Alien: Romulus could have been called Alien: Dropship this week as it took the plunge right out of the #1 slot and relinquished it back to Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. The dog days of summer came for the new releases this week, as expected. But thanks to the various returning champions still spread throughout the top 10, if the estimates don’t veer too wildly, 2024 just had the 10th-best pre-Labor Day weekend of all time and the best since 2018.
Deadpool & Wolverine is the first film to return to the top of the box office after being dethroned since Wonka over New Year’s Eve weekend in 2023. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse also did it on its fourth weekend last June. Those two movies combined grossed $599.7 million domestically. After another $18.3 million in its fifth weekend, the Shawn Levy-directed Marvel team-up eulogy for Fox is up to $577 million. That weekend total is the 18th-best fifth weekend in history. Last weekend, D&W was ahead of the Disney/Pixar sequel by about $11 million. This week, it is less than six, but did gain a little back over the weekend. Inside Out 2 ended its sixth weekend at $596 million after a $12.8 million haul. If the gap does not close more significantly, D&W could have a shot at the 2024 crown, but it needs to play through September. After this weekend, Inside Out 2 is at $646 million and on the verge of passing Jurassic World for the ninth highest-grossing first-run release of all time. The dinosaurs are now looking over their shoulder for Deadpool & Wolverine as well, while worldwide, it has passed $1.21 billion.
Lions Gate is having a historically bad month. They took Eli Roth’s Borderlands off the shelf and it has cemented itself as one of the biggest bombs of the year. Then, a marketing team attributed negative quotes to some of Francis Ford Coppola’s most acclaimed films in the trailer for their upcoming release of Megalopolis — quotes that turned out to be fake. And now comes their attempt to bring The Crow back into theaters 30 years after the infamous film adaptation where an on-set accident took the life of star Brandon Lee. This weekend is not going well either.
There are 23 films this year to date with production budgets higher than what Rupert Sanders’ new version of The Crow cost. Three of them opened to less than $10 million — Borderlands ($8.6 million / $24 million to date worldwide / $120 million budget), The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare ($8.9 million / $27.2 million worldwide / $60 million budget), and Fly Me to the Moon ($9.4 million / $41.2 million to date worldwide / $100 million budget). The first two were released by Lions Gate. Now, Sanders went from a $170 million budget (Snow White and the Huntsman) to a $110 million one (2017’s Ghost in the Shell) to $50 million for The Crow and it opened to just $4.6 million. The good news is that it will be the smallest loser of Sanders’ career and not as bad a loser as the studio’s other two big failures this year. The bad is that this is another failed franchise for them.
Over to last week’s winner we go as Alien: Romulus fell 61.5% down to $16.2 million in its second weekend. Not exactly ideal but not far from Prometheus’s 59% fall from a higher $51 million opening and certainly better than Covenant’s 70% collapse down to just $10.6 million from a smaller $36 million start. This one, for the time being, is around the fall of Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, which fell 57% down to $18.1 million after a $42.5 million opening. Romulus did not do quite as well during the week as its $74.5 million ten-day total is a few million behind The Klumps. But this is nothing to despair for the time being. Unless it takes some serious dips going forward, it is still looking at somewhere between $110-120 million domestic. Fede Alvarez’s film is already in the win column as the $80 million production stands at $225 million worldwide.
A film already well into the win column (albeit maybe not in production stories) is It Ends With Us. The Justin Baldoni-directed film with Blake Lively continues to cruise with $11.9 million in its third weekend and a total of $120.8 million — that is the 10th-best 17-day total ever for a film opening in August. Conservatively, It Ends With Us is headed somewhere around $150 million domestic. Worldwide, the $25 million production is over $242 million.
Two of the three new releases hit the top five this weekend and the top ticket taker was Zoe Kravitz’s directorial debut, Blink Twice, with Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum. The thriller opened to $7.3 million, which is in the vicinity of late August horror releases like Ready or Not ($8 million), Mimic ($7.8 million), You’re Next ($7.02 million), The Invitation ($6.8 million), and The Cave ($6.1 million). Ready or Not had a Wednesday head start and finished its run with $28.7 million. The Invitation and Mimic got between $25-26 million, while the other two finished between $15-19 million. Not great numbers for even a modest budget of $20 million. Though as the best-reviewed new wide release of the week (79%), perhaps the Amazon/MGM release will find its audience later. It made another $6.7 million internationally.
Not far behind is this week’s faith-based offering, The Forge, from Alex Kendrick. He has found success in the past around this time with openings for War Room ($11.3 million), Courageous ($9.1 million), Overcomer ($8.1 million), and Fireproof ($6.8 million). The Forge fell below all of those with a $6.6 million start. Those latter three films all stretched their grosses to between $33-36 million, while War Room grossed $67.7 million. We’ll see if The Forge can discover that audience again and even beat the special showings of Henry Selick’s Coraline, which grossed another $5 million to bring its 15th Anniversary run to $24.1 million in 11 days. Despicable Me 4 also grossed another $4.6 million this weekend to bring its total to just shy of $350 million. Worldwide, it has grossed over $885 million. Inside Out 2, meanwhile, became the 12th film in history to cross $1 billion outside of North America and the first fully animated film to achieve that.
Twisters, the big hit in North America that evidently wasn’t anywhere else, is now about to cross $250 million here after a $6.2 million in its sixth weekend. It has now surpassed the gross of the original 1996 film ($241.8 million) but is still a far cry away from it — beyond inflation. Twenty-eight years ago, it came just shy of $500 million worldwide. That was all-timer status back then, hobnobbing with other successes of the ‘90s up to that point, including Jurassic Park, The Lion King, Independence Day (that same summer), Forrest Gump, Terminator 2, Aladdin, and Ghost. Twisters, thanks to an international haul of just $98.7 million, is still hoping for an invite to the party of Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which crossed $400 million last week. This sixth weekend is not that far behind Inception ($7.83 million), and Twisters is about $13-14 million behind its pace, so $275 million is still very much in play, maybe even $375 million worldwide. But it now appears likely it is going to come up short of making a theatrical profit, which is astounding.
Finally, two films with moderate releases this weekend included the horror film Strange Darling from Magenta Light Studios, which has been embraced by critics to the tune of a 96% rating. The serial killer thriller, with Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner, grossed $1.14 million in 1,135 theaters. Sony Classics’ Sundance pickup, Between the Temples, with Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane, also well-liked at 87%, opened in 576 locations and grossed $677,000. Consider that both of these films came within just $4 million of besting The Crow.
Labor Day weekend is not exactly bringing out the heavy hitters unless you count Ronald Reagan. Yes, the star of Bedtime for Bonzo will be portrayed by Dennis Quaid in Reagan, directed by Sean “Soul Surfer” McNamara. Also opening will be the oft-delayed sci-fi horror film AfrAId with John Cho and Katherine Waterston.
78%
Deadpool & Wolverine
(2024)
– $18.3 million ($577.2 million total)
80%
Alien: Romulus
(2024)
– $16.2 million ($72.6 million total)
55%
It Ends With Us
(2024)
– $11.9 million ($120.8 million total)
75%
Blink Twice
(2024)
–
63%
The Forge
(2024)
– $6.6 million ($6.6 million total)
75%
Twisters
(2024)
– $6.2 million ($248.7 million total)
91%
Coraline
(2009)
– $5.0 million ($24.1 million total)
22%
The Crow
(2024)
– $4.6 million ($4.6 million total)
55%
Despicable Me 4
(2024)
– $4.4 million ($348.3 million total)
91%
Inside Out 2
(2024)
– $2.1 million ($646.3 million total)
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast.
[box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
Thumbnail image by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
On an Apple device? Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Apple News.
(Photo by Marvel/Courtesy Everett Collection. (Deadpool & Wolverine.))
Like Robert Downey Jr. and Tony Stark, or Patrick Stewart and fellow X-Men favorite Professor Xavier, it’s near impossible to separate Hugh Jackman from Wolverine, the comic book character he helped immortalize on the big screen, so let’s just get that right out of the way. Jackman will forever be associated with the self-healing mutant with the adamantium claws, and now that he’s officially done playing the character, good luck to whoever attempts to fill his shoes next.
Outside of the X-Men universe, though, Jackman has also proven to be a multi-faceted leading man, starring in romantic comedies (Kate & Leopold, Scoop), sweeping adventures (Australia, Pan), family films (Happy Feet, Real Steel), musicals (Les Misérables, The Greatest Showman), mysteries (The Prestige, Prisoners), and just about everything in between. It’s no wonder some of the biggest directors working today, from Christopher Nolan to Darren Aronofsky to Denis Villeneuve, have sought his talents for their films. And in 2024, he returned to his iconic Wolverine role in Deadpool and Wolverine.
94%
93%
90%
88%
85%
82%
82%
81%
78%
77%
76%
75%
72%
71%
70%
60%
58%
56%
56%
53%
52%
52%
41%
42%
37%
37%
35%
32%
29%
27%
27%
24%
22%
10%
[Updated 5/29/24]
Your old pal Deadpool will soon be back. While that means a new movie, it also means another strange and funny media blitz, care of the Merc with a Mouth and his human caretaker, actor Ryan Reynolds. Indeed, Wade Wilson (Deadpool’s civilian name) began his latest operation to place himself in the minds of moviegoers sometime ago, but it went into overdrive with a commercial for the teaser trailer during the Big Game in February.
Nevertheless, questions remain as Deadpool’s universe has utterly changed since last we saw him. The separate X-Men universe he resided in ended with Dark Phoenix and his Mutant brethren have yet to make themselves known in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For someone who knows he is a fictional character controlled and traded by multinational corporations, Wade must be aware that he’s a Disney character, right? One joke in the teaser confirms it!
Let’s take a look at everything we know about Deadpool & Wolverine and see if we can’t determine how much he really knows about his new state of affairs.
When we last saw Wade, he lost his beloved Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), joined the X-Men, faced off against Cable (Josh Brolin), managed to fix the timestream, save Vanessa, and erase the Green Lantern film from existence.
And then his film rights returned to Marvel when Disney acquired most of 20th Century Fox in 2019.
Not long after, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige admitted work had begun on developing a third Deadpool film and that it would the company’s first R-rated tale. Devised without too much incident — beyond first and second film writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick replacing the initial team of Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin — it also evaded a lot of the turmoil surrounding Marvel’s production process in the last few years. Even the writer and actor strikes of 2023 couldn’t delay the film too much. It is, in fact, the only Marvel feature scheduled for release this year.
(Photo by ©20th Century Studios/©Marvel)
As revealed in the trailer, Wade spent the last several years in relative peace with Vanessa and his friends surrounding him. But then the Time Variance Authority — last seen in the closing moments of Loki‘s second season — comes calling, and an agent named Paradox co-opts him into a mission of… Well, we assume it’s important, even if subsequent scenes see Deadpool fighting TVA hunters.
Presumably, finding his place in universes both foreign and familiar will occupy much of Deadpool’s time in the film. The presence of the TVA will confirm for him any nagging suspicion his reality has been altered — although the joke about pegging being new for Disney suggests he’s already aware of that particular change.
Another reason why he proclaims himself “Marvel Jesus.”
See also: the end of the trailer released on April 22nd in which he mentions Feige’s desire to avoid cocaine (and its various slang names) as a topic in the film.
His mission will feature a few familiar faces, including the second title character (more on him in a moment), and even some truly surprising guest characters as the film both says goodbye to the way things used to be and embraces the fact Deadpool’s life will be more Marvel and more Cinematic going forward. It will also be something of a road movie a la Midnight Run or Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Oh, and we suppose it will be the formal introduction of Mutants into the MCU after teases in Ms. Marvel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and The Marvels. Also, we still like to think Deadpool’s introduction to the universe is the incursion Steven Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Clea (Charlize Theron) ran off to fight at the end of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The presence of a sling ring portal in the April trailer means it is possible they will appear. Then again, the presence of the TVA may mean Clea’s incursion will have to wait for another film.
(Photo by ©Marvel Studios)
Thanks to the way Marvel films and the X-Men movies before them operated, Deadpool can go just about anywhere. Deadpool 2 saw Wade squatting in the X-Mansion and heading to the frozen environs of the Ice Box. The first film took place in a metro area that suspiciously resembled Vancouver.
Also, one shot in the trailer featuring the back of a famous Marvel Mutant suggests the crime city of Madripoor will feature in at least one sequence. It was last seen in The Falcon and the Winter Solider.
But the setting of the film is one of its more interesting puzzles. Thanks to the nature of the Marvel Multiverse, he could still be in the familiar Fox reality of the older X-Men pictures. Then again, he could wake up and sense that something isn’t right. Considering a pretty infamous picture from the set featuring a crumbled 20th Century Fox logo (glimpsed in both trailers), though, he may also pop in between universes as one ends and another begins. Some of speculated the wasteland with the old Fox logo featured in both trailers is, in fact, the same place as Loki‘s Citadel at the End of Time. Or, at the very least, the Fox equivalent of the same idea.
No matter what, expect to see the X-Men’s mansion and maybe even the MCU’s New York before Wade finds a new way to lampoon the Marvel end-credit stinger scene.
(Photo by Instagram: @VancityReynolds)
As mentioned above, Reynolds resumes his job as Deadpool in the film. But in a stunning move, he will be joined by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. The latter previously announced he would retire from the role following 2017’s Logan, but he and Reynolds began a coy game of back-and-forth about that declaration on social media. The posts and retorts culminated when Reynolds posted a video of himself and Jackman to confirm the return.
Subsequent set photos also revealed that, for the first time ever, Jackman will wear a more “accurate” Wolverine costume with the yellow and blue color scheme — a notable change as Jackman’s Wolverine once complained about the X-Men’s all-black attire to hear Cyclops (James Marsden) say, “What would you prefer, yellow spandex?”
The trailer released in April also offers a couple of clues into the state of Wolverine. He seemingly isn’t the same one featured in Logan or X-Men: Days of Future Past. Instead, he is another take on the character who “let down” his world and tries to drink the guilt away — although he seems to be so universally reviled that even bartenders want nothing to do with him. Deadpool also suggests that this Wolverine saved the universe, so expect his differences from the character as depicted in previous films to become a story point.
Unless, of course, he is the Logan from Days of Future Past. That could have some interesting ramifications.
Other returning players include Leslie Uggams as Wade’s former roommate, Blind Al; Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, the apathetic and phone-obsessed junior X-Man; Shiori Kutsuna as Yukio, Negasonic’s mutant girlfriend; Karan Soni as faithful taxicab driver Dopinder; Stefan Kapičić as the voice of metallic X-Man Colossus; and Rob Delaney as Peter, the thoroughly human member of Deadpool’s short-lived X-Force team. Also, set photos indicate a version of the Sabretooth from the original 2000 X-Men will appear, but it is unclear if Tyler Mane will reprise the role. After the photo was published, Reynolds took an unusual step and asked fans not to repost paparazzi shots from the set to preserve the film’s secrets.
The cast also goes deeper with reports that Patrick Stewart will make a cameo appearance — at the very least — as Charles Xavier and that Jennifer Garner will once again play Elektra, a Marvel character she previous portrayed in Fox’s Daredevil and Elektra films, though it remains to be seen just how extensive her participation will be. Also, eagle-eyed viewers of the teaser trailer are speculating whether or not Doctor Doom is present in one of its many shots of a desert wasteland.
(Photo by ©Marvel Studios)
Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfadyen join the ensemble for this installment. With the April trailer, Corrin was finally confirmed to be playing Cassandra Nova while Macfadyen is the face of TVA Agent Paradox. As there are several characters who go by that name in Marvel lore, it is unclear which Paradox he may be inspired by, although some online conjecture is marking him as a trans-dimensional judge who debuted in a run of She-Hulk. Prior to the teaser’s release, Mcdayden’s character was said to be something of a “third wheel” on Deadpool and Wolverine’s journey. Additionally, Reynolds made a big splash in November 2023 by announcing animal actor Peggy will appear as Dogpool, who makes a brief appearance in the April trailer.
Corrin’s character, meanwhile, is kind of a big deal. Introduced when writer Grant Morrison took over the main X-Men title — then called New X-Men — Cassandra was the primary antagonist. Revealed to be the psychic projection of a twin Charles Xavier absorbed in the womb, she has most of his abilities and strengths. Her telekinesis, for example, can be glimpsed in the trailer. But we imagine she shares her comic book counterpart’s ambitions, which could be a huge problem if she is aware of the Mutliverse and the myriad worlds in which she does not exist. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if the TVA itself typically deals with her variants whenever they appear. Although, that leaves us to wonder why this particular Cassandra requires both Deadpool and Wolverine to assist the TVA in stopping her.
And lastly, to round out the blasts from the past, the teaser trailer released in February revealed another familiar face, namely Aaron Stanford as Pyro, a character he last played in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand. And the April trailer went even further, as the introduction of Corrin’s character also revealed what appeared to be the lifeless body of a certain large Avenger, as well as a gang of villains that included some baddies from previous films.
After directing Reynolds in Free Guy and The Adam Project, Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy became the actor’s preferred choice to helm the film, taking over from Deadpool 2’s David Leitch and the first film’s Tim Miller. It is an illustrious company of filmmakers, so it will be interesting to see how Levy, who also directed Jackman in 2011’s Real Steel, adapts to the specific challenges of a Deadpool movie and a Marvel production.
Levy also receives a writing credit alongside Marvel Studios veteran Zeb Wells, Reynolds, Wernick, Reese, Molyneux, and Molyneux-Logelin — we can’t wait to see how that credit will look on screen. As it happens, Reynolds’ participation in the story and his tendency to ad-lib caused some concern in the early days of the Writer’s Strike, as guild rules prohibited him from doing anything besides what was written in the extant script pages. Production was delayed and eventually shut down as the actors also went on strike. It resumed in November.
Reynolds and Levy also serve as producers alongside Feige and X-Men film stalwart Simon Kinberg.
Additional crew includes director of photography George Richmond of Free Guy and the two mainline Kingsman films, editor Shane Reid, production designer Ray Chan, costume designers Graham Churchyard and Mayes C. Rubeo, and composer Rob Simonsen. For Reid, the film continues his move to feature film editing after years in shorts and music videos. He also edited 2024’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
(Photo by ©20th Century Studios/©Marvel)
Since it was announced, Deadpool & Wolverine has always held a 2024 release, but with the strikes and other calendar shifts, it will now debut on July 26. Wade’s future after that is anyone’s guess. He could end up working at the TVA or embrace oblivion as Marvel Studios sets out to reintroduce the X-Men into its main film universe. Or, maybe, his actions will allow a more recognizable group of Mutants to inhabit the MCU. In any event, we expect his reaction will be hilarious.
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) opens in theaters on July 26, 2024.
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Hugh Jackman has embodied the character of the X-Men’s Wolverine in seven movies (nine if you count his cameos in X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Apocalypse), and after he ostensibly completed the character’s story in 2017’s Logan, he was fairly certain he was done playing the adamantium-clawed mutant. He even directly told RT as much in an interview we did with him back in 2018.
But never say never.
Jackman is set to reprise his role as Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine alongside Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth, and it is arguably the most anticipated movie of 2024. Ahead of the film’s release, Jackman and Reynolds sat down with RT’s own Jacqueline Coley to talk about how they came together to form the dream team-up. Check out the clip above to see Jackman explain what drew him back to the role after he was certain he would never play it again, and watch the full Big Ticket interview on Fandango.
Deadpool & Wolverine
(2024)
opens in theaters everywhere on July 26, 2024.
Get your tickets to see Deadpool & Wolverine here.
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(Photo by Disney+; BroadwayHD; ©PBS/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Theater shutdowns around the world have been one of the many disappointments of the pandemic, but the option to stream live theater in the comfort of our own homes has also meant no ringing cell phones or crinkly candy wrappers interrupting performances.
Some streaming services specialize in stage shows. BroadwayHD‘s offerings, for example, run the gamut from Tony-award-winning plays and musicals to concerts, ballets, Cirque du Soleil performances, and Royal Shakespeare Company productions. A subscription will cost you $8.99 per month or $99.99 per year.
Similarly, Marquee.tv offers collections of Royal Opera House, Teatro Real of Madrid, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, The Washington Ballet, The Bolshoi, and more. Memberships are $8.99 monthly and $89.99 annually.
You might also have seen some of the film adaptations (for better and worse) available of shows like Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Chicago, Kinky Boots, Rent, Into The Woods, and, most recently — and most hilariously — Cats, which has a 19% Tomatometer score. Steven Spielberg is also remaking West Side Story for an upcoming release, and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights opens this summer in theaters and on HBO Max.
While the theatrical stages slowly return (with limited capacity for the time being), here are suggestions for 20 theatrical performances you can catch from a prime front-row seat on your couch — though you’ll have to police candy wrapper and cell phone disruptions yourself.
98%
Hamilton
(2020)
What it is: The winner of 11 (11!) Tony Awards, Hamilton uses hip hop, R&B, pop, soul, dance, and fine performances from the likes of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Christopher Jackson, Leslie Odom, Jr., Renée Elise Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs, and Phillipa Soo to tell the story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
Why you’ll love it: Because you couldn’t get seats during its Broadway run with the original cast. Because even if you did, it’s still a mind-blowing experience to see it from the comfort of your own home, especially now that you know the songs and dances by heart and can sing along, as loudly as you’d like.
Where to watch it: Disney+
97%
What the Constitution Means to Me
(2020)
What it is: The Pulitzer and Tony-nominated story in which writer Heidi Schreck plays adult and teen versions of herself to talk about issues like domestic and sexual abuse, immigration, and women’s rights.
Why you’ll love it: Schreck’s frenetic energy brings much-needed laughs to the often traumatic personal stories she shares to illustrate the many ways the laws of our country betray the very people who need their protection the most. It’s also quite interactive, thanks to frequent audience reactions, as well as a final vote by the audience on whether or not the Constitution should be abolished.
Where to watch it: Amazon Prime Video
What it is: Jonathan Larson’s Tony- and Pulitzer-winning rock musical about a group of struggling young artists in New York City’s East Village became a pop culture phenomenon, running for 12 years on Broadway, earning more than $280 million in ticket sales, with cast members including Anthony Rapp, Idina Menzel, Jesse L. Martin, and Taye Diggs.
Why you’ll love it: The final performance of Rent on Broadway, this presentation also features appearances by the original cast, who join with the final cast to reprise “Seasons Of Love,” the Rent song you probably know the words to even if you’ve never seen any production.
Where to watch it: Amazon Prime Video
Movie alternative:
47%
Rent
(2005)
(Buy/rent on Vudu)
Into The Woods
What it is: The Stephen Sondheim musical about a childless couple that is cursed by a witch and interact with fairy tale characters from “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Rapunzel,” “Cinderella,” and “Jack and the Beanstalk” as they pursue their dream of having a family.
Why you’ll love it: This 2019 Olivier Award winner for best musical revival was filmed live at the Regent Park Open Air theater (fittingly in a wooded area) in London, and features Hannah Waddingham, who many TV fans will recognize from the Apple TV+ comedy Ted Lasso, as the Witch.
Where to watch it: BroadwayHD
Movie alternative:
70%
Into the Woods
(2014)
(Buy/rent on Vudu)
Falsettos
What it is: A 1992 Tony-winning musical, written by William Finn and James Lapine, about Marvin, a gay man who leaves wife Trina to be with his lover, Whizzer, and the relationships they have to maneuver later while planning son Jason’s Bar Mitzvah.
Why you’ll love it: This 2016 revival earned five Tony nominations thanks to its spectacular cast, including Christian Borle as Marvin, Andrew Rannells as Whizzer, and Stephanie J. Block as Trina, who hit every emotional note as they explore modern families, love, illness, religion, and loss (hint: have the box of Kleenex standing by).
Where to watch it: BroadwayHD
Richard II
What it is: Shakespeare’s 1595 play about King Richard of England’s last two years of life, during which he alienated his people, including his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, who overthrew Richard and took the crown, as King Henry IV.
Why you’ll love it: This 2013 Royal Shakespeare Company production stars former Doctor Who star David Tennant as the titular king, and, just as he had in an earlier RSC production of Hamlet, the always fantastic Tenant makes the production both definitive and accessible with his bold portrayal of the vain, doomed Richard.
Where to watch it: Marquee.tv
97%
David Byrne's American Utopia
(2020)
What it is: Spike Lee directs Talking Heads singer David Byrne and 11 musicians in a filmed version of the 2019/2020 Broadway show, as they perform recent and classic hits from Byrne’s career, including “Once in a Lifetime,” “Burning Down the House,” and “Road to Nowhere.”
Why you’ll love it: The incredibly joyous, energetic performance would be welcome anytime, but there’s no denying how much it really hits the spot this year, and how much it will make you feel less isolated than most things that have filled our screens this year have.
Where to watch it: HBO Max
The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!
What it is: The Tony-nominated (a dozen nominations, to be exact) 2017 musical based on the beloved Nickelodeon kids show (which has, of course, just as many adult devotees).
Why you’ll love it: Led by Tony-nominated performances by Ethan Slater and Gavin Lee, with bold and wonderful Tony-winning scenic design, and infectious songs written by the likes of John Legend, Cyndi Lauper, Sara Bareilles, They Might Be Giants, Steven Tyler, and David Bowie, the musical captures every bit of the whimsy and fun of the TV ‘toon.
Where to watch it: Vudu and other streaming services
Movie alternatives:
68%
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
(2004)
(rent or buy on Vudu and other streaming services)
80%
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
(2015)
(rent or buy on Vudu and other streaming services)
66%
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
(2020)
(Paramount+ subscription; rent on Vudu and other streaming services)
96%
Springsteen on Broadway
(2018)
What it is: Like the title says, it’s The Boss, on Broadway, during an almost year-long 2017/2018 musical residency featuring Bruce, solo, singing, playing guitar and piano, and sharing stories from his memoir Born to Run.
Why you’ll love it: The Tony- and Emmy-winning performance features a carefully crafted setlist (“My Hometown,” “Thunder Road,” “Born in the U.S.A.,” and “Born to Run” are included) and personal storytelling that combines for what Rolling Stone called “one of the most compelling and profound shows by a rock musician in recent memory.”
Where to watch it: Netflix
88%
Oh, Hello On Broadway
(2017)
What it is: John Mulaney and Nick Kroll take to their turtleneck-sporting Upper East Side boomer friends and roommates George St. Geegland and Gil Faizon to say, “Oh, Hello!” to audiences on The Great White Way.
Why you’ll love it: Plot is not really important here, but pals Mulaney and Kroll take laughs, and tuna, seriously in this absurd, but undeniably weird and funny riff on the friendship — and, again, shared love of tuna — between these uniquely delusional New York seniors.
Where to watch it: Netflix
Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn
What it is: Irving Berlin’s 1942 movie turned into a 2017 Broadway musical, about a singer and dancer, Jim, who decides to leave showbiz behind for a more quiet life on a farm. But when he begins to miss his old life, he turns the farm into a musical inn … that’s only open on the holidays.
Why you’ll love it: High School Musical star Corbin Bleu plays Ted in this delightful song-and-dance adaptation, which, surprisingly, is the first time the film has been turned into a Broadway production. It’s a retro gem, though, especially the Tony-nominated choreography (including a number featuring jump ropes — really).
Where to watch it: BroadwayHD
Movie alternative:
100%
Holiday Inn
(1942)
(rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video)
The King and I
What it is: The tale of the 1860s-era Siam King (Ken Watanabe) and the British widow schoolteacher (Kelli O’Hara) who clash and bond as he comes to value her as the only person who dares to tell him the truth. The production, originated on Broadway in 2015, was filmed when the musical moved to the West End in 2018.
Why you’ll love it: As grand as a romantic theater musical can be, this production of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein classic is sweeping and lovely, with Tony-winning performances by O’Hara and Ruthie Ann Miles as the King’s wife, a nod for Watanabe, and a Tony win for the entire production for Best Revival of a Musical.
Where to watch it: BroadwayHD
Movie alternatives:
93%
The King and I
(1956)
(rent or buy on Vudu)
52%
Anna and the King
(1999)
(rent or buy on Vudu)
Driving Miss Daisy
What it is: American playwright Alfred Uhry’s story, based on his grandmother’s life, about a Southern Jewish woman and her decades-long friendship with her African-American chauffeur. Uhry won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play.
Why you’ll love it: A duo of acting legends bring Miss Daisy Werthan and the man she will eventually call her best friend, driver Hoke Coleburn, to life in this filmed version of a 2013 Australian tour performance of the play: Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones.
Where to watch it: BroadwayHD
Movie alternative:
85%
Driving Miss Daisy
(1989)
(rent or buy on Vudu)
Oklahoma!
What it is: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first musical – a revival, movie, and school performance gem – revolves around Oklahoma farm girl Laurie, who is being wooed by two love interests: cowboy Curly and evil farmhand Jud.
Why you’ll love it: This 1999 filming of London’s National Theater production of the musical, which won four Olivier Awards, is also an early career triumph for Hugh Jackman, who earned an Olivier nod for his performance as Curly. Jackman and Josefina Gabrielle as Laurie also perform the show’s famous “dream ballet” sequence – rewritten for this production – themselves.
Where to watch it: BroadwayHD
Movie alternative:
87%
Oklahoma!
(1955)
(rent or buy on Vudu)
100%
John Leguizamo's Latin History For Morons
(2018)
What it is: John Leguizamo’s 2017 play about the history of Latin Americans in U.S. history – a topic that included research revelations that surprised even the actor – sparked from his son’s school assignment to write about heroes and the discovery that Latinxs had gotten little coverage in school textbooks.
Why you’ll love it: There is no better, more frenetic, more heartfelt solo theater performer than Leguizamo, who earned a well-deserved Tony nod for this very personal and entertaining performance as he sets about to relay 3,000 years of Latin history, “between the Mayans and Pitbull.”
Where to watch it: Netflix
Shrek The Musical
(2013)
What it is: This 2008 musical is based on the hit movie series and author William Steig’s book about the big green ogre who lives at the swamp and the new friends – Donkey! – and new love – Princess Fiona! – he meets when he tangles with the evil Lord Farquaad.
Why you’ll love it: The always Tony-worthy Sutton Foster indeed earned a nomination for her performance as Fiona, as did Shrek and Farguaad portrayers Brian d’Arcy James and Christopher Sieber, while Tim Hatley got the Tony win for Best Costume Design, all elements which made this colorful, clever comedy musical a pure delight, a worthy adaptation of all the Shrek that came before it.
Where to watch it: Netflix (subscription); buy or rent on Vudu and other streaming services
Movie alternatives:
88%
Shrek
(2001)
(Hulu subscription; rent or buy on Vudu and other streaming services)
89%
Shrek 2
(2004)
(rent or buy on Vudu and other streaming services)
41%
Shrek the Third
(2007)
(rent or buy on Vudu and other streaming services)
58%
Shrek Forever After
(2010)
(rent or buy on Vudu and other streaming services)
Kinky Boots: The Musical
(2020)
What it is: Cyndi Lauper wrote the music and lyrics and Harvey Fierstein wrote the book for this beloved 2013 Broadway musical, about Charlie, who inherits a shoe factory and teams with cabaret performer and drag queen Lola to create a line of high-heeled boots that will save Charlie’s business and help him and Lola learn they’re a lot more alike than different.
Why you’ll love it: The show brought the fabulous Billy Porter, the Tony– and Grammy Award–winning actor who portrayed Lola, to our musical-drama-lovin’ lives. Kinky Boots won six of the 13 Tony nominations it earned, including a Best Original Score win for Lauper. Laurence Olivier Award–winning Matt Henry stars as Lola in the filmed performance now available on BroadwayHD. Henry was also nominated for the “Best Solo Performance” Grammy Award for the Kinky Boots West End Cast Recording.
Where to watch it: BroadwayHD
Movie alternative:
58%
Kinky Boots
(2005)
(Hoopla subscription; rent or buy on Vudu and other streaming services)
She Loves Me
What it is: Based on the 1937 play Perfumerie, which was also adapted as the movies The Shop Around the Corner and You’ve Got Mail, this 2016 revival revolves around Georg and Amalia, sparring co-workers unaware that the pen pals they’re falling in love with are actually each other.
Why you’ll love it: Zachary Levi as Georg, Laura Benanti as Amalia, and Jane Krakowski as their co-worker Ilona all received Tony nominations for their charming performances in this feel-good romantic comedy, which also earned a Tony nod as Best Revival of a Musical and a Tony win for Best Scenic Design of a Musical.
Where to watch it: BroadwayHD
Movie alternatives:
99%
The Shop Around the Corner
(1940)
(rent or buy on Vudu and other streaming services)
69%
You've Got Mail
(1998)
(Hulu or HBO Max subscription; rent or buy on Vudu and other streaming services)
Elaine Stritch at Liberty
What it is: Legendary actress and Broadway star Elaine Stritch’s 2002 one-woman show started Off-Broadway, before moving to Broadway and then to the West End in London, where this performance was filmed.
Why you’ll love it: If you remember her best from her late-career TV role as the ball-busting mother of 30 Rock’s Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), that’s the vibe you’ll get in this tour de force, as Stritch takes the audience through her life and career, with song, dance, delicious backstage anecdotes, and an outfit consisting of a white blouse and rather sheer black stockings; the lady is a vamp.
Where to watch it: BroadwayHD subscription; buy it at Amazon Prime Video
What it is: A 2013 Broadway revival of the Shakespeare standard, starring Orlando Bloom and four-time Tony-nominated Condola Rashad as the titular star-crossed lovers.
Why you’ll love it: The rest of the stellar cast includes 24 and The Walking Dead star Corey Hawkins, American Idol alum Justin Guarini, and Dexter and House of Cards scene-stealer Christian Camargo. And while you wistfully think about how having an all-star version like this to watch would have helped your enjoyment of studying the Bard’s tragedy back in high school, also consider this impressive fact: this version is the 36th time Romeo and Juliet was produced on Broadway.
Where to Watch It: BroadwayHD
Movie alternatives:
74%
William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet
(1996)
(rent or buy on Vudu)
95%
Romeo and Juliet
(1968)
(rent or buy on Vudu)
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The Montagues and Capulets. The Hatfields and McCoys. Bette and Joan. Tay Tay and Kanye. The world has given us some epic feuds over the centuries, but do any even come close in scale to wise-cracking, abs-heavy, claws-vs.-katanas feud that has raged between X-Men Universe members Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman since the late 2000s? (Probably, definitely – but just go with us here.) In our latest episode of Vs., we’re getting into the beefcake battle that has dominated social media for over a decade: Funnyman Reynolds vs. showman Jackman, the Green Lantern vs. the Paperback Hero (Google it). To fairly adjudicate the long-running quarrel, our host Mark Ellis will compare the two well-rounded thesps on a number of criteria: Box office performance; Tomatometer and Audience Scores; iconic characters they’ve played; and their feuding abilities. Who will win ultimate bragging rights? And will this be the FINAL word in this actorly contest of brawn and barbs? Tune in to find out.
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(Photo by Eddy Chen/ABC via Getty Images)
Every year, after what feels like a lifetime of awards season campaigning, the industry awaits with bated breath to see which movies and artists will make their way to the biggest stage in Hollywood: The Oscars. Of course, the ceremonies are spectacles in and of themselves, subject as much as the films they honor jeers and adulation from critics, so we’re taking the last 25 years’ worth of Oscar shows and ranking them by Tomatometer!
Looking at the Tomatometer scores from the past decades of Oscar ceremonies proves there is no magic formula for Freshness. Master of ceremonies Billy Crystal runs the gamut on the Rotten-to-Fresh spectrum. Neil Patrick Harris, who’s hosted awards from coast to coast, can crash and burn. A snafu like the Moonlight/La La Land debacle can actually be a boon to the show’s watchability (and likability according to critics), while a cringeworthy misfire like Anne Hathaway and James Franco’s entire schtick can, predictably, earn terrible reviews.
Whoopi Goldberg may just be the most consistent host of them all despite not having done the gig in years, and the irreverent turn by David Letterman lands just about exactly where you would expect.
With all that in mind, take a look at how the past 25 years of Oscar ceremonies, from 1995 to 2020, have fared on the Tomatometer!
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26%
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(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
It would be easy — and egregiously dismissive — to say that the X-Men character Wolverine alone made Hugh Jackman the star that he is today. Plenty of actors land big roles early in their careers, only to squander the opportunity or fade from memory soon after. From the outset, it was clear that Jackman possessed the kind of onscreen charisma not only to play the gruff hero but also to break off and lead a solo franchise of his own, culminating in a swan song for the character that earned some of the best reviews of any film in 2017, period.
Of course, Jackman is more than just the iconic mutant who helped raise his profile. He has starred in films in a wide variety of genres and worked with several acclaimed directors to establish himself as one of the more versatile leading men working today. This week, for example, he appears in multiple Oscar-nominated director Jason Reitman’s political drama The Front Runner, in which he plays former U.S. presidential candidate Gary Hart, whose 1988 campaign was derailed by reports of an extramarital affair, and it ranks as one of Jackman’s most challenging roles to date. The film is currently in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles before it expands on November 21, and ahead of its release, Jackman chatted with RT to give us his Five Favorite Films, then talked about the new film, the evolution of political journalism, and whether or not he thinks his Wolverine might make a comeback.
I saw that when I was 15, and that blew my mind about what was possible with acting. Yeah, that was a game changer.
It’s another game changer for me. I saw it when I was 12, I think. 11 or 12. I just remember saying to my brother, “I didn’t know movies could make me feel like this.” So it transported me. I believed in it. It was fun, it was funny, I was on the edge of my seat — everything about it. I remember saying that to him: “I didn’t know movies could make me feel like this.”
You’ve got to put Singin’ in the Rain in there. I’m trying to think of what I’m taking out. It’s just a perfect movie. I don’t care who you are, it’s amazing.
I’m going to have to say Caddyshack, because any movie you’ve seen 63 times has got to somehow rate. Admittedly, it wasn’t last year, but it was when I was younger, but I’m going to say Caddyshack. It’s just one of the greats. Put that at number five.
Ryan Fujitani for Rotten Tomatoes: You have this reputation for being one of the nicest people in Hollywood, but that’s gotta be tiring, isn’t it? Is it difficult for you, just having everyone sort of expect you to be the most charming person they’ve ever met?
Hugh Jackman: [laughs] No. What you’ve got to understand is most people assume people in movies are dicks, and arrogant, and expect everything. And I actually think I’m being a slightly watered down version of the way I was brought up, as in my parents would expect me to be nicer, more polite, more appreciative, never allow anyone to do anything for me. So I kind of get away with it, I think, in a way. People go, “Wow.” I always feel what they’re saying is, “For a movie star, you’re kind of nice.”
RT: It’s not, “He’s a nice guy.” It’s, “He’s a nice guy for a movie star.”
Jackman: “For a movie star.” Exactly. Like, people say to me, “Oh, that was so sweet. You remembered my name.” And I’m just like, “You just told me three seconds ago.” You know? Anyway…
If you’re a parent, you go up and you say, “Oh, hello, Mrs. Lacey.” And they say, “Oh, you remembered my name.” And it’s like, “Yeah. I’m looking after your stinking kid all this time. Of course you remember my name.”
RT: So that works to your advantage.
Jackman: Oh, totally. Expectations are low. Easy to deliver.
RT: Well, so far, you’re a pretty nice guy for an actor.
Jackman: Right, thanks man. For an actor. [laughs]
RT: So, let’s talk about The Front Runner. Obviously the Gary Hart story was a big one here in the States when it happened, but I’m wondering how much of it you were aware of before you took on the role.
Jackman: Oh, I really was not aware. In fact, I was like most people. Most people would say to me, “Oh, yeah, Gary Hart. Monkey business? What was the name?” And, “Didn’t he tell them to follow him around?” And it would usually happen in that order. I was probably… I would know even less than that. I didn’t know the “follow me around.” I think I’d heard of Monkey Business.
I think what’s really interesting about this film — Jason’s highlighted something that’s been pretty much forgotten. It feels like a blip in terms of political history, right? But actually, when you look at that moment, you really get an idea of how and why we got to where we are today. And I think that’s what makes Jason such a great storyteller.
And also, I’m proud of the way he kind of treats everybody in the movie, and every character, and someone who might’ve been, “What was her name, that girl on the boat?” You know? But by the end, you really feel and understand and empathize with her story as much as the woman at the Washington Post, or the campaign worker who has to take care of Donna. You see it from so many perspectives.
RT: And the actors playing all of those characters. It’s a fantastic cast you’re working with in this film.
Jackman: Oh yeah, a phenomenal cast. And Jason had this technique which was really interesting. He really wanted a very believable atmosphere. He used to grab extras. So I’d be doing a scene, and an extra would be… He would just say, “I want you to go and interrupt, and I want you to go and do this,” and so they would just come in and interrupt. We’d have to deal with it.
When we did the press conference [scene], we didn’t know what order the questions were going to come in. They were just sort of being fired. He just said, “Can you see that?” He would point — they were all in there, and I wasn’t allowed to go in. We’re peeking through the door, and he says, “Can you see that white cross on the floor?” And I said, “Yeah.” And he goes, “If you stand around there, and go for it.” I’m like, “Like now? Like go?” And he goes, “Yeah.” So we just sort of walked in. So it was really interesting what he did.
RT: The film paints a complex portrait of Gary Hart, because it builds him up as this superstar candidate, but it doesn’t shy away from his faults. It must have been a challenge to portray someone who is so charismatic and charming and seemingly upstanding, but also has these big gaping flaws, because you had to show how he was so likable at the same time that he was, in a sense, morally compromised. How did you strike that balance?
Jackman: It was a definite challenge for me on many levels because I’m more of an open book. We’ve only spoken for ten minutes. A lot of the characters I play have their heart beating out of their chest, and this is someone who will allow you close. He is very charismatic and enigmatic — some people called him elusive. He was hard to get to know. He would let you get close to a point, but then not, and he never really felt comfortable personally letting everybody in. It just wasn’t his personality, nor did he think that was important for the job he was going for, and thought it was distracting.
He thought about things very, very differently than any other politician, and this is really the turning point. After this point, it’s very clear to every political candidate that there is your personality, your ability or willingness to entertain, to be an entertainer, is part of the process. There was a reason why, I think, Clinton played saxophone on Arsenio Hall, whereas that wasn’t happening before. Things certainly did change in this era, and I think the challenge for me was having the restraint to not let people in fully, because that is my instinct.
Of course, I had to have that inner life, and you needed to see that, but there’s moments of kindness, which are actually true. Like on the plane to the reporter who was going through that fright with a fear of flying.
RT: That was a real thing that happened?
Jackman: Yeah, that actually happened. Yeah, you know, he would hand books to people, and he would buy drinks for the press. But, at the same time, you never really fully felt that you got to know every part of him, and that was the challenge. It was a big challenge for me, and I really relied and leaned heavily on Jason for that.
RT: You touched on this already, but while this film is certainly about the rise and fall of Gary Hart, it’s clearly also about how journalism and especially political journalism changed at the time, particularly with respect to the privacy of candidates running for office. I think the film lets the audience decide where they stand, between “the press should be free” and “candidates deserve their privacy.” Where do you stand on that?
Jackman: Look, it’s a far more important job than probably anything else out there, so I do understand that people need to feel like they know the character of all these candidates. I learned this — this is a new world — prior to 1970, there was no primary system. So now you’re expecting everyone around the country to judge 12 people that are running for a Republican ticket. So there is a responsibility of the press to get to know these people, and to let us know. You don’t have time to do it.
I think the question more for rather than putting it all on the press, and it’s the press’s job, and have they gone too far or not, I think if we as voters or citizens, whichever country we’re at, have a very strong sense of what is important to us, what do we need to know, because that is different for everybody. And I don’t judge it, the film doesn’t judge it. Some people will judge a person on how they are in their marriage, you know? I’m not, except for the person I’m married to, but that’s not me. But I do judge someone’s character. I want to know that they are smart enough to see problems that I can’t see coming, and that they have the conviction to follow through on what they say they’re going to do. So that is a character judgment.
So on some level, I do want to know them. I would like that to be uncovered. I don’t need to know if they wear boxers or briefs, or their dog’s name, whether they played piano in school, or what their girlfriend’s name is, or whether they smoke marijuana. I don’t really care about that. But that’s different for everybody.
RT: Before we go, I feel like I have to ask this. There’s obviously been a lot of talk about the whole Disney-Fox deal and the fact that Bob Iger confirmed that Marvel’s Kevin Feige will be the new caretaker of the X-Men franchise. If — and I know this is a big if — at some point, if they figure out a way to incorporate the X-Men into the existing Marvel Cinematic Universe, and they come knocking on your door, would you be willing to come back in some capacity, whether big or small?
Jackman: Now, in terms of opening windows, you just left a crack so small. Like, “Would you like to just smell what is going on in the room?” I love what you did there.
For many, many years, I often thought how cool would it be to have Wolverine in a scene with Iron Man, or Hulk, particularly Hulk, and all of that. I totally get that. It frustrated me that that was not… And I, for many years, thought that that was an impossibility. But, mate, I think the ship has sailed.
You know, when you get into a party, you leave the party, all is good. You’re in the cab. You’re just about to get home, and someone goes, “You’ve got to come back, dude. Such-and-such has turned up,” and you go, “You know what? I’m going to bed.”
The Front Runner opens in limited release on November 7.
(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
The 75th Golden Globe Awards, hosted by Seth Meyers, were held on January 7, 2018 in Los Angeles. Top honors went to Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri and Lady Bird for film, and to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Big Little Lies for television. Read on for the full list of winners in all categories.
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(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
The nominations for the 75th Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning in Los Angeles. The winners will be revealed in a ceremony airing live on NBC, Sunday, January 7. Read through for the full list of nominees.
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RT Senior Editor Grae Drake talked to Hugh Jackman, Sir Patrick Stewart, and Boyd Holbrook from Logan about embellishing their own stories (including heroic puppy rescue), what thoughts specific scents trigger for them, and Sir Patrick’s love of all styles of bacon.
After nearly 20 years and a slew of X-Men franchise installments, Hugh Jackman walked away from Wolverine (presumably) with this past weekend’s Logan. In celebration of his impressive run as one of comics’ most popular characters, we decided to devote this week’s list to a fond look back at some of the brightest critical highlights from a wonderfully eclectic filmography that looks like it’s only begun to tap into his prodigious potential. Snikt! It’s time for Total Recall!
Looking at its premise on paper — giant robots boxing! — you might expect Real Steel would be the sort of critic-proof flick that takes a tumble on the Tomatometer while luring action enthusiasts to the cineplex in blockbuster-sized droves. The reality, however, was surprisingly complex; it’s actually a family drama with sci-fi overtones, starring Hugh Jackman as a washed-up boxer who becomes a promoter after robot boxers take over, and Dakota Goyo as the estranged son who helps him build a pugilistic machine that’ll rule the ring. Laced with enough grit to keep from becoming a total CGI fest while still making room for a handful of adrenaline-inducing set pieces, Steel earned a somewhat muted response from audiences, who turned out in respectable but not spectacular numbers — and a surprising amount of admiration from critics like NPR’s Linda Holmes, who argued, “Real Steel is ridiculous, but it is not dispiriting. If you’re going to make this movie, it should be made just this way, with commitment, verve and a complete disregard for physics, robotics and environmentalism.”
Round up a bunch of dramatic actors, hand them a classic musical, and ask them to sing — live in front of the camera, no less — and if nothing else, you’re bound to get points for audacity. Les Miserables director Tom Hooper courted disaster with this approach to his 2012 adaptation of the Broadway favorite, but emerged largely unscathed, winning a pile of Golden Globes and picking up eight Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) while racking up more than $440 million in worldwide grosses. Not bad for yet another version of a story just about everyone had already seen, and although a number of critics were unmoved by the movie’s unabashed efforts to wring tears from the audience, the majority found all that huge drama impossible to resist. An acknowledged singing talent in a cast notably short on them, Jackman earned an Academy Award nomination for his work as the long-suffering Jean Valjean — but Glenn Kenny of MSN Movies thought he “should get a Nobel Prize for the way he carries pretty much the whole undertaking on his shoulders, so protean and virile is his singing and acting throughout.”
The homicidal streak that makes Wolverine such a fascinating character in the comics is also what’s made him relatively problematic on the big screen, and its PG-13 neutering is part of what rendered Hugh Jackman’s previous solo outing as the clawed superhero, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, such a disappointment for longtime fans. Director James Mangold had the benefit of lowered expectations when it came time to helm the follow-up, The Wolverine, but the end result — which drew inspiration from a beloved ‘80s comics story that sent the character to Japan — earned more than a slow clap from critics; as Mick LaSalle enthused for the San Francisco Chronicle, “Somewhere along the line somebody must have had a crazy idea, that The Wolverine required a decent script, and shouldn’t rely only on action, audience goodwill and the sight of Hugh Jackman with his shirt off. The team delivers with this one.”
After Batman Begins hit big, Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale had their pick of projects to choose from — and they opted to reunite for The Prestige, a film Nolan had been eyeing since his post-Memento days. In this adaptation of the Christopher Priest novel, Bale stars opposite Jackman in the tale of two early 20th century magicians driven to dangerous lengths in their personal and professional feud. With a plot hinging on a series of progressively more unpredictable twists and turns, The Prestige was bound to provoke a number of divergent responses, but with gross receipts over $100 million and a Certified Fresh 76 percent Tomatometer, it packed enough of a suspenseful flourish to earn praise from scribes such as Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, who observed, “there are nifty tricks galore up the sumptuous sleeve of this offbeat and wildly entertaining thriller.”
An inspirational sports dramedy about a Winter Olympics hopeful with slim chances of success and a coach who also happens to be a disgraced former competitor, Eddie the Eagle has some obvious similarities to Cool Runnings — and in fact its protagonist, real-life British ski jumper Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards, competed at the same Olympics that hosted Runnings‘ Jamaican bobsled team. But no sports movie is purely original anyway, and beyond those undeniable similarities to stories we’ve heard before, this good-natured dramatization of Edwards’ story — starring Taron Egerton in the title role and Jackman as his hard-drinking coach Bronson Peary — has no shortage of individual charm. “A tad sugary sweet,” admitted the Toronto Sun’s Liz Braun, “but thanks to the performances of Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton, the end result is a family film that’s highly entertaining.”
Today, Hugh Jackman is pretty much synonymous with the role of Wolverine, but he wasn’t Bryan Singer’s first — or second — choice for the part; in fact, it only fell to him after Russell Crowe’s salary demands and Dougray Scott’s scheduling conflicts kept both of them from bringing the clawed, cigar-chomping antihero to the screen. Jackman, an unknown at the time, represented a bit of a gamble for the long-in-development X-Men adaptation, but with an ensemble cast that included Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Sir Ian McKellen as Magneto, and Halle Berry as Storm, the summer of 2000 brought Marvel’s favorite mutants to the big screen in style, racking up almost $300 million in worldwide grosses and a healthy stack of positive reviews from critics like New York Magazine’s Peter Rainer, who deemed it “A rarity: a comic-book movie with a satisfying cinematic design and protagonists you want to watch.”
How far would you go to find — or find justice for — your child? That dark dilemma sits at the heart of Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners, a taut 2013 drama starring Jackman as Keller Dover, a father frantic with worry after his daughter disappears. When the police release their first suspect, Dover abducts the man (Paul Dano) and holds him captive, intent on gathering information by any means necessary — even though his prisoner has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old and might not even be responsible for the crime. Surrounded by a stellar cast that included Jake Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis, Jackman anchored this unflinching descent into every parent’s nightmare with the palpable anguish needed to make the story tick. “The plot raises complicated moral questions about how far an anguished person will go for the love of a child,” wrote Claudia Puig for USA Today. “At the same time, it sets up an intricate, horrifying mystery with breathtaking skill.”
Given the long odds it faced just getting to the screen, let alone pulling off the transition so successfully, it seemed altogether unlikely that X-Men’s inevitable sequel would be able to achieve the same standard, let alone exceed it – but that’s exactly what 2003’s X2: X-Men United did, both at the box office, where it grossed over $400 million, and among critics, who praised it even more highly than its predecessor. This was, appropriately, accomplished two ways: One, the screenplay satisfied critics and longtime fans by tackling the comic’s long-running sociological themes, most explicitly the fear of “outside” elements (in this case, sexy super-powered mutants) and how that fear is channeled by xenophobic authority figures; two, the sequel ramped up the original’s gee-whiz factor by introducing characters like the teleporting, prehensile-tailed Nightcrawler – and daring to tease at the Marvel title’s Phoenix storyline, one of the most beloved, brain-bending plots in the publisher’s history. The result was a film that remains both a fan favorite and a critical benchmark for writers like Variety’s Todd McCarthy, who lauded X2 as “bigger and more ambitious in every respect, from its action and visceral qualities to its themes.”
Unlike the majority of film franchises that reboot themselves with younger casts, the X-Men series has the built-in advantage of drawing from comics mythology that makes room for time travel as well as superhumanly slow-aging mutants — which is how Jackman found himself called upon to once again do battle as Wolverine in X-Men: Days of Future Past. The plot, which involves Wolverine going back in time to prevent Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from carrying out a political assassination that spells certain doom for mutantkind, includes all manner of tangled threads that could have sent the movie tumbling into the weeds, but director Bryan Singer tied it all nimbly together in his triumphant return to helming the franchise, uniting the OG X-Men with their younger counterparts in a blockbuster extravaganza that even managed to retcon the much-maligned X-Men: The Last Stand out of the official timeline. “Everything is of a piece,” wrote the Wall Street Journal’s Joe Morgenstern, “and it’s dazzling.”
Third time’s the charm. After whiffing on their first opportunity to give Wolverine a compelling solo outing with the calamitous Origins, then inching a little closer to snikt-worthy cinema with The Wolverine, Fox finally gave fans a properly grim and gritty third installment. Logan peers into a dark future for our favorite mutants, with most of the X-Men dead after a mysterious tragedy and Wolverine reduced to working as a driver while caring for an ailing Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and saving up enough money to buy a boat and sail off into aquatic exile. Fate has less peaceful plans for our heroes, of course; in short order, Logan finds himself embroiled in a dangerous plot involving a mysterious lab and a young girl on the run (Dafne Keen). It’s a classic Wolverine caper, loosely inspired by the Old Man Logan comics arc, and delivered with all the hard-hitting, hard-R panache fans waited patiently to see — not to mention the vast majority of critics. “Entertaining as they are, Marvel movies aren’t expected to be this mature, this dark or this human,” wrote Colin Covert for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “This is a bold, coherent story inspired by a comic book, not slavishly based on it.”
This week at the movies, we’ve got desert battles (Gods of Egypt, starring Gerard Butler and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), a big city heist (Triple 9, starring Casey Affleck and Chiwetel Ejiofor), and winter games (Eddie the Eagle, starring Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman) What do the critics have to say?
Months before its release, Gods of Egypt drew heat for its lily-white casting. However, critics say a lack of diversity is only one of its many problems, which also include bombastic performances, cheesy special effects, and a surfeit of unintentional laughs. Set (Gerard Butler) has violently claimed the throne and ruled despotically, so it’s up to Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Bek (Brenton Thwaites) to break his grip on power. The pundits say Gods of Egypt is a spectacularly misconceived would-be epic that might be more fun if it fully embraced its utter preposterousness.
Star-studded it may be, but Triple 9 is pretty far from Ocean’s Eleven or Now You See Me territory. Critics say this violent crime drama delivers its share of pulpy thrills, but its plot is both overstuffed and predictable. A crew of ruthless thieves comprised of former soldiers and dirty cops are blackmailed by Russian mobsters into taking on a nearly impossible heist, and to succeed, they’ll need to create a major distraction — a 999, code for “officer down.” The pundits say Triple 9‘s top notch roster of acting talent (which includes Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, and Kate Winslet) helps to elevate this dark, occasionally brutal genre picture.
Die-hard sports fans will dimly remember Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, the British ski jumper whose indomitable spirit and last place finish at the 1988 Winter Olympics made him a folk hero. The critics say Eddie the Eagle, a fictional retelling of Edwards’ story starring Taron Egerton in the title role, is an occasionally over-saccharine inspirational sports film that nonetheless succeeds on the basis of its infections charm and strong performances.
Broad City returns with another strong season of Jacobson and Glazer’s hilarious outlook on the struggles of NYC life.
Togetherness returns with its charm intact, though its compelling characters could stand to have a few more laughs.
Judd Apatow’s Love is an honest look at building a relationship, helped along by its two appealing leads.
Also Opening This Week In Limited Release
Grae Drake helps out this awards season, by preparing Oscar speeches for Sarah Silverman, Ryan Gosling, Samuel L. Jackson, Emily Blunt, Bryan Cranston, and Hugh Jackman… Mad Libs style!
We talked to the stars of Eddie the Eagle, Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman, about which Olympic sport they would compete in, and what their signature move would be. Then each shared a time when they were told by others that they couldn’t accomplish something… but they did!
As Deadpool makes its way into theaters and our hearts later this week, here are 10 of our favorite couples from comic books adapted for movies and TV.
This week at the movies, we’ve got a high-flying orphan (Pan, starring Levi Miller and Hugh Jackman) and a high-wire daredevil (The Walk, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Charlotte Le Bon). What do the critics have to say?
Do we really need to know the origin story of every iconic fictional character? The trouble with Pan, critics say, is not simply its narrative incoherence and excessive special effects, but its inability to get at the heart of its familiar hero. In this telling, Peter Pan (Levi Miller) is snatched from a London orphanage by a floating pirate ship bound for Neverland. There, Peter makes friends with such famous faces as Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara) and the future Captain Hook (Garrett Hedlund), and quickly runs afoul of the evil Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman). The pundits say Pan has a few moments of visual invention, but mostly, it’s a generic fantasy that fails to capture the mischievous spirit of its beloved protagonist.
The unbelievable story of Philippe Petit, the French acrobat who devised a mad scheme to tightrope-walk between the towers of the World Trade Center, was already chronicled in the Oscar-winning documentary Man On Wire. However, critics say The Walk is a gripping, tense, visually astonishing fictional recreation of that bizarre incident that demonstrates director Robert Zemeckis‘ knack for dazzling imagery — even if it sometimes meanders when the story is on the ground.
With distinctive visuals and a terrific cast, The Flash remains one of the strongest comic book shows on television.
Reinvigorated storylines and an even stronger cast keep The Good Wife fresh in its seventh season — and away from the doldrums that overcome many long-running dramas.
The Affair shifts its emphasis in season two, moving psychological drama to the foreground and expanding the show’s central crime story to include two new points of view.
The Leftovers continues to be unpredictable and provocative in season two with its new location, though the inexplicable circumstances will still frustrate many viewers.
Homeland re-energizes itself in season five by setting up a twisty Berlin-set spy thriller that spotlights Carrie’s questionable ethics more than ever.
Favoring garish style over effective storytelling, the fifth American Horror Story strands a talented cast at Ryan Murphy’s Hotel.
Also Opening This Week In Limited Release
Check out below fashion snaps from the premieres of The Walk, Pan, Steve Jobs, and Knock Knock!
Mark Seman talked to the stars of Pan (Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara, Levi Miller, and Hugh Jackman) about flying hats, Rooneyland, and the complexities of Jackman’s costume, for those of you who want to dress up as Blackbeard for Halloween.
This Week’s Ketchup covers ten headlines from the last seven days from the realm of film development news. Included in the mix this time around are several Disney movies (including Jungle Cruise), Dante’s Inferno, The Odyssey, Scooby-Doo, and new biopic roles for Christian Bale (as Enzo Ferrari) and Jennifer Hudson (as Aretha Franklin).
After years of clogged lines and meeting halls at San Diego Comic Con, some studios are increasingly focusing their attention on making their big announcements at other events. For Walt Disney Pictures, the obvious choice is their own events, the latest of which was this past weekend’s D23. In addition to events for Marvel Studios and Star Wars, Disney also held a series of presentations for their upcoming animated films, both from Pixar and Walt Disney Animation proper. The movies that were previously more shrouded in secrecy included Moana (11/23/16), Pixar’s Coco (11/22/17), and Gigantic (TBA 2018). You can see images here from Moana, the Pacific Ocean-set fantasy about Polynesian mythology which will feature the voice of Dwayne Johnson as the god Maui. The movie now called Coco has been known to be in development for a while now, but previously, it was just known as the “Dia de Los Muertos Project”. Finally, in the tradition of how Rapunzel became Tangled and The Snow Queen became Frozen, in 2018 Jack and the Beanstalk will be adapted as the musical Gigantic, as a giant girl falls in love with a tiny little Spanish person called Jack. Other upcoming Walt Disney Animation movies include Zootopia (3/4/16) and sequels for both Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph. Pixar’s other movies include The Good Dinosaur (11/25/15), Finding Dory (6/17/16), Toy Story 4 (6/16/17), The Incredibles 2, and Cars 3.
After nearly 15 years of development, director Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral, The Last of the Mohicans) is preparing to finally start filming his biopic about Enzo Ferrari. As one might guess based on his surname, Enzo Ferrari was the Italian car racer who eventually founded his own sports car company. Michael Mann had previously been working on a film called Go Like Hell, which would have focused on the relationship between Ferrari and Henry Ford II (and which may have been delayed by the similarly themed 2013 film Rush). This week, Mann’s Ferrari film got the boost it might have needed in the form of Academy Award winner Christian Bale . Mann’s film will focus on the year 1957, when a racing accident involving one of Ferrari’s cars led to the death of 5 children, and a resulting manslaughter criminal investigation.
The surprising box office last weekend ($60 million) for the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton has already inspired new development for at least two film projects, and probably will continue to do so in the weeks and months to come. One such biopic that made the news this week is the long-in-development biopic about R&B singer Aretha Franklin. Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) is now in early talks to play the singer known for such hits as “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Respect,” and “Think.” The untitled Aretha Franklin biopic, if produced, will follow her rise to fame in the 1960s and 1970s, and also cover her “her relationship with her abusive ex-husband Ted White.” In even more directly related news, radio DJ Greg Mack, who was one of the first people to play N.W.A. records, has also sold the film rights to his upcoming autobiography.
In addition to writing Contact, and producing/starring in the original Cosmos mini-series, Carl Sagan (1932-1996) was an award-winning astronomer and astrophysicist who worked with NASA, the Smithsonian Institute, and the SETI project (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence). Now, following the success last year of both The Imitation Game (about Alan Turing) and The Theory of Everything (about Stephen Hawking), it might now be Carl Sagan’s turn to get a biopic. Producer Lynda Obst, who worked on both Contact and Interstellar is now developing an untitled drama about the relationship between Carl Sagan and his wife Ann Druyan. This Carl Sagan biopic will be adapted by screenwriter Zach Dean, who made his debut with the 2012 film Deadfall.
The horror mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, about a group of improbably vampires, has thus far been one of 2015’s most popular indie success stories ($6.2 million box office from a budget of just $1.6 million). And so, it’s not surprising that this week, Jemaine Clement announced that there may be a sequel that focuses more on werewolves (including the character Anton played by Rhys Darby). As has previously been reported, Jemaine Clement is also working on a possible movie for HBO’s musical comedy series Flight of the Conchords.
Due to the amount of time required for these movies, and Lucasfilm’s ambitious schedule, it’s necessary for the future Star Wars directors to be signed and confirmed as soon as possible. That’s the reason we learned this week who will be directing Star Wars Episode IX, four months before Star Wars: The Force Awakens (AKA Episode 7) is even released. As had been previously rumored, the job will be going to Colin Trevorrow, who had this year’s biggest box office hit with Jurassic World. Colin Trevorrow will also be working on the screenplay for the film, which will conclude the third Star Wars trilogy (both chronologically and narratively). J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens is scheduled for December 18, 2015, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Episode VIII is scheduled for May 26, 2017, and Colin Trevorrow’s Star Wars Episode IX is scheduled for sometime in 2019.
Although Pirates of the Caribbean has proven to be one of Disney’s biggest live-action franchises, attempts to adapt other theme park attractions have proven less successful (such as The Country Bears, The Haunted Mansion, and Tomorrowland). Walt Disney Pictures continues to develop theme park attraction adaptations, however, such as a possible Magic Kingdom movie, and a reboot of The Haunted Mansion which Guillermo Del Toro has worked on in the past. This week, Jungle Cruise leapt forward as possibly the next such movie, with the news that Dwayne Johnson is now attached to star. There is no director yet for Jungle Cruise, but the script will be adapted with Dwayne Johnson in mind by directors John Requa and Glenn Ficara (Focus, Crazy Stupid Love). Dwayne Johnson recently wrapped the spy comedy Central Intelligence, and is also attached to star in the TV adaptation Baywatch, the video game adaptation Rampage, and the Big Trouble in Little China remake.
In what is probably more of a coincidence than some sort of new trend, two different classic poetic epics received film development news this week. The project probably closest to getting a greenlight is Lionsgate’s adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey (which was a sequel to The Iliad, the inspiration for 2004’s Troy). Hugh Jackman is now in talks to star as Odysseus, the Trojan War hero who spends years attempting to get back home after the war. Although Hugh Jackman isn’t signed yet, The Odyssey does have a director, Francis Lawrence, who directed the last three Hunger Games movies (as well as Constantine and I Am Legend). The other epic poem in the news this week was Dante’s Inferno, which Warner Bros picked up after a pitch meeting, with an eye towards it possibly launching a new franchise for the studio. Dante’s poem depicts the author being escorted through the nine circles of Hell, and as part of Dante’s Divine Comedy, is followed by two other poems about both Purgatory and Heaven.
After previous development on a new Scooby-Doo reboot that would have been an animation/live action hybrid (like the previous movies in 2002 and 2004), this week, Warner Bros announced a new plan. In what could be the first of a series of movies reviving the studio’s many Hanna-Barbera properties, Warner Bros has scheduled an untitled animated Scooby-Doo movie for September 21, 2018. This new animated Scooby-Doo will be directed by Tony Cervone, who has currently directed direct-to-video Scooby-Doo and Tom and Jerry movies, as well as the 2003-2005 Duck Dodgers TV series.
French action director Luc Besson’s colorful sci-fi film The Fifth Element was released in 1997. In the 18 years since, the prolific director has mostly focused his attention on less expensive films like Lucy, and producing such action/thriller franchises as Taken and Transporter. Luc Besson is, however, preparing to return to the realm of ambitious science ficiton with a $180 million adaptation of the French comic book series Valerian and Laureline. The full working title of this movie is Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, but many sources list it as just Valerian. This space opera is compared to such movies as Blade Runner, Star Wars, and Luc Besson’s own The Fifth Element. There are reportedly only 5 major human characters, and “dozens of crazy-looking creatures.” This week, Clive Owen (Croupier, Sin City) joined the previously cast Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) and Cara Delavingne (Paper Towns). In what is a pretty strongly positive week, we’re calling the Valerian news “Rotten” based mostly on the RT Tomatometers for both Luc Besson and Clive Owen.
The Oscar nominees were announced last Thursday, and we here at Rotten Tomatoes have been pretty fortunate to sit down and chat with a whole lot of them. If you’re still unsure who to root for in the Best Picture race, or you’d just like a little more info on the films being honored on February 22, check out our various interviews with the casts and filmmakers of Selma, The Theory of Everything, Nightcrawler, American Sniper, The Hobbit, and more.
Ep. 013 – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ellen Page & director Frank Coraci
Matt & Tim talk about new movies ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ and ‘Blended’. Then Grae interviews ‘X-Men’ stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Ellen Page, and Matt & Grae have an extended chat with ‘Blended’ director Frank Coraci.
South African Gavin Hood directed the Oscar-winning Tsotsi but has also knocked about Hollywood, acted in over a dozen movies and, following his political thriller Rendition, got the nod to helm the blockbuster
X-Men Origins: Wolverine . Though the film drew mixed reviews, its box office has been enough to set in motion plans for a sequel. Recently we caught up with Hood to ask him about it, and share his thoughts on working with Hugh Jackman, comic book movies, and his admiration for fellow countryman Neill Blomkamp.
Will you be directing Wolverine 2?
I have no idea. All that’s happened at the moment is that the studio has just commissioned the script for Wolverine 2 to be written. Whether that film will ever get made will depend on so many factors — whether the studio likes the script, whether they find a director who responds to the script. Might that be me? Sure, I’d be extremely interested and thrilled if they were to send it to me.
How did you try to bring an extra dimension to a comic book movie?
In the original script they were not half brothers. There was some resistance to that, because in the world of the comics there’s only a small suggestion in one particular comic that Victor Creed and Wolverine may well be half brothers. I just gravitated to that. Just having one good guy versus bad guy, with no emotional connection just felt like “Whoa — you’ll have nothing but punching and kicking”. That was a way to build up the emotional power of the film. I thought Liev Schreiber did a phenomenal job. I’m very pleased that on the Blu-ray disc there’s a particular scene that I was attached to that didn’t make it into the movie. I say that without saying “It should have!” I think it probably should have been in the movie, but I understood the argument against it, and at the time there was much to-ing and fro-ing about it. It’s a great thing to be able to put that sort of scene on the Blu-ray and let people think of other themes and idea that were in my mind when we made that scene.
How hard is it to get Hugh Jackman naked?
Well one of things we knew going into the film was that Hugh Jackman was going to have to do a certain amount of nudity in the film. Hugh will tell you how he wanted to be like De Niro in Cape Fear. I was like “Mate, you’re going to be naked — you better buff up”. [laughs] Honestly though, I’ve never seen someone eat so much chicken steak and fish and lettuce for so long without throwing up. It was unbelievable. Seven meals a day of protein and a little bit of salad. No CGI on that body. Except for the claws.
You’re from South Africa; so is Neill Blomkamp. Is this some kind of mini South African sci-fi renaissance? Have you spoken to Neill about District 9
?
We have spoken because I had to tell him what a phenomenal job he did. I sat there in the cinema — and probably it was a great deal of patriotic pride — but I thought, here was something so fresh and so out there, yet so emotionally powerful. It was just so fantastic to see the originality of the piece.
From a South African perspective, did you find it true to its core?
Yeah. Scarily so. I know those characters. Those [adopts a funny Afrikaans accent] very well meaning policemen, who think they are being very nice to you who, but are completely on the side of authority and they’re patronising you to death. Yeah. We grew up around those guys. Scary.
Which films inspire you?
David Lean, Lawrence of Arabia. I don’t know why I say that, but epic, character-driven. I don’t know that it’s necessarily about genre — I think in every genre there are films that do what they do really well. When you’re looking at film, I don’t think one should necessarily compare a drama with a sci-fi, except to the extent that there should be a good drama within the sci-fi, presumably. Within every genre there’s a high point of that genre. I just find that fascinating — that’s why I loved District 9 , because it brought such a fresh perspective to that genre.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is out now on DVD and Blu-ray.
Wolverine star Hugh Jackman is set to star opposite Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson in period drama Unbound Captives, it was announced today.
According to Variety, the plot revolves around a woman whose is rescued to a frontiersman following the murder of her husband and the kidnapping of her children at the hands of a Comanche war party. Jackman will play the frontiersman and Pattinson one of the children, while Rachel Weisz has been cast as the mother in question.
Madeline Stowe will make her directorial debut with the project, which she wrote 16 years ago with husband Brian Benben. At the time she turned down a multi-million dollar offer for the script from Fox in favour of holding on to the property until the opportunity arose to be more fully involved in the production.
Speaking of her decision, Stowe said: “There was never a moment’s hesitation on my part, but it felt unreal, and I can remember my husband putting a finger across his neck to signal not to take the offer. There are moments in life when you need to follow your heart. The script remained my singular focus, but directing it myself wasn’t something I ever dreamed of.”
Of the high-profile casting, she said “I saw three actresses, and knew after meeting with Rachel that she was the person I wanted to hand this role to. Robert said yes last fall, before everything broke with Twilight. Hugh said yes a couple of weeks back.”
Endeavour International will sell the American distribution rights, while Hyde Park International is selling other territories in Cannes this week.
