It feels that the term “superhero movie” used to be a subgenre that could take on many forms. For example, Logan was a Western epic with super-powered characters at the core, but the tone was nothing like any of the other X-Men films of years past. Or the way Constantine gave us a dark horror-thriller with demons and monsters but kept the detective-slash-noir aesthetic and allowed it to bleed through. But, these days, it feels like nearly all of the caped cinema we’re getting fits into the same all-encompassing, mass-appealing mega-genre that has started to feel the same across every film- With the rare exception of movies like The Batman or Marvel’s recent Werewolf By Night, there’s been a frustrating lack of variety in the tones of modern comic book cinema. But back in 2011, Marvel was in the infancy of building out there now-dominating connected universe by way of introducing different characters in their films, before crossing over into one giant blockbuster event with Marvel’s Avengers.

With Iron Man already being two films in and Thor and the Hulk being introduced in their outings, it was time for Kevin Feige and the folks at Marvel Studios to rewind the clocks to 1942 and introduce audiences to one of the MCU’s most iconic heroes- in Captain America: The First Avenger.

If the Iron Man movies were a high-octane action romp, Thor was a Shakespearian ode to the Renaissance era, and The Incredible Hulk was… I don’t know, something? Marvel Studios wanted to tell the story of Captain America in an adventurous trip to the past where we can meet the man who unknowingly made it possible for the Avengers to come together nearly 70 years later. The film offers a full origin story for Steve Rogers as the character. Also, it brings in some history to help fill out the already-established MCU, giving the entire connected universe a sense of lore and detail that connects these films even further. But, by this time, Marvel’s confidence in the success of their projects led them to use this movie to dabble and experiment with the historical war epic genre- and in some ways, it works, and in other ways, it simply does not. But of course, the big question today is how this movie stacks up against the standards or lack thereof in today’s world of comic-riddled content. Let’s find out in today’s episode of Marvel Revisited.

The post Captain America: The First Avenger – How does Cap’s first screen outing hold up? appeared first on JoBlo.

In between drags of cigarette smoke, Patty and Selma Bouvier are likely freaking out over the idea of a new Matlock series coming to CBS. The Matlock reboot gets a new star today with Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys, Max Payne, Hit and Run) joining the cast. Bridges replaces Jayme Sheridan, who starred in the pilot, to act opposite Kathy Bates (Misery, Fried Green Tomatoes, Dolores Claiborne) in the updated version. CBS’ Matlock debuts in 2024-25 after the strike delayed production.

CBS’ Matlock hails from Jennie Snyder Urman (Something Borrowed, Charmed, Men in Trees) and stars Bates as Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a sharp-minded septuagenarian with a stellar track record for solving cases. After being away from the game for years, Matlock rejoins the workforce at a distinguished law firm, where she uses her years of experience and unique tactics to achieve justice. At her new place of employment, Matty teams up with Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), a senior attorney and key rainmaker who thirsts for fair play. Olympia’s ex-husband, Julian (Jason Ritter), the son of the head of the firm (Bridges), is fascinated by Matty and her precocious skills.

According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, Bridges plays Senior, “the firm’s chief executive officer, who has an indomitable presence that immediately alters the temperature of any room. The man’s influence reaches far and wide, and although he loves his son, Julian (Ritter), he might respect his daughter-in-law, Olympia (Marshall), more.”

David Del Rio and Leah Lewis join Kathy Bates, Skye P. Marshall, and Beau Bridges for CBS’ new Matlock series, with Urman, Joanna Klein, Eric Christian Olsen, John Will, and Bates executive producing.

Beau Bridges appears in the Apple TV+ series Lessons in Chemistry, starring Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) as Elizabeth Zott, whose dream of being a chemist is put on hold when she finds herself pregnant, alone, and fired from her lab. Lewis Pullman and Aja Naomi King star in Lessons in Chemistry, with Patrick Walker, Stephanie Koenig, Marc Evan Jackson, and more.

Talk about a blast from the past! What do you think about Beau Bridges joining the cast of CBS’ Matlock? Did you ever watch the original show in reruns or on DVD? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Beau Bridges replaces Jamey Sheridan to star opposite Kathy Bates in CBS’ Matlock series appeared first on JoBlo.

Nearly two years have gone by since we heard that production had wrapped on Cuckoo, a new horror film from writer/director Tilman Singer that stars Hunter Schafer (Euphoria), Dan Stevens (The Guest), Jessica Henwick (Love and Monsters), Marton Csókás (Freelance), Greta Fernández (Santo), and Jan Bluthardt (Tatort). Now the movie is going to be making its way out into the world very soon, as Neon will be giving Cuckoo a theatrical release on May 3rd. In anticipation on that release, a quick teaser trailer for the film has arrived online, along with the warning, “The adolescent needs to be trained.” You can watch the trailer in the embed above.

At one point, it was announced that Gemma Chan (Eternals), Sofia Boutella (The Mummy 2017), Zita Hanrot (Love, Death & Robots), Proschat Madani (Walking on Sunshine), and John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich) would be in the movie as well, but it looks like most of them had to drop out of the project before filming began.

Details on Cuckoo had been kept under wraps up to this point, but today a synopsis has also been unveiled: Reluctantly, 17-year-old Gretchen leaves her American home to live with her father, who has just moved into a resort in the German Alps with his new family. Arriving at their future residence, they are greeted by Mr. König, her father’s boss, who takes an inexplicable interest in Gretchen’s mute half-sister Alma. Something doesn’t seem right in this tranquil vacation paradise. Gretchen is plagued by strange noises and bloody visions until she discovers a shocking secret that also concerns her own family.

A press release notes that Dan Stevens turns in a “brilliant and terrifying” performance in the film.

This is the second feature for Singer, following the 2018 supernatural horror film Luz, which Bluthardt had a role in. Luz told the story of “a young cab driver fleeing from the grasp of a possessed woman, whose confession could endanger the lives of everyone who crosses her path.” Several of Singer’s Luz collaborators joined him on Cuckoo. In addition to Bluthardt, also returning from Luz were cinematographer Paul Faltz, composer Simon Waskow, and production designer Dario Mendez Acosta.

Cuckoo was financed by Neon. The film is being produced by Markus Halberschmidt, Josh Rosenbaum, Maria Tsigka, Ken Kao, Thor Bradwell, Ben Rimmer, in a cooperation between Germany’s Fiction Park and the States’ Waypoint Entertainment. It’s executive produced by Tom Quinn, Jeff Deutchman, Emily Thomas, and Ryan Friscia for Neon. Additional funding came from the Film und Medien Stiftung NRW, HessenFilm, and the German Federal Film Fund.

What did you think of the Cuckoo teaser trailer and synopsis? Does this seem like a movie you’d want to watch in a few months? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Cuckoo teaser trailer: Hunter Schafer horror film warns that the adolescent needs to be trained appeared first on JoBlo.

Back in June of 2021, it was announced that Julian Sands, best known around here for playing the Warlock in the 1989 horror film fittingly titled Warlock and then coming back for the sequel Warlock: The Armageddon, had signed on to star in a new genre project called The Piper, which puts a horrific twist on the legend of the Pied Piper. Sadly, it was only seven months later that we heard Sands had gone missing while hiking on California’s Mount Baldy. Six months later, his body was found. He did get to work on The Piper before he passed away, though, and the film is now ready to make its way out into the world. It’s set to receive a theatrical and digital/on demand release on March 8th, and with that date exactly one month away a trailer has arrived online. You can check it out in the embed above.

The Piper may not be the last Julian Sands film we see, as he’s also in the drama Body Odyssey, which is making the festival rounds, and is said to have a role in the thriller The Last Breath, which is currently in post-production.

Written and directed by Erlingur Thoroddsen, The Piper was filmed at Millennium Media’s Nu Boyana Studios in Bulgaria. Described as a “dark re-imagining of the Pied Piper tale”, it will show a young composer getting the opportunity of a lifetime when she is tasked with finishing her late mentor’s concerto. But she soon discovers that playing the music summons deadly consequences, leading her to uncover the disturbing origins of the melody and the evil force it has awakened: the Pied Piper.

Sands is joined in the cast by Charlotte Hope, who appeared in 2018’s The Nun and played the character Myranda on eight episodes of Game of Thrones. Oliver Savell (Belfast) and newcomer Aoibhe O’Flanagan are in the cast as well.

Hellraiser‘s Christopher Young composed the score for The Piper. The film was produced by Bernard Kira, Les Weldon, and Millennium Media’s Yariv Lerner, Jeffrey Greenstein, Jonathan Yunger, and Tanner Mobley. Avi Lerner, Boaz Davidson, Trevor Short, Victor Hadida, Lonnie Ramati, and Nicole Swinford serve as executive producers.

Mobley had this to say about the project: “Erlingur wrote a chilling script that adapts the sinister tale of the Pied Piper into a modern day horror villain. The story and team, including iconic composer Christopher Young, has attracted an amazing cast led by Charlotte and Julian.“

Erlingur Thoroddsen previously wrote and directed the horror films Child Eater and Rift, and also wrote the Midnight Kiss episode of the Hulu / Blumhouse anthology series Into the Dark.

What did you think of the trailer for The Piper? Are you looking forward to seeing Julian Sands in another genre film? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post The Piper trailer: horror film starring Julian Sands will be released in March appeared first on JoBlo.

The Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is off and running (pun intended). Not long ago, the official movie’s social media account released a short announcement trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in addition to the announcement that Jim Carrey, who had been circling around the decision to retire, will in fact return as the eggman himself, Dr. Robotnik. The third installment in the series teased the crossover of another character from the Sega game’s universe, Shadow, as the latest addition to the hedgehog family. Paramount has also now released the trailer for the Paramount+ limited series, Knuckles.

According to the press release from Paramount,
“The new live-action event series follows Knuckles (Idris Elba) on a hilarious and action-packed journey of self-discovery as he agrees to train Wade (Adam Pally) as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior. The series takes place between the films SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 and SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3.

In addition to Elba starring as the titular character, Adam Pally reprises his role from the film franchise as Wade Whipple. The ensemble cast includes guest stars Stockard Channing (The West Wing), Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones), Scott Mescudi (Don’t Look Up), Ellie Taylor (Ted Lasso), Julian Barratt (Mindhorn), Rory McCann (Game of Thrones), Cary Elwes (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Paul Scheer (Black Monday), and Rob Huebel (Childrens Hospital). Special guest star Ben Schwartz will reprise his role as Sonic, as well as special guest star Tika Sumpter, reprising her role as Maddie. Colleen O’Shaughnessey will also return as a special guest star in her role as Tails.”

In addition to today’s official trailer, on Sunday, February 11, an all-new KNUCKLES spot will debut during the CBS Television Network’s Super Bowl LVIII pregame broadcast. The KNUCKLES Super Bowl spot will also be featured in Nickelodeon’s special kids and family broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII, where Knuckles and some friends will make a surprise appearance.

The series will have six episodes and all six episodes of the series will be available to stream on Friday, April 26, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada; the following day, April 27, in all additional Paramount+ territories; and in Japan later this year. 

The post Knuckles limited series at Paramount+ premieres new electrifying trailer appeared first on JoBlo.

Those of us who grew up watching Nickelodeon’s 90s slate of shows are about to be shocked to know how bad things actually were behind the scenes. When the kids’ network added more than cartoons and children’s entertainers/game shows to their schedule, it seemed like the channel was really reaching its audience by having shows for kids and featuring kids. It would make the network much hipper, and the man behind it all was Dan Schneider. Formerly a teen actor on the 80s sitcom Head of the Class, Schneider struck it big when he produced the sketch show, All That, which was in the vein of Saturday Night Live but with younger comedian performers.

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed the trailer for the new docuseries from Investigation Discovery. Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV is a four-part series that will be exploring all the sinister behavior that Dan Schneider had been accused of instituting in the making of all of Nickelodeon’s hit shows. Quiet on Set interviews female employees who worked on Schneider’s many shows. The docuseries is directed by Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz.

Schneider’s behavior was somewhat brought to the spotlight, but never truly explored in depth…until now. The famous kids network would separate with the prolific showrunner in 2018 after 25 years of collaboration. Nickelodeon would release a statement that said, “Following many conversations together about next directions and future opportunities, Nickelodeon and our longtime creative partner Dan Schneider/Schneider’s Bakery have agreed to not extend the current deal.”

After All That, Schneider would roll out hit-after-hit with shows like The Amanda Show, What I Like About You, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly, Victorious and Sam & Cat. His projects would launch talents like Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, Victoria Justice, Miranda Cosgrove, Jennette McCurdy and Amanda Bynes. Many have speculated that Bynes’ erratic behavior in the past few years stemmed from alleged psychological and physical abuse she sustained from working with Schneider. There is even a tease at the end of the trailer that a big name may show up to give their personal account. Could it be possibly Bynes? The unfortunate thing is…it could be a number of notable names.

The Quiet on Set series will premiere across two nights on ID on March 17 and March 18.

The post Quiet on Set: Trailer for the documentary exposing Dan Schneider’s behavior at Nickelodeon revealed appeared first on JoBlo.

The  George A. Romero classic Dawn of the Dead (get it HERE) is a film that can actually reasonably celebrate its 45th anniversary in two separate years. While its premiere was held at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978 and a cut of the film that was put together by co-financier Dario Argento for non-English speaking countries was given a theatrical release in Italy that year, the cut Romero put together for English-language speaking territories didn’t make its way to screens in the United States until ’79. So whether you’re celebrating Dawn of the Dead‘s 45th anniversary in 2023 or 2024, or both, you’re still doing it right. Red Band Releasing is looking to bring Dawn of the Dead back to the screen in the U.S. and Canada this year, and have sent out a message to fans, telling them that if they want to see the movie on the big screen, they should get in contact with their local theatres and/or drive-ins.

Red Band Releasing wrote, “We are currently booking Theatres and Drive-Ins to celebrate the 45th Anniversary of the 1979 North American Premiere and Release of George A. Romero’s DAWN of the DEAD! If you live in the U.S.A. or Canada, reach out to the owner or general manager of your local independent Theatre or Drive-In and tell them to email RedBandReleasing@gmail.com for info about the Special Discounted Booking Terms being offered in celebration of the 45th Anniversary! PLEASE SHARE!“

Written and directed by Romero, Dawn of the Dead has the following synopsis: As hordes of zombies swarm over the U.S., the terrified populace tries everything in their power to escape the attack of the undead, but neither cities nor the countryside prove safe. In Pennsylvania, radio-station employee Stephen and his girlfriend, Francine, escape in the station helicopter, accompanied by two renegade SWAT members, Roger and Pete. The group retreats to the haven of an enclosed shopping center to make what could be humanity’s last stand.

The film stars Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, David Emge (who, sadly, passed away last month), and Tom Savini.

Will you be requesting that your local theatre and/or drive-in book a 45th anniversary screening of Dawn of the Dead? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Want to see George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead on the big screen for its 45th anniversary? appeared first on JoBlo.

A couple days ago, we shared a Squarespace Super Bowl commercial that stars legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his daughter Francesca, but that’s not the only commercial Scorsese has made for Squarespace this year. He has also made a short called Hello Down There, which is about aliens coming to visit Earth in a fleet of UFOs, for the company… and you can check it out in the embed at the bottom of this article! The extended version of Hello Down There in the embed has a running time of 96 seconds, but there’s also a version that has been cut down to 36 seconds.

Hello Down There has the following description: What does a highly advanced civilization have to do to get noticed around here? Watch the extended cut of Hello Down There, a tale of intergalactic outreach, directed by Martin Scorsese.

This commercial ties in with the other Scorsese one not only through the fact that it features an on screen appearance by Scorsese himself, but also because it deals with “intergalactic connection”. Apparently that’s what Squarespace is all about. If you’re not aware of what Squarespace is, here’s some information from Wikipedia: “Squarespace, Inc. is an American website building and hosting company based in New York City. It provides software as a service for website building and hosting, and allows users to use pre-built website templates and drag-and-drop elements to create and modify webpages.”

Do these Martin Scorsese commercials make you more inclined to turn to Squarespace for your website building and hosting needs? Take a look at Hello Down There, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

Scorsese has previously made commercials for the likes of American Express, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Armani, Freixenet Cava Champagne, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Apple, and the Studio City Resort in Macau. His Squarespace commercials will be getting airing time during the Super Bowl this Sunday, February 11th. Then, when the Academy Awards ceremony is held on March 10th, we’ll see if Scorsese’s latest feature, Killers of the Flower Moon, is going to be an Oscar winner. It’s nominated in ten categories.

The post Hello Down There: the UFO short Martin Scorsese made for Squarespace can be viewed right here appeared first on JoBlo.

Kathryn Newton of the slasher Freaky can be seen on the big screen this weekend in the newly released horror comedy Lisa Frankenstein, and in just another couple months (on April 19th, to be exact), another genre project she worked on, the Universal Monsters project Abigail, will also be reaching theatres. While doing the press rounds for Lisa Frankenstein, Newton took a moment to hype up a scene we’ll be seeing in Abigail – and it’s actually a scene we get a glimpse of in the trailer embedded above. A vampire dance scene.

Abigail is coming our way from Radio Silence, the filmmaking team that previously brought Ready or Not, Scream (2022), and Scream VI to the screen. Radio Silence members Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett directed the film, while the third member of the trio, Chad Villella, is a producer. This movie, which was once going by the title Dracula’s Daughter, has the following synopsis: Children can be such monsters. After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl. 

Newton told Collider, “Matt and Tyler, I love them. They’re another duo that every time I would be like, ‘Hey, Matt, come here… Should I do this?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ And I’d try it. There’s this thing in the movie where I dance, and in the script, it was about this long. It was like, ‘This blah, blah, blah, and she dances.’ I’m like, ‘Okay.’ And I worked on a dance and I shot, like, a two-minute thing on my phone for them to pick hopefully five seconds of. They turned it into a whole thing. It’s a whole thing. It’s like M3GAN on steroids, and I did not expect that.“

Newton is joined in the cast by Melissa Barrera (Scream), Dan Stevens (The Guest), William Catlett (Black Lightning), Kevin Durand (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and Angus Cloud (Euphoria), who play her fellow kidnappers, with Alisha Weir (Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical) as Abigail. Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) is also in the cast.

Radio Silence’s Scream movie collaborators William Sherak, Paul Neinstein, and James Vanderbilt of Project X Entertainment are also producing the monster movie alongside their Ready or Not producer Tripp Vinson. Ron Lynch and Macdara Kelleher serve as executive producers. Jay Polidoro, Holly Goline, Kelly Cannon, and Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project for Universal. Stephen Shields wrote the initial screenplay for this take on Dracula’s Daughter, and Guy Busick (who co-wrote the two recent Scream movies with Vanderbilt) has since done some revisions.

I’ll never complain about an out-of-nowhere dance scene in a horror movie – in fact, one of my favorite moments in horror happens to be the scene where the possessed Angela dances by the fireplace in the original Night of the Demons. So I look forward to seeing what kind of moves these vampires have.

Are you looking forward to the vampire dance scene in Abigail? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Abigail: Kathryn Newton hypes up the film’s vampire dance scene appeared first on JoBlo.

Another low-wattage weekend is hot on the heels of last weekend’s disappointing opening for Matthew Vaughn’s would-be franchise starter, Argylle. Typically, studios are wary of putting out any major movies on Super Bowl weekend, as virtually no one goes to movies on game day. That said, there have been exceptions to the rule, with Taken and Chronicle both being big openers way back in the day. In recent years, though, the numbers have been more modest, with Death on the Nile taking in $12.8 million in 2022 and Magic Mike’s Last Dance cratering with a measly $8.3 million opening last year.

This weekend’s sole wide new release, Lisa Frankenstein, isn’t likely to do much better. Initially, Box Office Pro had it opening anywhere from $7-12 million, but the early reviews have been abysmal, and now the opening is pegged from anywhere between $5-9 million. Given that it only has a $14 million budget, that’s not as bad a result as it may seem for Zelda Williams’ directorial debut, which stars rising scream queen Kathryn Newton and Riverdale‘s Cole Sprouse. The movie has a screenplay by Diablo Cody, and even if it does modest business, it’s possible that it could wind up like Jennifer’s Body and become a cult hit down the road. I think a $7 million debut and a first-place finish is the best this can hope for.

But, the question is whether Lisa Frankenstein will take out Argylle in week 2. Had the word of mouth been better for this movie, I would have thought yes, but the C+ CinemaScore is an all-out disaster. I’m predicting at least a 65% drop in week 2 (on the low end), but it could have an even worse decline. The best-case scenario is that it clears about $6 million this weekend, which would be good enough for second place. Apple’s best bet would be to have Universal pull this from theatres and dump it on Apple TV + to take advantage of the marketing campaign. I gave it a positive review last week. Since then, I’ve had more than a few people reach out to me on X to tell me they agreed with my assessment that it’s decent, if overlong (by a half hour) with a few too many ridiculous action scenes (the ice skating on the oil slick sequence almost kills the movie) and that darn CGI cat.

Third and fourth place should go to Wonka and The Beekeeper. Wonka has become a significant hit for WB and seems poised to launch a franchise for the studio and leading man, Timothee Chalamet. Movies like this don’t only do well theatrically – they have the habit of becoming perennial favourites. Between this and Dune Part 2, which is tracking well, Chalamet may end 2024 as one of the biggest stars. The Beekeeper also continues to do solid business, with it set for a $60-65 million finish, an excellent result for a modestly budgeted action flick. Amazon-MGM is happy with the result, with them pre-emptively buying the rights to director David Ayer and star Jason Statham’s next movie, Levon’s Trade, which has a script by Sylvester Stallone. The Illumination comedy Migration should round out the top five. While it did only modest business compared to the rest of Illumination’s films, it’ll likely turn a nice profit for the studio, even if I wouldn’t hold my breath for a Migration 2.

Here are our predictions:

1. Lisa Frankenstein: $7 million
2. Argylle: $6 million
3. Wonka: $3.5 million
4. The Beekeeper: $3 million
5. Migration: $2.8 million

Are you going to see any movies this Super Bowl weekend? Let us know in the comments.

The post Weekend Box Office Predictions: Lisa Frankenstein should top Argylle (but not by much) appeared first on JoBlo.