Amanda Seyfried as Nina Winchester in ‘The Housemaid’. Photo: Daniel McFadden/Lionsgate.
Preview:
Amanda Seyfried is attached to star in ‘Skinny Dip.’
It’ll adapt the Carl Hiaasen novel.
Bill Lawrence, Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis are aboard to produce.
When a project has been tried by at least two companies beforehand, you start to wonder whether it’ll ever see the light of day. Yet ‘Skinny Dip,’ adapted from Carl Hiaasen’s novel, is still swimming away in development.
And there is some positive forward movement on this one, as Amanda Seyfried is now attached to star.
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The nascent series currently has a home at Amazon, with ‘Once Upon a Time’ duo Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis aboard to write and executive producer, while Bill Lawrence –– no stranger to Hiaasen’s work following his successful adaptation of the writer’s ‘Bad Monkey’ for Apple –– producing via his Doozer production company.
More on the series’ difficult development journey is lower down the page…
(L to R): Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried in ‘Jennifer’s Body’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Assuming it makes it to screens this time, Seyfried would play Joey Perrone, whose second anniversary didn’t go quite as planned.
She expected earrings, but instead, her marine scientist husband Chaz had alternate plans. After unexpectedly finding herself on the other side of those plans (he pushes her off a cruise liner!), she vows to get revenge.
Teaming up with a disgraced ex-cop, Joey sets out to make Chaz pay.
What has happened with ‘Skinny Dip’ so far?
Michael Keaton in the documentary ‘Clemente’. Photo: Mtuckman Media.
A year later, Quibi took a crack, also to no avail. Then, earlier this year, HBO/Max was developing the series with Horowitz, Kitsis and Lawrence attached, but ultimately passed.
While you might guess Apple would be next up to try its hand (given the Hiaasen/Lawrence/‘Bad Monkey’ history, it has actually landed at Amazon.
(L to R) Mila Kunis and Michael Keaton star in ‘Goodrich’.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis about their work on ‘Goodrich’, Keaton’s first reaction to the screenplay, Kunis’ approach to her character, working together, collaborating on set with director Hallie Meyers-Shyer, and how the movie has similar themes to Keaton’s 1988 classic, ‘Clean and Sober’.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Keaton, Kunis, and director Hallie Meyers-Shyer.
(L to R) Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis in ‘Goodrich’. Photo: Ketchup Entertainment.
Moviefone: To begin with, Michael what was your first reaction to Hallie Meyers-Shyer’s screenplay and playing this character?
Michael Keaton: I knew I was halfway in already once I read it because I thought, “This is really good writing. I just really enjoy this.” I also hadn’t played anything like that for a while, which was not a big stretch as they say. It’s not that terribly far from me. I mean, on one hand, this is totally unlike me for the most part, not that big a deal. After a couple meetings with her, maybe even truthfully, after one meeting with her, I was even more inclined to do it. Then it was a question of is this going to work out in my schedule, and then all those practical things. But being able to shoot in LA was a huge thing for me. I liked what it was about, too. It’s universal and it’s a contemporary comedy/drama. I knew what her taste was like. She has good taste, not just in comedy, not just in movie making, but in life. We were talking about it earlier. She’s very stylish, but in a kind of clean, classic kind of way for a woman her age. She’s young. Normally, that comes later.
MF: Mila, can you talk about Grace’s relationship with her father, the resentment she has and how she masks it from him?
Mila Kunis: I think that that’s one of the things that I found to be the most intriguing about the character was the idea of playing her with, you almost have guilt over the resentment because you have the resentment, but you also know that in this world that your dad was probably busy doing other things and you can’t really hold him accountable for doing the best that he could with what he had at the time, but you can’t argue your own feelings and your end result. So, I love the idea of playing the push and pull of her own wanting to accept the dad for who he is, and still resenting him for who he used to be, even though who he used to be was still a pretty okay guy. He wasn’t that bad. He just wasn’t who she wanted him to be or who she needed him to be. I think sometimes, it’s fun to play characters that have their own set of expectations that aren’t always met.
(L to R) Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis in ‘Goodrich’. Photo: Ketchup Entertainment.
MF: Michael, what was it like working with Mila to create this complicated father and daughter relationship?
Michael Keaton: She played it in a way that she wasn’t, she never, and this is her, too, in life, there’s no element of whining about anything. Everybody has the right to complain and state your case and tell people how you feel. But I grew up in a house where, oh, boy, whining, that wasn’t going to go down too well. And her character and the way she played it, there’s never that sense. She’s the best, this one. She’s just ridiculously down to earth, refreshingly, frankly. It’s fun. Just easy, and a lot of laughs. I always thought it’d be nice to have a daughter. This one would be a great one to have.
MF: Mila, what was it like acting opposite Michael?
Mila Kunis: Every night I would dream about Michael. I was like, “Is he thinking of me the way that I’m thinking of him?” I love working with Michael. Everybody loves working with Michael. Find one person that’s ever going to be like, “Michael’s awful”. Find one. I dare you. It’s not going to happen. One of the loveliest, most fun humans to work with.
‘Goodrich’ director Hallie Meyers-Shyer.
MF: Michael, can you talk about collaborating with director Hallie Meyers-Shyer on set?
Michael Keaton: Hallie makes for a really nice atmosphere. She stayed really calm for this when you think back because that’s a lot of pressure. I think it’s only her second feature. Then you must live up to the “mom and dad” thing, and that’s a lot, and she never really seemed under pressure. Because when you direct a movie, it’s pressure from the time you start until now, and finally going out and promoting it because that’s just life. That’s how it is. But it was never freak out time at all. She’s ridiculously organized.
MF: Mila, what was your experience like working with Hallie?
Mila Kunis: She’s very young. She’s younger than me. But she’s very calm, very cool and she knew what she wanted. Some directors shoot endlessly because they don’t have the movie edited in their head yet, so they don’t really know what they’re going to need. She had the movie edited, so it was all very structured. Her and the DP had everything outlined. When they knew they got it, they got it, and they moved on.
Michael Keaton in ‘Clean and Sober’. Photo: Warner Bros.
MF: Finally, Michael, one of my favorite performances of yours was in ‘Clean and Sober’. While I was watching ‘Goodrich’ it struck me that this is really the other side of that story. Instead of playing someone with an addiction, you are playing the husband of a person dealing with addiction. Did that ever cross your mind and what was it like playing the other side of that?
Michael Keaton: Wow. What a great observation/question. Yeah. Boy, that’s interesting way to look at it. I can’t honestly say. No, I didn’t think of it like that specifically, but I have a fair, everybody these days has an experience with addiction to some degree now. After I did ‘Dopesick’, someone made a statement, I hate to even talk like this, but “It’s the new cancer, everybody’s been touched by it”. It’s like at that point now. So, when I did ‘Clean and Sober’, I did a lot of research and asked a lot and had seen it. My grandfather, my mom’s mom was an alcoholic. So, I didn’t think about it like that, but how it affects families, or addiction, and how easily it happens now, and how you deal with that. This guy, by the way, what I loved about the beginning is how for a person living today, how clueless he kind of was about it. How does a guy not go, “Whoa, I think we might have a problem here”. It was just right over his head. He never saw it. I mean, dark is often funny. It’s dark, but kind of fun. I love that scene, and I just watched it recently when I was watching the trailer, where I immediately call (Mila’s character) being kind of a baby in a way if you ask me, depending on her again, going to her again. She’s going, “How could you have not seen this?” She’s probably been watching it for years going, “Oh, boy, there’s a problem”. Sometimes I love stupid people. That’s another thing I like to play because it’s easy for me to play stupid.
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What is the plot of ‘Goodrich’?
After his younger second wife (Laura Benanti) leaves him and enters a 90-day rehab program, Los Angeles art dealer Andy Goodrich (Michael Keaton) seeks out his adult pregnant daughter Grace (Mila Kunis) for help with raising his nine-year-old twins.
‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ opened huge at the US box office.
It made $ $145.4 million globally.
Elsewhere, the box office was quiet.
Audiences flocking to theaters to see Tim Burton and Michael Keaton’s return to the weird ‘Beetlejuice’ world they created in 1988 clearly invoked the ghost with the most, as the sequel ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ has wound up doing huge business at the box office.
The new movie launched in 4,575 theaters and rustled up a massive $110 million in its opening weekend.
And overseas, it debuted with $35.4 million, for a worldwide total of $145.4 million.
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How does ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ shape up in release terms?
‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ has become the second-highest September opening –– and studio Warner Bros. will be happy, as it is slipping in between the two ‘It’ movies. The original, 2017’s ‘It’, earned $123 million, while sequel ‘It: Chapter 2’ took in $92 million.
It was the latest success story for a summer season that has seen some big hits but had been lagging some in the last couple of weeks as it closed out.
This sequel picks up the story of the Deetz family –– Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz and Catherine O’Hara as step-mom Delia, with Jenna Ortega joining as Lydia’s daughter Astrid –– suffers more trouble from “bio-exorcist” Beetlejuice (Keaton), who still has designs on Lydia.
Though it was more of a small-scale release, the original “Beetlejuice” built across several weeks became one of the highest-grossing movies of 1988 with $74.7 million and later inspired a Tony-nominated Broadway musical, which is still touring the country.
The cult appeal of that first film clearly helped drive interest in the new one, despite it arriving 36 years later.
What else happened at the box office this weekend?
While Burton’s sequel was grabbing plenty of business, only one other movie was a new release, and nothing else in the charts did particularly well.
A24 put horror thriller ‘The Front Room’ into 2,095 theaters, but it launched at 10th place with $1,663,954.
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ slipped back to second and earned $7.2 million. The superhero buddy comedy doesn’t have to worry too much, though, as that was from its seventh weekend in release, a miracle in itself given how short release windows tend to be these days.
Not forgetting the fact that it has now made $614 million domestically and $1.287 billion globally. It’s the second-biggest movie of the year and 23rd largest of all time.
Dennis Quaid-starring biopic ‘Reagan’ clung to third place, making $5.2 million, ahead of fellow holdovers ‘Alien: Romulus’ ($3.9 million) and ‘It Ends With Us,’ which took in $3.7 million.
Tim Burton directs a screenplay written by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar, and together the three bring us a true love letter to not only the original film but also to it’s fans. Scene by scene, frame by frame it is like watching the inner workings of Burton’s imagination come to life. The attention to detail of every moment was like watching a perfect Burton symphony play out on the screen and is undoubtedly why his work has become almost it’s own genre of magic. While some may find few scenes odd or misplaced, I found them to be in true Burton nature completely unexpected and fun.
While the initial trailer left most fans feeling more than unsure, the second gave us a much closer look at what you can expect from the film. If you haven’t seen either, the film follows three generations of the Deetz family as they return home to Winter River following an unexpected tragedy and loss. Still haunted by Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), Lydia’s (Winona Ryder) life is turned upside down by her rebellious daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who’s discovered the model of the town in the attic and soon the portal to the afterlife is opened again. Not only does our favorite mischievous demon return but trouble starts brewing in both realms for more than one Deetz daughter.
We find Lydia still questioning wether the living and dead can co-exist only with a new partner in tow Rory (Justin Theroux) who lets just say makes some seriously questionable choices all while trying to convince Lydia he’s not only the best choice as her manager but her possible husband. Beetlejuice is no longer searching the ad section for new work but has never quite let go of the “love of his life” Lydia and still dreams of becoming her husband. But thanks to a bit of what one could only call an origin story moment, we are introduced to a serious supernatural force who well can’t be reckoned with, Delores (Monica Bellucci), who brings a whole knew meaning to the phrase “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
Masterfully directed by Burton, the sequel 35 years in the making comes together with an ease and excitement that only a true Beetlejuice lover could have brought to life. His love for the characters both new and old shines through each performance and shows that he was asking all the same questions the fans were, what would two of the most iconic characters in film lives look like 35 years later? Burton didn’t just revisit these characters, with the help of great story telling he gave them more depth, love and quirk letting the spirit of the original shine through, something I believe only he could do with the gravitas a sequel of this caliber needed.
The film delivers on every aspect if you’re looking for the ‘Beetlejuice’ experience, which in essence is a zany ride full of outlandish characters and a story that has as much fun with knowing what moments are tongue in cheek while allowing there to be room for great storylines full of heart. There are no other films or characters that give a breathe of life into something the way that ‘Beetlejuice’ has. From the afterlife waiting room to the dining room table the original gave us something to remember forever and it’s sequel hits the same marks.
There is without a doubt not one weak link in terms of the cast for the entire film, well unless you count the shark bite victim in the waiting room, but we’ll let you decide on that one yourselves. Michael Keaton’s performance gave viewers an even better version of Beetlejuice, if that’s at all possible, with moments that will have you in tears from laughter and seeing a new side to the character that I found a little unexpected and absolutely heartwarming.
Keaton delivers in every way and gave fans that wow factor that made us all fall in love with Beetlejuice 35 years ago. Delia (Catherine O’Hara) and Lydia’s relationship has completely changed, now that Lydia is a parent herself, giving fans of the original even more depth to two already complex women who we never thought we’d ever see work together.
The relationship between Lydia and her daughter Astrid is like watching history repeat itself in the best way possible having Jenna Ortega bring the extreme sarcasm the world fell in love with from her roll of Wednesday. It allowed Ryder to show the audience a new sense of who Lydia has become and what parenting must be like when you can talk to ghosts.The characters of the afterlife are probably the most fun to watch, especially Bob and Jeff Shrinker who fans will adore.
Willem Dafoe’s character of Wolf Jackson, a cop who was an actor when he was alive who most likely did some very B list action movies, might be a little confused if you told him he wasn’t still the star of the show. Bellucci’s Delores is completely unforgettable as the most glamorous woman on a mission to do whatever it takes to get back her man, and her performance of her character becoming fully animated should be applauded.
The stand out performance for me hands down was that of Justin Theroux as Rory. Waiving every red flag possible, it was Rory’s world and everyone else was just living in it. He may not be the most complex man, but he took himself very seriously. Theroux’s ability to take a character so out of the wheelhouse from what fans have come to expect was a thrilling experience to watch. He gave a character who most of us would probably hate this undeniable spirit that was a welcomed addition to a cast of beloved characters. ,
If what you loved about the original was its quirky and campy, without feeling silly, look at the wild world of the afterlife and its crazy characters bleeding into daily life. Or even its slight gore within a story that’s told full of heart than ‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’ will be as beloved to you as was the original. With stand out performances that will bring you to tears from laughter and unexpected moments full of choices you’d never expect, the film will take you on an enjoyable albeit an insane ride full of fun. It will also give you some very very Burton moments, checking boxes of all the things that make Tim Burton spectacular.
‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ receives 9.5 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’?
36 years after the events of ‘Beetlejuice’, the Deetz family returns home to Winter River after Charles Deetz’s unexpected death. Lydia’s (Winona Ryder) life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened, releasing Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton).
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down in-person in New York with Monica Bellucci and Justin Theroux to talk about their work on ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’, their first reaction to the screenplay, their new characters, working with Michael Keaton in his signature role, collaborating on the set with Tim Burton, and why they are excited for fans to finally see the film.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews.
Moviefone: To begin with, Justin, what was your first reaction when you read the script?
Justin Theroux: I was blown away. You’re always sort of nervous when there’s such a beloved movie, and then you’re hearing that there’s a beloved sequel hopefully being made, or hopefully beloved. I had some conversations with Tim. He sent me the script. I read it, and I was like, “Oh, this is perfect. This is going to be good,” knowing what he’s done in the past.
MF: What can you tell us about your character and his role in the story?
JT: He is obviously the love interest to Lydia. He’s sort of a competing rival for affections with Beetlejuice, I guess. It’s sort of a love triangle. He’s just a shallow narcissist who has, I think, kind of hoodwinked Lydia initially into thinking that he’s a great guy, and he is not.
MF: Monica, what can you say about your character and the role she plays in the movie?
Monica Bellucci: Dolores is a creature. She’s a soul sucking demon in the afterlife. While Beetlejuice hunts everybody, she hunts him and she’s the bride of Beetlejuice. They had a short and intense love story that ended very badly in death. When she wakes up in the afterlife full of rage and desperation and obsessed with vengeance, she puts herself together. We’ll see how in a scene that is almost like a horror dancing scene. It took two or three days to film this moment, and I had to learn an entire choreography. I felt a bit like a mime because this role is very much about body language. So, I played like a broken doll, and it was so much fun, I have to say.
MF: What is it like being on a Tim Burton set and watching him execute his unique vision for this project?
MB: I mean, everything was already in his mind because he came to me and he said, “I have a key role in this film for which I thought about you.” So, I was very happy to accept it and to play it. Tim is so precise. He knows what he wants, and his creative energy is really inspiring for everybody. He loves to draw, so there are always drawings of situations and characters, and this is very helpful. Also, to go on these beautiful sets and to wear those amazing costumes by Colleen Atwood. Also, I had three hours of makeup every day, but I did this with pleasure and with passion. When I saw the movie, I was so shocked because, even though I knew everything, I knew the script, but the impact was so incredible because the film is unpredictable and so shocking and funny and full of emotion as well.
MF: Justin, what was your experience like working with Tim Burton?
JT: It’s a thrill when you have someone that’s as creative as him. He’s a genius, which is thrown around a lot for people and undeservedly. He genuinely is a genius. When you watch the way in which he, like a good conductor, just orchestrates all the instruments that are going into making a scene, and then obviously the film at large, it’s just so impressive. It’s sort of the shortest distance between the artist and the product, and I hate that word product, but the result. It’s whatever is on film is the shortest distance between his brain and the film, I guess is how I would say it.
MF: Monica, what are you most excited for fans to see in this new sequel?
MB: Oh, we can say that this new ‘Beetlejuice’, maybe it goes farther in visuals and maybe it’s a bit scarier.
MF: Justin, do you have a favorite moment in the movie that you are excited for fans to see?
JT: The movie. I mean, the movie itself I think is a home run. I think it’s a wonderfully executed film. Also, the filmmaking. I know that that sounds maybe obvious, but I think the filmmaking is so good. There are these big swings that Tim took that you do not find in many big studio movies that show a real level of artistry that’s on another tier. But I’m excited for people to see the ending. I think it’s such a poignant and touching ending, which you could take in so many ways and goes in so many different directions and is just so touching. The fourth wall gets broken a little bit where you go, “Is this Tim telling us something? Or is this his take on life? What is he saying?” I’ve only seen the film once, and I look forward to seeing it again so I can break that scene apart again in my head.
MF: Finally, Justin, what was it like working with Michael Keaton in his signature role as Beetlejuice and did you feel any pressure working with members of the original cast?
JT: I adored that (original) movie. I’ve known Winona for a bit, and I’m an enormous fan of Catherine O’Hara and Willem (Dafoe) and all the rest. I think Michael was the one that I was most intimidated to work with because he has some of the heaviest lifting to do just as far as energy and speed. So, it’s a fine line between playing in a scene with him and just wanting to get out of the way. So, my instinct a lot of times was like, “Just get out of the way. Let him do his thing.” But then you also must participate in it as well. It was great though. He was such a joy to work with.
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What is the plot of ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’?
36 years after the events of ‘Beetlejuice’, the Deetz family returns home to Winter River after Charles Deetz’s unexpected death. Lydia’s (Winona Ryder) life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened, releasing Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton).
Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” performance was a highlight.
After some rougher Oscar nights (slaps, snubs and that brave but ultimately disappointing low key pandemic version), 2024 very much represented a return to form for Hollywood’s Most Glittering Night™.
True, it got off to a controversial (and late) start when protestors advocating for a cease fire between Israel and Gaza disrupted attendees’ access to the Kodak Theater, but once the show was actually underway, it became something that most attendees and viewers recognized as a classic Academy Awards, for good and ill.
There were your typical annoyances –– many below-the-line craftspeople being played off far too soon by an orchestra who looked for all the world like they were in some sort of science fiction vessel. Some of the comedy banter fell flat. Not everything worked.
But for all the issues, there was an awful lot to like about the show, so we’ve rounded up some memorable moments…
In the sort of performance that would bring a smile to musical number specialist Busby Berkeley’s face, Ryan Gosling’s much-mooted performance of “I’m Just Ken” from ‘Barbie’ proved to be just as much of a showstopper as we’d all hoped it would be.
Kicking off in the audience as Gosling rose to start singing, he passed a charmed and giggling Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie –– who got in on singing along –– while amusing the likes of Emily Blunt and then the whole audience as he reached the stage and started a big production number of the song, complete with cutout cardboard Barbie heads and some of the movie’s other Kens (Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir among them), Guns N’ Roses’ Slash on guitar, plus a plethora of dancers joining him on stage for a memorable and hilarious highlight.
“I’m Just Ken” might not have won its Oscar (‘Barbie’s “What Was I Made For?” took the movie’s only award in that same category), but it won the night.
Presenting Best Costume Design, John Cena proved he’s easily among the most charismatic wrestlers-turned-actors out there, and even more adaptable than Dwayne Johnson. With Jimmy Kimmel cueing up talking of a streaker (one of the most infamous moments of Oscars past), there was a moment where it appeared Cena was having second thoughts about the comedy bit they’d come up with for him to present naked.
But nope, he arrived on stage in the buff (though reportedly with a modesty sling to hide things that can’t be shown on TV outside of HBO etc.), covering himself with the sealed Oscar envelope for the category. All in all, a moment of naked hilarity.
All right, so Emma Stone’s Best Actress triumph for her role in ‘Poor Things’ wasn’t a complete surprise; after all, she’d scooped other trophies. But following ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’s Lily Gladstone scoring the Screen Actors Guild award, the tide had turned in the native’s favor.
Still, it was Stone going on stage, seemingly shocked (did she have Gladstone on her Oscar ballot like many others?), making a heartfelt speech in which she praised her fellow nominees, thanked ‘Poor Things’ director Yorgos Lanthimos and even joked that her dressed, which had broken, had been ripped by her laughing at Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” performance.
Jimmy Kimmel must have been sweating when Al Pacino, tasked with announcing the Best Picture category, abruptly skipped right past the traditional stage of listing the nominees and went straight to opening the envelope, like a child who can’t wait to tear into their Christmas present. “Here it comes… and my eyes see ‘Oppenheimer‘”.
Unlike “Moonlight-gate”, where Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty mistakenly announced ‘La La Land’ as Best Picture over actual victor ‘Moonlight’ in 2017 (Kimmel’s first hosting gig), Pacino had it right, Christopher Nolan’s movie capping a successful night where it picked up seven gongs. But in skipping over the nominees, Pacino certainly didn’t make for a highlight.
Old friends (and ‘Twins’ co-stars) Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito reunited for the second time this year (after their State Farm Super Bowl commercial) for a funny bit where they talked about playing Batman villains.
The highlight, DeVito pointed out Michael Keaton, the most famous of the movie Batman actors, who gamely played along, putting up his dukes as DeVito promised to start a fight after the Governor’s Ball. The only way it could have gone better is if George Clooney had shown up, since he was Schwarzenegger’s Bat-opponent.
Cue the classic, bombastic theme tune! ‘Godzilla: Minus One’, whose producers originally didn’t intend to submit for the Oscars as they didn’t think the film stood a chance of winning, actually went home with Best Visual effects.
The team showed up wearing custom Godzilla shoes and carrying adorable gold statuettes shaped like the classic character. Could the giant lizard himself have shown up to collect? We doubt the Kodak Theater could have accommodated him, sadly.
This year’s show brought back a segment that had been tried a few years ago where former winners paid tribute to current nominees. Nicolas Cage (who won in 1995 for ‘Leaving Las Vegas’) was enthusiastic in his praise for ‘The Holdovers’ Paul Giamatti, impressed with his dedication to wearing a false eye for his role as grouchy teacher Paul Hunham. “Would I have done that? Hell yes!” Cage said, going on to call Giamatti “brilliant”. The actor didn’t end up winning the trophy (‘Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy took Best Actor) but he must have felt like a winner in that moment.
(Left) Tim Burton attends the world premiere of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ on November 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix. (Right) Nicolas Cage in ‘The Flash.’ Photo: Warner Bros.
In that talk about ‘Beetlejuice’, he also covered the use of AI to create Burton-esque versions of Disney characters. He’s not, as you might suspect, a fan. And he referenced the technology again in an interview with the British Film Institute that touched on one of his great unmade movies, ‘Superman Lives’
Nicolas Cage as Superman in the documentary ‘The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?’
In 1998, Burton was getting ready to shoot a new version of Superman called ‘Superman Lives’ with Nicolas Cage as the Man of Steel. The director had spent two years in extensive pre-production and had gotten to the point of shooting tests of Cage in character in his suit (images of which didn’t officially emerge until 2009) when studio Warner Bros. pulled the plug on the movie due to creative differences.
“Tim Burton is a genius. He’s a great artist, and I’m sure he would have done something really magnificent with the story of Superman, and I knew I was going to go towards something quite unique and different than anything you’ve seen with Superman, but having said that, in a way it was a win-win for me that it didn’t work out, because the power of the imagination allows you to imagine what that might have been like. That might be even more powerful than the finished product, so I think it worked out.”
And for Burton, he has no regrets about the failed project, as he revealed in the BFI piece:
“I will say this: when you work that long on a project and it doesn’t happen, it affects you for the rest of your life. Because you get passionate about things, and each thing is an unknown journey, and it wasn’t there yet. But it’s one of those experiences that never leaves you, a little bit.”
That said, he’s not pleased that a version of Cage’s Superman –– played by the actor himself –– showed up in ‘The Flash’s big, climactic parallel worlds-collide scene.
Burton on the use of Cage’s Superman in ‘The Flash’
The big scene, which used a mo-capped Cage briefly shown, also has CG versions of classic Superman and Flash characters, such as Christopher Reeves’ Supes and Helen Slater as Supergirl, forms part of a moment where the boundaries between realities start breaking down when Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen tries to change the space-time continuum.
You get the feeling Burton would want to wind time back and stop the decision to have Cage appear…
“This is why I think I’m over it with the studio. They can take what you did, ‘Batman‘ or whatever, and culturally misappropriate it, or whatever you want to call it. Even though you’re a slave of Disney or Warner Brothers, they can do whatever they want. So, in my latter years of life, I’m in quiet revolt against all this.”
Still: ‘Beetlejuice 2’, coming next year from (checks notes) Warner Bros. And then there’s ‘Wednesday’ Season 2, from (checks other notes) Netflix.
(Left) ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ director James Wan at CinemaCon 2022. Photos by Eric Charbonneau. (Right) Jason Momoa on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ Photo courtesy of Jason Momoa’s Instagram account.
Following the huge, $1 billion-plus success of the first ‘Aquaman’ movie, a sequel was pretty much a given. ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ originally shot in 2021, but since then has been through all manner of changes, both in terms of release date and footage.
Yet despite several stories about issues behind the scenes, director James Wan has now opened up about the process, clearing up rumors and debunking some, while admitting it has been a challenge getting the movie to this point?
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What’s the story of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’?
Jason Momoa on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ Photo courtesy of Jason Momoa’s Instagram account.
In the previous movie, Aquaman, AKA Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) embraced his destiny as a leader of Atlantis and thwarted the devious schemes of half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson).
For ‘Lost Kingdom’, the feuding siblings form an uneasy partnership to take on another of the first film’s big bads, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta, a vengeance-seeking and now hugely powerful supervillain in possession of the Black Trident, which gives him the ability to command an ancient evil.
James Wan on whether Batman is in ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’
(L to R) Ben Affleck and Jason Momoa on the set of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.’ Photo courtesy of Jason Momoa’s Instagram account.
Originally planned to surface in theaters last December, the ‘Aquaman’ sequel has seen several different release dates and is also caught up in the end of the DC Extended Universe (and the shift to James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new plans).
The change in arrival dates also meant Wan and co. had to work to figure out cameos and more so as to fit into the storyline following ‘The Flash’.
A big part of that is which version of Batman would appear in the film (if at all), with scenes shot featuring either Michael Keaton’s take (as returned to screens in ‘The Flash’) or Ben Affleck.
“The tricky thing early on was not knowing whether ‘Aquaman’ would come out first or come out after ‘The Flash’. So, we just had to be prepared. At the end of the day, the best thing I would say about this movie is that it is not connected in any way to any of those films.”
He won’t be drawn on whether Batman actually shows up, preferring to go no comment on that front.
The chatter about additional photography has also been a big part of the rumor sphere, but Wan is quick to explain…
“We have big actors in this movie, and everyone’s schedule is really hard. So, we had to break up our shooting schedule into sections. We’ll shoot a bit here now, because this actor’s available, and then we’ll do another shoot now, because this guy’s available. People are like, ‘Oh, they’re doing a whole bunch of different shoots!’ No. If we actually combined them all together, it’s actually not that many number of days at all.”
Wan on Amber Heard’s claims that her role as Mera was “pared down”
Amber Heard in 2010’s ‘The Ward.’
Amber Heard, who plays Atlantean warrior Mera in the first movie and returns for the second, made comments in 2022 that she felt her role in the new movie felt “pared down”.
But for Wan, it was simply a case of David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick’s script focusing on a different dynamic this time:
“I always pitched this to everyone from the get-go. The first Aquaman was Arthur and Mera’s journey. The second movie was always going to be Arthur and Orm. So, the first was a romance action-adventure movie, the second one is a bromance action-adventure movie. We’ll leave it at that.”
You’ll get your chance to see more of the movie when the first trailer arrives online tomorrow. For now, check out the teaser below:
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‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ will be in theaters –– hopefully –– on December 20th.
‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ is produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, Atomic Monster, The Safran Company, and DC Films. The movie is scheduled to release in theaters on December 20th, 2023.
Tim Burton attends the world premiere of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ on November 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Netflix.
It’s hard to avoid the biggest story in entertainment right now –– the fact that obstinate studios refuse to offer decent deals to writers and actors so that they might be able to earn a fair living, which has resulted in strikes by the unions.
One of the movies affected by the industrial action, which has effectively brought production in Hollywood and by the bigger companies (some independents have waivers to continue work). And that includes the long-awaited ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel, ‘Beetlejuice 2,’ being overseen by director Tim Burton.
According to a new interview with the filmmaker in UK newspaper Independent, he was achingly close to finishing the movie when the shutdown occurred.
“I feel grateful we got what we got. Literally, it was a day and a half. We know what we have to do. It is 99% done.”
And he’s sorry to have had to stop working on it, since it was giving him a chance to have fun making a movie:
“I really enjoyed it. I tried to strip everything and go back to the basics of working with good people and actors and puppets. It was kind of like going back to why I liked making movies.”
(L to R) Jenna Ortega and Tim Burton attend the world premiere of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ on November 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
Little has been officially announced about the movie, which has a script credited to Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Mike Vukadinovich, but it will catch up with the family of Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz, who now has a daughter (played by ‘Wednesday’s Jenna Ortega’), with her stepmother, Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara) also involved.
And, of course, it’ll see the return Michael Keaton’s “bio-exorcist”, a chaotic ghost who specializes in ridding houses of living beings, and who caused so much trouble for Lydia in the 1988 original.
“At its heart ‘Beetlejuice 2’ is a story about a family. And now it’s 30 years later and what are the intricacies and the human condition in keeping a family together all that time set in the craziest world possible?”
Worries about artificial intelligence being used as a way to replace creative humans is a core issue of the strikes. And it’s something that Burton himself is not too keen on either.
A Buzzfeed article used the technology to imagine creepy Burton versions of classic Disney characters such as Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. The director admits that some were “very good”, but still doesn’t like the idea.
This was Burton’s take:
“I can’t describe the feeling it gives you. It reminded me of when other cultures say, ‘Don’t take my picture because it is taking away your soul. What it does is it sucks something from you. It takes something from your soul or psyche; that is very disturbing, especially if it has to do with you. It’s like a robot taking your humanity, your soul.”
Assuming it can be finished in time, ‘Beetlejuice 2’ is scheduled to be released on September 6th, 2024.
Tim Burton attends the world premiere of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ on November 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
The three-part original documentary series ‘Superpowered: The DC Story’ premieres July 20th on Max.
Premiering on Max July 20th is the three-part original documentary series ‘Superpowered: The DC Story,’ which examines the history and impact of DC Comics. The series was co-directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks (‘100 Years of Warner Bros.’) and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Mark Catalena (‘Johnny Carson: King of Late Night‘), and was narrated by Rosario Dawson (‘Ahsoka’).
What is ‘Superpowered: The DC Story’ about?
‘Superpowered: The DC Story’ takes an unprecedented look at the enduring and influential legacy of DC, allowing fans to rediscover the universe of characters, as well as the iconic comic book company’s origins, its evolution and its nearly nine-decade cultural impact across every artistic medium. The series features a wealth of interviews with the industry’s most prolific creators and the actors who bring their iconic characters from the page to the screen.
Gal Gadot in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with co-directors Leslie Iwerks and Mark Catalena about their work on ‘Superpowered: The DC Story,’ making it different from past documentaries about DC, focusing on the good and the bad, what they learned that surprised them, the unique structure of the series, fitting the 90-year history into three episodes, assembling the interview and archival footage, and the importance of diversity in comics.
(Left) Co-directors Leslie Iwerks and (Right) co-director Mark Catalena of the three-part original documentary series ‘Superpowered: The DC Story’ which premieres July 20th on Max.
Moviefone: To begin with, there have been several documentaries about the history of DC Comics in the past, how did you approach making this series different from previous DC documentaries?
Leslie Iwerks: So I think when Warner Bros. came to me to do the DC series and also the ‘100 Years of Warner Brothers,’ they were really inspired by ‘The Imagineering Story’ at Disney for Disney+, and said, “We’d love to have you do an approach for DC that’s very similar to what you did for Disney, in that it was warts and all. Tell the story as is. Be honest. Come at it with your own take on DC through time and where the pitfalls were and where the highs were.” We basically had various layers that we weaved in, which was the artist’s story and the personal stories of the artists, but then also the business story, the competition story, the character story, and then the culture story of what’s going on out in the culture that’s influencing these comics and vice versa. So we had to weave those layers like an onion together. Then early on we talked with HBO, and it was important to them and us to basically not tell this in a totally straight chronological way, but be able to flash forward and flashback so that we could remind the audience that this is present, that these characters still live and breathe today in a different form, but this is the beginning of it. So Mark worked with our graphic designer who I thought did a really great take of this time scroller through the years to sort of remind us of, hey, we’re going back. It wasn’t always like this, or here it is today. So it was challenging to always know which one do we flash forward to and why? What’s the theme there and what’s the point of it? It was like a big puzzle.
Mark Catalena: I just wanted to add one thing to what you were saying earlier, Leslie. I think the other organizing principle for us, is that we wanted to come at it from an inspiration point of view. These are people, these are creators, from their point of view, that at some point during their life, they had a revelation, looking at a DC comic, or watching a cartoon. Something hit them hard to make them want to dedicate their lives to working in this industry and then filter that back out through their experience to inspire the next generation. So I think we wanted to really come at it from, why are these people passionate? How are they passionate? Trying to find the emotion that hit them and then dedicated their lives moving forward. We wanted to make it accessible to people. There are a lot of casual fans out there who know this more through maybe cartoons or movies, but it was important to us to say, look, that might be the entry point, but we want to show you where this all came from. We wanted to have them appreciate the source material, like 90 years of comic books. So I think that was one of our main goals, to approach it that way.
Jim Lee in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: It seems like Warner Bros. gave you a lot of freedom to tell the story that you wanted and to be able to include the bad with the good. Was there anything that you discovered that you decided not to include for any reason?
LI: That’s a good question. I think, for the most part, we felt like what we included was the most relevant to the overall story we were trying to tell. Whatever subject we do, whether it be Disney and Imagineering or Warner Brothers and DC, you look at the scope of these histories and you go, there’s so many little dramas and infighting that can happen within an artist or a studio or anything. But you have to pick and choose what are the ones that really are going to matter in the scheme of the entire scope of the storytelling, the years, the span of the years? What are the things that are the big turning points versus just little infighting. Those are the things that the media might like to cover. But for something that’s a real timestamp of history and a piece that’s going to sit on a server on a streaming service for a long time, we want to make sure that we’re really hitting the most important things.
MC: I think the other thing is we wanted to not have story points feel repetitive. A creator and a corporate entity, their relationship and the creative tension, that’s a never ending battle, through any creative industry. So I feel like we’re like, let’s pick the one that’s emblematic of that. Let’s focus on it but we don’t have to hit it every single time it happens because it still happens. I don’t think that’s anything new, and I don’t think that’s necessarily something the audience wants to just keep seeing. It would get boring after a while. So I think we approached every story beat in that way of like, when did it really matter? Let’s focus on that one specific, and that’s emblematic of all of the circumstances, all the occurrences.
Dwayne Johnson in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: The series includes low points in DC history like the poor treatment of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, lack of diversity and representation, and the financial failures of movies like ‘Justice League’ and ‘Black Adam.’ Was there anything that the studio asked you to not include?
MC: Look, I think there are always sensitivities around companies’ histories. I think we just wanted to approach it in a very matter of fact way and not editorialize, and basically just tell the truth, tell it neutrally and move on. I think the larger point that we kept going back to was, look, each one of these story points could have been its own documentary. It’s huge, it’s deep, it’s rabbit holes that you can fall into. We wanted to stay on the level of the scope. I think when you look at it as a whole, there’s only so much time you can really bring things up. So we’re constantly trying to think, okay, what does that add to the larger story? We would’ve liked to include a lot of stuff, but things just naturally fall away when you keep your eye on that big picture.
MF: With over 90-years of comics, movies and TV shows, there’s a lot of history to fit in and it seemed like almost everything DC has ever produced was represented in the series. Can you talk about the challenges of trying to fit everything in?
LI: I think it’s hard to acknowledge everything, and I don’t think you ever can. I think what we try to do is put things in there that are quick, perhaps, if we can’t go into coverage on them. We at least acknowledge them briefly, or they’re in the background or they’re in a montage or something, so that we can at least say we’ve acknowledged it, but we don’t necessarily have to stop, otherwise it would just become a long, rambling story. So again, it is just choosing your battles.
Mark Waid in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: As a comic book fan, I know legendary names like Alex Ross, Mark Waid, and Keith Giffen, but a lot of people watching the series may not. Can you talk about the importance of highlighting the comic book creators with this series?
MC: I agree. They’re not household names. I think a large part of it though was, it’s more about what do they represent, and it’s more of their emotion and passion towards this subject that we wanted to come through. We didn’t necessarily plan to say, you need to know Mark Waid‘s entire resume. That doesn’t matter. We want to know, how does he emotionally feel about Superman, how did it affect him, and then how did he then want to affect others? It was more thematic, I think. I mean, look, talking to some of these folks, it was amazing for me. I’m a lifelong DC fan. But just hearing, I think their passion and their approach, like John Ridley and the Gene Luen Yang, there’s such depth there that was really eye-opening for us. That’s what we wanted to come through. Of course, Jenette Kahn and Karen Berger were huge gets for us. We are really happy to have them. Again, they might not be household names, but what they’ve done, if you look at what the comic industry is today, they started it. I mean, they really steered this entire industry in a direction of, we’re going to take something that was considered disposable kids’ stuff, and we’re going to turn it into legit literature and art that can be appreciated by anybody.
LI: (Jennette Kahn and Karen Berger) created graphic novels. Just the way in which people read and consume this art, the storytelling became more sophisticated, the artwork became more sophisticated. The worlds became different. They sometimes became darker, they became more marginalized characters, you name it. I felt like in that era, they were really pushing the envelope to bring new audiences in, but also relate to people that could relate to this very specific sort of world, if that makes sense.
MF: Can you talk about going through the Warner Bros. and DC Comics archives and finding the interviews and footage that you needed for this series?
LI: I think that a big shout-out goes to the archive team and Warner Bros. who would help us to put together material or find material that hadn’t been seen before. But it was Mark and the producers working in tandem every single day to find these gems that hadn’t been seen before. A lot of stuff were old interviews that had to get transcribed and then we would go through and say, what’s the most unique bite that no one’s ever heard before? That’s what we do in the beginning, is just really going through the transcripts and these old archival things and trying to find the gems. Again, the gift of working with Warner Brothers and DC was, they were all equally excited as we were to get as much new cool stuff that no one’s ever seen before.
Robert Pattinson in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: The series even includes footage of Bob Kane admitting that he co-created Batman with Bill Finger, something that Kane had long denied and took sole credit for. Where did you find that?
MC: Yeah, I agree. When we saw it, we were like, wait, what? Oh my gosh, this is amazing, and kind of refutes the common knowledge in the world that he never acknowledged Bill. This is amazing. So yeah, there were things like that. Even just the old Joe Kubert, Julius Schwartz and Carmine Infantino interviews that we found. Apparently some guy at a Comic-Con just took them in a room and started filming them. It was amazing because we don’t really hear their voices anymore. So finding that stuff was really cool. I would just say also, with all the photos of the old DC offices and how they worked, that was really fun.
LI: I think also for us, we really want to bring you into that world as tangibly as we can. We want you to see the space. We want you to feel what it was like in that office. We want you to know that it was hot and it was tough, and they were struggling, and it was a man’s world, and there was one woman in there. You know what I mean? It’s like, we want you to feel that. So the more we can find those photos and bring that world to you, the better. The other thing too is, a lot of those old archival interviews obviously don’t look good, so that’s always a struggle. You don’t want to have a really low res, blurry image. So we worked with the graphic team to put them into kind of a comic book frame so that it looked more interesting. So I think that’s something Mark and I, and everyone are always trying to innovate documentaries, are always trying to say, how can we innovate graphically? How can we take the documentary form and push the boundaries and tell every new story differently with pacing, with graphics, with music, with shape, and with structure? We’re excited about always trying to be innovative.
MC: Humor as well, and look, this is a colorful subject. We want it to be fun. We want it to be fast and fun and humorous at times. But that’s kind of our approach.
James Gunn in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: There have been a lot of changes recently at DC Studios with James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over. Gunn appears in the series but there is no mention of future projects like ‘Superman: Legacy.’ At what point did you have to lock the series and were unable to include any new announcements?
MC: I think it was August or September of last year. So it was before the big news of James Gunn taking over and everything. But Jim Lee loved that. He was like, look, we’ve done this. It’s a nice chapter break. Now, there’s going to be a new regime. It’s going to be a new path going forward. That’s a story that’s yet to be told. So yeah, he didn’t mind. I think it is exciting, though, that it’s not a stagnant thing. They’re always trying to innovate. They’re always trying to push, and yeah, it’s a moving target.
MF: DC Comics is more than just Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, it has also included Vertigo, WildStorm, and Milestone comics. Can you talk about highlighting all of those companies in this series, in particular Milestone?
LI: I think that it was very important and timely for Milestone to have a resurgence when it did. When you look back at the original Milestone, that was the biggest comic book sales by Black creators ever. There’s obviously an opportunity to reinvent that, to bring that back, and especially at a time when Black people’s stories needed to be told, and needed to be heard. I think that the more we bring these stories out and make them honest, truthful and relevant to our own lives, then that’s how these comic books formed from the beginning. It’s in the DNA of DC Comics. So I think that it’s exciting to see these different variations, so to speak, of storylines and characters continue to be successful.
Denis Cowan in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: Leslie, were you a comic book fan before making this series and what did you learn about DC Comics that surprised you?
LI: I didn’t necessarily grow up as a DC aficionado. But I think that to me, I grew up around artists. My family, my grandfather and father are both artists. And myself, I’m an artist. So to me, reading these was inspiring, just from the artistic and story standpoint. But I never really followed the story arcs of these characters necessarily. I did grow up on the ‘Wonder Woman’ Show, though, as silly as that sounds and dates me a bit. But I love the ‘Wonder Woman’ TV show, and I watched the ‘Batman’ show. Those are sort of the campy era when I was a kid watching those. I think it was just, to me, again, the stories that I love to tell are stories about innovators, bold business people and creators who want to push the envelope in the genre that they’re working in. In this case, DC was pushing the envelope and completely reinventing itself time and time again, and finding new ways to keep their characters relevant and fresh. To me, that’s a great business story. It’s a great creative story, and those are the kinds of stories that I like to tell.
Lynda Carter in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
MF: Finally, Mark, as a comic book fan what did you learn about DC Comics that surprised you, and who is your favorite DC character?
MC: Well, I guess what I didn’t know is that it was surprising to me that, for so long, that the creators weren’t respected. There was a stigma against it. There was a shame associated with it. Then on the fan side, of course, there’s a stigma of having liked these characters. I mean, there’s growing up with, you’re a nerd if you like this stuff and whatever. Because I don’t think people understand now what that was like. It was very much in the shadows. It was very much a secret, and now it’s mainstream. It’s out in the open. So that was a big eyeopener for me, just to hear it from the creators themselves. My favorite character? There’s so many. I don’t want to be boring and say Batman, but I would think that’s probably the one. It’s just something about the fact that this is a real person. We always were like, why do these things endure, right? Why have there been thousands of stories about this one character over 85 years? It’s like, well, he doesn’t necessarily have a superpower. He’s a human. I feel like it’s the humanity that people connect with. So I think, above all else, that’s why these things touch so many people. But man, I have tons of favorites.
Margot Robbie in ‘Superpowered: The DC Story.’ Photograph by Courtesy of Max/Warner Bros.
