Movie News

Illumination’s “Sing 2,” the animated film written and directed by Garth Jennings, will world premiere at AFI Fest on Nov. 14 at the Tcl Chinese Theatre.

The movie, a sequel to 2016’s “Sing,” follows a koala named Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) as he and his cast of performing animals prepare for their biggest concert yet in Redshore City, and must convince a reclusive rockstar (Bono) to join them. The film will feature more than 40 covers of classic and contemporary hit songs.

Returning stars, along with McConaughey, include Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll and Jennings. They are joined by new cast members Pharrell Williams, Halsey, Bobby Cannavale, Letitia Wright, Eric André and Chelsea Peretti.

“Sing 2” is produced by Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri, along with Janet Healy. After the AFI Fest premiere, the pic will hit theaters on Dec. 22.

AFI Fest takes place from Nov.

Dolph Lundgren, Scott Adkins and Ryan Kwanten are set to go head-to-head in upcoming action movie Section Eight, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Based on an original screenplay by Chad Law (The Hit List, Drive Hard) and Josh Ridgway (The Sector, Howlers), and set to be directed by Christian Sesma (Pay Dirt, The Night Crew), the film comes from Firebrand, reunited with Lundgren for a third time following 2017’s Altitude and upcoming Christmas action comedy Pups Alone. Firebrand founder Brandon Burrows will produce.

Section Eight will tell the story of a former soldier who, after avenging the murder of his family, is sprung from prison and recruited by a shadowy ...

The “John Wick” prequel series at Starz, “The Continental,” has cast Colin Woodell in the lead role, Variety has learned.

Woodell will star as a young Winston Scott, the character played in the film franchise by Ian McShane. “The Continental” will explore the origin behind the titular hotel-for-assassins through the eyes and actions of Scott, who is dragged into the Hell-scape of a 1975 New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind. Winston charts a deadly course through the New York’s mysterious underworld in a harrowing attempt to seize the iconic hotel, which serves as

Creepy and goofy are not mutually exclusive experiences. The mood of Disney's iconic Haunted Mansion ride is the result of a disagreement between two Imagineers, Marc Davis and Claude Coats, in the '60s. Coats wanted to make something genuinely scary. Davis wanted the attraction to be more fun. In the end, the Haunted Mansion is both; the mansion is brimming with silly gags, but still runs chills up guests' spines using a flurry of technological and illusory wonders.

In 1969, three years after Walt Disney's death, the long-incubating Haunted Mansion project reached completion at the California-based Disneyland, then sprouted its own iterations...

The post Easter Eggs and References in Muppets Haunted Mansion You May Have Missed appeared first on /Film.

In recent years, Bill Hader has become a true comedic treasure, especially by creating and starring in the HBO hit series, "Barry." Hader plays a Marine-turned-hitman for hire named Barry Berkman who starts to lose his passion for killing and crime sprees. Instead, he accidentally discovers an acting class that allows him the freedom to express himself in ways he never thought he could. While he attempts to trade in a life hidden in the shadows for one in the spotlight, Barry finds love (Sarah Goldberg), a mentor (played by the adorable Henry Winkler), and embraces his trauma head-on, all while dealing with...

The post Barry Season 3 is Almost Finished Filming, Season 4 Has been Written appeared first on /Film.

"The Story of Marvel Studios" is a book littered with behind-the-scenes details about the formation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's easy to take the whole shared-universe movie conceit for granted now that it's been done in the MCU, but back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, this was still a relatively new, novel idea. At that time, the concept of having five superhero films cross over into one big team-up remained untested on the big screen. However, that's exactly what "The Avengers" delivered in 2012.

Joss Whedon may be persona non grata in Hollywood right now due to disturbing...

The post Joss Whedon Wanted Zooey Deschanel to Play The Wasp in an Early Draft of The Avengers appeared first on /Film.

In tandem with Edgar Wright's latest feature, "Last Night In Soho," Back Lot Music has dropped a single, sung by none other than the film's star. Anya Taylor-Joy ("The Witch") steps behind the microphone and croons a soulful, downtempo cover of Petula Clark's '60s chart-topper, "Downtown," in a crisp new music video dropped first on Taylor-Joy's Instagram, then on Focus Features' YouTube channel. Mondo Music and Death Waltz Recording Co. will also release a 7-inch record of the single, with an uptempo version of "Downtown" on the B-side. 

Each extended version of the classic pop song is produced...

The post Last Night in Soho Soundtrack Features '60s Deep Cuts: Listen to Anya Taylor-Joy's Cover of Downtown appeared first on /Film.

Sir Anthony Hopkins won his second Oscar for Best Actor this year for his performance in "The Father," but it might never have happened had another knight of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire kept him from retiring ... with a role in a Marvel movie. That's right: it was Sir Kenneth Branagh, the director of the first "Thor" film, who convinced Hopkins not to retire by having him play Odin the Allfather.

This is just one of the behind-the-scenes tidbits from the production history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that is revealed in the new book, "The Story of Marvel Studios." In the book, Hopkins himself cites Branagh and his...

The post Kenneth Branagh Stopped Anthony Hopkins from Retiring While Making Thor appeared first on /Film.

Can a tweet break the discourse? London's own Sunday Times tried its darnedest in early August, 2021. It postulated that the role of Tony Stark -- a.k.a. Iron Man -- could have been played by any actor in Jon Faverau's "Iron Man" and the picture would have still succeeded. Never mind that box-office mainstay Tom Cruise was attached to Iron Man before Robert Downey Jr., the question has now been raised: Could any actor have donned Shellhead's costume and made Marvel matter again?

The answer is complicated and, yes, relates to the forthcoming "Moon Knight" series on Disney+. The reality is that, in a post-"Avengers" Hollywood, actors are synonymous with their...

The post 10 things you didn't know about Moon Knight appeared first on /Film.

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If you haven’t already heard, the Google Pixel 6 and Google Pixel 6 Pro went up for pre-order on Tuesday and techies have been rushing to get their hands on the highly anticipated phones ahead of the October 28 release date.

Google describes the Pixel 6 as “completely reimagined, inside and out.” The smart phone is an upgrade from the Pixel 5 both in size and function. Features include its first custom-made chip, a 50 megapixel camera, user-friendly interface, and a sleeker yet slightly larger display. The Pixel 6 comes in three colors: Sorta Seafoam, Kinda Coral, and Stormy Black.

Smart phones are usually judged by battery life, storage space, and camera capabilities, and Pixel 6 covers those areas nicely.

One of the earliest fan-favorite moments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was an 11th-hour addition, delivered with the sweet flavor of deadline desperation.

The climax of Jon Favreau's 2008 door-buster "Iron Man," based on the Marvel comics of the same name, entails weapons manufacturer Tony Stark going toe-to-toe with former mentor and business partner Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). Following an attempted coup in which Stane hired The Ten Rings to assassinate the Stark Industries CEO, Stane, now the Iron Monger, had an exosuit built to outperform Stark's Iron Man suit in every way...

The post The Ending of Iron Man Was a Last Minute Fix That Wasn't Completed Until Three Weeks Before Release appeared first on /Film.

Jake Gyllenhaal was overcome with anxiety on the set of the Marvel tentpole “Spider-Man: Far From Home” when he realized how unprepared he was for the style of acting required to pull off a big comic book tentpole. “It’s hard, man. That acting is hard. All of it,” the actor said earlier this month about performing in the MCU. It sounds like Riz Ahmed knows what Gyllenhaal means. Speaking to Variety for a new cover story, the “Sound of Metal” Oscar nominee said starring in the 2018 tentpole “Venom” made him realize he didn’t have the skills necessary to pull off a blockbuster-sized performance. Ahmed played the villainous inventor Carlton Drake in the movie.

“I’m not saying I don’t like those big movies. I’m saying I had not learned yet how to bring myself to those movies,” Ahmed said about his “Venom” takeaway. “Those films teach you stamina,

Adapting a book for television is a tricky business, especially when you're dealing with source material that encompasses several novels that aren't complete yet. There is always going to be controversy over which characters get left out.

George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire," adapted into HBO's mega-hit "Game of Thrones," has several point-of-view characters and literally hundreds of supporting characters, so it was inevitable that the story would have to be truncated by the showrunners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Unfortunately, streamlining the plot meant that the writers ended up cutting corners, removing swathes of story and some of...

The post The 13 best Game Of Thrones characters who weren't in the show appeared first on /Film.

There was a time in the early 2010s when Marvel fans rejoiced at some boring ole business news. In a short period of time, the character rights for Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Blade, Luke Cage, and The Punisher all came back to Marvel Studios after previously being licensed by a myriad of other studios around Hollywood. However, some fans would end up being disappointed, because none of those characters ever ended up in the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Though some of them would find a home on television by way of both "Agents of Shield" and Netflix, this was not what...

The post Here's Why Daredevil, Ghost Rider, and Blade Weren't Brought into the MCU Movies appeared first on /Film.

Cinema Eye Honors, an influential bellwether in the race for documentary awards, kicked off its 15th year with non-fiction award-winners announced at its annual Los Angeles lunch attended by many top filmmakers. Steve James’ five-part Chicago series “City So Real,” and Spike Lee’s filmed portrait of David Byrne’s Broadway show “American Utopia” lead the Cinema Eye Honors broadcast nominations list with three nods apiece. “David Byrne’s American Utopia” is one of five films up for Outstanding Broadcast Film, while “City So Real” joins five other series in the Nonfiction Series category. Both projects were nominated for Outstanding Broadcast Editing and Cinematography.

“It is notable that both of this year’s most nominated Broadcast entries are part of the creative legacy of Diane Weyermann,” said Cinema Eye Founding Director Aj Schnack. The beloved documentary veteran, who died last week, was an Executive Producer on both “City So Real” and “American Utopia.

Few actors should be allowed carte blanche with the roles they take, but Salma Hayek is absolutely one of them. The Mexican and American actress has done it all, including telenovelas, action-thrillers, comedy, horror, animated features, family adventure films, sitcoms, historic biopics, musicals, and tearjerking dramas. Now, Hayek finally gets to add a role to her roster that she's always dreamed of: superhero.

The star of "Eternals" spoke at a press conference attended by /Film's Hoai-Tran Bui saying, "It's a really humbling experience because, you know, I dream big. I dream big, and if I hadn't I wouldn't have...

The post Salma Hayek Has Been Waiting Her Entire Career to Make a Big Budget Superhero Movie appeared first on /Film.

“Night Teeth” never met a long-winded piece of exposition it didn’t love. As its neon-colored opening credits slip by, star Debby Ryan’s narration introduces the audience to a secret world of vampires. They are very real, she says, with a long-held, tenuous truce between the bloodsuckers and the humans keeping the bad stuff at bay. Most stories, books, films, and TV shows get the details wrong.

And then she goes on, and on: Her early promise to tell a new story becomes an excuse to unspool the many (many) rules that dictate this world. Vampires can’t let humans know they exist; they can’t feast on anyone unwilling; and they can never set foot in the East LA neighborhood of Boyle Heights. What should be a fun addition to the vampire lore becomes mired in murky dissertations, nonsensical character twists, and a worrying lack of understanding of

(Superhero Bits is a collection of stories, updates, and videos about anything and everything inspired by the comics of Marvel, DC, and more. For comic book movies, TV shows, merchandise, events, and whatever catches our eye, this is the place to find anything that falls through the cracks.)

In this edition of Superhero Bits:

"The Batman" trailer gets released in 4K

"DC League of Super-Pets" is getting a video game

Tom Hardy teases a Spider-Man/Venom connection

DC FanDome was apparently a big hit

All that and more!

The CW has released a new trailer for "The Flash" season...

The post Superhero Bits: The Batman Trailer in Glorious 4K, DC FanDome Was a Big Hit & More appeared first on /Film.

On the October 20, 2021 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editorial director Peter Sciretta is joined by senior writer Brad Oman to talk about the latest film and TV news, including Marvel Studios and Eternals.

Opening Banter: Peter thanks Brad.

In the News:

Brad plugs some news stories to come out of the Marvel Studios book

Brad: Marvel Studios Pushes Back Entire 2022 Slate, Indiana Jones 5 Delayed Almost A Full Year

Brad: ​​The Marvels Director Nia DaCosta Blames Captain America For The Snap

Brad (og Lex): Eternals Early Buzz: A Sprawling, Sweeping Superhero Movie Unlike Any Other — Or A Complicated Mess

All the other stuff you need to know:

Also...

The post Daily Podcast: History of Marvel Studios Trivia & Eternals Early Reactions appeared first on /Film.

It's hard to believe that movie directors can get caught up on little things like losing your passport, but it happens. In fact, when it happened to "Thor: Ragnarok" director Taika Waititi, he almost lost his chance to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Things could have been completely different if it weren't for his script work on Disney's "Moana." Seriously. 

In the new book, "The Story of Marvel Studios," authors Tara Bennett and Paul Terry shared the story of how Waititi's "Thor: Ragnarok" almost didn't happen, and how a Disney animated movie saved the day.

Waititi was one of a small...

The post Taika Waititi Almost Missed Out on Directing Thor: Ragnarok, But Moana Saved the Day appeared first on /Film.