Moviefone Editorial

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‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Prologue Goes All the Way Back to the Cretaceous

Universal Pictures has released an online teaser for the upcoming ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ entitled ‘The Prologue.’ The trailer, which was originally released on IMAX screens with ‘F9’ last summer does something no other ‘Jurassic Park’ movie has ever done, depict dinosaurs in their natural habitat over 65 million years ago, before jumping to present day to see a T. rex terrorizing a drive-in movie theater.

Very little is known at this point about the plot of ‘Dominion,’ except that it will pick up where ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ left off, with cloned dinosaurs running wild through our modern society. Filmmaker Colin Trevorrow, who directed 2015’s ‘Jurassic World,’ is set to return for ‘Dominion’ after sitting out ‘Fallen Kingdom.’

The Prologue is five and a half minutes long and begins over 65 million years ago, showing several types of ancient species living together in peace… that is, until we see a T. rex attack another T. rex and kill it by biting its neck. We then see what appears to be a mosquito bite the dead T. rex and fly away, which is of course what led to the dinosaur cloning we see in the first film.

The trailer then jumps ahead 65 million years, to what appears to be present day, as a helicopter chases a T. rex to a drive-in movie theater, which is playing a double feature of ‘American Graffiti’ and ‘Flash Gordon.’ The drive-in theaters’ double feature and the retro clothes on the theater patrons might lead some to believe that this scene takes place in the early 80s, before the events of the first ‘Jurassic Park, but that theory is shot down when Chris Pratt appears, indicating that this is present day. It’s also worth mentioning that the movies shown at the theater could be a nod to original ‘Jurassic Park’ director Steven Spielberg, who’s best friend, George Lucas, wrote and directed ‘American Graffiti’.’

During the retro “Let’s all go to the lobby” animated commercial that used to play before movie screenings, terror erupts as the T. rex arrives. Most of the patrons beginning screaming and running for their life, while others don’t even notice the dinosaur because they’re focused on watching the movie screen. Then we see our hero, Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady, in the helicopter taking a shot at the T. rex with a rifle. The tranquilizer he shoots misses the dinosaur and hits the car of an unsuspecting driver trying to escape the dinosaur massacre before fading to black.

The new teaser begins with the Universal Pictures logo, making one think that the footage from 65 million years ago might be the way the movie actually starts. However, the drive-in theater footage could appear later in the film, unless this scene is our first introduction to Owen Grady after the events of ‘Fallen Kingdom.’ Since ‘Dominion’ is set to feature a world dominated by dinosaurs and humans alike after the events of ‘Fallen Kingdom,’ it makes sense to begin the film like this, contrasting a world before humans to now, when humans and dinosaurs will be forced to live together.

The teaser trailer also gives us our first look at seven new species of dinosaurs never before seen in a ‘Jurassic Park’ movie, which was recently confirmed by Trevorrow to Empire Magazine. “We have our first feathered dinosaur, the Oviraptor,” the director said to the British film publication. “I feel like that’s going to be a bit of a headline for those who care about paleontological accuracy. Another one, with feathers, is the Moros intrepidus. That one showed up maybe two years ago. It probably popped up into your feed, that people found a tiny, T-Rex-like feathered dinosaur. That was one of the quickest turnarounds that we’ve had, from discovery to putting it on screen.”

‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ is scheduled for release on June 10th, 2022 and will be the third film in the ‘Jurassic World’ sequel series, which began with Trevorrow’s ‘Jurassic World’ in 2015. That film was at one time the third highest grossing movie of all time, and currently is the sixth highest grossing film of all time following ‘Avatar,’ ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ ‘Titanic,’ ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ and ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’ The series continued with director J.A. Bayona’s ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ in 2018, which is currently the fifteenth highest grossing movie of all time. But ‘Dominion’ will also feature the return of Jeff Goldblum’s fan-favorite character Dr. Ian Malcolm, after a brief cameo in ‘Fallen Kingdom,’ as well as Sam Neill and Oscar winner Laura Dern reprising their roles as Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler, respectively, for the first time since ‘Jurassic Park III.’

The original film series, which is based on author Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel of the same name, began in 1993 with ‘Jurassic Park,’ which was directed by Steven Spielberg. The film was a massive hit and went on to earn over a billion dollars at the box office and was selected in 2018 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Spielberg returned in 1997 to direct ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park,’ which was based on Crichton’s sequel novel. Goldblum and Richard Attenborough, who played Dr. John Hammond, were the only original cast members to return, and were joined by Julianne Moore and Vince Vaughn. The original trilogy ended in 2001 with the third installment, ‘Jurassic Park III.’ There was no Goldblum this time around, but Neil and Dern did return, along with new cast members William H. Macy and Téa Leoni.

In addition to Chris Pratt, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, and Laura Dern returning for ‘Jurassic Park: Dominion’, Bryce Dallas Howard and B.D. Wong are also set to reprise their franchise roles as Claire Dearing and Dr. Henry Wu, respectively, while Campbell Scott will join the series as Dr. Lewis Dodgson, a character briefly seen in the first ‘Jurassic Park’ portrayed by actor Cameron Thor. Actors Omar Sy (‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’), Scott Haze (‘Venom’), Daniella Pineda (‘Cowboy Bebop’), and Justice Smith (‘Detective Pikachu’) are also all scheduled to appear.

You can watch ‘The Prologue’ teaser trailer for ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ below:
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November 23, 2021
‘Dads’ director Bryce Dallas Howard on interviewing her famous father and getting other celebrity dads in her new documentary

Bryce Dallas Howard is following in her father Ron Howard’s footsteps with not just a successful acting career, but she’s also started directing. Last year she directed an episode of The Mandalorian, and now she’s given us the feature-length documentary ‘Dads.’

In this interview with Made in Hollywood, Howard talks about interviewing her father, who she says was more than a little nervous about the idea. She also shares how she got Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brian, and Jimmy Fallon to appear in her film, which then helped her convince more famous fathers like Will Smith and Judd Apatow appear as well.

‘Dads’ will be available exclusively on Apple TV+ on June 19, 2020.

June 18, 2020
No Twists, Only Discoveries: What Makes ‘The Village’ Shyamalan’s Most Underrated Movie

Disney

After more than 20 years and almost a billion and a half dollars at the box office, the only twists and turns more surprising than ones at the end of an M. Night Shyamalan movie are those in the filmmaker’s career. His breakthrough films “The Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakable” earned him instant prestige and impossible-to-meet accolades but just a few years later he was branded a hack and a has-been. After mounting a comeback and bankrolling his own films, Shyamalan rekindled mainstream interest in his work, although even this has led to further unexpected ups and downs.

All of this is to say, Shyamalan has endured his share of hits and misses, certainly commercially, but critically as well. He is a polarizing figure, and his work is sharply divisive. But just as his most beloved films are perhaps not as impeccable as once believed, neither are his failures as ineffective or flat-out bad as critics have claimed. “The Village,” at the time reduced to another mystery with a maudlin third-act twist following too closely in the footsteps of his previous work, remains perhaps his most under-appreciated work, which with the benefit of 15 years’ distance, can be properly seen as a remarkable meditation on grief, fear, and ultimately, hope in the face of generational trauma.

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody and a then virtually-unknown Bryce Dallas Howard, the film explores a remote and mysterious 19^th-century Pennsylvania community called Covington where resident live in constant fear of nameless monsters that live in the surrounding woods. Lucius Hunt (Phoenix), poised to become a leader for the village’s next generation, develops a curiosity about the larger world after asking for permission to visit nearby communities for medical supplies. But when Lucius is critically injured by Noah (Brody), a developmentally-disabled young man jealous of his burgeoning relationship with Chief Elder Edward Walker’s (William Hurt) blind daughter Ivy (Howard), the young woman is permitted to venture into the woods to seek medicine and first aid. She is only allowed to go on her journey after learning the village’s real secret: the monsters are the Elders themselves, dressed up in costumes and meant to protect themselves and the residents from real external dangers.

Disney

Shyamalan tips his hat to audiences early in the film with this news — much of the movie’s advertising was built around the notion of “Those We Don’t Speak Of,” so it felt at the time like he was uncovering his trademark “twist” early in order to subvert expectations, and/or to get them out of the way. But what that choice does is deepen the mystery around the village (why exactly are the Elders so protective of their community, or perhaps, fearful of the outside world?) that eventually drives the emotionality of what started as a suspenseful monster movie. Ivy’s vulnerability alone in the woods would have been unbearable to watch (especially after her two sighted guides abandon her) but her choice to forge ahead alone gives her agency and dimensionality, especially after she encounters, well, a few things that she cannot explain.

The first is another person who’s not a part of her village. Since she is blind, she does not realize that she’s arrived at a guard tower that protects their village from the modern world, and the staff there is initially as surprised to see her emerge from the woods as she is to arrive in their presence. This, somewhat unfairly, was pegged as Shyamalan’s second “twist .“ After deceiving and dazzling audiences in his earlier films, the thought was that he was trying to top himself, or at least maintain his reputation for pulling the rug from beneath them. But I never considered the information that everything is taking place Right Now to be altogether surprising; though the Elders adhere strictly to a code and lifestyle of a bygone era, they do not seem like actual people of a bygone era. As a result, this information, parceled out at the right time, further deepens our curiosity about what is going on back in Ivy’s community and why it is so insulated from the world.

The second surprise Ivy encounters is, apparently, one of those creatures that her father had earlier told her did not exist is hot on her trail. We later learn that Noah, the disabled boy who nurses a crush on her, discovered one of the monster costumes, put it on, and followed Ivy into the woods. Despite her terror, she tricks him into falling into a deep hole where he dies. She does not know it’s him. But the momentary existence of something we were told is a fabrication upends the viewer’s orientation, and complicates our willingness to believe the elders.

Disney

The guard tower unearths most of the important information that is germane to the “plot” — Covington exists in a no-fly zone, a community built and designed to shield its members, and their descendants, from the grief of their normal lives. But this is only brought full circle when we witness the Elders open their “black boxes,” which contain mementos of their past lives, and in particular, signifiers of the losses they create the village in order to escape. Particularly in a more immediate post-9/11 landscape, this sort of isolation and self-protection may have seemed a little too on the nose; but in subsequent years, that notion feels surprising prescient, at least in terms of the intellectual and emotional silos constructed by many in the years since to protect themselves from unwanted ideas, beliefs or thoughts.

But Ivy’s return to the village, triumphant and whole, conjures as much a sense of reassurance as it does a provocative question: how will the Elders maintain control upon this insular community now that she has found others outside of it? This is a world whose mythology is coming apart, and it takes only a skeptical young follower to start pulling at its fraying edges. But they are untarnished by the trauma of their parents and guardians, and Ivy is proof that they can survive even the immediate dangers of the creatures that haunt the woods around the village. “The Village” resonates most strongly because it shows how one generation can endure unimaginable pain, and how the next can help heal it. This is what makes the movie’s real revelations thematic and not narrative. The revelations serve not as a twist, but a discovery.

July 30, 2019
Jurassic World: The Ride is a Brilliant Reinvention of a Classic Attraction

Universal Studios

There has been a lot of talk, at least on a corporate level, about the ongoing “evolution” of Universal Studios Hollywood, the theme park perched on the side of a mountain, that exists cozily with a working movie studio. This talk began, in earnest, with the opening of the west coast version of the highly immersive Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and has continued with a number of projects, including the as-yet-unannounced Mario Kart attraction that is currently rising out of the ground on the lower lot, arguably the worst-kept secret in all of themed entertainment. But the word “evolution” was brought up a lot at last night’s dedication of the Jurassic World: The Ride attraction, an elaborate re-theme of the Jurassic Park: The Ride. As the park is evolving, so too must the ride.

But honestly, what an evolution it is. Jurassic World: The Ride is a smart, scary, totally sophisticated update that keeps the fundamentals of the original attraction while upping the scares and the storytelling significantly.

The original Jurassic Park: The Ride, was in development concurrently with the film, and was released, amazingly, just three years after the film’s release. Synthesizing elements of Michael Crichton’s best-selling novel (most notably the boat ride sequence) and Steven Spielberg’s paradigm-shifting blockbuster into a single, white-knuckle experience, it was, for many years, the high-water mark against what all other Universal attractions were judged. But recently the once-classic attraction seemed creaky, especially when, in 2015, “Jurassic World” was release, kick-starting a new, entirely separate leg of the franchise that the attraction had no relationship to.

So, somewhat quietly, last year, the original attraction was shuttered and plans were unveiled to turn Jurassic Park: The Ride into Jurassic World: The Ride, with the updated attraction officially opening to the public a couple of weeks ago.

And honestly, this is the most successful kind of redo — one that reminds you of the original ride (the track layout and, of course, that wicked drop, remain intact) while pushing things forward virtually everywhere else, like technologically and on a storytelling level.

One of the greatest additions to the attraction happens early on, as you’re drifting through a newly-enclosed section of the ride. That’s when you meet the Mosasaurus, the giant aquatic dinosaur that was featured prominently in both “Jurassic World” movies. It’s also where you’ll first get wet — really wet. (The combination of practical effects and the animation work by Industrial Light & Magic is phenomenal.) From there, you get more of a story than you did the last time around, set up during the pre-show in the queue but really hammered home in the actual attraction. Instead of just something going wrong and the dinosaurs getting out, the Indominous rex escapes, which leads to other system failures, and a confrontation with the T. Rex. It both closely follows the events of the first movie and allows for a more immersive experience; you feel like you were at Jurassic World when things started to go haywire.

What’s more, there are appearances by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard in the attraction (and BD Wong in the queue), further adding to the immersion and deepening the storytelling. And the big show scene at the climax of the ride isn’t just a quick scare but an actual scene – you see a wonderful new animatronic of Pratt’s faithful Velociraptor sidekick Blue and huge, hulking figures of the Indominous and T. Rex. It feels like an altercation. And instead of simply seeing the T. Rex’s head, you see all of her.

This was made, of course, even more intense at night.

There will probably be die-hard Jurassic Park: The Ride fans out there, who will miss the old version of the attraction (don’t worry, it’s still in operation in Japan and Orlando). But this really is an improvement, start to finish. They’ve enclosed the ride at the right moments so your eyeline can no longer drift to the soundstages beyond and they’ve made everything scarier and more cohesive as a whole. The new animatronics are dazzling and actually seeing the characters from the movie in the attraction adds a lot. By the time Jurassic Park: The Ride said goodbye, it was old and tired and a nonessential part of your trip to Universal Studios. Now, with Jurassic World: The Ride, they have pumped some fresh blood into an ailing attraction and made a ride that everyone has to go on, even if you will end up soaking wet. Life, as Dr. Ian Malcolm once said, finds a way.

July 23, 2019
Just How Sparkly are the Stars of ‘Rocketman,’ Anyway?

Paramount

Sure, “Rocketman” chronicles Elton John‘s singing career and personal life. But you can’t hear more than a couple bars of “Crocodile Rock” before imagining something sparkly that Elton wore as he wowed audiences onstage. In the latest episode of The Ms. Moviefone Show, Grae Drake asks Taron Egerton, Bryce Dallas Howard, Richard Madden, and director Dexter Fletcher a series of probing questions which helps her determine which one of the costumes designed by Julian Day best fits their own personality.

“Rocketman” is in theaters May 31!

May 31, 2019
Watch Laura Dern Talk Jurassic Park Franchise Return With Bryce Dallas Howard

Good Morning America/YouTube

“Good Morning America” had a surprise for guest Laura Dern on Tuesday: a fellow Jurassic Park franchise star with a “burning question.”

Dern was out promoting “Big Little Lies” Season 2, but the hit HBO series wasn’t the only topic that came up during the taping. “GMA” surprised the actress by having “Jurassic World” star Bryce Dallas Howard in the audience. She took the chance to tell Dern how much she admires her and to ask her if she’d consider appearing in a future Jurassic Park film. Dern famously played Dr. Ellie Sattler in the first film, “Jurassic Park,” as well as one of its sequels, “Jurassic Park III.”

The exchange was an entertaining one. After Howard asked her question, Dern had a couple of her own. She asked them before telling her fellow actress to “strap on [her] hiking boots” and deciding where they’d film. Watch below, starting at 5:40.

“Big Little Lies” Season 2 premieres June 9 on HBO. “Good Morning America” airs weekdays at 7 a.m. ET/PT on ABC.

May 29, 2019
‘Jurassic World’ Stars Reprise Roles for Universal Studios Ride

Universal Pictures

Universal Studios Hollywood is opening “Jurassic World–The Ride” this summer, and it will feature familiar faces.

Parkgoers will see Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, and BD Wong when they board the dinosaur movie-themed attraction. The ride has original content that shows the trio discussing dinosaur interactions, facts, and other information. It’s the first time the actors have reprised their “Jurassic World” roles outside the films for a theme park attraction.

Guests get to go on what Universal describes as a “breathtaking excursion” through the Jurassic World park from the movies. Along the way, they’ll spot dinosaurs such as the Indominus rex, Stegosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Velociraptors, and more, thanks to the wonders of technology and special effects. There’s even a way to view the Mosasaurus and its underwater habitat.

In addition to giving a rare up-close look at the movie’s dinosaurs, the ride sounds like it will be an adrenaline rush. Some of the animals will turn predatory toward one another, and guests will escape down an 84-foot waterfall. It sounds like quite the adventure, right?

Here’s Universal’s TV spot teasing the opening of the ride:

“Jurassic World–The Ride” opens this summer at Universal Studios Hollywood.
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May 23, 2019
‘The Mandalorian’ Signals a New Era for ‘Star Wars’ and Disney+

Lucasfilm

Yesterday at Star Wars Celebration, the official Star Wars convention currently being held in snowy Chicago, fans were treated to something genuinely new: a peek at “The Mandalorian,” the first-ever live-action “Star Wars” television series and the first flagship series on the soon-to-launch direct-to-consumer Disney+ platform. And as both the first step into a new corner of the “Star Wars” galaxy and the initial offering for a game changing service, what we were shown exceeded expectations. Disney+ already has its “Game of Thrones” and it hasn’t even started yet.

After a brief intro from Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy (who serves as an executive producer on the series), creator, writer and showrunner Jon Favreau was joined on stage by executive producer and director Dave Filoni (making his live-action debut), who more or less served as the emcees for the hourlong panel. The two have a jovial, brotherly charm, coming from the fact that Filoni directed Favreau, who appeared on Filoni’s “The Clone Wars” animated series (as a Mandalorian!) and you could tell they were very excited to finally tell people about the project.

Favreau said that he was compelled to see “what happened after the celebration at the end of ‘Return of the Jedi.’ What would happen and what type of characters would survive before the New Republic took over? You have chaos taking over the galaxy.” He said that this setting provided “a rich environment and tone.” Inspired by “old westerns and samurai films,” as well as the “post-Civil War old west” (the character of the Mandalorian was often described in the panel as a “gunslinger”), Faveau was inspired by a rich melting pot of ideas. Amongst the other “elements” he wanted to contribute to this new series was “everything from the original trilogy, the prequels, the sequels, ‘Clone Wars,’ even bringing in things from Legends” (the decommissioned official “extended universe” that Disney jettisoned after purchasing Lucasfilm). Filoni noted that they even tipped their collective hat to the infamous “Star Wars Holiday Special,” which marked the first appearance of Boba Fett (you can see that influence in The Mandalorian’s pronged weapon that looks like a cross between a shotgun and a tuning fork).

One of the more interesting anecdotes that Filoni and Favreau shared was that the Mandalorian’s ship, The Razorcrest, was brought to life via models. Favreau joked that Guillermo del Toro taught him to “make practical effects so that you can have them in your place” and that “you can’t hang a QuickTime file up in your office,” so they built a miniature Razorcrest, first as a kind of test, and then to actually appear in the show, with Jon Knoll, an absolute visual effects legend at Industrial Light & Magic, building the motion control rig that photographed the miniature ship. It seemed to really bring out some enthusiasm at ILM, with Favreau joking that “a lot of people came out of the woodwork” to be a part of it. They then showed lighting passes on the ship, including a really cool pass with just the ship’s engines firing (thanks to flickering LED lights). The mood and texture of these test alone was jaw-dropping; seeing them composited into a final shot will be pretty transcendent.

And, of course, we were introduced to the cast of the show. Pedro Pascal is playing the titular “bounty hunter and gunfighter” (according to Favreau). Pascal described him as “a mysterious gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy. I would say he has moral questionable.” Also, quipped Pascal: “He’s a bad-ass.”

Lucasfilm

Meanwhile, former MMA fighter Gina Carano plays another new character named Cara Dune, another soul searching for stability in the post-war galaxy. “She’s an ex-Rebel shock trooper,” Carano said. “I’m a bit of a loner. I’m having trouble reintegrating myself into society.” (Carano seemed very excited to be a part of the project but also very scared about spilling any secrets prematurely.)

Lucasfilm

And Carl Weathers, who was also on hand for the panel (“I’m really happy to be here, of all the things I’ve been involved with, I don’t think anything has come close to this”), is playing a character called Greef Karga. “He’s a guy who is running a group of bounty hunters,” Weathers explained. “The Mandalorian is a guy he figures can get the job done so he hires him and sends him out there.” (More on this in a minute.)

But the actors were joined on set one day by some very special guests: members of the 501^st Legion, a group of amateur Stormtroopers that are recognized by Lucasfilm and called on for special events or charity functions. “We had production meetings and after seeing the set we realized that we didn’t have Stormtroopers and there were only so many uniforms we had and thought it wasn’t going to do the trick for the storytelling,” Favreau said. “But I know a bunch of Stormtroopers,” Filoni interjected. So the team called on the 501^st. Filoni said that he wasn’t worried about the costumes. “They held up,” he said. They initially weren’t even told what they were needed for. “They said, ‘What for?’ And we said, ‘Just come down,’ Filoni said. To which Jon Favreau responded, “I didn’t realize that they weren’t told what it was for.” Later, he said they were “so polite and nice.” And Carano seemed genuinely shocked at the level of detail in their handmade costumes and Weathers expressed even more admiration: “They work really hard. They were on point the entire time they were there. It was so cool. I learned stuff from watching those guys and women.” Well said!

Lucasfilm

There were also two batches of footage that they showed: initially they showed a kind of behind-the-scenes sizzle, showcasing the talent behind the camera (including directors Bryce Dallas Howard and Taika Waititi) as well as in front of it, with rough, approximate shots that might end up in the series. Then, at the end of the panel, as people were streaming out of the auditorium, Favreau told everybody to turn around and sit down because he had some “real” footage to show them. And it was pretty great.

This “real” footage started with a fairly prolonged scene. The Mandalorian was in some kind of cantina-like space, sitting across from Greef. Greef is offering him jobs, which are too low for the Mandalorian’s liking. He asks for a bigger job but Greef says that this one is more dangerous. The Mandalorian takes it anyway.

We then cut to him visiting a hole in the wall (he’s scanned by the same robot that Jabba has at his palace), taking an audience with an unnamed character played by the great German filmmaker Werner Herzog. Herzog is surrounded by dirty Stormtroopers and a weaselly guy in a lab coat named Dr. Pershing (played by Omid Abthai). The bounty that Herzog gives him requires him to bring back the mark alive but, hey, if the target dies, he understands.

From there we were treated to a really fabulous montage, featuring (but not limited to) shots of the Razorcrest flying through deep space, Cara Dune kicking ass, Giancarlo Esposito as an unnamed character flanked by Death Troopers (the super scary Stormtroopers first introduced in “Rogue One“), another shot of Esposito piloting a TIE Fighter, lots of creatures (including the same kind of creature Salacious Crumb is, plus various crazy monsters from the Mos Eisley Cantina), an assassin droid voiced by Waititi (rumored to be named IG-11) and the Mandalorian, running, hiding, shooting but never, ever taking off his helmet.

The footage made the show look huge, which is not an easy feat, especially considering it was shot entirely in Los Angeles. (It is the first “Star Wars” project filmed in the United States.) Still, this is the one of the few television series ILM has ever worked on and they seem to be working at the absolute top of their game. The tone definitely seems like it has wandered from the hopefulness of most “Star Wars” projects, and the amount of deep cut characters and references seems to lend it its own idiosyncratic, esoteric vibe. The television format seems to have freed the show’s creators from having to color inside the lines. It’s a show set in wild, untamed space, and the show feels like it is charting similarly adventurous ground. Must-see TV doesn’t even justly describe “The Mandalorian;” it is now one of the most rabidly anticipated events in all of pop culture. And for good reason too – it looks that good.

“The Mandalorian” launches with the rest of Disney+ on November 12.

April 15, 2019
Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard Reunite for ‘Fairy Tale Ending’

20th Century Fox; Universal Pictures

An upcoming comedy is bringing Octavia Spencer and Bryce Dallas Howard together again.

The two actresses memorably shared the screen in 2011’s “The Help,” and now they’ll do so again. Both have signed on for the upcoming comedy “Fairy Tale Ending,” Deadline reports. They’ll double as producers as well.

Spencer won an Academy Award for her role as Minny in “The Help.” She played a domestic worker whose employer, Hilly (Howard), treated her badly. Minny, however, found a creative (and disgusting) way to get revenge. Both actresses went on to star in additional high-profile films, including “Hidden Figures” and “The Shape of Water” for Spencer, and the blockbuster “Jurassic World” and its sequel for Howard.

Universal only recently acquired the new project, and plot details haven’t been revealed. It will, however, feature a female-led ensemble cast. The pitch came from Jim Hecht and Tracy McMillan, and the two are penning the script.

Both Hect and McMillan are executive producing the project, alongside Spencer. Meanwhile, Howard is set to produce via her banner, Nine Muses Entertainment, while Eric Carlson and Susan Carlson will produce through CK&D Media. Fuzzy Door’s Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins will also produce. Erik Baiers is overseeing for Universal.

The film’s release date has not yet been announced.

[via: Deadline]

January 16, 2019
‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ Director J.A. Bayona on That Ending

Universal Pictures

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” arrives on Blu-ray today (it’s already available on digital HD), and with it comes the opportunity to, at the very least, soak up all of the individual details that you might have missed when watching it on the big screen. There’s so much packed into each and every frame — rampaging dinosaurs, exploding volcanoes, oily businessmen — that the ability to stop and re-watch scenes is very much appreciated. It’s a testament to director J.A. Bayona that he was able to make a movie that could have been just another big budget sequel into something richer and more complex.

Everywhere on the special features, too, you get the feeling that he was pushing to creative an experience that was bigger and more expressive than the one that came before it.

So it was a thrill to get to chat with Bayona about what went into certain creative choices and asked him to go into the ending of the movie, specifically, unpacking things that we really weren’t able to talk about when the movie first came out. If you’re one of the three people who somehow missed seeing it theatrically, consider this a very big SPOILER WARNING. We go deep.

Moviefone: On the Blu-ray special features they talk about how you wanted each of these dinosaurs to have its own unique look and personality. Could you talk about what went into that decision?

Bayona: Well, I remember that talking about dinosaurs with kids, I was very surprised to see that when they talk about dinosaurs, they basically talk about texture and color and the skin tones. So I went to the guys at [visual effects house] Industrial Light & Magic and suggested that the dinosaurs have more color. And I wanted a specific personality for each dinosaur. So all of them, they feel a lot more colorful and they very different from each other. And also I suggested that, since it’s been four years into the wild, I wanted them to feel wilder than the previous movies. So you’ll see lots of scars of dinosaurs fighting with each other. They’re not like in a zoo. Some of them you can see them with broken horns.

Universal Pictures

They also talk about the movie’s villain, the Indoraptor, and how you wanted it to feel unfinished. Can you talk about how you landed on that idea?

For Dr. Wu creating a dinosaur is trial and error. So we liked the idea of the Indoraptor being an error. It’s a prototype that went wrong. He’s like a discharged animal. I liked that idea. No one is feeling him anymore, no one cares about him anymore. I liked that. It reminded me of Frankenstein’s monster. That’s the same idea.

It’s interesting you brought up “Frankenstein,” because on the Blu-ray you talk about how the scene where the Indoraptor comes into the child’s room being a direct reference to the Frank Langella “Dracula.” What about that version of Dracula spoke to you?

There is this Gothic element that is taken from the classic monster movies. This idea of long corridors … And I like that. Ever since I got the script from Colin Trevorrow, that scene with the Indoraptor coming into the window for Macy, it reminded me of that scene from “Dracula.” I saw that scene when I was 5-years-old and I was so scared. I was afraid of the window after that scene. It reminded me a lot of that. So I wanted to somehow reference that seem. It’s a very classic moments. It reminds me of the world of fairy tales, with the monster at the top of the tower. I liked that image that freaked me out as a child of Frank Langella crawling down and opening the window upside down.

You’re obviously friends with Guillermo del Toro. What did you share with him? He is the foremost authority on monsters these days.

I show Guillermo everything I do. So he came into the editing room and I showed him a rough cut of the movie and he loved it. He gave me a couple of suggestions but he really encouraged me when he saw it.

Do you remember what some of his suggestions were?

Normally with Guillermo you talk about the pace. So we talked about making some scenes shorter or maybe making that one scene longer. But I have been doing that since my very first movie. It’s such a privilege to be able to sit down with him. The same thing I did with Steven Spielberg. When you do a movie and you can get feedback from a legendary filmmaker like Steven Spielberg or Guillermo del Toro, it’s such a gift.

So much of the end of this movie was shown in TV spots. Did you ever push back on that stuff?

Yeah. For sure there were moments we were asking for them to pull back a little bit because as a director, you’re very insecure, and you want the audience to discover the movie for the first time in the theater. But at the same time, you see the job these guys did on “Jurassic World” and it was such a massive success and “Fallen Kingdom” is such a massive success. At a certain point you just have to trust these guys. Because your job is to make the movie and their job is to sell it. It’s always a very delicate situation for a director because you always have the impression that you’re showing too much. But that’s not the way it works for these types of films.

Universal Pictures

During that montage of the dinosaurs in the wild, did you shoot anything else?

Yeah, when you think about the movie. There’s not much space to experiment. So the entire epilogue was storyboarded and pre-visualized. And there was a lot of conversation about what scene would be the final scene in the epilogue. A lot of ideas were drawn but not included. There was a moment with the Stygimoloch in a supermarket that felt too comical for that moment so we decided not to include it.

What about the post-credits sting? Why was it important to end on that note?

That was a scene that was included in the epilogue but because it was the only nighttime scene I felt that it broke the chronological in the epilogue. I felt it was out of sync with the other scenes. It was the only nighttime moment and it was only night because we couldn’t catch the sunset. That was a second unit shot and the second unit couldn’t catch the sunset. And I decided not to include. It was a fun shot, because you think you’re in Paris but obviously it would be impossible to be in Paris, and really you’re in Las Vegas because the dinosaurs would be all over that area. So we decided to put that as a bonus for the fans at the very end.

Is it hard to turn the movies back to Colin Trevorrow?

I think it’s great that the person who started it all will finish the trilogy. He is the architect of the trilogy and I think he’s the right one to do it. I would love to do another “Jurassic” movie but I wouldn’t want to do a “Jurassic” movie as my next movie. I always like to change a lot from one movie to the next. When you think about “The Orphanage” to “The Impossible” to “Monster Calls,” they’re very different. I’m not sure if I would like to do another “Jurassic” movie back-to-back.

Just one plot question that has been bugging me: why did they need Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard to come back to the island if Dr. Wu was already working for the bad guys and would have the same security clearance?

I think they have a very limited amount of time because of the volcano and they need the code, the microchip that Blue has, the only person that can locate her is Claire, because she has the hand scan to make the machine work. And at the same time Blue is so difficult to catch, they need Owen to get her as soon as possible, because the volcano is about to erupt. They need to move vey, very fast. Basically, it’s for the urgency.

I accept that.

You’ve been thinking about that since you saw the movie.

Yes!

I hope I answered your question!

“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” is out on Blu-ray and digital HD now.

September 18, 2018