‘Street Fighter’ opens in theaters on October 16th.
Preview
Paramount Pictures made its presentation to the 2026 CinemaCon crowd.
Among the movies promoted were ‘Street Fighter’ and ‘Scary Movie’.
There was also a look at a new ‘Christmas Carol’ adaptation.
Given the tumultuous behind-the-scenes business activity of first the Skydance/Paramount acquisition and now the combined studios’ ongoing mission to buy Warner Bros., it’s fair to wonder how much of that will be referenced at the company’s 2026 CinemaCon presentation.
But as is more likely, we’re expecting a focus on movies including the new ‘Scary Movie’ entry and a fresh take on the ‘Street Fighter’ video game.
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Unlike some of its competition, Paramount doesn’t have many of its big hitter franchises with ready entries, though we’ll likely get something from the early 2027 arrival of the fourth ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ movie.
Following a looong sizzle reel (narrated by Tom Cruise and ending with him chilling out on the lot’s iconic water tower), freshly minted Paramount/Skydance boss David Ellison took the stage to enthuse about storytelling and –– cross it off your bingo card! –– further confirm that a merged Paramount and Warner Bros. would commit to 30 movies a year theatrically, with healthy 45-day release windows.
There was also a lot of chat about the IP-based movies they’re developing –– expect more ‘Star Trek’, ‘Transformers’, ‘World War Z’ and ‘Top Gun’, plus a ‘Call of Duty’ movie. Oh, and following the success of the first film via Neon, the studio is the new home of the ‘Longlegs’ franchise. And we also learned that classic antagonists Shredder and Kang will show up in the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ sequel, due in 2027.
‘Sonic the Hedgehog 4’ opens in theaters on March 19, 2027.
There wasn’t much on the fourth ‘Sonic’ beyond a quick video from the set that confirms Jim Carrey will be back. There was also a mention of Kristen Bell, who voices Amy Rose.
Billie Eliish in ‘Billie Eliish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)’. Photo: Henry Hwu and Paramount Pictures.
Eilish and director James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron) took the stage to showcase the tour movie (Live in 3D in case you forgot), with Cameron talking up how they developed new 3D tech to make the film –– and make it look amazing. He calls it a “VIP experience”.
The audience were given 3D glasses to watch some new footage from the tour movie.
Marlon Wayans plays Shorty in ‘Scary Movie’ from Paramount Pictures.
Next to take the stage was the ‘Scary Movie’ cast (well, Marlon and Shawn Wayans and Anna Faris) discuss the new reboot (or sixth film) in the horror spoof series. “Nobody is safe” seems to be the mantra here, and the Wayans introduced some fresh footage from the movie.
(L to R) Anna Faris plays Cindy and Regina Hall plays Brenda in ‘Scary Movie’ from Paramount Pictures.
That “nobody is safe” also applies to the genre titles this one takes pot shots at, including ‘Sinners’, ‘M3GAN’ and more.
2002’s ‘Jackass: The Movie’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
The new –– and final? –– ‘Jackass’ saw main man Johnny Knoxville trying to convince us all that it really is the last one. Guessing they’re all getting a little too old for the crazy stunts.
Jason Momoa in ‘Street Fighter’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
The cast for the latest attempt to kick off a franchise based on the classic video game title arrived on stage to discuss it. Wrestler-turned-actor Cody Rhodes showed up dressed in costume as Guile.
They introduced the first trailer for the movie, which you can see above.
David Corenswet as “John Tuggle” in ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ from Paramount Pictures.
The new movie from Jonathan Levine stars ‘Superman’s David Corenswet and focuses on the enduring impact John Tuggle had on his team and teammates after being drafted by the New York Giants.
Corenswet appeared via video to introduce the film, talking about how he was inspired by Tuggle’s story but was also conflicted as an Eagles fan playing a Giants icon.
David Corenswet as “John Tuggle” in ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ from Paramount Pictures.
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The new David Ayer movie features Brad Pitt as a former Navy SEAL and his retired combat dog who attempt to return to civilization after a catastrophic accident deep in the Alaskan wilderness.
The new movie from Ti West (who has been better known for more brutal horror in the past) features Johnny Depp as Scrooge. Some footage was screened. Unsurprisingly, it’s leaning into the scarier elements of the story. Happy Christmas?
Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s new film adaptsTomi Adeyemi‘s novel, featuring a woman blessed with magical powers by the gods and living in a place where you are forbidden to use them, teams up with a princess to summon the gods and bring down the oppressive regime.
The footage shows Viola Davis‘ Mama Agba and her allies smacking around some tax collectors. The film is a story about the struggle to bring back magic in a kingdom where magic users are routinely executed. The magic users have Targaryen-like white hair. We see one magician summon a tree fighter to battle enemy warriors. The movie looks unique.
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Noticeably absent? ‘Avatar: Ang, The Last Airbender’, which Paramount originally planned for theaters and then decided to shove to its streaming service. But the biggest news? It recently leaked online….
And with that, Paramount is done!
‘Street Fighter’ opens in theaters on October 16th.
(L to R) Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) in ‘Focker In-Law’, written and directed by John Hamburg. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Preview:
Universal made its big presentation to the 2026 CinemaCon crowd.
Among the movies promoted were ‘Disclosure Day’ and ‘The Odyssey’.
There was also a look at ‘Minions & Monsters’ and ‘Other Mommy’.
Universal had a more muted and mixed 2025 than some other studios –– the latest ‘Jurassic World’ outing was a hit, but other titles, including thriller sequel ‘M3GAN 2.0’ stumbled.
Matt Damon is Odysseus in ‘The Odyssey’, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Christopher Nolan’s epic, based on Homer’s story, was somewhat naturally the first big movie featured. Starring half of Hollywood, it promises to be massive in scale and ambitious in scope.
The filmmaker himself took the stage to talk up his latest, joking that he’s glad he doesn’t have to follow Steven Spielberg. ‘The Odyssey’ is not, he says a story. It’s THE story, one he knew he had to shoot entirely in IMAX.
He praised his ensemble, especially Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland, who he called the heart of the film. Oh, and it was a “nightmare to make in the best way possible,” but he’s nearly finished.
More than five minutes of new footage from the movie was shown, including a shipwrecked Odysseus (Damon) washing up on a shore, where he’s greeted by the goddess Calypso, played by Charlize Theron, asking her about his past life which he cannot remember, and a battle from the Trojan war and the iconic Trojan Horse.
Illumination has been a consistent performer for Universal, its animated output boosting studio coffers. So of course the team were present to pimp the next ‘Minions’ movie featuring the little yellow troublemakers.
It’s set in the 1920s and features the Minions trying to find a new master to serve. Pierre Coffin, who co-writes, directs and voices the creatures, told the crowd that he put everything into the new one, before introducing some fresh footage.
The next film to get a brief spotlight was romantic comedy drama ‘One Night Only’, which stars Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro as two New Yorkers searching for love on the one night of the year when sex is legal.
The initial teaser for the horror movie, starring Jessica Chastain, was shown. It features Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark), an 8-year-old girl living in a home with marital problems, confronts a sinister entity that comes out of her closet. The presence, whom she calls “Other Mommy,” becomes increasingly threatening to her and her family.
Next up was a quick look at ‘Violent Night 2’, the sequel to the 2022 action comedy with David Harbour as a grumpy Santa who takes down armed thieves. The 2026 follow-up adds Kristen Bell as Mrs. Claus in a story where Santa somehow ends up on the Naughty List.
(L to R) Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) and Olivia Jones (Ariana Grande) in ‘Focker In-Law’, written and directed by John Hamburg. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Getting more of a spotlight was the new ‘Meet the Parents’ outing, which sees Ariana Grande as a young woman looking to marry into Ben Stiller‘s family (and Stiller’s Greg Focker is suspicious of her).
Stiller and Robert De Niro took the stage to introduce a first look, with De Niro commenting that Grande is the funniest scene partner he’s ever had. Ouch!
Also featured? A look at ‘Nosferatu’ director Robert Eggers‘ next chiller, ‘Werwulf’, which follows a gothic world where townsfolk are investigating a brutal werewolf terrifying their town.
Emily Blunt in ‘Disclosure Day’, directed by Steven Spielberg. Photo: Universal Pictures.
‘Disclosure Day’s Colman Domingo arrived on stage to introduce his director, Steven Spielberg, who is getting a special award from CinemaCon (along with a sizzle reel of past work and a standing ovation from the audience).
The iconic filmmaker took the chance to argue for longer release windows, which naturally plays well with this crowd.
He also sat down with Domingo to discuss his own movie-watching history, his father’s belief in life beyond our world, his own thoughts on aliens and his time making this latest effort.
New footage was shown (though Spielberg said he was keeping every frame of the third act withheld until the movie itself is released), with plenty of tense action.
“It is an experience, this movie,” Spielberg promised. “All you need to get from the beginning to the end is a seat belt.”
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And with that, it’s a wrap on Universal!
‘Focker In-Law’ opens in theaters on November 25th.
As a whole, it was a fairly run-of-the-mill awards ceremony – some tearful speeches, a sprinkling of politics, jokes about Leonardo DiCaprio’s dating life – but got the job done.
Glaser returned to host again, offering a few fun skits (a parody of the Nicole Kidman AMC ad targeting podcasts, and a mash-up for ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ and ‘Marty Supreme’ with a Fran Drescher cameo.
Yes, some of the jokes were entirely predictable, but there were some pointed jabs at CBS News (“see BS News”) and the Epstein Files.
And overall, Glaser kept the show moving (it eventually ended roughly 10 minutes late).
There were a lot of expected winners, including several trophies for ‘One Battle After Another,’ ‘Sinners’ and the latest for ‘Marty Supreme’s Timothée Chalamet.
But the surprises were more fun –– ‘Hamnet’ scooped the Motion Picture – Drama award, while ‘The Secret Agent’ nabbed Non-English Language Film and a more unexpected (if entirely deserved) Actor trophy for star Wagner Moura.
A lot of the TV awards for drama and comedy were similar to other shows such as the Emmys, with ‘The Pitt,’‘The Studio’ and ‘Adolescence’ all winning more hardware for their trophy cabinets.
Awards shows are usually a mix of humble and heartfelt, and ‘One Battle’s Teyana Taylor certainly got that in early with her tearful acceptance moment.
Outside of acceptance speeches, Judd Apatow killed it presenting Best Director, nodding to Nikki Glaser’s history babysitting his daughters and his “quiet boycott” of the awards after ‘Trainwreck’ lost to ‘The Martian’ in the comedy category a decade ago.
Wanda Sykes was also on top form as she presented the Stand-Up category, swiping at Bill Maher and particularly Ricky Gervais, whose award she accepted “on behalf of God and trans people.”
And Snoop Dogg was… Snoop Dogg, handing out the first Podcast award, which was won by Amy Poehler for ‘Good Hang.’
There was much praise for Macaulay Culkin, who was presenting Best Screenplay, and scored a standing ovation as he took the stage.
Julia Roberts hyped up her own stint on stage Presenting Best Motion Picture Comedy, while poor George Clooney had to note that he did not get the same reaction presenting drama, a fact reiterated by pal Don Cheadle, who showed up to gently rib him.
The Golden Globes will take place on December 8th.
Despite lots of changes behind the scenes and some serious PR airbrushing, the Golden Globes never quite retained their luster. Still, they’re a big stop on the awards circuit and the nominations were announced today by Marlon Wayans and Skye P. Marshall during a press conference held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
And on the TV front, ‘The White Lotus’ and this year’s big small screen sensation, the one-shot drama ‘Adolescence’ have the most nominations for their side of the awards.
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture
(L to R) Teyana Taylor as Perfidia and Sean Penn as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw in ‘One Battle After Another.’ A Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Paul Thomas Anderson, ‘One Battle After Another’ Ryan Coogler, ‘Sinners’
Guillermo del Toro, ‘Frankenstein’ Jafar Panahi, ‘It Was Just an Accident’ Joachim Trier, ‘Sentimental Value’
Paul Thomas Anderson, ‘One Battle After Another’ Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, ‘Marty Supreme’
Ryan Coogler, ‘Sinners’
Jafar Panahi, ‘It Was Just an Accident’ Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier, ‘Sentimental Value’ Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell, ‘Hamnet’
Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in ‘Wicked For Good’, directed by Jon M. Chu.
“Dream as One”, ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’
“Golden”, ‘KPop Demon Hunters’
“I Lied to You”, ‘Sinners’
“No Place Like Home”, ‘Wicked: For Good’
“The Girl in the Bubble”, ‘Wicked: For Good’
“Train Dreams”, ‘Train Dreams’
Kristen Bell and Daniela Melchior are joining ‘Violent Night 2’.
David Harbour returns as a Santa.
Tommy Wirkola is directing once more.
You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout… I’m telling you why: as we learned way back in January 2023, a sequel to 2022’s festive themed action comedy ‘Violent Night’ was reported as in development.
Harbour, of course, returns as the grumpy Santa Claus who has a propensity for dishing out a little of the ol’ ultraviolence to anyone who makes his naughty list.
Tommy Wirkola (‘Dead Snow’) is back calling the shots (and punches, and hits to the baubles), while the sequel’s script comes from the writers of the original, Pat Casey and Josh Miller.
‘Violent Night’ starred Harbour as a version of Santa who is feeling a little jaded about the whole Christmas thing after centuries of delivering presents to increasingly ungrateful kids.
A Norse warrior lord before he was tapped to don the red suit and bring joy to the world, he’s tired of lists asking for cash or video games, and of competing with Amazon. Plus, the genuine “thank yous” are few and far between.
So when he stumbles into a hostage situation at the Lightstone family compound, where the wealthy Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo) and her grown kids, in-laws and grandchildren have gathered to celebrate a typically passive-aggressive Christmas, he’s initially more concerned with raiding the liquor cabinet than helping out, he’s moved by young Trudy Lightstone (Leah Brady) to take down the villain known as Scrooge (John Leguizamo) and his goons.
There are zero details on what the sequel will feature, besides presumably Harbour’s less-than-Jolly Old Saint Nick putting a beat down on some new threats.
Will Bell be a villain? Someone Santa has to save? And what of Melchior (who, after all, shares a name with a Biblical wise man associated with Christmas)? Looks like we’ll all have to act like kids on Christmas Eve and wait to see what this new cine-gift has to offer.
Where else can we see Kristen Bell and Daniela Melchior?
Kristen Bell in 2014’s ‘Veronica Mars’. Photo: Warner Bros.
Bell popped up in a cameo as herself in the most recent season of ‘Hacks’, but beyond that was the star of Netflix comedy drama series ‘Nobody Wants This’ in 2024. The show returns to the streaming service for Season 2 on October 23rd this year.
She’ll also reprise the key role of Anna in ‘Frozen III’, due in theaters on November 24th, 2027.
(L to R) Idina Menzel as Elsa and Kristen Bell as Anna in ‘Frozen.’ Photo: Disney.
Preview:
Disney boss Bob Iger visited ‘Good Morning America’.
He revealed that two ‘Frozen’ stories are in development – the third and fourth.
The plots are a mystery for now.
Disney clearly still has warm feelings towards the residents of the magical land of Arendelle. Which is hardly surprising, since the first ‘Frozen’ made $1.3 billion at the box office and the sequel earned $1.4 billion.
And that’s before the huge amount of merchandise that has been sold, including books, toys and soundtracks. The likes of ‘Let it Go’ and ‘Into the Unknown’ have become reliable earworms and Disney is looking to build entire lands dedicated to the films in theme parks (Hong Kong Disneyland’s is opening in a few days).
So, no one was particularly surprised when company CEO Bob Iger hit morning show ‘Good Morning America’ to reveal that a fourth film is tentatively in the works.
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What did Bob Iger say about ‘Frozen IV’?
(L to R) Jennifer Garner, Robert Iger, and Oprah Winfrey at the Save the Children’s Centennial Awards. Photo courtesy of The Walt Disney Company.
Here’s what Iger said on ‘GMA’:
“‘Frozen III’ is in the works, and there might be a ‘Frozen IV’ in the works too. But I don’t have much to say about those films right now. [Director] Jennifer Lee, who created the original ‘Frozen’ and ‘Frozen 2,’ is hard at work with her team at Disney animation on not one but actually two stories.”
And given that this comes from the boss of the whole company, you’ve got to consider it a good source.
The news was also seemingly confirmed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who alongside writing partner/husband Robert Lopez, was responsible for the monster hit songs from the first two movies.
(Very) loosely inspired by the fairy tale ‘The Snow Queen’, ‘Frozen’ and ‘Frozen II’ introduced the world to sisters Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel).
The royal pair lose their parents at an early age (Disney up to its usual storytelling tricks) and Elsa also has magical snow powers she initially wants to suppress. But when she’s forced to assume the throne, the pressure leads her to unleash her abilities, plunging Arendelle into deep winter.
Anna has to try and get through to her, forging an alliance with ice-cutting mountain man Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and chatty snowman Olaf (Josh Gad), while also fending off the attentions of the scheming Hans (Santino Fontana).
It all ends well, but in the sequel, Elsa is confronting a new mystery –– a call to a wooded area of the land where fresh secrets are revealed.
The story for either of the potential two new movies has yet to be revealed though Disney has released a podcast called ‘Forces of Nature’ that continues the adventures after the events of ‘Frozen II’.
(L to R) Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) in Walt Disney Pictures’ ‘Frozen.’
Get ready to head back into the unknown. Disney animated films ‘Frozen,’ ‘Toy Story,’ and ‘Zootopia‘ have been greenlit for sequels. The news was announced during Wednesday’s Q1 earnings call by Disney CEO Bob Iger, his first since returning to the company.
“Today I’m so pleased to announce that we have sequels in the works from our animation studios to some of our most popular franchises, ‘Toy Story,’ ‘Frozen’ and ‘Zootopia,’” says Iger. “We’ll have more to share about these productions soon, but this is a great example of how we’re leaning into our unrivaled brands and franchises.”
‘Frozen’ quickly became a household favorite when it premiered in 2013. With Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel as its leads, the sequel ‘Frozen 2’ garnered just as much attention in 2019. It got so popular that the musical version made its way to Disneyland’s Hyperion Theater and later to Broadway. ‘Toy Story’ stars the voices Tom Hanks and Tim Allen as Woody and Buzz Lightyear, becoming a beloved franchise since its debut in 1995. It even expanded its own universe with the release of ‘Lightyear’ in 2022 with Chris Evans as the lead.
The Box Office Success Of ‘Frozen’, ‘Toy Story’, and ‘Zootopia’
This should come as no surprise as all three films have had major success at the box office worldwide. ‘Frozen’ (2013) earned 1.2 billion with its sequel ‘Frozen 2’ (2019) earning 1.4 billion, and both ‘Toy Story 4’ (2019) and ‘Zootopia’ (2016) grossed over one billion.
On top of their financial success, these films have all taken home plenty of awards. ‘Toy Story 3,’ ‘Toy Story 4,’ ‘Frozen,’ and ‘Zootopia’ have all received Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. Frozen’s hit original song “Let It Go” (sung by Broadway superstar Idina Menzel) won Best Original Song at the 2020 Academy Awards.
The animation giant has released plenty of amazing titles such as ‘Luca,’ ‘Raya and the Last Dragon‘ and ‘Encanto,’ which also won Best Animated Feature at the 2022 Academy Awards. However popular, none of these titles were able to achieve the financial success of the aforementioned films.
(L to R) Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) in y Pixar Animation Studios’ ‘Toy Story.’
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But Do We Need More Sequels?
Some may say there’s no need for a sequel to these films but I think, there are plenty of stories left to tell. What type of adventures (or misadventures) can the sisters get into now that Elsa is the Snow Queen and Anna rules as the Queen of Arendelle? How expansive has Zoopotia become since the last film? And while Woody and Buzz may have parted ways (for now), there’s always something that brings the duo back together, plus we all would love to see a post-college Andy.
Those who are craving original stories can look forward to Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ this summer and ‘Wish’ from Walt Disney Animation in the fall.
(L to R) Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nicholas P. “Nick” Wilde (Jason Bateman) in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ ‘Zootopia.’
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While attending with their mother (Allison Janney), Ben’s boyfriend (Karan Soni), and a man Alice meets on the plane (Dustin Milligan), they disrupt Eloise’s dream of a perfect wedding with their family drama.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kristen Bell and Ben Platt about their work on ‘The People We Hate at the Wedding,’ the film’s family dynamics, Paul’s difficult relationship with his mother, and Alice’s estranged relationship with her sister.
Kristen Bell stars in Prime Video’s ‘The People We Hate at the Wedding.’
You can read our full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Kristen Bell, Ben Platt, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, and Dustin Milligan.
Moviefone: To begin with, Kristen, can you talk about Alice’s relationship with her family and could you relate to the family dynamics we see in the movie?
Kristen Bell: My family is very different. I would say that my family is definitely what keeps me grounded. The cool thing about my family is that there’s a few of them, and I’m talking close family members that haven’t seen anything I’ve been in because that is not my relevance to them. I am the little sister. I am not in ‘Frozen’ or in ‘The Good Place.’ They’re like, “Well, you don’t come watch me at work.” It’s not that they don’t love me, that’s not why I’m important to them. So, my family is very different, and I love that about my family.
But what I found so interesting is playing someone that has such a dysfunctional relationship with everyone because of a trauma that she’s experienced, and the fact that she just cannot seem to make her life what she thinks she wants it to be. I think that is very relatable to a lot of people, that stagnancy, that like, “Oh, why did I do that?”
Because the first 20 minutes of this movie, you’re just yelling at my character, “Why would you do that? That’s going to be terrible for you.” There’s something really entertaining, just to put it bluntly, about watching someone make terrible decisions. But we have 90 minutes, so we’re able to give everyone a beautiful arc to be able to realize why family is important.
(L to R) Ben Platt, Allison Janney, and Kristen Bell star in Prime Video’s ‘The People We Hate at the Wedding.’
MF: Ben, can you talk about Paul’s issues with his mother and how that affects his relationship with his boyfriend?
Ben Platt: I think something that a lot of queer people deal with is judging others before they are judged because I think we’re used to a lack of acceptance. I know that many people aren’t as privileged as I have been to have a family that has been fully, openly accepting of who I am.
Unfortunately, in the case of Paul and his mother, it’s such a misplaced anger and a distance that does not need to be there. Thankfully, spoiler alert, but you could probably tell by the vibe of the film, it does turn out okay and they can find each other again.
But I think it almost bonds him to his sister Alice, that Kristen plays, even more so. They have such a special kind of shared language and they really exist on the same wavelength, and theirs is my favorite relationship in the film.
But I think even more so when he feels on the outs with his mother, for the reasons that thankfully he finds are not true, I think he even burrows further into his connection with Alice as his lifeline and someone to commiserate with about it.
(Far L to R) Cynthia Addai-Robinson and Kristen Bell star in Prime Video’s ‘The People We Hate at the Wedding.’
MF: Finally, Kristen, can you talk about the relationship between Alice and her sister Eloise, and why they aren’t as close as they were when they were younger?
KB: I think in a family dynamic it’s very easy, especially when there are three siblings. I come from a family of three siblings and it always seems to be that two have teamed up and one is on the outskirts. Again, like Ben was saying, there’s this misplaced jealousy because of years and years of a lack of communication or miscommunications. I think the overall lesson of this movie was you have to be able to communicate clearly and be vulnerable.
Because there was a lack of vulnerability between these two sisters for such a long time that harbored all this animosity, and so they’re coming at their conflict from two completely different places. It’s just interesting to watch unfold, especially to play the sister that is so jealous of her older sister who seemingly has this perfect life, and everything put together, and everything is so easy.
That’s low hanging fruit to be able to be angry at. But if you really look at the older sister’s life, you realize it might not have been as easy. But those kinds of conversations are hard and thankfully we have them in this movie.
(L to R) Ben Platt and Kristen Bell star in Prime Video’s ‘The People We Hate at the Wedding.’
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Queenpins – directed by Gita Pullapilly & Aron Gaudet
Kristen Bell & Kirby Howell-Baptiste in ‘Queenpins’
Born in South Bend, Indiana, Gita Pullapilly studied finance at University of Notre Dame and later journalism at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University. She met her future husband and creative collaborator Aron Gaudet while producing his documentary ‘The Way We Get By’. The two have collaborated on multiple projects and were jointly appointed Guggenheim Fellows in 2015. ‘Queenpins’ is their second narrative feature film together, following their 2013 festival hit ‘Beneath the Harvest Sky.’
Inspired by a true story, ‘Queenpins’ follows two desperate women, Connie (Kristen Bell) and JoJo (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) who go from extreme couponing to running the largest coupon scam in United States history. When their illicit business grows, a grocery store chain loss prevention officer (Paul Walter Hauser) joins forces with a postal inspector (Vince Vaughn) to take the two women down.
‘Queenpins’ is now playing in select Cinemark Theaters nationwide, and will be available streaming on Paramount+ on September 30.
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Pullapilly and Gaudet talked to Moviefone about their new movie.
Moviefone: Can you talk about your collaboration process?
Gita Pullapilly: We’re married, so…
Aron Gaudet: …we wake up in bed together, and everything we do is basically together.
Pullapilly: Yeah.
Gaudet: When we write, it’s not like we send the script back and forth together. We’re right next to each other. Every word is gone over and agreed upon, going into the script.
Pullapilly: Very much, our work is like marriage therapy. We do a lot to try to heal ourselves from our childhood issues, to be able to get down to a spot where we can write together and direct together and really challenge each other in productive ways, so we can get the best version of that movie out there.
Gaudet: When you talk about collaboration, our entire lives together is a collaboration. Whether it’s our marriage, writing together, directing together, going on a walk together. But, then we love the collaboration with our cast and crew. To open that open and be as collaborative as possible and make everybody feel like they have a stake in it. I feel like that comes from being in such a collaborative person relationship as co-directors, co-writers, spouses.
Pullapilly: I think one thing, when we are writing on our laptop, we have to be open to each other’s ideas. Because that is the first time on a story that Aron and I have to have our perspectives melded together. We have to be open to that, and we have to understand whose idea is the journey we want to go down for whatever that scene is or whatever we’re trying to craft. That’s the first step for us: being open to each other’s ideas. Then, once we are on set, we really own that concept because any idea that is going to make that film the best version of the film is going to be an opportunity for us to make that best version of the movie. Whether it’s from a gaffer or anybody else, we are super excited to hear it because it only means that they are that much more invested in the movie, but also that makes for the better movie.
MF: You came across this story on a coupon blog. How did you fall down that rabbit hole?
Pullapilly: So many stories that are told are optioned very quickly in Hollywood, and we aren’t ever in the position where we can option those, or we just weren’t in on the game earlier enough to have access to them. Much of what Aron and I do is taking deep dives on the internet trying to find stories out there that haven’t been told, need to be told, and are so unique and interesting that they resonate with us in some way. I don’t know how I got on the coupon blog, but I saw three sentences that talked about this “counterfeit coupon caper” and “$40 million” and it happened to have the name of the detective from Arizona in the article. I shared it with Aron, and we thought there was something unique and special here, so we reached out to the detective, and he was fascinating, and we drove to Phoenix to spend more time with him and hear more of the story.
MF: How did Kristen Bell come on board?
Gaudet: Early on, once we had a finished script, she was on a very short list of people that we thought would be right for the role of Connie. We knew that Connie in the movie is a definite go-getter. She’s a former Olympian, and she has a lot of ambition and drive, but also she ends up doing bad things. Kristen when we sat down with her, one of the first things she said was that for some reason even if she’s doing things like committing crimes, audiences still love her doing those things. That was exactly what we needed in Connie. Somebody who had this go-getter mentality, who was extremely likeable even if they were committing crimes and breaking laws.
MF: In the real story was she a racewalker?
Gaudet: No. We really don’t know much about the real women. We took the framework of the coupon scam – what happened, how they did it, and what they did when they made all this money – and then we just completely created characters. That’s why it’s more inspired by the story. The characters are complete creations.
Pullapilly: We wanted the two women to represent so much of what we as women are going through in society today, feeling boxed in and trapped and not being able to find the loopholes to break out and succeed. We felt like to do that, we wanted to create our own characters.
MF: Did you also develop the YouTube aspect of JoJo?
Gaudet: Yeah, as we did a deep dive into the world of coupons and the world of extreme couponing, we would watch just tons of YouTube videos of these extreme couponers. We latched onto a couple that we were really interested in. We would just watch their videos over and over. They would talk you through their stockpile room, or how they clip their coupons and organize them. We started basing JoJo off of some of them. We knew she had to have her YouTube channel and her whole brand going.
Pullapilly: The couponing videos are really fantastic. You can go down a big rabbit hole of watching so many of them because they are so interesting and unique, and then you see all the deals they’re getting, and you’re like wow this is incredible.
MF: I read that 96% of Americans use coupons. Do you know what percentage of that are competitive couponers?
Gaudet: It’s probably a small percentage that do extreme couponing, but as far as using coupons in their lives, yeah it’s a lot. What we realized is it’s really the foundation of the U.S. economy, coupons.
Pullapilly: What we realized is there is the question, is it a need or a want? And that really determines if someone is going to buy something or not. But a coupon eradicates that question.
Gaudet: It tips it to a need.
Pullapilly: It tips it to a need, even though it’s most likely a want.
Gaudet: It puts a ticking clock on it. There’s a whole psychology behind coupons and coupon use, and we were fascinated by all of that. There were stories that we would read like the CEO of JCPenney got rid of coupons and just wanted to do everyday low pricing and almost bankrupted the company. They lost $4 billion dollars because he got rid of coupons. There is that feeling that not everyone is an extreme couponer, but they like the idea that they can get a deal.
MF: Can you talk about the various shooting locations given the COVID protocols?
Gaudet: It was very constricted because twenty-two of our thirty shoot days ended up being on this one campus that is an abandoned health facility. A lot of those locations were really just finding areas on this campus where we could create another location. There are a lot of locations, but it was a lot of movie magic to make it the world during the pandemic. We knew we had to keep people safe and create a bubble to work in, while not sacrificing story. We never wanted it to feel like a movie that was made during the pandemic, but it was a challenge every day to pull that off.
MF: Was the location of their coupon warehouse also on that campus?
Gaudet: Yeah, that’s on that campus as well.
Pullapilly: We had Mexico on that campus. We had Montenegro on that campus. We had the coupon facilities on that campus.
Gaudet: We found every small nook and took advantage of it. We were able to do a couple of days at a grocery store and a day at the airplane hangar. But the heart of the movie was all shot on this one campus.
Pullapilly: I don’t think anyone realized how many different looks we pulled off. Our production designer Jennifer Klide did an incredible job of trying to be as creative with such a limited budget to work with to find ways to make everything look different.
MF: Was Vince Vaughn’s postal inspector character part of the real story?
Gaudet: The true story did involve postal inspectors. This detective in Phoenix had teamed up with postal inspectors. It involved a postal inspector S.W.A.T. team. All of those aspects are true to the story. Then it was us taking a deep dive into postal inspectors, talking with a postal inspector. We were going off of this theme where these two women felt very undervalued and discounted like a coupon, but so do both of the male characters that Paul and Vince play. We realized that they felt undervalued. Within law enforcement, postal inspectors are not held in as high regard, or they’re just not known like the FBI or the CIA. But the reality is, the postal inspectors were the very first law enforcement agency in the history of our country.
Pullapilly: And they’re baddasses. You should see some of the videos online of postal inspectors. They’re incredible.
Gaudet: They took down the Unabomber. They are involved in a lot of big cases because so many crimes involve the mail. It was us realizing that these guys are badass, but they’re not viewed that way, and there is comedy to be had there. Vince’s character comes in justice is very much his core value, but everyone else around him is like, wait, what’s a postal inspector?
MF: Can you recommend another film directed or co-directed by a woman for viewers to seek out?
Pullapilly: I think Kimberly Peirce who directed ‘Boys Don’t Cry,’ is an amazing filmmaker. I think what she did with that movie is spectacular because it opened my eyes to a world I didn’t know before. It was so raw and real that it moved me profoundly and inspired me to want to push the limits of storytelling, to be able to make an impact on the lives of other people. I admire her greatly.
Gaudet: I think what is excited to us is to see somebody like Patty Jenkins who goes from smaller films like we’ve started at, to something like ‘Wonder Woman’ but on her own terms. We’re always looking for directors to admire who do that – go from a smaller budget to a bigger budget, but do it on their own terms and still bring their own vision to it. That’s always inspiring.
Boys Don’t Cry – directed by Kimberly Peirce
Hilary Swank & Chloë Sevigny in ‘Boys Don’t Cry’
Inspired by the brutal murder of Brandon Teena, a trans man living in rural Nebraska, Peirce’s breaktrhough drama received critical acclaim and Hilary Swank won the Oscar win for Best Actress. Although its approach and cisgender casting is dated now, the film was a watershed moment for trans representation in cinema upon its release.
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Monster – directed by Patty Jenkins
Charlize Theron in ‘Monster’
Before breaking records with her pair of Wonder Woman films for DC, Jenkins wrote and directed this powerful drama inspired by the real-life story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos. The film was released to wide-spread critical acclaim, and Charlize Theron won the Oscar for Best Actress for her complex portrayal of Wuornos.
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Surprise, Marshmallows! Hulu’s highly-anticipated revival of “Veronica Mars” has debuted a weekly early.
All eight episodes of Season 4 were slated to premiere on Friday, July 26. But today at San Diego Comic-Con, star Kristen Bell revealed that Hulu had decided to gift fans with an early drop.
Start screaming (and streaming) now.
Bell returns as the snarky, clever titular private investigator gets on the case after a series of bombs are set off in Neptune during spring break. After Veronica is hired by the family of one of the victims, the crime-solving, taser-wielding sleuth is pulled into a mystery that pits the enclave’s wealthy elites against the working class.
“We’re only here because you guys kept watching us,” Bell told the Comic-Con panel’s audience.
She added, “I’ll play Veronica until everyone in Neptune is dead.”
Season 4 also brings back Enrico Colantoni as Keith Mars, Jason Dohring as Logan, Percy Daggs III as Wallace, Francis Capra as Weevil, and Max Greenfield as Leo.
New cast members include J.K. Simmons, Patton Oswalt, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Bell’s “Good Place” co-star).
