After venturing into big-budget franchise filmmaking, French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve had enjoyed his time off following the completion of both Dune and Dune: Part Two. However, Deadline revealed that his break is now over after tackling the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel, which used to be seen as unadaptable, especially when David Lynch’s adaptation would become a notorious failed attempt. Villenueve wants to complete the arc of Paul Atreides with the third film, but he doesn’t necessarily see it as an end to the whole story and wouldn’t mind seeing other directors pick up the series where he left off.
The director says, “I’m in the writing zone right now.” He’s also made sure not to name this third movie Dune: Part Three as he says parts One and Two are ”for me like one entity. It’s a movie made in two parts. It’s finished, it’s done.” Villeneuve says that he could have stopped after Part Two, but he also added, “but yes, like Herbert did with Dune: Messiah, I think it’ll be a great idea to do something completely different. The story takes place like 12 years after where we left the characters at the end of Part Two. Their journey, their story is different this time, and that’s why I always say that while it’s the same world it’s a new film with new circumstances.” He confirms that Dune: Messiah “will finish the Paul Atreides arc.”
Villeneuve illustrates why he’s finding himself back at work sooner than expected, “These movies take a lot of time to be made, so it’s best not to say out loud when I might shoot.” He then jokes after his publicist strikes his eye line, “Unfortunately, I’m supposed to shut up.” He then explains, “Let’s say that I thought that after Part Two that I will take a break, that I will go back in the woods and stay in the woods for a while to recover. But the woods weren’t really suiting me, and I would go back behind the camera faster than I think. But that’s all I can say.”
Dune 3 will be based on Dune Messiah, which puts more of a focus on conspiracy and political maneuvering. Although it continues the story set up in the first two Dune movies, it is a different beast.
The character of Jim Hopper on the hit Netflix series Stranger Things has a tragic history, having lost a young daughter named Sara to cancer – an illness he blames on the fact that he served in the Chemical Corps during the Vietnam War and worked with Agent Orange. Sara was glimpsed in flashbacks in the season 1 finale, where she was played by child actress Elle Graham. The fifth and final season of Stranger Things is currently in production, and Sara will be making another appearance in this last batch of episodes – but that Stranger Things season 1 finale was eight years ago, so Graham, who is now 15 years old, has aged out of the role. That’s why Carmen Cuba Casting has sent out a casting call letting us know that Stranger Things is looking for a new, US-based actress who resembles Graham and can play Sara in Stranger Things season 5. Here’s the casting call:
The production of Stranger Things 5 has officially released a casting call for Sara Hopper. The series is searching for a child actress that closely resembles Elle Graham, who played Hopper’s dead daughter in season 1 pic.twitter.com/kvo8m5T9nC
Stranger Things has the following synopsis: A love letter to the ‘80s classic genre films that captivated a generation, Stranger Things is a thrilling drama set in the seemingly normal Midwestern town of Hawkins, Indiana. After a boy vanishes into thin air, his close-knit group of friends and family search for answers and are pulled into a high-stakes and deadly series of events. Beneath the surface of their ordinary town lurks an extraordinary supernatural mystery, along with top-secret government experiments and a dangerous gateway that connects our world to a powerful yet sinister realm. Friendships will be tested and lives will be altered as what they discover will change Hawkins and possibly the world — forever.
Here’s the list of the cast members and the characters they played in season 4: Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Brett Gelman (Murray), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Matthew Modine (Dr. Brenner), Paul Reiser (Dr. Owens), Jamie Campbell Bower (Peter Ballard), Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson), Eduardo Franco (Argyle), Sherman Augustus (Lt. Colonel Sullivan), Mason Dye (Jason Carver), Nikola Djuricko (Yuri), Tom Wlaschiha (Dmitri), Myles Truitt (Patrick), Regina Ting Chen (Ms. Kelly), Grace Van Dien (Chrissy), Logan Riley Bruner (Fred Benson), Logan Allen (Jake), Elodie Grace Orkin (Angela), John Reynolds (Officer Callahan), Rob Morgan (Chief Powell), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), and Freddy Krueger himself Robert Englund (Victor Creel).
Stranger Things is produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment. Series creators The Duffer Brothers serve as executive producers alongside Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen of 21 Laps Entertainment, Iain Paterson, and Curtis Gwinn.
10 CloverfieldLane and Prey director Dan Trachtenberg directed an episode of the final season before heading off to make the new Predator movie Badlands, starring Elle Fanning. The Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont also ended an 11 year break from directing to take the helm of an episode. New to the cast for Stranger Things season 5 are Linda Hamilton (The Terminator), Nell Fisher (Evil Dead Rise), newcomer Jake Connelly, and Alex Breaux (Joe Pickett).
Are you looking forward to the last season of Stranger Things? Let us know by leaving a comment below – and if you know a child actress who would fit the role of Sara, get in contact with Carmen Cuba Casting.
PLOT: Tom is a scholarship student desperate to break free from his working-class background. He is charmed by the prestigious KNA fraternity’s promises of high social status and alumni connections that open doors. But upon beginning a romance with Annabelle, a classmate outside of his social circle, and the manipulative schemes of his fraternity president unfolding during the hazing of new members, Tom finds himself ensnared in a perilous game of ambition and loyalty.
REVIEW: Few cultures have proven as toxic as fraternities and sororities. Over the years, hazing has transformed from comedy fodder in films like Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds to the notorious stuff of headline news. Countless frats across the United States have been shuttered due to criminal activity that has resulted in jail time and even deaths. The Line is a story that is a damning indictment of frat life and the personalities that are a part of it. While a case can be made that not every fraternity is populated by characters, as we see in The Line, the point of the film is one focused on the psychological profile of who would want to be a part of a brotherhood and how that could alter their own abusive tendencies. It is shocking, disturbing, and hard to look away from.
Adopting a North Carolina twang, Alex Wolff stars as Tom Backster, a suburban kid who has made it into the prestigious fraternity at his university. As sophomores, Tom and his best friend Mitch Miller (Bo Mitchell) look forward to berating and debasing the freshmen who come into KNA after them. Under the leadership of fraternity president Todd Stevens (Lewis Pullman), Tom and Mitch are instructed not to haze the new pledges as the campus culture has shifted. But, while most of the freshman pledges abide by the bizarre and abusive tasks set forth by the frat brothers, Gettys O’Brien (Austin Abrams) refuses to subjugate himself. This flaunting of tradition and rites of passage enrages members of the frat, namely Mitch, and results in even more intense treatment of the incoming class.
Much of The Line centers on Tom as he finds success in KNA despite his close friendship with Mitch, whom the other brothers do not like very much. Mitch has the backing of his wealthy CEO father, Beach Miller (John Malkovich), so the others merely tolerate his rude behavior and wild mood swings. Todd gives Tom more responsibility as a leader, and he looks to run KNA in the future, which is a golden ticket to a better life. While Tom struggles to get Gettys to abide by KNA traditions, he also begins a relationship with a classmate, Annabelle (Halle Bailey), whom his brothers demean as a Black lesbian. Tom realizes that the persona he has adopted to fit in with the KNA brothers may not be who he wants to be. Alex Wolff brings an intensity and naivete to Tom that feels like college classmates I had back in the day, combined with a haunted quality he put to great use in Hereditary. Equally good is Bo Mitchell, who could have been dismissed as a common, entitled rich kid but gives more to Mitch than I anticipated.
While The Line boasts a pretty stellar line-up of talent, most of them appear for minimal screen time. Lewis Pullman has less than ten minutes on screen, while John Malkovich, Denise Richards, Cheri Oteri, and Scoot McNairy each show up for two scenes or less. The credibility of these veteran performers is not needed as the main ensemble is more than up to the task of this project. The late Angus Cloud is good as one of the frat bros, while Will Ropp and Graham Patrick Martin augment the performances of Bo Mitchell and Alex Wolff. Austin Abrams, most recently stealing scenes in Wolfs opposite George Clooney and Brad Pitt, is excellent as the pledge who refuses to be intimidated purely for the chance to join KNA. Equally good is Halle Bailey, who is wasted in a role that does nothing for the main plot. Had they integrated the relationship between Tom and Annabelle more directly into the plot, I may have found Bailey’s performance more striking. Still, as it stands, it feels out of place in the film’s main narrative.
An impressive directorial debut from Ethan Berger, who co-wrote the screenplay with Alex Russek, The Line has the energy of a far bigger production. There are glimpses of David Fincher’s visual style from The Social Network throughout the film, a credit to cinematographer Stefan Weinberger. Berger never pushes The Line into an overt social commentary until the film’s final scene, but the message comes through loud and clear. Setting the film in 2014 gives some space to show that frat culture has not changed even as social norms have become more pronounced and transparent. The characters here all talk like real people and college students any of us have come into contact with, making their actions all the more horrifying. Much of what happens in The Line has been happening for a century, and this story’s fictional nature is not far from actual documented events.
The Line is an intense and challenging story that goes to dark places while never sacrificing character development for the sake of social commentary. Anyone with even a remote connection to fraternity life will see the reality within this fictional story. Alex Wolff, Bo Mitchell, and Austin Abrams deliver a chillingly realistic horror story of what unchecked privilege and abuse can lead to when perpetrators are not held to task. The Line could have developed some elements further to enrich the overall film, but as it stands this is a powerful debut from Ethan Berger that will be hard for some people to watch but should be requisite viewing for future college students.
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. Now we finally know when fans are going to have the chance to see new episodes of the show, as AMC has announced that Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches season 2 will premiere on January 5, 2025 on both AMC and AMC+! They have also unveiled a new batch of images, which can be seen in this article. 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? Check out the images, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
Tongayi Chirisa as Ciprien Grieve – Mayfair Witches _ Season 2, Episode 1 – Photo Credit: Skip Bolen/AMCHarry Hamlin as Cortland Mayfair – Mayfair Witches _ Season 2 – Photo Credit: Skip Bolen/AMCJack Huston as Lasher – Mayfair Witches _ Season 2 – Photo Credit: Skip Bolen/AMCAlyssa Jirrels – Mayfair Witches _ Season 2, Episode 1 – Photo Credit: Skip Bolen/AMC
Ask nearly anyone to describe Mr. T. and you’ve got the same description: the mohawk, the gold jewelry, the tank top, the muscles…It’s so distinct that it must be planned. And it is. But we bet you couldn’t tell us the significance of any of it: what the mohawk and chains symbolize, what the “T” really means deep down. And we bet you couldn’t tell us Mr. T.’s real name if your mama’s life depended on it. Is it for Tender? Or Tough? Maybe a little of both, depending on if he’s spitting motivational phrases or ready to whoop some butt at the club.
But rest assured, every move of Mr. T.’s – ever since being discovered by Sylvester Stallone – has been calculated, whose presence and aura – despite being tied to one specific moment in time – remains unforgettable. And yet, we know so little about the man.
Let’s find out: What Happened to…MR. T?
But to truly understand what happened to Mr. T, we go back to the beginning. He was born on May 21st, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of a dozen in the projects. And no, his real name isn’t Mr. T: it’s Laurence Tureaud. The Mr. T. moniker was done to demand respect as a Black man in America. With that, you had no choice but to respect him.
A nature athlete, Mr. T – that’s right, he earned our respect already! – took to wrestling and football early on, even later trying out (unsuccessfully) for the NFL. With that a bust, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1975, proving to be a top trainee in the USAMPA. In an almost mythical, Paul Bunyan-esque story – only not so because Mr. T confirmed it – the recruit found himself in trouble and so, as punishment, was forced to cut down trees…and he did, chopping down 70 in just over three hours. B.A. indeed!
Mr. T. used his background to land a job as a club bouncer, first donning his trademark gold chains, almost daring people to try to snag them. He likened them to shackles worn by his slave ancestors. Similarly, his Mandinka-inspired mohawk was inspired by the tribe of the same name. And while we always associate the gold with the man, you might not have noticed that he dropped them in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as a sign of respect. Even still, in 2010, he did partake in a company that specialized in buying gold. Look, the dude hawked everything from car wax to title loans, socks, candy, credit cards, and laundry detergent – the gold gig was no surprise.
Rocky III
To explain just how big and bad Mr. T. was, check out his client list: Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Steve McQueen. Not tough enough for you? He was also the dude in charge of protecting Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali (from whom he snagged many of his mannerisms and poetic speech patterns)! No wonder he was named “World’s Toughest Bouncer”…And that’s what got him recognized by Sylvester Stallone, who was at work on what would become Rocky III…
By 1982, Mr. T. already had a small selection of credits, as in his unnamed part in The Blues Brothers (1980) and 1982’s Penitentiary II, playing himself, something he would do in countless shows: Games People Play (1981), Twilight Theater (1982), Silver Spoons (1982), Diff’rent Strokes (1983), Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983), Out of This World (1991), Blossom (1994), House of Mouse (2003), Johnny Bravo (2004), The Simpsons (2004), 1999’s Inspector Gadget, and on and on and on.
But 1982 was his true coming out party. As Clubber Lang – Balboa’s main opponent, standing in for Apollo Creed – Mr. T. brought a level of charisma, attitude and power that had so rarely been seen in such form. It says something that heavyweight champ Joe Frazier – a former client of Mr. T. – was considered for the part. But Sly saw something in Mr. T. that helped propel him into the stratosphere of the ‘80s mainstream, using his mannerisms, quirks and mic skills to flesh out Clubber Lang and make him one of the defining characters of the Rocky series. This, too, was the origin of the “I pity the fool!” quote, the line most associated with him that became one of the most recognizable catchphrases in pop culture. And here you thought it came from The A-Team…
The A-Team
Mr. T.’s momentum kept building, being cast as mercenary B.A. (Bad Attitude) Baracus in NBC action series The A-Team, joining the cast and immediately becoming the standout character when it debuted in 1983. (Of note, born-again Christian Mr. T. turned down a cameo in the 2010 movie adaptation of The A-Team, citing the script’s violence and sex.) Sure, maybe you had a Hannibal figure but Baracus was the one to get. And if you had a B.A. Baracus action figure, that probably wasn’t the only collectible you had, as nobody had just one Mr. T. piece in the ‘80s: lunch boxes, toy guns, cake toppers, playing cards, Halloween costumes, View-Masters, Chia Pets – you name it, the dude had his face on it. And who can forget the cereal, the favorite breakfast of one Pee-Wee Herman?
Like so few of his contemporaries, Mr. T. landed his very own animated show, in 1983. Although it ran for just 30 episodes, it had its place in the living rooms of ‘80s kids. In it, he played a gym teacher who spent time-solving mysteries with students…Weird, sure, but it also worked in moral lessons for the kiddos at home. By now, Mr. T. was nothing short of a role model. In 1984, he released the album MR. T.’S COMMANDMENTS, which had songs with titles like “Don’t Talk to Strangers” and “No Dope No Drugs”. This hit a peak in 1984 with the video release of BE SOMEBODY (OR BE SOMEBODY’S FOOL), which featured lessons on good deeds and a song called “Treat Your Mother Right”, which Mr. T said was almost as good as “Amazing Grace.” Mr. T.’s other key small screen role was T. And T. (1988-1990), which ran for three seasons after The A-Team went off the air.
While starring vehicles like D.C. Cab (1983) and the TV movie The Toughest Man in the World may not have worked out as he wanted, and the made-for-TV special A Christmas Dream with Emmanuel Lewis aka Webster is a straight-up bizarre time capsule in the cringiest way, Mr. T. had conquered pop culture up to that point. There was only one place left for him: the squared circle.
Wrestlemania
At the inaugural WrestleMania in 1985, Mr. T. teamed up with Thunderlips himself, Hulk Hogan, to take on Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. With T. and Hogan coming out victorious in the main event – something that bothered the actual wrestlers, who didn’t think he earned the spot – WrestleMania was a hit, helping mark a start to the WWE’s (then-WWF’s) biggest annual event and the celeb ties that come with it. The next year, he had another match, besting Piper in a boxing match (hey, celebs tend to win but we totally bought this one anyway). Believe it or not, Mr. T. is often credited with popularizing pro wrestling for the mainstream, and as such, he would make sporadic appearances in the WWF/WWE and WCW, later being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
D.C. CAB may have a bit of a cult following (hey, it’s actually kind of fun!) but nothing else he did after has. Indeed, the cult following is behind the man, not the product. 1987 saw him playing Jabberwock in the TV movie version of Alice Through the Looking Glass, while he got genuine laughs as the Bearded Lady in oddball cult comedy Freaked. This was just the first of a series of weird roles for him: a helicopter pilot in Spy Hard (1996), The Wise Janitor trope in Not Another Teen Movie (2001), etc. He would also make good use of his distinct vocals, lending his talents to TV’s EEK! The Cat (1994), Sabrina: The Animated Series (1999) and a cop in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009). He, too, would get frequent in-person spots in of-the-era shows like Martin (1996), Suddenly Susan (1996-1997) and Malcolm & Eddie (1999), as well as landing a role in 2001’s apocalyptic Judgment. But as you can imagine, basically anything after the ‘80s was either a joke or a waste of his personality. Look, there’s a reason there was once a Facebook petition page called “1,000,000 Strong for Mr. T in The Expendables 4”.
Even though he has dropped the gold and rarely makes public appearances, Mr. T continues to have a following – despite being locked into one specific decade, a point in time impossible to capture again. This is a guy who made millions off of a distinct look and sound, piggybacking off of his signature catchphrase to host a reality series called I Pity The Fool (2006). He’s such a product of his time – yet instantly recognizable – that you’d think he’d be perfect for something like Dancing with the Stars! Oh, wait, he was, being eliminated third in season 24 after Chris Kattan and Charo.
In 1995, Mr. T was diagnosed with cancer – t-cell lymphoma, to be exact. But he wasn’t negative about it, instead quipping, “Can you imagine that? Cancer with my name on it – personalized cancer.” That’s a tough dude right there, not only continuing to beat survival rate odds but making himself – not the cancer – the thing to beat.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos is reteaming with his The Favourite, Poor Things, and Kinds of Kindness star Emma Stone for Bugonia, a remake of the South Korean film Save the Green Planet that’s set to receive a wide theatrical release on November 7th, 2025. It has previously been announced that Jesse Plemons, who was also in Kinds of Kindness, is in the cast with Stone, and now Variety has revealed that Clueless star Alicia Silverstone, who worked with Lanthimos on The Killing of a Sacred Deer, has a role as well. Details of her role are being kept under wraps.
Described as an eccentric black comedy, the original Save the Green Planet followed a disillusioned young man who captures and tortures a businessman whom he believes to be part of an alien invasion. A battle of wits ensues between the captor, his devoted girlfriend, the businessman and a private detective.
Here’s a longer synopsis: Joon-hwan Jang imagines the fate of the human race hinging on Byun-gu, a bitter, paranoid and eccentric beekeeper who, with the help of his tightrope walker girlfriend, Sooni, kidnaps a powerful and successful businessman, Man-sik. Byun-gu believes that Man-sik is an alien from the planet Andromeda, one of many hiding among us and plotting to destroy the Earth in a few days. Amphetamine-popping Byun-gu sees himself as the planet’s last hope, and sets about torturing Man-sik with relish, trying to convince him to contact the “Royal Prince” and call off Armageddon. A battle of wits and wills ensues, with Man-sik trying to convince his captors that he’s human and attempting to escape. Man-sik recognizes Byun-gu as a disgruntled former employee whose comatose mother suffers from a mysterious illness. It begins to seem that Byun-gu’s true motivation may be personal, but he’s still ruthlessly determined to get Man-sik to confess and cooperate, even if he has to risk killing him. Meanwhile, a dishevelled detective, Chu, and his young acolyte, Inspector Kim, discover that the person who kidnapped Man-sik may have struck several times before, always with deadly results.
The original film was directed by Joon-hwan Jang, and when the remake was first announced four years ago, it was said that Jang would be at the helm of the new take on the concept as well. But he ended up passing the helm over to Lanthimos. The Bugonia screenplay was written by Will Tracy, a writer on HBO’s Succession and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver who also co-wrote the genre film The Menu. His version of Save the Green Planet has the following synopsis: Two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe are producing Bugonia for Element Pictures, alongside Miky Lee and Jerry Ko for CJ ENM, Stone for Fruit Tree, Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen for Square Peg, and Lanthimos.
Are you a fan of Save the Green Planet, and are you looking forward to seeing Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia? What do you think of Alicia Silverstone joining the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The final season of Cobra Kai finally kicked off on Netflix this past summer and a preview for part 2 was recently released. According to Netflix, Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2 “brings us to the Sekai Taikai, where Miyagi-Do will face new challenges and old enemies as they fight to become world champions — can they stay united as internal rivalries bubble back to the surface?” Part 2 premieres November 28, and the Finale Event comes in 2025… But the Karate Kid franchise won’t be taking much of a pause after the last episode of Cobra Kai airs. A new movie, which stars the original Karate Kid himself, Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, alongside Jackie Chan as Mr. Han, his character from the 2010 version of The Karate Kid, is set to reach theatres on May 30, 2025.
This new film, revealed to have the title Karate Kid: Legends, will be having a featured panel at New York Comic Con tonight, so more about this project will be explored. Ahead of the panel, Sony has now taken to their social media to unveil the poster from Karate Kid: Legends, which features Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio and the new student, played by Ben Wang. The caption simply reads, “Legends are forever. Jackie Chan, Ben Wang, and Ralph Macchio star in Karate Kid: Legends – exclusively in movie theatres May 30, 2025. #KarateKidMovie.”
The film stars Ben Wang (American Born Chinese) as a young teenager from China who finds identity and strength in martial arts. During his journey of self-discovery, Wang’s character meets a disciplined martial arts master. As mentioned, Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio reprise their roles of Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso. Joshua Jackson (Fatal Attraction) and Ming-Na Wen (The Mandalorian) also appear in the movie, alongside Sadie Stanley (Cruel Summer) as the romantic lead. Jonathan Entwistle directed the movie from a script by Rob Lieber (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day).
Beyond Karate Kid: Legends, the franchise is also expected to continue with some sort of Cobra Kai spinoff (or spinoffs) on the Netflix streaming service. The creators of the series have confirmed that they’d like to make a Mr. Miyagi prequel series, but no post-Cobra Kai spinoff plans have been officially confirmed at this time.
The trailer for The Electric State has finally dropped. Additionally, the Russo brothers and their stars, Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, have made an appearance at this year’s New York Comic Con to talk about their upcoming Netflix sci-fi film. The story of this film begins in July of 2017, when Free League launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new narrative artbook from acclaimed artist and author Simon Stålenhag – a book called The Electric State.
The Hollywood Reporter reveals that while Chris Pratt spoke about his experience on the movie during the film’s panel, the story moved him so much that he rescheduled his plan to take time off so he could reunite with his Infinity War and Endgame directors for this project. Pratt explained, “It’s not the kind of thing that typically gets made to be a blockbuster-style movie like this. It’s so original, it’s a huge swing. I thought that these types of movies might be my last opportunity to be in a big movie like this. I have to look at every opportunity like that. And I did. It’s just such a great story. I was moved to tears reading.”
Anthony Russo would talk about the challenges of adapting the grand graphic novel into a two-hour movie, “We just looked at the images, and the story that he unfolds in the graphic novel. It is very opaque. It’s kind of hard to understand it. You get it in glimpses. You can tell there’s a much larger world behind what he’s telling you in the graphic novel that you can only guess at.” He explained, “You have to get much more specific about the narrative, so we had a great, great fun, sort of diving in and using his incredible artwork as inspiration to figure out what kind of story we can tell this world.”
The film’s setting is also a unique one, where it is technically a period piece in an alternate reality. Joe Russo said, “Imagine a 1990s where, in the late ’50s, Disney animatronics became sentient and then started demanding equal rights. That’s what, that’s where the war comes out. It cherry picks the ’90s in a way that supports that storytelling and supports the theme of the movie.” And Pratt added, “It’s a ‘90s that is reflective of our modern world.”
Our own Dave Arroyo got to attend this panel, so check out his pictures below!
The Evil Dead movies remain some of the greatest cult horror flicks ever. And a lot of that has to do with its star, Bruce Campbell. Yet, while he has remained a staple in the horror genre for decades now, Bruce Campbell is now aiming his boomstick right at it.
Speaking with the New York Post, Bruce Campbell said he doesn’t get as much enjoyment out of horror flicks as you might expect, although the right ones will trigger a reaction that is unmatched on the big screen. “I am not a huge fan of it myself. But what I like is that it’s one of the few genres that gets a visceral reaction from the crowd. Someone watches a drama, they’re eating popcorn, their face isn’t changing – maybe a couple of tears. Horror movies, they’re jumping out of their seats. You want the popcorn to go airborne, you know?…As a presenter, actor, filmmaker, that’s what you want. You want to get the audience engaged. So that’s the fun of horror.” Campbell added that he’s glad to see that horror has hit the mainstream with a stronger force now, as it was often the scapegoat for – well, pretty much anything – in the ‘80s. Well, there go any fantasies you might have of inviting Bruce Campbell to your horror movie marathon…
Of course, Bruce Campbell made his bones in the horror genre, coming up alongside good pal Sam Raimi courtesy of the Evil Dead movies in the early ‘80s. And what’s a better pairing for genre fans than horror and the ‘80s? But as it turns out, Campbell isn’t that wild about that decade, either…“You can shove the ’80s as far as I’m concerned…I thought it was a pretty weird repressed decade. You can have the hairstyles…I thought the ’80s were kind of soulless. That was a big cocaine decade, too, and cocaine is a soulless drug. So it was a weird decade, lots of repression and then lots of rebellion, which may have led into this satanic panic. Whenever you have a very closed-in society, you’re going to have your rebels.” Notably, when Bruce Campbell named his five favorite horror movies ever, none of them were from the ‘80s, with films like Night of the Living Dead and The Sixth Sense making the cut.
Outside of The Evil Dead franchise, what is your favorite Bruce Campbell performance in a horror movie?
The Trailer Park Boys are going international. Blue Fox Entertainment recently dropped the first trailer for Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties: The Bubbles and the Shitrockers Story, the latest installment of the long-running Trailer Park Boys franchise.
Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties: The Bubbles and the Shitrockers Story follows Bubbles and his band, The Shitrockers, “on a wild tour following a performance in Nova Scotia where a viral clip earns them a spot on a European tour opening for Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters. With Randy as their trusty roadie, the group heads to Prague – only to find themselves kicked off the tour, and busking to survive. With their European dream in jeopardy, Ricky and Julian race to save the day.” Mike Smith stars as Bubbles, alongside Robb Wells as Ricky, John Paul Tremblay as Julian, and Patrick Roach as Randy. The film also boasts some impressive special appearances from Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Robert Sheehan, as well as Ronnie Woods of The Rolling Stones and Duff McKagan from Guns ‘n’ Roses.
The Trailer Park Boys began life as a movie released in 1999 before it was pitched as a TV series. The show follows the characters of the fictional Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and their misadventures, which more than frequently land them in and out of prison. After seven seasons on Showcase, the series was later revived on Netflix, where it aired for another five seasons. Over the years, the mockumentary sitcom has gained a passionate and loyal cult following and has spawned various spinoffs, specials, movies, and even an animated series.
Smith is actually a musician and fronts Bubbles and the Shitrockers, which will release a 14-track album on Spotify and Apple Music. The group will also embark on a genuine U.S. and European tour, which will include performances with Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters.
Blue Fox Entertainment and Blue Fox Entertainment Canada will release Standing on the Shoulders of Kitties: The Bubbles and the Shitrockers Story nationwide in the U.S. and Canada on December 6th. Will you be watching?
The production of Stranger Things 5 has officially released a casting call for Sara Hopper. The series is searching for a child actress that closely resembles Elle Graham, who played Hopper’s dead daughter in season 1 
