Horror movies have two speeds: Slasher and terrifyingly intense. At the risk of sleeping with the lights on for the next forever, we’re looking at the latter.
With Halloween fast approaching, Moviefone is counting down the most terrifying horror movies that were released between 2015 and now.
Robert Eggers’ ‘Nosferatu’ is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman (Lily-Rose Depp) and the terrifying vampire (Bill Skarsgård) infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.
An American nun (Sydney Sweeney) embarks on a new journey when she joins a remote convent in the Italian countryside. However, her warm welcome quickly turns into a living nightmare when she discovers her new home harbours a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors.
When an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare.
In town for a job interview, a young woman (Georgina Campbell) arrives at her Airbnb late at night only to find that it has been mistakenly double-booked and a strange man (Bill Skarsgård) is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she decides to stay the night anyway.
A young couple (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.
Still scarred by the trauma he endured as a child at the Overlook Hotel, Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) faces the ghosts of the past when he meets Abra (Kyliegh Curran), a courageous teen who desperately needs his help — and who possesses a powerful extrasensory ability called the “shine”.
After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain.
When twin brothers (Theo James) find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.
When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.
In pursuit of a serial killer (Nicolas Cage), an FBI agent (Maika Monroe) uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.
When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.
A fading celebrity (Demi Moore) decides to use a black market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself (Margaret Qualley).
Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.
Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
Two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
In a small town in Maine, seven children known as The Losers Club come face to face with life problems, bullies and a monster that takes the shape of a clown called Pennywise.
Following the death of the Leigh family matriarch, Annie (Toni Collette) and her children uncover disturbing secrets about their heritage. Their daily lives are not only impacted, but they also become entangled in a chilling fate from which they cannot escape, driving them to the brink of madness.
(L to R) Lee Sung Jin, Ali Wong and Steven Yeun attend Netflix’s Los Angeles premiere of ‘BEEF’ at Netflix Tudum Theater on March 30, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
‘Beef’, the upcoming Netflix series is wild, dramatic, and takes revenge to the next level. The series starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong arrives on Netflix on April 6th.
The official synopsis for ‘Beef’ is: “A road rage incident between two strangers – a failing contractor and an unfulfilled entrepreneur – sparks a feud that brings out their darkest impulses.”
The series is created by writer/producer Lee Sung Jin whose writing credits include ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’ and ‘2 Broke Girls’. It first premiered at the 2023 SXSW Festival on March 18th and will have 10 episodes in total.
‘Beef’ stars Steven Yeun as Danny and Ali Wong as Amy. Series regulars include David Choe as Isaac, Young Mazino as Paul, Joseph Lee as George, and Patti Yasutake as Fumi.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of attending the virtual press conference for ‘Beef’. In attendance were Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, and creator Lee Sung Jin.alway
(L to R) Lee Sung Jin, Ali Wong and Steven Yeun attend Netflix’s Los Angeles premiere of ‘BEEF’ at Netflix Tudum Theater on March 30, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
Here are the 10 things we learned from the ‘Beef’ virtual press conference:
1. The Stars’ Initial Reaction To The Script For ‘Beef’
To kick off the press conference, Ali Wong spoke about her reaction when reading the script.
Ali Wong: Well, when I read the script, honestly, I was like, this is exactly what we pitched. So there weren’t a lot of surprises. It was more like when he pitched me the idea to begin with, which was very close to the pilot, I was… Yeah, I was blown away and I was like, that sounds scary, but really exciting, and I think I can do it.
Speaking about what blew her away about it:
“I think the thriller element. There’s like, I just haven’t done anything like that before, and just as the show has progressed too, I mean, that just comes out more and more where it’s like, it’s so suspenseful and I’m reading, just reading every page right away, just with so much anticipation and always, I never knew it was going to happen. Sometimes I knew what was going to happen because we talked about it, of course, but in the ways that it happened, it always surprised me, so.”
Steven Yeun also spoke on his initial reaction on hearing the pitch for the series.
Steven Yeun: Well, when Sonny called me about just, we were just chatting a random conversation. He was like, “Hey, I have this idea for a road rage thing.” I was like, oh, that’s it. And it was as simple as that. But then for me, it wasn’t a surprise, but what was really exciting was to get the scripts and then see the dialogue and just what Sonny wrote. You’re just like, yeah, you have an idea of where the plot’s going to go. But then you read the dialogue and you’re like, ”Wow, this feels so real.”. It’s such easy but difficult vernacular that you’re almost, it’s written in a way where it was like, oh, Sonny was there in the room as a fly on the wall, and he overheard those conversations and he wrote it that way. And it’s like when you get dialogue like that for me, I’m just like, oh, this is going to be so fun.
2. The Series Was Inspired By A Real Life Incident
Creator Lee Sung Jin was involved in a real-life road rage incident that inspired the script.
Lee Sung Jin: It was a typical road rage thing where the light turned green and I didn’t go fast enough. And it was also a white SUV, it was a BMW though. And yeah, honked at me, said a bunch of things and raced off. And for some reason that day, I was like, “I’ll follow you.” And didn’t really have a plan in my mind. I was justifying it like I’m just following, I’m on my way home and I happen to be behind you. And I’m sure for that person, it felt like I was tracking him the whole run of the 10 highway. And so I thought there was something there about people who were very stuck in their subjective views of reality, and they’re projecting assumptions onto the other person, and that was the kernel of the idea. So I’m very, very thankful for that incident.
The actress talks about parts of Amy’s journey that resonate with her, exploring topics that impact Asian women who are career driven.
Ali Wong: I mean, I think that feeling like in the pilot when she’s receiving all those texts and she’s like, “Make it stop.” You know that feeling where it’s like everything’s going wrong. The lint in the dryer, you forgot to clean it, so it’s like the dryer almost caused a fire in the house. There’s a mouse running around in the garage that’s eating all the Halloween candy. There’s like… You haven’t paid that bill for dental cleaning or whatever. And it’s like, it just is all piled on, and you’re like, I have no time to enjoy the things that I’ve worked really hard for. I mean, I think we all have moments like that. So yeah. But I don’t know if catharsis is the word, I think. It was more like the friendships we developed off-camera really provided a lot of catharsis, but really the actual work of this was really wonderful and fulfilling, and it was really challenging too.
4. Steven Yeun Makes The Switch From Dramatic Roles To Comedic Roles
The actor is known for acting in dramatic roles such as Glenn in ‘The Walking Dead’ or Jacob in ‘Minari’, and is taking a more comedic route in ‘Beef’.
Steven Yeun: It was weird because it didn’t feel like a switch. Meaning, Danny is just, like to play the comedy of Danny is to just lean into the unfortunate drama of his life. So it felt like being in it and out of it at the same time. That’s where the shame part came in, where I was just like, ‘Oh, I’m watching Danny go through this thing.” And it’s like, how do I not bail on him? All the time, I’m just judging him, judging him, judging him, cringing or not trying to make him make sense, but then you’ve got to make him make sense. And that was a challenge. That was every day, I think I told [Sonny], I was like, “Why are you making me do this?”
5. Balancing Storytelling Between Comedy And Drama
Creator Lee Sung Jin talks about how much the writer’s room helped with the progression of the show.
Lee Sung Jin: Oh, man. I don’t know. Just kind of stumbling about. Yeah, the writing’s hard, it’s the worst, and having a great writer’s room helps a lot. We spent an inordinate amount of time just making sure that the core progressions of the season felt right. And that’s probably what I spend the most amount of time on, is just making sure the beats feel good, and then all those other things just kind of happen organically. You know, you just try to add textures and specificities that feel true to life and true to people you know.
And then just all those themes naturally bubble up, but it’s definitely not top-down where I’m like, I want to tackle identity or anything like that. It’s just trying to write characters that feel real.
6. Ali Wong Talks The Most Physically Challenging Scenes
The actress recounts having to run through the forest in the dark and working with animals for the scene.
Ali Wong: Running in the dark looks cool on camera, but the reality of doing that, especially when you’re in a trench coat and it’s dark and you can’t see branches beneath you that get caught in your trench coat. I mean it, I just wasn’t used to it. Again, I was excited about this whole thriller element. And when you’re actually doing it, you’re like, this is scary. But it was nice because I was with Steven because he’d been on ‘The Walking Dead’, is it seven seasons? Yeah, seven seasons in the suburbs of Atlanta running away from zombies. So he was hopping around in the forest like it was his playground, and it was so interesting to see him so at home in the forest at two in the morning while I was like, Shelley Long in ‘Troop Beverly Hill.’ I was like, “Get me out here,” but it was really fun. But actually what was challenging was hiding how terrified and uncomfortable was. So that was the most challenging part, and trying to be a fraction as tough as Steven.
The actress also talked about working with crows in one scene.
Ali Wong: There was talons on my arm. Yeah. So it was, when I look at it, actually being there was not tough. It was just repressing the fear and it was like two acting jobs. It was performing for them and then performing.
The creator talks about a specific scene that was emblematic of the series and his favorite of the series
Lee Sung Jin: I’d say probably… Oh man, there’s a scene in episode seven and I’m trying to think about how to use words to not spoil anything, but it involves the two leads, and they’re in Amy’s home, and there’s sort of this confrontational conversation that happens at a dinner party, and I really loved the way you two played that scene. Quite powerful, but so minimal and it’s very existential and it gets me in my little heart and yeah, I think it’s a really… I mean, they crushed it. And so that’s probably one of my favorite scenes. And the way Jake shot that too is incredible. And yeah, it’s very emblematic of the mood of the show, I’d say.
8. Steven Yeun Talk Playing And Relating To A Character That Seems Stuck
Yeun’s character Danny Cho tends to make bad decisions, from rage-driving to physically fighting his siblings. He speaks about being able to relate to that when he was younger.
Steven Yeun: Yeah, I think for me, I relate to Danny in that when I was younger, I was certainly stuck in something like that. Of just I was raised immigrant like he did too, so I relate to this need to, as the firstborn son, control my environment in whatever way shape I can. And I relate to Danny in that way, so I can see someone who does not live in an awareness of himself constantly feeling like his story, or not even knowing that he’s living his own mind story out over and over again, that he’s constantly just put under by the way he sees the world. And I think that’s a gnarly place to be for someone like him, but he’s genuine in his frustrations. If someone would talk to him, he would just be like, “I’m telling you, this is happening to me.” And if he could just get out of his own way, he could open the door and leave, but he doesn’t know he holding himself hostage. So yeah, it was, I wouldn’t say cathartic, I would say for me, it was harrowing at times to go back to that place where I couldn’t see my own reflection in my own mirror when I was younger.
9. Amy’s House Was Designed To Give The Feel Of Being In A Cage
Wong’s character Amy puts on an armor every single day of her life. The costume department designed Amy’s outfits and color palette to be opposite of what she would be thinking internally.
Ali Wong: I have to give a lot of credit to the head of costumes, Helen (Huang), she’s amazing. So she dressed me purposely. Like, Amy would never wear this outfit that I’m wearing right now. She would never have this hair. She would never have these earrings. This would be too loud and too gauche for Amy. She wears very coated, expensive shapeless neutrals. And grace, I mean, Helen purposely dressed me like that and her expressing her sense of humor, and also she wanted me to have this armor because it’s like she thought it was so funny to dress Amy in these tans and creams and camels and whites, but then Amy have these insane thoughts. So that’s a choice that Amy makes because this is who she wants to be, but it’s also making her feel trapped. Same thing with Amy’s house, like those wooden slats you see in Amy’s house.
So Grace (Yun), who’s an amazing production designer, she spaced out those wooden slats perfectly to, while superficially they seem like very zen and serene, she built them in a way that makes it feel like a cage. So all of that really helped me feel like that.
10. Wong And Yeun Remember The Most Memorable And Emblematic Scene
For Wong, the most memorable scene was on her first day of shooting with Yeun, they were running out of time (and sun) to finish the scene and only had time for 3 more takes. The scene required Wong to chase Yeun through the house.
Ali Wong: It was just really fun. And that kind of set the tone for the rest of the shoot. I was like, oh, I mean, I talked about this before, but because I didn’t know Steven and his process that well, I was like, okay, since we’re playing enemies, in between takes and during lunch, is he going to throw a donut at my head? Is he going to go like this to me every time I try to speak to him? And then it was like, I mean, that kind of set the precedent that we will always connect in between takes, because really it’s not about us being enemies, it’s really about these two people having a connection.
For Yeun, it was a more vulnerable and quiet scene.
Steven Yeun: I think a lot of that exists in episode 10. A lot of the quiet moments were, for me, really fun to unpack. And I think even just like… Well, it’s spoilers. Just kind of being in a vulnerable, natural condition internally and externally between Danny and Amy. Those are very, to me, the show.
To wrap up the press conference, Lee Sung Jin has something to tease for the final 2 episodes of the series.
“They escalate and they get… The two trains collide, and we try to get to deeper emotions past the basic rage, sadness, happiness, and kind of try to figure out why are we the way that we are, why does reality kind of suck most of the time. So we try to go to some deeper spots while also having a very well-placed fart joke in the mix.”
The directors for the dark comedy series include Hikari, Jake Schreier, and Lee Sung Jin. ‘Beef’ premieres on Netflix on April 6th.
(L to R) Steven Yeun and Ali Wong attend Netflix’s Los Angeles premiere of “BEEF” at Netflix Tudum Theater on March 30, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
Jordan Peele has clearly earned Universal’s trust. And following the success of ‘Get Out’, ‘Us’ and last year’s ‘Nope’, it’s perhaps not all that surprising that the studio would see him as a heavy hitter.
There are few bigger examples of confidence than lining up a filmmaker’s new title –– without any real details to share –– in a competitive release slot, and Peele’s latest faces a real one.
His next film, the fourth he’s written and directed, will be in theaters on 25 December 2024. That’s right: Christmas Day!
To make it more exciting/challenging, that date is exactly one week after the arrival of both ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ (which we would figure as less of a threat, since Peele’s movies are rarely aimed at kids and families) and James Cameron’s third ‘Avatar’ movie.
That one is more likely to be a challenge, especially since the ‘Avatar’ films have been adept at steamrollering over other releases. The original 2009 film remains the highest grossing modern film, with more than $2.9 billion in the bank. But follow-up ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is no slouch in that department either, having earned more than $2.3 billion for third place on the list.
Skeptics keep pointing to ‘Avatar’ fatigue as a problem for the franchise moving forward but given ‘The Way of Water’s results so far, that’s unlikely.
(L to R) Daniel Kaluuya and director Jordan Peele on the set of ‘Get Out.’
So what do we know about the new film from Peele? Nothing, at least for now. In keeping with his usual style, Peele has this far said nothing about the title, genre or cast for the new movie.
He’s a filmmaker whose work always carries subtext and themes –– ‘Get Out’ appeared to be a relationship drama at first but used the frame of White Guilt to spin a yarn about terrifying experimentation and exploitation on a racially-motivated front. ‘Us’ explored doppelgangers and disenfranchisement to horrifying effect, while ‘Nope’ headed in a more spectacular direction, subverting expectations of an alien encounter story to touch on historic exclusion.
The Christmas Day date doesn’t necessarily mean this will be a festive chiller, but we could certainly imagine the director using something about the season to dig deeper.
That wasn’t the only film announcement to have Peele connections.
Universal, in the same statement, also revealed that a new film from his Monkeypaw production company will also hit theaters –– this one on September 27th, 2024. Even fewer details were released for this one; we don’t even know who is making it.
Whatever Peele has up his sleeve, we certainly can’t wait to see what he does next… Even if he does end up making us all afraid of what could be coming down the chimney one cold December night…
In addition to Kaluuya and Palmer, the cast also includes Oscar-nominee Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea, Michael Wincott, and Keith David. The result is a truly thrilling, original, and at times funny take on the alien invasion genre featuring standout performances from Kaluuya and Palmer.
The film begins with an odd side-story about a 90’s sitcom starring a chimpanzee, who during a taping killed most of the cast and crew. We then meet Otis Haywood (David) and his son OJ (Kaluuya), who own a ranch outside of Los Angeles and also train horses for film and TV. When strange objects begin to fall out of the sky, Otis is killed by the falling debris.
Months later, OJ is working on the set of a commercial with his unreliable sister Emerald (Palmer), and a cinematographer named Antlers Holst (Wincott). When the shoot doesn’t go as planned, OJ begins selling some of his horses to a carnival owner named Ricky “Jupe” Park (Yeun), with the intent on eventually buying them back. But Emerald recognizes Park, and it is revealed that he was a child actor and the lone survivor of the doomed sitcom with the chimpanzee.
OJ eventually confides in Emerald that he does not believe that falling debris from an airplane killed their father, and that he believes it was actually a UFO. Wanting to get proof, and thinking that will make them rich and famous, the two enlist Fry’s Electronics salesman Angel Torres (Perea), and Antlers Holst, to help them capture footage of the spaceship. But after a terrible tragedy at Park’s carnival, OJ begins to think that the object in the sky is not an alien spaceship, but rather a giant alien itself.
Actor and comedian Jordan Peele made the jump to directing with his surprise hit movie and Oscar nominated film ‘Get Out’ in 2017. Since then, he has won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and directed the acclaimed horror film ‘Us’ in 2019. In a few short years Peele has completely reinvigorated the horror genre and become one of the most original and interesting filmmakers working today. His latest outing is no different, delivering a fresh and original take on the “alien’s attack” theme, which is often quite funny in a very organic way.
Peele has also become a master at deconstructing the expectations of the horror genre, as well as moving the camera in an interesting way. The movie is filled with jump scares, but they never feel forced and in fact enhance the creepiness and mood of the film. Peele’s cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema beautifully captures the vast vistas of the ranch, while contrasting that with the horrors of the movie.
Peele also makes some brilliant choices with the pacing of the movie and the way he shows the terror of the alien moving through the open skies. While it doesn’t really connect till the end of the movie, I really enjoyed the side-story of the 90’s sitcom with the chimpanzee. It helps to illustrate the theme of the movie, which OJ actually says at one point, about how we as humans need to leave apex predators in nature alone.
Special credit should go to Peele and his team for their unique take on what an alien creature can look like. I’m so tired of seeing movies that feature aliens with the creatures often looking like copies of the Xenomorph from the ‘Alien’ franchise. The extra-terrestrials in this movie are completely original, and look like nothing we’ve seen before, adding to the originality of this film.
The acting in the movie is excellent, all the way down to supporting performances from Brandon Perea and Michael Wincott. As Angel, Perea plays the enthusiastic outsider and the eyes of the audience, but also layers in a very funny performance. Wincott, a veteran actor you will recognize from ‘The Crow,’ was perfectly cast as the grizzled Hollywood cinematographer who tries to help the Haywood’s get their photographic evidence.
Keith David also gives a nice performance as Otis Haywood, but I wish he had at least one more scene in the beginning of the movie to make his death resonate more with the audience. It’s also worth noting that motion capture actor Terry Notary (‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’) plays Gordy, the chimpanzee in flashbacks. Having played King Kong in ‘Kong: Skull Island,’ Notary was maybe the only actor that could play this role, and actually injects vulnerability and a sense of regret to the animal’s actions.
Rounding out the supporting cast is Steven Yeun, who gives a very good performance as Ricky “Jupe” Park. Although the character could have been more fleshed out in the present day, his flashback scenes tell you everything you need to know about why he is still chasing fame, and the overall fear that he has lived with since that traumatic event happened in his past.
The breakout performance award goes to actress Keke Palmer, who is an absolute delight to watch. Palmer plays Emerald as the annoying younger sister to OJ, more concerned with achieving fame and money than continuing her family’s legacy. But the actress is also very funny in the movie, in an organic way, that is in stark contrast to Kaluuya’s quiet and brooding performance. The two actors have fantastic chemistry together on screen and are completely believable as brother and sister.
But it is Daniel Kaluuya’s strong performance that really anchors the film. The actor, who has giving standout performances in ‘Sicario,’ ‘Get Out,’ ‘Black Panther,’ ‘Queen & Slim,’ and ‘Judas and the Black Messiah,’ for which he won his Oscar, demonstrates again in ‘Nope’ that he is one of the finest actors of his generation. Kaluuya is completely believable in the role and makes for an unlikely hero by the film’s end.
In the end, with ‘Nope’ Jordan Peele has delivered a stunningly beautiful movie, that transcends its own genre by telling a fresh take on the “alien invasion” theme with brilliant performances from the entire cast.
So far, in keeping with its creator’s wishes, the promotional campaign for Jordan Peele’s new horror thriller ‘Nope’ has been heavy on the mystery. We’ve been introduced to some basic story elements and the main characters, but the question of what is actually happening in the movie has mostly been left to guesswork. Which is exactly what a teaser or trailer should do: leave you wanting to know and see more.
For the latest trailer, which premiered to CinemaCon audiences this past April, the wrapping has been taken off a little further, so our advice for anyone wishing to stay completely unspoiled would be to skip this one and wait for the movie itself.
Everyone else? Let’s dig in…
‘Nope’ features Daniel Kaluuya (working again with the director after his Oscar-winning debut ‘Get Out’) and Keke Palmer as sibling OJ and Emerald Haywood, who run a horse ranch in a lonely gulch in inland California catering to the film industry.
From the looks of this new trailer, OJ is happy working the ranch with their father (Keith David), while Emerald is more in search of fame. So, when weird things start happening – especially in terms of the sky above, OJ’s worried, but Emerald sees a chance at riches.
When their dad dies after something falls from the clouds, the brother and sister approach a group of others to help them capture footage of what they suspect is an alien incursion. And, of course, things just get weirder and scarier from there.
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Peele has filled the movie – and therefore this trailer – with all manner of striking imagery, including a ranch house bathed in blood from above, the audience of a rodeo (to say nothing of some of the main cast) swept up in the sky and that final money/“Oprah”, to use Emerald’s parlance, moment of OJ riding a horse as what appears to be a flying saucer swoops down towards him.
Of course, this being Jordan Peele, you know the movie will have more layers than just a basic story of terror from the sky. If ‘Get Out’ and ‘Us’ have taught us anything, ‘Nope’ will be filled with thematic material and meditations on modern life, all told through the medium of gut-wrenching horror.
“I’m always attracted by my favorite movie I haven’t seen before,” Peele, said at CinemaCon. “My plan is to bring these new ideas and nightmares to the big screen.” He’s reportedly worked with IMAX to develop new camera gear to capture shots we’ve not seen before. And while he’s never been about imagery over story, we’re still intrigued to see what he’s come up with.
Universal talked a big game at its CinemaCon presentation on Wednesday afternoon – and specifically about big numbers in terms of releases.
The studio has more than 20 movies scheduled for release this year (yes, even more than production powerhouse Disney), and was ready to sell that idea to the assembled theater owners in the audience.
Pairing on-stage filmmaking talent with workers from the boots-on-the-ground cinema world, Universal kicked things off with Jordan Peele’s anticipated next horror, ‘Nope’.
Taking part in a Q&A with Anthony Fykes, co-owner of Next Act Cinema, the first-Black owned cinema in the Baltimore area, Peele outlined his movie-making policy. “I’m always attracted by my favorite movie I haven’t seen before,” said Peele. “My plan is to bring these new ideas and nightmares to the big screen.”
And about his latest? “This is definitely a ride. I like titles that are into how the audience is feeling and reflect on what they are thinking and feeling in the theater,” Peele told the crowd. “I’m going to personally thrive on the amount of times that we hear ‘Nope’ in the theater.”
Peele did ask that the audience not give away anything about the new teaser (which won’t be shown to regular audiences for a few weeks) but so far the story appears to involve workers at a ranch that caters to Hollywood productions being bothered by threats from the sky. Peele revealed that he’d been using new IMAX techniques to bring to the screen shots that no one has seen before.
Somewhere, you can just hear James Cameron muttering, “challenge: accepted!”
‘Nope’ is scheduled to land in theaters on July 2nd.
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Next up was Jamie Lee Curtis, there to promote ‘Halloween Ends’, and from the sounds of her comments, it’s also the big finale for her performance as victim-turned-badass Laurie Strode.
Yet before all of that, Curtis displayed her trademark sense of humor. “Two people got up?! Okay, whatever, it’s only been 44 f*****g years. I’m fine. I’m secure. Its’ fine. It’s really nice to be here again,” she announced upon arriving on stage (to a huge cheer and warm reaction from the audience).
Curtis went on to describe ‘Halloween Ends’, once again directed by David Gordon Green– as “Laurie Strode’s last stand.” The movie stars Curtis and Andi Matichak as Laurie’s granddaughter, Alysson, with the two working to stop stalking killer Michael Myers for good. It’ll wrap up the trilogy kicked off by Green in 2018’s ‘Halloween’ and continued via last year’s ‘Halloween Kills’.
Curtis visibly welled up as she confessed that, “It’s been the ride of my life to portray Laurie Strode,” adding that she knows now why horror movies matter: “Horror lets us confront what we can’t control.”
‘Halloween Ends’ stalks into theaters on October 14th, just in time for… well, you know the holiday it’s named for.
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The horror vibes continued with techno terror ‘M3GAN,’ which like, the recent ‘Halloween’ movies is a Blumhouse production.
Produced by James Wan and directed by ‘Housebound’s Gerard Johnstone, it stars Allison Williams as Gemma, a brilliant roboticist working at a toy company who creates a lifelike doll. When she gains custody of her orphaned niece, she uses the prototype of the doll with unimaginable consequences.
Williams was on stage to introduce the footage – which, somewhat predictably shows the doll reacting badly when someone in the family starts tries to shut it down when it begins behaving oddly – and admitted that despite starring in the likes of this and ‘Get Out’, “I’m genuinely too scared to watch 99 percent of the films in the genre.”
‘M3GAN’ will find its way into theaters on January 13th next year.
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Baltasar Kormakur’s latest, ‘Beast’, stars Idris Elba, and while it had a more muted presentation – really just a trailer – the footage showed Elba’s Dr. Nate Samuels on an African adventure with his wife and daughters when the situation turns desperate, and they are hunted by a lion. Samuels will have to survive and fight back to save his family.
The movie stars David Dastmalchian, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, Corey Hawkins, Javier Botet, Jon Briones and more in the story which follows the merchant ship Demeter on a voyage from Carpathia to London. Strange events befall the doomed crew as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage. Probably because a certain vampire is aboard, and takes a liking to some of his fellow passengers…
‘Last Voyage of the Demeter’ sails in on January 27th next year.
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The terror levels decreased significantly (well, depending on how you view stressful family gatherings) thanks to star and executive producer Jo Koy introducing ‘Easter Sunday’.
Bringing the laughs (and making references to Jamie Lee Curtis’ sweary schtick), Koy explained how he planned his outfit – he was clad in his 18-year-old son’s pants to be fashion forward. “But I don’t have my son’s balls. I have 50-year-old balls.”
He continues by saying that Steven Spielberg first caught his stand-up act, and invited the comedian in to pitch his story, a universal one (he’s at the right studio, then). “We all laugh at the same shit,” Koy explained.
After Koy threw sweatshirts out to the crowd, he cued the trailer, which draws from his own life experiences and shows his chaotic Filipino family around the dinner table. The movie, despite its seemingly seasonal title, will be out on August 5, directed by Jay Chandrasekhar.
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Koy was followed by ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ voice star Steve Carell, there to promote the latest chapter of the ever-expanding ‘Despicable Me’ franchise. He joked around with a cinema owner, who he challenged to mimic Gru and then introduced a clip from the movie, which arrives on July 1st after being pushed back more than once by pandemic concerns.
Animation was also represented by ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’. Introduced by one of the movie’s voice stars, Harvey Guillen (he’s Perro, a new character, who happens to be a chatty chihuahua), the story follows Puss’ (Antonio Banderas) attempts to secure more lives for himself after all his various scrapes. A new trailer was shown for the ‘toon, which debuts on December 21st.
Billy Eichner was on predictably comic form, arriving at CinemaCon for ‘Bros’, the rom com he wrote and stars in alongside Luke Macfarlane.
As is usual for the event, Eichner brought a clip from the movie, which showed Eichner as a podcast host who gets hired by a movie studio to write a gay romantic comedy in a very meta idea. Eichner’s character lays out his mission statement: “I don’t want any Hollywood bullshit, no scenes where two gay guys are about to hook up and all of a sudden the camera conveniently pulls away.”
‘Bros’ breaks new ground by featuring an all-LGBTQ+ cast, which Eichner talked about on stage. “You don’t believe a gay man can play straight but you suspend disbelief for Chewbacca,” he quipped, touting ‘Bros’ as the first gay rom-com ever to come from a major studio, adding he’s “not talking about the new Buzz Lightyear movie.”
Directed by Nicholas Stoller, ‘Bros’ will be out in theaters on September 30.
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Despite a comparative lack of star power on stage, ‘Ticket to Paradise’ boasts plenty of it on screen, with George Clooney and Julia Roberts as a divorced couple that reunites and travels to Bali to stop their daughter (Kaitlyn Dever), from making the same mistake they think they made 25 years ago by marrying someone she just met. Billie Lourd, Lucas Bravo, Amanda O’Dempsey, Rowan Chapman, Murran Kain and Vanessa Everett round out the cast for that one, which travels to theaters on October 21st.
On a more serious note, that was followed by the first look at ‘She Said’, the drama about the investigative reporters at the New York Times who helped to break the Harvey Weinstein story that kicked off the #MeToo movement.
Stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan, who play reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor respectively, were on hand to introduce the film’s trailer, and they talked up the importance of the behind-the-scenes story and Kantor and Twohey’s book on which the film is based.
The trailer showed Twohey and Kantor starting small in trying to peel back the layers on harassment, only to go deeper down the rabbit hole and finding people unwilling to say anything on the record as it turned to accusations about Weinstein.
“The only way these women are going to go on the record,” Kantor says in the trailer, “Is if they all jump together,” Twohey responds.
Maria Schrader directs, with the screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz. The film opens in theaters from Universal on November 18th.
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Universal’s Focus Features had its own section, to debut looks at several of its movies. They included ‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’, due on May 20th, heartwarming comedy ‘Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris’ (July 15th), and ‘Little Children’ director Todd Field’s first film in 15 years, ‘Tár’, set in the world of classical music, starring Cate Blanchett as a conductor. ‘Tár’ will be in theaters on October 15th.
James Gray’s ‘Armageddon Time’ also received a first look of its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The coming-of-age story about the strength of family and the generational pursuit of the American Dream showcases a cast led by Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Strong and Anne Hathaway. It has yet to score a general release date.
Following the relatively low-key, prestige Focus offerings, it was back to action chaos for ‘Violent Night’, introduced by star (and ‘Stranger Things’ regular) David Harbour.
Harbour raved about the experience of playing a hammer-swinging Santa who swears up a storm. The tone appeared to be a blend of ‘Die Hard’ and ‘John Wick’ and the movie arrives down theater chimneys on December 2nd.
“We are genuinely very enthused, we are crazed about this movie,” Goldblum told the crowd, revealing that this will be the first movie his kids see in theaters.
And of course, there was room for a little banter after Goldblum mentioned his character Ian Malcolm’s warnings about messing with nature in the original ‘Jurassic Park’. “That wisdom was ignored through subsequent movies,” he pointed out. Said Howard, “What would these moves be if people made the right choices?”
Retorted Goldblum, “You may be on to something. Maybe that’s been the message all this time, that dinosaurs are clever and homo sapiens are ignoramuses, or is it ignorami?”
‘Jurassic World Dominion’ roars into theaters on June 10th.
The Super Bowl took place this Sunday, and whether you were rooting for the Rams or backing the Bengals, we hope you got the outcome you were hoping for. Go sports!
But what if you were more concerned with the trailers, TV spots and ads that traditionally look to exploit the massive viewing audience that the big event attracts? We’ve got you covered.
In one handy, convenient place, we’ve rounded up all the exciting footage that wasn’t on the field. Even if, as has been the tradition of late, several of these trailers and spots made their way online long before kick-off.
TV Trailers
MOON KNIGHT
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While the superstar of the Marvel trailers from this year’s game was a certain magician’s multiverse madness, the MCU’s Disney+ TV arm still had something to show, as Oscar Isaac and ‘Moon Knight’ brought new footage from the show.
Isaac plays Steven Grant, an unassuming fellow working in the British museum, who discovers the reason he’s been experiencing such vivid dreams of late – he’s just one identity filling his head, which is primarily owned by that of Marc Spector, who becomes the Egyptian mythology-powered vigilante Moon Knight, whose brand of justice tends to be more violent than some of the other Marvel heroes.
It’ll be fascinating to see how Moon Knight is merged with the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe, though at this point, Team Marvel has proved a dab hand at juggling a wide range of different characters.
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER
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Amazon has spent so much money on the rights to additional stories from JRR Tolkien’s canon (and on making the TV show) that we began to wonder whether the trailer would just be a 10-second shot of a ring.
But no, this is an all-action look at the series, which has cost nearly half a billion dollars to acquire and make so far. There’s no doubting the ambition on display, as the clock turns back to a time before Frodo and co. (and even Bilbo) from Peter Jackson’s movies when Middle-earth was under threat from dark forces and different races had to come together to save their various homelands. Yes, it happens a lot in Middle-earth.
Jordan Peele, who has established himself as a master of horror (and an Oscar winner) with ‘Get Out’ and ‘Us’ is back on the terror beat with his latest. In this case, Daniel Kaluuya (who starred in ‘Get Out’), Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun lead the cast for the movie, which is still wrapped in some layers of mystery, even after this initial trailer.
We do at least know that Palmer plays a woman who works tangentially for the movie industry, wrangling horses in a business that has been passed down through her family. All seems to be going well until the power at a ranch mysteriously goes out and something horrible appears in the clouds.
What’s exactly going on? Is it aliens? Ghosts? Alien ghosts? We’ll find out when the movie arrives July 22nd.
Released a couple of days before the game, the new spot for the ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ sequel focuses a lot on Knuckles, the new threat for our hero, who boasts the vocal talents of Idris Elba. It’s a blend of footage we’ve seen in the first trailer and some new action, plus the likes of human co-stars Jim Carrey and James Marsden.
A slightly disappointing spot for Michael Bay’s new film, mostly because there’s little new following the main trailer, which was a while ago. Still, get ready for glimpses of Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul Mateen II as brothers who rob a bank but then need to hijack the titular vehicle, sparking a chase across LA.
Who is ready for Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum to go exploring jungle climes and far-flung temples? Plenty of us, it appears. The action-comedy, which also features Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt, looks like it could be a lot of fun.
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While a shorter version played during the game’s ad space, the first full trailer for the latest ‘Jurassic World’ entry arrived days before kick-off, bringing together two generations of ‘Jurassic’ casts and unleashing lots of the requisite dino action. Let’s just say it looks suitably massive.
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Like Universal and others, Netflix released its Super Bowl effort in advance, putting out a long clip essentially promoting the streaming service’s 2022 output which is, it must be said, laden with star names and anticipated movies.
‘Knives Out 2’ is among the biggest, but the trailer also offered another look at Ryan Reynolds’ time-travelling action-adventure ‘The Adam Project’.
Mike Myers brings back his scheming supervillain Dr. Evil, who realizes he must save the world from itself to control it. Cue electric cars! The likes of Seth Green, Rob Lowe and Mindy Sterling reprise their roles from the ‘Austin Powers’ movies for a spot that mostly makes us wish A) Verne Troyer was still around to be Mini-Me and B) that they’d make another movie.
A double dose of Jim Carrey this year, here returning to a role he hasn’t played since Ben Stiller’s 1996 crackpot comedy. That might have flopped, but it’s still fun to see Carrey doing his thing as the crazed cable tech, here confused by how the world has moved on to wireless internet, in this case from Verizon. He’s still got it, that Carrey.
