Last week, we gave you part one of our Porsche adventures and chatted with Tucker Tooley and Christian Gudegast on their latest. And now it’s time for the two fellas that earned a lot of love in Den of Thieves the first time around. Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. return for a bigger crime story, with a twist and turn or two. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera brings back Big Nick and Donnie Wilson, even after their rocky beginning. Den of Thieves 2 (look for our review Thursday evening) opens this Friday at a theatre near you.
Gerald Butler is fantastic to speak with. And talking to both he and O’Shea together is especially enjoyable. The two opened up about taking the story to a larger world and working together again. For Jackson, he opened up about his trouble with typecasting early in his career after Straight Outta Compton. The two actors were especially engaging, and the chemistry they have in the film is evident when you sit down for a conversation.
Terrifier franchise heroine Lauren LaVera has the lead in the upcoming pregnancy horror film The Fetus – and while a specific release date hasn’t been announced for this one, a trailer for the film has made its way online, and you can check it out in the embed above. We previously saw a teaser trailer for The Fetus way back in March of last year.
Written and directed by Joe Lam, with Nathan Faudree and Yuke Li credited as story consultants, The Fetus tells the story of a couple struggling to learn the truth about the origins of their unborn child– a demonic entity that emerges from the body. Here’s an alternative synopsis: When Alessa becomes pregnant, it brings up Chris’ deep-rooted trauma surrounding fatherhood. Upon discovering that their fetus craves human blood, they visit his father, Maddox, for answers.
The Fetus marks the feature directorial debut of Lam, who has previously directed multiple short films and a healthcare documentary. The director provided the following statement: “With The Fetus, I wanted to delve into the emotional terrain of Alessa’s unwanted pregnancy, exploring the complexities it imposes on her relationships with her father Maddox and her partner Chris. The fetus becomes a metaphorical antagonist, unraveling both Chris and Alessa’s psyche, leading them on a haunting journey of fear, self-discovery, and the intricate web of family dynamics. Ultimately, I hope this story challenges the boundaries of the horror genre.“
Lam also produced the film with Joe Barbagallo and Brent Trotter.
LaVera is joined in the cast by Rachel Keefe (Poser), Julian Curtis (Are You Afraid of the Dark?), Joe Barbagallo (Ghost Source Zero), Jeremy Rudd (Sons 2 the Grave), Evan Towell (I, Tonya), McKenzie Shea (Law &Order: Organized Crime), Bobby C. King (The Card Counter), Maureen O’Connor (Used and Borrowed Time), Dalton Rimbert (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Santiago Corbin (Video Journals), Marilyn Spanier (Girl, Interrupted), and genre icon Bill Moseley (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2).
What did you think of the trailer for The Fetus? Will you be watching this movie when it’s released? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Due to the unfortunate ongoing events of the Los Angeles wildfires, the live reading for the upcoming nominations for the SAG Awards was canceled and the nominations were instead announced on the SAG website. The Screen Actors Guild would also include a message addressing the current emergency situation.
The statement read,
We want to take a moment to acknowledge the devastating fires affecting Los Angeles and surrounding areas. Our thoughts are with everyone impacted — the residents, first responders, and all those working tirelessly to protect the community. Please consider donating to a charity of your choice to help those in need. To support impacted members of our artist community, donations can be made to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, which operates a natural disaster relief fund. Donate HERE.“
The nominees can be viewed below, courtesy of Variety:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role ADRIEN BRODY – “THE BRUTALIST” TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET – “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN” DANIEL CRAIG – “QUEER” COLMAN DOMINGO – “SING SING” RALPH FIENNES – “CONCLAVE”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role PAMELA ANDERSON – “THE LAST SHOWGIRL” CYNTHIA ERIVO – “WICKED” KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN – “EMILIA PÉREZ” MIKEY MADISON – “ANORA” DEMI MOORE – “THE SUBSTANCE”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role JONATHAN BAILEY – “WICKED” YURA BORISOV – “ANORA” KIERAN CULKIN – “A REAL PAIN” EDWARD NORTON – “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN” JEREMY STRONG – “THE APPRENTICE”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role MONICA BARBARO – “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN” JAMIE LEE CURTIS – “THE LAST SHOWGIRL” DANIELLE DEADWYLER – “THE PIANO LESSON” ARIANA GRANDE – “WICKED” ZOE SALDAÑA – “EMILIA PÉREZ”
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture A COMPLETE UNKNOWN ANORA CONCLAVE EMILIA PÉREZ WICKED
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE DUNE: PART TWO THE FALL GUY GLADIATOR II WICKED
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series JAVIER BARDEM – “MONSTERS: THE LYLE AND ERIK MENENDEZ STORY” COLIN FARRELL – “THE PENGUIN” RICHARD GADD – “BABY REINDEER” KEVIN KLINE – “DISCLAIMER” ANDREW SCOTT – “RIPLEY”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series KATHY BATES – “THE GREAT LILLIAN HALL” CATE BLANCHETT – “DISCLAIMER” JODIE FOSTER – “TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY” LILY GLADSTONE – “UNDER THE BRIDGE” JESSICA GUNNING – “BABY REINDEER” CRISTIN MILIOTI – “THE PENGUIN”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series TADANOBU ASANO – “SHŌGUN” JEFF BRIDGES – “THE OLD MAN” GARY OLDMAN – “SLOW HORSES” EDDIE REDMAYNE – “THE DAY OF THE JACKAL” HIROYUKI SANADA – “SHŌGUN”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series KATHY BATES – “MATLOCK” NICOLA COUGHLAN – “BRIDGERTON” ALLISON JANNEY – “THE DIPLOMAT” KERI RUSSELL – “THE DIPLOMAT” ANNA SAWAI – “SHŌGUN”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series ADAM BRODY – “NOBODY WANTS THIS” TED DANSON – “A MAN ON THE INSIDE” HARRISON FORD – “SHRINKING” MARTIN SHORT – “ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING” JEREMY ALLEN WHITE – “THE BEAR”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series KRISTEN BELL – “NOBODY WANTS THIS” QUINTA BRUNSON – “ABBOTT ELEMENTARY” LIZA COLÓN-ZAYAS – “THE BEAR” AYO EDEBIRI – “THE BEAR” JEAN SMART – “HACKS”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series BRIDGERTON THE DAY OF THE JACKAL THE DIPLOMAT SHŌGUN SLOW HORSES
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series ABBOTT ELEMENTARY THE BEAR HACKS SHRINKING
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series THE BOYS FALLOUT HOUSE OF THE DRAGON THE PENGUIN SHŌGUN
When I walked into a Build-a-Bear Workshop last month and they were completely sold out of their Shadow the Hedgehog bears to stuff and dress to your liking, I don’t think I expected it to be a harbinger for a plague of scalpers taking advantage of the Sonic the Hedgehog community. But it turns out that is exactly…
When I walked into a Build-a-Bear Workshop last month and they were completely sold out of their Shadow the Hedgehog bears to stuff and dress to your liking, I don’t think I expected it to be a harbinger for a plague of scalpers taking advantage of the Sonic the Hedgehog community. But it turns out that is exactly…
Reacher season 3 will be reaching the Prime Video streaming service very soon, with the first three episodes of the new season dropping on February 20th and the remaining episodes airing every Thursday until March 27th. With that three episode premiere date right around the corner, a trailer for Reacher season 3 has made its way online and can be seen in the embed above.
Here’s the official logline: In the third season of the action-packed series, Reacher (Alan Ritchson) hurtles into the dark heart of a vast criminal enterprise when trying to rescue an undercover DEA informant whose time is running out. There he finds a world of secrecy and violence—and confronts some unfinished business from his own past.
Series star Alan Ritchson is joined in the cast by Anthony Michael Hall as Zachary Beck, Sonya Cassidy as Susan Duffy, Brian Tee as Quinn, Johnny Berchtold as Richard Beck, Robert Montesinos as Guillermo Villanueva, Olivier Richters as Paulie, and Daniel David Stewart as Steven Elliot. As you can see in the trailer, Maria Sten is also back as Frances Neagley, a character who is getting her own spin-off series.
Prime Video‘s Reacher series is based on a series of novels written by Lee Child. The first season of the show was based on Killing Floor, the first Reacher novel Child ever wrote. The second season jumped ahead to the eleventh book, Bad Luck and Trouble. Reacher season 3 is based on the seventh book, Persuader. The ninth book, One Shot, and the eighteenth book, Never Go Back, were previously turned into feature films starring Tom Cruise.
Reacher is produced by Amazon MGM Studios, Skydance Television, and CBS Studios. The show is written for television by Emmy-nominated writer Nick Santora (FUBAR,Prison Break), who also executive produces and serves as showrunner. In addition to Santora and Child, Ritchson serves as an executive producer, along with Don Granger, Scott Sullivan, Mick Betancourt, and David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Matt Thunell for Skydance. Carolyn Harris and Kenny Madrid are the executives-in-charge of the series for Skydance Television.
Will you be watching Reacher season 3? Check out the trailer and let us know by leaving a comment below – and if you’re wondering, yes, Prime Video has already renewed the show for a fourth season.
Back in 2015, we heard that Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil) was in talks to star in the George R.R. Martin adaptation In the Lost Lands, which at the time was set to be written and directed by Constantin Werner (The Pagan Queen). That version of In the Lost Lands never made it off the ground – but seven years later, the project was revived, with Jovovich still in the lead and her husband Paul W.S. Anderson (Event Horizon) taking over as director. Two years after we heard that In the Lost Lands was back on, it was announced that Vertical had picked up the distribution rights to the finished film. Vertical is planning to give In the Lost Lands a theatrical release on February 28th – and with that date swiftly approaching, a trailer has now arrived online! You can check it out in the embed above.
Scripted by Anderson and Werner, the film centers on a queen who, desperate to fulfill her love, makes a daring play: she hires the sorceress Gray Alys, a woman as feared as she is powerful. Sent to the ghostly wilderness of the Lost Lands, Alys and her guide, the drifter Boyce, must outwit and outfight man and demon in this fable that explores the nature of good and evil, debt and fulfillment, love and loss.
Jovovich plays Gray Alys and is joined in the cast by Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Boyce.
This adaptation of In the Lost Lands was produced by Anderson, Jovovich, Bautista, and Werner, along with Jeremy Bolt, Robert Kulzer, and Jonathan Meisner.
“With In the Lost Lands, we’ve created a movie with a completely unique visual style and storytelling that uses cutting-edge technology to bring the story to life like never before,” Anderson said in a statement. “So, it was always important to me that it be seen on the big screen. That’s why I couldn’t be more thrilled that Vertical is bringing In the Lost Lands to American theaters.“
When asked if the characters played by Jovovich and Bautista would be fighting each other, Anderson told Variety, “Oh yeah, I mean you can’t have Milla and Dave in a movie and not have them have a go at it. It’s an adaptation of a George R.R. Martin story so you know it’s going to be dark and twisted and have wonderful characters. Because that’s what George does.“
What did you think of the In the Lost Lands trailer? Will you be catching this movie on the big screen next month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
heap of skulls. Apocalypse and hell concept. 3d rendering.
The shocking and sudden passing of Chadwick Boseman shook up the MCU fanbase as the actor was coming of a big run in the universe with his debut in Captain America: Civil War, fighting alongside other superheroes in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, and of course, establishing himself in the solo franchise of Black Panther. When it came time to follow up Black Panther with a sequel, the creatives had an incredibly tough assignment. One thing’s for certain: Kevin Feige wasn’t ready to recast T’Challa, as he said, “It just felt like it was much too soon to recast. Stan Lee always said that Marvel represents the world outside your window. And we had talked about how, as extraordinary and fantastical as our characters and stories are, there’s a relatable and human element to everything we do. The world is still processing the loss of Chad. And Ryan poured that into the story.”
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Shuri would take up the mantle as the new Black Panther, but CBR reports that there might now be talk of Marvel Studios recasting T’Challa using the “multiverse” plot device. The Direct recently spoke to industry insider Jeff Sneider, and he tells through the grapevine that Marvel is currently looking at new actors for the role. He explains, “With Marvel reshuffling the deck in advance of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and Robert Downey Jr. coming back, not as Iron Man, but as Doctor Doom, I’m told that the door is firmly open for T’Challa to be recast via the magic of the multiverse.”
He continued to say, “I heard that an actor was actually offered the role this past fall, a couple of months after Downey’s big reveal at Comic-Con, but they turned it down, not wanting to jeopardize their career momentum by stepping into Boseman’s gigantic shoes, which may be too big to fill, even for Hollywood’s most talented Black actors.” Sneider believes the new multiverse T’Challa is being planned to lead in the third Black Panther, so this may become a subplot in one of the upcoming Avengers or possibly another MCU movie.
The only thing known about the upcoming sequel is Denzel Washington accidentally letting it spill that Ryan Coogler is writing a role for him. Washington felt so bad about casually dropping that tidbit that he reached out to Coogler to apologize, “I called him the other day. I forgot what it was about — no, I called him to apologize. That’s right. I called him. I said, ‘I’m sorry, man.’ He’s like, ‘No, man, it’s all good.’ I FaceTimed, and right there next to him was his lady. They were editing. They were hanging out.”
We had heard that director Rhys Frake-Waterfield and producer Scott Jeffrey Chambers were planning to create a cinematic universe with the Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey films and other horror movies inspired by children’s stories, like Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, Bambi: The Reckoning, and Pinocchio Unstrung. Then, Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios officially announced that this cinematic universe, which is being referred to as The Twisted Childhood Universe, is building up to the crossover movie Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble, which will be released in 2025. Now, in an interview with ComicBook.com, Chambers has teased that Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, and the Mad Hatter will be “the worst of the worst” when it comes to the children’s story-inspired villains in the film.
Frake-Waterfield will be directing Poohniverse from a screenplay he wrote with Chambers. It was previously confirmed that the cast will include Chambers as Christopher Robin, Megan Plactio as Wendy Darling, Roxanne Mckee as Xana, Lewis Santer as Tigger, and Martin Portlock as Peter Pan. Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare and Bambi: The Reckoning are set to receive theatrical releases in the first quarter of 2025, with Pinocchio Unstrung likely to follow later in the year, so we’ll be introduced to those horrific characters well before Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble makes it to screens.
Frake-Waterfield explains, “It will be complete carnage. We are heavily influenced by Freddy vs. Jason and The Avengers. We would love to see a horror movie where the villains group together and are going after their survivors. We have some incredible set pieces in mind and some sequences I think will truly shock people. The movies we are working on now as stand alones are all building towards Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble.“
Chambers added, “Similar to The Avengers, we will follow Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Piglet, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Bambi, The Mad Hatter, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell joining forces to wreak havoc. We are working with a larger scale budget on this one and are excited for what the future will hold. When you see the stand alone movies you will see the easter eggs hinting toward the crossover. Some of the villains also will not see eye to eye, which will allow for some carnage within the group in some epic sequences of monster vs. monster.“
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Chambers said that Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare is “incredibly dark” because “I need you to feel a certain way about Peter Pan. By the time we get to Poohniverse, because I need you to just not like him, I need you to be against him from the get-go. Because when he goes into the arena with, for example, Pooh, I need you to look at Pooh like, ‘He’s not all too bad.’ I’ve not really spoken much about this yet, but Mary Poppins will be in it, and she’s going to be a kiddy snatcher as well. So I’m sure her and Peter Pan are going to get on like a house on fire. And then there’s also the Mad Hatter. I think those three are going to be the worst of the worst. We’ve introduced Peter and later down the line we will introduce the other two in their own films.“
Our introduction to the evil Peter Pan will come when Iconic Events Releasing brings Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare to theatres for three days only this month, from January 13th through the 15th.
Are you interested in Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble? What do you think of Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, and the Mad Hatter being the worst of the villains? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
In today’s episode of WTF Happened to this Movie, we’re going to take a retrospective look at the revolutionary film Sin City. We’ll talk a bit about the highs and some lows, the stacked cast of Hollywood alumni, and, of course, the efforts made behind the camera to create this pop-culture cinematic staple. Let’s begin…
Director Robert Rodriguez has had his share of hits and misses over his multi-decade-long career. To think that the director of Shark Boy and Lava Girl is the same visionary filmmaker that brought us The Mexico Trilogy and Alita Battle Angel is somewhat of a strange thought, but then again, when you own your own studio as a true independent filmmaker- you can pretty much make whatever you want.
Lucky for us, in 2005, Rodriguez and Frank Miller joined forces to adapt Miller’s masterpiece graphic novel series Sin City into a theatrical film. Fans of the Sin City books are aware of Miller’s unique semi-monochromatic panels with only a few bold pops of color for certain scenes and images. And much like Zach Snyder’s 300, Rodriguez set out to deliver a movie that would be a direct visual translation of the original artwork. As you can imagine, this was going to be a daunting task that would require mass amounts of creativity, imagination, inspiration, and of course… money.
Between Dimension Films and Rodriguez’ own Troublemaker Studios- the film got a budget of $40M USD which was considered cheap for a comic book fim, let alone a comic book film with this level of visual intrigue. But of course, the world of Sin City deserved its best shot at being brought to life, so Rodriguez called on Frank Miller from the very beginning to co-direct the project and act as a level of quality control. After all, according to Robert Rodriguez, when discussing the making of the movie:
“ It’s less of an adaptation and more of a translation”
Ya see, from the beginning- this movie’s goal was to take the darkly noir imagery from the Miller books and put A-list actors in the place of the characters to read the words exactly as they were written. And, how did it go?
Sin City is the kind of movie that, since its release in 2005, has been imitated but never successfully duplicated. Despite receiving a sequel nearly a decade later, this movie and Rodriquez’ intense grindhouse noir style seem to have caught lightning in a bottle regarding the magic of Sin City. Containing an all-star lineup of actors ranging from personal friends and collaborators like Elijah Wood, Josh Hartnett, and Carla Gugino- to other recognizable stars like Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, and Clive Owens. The film is an anthology that catalogues the life and times of some of Sin City’s underbelly residents. This includes adaptations of The Yellow Bastard, where Bruce Willis plays a nearly retired detective who embarks on an 8-year mission to rescue Nancy (Jessica Alba) from the clutches of a serial rapist and murderer. Then, The Customer is Always Right, a quick one that showcases what’s essentially two scenes of Josh Hartnett doing his thing. Then, my personal favorite, The Hard Goodbye, in which Mickey Rourke plays Marv, a rough street brawler with brain damage who wakes up next to a friendly escort to find that she’s been murdered. He then scraps and kills his way up the chain of crime until he avenges the murder of his only friend. It’s a tragic ending for this one, by the way- but that’s the case for pretty much all of these. All except for the final story, The Hard Goodbye. This one features yet another trip into Sin City to follow a local tough guy who both starts and ends a war between the police, the mob, and a neighbourhood full of prostitutes that, trust me, fellas, you do NOT want to f*ck with.
These stories all have the same visual style, as well as the same noir writing style that calls back to 1950s detective stories. Since the movie wouldn’t be deviating from the original source material, the actors had their work cut for them in terms of learning their lines- but the incredible amount of augmentation done to some of the film’s more memorable characters like Marv and, of course, the yellow bastard himself. Rodriguez and Troublemaker Studios always seem to be at the forefront of technology when it comes to what’s possible for filmmakers on a budget. And when it comes to things like makeup and effects, what better way to pinch those pennies than to make it all in-house? Troublemaker Studios in Austin, TX, is an incredible workshop/film studio/film set. I’ve actually toured this place and taken selfies with some of the costumes worn in this movie. Mickey Rourke’s facial prosthetics and wig rendered the man nearly unrecognizable if not for that wonderful gruff voice.
As far as the impact this movie had on cinema, the box office lit up with excitement and cold hard cash reaching over $150M on a budget of just 1/3 of that. Miller and Rodriguez had a certified hit. The film would receive praise from general audiences who found the bizarre style of the film to be refreshing from other comic book fare, while also providing a detailed and visually pleasing world to get sucked into for these twisted tales. And of course, fans of the books who eagerly awaited this release also seemed to really enjoy it- which helped to propel the film to a highly successful physical release. Shortly proceeding this film, we’d see the rise of certain imitators like the dreadful Max Payne starring Mark Wahlberg, and even Frank Miller’s The Spirit which makes similar attempts to capture the style but without Rodriguez to really bring it home.
For the most part, this movie holds up well as a slice of movie history that stands out from others of its kind. It sports one of the greatest casts in a comic book film (or any film for that matter), it pays homage to gritty noir thrillers while delivering on all the blood and guts you want from a grindhouse outing, and above all- it’s an extension of something that was created out of passion by one of the greatest minds in comic book history. It was a risk to make, and specifically a risk to make in the way they did. But if you ask me, this one was special and remains important. And that’s what happened to Sin City.
