Challengers director Luca Guadagnino says the Spider-Verse moment in his new film wasn’t a nod to Zendaya’s movies.

This article will contain some spoilers for Challengers, so reader beware if you haven’t seen Luca Guadagnino’s new film…

Tennis isn’t for everyone – some people just want their Spidey fix. That’s what happens in one scene of Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, where the daughter of Tashi (Zendaya) and Art (Mike Faist) asks to watch a Spider-Verse movie instead of tennis. But as the director explains, it wasn’t meant to be directly linked to Zendaya’s own Spider-Man movies.

As Guadagnino told Entertainment Weekly, those thinking that Spider-Verse moment in Challengers was an intentional easter egg are mistaken, as it was really just out of circumstances. “When you get rights for something to be used in a movie, it’s very complicated. Amy Pascal, our amazing producer, was of help there. I said, ‘Amy, can we use one of your catalog titles so it’s going to be easier to clear them?’ [Lily]’s a girl; she’s not going to choose to watch The Social Network or The Post, but maybe she’s going to watch a Spider-Man cartoon, so I said, ‘Why not Spider-Verse?’” Hence, the reference that fans have latched onto, to which Guadagnino said, “Now I realize that it sounded like an in-joke, which, you know, the unconscious guides us all the time.”

Fans have also pointed out something else that is pretty interesting: the key Spider-Man love interests have all starred in tennis movies: Kirsten Dunst – who played Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi’s trilogy – starred in Wimbledon; Emma Stone – who played Gwen Stacey in The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel – played the legendary Billie Jean King in Battle of the Sexes; and of course Zendaya – who played MJ in the most recent outings – leads Challengers. An odd coincidence to be sure, but whoever wants to get cozy with Peter Parker next better start stringing their racket.

Challengers “stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Married to a champion on a losing streak (Faist), Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick (Josh O’Connor – The Crown) – his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend. As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win.” You can read our own Tyler Nichols’ 7/10 review here.

Have you had a chance to see Challengers yet? If so, what did you think?

It’s been a long time coming, but a remake of the 1994 film The Crow (which was based on the comic book series created by James O’Barr) will finally be making its way out into the world on August 23rd, which is when Lionsgate will be giving the film a theatrical release. With that release date swiftly approaching, we figured we should gather together all the information we have on this movie… and here it is, Everything We Know About The Crow Remake:

DEVELOPMENT HELL

When the original The Crow was released, it was successful enough to spawn a franchise, with three sequels following over the next eleven years. We got The Crow: City of Angels in 1996, The Crow: Salvation in 2000, and The Crow: Wicked Prayer in 2005, with several other potential sequels (including one that would have been written and directed by Rob Zombie) being developed and scrapped along the way. But in 2008, the producers shifted gears. Rather than move forward with another sequel, they announced they would be making a “reinvention” or a “remake.” The first director attached to the project was Blade director Stephen Norrington – but he was far from the last. For the next decade, filmmakers would drift in and out of the world of The Crow while the project got bogged down by creative differences, scheduling issues, studio disagreements, and even the bankruptcy of a production and distribution company.

After Norrington left the project, directors Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, F. Javier Gutierrez, and Corin Hardy came and went. Multiple drafts of the script were written by the likes of Norrington, Nick Cave, Alex Tse, Jesse Wigutow, Cliff Dorfman, and even James O’Barr. The plan was always to have Eric Draven, the character Brandon Lee played in the original film, at the heart of the film. This is a retelling of his story. And actors who were either signed on to play Eric or considered for the role over the years include Mark Wahlberg, Bradley Cooper, Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling, James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston, Alexander Skarsgard, Luke Evans, Jack Huston, Nicholas Hoult, Jack O’Connell, and Jason Momoa. Kristen Stewart was considered for the role of Eric’s girlfriend Shelly Webster, whose murder he sets out to avenge. Jessica Brown Findlay was cast in the role at one point. Norman Reedus and Forest Whitaker were up for supporting roles. Andrea Riseborough was going to play a female version of the villain Top Dollar. None of this panned out.

DIRECTOR AND SCRIPT

The creative team that was finally able to get The Crow remake into production in 2022 was headed up by director Rupert Sanders, who previously directed Snow White and the Huntsman and Ghost in the Shell. Sanders told Vanity Fair that he was drawn to the project because it was an “opportunity to make a dark romance, something that dealt with loss, grief, and the ethereal veil between life and death and reaching through that. Look, I grew up listening to Joy Division and The Cure, and this movie is a bit like a Cure song—the beauty of melancholy.” The initial draft of the screenplay was written by Oscar-nominated King Richard writer Zach Baylin, with William Josef Schneider stepping in to handle revisions.

While Eric Draven and Shelly Webster were murdered right up front in the original film, the approach Sanders and the writers took for the remake was to build up their romance before the violence. We can expect to see Eric and Shelly’s love story play out for a while before danger enters their lives… but, of course, they are eventually killed, and Eric rises from the dead to seek revenge.

Here’s the official synopsis: Soulmates Eric Draven (Skarsgard) and Shelly Webster (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.

CAST

Although Alexander Skarsgard was an Eric Draven contender in the past, the final choice for the role ended up being his younger brother Bill Skarsgard, best known for playing the evil clown Pennywise in the recent adaptations of Stephen King’s It. While Eric was a goth rocker in earlier versions of the story, the remake gives the musician a new style that’s partially inspired by modern real-world musicians Post Malone and Lil Peep (along with Sanders’ personal style when he was squat-raving in London back in the day). This look has proven to be quite controversial with a lot of The Crow fans – but this project has been controversial from the start, since many fans aren’t exactly enthusiastic about seeing the Eric Draven story retold.

Singer/songwriter FKA Twigs was cast as Shelly Webster, the love of Eric’s life. Danny Huston (the uncle of Jack Huston, who was once attached to play Eric) plays the villain, with the supporting cast including Isabella Wei, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila, Jordan Bolger, and David Bowles.

TRAILER AND STORY INFO

A trailer for The Crow remake dropped online in March, and that can be seen in the embed above. Another trailer, which revealed more about the story, was shown to attendees of the CinemCon event in April – and JoBlo’s own Lance Vlcek was there to see. Lance wrote in that attendees were told this version of The Crow is “a complete re-imagining that is not meant to compete with the original. The Lionsgate rep made mention how the original graphic novel is different than the beloved movie and made a point that the trailer was divisive, but they want to tell this story for a new generation.” As for what was shown in the new trailer, Lance said, “An afterlife way-station where a man (David Bowles) gives him the rules. Reminds me of the Skull Cowboy (not in look, as Bowles looks like a normal guy) but in terms of explaining the rules and what needs to be done. Shelly Draven is heading ‘down,’ hinting she’s heading to a dark place and that if Eric wants her back, he must ‘Put the wrong things right.’ It’s here he gets the power of the Crow and he assignment on how to fix things and bring Shelly back. He heals slowly, and he feels everything. It’s a pain he must bear in order to go through the ‘mission’ of taking down the crime family who killed him and Shelly Webster (FKA twigs). There is a big focus, like in the first trailer, about how Eric will be going through a lot of pain, and be a very violent and aggressive character while getting revenge. It has that new action style that John Wick and similar movies have made popular. It had a bit more focus on the love between Shelly and Eric, and it looks like maybe the first act is their story. Meeting in a corrections facility, getting out and starting a life together. We don’t get any new info on the bad guys or exactly what transpired that ended both of their lives.“

This all lines up with SPOILER information that surfaced online at the end of last year. Someone who caught a test screening reported that the film is very different from the James O’Barr source material, carrying over only a few characters and the basic concept. They said the film has a very slow pace and vibe reminiscent of Drive or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The Eric / Shelly love story is the focus for the first act, but then Danny Huston is introduced as a powerful businessman with supernatural abilities – and Shelly and Eric are murdered after Shelly witnesses him using those abilities. When the resurrected Eric sets out for revenge, he still feels pain from the wounds he receives and his healing abilities are much slower than those demonstrated by Brandon Lee’s version of the character. They also said that he doesn’t fully obtain the traditional “The Crow” look until the final act of the film – but whether he has that look or not, Bill Skarsgard is said to deliver a great performance.

ALEX PROYAS

Alex Proyas, the direct of the 1994 film, has let it be known that he is not happy that the producers decided to move ahead with a remake. He has mocked the look of the new Eric Draven and, when the first trailer was released, he dismissed the new film as “Crow Wick.” He went on to explain, “I really don’t get any joy from seeing negativity about any fellow filmmakers work. And I’m certain the cast and crew really had all good intentions, as we all do on any film. So it pains me to say any more on this topic, but I think the fan’s response speaks volumes. The Crow is not just a movie. Brandon Lee died making it, and it was finished as a testament to his lost brilliance and tragic loss. It is his legacy. That’s how it should remain.“

And that’s everything we know about The Crow remake. Not everyone is happy that it exists, but we’re getting it nonetheless, and it’s going to be in theatres very soon. So leave a comment below and let us know – are you looking forward to this movie?

28 Days Later was shot in the early days of digital video and sports a unique (but dated) look. Should the new rightsholder tweak it for 4k?

If you have Hulu (or Disney Star in Canada), you might have noticed that Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later is no longer available. Indeed, Disney lost the rights to the independently financed original film, with them now only owning the rights to the Searchlight-financed sequel, 28 Weeks Later. That’s why you can’t find it on streaming sites and why the Blu-ray Disc is out of print. Sony now owns the rights to the film, with it being part of the package they acquired when they bought the rights to finance the upcoming Danny Boyle/ Alex Garland sequel, 28 Years Later. So, presumably, Sony will be reissuing the film in the near future, and there’s a chance that when they do, it’ll look much better than it ever did before. But why?

28 Days Later was shot with primitive digital tech:

You see, 28 Days Later was one of the first films to be shot digitally. Indeed, the camera it was shot on, the Cannon XL-1, has a standard definition resolution of 720×576. That’s why the movie looks pretty much the same on DVD as on Blu-ray, as you’re just watching an upconversion. As for a 4K release, the fact is 28 Days Later is never going to look as good as some horror fans might expect. It was shot to look a certain way. But I do feel that Sony, with Boyle and Alex Garland and the original DP Anthony Dod Mantle, might be working on a restoration to improve how the film looks on digital media. Granted, this is pure speculation, but technology has come a long way, and there’s the potential for a restoration of 28 Days Later to look significantly different once it comes out.

That said, should it look different?

Here’s the thing – these movies that were shot in early digital video have been problematic in their transfer to 1080p, never mind 4K. For their release of Spike Lee’s Bamboozled on Blu-ray, Criterion was able to tweak the movie’s look in a way that was faithful to the original version but still made it look better than it ever did on DVD before. Sony will likely use some magic to make 28 Days Later look significantly different than it ever has before.

But is that a good thing?

Given how the movie’s look compliments its tone, perhaps they’ll put out two versions, one restored and one unrestored. Whatever happens to the film will be with likely be with Danny Boyle’s full approval. Still, I think when it finally comes back out, it will spot a controversial but possibly revelatory new look.

However, consider what’s happening with the new James Cameron 4K transfers for Aliens, True Lies and The Abyss. Some fans don’t like how different the films look on 4K and that’s nothing compared to what a 28 Days Later upgrade would look like. At what point does it go beyond restoration and become revisionist filmmaking?

Do you think they should tweak the way 28 Days Later looks? Or should they just leave well enough alone? Let us know in the comments.

What Happened to Paris Hilton? Let’s find out by digging into the life and career of the multi-hyphenate heiress

Though our younger viewers may know her better for her friendship with Kim Kardashian, the spotlight shone brightly on Paris Hilton, especially in the early 2000s. But was she just “famous for being famous”, or is there more to this Paparazzi Princess?

Like her friend Kim, Paris Hilton’s fame was bolstered by the infamy that comes from being the star of a wildly popular
sex tape, 2004’s cleverly-titled 1 Night in Paris. “That’s Hot.” As with Kim Kardashian, questions remain even decades later about whether the video was released intentionally to capitalize on her growing fame. For her part, Paris has since denied consenting to the video’s release and has settled out-of-court for the damage to her image and reputation. Perhaps the grossest thing about the video (bear with me) is that it opens with a title card that says “In memory of 9/11/01… We will never forget.” Seriously.

But Hilton was in the public eye long before 1 Night in Paris. She was born February 17, 1981 in New York City with a
silver spoon in her mouth. She is the daughter of multi-millionaires Richard and Kathy Hilton and is the great-
granddaughter of Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton. This is as close as it gets in America to being born into royalty.
Paris Hilton was a staple of the late 90s and early 2000s New York City celebrity social scene. Her celebrity status was
legitimized by a 2000 Vanity Fair spread with her sister Nicky. She was also a prolific model, around this time, operating under Donald Trump’s (Yes, that Donald Trump) modeling agency, T Management.

The early 2000s were Paris Hilton’s busiest time as an actress. She had a very self-ware cameo in 2001’s Zoolander. She also appeared in 2002 horror film Nine Lives and in 2003’s Wonderland and Cat in the Hat. 2004 saw her feature in Raising Helen and The Hillz (with a ‘z’). She had a small but impactful role in 2005 slasher House of Wax, for which she won a Razzie for “Worst Supporting Actress” and a Teen Choice Award for “Best Scream Scene Of The Year”. She was also nominated for the MTV Movie Award for “Best Scared-As-Shit Performance”, which | guess is a thing.

Paris Hilton co-wrote the New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Cheek Peek Behind the Pose with Merle Ginsburg. It was released in May of 2004. The pair followed it up with Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All to Me in
November 2005.

Paris had famous flings with Leonardo DiCaprio and Oscar DeLaHoya. She later showed that she had a thing for
musicians, being linked to Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley, whose parents deserve the award for worst spelling of “Derek”, Nick Carter of boy band Backstreet Boys, and Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden.

Paris Hilton’s fame skyrocketed with the success of reality show The Simple Life, which ran for 5 seasons from 2003 to 2007. It featured Paris and friend Nicole Richie, fellow socialite and daughter of singer Lionel Richie, living with less-privileged families and working blue-collar jobs. Apparently, people were intrigued enough by nepo babies living like one of us poors that the show went on to be one of the most popular reality shows of the time, peaking at over 13 million viewers. Even after the show moved to the E! Network for its later seasons, it doubled the network’s primetime
viewership. It spawned multiple remakes, spin-offs, and imitators. As strange as it may sound so much time later, The
Simple Life was a wildly successful and influential reality-tv show. The most direct spin-off was Paris Hilton’s My New
BFF, which ran from 2008 to 2011 and featured contestants vying for Paris’ undying affection by way of a series of
contests. She transitioned right into The World According to Paris, which followed her dramatic relationship with
nightclub owner Cy Waits.

Did you know that Paris Hilton did hard time? In between reality TV phases, she served a total of 22 days in prison in the summer of 2007 for violating the terms of her probation stemming from a 2006 DUI charge. Controversy stemmed from this proverbial slap on the wrist as well as the Hilton’s family attempt to elicit $1 million for Paris’ first post-incarceration interview. She also was arrested twice for drug charges in 2011.

So it’s accurate to say Paris Hilton was a socialite, a model, a reality-tv star, an actor, an author, and a minor criminal. But WTF happened to Paris Hilton? You certainly can’t say she’s content being idle. She is a prolific businesswoman and artist. I guess it’s easier to take risks when your rock bottom is a mansion in the Hamptons.

She founded record label Heiress Records in 2004 and released her debut album Paris in 2006. Since 2012, she has
been a successful DJ, appearing at festivals around the world. Her fragrance line has earned over $2.5 billion in revenue. She has a multi-million dollar clothing line, a skincare line, a cookware line, a pet product line. Paris was a major advocate for and influential figure in the world of NFTs, back when those briefly seemed like the next big thing.

Most of her ventures fall under the umbrella of her multi-billion dollar company 11:11 Media, which she founded as
Paris Hilton Entertainment in 2006 and has its hand in “TV, podcasts, digital, licensing, NFTs, music, impact, and more.” Subsidiary Slivington Manor Entertainment released the cooking show Cooking with Paris and the reality series Paris in Love, which followed the lead-up to her wedding with Carter Reum, with whom she has two children. She hosts the popular I Am Paris podcast, which follows the conversational interview format popularized by industry stalwarts such as Marc Maron and Joe Rogan. She announced that she has a new album set to release in 2024, which she claimed would “save pop music.” She released Paris: The Memoir in March 2023. The New York Times bestseller offers an honest look into many of the traumas she experienced, including the release of the sex tape and a scary encounter with disgraced media mogul Harvey Weinstein.

I will say that if you haven’t heard Paris Hilton speak in a couple decades, you owe it to yourself to. She’s not the ditzy
blonde you have etched into your memory. She has since said that she crafted the personality and especially the voice
for a lot of reasons: to cope with trauma, to lean into the fame it garnered, and to entertain herself and others.

What might be Paris Hilton’s most enduring legacy is her advocacy, activism, and philanthropy. Her abuse under the
thumb of various institutions aimed at reforming troubled teenagers entered the public consciousness after the release
of YouTube Originals documentary This Is Paris. The worst of her experiences occurred at Provo Canyon School, where she suffered beatings at the hands of staff and was involuntarily medicated. She also has said that staff watched her shower and forced her into solitary confinement naked. Despite the negative attention the school has received, they are still in operation. Paris Hilton and her allies have effectively gone over the school’s head, advocating for the successful enactment of 7 U.S. state laws and one Northern Ireland law. But she didn’t stop there, helping author and campaigning in 2022 and 2023 for the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act, which “would provide greater oversight and data transparency for youth treatment programs, implement urgent recommendations to develop information-sharing systems among states, and promote best practices for identifying and preventing institutional child abuse.”

So what lesson does the journey of Paris Hilton to this point offer us? To never judge a book by its cover? That we are not defined by our mistakes? That anyone born into a family with billions can be successful? Or maybe just that “Life is too short to blend in.”

We talk with Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Alisha Weir, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Kathryn Newton and More about Abigail

Last Updated on April 22, 2024

Vampire films in the past decade or so have been hit or miss. With every Renfield, you have something
subpar sent straight to VOD. Lately, Universal Pictures has been killing it by dipping their toes back into their vampire lore with the above-mentioned Renfield and last summer’s The Last Voyage of the
Demeter.

As fun as those films were, Universal’s latest release, Abigail, is something on another level. Recently, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Matt Betinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett about their latest film. I also had the joy of speaking with the cast, including a paired-up Melissa Barrera and Alisha Weir (who were a power force together in both film and on-screen), Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, and Kevin Durand. Frankly, I’m expecting to see major things for young Ms. Weir. Her performance here is incredible.

We discussed the film, which our own Michael Conway raved about, and we also got a little more insight into their roles. Having seen the film, I tend to agree with our review in saying it’s a damn good time at the movies and one that demands to be seen with a crowd. If you are fans of the directing duo’s previous work like Ready or Not or their Scream sequels, you are in for quite the bloody treat. It’s a well-set-up heist film that just so happens to involve a vampire. While it is indeed tense at times, there is a perfect balance of comedy to counteract the horror. If you are in the mood for a fun thrill ride of a picture, I highly recommend checking out Abigail, which opens today.

Here’s the official synopsis: Children can be such monsters. After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.

Paramount rolls out new Transformers One character posters featuring the primary cast of the first entirely CGI Transformers film.

Last Updated on April 22, 2024

After launching the first Transformers One trailer in space yesterday, Paramount is ready for the robots in disguise to roll out for new character posters. The posters feature the young Autobots (and one eventual Decepticon) standing tall against tranquil cosmic backgrounds. The prints feature Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth), Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry), Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson), and Bumblebee (Keegan Michael-Key). Looking closely, you’ll notice Optimus, Elita-1, and Bumblebee have blue energy in the eye sockets, while Megatron has a corrupted yellow swirl. Additionally, the three Autobots are smiling while Megatron is scowling.

Transformers One is the untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once, they were friends who bonded like brothers and forever changed the fate of Cybertron. In the first-ever fully CG-animated Transformers movie, Transformers One features a star-studded voice cast, including Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, with Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm.

Regarding the upcoming film, franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura shared details about the epic animated prequel, saying, “I could tell you really important parts of this story, which is more than a tease. This is something we were trying to do; we debated a lot about it in live action, and it just was financially impossible to do, which is, the origin story of young Megatron and young Optimus. If you know the origin, they started as friends, and over time things devolved for them and they ended up on two sides. So we’re telling the young Optimus and the young Megatron story. We really are telling the origin story of all Transformers, both what they were at the beginning of it, to how they grow, to how they grow apart.”

Lorenzo also teases that the events of Transformers One will prime a “natural trilogy” for fans to enjoy, provided the series continues. He’s already planned the other films, hoping to tell an emotional tale about brothers-in-arms divided and fighting for the world’s fate.

“We’re hoping that there is enough emotional construct to that, that would lead to a trilogy of it because, personally, I think there’s a natural trilogy. I’m not always looking to do multiple movies, but there’s a natural trilogy around their relationship. So, you’re going to see Cybertron in a way you’ve never seen it, that no one’s ever seen it before. Because we’re doing an animation, we’re allowed to really go all out. If you tried to make this live-action, it would probably be a billion-dollar movie or something.”

Do you like the new Transformers One character posters? Are you digging the movie’s comedic tone? Let us know in the comments section below.

Transformers One rolls into theaters on September 20, 2024.

William Shatner reflecting on his life, legacy, and message for the future in this unconventional documentary.

Synopsis: As an intimate portrait of William Shatner’s personal journey across nine decades of a boldly lived and fully realized life, William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill strips away all the masks he has worn during his storied career to reveal the man behind it all.

Review: William Shatner is a legendary actor better known for his iconic performance as Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek television series and films. He holds a unique place in Hollywood history. A fan favorite for over sixty years with a career on stage and screen as a writer and singer, and having traveled to space, Shatner’s legacy has built him a dedicated fanbase worldwide. Having written memoirs and shared his life story in many forms of media, You Can Call Me Bill is a unique documentary that does not follow the conventional format we have come to expect from a film chronicling the life of a famous person. More of a long-form meditation on his beliefs about life and our impact on the world, You Can Call Me Bill feels a bit self-fulfilling and maybe even a little vainglorious. Still, it is also an interesting perspective on Shatner by Shatner that looks back on his almost century of life and what he hopes to leave behind.

You Can Call Me Bill follows a loose timeline that follows Wiliam Shatner as he reflects on his life from childhood until today but weaves back and forth as it follows the actor’s stream of consciousness as the unseen director interviews him. Shatner is an eloquent speaker and opens with a prologue in which he talks about the interconnected nature of our planet and his desire to become a tree. It is a thought tied to Shatner’s mortality as the ninety-three-year-old bluntly tells the camera that he knows he is going to die “soon” and has come to terms with his impending death. It is not a sad comment but rather a realistic one. Shatner then shares that he does not feel he is an important figure in the grand scheme of things but strives to live a full life of happiness that he spends with his family and friends while doing what he loves. That love includes acting but spreads into his extracurricular love of animals, including dogs and horseback riding.

Segmented into six chapters, along with a prologue and epilogue, You Can Call Me Bill has Shatner talk about his parents, his Jewish upbringing in Montreal, and his foray into outer space aboard Jeff Bezos’ maiden voyage. As he talks about each milestone in his life, Shatner veers into tangents about influences on his life, memories of idols like Laurence Olivier and Edward G. Robinson, and his perception of the world at large. This can sometimes feel disjointed, as when Shatner thinks about his childhood dog and how the passing of his pet altered his view of his parents before changing modes and talking about his first dog when he got married before returning to thoughts of his mother and father. Because You Can Call Me Bill is multiple days of interviews connected into a feature-length film, the only connective tissue is the flow in which the thoughts enter Shatner’s mind. Each section is prefaced with a theme, likely an off-camera question posed to the actor as he is the sole speaker, but then we heard an off-camera voice prompt him a couple of times. The consistency of the format of the film is lacking, which detracts a bit from the overall experience of watching the film.

While I wanted to know more about Shatner’s experience making the Esperanto-language horror film Incubus, his thoughts on the face mold from The Devil’s Rain that became the iconic Michael Myers mask, his experience making Star Trek films, or more about his TekWar novels, much of his reflection in the film is high level. He does discuss his role as James Kirk as compared to Christopher Pike in the original Star Trek pilot as well as his desire to have changed his final scene as Kirk in Star Trek Generations, his catchphrase as Denny Crane in Boston Legal, and a bit on his role as TJ Hooker, but these are fleeting. He talks about his musical career but not at any depth. There is an intriguing section where he discusses the numerous impressions of his cadence but only fleetingly. These stories would have made for entire sections worth exploring but are just asides in Shatner’s overall thematic journey of his life.

Directed and written by Alexandre O. Phillipe, You Can Call Me Bill is the latest documentary from the helmer of The People vs. George Lucas, Memory: The Origins of Alien, Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist, and Lynch/Oz. Phillipe has a distinct approach, and his films have varied subject matter, but all take a distinct tone from traditional documentaries. While each of the aforementioned films has focused on a specific film or subject, You Can Call Me Bill connects the concept of a biographical documentary with an extended interview approach interspersed with clips. The challenge I found connecting with the footage shared here is that the vast majority of it is shown out of context and often just used to shift away from Shatner in the studio. When the footage directly connects to the conversation, it enhances the film; otherwise, it comes across as filler.

William Shatner’s most devoted fans will love spending ninety minutes with him as he talks at length about his personal beliefs and feelings. The casual fan will likely feel confused by the lack of a direct, linear approach to revisiting Shatner’s life, but You Can Call Me Bill is not meant to be a retrospective chronicle. I had hoped the film would have dug deeper into certain aspects of Shatner’s life as it does not examine his career’s famous moments while giving some unique insight into others. Without interviews or outside sources, You Can Call Me Bill is more of a conversation than a documentary but one that still sheds some unique views on life and our place in the universe. I enjoyed it once I got accustomed to what the filmmaker intended for it to be. If you go into it with an open mind, you may learn something about a fellow human being, even if you don’t gain new insight into an iconic actor’s career.

Keanu Reeves is flying the not-so-friendly skies alongside director Ruben Östlund for The Entertainment System Is Down.

Keanu Reeves is making headlines again after joining the cast of Paramount‘s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as the voice of Shadow the Hedgehog by engaging in talks to star in Triangle of Sadness director Ruben Östlund’s next feature, The Entertainment System Is Down.

Variety broke the news on Friday. Still, details about the plot remain a mystery. Östlund says The Entertainment System Is Down is a social satire set on a long-haul flight with a faulty entertainment system. As boredom spreads throughout the cabin, rage starts to overwhelm the passengers. Chaos ensues. The idea for Östlund’s next feature is something he’s been building for years. The filmmaker says he’s been collecting anecdotes to use as inspiration for The Entertainment System Is Down, with several years of material at his disposal. Though it likely involves dark comedy and sharp humor, Reeves’s role remains a mystery.

Discussing the film with Variety last year, Östlund said The Entertainment System Is Down is “a study of how human beings interact in this little laboratory that is a plane” and “will look at how modern human beings are wrecked under these circumstances.” Additionally, as part of a hilarious goal and bizarre flex, he hopes the film inspired the biggest walkout in Cannes Film Festival history.

Beyond playing Shadow for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Keanu Reeves has two films in post-production, including the John Wick spinoff Ballerina and Good Fortune, directed and written by Aziz Ansari. While the plot of Good Fortune remains under wraps, the film boasts a stellar cast, including Reeves, Seth Rogen, Sandra Oh, and Keke Palmer, among others. Meanwhile, Constantine 2, a sequel to the 2005 supernatural action film, is in production with Francis Lawrence at the helm. Peter Stormare returns for Constantine 2 as Lucifer. Finally, Reeves is gearing up for an adaptation of his BRZRKR comic book series, with Reeves, Matt Kindt, and Mattson Tomlin writing the script.

Here’s a synopsis for BRZRKR Vol. 1 courtesy of Amazon:

A WAR WITH NO END. The man known only as B. is half-mortal and half-God, cursed and compelled to violence…even at the sacrifice of his sanity. But after wandering the world for centuries, the Berzerker may have finally found a refuge – working for the U.S. government to fight the battles too violent and too dangerous for anyone else. In exchange, B. will be granted the one thing he desires – the truth about his endless blood-soaked existence…and how to end it. Keanu Reeves makes his comic book writing debut alongside New York Times bestselling co-writer Matt Kindt (Folklords, Grass Kings) and legendary artist Ron Garney (Wolverine) in a brutally violent new series about one immortal warrior’s fight through the ages.

Are you excited about Keanu Reeves teaming up with Ruben Östlund for The Entertainment System Is Down? They could make a great pair. We’ll bring you more details as they come.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.

Denis Villeneuve will be making Nuclear War: A Scenario before he returns to the Dune franchise, but he is writing Dune Messiah right now

Before receiving a digital release last week, Dune: Part Two racked up nearly $700 million at the worldwide box office, paving the way for the third Dune film that writer/director Denis Villeneuve and stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya all expressed interest in making during the build-up to the second movie’s release. While the first two Dune movies were both based on the story told in Frank Herbert’s novel Dune, the third movie would move on to different source material: Dune Messiah, the second book in Herbert’s series. During an interview with The New York Times, Villeneuve confirmed that he’s writing Dune Messiah right now!

Villeneuve said, “That anger (felt by Zendaya’s character at the end of Part Two) is tremendous. I don’t want to reveal what I’m going to do with the third movie. I know exactly what to do. I’m writing it right now. But there’s a lot of firepower there, and I’m very excited about that decision.“

The novel Dune Messiah has the following description: Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known-and feared-as the man christened Muad’Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne-and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence. And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family’s dynasty.

Chalamet and Zendaya play Paul Atreides and Chani in these movies.

Villeneuve has previously said that he won’t make Dune Messiah unless he can make sure that it will be even better than Dune: Part Two. He’ll have a little while to work on the script, because he’s expected to direct the film Nuclear War: A Scenario for the Dune producers at Legendary before he returns to the world of Paul Atreides.

Are you glad to hear that Dune Messiah is already being written? Share your thoughts on this franchise by leaving a comment below.

Also in the works is a TV series spin-off called Dune Prophecy.

About the Author

Cody is a news editor and film critic, focused on the horror arm of JoBlo.com, and writes scripts for videos that are released through the JoBlo Originals and JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channels. In his spare time, he’s a globe-trotting digital nomad, runs a personal blog called Life Between Frames, and writes novels and screenplays.

Matilda Firth has joined Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, and Sam Jaeger in the Wolf Man reboot from Blumhouse and Leigh Whannell

A while back, Blumhouse sent out a casting call in search of the right young actor to fill the role of a 10-year-old female character named Ginger in the Wolf Man reboot they’re making for Universal Pictures with The Invisible Man (2020) director Leigh Whannell. Now it looks like we know who’ll be playing Ginger, as Deadline reports that child actress Matilda Firth has been added to the cast of Wolf Man.

Firth’s previous credits include Hullraisers, Christmas Carole, and Typist Artist Pirate King. Ginger was described as being “Female, 10 years old, white. Blake and Charlotte’s daughter. Smart, precocious, and strong. When her family decides to leave the city for a quieter life in a remote area, she faces her biggest fear, the possibility of losing one or both of her parents forever.”

The leads of the film are Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom were in the 2011 film Martha Marcy May Marlene. Abbott is taking on the role of a man whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Garner must be playing his wife, because her character is described as being a mother whose family is being terrorized by a lethal predator. Sam Jaeger is also in the cast.

When Wolf Man was first announced in 2020, Ryan Gosling was set to star in it – and in fact, it got rolling when Gosling pitched this take on the concept of The Wolf Man to Universal, and his idea was then fleshed out into a screenplay by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, a writing duo that previously worked on Orange Is the New Black. (Blum also happens to be married to Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.) At the time, it was said the story was “believed to be set in present times and in the vein of Jake Gyllenhaal’s thriller Nightcrawler with an obvious supernatural twist.” The final version of the script is credited to Blum and Angelo, as well as Whannell and his wife Corbett Tuck.

Whannell first signed on to direct the film in 2020, but dropped out the following year. That’s when Gosling’s Blue Valentine and Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance came on board. Gosling and Cianfrance both stepped away from Wolf Man early last year… and then Whannell came back.

A collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, Wolf Man is being produced by Jason Blum. Gosling receives an executive producer credit alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell.

Wolf Man is scheduled to reach theatres on January 17, 2025. A teaser was recently shown at the CinemaCon event, and was said to open with “Christopher Abbott’s character and his daughter talking, with the daughter asking about death and how ‘everybody dies eventually.‘ We see clips of people running, Julia Garner looking terrified, a bloody arm, and an intense scream from Abbott as he (possibly) becomes the Wolf Man.”

Are you looking forward to Wolf Man? Let us know by leaving a comment below.