(Left) Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton in ‘Saltburn.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios. Amazon MGM Studios. (Right) 1931’s ‘Frankenstein.’ Photo: Universal Pictures.
Preview:
‘Saltburn’s Jacob Elordi has boarded Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’.
He replaces Andrew Garfield in playing the monster.
Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz are all aboard the Netflix film.
Mary Shelley’s classic, literary horror-genre-goosing novel ‘Frankenstein’ is something that filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has had on his To-Do list for more than a decade.
Now, Deadline reports that Garfield has had to drop out, just one more ripple effect of last year’s strikes still impacting schedules. But the good news for the director is that Jacob Elordi, whose star is on the rise thanks to ‘Saltburn’ and ‘Priscilla’, is now lined up to step in.
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What’s the story of ‘Frankenstein’?
1931’s ‘Frankenstein.’ Photo: Universal Pictures.
Shelly’s literary game-changer follows Victor Frankenstein (Isaac), a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature (Elordi) to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
Del Toro is writing, directing and producing alongside J. Miles Dale, who served as a producer on del Toro’s ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ for Netflix, where this new movie is also based.
Who else is in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’?
What has del Toro said about ‘Frankenstein’ in the past?
Director Guillermo del Toro for ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.’
“The only way to do the Shelley novel is to actually do a four-hour miniseries,” he told MTV in 2008. “But I think there are permutations in which you can tell the myth in a different way.”
Obviously, he’s clearly found a way to make the story work as a movie –– and has now cracked the script.
It’ll need to be something fresh –– Shelley’s book has been adapted many times in many ways for all sorts of media. But we can trust del Toro will bring his distinctive stamp to the story of the doctor who reanimates dead bodies and the creature he creates that faces hatred from the local villagers.
Guillermo del Toro poses backstage with the Oscar® for Animated Feature Film during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Quite what he intends to do with it is a mystery for now, but he may choose to tweak it in a modern-day setting or stick to more of a period feel. Either way, this is certainly something we know this director can do.
And hopefully, Netflix will give the result some proper big-screen treatment before it ends up on the company’s servers, and we’re glad del Toro is getting to tick another long-held dream film off his list.
As for Elordi, he’s worked on Paul Schrader’s next film, ‘Oh Canada’ and indie drama ‘On Swift Horses’. He’ll also be back for the next season of HBO’s ‘Euphoria’, due in 2025.
The actor, who played Flint Marko/The Sandman, has appeared in two Spider-man films – 2007’s ‘Spider-Man 3’ and 2021’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.” When asked which Spider-Man he’d go toe-to-toe with during an interview with Comicbook.com for the Peacock series ‘Twisted Metal,’ Church named Maguire as that was the Spider-man [movie] he started out with and expressed his interest in appearing in a possible ‘Spider-Man 4’ movie.
“There’s always been some kind of…I’ve heard rumors…that Sam Raimi was going to do another [Spider-Man movie] with Tobey [Maguire] and if that happens, I would probably campaign to maybe at least do a cameo,” Church said.
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Sam Raimi’s History With Spider-Man
Director Sam Raimi at San Diego Comic-Con
Sam Raimi directed the ‘Spider-man’ trilogy starring Tobey Maguire as the web-slinging superhero. The 2002 film also starred Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane and Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin. ‘Spider-man’ earned over $825 million worldwide and became the third highest grossing movie of 2002. Raimi continued to work with Maguire for the next two ‘Spider-man’ movies.
“I’ve come to realize after making ‘Doctor Strange’ that anything is possible, really anything in the Marvel universe, any team-ups,” Raimi said. “I love Tobey. I love Kirsten Dunst. I think all things are possible. I don’t really have a story or a plan. I don’t know if Marvel would be interested in that right now. I don’t know what their thoughts are about that. I haven’t really pursued that. But it sounds beautiful. Even if it wasn’t a Spider-Man movie, I’d love to work with Tobey again, in a different role.”
(L to R) Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire from ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ Photo Courtesy of Marvel Entertainment’s Instagram.
Currently, Sony Pictures owns the right to make and distribute the current Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland. Disney shares the right, allowing the character to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In 2021’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home,’ fans finally got to see all three iterations of Spider-Man on the same screen. The film opens up the possibility for the trio to meet once again, as well as appear in other Marvel films or a standalone film. Marvel is diving fast into the realm of the multiverse, and we saw a cameo of Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man in Sony’s latest hit ‘Spider-man: Across The Spider-Verse,’ which means the probability of seeing Maguire’s Spider-man on-screen again is quite likely.
(L to R) Electro (Jamie Foxx), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), and The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’
(L to R) Oscar Isaac, Guillermo del Toro, and Mia Goth speak onstage Netflix TUDUM 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Netflix.
We already know that he’s pushing ahead with a new animated project, adapting Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2015 historical fiction novel ‘The Buried Giant’ for Netflix, but it would seem he might also be setting his sights on another live-action film (especially since ‘Giant’ is being crafted in stop-motion and will likely take years to see the screen).
And this other movie is one that del Toro has wanted to make for more than a decade: an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic tale ‘Frankenstein’.
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Who does Guillermo del Toro want for ‘Frankenstein’?
According to Deadline, del Toro is in the early stages of finding his cast for this new adaptation. He’s reportedly had talks with Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield and Mia Goth for the three lead roles, though the trade site is quick to caution that there are no formal offers out to the actors but all three are eager to work with del Toro.
And who can blame them? The director won two Oscars for ‘The Shape of Water’ in 2018 and has long been considered an inventive, entertaining filmmaker.
What has del Toro said about ‘Frankenstein’ in the past?
“The only way to do the Shelley novel is to actually do a four-hour miniseries,” he told MTV in 2008. “But I think there permutations in which you can tell the myth in a different way.”
Obviously, he’s clearly found a way to make the story work as a movie –– though he’s still figuring out the script.
It’ll need to be something fresh –– Shelley’s book has been adapted many times in many ways for all sorts of media. But we can trust del Toro will bring his distinctive stamp to the story of the doctor who reanimates dead bodies and the creature he creates that faces hatred from the local villagers.
It’s the sort of subject that del Toro does so well –– finding the humanity in the monstrous and the monstrosities among humans.
This would be a high-profile cast for the director –– Isaac was most recently seen in the likes of ‘Dune’, ‘Big Gold Brick’ and Marvel’s ‘Moon Knight’ series. He’ll be heard as Miguel O’Hara in ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’, due in theaters on June 2nd.
(L to R) Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield present the Oscar® for Original Screenplay during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
They’re both respected popular actors, have massive online followings and near broke the internet when they showed up at the Oscars this weekend past, presenting the screenplay prizes.
So it should be no surprise that word of Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh in negotiations to star together in a new romantic drama is big news.
According to Deadline, they’re now circling the leads in ‘We Live in Time’, which unusually for a non-Marvel/big studio blockbuster is being kept very quiet in terms of plot.
All that the site has been able to ferret out is that it’s “a funny, deeply moving and immersive love story.” We can already imagine the Tumblr posts.
(L to R) Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield present the Oscar® for Original Screenplay during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Who is making the new movie?
While neither Pugh nor Garfield’s deals are in place yet, the movie does have a team ready to make it. Nick Crowley, who directed ‘Brooklyn’ and previously worked with Garfield on 2007’s ‘Boy A’ (in which the actor played a man recently released from prison after committing a crime as a child), is on to call the shots.
Leah Clarke, Adam Ackland and Guy Heeley are among the producers and, thanks to the involvement of the actor’s Sunny March company, Benedict Cumberbatch is an executive producer.
If everything works out with the casting, Crowley should have the cameras rolling later this year.
(L to R) Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire from ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ Photo Courtesy of Marvel Entertainment’s Instagram.
Garfield was most recently seen on the big screen in the one-two punch of ‘tick, tick… BOOM!’ (for which he was nominated as Best Actor at the 2022 Oscars) and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ in which he reprised the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and appeared alongside Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire.
He also received acclaim for TV drama ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’, which saw him as a Mormon police officer investigating a murder mystery within his community.
Pugh, meanwhile, was seen last year in ‘The Wonder’ and ‘Don’t Worry Darling’, the latter of which became more infamous for its behind-the-scenes (and press tour) drama than its twisty mystery. She was also heard as the voice of Goldilocks in ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’.
Upcoming for the actor is Zach Braff’s new drama ‘A Good Person’ (in theaters on March 24th) and even higher profile projects including Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’, in which she’ll be Jean Tatlock, who has an affair with Cillian Murphy’s titular scientist (and will be released on July 21st) and Denis Villeneuve much-anticipated ‘Dune: Part Two’, where she’ll play Princess Irulan Corrino.
Donald Glover attends the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.
Donald Glover is finally ready for his Spider close-up.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the ‘Community’ veteran and ‘Atlanta’ creator/star is on board to star in and produce a currently untitled movie featuring obscure ‘Spider-Man’ villain the Hypno-Hustler.
So who is this little-known baddie? Created by Bill Mantlo (who also created Rocket Racoon, who has gone on to be a key part of Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ movies), and artist Frank Springer, Hypno-Hustler was a disco-era character who first appeared in ‘Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man’ No. 24 in 1978. His real name was Antoine Delsoin, the leader of a band called the Mercy Killers and used hypnosis technology in his instruments on his audience in order to rob them.
It doesn’t sound like the source material for the greatest cinematic villain, but in Glover’s hands it should be something fun––he’s not a creative type who sticks to the basics.
The new Spider-Universe movie is at an early stage right now; it doesn’t have an announced title but we do know who hatched the idea to turn the character into a movie: Myles Murphy, the son of actor and comedian Eddie Murphy, is on board to write the project.
Glover’s history with ‘Spider-Man’ stretches back at least a decade, though. His ‘Community’ character Troy was seen wearing Spider-Man pajamas in the episode “Anthropology 101”. Fans jumped on the idea that he could be ideal to play Miles Morales in a future Spidey films.
(L to R) Donald Glover and Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming.’
Still, Glover did get to play Miles, albeit in voice form, in TV series ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ in 2015.
And while the live-action cinematic Spider-universe stayed Parker-central with 2017’s ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ Glover appeared briefly as a character named Aaron David, who Spidey encountered while the man was trying to by advanced weapons from the Vulture’s crew. A deleted scene from the movie suggested that Aaron was Miles Morales’ uncle (Mahershala Ali voiced the character more officially in ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’).
This is the latest development in Sony’s ever-expanding batch of movies based in the world of the web-slinger, even if most of them won’t feature the (Spider) man himself.
With two ‘Venom’ films and ‘Morbius’ already out in the world, the future for Sony is certainly entangled in a web. Movies on the way include ‘Kraven the Hunter’, due October 6th next year, followed by ‘Madame Web’ on February 16th, 2024. In development, meanwhile, are ‘El Muerto’, a third ‘Venom’ and a slate of TV series set in the same universe.
Marvel Comics’ Hypno-Hustler. Photo courtesy of Marvel.com.
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Andrew Garfield excepting Best Actor for ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’ at the 5th Annual Hollywood Critics Association Awards.
Nestled among the giant likes of awards shows such as the Oscars and the various guilds are the scrappier, more entertaining galas such as Monday evening’s Hollywood Critics Association Awards.
This year’s event, the fifth annual ceremony and the first to be held in person since the start of the pandemic saw a wide variety of actors and artisans honored with both traditional categories and special awards. Among the winners this year? Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart, and directors Denis Villeneuve and Jane Campion.
The best director category was a legitimate tie between the two veteran filmmakers, with ‘Dune’s Villeneuve on stage to receive his trophy and ‘The Power of the Dog’s Campion accepting via a video.
Andrew Garfield gave a joyous, sweary and sweet speech accepting his Best Actor award for ‘tick, tick… BOOM!’ while Kristen Stewart seemed more surprised that she’d won for ‘Spencer’.
Kristen Stewart excepting Best Actress for her performance in ‘Spencer’ at the 5th Annual Hollywood Critics Association Awards.
There was also a lot of love for team ‘CODA’ as the movie won Best Adapted Screenplay for writer/director Siân Heder, Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur, and in an emotional finale, Best Picture.
Along with Villeneuve’s win, ‘Dune’ proved popular among the voters, as it also took home Best Visual Effects, Best Score for Hans Zimmer, and Best Cinematography for Greig Fraser.
On the special award front, Kenneth Branagh was awarded Excellence in Artistry (while his latest, ‘Belfast’, also won the Cast Ensemble award), and the actor/writer/director naturally quoted Shakespeare in his acceptance speech.
Nicolas Cage was the recipient of both a trophy for Acting Achievement and a heartfelt presentation by ‘Pig’ co-star Alex Wolff, who seemed genuinely happy and excited to give his friend the award.
Nicolas Cage excepting the Acting Achievement Award at the 5th Annual Hollywood Critics Association Awards.
The series, created and run by ‘Milk’ Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, adapts Jon Krakauer’s novel, which itself was the result of an investigation into a reclusive, regressive, and restrictive Mormon community where a dreadful killing had occurred.
Garfield here plays Detective Pyre a Mormon law enforcer whose faith is tested as he investigates a brutal murder that seems to be connected to an esteemed Utah family’s spiral into LDS fundamentalism and their distrust in the government.
Pyre is committed to his Church and family but begins to question some of the Church’s teachings through his contact with a suspected murderer and the family of Brenda (Daisy Edgar-Jones), who was brutally slain.
It’s far from Garfield’s first encounter with religious extremism – in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’, he plays Father Rodrigues, a priest who goes looking for his mentor in 17th century Japan after the man goes missing. He’s also recently been seen as disgraced evangelist Jim Bakker in ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’, alongside Jessica Chastain.
Kate McKinnon attends the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images.
On a completely different televisual front, we have ‘Joe Vs. Carol’, which offers a new perspective on the outrageous true story chronicled in Netflix’s pandemic-era sensation ‘Tiger King’.
The documentary series chronicled the deeply interconnected community of big cat conservationists and collectors in America, and the private zoos and animal sanctuaries they have set up for the care and public display of these animals.
Its focus was primarily Joe “Exotic” Schreibvogel, an extravagant big cat collector, gun fan and ardent self-promoter who was in a feud with animal rights crusader Carol Baskin.
Now, spun not so much from the Netflix series as from the podcast 2019 Wondery podcast ‘Joe Exotic: Tiger King;’ (which pre-dated the Netflix show) is ‘Joe Vs. Carol’, which stars John Cameron Mitchell as Exotic and Kate McKinnon as Baskin.
Here, the eye is more on Baskin, a big cat enthusiast, who learns that fellow exotic animal lover Joe “Exotic” Schreibvogel is breeding and using his big cats for profit. She sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry. But Carole has a checkered past of her own and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose what he sees as her hypocrisy.
(L to R) Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire from ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ Photo Courtesy of Marvel Entertainment’s Instagram.
Even before ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ came out, one of the worst kept secrets in movies was the fact that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield would show up to share the screen with current Spider-Man Tom Holland. (Apologies if you were trying to keep spoiler free on the movie, but we’re afraid it’s well and truly out there).
After months of trying to stop the news from leaking pre-release, Sony and Marvel are taking a very different approach as they announce the movie’s planned home entertainment arrival. How so? The companies tweeted out a picture of Maguire, Garfield and Holland recreating one of the most famous memes to hit the web (pun unapologetically deployed) – Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man.
Just in case you aren’t familiar with this particular meme, the image originates from Episode 19b of the 1967 ‘Spider-Man’ cartoon, titled ‘Double Identity.’ In the story, the villain Chameleon impersonates Spidey to pull off an art heist. He replicates all of the hero’s abilities in order to force a showdown and to try and trick the authorities into arresting everyone’s favorite web-slinger. Suffice to say, Spider-Man shows up and pointing/fighting ensues. Find the clip below…
The meme itself first debuted in 2011 and became increasingly popular as a way to indicate similar things (there’s an example here). It even inspired the end credits scene for ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’, in which Spider-Man 2099 (AKA Oscar Isaac’s Miguel O’Hara), who meets another Spider-Man and comedy arguments about pointing ensues. You can watch that here…
It’s fitting for ‘No Way Home’, which sees Holland’s Peter Parker reeling after his secret identity is revealed to the world by J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) and he’s framed for the death of Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’. Seeking a way to solve the problem, he consults Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who suggests a spell to make everyone forget that Peter is Spidey.
Trouble is, Peter’s attempts to make sure his friends and family don’t also lose their memories of his true identity end up causing problems for the spell, tearing open access to the multiverse, and leading to the likes of Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Electro (Jamie Foxx), Lizard (Rhys Ifans) and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), who all appeared in different previous ‘Spider-Man’ movies.
It does, however, also let Holland’s Parker meet and team-up with Garfield and Maguire’s variants of the character, and there is much swapping of stories before they tackle the various villains.
This comes on the heels of word from Holland (while appearing on ‘Late Night with Seth Myers’) that one of the three Spider-Men wore a fake butt in their suit. “I’ll give you a spoiler, and I’m not going to tell you who, but one of us has a fake a– in their suit,” Holland said. “You can figure out that for yourselves.”
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ will be released on digital March 22, followed by a 4K Ultra HD, DVD and Blu-Ray disc release on April 12. Now we just have to wonder what other memes make it into release announcements. Probably this one.
The 2022 Oscar nominations were announced this morning by Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross.
The 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27, back after a couple of pandemic-affected years at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. For the first time in three years, the in-person event will have a host – or, according to broadcaster ABC, multiple hosts – though no names have yet been announced.
Jane Campion’s ‘The Power of the Dog’ led the pack with 12 nominations, though ‘Dune’ is nipping at its heels with 10 (albeit left out of the major acting and directing categories).
Let’s break down the big categories and you can find the full list of nominees below…
BEST PICTURE
This will be a tough category to call in terms of winners, especially with 10 nominees. ‘The Power of the Dog’ is surely the front-runner, but don’t count out ‘Belfast’ or ‘King Richard’.
Neither ‘Being The Ricardos’ or Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘Tick, Tick…Boom!’ managed to make it to the final list which is something of a surprise given the love for both, with ‘Drive My Car’ more of a surprise. And sorry Spidey – while it is dominating the box office, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ couldn’t manage a berth here.
Jane Campion is the clear favorite here for ‘The Power of the Dog’ and has made Oscar history by becoming the first woman to score two Oscar nominations, following her nod in 1994 for ‘The Piano’. Yet she faces competition from the likes of Kenneth Branagh, whose sentimental ‘Belfast’ has drawn plenty of attention. Paul Thomas Anderson also seems to be in with a shout for ‘Licorice Pizza’
Missing? We’d surely have predicted Guillermo del Toro for his work on ‘Nightmare Alley’ (which got a Best Picture nod but seems unlikely to win that given del Toro’s absence here) and Denis Villeneuve was surely in with a shot for ‘Dune’, but it was not to be.
No real shock to find Benedict Cumberbatch once again on an acting award nominees list, while Will Smith and Andrew Garfield were also talked up as locks.
Perhaps an actual shock is the lack of acting nominations for ‘Licorice Pizza’. While Cooper Hoffman was not predicted to be in the running, we did think Alana Haim could end up in the Best Actress category.
The likes of Colman, Chastain and Kidman were pretty much locks, though Kristen Stewart’s prospects for ‘Spencer’ had wavered of late, given the lack of love from either the Screen Actors Guild or the BAFTAs, yet she made it in here. Most shockingly, no sign of Lady Gaga for ‘House of Gucci’ and the film itself is a no-show beyond make-up and hairstyling. (Just picture Jared Leto’s Paolo wailing at the news).
The biggest surprise here is the absence of Bradley Cooper, who missed out both on a nod for Nightmare Alley and didn’t make the Supporting Actor list for his comedic role as Jon Peters in ‘Licorice Pizza’.
No sign of ‘Ben Affleck’ either, who had been drawing praise for his turn in ‘The Tender Bar’. Ciarán Hinds managed to make it through for ‘Belfast’, while co-star Jamie Dornan did not. Mostly, we want a video of ‘CODA’s Troy Kotsur reacting to his nomination, given the viral clip of him on the day of the BAFTA announcement.
DeBose is surely in the lead here, though Buckley does good work in ‘The Lost Daughter’ and Dunst has been picking up plenty of attention for ‘The Power of the Dog’.
No sign, sadly, of Marlee Matlin or Ruth Negga, who both deserved nods for ‘CODA’ and ‘Passing’ respectively. While it’s unlikely she’s winning again, there’s no denying the power of Dame Judi Dench.
Campion may well win this one, though we’d love to see ‘CODA’ snag this one.
‘CODA’– Siân Heder
‘Drive My Car’ – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi Takamasa Oe
‘Dune’ Jon Spaihts – Denis Villeneuve Eric Roth
‘The Lost Daughter’ – Maggie Gyllenhaal
‘The Power of the Dog’ – Jane Campion
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BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
‘Don’t Look Up’ continues to do well and could take this one, though ‘Licorice Pizza’ and ‘King Richard’ are big favorites. Aaron Sorkin didn’t make the list this year, with voters snubbing ‘Being the Ricardos’.
‘Belfast’ – Kenneth Branagh
‘Don’t Look Up’ – Adam McKay, David Sirota
‘King Richard’ – Zach Baylin
‘Licorice Pizza’ – Paul Thomas Anderson
‘The Worst Person in the World’ – Eskil Vogt, Joachim Troer
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BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Despite the lack of love in the bigger categories besides Picture, ‘Nightmare Alley; is in with a chance here, though ‘Dune’ and ‘West Side Story’ are also big possibilities.
‘Dune’ – Greig Fraser
‘Nightmare Alley’ – Dan Laustsen
‘The Power of the Dog’ – Ari Wegner
‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ – Bruno Delbonnel
‘West Side Story’ – Janusz Kamiński
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BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
‘Encanto’ is surely the big favourite, though don’t count out ‘Flee’, which made history by showing up in this category plus Best Documentary and Best International Feature Film. ‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines’ would also be a fun win.
‘Encanto’
‘Flee’
‘Luca’
‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines’
‘Raya and the Last Dragon’
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BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Locked out of the main categories, ‘Cyrano’ might find some love here, though with ‘Cruella’, ‘Dune’ and ‘Nightmare Alley’ also on the list, we don’t love its chances.
‘Cruella’
‘Cyrano’
‘Dune’
‘Nightmare Alley’
‘West Side Story’
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BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Some predicted a double Jonny Greenwood year (he also scored ‘Licorice Pizza’), but it may well be Zimmer’s time again, or even, given its surging success, ‘Encanto’s Germain Franco.
‘Don’t Look Up’ – Nicholas Britell
‘Dune’ – Hans Zimmer
‘Encanto’ – Germaine Franco
‘Parallel Mothers’ – Alberto Iglesias
‘The Power of the Dog’ – Jonny Greenwood
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BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
‘Flee’, as previously mentioned, pulled off the trick of multiple categories and is a strong contender here, though ‘Drive My Car’ might be the one to beat, also having shown up in Best Picture. No sign of ‘Lamb’, as some had predicted.
On Tuesday, November 16th, Sony and Disney released the final trailer for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home,’ which opens in theaters on December 17th. With just a month to go until the release, promotion is kicking into high-gear, as they released the first poster last week, and a second this week that adds Benedict Cumberbatch to the background. The new trailer expands on the film’s plot, which we knew very little about previously other than that Peter Parker will go to Doctor Strange and ask him to make the world forget he is Spider-Man, and that opens up all kinds of Multiverse trouble. The trailer also features more footage of the villains, as well as our first look at Oscar winner Jamie Foxx reprising his role as Electro from ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2.’ Unfortunately, Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield do not appear in the final trailer, as many fans had hoped, and there is no confirmation that they will ultimately appear in the movie at all.
The trailer begins with Peter Parker explaining to MJ that since he was bitten by that spider, he’s only had one good week, and that was the week he told her the truth about who he is. We then cut to the Sanctum Sanctorum, where Doctor Strange explains that ever since Peter made him “botch that spell” to have everyone forget that he is Spider-Man, they’ve been “getting some visitors from every universe.” We then cut to the action scene on the bridge, and get our first look at the Green Goblin flying out of a cloud of smoke above Spider-Man. We then see Spider-Man in his black costume dodging yellow lightning, followed by Doctor Octopus’ introduction on the bridge where Alfred Molina’s character unmasks Spider-Man and says, “You’re not Peter Parker.”
Alfred Molina in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
The next shot shows Doctor Octopus captured in some kind of cell and surrounded by Peter, MJ, and Ned. Peter asks him his name, and he replies, “Doctor Otto Octavius.” The kids then laugh at him, and Peter says, “No, seriously, what’s your real name?” This is a callback to the joke between Peter and Doctor Strange in ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’ After another shot of Peter in the black costume, doing some sort of “Doctor Strange magic” with his wrist, we cut back to the Sanctum Sanctorum where Strange is yelling at Peter, MJ and Ned. He says, “There are others out there. We need to send them back, so, Scooby-Doo this crap!” After making the Mystery Gang reference, MJ is having none of it and replies, “You know, all of this is kind of your mess. I know a couple of magic words myself, starting with the word please.” To which Strange smiles and says, “Please… Scooby-Doo this crap!”
Jamie Foxx in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
After a shot of a sandstorm and yellow electricity flowing through the streets surrounding Oscar winner J.K. Simmons reprising his role as J. Jonah Jameson, we see Alfred Molina’s character say to Peter and his friends, “You’re flying out into the darkness to fight ghosts.” Peter asks him to explain what he means, and we cut to Strange saying that all the multiverse villains “die fighting Spider-Man” and that it is “their fate.” Not excepting that as the truth, Peter then steals a “magic box” from Strange and the two fight in the streets before taking their battle to on top of a moving train. Spider-Man says, “There must be another way,” and Strange shouts, “There isn’t. They are a danger to our universe.” We then get our first shot of Jamie Foxx reprising his role as Electro. He looks much more like his comic book counterpart this time around, with yellow lightning, not blue, and it forms around his head in pointed triangles, replicating the character’s original comic book costume. Electro is fighting Spider-Man, floating in the air and says, “You’ll never take this away from me,” before he shoots lightning at our hero.
Willem Dafoe in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
After a few more action shots of Spider-Man swinging through the air, we hear Willem Dafoe’s voice as the Green Goblin saying, “Peter, you’re struggling to have everything you want while the world tries to make you choose.” We then get a great shot of Green Goblin, who certainly looks like the Dafoe version, fighting Spider-Man at the Statue of Liberty. After an explosion, we see Electro in the same shot as the Lizard, at the Statue of Liberty with the Sandman’s giant head forming behind them. Then we cut to Peter and MJ, and he tells her, “This is all my fault. I can’t save everyone.” We cut back to the Statue of Liberty and Spider-Man starts to go to battle against Electro, Lizard and Sandman. The trailer ends with MJ falling off of the Statue of Liberty, and then Spider-Man diving after to save her.
Electro, Sandman, and The Lizard in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
It’s much clearer to me now as to what the basic premise of the story is and what the movie is really all about. We knew that Peter was going to ask Strange to cast a spell, so everyone would forget he’s Spider-Man, and that would lead to villains from other Spider-Man movies to appear through the multiverse, possibly creating a Sinister Six. While that is the setup, I think the plot will have more to do with Strange ordering Peter to “kill” these “variants,” and Spider-Man refusing to do it. This will also add drama to the trailer’s cliffhanger where MJ is falling to her death, which we know has happened with other versions of the character. Will Peter let MJ die, and would he sacrifice another life just to save hers? I think that may be the larger question that the film is dealing with, and multiverse villains is just the icing on the cake.
Zendaya and Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’
But I still wouldn’t expect Tobey McGuire or Andrew Garfield to appear, and based on that trailer, I’m not even sure where you could fit them in. The only way I can think that you could have one or both of the former Spider-Man actors still appear is if they show up towards the end of the movie somehow and give Tom Holland’s Peter the confidence to save everyone, including the bad guys. What we do know is that ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ will feature Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Marisa Tomei, J.K. Simmons, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, and maybe Willem Dafoe, reprising their previous MCU and Spider-Man franchise roles, and it will be release in theaters on December 17th.
