A sequel to ‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines’ is in the works.
Guillermo Martinez and JP Sans are directing.
Netflix will release the movie under a deal with Sony.
Back in 2021, robo-uprising movie ‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines’ burst on to screens via Sony and Netflix, bringing a much-needed offering of joy to a dark time for the world as the COVID pandemic continued to effect it.
Given the success of the original (it won eight Annie Awards, including for animated feature, and was nominated for best animated feature at the Oscars), and spurred by the reaction to ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ (which has been a sensation for the companies), a sequel is in development, as reported by Variety.
The first film was initially set to be released by Sony Pictures in 2020 after the title was changed to ‘Connected,’ but following delays due to the COVID pandemic, Netflix picked up the film (under its original title) for reportedly more than $100 million.
The movie follows the titular family as they drive their eldest daughter, Katie (Abbi Jacobson), across the country to film school in California.
While en route, a rogue AI called PAL (Olivia Colman) commanders an army of robots to launch a worldwide rebellion against humanity. It’s up to the Mitchells — including Katie’s technophobic father, Rick (Danny McBride), overly sweet mother, Linda (Maya Rudolph) and hyperactive younger brother, Aaron (Mike Rianda) — to save the day.
(Left) Phil Lord on the set of ’21 Jump Street.’ Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing. (Center) Archie Andrews from ‘The Archie Show’. Photo: CBS. (Right) Chris Miller on the set of ’21 Jump Street.’ Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
Preview:
A movie based on ‘Archie’ comics is in the works at Universal.
Phil Lord and Chris Miller are producing the movie.
The script comes from ‘Superwoman: Woman of Tomorrow’ comic writer Tom King.
While current audiences might be most familiar with the ‘Archie’ comic book stories via long-running CW series ‘Riverdale’, plans are afoot for a different take, this one aimed at the big screen.
The ‘Archie’ comics series, which have been published for 85 years, follows the high school hijinks of the title character and his main squeezes, Veronica and Betty. It has been turned into any number of shows and movies.
While ‘Riverdale’ was steeped in a ‘Twin Peaks’-like noir and followed the underbelly of the small town where Archie and the gang lived, the new tone of the new movie is being kept a mystery for now.
Here’s what Lord and Miller said in a statement:
“We are longtime fans of Archie, Veronica, Betty, and the gang in all of their iterations. When we heard Tom King’s take on the classic material, we instantly thought it made sense as an event movie for all audiences — both lifelong fans and a whole new generation. We’re so excited to bring these beloved characters to the big screen.”
Emma Watts, who used to run 20th Century Studios and now has her own production company, teamed up with King (who on the scriptwriting front has been working on DC Studios’ HBO series ‘Lanterns’) to develop an initial pitch, which they then presented to Lord and Miller.
They, in turn, took it to Universal under the terms of their first look deal.
What else are Lord and Miller working on?
Ryan Gosling in ‘Project Hail Mary’. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
With the project still rattling around the development zone, we wouldn’t expect to see a release date announcement until it is closer to being finalized.
Camila Mendes on ‘Riverdale’. Photo: Warner Bros. Television Studios.
Selected Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Movies and TV Shows:
Ryan Gosling in ‘Project Hail Mary’. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
Preview:
‘Project Hail Mary’ touched down at Comic-Con.
The panel included Ryan Gosling, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
The movie adapts Andy Weir’s book.
‘Project Hail Mary’ represents the collaboration between some fairly stellar names in filmmaking. Take directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who have brought acclaimed comedies and Oscar-winning animated superhero movies to screens while having fun with genre.
Add in Ryan Gosling, who has proved his chops in both the dramatic and laugh-grabbing departments. And blend them with the invention of Andy Weir, whose book ‘The Martian’ became a wildly successful movie in its own right.
The result is a space-set adventure that appears to offer plenty of laughs and humanity to go with the big ideas.
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So the movie was naturally one that Amazon MGM Studios knew could play well at Comic-Con, with the team showing up for a panel in Hall H.
Ryan Gosling in ‘Project Hail Mary’. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
‘Project Hail Mary’ is set in the near future. Our hero is Ryland Grace (Gosling), a school teacher-turned-astronaut who wakes up from a coma, alone, on a space station with no memory of who he is or his mission.
His memory returns in bursts and he pieces together that he was sent to the Tau Ceti solar system, 12 light-years from Earth, to reverse the impact of a space event that had already hurled our planet into the early stages of an Ice Age.
As details of the mission unravel, he must call on all of his scientific training and sheer ingenuity, but he might not have to do it alone…
What happened at the ‘Project Hail Mary’ panel?
Ryan Gosling in ‘Project Hail Mary’. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
Much as with big movies such as ‘TRON: Ares’, the ‘Project Hail Mary’ team made good use of the giant screens that stretch down the sides of Hall H, projecting logos and the galactic map seen in the trailer.
Those on stage included directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, author Andy Weir and screenwriter Drew Goddard (who also adapted ‘The Martian’).
Gosling talked about why he wanted to join the projecting, citing Weir as the greatest science fiction writer (and not just because he was sitting next to him on the panel). He knew it would be great, but not how great.
Here’s what else he said:
“It’s about a scared guy who doesn’t know what he’s doing and I was a scared guy who didn’t know what I was doing, trying to turn it into a movie.”
He called Lord and Miller, which seems like a smart move…
For their part, the directors also used a movie metaphor to describe working with Gosling, in that it’s about collaboration and they had a great time working with the actor.
The filmmakers shared new concept art from the movie, including spaceship designs and more.
Biggest news of the panel? Daniel Pemberton, who has experience working with Lord and Miller on the ‘Spider-Verse’ movies, is the composer for this.
But the best part of the panel? The first five minutes of the movie were shown, including Gosling waking up from an induced coma, befuddled and unsure of where he is. He struggles with a robot that is trying to help him and discovers that the crew in the chamber with him are all dead.
Other clips were shown, but from later in the movie, so we’ll avoid discussing those to stay away from spoilers.
When will ‘Project Hail Mary’ be on screens?
Unlike some of the other projects touted at this year’s convention, we still have a wait for ‘Project Hail Mary’.
Amazon MGM Studios will release the movie in theaters on March 20th, 2026.
Ryan Gosling in ‘Project Hail Mary’. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
Yet following talk back in January that Sony was putting the pieces – including Washington and director Antoine Fuqua – back together for a third ‘Equalizer’ outing, we have confirmation that the plan is for them to return, since the studio handed out a release date.
“They have written the third ‘Equalizer’, so I’m scheduled to do that, Washington told Collider back then. “So I gotta get in shape and start beating people up again. I get to beat people up again. ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ and then going and beating some people up. Can’t get any better, right?”
For those who might have forgotten, the ‘Equalizer’ movies are a reboot of the classic 80s television series of the same name created by Richard Lindheim and Michael Sloan. The series followed Edward Woodward as Robert McCall, a retired intelligence agent who becomes a private detective.
The first film, from 2014, saw Washington starring as McCall alongside Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Melissa Leo, and Bill Pullman as he faced off against the Russian Mafia to protect a young girl. The 2018 sequel has Washington, Leo, and Pullman all returning, joined by Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, and Orson Bean as Washington’s McCall sets out on a mission of revenge when one of his friends is murdered.
Details about the third movie have yet to be revealed, but you can reliably expect that Washington’s Robert McCall will bring his smarts and creative weapons skills to another tough mission battling criminals.
Sony is looking to release the new movie on September 1st, 2023.
This latest outing for Miles Morales and co., which has dropped the “Part One” from its title, will now bow in theaters on June 2, 2023. And the third movie in the series is also on the move: ‘Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Part II’ is due on March 29th, 2024.
That wasn’t the only Spider-news to hit from Sony – the company has also handed out a July 7, 2023 spot to ‘Madame Web’, which stars Dakota Johnson as the title character, a clairvoyant with abilities to see into the spider world. Sydney Sweeney also stars, while S.J. Clarkson will direct a script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.
With ‘Across: The Spider-Verse’ vacating its original October 7 release date this year, that has left room for Sony to put live-action/CGI musical adaptation of children’s book series ‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’ in its place. Shawn Mendes voices the eponymous singing crocodile, while Will Speck and Josh Gordon direct and produce.
(L to R) Sam Richardson, Jamie Demetriou, Ben Schwartz, John Early, Tiffany Haddish, Tiya Sircar, Ilana Glazer, Zoe Chao, and Ike Barinholtz in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
‘The Afterparty’ revolves around a murder that takes place at a high school reunion after party, and each episode is told from a different character’s point of view. Lord and Miller serve as executive producers and both co-wrote several episodes, with Miller also directing the entire series.
Moviefone recently had a chance to speak with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller about their new Apple TV+ series, as well as some of the cast from ‘The Afterparty’ Including Sam Richardson, Ben Schwartz, Zoe Chao, Ike Barinholtz, Dave Franco, and Ilana Glazer.
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Below you can read our full interview with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller about ‘The Afterparty,’ or you can watch the complete set of interviews in the video player above.
Moviefone: Chris, can you begin by talking about the genesis of the idea for the series, and also deciding to have each episode focus on a different character’s point of view?
Christopher Miller: It was a little over a decade ago that I had the idea to tell a murder mystery in a Rashomon style where each suspect would tell their version of the evening and it would be wildly different from the other ones. We were going to make it, we wrote it as a movie, and then we got busy making ‘The Lego Movie’ and ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ and whatnot.
But when we got a breath of air, we revisited it and thought this would work better as a series because in a movie, you didn’t have time to really dig to each character. But as a series, you could give each character their own episode and really understand them as more complex characters. You could really learn to empathize and love each of them, and hope that they didn’t do it. So, as that was evolving, we realized that to push their style of storytelling, stylistically and thematically, we can make each episode feel like a different genre of filmmaking and storytelling.
Then it evolved even farther, and we got an amazing writing staff full of really cool people. With the structure and outline already intact, they were able to turn it into something really special. But it was a really mind exploding process because if you’re working on episode four and you want to change something there, it affects everything in all the other episodes. So, you have to keep the whole thing in your head like this giant machinery of a massive clock in your head. It would really explode people’s heads from time to time.
MF: Phil, was making a murder mystery something you always wanted to do?
Phil Lord: I think Chris and I are fans of ‘Clue,’ ‘The Last of Sheila’ and ‘Murder by Death.’ There’s a long proud history of mixing comedy and murder and we’ve always been interested in what’s a unique way to pull that off. Chris had been developing this as a script for a long time for a feature. When he thought of the idea of breaking it into episodes, and then each of those episodes would have its own filmmaking style and you would get to know each of these characters even more deeply, that’s when it really took off for us and felt like it was going to be worth doing.
MF: Phil, because each episode contains events seen from different characters perspectives, can you talk about how production actually worked?
PL: So, the whole show, more or less, we batch shot it. Meaning that we would shoot a scene in a hallway that was like a fun rom-com and then, “Okay everyone, let’s go to lunch, we’ll come back and now it’s a dark thriller.” That’s part of the fun of it, honestly, but the poor actors did need a second to switch modes.
MF: Chris, can you talk about the impressive cast of actors you assembled and the challenges for them with the different tones in each episode?
CM: We got so lucky to get like a real murderer’s row, pun intended, of comedy geniuses. What was especially great about all of them is that so many of them are writers, filmmakers or show creators in their own rights. So, they really were smart about also holding this whole show in their heads, because asking an actor to be able to just do a character is one thing, but to do a character with eight different shadings of that character is a really big ask. It has to be people who are really smart and savvy, and luckily, they all were amazing, and they added so much to it. We all had a great time together and it was a real love fest. You could really feel the chemistry and joy on the screen.
(L to R) Ben Schwartz and Sam Richardson in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
The eight-part series revolves around a murder that takes place at a high school reunion after party, and each episode is told from a different character’s perspective. The result is an innovative and hilarious whodunit with a charming cast led by Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson and Ben Schwartz.
The series begins by introducing us to Aniq (Richardson), who is reluctantly attending his high school reunion in hopes of seeing the girl he had a crush on, Zoe (Chao). He first finds his friend Yasper (Schwartz), before eventually reuniting with Zoe. He is delighted to find that she is recently separated from Brett (Barinholtz), who Aniq thinks took her from him when they were in high school. But Aniq’s good time with Zoe is interrupted by the arrival of Xavier (Franco), who was a nerd in high school but is now a famous pop star and actor.
Trouble begins when Xavier invites everyone over to his mansion for an after party, and he is soon murdered by one of his guests. Enter Detective Danner (Haddish), who suspects Aniq of the murder and questions him about the events of the night. Soon, everyone becomes a suspect and while Danner investigates and questions the other guests, Yasper tries to help Aniq clear his name.
Sam Richardson in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
After seeing their previous work, including the Oscar winning animated movie ‘Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse,’ it’s no surprise that a new streaming series from Phil Lord and Christopher Miller would be fresh, funny, and completely unique.
A high school reunion is a perfect backdrop for a comedic mystery and the characters are both over-the-top yet very relatable. The choice to center each episode on a particular character’s point of view of the evening’s events was brilliant, as it allows each character to come alive in a different way, and lets the actors play different versions of their characters.
The ensemble cast is excellent, led by Tiffany Haddish as the outsider investigating the murder, Detective Danner. Haddish brings her own brand of humor to the series, while never overshadowing the plot or the other actors. She is especially excellent in the penultimate episode, where her character’s backstory is finally revealed.
Sam Richardson is really the anchor of the series, as Aniq is the main character that we are rooting for to not only clear his name but win back Zoe’s heart as well. Richardson plays the role a bit nerdish, which is where the real comedy comes in. Equally great is Ben Schwartz as Aniq’s friend Yasper, who gets to perform a full-on musical during his character specific episode.
Tiffany Haddish in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
Dave Franco is also hilarious as pop star Xavier, who ends up being the murder victim. The actor plays his character like an arrogant, insecure jerk, who you sympathize with once his backstory is revealed. Franco does some of his best work channeling a Justin Bieber/Machine Gun Kelly type character. Another funny character is Jamie Demetriou’s Walt, who is the guy from high school that no one remembers, which leads to some hilarious moments.
Comedian Ike Barinholtz was perfectly cast as Brett, the high school bully who rivals Aniq for Zoe’s affection. The actor plays the role of a real jerk, but also shows us a bit of his character’s vulnerable side throughout the first season. Ilana Glazer, best known for her Comedy Central series ‘Broad City,’ has some great moments playing the pivotal role of Chelsea, a character that has more going on under the surface than it first appears.
However, if there is a weak link in the cast, unfortunately its Zoe Chao, who plays Zoe. Her character never really rises to the level that you understand why Aniq, and Brett for that matter, care for her so much. Her character’s point-of-view episode helps to explain her different personalities with some really entertaining animation, but it doesn’t come until the sixth episode, which is a little late in the season to finally make the character interesting.
One of the great aspects of ‘The Afterparty,’ which is baked into the Rashomon concept, is that nothing is as it seems. So, truly any character, even Aniq or Detective Danner, could be the murderer! My money is on Yasper, who just seems a little too nice, and a little too eager to help Aniq clear his name. But I also think it’s possible that Xavier is not dead, which could be the season’s big twist.
Dave Franco in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
Full disclosure, critics were only given the first seven episodes to screen, so your guess is as good as mine as to who the true killer is.
In the end, ‘The Afterparty’ is a true joy to watch, and a murder-mystery-comedy on level with classics from the genre like ‘Clue.’ Lord and Miller have assembled a marvelous cast, which is truly a pleasure to watch. The characters are both ridiculous and relatable, and the show’s unique concept makes it a series that you won’t want to miss.
‘The Afterparty’ receives 4 out of 5 stars.
(L to R) Sam Richardson, Jamie Demetriou, Ben Schwartz, John Early, Tiffany Haddish, Tiya Sircar, Ilana Glazer, Zoe Chao, and Ike Barinholtz in ‘The Afterparty’ on Apple TV+
