“It’s a story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together to a certain degree against a much, much bigger threat. It’s more complicated than that but that’s a big part of it. It’s as much a Lex movie as it is a Superman movie. I loved working with Nicholas Hoult. I relate to the character of Lex, sadly. I really wanted to create something extraordinary with the two of them. I Just love the script so much.”
The cast of ‘Spaceballs: The New One’ at CinemaCon 2026. Photo Credit: Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios.
Preview:
Amazon MGM Studios made its presentation to the 2026 CinemaCon crowd.
Among the movies promoted were ‘The Sheep Detectives’ and ‘Spaceballs: The New One’.
There was also a look at Michael B. Jordan’s ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’.
After making its first trip to CinemaCon last year, Amazon MGM Studios has certainly been enjoying a good year at the box office so far, largely thanks to the huge success of ‘Project Hail Mary’ (which, as announced at the panel, just crossed $525 million at the global box office, cementing it as the company’s biggest movie to date, and will see its theatrical window extended, Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!).
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Hoping to keep the momentum rolling, the studio unveiled new looks at this year’s crop of movies and beyond including ‘The Sheep Detectives’ and ‘Masters of the Universe’. But if you were expecting a surprise announcement about casting for the new James Bond movie, there was none –– but VP of Film Courtenay Valenti did promise it’ll be worthy of the venerable franchise’s legacy.
First out of the gate (even though it isn’t out until next March) was newly minted Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan‘s remake of the 1968 caper movie –– previously re-imagined in 1999, which the actor is directing and starring in.
After a look at some fun footage, Jordan himself took the stage to talk up the fact that Jon Batiste is crafting the music for the movie. He also brought out co-star Adria Arjona, complimenting her “intensity, wit, and fire” while calling her “an incredible scene partner.” Their cat-and-mouse relationship (as art thief and the insurance investigator tracking him down) is at the core of the movie.
Kenneth Branagh, meanwhile, plays the antagonist, the person that Jordan’s Crown targets. Jordan says he made the movie for big screens.
Nicholas Galitzine stars in ‘Masters of the Universe’. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
Hoping for another big hit, Amazon MGM is putting a lot of weight behind ‘Masters of the Universe’, which adapts the 1980s toy line and cartoon series (and was already focus of a notoriously unsuccessful 1987 movie).
Stars Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes and director Travis Knight took the stage to introduce a new look at the film. Galitzine, of course, was hefting He-Man’s classic power sword, which is surely some sort of safety violation.
Jared Leto stars in ‘Masters of the Universe’. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
Some fresh footage from the movie –– which Knight and co. described as tackling how someone is challenged to step up beyond what they think they can do –– was screened after Galitzine had the audience lift the fake swords they received as he recited He-Man’s classic transformation line…
The new scene shows Galitzine’s Prince Adam and Mendes’ Teena reuniting on Earth before they travel to Eternia to battle the evil Skeletor (Jared Leto), which in turn leads into the new trailer.
Another jump ahead in time for a quick look at footage from Jason Statham action sequel ‘The Beekeeper 2’. It’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect from The Stath, and should keep fans happy. Statham himself appeared via video to exclaim, “some people say less is more. I say more is more.”
The new movie will see the Beekeeper society looking to overthrow the US government. At this point in time, the jokes write themselves…
Back to 2026’s schedule, and the quirky mystery drama about a herd of sheep who must solve the murder of their beloved shepherd (Hugh Jackman).
Jackman himself arrived on stage (along with co-stars Nicholas Braun, and a returning Galitzine) to tout the film, which also boasts a considerable cast in both live-action (Emma Thompson) and voice (too many to list) form. It’s described as “a warm deeply human story about finding your place in the world.” And we got an extended look at the movie.
Gareth Evans (‘The Raid’) returns with a new action movie, this one starring Sope Dirisu in the story of Colt, a Vietnam veteran turned contract killer, goes on the run after assassinating a gangland boss.
David Leitch in Paris for ‘Bullet Train.’ Credit: Oliver Vigerie/Sony Pictures.
With confetti and chaos, the new movie from director David Leitch launched into a first look at a team of social media types who make videos about, well, how to rob banks.
Leitch came on stage with Pete Davidson, and Davidson revealed that this group of robbers livestreams their crimes and robberies. “They’re putting an end to greed and corruption one heist, and one video, at a time,” he said, before Rhenzy Feliz and Anna Sawai were confirmed to be the other two robbers. Leitch wanted to capture the energy of a manic YouTube video, before a video message from the rest of the cast played.
Mahershala Ali attends the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images.
More action, this time a visceral thriller starring Mahershala Ali and following a hitman struggling to balance his job with his faith & fatherhood. Bassam Tariq directs.
Ali took the stage to enthuse about how the movie checked every box for him, and he introduced some intense footage.
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After a quick look at ‘Verity’ (which we’re surprised wasn’t spotlighted more given its Colleen Hoover origins) it was time for…
‘Spaceballs: The New One’ logo. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
The much-anticipated ‘Spaceballs’ sequel was introduced by originator Mel Brooks (via video), with cast members Bill Pullman, Josh Gad, Lewis Pullman, Daphne Zuniga and to great response, Rick Moranis actually present to introduce a first look at the movie, which is as funny as you might hope for. Let’s just say the ‘Star Wars’ sequel trilogy is heavily targeted for spoofing.
Henry Cavill in ‘Highlander’. Photo: Henry Cavill’s Instagram Account.
It might still be busy shooting, but the re-imagining of the 1980s action movie is one of the bigger titles on the horizon for the studio.
With Henry Cavill starring as the immortal warrior who must battle others of his kind, it promises plenty of set pieces.
Cavill and director Chad Stahelski (‘John Wick’) are halfway through filming, but the former took time out to appear via video and offer some early footage.
(L to R) Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Adria Arjona and Dakota Johnson in ‘Splitsville’. Photo: Neon.
A bracing comedy blast from start to finish, ‘Splitsville’ uses the foibles of two mixed-up couples – who really don’t know what the hell they want out of love and marriage, especially the men – to power a hilarious farce that often feels like it’s spiraling out of control even as it reveals some raw truths about the way we handle our most intimate relationships.
Director/co-writer Michael Angelo Covino and co-writer Kyle Marvin both star in the film as the hapless best friends who turn on each other, while Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona ground the story with what could be career-best performances for both.
Story and Direction
Michael Angelo Covino on the set of ‘Splitsville’. Photo: Neon.
Seemingly happy married couple Ashley (Arjona) and Carey (Marvin) have just witnessed a terrible car crash on the road to their friends’ summer house in the Hamptons – a tragic occurrence that ends bizarrely with the first of many moments of male nudity – when Ashley delivers a second shock to the kind-hearted but kind of sad-sack Carey: she wants a divorce. She’s been unfaithful, and she wants her freedom.
Carey literally jumps out of the car and runs miles through woods and streams to their destination, where his best friend Paul (Covino) and Paul’s wife Julie (Dakota Johnson) reveal to him that the secret to their marital success is an open marriage. But all is not quite well beneath the surface for them either, and when Carey and Julie sleep together, all hell breaks loose.
From there, ‘Splitsville’ becomes an increasingly absurd whirlwind of people jumping in and out of bed, falling in and out of love, being dishonest, then honest, and then dishonest again, and trying to navigate their own increasingly confused feelings. Carey offers Ashley an open marriage too, but ends up befriending her succession of flaky lovers, all of whom camp out together at their apartment. Meanwhile, Julie and Carey explore the possibility of finding happiness together, while Paul schemes to win his wife back against increasingly difficult odds.
(L to R) Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona on the set of ‘Splitsville’. Photo: Neon.
Covino films all this in either tight shots of his actors’ faces or long takes that follow the characters like a bemused observer, the highlight being one long, almost uninterrupted fight scene between Paul and Carey that wallows in a Three Stooges-like symphony of slapstick and destruction (both men also get their eyebrows singed off at separate points in the movie). Another long take follows the procession of men into Ashley’s life as she dates them, dumps them, and then leaves them to hang about the house with Carey as therapist and erstwhile squad leader.
Not surprisingly, it’s the men who have the hardest time reconciling their own feelings, expressing themselves through half-hearted violence or man-childish pouting. It all spins madly and madly around, leaping from one laugh-out-loud moment to another, and while ‘Splitsville’ may not possess enough emotional resonance to make it really stick, it will still leave you buzzing with laughter over the absurdity of the situation and the way the characters act out.
Cast and Performances
(L to R) Michael Angelo Covino, Simon Webster and Dakota Johnson in ‘Splitsville’. Photo: Neon.
Dakota Johnson is even better here than she was in ‘Materialists,’ displaying an emotional depth and sensuality that was perhaps not visible in the latter film’s transactional matchmaker. Her Julie is the most grounded of the central quartet, realizing the soonest what she wants and understanding that all her choices haven’t been wise ones. Adria Arjona shows off great comic timing here, also keeping her wits about her while she barrels through a cavalcade of unworthy men only to circle back to where she started.
Kyle Marvin and Michael Angelo Covino use their own real-life friendship to create the bond between Carey and Paul, two lifelong pals who nevertheless hide a secret competitiveness over everything from the size of their bank accounts to the size of their personal equipment (one’s is far larger than the other’s). While their friendship is stretched far past the breaking point, there’s still an underlying attachment: ‘No knives!’ they both shout at one point in their centerpiece fight, both somehow knowing to stop their toxic masculinity from turning uglier even if they still wreck the place.
Final Thoughts
Adria Arjona in ‘Splitsville’. Photo: Neon.
With humor not in abundance at the box office these days, ‘Splitsville’ manages to resurrect the rom-com, the screwball comedy, and the bedroom farce in one fell swoop. It’s manic, zany, and often absurd, yet still manages to get in a few salient points about the social construct of marriage – mainly that once you unzip that most intimate of relationships, it’s difficult to zip it back up again without leaving a few precious things outside.
‘Splitsville’ receives a score of 85 out of 100.
(L to R) Adria Arjona and Kyle Marvin in ‘Splitsville’. Photo: Neon.
What is the plot of ‘Splitsville’?
After Ashley (Adria Arjona) asks for a divorce, good-natured Carey (Kyle Marvin) runs to his friends, Julie (Dakota Johnson) and Paul (Michael Angelo Covino), for support. He’s shocked to discover that the secret to their happiness is an open marriage — that is until Carey crosses the line and throws all of their relationships into chaos.
Who is in the cast of ‘Splitsville’?
Dakota Johnson as Julie
Adria Arjona as Ashley
Kyle Marvin as Carey
Michael Angelo Covino as Paul
Nicholas Braun as Matt the Mentalist
David Castañeda as Fede
O-T Fagbenle as Brent
Charlie Gillespie as Jackson
‘Splitsville’ opens in limited theaters on August 22, 2025, before expanding wide on September 5, 2025. Photo: Neon.
(L to R) Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona star in ‘Splitsville’.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down in person with Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona to talk about their work on ‘Splitsville’, their first reactions to the screenplay, their characters, and working with actors and filmmakers Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Johnson, Arjona, Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin.
Moviefone: To begin with, Dakota, the movie is very funny. Can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay, and did it read funny on the page?
Dakota Johnson: I mean, yes, especially because I had the tone of in my head because I had seen ‘The Climb’ and I feel like when you know their voices and you know their candor, you implement that into reading the script. So, it’s a very specific tone of comedy, you know.
MF: Just to follow up, do you think you found a lot of the humor in the movie organically on set?
DJ: Yeah, there was a lot of improvisation and a lot of moments like that. I feel like the funniest moments in the movie are the devastating ones where it’s like humans not getting it right with each other and feeling so uncomfortable, rather than like a set-up and joke.
Adria Arjona in ‘Splitsville’. Photo: Neon.
MF: Adria, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and what were some of the characteristics of Ashley that you were excited to explore on screen?
Adria Arjona: When I read it was like, “What in the world am I reading?” Especially the opening of this film, it’s probably one of the craziest openings of any movie I’ve ever read. In the first 10 minutes, the movie kind of just slaps you in the face in the best way possible. So, it was funny, and I had also watched ‘The Climb’, so it was one of those things that it was an undeniable, yes for me. Then, you know, Ashley, she just goes through so much in this film. She starts off having everything she ever wanted and taking it for granted in ways and then jumping through hoops to realize that maybe she was wrong or maybe she was right. She dives into the definition of what an open relationship is, and she’s excited about it. She’s a woman in her 30s that’s trying to discover who she is and feels like she’s letting herself go, she doesn’t have this exploration, which is something that I bet a lot of women who get married kind of feel, and then she teaches you this beautiful lesson. So, I was interested in kind of exploring that.
(L to R) Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Adria Arjona and Dakota Johnson in ‘Splitsville’. Photo: Neon.
MF: Finally, Dakota, as a producer and an actor, what was it like working with Kyle Marvin and Michael Angelo Covino as both actors and filmmakers on this project?
DJ: Contentious. I think it’s kind of what I love so much about this movie is the contention that you see between the characters on screen, it also was happening behind the scenes with producers and the filmmakers and the DP. Everyone was heightened creativity, and it just was a very collaborative experience, but fiery. Everyone was quite into their own opinions. I mean, I think we made a good movie, so ultimately in a good way.
(L to R) Michael Angelo Covino, Simon Webster and Dakota Johnson in ‘Splitsville’. Photo: Neon.
What is the plot of ‘’Splitsville’?
When his wife Ashley (Adria Arjona) asks for a divorce, Carey (Kyle Marvin) runs to his friends (Michael Angelo Covino and Dakota Johnson) for support, only to learn that the secret to their happiness is an open marriage; that is, until Carey crosses the line and throws all their relationships into chaos.
Who is in the cast of ‘Splitsville’?
Kyle Marvin as Carey
Michael Angelo Covino as Paul
Dakota Johnson as Julie
Adria Arjona as Ashley
Nicholas Braun as Matt the Mentalist
David Castañeda as Fede
O-T Fagbenle as Brent
Charlie Gillespie as Jackson
(L to R) Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona on the set of ‘Splitsville’. Photo: Neon.
Returning to Disney+ with the first three episodes of Season 2, ‘Star Wars’ series ‘Andor’ once more follows the struggle of the Rebel Alliance as it ramps up its conflict with the Galactic Empire as seen through the lens of rebel agent Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and an assortment of characters of both sides of the battle.
Season 2 has an interesting release pattern –– the 12 episodes are split across four batches of three, and there is a time jump between batches, covering the four years leading up to the events of ‘Rogue One,’ moving from 4 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin, as seen in ‘Star Wars’) to the immediate events of the movie.
With the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the first season of ‘Andor,’ the pressure on Season 2 is naturally huge, the expectation built further by the delay between seasons (the first run of episodes was all the way back in 2022).
But by any real metric, the new season handily maintains the quality level of the first, bringing real stakes, incredibly layered shades of gray and genuine humanity to the galaxy far, far away.
Still a much more mature take on the world of ‘Star Wars’ (which is to take nothing away from the entertainment value of shows such as ‘The Mandalorian’), ‘Andor’ represents top quality television.
Tony Gilroy leads a writing team that also includes Beau Willimon and Dan Gilroy, and the assembled staff has crafted a thrilling, politically astute, emotional and superb second season.
While it has to handle various time jumps to accommodate the sheer breadth of its storytelling, the series does so with aplomb, managing to say a lot about the personal cost of rebellion and the banal efficiency of pure evil.
This is very far from a basic battle of good vs. bad, and if the action quotient is lower than other shows, when it does feature set pieces, they’re of similar quality.
On the directorial front, Ariel Kleiman, Janus Metz and Alonso Ruizpalacios bring the same high quality in terms of scope, scale and style to the new episodes. Largely eschewing shooting on a volume stage and bringing many locations to life practically, ‘Andor’s visuals are entirely supportive of its high quality scripts.
Confidently recreating looks and locations we all know and love from the original ‘Star Wars’ while also introducing us to more new worlds, the lived-in feel of the galaxy is entirely present and correct.
Diego Luna is once more the heart and soul of the show, whether he’s on a mission, fighting for his life or spending time with Adria Arjona’s Bix Caleen, figuring out how to make a relationship work with such pressure upon them both.
Arjona is similarly great, handed an impressive PTSD storyline as Bix, still recovering from her treatment at the hands of Imperial torturers, reckons with her place in the resistance.
Also excellent? Stellan Skarsgård, who can turn any speech into a must-watch moment and remains superb as the morally slippery Luthen Rael. And Genevieve O’Reilly, while largely siloed in her own storyline, walks the line of political glad-handing and rebellious plotting without missing a beat.
And we’d be remiss if we didn’t praise the contributions of Alan Tudyk, who once more brings the world’s snarkiest droid to life with a combination of performance capture and the most endlessly frustrated attitude this side of ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide’s Marvin the Paranoid Android.
His buddy comedy chemistry with Luna is as great as ever, and he’s got a great line in putdowns.
Also? Ben Mendelsohn sweeps in and steal scenes as Orson Krennic, the hissable, cape-happy villain of ‘Rogue One,’ here an even more petty bureaucrat dedicated to getting the Death Star finished.
Some sequels feel unearned, but ‘Andor’s new run absolutely matches the sterling quality of the first and, even, in a few places, surpassing it. There might not be anything quite as memorable as the prison storyline from the original season, but it’s all still truly impressive.
Our only other gripe? Not enough of sarcastic reprogrammed Imperial Droid K-2SO, but that’s just a personal bugbear.
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What’s the plot of ‘Andor’ Season 2?
The second season takes place as the horizon of war draws near and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) becomes a key player in the Rebel Alliance.
Everyone will be tested and, as the stakes rise, the betrayals, sacrifices and conflicting agendas will become profound.
‘Andor’ sets the clock back five years from the events of 2016’s ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ to tell the story of the film’s hero and his transformation from disinterested, cynical nobody into a rebel hero on his way to an epic destiny.
Actors sometimes have trouble crossing over to take up a position behind the camera, but Zoë Kravitz seems to be making the transition effectively. ‘Blink Twice’ is a confident directorial showcase for the ‘Big Little Lies’ and ‘The Batman’ star: she may hit a few narrative and tonal bumps, but she stays focused on the story she wants to tell and gets the most out of a terrific cast while doing so.
‘Blink Twice’ starts off as a satire, not to mention a riff on the kind of setup we’ve seen before in movies like ‘The Menu’ and ‘Get Out,’ where the protagonist finds themselves in a remote, seemingly friendly (and luxurious) location before things start go off the rails. ‘Blink Twice’ tests the viewer’s forbearance for a chunk of its 100 minutes, but if you’re patient enough the ending should be rewarding in many ways.
Frida (Naomi Ackie) sits in her cramped apartment obsessing over tech-bro gazillionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum), who’s re-entering public life with an apology tour following an unnamed indiscretion (or series of them) that got him canceled. Frida and her roommate/bestie Jess (Alia Shawkat) are waitresses who manage to get work at a reception thrown for King, where they finagle their way into the VIP area and Frida gets a chance to meet-cute with the man himself.
The charming Slater and Frida hit it off right away, flirting furiously with each other until he invites her and Jess to travel with him and his entourage that night to his private island. Neither woman has packed a bag, but that’s no matter: once they get to Slater’s luxurious, decadent private resort, they are provided bathing suits and white linen robes to wear, even perfume to dab on, plus drinks and drugs aplenty along with fabulously curated meals prepared by star chef Cody (Simon Rex), all using locally farmed produce.
It’s the middle stretch of ‘Blink Twice’ that’s ostensibly the most troublesome for Kravitz and her screenwriting partner, E.T. Feigenbaum: the second act becomes a repetitive series of hedonistic montages punctuated like clockwork every now and then by a strange occurrence, as Frida and another guest, reality show veteran Sarah (Adria Arjona), compete for Slater’s attention and the rest – including Slater’s right-hand man Vic (Christian Slater), scuzzy hanger-on Tom (Haley Joel Osment), a couple of other party-hardy girls, and Slater’s perpetually flaky personal assistant Stacy (Geena Davis) – indulge in night after night of booze, drugs, and poolside languor until even the days seem to dissolve into each other.
We know this is not going to end well, but Kravitz makes us wait a bit longer than necessary. Perhaps the way in which she extends that wait makes the movie’s pivot that much more shocking even when you know it’s coming eventually. When things do turn, it’s quick: Frida discovers that Jess has gone missing, and not only does no one seem to remember that she was there in the first place, but Frida herself begins to realize that her memories of the past few days are murky at best and barely there at worst. With the help of a reluctant but increasingly trusting Sarah, Frida learns the horrible, toxic truth.
We’ll let you discover that truth for yourself, but it’s here that ‘Blink Twice’ makes its full turn from satire to horror to revenge thriller, with a final act that is both crazy in its sheer energy and bracing in its aggressive sense of purpose. It’s a tribute to Kravitz and her cast that the shift, while jarring at first, leads to a violently satisfying climax that makes the more morally ambiguous coda easier to swallow.
Whatever issues Kravitz may have with putting her twisty narrative through its paces, she doesn’t seem to have any with the technical aspects of directing. Under her command, the sound design is excellent, the soundtrack is popping (no surprise there, really), and the cinematography by Adam Newport-Berra captures the saturated excess of Slater King’s lifestyle, the foggy wooziness of what at first seems to be endless nights and days of partying, and the dark, bloody reality underneath. It’ll be fascinating to see what Kravitz does next.
We’ve only seen Naomi Ackie being largely underused in ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,’ but she did garner praise for 2022’s Whitney Houston biopic, ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody.’ This is our first time watching her in a lead role and Ackie nails it easily. Her work as Frida is initially vulnerable and open-hearted, even if her obsession with Slater seems questionable. But she never fully trades in her self-respect, which makes her transformation from victim to avenging warrior all the more believable.
She also makes a great pairing with Arjona, who starts out as competitive and distrusting – especially with Frida – before recalling and embracing the time-honored (and perpetually true) maxim that women only have each other to look out for them in the end. Her arc here is better developed than Arjona’s last major role, as a femme fatale in ‘Hit Man,’ and she runs with it for all its worth, delivering an excellent performance that may mark her a star in the making.
Channing Tatum initially turns on the charm and faux vulnerability as Slater, a man who may be doing his best to appear humbled but never quite makes it seem genuine – underneath, he’s angry that he has to take responsibility for his actions. He says all the right things about therapy and rehab and spirituality, but Tatum’s essential blandness works for him in this instance, hinting at the emptiness that lurks inside Slater. Even his seeming interest in Frida curdles after a while, long before things really go south, and his air of entitlement during the film’s third act is as horrifying as anything else.
‘Blink Twice’ initially begins, somewhat eccentrically, as one of those poke-fun-at-the-super-rich send-ups that can easily become boring because the fruit is so low-hanging. But there’s just enough of a feeling from the beginning that something is out of sorts – even with Kravitz dropping clues throughout – to allow a sense of dread to creep into the proceedings. That still doesn’t prepare you for what the director has in store, and it’s refreshing that she’s not interested in returning to any satirical comfort zone once the mayhem begins.
There are no doubt some who will label ‘Blink Twice’ as “divisive,” but they’d be really missing the point about the systemic failure that keeps letting someone at a certain level of wealth and fame get away with the unspeakable just because he says he’s all better now. ‘Blink Twice’ is also a cautionary tale about what happens when too much power and opportunity is left in the hands of truly stunted personalities, and a rallying cry for people – especially women – to look after each other.
Kravitz certainly comes from wealth and fame herself, but she has almost certainly come up against those toxic types as well despite her privilege. ‘Blink Twice’ is a scream of rage on behalf of those who don’t have the resources to defend themselves, and while it gets messy and scattershot at times, it manifests a primal power that we’d like see Kravitz keep channeling.
‘Blink Twice’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Blink Twice’?
A starstruck waitress and her friend are invited to the private island of a billionaire tech mogul, where endless days and nights of debauchery and partying soon give way to the realization that something is very wrong.
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ ‘Criminal’. Photo: Image Comics.
‘Criminal’ adapts the sprawling graphic novel series created by Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips.
The adaptation is being described as the interweaving saga of several generations of families tied together by the crimes and murders of the past.
Hunnam will, according to Deadline, play main character Leo, a brilliant master thief who sees all the angles, and specializes in plans with no guns and no violence.
Like a chess player, Leo thinks three moves ahead. Other crooks think he’s a coward, especially compared to his father Tommy, who went to jail for murdering the most feared man in the city, Teeg Lawless.
Arjona will bring to life Greta, a sharp-tongued top-level car thief and driver and the widowed mother of Angie.
Ever since her husband died in a bank job gone bad, Greta has been battling with herself about how to escape the only life she’s ever known – and the only place she’s ever thrived. The problem is, she’s good at this. She’s looking for a big score, a lump of money she can use like a gun to shoot her and Angie out of this life and into another one.
Who else is in ‘Criminal’?
(L to R) Richard Jenkins and Sally Hawkins in ‘The Shape of Water’. Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Richard Jenkins (‘The Shape of Water’) was reported as joining the series last week, and he’ll play a character called Ivan, Leo’s dad’s best friend, who has always been an uncle figure to him. He used to be a robber and criminal but is now currently suffering from dementia. Leo is trying to care for him but realizes he’s more work than he can handle.
Who is making ‘Criminal’?
Brie Larson as Carol Danvers in 2019’s ‘Captain Marvel.’
Brubaker is closely involved with the show –– he wrote the pilot script and will run the show alongside Jordan Harper, a veteran of shows such as ‘The Mentalist’, ‘Gotham’ and ‘Hightown’.
On the directing side of things, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (who made ‘Captain Marvel’) are handling the first four episodes of the show.
This was Brubaker’s comment when the show was originally announced:
“Sean and I have been building this world in our books for over a decade, and now to be able to bring it to life for Amazon is just incredible. And to have Amazon support the project the way they have and show so much faith in my and Jordan’s vision for the show is even more incredible.”
Here’s what Amazon/MGM’s Nick Pepper had to say about the new developments:
“‘Criminal is a beloved graphic novel created by the most iconic team in the history of comics. I know our global Prime Video customers will immediately embrace this story, and I look forward to working with Ed, Jordan, and the team to bring it to the screen.”
When will ‘Criminal’ be on screens?
Despite the cast coming together, we wouldn’t expect this one to be shooting much before later this year, so later in 2025 would seem to be the earliest likely release slot.
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ ‘Criminal’. Photo: Image Comics.
Premiering in 2023 at the Venice and Toronto film festivals before being scooped up by Netflix for a reported $20 million, ‘Hit Man’ – kind of like the recent ‘Challengers,’ but very different – is a breath of fresh air: an adult-oriented genre mash-up of rom-com, crime thriller and comedy that’s all the more astounding because it’s partially based on a true story.
Directed by Richard Linklater (‘School of Rock’) with a verve that’s been missing from some of his recent work, and starring Glen Powell in another star-making turn as a humdrum academic who rediscovers his passion and confidence by pretending to be a smoldering assassin, ‘Hit Man’ is smart, sensual, character-driven, and highly entertaining.
Story and Direction
(L to R) Adria Arjona as Madison, director and co-writer Richard Linkletter, co-writer Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, and director of photography Shane F. Kelly. Photo: Brian Rondel / Courtesy of Netflix.
‘Hit Man’ is based partially on an article of the same name, written by Skip Hollingsworth, that appeared in Texas Monthly magazine in 2001. It told the story of Gary Johnson, a college professor who moonlighted with the New Orleans police department first as a surveillance tech and then as an undercover agent himself, part of a sting operation set up to nab people looking to hire a hitman to off someone who had become an irritant in their lives.
What Johnson discovered is also what his screen counterpart, played by Glen Powell, discovers: that he has a genuine knack for not just undercover work, but inhabiting different personalities according to what he thinks the target will respond to. As the film begins, Johnson – lonely, divorced, boring his students and, whether he wants to admit it or not, boring himself – is thrust into his first undercover role when the usual front man, Jasper (a slippery Austin Amelio), is benched after beating on some alleged perps. Much to his surprise, Gary gets into the ‘tough guy’ persona he comes up with on the spot – and the head of his team (Retta) is pleased enough to recommend he keep doing it.
As Gary moves forward, he begins donning different costumes for each sting: in one of the movie’s funniest ongoing gags, they reference everyone from Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman in ‘American Psycho’ to Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh from ‘No Country for Old Men.’ But while disguised as a cool, suave, and yes, sexy assassin named Ron (Ron wears black tank tops under shirts open halfway down his chest, his hair swept back, while Gary dresses in flannels, khakis, and glasses, his hair flopping over his face), Gary meets a woman named Madison (Adria Arjona), who is looking to have her abusive husband killed.
Gary, as “Ron,” talks Madison out of going forward with her plan, surprising both himself and the members of his team listening in. But no one is more surprised than Gary when he – or rather, “Ron” – reconnects with a newly-separated Madison and begins a steamy relationship with her. From that point on, the story takes multiple twists, and no one – least of all Gary, who is finding it increasingly difficult to figure out where he ends and “Ron” begins – is exactly what they seem.
Linklater directs all this with a sure hand, confident in the material, the characters, and his actors but adding a little flash here and there with a comic montage or two. What works best about ‘Hit Man’ is its unpredictability: the movie shifts from romance to crime caper to psychological exploration without ever feeling like it’s taken too jarring a turn, which is a credit again both to the balancing of tone in both Linklater’s direction and the script by him and Powell.
There is perhaps one false note at the end of the picture – a bit of moral ambiguity that is not quite resolved – but in the final analysis, it works within the context of the rest of the story and, if anything, adds a nice touch of subversion to a movie that already lightly subverts some well-worn genre tropes.
Glen Powell has obviously been around for a minute (he’s worked with Linklater several times already), but his breakout work in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and his leading man turn in last year’s ‘Anyone But You’ has positioned him as one of Hollywood’s next big things. Frankly, he deserves it: ‘Hit Man’ features Powell at his most winning, with Gary a complex, compelling, and attractive protagonist who is empathetic and believable from the get-go even as his personal situation becomes more trying. His evolution from nerdy, existentially fuzzy Gary to confident, even swaggering Ron – and then fusing the two from there – is organic and expertly portrayed.
He and Adria Arjona have instant, off-the-chart chemistry from the start, an ingredient that helps make their love scenes in ‘Hit Man’ more sensual than some of the other screen romance we’ve seen in recent times. We last saw Arjona in a thankless role in 2022’s forgettable ‘Morbius,’ and here she’s much more alluring, sparkling, and funnier. But the character of Madison is somewhat undercooked: she goes from a relationship in which she has absolutely no agency to one in which…she kind of has no agency, waiting in her apartment for “Ron” to come around so they can get busy. There are some subtle reveals to the character later that help flesh Madison out, but she doesn’t come quite as fully to life as Gary.
The supporting cast is gold, led by Retta as the no-nonsense Claudette and Austin Amelio as the calculating, untrustworthy Jasper. And let’s not forget to mention the parade of suspects that Gary gets locked up through the sting operation – sure, some of them are no more than easily recognizable archetypes, but they each get a funny moment or two.
Light and sure on its feet, ‘Hit Man’ also touches on some heavy questions: Who are we and how many different layers are there to our personalities? Are we really the best version of ourselves and if not, how do we get there? These musings are sprinkled liberally through the film, but the philosophical underpinnings don’t slow down what is still essentially a romp, bolstered by well-drawn characters and a powerhouse lead turn. If a movie like ‘Hit Man’ finds it harder to exist in movie theaters, the industry is truly having an existential crisis of its own.
‘Hit Man’ receives 8 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Hit Man’?
New Orleans college professor Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) moonlights for the police department as a fake hitman, using multiple disguises to catch people looking to have someone in their lives killed off. But after he talks a beautiful woman (Adria Arjona) out of ordering a hit on her husband — while disguised as a smoldering hitman named Ron — Gary gets caught in an identity crisis that leads him to wonder just who he really is.
(L to R) Retta, Adria Arjona, Glen Powell and director Richard Linklater for ‘Hit Man’. Photo: Netflix.
‘Hit Man’ is a new comic thriller coming to Netflix on June 7th after a limited theatrical run on May 24th. Directed by Richard Linklater (‘Boyhood’) and co-written by Linklater and star Glen Powell (‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ ‘Anyone But You’), the film is based on a 2001 Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth about a man named Gary Johnson, a New Orleans college professor who moonlights with the Big Easy’s police department as a surveillance tech expert.
In the film, as in real life, the unassuming Johnson (Powell) is working with a team of detectives conducting a sting operation to catch people who want to hire a hitman to kill a spouse, business partner, or anyone else they want to get rid of. When Johnson must suddenly pose as the fake hitman, he discovers he has a knack for it – as well as a talent for disguising himself as a different type of person for every potential customer.
But while posing as a suave, cool, and sexy assassin named Ron, Gary meets a woman named Madison (Adria Arjona, ‘Andor’), who wants to off her abusive husband. “Ron” talks her out of it, and soon he and Madison begin an affair of their own — with Madison not knowing who “Ron” really is — while Gary finds himself entangled in an escalating combination of identity crisis and deception.
Co-starring Retta (‘Parks and Recreation’), Austin Amelio (‘The Walking Dead’), and Sanjay Rao, ‘Hit Man’ is a crackling, inspired mix of noir, crime thriller, and rom-com that’s hard to pin down to one genre and even more difficult to believe is based on a real person. Powell, Linklater, Arjona, and Retta all recently participated in an online press conference for the film, and here are 10 things we learned there, edited for clarity and length.
1. Glen Powell Discovered the Story During The Pandemic
Glen Powell stars in ‘Hit Man’. Photo: Netflix.
Glen Powell says it was early in the pandemic when he first discovered the true story of Gary Johnson and was fascinated by it.
Glen Powell: Immediately, it was so clear there was such a compelling character there. If you look at the real-life Gary Johnson, he was a psychology professor who actually moonlighted with the police department, did AV equipment, was an ornithologist, Zen Buddhist. It was just such an incredible character piece, but I didn’t really know where it went. All I knew is that there was a fascinating guy here, and they called him the Laurence Olivier of fake hitmen because he approached the job differently. Instead of just becoming the hitman for hire across from someone who is trying to kill their husband or their wife or their business partner, he embodied their fantasy of what a fake hitman is, because hitmen don’t exist. So he took this skillset to a whole new level and started putting on these disguises and all these different things. It was just a fascinating idea…So I called up Rick and I said, I just read this amazing article called ‘Hit Man.’ And Rick said, “Yeah, I read that article when you were in 7th grade.”
2. Powell Helped Linklater Crack the Story of ‘Hit Man’
(L to R) Adria Arjona as Madison, director and co-writer Richard Linkletter, co-writer Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, and director of photography Shane F. Kelly. Photo: Brian Rondel / Courtesy of Netflix.
Richard Linklater says he had been thinking about making a movie out of ‘Hit Man’ for years but that working with Glen Powell finally unlocked the story.
Richard Linklater: I was so excited to get this call from Glen because that story had been kicking around in my head. I had talked to Skip, I had had a couple of meetings on it over the years, but it didn’t really work. It didn’t really work as a film because there was this repetition. It didn’t really go anywhere. So I told this to Glen [and] he said, ‘Well, let’s talk about it.” I was like, “Oh, wow, it’s the pandemic. What else are we going to do?” So talk we did, every day for a while. We would just have hours of conversations. And Glen kind of loosened the logjam I was in. He said, “Well, what if we deviate? Why do we have to stick to the facts?” So once that floodgate opened, we were off to the races. We just started having these great ideas, and the last two thirds of the movie kind of comes out of that. The genres kick in and it becomes this thrill ride. But it was grounded in Gary Johnson’s life reality…[he] was a real person, [with] a real job, the strangest occupation anyone could ever have.
3. One Paragraph in the ‘Hit Man’ Article Became Half the Movie
In the movie, Gary Johnson meets with a woman who wants to put out a hit on her abusive husband. Gary, disguised as a suave assassin named Ron, talks her out of it, persuading her to take control of her life instead. The two later begin their own relationship, which drives the second half of the film.
Glen Powell: The story wasn’t revealing itself in a natural way, but then there was this paragraph about this woman that the real-life Gary Johnson sat down with. She was approaching him to get him to kill her husband. And instead of sending her to jail like he did with everybody else, he didn’t believe that she was capable of this thing. He sort of believed in the best of her and talked her out of it. It was the first time that ever happened, and there was a relationship that developed from that. But all of a sudden the article just sort of moves on, and Rick and I were like, well, what if we pull at that thread? We have so many questions about what that relationship is and how they reengaged with each other. Did he stay as the fake hitman? So really that was a big breaking point because that was when we started thinking about, [what] if he got stuck in this identity as this fake hitman?
4. Not Just Another Femme Fatale
Adria Arjona stars in ‘Hit Man’. Photo: Netflix.
Adria Arjona’s character, Madison, reveals more layers to her personality as the film goes on, which is something Arjona wanted to happen.
Adria Arjona: She’s a woman that’s coming from a traumatic relationship, this weird kind of dark relationship, and she’s desperate for reinvention. I think we all do that in life, where we’re all always trying to find sort of a different version of ourselves. She’s sort of playing that. She’s kind of looking at Ron and going, what would Ron like? What would a bad boy like Ron want in a woman? So I don’t see Madison as a femme fatale. I see a woman trying to play the illusion of a femme fatale. That was really fun to play with. I just had so much fun crafting that with them, and it felt a little bit more grounded. That was something that I could do. I wasn’t interested in just being the femme fatale.
5. Retta Didn’t Find Out She Had Her Role For, Like, Forever
Retta stars in ‘Hit Man’. Photo: Netflix.
The ‘Parks and Recreation’ star auditioned for the role of Claudette, leader of the undercover New Orleans police sting operation for which Gary first does surveillance and then acts as a fake hitman.
Retta: I got an audition from my agent and I was like, oh, it’s Rick and Glen. I didn’t know Glen wrote. So I was like, “Look at you, fancy.” So I put myself on tape and didn’t hear anything for a long time. Then Glen and I happened to be at [a party] and Glen is talking to me as if I was hired. He was like, “We’re going to make that movie. We’re going to have so much fun.” I was like, “Dude, did I get the job?” I literally went home that night and texted my manager and I was like, did someone not email me to let me know that I booked this gig? But I know Glen from 10 years ago; we did a movie together [‘Sex Ed’]. I know Rick from 20 years ago; we did a pilot together. So I know them personality-wise, and I was like, “Oh, this is going to be a very calm environment.”
6. How Retta’s Role Changed From Claude to Claudette
As is often the case, the role of Claudette was supposed to be a man (Claude), but Retta took it over with few changes and not a lot of research.
Retta: It was written originally as a guy. So I just chose to be me if I were a detective. Those are the choices that I made. I was me saying those lines as a detective in that space. It wasn’t much more than that. I didn’t study anything. We met some detectives that told us how things go, but that was about it for me. I don’t watch a lot of true crime. I listened to some podcasts and they used to scare me, so I stopped. I like to problem-solve. So that’s why I was like, I feel like he said this, so I feel like we need to do that.
7. Richard Linklater Was Very Happy to Work With Glen Powell Again
(L to R) Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, director Richard Linklater and Sanjay Rao for ‘Hit Man’. Photo: Netflix.
Richard Linklater previously directed Glen Powell in 2016’s ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ with the latter playing Walt “Finn” Finnegan.
Richard Linklater: Kind of the greatest thing about getting to do this over the years and decades is when you work with someone you like and if the planets align, you get to work with ’em again. It’s just wonderful. With Glen, I think our big breakthrough was 10 years ago we were shooting ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ Glen came in and auditioned. I had a part that I thought would be very difficult to cast. He’s an athlete, yet he’s really smart and charming, and he’s kind of the team intellectual. I was like, oh, this is a small little target, who’s going to do this? I’d known Glen for about 10 years at this time. I’d worked with him when he was young, like a high school kid…But he walked in the room and was this guy. I was like, when did Glen become so amazing? He’s so smart. He’s so charming. I was just seeing this force of nature. I was like, oh my God, he solved my problem. I got my guy to play this thing. But we had such a great creative time on that…when he called me with this, it was off to the races creatively, because he is just fun to work with. He’s funny and smart and a great collaborator.
8. Glen Powell to Richard Linklater: Right Back Atcha, Pal!
Glen Powell explains why he enjoys collaborating with Linklater and would like to keep it going.
Glen Powell: The wonderful thing about writing with Rick is that your conversations become wonderful pages and friendship and work blend together in this kind of effortless way. It’s what I think makes him magical as a filmmaker. He’s never attacking a story. He sort of lets the story reveal itself. And when he casts people, he really allows them to come into the process. There’s sort of this wonderful room for life that he gives everything. I think it makes that ecosystem very different and very fruitful. So I’d love to keep doing this till our fingers just freeze up on the keyboard.
During one crucial, showstopping scene late in the movie, Gary (Powell) guides Madison (Arjona) through a fake argument by texting her what to say and how to act, even as the other members of his police team are listening to them talk.
Adria Arjona: We spoke about that scene so much between the three of us. It was that scene that we just never gave up on. There were so many different iterations of how we might do it… So when we first heard that first “action,” all of a sudden I start seeing Glen kind of guide me through this scene in such a seamless way. My job really was to follow his lead as much as I could. It was one of those scenes where we didn’t stop looking at each other. I looked at every gesture that he did, and it triggered something in me. So I feel like it’s a scene where teamwork was so important and so crucial. I don’t think I’ve done that before in any movie. You aspire to be the best listener you can. I mean, that’s what acting is all about. But everyone has their own motives. You’re playing your own characters. For this scene, we had to be symbiotic for it to work. It was also so much fun.
10. What a Surprise: The Studios Didn’t Get ‘Hit Man’
According to Powell, no Hollywood studios were interested in backing ‘Hit Man.’ The movie was financed and filmed independently, then played at the Venice and Toronto film festivals in 2023 – with Netflix purchasing it at the latter for a reported $20 million.
Glen Powell: We took this movie out and no one got it. We took this script out. We were so proud of it. We were so excited about what it said about identity and passion. We thought it was so universal and exciting. It was going to be an audience movie. And then it was just crickets. No one got it. Nobody responded to it because I don’t think it fits into one box. We were trying to do something original, and I think the town always wanted it to be something else. I think what I’m just really proud of is we got to make this movie independently, and make the movie that we wanted to make. It doesn’t subscribe to any genre. It doesn’t fit into any box. I think the reason it’s a really great audience movie, and the reason people are responding to it, is you can’t get out in front of it. You can’t predict it because it’s all the things.
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What is the plot of ‘Hit Man’?
A part-time staffer (Glen Powell) with the New Orleans Police Department stumbles into the role of posing undercover as a reliable hitman with the goal of arresting those trying to hire him. He discovers he has a talent for theatrically matching the expectations of his suspects with often-humorous costumes, accents, and mannerisms, which makes him especially adept at his work. He meets with a woman (Adria Arjona) who wants a hitman to kill her husband, but he falls for her at first sight and saves her from getting entrapped. Later she bamboozles her way into his life and murders her husband for the insurance money. The story explores how far will a person go for infatuation, love, and personal happiness.
With Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni overseeing the ‘Mandalorian’ expanded small screen universe, the company has naturally used the success of that first show to build out others, some created by the main duo, some by different creative teams.
There were new details and looks at a variety of shows, so here’s what was talked about…
In production before any of the other series spotlighted today, the series following the further adventures of the Togruta from the planet Shili, a Padawan turned Jedi known as Ahsoka Tano had the most to show off, including a trailer that is now online.
Led by Filoni behind the scenes, the series follows the former Jedi knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy –– specifically Grand Admiral Thrawn, a villain created by Timothy Zahn for his novel series. He’s already in screen canon thanks to appearances on Filoni’s animated series ‘Star Wars Rebels’ and will now be live-action, though his casting as yet to be announced.
Also making the leap from ‘Rebels’ (since Ashoka also appeared on that show) are Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and cranky droid Chopper, with the promise of others. It’s worth noting that another Rebels regular, Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios showed up in one scene of last week’s ‘The Mandalorian’.
“It was natural he would make the transition to live action,” Kathleen Kennedy said of Filoni on stage. “He has done a spectacular job.” Favreau concurred: “He cares deeply. He poured his heart and soul into it. Dave is unique in that he doesn’t ever squash your inspiration or idea but finds a way to fit it in, to keep it in the tradition that George Lucas started.” Dawson, for her part, said she had “so many pinch me moments” making the show. “Because if this does well, maybe we’ll get a second season. It’s up to y’all!” she told the 4,500-strong crowd.
The trailer is stacked with action, primarily Ahsoka showing off her trademark double lightsaber skills, plus plenty of starships dogfighting.
The pair have come up with a series set around the same time as ‘The Mandalorian’, which follows the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home — and meeting unlikely allies and enemies — will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.
Jude Law stars alongside younger actors Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Kyriana Kratter and Robert Timothy Smith and Ryan Kiera Armstrong. There’s no word yet on when the show will land on Disney+.
‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’ will be premiering on Disney+ in 2023.
‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’
‘The Acolyte’ promises to take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes but discovers the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.
Series creator Leslye Headland wowed the crowd with a sneak peek at the upcoming show. Headland arrived on stage, escorted by Kelnacca, and previewed footage from the mystery-thriller series alongside several of the stars.
With production underway now, the series won’t hit Disney+ until next year, but that still is likely to be ahead of the new run of another big series set in the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy…
Lucasfilm’s ‘The Acolyte.’
‘Star Wars: Andor’
There was also word from Team ‘Andor,’ with showrunner Tony Gilroy joined by stars Diego Luna, Adria Arjona, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Andy Serkis, Muhannad Bahair and Joplin Sibtain to talk about the successful first season and preview footage from the second and final run of 12 episodes, which have yet to schedule a release date on Disney+.
Oh, and for fans of the show that started it all, there was naturally a ‘Mandalorian’ treat, as the next episode of the series was shown on the big screen for fans.
There is a lot to look forward to on the TV front, and, unlike the big movie announcements, we can be reasonably assured they will all hit screens. Stay tuned for more from the event as it unfolds.
The cast of ‘Andor’ at Star Wars Celebration 2023.
