Following the cultural phenomenon of Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie, the world of toy-inspired movies does not seem to be slowing down. One project that actually predates Barbie's debut is a Polly Pocket movie, which was announced in early 2022 with Emily in Paris star Lily Collins set to star as the titular doll. The Polly Pocket movie was set to be written and directed by Lena Dunham, but it sounds like that is no longer the case. In a recent profile with The New Yorker, Dunham confirmed that she is no longer attached to the Polly Pocket movie, in part because of the success of Gerwig's Barbie movie. According to Dunham, she would rather dedicate her energy towards an original project, as opposed to something made by a major studio.

"I'm not going to make the Polly Pocket movie," Dunham announced. "I wrote a script, and I was working on it for three years. But I remember someone once said to me about Nancy Meyers: the thing that's the most amazing about her is that the movie she makes or the movie she would be making with or without a studio, with or without notes -- that somehow her taste manages to intersect perfectly with what the world wants. What a f-cking gift that is. And Nora Ephron, too, who was such a mentor to me, but always said, 'Go be weird. Don't kowtow to anyone.'"

"I think Greta [Gerwig] managed this incredible feat [with Barbie], which was to make this thing that was literally candy to so many different kinds of people and was perfectly and divinely Greta," Dunham continued. "And I just -- I felt like, unless I can do it that way, I'm not going to do it. I don't think I have that in me. I feel like the next movie I make needs to feel like a movie that I absolutely have to make. No one but me could make it. And I did think other people could make Polly Pocket."

What Is the Polly Pocket Movie About?

Plot details remain unknown about Polly Pocket, outside of the film being described as "a family comedy." Mattel Films boss Robbie Brenner previously expressed high hopes for the project.

"First of all, they are two of my favorite ladies ever," Brenner previously told Variety. "It's been an amazing collaboration. Lena is so collaborative and rolls up her sleeves and really likes to roll around in notes and listen. She's incredible. Lily is so smart and so specific and so productorial. It's just been an incredible collaboration, so we are thrilled about it. Hopefully, we'll be making that at some point in the future."

Simone Ashley is the latest name to join Brad Pitt's F1 movie. Variety reports that the Vicountess Bridgerton will join Damson Idris in the sports drama. It's been a busy week for the F1 project after fans got a sneak peek at the film during the British Grand Prix this weekend. Now, the movie has managed to ink a social media favorite to add to that burgeoning cast. With the lengthy waits between the Bridgerton seasons, Ashley should have plenty of time to visit the track with her co-stars. Pitt has been hyping the project quite a bit in interviews. Now, fans are in the stage where something new gets reported about F1 every passing week.

Here's what Apple has to say about the electrifying movie: "Starring Brad Pitt as a former driver who returns to Formula 1(R), alongside Damson Idris as his teammate at APXGP, a fictional team on the grid, F1 has been shot during actual Grand Prix weekends as the team competes against the titans of the sport. Hailing from director Joseph Kosinski, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Plan B Entertainment and seven-time F1(R) world champion Lewis Hamilton's Dawn Apollo Films banner, the film is made in collaboration with Formula 1(R) and the F1(R) community, including the 10 F1(R) teams and their drivers, the FIA and race promoters."

Bridgerton Season 4 Is Going To Be A While

If fans are going to want to see Ashley in Bridgerton next year, they're going to be disappointed. Netflix has at least another year before Season 4 gets underway. However, that long layover doesn't mean the fans won't get together and speculate during their summer. Claudia Jesse is one of the possible protagonists for the next season of Bridgerton. She told Digital Spy that there's been no annoncement and they won't be getting it out of her just yet. But, she had nothing but nice things to say about the romantic leads so far.

"If ever that happens, I've had a good old run up," Jessie began before praising her co-stars. "So I feel like it's the people that have come before that have shown us all how to do it. Phoebe [Dynevor] took it on really beautifully. She did such an incredible job kicking off this show. And Johnny [Jonathan Bailey] and Simone [Ashley] and obviously Reg? [Reg?-Jean Page] from season one as well and then Nicola [Coughlan] and Luke [Newton]."

"More than anything as well, this show is an ensemble piece filled with so many people," the actress added. "So I really feel like each season everyone gets an opportunity to shine anyway. But yeah, I feel grateful for the run-up really, but I won't tell you anything. Because I don't know. I don't actually know the answer."

Are you interested in the F1 movie? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

After nearly a decade and a half away from the spotlight, Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona are finally preparing for their long-awaited return to the big screen. On Tuesday afternoon, DreamWorks Animation announced that Shrek 5 is officially on the way and will hit theaters in 2026. The new film will reunite Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz for the first time since Shrek Forever After in 2010, but some of Shrek's biggest fans have actually been expecting this news since 2022, when DreamWorks first teased the ogre's return.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish snuck up on people when it was released a couple of years ago. The original Puss in Boots movie, which was a spinoff of the Shrek series, hit theaters in 2011 and didn't exactly leave a major impression on viewers. A decade later, The Last Wish arrived with a brand new, innovative animation style and fantastic story, earning it a ton of critical acclaim and a great showing at the box office. The film reinvigorated the excitement for the entire Shrek franchise, especially when its final scene let fans know that a potential Shrek return was (literally) on the horizon.

At the very end of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the trio of Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws, and Perrito are setting sail together on the high seas. Perrito asks Puss where they're heading, and the titular hero replies, "Off to find some new adventures, and to see some old friends."

When he delivers the "see some old friends" part of the line, the score of the film changes to bring back the instantly recognizable melody from Shrek. As if that wasn't enough, a chunk of land is revealed out in front of the boat, with the enormous "Far Far Away" sign sticking out across the mountain.

It was clear in that scene that Puss in Boots was looking to reunite with Shrek and Donkey, the lifelong pals he made during the events of Shrek 2. What we didn't know at that time, though, was whether or not the tease would amount to anything. It could've just been a nice little nod to say that, after so many adventures, Puss in Boots had never forgotten his old friends.

With the critical and commercial success of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and the eternal interest in the Shrek franchise, we now know the tease was much more than a nice idea. Shrek is officially coming back, and 2026 can't get here soon enough.

The big question now becomes how the Puss in Boots ending will factor into Shrek 5. DreamWorks could use The Last Wish to set up the story of Shrek 5, meaning that Puss and his cohorts are going to be a part of the story. That said, Shrek 5 could also be used to show what Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona have been up to since Shrek Forever After, with those events taking place at the same time as the Puss in Boots films. It wouldn't be a big surprise to see Shrek 5 end with the arrival of Puss in Boots, teeing up another film featuring both sets of characters.

You don't need to imagine how to stream IF. The family-friendly hit movie -- about a girl (Cailey Fleming) who embarks on a magical journey to reconnect imaginary friends, called "IFs," with their kids -- is now available to watch online at home. John Krasinski (the Quiet Place films) wrote and directed what he imagined as a "live-action Pixar movie," which features a star-studded cast led by Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool & Wolverine) and Steve Carell (Despicable Me 4).

Read on to find out how to watch the IF movie online and everything else you need to know about the movie.

How to Watch IF (2024) Online

As of July 9th, IF is now available to stream exclusively on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. A subscription is required and the movie is included in both the Paramount+ Essential plan ($5.99/month) and the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME plan ($11.99/mo).

You can watch IF movie free online if you're a new subscriber and sign up for a free Paramount+ trial, which includes access to over 40,000 episodes and movies and your live, local CBS station plus SHOWTIME (for the Paramount Plus with SHOWTIME plan).

What Is the Movie IF About?

Paramount Pictures describes IF as "a heartwarming and hilarious tale about a girl who discovers that she can see everyone's imaginary friends, known as IFs. She embarks on a magical journey to reconnect forgotten IFs with their kids, before they disappear. An adventure you'll need to believe to see, IF is perfect for the whole family."

Watch the IF movie trailer below.

IF Cast and Characters

The cast of human characters includes Cailey Fleming (The Walking Dead) as Bea, Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool & Wolverine) as Bea's friend Cal, John Krasinski (Jack Ryan) as Bea's Dad, Alan Kim (Minari) as Benjamin, Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live) as Jeremy, and Fiona Shaw (the Harry Potter movies) as Grandmother.

Voicing the IFs are Steve Carell (The Office) as the purple-furred Blue, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) as the rubber hose-animated butterfly Blossom, and late Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman) as Lewis, a wise old teddy bear.

IF features a cavalcade of celebrity cameo-voiced IFs, including -- [inhales for deep breath] -- Emily Blunt (The Fall Guy) as Unicorn, George Clooney (Wolfs) as Spaceman, Bradley Cooper (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Ice, Awkwafina (Kung Fu Panda 4) as Bubble, Matt Damon (Oppenheimer) as Flower, Bill Hader (Barry) as Banana, Keegan-Michael Key (Transformers One) as Slime, Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) as Robot, Maya Rudolph (Loot) as plush alligator Ally, Richard Jenkins (Step Brothers) as Art Teacher, Blake Lively (A Simple Favor) as the octopus costume-clad Octocat, Sam Rockwell (Argylle) as dog superhero Guardian Dog, Sebastian Maniscalco (The Super Mario Bros. Movie) as the mini Magician Mouse, Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason) as the crowned Ghost, Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer) as Gummy Bear, and Brad Pitt as the invisible IF Keith.

IF Movie Age Rating

IF is rated PG for "thematic elements and mild language," referring to the use of "hell" and "damn." Here's a handy, spoiler-free guide to help parents determine if the IF movie is too sad or scary for younger kids.

A24 has tapped Jennifer Lawrence to headline a new movie based on Paul B. Rainey's graphic novel Why Don't You Love Me?. The movie, which will be adapted by screenwriter Robert Funke (On Becoming a God in Central Florida), centers on a couple whose troubled marriage seems to reflect a general unease about the nature of the universe around them. A24 and Apple Studios recently announced that Lawrence would star in the murder mystery The Wives, which she will also produce. Lawrence will also star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's new Frank Sinatra biopic.

No one has yet been cast to star as Lawrence's husband. Lawrence will serve as producer for Why Don't You Love Me? alongside Ciarrocchi for Excellent Cadaver, Ari Aster, Lars Knudsen, and Emily Hildner for Square Peg, and A24 (per Deadline, who first announced the deal). Rainey will serve as executive producer.

This is the latest in a series of collaborations between Lawrence and Apple, who also distributed Causeway (with A24) and the documentary Bread & Roses, which Lawrence produced.

Jennifer Lawrence first rose to fame when she was nominated for an Academy Award for Winter's Bone in 2011, and she quickly shot to global movie star status after starring as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games in 2012. Lawrence reprised the role in three more films, and went on to vary her career between big, crowd-pleasing roles and more critically-acclaimed movies like American Hustle and Mother!. She also starred in Fox's revival of the X-Men franchise, appearing as Mystique in four movies between 2011 and 2019.

Here's the official synopsis for No Hard Feelings, now streaming on Netflix, for which Lawrence earned her most recent Golden Globe Award nomination:

"Maddie thinks she's found the answer to her financial troubles when she discovers an intriguing job listing: wealthy helicopter parents looking for someone to "date" their introverted 19-year-old son, Percy, and bring him out of his shell before he leaves for college. But awkward Percy proves to be a real challenge, and time is running out. She has one summer to make him a man or lose it all."

The film is directed by Gene Stupnitsky, who co-wrote the script with John Phillips. Lawrence stars alongside Andrew Barth Feldman, Laura Benanti, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Natalie Morales, Scott MacArthur, and Matthew Broderick. Alex Saks, Naomi Odenkirk, Marc Provissiero, Justin Ciarrocch, and Jennifer Lawrence produced the film.

We're officially returning to the land of Far, Far Away. On Tuesday, DreamWorks Animation officially announced that a fifth Shrek movie has been greenlit, and is currently on track to be released in theaters on July 1, 2026. Shrek 5 will feature a number of returning voice actors from the franchise, including Mike Myers as Shrek, Cameron Diaz as Fiona, and Eddie Murphy as Donkey. This confirmation comes after Murphy recently hinted thaat work on Shrek 5, as well as an untitled Donkey spinoff film, were both in the works.

"I started recording Shrek, I think it's coming out in 2025, and we're doing a Donkey one next," Murphy told Collider.

Not too Far, Far Away... @Shrek 5 is coming to theaters on July 1, 2026 with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz. pic.twitter.com/3j6ctXpPGu

-- DreamWorks Animation (@Dreamworks) July 9, 2024

Will Shrek 5 Be a Reboot?

Shrek 5 has been in development in one way or another for the better part of a decade, with writer Michael McCullers hinted that it would bring "a pretty big reinvention" to the franchise as a whole. This made some question if the film would be a full-fledged reboot, or just a brand-new story with the original cast. 2022's spinoff film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish briefly hinted that Shrek 5 was in store, teasing that Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) and his friends were headed to reunite with "some old friends" in Far, Far Away.

"I've been with this cat for almost 20 years," Banderas previously teased in a 2022 interview. "The first time I did Puss In Boots, I was working on broadway, so I did my first session there. I've done five movies now. There is probably gonna be another, and Shrek is probably coming back."

Why Is Shrek So Popular?

The film franchise, based on William Steig's children's book of the same name, has been nothing short of a cultural juggernaut, inspiring a Broadway musical, fan-made celebrations, and countless other tributes. As the franchise's original co-director, Vicky Jenson, revealed to ComicBook in 2021, the accidental success of Shrek was nothing short of a surprise.

"It was sort of a parody of these kinds of movies, animated fairy tales, and the only one doing that at the time was Disney over the years," Jenson explained. "The Disney model was still very reverential, and very aspirational, and inspirational and the musicals were composed for the movie, so you would never have this indie influence of existing songs dropped in for score, to set a mood. So no one, as far as I know, had done that in an animated movie and relied on that to hit the key emotional moments in the movie as a live action movie would. And then the tone, the reverential irreverent humor, was also a bit different. Not taking itself too seriously, but at the same time letting real feelings come through. Shrek used humor to keep everybody away, but he had a broken heart and when he revealed it to Donkey, you felt it. So yeah, finding the balance, it was trial and error. That's the benefit of animation."

As mentioned above, Shrek 5 will be released exclusively in theaters on July 1, 2026.

Filmmaker Sam Raimi got his start in the world of horror, and while genre fans will always think of him as a horror filmmaker first and foremost, he would go on to helm massive blockbusters, such as a trilogy of Spider-Man movies starring Tobey Maguire and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. News comes from Deadline today that Raimi has been tapped to direct the horror movie Send Help, which marks his first time directing a horror movie since Drag Me to Hell in 2009. While Raimi has produced horror movies and directed horror TV shows in the last 15 years, this marks his first return to feature-length horror directing in more than a decade.

Deadline describes of the new movie, "According to our sources, the film is described as a two-hander horror thriller set on an island. The story is said to fall somewhere between Rob Reiner's Stephen King adaptation Misery and Robert Zemeckis' classic Castaway."

Send Help was written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who wrote 2003's Freddy vs. Jason and the 2009 Friday the 13th reboot.

The movie that helped put Raimi on the map was The Evil Dead, which earned a positive endorsement from horror writer Stephen King. Raimi earned enough support from the picture to develop Evil Dead II, which served both as a reboot of the original experience as well as an expansion on the ideas, with he and star Bruce Campbell ultimately concluding the trilogy with Army of Darkness.

Raimi offered up audiences a variety of experiences in the '90s with projects like Darkman, The Quick and the Dead, and The Gift, before entering the world of Marvel with 2002's Spider-Man. DC projects like Superman and Batman dominated the big screen for years, though 2000's X-Men marked a turning point for the Marvel universe. While that movie was a modest hit that generated excitement in other Marvel characters, Raimi's Spider-Man was a massive blockbuster, as were the next two films in the trilogy.

The success of Spider-Man also resulted in a variety of other Marvel figures jumping to the big screen, though Daredevil, Fantastic Four, and Ghost Rider all failed to live up to the critical success of Raimi's films. By the late 2000s, Marvel Studios launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which brought to life characters who weren't owned by Sony or Fox.

While Raimi returned to his horror roots with Drag Me to Hell and also developed the Evil Dead sequel series Ash vs. Evil Dead, he had the full-circle moment of returning to the world of Marvel 20 years after he helped pave the way for the Marvel renaissance when he directed the Doctor Strange sequel in 2022.

Stay tuned for updates on Send Help.

Are you looking forward to the project? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

The heat is back on. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F -- the straight-to-Netflix sequel starring Eddie Murphy in the title role for the first time in three decades -- debuted at No. 1 on the Netflix Top 10 with 41 million views, the streamer announced Tuesday. Since premiering on July 3rd, the long-awaited Beverly Hills Cop 4 has dominated the Films (English) list for the week of July 1st - July 7th with 80.7 million hours viewed.

The premiere topped such Netflix original movies as Adam Sandler sci-fi drama Spaceman (8.8 million views), Zack Snyder's sci-fi epic Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (21.4 million), Jerry Seinfeld comedy Unfrosted (7.1 million), the Jennifer Lopez sci-fi action movie Atlas (28.2 million), and the Jessica Alba-starring action-thriller Trigger Warning (25.7 million). Axel F is also in Netflix's Top 10 films in 93 countries, including its No. 1 debuts in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, South Korea, and Australia.

A Family Affair, the Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman romcom, came in at No. 2 on the U.S. chart for the same time frame with 31.9 million views in its second week on the Top 10. Trigger Warning ranked No. 3 after adding another 8 million views during its third week on the chart.

Rounding out the Top 10: Paw Patrol: The Movie's (2021) nine-week streak continues at No. 4 with 5.2 million views; Warcraft (2016) at No. 5 (4.1 million); The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) added another 3.7 million views to take No. 6 after 17 weeks in the Top 10; Miraculous World: Shanghai, The Legend of LadyDragon at No. 7 (3.6 million); The Equalizer (2014) at No. 8 (3.5 million); The Hard Way (2019) at No. 9 (3.4 million); and Minions (2015) at No. 10 (3.3 million).

In Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Det. Axel Foley (Murphy) is back on the beat in Beverly Hills. After his estranged daughter Jane's (Taylour Paige) life is threatened, she and Foley team up with a new partner -- Beverly Hills Det. Bobby Abbott (Gordon-Levitt), and Axel's old pals, Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Taggart (John Ashton) -- to turn up the heat and uncover a conspiracy. Bronson Pinchot (1984's Beverly Hills Cop), Paul Reiser (1987's Beverly Hills Cop II), and Kevin Bacon (Footloose) also star.

The Conjuring 4 has finally gotten a release date. Warner Bros. Says that "The Untitled Conjuring Finale" will hit theaters on September 5, 2025. This news comes tethered to an announcement of Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride moving up a month to September 29, 2025 as well. That fall is going to be a busy month for Horror fans. Not only will they be able to see The Bride and another Conjuring movie. But, Universal's Saw XI hits theaters in the later part of the month. As it stands, this is looking like the swan song for James Wan's fan-favorite scary franchise. He's been hinting at this next movie being the end of the road for a while.

In an interview with Collider, the director laid out some thoughts about the final Conjuring film. They're trying to do their best to wrap things up in a satisfying manner. "Yeah, we are working on it right now. With the Conjuring films, we are very precious about [them]," Wan previously said. "And so we kind of want to just take our time to make sure we get it right and to make sure the emotion of the Warren stories that we want to tell, and moving into, and potentially wrapping up, we just want to make sure that it's the right thing, the right story that we're telling."

The Nun II Heralded The End Of The Conjuring

By all indications, this is the final trip to The Conjuring universe. (Barring a potential reboot down the line.) According to our ComicBook critic Kofi Outlaw, the franchises' last experience kind of heralded this development. The Nun II wasn't exactly reinvinteing the wheel during its run. So, our writer argued that it was probably time to close up shop.

"The Nun II is the eighth film in The Conjuring franchise, and it's also the clearest example yet that this franchise is starting to stretch itself thin. The story of the sequel picks up four years after the first film, in 1956," Outlaw says. "Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) has been trying to live a quiet life in a convent in Italy. Meanwhile, Frenchie/Maurice (Jonas Bloquet) has been slowly making his way across Europe, still unaware that the dreaded demon Valak attached itself to him when he save Irene from being possessed in the first film."

He adds, "However, as Valak gets closer and closer to a holy artifact that's been missing for years, its evil begins to manifest in stronger and stronger waves at a boarding school in Tarascon, France. Eventually, the church gets wind that the demon is still alive and active, and Irene is recruited to hunt down and battle the evil entity again."

Are you hyped for the end of the series? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Deadpool & Wolverine teased some big changes for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the movie's latest TV spot. On social media, Deadpool & Wolverine showed off more of Matthew MacFadyen's Paradox delivering a speech to Wade Wilson. He calls Deadpool "a hero among heroes," or at least he claims he can become one of them. The Time Variance Authority worker also says that the mercenary has been chosen for a "higher purpose" in saving the multiverse. (That sure does sound similar to another MCU favorite who has tangled with the TVA before...) So, the table is set for Ryan Reynolds' hero to tangle with the big bad of the film, Cassandra Nova. You can check out the new teaser down below for yourself.

Another fun nugget from the trailer is that Cassandra Nova, played by Emma Corrin, actually puts those telepathic powers to work against Deadpool & Wolverine. The previous footage of the duo walking into a town set from earlier trailers appears to end with them being blown an entire city block through the front window display of a store. Corrin's villain is on a different level than some of the bad guys that Deadpool has come across in his own universe. By the looks of things, even having a Wolverine handy might not be enough to stop what's coming. Dogpool is also with Wade and Logan at this point as Hugh Jackman's X-Men insults his friend. The hype continues to build until Deadpool & Wolverine's release in just 3 weeks!

The TVA Teases Big Things For Deadpool & Wolverine

If the words Time Variance Authority made you double-take up above, the might be expected. The TVA appeared in Marvel's Loki series. Despite being one of the more popular Marvel TV shows on the streaming platform, some Deadpool & Wolverine viewers might not have made the trek to see Tom Hiddleston's temporal shenanigans. Never fear tho, it's nothing a quick google search or explainer video won't solve. Also, director Shawn Levy told The Associated Press that there won't be any "Marvel Homework" headed into the movie of the summer.

(That's probably just the normal amount of reference and thinking any modern blockbuster series needs to understand the latest installment. Imagine walking into Fast X Part 2 without any prior knowledge of Vin Diesel's car capers and feeling like it was too much to do a quick Intenet search to refresh what went down in Part 1 at least? Silly.)

"I was a good student in school. I'll do my homework as an adult. But I am definitely not looking to do homework when I go to the movies," Levy said earlier this year about the prospect of studying before hitting the theater. "I very much made this film with certainly a healthy respect and gratitude towards the rabid fan base that has peak fluency in the mythology and lore of these characters and this world. But I didn't want to presume that. This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research."

Do you think the TVA can be trusted? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Fly Me to the Moon represents Scarlett Johansson's third time executive producing a feature film. The veteran actress first dipped into producing when she worked on a 2011 documentary called The Whale alongside Ryan Reynolds. One decade later, Johansson returned to executive producing in her Marvel Cinematic Universe swan song Black Widow. While her EP work on The Whale appeared to be a one-off at the time, Black Widow seems to have officially ushered producing into Johansson's career. Johansson has since launched her own production company, These Pictures, which collectively materialized the spark that would become Fly Me to the Moon.

Johansson fleshed out the concept of a rom-com set on the backdrop of the space race with a conspiratorial twist, eventually handing the reins to screenwriter Rose Gilroy.

"The tone of the script was so great when I read it. I enjoyed reading it so much," Johansson told ComicBook. "Rose Gilroy wrote the script and she is an amazing writer. She comes from an incredible family of amazing creatives and writers."

Gilroy crafted the original character of Kelly Jones to spearhead the story. A Manhattanite marketing maestro, Kelly is tasked with "selling" the moon to the American people at a time when interest in pursuing the cosmos is declining. This particularly clashes with Cole Davis (Channing Tatum), a former Navy pilot who now works as NASA's launch director, as he takes issue with the idea of weaving branding into a mission he sees as already packed with plenty of reason to rally.

Kelly's role takes a sharp turn when shadowy government figure Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) approaches her to simultaneously coordinate the filming of a faked moon landing in order to provide the government with backup footage in case the legitimate Apollo 11 mission fails.

Fly Me to the Moon was originally intended to solely exist as a producing project for Johansson, but Gilroy's screenplay made her fall in love with the character of Kelly and prompted her to maximize her involvement to the fullest.

"I was not expecting the tone to be so original," Johansson continued. "It just had everything in it. This character was so great that I was like, 'I can't let somebody else play her.' I tried to think of who we would cast for this part, and I was like, 'I have to do it!'"

From here, Johansson's producing future is packed. She is set to star and produce Prime Video's Just Cause limited series and will produce a "top secret" Marvel Studios project, which she confirmed to ComicBook in June 2023.

Fly Me to the Moon soars into theaters on Friday, July 12th.

Transformers One is set to roll out at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. The first fully-animated Transformers movie in nearly 40 years is bringing exclusive footage and a starry panel to the fandom confab on July 25th with cast members Chris Hemsworth (Marvel's Avengers franchise), Brian Tyree Henry (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), Keegan-Michael Key (The Super Mario Bros. Movie), director Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4), and series producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts).

Those attending the Transformers One Comic-Con panel will receive an exclusive poster and will be the first to watch new scenes from the CG-animated movie before it hits theaters on September 20th. The panel will take place the first day of Comic-Con -- on Thursday, July 25th -- at 11:45 am PST, according to Deadline, which first reported the news.

Set on Cybertron, Transformers One is the untold origin story of a young Optimus Prime and Megatron. Before they transformed into sworn enemies as the leaders of warring robot factions -- the Autobots and Decepticons -- they were brothers-in-arms Orion Pax (Hemsworth) and D-16 (Henry), who changed the fate of their planet forever. While working waste management in the bowels of Cybertron, Orion and D-16 meet workers B-127 (Key), a.k.a. Bumblebee, and Ariel (Scarlett Johansson), a.k.a. Elita-1, before embarking on a dangerous journey to the planet's surface world.

The star-studded voice cast includes Jon Hamm (Mad Men) as Sentinel Prime, Steve Buscemi (Transformers: The Last Knight) in an undisclosed villain role, and Laurence Fisburne (The Matrix) as Alpha Trion -- sworn protector of Vector Sigma, the mega-computer at the heart of Cybertron -- who unlocks the Transformers' full potential, giving the 'bots the ability to transform. The new movie comes from Paramount Animation (The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run), Hasbro Entertainment (Transformers: EarthSpark), and New Republic Pictures (The Tiger's Apprentice).

"We did our take on the origin, which is still staying true to the lore of Transformers," Cooley told ComicBook of the first-ever CG-animated Transformers movie, adding that Optimus Prime's origin story is "something we've never seen before on screen." "I wouldn't say that this is a direct prequel to anything that's been done with live-action ones," the director added. "But it's definitely its own story as well."

Transformers One opens only in theaters Sept. 20th. Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for the latest news and updates out of San Diego Comic-Con 2024.

The Man With No Name is riding back into town. A Fistful of Dollars, the classic Sergio Leone spaghetti western that launched Clint Eastwood to international stardom, is getting a remake from an executive producer of The Departed and the Eastwood-directed 15:17 to Paris. Gianni Nunnari (300) and Simon Horsman's (Magazine Dreams) Euro Gang Entertainment and Enzo Sisti's (The Passion of the Christ) FPC are backing the project with Jolly Film, the Italy-based company behind the original film.

Deadline first reported the news. 1964's A Fistful of Dollars -- the first in Leone's Dollars Trilogy that includes 1965's For a Few Dollars More, and 1966's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- introduced Eastwood's legendary antihero: a cigar-chomping, poncho-clad, grizzled gunslinger. In the rework of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, the mysterious gunman arrives in San Miguel, a frontier town torn by war between two rival bands of smugglers terrorizing the border town's impoverished citizens. The quick-drawing "Joe" sets into motion a plan to destroy both the Baxters and the Rojos, pitting one against the other in a series of orchestrated setups, showdowns -- and deadly confrontations.

Details about the reboot are being kept under the poncho, but Deadline notes that the update will likely be English-language. A director, writer, and cast have yet to be revealed.

"I am delighted to partner with Gianni again having just worked with him on Those About to Die, and with Simon on the remake of this classic film, which created a whole new sub-genre in film spawning over 500 European westerns," Sisti said in a statement.

Nunnari and Horsman added: "Enzo is one of the most experienced producers in the film business, and we are fortunate to call him our partner on this incredible project. We are determined to produce a remake that does justice to the great Sergio Leone's classic."

Sisti has served as the Italy line producer on such films as Mission: Impossible III, The American, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and No Time to Die. As producer, his credits include Michael Mann's Ferrari, the Netflix series Ripley, and Roland Emmerich's new gladiator series Those About to Die.

Longlegs opens with a station wagon pulling up to a snowy farmhouse, with the aspect ratio of the footage replicating that of an 8mm camera. Despite initially seeming like it is a vintage home movie, the camera begins to pan in odd ways, immediately breaking the assumption that we're looking at handheld memories from a bygone era. A young girl exits the farmhouse to meet her guest, though that guest plays an unexpected game of hide and seek. When the young girl does confront this figure, their exchange is clearly nefarious based solely on body language, as this visitor identifies himself as "Longlegs." This opening scene is easily one of the most frightening opening scenes of any horror movie this year, which only sets the stage for the kind of terror writer/director Osgood Perkins is about to unleash on audiences for the next 101 minutes.

A majority of the film unfolds in the early '90s, exploring how FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) has an almost-otherwordly ability to track down serial killers. For nearly two decades, Oregon has been the target of bizarre murders that eliminate entire families, yet each of them takes on the appearance of murder-suicides. Similar to the Zodiac Killer, the FBI has been receiving letters full of Satanic codes and taunts from a figure known as Longlegs (an unrecognizable Nicolas Cage), with Agent Carter (Blair Underwood) enlisting Harker to use her abilities to get to the bottom of the mystery.

One thing that has been evident throughout Perkins' entire career is he will entice viewers with an experience that seems familiar on the surface, only to take it in entirely different directions. With the opening scenes of Longlegs, he establishes the film's surreal tone and its approach to fear, serving as a litmus test for whether a viewer will join the ride of the dream-like and disquieting narrative or if the movie won't quite live up to its ominous and effective marketing campaign.

Perkins' ability to draw a viewer's eye with his framing and composition is nearly unmatched in the horror world. Whether it be a farmhouse, a dark hallway, a barn, or a cabin, Perkins manages to keep you both focused on the characters in the frame while your eyes constantly dart to the shadows of a scene to see if they can find clues about what's really going on. He also uses the camera to create a detachment between the audience and the characters, as nearly every shot features a character in the center of the frame, with their bodies either parallel or perpendicular to its lens. While so many other movies attempt to create framing and blocking that immerses an audience in those worlds organically, Perkins keeps you at a distance, almost as if to imply it would be too dangerous for an audience to be fully part of this world as he creates a more dream-like atmosphere.

Echoing the visual detachment of Longlegs is the script itself, which similarly offers stilted and sparse dialogue that makes every character feel uncomfortable in their own skin. Underwood's Carter is easily the most realized character in the movie, while Harker, Longlegs, and Harker's mother Ruth (Alicia Witt) all speak less like actual people and more like trying to remember conversations you had in a dream. While the narrative is assuredly a horror movie, the overall tone feels more in line with surrealist filmmakers like David Lynch, Yorgos Lanthimos, or Lars von Trier.

Thanks to starring in projects like It Follows, The Guest, and Watcher, Monroe has become a favorite in the horror crowd and for good reason. While some of those previous projects have allowed her to fight back against various threats that have targeted her, Longlegs showcases what's easily the most frightened and tortured performance of Monroe's career. Not only is she attempting to cope with the terror this killer is wreaking on the community, but Harker is also attempting to unlock parts of her past that might be the key to finding Longlegs and uncovering the real motivations for his mayhem. It's almost as if it physically pains Harker to interact with anyone around her, as if this would somehow rope her into the nightmare she feels she's been living in. Cage's recognizable face, however, is obscured by facial prosthetics, which allows his performance to speak for itself. Given the heightened tone of the entire experience, some audiences will dismiss Cage's performance as being cartoonish or silly, though in the world that Perkins has created, it feels like just the right balance of unhinged, intimidating, and childlike.

Between the premise and the setting of Longlegs, it's going to be hard for audiences to not draw direct comparisons between the movie and seminal serial-killer stories like The Silence of the Lambs or David Fincher's Seven (with a bit of Zodiac tossed in for good measure). Understandably, seeing a young, female FBI agent being tossed into a case in which she might be over her head, as well as Longlegs' '90s-set storyline, will evoke comparisons to Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling, while the serial killer with biblically motivated attacks who teases authorities with cryptic letters that need to be decoded will feel reminiscent of Fincher's entries in the space. This isn't to say that Longlegs feels derivative of either of those experiences, more that the cultural impact of those movies is still so significant, it'll be hard to shake that familiarity while watching the movie.

Where the experience starts to falter is in the final act, which is when all the puzzle pieces of the narrative start to come together. Anyone who's even seen a trailer or poster for Longlegs has a pretty good idea that the mystery isn't about who is committing these crimes, but both viewers and the characters want to know why he's doing these things and how he's gotten away with it for so many years. Much like how Perkins' dialogue and camera movements keep a viewer at a safe distance, the reveals about what's really going on doesn't feel fully realized. While there's a lot of allure to be found in keeping details vague and ambiguous, Perkins only does the bare minimum to explain the nature of the horrifying ordeal and leaves a lot to the audience to figure out. In this sense, Longlegs will be a frustrating experience for audiences who want the answers explicitly detailed to them, and even those who enjoy the ambiguity of evil might not be entirely satiated with the explanation of "Satanism...?" The broad strokes and ambiguity of the plot motivations do keep in line with the dreamlike nature of the film's aesthetic, keeping the answers to the mysteries just beyond reach.

With Longlegs, Perkins continues his trend of delivering entirely singular visions of terror, which started with The Blackcoat's Daughter and continued with I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House and Gretel & Hansel. The marketing campaign is bolstering that this movie could quite literally kill you with how scary it is, and while most of us will live to see the movie and tell the tale, what you've witnessed isn't something you're likely to shake off anytime soon. Even if the ultimate resolution of the story doesn't fully live up to the breadcrumbs the first two acts of the film set up, knowing that such an unconventional, ambitious, and uncompromising experience that could fall under the umbrella of any generic murder mystery feels like nothing short of a triumph.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Longlegs lands in theaters on July 12th.

Gladiator 2 has some new character posters for all the new and returning characters from Ridley Scott's upcoming movie. The trailer for Gladiator 2 has finally premiered and the Internet is feasting on the new images from the movie. Upon the first photos of Denzel Waszhington in his film hitting the timeline, there were some strong reactiosn to what the plot of Gladiator 2 would be. (There's also Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal fighting in leather armor for those who are so inclined...) Stranger Things Darling Joseph Quinn's look as one of the new emperors has to seen to be believed. Red hair just looks bizarre on Eddie Munson.

Still, these new character posters works wonders in teasing all of the carnage to come in this movie. If there's one thing that Ridley Scott is known for it's that the action sequences are not going to hold back. A lot of fans cheered when their favorite actors were announced for Gladiator 2. But, now they're left wondering if they'll even make it through half of the movie. One thing is for sure, we're in for a wild ride when Gladiator 2 hits theaters. Keep scrolling for more of the character posters from the upcoming movie!

What Is Gladiator 2 About?

"From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome. Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people."

The cast for Gladiator 2 includes Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi with Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington. David Scarpa penned the screenplay and Peter Craig helped craft the story. Producing the return to Ancient Rome are Ridley Scott, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Michael Pruss and David Franzoni.

Ridley Scott Is Excited To Revisit Gladiator

This project was announced a while ago. For Scott, returning to one of his most beloved films was a bit of a tall task. He told Deadline that his team really had to get in the lab to ensure that Gladiator 2 would live up to expectations. The initial reactions to Denzel Washington's casting and images of Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal as main characters help show that they are on the right track with this legacy sequel.

"I love doing period films. I love the research. I love to create sort of smells of the period," Scott said back then. "I think what we did with the first Gladiator...I don't like being critical of other things that have happened before, but I wasn't the biggest fan of Hollywood Roman epics, honestly. They felt artificial and so, when I was asked to consider a script, the script was not very good. But the person who gave it to me said, I want to show you one thing, and he picked up an illustration, this is true, it's called For Those About to Die by G?r?me. He holds it up."

"It's a picture of this big painting of the Coliseum, and in the corner there is this guy, about to tuna fork this poor bastard. He's got this thing in his neck, and he's looking up for permission to kill. I went, bloody hell, that's never been done properly before. Never. I said, I'll do it. He said you will? I said yes. Did you want to read the script? I said no, and we went off and hit the ground running around the table, and evolved the new material."

Do you like this new look at Gladiator? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Nicolas Cage is in rare form in Longlegs. Back in November 2022, reports emerged that Osgood Perkins (Gretel & Hansel) would be directing a sinister script that he penned himself, one which told the tale of this titular satanic serial killer. Three months later, Cage joined Longlegs as both the film's star and producer. Filming ran for a quick six weeks in Vancouver, leaving many of the specifics about Longlegs' plot to be kept under wraps. This particularly included Cage as Longlegs himself, as zero set photos of him as the nominal antagonist surfaced nor were any freeze-framable glimpses of his face visible in teaser trailers.

Longlegs Stars Reveal First Reactions to Nic Cage's Character

The pulse-pounding terror permeated throughout the Longlegs production when Nic Cage walked on set.

Speaking to ComicBook, Longlegs leading star Maika Monroe revealed that the first time she met Cage was when they shared their first scene together in the film.

"I didn't meet him. I didn't see anything at all of what Longlegs looked like," Monroe recalled. "The first time that I saw him was uh when Oz called action and I walked onto the set. It was incredibly shocking and haunting and exhilarating."

Co-star Blair Underwood had some time to prepare himself but still was left speechless when he encountered the titular terror.

"I'd heard rumblings. I had been working a couple of days before he came on set, but I had heard rumblings of his approach to the character. I wasn't shocked but terrified nonetheless," Underwood said. "So much of this film either stylistically or the content feels familiar, but then it turns into something that you don't expect. It turns into something very different. Then even when I saw what he was doing and how he brought the character to the screen was really some remarkable stuff."

Director Osgood Perkins was the most privy to Longlegs, as he had worked on the character's design from the very beginning.

"Meanwhile, I'd seen it every step of the way. Every little thing is chosen between Nic and myself or costumes and myself. There's a lot of conversations that go to building the thing," Perkins shared. "By the time I see the whole package put together, it's the summation of a bunch of efforts and a bunch of hits and misses. Things that have been shaded and sharpened and dulled and crafted.

"But then having him walk onto the set for the first time, on his first day, we were shooting the snowy exterior at Lee's childhood home, walking alongside him and just watching everybody watching him appear and manifest and roll in, roll up," Perkins continued. "It was really good especially because a lot of the people working on this movie are very young people. There's like this whoa quality. 'Huh?! What?!' Because it was that gnarly. And he's Nicholas Cage too. Geiger counters are going off just by his natural presence."

Longlegs slithers into theaters this Friday, July 12th.

Chasing Chasing Amy, a documentary looks at the complicated legacy of Kevin Smith's 1997 romantic comedy Chasing Amy, has been picked up for world sales by Level 33 Entertainment. The movie has played at dozens of film festivals since it was completed last year, and was named to the Popcorn List (which celebrates the best movies with no distributor). Chasing Chasing Amy marks the feature film debut of Sav Rodgers, who credits the movie with saving his life. Much of the movie will focus on "the transformational impact of the rom-com on a 12-year-old queer kid from Kansas, coming of age and to terms with his identity," according to Variety, who first reported news of the distribution deal.

Chasing Amy, which centered on a straight man (Ben Affleck) pursuing a relationship with a lesbian woman (Joey Lauren Adams), was praised upon its release for being that rare 1990s movie that featured queer characters who weren't there exclusively as punchlines. Over the years, though, criticism of the film emerged, arguing that centering a straight male did a disservice to the queer characters the movie was trying to elevate. The movie is a favorite for fans of Smith's movies, but remains controversial in the LGBTQ+ community.

Characters from Chasing Amy had follow-up cameos in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back and Jay & Silent Bob Reboot.

On Thursday, July 20th, the filmmakers behind Chasing Chasing Amy will have a panel at Comic Con International in San Diego. Here's the official panel description:

5:30pm - 6:30pm (Indigo Ballroom) -- "Chasing 'Chasing Amy'": How Fandom Inspires Creativity

How can a deep love of a movie result in bold new work? How meta can a documentary about loving a movie become? See for yourself by joining us for a conversation about the new Tribeca Film Festival selected documentary Chasing Chasing Amy and how one closeted queer kid's love of Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy resulted in the journey of a lifetime.

Moderated by Chasing Amy director Kevin Smith, this conversation focuses on the creation and ideation of Chasing Chasing Amy, how art inspires life and inspires art again, and how art's meaning evolves over time. Panelists include Award-winning filmmaker/subject Sav Rodgers ("Out Here in Kansas," "Dragtivists"), principal subject Regina "Riley" Rodgers ("The Remus Gang"), lesbian writer and culture critic Trish Bendix, and writer/YouTuber Princess Weekes.

Apple TV+ just released the trailer for Time Bandits, the streamer's upcoming television adaptation of the beloved cult classic movie from beloved filmmaker Terry Gilliam. Created for television by Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners) and Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), and produced for Apple TV+ by Paramount Television Studios, Anonymous Content's AC Studios and MRC, Time Bandits centers on an 11-year-old boy who loves history -- and finds himself stolen by a group of thieves and recruited to help them on a cosmic journey through space and time. Oh, and along they way, they'll try to save his parents.

The ten-episode series will premiere globally with the first two episodes on Wednesday, July 24, followed by two new episodes every Wednesday until the finale airs on August 21, 2024. You can see the trailer below.

Guided by a captain played by Romy and Michele's High School Reunion star Lisa Kudrow, the eccentric crew of bandits embark on epic adventures while evil forces threaten their conquests, and life as they know it. As the group transports through time and space, the gang stumbles upon fascinating worlds of the distant past while seeking out treasure, depending on Kevin to shed light on each situation. The "Time Bandits" witness the creation of Stonehenge, see the Trojan Horse in action, escape dinosaurs in the prehistoric ages, wreak havoc during medieval times, experience the Ice Age, ancient civilizations and the Harlem Renaissance, and much more along the way.

The film version, released in 1981, was one of Gilliam's key early successes, released in between his three Monty Python movies (a member of the troupe, he co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and had important behind-the-scenes roles on Jabberwocky and Monty Python's The Life of Brian) and hits like The Fisher King and 12 Monkeys. Time Bandits was part of Gilliam's "Trilogy of Imagination," which also included Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. The three were not connected by any particular plot, but were a thematic trilogy in the vein of Lindsay Anderson's Mick Travis movies or Edgar Wright's "Cornetto Trilogy."

The series stars Lisa Kudrow, Kal-El Tuck, Tadhg Murphy, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Rune Temte, Charlyne Yi, Rachel House, Kiera Thompson, James Dryden, Felicity Ward, Francesca Mills, and Imaan Hadchiti. Time Bandits also features special guest appearances by Waititi and Clement.

Consisting of 10 episodes, Time Bandits is produced for Apple TV+ by Paramount Television Studios, Anonymous Content's AC Studios and MRC. Jemaine Clement, Iain Morris and Taika Waititi executive produce, write, and direct select episodes, with Clement and Morris serving as co-showrunners. Garrett Basch and Tim Coddington also executive produce along with Jane Stanton who executive produces for Handmade Films.

Time Bandits debuts on July 24 on Apple TV+.

Deadpool & Wolverine's heroes star in a hysterical new TV spot for The Bachelorette. On social media, the movie's accounts showed Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman hyping viewers up for the reality TV mainstay. Deadpool misleads Logan into thinking his participation in The Bachelorette will manage to get him into a meeting with that lucky lady. Because this is Deadpool & Wolverine though, there are even more jokes as Wade Wilson makes sure that the camera zones in on a certain part of his best friend. If you love the roses and superheroes, this whole deal is probably right up your alley. You should check out the full clip down below.

During the run-up to this movie, Hugh Jackman has been very reflective about his journey with Wolvrerine. He never could have dreamed of doing some of these silly bits with Reynolds after all these years. During a fan event in Shanghai, the Logan actor called Deadpool & Wolverine the greatest experience of his long run as the X-Men favorite.

Can I steal HUGH for a second? #TheBachelorette #DeadpoolAndWolverine ?? pic.twitter.com/dmiIsHbGjO

-- Deadpool Movie (@deadpoolmovie) July 9, 2024

"The experience of making the movie was also one of the greatest of my career, and I've been playing Wolverine for 25 years," Jackman gushed. "This experience exceeded anything I've done before as this character -- and in many other movies, in anything. I loved it. And I think it shows on the screen. You can feel the warmth. The movie has a warmth to it, and it's funny, and it's irreverent, and the action is crazy. But I think you can feel the friendship."

Deadpool & Wolverine's Press Tour Rolls On

For the last few weeks, Deadpool & Wolverine's international press tour has kicked into high-gear. Across the ocean, Marvel fans have gotten to see Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman hype the movie in-person. All the while, the two friends have been letting fans in on the love fest between them on the road to Deadpool & Wolverine. Whether it's a water bomb fight in Korea or a much drier presentation in China, Reynolds and Jackman have been very open about their passion for this project and how long it's taken to come together. Director Shawn Levy also played a massive role in getting these two characters to the MCU. Here's some of what the lead actor had to say about the experiene of making Deadpool & Wolverine.

"These are my closest friends," Reynolds shared. "So to make a movie together, and to have the experience be something that is easily the best experience of my entire life and incredibly profound... but then for the film to exceed that experience, and be even more special and more emotional than anything that I've ever been a part of and funnier because it's so emotional, it allows so much of that funny to come out in interesting ways."

Have you been enjoying the Deadpool & Wolverine press tour? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

An epic battle is headed to the box office. On Tuesday, Paramount Pictures unveiled the first teaser trailer for Gladiator 2, the highly-anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott's 2000 hit Gladiator. The Gladiator 2 trailer gives fans the first look at Lucius (Paul Mescal) and Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), who are about to be locked in a massive duel.

"I love doing period films. I love the research. I love to create sort of smells of the period," Scott, who returns to direct Gladiator 2, explained in 2021. "I think what we did with the first Gladiator...I don't like being critical of other things that have happened before, but I wasn't the biggest fan of Hollywood Roman epics, honestly. They felt artificial and so, when I was asked to consider a script, the script was not very good. But the person who gave it to me said, I want to show you one thing, and he picked up an illustration, this is true, it's called For Those About to Die by G?r?me. He holds it up. It's a picture of this big painting of the Coliseum, and in the corner there is this guy, about to tuna fork this poor bastard. He's got this thing in his neck, and he's looking up for permission to kill. I went, bloody hell, that's never been done properly before. Never. I said, I'll do it. He said you will? I said yes. Did you want to read the script? I said no, and we went off and hit the ground running around the table, and evolved the new material."

What Is Gladiator 2 About?

In Gladiator 2, Lucius--the grandson of Rome's former emperor Marcus Aurelius and son of Lucilla--lives with his wife and child in Numidia. Roman soldiers led by general Marcus Acacius invade, forcing Lucius into slavery. Inspired by the story of Maximus, Lucius resolves to fight as a gladiator while opposing the rule of the young emperors Caracalla and Geta.

Gladiator 2 will also star Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, May Calamawy, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah, and Matt Lucas. The film is directed by Ridley Scott, off of a script from David Scarpa. Russell Crowe, who originally starred as Maximus in the first Gladiator, has repeatedly expressed that he is not involved with the new sequel.

Gladiator 2 will be released exclusively in theaters on November 22nd.

When Bronson Pinchot's Serge first sees Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, he pulls his Bentley up to the curb, runs out, and gives Foley a big hug. According to Pinchot, that was a special moment not just for Serge, but for himself as well, as it was the first time he and Murphy had been onscreen together in years. The hug, he told us, was unscripted -- something that Pinchot wanted to do, and that felt natural to the character, so he went for it. He also told us about his relationship with Murphy -- one that has developed in a surprising way over the years, since he felt very intimidated by the star on the set of the original Beverly Hills Cop.

Talking at length about how he and Murphy survived being celebrities in the 1980s, Pinchot says their bond is tight even when they don't see each other for a while. He suggests that's what the audiences is seeing and responding to with their onscreen relationship.

"I'll tell you something that sounds smarmy, but once in a while, the truth is just kind of gooey," Pinchot told ComicBook. Recalling the first time he and Murphy shared the screen in decades, Pinchot said that the big hug his character gave Axel was actually something he just...wanted to do. "Younger actors say to me sometimes on a set, 'How do you make every take different? I want to do that -- how do you do that?' And I say, 'Oh, just don't act.' They say, 'What?' And I say, 'Acting ruins everything. Once in a while you're going to have to act because you're on a green screen and you have to pretend that aliens are eating your hips, but if it's not that, if you're not doing special effects or the person you're opposite got the flu and you have to do it to a piece of tape, don't act.' So I saw Eddie, and I pulled up and I saw him, and I really did want to give him a hug. I went up and I just crushed him, and I hugged him, and it was real. That was special because it was authentic, and I was happy to see him."

In Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is back on the beat in Beverly Hills. After his daughter's life is threatened, she (Taylour Paige) and Foley team up with a new partner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and old pals Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton) to turn up the heat and uncover a conspiracy.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is now streaming on Netflix.

You're gonna need a bigger...umm...flat surface. That's because LEGO just announced a new Jaws-themed Lego Ideas kit, and to celebrate, the company has put together Jaws in a Jiffy, a 90-second, LEGO version of Jaws. In recent years, it seems like plenty of corporations have latched onto a DIY "LEGO version" as a fun way of engaging with various things, but it's always a bit funny when LEGO does it -- because rather than using LEGO as a simple, inexpensive way to promote something else, they're just...doing LEGO stuff. Complete with a plaque that says "You're gonna need a bigger boat."

Timed to release on July 4, because that's when it's most important to keep the beaches open, LEGO's Jaws love-fest is here, and it's adorable. You can see the post below.

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LEGO Ideas Jaws (21350) set will be available first to LEGO Insiders starting at 9pm PT / 12am ET on August 2nd / 3rd right here at the LEGO Shop priced at $149.99. You can take advantage of LEGO Insiders offers by signing up for a free account right here. It will be available to everyone at the same time in the same place on August 6th. Additional images of the set can be found in the gallery below.

The LEGO Jaws set was designed by LEGO fan Johnny Campbell, who had the following to say about the project:

"JAWS is my favourite movie of all time, so I really wanted to recreate it in LEGO bricks. LEGO building has always been a part of my life in some shape or form but in order to get all of the finer details, I actually freeze-framed JAWS as I watched it so that I could catch a glimpse of the finer details taking notes as I went along. It is just mind-blowing that my design isnow an official LEGO set. I can't wait to stand in a LEGO shop looking at the shelves and seeing a set that I have been involved with and watching someone buying it. It's every LEGO fan's dream!"

Here's the official synopsis for Jaws (via Rotten Tomatoes), if you somehow don't know about it.

When a young woman is killed by a shark while skinny-dipping near the New England tourist town of Amity Island, police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) wants to close the beaches, but mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) overrules him, fearing that the loss of tourist revenue will cripple the town. Ichthyologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and grizzled ship captain Quint (Robert Shaw) offer to help Brody capture the killer beast, and the trio engage in an epic battle of man vs. nature.

You get buy or rent Jaws on disc and digital now.

A new chapter is on the horizon for the Jurassic franchise, with Gareth Edwards helming a currently-untitled Jurassic World film for next summer. The project's massive ensemble cast includes former Marvel star Scarlett Johansson, who has been cast in the film in a currently-unknown role. While we'll have to wait a little while longer to figure out exactly what Johansson will bring to the iconic franchise, it looks like she has already gotten an endorsement from one of its former stars. During a recent appearance on The Today Show, Johansson was addressed via video message by Jeff Goldblum, who stars in the Jurassic franchise as fan-favorite character Dr. Ian Malcolm. In the video message, Goldblum offers well wishes to Johansson about the project, and joked that she shouldn't "get eaten" in the film "unless" she wants to.

"Dr. Johansson, this is Jeff Goldblum," Goldblum says in his video message. "Here's what I want to say to you. This I know: Scarlett will find a way. Don't get eaten, unless you want to. I love you."

What Is the New Jurassic World Movie About?

Plot details are currently unknown about the new Jurassic World movie, which is being written by original franchise screenwriter David Koepp. The film will star Johansson alongside Jonathan Bailey, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Rupert Friend, Mahershala Ali, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, and Audrina Miranda.

"I'm an enormous Jurassic Park fan," Johansson told ComicBook in an interview earlier this year. "It's one of the first films I remember seeing in the theater. I remember seeing it so vividly. It was like life-changing. It was mind-blowing. I cannot express how excited I am."

"I'm such an enormous fan of the franchise and huge nerd for it," Johansson added. "I'm just like, I can't even, I'm pinching myself. I've been trying to get into this franchise in any possible way for over 10 years. I'm like, 'I'll die in the first five minutes! I can get eaten by whatever! I'll do the craft service!' I'll do anything for it. The fact that it's happened in this way at this time just is actually unbelievable. I can't believe it."

The new Jurassic World movie is currently scheduled to be released exclusively in theaters on July 2, 2025.

It has been nearly three years since Daniel Craig bid farewell to James Bond, with the 2021 film No Time to Die sending out his version of the character in a pretty explosive fashion. In the years that have followed, there has been plenty of speculation about who will next play the iconic super spy, but no confirmed casting announcements or even shortlists. As a new interview reveals, Memento and Iron Man 3 star Guy Pearce was one in contention to play a new incarnation of James Bond. In a recent interview with CinemaBlend, Pearce shared that he did have a brief conversation with James Bond's producers about potentially stepping into the titular role, but nothing ever came out of it.

"I wasn't aware of that moment, no," Pearce revealed. "There was a little chat, nothing official, knowing that the role was kind of opening up, and would that be something that I would [be interested in.] And funnily enough, that all sort of came I guess during that time that I was kind of being open to more things. But I suppose, and you know it wasn't anything serious enough that I either pursued, or had to sort of resist pursuing. It was sort of just a whim, a kind of idea to even think about. There was no real substance to having to think about it much."

Who Will Be the Next James Bond?

At the moment, an actor for the upcoming reboot of James Bond has yet to be cast, although names like Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jack O'Connell have been heavily rumored. Franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has previously highlighted the challenges of finding a worthy successor to Craig's Bond, while providing a new gateway for new and old fans alike.

"I go back to GoldenEye when everyone was saying 'the cold war is over, the wall is over, Bond is dead, no need for Bond, the whole world's at peace and now there's no villains' - and boy was that wrong!" Broccoli explained in an interview last year. "Daniel gave us the ability to mine the emotional life of the character ... and also the world was ready for it. I think these movies reflect the time they are in, and there's a big, big road ahead reinventing it for the next chapter and we haven't even begun with that."

"Emotional," "hilarious," and "mismatched" are just three adjectives that trio Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Shawn Levy used to describe Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine. After directing movies led by both actors -- Jackman in Real Steel and Reynolds in Free Guy and The Adam Project -- Levy is reuniting Reynolds' Merc with a Mouth and Jackman's former X-Man for the first time since the Fox-made X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009.

"It's more surprising, but emotional," Reynolds said when asked to characterize the third Deadpool movie in one word during Disney's fan event in Shanghai, China. "Ultimately, the movie is very emotional." Levy offered "mismatched" in reference to the dysfunctional duo, with Jackman opting for "hilarious."

Jackman added that his experience playing this older, yellow-suited Logan variant -- who "let down his entire world," according to Matthew Macfadyen's Time Variance Authority Agent Paradox -- was "one of the greatest of my career, and I've been playing Wolverine for 25 years."

"There's a reason it's been six years since the last Deadpool film for me. And that is specifically because in order to make one of these movies properly, it just swallows my whole life," said Reynolds, who also serves as producer and co-writer. "I do nothing but that for at least two years. But to come back and bring these two characters together [is] something people have been asking for as long as I can remember, but something that I've wanted for as long as I can remember, and Hugh has wanted, and Shawn."

The mouth and mind behind Deadpool attributed that sentiment to his friendship with Levy and Jackman, who came out of superhero retirement seven years after 2017's ultra-dark and emotional Logan to make the movie that Reynolds has wanted to make since 2016.

"These are my closest friends," Reynolds shared. "So to make a movie together, and to have the experience be something that is easily the best experience of my entire life and incredibly profound... but then for the film to exceed that experience, and be even more special and more emotional than anything that I've ever been a part of and funnier because it's so emotional, it allows so much of that funny to come out in interesting ways."

For Levy, that meant blending Deadpool's tone -- subversive, edgy, but with humor that can be as sincerely heartfelt as it is raunchy -- with what audiences expect from the MCU.

"I thought that making my first Marvel movie would be scary, or challenging in new ways, and it was a big task," Levy said. "Because you're telling a big story of anti-heroes who are also heroes. But I have to say: Marvel let us write the script we wanted to write and make the movie we wanted to make. It is an MCU movie -- so it is filled with action, adventure, and big themes -- but it is very faithful to the Deadpool tone, which is audacious, irreverent, and always surprising."

Reynolds and Jackman star alongside returning Deadpool cast members Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Rob Delaney, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, and Stefan Kapi?i?, with Succession star Matthew Macfadyen joining the MCU as TVA Agent Paradox and The Crown's Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova. Marvel Studios' R-rated Deadpool & Wolverine opens only in theaters July 26th.

Sequels are so chic. Disney's 20th Century Studios is reportedly developing a fashionably-late followup to 2006's The Devil Wears Prada, according to Puck. Meryl Streep, who played Runway magazine editor Miranda Priestly opposite Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, is set to reprise her role as the devilish diva who is "now facing the dystopian post-aughts realities of the magazine business."

That's not all. Aline Brosh McKenna, the WGA Award-nominated screenwriter who penned the first movie based on Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel, is in talks to write the decades-later sequel. Original producer Wendy Finerman is also on board for the as-yet-untitled Devil Wears Prada 2.

It's unclear if the movie will be based on Weisberger's 2013 sequel novel, Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns, which takes place a decade after Andy Sachs quit the job "a million girls would die for." In the novel set against the backdrop of her wedding, Andy and her former nemesis and co-assistant, Emily, join forces to start their own high-end bridal magazine, titled The Plunge.

In February, a cerulean-clad Hathaway appeared alongside Streep and Blunt for a mini Prada reunion onstage at the SAG Awards. Speak of the Devil...

Although Hathaway cast doubt on a Devil Wears Prada sequel in a 2021 episode of The View, she shared a "tempting" idea about where Andy (Hathaway), Emily (Blunt), and Nigel (Stanley Tucci) might be years later.

"I don't know if there can be [a sequel]. I just think that movie was in a different era. Now, everything has gone so digital, and that movie centered around the concept of producing a physical thing, and it's just very different now," Hathaway said. "It is tempting to think about Andy and Emily needing to get Miranda her coffee and she's somewhere in Europe and then along the way they pick up Stanley Tucci in Italy, who's at a restaurant. It's tempting, but I don't think it's going to happen."

"They could relaunch it, get some new people and do it," the Oscar winner added.

The original Devil Wears Prada was produced by the since-defunct Fox 2000 Pictures and distributed by 20th Century Fox, which was acquired by Disney in 2019 and rebranded as 20th Century Studios in 2020. A box office hit, grossing $326 million worldwide against a budget of $35 million, Prada also scored Streep a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy and a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

After a decades-long career in countless movies and television shows, Nicolas Cage has developed a unique outlook on the entertainment industry. As a new interview with the Longlegs actor reveals, he has some very staunch feelings about the use of artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry. In a recent interview with The New Yorker, Cage spoke about an upcoming digital "scan" he has scheduled for the forthcoming Spider-Man Noir series Noir, and how it worsened his worries about the future intersection of artificial intelligence and art. The news of generative AI being used in movies and television has already drawn controversy across multiple projects, including Marvel's Secret Invasion, Late Night With the Devil, and the recent Netflix documentary What Jennifer Did.

"They have to put me in a computer and match my eye color and change--I don't know," he said of the upcoming scan, before joking, "They're just going to steal my body and do whatever they want with it via digital AI."

"God, I hope not AI. I'm terrified of that," he said. "I've been very vocal about it. It makes me wonder, you know, where will the truth of the artists end up? Is it going to be replaced? Is it going to be transmogrified? Where's the heartbeat going to be? I mean, what are you going to do with my body and my face when I'm dead? I don't want you to do anything with it!"

How Did Nicolas Cage Cameo in The Flash?

Cage's comments come after he made a surprise appearance in last year's The Flash movie, playing a deaged version of Clark Kent / Superman from the unproduced 1990s movie Superman Lives. Cage's cameo was among several from mostly-deceased past DC actors, which drew criticism for being computer-generated. While Cage confirmed to Yahoo Movies that his sequence was not made with AI, the massive changes that were made to the scene definitely surprised him.

"When I went to the picture, it was me fighting a giant spider," Cage revealed. "I did not do that. That was not what I did. I don't think it was [created by] AI. I know Tim [Burton] is upset about AI, as I am. It was CGI, OK, so that they could de-age me, and I'm fighting a spider. I didn't do any of that, so I don't know what happened there."

Recently, a rumor started to make the rounds that Fortnite is getting a new Weapon X crossover this month. That rumor turned out to be true when the classic Marvel character dropped into the battle royale on July 2nd. Today, another rumor has kicked off, claiming that Weapon X might not be the only X-Men adjacent content coming to Fortnite over the next few weeks. Unlike the last leak, this isn't based on backend info. Instead, the rumor about content from Deadpool & Wolverine comes from a press tour that actors Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman have been on while hyping up the film's July 26th release date.

ShiinaBR on Twitter is the source for this new Fortnite rumor. Over the last several years, Shiina has become one of the community's go-to sources for leaks and rumors. In fact, they were one of the accounts that posted the Weapon X leak a few weeks ago. That said, you'll still want to take this with a huge grain of salt. Remember, this isn't a leak with relatively concrete information backing it up. Instead, it's a rumor based on what Reynolds and Jackman have been up to on the press circuit.

Essentially, the rumor here is that the two Deadpool & Wolverine leads have been meeting with various Fortnite content creators while working the film's press tour. That doesn't necessarily mean Fortnite is getting crossover content featuring the two actors, but it does make it likely that something is brewing here. After all, developer Epic Games has shown a willingness to work with the Marvel brand, so why wouldn't it want to capitalize on the hype around the film? Hopefully, we'll learn if there's anything to this rumor in the next week or so.

Even if the Deadpool & Wolverine rumor turns out to be nothing, there is plenty to do in Fortnite. As mentioned, the team just added a Weapon X skin to the game, and Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean drops on July 19th. Chapter 5, Season 4 launches on August 16th, and the big rumor around the next season is that it will be heavily Marvel-themed, potentially even bringing back Galactus for another appearance in the battle royale. On the movie front, don't forget to check out Deadpool & Wolverine on July 26th. The third film in the Deadpool series brings the fan-favorite mercenary to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to team up with Wolverine.

He's the best there is at what he does -- and Wolverine is the best he's ever been in Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine, according to Hugh Jackman. The 55-year-old actor played the razor-clawed mutant across nine Fox X-Men movies between 2000 and 2017, including the Wolverine trilogy, which ended with Jackman retiring the claws in the James Mangold-directed Logan. But what was intended to be Jackman's last film as Wolverine was more of an au revoir than adios: as it turns out, Jackman wanted at least one more stab at the character he's played for 25 years.

Jackman phoned his friend and 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine co-star Ryan Reynolds, who was about to put a pin in Deadpool 3 -- the Merc with a Mouth's first movie to be produced under Disney and Kevin Feige's Marvel Studios. With Jackman now on board for the Deadpool/Wolverine team-up that Reynolds first proposed back in 2016, Feige gave the green light with just one condition: Jackman's Wolverine finally suits up in the yellow costume.

"I thought I was finished with it seven years ago," Jackman said during a fan event in Shanghai, China, where Marvel Studios screened 35 minutes of footage for fans. "But as soon as we came up with this idea, I knew that this was the matchup that people wanted, that I wanted, that Ryan wanted, that fans wanted."

The script -- co-written by Reynolds, director Shawn Levy, Zeb Wells, and Deadpool and Deadpool 2 scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick -- contains "sides of Wolverine that I've never played before, and that challenged me as an actor and excited me," Jackman added. "I feel in many ways fans of Wolverine -- because of Deadpool, because of [Reynolds and Levy], are going to see a fuller, more different side to him than you've seen before. And that was thrilling for me, and I hope it is for you."

Jackman heaped more praise on Reynolds and their mutual collaborator, noting that "what they gave Wolverine is so incredible." Levy worked with Jackman on 2011's Real Steel and Reynolds on 2021's Free Guy and 2022's The Adam Project, making the trio "the best of friends."

"The experience of making the movie was also one of the greatest of my career, and I've been playing Wolverine for 25 years," Jackman gushed. "This experience exceeded anything I've done before as this character -- and in many other movies, in anything. I loved it. And I think it shows on the screen. You can feel the warmth. The movie has a warmth to it, and it's funny, and it's irreverent, and the action is crazy. But I think you can feel the friendship."

The BFFs join the MCU when Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine opens in theaters July 26th.

Tom Cruise is dying to live, die, repeat -- again. In the 2014 time-loop sci-fi thriller Edge of Tomorrow, the Top Gun and Mission: Impossible star played Major William Cage, who was dropped into a suicide mission against time-controlling aliens. Thrown into a time loop with the ability to reset each day by dying over and over, Cage trained to harness this power with warrior Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), a.k.a. the "Full Metal Bitch," a.k.a. the Angel of Verdun. A sequel with Cruise and Blunt was announced in 2019, but the followup to the Doug Liman-directed movie has been trapped in a seemingly endless loop of life, death, repeat.

"We keep talking about it," Liman told Empire Magazine when asked about reuniting with Cruise for Edge of Tomorrow 2. "We love that world."

Acknowledging the decade-long wait for a sequel, the director referenced the lengthy gap between James Cameron's original 1984 Terminator and its seven-years-later sequel, 1991's T2: Judgment Day. "I don't know how long Cameron took his Terminators," Liman said, "but at the time if felt like a long time."

Speaking of time, Liman and Cruise recently revisited their film based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's 2004 light novel, All You Need Is Kill, for the first time in a decade.

"Tom and I just actually rewatched it about two months ago, because I hadn't seen it in 10 years," the director said. "I was like, 'Wow, that is a really good movie.'" Despite fresh reviews, the Warner Bros. movie -- which was effectively rebranded as Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow when released on disc -- opened in third place behind teen romance The Fault in Our Stars and the fairy tale fantasy Maleficent in June 2014.

"I haven't necessarily always had the good fortune of having movies that have huge opening weekends," Liman said. "Bourne Identity lost to Scooby-Doo [on] its opening weekend. And Swingers came and went from the theaters. What I've come to understand is, I'm making movies for the long term. I'm an ego-driven guy, I'd like to get accolades now. But I also recognize that, if I was given the choice, I'll choose making films that people 50 years from now are still watching."

The Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Road House (2024) director has described Edge of Tomorrow 2 as "the only sequel that I'm considering doing," adding that "the story is so amazing -- much better than the original film, and I loved and loved the original film -- and second of all, it's a sequel that's a prequel."

The Edge of Tomorrow sequel/prequel would also "revolutionize" sequels, Liman said in a 2016 interview. "I've had some radical ideas about how to make a sequel that would interest me, in the same way that I had ideas of how you make an independent film and then Swingers came along and it was like, 'Aha, that's the perfect movie for me to test these ideas out on,'" he explained. "I had these intellectual ideas on how you should make a sequel that [is] unlike how anybody else makes a sequel, and this script and this idea fit perfectly into that idea. So it's gonna revolutionize how people make sequels."

After starring in 2023's Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Cruise next returns as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible 8, which is dated for May 23rd, 2025. Cruise has since inked a development deal with Warner Bros., which hasn't released a Cruise-led film since 2014's Edge of Tomorrow.

Fly Me to the Moon chronicles the Apollo 11 mission like its never been seen before. The Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum-led picture takes the real-life space race of the 1960s and adds in a conspiratorial twist, as Johansson's Kelly Jones fronts the top-secret "Project Artemis," a contingency plan to shoot faked footage of the moon landing, parallel to Tatum's Cole Davis's legitimate moon landing efforts with NASA. With the camera quality of the 1960s, the Project Artemis footage is all-but indistinguishable from what would actually get captured on the lunar surface, but the internal knowledge of which is which propels the push to succeed with the moon landing mission.

Channing Tatum Did Stunt Work in Fly Me to the Moon

That in-script concept is applicable to the making of Fly Me to the Moon itself. Speaking to ComicBook at the Fly Me to the Moon press junket, leading man Channing Tatum noted that he has "always fought" to do his own stunts.

"Probably even more so than CGI [versus practical effects] is when they want to put it in the stunt guy or something like that," Tatum shared. "I think that's been more of my experience where they have to cut away from like the face or the pain or whatever when you hit the ground, I've always fought for doing as much as you can possibly do while your physical body can actually do it. Sooner or later, I'm going to get too old to be able to do it."

Action has been a constant of Tatum's career. The longtime actor has starred in high-octane projects like GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, White House Down, and 21 Jump Street, all of which necessitated physicality from their ensembles.

Even with this latest project operating more so as a romantic comedy, Tatum brought this mindset to Fly Me to the Moon right off the bat, as his character's introductory scene sees Tatum performing a legitimate stunt. Tatum's Cole Davis is brought into the film conducting a test at NASA that unexpectedly goes wrong, resulting in an explosion that legitimately sent Tatum flying towards a window.

"People are smart now. They know what movies are like. They know when they cut away. They know when it's CGI," Tatum continued. "And I think the more you can do real, the more they'll feel it."

Fly Me to the Moon soars into theaters on Friday, July 12th.

Gladiator 2 has released its first poster in anticipation of the sequel's trailer. It's been over 20 years since the first Gladiator film arrived in theaters back in 2000, skyrocketing the careers of Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Filmmaker Ridley Scott returns to helm Gladiator 2, except this time Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal headline the movie. Mescal plays an older Lucius Verus (originally played by a young Spencer Treat Clark), with Pascal portraying a Roman general named Marcus Acacius, who trained under Crowe's Maximus. With the Gladiator 2 trailer coming on July 9th, it's time to feast our eyes on a poster.

The poster for Gladiator 2 features Paul Mescal's Lucius Verus on one knee in the fabled arena, rubbing dirt in his hands while a sword is stuck into the ground. Other actors named on the poster include Pedro Pascal, the returning Connie Nielsen, and Academy Award winner Denzel Washington. Gladiator 2 recently debuted a group of first-look photos, with Pascal speaking of how the film honors Maximus' legacy. Gladiator II "has an identity that is shaped by [Maximus'] legacy," Pascal added. "It wouldn't make sense for it not to." The Last of Us star describes Acacius as a fighter who "learned from the best, so of course this code of honor is ingrained into his training and into his existence. But at the end of the day, he's a different person. And that can't change who he is. Maximus is Maximus, and that can't be replicated. That just makes Acacius capable of different things."

Gladiator 2 footage revealed at CinemaCon

The first footage from Gladiator 2 was screened at CinemaCon in April. "It is possibly more exciting that the first," Ridley Scott said before the unfinished Gladiator II footage aired. "Working on this film was one of the stand-out moments in my life to date," Paul Mescal said.

"I think when we arrived and saw the set built there... I remember being completely floored that they'd built ancient Rome," Joseph Quinn said.

Pedro Pascal remembered seeing the film in theaters twice and said this movie exceeded his expectations. Denzel Washington promised action, emotion, and spectacle. "This is why people go to the movies," he said. A five-minute segment, the first-ever look at Gladiator II, then began to play.

What is Gladiator 2 about?

In the sequel set about 15 years after 2000's Gladiator, Oscar nominee Paul Mescal (Aftersun) plays a grown-up Lucius Verus, son of Lucilla (a returning Connie Nielsen). The original Gladiator starred Crowe as the enslaved general turned gladiator idolized by Lucius (originally played by Spencer Treat Clark), who cheered "the Spaniard" in the games. Maximus died saving Lucius and Lucilla, having avenged his murdered son and wife with the death of power-hungry Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).

The Gladiator II cast includes two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington (Glory, Training Day) as a slave-turned-gladiator-turned arms and commodity dealer, and Pedro Pascal (Star Wars: The Mandalorian), May Calamawy (Moon Knight), Peter Mensah (300), Matt Lucas (Alice in Wonderland), Lior Raz (6 Underground), and Tim McInnerny (Blackadder) in undisclosed roles. Joseph Quinn (The Fantastic Four) and Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus) play co-emperors Geta and Caracalla. Scott, who directed the Best Picture-winning Gladiator, also directs the sequel penned by David Scarpa (Napoleon). The new movie also reunites Scott with Oscar-winning Gladiator costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max.

Gladiator II opens in theaters on November 22nd.

Paramount Global and Skydance Media are merging. As announced during the turn of midnight on July 7th, Paramount and Skydance have reached a definitive agreement to form "New Paramount," a conglomerate that aims to "stabilize and strengthen" Paramount as a "world-class," next-generation leader in media and technology and is described as a "creative-driven destination for storytellers dedicated to delivering top-quality content." This merger is made possible due to Skydance acquiring National Amusements, Inc., a company that holds the controlling share stakes in Paramount. Paramount and Skydance's merger is an all-stock transaction, one which values Skydance at $4.75 billion. The two media giants aim to complete the transaction in the first half of 2025.

New Paramount will be led by David Ellision (Skydance Media's founder and CEO), who takes on the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, as well as Jeff Shell (former NBCUniversal CEO), who will serve as President.

"This is a defining and transformative time for our industry and the storytellers, content creators and financial stakeholders who are invested in the Paramount legacy and the longevity of the entertainment economy," Ellison said. "I am incredibly grateful to Shari Redstone and her family who have agreed to entrust us with the opportunity to lead Paramount. We are committed to energizing the business and bolstering Paramount with contemporary technology, new leadership and a creative discipline that aims to enrich generations to come."

"In 1987, my father, Sumner Redstone, acquired Viacom and began assembling and growing the businesses today known as Paramount Global. He had a vision that 'content was king' and was always committed to delivering great content for all audiences around the world," Chair of Paramount Global and Chair, President, and CEO of National Amusements, Inc. Shari Redstone said. "That vision has remained at the core of Paramount's success and our accomplishments are a direct result of the incredibly talented, creative, and dedicated individuals who work at the company.

"Given the changes in the industry, we want to fortify Paramount for the future while ensuring that content remains king. Our hope is that the Skydance transaction will enable Paramount's continued success in this rapidly changing environment. As a longtime production partner to Paramount, Skydance knows Paramount well and has a clear strategic vision and the resources to take it to its next stage of growth. We believe in Paramount and we always will."

Paramount and Skydance will host an investors' call on Monday, July 8th at 8:30 AM ET to discuss the transaction.

The poster features a clear, full-body shot of The Crow, flanked by an army of crows looking like a cape (or part of his jacket, if you prefer). You can see it below.

The Crow has been one of the most troubled productions in recent memory, trading off directors, stars, and even studios numerous times over the life of its development and production. The movie stars Skarsg?rd (IT), singer-songwriter FKA twigs (Honeyboy), and Danny Huston (Succession) and is reportedly a full restart of the story, meaning that it's likely adapting the same set of comics as the first The Crow movie, which was released in 1994.

That film was a huge success, with a hit soundtrack and an aesthetic that was five years ahead of its time. The movie spawned three sequels, The Crow: City of Angels (1996); The Crow: Salvation (2000); and The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005), although it pretty quickly became a direct-to-DVD series.

The revived The Crow has gone through a number of directors, stars, and even studios in the last decade in its long and troubled road to the big screen. Even after news came out that the movie had wrapped production, it didn't seem like a real thing that people would be actually able to watch.

The Crow is directed by Rupert Sanders (Foundation, Ghost in the Shell, Snow White and The Huntsman) and written by Zach Baylin (King Richard, upcoming Creed III). Producers are Molly Hassell (Braven, Terminal), Victor Hadida (Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchises), John Jencks (Honest Thief, Guns Akimbo), and Edward R. Pressman (American Psycho, The Crow, Wall Street).

The Crow will be in theaters on August 23rd.

It's been over a year since Peacock's Community movie was finally announced, ending years of rumors and exciting fans of the groundbreaking sitcom. Unfortunately for those same fans, production on the movie still hasn't started, but series lead Joel McHale promises it's happening "vaguely" in 2025. It comes in an interview he gave for his appearance on The Bear -- a job he got, in part, because he met showrunner Chris Storer through Community's Gillian Jacobs back when the show was still on the air and Storer wasn't famous. Given that the cult success of Community has led to busy careers for numerous actors who appeared in it, the answer to any question about delays always seems to boil down to scheduling.

McHale also disputed recent claims that the delay was the fault of Donald Glover. The superstar musician and Atlanta producer and star left Community in the series' fifth season, but has committed to appearing in the movie.

"If it's anybody's fault, it's my schedule on this one. It's not his at all. He was available," McHale told GQ. When reminded of the reports blaming Glover for the delays, he added, "I will say, and please print this. That was definitely not true. It was not Donald's schedule. We love Donald. You can fully blame my schedule."

It has been almost a decade since Community's sixth and final season aired on Yahoo! Screen, a short-lived streaming network that hoped the cult-favorite show would give it a fighting chance of competing with the likes of Hulu and Netflix. It was the third time the show had "ended," but critically for fans, it wasn't quite the ending they had hoped for.

That's because, due to a long-running joke in the fandom, the show's audience had been demanding "six seasons and a movie." The joke came from a moment in Community's second season, when Abed shouted "six seasons and a movie!" after being told that his then-favorite TV series, NBC's short-lived The Cape, was going to be quickly cancelled. In the real world, The Cape lasted only nine episodes, but the joke has been going for more than ten years. When the announcement finally came, NBCUniversal proved they were in on the joke, hashtagging the announcement with "Six seasons and a movie!" on social media.

"It hasn't been shot yet," McHale said. "It will be. And I don't have a definitive update because we thought for a moment it was going to all happen this year, and then it didn't. But we have the money, and that is a huge step. And hopefully, people still want to see it. And Peacock's paying for it. And so I can't wait to do it. I'll say vaguely next year. How about that?"

Since Community, virtually every member of the cast has gone on to great things. McHale, who was already well-known as the host of The Soup, went on to star in a number of short-lived sitcoms as well as playing Sylvester Pemberton on Stargirl and Johnny Cage in a series of animated Mortal Kombat movies. Glover, in addition to performing as Childish Gambino, has Atlanta and a couple of appearances in Spider-Man movies. Alison Brie got GLOW, BoJack Horseman, and a number of movie and TV projects. Yvette Nicole Brown has become a pop culture ambassador, appearing in dozens of projects including a recurring role on Talking Dead and roles in The Odd Couple, Inside Out 2, and Beebo Saves Christmas. Jacobs appears on Transatlantic and Invincible, and appeared in movies like Life of the Party and The Contractor. Danny Pudi has done a number of projects, including Strange Planet, DuckTales, and Powerless.

On top of all that, creator Dan Harmon went on to co-create and showrun Rick and Morty, and fan-favorite Community directors Joe and Anthony Russo helped shape popular culture with a number of Marvel movies, including Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.

Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine will be the first R-rated Deadpool movie to release in China (reportedly with minimal cuts) when it opens day-and-date with the U.S. on July 26th -- and it sounds like the Merc with a Mouth's trademark sense of humor hasn't been lost in translation. Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and director Shawn Levy have been promoting the movie across Asia with stops at the 2024 Waterbomb Festival in Seoul, South Korea, and a 1,000-seat theater in Shanghai, China, where fans in attendance watched 35 minutes of new Deadpool & Wolverine footage that "elicited constant laughter and applause," according to China.org.

The footage, which contained glimpses of Deadpool and Wolverine variants from across the multiverse, also revealed an interaction with a major Marvel character (that won't be spoiled here), according to details that leaked onto Chinese social media. However, Reynolds teased that Deadpool's MCU cameo-filled first entry into a new cinematic universe is holding back the biggest surprises for opening weekend.

"There's so many surprises in the movie we don't want the world to start talking about it before people actually get a chance to see it," Reynolds, accompanied by a translator, told the Shanghai audience. "But those 35 minutes, they cook. They're pretty damn incredible."

Love from the Seoul Fan Event? #DeadpoolAndWolverineWorldTour pic.twitter.com/iykZ2c8TKu

-- Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 5, 2024

"Wait 'til you see the whole thing," Levy added to cheers and applause. "There are a lot of surprises coming for you later this month."

Last month, it was reported that the Chinese Film Bureau-approved cuts are "minimal" and are "due to violence, blood and gore, and language." (Deadpool & Wolverine is rated R by the United States' MPA for "strong bloody violence and language throughout, gore and sexual references.") Although the Fox-made Deadpool didn't release in China in 2016, a version of its R-rated sequel, 2018's Deadpool 2, earned over $40 million at the China box office when the studio released the PG-13 re-edit Once Upon a Deadpool in early 2019.

Reynolds also expressed gratitude that Chinese audiences will be able to watch Deadpool & Wolverine "the way that it is meant to be seen," with Levy assuring fans that Deadpool will maintain its adult tone under Disney.

"This is my favorite Deadpool movie that I've ever been a part of," Reynolds said. "[China] welcomed Deadpool & Wolverine, while allowing us to retain everything that makes Deadpool, Deadpool, and special, and everything that makes Logan so unique and singular and special. To be able to bring a movie like this over here, and to be able to show it in the way that it is meant to be seen, is an extreme privilege for all of us, and not something we take for granted at all. So we're incredibly grateful we got to do this."

"I thought that making my first Marvel movie would be scary, or challenging in new ways, and it was a big task," added Levy, who teamed with Reynolds on Free Guy and The Adam Project, and Jackman on Real Steel. "Because you're telling a big story of anti-heroes who are also heroes. But I have to say: Marvel let us write the script we wanted to write and make the movie we wanted to make. It is an MCU movie, so it is filled with action, adventure, and big themes, but it is very faithful to the Deadpool tone, which is audacious, irreverent, and always surprising."

Reynolds and Jackman star alongside returning Deadpool cast members Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Rob Delaney, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, and Stefan Kapi?i?; Succession star Matthew Macfadyen joins the MCU as TVA Agent Paradox, with The Crown's Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova. Deadpool & Wolverine is playing only in theaters July 26th.

Kevin Feige would prefer yellow spandex. More than 20 years after James Marsden's black leather-clad Cyclops joked about Wolverine's classic costume in 2000's X-Men, Hugh Jackman will wear the comic-accurate blue and yellow suit from the comics in Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine. Feige, who was an associate producer on the Fox-made Marvel adaptation that introduced Jackman as the adamantium-clawed mutant, had that one condition for bringing Logan into his Marvel Cinematic Universe alongside Ryan Reynolds' Merc with a Mouth.

"He said, 'Yes, but he wears the yellow. Can he finally wear the yellow?'" Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy told a 1,000-seat theater while promoting the Marvel Studios movie with Reynolds and Jackman in Shanghai, China. "And we began."

Reynolds, who also produced and co-wrote the script with Levy and returning Deadpool and Deadpool 2 scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, explained that he and Levy were ready to put a pin in Deadpool 3 after Marvel turned down a series of pitches. (Rejected ideas included a Rashomon-style story and a no-budget road trip movie with Karan Soni's cab driver Dopinder and no special effects.)

Disney's 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox was "maybe not the best investment," Reynolds quipped, but it allowed the Deadpool character to cross over into the MCU. The deal happened after Jackman retired the Wolverine role with 2017's Logan, and it looked like Reynolds' efforts to make a Deadpool/Wolverine movie -- an idea that dates back to 2016 -- was never going to happen. (It didn't help that Feige said those exact words.) But then a serendipitous phone call changed everything.

"I had met Kevin Feige six years ago to discuss this, and the first thing I said to him, 'I just want to make Wolverine and Deadpool together. I just want these two together on screen.' At the time, Kevin said, 'Forget it. It's never going to happen,'" Reynolds recalled. "And I said, 'Okay, that's fine.' As we marched inexorably forward, Shawn and I were coming up with different pitches and different ideas, and we pitched Marvel everything you could imagine -- little movies, big movies, anything -- and it wasn't working out."

He continued, "And then one day, we were on our last pitch. We were about to say to Kevin Feige, 'I think we're going to walk away and we'll come back later, maybe in a couple years, when we have a better sense of things.' And Hugh happened to call me." Jackman told Reynolds that, if it wasn't too late, he wanted to come back and do Deadpool 3.

"Shawn and I just pivoted in the middle of our pitch to Kevin and said, 'Look, this thing just happened. It seems kind of miraculous. Hugh called me, what do you say?'" Reynolds said. "And for some reason, Kevin immediately said yes." Levy then noted it was with that one condition: Jackman's Wolverine wears yellow.

Reynolds and Jackman star alongside returning Deadpool cast members Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, Rob Delaney, Brianna Hildebrand, Shioli Kutsuna, and Stefan Kapi?i?, with Succession star Matthew Macfadyen joining the MCU as TVA Agent Paradox and The Crown's Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova. Marvel Studios' R-rated Deadpool & Wolverine opens only in theaters July 26th.

Moana is returning to the big screen not once, but twice over the next two years. The highly anticipated Moana 2, a direct sequel to the hit 2017 animated film, will be released in theaters this Thanksgiving. This year will also mark the start of production on Disney's live-action Moana movie, which sees Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson reprising his role as Maui, in addition to serving as one of the film's producers. Over the weekend, Johnson offered an update on the future of Moana, confirming that production on the live-action film is set to begin in August.

"Exciting and inspiring casting news as we begin to bring together our Live Action Moana family," Johnson wrote, before sharing the live-action cast that Disney already announced. It's our deepest honor to share the legends, songs, dances and traditions of our Polynesian culture with all of you and your families around the world. Production begins this August."

In addition to Johnson, Disney's live-action Moana movie has announced four of its core cast members. 17-year-old Sydney, Australia native Catherine Laga'aia has been tapped to play the titular Moana, taking over from Auli'i Cravalho, who voiced the character in both animated films. Chief Tui, Moana's father and the leader of Motunui, is being played by John Tui. Moana's mother, Sina, is being played by Frankie Adams, while Gramma Tala is set to be played by Rena Owen.

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"I'm really excited to embrace this character because Moana is one of my favorites," said Laga'aia. "My grandfather comes from Fa'aala, Palauli, in Savai'i. And my grandmother is from Leulumoega Tuai on the main island of 'Upolu in Samoa. I'm honored to have an opportunity to celebrate Samoa and all Pacific Island peoples, and to represent young girls who look like me."

The live-action Moana is being directed by Hamilton's Thomas Kail. Original Moana writer Jared Bush wrote the new screenplay alongside Dana Ledoux Miller. Johnson will produce alongside Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Beau Flynn, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. While he didn't return to write the music for Moana 2, Miranda will be writing new music for the live-action movie.

"I am thrilled to have met Catherine, Rena, Frankie and John through this casting process," said Kail. "I am humbled by this opportunity, and I cannot wait to all be on set together. And there's no better pair to be in a canoe with than Catherine and Dwayne-actually, trio: Heihei is ready, too."

For anyone who spent the first few months of 2024 worrying about the box office, the last few weeks have done a lot to prove that things are still okay for big screen entertainment. Not everything is a hit anymore, but a couple of massive family films have turned things around for the box office and gotten the year back onto the right track. First it was the record-breaking Inside Out 2, which has already eclipsed the $1 billion mark and is on its way to being one of the biggest animated movies of all time. Now, thanks to an enormous 4th of July weekend, Despicable Me 4 has dropped its name in the bucket for one of 2024's best box office showings.

According to the Sunday numbers from Variety, Despicable Me 4 has delivered a five-day domestic opening around $122.6 million, its three-day weekend standing at $75 million. Those numbers aren't quite as massive as Inside Out 2's opening total last month, but it's still good enough second place. The two animated sequels are the only two movies in 2024 to open to more than $100 million domestically, though Deadpool & Wolverine will likely join the party in a couple of weeks.

In addition to its big opening weekend domestically, Despicable Me 4 was also a great performer overseas. The film earned $106.9 million from international markets, bringing it to nearly $230 million globally over the last five days.

Inside Out 2 has been able to keep its momentum going for nearly a month. It actually finished second place over July 4th weekend with a $30 million haul, despite being released back on June 14th. Disney and Pixar's juggernaut has now earned more than $533 million domestically and over $1.2 billion worldwide, making it the fifth highest-grossing animated movie in history. It should have no trouble passing Incredibles 2 and Frozen over the next couple of weeks to move even higher on that all-time list.

While the top two spots at the box office this weekend belonged to animated fare, it was the horror genre that placed third and fourth. A Quiet Place: Day One earned another $21 million this weekend, bringing its domestic total to $94 million. Coming in fourth was the newly-released MaXXXine from A24, which earned $6.7 million. While that is a little under the initial projections, Ti West's trilogy-capper carries a smaller price tag than other summer movie offerings.

After being teased just a few days ago, the first teaser trailer for F1 has now been released by Warner Bros. Pictures and Apple Studios. The high-speed film won't be released in theaters until summer 2025, but viewers can get an early glimpse at what to expect. The trailer doesn't offer much in terms of story details, instead focusing on the racing aspects that will be present. Set to Queen's iconic "We Will Rock You," the teaser mostly focuses on the film's dazzling camera angles from within a Formula 1 race car. Of course, we also get a lot of Brad Pitt, who will star in the film as fictional Formula 1 racer Sonny Hayes.

The first teaser trailer for F1 can be found below.

In F1, Hayes is a Formula 1 driver that retired following a crash. Years later, Hayes is convinced to get back into the driver's seat as a mentor for racer Joshua Pearce (played by Damon Idris). F1 was filmed for IMAX, and is being directed by Jospeh Kosinski. Kosinski's previous credits include the massive blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, which seems pretty fitting. Maverick was heavily praised for the way it made the audience feel like they were inside the cockpit of the F/A-18E, and it seems from the trailer that Kosinski is trying to replicate that experience, but this time instead for a Formula 1 car. The score for F1 is being handled by Hans Zimmer, who also scored Maverick.

At this time, additional details about F1 are pretty slim. The teaser offers a couple hints at the dynamics of the Apex Grand Prix team, and its attempt to become more competitive. The teaser begins with Pitt listing all of the teams that have APXGP beat on the straight, and his desire to see a car "built for combat" on the turns.

With the movie still about a year away from release, we probably won't learn too much more until the release date starts to get a little bit closer. Hopefully the end product will be able to dazzle longtime fans of the sport, as well as moviegoers that are less familiar with Formula 1. At the very least, the first trailer seems to be setting a strong tone for what's to come!

What do you think of the first trailer for F1? Are you excited for the movie? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

Deadpool & Wolerine's Emma Corrin addressed the pressure of working on a big Marvel contract. GQ interviewed the Cassandra Nova actor about the upcoming summer blockbuster. While fan perception of the MCU is on the mend. A lot of media pundits still have some skepticism about the future of the franchise. Corrin has heard all that chatter and knows that being associated with low points in these movies can be a bit hard to deal with. However, Deadpool & Wolverine would have to dramatically underperform to come anywhere near that in a few weeks. Ryan Reynolds and director Shawn Levy have seemed to do the impossible with this movie. Fans who were not energized by some of the recent films have come flooding back after Loki Season 2, X-Men '97 and Echo in quick succession. Corrin knows these things have come in cycles.

"There's a lot of pressure on it, but I think that it's the right one at the right time," Corrin told the magazine. "Because it's Deadpool, and Deadpool has always broken the mold, right? That's why Ryan [Reynolds] is a literal genius... While the genre has been incredibly safe, and at the moment, it's on the rocks, people come in and blow it out of the water again."

Cassandra Nova Brings An Edge To Deadpool & Wolverine

Details about Deadpool & Wolverine have been massively downplayed. All fans know is that the Time Variance Authority has recruited Wade Wilson to help with some threat from the multiverse that threatens his own world. In his direct path is Corrin's Cassandra Nova. The powerful telepath hasn't even had a speaking line in the trailers yet. But, public comments from their co-stars have raised the expectation level for the X-Men villain. In particular Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman tease something very sinister about Nova and the motivations at play for this big bad. They told Harper's Bazaar that you could feel the danger in every take.

"It felt like working with a skin-covered Swiss Army knife," Reynolds told the magazine. "Emma brought a Gene Wilder energy to Deadpool & Wolverine. Mischief, danger, unpredictability--from their first scene onward, we understand the villain enough to know why she's motivated to oppose our heroes. And that's because Emma is so fucking excellent at humanizing even the most chaotic lines. The only thing we love more than hating a villain is loving one. And we love Emma's Cassandra Nova from the jump."

Jackman chimed-in with some praise for Corrin's acting chops. "Emma has an ability to so subtly change--to turn on a dime," The Wolverine star added. "There was an effortlessness, a sense of danger."

Do you think Deadpool & Wolverine will be the best film of The Multiverse Saga? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Avatar and Titanic producer Jon Landau is dead at the age of 63. The Wrap reports that the blockbuster filmmaker had cancer and was undergoing treatment. James Cameron was Landau's close collaborator for years. Together, the duo would rack-up multiple films to top the highest-grossing projects of all time list. Just Titanic and Avatar alone would be worth noting. But, there are hosts of others across his career. Landau was a vice president of Twentieth Century Fox back in the 1990s. He worked on fan-favorites like Die Hard 2, Honey I Shrunk the Kids and Dick Tracy. (A lot of Millennials are just realizing the presence this man had on their lives as film fans by going back through the catalog.)

Before the successes of Titanic and Avatar, Landau was born to film producers Ely and Edie Landau. The Hollywood fixture also went to USC's School of Cinematic arts during his younger days. On social media, one of the first people to memorialize Landau was Frances Fisher. Of course, she played a massive role in Titanic. Back in the 1990s, the staggering success of that film helped pave the way for the blockbuster theater landscape we enjoy today. The family has not issued a statement and ComicBook will provide updates as they become available.

Landau Was Working on The Avatar Series and So Much More

The producer always seemed to be working on something related to one of these big franchises. Just last year, people were asking about the status of Alita: Battle Angel. Over the years, Landau's science fiction adventure has amassed something of a cult following among fans of the genre and the manga. In an era where everything is on the table for revisiting, Landau told ScreenRant that they were exploring that possibility as recently as last year. He always seemed passinate about the host of characters that he created with James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez.

"We're working on it," Landau shared. "I think what we've learned from Avatar is how much more facial nuance and subtlety that we can get into characters that we want to be emotional and emote that are humanoid. Alita would not have been possible, but for what we did on Avatar. Avatar: Way of Water would not be what it is but what we did for Alita. And now let's put that back and give it back to Alita. We're talking to Robert and talking to Rosa and all is good.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends in this time.

Deadpool & Wolverine is not like any MCU movie you've seen according to Shawn Levy. The director teased the surprises in store during an interview with Total Film. While the MCU is long-running now, Levy sees Deadpool & Wolverine as an opportunity to expand what this franchise can offer. In the trailer for the upcoming Marvel movie, Deadpool calls himself "Marvel Jesus." This, of course, led to an onslaught of people, saying that the Merc with a Mouth was on the way to save the MCU. The jury is still out on that. (Honestly, an entire phrase that can be tracked back to Google search keywords and YouTube essays about the franchise probably isn't getting solved by one film.) But, Levy is going to give this one the good old college try. He, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman had a blast making this movie and it shows.

"We had no idea it would be this unique moment where people are asking what the MCU means any more," Levy said during their conversation. "Can it surprise us? Can it break molds in ways that we don't expect? We certainly hope that this movie is an answer to those questions."

"What Kevin Feige has built with the MCU is historic as far as a string of successes, but culture has its tide chart, culture has ebbs and flows, and one thing we do know is you can't keep doing the same thing ad nauseum and expect people to greet it with the same excitement," Levy added. "And so it just worked out really fortuitously because our movie is not like any MCU movie. Yeah, and I say that as a fan of a lot of MCU movies."

Deadpool Arrives As "Marvel Jesus"

The entire idea about the "Marvel Jesus" line stretches far back to the pandemic. That's how long Deadpool & Wolverine has been in the hopper. But elsewhere in that Total Film cover story, Levy said that he couldn't take credit for the viral line. In fact, the writers and creative team are amused by how it's taken on another meaning entirely among the fans on social media. The momentum behind Deadpool & Wolverine is nothing short of staggering. It looks like Inside Out 2 will be the only big contender for movie of the summer. Luckily for the Marvel movie, the reunion of two massive fan-favorite characters should be enough to seize the day and meet most expectations.

"I would love to take credit for those parallels," Levy shared. "Some we absolutely intend, but some are coincidences, and we came up with 'Marvel Jesus' two years ago. People love to get on bandwagons whether they're positive, but frankly even more when they're negative."

Do you think Deadpool & Wolverine will be as big as Spider-Man: No Way Home? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Despicable Me 4 rocketed to $72 million over its first three days at the box office. An impressive $27 million on Friday has projections up to $120 million for the long weekend. There was some concern heading into the weekend that Illumination and Universal's latest might not reach those numbers. But, the evening crowds for Despicable Me 4 were more robust than the models accounted for. (A common thing across all sorts of analysis these days. People are unpredictable!) Inside Out 2 is still chugging along at the theater as well, with A Quiet Place: Day One also luring some moviegoers into its clutches. The summer movie season is really here in full-swing and families are deciding to take their evening entertainment to theaters instead of hanging at home.

With the success of Depsicable Me 4, the question of how long the Minions train can roll continues onward starts to rumble. For Steve Carell, as long as everyone involved wants to make these movies. And, of course, if the public still wants to make the trip down to the theater to see them. Judging by these numbers on the Fourth of July weekend, it doesn't seem like that's coming up anytime soon. Check out what the star had to say to ComicBook up above and read his comments without the hysterical back and forth between his co-stars down below!

"It's so much fun," Carell smiled with ComicBook. "Why wouldn't I want to [keep voicing Gru]? I hope it goes on for as long as people want to watch it. It's been nothing but fun and rewarding. My kids grew up with it. I love being associated with it."

Movie Variety Is Helping The Box Office

A major win for the theater business this summer has been the variety of movies available. Yes, Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 are leading the charge with animated family projects. But, Bad Boys: Ride or Die and A Quiet Place: Day One are also hanging tough and carving out real wins as an action movie and horror picture respectively. AMC's CEO personally thanked the filmmakers of these summer experiences for getting the box office up over last year to date.

"Once again, the moviegoing public has demonstrated that the magic of the movies and the theatrical experience is alive and powerful," AMC CEO Adam Aron wrote. "While at first glance Inside Out 2 and Bad Boys: Ride Or Die appear to be very different films, they share a strong crossover in that they both were made specifically for the big screen and expertly marketed to a theatrical moviegoing audience. The results of those efforts were in full force this weekend."

He added, "We extend our gratitude to the filmmakers of Inside Out 2 and Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, and to our studio partners at Disney and Sony Pictures for delivering these incredible films to moviegoing audiences. Most of all, we thank our guests for choosing to see these wonderful movies on the huge screens, with terrific sound, and in ever so comfortable seats featured by AMC."

Are you planning to head to the theater this weekend? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy says that Marvel fans are going to lose their minds at various parts in the movie. SFX Magazine caught up with the filmmaker as Deadpool & Wolverine nears release. He told them that people need to prepare themselves to be surprised by some wild swings during this movie. Levy teased, "There are going to be moments that the audiences are going to love, but I'll also say there are moments where they are going to lose their damn minds - like that times ten billion. Which is not a number, but I'm using it for hyperbole." Elsewhere in that conversation, the filmmaker also talked about the laughs they managed to pack into every scene. You might miss something as the test screenings had people laughing through dialogue.

"There are some moments in this movie that if you can even hear the dialogue over the laughter, we've failed," the director revealed. "We went through this in the edit room, when I'm telling Ryan that every time we show a certain scene you can't hear the three lines because the audience is still laughing at the line that came before. Every time we had this very brotherly debate. Ryan usually won. He's like, 'Great, they'll have to see the movie again!'"

Deadpool & Wolverine Brings The Duo To The MCU

There is doubting that the biggest draw of Deadpool & Wolverine is bringing both of these characters into the MCU proper. Marvel president Kevin Feige has said as much in recent interviews. During his conversation with The Official Marvel Podcast, the head man talked about mixing X-Men elements with what their universe has been doing with the TVA. The result is a ride no one expected before the movie got released. But, one that people are over the moon about because they've been waiting for this for the better part of a decade.

"It was really, really nice the way Shawn Levy, our director, and Ryan were able to come in and embrace the best of what Ryan had pioneered with Deadpool and what Hugh had pioneered on those early X-Men films and bringing them in a very irreverent way, which people are already starting to piece together based on the trailers and the presence of the Time Variance Authority into our sandbox."

"When Hugh came on board, it became very emotional on a personal level for me, because my Marvel career absolutely started 26 years ago in pre-production on the first X-Men film," Feige continued. "I was apart of X-Men 1 and X-Men 2, and really the first three to a certain extent, before we had the honor and privilege of becoming Marvel Studios and developing the MCU. I had not seen Hugh in a while and certainly had not thought about Wolverine or the X-Men as something that we could do ourselves for many, many years."

What will the biggest surprise from Deadpool & Wolverine be? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

The countdown is officially on for Joker: Folie ? Deux, the massive sequel to Warner Bros. surprising DC hit. As the film's first trailer revealed earlier this year, Joker: Folie ? Deux is set to be a musical, pairing Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck / Joker with a new Harley Quinn, portrayed by Lady Gaga. During a panel at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, casting director Francine Maisler offered very high praise for Gaga's work in the film, arguing that the actress and musician more than holds her own while playing such an iconic character.

"She's so good in it, you guys," Maisler explained. "She's going to blow your mind. I didn't suggest Lady Gaga. It wasn't my idea. That was Todd Phillips, before me. But I will tell you, she's really surprising -- and really good. I saw it and I was really surprised. I mean, we all knew what she could do in A Star is Born, but I thought, 'Oh, well, that's kind of in her wheelhouse.' Something she could do and just be real. But this... Man, she's good. Joaquin blows your mind, but that she could keep up with him, and be real -- and not just wiped off the screen by what that role is and what the performance is -- shows she's good."

What Is Joker 2 About?

Joker: Folie ? Deux will be a musical that follows the twisted romance between Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn, with a lot of the film believed to be taking place within Arkham Asylum. Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker: Folie ? Deux will also feature appearances from Zazie Beetz, Brendon Gleeson, Catherine Keener, and Jacob Lofland.

"I actually think it makes wonderful sense," Beetz previously said of the film's musical elements. "I wasn't really surprised by that Todd has always had a creative approach to the character. I love musicals, and I think of them as the characters are feeling and experiencing so much that they can only sing and dance about it, whether in sorrow or in joy. And I can actually see that within myself as well, because singing and dancing is quite a cathartic experience for me. I was going through a really, really difficult time at one point in my life, and I just started dancing and crying by myself. And that was an expression that matched where I was at that moment. And so, I can see Arthur, who is feeling and experiencing so much, dancing and singing about it. He's the Joker, so I think it makes sense to me."

Is Joker 2 in the DC Universe?

Joker: Folie ? Deux is technically classified as a DC Elseworlds production, meaning that it exists in a canon outside of James Gunn and Peter Safran's forthcoming DC Universe of movies and Max-exclusive television shows. In a previous post on the social media platform Threads, Gunn revealed his involvement in Folie a Deux, explaining that he did give notes on the finished footage. That being said, Gunn did stress that the Joker sequel is one of the few upcoming DC films being shepherded by Warner Bros. Pictures, given when the film was first put into development.

"Todd had Joker in full swing by the time we came onboard - I've watched and given notes, but it is mostly with WB, where it started," Gunn wrote at the tim. "Everything forward in live-action we're involved with."

Joker: Folie ? Deux will be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, October 4th.

h/t: Deadline

Marvel fans have a whole new way to experience 2012's The Avengers. After initially being announced earlier this year, an original Lakota language dub of the Marvel Studios film is now available to stream exclusively on Disney+. A new video shared to Marvel's official YouTube channel breaks down the behind-the-scenes process of creating the dub, which was done in partnership with The Lakota Project. The video also reveals that several of The Avengers' cast members -- Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, and Robert Downey Jr. -- have all returned to reprise their roles for the dub.

This is one of several Indigenous language dubs arriving on Disney+ this year, with an Ojibwe language dub of Star Wars: A New Hope set to arrive on the platform at a later date.

What Is The Avengers' Lakota Dub?

According to the official description from Marvel, for the first time in years The Avengers have assembled for an incredible celebration rather than an interstellar confrontation. We give viewers an unforgettable glimpse into the reunion of the original Avengers cast as they team up once more for a noble cause: The Lakota Project. Earth's Mightiest Heroes join together to record and dub the original The Avengers in the native Lakota language, streaming now on Disney+.

"Well, I think it's great because it's a modern representation of our language, it's not something that is like set in the 1800s," Nick Fury voice actor Thomas Draskovic explained in an interview with MPR News. "And I thought that was very important to see that we're current and future changemakers with our language and our cultural revitalization. One of the great things about this recording this stuff was that it was done on the Standing Rock Reservation, it wasn't done in Hollywood or anywhere else. It's actually at Grey Willow Studios that has a state of the art recording studio set up so that we can do this with our own people, with our own sound engineers, and of course, our own speakers. So that's very important."

The Lakota language dub of The Avengers is now available to stream exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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The legend of Robin Hood has endured for centuries at this point, inspiring countless tales across books, movies, television, video games, and more. The character's latest big-screen venture is set to be Death of Robin Hood, a live-action A24 film starring Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer, and helmed by A Quiet Place: Day One director Michael Sarnoski. In a recent interview with Collider, Sarnoski teased how long he has been developing Death of Robin Hood, as well as the film's approach to the titular character's iconic lore.

"I wrote that script right before coming onto A Quiet Place," Sarnoski revealed. "I made a deal with myself where if I was gonna do a big studio movie, I wanted to make sure I had my smaller passion project in the wings that I could be thinking about. So, I wrote it right before writing this and have just been playing with it in the background. Then we started taking it out, and, I don't know, it just became this. Initially, when writing it, I wasn't sure it was gonna be my next movie, but I knew I wanted to have something I cared about. As I was going through this process, I was like, "It's pretty obvious that it has to be that movie." I just fell in love with it more and more. Then, as we brought these incredible actors on, it's where my heart's gonna be at for the next year."

"It has a sort of different version of the epic Robin that we're used to while also a very intimate story that's going throughout, as well," Sarnoski said of the film. "So, it'll have a little bit for everyone in that sense."

What Is Death of Robin Hood About?

Death of Robin Hood follows a battle-worn loner who finds himself gravely injured and in the hands of a mysterious woman, who offers him a chance at salvation. The movie is financed by Lyrical Media, with Aaron Ryder (Arrival, The Prestige) and Andrew Swett producing under their Ryder Picture Company banner alongside Alexander Black for Lyrical Media. Lyrical's Jon Rosenberg and Natalie Sellers are executive-producing alongside Rama Gottumukkala, Sarnoski, and Jackman.

"It has been an incredible opportunity to reinvent and freshly innovate the story we all know of Robin Hood," Sarnoski shared in a statement when the film was first announced. "Securing the perfect cast to transform the script to screen was essential. I could not be more thrilled and trusting in Hugh and Jodie to bring this story to life in a powerful and meaningful way."