Moviefone Editorial

Tag: bird-box

  • Susanne Bier to Direct ‘Practical Magic 2’

    (Left) Susanne Bier attends the Academy’s 2018 Annual Governors Awards in The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, CA, on Sunday, November 18, 2018. Credit/Provider: Troy Harvey / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S. (Right) Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in 'Practical Magic'. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.
    (Left) Susanne Bier attends the Academy’s 2018 Annual Governors Awards in The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, CA, on Sunday, November 18, 2018. Credit/Provider: Troy Harvey / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S. (Right) Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

    Preview:

    • Susanne Bier is in talks to direct the developing ‘Practical Magic’ sequel.
    • Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman will return to star.
    • Akiva Goldsman is also returning to write the new movie.

    The mystical energy is clearly flowing for the ‘Practical Magic’ sequel, the follow up to the 1998 movie which saw Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as sisters growing up in a witchy family.

    With both stars confirmed as returning, and a script from original co-writer Akiva Goldsman falling into place, it also now has a director, as ‘In a Better World’ Oscar winner Susanne Bier is now in negotiations to handle the movie.

    According to Deadline, which broke news of the new development, a deal isn’t signed and sealed yet, but Bier certainly feels like a good fit for the story.

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    And it’s certainly a positive step forward for a sequel, and also represents a reunion for the director and both lead actors (more on that below).

    This is what Kidman said last year to People about her return alongside Bullock:

    “Yes I will be in it. And Sandy will be in it. And that’s that. There’s a lot more to tell which is why we go, ‘OK, this is kind of interesting now to be able to do this.’ We found a way in.”

    Related Article: Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman Ready to Return for ‘Practical Magic’ Sequel

    What’s the story of ‘Practical Magic’?

    Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in 'Practical Magic'.
    (L to R) Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.

    ‘Practical Magic’ adapts Alice Hoffman’s 1995 novel. The movie follows two sisters, Sally (Bullock) and Gillian Owens (Kidman), who come from a long line of witches.

    Orphaned at a young age, they are raised by their eccentric aunts, who embrace their magical heritage. However, the Owens family is cursed: any man who falls in love with an Owens woman is doomed to an untimely death.

    Subsequently, Sally and Gillian struggle with their powers and the consequences of the family curse. Sally attempts to lead a normal life, distancing herself from magic, but tragedy strikes when her husband dies.

    Gillian, on the other hand, lives a wild life, embracing her magical abilities. The sisters are reunited when Gillian finds herself in a dangerous relationship with Jimmy Angelov (Goran Visnjic), a violent man. In an effort to protect Gillian, the sisters accidentally kill Jimmy, leading to a series of supernatural events as they attempt to hide his death and ultimately break the family curse.

    What will be the story for ‘Practical Magic 2’?

    Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in 'Practical Magic'.
    (L to R) Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.

    Zero official details are available for whatever storyline Goldsman is cooking up in his cauldron, but we could conceivably see the sisters confronting issues with Kidman’s character’s daughters, themselves dealing with the family legacy.

    Who is making the ‘Practical Magic’ sequel?

    Griffin Dunne in 'After Hours'.
    Griffin Dunne in ‘After Hours’. Photo: Warner Bros.

    That first movie was written by Robin Swicord, Goldsman and Adam Brooks, but at this point, it seems only Goldsman is returning to craft the sequel.

    Griffin Dunne was in the director’s chair for the original, but clearly has either opted not to return –– or not asked.

    Bullock and Kidman will also produce the movie alongside the original’s Denise Di Novi.

    What else has Susanne Bier made?

    Susanne Bier, Oscar®-nominee for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, arrives for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards® at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA February 27, 2011. Credit/Provider: Ivan Vejar / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.
    Susanne Bier, Oscar®-nominee for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, arrives for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards® at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA February 27, 2011. Credit/Provider: Ivan Vejar / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.

    Bier is a hugely respected Danish filmmaker who is more normally found in the indie sphere, though has been diversifying into premium TV in recent years.

    She got her start with 1991’s ‘Freud Leaving Home’ and has since made the likes of ‘Like It Never Was Before,’ ‘Credo,’ ‘The One and Only,’ ‘Open Hearts,’ ‘After the Wedding,’ ‘Things We Lost in the Fire,’ ‘Serena’ and ‘In a Better World,’ which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year in 2011.

    Her work has scored many other accolades and trophies, and she’s also been behind projects such as John le Carré adaptation ‘The Night Manager’ and White House drama ‘The First Lady.’ She is the first female director to win a Golden Globe, Emmy and European Film Award, collectively.

    Perhaps most pertinent to ‘Practical Magic’ and its stars is her previous collaborations with both Bullock and Kidman.

    Bullock starred in Bier’s Netflix thriller ‘Bird Box,’ the story of a world plunged into chaos when aliens arrive who send anyone who glimpses them mad.

    As for Kidman, Bier handled HBO drama ‘The Undoing,’ which saw the actor starring alongside Hugh Grant in a murder mystery. And more recently, Bier tackled all the episodes of Netflix drama ‘The Perfect Couple,’ with Kidman playing the icy matriarch of a wealthy, dysfunctional family.

    When will ‘Practical Magic 2’ be in theaters?

    With the movie still in its relatively early stages, there are no release details –– we don’t for example, know whether it’ll be in theaters or go straight to streaming service Max (where the original has now landed), but given the potential star power, we don’t imagine Warners will want to shove it straight to streaming.

    Nicole Kidman in 'Practical Magic'.
    Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic’. Photo: Warner Bros.

    Other Movies Similar to ‘Practical Magic 2′:

    Buy ‘Practical Magic’ Movie On Amazon

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  • My Empire of Sound: Looking Back at the Soundtrack Work of Trent Reznor

    My Empire of Sound: Looking Back at the Soundtrack Work of Trent Reznor

    Sony/A24

    For an artist whose work seems to have been inspired by a lot of unhappy feelings, Trent Reznor has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success. The musician and artist established himself in the late 1980s and 90s with the singular and hugely influential group Nine Inch Nails, which led to becoming a producer for other artists, and eventually, an inspiration to filmmakers. Unsurprisingly, that led to a new direction for his career, composing music directly for the films of auteurs like David Fincher and Ken Burns. To commemorate his 54th birthday on May 17, Moviefone takes a look at his movie and television-related work that have become part of the pop cultural firmament.

    Warner Bros.

    “Natural Born Killers” (1994)

    Reznor had already become a fixture in the musical landscape by 1994 when he was hired by Oliver Stone to create a backdrop for the director’s film about a pair of serial killers who become media darlings. Though he created only one original track for the soundtrack, he produced the rest of the soundtrack album, suggesting to Stone an album that was mirrored the film’s unique editing style as a “collage of sound,” featuring everything from hip-hop to world music.

    CIBY 2000

    “Lost Highway” (1997)

    Reznor’s second produced soundtrack was for David Lynch, who enlisted him to weave together a score by longtime Lynch composer Angelo Badalamenti with classic bossa nova, electro industrial rock, and of course a handful of tracks from the NIN frontman himself, including the stone cold classic “The Perfect Drug” (which Reznor finally started performing live just recently).

    Columbia Pictures

    “The Social Network” (2010)

    It was almost a decade and a half before Reznor ventured into proper film composition, sparking a collaboration with creative confederate Atticus Ross that would continue throughout the rest of his career. Juggling moody ambient pieces with more propulsive, dance floor adjacent tracks, he captures the feverish energy of Fincher’s story of how Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook.

    Columbia Pictures

    “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2011)

    Reznor wasted no time jumping right back into an incredibly fruitful partnership with Fincher on his adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s bestseller of the same name. In the same family as his “Social Network” score but decidedly more ominous, Reznor’s music provided the perfect accompaniment for this twisted, sometimes violently sadistic murder mystery.

    20th Century Fox

    “Gone Girl” (2014)

    Reznor’s third score for Fincher is, like the film it accompanies, an exercise in misdirection, as the perspectives of Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) fight to tell a fractured truth. Reznor’s textured, ambient music evokes the likes of Brian Eno as he hints at both a fairytale romance and a brutally dysfunctional marriage.

    Lionsgate

    “Patriots Day” (2016)

    Peter Berg’s film about the Boston Marathon bombing needed little emotional amplification from a score, which may account for why Reznor’s themes are much lighter and more delicate than some of his other work. He nevertheless captures the haunting loss of that tragic incident and the chaos that ensued in its wake.

    PBS

    “The Vietnam War” (2017)

    Ken Burns’ documentaries are always so thoughtful and detailed that they require the exact right music to make them a riveting experience. Drawing not upon the music of the era but his own instincts, Reznor and Ross offer some thoughtful melancholy music to represent the political morass that America got itself into, and eventually, the personal tragedy of lives destroyed and lost as a consequence of the country’s crisis of leadership.

    A24

    “Mid90s” (2018) – Reznor only created a handful of tracks for Jonah Hill’s directorial debut (totally around 15 minutes), the story of a skateboarding-obsessed kid who comes of age among his peers. Reznor skillfully flirts with a sense of limitless optimism and also the melancholy onset of maturity as Hill’s protagonist goes through formative moments that prepare him for adulthood — sometimes way before he should be ready.

    Netflix

    “Bird Box” (2018)

    Director Susanne Bier does an incredible job making this Sandra Bullock film’s premise — a force that makes people go insane and commit suicide — feel believable and real. But it’s Reznor and Ross’ work on the score that solidifies the increasingly unsettling feeling audiences have as they discover what’s happening, and are forced to watch Bullock’s character try and figure out how to fight back against an enemy that she cannot see and doesn’t know how to defeat.

  • Netflix Removes Controversial ‘Bird Box’ Footage of Real-Life Train Crash

    Netflix Removes Controversial ‘Bird Box’ Footage of Real-Life Train Crash

    Netflix

    After facing backlash for using real-life footage of a Canadian train crash in the movie “Bird Box,” Netflix announced it is removing and replacing the scene.

    The film, which debuted last December, had included footage of the 2013 Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in Canada, which killed 47 people. The video was purchased from a stock footage vendor.

    “Netflix and the filmmakers of ‘Bird Box’ have decided to replace the clip,” a company spokesman said a statement. “We’re sorry for any pain caused to the Lac-Mégantic community.”

    Netflix initially refused to cut out the footage when the controversy erupted in January, but finally buckled after facing pressure from Canadian government officials.

    The footage will be replaced by a clip from an unidentified older American series.

    The stock footage vendor, Pond, said it had contacted all customers who purchased clips related to the Lac-Mégantic disaster. The same footage was used in the third season of “Travelers” and has already been removed.

  • Look (If You Dare) at the ‘Bird Box’ Monsters That Were Cut From the Movie

    Look (If You Dare) at the ‘Bird Box’ Monsters That Were Cut From the Movie

    Netflix

    In the movie “Bird Box” we never actually see the monsters that drove people to kill themselves. And that’s a good thing, now that we’ve seen what they were supposed to look like.

    Star Sandra Bullock admitted that instead of being scared, she laughed when she saw the creature design. Oops! Director Susanne Bier made the decision to cut the “long, fat baby” (as Bullock referred to it), instead of risking audiences laughing as well.

    “It so easily becomes funny,” Bier told Collider. “We actually shot that and spent a lot of energy on, but every time I saw it, I was like, ‘This is not going to be tense.’”

    SFX Atlas, who are disappointed their hard work was in vain, shared what the monster that appears to Bullock’s character would have looked like. They’ve since taken down their Instagram post, but here’s the photos they shared:

    Instagram

    Instead, the film left us with the disturbed, Lovecraftian drawings of one of the few characters who was able to look at the creatures and not commit suicide.

    Netflix

    In other “Bird Box” news, Nielsen reports that 26 million people watched the thriller in its first week on Netflix. That’s not quite the number Netflix claims (which was 45 million), but still very impressive.

    [Via Collider, CNN]

  • Netflix Warns People Against Doing the ‘Bird Box’ Challenge

    Netflix Warns People Against Doing the ‘Bird Box’ Challenge

    Netflix

    Netflix is really glad everyone is loving “Bird Box,” the psychological horror movie starring Sandra Bullock that has overtaken the zeitgeist. But the streaming service wants people to love it in a less literal way.

    On Twitter, Netflix is pleading with people to stop doing the “Bird Box Challenge.” What is that? Apparently, it involves putting on a blindfold and attempting to perform tasks, just like the characters in the movie do. And well, we can’t all be as good at it as Bullock — and the challenge is landing people in the hospital.

    There are viral videos of families stumbling around their  living rooms, a man pulling his hat over his eyes while driving, and people walking blindfolded in New York City. On “Good Morning America,” a blindfolded Michael Strahan tried to put lipstick on Sara Haines.

    Of course, Netflix calling attention to the challenge made some Twitter users want to attempt it even more:

    https://twitter.com/vincenicholas/status/1080549220237565953

    Netflix’s nervous warning follows on the heels of its announcement last week that more than 45 million accounts had watched “Bird Box” in the first seven days after its release. That apparently broke a record for the streaming service.

  • New on Netflix: December 2018

    Netflix logo
    Netflix

    Christmas arrives early on Netflix in December, bringing us gifts like Oscar contender “Roma,” from Alfonso Cuarón, the thriller “Bird Box” with Sandra Bullock, and Andy Serkis’s “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.” And, of course, “Avengers: Infinity War.”

    On the TV front, we’re getting a “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” winter solstice special, the John Grisham docuseries “The Innocent Man,” Season 4 of “Fuller House,” and a new version of “Watership Down.” (Hint, this bunny story is not for kids.)

    Here’s everything coming to Netflix in December 2018.

    Available December 1
    “8 Mile” (2002)
    “Astro Boy” (2009)
    “Battle” (Netflix Film)
    “Bride of Chucky” (1998)
    “Christine” (1983)
    “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” (2009)
    “Crossroads: One Two Jaga” (Netflix Film)
    “Friday” (1995)
    “Friday After Next” (2002)
    “Hellboy” (2004)
    “Man vs Wild with Sunny Leone”: Season 1
    “Meet Joe Black” (1998)
    “Memories of the Alhambra” (Netflix Original)
    “My Bloody Valentine” (2009)
    “Next Friday” (2000)
    “Reindeer Games” (2000)
    “Seven Pounds” (2008)
    “Shaun of the Dead” (2004)
    “Terminator Salvation” (2009)
    “The Big Lebowski” (1998)
    “The Great British Baking Show: Masterclass”: Season 5 Masterclasses
    “The Last Dragon” (1985)
    “The Man Who Knew Too Little” (1997)

    Available December 2
    “    The Lobster” (2015)

    Available December 3
    “Blue Planet II”: Season 1
    “Hero Mask” (Netflix Original)
    “The Sound of Your Heart: Reboot Season 2” (Netflix Original)

    Available December 4
    “    District 9″ (2009)

    Available December 6
    “    Happy!”: Season 1

    Available December 7
    “    5 Star Christmas” (Netflix Film)
    “Bad Blood” (Netflix Original)
    “Dogs of Berlin” (Netflix Original)
    “Dumplin’” (Netflix Film)
    “Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas” (Netflix Original)
    “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle” (Netflix Film)
    “Nailed It! Holiday!” (Netflix Original)
    “Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas” (Netflix Original)
    “Pine Gap” (Netflix Original)
    “ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay?” (Netflix Original)
    “Super Monsters and the Wish Star” (Netflix Original)
    “The American Meme” (Netflix Original)
    “The Hook Up Plan (Plan Coeur)” (Netflix Original)
    “The Ranch”: Part 6 (Netflix Original)

    Available December 9
    “    Sin senos sí hay paraíso”: Season 3

    Available December 10z
    “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” (2009)

    Available December 11
    “    Vir Das: Losing It” (Netflix Original)

    Available December 12
    “    Back Street Girls: Gokudols” (Netflix Original)
    “Out of Many, One” (Netflix Original)

    Available December 13
    “    Wanted”: Season 3 (Netflix Original)

    Available December 14
    “    Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale” (Netflix Original)
    “Cuckoo”: Season 4 (Netflix Original)
    “Dance & Sing with True: Songs” (Netflix Original)
    “Fuller House”: Season 4 (Netflix Original)
    “Inside the Real Narcos” (Netflix Original)
    “Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons”: Season 3″ (Netflix Original)
    “Prince of Peoria: A Christmas Moose Miracle” (Netflix Original)
    “ROMA” (Netflix Film)
    “Sunderland Til I Die” (Netflix Original)
    “The Fix” (Netflix Original)
    “The Innocent Man” (Netflix Original)
    “The Protector” (Netflix Original)
    “Tidelands” (Netflix Original)
    “Travelers”: Season 3″ (Netflix Original)
    “Voltron: Legendary Defender”: Season 8 (Netflix Original)

    Available December 16
    “Baby Mama” (2008)
    “Kill the Messenger” (2014)
    “One Day” (2011)
    “Springsteen on Broadway” (Netflix Original)
    “The Theory of Everything” (2014)

    Available December 18
    “Baki” (Netflix Original)
    “Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable” (Netflix Original)
    “Terrace House: Opening New Doors: Part 5” (Netflix Original)

    Available December 21
    “3Below: Tales of Arcadia” (Netflix Original)
    “7 Days Out” (Netflix Original)
    “Back With the Ex” (Netflix Original)
    “Bad Seeds” (Netflix Film)
    “Bird Box” (Netflix Film)
    “Derry Girls” (Netflix Original)
    “Diablero” (Netflix Original)
    “Greenleaf”: Season 3
    “Last Hope: Part 2” (Netflix Original)
    “Perfume” (Netflix Original)
    “Sirius the Jaeger” (Netflix Original)
    “Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski” (Netflix Film)
    “Tales by Light”: Season 3″ (Netflix Original)
    “The Casketeers” (Netflix Original)
    “Wolf (BÖRÜ)” (Netflix Original)

    Available December 24
    “    Hi Score Girl” (Netflix Original)
    “The Magicians”: Season 3

    Available December 25
    “    Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”: Season 11
    “Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War” (2018)

    Available December 26
    “Alexa & Katie”: Season 2″ (Netflix Original)
    “YOU” (2018)

    Available December 28
    “Instant Hotel” (Netflix Original)
    “La noche de 12 años” (Netflix Film)
    “Selection Day” (Netflix Original)
    “When Angels Sleep” (Netflix Film)
    “Yummy Mummies” (Netflix Original)

    Available December 30
    “    The Autopsy of Jane Doe” (2016)

    Available December 31
    “    The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man” (2018)

    Coming in December
    “Watership Down: Limited Series” (Netflix Original)