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.

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.

From projects like Stargate to Independence Day to 2012 to Midway, filmmaker Roland Emmerich is no stranger to operating at a storytelling level that is much different from his peers. Despite his many accomplishments in bombastic storytelling, his latest project is Those About to Die, a TV series set during Roman times that allowed him the chance to spread out his narrative landscape, as the ten episodes offer roughly a ten-hour run time. While this sprawling story allowed Emmerich new opportunities, it also presented him with unique challenges. Those About to Die will premiere on Peacock on July 18th.

When asked by ComicBook what the biggest challenge of the series was, Emmerich confirmed, "It was probably the horse races, the chariot races. I think they're so intricate, and they're so different. There's also great movies made about it, but there [weren't any] where you look behind the scenery, where you look behind to see what goes into it ... the trainers and the charioteers, and the horses. And then, I tell you, seven rounds on the Circus Maximus, the horses were wet at the end. It's really kind of amazing."

Those About to Die is an epic drama set in the corrupt world of the spectacle-driven gladiatorial competition, exploring a side of ancient Rome never before told -- the dirty business of entertaining the masses, giving the mob what they want most...blood and sport. The series introduces an ensemble of characters from all corners of the Roman Empire who collide at the explosive intersection of sports, politics, and dynasties.

While Emmerich has delivered major spectacles chronicling all manner of subjects, the filmmaker noted how Those About to Die allowed him to spend more time with the ensemble of characters, which sets it apart from his films.

"Well, the project was really big, and you have more time to tell stories. You can pretty much analyze a character and then have him over the episodes develop," Emmerich expressed. "And that's, for me, something which I more and more got into by watching it. And so, at one point, I wanted to make my own show and then I chose Those About to Die, which just takes place in the 70s after Christ."

Those About to Die will premiere on Peacock on July 18th.

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

The all-new series Those About to Die marks one of Peacock's most ambitious projects to date, which tells a sprawling story about massive battles and gladiatorial combat. While it might be a new foray for the streamer, star of the series Iwan Rheon is relatively familiar with entering a historical epic, having previously starred as Ramsay Bolton for Game of Thrones. With that HBO series being a fantasy world, it still brought in some historical influences, with Rheon expressing that entering Those About to Die felt like an entirely new project though he appreciated the time he got to spend in a world of ruthless combat. Those About to Die premieres on Peacock on July 18th.

"Obviously this is a historical piece, so it's very much following real events rather than events based on various histories that have been compiled into a fantasy scenario," Rheon shared with ComicBook of how his new series compared to his previous work. "I guess every character is very, very different. You still approach the basics of the work the same. What does the script say? Try to find what motivates the character and what the truth of the character is. And then you hope for the best after that, really. But I think, obviously, any experience you have always helps. Having had that experience, luckily, I feel very fortunate. I'm quite experienced now as I get on a bit in years. It was good to have done something on quite an epic scale before stepping into this world."

Those About to Die is an epic drama set in the corrupt world of the spectacle-driven gladiatorial competition, exploring a side of ancient Rome never before told -- the dirty business of entertaining the masses, giving the mob what they want most...blood and sport. The series introduces an ensemble of characters from all corners of the Roman Empire who collide at the explosive intersection of sports, politics, and dynasties.

Rheon's costar Sara Martins went on to detail how the project was appealing both for the spectacle of it but also for the compelling character dynamics.

"When I had to audition, I knew it was for an epic historical fiction, and I was on board already," Martins detailed. "I was like, 'Oh, my God, yes, let's do that.' And then it's directed by Roland Emmerich and so I wanted to be part of that. I wanted to see that man, how he works, to be part of his universe. Then I got to know more about the character I was auditioning for and the more I was reading, the more I was like, 'Oh, my God, I know this woman.'"

She continued, "And then, sometimes, you don't always have everything. But with this show, I did have everything. Working with people you respect, you admire, and you have the chance to have a brilliant character and then you know that it's going to be beautiful to watch and spectacular. It was ticking all the boxes for me."

Those About to Die premieres on Peacock on July 18th.

What do you think about the actors' remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

The cast and crew of Game of Thrones have wildly diverse reactions to the prequel series House of the Dragon, with some intentionally avoiding learning anything about the project while others merely think it's too soon to attempt to watch such a familiar world just as a fan. In the case of Iwan Rheon, who played Ramsay Bolton in the original series, he hasn't watched the series yet he thinks it's merely a matter of time before he catches up with the prequel. One reason he's been too busy to watch the prequel is he's been making the TV series Those About to Die for Peacock, which premieres on July 18th.

"I haven't seen it, no. But not because of any particular reason," Rheon confirmed to ComicBook. "I will watch it, I'm sure, at some point. I just probably haven't quite had the time or whatever. But yeah, I'll give it a watch. I hear it's very, very good."

Rheon's costar in Those About to Die Sara Martins shared her endorsement of the prequel, expressing, "I've seen Season 1, Season 2 is just coming now and for some reason to find the platform where it has changed in France. But yes, I will find the time to watch it. Definitely."

Rheon's Ramsay was easily one of the most ruthless figures in Game of Thrones, and while he might not be as overtly brutal in his new series, fans will be thrilled to see him back in a historical-inspired drama.

Those About to Die is an epic drama set in the corrupt world of the spectacle-driven gladiatorial competition, exploring a side of ancient Rome never before told -- the dirty business of entertaining the masses, giving the mob what they want most...blood and sport. The series introduces an ensemble of characters from all corners of the Roman Empire who collide at the explosive intersection of sports, politics, and dynasties.

The ensemble cast of Those About to Die includes Anthony Hopkins, Iwan Rheon, Sara Martins, Tom Hughes, Jojo Macari, Moe Hashim, Johannes Haukur Johannesson, Rupert Penry-Jones, Gabriella Pession, Dimitri Leonidas, Emilio Sakraya, David Wurawa, Pepe Barroso, Gon?alo Almeida, Eneko Sagardoy, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Lara Wolf, Angeliqa Devi, Kyshan Wilson, and Alicia Edogamhe.

Those About to Die premieres on Peacock on July 18th. Season 2 of House of the Dragon debuts new episodes on HBO on Sundays.

What do you think of the actor's remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

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.

It seems relatively safe to say that LA Knight and Logan Paul won't be best friends anytime soon, as the two WWE superstars have been trading shots at each other for a while now. That's even led to Paul's house being crashed by Knight at one point, and the two are likely to continue butting heads. Knight still has some hilarious shots for Paul up his sleeve, one of which he revealed during an interview with ComicBook ahead of Money in the Bank, and it involved Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. The comparison was one that Paul probably won't love, and we wouldn't be surprised to see him respond at some point.

Glass Joe Has Entered The Room

Knight is competing in the Men's Ladder Match for the Money in the Bank briefcase, and he will attempt to grab the case and cement his presence in the title picture moving forward. Logan Paul isn't in that match-up, but if there's a chance to mess with Knight's upward ascension in any way, it might be too much for Paul to pass up.

That's probably why Knight isn't letting up on him, including when we asked Knight if he could give just one compliment about Paul. Knight said, "Sure he looks like Glass Joe from Mike Tyson's Punch Out", which, you know, could be a compliment...okay it's not. In fact, it also means that Paul has a glass jaw, and Knight is fully intent on making that a reality at some point in the future. We'll have to wait and see if Paul responds to Knight's shot, or if Knight ends up highlighting that comparison more in the future.

Who Is Glass Joe?

Few boxing games have ever eclipsed the popularity level of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, and in the game, you play as the boxer Little Mac. As you make your way to fight Tyson, Little Mac takes on a number of unique opponents, and the very first one you confront is Glass Joe. As the first opponent, he is also the easiest opponent in the game and has no special punch like everyone else you'll face.

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! Released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987 and had you working up your way through a gauntlet of fighters until you faced the biggest challenge of all in Tyson. That was no easy task, but once you got Tyson himself, your odds shrunk considerably, as Tyson is considered to be one of the toughest video game bosses ever. The game would also be reenvisioned for The Wii, though the love for the NES version will always be there amongst longtime fans.

Money in the Bank Card

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Damian Priest (C) vs. Seth "Freakin" Rollins
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens vs. The Bloodline
Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: LA Knight vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Chad Gable vs. Jey Uso vs. Andrade
Women's 2024 Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Iyo Sky vs. Bianca Belair vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Naomi vs. Zoey Stark vs. Chelsea Green
Intercontinental Championship Match: Sami Zayn (C) vs. Bron Breakker

Are you excited for Money in the Bank? You can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!

WWE's Money in the Bank is one of the best places to cement yourself as a Championship contender, offering two superstars an opportunity to hold their destiny in their own hands. The Women's and Men's Money in the Bank matches will give 12 Superstars the chance to grab the briefcases and instantly become a force in the division, and one of those superstars is SmackDown sensation Tiffany Stratton. Stratton has become one of WWE's fastest-rising stars, and she will hit another gear if she can best superstars like Lyra Valkyria, Bianca Belair, and Zoey Stark to grab the briefcase first. ComicBook had the chance to speak to Stratton about what she would do if she won the match, and it turns out she's got grand plans to give the Money in the Bank briefcase a Tiffy Time redesign.

Tiffy Time Redesign

When asked what her plans are for the briefcase when she takes down the competition and wins the match, Stratton already has extensive plans to not just give the briefcase some additional style, but also make it more comfortable to carry around. Arguably, this will be the most stylish it's ever looked. "So I'm going to paint it pink. I'm going to rhinestone it, and I think I'm going to add an extra strap on, maybe like a fluffy one, and then I'm going to carry it around like a purse," Stratton said.

Gotta say, the pink color choice is already a nice upgrade, and will instantly make Stratton's briefcase stand out. Having the strap so you can carry it like a purse is also a nice touch and pretty practical too. You could even add some wheels to have it double as stylish luggage, and if you really want to go all the way, you could have a portable smoothie machine built in. Who doesn't want smoothies on the go? Okay that last one might be a stretch but when someone does make that happen just remember who loved the idea.

Dream Matches

If Stratton is able to take the briefcase she will have a huge opportunity to create her own dream Championship scenario, as she could challenge any of WWE's Champions. That currently includes Bayley on SmackDown and Liv Morgan on Monday Night Raw, and both are big challenges for anyone. Stratton has had run-ins with both superstars though, so if anyone can pull it off it would be Stratton. We'll have to wait and see who she ultimately challenges if she wins, but during a previous conversation with ComicBook, Stratton did reveal two other dream match scenarios.

"I feel like Charlotte Flair, she and I have similar styles. She was a gymnast," Stratton said. "I have always wanted to... I think Charlotte Flair is one of my dream matches, for sure. Bianca Belair, I love her. I love watching her. She's so fun to watch. Again, we both have similar backgrounds. I did CrossFit. She also did CrossFit before coming to NXT. Yeah, Bianca and Charlotte for sure."

Money in the Bank Card

• World Heavyweight Championship Match: Damian Priest (C) vs. Seth "Freakin" Rollins
• Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens vs. The Bloodline
• Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: LA Knight vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Chad Gable vs. Jey Uso vs. Andrade
• Women's 2024 Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Iyo Sky vs. Bianca Belair vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Naomi vs. Zoey Stark vs. Chelsea Green
• Intercontinental Championship Match: Sami Zayn (C) vs. Bron Breakker

Who are your picks to win WWE's Money in the Bank? You can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!

Discovery Channel has spent several years finding notable figures to host their annual Shark Week celebration of the impressive fish, initially starting with Discovery icons like the MythBusters or Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe, while recent years have seen them bring in talent like Jason Momoa, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, or Shaquille O'Neal to serve as MCs. While John Cena might be this year's official host, you're more likely to tune into any number of specials on Discovery Channel and see Paul de Gelder on your TV, thanks not only to him leading five all-new specials for 2024, but also for his contributions from previous years being broadcast during the seven-day celebration. Even without fins or gills, de Gelder has become an integral and recognizable component of the event. Shark Week kicks off on the Discovery Channel on Sunday, July 7th.

While three of de Gelder's specials, Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood, Sydney Harbor Shark Invasion, and Shark Attack Island, focus on communities and inviduals who have specifically been injured or killed due to shark encounters, Deadliest Bite aims to determine which shark species has the most powerful jaws while The Real Sharkano explores whether a native community in a remote locale may have uncovered the secret to cohabitating in the region safely with sharks.

Having lost two limbs from a brutal encounter with a bull shark in 2009, de Gelder would have every right to stay as far away from the fish as possible, only for the incident to motivate him to educate the public about the creatures.

ComicBook caught up with de Gelder to talk his new specials, his significance among Shark Week audiences, and more.

ComicBook: In what might be the most difficult question for you to answer: what's your favorite kind of shark?

Paul de Gelder: Aww, why would you do that to me?

Everyone wants to know what you think, everyone's demanding you answer.

How are you supposed to answer that question? The enormity and fierceness and ferocity of the great white versus the beauty and calm and elegance of the tiger shark or the weird alien head of the hammerhead? How are you supposed to choose one of those? Like the whale shark, peaceful, covered in beautiful spots? There's no way. I'm not doing it. Next question.

You gave us a few different answers, so all your fans demanding online, they have a few things to choose from. Given your career of working with sharks and being associated with sharks, a two part question that might be the same answer for both parts, but what is the thing you get asked about the most and what is the thing you kind of wish you never had to be asked about again?

It's the same question: "Did it hurt?" In the early days when people asked me that, I thought, "That is the stupidest question I've ever heard. Go over there and kick that coffee table with your bare shin and then times it by a million and that's how much it hurt."

But then I got it after a while. I was like, "Okay, well, obviously adrenaline might've played a part or something like that, but I can honestly say it absolutely, devastatingly, painfully ... It took the fight out of me, that's how much it hurt, to the point where I had to accept the fact that I was going to die. Then when the shark removed my hand and removed my hamstring -- the attack was only eight seconds, and so that gave adrenaline time to enter my system. And while I was swimming back to the boat with one hand and one leg through a pool of my own blood, I didn't feel pain, but I felt fear.

It wasn't until I was on the wharf waiting for the paramedics to come that I actually felt real pain again. So I guess the body's this amazing mechanical thing that allowed me to not feel pain to survive, to swim my way back to the boat, but then once I was safe and relaxed, the pain came back. I'm just very grateful and lucky to be alive.

Now what you can do is you can put a link to this interview on a business card, so anytime anyone asks you that question you can just be like, "I'm just going to save everybody some time. Here you go."

Scan my QR code. I'll get t-shirts made up.

You're no stranger to Shark Week. This is not your first rodeo, if you will, which I think is an apt phrase given the bull shark of it all.

I often ride them.

From a bigger perspective, both before you personally got involved in Shark Week and now that you are such an integral component of it, what does Shark Week represent to you? What makes this week so special, so iconic?

Just to hear that, what you said, that I'm an integral part of Shark Week, is mind-blowing to me. I didn't have cable, as we call it in Australia, Foxtel, we didn't have that a lot of the time because we weren't rich enough to pay for TV, we just had our normal three channels. So whenever I had the chance to actually watch it, that was it. All I wanted to see was sharks.

I drew two things when I was a kid: sharks and dinosaurs. I loved them, I knew nothing about them, but Shark Week was just this big thing where you got to see these mythological creatures that I'd never seen. I think that's something that stays with you through your whole life, and there are very few things in life that will actually do that. Getting to tune in once a year for this whole week-long extravaganza of Shark Week with new science, with new action, with new characters, it's such a cool experience to be a part of.

I think for people to watch, as well, because most people will never see a shark in their life, like a real shark with their own eyeballs, and so this is an opportunity for them to tune in and see this somewhat mythological being. It's like almost watching a scary sci-fi movie where you're scared and you're feeling thrilled, but you're on the safety of your couch. It's the same as that, but we're actually doing it. This is actually real.

I think it's that special emotion and feeling that it brings to everyone. Then, obviously, just like us, you can work towards becoming involved in things like this. It is not outside the realm of possibility that viewers, many of whom now are on Shark Week, you could grow up to do this stuff. You could be a marine biologist, you could be a shark scientist, you could be a shark cinematographer, a shark conservationist. Anyone can do this, and that is amazing.

I feel like you and I are a bit of kindred spirits because when I grew up, I loved dinosaurs and I loved sharks. I went a route talking about Jurassic Park, talking about Jaws. I was a presentation person at an aquarium in Chicago to talk about sharks. It's so funny to hear you specifically say, "I love dinosaurs. I love sharks," because that's me.

I wonder if that's a boy thing. We just love the animals that can destroy things. And they're so much easier to draw than lions and tigers.

"How many teeth do they have? One million, roughly."

One line. And it's done. They don't have hair.

I only got to watch one of your specials this year, but I feel like every night of Shark Week people are going to get to see you on their TV. So of all the specials that you're participating in this year, which is your favorite? Or which was the one that brought you the most surprise?

Well, we're going back to the "What's your favorite shark" thing now. I love them all for different reasons. Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood, as sensational as the title is, you would've seen watching it that it's a very serious investigation, and it's very emotional and touching and compassionate. Then also, we're exploring avenues to try to help sharks and people. But then you go to Deadliest Bite, and I'm in the Bahamas in Florida literally hand-feeding a 13-foot tiger shark and hammerhead sharks. And then in The Real Sharkano I was free diving with sharks on breath hold 60 feet below the surface, 300 feet away from an active underwater volcano while it was erupting.

How do you choose? There's so many things that I got to do that were firsts for me this year. Then, obviously, all of my friends have got their own shows as well where they're doing new science, new adventures, new areas, new sharks. It's an extravaganza. Seriously, how am I supposed to choose from that? But I will say the volcano thing was very, very cool. I never thought I'd get to do something like that.

I mean, Paul, you're really putting a hat on a hat on a hat. Leave some stuff for the rest of the people. No, you've got to do the sharks with also the volcano on top of it. Leave some for the rest of the people.

"And for my next trick I'm going to parachute onto a snowboard and snowboard off a cliff and then free dive into the ocean with sharks."

Well lastly here, since you mentioned you never imagined getting to do some of the things that you've done this year, is there an elusive dream project that, whether it's timing, scheduling, the seasonal changes in sharks, is there still a dream project that you haven't gotten to do yet that you're still hoping you'll get to do for Shark Week 2025?

Yeah, there's so many sharks that -- they only send me to the dangerous ones that can kill me. I feel like half of my job is just "don't die."

They might be telling you something, Paul.

Yeah, I know. "We'll keep employing you as long as you're alive."

So one of the sharks that I would love to see is the Greenland shark. Under the ice sheets of the Arctic, freezing cold, they're so elusive. They've been found with whole reindeer inside their stomach. Totally blind, live for 500 years. That is one animal that I would love to see.

That's typically my go-to answer for my favorite kind of shark, because of everything you just mentioned.

Kindred spirits.

It's also, "Oh, I went to The Bahamas. I went to Florida ... but no, my dream project is to go to the icy depths to see things that don't move and just sit on the bottom."

Yeah, absolutely. That sounds amazing. I love to see things that normal people don't get to see. I would love to -- I don't know if you're familiar with, I'm going off script now if I'm talking about that, don't worry about it. Let's stick to Shark Week.

But just the adventure, the excitement. It's a realm that most people will never see. But, as I said before, you could have the opportunity, if you desire it enough. And anything that is worth doing obviously takes work, and I can honestly say for me and everyone that works on Shark Week, this is so much fun, it's so valuable. Just the beauty of the Internet and social media allows everyone to have a voice. People get in touch with us all and they tell us how much our stories have changed their lives, or how much now they want to be involved in ocean conservation. And that is the best part of it.

Well, Paul, I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with me today, and make sure to hit me up if you need a co-host for your Greenland shark special. I'll make myself available.

Amazing.

Shark Week kicks off on the Discovery Channel on Sunday, July 7th. Sydney Harbor Shark Invasion premieres at 11 p.m. ET on July 7th, Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood premieres at 10 p.m. ET on July 8th, Deadliest Bite premieres at 8 p.m. ET on July 9th, and The Real Sharkano premieres at 8 p.m. ET and Shark Attack Island at 10 p.m. ET on July 12th.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

While a majority of shark species are relatively small and might not even surpass the scale of other fish, part of what has captivated the excitement of so many Shark Week enthusiasts is the staggering size some shark species grow to be. The whale shark is undeniably the biggest fish in the ocean, but the great white shark not only comes in close behind the whale shark's size, while its reputation as being one of the most lethal hunters in the animal kingdom makes it all the more fascinating. In his latest Shark Week special, marine biologist Tom "Blowfish" Hird hopes to confirm the existence of such a massive great white. Discovery Channel's Shark Week kicks off on Sunday, July 7th and on Tuesday, July 9th, Hird hosts 6,000lb. Shark.

The new special is described, "Marine Biologists Tom 'Blowfish' Hird and Leigh de Necker go searching for the fattest Great White Sharks off the coast of New Zealand and attempt to obtain their poop to study what they are eating. Using cutting-edge science, they aim to weigh a great white accurately for the first time, revealing if they can reach a staggering 6,000 pounds."

ComicBook caught up with Hird to talk his new special, the questions he gets asked most often, and more.

ComicBook: When it comes to your career and your work with sharks, a two-part question, and it might actually be the same answer for both parts, but what is the question that you get asked the most and what is the question you just really wish you'd never had to answer again?

Tom "Blowfish" Hird: I suppose it probably is one and the same. From the non-shark community, the question that I certainly feel I get asked the most is about Megalodon. "Is Megalodon still around?" And no, just no. We've got tons of fossilized proof and evidence and we've got living proof that Megalodon isn't here, which is down to the fact that we have predatory toothed whales. So yeah, that's the question, it's like, "Oh, is Megalodon still..." It's like, "No, no, no, sunshine. Calm down." It's like, "Oh, well, I think..." It's like, "I don't care what you think, sunshine. You've read something online and you're passing it off? Now, who posted that online? Was it someone wearing a tinfoil hat? Was it someone who's never seen the light of day? Or is it the marine biologist with a fabulous beard telling you to sit down, hush up, and watch Shark Week?"

Honestly, I love that whatever crowds you are running with, that is the question that comes up, as opposed to, "Are sharks really that scary?" They're immediately going to, "Is this prehistoric shark actually still out there?"

The dumbest question I ever got asked, though, this was when I was very young and it was one of my first jobs, I was working as an aquarium assistant, so I was telling people about the animals. You get the idea, aquarium tour guide. And we're in the tunnel underneath the shark tank, and this one bloke pointed up at these sharks swimming around. And I won't do the accent, because it probably won't translate, but he pointed up at the sharks like, "Excuse me, mate, are they real?" I went, "Are you real? No, we've just paid a million pounds for a completely amazing animatronic shark, which is somehow electronically powered, swimming around in saltwater, which is obviously a terrible conductor for electricity. But don't worry about that, mate, we've covered all those areas of physics for you to pay your cash money to watch son of Johnny 5 with a fin, swimming around in a tank of water, when we could have gotten a shark for cheaper." But I didn't say that, I said, "Yes, sir, it is." And then chewed through my molars.

Well, as a former aquarium presenter myself, someone asked me, "How long do the penguins live?" And when I gave them an answer, they said, "And is that in penguin years?" I was like, "I know what you mean, but I don't want to honor that. Rotations around the sun, that's what we're talking about."

Oh, yeah. I mean, sometimes you'll get a question so dumb you'll be like, "Oh, I think you've just given me brain cancer." And yeah, you get a question that shortens your lifespan and you think, "Oh, I could just go and play in traffic instead of speaking to you."

Something that's interesting and, especially with sharks as compared to some other species out there, is it is an ever-growing base of knowledge. I literally got an email about an article I wrote last year for Shark Week, where I mentioned there's roughly 350 species of shark, people emailing me saying, "Actually, now there's 500." What is it like for you to work in a field where that knowledge base is always expanding and growing? Is it at all frustrating or is it just exciting that it's always changing?

Well, for me, I just love it. I'm always excited about it. I don't know if that's from my own career to the extent that I am, well, your friendly neighborhood marine biologist. There are many, many people out there who are far higher up the pecking order in terms of the research they've done, the papers they've done holding professorships, and all those kinds of stuff. And all I want to do is learn from those people, listen to them, hear what they've got to say. If I say something that isn't right and they say, "Oh no, actually, it's this," then that, for me, is a learning opportunity and that's great. So I'm not frustrated by that.

There might be some people who potentially think of themselves as the oracle on these things. And they go, "Oh no, actually, I think you'll find..." You're like, "Mate, it's a movable feast." But the fact that we're still digging into just everything about sharks, not just the biology, but the life history, the species, all that stuff, it just highlights how little we know, not just about them, but about our oceans.

Even here and now, you've got Elon Musk. When he is not trashing social media or building trucks that look like they wouldn't withstand a strong breeze, you've got him saying, "Let's go to Mars." Like, "No, no, no, mate, why don't you try and go to the bottom of the ocean first, then let's go to Mars."

"But please, do not design it yourself. Please let other people."

God, no. Yeah, oh dear. It would be like he'd have a plastic bottle with "Tesla" written on the side, probably not even spelled correctly, in black fountain pen. And he'd be like, "Look what I've made." Like, "Elon, go back in the sandpit buddy. Everyone likes you for looking like a really distressed Muppet that's been left out in the rain. Now, back of the line."

Getting back to Shark Week, your special is about the quest for a 6,000-pound shark. Other than finding out that a shark that big could really exist, could really get to be that size, what do you think are the ramifications of the discovery of such a creature, that you're not just doing it just to do it, but how would that then impact the scientific community in shark research?

Well, if we could get some really, really good, very solid evidence on the terms of those larger, established, veteran sharks around the world, then that gives us a better idea of their population structure. We've seen, it's been proven time and time again that sharks, in whatever ecosystem they inhabit, sharks are vitally important for the health of that ecosystem. So the more we know about their population structure, the more that can tell us of, "Well, if these sharks are here in this place, we know how their presence or their absence will affect this place." That has their knock-on effects, not just in terms of conservation, but we do have to think of things on a more industrial scale. You think, "Okay, well, we know that if there are sharks here, then the fishery industry is better here. Okay, we need to protect these sharks for this fishery industry."

Or we'll know, "Right, we've got some big sharks here. We need to protect this area for these months of the year for them to breed," or whatnot. So getting an idea, the range we're looking at isn't from here to here, but from here to here, that changes the game. You are like, "Oh, right, okay, we need to be thinking bigger, because a bigger animal has bigger impacts. It has bigger demands, bigger needs. It has bigger outputs in terms of not just carbon sequestration and its impacts on food webs, but also in terms of its reproductive abilities."

It's a big deal, literally a big deal, so if we can get together those bits and pieces and say, "Yes, we can say that this shark at this age, at this length will weigh..." That is something that can be used very, very strongly in terms of conservation policy, fisheries policy, and direct scientific research.

Last year you had Cocaine Sharks. This year you've got 6,000lb. Shark. Do you know what's on deck for 2025, the special you'd really like to explore?

Oh, there's so many I would like to do. There's so many. But there might be a new Zelda game out next year and you've got to have priorities for this thing.

But no, there are loads of specials I would like to do. There's loads of different things I'd like to check out, and so many different places we can go as well. The sweet shop or the candy store, as you guys will say, is wide open and it's a free-for-all, if you ask the Blowfish. I'm ready to tuck in and chow down.

Shark Week kicks off on the Discovery Channel on Sunday, July 7th. 6,000lb. Shark premieres on the Discovery Channel on Tuesday, July 9th at 9 p.m. ET.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

One of America's biggest conspiracies is being unraveled on the big screen. Dating back to 2022, Apple Studios had been developing a movie set on the backdrop of the 1960s space race between the United States and the Soviet Union but with a twist: it would explore a "contingency plan" called Project Artemis, a secret soundstage production that would shoot a fake moon landing to air on national television should the legitimate Apollo 11 mission fail. Eventually titled Fly Me to the Moon, this Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum-led flick would work tirelessly to ensure all of its space-based events, excluding the fabricated Project Artemis, played out as they happened in real life. This meant collaborating with NASA itself.

What Was NASA's Reaction to Fly Me to the Moon?

The world leader in space exploration embraced faking its greatest accomplishment on the big screen.

Speaking to ComicBook, director Greg Berlanti shared that despite the conspiratorial central plot, NASA approached Fly Me to the Moon enthusiastically.

"I think NASA was so excited to be a part of it because they knew that the film was as much about revering and acknowledging what was accomplished as it was about showing the audience how it could have been faked," Berlanti explained. "I think if the reason and the theme of the movie wasn't ultimately about the truth, I think they might have had a different perspective."

NASA provided the Fly Me to the Moon team with several technical advisors from the Apollo era, all of which helped guide the film in an accurate direction by sharing their real-life experiences working for NASA in the 1960s. The contributions went beyond spoken anecdotes as well, as Berlanti was also provided with never-before-seen footage of those aforementioned Apollo missions that helped inform how Fly Me to the Moon would be shot.

"They were so participatory in every way," Berlanti praised NASA's help throughout production. "How we shot. Where we were allowed to shoot. I think we shot more for a narrative film inside the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) and around there than anyone ever has. It was an awesome experience and it gave everybody on the movie that worked on the film a sense of the importance of it. We hope that that translates in the movie."

Fly Me to the Moon lands in theaters on Friday, July 12th.

Judge Reinhold reveals how he met Eddie Murphy when they were working together on Beverly Hills Cop. Eddie Murphy is getting the band back together for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F on Netflix. The movie marks the return of not only Murphy's Axel Foley, but others like Judge Reinhold's Detective Billy Rosewood. Reinhold and Murphy had a lot of adventures across the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, which means Reinhold has plenty of stories to share. One of the more entertaining stories has to do with meeting Eddie Murphy on the set of the first Beverly Hills Cop movie in 1984.

ComicBook spoke to Judge Reinhold before the premiere of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, where we asked him if he were to write a memoir about his time on Beverly Hills Cop, what Eddie Murphy story would he include in it. "Really, the odd way that we met was at a strip club in the first one. That was our first day of work and we were thrown together at this little table with some beer nuts and naked ladies all around us. We got to know each other in that situation. We were really thrown together." Judge Reinhold said. "As awkward as that was, it just worked. The chemistry started working and we found our way with each other." You can watch the video in the player above.

What is Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F about?

Netflix's description of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F reads, "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."

"Some of the funniest moments in Axel F are when Eddie's improvising," director Mark Molloy told Netflix's Tudum newsletter. "For me, a big part of my job was to create the right environment, cast the right people around Eddie to allow him to do what he does best."

"Detroit is a much different city than Los Angeles and especially Beverly Hills," veteran producer Bruckheimer added. "He still has the same kind of wonderment at the things you see walking down Rodeo Drive."

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F arrives on Netflix July 3rd.

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters, and the film was helmed by Take Shelter and Midnight Special director, Jeff Nichols. The film is based on a photography book by Danny Lyon about a motorcycle club in the 1960s and stars some big names such as Tom Hardy (Venom), Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two), and Jodie Comer (Free Guy). ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with the film's Makeup Department Head, Ashleigh Chavis, who spoke about working with the cast and how some of the looks came together. She also talked about creating makeup styles for the era, and revealed some of the surprising inspirations behind her choices.

"I think one of the most important things I learned looking back and doing research on any decade for a project before 2000, there weren't as many publications or opportunities to really see different styles that are being offered to the world, Chavis explained. "There were definite set styles for every decade. There were fashion styles that were kind of across the board. There were makeup and hairstyles that were across the board for different communities all over the world. And I feel like you just learn more and more how ingrained these styles were into people's upbringing."

"There weren't a ton of different styles for the '60s," she added." I mean, definitely from the early '60s to the later '60s, they had that hippie revolution that really started to come into effect later on. But even with that, there was such a stark line between who were the preps, who were the outsiders, who were the hippies."

"They had their classic styles. And I think nowadays, because anything goes nowadays, stuff looks like it's from the past. Some stuff looks like it's current day, you don't really know. But for the '30s, the '40s, the '50s, the '60s, '70s, all of those, they're very defined by the makeup, hair and wardrobe and the shoes that they wore and everything. Every time I do a period piece, you just can't help but kind of understand why everybody was dressing the same."

"It's not like they had social media to look at all these different people and what they were wearing. You kind of just had whatever was in the magazines at the time. And another really favorite place of me to do research was looking at old record covers and albums," she added. "Because those were the people that were really setting the tone for what was in and everything. They didn't have Instagram influencers or anything like that. So whoever was on an album cover or on the TV guide or whatever, those were the things that really set the tone for the style of the decades."

What Is The Bikeriders About?

You can read a synopsis of the film here: "THE BIKERIDERS captures a rebellious time in America when the culture and people were changing. After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club."

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters.

As proven with films like Blade Runner 2049 or Top Gun: Maverick, there's no expiration date on beloved movies getting follow-up films, with this year's Twisters confirming that concept. Arriving nearly 30 years after the original Twister, the upcoming sequel serves only as a spiritual successor to the 1996 blockbuster, with director of the first film Jan de Bont thinking this new movie should have been developed much closer to the release of the original film. These comments aren't in regards to interest in the concept, but in regards to the assumption that the filmmaking techniques might be too far removed from what made the original movie so successful. Twister lands on 4K Ultra HD on July 9th.

"I think it is a little bit late. I think it should have been done 15 years ago, because then you might've still had a chance to do this combination of visual effects and special effects, and now it'll be much more visual effects, I'm sure," de Bont revealed to ComicBook. "But that's being cost-effective. Those things are really ... It's so different by now. I think my movie would be really hard to remake, and why would you want to remake it anyway? What would you improve? Sometimes you have to also let things alone, or you have to really make it a real sequel, like a real continuing story, and not just a completely different story, but I don't know. I'm curious what he made of it."

While fans still have a few weeks to go before the new take on the material lands in theaters, the cast and crew have teased their attempts to channel as many real-world effects as possible to make for a compelling experience. Advances in visual effects, however, have made depictions of very intense weather not only more affordable through CGI but also more convincing.

The original Twister is described, "Don't breathe! Don't look back! Just run for your life when a destructive force of nature comes howling straight toward you, destroying everything in its path -- when you're running from a Twister. Academy Award winner Helen Hunt stars as Dr. Jo Thornton-Harding, who as a small girl watched her father sucked to his death from her family's storm cellar by a massive tornado. Now a storm chaser, a scientist who risks her life to study the dark side of nature by taking her data-transmitting instruments directly into the path of a deadly storm, Jo chases the largest tornado ever to strike Oklahoma as her marriage implodes and rival scientists will stop at nothing to steal her breakthrough."

Twister hits 4K Ultra HD on July 9th. Twisters lands in theaters on July 19th.

What do you think of the filmmaker's remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

The 1990s marked a pivotal time for cinema, as boundary-pushing visual effects were making it possible to tell stories in more believable ways than the CGI available in previous years, though the thrilling impact of practical effects allowed for a compelling mixture of cinematic sensibilities. Director Jan de Bont tapped into those storytelling techniques to bring Twister to life, which also saw him recruit a charming ensemble of performers and the growing interest in storm chasing to deliver audiences a spectacular blockbuster. An all-new 4K Ultra HD release of Twister is set to hit shelves on July 9th.

The movie is described, "Don't breathe! Don't look back! Just run for your life when a destructive force of nature comes howling straight toward you, destroying everything in its path -- when you're running from a Twister. Academy Award winner Helen Hunt stars as Dr. Jo Thornton-Harding, who as a small girl watched her father sucked to his death from her family's storm cellar by a massive tornado. Now a storm chaser, a scientist who risks her life to study the dark side of nature by taking her data-transmitting instruments directly into the path of a deadly storm, Jo chases the largest tornado ever to strike Oklahoma as her marriage implodes and rival scientists will stop at nothing to steal her breakthrough."

The film also starred Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Alan Ruck.

ComicBook caught up with de Bont to talk about bringing the film together, embracing the effectiveness of CGI, his thoughts on a sequel, and more.

ComicBook: I think one of the especially impressive things, in the years since the movie's release, is just how talented the cast was and how everybody gels so well. You see someone like Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his earlier roles. Did you know that, when you were on set, that even if some of these folks are unknowns, this was really going to kick off their careers? Or is that just magic that you didn't particularly prepare for?

Jan de Bont: You never know that in advance completely, but that's what you hope to achieve. I think what I really was looking for is for actors that look like real people, that behave like real people, and would be able to have a really great connection as a team. It was really important that they really would get along, and that quick-witted banter, what I really wanted to achieve is that it becomes normal to them, that they wanted that, that they used that lingo, "twister," and a lot of other funny words that they made up themselves, and that made it so great.

Basically, all the actors were really, really connected. Maybe they got connected because we were in the middle of nowhere, absolutely nowhere. No five-star hotels, no four-star, no restaurant, nothing but muddy fields and small motels spread over a 40-mile area. So many stayed on the set, and that's why they bonded. They really did funny things. They were dancing, they'd like to basically imitate each other, which was really good, so then they could laugh about the other person, and it was really great.

In addition to the cast, another thing that works so well about the movie is the seamless blend of groundbreaking visual effects with the practical effects. Looking back on that experience, a two-part question, is there a scene in particular that you were really proud of, the way you blended the visual and practical effects? And then on the other hand, is there a scene that you felt like, "I just didn't get this quite right and I really wish I had an extra $100,000, an extra couple of weeks to really craft that,"?

And it would [cost] that much, by the way. There are scenes that were not quite finished, or were not quite finished in a way that they were what I imagined them to be, and so you do the best you can and make it work. But the total integration of visual [effects] and such, that was key to me. If that didn't work, then, to me, you didn't get a really authentic feeling. So that's where we spent most of the time, and that's why, in this new transfer, all the things that didn't quite work, I was able to correct and fix. Now it's a lot more seamless, and it really feels like it's one image and not three different elements in an image. And that always was my goal to achieve.

The soundtrack is another exciting element of the movie. It came at a time when soundtracks were a hot thing, the '90s bringing together all these interesting artists. How much of the music in the film, whether it's actually in the film or it was for the soundtrack, how much of that was your personal decision versus working with the talent at the time and your music supervisor to just create an overall atmosphere for this movie?

It's a little bit of a combination of all those things, because the composer, Mark Mancina, I had worked with before and I really love him. We had a really great understanding of what it needed and what it should be. It was so easy to communicate. He would play something, we would listen, and say, "Maybe a little bit more this, a little that," and then he did that and it was fantastic.

And then I needed some contemporary music, as well. That was a little bit of a combination of a music supervisor who let me listen to all those different tracks, and I picked the ones that I thought were the best suited. Eddie Van Halen, I got together with him and we got him to play, because I really wanted that guitar solo at the end of the movie. That [song] he wrote, that whole piece, which is a really long piece, I think it was brilliant and so fitted the movie. It's like that really eerie sound going, his guitar is really magical, the way he plays it. So it is a combination of all those things.

I've got to tell you, literally, if I know that there is a storm coming, if I know that there's a big thunderstorm on the way, I play "Humans Being" by Van Halen and feel like I am ready to take this on, much like "The Extreme" Bill Paxton in the movie, so it definitely works.

Good.

I have such a soft spot for the movie and now it is being revived with Twisters with different filmmakers, a completely different story. When you heard about how there was going to be another Twister movie, were you like, "What the hell are you going to do with it?" or was it more, "Oh, it's about time. This is such an untapped concept,"?

I think it is a little bit late. I think it should have been done 15 years ago, because then you might've still had a chance to do this combination of visual effects and special effects, and now it'll be much more visual effects, I'm sure. But that's being cost-effective. Those things are really ... It's so different by now. I think my movie would be really hard to remake, and why would you want to remake it anyway? What would you improve? Sometimes you have to also let things alone, or you have to really make it a real sequel, like a real continuing story, and not just a completely different story, but I don't know. I'm curious what he made of it.

Along those lines, not just with Twister, but with some other '90s movies that were huge hits, you're seeing newfound interest in new audiences. Speed, another of your films that is flawless -- the casting, the effects, and all of that, is that something that you think, since it's not huge tornadoes, there's not as many visual effects, do you think Speed could ever be revived with a completely different filmmaker? Or do you think that's another one where it's a specific time, place, and blend of visual effects?

Speed is a little bit ... It is important that the concept of Speed was so unique, and who the hell would want to make a bus movie in Los Angeles? An actor sitting in the bus, but you cannot move -- they cannot get out, cannot get in? But I thought, because I know Los Angeles, I knew how difficult it would be for an actual bus to make that same trip. It would be absolutely impossible. So I saw all those difficulties and thought, "Wow, this could be really, really exciting." And Paramount, who had the project early on before this, they said no to me and said, "Well, who wants to see a movie about a bus?"

So they could not really see it, and then I talked to Peter Chernin at Fox, and I offered, I really acted out some of the scenes, and he got it. I said, "Oh, wow," and in that room, in that one meeting, he said, "Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead." For a budget, of course -- that was the difference, it's always for a budget.

Then the combination of the actors, that was perfect. Sandra Bullock was absolutely somebody you could believe was riding a bus. That's ironic, really was. If somebody did not have that experience, I made sure that weeks before that they actually made many bus trips, where they saw how boring it could be sitting on the bus, and know what to do and how to respond, what people do on a bus. Because you cannot make it up, you have to experience that. So it's all those things combined, and with all the elements that are in the way of the bus to really keep the speed, I could totally see that as a really amazing movie.

Twister lands on 4k Ultra HD on July 9th.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

There are a lot of movies from the '90s that might have had absurd premises that have been completely forgotten, though director Jan de Bont's Speed has managed to stand the test of time. Not only is the core premise of a bus not being able to slow down below 50 mph or exploding a staple of pop culture, but the film's stars, stunts, and narrative momentum are all things that still impress contemporary audiences. While recently speaking with ComicBook about whether a revival of the film could happen, de Bont detailed all of the things that made that original film so unique. De Bont's Twister lands on 4k Ultra HD on July 9th.

"It is important that the concept of Speed was so unique, and who the hell would want to make a bus movie in Los Angeles? An actor sitting in the bus, but you cannot move -- they cannot get out, cannot get in?" de Bont detailed of the film. "But I thought, because I know Los Angeles, I knew how difficult it would be for an actual bus to make that same trip. It would be absolutely impossible. So I saw all those difficulties and thought, 'Wow, this could be really, really exciting.' And Paramount, who had the project early on before this, they said no to me and said, 'Well, who wants to see a movie about a bus?'"

He continued, "So they could not really see it, and then I talked to Peter Chernin at Fox, and I offered, I really acted out some of the scenes, and he got it. I said, 'Oh, wow,' and in that room, in that one meeting, he said, 'Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead.' For a budget, of course -- that was the difference, it's always for a budget."

While Speed helped launch the careers of stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock to new heights, de Bont detailed how important it was that the performers and characters felt grounded.

"Then the combination of the actors, that was perfect. Sandra Bullock was absolutely somebody you could believe was riding a bus," the director explained. "That's ironic, really was. If somebody did not have that experience, I made sure that weeks before that they actually made many bus trips, where they saw how boring it could be sitting on the bus, and know what to do and how to respond, what people do on a bus. Because you cannot make it up, you have to experience that. So it's all those things combined, and with all the elements that are in the way of the bus to really keep the speed, I could totally see that as a really amazing movie."

Twister is described, "Don't breathe! Don't look back! Just run for your life when a destructive force of nature comes howling straight toward you, destroying everything in its path -- when you're running from a Twister. Academy Award winner Helen Hunt stars as Dr. Jo Thornton-Harding, who as a small girl watched her father sucked to his death from her family's storm cellar by a massive tornado. Now a storm chaser, a scientist who risks her life to study the dark side of nature by taking her data-transmitting instruments directly into the path of a deadly storm, Jo chases the largest tornado ever to strike Oklahoma as her marriage implodes and rival scientists will stop at nothing to steal her breakthrough."

Stay tuned for updates on the possible future of Speed. Twister lands on 4K Ultra HD on July 9th.

What do you think of the filmmaker's remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Filmmaker Ti West returned to the horror realm after an extended break back in 2022 with X. While audiences were excited enough by that movie, he surprised fans by revealing that he and star Mia Goth had also developed and filmed the prequel Pearl with the same crew that made X. Given that both films were major hits with audiences and critics, expectations for the final chapter in the trilogy, MaXXXine, were quite high, and while those expectations from audiences might not have impacted the development of the movie's story, West detailed how there was a different type of pressure to honor what came before. MaXXXine lands in theaters on July 5th.

"I wouldn't say the development [was impacted]. Having made the other two movies with nobody knowing they existed, it was a very different experience making the third one with everybody knowing that it was coming," West confirmed to ComicBook of what made bringing MaXXXine to life different from its predecessors. "So everyone was putting out information of who was in the movie, what the movie might be about, and things like that."

He continued, "And then there was just a little bit more pressure. I think the idea that people were actually waiting for this movie, instead of surprising people was certainly a little bit more ... It wasn't a burden, but certainly a weight to carry when writing it, and making it. Whether it tops the other movies or, at the very least, stays at the same level, where people could say and argue which one's their favorite. And the scope of this movie was so much bigger, so I was really trying to deliver on something that the other movies didn't have, so it was hard-earned in that way, but worth it."

MaXXXine is described, "In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past."

While Goth returns to reprise her role, the movie also added a number of new cast members, including performer Moses Sumney making his feature-film debut.

"I've been wanting to get into it and really timid about really pursuing what my first thing would be, because it's so difficult to find rich characters to play, especially as a Black actor," Sumney shared of how he knew MaXXXine was the project he wanted to make his debut with. "And what I loved about this character is that he's a nerd and, truly at heart, I am a loser. You never really stop being the nerdy loser you are as a teenager and, in this business, we're all wearing these masks, and I appreciate it. I felt really seen by the character and I thought that I could connect something and bring something really real to it. I think that Ti's writing was just so excellent across all three films, but especially the character-building in this film is really excellent."

Throughout X, Maxine proclaimed how she deserved to be a star, while MaXXXine explored her first major foray into Hollywood. Giancarlo Esposito plays her agent Teddy, who goes to greater lengths than a normal agent might in order to protect and care for Maxine.

"For Teddy Knight, he certainly sees something special in Maxine. He sees a desire, and he sees a commitment, and he sees someone who really wants to get there," Esposito expressed of his character. "I think he also relates to the demons behind her eyes. He sees her soul, because I think he understands that he has had some demons, and look where he's got to. So I really love the part of the story that is so linked up in how human beings relate to each other and he's someone who believes in her more than anyone and gives her hope when she's in distress in those moments. He says, 'Look, I'm going to take care of it,' because she proved it, right? We're so often asked to prove it, and if you can show it and prove it to someone that you really do want it that badly. And not only do you want it, but you've done the work."

He added, "I love this scene where she's sitting there with the highlighter in bed; that's my life. I fall asleep with paper. And then you cut, and it's the morning and the paper. That's me. Right? So I mean, it really is -- I'm learning three things at one time. I'm on the plane, and that's how you do it. It's that kind of commitment. We can say we want it, but when you prove you want it, and she shows me that she really does want it, I'm all for it. I'll do anything to have that happen for you."

MaXXXine also stars Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, Halsey, Lily Collins, and Michelle Monaghan.

MaXXXine lands in theaters on July 5th.

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

Manifest Media's Table Read podcast recently released their Fright Night episode, which featured most of the original cast from the 1985 horror camp classic. One big change from the film was Star Wars legend Mark Hamill taking over the role of Peter Vincent, the character originated by the late, great Roddy McDowall. Fright Night director Tom Holland was also in attendance during the reading, but this event wasn't the only thing the director has in common with Hamill. Holland also helmed the original Child's Play in 1988 and Hamill voiced Chucky in the 2019 remake. ComicBook was in attendance during the Fright Night reading, and we got the chance to chat with Holland and Hamill together. Turns out, they had never talked about their Chucky connection.

"When they came to me, I said, 'No, you get Brad Dourif. He is Chucky.' And they said, 'Well, this is a reboot that alters the storyline. It's a very different Chucky. I said, 'Okay, I'll read it,'" Hamill explained to ComicBook alongside Holland. "And here's the intriguing part. Instead of the soul of a serial killer being transferred into his body ... This one was an artificial intelligence doll, where a disgruntled employee, angry at the way he was treated, switches off the safety mechanism that controls him for not injuring people or murdering them or anything. And so he's an innocent at the start."

"And then he starts learning, but he learns the wrong things," Hamill continued. "For instance, he sees a group of teenagers all sitting around and laughing their heads off at a slasher movie. So, in his head, slashing people, that's good. It makes people happy. He grows from a complete innocent to a monster by the end of the thing. That's the only reason I did it. I thought I wouldn't be interested in just doing a remake, especially since nobody can be better than Brad. And I loved the original movie."

"They messed with the remake," Holland chimed in. "They made it for Christmas. They set it in Christmas, and then they took Christmas out, but they couldn't take the Christmas lights out in the third act."

"Did you do any of the sequels?" Hamill asked Holland. "Hell no. Just Child's Play," Holland replied.

"Cause there was Child's Play 2, 3, 4," Hamill added. "I'll tell you, once I agreed to do it, I ordered all of them off of Amazon. And of course, the first one is great. By the time they get to Bride and Chucky and stuff. It's pretty silly."

Tom Holland Talks Difficulties of Making Child's Play:

ComicBook also chatted with Holland on his own during the Fright Night table read, and he spoke more about Child's Play, and explained why it was a much more difficult movie to make than Fright Night. In fact, he called Fright Night, "The best experience I've ever had directing a film."

"Yeah, Child's Play was a difficult film, but Child's Play was difficult because nobody had done the killer doll movie, and it asked a puppet to do what I needed that puppet to do. So I mean, there were a lot of shots. I'd say half to three-quarters of the shots were a terrible fight just to get them. That was nobody's fault. That was just that my expectations outpaced the technology at the time. So quite often, I had to figure out how to get the shots in different waves, and I was lucky I got them more often than I didn't, and if I couldn't get them, I figured out another way to stage the scene. So Child's Play turned out terrific, but it was much more difficult and intense."

"Every kid has woken up and looked around his room and at his action toys and his dolls and things and said, 'Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if one of them came alive?' Well, one does. And his name is Chucky. And you're in deep sh*t trouble."

You can listen to the Fright Night episode of the Table Read podcast here.

A Quiet Place: Day One director Michael Sarnoski talked about his working relationship with John Krasinski. ComicBook had the good fortune of catching the filmmaker before A Quiet Place: Day One hits theaters today. During our chat, the director revealed that Krasinski really pushed for Sarnoski to try and make this entry in the franchise his own. Yes, there are still some rules that need to be adhered to. But, as a series progresses, there becomes a need to keep things fresh.

"Yeah, I think it was just a lot of conversations. A lot of back and forth. He presented an idea of 'Hey, we want to do a New York, Day One movie.' And then, he really gave me the freedom to be like, 'What does that mean for you? How could that be a Michael movie?' He didn't want to force me to try and emulate the past movies," Sarnoski told us. "So, I just had to think about what kind of characters I wanted to explore. How I wanted to see this world. Then, we had a lot of back and forth about the little things we can do to sort of suggest things about the other movies. And, see some characters. But, it always had to feel in service to Sam's journey and her core emotional story."

The director credited Krasinski for being down to hand him the keys at such an important juncture. He continued, "So, I was just brainstorming and talking. Thankfully, he was very generaous and open with the idea of 'make this yours and do what speaks to you.'

A Quiet Place: Day One Expands The Franchise

All this talk about Krasinski might make you wonder, is A Quiet Place: Day One as good as its predecessors? For ComicBook's Kofi Outlaw, not really. Our critic was less than enamored with the personal drama at the heart of the prequel. Despite owning massive set pieces that dwarf stuff from the first two movies, he argues that A Quiet Place: Day One is worse for not leaning into the madness of the New York City setting a little more. The review even goes so far as to suggest that you'll probably end up being more invested in the cat than anything else.

"A Quiet Place: Day One now attempts to move the franchise focus beyond the Abbott Family while advertising big reveals about the larger franchise storyline and the beginnings of the alien invasion of the "Death Angel" monsters," Outlaw argues. "Unfortunately, the prequel's biggest revelation is that this franchise is being approached as more of an anthology than as a shared universe of interconnected stories - and as a standalone chapter, it's hard to see Day One as a compelling horror movie, rather than a well-acted character drama."

Are you down with more Quiet Place spinoffs? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Thanks to his breakout role in Breaking Bad as Gus Fring, actor Giancarlo Esposito has not only earned a number of exciting roles in the years since that series concluded, but he's also become a figure that fans regularly speculate about as the best choice for various other iconic figures. Esposito is confirmed to be appearing in Captain America: Brave New World as an unidentified character, despite having spent years endorsing the idea of playing a character like the X-Men's Professor X, though Esposito admitted those endorsements were merely his way of showing love to fans. Esposito can next be seen in MaXXXine, which hits theaters on July 5th.

"The fans really started the Professor X rumor and I loved it. I went along for the ride because I love the fans," Esposito shared with ComicBook in response to his Captain America casting likely preventing him from becoming Professor X in support of MaXXXine. "I started thinking about Professor X, because I feel like that could be a character that I would really excel at, and really be great in. They also talked about Magneto, they also talked about [DC's Mr.] Freeze, all of those things. I am so happy to be in the MCU. I'm happy that you don't know what I'm doing there and I'm happy that I probably don't know what I'm doing there, but I'm happy to be there and you're going to see it soon."

With MaXXXine being the third entry in Ti West's series of horror films that started with X, Esposito also shared his excitement that he knows fans of this series will feel, detailing, "Look, I love the fans. And I think the fans are going to love this movie. And the fan connection to these three movies have us realizing a lot. Thank goodness for A24, that they were able to take Ti's ideas and bring all this together."

Given that Captain America: Brave New World doesn't release in theaters until February 14, 2025, it could be quite some time before audiences learn what character Esposito will be playing.

MaXXXine is described, "In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past." Starring in the movie are Mia Goth, Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, Giancarlo Esposito, Halsey, Lily Collins, Michelle Monaghan, and Moses Sumney.

Stay tuned for updates on Captain America: Brave New World and see MaXXXine in theaters on July 5th.

Are you looking forward to seeing Esposito's MCU debut? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Lil Rel Howery and Michael Hitchcock star in director Chris Nelson's high school reunion comedy that comes with a murderous twist. With an incredible cast that boasts the likes of Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries) Chace Crawford (The Boys, Gossip Girl), Jillian Bell (Good Burger 2, Brittany Runs a Marathon), Billy Magnussen (Road House, No Time To Die) and Jamie Chung (Once Upon A Time, Lovecraft Country). In the film, a group of unlikely individuals return to their hometown for a reunion hosted at the home of a former jock who has now turned rich. Set in the middle of a snowstorm, many of the guests leave before they can get snowed in but for the rest, the uncover a horrifying scene the next morning and realize that the killer is likely still among them.

Wanting To Join the Murder Mystery Genre

"Yeah, I wanted to be in a hilarious murder mystery movie. You know what I mean? And I think that is one of the things that has taken it to another level cause it's actually funny," Lil Rel told Comicbook. "'Cause sometimes I think some of these murder mystery movies take themselves too serious. But Reunion, we play into the comedy, and I love that. And every character is unique. We did a good job of making sure that you can think it's anybody, literally anybody, because everybody had the same kind of beef and problem with who got murdered. So, you know, it's the comedy and it's the great job they did with making sure all of us look guilty."

"And, I mean, and I also signed up for the cast to work with Lil Rel because Get Out is one of my favorite movies," Hitchcock added. "I know Jillian Bell, She's a friend of mine, but to get to actually work with her on a day to day basis is such a treat. Chace Crawford -- I love The Boys, It's one of my favorite shows of all time. Billy Magnussen is so cool and so funny in real life. And just everybody, Jamie Chung and Nina Dobrev. It just was great. And then Nina brought along her boyfriend, Shaun White, who ended up being in the movie. So there you go."

Lil Rel goes on to discuss Dobrev who also told Comicbook that the pair have formed a bond since working on Reunion as well as 2023's The Out-Laws. "And then Nina, so Nina became my set bestie because of that. It's so interesting how, me and Jillian worked together before, but everybody was so, so funny and so fun to work with. Like, I'm not even just saying. I know people just say that sometimes, I'm dead serious. Like, we all truly got along and laughed a lot. We laughed a lot."

Reunion's Emotional Ending

When I mentioned how well their dynamics play off of one another and that it was obvious they were a tight-knit group just from watching the movie, they were appreciative to that fact, explaining that the most important part was being able to see their chemistry. "I'm glad you saw that, too. I think that's the most important thing about this film, is that you can actually see the chemistry that we had off screen translate to on screen," Lil Rel explained. "And I liked the fact that all of us was rooting for each other. Like, when I got a chance to do the stuff at the end, I love how supportive the cast was for that. 'Cause it was a lot for me to do, but everybody was so supportive and that's how I got through that."

"When people see the film, without giving anything away, I think Lil Rel has a speech that's maybe eight minutes," Hitchcock said. "I mean, it's really long, but it's good. It's so funny, but also emotional. And he killed it. It was so cool. Just, you know, we got to watch a play. Watching it was really, really fun."

In truth, Lil Rel's character does have quite a lot of depth, more than you would typically see in a "comedy" actor's role, but he expertly shows his range and is easily one of if not the absolute standout in this movie. Lil Rel reflected to Comicbook about getting that opportunity and how the emotion and heart drew him in.

"Well, that's what drew me to the movie, too. I like the depth my character has and the emotion in it and the heart in it. And some of that stuff, too, we kind of had to play with while we were doing it. You know what I mean? To change some things up, because as we were doing it, you could be like, 'I started thinking, this should have a little more depth, more emotion here and there.' But that was another thing, too. Between working with Chris and the writers and Billy and Jillian and all the producers, It was a good collaboration. I like the fact that we would meet after most days and really sit down and say, 'hey, let's think this out a little better.'"

Reunion releases on Digital on June 28th.

The fifth episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte was released on Disney+ this week and it's the fourth of the series that saw Chris Teague working as the cinematographer. In honor of the episode's release, ComicBook had the chance to chat with Teague, and he spoke about how he collaborated with the VFX team and explained the challenges of filming outer space scenes as well as Coruscant scenes. During the chat, he also revealed one of his favorite moments from making the show, which revolved around a set from the first episode.

"Well, one of the really fun sets was in Episode One, we have the prison ship escape, and we've built that whole set on a steel platform that shook in multiple directions so that we could create a believable effect of the ship falling apart," Teague explained. "I mean, believe me, when we were testing it, I started to wonder if our set was going to fall apart because of the power of these pistons. Moving the set around was pretty intense, but it really did convey that effect of, because you put an actor in that set and they start to move in relationship to the ship shaking, and it starts to feel real."

"I mean, that's always the thing you're worried about. There's always that old trick of you shake the camera and then everybody kind of does this," he added while mimicking shaking. "And you'll see that all over A New Hope and Empire too, and it kind of works. But I love that set. It was really fun to work in. It was one of the more chaotic sets because by the end, the ship's crashing and you've got just crazy flashing light everywhere and you've got fire and smoke and everything's shaking. So yeah, we had a good time with that one."

You can watch our interview with Chris Teague at the top of the page.

How Many Episodes of The Acolyte Are Left?

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined. The show has a total of eight episodes, which means there are three to go with the finale airing on July 16th.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.

Star Wars: The Acolyte is available to stream on Disney+.

The Bikeriders was released in theaters over the weekend, and the new Jeff Nichols film is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with an 82% critics score and a 74% audience score. The movie is based on a photography book by Danny Lyon and follows a motorcycle club in the 1960s. In honor of the film's release, ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with the film's Makeup Department Head, Ashleigh Chavis, who spoke about working with the cast and how some of the looks came together. During the chat, we brought up how Chavis was an uncredited makeup artist on Black Panther, and she shared some details about her experience working with Marvel.

"Well, I worked with all of our amazing background extras for Black Panther on the Atlanta unit," Chavis shared. "So I was living in Atlanta at the time and it was so much fun. But we had to be at work at 2:30 every morning. And there were some days we had four or five, 600 background extras and it would be like myself and maybe 25 other makeup artists and 25 or 30 hairstylists."

"And it was just this really cool working wheel of these headdresses and wigs and hair pieces," she added. "And then we would do war paint and body makeup. We got to do a bunch of the different tribal makeup and markings and all of that. So that was really cool. You get to know the background extras that you're working with every day. You have your group that you're with, and that was a lot of fun. That's the only Marvel movie I've ever worked on, but it was such a good one. I'm so grateful to have been a part of that on any level."

Ashleigh Chavis Talks Michael Shannon:

During Chavis' ComicBook interview, she also spoke about working with Michael Shannon on The Bikeriders and George & Tammy.

"I guess specifically for Michael, he has his needs, but he's also just so professional that he wants it to look good," Chavis told ComicBook when asked about working with Shannon on multiple projects. "So obviously, if there are things that are uncomfortable to an actor that you could avoid, that's great, but he just wanted it to look good. And he is patient in the chair. He gives you the time that you need in the mornings ... You can have that time that you need as an artist at the beginning of the day."

"But that show [George & Tammy], it was shot out of chronological order with the six different episodes. So he was old, he was young, he was old. We were just back and forth," she continued. "So just ensuring that his skin wasn't irritated with everything and the prosthetics and the bald cap and the adhesives. But he's good about it. I mean, he's such a professional and such a warm guide to work with."

"There's nobody else better to have had [play Zipco in The Bikeriders]," she added.

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters.

It's a new age for DC Comics on the big screen. At the tail end of 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery restructured its plans for its superhero sandbox moving forward, bringing in Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad director James Gunn alongside Shazam! and Aquaman producer Peter Safran to front the newly-minted DC Studios. Gunn and Safran began by bringing an end to the DC Extended Universe, announcing that a new canon would begin when Superman hits theaters in 2025. This starting from scratch is an effort to create a more interconnected universe, not unlike what DC was able to accomplish on the small screen.

For over a decade, The CW aired multiple interconnected television programs based on DC characters in a franchise known as the Arrowverse. Beginning with Arrow in 2012, that Stephen Amell-led series spawned spinoffs like The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Batwoman, and Superman & Lois. The mastermind behind all of those aforementioned programs was producer Greg Berlanti.

Greg Berlanti Speaks on DC Studios' Future

The tights and flights era of Greg Berlanti's career is in the rear view.

Speaking to ComicBook at the Fly Me to the Moon junket, Berlanti reflected on his time working on The CW's Arrowverse, admitting that he does not see himself being able to "recreate that experience."

"I kind of feel like I served my time doing [the Arrowverse projects]. It was a real special moment in my life creatively," Berlanti said. "I don't know that I would ever be able to recreate that experience again. The people I got to do it with and the actors that I got to work with that I'm still so close with, it was a really special time."

Berlanti spent 11 years of his career producing DC-related projects for The CW. He teamed with Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg to create, write, and produce a television series based on Green Arrow back in 2012. After a successful first season, Berlanti brought Barry Allen (The Flash) into the fold for Arrow Season 2 with hopes of spinning off the character into his own solo series.

Weeks before Allen's guest episode aired, The CW ordered a pilot for The Flash, picking up the project to a full series six months later. Momentum for the Arrowverse barreled from there, with multiple more spinoffs and crossover specials coming in the subsequent years.

"I want them to succeed in all the ways that we were able to," Berlanti said of the incoming big-screen DC Universe. "I'd do anything to help anybody, but I have to say for us, that was a real Camelot moment of everything."

While Berlanti does not currently have any official ties to DC Studios, his Arrowverse success has inadvertently paved the way for some characters in upcoming DC Universe films. The Gunn-directed Superman will see heroes like Mr. Terrific and Hawkgirl making their big-screen debuts. Both of those characters appeared in live-action on Arrowverse programs prior to making the theatrical leap.

"For 10 years, we got to use and work with all these characters," Berlanti added. "Our number one credo was we want to put these characters back on the shelf more valuable than when we took them off, so that people would be interested in all of their stories."

Berlanti returns to the director's chair with Fly Me to the Moon, a Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum-led picture about the moon-landing conspiracy, which hits theaters on July 12th.

Manifest Media's Table Read podcast has finally released its highly-anticipated Fright Night episode. Back in April, the original cast of Fright Night was joined by Mark Hamill and Rosario Dawson to record a reading of the 1985 horror camp classic. ComicBook was lucky enough to be in attendance during the live reading, and we got the chance to chat with the film's director, Tom Holland, as well as its star, Chris Sarandon (Jerry Dandrige). Holland spoke about the film's initial release while Sarandon reflected on working with Roddy McDowall, who played Peter Vincent in the film. McDowall passed away in 1998, so his role was played by Hamill during the recording.

"It was the best experience I've ever had directing a film," Holland revealed to ComicBook. "I mean, none of them were as easy as this was, and that's because of a whole bunch of wonderful things coming together, and I was too inexperienced to know it. See, I had Richard Edlund doing the effects, and it was the whole Ghostbusters crew that literally Columbia wanted to keep employed because they thought they were going to do a sequel to Ghostbusters right away. And of course, it was years later, so they held Richard Edlund, Steve Johnson, Randy Cook, I mean, brilliant in-camera effects guys."

"We did this movie at a time when the vampire movie genre was sort of in ill repute," Sarandon shared with ComicBook. "And it had a wonderful kind of salutatory effect on the genre and also on the return of fans who love these movies ... The first time I read it, it was the sample script, and I looked at the title and I said, 'No, I can't do a movie called Fright Night. I'm a serious actor.'"

"As soon as I started reading it, I went, 'Oh my God, this is great. This is really well done, well written. I have to meet this guy, Tom.' I flew out to California and he and I sat and talked for a couple of hours, and as soon as we finished talking, and he literally described every shot to me, he said, 'Okay, here's how I'm going to shoot you.' And then he went, 'This is the opening and this is happening and this, and I'm coming in close on this.' ... And when he finished, I said, 'Jesus, this is a first-time director?' He's a cinephile and had a history of having written a number of movies and I just thought, 'I got to work with this guy.' It's been a love affair ever since."

Tom Holland Talks Fright Night's Success

"They thought the film wasn't going to do any business," Holland added during his chat with ComicBook. "But they had a place on their schedule for a little film. So they gave me that idea, $9 million, and they didn't bother me because there were no stars in it. There was not a lot of money riding on it. They didn't expect anything. The film of the time that everybody was looking at, I think it was called Perfect with John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis."

"So they didn't even think about me, and so I had no interference," Holland continued. "They pushed me towards the very end to cut when Jerry Dandrige was on the roof and slams the chimney with his elbow. But outside of that, I got everything that I wanted. So nobody pushed me about casting ... So it was an extraordinarily wonderful experience ... The more money goes into a film, the more they put the executives on the set, and the more you get pressure and interference."

Chris Sarandon Shares Stories About Roddy McDowall

"Well, my wife had worked with Roddy on a tour many years before with Vincent Price and his wife, Coral Browne, and she was on the road with them for a long time, so she became close friends with her," Sarandon told ComicBook when asked about McDowall.

"And so I got to know Roddy in a way, kind of tangentially through my wife. And then we did the movie together and he became a close friend to the point where we would be invited to Roddy's famous dinners at his house where some of the people who came were just extraordinary," he continued. "But he would create these alchemic kinds of dinners where screenwriters and movie stars and directors and producers and writers would all get together. And he was a font of history of this town, and in a way, a wonderful representative of the history of this city."

"And we would talk about some of the old movies he did and some of the movies that he was in. How Green Was My Valley? Still my favorite film," Sarandon shared.

Rosario Dawson Shares Love For Fight Night

During Manifest Media's table read of Fright Night, Rosario Dawson (Star Wars: Ahsoka) joined the cast to read multiple roles in the script. While chatting with ComicBook at the table read, Dawson spoke about her love for the film.

"Oh my God. Huge," Dawson shared when asked if she was a fan of the film. "I saw it all the time and I was joking about how wild that was. I used to put this on Channel 11. We used to watch it after school ... And Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. With the tassels at the end and you're like, 'How is this after school?' This was definitely when it was an adult world and not in a children's world, but they would let this play and you'd be able to watch it with commercials in between. It was totally normal. It was great."

You can listen to the Fright Night episode of the Table Read podcast here.

The comedy genre has evolved in countless ways over the decades, with movie audiences reacting differently to a variety of approaches from filmmakers. While some movies have gone absurd, outlandish, or unconventional, some classics never go out of style, which is exactly something writer/director Liz W. Garcia considered when developing her movie Space Cadet. Not only did Garcia herself look to classics starring Goldie Hawn and Reese Witherspoon, but she also enlisted Emma Roberts to star in the movie, who had a similar affinity for the classics. Space Cadet is set to arrive on Prime Video on July 4th.

"I knew her to be a person who in real life really makes me laugh," Garcia admitted to ComicBook of how she knew Roberts was the right performer to tackle the project. "She's very, very witty, she's very clever, and she also really understood what the movie was that I wanted to make. And it was the movie that she wanted to make, too. She wanted to do her Goldie Hawn moment, Private Benjamin, Legally Blonde. She knew that it would require her to be big and goofy and she was like all in. So I really could not have asked for anything more."

Prime Video describes Space Cadet, "Tiffany 'Rex' Simpson (Emma Roberts) has always dreamed of going to space, but life isn't going quite as planned. Determined to turn things around, she aims high and with the embellishing touch of her supportive best friend Nadine (Poppy Liu), her 'doctored' application lands her in NASA's ultra-competitive astronaut training program. In over her head, Rex relies on her quick wits, moxie, and determination to get to the top of her class. NASA program directors Pam (Gabrielle Union) and Logan (Tom Hopper) certainly take notice, but can this Florida girl get through training and into the cosmos before she blows her cover? Written and directed by Liz W. Garcia (Purple Hearts, The Sinner), Space Cadet is a comedy about the power of being yourself, following your dreams, and shooting for the stars."

A difficult challenge for any movie featuring a character who is out of their element is ensuring that they are merely overwhelmed yet aren't inherently ignorant, with Garcia expressing why it's such a relatable approach to a comedy.

"There are film traditions for that kind of thing. It's what every underdog story winds up being, is that an audience wants to relate to a character in the sense that we all feel overwhelmed," the filmmaker pointed out. "We all feel like imposter syndrome, but the thing that makes it a movie and makes the person a protagonist, a hero or heroine, is that they have a talent, right? They have a skill. And so that's what I was leaning into, is also this idea that on some level we all feel like we have something to offer that isn't seen, and giving her the package doesn't look like it's going to be impressive and up to par, but it is."

Embracing that spirit of reviving classics is a scene in which the characters perform "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows at karaoke, though Garcia admitted that the movie nearly went even further back into karaoke classics.

"The song that I had in the script was 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' by Meat Loaf, which is an amazing song, amazing karaoke song," Garcia confirmed. "It's like eight minutes long. So I had to pivot and I'm very happy with where we ended up."

Space Cadet lands on Prime Video on July 4th.

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

Having starred in projects like Black Sails, Game of Thrones, and The Umbrella Academy, actor Tom Hopper hasn't been afraid to take on physically imposing roles, but for the Prime Video movie Space Cadet, he needed to embrace an entirely different set of acting muscles to reflect the more lighthearted tone of the comedy. Even if the overall tone of the project was far less intense than some of the other endeavors Hopper has been a part of, he expressed how his preparation had a lot in common with those more physically demanding opportunities. Space Cadet lands on Prime Video on July 4th.

"Well, my rule of thumb is it is always got to be real within the realms of the world and that character's world. So when you establish what the world is, if it's a slightly heightened goofier world, then you play within those walls," Hopper explained to ComicBook. "And Umbrella Academy has a very similar thing. It's heightened so we have more leeway. Sometimes these characters will never fit in in the world that we know today, but there's obviously a place and a time for that. And so yeah, I do tend to approach it exactly the same because it's always got to be real for them in that moment within the world, so the process doesn't change. The process of making that character real for the audience within the world is the same."

Prime Video describes Space Cadet, "Tiffany 'Rex' Simpson (Emma Roberts) has always dreamed of going to space, but life isn't going quite as planned. Determined to turn things around, she aims high and with the embellishing touch of her supportive best friend Nadine (Poppy Liu), her 'doctored' application lands her in NASA's ultra-competitive astronaut training program. In over her head, Rex relies on her quick wits, moxie, and determination to get to the top of her class. NASA program directors Pam (Gabrielle Union) and Logan (Tom Hopper) certainly take notice, but can this Florida girl get through training and into the cosmos before she blows her cover? Written and directed by Liz W. Garcia (Purple Hearts, The Sinner), Space Cadet is a comedy about the power of being yourself, following your dreams, and shooting for the stars."

As far as careers are concerned, Hopper joked that, much like how Rex feels like she exaggerated her abilities to score a coveted job, the actor also might embellish facts to score a role.

In response to being asked about a job he'd be willing to lie to get, Hopper confessed, "Yeah, it's called acting. I've said in the past that I could horse ride when I could not horse ride. I said I could sword fight when I couldn't sword fight. And when I got the jobs, I literally was like, 'Oh, my God, I need horse riding lessons.' And then very quickly went and got horse riding lessons and now I can ride a horse, which is good."

Space Cadet hits Prime Video on July 4th.

Will you be checking out the movie? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Greg Berlanti has embarked on a lunar expedition. The mastermind behind The CW's Arrowverse signed on to direct Fly Me to the Moon in 2022, replacing original director Jason Bateman. This film, set on the backdrop of the Space Race, had been in development for a couple of years and eventually garnered momentum when it was acquired by Apple Studios. Despite working in Hollywood for nearly three decades, Fly Me to the Moon would represent just his fourth directorial endeavor, as Berlanti had spent the majority of his career as a producer. Berlanti's lack of directing credits comes by choice, as he finds himself drawn mostly to producing, but he saw Fly Me to the Moon's story as too strong to not embrace it to the fullest.

"When I do do those things, it's [an] every day [commitment]. It's the job for two years because of the vastness of the job that you're taking on. It really has to be the right story for me," Berlanti told ComicBook. "I'm not a director by nature. I don't wake up every day being like, 'What am I going to direct today? I am a storyteller, so I'm drawn to stories. I read this script by Rose Gilroy. It reminded me of when I was a kid, going to the movies in the '80s every weekend when we'd just take a trip and see the kinds of movies that were all playing against each other. It was unbelievable what was out and they were all original."

Part of what appealed to Berlanti in regards to the story was just that, its originality. Fly Me to the Moon takes the real-life events of the 1960s Space Race but adds a conspiratorial twist. As Channing Tatum's Cole Davis is preparing NASA to put astronauts on the moon, Scarlett Johansson's Kelly Jones is at work on Project Artemis, a top-secret government plan to film a fake moon landing as backup footage in case the legitimate mission fails.

"The fact that that it was an original story for the audience," Berlanti shared praise for the script. "I feel like audiences are so desperate for more and more of that right now."

Beyond the sentimentality, Berlanti was itching to collaborate with the talent already on board. Johansson, who was originally attached just to produce, echoed the same desire as Berlanti to be involved as much as possible.

"Just the fact that Scarlett was going to throw her weight as a producer and then also as an actor behind an original story of this size and this magnitude, I thought that's like a [once in a] lifetime experience that I can't pass up," Berlanti added. "It was who was involved. Someone like Scarlett, knowing the kind of caliber of actor I'd get to work with."

Fly Me to the Moon hits theaters on July 12th.

Original movies on Prime Video have found ways to push boundaries into ambitious arenas, though there's also something to be said about reviving beloved formulas, while also finding ways to put new spins on tried-and-true storytelling premises. Case in point, the new film Space Cadet showcases archetypes seen in movies like Private Benjamin and Legally Blonde, while taking underestimated characters to NASA for an out-of-this-world experience. Stars of the movie Emma Roberts and Poppy Liu recently reflected on what drew their interest to the project and how they brought the outing to life. Space Cadet premieres on Prime Video on July 4th.

"I love a fish-out-of-water story. I love, also, seeing someone, especially a young woman, who is underestimated and basically shows that she can save the day, but maybe not in a conventional way," Roberts revealed to ComicBook. "And I just think that that story, it never gets old and I haven't seen it in this setting. And so I was so excited to get to do this with Rex and have it be a Florida party girl who accidentally lies her way into NASA. I want to be in that movie and I want to see that movie."

Prime Video describes Space Cadet, "Tiffany 'Rex' Simpson (Emma Roberts) has always dreamed of going to space, but life isn't going quite as planned. Determined to turn things around, she aims high and with the embellishing touch of her supportive best friend Nadine (Poppy Liu), her 'doctored' application lands her in NASA's ultra-competitive astronaut training program. In over her head, Rex relies on her quick wits, moxie, and determination to get to the top of her class. NASA program directors Pam (Gabrielle Union) and Logan (Tom Hopper) certainly take notice, but can this Florida girl get through training and into the cosmos before she blows her cover? Written and directed by Liz W. Garcia (Purple Hearts, The Sinner), Space Cadet is a comedy about the power of being yourself, following your dreams, and shooting for the stars."

The nature of the story sees Rex and Nadine separated for significant portions of the film, requiring Liu to showcase her comedic chops independently of the rest of the story. Liu weighed in on the experience of embracing the film's comedy separate from Roberts.

"I think it was really fun, because of the way that [wirter/director] Liz Garcia directs, where she gives you a lot of creative liberty, you get to just do some wild takes," Liu admitted. "She's giggling behind the camera, too, so even when I don't have a scene partner, she was my scene partner, because I was like, Liz is watching this and she's giggling and she's over there. So I feel like having that connection with her and knowing that she was ever present was really great. But yes, Nadine is alone a lot, just wreaking havoc. Wreaking havoc, because she's so bored at her day job."

Space Cadet premieres on Prime Video on July 4th.

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

Not all Netflix series get the chance to wrap up their storylines before they come to an end, as the streamer has been known to pull the plug on fan-favorite projects, but the adaptation of Gerard Way and Gabriel B?'s The Umbrella Academy will head into Season 4 knowing that this is the end of the series. While other comic book franchises use a final season to set up ways to extend the narrative with spinoffs, Umbrella Academy star Tom Hopper recently detailed how the final season will offer a "complete" storyline for audiences, as opposed to leaving them with lingering questions. As fans wait for the final season of The Umbrella Academy to premiere later this summer, they can see Hopper in Space Cadet, which premieres on Prime Video on July 4th.

"I think there's going to definitely be some things that you already love. These siblings, I feel like one big thing that the reason that the show's become a hit is because people have fell in love with the siblings, and their relationship to each other and how fun that is," Hopper shared with ComicBook about what fans of the series can expect in Season 4. "And there's bucket loads of that, so that you won't be disappointed at.'

He continued, "There is an ending, which I believe is a complete ending. I don't think fans will be disappointed with how it ends. Whether they'll be a little bit sad and broken, I don't know, because it was certainly emotional for us as actors doing it. I was very sad to finish it because I've fallen in love with that show and the character and the journey he's been on, and I've fallen in love with my siblings on that show. I'm still super tight to all of them, so it will be something that lives on for all of us, and I just hope that the fans feel satisfied."

By contrast, Hopper's Space Cadet is a much more light-hearted adventure, with the actor joking, "That's why I made it, you see, for the people who are broken from Umbrella. So there you go. You're welcome."

Prime Video describes Space Cadet, "Tiffany 'Rex' Simpson (Emma Roberts) has always dreamed of going to space, but life isn't going quite as planned. Determined to turn things around, she aims high and with the embellishing touch of her supportive best friend Nadine (Poppy Liu), her 'doctored' application lands her in NASA's ultra-competitive astronaut training program. In over her head, Rex relies on her quick wits, moxie, and determination to get to the top of her class. NASA program directors Pam (Gabrielle Union) and Logan (Tom Hopper) certainly take notice, but can this Florida girl get through training and into the cosmos before she blows her cover? Written and directed by Liz W. Garcia (Purple Hearts, The Sinner), Space Cadet is a comedy about the power of being yourself, following your dreams, and shooting for the stars."

The Umbrella Academy Season 4 premieres on Netflix on August 8th. Space Cadet premieres on Prime Video on July 4th.

What do you think of the star's remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Actor Emma Roberts was one of the earliest names announced to be involved with the Spider-Man spinoff Madame Web, yet her role was kept secret all the way up until the film's release, where it was revealed that she played Peter Parker's mother Mary. The nature of the film meant that Mary didn't get involved in the action to the extent of other characters, with Roberts confirming that, while she appreciated the opportunity to play such a pivotal role, she'd also love to return to the world of comic books in the future to take on a more action-oriented character. Roberts can next be seen in Space Cadet, which hits Prime Video on July 4th.

"I loved getting to just pop in and play Peter Parker's mom, and I loved the director of that movie. I had so much fun," Roberts revealed to ComicBook. "I think that playing comic book characters is so fun, I would love to get the chance to play one that maybe gets a little more action."

In regards to her breakout role in American Horror Story: Coven, Roberts added, "I would also love to get to play a witch again. I've seen some witch comic book characters that I would be into."

Despite not delivering as intense of a physical performance as costar Dakota Johnson, Roberts knows how important a role she played in the overall mythology of Spider-Man, as she joked, "I birthed Peter Parker. Excuse me, what is more heroic than that?" In regards to the outfits some of her fellow cast members got to sport, the actor added, "I just got to wear a nine-month pregnant belly. Again, that is heroic. You don't even know what that's like. And then I had to do it on American Horror Story for another six months of my life wearing a belly. I should have three kids by now, and I only have one with the amount of times I've had to be pregnant."

While Madame Web marked the first chapter in what could be an ongoing series about various Spider-Man characters, Mary Parker famously dies in Marvel lore, resulting in Peter going to live with Aunt May. Whatever the future might be for Sony's Spider-Man Universe, we shouldn't expect to see Roberts return, though this does free her up to take on another superhero role in a different franchise.

Prime Video describes the Space Cadet, "Tiffany 'Rex' Simpson (Emma Roberts) has always dreamed of going to space, but life isn't going quite as planned. Determined to turn things around, she aims high and with the embellishing touch of her supportive best friend Nadine (Poppy Liu), her 'doctored' application lands her in NASA's ultra-competitive astronaut training program. In over her head, Rex relies on her quick wits, moxie, and determination to get to the top of her class. NASA program directors Pam (Gabrielle Union) and Logan (Tom Hopper) certainly take notice, but can this Florida girl get through training and into the cosmos before she blows her cover? Written and directed by Liz W. Garcia (Purple Hearts, The Sinner), Space Cadet is a comedy about the power of being yourself, following your dreams, and shooting for the stars."

Stay tuned for updates on Roberts' possible future in the world of superheroes. Space Cadet lands on Prime Video on July 4th.

Would you like to see Roberts play a different superhero? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Hollywood's next big comedy franchise halted before it could ever truly begin. Back in 2008, Sony Pictures began developing 21 Jump Street, a feature film adaptation of the Johnny Depp-led 1980s television series of the same name. While the movie version would continue the same concept of youthful police officers going undercover at a high school, the Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) script promised to dial the comedy up to an 11. Fresh off of Superbad, Jonah Hill joined 21 Jump Street to refine the script, executive produce, and star in what he envisioned as an "R-rated, Bad Boys-meets-John Hughes-type movie." Channing Tatum signed on to co-star, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller would direct, and the rest is history.

21 Jump Street went on to bring in over $200 million dollars on just a $42 million dollar budget, but it was its word-of-mouth momentum out of the gate gave Sony Pictures all the confidence it needed to pursue a sequel. Just days after 21 Jump Street premiered at South by Southwest in March 2012, Sony looked to make a 22 Jump Street. Hill, Tatum, Lord and Miller all returned for the second installment, which went on to gross $331 million dollars worldwide in Summer 2014.

The upward trajectory of the franchise led Sony to wanting more, as a 23 Jump Street was confirmed later that fall. That December, leaked Sony emails revealed that the third Jump Street installment was planned to be a crossover with the Men in Black franchise, tentatively titled MIB 23. Despite landing a director at one point, MIB 23 never made it past the development stage, and the Jump Street franchise has been without life ever since.

Channing Tatum Still Wants to Make 23 Jump Street

Even one decade on from its last installment, Channing Tatum still wants to finish the Jump Street trilogy.

Speaking to ComicBook at the Fly Me to the Moon press junket, Tatum addressed the long-rumored Men in Black x 21 Jump Street crossover.

"There is a project that was written and it's still the best script that I've ever read for a third movie," Tatum revealed.

The specifics of what the planned third Jump Street movie would entail came in an unprecedented way. Back in late 2014, Sony Pictures was subject to a company-wide data breach after a hacker group leaked private emails. Within those exposed emails, industry-changing conversations were revealed including plans to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, concepts of an animated Miles Morales film, and the 23 Jump Street and Men in Black crossover idea. MIB 23 is the only one of those three to not materialize.

"What happened?" Fly Me to the Moon co-star Scarlett Johansson asked Tatum.

"It's just a lot of bureaucracy, kind of above the line stuff," Tatum responded. "It's really hard to get it made and we've been trying to get it done."

The last tangible MIB 23 momentum was eight years ago. James Bobin (The Muppets) signed on to direct the threequel in 2016 with a speculated production start of that June. Cameras never started rolling.

"You know what, I'm going to put some good juju out there and I'm going to say I would love to see 23 Jump Street," Tatum told ComicBook. "I would love to do it with Jonah, and Jonah I know wants to do it. We would love to just get to go play again."

Tatum stars in Fly Me to the Moon, which hits theaters on July 12th.

The prehistoric era is returning to the big screen. Back in the early the 2010s, Universal Pictures began working on a soft reboot of Jurassic Park, rebranding the Steven Spielberg-directed franchise as Jurassic World but continuing the canon of the originals. Led by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, Jurassic World (2015) realized John Hammond's initial creation, launching a commercial dinosaur-populated theme park open to the public. Jurassic World crushed at the box office, breaking The Avengers (2012)'s then-record for domestic opening weekend box office and going on to haul $1.6 billion at the worldwide box office. It currently sits as the eighth highest grossing film of all time.

Jurassic World's success was enough to spawn a new trilogy. Subsequent installments Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) both hit that ever-elusive billion dollar mark, but each dropped by over $300 million to its respective predecessor. Critic scores also dipped, hitting as low as 29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Two years removed from the Jurassic World trilogy wrapping up, Universal Pictures looks to rekindle that fossil fascination.

Scarlett Johansson Confirms Casting in Jurassic World 4

The land before time has landed some modern-day star power.

Speaking to ComicBook at the Fly Me to the Moon press junket, Scarlett Johansson confirmed her casting in the next Jurassic installment.

"Everything," Johansson, who last led a blockbuster franchise during her Marvel Cinematic Universe tenure, responded when asked what about the new Jurassic project made her want to return to franchise films. "I'm an enormous Jurassic Park fan. 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."

This untitled sequel, tentatively known as Jurassic World 4, is penned by David Koepp, the writer of the original Jurassic Park (1993) screenplay. Jurassic World 4 represents Koepp's first time working in the franchise since 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park. This will be his first Jurassic script not directed by Steven Spielberg as Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, The Creator) will helm the project.

"The script is so incredible," Johansson continued. "David Koepp wrote it. He returned after like 30 years to write the script. He's so passionate about it, which is so awesome."

Johansson joining Jurassic World is a long time coming, as she revealed she had been pushing to work within the franchise since it returned to theaters in the 2010s.

"I'm such an enormous fan of the franchise and huge nerd for it. I'm just like, I can't even, I'm pinching myself," Johansson added. "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."

Jurassic World 4 is currently undergoing principal photography in Thailand. Johansson can next be seen in Fly Me to the Moon, which hits theaters on July 12th.

Cinematographer Chris Teague's latest project is Star Wars: The Acolyte, which is currently four episodes deep on Disney+. Teague worked on "Lost/Found," "Revenge/Justice," "Day," and the upcoming fifth episode. ComicBook recently had the chance to speak with Teague about his time working on The Acolyte, which marked his first Star Wars project. Teague explained how he worked alongside the VFX team and how he went about filming lightsaber scenes. He also opened up about some of the show's most difficult locations: space and Coruscant, the city-covered planet where much of George Lucas' prequel trilogy took place.

"That was honestly one of the more challenging environments I feel like, because what do you want to make it look like? Space," Teague explained. "I looked at a lot of references. I looked at movies, I looked at real images from space, and we did a lot of testing in our lighting. And I initially thought I would go with something that was a bit of a harder light and it didn't quite play the way we wanted it to."

"And we realized, I mean, you need a lot of room to create a sense of space because space is infinite and you're actually in reality working inside this box of a stage," he continued. "So there's a lot of trickery that goes into creating the right quality of light to make it feel like it's coming from infinitely far away and make the audience not think too much about it. So yeah, it took a lot of testing, a lot of staring at the screen and squinting your eyes and being like, 'Does that feel real? Do we believe that or what?'"

Chris Teague Talks the Challenges of Coruscant:

For The Acolyte's director of photography, space wasn't the only challenge he faced. While speaking to ComicBook, Teague explained why Coruscant was a difficult location to recreate.

"I found it to be that one was challenging for me because again, I love the originals and I wanted Coruscant to have a little bit of texture to it," Teague explained. "And typically when you see it, it's just sort of perfectly shiny and pristine and clean. And obviously ... it should be, it is that kind of place. But we also wanted to make sure it fit into our show."

"So there was a lot of work and working with the art department just to figure out how to get the right amount of texture and tonality there so that everything felt like it was tactile.," he added. "You could reach out and touch those sets, that they weren't just all fabrication or a digital creation or something like that."

The Acolyte's first four episodes are now streaming on Disney+. Stay tuned for more from our interview with Chris Teague.

The Bikeriders was released in theaters this weekend, and it is based on a photography book by Danny Lyon that follows a motorcycle club in the 1960s. The film was helmed by Jeff Nicholes (Take Shelter, Midnight Special) and stars Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two) as Benny, Tom Hardy (Venom) as Johnny, Michael Shannon (Midnight Special) as Zipco, Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) as Funny Sonny, and Boyd Holbrook (Logan) as Cal, who are all members of the gang. The film also features Mike Faist (Challengers) as Danny Lyon and Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) as Kathy, Benny's wife. In the film, you can spot some of Hardy's real-life tattoos, which the actor spoke about in a recent interview with ComicBook. We also had the chance to chat with the film's Makeup Department Head, Ashleigh Chavis, who also talked about Hardy's ink and how it fit into the period piece.

"Jeff was, and along with my own research and everything between the two of us, we were at an understanding of what was not common in the '60s and '50s and everything for men to have as far as tattoos goes," Chavis explained. "So a lot of tattoos that these guys walk into the trailer with today are just way too modern. They just don't work for that. I do think that definitely Tom and some of the other guys, the ink that they have could completely compliment a character, but for this one, it just didn't really seem to really work. And Tom has a makeup artist named Audrey Doyle that he's worked with for I think over a decade. And so between the two of us and then Tom and Jeff, I think we all came to a pretty good understanding fairly easily."

"But costumes, they worked so well and did such an amazing job with the guys that were really inked up or had full sleeves. They put them in long sleeves and it didn't compromise the characters at all. So that really helped us out," she continued. "But yeah, I think actors like Tom who have a lot on them, depending on the character, it could absolutely work. But this one, I feel like we just kind of agreed and Jeff kind of signed off on the things that he would approve to be on camera, and maybe those weren't the right styles for this one, but he still looked so badass in every thing that he was in."

Tom Hardy Breaks Down His Character From The Bikeriders:

In The Bikeriders, Hardy plays Johnny, the leader of The Vandals. While chatting with ComicBook, Hardy spoke about how layered his character is in the film.

"Well, a vulnerability to somebody who externally projects themselves as being something that internally they're not," Hardy explained. "I think that's true of all people. They're a paradox of conflicting drivers. So it is just something that I've noticed for me. Some people, the more exterior, they seem to be frosty or whatever, but lies, sometimes, a much softer and vulnerable sensitive center. Those who disport themselves as sensitive may fall foul of the complete opposite."

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned for more from our interview with Ashleigh Chavis.

Star Wars: The Acolyte has now released four episodes on Disney+, and three of them saw cinematographer Chris Teague serving as the director of photography. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with Teague and he spoke about what he did to prepare when joining the iconic franchise and what it was like working with the VFX team and filming lightsabers. Teague has many cinematography credits to his name ranging from Russian Doll to Only Murders in the Building, but it's no small thing getting to join Star Wars, so we also asked Teague if anything surprised him along the way.

"I mean, probably a million things surprised me along the way," Teague shared. "I'm trying to hone it down to one thing. It was never like, 'Oh wow, I can't believe they do this this way or that way.' It was more just like, 'Now I'm working with one of the best special effects teams in the world, and now I'm getting to see the kind of tools that they use and the kind of team that they have.' Or, 'Now I'm getting to see Neal Scanlan design these incredible creatures and see how much what he creates is just there on camera.'"

"He just does an amazing job, him and his team creating these creature heads and faces and there's just very little or no modification after the fact," Teague explained. "I remember showing some of the footage to one of my friends and he's like, 'Well, that's a CG creature.' And I'm like, 'No, that's real. That was in the room.'"

You can watch our interview with Chris Teague at the top of the page.

What Is The Acolyte About?

Set during The High Republic, Star Wars: The Acolyte delivers an investigation into a mysterious string of crimes, which pits a Jedi master against his former apprentice in a race to uncover the truth. The more that the pair learn about the situation, the darker their journey becomes, as they confront things that darker than either of them could have imagined.

The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.

Stay tuned for more from our interview with Chris Teague. The first four episodes of Star Wars: The Acolyte are now streaming on Disney+ with the fifth episode scheduled to drop on Tuesday, June 25th.

The Bikeriders was released in theaters this weekend, and the new film was directed by Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Midnight Special) and is based on a photography book by Danny Lyon that follows a motorcycle club in the 1960s. The new movie is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with an 82% critics score and a 72% audience score. In honor of the film's release, ComicBook had the chance to chat with Makeup Department Head, Ashleigh Chavis. During our chat, she spoke about collaborating with Nichols and working with Michael Shannon who she also with on the Showtime series, George & Tammy.

"This is the first time I've ever worked with Jeff, but when I saw the movie Loving, and I'd already seen some of his other ones ... I just thought, 'Oh my gosh, I hope I can work with this Jeff Nichols guy sometime.' I didn't know him personally, but I just thought, 'Gosh, I love the way he tells a story.' But he himself is the nicest guy. He is so trusting of his teams that he puts together, and I think, again, everything feels very intentional from what I could tell with him"

"It's like once he picks who's going to be where and uses his production team as well and producers to help him with that, he just has trust in you," she continued. "He's done what he needed to do to hire who he wants to hire, and then once you're there, he trusts you. And so he communicates trust through his words, through his actions, his tone. He's not a screamer on set ... That kind of environment starts at the top and trickles down onto everybody else. And so he has this very calming way about him. And I think if you spoke to anybody on the cast or the crew, everybody appreciates that kind of personality for sure."

Ashleigh Chavis Talks Michael Shannon:

"I guess specifically for Michael, he has his needs, but he's also just so professional that he wants it to look good," Chavis told ComicBook when asked about working with Shannon on multiple projects. "So obviously, if there are things that are uncomfortable to an actor that you could avoid, that's great, but he just wanted it to look good. And he is patient in the chair. He gives you the time that you need in the mornings ... You can have that time that you need as an artist at the beginning of the day."

"But that show [George & Tammy], it was shot out of chronological order with the six different episodes. So he was old, he was young, he was old. We were just back and forth," she continued. "So just ensuring that his skin wasn't irritated with everything and the prosthetics and the bald cap and the adhesives. But he's good about it. I mean, he's such a professional and such a warm guide to work with."

"There's nobody else better to have had [play Zipco in The Bikeriders]," she added.

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned for more from our interview with Ashleigh Chavis.

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters, and the new Jeff Nichols film is based on a photography book by Danny Lyon that follows a motorcycle club in the 1960s. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with some of the film's cast, including Tom Hardy and Norman Reedus, who are both known for their acting chops in addition to their love of motorcycles. In fact, Reedus has his own travel series on AMC called Ride with Norman Reedus which has seen him traveling around on his bike with famous guest stars like Keanu Reeves and Josh Brolin. Reedus has even reunited with some of his The Walking Dead co-stars on the reality show, so we asked the actor if there have been any discussions of him doing an episode with his The Bikeriders co-stars.

"No," Reedus admitted when asked if there had been any discussions about getting The Bikeriders cast on Ride with Norman Reedus. "No," he added when asked if he did any riding with his co-stars just for fun.

"The first day they saw me, actually I was in makeup and that's how I introduced myself," he shared. "But I'm up on top of a hill and I'm about to ride down through about 300 extras and they're sitting on a park bench and I'm up there and I'm trying to get the suicide shift. I can't hold it a certain way. And then I borrowed the glasses off the makeup artist, which were pink ... And I said, 'Wait, are these prescriptions?' And she goes, 'Yeah.' I was like, 'Oh, screw it.' So I kind of pulled up and introduced myself in the makeup and everyone's kind of looking at me, 'What is he doing?' It's kind of how it started."

We also asked Hardy if he would like to appear on Reedus' show, and it sounds like the Venom star is more interested in just joining his co-star for a ride.

"No, not at all. Thank you. Next question," Hardy joked when asked about appearing on Ride with Norman Reedus. "But I would definitely ride out with Norman. A hundred percent. Maybe not as a show. I like riding."

You can watch our interviews with Hardy and Reedus at the top of the page.

What Is The Bikeriders About?

You can read the official synopsis of The Bikeriders here: "THE BIKERIDERS captures a rebellious time in America when the culture and people were changing. After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club."

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters.

Seven years after Orphan Black drew to a close, the series' "galaxy of women" is about to continue in a new way, thanks to the spinoff series Orphan Black: Echoes. Set decades into the future, the AMC and BBC America series follows a new conspiracy surrounding human cloning, and the impact it has on the lives of various people. At the center of Echoes is Lucy, a woman with a mysterious past tied to said conspiracy, who is brought to life by Jessica Jones and Breaking Bad alum Krysten Ritter.

In anticipation of the series premiere of Orphan Black: Echoes, ComicBook chatted with Ritter about continuing the next evolution of the beloved franchise. We also spoke about Ritter's dynamic with co-star Amanda Fix, the influence Jessica Jones had on her performance as Jules, and so much more.

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ComicBook: What was your connection to the original Orphan Black? Did you watch it as it was airing, or did you catch up on it once Echoes was in the works?

Krysten Ritter: I watched the show when it was out ten years ago, because of Tatiana Maslany and her performance and how epic she was. She was always nominated, and so I was aware of it then.

It really feels like Orphan Black's themes of agency and body autonomy are even more important now than when the original show aired. How important was it for you, both as the actor and as the executive producer, to tackle that in this new way in Echoes?

Yeah, I think it was an exciting opportunity for me, as an actress, to play a character who doesn't feel the way she's supposed to feel, doesn't have the memories that she's supposed to have. It really is a big study of identity, and nature versus nurture, and love, and 'How deep does that go?' and 'How does that play out?' All of that stuff was what was so appealing to me, when the role came my way.

Without getting too into spoilers, I really, really loved the Lucy and Jules dynamic. It blew me away. What was it like to work with Amanda, and be these mirrors of each other in such a unique way?

I absolutely adore Amanda, and I loved our days on set together -- which, there were a lot of them. I always had her next to me. We were always just gabbing, gabbing, gabbing. She's so smart. She actually came to her chemistry read with me wearing a black wig. The sort of physical, obvious resemblance to what I looked like when I was 15, I loved that decision that she made. I felt like it was so ballsy, and it was something I probably would've done. I was so sold on her, and it was exciting working with an actress who is starting her career around the same time I did. She's already got a lot of credits, but I started acting at 23, and when I was starting out, girls were always in short skirts and heels, and that was just how it was. So for me, I had a real kind of sit back, perspective moment and it was a kind of emotional, getting to see her start her career in a completely different world. She's wearing baggy clothes and dressed like Billie Eilish and looks so cool, and that just wouldn't have been how things were when I started acting 100 years ago. So there was just something, I just had such a strong affinity for her. I'm so excited for her. I'm so proud of her. She's so smart. She leans in, she has ideas that are good, and she just kind of reminded me of me when I was young. It was very easy to act with her, and just a natural rapport, because I felt like that connection to her. She's a special actress, for sure.

What would you say surprised you the most about the experience of working on this season?

Well, on a personal level, I was by myself with my son in another country. I'm really proud of us. It was such a big adventure. It was really hard and also really exciting, and we have so many amazing memories together. Like, "Mama going to work and doing her TV show," and bringing my kid and doing it all. And then working all day, and then getting home to my real job, which is mother. It was a very big adventure for me, personally.

What do you hope fans take away from the season once it has all aired?

I hope people enjoy the show. I hope that the fans of the original spot and find and appreciate all of the Easter eggs. But also, I think it's something that will be fun for totally new audiences that haven't seen the original, because I think the show is its own thing and stands on its own as a fun ride.

Even though there are such fundamentally different characters, were there any ways that playing Jessica Jones helped prepare you for playing Lucy?

When you're number one on the call sheet, especially with something like Jessica Jones, it's a machine. You're getting to flex your muscles in such a big way, and you really learn, on the production side, and how to make your days, and all of that. So that, of course, informs anytime I go to set now. I knew that there was a stunt sequence in the first episode and I was like, "Yeah, I'll be okay. I'll be okay for that stuff." And I love it. I love doing stunts, and so I got to do them so much, obviously, on Jessica Jones, and those were always such exciting, exhilarating, thrilling days. So getting to do that here, too, was really fun for me.

Orphan Black: Echoes will premiere on Sunday, June 23rd on AMC, AMC+, and BBC America.

This weekend brings the debut of Orphan Black: Echoes, a new spinoff series to the beloved BBC America adventure Orphan Black. This time around, the central protagonist in Echoes' twisty story is Lucy, brought to life by genre TV veteran Krysten Ritter. While speaking with ComicBook about her role on Orphan Black: Echoes, Ritter revealed that her experience on the fan-favorite Marvel series Jessica Jones played an influential role in her approach to leading the series, as well as stunt work.

"When you're number one on the call sheet, especially with something like Jessica Jones, it's a machine," Ritter explained. "You're getting to flex your muscles in such a big way, and you really learn, on the production side, and how to make your days, and all of that. So that, of course, informs anytime I go to set now. I knew that there was a stunt sequence in the first episode and I was like, "Yeah, I'll be okay. I'll be okay for that stuff." And I love it. I love doing stunts, and so I got to do them so much, obviously, on Jessica Jones, and those were always such exciting, exhilarating, thrilling days. So getting to do that here, too, was really fun for me."

Will Krysten Ritter Return to Jessica Jones?

With Daredevil: Born Again slated to debut on Disney+ next year, plenty of speculation has swirled surrounding the potential return of the other Defenders stars to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. During a 2023 appearance on Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast, Ritter indicated that she is more than willing to reprise her role, if given the opportunity.

"I have no idea. I hope so," Ritter revealed. "I think that people love Jessica. I know it because I live it. Honestly, I don't know. Marvel, they're so secretive. I don't know. I'm just putting it out there that, of course, I would be there in a second. I'd have my boots and jacket on, ready to rock."

What Is Orphan Black: Echoes About?

Orphan Black: Echoes follows a group of women as they weave their way into each other's lives and embark on a thrilling journey, unraveling the mystery of their identity and uncovering a wrenching story of love and betrayal. Ritter stars as Lucy, a woman who has an unimaginable origin story and is trying to find her place in the world. Anna Fishko will serve as showrunner and writer of Orphan Black: Echoes, while series co-creator John Fawcett will return as an executive producer and director. The series also stars Keeley Hawes, Amanda Fix, and Avon Jogia.

"I also appreciate that it's an existing franchise," Ritter previously said of working on the show. "There's so much TV; it's so hard to launch new shows, and this is a cool opportunity to do this next installation in the franchise. It's wildly different. There are going to be Easter eggs, but it's really a completely new story, new everything. But the first one was so good; it's a really interesting, cool world to walk into."

Orphan Black: Echoes will premiere on Sunday, June 23rd on AMC, AMC+, and BBC America.

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters, and the new Jeff Nichols film is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with an 82% critics score. The film follows a motorcycle club in the 1960s and is based on a photography book by Danny Lyon. The movie stars Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two) as Benny, Tom Hardy (Venom) as Johnny, Michael Shannon (Midnight Special) as Zipco, Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) as Funny Sonny, and Boyd Holbrook (Logan) as Cal, who are all members of the gang. The film also stars Mike Faist (Challengers) as Danny Lyon and Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) as Kathy, Benny's wife. ComicBook recently spoke to Comer about the film and explained why the film was so relatable. We also asked how she managed to capture Kathy's thick Chicago accent.

"Well, it was interesting because I knew Kathy was from North Chicago, but when I got the audio of her when Danny Lyons interviewed her in the 1960s, and I started working with my dialect coach, my dialect coach Victoria was like, 'Every vowel sound is a contradiction.' She was like, 'There's so much here that doesn't make sense if you're going to do a kind of generic Chicago accent.'"

"So she was like, 'What do you want to do?' And I was like, 'Oh, I want to get as close to this audio as I possibly can. That's my only kind of interest.' So honestly, it was just about spending time with her in my headphones and trying to understand all of that, all those kind of nuances. And then just having Jeff on set to put my trust in him and for him to let me know when it's not quite right or it needs more or less. So it was a really fun process."

You can watch our interview with Comer at the top of the page.

Tom Hardy Breaks Down His Character From The Bikeriders:

In The Bikeriders, Hardy plays Johnny, the leader of The Vandals. While chatting with ComicBook, Hardy spoke about how layered his character is in the film.

"Well, a vulnerability to somebody who externally projects themselves as being something that internally they're not," Hardy explained. "I think that's true of all people. They're a paradox of conflicting drivers. So it is just something that I've noticed for me. Some people, the more exterior, they seem to be frosty or whatever, but lies, sometimes, a much softer and vulnerable sensitive center. Those who disport themselves as sensitive may fall foul of the complete opposite."

You can read a synopsis of the film here: "THE BIKERIDERS captures a rebellious time in America when the culture and people were changing. After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club."

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters.

The Bikeriders is heading to theaters this weekend, and the new film was helmed by Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Midnight Special), and is based on the photography book of the same name by Danny Lyon. The movie follows a motorcycle club in the 1960s, and ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with Nichols and some of the cast about the project. Nichols talked about working with his longtime collaborator, Michael Shannon, and we brought up how their first movie together, Shotgun Stories, wasn't available to stream anywhere.

"I have good news on that front. Sony Classics is re-releasing it on June 18th," Nichols shared. "I mean, you're kind of talking to the wrong guy. I shoot on film. I love vinyl. I made a 1960s biker film, so I hate my cell phone. I do everything I can to not be a part of modern society, but I fail daily."

"So I don't know," he continued. "I think there's a need for people to be, and that's what physical media does. It's an extension of a connection to people, but it also does something else that's really, really important. And that is, you value it. Now, I'm sorry you had to spend money on that Shotgun Stories DVD, but you'll value it a little bit more than if it was a streaming thing that you could pause and leave."

"There's something about when you separate stories, when you separate films specifically, from any type of media, physical media, it devalues them," he added. "We don't care about 'em as much, and so I'm a big advocate for that type of thing."

You can watch our interview with Jeff Nichols at the top of the page.

What Is The Bikeriders About?

In addition to Shannon, The Bikeriders stars Tom Hardy (Venom: The Last Dance), Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two), Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Michael Shannon (Midnight Special), Mike Faist (Challengers), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead), and Boyd Holbrook (Logan) as Cal. You can read the official synopsis below:

"THE BIKERIDERS captures a rebellious time in America when the culture and people were changing. After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club."

The Bikeriders is heading to theaters on June 21.

NXTNA is in full effect. This past Tuesday, TNA stars Frankie Kazarian and Joe Hendry competed in a battle royal to determine the No.1 Contender to NXT Champion Trick Williams on WWE NXT. This furthered the working relationship between WWE and TNA, as weeks prior TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace popped up to challenge NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez for her title at NXT Battleground. Grace was then challenged by NXT's Tatum Paxley just days later at TNA Against All Odds. While it is unclear as to how far these crossovers will go, both companies have high-profile talent that are actively pushing for this partnership to flourish.

One of those big names is CM Punk. Prior to returning to WWE in November 2023, Punk stopped by Bound For Glory, hanging backstage at the Impact Wrestling event before the company rebranded back to TNA.

Speaking to ComicBook, CM Punk's longtime friend and trainer Ace Steel, who currently works as a TNA producer and on-screen manager, recalled Punk's backstage visit to TNA last year.

"So many people approached him and asked him for advice. He was just watching the show from behind the curtain. He goes, 'This stuff is great. This show is great. What's missing?'" Steel shared. "I go, 'We need more eyes on this thing.' When you look at The Rascals, ABC, Santana, Steve Maclin, The System, Moose, Xia Brookside, Jordynne Grace, who we've all gotten to see more of lately. What a phenomenal opportunity Things like that just shows you that and especially at the height of the way this industry is right now, anything can happen."

Steel sees parallels in Punk's brief experience with the TNA locker room and how the WWE NXT crowd interacts with the Second City Saint.

"He always wants to give back and pay it forward. Going back to a young hungry locker room is what he loves. When he goes to NXT, it's been reported over and over how much they love having him there," Steel continued. "When he is down here in Orlando, I know that's where his focus is. We hang out, have dinner, and then I know where he's going because he loves mentoring the kids. He loves being able to help."

While it remains to be seen as to if Punk will have any on-screen involvement with the WWE and TNA crossovers, Steel shared that he and Punk have "for sure" talked about what is happening. It was not specified if Steel and Punk have discussed future ideas or if they have just expressed enthusiasm about what has already gone down.

Nina Dobrev has an incredibly impressive resume with credits on the global hit teen show The Vampire Diaries and several recent comedies like The Out-Laws, Netflix's Love Hard and Sick Girl. One genre she's never stepped foot into is whodunnits/mysteries, but that's all changing with Chris Nelson's latest film, Reunion. Dobrev plays a politician running for local office, but much like every other politician she has some skeletons in her closet that she will politick to make sure they never see the light of day.

She finds herself back in her hometown for her high school reunion that's in the middle of a snow storm. When some of the rag tag group find themselves snowed in, that's not the only thing they wake up to the next morning. One of their classmates has mysteriously been murdered and they determine the killer is still among them. They work together to solve the case which is just as twisty as one would expect.

Alongside Dobrev, Reunion boasts an all-star cast of Chace Crawford (The Boys), Lil Rel Howery (Vacation Friends, Get Out), Billy Magnussen (Road House, No Time To Die), Jamie Chung (ABC's Once Upon A Time, Grown Ups), Jillian Bell (Good Burger 2, 22 Jump Street) and Michael Hitchcock (Bridesmaids).

"We shot this film in August in California a couple of years ago and the whole premise of the movie is that we got snowed in. So we had to use a lot of imagination. We were wearing a lot of layers to make it look like it was winter, even though it was the dead of summer, essentially," Dobrev told Comicbook. "But my character she's very different than anyone I've played before. She's a very serious aspiring politician who finds herself in a very incriminating position and has to figure out a politically correct solution to why she was in this environment."

Dobrev's character very much feeds into the trope of, 'well, she seems guilty but maybe she's innocent for this crime. But she's definitely guilty of something.' She explains that was a really fun aspect of the role to play because she's "never" played a sociopath.

Reunion's Amanda Tanner Shares Similarities with Katherine Pierce

"It was fun because, you know, I've never played a sociopath and I've never gotten to play somebody who's kind of selfish and self-centered. And just, I mean, in order to become a politician you really have to look out for yourself; your past is your number one enemy. And so this character is no exception, she definitely has a past to account for and, you know, she doesn't want anyone to find out about her past as it directly effects and incriminates her in many ways. She's not who she seems, let's just put it that way."

When reminded that she did play the iconic Katherine Pierce in The Vampire Diaries and there might even be some comparisons to draw between the two, Dobrev laughs. "So I guess you're right. When I said that I've never played a sociopath before, I suppose I lied because Katherine is a sociopath. But you're right there are some similarities, she's pretty different, but there are some similarities."

Reunion releases on Digital June 28.

The Bikeriders is hitting theaters this weekend, and the new Jeff Nichols film is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with an 85% critics score after 67 reviews. The movie is based on Danny Lyon's photography book about a motorcycle club in the 1960s, and stars Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two), Tom Hardy (Venom: The Last Dance), Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Michael Shannon (Midnight Special), Mike Faist (Challengers), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead), and Boyd Holbrook (Logan). ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with Hardy who spoke about his character, and shared what he hopes audiences to take away from the film.

"I mean, I'm not hoping anything really," Hardy began. "I just hope people enjoy the film. It's a really cool film and it's got lots to talk about in it. If you enjoy films, and I think one thing that's really interesting is, when we judge a book by its covers, oftentimes bikers can be seen as a certain thing in the same way that people who have cauliflowers and broken noses and do jiujitsu can be seen as something."

"But what you don't see is the community and the heart and the vulnerability and the softness and the generosity and the community of spirit of those who have a shared experience of endurance and resilience and looking out for themselves and in ways that aren't necessarily traditional or necessarily orthodox or considered whatever normal is," Hardy continued.

"You often find, I think, that which looks like something that you don't want to be a part of, turns out to be exactly where you might belong and you might pass it over if you didn't look a little closer," he added. "Then there's the criminal element, too. Maybe that's not for you or me, but there are elements to this which are for all of us ... Sometimes we can pass over something because of what it looks like and you're not really tapping the surface."

You can watch our interview with Hardy at the top of the page.

What Is The Bikeriders About?

You can read the official synopsis of The Bikeriders here: "THE BIKERIDERS captures a rebellious time in America when the culture and people were changing. After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club."

The Bikeriders is heading to theaters on June 21.

Anthony Michael Hall is embracing evil. The veteran actor stars opposite Jessica Alba in Trigger Warning, a new revenge thriller coming to Netflix. Trigger Warning sees Hall suit up as Senator Ezekiel Swann, a crooked politician with a pair of "Cain and Abel"-esque sons, Jesse (Mark Webber, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and Elvis (Jake Weary, It Chapter Two), bent on maintaining control over their home county.

"The stakes are high in this. It's good versus evil. It's a revenge thriller," Hall told ComicBook. "I had a great time playing this part. When you play a bad guy, it's kind of no holds barred. You can kind of pull out the stops and have fun with it."

Hall had the opportunity to take extra ownership of Senator Swann, imparting some of his trademark comedy into the antagonist.

"I think the onus is also on giving some humor to the character," Hall continued. "There was a scene where I sit down with Jessica and my character makes a comment, which we were both kind of playing it straight, but when we saw the film with an audience at a screening, it got some laughs. Things like that are fun when you're playing a character and you think it's one thing, but then an audience might have a different reaction to it."

Beyond dialogue delivery and story sequences, Trigger Warning packs itself with innovative action captain by Alba's Parker, an active-duty Special Forces officer. Trigger Warning's fight scenes are bolstered by Thunder Road Films, a production company responsible for critically-acclaimed action flicks like John Wick, Monkey Man, and Sicario.

"I have done action in a lot of films throughout the years, but this one, not so much. Senator Swann, it's more like he's pitted his sons, not just against each other, but they're all complicit in the bigger story," Hall teased. "This movie was produced by Thunder Road. They really attacked each day in terms of getting the shots and really mapping out the plan for the shoot. We also had (action designers) 87eleven. They do all the John Wick stuff. They are just incredible.

"They were there about five or six weeks before we started production. When I got to set, we had choreography and fight training, but they also had pre-visualize all the sequences and worked out all the fights and the stunts. It was really cool to have all those elements, to have a core group of women leading the charge to have this great stunt team that's at the top of the industry."

Alba herself was one of those women who pushed the boundaries in the stunt game.

"Jessica was great to work with. She's a lot of fun but also she was very serious when she was on set and went about her business," Hall praised. "She has such a history doing action that she was like having another fight coordinator on the set. She was really involved in every detail. She really knows her stuff. I think the execution of it was very important to her on set and she made sure of it."

Trigger Warning premieres on Netflix this Friday, June 21st.

Over the course of his career, Chris Nelson has directed many films, including My Dead Ex and Netflix's The Perfect Date but now he's dipping his toes into the mystery genre with murder mystery comedy, Reunion. The film centers around a group of unlikely individuals that attend their high school reunion in the middle of a snow storm only to be caught up in a web of mystery when one of their classmates dies. They come to the conclusion that the person who did it is still among them.

Reunion is encompassed by an all-star cast of Chace Crawford (The Boys), Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), Lil Rel Howery (Vacation Friends, Get Out), Billy Magnussen (Road House, No Time To Die), Jamie Chung (ABC's Once Upon A Time, Grown Ups), Jillian Bell (Good Burger 2, 22 Jump Street) and Michael Hitchcock (Bridesmaids).

Whodunnits have regained popularity over the last several years with projects like Knives Out, See How They Run and Apple TV+'s The Afterparty. However, Reunion has been in the works longer than all of the aforementioned projects, so there wasn't a ton of modern material to pull from. Nelson told Comicbook in an interview that he mainly pulled from R-rated comedies as well as the iconic detective novel author Agatha Christie.

"I got the script before Knives Out was even out so there was nothing really to pull off of in my mind other than Clue obviously from ways back in terms of murder-comedy. For me, the Agatha Christie thing, for sure. And I know what you're saying about the theatrical kind of component and in some ways when you're doing something that's closed room with only six characters in that sort of Agatha Christie style or like Clue, there is a theatrical component to it because you're really working with six characters in a closed room set. And there is something about that I personally kind of thought was fun to lean into," Nelson told Comicbook.

"But I first and foremost really saw this as a reunion comedy so for me that's partially what was so exciting is there's not a lot of reunion comedies that you can think of. So I was like, 'the characters of a reunion going back to high school and having your past self kind of come out, what are you hiding and your secrets?' That, to me, was the juice of it. So I was watching and talking about a lot of classic just ensemble R-rated comedies that were really fun, like Bridesmaids and The Breakfast Club. Ideas of 'how do you create really interesting characters that have their own quirks and personalities that are coming together in a situation?' That was the thing that I felt like was the most exciting blueprint. And there is kind of like this weird Breakfast Club element to the fact that you have all of these characters that would normally never hang out together, they're suddenly stuck in this house with this really bad hangover after their reunion, and they just are forced to have to deal with each other. And that to me, was the real magic of the movie."

While working with the writers on the film, Nelson revealed that the script had actually been in active development for 10 years from writers Willie Block and Jake Emanuel. "Well, William and Jake, I will say they're complete Agatha Christie fans, and so does. And as I said, they wrote this script 10 years ago. This script for them, they started working on it way before Knives Out, way before this wave which is amazing how there is kind of this creative zeitgeist of things that happen and people kind of veer into at the same time. But they really came at it from a very classic Agatha Christie closed room whodunnit standpoint. They obviously had written in the characters and the comedy and all that as well, but we then really kind of came in and shaped it along with the actors to be like, 'okay, we wanna make this very much a reunion comedy as well, first and foremost.' And so we really worked on that all the way up until the shooting, and then did so much improv and so much play within that as well, to kind of keep that sort of life to it, and keep the reunion comedy alive throughout the whodunnit."

Reunion releases on Digital June 28th.

Ace Steel is stepping back in the squared circle. The multi-decade veteran has been wrestling since the 1990s, making a name for himself in companies like Ring of Honor, Combat Zone Wrestling, World League Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling NOAH. During his stops in those aforementioned companies, Steel also popped by Total Nonstop Action upon that promotion's launch. Steel wrestled ten total matches for TNA in 2002, most of which came in TNA's critically-acclaimed X-Division. Steel's career since has taken him to just about every corner of the wrestling industry, from WWE to AEW, and now his road has brought him back to TNA.

Steel signed with TNA this past February, joining the former Impact Wrestling as a producer. Three months later, Steel made his on-screen return, backing red-hot babyface Joe Hendry for his match against Frankie Kazarian at TNA Against All Odds. Kazarian villainous tactics after the bell led to Steel getting physical with him, setting up a Chicago Street Fight between the two for the June 20th edition of TNA iMPACT!.

"Because he disrespected me and he disrespected a guy I'm mentoring needlessly," Steel told ComicBook when asked why Kazarian is the right opponent for his return to the ring. "I got in the ring to stop him from attacking Joe and then he so lovingly shoved me from behind. That's just poking the bear. If you know anything about us from Chicago, we don't like to be poked. We don't like you to be in our space. I think he underestimated how short my fuse was."

While Steel puts the majority of his chips in his producing basket these days, he retains the vicious mean streak he has possessed throughout his in-ring career.

"I've been involved in a number of brawls over the years. Ring of Honor, the cage of death, CZW vs. Ring of Honor, Chicago Street Fights, CM Punk and myself vs. the Prophecy, you name it," Steel continued. "It's become a specialty match of mine. Win, lose or draw, we both come out with lumps on our head."

Thursday's contest against Kazarian represents Steel's first TNA match since 2003 and just his sixth match this decade.

"I think just a one-off basis," Steel noted on how he will approach future match opportunities. "I'm constantly approached to do things and I back off. It's got to be the right thing for me. This just happened to fall into place and of course I never would've thought I'd have the opportunity to be in a ring on a national platform at this stage. I've been in the ring training some new up and coming wrestlers. I have a lot of guests that pop in. I've been actively working. It's not like I just decided to put a thousand knee braces on and creak into the ring. I'm very capable of moving around the ring very well."

Steel vs. Kazarian goes down this Thursday, June 20th on TNA iMPACT! which airs at 8 PM ET on AXS TV.

Two of the stars of X-Men '97 revealed how one of its pivotal scenes changed during the creative process. A lot of the drama behind X-Men '97 was due to the ongoing bromance/rivalry between Professor X and Magneto, two longtime friends who became enemies with differing opinions on what's best for mutantkind. Ross Marquand voices Charles Xavier and Matthew Waterson voices Magneto in X-Men '97, and the duo recently broke down one of the more important scenes between their characters, revealing how the scene went through various changes along the way to really nail it.

ComicBook was on hand at a panel hosted by Comicbook Men's Ming Chen at the 2024 Nashville Comicon, which had Ross Marquand and Matthew Waterson as guests. One of the questions from the crowd had to do with Marquand and Waterson having a favorite scene or line from the first season of X-Men '97. "I loved our scene in the dream state in Magneto's mind," Marquand said, referring to the scene where Professor X went inside Magneto's fractured mind.

"There's a whole sequence in the finale where we're literally inside Magneto's head," Marquand continued. "I loved it because we did so many different versions of that scene, had to constantly retool it. One of the versions I was much more upset with [Magneto] because of what he did to Logan, and I really lay into him. But it just kept getting retooled and I loved it because we kept finding these beautiful beats and moments. And the vulnerability that [Waterson] shows when he forgets himself. He's like, 'You hurt me. I don't remember you.' It's so beautiful to watch that scene unfold because we worked on that for months."

"There were a lot of different iterations of it," Waterson added. "We recorded a bunch of stuff that was cut out because it wasn't necessary to get to where they wanted to go. But lines flipped, and there were lines that [Marquand] was given that I had, which were much better coming from [Marquand]. Like, 'There's an importance in resemblance.' At one point Erik said that line, but it makes a lot more sense with Charles trying to pull him back, for Charles to recognize that." You can watch footage from the Nashville Comicon in the player above, and make sure to check out the website https://www.nashvillecomicon.com/.

X-Men '97 director talks Season 2 production

ComicBook's Phase Zero podcast spoke with X-Men '97 director Jake Castorena about the wild finale and the wait for another season. He confirmed they were already hard at work on another batch of mutant adventures. However, no one is trying to rush things after the well-received first salvo of X-Men '97. Fans were hooting and hollering at the work showrunner Beau DeMayo and the team assembled. While that makes all the viewers extremely thirsty for Season 2, these things take time.

"I equate it like, 'We're baking a cake right now.' Nobody wants to ruin a cake. I don't want to ruin a cake. Let us bake it," Castorena laughed. "The cake is well underway and being made, being fabricated as we speak. There is no rest for the wicked I guess. To use that phrase. We rolled right into Season 2, while we were on Season 1!"

Later in our conversation, the director also mentioned keeping things in line to not stray far from what folks really loved about X-Men: The Animated Series. "It's all about, we're on a team. It's something we realize that we give ourselves false parameters to make sure we're checking our math," Castorena claimed. "Whether it's nerd math, geographical math, whatever it is. We gave ourselves false parameters to make sure to keep us in check, to make sure we're not going too far away from the original DNA that is the OG show. But, also adapting it. Fresh, but familiar."

The Bikeriders is being released in theaters this month, and the film is based on Danny Lyon's photography book about a motorcycle club in the 1960s. The movie was helmed by Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special) and stars Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two), Tom Hardy (Venom: The Last Dance), Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Michael Shannon (Midnight Special), Mike Faist (Challengers), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead), and Boyd Holbrook (Logan). ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with Hardy and Reedus who are known for their love of motorcycles in real life. We asked the stars if they learned anything about club culture while making the movie, and they both hilariously replied, "No."

"I know everything about club culture. I know it all and I learned nothing. Absolutely nothing," Hardy replied in a teasing manner.

"I don't know if this is the same club culture as club culture now," Reedus explained. "It's about starting a bike group, a club for all the right reasons. And then as it gets bigger and time changes, that club is slipping through your fingers. I think that's more the club in this movie than the Mongols or something."

While Reedus and Hardy were pretty well-versed in the subject, their co-star, Austin Butler, had more to learn from the experience.

"Yeah, I think what I learned is it has to do with how the motorcycle club started as just groups that love to ride and love to race and love to talk about motorcycles and then how that as the trauma of the late '60s, the sort of societal trauma of Vietnam and everything that was happening around that time, that started to crystallize back here," Butler shared with ComicBook.

"What that sort of did as far as eating away at some of the purity of probably just being about loving motorcycles and loving racing and violence and more, the crime world started to take over. So I think that that's one of the things that I learned."

You can watch our interviews with The Bikeriders stars above.

What Is The Bikeriders About?

You can read the official synopsis of The Bikeriders here: "THE BIKERIDERS captures a rebellious time in America when the culture and people were changing. After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club."

The Bikeriders is heading to theaters on June 21.