We’re starting to get a much clearer look at the 2024 gaming calendar, after the Xbox Developer Direct on January 18 and now Sony’s State of Play event on January 31. The Sony event gave us an in-depth look at Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding sequel, On The Beach, and boy was there a lot going on. We also got a teensy…
Melissa Barrera was expected to reprise her role of Sam Carpenter for Scream 7, but the actress was fired by Spyglass media last year after the studio alleged that she made anti-Semitic comments on social media following the attack in Israel and the invasion of Gaza. Well, the actress has sparked more controversy in the last week, leading her representatives at WME and Sugar23 to wonder whether they should drop her as a client.
Melissa Barrera posted a link in her Instagram bio that prompted followers to donate money to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The group has been providing aid to Palestinian refugees for decades, but allegations recently emerged that some employees are members of Hamas and that 12 of them actually took part in the October 7th attacks. This has led multiple countries to put a pause on funding for the group, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, and more.
According to Variety, the social media posts quickly spread within WME, with the agency reportedly consulting “outside advisors on the best approach to fire [Melissa Barrera] given that such a break could spark backlash.” Sources say that it got close, but both WME and Sugar23 have elected to keep her for now, even though some other clients and employees have complained.
Melissa Barrera does have one major studio project coming up with Abigail, the horror movie directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. It remains to be seen if Universal will include her in the marketing campaign and interview junkets moving forward, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight,” reads the official synopsis. “In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.” Abigail is slated to hit theaters on April 19th.
The post Melissa Barrera sparks more controversy with social media posts, leaving reps wondering if they should drop her appeared first on JoBlo.
Hollywood was dealt a major blow earlier today when it was announced that the great Carl Weathers had died. From Predator to Happy Gilmore to Star Wars, Carl Weathers had a hand in just about everything, so it’s no surprise that his many friends are paying tribute to the late actor.
Adam Sandler took to X to pay tribute to his Happy Gilmore co-star. “A true great man. Great dad. Great actor. Great athlete. So much fun to be around always,” Sandler wrote. “Smart as hell. Loyal as hell. Funny as hell. Loved his sons more than anything. What a guy!! Everyone loved him. My wife and I had the best times with him every time we saw him. Love to his entire family and Carl will always be known as a true legend.” Weathers played Derick “Chubbs” Peterson, a former pro golfer who lost a hand in an alligator attack.
Of course, you can’t think about Carl Weathers without thinking about Predator. He played Al Dillon, Dutch’s (Arnold Schwarzenegger) Vietnam War buddy who is now a CIA operative pushing too many pencils. “Carl Weathers will always be a legend. An extraordinary athlete, a fantastic actor, and a great person. We couldn’t have made Predator without him,” Schwarzenegger wrote on X. “And we certainly wouldn’t have had such a wonderful time making it. Every minute with him — on set and off — was pure joy. He was the type of friend who pushes you to be your best just to keep up with him. I’ll miss him, and my thoughts are with his family.“
Jesse Ventura, who co-starred in Predator as Sgt. Blaine Cooper, added, “We lost an icon. Carl Weathers was a phenomenal talent, a true professional, and a dear friend. All my sympathies and love to his family. I loved working with him on Predator and then celebrating that film with him at various conventions in the ensuing years. Thank you, Carl.“
The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau also issued a tribute to Carl Weathers, saying, “I am heartbroken by this devastating loss. He was a hero from my childhood who I was lucky enough to meet and then had the amazing good fortune to work with. He had the energy and curiosity of a young man paired with the wisdom that his rich life and career afforded him. My heart goes out to his family and countless admirers.“
Pedro Pascal, who plays the titular bounty hunter in The Mandalorian, posted a photo of Weathers with the caption, “Words fail.” Katee Sackhoff, who plays Bo-Katan Kryze in the series, said, “There are no words. I’m in complete shock. Carl and I found a friendship off camera bonding over our love of the PNW and the importance of family. He was so proud of his family. Brendan Wayne said it best…never did I ever meet a guy who seemed like he would live forever. Rest in Peace my friend. I hope you’ve found your plot of land again.“
A great many people loved Carl Weathers, and our hearts go out to his family and friends.
The post Arnold Schwarzenegger, Adam Sandler & more pay tribute to the late Carl Weathers appeared first on JoBlo.
The Star Trek franchise can’t seem to catch a break on the big screen. There have been numerous Star Trek movies in development since the release of Star Trek Beyond almost eight years ago, including one from Fargo creator Noah Hawley. The project was pretty far along before Paramount pulled the plug, and Hawley has revealed that the movie would have starred Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek. Hot damn.
Noah Hawley discussed the Star Trek project on a recent episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, speaking of his tales of “heartbreak” in Hollywood. “Yeah, I mean, I was going to make a Star Trek movie with Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek,” Hawley said. “Could have had that, America.“
It’s unlikely that Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek had officially signed on, but Hawley has previously said that they were in the middle of major casting when the plug was pulled. “We were on the runway. There was major casting that we were in the middle of. We had a production schedule and I was getting ready to go to Australia,” Hawley said. “And then, as you said, new management. I guess in retrospect, what surprised me is not that Emma Watts came in and said, ‘Are you people crazy? This is a this is an untested crew. This is an original idea. We don’t know if this is going to work or not work.’ It’s that I got as far as I did under [former head of Paramount Motion Picture Group] Wyck [Godfrey] and [Paramount President] Jim [Gianopulos]. It was a really fun movie and I think it would have been a great film, but you can’t control these things. So we move on.“
Bits and pieces of the project have emerged since it was axed, including that it would have featured an entirely new crew. “We’re not doing Kirk and we’re not doing Picard,” Hawley said in 2020. “It’s a start from scratch that then allows us to do what we did with ‘Fargo,’ where for the first three hours you go, ‘Oh, it really has nothing to do with the movie,’ and then you find the money. So you reward the audience with a thing that they love.” At the moment, there are several Star Trek movies in development, including Star Trek 4, which will be the “final chapter” of the J.J. Abrams crew, as well as a prequel taking place decades before the 2009 movie set to be helmed by Star Wars: Andor director Toby Haynes.
Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek would have been fun additions to the Star Trek franchise, but… who knows what the future will bring.
The post Noah Hawley’s Star Trek movie would have starred Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek appeared first on JoBlo.
Anyone who was on the internet around the release of The Last of Us Part II knows it was a bad time. But while we, as fans and writers, saw the vitriolic backlash unfold in real-time, it was far worse for the creative team who was directly targeted by it. Laura Bailey, who played the secret second protagonist Abby,…
Anyone who was on the internet around the release of The Last of Us Part II knows it was a bad time. But while we, as fans and writers, saw the vitriolic backlash unfold in real-time, it was far worse for the creative team who was directly targeted by it. Laura Bailey, who played the secret second protagonist Abby,…
A new game industry survey revealed that over 500 studios around the world are currently working on or maintaining live-service video games like Destiny 2, Suicide Squad, and Fortnite.
A new game industry survey revealed that over 500 studios around the world are currently working on or maintaining live-service video games like Destiny 2, Suicide Squad, and Fortnite.
Superman: Legacy is set to kick off production next month, and director James Gunn took to Instagram to announce that John Murphy will be the composer for the upcoming DCU movie. The pair have worked together quite a bit, as Murphy composed the scores for The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
“Happy to announce that my frequent collaborator @johnmurphycomposer is scoring #SupermanLegacy,” Gunn wrote on Instagram. “John was one of the first people I called when I finished the script many months ago as I knew how incredibly important the score was to this production. John has been working tirelessly since, creating hours worth of music that we’ll play on set as we shoot & use in the edit & that will eventually be recorded with a glorious symphony for all of you. Welcome to the DCU, John!” In addition to his work with Gunn, Murphy is also known for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, 28 Days Later, Miami Vice, Sunshine, 28 Weeks Later, Kick-Ass, and more.
Superman: Legacy will star David Corenswet (Pearl) as Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Ms. Maisel) as Lois Lane. The film will also feature Nathan Fillion (The Rookie) as Guy Gardner, a charismatic and slightly obnoxious member of the Green Lantern Corps; Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) as Hawkgirl; Edi Gathegi (X-Men: First Class) as Mister Terrific; Anthony Carrigan (Barry) as Metamorpho; María Gabriela de Faría (Deadly Class) as The Engineer, a member of The Authority; Sara Sampaio (At Midnight) as Eve Teschmacher; and Skyler Gisondo (The Righteous Gemstones) as Jimmy Olsen. Nicholas Hoult is also set to appear as Lex Luthor, which Gunn finally confirmed late last year.
Co-chair of DC Studios Peter Safran has teased that Superman: Legacy will not be an origin story and will focus on “Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. Superman represents truth, justice and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks of kindness as old fashioned.” Superman: Legacy is slated to hit theaters on July 11, 2025.
Do you think John Murphy is a good fit as the composer of Superman: Legacy?
The post Superman: Legacy taps The Suicide Squad composer John Murphy to score DCU movie appeared first on JoBlo.
Sony’s massive State of Play presentation on January 31 gave us a look at a bunch of upcoming PlayStation 5 games, including the first-person shooter Judas, the action game Stellar Blade, and many more. Stunlock Studios’ 2022 breakout game V Rising also made an appearance, with an announcement that the open-world…