The full teaser trailer for ‘The Penguin’ has landed.
Colin Farrell reprises his role in the TV spin-off of ‘The Batman’.
This show is due on Warner Bros.’ Max service later in 2024.
Though it was originally aiming to debut in the middle of this year, the strikes of 2023 have somewhat put the brakes on ‘The Penguin’s plans.
Yet the series, which spins off from Matt Reeves’ well-received 2022 outing ‘The Batman’ and sees Colin Farrell once more slapping on prosthetics to play ambitious criminal type Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot, is now back on track for later in 2024 and has a first teaser trailer online.
In it, we see Oz waxing poetic about an old gangster he knew of growing up who was garlanded when he died, clearly intending to be remembered the same way –– all intercut with flashes of Oz doing dark deeds.
The series, which has been described as in the style of classic crime drama ‘Scarface’ will pick up the story of Farrell’s character as he rises to power in Gotham City. Mild spoiler alert in case you’ve yet to see ‘The Batman’, but part of the movie’s plot involves Oz’s bosses either dying or heading to jail, leaving him a path to achieve his aims.
Yet given that there’s a whole series to fill with this story, we doubt the road will be an easy one. And there’s still that pesky Caped Crusader lurking around (even if Batman likely wouldn’t appear much if at all in the show).
Farrell’s character will face off against other notorious Gotham crime bosses, including Salvatore Moroni, played by Clancy Brown.
One of Carmine Falcone’s chief rivals, he’ll be back on the streets for the series and ready to make his move now that he’s no longer at the mercy of Falcone (who, again spoiler alert, died in ‘The Batman’).
Matt Reeves, who co-wrote and directed ‘The Batman’ is an executive producer here, but while he’s certainly had input (alongside the movie’s fellow producer, Dylan Clark), he won’t be overseeing the day-to-day work of the show, what with being busy writing the big screen sequel.
That job instead falls to Lauren LeFranc, a veteran of shows including ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, ‘Chuck’ and ‘Hemlock Grove’. Craig Zobel, director of movies such as ‘The Hunt’ who has also worked in TV on the likes of ‘Mare of Easttown’ and ‘Westworld’, shot the first three episodes of a planned eight.
Here’s what LeFranc said when the show was announced:
“I have long been a fan of the world of ‘The Batman’, and Matt’s film is such a powerful and bold entry into the canon. I am excited and humbled to continue telling stories in the grimy world of Gotham City –– and what better excuse to channel my inner villain than to tell the story of Oswald Cobblepot? I am thrilled to work with Colin, Matt, Dylan, 6th & Idaho, Warners, and Max as we work to bring this story to the screen.”
When will ‘The Penguin’ be on our screens?
As of right now, the show doesn’t have a formal date, but it’s expected later this year.
Colin Farrell as Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot in Max’s ‘The Penguin.’
The sequel to ‘The Batman’ will now be released in 2026.
Matt Reeves is once again directing.
Beyond Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, the cast has yet to be confirmed.
Those who have been eagerly awaiting director Matt Reeves’ sequel to his darkly gritty take on the Caped Crusader, ‘The Batman’, will have to be more patient.
Warner Bros. has announced that the new movie will not now be released on October 3rd, 2025, but instead heads back a year to October 2nd, 2026.
Part of the reason for the delay is that the ‘Batman’ sequel has reportedly just begun filming, and that Reeves has been at work on the script with Peter Craig and Mattson Tomlin. The shift from a potential shoot last year means that the production has had to wait for soundstages to be available.
Robert Pattinson is returning as Bruce Wayne, AKA Batman, though there has been little confirmation of any other casting –– Jeffrey Wright has said he’ll be back as Commissioner Jim Gordon, while we’d predict Andy Serkis once more playing loyal Wayne family butler Alfred.
The plot, however, is a mystery, and the villain for the new movie has yet to be revealed.
Also, while the film is considered an “Elseworlds” title and not directly connected to the new DC movie universe, the delay means that James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ will get a clear shot at launching the fresh DCU on the big screen with its July 11th, 2025, release date.
This delay for ‘The Batman Part II’ hasn’t yet impacted TV spin-off ‘The Penguin’, which sees Colin Farrell playing crime boss Oswald Cobblepot. That show is still due to arrive later this year on streaming service Max.
With the new ‘Batman’ movie on the move, there is a hole in Warner Bros.’ schedule. The studio has now given that October 3rd, 2025, slot to ‘The Bride!’ (yes, it apparently does have an exclamation mark at the end of its total), the take on ‘Frankenstein’ to be directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley and Peter Sarsgaard.
Colin Farrell is a private eye in new series ‘Sugar’.
Mark Protosevich created the new show.
The series launches on Apple TV+ on April 5th.
A perennial go-to genre across pop culture, the detective drama is as healthy as ever. We’ve had Clive Owen playing one of the most famous examples for ‘Monsieur Spade’, Jodie Foster digging through a chilled cold case in ‘True Detective: Night Country’ and Mandy Patinkin investigating murder at sea on ‘Death and Other Details’.
But Apple TV+ being Apple TV+, the company naturally wanted to raise the stakes. In ‘Sugar’, Oscar nominee Colin Farrell is John Sugar, the latest in a long line of private eyes whose own life is just as complicated as the cases they tackle.
What’s the story of ‘Sugar’?
Colin Farrell in ‘Sugar,’ premiering April 5, 2024 on Apple TV+.
Farrell here is a slightly tarnished private investigator on the heels of the mysterious disappearance of Olivia Siegel (Sydney Chandler ), the beloved granddaughter of legendary Hollywood producer Jonathan Siegel (James Cromwell).
As Sugar tries to determine what happened to Olivia, he will also unearth Siegel family secrets; some very recent, others long-buried.
And from the looks of the trailer, Sugar’s own life is almost as knotty and filled with mystery. He’s certainly handy with his fists (and the odd weapon), but he also has his own obsessions.
It also boasts the sheen you expect from an Apple series, which usually hands out a hefty budget –– so of course things look good when they need to and grubby in the right places. Plus, you can expect plenty of the detective standby: the voice-over, with Farrell intoning that if you tipped the world on its side, everything loose lands in Los Angeles.
This also marks the first of Farrell’s leading roles in TV to arrive –– we’re also still waiting to see his turn as Oswald Cobblepot in ‘The Batman’ spin-off ‘The Penguin’, which should be on Max later this year.
Who else is in ‘Sugar’?
(L to R) Amy Ryan and Colin Farrell in ‘Sugar,’ premiering April 5, 2024 on Apple TV+.
(L to R) Peter Sarsgaard and Jessica Chastain star in ‘Memory.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking in-person with Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard about their work in ‘Memory,’ what they liked most about their complex characters, acting together for the first time, and the film’s indie esthetic.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch the interviews.
(L to R) Peter Sarsgaard and Jessica Chastain in ‘Memory.’ Photo: Ketchup Entertainment.
Moviefone: Were either of you surprised that the same guy who wrote something as brutal as ‘New Order’ wrote something as empathetic and sensitive as this?
Jessica Chastain: Well, I was always going to read the script because I really respect him as a filmmaker. But the wonderful thing is that he keeps everyone on their toes. I mean, even when you’re in a theater watching ‘New Order,’ you don’t know what’s going to happen, scene from scene. Same with ‘Memory,’ which could not be more of a different film. You don’t know where the characters are heading. You don’t know where it’s going. I think that’s so exciting about him is that I don’t know how he does it, but he’s able to write and create separate from any kind of cliche or idea of how things have to be done. I think because of that, there’s a great tension in this movie because you don’t know if it’s going to tip into darkness and what moment it could happen.
MF: Your character Sylvia is a woman of many moving parts. What was the single thing, was there a single thing about her that really leapt out at you that made you want to play her?
JC: Well, the main reason I wanted to do it was Michel Franco, and then when I got to know [Sylvia], I just loved her. This woman who experienced so much pain, who never really had anyone in her corner — I mean, even her sister, who pretends to be in her corner, judges her every single scene that they’re in together and sees her as inferior and a problem. Sylvia’s always seen as a problem. Yet, when you’re carrying that with you, that shame and that idea that you’re a problem to so many around you, she works as a social worker, and she checks on people. Even this man who follows her home, she checks to make sure he’s okay. She’s a good, good human being and I loved her for that.
(L to R) Peter Sarsgaard and Jessica Chastain in ‘Memory.’ Photo: Ketchup Entertainment.
MF: Peter, I read that your uncle had early onset dementia. How did his experience factor into your performance and did you also get other perspectives?
Peter Sarsgaard: I would say that the main thing was that I was aware that it could hit at a young age. I mean, I was 51 or so when I made this movie, so I knew that it would not be unreasonable that I had the condition. My uncle was just such a positive person and somebody who didn’t want to be trouble to anyone else, so that the symptoms of his condition were around a long time even before he was diagnosed. So, I liked that, the idea of playing someone that doesn’t want to be the problem, that will do anything not to be the problem and is pursuing connection and joy and all of that. I don’t like equating [my uncle] with dementia, I like equating him with being Bubba, my uncle. I talked to other people that did have dementia on the phone, and that was helpful just in terms of reminding me that you don’t have to have to play dementia every single moment of the movie. You wouldn’t notice that some of these men had dementia if you talked to them.
MF: Your character, Saul, comes across almost as if there’s this kind of slight film over him, and then he kind of breaks through and you see him, and he sees you.
PS: Well, when I was playing it, I really felt like I was always trying to keep up with what was going on in a very focused way. It made me really look at other people and constantly try to remind myself of where I am in this moment. Then of course, I’m writing things down all the time. But as one of the guys with dementia told me, he was like, “Yeah, I write things down all the time, [but] I never look at what I wrote down,” which I think is also probably happening in the movie.
(L to R) Peter Sarsgaard and Jessica Chastain in ‘Memory.’ Photo: Ketchup Entertainment.
MF: This is the first time the two of you have worked together and it just seems like that’s something that should have happened at some point over the years. You’re both kind of shapeshifters as actors. Is that what drew you to collaborating with each other?
JC: This whole thing started because I just enjoy so much watching Peter’s work and for years I have, before I could ever get hired in Hollywood. So, I’ve always admired him in the way he tells stories. He doesn’t work from a sense of vanity. There’s no sense that he must change a story to fit him, to make him look a certain way. He’s willing to change himself to serve a story and to serve humanity, I think in doing that. So, I’ve always wanted to collaborate with him because I felt like that would be someone on set that I wouldn’t know what was going to happen. That’s the thing I admire most in another artist, but also the thing I look forward to when going to work.
PS: My wife and I went to a pretty early screening of ‘Eyes of Tammy Faye’ and we were so moved that of course we went and found her as she was signing autographs outside because Jessica does sign every autograph for every fan. We think you’re amazing. It was such a joy to tell her — I love telling an actor when I’m really, really moved by one of their performances. I don’t just do it to everyone. So, when I heard that she was attached to this, I mean, it was exactly what I wanted to do at that moment.
MF: How does going from the bigger machinery of studio productions — and in the case of ‘Tammy Faye,’ the makeup and all that — to a movie with no trailers, where you, Jessica, did go to the adult daycare center and put in some time there, how does having all the accoutrements sort of stripped away affect your performance?
JC: Well, first, it doesn’t feel like a strange thing to me because I started in drama school and in theater. I was just on Broadway. I did my hair and makeup every single day. That’s just something you’re supposed to do in theater. So, there’s something about perhaps coming from theater and drama school where you are doing all of that yourself, which I love, because I love creating a character. I think the only thing that really feels that different is it feels like your feet are to the fire in a way that sometimes it’s not. Those bigger movies, you have an hour between setups, and it dissipates the energy and this, you never really allow that to happen. The very first day of shooting was an AA meeting, it was an actual AA meeting that everyone was sharing very personal things about their lives. You can’t show up and be like an actor in that scene. You must show up as an authentic version of who your character is and not stand out. I think it sounds more difficult, but for me it makes it easier because you don’t get an escape from the character.
Jessica Chastain in ‘Memory.’ Photo: Ketchup Entertainment.
PS: That’s right. I think I have an enormous amount of respect for people who can keep their feet really anchored on a big film that’s shooting for four and a half months somewhere. It’s a very specific skill. The way Michel set this up, it’s really, really for the actors. We control the tempo because there’s no cutting on the scenes. Everything is wide, usually from one angle, the whole scene. So that’s a lot of trust in your actors and when you’re acting with someone as talented as Jessica, as talented as Jessica Harper, as Josh [Charles] and Merritt Wever, it reminds me of sports actually — you know where the ball is all the time. It’s like those old theater games. We were really like a group because we had to rely on each other. It wasn’t going to be intercut. There are some shots that have six people in the same frame. If one of them is picking their nose and thinking about picking up their kids after school, then it doesn’t work.
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What is the plot of ‘Memory’?
Sylvia (Jessica Chastain) is a social worker who carefully controls every aspect of her life, including her job, her AA meetings, and her interaction with her daughter. But an unsettling encounter at her high school reunion – with a man (Peter Sarsgaard) she thinks she remembers all too well, yet who struggles moment to moment with his own memory – will lead Sylvia to confront her life choices and the memories she chooses to keep and let go.
Who is in the cast of ‘Memory’?
Jessica Chastain (‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’) as Sylvia
(L to R) director Matt Reeves and actor Robert Pattinson on the set of ‘The Batman’
Preview:
DC boss James Gunn has clarified where Matt Reeves’ Batman projects fall in the DCU.
Reeves’ movies and TV shows will fall into different categories.
He’s currently working on ‘The Batman 2’, its Penguin TV spin-off and the Arkham series.
With the previous iteration of the DC Movie and TV universe effectively wrapping up this week via the release of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’, fans’ attention has naturally been turning to the next evolution of the massive media world, as overseen by current co-chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran.
And Gunn, not shy of answering questions and offering teases of the future on social media, has been fielding queries about how Matt Reeves’ Batman-based output will factor into that universe.
Currently, Reeves, who released ‘The Batman’ last year, has three projects on the go: a sequel to ‘The Batman’ he’s writing and directing, a spin-off TV series about Colin Farrell’s crime boss Penguin character set in the same world as the movie, and a more mysterious show based in Gotham City’s notorious Arkham Asylum.
Right now, Reeves has written and is intending to start directing the sequel to ‘The Batman’ early next year. A plan to kick off production in November was scrapped after the writers’ strike delayed work on the script and the associated actors’ strike affected cast availability.
Current reports have the film –– which will see the return of Robert Pattinson to the Batsuit –– starting shooting in March, taking aim at a planned October 2025 release.
‘The Batman’ and its sequel fall into what Gunn and Safran have described as “Elseworlds” stories, those which don’t directly take place in the DC Universe continuity that the two filmmakers are building.
Similarly, the Penguin series, on which Reeves is an executive producer (with Lauren LeFranc as showrunner and Craig Zobel as primary director), is set in the same “Elseworlds” locale as the movie it is connected to.
To debut on HBO’s streaming service Max later next year (current word points to fall), the show sees Colin Farrell return the grimy, crime-y world of Oswald Cobblepot as he seeks to secure a grip on power in Gotham’s underworld.
The show was teased in a recent Max video showing the service’s future output.
Set in Gotham City’s notorious prison/ psychiatric hospital where some of the most dangerous criminals are housed, the Arkham series is still shrouded in mystery, though it reportedly evolved from the show about the Gotham City police force that had previously been in development.
Antonio Campos, who served as showrunner on HBO’s critically-acclaimed limited series ‘The Staircase’, is leading development on the Arkham TV show for Reeves. He replaced Terence Winter (‘Boardwalk Empire’) who departed the show over creative differences.
According to Gunn, this series will, unlike Reeves’ other work, have an impact on the DC Universe going forward:
Post by @jamesgunn
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So now you know… Batman and his associated rogues’ gallery is a big enough topic that it can fit wherever it wants. Hopefully Gunn and Safran have a real plan in place and DC doesn’t become a sprawling, chaotic place once again.
President & CEO of Discovery Streaming & International JB Perrette. Photograph by Jeff Kravitz/Warner Bros. Discovery.
HBO Max is (nearly) dead! Long live… Max? Yes, the Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service will be evolving into a shared app known simply as Max in May, and as part of today’s big announcement, the company has released a raft of news about shows that heretofore had existed more as rumor and speculation.
Here, then, is your handy breakdown of the most exciting titles heading our way…
Long rumored, but the subject of busy negotiations between HBO and controversial Potter creator J.K. Rowling, we now know that the ‘Harry Potter’ series is officially a go.
According to the official announcement, the Potter books will become a decade-long series featuring a new cast. Each season will be authentic to the original books
“We are delighted to give audiences the opportunity to discover Hogwarts in a whole new way,” says Casey Bloys, Chairman of Max content. “‘Harry Potter’ is a cultural phenomenon and it is clear there is such an enduring love and thirst for the Wizarding World. In partnership with Warner Bros. Television and J.K. Rowling, this new Max Original series will dive deep into each of the iconic books that fans have continued to enjoy for all of these years.”
“Max’s commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I’m looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long form television series,” adds J.K. Rowling, who will be an executive producer but not directly involved in running it.
While the prospect of adaptations able to include all the details the movies couldn’t is certainly one to anticipate, HBO is at lengths to point out that the movies will still be available to stream and a key focal point for fandom.
(L to R) Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley and Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in Warner Bros. Pictures’ fantasy adventure ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel ordered
A century before @GameofThrones, there was Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Egg.
Executive produced by George R. R. Martin, Ira Parker, Ryan Condal, and Vince Gerardis, A Knight of the #SevenKingdoms: The Hedge Knight has received a straight to series order. #StreamOnMaxpic.twitter.com/MRPUke5Upt
With ‘House of the Dragon’ already a big success for HBO, the company has naturally been busy looking to expand the chronicles of Westeros yet further. In the years since ‘Game of Thrones’ finished, there has been talk of spin-offs that flamed out (before ‘Dragon’, one concept made it to pilot but no further’) and chatter about various other options, including one put forward by Kit “Jon Snow” Harington.
As it turns out, the next show given the official nod is another prequel, ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight’, which will see novelist George R.R. Martin adapting his “Dunc and Egg” novellas alongside fellow executive producer Ira Parker.
Set a century before the events of ‘Thrones,’, the show will follow two unlikely heroes who wandered Westeros… A young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.
Given that the series is still at an early stage, there’s no word on casting or when we might see it hit screens –– and fans are already facing a wait for Season 2 of ‘House of the Dragon’, which is back shooting, but won’t be airing until 2024.
Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen in HBO Max’s ‘House of the Dragon.’
‘The Penguin’
Academy Award nominee Colin Farrell is #ThePenguin.
Also shooting right now is the first commissioned spin-off from Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’ featuring Colin Farrell as scheming, ambitious criminal Oz Cobblepot, better known as The Penguin.
Though he had relatively brief screen time in the movie, the new show, run by writer Lauren LeFranc (with Reeves among the executive producers) will span eight episodes and chart the rise of Farrell’s character as he looks to become the new crime kingpin of Gotham City.
‘True Detective’ will also return for Max, with the fourth season –– subtitled ‘Night Country’ –– starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis.
The show is set in Ennis, Alaska, where the eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station have vanished without a trace just as the long winter looms. To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers (Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Reis) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice…
The show, run this time by Issa López as opposed to creator Nic Pizzolatto, will hit Max this year.
(L to R) Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren and Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren in ‘The Conjuring.’
‘The Conjuring’ TV spin-off
We know very little about the company’s plans for a ‘Conjuring’ TV spin-off but given that James Wan’s original has so far spawned two main sequels, three movies about supernatural doll Annabelle and two (the second is due in September) featuring the demonic nun from ‘The Conjuring 2’, this was, we suppose a safe bet as the next step.
Producer Peter Safran will be involved (when he’s not busy running DC Studios with James Gunn) and Wan is in talks to join him. What can say for sure? It promises to be spooky.
‘The Regime’
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Originally titled ‘The Palace’, this new series stars Kate Winslet and, according to the limited synopsis, chronicles one year within the walls of the palace of a modern European regime as it begins to unravel.
It hails from ‘Succession’ writing veteran Will Tracy, and certainly looks to share some sweary, satirical DNA with that show, even if it’s more about politics than business. Stephen Frears directs, and it’ll be on Max next year.
‘The Sympathizer’
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Of interest to Park Chan Wook fans is ‘The Sympathizer’, a show he created with Canadian filmmaker Don McKellar.
Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, the show is an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his resulting exile in the United States.
The series, like many of the titles announced today, will be on Max next year.
Robert Downey Jr. in Max’s ‘The Sympathizer.’ Photograph by Courtesy of HBO.
Among other offerings announced or hinted at today? A ‘Rick and Morty’ anime series, a ‘Peter and the Wolf’ short film overseen by U2’s Bono, another spin-off from ‘The Big Bang’ theory and the official launch of prequel series ‘Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai’.
Max will go live on May 23rd with three pricing plans: $9.99 a month/$99 a year for ad-supported tier Max Ad Light; $15.99/$149.99 for Max Ad Free, which offers two concurrent streams; and $19.99/$199.99 for Max Ultimate Ad Free, up to four concurrent streams.
Chief Executive Officer and President of Warner Bros. Discovery David Zaslav. Photograph by Jeff Kravitz/Warner Bros. Discovery.
A scene from 1954’s ‘Them!’ Photo courtesy of Turner Classic Movies.
After putting his love of vintage monster movies to good use with the Marvel Studios/Disney+ special ‘Werewolf By Night,’ composer turned director Michael Giacchino is taking things to the next level by helming a remake of ‘Them!’ for Warner Bros.
The original ‘Them!’ – a 1954 thriller about nuclear irradiated ants directed by Gordon Douglas – is one of the first giant monster movies and a classic of post-war paranoia sci-fi. According to Deadline, Giacchino “is meeting with writers in hopes of getting the production up quite soon.”
“There’s always a movie in your mind that never leaves your head,” says Giacchino. “For me, that’s ‘Them!’ It wasn’t until much later in life until I learned what it was about — the nuclear age.”
Adds the director, “What I love about ‘Them!’ is exactly what it’s called: ‘Them!’ It’s about the other, the unknown which one refuses or can’t understand. The current version of ‘Them!’ is about immigration, and to tell a story about the subject through a lens of this insane science fiction monster movie.”
Before helming ‘Werewolf by Night,’ he directed the short ‘Monster Challenge’ and an episode of Paramount+’s ‘Star Trek: Short Treks.’
(L to R) Composer Michael Giacchino and director J.J. Abrams on the set of ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.’ Photo courtesy of Michael Giacchino’s Twitter.
Giacchino has provided the score for all of his directing projects, and will do so again for ‘Them!’
Per Deadline, Giacchino “also plans to have his filmmaker brother, Anthony Giacchino, involved in the production of ‘Them!’ Anthony Giacchino directed the Disney+ documentary about his composer-turned-filmmaker brother, ‘Director by Night.’ Anthony Giacchino is also an Oscar winner, having won for the 2021 short subject documentary, ‘Colette.’”
“The Giacchino brothers made movies as kids around their Edgewater Park Township, NJ home. Michael would direct, and Anthony would star along with their neighborhood friends. Michael Giacchino worked side jobs as a teenager to save up to buy film stock. He used an X-Acto knife to make scratches on the film strips in order to make laser and spark special effects. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts in NYC where he studied filmmaking and later held jobs at Universal marketing and Disney publicity.”
“Eventually he segued to composing for videogames, one highlight being the Playstation game of ‘Jurassic Park: The Lost World’ which Steven Spielberg personally hired him on. It was through videogames that J.J. Abrams came to know Giacchino and hired him to compose for his TV series ‘Alias’ and ‘Lost’ as well as big pics ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Star Trek Into Darkness,’ and ‘Mission: Impossible III.’ His next score will be for Taikia Waititi’s sports comedy-drama ‘Next Goal Wins,’ due out later this year.”
Warner Bros Pictures President of Production and Development Jesse Ehrman – who’s overseeing ‘Them!’ on studio’s Burbank, CA lot – remarks, “Michael Giacchino is a unique talent. We’re excited to be working with him and have him at the studio.”
A scene from 1954’s ‘Them!’ Photo courtesy of Turner Classic Movies.
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Coming out of the pandemic, 2022 turned out to be a great year for cinema!
It began with a new take on the Dark Knight from Matt Reeves‘ ‘The Batman,’ followed by the surprise hit ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ then the summer blockbuster sequel ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ and finishing off with James Cameron‘s long-awaited ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ its truly been an amazing year for movies.
With the year quickly coming to a close, Moviefone has assembled its list of the 22 best movies of 2022.
From Damien Chazelle, “Babylon’ is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.
Actually opening in limited release on December 30th, 2022 and directed by Marc Foster, the movie follows the story of Otto Anderson (Tom Hanks), a grumpy widower who is very set in his ways. When a lively young family moves in next door, he meets his match in quick-witted and very pregnant Marisol, (Mariana Treviño) leading to an unlikely friendship that will turn his world upside-down.
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents Carlo Collodi’s classic tale of the wooden marionette (Gregory Mann) who is magically brought to life in order to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto (David Bradley). This whimsical, stop-motion film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson follows the mischievous and disobedient adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.
Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the film tells the life story of Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) as seen through the complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).
A US soldier (Jennifer Lawrence) suffers a traumatic brain injury while fighting in Afghanistan and struggles to adjust to life back home in New Orleans. When she meets local mechanic James (Brian Tyree Henry), the pair begin to forge an unexpected bond.
Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on his own life story, the movie is set in post-World War II era Arizona and follows young Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), who aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth. Also starring Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Judd Hirsch.
Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, ‘The Woman King’ tells the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen.
Inspired by true events, the film follows the emotionally epic journey of General Nanisca (Oscar-winner Viola Davis) as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life. Some things are worth fighting for!
Directed by Matt Reeves, ‘The Batman,’ stars Robert Pattinson in the dual role of Gotham City’s vigilante detective and his alter ego, reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne. Also starring Paul Dano as Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, and Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon.
‘Living’ is the story of an ordinary man (Bill Nighy), reduced by years of oppressive office routine to a shadow existence, who at the eleventh hour makes a supreme effort to turn his dull life into something wonderful – into one he can say has been lived to the full.
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg and part of the ‘Predator‘ franchise, when danger threatens her camp, the fierce and highly skilled Comanche warrior Naru (Amber Midthunder) sets out to protect her people. But the prey she stalks turns out to be a highly evolved alien predator with a technically advanced arsenal.
Directed by Oscar-winning director James Cameron and set more than a decade after the events of ‘Avatar,’ the film tells the story of the Sully family (Jake (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
Directed by George Miller, the film follows Dr. Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton), an academic content with life and a creature of reason. While in Istanbul attending a conference, she happens to encounter a Djinn (Idris Elba) who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.
This presents two problems. First, she doubts that he is real and second, because she is a scholar of story and mythology, she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong. The Djinn pleads his case by telling her fantastical stories of his past, and eventually she is beguiled and makes a wish that surprises them both.
Emily (Aubrey Plaza) is saddled with student debt and locked out of the job market due to a minor criminal record. Desperate for income, she takes a shady gig as a “dummy shopper,” buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a handsome and charismatic middleman named Youcef (Theo Rossi).
Faced with a series of dead-end job interviews, Emily soon finds herself seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills of black-market capitalism, and increasingly interested in her mentor Youcef. Together, they hatch a plan to bring their business to the next level in Los Angeles.
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.
When he finds himself training a detachment of TOPGUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.”
Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.
Directed by Robert Eggers, the film follows Prince Amleth, who on the verge of becoming a man witnesses his father (Ethan Hawke) brutally murdered by his uncle (Claes Bang), who kidnaps the boy’s mother (Nicole Kidman). Two decades later, Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) is now a Viking who’s on a mission to save his mother, kill his uncle and avenge his father.
A couple travels (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.
Directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes, the film is a love story set in and around an old cinema on the South Coast of England in the 1980s starring Oscar-winner Olivia Colman, Oscar-winner Colin Firth, and Micheal Ward.
New York Times reporters Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) break one of the most important stories in a generation — a story that helped launch the #MeToo movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood.
Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the film tells the story of first love between Maren (Taylor Russell), a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee (Timothée Chalamet), an intense and disenfranchised drifter. What follows is a liberating road odyssey of two young people coming into their own, searching for identity and chasing beauty in a perilous world that cannot abide who they are.
Directed by Martin McDonagh and set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, the film follows lifelong friends Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), who find themselves at an impasse when Colm unexpectedly puts an end to their friendship.
A stunned Pádraic, aided by his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) and troubled young islander Dominic (Barry Keoghan), endeavours to repair the relationship, refusing to take no for an answer. But Pádraic’s repeated efforts only strengthen his former friend’s resolve and when Colm delivers a desperate ultimatum, events swiftly escalate, with shocking consequences.
We’ve known since before ‘The Batman’ burst into theaters that an HBO Max-based spin-off was in development, one focused on Colin Farrell’s Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot, AKA The Penguin from the movie.
It has been moving forward since then and is now adding ‘Palm Springs’ Cristin Milioti to the cast list in a major role.
The series, which has been described as in the style of classic crime drama ‘Scarface’ will pick up the story of ambitious criminal type Oz as he rises to power in Gotham City. Mild spoiler alert in case you’ve yet to see ‘The Batman’, but part of the movie involves Oz’s bosses either dying or heading to jail, leaving him a path to achieve his aims.
Yet given that there’s a whole series to fill with this story, we doubt the road will be an easy one. And there’s still that pesky Caped Crusader lurking around (even if Batman likely wouldn’t appear much in the show).
Milioti, meanwhile, will be Sofia Falcone daughter of the late Carmine (as played by John Turturro in ‘The Batman’). Following his assassination – which Oz orchestrated – Sofia will be competing with Farrell’s character for control of the city’s criminal element.
If she’s anything like her father, this fight will get nasty.
Matt Reeves, who co-wrote and directed ‘The Batman’ is an executive producer here, but while he’ll certainly have input (alongside the movie’s fellow producer, Dylan Clark), he won’t be overseeing the day-to-day work of the show. That job falls to Lauren LeFranc, who has worked on series including ‘Agents of SHIELD’, ‘Chuck’ and ‘Hemlock Grove’.
“Colin exploded off the screen as the Penguin in ‘The Batman’ and having the chance to thoroughly explore the inner life of that character on HBO Max is an absolute thrill’” Reeves says in a statement when the show was confirmed. “Dylan and I are so excited to work with Lauren in continuing Oz’s story as he grabs violently for power in Gotham.”
Craig Zobel, who last directed ‘The Hunt’ is aboard as another executive producer and to direct the first two episodes, meaning that he’ll help guide the visual tone of the show. Aside, of course from the template already established by Reeves in the movie.
The show doesn’t yet have a premiere date, but it could conceivably drop on the streaming service in late 2023 or early 2024.
And it’s just one of the spin-offs in the works, as Reeves is also trying to develop a series set at Gotham’s infamous Arkham Asylum and has been meeting writers to hear pitches about potential movie spin-offs featuring the Caped Crusader’s expansive rogues’ gallery.
As for Milioti, she’s been busy of late, more on TV than cinema screens, appearing in shows such as ‘Made for Love’ and ‘The Resort’. She’s also been seen on shows including ‘No Activity’ and ‘Black Mirror’.
Paul Dano at London Special Screening of ‘The Batman.’
There is new intelligence to be found about ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’, the TV adaptation of Doug Liman’s spy caper thriller that has Donald Glover co-starring and co-creating.
Originally released in 2005 and written by Simon Kinberg, the movie of ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as John and Jane Smith, a married couple whose relationship has succumbed to ennui. They’re a little surprised, then, to learn that they’re both assassins and that they’ve just been hired by competing agencies to take each other out – and not in a date night sense of the word.
Exact story details of the TV version – which will show up on Prime Video – are still being kept largely confidential, though it sounds like the series will follow the characters from a younger age to their movie counterparts, tracking as they’re hired by a spy agency and figuring out both married life and espionage.
Maya Erskine, one of the creators and stars of Hulu’s ‘Pen15’ is co-starring as Jane Smith, but the character assignments for the new recruits have yet to be revealed.
John Turturro at New York premiere of ‘The Batman.’ Photo Credit: Dave Allocca/Starpix.
Turturro needs little introduction, having carved a successful career as a character for years, appearing in a wide swathe of movies and directing some. Though he’s primarily been known for his big screen work, he’s recently been receiving praise for his performance on the Apple TV+ series ‘Severance’.
Dano, meanwhile, was most recently seen playing the Riddler in ‘The Batman’, facing off against Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader (the film also featured Turturro, though they didn’t share a scene). He’ll next show up in Steven Spielberg’s much-anticipated, semi-autobiographical drama ‘The Fabelmans’, playing a character loosely based on the director’s father.
Coel, who is a rising star, might be best known for creating and starring in the limited series ‘I May Destroy You’. She pulled double duty on TV series ‘Chewing Gum’. Movie-wise, she has a role in Marvel’s upcoming ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, in theaters on November 11th.
Though it originally intended to reunite Glover with his ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and she jumped aboard to co-write with him, creative differences led to an amicable split and Waller-Bridge departing the series.
Francesca Sloane is aboard to run the show, having worked on the scripts with Glover, but there’s no word on who might be directing it just yet. And given that ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ is still in pre-production, Amazon is yet to assign it a premiere date.
(L to R) Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in 2005’s ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith.’
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