Movie/TV News (3 Viewers)

[dragon53]

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4

WICKED---after Mattel's Wicked doll boxes had an incorrect link to the porn website Wicked.com, Holly Ricketson, a South Carolina mother, filed a class action lawsuit against Mattel after her daughter used the link to the porn website. She claims Mattel did not offer her a refund, and she and her daughter suffered "emotional distress" after viewing the X-rated images. Her lawsuit said, “These scenes were hardcore, full on nude pornographic images depicting actual intercourse. Plaintiff’s minor daughter immediately showed her mother the photographs and both were horrified by what they saw. If plaintiff had been aware of such an inappropriate defect in the product, she would not have purchased it.”
Ricketson is seeking damages in excess of $5 million.

CLEANER---photo and synopsis released for the Martin Campbell movie starring Daisy Ridley where activists take over an “energy company’s annual gala, seizing 300 hostages in order to expose the corruption of the hosts. Their just cause is hijacked by an extremist within their ranks, who is ready to murder everyone in the building to send his anarchic message to the world. It falls to an ex-soldier turned window cleaner, played by Daisy Ridley, suspended 50 stories up on the outside of the building, to save those trapped inside.”

SHARON STONE---Sharon Stone compared directors Martin Scorsese and Sam Raimi, "In Sam Raimi’s case, I really liked his films. I thought he was very intelligent and very funny, different from Marty because he’s Italian, he has loyalty, he has that family feeling, and because of it Marty and I still have a relationship and because of it Marty and I still work together.
Sam was a kid and he doesn’t have loyalty, he doesn’t have family, he didn’t ever talk to me again, he didn’t thank me, he didn’t hire me again, he didn’t acknowledge the relationship. Marty, because I worked so hard and because I admired him so much our relationship continues to today, there is depth there.”
Fans thought Stone's comments were odd in that Raimi is married, has five children, works with his brother Ted and has a reputation of being a very nice guy.

WEDNESDAY---photo released of Jenna Ortega returning for Season 2.

QUICKSILVER---Netflix movie underway based on the novel. The synopsis says, “Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen’s reservoirs for as long as she can remember. When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently reopens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares…but it turns out they’re real, and Saeris has landed herself right in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed. The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist’s magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him… or her. Kingfisher’s past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he’s the only way Saeris is going to make it home.”

LITTLE BROTHER---John Cena and Eric Andre will star in the Netflix comedy movie whose synopsis says, “The film revolves around a famous real estate agent whose carefully curated world is upended when his eccentric ‘little brother’ unexpectedly reappears.”

LIZA MINNELLI---a tv miniseries is underway based on Minnelli's upcoming memoir.

SWEETPEA---Starz renewed the series for Season 2.

TRIVIA---MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE--GHOST PROTOCOL writers Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec said producer JJ Abrams wanted Harrison Ford to play villain Kurt Hendricks and Ford was interested in the role. However, Tom Cruise rejected Ford as a co-star because he felt fans would not like seeing the two great actors battling each other. The role went to Michael Nyqvist.

 

[dragon53]

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5

LOCKERBIE---trailer released for the Peacock miniseries about the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 starring Colin Firth.

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AMERICAN PRIMEVAL---trailer released for the Netflix Western miniseries starring Taylor Kitsch.

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ALIENS UNCOVERED: THE LAND OF LEGENDS---trailer releases for the documentary about aliens and UFOs.

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1923---trailer released for Season 2.

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DOCTOR WHO---trailer released for the Christmas Special.

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TOM CLANCY'S JACK RYAN---Sienna Miller will co-star with John Krasinski in the Amazon Prime movie based on the tv series. Miller will play a MI6 agent.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS---producer Philippa Boyens commented on the future of the fantasy franchise, “There’s a lot of [possibilities], when you look at it, there’s a lot of things in there, actually. One of the things this [THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM] story has shown us is that a stand-alone story works really successfully within the world of Middle-earth and I would genuinely – because I’ve fallen in love with the form – love to see another anime.
But that depends on the audiences out there, your audience, fans of not only the original trilogy, but that vast anime audience. I’m really interested to see what they think. So we’re in the audiences hands. If there’s an appetite for it, we’ve got more stories. There’s a ton of stories left to be told there and some really, really interesting ones.
But my preference would be, after HUNT FOR GOLLUM,would be to look at those stand-alone stories. And then if we got really ambitious – there are some epic, particular stories that could translate into that more traditional epic trilogy format that was the original LORD OF THE RINGS, the WAR OF THE RINGS story.”

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN---VARIETY reports that producer Jerry Bruckheimer may bring Johnny Depp back for a sequel, "PIRATES producer Jerry Bruckheimer is developing two versions of the script on parallel tracks, one that could bring Depp back into the fold if the actor and Disney can reconcile."

THE CONTINENTAL: FROM THE WORLD OF JOHN WICK---producer Basil Iwanyk commented on a possible Season 2, “I think we were happy with Season 1. I think that we talked a little bit about Season 2. But I think the feeling is, if we’re going to have something on television in the John Wick universe, this Robert Levine version that we went out with, that we’re negotiating with somebody, is probably the better option for the John Wick content in the TV world.”

TRIVIA---the British sci fi tv series SPACE: 1999 starred Martin Landau and his wife, Barbara Bain, and was the most expensive British tv series ever made at that time. Co-producer Gerry Anderson originally wanted Robert Culp to star in the series. When Anderson interviewed Culp, he was about to tell Culp about how much he liked him in I SPY, but Culp interrupted him by saying, "I want you to know I am a great actor. Having said that, there's something else I want you to know: I'm a better director. And finally, I want you to know I'm an even better writer."
Gerry recalled, "I felt immediately that we had a complicated series here - a production-line going, making one picture every ten days, special effects... What kind of a nightmare were we going to have if the star believed that he could direct and write better than all the people on the show? I'm not saying it would have been a problem, but it could have been trouble and I couldn't take the risk."
Anderson then hired Landau to be the series' co-star with Bain.

 

[dragon53]

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6

ROGUE HEROES---trailer released for Season 2.

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BALLERINA---poster released for the JOHN WICK spinoff movie starring Ana de Armas.

28 YEARS LATER---poster released for the zombie sequel starring Cillian Murphy.

DEN OF THIEVES 2: PANTERA---photo and synopsis released for the sequel starring Gerard Butler, "In DEN OF THIEVES 2: PANTERA, Big Nick is back on the hunt on the mean-streets of Europe closing in on Donnie who is embroiled in the dangerous world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world’s biggest diamond exchange."

THE WINDS OF WAR---George RR Martin commented on the status of his long-awaited novel, “Unfortunately, I am 13 years late. Every time I say that, I’m [like], ‘How could I be 13 years late?’ I don’t know, it happens a day at a time. But that’s still a priority.”
He added, “A lot of people are already writing obituaries for me. [They’re saying] ‘Oh, he’ll never be finished.’ Maybe they’re right. I don’t know. I’m alive right now! I seem pretty vital!”
Martin also criticized Hollywood for not make movies not faithful to the original novel, “Maybe I’m one of the few people in Hollywood who still thinks that when you adapt a work of art, a novel, a short story, you should do a faithful adaptation,” he said. “[It] annoys me too much because they change things and I don’t think they generally improve them.”

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS---director Leigh Whannell hinted at a third remake of a Universal monster movie, which would follow his upcoming WOLF MAN remake, “My own weird filmmaker OCD is almost like, ‘Well I’ve made two, I have to do three.’ It has to be three. But that’s got more to do with my own neuroses than me actually wanting to do it. In my general life, I’m a pretty strange guy with my habits. I have to leave when it’s an even number, like, 8:20, not 8:19, which is crazy. I’m probably revealing to you how crazy I am. So on that side of my brain, I gotta do a third one to complete the trilogy.”
Whannell said his own personal choice for a remake is DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, "As a kid, the idea that they were both the same person was always super interesting to me. That’s up to Universal. If they said, ‘We want you to be the monster guy,’ that would be flattering to me. Like, ‘Wow, they’re entrusting me with this thing that’s so important to them.’ But I’m not gunning for that role.”

THOR: RAGNAROK---Taiki Waititi commented on fan criticism of the sequel, “That really propelled me into the nerdosphere, if you will. I was living a really lovely, peaceful life, and as soon as I did this, well boy, did the nerds come for me. They said, ‘This guy’s gonna ruin this. He’s gonna ruin Thor!’
It’s like, ‘What, you mean again?’ And they were like, ‘He’s gonna ruin this for everyone, Thor’s so cool!’ And I said to them on Twitter – before I left Twitter – I said, ‘You don’t know what you want until I give it to you.'”
He also commented on directing THE MANDALORIAN, “Speaking of angry nerds, STAR WARS, MANDALORIAN. This is what brought the nerds back. They were like, ‘Okay, you get a pass on this one.’ My favorite memory of this was turning up to set and getting to direct 75 Stormtroopers. And the little boy inside me, who I’ve kept locked away, he just tried to leap out, and be, ‘Yay, this is my dream come true!’ ‘All right, shut up, kid,’ and I locked him back, I pushed him back down.”

SCRUBS---ABC confirmed Bill Lawrence is returning to create a reboot of the medical comedy tv series that starred Zach Braff.

THE ROOKIE---ABC is developing a new spinoff of the Nathan Fillion tv series which will be set in Washington state.

TRIVIA---Pearl Harbor movie trivia (December 7, 2024 is the 83rd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which led the US into entering World War II).
Character actor Ron Masak played a Navy communications man in two movies.
In ICE STATION ZEBRA, Masak played submarine USS Tigerfish's radioman Paul Zabrinczski as the Tigerfish carries a team of spies to recover a Russian spy satellite's film capsule at the Arctic research station Ice Station Zebra.
In TORA! TORA! TORA!, Masak played battleship USS Nevada's communications officer Lieutenant Laurence Ruff during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Nevada was the only ship underway during the attack and Japanese bombers, which were supposed to bomb Pearl Harbor's fuel reserve tanks, hit the moving battleship with five bombs hoping to sink it and block the channel. Because most of the Nevada's senior officers were not onboard, Ruff was named "acting navigator", and he managed to beach the Nevada so it could not be sunk which kept the waterway open. It also saved Pearl Harbor's vital fuel storage reserves for the Navy's Pacific Fleet which probably shortened the war by a year.

In ICE STATION ZEBRA, Masak played submarine USS Tigerfish's radioman as the Tigerfish carries a team of spies to recover a Russian spy satellite's film capsule at the Arctic research station Ice Station Zebra.

In TORA! TORA! TORA!, Masak played battleship USS Nevada's communications officer, Lieutenant Laurence Ruff, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

[dragon53]

MONDAY, DECEMBER 9

THE GORGE---trailer released for the Apple TV+ horror movie starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller.

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STAR TREK: SECTION 31---trailer released for the Paramount+ spinoff movie.

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FROM THE WORLD OF JOHN WICK: BALLERINA---featurette released for the spinoff movie starring Ana de Armas.

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THE RIG---trailer released for Season 2.

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YELLOWJACKETS---trailer released for Season 3.

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REACHER---trailer released for Season 3.

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOjzqawTPus



FACE/OFF 2---a source claims the Adam Wingard sequel will have Nicolas Cage and John Travolta returning in secondary roles with the sequel focusing on the children of Castor Troy (Cage) and Sean Archer (Travolta).

THE DISH---Wyatt Russell is in negotiations to co-star in the Steven Spielberg's sci fi movie that also stars Emily Blunt, Colin Firth and Josh O'Connor.
After THE DISH, Spielberg will probably direct the movie OLD MAN'S WAR based on the novels about a 75 year-old widower whose consciousness is transplanted into the body of a young genetically-engineered soldier and then discovers his fellow soldier is the transplanted version of his deceased wife.

NOSFERATU---PETA will protest the remake movie at an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screening at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills because it used 5,000 live rats to suggest they carried the bubonic plague even though none of the rats were harmed. PETA's statement says, "A human is no more likely to be harmed or killed by a rat in real life than by a vampire, and false portrayals of these animals as harbingers of death deny viewers the chance to see them as the intelligent, social, and affectionate individuals they are. The only 'pests' moviegoers need to be concerned with are directors who subject animals to the chaos and confusion of a film set, and PETA encourages everyone to see through these shameful stereotypes and give rats the respect they deserve...rats form close bonds with their families and friends, enjoy playing and wrestling, and even giggle when tickled—and are less likely than dogs or cats to catch and transmit parasites and viruses.”
The protest will have a "giant rat" carrying a sign saying, "Rats Have rights! We didn't Cause the Plague!".

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2---Emily Blunt commented on a possible sequel, “There’s rumblings, there’s stuff churning around, but I don’t know if I can confirm anything completely . . . but we would be all delighted to work together again.”

TRIVIA---in the William Shatner documentary YOU CAN CALL ME BILL, Shatner said at the peak of STAR TREK's success on tv, NASA invited him to visit the Kennedy Space Center where they rolled out the red carpet and he watched the assembly of the Saturn V rocket that would launch the Apollo missions to the Moon.
Two years later, STAR TREK was cancelled, Shatner was divorced and he was broke, "I'm broke. No, I'm not broken. I don't have any money. I was in a pasture. In order to save motel expenses and eating expenses, I had bought a wrecked truck. And I'm lying on the bed in that little cab, and I've got a 4-inch black-and-white television set on my chest. And I'm looking through the window at the Moon. It was a clear night that night. And I'm looking at Armstrong...stepping down from the...I'm at my nadir. I have no money. I'm living like a bum. I've got my dog. I mean, at one point, I couldn't cash a $15 check after STAR TREK---One giant leap for mankind.- And I'm looking at the...incredible feat...F-E-A-T, and his feet, F-E-E-T, as he placed it for one small step for man, one giant step for mankind. I hear him say those things, and I'm thinking, my God, that's fantastic. And only a short while ago, I was a part of it. I mean, they used to say that when the STAR TREK's ratings went up, the government voted more money. It was like a self-energizing loop. And so I was a teeny, teeny, infinitesimally small part of him landing on the moon. And I'm here, and he's there. And as I went to sleep, I thought of the irony of it. I subsequently recovered, but that was a moment."
Shatner did recover---he is currently one of Hollywood's wealthiest actors and is estimated to be worth $100 million.

Two years after STAR TREK was cancelled, Shatner was broke, divorced and living in a pickup truck with a 4-inch tv on his chest as he watched Neil Armstrong land on the Moon.

 

[Terp152]

"Two years after STAR TREK was cancelled, Shatner was broke, divorced and living in a pickup truck with a 4-inch tv on his chest as he watched Neil Armstrong land on the Moon." Why was this? Shatner made approx $3.8M equivalent in today's dollars after three seasons of ST. Of course a lot of that went to the ex-wife but still.

 

[dragon53]

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10

28 YEARS LATER---trailer released for the zombie sequel movie. Some fans claim the zombie who appears at 1:47 elapsed time is Cillian Murphy's character.

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NOSFERATU---film clip released from the vampire remake movie.

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THE BRUTALIST---trailer released for the movie starring Adrien Brody.

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THE MANDALORIAN & GROGU---Jeremy Allen White (THE BEAR) will provide the voice for Rotta the Hutt, the son of Jabba the Hutt, in the Lucasfilm movie.

AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY---Chris Evans will appear in the sequel in an undisclosed role.

STAR WARS VS. MARVEL---Parrot Analytical released its Global Demand Report chart comparing Lucasfilm's STAR WARS tv shows compared to Marvel Studios' tv shows for 2022-2024.

DEADPOOL---Ryan Reynolds commented on the future of Deadpool, “I see Deadpool as a supporting character much more than he is a main [character] or at the center. We center him sometimes because they want, that’s what they want. But you can’t center him unless you take everything away from him. You have to create a situation where he’s so much the underdog.
I don’t think I can do that again. If he comes back, I think he’s going to be in someone else’s movie. Channing Tatum is so excited to play Gambit, I would happily be the fifth banana in his movie or anybody else’s.”

SPIDER-MAN 4---producer Amy Pascal commented on SPIDER-MAN 4, “We have to deal with the fact that he decided he was going to give up being Peter Parker and he was gonna focus on being Spider-Man, because being Peter Parker was too hard. So that’s what the movie is about.”
Also, sources claim Sony Pictures has no immediate plans for more Spider-Man movies after KRAVEN THE HUNTER. A top talent agent said, "They’ve developed what they want to develop for now."

DUNE: PART TWO---Denis Villeneuve commented on Josh Brolin's threat to quit acting if Villeneuve does not get an Academy Award nomination for PART TWO, “That gives me a tremendous amount of responsibility, putting all of that on my shoulders! Thanks, Josh. That’s embarrassing! I mean if Josh does decide to quit acting, it will be my responsibility to fight him on it.“

TRIVIA---the filming of THE FUGITIVE, with Tommy Lee Jones receiving an Academy Award, was completely chaotic with co-star Richard Jordan leaving shortly after filming began due to terminal brain cancer, an unfinished script and no ending. Cast members claimed 70% of the movie's dialogue was improvised, but writers Jeb Stuart and David Twohy deny this.
The confirmed improvised dialogue include:

Deputy US Marshal Samuel Gerard: "What are you doing?"
Deputy US Marshal Noah Newman: "I'm thinking."
Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: "Well, think me up a cup of coffee and a chocolate doughnut with some of those little sprinkles on top, will you, as long as you're thinking."


Deputy US Marshal Cosmo Renfro: "What's a vascular surgeon?"
Deputy US Marshal Erin Poole: "Someone who makes more money than you."


Deputy US Marshal Bobby Biggs: "This is hinky, this guy's a college graduate, he went to medical school, he's not gonna come through all the security, go to the county lockup, to find someone his own people say does not exist. Hinky."
Deputy US Marshal Samuel Gerard: "Well, what does that mean Biggs, 'hinky'?"'
Deputy US Marshal Bobby Biggs: "I don't know. Strange."
Deputy US Marshal Henry: "Weird."
Deputy US Marshal Samuel Gerard: "Well, why don't you say strange or weird? I mean hinky, that has no meaning."
Deputy US Marshal Bobby Biggs: "Well, we say hinky."
Deputy US Marshal Samuel Gerard: "I don't want you guys using words around me that have no meaning. I'm taking the stairs and walking."
Deputy US Marshal Biggs: "How about 'bullsh*t?' How about 'bullsh*t', Sam?"

Tommy Lee Jones in the improvised "chocolate doughnut" scene.

 

[OzDigger]

"Two years after STAR TREK was cancelled, Shatner was broke, divorced and living in a pickup truck with a 4-inch tv on his chest as he watched Neil Armstrong land on the Moon." Why was this? Shatner made approx $3.8M equivalent in today's dollars after three seasons of ST. Of course a lot of that went to the ex-wife but still.

Yeah, and they wonder why marriage rates are declining, easy way to loose most of your money.

 

[dragon53]

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11

OLD GUY---trailer released for the comedy assassin movie starring Christoph Waltz.

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KRAVEN THE HUNTER---the Sony Pictures superhero movie is projected to earn $13 million-$15 million when it ironically premiers on Friday, December 13th. By comparison, Sony's MADAME WEBB earned $15.3 million on its premiere weekend and holds the record for the worst premiere weekend of any Sony/Marvel movie.

YELLOWSTONE---Paramount Network announced a new spinoff series is underway featuring Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler with Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser returning and “will likely feature other cast members from the mothership series alongside Reilly and Hauser."

THE BEATLES---Ridley Scott appeared to confirm rumors that GLADIATOR II star Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney in Sam Mendes' four The Breatles movies when he said Mescal might not appear in Scott's THE DOG STARS because of a schedule problem, “Maybe, Paul is actually stacked up, doing the Beatles next. So I may have to let him go."

MEET THE PARENTS 4---Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo and Blythe Danner are in early talks to return for the fourth movie in the comedy movie franchise.

DUNE: MESSIAH---Anya Taylor-Joy confirmed she is returning for the sequel, “Yeah, the film is being made, and I am so thrilled to be a part of it. I’m such a big fan of everybody that’s a part of that project and I just can’t wait.”

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3---Jim Carrey explained why he returned as Dr. Robotnik for the latest sequel, “I came back to this universe because I get to play a genius, which is a bit of a stretch. And you know, I bought a lot of stuff and I need the money, frankly.“

UNMERCIFUL GOOD FORTUNE---Rosario Dawson will star in the horror movie whose synopsis says, “A high-end celebrity attorney gets pulled into a headline-making case involving Fatima, a cunning young waitress who is accused of serial poisoning and murdering 28 people. Fatima’s defense takes a darkly mysterious turn when she claims to have the psychic ability to see how someone will die when she touches them and reveals she is killing people to prevent a 'fate worse than death.”'

THE WHEEL OF TIME---Shohreh Aghdashloo (HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG) will play Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan in Season 3.

TRIVIA---director Renny Harlin (DIE HARD 2) was the original director of ALIEN 3, but left the movie after 20th Century Fox rejected his idea for the sequel.
He commented on the sequel, "I was working on ALIEN 3 in '89, which was before JURASSIC PARK and all those movies. So the concept of having these creatures on Earth for the studio, it felt scary and unattainable. For me, it was the natural evolution. We've had the ALIEN with the truck drivers in space, we've had ALIENS with the Marines in space, and where do we go next? Let's bring the aliens on Earth and have them going through the cornfield.
I had the poster already in my mind with the farmhouse and the cornfield in moonlight, and they are going through the cornfield. To this day, I think it would've been a ginormous hit movie because it would've been the first time anything like that was done. But for whatever reason, the studio felt like, 'Ah, the audience won't buy that.'
So let's put the aliens on a prison ship. A prison ship? How am I going to relate to a prison ship? But that's ancient history. I'm not blaming anybody, but for those who don't know, I worked for a year on ALIEN 3, and I quit politely, respectfully, because I couldn't stand the idea of, after Ridley Scott and Jim Cameron, coming up with a movie that is just not going to live up to what the audience is expecting and give them that experience.
The key to me, just to say again about the ALIEN movies, was that they have to be relatable. They might be in outer space, but the characters are you and I, in outer space, and that's what makes them tick."
Harlin was replaced by David Fincher, who later disowned the poorly-received sequel.

 

[dragon53]

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12

ALARUM---trailer released for the action spy movie starring Sylvester Stallone and Scott Eastwood.

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YOU'RE CORDIALLY INVITED---trailer released for the Amazon Prime comedy movie starring Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon.

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NOVOCAINE---trailer released for the action movie starring Jack Quaid.

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CLAYFACE---DC Studios live-action movie underway based on the Batman villain. Mike Flanagan is the writer.

PANIC CAREFULLY---Julia Roberts, Eddie Redmayne and Elizabeth Olsen will star in the Sam Esmail (MR. ROBOT) movie whose plot reportedly focuses on the hunt for a cyber terrorist.

KRAVEN THE HUNTER---the Sony Pictures superhero movie received a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 14% (56 reviews) and a Metacritics score of 33 (24 reviews).

JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX---Quentin Tarantino commented on fans who criticized his praise for the sequel, "I go on a show and I say that I like JOKER 2. Now there’s 150 articles on it. One person listens to the thing and writes an article about it and there’s 150 ripoff articles on that. And then you read the comments: ‘Quentin is a f*cking *******. That movie f*cking sucks. He’s a f*cking ******* for saying that.’ Why am I a f*cking *******? I liked the f*cking movie! That makes me a f*cking *******? You either like the movie or you don’t. I’m not plugging the movie. I’m not doing anything. I’m just saying I like it. Who gives a f*ck what I like? What do you care what the f*ck I like?”

AMERICAN PSYCHO---Austin Butler will star in the reboot of the 2000 serial killer movie that starred Christian Bale.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS---Peacock reboot tv series is described as,“Following a devastating hurricane, a rag tag high school football team and their damaged, interim coach make an unlikely bid for a Texas High School State Championship becoming a beacon of light for their town.”

TANGLED---Michael Gracey (THE GREATEST SHOWMAN) is in negotiations to direct the Disney remake of the 2010 animated movie.

TRIVIA---Academy Award-nominee Debra Winger's (AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT) first acting role was in the 1976 sexploitation movie SLUMBER PARTY '57. Her second role and first significant role was in the WONDER WOMAN tv series where she played Drusilla/Wonder Girl, the younger sister of Diana Prince, in three episodes. Winger declined the offer to appear in more episodes because she felt it would hurt her career.

Debra Winger (lower left) first appeared in the 1976 sexploitation movie SLUMBER PARTY '57.

Her second role and first significant role was in the WONDER WOMAN tv series where she played Drusilla/Wonder Girl, the younger sister of Diana Prince, in three episodes.

 

[dragon53]

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13

THE CLEANER---trailer released for the action movie starring Daisy Ridley and Clive Owen.

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RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD---teaser trailer released for the zombie movie sequel.

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THE BEATLES---inside sources claim the cast for Sam Mendes' four The Beatles biomovies is Paul Mescal (GLADIATOR II) as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan (MASTERS OF THE AIR) as Ringo Starr, Harris Dickinson (BABYGIRL) as John Lennon and Joseph Quinn (GLADIATOR II) as George Harrison.

ASSASSINATION---Jared Leto will reportedly co-star with Jessica Chastain, Al Pacino and Brendan Fraser in the Barry Levinson movie about investigative journalist Dorothy Kilgallen's mysterious death while claiming Lee Harvey Oswald did not assassinate President John F. Kennedy.

AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY---Hollywood insider Jeff Sneider said sources claim Chris Evans will play a character named Nomad in the Marvel sequel. In the comic book, Nomad is Steve Rogers' alternate identity after he abandons his Captain America moniker. Evans played a character inspired by Nomad in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR.

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG---Eon Productions is developing a reboot of the 1968 movie based on the Ian Fleming children's story. Dick Van Dyke starred in the original movie.

DEAD MAN'S LINE---Bill Skarsgard will star in the Gus Van Sant movie based on the true story of Tony Kiritsis, who fell behind in his real estate payments and thought the banker was trying to seize the property for his own profitable deal. Kiritsis rigged a "Dead Man's Wire" in which a sawed-off shotgun was wired to the banker's head and would fire if Kiritis was shot by police or if the banker tried to escape.

JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH---REBIRTH writer David Koepp said he and Steven Spielberg want REBIRTH to to return to the tone of the original JURASSIC PARK, “I hope people like the movie because the series tended to change after three, and it felt like, ‘Okay, so let’s change our tone.’ Steven and I were interested in a tone that was maybe more akin to the very first movie. I saw it early on as a mission movie. I like things that are driven by bottles, by containment, you know?“
Koepp added, “And so, developing a limited team and a thing that they have to accomplish – that was all really fun. And it was just fun to return to that world of great adventure backed by real science and write some cool new characters. You don’t often get a chance to have a blank slate and say, ‘What do you want to do?’… There were no franchise expectations other than dinosaurs.“

THE LAST MAN---Snoop Dog will star in the Luc Besson apocalyptic movie. The plot was not released, but the movie may be connected to Snoop Dog's song.

LOSER---Ella Purnell and Lukas Gage will star in the sci fi movie whose synopsis says, "“LOSER follows Alice, a brilliant but troubled physicist, as she attempts to heal her trauma by using time travel, but gets caught in a twisty, cat-and-mouse game of murder and violence in New York City.”

TRIVIA---Cher talked about two directors she hated to work with, “There are only two directors I didn’t like: Peter Bogdanovich and the guy from The Muppets [Frank Oz]. I actually got the guy from The Muppets fired. I said, ‘Either you’re going or I’m going,’ which is a shame because he’s a really good director, but he had a thing about me. He would go, ‘At least my wife loves me!’”
Cher said about Bogdanovich, who directed her in an Academy Award-winning role in MASK, “He was an *******. He was not nice to the girls in the film and he was so f*cking arrogant. I really, really disliked him.”
She added, “He comes in and says, ‘Cher, where do you think we should film this scene?’ And I say, well, the kitchen is working pretty well, why don’t we do that again? The next morning he arrives on set, eating an egg sandwich,and starts screaming that he’s not going to let me direct this film; I’m a nobody; he can cut me out at any moment. Oh yeah, he was a pig.”
Bogdanovich commented on directing Cher, “Well, she didn’t trust anybody, particularly men. She doesn’t like men. That’s why she’s named Cher: She dropped her father’s name. Sarkisian, it is. She can’t act. She won Best Actress at Cannes because I shot her very well. And she can’t sustain a scene. She couldn’t do what Tatum [O’Neal] did in PAPER MOON."
He added, “She’d start off in the right direction, but she’d go off wrong somehow, very quickly. So I shot a lot of close-ups of her because she’s very good in close-ups. Her eyes have the sadness of the world. You get to know her, you find out it’s self-pity, but still, it translates well in movies. I shot more close-ups of her than I think in any picture I ever made.”

Cher with Peter Bogdanovich (right).

 

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 16

WARFARE---trailer released for the Iraq war movie co-directed by Alex Garland.

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1923---trailer released for Season 2.

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KRAVEN THE HUNTER---the movie's premier earned only $11 million domestically which makes it Sony's lowest Marvel movie premiere ever. KRAVEN's budget is $110 million. By comparison, Sony's other Marvel superhero box office bomb, MADAME WEBB, had a $15 million premiere.

AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY---Hayley Atwell will reportedly return as Agent Carter in the Russo Brothers superhero movie that also stars Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans.

THUNDERBOLTS---photo released of the Marvel superhero movie starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The synopsis says, “Yelena, US Agent, Ghost, and Taskmaster are sent by Val to kill someone in a vault. They realize they’ve been set up and were meant to die on this mission. So they team up against their boss to take her down.“

KARATE KID LEGENDS---photo released from the sequel starring Ben Wang, Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan.

BARBIE---a source said a sequel is is "early talks" with Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach "hatched an idea for" the sequel. However, a representative for Gerwig and Baumbach denied the report, “There is no legitimacy to this reporting" and Warner Bros. also denied a sequel is underway.

DEADPOOL 4---Ryan Reynolds commented on a new sequel, “I don’t know what the future holds just yet. As for DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, I have some pitches and ideas, but none of them center on Deadpool.”

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER---Sarah Michelle Gellar said she is open to returning for a reboot of the vampire tv series, it’s funny, I always used to say no, because it’s in its bubble and it’s so perfect. But watching SEX AND THE CITY and seeing DEXTER, and realizing there are ways to do it, definitely does get your mind thinking, ‘Well, maybe.'”

SILO---Apple TV+ renewed the series for Seasons 3 and 4 with Season 4 being the last season.

TRIVIA---December 16, 2024 is the 80th anniversary of the World War II Battle of the Bulge which was Nazi Germany's surprise attack against the US Army in Belgium, the last German offensive on the Western Front and the US Army's largest battle of World War II.
Two actors who appeared in Clint Eastwood's DIRTY HARRY were connected to the Battle of the Bulge.
Andrew Robinson, who played the Scorpio Killer, was the son of an Army paratrooper who was killed in the Battle of the Bulge.
Woodrow Parfrey, who played Jaffe, the diner employee in the scene that led to Dirty Harry's famous line, "...this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?", was an American soldier wounded and captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. In the POW camp, most of Parfrey's regiment died of starvation. When he was freed from the camp, he weighed only 60 pounds. His son, underground publisher Adam Parfrey, said his POW experience made him detest the Germans, “He never wanted to talk about the war. He hated the Germans and the Nazis. That’s why we never had a Volkswagen or a German shepherd.”

In Clint Eastwood's DIRTY HARRY, Andrew Robinson, who played the Scorpio Killer, was the son of an Army paratrooper who was killed in the Battle of the Bulge.

In DIRTY HARRY, Woodrow Parfrey, who played Jaffe, the diner employee in the scene that led to Dirty Harry's famous line, "...this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?", was an American soldier wounded and captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge.

 

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17

BLACK BAG---trailer released for the movie starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett.

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KARATE KID: LEGENDS---trailer released for the sequel.

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MURDER, SHE WROTE---Jamie Lee Curtis is reportedly the lead candidate to star in the Universal Pictures movie based on the Angela Lansbury murder mystery tv series that ran on CBS from 1984-1996.

STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY---WWE champ Becky Lynch announced she is joining the cast of the spinoff series, “You know when you’ve already been champion of the world, there’s really only one place to go next, and that’s to the stars. And I am so excited to share with all of you that I am joining STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY as part of the bridge crew.
This has been the most amazing experience, acting alongside just a spectacular cast and crew, and I cannot wait for all of you to check it out when it comes out on Paramount Plus.
And hey, live long and prosper.”

NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY---the Library of Congress announced its annual list of 25 films added to the National Film Registry.

Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895)
KoKo’s Earth Control (1928)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Invaders from Mars (1953)
The Miracle Worker (1962)
The Chelsea Girls (1966)
Ganja and Hess (1973)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
Zora Lathan Student Films (1975-76)
Up in Smoke (1978)
Will (1981)
Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (1982)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Dirty Dancing (1987)
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)
Powwow Highway (1989)
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
American Me (1992)
Mi Familia (1995)
Compensation (1999)
Spy Kids (2001)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
The Social Network (2010)

MAN WITH THE BAG---Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a photo of himself with co-star Alan Ritchson from the Amazon Prime movie about Santa Claus getting an ex-thief to help find his missing bag of presents.

YELLOWSTONE---the series finale had a record 11.4 million viewers.

WICKED---the sequel's title is WICKED: FOR GOOD.

JESSICA JONES---Krysten Ritter commented on Marvel Studios streaming head Brad Winderbaum, who said he would like to see Jessica Jones return to the MCU, “Brad Winderbaum said that? That’s really exciting to hear. Isn’t that the guy who makes the call? Come on, Brad! Let’s get it going. Let’s do it. I’ll be ready.”

LA DOLCE VILLA---synopsis released for the Netflix romantic comedy movie starring Scott Foley, “Successful businessman Eric travels to Italy to stop his daydreaming daughter Olivia from restoring a crumbling villa. Italy, however, has different plans for him as it delivers on its legendary promise of beauty, magic, and romance."

A MAN ON THE INSIDE---Netflix renewed the series for Season 2.

TRIVIA---in the GLADIATOR Coliseum fight scene involving Russell Crowe, a cameraman wearing jeans is visible in the crowd of spectators.

 

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18

SUPERMAN---teaser trailer released for the movie starring David Corenswet. Also, James Gunn commented on how Corenswet persuaded him to have Superman's costume include trunks, "David [Corenswet] said something to me that really affected me. We were trying on all these different versions, and we screened tested with trunks and no trunks. And one of the things David said is that Superman wants kids to not be afraid of him. He's an alien. He's got these incredible powers. He shoots beams out of his eyes, [he] can blow the truck over. He's this incredibly powerful – could be considered scary – individual, and he wants people to like him. He wants to be a symbol of hope and positivity. So he dresses like a professional wrestler. He dresses in a way that makes people unafraid of him, that shows that. That really clicked in for me."

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THE ELECTRIC STATE---trailer released for the Netflix sci fi movie starring Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown.

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DEATH OF A UNICORN---trailer released for the comedy horror movie starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega.

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FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH---photo released from the Guy Ritchie movie starring John Krasinski, Natalie Portman and Eiza Gonzalez in which estranged siblings team up for a global search for the Fountain of Youth.

SPIDER-MAN: BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE---Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson are returning to direct the animated sequel movie.

PACIFIC DRIVE---James Wan is developing a tv series based on the video game.

WIN OR LOSE---Pixar removed a transgender storyline from the animated tv series about a co-ed middle school softball team. A Disney spokesperson said, “When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.”

THE OLD MAN---FX cancelled the series.

GIRLS5EVA---Netflix cancelled the series.

SECRET LEVEL---Amazon Prime renewed the series for Season 2.

BAD MONKEY---Apple TV+ renewed the series for Season 2.

TRIVIA---in THE IN-LAWS, wacky CIA agent Vince Ricardo (Peter Falk) asks the father of his future daughter-in-law, New York dentist Sheldon Kornpett (Alan Arkin), to help him in a bizarre plot by a lunatic South American dictator to create global hyperflation using stolen $500 engraving plates. Two character actors, David Paymer and Rosanna DeSoto, had their first movie roles in THE IN-LAWS.
In THE IN-LAWS, Academy Award-nominated David Paymer's first movie role was playing the cab driver, and in CITY SLICKERS, Paymer played Ira Shalowitz, co-founder of Ira and Barry's Ice Cream.
In THE IN-LAWS, Rosanna DeSoto's first movie role was playing Evita, Dr. Kornpett's dental hygienist, and in STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, she is best known to sci fi fans for playing Azetbur, the daughter of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon.

In THE IN-LAWS, Academy Award-nominated David Paymer first movie role was playing the cab driver, and in CITY SLICKERS, Paymer played Ira Shalowitz, co-founder of Ira and Barry's Ice Cream.

In THE IN-LAWS, Rosanna DeSoto first movie role was playing Evita, Dr. Kornpett's dental hygienist, and in STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, she is best known to sci fi fans for playing Azetbur, the daughter of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon.

 

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19

SUPERMAN---teaser trailer released for the superhero movie starring David Corenswet.

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DEN OF THIEVES 2: PANTERA---trailer released for the sequel starring Gerard Butler.

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INTO THE DEEP---trailer released for the shark movie starring Richard Dreyfuss.

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GLADIATOR II---Christopher Nolan said GLADIATOR II is his favorite movie of 2024, “In Ridley Scott’s first GLADIATOR Maximus asks us, ‘Are you not entertained?’ and we’re confronted with the truth of why we’d visit the Colosseum through a movie. Scott knows we’re not there for insights into Roman culture; we’re there to see our own dark desires at a comfortable remove. But he’s far too experienced a director to get caught making parallels with our time. He lets the world of GLADIATOR II speak for itself, once again showing us who we are simply by inviting us to enjoy the crazy inflationary ride. Why are there sharks in the Coliseum? Because we demand them, and Scott masterfully gives them to us. As he reveals how the games are used to manipulate public opinion, we can’t help but see shadows of our own public arena projected onto the sand.

Like the best long-awaited sequels, GLADIATOR II must be a remake and sequel in one, and it’s testament to Scott’s brilliance that he manages to balance the individual pathos of the original with the expansionist demands of the sequel’s central theme, bringing a lifetime of experience in controlling tone. Scott raises the game with the staging of his action — his incredible, hyper-observant, multi-camera mise-en-scène (so different to the original) masterfully wrestles the action into clear and jaw-dropping sequence after sequence. The effect is not just to entertain, but to drive us towards awareness of the movie’s themes. Few filmmakers have ever worked so invisibly on multiple levels. In films from BLADE RUNNER to THELMA AND LOUISE to GLADIATOR II, the visual density of Scott’s art serves as foil for his underlying thematic clarity.

Despite all his success, Scott’s contribution to the evolution of cinematic storytelling has never been properly acknowledged. Visual innovations he and fellow directors from the British adland of the 1970s brought to cinema were often dismissed as superficial, but critics of the time missed the point — the lavish photography and meticulous design brought new depth to the visual language of movies, mise-en-scène that could tell us what the worlds they portrayed might feel like. This has never been as clear as in the masterful opening shot of GLADIATOR II, where Paul Mescal’s hand gently cradles the grain harvested from the original movie’s swaying wheat.”
Also, Box Office Mojo stated the sequel has currently earned $400 million worldwide compared to its budget of $240 million.

CONSTANTINE 2---director Francis Lawrence commented on the upcoming sequel with Keanu Reeves returning, “I’d say more than any of my other movies, Constantine has been something that I felt like was really worthy of a sequel. There is a world that you can really explore and there’s a character that we certainly loved and really wanted to explore."
He added, “And so we had been thinking about it. We had also been given an R rating when we kind of made a PG-13 movie and followed all the PG-13 rules. So we’re like, ‘F–k it, let’s go and do a sequel and really make an R-rated movie. Give us an R, let us make a real R-rated movie.’”

M3GAN 2.0---photos from the sequel show the new robot and Violet McGraw returning.

LAST BREATH---poster released for the undersea survival movie starring Woody Harrelson.

JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH---director Gareth Edwards said REBIRTH might lead to a new trilogy, “I can’t speak for Universal, but it did feel like a new trilogy, in a way. I’m not sure what their plans are, but it felt like the beginning of a brand-new chapter in this franchise.
To me, it’s a giant love letter to Steven Spielberg and his earlier films. There are moments in this movie that remind me very much of Jaws. It’s like little greatest hits of all those aspects of his films that I loved growing up as a child. It’s essentially a little adventure odyssey across this island, a survival story, really.
Once you’re on the adventure, the film doesn’t let go until the end credits. The enjoyment of it is in the moment-to-moment chase, escape, scare, horror, curve balls in the whole plotting of the set pieces and the dinosaur moments.”

THE BATMAN: PART II---Matt Reeves commented on the status of the sequel, “Yeah, we’re finishing the script. We’re going to be shooting next year.” He commented on THE PEGUIN's possible Season 2, “Yeah, we’re talking to [showrunner] Lauren [LeFranc] about doing another season.”
Also, Jesse Eisenberg said playing Lex Luthor in BATMAN V SUPERAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE hurt his career, “I was in this BATMAN movie and the BATMAN movie was so poorly received, and I was so poorly received. I’ve never said this before, and it’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but I genuinely think it actually hurt my career in a real way, because I was poorly received in something so public."

ONE---Felicity Jones will star in the Amazon MGM Studios tv series about Formula 1 racing whose synopsis says, “The series will focus on a failing family-owned racing team, led by Jones’ character, as it contends with fierce personalities, ever-changing rivals and multi-million-dollar stakes.”

THE MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN---Paramount+ renewed the series for Season 4.

TRIVIA---two Peter Hyams sci fi movies featured Jupiter's moon of Io. In OUTLAND, Federal Marshal William O'Niel (Sean Connery) arrives on Io and investigates the mysterious deaths of miners at the Con-Am 27 titanium mining post. In 2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT, the sequel to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, Dr. Heywood Floyd and a team of US and Russian astronauts try to save the Discovery One spacecraft from crashing into Io in order to investigate the disappearance of its crew in 2001.

In OUTLAND, Federal Marshal William O'Niel (Sean Connery) arrives on Io and investigates the mysterious deaths of miners at the Con-Am 27 titanium mining post.

In 2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT, the sequel to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, Dr. Heywood Floyd (Roy Scheider) and a team of US and Russian astronauts try to save the Discovery One spacecraft from crashing into Io in order to investigate the disappearance of its crew in 2001.

 

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20

THE UNBREAKABLE BOY---trailer released for the movie starring Zachary Levi.

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X-MEN---movie insider Jeff Sneider said Sadie Sink (STRANGER THINGS) is the lead candidate to play Jean Grey in the next MCU project which could be AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY.

MICKEY 17---photo released of Robert Pattinson's character encountering his clone in the Bong Joon-ho outer space movie.

GHOSTBUSTERS---Sony Pictures and Netflix are developing an animated movie that will be directed by Kris Pearn (THE WILLOUGHBYS).

STAR WARS: THE ACOLYTE---four months after THE ACOLYTE was cancelled, Disney Entertainment co-chair Alan Bergman commented on why it was cancelled, "We were happy with our performance, but it wasn’t where we needed it to be given the cost structure of that title, quite frankly, to go and make a Season 2. So that’s the reason why we didn’t do that."

JAMES BOND---the WALL STREET JOURNAL claims the next James Bond is on hold because James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Gregg Wilson and Amazon have different opinions about who the new Bond will be. Broccoli insists that the new 007 should be a British man, but Wilson is open to a non-white, female or gay Bond.
Also, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER claims movie experts predict British actor Josh O'Connor will be the new James Bond in 2025.

BANANAS---Oscar Isaac and Ana de Armas will star in the Apple TV+ drama tv series whose plot was not released.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 4---Paramount Pictures has started development of the fourth movie in the animated franchise.

DUNE: PROPHECY---HBO renewed the series for Season 2.

SKINEMAX---Paris Jackson, Rory Culkin and Crispin Glover will star in the comedy movie whose plot is described as, “Examining the softcore porn industry of the early 1990s, the film follows Morgan Sands (Culkin), a failing indie film director, and his unlikely friendship with Jessie Hudson (Jackson), a popular adult film star.”

TRIVIA---Sandra Bullock is the only actor to win an Academy Award and a Golden Raspberry Award in the same year. In 2010, Bullock won an Oscar for Best Actress for THE BLIND SIDE, and she won a Razzie for Worst Actress and a second Razzie for Worst On-Screen Couple with Bradley Cooper in ALL ABOUT STEVE.

In 2010, Bullock won an Oscar for Best Actress for THE BLIND SIDE.

Also, in 2010, Bullock won a Razzie for Worst Actress and a second Razzie for Worst On-Screen Couple with Bradley Cooper in ALL ABOUT STEVE.

 

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 23

ZERO DAY---trailer released for the Netflix miniseries starring Robert De Niro.

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ANDOR---FORBES reports that ANDOR is the most expensive STAR WARS project ever. Disney spent $291 million on ANDOR's Season 2 and that figure is only for money spent through November 22, 2023 when ANDOR production halted due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Disney spent more money on ANDOR beginning in January, 2024 after the strike ended. Total cost for Seasons 1 and 2 is $654 million so far. By comparison, STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI cost $280.7 million.

JAMES BOND---the WALL STREET JOURNAL claims the future of the James Bond movie franchise has stalled because of the strained relationship between Eon Productions and Amazon MGM Studios head Jennifer Salke, “Nearly three years after Amazon acquired the right to release Bond movies through its $6.5 billion purchase of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio, the relationship between the family that oversees the franchise and the e-commerce giant has all but collapsed. The decaying partnership has scuttled any near-term hope of a new Bond film—a black eye for Amazon’s ambitions in Hollywood, since at the time of the MGM sale, the Bond franchise represented a significant share of the $6.5 billion the company paid for the studio."
The WSJ added, “When it comes to Bond’s future, the power lies in the hands of Barbara Broccoli, who inherited the control from her father, Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, and who for 30 years has decided when a new Bond movie can go into production. She has told friends she doesn’t trust algorithm-centric Amazon with a character she helped to mythologize through big-screen storytelling and gut instinct. This fall, she characterized the status of a new movie in dire terms—no script, no story, and no new Bond. To friends, Broccoli has characterized her thoughts on Amazon this way: ‘These people are f*cking idiots’”.
A "former Amazon bigwig" said Salke has never seen a James Bond movie before the Daniel Craig era and added, "You can ask people from her NBC days about this, but agents and managers [will tell you] she never read scripts. She just makes deals with name talents like the Russo brothers and greenlights crap like RED ONE. She’s not material-driven."
A veteran writer-director said Salke cancelled a remake of CONAN THE BARBARIAN from the creators of GAME OF THRONES because the remake was "toxic masculinity".

THE MUMMY---director Lee Cronin (EVIL DEAD RISE) and Blumhouse are developing a Mummy movie that will not be a remake of the Universal Pictures classic horror franchise, “This will be unlike any Mummy movie you ever laid eyeballs on before. I’m digging deep into the Earth to raise something very ancient and very frightening.”

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE---the movie's villain cast is Jared Leto (BLADE RUNNER 2049) as Skeletor, Sam C. Wilson (HOUSE OF THE DRAGON) as Trap Jaw, Hafthor Bjornsson (GAME OF THRONES) as Goat Man and Koji Attah (THE BEEKEEPER) as Tri-Klops.
Also, a rumor claims the movie's Prince Adam is not a warrior from Eternia, but a guy stuck in a tedious job who grew up with childhood stories about He-Man battling Skeletor.

SUPERMAN---James Gunn said the SUPERMAN teaser trailer set a record, “Krypto really did take us home: With over 250 million views and a million social posts, Superman is officially the most viewed and the most talked about trailer in the history of both DC and Warner Bros. This is because of all of you: thank you! We’re incredibly grateful and, most of all, excited to share this movie with you in July. Happy Holidays!“

SPIDER-MAN 4---producer Amy Pascal commented on rumors Anya Taylor-Joy will play Black Cat in the sequel, “She would be fantastic. She’s amazing, [but] we’re not quite at that stage yet. There’s a lot of fantastic female characters but I can’t talk about all this.” Another rumor claims Sacha Baron Cohen's Mephisto is the sequel's main villain.

EVEL KNIEVEL---Leonardo DiCaprio will reportedly star in the Damien Chazelle/Paramount Pictures biomovie based on the biography EVEL KNIEVEL ON TOUR.

BEST MOVIES AND TV---Metacritic released its top movies and tv shows of 2024.

MOVIES:

1. “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World” – 95/100
2. “All We Imagine As Light” – 94/100
3. “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “La Chimera,” “Totem” – 91/100
4. “Green Border” – 90/100
5. “Nickel Boys” – 89/100
6. “About Dry Grasses” – 88/100
7. “Good One,” “Hard Truths” – 87/100
8. “Flow,” “I Saw the TV Glow” – 86/100
9. “Close Your Eyes,” “Dahomey,” “Daughters,” “A Real Pain,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” “The Wild Robot” – 85/100
10. “His Three Daughters,” “Sing Sing” – 84/100

TV SHOWS:

1. “Somebody Somewhere” S3 – 92/100
1. “Hacks” S3 – 90/100
2. “Evil” S4, “Interview with the Vampire” S2 – 89/100
3. “Baby Reindeer,” “Colin from Accounts” S2 – 88/100
4. “Pachinko” S2 – 87/100
5. “Arcane” S2, “Industry” S3 – 86/100
6. “Sherwood” S2, “Shogun,” “Slow Horses” S4 – 85/100
7. “Fantasmas,” “Rivals” – 84/100
8. “The English Teacher,” “Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show” – 83/100
9. “Girls5eva” S5, “X-Men ’97” – 82/100


TRIVIA---in the thriller movie FAST CHARLIE, Louisiana hitman Charlie Swift (Pierce Brosnan) seeks revenge on the hitmen that killed his boss and friend, Stan (James Caan), so he goes into his hidden stash of pistols and cash to arm himself. Charlie admires one of his guns, a Walther PPK, which is the gun Brosnan used in his James Bond movies.
During filming, Caan used a wheelchair and oxygen tank because he was suffering from COPD. FAST CHARLIE was Caan's last movie--he died before the movie was released.

In FAST CHARLIE, Louisiana hitman Charlie Swift (Pierce Brosnan) seeks revenge on the hitmen that killed his boss and friend, Stan (James Caan).

Charlie goes into his hidden stash of guns and cash to arm himself and he admires one of his guns, a Walther PPK.

James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) with a Walther PPK in TOMORROW NEVER DIES.

 

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24

THE ODYSSEY---Universal Pictures announced the title and additional information on Christopher Nolan's next movie, "Christopher Nolan’s next film THE ODYSSEY is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology. The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026." The movie stars Matt Damon, Robert Pattinson and Anne Hathaway. The plot had been rumored to involved a high tech NYPD helicopter and terrorists.

GLADIATOR II---Oliver Stone said he is a fan of the original GLADIATOR but not the sequel, “It’s certainly watchable. It’s good, well made, usual tight Ridley film, but I didn’t care about the people. I wasn’t invested. The first one was a classic. The second one is empty calories, like a commercial product.”

AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY---movie insider Daniel Richtman said a rumor claims Scarlett Johansson might return as Black Widow for DOOMSDAY.

MUFASA: THE LION KING---the Disney animated prequel/sequel's premiere earned a disappointing $35 million compared to projections that it would ern $50 million.

MASERATI: THE BROTHERS---Victoria Sophia will play Lady Jean De Sterlich,“a racing-savvy socialite Starlette turned royal and wife of Maserati opponent and colleague" in the biomovie about the Italian race car family starring Anthony Hopkins.

CREATURE COMMANDOS---Max renewed the series for Season 2.

DEXTER---original showrunner Clyde Phillips commented on the status of the spinoffs, “We wrote the entire Trinity Killer series. At the moment, it is on the back burner. John Lithgow has agreed to be the voice of his younger self the way Michael Hall is doing for [ORIGINAL SIN]. There’s that and we’re doing another show with Michael C. Hall, [RESURRECTION]… We were writing that while shooting ORIGINAL SIN, so that’s fairly busy. We begin shooting [RESURRECTION] in January and it will air in June 2025.”

TRIVIA---in the holiday classic A CHRISTMAS STORY, Scott Schwartz played Flick, who gets his tongue frozen on a flagpole after a "tripledog dare". Schwartz said the scene was not painful as it appeared on the screen because set designers wrapped the flagpole in plastic with a hole cut in it and a suction tube was plugged into a motor-created vacuum hidden in the snow beneath. The suction pulled his tongue against the flagpole which made it look like it was frozen to the flagpole.
After his career did not take off, Schwartz's friend, Corey Feldman, introduced him to porn stars, including Ron Jeremy, who persuaded Schwartz to appear in porn movies. Schwartz said, "It came down to dollars and cents. It was paying my bills and it was whatever it took to take care of putting a roof over my head and food on the table." He said all of his roles were fully-clothed except one.
Schwartz later retired from the porn movie industry and worked with his father in celebrity autographs and trading cards. In 2022, Schwartz returned as Flick in the HBO movie sequel A CHRISTMAS STORY CHRISTMAS.

In the holiday classic A CHRISTMAS STORY, Scott Schwartz played Flick, who gets his tongue frozen on a flagpole after a "tripledog dare".

After his career did not take off, Schwartz appeared in porn movies.

In 2022, Schwartz returned as Flick in the HBO movie sequel A CHRISTMAS STORY CHRISTMAS.