(Left) David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves in ‘Lawmen: Bass Reeves’ streaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo Credit: Emerson Miller/Paramount+. (Right) Hayley Atwell in ‘Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One’ from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.
Preview:
David Oyelowo, Hayley Atwell and Jack Huston are aboard a new ‘Treasure Island’ adaptation.
It’ll air on MGM+.
Tomer Capone and Tom Sweet are also in the cast.
While we might all yearn for something brand new to happen along, studios and TV companies are usually more comfortable revisiting tried-and-true properties. And few are as tried as ‘Treasure Island’, Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel of pirates and adventure.
The six-part series will be a co-production between MGM+ and Paramount+ in the UK, with backing from production company Playground, which has been behind the likes of ‘Wolf Hall’.
David Oyelowo attends the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.
‘Treasure Island’ charts the transformation of teenager Jim Hawkins (Sweet) from sheltered boy to emboldened young pirate. When Jim gets his hands on a legendary treasure map, his mother Bess’ (Atwell) clever and decisive actions leave him holding valuable knowledge that puts both of their lives in danger.
Oyelowo will bring a new take on iconic pirate villain Long John Silver, while the production companies are describing the show as a “bold, high-stakes coming-of-age adventure series for a new generation.”
When will the new ‘Treasure Island’ be on screens?
There is no date yet for the show to arrive; we’d predict it’ll make landfall next year.
Hayley Atwell. Photo: Faye Thomas.
Movies and TV Shows Adapted from ‘Treasure Island’:
(L to R) Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
Opening in theaters on August 30th, ‘Slingshot’ is the latest contender in the already overstuffed genre of science-fiction psycho-thrillers. Largely a three-hander between Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne and ‘The Boys’ Tomer Capone, it looks to mess with your head almost as much as it does its protagonist’s.
Yet while it certainly builds atmosphere, the feeling here is very much that it’s following in the footsteps of other, better movies.
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Does ‘Slingshot’ get up to speed?
In space, the old saying goes, no-one can hear you scream. Yet you may find yourself screaming with frustration at ‘Slingshot’, which takes some bold swings in the psycho-thriller genre but ultimately comes up short when compared with classics such as ‘2001’ (admittedly, the new movie doesn’t have quite as such lofty themes on its mind) and is more likely to end up annoying than fascinating.
A slow-burn start is fairly standard for this sort of movie, dropping hints about the main character’s mental state and background, and filling you in on the backstory before putting the actual mystery into play.
‘Slingshot’: Script and Direction
(L to R) Laurence Fishburne, Casey Affleck, and Tomer Capone in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
The script for this new movie comes from an interesting duo –– R. Scott Adams (who gets the “written by” credit) has just one other film to his name, 2011 horror ‘Donner Pass’. Nathan Parker, meanwhile (“screenplay by”) has a more expansive resume, including ‘Equals’, TV’s ‘The Underground Railroad’ and perhaps more germane to a space thriller, ‘Moon’.
But even with plenty of experience, ‘Slingshot’ ultimately comes across as reheated leftovers from other movies –– though it flirts with chewing over big themes such as isolation, the chain of command, paranoia and long-distance relationships –– it doesn’t really do all that much of interest with any of them.
Neither does it give the cast a lot of interesting beats to play; each moment feeling a little stale and familiar as the situation starts to ratchet up the stress levels for their characters.
Director Mikael Håfström, meanwhile, also has some solid work in his past; thrillers such as ‘The Rite’, ‘1408’, ‘Outside the Wire’ and ‘Vendetta’ to name just a few. Here, though, while he certainly manages to evoke some paranoia, a lot of what is presented is less than thrilling, from the normal concerns of humans suffering hibernation sickness and the talk of past problems between commanders and officers.
There are three main performances anchoring this one, though a fourth plays almost as important a part. The cast certainly gives their all, but the characters aren’t always worth the effort.
Casey Affleck as John
Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
Our focal point for the story is Affleck’s astronaut, and he brings his typical low-key energy to the role. John is a conflicted man, missing the woman he loves even though he’s finally on his lifelong dream to be on a space mission. As the situation and dynamics between the three main crewmembers begins to change, he’s the one person we follow through it all.
Affleck is sometimes on autopilot here, going through the motions, and if you key into his particular weary charisma, the movie may work better for you.
Laurence as Captain Franks
(L to R) Laurence Fishburne and Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
Like Affleck, you pretty much know what you’re getting when you hire Fishburne, though he obviously has a much longer cinematic history and has put in some truly great performances. Here, he’s not asked to do too much more than bring his usual charisma to a slightly underwritten, cliched role, the positive commander who is hiding something.
There’s plenty to enjoy in his work here still.
Toper Capone as Nash
Tomer Capone in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
Capone, who is probably best known for his role as Frenchie on Prime Video’s ‘The Boys’, has the chance to be something more surprising since he’s not quite the well-established performer like his co-stars.
As Nash, he’s the nervier crew member, convinced that something is going badly wrong with the spaceship and is concerned that they shouldn’t attempt the titular “slingshot” maneuver that will see them using Jupiter’s gravity to speed them on their way to Titan, the moon of Saturn.
(L to R) Emily Beecham and Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
The fourth key member of the cast, Beecham plays the lead of the engineering team that designed the Odyssey-1 ship at the heart of the story. Her tentative, yet passionate relationship with John is also part of the movie’s emotional core, told partly in flashback. She’s perfectly fine in the role, though it mostly subjugates her to being the distant girlfriend.
Supporting cast
There are one or two other people who make noticeable impact in the movie –– David Morrissey is the head of the program, who is seen in flashback and also is in contact with the trio via video screens (albeit on delay given the great distance involved). He’s solid in the role, which again is mostly a supporting part.
Finally, worth mentioning is Nikolett Barabas as the disembodied voice of the ship’s computer, a vocal performance that carries more weight as the film moves on. She adds some gravitas to what is effectively a computerized voice initially making basic announcements.
‘Slingshot’: Final Thoughts
Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
Looking to play with perceptions and keep you guessing as to what’s really going on can be tricky, and ‘Slingshot’ –– no spoilers here –– doesn’t always pull off the trick as successfully as it thinks.
Still, it has enough tense energy to keep it moving until the final act descends into predictable chaos.
‘Slingshot’ receives 6.5 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Slingshot’?
An astronaut (Casey Affleck) on a possibly fatally endangered mission to Saturn’s moon Titan struggles to keep his grip on reality.
Who is in the cast of ‘Slingshot’?
Casey Affleck as John
Laurence Fishburne as Captain Franks
Emily Beecham as Zoe
Tomer Capone as Nash
Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
(L to R) Laurence Fishburne and Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with legendary actor Laurence Fishburne about his work on ‘Slingshot’, his first reaction to the screenplay, his approach to his character, the incredible sets, and working with Casey Affleck.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Fishburne and director Mikael Håfström.
(L to R) Laurence Fishburne, Casey Affleck, and Tomer Capone in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and why you wanted to be part of this project?
Laurence Fishburne: Well, when I read it, I was very surprised that I couldn’t figure out where it was going. I thought, okay, I want to do this because if it surprised me, hopefully we’ll surprise the audience. Also, Casey Affleck was attached, and he’s a brilliant actor, somebody who I’ve admired for many years, and I was like, oh yeah, I really want to work with him. Then I discovered that Tomer Capone was going to be playing the other character, and I love his work on ‘The Boys’, and I just thought, yeah, we’re going to make a wonderful trio. So those are the reasons that I wanted to do it.
MF: Is that what you looking for when you are reading scripts and choosing projects, something that surprises you with a good cast and director?
LF: I don’t necessarily approach it with “what I’m looking for”. I always approach it with an open mind and an open heart. If there’s something that I discover whether it’s a surprise or it’s funny or it makes me cry or whatever it is, I really must connect with the story on some level. That’s first and foremost. Then of course, if there are wonderful people attached, like our director, Mikael Håfström on this, a wonderful director whose work I wasn’t familiar with, but once I met him, I was like, oh, this guy’s fantastic, and we’re going to do something really cool together. It doesn’t matter whether anybody gets it, you just know like, we’ve got a good piece of material, we’ve got a great crew, we’ve got a great cast, and we’ve got a leader in our director who has a vision that he’s confident about. So, if he’s confident about it, then he’s the guy I’m willing to follow.
(L to R) Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
MF: Can you talk about your approach to playing Captain Franks?
LF: It’s the kind of role that I’m comfortable in, that people absolutely buy me as, kind of an authority figure. I’m the captain of the ship, so I kind of have that kind of military bearing. I’ve played a captain of a ship in space before, so it’s not like a big stretch for anybody to believe me as that. So, it was about the tone because it’s such an intimate film, it’s such a small kind of space. It’s three people on a ship altogether, claustrophobic at times, and then at moments because you’re in space, it’s very expansive. Then they introduced the idea that the ship might be compromised, and the mission might be compromised, and our lives might be in danger. So, when you have a small group of people floating through space on something that’s the size of a golf ball, the stakes suddenly get very high.
MF: Can you talk about how Captain Franks deals with the mutiny on his ship and the different dynamics between his crew members?
LF: It’s great because there’s this whole triangulation thing that happens between the three characters. So, in moments, my character Captain Franks sits at the top of the pyramid and then it shifts, when the other two are alone and they’re conspiring about whether they’re going to follow my orders or whether they’re going to mutiny. Then it shifts again when I kind of persuade one of them to see things my way. Then it keeps shifting and changing and that just ratchets up the tension and you’re like, okay, what’s going to happen here? Who’s going to captain the ship, as it were?
Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
MF: What was it like working with Casey Affleck and having him as a scene partner?
LF: Hey man, he was great. Casey is like the Chet Baker of acting. I mean, he’s lyrical. He’s whimsical. He’s got this incredible sense of melody that’s in the emotional range, and he plays it all so subtly and with a kind of beautiful melancholy that is just captivating. So, it was just great working with him.
MF: Finally, do you think that the small spaceship set helped add the feeling of claustrophobia to your performance?
LF: Well, it did at times. It was very deceptive because it’s shaped like a circle, right? So those scenes where we’re walking in the hall, you keep walking round and round, but you can’t, because of the way it’s the angles are designed, you can never see the end of it. So, it seems to go on forever in some ways. What Mikael Håfström was able to do with his DP was he was able to sometimes make it feel like it was quite spacious, and then at other times to bring it tight and make it seem very claustrophobic so that your perspective changes. You’re not sure is it up, is it down? It was really a beautifully constructed and designed set.
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What is the plot of ‘Slingshot’?
An astronaut (Casey Affleck) on a possibly fatally endangered mission to Saturn’s moon Titan struggles to keep his grip on reality.
Who is in the cast of ‘Slingshot’?
Casey Affleck as John
Laurence Fishburne as Captain Franks
Emily Beecham as Zoe
Tomer Capone as Nash
Casey Affleck in Bleecker Street’s ‘Slingshot’. Credit: Bleecker Street.
(L to R) Jack Quaid (Hughie Campbell), Karl Urban (Billy Butcher), Tomer Capone (Frenchie), Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko), Laz Alonso (Mother’s Milk). Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Debuting with the first three episodes on Prime Video today, ‘The Boys’ returns for its third season having lost none of its capacity to shock and delight in equal measure.
The show about dysfunctional superheroes – and the vigilantes who are dedicated to keeping them in check – is back in a more crowded market for such stories – James Gunn offered plenty of gore and chaos in ‘Peacemaker’ and ‘Invincible’ unleashes animated mayhem with each successive episode.
‘The Boys’ follows a world in which superpowered people (or “supes”) – many of them the creation of the less-than-moral Vought corporation mingle with us regular folk, performing heroic acts and behaving much like movie stars for their adoring crowds. The wrinkle here though is, like some celebrities, they’re also extremely fallible souls, prone to bad behavior and selfish, abusive attitudes, and when you combine that with the ability to lift cars, fly or explode heads, it’s a very, very hazardous combination.
Vought views them as commodities, marketing tools to sell toys and other merchandise, producing movies around “The Seven” core characters. They’re pimped like DC or Marvel’s stable, making public appearances, and signing endorsement deals.
Antony Starr (Homelander). Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
Prime among them is Homelander (Anthony Starr), who believes he’s god’s gift to the world, an emotionally stunted man-child who acts out and causes endless problems for those around him. Starr’s performance is pitch-perfect, smug, and entitled, preening and impervious (literally). There are hints of humanity under the surface, but this season he doubles down on the desperate need to be in control of everything around him.
A sweary ying to his yang is Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), the uncouth cockney leader of the rag-tag opposition group named in the title. The “boys” – plus Karen Fukuhara’s superpowered Kimiko – who all have their reason to dislike supes, and to hold grudges against them. Some, such as Laz Alonso’s Mother’s Milk, lost their parents to Supe activity, whereas Hughie (Jack Quaid, who began the show as the audience’s way into this conflict, (but is now firmly entrenched in it, not least because he’s dating Annie/Starlight, a superhero played by Erin Moriarty), saw his girlfriend exploded into bloody vapor thanks to the careless speedy actions of the Flash-like A-Train (Jessie T. Usher).
As Butcher, Urban holds the vigilante side together, his character is a mix of his own foibles and insecurities, not least because last season he learned that his son was fathered by Homelander. Oh, and his wife died when said son tried to save her from a psychopathic Nazi supe, accidentally wounding his mother.
Season 3 kicks off with the characters in even more disarray – Homelander is facing challenges to his authority, which only serves to make him even angrier, while Billy confronts one of the eternal questions of the show – just how far are you willing to go to achieve your aims? And when does fighting the good fight become an obsessive quest that threatens everyone around you?
(L to R) Karl Urban (Billy Butcher), Antony Starr (Homelander). Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
It’s no spoiler to say that this year Billy gets a real upgrade in his fight, (his glowing eyes are all over the trailer), but we’ll leave the specifics for you to enjoy. It all plays well into the show’s regular obsessions, especially if you ponder what happens when Butcher becomes the thing he hates, even if it’s temporary.
Yet with the space to tell its story (the show is eight episodes this season), ‘The Boys’ has never just been about Homelander and Butcher. Almost every character enjoys a relatively meaty storyline this year, whether it’s Kumiko dealing with her desire to lose her powers, charismatic veteran soldier Frenchie (Tomer Capone) trying to maintain his relationship with her while his past comes back to haunt him or Starlight diving into trying to take down Homelander from within her position on the Seven team.
There are moral compromises, bad decisions, terrible actions, and regrettable turns all over the place, with no one in this world entirely good or entirely bad (well, Homelander’s pretty much irretrievably awful at this point).
Of course, ‘The Boys’ is also still sticking to its house style, adapted from the comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, itself unafraid to leapfrog over lines that most other stories would be too afraid to cross. If you’ve seen an episode (or, let’s be honest, a few minutes) of this show, you’ll know its propensity for blowing people up, hacking off limbs or causing other horrific injuries, and that continues in fine style here.
Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy). Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.
There is a moment within the first 10 minutes here that involves someone with the ability to shrink to minute size and another person’s… Well, that would be telling. Suffice to say, we would not suggest eating while the sequence occurs. In fact, that’s probably a good idea through most of the episodes, because a lot of bad stuff happens to various characters, some of it violent, some of it sexual. The commitment to startling vulgarity can sometimes be wearing, but the show balances that out by keeping the cast compelling and the writing fantastic.
Among the biggest developments this year is the introduction of Soldier Boy (played by Jensen Ackles, who worked with ‘Boys’ co-show-runner Eric Kripke for years on long-running CW series ‘Supernatural’. Though he’s more hinted at initially, this twisted take on Captain America, a man that the country has come to view as a great hero who, when you meet him is certainly no Steve Rogers. He’s a drunken, foul-mouthed man out of time, but fits perfectly into the show and becomes a big plot driver for the season.
This is not a series for the faint of heart, or for anyone who prefers their superheroes squeaky clean. But for those who are willing to engage with it, to go with the (bloody, gross) flow, it remains one of the most entertaining and surprising shows out there.
