Today, the teaser trailer and poster for the upcoming MCU feature film Thunderbolts* debuts. Marvel Studios presents Thunderbolts*, an irreverent team-up featuring depressed assassin Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) alongside the MCU’s least anticipated band of misfits.
While the plot synopsis has yet to be officially announced, Industry scooper Daniel Richtman conveys that it reads: “Yelena, US Agent, Ghost, and Taskmaster are sent by Val to kill someone in a vault. They realize they’ve been set up and were meant to die on this mission. So they team up against their boss to take her down.“
Jake Schreier directs Thunderbolts* with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek, Jason Tamez and Scarlett Johansson serve as executive producers.
In addition to Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Thunderbolts also stars Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster. Geraldine Viswanathan will also make an appearance, replacing Ayo Edebiri, who was originally attached. Lewis Pullman is also on board as The Sentry, taking over for Steven Yeun, who was cast in the role before he had to leave. Harrison Ford will also appear as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, reprising his role from Captain America: Brave New World.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige added that the group doesn’t take its name from Ford’s character, but when asked for an explanation regarding the asterisk in the title, he would only say, “You have to see the movie.” In the trailer, we see Yelena catching up with Red Guardian. We then see the individual characters tricked into meeting up, where they realize they’ve each been set up on dangerous missions. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine says, “We’re brought up with this belief that there are good guys and bad guys. But really, there are bad guys and there are worse guys.“
Whatever is going on in this movie, David Harbour has hinted that it will have a major impact on the MCU. He told ComicBook.com, “There is a bomb drop thing we add to the universe, which will be very exciting for the movie to do at the end of this particular phase that we’re ending. … Our characters are going to interact with something that we don’t really understand, and it fundamentally changes the course of the way things expand.“
Thunderbolts* will be released in theaters on May 5, 2025, as the final installment of Phase Five. What did you think of the teaser trailer? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The Conjuring film franchise is set to come to an end with the fourth installment, The Conjuring: Last Rites, which Warner Bros. has scheduled for a theatrical release on September 5, 2025 release. We had previously heard that this movie would be filming in the Atlanta, Georgia area, but apparently they’re doing some work across the pond as well, as we’ve also heard that filming was scheduled to take place in London, England from September 10th through October 10th this year. So it makes sense that the first two cast members to be announced, other than returning franchise stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, are both English. Deadline reports that Wilson and Farmiga have been joined in the cast by Ben Hardy (Love at First Sight) and Mia Tomlinson (The Lost Pirate Kingdom). Details on the characters they’re playing have not been revealed.
We don’t have any plot info on The Conjuring: Last Rites at this time, all we know that the story takes place in the United States in the 1980s. Wilson and Farmiga are back to play paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren again. Michael Chaves, who previously directed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, The Nun II, and the Conjuring Universe-adjacent The Curse of La Llorona, is at the helm of The Conjuring: Last Rites, working from a screenplay written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who also wrote The Conjuring 2 and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
Franchise producers James Wan and Peter Safran are producing the film, with Michael Clear and Judson Scott serving as executive producers alongside Hans Ritter.
A couple of months ago, industry scooper Daniel Richtman got his hands on these character descriptions from a casting call:
[ CARLY ] 7 to 9 years old, White girl. This character identifies as she/her. She is strong and spirited, youngest sibling, a twin. US accent. We are looking for a child with a deep emotional intelligence and the ability to convey strong emotions. Role for minor: requires no mature content. SIGNIFICANT SUPPORTING ROLE.
[ JASON ] Man / 24-29 /White / Description: A young man experiencing the birth of his child…SUPPORTING
[ HILARY ] Female / 24-29 /White. A young woman giving birth…SUPPORTING
We’ll have to wait and see if Hardy and Tomlinson ended up being cast as Jason and Hilary, or if they’re playing different characters entirely.
Are you looking forward to The Conjuring: Last Rites? What do you think of Ben Hardy and Mia Tomlinson being cast in the film? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
As Adam Sandler breaks out the clubs to return to the gentleman’s game of golf for the upcoming sequel Happy Gilmore 2, the Blu-ray label Kino Lorber will be bringing the original film to you in glorious 4K imagery. Blu-ray.com has announced the news of the 1996 film’s remastering. Happy Gilmore stars Sandler along with Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, Frances Bay, and the late, great Carl Weathers. There has not been a firm release date announced. However, the 4K release is expected to hit retailers sometime early next year. It will likely coincide with the release of Netflix’s sequel.
The description reads, “All Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) has ever wanted is to be a professional hockey player. But he soon discovers he may actually have a talent for playing an entirely different sport: golf. When his grandmother (Frances Bay) learns she is about to lose her home, Happy joins a golf tournament to try and win enough money to buy it for her. With his powerful driving skills and foulmouthed attitude, Happy becomes an unlikely golf hero — much to the chagrin of the well-mannered golf professionals.”
No special features have been announced, but the specs are as follows,
Video Codec: HEVC / H.265 Resolution: Native 4K (2160p) HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10 Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio TBA
Subtitles English SDH
Discs 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Two-disc set (1 BD-100, 1 BD-50)
Playback 4K Blu-ray: Region free 2K Blu-ray: Region A
Meanwhile, Adam Sandler has been seen donning the Boston Bruins shirt in the on-set photos taken during the production of Happy Gilmore 2. Kyle Newacheck (Murder Mystery, Ghosted, Workaholics) directs Happy Gilmore 2 from a script by Sandler and his trusty collaborator Tim Herlihy (The Wedding Singer, Pixels, Hubie Halloween). In addition to Adam Sandler and Christopher McDonald returning as Happy Gilmore and Shooter McGavin, respectively, Julie Bowen reprises her role as Virginia Venit. NFL star (and Taylor Swift’s arm candy) Travis Kelce and Benny Safdie (Oppenheimer, Uncut Gems, The Curse) appear in the comedic sequel, with Nick Swarsdon (Grandma’s Boy, Jack and Jill, The Benchwarmers) playing a caddy.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in August, Sandler expressed his excitement for Happy Gilmore 2, saying, “The idea that me and my buddy Tim Herlihy had and the more we talked about it and scene to scene worked on it, it built, and we feel very strong about the movie itself,” Sandler said. “We’re happy where it’s at and this is an exciting time for us. I don’t know how all of a sudden our brains said, ‘Let’s do that.’ It just kind of happened.”
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele made sketch comedy cool again for the first time since Chappelle’s Show went off the air. And although relatively short-lived with just over 50 episodes across five seasons, it left its mark and stands as one of the best cult sketch shows ever. But long gone are those days of Key & Peele, both the show and the duo.
This is something that still bugs Keegan-Michael Key, who told People, “We don’t see each other that often anymore. Which is, to me, a tragedy.” As for why Key & Jordan Peele don’t hang out, it comes down to simply moving on and finding new interests. “Your lives start to evolve and move in different directions. Our evolution, I think, is tied to both of what our desires are. His desire was to start exploring the horror genre, and my desire was to do more dramatic work like I had been trained in school…Both of us jumped to another platform — but we needed that first platform.”
That first platform, Key & Peele, brought us some of the most memorable bits in recent memory, with standouts including East/West College Bowl, Continental Breakfast and, maybe the reigning champ of all Key & Peele skits, Substitute Teacher. But since the show went off the air back in 2015, Jordan Peele almost immediately went into the horror game, delivering one of the most acclaimed of this century so far, Get Out, which earned him an Oscar for the screenplay. Keegan Michael-Key, meanwhile, has continued turning up in some high-profile projects, primarily through voice work, such as Chip ‘n Dale, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Transformers One, voicing Bumblebee.
Despite the two going on different professional paths, they did deliver the awesome Keanu after Key & Peele went off the air and Henry Selick’s immensely enjoyable Wendell & Wild. As for future – but separate projects – Key has the Jack Black-co-starring Dear Santa and the Shane Black-directed Play Dirty lined up, while Peele is producing the sport horror flick Him and setting up his next feature for 2026.
What is your favorite Key & Peele skit? Give us your picks in the comments section below.
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele made sketch comedy cool again for the first time since Chappelle’s Show went off the air. And although relatively short-lived with just over 50 episodes across five seasons, it left its mark and stands as one of the best cult sketch shows ever. But long gone are those days of Key & Peele, both the show and the duo.
This is something that still bugs Keegan-Michael Key, who told People, “We don’t see each other that often anymore. Which is, to me, a tragedy.” As for why Key & Jordan Peele don’t hang out, it comes down to simply moving on and finding new interests. “Your lives start to evolve and move in different directions. Our evolution, I think, is tied to both of what our desires are. His desire was to start exploring the horror genre, and my desire was to do more dramatic work like I had been trained in school… Both of us jumped to another platform — but we needed that first platform.”
That first platform, Key & Peele, brought us some of the most memorable bits in recent memory, with standouts including East/West College Bowl, Continental Breakfast and, maybe the reigning champ of all Key & Peele skits, Substitute Teacher. But since the show went off the air back in 2015, Jordan Peele almost immediately went into the horror game, delivering one of the most acclaimed of this century so far, Get Out, which earned him an Oscar for the screenplay. Keegan Michael-Key, meanwhile, has continued turning up in some high-profile projects, primarily through voice work, such as Chip ‘n Dale, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Transformers One, voicing Bumblebee.
Despite the two going on different professional paths, they did deliver the awesome Keanu after Key & Peele went off the air and Henry Selick’s immensely enjoyable Wendell & Wild. As for future – but separate projects – Key has the Jack Black-co-starring Dear Santa and the Shane Black-directed Play Dirty lined up, while Peele is producing the sport horror flick Him and setting up his next feature for 2026.
What is your favorite Key & Peele skit? Give us your picks in the comments section below.
Amazon-MGM is plotting its own tentpole franchise, with one of its biggest-ever theatrical films, Red One, due to hit theatres on November 15th, just in time for Christmas. With an estimated $250 million price tag, the studio will have to overcome bad buzz from behind the scenes for it to become the franchise it is no doubt hoping for.
In it, Dwayne Johnson plays the North Pole’s Head of Security, who has to team with an infamous bounty hunter (Chris Evans) to save Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons), who’s been kidnapped by evil forces hoping to end Christmas.
The fact that Red One is directed by Jake Kasdan, whose Jumanji movies were smash hits for Sony, points towards this potentially being a big success. However, Johnson’s track record at the box office has been mixed as of late, with Black Adam seen as a disappointment, although his Red Notice still ranks as Netflix’s most popular movie ever.
The new trailer definitely has a lot of action, with the bickering between the two stars very much in the Deadpool & Wolverine vein. People love a buddy comedy, and certainly, Johnson and Evans are popular, although mixing Christmas lore with Marvel-style action seems like an iffy prospect. The film certainly looks massive, with it getting an IMAX release, and seeming like it has fun mining Christmastime for action, with Kristofer Hivju of Game of Thrones playing Krampus, while Kiernan Shipka plays a monstrous entity from Icelandic folklore, Grýla. The movie also co-stars Lucy Liu, plus the great Bonnie Hunt as Mrs. Claus.
While the movie has a theatrical release date, one wonders whether it will have a quick turnaround to hit streaming by Christmastime. I suppose it depends on the grosses, although Johnson’s Moana 2, which comes out shortly after, seems like more of a sure thing at the box office.
Check out the new poster below and tell us how you think the film looks in the comments.
The Peacock streaming service recently announced that the first two episodes of the James Wan-produced series Teacup, which is an adaptation of the 1988 bestseller Stinger, written by Robert R. McCammon (pick up a copy HERE), are set to premiere on October 10th. Last month, we got a look at a quick teaser trailer for the show, and now a full trailer has arrived online, along with some poster art and a batch of new images. The trailer can be viewed in the embed above, and the poster and images can be seen at the bottom of this article.
Peacock will be releasing two episodes of Teacup weekly through Halloween.
McCammon’s novel has the following description: The story takes place during a single twenty-four hour period in Inferno, Texas. Inferno is a town in trouble, driven to the brink by racial tension, gang violence, and a collapsing economy. But things can always get worse, and they do so with astonishing speed when an unidentified spacecraft crash lands in the desert outside of town, followed by a second craft bearing the alien being who will soon be known as Stinger. Stinger is a kind of interstellar hunter on a mission he intends to complete, whatever the cost. He brings with him an endless array of technological marvels and an infinite capacity for destruction that threaten the existence of Inferno, its inhabitants, and the larger world beyond.
Teacup will follow a disparate group of people in rural Georgia who must come together in the face of a mysterious threat to survive.
James Wan is executive producing Teacup through his company Atomic Monster, alongside Michael Clear and Rob Hackett. Yellowstone consulting producer Ian McCulloch is a writer and executive producer on the show. Other executive producers include McCammon, Francisca X. Hu, Kevin Tancharoen, and E.L. Katz, who directed the first two episodes. Danielle Bozzone is overseeing the project for Atomic Monster. The show is coming our way from UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group.
McCulloch provided the following statement: “When Atomic Monster first approached me about creating a series adaptation of Robert McCammon’s Stinger—a no-holds-barred, gargantuan spectacle of a novel along the lines of The Stand, Independence Day and Mars Attacks—to be honest, I didn’t want to throw my hat in the ring. I’m not a spectacle writer. I’m a less-is-more writer. I gravitate more toward what are known as keyhole epics. Large stories told through small lenses. Think Signs, The Thing, A Quiet Place. But here’s the thing. I read Stinger and it stayed with me. Wouldn’t leave me alone. I just couldn’t stop thinking about its razor-sharp premise, how it unfolds over the course of a single harrowing day, and about the relatable and real family McCammon puts center stage. That’s when the flash bang-light bulb idea hit… What if I adapted Stinger in a way that honors the book and stays true to the kinds of stories I like to tell? Keep the conceit. Keep Stinger’s most effective elements. Take away the large ensemble. Take away the giant set pieces. Even take away the book’s crowded town setting. The adaptation would be like an acoustic guitar version of, say, a Radiohead song. It won’t have the production value, electronic instruments, loops, or synthesized bells and whistles but it will still have the melody, the structure, the lyrics, the real magic at the core, all the stuff that makes a great song agreatsong. All of which is to say I could suddenly see exactly what to do and how to do it. Two weeks later, Atomic Monster had the script for the first episode. Soon after that, Peacock bought it. Not so long after that, both my creative and career dreams actually started coming true as more scripts were written, hires made, actors cast, sets built, and production began… Of course, during production the series changed and evolved. Just as it should. Even the title’s different. Stinger is now Teacup. The reasons for this are too spoilery to share but watch the first few episodes and all will be revealed. Point being, the series is now very much its own thing: a puzzle-box mystery, an edge-of-your-seat thriller, a can’t-but-must look horror story, a family drama, a science fiction epic—of the keyhole variety, of course. But as singular, strange, and surprising as I hope Teacup is, all you need to do is peel away the layers, characters, situations, and mythology and look behind the thrills, chills, hairpin turns and make-you gaspreveals. Do all that and you’ll see, at its heart, Teacup is still very much standing on the shoulders of Stinger. Just as it should.“
Wan added: “After reading Robert McCammon’s book Stinger, the entire team at Atomic Monster felt a spark. The story had all the ingredients for a captivating series and Ian McCulloch had a vision to bring it to life in a fresh way that was both startling and darkly atmospheric, but filled with a rich sense of humanity — often lacking in edgy narratives. Add in our incredibly talented cast led by Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman and Chaske Spencer and fans are in for a true edge-of-your-seat experience. Teacup defies easy labels. It’s a genre-bending blend of horror, mystery, and drama, with layers that unfold like a captivating puzzle. It goes beyond chills and thrills and holds up a mirror to humanity, exploring the darkness that resides within us all. We hope you enjoy this wild ride as much as we’ve loved creating it!“
Are you looking forward to Teacup? What did you think of the trailer? Take a look at the poster, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
Are you not entertained? Well, if you aren’t yet, Paramount is going to make sure you are by the time Gladiator II hits theaters in November, as they plan to release another trailer tomorrow!
Despite the posters, trailers, footage, and press, it’s still sort of hard to think that we are actually getting Gladiator II. But you better believe it because there has been a lot of investment into the film. And we’re not just talking finances (the movie is said to cost somewhere around $300 million) but by the word of Ridley Scott himself, who said that Gladiator II is one of the best films he’s ever made. Scott is typically one of the biggest hype men for his upcoming films but we do believe he’s confident here. Now, how will it actually stack up against 2000’s Best Picture-winning original?
Here is the plot of Gladiator II, as per Paramount: “From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome. Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.”
Ridley Scott’s most recent film, Napoleon, was a box office failure, but is one that he continued to stand by. Could Gladiator II – poised to be another epic from Scott – suffer the same fate? However the numbers come up, Scott is already intent on turning his saga into a trilogy. As he put it, “I’m already playing with the idea of Gladiator 3. No, seriously. The end of Gladiator II evokes that of the Godfather, with Michael Corleone who ends up with a job he didn’t want, and who wonders, ‘And now, Father, what am I doing? ‘The next film will therefore speak of a man who does not want to be where he is.” You have to respect Ridley Scott’s ambitions!
Gladiator II arrives in his homeland on November 15th, with a United States and Canadian release the following weekend.
Are you excited for Gladiator II? How do you truly think it will compare to the first? Entertain us with your thoughts in the comments section below.
Are you not entertained? Well, if you aren’t yet, Paramount is going to make sure you are by the time Gladiator II hits theaters in November, as they plan to release another trailer tomorrow!
Despite the posters, trailers, footage, and press, it’s still sort of hard to think that we are actually getting Gladiator II. But you better believe it because there has been a lot of investment into the film. And we’re not just talking finances (the movie is said to cost somewhere around $300 million) but by the word of Ridley Scott himself, who said that Gladiator II is one of the best films he’s ever made. Scott is typically one of the biggest hype men for his upcoming films but we do believe he’s confident here. Now, how will it actually stack up against 2000’s Best Picture-winning original?
Here is the plot of Gladiator II, as per Paramount: “From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome. Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.”
Ridley Scott’s most recent film, Napoleon, was a box office failure, but is one that he continued to stand by. Could Gladiator II – poised to be another epic from Scott – suffer the same fate? However the numbers come up, Scott is already intent on turning his saga into a trilogy. As he put it, “I’m already playing with the idea of Gladiator 3. No, seriously. The end of Gladiator II evokes that of the Godfather, with Michael Corleone who ends up with a job he didn’t want, and who wonders, ‘And now, Father, what am I doing? ‘The next film will therefore speak of a man who does not want to be where he is.” You have to respect Ridley Scott’s ambitions!
Gladiator II arrives in his homeland on November 15th, with a United States and Canadian release the following weekend.
Are you excited for Gladiator II? How do you truly think it will compare to the first? Entertain us with your thoughts in the comments section below.
One poster to rule them all…One month after we got a look at the first trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, we now have an official one-sheet ahead of the film’s December release. You can check it out embedded in the article.
Here is the official write-up from Warner Bros.: “Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg—a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.”
Obviously there is plenty to explore in the world of The Lord of the Rings, but that The War of the Rohirrim is both a prequel and works in Helm’s Deep – the setting of one of the greatest sequences of Peter Jackson’s original trilogy – will no doubt set up a fan-servicing picture. Kenji Kamiyama, who was behind a few Ghost in the Shell works and the animated Blade Runner series Black Lotus, directs. But there is also some major The Lord of the Rings prestige behind the movie, too, with Wētā Workshop founder Richard Taylor, concept designers John Howe and Alan Lee, and screenwriter Philippa Boyens all on board in various capacities.
The voice cast for The War of the Rohirrim features Brian Cox as Rohan’s king Helm Hammerhand, Gaia Wise as his daughter Hèra, Luke Pasqualino as Hammerhead’s antagonist, and Miranda Otto as Éowyn, returning from Jackson’s The Two Towers and The Return of the King.
The War of the Rohirrim – which arrives on December 13th – will be the latest expansion of the J.R.R. Tolkien works, with Amazon’s The Rings of Power currently in its second season and The Hunt for Gollum possibly turning out as a two-part epic.
