(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
Many moons ago, the Super Bowl halftime show was viewed like any other football game’s halftime show, only presented on a bigger scale — which is to say that while there was entertainment, it wasn’t necessarily the type of thing you’d go out of your way to watch. Times have changed. The days of thematic marching band performances are gone, and recent producers of the event have leaned heavily on spectacle, nostalgia, and platinum pop stars to deliver a must-see musical production each year. Super Bowl LVIII is right around the corner, airing live on CBS (and streaming on Paramount+) on Sunday, February 11, and after relying on a solo performance from Rihanna last year, 2024 will feature a halftime show from another R&B superstar: Usher. With all of that in mind, we take a look back at the evolution of the Super Bowl halftime show, beginning with the 1970s.
The Super Bowl’s early halftime shows were dominated by marching bands, but they had some competition — most significantly courtesy of Up with People, the multi-cultural performance troupe that sprung out of the Moral Re-Armament movement of the ’60s. Between 1976 and 1986, Up with People performed during four halftime shows, and added a fifth performance to their list with an appearance during the pre-game show for Super Bowl XXV in 1991. Trends have long since passed Up with People by, but they’ll forever remain a fascinating footnote in Super Bowl history.
Performers: By the time Up with People made their final halftime show appearance in 1986, it was clear the troupe was perceived as silly and old-fashioned. Naturally, the NFL went younger and hipper the following year by hiring George Burns and Mickey Rooney to topline the halftime entertainment for a salute to Hollywood’s 100th anniversary, which featured the Grambling and USC marching bands, some high school drill teams, and a handful of Disney characters. Audience demographics were obviously not yet a key concern for the league.
Critical Response: There’s no denying that Burns and Rooney were a pair of Hollywood legends, but this halftime show was a spectacle past its prime when it aired, and it’s widely derided today as one of the Super Bowl’s worst.
Verdict: Rotten
Performers: Radio City Music Hall served as the producer for Super Bowl XXII’s halftime show, hiring Chubby Checker to perform with the Rockettes and the marching bands for San Diego State University and USC. Although Checker was enjoying something of a comeback at the time, thanks to his appearance with the Fat Boys on a cover of his signature hit “The Twist,” this show didn’t exactly have its finger on the pulse of a generation.
Critical Response: Describing a show that contained “44 Rockettes, 88 pianos, a 400-piece swing band and a jowly Chubby Checker, high atop a make-believe jukebox, singing the famous 1960s aria, ‘Let’s Twist Again, Like We Did Last Summer,'” the Los Angeles Times snarked, “the musicale represented the quiet, understated good taste that has become the hallmark of the Super Bowl.”
Verdict: Rotten
Performers: Give the NFL this much: when you name a show “Be Bop Bamboozled in 3-D,” you’re pretty much telling people up front what they can expect to get. Super Bowl XXIII’s halftime entertainment was led by Elvis Presto, the nom de guerre adopted by a former Solid Gold dancer turned Elvis impersonator, and included 3D footage (viewable with glasses obtained courtesy of a tie-in promotion with Diet Coke) and what was billed as “the world’s biggest card trick.”
Critical Response: “It was all meant to be very tongue-in-cheek. It’s all very much a lampoon,” laughed producer Dan Witkowski years later. “I think it all started when we hit on the name Elvis Presto. The rest kind of evolved from there.”
Verdict: Rotten
Performers: Super Bowl XXIV was held in New Orleans and coincided with the 40th anniversary of Charles Schulz’s beloved Peanuts comics, so naturally, the league decided to put ’em both together for a halftime show that celebrated Charlie Brown and the gang, as well as the culture of New Orleans. Performers included singer Irma Thomas, fiddler Doug Kershaw, and clarinetist Pete Fountain… plus Snoopy.
Critical Response: “A tribute to New Orleans, also to the 40th anniversary of the comic strip Peanuts, and maybe also to drugs,” wrote Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield. “Because Charlie Brown has what exactly the hell to do with jambalaya and Mardi Gras again?”
Verdict: Rotten
Performers: By the early ’90s, the league — and more importantly, the networks trapped in an annual bidding war for the right to broadcast the show — recognized the need to safeguard against counter-programming luring viewers’ eyes away at halftime, particularly during a stretch of games that included a series of lopsided victories. Enter New Kids on the Block, who took the stage during Super Bowl XXV’s halftime for a Disney-inspired celebration that included a performance of “It’s a Small World.” It was preempted during the broadcast by a Gulf War speech from President George Bush, and overshadowed afterward by Whitney Houston’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” — all of which was a relief to the New Kids, according to member Donnie Wahlberg.
Critical Response: “I don’t know how much pride I take in the actual performance,” admitted Wahlberg. “But I take pride in the fact that we were the first ones to do it.”
Verdict: Fresh. As Wahlberg noted, the New Kids were the first of-the-moment pop stars to perform during a Super Bowl halftime show… even if no one outside the stadium saw it.
Performers: Held at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, the Super Bowl XXVI halftime show was themed around “Winter Magic,” featuring Gloria Estefan, Olympic figure skaters Dorothy Hamill and Brian Boitano, and backup from rapping kids, dancers, and members of the 1980 U.S. Olympics hockey team.
Critical Response: It may have had its absurdly entertaining moments, but the show was embarrassed by Fox’s In Living Color, which aired a “Super Halftime Party” episode that leeched roughly 22 million viewers away from the game.
Verdict: Rotten
(Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)
Performers: Stung by the halftime ratings from the previous year, producers stepped up their game for Super Bowl XXVII, booking Michael Jackson — still out promoting his 1991 Dangerous LP — to perform a three-song set that’s widely credited with redefining the league’s approach to the show. (Watch the video on YouTube.)
Critical Response: As the New York Times put it, “Michael Jackson’s legacy will forever include this title: King of Pigskin.”
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: No country artist was bigger in the ’90s than Garth Brooks. He didn’t play during the Super Bowl XXVIII halftime show, but producers lined up a multi-platinum quartet to bring sufficient star wattage to its “Rockin’ Country Sunday” spectacular, hiring Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, and the Judds to perform.
Critical Response: “Country music haters forced to watch this spectacle must have had their worst suspicion confirmed,” wrote Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker. “That country is just pop with with less sophistication.”
Verdict: Rotten
Performers: Clearly, this game’s halftime show is no stranger to bizarre spectacle, but even in context, Super Bowl XXIX is something special. Designed to tie in with Disneyland’s new Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye attraction, it featured stand-ins for Harrison Ford and Karen Allen on a quest to rescue the stolen Lombardi Trophy (and musical numbers from Patti LaBelle, Tony Bennett, Arturo Sandoval, and the Miami Sound Machine).
Critical Response: Words can’t quite do it justice, but SB Nation might have summed it up best: “Indiana Jones + singers parents will love + Disney music = a halftime show so 1990s it should be wearing spaghetti straps and feathered bangs.”
Verdict: Rotten
Performers: There’s no denying that Diana Ross was well past her hitmaking prime when she took the stage for the Super Bowl XXX halftime show… but there’s also no arguing that she came to show everyone else how it should be done. Classic songs? Check. A whopping four outfit changes? Check. Leaving the field in a helicopter? Check.
Critical Response: “A spectacular triumph,” wrote Tom Shales for the Washington Post. “Perhaps the best halftime show ever.”
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: As far as most of us are concerned, the Blues Brothers effectively ceased to exist after John Belushi’s untimely passing in 1982. But surviving Brother Dan Aykroyd had other ideas, enlisting Belushi’s brother Jim, John Goodman, and the members of ZZ Top for a Super Bowl “Blues Brothers Bash” that made up in attitude whatever it may have lacked in necessity.
Critical Response: “The event only served to remind everyone that John Belushi was still dead,” wrote the San Francisco Chronicle’s Peter Hartlaub, “and that Jim Belushi should stick to straight-to-video K-9 sequels.”
Verdict: James Brown made an appearance, ergo the only possible verdict is Fresh.
Performers: The league helped Motown celebrate its 40th anniversary with a halftime musical extravaganza featuring classic Hitsville acts (Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, Martha Reeves) alongside the label’s new wave of chart-toppers (Boyz II Men, Queen Latifah). Also: the Grambling State University Marching Band.
Critical Response: “The set opens with the Temptations in what appear to be full denim suits,” shrugged Vox, “and only goes downhill from there.”
Verdict: The presentation might not have been perfect, but the songs are classics. Fresh.
Performers: Pundits chortled when Aerosmith played alongside ‘N Sync and Britney Spears in Super Bowl XXXV, but it was just part of a long tradition of halftime shows built out of wildly disparate ingredients. Case in point: Super Bowl XXXIII’s halftime entertainment, which boasted a bill that included Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, and briefly popular swing revivalists Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
Critical Response: Lamenting that “Apparently someone thought Stevie Wonder didn’t pack enough star power to command the entire Super Bowl halftime stage,” Idolator called the end result “all over the place.”
Verdict: It’s far from perfect, but Stevie performing “Sir Duke” in honor of Duke Ellington’s 100th birthday? Fresh.
Performers: Once again, Disney took the production reins for a Super Bowl halftime show, offering viewers a “Tapestry of Nations” that featured an intriguing-looking roster of performers — Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Toni Braxton, and Tina Turner — who were handed a set list that resolutely refused to play to any of their strengths. From Turner’s lackluster rendition of “Proud Mary” to Collins’ performance of a ballad from the Tarzan soundtrack, this never really got out of second gear.
Critical Response: “Anything produced by Disney is expected to be corny and sentimental, enough to make you angry and not go to work the next day,” wrote Yahoo! Music’s Rob O’Connor. “It takes a full lineup of processed cheese to top the pack.”
Verdict: Rotten
Performers: As we’ve seen, the Super Bowl has a tendency to toss unrelated acts together for its halftime shows, and as often as not, the results aren’t as weirdly entertaining as they might seem on paper. But Super Bowl XXXV bucked that trend with a bill boasting Aerosmith, ‘N Sync, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly — a wild collision of pop, rock, and R&B stars that worked in spite of itself.
Critical Response: Adam Graham of the Detroit News called it “The most fun halftime show the Super Bowl has ever produced, one whose sheer pop might won’t soon, if ever, be matched.”
Verdict: Fresh
(Photo by KMazur/WireImage)
Performers: Understandably a little leery about embracing frivolity so soon after the September 11 attacks, Janet Jackson rebuffed the NFL’s overtures for Super Bowl XXXVI — so they turned to U2, who delivered a heartfelt set that included scrolling the victims’ names on a big screen and culminated with frontman Bono opening his jacket to reveal the American flag. (Watch the video on YouTube.)
Critical Response: “It was,” decreed Sports Illustrated, “arguably the best Super Bowl halftime show of all time.”
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: What does Sting have to do with No Doubt? As the Police co-founder told Howard Stern years later, he and frontwoman Gwen Stefani go way back — a bond that manifested itself when she inducted the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later that year. Stefani and Sting’s duet on the Police hit “Message in a Bottle” stole the show from Shania Twain, who took a critical drubbing for her allegedly lip-synced performance.
Critical Response: “No thanks to Twain,” wrote the Los Angeles Times, “Stefani saved the play by doing what she does best, super-charging a Southern California crowd in a stadium setting through sheer force of ska-sonality.”
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: You remember this one — even if you don’t remember that Jessica Simpson, a University of Houston marching band, Kid Rock, Diddy, and Nelly also performed. Those Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime acts were bumped into the ashbin of history the moment Justin Timberlake caused the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” that prompted a record-setting number of TiVo rewinds (as well as a not-inconsiderable number of FCC complaints).
Critical Response: “For one flashing moment during her performance at Sunday’s game, Janet’s brother was no longer the most scandalous Jackson,” quipped Entertainment Weekly.
Verdict: Rotten
(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
Performers: Breaking with a stretch of combo-platter performances, the NFL lined up Paul McCartney for Super Bowl XXXIX — because if you’ve got a former Beatle on the stage, do you really need anybody else? The answer, of course, turned out to be “no, not at all.” (Watch the video on YouTube.)
Critical Response: “Who cares that ‘football’ means something totally different in Macca’s hometown of Liverpool?” asked Paste. “His halftime set of Beatles and solo hits was simple, concise and nearly perfect.”
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: Perhaps only in the context of the Super Bowl could the Rolling Stones still seem somewhat dangerous in 2006. Months after releasing their A Bigger Bang LP, the band played the halftime show — and faced censorship for vaguely naughty lyrics in their classic hit “Start Me Up” and new single “Rough Justice.” Trigger-happy mute buttons notwithstanding, it was still the Stones, man.
Critical Response: “They may have joked about their age — with Mick Jagger introducing ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ by saying ‘This one we could have done at Super Bowl I,'” admitted Hitfix, “but they didn’t come off like a safe nostalgia act.”
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: Long heralded as one of the most incendiary live performers of his generation, Prince didn’t disappoint when the NFL hired him to play the halftime show at Super Bowl XLI. Instead of trotting out his greatest hits, he strolled out in the rain to deliver a fiery, finely calibrated assortment of originals and covers of well-known songs by other artists — all topped off with an unforgettable rendition of “Purple Rain.” For more than a few viewers, the Super Bowl has never been the same since.
Critical Response: “Prince,” argued Christina Capatides for CBS, “singlehandedly made it okay to be sexy, unpredictable and inventive at the Super Bowl again.”
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: Aside from a brief flirtation with making outré videos in the ’80s, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have never been an image-driven band. To their credit, they held fast to that music-first identity at Super Bowl XLII, eschewing the event’s traditional glamour in favor of a meat-and-potatoes rock ‘n’ roll show.
Critical Response: “Petty wasn’t a reason to keep watching at halftime,” observed the Village Voice’s Tom Breihan. “He was a reason not to change the channel.”
Verdict: Fresh
(Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Performers: Telling reporters he’d passed up on the chance to play the halftime show before, Bruce Springsteen openly admitted he changed his mind when invited to perform at Super Bowl XLIII because he had a new record (2009’s Working on a Dream) to promote. To a certain breed of rock fan, there’s nothing quite like a Springsteen show, particularly with the E Street Band, and with a crowd of millions at their backs, they couldn’t help but rock and roll — but maybe it wasn’t quite the transcendent spectacle the Boss’s fans were used to. (Watch the video on YouTube.)
Critical Response: “While shilling does not carry the sting it once did, perhaps Springsteen let the weight of responsibility limit his imagination in his 12-minute set,” Jon Caramanica of the New York Times suggested.
Verdict: Fresh
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
Performers: They were decades removed from their creative and commercial peak and they hadn’t released an album of new material in years, which made the Who something of an odd choice for Super Bowl XLIV. Of course, even if Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend were the last surviving members of the original lineup, they still pack enough rock ‘n’ roll punch to sell out stadiums; unfortunately, Townshend was struggling with health issues in the weeks leading up to the game, which contributed to their halftime show’s altogether underwhelming air.
Critical Response: “All that was missing,” wrote the New Orleans Times-Picayune’s Keith Spera, “was Austin Powers.”
Verdict: Rotten
Performers: It seems fairly likely that the overlap between Black Eyed Peas and Guns N’ Roses fans is awfully slim, and yet for Super Bowl XLV, organizers lined up a halftime show that found Peas vocalist Fergie trying to wail her way through the GNR hit “Sweet Child O’ Mine” with exiled Guns co-founder Slash on guitar. Somewhat predictably, it compared unfavorably with the original.
Critical Response: “This is how far Slash has fallen,” lamented SB Nation’s Brian Floyd. “Luckily nobody will remember his part as they rip everything else about the show. At least he’s got that going for him.”
Verdict: Rotten
Performers: Like Bruce Springsteen, Madonna had a new record to promote when she was approached to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show — and she pulled out all the stops, enlisting Nicki Minaj, M.I.A., and stars-of-the-moment LMFAO to join her in a hits-laden set that naturally included her then-current single, “Give Me All Your Luvin’.” The performance wasn’t short on spectacle — she entered being pulled on a chariot! — but quite a few critics, while entertained, resented being so transparently sold a bill of goods.
Critical Response: “Despite its success and extravagance, this whole halftime package most of all was little more than an ingeniously well planned — and shockingly transparent — advertisement,” wrote the Los Angeles Times’ Randall Roberts, “and not much more.”
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: Beyoncé was still months removed from releasing her self-titled fifth solo album when she took the stage during Super Bowl XLVII, but her disbanded girl group Destiny’s Child had a new compilation to promote, so it surprised roughly no one that the trio staged a temporary reunion in the midst of Beyoncé’s career-encompassing halftime show. Still, whatever it lacked in terms of shock value, it more than made up with stage presentation, choreography, and sheer bootylicious abandon.
Critical Response: “From the moment she appeared as a giant silhouette against a plume of smoke while the late Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi’s legendary ‘excellence must be pursued’ Super Bowl speech was heard,” wrote the Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney, “Beyoncé turned on a high-energy, sexually charged performance with exciting multimedia elements.”
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: Bruno Mars’ Unorthodox Jukebox LP was in the midst of its quadruple-platinum chart run when he performed at Super Bowl XLVIII, and although he was only on his second album, he already had more than enough hits under his belt to handle the halftime show on his own — but he still brought out the Red Hot Chili Peppers for a mid-set team-up on the band’s 1991 hit “Give It Away.” The Peppers later admitted they’d been miming their performance, but to the folks at home, it didn’t matter much.
Critical Response: “Mars’ performance was near flawless, but the lift in crowd noise when the Chili Peppers played told a story: on this occasion spontaneous rock dynamism trumped slick soul pop,” wrote the Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter Vincent.
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: The NFL continued its streak of selecting buzzy younger pop performers when putting together the bill for Super Bowl XLIX, hiring Katy Perry for the halftime show — and although Perry opened her set to include guest appearances from Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott, it was totally her show. Well, maybe hers and Left Shark’s, but still.
Critical Response: “With the entertaining, hassle-free show, Perry proved the NFL correct in her selection as halftime,” argued USA Today’s Chris Chase, calling the show “one of the few things the NFL got right this year.”
Verdict: Fresh
(Photo by Matt Cowan/Getty Images)
Performers: For the Super Bowl’s grand 50th anniversary celebration, the league lined up Coldplay to headline, with guest appearances from Beyoncé and Bruno Mars with Mark Ronson. Nothing against the guys in Coldplay, but their midtempo catalog isn’t exactly suited for this type of event — all of which is to say it’s no surprise that most pundits said Beyoncé’s performance of “Formation” was the highlight of the set. (Watch the video on YouTube.)
Critical Response: “By the time Bruno Mars challenged Bey to a dance-off,” wrote Vox’s Caroline Framke, “she’d stolen the show once and for all.”
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: The 51st edition of any long-running event is bound to feel a little anticlimactic after all the pageantry that goes along with hitting that half-century milestone, but whatever Lady Gaga’s halftime show lacked in built-in anticipation, it more than made up in sheer showmanship. From patriotic opening numbers to jaw-dropping aerial work and a hits-studded set that ran the gamut from chart-topping favorites to newer material, she took command of the biggest audience of her multiplatinum career — and never let go. “We’re here to make you feel good,” she told the crowd at one point, and that goal was more than evident in her performance.
Critical Response: “Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl halftime show,” wrote Time’s Daniel D’addario, “stands as among the very best in the history of the form, racing ambitiously through the artist’s entire career and putting forward the qualities of the artist that just work.”
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: Justin Timberlake returned to the halftime stage for the first time since his “Nipplegate” fiasco in 2004. And while he didn’t bring Janet Jackson back with him for a repeat performance, he did pay tribute to the recently departed Minneapolis hometown hero Prince via what some expected to be a hologram, but was actually a projection of the purple one on a screen.
Critical Response: “The performance was decent, and Timberlake sounded good and danced even better. As far as half-time shows go, it was satisfactory, a fun but forgettable display of the singer’s substantial talents,” wrote The Guardian’s Jake Nevins. EW’s Darren Franich summed it up: “He played it too safe; he took Sexy away.”
Verdict: Fresh (barely)
Performers: Maroon 5 took on what promised to be a thankless task, headlining during a year in which controversy rampaged through the NFL over player Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling during the National Anthem. (Rihanna and Cardi B reportedly said, “Thanks, but no” to the gig in solidarity with the former quarterback.) Rappers Travis Scott and Big Boi also performed.
Critical Response: Yeesh. Not good. You’d think Nickelback played based on the halftime show reviews. The New York Times‘ Jon Caramanica seemed to be satisfying a personal vendetta in his review: “Maroon 5 — a quasi-soul, quasi-rock, utterly funkless band…likely the third or eighth or maybe 14th choice for a headliner…Maroon 5 was a cynically apt choice…as easy to forget as mild weather…a performance that was dynamically flat, mushy at the edges, worthy of something much worse than derision: a shrug…an inessential performance from a band that might have lost some moral authority if it had any moral authority to lose.” Vox’s headline: “Maroon 5 was fine.” Writer Alex Abad-Santos went on to elaborate: “Maroon 5’s 2019 Super Bowl halftime show was aggressively fine.” Some other adjectives round out the picture: “basic,” “flavorless,” “painful,” and “tasted like fear.”
Verdict: Rotten
Performers: Politics raged once more in the background of the Super Bowl in 2020 – which was one of the last major events held in that blissful period we might now call “BC,” or Before COVID. The national anthem kneeling protest remained a divisive issue and America was gearing up for a fraught election season, but if anyone could unite both sides of the aisle, and the country, it was Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, joined briefly by Bad Bunny and J. Balvin. After Shakira’s six-minute set – in which she was the first Latinx artist to perform music in Spanish during a halftime show – J-Lo came in and wowed with a ferociously choreographed journey through her greatest hits, including “Let’s Get Loud” and “Waiting For Tonight.”
Critical Response: Much of the focus leading up to the halftime show was on the milestone being made by having two Latina performers take the stage, and Lopez staged a chills-on-the-back-of-your-neck moment when daughter Emmie Muñiz sang Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” as mom waved around a cape featuring the Puerto Rican and American flags. After the show there was chatter about some of revealing costumes – come on, we haven’t gotten past this?! – and who upstaged whom. “[Lopez] pushed further with dance than Shakira did, at the cost of a good grip of singing,” Craig Jenkins wrote for Vulture. “Her intricate routines nodded to the Super Bowl’s marching-band past, and suggested that someone’s paying attention to the fearlessly vertical routines in Cheer and large-scale productions like Homecoming.” But the overwhelming assessment was that this was a landmark halftime show, and one loaded with meaning for the game and the country. For Rolling Stone, Suzy Exposito wrote, “… as much as this game has further aggravated divisions in the United States — it’s impossible to play down the fact that for 15 fleeting minutes, hundreds of millions of eyes were on Latinas. And not just Latinas, but Latinas getting loud.”
Verdict: Fresca
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Performers: To say 2021 was an odd year, would be an understatement. And that sentiment could easily be applied to the year’s Super Bowl halftime show. Nearly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium sported a socially-distanced crowd of 25,000 fans, with another 30,000 life-size cutouts filling those coveted seats. The Weeknd took note of the situation and, instead of adding high-caliber guest stars, he pivoted his 13-minute set to feature a Las Vegas cityscape, an army of face-bandaged back-up dancers, a choir of shiny robots, and an epic firework show. As he journeyed through his biggest hits, from “Starboy” and “Can’t Feel My Face” to “I Feel It Coming,” it became evident that this meme-worthy performance wasn’t focused solely on those in the stadium’s seats, but more so, for the millions of locked-down viewers at home. (Watch the video on YouTube.)
Critical Response: Aside from a brief musical interlude on the green, The Weeknd performed most of his set from a stage set up in the stands. That, right there, was a huge pivot from the Super Bowl’s long-standing tradition of setting its halftime shows on a stage in the middle of the field. Patrick Ryan of USA Today compared it to “your average VMAs medley with a slightly higher budget, rather than a performance that was envisioned and executed specifically for a stage as big as the Super Bowl.” That said, The Weeknd did his best to rise above the production challenges and as Benjamin Lee of The Guardian points out, “it was energetic and extravagant enough for that not to be noticeable.”
Verdict: Fresh
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Performers: It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that 2022 set the new standard for Super Bowl halftime shows. Not only was this the first in-person Super Bowl since the Covid-19 pandemic shut things down, the year marked the first-ever performance helmed by a hip-hop performer. In fact, this year’s show was helmed by a banging roster of hip-hop royalty – led by Dr. Dre and featuring Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and Eminem – who gave a nostalgic homage to L.A.’s impact on the culture.
The near 15-minute set kicked off with Dre and Snoop performing classics, “The Next Episode” and “California Love,” before dropping into 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” – taking us all back to 2003 with his white tank top, G-Unit gold chain, and upside-down hanging verses. On the roof of the two-story set, Mary J. Blige performed “Family Affair” and brought the house down with “No More Drama,” before Kendrick Lamar changed the tone with “Alright,” setting the viewers up with Eminem’s all-time classic “Lose Yourself,” and the show’s big closer, “Still D.R.E.” (Watch the video on YouTube.)
Critical Response: The Los Angeles Times called the performance, “a festive, funky, thoroughly trunk-rattling halftime show.” And it was. The energy was infectious and the party atmosphere succeeded at getting those at SoFi Stadium, and viewers at home, on their feet. After 50 years of hip-hop, this was a milestone, to be sure. But one has to wonder why it took this long for rap music to take center stage. Rumored efforts of the NFL’s attempt at censoring lyrics by Dre and Kendrick referencing police brutality, and a failed attempt at stopping Eminem from paying homage to Colin Kaepernick by kneeling on the stage, was a reminder to viewers that, even though this was an epic performance for the books, we still have a lot of work to do. Or, as Complex pointed out, “It was a huge moment for the genre — but not big enough to overshadow all the injustice that engendered the moment.”
Verdict: Fresh
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
Performers: After a more than five-year stretch of not performing live, Rihanna took the State Farm Stadium stage for the Super Bowl LVII halftime show, and her performance kept people talking. For nearly 14 minutes, the “Umbrella” singer implemented an array of stunning choreography, eye-popping production, striking wardrobe, and floating stages to bring a collection of her biggest hits to life. Her calm and collected poise was enough to carry the show; she remained on stage without being joined by any big-name guests like SZA, Jay-Z, or Drake. One surprise guest was revealed during the whole shebang: Rihanna announced her pregnancy with her second child by simply showing off her baby bump during the course of the show, which made her high-wire dance numbers even more impressive to watch. The singer revealed in late 2023 that it wasn’t her intention to announce the pregnancy during the performance, but, in true Super Bowl halftime tradition, she experienced a wardrobe malfunction that prevented her from zipping up her jumpsuit and concealing the bump.
Critical Response: RiRi may have been the only singer to grace the Super Bowl Halftime Show stage in 2023, but that didn’t stop viewers from tuning in. According to The Associated Press, her performance attracted upwards of 121-million viewers, making it the most-watched Halftime Show performance of all time. “What you got was a slick, chic, serviceable survey of some of pop’s best offerings of the past two decades – which was as warm and cozy as those puffy white ski suits must have felt on Rihanna’s very mobile, heartily memed backup dancers,” raved Jason Lamphier of Entertainment Weekly.
Verdict: Fresh
Performers: Hot off his 18-month Las Vegas residency and just in time for the release of his ninth studio album, “Coming Home,” Usher took to the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show stage at Allegiant Stadium with something to prove. After 30 years in the business, he danced, roller skated, and crooned shirtless throughout a 15-minute long set that highlighted his biggest hits. Cirque du Soleil-style backup dancers added mystique to the show as Usher was joined by a bevy of noteworthy guests like Alicia Keys, Lil Jon, Ludacris, will.i.am, and H.E.R. The set list included songs like, “Love in this Club,” “Confessions Pt. III,” and “U Got It Bad” and reminded viewers that, after three decades, Usher is still the undisputed “King of R&B.”
Critical Response: Ever the showman, Usher managed to capture the attention of the collective Super Bowl audience – who were both in attendance and tuning in from home – and didn’t let go throughout the duration of his performance. Adrian Horton at The Guardian called the “Yeah!” singer’s voice “as velvety and limber as ever.” But how did Usher’s halftime show measure up to previous years? “Usher put on the best one-man Super Bowl halftime since Bruno Mars a decade ago and Beyoncé the year before that,” Daniel Fienberg at Hollywood Reporter said.
Verdict: Fresh
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The Jurassic Park franchise fell into a long hibernation after 2001’s Jurassic Park III, and development on a fourth installment went on for so long that for awhile, it seemed like it might never happen. But that all changed in 2015 with Jurassic World, a new beginning for the series that starred Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard as the latest hopelessly outmatched humans hoping to stave off a wave of dino-distruction. To celebrate the recent release of the latest chapter int he Jurassic saga, we’ve decided to look back at the movies that led us here. Hold onto your butts — it’s time for Total Recall! [Updated 6/25/18]
(Photo by Universal courtesy Everett Collection)
Before the advent of computer-generated graphics, novelists had something of an upper hand over filmmakers: While writers have only ever been bound by their own imagination, a director’s ability to test the bounds of reality has always relied on the best efforts of his effects department — and while practical effects definitely have their place, they also have their limits. With 1993’s Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg proved the old rules no longer applied, taking Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel about the misguided efforts of a billionaire philanthropist (played here by Richard Attenborough) to bring dinosaurs back from extinction and turning it into a box-office bonanza driven by some of the most spectacularly lifelike special effects ever seen.
Of course, even the most amazing visuals can only go so far if a movie’s other elements are lacking. What made Jurassic Park so successful — and what continues to make watching it so much fun — is the way Spielberg brings Crichton and David Koepp’s screenplay to life with an outstanding group of actors that includes Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, and Laura Dern, as well as memorable appearances from Samuel L. Jackson and Wayne Knight. It’s another of the escapist thrill rides that helped him build his empire — a souped-up Saturday afternoon serial in which an increasingly panicked team of scientists (Neill, Goldblum, and Dern) work to stave off the dinopocalypse that threatens to erupt after a corrupt employee (Knight) bungles his attempt to sell dinosaur embryos and a technical glitch leaves packs of our lethal predecessors running scot-free on an island near Costa Rica.
It all added up to a picture that left critics largely powerless to complain. Even if they were fairly quick to identify a general lack of depth in Jurassic Park‘s archetype-driven entertainment, they couldn’t deny its power; as Roger Ebert put it in his review, “You want great dinosaurs, you got great dinosaurs.”
(Photo by )
Jurassic Park III was enough of a letdown that it took quite awhile for development on another sequel to start in earnest – and when it did, producers found themselves sorting through years of false starts with storylines that would have taken the franchise in some fairly odd directions (like the rumored Jurassic Park IV whose storyline centered on dinosaurs that had been trained as weapon-toting mercenaries).
In the end, Jurassic World took viewers right back where the saga started: Isla Nubar, where the ruins of Jurassic Park have given rise to a full-on tourist trap whose once-amazing attractions have become passé to unimpressed visitors. Seeking to goose revenue, the park’s CEO (played by Irrfan Khan) oversees the creation of a brand new, even more dangerous hybrid dinosaur, whose inevitable rampage forces a pair of panicked employees (Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard) to race against time in order to prevent complete catastrophe.
While World didn’t wow critics like the original, most agreed it held up pretty well on its own as an efficient delivery mechanism for modern, CG-assisted popcorn thrills. “For much of its running time, Jurassic World plays like a great theme park ride,” observed Jacob Hall for the New York Daily News. “In an age of blockbusters that lumber like herbivores, it’s refreshing to see a movie as lean and mean as a velociraptor.”
(Photo by Universal courtesy Everett Collection)
Despite Jurassic Park‘s incredible success — and its sequel-teasing ending — Michael Crichton wasn’t all that interested in penning a follow-up novel at first, and only wrote 1995’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park after persistent badgering (including some from Park director Steven Spielberg, who had a vested interest in getting another installment out of the gate). Like its predecessor, The Lost World‘s screen adaptation diverges from its print companion in some important respects, but it’s still easy to detect the air of obligation that hangs over the whole enterprise, which helps explain why — although it was certainly a major hit — it failed to land with Park-sized impact.
Returning to the director’s chair and working again from a David Koepp screenplay, Spielberg brought Jurassic fans a story that injected a handful of new ingredients (including Julianne Moore and Vince Vaughn) while retaining a few holdovers from the first film (most notably the returning Jeff Goldblum — as well as a bunch of CG-crafted prehistoric co-stars, of course). With InGen, the company behind Jurassic Park, in tatters, it’s discovered that there was a second island being used as a containment facility for freshly bred dinosaurs, and they’re running rampant — so the new CEO (Arliss Howard) decides to bring them to the mainland in order to turn them into a new revenue stream.
Chaos inevitably ensues, leading up to a third act that does everything it can to raise the stakes from the first film, but no matter how much bigger the action may have been (and despite the presence of Pete Postlethwaite, who always made everything better), the dino derring-do in The Lost World didn’t feel quite as fresh as Jurassic Park, and critical praise was far less plentiful the second time around. Even Owen Gleiberman, in his largely positive review for Entertainment Weekly, was forced to concede, “The movie, at its best, is good fun: deft, scary, engrossing. Yet it’s never great fun.”
The scientists of Jurassic Park were able to circumvent the laws of nature by bringing dinosaurs back from extinction; sadly, the filmmakers behind the Jurassic Park franchise were unable to similarly flout the law of diminishing returns, which put a dent in The Lost World: Jurassic Park and its successor, 2001’s Jurassic Park III.
Production was somewhat bumpy from the start. Director Joe Johnston, taking the reins from Steven Spielberg, didn’t have the luxury of working from a book by Michael Crichton, and was forced to contend with script problems that necessitated a complete overhaul mere weeks before shooting was scheduled to begin. What he ultimately ended up with was a story that, like its predecessor, drew former Jurassic Park stars back into the fold in service of a plot that brought dinosaurs roaring back to the big screen.
This time around, Sam Neill and Laura Dern — both absent from The Lost World — reprise their roles as Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler (now Degler), although Dern’s appearance essentially serves as a pivotal cameo. Here, Grant’s shanghaied into returning to the re-prehistoric tropics under the guise of a surveillance expedition that will provide sorely needed funding for his research, only to discover he’s really been hired for a far more dangerous mission; his lack of enthusiasm for seeing dinosaurs again roughly mirrored the response of the critical community, whose growing disdain for the franchise corresponded with obviously dimming enthusiasm on the part of ticket buyers. Still, it’s hard to call a movie that grosses $368 million worldwide a flop, and Jurassic Park III does have its defenders: As Jeffrey Overstreet argued for Looking Closer, “It’s not art… it’s entertainment, and it knows it. Boy, does it entertain.”
(Photo by Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures)
The long wait between Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World may have been frustrating for some fans of the franchise, but it clearly had a positive impact on its critical fortunes — World‘s reviews weren’t anywhere near as rapturous as those that greeted the original, but they suggested there was still plenty of life in a series of films many believed had long since exhausted its supply of worthwhile ideas.
If the critical reception afforded the Jurassic World sequel is any indication, an extended downtime between sequels might actually be the key to success for this franchise. Three years later, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom continues the story started by its predecessor, reuniting Owen Grady and Claire Dearing (Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard) — this time on a quest to save the dinosaurs from re-extinction and the nefarious plans of some DNA-splicing lunatics who clearly haven’t seen the earlier films. It’s all very exciting in the moment, but ironically for a series fueled by the idea that nature will always find a new way to get things done, Kingdom suggests this story might be content to run in circles on old ground.
Critics were mostly content with Fallen Kingdom‘s set pieces, and praised incoming director J.A. Bayona for playing up the franchise’s horror elements, but beyond all the roaring and running around, they felt it came up short — lacking a compelling story, fresh thrills, and increasingly reliant on CGI dinosaur spectacle over identifiable characters. “If this is the best the Jurassic series can manage,” warned Stephen Whitty for the New York Daily News, “it’s the real endangered species.”
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One year into the new decade, the movie prospects keep getting better. The releases slated for 2021 are so exciting they’ll make you salivate with anticipation, and we can’t wait to see them – especially now that it looks like we can see them. For starters we’ll be getting another Asian blockbuster in director Destin Daniel Cretton’s Marvel entry, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The Fast Family will be back for another action-packed installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise (can you believe we’re at 9 movies already?!). Venom: Let There Be Carnage arrives (on October 1, after multiple shuffles around the calendar), as do horror sequels A Quiet Place 2 and Halloween Kills, and quasi-sequel Candyman. One big change in 2021: The way we watch the movies is changing big time. Warner Bros., for example, is releasing almost their entire slate of 2021 movies on HBO Max as well as in theaters in an unprecedented move that could signal bigger changes in the industry.
The list is long and it’ll probably get longer, so start marking your calendars now. [Updated 9/10/2021]
Jan-Mar | Apr-June | July-Sep | Oct-Dec
The Best Movies of 2020 | The Most Anticipated Movies of 2022
The Dig (2021)
88%
Directed by: Simon Stone
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James, Johnny Flynn, Ben Chaplin
Opening on: January 15, 2021 (limited), followed by Netflix premiere on January 29, 2021
Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan star in this Netflix original film based on true events and set in 1939. Mulligan plays a wealthy widow who hires an archaeologist (Fiennes) to excavate the burial mounds on her estate, leading to the discovery of a wealth of medieval Anglo-Saxon artifacts.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020)
66%
Directed by: Tim Hill
Starring: Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence
Opening on: February 2021 on VOD and CBS All Access (formerly August 7, 2020)
The long-running, wildly popular animated series gets another big screen outing as the whole Spongebob Squarepants gang are back for another adventure. This time out, Spongebob and Patrick embark on a rescue mission to recover Gary, who has been taken by Poseidon, and find themselves in the mystical land of Atlantic City.
Malcolm & Marie (2021)
57%
Directed by: Sam Levinson
Starring: John David Washington, Zendaya
Opening on: February 5, 2021 on Netflix
If you feel like you’ve been wasting time during quarantine, wait until you hear about writer/director Sam Levinson, who wrote an entire movie script in six days, then called up John David Washington and Zendaya to be in that movie, and then filmed it, all during lockdown. The story follows a filmmaker and his girlfriend as they return from a movie premiere and, over the course of the evening, begin to hash out their relationship.
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
96%
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jess Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Martin Sheen, Lil Rel Howery
Opening on: February 12, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max
Shaka King co-writes and directs this based-on-true-events drama focused on William O’Neal, the FBI informant who infiltrated the Illinois Black Panther Party in an effort to keep track of Fred Hampton.
To All the Boys: Always and Forever (2021)
79%
Directed by: Michael Fimognari
Starring: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Jordan Fisher, Janel Parrish, Emilija Baranac
Opening on: February 12, 2021 on Netflix
One of three Netflix original franchises to see a third installment in 2021 (the other two being The Kissing Booth and The Princess Switch), To All the Boys concludes with Always and Forever, as Lara Jean (Lana Condor) nears the end of high school and takes a pair of “life-changing trips” that lead her to ponder life with her family — and Peter (Noah Centineo) — after graduation.
I Care a Lot (2020)
79%
Directed by: J Blakeson
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Eiza Gonzalez, Dianne Wiest, Peter Dinklage, Chris Messina, Isaiah Whitlock Jr.
Opening on: February 19, 2021 on Netflix
Rosamund Pike stars in this comedy as a con woman who takes swindles the elderly out of their money until she comes into contact with a woman who is more cunning than she appears.
Nomadland (2020)
93%
Directed by: Chloé Zhao
Starring: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn
Opening on: February 19, 2021 (following one-week virtual release on December 4, 2020)
Writer-director Chloé Zhao impressed the folks at Disney so much with her 2017 breakout film The Rider that they handed her the keys to Eternals, but before that film opens (presumably) in February, Zhao will release this drama based on the nonfiction book by Jessica Bruder. The film stars Frances McDormand as a woman who loses everything in the Great Recession and decides to see if #VanLife is all it’s cracked up to be.
The Father (2020)
98%
Directed by: Florian Zeller
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman
Opening on: February 26, 2021 (formerly December 18, 2020)
Two Oscar winners headline this drama based on the 2012 French play Le Père by the film’s director and co-writer, Florian Zeller. The story focuses on an aging man (Anthony Hopkins) struggling with memory loss whose daughter (Olivia Colman) moves into his flat to help care for him.
Tom & Jerry (2021)
29%
Directed by: Tim Story
Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Ken Jeong, Colin Jost, Rob Delaney
Opening on: February 26, 2021 (formerly March 5, 2021), with simultaneous release on HBO Max
The classic animated television series gets a big-screen update in the form of a live-action/animated hybrid in which mischievous mouse Jerry moves into a hotel on the eve of a big wedding and forces the wedding planner to bring Tom into the picture to get rid of him. When an even bigger threat emerges, Tom and Jerry are forced to work together to save the day.
Coming 2 America (2021)
49%
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, Wesley Snipes, James Earl Jones
Opening on: March 5, 2021 on Amazon Prime (formerly December 18, 2020)
After over three decades, it looks like Prince Akeem — ahem, King Akeem and Semmi are returning Stateside from there homeland of Zamunda. Much of the original cast are returning, including James Earl Jones as King Jaffe Joffer and John Amos as Cleo McDowell, as Akeem learns that he has a long-lost son he never knew about who might be the heir to the throne.
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
93%
Directed by: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs, John Ripa
Starring: Awkwafina, Kelly Marie Tran, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, Sandra Oh
Opening on: March 5, 2021 (formerly March 12, 2021)
In this animated film from Disney, Kelly Marie Tran lends her voice to the title character, a young warrior in a fantastical land who embarks on a quest to find the last dragon. Awkwafina, who’s been on a roll as of late, will provide the voice of said dragon, whose help Raya needs to bring peace to her land.
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
71%
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Starring: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Amy Adams, Ray Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons
Opening on: March 18, 2021 on HBO Max
Brought to life by a rabid fan campaign, this re-cut four-hour-long version of the DC superhero team-up purports to be original director Zack Snyder’s true vision for the film, with additional footage shot and incorporated, along with new elements that were absent from the 2017 theatrical release that director Joss Whedon took over when Snyder left the project for personal reasons.
Nobody (2021)
83%
Directed by: Derek Kolstad
Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, RZA, Christopher Lloyd
Opening on: March 26, 2021 (formerly April 2, 2021)
Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk plays a man suffering from PTSD who unwittingly draws the ire of a Russian drug lord when he murders a pair of thieves who have been terrorizing his neighborhood.
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
75%
Directed by: Adam Wingard
Starring: Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry
Opening on: March 31, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max
It’s the showdown we’ve been waiting for since 2014’s Godzilla. Director Adam Wingard – who has proven he knows how to bring the thrills with The Guest and You’re Next – helms this climactic entry in Warner Bros.’ MonsterVerse series, which continued in 2019 with Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Who will win when the giant ape takes on the king?
Concrete Cowboy (2020)
80%
Directed by: Ricky Staub
Starring: Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome, Lorraine Toussaint, Method Man
Opening on: April 2, 2021 on Netflix
Based on the novel Ghetto Cowboy by Greg Neri, this drama stars Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things) as a Detroit teen who moves to Philadelphia to live with his estranged father (Idris Elba) and learns about the urban cowboy subculture.
Mortal Kombat (2021)
55%
Directed by: Simon McQuoid
Starring: Joe Taslim, Ludi Lin, Mechad Brooks, Lewis Tan, Elissa Cadwell, Ng Chin Han, Max Huang, Josh Lawson, Jessica McNamee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Sisi Stringer
Opening on: April 23, 2021 (formerly January 15, 2021), with simultaneous release on HBO Max
If you’ve been waiting for the inevitable Mortal Kombat reboot, 2021 has got you covered. With Lewis Tan, Mechad Brooks, and Joe Taslim attached to star, the newest franchise installment is bound to be everything you could want in a fantasy martial arts action film. James Wan will be producing, so there’s bound to be some of the magic that made the Saw franchise so successful.
In The Earth (2021)
79%
Directed by: Ben Wheatley
Starring: Joel Fry, Reece Shearsmith, Hayley Squires, Ellora Torchia
Opening on: April 30, 2021 (formerly April 16, 2021)
The latest thriller from Ben Wheatley (Kill List, High Rise) is a slice of supernatural horror centered on a scientist who ventures into a forest on an equipment run for research to cure a mysterious virus whose journey slowly transforms into a surreal nightmare.
Limbo (2020)
93%
Directed by: Ben Sharrock
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Ola Orebiyi, Kwabena Ansah, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Kais Nashif
Opening on: April 30, 2021
This comedy-drama from writer-director Ben Sharrock puts a wry spin on the refugee experience as it follows a group of new immigrants to Scotland waiting to hear back on the status of their asylum claims. The film was originally set to screen at Cannes before the festival was cancelled, and it has already earned four British Independent Film Awards nominations and two nods from the BAFTAs.
Wrath of Man (2021)
68%
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Jason Statham, Scott Eastwood, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Hartnett, Post Malone
Opening on: May 7, 2021 (formerly April 23, 2021)
Director Guy Ritchie teams up with Jason Statham for their fourth collaboration together in a twist on the heist movies that made them famous. Based on the 2004 French film Cash Truck, Wrath of Man centers on an employee (Statham) at an armored truck company who takes part in a heist but has ulterior motives.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)
39%
Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman
Starring: Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols
Opening on: May 14, 2021 (formerly May 21, 2021)
The Saw franchise officially gets revived in this new thriller, with Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, III, and IV) back behind the camera. This time, two cops played by Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson investigate a series of gruesome murders and find themselves at the mercy of a killer reminiscent of the past (Jigsaw copycat, anyone?).
The Woman in the Window (2021)
25%
Directed by: Joe Wright
Starring: Amy Adams, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore, Anthony Mackie, Brian Tyree Henry
Opening on: May 14, 2021 (formerly May 15, 2020)
In Joe Wright’s adaptation of the novel of the same name that takes the premise of Rear Window to new places, Amy Adams stars as child psychologist Anna Fox, an agoraphobic woman who develops a friendship with a neighbor who lives in the building across the street (played by Julianne Moore), only to witness her friend being murdered by her husband. Except, maybe that’s not actually what happened, and maybe Anna’s medication is playing tricks on her mind.
Army Of The Dead (2021)
68%
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Starring: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana De La Reguera, Theo Rossi
Opening on: May 21, 2021 on Netflix
Before he set about rejiggering Justice League for HBO Max, Zack Snyder returned to his undead roots to helm this zombie thriller about a group of mercenaries who head into the heart of Las Vegas after a zombie outbreak in order to pull off a daring casino heist.
Cruella (2021)
75%
Directed by: Alex Timbers and Craig Gillespie
Starring: Emma Stone, Joel Fry, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Paul Walter Hauser, Emma Thompson
Opening on: May 28, 2021 with Premier Access on Disney+
Emma Stone will star in Disney’s latest live-action remake of an old classic. In the vein of Maleficient, Cruella will focus on the enigmatic villain of 101 Dalmatians in her youth and show how she became obsessed with Dalmatian fur. With Emma Thompson and Mark Strong rounding out the cast, it’s bound to be worth the wait.
A Quiet Place Part II (2021)
91%
Directed by: John Krasinski
Starring: Emily Blunt, Noah Jupe, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, Djimon Hounsou
Opening on: May 28, 2021 (formerly September 17, 2021)
Director John Krasinski returns to helm this sequel, which he also wrote, starring his real-life wife Emily Blunt, as it follows up with the Abbott family after the events of the first film. Judging from the first trailer, we’ll also get some flashbacks to the beginning of the… invasion? Infestation? Whatever you want to call it, it looks like Krasinski has done a bang-up job ratcheting up the tension, and audiences should be in for another great ride.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
56%
Directed by: Michael Chaves
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hilliard
Opening on: June 4, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return to reprise their roles as real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren in this third chapter of the original Conjuring franchise, focusing on a real case they investigated in which a murder suspect invoked demonic possession as a defense for his crimes. Michael Chaves, who directed 2019’s Conjuring-adjacent spinoff The Curse of La Llorona, takes the reins as director, while James Wan remains attached to the film as a producers.
In the Heights (2021)
94%
Directed by: Jon M. Chu
Starring: Anthony Ramos, Leslie Grace, Corey Hawkins, Jimmy Smits, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco
Opening on: June 11, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max
Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu adapts Lin-Manuel Miranda’s breakout musical, In the Heights. The show, which kicked off the Hamilton creator’s career, won four Tony Awards in 2008, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. Chu demonstrated real skill with spectacle in Crazy Rich Asians, and the new movie shares similar themes of reclaiming one’s heritage – it follows the stories of several characters in New York’s heavily Latino neighborhood, Washington Heights, over three days.
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (2021)
68%
Directed by: Will Gluck
Starring: James Corden, Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, David Oyelowo, Elizabeth Debicki
Opening on: June 11, 2021 (formerly July 2, 2021)
First the garden, then the world. The plot for this sequel to the surprise hit loosely based on the work of Beatrix Potter is still under lock and key, but we’re sure it will involve James Corden’s cheeky rabbit causing all sorts of PG-rated trouble. We do not expect any blackberries to be involved, however.
The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021)
25%
Directed by: Patrick Hughes
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Richard E. Grant, Morgan Freeman, Antonio Banderas, Frank Grillo
Opening on: June 16, 2021 (formerly August 20, 2021)
2017’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard didn’t exactly wow the critics, but it was a moderate hit at the box office, so why not give it another go? As indicated by the title, it’s Salma Hayek’s Sonia who now enlists the help of Michael (Ryan Reynolds) in order to rescue her husband — and Michael’s old rival — Darius (Samuel L. Jackson).
Luca (2021)
91%
Directed by: Enrico Casarosa
Starring: Jacob Tremblay, Maya Rudolph, Jack Dylan Grazer, Jim Gaffigan
Opening on: June 18, 2021 on Disney+
The latest offering from Pixar (after 2020’s Soul) will be a deeply personal coming-of-age tale with a twist from director Enrico Casarosa. The story will focus on the title character, a sea monster who lives off the coast of the Italian Riviera who strikes up a friendship with another sea monster; together they discover that they take human form when dry and decide to visit the nearby seaside town for an adventure.
F9 The Fast Saga (2021)
59%
Directed by: Justin Lin
Starring: Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron, Tyrese Gibson, John Cena, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Lucas Black
Opening on: June 25, 2021 (formerly May 28, 2021)
It’s full-throttle and pedal to the metal for the Toretto crime/adventure/anti-terrorism/what-even-are-they family yet again. Director Justin Lin was the man to turn the franchise around, delivering the series’ first Fresh entry on his third try with 2011’s Fast Five (Certified Fresh at 73%); since then, every Fast movie has landed on the red end of the Tomatometer. The new entry will bring the family back together to face off against a new villain played by John Cena… who happens to be Dom Toretto’s brother. Also, Han is back? What? The film was originally slated to open in May of 2020, but was pushed back almost a year to occupy the slot that had originally been reserved for Fast & Furious 10.
Zola (2020)
88%
Directed by: Janicza Bravo
Starring: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough
Opening on: June 30, 2021
Based on a notoriously stranger-than-fiction series of viral tweets (and a subsequent Rolling Stone article) from 2015, this adventure comedy follows a Detroit waitress who embarked on a road trip to Florida with a stripper and ended up spending the craziest two days of her life with her.
The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021)
46%
Directed by: Tom McGrath
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Amy Sedaris, Lisa Kudrow, James Marsden, Jeff Goldblum, Jimmy Kimmel, Eva Longoria
Opening on: July 2, 2021 (formerly September 17, 2021) in theaters and streaming on Peacock
The Boss Baby might be Rotten, but its monster box office take shows the audience is hungry for more. This time, though, the story takes place years after the first film, when the original Boss Baby Ted — voiced by Alec Baldwin — and his older brother Tim have both grown up. Tim now has a smarty-pants infant of his own (Amy Sedaris), who embarks on a secret mission involving her big sister.
The Forever Purge (2021)
48%
Directed by: Everardo Gout
Starring: Ana de la Reguera, Josh Lucas, Tenoch Huerta, Will Patton
Opening on: July 2, 2021
Set after 2016’s Purge: Election Year, in which the Purge was officially abolished, this next chapter in the franchise goes smaller than its predecessors. Forever follows a Mexican couple who become stranded on a ranch and besieged by strangers who miss the good ol’ days of lawless anarchy.
Black Widow (2021)
79%
Directed by: Cate Shortland
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz
Opening on: July 9, 2021 (formerly November 6, 2020) with Premier Access on Disney+
The first Marvel property to kick off its Phase 4 (on the big screen, at least) will be this prequel focusing on Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. The story takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War and follows Natasha as she deals with dangerous people from her past as a double agent. David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, and Florence Pugh co-star, and who knows? Maybe Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye will make an appearance.
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021)
52%
Directed by: Adam Robitel
Starring: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Isabelle Fuhrman, Holland Roden
Opening on: July 16, 2021 (formerly January 7, 2022)
Taylor Russell and Logan Miller return to reprise their roles from the first Escape Room, a Saw-inspired horror-thriller that became something of a surprise hit when it premiered in January of 2019. Though we don’t know exactly what the second film will be about, the first one ended on a pretty suggestive cliffhanger, so we can expect Ben (Miller) and Zoey (Russell) to take part in a new round of deadly games. Originally slated to debut in 2020, and then in 2021, the film was ultimately pushed even further back to 2022.
Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
25%
Directed by: Malcolm D. Lee
Starring: LeBron James, Don Cheadle, Cedric Joe, Sonequa Martin-Green
Opening on: July 16, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max
Speaking of old stories for new audiences, LeBron James‘ long-awaited Space Jam sequel will finally arrive in 2021. In this updated take on the original, Bron and his son (Cedric Joe) are transported to a digital world by an evil AI (voiced by Don Cheadle), who forces the basketball icon to team up with the Looney Toons and play a game of hoops against his digital Goon Squad.
Old (2021)
50%
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Gael García Bernal, Eliza Scanlen, Thomasin McKenzie, Alex Wolff
Opening on: July 23, 2021 (formerly February 26, 2021)
M. Night Shyamalan‘s newest project seems like a fairly straightforward idea, so it’ll be interesting to see where he takes it. In Old, a family on vacation discovers that the isolated beach where they’re relaxing is causing them to age rapidly. This is the first of two films the horror auteur is slated to direct for Universal in the coming years.
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)
35%
Directed by: Robert Schwentke
Starring: Henry Golding, Samara Weaving, Iko Uwais
Opening on: July 23, 2021 (formerly October 22, 2021)
Snake Eyes, the mute ninja/commando previously portrayed by Ray Park in the live-action G.I. Joe film franchise, gets an origin story. The character’s past has always been shrouded in mystery, save for the fact that he was once close friends with enemy ninja Storm Shadow and the fact that an explosion not only severely disfigured his face but also fried his vocal cords. Now we get to see how it all came to be.
The Green Knight (2021)
89%
Director: David Lowery
Starring: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris, Barry Keoghan, Sarita Choudhury
Opening on: July 30, 2021
Based on the 14th century Arthurian poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, this medieval fantasy adventure written and directed by David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, The Old Man & the Gun) appears to be splashed with a touch of horror, at least judging from the cryptic trailer. It was originally slated for a 2020 release before it moved to 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Jungle Cruise (2021)
62%
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Édgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, Paul Giamatti
Opening on: July 30, 2021
Following the path that Pirates of the Caribbean charted so successfully, this new film (franchise?) is based on the Disney theme park attraction of the same name. Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt star, respectively, as a riverboat captain and a scientist on a hunt for a magical cure in this Depression-era action adventure. Comedian Jack Whitehall also joins in the fun, playing Blunt’s character’s brother. Collet-Serra has had a string of action-thriller hits working with Liam Neeson (Commuter, Non-Stop, Unknown), so there’s a chance this one could be slightly darker than anticipated.
Stillwater (2021)
75%
Directed by: Tom McCarthy
Starring: Matt Damon, Abigail Breslin, Camille Cottin
Opening on: July 30, 2021 (formerly November 6, 2020)
Matt Damon stars in this thriller about an Oklahoma oil-rig worker who travels to Marseille, France to unravel a mystery and clear his daughter’s name when when she is imprisoned for a crime she says she didn’t commit. The film co-stars Abigail Breslin and is directed and co-written by Tom McCarthy, who won a pair of Oscars for 2015’s Spotlight, so there’s considerable pedigree behind this project, and there’s no reason not to be optimistic about it.
Vivo (2021)
86%
Directed by: Kirk DeMicco
Starring: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Zoe Saldana, Brian Tyree Henry, Nicole Byer, Leslie David Baker
Opening on: July 30, 2021 in select theaters and August 6, 2021 on Netflix
Hot on the heels of the Oscar-nominated Moana and 2020’s In The Heights movie adaptation, Broadway legend Lin-Manuel Miranda will return to his musical roots with a new animated musical from Sony. Kirk DeMicco will direct, with Miranda voicing the titular musical kinkajou, and the film will stream on Netflix.
The Suicide Squad (2021)
90%
Directed by: James Gunn
Starring: Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, John Cena, Peter Capaldi, Sylvester Stallone
Opening on: August 6, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max
Director James Gunn looks to erase the memory of 2016’s Suicide Squad with this soft quasi-reboot. A handful of the cast members from the first film return, while Idris Elba, John Cena, Peter Capaldi, and more join in on the fun, as Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) gathers the Squad for a secret mission involving a giant starfish.
Free Guy (2021)
80%
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Taika Waititi, Jody Comer, Joe Keery, Lel Rel Howery
Opening on: August 13, 2021 (formerly May 21, 2021)
Ryan Reynolds brings his sarcastic wit and boyishly good-looking everyman charm to this self-referential, special effects-driven comedy. He stars as Guy, a nondescript bank teller non-player character (NPC) in a violent, open-world video game who suddenly becomes self-aware and decides to take his destiny into his own hands. Expect a lot of ironic, self-referential humor and over-the-top action shenanigans, which, when Ryan Reynolds is involved, is essentially its own genre these days.
Respect (2021)
68%
Directed by: Liesl Tommy
Starring: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Marc Maron, Audra McDonald, Mary J. Blige
Opening on: August 13, 2021 (formerly January 15, 2021)
Jennifer Hudson has some big shoes to fill, as she steps into the role of Aretha Franklin in Liesl Tommy’s biopic of the legendary singer in Respect. It was originally slated for a January release before, like a lot of other films, it was delayed by coronavirus-related shutdowns.
Reminiscence (2021)
37%
Directed by: Lisa Joy
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandie Newton, Daniel Wu, Cliff Curtis
Opening on: August 20, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max
Hugh Jackman stars in this sci-fi drama set in a flooded, near-future Miami about a man who offers people the chance to relive any memory. As he begins to fall for one of his clients, he discovers she may or may not be involved in a series of violent crimes and dives into her past to learn the truth. This is the feature debut of Lisa Joy, who previously worked on TV series like Pushing Daisies, Burn Notice, and most recently Westworld.
Candyman (2021)
84%
Directed by: Nia DaCosta
Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tony Todd, Teyonah Parris
Opening on: August 27,2021 (formerly October 16, 2020)
Longtime fan and contemporary horror maestro Jordan Peele is producing this sequel to — not a remake of — the classic 1992 horror film about the murdered son of a slave whose ghost haunts the Chicago neighborhood where the Cabrini Green housing projects once stood. The update is set after the gentrification of Cabrini Green, as an artist learns about the history of his neighborhood and begins to explore it in his work, unknowingly opening a door he may not be able to close.
Cinderella (2021)
41%
Directed by: Kay Cannon
Starring: Camila Cabello, Billy Porter, Idina Menzel
Opening on: September 3 on Amazon Prime (formerly July 16, 2021)
If there’s anyone who can do justice to Whitney Houston‘s turn as the Fairy Godmother, it’s none other than Broadway legend and Pose star Billy Porter. Sure, we might not need another Cinderella story, but what could be better than vocal legends like Idina Menzel and newcomers like Camila Cabello bringing a classic story to life?
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
92%
Directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
Starring: Simu Liu, Tony Leung, Awkwafina
Opening on: September 3, 2021 (formerly July 9, 2021)
After bringing the true story of Bryan Stevenson to screen in this 2019’s Just Mercy, Destin Daniel Cretton will be joining the big leagues for his next project. Shang-Chi will be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first Asian-led film. Kim’s Conveince‘s Simu Liu is set to star, alongside Awkwafina and legendary actor Tony Leung, as the Marvel hero comes to grips with the legacy of his lineage.
The Card Counter (2020)
88%
Directed by: Paul Schrader
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, Willem Dafoe
Opening on: September 10, 2021
Writer-director Paul Schrader, who recently earned an Oscar nomination for First Reformed, helms this thriller about a man (Oscar Isaac) who reverts back to his old, dangerous ways when he meets a young man (Tye Sheridan) out for revenge on a military colonel (Willem Dafoe).
Malignant (2021)
77%
Directed by: James Wan
Starring: Annabelle Wallis, George Young, Jake Abel, McKenna Grace
Opening on: September 10, 2021 (formerly August 14, 2020)
James Wan’s next project stars Annabelle Wallis as a woman who begins to have terrifying visions of gruesome murders, only to discover not just that the killings are real and she is witnessing them in real time, but also that the killer has ties to her mysterious past.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
67%
Directed by: Michael Showalter
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Vincent D’Onofrio, Cherry Jones, Sam Jaeger
Opening on: September 17, 2021
Director Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) takes a more dramatic turn with this film based on the documentary of the same name that chronicles the rise and fall of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, with Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield set to play the infamous couple.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
58%
Directed by: Andy Serkis
Starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Woody Harrelson, Naomie Harris, Stephen Graham
Opening on: October 1, 2021 (formerly October 15, 2021)
Andy Serkis takes the reins for this follow-up to 2018’s Spider-Man-adjacent Sony hit Venom. Tom Hardy returns to reprise his role as journalist Eddie Brock, who entered into a mutually beneficial partnership with the alien symbiote who possessed his body in the first film, and he’ll face off against a new villain in the form of Woody Harrelson’s Carnage, who was teased in the post-credits scene of the first film.
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (2022)
47%
Directed by: Derek Drymon, Jennifer Kluska
Starring: Kathryn Hahn, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key
Opening on: October 1, 2021 (formerly July 23, 2021) exclusively on Amazon Prime
The final chapter in the Hotel Transylvania series will not, in fact, include Adam Sandler as the voice of Dracula, but will focus on Dracula’s human son-in-law Johnny (Andy Samberg), who is inadvertently transformed into a monster just as all his monster cohorts are turned into humans.
The Guilty
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Riley Keough
Opening on: October 1, 2021 on Netflix
Jake Gyllenhaal, Riley Keough, and Peter Sarsgaard star in Antoine Fuqua’s remake of the 2018 Danish thriller of the same name about a police emergency dispatcher who becomes invested in a 9-1-1 call from a woman in the middle of an abduction.
The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
72%
Directed by: Alan Taylor
Starring: Michael Gandolfini, Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, Billy Magnussen, Ray Liotta, Corey Stoll, Alessandro Nivola
Opening on: October 1, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max
Whether you feel that the end of The Sopranos — you know, that controversial fade to black — was fitting and poignant or anti-climactic and unsatisfying, you probably jumped at the news that a Sopranos movie was in the works. With the late James Gandolfini no longer around, however, the only way to go was a prequel, and who better to portray a young Tony Soprano than Gandolfini’s son himself, Michael? Alan Taylor directs this look back at the early years of the iconic TV mobster, with Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, and Ray Liotta in supporting roles.
No Time to Die (2021)
83%
Directed by: Cary Fukunaga
Starring: Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Rami Malek, Naomie Harris, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, Ana de Armas, Lashana Lynch
Opening on: October 8, 2021 (formerly April 2, 2021)
True Detective director Cary Fukunaga takes the reins for the 25th James Bond film, with Daniel Craig returning for his fifth and (presumably) final turn as 007. He’s joined by series regulars Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, and Ben Whishaw, as well as returning characters played by Lea Seydoux and Jeffrey Wright. Recent Best Actor-winner Rami Malek is reported to play the villain, while it’s presumed Captain Marvel‘s Lashana Lynch will play a newer 007 who may have to relinquish her famous code number back to Bond when he comes out of retirement.
Halloween Kills (2021)
38%
Directed by: David Gordon Green
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Anthony Michael Hall
Opening on: October 15, 2021, with simultaneous release on Peacock
The duo of director David Gordon Green and writer Danny McBride proved successful in the 2018 sequel-that-nullified-all-the-other-sequels, Halloween, so they recently announced two more films to close out a new trilogy. The second installment, which sees the return of the newly badass Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her grown-up daughter (Judy Greer), will hit theaters just before, well, Halloween.
The Last Duel (2021)
85%
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer
Opening on: October 15, 2021 (formerly January 8, 2021)
It’s been two years since Ridley Scott did the unthinkable and reshot All The Money In The World weeks before its release date. But this time around, he’ll be racing against history with this Edwardian tale of knights and maidens. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will reunite, with Killing Eve‘s breakout star Jodie Comer filling out the cast.
Dune (2021)
83%
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Jason Momoa, Dave Bautista, Zendaya
Opening on: October 22, 2021
Acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve takes on the massive challenge of re-adapting Frank Herbert’s sprawling sci-fi epic more than 30 years after David Lynch attempted the same and, according to many fans, fell short. At the very least, Villeneuve has assembled an impressive cast (just look at those names!) so it’s now up to him and his co-writers to fashion an engaging script from the daunting source material.
The French Dispatch (2021)
75%
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Benicio Del Toro, Saoirse Ronan, Bill Murray, Jeffrey Wright, Owen Wilson
Opening on: October 22, 2021 (formerly October 16, 2020)
Reportedly inspired by director Wes Anderson’s love of The New Yorker magazine, the latest is a comedic drama that brings to life a handful of stories from the French bureau of a fictional newspaper headquartered in Kansas. The film’s press release calls it a “love letter to journalists,” and it brings together several of Anderson’s regular collaborators in a massive, star-studded cast.
Last Night in Soho (2021)
75%
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg, Terence Stamp
Opening on: October 22, 2021 (formerly April 23, 2021)
Any time Edgar Wright has a new movie coming out, it’s something to look forward to. But throw in the fact that he’s assembled a cast that includes up-and-coming young stars like Anya Taylor-Joy and Thomasin McKenzie, as well as legendary vets like Diana Rigg and Terence Stamp? And the fact that it’s a horror film inspired by both Don’t Look Now and Repulsion? Yes, please, and thank you.
Ron's Gone Wrong (2021)
82%
Directed by: Jean-Philippe Vine, Sarah Smith
Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Jack Dylan Grazer, Olivia Colman, Ed Helms
Opening on: October 22, 2021 (formerly April 23, 2021)
Originally slated for a late 2020 release, Ron’s Gone Wrong was pushed back a few months after 20th Century Fox was acquired by Disney. The animated adventure is set in a world where every child’s best friend is a digitally connected device and follows one young boy who discovers his own robot pal doesn’t quite work the way it should.
Antlers (2021)
59%
Directed by: Scott Cooper
Starring: Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene
Opening on: October 29, 2021 (formerly February 19, 2021)
Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons star in this supernatural thriller about a small-town teacher and her sheriff brother who find themselves in a waking nightmare when they discover one of her students is harboring a terrifying secret in his attic.
The Harder They Fall (2021)
88%
Directed by: Jeymes Samuel
Starring: Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Lakeith Stanfield, Delroy Lindo, Regina King
Opening on: November 3, 2021 on Netflix
Fans of Idris Elba riding a horse should be overjoyed to know that, in addition to Concrete Cowboy, he’s also in a more traditional Western. Here, he stars alongside a powerhouse cast that includes Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, Lakeith Stanfield, Delroy Lindo, and Regina King in a good, old-fashioned revenge tale about a man looking to hunt down the villain who murdered his parents.
Eternals (2021)
47%
Directed by: Chloé Zhao
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kit Harington, Brian Tyree Henry
Opening on: November 5, 2021 (formerly February 12, 2021)
The second film of Marvel’s Phase 4 goes cosmic again with the Eternals. Much of the cast was announced in bits and pieces, with a big reveal at Comic-Con 2019 and a key addition made in August. In brief, the Eternals are powerful immortals who helped shape humanity and history on Earth, and the cast includes a lot of big names, from Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek to Kumail Nanjiani and a couple of Game of Thrones kings, Richard Madden and Kit Harington. Plus, director Chloé Zhao is no slouch herself; she had one of 2018’s best-reviewed films in The Rider. We’ll just have to see how well she makes the transition to big-budget, special effects-driven blockbusters.
Finch (2021)
74%
Directed by: Miguel Sapochnik
Starring: Tom Hanks
Opening on: November 5, 2021 on Apple TV+ (formerly August 20, 2021)
Tom Hanks is back, breaking our hearts again. Here he plays a sickly inventor — and the last human left on a post-apocalyptic earth — who creates a robot to protect the life of his dog when he dies and keep them both company while he’s alive. Will said robot be as lovable as, say, Wilson? Time will tell. Director Miguel Sapochnik boasts an epic resume, particularly in TV – if you need any convincing on this one, just know he directed Game of Thrones’ “Battle of the Bastards” episode.
Red Notice (2021)
37%
Directed by: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds
Opening on: November 12 on Netflix
Director Rawson Marshall Thurber (Central Intelligence, Skyscraper) teams up with Dwayne Johnson for a third time in this action-comedy about a top FBI agent who is forced to team up with two rival criminals (Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds) to take down one of the world’s most wanted.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
63%
Directed by: Jason Reitman
Starring: Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd
Opening on: November 19, 2021 (formerly June 11, 2021)
Jason Reitman will direct a sequel to the original Ghostbusters franchise, unrelated to the all-female reboot directed by Paul Feig in 2016. We still don’t know much about what the story will be, but as casting news trickled in, we did learn that Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace will play a brother and sister, with Carrie Coon as their single mother, and Paul Rudd is in the film as what appears to be a schoolteacher. Originally slated to open on July 10, 2020, the film was pushed back due to concerns regarding the coronavirus outbreak.
Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021)
88%
Directed by: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesus, Vanessa Hudgens, Bradley Whitford
Opening on: November 19, 2021 on Netflix
Between In the Heights and Encanto, Lin-Manuel Miranda was already going to have a big 2021, but he decided to go ahead and drop his feature directorial debut as well. This musical drama stars Andrew Garfield as an aspiring theater composer nearing 30 and hoping for his big break who begins to reexamine his life and his relationships.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)
30%
Directed by: Johannes Roberts
Starring: Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Hannah John-Kamen, Neal McDonough
Opening on: November 24, 2021
Nothing says Thanksgiving like a little zombie horror, right? Sony’s reboot of the massively popular Resident Evil franchise looks to hew closer to the original video games than the Paul W.S. Anderson movies starring Milla Jovovich did. The new film, directed by horror vet Johannes Roberts (The Strangers: Prey at Night, 47 Meters Down), will serve as an origin story focusing on characters and landmarks that will be very familiar to fans of the games.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
94%
Directed by: Jane Campion
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie
Opening on: December 1, 2021 on Netflix
It’s been a while since Jane Campion helmed a feature film, and as if to prove they’re not just interested in sci-fi thrillers and action films, Netflix scooped up her latest as part of their 2021 release plan. Based on the Thomas Savage novel of the same name, the film stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons as two brothers who own a Montana ranch at the turn of the 20th century and find themselves engaged in a bitter rivalry when one of them marries a local widow.
West Side Story (2021)
91%
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Rita Moreno, Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler
Opening on: December 10, 2021 (formerly December 18, 2020)
Steven Spielberg’s new adaptation of the famous Broadway musical of the same name, which is itself an alternative take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, is finally seeing the light of day in late 2020. Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler star in the as Tony and Maria, two teens in 1950s New York City who belong to rival gangs but fall in love with each other and must deal with the consequences.
Nightmare Alley (2021)
80%
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Rooney Mara
Opening on: December 17, 2021 (formerly December 3, 2021)
Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro always has a dozen or so plates spinning, but his next project is this adaptation of the novel of the same name by William Lindsay Graham. Starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett, the story revolves around a manipulative carnival hustler who “hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is.” It doesn’t have a specific release date yet, but a recent Tweet by Searchlight Pictures announced it would be released in December of 2021.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
93%
Directed by: Jon Watts
Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jamie Foxx, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alfred Molina
Opening on: December 17, 2021 (formerly November 5, 2021)
There’s a lot to break down in the upcoming third Sony/MCU Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker, with some pretty big potential implications for both studios and their respective franchises. Suffice it to say, there will be some heady, game-changing plot elements at play, and if you want to know more than that, you can always read our breakdown of everything we know about the movie so far.
The King's Man (2021)
41%
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Harris Dickinson, Ralph Fiennes, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Daniel Brühl, Stanley Tucci, Djimon Hounsou
Opening on: December 22, 2021 (formerly August 20, 2021)
While both a third installment of the Kingsman franchise and a Statesman spin-off are still on the way, audiences will first get a taste of how the whole thing came to exist in the first place with this prequel, set in the early 1900s. Ralph Fiennes leads an all-star cast in an origin story that will show how a group of ex-soldiers formed the spy agency.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
63%
Directed by: Lana Wachowski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lambert Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Groff, Jessica Henwick, Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Opening on: December 22, 2021 (formerly April 1, 2022), with simultaneous release on HBO Max
Somehow, some way, Neo and Trinity are set to return to the world of The Matrix, as Lana Wachowski is set to bring us another sci-fi action-adventure set in the world digital world she helped create way back in 1999. We won’t get Agent Smith or Morpheus this time around, but people like Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick, and Priyanka Chopra are joining the cast, so that’s exciting. The film was already delayed once to 2022 after it was originally slated to open in May of 2021, and now it’s been moved back up again to a very competitive Christmas weekend.
Sing 2 (2021)
72%
Directed by: TBD
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Selena Gomez, Shawn Mendes, John C. Reilly, Idina Menzel, Resse Witherspoon, Nick Kroll, Scarlett Johansson
Opening on: December 22, 2021
Originally slated for Christmas 2020, Universal’s Sing 2 will release summer 2021 instead. The animated feature about a koala talent agent will see most of the principal cast return, with the addition of Idina Menzel and Selena Gomez. Chances are it’ll be another big family-friendly hit.
Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)
87%
Directed by: Simon Curtis
Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Michelle Dockery, Matthew Goode, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Dominic West, Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye
Opening on: December 22, 2021
Fans of the popular ITV/PBS series rejoiced when the Crawley family and the staff of their famous estate made the leap to the big screen in 2019, and we’re getting a second trip just in time for Christmas, 2021. The original cast is returning, with new additions like Dominic West, Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, and Nathalie Baye, while Simon Curtis (My Week with Marilyn) will take on directorial duties. No word yet on what exactly the story of the new film will be.
Don't Look Up (2020)
- -
Directed by: Adam McKay
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande
Opening on: December 24, 2021 on Netflix
Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice) directs a massive ensemble cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence in this satirical take on the disaster movie, following a pair of low-level astronomers who discover an approaching comet will destroy the planet and embark on a media tour to try to get the world to take them seriously.
Sherlock Holmes 3
Directed by: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams
Opening on: TBD (formerly December 22, 2021)
With Robert Downey Jr. free from the MCU, it’s finally time for the long awaited Sherlock Holmes sequel. By 2021, it’ll have been a decade since RDJ and Jude Law last brought their mischievous friendship to Victorian England. Rachel McAdams is set to return as Irene Adler, with a script from Chris Brancato, best known for his work in television on Hannibal and Narcos, and Bohemian Rhapsody director Dexter Fletcher is at the helm, though he did report back in October of 2020 that the film was on the “back burner,” so it likely won’t hold to its 2021 release plans.
Escape from Spiderhead
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, Jurnee Smollett, Mark Paguio, Tess Haubrich
Opening on: TBD on Netflix
Working from a script by Deadpool writing duo Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Joseph Kosinski (TRON: Legacy, Top Gun: Maverick) directs this action film about a pair of near-future convicts who agree to a series of experimental drug tests in exchange for shorter prison sentences. The film was initially thought to be getting a 2022 release, but as of now, we haven’t gotten concrete word on that.
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022)
56%
Directed by: Chris Bailey, Mark Koetsier
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Cera, Michelle Yeoh, George Takei, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Honsou
Opening on: 2021
Originally slated for release in 2017, the star-studded animated feature was scheduled to finally see the light of day in 2021, though we don’t know if that will come to fruition. Inspired by Mel Brooks‘ classic western Blazing Saddles, the cast includes Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson and Ricky Gervais.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)
96%
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
Starring: TBD
Opening on: TBD on Netflix
This has been one of Guillermo del Toro’s long-in-development passion projects, and it will also be his first foray into animation. The stop motion-animated adaptation of the classic tale will reportedly be a tad darker than we may be accustomed to, with del Toro calling it a “brutalist fable.” Like The Power of the Dog, this was picked up by Netflix and given a 2021 release date; whether or not the streaming giant will put it in theaters remains to be seen.
Jan-Mar | Apr-June | July-Sep | Oct-Dec
The Best Movies of 2019 | The Most Anticipated Movies of 2020
Thumbnail image by Jaap Buitendijk/©Focus Features.
(Photo by Shudder. Thumbnail: RLJE Films/Everett Collection.)
Over the past year, we’ve collected every Fresh and Certified Fresh horror movie with at least 20 reviews, creating our guide to the best horror movies of 2020, ranked by Tomatometer.
Before the pandemic shut theaters down, horror was off to a decent start, on pace to keep up with the long strides the genre had made in the 2010s. The Invisible Man resurrected the Universal monster movie (and at the fraction of what the 2017 Mummy cost), while Color Out of Space was the best H.P. Lovecraft adaptation since Re-Animator.
Sheltered in place, audiences turned to streaming, quickly raising quarantine-shot Host and Spain’s social class-dissecting The Platform into word-of-mouth hits. Streaming helped horror movies with diverse themes and origins get more attention than they would’ve during normal distribution times, like the Canadian First Nations zombie film Blood Quantum, the political La Llorona, Russia’s alien thriller Sputnik, and Sudanese refugee haunter His House.
As theaters edged towards re-opening later in the year, movies like Freaky, The Rental, and Possessor saw some success in luring people out of their homes.
See the full ranking of the best horror movies of 2020. —Alex Vo
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The early months of 2020 saw unprecedented changes in the movie industry as Hollywood attempted figure out how best to respond a global crisis. Part of that response was to bring movies to the home market earlier than usual, with at least one film, Trolls World Tour, opting to release on home entertainment media on the same day as its scheduled theatrical debut. For others, it has meant postponing opening weekends, even if no new date has been announced (you can find those films in our TBD section below).
With all of that said, there is still a wealth of exciting movies this year, even if we have to wait a little bit longer for some of them. We’ve still got a new entry from Pixar in Soul, and Gal Gadot embraces the ’80s in Wonder Woman 1984. Plus, we’re also getting a slew of new thrillers, horror films, animated treats, action-adventures, and more. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly turned things upside down this year, but there are still some things we can look forward to, so start marking these titles in your calendar. [Updated on 11/5/20]
Jan-Mar | Apr-June | July-Sep | Oct-Dec | TBD
Breakdown of 2020 Movie Delays
The Best Movies of 2019 | The Most Anticipated Movies of 2021
The Grudge (2020)
20%
Directed by: Nicolas Pesce
Starring: Andrea Riseborough, Betty Gilpin, John Cho, Demian Bichir, Lin Shaye
Opening on: January 3, 2020
A remake of the American remake of the Japanese horror favorite, Grudge once again focuses on a vengeful ghost with a long memory. Critical darling Andrea Riseborough stars, and director Nicolas Pesce has some form: critics called his The Eyes of My Mother a haunting slasher.
Bad Boys for Life (2020)
76%
Directed by: Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah
Starring: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence
Opening on: January 17, 2020
Bad Boys and Bad Boys II may both be Rotten, but they live in the hearts of many action fans as exemplary buddy-cop flicks, and both have Audience Scores of 78%. While original director Michael Bay is not coming back for Bad Boys for Life, producer Jerry Bruckheimer is overseeing the film, and we have confidence that directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah of Black and Gangsta will match his signature style and pace.
Dolittle (2020)
15%
Directed by: Stephen Gaghan
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Michael Sheen, Antonio Banderas, Tom Holland, Selena Gomez, Marion Cotillard, John Cena
Opening on: January 17, 2020
After a pair of poorly received films starring Eddie Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. is ready to take up the mantle of Doctor Dolittle in a new screen adaptation directed by Stephen Gaghan (Gold, Syriana). This film will be based more on the second book by author Hugh Lofting, and it will co-star Antonio Banderas and Michael Sheen, with the voices of Tom Holland, Marion Cotillard, Selena Gomez, John Cena, Emma Thompson, and more.
Weathering With You (2019)
91%
Directed by: Makoto Shinkai
Starring: Kotaro Daigo, Nana Mori, Tsubasa Honda, Shun Oguri, Sakura Kiryu
Opening on: January 17, 2020
The latest animated adventure from Makoto Shinkai, the acclaimed director of Your Name, centers on a pair of teens, one of whom can control the weather, who meet and form a bond with each other, before one of them reveals a secret that will change both of them forever.
The Gentlemen (2019)
76%
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Grant, Jeremy Strong, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding
Opening on: January 24, 2020
After a bit of a departure with 2019’s live-action Aladdin remake, Guy Ritchie returns to his roots with this British gangster tale about an American expat (Matthew McConaughey) with a weed empire in London whose imminent retirement from the business spawns a criminal free-for-all for his territory. Fans of Ritchie’s early work are excited to see him at the helm of another crime caper, and it’s hard to beat the sight of a slimy-looking Hugh Grant playing against type.
The Rhythm Section (2020)
28%
Directed by: Reed Morano
Starring: Blake Lively, Jude Law, Sterling K. Brown, Max Casella
Opening on: January 31, 2020
Blake Lively stars in the latest troubled female assassin movie, based on the eponymous novel by Mark Burnell. She plays Stephanie Patrick, a plane crash survivor who wants to get to the bottom of the disaster that killed her family and discovers it was no accident, which sets her on a path of revenge.
Gretel & Hansel (2020)
63%
Directed by: Oz Perkins
Starring: Sophia Lillis, Sammy Leakey, Alice Krige
Opening on: January 31, 2020
From the director who previously brought us The Blackcoat’s Daughter and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House comes a dark new take on the classic fairy tale about a brother and sister who fall prey to cannibalistic witch that entices them with tasty treats. Sophia Lillis (It, Sharp Objects) and Sammy Leakey star as the titular duo, who embark on a desperate search for food, only to encounter something far more evil than we’ve seen in any previous iteration of the story.
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
79%
Directed by: Cathy Yan
Starring: Margot Robbie, Jurnee Smollett-Ball, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Opening on: February 7, 2020
We last saw Margot Robbie’s wily Harley Quinn get in all kinds of trouble in Suicide Squad. What happens when she joins Birds of Prey, DC’s all-ladies team of adventurers? Sheer. Unadulterated. Mayhem. Along for the ride will be Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who were cast as Black Canary and Huntress, respectively, in September, and Rosie Perez, playing Renee Montoya. They will face off against Ewan McGregor as the Black Mask.
The Lodge (2019)
75%
Directed by: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
Starring: Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Richard Armitage
Opening on: February 7, 2020
Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz, the duo who brought us 2014’s chilling psychological thriller Goodnight Mommy, return with another striking horror film. Riley Keough plays Grace, a young woman who is left alone at a winter lodge with her boyfriend’s two children — but not everything, or everyone, is quite what they seem, and as secrets are revealed and tensions rise, there may be more than just personal history to worry about.
The Photograph (2020)
74%
Directed by: Stella Meghie
Starring: LaKeith Stanfield, Issa Rae, Chelsea Peretti, Courtney B. Vance, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lil Rel Howery, Rob Morgan
Opening on: February 14, 2020
LaKeith Stanfield and Issa Rae star in this romantic drama about a woman named Mae whose mother dies and leaves behind a photograph that reveals secrets about her past. As Mae delves deeper into her mother’s life, she begins to fall for a journalist assigned to write a story about her.
Downhill (2020)
36%
Directed by: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Starring: Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Miranda Otto, Kristofer Hivju, Zach Woods
Opening on: February 14, 2020
Nat Faxon and Jim Rash helm this remake of the 2014 Swedish comedy-drama Force Majeure, which centers on a married relationship on the rocks after the husband abandons the family during an avalanche scare. In this version, that couple is played by Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, indicating it may lean a little harder on the comedy than the drama, and what more perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to watch another couple in a passive-aggressive tug of war?
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
64%
Directed by: Jeff Fowler
Starring: James Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Jim Carrey, Tika Sumpter, Neal McDonough
Opening on: February 14, 2020
The first trailer for this adaptation of the classic video game famously drew the ire of Sonic fans around the world, prompting the studio to announce that it would be updating the look of the character. This led to a push back from its original 2019 release date – but on the plus side, those same fans were all about Jim Carrey as villain Dr. Robotnik. An updated trailer featuring a redesigned Sonic that was released in November of 2019 was met with wholehearted approval from fans, so here’s hoping the rest of the film is up to snuff.
Blumhouse's Fantasy Island (2020)
9%
Directed by: Jeff Wadlow
Starring: Lucy Hale, Maggie Q, Portia Doubleday, Charlotte McKinney, Michael Peña, Michael Rooker
Opening on: February 14, 2020
Moviegoers of a certain age may remember the popular TV drama Fantasy Island, in which visitors to the titular vacation spot would be granted a chance to live out their wildest fantasies for a price. Blumhouse has decided to twist the concept into one of its horror offerings to bring it to the big screen, as this adaptation centers on a group of guests whose fantasies spiral out of control dangerously, and they must figure out how to survive.
The Call of the Wild (2020)
63%
Directed by: Chris Sanders
Starring: Harrison Ford, Omar Sy, Karen Gillan, Dan Stevens, Bradley Whitford
Opening on: February 21, 2020
The classic Jack London novel gets the big screen treatment again, and judging from its first trailer, it would seem that it focuses only on a small portion of the source material, much like the 1935 adaptation starring Clark Gable. In this film, a St. Bernard/Scotch Collie mix named Buck is stolen and transported up into Yukon territory, where he befriends a man named John Thornton and embarks on an adventure. Harrison Ford takes the lead human role, while Buck himself looks to be entirely CGI.
The Invisible Man (2020)
92%
Directed by: Leigh Whannell
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Storm Reid
Opening on: February 28, 2020
After 2017’s The Mummy failed to launch Universal’s cinematic universe of classic monsters, they handed the reins of The Invisible Man over to their horror partners at Blumhouse for a modern, updated standalone feature. Elisabeth Moss stars as the former lover of an abusive sociopath who has committed suicide — or has he? Maybe that’s him breathing over her shoulder and lighting things on fire in her house.
Onward (2020)
88%
Directed by: Dan Scanlon
Starring: Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Octavia Spencer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Opening on: March 6, 2020
Marvel stars Tom Holland and Chris Pratt lend their voices to Pixar’s latest film, a fantasy adventure set in a contemporary world filled with magical creatures about a pair of elf brothers who set off on a road trip — with the reanimated lower extremities of their deceased father — to discover if there is any real magic left to be found.
Bloodshot (2020)
32%
Directed by: Dave Wilson
Starring: Vin Diesel, Eiza Gonzalez, Sam Heughan
Opening on: March 13, 2020
Who is Bloodshot? If the Valiant Comics assassin’s relaunch series was any indication, that is the big question. An unstoppable super-soldier powered by nanomachines, Bloodshot’s past is a mystery to him, and he’s on a mission to find out who he is and who – or what – is controlling him. With Vin Diesel as the titular character, expect a heavy side of testosterone with this slice of sci-fi.
Trolls World Tour (2020)
72%
Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David P. Smith
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Jamie Dornan, Sam Rockwell, Rachel Bloom, Anderson.Paak
Opening on: April 10, 2020
After saving their colors and learning the true value of happiness in the Certified Fresh Trolls, the high-haired crew returns for another groovy adventure with Anna Kendrick again starring as Queen Poppy. She will be joined by a star-studded cast including Sam Rockwell, Rachel Bloom, Anthony Ramos, Anderson.Paak, Karan Soni, Flula Borg, Jamie Dornan, Kelly Clarkson, and more.
SCOOB! (2020)
48%
Directed by: Tony Cervone
Starring: Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried, Gina Rodriguez, Frank Welker, Will Forte, Mark Wahlberg
Premiering on VOD on: May 15, 2020
Warner Bros. offers up a new animated film based on the classic Hanna Barbera characters, this time focusing on the relationship between Shaggy (voiced by Will Forte) and Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker). We get to see how the two met and became best buds before teaming up with Fred (Zac Efron), Daphne (Amanda Seyfried), and Velma (Gina Rodriguez) to solve crimes. Also, Scoob talks in full sentences now. Originally slated for a theatrical release, the film is now scheduled to go straight to VOD rental instead.
The Lovebirds (2020)
66%
Directed by: Michael Showalter
Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Issa Rae, Anna Camp
Premiering on: May 22 on Netflix (formerly April 3, 2020)
Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae star in this romantic comedy about a couple on the verge of a break-up who become embroiled in a murder mystery and must work together to clear their name. Veteran comedy writer Michael Showalter, who previously directed Nanjiani in the sleeper hit The Big Sick, is back in the director’s chair for this one, with Pitch Perfect‘s Anna Camp in a supporting role. After being pulled from its initial theatrical release, it was announced that The Lovebirds would move directly to Netflix, but a launch date for the comedy has not been announced yet.
Artemis Fowl (2020)
8%
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Ferdia Shaw, Judi Dench, Josh Gad, Colin Farrell, Hong Chau
Premiering on: June 12 on Disney+
Director Kenneth Branagh and stars Judi Dench and Josh Gad, who all worked together on last year’s Murder on the Orient Express, reunite for this adaptation of the popular fantasy book series that centers on a young criminal mastermind who kidnaps a fairy in hopes of ransoming her to an evil pixie in exchange for his father. With all of the release date shake-ups due to the coronavirus outbreak, Disney has decided to skip Artemis Fowl’s theatrical release altogether, opting instead to release the film directly on its streaming service, Disney+.
Greyhound (2020)
78%
Directed by: Aaron Schneider
Starring: Tom Hanks, Elisabeth Shue, Stephen Graham, Lee Norris, Rob Morgan
Opening on: Premiering on Apple TV+ on July 10, 2020 (formerly June 12, 2020)
Tom Hanks is no stranger to WWII movies (see: Saving Private Ryan), and he’ll return to the theater of war to command the naval ship Greyhound, which was pursued by German U-boats across the Atlantic Ocean along with 36 other Allied ships. Director Aaron Schneider (Get Low) won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short back in 2003.
The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)
92%
Directed by: Armando Iannucci
Starring: Dev Patel, Peter Capaldi, Aneurin Barnard, Ben Whishaw, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Gwendoline Christie, Benedict Wong
Opening on: August 28, 2020 (formerly May 8, 2020)
Dev Patel stars in a reimagining of the classic Charles Dickens novel, told through a comedic lens by Armando Iannucci, the man behind such scathing satires as In the Loop, The Death of Stalin, and HBO’s Veep. The production boasts an impressive cast that includes Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Ben Whishaw, and Peter Capaldi.
Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
83%
Directed by: Dean Parisot
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Samara Weaving, Jillian Bell, Kristen Schaal, Anthony Carrigan
Opening on: August 28, 2020 (simultaneous VOD and select theater release)
Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan have all grown up, but their time-traveling adventures aren’t over yet. In this decades-later sequel, the goofy duo are visited by someone from the future who tells them they must create a song to save the world. Will the Wyld Stallyns be up to the task? Of course they will.
The New Mutants (2020)
36%
Directed by: Josh Boone
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga
Opening on: August 28, 2020
The Fault in Our Stars director Josh Boone collects some of today’s hottest young stars — including Split’s Anya Taylor-Joy, Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams, and Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton — to play next-generation X-Men from Marvel’s comic book series of the same name. But the New Mutants’ dark path is riddled with horrors as they discover their abilities while imprisoned in a secret facility.
Tenet (2020)
70%
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: John David Washington, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Robert Pattinson, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Caine, Himesh Patel
Opening on: September 3, 2020 (formerly August 12, 2020)
We knew for a while that Christopher Nolan’s next film would be called Tenet, and we knew who was on board to star in it, but outside the fact that the story would have something to do with international espionage, we knew little else. The trailers for the film are cryptic enough that we still kind of don’t know what’s going on, but we do know that John David Washington will play some sort of agent who is able to experience time both forwards and backwards, sometimes simultaneously…? We think…? Originally scheduled for a July release, the film will now open in 70 markets worldwide on August 26 and in select theaters in the US on Labor Day weekend.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
82%
Directed by: Charlie Kaufman
Starring: Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, David Thewlis
Opening on: September 4, 2020 (on Netflix)
Writer-director Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa, writer of Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) returns to the big screen after a five-year hiatus. Details are thin on his next film, though it’s been described as a dramatic thriller about a couple en route to meet the boyfriend’s parents — even as the girlfriend is considering breaking up with him — who are forced to take a detour that ends up being more perilous than they expected.
Mulan (2020)
72%
Directed by: Niki Caro
Starring: Yifei Liu, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Gong Li
Opening on: September 4 , 2020 ($29.99 on Disney+)
Following Disney’s live-action remake trend comes Mulan, directed by Niki Caro of Whale Rider and North Country fame. Featuring Chinese star Liu Yifei as the titular character and a host of other Chinese legends like Donnie Yen, Gong Li, and Jet Li, this one is poised to conquer the global box office and – if it taps into the animated original’s magic – our hearts.
Antebellum (2020)
31%
Directed by: Gerard Bush, Christopher Renz
Starring: Janelle Monáe, Jena Malone, Jack Huston, Kiersey Clemons, Eric Lange
Premiering on VOD on: September 18, 2020 (formerly August 21, 2020)
This psychological mystery’s first teaser trailer didn’t give a whole lot away, which is probably a good thing. We do know from the film’s synopsis that it centers on a successful writer played by Janell Monáe who becomes trapped in some sort of alternate reality — possibly one set in the slavery-era American South — and must figure out a way to break free. It’s definitely giving off some Get Out and Us vibes, which isn’t too surprising, considering the film has played up the fact that “the producer of” those films is behind this one as well.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
89%
Directed by: Aaron Sorkin
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Frank Langella, Mark Rylance, Jeremy Strong, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Michael Keaton
Opening on: September 25, 2020 (Limited) followed by premiere on Netflix on October 16, 2020
Aaron Sorkin began writing the script for this historical drama back in 2007, but the project suffered several setbacks that delayed it for more than a decade. Now, with an impressive cast on board and Sorkin in the director’s chair, we’ll finally get his retelling of the controversial trial of seven men who were charged with conspiracy and inciting to riot during the anti-Vietnam War protests in the late 1960s.
Roald Dahl's The Witches (2020)
50%
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci
Opening on: October 22, 2020 (on HBO Max in the US), October 28, 2020 (in theaters worldwide)
Robert Zemeckis will direct this remake of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, which was first brought to the big screen by director Nicolas Roeg in 1990. Zemeckis has some big shoes to fill: the original tale of an annual convention of the world’s witches that is interrupted by an inquisitive young boy sits at 100% on the Tomatometer (and its opening sequence has been terrifying young kids for decades). Anne Hathaway, who will star as the Grand High Witch, has even bigger shoes to fill, though: Anjelica Huston’s performance as the world’s head witch has made the character one of the most memorable kids’ villains in cinema.
Mank (2020)
83%
Directed by: David Fincher
Starring: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Tuppence Middleton, Charles Dance
Opening on: November 13, 2020 (limited, followed by release on Netflix on December 4)
Working from a script written by his father Jack Fincher, director David Fincher tackles a piece of Hollywood history in Mank, which centers on screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz’s battles with Orson Welles over writing credits on Welles’ masterpiece Citizen Kane. Gary Oldman is set to star in the title role, with supporting turns from Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, and Tuppence Middleton.
Happiest Season (2020)
82%
Directed by: Clea DuVall
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Mary Steenburgen, Victor Garber, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy
Opening on: November 25, 2020
Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis star in this holiday rom-com about a woman who plans to propose to her girlfriend at her family’s holiday party, only to discover she hasn’t come out to her conservative parents. This is actress-writer-director Clea DuVall’s sophomore feature, which she co-wrote with Mary Holland, and it should be out just in time for Thanksgiving.
The Croods: A New Age (2020)
76%
Directed by: Joel Crawford
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone
Opening on: November 25, 2020
We don’t know if the creatures in The Croods were prehistorically accurate, but we do know the family adventure was prehysterical! (Sorry about that.) The whole family returns for the sequel, with Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, and more reprising their roles. Original co-director Kirk DeMicco is off making Vivo (see November releases), and so first-time feature director Joel Crawford, a veteran story artist, takes the reins.
Soul (2020)
95%
Directed by: Pete Docter
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, John Ratzenberger, Daveed Diggs
Opening on: December 25, 2020 on Disney+ (formerly November 20, 2020)
The second Pixar offering of the year features Jamie Foxx as a jazz-loving middle school teacher whose soul is separated from his body during an accident and transported to a training center for newer souls preparing to enter the bodies of newborn babies. There, he meets a soul in training (voiced by Tina Fey) who has been trapped there for years.
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
57%
Directed by: Patty Jenkins
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal
Opening in theaters and streaming on HBO Max on: December 25, 2020
As villain Cheetah, Bridemaids’ Kristen Wiig climbs aboard the Wonder Woman sequel, which sees Gal Gadot returning to her Amazon-princess role that catapulted the first film to a $412.5 million box office, a Certified Fresh 92% Tomatometer score, and the No. 2 spot in our list of the 64 Best Superhero Movies of All Time. The action is set during the Cold War in the ’80s and finds Chris Pine reappearing as Wonder Woman’s love interest Steve Trevor, despite his apparent death in the first film.
Promising Young Woman (2020)
90%
Directed by: Emerald Fennell
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Laverne Cox, Alison Brie, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Adam Brody, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon
Opening on: December 25, 2020 (formerly April 17, 2020)
Killing Eve showrunner Emerald Fennell makes her feature writing and directing debut with this thriller starring Carey Mulligan as a vigilante who pretends to be drunk at bars, luring men who claim they want to help her, and then confronts them when their advances inevitably turn sexual.
Jan-Mar | Apr-June | July-Sep | Oct-Dec | TBD
Breakdown of 2020 Movie Delays
The Best Movies of 2019 | The Most Anticipated Movies of 2020
Thumbnail images by Joshua Richards/©Searchlight Pictures, ©Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Spanish-language animation — along with Spanish-language TV, horror, and cinema at large — is on the rise. Over the last 15 years animators from all over the Latinx diaspora have emerged to tell stories in a variety of animated mediums: traditional 2D animation, 3D computer-generated graphics, stop-motion, rotoscoping, and beyond. And while many of their names aren’t as synonymous with animation as Disney, Miyazaki, or even Bakshi and Bluth, with such an abundance of talented creators in the game it’s high time more viewers became familiar with their work. That said, spoiler alert, there is a Disney film on this list. Gotta give props where they’re due.
Like the Latinx diaspora itself, the movies on this list come from all over the world and tell all kinds of stories — from fantastical dreamland adventures, to horrifying stories of survival, to every coming-of-age beat in between — all styled to their creator’s unique visions. Some are geared toward children, others should never be viewed by a child. But they are all fantastic pieces of work that any animation (or movie) lover should know.
Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles (2018)
98%
Country: Spain
Set in the 1930s, Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles is a surreal journey through the making of director Luis Buñuel’s documentary Land Without Bread. Following the fallout of his first film, Buñuel is stranded without a project. When a bet backfires, he finds himself traveling with anthropologist Maurice Legenre through the Las Hurdes region of Spain, filming a documentary. Buñuel borrows from its titular director’s life and work, but is primarily based on Fermín Solis’ graphic novel Buñuel en el laberinto de las tortugas. It’s currently Certified Fresh, with many critics praising its innovative, surrealist imagery, and its ability to do a lot with very little. The Wrap’s Carlos Aguilar said: “The 2D animated rendering of the master filmmaker is more graphic interpretation than faithful portrait, perfect to cruise between reality and the anxiety-fueled nightmares that besiege his sleep.”
The Wolf House (2018)
96%
Country: Chile
(Photo by Kimstim Films)
An eerie stop-motion animation that will chill you to your bones, La Casa Lobo is not for the faint of heart. It tells the story of Maria, a woman who escapes a secretive German colony as she takes refuge in a house in southern Chile. Directors Jaoquín Cociña and Cristóbal León shot the film over five years, using 12 different locations in the process, including Casa Maauad in Mexico City, the National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago, Chile, and Upstream Gallery in Amsterdam, Netherlands. All that globe-trotting seems to have paid off in terrifying dividends: Critics agree it’s a viewing experience like no other. La Casa Lobo is an instant folk-horror classic, a terrifying fairy tale bound to stick with you long after the credits roll.
Olimpia (2018)
- -
Country: Mexico
In 1968, a coalition of students from across México came together to push for social and political change. This protest, known as the Mexican Movement of 1968 (Movimiento Estudiantil), provides the backdrop for Olimpia. The film follows three students at the Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) as the school is seized by the military following massive student-led unrest. It’s been hailed by critics for showing a new perspective on the events, drawing comparisons to 1968’s El Grito, the long-banned documentary that captured the protests as they unfolded. The outcome resulted in several high-profile massacres with a lasting impact on the country (as seen in Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, set between 1970 and 1971), and Olimpia effectively re-creates the events which ignited the movement. The rotoscope effect adds a layer of reality to the proceedings, while simultaneously giving it an uncanny valley feel that amps up the tension. An important film about an important moment of time, Olimpia is a good starting place for anyone looking to learn more about the Movimiento Estudiantil.
Coco (2017)
97%
Country: USA
(Photo by Pixar / courtesy Everett Collection)
A celebration of music and country, Coco is widely known in the U.S. as an English-language film, but the Spanish-language version of the film is one of the few dubs that is widely beloved (next to the epic Spanish language dub of The Lion King, of course). Coco was the first film released by the studio to feature an exclusively Latinx cast, and cast members including Gael García Bernal, Alfonso Arua, Sofía Espinosa, Luis Valdez, and Carla Medina were able to reprise their roles for the dub. Doubly helpful was everyone doing their own singing. The radio version of main heartbreaker “Remember Me” was sung by Mexicana folk singer Natalia Lafourcade and US pop star Miguel, both of whom were already up to the task of singing en Español. Because the story already takes place in México and deals with culturally specific beliefs and celebrations, there’s little about the movie’s content that reads as phony, helping it become the highest-grossing original animated film in México. That, and releasing it just in time for Día de los Muertos. Whatever language you watch it in, Coco is a celebration of Mexican life, culture, and music that’s perfect for viewers of all ages.
Birdboy: The Forgotten Children (2015)
94%
Country: Spain
Based on co-director Alberto Vázquez’ graphic novel, Birdboy takes place on an island devastated by a massive factory explosion that has left half its land toxic, the water fishless, and our hero Birdboy possessed by a demon. After spending years isolated from the rest of society, Birdboy’s life is forever changed when Dinki, a young mouse from an abusive home, finds him on her journey to freedom. Their attempts to escape the island are undermined by a ruthless police force determined to find and capture Birdboy — dead or alive. You know, just your basic coming-of-age story that tackles ecological disaster, drug abuse, and the dangers of religious extremism. The 2016 Best Animated Feature winner at the Goya Awards (and a Rotten Tomatoes off-the-radar staff pick), Birdboy was hailed by critics as an oddball triumph, heavily praised for its striking animation — at once whimsical and terrifying — and ability to find hope inside its dark world. If the themes didn’t make it obvious, Birdboy is definitely not for younger viewers (though anyone old enough to Tweet is likely already familiar with the abject terror of living in a world on fire and may find it, sadly, #relatablecontent). Those equipped to wade into this dreary world may find themselves leaving with a little more hope than they ever could have imagined.
Virus tropical (2017)
78%
Country: Colombia
(Photo by Interior13 Cine)
Virus Tropical is a black-and-white piece of animated perfection based on Colombian-Ecuadorian cartoonist Power Paola’s graphic memoirs of the same name. Paola, the youngest of three siblings and by far the strangest, can’t seem to figure out how to fit in a society that demands compliance. It’s an exploration of identity, a coming-of-age story rich with self discovery. The film’s animation is reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, sketchy in the best sense and full of imaginative imagery born of Paola’s particular worldview. It’s a joyous, melancholy ode to growing up and learning how to be yourself against all odds.
Underdogs (2013)
- -
Country: Argentina
(Photo by TWC / courtesy Everett Collection)
Football (or, as Ted Lasso would call it, soccer) fans will find much to like in Metegol, a charming 3D animated feature known in the U.S. as Underdogs. The film follows Amadeo and his beloved foosball table, whose figurines have suddenly come to life. Together, they must defeat an evil bully who is determined to destroy them. Though director Juan José Campanella is better known for his live-action filmography, which includes The Secret in Their Eyes and several episodes of AMC’s outstanding Halt and Catch Fire, he works well in the animated space. The camera work is fluid, and though it has some of the shortcomings of lower-budgeted CGI, it’s never distracting to the story. It’s geared toward younger audiences, but it moves quickly enough, and once the jokes start rolling even viewers may find themselves chuckling along.
Wrinkles (2014)
93%
Country: Spain
(Photo by GKids / courtesy Everett Collection)
Most animated features feel like they’re geared towards young people, and it’s even rarer to find animated films that take on the complexities of aging. Writer Paco Roca’s Arrugas (adapted from his comic book of the same name) explores the lives of elderly people living in a retirement home. As newly admitted Emilio becomes acquainted with his new surroundings via his charming roommate Miguel (who may or may not be a bit of a kleptomaniac), it dawns on Emilio that he is not simply here because he is old; he has early onset Alzhemiers. The recipient of the 2014 Goya Award for Best Animated Feature, Arrugas doesn’t sugarcoat much, which can make it a bit difficult to watch. But with a charming cast of characters, warm humor, and endless insight, it’s a bittersweet meditation on life and love. Unfortunately the original version of the film isn’t currently streaming in the U.S., but if you’re curious you may be able to find the English dub, which features Martin Sheen and George Coe in the lead roles.
Anina (2013)
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Country: Uruguay/Colombia
(Photo by 3GTG)
Anina, adapted from a novel by Sergio López Suárez, tells the story of young Anina Yatay Salas, the girl with the triple palindrome name (thanks, dad). After a fateful sandwich-related mishap, Anina and her arch nemesis, Yisel, receive a punishment so strange it nearly breaks Anina’s wild spirit. It was submitted as Uruguay’s entry for Best Foreign Language film for the 86th Academy Awards, and though it wasn’t nominated, remains a lovely feat of 2D animation from director Alfredo Soderguit.
Chico & Rita (2010)
88%
Country: Spain/UK
(Photo by GKIDS)
Chico & Rita has more than enough music and energy to keep you dancing long into the night. It tells the tale of the titular Cuban musicians whose passion for their craft is matched only by their love and adoration for one another. Winner of the Goya Award for Best Animated Film, Chico & Rita’s unique animation style flows as freely as the jazz music at its center. Each frame seems to dance to the beat, the camera pushing and pulling as fluidly as it would in any live-action film. It’s truly a wonder to watch unfold, which is probably why — in addition to being the first Spanish language title ever to receive a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 84th Academy Awards — Chico & Rita is currently Certified Fresh. Una carta épica de amor a Cuba y su música, Chico & Rita is one for the ages.
Fat, Bald, Short Man (2011)
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Country: Colombia
We all get a little insecure sometimes. In Carlos Osuna’s Gordo, calvo, y bajito, Antonio Farfan firmly believes all the misfortunes of his life can be traced back to three things: He is fat, he is bald, and he is short. When a fatter, shorter, balder man arrives at his office, Antonio must face the facts: Maybe the problem isn’t his looks after all. Maybe it’s him. It’s a moving film, with simple rotoscoped animation capturing Antonio’s mental gymnastics as he attempts to unlearn everything he knows about himself and become the person he was always meant to be.
Nocturna (2007)
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Country: Spain/France
(Photo by GKIDS)
When the stars start disappearing, orphan Tim must find a way to save them, lest he and all of Nocturna be forever stuck in the dark. Nocturna’s animation is gorgeous, a spiraling dreamland that recalls the beauty of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” but with computer-generated graphics. Though the story is aimed squarely at young viewers, this timeless tale of courage in the face of adversity and finding light in the dark will resonate with audiences of all ages. A visual feast filled with fantastic characters and brought to life by an impressive voice cast, including Imanol Arias, Nocturna is well worth a watch.
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Country: Argentina
Director’s Liliana Romero and Norman Ruiz’ Fierro is an animated adaptation of José Hernández’ epic poem, Martín Fierro, an important cultural touchstone figure for Argentina. It begins with young Fierro living with his family on their ranch, whose existence is upended when he is drafted to protect the Argentine border from Indigenous hostiles. When Fierro becomes disillusioned with his position, he defects and joins the Indigenous cause in a story of corruption, freedom, and justice. The characters in the film were all designed by Roberto Fontanarrosa, an Argentinian cartoonist and writer who sadly died before the film’s release. The film’s 2D animation is Newgrounds-esque, which works well for Fontanarrosa’s characters. The static backgrounds (often simply of expansive sky) add a sense of space and place to the provincial setting, and a surreal quality to Fierro’s moments of introspection. It’s a fitting adaptation that lives up to both its source material and the late cartoonist who helped create it.
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Country: Mexico
You have to crack a few eggs to make an omelette, but what if the egg had a say in becoming breakfast? That’s the dilemma for Toto, a talking egg who is snatched from his hen-mother just moments after being laid to be processed as food. After being sold to a household with a very egg-hungry cat, Toto is determined to get back to his mother with the help of some friends, and become the rooster he was meant to be. Una pelicula de huevos was the first feature from Mexican animation studio Huevocartoon Producciones, and was so well received in Mexico it still holds its place as the 10th highest-grossing film produced in the country. Though it never received a theatrical release in the U.S., it hatched two sequels (including 2015’s Huevos: Little Rooster’s Egg-cellent Adventure) and even spawned a video game. The animation is fairly simple (think WB Saturday morning Cartoons in their heyday — not the most exciting, but it gets the job done), so the real draw is the humor. The film is an extension of shorts created by Rodolfo Riva Palacio and Gábriel Riva Palacio, who also helm the feature. Though the feature-length version’s humor is toned down for younger audiences, there are still traces of the short’s double entendres.
Is that a whiff of fall TV we smell? We’ll all have to wait a bit longer for the full haul of the annual dump of new and returning series (which will of course look a bit different this year due to stalled production and development in light of COVID-19), but we are very happy to welcome these six returning series back to our small screens! Catch the details on what to binge during September 2020 below.
88%
A.P. Bio
(Peacock)
What it is: Now new to NBC streaming platform, Peacock, A.P. Bio charts the journey of a sad-sack, award-winning philosopher and disgraced Harvard professor who is forced to teach high schoolers the title subject to mixed results.
Why you should watch it: Grounded by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s always-hilarious Glenn Howerton, A.P. Bio also packs the laughs (and heart) in thanks to its supporters played by industry vets like Patton Oswalt and Paula Pell and new-coming scene-stealers filling out his high school classroom. Season 3 premieres Sept. 3 on Peacock.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Microsoft, Peacock, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 9 hours (for the first two seasons)
81%
Power
(Starz)
What it is: With the highly anticipated spinoff from showrunner Courtney Kemp hitting this month, a Power binge is in order. Omari Hardwick stars in the original series as New York City nightclub owner James “Ghost” St. Patrick, who doubles as a drug kingpin to an elite clientele.
Why you should watch it: We’ve written before of this series’ addictive brand of soapy melodrama, and we expect more of the glorious same this outing. The new series, Power Book II: Ghost picks up just days after the action of the series finale earlier this year, and Michael Rainey Jr. continues his star-making turn villain-turned-hero Tariq St. Patrick, who’s still living in the shadow of his father’s legacy. Co-starring Naturi Naughton, the new series also invites franchise newcomer Mary J. Blige to join in the fun, who we’re thrilled to see again after her 2017 double Oscar nomination. To better know the characters we’re dealing with in the spinoff, we recommend you watch all of Power beforehand. Power Book II: Ghost premieres Sept. 6.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Hulu, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: 52.5 hours (for all six seasons of Power)
93%
The Boys
(Amazon Prime)
What it is: What would happen if superheroes, instead of for good, used their powers for self-serving purposes, power, and greed? That’s the irreverent-but-relevant twist The Boys presented in its first season as things kicked off with the rise of a vigilante group that decides to put the “heroes” back in their place.
Why you should watch it: You know you’re in good hands with Seth Rogen and oft-creative collaborator Evan Goldberg. Pair them with sci-fi TV veteran Eric Kripke (Supernatural, Timeless, Revolution as co-creators, and The Boys was off to a roaring start upon its premiere last year. Its turning of well-worn comic book tropes on their head, all enacted by a stellar cast of veterans like Karl Urban and up-and-comers, that’ll keep you coming back for more. Season 2 premieres Sept. 4 on Amazon Prime Video.
Where to watch it: Amazon, FandangoNow, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 8 hours (for the first season)
91%
Archer
(FXX)
What it is: Even the sleekest of action-packed espionage thrillers have an air of cartoonish hyperbole to them, but FXX’s Archer does away with that suspension of disbelief by making the whole thing a cartoon to begin with. The half-hour comedy from creator Adam Reed can land a joke as deftly as its titular man-child spy can land a punch, so expect to be thrilled while laughing yourself silly.
Why you should watch it: Over 10 hit seasons, Archer has never shied away from genre experimentation. Season 8’s Dreamland and 9’s Danger Island were particularly high-concept highlights, with season 10 following suit with 1999, which sees Archer not as the ass-kicking spy of ISIS we know from earlier incarnations, but a futuristic explorer of space on the M/V Seamus alongside our longstanding favorite characters and the voice actors behind them. Season 11 marks the spies much-anticipated return to reality after he wakes up from his coma and does away with those bottle-themed seasons — and we can’t wait. Season 11 premieres Sept. 16 on FXX.
Where to watch it: Amazon, FandangoNow, Google Play, Hulu, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 42 hours (for the first 10 seasons)
97%
PEN15
(Hulu)
What it is: You’ve never seen a coming-of-age comedy like this. The premise is simple: Two best friends, Maya Ishii-Peters and Anna Kone, are new to middle school and learn a lot about their friendship, their bodies, their families, and the world they live in along the way — all to laugh-out-loud effect.
Why you should watch it: In talking about Pen15, everyone is always quick to mention how incredible the illusion of 30-something creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle playing tweens of the early aughts is, but it really is good enough to mention yet again! It’s not an physical illusion (these actors still very much look like grown women playing half their age), but their performances (both comic and emotive) and the world-building of sets and costumes around them honestly make for one of the most transporting comedies on TV. And that means we’re cringing in adolescent awkwardness right alongside them. Season 2 premieres Sept. 18 on Hulu.
Where to watch: Amazon, Google Play, Hulu, Microsoft
Commitment: Approx. 5 hours (for the first season)
93%
Fargo
(FX)
What it is: Based on the Coen brothers film of the same name, FX’s anthology miniseries explores new characters, new crimes, and new eras tangentially related to the film each season, deftly adapting the trademark Coen brothers mix of violence, dark humor, and compelling characters for the small screen. Season 4 shifts gears to 1950s Kansas City, Missouri, as two crime syndicates (one a group of Black Americans fleeing the Jim Crow south (led by Chris Rock as Loy Cannon), the other the city’s resident mafia) duke it out for power.
Why you should watch it: What do Chris Rock, Jason Schwartzman, Ben Whishaw, Timothy Olyphant, Kirsten Dunst, Billy Bob Thornton, Ewan McGregor, Jesse Plemons, Carrie Coon, Jean Smart, Bob Odenkirk, Martin Freeman, Patrick Wilson, and (phew) Jim Gaffigan all have in common? They’ve all starred (or come season 4, will star) in the small-screen adaptation of Fargo, and that impressive cast alone makes it worth watching. FX and Noah Hawley’s Fargo, which debuted all the way back in 2014, is at least in part to blame for the rise and saturation of prestige miniseries and limited series, and for good reason. An ingenious blend of humor — both silly and gallows — and enrapturing crime mystery, the series succeeds in translating its Oscar-winning source material into Emmy-winning must-see TV. After a three-year break (and a delay due to the novel coronavirus pandemic), Fargo finally returns with its fourth season Sept. 27 on FX.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNow, Google Play, Hulu, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: About 27 hours (for the first three seasons)
This Week’s Ketchup brings you more headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as The Batman, The Color Purple, The Nutty Professor, and The Thing.
(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Despite the delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on live-action production, many animated projects appear to be moving forward with fewer delays. One of these is Walt Disney Animation’s Raya and the Last Dragon, which was indeed pushed back from its original release date of November 25, 2020 to March 12, 2021. Although that move initially appeared to be due to general trends and not the film’s production itself, it turns out that wasn’t necessarily the case, as Walt Disney Pictures is indeed using those extra four months to recast the voice lead, hire a new co-writer, and replace the film’s directors. Kelly Marie Tran, who played Rose Tico in the recent Star Wars sequels, is taking over the role of Raya, replacing Cassie Steele, which makes Tran, who is Vietnamese American, the first person of Southeast Asian heritage to voice the lead role in a Disney animated feature. The film’s new directors are Don Hall (Big Hero 6, Moana) and Carlos Lopez Estrada (Blindspotting), and the film’s newest screenwriter is Qui Nguyen (Vietgone). Awkwafina, who is voicing the titular dragon, remains attached as Tran’s co-star; she will also co-star in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings next year on May 7, 2021.
(Photo by Universal courtesy Everett Collection)
The complicated thing about complaining about all remake projects is that some of the most beloved movies of all time were themselves also remakes, or at least retreads (The Wizard of Oz, The Maltese Falcon, etc.) The “sci-fi horror” genre in particular had a spate of “better than the original” remakes that arguably started in 1978 with Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Certified Fresh at 93%), and included John Carpenter’s The Thing (Certified Fresh at 84%), and David Cronenberg’s The Fly ( Certified Fresh at 92%). Universal Pictures attempted a return to The Thing in 2011 (Rotten at 35%) that actually turned out to be a prequel, and there have been other projects in recent years (in particular, one would be an adaptation of a recently discovered longer version of the original story Who Goes There? called Frozen Hell). Blumhouse recently did quite well with a horror remake — The Invisible Man, Certified Fresh at 91% — its strongest partnership just happens to be with Universal Pictures, the same studio behind The Thing. And so, that brings us to this week’s news that Blumhouse is now partnering with producer and director John Carpenter on a new reboot of his 1982 film. There are no premise updates (such as whether it will be a period piece set in the 1980s or set in modern times), but one thing we can guess is that Carpenter will probably not direct the remake, as he also gave over his Halloween franchise to David Gordon Green (Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends are coming in 2021 and 2022).
(Photo by Disney+)
A year after voicing Nala in Disney’s computer animated remake of The Lion King (Rotten at 52%), Beyonce released a musical companion to the 2019 album The Lion King: The Gift called Black is King (Certified Fresh at 98%) on Disney+. Now, Black is King director Blitz Bazawule (A.K.A. Blitz the Ambassador) has signed on with Warner Bros. for another movie musical, which is the studio’s adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical The Color Purple. Reportedly, several of the musical’s producers, including Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, and Steven Spielberg, all saw Bazawule’s movie The Burial of Kojo on Netflix and “were wowed by his vibrant visual style.” Winfrey, of course, co-starred with Whoopi Goldberg in the original feature adaptation of The Color Purple (Fresh at 81%), which was directed by Spielberg, and whose music was composed by Jones. Screenwriter Marcus Gardley (The Chi, NOS4A2) is adpating the Broadway musical, which was itself a reimaging of Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple, upon which Spielberg’s movie was based. It’s not yet known if Warner Bros. will cast new performers (like, say, Beyonce) for the movie, recruit the Broadway cast, or perhaps a combination of both.
(Photo by Jef Hernandez/Everett Collection)
The Color Purple isn’t the only recent Tony-winning Broadway hit getting a movie adaptation soon, as Universal Pictures is also getting ready to produce Dear Evan Hansen, which won six Tony Awards, including Best Actor (Ben Platt), Best Featured Actress, Best Score, and Best Musical. Ben Platt has long been attached to reprise his titular lead role, but Universal appears to be mostly attracting movie stars for many of the other parts, including Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart, Certified Fresh at 97%) and Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give, Certified Fresh at 97%). We can now add Amy Adams to the list, as she will be playing the mother of Caitlyn Dever’s character (Colton Ryan has also been cast as Connor, a student whose death is central to the musical’s plot). Dear Evan Hansen will be directed by Stephen Chbosky (Wonder, Certified Fresh at 85%). There is currently no release date for Dear Evan Hansen, but Universal Pictures may be eyeing it as a possible late 2021 “awards season” contender.
(Photo by @mattreevesLA)
In the final days of a summer in which San Diego Comic-Con was severely diminished as a pop culture event by the COVID-19 pandemic, Warner Bros. held their own online event called DC FanDome. Although there were many interesting panels, trailers, and videos, the biggest single video to debut at DC FanDome was arguably the first trailer for The Batman (10/1/2021). In addition to Batman himself (Robert Pattinson), Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), the Riddler (Paul Dano), and Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), sharp-eyed fans also noticed that we can see Colin Farrell as the Penguin, and really smart fans have already deciphered the Riddler’s “riddles” seen in the teaser/trailer. In related news, Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) has joined The Batman as Gordon’s first partner, Stanley Menkel. In another DC FanDome event, we also got to see early concept art for Barry Allen’s new costume in the time travel adventure The Flash (6/3/2022). Director James Gunn had way more to show off for his version of The Suicide Squad (8/6/2021), including 29 set images, “pop art” style images for the film’s various villains/mercenaries, and a two-minute video with sneak peeks at some of the film’s action.
(Photo by © Warner Bros. Pictures)
Two of the other upcoming DC Comics movies that were spotlighted at DC FanDome are Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam (12/22/2021) and the sequel Shazam: Fury of the Gods (11/4/2022), which are directly connected to each other because of Black Adam’s roots coming directly from the “Shazam” mythos. Following a big year on The CW as the stars of Stargirl, a version of the Justice Society of America was revealed through Black Adam concept art, although with only four members revealed (Atom-Smasher, Cyclone, Dr. Fate, and Hawkman), the Black Adam version seems like a much smaller roster than the comics (which in the past has sometimes included over a dozen members at once). You can also see lots of non-JSA concept images here. Shazam! star Zachary Levi was also on hand to reveal that the sequel’s title will be Shazam: Fury of the Gods, although the panel did not specify “which” gods in question are so furious, why, and at whom. Comedian Sinbad was also involved, which teased that “maybe” he might be in the sequel, although there’s a strong chance he was just there as a reference to the Internet’s most discussed example of “The Mandela Effect.”
(Photo by Priscilla Grant, Dee Cercone/Everett Collection)
Some stars are so larger-than-life that they get multiple biopics. One such example is John Belushi, who was depicted by Michael Chiklis in Wired (Rotten at 4%) in 1989, just seven years after Belushi’s death in 1982 at the age of 33. The new biopic, to be titled just Belushi, made the news in December, as at that point, Broadway star Alex Brightman was expected to be starring as John Belushi. Possibly in the interest of attracting investors and financing, the producers of Belushi appear to be seeking more famous actors, as they are now in talks with Happy Endings co-star Adam Pally to play John Belushi instead. Two other major roles may also going to bigger names, as Ike Barinholtz (The Mindy Project) is in talks to play Belushi’s Blues Brothers collaborator Dan Aykroyd, and Aubrey Plaza may be cast as Belushi’s wife, Judith Belushi (Pisano). Belushi will be directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada) from a screenplay by Steve Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness; co-writer of Wonder).
(Photo by Universal courtesy Everett Collection)
The pop culture obsession with the 1980s — and the rate at which movies from that era have inspired remakes — has arguably had an impact on how quickly movies from the 1990s are receiving their own remakes. Consider, for example, how many more remakes of 1980s movies there were in 2010 than there were 1990s remakes in 2020. The biggest comedy hit of 1996 was itself a remake, as Eddie Murphy took over the role as The Nutty Professor (Fresh at 64%) originated by Jerry Lewis in the 1963 original (Fresh at 85%). Both movies were about an awkward scientist who transforms himself into an alter ego called “Buddy Love,” but Eddie Murphy’s version also made the scientist morbidly obese (Jerry Lewis’ version was just goofy). The Nutty Professor is now getting a new reboot and it’s coming from the same production company that is currently prepare to film Scream 5, itself a continuation of one of the 1990s’ most popular franchises. It’s not yet known if this third iteration of The Nutty Professor will have any “horror” elements (one could see how it could easily drift into “body horror“), or if it will just be a straight up comedy romp.
(Photo by Giles Keyte/©20th Century Fox Film Corp.)
The 1984 video game hit Tetris has been such an innocuous part of pop culture for decades now that it is easy to forget that (and many people may not even know this) it was actually invented during the final years of the USSR. Taron Egerton (Rocketman, Kingsman: The Secret Service) is now signed to star in Tetris, which will depict the cloak and dagger efforts that led to the original Tetris video game effectively being smuggled out of the USSR, including the involvement of the KGB. Egerton will play Dutch-born video game entrepeneur Henk Rogers, whose story Egerton is calling “definitely more Social Network than LEGO Movie.” That distinction is important to point out, as there have indeed been stories in the recent past about a Tetris movie (or a trilogy, even) that would have been a more direct “video game movie” adaptation. This is a different Tetris movie, to be directed by the same director as Stan & Ollie (Certified Fresh at 92%), even, to give you an idea of how unlike a video game movie it will probably be.
This Week’s Ketchup brings you more headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as The Flash, Kraven the Hunter, and Gucci.
(Photo by Francois Duhamel/©Annapurna Pictures)
Although “SPUMC” is a pretty clumsy abbreviation, Sony Pictures does indeed have a massive “Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters” slate planned. In addition to Venom and the upcoming Morbius (3/19/2021, delayed from 7/10/2021 because of COVID-19), the SPUMC development slate currently includes: Jackpot, Kraven the Hunter (see story below), Madame Web, Nightwatch, Silk, and The Sinister Six. One of the most talked about stories of the week was the announcement that Sony Pictures has officially hired actress-turned-director Olivia Wilde for an “untitled female-centric Marvel movie.” Most of the stories about Wilde’s hiring speculate that the secret project is probably Spider-Woman, A.K.A. Jessica Drew, who debuted in the comics in 1977, before soon after getting her own Saturday morning cartoon (which you can now watch on Disney+). It’s also possible that Olivia Wilde’s project could be about another “Spider” woman hero, like Silk, Ghost-Spider (A.K.A. Spider-Gwen), Madame Web, or someone never mentioned for a movie before like Spider-Girl or Araña (Peter Parker has got a lot of female counterparts). Olivia Wilde’s next project as director will be a thriller called Don’t Worry Darling, starring Florence Pugh, Dakota Johnson, Shia LaBeouf, and Chris Pine.
(Photo by ©Warner Bros. courtesy Everett Collection)
We’ve known for some time that the long planned DC Comics solo movie for The Flash (starring Ezra Miller from Justice League) is likely to involve the popular Flashpoint storyline, in which The Flash’s attempt to change the past results in all sorts of “alternate reality” craziness. There have been recent rumors that The Flash could feature past Batman actors like Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck, but this week, we appeared to receive confirmation that both of them will indeed return as their versions of Batman. Let’s start with Ben Affleck, who at one point appeared to be “done” with playing Batman, especially when Twilight star Robert Pattinson signed on to star in the long-in-development The Batman (10/1/2021), which at one point was supposed to have starred Affleck. Affleck reportedly had “notes on the script” before he agreed to sign on to return in The Flash. (You can read much more speculation about the possible impact of this right here). As we said earlier, Affleck won’t be the only returning Batman, as Michael Keaton from the original 1989 Batman will also be coming back, in what is now being called a “substantial” role, versus what had previously been thought to just be a cameo of some sort. Although the COVID-19 pandemic obviously continues to have an impact on release dates, The Flash is currently scheduled for release on June 2, 2022.
(Photo by Paramount courtesy Everett Collection)
Despite the ongoing love affair with 1980s movies, and the wave of remakes of 1980s movies, one of the most beloved directors of the 1980s — John Hughes — has basically been left untouched (Hughes wrote, but didn’t direct, the original Vacation, which was remade in 2015). That will likely soon change, as Paramount Pictures is now actively developing a remake of the 1987 classic Planes, Trains & Automobiles (Certified Fresh at 91%), starring Steve Martin and John Candy as fellow travelers who face a series of obstacles in their attempts to get home for Thanksgiving. The new Planes, Trains & Automobiles is being developed for Paramount by Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios and Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat Productions as a star vehicle for both of them. It’s unconfirmed which star will be reprising which role, but our money is on Smith to play the harried family man and Kevin Hart to play the sad-sack loner. Television writer Aeysha Carr (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Fresh at 95%) has been hired to make her feature film debut adapting the film.
(Photo by ©Netflix)
Some movies seem to be intended from their very inception as possible awards contenders, and from the day we first heard about Ridley Scott’s Gucci, starring Lady Gaga as Patricia Reggiani, it seemed like exactly that sort of film. Having said that, there’s “Oscar bait” and then there’s OSCAR BAIT, and you don’t get much more Oscar Baity than the casting coup Scott was able to manage this week. In addition to Lady Gaga’s three nominations and one Academy Award, and Ridley Scott’s four Academy Award nominations, the actors cast in Gucci this week have received a total of four Academy Award wins (for The Godfather Part II, Raging Bull, Scent of a Woman, and Dallas Buyers Club) and a grand total of twenty Academy Award acting nominations. The actors in question are Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, and Adam Driver (who’s no slouch either, with nominations for both BlackKklansman and Marriage Story). Boardwalk Empire star Jack Huston and Broadway star Reeve Carney are also in talks for roles. If both De Niro and Pacino do sign on for Gucci, it will be their fifth film acting together, following The Godfather Part II, Heat, Righteous Kill, and The Irishman. MGM currently has Gucci scheduled for release on November 24, 2021.
(Photo by Eli Winston/Everett Collection)
One of the most fun movie news stories of 2019 came in November (just before we entered the trainwreck that is 2020) when we first heard about The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, in which Nicolas Cage will play a fictionalized version of himself. This week, we learned that Cage’s co-star will be Pedro Pascal, who is coming off the Disney+ hit The Mandalorian and is scheduled to appear as villain Maxwell Lord in the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984. Pascal’s casting brings with it a better understanding of exactly what this movie will be about. Nicolas Cage will play “a washed up, unfulfilled, and financially impaired version of himself” who agrees to attend a birthday party of a super fan (Pedro Pascal) for a million dollars. The party soon turns “dangerously obsessive” as Cage must “must stay alive by recreating his most beloved moments as an actor.” (Keep in mind that this is the same guy who ate a cockroach for Vampire’s Kiss). We have yet to learn if any bees will be involved.
(Photo by Marvel Comics)
The news about the possible Spider-Woman movie sort of absorbed most of the Marvel movie attention this week, but there was actually major movement for another film to be set in the “Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters” (SPUMC). To start off, we should note that earlier this month, there was a rumor that Sony and Marvel were seeking a “Joel-Kinnaman-type” for Tom Holland’s third Spider-Man movie, which many interpreted as being for the role of old school Spidey villain Kraven the Hunter (also one of Spider-Man’s few classic villains who hasn’t yet been depicted in a live-action movie). We still don’t know if there are any plans to introduce Kraven in the next Spider-Man, but we do know that Sony is now developing a Kraven the Hunter movie, as the studio is now in talks with director J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year, Triple Frontier). Kraven the Hunter dates all the way back to 1964 and The Amazing Spider-Man #15, but the arguably definitive Kraven story arc is 1987’s Kraven’s Last Hunt (which may be part of the inspiration for the Kraven the Hunter movie as well). We should also note that there has been talk about Sony developing a Kraven the Hunter movie at least as far back as 2017 (along with Mysterio, who eventually made his debut in last year’s Spider-Man: Far from Home, played by Jake Gyllenhaal).
(Photo by ©NEON, Mary Cybulski/©Universal Pictures)
In addition to the aforementioned Planes, Trains & Automobiles remake, Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Production also made the news this week for partnering with NBA star Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder for a dramedy called American Sole. Pete Davidson (Saturday Night Live, The King of Staten Island) and O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton, and also Ice Cube’s son) are both attached to star in American Sole, which is set in the world of “after-market sneakers” as two college graduates who attempt to get out of debt by getting into the lucrative market of reselling sneakers for much higher markups (which reportedly is now estimated to be worth over $2 billion in sales each year). Camila Mendes, who plays Veronica Lodge on The CW’s Riverdale, also joined American Sole this week as the girlfriend of Pete Davidson’s character.
(Photo by Ronald Siemoneit/Getty Images)
The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed all aspects of filmmaking, both in and out of Hollywood, but one of the more obvious examples is the Vikings epic The Northman, which had to shut down just a week before production was to start in March. This week, director Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse) was finally able to start principal production of The Northman on the elaborate sets that have been assembled in rural Ireland. Most of the epic’s cast had already been announced months ago, including Eggers’ The Lighthouse star Willem Dafoe, Anya Taylor-Joy from The Witch, Nicole Kidman, and brothers Alexander Skarsgård (HBO’s True Blood) and Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise from IT). The new addition this week was Icelandic pop star Bjork, who is reportedly playing a character called “The Slav Witch,” which… sort of makes sense (Bjork actually made her feature film debut 30 years ago in 1990 with the Icelandic witchcraft fairy tale The Juniper Tree).
(Photo by ©Warner Bros. courtesy Everett Collection)
There is an expression in comic book fandom that goes, “No one stays dead except Uncle Ben” (humorously, that saying used to include Bucky Barnes and Jason Todd, until they both got revived). The trope about dead characters eventually coming back for financial reasons also applies frequently to the movies (like, say, the slasher villains in the Halloween and Friday the 13th franchises). So, one might have thought that Laurence Fishburne could be brought back as Morpheus in The Matrix 4, but this week, Fishburne clarified, “I have not been invited.” Also this week, Keanu Reeves spoke to press about the safety protocols on The Matrix 4 as production has resumed on sets in Germany. Filming had begun in February in San Francisco until moving on briefly to Berlin, but as with most film projects at the time, production of The Matrix 4 was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Keanu Reeves’ fellow cast members will include Carrie-Anne Moss and Jada Pinkett Smith (from the original trilogy) and newcomers Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (rumored to be playing the young Morpheus), Priyanka Chopra Jones, and Neil Patrick Harris. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to regularly cause release date changes, but for now, The Matrix 4 is scheduled for April 1st, 2022.
(Photo by Dimension Films courtesy Everett Collection)
In March of this year, we first learned that the directors and producers of last year’s horror comedy Ready or Not (Certified Fresh at 88%) had signed on to direct the long-awaited sequel Scream 5. For the most part, casting until this week mostly involved the announcements of returning franchise stars Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, David Arquette as Dewey Riley, and Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers-Riley. This week, two different young actresses were announced, starting with Melissa Barrera, who will be one of the stars of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights when that movie is eventually released in 2021 (delayed from this summer). Two days later, Jane the Virigin co-star Jenna Ortega also joined the cast. In related (and unsurprising) news, Samara Weaving also revealed this week that there had been a moment this year when she almost was cast by her Ready or Not collaborators in Scream 5, saying, “We were talking about it, but our schedules aren’t gonna work, which is a bummer.” Scream 5 is expected to be released sometime in 2021 (probably later in the year), and filming is expected to start in Wilmington, North Carolina, later this year.
This Week’s Ketchup brings you more headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as Star Trek, Swan Lake, and TRON: Ares.
(Photo by Derek Storm/Everett Collection)
It’s now been ten years since the release of the long-in-development sequel TRON: Legacy (Rotten at 51%), which was perceived by some as a box office disappointment, despite actually earning over $400 million worldwide. That sequel came about 28 years after the first TRON, but it looks like the gap between 2 and 3 will be a lot shorter. That’s because Disney is moving ahead with a third TRON movie, which will be directed by Garth Davis (Lion, Mary Magdalene). Original TRON star Jeff Bridges returned for TRON: Legacy, along with newcomer Garrett Hedlund, but it appears that the star of this third TRON movie will be Jared Leto (though it’s also possible others will return as well). Although plenty of what Disney makes these days is for Disney+, it sounds like this new TRON is indeed planned for a theatrical release (presuming the pandemic ends soon). We also learned this week, via Jared Leto’s Twitter, that the title will be TRON: Ares, which is a reference to the Greek god of war — maybe this is the name of Jared Leto’s character, or maybe it’s a God of War or Assassin’s Creed-style game that is the new film’s in-game setting. In related news, Jared Leto also confirmed on his Instagram this week that he is attached to star in an upcoming movie as famous “pop art” superstar Andy Warhol, although it’s unclear what movie that might be (an Andy Warhol biopic was announced in 2016, but not much has been heard of it since).
(Photo by Mark Rogers/©Universal Pictures)
Most of 2020 is completely “borked” when it comes to box office numbers because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but one of the year’s (relative) successes happened just before theaters shut down. Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions released their reimagining of the classic monster movie The Invisible Man (Certified Fresh at 91%), starring Elisabeth Moss, on February 28, earning $130 million worldwide (a number impacted by the shutdowns in March) before pivoting to a premium VOD release. Elisabeth Moss and her Love and Squalor Pictures production company are partnering again with Blumhouse on a psychological thriller called Mrs. March, in which Moss will also star. Mrs. March will be an adaptation of an upcoming novel by Virginia Feito about an “a polished Upper East Side housewife who unravels when she begins to suspect the detestable protagonist of her husband’s latest bestselling novel is based on her.” Moss said in a statement, “I read Virginia’s novel in one sitting and was so captured by it I knew I had to make it and play Mrs. March. As a character, she is fascinating, complex, and deeply human and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into her.”
(Photo by Universal Pictures)
It has now been eight years since Ben Affleck directed the fact-based Argo (Certified Fresh at 96%), which went on earn multiple awards including three Oscars (Best Picture, Best Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay). In the time since (partly because his role as Batman took up much of his time), Affleck has only directed one movie, Live by Night, which gave him his first Rotten score as director at 35% on the Tomatometer. This week, possibly hoping to attract the same critical acclaim that Argo earned, Affleck signed on with Paramount Pictures to direct another movie based on a true story in the 1970s. The movie is called The Big Goodbye, and it’s described as a “behind the scenes” depiction of the 1974 neo-noir drama Chinatown (Certified Fresh at 99%), directed by Roman Polanski and starring Jack Nicholson. The source material is the recent non-fiction book by author Sam Wasson, The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood. Affleck will also adapt the screenplay, and one of his producing partners will be Saturday Night Live showrunner Lorne Michaels. This deal comes in the year after both the death of former Paramount executive Robert Evans and the release of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (Certified Fresh at 85%), in which director Roman Polanski was a character.
(Photo by Francois Duhamel/©Weinstein Company courtesy Everett Collection)
Speaking of Paramount Pictures, the studio has a new boss in Emma Watts, and Deadline reported this week that one of her top priorities is getting the Star Trek movie franchise going again. Watts, however, is also reportedly “in the process of figuring out which way to go,” and to that end, Paramount has put the brakes on the new Star Trek movie being produced by TV showrunner Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion). Two other projects Paramount is still developing, however, are a time travel story involving Chris Hemsworth as Captain Kirk’s father in an alternate reality and Quentin Tarantino’s project. We also learned this week that Tarantino’s project reportedly involves “30s gangster(s),” which suggests that the classic episode Tarantino was inspired by was “A Piece of the Action,” which was set on a planet that adapted its culture based on Chicago in the 1920s. Within the context of Tarantino’s career, it sort of makes perfect sense that he would want to work on a Star Trek movie that references gangster flicks, as that’s a classic Hollywood genre he hasn’t yet paid homage to (a la war movies in Inglourious Basterds, westerns in Django Unchained, and martial arts movies in Kill Bill Vol. 1).
(Photo by Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection)
Every once in a while in our social media world, you might see someone’s reaction to a story before you see the original story. This week, for example, this Tweet from director Lulu Wang (The Farewell, Certified Fresh at 98%) in which she says, “I don’t believe in remakes” without providing any context appeared in many people’s feeds. What Wang was responding to were various trade stories that she is developing a film based on award-winning Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda’s 2013 film, Like Father, Like Son ( Certified Fresh at 87% ), many of which first used the word “remake” before changing it later to “inspired by,” etc. There are, of course, many ways in which a film can be inspired by, or even “based upon,” another film without being a direct adaptation (for example, George Lucas “loosely” based Star Wars upon Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress). The original Like Father, Like Son was about a couple who discover that their son was switched at birth, and the way they decide to address this new revelation. Lulu Wang could take that premise and do all sort of different things with it (including, for example, gender swapping so it’s actually about a daughter).
(Photo by Everett Collection)
Jamie Foxx won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his depiction of musician Ray Charles in 2004’s Ray (Certified Fresh at 80%). Then, in 2015, Queen Latifah starred in the HBO biopic Bessie (Certified Fresh at 90%) as early blues singer Bessie Smith, which won four Emmy awards for HBO. Together, they are now teaming up to produce Mahalia!, based upon the life of gospel singer Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972). Grammy-winning singer Jill Scott is already attached to star in the film, which is based on the novel Mahalia Jackson by Darlene Donloe. Mahalia Jackson was reportedly an inspiration for both Aretha Franklin and for Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Incidentally, the Lifetime cable channel is also developing a Mahalia Jackson TV movie biopic.
(Photo by Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection)
As we’ve mentioned several times in this column, musical biopics are all the rage right now; upcoming projects include Aretha Franklin and Respect, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley project, I Wanna Dance With Somebody about Whitney Houston, and a Prince movie, not to mention the Mahalia Jackson movie mentioned just above. One of the biggest stars who has not yet ever been attached to a movie like this is Madonna, but this week, the singer teased at “something” via her Instagram account, where she posted a black and white video of her sitting on a couch with screenwriter Diablo Cody, apparently discussing an upcoming project, along with the text: “with multiple injuries what do you do? Write a screenplay with Diablo Cody.” Now, we don’t actually know anything more than that, but Cody has worked on a number of films, most notably with director Jason Reitman on 2018’s Tully (Certified Fresh at 87%), 2011’s Young Adult (Certified Fresh at 80%), and 2007’s Juno (Certified Fresh at 94%), for which she won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (she was also nominated for Young Adult). Madonna later followed her post with a video with musical emojis suggesting that whatever this project is, it somehow involves music (possibly Madonna’s own?).
(Photo by Everett Collection)
Movies sometimes take a long time to actually get made. For example, recent films like The Meg and Gemini Man actually both started development in the early 2000s, but didn’t get produced and released until over 15 years later. Animated movies don’t usually stew in development quite as long, but their actual production times can take much longer. Back in 2015, we first started to hear about an animated comedy called Blazing Samurai, which would feature the voices of stars like Samuel L. Jackson, Ricky Gervais, Mel Brooks, Michael Cera, and George Takei. As the title and Mel Brooks’ involvement would suggest, Blazing Samurai is inspired by Brooks’ classic 1974 cowboy satire Blazing Saddles (Certified Fresh at 88%), but no doubt softened up for kids. (In related news, HBO Max this week added an opening warning to Blazing Saddles to address the racial jokes throughout the film.) Five years later, it was starting to look like Blazing Samurai had been abandoned, but the project is back in active production now with a budget of $46 million and an estimated completion date of late summer, 2021. Michael Cera voices a “a loveable mutt with big dreams of becoming a Samurai. When he finds himself with a new job as sheriff of Kakamucho, he also finds he may have bitten off more than he can chew given the town is inhabited solely by cats.”
(Photo by Jonathan Olley/©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Lucasfilm Ltd.)
Following the success of The Invisible Man, Universal Pictures has several plans to revive their classic Universal monsters, but they are not the only “classical” reboots the studio is developing. It was confirmed this week that Universal is also developing a movie called Swan Lake, based upon the famous Tchaikovsky ballet. Possibly best known in recent years for being the inspiration for Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (Certified Fresh at 85%), Swan Lake is the story of a princess turned into a swan by an evil curse. Felicity Jones, who earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role as Jane Hawking in 2014’s The Theory of Everything (Certified Fresh at 80%) and starred in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Certified Fresh at 84%), is attached to star in Swan Lake, which is now being adapted by screenwriter Jessica Swale, who recently made her directorial debut with Summerland ( Certified Fresh at 76%).
(Photo by Hopper Stone/©Warner Bros.)
The 2018 comedy Game Night (Certified Fresh at 84%), starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, may have been something of a sleeper hit, earning over $117 million worldwide. Now, Bateman and Game Night screenwriter Mark Perez are preparing to reunite for another action comedy, this time with possibly a more ambitious premise and budget. That movie is called Superworld, and it’s an adaptation of a recent novel by author Gus Krieger. Superworld will be set in the near future of 2038 when every person on planet Earth now has superpowers, except one man (Jason Bateman), who gets his chance to prove himself when he takes on “a corporate overlord whose power is neutralizing anyone with a superpower.”
This Week’s Ketchup brings you more headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as Captain Marvel 2, Cyrano, John Wick 5, and Disney’s Pinocchio.
(Photo by David Lee/©Summit Entertainment)
Staging any major film production is a costly affair, so for decades, when a studio knows they’re going to make more than one movie anyway, they will sometimes produce movies back to back, which basically means two or more movies are produced at the same time, using the same cast, crew, etc. The most famous example of back-to-back production was probably Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, but other examples include Keanu Reeves’ two Matrix sequels, the two Back to the Future sequels, and Quentin Tarantino’s two Kill Bill films. Lionsgate obviously has something of a cash cow in their John Wick franchise, so it’s not surprising that this week, the studio announced the greenlighting of John Wick 5, which will be filmed back-to-back with John Wick 4. Lionsgate had originally scheduled John Wick 4 for release on May 21, 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed that film’s production back, so the release was pushed back a year to May 27, 2022. John Wick 5 does not yet have a release date. In related news, director Chad Stahelski (who will be directing the two John Wick sequels) and screenwriter Derek Kolstad (who has written or co-written all of the John Wick movies) are also now signed to adapt an English-language remake of the 2010 South Korean action thriller The Man from Nowhere, whose plot incidentally bears some resemblance to the first John Wick.
(Photo by Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection)
This story is best started with a little bit of recent history. In 2018, director Gina Prince-Bythewood was getting ready to direct the Marvel Comics movie Silver & Black (about Silver Sable and Black Cat) for Sony Pictures for what would have been their 2019 release after Venom, but then the studio flinched and pulled Silver & Black from their calendar, and Prince-Bythewood directed The Old Guard (Certified Fresh at 80%) for Netflix instead. Also in 2018, Selma director Ava DuVernay signed with Warner Bros. to direct the DC Comics property The New Gods, but two years later, we still don’t know when that project will start production. That means that before this week, neither Marvel nor DC had yet had a major superhero movie directed by an African American woman, but it may be Marvel Studios that gets there first. Nia DaCosta (Little Woods, Certified Fresh at 95%), who directed the upcoming Candyman reboot, has signed with Marvel Studios to direct their sequel Captain Marvel 2 (7/8/2022), starring Brie Larson. The premise of Captain Marvel 2 is not yet known, but one possible story could involve Monica Rambeau, who in the comics was the first woman to be called Captain Marvel. Monica Rambeau was depicted as a young girl in the 1990s in the first Captain Marvel movie, but the upcoming Disney+ series WandaVision will introduce Teyonah Parris as the adult version of the character. Other possibilities include the MCU introduction of the New Avengers, and also a continuation of the Kree/Skrull war from the first Captain Marvel. There are seven other Marvel Cinematic Universe movies scheduled before Captain Marvel 2: Black Widow (11/6/2020), The Eternals (2/12/2021), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (5/7/2021), Tom Holland’s third Spider-Man (12/17/2021), Thor: Love and Thunder (2/11/2022), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (3/25/2022), and Black Panther II (5/6/2022).
(Photo by ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
As studios and theater chains alike struggle with the financial realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, Walt Disney Pictures arguably made the biggest move of the year by announcing that their epic live-action remake of Mulan (originally scheduled for March 9th) will debut in the United States on September 4, 2020 on Disney+ for a price of $29.99. That price is more than some of this year’s other VOD debuts (like Trolls World Tour for a $19.99 rental), but the difference is that Mulan will not have a “rental window” of 24 or 48 hours, but will instead remain on Disney+ accounts as long as the subscription remains active. Marvel fans were quick to demand a similar release for Black Widow (11/6/2020), but Disney CEO Bob Chapek was quick to promise that the Mulan offer is a “one-off” that will not apply to Black Widow (though the pandemic has repeatedly had a way this year of changing plans and circumstances). Disney’s decision to effectively pull Mulan from theatrical release in most theaters in the US has also had a quick reaction from the theatrical distribution industry. The Mulan news also came in the same week that Disney+ announced that they had met their five year goal of over 60 million subscribers in just eight months. The other, other related news, Lionsgate announced this week that they will also be releasing the Janelle Monáe horror film Antebellum (originally scheduled for 4/24/2020) on PVOD streaming on September 18, 2020.
(Photo by John Baer/Rogue Pictures)
Many film directors are influenced throughout their career by the period in which they were born, and Paul Thomas Anderson (born in 1970) is no different. His first major success, Boogie Nights (Certified Fresh at 93%) was mostly set in the 1970s, Inherent Vice was entirely set then, and the films of the 1970s have had an influence over most of his work, starting with 1996’s Hard Eight. Anderson has also worked with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights), Tom Cruise (Magnolia), Daniel Day Lewis (There Will Be Blood), and Joaquin Phoenix (Inherent Vice), and this week, he added another luminary to that list. Bradley Cooper is now in talks with MGM to star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s next untitled project, which is described as a coming-of-age drama about a child actor set in the San Fernando Valley (also the setting of Boogie Nights) in the 1970s, though it’s not yet known what role Cooper will be playing. Cooper’s other upcoming film is Guillermo del Toro’s remake of 1947’s Nightmare Alley (Fresh at 100%).
(Photo by ©20th Century Studios)
One of the more disappointing stories in 2018 was the reporting that director Paul King, who directed both Paddington (Certified Fresh at 97%) and Paddington 2 (Certified Fresh at 100%) likely will not be returning for a third installment. Instead, King is preparing to direct a family comedy called Everyday Parenting Tips set during the “Great Monster Uprising,” based on a short story in The New Yorker, which you can read right here. Universal Pictures has put together a “package” for Everyday Parenting Tips that includes Ryan Reynolds attached to play one of the titular parents, with Paul King directing from a screenplay by the short story’s author, Simon Rich, who also wrote the short story that inspired this week’s Seth Rogen comedy An American Pickle. Bringing to mind Pixar’s Monsters Inc, the story is based on a father’s advice to his kid about what to do if a monster lurks under their bed, and then shows what happens when such Lovecraftian beasties as “Gorgog the Annihilator [and] Ctharga the Eater of Souls” actually do show up.
(Photo by HBO)
When George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels were adapted for HBO as the popular series Game of Thrones, one of the many details that were changed involves the face of Tyrion Lannister, as played by Peter Dinklage. Specifically, it’s Tyrion Lannister’s nose, which for much of the story in the novels doesn’t even exist, while Peter Dinklage’s version instead got away with n nothing but a nasty scar across his cheek, presumably so HBO viewers wouldn’t be disgusted by one of their favorite characters having a huge hole in the middle of his face. In this week’s news, Dinklage is fully going the opposite direction, as he is now attached to star in an MGM musical called Cyrano based on the classic 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, which has previously been adapted as a film a few different times, including one in 1950 starring Jose Ferrer and one in 1990 starring Gerard Depardieu. Peter Dinklage also starred as Cyrano de Bergerac in a 2018 stage production, and Hayley Bennett, who co-starred opposite Dinklage as Roxanne, will also reprise that role in this musical version. Cyrano will be directed by Joe Wright, who recently earned Gary Oldman a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, and whose next film is the upcoming The Woman in the Window (which will debut on Netflix), starring Amy Adams. Ben Mendelsohn and Brian Tyree Henry will also co-star in Cyrano.
(Photo by Everett Collection)
As Walt Disney Pictures proceeds to adapt the bulk of their classic animated canon as live action remakes, one of the biggies that still hasn’t happened yet is 1940’s Pinocchio (Certified Fresh at 100%), which was Disney’s second feature film after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney has gotten close in the past few years, with a few different filmmakers attached, but it appears this week that they may have finally found the winning combination. Tom Hanks has remained in talks to co-star as Gepetto, and the new director now being eyed for the job is Robert Zemeckis, himself a frequent collaborator with Tom Hanks. The pair first worked together in Forrest Gump, which was followed a few films later by both Cast Away and The Polar Express. Zemeckis’ next film, still awaiting release during the COVID-19 pandemic, is his remake of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, featuring Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, and Chris Rock.
(Photo by ©Universal TV courtesy Everett Collection)
In between directing and producing the first several Saw movies and directing The Conjuring 2 and Aquaman, James Wan also directed the 2014 car heist sequel Furious 7 (Certified Fresh at 82%). Wan is now looking to add another movie featuring, no doubt, some crazy automobile handling, as his Atomic Monster production company is on board bringing back the classic 1982-1986 NBC TV show Knight Rider. David Hasselhoff starred in Knight Rider as Michael Knight, an ex-cop recruited to pilot an A.I.-powered super car called K.I.T.T. as they travel across the United States solving various crimes. This is far from the first time that a Knight Rider movie has been put into development, which dates at least as far back as the 2000s. Former video game writer TJ Fixman is now adapting the Knight Rider screenplay, which will reportedly be set in the present day.
(Photo by Suzie Gibbons/Getty Images)
Following the 2018 box office success of the Queen movie Bohemian Rhapsody, Hollywood has been stepping up its various plans for musical biopics, with both Respect (about Aretha Franklin) and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley project now due out by late 2021 (thanks, pandemic). One of the projects we’ve been hearing the most about is I Wanna Dance With Somebody, chronicling the life of Whitney Houston. This week, Sony Pictures came on board the project, with director Stella Meghie (The Photograph) now attached. Sony reportedly hopes to start production in time for a release around Thanksgiving, 2022. In the meantime, of course, Meghie and Sony will have to find the singer and/or actress who will be able to reasonably approximate Houston’s singing talent.
(Photo by Vestron Pictures courtesy Everett Collection)
One of the stories in The Weekly Ketchup just a few weeks ago involved what at the time was just this side of a rumor. What was known was that Jennifer Grey, who probably remains best known for starring in Dirty Dancing (just above playing Ferris Bueller’s sister), was rumored to be producing and starring in a new Dirty Dancing movie, possibly set in the 1990s. The setting is not directly confirmed in this week’s news, but we can now report that Lionsgate has indeed confirmed that they are developing a new Dirty Dancing movie in which Jennifer Grey will star and executive produce. The major new element to be added to the story this week is that the film, whatever it actually is, will be directed by Jonathan Levine, a frequent Seth Rogen collaborator whose credits include 50/50 (Certified Fresh at 93%), Warm Bodies (Certified Fresh at 81%), and Long Shot (Certified Fresh at 81%). It’s not yet known if Levine’s involvement might suggest Rogen could join Jennifer Grey as one of the new Dirty Dancing stars. Is it okay to put Seth Rogen in the corner?
This Week’s Ketchup brings you more headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Tenet, and Tom Cruise’s Space Project.
(Photo by Paramount Pictures)
We may have had to wait a few more months (from 11/15/2019 to 2/14/2020) for the character design to be redone on Sonic the Hedgehog (Fresh at 63%), but Paramount is apparently attempting to avoid too much of a wait for Sonic the Hedgehog 2. The studio has announced a release date of April 8, 2020 for the sequel, or just two years and two months after the first film, and that’s even after they already factored in the various delays right now because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sequel does not have a premise yet, but the ending of Sonic the Hedgehog teased both the debut of Tails the fox, but also the villainous return of Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik (now looking even more like his video game character). Director Jeff Fowler will return for the sequel, working from a screenplay by Pat Casey and Josh Miller, who also both worked on the first film. Ben Schwartz is also expected to return as the voice of Sonic, and he may also again be joined by James Marsden and Tika Sumpter (though neither is confirmed yet). Release dates are obviously changing all the time, but other movies scheduled within a month of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 include Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (3/25/2022), The Matrix 4 (4/1/2022), and Black Panther II (5/6/2022).
(Photo by Disney/Pixar)
Movie studios are increasingly planting “untitled” films on the release calendar these days, especially when the title in question is a new property and not a sequel, prequel, or remake. So, we’ve actually known for a while that Disney and Pixar were planning on releasing “something” next summer on June 18, 2021; we just didn’t know anything else beyond that. Normally, Disney and Pixar might have made a big announcement at San Diego Comic-Con, but that, of course, ended up being replaced by last week’s Comic-Con@Home, which had some big panels, but not as many as usual. Instead, we learned through other means (in this case, Collider) that Pixar’s next movie after Soul (11/20/2020) will be a fantasy adventure set in Italy called Luca. We also have this fairly lengthy premise: “Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, the original animated feature is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: he is a sea monster from another world just below the water’s surface.” Some writers are already comparing Luca to both Call Me By Your Name (thanks to the setting) and Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water.
(Photo by Priscilla Grant, MJP/Everett Collection)
Ever since his breakout success in 2017 with Get Out (Certified Fresh at 98%), Jordan Peele has worn several hats (director, producer, and host) on a variety of horror, thriller, or related genre movies and shows, including Us (Certified Fresh at 93%), CBS All Access’s The Twilight Zone, HBO’s upcoming series Lovecraft Country, and this fall’s reboot of Candyman. We can now add another project to his upcoming filmography, as he will be producing a sci-fi horror film for Universal Pictures called Sinkhole, in which Issa Rae (The Lovebirds, HBO’s Insecure) will star. The premise revolves around a strange pit that appears in the backyard of what otherwise seems like a perfect home, with the added information that the original short story started as a writers group project with the theme, “I married a monster,” and that the story will “explore themes of female identity and perfection.”
(Photo by Jef Hernandez/Everett Collection)
Plenty of werewolf movies have been made since the 1920s, and along the way, the concept has certainly veered into comedy, such as with Jon Landis’ An American Werewolf in London, Michael J. Fox’s Teen Wolf, and, one could reasonably argue, with Disney’s Shaggy D.A. franchise. Now, werewolves are frequently men, but Amy Adams is now attached to star in a film called Nightbitch which will team her up with the Annapurna production company, with which she has worked four times before (The Master, American Hustle, Her, and Vice). Nightbitch, which is not technically a werewolf movie, will star Adams as a “former artist who is thrust into stay-at-home domesticity after the birth of her son, who becomes increasingly worried that she may be turning into a dog.” (Some versions of this story suggest it is actually the baby that is turning into a dog, but the official premise of the source novel, which comes out next summer, is pretty clear.)
(Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/©Warner Bros.)
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues in the USA, movie theaters remain unsure about when they will be able to fully reopen. Last Friday, we heard that Warner Bros. was considering opening Tenet internationally first and then in the United States at a later point. That plan was confirmed on Monday when the studio released a press release that the film will be released in over 70 countries on August 26, 2020 before opening in the United States a week later, just in time for Labor Day weekend, but only in “select cities.” What’s unclear is whether that Labor Day release will also then lead to a wider release for Tenet, or if it will end up adding something like a VOD release in lieu of a wide release (which may not be fully possible in September if not enough theaters are open in the USA by then). Of course, this also means that American movie fans will have to endure at least a week of possible social media spoilers during which the rest of the world understands exactly what Tenet is about.
(Photo by ©Universal Pictures)
It probably was inevitable that someone would eventually want to make a big budget movie in outer space, but the when felt further away until recently. And if any movie star was going to attempt it (and do most of his own stunts), it was also probably obvious that it would be Tom Cruise. Just two months after we first found out about Cruise’s plans to film a movie in outer space, the news broke this week that a deal has been made with Universal Pictures to fund the project with an “atmospheric” budget of over $200 million. It had already been known that the film will be directed by Doug Liman (who worked with Cruise on Edge of Tomorrow, Certified Fresh at 91%), but another name that has joined the production is Christopher McQuarrie, Tom Cruise’s recent Mission: Impossible director (who’s preparing to film movies #7 and #8 soon). McQuarrie will serve as one of the film’s producers, and also contribute story ideas (a credit just shy of actually “writing” the screenplay). In related news, Top Gun: Maverick recently became just one of the many movies to have its 2020 release date delayed until next year (7/2/2021), which is almost two years after its original release date (July 12, 2019).
(Photo by Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images)
In the 2000s, the popular news satire website The Onion announced that they would be getting into the movie business, but all we got was the little-seen 2008 project The Onion Movie. In that same spirit, Buzzfeed is now apparently hoping to have better success with a cinematic endeavor, as they are now partnering with Lionsgate for a theatrical film slate. Although we haven’t gotten any specific examples of what a “Buzzfeed movie” might be exactly (documentary? drama? comedy? collection of cat videos?), the press release did say that the movies will be “aimed at millennial and Gen Z audiences,” so if you’re over the age of 40 or so, these movies apparently won’t be for you. Lionsgate and Buzzfeed expect to launch their first co-production sometime in 2021.
(Photo by Dimension Films courtesy Everett Collection)
When Neve Campbell was first announced in May to be in talks to return to the Scream franchise for Scream 5, this column predicted that we would soon hear about a few other returning cast members as well. That hunch was confirmed soon after with the news that David Arquette was returning as Deputy Dewey Riley, but it took another two months for Courteney Cox to be announced as returning as Gale Weathers. Scream 5 will be directed by the team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (A.K.A. Radio Silence), who are currently best known for last summer’s horror comedy Ready or Not (Certified Fresh at 88%). So far, no new cast members have been announced, but presumably, that will soon change, and at this point, it’s all but expected that Neve Campbell’s return will be officially announced in the near future.
(Photo by Elizabeth Goodenough/Everett Collection)
It’s not uncommon for directors, writers, or actors who first became famous for broad comedies to stretch out into more serious films. Recent examples of this include: Adam McKay (who went from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy to The Big Short); Jay Roach (from Austin Powers to Recount and Game Change); and Peter Farrelly (from Dumb and Dumber to Green Book). Someone else who appears to be heading down a similar track is Seth Rogen, who is obviously best known for “stoner comedies” like Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, and This is the End. Rogen and his producing partner Evan Goldberg are partnering with director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) for an adaptation of the 2017 documentary Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (Certified Fresh at 86%). Guadagnino will direct the adaptation about the life of Scotty Bowers, a former U.S. Marine who had a second career during the golden age of Hollywood as a pimp and hustler for many within the secret world of the studios and actors, frequently using a Hollywood gas station as a cover location. Details of Scotty Bowers’ life also inspired the Netflix series Hollywood. It’s not yet known who will star in this film, but one has to guess that two possible candidates might be Channing Tatum (a friend of Seth Rogen) or Armie Hammer (who starred in Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name).
(Photo by NurPhoto/Getty Images)
Before 2020, most of us had presumably gotten pretty used to slick filmmaking and TV production styles, and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and many TV shows essentially became very well publicized Zoom calls. It was probably inevitable, therefore, that there would eventually be a movie that was filmed in that style. Although Michael Bay is also producing a pandemic thriller called Songbird that may also look like it was filmed by the actors, the movie that sounds closest to that theme is called Within/In. The project is described as a “made-at-home anthology film revolving around themes of confinement and isolation.” Within/In will feature several established actors, including Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Chris Cooper, Rebecca Hall, Sanaa Lathan, Emily Mortimer, Alessandro Nivola, Rosie Perez, and Debra Winger. Since it’s an anthology film, we can expect there to be several individual stories, but since it’s also “made at home,” most of the actors also won’t appear onscreen together (at least not physically). Many of the actors (including Chris Cooper and Griffin Dunne) will also be taking directing credits as they’re basically directing themselves.
The summer heat is reaching new heights this month, the coronavirus pandemic continues affecting film and television production around the country, and the selection of returning series to binge is admittedly slim. So we are bringing you something a little different with this month’s guide by including an upcoming streaming film and the star’s previous TV projects you’ll want to catch up on. Find our recommendations below for six series to binge in August.
What it is: This post-apocalyptic Danish thriller from creators Jannik Tai Mosholt, Esben Toft Jacobsen, and Christian Potalivo takes place six years after the modern world has succumbed to a fatal virus that’s transmitted through toxic, infected rain. Siblings Simone and Rasmus survived against all odds while holed up in a bunker, and they reenter the world in search of their scientist father to find the rain has killed nearly all signs of human life in their native Scandinavia. They’re soon joined by another young group of survivors who face the world’s devastation and dangers together.
Why you should watch it: This slow-burning, character-driven drama has enough sci-fi elements and reality-based thrills to keep any fan of the admittedly well-worn dystopian genre entertained for a quick binge. Season 3 premieres August 6 on Netflix.
Where to watch: Netflix
Commitment: Approx. 10.5 hours (for the first two seasons)
What it is: As the Star Trek universe adds a new series with this month’s Star Trek: Lower Decks, we’re recommending you revisit The Next Generation for a summer binge. TNG sets the stage for this animated comedy series’ fantastical world, which follows four “heroes” from the support crew on Starfleet’s U.S.S. Cerritos, the fleet’s least important ship. The series also borrows its name from TNG episode, “Lower Decks.” If you want more Star Trek options, check out our list of “Star Trek TV Shows Ranked by Tomatometer” to find one that’s right for you.
Why you should watch it: While the new series should be accessible to Trekkies, experts, and newbies alike, a binge of TNG will give you the info you need to ID the Lower Decks’ Easter eggs, share in the Trek humor, and more. Season 1 premieres August 6 on CBS All Access.
Where to watch: Amazon, CBS All Access, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Hulu, Microsoft, Netflix, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 132 hours (for all seven seasons)
What it is: This one is for all the Seth Rogen lovers out there. Today, he is a bankable star thanks to timeless teen and stoner comedy classics like Knocked Up, Superbad, and Pineapple Express — and his latest, An American Pickle, is quite literally timeless due to its time-jumping immigrant premise. But some may forget that he pretty much grew up on our screens at the top of the millennium with Judd Apatow’s short-lived but beloved network comedies, Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared.
Why you should watch it: Anyone who’s ever felt like an adrift outsider will likely see themselves in any number of the messy-but-lovable characters across these two series. If you’re looking for a classic binge that’ll remind you just why Rogen is a huge star today, this is a great place to start before An American Pickle premieres on HBO Max on August 6.
Where to watch it: A little twist with these titles: They’re only available to purchase on DVD, so you’re going to have to really commit. Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared are available to order from Amazon.com. (Step 1: Do you even have a DVD player?)
Commitment: Approx. 13 hours for Freaks and Geeks and approx. 6.5 hours for Undeclared.
What it is: As a prequel series to the long-running Inspector Morse, this Russell Lewis–created, Shaun Evans–starring series follows our hero Endeavour Morse through his early career as a detective constable through to his promotion as a detective sergeant with the Oxford City Police.
Why you should watch it: This lush period drama depicting 1960s-era Oxford and the surrounding area is grounded first and foremost from a charismatic Evans, but its twists and turns also help make the series endlessly watchable for lovers of the PBS Masterpiece cloth. Season 7 premieres August 9 on PBS.
Where to watch it: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 40 hours (for the first six seasons)
What it is: Most people escape their locale to vacation where it’s warm, but where do you vacation when your home is in Hell? Los Angeles, apparently. That’s where our titular antihero Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) sets his sights, at least, after resigning his post as ruler of the underworld to spice up his life. Once in L.A., he opens up a nightclub and stumbles into becoming a civilian consultant for the LAPD.
Why you should watch it: Based on the DC Comics character created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg, Lucifer Morningstar is a protagonist like we haven’t seen before. Ruler of Hell, sure, but also charismatic as hell (charming, witty, and handsome), proving himself to be the perfect right-hand man for homicide detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German). (Over the span of the series, their beguiling relationship is one of the reasons to stick around, too.) Lucifer was cancelled by Fox in 2018, but revived by Netflix, which will premiere its fifth season on August 21.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Hulu, Microsoft, Netflix, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 47 hours (for the first four seasons)
This Week’s Ketchup brings you more headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as Black Adam, Fletch, and Wishbone.
(Photo by Elizabeth Goodenough, Jef Hernandez/Everett Collection)
It was just in 2017 that Netflix shocked many pundits with the news that they were investing over $100 million (which eventually became something more like $160 to $200 million) on Martin Scorsese’s ambitious mob hitman biopic The Irishman (Certified Fresh at 96%). Perhaps even more surprisingly, The Irishman did not receive a wide release in theaters, but was still seen as a success. On the heels of that success, Netflix announced plans this week to break their own record with a spy action-thriller called The Gray Man, which will have a production budget north of $200 million. Chris Evans (Marvel’s Captain America) and Ryan Gosling will star in The Gray Man, which will be adapted from the novel of the same name by screenwriter Joe Russo and directed by Russo and his brother Anthony Russo, who are best known for the Marvel movies Captain America: Civil War (Certified Fresh at 91%), Avengers: Infinity War (Certified Fresh aty 85%), and Avengers: Endgame (Certified Fresh at 94%). As the source novel is the first in a successful series, Netflix reportedly hopes to start a new action franchise comparable to James Bond. The Gray Man will tell the story of a deadly cat-and-mouse came as one assassin (Gosling) called “The Gray Man” is hunted down across the world by another agent (Chris Evans). It’s worth noting, since the Russo Brothers are so tied to “comic book movies,” that Netflix’s The Gray Man has no connection to the DC Comics character of the same name. It’s also worth noting that Joe Russo is the writer of the Netflix original film Extraction, which starred the MCU’s Chris Hemsworth and became the streaming service’s most-watched movie of all time when it premiered in late April.
(Photo by ©Netflix)
DC Comics’ Justice Society of America is a super team that some fans are just now discovering because of Stargirl on The CW, but it actually has a history dating back to the early 1940s as the very first comic book superhero team ever. Some JSA members are tricky to comprehend because of those 80 years of continuity, but one of them is the original Atom (who was “short” but not to be confused with the Atoms who can shrink), who was then followed by his super-strong godson (now called Atom Smasher). There have been rumors before this week that Dwayne Johnson’s upcoming Black Adam (12/22/2021) will, in addition to being a Shazam! spinoff, also feature some members of the Justice Society of America, and this week, Atom Smasher became the first to be confirmed. The actor joining Black Adam will be Noah Centineo, who is probably currently best known for his roles in a few different Netflix projects, including To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Sierra Burgess is a Loser, and The Perfect Date. When production of Black Adam starts off in Georgia in early 2021, the film will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who also directed Johnson in Disney’s upcoming theme park attraction adaptation Jungle Cruise (6/20/2021).
(Photo by Elizabeth Goodenough/Everett Collection)
Hollywood obviously has a decades-long obsession with remaking films of yesteryear (they’ve actually been remaking movies since 1918), but the decade that has seemingly inspired the most remakes is the 1980s. Although he was quickly followed by stars like John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Eddie Murphy, the first Saturday Night Live star to leave the show for a movie career was Chevy Chase, and in 1985, he starred in the journalist comedy Fletch (Fresh at 77%), which was then followed in 1989 by the sequel Fletch Lives (Rotten at 37%). Director Kevin Smith has long wanted to reboot the franchise with a project called Fletch Won, starring Jason Lee (TV’s My Name is Earl), but that obviously never happened. Instead, the actor who is now attached to star in the Fletch reboot, based on the eleven original novels by Gregory McDonald, is Jon Hamm. The new Fletch will be directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad, Adventureland), who previously worked with Hamm on the made-for-HBO movie Clear History (Fresh at 61%). You can read more about Jon Hamm’s other upcoming projects in this piece.
(Photo by ©Big Feats! Entertainment courtesy Everett Collection)
Although some genres are still struggling in the movies compared to where they used to be (romantic comedies, westerns, etc), Hollywood appears to be content with the results they get from “dog movies.” (Harrison Ford’s Call of the Wild has been described as a box office bomb, but it also had to deal with the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.) One of the upcoming “dog movies” is the adaptation of the animated PBS series Clifford the Big Red Dog (11/13/2020 ), and this week, another canine PBS show is getting its own movie. Wishbone was a live-action show that ran on PBS from 1995 to 1997 in which Wishbone the dog taking on the personas of various literary characters each week, and now Green Book (Certified Fresh at 78%) director Peter Farrelly is attached to produce the Wishbone movie. As long as we’re on the subject, another dog movie in active development that was announced earlier this year is Arthur the King, starring Mark Wahlberg.
(Photo by 20th Century Fox courtesy Everett Collection, Jason Mendez/Everett Collection)
You may recall that we almost got a Marvel Comics adaptation called Silver & Black (about Silver Sable and Black Cat), which was once scheduled for February 8, 2019. That film was to have been directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love and Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees), who instead moved to Netflix where she directed their recent action movie The Old Guard (Certified Fresh at 81%). It appears that the good will from The Old Guard has resulted in a pretty quick benefit for Prince-Bythewood, because she has already set up an ambitious period drama at TriStar Pictures called The Woman King. Viola Davis will star in The Woman King as Nanisca, a general of an all-female military unit in the Kingdom of Dahomey, an African nation that once existed in the area that is now Benin. The other lead role in The Woman King will be Nanisca’s daughter, Nawi, who reportedly was almost played by Lupita Nyong’o. In related news, Charlize Theron is already talking about possible sequel plans for The Old Guard.
(Photo by Sanja Bucko/©Warner Bros. Pictures)
Some of this year’s animated features ended up releasing (or will be released) on Video on Demand due to widespread theater closures (Trolls World Tour, Scoob!, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run in 2021), but Hollywood appears to be otherwise committing to keeping other future animated movies in theaters (when the world goes back to having any movies released). One of those companies is Paramount Animation, who is continuing development on a project called The Tiger’s Apprentice, which will be inspired by elements of the Chinse Zodiac. We can now report that the lead character, a talking tiger, will be voiced by Henry Golding, who first came to attention as the male lead in the 2018 romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians. Golding’s next big movie role will be as Snake Eyes (10/23/2020), in a spinoff movie for the popular G.I. Joe character.
(Photo by (c)Vestron Pictures courtesy Everett Collection)
For the most part, “movie rumors” don’t get covered by major souces like Variety and Deadline, which is basically where we draw the line between “rumors” and confirmed news stories to begin with. This week, however, both of those sources ran with a story that is still firmly being described as a rumor. Reportedly, Dirty Dancing (Fresh at 69%) and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off star Jennifer Grey is partnering with Lionsgate to produce “an unique dance movie” which she will star in and produce. The mystery project, which is also set in the 1990s, is rumored to possibly be a sequel to Dirty Dancing. If true, Grey would presumably be playing the 40-something older version of “Baby” from Dirty Dancing, but it’s anyone’s guess what that character might be doing 30 years later after that one memorable summer in the Catskills in 1963. We should also point out that Dirty Dancing already had a “re-imagining” in 2004 with Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (Rotten at 23%), and a TV movie remake in 2017 (Rotten at 19%).
(Photo by Jack Rowand/©The CW)
Amidst all of the speculation about how most Hollywood productions will get going again, we’ve also been hearing about producer Michael Bay’s project called Songbird, which is inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic we’re all currently living in. Set two years in the future, Songbird will be told “through the eyes of the characters,” and we now know that the two leads will be KJ Apa (Archie on TV’s Riverdale) and Sofia Carson, one of the stars of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Filming of Songbird reportedly started on location in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Apa will play an essential worker who is able to deliver to people, including his girlfriend (Carson), due to his having a rare immunity to the disease. Demi Moore will also have a supporting role.
(Photo by Jason Mendez/Everett Collection)
Director Tate Taylor is probably best known for his frequent collaborations with actress Octavia Spencer (like The Help and the thriller Ma), but he’s also done movies like The Girl on the Train with other lead actresses. For his next movie, Taylor has recruited veteran character actor Jean Smart, who’s coming off her recent supporting role in HBO’s Watchmen mini-series (playing the same Silk Spectre character depicted in the 2009 movie by Malin Akerman). Jean Smart will be starring in the movie, called Miss Macy, as an “eccentric” woman who becomes a mentor to a young girl. The screenplay was adapted by screnwriter Beth Henley (Crimes of the Heart, Nobody’s Fool). Miss Macy will be produced by Amblin Partners, the production company that spun out from Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Pictures, and which has recently produced 1917, Dark Waters, First Man, and Ready Player One.
(Photo by ©TriStar Pictures courtesy Everett Collection)
Univeral Pictures’ previous plan for a “Dark Universe” built around reboots of their Universal Classic Monsters famously fell apart in 2017 following the disappointing box office for Tom Cruise’s The Mummy, but the studio did not give up on the idea of reboots. Their new strategy paid off this year, just before the pandemic fully hit, with The Invisible Man (Certified Fresh at 91%), which was both a box office and critical hit. Other “classic monsters” projects Universal now has in the works include a remake of The Wolfman (starring Ryan Gosling) and a project called Dark Army from director Paul Feig (we don’t yet know what that one’s about). We can also add to the list a family-friendly movie called Little Monsters from the director of Toy Story 4, which will reportedly feature various characters from Universal’s monster roster. That concept has sort of already been done a few times, including movies like The Monster Squad and Adam Sandler’s animated Hotel Transylvania franchise, but the difference here is Universal Pictures’ “official” stamp of approval (Hotel Transylvania, for example, is a Sony Pictures franchise).
This Week’s Ketchup brings you more headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as Halloween Kills, Peter Pan & Wendy, and Wolfman.
(Photo by Andrew Cooper/©Columbia Pictures)
Brad Pitt has enjoyed steady success throughout his career, even as recently as last year, when his performance in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood garnered widespread acclaim, but it’s been a little while since he appeared in a proper, traditional action film — unless, of course, you count his blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in Deadpool 2. With that in mind, he’s now set to work with the guy who helped re-establish Keanu Reeves as an action star: David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde, and the aforementioned Deadpool 2). Pitt has signed with Sony Pictures to star in an action thriller called Bullet Train that will be directed by Leitch, whose most recent film was last year’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (Fresh at 67%). Bullet Train will be an adaptation of the Japanese novel Maria Beetle by Kotaro Isaka and will tell the story of five assassins who find themselves on the same train from Tokyo, which undoubtedly leads to lots of shooting and stabbing and kicking and punching. Because, you know, action.
(Photo by Alex Bailey/©Focus Features)
It certainly seems like there have been a lot of live action takes on J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan in recent years, including films as 2003’s Peter Pan (Certified Fresh at 77%), 2015’s Pan (Rotten at 27%), this year’s Wendy (Rotten at 37%). One of the companies that has stayed out of the live-action Peter Pan business until this point has actually been the one that would’ve seemed the most obvious choice, which is Walt Disney Pictures. Disney’s 1953 animated Peter Pan is arguably the play’s most famous adaptation, and that film’s version of Tinker Bell became an icon for Walt Disney Pictures, used in various opening credit animations over the years. On top of that, Disney is very much in the ongoing process of adapting its most famous animated films into live-action ones. The live-action adaptation of Peter Pan will be called Peter Pan & Wendy, and it will be directed by David Lowery, who previously directed the live remake of Pete’s Dragon (Certified Fresh at 88%). We don’t yet know which young actors will play the title characters (or Tinker Bell, for that matter), but this week, the news broke that Jude Law is in talks with Disney to play the villain, Captain Hook. If he signs on, he will take on a role previously played by the likes of Dustin Hoffman (Hook), Jason Isaacs (Peter Pan), and Hugh Jackman (Pan).
(Photo by Saeed Adyani/©Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection)
Australia’s Leigh Whannell is a producer, director, and screenwriter who got his start collaborating on Saw with future Aquaman director James Wan in a career arc that most recently included Universal Pictures’ reboot of The Invisible Man (Certified Fresh at 91%), starring Elisabeth Moss. That film happened after Universal Pictures scrapped their previous “Dark Universe” plans for rebooting their classic monsters, which would have included Johnny Depp starring in The Invisible Man and rumors of Dwayne Johnson possibly starring in Wolfman. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic happening just as The Invisible Man was opening in theaters, the film was otherwise a financial success, so Univeral Pictures is moving forward with similar reboots, including Wolfman. Just about a month ago, the news broke that Ryan Gosling was the studio’s top choice to star in Wolfman, and it now appears that Gosling has indeed signed on, as Universal Pictures is in talks with Leigh Whannell about writing and directing Wolfman to continue the thread between The Invisible Man and their ambitious werewolf movie. Whannell and Gosling have reportedly wanted to work with each other “for some time.”
(Photo by Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection)
Last year, The New York Times Magazine began a new series called The 1619 Project, named after the arrival of the first ship of enslaved Africans to the coast of the colony of Virginia. Producer Oprah Winfrey is now collaborating with Lionsgate and The New York Times on a series of feature films and television projects that will be based on The 1619 Project. Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for The 1619 Project, and she will be a key participant in the projects Oprah Winfrey has planned. It is not yet known which of the true stories documented in The 1619 Project will be adapted as feature films, but the Variety’s news item references titles like, “America Wasn’t a Democracy Until Black Americans Made It One” and “American Capitalism is Brutal: You Can Trace That to a Plantation.” The 1619 Project scope will reportedly include “multiple feature films, TV series, documentaries, and other cross-platform content for a global audience.”
(Photo by Dee Cercone, Elizabeth Goodenough/Everett Collection)
Before winning an Academy Award for Best Picture for Green Book (Certified Fresh at 77%), director Peter Farrelly was probably best known for comedies like Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary. For his next film, Farrelly is returning to the 1960s setting of Green Book with an adaptation of the non-fiction book The Greatest Beer Run Ever, about a young man who traveled to Vietnam to reunite with friends who were soldiers in the war. The first actor to sign on for The Greatest Beer Run Ever a few weeks ago was Viggo Mortensen, who also starred in Green Book. This week, Mortensen was reportedly joined by Dylan O’Brien, one of the stars of MTV’s Teen Wolf (who’s speculated but not confirmed to be playing the lead role). For the female lead, producers are also reportedly “eyeing” Jojo Rabbit co-star Thomasin McKenzie, but she’s not signed yet.
(Photo by Michele K. Short/Universal Pictures)
Once a separate Hollywood studio, the former DreamWorks SKG, co-founded by Steven Spielberg, has in recent years been divided a few times over, with the live-action production company now being called Amblin Partners (not to be confused with Spielberg’s own Amblin Entertainment). Some of the recent films produced by Amblin Partners have included First Man, Best Picture Oscar-winner Green Book, and ten-time Academy Award nominee 1917. Amblin Partners is now developing a comedy for Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip, Night School) called Homecoming Queen to be written by Raamla Mohamed, a TV writer who’s worked on Scandal and Little Fires Everywhere. Haddish will star in and also produce Homecoming Queen, which is reportedly inspired by Haddish’s own experience traveling “to Africa thinking she was royalty, only to find out that that designation means something completely different there.” Other upcoming movies that share an African royalty theme include Eddie Murphy’s sequel Coming 2 America (12/18/2020) and Marvel’s Black Panther II (5/6/2022).
(Photo by Elizabeth Goodenough/Everett Collection)
Most sites reporting on movie development news try to avoid stories that hew too close to “rumors,” but every once in a while, a big enough star will actively campaign for a role that it will inevitably become “a story,” even if there’s no deal in negotiation. The most recent example of this came just this week from singer and actress Janelle Monáe (Moonlight, Hidden Figures), whose horror film Antebellum is among those that would have originally been released in theaters if not for the COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent interview, Monáe revealed that one of the roles she hopes to take on is the mutant superhero Storm of Marvel’s X-Men, who has previously been played in film by both Halle Berry and Alexandra Shipp (in X-Men: Apocalypse). Monáe said she “brought it up” while talking to director Ryan Coogler (currently working on Black Panther II, scheduled for 5/6/2022). It’s worth noting that Marvel Studios has not yet announced when any of the X-Men, including Storm, will be introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (The connection to Black Panther II is that in the comics, King T’Challa eventually marries Storm.)
(Photo by Ryan Green/©Universal Pictures)
The reality of the COVID-19 pandemic and the continuing scheduling delays have made reporting on such release date shifts nearly a non-story each week, but this week, Universal Pictures pushed four of their highest profile horror films back all at once. The reboot of Candyman, which had originally been scheduled to come out last month on June 12th, is now scheduled instead for October 16, 2020. Two other sequels previously scheduled for 2020 have instead been pushed back to dates in 2021: The Forever Purge on July 9, 2021 (one day shy of a year after its original July 10, 2020 date) and Halloween Kills on October 15, 2021. Producer John Carpenter took to Twitter to release this Halloween Kills statement confirming that the 2021 plans include IMAX screens, and also to give us our first teaser trailer for Halloween Kills. This shift also pushes Halloween Ends, which was originally slated to release on the date now occupied by Kills, back another year to October 14, 2022. Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends are both sequels to the 2018 sequel/reboot Halloween (Certified Fresh at 79%), which returned Jamie Lee Curtis to the franchise.
(Photo by Priscilla Grant, Jason Mendez/Everett Collection)
Hollywood remains in quite the transitional period as productions slowly attempt to resume activity during the pandemic. One feature film that is scheduled to start filming in Los Angeles in late 2020 is a caper comedy called Queenpins, inspired by the true story of the largest coupon counterfeit enterprise in U.S. history, led by three women who sold fake coupons that could then be turned in for items that were worth much more money. Queenpins will feature an ensemble cast, including Kristen Bell (Frozen, TV’s The Good Place) and Saturday Night Live star Leslie Jones as two of the ringleaders, as well as Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers, The Break-Up) and Paul Water Hauser (I, Tonya, Richard Jewell). Queenpins will be written and directed by the married team of Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, who made their feature film in 2013 with the independent film Beneath the Harvest Sky (Fresh at 62%), starring Game of Thrones’ Aidan Gillen (“Littlefinger”).
(Photo by ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
As recently as late May, one of the biggest casting news stories was that Cate Blanchett had signed on to star in the video game adaptation Borderlands, based on the popular “first-person shooter” franchise. Coincidentally (but possibly confusingly), we can also now report that an indie thriller called Borderland (singular versus the plural video game title) is now casting up with stars from a few popular recent films. These stars include John Boyega (Finn from Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker), Felicity Jones (Jyn Erso from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Jack Reynor (Florence Pugh’s apathetic boyfriend in Midsommar), and Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen from last year’s Queen & Slim). Reynor will play an Irish soldier whose pregnant wife is killed by John Boyega’s British SAS soldier during a border ambush. Borderland will be directed and written by brothers Tom and Charlie Guard (the latter of whom is also married to Felicity Jones), who made their feature film debut in 2009 with The Uninvited (Rotten at 31%), the poorly received American remake of the South Korean supernatural thriller A Tale of Two Sisters.
This Week’s Ketchup brings you more headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as Frosty the Snowman, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
The “studio system” of the Golden Age of Hollywood has obviously been dead and gone for decades, but that doesn’t mean certain actors don’t establish relationships with specific studios. One of the studios best known for that is Warner Bros., which is frequently the home for movies starring Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, Michael B. Jordan, and of course, the various stars of their DC Comics superhero movies. That last group is important this week, because the star who gave Warner Bros. a massive box office success with Aquaman (Fresh at 65%) was Jason Momoa, who also co-starred in WB-sister-company HBO’s Game of Thrones. Momoa kept his relationship with Warner Bros. very, very cool this week by signing on to voice the classic Christmas character Frosty the Snowman in a new live-action/CGI hybrid movie (Frosty himself will be CGI with Momoa’s voice, of course). Momoa will also produce Frosty the Snowman along with DC Comics’ Geoff Johns. He’ll next be seen in the reboot of Frank Herbert’s Dune, which, likewise, will also be distributed by Warner Bros.
(Photo by Getty Images)
The Academy Awards are still recovering from the stigma reflected in the various #OscarsSoWhite hashtags of recent years, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is likewise continuing to implement changes designed to encourage diversity in the prestige films nominated and awarded each year. There were two different changes this week that both related to who precisely gets to vote each year on the nominees and winners. On Monday, the Board of Governors announced that they had reclassified the membership status of Artist’s Representatives (A.K.A. talent agents) from associates to members-at-large, which means that for the first time ever, 111 current agents will now have voting rights for the Oscars. The Academy has over 7,000 voting members, so those 111 votes are still a tiny minority, but the change is still significant and opens the door to other future changes, such as for critics or journalists. Then, on Tuesday, the Academy announced the names of the 819 artists who have been invited to join the Academy with full voting privileges. The list is made up of 45% women, 36% from minority backgrounds, and 49% are international artists from outside the United States. The newest Academy voters will include five of the stars of Parasite, Cynthia Erivo, Zazi Beetz, Constance Wu, Awkwafina, Florence Pugh, and Lakeith Stanfield, among many others.
(Photo by Jasin Boland/©Marvel)
Some directors are able to find a successful balance between big budget studio projects for “them” and then their own personal films for “me.” One such filmmaker is Taika Waititi, who directed Thor: Ragnarok (Certified Fresh at 93%) for Marvel Studios before moving on to his own pet project, Jojo Rabbit ( Certified Fresh at 80%). Waititi has lots of his own projects lined up (including the soccer movie Next Goal Wins, Thor: Love and Thunder, and a Star Wars movie), but this week, he also took on the role of producer in support of New Zealand. Waititi is producing three different projects from New Zealand writers of Maori heritage, with all three films looking at the effects of European colonization on the indigenous people of the country. The three projects will be The Imaginary Lives of James Poneke (about a Maori teenager who travels to 1840s London as part of a Maori museum exhibit), Down the Rabbit Hole (about a Maori woman who ends up in a British prison), and Better than Blood (about “an obsessive Maori detective as she hunts down an indigenous serial killer revenging the wrongs of New Zealand’s colonizers”).
(Photo by Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection)
Although South Korea’s Parasite eventually won the Academy Award over it this year, Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory (Certified Fresh at 96%) was still one of 2019’s most lauded films. For Pain and Glory, Almodóvar reunited with two of his most frequent (and most famous) co-stars: Antonio Banderas for the eighth time, and Penelope Cruz for the sixth time. We also now know that Almodóvar has once again cast Penelope Cruz for his next film, to be titled Madres Paralela (Parallel Mothers), which will reportedly tell the stories of two mothers (one of them being Cruz, who’s now 46) in Madrid who give birth to their babies on the same day, over the first two years of their new children’s lives. It’s not yet known if there is also a role in Madres Paralela for Anontio Banderas, or who might play the other mother. Madres Paralelas will start filming in Madrid in February, 2021, and it’s expected to be released in Spain by the end of that year (which suggests a release in the United States sometime in 2022).
(Photo by ©Columbia Pictures)
The animation style used for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Certified Fresh at 97%) was so innovative that the film was able to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature that year against two Disney films (Pixar’s Incredibles 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet). As amazing as it was, producer Chris Miller this week took to Twitter to tease that “The development of new groundbreaking art techniques being done for the next Spider-Verse movie are already blowing me away. It’s going to make the first movie look quaint.” Of course, that statement doesn’t go on to explain in what ways the sequel will be innovative (they certainly don’t want to tip off their competition). The sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (which hasn’t officially been titled yet) is currently scheduled for release over two years from now on October 7, 2022 (but that date could certainly be shifted as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to push release dates back).
(Photo by ©Warner Bros.)
Back in 2015, Steven Spielberg made the news for developing a project called It’s What I Do, which would have starred Jennifer Lawrence as war photographer Lynsey Addario (that project appears to have stalled in the years since). This week, another biopic about a female war photographer is getting going, except that the setting for this one will be World War II. Kate Winslet is now attached to star in Lee, a biopic about Vogue model-turned-war-correspondent Lee Miller, who was on the scene for events like the London Blitz, the liberation of Paris from the Nazis, and the discoveries of the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau. Lee will be the feature film directorial debut of cinematographer Ellen Kuras, whose work includes Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (starring Winslet) and episodes of shows like Catch-22, Ozark, and The Umbrella Academy.
(Photo by Scott Garfield/©Netflix)
Last year, Netflix ended up spending something north of $150 million on Martin Scorsese’s mob biopic The Irishman (Certified Fresh at 96%), and this week brought news of another expensive project being picked up by one of Netflix’s streaming competitors. The movie in question is the recently announced slavery-era epic Emancipation, in which Will Smith will star as the runaway slave “Peter” whose scarred back was photographed in 1863 to inspire the Northern public during the Civil War. Emancipation went up for sale at the Virtual Cannes market last week, leading to a sale to Apple for $120 million, which set an all-time record for the largest festival acquisition deal ever. Emancipation will be directed by Antoine Fuqua (Olympus Has Fallen, The Equalizer) and produced by Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios production company. Apple is expected to premiere Emancipation in theaters before it debuts on Apple TV+.
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
One of the last movies to actually be released in theaters before the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down for months (and delayed pretty much everything) was the faith-based romantic drama I Still Believe (Rotten at 51%), starring KJ Apa and Britt Robertson. This week, two different movies with direct connections to I Still Believe made the news. That film was directed by the sibling team of Andrew and Jon Erwin, and their next movie is going to be a football biopic called American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story. The Erwin brothers were able to cast the star of one of 2019’s biggest superhero movies, as the title role of Kurt Warner will be played by Zachary Levi, who played the superhero alter ego in Shazam! (Certified Fresh at 90%). Levi will star as NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, who “went from stocking shelves at a supermarket to becoming a Super Bowl MVP.” Also making the news this week is a project called Jesus Revolution, which is also based on a true story, this time about a group of California teenage hippies in the early 1970s who form their own religious movement called the Harvest Christian Fellowship. Jesus Revolution is being produced by the same people behind I Still Believe, and the cast will include Jim Gaffigan and Joel Courtney.
(Photo by ©Warner Bros.)
It’s clear that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles remains a popular franchise for many fans, whether their love of the characters started with the 1980s-1990s animated TV show, the 1990s live-action movies, or the gritty 1980s black-and-white comics that started it all. After those original three live live-action films in the 1990s, the first attempt at rebooting the franchise came in 2007 with the computer animated TMNT, which was then followed in 2014 by a live-action reboot that received a sequel in 2016 called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (Rotten at 37%). Now we can confirm that another attempt at reviving Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, specifically as a CGI-animated feature film, is in development, with Seth Rogen’s Point Grey Pictures teaming up with Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures on the project. This seventh Ninja Turtles movie will be directed by Jeff Rowe (a writer on Disney’s Gravity Falls who is making his directorial debut with Connected) working from a screenplay by Brendan O’Brien (co-writer of Neighbors, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising). It’s not yet known if Rogen himself plans on taking a role in the movie (Casey Jones, perhaps?).
(Photo by Susie Allnutt/©Focus Features)
If movie theaters do indeed open back up across the country by August, one of the first movies scheduled to be one of the first in wide release is Greenland, a Deep Impact-style disaster movie starring Gerard Butler. Although Greenland is an original story, Butler confirmed this week that that two of his upcoming projects will be sequels. One of them will be Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, a sequel to the 2018 heist action thriller Den of Thieves (Rotten at 42%) that earned $80 million worldwide. Butler describes the Den of Thieves sequel (about his character chasing O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s character around the world) as a “fun ride, spreading across North America into Europe and the diamond district of Marseilles.” Butler also promised that a fourth movie in the franchise that started in 2013 with Olympus Has Fallen (Rotten at 49%) is also in the works, although he didn’t mention a title or a location that will presumably have “fallen.” The second movie in 2016 was London Has Fallen (Rotten at 27%) and the third last year was Angel Has Fallen (Rotten at 39% ).
In this first full month of summer, you’ll want to catch up with some beloved series of years past to enjoy some of the one-off specials and TV movies hitting in July. Plus, some other small-screen favorites return for their sophomore seasons. Catch up on everything we think you should be watching this month with July 2020’s guide on what’s worth your precious binge.
What it is: This long-form television adaptation of Joe Wright’s 2011 feature tells the scintillating story of a young assassin raised in the woods — one who, when tracked down by a CIA agent on the prowl, will do just about anything it takes to learn the truth about who she is.
Why you should watch it: Four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan left massive shoes to fill for the titular assassin when she originated the role nine years ago, but luckily, 20-year-old up-and-comer Esme Creed-Miles proves equally adept and formidable as the demanding heroine. While season 1 certainly proved a Fresh and satisfying viewing, some complained that it was too much exposition, not enough action. Positive early reviews may hint that Hanna packs more of a punch in season 2, which premieres July 3 on Amazon Prime.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNow, Google Play, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 8 hours (for the first season)
What it is: As if you haven’t wondered what Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and Gus Guster (Dulé Hill) have been up to? While Psych: The Movie reunited the oddball detective duo in San Francisco (a.k.a. “psychphrancisco”) in 2017, Psych is the gift that keeps on giving. A new sequel, Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, brings them back to Santa Barbara to help their old police chief, only to be caught up in a case of the supernatural.
Why you should watch it: No, Shawn is not a real psychic, but he’ll have you rooting for him anyway. The original USA Network series, which premiered back in 2006 and wrapped in 2014, followed Shawn as he utilized his impressive observational skills and memory as a Santa Barbara–based crime consultant to trick people into thinking he’s the real deal. But the series succeeds because it does just the opposite and never tries to be something it’s not. Putting affable goofiness to the forefront is what earned Psych it’s devoted “Psych-O” fan base and is what ensures the laughs are going to be hearty with the July 15 film sequel treatment. Catch up now so you can spot all the Easter eggs and call-back guest stars! Psych 2: Lassie Come Home premieres July 15 on Peacock.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 92 hours (for all eight seasons and Psych: The Movie)
What it is: Blatantly inspired by her time at Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey’s 30 Rock (on which she also stars) is a loving ode to the beast that is live television. She plays Liz Lemon, the head writer of sketch comedy show TGS with Tracy Jordan who’s tasked with simultaneously reining in her new boss, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin).
Why you should watch it: Remember when prestige TV was for years through the mid-aughts just the folks behind Mad Men and 30 Rock winning their respective Emmys on an annual basis? If you haven’t watched Fey’s breakout (and best) brainchild, now’s the time to find out just what makes it one-of-the-best-ever comedies of the small screen. The series’ anticipated upfront special airs July 16 on NBC.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNow, Google Play, Hulu, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 50 hours (for all seven seasons)
What it is: Based on the novel of the same name by Caleb Carr and helmed by showrunner Stuart Carolan, The Alienist is set in the final years of the 19th century and dives deep into a series of violent, gruesome murders and the mysterious serial killer behind them. Criminal psychologist (a.k.a. “alienist”) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, newspaper illustrator John Moore, and police department secretary Sara Howard are called in to conduct a secret investigation to bring the killer justice.
Why you should watch it: This series is pitch-perfect period perfection with lurid horror (psychological and otherwise) to spare. Add to the mix a central cast that’s more than up to task, including Luke Evans, Daniel Brühl, and Dakota Fanning in a welcome (and decidedly adult) turn on the small screen, we’re hooked enough to see what this drama has in store for its second round. Season 2, The Alienist: Angel of Darkness, premieres July 18 on TNT.
Where to watch: Amazon, Google Play, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 10 hours (for the first season)
What it is: From the minds of indie film royalty Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass, Room 104 is unlike just about anything else on television. The series sets each of its 30-minute installments (36 total across three seasons) in its titular hotel room through which a varied assortment of characters pass, spending a night or two within its walls and experiencing things that are far from typical.
Why you should watch it: Part of the joy of watching Room 104 is bracing yourself for the unexpected. Luckily, the series’ anthology-like narrative means you never quite know what you’re going to get. Genre, tone, time, cast — basically everything but place — changes with each episode. While the diversity allows the viewer to watch it out of sequential order, we still recommend you watch starting with episode 1 if only to appreciate the bigger picture the Duplass brothers are creating. Season 4, its final outing, premieres July 24 on HBO.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, HBO Now, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 18 hours (for the first three seasons)
What it is: The Muppets are back! Given Disney’s streaming treatment with Muppets Now, this “unscripted” series will feature all our favorite characters acting through three different, unscripted and improvised segments of a game show, a cooking show, and a talk show. Watch the trailer above, and it is clear the rest is being held under lock and key.
Why you should watch it: At the risk of sounding hyperbolic: Hollywood wouldn’t be what it is today without the Kermit the Frog and his Muppet crew. Since their inception from the mind of puppeteer Jim Henson in the 1950s, they’ve gone on to entertain the masses with 10 feature films, a smattering of on-again, off-again television series beginning with The Muppet Show in 1976, and over 20 television specials. Plus, they’re frequently credited with influencing the young minds and sensibilities of some of today’s biggest Hollywood stars. Muppets Now, premieres on Disney+ on July 31. To get a feel for it all prior to, ABC’s Emmy-nominated 2015 series from creators Bob Kushell and Bill Prady, The Muppets, is a solid place to start.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 5.5 hours (for the first and only season)
What it is: An adaptation of Gerard Way’s Dark Horse Comics series of the same name, The Umbrella Academy follows a “dysfunctional family of superheroes” who, as children, were adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves. Now estranged adults, the family reunites to solve the mystery of Hargreeves’ death.
Why you should watch it: Led by Oscar-nominee Ellen Page and Merlin alumnus Tom Hopper, the ensemble of imperfect superheroes is what makes this series sweet like candy — the looming apocalypse and genuine heart are just the cherries on top. Season 2 premieres July 31 on Netflix.
Where to watch: Netflix
Commitment: Approx. 10 hours (for the first season)
This Week’s Ketchup brings you more headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as Ferrari, The Flash, The Magic School Bus, and a remake of Twister.
(Photo by ©Warner Bros.)
There have been hints in the “real world” for a while now that Walt Disney Pictures had plans for Pirates of the Caribbean following Johnny Depp’s run as Captain Jack Sparrow. Most of this has revolved around the character of Redd, a female pirate who became a featured greeter at the Disney parks in 2018. In late breaking news this Friday, we now know that Margot Robbie is attached to star in a new Pirates of the Caribbean spinoff that will be written by Christina Hodson, who worked with Robbie on this year’s Birds of Prey. The new film hasn’t actually been confirmed to be a “Redd” movie quite yet, but that’s where the speculation is quickly turning. In a somewhat surprising twist, this new Margot Robbie Pirates of the Caribbean movie will also reportedly be separate from the Pirates of the Caribbean reboot by original Pirates of the Caribbean co-writer Ted Elliot and Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin — previously, many thought their movie would be the one to introduce Redd. It’s possible that Walt Disney Pictures is developing both of these projects to improve their chances that one of them will reach the greenlight stage (Paramount has been doing this for a while with their Transformers projects, including Bumblebee, also written by Hodson). There is no current release date for any new Pirates of the Caribbean project, but with everything going on in the world, it’s unlikely it could be before the summer of 2022.
(Photo by ©Warner Bros. courtesy Everett Collection)
The longer big-budget movies take to get produced, the more likely it is that their storylines will twist and change, but at least at one point, the upcoming solo movie for The Flash was going to adapt the Flashpoint premise, which includes both time travel and “parallel world”-type adventures. Flashpoint eventually became a big part of the TV show The Flash as well, leading to a recent scene during the Crisis on Infinite Earths events when the Ezra Miller’s and Grant Gustin’s separate versions of the Flash actually met. Possibly confirming a similar story for The Flash (6/2/2022), Michael Keaton is now signed to reprise his role as Bruce Wayne A.K.A. Batman from his two movies with director Tim Burton (1989’s Batman, Fresh at 71%; and 1992’s Batman Returns, Certified Fresh at 79%). The inclusion of Keaton’s Batman in The Flash is reportedly meant to establish that there is not just “one” DC Universe, so that the characters like those in the Arrowverse, Stargirl, Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, Robert Pattinson’s The Batman, and the DCEU occupied by Aquaman, The Flash, and Wonder Woman, all exist in separate realities. It’s a stark departure from the way Marvel Studios has kept the Marvel Cinematic Universe going in one consistent setting since the first Iron Man in 2008 (the Fox/Marvel movies like X-Men and Deadpool don’t count). Warner Bros. is also keeping the door open for other future appearances by Michael Keaton as the older Batman, which might include the long-in-development Batgirl solo movie.
(Photo by Lev Radin/Everett Collection)
After attaining fame with the hit Broadway musical Hamilton (a filmed version of which is coming to Disney+ on July 3, 2020), Lin-Manuel Miranda expanded into film and animation, including work with Disney on Mary Poppins Returns (in which he co-starred) and Moana (for which he co-wrote the songs). We’ve also known for a while that Miranda has a project with Sony Animation called Vivo (6/4/2021), and this week, another new project with Disney Animation was revealed. Talking to Good Morning America on Monday, Lin-Manuel Miranda mentioned that he is spending his quarantine-at-home time working on an untitled Disney animation project set in Colombia. Reportedly, the project will be directed by Byron Howard and Jared Bush, who worked with Miranda as the directors of Moana (Certified Fresh at 95%). This news came just a few days after this Disney blog reported that Miranda, Howard, and Bush were working on a Disney musical called Encanto (Spanish for “charm”), about a young girl from a magical family who herself does not have any magical powers. Some sites are already listing Encanto with a possible release date of November 24, 2021, but release dates are obviously very fluid right now.
(Photo by Wilson Webb/©Warner Bros.)
One of the biggest box office surprises of late 2019 may have been the car race period piece Ford v Ferrari (Certified Fresh at 92%), which was able to earn over $117 million in the USA and over $225 million globally. It was not the only “Ferrari” project being developed at the time, though, as director Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral, Public Enemies) had also been trying to get his own biopic project going about the life of Italian automobile tycoon Enzo Ferrari, who also played a pivotal role in Ford v Ferrari. Michael Mann’s Ferrari project is now being sold at the Cannes Virtual Market with Hugh Jackman attached to star as Enzo Ferrari. The focus of Ferrari will be the summer of 1957 (nine years before the events of Ford v Ferrari) when both Ferrari’s personal and professional lives were in turmoil. Mann reportedly completed a new rewrite of the Ferrari screenplay, which is based on the Brock Yates book Enzo Ferrari – The Man and the Machine. Of course, it’s worth noting that Hugh Jackman is very specifically Australian, so it will be interesting to see if he attempts to appropriate any sort of Italian accent in the new film.
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
Not that long ago, many in Hollywood were hopeful that movie theaters could be “back in business” by July, but that was before recent reports of the COVID-19 pandemic numbers going up in many states and Governor Cuomo of New York postponing movie theater reopenings. Even as dozens of projects were delayed from this summer (or went Video-on-Demand), Warner Bros. and director Christopher Nolan have been adamant about Nolan’s action film Tenet remaining a summer 2020 movie (though they did delay Tenet earlier this month from July 17 to July 31). Well, Warner Bros. has moved Tenet again, this time back another two weeks to August 12, 2020 (two days before Bill & Ted Face the Music and Greenland on 8/14/2020). With this move, the most anticipated movie still scheduled for July (for now) is Disney’s Mulan (7/24/2020), but speculation is high that Mulan will also be delayed. Other movies still scheduled for July include Unhinged (7/10/2020), The Broken Hearts Gallery, and Cut Throat City (both 7/17/2020). In related news, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, previously scheduled for a theatrical release on May 22, 2020, will now debut as a streaming title sometime in early 2021.
(Photo by ©Warner Bros. courtesy Everett Collection)
Although the genre is seemingly being kept alive singlehandedly by Gerard Butler (Geostorm, next month’s Greenland), the disaster movie is not as common in recent years as it was in the 1990s and 2000s, when titles like Independence Day, 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, Deep Impact, and Armageddon were major box office hits. 1996 in particular was a big year for the genre with the #1 film being Independence Day and #2 being Twister (Rotten at 57%). Perhaps seeing Twister as even more relevant now (thanks to climate change), Universal Pictures is actively developing a remake. Director Joseph Kosinski, who has worked with Tom Cruise twice (Oblivion and the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick) is now in talks for the Twister remake with screenwriters currently being sought. It’s currently unclear how closely the new film will stick to the storyline of the original, which focused on a team of storm chasers played by Helen Hunt, the late Bill Paxton, and the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Kosinski was also at one time developing a remake of The Black Hole for Disney, but that project appears to have been scrapped (or, at best, delayed indefinitely).
(Photo by Universal Pictures)
When we first started hearing about the upcoming third Jurassic World movie we now know as Jurassic World: Dominion (6/11/2021), one of the biggest stories was that it would feature the return of three of the original Jurassic Park stars: Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Sam Neill, all reprising the same characters. Characters from the first Jurassic Park have returned before, including the kids in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and BD Wong in Jurassic World, but Jurassic World: Dominion will feature another surprising return. Campbell Scott has reportedly signed on to co-star in Jurassic World: Dominion as Dr. Lewis Dodgson, a character from Michael Crichton’s novels who appeared in Jurassic Park as the mysterious figure who gave Wayne Knight’s character the cannister in which to put the stolen dinosaur embyros. Scott is taking over the role — likely to be one of the film’s villains — because the actor who played Dodgson in Jurassic Park, Cameron Thor, is “no longer available.”
(Photo by Saeed Adyani/©Netflix)
After a long history of animated TV shows based on their various characters, Scholastic Entertainment is now starting to develop more and more theatrical feature films, including Goosebumps (Certified Fresh at 78%), Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (Rotten at 48%), the upcoming Clifford the Big Red Dog (11/13/2020), and announced just last week, the Animorphs movie. We will also soon be able to add a live-action adaptation of The Magic School Bus to that list, as Elizabeth Banks has signed on to produce and star as Ms. Frizzle, the teacher who drives the bus as it takes kids on adventures through time and space. In the animated TV series, Ms. Frizzle was originally voiced by Lily Tomlin, with Kate McKinnon coming on board later to voice her sister. The Magic School Bus will be distributed by Universal Pictures, which is also the studio that released the three Pitch Perfect movies in which Elizabeth Banks also co-starred (and she also directed Pitch Perfect 2).
(Photo by Fox Searchlight courtesy Everett Collection)
After starring in both Garfield: The Movie (Rotten at 15%) and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (Rotten at 11%) (and thankfully, not a Garfield 3 as seen in Zombieland: Double Tap), Bill Murray also voiced one of the talking dogs in frequent collaborator Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs (Certified Fresh at 90%). This week, Murray signed on for yet another voice role as a stray dog named Bum in Bum’s Rush, along with Anne Hathaway and Robert Duvall. Bum’s Rush will be directed by Aaron Schneider (Greyhound, Get Low) from a screenplay by C. Gaby Mitchell, who received a story credit on Blood Diamond and co-wrote Get Low. The independent drama will be filmed in Santa Barbara and New Mexico, though it’s unclear, as many film productions are forced to address, when exactly they might be able to get that done. Hathaway will play a custom boot maker who befriends Murray’s Bum as “these two independent souls find themselves at a serious crossroads, one that will change both their hearts and minds in ways they can hardly imagine.”
(Photo by Elizabeth Goodenough/Everett Collection)
As movies are increasingly based more on concept or franchise than the star’s fame, we see fewer stories about the sort of star-driven projects that used to be the norm. That said, the Cannes Film Festival — or, as it’s been rebranded this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Cannes Virtual Market — remains one of the places where these sort of “retro” star-driven projects can still generate interest. One of the movies at the market this year is a sci-fi comedy called Alpha Gang, about a group of aliens who are sent on a mission to conquer Earth disguised as a gang of bikers. Alpha Gang will feature an ensemble cast that includes Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Mackenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Independence Day: Insurgence), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: Days of Future Past), Andrea Riseborough (Oblivion), and Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead). Writer-director duo Nathan and David Zellner (Damsel, Fresh at 67%) will produce and helm the film, working from a script written by the latter, who calls the film “a genre mashup of sci-fi, action and comedy.”
This Week’s Ketchup brings you more headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as Animorphs, Attack the Block 2, and new roles for Oscar Isaac, Will Smith, and Kristen Stewart.
(Photo by Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection)
In 1863, the still experimental new science of photography gave the world one of its earliest and most shocking demonstrations of the adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words” when an escaped slave named Peter was photographed to reveal his back scarred by countless whip lashes. And now, Peter’s story will be told on the big screen, thanks to Will Smith — who turned down the opportunity to star in Quentin Tarantino’s slavery-era revenge flick Django Unchained — and director Antoine Fuqua, who normally works in the action-thriller genre with movies like Training Day, Olympus Has Fallen, and The Equalizer. Smith will produce and star in the film, called Emancipation, which will be a biographical thriller about the life of the slave named Peter as depicted in that early photograph. Smith and Fuqua expect to start production of Emanciation in early 2021, after Fuqua finishes filming the drama Infinite and after Will Smith wraps filming of King Richard, about the life of Richard Williams, the father of future tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams. The announcement of Emancipation is timely this week as the Juneteenth holiday has its origins in the commemoration of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas on June 19th, 1865.
(Photo by Getty Images)
As this year’s COVID-19 pandemic has continued to delay the releases of dozens of films, there has been a steady number of articles wondering online how this year’s shortened release calendar will impact the Academy Awards. The issue at hand was not only that there will be fewer films released in 2020, but also that the later months will be crowded with films originally scheduled for earlier in the year (i.e. when will the “awards season” movies be released?). This week, the mystery was (at least partially) addressed, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has indeed delayed the 93rd Academy Awards until April 25, 2021 (pushed back two months from Febraury 28, 2021). As part of this delay, the window for eligibility will also be extended all the way to February 28, 2021. This delay potentially will have a particularly strong impact on the Sundance Film Festival, which is annually held in January after the end of awards season, as this new delay means Sundance will now be held a month before the deadline instead of after. (The Berlin and Cannes Film Festivals have already announced that the change will not impact their scheduling.) In (very) related news, the BAFTAs have also delayed their next ceremony until April 11, 2021, just two weeks before the new Academy Awards date.
(Photo by Wilson Webb/©TriStar)
For fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of the still mysterious “What If…?” scenarios (not to be confused with the upcoming animated Disney+ series What If…?) involves the version of the first Ant-Man movie that would have been directed by Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead), who eventually dropped out of the production. Well, this week’s news isn’t exactly that, but we did get confirmation of a movie called The Chain that will effectively align Wright with a screenwriter, Jane Goldman, who actually has worked on some Marvel movies (X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past), as well as the non-Marvel comic book adaptation Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Goldman and Wright will deliver the adaptation of Adrian McKinty’s 2019 novel The Chain for Universal Pictures, who picked up the project after it had previously been eyed by Paramount Pictures last summer. The Chain tells the story of a mother of a kidnapped 11-year-old daughter who discovers that the only way to get her own child back is to kidnap somebody’s else child (hence, The Chain). Wright’s next film before The Chain will be Last Night in Soho, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Jojo Rabbit star Thomasin McKenzie, which is now scheduled for April 23, 2021 after its 2020 release was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Photo by Liam Daniel/©Screen Gems courtesy Everett Collection)
During a recent protest event, Star Wars star John Boyega wondered aloud, “I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this,” but several directors and studios were quick to respond online, saying that they would indeed be eager to work with Boyega on future projects. One of those filmmakers appears to have been Joe Cornish (The Kid Who Would Be King), who not only — like Wright above — worked on Marvel’s Ant-Man, but also gave John Boyega one of his earliest leading roles in the 2011 science fiction film Attack the Block (Certified Fresh at 90%). Speaking recently on the Script Apart podcast, Cornish revealed that he has met with Boyega to discuss ideas for an Attack the Block sequel, although he didn’t reveal what it might be about (except that the setting would have to acknowledge the 10+ years since the events of the first movie). Cornish is currently also developing a TV movie adaptation of the cyberpunk novel Snow Crash for HBO Max, and Boyega’s upcoming films include Naked Singularity and Rebel Ridge.
(Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix)
Speaking of John Boyega, one of his Star Wars co-stars has, like Boyega, had to dedicate much of the last several years to the Star Wars franchise, but that’s all over now, so he’s back to beefing up his other credits. That co-star is Oscar Isaac, and in addition to co-starring in Denis Villeneuve’s highly anticipated upcoming adaptation of Dune (12/28/2020) (which will soon resume filming for reshoots), Isaac will also continue filming his lead role in Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter in Mississippi in early July. On top of that, Isaac also joined two other new projects this week, one of which is Armegeddon Time for director James Gray (Ad Astra, Certified Fresh at 84%), an ensemble drama set at a prestigious private school in the 1980s in which his co-stars will be Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Donald Sutherland, and Cate Blanchett. Isaac’s other new project is a thriller called London based on a short story by Norwegian author Jo Jo Nesbø and directed by Ben Stiller, which is quite a departure for him. The premise London is being kept under wraps, but it’s adapted by Eric Roth, whose previous films include Forrest Gump, Ali, Munich, the 2018 version of A Star is Born, and soon, the aforementioned remake of Dune.
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In Season 3 of Netflix’s The Crown, the cast changed to introduce Olivia Colman as the older Queen Elizabeth and Ben Daniels (Emma.) as a young Prince Charles. Although the new additions also included Emerald Fennell as Camilla Shand, the future Duchess of Cornwall, fans of the show will have to wait until Season 4 to see Emma Corrin join the series as Princess Diana (though you can see some set photos of her in costume here). The Crown will soon have competition, though, in the form of a new feature film about the life of Princess Diana, as Kristen Stewart is now attached to star in the film called Spencer (after Princess Di’s maiden family name). Spencer will be directed by Pablo Larrain, who is probably best known for directing a biographical film about another influential female political figure, Jackie (Certified Fresh at 87%), which starred Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy in the period immediately after JFK’s assassination. Similarly, Spencer will not be a biopic about Princess Diana’s entire life, but will instead focus on three of the final days of her troubled marriage to Prince Charles. This is not the first time Kristen Stewart has starred in a biopic, as she also played the young Joan Jett in 2010’s The Runaways (Fresh at 70%) and actress-turned-activist Jean Seberg in last year’s Seberg (Rotten at 34%).
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Decades before Venus and Serena Williams ever picked up a tennis racket, Arthur Ashe made sports history as the first African American man to win a singles title at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open, among other accomplishments. Following a heart bypass surgery in the 1980s, Ashe was diagnosed with AIDS, which led to his founding two different health organizations before his death in 1993. A biopic about the life of Arthur Ashe is now in development, to be produced by Hyde Park Entertainment (Blue Valentine, Machete) and Warner Music Group. The film will be adapted by screenwriter Kevin Willmott, who won a Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award for co-writing 2018’s BlackKklansman (Certified Fresh at 96%), and who also wrote 2015’s Chi-Raq (Certified Fresh at 82%) and the recent Netflix film Da 5 Bloods (Certified Fresh at 92%), all of which were directed by Spike Lee. Arthur Ashe is survived by his wife, photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, and their daughter Camera, named after her mother’s profession. Warner Music Group is expected to help secure music for the Arthur Ashe biopic from “the extraordinary works of the era by such artists as Aretha Franklin, Prince, Curtis Mayfield, and others.”
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In the sport of fencing, a “balestra” is a leap forward usually followed by an aggressive “lunge” attack. Balestra also happens to be a pretty cool-sounding title for a movie, specifically one starring Tessa Thompson, whose profile has risen in recent years thanks to roles in Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok, HBO’s Westworld, and Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, among other things. Thompson is now executive producing and will star in a psychological thriller called Balestra, playing a “disgraced competitive fencer” hoping for an Olympic comeback who receives a new device designed to help her train while she’s lucid dreaming, until she “gets caught in her own web of subconscious desires and unfulfilling reality.” Balestra will be an independent production directed by Nicole Dorsey (Black Conflux) and will co-star Marwan Kenzari, A.K.A. “Sexy Jafar” from Disney’s recent live-action remake of Aladdin.
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Staten Island may be the smallest borough of New York City (by population), but it’s also currently the hometown of two current Saturday Night Live cast members, namely Colin Jost and Pete Davidson. Davidson also recently starred in Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island (Fresh at 70%), which had its streaming debut last Friday (6/12/2020). Soon, though, Jost and Davidson will have something else in common, as they are now both signed to star in the Universal Pictures comedy Worst Man. As the title suggests, Worst Man will be a wedding-themed comedy about “the family dramatics that ensue just weeks before the wedding,” but it’s currently unclear what roles Jost and Davidson will play — presumably one of them will be the groom, and the other will be the best (worst?) man, and you get no points for guessing which of them is most likely to play which role. Colin Jost’s next movie will be the live-action/CGI hybrid comedy Tom and Jerry (3/5/2021), and Pete Davidson will have a supporting role in next year’s soft reboot of The Suicide Squad (8/6/2021).
(Photo by Daniel C. McFadden/©IFC Midnight courtesy Everett Collection)
In 2012, Lord of the Rings franchise star Elijah Wood played against type by starring as a serial killer in the Maniac remake (Rotten at 53%). For his next film, Wood is stepping around to the other side of the interrogation table, quite literally, as he will star as serial killer Ted Bundy’s FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier in the crime thriller No Man of God, based on the real life transcripts of their conversations from 1984 to 1989. (The real life Bill Hagmaier was also featured in episode 4 of Netflix’s 2019 mini-series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes). Indie filmmaker Amber Sealey (How to Cheat, No Light and No Land Anywhere) will direct No Man of God from a screenplay by screenwriter C. Robert Cargill (co-writer of Sinister, Sinister 2, and Doctor Strange).
(Photo by Nickelodeon courtesy Everett Collection)
Starting in June of 1996, Scholastic started publishing a series of over fifty children’s science fiction novels known as the Animorphs series. Hollywood’s penchant for capitalizing on the nostalgia of decades 20 to 30 years in the past means the 1990s are currently super en vogue. That’s pretty much all you need to know not to be surprised by this week’s news that development has started on an Animorphs movie. As in the books, Animorphs will tell the story of a group of five teenagers with the ability to transform into various animals who then have to use their super powers to prevent a secret alien invasion of Earth. Scholastic Publishing has, to date, published over 35 million copies of Animorphs books, and there was also a Canadian Animorphs TV series in the late 1990s. The Animorphs movie is being developed by producer Erik Feig, whose credits include the Step Up dance franchise, the Wrong Turn horror franchise, and the spy movies Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Spy Who Dumped Me.
This Week’s Ketchup brings you seven headlines from the world of film development news, covering a couple of major announcements and new roles for Viggo Mortensen, Elisabeth Moss, Kaitlyn Dever, Thomasin McKenzie, and Olivia Munn.
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
Recently, when Warner Bros. released the latest trailer for Christopher Nolan’s new action thriller Tenet, many people noticed that it ended with “Coming to Theaters,” neglecting to specify exactly when that might be. Tenet has been announced for release on July 17, 2020 since last summer, but with most movie theaters currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been increasing questions about whether it would shift its release or not. In breaking news late on Friday afternoon, Warner Bros. confirmed that Tenet will indeed be pushed back two weeks to July 31, 2020. On the July 17, 2020 date when Tenet was supposed to have been released, WB will instead re-release Christopher Nolan’s Inception (Certified Fresh at 87%), another trippy action movie with mind-bending visuals. In addition to Tenet, which many in the industry were looking to as the barometer for theatrical reopenings across the country, Warner Bros. also announced that Wonder Woman 1984 is getting pushed to October 2; Robert Zemeckis’s remake of The Witches is being pulled from its October 9 release to an unknown date; the animated-live action hybrid Tom & Jerry is getting pushed from December 23 to March of next year; and the giant monster face-off Godzilla vs. Kong is moving from its November 20 date to May 21, 2020, which in turn pushes back the fourth Matrix film all the way to April 1, 2022. As of right now, Disney’s Mulan is still scheduled to open on July 24, making it the first “big” movie to be released in the post-coronavirus environment, but it would not be surprising if that changed as well.
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been revising the rules and categories for the Academy Awards almost since the awards started in the late 1920s (they used to award Oscars for Best Dance Direction, for example). Although the rules of the Oscars seemed relatively stable for decades, they’ve made several changes in the last decade, starting with the decision in 2009 to expand the number of Best Picture nominees from five to a maximum of 10. Responding to calls for more inclusion in their standards, AMPAS again changed some of its rules, one of which was to return the number of Best Picture nominees to a consistent ten every year. Although the Academy keeps many secrets about how close films get to being nominated, there has been speculation that some of the snubbed movies in recent years (like say, last year’s The Farewell and If Beale Street Could Talk) could have been Best Picture nominees. These changes will take effect starting with the films of 2021 and will include other guidelines put in place by a new task force of industry leaders “to develop and implement a new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility.”
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Director Peter Farrelly’s controversial 2018 film about race relations in the 1960s, Green Book, went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture last year, which led to reactions like this. For his next film, Farrelly will be reuniting with one of the stars of that film, namely Viggo Mortensen, for another true story set in the 1960s. The film will be an adaptation of the non-fiction book, The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A True Story of Friendship Stronger than War, which told the story of a young man (nicknamed “Chickie”) who traveled in 1967 from New York to Vietnam to “share a few beers” with his childhood friends serving in the Army in the Vietnam War. Brian Currie, who also co-wrote Green Book, will be one of the screenwriters on The Greatest Beer Run Ever as well, along with Pete Jones (Hall Pass). In addition to its various awards, Green Book also earned over $300 million worldwide, so the bar is set pretty high for The Greatest Beer Run Ever.
(Photo by Francois Duhamel/©Annapurna Pictures)
Since her co-star Beanie Feldstein was also in Lady Bird (Certified Fresh at 99%), the breakout star of last year’s Booksmart (Certified Fresh at 97%) was arguably Kaitlyn Dever (although she had previously been a cast member on TV of both Justified and Last Man Standing). For her next role, Kaitlyn Dever has landed the female lead in the film adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway play Dear Evan Hansen. Although at 26, he is much older than the high school student he portrayed, Ben Platt is expected to reprise his role from the Broadway production in the new film. Dear Evan Hansen is the story of a socially awkward high school student who gets caught up in a web of deception after one of his letters to a classmate who committed suicide is confused with being the suicide note itself. Dever will play the dead student’s sister who begins dating Evan Hansen. Dear Evan Hansen will be directed for Universal Pictures by Stephen Chbosky, whose previous films include Wonder (Certified Fresh at 85%) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Certified Fresh at 86%). Dear Evan Hansen does not yet have a release date (many movies don’t right now), but it seems likely to be one of Universal’s late 2021 awards contenders.
(Photo by RCF/Everett Collection)
Some of the most popular movie musicals of the last several years have included both traditional biopics like Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody, but also “jukebox musicals” like Mamma Mia! and, arguably, Yesterday. Walt Disney Pictures is now developing a new musical inspired by and including the numerous pop songs of Lionel Richie to be titled All Night Long, named after his 1983 hit song. The film, which is intended to be a theatrical release, will not be a biopic but more like Mamma Mia!, and the screenwriter will be Pete Chiarelli (Crazy Rich Asians, Now You See Me 2). Something that remains unclear is whether the songs will be only from Lionel Richie’s solo career, or if it will also include songs from his career with the Commodores (such as “Brick House,” “Nightshift,” “Three Times a Lady,” “Easy”).
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Long before he ever directed a Spider-Man movie, Sam Raimi first became famous with his Evil Dead horror comedy franchise starring Bruce Campbell as the chainsaw-wielding anti-hero Ash. The franchise was rebooted in 2013 with Evil Dead (Fresh at 62%), which failed to generate enough attention for its own sequel. Instead, Campbell revealed this week that a new fifth Evil Dead movie to be titled Evil Dead Now is currently being developed by writer/director Lee Cronin (The Hole in the Ground). Evil Dead Now is expected to be a new story not directly connected to either the characters of the 2013 remake or Sam Raimi’s original trilogy.
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Following his Marvel Comics Universe debut last year as the villain Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far from Home (Certified Fresh at 90%), Jake Gyllenhaal is now attached to star in another movie based on a graphic novel. That project, called Snow Blind, is an action-adventure about a young boy who discovers that the reason that his family lives in Alaska is that they are in the Witness Protection Program. Snow Blind is being compared to a cross between Gyllenhaal’s Prisoners (Certified Fresh at 80%) and the River Phoenix film Running on Empty (Fresh at 85%) (although that family of domestic terrorists on the run was sort of the the exact opposite of the Witness Protection Program). Snow Blind will be written by Patrick Ness, the author of A Monster Calls (Certified Fresh at 86%) whose Chaos Walking (starring Tom Holland) is currently awaiting release.
(Photo by Jason Smith/Everett Collection)
One of the horror films still awaiting release due to COVID-19 delays is Antebellum, which appears to be about a modern African-American woman (Janelle Monae) who discovers she has somehow time-traveled back to the slavery era in the American South. While we wait for that film to get an official release date, singer and actress Keke Palmer (Hustlers) is now attached to executive produce and star in a film called Alice that seems like a cross between Antebellum, Brie Larson’s abduction drama Room (Certified Fresh at 93%), and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village (Rotten at 43%). We’re making those comparisons because of its premise, reportedly based on a true story, which is about a woman who escapes from a life of servitude in 1800s Georgia only to discover that the year is actually… 1973.
(Photo by Ely Dassas/©Hulu)
Although she first became famous as the First Daughter on TV’s The West Wing and in AMC’s Mad Men, not to mention her box office hit this year with the remake of The Invisible Man, Elisabeth Moss is arguably still most famous in 2020 for her starring role in the acclaimed series The Handmaid’s Tale. For her next film, Moss will be reuniting with one of her Handmaid’s Tale directors, Daina Reid, for a supernatural horror film called Run Rabbit Run. In the film, Moss will play a “a fertility doctor who believes firmly in life and death, but after noticing the strange behavior of her young daughter, must challenge her own values and confront a ghost from her past.”
(Photo by Scott Green/©Bleecker Street Media)
For his World War II satire Jojo Rabbit, director Taika Waititi cast established stars (Scarlett Johansson, Rebel Wilson, Sam Rockwell) for supporting roles, but went with three relative newcomers for the film’s young leads. In addition to the two boys (Roman Griffin Davis as Jojo, and Archie Yates as Yorki), the female lead in Jojo Rabbit was Thomasin McKenzie, who actually did have her first breakout role in 2018 in the indie film Leave No Trace (Certified Fresh at 100%). For her next role, McKenzie will star in Joika, based on the true story of an American ballet dancer named Joy Womack who was a member of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. The young actress is reportedly already training for her role as a ballet dancer in the production, which will reportedly use new technology to allow the team to work together in the post-COVID-19 pandemic environment.
(Photo by Dan McFadden/©Millennium Entertainment courtesy Everett Collection)
Olivia Munn may have at one point expected to have a potential superhero franchise when she co-starred as Psylocke in X-Men: Apocalypse (Rotten at 47%), except that the X-Men franchise as we previously knew it is pretty much dead now following Disney’s acquisition of Fox, and Psylocke didn’t return in the next movie, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, anyway. Instead, Munn appears to have a chance at another new role with a concept that seems franchise-friendly, as she will produce and star in a science fiction action movie called Replay about a woman “armed with illegal, bleeding-edge technology” who attempts to change the past in order to save the life of her murdered husband. Replay is being produced by Dark Castle Entertainment, the production company behind such recent films as Ghost Ship, Orphan, Suburbicon, and House of Wax.
This Week’s Ketchup brings you seven headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as the next Spider-Man movie and Wolfman.
(Photo by Elizabeth Goodenough/Everett Collection)
Universal Pictures scrapped ambitious plans for a cinematic “Dark Universe” in 2017 following the luke warm reaction to Tom Cruise’s The Mummy (Rotten at 16%). Instead, this year’s The Invisible Man (Certified Fresh at 91%) became the first movie of another round of monster movie reboots. Some of the other projects are Paul Feig’s Dark Army and a remake of The Invisible Woman, but this week, we found out that the next one will probably be Wolfman. Although he’s not officially signed yet, Universal Pictures is “pushing ahead” with Wolfman with an eye toward Ryan Gosling to star. In much the same way The Invisible Man was reimagined as a “stalker thriller,” the Wolfman reboot is being compared to Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nightcrawler, which seems like an odd film to single out as a comparison to a movie about a guy who turns into a half-man/half-wolf. Wolfman is currently being written by the Orange is the New Black team of Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo based on a story idea from Gosling himself.
(Photo by Everett Collection)
It’s not uncommon for Hollywood celebrities to voice their political opinions, and when they do, there are sometimes unintended consequences. Recent Star Wars alumnus John Boyega took to the streets in London this week for a Black Lives Matter protest in support of the movement against police brutality, which sparked up again dramatically following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, MN on May 26. During an impassioned speech, Boyega acknowledged the risk inherent in an entertainment figure speaking out in such a manner, saying, “Look, I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this, but f— that.” As it turned out, he didn’t have anything to worry about, because a deluge of support came in from Hollywood filmmakers eager to work with Boyega on future projects. The list includes Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us), who said, “We got you, John”; Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie); Lin-Manuel Miranda, who said, “Oh god I WISH”; Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz), who said, “Have before and would again”; Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep); Olivia Wilde (Booksmart), who said, “Absolutely”; Peyton Reed (Ant-Man), who said, “Anytime at all”; and also the official Star Wars Twitter account. Boyega’s next two films are likely to be an action thriller called Rebel Ridge and a legal drama called Naked Singularity, but it looks like he’ll have no shortage of options after that.
(Photo by (c) Columbia courtesy Everett Collection)
For the most part, the Spider-Man movies starring Andrew Garfield and now Tom Holland have gone their own way with casting the supporting characters. However, fans were surprised at the end of last year’s Spider-Man: Far from Home (Certified Fresh at 90%) to discover that Marvel Studios actually brought back J.K. Simmons for a brief cameo as J. Jonah Jameson, the role he played Sam Raimi’s three Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man films. The cameo seemed to tease a potential premise for Tom Holland’s third solo Spider-Man movie, and this week, Simmons confirmed that he is indeed signed to return for more Spider-Man sequels (note the plural there). There was, however, some doubt in his statement, because Simmons said, “I don’t know if I would use the word ‘expect'” when asked if fans can “expect” to see him in the next film. The next Spider-Man doesn’t have an official title (though it’s rumored to possibly be Spider-Man: Home Run), but it does have a release date scheduled for November 6, 2021 (pushed back four months from next July due to pandemic-related production delays).
(Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images)
As director J.J. Abrams was preparing to return for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Rotten at 52%), one of his key creative decisions was to make history by hiring actress-turned-filmmaker Victoria Mahoney as his second unit director, making her the first ever woman to serve as a director on a Star Wars film. Mahoney is now signed with Paramount Pictures for what will be her first film as a director (not counting second unit, obviously) since her 2011 debut drama Yelling to the Sky, and it will be an action movie called Kill Them All. The screenplay by screenwriter James Coyne will be an adaptation of an Oni Press graphic novel described as “a love letter to 1990s action movies” about a “hard-drinking former cop who wants his job back” and a “betrayed murderess” who team up to take down a vicious Miami crime lord.
(Photo by ©Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection)
For pretty much the entire time that Martin Scorsese has been developing his adaptation of the true crime novel Killers of the Flower Moon, about an early serial killer case investigated by the F.B.I., he was planning on working with frequent collaborators Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. Along the way, we learned that De Niro was to play the serial killer, and that DiCaprio would be playing one of the lead F.B.I. agents investigating the case. Unfortunately, having Leonardo DiCaprio in a lead role may have led the film’s budget to balloon past $200 million. In an effort to keep that cost down, Scorsese has reportedly made changes to DiCaprio’s role, which will now instead be a villain (or anti-hero) who is a nephew of De Niro’s character and leaves the door open for another (cheaper) actor to play the federal agent. The revelations of these changes came out due to Apple taking over Killers of the Flower Moon from Paramount Pictures. Paramount will still release Killers of the Flower Moon theatrically, and then the film will move to Apple+ for streaming.
(Photo by Everett Collection)
Thanks to the recent success of Bohemian Rhapsody (Fresh at 60%), Rocketman, and Judy, we’re currently in the midst of a mini-boom for musician biopics. The pandemic has obviously delayed film production and release, but two movies that will come out soon are the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect (starring Jennifer Hudson) (12/25/2020) and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley project (11/5/2021), while other musicians with biopics in development include the Bee Gees, Boy George, Whitney Houston, Bob Marley, and Amy Winehouse. Thanks to Edward James Olmos, we can also now add Tito Puente, the “King of Mambo,” to that list, as Olmos is now working with Puente’s family and estate on film and TV projects based on Puente’s life and legacy. Before his death in 2000 at the age of 77, Tito Puente had a 50+ year career that included six Grammy Awards (including a lifetime achievement award) as a mambo and Latin jazz musician, band leader, songwriter, and record producer. Puente’s most famous song was probably “Oye Como Va” (thanks in part to Santana also recording the song for their 1970 album Abraxas).
(Photo by Jasin Boland/©Universal courtesy Everett Collection)
Before the current pandemic caused industry-wide production delays, Sony’s adaptation of the Marvel Comics vampire character Morbius (starring Jared Leto) was to have been released next month on July 10, 2020 (it’s now scheduled for March 19, 2021). Morbius was directed by Daniel Espinosa (Child 44, Safe House), who this week entered into a deal to develop The Execution, which is described as “a narrative drama about the background to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi Arabian-born dissident and Washington Post columnist who was killed” in Istanbul in 2018. The true story behind The Execution will be adapted by screenwriter Petter Skavlan, who also worked on 2012’s Kon-Tiki (Certified Fresh at 81%), which was based on the true story of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl’s expedition across the Pacific Ocean on a raft.
This Week’s Ketchup brings you seven headlines from the world of film development news, covering such titles as Fiddler on the Roof, Labyrinth 2, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
(Photo by Clay Enos/Warner Bros.)
Nearly two years ago, one of the biggest superhero stories of 2018 was the revelation that Henry Cavill was dropping out of talks with Warner Bros. for future appearances as their Superman (specifically, the movie he would have co-starred in would’ve been 2019’s Shazam!). Just a week after the announcement that Zack Snyder’s Justice League will debut on HBO Max in 2021 (speaking of which, the first image of Darkseid was revealed this week), Henry Cavill is now back in negotiations for further appearances as Superman after all. Similar to what might have been for Shazam!, the talks with Henry Cavill reportedly do not involve a Man of Steel sequel (or any other solo Superman movie), but would instead would be Superman appearances in other DC superhero movies. Which movie (or movies) this deal might involve have yet to be revealed, but the titles written about the most this week seem to be Aquaman 2 (starring Jason Momoa) and the Shazam! spinoff Black Adam (starring Dwayne Johnson). Some writers have also picked up on a possible similarity to how Marvel Studios has used the Incredible Hulk since Mark Ruffalo took over the role, with his Hulk appearing in other heroes’ movies but not his own (though in that example, it was because Universal still had the rights to any Hulk movie).
(Photo by ©Paramount Pictures)
When a movie is a big hit, reporting on an announced sequel can seem like sort of a no-brainer, but Sonic the Hedgehog is not one of those movies, as its road to success was far from a foregone conclusion. It was just over a year ago that the world saw the film’s first trailer (with the original CGI character design for Sonic), which led to the release being delayed a few months while the character was redesigned to look more like he did in the Sega video game franchise. Sonic the Hedgehog eventually earned over $300 million globally (a number dinted a bit by the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic) and it was also a VOD hit, with Paramount currently reporting just under 2 million digital sales. With all of that hard work and good news under their belt, Paramount Pictures, Sega, and director Jeff Fowler are now officially starting development on a Sonic the Hedgehog sequel. The various Sonic video games have introduced a variety of supporting characters, including Knuckles the Echidna, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Tails the Fox, so it’s possible one (or all) of them could be introduced in the sequel.
(Photo by ©Universal Pictures)
A few weeks ago, Tom Cruise was announced as the world’s first movie star to actually film a movie in outer space (at the International Space Station), and already the film has made its next step towards actual production. Cruise will be reuniting with director Doug Liman, with whom he has previously worked on both Edge of Tomorrow (Certified Fresh at 90%) and American Made (Certified Fresh at 86%) (and they’re both committed to an Edge of Tomorrow sequel). Cruise’s partners on the currently untitled project also include Elon Musk’s SpaceX and NASA itself. Tom Cruise and Doug Liman had previously been developing a movie called Lunar Park (about “renegade employees who venture to the moon to steal an energy source”), but this new project is reportedly a separate film. Doug Liman’s next film will be the post-apocalyptic Chaos Walking (starring Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley), and Tom Cruise’s next film will be the sequel Top Gun: Maverick, now scheduled for December 23, 2020.
(Photo by ©Warner Bros. courtesy Everett Collection)
One of the biggest surprises about last year’s The Irishman (Certified Fresh at 96%) was that Netflix ended up spending over $160 million on it, which is a number generally reserved for FX-heavy summer action flicks or superhero movies (to be fair, The Irishman was FX-heavy too, due to the CGI de-aging). For his next film, the 1920s serial killer true story Killers of the Flower Moon (starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro), director Martin Scorsese is expecting to exceed The Irishman, with a budget somewhere in the $180-$200 million range, and that recently prompted Paramount Pictures to start looking for a financial partner. Paramount did land a major streaming company, but instead of Netflix, this time around it’s Apple who stepped in, snatching up a deal that would give the streaming rights to Apple+ after a theatrical release by Paramount. This was the second major deal for Apple+ in the last ten days, following their acquisition earlier this month of Tom Hanks’ World War II film Greyhound, which previously was scheduled for a June 19, 2020 theatrical release.
(Photo by Everett Collection)
By 1971, classic Hollywood and especially old school musicals were definitely on the wane as “New Hollywood” was on the ascent, but there were still a few musicals in that tradition that became box office hits. One of those films was Fiddler on the Roof, the adaptation of the 1964 Broadway musical about a Jewish village just before the Russian Revolution. The original stage production won nine Tony Awards, and was the first longest-running play until Grease broke its record. Fiddler on the Roof also holds the distinction of being the movie that gave composer John Williams his first of five Academy Awards (before Jaws, Star Wars, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Schindler’s List). With Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake (12/18/2020) wrapped and coming soon, MGM is now developing a Fiddler on the Roof remake to be directed by Thomas Kail, who directed the version of the Broadway hit Hamilton that will debut on Disney+ on July 3rd.
(Photo by RCF/Everett Collection, Karwai Tang/Getty Images)
After co-starring in Ocean’s Eight and the first movie in the eventual Crazy Rich Asians franchise, Awkwafina added another franchise to her filmography in December with Jumanji: The Next Level (Fresh at 71%), sharing the screen with Karen Gillan. Now Awkwafina and Gillan are signed to co-star in another action movie called Shelly, about an “awkw”-ard young woman (Awkwafina) who grows up to become an assassin, only to discover that her next target is none other than her worst high school bully (Karen Gillan). Shelly is being called “a cross between Mean Girls and Bill Hader’s hitman series Barry.” Prolific TV sitcom director Jude Weng (Fresh Off the Boat, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) is attached to make his feature film directorial debut with Shelly.
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One of the first surprising news stories of 2020 was the announcement that Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson (Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) had dropped out of directing the sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (the job eventually went to Spider-Man director Sam Raimi instead). This week, Derrickson did sign on to develop another sequel to a popular and ambitious fantasy film, although the necessary development time probably means it won’t be his next project. The movie in question is a sequel to the 1986 musical fantasy Labyrinth (Fresh at 71%), featuring the young Jennifer Connelly and the late David Bowie as the Goblin King. The premise of the Labyrinth sequel isn’t yet known, including whether or not Connelly will be reprising her role. One possible story scenario could involve the children of either Connelly’s character or her younger brother (who was the baby kidnapped in Labyrinth). Brian Henson of the Jim Henson Company will executive produce this sequel to a film directed by his late father, Jim Henson.
(Photo by Dee Cercone/Everett Collection)
Robotics engineer and best-selling author Daniel H. Wilson’s 2011 sci-fi novel Robopocalypse nearly made the transition from page to screen when none other than Steven Spielberg showed interest in tackling it, but the film has remained in limbo ever since DreamWorks put it on hold indefinitely after several production delays. In the meantime, Wilson has continued to write, and this week, he sold a spec script called The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever to Paramount Pictures. The screenplay tells the story of a NASA physicist who discovers the formation of a black hole that will destroy Earth in a few days, but he struggles to find anyone who believes his evidence or his theory. The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever is being developed by producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, who delivered a big hit for Paramount Pictures in 2018 with John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place (Certified Fresh at 95%) and also produce Amazon’s Jack Ryan, which stars Krasinski.
(Photo by Giles Keyte/TM & copyright ©20th Century Fox Film Corp.)
There are only so many films that a single director can ever personally take on, and Ridley Scott certainly knows this, having had to part with dozens of projects over the years. Scott is also super active as a producer through his and his late brother Tony’s Scott Free production company. This fall, Scott Free Productions hopes to start filming an adaptation of the screenplay Panopticon, which first came to attention in 2017 as one of the entries on that year’s Black List of Unproduced Screenplays. Panopticon is described as a prison thriller “told from the perspectives of a new inmate, a correctional officer, and a Wall Street hotshot.” The news this week is that Panopticon will be the next feature film directed by Colombian filmmaker Andrés Baiz, whose previous work has included 12 episodes of the Netflix crime series Narcos (Fresh at 89%).
(Photo by ©Columbia Pictures courtesy Everett Collection)
One of the fun things about reporting on so many new movie projects every week is the occasional learning experience it provides. For example, until this week, this writer thought Scholomance was just one of the original World of Warcraft dungeons. As it turns out, The Scholomance comes from Transylvanian folklore and refers to a school of dark magic in the mountains of Transylvania; it has been featured in a few different interesting stories, including Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Scholomance is also the name of an upcoming fantasy book series by author Naomi Novik, who this week struck a deal with Universal Pictures for a potential film franchise. The first Scholomance novel to be adapted will be A Deadly Education, about “El Higgins, a girl with unmatched power who enters a school for the magically gifted, where failure means certain death.” Novik also wrote the Termeraire novel series about a world where dragons really exist, and for a while, it was was being developed as a possible new franchise for Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.
