(Left) Laurence Fishburne in ‘Cellar Door’. Photo: Lionsgate. (Right) Chiwetel Ejiofor as Roger in ‘Eleanor the Great’ Image: Anne Joyce. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
Preview:
Laurence Fishburne and Chiwetel Ejiofor are part of the next ‘Exorcist’ movie.
Mike Flanagan is writing and directing the film.
Scarlett Johansson and Diane Lane are already in the cast.
As he prepares to make his take on a movie that exists within the world of ‘The Exorcist,’ writer/director Mike Flanagan is recruiting two additional cast members –– one new to him, and one he’s worked with before.
The new movie won’t be a continuation of David Gordon Green’s ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ as plans for a trilogy flamed out following the disappointing box office returns for that.
Instead, Flanagan has written his own script, and has the backing of Universal and Blumhouse.
Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) in ‘The Exorcist: Believer,’ directed by David Gordon Green.
Flanagan is keeping his plans quiet for now –– no details have emerged, beyond the basic idea of demonic possession –– and we don’t know how the actors will factor in. We do know, however, that cameras will be rolling in New York this year.
When will the new ‘Exorcist’ movie be on screens?
Universal has scheduled the new movie for release on Friday, March 12, 2027.
(L to R) Cody Flanagan and director Mike Flanagan on the set of ‘The Life of Chuck’. Photo: Neon.
(Left) Diane Lane as Slim Keith in ‘Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.’ Photo: FX. (Right) Linda Blair in 1973’s ‘The Exorcist’. Photo: Warner Bros.
Preview:
Diane Lane is joining the next ‘Exorcist’ movie.
Mike Flanagan is writing and directing the film.
It’ll be an all-new approach.
After a brief detour into the more metaphysical side of filmmaking with ‘The Life of Chuck’ modern horror maestro Mike Flanagan is diving back into the terror genre via a new take on ‘The Exorcist.’
The new movie won’t be a continuation of David Gordon Green’s 2023 effort ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ as plans for a trilogy flamed out following the disappointing box office returns for that.
Instead, Flanagan has written his own script, and has the backing of Universal alongside genre stalwart production companies Blumhouse and Atomic Monster.
(L to R) Cody Flanagan and director Mike Flanagan on the set of ‘The Life of Chuck’. Photo: Neon.
Flanagan is keeping his plans quiet for now –– no details have emerged, beyond the basic idea of demonic possession –– and we don’t know how Johansson, Jupe and now Lane will factor in.
When will the new ‘Exorcist’ movie be on screens?
Universal has scheduled the new movie for release on Friday, March 12, 2027.
(L to R) Billy Crystal and Jacobi Jupe star in ‘Before’.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Billy Crystal and Jacobi Jupe about their work on ‘Before’, how Crystal developed the idea for the series and playing a different type of role than he has in the past, Jupe’s approach to his character and performing in the “scary scenes”, and what it was like for the two actors to work together.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Crystal, Jupe, Judith Light, and Rosie Perez.
(L to R) Jacobi Jupe and Billy Crystal in ‘Before,’ premiering October 25, 2024 on Apple TV+.
Moviefone: To begin with, Billy, can you talk about developing the idea of the series and having the opportunity to play a role different than anything you’ve done before?
Billy Crystal: The first idea was mine. It kicked off the chain reaction that ends up being this series. We had this notion of this pediatric psychiatrist working with a troubled kid who’s presenting in a very specific way, and that was the mystery of what’s he experiencing? It asked questions about, have we been here before? It got mysterious. So, then my co-EP, Eric Roth, who’s a great writer, brought in Sarah Thorp and he said that she can write this. “Listen to the first two beats of this idea,” he said to her, which was a psychiatrist, troubled kid, and where’s he from? She, in 10 days, came in with this notion that laid out Eli, and his journey with Noah. In the middle of it, I said to her, “Okay, I’m going to do it.” I wasn’t looking to play the guy, but I so was taken with Sarah’s vision that I said I’m in. It wasn’t like I want to play something different it was just, boy, this is great. I’ve been acting a long time and I’ve done different things always, and this was just another one of them. But in a world that I had never ventured into before.
MF: Jacobi, can you talk about your approach to playing Noah and what it was like for you personally shooting the show’s scarier scenes?
Jacobi Jupe: Noah on screen is scary and all the things that he sees and does is scary. But I wouldn’t say I did get scared by it because that’s movie magic, to make it look scary when it wasn’t that scary. But I found it cool. It was always exciting and fun, and I would always get to do crazy stuff. I don’t know, just speak in weird, crazy voices and scream. But I’m always kind of calm inside and then I become angry on the outside sometimes. The character is very extreme. He’s very extreme.
(L to R) Jacobi Jupe and Billy Crystal in ‘Before,’ premiering October 25, 2024 on Apple TV+.
MF: Billy, what was it like working with Jacobi and what did you learn from the experience?
BC: The thing about Jacobi that I’m so taken with, being such a young actor, he would always ask the director, why am I saying this? If the truth didn’t line up with what he had to play, like any veteran actor, he would have trouble. So, it always had to be the truth for him, which for all of us is “Why am I saying this?” Then if I got it, then you can play it freely and honestly. His range is fantastic in the show, but it was based in, it had to be the truth. That’s just a basic lesson for any actor. Is it the truth? Then I can do it.
MF: Finally, Jacobi, is Billy fun to work with? What is he like as a scene partner?
JJ: He’s the best. He is hilarious. He’s good at thrillers. He’s good at other stuff too. He’s such a fun guy and so incredibly talented.
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What is the plot of ‘Before’?
A recently widowed child psychologist (Billy Crystal) meets with his next client (Jacobi Jupe), who seems to be connected in some fashion to his past.
On Disney+ now, ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ is the latest attempt by the studio to transform one of its animated classics into live action. And thankfully, despite being pushed straight to streaming, this reveals itself to be far better than the much-maligned ‘Pinocchio’ conversion job that (dis)graced screens last year, even that had Robert Zemeckis directing and Tom Hanks starring.
And that’s largely thanks to director David Lowery, who finds a lyrical, visually lush approach and ups the emotional ante to give the story more meaning.
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What’s the story of ‘Peter Pan & Wendy?’
Given that author J.M. Barrie’s original play premiered back in 1904 and it, and the novel spawned from it have been adapted many, many times through the years, it’s hard to imagine anyone doesn’t know the narrative for this one. But just in case…
‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ introduces us to Wendy Darling (Ever Anderson), a young girl on the verge of leaving her family and childhood home behind to attend boarding school. One night, Wendy and brothers Michael (Jacobi Jupe –– yes, the younger brother of ‘A Quiet Place’s Noah) and John (Joshua Pickering) meet Peter Pan (Alexander Molony), a boy who refuses to grow up.
Alongside her brothers and a tiny fairy, Tinker Bell (Yara Shahidi), she travels with Peter to the magical world of Never Land. There, she encounters an evil pirate captain, Captain Hook (Jude Law), and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever.
Even with a seemingly failsafe story, Peter Pan has offered mixed blessings to filmmakers through the years. Disney famously made a successful animated version way back in 1953, but in more recent times, it has become something of a third rail for directors who dare to go near it.
It has provided flops for ‘Muriel’s Wedding’ filmmaker P.J. Hogan, whose 2003 traditional ‘Peter Pan’ boasted Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook but could only wrangle $121 million worldwide from a $100 million budget (not counting advertising etc.) ‘Atonement’s Joe Wright tried a punkier, revised version in 2015 with Hugh Jackman playing Hook. That did even worse, losing money. And even more recently, ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’s Benh Zeitlin turned the focus to Wendy Darling with, well, ‘Wendy’, which was made for $6 million and has so far returned less than $300,000 on limited, pandemic-impacted release after it landed in 2020.
Yet Lowery has pulled off something that feels like it both channels Barrie’s original story and does interesting things with it that make it feel fresh.
This is, of course, not Lowery’s first ride on the Disney rodeo either –– he previously brought the world a fine adaptation of ‘Pete’s Dragon’. With that movie there was a lot more scope for change, the director swapping the live action/cartoon musical story for a more grounded (aside from the whole dragon thing), story of a lost boy who finds solace in a giant winged creature.
Lost boys –– and girls –– are, of course a big part of the ‘Pan’ story (Peter has a group he’s collected through the years), and in finding his young cast, Lowery has tracked down some authentic (and authentically diverse) actors to bring the roles to life.
Ever Anderson, daughter of Milla Jovovich and director Paul W.S. Anderson, brings charm and a soulful quality to Wendy and also does well on the stunt front when called upon (the apple not falling far from the tree there). As her brothers, Pickering and Jupe aren’t called upon to handle too much, but what they bring is kids who are appealing and never precociously annoying.
Molony as Peter initially feels smug and arrogant, but those are a slightly in keeping with his base character. And as the movie probes deeply into his reasons for being the way he is, he warms up.
Law as Hook is a fantastically preening villain at first, but the actor is also talented enough to handle the deeper origin story that Lowery and co-writer Toby Halbrooks hand him. And he’s ably supported by Smee (Jim Gaffigan, who unveils a solid British accent), who is also handed more of a character than the usual comedy sidekick.
Lowery kicks off with a very theatrical feel, upping the fantasy levels and, if there’s a problem to be found, the earlier scenes (which take place at night) are a little muddy with the digital filming. And Molony, for one, sometimes looks like he’s been crafted with CGI, even more so than Shahidi’s Tink.
But once the movie gets to Neverland, sunshine arrives and the canvas expands, the movie becomes much more watchable. And the effects –– such Hook’s ship going flying and the infamous ticking-belly crocodile (to whom Peter fed Hook’s hand once he cut it off years ago) –– are effective, even if they sometimes stretch the more limited budget offered by a movie produced for the streaming service as opposed to ‘Pete’s Dragon’s lush theatrical look.
The music, meanwhile, both in score form from musicians Daniel Hart and Oliver Wallace (who channels John Williams at times) and the pirate songs from the original animated movie given fresh treatment, really help to enhance the experience.
This is Lowery bringing his carefully crafted indie sensibility to the film, once again putting his stamp on it rather than feeling like it rattled off of a construction conveyor belt. It might not appeal to fans of his more esoteric work such as ‘A Ghost Story’, but it’s a perfectly fun story for family audiences, especially with young children who have yet to see their first ‘Pan’ adaptation.
You won’t feel like a codfish for catching this one.
