After starting off his career by directing independent dramas like George Washington and All the Real Girls, David Gordon Green shifted over to making stoner comedies like Pineapple Express and Your Highness for a while, then made his horror debut by taking the helm of a full trilogy of Halloween sequels: the 2018 Halloween, Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends. That trilogy turned out to be rather divisive – some fans love what Green did with them, others were disappointed with how the story played out. Then he was planning to direct a trilogy of sequels to The Exorcist… but when The Exorcist: Believer was poorly received, he stepped away from that project. He’s currently doing the press rounds for his latest film, the family holiday comedy Nutcrackers, and during an interview with MovieWeb he shared advice and encouragement for directors who have the chance to work on established franchises like he did with Halloween and The Exorcist.
Green told MovieWeb, “I certainly want to encourage people to do it, but it’s challenging because you want the filmmaker to invest all of themselves in that project. When we’re talking about bigger franchises that have legacies and fan bases, that’s a really delicate balance. Because where I can watch Joker 2 and also see a very challenging and artful and passionate movie that’s made, if you’re a different type of fan, you might think, ‘they sabotaged my franchise,’ where I didn’t see anything like that. All I saw was a very specific, unique, one of a kind voice, doing their interpretation of a character. So I have great appreciation for that. I’m always just like, give me the amount of money that says I’m going to do my version of this. It’s responsible, because the budget is, in my case, always limited. But you can take chances, you can take swings, and you can make a passion project that feels very personal to you, even though it might be dabbling in the world of IP.“
It’s interesting to see him show his support for Joker: Folie à Deux there, as Todd Phillips made decisions on that film that really upset some fans, much like Green’s choices on his horror movies (especially Halloween Ends) were upsetting to some fans.
What do you think of what Green had to say about directors working on established franchises – and of the work he did on the Halloween and Exorcist franchises? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
There’s nothing more disheartening for a movie fan than when you go see a movie with a bunch of your friends, and while you absolutely love the movie, when the lights come on, and you walk out, you realize your friends absolutely HATED it. Sometimes this is justified, such as when my group of buddies rightly accused me of being insane for loving Die Another Day. At other times, they’re dead wrong, such as when one of my best friends tried to convince me Rushmore was bad (believe it or not – this also happened at The Matrix – but with a different friend). Another time I was totally disheartened by the reaction of a group of friends was back in the fall of 2004 when a group of us went to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow on opening night.
Wait a second, some of you might be asking. What the heck is Sky Captain? It’s a movie that – twenty years ago – was pretty heavily hyped by Paramount Pictures, as it was shot in a revolutionary way by director Kerry Conran, with it all shot against virtual sets and green screen. Before this came out, people were saying Condon was maybe going to be the next George Lucas because he seemed to be a total VFX pioneer. Still, audiences ended up not caring for the cartoonish world our live-action heroes find themselves playing against. What happened was that Conran was too early with his use of the technology, which was used to better effect by Robert Rodriguez on Sin City and Zack Snyder on 300, and nowadays is standard.
Of course, it likely wasn’t just the visual style Sky Captain had going against it. The film, which aims to recreate old Saturday afternoon serials from the thirties, albeit with a Dieselpunk/ quasi-futuristic spin, was another failed attempt by Hollywood to make a pulp-style movie. Indiana Jones had done this brilliantly, but movies like The Shadow and The Phantom tried to mould pre-existing pulp characters into modern action heroes, adopting this high adventure style. Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow would be more like Indiana Jones in that it was Conran’s original creation, but while those movies were grounded by amazing stonework and action, Sky Captain was deliberately artificial in an extreme way.
In it, Jude Law plays the titular Sky Captain aka Joe Sullivan, who heads his own private airforce and acts as a kind of superhero protector of this alternate history New York circa 1939. When mysterious robots invade the city, Joe teams up with his ex-girlfriend, a plucky reporter in the Lois Lane mode, Polly Perkins, to discover what’s behind the sinister plot. The next hour and forty minutes feature our heroes doing battle against all kinds of mechanical villains, including Bai Ling’s retro-cyborg henchman, with a little help from Angelina Jolie as a dead-sexy, one-eyed Navy pilot named Franky, and Sky Captain’s sidekick, Dex, played by Giovanni Ribisi.
The movie is highly stylized to a fault, with it very much in the “gee whiz” style of a movie made seventy years before this saw the light of day. More cynical audiences of the time dubbed it as cheesy, with only a few of us appreciating the retro pulp feel. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow had a visual style that likely turned off a lot of viewers, with it shot on primitive digital video and then manipulated to look like a highly stylized film. Some thought it looked terrific; others thought it looked cheap. Paramount swore it wasn’t the latter, with them saying it cost a pricey $70 million, although Conrad, years later, scoffed at this number, saying that if indeed it cost that much, it was spent on things other than the filming.
Some critics of the time appreciated Sky Captain, with Roger Ebert a notable defender. He gave it four stars and said watching it reminded him of seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time. In theatres, it only grossed $37 million domestically and another $20 million overseas, meaning it was considered a flop and put Conran’s career on the ice, with him never directing another movie.
Yet, there were reasons other than the film’s quality that played a role in its failure. At the time, the movie’s two stars, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law, were considered very over-exposed. This was particularly true of Law, as it was around this time that Hollywood decided to make him a household name. This happens now and again, where every once in a while, an actor or actress becomes the toast of Hollywood and makes a whole bunch of high-profile films is quick succession with the idea that they will be future megastars. Sometimes this backfires, as with Armie Hammer or Jai Courtney, but sometimes it works too, such as what seems to be happening with Glen Powell right now or Jennifer Lawrence back in the day. Law made too many movies back-to-back, with this his sixth film in 2004, with many of them, including his ill-advised remake of Alfie, being notable flops. The failure of all these films put a notable chill on his career for a while. Still, Law was smart and doubled down on being a character actor first, eventually gaining new fans in more complicated roles, and his career has endured well in the twenty years since Sky Captain (the week you can see him in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew andThe Order).
If you haven’t seen this movie, I urge you to check it out. It’s a fun, old-fashioned adventure with a great score by Edward Shearmur, who never entirely became the A-list composer he should have been. It has a bouncy pace and even an early example of post-mortem casting with Laurence Olivier playing the bad guy despite having died 13 years before this came out. Give it a shot!
It’s that time of year when family favorites of the holiday season are played repeatedly on TV. Movies like Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf, A Christmas Story and The Santa Clause are on heavy rotations. Even though the movie is as popular as ever (complete with brand-new merchandise released decades after its premiere), Succession star Kieran Culkin revealed recently that he actually had not allowed his children to watch Home Alone, which stars his brother Macaulay and features him in a small role.
You might ask, “But why?” Is it because he doesn’t want his children to see him guzzle down Pepsi with the implication that he’ll wet the bed? The explanation is actually much simpler and more sensible. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Culkin would tell E! News that “there’s still some scary parts” for his young children. He expounds,
For the 3-year-old, there’s the tarantula [and] there’s the guy at the end who said, ‘I’m gonna bite off all your fingers.’ That’s scary for a 3-year-old.”
However, this Christmas may finally be the time to unveil this classic. Culkin says, “We think they might be ready for Home Alone this year. If not, next year.”
Culkin, who is currently getting accolades for his film A Real Pain, reflected on his time on the movie as a little tyke himself, “I had no idea what that movie was about when I saw it, and I was in it. I was at the premiere, and I was dying laughing. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. I had no idea what the movie was about.” He also revealed that Buzz would do a very Buzz thing in real life as well, “Devin Ratray, the guy who plays Buzz, lied to me and told me the movie was all about him, and I believed him. And then when I saw it, the movie’s cracking me up, and I go, ‘Mac was on set all the time. That makes sense the movie would be about him.’”
Our own Chris Bumbray praised Culkin’s performance in his A Real Pain review, saying, “Culkin has been long overdue for some recognition, and it’s nice to see him getting roles outside of Succession that prove what a first-class actor he is.”
Legends. Legends are special and live on far after the legend themselves have passed from this plane of existence. There are many legends in the world of film and specifically the realm of horror, but none can compare with Vincent Price. He belongs with the greats of not only the horror genre but of film specifically. His career would wind up spanning the black and white film world but also the advent of color and television. He was a renaissance man with a love of art, his fans, and he would embrace his role in the world of horror wholeheartedly. Today on What Happened to This Horror Celebrity, we’re going to look back at the life of one of the world of horror’s true kings, Vincent Price.
Vincent Price was born on May 27th, 1911, in St. Louis Missouri. If this surprises you, well it came as a shock to me too many year ago when I found out one of my favorite actors of all time was born in the same state as me. For some reason, maybe he’s cultured demeanor or suave way of carrying himself, young me always assumed he was from Europe. But nope, Vincent Price was a Midwest boy. His family were part of the food industry, something that probably helped play a part in his later love of cooking. His grandfather invented cream of tartar which was sold as Dr. Price’s Baking Powder. His father (both his grandfather and father were named Vincent) was the head of the National Candy Company which was one of the largest candy companies in the US. The family was well to do.
Young Vincent would wind up with a degree in English as well as a minor in art history, something else that would come into play years later. He’d go to England and attend school there where he would find himself falling in love with the theater. In 1935 he’d start a career on stage and would eventually become well known for his role of Prince Albert in Victoria Regina which he’d perform on Broadway back in the states. A few years later, Price would become part of Orson Welles Mercury Theater.
Price would start working in films in the late 1930s. 1939 would see him star in Tower of London but he’d truly become part of a horror legacy in the Universal film The Invisible Man Returns. In 1946 he’d star in one of my favorite classic gothics Dragonwyck where he’d really step into the brooding, tortured character who is always doomed by their own actions. In 1953 Price would bring 3 Dimensions to the screen with his role in the classic House of Wax. The film was a remake of the original 1933 film, Mystery of the Wax Museum. But here we have glorious color to truly highlight the horrors on screen. We’d also have a young Charles Bronson as Price’s mute assistant and Carolyn Jones pre-Morticia Addams.
The 50s would really see Price start his climb into the upper echelon of horror royalty. The Mad Magician was another entry with Price playing a mad genius that would use 3D for a hook in 1954. Price would star in the original The Fly and it’s sequel The Return of the Fly. The ending scene of the lead character screaming “help me” as a spider comes to eat his human headed fly body eventually had to be shot with Price and his co-star standing back-to-back because they couldn’t stop laughing.
Price would end out the decade with two of his most famous black and white roles when he teamed up with the PT Barnum of movies, William Castle. House on Haunted Hill where he truly cemented himself as the sinister and suave character, we all know and love. House on Haunted Hill’s gimmick was a skeleton being released on a wire to slide above the audience in the theater. His other film, The Tingler, where Price played a doctor trying to find the source of human fear and discovers the creature who makes it. That gimmick had wires set up on certain seats in the audience that would actually deliver electric shocks to the person sitting there when The Tingler was released in the theater. These two films were really setting Price up for what I call Suave Horror. With his impeccable mustache, cultured voice, debonair air but ability to turn from cool to sinister with just an arched brow he created himself a blue print and one that many actors and artists in the coming decades would look to for inspiration like Jeffrey Combs, Julian Sands, and even the band Ghost with the original appearance of Cardinal Copia.
It would be in the 1960s though that Price would join forces with the late, great, Roger Corman to create what is considered the greatest adaptations of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, beginning in 1960 with House of Usher. Price would step into many different roles in these films, from villain, tortured victim, to even the hero. Usher was a great success and with Corman’s knack for finding talent and making every penny count, he would follow it up with The Pit and the Pendulum, Tales of Terror, The Raven, The Masque of the Red Death and The Tomb of Ligeia. Price was very good at making his villains likeable. Prince Prospero for instance is a real bastard but as the viewer, you, much like Francesca, want him to see the error of his ways before it is too late. But of course he doesn’t. Ligeia would see Price showing some of his romantic side before…well…the brooding cursed nature takes hold.
The Raven was one of the more pure comedies to come out of the run of films with Corman, though Tales of Terror had a big comedic heart too with its telling of The Black Cat. It’s a fun, wacky, and great bringing together of Price, Karloff, and Peter Lorre with Price playing the heroic wizard of the film. AIP followed this up with The Comedy of Terrors which would bring back Price, Karloff, Lorre and Basil Rathbone who had also co-starred in Tales of Terror. Richard Matheson would write the screenplay for Comedy of Terrors, and he would also be the writer of one of the greatest horror sci-fi novels of all time with I Am Legend, a story that would be retold a few times by Hollywood. But Vincent Price would star in the first adaptation of the book in 1964 titled The Last Man on Earth.
In 1963 Price would star in the possession story Diary of a Madman. That same year he’d star in the Corman directed The Haunted Palace, which was based off of HP Lovecraft’s The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward, even though it was released under the guise of an Edgar Allan Poe tale.
In 1968 Price would portray probably one of the most evil characters in his history as the very real Matthew Hopkins in Witchfinder General. It’s a brutal film and was actually going to be far more violent before the script was toned down. It was a hard shoot as well and Price and director Michael Reeves didn’t get along during it but would later come to an understanding. In 1969 he’d star in the voodoo driven The Oblong Box alongside Christopher Lee. During this time Price would also show up on numerous television series in guest roles with standouts like a villainous turn in The Man from UNCLE and especially Egghead in the Batman live action series.
In the 1970s Price entered another busy time. He’d star in An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe, retelling some of Poe’s greatest works. Scream and Scream Again would pair him up with two of the UK’s horror greats, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. This would be followed up by The Cry of the Banshee. In 1971 Price would take on one of my favorite roles he starred in, the strange and bizarre The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Here, you’re really rooting for the bad guy who is out to avenge the death of his wife on the operating table and the destruction of his own face, leaving him a ruined skull with a voice box and mask. Dr. Phibes is brilliant and ruthless and has a beautiful assistant named Vulnavia who helps him in his unique form of murder. Joseph Cotten would co-star as would the legendary Terry-Thomas who comes to a bad end. He’d return to the role the following year with Dr. Phibes Rises Again which would put him at odds with Robert Quarry, the man who would give unlife to Count Yorga.
In 1973 Price would give it to the critics in Theater of Blood, very much in the vein (that’s a joke) of Dr. Phibes where using a series of unique deaths, Edward Lionheart murders his critics based on works of Shakespeare. Diana Rigg stars as his daughter. The film is darkly comedic at times but it’s great to see Price eating the scenery in a role. In 1974 Price would don the role of another actor, this one also close to home in Madhouse, one of my other favorites of his that seems to not be as talked about. Madhouse follows Paul Toombes, known for his Doctor Death series of movies whose fiancée is murdered horribly one night during a party. Everyone suspects him of the murder but when he is brought back after a breakdown to star in a new series of Doctor Death films, people start dying around him again. The film uses footage from Price’s other movies intercut with new footage to create his Doctor Death work. It also brings back legends Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry to star alongside Price. It also has one of the creepiest ending shots I’ve seen and I’m still not sure how they did it.
Vincent would join Alice Cooper for his TV movie The Nightmare in 1975 as the actual Spirit of the Nightmare. He’d also host the Welcome to My Nightmare concert movie that same year.
Price actually loved doing kids shows and content for younger viewers and he made this very clear in the 70s. In 1977 he would be the host of the Muppet Show which themed a lot of the content in the scary way (they’d actually create a Muppet named Vincent Twice for Sesame Street in 1989 in homage to Price.) Kermit would famously bite Price in the neck during the appearance.
It would also be during the 70s that Price would take a role that many still don’t know exists. A local tv station in Ontario created a kids/teen show called The Hilarious House of Frightenstein. The series was a sketch comedy with skits that had psychedelic dancing werewolves, recurring characters, and used popular music at the time (this would later make it nearly impossible to be released on DVD in full.) At the time, the creators reached out to Price and asked if he’d host segments, and he agreed as he wanted to do more of children. Vincent Price flew out to Hamilton, Ontario and filmed all of his scenes for the entire run of 130 episodes in less than a week. According to people who were working on the shoot, Price disappeared during his last day of shooting making many think they’d angered the great actor. But he’d actually went and bought a large stock of beer that he brought back to share with the crew and spent the last hours in town drinking and telling stories about old Hollywood. Frightenstein is actually now avail to stream on some services like Tubi and Pluto TV. Some fans have uploaded episodes to YouTube. If you’ve never heard of this series, you really should check it out. Star Billy Van plays a number of characters in the show and if you love classics like The Munsters, you’re going to really dig the look. It’s wacky, fun, and Price is just having a great old time.
In 1981 Price would portray the vampire Eramus in the anthology film The Monster Club, another of my favorites of his and I believe the only time he’s ever played a vampire. The film takes place over an evening at said Monster Club where John Carradine’s horror writer is told stories by Price’s vampire. There’s also some awesome musical segments and a striptease that gives new meaning to the phrase boner. In 1982 Price would join forces for the first time with director Tim Burton for his short, animated film Vincent that was inspired by Price. It’s beautiful, gothy, and 100 percent Burton. In 1983 the greats of horror would all join forces in the horror comedy House of Long Shadows. The film would see Price with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, John Carradine. The film was a parody in many ways of the films that the four had starred in previously through their careers. That same year Vincent Price would be introduced to a whole new generation of fans with one of the biggest moments and songs in music history with Thriller. The Michael Jackson music video and record of the same name changed the world of pop music forever. Vincent Price’s “rap” in the song and his iconic laugh were perfect for it.
Vincent Price kept busy during the 80s and would return to the parody world in 1984 with the awesomely titled Bloodbath at the House of Death where he played the aptly titled Sinister Man. This is another one not enough people talk about and is just wickedly funny. It skewers films like The Omen and supernatural investigations like The Legend of Hell House as well as Carrie. Price’s character is just a sarcastic bastard, and I love it.
Continuing his love for working in kid friendly content, Price would join the world of Scooby Doo in 1985 with The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo as Vincent VanGhoul, basically Price himself if he were a wizard/magician. The character would return very recently in a direct to DVD finale to the story with Maurice Lamarche in Scooby Doo and the Curse of the 13th Ghost.
In 1986 Price was the host in the anthology film Escapes, released direct to video. That same year one of his favorite roles he would ever play happened when he stepped into the world of Disney as the villain Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective. Price actually sang in the film which followed Basil, the mouse who lives in Sherlock Holmes’s 221 B Baker Street apartments and happens to be a detective too.
In 1987 Price would once again be the guide through a handful of horror stories in the anthology film From a Whisper to a Scream. Price’s health was starting to decline in the late 80s, but it didn’t slow him down much. In fact he would co-star in the Oscar nominated The Whales of August the same year. In 1988 he would play one of the main villains in Dead Heat, the zombie buddy action cop comedy horror film starring Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo.
Vincent Price would rejoin with Tim Burton for one of his last on-screen roles as The Inventor who gives life toEdward Scissorhands. It’s a beautiful role for one of his last and in a way is a passing of the torch to actor Johnny Depp who would go on in roles in a number of horror films himself.
Vincent Price’s last on-screen role would be in the TV Movie The Heart of Justice in 1992 alongside actor Dermot Mulroney. I actually spoke with Mulroney about working with Price in this and he was very excited to share that, in his mind, Price is his furthest back touchstone to early Hollywood in his career. It meant a great deal to him to work with an icon like him.
Vincent Price passed away only a week before Halloween on October 25th of 1993 at the age of 82. It was right around the launch of the Sci-Fi Channel, and they included a tribute to Price when they launched.
Vincent Price was more than a horror actor though. Growing up during the times he did, there were moments were Price crossed paths with extremism and even Nazi sympathizers and ideals. But Price would not let that taint him. He would eventually become one of the most anti-hate actors in Hollywood. He denounced racism and prejudice and would become an ally to the LGBTQ community and was supportive of his daughter Victoria when she came out to him.
Price loved art. He was passionate about it and felt that it was something that everyone, no matter their income, class, or position should have access to and be touched by. He had an extensive collection and would partner with Sears on offerings for shoppers. Price donated a number of pieces of his own collection to the Vincent Price Art Museum in California.
Vincent Price was as well known for his cooking and love of cooking as he was his art and acting. Price wrote a handful of cook books over the years and would host his own cooking show in 1971. He also recorded tutorials on how to cook as well, even on LPs.
Vincent Price was a one of a kind and while there are many who are inspired by him I can’t think of any one else that can really replicate him. He was smart, kind, funny, and could chill you with a look or a cackle. He embraced his horror pedigree with grace and wit. He enjoyed it as is evident by the interviews and chats he would have over the years. He cared about his fans and was able to span decades easily. Price was afraid to go weird or make fun of himself. He was thrilled to be a Muppet and to make kids laugh and scream in equal measure.
Vincent Price’s legacy lives on through his work and the ones inspired by him. You can find him peeking out through performances, in music, in writing, or in a young fan dipping their toes in the blood of horror’s past. Join us at that House on Haunted Hill, the parties there are killer.
Season 2 of the hit Netflix Addams Family series Wednesday has been filming in Ireland since May, and yesterday it was revealed (through images of wrap gifts received by crew members) that production has wrapped. Now, the official Wednesday Addams X account has confirmed the end of production – and they shared the first image of star Jenna Ortega as Wednesday in the new season!
Wednesday comes to us from Millar Gough Ink, Tim Burton Productions, Toluca Pictures, and MGM Television, and is described as a comedic, supernaturally-infused coming-of-age series that follows the teenage girl’s years as a student at Nevermore Academy, where she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the town, and solve a mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new relationships at Nevermore. Snap snap.
Jenna Ortega plays the title character and beyond Wednesday, other members of the Addams Family include Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley, Luis Guzmán and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Gomez and Morticia, and Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester. Uncle Fester has only appeared on one episode of Wednesday so far, but we recently heard that the character might be getting his own spin-off series. New additions to the cast for season 2 include Steve Buscemi (The Big Lebowski), Billie Piper (I Hate Suzie), Evie Templeton (Lord of Misrule), Owen Painter (Tiny Beautiful Things), Noah Taylor (Law & Order: Organized Crime), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous), Thandiwe Newton (Westworld), Frances O’Connor (The Missing), Haley Joel Osment (Tusk), Heather Matarazzo (Scream), and Joonas Suotamo (The Acolyte).
The cast of season 1 also included Christina Ricci as botanical sciences teacher Marilyn Thornhill; Riki Lindhome as Wednesday’s therapist Dr. Valerine Kinbot; Joy Sunday as Siren Nevermore student Bianca Barclay; Emma Myers as Wednesday’s sunny roommate Enid Sinclair; Hunter Doohan as townie Tyler Galpin; Moosa Mostafa as quirky Nevermore student Eugene Otinger; Georgie Farmer as awkward and shy Nevermore student Ajax Petropolus; Naomi J. Ogawa as vampire Nevermore student Yoko Tanaka; Percy Hynes White as supernaturally artistic Nevermore student Xavier Thorpe; Jamie McShane as Sheriff Donovan Galpin, Tyler’s father, who has a vendetta against Gomez; Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems, “the principal of Nevermore Academy who still has an axe to grind with her former classmate Morticia Addams”; Victor Dorobantu as Thing, the non-verbal disembodied hand; George Burcea as Lurch; Tommie Earl Jenkins as Mayor Walker; Iman Marson as Lucas Walker; William Houston as Joseph Crackstone; Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as Deputy Santiago; Oliver Watson as Kent; Calum Ross as Rowan; and Johnna Dias Watson as Divina. Some of them are returning for Wednesday season 2, some are not.
Tim Burton directed half of season 2, which is the same thing he did for the first season. That means Burton was at the helm of four of the season’s eight episodes.
Are you looking forward to Wednesday season 2? Check out the image of Jenna Ortega, back in character, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
Before we dive too deep into this guide on how to acquire the Riemann SMG in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, it’s important to note that this fast-firing, early-game submachine gun is only available to those who purchase the Deluxe Edition DLC. It’s part of the “Journalist’s Stash” questline, which features…
HBO’s planned Harry Potter TV series from Warner Bros. has long been in development for the past few years and the studio is aiming for a 2026 release. The new TV series adaptation will be transforming each of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels into a single season, meaning that the entire series could span seven seasons or more. The studio released a statement saying, “Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally.”
Recently, Ralph Fiennes, who portrayed the franchise’s villain Lord Voldemort, gave his approval of the suggestion that Cillian Murphy step in the role for the TV series. According to Deadline, as Fiennes appeared on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, someone made the suggestion for Murphy to play Voldemort and Fiennes responded, “Cillian is a fantastic actor. That’s a wonderful suggestion. I would be all in favor of Cillian. Yeah.” Murphy would win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Oppenheimer and he’s currently working on a feature version of Peaky Blinders.
While the Warner Bros. film franchise was a smashing success and featured Fiennes with actors like Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, and Maggie Smith, as well as making careers for Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, the studio aims to utilize the full TV season length to adapt the books more in-depth. Channing Dungey, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group, said, “There’s not a lot to talk about at this moment. We’ve got our fantastic writing staff in place and they are doing what they need to do. And casting calls have opened up in the U.K. and Ireland, so the process is moving along. It’s going quite well. It’s an unbelievable dream, honestly, and as somebody who is a huge fan of books, the opportunity to get to explore them in maybe a little bit more in-depth than you can in just a two-hour film, that’s the whole reason we’re on this journey.“
Plot: When a terrorist group led by the villainous Jacob Pearce attacks a high-profile embassy reception, with the French Minister of Defence as their target, protection officer Vincent finds himself working with street-smart MI6 operative Zara to save the day. But when events take an increasingly dark turn, Vincent and Zara soon realize that the plan extends far beyond just one politician. With suspicions that one of their colleagues in the security services is feeding information to Pearce, Vincent and Zara soon come to rely on each other more than either would have ever imagined. Increasingly isolated and with Pearce always one step ahead, can this unlikely pair stop Paris from falling to a man hell-bent on vengeance?
Review: I’m not sure who asked for it, but the Gerard Butler Has Fallen film series has become the Has Fallen cinematic universe. After three movies (Olympus, London, and Angel), the same fictional world where terrorists target global leaders is expanding to the small screen with a planned array of series focused on other protagonists doing their patriotic duty to protect democracy from the evils that men do. The first entry is the France-set Paris Has Fallen. Rather than focus on a single hero like Butler’s Mike Banning, Paris Has Fallen partners two different characters to take down the bad guy. While it does not tread any new ground that the movies covered, Paris Has Fallen has fun with its concept and showcases solid action with brutal kills. It also serves as a spotlight on Tewfik Jallab and Ritu Arya as solid contenders for future action-hero roles on the big screen.
While each film clocks in at about two hours, Paris Has Fallen is set over eight forty-five-minute episodes. The long-form storytelling gives the series more time to dig into the villains’ motivations while also deepening the protagonists’ character development. While Gerard Butler’s character certainly had time to develop over three movies, none of the other big-screen characters did. Here, we learn a lot about the two leads. Vincent Taleb (Tewfik Jallab) is the lead security for a high-ranking French minister (Nathan Willcocks). Vincent has a deep military background and has a close relationship with the current President of France (Emmanuelle Bercot). Vincent is protecting the minister at a party when it is besieged by terrorists led by Jacob Pearce (Sean Harris). Vincent runs into an undercover MI-6 agent, Zara (Ritu Arya), and the pair manage to foil Pearce’s plan, but only temporarily. The first episode opens with a massive action sequence and closes with a shocking twist that sets the table for the coming season.
Having only seen the first four episodes of Paris Has Fallen, it is easy to see how good Jallab and Arya are in their roles. Tewfik Jallab fluently switches between French and English through each episode as he interacts with different characters and showcases serious aptitude during the action sequences, which are heavy on hand-to-hand combat. Equally, Ritu Arya is stellar as she pulls out martial arts and impressive gunplay in each episode. Arya’s experience in the action movie Polite Society and a standout role on Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy should have prepared me for how good she is here as a veteran agent. Arya also imbues Zara with a sense of humor and a personal side, which we get to see when she spends time with her girlfriend, Freja (Ana Ularu).
What really elevates Paris Has Fallen from being a clone of the movies or even similar action-oriented series like 24 is Sean Harris. The English actor has become a formidable presence on screen going back to the Red Riding trilogy in 2009 followed by turns in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth, David Michod’s The King, and David Lowery’s The Green Knight along with his most recognizable role as the villain Solomon Lane in the Mission: Impossible sequels Rogue Nation and Fallout. Harris’ quiet intensity instantly turns Jacob Pearce into a frightening bad guy. I was hesitant when I saw the trailer for Paris Has Fallen, as I thought Harris would riff on his other villain roles. Still, he instead fully inhabits Jacob Pearce as a layered character with a tragic back story enhanced by mental instability. Right from the first episode, Harris is a terrifying antagonist who may be the best villain in the Has Fallen franchise.
Created and written by Howard Overman, who scripted all eight episodes, Paris Has Fallen does not try to reinvent the action genre. Overman has an extensive history writing television series, creating the shows Dirk Gently, Atlantis, Misfits, Future Man, and War of the Worlds. Most of his projects have been more humorous, an element that he tries to bring to this series whenever possible. The four episodes I have seen were directed by Oded Ruskin, who has much action experience in his career. The back half of the season was directed by Hans Herbots, who I expect keeps the momentum firmly in place in his four episodes. The whole series relies heavily on misdirects and plot twists as the characters try to track down Jacob Pearce while also uncovering the root of his motivation and how high up the chain of command the conspiracy goes. Series like this have a lot of red herrings, and Paris Has Fallen is not exempt from falling down rabbit holes of circular logic and contrivances to keep pushing it forward. Nevertheless, Overman, Herbots, and Ruskin are focused on letting the bullets and blood fly, which masks any holes in the narrative just enough to forgive the errors.
Paris Has Fallen mines so much familiar territory covered in the feature films as well as countless other action shows on the small screen, but it does it with three charismatic leads who seem to be having a blast kicking ass through the City of Lights. I enjoyed this series a lot more than I expected, which could be due to being underwhelmed by the Gerard Butler movies that inspired it. Paris Has Fallen does not raise the bar in any way and is sure to be full of cliches of the genre, but it does it with more action than other television shows and some creative fight sequences and kills. I appreciate that the writers and filmmakers expanded such a high concept to keep it engaging and entertaining for four times the length of the movies in the cinematic universe. A fun series worth binging on, Paris Has Fallen is much better than I gave it credit for based on the trailers. It gives us two good new action leads in Twefik Jallab and Ritu Arya.
Paris Has Fallen premieres on December 6th on Hulu.
For movie fans, December means warding off the Wet Bandits, being seduced by a leg lamp and, to some, defending Nakatomi Plaza from terrorists. It’s just in our nature to clutter the month with our favorite holiday movies, creating a sort of advent calendar of Christmas joy and even misery (that scene in Gremlins is dark!).
Now, The Guardian is getting into the holiday spirit with their own advent calendar, recruiting a stable of notable filmmakers and stars to give their picks, all designated for certain days. While not all are Christmas movies per-se, the directors did support their opinions. Let’s run through some of the calendar, shall we?
By and large, it has to be pointed out that most of the movies on this advent calendar did center around the holiday season. After all, who wouldn’t include Love Actually (day 3), a Home Alone (Leila Farzad – director of the next Bridget Jones flick – chose Lost in New York for day 17) or Miracle on 34th Street (fittingly on day 24). It’s also cool to see new seasonal favorite The Holdovers (day 13 from noted screenwriter Jack Thorne) and the incredible The Silent Partner (day 16 – chosen by Berberian Sound Studio director Peter Strickland) – which we here at JoBlo.com love – get shoutouts. Expectedly, John Waters went extreme with slasher classic Christmas Evil (day 6).
A few of those who went the non-traditional route for the advent calendar include Secrets and Lies director Mike Leigh, who opted for Woody Allen’s Radio Days, arguing it works remarkably well in December. Meanwhile, James Ivory for some reason went with Gone with the Wind, which admittedly does have a Christmas scene but is nowhere near being the annual holiday viewing that The Wizard of Oz is. Himesh Patel, star of Yesterday, went with Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, noting, “when I think of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, I think of Christmas. The films were released during the festive period from 2001 to 2003 and became one of the most important cultural touchstones of my generation. Those Christmases held not just the usual festive joys, but the promise of the next chapter in this epic, game changing cinematic trilogy.”
As far as the essentials, you better believe I’ve got The Muppet Christmas Carol going towards the beginning of my advent calendar, with A Christmas Story on loop courtesy of TBS/TNT at the end and Ernest Saves Christmas for just about any day I need that nostalgic laugh. As for the more off-brand ones, I can’t help but watch Eyes Wide Shut every December, provided I remember the password…
We could argue which movies belong and which make no sense at all, but we’ll let you decide. So be sure to check out Guardian’s film advent calendar but also make sure you give us some of your own holiday essentials in the comments below, and check out our own X-Mas themed advent calender below:
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