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New Trailer for ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’

Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) in DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,’ directed by Joel Crawford.

Our first look at the latest ‘Shrek’ fantasy universe spin-off – a new adventure for swashbuckling feline hero Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) – arrived via the first trailer back in March.

Now here’s the second trailer, which fills in a few more details.

The story of ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ is a relatively simple one: Puss, the crusading, heroic, flamboyant hero/musician is still happy to pull off daring feats and strum a few catchy tunes. But all his adventuring has started to catch up with him. After an unfortunate run-in with a falling bell during his latest gig – in both senses of the word, since he was playing music and battling a giant – leads to him losing his eighth life, he begins to realize that he only has one left.

Yet while on-again-off-again girlfriend Kitty Soft Paws (Salma Hayek) tries to convince him – using all her cute-face superpowers that outrank his own – that having one life to live makes it even more special, Puss is not ready to admit defeat, and he heads out to find a way to get more life before death.

In their quest, Puss and Kitty will be aided — against their better judgment — by a ratty, chatty, relentlessly cheerful mutt, Perro (Harvey Guillén). Together, our trio of heroes will have to stay one step ahead of Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears Crime Family (Ray Winstone’s gravelly tones are behind Papa Bear), “Big” Jack Horner (John Mulaney) and terrifying bounty hunter, The Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura).

The cast also includes Samson Kayo, Anthony Mendez, and Olivia Colman.
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In this latest trailer, we also see where Puss is advised to head when he first learns of his conundrum – a quieter, “safer” life with Mama Luna (voiced by Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who has quite the collection of felines already (none of which are particularly happy to see the new arrival).

An existence of filthy litter boxes, knitted booties, and a new name (Pickles) would seem to beckon, but while Pus tries to make the best of it, his past catches up with him.

Mama Luna’s is also where he meets Perro, who, it turns out is a therapy dog. Oh, and unless we’re mistaken, that’s former DreamWorks staff member (and ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ co-director) Bob Persichetti popping up as the “Ohhh Cat” among Mama Luna’s feline charges.

The animation style appears to be slightly shifted away from the original movie’s look – there’s a more painterly feel to it, more along the lines of DreamWorks’ recent ‘The Bad Guys’.

Joel Crawford, who directed ‘The Croods 2: A New Age’ is behind the new ‘toon, working alongside Januel Mercado, who also worked on the prehistoric sequel, with a script from Paul Fisher.

And the movie also marks a small point of DreamWorks history – it’s the first sequel derived from a spin-off movie.

‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ will be in theaters on September 23.

Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) in DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,’ directed by Joel Crawford.

‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ will be in theaters on September 23.
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June 15, 2022
First Look at New Marvel/Disney+ Series ‘Echo’

Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez in Disney+’s ‘Echo.’

There were many things to enjoy about the Marvel/Disney+ series ‘Hawkeye’, which let us catch up with Jeremy Renner’s agent and archer Clint Barton as he wrangled with his Ronin activities in the time between ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’.

You had the sparky interplay between Renner and co-star Hailee Steinfeld, playing Kate Bishop, a talented arrow-slinger in her own right. The many entertaining arrows that were slung, including one that shrank enemies down to minute size. The snarkiness of Florence Pugh’s Yelena. The hulking return of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin. And of course, Pizza Dog!

Amongst it all was the arrival of a new talent, as deaf actress Alaqua Cox played Maya Lopez, the deaf, Native American head of a gangland group that caused no end of trouble for Clint and Kate.

A spin-off starring Cox as Lopez had already been announced, but it’s now shooting in Atlanta, and the first image has arrived online. This being Marvel and Disney, it doesn’t give anything away, simply showing Maya in a moment of repose in an industrial setting.

What do we officially know so far? This new series will serve as an origin story for Maya, whose ruthless behavior in New York City catches up with her in her hometown. She must face her past, reconnect with her Native American roots, and embrace the meaning of family and community if she ever hopes to move forward.

Maya’s story was certainly a fascinating one on ‘Hawkeye’, riddled with tragedy in the death of her family and watching a young, ambitious woman wrangle with her Native roots and her family’s criminal ties. The show perhaps didn’t have enough running time to give her all the space she needed, so it’s good to see that she’ll have an entire series to explore her complicated past.

Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk on Netflix’s ‘Daredevil.’

When we last saw Maya, she was confronting Fisk on a New York side street – the scene ends with a gunshot and plenty of ambiguity, leaving us to wonder exactly what happened there. The new series’ origin story nature leads us to think that we might not get many answers, but hopefully it’ll address it somehow.

Cox is joined in the show by Zahn McClarnon, who returns to play her father William. Also in the cast for this one is ‘Wild Indian’s Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, who will be seen in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ Devery Jacobs from ‘Reservation Dogs’, Cody Lightning of ‘Run Woman Run’, and Graham Greene, who really needs little introduction given his long history in movies.

Marion Dayre will be head writer on this series, while Sydney Freeland and Catriona McKenzie will split directing duties between them.

‘Echo’ has yet to confirm a launch date on Disney+ – hardly a big surprise, since the cameras have literally just started rolling – but it should be on screens next year.

Marvel Studios and Disney+’s ‘Echo.’

May 18, 2022
Christopher Walken Joins ‘Dune: Part Two’

Christopher Walken at Tribeca Film Festival.

Though it had to deal with arriving on HBO Max the same day as theaters, Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ still managed to become a big success, earning $41 million on its opening weekend ahead of taking in more than $400 million at the worldwide box office.

And since the first movie only told half of the story from Frank Herbert’s book, there was widespread relief when ‘Part Two’ was quickly announced. Casting is underway for the new movie, with the latest news that Christopher Walken will be playing Emperor Shaddam IV.

In the book, Shaddam is the Padishah Emperor of the Corrino Empire, which for those unfamiliar with Herbert’s weighty tomes, essentially means he rules the known universe.

He’s never glimpsed in the first movie, instead sending messengers to carry out his bidding. But it’s Shaddam who, concerned that House Atreides (led by Oscar Isaac’s Duke Leto) is becoming too powerful, hatches a plan to have the family take over stewardship of the planet Arrakis (AKA Dune).

That, in turn is a crafty scheme to betray them, the Emperor conspiring with the cruel House Harkonnen to launch an assault on the Atreides shortly after they arrive on the unforgiving desert planet. The result leaves Leto and many of his family and forces dead, and son/heir/prophesised mystical saviour Paul (Timothée Chalamet) fleeing into the harsh sands of Dune.

Timothée Chalamet in 2021’s ‘Dune.’

‘Dune: Part Two’ continues the story of Paul and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) as they regroup and earn the trust of the native Fremen (including leader Stilgar, played by Javier Bardem) and warrior Chani (Zendaya). They’ll survive while plotting a reprisal, as Paul becomes a spiritual and military leader among the Fremen.

Walken’s casting is certainly interesting – he’s known for his distinct delivery, and certainly has the air of someone who could lead a massive Empire while also coming across as mysterious.

He’s one of the key components for the new movie, which has already added Florence Pugh, playing the Emperor’s daughter, Princess Irulan and ‘Elvis’ star Austin Butler, who will take the role of Feyd-Rautha, the cunning nephew of the pitiless baron who heads House Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), and who is being groomed to rule Arrakis.

Returning cast for ‘Part Two’ – which Villeneuve again co-wrote alongside Jon Spaihts – also includes Josh Brolin as loyal Atreides military man Gurney Halleck, who survives the attack.

Villeneuve’s movie racked up 10 Oscar nominations this year, and won six of them, including Editing, Cinematography, Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. While there was surprise that the director didn’t feature in his own category, there’s already chatter that if ‘Part Two’ turns out as well as the first, it’ll be a major player come awards season 2024.

‘Dune: Part Two’ will start filming this summer in Budapest, and is currently aiming for an October 20th, 2023 release date.
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May 12, 2022
Florence Pugh and Harry Styles Star in the ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ Trailer

(L-r) Harry Styles as Jack and Florence Pugh as Alice in New Line Cinema’s ‘Don’t Worry Darling,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Copyright: © 2022 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

There’s a grand tradition of movies set in the 1950s and 60s that use seemingly perfect suburbia as a hotbed of paranoia and suspicion. Olivia Wilde is adding to it with her new film, ‘Don’t Worry Darling’.

Having launched her directorial career successfully with charming, witty comedy ‘Booksmart’, Wilde has a boosted budget and a starry cast for this new movie, which looks sumptuous and sexy, and promises the sorts of paranoid thrills that can bubble under a manufactured community such as the towns that popped up in remote desert locations near government or military facilities.

The story for the new movie finds Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles), who consider themselves lucky to be living in the idealized community of Victory, the experimental company town housing the men who work for the top-secret Victory Project and their families. The 1950’s societal optimism espoused by their CEO, Frank (Chris Pine) — equal parts corporate visionary and motivational life coach — anchors every aspect of daily life in the tight-knit desert utopia.

While the husbands spend every day inside the Victory Project Headquarters, working on the “development of progressive materials,” their wives — including Frank’s elegant partner, Shelley (Gemma Chan) — get to spend their time enjoying the beauty, luxury, and debauchery of their community. Life is perfect, with every resident’s needs met by the company. All they ask in return is discretion and unquestioning commitment to the Victory cause.

But when cracks in their idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something much more sinister lurking beneath the attractive façade, Alice can’t help questioning exactly what they’re doing in Victory, and why. Just how much is she willing to lose to expose what’s really going on in this paradise?
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Wilde, who wowed the crowd at CinemaCon last week with the footage, has corralled quite the supporting cast for this one. In addition to taking a role herself (she plays Mary, one of the wives who seeks to keeps the others from looking to deeply into their situation), she has Nick Kroll, Douglas Smith, Timothy Simons and KiKi Layne on the roster.

And the trailer also promises a whole lot of sexy chemistry between Pugh and Styles, who certainly appear to be happily married characters — at least, before Pugh’s Alice starts to wonder what lurks beyond at her husband’s job and soon discovers that the people behind it don’t want anyone digging into their secrets.

Working with cinematographer Matthew Libatique (a regular collaborator with Darren Aronofsky), and ‘Booksmart’ production designer Katie Byron, Wilde, who has a script from Katie Silberman, Carey Van Dyke, and Shane Van Dyke, certainly appears to have created something exciting, dramatic, and stylish. We’re getting similar vibes to ‘The Stepford Wives’ and TV’s ‘The Prisoner’.

‘Don’t Worry Darling’ will be in theaters on September 22nd this year.
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May 2, 2022
First Trailer and Poster for ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’

DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ Poster.

As you will have read yesterday, the sequel to 2011’s ‘Puss in Boots’ is on its way after some development hairballs. Yesterday’s news was of casting – the likes of Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman and ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Harvey Guillén joined the movie, and now we can hear at least a few of the new recruits in the first trailer.

The story of ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ is a relatively simple one: Puss (voiced as usual by Antonio Banderas) is a crusading, heroic, flamboyant hero/musician, happy to pull off daring feats and strum a few catchy tunes. But all his adventuring has started to catch up with him. After an unfortunate run-in with a falling bell during his latest gig – in both senses of the word, since he was playing music and battling a giant – leads to him losing his eighth life, he begins to realize that he only has one left.

A funny montage explains how he shed the others – lethal encounters include angry dogs playing (and losing) at poker, being trampled to death by bulls, being shot from a cannon, a sumo wrestling match and an apparent serious shellfish allergy. And he hasn’t really noticed the chances ticking away, because, as he admits, he’s not “a math guy.”

Yet while girlfriend Kitty Soft Paws (Salma Hayek) tries to convince him – using all her cute-face superpowers that outrank his own – that having one life to live makes it even more special, Puss is not ready to admit defeat, and he heads out to find a way to get more life before death.

In their quest, Puss and Kitty will be aided — against their better judgment — by a ratty, chatty, relentlessly cheerful mutt, Perro (Guillén). Together, our trio of heroes will have to stay one step ahead of Goldilocks (Pugh) and the Three Bears Crime Family, “Big” Jack Horner (John Mulaney) and terrifying bounty hunter, The Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura).
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‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ features a comedic cast that includes Colman, Ray Winstone (something of a ‘Black Widow’ reunion for him and Pugh, then), Samson Kayo from ‘Our Flag Means Death’, ‘Jane the Virgin’s Anthony Mendez and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, a DreamWorks Animation veteran following ‘Trolls World Tour’.

Puss is, of course, himself a veteran of several ‘Shrek’ movies, his own first film and several videos and TV series. Is it any wonder he’s burned through so many lives?

‘The Last Wish’ is similarly living a second chance – following a tricky filmmaking process that saw the movie cancelled once, punted around the DreamWorks release schedule and with more than one director listed as aboard then vanishing like someone cursed by a witch. The movie’s now in the home stretch and headed to screens.

This current version comes courtesy of ‘The Croods: A New Age’ director Joel Crawford and producer by Mark Swift, with the movie now set for release on September 23.

DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ Poster.
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March 16, 2022
Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman and Harvey Guillén join ‘Puss in Boots’ Sequel

(L to R) Kitty Soft Paws (Salma Hayek), Perro (Harvey Guillén), Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) in DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Puss In Boots: The Last Wish’.

We’ve known for a while that Antonio Banderas will be bringing his vocal stylings once more to the charismatic, sword-swinging feline for DreamWorks Animation sequel ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’. News arrives today that Salma Hayek will be back as Kitty Softpaws, while a host of new casting has also been announced.

Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Harvey Guillén, Wagner Moura, Ray Winstone, John Mulaney, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Anthony Mendez and Samson Kayo are all now part of the team for this next outing, according to Deadline.

The story for the new movie is set two months after the events of the first film, when Puss discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll: He has burned through eight of his nine lives, leaving him with only one left. He sets out on an epic journey to find the mystical Last Wish and restore his nine lives.

So far, the only person with a named character on that list of new voices is ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Guillén, who is playing Perro, a scruffy dog that is friends with our heroes. And Hayek’s Softpaws, of course, will be back as Puss’ great love, albeit one who keeps him on his toes. Well.. toe beans?

Puss as a character was introduced back in 2004’s ‘Shrek 2’, where he quickly became an audience favorite. His eponymous spin-off movie, however, didn’t appear until 2011 and the road to a sequel has taken even longer.

Antonio Banderas in DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Puss In Boots.’

Chatter about a potential follow-up first started in 2012, when Guillermo del Toro (who was consulting as a producer for the DreamWorks team) announced that one was in the early stages. Banderas followed that up in 2014, saying in April of that year that work had already begun.

DreamWorks went on to announce the title – ‘Puss in Boots: Nine Lives and Forty Thieves’ in June 2014, setting a November 2018 release date. A mere two months later, the warning signs began as it was delayed to December 2018.

Fast-forward to January 2015, and the sequel was yanked from the schedules amidst corporate and creative restructuring before Banderas was back in March talking about script re-writes.

Finally, in 2021, the movie re-emerged properly with its new title and a release date set for this year. There had been talk during its earlier development that Mike Myers might show up as Shrek, whose own franchise is still somewhat up in the air. Despite plenty of stories about a potential fifth film, and possibly a reboot, nothing concrete has emerged yet.

Joel Crawford, who directed ‘The Croods 2: A New Age’ will direct this one, alongside Januel Mercado, who also worked on the prehistoric sequel. And the movie also makes a small point of DreamWorks history – it’s the first sequel derived from a spin-off movie.

‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ will be in theaters on September 23.
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March 14, 2022
Austin Butler in Talks for ‘Dune’ Sequel

Austin Butler in ‘The Shannara Chronicles.’

With production penciled in for later this year, it’s clear that ‘Dune’ director Denis Villeneuve is busy building the additional cast he needs for ‘Part Two’.

On Tuesday, we learned that ‘Black Widow’s Florence Pugh had entered talks to play Princess Irulan, daughter of the ‘Dune’ universe’s emperor. Today brings word that Austin Butler is in negotiation to be Feyd-Rautha.

If the character’s name has you scratching your head, especially since he didn’t appear in the first ‘Dune’ movie, fear not.

Created by author Frank Herbert for the original ‘Dune’ novel, Feyd-Rautha is the younger nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen of House Harkonnen (played in the first movie by Stellan Skarsgard). He’s nominated by the Baron as the “Na-Baron” – heir to House Harkonnen.

The Baron favors the young Feyd-Rautha over Feyd’s older brother “The Beast” Glossu Rabban (Dave Bautista in the movie). Feyd is both intelligent and charismatic and is dedicated to the Harkonnen culture of sadism and cruelty, though potentially only due to his upbringing.

Though Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts had considered including the character in the first movie, they’ve deemed it more useful to shift him to the second, since he’ll be a big part of causing more trouble for Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet, who will return for the new movie).

Sting in ‘Dune’ (1984)

Like Paul, Feyd was also part of the complex, politically savvy genetic breeding program run by the mysterious Bene Gesserit order of powerful women.
We’re sure the Beast won’t be too happy with the younger whippersnapper coming in.

And if you are aware of him, it’s likely you’re either a big fan of the book, or you recall Sting’s leather/rubber getup from when he played the part in David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation.

We can’t speak to whether there will be more oiled up action going on here, but Villeneuve’s take on the Harkonnen hasn’t shied away from either rubber costumes or characters submerged in liquid. So, you never know!

‘Dune: Part Two’ continues the story of Paul and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) as they regroup from the devastating attack on the Atreides base on Arrakis (the planet also known as Dune) by Harkonnen and Imperial forces.

Fleeing into the harsh Arrakis desert along with the native Fremen (including leader Stilgar, played by Javier Bardem) and warrior Chani (Zendaya), they’ll survive while plotting a reprisal, as Paul becomes a spiritual and military leader among the Fremen.

Skarsgard and Josh Brolin (as Atreides weapons master Gurney Halleck) are both expected to return alongside their fellow first movie cast mates.

Austin Butler as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis.’ Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros.

This would mark the latest big role for Butler, who had been acting for a few years before broke out in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’. He’s since scored the prime lead part of Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’, which will cover large chunks of the musical icons career, the political figure with which he came into contact and his complicated relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).

‘Elvis’ will be in theaters on June 24. ‘Dune: Part Two’ is currently set for release on October 20 next year.
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March 10, 2022
Florence Pugh in Talks for ‘Dune: Part Two’

Florence Pugh in Disney’s ‘Black Widow.’

The first part, last year’s ‘Dune’, is already the owner of a hefty haul of awards and with the likelihood of more trophies in its future. But its creators are more focused on the follow-up, ‘Dune: Part Two’, with casting under way. And if everything falls into place, Florence Pugh may end up snagging one of them.

The actress, who is best known for movies including Marvel superhero outing ‘Black Widow’ and creepy horror ‘Midsommar’ is, according to The Hollywood Reporter, in talks to play Princess Irulan, the daughter of Emperor Shaddam IV.

Irulan in the books is a complicated woman – beyond her royal heritage, she’s also a member of the mysterious, mystical Bene Gesserit (the order of powerful women who essentially dictate bloodlines and wield great political power in the ‘Dune’ universe). At one point in Frank Herbert’s series of novels, Irulan is considered as consort for the ruthless Feyd-Rautha of House Harkonnen but ends up getting closer to Paul Atreides (the character played by Timothée Chalamet in the first movie, who returns here).

‘Dune: Part Two’, which aims to adapt the second half of Herbert’s novel picks up the story after Paul and his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) flee into the desert following the devastating attack on the Atreides base by Harkonnen and Imperial forces.

Paul is destined to rise as a spiritual and military leader of the native Fremen and lead an attack against the Harkonnen and the scheming Emperor. Along with Irulan, co-writer/director Denis Villeneuve is looking to fill the roles of Feyd-Rautha (so memorably played by Sting in David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of ‘Dune’) and the Emperor, who was mentioned in the first film but not seen.

Sting in ‘Dune’ (1984)

Yet Pugh’s casting is not a done deal as of now: she’s reportedly waiting to see the script before committing to the role. Which is understandable for a movie of this size but given that Villeneuve and co-writer Jon Spaihts are both back for the new film and are up for an Academy Award for their writing, we’re confident that the result will be solid.

Another consideration is the age-old problem of scheduling since Pugh is an in-demand actor and is under consideration for a new biopic of Madonna. Either way, it looks like she’d have to clear some space in her diary this summer for the ‘Dune’ shoot, assuming she takes the role.

The official cast for ‘Dune: Part Two’ has not yet been confirmed, though we can expect Chalamet and Ferguson to return alongside Zendaya (as Fremen warrior Chani, who is Paul’s future soulmate) Javier Bardem (as Fremen leader Stilgar), Dave Bautista (playing Glossu Rabban, nephew of Stellan Skarsgard’s Baron Harkonnen) and Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, assuming he survived the assault on the Atreides base from the first movie.

‘Dune: Part Two’ is scheduled for release in theaters on October 20 next year.
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March 8, 2022
Kenneth Branagh Added to Oppenheimer

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in ‘Oppenheimer’ written and directed by Christopher Nolan.

At this point, if you wrote up a list of people who aren’t in the cast for Christopher Nolan’s new film ‘Oppenheimer’, that inventory would be shorter than rounding up who is in it. And, even with cameras now rolling on the atomic bomb drama, Nolan isn’t finished adding people, with Kenneth Branagh, Alden Ehrenreich, David Krumholtz and Michael Angarano.

On the heels of the latest casting news comes a first look at the movie – or at least the man playing the title character – Cillian Murphy is seen here sporting a hat and cigarette as Robert Oppenheimer, one of the scientists behind the bomb.

Nolan here is adapting the Pulitzer Prize-winning book ‘American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer’ by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. It chronicles how he was part of the infamous Manhattan Project and played a key role in the creation of atomic weapons, yet later came to have complicated feelings about their deadly power. He lobbied for international control of nuclear power and opposed the creation of the even more destructive hydrogen bomb.

Emily Blunt is playing his wife, biologist, and botanist Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer, with Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves Jr., director of the Manhattan Project and Robert Downey, Jr. as Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Florence Pugh will portray psychiatrist Jean Tatlock, who turns out to have a hidden agenda, while Benny Safdie plays theoretical physicist Edward Teller. Michael Angarano is physicist Robert Serber and Josh Hartnett plays pioneering American nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence.

Also among the cast? Rami Malek, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Dylan Arnold,
Olli Haaskivi and Matthew Modine, but their characters have yet to be announced.

Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in ‘Death on the Nile.’ Photo Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

We also don’t know who Branagh will be playing, but this marks his third time working with the director, after ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Tenet’. Still, the award for Most Frequent Collaborator surely goes to Murphy, who appears in ‘Batman Begins’, ‘The Dark Knight’, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, ‘Inception’ and ‘Dunkirk’.

‘Oppenheimer’ sees Nolan tackling a historical subject again, and one that surely offers the opportunity for plenty of his terse dialogue and large-canvas visions. It won’t surprise you to learn that it’ll be shot and released on 65mm IMAX and large-format film. Providing the beautiful footage is another repeat Nolan colleague, director of photography Hoyte Van Hoytema, while composer Ludwig Göransson returns after scoring ‘Tenet’. A pulse-pounding thriller with high stakes certainly feels like it could work well for Nolan.

For the first time in several movies, this won’t be released by Warner Bros. Following the less-than gigantic (partly because of its slot during the pandemic) box office for ‘Tenet’, Nolan and producing partner Emma Thomas opened this one up to rival studios, with Universal winning the rights to distribute, handing down a July 21, 2023 theatrical release date.
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February 22, 2022
Marvel, Star Wars, & Pixar Updates from the Disney+ Day Announcements

On Friday, November 12th, Disney+ celebrated its second anniversary with Disney+ Day, where they announced literally dozens of upcoming series from Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar and more. The presentations, which include some new clips, first looks, and upcoming announcements, can currently be viewed on Disney+, but Moviefone is here to break it all down for you.

MARVEL

The Marvel video presentation, which is now available on Disney+, begins with recaps of all the 2021 Marvel series that have been released so far including ‘WandaVision,’ ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,’ ‘Loki,’ and ‘What If…?’ Then we get an extended trailer for ‘Hawkeye,’ which drops on November 24th. We also got to see a full scene from the show, which involves Jeremey Renner’s Hawkeye and Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop stealing a car and then getting into a chase while Hawkeye teaches Kate how to use his trick arrows. The sequence is one continuous shot, ending with the two heroes swinging off of a bridge on to a moving train.

The official synopsis for the series confirms that it is set in a post-blip New York City and follows Clint Barton on a seemingly simple mission to get back to his family for Christmas. But when a threat from his past shows up, Hawkeye reluctantly teams up with 22-year-old skilled archer Kate Bishop to unravel a criminal conspiracy. In addition to Renner and Stanfield, the series also features Vera Farmiga (‘The Departed’), Brian d’Arcy James (‘Spotlight’) and Florence Pugh reprising her ‘Black Widow’ role as Yelena Belova.

The video presentation also includes fans first look at Oscar Isaac in ‘Moon Knight.’ The series will follow the story of this complex vigilante who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. The multiple identities that live inside him find themselves thrusted into a deadly war of the Gods against the backdrop of modern and ancient Egypt. The clips basically show Isaac’s Marc Spencer being tortured by his dreams, with the character’s voice-over explaining that to the audience. We only get very quick glimpses of Isaac in the Moon Knight outfit, but the presentation ends with him in full costume jumping off of rooftops with the Moon lit full behind him. Actor Ethan Hawke is also set to appear as the show’s big bad.

We also got new footage from the upcoming series, ‘She-Hulk.’ The teaser is narrated by Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk, as she explains that she is a lawyer but also, something else. There is a quick body shot of Jennifer fully-green with her comic book accurate costume, although it cuts away before we see She-Hulk’s face. We also get two glimpses of Mark Ruffalo, who returns as Jennifer’s cousin, Bruce Banner/Hulk.

The first scene shows Bruce experimenting on Jennifer when she is just a child, presumably in a flashback, but what is interesting is that he is Smart Hulk in this scene. Since ‘Shang-Chi’ gave us an end-credit scene that revealed that at some point after the events of ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ Smart Hulk reverted back to Bruce, it makes you wonder if this scene takes place between ‘Endgame’ and ‘Shang-Chi.’ If that is the case, and Jennifer was a child during that time period, it makes you wonder if the bulk of the series itself will make a time jump and take place decades after ‘Endgame’? We also get a clip that looks more like a commercial, with Jennifer and Bruce dressed in retro clothes and Jennifer saying, “”Don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry,” which is clearly a nod to the 1970’s series, The Incredible Hulk.

The last series to get new footage in the video presentation was ‘Ms. Marvel,’ which stars Iman Vellani as 16-year-old Kamala Khan. A Pakistani American and a fan-girl of the Avengers, Kamala is overjoyed when she discovers she has superpowers, and now must use them to find her place in the world. The footage shows her revealing her iconic mask for the first time and ends with Kamala standing on a New Jersey rooftop wearing a Captain Marvel Halloween Costume and preparing to use her powers to fly for the first time. Vellani is set to reprise her role, along with Teyonah Parris from ‘WandaVision’ and Brie Larson, in the upcoming feature film, ‘The Marvels.’

But that’s not it! Marvel also announced a slew of new upcoming shows, some of which had been rumored, and also confirmed that ‘Loki’ and ‘What If…?’ will be getting second seasons. In fact, ‘What If…?’ will also be getting a spinoff with the new animated series ‘Marvel Zombies,’ which imagines a world where Marvel’s heroes have been turned into the undead. Staying with animation, Disney+ also announced a sequel to the classic 90’s animated X-Men series entitled ‘X-Men ’97,’ as well as ‘Spider-Man: Freshman Year,’ which will look at Peter Parker’s first year in high school, and ‘I Am Groot,’ a series of original shorts starring everyone’s favorite sentient tree.

On the live-action side, ‘Secret Invasion’ was confirmed, which is based on the popular Marvel Comics series. The show will bring Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos back together to fight a faction of shape-shifting Skrulls who have been infiltrating Earth for years. Also confirmed were ‘Echo,’ which will star Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, who will be introduced in ‘Hawkeye,’ and James Gunn will write and direct ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.’

Marvel also announced two new series based on the Iron Man franchise. First is ‘Armor Wars,’ which will star Don Cheadle reprising his role as War Machine. The second is ‘Ironheart,’ a series that will star Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a genius inventor who creates the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. Finally, Marvel confirmed the recent rumor that Kathryn Hahn will reprise her ‘WandaVision’ role as Agatha Harkness in her own series, which will be called ‘Agatha: House of Harkness.’

LUCASFILM

While there was no new footage included, fans got their first look at the making of the upcoming Star Wars series, ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi.’ The video is narrated by director Debbie Chow and actor Ewan McGregor and explains what fans can expect from the new series. “For this character to come back, the fans have been waiting long enough,” said McGregor. Chow explained that this is a “dark time,” for Kenobi and that it is “not safe” for him with “Jedi hunters” on the rise. McGregor said that his character has one task, which is “to keep Luke safe,” but Chow explained how that is just a starting point for the series.

“The most beautiful thing of all is that it has brought me back together with Hayden,” McGregor said about the return of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. “We couldn’t tell the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi without addressing Anakin or Darth Vader,” added Chow. We are then given some behind the scenes shots of McGregor at rehearsal practicing his lightsaber skills. “To have another swing at each other, might be quite satisfying for everybody,” the actor teased in closing.

Disney+ also released a Boba Fett documentary called ‘Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett.’ It is mostly a “history of the character” video and does not include any new footage from the upcoming series ‘The Book of Boba Fett,’ which premieres on December 29th.

Finally, the presentation included a video from the set of the new series ‘Willow,’ which is based on the 1988 Ron Howard-directed and George Lucas-produced movie. The film’s star, Warwick Davis returns as the title character, and introduced the cast that includes Ruby Cruz (‘Mare of Easttown’), Erin Kellyman (‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier’), and Tony Revolori (‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’). The video was done “tongue in cheek” with Davis playing a version of his arrogant ‘Life’s Too Short’ character and getting upset when the younger cast can’t remember the original film and begin to question why anyone would want a sequel series!

PIXAR

Unfortunately, Pixar did not have a lot to announce outside of a Cars-based animated series called ‘Cars on the Road,’ which will feature Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy reprising their roles as Lightning McQueen and Mater, respectively. Other announcements from the animation company included behind the scenes documentaries for the upcoming feature films ‘Turning Red’ and ‘Lightyear,’ as well as a new series called ‘Win or Lose,’ which is an animated show that will highlight the perspectives of different characters as a middle school coed softball team prepares for their championship game.

DISNEY STUDIOS AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

On the Disney Studios side, a remake of ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ was announced, which will star Gabrielle Union (‘Bad Boys II’) and Zach Braff (‘Oz the Great and Powerful’) and is set to premiere in March 2022. ‘Enchanted’ fans will be happy to learn that the long-awaited sequel, ‘Disenchanted’ will hit the streaming network in the fall of 2022 and once again star Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey. It was also announced that comedians John Mulaney and Andy Samberg will star in the new live-action/CG animation film entitled ‘Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers,’ which is based on Disney’s popular chipmunk characters and will premiere in the spring of 2022.

Director Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Pinocchio,’ based on the Disney animated classic, will bow in the fall of 2022 as well, and stars Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo, and Luke Evans, with the voices of Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key and Lorraine Bracco. Also premiering in the fall of 2022, just in time for Halloween, is ‘Hocus Pocus 2,’ which is a sequel to the cult classic 1990’s movie. Returning stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy are all set to reprise their roles as the Sanderson sisters in the new sequel. A new clip from Peter Jackson’s upcoming documentary, ‘The Beatles: Get Back’ was also released featuring the legendary band performing “I Got a Feeling” in rare behind the scenes footage. The three-part documentary launches on Disney+ November 25th.

Disney also announced a new series based on the beloved best-selling novels ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles,’ as well as animated spinoff series from some of their most popular films, including Baymax from ‘Big Hero Six,’ Tiana from ‘The Princess and the Frog,’ and’ Zootopia+,’ which opens up the world of ‘Zootopia.’ They also announced ‘The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild,’ which will star Simon Pegg as his ‘Ice Age: Collision Course’ character.

Finally, National Geographic announced a new six-part series for 2022 called ‘Limitless’ with Chris Hemsworth. The series will follow the ‘Thor’ actor as he helps viewers discover the full potential of the human body. Nat Geo also announced a series called ‘Welcome to Earth,’ which is set to premiere on Disney+ next month. The series will be hosted by Will Smith as he encounters Earth’s greatest wonders.

November 14, 2021