreamWorks fantasy adventure about Vikings and Pokémon-style pet dragons is being re-shot with actual humans this time around. Based on the first trailer, at…
How To Train Your Dragon may only be 14 years old, but that doesn’t make it immune from Hollywood’s current obsession with live-action remakes. The adorable DreamWorks fantasy adventure about Vikings and Pokémon-style pet dragons is being re-shot with actual humans this time around. Based on the first trailer, at…
Jared Hess’s A Minecraft Movie wants to invite you into a world of imagination and ingenuity, and Jack Black is your guide! Warner Bros. Pictures debuted the latest trailer for A Minecraft Movie on Tuesday, giving fans of the elaborate exploration and action-oriented franchise a reason to tunnel their way to theaters on April 4, 2025. Audiences concerned about the live-action adaptation’s overall look can rest easy knowing director Jared Hess and his team have taken great care in recreating the world of Minecraft for this unprecedented presentation, and a lot more than Creepers await those who buy the ticket and take the ride.
Here’s the official synopsis for A Minecraft Movie courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures:
“Welcome to the world of Minecraft, where creativity doesn’t just help you craft, it’s essential to one’s survival! Four misfits—Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Momoa), Henry (Hansen), Natalie (Myers) and Dawn (Brooks)—find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home, they’ll have to master this world (and protect it from evil things like Piglins and Zombies, too) while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected, expert crafter, Steve (Black). Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative…the very skills they need to thrive back in the real world.”
In WB’s A Minecraft Movie trailer, Jack Black plays Steve, a minor whose dreams of tunneling his way to a new world come true unexpectedly. When a group of outsiders – Jason Momoa, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, and Sebastian Eugene Hansen find their way to the mysterious land, they quickly discover they’re the only thing standing between a world of wonders and those aiming to rule it with an iron grip. The trailer highlights the film’s practical sets and effects, playful character chemistry, and Minecraft-specific building methods. Regarding authenticity, A Minecraft Movie is taking great strides to appeal to longtime fans of the franchise.
What do you think about Jared Hess’s A Minecraft Movie trailer? Let us know in the comments section below.
The post Zombies, Skeletons, and Creepers give Jack Black and Jason Momoa a reason to fear the night in A Minecraft Movie trailer appeared first on JoBlo.
Last week, famous rapper Ice Spice was added to Fortnite as part of the free-to-play shooter’s ongoing Chapter 2 Remix mini-season. If you hired her, she could help out during matches by throwing ice grenades at enemies, but she would often spam them, annoying and hindering even the players she was supposed to be…
Last week, famous rapper Ice Spice was added to Fortnite as part of the free-to-play shooter’s ongoing Chapter 2 Remix mini-season. If you hired her, she could help out during matches by throwing ice grenades at enemies, but she would often spam them, annoying and hindering even the players she was supposed to be…
While fans of the Showtime series Yellowjackets (read our review of season 2 HERE) patiently wait to see the bonus episode that’s going to air sometime between the second and third seasons, a short promo has just dropped online to reveal that Yellowjackets season 3 is set to premiere on February 14th! You can check out the promo in the embed above.
Yellowjackets is described as “equal parts survival epic, horror story, and coming-of-age drama.” The story centers on a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the Ontario wilderness. The series will chronicle their descent from a complicated but thriving team to warring, cannibalistic clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over.
Created, written, executive produced by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, the series stars Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis, Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Ella Purnell, Sammi Hanratty, Sophie Thatcher, Steven Krueger, Amy Okuda, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Courtney Eaton, and Liv Hewson. New cast additions in Yellowjackets season 2 included Elijah Wood (the Lord of the Rings trilogy), Lauren Ambrose (Servant), Simone Kessell (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Nicole Maines (Supergirl), François Arnaud (The Borgias), Nia Sondaya (Truth Be Told), and guest star Jason Ritter (Freddy vs. Jason). Lyle and Nickerson serve as showrunners with Jonathan Lisco.
We’ve previously heard that Yellowjackets season 3 will be adding characters played by Community‘s Joel McHale and two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby). McHale has a guest star role, while Swank will have a recurring role. We’ve heard “she’ll make her first appearance in the latter stages of the season.”
I’m all caught up on Yellowjackets, and while I thought season 2 was a step down from its predecessor, I’m eagerly looking forward to season 3. Are you a Yellowjackets fan, and will you be tuning in when season 3 has its premiere in February? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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PLOT: The origin story of the so-called Wicked Witch of the West. While the citizens of Oz are celebrating her death, Glinda the Good (Ariana Grande) remembers how the two started out as friends while they were roommates at Shiz University and learning their magical craft.
REVIEW: First – I must make a confession: I’ve never seen Wicked on stage. Heck, not being a particular enthusiast of Broadway musicals, I would be hard-pressed to name one song from the popular soundtrack, or even really explain anything beyond the fact that it’s supposed to be a deconstruction of The Wizard of Oz. Yet, the play is a full-on phenomenon, with the movie (the first of two) set to become a blockbuster when it comes out later this week. While some may raise eyebrows at the fact and say that JoBlo should have had a fan watch the movie instead, I’d wager that a huge chunk of our readership hasn’t seen the play either and is more interested in whether Wicked stands on its own as a film. While I’ll admit that there were a handful of moments where I felt I was missing some kind of in-joke for fans of the play, overall, I had a pretty good time with Jon M. Chu’s Wicked – Part I.
Certainly, it’s one of the better modern versions of The Wizard of Oz, far more entertaining than Sam Raimi’s largely forgotten Oz: The Great and Powerful. Chu seems to have a knack for movie musicals, and with Universal clearly pumping a pretty penny into it, it feels like the kind of big, broad fantasy epic that should be able to crossover beyond its core audience of Broadway enthusiasts.
Cynthia Erivo is terrific as Elphaba, our future Wicked Witch of the West, who’s an outcast in her family due to her green skin. She’s sent to Shiz to keep an eye on her paraplegic sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), the future Wicked Witch of the East, only for her superior magical skills to earn her a scholarship. She winds up as roommates with Ariana Grande’s Glinda, the school’s most popular student, and while they initially despise each other, their friendship blossoms over time.
Both Erivo and Grande seem ideally cast, with the former expertly evoking both Elphaba’s anguish at constantly being judged and her deep sense of empathy. Grande, a pop superstar, is quite funny as the prissy Glinda, but she also imbues her with a surprising amount of depth, making the two of them a pretty potent pairing.
While some may raise their eyebrows at the fact that all of the students at Shiz University seem to be in their mid-to-late thirties, Chu’s done an excellent job making Wicked almost feel like Harry Potter for adults. The production design is superb, and the heightened fantasy vibe works.
Some may take issue with the fact that the Broadway show is being stretched out into two three-hour movies. While yes, the pace does occasionally drag, I appreciated the fact that some of the supporting characters get fleshed out more than they would have been otherwise. One of them is Jonathan Bailey’s Fiyero, a handsome prince who initially comes off as vacuous but turns out to have some depth as he starts to fall for Elphaba rather than his more obvious love interest, Glinda. Yet, there are long musical numbers which likely could have been axed in favour of making Wicked one truly great three-hour movie as opposed to two films that are merely “good.”
Given all the hype, viewers may be surprised to see how small of a role Jeff Goldblum has once he’s finally introduced as Oz. Still, if you read the play’s synopsis, all of the really crazy Wizard of Oz stuff, including the introduction of Dorothy, and the surprising identity of The Tin Man and The Scarecrow, all will happen in Part II. As such, Part I includes a lot of setup, but Chu’s sense of pace is spot on, and while it’s a little too long, it’s never dull.
Here’s the thing – Wicked is made with a specific audience in mind, and I wager many of us JoBlo folks aren’t among them. Even still, readers who find themselves watching the movie at behest of someone in their lives may find Wicked goes down a lot easier than they’re expecting. I had a surprisingly good time watching it, and I’m totally on-board to watch Part II when it hits theaters next year.
The post Wicked Review: A Broadway adaptation that’s way better than you might be expecting appeared first on JoBlo.
PLOT: The origin story of the so-called Wicked Witch of the West. While the citizens of Oz are celebrating her death, Glinda the Good (Ariana Grande) remembers how the two started out as friends while they were roommates at Shiz University and learning their magical craft.
REVIEW: First – I must make a confession: I’ve never seen Wicked on stage. Heck, not being a particular enthusiast of Broadway musicals, I would be hard-pressed to name one song from the popular soundtrack, or even really explain anything beyond the fact that it’s supposed to be a deconstruction of The Wizard of Oz. Yet, the play is a full-on phenomenon, with the movie (the first of two) set to become a blockbuster when it comes out later this week.
While some may raise eyebrows at the fact and say that JoBlo should have had a fan watch the movie instead, I’d wager that a huge chunk of our readership hasn’t seen the play either and is more interested in whether Wicked stands on its own as a film. While I’ll admit that there were a handful of moments where I felt I was missing some kind of in-joke for fans of the play, overall, I had a pretty good time with Jon M. Chu’s Wicked – Part I.
Certainly, it’s one of the better modern versions of The Wizard of Oz, far more entertaining than Sam Raimi’s largely forgotten Oz: The Great and Powerful. Chu seems to have a knack for movie musicals, and with Universal clearly pumping a pretty penny into it, it feels like the kind of big, broad fantasy epic that should be able to crossover beyond its core audience of Broadway enthusiasts.
Cynthia Erivo is terrific as Elphaba, our future Wicked Witch of the West, who’s an outcast in her family due to her green skin. She’s sent to Shiz to keep an eye on her paraplegic sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), the future Wicked Witch of the East, only for her superior magical skills to earn her a scholarship. She winds up as roommates with Ariana Grande’s Glinda, the school’s most popular student, and while they initially despise each other, their friendship blossoms over time.
Both Erivo and Grande seem ideally cast, with the former expertly evoking both Elphaba’s anguish at constantly being judged and her deep sense of empathy. Grande, a pop superstar, is quite funny as the prissy Glinda, but she also imbues her with a surprising amount of depth, making the two of them a pretty potent pairing.
While some may raise their eyebrows at the fact that all of the students at Shiz University seem to be in their mid-to-late thirties, Chu’s done an excellent job making Wicked almost feel like Harry Potter for adults. The production design is superb, and the heightened fantasy vibe works.
Some may take issue with the fact that the Broadway show is being stretched out into two six-hour movies. While yes, the pace does occasionally drag, I appreciated the fact that some of the supporting characters get fleshed out more than they would have been otherwise. One of them is Jonathan Bailey’s Fiyero, a handsome prince who initially comes off as vacuous but turns out to have some depth as he starts to fall for Elphaba rather than his more obvious love interest, Glinda. Yet, there are long musical numbers which likely could have been axed in favour of making Wicked one truly great three-hour movie as opposed to two films that are merely “good.”
Given all the hype, viewers may be surprised to see how small of a role Jeff Goldblum has once he’s finally introduced as Oz. Still, if you read the play’s synopsis, all of the really crazy Wizard of Oz stuff, including the introduction of Dorothy, and the surprising identity of The Tin Man and The Scarecrow, all will happen in Part II. As such, Part I includes a lot of setup, but Chu’s sense of pace is spot on, and while it’s a little too long, it’s never dull.
Here’s the thing – Wicked is made with a specific audience in mind, and I wager many of us JoBlo folks aren’t among them. Even still, readers who find themselves watching the movie at behest of someone in their lives may find Wicked goes down a lot easier than they’re expecting. I had a surprisingly good time watching it, and I’m totally on-board to watch Part II when it hits theaters next year.
The post Wicked Review: A Broadway adaptation that’s way better than you might be expecting appeared first on JoBlo.