While shows like the American Crime Story series and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story continue to grip audiences as tightly as when the headlines first broke, Netflix has now released the trailer for one of the most notoriously unsolved mysteries of the 90s. Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey? will attempt to analyze this media sensation as no one has yet been brought to justice over this crime. The trailer has just been released and the three-part documentary is set to hit the streamer on November 25.

The description reads,
“On December 26, 1996, John and Patsy Ramsey woke up the morning after a loving family Christmas to discover their youngest child, six-year-old JonBenét, was missing, a chilling ransom note left downstairs. Later that day, John Ramsey discovered his daughter’s body in the basement, revealing the shocking truth that JonBenét had not been kidnapped, but was instead sexually assaulted and brutally murdered in their own home. The Boulder, Colorado police, who had little practical experience in homicide investigations, quickly cast suspicion on JonBenét’s family as the most likely suspects, fanning the flames of media scrutiny and largely one-sided reporting, turning the case into a national obsession. Twenty-eight years later, that obsession — and finger-pointing — hasn’t gone away, and the murder of JonBenét Ramsey remains unsolved. From Emmy-winning and Academy Award nominated director Joe Berlinger, this three-part docuseries investigates the mishandling of the case by law enforcement and the media.”

Academy Award–nominated director Joe Berlinger of The Ted Bundy Tapes helms the limited series. The executive producers on the project include Joe Berlinger, Craig D’Entrone, Jon Kamen and Jen Isaacson. Tim Young is on board as a co-producer.

Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen are also slated to star in a limited episode drama about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey. The series is currently sporting the unofficial title, JonBenét Ramsey and it will be streaming on Paramount+. JonBenét Ramsey comes from Yellowstone producers MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios, as well as showrunner Richard LaGravenese, known for Behind the Candelabra. LaGravense and the series’ creators Harrison Query and Tommy Wallach are also writing. McCarthy and Owen will play JonBenét’s parents, Patsy and John Ramsey.

The show’s description says the series will follow the family “as they go through the painful loss of a child while facing intense public scrutiny caused by a media frenzy that caused this case to captivate an entire nation. At the heart of the series, it is the story of Patsy and John Ramsey, exploring the unbreakable partnership of these two complex people — as husband and wife, as mother and father — who had committed themselves and their children to building the narrative of a perfect, privileged life only to have it destroyed one Christmas night in 1996.”

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Two years have gone by since we learned that Elizabeth Hurley (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery) had signed on to star in Piper, a new horror film from director Anthony Waller. More than a year has passed since the film had its world premiere at FrightFest… but now it’s ready for a wider release. Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has picked up Piper distribution rights and will be making it available to rent/own on all North American digital HD internet, cable, and satellite platforms, as well as on DVD, as of November 12th.

Back in 1995, director Waller made an impressive breakthrough with the thriller Mute Witness… then quickly squandered the good will he had earned with that movie by following it up with An American Werewolf in Paris. Waller has made a couple movies since the Paris debacle – the 2000 Bill Pullman thriller The Guilty, the 2009 sci-fi horror film 9 Miles Down – and here’s hoping that Piper will earn him some positive attention again.

Scripted by Waller from a story by Duncan Kennedy, this supernatural thriller is said to put Hurley against “an evil, child-stealing folklore legend” in “a darker and contemporary twist on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, whose vindictive restless spirit seeks out those who have gotten away with a crime, and punishes them by taking away their children”. The film has the following synopsis: Émigré Liz (Hurley) moves to a quaint German town with her daughter Amy but ends up in the Piper’s crosshairs when it is revealed she’s hiding a dark secret from her past that puts Amy’s life in jeopardy. The girls only hope for salvation comes when she falls for a young and mysterious street magician, Luca. Can he save her from the Piper’s clutches?

Hurley is joined in the cast by Mia Jenkins (Hanna), Jack Stewart (Float), Ryan Webber (The Funhouse Massacre), Robert Daws (The Man Who Fell to Earth), Ieva Aleksandrova-Eklone (Out), Arben Bajraktaraj (Taken), Alma Rix (Dumar), Gundars Abolins (What Silent Gerda Knows), Jurijs Djakonovs (Crime Solving for Beginners), Elizabete Liepa (Christmas in the Jungle), Madlena Valdberga (In the Mirror), newcomers Evija Koltone and Dominik Gabriel Roseti, and Waller himself.

This is the second Pied Piper of Hamelin horror movie we’ve gotten this year, as a film called The Piper, starring Julian Sands, was released back in March.

Are you looking forward to watching the Elizabeth Hurley and Anthony Waller film Piper later this month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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The AMC series Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches – which, as you may have deduced from the title, is based on author Anne Rice’s trilogy of Mayfair Witches novels – was only four episodes into the eight episode run of its first season when AMC ordered a second season of the show back in February of 2023. Last month, it was finally announced that fans are going to have the chance to see new episodes of the show when Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches season 2 premieres on January 5, 2025 on both AMC and AMC+… and now, a trailer for the season has made its way online. You can watch it in the embed above. Our review of the first season of the show can be read HERE.

AMC’s Mayfair Witches series is an exploration of female power and the mortal implications of our decisions. Mayfair Witches focuses on an intuitive young neurosurgeon who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations.

Alexandra Daddario (We Summon the Darkness), Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire), Tongayi Chrisu (Palm Springs), Harry Hamlin (Mad Men), Annabeth Gish (Rim of the World), Beth Grant (No Country for Old Men), Erica Gimpel (God Friended Me), Jen Richards (Her Story), and Alyssa Jirrels (Fatal Attraction) star. Daddario plays Rowan, “a brilliant doctor who grapples with her fate as the heir to a family of powerful witches.” Huston’s character is Lasher, “a powerful, shape-shifting entity who has been bound to the Mayfair witches for hundreds of years.” Chrisu is series regular Ciprien Grieve, Hamlin plays Cortland Mayfair, “current reigning patriarch of the Mayfair clan with a voracious appetite for more money, more power and more life”. Jirrels’ character is Moira Mayfair, Rowan’s cousin and a mind reader. Gish takes on the recurring role of Diedre, Grant is the recurring Carlotta, Gimpel is the recurring Ellie, and Richards is Jojo.

Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) is overseeing the building of AMC’s franchises based on both her Mayfair Witches novels and her Vampire Chronicles novels. Esta Spaulding and Michelle Ashford, both of whom previously worked on Masters of Sex, are writers and executive producers on Mayfair Witches, with Ashford also serving as the showrunner.

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches trilogy consists of the novels The Witching Hour (1990), Lasher (1993), and Taltos (1994). Season 2 of the TV series will be adapting Lasher and will see Rowan adapting to her unwitting role in birthing the demon Lasher. While using him to fulfill her purpose as a healer, she will fight to understand what she has become and, as tragedy strikes, protect her family. 

Are you looking forward to Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches season 2? Take a look at the trailer, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

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A lot of activity is being revealed with Tom Holland. The MCU Spider-Man star will be making a film with Christopher Nolan, then he’s slated to work on the next Avengers as well as the follow-up to Spider-Man: No Way Home. The production with Nolan is expected to kick off in early 2025, with Universal already slating the film for an IMAX release on July 17, 2026. In addition to directing and writing the film, Nolan will also produce with Emma Thomas under their Syncopy banner.

Holland is lining up more non-MCU projects as Deadline reports he’s now set to join Austin Butler on American Speed. The film was fiercely bid on by studios with Amazon MGM winning the project. The package included having Holland and Butler attached to star in the movie. Academy Award-winning producer Charles Roven (Oppenheimer) is also attached to produce American Speed from his Atlas Entertainment banner alongside RD Whittington and Douglas Banker. Ryan Sanak will also executive produce for Atlas Entertainment. 

Per Deadline, American Speed “is based on the true story of the Whittington brothers —three historically famous race car drivers, two of whom were part of the 1980s IMSA scandal, in which a number of drivers were charged with financing their racing activities with proceeds from drug smuggling, money laundering or tax evasion.” The movie is set to be written by Dan Wiedenhaupt, who recently had penned the screenplay for the Albert Hughes action pic Alpha.

Meanwhile, Butler has also been announced to star with Zoë Kravitz in Darren Aronofsky’s crime thriller Caught Stealing. The Sony Pictures project is based on the book by Charlie Huston, who will write the script for the movie as well. Caught Stealing follows Hank Thompson, “a burned-out former baseball player, as he’s unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of ‘90s NYC.”

“I am excited to be teaming up with my old friends at Sony Pictures to bring Charlie’s adrenaline-soaked roller coaster ride to life,” Aronofsky said in a statement earlier this year. “I can’t wait to start working with Austin and my family of NYC filmmakers.” Sanford Panitch, President of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, added, “Darren is one of the most brilliant audiovisual storytellers in the world, and adapting these wonderful books by Charlie Huston for Austin to star was too exciting an opportunity to not be a part of.“

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Over 10 films to date and an 11th scheduled for late September of 2025, Saw is a franchise that rivals most in terms of both output and fandom. It had a run of 7 straight films over 7 years which began with the out of nowhere Saw in 2004 and culminating with Saw 3D in 2010. Its consistency may have trailed off temporarily with scattered entries following in 2017, 2021, and 2023, but the series as a whole is well known and has branched off into nearly every conceivable type of media. From comics and novels to video games and toys, Saw may just be primed to start another legendary run in the 2020s. Saw III was a runaway train that is still the highest grossing film in the series, but it was almost not even made after the original creators were done. With traps that were some of the most creative and even including Tobin Bell’s favorite to actors lying about their appearances in the movie, lets see just what happened to Saw III.

Saw II was an immediate and massive success. The first Saw came out of nowhere and was based on a short film that Leigh Whannell and James Wan made after graduating film school. They had written a feature length one but couldn’t get it made right away so instead focused the short film on one of the traps that the series would become so famous for. The final feature length film would come out first at Sundance in January of 2004 and then wide release in late October. To say it was a hit would be a drastic understatement. In fact, it sits up there with Halloween, Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as the most profitable independent horror films ever. It made nearly 104 million on its 1.2-million-dollar budget and a franchise was born. Part II would come out the next year and also make a killing. The budget was over doubled to 4 million, but it still brought in a staggering 153 million. A third was assured but that’s where the original creators wanted to stop.

Leigh Whannell and James Wan who created, stared, wrote, and directed the first film, and Darren Lynn Bousman who directed part II had no interest in a third one even with the profits near guaranteed. Unfortunately, their friend and producer of the series Greg Hoffman passed shortly after the release of the second movie. The three creators got together when they heard of their friend’s death and decided to make a third movie that they would also dedicate to his memory. On top of that, they created a character named Mark Hoffman for him that would play a major role in the series going forward. Wan would get a story credit, Whannell would write the screenplay, and Bousman would come back to direct. Bousman would also direct part 4 and Spiral later on in the franchise.

Wan and Whannell have had major careers outside of the Saw franchise both together with Insidious and separately with The Conjuring for Wan and The Invisible Man for Whannell. Bousman would also direct Repo! The Genetic Opera and the remake of Mother’s Day amongst a few other horror hidden gems. Whannell wanted to write something a little different, a little more personal. He even describes it as a sort of father daughter story between Tobin Bell’s John and Shawnee Smith’s Amanda. The movie has multiple storylines really, with Amanda’s quest to save John Kramer and the usual main character going through a trial or trials in this case. It’s a formula that the series would copy a few times, but it certainly started with Saw III.

The movie opens with Donnie Wahlberg’s character from the previous movie breaking out of the trap he was put into at the end of Saw II. He is in the very room that Saw took place in, and the studio actually asked the production team behind Scary Movie 4 if they could use their replica parody room which they were granted. We then move to the police finding yet another Jigsaw crime scene. This one is different because there was no way for the victim to survive, even if they got out of the trap. This goes against Jigsaw’s self-imposed rules which makes detective Kerry, played by a returning Dina Meyer, question everything before she too is taken. Her trap proves to be unwinnable as well and we finally see the main story. A doctor is kidnapped and tasked with keeping John Kramer alive until his latest trial victim is tested. That victim, Jeff, must go through a series of rooms and make sacrifices to protect the people that were involved in the tragic death of his son. The movie is tests upon tests and full of father child relationships.

For the cast, the returning players such as Shawnee Smith, Tobin Bell, and Dina Meyer were easy and expected. Donnie Wahlberg’s character returning was kept heavily under wraps, and he even adamantly denied his involvement with the third movie. New actors to the series include Angus MacFadyen and Bahar Soomekh as the two other leads who it is revealed are husband and wife. MacFadyen was a fan of original horror films and loved the first movie, so he signed on immediately after reading the script. Apart from appearing briefly in the next Saw film, he wouldn’t have any other horror credits but has had a long career before and after today’s film. As for Soomekh, she had appeared in the academy award winning Crash from 2004 and so the studio wanted her in Saw III to have a current big name for non-horror fans. Speaking of non-horror fans. Bahar was in that camp and even needed help from production and special effects teams during one of the gorier scenes near the end of the movie.

Monica Potter was offered a contract to come back as her character from the first movie but declined as she felt there wasn’t anything new to add in her role. While she declined to come back, there is another cameo besides Donnie Wahlberg detective with Leigh Whannell also showing up briefly as Adam which was equally designed to be kept a secret. With a bigger movie comes a bigger budget and Saw III had ballooned from 1 million for the first movie to 4 million on the second and III being given 10 million to work with. It was shot in just under a month, 27 days, in Toronto the full script was only given to actors that made it to the final scenes similar to the first two films. This practice was also because Whannell stayed on set most days to adjust or fully rewrite scenes and some of them were turned into the actors scribbled on napkins just before the shooting was to take place. To save on some of the budget, where digital effects would be used to show transitions between scenes, the production instead chose to use camera tricks. The earliest example of this is when things shift from that first crime scene to Kerry’s apartment, Dina Meyer had to run between sets, quickly strip, and get into the bathtub for the shot.

The movie itself first ran over two hours before cuts. One of these involved taking out a scene in which Jigsaw regretted his actions. Tobin Bell was glad this was cut as he felt he had a firm grasp on the character and this scene, along with needless back story elements, just didn’t fit in with the overarching story. Speaking of Bell, Saw III has his favorite trap in the whole franchise. The team tried, and continues to try, to make the traps unique. The first victim that Jeff comes across is being sprayed with water in a freezer to die by cold. This was a conscious choice as others had been burned to death and bled to death earlier in the series. Bell’s favorite involved the man who drunkenly killed Jeff’s son, and he is strapped to a table that will break all of his limbs and neck by turning them 180 degrees if Jeff doesn’t get him out of there. As with the first two films, all of the traps were done with practical effects including fake pigs that were filled with very real but cleaned maggots.

Like many horror movies, especially in the 2000s, the movie had to be sent back and forth between the studio and the then-MPAA. In an interesting turn, the movie wasn’t returned over and over again for on screen violence, it was asked to be edited down for the emotional abuse. The original creators never envisioned helping to create the “torture porn” genre along with Hostel but they also never imagined the gore not being a problem. TV shows like CSI and Law and Order were cited as a gage of what could and couldn’t be seen by audiences and after 7 edits, Saw III finally received an R rating. The movie was released on October 27th, 2006, and was an immediate hit. It opened at number one and would end up as the highest grossing film in the franchise even to this day. Off of it’s 10-million-dollar budget it made a staggering 165 million dollars in theaters. Per usual, the movie was not received well by critics but that has never stopped a horror movie from making money and probably never will.

The marketing helped immensely with the hype and the end result gross. A comic con clip was wildly popular and the MPAA refused to allow it to be shown as a teaser in theaters. The clip was eventually shown at the Spike TV Scream Awards alongside an appearance from Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, and Bousman. Furthermore, head of marketing for Lions Gate Tim Palen came up with an idea to use some of Tobin Bell’s blood and mix it with ink to create special posters. The first was auctioned off with the proceeds going to Red Cross and all others being sold for $20.00. The home video market was also a massive success for Saw III with the DVD and Blu ray coming out the following January. It sold 1.6 million units the first day and ended the week with an astonishing 2.5 million units. There was an unrated cut released the same day and then the studio had the foresight to release an extended directors cut the same week as Saw 4 was released. All told, the movie made an additional 47 and a half million dollars on the home video scene.

Saw III remains a highpoint in the franchise for sales but was far from the final entry. While others wouldn’t make as much money, the series was still ever popular and continues to today. The franchise has lasted over 20 years and will seemingly always be up to play a game and now you can say you know what happened to Saw III.

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!

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Amazon-MGM is plotting its own tentpole franchise, with one of its biggest-ever theatrical films, Red One, due to hit theatres on November 15th, just in time for Christmas. With an estimated $250 million price tag, the studio will have to overcome bad buzz from behind the scenes for it to become the franchise it is no doubt hoping for. You can watch the new trailer in the embed above. In it, Dwayne Johnson plays the North Pole’s Head of Security, who has to team with an infamous bounty hunter (Chris Evans) to save Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons), who’s been kidnapped by evil forces hoping to end Christmas. 

Early reactions to the holiday action film have dropped online. Does it live up to the bad buzz? Junior Felix would post, “GUYS! I had a BLAST with #RedOneMovie !! It’s funny, full of great action and even better characters. In a time when we truly need some good cheer in this world, RED ONE brings it and then some! Oh and the world building is some of the best I’ve seen in a while!”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Sim makes no bones about the absurdity of the movie as he writes, “RED ONE is one of the most ridiculous Christmas movies I’ve ever seen. Occasionally enjoyable, but Jake Kasdan directs this outrageous premise like a very serious action thriller, only ever pausing to have Chris Evans’s character scream, “What is happening?!” every few minutes. Mind-numbing stupidity, absurdly expensive, and somehow cheap-looking at times. #RedOneMovie“

Hunter Bolding would become overtaken with so much Christmas spirit that he was able to overlook its faults, “I’d love to say how bad I thought Red One was, but to be honest, some holiday cheer came over me, and it ended up as a fun romp through the North Pole. Very cute. #RedOne”

Kevin Fenix would full-on glow about this movie, as he said, “#RedOne is pure Christmas magic! Fun, funny, and full of what makes it the most magical time of the year. Also, unexpectedly amazing world building that begs further exploration, and a surprisingly emotional performance by @TheRock that genuinely had me shed a few tears”

Kristen Maldonado would also be wowed by Red One‘s world-building around the known lore of Santa Claus and the North Pole. She writes, “#RedOne is an action-packed holiday showdown, but my favorite part had to be the mythology introduced! They level up the holiday magic we know and love, while adding a fresh perspective with mythological characters we don’t often see represented. A blast for the whole family!”

Meanwhile, Matt Neglia looks to be agreeing with the bad buzz as he feels that all the ridiculousness has caused the film to fall short, “Putting RED ONE on the naughty list for 2024. Unfunny and visually repulsive, even the action lacks excitement & entertainment. The only watchable scene features Kristofer Hivju in full-body prosthetics as Krampus, slapping the coal out of Dwayne Johnson. Nearly everyone appears embarrassed to be there, delivering ridiculous dialogue about rescuing Santa, saving Christmas, and spreading holiday cheer—all while Chris Evans exasperatedly yells “What?!” at each new plot development, gadget or mythological power. An eye-rolling, overproduced waste of both talent and budget.”

Dwayne Johnson reunites with his Jumanji writer/director, Jake Kasdan, for this movie. The Jumanji movies were received well and became hits at the box office. The fact that Red One is directed by Kasdan, whose Jumanji movies were smash hits for Sony, points towards this potentially being a big success. However, Johnson’s track record at the box office has been mixed as of late, with Black Adam seen as a disappointment, although his Red Notice still ranks as Netflix’s most popular movie ever.

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A new episode of our What Happened to This Celebrity series just dropped on the JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, and with this one we’re taking a look at the life and career of one of the most beloved actors of his generation: Keanu Reeves. Here’s a guy who has been in the acting world since the 1980s, and just keeps getting more and more popular as the years go by. How is this possible? Well, it helps when you can play a dog-avenging badass like John Wick… and it also helps to have a reputation as being one of the most kind, warmhearted people in Hollywood. To hear all about Keanu Reeves, and to celebrate a very cool dude, check out the video embedded above.

As mentioned in the video, Reeves’ acting skills have been criticized, but he has made some great movies and brought to life some iconic characters. He’s best known for playing John Wick, Ted “Theodore” Logan from the Bill & Ted movies, and Neo from the Matrix franchise – but he has also played a Sam Raimi villain (in The Gift), gone up against Satan himself on more than one occasion (Constantine and The Devil’s Advocate), starred in one of the best action movies to never receive a sequel (Point Break – which did get a remake, but the less said about that, the better), starred in an action movie that received a Keanu-less sequel most fans wish hadn’t been made (Speed), and worked in some well-liked dramas (River’s Edge, My Own Private Idaho) and comedies (Parenthood). One recent, largely overlooked gem in his filmography is the romantic comedy Destination Wedding, which reunited him with his Bram Stoker’s Dracula (and A Scanner Darkly and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee) co-star Winona Ryder. Reeves cut his dialogue in the most recent John Wick movie down to the bare minimum, but if you want to see him deliver a great performance and a whole lot of dialogue, check out Destination Wedding.

Are you a Keanu Reeves fan? Check out the new episode of What Happened to This Celebrity, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

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PLOT: An unrivaled and highly elusive lone assassin, the Jackal, makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee. But following his latest kill, he meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer who starts to track down the Jackal in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake.

REVIEW: The Day of the Jackal is a title that resonates even if you have not seen the 1973 film or the novel it was based on. Loosely remade in 1997 as The Jackal, starring Bruce Willis and Richard Gere, the core plot of the Frederick Forsyth novel followed a master assassin attempting to kill the President of France and the investigation to stop him. While the original film was a critical and box office success, the dated subject matter has been ripe for a contemporary update. The new Sky/Peacock limited series The Day of the Jackal dramatically changes the plot and characters while keeping the core cat-and-mouse dynamic between the titular killer and the agent tasked with hunting him down. The new iteration of the story takes a deeper look at the parallels between the hunter and the hunted to deliver a psychologically complex portrait of two people on opposite sides with masterful performances from Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch.

Updating the story from 1960s France to modern-day Europe, The Day of the Jackal centers on the assassin (Eddie Redmayne) as he expertly undertakes a job involving disguises, complex choreographed sniper skills, and a perfectly timed escape. Redmayne portrays The Jackal as a natural mimic who balances his professional life with a secret family, including a young son and a wife, Nuria (Ursula Corbero). While The Jackal ties up loose ends on the job that opens the series, he is recruited for a new target by a wealthy cabal looking to take out a high-profile adversary. As The Jackal balances his carefully curated dual lives, his recent kill has resulted in a multinational hunt for his whereabouts despite no one knowing who or where he is. That is despite the single-minded focus of MI-6 agent Bianca (Lashana Lynch), who has made it her responsibility to find The Jackal and bring him to justice.

The ten-episode series has a propulsive start as we become intimately informed about how The Jackal operates. Eddie Redmayne has played nuanced characters before, but I cannot recall his role with this level of duality or sociopathy. There is a charming, James Bond-like quality to The Jackal but there is also an undercurrent that makes you question whether you should like him a an individual. He is talented and calculating, and when we see him disarmed as a family man, he can be likable, but we never forget he is a murderer. Redmayne adopts The Jackal’s chameleon-like ability to change his appearance, voice, and demeanor, making him even more frightening. However, the perspective of this series also shows the motivations behind why he does what he does, which offers more humanity to the performance than we saw in the previous adaptations of the novel. Redmayne keeps you invested in The Jackal as both a villain and an antihero for the duration of the series, even when he must make difficult choices in the final episodes.

While the two storylines do not directly converge for several episodes, the parallels between The Jackal and Bianca’s arc are numerous. Lashana Lynch has already shown she has the chops to play a spy in No Time To Die as well as a superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but her turn as the single-minded agent using her brains and cunning to track down a killer is one of the actor’s most impressive turns to date. Bianca, like The Jackal, drops her personal life at a moment’s notice when she is called by her superiors, including Osita Halcrow (Chukwudi Iwuji) and Isabel Kirby (Lia Williams) as she tries to foil another death, this time of entrepreneur Ulle Dag Charles (Khalid Abdalla). Bianca risks disappointing her daughter and husband, but it is in the service of the greater good that puts her and The Jackal on a collision course, which the series continually amps up through each successive chapter. Had the series only focused on Bianca and not The Jackal, this series would have remained a stunning showcase for Lashana Lynch. The limited screen time shared between Redmayne and Lynch allows each character to develop fully without relying on the other.

Brian Kirk, Anthony Philipson, Paul Wilmshurst, and Anu Menon directed the ten-episode series, which Ronan Bennett scripted. Bennett, a novelist and writer, is best known for the BBC historical limited series Gunpowder and Michael Mann’s 2009 biopic Public Enemies. At times, the series feels like two different shows following shared arcs with the supporting players, including Charles Dance, Eleanor Matsuura, Richard Dormer, and Kate Dickie, existing in one and not the other. Alongside the standout leads, Ursula Corbero is fantastic and continues to make me wonder why she is not leading more projects like this. My only complaint, without divulging any spoilers, is how the series wraps up the finale. In many ways, it works within the context of how the story unfolds, but I could not help feeling a bit underwhelmed at the lack of a more conclusive ending.

From the Bond-esque opening credits complete with a sultry title song to the balance of character development, political intrigue, and realistic stakes, The Day of the Jackal is at once indebted to the 007 franchise and its antithesis. This grounded, realistic thriller takes time to develop the protagonist and antagonist while leaving audiences wondering which side they trust and whether they should or should not. This is not a clean-cut espionage story or even an action-oriented tale. The Day of the Jackal is a worthy modernization of the classic novel and delivers two of the year’s better performances on film or the small screen. Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch are absolutely fantastic and somewhat eclipse the minor shortcomings of the project itself. If you come into this series expecting it to be like Mission: Impossible or The Bourne Identity, you will be disappointed, but if you are a fan of Slow Horses and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, you are in for a treat.

The Day of the Jackal premieres on November 7th on Peacock.

The Day of the Jackal

GREAT

8

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The lovable bear is back. Paddington in Peru has the task of following two movies that had near-perfect positive reactions. Plus, the original director, Paul King, sits this one out. So, now that the film has been screened in the U.K., reactions are hitting social media. How is it faring this time around? Paddington in Peru “follows Paddington and the Brown family as they visit Aunt Lucy in Peru. A thrilling adventure ensues when a mystery plunges them into an unexpected journey through the Amazon rainforest and to the mountain peaks of Peru.” Ben Whishaw returns to voice Paddington, with Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman, Antonio Banderas, and Imelda Staunton rounding out the cast.

Paul Klein of Film Hounds stated, “#PaddingtonInPeru doesn’t hit the heights of 2. But it’s still a lovely, funny, exciting film that knows the charm is in how earnest the Bear is. Olivia Colman as a singing nun is a highlight.”

Kelechi Ehenulo posted that this third entry fell below the first two, “#PaddingtonInPeru is my least favourite in the franchise, missing Paul King’s magic and dare I say it, I missed Sally Hawkins (Mortimer innocent though). However, its heart and intention is in the right place with Paddington himself never losing his charm. Colman steals the show.”

Darren Mooney calls Paddington in Peru “pretty fine” while taking a shot of Dial of Destiny as he says, “Look, at least Paddington in Peru is the best Indiana Jones film to star Antonio Banderas, so there’s that. Paddington in Peru is pretty fine. It’s funny and charming, but you really miss the active involvement of Paul King and Simon Farnaby, who share a story credit.”

Clarisse Loughrey was not nearly as forgiving on the film as she also makes a bear pun, “sorry to be the BEARer of bad news, but PADDINGTON IN PERU is kind of a letdown”

Meanwhile, Carl Roberts would glow about the movie, saying, “#PaddingtonInPeru is an early Christmas treat for the whole family. A wonderfully entertaining, funny and heartfelt movie that rarely puts a foot wrong throughout. Fun, bubbly and truly superb. Pack the marmalade sandwiches and enjoy the ride!”

Two things have been constant in the newly released reviews for this film — the movie stood no chance against Paddington 2 and it’s “just fine” and Olivia Colman comes away as the highlight of the film. A factor that many have pointed out is that Paul King‘s direction is sorely missed. However, the former series director always aimed to hand off the franchise. King stated that “because there’s so much Paddington source material, you could make 50 Paddington movies. I’d be a hundred years old and still doing Paddington.” If there was only enough source material to make two or three films, King said that things might have been different, but he was “really pleased” with where they left Paddington after the second movie and that it was “time to let go and give somebody else a shot.“

Recently, it was announced that there will be a Paddington 4 as well as a TV adaptation. “We are also working on a new TV series and a new movie to come in 2027, ’28,” said Françoise Guyonnet, CEO of StudioCanal Kids & Family, noting that 2028 will mark the 70th anniversary of the franchise. “Of course, the big event for the StudioCanal family is the release of Paddington in Peru.”

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James Van Der Beek has announced that he has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, a form that begins in the colon or rectal area.

Speaking with People, James Van Der Beek announced, “I have colorectal cancer. I’ve been privately dealing with this diagnosis and have been taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family…There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good.”

While James Van Der Beek didn’t go into any specific details over his cancer diagnosis, there is a lot of information online As per the American Cancer Society, most developments of this cancer start as polyps; if cancer forms within, it can then expand to the walls of the colon or rectum. The stage of cancer can be determined depending on how deep into the walls it is. As far as how many men it may affect, they note that there is a 1 in 23 lifetime risk of developing this form of cancer, although that would be based on numerous factors. They also list five-year survival rates — provided it is localized, meaning it hasn’t spread out of the region — in the low 90% range.

The news hasn’t only been a surprise to fans but even family members of James Van Der Beek, who offered his apologies after he discovered that many relatives found out via the web. In a social media post, the actor wrote, “There’s no playbook for how announce these things, but I’d planned on talking about it at length with People magazine at some point soon … to raise awareness and tell my story on my own terms. But that plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news.”

Despite the news of his cancer diagnosis, James Van Der Beek is keeping busy enough, with a selection of projects lined up. One — due out later this month as a Tubi Original — is Sidelined: The QB and Me, based on a young adult novel. But Van Der Beek will always be best known for Dawson’s Creek and Varsity Blues.

We here at JoBlo.com want to wish James Van Der Beek the best in the process of his cancer treatment and recovery.

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