Comic book films have gotten bolder as time marched on and some properties would eventually cross over into more mature content with an R-rating. The biggest story this year is, of course, the massive success of Deadpool & Wolverine and its no holds barred on language and violence. With a worldwide box office of over $1.3 billion, Deadpool & Wolverine has been a huge success, and it’s also done pretty well on Disney+. According to Disney, the film has garnered 19.4 million views globally in its first six days on the streaming service.

James Gunn has also been able to let loose in the DCEU with his movie The Suicide Squad, which also led to the adult-oriented TV spin-off Peacemaker. Deadline is reporting that Gunn will not shy away from R-rated content in the new DCU. When talking with Collider, he was inquired if he would first see how an R-rated movie would perform before committing to exploring more. Gunn responded,

We’re not about that. We’re not about ‘See how it does.’ We’ve got one opportunity to take these characters and really press forward and do what we believe. I am a great believer that if we tell good, authentic stories, if a movie does well or doesn’t do as well, if you keep with that same philosophy, that you’re going to build a universe that people are going to love and want to be a part of for a long time.”

He continues,

It’s not about testing out to see if this thing works. It’s just about telling a story. If a story is going to be R-rated, we’re totally okay with that. If it’s going to be PG, PG-13, or G, I don’t care — whatever is worthy of the story, that’s what we’re going to do.”

He also cited the success of Deadpool & Wolverine and how “people love that character” and “people love that format.” Furthermore, he says that there are already projects in development at DC that will likely be stamped with an R-rating. Gunn added, “You know Peacemaker is unrated, basically. So, we have all sorts. I like the idea of doing all sorts of different things.”

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That we are once again talking about Lyle and Erik Menendez says a lot about Ryan Murphy’s grip on pop culture. But it also might have a lot to say about our court system. In the most recent news, the brothers – who are both currently serving life imprisonment sentences for the murders of their parents, José and Mary Louise Mendendez – are seeking clemency. And while California governor Gavin Newsom would be the ultimate decider on granting clemency, the move is currently delayed as the state awaits a new district attorney.

That DA, Nathan Hochman, will take his position in the first week of December, replacing  George Gascón. On his plans over the Mendendez brothers, he stated, “Once I take office on December 3, I look forward to putting in the hard work to thoroughly review the facts and law of the Menendez case, including reviewing the confidential prison files, the transcripts of the two trials and the voluminous exhibits, as well as speaking with the prosecutors, defense attorneys and victim family members.”

As per Governor Newsom’s office (via Deadline), “The governor respects the role of the district attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility…The governor will defer to the D.A.-elect’s review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions.”

If things work out in favor of Erik and Lyle Menendez, their charges could be dropped to manslaughter; with that, they would see a release from prison, a landmark move that would change the entire trajectory of their story.

The Menendez brothers became immediate examples of sensationalism in the media, their story grabbing every headline and their trial coverage being widely covered on television, marking one of the earliest examples of a murder trial getting that sort of attention. While appeals have been made, this is by far the closest Erik and Lyle have gotten to seeing their sentence reduced. And, really, Ryan Murphy may hold a lot of credit for that, whether you like the guy’s style or not.

Do you expect to see the Menendez brothers released from prison?

The post The Menendez Brothers’ clemency trial delayed due to incoming DA appeared first on JoBlo.

That we are once again talking about Lyle and Erik Menendez says a lot about Ryan Murphy’s grip on pop culture. But it also might have a lot to say about our court system. In the most recent news, the brothers – who are both currently serving life imprisonment sentences for the murders of their parents, José and Mary Louise Mendendez – are seeking clemency. And while California governor Gavin Newsom would be the ultimate decider on granting clemency, the move is currently delayed as the state awaits a new district attorney.

That DA, Nathan Hochman, will take his position in the first week of December, replacing George Gascón. On his plans over the Mendendez brothers, he stated, “Once I take office on December 3, I look forward to putting in the hard work to thoroughly review the facts and law of the Menendez case, including reviewing the confidential prison files, the transcripts of the two trials and the voluminous exhibits, as well as speaking with the prosecutors, defense attorneys and victim family members.”

As per Governor Newsom’s office (via Deadline), “The governor respects the role of the district attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility…The governor will defer to the D.A.-elect’s review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions.”

If things work out in favor of Erik and Lyle Menendez, their charges could be dropped to manslaughter; with that, they would see a release from prison, a landmark move that would change the entire trajectory of their story.

The Menendez brothers became immediate examples of sensationalism in the media, their story grabbing every headline and their trial coverage being widely covered on television, marking one of the earliest examples of a murder trial getting that sort of attention. While appeals have been made, this is by far the closest Erik and Lyle have gotten to seeing their sentence reduced. And, really, Ryan Murphy may hold a lot of credit for that, whether you like the guy’s style or not.

Do you expect to see the Menendez brothers released from prison?

The post The Menendez Brothers’ clemency trial delayed due to incoming DA appeared first on JoBlo.

Now You See Me 3 has officially wrapped production, with star Jesse Eisenberg thanking the crew in a video posted on the sequel’s official X/Twitter page.

“Thank you so much for just being the most wonderful crew to work with and [it’s] just such an unbelievable blessing to be here,” Eisenberg said.

Plot details for the magical heist sequel are being kept under wraps, but original cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, and Morgan Freeman all returned to reprise their roles. It was also announced earlier this year that Justice Smith (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers), Ariana Greenblatt (Borderlands), and Rosamund Pike (Saltburn) would be joining the project as well, with Pike said to be playing a “pivotal role” in the movie. I can imagine her being the latest target of the Four Horseman.

Now You See Me 3 will reintroduce audiences to “the thieving illusionists known as the Four Horseman while introducing audiences to a new generation of magicians.” The studio envisions the sequel as the launching pad for the franchise’s future. Given the fresh young cast members, you might be able to tell who this “new generation” of magicians will be.

The sequel is directed by Ruben Fleischer, with Eric Warren Singer, Seth Graham-Smith, and Mike Lesslie having penned various drafts of the script. Earlier this year, Jesse Eisenberg told Collider that he had recently read the script and was excited to return to the franchise. “Yeah, I did [read the script]. Hopefully it will happen in the next six months. I think it will, it seems like it will. Yeah, it’s really great,” Eisenberg said. “For me, the thing I love about it so much, having just read the script, it celebrates intelligence and it’s non-violent but exciting, and it’s so weird to see that because it sounds so obvious, and it sounds like that would be common, but it’s actually quite uncommon to have a movie that’s this franchise, this Hollywood-style movie that’s really just about teamwork and intelligence, rather than just violence.“

Now You See Me 3 will hit theaters on November 14, 2025.

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Josh O’Connor has joined the cast of the untitled film from Steven Spielberg, where he will star alongside Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), Colin Firth (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Colman Domingo (Euphoria) and Eve Hewson (Hedda).

We don’t know much about the project itself, only that it’s said to be a UFO movie based on Spielberg’s own original idea, with David Koepp (Jurassic Park) writing the screenplay. A UFO movie from the man who gave us Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and War of the Worlds is pretty much all I need to know. Bring it on. Universal Pictures has already slated the project for a May 15, 2026 release.

O’Connor recently starred alongside Zendaya and Mike Faist in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers. He’s also set to appear in Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. The star-studded cast includes Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc alongside Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Chuch.

Spielberg has also been working on a new movie based on Bullitt, the classic action thriller starring Steve McQueen. The project received an update late last year from Kristie Macosko Krieger, one of Spielberg’s producing partners. “I’m producing it. Steven [Spielberg] and Josh Singer, who is writing the script, they are working on the story,” Krieger said. “I hope we have a script soon as the writers’ strike put us behind a bit. But they are working on it – I couldn’t tell you if it’s the next movie we are making as I don’t know at this point. I think that it will be a wildly entertaining film.“

Based on Mute Witness by Robert L. Fish, the original film starred Steve McQueen as a no-nonsense San Francisco cop who becomes determined to track down the underworld kingpin who killed the witness in his protection. Spielberg will direct the new Bullitt movie as well as produce it, with Josh Singer writing the script. Bradley Cooper is set to star in the project as Frank Bullitt. However, it won’t necessarily be a remake of the original 1968 film, but will instead tell an original story with the Frank Bullitt character at its center. Steve McQueen’s children, Chad and Molly McQueen, will executive produce the Bullitt project, as will Bradley Cooper.

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With a worldwide box office of over $1.3 billion, Deadpool & Wolverine has been a huge success, and it’s also done pretty well on Disney+. According to Disney, the film has garnered 19.4 million views globally in its first six days on the streaming service. A view is defined as total stream time divided by runtime. This makes it the most-watched live-action movie on Disney+ since the streaming release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in February 2023.

While these numbers are impressive, they actually pale in comparison to the streaming service’s biggest movie of the year, Inside Out 2, which pulled in 30.5 million views in its first five days on Disney+.

Taking place six years after the events of the last movie, Deadpool & Wolverine finds Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) toiling away in civilian life with his days as Deadpool behind him. But when his homeworld faces an existential threat, he must suit up once again and convince a reluctant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to help save his universe. In addition to Reynolds and Jackman, the cast also includes Matthew Macfadyen, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, Rob Delany, Stefan Kapičić, and more.

Our own Chris Bumbray had a lot of fun with Deadpool & Wolverine, which sounds like a real crowd-pleaser. “Have you ever been to a concert and wished that your favourite band would stop playing their not-as-good new stuff and play the hits? That’s exactly what Marvel is doing with Deadpool & Wolverine,” Bumbray wrote in his review. “After a rough run of movies, with many saying their Phase 5 has been disastrous, this feels like an everything but the kitchen-sink attempt by the company to win back those fans who feel alienated by the new direction the company seemed to be heading in. With this, you have a rock ‘em, sock ‘em thrill ride that delivers fans exactly the movie they wanted to see, with nary a message to be found amidst all the charred, sliced and diced corpses our heroes leave in their wake. It’s glorious fun.” The film is now available on 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray/DVD, and Disney+.

Have you watched Deadpool & Wolverine on Disney+?

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It’s been nearly five years since it was first announced that Tom Hardy would star in HAVOC, a new action thriller from The Raid director Gareth Evans. The film has certainly been a long time coming, but it will finally be released on Netflix in 2025. Empire dropped a new image from HAVOC featuring Hardy sending some poor bastard to the emergency room. You can check that out below, as well as a few more from Netflix itself.

As production wrapped up four years ago, you might be wondering what the hold-up has been; according to Evans, that came down to the difficulty in scheduling additional photography, which required some very specific people to be in the same place at the same time. However, the director promised the film would be worth the wait, and the delay was only beneficial. “It’s had a profound effect on the film,” he said. “It allowed me to better streamline it, and make it what it was always intended to be, which is a blistering, fast-paced action-thriller with nods to the Hong Kong cinema that I grew up watching.”

HAVOC stars Hardy as a detective who must fight his way through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician’s son after a drug deal gone wrong. Along the way he unravels a web of corruption and conspiracy ensnaring his entire city. With films such as The Raid and The Raid 2 under his belt, Evans certainly knows his action, and he says the film will “deliver on the action front. That’s the primary focus. But with Tom, what you get as well is an intensely muscular central performance, and really well-developed character. There’s a lot going on under the hood.” Bring it on, baby. I can’t wait.

Hardy can currently be seen in Venom: The Last Dance, the (supposedly) final installment of the Venom franchise. It’s done well at the box office, recently passing the $400 million mark. Our own Chris Bumbray found The Last Dance to be something of a mixed bag, although he says that it “finally kicks into high gear for the rather satisfying last half hour. Here, Venom: The Last Dance finally delivers the Venom film we’ve wanted from the start.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here, and be sure to let us know what you think of the film as well.

The post Tom Hardy featured in new images from HAVOC, a “blistering, fast-paced action-thriller” from The Raid director Gareth Evans appeared first on JoBlo.

Earlier this month, it was announced that a sci-fi thriller called White Mars, which sounds quite similar to The Thing and is set to star Lucy Hale of Pretty Little Liars, Scream 4, Truth or Dare?, and Fantasy Island, would begin filming on November 11th. Production is now underway, with filming taking place at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, where the movie is being shot entirely in a virtual production environment. Now, Deadline has revealed that Hale is being joined in the cast by Luke Newton, who is best known for playing the role of Colin Bridgerton on the hit Netflix series Bridgerton (his other credits include the Disney show The Lodge and Lake Placid: Legacy).

Martin Owen (The Loneliest Boy in the World), who just co-directed a survival thriller called Above the Below with Idris Elba, will be directing White Mars from a screenplay by Matt Mitchell, Vicki Sargent, and Roo Berry. Set in an isolated Aquila Research Facility, White Mars follows microbiologist Sammie (Hale) as she and Leo (Newton) fight to save their fellow crew members from a malevolent entity whose sole intention is to extinguish them all. Deadline says this will allow Hale to channel both Alien‘s Ellen Ripley and The Thing‘s RJ MacReady.

Future Artists Entertainment’s Matt Williams is producing the film with Neil Jones, as well as Steve Griffith and Steve Jelley from Singularity Entertainment. XYZ Films is co-financing with Singularity and is handling worldwide sales. This is the first feature for Singularity, “an entertainment company specializing in virtual production and streamlined processes for independent films.”

Hale had this to say about the project: “White Mars is an absolute psychological thrill ride, and I’m so excited to film this at the Cinecittà film stages in Rome. At the heart of this story is Sammie, a character I truly admire for her resilience and strength. I can’t wait to collaborate with Martin Owen, our incredible cast, and the entire team to bring this story to life.“

Matt Williams added, “I am excited for this to be the first of a multi-slate of films with the team at XYZ and Singularity. Together we will be bringing technologically advanced movie making to the independent market to compete visually with high end studio films. We are thrilled that Lucy is joining us on this action-packed sci-fi adventure as her character battles the sinister forces that threaten us all.“

Are you interested in White Mars? What do you think of Luke Newton joining Lucy Hale in the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post White Mars: Luke Newton of Bridgerton joins Lucy Hale in Antarctica-set horror film appeared first on JoBlo.

If you’re looking to roar alongside Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King, grab your advanced tickets from Fandango for the chance to enter into a sweepstakes for a destiny vacation! Today, tickets are available on Fandango for Mufasa: The Lion King, premiering in theaters on Friday, December 20. The film is Fandango’s 2024 Most Anticipated Holiday Movie, proving that fans are eager to return to the Pride Lands of Africa for the latest chapter of the beloved franchise.

In addition to launching advanced ticket sales, Fandango is launching an exciting sweepstakes. Fans who buy a ticket to Mufasa: The Lion King through Fandango can win a vacation to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park!

“Exploring the unlikely rise of the beloved king of the Pride Lands, ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ enlists Rafiki to relay the legend of Mufasa to young lion cub Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala, with Timon and Pumbaa lending their signature schtick,” reads the synopsis. “Told in flashbacks, the story introduces Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka—the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny—their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe.”

The film boasts quite the voice cast, with Aaron Pierre as Mufasa, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka/Scar, Tiffany Boone as Sarabi, Kagiso Lediga as Young Rafiki, Preston Nyman as Zazu, Mads Mikkelsen as Kiros, Thandiwe Newton as Eshe, Lennie James as Obasi, Anika Noni Rose as Afia, Keith David as Masego, John Kani as Rafiki, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, Billy Eichner as Timon, Donald Glover as Simba, Blue Ivy Carter as Kiara, Braelyn Rankins as Young Mufasa, Theo Somolu as Young Taka, and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala.

Earlier this year at CinemaCon, Mufasa: The Lion King director Barry Jenkins confessed to seeing the original Disney animated movie over 200 times. He could not turn down the opportunity to direct Mufasa’s origin story, saying, “When the script came to me I was fascinated by watching these complex people dealing with complex emotions…this film explores Mufasa rise to become the heroic king that we know,” Jenkins said.

I’ve been to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, and it’s a hell of a destination. If you want to see Mufasa: The Lion King in theaters, why not get your tickets through Fandango and enter the sweepstakes? Landing a sweet vacation in addition to seeing the movie would be killer.

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Stephen King‘s “Constant Readers” have read about the character Holly Gibney in the pages of his Bill Hodges trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch), the novel The Outsider, the If It Bleeds short story from the collection of the same name, and his crime novel Holly. Now, Entertainment Weekly has revealed that Holly is also at the heart of his next novel, Never Flinch, which is set to reach store shelves on May 27, 2025.

A couple of years ago, King told The Kingcast hosts Eric Vespe and Scott Wampler, “I could never let Holly Gibney go from the Mr. Mercedes books. I mean, she was supposed to be a walk-on character and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart.” Obviously, Holly still has his heart. He had mentioned last year that he was working on another Holly Gibney book, but at that time he was calling it We Think Not. He told the Talking Scared podcast that the book was turning out to be fairly long because there were “too many stories” going on in it. King said, “I feel kind of like the mad juggler. I’m trying to keep all the balls in the air and not drop any of them.“

Never Flinch is said to feature intertwining storylines – one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission and another about a vigilante stalking a feminist celebrity speaker. Eventually, the stories converge for a “spectacular, chilling climax.” When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to ‘kill thirteen innocents and one guilty’ in ‘an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,’ Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help. Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard — a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.

Entertainment Weekly mentions that another character in the book is a gospel singer called Sista Bessie. A short excerpt from the book can be read at the Entertainment Weekly link.

King also told Talking Scared that he had ideas for a third Talisman book and was more than 600 pages into writing a novel called The Dreamers, which was so creepy that he couldn’t think about it at night. “I had this image of a man who is under some kind of drug, and he opens his eyes and they turn black, and these tendrils start to come out of his eyeballs. It just creeped me out.” He added that the story was inspired by and is dedicated to No Country for Old Men author Cormac McCarthy. So it will be interesting to see if The Dreamers ends up being his next release. In the meantime, we have Never Flinch to look forward to?

Will you be picking up a copy of Stephen King’s Never Flinch when it’s released next year? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Never Flinch: Holly Gibney returns in Stephen King’s latest novel appeared first on JoBlo.