I remember exactly where I was when I discovered Philip Seymour Hoffman had died. I was at a revival screening of the 1979 version of Battlestar: Galactica at a Montreal theatre, waiting for the film to start when my email blew up. Here at JoBlo, whenever an icon dies, it tends to become a thread that allows us all to vent a little, and Hoffman’s death destroyed many of us.
It shook me up in a lot of ways, as I had just seen him at the Sundance Film Festival a few weeks earlier, where he had two films, A Most Wanted Man and God’s Pocket. In hindsight, it’s easy to say he didn’t look quite right, but honestly, I had no clue anything was wrong with him. Of course, in the days following his death, we learned that addiction had taken its toll on perhaps the most outstanding actor of his generation, leaving a bereaved family behind.
It’s incredible to think Hoffman has been gone for a decade now. Meanwhile, his son, Cooper Hoffman, is all grown up and leading movies of his own, such as Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza. Rather than dwell on his death, let’s take this opportunity to appreciate his work. Here’s a list of what I think are his five best performances, and it would be very, very cool if everyone reading this chimed in with their favourites in the talkback.
So, without any further adieu, here are my favorites:
Sidney Lumet’s last movie was one of his best, thanks to four great performances by his leads – Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. In it, Hoffman and Hawke play brothers who conspire to rob the jewelry shop owned by their parents, with the robbery leaving their mother dead and their bereaved father seeking revenge. Hoffman plays a desperate addict who goes from being a white-collar criminal to a die-hard killer by the time the credits roll, delivering a chilling (and oddly empathetic) performance, making his monster all too human.
Owning Mahowny:
This little-seen Canadian drama gives Hoffman a rare leading role (he typically played supporting roles) in a wild true story. In it, he plays a bank executive who embezzles money he uses to gamble, eventually running up a $10 million tab. Two other great character actors who have since passed away have excellent roles in this, with Maury Chaykin playing his bookie, while John Hurt is a satanic casino manager.
Capote:
Hoffman won an Oscar for playing Truman Capote in this biopic charting the fraught time in the author’s life when he wrote: “In Cold Blood.” Many play Capote as a caricature, but Hoffman didn’t overly concern himself with delivering an uncanny physical portrayal. Instead, he found the man’s soul, and the result is perhaps a career-defining performance. Ironically, whenever I think of Capote, I now picture Hoffman rather than Capote himself. It’s strange how that happens sometimes.
Almost Famous:
In Hoffman’s character roles, quantity wasn’t king – it was quality. He doesn’t have much screen time in Cameron Crowe’s rock n’ roll masterpiece but is superb as real-life rock critic Lester Bangs. In the film, he’s the cynical rock journalist who mentors the surrogate Crowe character at the movie’s heart. Hoffman was ill with the flu the whole time he shot the film, but you’d never know.
Magnolia:
Honestly, I could have had every movie Hoffman did with PT Anderson on this list, but it wouldn’t have done a great job digging into the scope of his career. Instead, I’m picking my favorite performance of his in an Anderson film, with him never warmer than as the caregiver Phil Parma, who desperately tries to help his employer (Jason Robards in his final role) reconcile with his long lost son, who happens to be Tom Cruise’s iconic Frank “T.J” Mackay. Hoffman and Cruise play brilliantly off each other – so well that Cruise reused him (to significant effect) as the villain in my favorite Mission Impossible movie.
Now it’s your turn. What are your favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman performances? Let us know in the comments.
Spotify is all-in to keep The Joe Rogan Experience on its streaming platform. Today, the music, podcast, and audiobook platform announced it’s inked a multi-year extension to host Rogan‘s top-rated program. However, rather than make Spotify the only place you can listen to The Joe Rogan Experience, the interview podcast is going non-exclusive, opening the door up for listeners across a spectrum of streaming services.
Other platforms set to host The Joe Rogan Experience include Apple, Amazon, and YouTube. Spotify began laying the groundwork for Rogan to expand his reach in 2023, and now that shift is happening. Instead of letting Rogan roam free, Spotify “will work closely with Joe and his team to continue to maximize the audience of the show across platforms.”
Streaming competitors have kept close watch over the expiration of Rogan’s current deal, which some estimate was for $200 million. Knowing other platforms would poach Rogan without hesitation, Spotify began cutting its existing podcast lineup to retain the chart-topping interviewer. Details about the new contract remain a mystery, though The Wall Street Journal estimates Spotify paid $250 million to stay seated. It’s no mystery why Spotify is determined to stay in business with Rogan. His popularity surged in 2023, with a 45% leap in revenue from the money-making podcast. That’s huge for a show that’s been active since 2013.
The Joe Rogan Experience is a pillar of Spotify’s podcast network. The sometimes controversial program hosts a variety of guests, from high-profile filmmakers and executives to up-and-coming comedians and musicians. If you scroll through the show’s history, you’ll find people like the comedian Bobby Lee, the MMA fighter Joe Pyfer, sex neuroscientist Dr. Debra Soh, and Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan as guests.
What do you think about The Joe Rogan Experience expanding its reach beyond Spotify? Would you prefer to listen to the interview-style podcast on a different platform? Do you have a favorite episode of the long-running show? Is there someone Rogan has yet to interview that you want to guest on the podcast? Feel free to leave your answers to these questions in the comments section below.
PLOT: An in-depth look at famed Italian Horror director Dario Argento’s life and film career.
REVIEW: There are few filmmakers that can be considered all-time greats, yet Dario Argento is most definitely one of them. From the films he’s made to the filmmakers he’s inspired, it’s evident that the world of horror would be very different without his presence. And Dario Argento Panico does a great job of proving why. A beautifully shot and all-encompassing retrospective provides a unique look at the auteur filmmaker. So if you’ve never experienced his work before then buckle up: you’re in for a ride.
While I was obviously familiar with the works of Argento, I wasn’t aware of his life. So I was consistently blown away by some of the revelations here. Dario having no prior experience before getting behind the camera for the first time is flabbergasting. Mostly because the work that he pulls off is more masterful than you’d expect from a first-timer. There were various factors that contributed to this, with his father Salvatore being the main one. Given that he was such a massive driving force in his life highlights a popular 2024 issue through the lens of the 60s and 70s: nepotism.
Whether it’s Dario himself or his daughter Asia, they were given opportunities due to who they were. This shows the other side of the argument, at least for Dario, as he’s such an auteur, that without his father’s unfettered support, he may not have been able to push the boundaries of the genre as he did. So while it may have been family that got them through the door, it was their own talent that kept them there. While others were questioning his vision, Salvatore stood by him, which just made his vision even stronger.
Regarding the technical side, Panico is very impressive. It’s beautifully shot and the main focus consistently stays on Dario. Too often these career retrospectives end up doing these random detours but thankfully this one works really well. Even the slight shift towards Asia works because it’s done in the context of Dario’s own work. Everyone is spoken to that would need to be, and provide interesting insight. I could have gone for some archive footage of George Romero, given Argento’s impact on Dawn of the Dead, but you can’t win them all.
One aspect that I really loved was Dario’s sister retelling his childhood. There’s been an increasing trend of journalists simply recounting a person’s life based on what they’ve read/studied. It can feel a little surface-level. So it’s nice to get what feels like genuine insight. I also got a lot of entertainment out of Nicolas Winding Refn‘s cocaine comparison regarding Argento’s films. The man has clearly lived an interesting life. There’s a lot of praise being heaped onto the director from all sides so fans should be pleased.
But if you hoping for some criticism of Argento’s career then you’re probably going to have to look elsewhere. This is simply 98 minutes of pure praise. Even Argento’s latter career, which is marred with terrible film after terrible film, is simply glossed over. Because of this, it feels like a little bit of the truth is missing. While I certainly understand the respectful approach taken, I do think more could have been addressed. Then there’s the Asia Argento of it all that just adds an air of unease to her segments.
In the end, there’s a lot to like about Dario Argento Panico. While some films are glossed over a little too quickly, that’s expected for a man with such a filmography. I’d argue it’s been over 30 years since we’ve gotten a good film from him, so sometimes it’s nice to be reminded of the director he once was. This was proof as to why Argento left the impact that he did. From films such as Suspiria to Deep Red, he made some of the most interesting films in all of Italian Horror but it’s evident that his biggest accomplishment was the many lives he touched along the way.
DARIO ARGENTO PANICO IS STREAMING ON SHUDDER ON FEBRUARY 2ND, 2024.
Season 2 of the HBO series adaptation of the video game The Last of Us is expected to start filming in Vancouver, Canada sometime in February, and we’ve previously heard that returning stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are going to be joined in the cast by new additions Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart and No One Will Save You) as Abby Anderson, a major character from the video game who is described as being “a skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved”; Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Sweet Girl) as Ellie’s new romantic interest Dina; and Young Mazino of Beef as Jesse, “a pillar of his community who puts everyone else’s needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost.” (Jesse also happens to be Dina’s ex.) Now Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Schitt’s Creek Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara – who will be seen in the long-awaited Beetlejuice sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice later this year – is also in talks to join the cast. Details on the character she’ll be playing have not been revealed.
O’Hara actually confirmed the casting news herself during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, where she also mentioned that her son is a set dresser on the show.
The story of the The Last of Us video game is set years after a fungal plague wiped out much of humanity, transforming most into vicious zombie-like monsters, the story follows Joel, who’s living in a militarized quarantine zone. He has a close relationship with Tess, who operates in the black market of this community. Together, they’ve become known by the local criminal underworld for their ruthlessness. On a mission to reclaim their stolen guns, they run into the leader of the Fireflies, a resistance group, who tasks them with smuggling a young girl named Ellie out of the zone. This mission soon becomes much more than they were prepared for.
For the HBO series, Pedro Pascal plays Joel, who is “tormented by past trauma and failure. He must trek across a pandemic-ravaged America, all the while protecting a girl who represents the last hope of humanity”. He is joined in the cast by Bella Ramsey as Ellie, “an orphan who has never known anything but a ravaged planet and who struggles to balance her instinct for anger and defiance with her need for connection and belonging… as well as the newfound reality that she may be the key to saving the world”; Anna Torv as Tess, “a smuggler and hardened survivor in a post-pandemic world”; Gabriel Luna as Joel’s brother Tommy, “a former soldier who hasn’t lost his sense of idealism and hope for a better world”; Merle Dandridge as Marlene, “the head of the Fireflies, a resistance movement struggling for freedom against an oppressive military regime”; Nico Parker as Joel’s daughter Sarah; Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, “a rebel in a quarantine zone”; Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett as Bill and Frank, “two post-pandemic survivalists living alone in their own isolated town”; and Storm Reid as Ellie’s best friend Riley.
Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who did the motion-capture performances for Joel and Ellie in the video game, are also in the cast of the show. Baker plays James, “a senior member of a group of settlers who must fight to keep their community alive in the face of increasingly brutal odds.” Baker also hosts a podcast that serves as a companion to the TV series. Johnson’s character is Anna, “a pregnant woman, alone and on the run, who must give birth under the most terrifying of circumstances.”
What do you think of Catherine O’Hara joining the cast of The Last of Us season 2? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
After a relatively quiet Christmas movie season at the box office and January being a movie dumping ground, we get our first big release of the year with Matthew Vaughn’s spy flick, Argylle. The early reactions to star-studded action comedy have been pretty positive, with the consensus from audiences at advanced screenings being that it is a fun time. Our own Chris Bumbray would say in his review, “It’s silly – but intentionally so. If you like your spy flicks infused with a heavy dose of camp and are maybe tired of espionage tales being ultra-serious, this might be just the ticket. And, as a bonus, if you ever wanted to get a feel for what a Bond film might be like with an everyman like Sam Rockwell in the lead.”
However, according to Deadline, the Thursday previews would perform below what was originally expected. Many exhibitors estimated that a movie such as Argylle would go for a $20 million-plus kind of opening. Thursday previews totaled in at $1.7 million, which falls below the $2.4 million that Jason Statham’s The Beekeeper earned in early previews. The Beekeeper would go on to open with $16.5 million, which means that one can assume that unless there is a major surge in moviegoers this weekend, Argylle will not likely be hitting the $20 million estimates.
While the early reactions gave a much more positive impression, the critical score over at Rotten Tomatoes come in at just 35%. The audience reactions are a mixed bag of viewers who had a lot of fun and viewers who found the movie convoluted, as well as running on for too long. Argylle had screened at 3,100 theaters last night and has the benefit of all the cinema upcharges this weekend of IMAX and other large-format premium screens.
The film may not be a well-known IP, but should this movie come out as a success, Matthew Vaughn has planned an extension for a franchise with two sequels. Vaughn told Total Film, “Book one is about: how did Argylle become a spy? That will be the next film. And then Argylle 2 is – I don’t want to give it all away, but there’s the young Argylle, and that becomes Henry, because Henry loves the idea of doing a proper Argylle movie as well.” However, he wanted to see what the reception and the business for Argylle was like first. “Everybody complains there’s not enough original stuff, but it’s because they don’t go see it. People have got to buy tickets first, or there won’t be f***ing anything.“
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Napoleon Dynamite. It was in a Montreal movie theater in the old Forum building (currently featured in the Queen IMAX doc Queen Rock Montreal). The film had only been out a few weeks but had already started becoming a cult hit following its Sundance premiere. I remember it being a matinee on a weekday, and I was stunned when I saw several audience members wearing identical “Vote for Pedro” t-shirts. I knew from the reviews that it was a reference to the movie, and it was then that I had an accurate idea of just how deep the Napoleon Dynamite cult was going.
And folks – that was TWENTY years ago! Crazy isn’t it? But yes, Napoleon Dynamite has been a thing since 2004, with it grossing $44 million on a $400,000 budget, and it’s known as being one of the best-selling DVDs of all time, in addition to the marketing bonanza it became thanks to the merchandising. Being one of the biggest cult hits to come out of the Sundance Film Festival, it was appropriate that the fest celebrated the film’s 20th with a gala screening, and I was thrilled to be invited to participate in the press line. While director Jared Hess wasn’t there due to him shooting the Jason Momoa video game adaptation Minecraft, I got to speak to most of the other folks from the film, including the iconic Pedro, Efren Ramirez, who gave JoBlo a big shout-out, and Napoleon Dynamite himself, the great Jon Heder.
Check out the interviews above, and big thanks to former JoBlo.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Shirey, my former erstwhile partner on who you can catch on his own Arctic Ninja Network, for helping me with the shooting.
Do you think Napoleon Dynamite holds up after twenty years? Let us know in the comments.
Charles Band’s company Full Moon has been delivering wild, crazy, entertaining films for almost thirty-five years now – and on the latest episode of his YouTube series Full Moon Universe, Band has revealed that 2024 is going to be another big year for them, as they’re launching a new production label called Pulp Noir with a slate of ten films. The plan being that all ten of those movies are going to be filmed by the end of this year.
Here’s how Band explained it: “I’ve been thinking recently about how to create a new brand of movies. Movies that are still deep in the sci-fi, fantasy, mainly horror sub-genre, and do it differently than what we’ve been doing with Full Moon. So I thought it was time to make a series of features that would be darker, edgier. (There are) a lot of concepts I’ve wanted to make over the years that now, with help from some of the new technology, AI, there are things we can do that we were not able to do and worlds we can go into. For instance, back in the ‘90s I made a few movies, one of them was called Meridian. Today you would call that a paranormal romance, and Meridian is one of those films that has really stood the test of time. People loved it. Some of those kind of movies, no one can find anymore, no one’s really making them, aside from the real shocking, bloody, crazy twisted films, which we actually have not been making for many years here at Full Moon. Probably the only movie I’ve made in in recent memory that fits into that category is Castle Freak and Castle Freak is one of the better films, I know people enjoy watching it. So I wanted to come up with a sub-label that would feature movies like that again; a harder, edgier slate of films. The title Pulp Noir kind of sums it all up. Then it was time to go through all the hundreds of ideas that I’ve worked on for years that haven’t been made and select ten that would represent this new sort of sub-genre of filmmaking.“
Pulp Noir’s first slate of films consists of: Quadrant, Death Streamer, Subscriber, Subhuman, Bad CGI Werewolves! (sort of a companion piece to Full Moon’s recent release Bad CGI Gator), Zombie Hotel, Surprise Party, the paranormal romance The Lost Girl’s Private Diary, Svengali 2024, and Hourglass. Concept art for all of these films can be seen in the Full Moon Universe video embedded below.
The first Pulp Noir movie will go into production later this month, with others following basically at a “one a month” pace through the rest of 2024. To help ensure these productions will go smoothly, Full Moon has also set up a Patreon account where fans can subscribe and show their support for the company. There are multiple tiers to choose from, with incentives including access to new episodes of Band’s podcast Full Moon Freakshow, Blu-rays, Tiny Terror action figures, a subscription to Delirium magazine, a shirt, a hoodie, etc. Fans who subscribe to the highest tier will also receive an executive producer credit on Pulp Noir movies during their subscription.
I’ve been a fan of Full Moon since I was a kid, so I’m always excited to see new projects coming from the company. Pulp Noir sounds like a lot of fun to me.
What do you think of Full Moon’s Pulp Noir plans? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Many people often blasphemously (and hilariously) joke around that Morgan Freeman is God. Not only because of his pitch perfect casting as God but also due to his smooth, defining and, yes, god-like is Morgan Freeman’s voice that one can’t picture penguins or parts of nature or, yes, God, without hearing the man. One reason could be that we’ve only ever really known Morgan Freeman as an older actor, not striking a chord with mainstream audiences until he was in his 50s.
Soon enough his skills, screen presences and voice had Hollywood calling every time they needed a kind wise grandfather types or a grizzled vet from either side of the the law or any type of narration in any type of film. That persona has marked him as a welcome figure throughout modern cinema – despite the nearly constant cash grabs that pad out the unfortunate bulk of his filmography. There were some major controversies surrounded this man for sure, but he has been given a bit of a pass… the public seems to have quickly forgiven the man who became the widely accepted ultimate Hollywood earthly depiction of God.
But to truly understand what happened to Morgan Freeman, we go back to the beginning. And the beginning began when he was born on June 1st, 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee.
After serving in the US Air Force and a successful off and on Broadway career, Freeman joined children’s show The Electric Company in 1971, playing characters like Easy Reader, DJ Mel Mounds and Count Dracula. After leaving – and some small, sometimes uncredited roles on the big screen and in TV movies – Freeman landed his debut movie, playing a prisoner in Brubaker (1980) which would led to his breakout: 1987’s Street Smart, playing a pimp to his first Oscar nomination and being declared by famed critic Pauline Kael was one of the best actors working.
After turning up as a drug counselor in 1988’s Clean and Sober, Freeman became a true household name through a trio of movies that closed out his decade: a Civil War sergeant major who climbs through the ranks and stakes his position in Glory; a car driver person – a character he played on stage – in Driving Miss Daisy (to an Oscar nod and Golden Globe win) and real-life principal Joe Louis Clark in Lean On Me. Morgan Freeman was a household name…at 52. But he would be playing retired characters – that is, old people roles – just a few years later, namely 1992’s Unforgiven. Blooming late may have benefited Freeman. To most, there is no young Morgan Freeman. There is only one image of him and so only one sound
and all of it embodies a trusted and soothing figure, a sort of grandfatherly persona. Really, it’s no wonder he would be named one of the most trustworthy celebrities.
Here is a man who came on the scene as deep, calm and confident, just like his voice. As the decade turned, he voiced Frederick Douglass in The Civil War (1990), introducing what would become his trademark role: that of narrator. Whether guiding us through the cosmos or through global conflicts or through penguins’ journeys through the Antarctic or through traffic (he leant his voice to the Waze app), Freeman was the most reliable voice in all of the documentary medium. Spielberg recognized this earlier on with War of the Worlds (2005) in what retrospectively feels like a spoof of his voicework. The guy was even trusted with voicing Neil f*cking Armstrong! And there’s a reason, as scientific studies found that he has a “positive association” with culture. He had become omnipresent. Look, the guy played God and no one took issue with it. As far as that goes, he once said, “I said at the start, I think we invented God. So if I believe in God, and I do, it’s because I think I’m God.” So there! He would take on the role of God in 2003’s Bruce Almighty and its 2007 sequel Evan Almighty.
From there, Morgan Freeman started adhering to the following: “A good story and an interesting character is all I am looking for.” With that, he hit the ‘90s with flops (1990’s The Bonfire of the Vanities) and clear favorites (Azeem in 1991’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves). Followed by the co-led The Shawshank Redemption (1994) to yet another Oscar nod; as Red (also the narrator, his first doing so in a feature narrative), he was the soul of the film, the guide who taught audiences what hope really meant. More mainstream fare like Outbreak and Se7en (both 1995), in the latter playing yet another man on the verge of retirement, followed, as did 1996’s Chain Reaction and Moll Flanders. In 1997, Freeman took diverse roles in Amistad (some of Freeman’s ancestors were actually slaves) and Kiss the Girls as Alex Cross, later reprising him for 2001’s Along Came a Spider.
By the end of the decade and beginning of the 21st century, it was like you couldn’t enter a theater without seeing – and hearing – Morgan Freeman. 1999 saw two disaster movies in Deep impact (fittingly playing the President) and Hard Rain, while he tried out the rare comedy with 2000’s Nurse Betty, action flick The Sum of All Fears (2002), legal thriller High Crimes (2002), Stephen King adaptation Dreamcatcher (2003), drama Levity (2003), crime thriller Guilty by Association (2003), and paycheck casher The Big Bounce (2004).
That same year, Morgan Freeman co-starred in the film that would finally win him his first Academy Award, playing a former boxer and, yes, giver of sage advice, in Million Dollar Baby (2004). He was greeted with a standing ovation, earned not just for the performance but his reputation in the industry. But Freeman would fall into what so many do, although they’re usually much younger: the post-Oscar slump, which he never really gets credit for. There have been worthwhile turns, like Lucius Fox in Christopher Nolan’s BATMAN trilogy, and people dug Red (2010) and he would land one more Oscar nomination for Invictus (2009), playing Nelson Mandela in a rare turn as a real-life figure (he, forgettably to many, played Malcolm X in a 1981 TV movie). But those movies, and even legitimately memorable works like Gone Baby Gone (2007) were few and far between at that point.
For somebody who couldn’t afford it early in his late-blossoming career, Morgan Freeman was signing on for a lot of padding, with a lot of actioners and thrillers, cluttered with throwaways and only a handful of which you could name. Remember 2005’s Unleashed or Edison or the next year’s The Contract? Probably not, but you no doubt remember Lucky Number Slevin and 10 Items or Less (2006). What about Thick as Thieves (2009) or Oblivion (2013) and LastKnights (2015)? Certainly not over Wanted (2008), Now You See Me (2012) and the Has Fallen flicks (2013, 2016, 2019). And then there’s The Lego Movie, Transcendence, Lucy and 5 Flights Up, all from the same year (2014) – a sure sign someone is doing it for the check. And closing out the decade with Momentum (2015), Ted 2 (2015) for some reason, along with comedies Going in Style and Just Getting Started (both 2017) and The Poison Rose (2019), which holds a whopping 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. And what purpose did it have for him to narrate The Love Guru (2008), Conan the Barbarian (2011) and Alpha (2017)?
Freeman, too, would appear in plenty of movies that were either lightwork or excuses to work with others (but still forgettable): 2007’s The Bucket List with Jack, 2009’s The Maiden Heist, family movie Dolphin Tale (2011) and its sequel (2014), the Rob Reiner dud The Magic of Belle Isle (2012), and the movie that felt like could have just been a culmination of his career, the septuagenarian-heavy Last Vegas (2013). Really, at this point, we’re just listing movies. But most of what Freeman’s post-Oscar filmography is, having been in more than four dozen movies in just 20 years. He had cashed in, with only the true glimmer of his formidable talents actually presented on the screen. He was getting by on his name – which he filed for trademark in 2004 – and, yes, voice.
But he could. He was, after all, a legend in the field, becoming a Kennedy Center honoree (2008) and being given the lifetime achievement awards from both the AFI (2011) and SAG (2017). But it may be safe to say that, had they not been bestowed at those times, he would have never received any, no matter his impact on the movie community…
In 2018, eight women came forward alleging sexual harassment and misconduct, going back to at least 2012’s NowYou See Me. Again, this was the guy named one of the most trustworthy celebrities! In a token attempt to cover it, Freeman issued a statement that bore no responsibility: “I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy. I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected — that was never my intent.” More controversial sexual matters would be brought up in 2015 following the murder of his step-granddaughter, E’Dena Hines, who he allegedly sexually abused – there were even rumors of the two planning to marry. Hines’ death would be later tied to Freeman by the killer’s family, saying the actor was indirectly to blame for the scandal.
And yet he prevailed through all of it. He just has those grandfather qualities to audiences, so much so that the allegations didn’t really phase him like it had so many before him. Admittedly, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with a genuinely familiar movie he has done since: The Comeback Trail (2020), Vanquish (2021), Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021), Paradise Highway (2022), The Minute You Wake Up Dead (2022), The Ritual Killer (2023), A Good Person (2023) (which he’s actually great in), 57 Seconds (2023), the TV series Special Ops: Lioness…But, as we made the case of, that’s not entirely unexpected – there were bills to pay.
Morgan Freeman was truly introduced to audiences when he was in his early ‘50s, when most actors were either solidified as stars, relics of themselves or had given up entirely on their dream of making it big. That he would win an Oscar wasn’t a surprise; that he continued to be a mainstay, though, is pretty incredible. We all recognize that face and that voice; hey, we even have the science to back up why. The non-stop narrations in movies, television and even theme parks (taking over Hall of President duties from 2009-2017) do push him into self-parody territory. But even we have to admit, we’d be damn honored if he had narrated this video!
At long last, Eddie Murphy is set to reprise his role as street-smart cop Axel Foley in the fourth instalment of the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, which is set to hit Netflix this summer. But, it isn’t easy being a middle aged action star. It’s been nearly thirty years since we last saw Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, and in a recent interview with People Magazine he admitted that the shoot was a “rough one”.“I did Axel Foley when I was in my 20s. I am not in my 20s anymore,” he said. At any rate, Murphy won’t be the only aged actor from the original to show up, with many of the classic Beverly Hills Cop cast members are set to join him in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley. Here’s everything we know about Beverly Hills Cop 4!
Who’s making it?
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley is written by Will Beall, who wrote Gangster Squad, Aquaman and worked on Zack Snyder’s Justice League. While his credits lean more heavily into action than comedy, Beall was also one of the scribes behind the TV show Castle, which has the right vibe for the franchise. The film is being directed by Mark Malloy, a famed commercial director who is making his directorial debut. He replaced Bad Boys For Life directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who left the project to direct the now-shelved Batgirl. Jerry Bruckheimer is again producing, with him not being involved in the third film.
What Beverly Hills Cop cast members are returning?
The Beverly Hills Cop cast originally included Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser and Ronny Cox, all of whom returned for Beverly Hills Cop 2. Of the four, only Judge Reinhold returned for the third film. Bronson Pinchot, who memorably played Serge, the museum gallery worker in the first movie, returned for the third film but sat out the second. It looks like this fourth film in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise is leaning heavily into nostalgia, with Judge Reinhold back as Billy Rosewood, John Ashton as his partner, John Taggart, Paul Reiser as Axel’s Detroit partner, Jeffrey Friedman, and Bronson Pinchot returning as Serge. Ronny Cox, so far, seems to be sitting this one out. Despite being eighty-four, Cox is still active, with him having recently appeared in Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos. He also contributed a vocal performance to the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy.
Most of Murphy’s Beverly Hills Cop cast members have stayed busy since the last time they shared the screen with Axel Foley. Reinhold had a supporting role in the Santa Clause franchise and has also been seen in movies like Four Christmases and a Wedding, Bad Grandmas, and the underrated horror film The Hollow. He also reprised the role of Billy Rosewood in an unsuccessful Beverly Hills Cop TV series pilot that Barry Sonnenfeld directed back in 2013 with Brandon T. Jackson taking the lead as Axel’s son Aaron Foley.
Ashton’s recent credits include Death in Texas, American Christmas, My Little Baby, The Last Big Save, and Uncle John. Reiser has been seen on The Boys and multiple episodes of Stranger Things, and got to revive his 1990s sitcom Mad About You (co-starring Helen Hunt) for a new season in 2019. Pinchot’s recent notable credits include episodes of Ray Donovan, A Million Little Things, Lodge 49, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
The only core member from the first film, other than Cox, who’s not returning is Lisa Eilbacher as Axel’s friend Jenny Summers, but she never returned for any of the sequels either. Elibacher seems to have retired way back in 1995, as she has no screen credits since then.
Who else is in it?
The supporting cast is pretty stacked with an impressive array of names. Rising star Taylour Page plays Axel Foley’s daughter, who, in the trailers, is attacked by a hang of corrupt cops led by Kavin Bacon, who seems to be playing the villain. Seeking revenge and wanting to protect his daughter, after making his way to Beverly Hills, Axel runs afoul of the cop assigned to the case, played by Joseph-Gordon Levitt, although, as the trailer suggests, they eventually put aside their differences and team up to take out the bad guys. The heat is on!
Gordon-Levitt has earned a lot of respect and positive attention for his performances over the years, following his six season, 139 episode run on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun with films like Mysterious Skin, The Lookout, 500 Days of Summer, Hesher, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Premium Rush, Looper, Lincoln, Don Jon, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, The Walk, The Night Before, Snowden, The Trail of the Chicago 7, and yes, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Paige made her screen debut as a dancer in 2008’s High School Musical 3, and has since been seen in the likes of Touched, Ballers, Jean of the Joneses, Hit the Floor, White Boy Rick, Zola, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Kevin Bacon… well, who doesn’t know who he is? He’s the actor who has been so prolific and has been in so many high profile projects, they created the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game to prove any other actor can be linked to him in just six steps. Here’s a fun bit of trivia: in 1984, Bacon starred in the hit film Footloose, which was the seventh highest grossing film to be released that year. The film that sits at #1 on that list: the first Beverly Hills Cop.
Who’s doing the music?
Now, this is exciting. According to the IMDB and Wikipedia, none other than Harold Faltermeyer is back to do the score. This is terrific news, as the third film infamously dropped Faltermeyer’s synth to give us a fully orchestral version of Axel F, which fans of the series despised. Faltermeyer also recently contributed to the Top Gun: Maverick score (alongside Hans Zimmer and Lady Gaga).
Just how popular are the Beverly Hills Cop movies?
The Beverly Hills Cop series totally blew up the box office in the eighties. Everyone loved Eddie Murphy’s streetwise Detroit cop, Axel Foley, who made his way to Beverly Hills to investigate his buddy’s murder. Along the way he form an unlikely friendship with some white cops who, initially, arrest him for being thrown out a window, but eventually become his allies and newfound best friends, to the extent that when one of them is shot in the second movie, Axel returns to seek vengeance. The first film made $234 million in North America alone, making it the top-grossing film of 1984 (it beat Ghostbusters). Taken for inflation, that’s about $677 million in 2023 dollars. The sequel, Beverly Hills Cop 2, was another hit for Paramount Pictures (who put out most of Eddie’s 80s movies), making over $153 million domestically. However, the third film was a notorious flop, only earning $42 million. Over the years, there have been numerous efforts made to get Eddie Murphy to reprise the character, with him even showing up in a CBS pilot that focused on the character’s son, who was played by Tropic Thunder’s Brandon T. Jackson, which has never seen the light of day.
What will Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley be rated?
Now, that’s a good question. Murphy toned down his sequel to Coming to America in order to appeal to a family audience, but there hasn’t been any talk of him doing the same with Beverly Hills Cop. Certainly, Murphy has no qualms about still acting in edgy stuff, with him having famously starred in the raunchy Dolemite is My Name not too long ago, in addition to the R-rated You People. Fans are hoping this is rated R. With Eddie Murphy doing the PG-rated Candy Cane Lane this Christmas, hopefully he’ll get the family friendly vibe out of his system and bring back the smash-mouthed Axel F we all remember. To note, all of the Beverly Hills Cop movies, even 3, have been rated-R.
When will it come out?
Word on the street is that this film is supposedly testing through the roof, so Netflix did the smart thing and gave it a big summer 2024 release. Indeed, the movie is set to officially bow on July 3rd, 2024 on the streamer.
Are you excited for Beverly Hills Cop 4? Let us know in the comments!
Jim Carrey had expressed his desire for possible retirement last year, which made all the 90s kids really feel their childhood slipping away. The famously rubber-faced comedian stated he’s felt like he’s “done enough” in the movie world, which can be understandable given how much he gives into his performances and the various kinds of projects he’s tried his hand at. Carrey would emphasize his point by stating, “I’m being fairly serious, yeah. If the angels bring some sort of script that’s written in gold ink that says to me that it’s going to be really important for people to see, I might continue down the road but I’m taking a break.”
Perhaps this means that the script for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is truly remarkable since Variety is now reporting that Carrey is set to return as Dr. Robotnik for the third entry in the video game franchise. While the buzz for the first Sonic the Hedgehog was marred by the famously mocked design of the CGI Sonic character, the studio gave him a makeover after a delay and the movie would actually become a great success. Sonic and Sonic 2 would earn a combined total of $870.8 million at the worldwide box office. The second film introduced the Knuckles character, who is voiced by Idris Elba, and Paramount plans to give the red speedster his own spin-off as well.
The official Sonic movie social media account has also recently dropped this teaser video announcement. The post reads, “You all thought I was gone, but I’ve just been underground. What you’ve seen from me is only a #shadow of things to come…”
You all thought I was gone, but I’ve just been underground. What you’ve seen from me is only a #shadow of things to come… pic.twitter.com/3W9Rh728Tt
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 would feature a seemingly conclusive end for Robotnik, but a post-credits scene would give a future sequel some wiggle room just in case Carrey would decide to return. The third movie is planning to expand the hedgehog roll call with the introduction of another popular character from the Sega video games, Shadow the Hedgehog. The film’s social media teased the look of Shadow with a peek at his design.
Jeff Fowler, who directed the first two installments in the series, will be returning as the director of the newest entry. Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, Toru Nakahara and Hitoshi Okuno will produce the film, which is scheduled to open in theaters on December 20, 2024.
