2006’s ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ succeeded thanks to the sheer star power of its cast and a sharp script from Aline Brosh McKenna that spotlighted workplace comedy in the rarified air of a luxury fashion magazine. So what does that world look like these days? As you might expect, struggling legacy media, the rise of AI and our main characters reflecting on changed circumstances in their lives. But can it channel the charisma of the original?
With McKenna once again drawing (even more loosely this time from Lauren Weisberger’s original source novel), the screenplay has plenty of Miranda Priestly Zingers and some –– pun entirely intended –– blunt putdowns. And while the story feels rushed in places, it at least has something on its mind beyond the fashion world.
David Frankel, meanwhile, does a workmanlike job on keeping things (mostly) light and fun, and the new movie feels of a piece with the original.
Though Hathaway’s Andy can still come across a little bland, the actor’s innate charm helps keep her watchable. But we all know we’re here for Streep, Tucci and Blunt, and they certainly deliver.
Around the main foursome, the supporting cast is solid –– Rachel Bloom steals scenes as Andy’s book publisher pal, while Justin Theroux is good value as billionaire, Benji Barnes, Emily’s current beau.
Though it occasionally falls into the trap of rehashing old storylines (perhaps that’s a nod to the cycling of fashion trends) and rarely rises above the level of serviceable sequel, this second visit with Miranda, Andy and the rest still offers plenty for fans who have wanted to see these characters back on screens.
Twenty years on, Miranda (Meryl Streep), Andy (Anne Hathaway), Emily (Emily Blunt) and Nigel (Stanley Tucci) return to the fashionable streets of New York City and the sleek offices of Runway Magazine.
With David Frankel back as director and writer Aline Brosh McKenna once again working from Lauren Weisberger’s novel source, it’ll be interesting to see how the characters have moved forward in the (gulp) 20 years since the first film.
The first movie saw the ambitious yet occasionally overwhelmed Andy Sachs (Hathaway) taking on the role of junior assistant to the powerful Miranda Priestly (Streep), editor-in-chief of a high-profile fashion magazine.
The sequel follows Priestly as she navigates her career amid the decline of traditional magazine publishing and as she faces off against Blunt’s character, now a high-powered executive for a luxury group with advertising dollars that Priestly desperately needs.
From the looks of the trailer, Priestly is just as imperious as ever –– but is her attitude towards everyone just her usual shade or is she struggling with memory issues?
When will ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ be in cinemas?
And on the returning side of things, two more cast members from the original movie will be back: Tracie Thoms, will reprise her part as Lily, the handbag-loving best friend of Hathaway’s Andy Sachs, and Tibor Feldman is on to once again play Irv Ravitz, the chairman of Runway’s parent company Elias-Clark.
(L to R) Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Adapted by Aline Brosh McKenna from Lauren Weisberger’s novel and directed by David Frankel, the original follows Andy Sachs (Hathaway), a recent journalism graduate who moves to New York City and lands a job as a junior assistant to Miranda Priestly (Streep), the powerful and demanding editor-in-chief of high-fashion magazine Runway, with Blunt as Emily, Priestly’s primary aide.
Andy initially struggles with the high-pressure environment and Miranda’s relentless demands but gradually adapts, gaining confidence and style. As she becomes more involved in her work, she faces personal challenges, including a strained relationship with her boyfriend, Nate (Adrian Grenier), and ethical dilemmas about the fashion industry’s values.
The movie was a hit, earning close to $125 million in the US and more than $326 million worldwide. Streep was nominated for an Oscar along with costume designer Patricia Field.
What would the new movie be about?
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in 2006’s ‘The Devil Wears Prada .’
With the cast all back for this one, the sequel’s plot would reportedly pick up the story with Priestly still the head of Runway, but the magazine has endured the financial headwinds of contemporary publishing and is in a diminished state.
Blunt’s one-time assistant would now be an executive at a luxury brand conglomerate that advertises with Runway.
Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Grenier won’t be back, but we do know that Branagh will be playing Miranda Priestly’s husband, which as anyone who has seen the first film knows, is not an easy gig given the hard-charging, perfectionist character’s style.
Behind the scenes, McKenna has written the new script and Frankel is once again calling the shots.
What else is happening in the ‘Devil Wears Prada’ world?
Anne Hathaway in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
In addition to the sequel, a musical adaptation with an original score by Elton John, is playing in London’s West End.
Novak’s work has been more behind the scenes of late, though he did have a role in TV series ‘Poker Face’ this year, and he’s a contributor to a documentary about comedian Mitch Hedberg.
Kenneth Branagh is the first new addition to the cast of ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’.
Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci are all back for the sequel.
Writer Aline Brosh McKenna and director David Frankel are also returning.
The last time we reported on the sequel to 2006 comedy drama ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ it was still lurking in development, without a full commitment from the cast to return.
As per the Instagram post below, the sequel is now in production, meaning that it’ll be on screens next year, just in time for the 20th anniversary of the original.
(L to R) Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Adapted by Aline Brosh McKenna from Lauren Weisberger’s novel and directed by David Frankel, the original follows Andy Sachs (Hathaway), a recent journalism graduate who moves to New York City and lands a job as a junior assistant to Miranda Priestly (Streep), the powerful and demanding editor-in-chief of high-fashion magazine Runway, with Blunt as Emily, Priestly’s primary aide.
Andy initially struggles with the high-pressure environment and Miranda’s relentless demands but gradually adapts, gaining confidence and style. As she becomes more involved in her work, she faces personal challenges, including a strained relationship with her boyfriend, Nate (Adrian Grenier), and ethical dilemmas about the fashion industry’s values.
The movie was a hit, earning close to $125 million in the US and more than $326 million worldwide. Streep was nominated for an Oscar along with costume designer Patricia Field.
What would the new movie be about?
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in 2006’s ‘The Devil Wears Prada .’
With the cast all back for this one, the sequel’s plot would reportedly pick up the story with Priestly still the head of Runway, but the magazine has endured the financial headwinds of contemporary publishing and is in a diminished state.
Blunt’s one-time assistant would now be an executive at a luxury brand conglomerate that advertises with Runway.
Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Grenier won’t be back, but we do know that Branagh will be playing Miranda Priestly’s husband, which as anyone who has seen the first film knows, is not an easy gig given the hard-charging, perfectionist character’s style.
Behind the scenes, McKenna has written the new script and Frankel is once again calling the shots.
What else is happening in the ‘Devil Wears Prada’ world?
Anne Hathaway in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
In addition to the sequel, a musical adaptation with an original score by Elton John, is playing in London’s West End.
That one follows an airman whose reconnaissance mission over Soviet territory goes awry, forcing him to crash-land and survive in Russian wilderness while evading capture or rescue.
It also stars Ryan Reynolds and Maria Bakalova, and is reportedly going to be released in September, though there has been little promotion for it so far.
Finally, there is a movie, currently called ‘Atonement’ (which may change given the slightly well known 2008 drama), which sees a troubled marine seeking to reconcile with the survivors of an Iraqi family he and his unit fired on back in 2003, that one, with Reed Van Dyk in the director’s chair, is in pre-production.
When will ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ be in theaters?
The sequel is currently scheduled for a May 1st, 2026 release, which should make fans of the original, who have anticipated a follow-up, happy.
(L to R) Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
(Left) Elle Fanning at the Disney presentation at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas.Photo: Disney. (Right) ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ is scheduled for release on November 20, 2026. Photo: Lionsgate.
Preview:
Elle Fanning is among the rumored cast for ‘The Hunger Games: Sunshine on the Reaping.’
‘The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ director Francis Lawrence is aboard the movie.
It’s set 24 years before Katniss enters the arena.
In the time since the book and movie were announced, things have moved on considerably –– Billy Ray has written the adaptation and regular ‘Hunger Games’ director Francis Lawrence (who also made the previous prequel, ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’) confirmed he will handle this next outing.
With production gearing up for this July in Germany, we’ve reached the casting stage and the rumors have begun to swirl.
Nexus Point News, which has been on top of a couple of scoops about possible actors, brings word that Elle Fanning has been offered the role of a younger Effie Trinket.
Effie, of course, is the effusive stylist as portrayed by Elizabeth Banks in the original ‘Hunger Games’ movies.
What’s the story of ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’?
‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ opens in theaters on November 20, 2026.
While the previous prequel took place 64 years before the events of the original trilogy, ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ is set 24 years before that trio of Jennifer Lawrence films in the world of Panem, commencing on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.
Those games are an important event in the canon as the victor was Haymitch Abernathy, the only winner from District 12 before Lawrence’ Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta Mellark’s tie win. Haymitch continues on to become a mentor, a character in the original movies played by Woody Harrelson.
For ‘Sunshine on the Reaping,’ Effie serves as a stylist for the District 12 tributes in order to assist her sister, Proserpina. Although she supports the Hunger Games in principle, Effie shows genuine compassion for the tributes and treats them with kindness and care.
Who else has been rumored for ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’?
Kieran Culkin accepts the Oscar® for Actor in a Supporting Role during the live ABC Telecast of the 97th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 2, 2025.
Nexus Point news was also behind the story that Charlie Plummer is the filmmaker’s likely top candidate to play the younger Haymitch.
Plummer, who has appeared in the likes of 2019 miniseries ‘Looking for Alaska,’ has also been seen in last year’s ‘The Return’ and 2022’s ‘Moonfall.’
Perhaps most tellingly, he’s one of the leads of Francis Lawrence’s next film to be released, the Stephen King adaptation ‘The Long Walk,’ due in theaters on September 12th and hyped at the company’s recent CinemaCon presentation.
And talking of ‘The Return,’ regular scooper Daniel Richtman has reported that that film’s star, Ralph Fiennes, is also being courted for the movie, this time to play Coriolanus Snow, as brought to screens by Donald Sutherland in the original films and Tom Blyth in ‘Songbirds and Snakes.’
It would mark the latest big book-based franchise that Fiennes could be joining after a slightly successful series of movies about a certain boy wizard.
And he’s not all –– Richtman also brings word that recent Oscar winner Kieran Culkin is mulling an offer to play Caesar Flickerman (the eccentric host character played in the first film series by Stanley Tucci.)
‘Hunger Games’ doesn’t scream the sort of movie that Culkin usually appears in, but Oscar wins sometimes lead to interesting choices.
‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’: Collins and the Filmmakers Talk
Director Francis Lawrence in ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.’ Photo Credit: Murray Close.
Here’s Suzanne Collins’ statement on the new book and movie:
“With ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’, I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few… The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day. From the beginning, Lionsgate has been a wonderful home and partner for the ‘Hunger Games’ franchise, and I’m very excited to be collaborating with Adam and the team as we bring this next story to theaters in 2026.”
And here’s Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Adam Fogelson:
“Suzanne Collins is a master storyteller and our creative north star. We couldn’t be more fortunate than to be guided and trusted by a collaborator whose talent and imagination are so consistently brilliant. We know ‘Hunger Games’ fans worldwide will be spellbound by where Suzanne has focused this next extraordinary story. The Second Quarter Quell is legendary and looms large over the history of the Games, even into the time of Katniss Everdeen a quarter-century later. Like fans around the globe, we are eagerly anticipating this exciting return to Panem.”
When will ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ be in theaters?
Lionsgate already has a release date in place for this one: the studio wants the new movie in theaters on November 20th, 2026.
‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ is scheduled for release on November 20, 2026. Photo: Lionsgate.
It’s just the latest effort from the filmmakers, who haven’t exactly had a warm critical reception for the work they’ve put out since ending their ‘Avengers’ run (they’re back on that particular duty with the next twomovies), and unfortunately won’t do all that much to change the perception of them.
While the source material offers a basic spine for the plot –– an alternate 1990s where humanity and robots have been locked in a conflict after the latter revolted against being employed to do all the grunt work people don’t want to –– and some of the visual inspiration, the movie takes those ideas and runs with them.
Yet what the team chooses to make its focus doesn’t always work that well. And to add to the feel of borrowed acclaim, chunks of the score sound like composer Alan Silvestri using discarded cuts from his ‘Avengers’ music.
Markus and McFeely have brought us well-thought-out stories before, even ones that must juggle multiple characters.
But in ‘The Electric State,’ the central character is Millie Bobby Brown’s Michelle, whose life is shattered when her parents and genius younger brother are killed in a car crash. At least, she thinks her brother is dead –– but when she’s visited unexpectedly by a robot based on his favourite childhood cartoon, she comes to believe he might actually be alive.
So begins a quest to find him, one that will take Michelle, smuggler Keats (Chris Pratt) and his robot sidekick Herm (voiced by Anthony Mackie) into what is known as the Exclusion Zone, a walled-off corner in the desert where robots were banished following the war.
The plot offers the opportunity for plenty of amusing robo-characters, but the sheer number just makes the film feel busy and underfocused, while the endless quips from the various robots don’t always land. The narrative is also locked into a fairly predictable progression –– you’ll likely guess where it’s all headed before too long.
‘The Electric State’. Photo: Netflix.
Still, there is some genuine emotion infused towards the end of the story.
As directors, the Russos have proved they can handle these big movies, but their more recent efforts on that front, including ‘The Gray Man’ have been blandly reductive releases despite the talent involved both on screen and behind the camera.
For ‘The Electric State’ that means a starry cast (most of them are on voice duty) and some very impressive visual effects, but with a $320 million budget, you’d expect that.
Millie Bobby Brown continues to prove she can anchor genre work, but the role of Michelle, the young woman at the center of the movie, doesn’t always offer her too many chances to prove it. She’s perfectly fine in the role, but little more than that.
Chris Pratt, meanwhile, is largely doing a riff on characters of this type he’s played before –– the lovable rogue we’ve met in the likes of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘Jurassic World,’ and Keats is very much a watered-down version of those.
Stanley Tucci is somewhat lumbered with a basic villain role, a tech mogul with shades of Elon Musk who claims to want to help humanity but is only too happy if there’s collateral damage.
(L to R) Giancarlo Esposito and Stanley Tucci in ‘The Electric State’. Photo: Netflix.
Giancarlo Esposito is also an antagonist, the hard-nosed drone pilot and robot deactivation specialist Colonel Bradbury, but the part is very much another scowling villain role for the actor, who might want to look into some different parts.
Woody Norman as Michelle’s super-smart brother Chris has some nice notes to play, though he is naturally off screen for much of the running time. Still, if there is genuine emotion to be found at all, it’s in the human connection between Chris and Michelle.
Another Woody, this time Harrelson, plays Mr. Peanut, the southern-fried promotional robot of the snack treat. He’s decent, but mostly speaks in platitudes.
Elsewhere, the voice cast is a mixed bag –– Jenny Slate and Mackie are among the highlights, while Brian Cox is saddled with a one-joke character in Pop Fly, a baseball bot.
‘The Electric State’ seems unlikely to change many peoples’ opinion about the Russo’s non-MCU work. It’s certainly a sweeping story with some fun to be found, but it rarely leaves a mark on the level of movies it has been inspired by.
It’s a shame, as the creative team have clearly poured their hearts into it –– if only the results were better.
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What’s the plot of ‘The Electric State’?
‘The Electric State’ is set in an alternate, retro-futuristic version of the 1990s. Millie Bobby Brown stars as Michelle, an orphaned teenager navigating life in a society where sentient robots resembling cartoons and mascots, who once served peacefully among humans, now live in exile following a failed uprising.
Everything Michelle thinks she knows about the world is upended one night when she’s visited by Cosmo, a sweet, mysterious robot who appears to be controlled by Christopher — Michelle’s genius younger brother whom she thought was dead. Determined to find the beloved sibling she thought she had lost, Michelle sets out across the American southwest with Cosmo, and soon finds herself reluctantly joining forces with Keats (Chris Pratt), a low-rent smuggler, and his wisecracking robot sidekick, Herman (voiced by Anthony Mackie).
As they venture into the Exclusion Zone, a walled-off corner in the desert where robots now exist on their own, Keats and Michelle find a strange, colorful group of new animatronic allies — and begin to learn that the forces behind Christopher’s disappearance are more sinister than they ever expected.
If Eon Productions can somehow lure Edward Berger – the German director of 2022’s devastating ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ and now ‘Conclave’ – to direct the next James Bond film, they can have my money now. Between the brutal scope of ‘All Quiet’ and the cerebral thrills of this new Vatican-set suspense drama, Berger has effectively shown his ability to bring intelligence, visual acumen, and narrative coherence to two wildly different genres – although one could argue that ‘Conclave’ is also about war, just played out on a different front.
The process of choosing a new Pope, a ritual shrouded in antiquity and mystery, is revealed in Berger’s absorbing film to be anything but holy. As various cardinals jockey for power and position themselves for the post, with conspiracies and scandals erupting left and right, ‘Conclave’ brilliantly demonstrates that even the alleged holiest of men – and yes, it’s all men – can be as petty, vain, and spiteful as anyone else. And it’s impressive how Berger shrouds all the pomp and circumstance in the cinematic equivalent of a paperback beach read.
Following the sudden death of the Pope, Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), as Dean of the College of Cardinals, must assemble the conclave of cardinals who will elect the pontiff’s successor. Even as the cardinals are still arriving at the Vatican from all over the world, camps form around certain candidates. Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci) is the liberal, forward-thinking progressive from America; Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow) of Canada, already in the Vatican as an advisor to the Pope, is more of a moderate; Nigeria’s Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) is conservative and fiercely anti-homosexual, but could break new ground as the first African Pope; and Venice’s Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) is even more reactionary and seemingly determined to drag the Church back to the Middle Ages.
Once all the Cardinals are convened – including the mysterious, ethereal Cardinal Benitez of Kabul (Carlos Diehz), whose very existence was apparently known only to the late Pope before his unexpected arrival – they are sealed off from the outside world to begin voting. Almost immediately, scandalous information begins to emerge and shake up the voting process: Lawrence is informed that Tremblay was asked to resign by the Pope the evening before the latter’s death over an unknown matter, while a figure from Adeyemi’s past shows up and threatens to upend even his position as Cardinal. As round after round of anonymous voting continues, even Lawrence – who backs Bellini – starts to accrue votes, making Bellini and others suspicious that he really wants the job for himself. Everyone is revealed to have secrets – even the nuns, led by the fierce Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini), who are there to serve the Cardinals but act as a silent force amidst the proceedings.
As all this plays out across production designer Suzie Davies’ sumptuous recreations of the Vatican, including the Casa Santa Maria and the Sistine Chapel, the supposedly spiritual nature of the proceedings peels away like a mask, revealing the political machinations, petty jealousies, hidden histories, and potentially corrupt ambitions that lie beneath. Each of the major cardinals – both those actively seeking the papacy and those who claim they don’t want it – strategizes against the others, while Lawrence strains to keep order even as he is forced to reveal certain information that could affect the outcome of the election and even his own position.
Berger stages and paces it all like a spy thriller, with whispered confessions, clandestine meetings, and shocking revelations, but minus of course the car chases, bone-crunching fisticuffs, and explosive shoot-outs. There is also a nice seasoning of humor – served up dry by Fiennes in particular – that punctuates the somber proceedings here and there. Yet the film still builds up a palpable aura of suspense as it reveals the human failings that lie at the heart of one of the world’s oldest and most secretive institutions. While some of the Church’s own failings – like its inability to deal in real-life with a seemingly never-ending stream of sexual abuse scandals – are glossed over here and one late-in-the-game twist isn’t quite fleshed out enough to have the impact it should, ‘Conclave’ is nevertheless absorbing from start to finish.
‘Conclave’ offers up the model of a fantastic ensemble cast, led by the great Ralph Fiennes in one of his finest performances ever. When we meet him, Cardinal Lawrence is a man already deep into a crisis of faith, unsure of whether he even wants to remain a cardinal and reluctant to supervise the conclave and the election. His doubts about his own faith mirror that of the late Pope, and the more that Lawrence is burdened with, the more you can see in Fiennes’ eyes and manner how disillusioned he becomes. And yet something within him remains aligned with his God, and a speech he gives to the conclave halfway through makes it clear that in many ways he’s well-suited to the papacy he rejects. Fiennes is simply brilliant in the role as a man struggling to retain his composure and spirituality in a situation that tests them relentlessly.
“The men who are most dangerous are the men who want it” is a theme that echoes through this film, and all the other “men who want it” – Lithgow, Tucci, Castellitto, and Msamati – bring their vain, ambitious characters to life in deft strokes, with Tucci especially superb in portraying the subtly manipulative Bellini. New actor Carlos Diehz, in his first major motion picture, also brings a serenity to Cardinal Benitez that makes an impression despite the character’s tricky placement in the narrative. And of course there’s Isabella Rossellini, who is a portrait of strength, courage, and implacability as the head of the nuns who are there to silently support the conclave – a woman who nevertheless speaks volumes every time she opens her mouth.
We can expect ‘Conclave’ to be part of the Oscars conversation this season, even if it’s not quite as award-friendly as Berger’s ‘All Quiet on the Western Front.’ But nominations for best picture, best actor (Fiennes), best supporting actor (Tucci), cinematography, editing, costume design, and production design all seem like they’d be in the mix, with Berger and Rossellini also possible contenders depending on the strength of their categories. All would be well-deserved: this is in many ways big studio filmmaking of a classic vintage.
As we noted earlier, ‘Conclave’ doesn’t address the real-world issues and conflicts that face the Church as it trundles uncertainly into the 21st century, its mission and reason for existence very much in flux. This is, when it comes down to it, a political thriller cloaked in the pageantry and mystery of a vast, murky religious edifice. But Peter Straughan’s screenplay (from the novel by Robert Harris) and Berger’s sure-handed, meat-and-potatoes direction – which suits this material as effectively as his more stylized work on ‘All Quiet’ – reveal that there’s much more going on under the surface, and that even an institution that claims to be operating at the behest of its God is still privy to the will, whims, and weakness of man.
‘Conclave’ receives 9 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Conclave’?
When the Pope dies, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with organizing the conclave to elect his successor. But a secret kept by the late Pope, as well as machinations by some of the other cardinals, threatens the process and the papacy.
Who is in the cast of ‘Conclave’?
Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence
Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Bellini
John Lithgow as Cardinal Tremblay
Sergio Castellitto as Cardinal Tedesco
Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes
Lucian Msamati as Cardinal Adeyemi
Carlos Diehz as Cardinal Benitez
Brían F. O’Byrne as Monsignor Raymond O’Malley
(L to R) Director Edward Berger and Ralph Fiennes talk ‘Conclave’.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Ralph Fiennes and director Edward Berger about their work on ‘Conclave,’ Fiennes first reaction to the screenplay and his approach to his character, the tone and themes of the movie, and what audience members should expect from this theatrical experience.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch the interviews.
Moviefone: To begin with, Ralph, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and your approach to playing this character?
Ralph Fiennes: Well, I was hooked by the screenplay. It was a page-turner. The character of Lawrence, he’s central to the story as a witness, as a man with complex feelings of inner turmoil, inner contradiction. He’s suddenly a man thrown almost reluctantly into running a conclave. Having a Catholic upbringing, although no longer practicing Catholic, it provoked a massive sort of retrospective. I must unearth all those bits of my mother taking me to first communion and talking to me about the teachings of Jesus. All the stuff that was somehow back in my childhood had to be brought right forward and to be used as a source of, I guess, research or something on which to think about. But it was a page-turner to read, and it was gripping, and I had no doubt that I wanted to do it.
MF: Edgar, can you talk about the specific tone you wanted to create for this film and the themes you wanted to explore as a director?
Edward Berger: I was really drawn to this movie because it dealt with the question of doubt. I was able to sort of visualize whatever is going on, the interior journey that Ralph finds his character is going through, which is a journey of doubt, a crisis of faith, and to visualize that was very interesting. At the same time, it was my opportunity to make a political thriller, and very much inspired by the (Alan J.) Pakula movies from the ’70s, ‘All the President’s Men’, and ‘The Parallax View’. Those movies, how they play with dark, and light, and shadow, and color, and a pace of editing, and a precision was really sort of a Northern Star for us.
MF: Finally, Ralph, what would you say to audience members sitting down now to see this movie in a theater to prepare them for the theatrical experience they are about to have?
RF: Well, you’re going to get a wonderful insight into the workings of The Vatican. You have a central set which is incredibly cinematic, which is a recreation of the Sistine Chapel, and it looks phenomenal. It’s a set. We can’t shoot in the real Sistine Chapel. It’s one of the great wonders of the world. It’s been recreated brilliantly by the people who’ve made the set and by the visual effects crew to finish it on film. But that sort of scale is extraordinary to have. You will fail to appreciate it on a small screen. There’s something about The Vatican and other big locations. We shot in the Palace at Caserta outside Naples, various locations in and around Rome, where Edward found other locations to create this sense of scale. It’s huge, The Vatican. I mean, you look across at St. Peter’s, this huge church, and all the buildings around it. That’s what’s great about film, isn’t it? You have shots that give a sense of the epic, which are juxtaposed against the intimate, and the constrained, and the enclosed, and the close-ups. That equation of the epic scale, visual shots that hold a great sense of space and depth against the human face in close-up. That tension is best experienced in the cinema, and you get it massively in the way Edward has made this film.
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What is the plot of ‘Conclave’?
Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), tasked with organizing the election of the successor to the deceased pope, discovers the former pope had a secret that must be uncovered, concerning one or more of the candidates to succeed to the papacy.
The first pictures from new sci-fi movie ‘The Electric State’ have landed.
Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt star.
Joe and Anthony Russo are the directors.
Since wrapping up their successful run of movies at Marvel, capped with the huge blockbuster ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ directing/sibling duo Joe and Anthony Russo have seen more mixed fortunes in terms of their filmmaking.
While they set up their own production company, their actual movies have been hit and miss –– the likes of ‘Cherry’ and ‘The Gray Man’ haven’t seen the same pop cultural impact as their time with Iron Man and the rest of the Marvel gang.
The new movie is set in an alternate, retro-futuristic version of the 1990s. Brown plays Michelle, an orphaned teenager navigating life in a society where sentient robots resembling cartoons and mascots, who once served peacefully among humans, now live in exile following a failed uprising.
Everything Michelle thinks she knows about the world is upended one night when she’s visited by Cosmo, a sweet, mysterious robot who appears to be controlled by Christopher — Michelle’s genius younger brother whom she thought was dead.
Determined to find the beloved sibling she thought she had lost, Michelle sets out across the American southwest with Cosmo, and soon finds herself reluctantly joining forces with Keats (Pratt), a low-rent smuggler, and his wisecracking robot sidekick, Herman (voiced by Anthony Mackie).
As they venture into the Exclusion Zone, a walled-off corner in the desert where robots now exist on their own, Keats and Michelle find a strange, colorful group of new animatronic allies — and begin to learn that the forces behind Christopher’s disappearance are more sinister than they ever expected.
“The note that I would always get is, she’s still human. She’s rebellious and yes, she doesn’t want to follow the rules and she’s incredibly hurt because she’s dealing with a lot of grief. But she’s not invincible. We’re technically both the same age, so I feel like it was just: What are moments that I wouldn’t show my weakness? What are moments that I would? And I just played with that. I really want her to show that she’s made of stone because I want that to be the perception of who she is. But actually, as you get to know her, she softens and she warms up. And I tried to implement as much of my own experiences into her as possible.”
Netflix has yet to confirm when the movie will be arriving, beyond setting it for a 2025 release. Given the scale of this thing, we’d imagine the company will at least grant it a limited theatrical run ahead of it arriving on users’ accounts.
Prime Video is betting big on the spy series ‘Citadel,’ positioning the April 28 premiere of its six densely plotted first season episodes (two upon launch, the rest unspooling weekly throughout May) as a global television event. The Amazon streaming service, seeking to further define and carve out a brash new identity with consumers, is positioning the show as a “mothership” anchor, along with two local-language satellite series set in India and Italy.
Executive produced by Joe and Anthony Russo’s AGBO, and overseen by show-runner David Weil, the series opens eight years after the fall of the Citadel, a shadowy, independent spy agency loyal to no nation. The group was taken down by Manticore, a powerful criminal syndicate puppeteering the world from the shadows, who apparently killed off plenty of Citadel agents but erased the memories of others, like Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), who narrowly escaped with their lives.
Desperately needing the help of his former Citadel colleague to prevent Manticore from establishing a new world order, Nick Fury… err, sorry, Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci) tracks down Mason, who in turn reconnects with his old partner Nadia. Unaware of their pasts but plugged back in to their very special set of skills, the two spies embark on a mission that takes them around the world, all while contending with a complicated relationship built on a shuffled deck of secrets and lies. In addition to the aforementioned stars, Lesley Manville and a host of well-recognized international faces such as Varun Dhawan and Matilda De Angelis pop up in recurring roles.
(L to R) Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Prime Video’s ‘Citadel.’
Joe and Anthony Russo Aim to Apply Their Expertise at World-Building to the Spy Genre
No strangers to sprawling narrative world-building after their record-smashing work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Russo brothers turned plenty of heads when the deal between AGBO and Amazon was first announced.
“The concept was an idea that (Amazon Studios CEO) Jen Salke presented to us a few years ago,” recalled Joe Russo during a special press event introducing the project’s trailer. “The notion of telling a story that could be interwoven throughout the world — it would have a flagship show, and then regional shows written, produced and directed by regional talent — we thought was, one, such a novel idea for a narrative. And, two, it was an amazing way to create a really diverse global community of storytellers to tell a giant mosaic of a narrative together. After our work on the Marvel films, and spending so much time traveling the globe, this was an idea I think that was really exciting to Anthony and I, and ignitable for us, (even if it) seemed like an incredible challenge.”
Anthony Russo agreed. “It feels like this is something Joe and I’ve been working toward for many years now,” he said. “As storytellers, we really love the engagement of the global film community. So it was an incredible opportunity, and we went to work trying to find the right story that could sort of fulfill that ambition.”
Their search for a collaborator led them to David Weil, already well known to Amazon for his work as the creator-writer of both ‘Hunters‘ and the anthology drama series ‘Solos,’ among other projects. He was drawn, like a moth to a flame, to the same elements that attracted the Russo brothers.
“What’s so both beautiful and ambitious about this entire spy-verse, or spy universe, that we’re creating is that we’re doing it in tandem with partners all around the world,” said Weil, name-checking the announced Indian and Italian spin-offs. “We get to work with these incredible writers, filmmakers, actors and producers truly from all around the world, and build this entire story together. So it becomes this tapestry told in different languages through different cultures, but in a very authentic way. It’s not just a Western point-of-view that we’re [imposing upon] the story. We really are doing something original, and really holding hands and building this at the same time with all of our fellow creators and producers.”
Richard Madden in Prime Video’s ‘Citadel.’
Multiple Versions of Characters, But Don’t Call It a Multi-Verse
While the grand plan may be for ‘Citadel’ and its satellite shows to interlock as puzzle pieces, the creators realize none of those aspirations matter without compelling characters. And, to that end, the Russos and Weil wanted to make sure that there was plenty of meat on the bone for performers to challenge themselves with, as well as keep viewers guessing.
“Both Richard and Priyanka get to play multiple versions of themselves, and this notion that their memories have been erased allows them to create new characters who then have to rediscover who they were,” said Joe Russo. “Then, their new personalities come in conflict with their old personalities. And that, to us, was the idea that I think most excited us, because I don’t know that I’ve ever seen that before — where you have multiple characters dealing with a crisis of personality and a crisis of conscience.”
That dynamic made things thrilling for Chopra Jonas and Madden — but also quite challenging. “I think the show has so many layers and complexities,” said Chopra Jonas, “and there’s a word that we used from the beginning, which was duality, for every character. What you see is what you don’t get. Don’t believe what you see. Everything is just conceptually crazy.”
Unpacking his character a bit, Madden reflected upon the heady philosophical questions that he found ‘Citadel’ raised, both during production and long after the first season shoot had finished.
“They are both the same man in lots of different ways, but with each version of them, you pull out different aspects of kind of humanity, and who they are as people,” he said. “One of them carries a lot of scars from the past and a lot of trauma. And the other one doesn’t carry any of that baggage — he just has a whole bunch of unknown to him. So we end up having these two very different characters, and that’s kind of what was exciting to explore about them — (the notion of) how much of your character traits are built into you, and how much are inherited through trauma and experience?”
Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Prime Video’s ‘Citadel.’
Priyanka Chopra Jonas Is Scarred by ‘Citadel’… Literally
Since the series is built around spies and lies, the debut trailer — which includes fisticuffs on a train, some gunplay, and a base-jumping leap off of a building — leans into a couple familiar modes of expression that will perhaps trip wires of memory sensation amongst genre audiences. There’s a pinch of the flirty banter from ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith,’ for example, as well as a little bit of the did-I-really-just-do-that? bewilderment of Jason Bourne discovering the full extent of his hand-to-hand combat abilities in ‘The Bourne Identity.’ The action, viewers are shown, is going to be abundant.
For Chopra Jonas, in fact, it was a scarring experience.
“You see this scar on my eyebrow?” she asks, pointing toward her left temple. “Yeah, that’s courtesy of ‘Citadel.’ I don’t even cover it anymore.”
Still, she’s not complaining. In fact, the erstwhile ‘Quantico’ star quite loved the overt physicality of the show. “I think Joe and Anthony brought the most incredible stunt team onto the show — I mean, obviously, with their repertoire,” said Chopra Jonas. “And I got to explore a lot of that with the stunts that we did. Every time I would read new pages, the stunts would just get bigger and bigger and bigger. So it was amazing to be able to imagine that, and then walk on the set and actually execute it.”
Madden, meanwhile, wants prospective viewers to come to the show expecting a well-measured blend of big-budget spectacle, and top-shelf small screen character plotting. “I think oftentimes we see shows that are 80 percent drama and 20 percent action, or vice versa. This show aimed to be 100 percent of both,” he said.
“And I think that’s what we’ve managed to pull off, because in the middle of these huge sequences with explosions and cars blowing up and all of that, we have this really intimate drama between these two characters, and how they dance together,” Madden continued. “So, for me, that’s what was so exciting about these huge action pieces — that they are infused with heart and drama and storytelling. We get to see a lot about these characters, and how they physically interact, (because) there’s drama at the heart of each one of them.”
Chopra Jonas concurs. “The choices in the action pieces are made because of what the characters are feeling,” she said. “So there’s a story interwoven into all the stunts.”
Even if, sometimes, they end up leaving a mark.
(L to R) Stanley Tucci and Richard Madden in Prime Video’s ‘Citadel.’Stanley Tucci in Prime Video’s ‘Citadel.’Lesley Manville in Prime Video’s ‘Citadel.’Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Prime Video’s ‘Citadel.’Richard Madden in Prime Video’s ‘Citadel.’(L to R) Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in Prime Video’s ‘Citadel.’
