Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie Valens in ‘La Bamba’. Photo: Columbia Pictures.
Preview:
Sony wants to remake ‘La Bamba’.
The original movie was released in 1987.
‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ writer José Rivera will work on the new script.
Though it might better be remembered for its soundtrack and iconic title track, 1987’s biopic of Mexican-American rocker Ritchie Valens, ‘La Bamba’, was successful enough to score a Golden Globe nomination, a Best Song of the Year Grammy nomination and entry into the National Film Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress for movies with cultural or aesthetic significance in 2017.
Now Sony, along with production company Mucho Mas Media, is looking to craft a remake, and is putting the pieces together, starting with a writer.
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What was the story of ‘La Bamba’?
Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie Valens in ‘La Bamba’. Photo: Columbia Pictures.
Lou Diamond Phillips played Valens in the original Columbia Pictures movie, which follows the 17-year-old Mexican-American’s rise to fame, from field laborer to rock star with a string of hit singles and a date with destiny.
Fueled by Valens’ hit songs performed by the Grammy-winning group Los Lobos as well as classic ’50s tunes, ‘La Bamba’ recreates the early days of rock and pays homage to the enduring legacy of a remarkable talent whose music crossed all borders.
Valens is considered an icon of rock and roll, known worldwide for his hit songs “Donna,” “We Belong Together” and the eponymous “La Bamba.” His meteoric ascent was cut short when he died at age 17 in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper, in what was dubbed “The Day the Music Died.”
Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie Valens in ‘La Bamba’. Photo: Columbia Pictures.
While no cast or a director is attached at this point, it does already have Luis Valdez, the writer and director of the original film, on board as an executive producer. And crafting the script for the new movie is José Rivera, whose credits include ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ and ‘On the Road’.
Here’s what Valdez had to say about the new project:
“Together with the rock and roll classics of Ritchie Valens, my 1987 biopic ‘La Bamba’ has graciously withstood the test of time. And yet, the tragically short life and career of Richard Valenzuela continues to inspire new generations of fans the world over. As new biographical details have come to light, a new cinematic look at his eternally young seventeen years on earth can only add to his undying legend.”
And here’s the statement from Mucho Mas Media’s Javier Chapa, who is a producer:
“We’re honored and humbled to be retelling Ritche’s story — the story of an incredible young Latino man who inspired so many people through his music and prodigious talent. We look to uphold and celebrate the original film in ways Luis Valdez and the filmmakers of ‘La Bamba’ made it a classic.”
When will the new ‘La Bamba’ be on screens?
With the film still at an early stage, we wouldn’t expect release details for some time yet.
Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie Valens in ‘La Bamba’. Photo: Columbia Pictures.
Jenna Ortega as Cairo Sweet in the Psychological Thriller film, ‘Miller’s Girl,’ a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Zac Popik.
Preview:
Jenna Ortega is reportedly in final talks for J.J. Abrams’ new film.
Glen Powell is making his own deal to star.
Warner Bros. is backing the new movie.
If we know anything about J.J. Abrams, it’s that the man loves a mystery. In fact, he became famous for his “mystery box’” filmmaking as both a director and producer.
It’s perhaps not shocking then, that much about his next movie –– his first as a director since 2019’s ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ –– is being kept under wraps.
But according to Deadline, we are at least learning –– assuming it all works out –– who could end up starring, as both Jenna Ortega and Glen Powell are reportedly making deals to appear.
Can the polar bear from ‘Lost’ be far behind? Okay, probably not, but you can already sense Abrams’ old friend and frequent cinematic lucky charm Greg Grunberg waiting to see how he might be included.
(L to R) Composer Michael Giacchino and director J.J. Abrams on the set of ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.’ Photo courtesy of Michael Giacchino’s Twitter.
As we mention above, this one is a big ol’ mystery. No plot details have emerged (there was some chatter about it being a time travel tale, but that has since been denied) and the title remains locked in a vault somewhere.
Abrams wrote the script for the new movie and his Bad Robot company is naturally involved to produce. It’ll be released by Warner Bros’. but beyond that… your guess is as good as ours.
What else are Jenna Ortega and Glen Powell working on?
Glen Powell as Tyler in ‘Twisters’, directed by Lee Isaac Chung.
Ortega is in high demand of late thanks to her star-making turns in the recent ‘Scream’ outings and Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’.
Next up for her in terms of release date is a reunion with ‘Wednesday’ director Tim Burton for ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’, with the supernatural comedy sequel due to premiere at the Venice Film Festival ahead of its September 6th arrival.
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She’s also part of the cast for Taika Waititi’s sci-fi pic ‘Klara and the Sun’ and Alex Scharfman’s comedy ‘Death of a Unicorn’ which also stars Paul Rudd and Will Poulter. Finally, she’s been busy shooting a second season of ‘Wednesday’.
As for Powell, he’s enjoying success on screen with ‘Twisters’, which is doing solid business. The actor has been working on comedy thriller ‘Huntington’ and will star for Edgar Wright in a remake of ‘The Running Man’ and John Lee Hancock’s legal true story ‘Monsanto’. Plus, he’s been talking of late of having been told the date he’ll need to be ready to shoot another ‘Top Gun’ movie.
When will the new Abrams movie be in theaters?
Among the many details that Abrams and co. are keeping quiet for now is any potential release date for the movie. We have to assume that someone at Abrams’ level can demand not to lock down a date until he’s ready to commit to something, though Warners will no doubt hope this can hit cinemas as soon as possible.
Jenna Ortega attends the world premiere of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ on November 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for Netflix.
(L to R) Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach star in Marvel Studios’ ‘The Fantastic Four’. Photo: Pedro Pascal’s Instagram Account.
Preview:
Pedro Pascal gathered his ‘Fantastic Four’ co-stars for a first group pic.
Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bacharach and Joseph Quinn squeezed into the image with him.
‘The Fantastic Four’ will be in theaters one year from today.
While most eyes might be on Marvel’s current effort, the meta-tastic, R-rated ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ looking to score big at this weekend’s box office, there is at least some pointed towards the future, and specifically the company’s attempt to bring iconic “First Family” ‘The Fantastic Four‘ into its Cinematic Universe.
With production about starting now on the movie, we have the first image –– beyond the comic book-styled pic that served as Marvel’s big casting announcement –– of Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, as Pascal gathered them (not in costume, of course) for a group picture to mark the shoot’s kick-off.
Marvel’s Fantastic Four. Photo courtesy of Pinterest.
Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch and Ben Grimm/The Thing are key players in the pages of Marvel comics, and introduced in 1961. They are among most anticipated characters (alongside the X-Men) to be included in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe.
They’re canonically exposed to galactic radiation and end up cursed/blessed (depending on how you view it) with strange abilities. Reed can stretch his body in a variety of ways, Sue can turn invisible and generate forcefields, Johnny’s body becomes engulfed in flame (and he can fly), while Grimm becomes a rock-covered, incredibly strong creature.
And to be clear here, Pascal will be Reed, Kirby’s playing Sue, Quinn is taking the role of Johnny and Moss-Bachrach will be Ben.
They’ve been brought to screens before –– an unauthorized Roger Cormanversion floats around the internet after being traded on bootleg videos years ago, and then there were the Fox efforts, 2005’s ‘Fantastic Four’ and 2007 sequel ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’. They were followed by the dark, gritty and unsuccessful reboot in 2015.
This one has been in development for a long time now, with Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer among those who have worked on drafts of the script. ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ co-writer Josh Friedman is crafting the latest version.
We don’t yet know the story, but the first image and more recent comments from Marvel boss have pointed to them initially existing in a variant universe, and in the past.
Here’s what Kevin Feige said on the Official Marvel Podcast:
“There was another piece of art we released with Johnny Storm flying in the air making a ‘4’ symbol and there was a cityscape in the corner of that image. There were a lot of smart people who noticed that that cityscape didn’t look exactly like the New York that we know, or the New York that existed in the ‘60s in our world. Those are smart observations, I’ll say.”
When will ‘Fantastic Four’ be in theaters?
Disney and Marvel have planted a flag in July 25th, 2025, for ‘The Fantastic Four’, so it’s a good thing filming is now finally underway.
Trouble is, like some of those other entries, this new offering –– which Alba also executive produced –– feels like someone trying to build a car with scrap parts borrowed from elsewhere.
‘Trigger Warning’: it’s funny because it has two meanings, right, RIGHT? Anyone? No? Well, given how mostly humorless the movie turns out to be, it’s perhaps best that it didn’t try for a cleverer pun title.
In fact, not an awful lot about the movie really works all that well; you’ll find yourself ticking off the expected plot twists and character turns and though one or two of the action set-pieces (particularly one in a hardware store) are effective, it all comes across as a blandly pumped out exercise in genre pipeline fullfilment.
John Brancato, Josh Olson and Halley Gross are the writers here and all three have certainly put out better work before: Brancato with ‘The Game’, Olson on ‘A History of Violence’ and Gross via TV series ‘Banshee’ and ‘Westworld.’ We suppose there are only so many variations on the ‘trained soldier comes home and must sort out criminal conspiracy’ storyline, but when the likes of ‘First Blood’ and even ‘The Equalizer’ trilogy exist, the likes of this pale by comparison.
It doesn’t help that, one or two flourishes aside, the screenplay is largely a collection of small-town cliches, characters painted in the broadest of terms and the various narrative twists easy to predict.
Director Mouly Surya, who has worked more in the dramatic thriller and Western genres, brings a relative slickness to the proceedings, though you find yourself wishing she’d sliced out some of the more glaring cliches in the script with the skill of Alba’s knife-wielding hero.
‘Trigger Warning’: Performances
A film like this doesn’t normally concern itself with top-tier acting, and indeed no one here is quite giving their all. But there are some turns worth talking about.
Alba, who has mixed blessings when she’s tried her hand at action (‘Sin City’ is among the better examples), here manages to tackle the tough nut leading role with a solid if somewhat familiar performance. Her Parker is stereotypically distant from everyone, and withdrawn, but at least has convincing chemistry with the likes of Mark Webber’s Sheriff Jesse Swann and her Special Forces comrade Spider (Tone Bell).
And when it comes time to break out the guns, knives and explosives, she’s clearly put the work in to look like she knows what she’s doing (and let the stunt team handle the more dangerous moments). Parker is far from the most original main character you’ve ever met, but she’s also not a total void.
Mark Webber as Jesse
As the seemingly friendly local sheriff (not to mention Parker’s on-again-off-again beau), Webber steps out of his usual indie movie comfort zone for something much more straightforward. And initially, his character at least brings more to the story than some of the off-the-shelf villains Parker and he will encounter down the line.
The Senator’s other son is shown as miscreant from the moment you meet him, and honestly stays pitched at the same level through the whole movie. It’s not really Jake Weary’s fault –– some Oscar winners would have had trouble with this underwritten and uninspiring antagonist.
If you’re not immediately tipped off to the idea that the seemingly family values politician is a wrong ‘un from the minute you meet him, then we’d advise some sort of neurological treatment. Anthony Michael Hall does what he can with a thankless character –– Swann is all down-home charm until the real story is revealed –– but it’s not really enough to lift it out of base level effectiveness.
Unlike ‘The Old Guard’, which at least had an interesting concept, ‘Trigger Warning’ seems doomed to follow ‘The Mother’s path: dumped onto Netflix’s servers to take up space and occasionally show up in the streaming service’s recommendations.
We’re sure there might be some initial surge of interest (the company loves to tout its initial viewing figures of movies and shows now it actually releases them), but don’t expect ‘Trigger Warning’ to show up on many Best Of lists come the end of the year. For that, critics would have to remember it exists, and it does little to help that cause.
‘Trigger Warning’ receives 5 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Trigger Warning’?
A skilled Special Forces commando (Jessica Alba) takes ownership of her father’s bar after he suddenly dies, and soon finds herself at odds with a violent gang running rampant in her hometown.
DC Comics’ Blue Beetle. Photo courtesy of DC Comics.
Preview:
DC Studios has a ‘Blue Beetle’ series in the works.
Miguel Puga and Cristian Martinez are developing the show.
The movie’s cast may return.
While it looked like Latino superhero tale ‘Blue Beetle’ might have arrived at exactly the wrong time –– just as the DC movie universe overseen by Zack Snyder was being swept aside for the new regime run by James Gunn and Peter Safran of the rechristened DC Studios –– there was chatter at the time (including from Gunn) that it might not be the last we’d see of Jaime Reyes, the character played on screen by ‘Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña.
And indeed, that appears to be true, since Deadline reports that an animated series based on the Reyes character and his bonded armor is now in the works.
Recent college grad Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab.
When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Blue Beetle.
Originally created by artist Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski and writer Will Eisner for Fox Comics’ ‘Mystery Men’ Comics in 1939, Blue Beetle was introduced as Dan Garret, a vigilante who fought crime using powers gained from chemical compound Vitamin 2-X, though that origin was later retconned to an archeologist with a suit and abilities derived from the alien Khaji Da scarab living weapon. He was succeeded by tech whizz Ted Kord, first appearing in Charlton Comics (which bought Fox and was itself later taken over by DC).
The Jaime Reyes version, a creation of Keith Giffen, John Rogers and Cully Hamner for 2006’s ‘Infinite Crisis Issue 5, spawned a titular title two months later in May of that year. In his story, Reyes discovered the Blue Beetle scarab on the way home from school with two of his best friends Paco and Brenda, half-buried in a disused lot. Reyes took the scarab home, curious as to what it might be. That night, the scarab came alive, and grafted itself to the base of Jaime’s spine, and provided him with a suit of extraterrestrial armor, which can be modified to enhance his speed and strength, as well as to create weapons, wings, and shields.
While there is no confirmed casting yet, Deadline’s story mentions that overtures have been made to the main cast from the movie, and all seem willing –– assuming contracts are signed –– to return. And there is the possibility that a successful run could see a live-action return to the big screen for Maridueña and co.
Who is working on the new ‘Blue Beetle’ show?
Director Ángel Manuel Soto at a ‘Blue Beetle’ Fan Screening in London.
‘Blue Beetle’ movie director Angel Manuel Soto and writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer will serve as executive producers.
This new show will build on the movie, but tell its own story, fitting in with Gunn’s vision for DC going forward as opposed to directly continuing what was begun in the screenplay.
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ ‘Criminal’. Photo: Image Comics.
‘Criminal’ adapts the sprawling graphic novel series created by Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips.
The adaptation is being described as the interweaving saga of several generations of families tied together by the crimes and murders of the past.
Hunnam will, according to Deadline, play main character Leo, a brilliant master thief who sees all the angles, and specializes in plans with no guns and no violence.
Like a chess player, Leo thinks three moves ahead. Other crooks think he’s a coward, especially compared to his father Tommy, who went to jail for murdering the most feared man in the city, Teeg Lawless.
Arjona will bring to life Greta, a sharp-tongued top-level car thief and driver and the widowed mother of Angie.
Ever since her husband died in a bank job gone bad, Greta has been battling with herself about how to escape the only life she’s ever known – and the only place she’s ever thrived. The problem is, she’s good at this. She’s looking for a big score, a lump of money she can use like a gun to shoot her and Angie out of this life and into another one.
Who else is in ‘Criminal’?
(L to R) Richard Jenkins and Sally Hawkins in ‘The Shape of Water’. Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Richard Jenkins (‘The Shape of Water’) was reported as joining the series last week, and he’ll play a character called Ivan, Leo’s dad’s best friend, who has always been an uncle figure to him. He used to be a robber and criminal but is now currently suffering from dementia. Leo is trying to care for him but realizes he’s more work than he can handle.
Who is making ‘Criminal’?
Brie Larson as Carol Danvers in 2019’s ‘Captain Marvel.’
Brubaker is closely involved with the show –– he wrote the pilot script and will run the show alongside Jordan Harper, a veteran of shows such as ‘The Mentalist’, ‘Gotham’ and ‘Hightown’.
On the directing side of things, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (who made ‘Captain Marvel’) are handling the first four episodes of the show.
This was Brubaker’s comment when the show was originally announced:
“Sean and I have been building this world in our books for over a decade, and now to be able to bring it to life for Amazon is just incredible. And to have Amazon support the project the way they have and show so much faith in my and Jordan’s vision for the show is even more incredible.”
Here’s what Amazon/MGM’s Nick Pepper had to say about the new developments:
“‘Criminal is a beloved graphic novel created by the most iconic team in the history of comics. I know our global Prime Video customers will immediately embrace this story, and I look forward to working with Ed, Jordan, and the team to bring it to the screen.”
When will ‘Criminal’ be on screens?
Despite the cast coming together, we wouldn’t expect this one to be shooting much before later this year, so later in 2025 would seem to be the earliest likely release slot.
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ ‘Criminal’. Photo: Image Comics.
(L to R) Adam Rodriguez, Kirsten Vangsness and Zach Gilford talk ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ season 2.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kirsten Vangsness, Adam Rodriguez and Zach Gilford about their work on the new season of ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’, returning for the first day of shooting, Gilford’s character’s new arc, Penelope and Tyler’s new working relationship, and Rodriguez and Gilford’s experience each directing an episode this season.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Vangsness, Rodriguez and Gilford, as well as Aisha Tyler, A.J. Cook and Ryan-James Hatanaka.
(L-R) Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia, A.J. Cook as Jennifer ‘JJ’ Jareau, Joe Mantegna as David Rossi and Aisha Tyler as Dr. Tara Lewis in ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ season 2, streaming on Paramount+, 2024. Photo Credit: Michael Yarish /Paramount+.
Moviefone: To begin with, Kirsten, in the first episode, there is a scene where all the characters are together at a party. Was it fun to do a scene like that, where you are not hunting a serial killer but just hanging out as a group? Was it too much fun? Did the director ever have to you remind you and the cast to stick to the script?
Kirsten Vangsness: It’s probably more than you’d think that they would have to. I mean, also we’ll just riff and then they get that. But it was a blast. I think it was our first day. Because we all love each other and we had twenty-eight different topics we’re covering and then you’re trying to run lines, and it’s all kind of bleeding in together. But when we do the roundtable, when we have all those crazy lines, if you came, it’s still like herding cats. Everybody knows their lines and we’re all kind of boom, boom, boom, because we’re all trying to get to the part where they say cut and we have a second to bulls**t.
(L to R) Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia, Aisha Tyler as Dr. Tara Lewis, Adam Rodriguez as Luke Alvez, Joe Mantegna as David Rossi and A.J. Cook as Jennifer ‘JJ’ Jareau in ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ season 2 streaming on Paramount+, 2024. Photo Credit: Michael Yarish /Paramount+.
MF: Adam, what is it like for you to return to this character and reunite with the rest of the cast?
Adam Rodriguez: The excitement of being back, the excitement of seeing each other, and catching up on things, I mean those days are a lot of fun for us. We must remind ourselves, be professional and pay attention to what we’re supposed to be doing.
Zach Gilford as Elias Jasper Voit in ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ season 2 streaming on Paramount+, 2024. Photo Credit: Michael Yarish /Paramount+.
MF: Zach, last season your character was the serial killer the team was hunting, but this season he is helping them catch another killer, Hannibal Lector style. Can you talk about how Elias is working with BAU this season?
Zach Gilford: It’s been a blast. I mean, last season I barely got to interact with anyone in front of the camera. I got to know everyone well and had such a great time doing so. But this season it’s been so fun getting to just f**k with them and I am the bad guy. They all hate me and Elias’s approach to manipulating them is getting under their skin and they may give me a lot of leeway to go off script a little bit when I feel like I come up with something that I think will needle them a bit. So, it’s been fun, but really the most fun of it is getting to be there for the bulls**t between cut and hang out with all of them. It really is just such a great group of people.
(L to R) Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia, Ryan-James Hatanaka as Tyler Green, A.J. Cook as Jennifer ‘JJ’ Jareau, Joe Mantegna as David Rossi and Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss in ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ season 2 streaming on Paramount+, 2024. Photo Credit: Michael Yarish /Paramount+.
MF: Kristen, now that Tyler has joined BAU, does that cause some anxiety for Penelope because of their past relationship? Can you talk about how she will deal with that this season?
Kirsten Vangsness: Honestly, the whole thing’s uncomfortable. As an actor you’re uncomfortable because it’s this uncomfortable thing. So, it’s fun to do and I think it’ll be fun to watch and then it is so uncomfortable that it gets to a point where you’re like, “How do we set up boundaries so that they’re not around each other?” It is something I think that the writers were like, “We don’t want to put people together because then you must deal with the reality of how awkward it is. You know what I mean? So, I think she’s just understandably ticked that her friends would, out of all the people in the world that are experts, not get that one. It’s just mean.
(L to R) Aisha Tyler as Dr. Tara Lewis, Adam Rodriguez as Luke Alvez, Joe Mantegna as David Rossi and A.J. Cook as Jennifer ‘JJ’ Jareau in Criminal Minds: Evolution’ season 2, streaming on Paramount+, 2024. Photo Credit: Michael Yarish /Paramount+.
MF: Adam, you are directing again this season. What is it like directing an episode of this series and working with your fellow cast members?
Adam Rodriguez: Everybody’s amazing. Amazingly supportive. Everybody shows up. Look, it’s very difficult for the writers and for the people that handle scheduling, the producers that are putting schedules together, the ADs to try and accommodate all of us to direct. It’s a huge undertaking for them, and we’re all grateful for the effort that goes into making that happen. I think everybody’s aware of the fact that we’re on a clock and because of that there is a pressure to get things done. So, everybody shows up incredibly well-prepared and ready to deliver, and we pick and choose our moments to have fun. We do have a lot of fun on the show. But everybody really puts the team first. Just to sum that up, no matter what it is that’s required of you as an individual, everybody’s always willing to give their best because we know it’s going to serve the team. The thing we want the most is to keep this show going because we love doing it.
(L to R) Joe Mantegna as David Rossi and Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss in ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ season 2, streaming on Paramount+, 2024. Photo Credit: Michael Yarish /Paramount+.
MF: Finally, Zach, you are also directing an episode this season. What was that experience like for you?
Zach Gilford: This cast is, they’re the f**king best. Adam has been a bit of a mentor to me. We met before we went back to the season, he talked to me a lot throughout and then in my episode. I mean honestly, there were two points where Adam, I was just like, “Dude, thank God it’s Adam.” One was, there’s something where he had an instinct to do something, but it wasn’t the way the script went. I kind of liked it, but other people were like, “I don’t know. It’s just not the way we wrote it. It’s not the way we thought it was going to happen.” I was like, “Adam, I like it your way.” He is like, “Dude, you know what? Take your shot, man. If that’s what you want, you’re the director, go for it.” I was like, “All right, we’re going to do it that way.” It totally worked great. Then there was another point where Adam magically finds a box. This happens on the show, they had a piece of evidence and it just felt so convenient. I was like, “Adam, it’s going to feel awkward, but can you just search around this house for five minutes.” He did it and it played so well because he was like, “Cool, I’ll get it. It’s going to feel super awkward and silly to me.” But everybody’s so giving and gets how this show works.
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What is the plot of ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ season 2?
In the wake of last season’s shocking finale, the upcoming all-new season of ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ picks up as the FBI’s elite team of profilers investigates the deadly mystery of Gold Star. As the conspiracy unfolds, the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) is met with an unexpected complication when serial killer Elias Voit (Zach Gilford) negotiates a deal that transfers him to federal custody in the BAU’s own backyard. The team faces its biggest threat yet and cannot emerge unscathed from the mind-bending consequences.
Who is in the cast of ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ season 2?
(L to R) Joe Mantegna as David Rossi and Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss in ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ season 2, streaming on Paramount+, 2024. Photo Credit: Michael Yarish /Paramount+.
(L to R) Retta, Adria Arjona, Glen Powell and director Richard Linklater for ‘Hit Man’. Photo: Netflix.
‘Hit Man’ is a new comic thriller coming to Netflix on June 7th after a limited theatrical run on May 24th. Directed by Richard Linklater (‘Boyhood’) and co-written by Linklater and star Glen Powell (‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ ‘Anyone But You’), the film is based on a 2001 Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth about a man named Gary Johnson, a New Orleans college professor who moonlights with the Big Easy’s police department as a surveillance tech expert.
In the film, as in real life, the unassuming Johnson (Powell) is working with a team of detectives conducting a sting operation to catch people who want to hire a hitman to kill a spouse, business partner, or anyone else they want to get rid of. When Johnson must suddenly pose as the fake hitman, he discovers he has a knack for it – as well as a talent for disguising himself as a different type of person for every potential customer.
But while posing as a suave, cool, and sexy assassin named Ron, Gary meets a woman named Madison (Adria Arjona, ‘Andor’), who wants to off her abusive husband. “Ron” talks her out of it, and soon he and Madison begin an affair of their own — with Madison not knowing who “Ron” really is — while Gary finds himself entangled in an escalating combination of identity crisis and deception.
Co-starring Retta (‘Parks and Recreation’), Austin Amelio (‘The Walking Dead’), and Sanjay Rao, ‘Hit Man’ is a crackling, inspired mix of noir, crime thriller, and rom-com that’s hard to pin down to one genre and even more difficult to believe is based on a real person. Powell, Linklater, Arjona, and Retta all recently participated in an online press conference for the film, and here are 10 things we learned there, edited for clarity and length.
1. Glen Powell Discovered the Story During The Pandemic
Glen Powell stars in ‘Hit Man’. Photo: Netflix.
Glen Powell says it was early in the pandemic when he first discovered the true story of Gary Johnson and was fascinated by it.
Glen Powell: Immediately, it was so clear there was such a compelling character there. If you look at the real-life Gary Johnson, he was a psychology professor who actually moonlighted with the police department, did AV equipment, was an ornithologist, Zen Buddhist. It was just such an incredible character piece, but I didn’t really know where it went. All I knew is that there was a fascinating guy here, and they called him the Laurence Olivier of fake hitmen because he approached the job differently. Instead of just becoming the hitman for hire across from someone who is trying to kill their husband or their wife or their business partner, he embodied their fantasy of what a fake hitman is, because hitmen don’t exist. So he took this skillset to a whole new level and started putting on these disguises and all these different things. It was just a fascinating idea…So I called up Rick and I said, I just read this amazing article called ‘Hit Man.’ And Rick said, “Yeah, I read that article when you were in 7th grade.”
2. Powell Helped Linklater Crack the Story of ‘Hit Man’
(L to R) Adria Arjona as Madison, director and co-writer Richard Linkletter, co-writer Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, and director of photography Shane F. Kelly. Photo: Brian Rondel / Courtesy of Netflix.
Richard Linklater says he had been thinking about making a movie out of ‘Hit Man’ for years but that working with Glen Powell finally unlocked the story.
Richard Linklater: I was so excited to get this call from Glen because that story had been kicking around in my head. I had talked to Skip, I had had a couple of meetings on it over the years, but it didn’t really work. It didn’t really work as a film because there was this repetition. It didn’t really go anywhere. So I told this to Glen [and] he said, ‘Well, let’s talk about it.” I was like, “Oh, wow, it’s the pandemic. What else are we going to do?” So talk we did, every day for a while. We would just have hours of conversations. And Glen kind of loosened the logjam I was in. He said, “Well, what if we deviate? Why do we have to stick to the facts?” So once that floodgate opened, we were off to the races. We just started having these great ideas, and the last two thirds of the movie kind of comes out of that. The genres kick in and it becomes this thrill ride. But it was grounded in Gary Johnson’s life reality…[he] was a real person, [with] a real job, the strangest occupation anyone could ever have.
3. One Paragraph in the ‘Hit Man’ Article Became Half the Movie
In the movie, Gary Johnson meets with a woman who wants to put out a hit on her abusive husband. Gary, disguised as a suave assassin named Ron, talks her out of it, persuading her to take control of her life instead. The two later begin their own relationship, which drives the second half of the film.
Glen Powell: The story wasn’t revealing itself in a natural way, but then there was this paragraph about this woman that the real-life Gary Johnson sat down with. She was approaching him to get him to kill her husband. And instead of sending her to jail like he did with everybody else, he didn’t believe that she was capable of this thing. He sort of believed in the best of her and talked her out of it. It was the first time that ever happened, and there was a relationship that developed from that. But all of a sudden the article just sort of moves on, and Rick and I were like, well, what if we pull at that thread? We have so many questions about what that relationship is and how they reengaged with each other. Did he stay as the fake hitman? So really that was a big breaking point because that was when we started thinking about, [what] if he got stuck in this identity as this fake hitman?
4. Not Just Another Femme Fatale
Adria Arjona stars in ‘Hit Man’. Photo: Netflix.
Adria Arjona’s character, Madison, reveals more layers to her personality as the film goes on, which is something Arjona wanted to happen.
Adria Arjona: She’s a woman that’s coming from a traumatic relationship, this weird kind of dark relationship, and she’s desperate for reinvention. I think we all do that in life, where we’re all always trying to find sort of a different version of ourselves. She’s sort of playing that. She’s kind of looking at Ron and going, what would Ron like? What would a bad boy like Ron want in a woman? So I don’t see Madison as a femme fatale. I see a woman trying to play the illusion of a femme fatale. That was really fun to play with. I just had so much fun crafting that with them, and it felt a little bit more grounded. That was something that I could do. I wasn’t interested in just being the femme fatale.
5. Retta Didn’t Find Out She Had Her Role For, Like, Forever
Retta stars in ‘Hit Man’. Photo: Netflix.
The ‘Parks and Recreation’ star auditioned for the role of Claudette, leader of the undercover New Orleans police sting operation for which Gary first does surveillance and then acts as a fake hitman.
Retta: I got an audition from my agent and I was like, oh, it’s Rick and Glen. I didn’t know Glen wrote. So I was like, “Look at you, fancy.” So I put myself on tape and didn’t hear anything for a long time. Then Glen and I happened to be at [a party] and Glen is talking to me as if I was hired. He was like, “We’re going to make that movie. We’re going to have so much fun.” I was like, “Dude, did I get the job?” I literally went home that night and texted my manager and I was like, did someone not email me to let me know that I booked this gig? But I know Glen from 10 years ago; we did a movie together [‘Sex Ed’]. I know Rick from 20 years ago; we did a pilot together. So I know them personality-wise, and I was like, “Oh, this is going to be a very calm environment.”
6. How Retta’s Role Changed From Claude to Claudette
As is often the case, the role of Claudette was supposed to be a man (Claude), but Retta took it over with few changes and not a lot of research.
Retta: It was written originally as a guy. So I just chose to be me if I were a detective. Those are the choices that I made. I was me saying those lines as a detective in that space. It wasn’t much more than that. I didn’t study anything. We met some detectives that told us how things go, but that was about it for me. I don’t watch a lot of true crime. I listened to some podcasts and they used to scare me, so I stopped. I like to problem-solve. So that’s why I was like, I feel like he said this, so I feel like we need to do that.
7. Richard Linklater Was Very Happy to Work With Glen Powell Again
(L to R) Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, director Richard Linklater and Sanjay Rao for ‘Hit Man’. Photo: Netflix.
Richard Linklater previously directed Glen Powell in 2016’s ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ with the latter playing Walt “Finn” Finnegan.
Richard Linklater: Kind of the greatest thing about getting to do this over the years and decades is when you work with someone you like and if the planets align, you get to work with ’em again. It’s just wonderful. With Glen, I think our big breakthrough was 10 years ago we were shooting ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ Glen came in and auditioned. I had a part that I thought would be very difficult to cast. He’s an athlete, yet he’s really smart and charming, and he’s kind of the team intellectual. I was like, oh, this is a small little target, who’s going to do this? I’d known Glen for about 10 years at this time. I’d worked with him when he was young, like a high school kid…But he walked in the room and was this guy. I was like, when did Glen become so amazing? He’s so smart. He’s so charming. I was just seeing this force of nature. I was like, oh my God, he solved my problem. I got my guy to play this thing. But we had such a great creative time on that…when he called me with this, it was off to the races creatively, because he is just fun to work with. He’s funny and smart and a great collaborator.
8. Glen Powell to Richard Linklater: Right Back Atcha, Pal!
Glen Powell explains why he enjoys collaborating with Linklater and would like to keep it going.
Glen Powell: The wonderful thing about writing with Rick is that your conversations become wonderful pages and friendship and work blend together in this kind of effortless way. It’s what I think makes him magical as a filmmaker. He’s never attacking a story. He sort of lets the story reveal itself. And when he casts people, he really allows them to come into the process. There’s sort of this wonderful room for life that he gives everything. I think it makes that ecosystem very different and very fruitful. So I’d love to keep doing this till our fingers just freeze up on the keyboard.
During one crucial, showstopping scene late in the movie, Gary (Powell) guides Madison (Arjona) through a fake argument by texting her what to say and how to act, even as the other members of his police team are listening to them talk.
Adria Arjona: We spoke about that scene so much between the three of us. It was that scene that we just never gave up on. There were so many different iterations of how we might do it… So when we first heard that first “action,” all of a sudden I start seeing Glen kind of guide me through this scene in such a seamless way. My job really was to follow his lead as much as I could. It was one of those scenes where we didn’t stop looking at each other. I looked at every gesture that he did, and it triggered something in me. So I feel like it’s a scene where teamwork was so important and so crucial. I don’t think I’ve done that before in any movie. You aspire to be the best listener you can. I mean, that’s what acting is all about. But everyone has their own motives. You’re playing your own characters. For this scene, we had to be symbiotic for it to work. It was also so much fun.
10. What a Surprise: The Studios Didn’t Get ‘Hit Man’
According to Powell, no Hollywood studios were interested in backing ‘Hit Man.’ The movie was financed and filmed independently, then played at the Venice and Toronto film festivals in 2023 – with Netflix purchasing it at the latter for a reported $20 million.
Glen Powell: We took this movie out and no one got it. We took this script out. We were so proud of it. We were so excited about what it said about identity and passion. We thought it was so universal and exciting. It was going to be an audience movie. And then it was just crickets. No one got it. Nobody responded to it because I don’t think it fits into one box. We were trying to do something original, and I think the town always wanted it to be something else. I think what I’m just really proud of is we got to make this movie independently, and make the movie that we wanted to make. It doesn’t subscribe to any genre. It doesn’t fit into any box. I think the reason it’s a really great audience movie, and the reason people are responding to it, is you can’t get out in front of it. You can’t predict it because it’s all the things.
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What is the plot of ‘Hit Man’?
A part-time staffer (Glen Powell) with the New Orleans Police Department stumbles into the role of posing undercover as a reliable hitman with the goal of arresting those trying to hire him. He discovers he has a talent for theatrically matching the expectations of his suspects with often-humorous costumes, accents, and mannerisms, which makes him especially adept at his work. He meets with a woman (Adria Arjona) who wants a hitman to kill her husband, but he falls for her at first sight and saves her from getting entrapped. Later she bamboozles her way into his life and murders her husband for the insurance money. The story explores how far will a person go for infatuation, love, and personal happiness.
The new ‘Jurassic World’ movie is adding Manuel Garcia-Rulfo.
His role is unknown for now.
Gareth Edwards is in the director’s chair.
Anyone who watches Netflix’s series adaptation of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ knows that Manuel Garcia-Rulfo has proved –– at least as main character Mickey Haller –– can figure his way around a legal scrap.
Universal is mostly keeping the details of the new movie trapped behind fences and concrete barriers for now. What can we predict? Big-toothed beasts causing trouble for the humans that foolishly interact with them.
A bigger question, though, is which humans… It’ll reportedly be set in the ‘Jurassic World’ era, but won’t directly connect to the previous three movies, so an appearance from characters such as those films’ Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) or Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) appears unlikely for now –– though we won’t rule anything out at this point.
From the sounds of it, this new movie would take the franchise in a fresh new direction, so we’re also not predicting (for now) the return of ‘Jurassic Park’ trio Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and Jeff Goldblum’s chaotician Malcolm.
While Garcia-Rulfo joins Johansson and Bailey on the “confirmed” list, there have been other potential pieces of casting, though they remain in the rumor-sphere.
Among them? Dev Patel, who recently made a strong directorial debut with ‘Monkey Man’ (which Universal picked up to distribute when Netflix left it in limbo) and Colman Domingo, who was up for awards for ‘Rustin’ (and just appeared in Universal’s ‘Drive-Away Dolls’).
It remains to be seen if either of them graduates from the world of rumors to reality.
David Koepp, who wrote both the 1993 classic ‘Jurassic Park’ (directed by Steven Spielberg) and its 1997 sequel, ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ (also directed by Spielberg, to less critical praise, but still healthy box office), crafted the new movie’s screenplay.
Longtime producer Frank Marshall, who worked on all three of the ‘Jurassic World’ movies is on board this one also, and the studio seems bullish about the progress so far. And of course, Spielberg will weigh in since he helped birth the franchise.
When will the new ‘Jurassic World’ movie be in theaters?
The dinosaurs should be roaring onto screens on July 2nd, 2025.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Dennis Quaid about his work on ‘The Long Game,’ the true story it is based on, his character, reuniting with Jay Hernandez on screen, and why he likes working with director Julio Quintana.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.
(Right) Dennis Quaid in ‘The Long Game’. Photo: Courtesy of Anita Gallón.
Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and learning of the true story that the movie is based on?
Dennis Quaid: I grew up in Texas and I had never heard of this story before. That’s how I choose my projects that I do is by reading the script. When I read a script for the first time, I’m a first-time audience member. So, it’s the story that really gets me. I know by page 30 if it’s going to be good or not. This one really grabbed me, and I thought it was very relevant, especially today, in our times that we’re going through, to tell this story. These five Mexican American kids who are living down on the border, they’re caddies at a country club where they can’t play. They really don’t feel like they fit in in America. They go across the border to where their parents came from, and they don’t feel at home in Mexico as far as being accepted. So, they’re walking that line between two worlds. They love golf and they couldn’t play at this country club. They built their own golf course in the desert, this rudimentary course, and they started a golf team in their high school. Then, they won the Texas State Championship the very first year at the country club where they couldn’t play. So that changed their lives, that story. In fact, one of the real guys came to our set. He’s in his eighties now, and he served in Vietnam. He’s a proud American and a proud veteran. This story, I’m glad it’s coming to the screen, but that’s a brick in the wall of our story of America that we’re building and it’s an ongoing thing.
MF: Can you talk about Frank’s reluctance to accept the assistant coach position and how he ends up really caring for these boys?
DQ: Well, I think my character, he represents those guys who went off and fought in World War II, and really sacrificed. They came back a little lost and they settled in and hardly talked about the war. They just went along to get along. He represents a status quo in a sense. Even though he is the pro of the country club, these people, the members, they’re his boss. But there’s something in him with these boys that they’re so genuine about what they want to do, and sees them work so hard at it, and it touches something in him about what’s right. So, he helps them, and he helps them by teaching them golf. He’s the white face that gets them into these tournaments. The trouble with everything is if you weren’t a white guy back in the ’50s, it was a tougher life. But it’s a beautiful story and it’s about where we were back then. It’s about how far we’ve come and it’s about how important where we come from is and how we should hold on to that, because it’s all part of the story of America.
(L to R) Jay Hernandez and Dennis Quaid in ‘The Long Game’. Photo: Courtesy of Anita Gallón.
MF: Can you talk about Frank’s friendship with JB, the respect he has for him and what he’s trying to achieve?
DQ: The story was that Frank was a captain in the army in World War II, and JB was under him. He was one of his soldiers that went into battle. JB saved Frank’s life. So, after the war, he is beholden to him. He wouldn’t be walking around if not for that. JB had a dream of belonging to this country club, and Frank tries to help him get in, but (he can’t) because of the color of his skin. It’s like we were equal over there fighting for America, but you come back and it’s not so equal. That bothers Frank. He is willing to help him out, but there’s also, so much to do.
MF: Can you talk about working with Jay Hernandez?
DQ: He’s good in this movie. He’s such a good actor. It’s kind of full circle because a very similar movie, ‘The Rookie’ that I did 20 years ago, I played a baseball player, and it was an underdog type of story. My character was a coach of a high school team, and Jay was one of my student athletes in that, but now he’s the coach. So, it’s kind of full circle. He’s a great actor. The confidence that he has, and we all get deeper over the years, don’t we? We all have different starting points, but he was deep already back then, but he’s really matured into a good actor.
Jay Hernandez in ‘The Long Game’. Photo: Courtesy of Anita Gallón.
MF: Finally, what was it like reuniting with your ‘Blue Miracle’ director, Julio Quintana on ‘The Long Game’?
DQ: We did ‘Blue Miracle’ together, and if it wouldn’t have been for that, this wouldn’t have come about. He’s such a good writer and he’s a great director. I think we’ve caught him right when he’s about to blow up. Because he has a lot of stories to tell that are a little offbeat of what you might think of in independent film. He has a blending of family, authenticity and of American stories from a very different point of view. He’s a great director.
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What is the plot of ‘The Long Game’?
The film tells the true story of the San Felipe Mustangs, a group of Mexican American youths located in Del Rio, Texas. In the 1950s, the group set out to play golf at a white country club in town. Despite prejudice, the Mustangs overcame these obstacles to become the 1957 Texas state champions.
