One of the great movie magazines of our time, Total Film has officially released its final issue, #356. Modestly, the publication is not devoting this final edition to themselves but rather an anticipated movie, Gladiator II, making it the cover story.
While the magazine did put “Total Film’s Last Ever Issue” at the top of the cover, the rest puts the contents of the issue itself at the forefront. Inside is complete coverage of next month’s Gladiator II, an interview with Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage, a look at Steve McQueen’s upcoming World War II film Blitz, a sitdown with Jeff Goldblum, and much more.
In a statement, Total Film wrote, in part: “It’s with a heavy heart that we announce that this will be the final issue of the print magazine. We like to think that this final print edition is a showcase of everything that Total Film magazine strived for, with a thrilling blockbuster on the cover, A-list interviews, fair and impartial reviews, smaller interesting movies nestled alongside the more mainstream fare, and above all else a passion for cinema radiating out of every page. So for now, it only leaves us to say a huge thank you to all the staff, writers, designers and photographers who made Total Film print magazine what it was over the past 27 years. And we’d also like to express our endless gratitude to everyone who has read, subscribed to or otherwise supported the magazine.” As has been the case, content will be available on GamesRadar.
Gladiator II is on the cover of Total Film’s upcoming issue 356, which hits print and digital newsstands on October 10. It’s with a heavy heart that we announce that this will be the final issue of the print magazine.
Unlike other publications of its kind, Total Film found itself coming about at the dawn of the internet age, launching in 1997, a time when we were starting to have computers in our homes (hell, entire rooms were devoted to them!). With that, they always felt cutting edge, quickly becoming a must-subscribed magazine. Backed by exclusive material that found them delivering behind-the-scenes stories and interviews, as well as exploring films that ranged from the mainstream to the margins, they were near the pinnacle of cinema periodicals.
Sure, content both archival and new will be available online, but the end of the physical version of Total Film is undoubtedly a loss for movie fans all over the world.
How do you feel about Total Film shutting down their print edition? Were you a subscriber? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman writer/director Robert Eggers‘ remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu (watch it HERE) is set to reach theatres on Wednesday, December 25th – and with that date just a couple of months away, we’ve gotten our hands on an international trailer with Portuguese subtitles. You can check that out in the embed above. The folks at Total Film have also unveiled a new image of the character played by Nicholas Hoult, and that can be found at the bottom of this article.
An unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the original Nosferatu has the following synopsis: In this highly influential silent horror film, the mysterious Count Orlok (Max Schreck) summons Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) to his remote Transylvanian castle in the mountains. The eerie Orlok seeks to buy a house near Hutter and his wife, Ellen (Greta Schroeder). After Orlok reveals his vampire nature, Hutter struggles to escape the castle, knowing that Ellen is in grave danger. Meanwhile Orlok’s servant, Knock (Alexander Granach), prepares for his master to arrive at his new home. Werner Herzog directed his own remake of the film in 1979.
Eggers’ take on Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.
The film stars Bill Skarsgard (It) as the title character, Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home) as crazy vampire hunter Von Franz, Lily-Rose Depp (The Idol) as Ellen Hutter and Nicholas Hoult (Renfield) as her husband Thomas – a role Skarsgard was going to play at one point. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train) is in there as Thomas’s friend Friedrich Harding, with Emma Corrin (The Crown) as Friedrich’s wife Anna, Ralph Ineson (The Witch) as Von Franz’s cohort Dr. Wilhelm Sievers, and Simon McBurney (The Conjuring 2) in an unspecified role. Skarsgard has said that playing Nosferatu / Count Orlok was like “conjuring pure evil. It took a while for me to shake off the demon that had been conjured inside of me. … I do not think people are gonna recognize me in it.“
Are you looking forward to Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu remake? Take a look at the international trailer and the image below, then let us know by leaving a comment.
Picture this: A big-name actor strolls on stage to intro a screening of one of his classic flicks. So far, so good. But hold up – he’s rocking a dress? Wild. The crowd’s eating it up, but then some stagehands rush in to yank it off him. He doesn’t put up much of a fight, but the audience is not having it – they’re booing like crazy. It turns out that the dress was part of the gag all along, but maybe not the awkward strip show. Little did they know, this wacky moment was just a warm-up for what was coming: Richard Dreyfuss going off about kids changing genders, the parents that push them into it, women in Hollywood (including a dig at his old co-star Barbra Streisand), and the whole #MeToo thing. Talk about a plot twist.
Was this just another celeb crash-and-burn, Hollywood chewing up and spitting out another star? Or is this the same old Richard Dreyfuss we’ve always known? Maybe this is the guy who’s always spoken his mind, consequences be damned – the same stubbornness that made him a big-time actor in the first place? Maybe we don’t need to play that whole ‘separate the art from the artist’ game here. It looks like what you see is what you get with Dreyfuss – on screen or off.
Lately, it seems like he’s been mostly off-screen. But has he really? What’s he been up to besides shopping for dresses? And how did he get to this point? It turns out that speaking his mind runs in the family. His mom was an activist, and his dad was a lawyer. No wonder Dreyfuss thinks it’s his job to stir the pot.
Early roles
Dreyfuss got his acting start in community theater at age 9 and was already on tv by age 15, featuring in a television production of the play In Mama’s House. Dreyfuss bounced around roles in Hollywood and on Broadway, notably delivering literally one line in The Graduate in 1967, before really getting everyone’s attention as Baby Face Nelson in Dillinger in 1973. It was written and directed by John Milius, who worked with Francis Ford Coppola and pre-Star Wars George Lucas.
Speaking of George Lucas, another one of Dreyfuss’ early roles was in Lucas’ classic 1973 coming-of-age film American Graffiti, which became one of the biggest hits of the year and put him on the map in a big way. 1974 saw him in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, where he got to show off some of his own stubborn determination.
Jaws and stardom!
His lifelong partnership with Steven Spielberg started, of course, with 1975’s Jaws. However, calling it a partnership doesn’t quite capture it. There’s no Richard Dreyfuss without Steven Spielberg, and there’s no Steven Spielberg without Richard Dreyfuss. Dreyfuss has been called Spielberg’s muse and is definitely the guy Spielberg used when he wanted to put himself into his movies. Dreyfuss and Spielberg were both crowned Hollywood’s golden boys before they really hit it big.
And boy did they hit it big. Jaws remains Dreyfuss’ highest-grossing film, even without adjusting for inflation. Jaws didn’t just make waves; it created a tsunami in Hollywood and beyond. This fish tale chomped through box office records, spawned a feeding frenzy of summer blockbusters, and took a massive bite out of beach tourism. It basically rewrote the rules for movies, moneymaking, and how we look at the ocean. Jaws didn’t just change the game – it flipped the whole board, tossed the pieces in the air, and had everyone scrambling to catch up.
Dreyfuss was also in Inserts in 1975, which I’ll just kinda insert here before talking about his next collab with Spielberg. Dreyfuss told “Inside the Actors Studio” in 2020 that when his acting career first began in the 1960s, he was afraid of being pigeonholed into Sci-Fi roles. It’s ironic, then, that he would lead one of the movies most responsible for legitimizing the genre, 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He was reportedly the sixth choice for the role after Steve McQueen, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, and Al Pacino all turned it down. Still, now I can’t see anyone else portraying an everyman’s descent into madness any better. Dreyfuss eventually wore Spielberg down by talking with him endlessly about the project while on the set of Jaws and even contributing ideas. He also not-so-subtly talked down the actors chosen ahead of him, shouting stuff like “Al Pacino has no sense of humor” or “Jack Nicholson is too crazy” while walking by Spielberg’s office.
Dreyfuss won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the 1977 filmThe Goodbye Girl. At age 30, he was the youngest to win the award until Adrien Brody won it for The Pianist at age 29 in 2003.
But, there was a dark side to all the fame. Richard Dreyfuss has no memory of filming 1981’s Whose Life is it Anyway?, due to his drug issues at the time, which is a shame, because it’s actually a pretty smart movie about a person’s right to die. And then he almost actually died from a 1982 car accident. He didn’t injure anyone else in the accident, but while he was in the hospital, he had a vision of a young girl in a white dress, who he took to represent the innocent lives he placed at risk with his reckless behavior. This wake-up call was the push he needed to get his act together. Get it? Act?
Eighties comeback
He was no longer Down and Out in Beverly Hills, which is also the name of the 1986 film that was the first real look at his comedic chops. And I think we all remember him bookending Stand By Me in that same year. This could have been just a good movie, but with Dreyfuss, it’s great. He was busy in 1987, starring alongside Danny DeVito in a buddy comedy, which I think is just something you were required to do if you were an actor in the late 80s. This one is called Tin Men, and it’s…it’s fine. Dreyfuss’ 1987 also included Nuts. I know that sounds like it’s another buddy comedy, but it’s actually a super serious legal drama. He was also in 1987’s Stakeout opposite Emilio Estevez, which people liked enough to justify a sequel, Another Stakeout, in 1993.
Dreyfuss sang and danced in Moon Over Parador in 1988 and was a friendly ghost when he was back with Spielberg for 1989’s Always. He then did Let it Ride in 1989 and played a supporting role as a psychiatrist in Postcards from the Edge in 1990, which was written by Carrie Fisher and loosely based on her own life. He got to fulfill his love for Shakespeare in 1990’s Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, his only silver screen Shakespeare appearance if you don’t count The Goodbye Girl.
At this point, you may be wondering What About Bob?, and yes, Dreyfuss played another psychiatrist opposite Bill Murray in 1991 and showed he could hold his own with the comedy heavyweight. His character worked to clear the name of real-life historical figure Alfred Dreyfus in the made-for-tv movie Prisoner of Honor. The actor grew up thinking he was related to the French officer. 1991’s Once Around is kinda like if Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was about white people being racist toward other white people.
Richard Dreyfuss sported a pretty cool mustache in 1993’s Lost in Yonkers before playing ANOTHER psychiatrist in 1994’s Silent Fall. In 1995, he played a Senator in Rob Reiner’s The American President, before being nominated for an Oscar for his passionate, soulful performance in 1996’s Mr. Holland’s Opus. He got to lean into his Brooklyn accent as Mr. Centipede in James and the Giant Peach and go across the bridge for Night Falls on Manhattan. 1996 is also when he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The next year, he was ranked #81 in Empire magazine’s list of the top 100 movie stars of all time.
1998 saw Dreyfuss in Krippendorf’s Tribe, which was pretty terrible, but even just looking at the poster, you can’t question his dedication. He appeared with Eric Roberts in the 1999 tv mobster movie Lanksy and then in the theatrical mobster movie The Crew in 2000, which is more famous for the scene where Jeremy Piven sucks on Carrie-Anne’s toes. Quentin Tarantino, eat your heart out.
In 2001, Dreyfuss played in The Old Man Who Read Love Stories and fought a jaguar in a role originally envisioned for Morgan Freeman. Returning to television and into the political realm earned him a Satellite award and a SAG nomination for his role in The Day Reagan was Shot as the Secretary of State striving to keep everyone calm in the chaos. Still political but more satirical was 2004’s Silver City, where Dreyfuss plays an over-the-top campaign manager.
Career slump
2006’s Poseidon features Richard Dreyfuss, but somehow no sharks. Viewers of the 2007 Jaws documentary The Shark is Still Working may have been surprised to find that Richard Dreyfuss was still working at this point. From Senator to Secretary of State to Vice President Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone’s W in 2008. Dreyfuss would go on to call Stone “a fascist” on The View, and Stone said working with Dreyfuss “was the single worst experience [he’d] ever had with an actor in [his] life.” For what it’s worth, this is a pretty common pattern with Oliver Stone, and most complaints about Richard Dreyfuss are from the past year.
In 2009, Dreyfuss worked under the direction of Tim Blake Nelson in the stoner-adjacent Leaves of Grass and in the romance flicks The Lightkeepers and My Life in Ruins. He pops up in the trashy (but super fun) 2010 flick Piranha3D for a blatant Jaws homage. 2010’s RED may be the last big, good movie he’s been in, though it’s not like he was in it much.
I’m gonna quickly go through some of what he’s done since 2010, and if you’ve heard of any of these, congrats, because I hadn’t. 2013 saw him in Paranoia, which I guess actually has some big names in it, but no one saw it. In 2015, Dreyfuss was in a not-bad Sundance movie called Zipper, which never made it to theaters. In 2016, he played the title character in the ABC miniseries Madoff, which beat HBO’s 2017 The Wizard of Lies to the punch.
Speaking of HBO, Dreyfuss featured in their 2017 puff piece Spielberg before returning to romcoms with 2018’s Book Club. He reprised the role in 2023’s Book Club: The Next Chapter, which a lot less people saw than the first chapter. He featured in Cuba Gooding Jr.’s directorial debut Bayou Caviar in 2018 and in the 2019 Netflix feature The Last Laugh in 2019, along with Chevy Chase and some actually funny people. Also in 2019, he starred in Daughter of the Wolf with Gina Carano, who’s also no stranger to speaking her mind.
Coming up, Dreyfuss has Waltzing with Brando, where Billy Zane plays Marlon Brando (why didn’t that happen sooner?) So where does that leave Richard Dreyfuss, now? In a dress on a Massachusetts stage, on every screen imaginable, and in cinema history. His antics may get him some heat, but he’s not getting out of the kitchen. He’s going to keep acting, advocating for civics education in classrooms, loving Civil War reenactments and hating Rock n’ Roll. He’s stubborn like that. He can’t stop. He won’t stop. “if I don’t do this, *that’s* when I’m going to need a doctor.”
While Tyler Perry is not usually known for historical dramas, he tries his hand at spotlighting a lesser-known element of World War II. His upcoming film, The Six Triple Eight, is inspired by the first and only Women’s Army Corps unit of color to serve overseas in WWII. Given an extraordinary mission and united in their determination, these unsung heroes delivered hope and shattered barriers. The movie stars Kerry Washington, Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Kylie Jefferson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, Moriah Brown, Jeanté Godlock, Jay Reeves, Jeffery Johnson, Baadja-Lyne Odums, Donna Biscoe, Gregg Sulkin, Scott Daniel Johnson, Susan Sarandon, with Dean Norris, and Sam Waterston, and Oprah Winfrey. Netflix has just dropped the teaser trailer online.
The official synopsis reads, “The Six Triple Eight is inspired by the first and only Women’s Army Corps unit of color to serve overseas in WWII. Despite facing racism and sexism – and grueling working conditions – they were committed to serving their country with honor and distinction. Given an extraordinary mission and united in their determination, these unsung heroes delivered hope and shattered barriers. Written and directed by Tyler Perry, the film stars Kerry Washington as Major Charity Adams, the commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Produced by Tyler Perry, Nicole Avant, Angi Bones, Tony L. Strickland, Keri Selig and Carlota Espinosa, the film features an ensemble cast including Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Kylie Jefferson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, Moriah Brown, Jeanté Godlock, Susan Sarandon, with Dean Norris, and Sam Waterston, and Oprah Winfrey. Based on the article by Kevin M. Hymel, the film features an original song “The Journey” written by Diane Warren and performed by H.E.R., with choreography by Debbie Allen.”
Perry writes, directs and produces this film along with producers Nicole Avant, Angi Bones, Tony L. Strickland, Keri Selig and Carlota Espinosa. Peter Guber and Kerry Washington are on board as executive producers. The script Perry wrote is based on the article “Fighting A Two-Front War” by Kevin M. Hymel.
Producer Nicole Avant told Tudum that she first thought of Tyler Perry to adapt this story to film, “Tyler Perry is the best writer, producer, director all wrapped up in one that I knew that could tell this story.” She continued, “Tyler loves history even more than I do. He appreciates African-American history and our part in the story of America.”
The Six Triple Eight marches on Netflix on December 20.
The Six Triple Eight. (L-R) Sarah Jeffrey as Dolores Washington, Ebony Obsidian as Lena Derriecott King, Pepi Sonuga as Elaine White and Shanice Shantay as Johnnie Mae in The Six Triple Eight. Cr. Bob Mahoney / Perry Well Films 2 / Courtesy of NetflixSix Triple Eight. Kerry Washington as Major Charity Adams in Six Triple Eight. Cr. Bob Mahoney / Perry Well Films 2 / Courtesy of NetflixThe Six Triple Eight. (L-R) Milauna Jackson as Lt. Campbell and Kerry Washington as Major Charity Adams in The Six Triple Eight. Cr. Bob Mahoney / Perry Well Films 2 / Courtesy of NetflixThe Six Triple Eight. (L-R) Milauna Jackson as Lt. Campbell, Kerry Washington as Major Charity Adams and Ebony Obsidian as Lena Derriecott King in The Six Triple Eight. Cr. Bob Mahoney / Perry Well Films 2 / Courtesy of NetflixThe Six Triple Eight. (L-R) Gregg Sulkin as Abram David and Ebony Obsidian as Lena Derriecott King in The Six Triple Eight. Cr. Bob Mahoney / Perry Well Films 2 / Courtesy of Netflix
The sixth and final season of the hit Netflix series Cobra Kai, a continuation of the Karate Kid film franchise, is set to wrap up the show’s storylines with fifteen episodes that will be split up into a three part event. Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 1 premiered back in July, Part 2 premieres November 28, 2024, 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 movie will be promoted during a Sony panel at New York Comic-Con (the panel is scheduled to be held at the Javits Center on Friday, October 18th on the Empire Stage from 7:00 PM-8:00 PM)… and with that panel coming up next week, the title of the movie has been revealed. It’s called Karate Kid: Legends!
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 (The End of the F***ing World) 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.
Are you looking forward to Karate Kid: Legends? What do you think of the title? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Although the filming of Netflix’s feature film Peaky Blinders had just started, it has steadily been revealed who will be in the cast of the movie. It was recently announced that Stephen Graham will be making an appearance in the movie after having joined the series at the tail-end of its run in season six as Hayden Stagg. It’s not known what his involvement with the movie entails, but nonetheless, Graham says he is “looking forward to seeing the lads again.”
Deadline has revealed that Sophie Rundle — who played the sister of Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby, Ada, on the series — will be reprising her role on the Netflix movie adaptation. When viewers last saw Ada in the series finale, Tommy had handed the reins of the family business to her. It’s also been announced that some more returning names to the cast are Ned Dennehy (Culprits, The Peripheral), who had played Charlie Strong in the BBC show, Packy Lee (Blue Lights), who is known to fans as Johnny Dogs, and Ian Peck (His Dark Materials, Robin Hood) who played Curly on the series. Jay Lycurgo (Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, I May Destroy You), marks his first appearance in this world by joining the film.
The Peaky Blinders movie will bring back the show’s star, Cillian Murphy. Rebecca Ferguson was also announced to be starring opposite Murphy in the movie, along with Barry Keoghan and Tim Roth. The nature of Roth’s, Ferguson’s and Keoghan’s roles have yet to be revealed.
Tom Harper (Heart of Stone) will direct the Peaky Blinders movie for Netflix, marking his return to the franchise. He previously directed the last three episodes of the first season. Series creator Steven Knight has written the screenplay, and production is expected to kick off in Digbeth, England, later this year. Knight is co-producing alongside Murphy, Caryn Mandabach, and Guy Heeley. Executive producers include Harper, David Kosse, Jamie Glazebrook, Andrew Warren, and David Mason.
We don’t have plot details at this time, but Knight has confirmed that the story is set during World War II. He has also said, “I’m genuinely thrilled that this movie is about to happen. It will be an explosive chapter in the Peaky Blinders story. No holds barred. Full-on Peaky Blinders at war.” The movie is said to be a “fitting conclusion” to the TV series, but there “will be other TV shows… that will continue to tell the story of this part of society and this family.“
As we’re well into October, I’m sure plenty of you have already watched more than a few horror movies (as if you need an excuse), but it’s always fun to see what other folks recommend for the spooky season. Kevin Bacon, who I believe has appeared in a few horror movies, took to Instagram to share a list of twenty of his personal favourites.
Audition
Don’t Look Now
One Cut of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Shaun of the Dead
28 Days Later
Get Out
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Let The Right One In
X
Pearl
MaXXXine
The Witch
The Love Witch
The Blair Witch Project
The Descent
Slither
Midsommar
Martyrs
Hereditary
Smile
Stir of Echoes
A quality list, and as you can see, Bacon appears in a few of them. Bacon’s most recent horror movie was MaXXXine, which appears on the list alongside X and Pearl. In it, he plays a sleazy private investigator who wants to blackmail Maxine Minx (Mia Goth).
Bacon, who got his start on the very first Friday the 13th movie, has previously explained why he enjoys the horror genre so much. “If a new horror film piques my interest, I’m front and center opening weekend … I like the experience, because when I go to a movie as a … consumer, I want to feel things. Whatever it is, I want to feel things deeply,” Bacon told Looper in 2022. “You can feel sad. You can get tears coming out of your eyes. You can laugh hysterically. You can jump. You can get scared. You can get creeped out. You can walk out of the theater with an uneasy feeling. These are feelings, and I like that. … I like to do horror because the stakes are very high, and that means that there’s good stuff to play. In life and death situations, those are good things to play.“
As far as Bacon’s future in horror, his next project could be a family affair. Kyra Sedgwick revealed this summer that she and Bacon have been developing a horror movie they would star in alongside their daughter, Sosie. They also want to direct the film together, but the DGA might not cooperate. “It’s very hard to get dual directing credit. If you promise the DGA that you will only direct together for the rest of your lives, then they’re more inclined to do it. But if not, they won’t,” Sedgwick said. “We’ll figure it out. But I’m very strategic. I wonder if more people will see this if it’s a Kevin Bacon film than a Kyra Sedgwick film?“
What are some of your favourite horror movies to watch during the Halloween season?
In a conversation with Den of Geek, Connie Nielsen said it’s “crazy” that Wonder Woman 3 isn’t happening. As we know, a third installment of the franchise was in the works, but when James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios, the project was shelved.
“I think it’s crazy. I mean, frankly, I don’t understand it,” said Nielsen, who played Queen Hippolyta in the Wonder Woman franchise. “[Wonder Woman] made $800 million just in the movie theaters, and it has an enormous and passionate, passionate fan base. These are spectacular films, and there’s just no reason I can understand whatsoever for not investing in that. If I were a business person, I would say that’s money on the table. It’s right there. Plus every time we’ve done it, [it was] with budgets that were way smaller than any of the other DC budgets.“
Although the first Wonder Woman movie was a big success, both critically and commercially, the sequel didn’t reach the same heights. Wonder Woman 1984 received mixed reviews and only grossed $170 million worldwide, although, to be fair, it was released during the height of COVID-19.
Still, Nielsen hopes that Wonder Woman 3 will be resurrected. “It’s a pity,” Nielsen said. “I really hope that they change their minds, and that they realize this is crazy. This is a billion dollars that is lying on the table. Not claiming those fans and making them happy is something I just don’t really understand at all.” At the moment, the only Wonder Woman-related project in development for the new DC Universe is the Paradise Lost prequel series for Max.
Nielsen will next be seen reprising her role of Lucilla in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel. “From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome,” reads the official Gladiator II synopsis. “Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.” The film is set to hit theaters on November 22nd.
The 20th Century Studios project is a new take on the 1992 thriller, which starred Rebecca De Mornay and Anna Bella Sciorra. When Claire Bartel (Sciorra) is assaulted by her doctor, she reports him to the police, but he kills himself to avoid being arrested. The doctor’s pregnant wife, Peyton (De Mornay), has a miscarriage and is driven mad with rage. Posing as a nanny for the Bartel family, she decides to tear Claire’s life apart by seducing her husband and murdering her. Maika Monroe will be playing the De Mornay role in the remake, while Winstead will be stepping into the Sciorra role.
Michelle Garza Cervera will direct The Hand That Rocks the Cradle remake from a script by Micah Bloomberg.
Winstead was recently seen starring alongside husband Ewan McGregor in A Gentleman in Moscow, Paramount+’s adaptation of Amor Towles’ best-selling novel. McGregor stars as Count Alexander Rostov, who finds himself on the wrong side of history in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. Spared immediate execution, he’s banished by a Soviet tribunal to the attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol and threatened with death if he ever sets foot outside again.
Winstead also appeared in Star Wars: Ahsoka as Hera Syndulla, the Rebel leader who first appeared in Star Wars: Rebels. It was initially uncertain whether or not the series would get a second season, but star Rosario Dawson was more than ready to return. “I’m absolutely putting it out into the universe,” Dawson said. “We’re joking about it, but I’m manifesting it because I feel like I helped Dave [Filoni, Star Wars mastermind and Ahsoka Tano’s co-creator] manifest this role. So I’m ready. I’m excited. I’m willing. I got my ice-packs ready to go for Season 2 and beyond! I would not be mad at that.” Earlier this year, Lucasfilm officially confirmed that Dave Filoni was developing another season. However, the series will need to recast one major role: Baylan Skoll, the former Jedi played so beautifully by the late Ray Stevenson.
Colin Trevorrow wrapped up his Jurassic World trilogy with the 2022 film Jurassic World Dominion, which brought Jurassic World stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard together with the stars of the original Jurassic Park; Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. The movie went over reasonably well with movie-goers, earning a 77% positive audience on Rotten Tomatoes and racking up over a billion dollars at the global box office. The critical reception was another story: only 29% of the reviews were positive. Here on JoBlo, the movie only received a 5/10 review. Speaking with Total Film magazine, Goldblum addressed the fact that Jurassic World Dominion received negative reviews, saying that “It’s tough to make a good movie.”
The Goldblum interview can be found in the newly released issue of Total Film magazine, issue 356 – which, unfortunately, happens to be the final issue of the magazine. When Jurassic World Dominion came up, Goldblum said, “I had such a good time on it. I enjoyed working on it and enjoyed trying to make it good. I think it sold a bunch of tickets. But, you know… [laughs] Everybody’s got an opinion about it. It’s tough to make a good movie.” As the interview went on, he reiterated that working on the film was “a very enjoyable experience,” especially since it allowed him to reunite with Neill and Dern, although that did bring added to pressure to the job. “I was concentrating on trying to make our responsibility there a success, and fulfill our part of the bargain.“
Money talks, so the Jurassic World franchise is already continuing, despite Jurassic World Dominion‘s negative reviews. The new film, Jurassic World Rebirth, is directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) from a screenplay by original Jurassic Park writer David Koepp. This movie won’t be featuring any returning lead characters from the previous Jurassic Park / Jurassic World movies, so Goldblum feels that his character Ian Malcolm “may have ridden off into the sunset. Maybe.“
The story of Jurassic World Rebirth picks up five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion. The planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind. This action-packed new chapter in the franchise sees an intrepid team racing to secure DNA samples from the three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air.
Aiming for a July 2, 2025 release, the film stars Scarlett Johansson (The Avengers), Mahershala Ali (Green Book), Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton), Rupert Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer), Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty), child actress Audrina Miranda, Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Béchir Sylvain (Diarra from Detroit), and Ed Skrein (Deadpool). Johansson plays skilled covert operations expert Zora Bennett, contracted to lead a skilled team on a top-secret mission to secure genetic material from the world’s three most massive dinosaurs. When Zora’s operation intersects with a civilian family whose boating expedition was capsized by marauding aquatic dinos, they all find themselves stranded on an island where they come face-to-face with a sinister, shocking discovery that’s been hidden from the world for decades.
Goldblum said, “My friend Scarlett Johansson and my new friend Jonathan Bailey from Wicked, I think, are taking up the reins. And I can’t wait to see what they do. I think that’s a good idea.“
What did you think of Jurassic World Dominion? Are you looking forward to Jurassic World Rebirth? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
