While Nobody 2 was recently confirmed to be wrapped, Bob Odenkirk continues his action career with the upcoming film, Normal. The movie is written by John Wick and Nobody screenwriter Derek Kolstad, and Ben Wheatley takes up the directing duties with this one. Now, Variety is reporting that Happy Days and Barry star Henry Winkler is set to join the cast along with 300 and Game of Thrones star Lena Headey. It is yet to be announced on what roles that they will be playing.
The film finds Odenkirk playing Ulysses, a lawman “who is thrust into the temporary role of the sheriff for the small sleepy town Normal after the previous one’s untimely death. When the town’s bank is robbed by an out-of-town couple, Ulysses arrives on the scene to find that the town is hiding much more sinister deep-seated secrets under its surface and everyone – from the bartender to the priest – is in on it. And now Ulysses, who’s up-till-now focused only on running away from the demons of his past, must uncover the full extent of this criminal conspiracy.“
Odenkirk recently conveyed that he was equally impressed with the concept behind Normal as he was with Nobody. “It just had this quality to it I don’t think I’ve seen in an action movie in forever. I’m going to call it suspense mystery,” he said. “You could argue that the Bourne films, especially the early ones, have that element, where he’s trying to explore and solve a mystery, the mystery of his own past. There’s that sort of dimension in this story, something that Derek expanded on, which I think was the reason Ben Wheatley came on board.”
He would also explain why he thinks an against-type of actor like him is an ideal candidate for these type of action roles. “A lot of action movies, where the guys are too handsome and built, it’s hard for the audience to buy into the idea that they’re in danger. I don’t have that problem,” Odenkirk said. “Audiences genuinely see me and go, ‘Oh, jeez, this guy is screwed. He’s going to get his ass handed to him.’ He doesn’t get to win by sheer muscle because he doesn’t have that. He gets to win through tenacity and cleverness.“
Back in 2021, Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, and director Scott Derrickson brought us an adaptation of the Joe Hill short story The Black Phone (check out our review HERE) that appeared to tell a complete story that would stand on its own… but the film was made on a budget of around $16 million and earned over $160 million at the global box office. So, on October 17, 2025, we’ll be getting The Black Phone 2 – and with the release date eleven months away, Derrickson has now confirmed on social media that Black Phone 2 has started filming!
— N O S ⋊ Ɔ I ᴚ ᴚ Ǝ ᗡ ⊥ ⊥ O Ɔ S (@scottderrickson) November 4, 2024
Based on a short story by Joe Hill, The Black Phone centered on Finney Shaw, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, who is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney. If you’d like to read the short story that The Black Phone is based on, it can be found in Hill’s collection 20th Century Ghosts, which you can buy HERE.
Derrickson wrote the screenplay for the first film with C. Robert Cargill, and Derrickson and Cargill have written the screenplay for The Black Phone 2 as well. They’re also producing the sequel with Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and Ryan Turek. The sequel will see the return of Mason Thames (How to Train Your Dragon) as Finney Shaw, Madeleine McGraw (Secrets of Sulphur Springs) as Finney’s sister Gwen, Jeremy Davies (Justified) as their dad Terrence, and Miguel Mora, whose only previous credit is The Black Phone, as Robin, a friend of Finney’s who was killed in the first movie. Ethan Hawke (Moon Knight) will be reprising the role of the child-killer known as The Grabber. One new addition to the cast is Demián Bichir of The Hateful Eight.
Derrickson recently told New York Comic Con attendees, “I didn’t really feel any obligation to do a sequel to The Black Phone, but I got excited by an idea that [author] Joe Hill sent me shortly after the release of the first film. And what I can also tell you is that in the same way that The Black Phone was a middle school coming-of-age film, this is a high school coming-of-age film.” He added that, “I’m hoping to make a film as good as, if not better than, the first one.“
Are you looking forward to finding out what’s going to happen in The Black Phone 2, and are you glad to hear that filming has begun? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Back in 1986, David Cronenberg directed a remake of Kurt Neumann’s 1958 sci-fi horror classic The Fly (which was based on George Langelaan’s short story) – and the result is considered to be one of the best remakes of all time. 20th Century Fox, now the Disney subsidiary 20th Century Studios, has been wanting to replicate that success with another remake for a couple of decades now… but the project has never managed to escape from development hell. Cronenberg wanted to come back and make another Fly movie, but it fell apart over budgetary issues. Screenwriter Todd Lincoln wrote a remake of The Fly that he described as a “dark, twisted, grounded re- imagining… Part Val-Lewton, part J.G. Ballard, part Neal Stephenson with some Horror Manga touches.” The studio wasn’t into it. J.D. Dillard was attached to direct a new version of The Fly for years, then stepped away from it. Now, Deadline reports that Nikyatu Jusu – who recently made her feature directorial debut with the horror filmNanny – is set to write and direct a new version of The Fly for 20th Century Studios and Chernin Entertainment, but sources say that this isn’t a straightforward remake. Instead, it’s a story that’s “set in the universe of Cronenberg’s film.” So it seems this is some kind of sequel or spin-off.
The Fly told the story of a brilliant scientist who becomes obsessed with perfecting a device that can transmit matter from one location to another. Successful in his initial tests, he experiments with a human guinea pig – himself. But an ordinary housefly makes the journey with him, and when they merge both creatures have been extraordinarily changed. This is the chilling story of a man fighting to retain his humanity, and a desperate woman’s attempt to save the man she loves.
The 1958 film received two sequels, Return of the Fly and Curse of the Fly. Cronenberg’s film got a sequel as well, The Fly II, before the franchise sputtered out again. The Fly ’86 co-star Geena Davis was going to star in and produce a sequel called Flies, but that’s another Fly project that never made it into production.
Nikyatu Jusu’s The Fly is set to be produced by Chernin Entertainment’s Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping. Jusu is also developing a project for Universal Pictures and Jordan Peele’s company Monkeypaw that’s said to be based on her short film Suicide by Sunlight, about day-walking Black vampires who are protected from the sun by their melanin, and she’s attached to direct a sequel to the George A. Romero classic Night of the Living Dead for MGM. For that film, she’ll be working from a screenplay by LaToya Morgan, whose credits include episodes of Shameless, Parenthood, Into the Badlands, and The Walking Dead. Details on the plot are being kept under wraps.
Are you glad to hear there’s a new The Fly back in the works? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
Terminator: Dark Fate seemed to have the cards in its favor to return the franchise to the right track. It had the return of James Cameron in a creative role to contribute ideas, plus, not only would Arnold return, but Linda Hamilton would once again become Sarah Connor. It was shooting for an R-rating and the director of the recently successful Deadpool was at the helm. Alas, audiences would not respond to the film that attempted to be the true follow-up to one of the greatest action movies of all-time.
A large amount of the criticism came from the killing of John Connor, who was an important figure of the franchise. Director Tim Miller recently spoke with Variety and talked about how James Cameron wanted this subversive element to happen in the movie. Miller explained, “I’m a nerd, so I’m trying to do what I would want to see as a nerd. Now, my Terminator movie didn’t exactly set the world on fire, even though I approached it with that principle, which goes to show…” He continues, “Nobody sets out to disregard someone’s closely held childhood dreams. It’s no cause for vitriol. A lot of people didn’t like Terminator: Dark Fate for reasons I had nothing to do with. One, because it was the sixth film and another because we killed John Connor at the start, but if Jim Cameron wants that to happen – which I agree with by the way – then that’s what you do.”
Cameron would recently hold firm on his stance on the film, “We achieved our goal. We made a legit sequel to a movie where the people that were actually going to theatres at the time that movie came out are all either dead, retired, crippled, or have dementia. It was a non-starter. There was nothing in the movie for a new audience.” As such, the box office numbers were a disappointment, at least compared to what James Cameron is used to. “Our problem was not that the film didn’t work. The problem was, people didn’t show up. I’ve owned this to [director] Tim Miller many times. I said, ‘I torpedoed that movie before we ever wrote a word or shot a foot of film.’”
Terminator: Dark Fate seemed to have the cards in its favor to return the franchise to the right track. It had the return of James Cameron in a creative role to contribute ideas, plus, not only would Arnold return, but Linda Hamilton would once again become Sarah Connor. It was shooting for an R-rating and the director of the recently successful Deadpool was at the helm. Alas, audiences would not respond to the film that attempted to be the true follow-up to one of the greatest action movies of all-time.
A large amount of the criticism came from the killing of John Connor, who was an important figure of the franchise. Director Tim Miller recently spoke with Variety and talked about how James Cameron wanted this subversive element to happen in the movie. Miller explained, “I’m a nerd, so I’m trying to do what I would want to see as a nerd. Now, my Terminator movie didn’t exactly set the world on fire, even though I approached it with that principle, which goes to show…” He continues, “Nobody sets out to disregard someone’s closely held childhood dreams. It’s no cause for vitriol. A lot of people didn’t like Terminator: Dark Fate for reasons I had nothing to do with. One, because it was the sixth film and another because we killed John Connor at the start, but if Jim Cameron wants that to happen – which I agree with by the way – then that’s what you do.”
Cameron would recently hold firm on his stance on the film, “We achieved our goal. We made a legit sequel to a movie where the people that were actually going to theatres at the time that movie came out are all either dead, retired, crippled, or have dementia. It was a non-starter. There was nothing in the movie for a new audience.” As such, the box office numbers were a disappointment, at least compared to what James Cameron is used to. “Our problem was not that the film didn’t work. The problem was, people didn’t show up. I’ve owned this to [director] Tim Miller many times. I said, ‘I torpedoed that movie before we ever wrote a word or shot a foot of film.’”
After the still entertaining but undeniably sillier Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the Terminator franchise was ready for salvation. But what would be the next step? Arnold was fully engulfed in his political career; James Cameron would rather remake Piranha 2 than return; and per the usual for this franchise….no one even knows who owns the rights! This is What the F*ck Happened to Terminator Salvation.
A bit after Terminator 3’s release, both Nick Stahl and Claire Danes were recast to return as John Connor and Kate Brewster in the next installment of the franchise. Jonathan Mostow (director of Terminator 3) was also involved and helping with the script but a retread of Terminator 3 sounded dreadful. On top of that, the rights situation was once again a mess…. After months of fighting, lawsuits, and distribution hassles…. the rights to the franchise were again sold. This time, to the Halycon Company. Who, stop me if you’ve heard this one, planned to make a new trilogy of films. And so, it was out with the old. In with McG.
McG at the time had directed music videos for everyone from Korn to Sugar Ray. As well as both of the first two Charlie’s Angels films, and tear-jerking true story We Are Marshall. All things that scream Terminator, I know. McG would be working with a script that survived the previous regime, penned by Terminator 3 writers John Brancato and Michael Ferris. While these two are listed as the sole writers for the project, legend has it the script was actually touched up by a bevy of other talents. Including but not limited to Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby), Shawn Ryan (The Shield), and Christopher Nolan’s brother, Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight). The latter of which, McG himself considered, “the lead writer of the film”, because of the constant rewrites he did on set. Nolan joined the project after the casting of Christian Bale and ended up creating most of John Connor’s arc. The final script ended up so different from the original that novelization writer, Alan Dean Foster, had to completely rewrite his book on the film.
The original ending of Terminator Salvation featured John Connor being killed, then having his face grafted over the character of Marcus to keep the resistance alive. This, only to have Marcus then murder Kate, Barnes, Kyle, and even Star, while donning Connor’s trusted image. While the theme song would have gone extra hard as the credits rolled after such a bleak ending, it was a little too dark for some fans when the ending leaked online. And too dark for Warner Bros as well, who decided it should then be changed.
In the story we received, a character named Marcus is on death row pre-Judgement Day and signs his body over to Helena Bonham Carter and science. Fast forward to post Judgment Day and he is resurrected, unknowingly a cybernetic organism for Skynet meant to infiltrate the Resistance. All the while, we see John Connor on the cusp of becoming the man, the myth, the legend we’ve heard of….but he doesn’t quite have the leadership’s support yet. So, he’s fighting two wars at once. He also learns that Skynet has a kill list with both his and (his younger father) Kyle Reese’s name on it. He tries to find Reese and keep him safe while also searching for a signal that can stop Skynet for good. In the process, however, he ends up in a trap set by Skynet and an unknowing Marcus.
There, Marcus and John team up against a strange-looking version of Arnold’s T-800, blowing up the Skynet facility in the process. John is critically injured in his heart during the fight, but Marcus offers his own heart to save John. In doing so Marcus finally achieves his….wait for it….Salvation! We then leave off with John Connor reminding us that the battle has been won, but the war rages on.
The character of Marcus was meant to be the lead character in the film, with a Jesus to Ben-Hur type thing going on between him and John’s character. But when you cast Christian Bale, fresh off The Dark Knight (and we know this because he still sounded like The Dark Knight throughout the film) you give him a little more screen time. Marcus still carried much of the load, which was given to actor Sam Worthington in his biggest role to date. Ironically, Worthington would star in James Cameron’s Avatar that very same year. I think this in itself threw fans off when watching Salvation. Having an all-time actor like Christian Bale in the role of John Connor after the weird choices made with the character in Rise of the Machines was a Godsend. It was a strange feeling to not have him be at the forefront for its entirety. This cast was insanely huge, however. And there was only so much screen time to go around.
The talented late actor Anton Yelchin was cast as the hopeful and innocent heart of the film in a young Kyle Reese. It’s a great bit of casting and for my money, the best Kyle Reese in the franchise save for Michael Biehn. One can’t help but wonder how amazing it would have been to have Yelchin continue this role at some point later in his career. John Connor’s wife was cast as Dallas Bryce Howard in an interesting role: Often off to the side of the action, but with a major impact on John’s choices. You get the sense the franchise had far bigger plans for her character in the future. The cast also featured everyone from Moon Bloodgood, to Common, and “guy built to be a character in a Terminator movie”, Michael Ironside, all as Chess pieces in the future war.
Special FX-wise, McG spared no expense in keeping the desolate post-apocalyptic action scenes realistic. For the most part, I would say he succeeded. The action in Salvation is dark and gritty in a way that brings the franchise back down to its roots from Terminator 3’s entertaining but Hollywood atmosphere. Thanks in part to the help of (once again) Industrial Lights and Magic who darkened their CGI palettes to match the cinematography of a nuclear wasteland.
The new technology Salvation brought forth was also inspired and included both giant, awe-inspiring, robot a**holes, and motorcycle Skynet hybrids worked on by actual Ducati designers. Not to mention the hydro-terminators, which put to rest any thoughts of just hiding from Skynet in the ocean. Many of the ideas were brought to life by Martin Laing, who had worked with Cameron on Titanic in yet another tie-in with the creator of the franchise.
McG, who was inspired by films such as Mad Max and Children of Men, said it best himself, saying, “I say with respect, I didn’t want that Star Wars experience of everything’s a blue screen, tennis balls, and go for it. I hadStan Winstonbuild all the machines. We built all the sets, the explosive power, the explosive power so you feel that wind and that percussion and that heat blowing your eyebrows off. And with that, you get a couple bumps and bruises on the way, but you get it in an integrity and a realism that hopefully echoes Apocalypse Now.” Terminator Salvation would be one of the last that legend Stan Winston would work on before he sadly passed in 2008. The film was dedicated to him in the credits.
From the darkened robots to the painstaking research on the effects of nuclear winter on robotic elements, Salvation is at times a work of special effects art. That realism doesn’t come easy, though. In this case, it came to the tune of a 200 million dollar budget. The most they’d ever spent on a film in the franchise. It also almost came at a physical price, with a Special Effects technician almost losing his leg during a scene when a manhole is exploded into the air. Lucky for him it was only “partially severed” which doesn’t sound like a goddamn tea party, either. Between injuries and writers’ strikes alone, Terminator Salvation was a Herculean effort to accomplish. Most Terminator films are. But Salvation had a special challenge of its own when the film went viral….for all the wrong reasons.
While filming an intense scene, the Director of Photography, Shane Hurlbut, walked into Bale’s eyeline for a second time and distracted him. Bale proceeded to go on a minutes-long rant for the ages. The audio of Bale manically screaming at Hurlbut was recorded by someone on the set and leaked to the press. If you were there, you likely remember. It became one of the most talked about news stories of the year. The audio spread like wildfire. Bale’s star had never been higher due to the heater of hits he was in the midst of and this was a bad look. Everyone, everywhere was either making jokes or furious at Bale for treating a coworker with such disrespect. Bale would later admit he had been trying to channel the crazy side of his character’s mother, Sarah Connor, and that it went horribly wrong. To his credit, so many coworkers both from the set of Salvation and those who had previously worked with Bale came to his defense. Person after person went on record praising his professionalism and chalked it up to the many stresses of working on a movie set fueled by this level of intensity. Bale also gave radio station KROQ 106.7 a lengthy and heartfelt apology for his behavior on the set that day, taking full responsibility.
The marketing train moved on regardless. Terminator Salvation made promos of everything from 7/11 tie-ins to its very own ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Adjacent content was created at a maximum effort pace with a novelization, multiple video games, comic books, and even an animated series being created around the Salvation storyline. The soundtrack featured Danny Elfman doing Danny Elfman things and Alice in Chains ‘Rooster’, so prominently featured in the movie. Everything was in place for a monster hit at the box office. So, how did it do?
The 200 million dollar production of Terminator Salvation opened up number two at the box office to Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. It was the first film in the franchise to not open up in first place domestically and came in 50% below major pundit predictions. The film did open up at #1 overseas and ended up gathering more than $370 million in total. Things weren’t great. But they weren’t John Carter bad.
Critically, Salvation took a beating. Not just from the critics themselves but from franchise alma matters. James Cameron tried to be congenial but also remarked on not returning because “frankly, the soup’s already been pissed in by other filmmakers”. Schwarzenegger would later call it “awful”, “not that they didn’t try”, and Linda Hamilton would remark that there will always be “those who try and milk the cow.” Hamilton would star in Terminator: Dark Fate a few years later.
Some will argue that part of what went wrong was the choice to make it the first PG-13 entry in the franchise. McG would argue that he merely took out a screwdriver stabbing and a topless shot of Moon Bloodgood to achieve the rating. Something he thought was a good trade-off for allowing younger fans to experience the film. He later admitted, however, that he has a darker cut he thinks may have worked better.
Terminator Salvation may have ended the hopes for a new trilogy and been involved in bankruptcies and franchise rights auctions (more on that in our WTF Happened to Terminator Genisys video), sure. But today, Terminator Salvation has developed a cult following and overall appreciation that didn’t exist before. Perhaps it was that the two following sequels failed to resonate as well. Perhaps it was just a classic case of Salvation being ahead of its time. Either way, many Terminator fans you ask these days call Salvation underrated and wrongly judged. How apropos for a film in the Terminator franchise that its future would determine its worth? And that, is what happened to Terminator Salvation.
A couple of the previous episodes of What Happened to This Horror Movie? can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
While a variety of actors have been involved with them, one name we haven’t seen cross paths with superhero films is Tom Hanks. However, Hanks continues to churn out his brand of dramatic movies that sometimes dip into franchise filmmaking, like the Toy Story series. His latest movie, Here, is a very stripped-down human drama that takes place in one location, but it still features some fantastical elements like time jumping, which would involve Hanks participating in a de-aging process. His fellow co-star in the film, Paul Bettany, isn’t known for action, and yet, he is part of the biggest action universe in films today.
While Hanks himself has not been in any Marvel or DC movies, ComicBookMovie would report that he recently made comments on the Happy Sad Confused podcast about how general audiences can get caught up with that world and why he thinks they may have fatigued with the genre. Hanks explains, “I think there was a period of time, and I felt that way too, where we would see these fantastic movies either DC or MCU in order to see these better versions of ourselves. ‘God, I feel like an X-Man sometimes. I’m as confused as Spider-Man. I’m as angry as Batman is and I love my country as much as Captain America. I would like to emulate all those guys.’ I think we’ve been down that road and had probably 20 years, 15 years, to explore that kind of thing and now I think we’re in an evolutionary place of, ‘And the story is what? And the theme is what? And the point of this movie is what?’”
He continues, “That’s a good challenge for any filmmaker, it might just not land in the roundhouse for the industry. The industry often says, ‘Well, this works and it will work again.’ The audience is far ahead of it. They see the familiar and say, ‘I’ve seen that already. What’s next?’ It’s not just eye-popping stuff, it’s what’s the story? Tell me about myself. We’re in new territory.”
So, the burning question, then, comes to… has Hanks met with Marvel or DC for a possible role? He responds, “No. No, I think it’s because…I’m not in their wheelhouse. I’m not against it, I guess, but at the same time…I will tell you this right now, my combo plate is quite full. I’ve got a lot of stuff that I’m dreaming of and trying to make happen.”
We’ve seen Keanu Reeves dodge bullets as Neo and John Wick, but his smartest “bullet time” came with Speed 2. If you’re thinking, Keanu Reeves wasn’t in the Speed sequel, then you’ve found the point.
Like Keanu Reeves, Speed screenwriter Graham Yost had nothing to do with the 1997 sequel, Cruise Control. While Sandra Bullock returned as Annie Porter, Reeves apparently hated the script, which wasn’t written by Yost, who has maintained that he wasn’t part of the process (despite working on ideas that would ultimately never be written). The movie would open at #1 but still quickly fall below 50 mph, taking in under $50 million domestically on a reported $160 million budget.
Recalling that troubling release for Bullock and the moment of relief for Reeves and himself, Yost (who probably doesn’t get enough credit for helping change the ‘90s action game) said, “That’s hard to shake off for Sandra Bullock. Keanu and I both feel, ‘Man, we really dodged a bullet on that one.’ I used to say that I was not invited to a party I didn’t want to go to.” To her credit, Bullock knows just how badSpeed 2 is, saying it remains an embarrassment for her.
With Speed 2 flopping and the star power sinking (with respect to Jason Patric), that put an end to any potential franchise. But there was so much potential from the start for it to become a full-fledged one, the stakes being upped and more over-the-top as the series progressed (remember, the Fast & Furious gang went from stealing TV/VHS combos to going to outer space).
But that doesn’t mean there’s no longer a future for Speed, as both Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock have expressed interest in working together again, with Reeves saying, “We’d freakin’ knock it out of the park,” something I think we can all agree with. For their part, 20th Century Studios is on board with reuniting the pair if Speed 3 ever does get the greenlight.
The first Speed would go on to be one of the highest-grossing films of 1994 and be nominated for three Academy Awards, winning both sound categories.
We’ve seen Keanu Reeves dodge bullets as Neo and John Wick, but his smartest “bullet time” came with Speed 2. If you’re thinking, Keanu Reeves wasn’t in the Speed sequel, then you’ve found the point.
Like Keanu Reeves, Speed screenwriter Graham Yost had nothing to do with the 1997 sequel, Cruise Control. While Sandra Bullock returned as Annie Porter, Reeves apparently hated the script, which wasn’t written by Yost, who has maintained that he wasn’t part of the process (despite working on ideas that would ultimately never be written). The movie would open at #1 but still quickly fall below 50 mph, taking in under $50 million domestically on a reported $160 million budget.
Recalling that troubling release for Bullock and the moment of relief for Reeves and himself, Yost (who probably doesn’t get enough credit for helping change the ‘90s action game) said, “That’s hard to shake off for Sandra Bullock. Keanu and I both feel, ‘Man, we really dodged a bullet on that one.’ I used to say that I was not invited to a party I didn’t want to go to.” To her credit, Bullock knows just how badSpeed 2 is, saying it remains an embarrassment for her.
With Speed 2 flopping and the star power sinking (with respect to Jason Patric), that put an end to any potential franchise. But there was so much potential from the start for it to become a full-fledged one, the stakes being upped and more over-the-top as the series progressed (remember, the Fast & Furious gang went from stealing TV/VHS combos to going to outer space).
But that doesn’t mean there’s no longer a future for Speed, as both Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock have expressed interest in working together again, with Reeves saying, “We’d freakin’ knock it out of the park,” something I think we can all agree with. For their part, 20th Century Studios is on board with reuniting the pair if Speed 3 ever does get the greenlight.
The first Speed would go on to be one of the highest-grossing films of 1994 and be nominated for three Academy Awards, winning both sound categories.
Box fresh from [checks notes] masterminding a bunch of John Lewis Christmas ads, debut boy Dougal Wislon makes for a strangely apt choice to direct the third instalment of the Paddington franchise in the absence of Paul King (who directed parts one and two and then nicked off to do Wonka). Premium seasonal television advertising offers a perfectly-primped package of whimsical humour, 110 per cent proof sentimentalism and an easy-on-the-eye message espousing a love that transcends family class and race. Which is just like the Paddington movies.
In all seriousness, parts one and two have for some reason been elevated to the level of canonical modern masterworks, even providing a zen punchline to 2022’s meta Nic Cage comedy, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent – a lofty achievement in and of itself. And while I’m not denying that both are fine pictures, it may be down to a lack of decent competition that they are held in such rabidly high esteem.
Where parts one and two were tales of a plucky immigrant conserve addict finding his feet among the raffish rapscallions of olde London town, this new one sees the furry red-hatted one suddenly forced to scarper back to his homeland of Peru – his adoptive human family, the Browns, in tow – to search for his ageing Aunt Lucy who has gone AWOL from her bear nursing home. All that remains is her cracked John Lennon eyeglasses, and a strange wristband containing a bear-shaped pendant.
Fair play to screenwriters Mark Burton, Jon Foster and James Lamont for trying something a little different this time around, mounting a madcap jungle escapade that plays like an Ealing riff on Heart of Darkness. Olivia Colman was born to play a toothsome singing nun whose violently rictus grin suggests that The Lord may not be her true paymaster, and she duly dings every line reading out of the park. Antonio Banderas, meanwhile, rolls up as Hunter Cabot, a swarthy sea captain whose schooner is tricked out with an old fashioned gramophone a la Herzog’s own opera fiend, Fitzcarraldo.
Yet Cabot is in fact another Herzog/Kinski creation, the glory-seeking adventurer Lope de Aguirre, as both are obsessed with the prospect of discovering and then looting the mythical land of El Dorado. Very stealthily, Banderas has set his stall as one of the finest comic performers in modern film, and his detailed, physically-dexterous work here continues down the path he laid with 2021’s Official Competition and 2015’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
I sometimes have nightmares about the fact that we almost had Colin Firth as the voice of Paddington. No disrespect to the Firthmeister, but that would’ve been a casting foul-up of franchise-damning proportions. Thankfully, Ben Whishaw is on hand to deliver some of the strongest voicework for an animated character out there, channelling our hero’s adorable sense of uncorrupted sincerity with the perfect mix of humour and compassion. Frankly, I would pay good money to have Whishaw read the audiobook versions of Henry James novels in his Paddington voice.
As the gang wend their way down river towards an ancient gateway, they must contend with the local flora and fauna, plus the fact that their local tour guides might just have some ulterior motives – Cabot himself is a confused, multi-generational manifestation of the D’Ascoyne clan from Kind Hearts and Coronets. Yet where parts one and two tapped into the specific culture and diverse social make-up of London (and, by extension, most European cities), the depiction of Peru here is rather thin, relegated to one stock footage-esque crowd scene of some people wearing chullos, and then just endless green, unpopulated jungle.
This is more of an action movie than its predecessors, and Wilson executes the set-pieces well, but perhaps without that added layer of eccentricity that gave Paul King his name. While there are passages of uncertainty and twists that take their good sweet time to arrive, things come together beautifully, and a finale that combines a series of clever emotional call-backs and another heartening plea for human empathy that’s worthy of only the finest John Lewis ad.
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