It has been a whirlwind of a weekend for Palworld, the Ark-like survival game colloquially called “Pokémon With Guns.” Pocketpair’s latest has already sold over five million copies since launching in Early Access on January 19, and shot to the top of Steam and Twitch charts over the weekend. Palworld has been a…
It has been a whirlwind of a weekend for Palworld, the Ark-like survival game colloquially called “Pokémon With Guns.” Pocketpair’s latest has already sold over five million copies since launching in Early Access on January 19, and shot to the top of Steam and Twitch charts over the weekend. Palworld has been a…
Norman Jewison, one of Canada’s most acclaimed filmmakers, has died at the age of 97. Throughout his long career, Jewison really did it all, ranging from musicals to dramas to romantic comedies. He’s best known for In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck, Fiddler on the Roof, and more.
Born in Toronto, Canada, Norman Jewison was an assistant director when CBC Television debuted. He went on to write, direct, and produce a variety of programming for the young network over the next seven years before making the move to the U.S. His breakthrough movie was The Cincinnati Kid starring Steve McQueen. He went on to direct The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Thomas Crown Affair, Fiddler on the Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar, Rollerball, F.I.S.T., …And Justice for All, Moonstruck, In Country, Other People’s Money, Only You, and The Hurricane.
An experience with racial prejudice during his younger years stuck with him, prompting him to direct In the Heat of the Night years later. He had been hitchhiking through the U.S. when he wound up in Memphis, Tennessee and hopped on a bus and sat near the back. “The bus driver looked at me,” Jewison told NPR in 2011. “He said, ‘Can’t you read the sign?’ And there was a little sign, made of tin, swinging off a wire in the center of the bus and it said, ‘Colored people to the rear.’ And I turned around and I saw two or three Black citizens sitting around me, and … a few white people sitting way at the top of the bus. And I didn’t know what to do, I was just embarrassed. So I just got off the bus and he left me there. I was left standing in this hot sun and thinking about what I had just been through. That this was my first experience with racial prejudice. And it really stuck with me.“
Jewison also launched the Canadian Film Centre after visiting the American Film Institute in the ’80s. “I got a phone call to visit the AFI in Beverly Hills,” Jewison told THR. “So I went up there and there’s a group of young filmmakers sitting on the floor and there’s John Ford with a bottle of whiskey. And he’s answering all their questions. I was just blown away. It was very exciting. So I thought, ‘Gee, if I could set up something like this in Canada, that would be great.’“
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After many years in development hell, a live-action adaptation of the Halo video game franchise finally made its way out into the world as a Paramount+ streaming series back in 2022, with the first episode of the show quickly becoming Paramount+’s most-watched premiere. But while the TV series is returning for a second season, which is scheduled to begin streaming on February 8th, the first season wasn’t met with overwhelming positivity, as many fans of the video game source material were disappointed by some of the choices made for the adaptation. Not even star Pablo Schreiber, who plays the character Master Chief on the show, was entirely happy with that first season. Speaking with SFX Magazine, Schreiber revealed there was even one element that he felt was a huge mistake: the romantic storyline with Master Chief and Makee (Charlie Murphy), which even included a sex scene.
If you’re not up on your Halo, Screen Rant has some helpful information. Master Chief is the lead Spartan in the United Nations Space Command, which is battling an alliance of aliens called The Covenant that is seeking to eliminate humanity. Makee, a character created for the TV show, is a human member of The Covenant who is “worshipped for her ability to harness Forerunner technology, a trait shared only with Master Chief. After an attempt to infiltrate the UNSC to gain a Forerunner artifact, Makee is captured, eventually bonding with and gaining the trust of Master Chief, as the two find that they have more in common than anticipated.”
Schreiber had this to say about the interactions between Master Chief and Makee: “The decision to make the connection between Makee and John a romantic connection was a huge mistake. I felt it was a huge mistake at the time and I argued against it and fought against it. But I am who I am. I don’t write the scripts. I only give my opinion. It wasn’t listened to.“
Here’s hoping Halo season 2 has less bad ideas for Schreiber to argue against.
Schreiber and Murphy are joined in the cast by Natasha McElhone as Dr. Halsey, “the brilliant, conflicted and inscrutable creator of the Spartan super soldiers”. Schreiber and McElhone both have producing credits on the new season of the show. Additional returning cast members include Jen Taylor, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Natasha Culzac, Olive Gray, Yerin Ha, Bentley Kalu, Kate Kennedy, Fiona O’Shaughnessy, Tylan Bailey, and Danny Sapani. New additions to the cast for season 2 include Joseph Morgan (Vampire Diaries), Cristina Rodlo (No One Gets Out of Here Alive), and Christina Bennington (Midsomer Murders).
Halo is produced by Showtime, in association with 343 Industries and Amblin Television. The second season is executive produced by showrunner David Wiener, alongside Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey for Amblin Television. Kiki Wolfkill is executive producer for Xbox/343 Industries, with Otto Bathurst and Toby Leslie for One Big Picture, and Gian Paolo Varani.
What did you think of the first season of the Halo TV series and the Master Chief / Makee romance? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
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Sega revealed a new live-action commercial for Persona 3 Reload today, and I’m trying to pin down why it’s breaking my brain. I think I’m coming to the conclusion that there isn’t just one thing about it. There are so many bad things about it that it just feels like a fever dream. Can anyone who’s watched or read Umbre…
Sega revealed a new live-action commercial for Persona 3 Reload today, and I’m trying to pin down why it’s breaking my brain. I think I’m coming to the conclusion that there isn’t just one thing about it. There are so many bad things about it that it just feels like a fever dream. Can anyone who’s watched or read Umbre…
John Boyega (They Cloned Tyrone, Attack the Block) wants to discuss the good book with you. Which book am I talking about? The Book of Eli, of course! Whispers around the watercooler imply that Boyega is prepping a prequel series based on 2010’s The Book of Eli. According to Deadline, Boyega will play a younger version of Eli, the character played by Denzel Washington in the Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes-directed film. Adding authenticity to the project is The Book of Eli writer Gary Whitta, who will create/write/executive produce the upcoming prequel series. The Book of Eli prequel series comes from Alcon Entertainment. They’ll bring the show to market to land a premium streaming venue.
In The Book of Eli, a drifter fights across a ravaged, post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book that holds the secrets to humanity’s salvation. The story takes place 30 years after a nuclear catastrophe resulting in an ecocide. Details about the TV series remain a mystery, though whispers indicate the show could take place 30 years before the movie’s events.
Mila Kunis (The Spy Who Dumped Me, Black Swan), Gary Oldman (Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Darkest Hour, The Dark Knight), Ray Stevenson (Thor, Kill the Irishman, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant), Michael Gambon (Gosford Park, Cordelia, Little Women), and Tom Waits (Mystery Men, Seven Psychopaths) star alongside Washington in the 2010 film. The Book of Eli earned $157.1 million worldwide against an $80 million budget.
John Boyega, who is selective about acting projects, recently starred in 2022’s The Woman King alongside Viola Davis, Lashana Lynch, and Thuso Mbedu. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, The Woman King presents a historical epic inspired by actual events in the Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. Boyega also stars in Netflix’s They Cloned Tyrone, a quirky sci-fi comedy about an unlikely trio discovering a nefarious government conspiracy.
Are you a fan of The Book of Eli? Is Boyega a solid pick to play a young Denzel Washington? Which streaming service do you think will scoop this project up? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Rocksteady has revealed some of its post-launch plans for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League. The biggest piece of news is that the Joker will be the first new playable character added to Suicide Squad post-launch. And no, this isn’t the Joker from the Arkham games. He’s still dead. Instead, this is a new Joker…
Rocksteady has revealed some of its post-launch plans for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League. The biggest piece of news is that the Joker will be the first new playable character added to Suicide Squad post-launch. And no, this isn’t the Joker from the Arkham games. He’s still dead. Instead, this is a new Joker…
The mask and collectible makers at Trick or Treat Studios unveiled previews of several of their upcoming items today – and among those items were revivals of classic Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees masks from the ’80s and ’90s!
First up is a new version of a mask that a whole lot of kids (including myself) had back in the ’80s: the Freddy Krueger mask that was released by Don Post Studios in 1984! Unveiling an image of the mask prototype, Trick or Treat Studios simply described it as, “The original Don Post Freddy Mask.” Fans are encouraged to sign up for email notifications on the Trick or Treat Studios website so they can be the first to know when this mask launches for pre-order.
In writer/director Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, several Midwestern teenagers fall prey to Freddy Krueger, a disfigured midnight mangler who preys on the teenagers in their dreams — which, in turn, kills them in reality. After investigating the phenomenon, Nancy begins to suspect that a dark secret kept by her and her friends’ parents may be the key to unraveling the mystery, but can Nancy and her boyfriend Glen solve the puzzle before it’s too late?
Next we have an update of a Jason Voorhees mask, based on his look in the 1993 film Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, that was released by Illusive Concepts in ’95. Trick or Treat Studios said, “Illusive Concepts’ Jason Goes to Hell – Jason mask is back!” As with the Freddy mask, fans can sign up for email notifications on the Trick or Treat Studios website so they can be the first to know when this mask launches for pre-order.
Directed by Adam Marcus from a screenplay by Dean Lorey and Jay Huguely (who also gets story credit with Marcus), Jason Goes to Hell has the following synopsis: After being blown away by a team of FBI agents, Jason Voorhees needs to find a way to overcome certain death. When his bloodied remains are sent to the morgue, his heart, still intact, is able to hypnotize a coroner and take over his body. After brutally dispatching a couple of FBI agents, he heads back to his favorite stomping grounds: Crystal Lake. Jason commences another teen massacre while a bounty hunter discovers the only way to kill him.
What do you think of Trick or Treat Studios bringing back these classic Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees masks? Will you be adding either (or both) of these to your collection? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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