For day two of our Abigail set visit coverage, we got to speak with actors Kevin Durand and the legendary Giancarlo Esposito.

Recently, JoBlo was invited to visit the set of Radio Silence’s newest Universal monster movie, Abigail (CHECK OUT KATHRYN NEWTON INTERVIEW HERE), a film best described by the directors as “a heist movie hijacked by a monster movie.”  

Just as the day was ending on day two, we returned to the Glenmaroon House, the massively beautiful set for the vampire film.  Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, and Melissa Barrera welcomed us in as they were getting ready to film their big introduction to the crew, as seen in the brand new trailer.  In this scene, Lambert (played by Giancarlo Esposito) tells a group of the heist the girl they kidnapped is the daughter of a “very wealthy man who is about to be 50 million dollars poorer.”

After filming, we got to sit down with Mr. Durand and Mr. Esposito.  The following is a transcript of the round table interview.

Can you talk a little bit about your role?

KEVIN DURAND: “I play a guy named Peter, who is basically kind of a hired muscle of the crew.  We’ve been hired to kidnap a target and then realize the target is a 12-year-old, and we think, ‘Well, this is too easy,’ and it turns out it’s not as easy as we thought.  Peter’s always a couple of steps behind, partially because there’s a bit of a language barrier.  I’m playing him like he’s from French Canada, like he’s from Montreal, which is my original – my first accent.  So, I’m playing a French-Canadian guy who’s a little bit askew in trying to catch up and is not really okay with his line of work, so he drinks heavily.”

What’s Peter’s relationship with the rest of the crew?

“We kept no relationship.  We’ve never seen each other before.  None of us has any idea who the other is, so we were assembled because of that. “ 

Kathryn (Newton) was talking about how she came up with this three-minute dance number, speaking to how creative the collaboration is with Matt and Tyler.  So, I was curious how that has been with you and if you have also evolved your character working with them.  

“I came up with a 35-minute dance.  And they promised me at the very end they will try to shoot it.  It’s pretty funky.”  He laughs.  “Seriously, there’s a lot of freedom within the world they created.  They have a ton of faith in the people they hire.  For me to say ‘I want to make him French-Canadian,’ because for me it feels more personal, that was cool they were just open for that.  And from scene to scene, beat to beat, we just throw all the shit at the wall and see what sticks.  It’s a real nice collaboration.”

How does Peter react when things get weird?

“He doesn’t want to believe it.  He’s very Catholic.  And the very idea that vampires exist he’s like (in a French-Canadian accent) ‘There no such thing.’  He doesn’t believe it and then he’s being attacked by one.  

Is there a specific element of the film that you are most excited about or anxious to see?

“Well, Alisha is so stunning.  From the table read, I was like (whispering to himself) ‘Oh wow.  I’m probably not that good of an actor.  Shit.  How does she know how to do all this shit already?’ It’s unreal.  She’s really a phenomenal talent.  But I’m really, truly, excited for the entire thing.  When I read the script, I was thinking this is the kind of movie I want to see on a Friday night.”

Next up, Giancarlo Esposito walks in, playfully feeling like he’s being ambushed and joking around with us.  

We would love to know more about your character (Lambert) if you could reveal anything about that.

GIANCARLO ESPOSITO: “Reveal…that’s an interesting question. Look, I’m kind of a take-charge guy who, in this particular film, the big misdirect is that it’s a heist film from the beginning that’s done quite well on the first couple of pages – and they were for me when I read them. And you know, I went, ‘Wow, what a great set piece in the beginning.’  And then I come into the film, and I’m kind of taking charge of telling people what this job is, which insensibly is a kidnapping, and have to do that convincingly…

He continues,

“You know, in so many ways, the film’s about relationships and loyalty and being cursed with the great burden of who we are.  So, in a way, yes, it’s a horror film, but isn’t life the ultimate horror film?  Like, if you live and you start learning about who you are, you see the good, the bad, the ugly.   So, you know, for me I know for years I just shut that door.  I don’t want to look at that; probably why I’m an actor. You know, I just want to shut that door because that person is an intense human being that I don’t want to look at because he can be really a nasty fucking asshole.  Like, my children say, ‘Papa, you’ve grown so much.’ And I say, ‘No, I’m the same old asshole.’ (laughter) Don’t be fooled.  Just looking at them in a different way, right?

So, isn’t that the burden of life? So, I look at scripts – when I read them as something that I can learn from and grow from.  And then I decide, ‘Should I be on this journey?’  And I relate it back to the spiritual journey I’m taking.  People ask me a lot: how do you play these villains?  And you know, I shy away from saying it’s because I am a villain. Right?  And they look at me.  It’s because I’ve lived, you know?  I know I’ve been a warrior in a past life.  I know I’ve killed people (in my past life). I know that’s been a part of my essence. And I know this because I can look at one of my children, and she’ll just shrink, and I’ll see tears arise.  I had this experience once, and she asked me a question that was really hard to answer. She said, ‘What happened to you when you were a child?’ And that just froze me.  She said, ‘Do you know that generational trauma is really real?’ And I didn’t wanna hear that. And so I had to think about my father.  I’m Italian. My father was really strict. I witnessed a lot of arguing between my father and mother.

All of that affected me, you know?  My father used to belittle me.  Just verbally, and I started to think about all this and started to really feel it again, and it still hurts me.  I’m an adult man, a mature man.  So, I went, ‘Oh okay, I’m still working through that, so that means I’m still angry at him for doing that.’  If I can learn not to do that to my children, then I’m better off… an interesting part of this film for me as well is that this young Abigail is getting her way.   And it’s just a great analogy…There’s a lot of, in this horror movie, there’s a lot of great action, a lot of blood, a lot of loss of life, but a lot of great lessons, too.  That’s part of why I like it.”

Speaking with all of the actors we’ve talked to, there’s a lot of gray area.  There’s no black and white.  They’ve done despicable things, but there’s a lot of empathy there.  Was that part off the myth for you?  

“I think so.  it’s part of why I like being an actor here. You know, thank goodness I love Ireland, and I have a short period of time here. But we, as actors, we’re in a circus, and we’re in purgatory. This house is purgatory, right?  You can’t get out.  Some of these people have to get caked in blood. It’s nasty and sticky. You’re doing your time until your time is up. So, you make a choice. Do you learn from it?  Do you have experiences from it with other people? Or do you hate it?  I’ve been with actors who are just miserable. I mean, you sign on, you might as well get something out of it.  It’s interesting.  I do think that there are a lot of analogies for our lives within this movie and that we talk about a character that we don’t see the whole movie a lot.  The most powerful character we don’t see. What does that remind you of? Why are you here? Where is God? Where is Goddess? The most powerful puppeteer of all. 

You know what I mean? It’s really fascinating. But what does that really represent?  Because God and Goddess – because I always can’t say God without Goddess, powerful words – it’s a principle, right?  Yes, so I grew up Roman Catholic. I was going to be a priest. That was the person to look up to the sky to find God, right? And now I believe that there’s that piece of God and Goddess that’s in all of us. You got to find it inside of you to be able to find the goodness of who you are or the badness of who you are.  Because one doesn’t exist without the other.”

Abigail opens only in theaters April 19.

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Gerard Butler has had a varied career so far, with him playing everything from action leads to rom-com love interests to a singing Phantom of the Opera. But, it has to be said that his most consistently entertaining output falls squarely into the action genre, and as far as Gerard Butler movies go, the action films will always be our favorites… so don’t expect to see The Ugly Truth on this list, but The Bounty Hunter might scrape by. Or maybe not. Let’s see how it goes:

300 (2006) 

Perhaps THE film that put Gerard Butler on the map for most people, particularly the action and comic book crowds. Butler is in peek physical form here, showing off his bod as the ultimate Spartan warrior and proving that he is indeed quite the leading man. His performance here is commanding, a bit in your face (in the right way), and exactly what the film needed. Considering 300 is still well-remembered by most while its Butler-less sequel seems to have disappeared from the common consciousness says a lot about how he embodies the character of King Leonidas and how viewers connected to him in this Zack Snyder adaptation of the Frank Miller and Lynn Varley graphic novel. The film being shot basically fully on green screen with brand new, at the time, technology created a very particular look for the film and from interviews with the cast and crew, it seems it required some adaptation and readiness to embrace the unusual ways of shooting scenes. Butler’s performance here works great with all the green screen and CGI and shows a good evolution from his previous action-fantasy roles in Beowulf & Grendel, Timeline, and (Best Movie You Never Saw fave) Reign of Fire. 

Plane (2023) 

Released just a few months ago, right at that time of year (January) when it seems like nothing good gets to theaters, Plane was already working the odds stacked against it. Beyond its less-than-ideal release date, the film had changed distributors a few times before finally getting released by Lionsgate. The trailer didn’t bode too well either, but it ended up getting some positive reviews that helped lead it to a $52 million box office. It’s even getting a sequel, albeit without Butler as the lead. Here, he plays an airline pilot who has fallen from grace and thus works away from his family with a home base in Asia. On this flight that starts the film, things go awry with the weather, and he is forced to land his few passengers and a felon (the great Mike Colter) being extradited to an unknown island where things go from bad to worse. Butler does quite well here, showing the public that he is still a go-to actor for action thrillers. His big fight scene near the middle of the film works well and he really gets into the character of a man who has lost almost everything but is more than willing to fight for what hs has left. Butler sells the part here and really works with the depressed lead and his issues who finds himself back in a crisis. This is a good Gerard Butler performance, one that works for his fans and for those willing to give this surprising film a chance. 

Olympus Has Fallen (2013) 

The first in a trilogy, Olympus Has Fallen sets up high stakes by making its story about the US President and his security. Gerard Butler comes into this as a secret service agent who must rescue the President who was kidnapped after a terrorist attack. Generally speaking, this one is a bit more generic, but the work by Butler and Morgan Freeman here helps rescue this from being just another late-night cable-bound action film. There’s a bit more here of course and a lot of that “bit more” comes down to Butler’s work and the direction by Antoine Fuqua who is a pro at bringing action films and thrillers to the screen. In the case of Butler in this film, he takes a part seen so many times before, the lone protector who is the only one able to rescue the victim, and turns it into something more interesting. Between his capacities as an actor, his ease in handling action scenes, and his charisma, Butler pulls off the part of Mike Banning very well. So well in fact, that he reprised this role in both sequels London Has Fallen (2016) and Angel Has Fallen (2019). Sadly, another sequel seems unlikely, with Butler initially taking Millenium to court over unpaid profits. While the lawsuit was settled recently, I wonder if Butler will be eager to get back in bed with them anytime soon.

Gamer (2009) 

Written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (the Crank guys), this film is a mix of science-fiction, action, and thriller set in a bleak, near-future where gamers play using death row convicts as their avatars, pitting them against impossible odds. Butler plays Kable, a convict whose teenage player is Simon (played by a young Logan Lerman). Should this team-up survive thirty brutal gaming sessions, Kable will be set free. Of course, much like the recent Death Race films, it’s not going to be that easy. Gerard Butler gets to be the man who has the carrot of survival dangled in front of him, making him a man ready to do almost anything to survive. His work here is on the darker side, playing a killer ready to slay anyone in his way so that he can survive and possibly get back to his family. This leads to a part filled with action sequences, fight scenes, and violence, with a bit of background to make him more human and likable. Butler does well here with a part that could have easily been completely one-dimensional. Ludacris also steals more than a few scenes in this one.

Greenland (2020) 

Coming fairly close on the heels of Geostorm, many assumed Greenland would terrible. It is yet another weather disaster film with a man, his estranged wife, and their kid in the middle of it all. If it sounds familiar, it’s because it’s been done a ton of times (San Andreas, any random SyFy channel disaster movie, etc) so it was easy to see the trailer for Greenland and think, yeah no… And honestly, the presence of Butler in this was probably the only reason some folks saw this movie at first. Thankfully, the film was made for a fairly modest budget considering the subject and how it was released in theaters (like many pandemic-era movies it went straight to streaming in North America). Its $35 million budget means that the box office for it being at $52.3 million was not a complete loss. It was a mild hit and most people who dared to see it first were part of the reason why as it built quite a bit on word of mouth. The movie, to everyone’s surprise, was good, thanks perhaps to the great director at the helm, Ric Roman Waugh (Shot Caller).At this point, more people have seen it and a sequel, Greenland: Migration is set to film in April with Butler returning.

Copshop (2021) 

Released during the pandemic post-lockdown, this one was skipped by far too many people. The trailer had some panache and the fact that it’s from director Joe Carnahan, who previously did the loads-of-fun Smokin’ Aces, Narc, The Grey, and a few more fun films, should have made it more of an attraction for action fans. Yet, the film only made a measly $6.9 million which basically means the public slept on this one and did not give the film its due. Gerard Butler stars opposite Frank Grillo here in a face-off set in a police station where Butler is after Grillo to kill him due to a con he pulled. This one is a lot of fun and the fact that other killers come into play makes this a dynamic movie where you never really know where it’s going exactly. Butler is having a ball here, playing a man filled with evil and a sort of almost glee about his job. His back and forth with Grillo make this the kind of film that is easy to watch and where the runtime flies by.   

Geostorm (2017)

Ok, to be fair this is NOT a good movie. It’s pretty terrible actually and was marred by a neverending series of delays and reshoots with the credited writer/ producer/ director, Dean Devlin having been removed, in favor of Jerry Bruckheimer and Judge Dredd director Danny Cannon. In the end, it lost somewhere in the neighborhood of $70 million for Warner Bros and resulted in Butler laying off the big PG-13 four-quadrant movies in order to do more modest actioners. Yet, if you like cheesy, fun movies it can’t be denied that Geostorm fits the bill pretty well. It’s unintentionally funny (take a shot everyone says “dutchboy”), but its curiously rewatchable.

So there you go, a bunch of suggestions that you can use to assemble your own Gerard Butler film festival.

What are your favorite Gerard Butler movies? Let us know in the comments.

The post Gerard Butler’s Best Action Movies  appeared first on JoBlo.

In an era where leaks – chiefly for big-budget franchise movies – are rampant, there is only so much that the filmmakers can do other than confirm or deny. And perhaps no other person has done his part more to shut people up than James Gunn, who has made it a habit of using social media to address leaks and rumors…which means he has been pretty busy doing just that over next year’s Superman.

James Gunn took to Threads to take on rumors that there were some sort of secret plot developments of Superman that fans were in the dark about. “The primary protagonist of Superman is, shockingly, Superman. The main villain of Superman is, shockingly, Lex Luthor. I don’t know where all the stuff is coming from that it’s something other than this.” He went on to address the influx of Superman rumors, saying they have no basis and that there’s really only one source to trust on the matters. “There are so many stories coming out every day it’s difficult to deal with and everytime I strike something down I’m giving it attention. So, I’ll say again, don’t believe anything unless you see it HERE (& why would you want to know everything before the movie comes out anyway?)”.

I especially like James Gunn’s point in wondering why people want to know every detail ahead of a movie’s release. The lack of surprise can downright spoil the fun, with really nothing to gain from it other than internet bragging rights, which in turn means spoilers for those trying to organically experience the film. So where do these rumors even come from? Mostly thin air or clues that aren’t really clues, all generated from people who might be posting just to get a rise in the community. With the case of James Gunn, who has been remarkably transparent with his followers, there’s also the “claim to fame” chance that he’ll respond directly to you, which itself doesn’t help kill the rumor mill.

As the IMAX-shot Superman isn’t due out until July 11th, 2025, James Gunn is certainly well aware that he’ll have a whole lot more rumor-blocking to do. The movie will launch the DC Universe, a soft reboot for the studio now co-run by Gunn and Peter Safran.

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As everyone expected, Godzilla x Kong is stomping all over the competition this weekend. Deadline reports that the WB/Legendary MonsterVerse sequel is on track for a better-than-expected $30 million haul. Industry estimates (and ours) saw the film making $25 million, but word-of-mouth has proven stronger than expected, with the movie again beating expectations. Could a $200 million domestic finish be in sight for this? It’s possible, and certainly, the MonsterVerse, which has always been a bigger draw overseas, has proven to be a serious moneymaker for the studio in North America.

However, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s good fortune means the weekend’s other two new releases, Monkey Man and The First Omen, are opening softer than expected. Dev Patel’s passion project, Monkey Man, should make in the $10 million-ish range, which is a decent number considering Universal bought the rights from Netflix for $10 million. When all is said and done, the film will likely be a decent money-maker for the studio, especially once it hits home media. 

The outlook is less rosy for The First Omen, which seems stuck with an unholy $8 million finish. Considering the Disney marketing muscle behind it and the decent reviews, that’s a pretty modest opening. Word has it this Omen prequel was originally designed as a streaming film, and certainly, that’s going to be where the film winds up seen the most. We quite liked it here on JoBlo, and you can check out where it falls in our Omen movie rankings right here. 

While it’s possible either Monkey Man or The First Omen could end the weekend on a better note, it seems likely neither will be able to put up much of a fight next to Godzilla and Kong’s star power.

Did you see either movie this weekend? Let us know what you think in the comments!

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For years, Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net has been about two things only – awesome art and the artists that create it. With that in mind, we thought why not take the first week of the month to showcase these awesome artists even more? Welcome to “Awesome Artist We’ve Found Around The Net.” In this column, we are focusing on one artist and the awesome art that they create, whether they be amateur, up-and-coming, or well-established. The goal is to uncover these artists so even more people become familiar with them. We ask these artists a few questions to see their origins, influences, and more. If you are an awesome artist or know someone that should be featured, feel free to contact me at any time at theodorebond@joblo.com.This month we are very pleased to bring you the awesome art of…

Julien Rico

Julien Rico (aka Rico Jr) is a French graphic designer, illustrator and poster artist who creates striking minimalist posters and illustrations for independent, creative agencies and studios such as Disney, Marvel, Netflix, Lionsgate and more.

JOBLO: What got you started as an artist?
RICO JR.: I have been drawing for as long as I can remember, with a love and passion for pop culture, cinema and comics.

Who were some of your favorite artists growing up?
Albert Uderzo (astérix), Steve Ditko (Spider-Man) and Drew Struzan (Star Wars)

Who do you really dig these days, follow on Instagram?
Doaly, Orlando Arocena and Jim Lee

What advice would you have for budding artists today?
Create to tell something very personal, on subjects that are really close to your heart. Draw what you want to see not what others expect you to do.

What should we be looking out for from you in the future?
To keep creating official projects for my childhood and nowadays favorite franchises, while surprising myself and the audience.

Being a fansite, we have to ask you… What are some of your favorite movies/TV shows of all time?
Back to the future, Robocop, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Man of Steel.

Scroll down to check out some of our favorite art pieces from Rico Jr. as we continue to follow his journey across his Website and social media hubs: Instagram / X / Facebook / Linkedin / Behance / Store

Alien

Asterix & Obelix The Middle Kingdom

Batman

The Boy And The Heron

Christopher Nolan

Darth Vader

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness

Guillermo Del Toro

IT

John Wick Chapter 4

Kong: Skull Island

The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom

The Mask

Obi-Wan Kenobi

One Piece

Oppenheimer

Overlord

Prey

Robocop

Spider-Man: The Animated Series

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Top Gun: Maverick

The X-Men

The post Awesome Artist We’ve Found Around The Net: Julien Rico appeared first on JoBlo.

Damien Thorn is the antichrist, and the trilogy that tells his unholy tale remains popular almost fifty years later. Indeed, while putting together this Omen movie ranked list and revisiting the original franchise, I was surprised at how well the old movies held up. Omen fans will be happy that the series has been restarted in a pretty interesting way this weekend, with The First Omen a surprisingly excellent prequel to the original trilogy (check out our interviews with the director and cast here), even if it takes one large liberty involving Damien’s birth that some fans may have an issue with. So, how do the Omen films rank against each other? Let’s take a look, but remember that the Fox TV movie, Omen IV: The Awakening, is not included, as I’m sticking with feature films.

The Omen (2006):

There’s honestly no reason for this movie to exist. It’s a scene-for-scene remake of Richard Donner’s original classic, with it being so faithful that the original screenwriter, David Seltzer, has sole screenplay credit. Despite a decent cast, you can tell the difference between an old pro like Donner and a guy like John Moore, who gets outclassed in his attempt to bring the original film up to date. This remake is without any real merit, with it losing the Jerry Goldsmith score and the slew of great performances delivered in the original. Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles do their best but are too young to play their parts and lack any sense of gravitas. Overall, this movie is a giant waste of time, which is why it’s at the bottom of my Omen movies ranked list.

Omen III: The Final Conflict:

I should make an important distinction here. I only consider one of the Omen movies bad: the 2006 remake. All of the others are at various levels of good. Omen III is probably the silliest Omen movie, but it also boasts an intense performance by Sam Neill as the now-grown Damien. Neill was a rising star at the time, making Zulawski’s classic Possession the same year. Young, charismatic and good-looking, you buy him as the son of the devil. But, it has two problems. One is that adult Damien will never be as scary as child Damien. The other is that they decided this would be the end of the franchise, and they opted to end it on a happy note rather than the foreboding conclusions of its predecessors. It also comes up short in the gore department, with no signature kills like in the other movies.

The First Omen: 

I was wary of a prequel to The Omen, having been burned by the remake. Yet, despite everything, I enjoyed Arkasha Stevenson’s prequel to Richard Donner’s original film, which is primarily faithful. The only issue is that they changed an essential detail about Damien’s conception at the end in order to this into a new series. But the change they made is pretty disturbing in its own right so that I can forgive it. I was also taken with Nell Tiger Free’s performance in the lead, with her a star on the rise. The early box office numbers are a bit soft, which is too bad, as I’d like to see this franchise continue.

Damien: The Omen II

No one will ever say that The Omen II lives up to the original, but you must hand it to director Don Taylor. Despite being little more than a journeyman, he made a pretty bold sequel, with a couple of gory kills that almost outdo the original. The guy getting chopped in half in the elevator (Meshach Taylor – who would play Jazz in Mannequin) is pretty gnarly, and the drowning of Lew Ayres under the ice of a frozen lake is disturbing. The legend is that the movie’s star, William Holden, was the original choice for the first film, but he turned it down and regretted it when the movie became a hit (Gregory Peck also had a percentage of the box office and made a killing). He was a contemporary of Peck’s, but by this point, alcoholism had begun to take its toll, and his decent performance doesn’t compare to Peck’s. Still, it has a young Lance Henriksen in an early role, and Jonathan Scott-Taylor delivers a good performance as a believably conflicted Damien.

The Omen:

If you’re making a list ranking The Omen films, only one could ever top the list. granddaddy of them all. At the time, the film was critically maligned, with many calling it little more than a rip-off of The Exorcist, but time has proven the naysayers wrong. Richard Donner made a smash hit but adopted a classy, realistic style and cast it perfectly. People nowadays may not realize how provocatively cast Gregory Peck was, as he was perhaps the most beloved actor in Hollywood at the time. After all, he was Atticus Finch! Men of his stature didn’t make horror films, and the film benefits from his fantastic performance. I have always liked that he and Lee Remick portray an older couple who are getting their last shot at being parents, making their disbelief at the fact that their presumed son is evil and being all the more potent. Plus, there’s David Warner, Leo McKern, the amazing Billie Whitelaw, and some unique kills. Damien! It’s all for you!

Do you agree with my Omen movies ranked list? Let me know in the comments!

The post The Omen Movies Ranked: From the Worst to the Best appeared first on JoBlo.

Dwayne Johnson has dropped the People’s Elbow on cancel culture, suggesting it has only served to rob people of their creativity and ingenuity.

In a sitdown with Fox News (via Variety), Dwayne Johnson made his point about wokeness in America, saying, “Today’s cancel culture, woke culture, division, etc — that really bugs me…In the spirit of that, you either succumb to that and be what other people want you to be, or you be yourself and be real … and that might make people upset and piss people off, and that’s OK.” Johnson might have a point here, as we have seen cancel culture do its part to claim not just those who deserve to be canceled but also those who maybe said something that sensitive parties found offensive, thus launching a campaign to ruin their careers. From this, there is a certain level of tiptoeing in the arts to not “piss people off”, thus stifling creativity.

Dwayne Johnson himself hasn’t been afraid to piss anybody off as of late, steering the WWE in a new direction and helping blur the line between reality and kayfabe. Johnson generated not only hype but some controversy over his return when it seemed as if he would be facing Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania XL, despite Cody Rhodes having won the Royal Rumble and thus a rightful shot at Reign’s title. After some apparent shifting of storylines – and bloodlines – the changeup has resulted in not only a unique return for The Rock, but some of the best storytelling the WWE has had in years.

Instead, Dwayne Johnson will return to the squared circle this weekend for night one of Wrestlemania XL in Philadelphia, a huge moment considering he hasn’t had a match since Wrestlemania 32 (if you even want to include it on the list, since it was a six-second squash; and before that his last Mania match was at 29). The night one main event will see him – under his in-ring name The Rock – teaming up with Reigns to take on Rhodes and Seth “Freakin” Rollins, with the outcome determining the stipulation for night two’s main event between Reigns and Rhodes.

Do you agree with Dwayne Johnson about cancel culture? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.

The post Dwayne Johnson lays the smackdown on cancel culture appeared first on JoBlo.

A24 took to X today to tease that the first trailer for MaXXXine, the much-anticipated sequel to X and Pearl, will drop on Monday. I can’t wait!

The third movie picks up with Maxine (Mia Goth) as she “continues her journey towards fame, setting out to make it as an actress in 1980s Los Angeles.” In addition to Goth, MaXXXine boasts a cast which includes Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Lily Collins, Halsey, Moses Summney, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon.

There have been rumblings that the sequel is a “good old whodunit slasher,” but Goth has teased that she views MaXXXine more as a superhero movie. “That’s how I read the script,” Goth said. “Maxine, as a character, has come a long way. She’s a survivor, she’s gone through a lot. When we meet her again, in this new world that she’s in, she’s really fought for everything that she has, and she’s not about to give that up. She’s going to fight for what she has. She’s a badass. There’s a strength to her. And she’s a really proactive, determined, focused woman. She goes after what she wants, and she’s not really going to take no for an answer.“

Should MaXXXine prove to be a success, could the franchise continue? Director Ti West isn’t ruling anything out, but he won’t say one way or another until the sequel has been released. “Maybe. I don’t know,” West said earlier this year. “There is this one weird asterisk idea that I have that is kind of… If I explained it, it would make sense. But we’ll see what happens. Let’s get this movie done first, see how people like it, we’ll go from there.“

After being blown away by X and Pearl, it’s safe to say that fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of MaXXXine, so be sure to check back on Monday when the trailer drops. The film is slated to be released in theaters on July 5th.

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Has Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) made his final leap? It would appear so, as Deadline has reported that NBC has canceled Quantum Leap after two seasons. The series had been on the bubble, so the news isn’t a complete surprise, but it’s sure to be disappointing for fans.

The follow-up to the original series takes place nearly 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now, a new team, led by physicist Ben Song (Lee), has been assembled to restart the project. Everything changes, however, when Ben makes an unauthorized leap into the past, leaving the team behind to solve the mystery of why he did it. The second season finale aired on February 20th. While it wasn’t written to be a series finale, Quantum Leap showrunners Martin Gero and Dean Georgaris hoped it could provide some closure while also setting the stage for new stories.

“When we got the early renewal for Season 2, we knew we were not going to end it on a cliffhanger,” Georgaris told Deadline in February. “We were going to end it on the first scene from Season 3, and we’re going to end it with the two characters together, but in a way that you never expected. And that sort of says to the audience, ‘look at all the great places we can go.’ So if it feels like a completion for audiences, that’s wonderful. It is a completion of part of the journey, but I think for us, it serves as the launch for the rest of the journey.“

With Quantum Leap now canceled, I guess we can kiss goodbye to the possibility of seeing Scott Bakula reprise his role as Sam Beckett. The chances of that happening were slim, but you never know. The actor did say he was approached about making an appearance in the pilot but ultimately decided to pass on the project. “As the show has always been near and dear to my heart, it was a very difficult decision to pass on the project, a decision that has upset and confused so many fans of the original series,” Bakula said. “[Hopefully] this new cast and crew are lucky enough to tap into the magic that propelled the original Quantum Leap into the hearts and minds of generations past and present.“

How do you feel about Quantum Leap getting canceled?

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THR reports that Beau Willimon is set to co-write the script for James Mangold’s Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi.

Willimon is a playwright and screenwriter best known for developing House of Cards for Netflix, but he also has some Star Wars experience as he worked on the first season of Andor, writing three episodes of the critically acclaimed series. He will co-write the script for Dawn of the Jedi (which is just a working title) alongside Mangold, who will also direct.

We don’t know all that much about the project, only that it will take place 25,000 years before the Skywalker Saga and explore the first Jedi and the discovery of the Force. “It was something that Jim [Mangold] immediately sparked to, and I think it’s a really nice compliment to what we’re doing with moving into the future with Rey, and then understanding a bit more of where this all came from,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy explained. “Because it will be at the heart of creating the new Jedi Order, so to get a real sense of where that might have began with the dawn of the Jedi could be pretty cool.“

Mangold has said that this new project will take inspiration from 1950s biblical epics. “I told Kathy [Kennedy, head of Lucasfilm] I wanted to make a kind of Bible movie,” Mangold explained, “a kind of Ten Commandments of Star Wars–kind of a Cecil B DeMille film about the arrival of the Force, and that’s what I’ve been pecking away at between press events. That’s the idea.“

As James Mangold is currently shooting his Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet, it’s not known when Dawn of the Jedi will start shooting, but it won’t be the first new Star Wars movie in theaters. That honour will be reserved for The Mandalorian & Grogu, which Jon Favreau will direct. Production is expected to kick off later this year and the film was officially slated for a May 22, 2026 release earlier today.

In addition to Dawn of the Jedi and The Mandalorian movie, we’ve also got Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s post-Rise of Skywalker film about Rey (Daisy Ridley) rebuilding the Jedi Order as well as a New Republic movie being developed by Dave Filoni which will tie together the stories featured in The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and The Book of Boba Fett.

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