Aubrey Plaza in ‘The White Lotus’ season 2. Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO.
The actual plotline for the season remains unknown for now, but if past seasons are anything to go by, it’ll once more see the clientele of a White Lotus resort (this time with Château de La Messardière in Saint-Tropez, France rumored as a main location) dealing with issues of wealth, privilege, dysfunction and, of course, probably a death or two.
Walton Goggins in ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3. Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO.
Helena Bonham Carter and Kumail Nanjiani are among the ‘White Lotus’ Season 4 cast.
Chris Messina, Max Greenfield and more will also show up.
The new series will be set at a French resort.
From the start, creator/showrunner Mike White has been able to command an eclectic, often starry cast for HBO series ‘The White Lotus,’ which spins a murder mystery each season at a different resort from the titular fictional chain.
Michelle Monaghan in ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3. Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO.
The actual plotline for the season remains a mystery for now, but if past seasons are anything to go by, it’ll once more see the clientele of a White Lotus resort (this time reportedly in France) rocked by a suspicious death or two.
With White writing and directing as always, the season will be shooting this year.
(L to R) Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, and Sam Nivola in ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3. Photo: Fabio Lovino/HBO.
Arriving on Prime Video on December 17 is the second season of ‘Fallout’ (one episode will release weekly), the wild and chaotic adaptation of the popular game title.
‘Fallout’ proved to be a hit when it premiered in April last year, and now here comes the next chapter. Can the show continue to bottle the same level of chaotic dystopia, wild dark humor and a surprising level of heart?
On the evidence of the six episodes (of eight total) provided to press to review, the answer is a mixed yes.
Showrunners Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, plus the likes of creative partners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, keep up a similar level of madness as Lucy (Ella Purnell) and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) continue their journey through the wasteland.
The show remains an entertaining watch, though the second season still suffers from some of the issues of the first –– when the narrative focus switches from the main duo (or flashbacks to the Ghoul’s past life as movie star Cooper Howard, wrapped up in the events that led to the dystopian wasteland) –– the interest level does tend to dip.
And that’s despite fun guest turns from the likes of Kumail Nanjiani and someone who has a long ling with voice work in the games that we won’t spoil here.
Visually, the show has lost none of its blend of steampunk/‘Mad Max’-esque charm, and the production values remain high.
Purnell and Goggins continue to be the standouts of the show, the joint beating heart. Some of the new communities they meet along the way certainly entertain and Kyle MacLachlan’s Hank is also great value, experimenting on the poor schlubs at the Vault-Tec building he heads to in Vegas.
On the villainous front (not that there are strict black-and-white sides in this world), Justin Theroux is enjoyably slimy as Robert House, an iconic manipulator from the game.
‘Fallout’s blend of sly satire, raucous action (the series appears to be looking to give Prime Video stablemate ‘The Boys’ a run for its money in terms of heads exploded or otherwise damaged), continues, even if some elements feel repetitive and the storyline’s interest level dips away from the main duo.
The new season picks up in the aftermath of Season One’s epic finale and take audiences along for a journey through the wasteland of the Mojave to the post-apocalyptic city of New Vegas.
Based on one of the greatest video game series of all time, ‘Fallout’ is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have. Two hundred years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind — and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird, and highly violent universe waiting for them.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down in-person with Walton Goggins to talk about his work on the second season of ‘Fallout’, how The Ghoul has changed since season one, what excited the actor about season 2, and if he knows Cooper Howard’s full backstory or if he likes learning about it with the audience.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Goggins, Aaron Moten, Moisés Arias, and series creator Geneva Robertson-Dworet.
MF: To begin with, how has The Ghoul changed since season one and what you were most excited about exploring with the character this season?
Walton Goggins: We pick up where we left off in season one with the Ghoul and with Cooper Howard. Season one begins on this post-apocalyptic road trip across the Mojave Desert heading to New Vegas. He’s traveling with Lucy. He’s able to see her as a human being for the first time. This is the first time he’s been around a person for any length of time and a very long time. She has a different point of view than mine. She’s an optimist. I’m a nihilist. On the other side of this, one of them will win out. Either she’ll become more like me, or I’ll become more like her. The thing that was so challenging that I found myself being resistant to was being vulnerable. It was like the inverse of what I usually get to experience. So that was interesting. You dovetail that in with Cooper Howard, and picking up with him finding out that his wife is a principal architect for the ending of the world, and him realizing that the rug was pulled out from underneath him and the world that he thought existed doesn’t exist and he is living in a world of chaos, and he has no control over it. We get to spend so much more time with Cooper this year, so you really get to see it from his point of view and how that informs The Ghoul. You understand him more predicated on Cooper’s experience.
MF: Finally, how much of Cooper Howards’ backstory do you know at this point? Did the writers tell you his entire history, or do you learn more about the character episode to episode like the audience does?
WG: No, I think it’s changing. I mean, I have a direct pipeline to obviously the writers and to Jonah, and I’ve been invited to sit at the table and to collaborate with shows and movies for a long time now, so I get that extension, that courtesy, if you will. So, we do have those conversations and what that means, what could it mean? Then we’ll have those talks and then it might be what we talked about, or it might be something radically different. But we all are trying to go in the same direction and say something because it’s through Cooper Howard that you experience the world before the bombs dropped. The Ghoul is unique in this world and that all the other factions want to have the world look like they want it to look. The Ghoul, he wants nothing from the world. He just wants to find his family. That’s all.
The second season continues the story set in the wasteland of post-nuclear America and will introduce New Vegas, a major location from the video game ‘Fallout: New Vegas’.
The ‘Very Young Frankenstein’ series is going to pilot.
Zach Galifianakis, Cary Elwes, Kumail Nanjiani and more are in the cast.
It’ll be a prequel to Mel Brooks’ ‘Young Frankenstein’.
We learned back in July that, following the ‘Spaceballs’ sequel movie news, another Mel Brooks movie was getting the follow-up treatment. Or in this case, a TV prequel. ‘Young Frankenstein’ is the Brooks project in question and the new show is ‘Very Young Frankenstein.’
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While we already knew that Taika Waititi is involved (to direct the pilot) alongside two writers from the ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ TV spin-off, Stefani Robinson and Garrett Basch, the cast has also been revealed.
(L to R) Teri Garr, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, and Marty Feldman in ‘Young Frankenstein’. Photo: 20th Century-Fox.
Brooks’ 1974 horror-comedy starred Gene Wilder (who co-wrote the screenplay with the director) as Frederick Frankenstein, grandson of mad scientist Victor Frankenstein –– the younger Frankenstein pronounces the family name as “Fronkensteen,” to distinguish himself from his ancestor, whose unorthodox experiments have brought the American scientist shame.
When Frederick inherits his grandfather’s Transylvania castle, he wants to prove Victor was not insane. Alongside Igor (pronounced as “Eye-gore”), whose grandfather assisted Victor in the lab, the pair attempts to save the muddied Frankenstein name by creating their own monster. What could go wrong?
Gene Wilder in ‘Young Frankenstein’. Photo: 20th Century-Fox.
There are no details as to how the new show will spin off from the movie, but the title suggests turning the clock back to the earlier days of Frederick. Perhaps a college comedy?
None of the freshly–announced cast have character descriptions, so we’ll have to wait for further details –– but Elwes is listed as the star of this one.
When will ‘Very Young Frankenstein’ be on our screens?
The show right now is just a pilot for FX and Hulu, so it’ll need to score a pickup if it’s to go to series. Audiences (and Brooks’ accountant) are no doubt crossing their fingers.
(L to R) Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Gene Wilder, and Teri Garr in ‘Young Frankenstein’. Photo: 20th Century-Fox.
Landing on Disney+ daily across eight days from December 22nd, the second season of Marvel’s Disney+ animated series ‘What If…?’ wraps up the show’s run –– at least for now –– with another set of episodes where several build to a grand, multiverse-hopping finale.
Disney’s Marvel arm has seen something of a renewal this year, between the success of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (even if that film poked plenty of fun at how tired the idea of the multiverse seems these days) and ‘Agatha All Along.’ And now here comes the welcome return of ‘What If…?’ which again blends more stand-alone stories with some clever easter eggs (and in one case, an actual egg) that knit together to spin a bigger tale around Jeffrey Wright’s powerful The Watcher. Who, it turns out, will have to answer for meddling in the affairs of different universes.
Does ‘What If…?’ Season 3 still provide multiversal fun?
In keeping with the previous two seasons, the new run of ‘What If…?’ offers a blend of intriguing possibilities and an overarching spine that only starts to reveal itself towards the end of this final eight episodes. Those who have seen the previous seasons won’t be surprised at what it is building to, though it’s mostly satisfying.
But the pleasure in this show is usually more in the individual episodes, which here run the gamut between the hilarious (one focused on Howard the Duck and his unlikely, but somehow perfect relationship) and the heartbreaking (an epic, dystopian story of what happens with a ‘Black Panther’-associated character following the near destruction of Earth by Tiamut the celestial). Indeed, there is better use of several elements of the ‘Eternals’ than in the movie itself.
Another welcome element, near prescient, given the runaway success of her solo show, is the presence of Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness.
And that’s probably about all we can say on that front, given the extensive embargoes in place on this!
The regular writing team of Matthew Chauncey, Ryan Little and A.C. Bradley are back for the season, and the scripts run the usual gamut of superb to solid. While there isn’t perhaps the knockout winner of, say, last year’s festive episode, there remains a good balance of character interaction and fascinating peeks into unusual corners of the MCU while also blending in some more comics-faithful moments for fans of the printed pages.
Bryan Andrews and Stephan Franck return to direct the episodes and the look of the show continues to evolve in subtle ways. Most of the characters will be instantly recognizable, while others, such as Obadiah Stane (voiced here by Kiff VandenHeuvel rather than Jeff Bridges) might take a moment.
There are the occasionally jarring replacements, but on the whole, it’s a satisfying set of voices. Seth Green is great as usual as Howard the Duck, playing perfectly off the energy of Kat Dennings as Darcy. And kudos to Wright who, when given more to do as the Watcher than simply observe and narrate.
Oh, and you won’t tire of hearing Jackson emote the phrase “Mr. and Mrs.… The Duck.”
It’s also fun to hear the likes of Jason Isaacs –– something of a genre titan thanks to ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Star Wars’ and the DC animated appearances he’s put in –– as a powerful cosmic entity whose voice fairly drips with withering sarcasm.
Though it may not quite hit the highs of last year’s festive season run, Season 3 of ‘What If…?’ certainly has enough pleasures to keep fans happy. And though the big finale feels a little predictable at times, it is definitely enough to leave you wishing the company would commission future seasons, especially given how effective the creative team has been in making compelling narratives fit in sub-30-minute episodes.
‘What If…?’ Season 3 receives 8 out of 10 stars.
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What’s the plot of ‘What If…?’ Season 3?
“What If…?” returns in Season 3 for its culminating adventure through the multiverse.
Watch as classic characters make unexpected choices that will mutate their worlds into spectacular alternate versions of the MCU. The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) will guide viewers as the series traverses new genres, bigger spectacles, and incredible new characters.
Giancarlo Esposito, Kumail Nanjiani, Katie Holmes, and more will show up for Season 2 of the hit Peacock series ‘Poker Face.’
Natasha Lyonne headlines the Emmy-winning mystery series from creator/director Rian Johnson.
Season 1 featured a star-studded cast that included Adrien Brody, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hong Chau, Ron Perlman, Chloe Sevigny, and Ellen Barkin, among others.
Natasha Lyonne will be back as former casino cocktail waitress Charlie Cale for Season 2 of ‘Poker Face,” and this time out she’ll be joined by another spectacular lineup of guest stars on the Peacock mystery series.
Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale in Peacock’s ‘Poker Face.’ Photo by: Karolina Wojtasik/Peacock.
‘Poker Face’ was created by ‘Knives Out’ and ‘The Last Jedi’ writer/director Rian Johnson, who also executive produced the first season, directed three episodes, and wrote two. Johnson will return as executive producer for Season 2, although he hasn’t said whether or not he’s directing or writing again (he’s currently shooting the third ‘Knives Out’ mystery with Daniel Craig).
Lyonne (who directed an episode in Season 1 and will do so again in Season 2) stars as Cale, who has the ability to determine whether someone is lying. She ends up fleeing Las Vegas as a result and heading across the country, where each week she meets different people and ends up getting drawn into a different mystery that she eventually solves.
With all the throat-clearing and reintroductions of ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ behind us, it might be natural to think that ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ could forge ahead into a new story and era with the next generation of paranormal investigators. But no, ‘Frozen Empire’ rounds up a large ensemble of both old and new cast members and gives almost all of them nothing to do, except stand around and spout either tired jokes or even more tiring exposition.
Five films in, this remains a property that is firmly mired in past glories – or, to be exact, the memory of one glorious film that came out 40 years ago. But it’s resoundingly clear that this should never have been a franchise in the first place, and ‘Frozen Empire’ is a hollow example of corporate mandates at their worst. Director/co-writer Gil Kenan (who also co-wrote ‘Afterlife’) and co-writer Jason Reitman (who directed ‘Afterlife’) have no new ideas and nothing to say, and it’s only the work of a handful of the actors that holds – barely – one’s attention.
It’s two years since the events of ‘Afterlife’ and the descendants of Egon Spengler – his daughter Callie (Carrie Coon), her kids Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), along with surrogate dad/scientist Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) – have relocated to New York City and now have taken over the Ghostbusters business, working and living in the old firehouse where the original Ghostbusters did the same.
As for the originals, they continue to do paranormal research at a fully equipped lab financed by Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), with Ray Stentz (Dan Aykroyd) offering advice to the new team and Winston’s staff of engineers working on new and improved equipment.
After an initially promising opening in which we see Phoebe, Callie, Finn, and Gary head out in the Ecto-1 for an energetic pursuit of a Sewer Dragon, ‘Frozen Empire’ settles into an hour and a half of tedium marked by occasional events that may or may not be of interest. Unfortunately, we’re also back to the same old, same old, as some of the damage caused by the Ghostbusters’ efforts in the city puts them in the crosshairs of the OG team’s enemy from back in the day, now-Mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton in a thankless return), who is still determined after all these years to shut the Ghostbusters down.
Meanwhile, a fellow named Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani) wanders into Ray’s bookshop with a bunch of his late grandmother’s relics to sell, including a strange sphere that – as we saw in a prologue set 100 years earlier – has the power to turn both objects and human beings into ice. The sphere certainly generates enough psychic energy to send Ray’s lab equipment into a tizzy, warranting further investigation.
Just what that sphere contains, and what role Nadeem has to play, is unveiled in one stultifying exposition dump after another, although some of it is at least amusingly delivered by Patton Oswalt in a cameo as the Fox Mulder of the New York Public Library (he also works in the basement). At the same time, Phoebe – feeling down and dejected because she’s been benched due to her age – strikes up a relationship with a young teenage ghost (Emily Alyn Lind) that is clearly gay despite the filmmakers straining hard to avoid confirming that fact.
Loads of exposition, endless nods to the past (poor Paul Rudd, who’s actually one of the film’s few bright spots, speaks-sings the famous theme song at one point), and the paper-thin plot at the center of the movie all conspire to make ‘Frozen Empire’ a slog, until we get to the CG-heavy third act battle – complete with column of psychic power emanating upward into the clouds (we thought we’d put that tired visual device behind us).
But none of this is very funny, very entertaining, or compelling to watch, and the mechanics of the plot and overstuffed cast means that most of the actors get little or nothing of importance to do, and often disappear for long stretches. By the end, they all have to come together – including a barely registering Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) – to defeat yet another digitally-created entity from the other side with a murky plan to destroy the world. For most of the running time, however, ‘Frozen Empire’ plods along, with Kenan seemingly unable to draw any life or energy out of this well-worn narrative.
One of the things people appreciated most about ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ was the introduction of its new cast, which also included the Spenglers’ new friends/helpmates Lucky (Celeste O’Connor) and Podcast (Logan Kim). All of them are back, but most of them are sidelined with the exception of Mckenna Grace’s Phoebe. Carrie Coon and Finn Wolfhard are given shockingly little in terms of story or character arc, with Coon looking bored throughout (she’s even sitting and scrolling through her phone in one scene) and Wolfhard literally vanishing from the film for much of its second act.
Grace and Paul Rudd fare better and carry a lot of the film, with Rudd providing his usual effortless charm. Grace is also very good, although she’s given a plot turn late in the movie that makes no sense at all, especially in light of events that follow it. As for the new additions, Nanjiani makes the most out of a thin character but does get most of the funnier lines (and delivers them well), while Oswalt relishes his brief time onscreen and provides his usual caustic presence.
Which brings us to the OG Ghostbusters. Aykroyd plays a more integral part in this story – although he’s more or less Basil Exposition – and manages to come off the best, while Ernie Hudson is just glad to be there and makes sure you know it as he smiles constantly for the camera. He and Aykroyd share a brief moment in which they ponder getting old, but it’s a theme with little potency as it’s never brought up again. As for Murray, he neither has a lot of screen time nor anything meaningful to provide to the story – sadly, Peter Venkman is a shadow of his former self (thankfully, there are no further cameos from the “ghost” of the late Harold Ramis’ Egon). And what happened to Sigourney Weaver’s Dana, glimpsed at the end of the last film?
A headline recently appeared online that asked if ‘Ghostbusters’ could just go back to being one of the great comedies of the 1980s, without the constant corporate mandate to make it into a franchise. We sadly could not agree more at this point. This is a property that’s truly running on fumes, and we’re really not sure if even a blast from a proton pack could reignite it.
‘Ghostbusters’ is like ‘Star Wars’ in a way too – as much as the franchise seems to want to move forward, it always ends up being stuck in the past. While both ‘Afterlife’ and ‘Frozen Empire’ contain little sparks of inspiration – mostly in the casting – the property’s reliance on nostalgia, combined with a lack of fresh narrative ideas or jokes, make ‘Frozen Empire’ a tedious, enervating sit. Let’s not answer the call anymore.
‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ receives 4 out of 10 stars.
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What is the Plot of ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’?
As the descendants of Egon Spengler continue the ghostbustin’ business in New York City with the support of the rest of the original Ghostbusters, a new paranormal menace threatens to put the Big Apple into a deep freeze and unleash a second Ice Age upon the rest of humanity.
Who is in the Cast of ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’?
Kumail Nanjiani in ‘The Big Sick.’ Photo: Amazon Studios.
Preview:
Kumail Nanjiani is the latest addition to ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4.
The series stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez.
Season 4 has just started shooting.
If there’s one thing that ‘Only Murders in the Building’ is known for despite its confounding, twisty murder mysteries, it’s the starry main and guest cast it is always able to attract.
Anchored by a crime-solving trio of amateur sleuth podcasters played by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez. The three are more normally found solving –– and occasionally being falsely implicated in –– murders at the swanky Arconia apartment building in New York where they all live.
What’s the story of ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4?
(L to R) Charles (Steve Martin), Mabel (Selena Gomez) and Oliver (Martin Short) on Hulu’s ‘Only Murders In The Building’. Photo: Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu.
Most details of the plot for the fourth season are themselves a mystery right now, though in keeping with the show’s tradition, the main crime was set up at the end of the third season.
In the finale of the last batch of episodes, we’re re-introduced to Sazz (Jane Lynch) the longtime friend and former stunt double of TV actor Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin).
Sazz warns Charles that she has to talk to him privately, and while she’s waiting in his apartment, she is fatally shot by someone who presumably thought they were murdering Charles. Cue the dramatic sting!
As they try to figure out what Sazz was mixed up in, Season 4 will see our heroes headed to Los Angeles.
Here’s what show co-creator and executive producer John Hoffman told Us Weekly about the new season:
“It is something we haven’t done before. So I’m excited about that. The joy of working on the show is rare and I think everyone working on the show knows that’s rare. So the instinct and inclination is that there’s room here — certainly in what we’re looking at and thinking about for season 4 — to explore something new.”
Who are the new guest stars playing in ‘Only Murders in the Building’?
Meryl Streep as Loretta in Hulu’s ‘Only Murders in the Building.’ Photo by: Patrick Harbron/Hulu.
So far, all we know is that the newcomers will be integral to the story for the new season, but beyond that, only Molly Shannon’s character has been revealed: she’s playing a high-powered Los Angeles businesswoman who gets drawn into the mystery.
Alongside the new faces, Meryl Streep will return as actor Loretta Durkin, who formed a love connection with Martin Short’s Oliver Putnam in Season 3.
Has ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4 started shooting?
Since you ask, yes! The cameras started filming a few days ago, with Steve Martin posting a picture of himself, Short and Gomez relaxing in chairs on set.
When will ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4 be on screens?
Given that it has only just kicked off filming, we won’t expect the show to return until later in the year at the earliest. If it keeps to previous season premiere dates, it may well launch in August.
(L to R) Selena Gomez as Mabel, Martin Short as Oliver and Steve Martin as Charles in Hulu’s ‘Only Murders in the Building.’ Photo: Patrick Harbron/Hulu.
Other Movies Similar to ‘Only Murders in the Building’:
(L to R) Kumail Nanjiani and Elizabeth Banks star in ‘Migration.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down in-person with Kumail Nanjiani and Elizabeth Banks to talk about their work on ‘’Migration,’ their first reaction to Mike White’s script, playing ducks and relating to their characters, Mack and Pam’s relationship, where they would like to travel but have been afraid to, and working with director Benjamin Renner.
This holiday season, Illumination invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, ‘Migration.’
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Nanjiani and Banks, as well as Awkwafina and Keegan-Michael Key.
Moviefone: To begin with, Kumail, what was your first reaction to Mike White’s script about this overprotective duck dad?
Kumail Nanjiani: I thought it was very funny. I thought it was very exciting. There was a lot of thrilling stuff in it, and I was like, “Oh, I would love to play this duck.” I was the duck; the duck is me. I’m scared of outside. That’s exactly who I am. I am this duck. Just as Elizabeth is Pam, I am Mack.
This holiday season, Illumination invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, ‘Migration.’
MF: Elizabeth, what was your reaction to the screenplay, and could you relate to Pam immediately?
Elizabeth Banks: I felt like Mike White had been listening into my conversations with my children. He loves research and he’s sneaky, so he probably was listening in. (Producer) Chris Meledandri called to offer me Pam. He kind of described it, and I was like, “Oh, yeah. I’m going to get this right away.” I hesitate to say woman, but I will just say I related it to being a woman who is looking to break out, who’s been taking care of everybody, and just wants a sunny day where she doesn’t have to worry about anything like, “Is it so hard to want to put my feet in the warm sand?” She’s looking for support from her family, who she does nothing but support all the time. I really felt like, “Wow, women are going to relate to this.”
This holiday season, Illumination invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, ‘Migration.’
MF: This is odd to say about two ducks, but Mack and Pam have a very healthy and loving marriage. Can you talk about that?
EB: Well, we talked about how we’re both longtime married people, and we talked about how this movie wasn’t just about the family. It really is about this couple, and reconnecting, and giving compromise and respect. Giving each other the opportunity to show what the other is capable of, and surprise and grow.
This holiday season, Illumination invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, ‘Migration.’
KN: It’s compromise and communication and learning from each other. All that stuff. I mean, two people make something greater than themselves.
This holiday season, Illumination invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, ‘Migration.’
MF: Kumail, Mack is afraid to travel and leave his home. Is there anywhere in the world that you would love to travel, but have been afraid to, for any reason?
KN: Yeah. I don’t want to say the names of those places. I don’t want to upset any tourism boards. But there are a couple of places I can think of right now that I’d love to go to, but I think it’s just a little bit dangerous. I do love traveling. I like going to other places. Emily (V. Gordon) and I do that a lot, we try. We’re lucky enough that we get to do it if we want to, and we try and leave the country twice a year, not for work. So very lucky that we get to do that because I like all kinds of food. That’s the main reason to go anywhere.
This holiday season, Illumination invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, ‘Migration.’
MF: Finally, Elizabeth, can you talk about the recording process and working with director Benjamin Renner?
EB: Well, he’s so detail oriented. I love that, right? It’s like he’s got an idea about something, and he was good at communicating. Then he also remained open if it was like, “Oh, my gosh. That tickled me. I never thought about it that way.” So, I really felt there was a great back and forth in collaboration. He worked so hard on this movie. It’s so beautiful. We really did not see the finished product until the very end. I mean, those details get laid in so late. I’ve seen it three times and I’m going to take all my nephews.
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What is the plot of ‘Migration’?
The Mallard family is in a bit of rut. While dad Mack (Kumail Nanjiani) is content to keep his family safe paddling around their New England Pond forever, mom Pam (Elizabeth Banks) is eager to shake things up and show their kids—teen son Dax (Caspar Jennings) and duckling daughter Gwen (Tresi Gazal)—the whole wide world. After a migrating duck family alights on their pond with thrilling tales of far-flung places, Pam persuades Mack to embark on a family trip, via New York City, to tropical Jamaica.
As the Mallards make their way south for the winter, their well-laid plans quickly go awry. The experience will inspire them to expand their horizons, open themselves up to new friends and accomplish more than they ever thought possible, while teaching them more about each other—and themselves—than they ever imagined.
This holiday season, Illumination invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, Migration.
