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Joel McHale Joins ‘Scream 7’
Joel McHale as Jeff Winger on NBC’s ‘Community.’ Photo courtesy of NBC.com.

Preview:
- Joel McHale is joining the ‘Scream’ franchise.
- He’ll play Sidney Prescott’s husband.
- Original writer Kevin Williamson is on board to direct.
McDreamy is out. Say hello to… McSnarky?

No, we are not having a stroke. The news has broken via Deadline that Joel McHale is the latest addition to ‘Scream 7.’ And he’s reportedly playing Sidney Prescott’s (Neve Campbell) husband.
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But in this case, it’s not Detective Mark Kincaid, the character that Sidney met in ‘Scream 3,’ and who was played by Patrick Dempsey, and since married. Instead, it seems Sidney will be married to a man named Mark Evans, as that’s who McHale is now on set playing.

With production having ramped up in Atlanta, Campbell is back as Sidney alongside the likes of Courtney Cox (her co-star and fellow ‘Scream’ co-star, who is back as reporter/author Gale Weathers) and Mason Gooding as Chad Meeks-Martin, and Jasmin Savoy Brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin, as reported by Variety, as well as newcomers Isabel May, Celeste O’Connor, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, Sam Rechner and Anna Camp.

What’s the story of ‘Scream 7’?

Neve Campbell (“Sidney Prescott”) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream.”

There are no details yet on what the latest film will feature, though given that Campbell is back as Prescott and May is playing her daughter, you know it’ll factor into the Prescott family.

Obviously, there has been a change to Sidney’s situation, and she’s now gotten remarried. The stress of having survived so many encounters with Ghostface, perhaps?

Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original ‘Scream’ and some of its sequels, has stepped up to direct this latest installment.

Related Article: Courteney Cox’s Gale Weathers Will be Back to Confront Ghostface for ‘Scream 7’

What has happened with ‘Scream 7’ so far?

Director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, left, and Director Tyler Gillett on the set of Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s ‘Scream VI.’

To this point, the development of the next ‘Scream’ installment has been more trouble than a scorned lover throwing on a cloak and a Ghostface mask to hunt their friends.

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett effectively rebooted the ‘Scream’ franchise with 2002’s ‘Scream’ and followed it up with 2023’s ‘Scream VI’, opted to move on after their second effort, choosing instead to make vampire movie ‘Abigail’, which arrived last year.

Production company Spyglass Media Group found a suitable replacement in Christopher Landon, who previously directed the ‘Happy Death Day’ movies and ‘Freaky’, but then things started to go wrong.

Melissa Barrera fired from ‘Scream VII’

(L to R) Melissa Barrera (Sam Carpenter) and Jenna Ortega (Tara Carpenter) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s ‘Scream VI.’

Melissa Barrera was dropped from the franchise for social media posts supporting Palestine in the tragic, ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

While calling for a cease fire in the conflict might not seem all that controversial, some of the reposts on Barrera’s Instagram account have edged over into potentially troubling opinions.

‘Scream’ production company Spyglass issued a statement on the situation:

“Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”

That was followed by word that her co-star, Jenna Ortega, would not then be returning fir the new movie. Ortega’s departure was chalked up to schedule clashes with Season 2 of Netflix hit series ‘Wednesday’, and indeed the decision was reportedly made months before Barrera’s statement and subsequent firing. The timing, though, remains somewhat suspicious.

With his main stars absent, Landon also quit the movie, citing that it had become a nightmare in development.

Neve Campbell talks ‘Scream’ return

Neve Campbell (“Sidney Prescott”) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream.”

Here’s what Campbell had to say on the news of her return:

“I’m very happy and proud to say I’ve been asked, in the most respectful way, to bring Sidney back to the screen and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!! Well actually I could. While I’ve been so incredibly lucky to make these films with both the master of horror Wes Craven and the wonderfully talented Matt and Tyler team, I’ve dreamt for many years of how amazing it would be to make one of these movies with Kevin Williamson at the helm. And now it’s happening, Kevin Williamson is going to direct ‘Scream 7’! This was his baby and it’s his brilliant mind that dreamt up this world. Kevin is not just an inspiration as an artist but has been a dear friend for many years.”

You can read her full Instagram post here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Neve Campbell (@nevecampbell)

Where else have I seen Joel McHale?

Joel McHale hosts ‘Crime Scene Kitchen’. Photo: Fox.

McHale is a recognizable, sarcastic comic presence, having hosted the likes of ‘The Soup’ and more recent shows such as ‘Crime Scene Kitchen’ and ‘House of Villains.’

But he’s enjoyed an eclectic TV and movie career, appearing in shows such as ‘Community,’ ‘Animal Control,’ and ‘The X-Files.’

On the big screen, he’s been seen in ‘The Informant!’ ‘Ted,’ ‘Blended,’ ‘Deliver Us from Evil’ and ‘A Futile and Stupid Gesture.’

He’ll appear in the ‘Community’ movie that keeps being touted by its cast and has an unknown role in the third season of ‘Yellowjackets.’ And he’s most frequently found making fun of former ‘Community’ co-star and good friend Ken Jeong.

When will ‘Scream 7’ be in theaters?

‘Scream 7’ will release in theaters worldwide via Paramount Pictures on February 27th, 2026.

Ghostface in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s ‘Scream VI.’

Movies in the ‘Scream’ franchise:
- ‘Scream‘ (1996)
- ‘Scream 2‘ (1997)
- ‘Scream 3‘ (2000)
- ‘Scream 4‘ (2011)
- ‘Scream‘ (2022)
- ‘Scream VI‘ (2023)
Buy ‘Scream’ Movies on Amazon
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January 17, 2025
‘Thanksgiving’ Blu-ray and DVD Interview: Director Eli Roth
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Premiering on digital platforms January 19th and available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning January 30th is the box office hit ‘Thanksgiving,’ which was directed by Eli Roth (‘Cabin Fever,’ ‘Death Wish’) and stars Patrick Dempsey (‘Ferrari’).

Director Eli Roth on the set of ‘Thanksgiving.’ Copyright: ©2023 CTMG. All Rights Reserved. Photo: Pief Weyman.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Eli Roth about ‘Thanksgiving,’ developing the feature film after making the trailer for ‘Grindhouse,’ shooting the Black Friday sequence, working with Patrick Dempsey, and the status of the recently announced sequel.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch the interview.

Director/Producer Eli Roth speaks at the Los Angeles Fan Screening for Tristar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s ‘Thanksgiving’ at Vista Theatre on November 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Stewart Cook/Getty Images for Sony Pictures.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about developing the ‘Thanksgiving’ trailer from ‘Grindhouse’ into a feature film and when did you know that you had the right story and screenplay for the feature length version?

Eli Roth: It’s interesting. The development process started when I was 11 or 12 years old with my best friend, Jeff Rendell, growing up in Massachusetts, waiting for a Thanksgiving slasher film every November. We’d be like, “When are they doing Thanksgiving?” So, we had all these kills like, “Oh, you could cut off a turkey’s head at the parade and they’d run around like a turkey with their head cut off.” That kind of stuff. So, by the time Quentin (Tarantino) and Robert Rodriguez asked me if I wanted to do a trailer for ‘Grindhouse,’ I was like, “I’ve already got it. It’s ‘Thanksgiving.’” Then after that, we thought, “This is great. I don’t have to make movies anymore. I can just make fake trailers because you’re just shooting the best parts.” That’s the stuff you want to do anyways. Then, fans were kind of badgering me over the years and I thought, “Man, they’re right. I really want to do this.” But we didn’t have it. We didn’t know what it was about other than those kills. So, we went through a few different kind of story permutations, and then it was seeing those riots on YouTube, the Black Friday riots where you just saw people saying, “Oh, we’re so thankful,” and two hours later killing each other for electronics and waffle irons. We thought there was something there that was interesting. It’s the mix of being thankful, “I’m just happy for just having my health and my family,” and then killing someone for stuff at a store. But then there’s something darker underneath which is that the reason everyone must do these gladiator games is because a few people at the top are making all the money and everyone else is getting minimum wage. So, I was like it isn’t just blaming greed. It’s like why are people forced into this, and it’s because no one’s getting paid anything, and a few people are hoarding it all. So, I thought that’s where you have interesting material there to do a good slasher film.

(L to R) Gabriel Davenport, Jenna Warren, Tomaso Sanelli, and Addison Rae star in ‘Thanksgiving’ from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

MF: Can you talk about creating the Black Friday opening sequence? What were the biggest challenges in shooting that scene and how many days did it take?

ER: We shot it in four days, and this is a low budget movie that we shot in 30 days. So, shooting that sequence, I wrote myself into a corner. But I’m like, “Well, I’m the producer.” So I go, “I can do it in four nights, two nights outside, two nights inside.” Then you’re talking with your stunt team and the special effects guys and makeup effects going, “How the hell are we going to pull this off?” I had a terrific second unit director named Justin Harding, who uses this program called Frame Forge, where we can kind of build the environments virtually and figure it out with my DP, Milan (Chadima). We shot list it, we storyboard, we go to the locations, and we walk through. It’s just the prep, and I’ve been directing for 20 years now. So, there’s a certain level of mastery that comes with that that you can only get from that 10,000 hour on set. So, I know exactly what I want. I mean, for me, where I think that those scenes go awry is when you try to do too much. I wanted to keep it intimate in a way where you’re following the characters and following what they’re all going through as this tsunami is happening. We had a great stunt team, and the extras were fantastic. We’d make sure that we did everything live. So, it is a faith-based system that you just hope to God it works out. We had a couple of cameras for some of the shots and for two nights all night the people were rioting and you’d say like, “Look, everyone, look to your left. Look to your right. These are your scene partners. Is everyone okay before, after? What are you comfortable with? Is it okay if I bump you?” Everyone was good at working together and working with Dan Skene, our stunt coordinator. As soon as you yelled cut, everyone was smiling, picking each other up. Because we had to do it again and again. It was a weird bonding experience. Everyone had smiles on their face the whole time. It was quite fun.

Related Article: Movie Review: ‘Thanksgiving’

Patrick Dempsey stars in TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s ‘Thanksgiving.’ Copyright: ©2023 CTMG. All Rights Reserved. Photo: Courtesy of Tristar Pictures.

MF: Patrick Dempsey gives a performance in ‘Thanksgiving’ that is unlike anything we’ve seen from him before. Can you talk about working with him on this specific character and helping him create this performance?

ER: I think that Patrick, look, he’s very sexy and good-looking. I mean, he’s like Paul Newman or Clint Eastwood. He’s going to have this kind of almost third act his career, because I grew up with him in high school from the teen movies. Then everyone else, my wife loves him from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and rom-coms. But now you see his performance in ‘Ferrari.’ You see him in ‘Thanksgiving.’ You realize he’s a seasoned actor, a great actor and such a fine actor. I think now that the restraints are off and he can do R-rated stuff, he’s got this whole other range to him. He’s fantastic. So, we talked about his accent. He grew up in Maine and he had never used his natural accent before. He had to lose it when he went to New York City to become an actor. So, in the movie, he’s talking with the accent he grew up with. Once you start talking in that accent, you kind of revert to being from that small town in Maine. I think giving him the permission to do that and to talk with his natural accent, it was great. He’s an amazing actor.

A mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts in ‘Thanksgiving’ from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

MF: Finally, can you talk about where you are in the development process on the upcoming sequel, and will it feature returning characters or a completely new story?

ER: Well, it’s early on. Jeff Rendell and I are going through the process of we’ve kind of just got off the rides. We’re clearing our heads a little bit. I’m watching, I’m catching up on ‘Beef’ and ‘Saltburn.’ I’m watching non-horror stuff, like rom-coms. I watched ‘Bend It Like Beckham.’ That’s my new favorite film. So, I’ve just been kind of decompressing a little bit. It sort of clears my head. But I think that with the sequel, you want to go back for what made the first one work and what people enjoyed. I just sort of go where I think the horror is going to be. I go, “Oh, that’s an interesting idea.” I present myself in the shoes of the fan and think, “I just paid money and went to a theater and saw this. You better impress me.” Then you go, “Whoa, I didn’t expect that.” I have an opening sequence that I think is going to be the right opening sequence for it, that people go, “Oh, okay. This is going to be good.” That’s what I had to do with the Black Friday scene. I had to set the table, so to speak, saying, “We’re not playing around. This is going to be an insane movie. It’s not what you expect.” I need to have a similar opening and I’ve got one. I have the opening and I have the finale, and I’m looking for ways to kind of connect it, so you just sit and you watch the movie. Every day you press play and it’s like choose your own adventure book until it’s like, “Oh, you died. Go back. Go this way, go that way.” So, we’re at that point in the process of just kind of finding the best story, but I got a few kills, so I’m trying to connect the dots.
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What is the plot of ‘Thanksgiving’?

After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan.

Who is in the cast of ‘Thanksgiving’?
- Patrick Dempsey as Sheriff Eric Newlon
- Nell Verlaque as Jessica
- Addison Rae as Gaby
- Jalen Thomas Brooks as Bobby
- Milo Manheim as Ryan
- Tomaso Sanelli as Evan
- Gabriel Davenport as Scuba
- Jenna Warren as Yulia
- Ty Victor Olsson as Mitch Collins
- Tim Dillon as Manny
- Russell Yuen as Detective Peter Chu
- Karen Cliche as Kathleen
- Derek McGrath as Mayor Cantin
- Joe Delfin as McCarty
- Jeff Teravainen as Deputy Bret Labelle
- Rick Hoffman as Thomas Wright
- Gina Gershon as Amanda Collins
Director Eli Roth’s ‘Thanksgiving’ opens in theaters on November 17, 2023. Photo: Sony Pictures.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Thanksgiving’:
- ‘The Last Waltz‘ (1978)
- ‘The Wiz‘ (1978)
- ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles‘ (1987)
- ‘Scent of a Woman‘ (1992)
- ‘Grumpy Old Men‘ (1993)
- ‘Son in Law‘ (1993)
- ‘Addams Family Values‘ (1993)
- ‘Home for the Holidays‘ (1995)
- ‘The Ice Storm‘ (1997)
- ‘Pieces of April‘ (2003)
- ‘Grindhouse‘ (2007)
- ‘Tower Heist‘ (2011)
- ‘Free Birds‘ (2013)
- ‘Prisoners‘ (2013)
- ‘The Oath‘ (2018)
- ‘The Thanksgiving Movie‘ (2020)
- ‘Black Friday‘ (2021)
Buy Eli Roth Movies On Amazon
January 22, 2024
Movie Review: ‘Ferrari’
Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari in director Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

Opening in theaters on December 25th is ‘Ferrari,’ starring Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, and Patrick Dempsey.

Initial Thoughts

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari in director Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

It’s interesting that ‘Ferrari’ is coming out around the same time as another biopic of a famous 20th century figure, ‘Maestro,’ and even more intriguing that both are heavily invested in the women at the center of their subjects’ lives. But while ‘Maestro’ takes an expansive look at the life of composer Leonard Bernstein, ‘Ferrari’ focuses on one brief period in the life of race car driver, team leader, and auto manufacturer Enzo Ferrari.

Director Michael Mann’s first film since 2015’s ‘Blackhat’ throws a lot at the viewer from a period and place that might now be largely forgotten, and one ultimately wonders what exactly the point is. But ‘Ferrari’ skates over its flaws on the backs of Adam Driver in the title role and Penelope Cruz as his long-suffering wife Laura, with both giving fantastic performances and Cruz in particular doing some of the finest work of her career.

Story and Direction

Director Michael Mann at the premiere of ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

It’s the summer of 1957 and Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) is facing crises on multiple fronts. The auto factory he and his wife and business partner Laura (Penelope Cruz) opened 10 years earlier is in danger of going bankrupt. He needs a new driver after one is killed during a test drive. His marriage is falling apart, as he and Laura are shattered by grief over the death of their son Dino. And he strives to keep secret a second family, consisting of his longtime lover Lina Lardi and their 12-year-old son Piero.

This is the state of Enzo Ferrari, the sports car king at the heart of Michael Mann’s first movie in eight years. And in many ways, Enzo Ferrari – played brilliantly by Driver – is a perfect subject for the director behind films like ‘Heat’ and ‘Ali’: Ferrari is pulled in multiple directions, obsessed with winning, fueled by his passions, and haunted by the things he cannot control.

One of those things is Laura, also brought to vivid life by Penelope Cruz in a masterfully balanced performance. Laura is in some ways a ticking time bomb, holding the fate of their business in her hands even as she discovers the truth about Ferrari’s mistress and second son. Yet as the film points out, she is as pragmatic and driven as her husband, and subsumes her own grief and fury in an effort to save the business.

The complex, turbulent relationship between Enzo and Laura forms the heart of ‘Ferrari,’ and its best scenes are the ones in which the husband and wife engage in verbal battle like gladiators in the coliseum (or in one case, end up jousting in a different way on the dining room table when their heightened anger turns into raw lust).

A scene from director Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

But there is another movie here too, about racing, and how Enzo Ferrari bets the company’s future on a legendary cross-country Italian race, the Mille Miglia. Mann shoots this race and others, and even an opening scene of Ferrari speeding along a country road in his own car, in his typically immersive style, putting the viewer as closely into the car as possible. The roar of the engines, the speed of the vehicle, the dangerous ballet as the drivers navigate hairpin turns and each other – it all unspools thrillingly, even if the drivers themselves are nowhere nearly as fleshed-out as the film’s leads.

That’s one of the problems that ‘Ferrari’ faces – like other recent biopics, it throws a lot of names, faces, and dates at the viewer in a hurry, as if one is expected to read up on the period and the people before coming to the theater. It’s confusing at first, and if race car driving itself isn’t one’s bag, Mann and late screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin don’t quite make the case for why we should be interested. Seen from one perspective, ‘Ferrari’ is the story of another rich white guy who gets what he needs as everyone around him defers to ‘Il Commendatore.’

At its best, ‘Ferrari’ is a portrait of grief, destroyed dreams, and the pain of facing impossible choices, not to mention a healthy dose of the good old triumph of the human spirit. Yet despite the massive efforts of Cruz and Driver, ‘Ferrari’ never full draws us in emotionally or makes us feel what Ferrari means when he describes racing as “our deadly passion, our terrible joy.” Even after the truly shocking finish to the Mille Miglia, the film ends on a rather perfunctory note. It’s a big improvement over Mann’s last two misfires, 2009’s ‘Public Enemies’ and 2015’s ‘Blackhat,’ but it’s not quite top tier for the director either.

Related Article: Adam Driver Talks ‘Ferrari’ and Working with Director Michael Mann

The Cast

Penélope Cruz as Laura Ferrari in director Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

This is really the Driver and Cruz Show from start to finish. Adam Driver goes through more of a physical transformation, graying his hair and making himself appear heavier under Ferrari’s stylish suits and suspenders, but his accent, intonations, and emotional remove – except for a few key sequences – all help paint a three-dimensional portrait of a man driven to succeed at all costs, as well as a human being who is sometimes unnervingly practical in all matters, even those of the heart. He only allows his deep grief over the death of Dino to break through occasionally, and when it does, it’s raw and painful. Yet in his scenes with Piero, he’s affectionate, patient, and loving, hinting at a more reachable Ferrari underneath.

As for Cruz, she does more with her face in one scene – her completely silent visit to Dino’s tomb – than many actors can do in a career. Laura Ferrari is a woman who has been tested by grief – over the loss of her child and the destruction of her marriage – and yet is perhaps even stronger and more resolute than her husband. From her walk to the way others treat her, it’s clear that Laura is not a woman to be underestimated or trifled with, and Cruz conveys both that and the woman’s deep heartbreak in a tremendous, often non-verbal performance.

Shailene Woodley at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

The rest of the cast doesn’t fare as well, although not for trying. The film’s third lead, Shailene Woodley as Ferrari’s lover Lina Lardi, is simply miscast. Woodley projects a sort of Midwest, all-American girl demeanor, which clashes jarringly with Lardi’s portrayal as an Italian woman living on a thin line between a traditional existence and a more modern, cosmopolitan one.

The other players, which include familiar faces like Patrick Dempsey and Jack O’Connell, are good in their roles but no one in the mix of drivers, mechanics, journalists, and businessmen really stands out (except perhaps Gabriel Leone as Ferrari’s newest driver, the free-spirited, headstrong Alfonso de Portago). You can mostly distinguish who the rest are and what function they serve by what they’re wearing.

Will ‘Ferrari’ Compete In The Oscar Race?

Adam Driver at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

The buzz on ‘Ferrari’ seems to have cooled quite a bit following festival season, so it’s difficult to say whether it will be a factor in this year’s Oscar race. The film doesn’t seem likely to nab nominations for either Best Picture or Best Director – despite it being Mann’s return behind the camera for the first time in nearly a decade, it’s not his best work and there are other directors who really aced it this year.

Aside from some below-the-line awards – Editing, Production Design, Sound, as well as possibly Hair and Makeup – the best chance for ‘Ferrari’ will be in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories. Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz give Oscar-worthy performances, and Cruz in particular could be a shoo-in for winning if the Best Actress category wasn’t already crowded with magnificent work from other stars. But it’s difficult to say whether either one will even be nominated at this point.

Final Thoughts

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari in director Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

As noted above, this isn’t top-shelf Michael Mann, but the 80-year-old director still manages to get a lot of aspects of ‘Ferrari’ right. Chief among those is the casting of Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz, even though he whiffs on trying to get Shailene Woodley to mangle an Italian accent. But the relationship between Ferrari and Laura, plus the look and feel of the setting, the beauty of the countryside, the visceral power of the cars (which were much more dangerous then) – it’s all there.

What’s missing is an overall passion and underlying meaning to the entire story. Focusing on this one intense period in Ferrari’s life may be easier to do in two hours than an overview of his entire story, but we’re still left wondering why this part of the story was the one worth telling. What does it say about Ferrari himself, about the things he fought or cared for? Without that to hook us in, ‘Ferrari’ ends up feeling kind of empty.

‘Ferrari’ receives 6.5 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Ferrari’?

In the summer of 1957, Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver), reeling from the death of his son Dino, the deteriorating marriage with his wife Laura (Penélope Cruz), and his company’s impending bankruptcy, enters his racing team to the 1957 Mille Miglia.

Who is in the cast of ‘Ferrari’?
- Adam Driver (‘Marriage Story‘) as Enzo Ferrari
- Penélope Cruz (‘Murder on the Orient Express‘) as Laura Ferrari
- Shailene Woodley (‘The Descendants‘) as Lina Lardi
- Sarah Gadon (‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘) as Linda Christian
- Jack O’Connell (‘Money Monster‘) as Peter Collins
- Patrick Dempsey (‘Thanksgiving‘) as Piero Taruffi
Director Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari’ opens in theaters on December 25th. Photo: Neon.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Ferrari:’
- ‘Days of Thunder‘ (1990)
- ‘The Fast and the Furious‘ (2001)
- ‘2 Fast 2 Furious‘ (2003)
- ‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift‘ (2006)
- ‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby‘ (2006)
- ‘Fast & Furious‘ (2009)
- ‘Fast Five‘ (2011)
- ‘Rush‘ (2013)
- ‘Fast & Furious 6‘ (2013)
- ‘Need for Speed‘ (2014)
- ‘Furious 7‘ (2015)
- ‘The Fate of the Furious‘ (2017)
- ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw‘ (2019)
- ‘Ford v Ferrari‘ (2019)
- ‘F9‘ (2021)
- ‘Fast X‘ (2023)
- ‘Gran Turismo‘ (2023)
Buy Tickets: ‘Ferrari’ Movie Showtimes

Buy Adam Driver Movies On Amazon
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December 23, 2023
‘Ferrari’ Exclusive Interview: Adam Driver
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Opening in theaters on December 25th is ‘Ferrari,’ which chronicles the life of iconic entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari. The movie was directed by Michael Mann (‘Heat’) and stars Adam Driver (‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’) in the title role.

Adam Driver stars in director Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari.’

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Adam Driver about his work on ‘Ferrari,’ his approach to playing the iconic character, working with Michael Mann, Ferrari’s complex relationship with his wife Laura, and creating that relationship on screen with Penélope Cruz.

Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari in director Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interview.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your approach to playing a person as iconic as Enzo Ferrari and what was the key for you in finding the character? Was it creating him internally first or with the costume and makeup departments, finding his external look that helped you the most with the performance?

Adam Driver: Because of the nature of our shooting schedule and the budget really, it had to be internal at first. The prosthetics and costumes, because we got delayed, some of those decisions were made very late. But mostly, it’s almost always internal. It starts with the script and then you try to work on it, and that’s Michael’s thing. 90% of his notes are about internal life. You’re spot on in starting with that, because that’s where he started with this character. His take was that Ferrari was a racer first, so that’s how he wanted to see him navigate the track of this movie, as someone who has prolonged focus, and during these potential pitfalls or crashes, just to continue the metaphor, is calm on the surface, but has this engine going throughout.

Director Michael Mann at the premiere of ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

MF: For my money, Michael Mann is one of the greatest directors of all time. What was it like for you collaborating with him on this film and watching firsthand the specific way that he makes movies?

AD: I agree with you. I think he is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and his movies I’ve returned to again and again, and they’ve been a massive inspiration for me. He has incredible taste, and I’m not saying that because I got the part, but his tastes in subject matter and how he shoots things, I love. So, when you trust a director’s taste, you feel way more confident that they’re making the movie that they want to make. He was someone that, just on a personal level, I am incredibly moved by. I was very excited to work with him, but who he is as a person, I care about Michael deeply, and I love his films and his relentlessness in going for something that feels tactile and authentic, that I’m moved by.

Penélope Cruz as Laura Ferrari in director Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

MF: Finally, Enzo had a very complex relationship with his wife, Laura. Can you talk about that relationship and creating it on screen with Penélope Cruz?

AD: She makes things easy, because she’s so good and available and present, and that’s the strength of the script is that there’s this relationship that’s not so obvious. After the movie, I think in 1963, there was a kind of revolt among the engineers. They didn’t appreciate how she was conducting business, and they came to Enzo saying that “She’s got to go. If you don’t fire her, we quit.” His response was then “Fine, quit,” and he fired them all. That same year, Laura fell into a ditch, and they said “She fell into a ditch. We pulled her out.” He’s like, “Why’d you pull her out?” That’s what it was with them. They’re fighting one minute, and maybe making love the next, but there’s this in our film, an unresolved grief that’s between them, that you only get glimpses of who they used to be. Again, I don’t feel like scripts come along that are that seemingly bold, I guess, and not shying away from creating a complicated linear character.
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What is the plot of ‘Ferrari’?

In the summer of 1957, Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver), reeling from the death of his son Dino, the deteriorating marriage with his wife Laura (Penélope Cruz), and his company’s impending bankruptcy, enters his racing team to the 1957 Mille Miglia.

Who is in the cast of ‘Ferrari’?
- Adam Driver (‘Marriage Story‘) as Enzo Ferrari
- Penélope Cruz (‘Murder on the Orient Express‘) as Laura Ferrari
- Shailene Woodley (‘The Descendants‘) as Lina Lardi
- Sarah Gadon (‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘) as Linda Christian
- Jack O’Connell (‘Money Monster‘) as Peter Collins
- Patrick Dempsey (‘Thanksgiving‘) as Piero Taruffi
Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari in director Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari.’ Photo: Neon.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Ferrari:’
- ‘Days of Thunder‘ (1990)
- ‘The Fast and the Furious‘ (2001)
- ‘2 Fast 2 Furious‘ (2003)
- ‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift‘ (2006)
- ‘Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby‘ (2006)
- ‘Fast & Furious‘ (2009)
- ‘Fast Five‘ (2011)
- ‘Rush‘ (2013)
- ‘Fast & Furious 6‘ (2013)
- ‘Need for Speed‘ (2014)
- ‘Furious 7‘ (2015)
- ‘The Fate of the Furious‘ (2017)
- ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw‘ (2019)
- ‘Ford v Ferrari‘ (2019)
- ‘F9‘ (2021)
- ‘Fast X‘ (2023)
- ‘Gran Turismo‘ (2023)
Buy Tickets: ‘Ferrari’ Movie Showtimes

Buy Adam Driver Movies On Amazon
December 19, 2023
Eli Roth Announces ‘Thanksgiving’ Sequel
Director Eli Roth’s ‘Thanksgiving’ opens in theaters on November 17, 2023. Photo: Sony Pictures.

Preview:
- Eli Roth will make a sequel to his holiday-themed slasher movie ‘Thanksgiving’
- He says he’ll take his time with the script to get it right.
- The movie should be in theaters by late 2025.
It took 16 years for co-writer/director Eli Roth to finally realize his dream of making the full movie that his trailer for ‘Thanksgiving’ –– released as part of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’ ‘Grindhouse‘ –– teased, but it appears we’ll be getting a second helping a lot quicker. Because, after all… aren’t second helpings all part of the fun of Thanksgiving?

So, while the first film’s tagline read, “there will be no leftovers”, it looks like we’re all in for more Pilgrim-masked mayhem, as Roth has announced that ‘Thanksgiving’ sequel is in the early planning stages.
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What was the story of ‘Thanksgiving’?

A mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts in ‘Thanksgiving’ from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts –– the birthplace of the holiday.

Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan.

Will the town uncover the killer and survive the holidays… Or become guests at his twisted holiday dinner table?

Who else appeared in the first ‘Thanksgiving’?

(L to R) Gabriel Davenport, Jenna Warren, Tomaso Sanelli, and Addison Rae star in ‘Thanksgiving’ from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

The cast for Roth’s horror included Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, Rick Hoffman and Gina Gershon.

We can safely assume that the survivors –– won’t tell you who they are, no spoilers here –– will be back for more horror from John Carver.

Related Article: Movie Review: ‘Thanksgiving’

Eli Roth offers the first ‘Thanksgiving 2’ details

‘Thanksgiving’ Parade from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

Roth made the announcement via Instagram…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0SM5G9yx6N/

The filmmaker revealed that he and Jeff Rendell –– who wrote the ‘Thanksgiving’ script based on a story that Roth and he cooked up –– will be taking some time to make sure that the script is right before he starts shooting the new movie.

He also explained how excited he is to have a slasher horror franchise (Roth has previously had a franchise, albeit more in the torture horror genre via the ‘Hostel’ movies).

What will happen in ‘Thanksgiving 2’?

Amanda Barker “Lizzie”in Thanksgiving’ from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

While we won’t specify what happens at the end of the first film, it does open up some intriguing possibilities given what we learned about the reasons for the seasonal slaying/kidnapping.

And if the likes of ‘Scream’, ‘Halloween’ and other horror franchises can keep its killer coming back in different ways, then surely Roth will have some fun ideas up his sleeve. And you know he’s already rubbing his hands in anticipation of new kills.

When will ‘Thanksgiving 2’ be on screens?

Sony has yet to confirm an official date for the ‘Thanksgiving’ sequel, but Roth says the aim is to have it in theaters in 2025, most likely in November.

Cheerleader on the trampoline in ‘Thanksgiving’ from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Thanksgiving’:
- ‘The Last Waltz‘ (1978)
- ‘The Wiz‘ (1978)
- ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles‘ (1987)
- ‘Scent of a Woman‘ (1992)
- ‘Grumpy Old Men‘ (1993)
- ‘Son in Law‘ (1993)
- ‘Addams Family Values‘ (1993)
- ‘Home for the Holidays‘ (1995)
- ‘The Ice Storm‘ (1997)
- ‘Pieces of April‘ (2003)
- ‘Grindhouse‘ (2007)
- ‘Tower Heist‘ (2011)
- ‘Free Birds‘ (2013)
- ‘Prisoners‘ (2013)
- ‘The Oath‘ (2018)
- ‘The Thanksgiving Movie‘ (2020)
- ‘Black Friday‘ (2021)
Buy Eli Roth Movies On Amazon
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December 1, 2023
Movie Review: ‘Thanksgiving’
A mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts in ‘Thanksgiving’ from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

Opening in theaters on November 17th, ‘Thanksgiving’ sees director Eli Roth returning to his full-on horror roots after making the family-friendlier ‘The House With a Clock in its Walls’.

This new holiday-themed thriller is actually the realization of dream he’s held for around 16 years, ever since he shot a real trailer for a fake movie that formed part of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’ ‘Grindhouse’.

Though the finished product only nods to the concept from the trailer (and includes one of the kills it features), ‘Thanksgiving’ certainly offers some crafty gore and moments played for laughs.

Does ‘Thanksgiving’ Serve Up the Goods?

‘Thanksgiving’ Parade from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

Eli Roth has long promised that he’ll finally make good –– or should that be “make bad”, given that the movie features people being stalked and butchered in all manner of creative ways –– on the promise of the ‘Thanksgiving’ trailer he cooked up for old filmmaker friends Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’ cult movie celebration ‘Grindhouse’ back in 2007.

That conglomeration of weird ideas and crazed action didn’t hit home with cinemagoers, but Roth (also responsible for movies such as the ‘Hostel’ films and ‘Cabin Fever’) hasn’t been able to let go of the idea. And purely from a slasher movie fan front, that’s a good thing.

‘Thanksgiving’, which looks to start balancing out the vast gap in the number of horror movies set during the titular holiday compared to, Christmas and especially Halloween (Arbor Day may still want a word on that front), has him stalking around slasher territory.

As you might expect from an Eli Roth movie, gore hounds will be happy enough with what he’s got on offer here. The best moments feature items such as a dumpster being used to off someone in ingenious fashion and corn cob holders employed the way they were never intended.

‘Thanksgiving’ certainly offers enough to keep you satisfied, even if it’s mostly junk food.

‘Thanksgiving’: Script and Direction

Director Eli Roth’s ‘Thanksgiving’ opens in theaters on November 17, 2023. Photo: Sony Pictures.

Writing with longtime collaborator Jeff Rendell (who actually worked on the ‘Grindhouse’ trailer and even appears as the killer in that short), Roth has come up with a screenplay that goes all in on the horror tropes while letting you know he knows you know.

There are elements borrowed from other, better movies (specifically the likes of ‘Halloween’ and ‘Scream’) but they’re all whisked together in such a way that they still have some flavor.

The characters won’t exactly linger in the mind –– they’re mostly a stock collection of mean girls, meat heads and greedy grownups –– but that’s not really the point. They’re in place so Roth and Rendell can start taking them out in bloody fashion. You’ll probably figure out what’s going on a fair bit before the characters do (though there is a fake-out that seems to stretch credibility in terms of the villain being somewhere they probably shouldn’t be without relying on accomplices) and it all comes down to the usual dumb decisions and a chase through an abandoned building, but by that point, you’ll feel appropriately satisfied.

Roth certainly knows how to make a set piece work and keep tension simmering without constantly resorting to easy jump scares (though when they are served up, they’re effective). He’s got a keen eye for keeping his characters (and therefore the audience) off guard and knows how to orchestrate a killer sequence.

And while there is always a danger that the comedy aspects of a movie such as this –– and ‘Thanksgiving’ is definitely intended to balance the laughs with the screams –– can overwhelm the horror side of things. Fortunately, the blend here works, the two sides of the story complementing each other.

Related Article: ‘Deadpool’ Director Tim Miller is Taking Over ‘Borderlands’ Re-Shoots

‘Thanksgiving’: Performances

(L to R) Nell Verlaque, Addison Rae and Tomaso Sanelli star in ‘Thanksgiving’ from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

The brunt of the character work here is handed to Jessica Wright (played by Nell Verlaque) who would seem at first glance to be the sort of spoiled highschooler that is offed in a hundred different variants of a movie like this. In Roth’s hands, she’s a little more nuanced than that, and Verlaque breathes enough life into her to make you actually root for her at times.

She’s the daughter of Thomas Wright (Rick Hoffman), the wealthy owner of the local megamart whose store is the location for the Black Friday riot that leads to multiple deaths and injuries and sparks the vengeful crusade a year later that gives the movie its hook (and knife, and fork and…). Jessica is haunted by the death of her mother, and unhappy with her stepmother, but at least is sympathetic enough to be worth following.

While Patrick Dempsey is the most recognizable face here (though ‘Suits’ fans might prioritize Hoffman), he’s mostly reduced to being the likeable lawman charged with trying to protect the citizens when the rampage kicks off. He’s perfectly fine in the role, though it’s a character without too much spice. And pity poor Gina Gershon, who shows up for all of two minutes only to perish at the hands of a shopping cart early during the Black Friday event.

‘Thanksgiving’: Final Thoughts

Amanda Barker “Lizzie”in Thanksgiving’ from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

Eli Roth fans will be happy to see him back digging into gore, blood and guts after his most recent effort (he also has sci-fi ‘Borderlands’ on the way), and this time leavening the horror with more humor.

Is it nailed-on, all-time classic? Not really –– for all the invention in terms of the killer’s methods, the whole thing creatively feels more like eating reheated leftovers. But as anyone who has feasted on turkey and trimmings sandwiches the next day, that’s sometimes exactly what you’re looking for.

‘Thanksgiving’ receives 6.5 out of 10 stars.
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What’s the story of ‘Thanksgiving’?

After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts –– the birthplace of the holiday.

Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan.

Will the town uncover the killer and survive the holidays… Or become guests at his twisted holiday dinner table?

Who else is in ‘Thanksgiving’?

The cast for Roth’s new horror also includes Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, and Jalen Thomas Brooks.

Cheerleader on the trampoline in ‘Thanksgiving’ from TriStar Pictures and Spyglass Media Group, LLC Thanksgiving.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Thanksgiving’:
- ‘The Last Waltz‘ (1978)
- ‘The Wiz‘ (1978)
- ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles‘ (1987)
- ‘Scent of a Woman‘ (1992)
- ‘Grumpy Old Men‘ (1993)
- ‘Son in Law‘ (1993)
- ‘Addams Family Values‘ (1993)
- ‘Home for the Holidays‘ (1995)
- ‘The Ice Storm‘ (1997)
- ‘Pieces of April‘ (2003)
- ‘Grindhouse‘ (2007)
- ‘Tower Heist‘ (2011)
- ‘Free Birds‘ (2013)
- ‘Prisoners‘ (2013)
- ‘The Oath‘ (2018)
- ‘The Thanksgiving Movie‘ (2020)
- ‘Black Friday‘ (2021)
Buy Eli Roth Movies On Amazon
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November 20, 2023
Movie Review: ‘Disenchanted’

(L to R): Amy Adams as Giselle, Sofia (played by Mila & Lara Jackson), Gabriella Baldacchino as Morgan Philip, and Patrick Dempsey as Robert Philip in Disney’s live-action ‘Disenchanted,’ exclusively on Disney+. Courtesy of Disney Enterprises; Inc. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Arriving after other studios – DreamWorks in particular with its ‘Shrek’ movies – had been poking fun at fairy tale tropes, 2007’s ‘Enchanted’ felt like Disney throwing a loving nudge in the ribs to its own storied history of candy-coated Grimm adaptations and fantasy films.

A fish-out-of-water story of Giselle (Amy Adams), a young, wish-upon-a-starry-eyed woman in the animated realm of Andalasia who finds herself pushed – literally – into our own world by Susan Sarandon’s Evil Queen Narissa, ‘Enchanted’ generated a lot of fun from slyly deconstructing the idea of true love’s kiss, singing to animals as you do chores and handsome princes setting forth on quests.

It ended, as Disney’s fairy stories tend to, happily, with the magical menace vanquished and Giselle preparing for life with divorce lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and his six-year-old daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey) in New York. Her actual Andalasian prince, meanwhile (James Marsden’s heroically daffy Edward) landed snarky Nancy Tremaine (Idina Menzel) and returned to the world of hand-drawn dragons, ogres and such.

The songs were catchy, the jokes landed and Adams and Marsden in particular made the whole thing work.

Amy Adams as Giselle in Disney’s live-action ‘Disenchanted,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

‘Disenchanted’ premiering on Disney+, picks up roughly a decade after the first film, and discovers what happens after the Happy Ever After. “After ever after?” asks a cartoon chipmunk in the animated prologue. “You get married, and nothing else happens.” Which is not true by any means. And in the case of this movie, “Ever After” means the stark reality of married and child-rearing life.

Having welcomed a new baby into their family, Giselle and Robert are ready to uproot the brood and move to an apparently suburban paradise called Monroeville. It’ll mean big changes – Robert will face a daily commute into the Big Apple and Giselle is beginning to wonder if the magic has gone… or at least diminished. While she and Robert are happy, there’s just something missing.

Morgan, meanwhile – now played in suitably sulky teen form by Gabriella Baldacchino – is far from pleased at being torn from all she knows to live in what looks to be a fixer-up of a castle-style home.

The mood is lifted, at least for Giselle and Robert, by the surprise arrival (via magic wishing well portal, of course) by Edward and Nancy, who stop in to gift the couple’s new baby Sofia an Andalasian wishing wand. Which makes Morgan feel all the more left out, since only “a true daughter” of Andalasia can wield it.

(L to R): Yvette Nicole Brown as Rosaleen, Maya Rudolph as Malvina Monroe, Jayma Mays as Ruby in Disney’s live-action ‘Disenchanted,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Jonathan Hession. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Naturally, Giselle ends up using it to wish that her life were more of, well, a fairy tale, but soon regrets it when the world around her starts to feature fantastical elements again… and not in a good way.

She ends up slowly transforming into a wicked stepmother and clashes on the villainous front with Malvina Monroe (Maya Rudolph), the self-proclaimed head of the community, who covets the power for herself.

Robert, meanwhile, becomes the sort of heroic prince that Edward would want to hang out with, looking to slay dragons, while Morgan is reduced to a Cinderella-style figured, loaded down with chores and falling for Malvina’s son Tyson (Kolton Stewart).

As directed this time by Adam Shankman, ‘Disenchanted’ seeks to capture the same charm as the original, and in its favor, entertainingly moves the themes and characters forward in believable ways.

Amy Adams as Giselle in Disney’s live-action ‘Disenchanted,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Adams, of course, still has the required blend of comic and dramatic chops to carry off Giselle, who could potentially be (and occasionally is) utterly twee and annoying at every turn. There’s a genuine joy to her performance, especially later when she’s embracing her darker side.

Dempsey feels less well served this time, largely reduced to his own subplot, but that’s not much of an issue, since he was always a little bland to begin with. Rudolph, too, is not given the space she really needs to make Malvina work as well as she might, having done more with smaller comic characters in other movies and shows. Yet when she and Adams face off, there’s enough smack-talk (and smack-sing) to keep you laughing.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect, cast-wise, is a further reduction of screen time for Marsden, who steals every scene he wanders into as the declarative, comically overblown Edward. While he’s a character who probably does work better as a garnish rather than a main ingredient, he chews that role (and any surrounding scenery) with gusto, and the movie is better whenever he’s on screen.

This time around, the magic level of the whole enterprise is somewhat reduced, the sequel just missing the mark when it comes to capturing the same lightning in a bottle. The biggest offender on that front here is the songs, which is all the more dispiriting considering that the musical team sees the return of ‘Enchanted’s Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. None of the tunes are anywhere near as memorable or well-staged as ‘Happy Working Song’, and when you have Idina Menzel (no slouch on the Broadway front thanks to ‘Wicked’ and the pipes behind ‘Frozen’s ultimate earworm ‘Let it Go’) belting out what should be a showstopper of a third act offering called ‘Love Power’ and even that can’t move the needle? You know you’re in trouble.

Which is not to say that the movie is totally a wasted quest. There is still plenty to enjoy, even if gently deconstructing fairy tale conventions is never as fresh the second time around. It has been a long wait for a sequel to ‘Enchanted’ and though this isn’t quite the exact follow-up we’d have wished for, it’s still good to see these characters and their story back on our screens.

(L to R): James Marsden as Prince Edward and Idina Menzel as Nancy Tremaine in Disney’s live-action ‘Disenchanted,’ exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Jonathan Hession. © 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

‘Disenchanted’ receives 3 out of 5 stars.
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November 18, 2022
D23 Expo 2022: Disney Studios Presentation

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Walt Disney Studios kicked off the first day of D23 Expo 2022 in style today with tons of advance looks at what the House of Mouse has in store for fans in the coming days, months, and years. You can watch Moviefone‘s exclusive backstage interviews by clicking on the video player above.

The first D23 Expo in three years began with the president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, Sean Bailey, revealing the first-ever footage from ‘Hocus Pocus 2’.

Bailey was joined by the wacky Sanderson Sisters themselves – stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy – who appeared via video to show how their characters are back for the first time since 1993 for more soul-stealing Halloween action.

Battling them this time around are aspiring witch Becca (Whitney Peak) and magic shop owner Gilbert (Sam Richardson).

But the audience’s biggest applause went to the original film’s Billy Butcherson (‘The Shape of Water’s Doug Jones) upon his return from the grave. ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ hits Disney+ on September 30th. The trailer is in the video player above.
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Next up on the panel was another eagerly anticipated sequel, ‘Disenchanted’. Returning stars Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel, and James Marsden took the stage, alongside Maya Rudolph, the film’s new villain. ‘Disenchanted’ finds Adams’ Giselle and hubby Dempsey moving to the suburbs with their infant and teenage children.

“I was a huge fan of the original,” said Rudolph. “I can’t believe I got to be part of this… It’s not easy being mean to Amy Adams.” The new teaser trailer for the sequel is in the video player above.
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As far as live-action remakes of Disney animated classics go, ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ was the first on deck today: with star Jude Law (Captain Hook) flanked by newcomers Alexander Molony (Peter Pan), Ever Gabo Anderson (Wendy), and Alyssa Wapanatâhk (Tiger Lily).

Expect more empowered female characters this time around, including at least one Lost Girl among Peter’s Lost Boys.

“Disney has worked very hard to give her more depth and a lot more character,” said Anderson of Wendy. “She and Peter are equals in this film.”

Law added that Hook and Pan’s prior relationship is also fleshed out. “We got to mine their back story a little bit more. You get to understand their past,” he said, hinting that the two were once friends.

© 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Another reworking of a Disney classic comes with March 10th’s ‘Haunted Mansion’, directed by ‘Dear White People’ creator Justin Simien. Today’s first look showcased stars Rosario Dawson and LaKeith Stanfield exploring the titular house with a priest played by Owen Wilson and a historian played by Danny DeVito.

“I got to make sure all the little details, all the Easter eggs are there. Because I’m a nerd,” confessed Simien. He then joined another of the film’s stars – scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis – in a Doom Buggy rolling across the D23 Expo stage.

© 2022 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Few Disney films are so beloved as 1994’s ‘The Lion King’. And fans will get more of the film’s animal kingdom in the 2024 prequel ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’.

Director Barry Jenkins appeared to explain how “Mufasa is the origin story of one of the greatest kings of the Pride Land… It’s the real story of how Mufasa found his place in the circle of life. What you learn is that Mufasa is great because of the family and the friends he has with him.”

Of course Disney Studios wouldn’t exist without its very first animated classic, 1937’s ‘Snow White’.

Director Marc Webb is tackling the live-action 2024 remake, featuring Gal Gadot as the Wicked Queen and Rachel Zegler as its eponymous heroine. The two were touched by the warm response they received as they presented a first look at their characters.

“Just your reaction means the world to us,” said Gadot.
A visibly moved Zegler explained that, “Snow White is the girl you remember, but she’s definitely made for the modern age,” stating the film redefines what it means to be the fairest of them all.

Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot at Disney D23 Expo 2022 Getty Images
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While ‘Snow White’ is Disney’s first animated feature, 1989’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ is responsible for the studio’s renaissance. As well as its renewed dedication to musicals, as Rob Marshall, director of May 2023’s live-action adaptation, reminded fans today.

“It was very important for us to honor the original. We went to Alan Menken, who was divine to work with, and also our dear friend Lin-Manuel Miranda. They had never worked together before… There are four new songs. We still retain the beauty of the original score, written by the late great Howard Ashman as well.”

Fans were treated to the film’s entire “Part of Your World” number, featuring a note-perfect Halle Bailey, who appeared on stage with Marshall.

“Three days of filming ‘Part of Your World,’” said Bailey, “that was the most beautiful experience of my life. Just getting to sing a song I’ve loved since I was a child was so exciting.”

“The camera loves you,” Marshall told Bailey. “But it’s more than that. [It] loves what’s inside. [It] loves what you bring.”

The two then unveiled a teaser that recalled ‘Finding Nemo’ in the color and detail of its underwater world. You can find a teaser version of the clip in the video player at the top of the page.
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Pixar’s Elemental © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

It was then time for Pixar Animation Studios’ turn in the spotlight, with chief creative officer Pete Docter introducing next summer’s ‘Elemental’.

Director Peter Sohn spoke of how the film’s Element City was inspired by the culturally mixed New York of his childhood. Footage shown depicted the star-crossed romance of its fire-based heroine Ember (Leah Lewis) and her watery boyfriend Wade (Mamoudou Athie).

Pixar also unveiled its first original long-form series in the form of ‘Win or Lose’, each episode of which follows the perspective of a different character connected to a co-ed softball team, the Pickles.

With this year’s ‘Lightyear’, Pixar returned to the science fiction of ‘Wall-E’. Expect more in this vein soon, starting with ‘Elio’.

Announced today at D23 with star America Ferrera on stage, the film’s title character is an 11-year-old boy who doesn’t feel like he fits in his world. His mom (Ferrera) runs a top-secret military project, which inadvertently results in Elio making first contact with alien life and becoming our planet’s ambassador to the rest of the universe. It’s due out in spring 2024.

Last but by no means least on the Pixar slate – ‘Inside Out’ star Amy Poehler made a surprise appearance alongside Docter to announce ‘Inside Out 2’.

Pixar’s Inside Out 2 logo. © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

“Joy and the emotions are back for an all new adventure inside Riley’s head,” said a fittingly ebullient Poehler. “Only this time she’s a teenager!”

New emotions will also appear in the film, as Kelsey Mann takes over the directing chores from Docter, with Meg LeFauve returning to write the summer 2024 release.

To cap off the panel, Disney Animation’s chief creative officer (and Oscar-winning ‘Frozen’ director) Jennifer Lee greeted the D23 Expo audience to show what’s in store for the studio’s 100th anniversary next year.

But first, Disney’s fan-favorite 2016 ‘Zootopia’ will get a spin-off series this November on Disney+. And attendees got an advance look at the aptly titled ‘Zootopia+’, consisting of six short ‘Zootopia’-style spoofs of everything from ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ to ‘The Godfather Part II’.

Perhaps Disney’s most unique offering at the Expo was ‘Iwaju’. Coming this year to Disney+, it finds the animation studio partnering for the first time in its long history with an overseas animation studio – Africa’s Kugali. Its three founders appeared today, describing their Afrofuturism fable and its characters as a love letter to their hometown of Lagos, Nigeria.

Disney’s Iwaju. © 2022 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

More sci-fi arrived with a new look at ‘Strange World’, described by Lee as “a film about family, legacy, and what we leave behind for the generations that follow.” Director Don Hall explained how the film chronicles three generations coming together on an alien planet in order to save their world.

Stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, and Lucy Liu introduced a rip-snorting clip of an exciting chase through ‘Strange World’s creature-packed planet.
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The Disney Animation segment, and indeed entire panel, concluded with the revelation of the studio’s 100th anniversary feature film – ‘Wish’. The tale of the star upon which so many Disney characters have wished throughout the past century, ‘Wish’ is co-directed by the attending team of Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn.

Buck, who co-wrote the film with Lee, explained how ‘Wish’ explores a kingdom of wishes, in which wishes can literally come true. Offering a lush, animated watercolor style coupled with CG animation, it stars newly minted Oscar winner Ariana DeBose as 17-year-old Asha, who pleas to the heavens for help, and gets an actual star from the sky, named Star, who communicates through pantomime.
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Disney “good luck charm,” actor Alan Tudyk appeared with footage of his character, a goat named Valentino who wishes to communicate with people. Finally, DeBose saw fans off with a sizzling live performance of “More for Us,” one of the film’s songs by Grammy winner Julia Michaels.

Disney’s Wish. © 2022 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

September 9, 2022
How Joan Micklin Silver Paved the Way for Chloé Zhao & Other Women Directors Today

The films of the late Joan Micklin Silver

One of the first celebrity deaths to hit in 2021 was that of filmmaker Joan Micklin Silver. Not as well-remembered by the public today as she was at the height of her career – Silver was not included in the In Memoriam video that played at this year’s Oscars – she left a legacy that can be found in the careers of the women directors who came after her.

This week Chloé Zhao’s third feature film ‘Nomadland’ was awarded three Oscars- including two for Zhao herself. She became the first woman of color, the first Asian woman, and only the second woman ever to win the award for Best Director. This success follows her previous critically-acclaimed features ‘Songs My Brothers Taught Me’ (2015) and ‘The Rider’ (2017). Later this year Zhao’s highest-profile film – Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ – will finally make its debut after being pushed back from 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic.

Zhao’s rise from the world of independent cinema to an Oscar-winning film to a big budget Marvel film like ‘Eternals’ recalls the similar rise to prominence from Ava DuVernay, whose feature film debut ‘I Will Follow’ she self-distributed, and whose third film ‘Selma’ made her only fifth woman nominated for Best Director at the Golden Globes (and first Black woman to be nominated), as well as the first Black female director to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (though she was pointedly not nominated for Best Director at the Oscars that year). She followed that up with ‘A Wrinkle in Time’, which made her the first Black woman to direct a live-action film earning $100 million.

But before both of these women smashed through the celluloid ceiling there was Joan Micklin Silver. In the 1970s, when there were so few women directors, women only made up 0.05% of all working directors (in 2020 they made up 12% of directors of the highest grossing films), and Silver fought like hell to forge a career in Hollywood.

Like DuVernay, she self-financed her debut film, 1975’s ‘Hester Street’, which told the story of Jewish immigrants living on the titular Hester Street in the Lower East Side of New York City at the end of the 19th century. The film would go on to play at the Cannes Film Festival and its star Carol Kane received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

Prior to making her directorial debut, Silver had worked as a writer in Hollywood, even selling a script called ‘Limbo’, a collaboration with Linda Gottlieb, to Universal Pictures in 1972. The film, directed by Mark Robson, follows the lives of women whose husbands are missing in action in Vietnam. Gottlieb would later write the screenplay that would become the basis for ‘Dirty Dancing.’ (The history of how her screenplay became the finished film is an entirely different story.)

Silver reflected that she “had absolutely no chance of getting work as a director,” within the studio system and even after her success with ‘Hester Street’ she was told by a studio executive that, “feature films are very expensive to mount and distribute, and women directors are one more problem we don’t need.”

She followed up ‘Hester Street’ with another self-financed film, 1977’s ‘Between The Lines,’ a prophetic look at the lives and loves of the staff at an alt-weekly that launched the careers of many actors including John Heard, Lindsay Crouse, Gwen Welles, Bruno Kirby, Joe Morton, Marilu Henner, Lane Smith, and Jeff Goldblum. Although the film played the Berlin International Film Festival and spawned a short-lived sitcom, it was largely hard to find until a recent restoration and revival from Cohen Media Group.

Her next film ‘Chilly Scenes of Winter’, a biting romantic dramedy about an unfulfilled man named Charles (John Heard) whose infatuation with a woman named Laura (Mary Beth Hurt) becomes an unhealthy obsession, was produced in association with United Artists. Before the film’s release UA insisted Silver alter the film’s bleak ending to something happier and changed the name to ‘Head over Heels’. It bombed. In 1982 Silver convinced them to re-release the film with its original title and ending, to much better acclaim and box office success.

Silver also found success working in television, like DuVernay’s ‘Queen Sugar’ and ‘When They See Us’. In 1976, she directed an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair’ starring Shelley Duvall and in the 1980s she directed ‘How to Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days’ for PBS and ‘Finnegan Begin Again’ for HBO.

1987 saw Silver’s biggest hit to date: the romantic comedy ‘Crossing Delancey’ starring Amy Irving and Peter Reigert, an adaptation of the stage play by Susan Sandler. Irving plays Izzy Grossman, an independent 30-something who works at an upscale bookstore whose bubbe (Reizl Bozyk) hires a marriage broker (Sylvia Miles) to find a nice young Jewish man for her granddaughter. Izzy rebels against the match at first, but slowly finds herself falling for the most charming pickle salesman (Reigert) you’ll ever see on screen. The film had a rocky start as studios told Silver the film was “too ethnic,” which in an interview with the New York Times she said was a euphemism “for Jewish material that Hollywood executives distrust.” Eventually the film found its way to distribution by Warner Bros. thanks to a push from Irving’s husband at the time – Steven Spielberg.

‘Crossing Delancey’ received rave reviews and made more than four times its budget, but Silver’s next few films – 1989’s ‘Loverboy’ starring Patrick Dempsey, Kirstie Alley, Carrie Fisher, 1991’s ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ starring Hillary Wolf, Griffin Dunne, and Jenny Lewis, and ‘A Fish In The Bathtub’ starring Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara – received mostly mixed reviews and were box office disaster. She continued to direct films for television throughout the next decade; her last credit was 2003’s ‘Hunger Point’ starring Barbara Hershey and Christina Hendricks.

Silver passed away at the age of 85 from vascular dementia on December 31, 2020.

What was so remarkable about Silver’s career was her commitment to her vision and her voice, despite struggling against both sexism and anti-semitism within the industry. She paved the way for filmmakers like Zhao and DuVernay, who themselves have fierce voices and unique visions for what film can do. As more women break through in Hollywood and women helming multiple films becomes the rule rather than the exception, it’s important to remember the trailblazers like Joan Micklin Silver who paved the way.

April 28, 2021
Patrick Dempsey to Co-Lead Cast of New International Thriller Series ‘Devils’

ABC

Yes, yes, give us all the Patrick Dempsey. McMore!

Last year, we heard that Dempsey had landed his first major TV role since leaving “Grey’s Anatomy.” That crime mini-series, “The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair,” will premiere in the U.K. on September 4, with Epix handling the U.S. release at some point in 2018.

That’s per Deadline, which also shared scoop on Dempsey’s next series role. It’s another international project. Dempsey and Italian star Alessandro Borghi (“Suburra“) will lead the cast of the new financial-world thriller series “Devils.”

“Devils” is based on the best-selling novel by Italian trader Guido Maria Brera. Here’s more on the show, per Deadline:

“[T]he anticipated ten-part English-language series will be set in the London office of a major U.S. bank, where the ruthless Head of Trading, Massimo Ruggero (Borghi) from Italy, has been welcomed and introduced to the world of finance by Dominic Morgan (Dempsey), the bank’s CEO. When Ruggero ends up involved in an intercontinental financial war rocking Europe, he has to choose whether to ally himself with his mentor or fight him. The book was partly inspired by the financial crisis that swept global markets in 2008.”

The 10-episode series is meant to take 24 weeks to shoot, starting September in London and Rome. It sounds like a heavenly time to film in two stunning cities, despite the devilish title.

“Devils” comes from Sky Italia (“The Young Pope”) with co-funding and international distribution from Sky Vision.

“This is the first Sky Italia Original that Sky Vision will co-fund and distribute internationally,” said Moreyba Bidessie, Scripted Acquisitions Manager of Sky Vision, in a statement to Deadline, “and is testimony to continuing the drive to create world class, premium television that Sky Vision is proud to be a part of. ‘Devils’ is a brilliantly heady mix of thriller and conspiracy and how the seduction of power can corrupt even the strongest of bonds.”

Stay tuned for more details on “Devils.” In the meantime, here’s the Sky Witness trailer for “The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair,” which premieres in the U.K. September 4:

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August 13, 2018