(L to R) Henry Golding and Uma Thurman join Netflix’s ‘The Old Guard 2.’
Debuting in the pandemic-rocked summer of 2020, action movie ‘The Old Guard’ was a bit hit for Netflix, with the streaming service reporting audiences watching it for more than 186 hours during the first month the film was out.
A sequel was quickly commissioned, and thanks to Netflix’s Geeked Week news releases, we now know that Uma Thurman and Henry Golding will be part of the cast.
Gina Prince-Bythewood’s original movie, based on the graphic novel series created by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández, follows Andromache of Scythia, (AKA “Andy”, played by Charlize Theron), who has been around since the 8th century BCE. Along with her immortal companions, she’s making amends for past violence and trying to make the world better, her team acting as secret superheroes who occasionally get their hands dirty. Their presence is revealed just as a potential new immortal (KiKi Layne’s Nile) comes on the scene and ultimately ends up joining the team.
At the end of the first film, Andy lost her immortality and discovered that her old friend Quynh (Veronica Ngo), believed to be lost forever, was back and, as you might understand, a little miffed at having spent centuries locked in a chest at the bottom of the ocean, with a potential conflict brewing against Andy. And then there’s Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts), who had had enough of do-gooding and turned against the rest.
How Thurman and Golding fit into the story as it moves forward isn’t yet known, though if you wanted, you could hunt through the graphic novels for clues. Rucka has once more written the script, but with Prince-Bythewood busy, ‘Lovecraft Country’s Victoria Mahoney is taking on directing duties this time around.
Thurman and Golding both have action credentials, even if they’ve been known for other genres. ‘Kill Bill’ cemented Thurman as someone who knows how to swing a sword and kick plenty of butt, and she’s occasionally had the chance to demonstrate those skills since. The world of ‘The Old Guard’ certainly feels like a good fit for her, and if all involved has thought this through, the chance to see a Theron vs. Thurman smackdown would not go amiss.
Golding, meanwhile, broke out in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’, but trained hard for last year’s ‘G.I. Joe’ spin-off ‘Snake Eyes’ and while the movie itself didn’t really impress fans, it wasn’t for lack of Golding’s effort.
The ‘Old Guard’ follow-up should be shooting soon, so if you see Charlize Theron on a street kicking ass, it’s not just her morning workout routine.
Netflix has yet to reveal when the new movie might hit its servers, but we can imagine the company will want to launch the sequel in 2023.
Uma Thurman in 2003’s ‘Kill Bill: Volume 1.’
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Rita Moreno in the documentary ‘Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It.’
In keeping with how most people find out about anything ‘Fast & Furious’, the most recent – and potentially most exciting – piece of casting news comes courtesy of Vin Diesel’s Instagram.
The enthusiastic actor/producer hit social media with a video announcing that none other than Oscar winner and acting legend Rita Moreno is aboard ‘Fast X’, joining the ever-growing ensemble as Dominic Toretto’s (Diesel) grandmother.
“It’s been my dream forever to work with Rita Moreno, and the fact that she’s here playing my grandmother makes my soul smile,” Diesel says in the video.
“I think my old age was waiting for you to ask me, isn’t that nice, and I’m here, the answer is yes, I’ll do it, and not only I’ll do it, I am tickled,” Moreno responds.
It’s a lovefest! Which is in stark contrast to some of the other videos shot on set of the movie, with uncomfortable-looking co-stars (and former director Justin Lin) appearing to resent having to show up on camera with Diesel.
Casting Moreno represents just the latest addition to the ‘Fast’ team for this new movie, which has already seen the likes of Brie Larson, Jason Momoa, Daniela Melchior and ‘Reacher’s Alan Ritchson making their debut in the franchise.
In addition to the regulars, ‘The Fate of the Furious’ Scott Eastwood (as the government agent codenamed Little Nobody) plus ‘F9’s Michael Rooker (as mechanic/Toretto family friend Buddy) and Cardi B (as paramilitary leader Leysa) are also all back in the fold.
Moreno, of course, needs little introduction. An actor with decades of experience, she’s also known for her singing and dancing skills. She won an Oscar for her performance as Anita in 1961’s ‘West Side Story’, and notched acclaim for appearing in Steven Spielberg’s version of the same movie last year, albeit playing a different role. She’s also an “EGOT” – having won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. And now she could be up for the MTV Movie Awards as Coolest Granny On Film.
She’s someone Diesel has been trying to get on board for a while now. Interviewed by Variety last year, the actor and Lin discussed the idea of Dom’s mother showing up but pivoted to talk of his grandmother. “Before we get to Mother Toretto, we will get to Abuela,” Diesel says. “And the person that I’m so excited to talk about that role is Rita Moreno.’”
For her part, Moreno seemed up for it at the time. “I’m waiting for his call,” she laughed. “I think it’s a fabulous idea. I hope he puts me in black leather…” Let’s see if that last part comes true!
‘Fast X’ has had to weather some recent drama, with Lin stepping away from the movie, to be replaced by Louis Leterrier. The switch has caused a brief shutdown in production, but the movie is back up and shooting now.
With luck, ‘Fast X’ will still be speeding into theaters on May 19th next year.
‘Fast X’ Logo. Courtesy of Vin Diesel’s Instagram account.
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(L to R) Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood in 2015’s ‘The Longest Ride.’
Having seemingly sped around (or, given this franchise, though) its director departure roadblock, the Fast & Furious’ franchise is well and truly back in high gear. The latest installment, ‘Fast X’ is recruiting from among its deep bench of previous cast members, as Scott Eastwood will return for the new movie.
Eastwood appeared in ‘Fate of the Furious’, the eighth installment, directed by F. Gary Gray and released in 2017. His character was a rule-following government agent who is frequently seen with his boss, Mr. Nobody, a shady manipulator played by Kurt Russell.
Does this mean that Russell – whose character was briefly a plot point in last year’s ‘F9: The Fast Saga’ – will also return? No one is saying yet. But you wouldn’t be wrong if you started speculating that the slick Nobody could once again feature.
Speculation is pretty much all we have at this point when it comes to the plot of ‘Fast X’. With Louis Leterrier now on board to direct, the story will likely see Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto and the rest of the ‘Fast’ family tackling another big threat from the likes of Charlize Theron’s calculating Cipher.
Alongside Diesel, the returning cast also includes such core names as Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Sung Kang. Michael Rooker as mechanic and Toretto family friend Buddy) and Cardi B (as paramilitary leader Leysa) are reportedly back from ‘F9’. Given Buddy’s presence, that could point to redeemed villain John Cena’s Jakob Toretto also popping up, but the ‘Fast’ team have revealed nothing about his possible appearance.
(L to R) Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, and Jason Statham in ‘The Fate of the Furious.’
While Justin Lin left the director’s job a couple of weeks into shooting over creative and script differences, he’s still attached as a producer and wrote the screenplay with Dan Mazeau (though we’re fairly certain it has since gone through some changes).
Eastwood, who followed his famous father into the film business, is best known for movies including ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’, ‘Suicide Squad’ and ‘The Longest Ride’. He was most recently seen in Prime Video’s romantic comedy ‘I Want You Back’. Along with ‘Fast X’, he’s also filming LA riots drama ‘April 29, 1992’, in which a shopkeeper must save his son from an angry mob in the wake of the Rodney King verdict.
Despite the delays, it seems that ‘Fast X’ is still on track to make it into theaters on May 19th next year. It’ll be followed by a second movie, which will wrap up both the story of these last two entries and, according to Diesel, bring the franchise as a whole to a close. At least until the various spin-offs start their engines…
‘Fast X’ Logo. Courtesy of Vin Diesel’s Instagram account.
While the film follows Marvel’s trend of slowly moving away from crazy connections (save for a few references to both ‘WandaVision’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’), we still have a lot to cover. So here we’ll get into the end-credits scene, the introduction of the Illuminati, and what it all means!
So, let’s start off with the big one, the mid-credits scene. At the end of the movie, we witness Stephen Strange’s third eye revealing itself and an instant fear that would strike in anyone as who saw one of his multiverse counterparts with the same third eye. But in the scene following that, Stephen looks pretty okay! Also looking fancy in a new jacket and scarf.
A portal opens in front of him and Charlize Theron, making her first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, steps out. She tells Strange he created an incursion in another universe and that he must help stop it, then Stephen changes into his robes and suddenly, the third eye appears on his forehead, and he follows her into the portal.
Charlize Theron in 2017’s ‘Atomic Blonde.’
Now we have a lot to talk about. Let’s start with the new character reveal, Clea, or as she’s known in the comics currently, the Sorceress Supreme. Introduced in 1964, Clea is the niece of Doramamu—yes, the one Strange very cleanly bargained with in the first ‘Doctor Strange’. In the comics, she meets Stephen when he’s sent to the Dark Dimension. Even going on to marry him later.
This storyline would match up perfectly for the next film, as it is shown in ‘Multiverse of Madness’ that Stephen has come to terms with the fact he and Christine can never be together. And while he may not know the answer to the question “are you happy?”, it’s a great moment for Clea to come into his life.
Next, that weird extra eye. The Eye of Agamotto is considered the amulet of knowledge and grants the wearer the ability to see something before it happens, which we saw in ‘Avengers Endgame’. This could also be a reference to actual real-world myth, which says that the ‘opening of one’s third eye’ means many things, but mainly a representation of one’s power of clairvoyance. Exactly what the Eye does in the MCU, is yet to be determined. This doesn’t exactly mean Stephen’s evil now, but we should keep “an eye on” how much power he actually does have.
But the after-credits scene wasn’t the only major reveal that the film gave us. Halfway through, Strange and America Chavez get blasted into a Universe which is pretty much run by a superhero secret society called the Illuminati (first appearing in Marvel Comics in 2005.)
Let’s start with the ones we do know and have seen in the MCU. Captain Carter, Maria Rambeau & Blackbolt.
Peggy Carter’s multiverse counterpoint was first seen in the ‘What If…?,’ which aired on Disney+. For those who don’t know, she is basically Steve Rogers if she took the super soldier serum instead of him. Maria was last seen in ‘Captain Marvel’ in 2019, as Carol’s best friend from the air force. We can deduce in this universe that she obviously got the cosmic powers instead of Danvers.
Now Blackbolt is a bit different. He’s the leader of the Inhumans on Earth and has the power to kill anyone with just a whisper. He is played by the same actor from the very short lived ‘Inhumans’ show that aired on ABC, coinciding with ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ While its reception wasn’t fantastic, it’s commendable to see Marvel and Disney bring back the same actor.
Now for two characters we had yet to see until now, Charles Xavier & Reed Richards. While they both have appeared in different studio films, this is the first time we have seen them in the MCU. But what versions are we seeing?
Many have theorized that this version of Professor X is not the one we have seen in Fox’s ‘X-Men’ films. Most point to his chair in the film, and the little sound cue that plays when he wheels out, both connecting to the 90s ‘X-Men’ cartoon. The one that Marvel just so happens to be reviving for Disney+, called ‘X-Men ‘97.’ While he does die in this universe, who’s to say he’s not still alive in others with the same chair? And could the new ‘X-Men’ cartoon connect to ‘Multiverse of Madness’ by being its own universe?
Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier in 2000’s ‘X-Men.’
Finally, we have Reed Richards, played by actual fan-casted John Krasinski. While we got Fox’s ‘Fantastic Four’ in the past, this is the first time we’ve seen a hero from that team in an MCU property. It’s hinted that the Illuminati is funded by the Baxter foundation, but what could his inclusion mean? It’s highly speculated that this could be both a little nod and hint by Marvel. One to his casting (photoshops aplenty before this reveal) and could be also a sign of what’s to come.
We know Marvel is making a ‘Fantastic Four’ film and that it will be attached to the overall MCU. But we have no info on the story or the production other than director shakeups. While seeing fan-favorite casting come to life is a great time, this could just be another universe version of Reed Richards. When he does return in his own film, there’s a chance we’ll see a different actor playing him.
I know all of this may sound confusing like all the multiverses shown in the film, so I hope this little breakdown helps a bit! ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ has brought the MCU into the new era—and has given us some exciting clues on where it could be going next.
Let’s see if ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ continues our journey through the Marvel Multiverse!
John Krasinski as Dr. Jack Ryan in Prime Video’s ‘Jack Ryan.’
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As with all the other casting announcements, we don’t yet know what Ritchson will be doing in the movie – whether he’ll be riding alongside Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and his team, or joining the side of the villains, which in this case are represented by a returning Charlize Theron as Cipher, joined by Jason Momoa’s mysterious character.
Most of the news about the new movie has been mixed – director Justin Lin left after roughly two weeks’ worth of filming, citing the industry-standard “creative differences” which have reportedly included clashes with Diesel (who is a controlling producer on the movies and sees himself as their guardian as well as their star) and the studio on scripts.
Alan Ritchson in Prime Video’s ‘Jack Reacher.’
The differences are all the more surprising since Lin is A) a veteran shepherd of the movies, having directed several of them and B) one of the credited writers on the current film’s script alongside Dan Mazeau. He’s still involved as a producer.
Ritchson feels like he could fit into the movie without much hassle – he’s used to getting into fights on screen and there’s always some muscular rumbling to be found amidst the speedy action. Yet will he make his mark and stick around, or be reduced to a one-and-done (so far) like Scott Eastwood?
Aside from ‘Reacher’, Ritchson was previously known for playing Gloss in ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ and for donning performance capture gear to bring Raphael to life in the two recent live action/CGI ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ movies.
He’s also stepped behind the camera to write and direct last year’s ‘Dark Web: Cicada 3301’.
Ritchson has been at work on new, based-on-truth drama ‘Ordinary Angels’, in which he’ll appear opposite Hilary Swank. That movie doesn’t yet have a release date listed.
‘Fast X’, meanwhile, assuming the director swap hasn’t impacted its schedule too much, will be driving in theaters on May 19th next year.
‘Fast X’ Logo. Courtesy of Vin Diesel’s Instagram account.
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(L to R) Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson in ‘Fast Five,’ directed by Justin Lin.
As a franchise, the ‘Fast & Furious’ movies have sped through all manner of challenges: changing cast rosters, the clashing, outsized movie star and music egos of some of its actors and even a long delay for the last movie because of the pandemic.
Yet somehow, none of them have screamed, “the wheels are coming off!” quite like the departure of director Justin Lin 10 days into shooting the latest installment, ‘Fast X’.
While it is not unusual for directors to depart movies, especially big ones, the fact that one of the acknowledged architects of the ‘Fast’ series, one who has produced and directed five of the movies since kicking off his association with ‘The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift’ in 2006, has stepped away – in the middle of shooting, no less – is something of a shocker.
“With the support of Universal, I have made the difficult decision to step back as director of ‘Fast X’, while remaining with the project as a producer. Over 10 years and five films, we have been able to shoot the best actors, the best stunts, and the best damn car chases,” Lin says in a statement posted to the franchise’s official twitter feed. “On a personal note, as the child of Asian immigrants, I am proud of helping to build the most diverse franchise in movie history. I will forever be grateful to the amazing cast, crew and studio for their support, and for welcoming me into the ‘Fast’ family.”
So far, so diplomatic. And according to sources who spoke to the likes of Deadline, the parting was amicable, if rooted in the age-old reason of “creative differences”. It’s a little more surprising, (though again, not unheard of), for those to emerge now, while the cameras are rolling, than in the months of scripting and pre-production that precede a giant movie such as this.
In the past few months there has been nothing but positivity from Camp Fast, albeit that’s because it’s primarily driven by star and producer Vin Diesel, who offers semi-regular updates on his Instagram page. It’s perhaps telling, though, that one recent example, shot to celebrate the end of the first week’s filming features a Lin who seems both tired and less than thrilled about participating.
At the time of writing, Diesel has made no comment on the matter, and Universal, which is about to present its upcoming slate to theater owners at this year’s CinemaCon, may be holding back until there is something to announced. Second Unit filming, also underway in London, is continuing.
‘Fast X’ Logo. Courtesy of Vin Diesel’s Instagram account.
Ever the one ready to reveal the slightest hint of ‘Fast & Furious’ news, Vin Diesel has once again taken to Instagram, this time with both title details and word of production cranking into gear of the tenth installment.
So, with a drumroll that somehow also sounds like the revving of a Dodge Charger, the word arrives that the new movie is called… ‘Fast X’.
It’s certainly a striking, short title, but offers little clues as to what the movie itself might be about. And it has, predictably, already fallen afoul of social media jokers, who have likened the title to a pill of some sort.
Not forgetting the camp who would rather the movie have been called ‘Fast 10 Your Seatbelts’.
Shrugging off all such concerns, Diesel simply captioned his logo image with, “Day One…” pointing to the fact that the cameras are now rolling and, if we know anything about this franchise, wheels are already turning. And likely jumping over/off things.
Despite the regular updates from Diesel – AKA family and car-obsessed Dominic Toretto in the movies – nothing has yet been said about the plot for this latest offering of ‘Fast’ fuel.
Given the reportedly returning presence of Charlize Theron’s Cipher, we can reliably predict that Dom and the team will have to thwart her latest nefarious scheme (unless, of course, she’s in the process of switching to Dom’s side, though that seems unlikely for now).
And aiding her this time around will be a new, mysterious baddie brought to booming life by Jason Momoa, who has already expressed his enthusiasm for playing an “amazing” character. “He’s ornery,” Momoa told Entertainment Tonight – when the show caught up with him at the LA premiere of ‘Ambulance’. “He’s misunderstood.” Again, we’re forced to wonder whether he might follow a traditional road of starting out as a villain but ending up helping Dom and the rest.
They’ll be joined by two new faces – at least to this franchise: ‘Captain Marvel’ star and Oscar winner Brie Larson, who chalks up another big franchise and ‘The Suicide Squad’s Daniela Melchior, both of whose characters remain a mystery for now.
Justin Lin, who has directed more of the ‘Fast’ movies than anyone else, is back overseeing this new one and while all involved remain secretive about what we can expect, allow us to speculate that huge vehicular stunts, jokey repartee between Roman and Tej, possibly some dangerous McGuffin to be found/stopped and, of course, more references to “family” than your average Mafia miniseries.
‘Fast X’ will be headed into theaters on May 19th.
Jackson Hyde/Aqualad from DC Comics. Photo courtesy of DC Comics.
Having seen success with ‘Peacemaker’ (not to mention the sprawling universe of other superhero shows across several different platforms), DC and HBO Max are teaming up with Charlize Theron to produce new graphic novel adaptation ‘You Brought Me the Ocean’, which will introduce the origin story of DC’s Aqualad to live-action.
Well, at least this version – this being a comic book title, there have been more than one. Still, the Jake Hyde version of Aqualad first debuted in 2010 and was created by Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman, and Phil Bourassa for the animated series ‘Young Justice.’, where he was voiced by Khary Payton.
A comic book version of the character simultaneously debuted in ‘Brightest Day #4.’ He also goes by the name Kaldur’ahm, and it was later revealed that he is the son of the supervillain Black Manta.
The HBO Max series will be based on characters from DC and the graphic novel by Alex Sanchez and Jul Maroh. This new show will explore the life of Jackson “Jake” Hyde, a gay teenager living in New Mexico. All his life, he has had a strange attraction to the water and yearns to escape his desert surroundings for the ocean. As he explores his abilities, including breathing under and controlling water, he also finds himself falling in love with his classmate, high school swim captain Kenny Liu. Hyde has since become the second Aquaman in the DC canon.
Charlize Theron in 2017’s ‘Atomic Blonde.’
It’s good to see more forward progress with LGBTQA+ issues in pop culture, and DC has been making some strides in that regard and ‘Young Justice’ has been on the forefront of that.
DC is also everywhere in terms of TV – between the CW’s “Arrowverse” (with ‘The Flash’, ‘Batwoman’, ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ and ‘Superman & Lois’ still on the air), the various animated outings and HBO Max series such as ‘Titans’ (where a different version of the Aqualad character, named Garth has appeared, played by played by Drew Van Acker), ‘Harley Quinn’ and ‘Doom Patrol’ – the company has spread its wings further than even Marvel has attempted thus far.
And the company is expanding its roster yet again with series spawned from movies including those based on ‘The Batman’ and another show from James Gunn that will complement ‘Peacemaker’. And should more of the character’s ‘Young Justice’ team members make the jump to live-action, we could see a whole new generation of heroes ready to conquer TV screens and potentially arrive on the big screen too.
Theron is no stranger to comic book adaptations – most recently, she starred in Netflix movie ‘The Old Guard’, which has a sequel in the works. And she’s also been active as a producer, working on TV and movie projects. Next up for her in acting terms is ‘The School for Good and Evil,’ which will be on Netflix this year.
Queenpins – directed by Gita Pullapilly & Aron Gaudet
Kristen Bell & Kirby Howell-Baptiste in ‘Queenpins’
Born in South Bend, Indiana, Gita Pullapilly studied finance at University of Notre Dame and later journalism at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University. She met her future husband and creative collaborator Aron Gaudet while producing his documentary ‘The Way We Get By’. The two have collaborated on multiple projects and were jointly appointed Guggenheim Fellows in 2015. ‘Queenpins’ is their second narrative feature film together, following their 2013 festival hit ‘Beneath the Harvest Sky.’
Inspired by a true story, ‘Queenpins’ follows two desperate women, Connie (Kristen Bell) and JoJo (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) who go from extreme couponing to running the largest coupon scam in United States history. When their illicit business grows, a grocery store chain loss prevention officer (Paul Walter Hauser) joins forces with a postal inspector (Vince Vaughn) to take the two women down.
‘Queenpins’ is now playing in select Cinemark Theaters nationwide, and will be available streaming on Paramount+ on September 30.
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Pullapilly and Gaudet talked to Moviefone about their new movie.
Moviefone: Can you talk about your collaboration process?
Gita Pullapilly: We’re married, so…
Aron Gaudet: …we wake up in bed together, and everything we do is basically together.
Pullapilly: Yeah.
Gaudet: When we write, it’s not like we send the script back and forth together. We’re right next to each other. Every word is gone over and agreed upon, going into the script.
Pullapilly: Very much, our work is like marriage therapy. We do a lot to try to heal ourselves from our childhood issues, to be able to get down to a spot where we can write together and direct together and really challenge each other in productive ways, so we can get the best version of that movie out there.
Gaudet: When you talk about collaboration, our entire lives together is a collaboration. Whether it’s our marriage, writing together, directing together, going on a walk together. But, then we love the collaboration with our cast and crew. To open that open and be as collaborative as possible and make everybody feel like they have a stake in it. I feel like that comes from being in such a collaborative person relationship as co-directors, co-writers, spouses.
Pullapilly: I think one thing, when we are writing on our laptop, we have to be open to each other’s ideas. Because that is the first time on a story that Aron and I have to have our perspectives melded together. We have to be open to that, and we have to understand whose idea is the journey we want to go down for whatever that scene is or whatever we’re trying to craft. That’s the first step for us: being open to each other’s ideas. Then, once we are on set, we really own that concept because any idea that is going to make that film the best version of the film is going to be an opportunity for us to make that best version of the movie. Whether it’s from a gaffer or anybody else, we are super excited to hear it because it only means that they are that much more invested in the movie, but also that makes for the better movie.
MF: You came across this story on a coupon blog. How did you fall down that rabbit hole?
Pullapilly: So many stories that are told are optioned very quickly in Hollywood, and we aren’t ever in the position where we can option those, or we just weren’t in on the game earlier enough to have access to them. Much of what Aron and I do is taking deep dives on the internet trying to find stories out there that haven’t been told, need to be told, and are so unique and interesting that they resonate with us in some way. I don’t know how I got on the coupon blog, but I saw three sentences that talked about this “counterfeit coupon caper” and “$40 million” and it happened to have the name of the detective from Arizona in the article. I shared it with Aron, and we thought there was something unique and special here, so we reached out to the detective, and he was fascinating, and we drove to Phoenix to spend more time with him and hear more of the story.
MF: How did Kristen Bell come on board?
Gaudet: Early on, once we had a finished script, she was on a very short list of people that we thought would be right for the role of Connie. We knew that Connie in the movie is a definite go-getter. She’s a former Olympian, and she has a lot of ambition and drive, but also she ends up doing bad things. Kristen when we sat down with her, one of the first things she said was that for some reason even if she’s doing things like committing crimes, audiences still love her doing those things. That was exactly what we needed in Connie. Somebody who had this go-getter mentality, who was extremely likeable even if they were committing crimes and breaking laws.
MF: In the real story was she a racewalker?
Gaudet: No. We really don’t know much about the real women. We took the framework of the coupon scam – what happened, how they did it, and what they did when they made all this money – and then we just completely created characters. That’s why it’s more inspired by the story. The characters are complete creations.
Pullapilly: We wanted the two women to represent so much of what we as women are going through in society today, feeling boxed in and trapped and not being able to find the loopholes to break out and succeed. We felt like to do that, we wanted to create our own characters.
MF: Did you also develop the YouTube aspect of JoJo?
Gaudet: Yeah, as we did a deep dive into the world of coupons and the world of extreme couponing, we would watch just tons of YouTube videos of these extreme couponers. We latched onto a couple that we were really interested in. We would just watch their videos over and over. They would talk you through their stockpile room, or how they clip their coupons and organize them. We started basing JoJo off of some of them. We knew she had to have her YouTube channel and her whole brand going.
Pullapilly: The couponing videos are really fantastic. You can go down a big rabbit hole of watching so many of them because they are so interesting and unique, and then you see all the deals they’re getting, and you’re like wow this is incredible.
MF: I read that 96% of Americans use coupons. Do you know what percentage of that are competitive couponers?
Gaudet: It’s probably a small percentage that do extreme couponing, but as far as using coupons in their lives, yeah it’s a lot. What we realized is it’s really the foundation of the U.S. economy, coupons.
Pullapilly: What we realized is there is the question, is it a need or a want? And that really determines if someone is going to buy something or not. But a coupon eradicates that question.
Gaudet: It tips it to a need.
Pullapilly: It tips it to a need, even though it’s most likely a want.
Gaudet: It puts a ticking clock on it. There’s a whole psychology behind coupons and coupon use, and we were fascinated by all of that. There were stories that we would read like the CEO of JCPenney got rid of coupons and just wanted to do everyday low pricing and almost bankrupted the company. They lost $4 billion dollars because he got rid of coupons. There is that feeling that not everyone is an extreme couponer, but they like the idea that they can get a deal.
MF: Can you talk about the various shooting locations given the COVID protocols?
Gaudet: It was very constricted because twenty-two of our thirty shoot days ended up being on this one campus that is an abandoned health facility. A lot of those locations were really just finding areas on this campus where we could create another location. There are a lot of locations, but it was a lot of movie magic to make it the world during the pandemic. We knew we had to keep people safe and create a bubble to work in, while not sacrificing story. We never wanted it to feel like a movie that was made during the pandemic, but it was a challenge every day to pull that off.
MF: Was the location of their coupon warehouse also on that campus?
Gaudet: Yeah, that’s on that campus as well.
Pullapilly: We had Mexico on that campus. We had Montenegro on that campus. We had the coupon facilities on that campus.
Gaudet: We found every small nook and took advantage of it. We were able to do a couple of days at a grocery store and a day at the airplane hangar. But the heart of the movie was all shot on this one campus.
Pullapilly: I don’t think anyone realized how many different looks we pulled off. Our production designer Jennifer Klide did an incredible job of trying to be as creative with such a limited budget to work with to find ways to make everything look different.
MF: Was Vince Vaughn’s postal inspector character part of the real story?
Gaudet: The true story did involve postal inspectors. This detective in Phoenix had teamed up with postal inspectors. It involved a postal inspector S.W.A.T. team. All of those aspects are true to the story. Then it was us taking a deep dive into postal inspectors, talking with a postal inspector. We were going off of this theme where these two women felt very undervalued and discounted like a coupon, but so do both of the male characters that Paul and Vince play. We realized that they felt undervalued. Within law enforcement, postal inspectors are not held in as high regard, or they’re just not known like the FBI or the CIA. But the reality is, the postal inspectors were the very first law enforcement agency in the history of our country.
Pullapilly: And they’re baddasses. You should see some of the videos online of postal inspectors. They’re incredible.
Gaudet: They took down the Unabomber. They are involved in a lot of big cases because so many crimes involve the mail. It was us realizing that these guys are badass, but they’re not viewed that way, and there is comedy to be had there. Vince’s character comes in justice is very much his core value, but everyone else around him is like, wait, what’s a postal inspector?
MF: Can you recommend another film directed or co-directed by a woman for viewers to seek out?
Pullapilly: I think Kimberly Peirce who directed ‘Boys Don’t Cry,’ is an amazing filmmaker. I think what she did with that movie is spectacular because it opened my eyes to a world I didn’t know before. It was so raw and real that it moved me profoundly and inspired me to want to push the limits of storytelling, to be able to make an impact on the lives of other people. I admire her greatly.
Gaudet: I think what is excited to us is to see somebody like Patty Jenkins who goes from smaller films like we’ve started at, to something like ‘Wonder Woman’ but on her own terms. We’re always looking for directors to admire who do that – go from a smaller budget to a bigger budget, but do it on their own terms and still bring their own vision to it. That’s always inspiring.
Boys Don’t Cry – directed by Kimberly Peirce
Hilary Swank & Chloë Sevigny in ‘Boys Don’t Cry’
Inspired by the brutal murder of Brandon Teena, a trans man living in rural Nebraska, Peirce’s breaktrhough drama received critical acclaim and Hilary Swank won the Oscar win for Best Actress. Although its approach and cisgender casting is dated now, the film was a watershed moment for trans representation in cinema upon its release.
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Monster – directed by Patty Jenkins
Charlize Theron in ‘Monster’
Before breaking records with her pair of Wonder Woman films for DC, Jenkins wrote and directed this powerful drama inspired by the real-life story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos. The film was released to wide-spread critical acclaim, and Charlize Theron won the Oscar for Best Actress for her complex portrayal of Wuornos.
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It’s hard to look at the 20-year-old ‘The Fast & the Furious’ and see the beginnings of a blockbuster franchise, but here we are. And if the series has moved past illegal street races and into heist and spy movie territory, that’s all for the better. As this rogue’s gallery of street racers has become an unstoppable team of vehicle-based super agents, the movies in the franchise have increasingly raised the stakes for our heroes, physics and reality be damned. And you know what? It’s worked, including the latest chapter ‘F9.’
Where do you go after taking on a tank, a cargo plane, and a submarine? I won’t spoil anything here (although you’ll get some hints from the trailer), but it’s pretty impressive how director and co-writer Justin Lin takes the series to new heights while acknowledging the increasingly insane action sequences our heroes find themselves in.
Our story starts off with a flashback to Dom’s past, as he’s part of his father’s pit crew at what will be turn out to be the senior Toretto’s final race. We’re also introduced to Jakob, Dom’s younger brother. It’s hard to imagine that Dom, always preaching to us about family, has never, even mentioned his brother, but that’s far from the least-believable element in this movie. (To be clear, I’m not complaining about over-the-top elements, but you’ll need to go further than “willing suspension” and actively lock up your disbelief and throw away the key.)
We soon return to the present to see Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) living a bucolic life off the grid with young Brian, Dom’s adorable young son who (of course) is being taught how to fix engines by Dad. Do the Torettos miss all the extreme driving? Of course they do, but Dom claims to have left that in the past. But as an unknown SUV pulls up, Dom & Letty pull out some fairly heavy-duty weaponry and send Brian off to hide; clearly they fear the past hasn’t left them.
Their visitors turn out to be more of the old crew – Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), who are welcomed with open arms. The visitors have come with news that the man that brought them into the spy game, Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) has sent them a cryptic S.O.S. message. The message contains coordinates and evidence that an old nemesis, Cypher (Charlize Theron) is involved. Although initially hesitant, Dom joins the rest of the crew on a trip to Central America to find out what happened to Mr. Nobody.
Now that we have buy-in from Dom, the plot can get really get started. The crew’s discovery of mysterious tech leads to gunfights and a wild chase scene through the jungle, which then sets the stage for Jakob Toretto (John Cena) to make an appearance. It’s not a joyful reunion for the Toretto brothers. Jakob, almost as skilled a driver as Dom, is now a rogue secret agent, and makes off with that MacGuffin, leaving the rest of the crew dumbfounded. And now Mia (Jordana Brewster) is involved since, as she reminds Dom, Jakob is her brother too.
The plot then goes into classic James Bond territory; it turns out Jakob is working for Otto (Thue Ersted Rasmussen) the billionaire son of the head of an unnamed state, who plans to use the MacGuffin tech to take over the world. The plot jumps through a few hoops to show us some familiar faces past entries in the franchise, including Lucas Black, Helen Mirren, Shad “Lil’ Bow Wow” Moss, and most notably, Sung Kang as Han. The news of Sung Kang’s return broke a long time ago, but like the sudden discovery of brother Jakob, the story of Han’s reappearance is far from the most unbelievable part of the movie.
As in other long-running franchises, it can be tricky to give all the returning characters enough screen time to satisfy, but Lin manages to give everyone more than simply one moment to shine. In fact, one of the smartest moves he makes is to use the characters almost as a sort of Greek chorus, to comment on the very tropes he’s using in the movie. In one hilarious (and frankly mind-blowing) Gibson’s Roman questions the crew’s repeated survival, almost as if Lin was cribbing from Tom Stoppard’s ‘Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.’ We also get another character saying “if this was a movie, this is the moment when…” and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t work. But there are also some moments that give some characters a little more depth. The brief meditation on parenthood from Letty and Mia doesn’t feel forced too forced, mainly because Letty basically admits she’d rather be tearing it up instead of hiding out. And in one of the more inspired choices, we discover that Ramsey doesn’t drive, so obviously she has to get behind the wheel.
Rest assured, that if you came for the spectacle, you won’t be disappointed, and it’s amazing that the filmmakers are still coming up with new things to do with vehicles. This franchise has always made sure to make the cars into co-stars, and on his third outing in this series as cinematographer, Stephen F. Windon, is still using bright and vibrant colors and lighting to make the cars pop, and his framing really gives us a sense of the layout of each location. A trio of editors, Greg D’Auria, Dylan Highsmith, and Kelly Matsumoto, deftly follow multiple characters through each set piece and allow us to see the stakes for each individual without losing sight of the whole or getting confused as to who is doing what. There is one particular shot of Cena looking through iron bars that comes off a bit campy, though.
As much as this movie is a spy story, Lin keeps us invested in the relationship between Dom and Jakob. Flashbacks to Dom’s past will pop up throughout the film, and Lin uses them fairly effectively to support an arc in the brothers’ relationship as the movie progresses. This is absolutely an action movie, but Lin’s past outings in the franchise gives him a familiarity with the characters that helps this movie be a bit more than a just smash-em-up car movie. I may have some minor grumbles about some of Lin’s decisions (especially one of the final shots), but F9 turns out to be one of the better entries in the entire series. There’s also a great mid-credits scene.
For what it’s worth, I’m glad to have seen this on a big screen, although I’ll admit I love every entry in this franchise. I’m glad this one was held until it was safe (or safer) to go to a theater. If you’re open to it, there’s an infectious sense of fun that permeates this movie, and you’ll really feel it if you’re seeing it with other fans at the same time.
