Despite it’s massive budget, Mickey 17 is having a hard time attracting North American audiences.
As we predicted earlier this week, Mickey 17, the Robert Pattinson-led sci-fi flick from Parasite director Bong Joon Ho is having a hard time attracting audiences in North America. While the movie was initially looking at an opening in the mid-20s, the outlook for the film has grown grimmer, with Deadline reporting that it’s unlikely to cross the $20 million mark. So far, they have it opening in the $18-19 million range.
Considering that the movie cost north of $118 million, that’s a terrible number, with it looking like it has the makings of being a major flop for Warner Bros. While I enjoyed it, one must admit that it’s more of a cult movie than anything that would ever connect with a mainstream audience. It has a B CinemaScore rating, which is OK (if you consider WB’s last big swing, Joker: Folie a Deux had a D rating), but with an opening number like that, it seems unlikely that the film will cross the $40 million mark.
Hopefully, for all involved, the movie will make up its domestic shortfall with solid international business, such as in Bong Joon Ho’s South Korea. Worse, this continues 2025’s box office woes, with virtually every opener since the holidays underwhelming. Captain America: Brave New World drastically underperformed, while hoped-for sleepers like Flight Risk and Companion weren’t able to pull in much of an audience. Family fare like Dog Man has proven to be more of a bright spot, but by this point last year, we already had Dune: Part Two in theatres, with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Godzilla x Kong both on the horizon. This year, we have Paramount’s Novocaine, as well as the Jason Statham actioner, A Working Man, but both – at best – will be sleeper hits. Disney’s Snow White is the only potential blockbuster, but the word of mouth on that one has been pretty toxic.
Check back tomorrow for our full box office report!
Hans Zimmer says that he has turned down the Marvel Cinematic Universe and doesn’t think he could be faithful to a Star War score.
With a career in film composing that has lasted more than 40 years, Hans Zimmer has run the gamut. Despite having a distinct sound that often makes you recognize it as a Zimmer, the man’s work has range: Rain Man, The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator, Dune…But there are two franchises that Zimmer will absolutely never work within: the MCU and Star Wars.
Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hans Zimmer said that while he has been approached by Marvel, he had a couple of conflicts. “They have, and it was always…timing wasn’t great. And really, quite honestly, I’m looking for other things right now. Look, I’ve done the trifecta — I’ve done Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman! I mean, what do you want me to do, some of the minor characters?” (By the way, the word Zimmer would really be looking for is “quadfecta”.) He added, “That was very arrogant of me to say that, but actually, Kevin Feige said that to me: ‘Hans, what are you complaining about?’”
As for Star Wars, Hans Zimmer said that his style may be from a galaxy too far, far away to fit the Star Wars mold. “How many interesting things do you want to put onto this thing before it falls apart and isn’t Star Wars anymore? Because the only way I would see myself is if I could reinvent it.” On the matter, Zimmer did praise the work of Ludwig Göransson, who did the music for The Mandalorian.
Of note, only one MCU movie has ever been nominated for Best Original Score: Black Panther, with Göransson taking home the Oscar (he would later win again for Oppenheimer, directed by frequent Zimmer collaborator Christopher Nolan). And while the Star Wars series has a total of four nods, only John Wiliams’ original took home the statue, marking his third (of five wins). Zimmer, meanwhile, has two wins out of 12 nominations.
This year, Hans Zimmer has a score credit on Joseph Kosinski’s F1 starring Brad Pitt.
How do you think Hans Zimmer would do with franchise fare along the lines of the MCU or Star Wars? Give us your take in the comments section below.
Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu star in this dramatization of the documentary of the same name.
PLOT: A diver (Finn Cole) is trapped 100 meters under the sea with no light, heat and only thirty minutes of breathable oxygen – leaving his two colleagues (Simu Liu and Woody Harrelson) with only a short window of time to save him.
REVIEW: Last Breath is a dramatization of a 2019 documentary by Alex Parkinson. The documentary used footage recorded on body cams to depict the harrowing deep sea rescue of a diver who became trapped when conducting repairs on a pipeline 330 feet below the surface of the North Sea. Parkinson has returned to direct the feature version, and it’s a taut, lean, true-to-life thriller that proves to be an immersive experience for viewers.
Running a no-nonsense ninety minutes, Parkinson’s film wastes no time getting to the meat of the story, with much of the rescue taking place in real-time. It’s extremely well-photographed, scored and edited and boasts three solid leads in Simu Liu, Woody Harrelson, and Finn Cole.
Given the nature of the story, next to no time is spent on character development, with only the bare bones of each filled in within the film’s first fifteen minutes. Cole’s Chris Lemons is a young diver on one of his deep sea jobs who’s eager to return to his fiancee. Harrelson is his mentor, a seasoned diver who’s on the verge of being pushed out of his job due to his age. At the same time, Simu Liu is a cold, no-nonsense fellow diver everyone calls “The Vulcan” due to the fact that he never shows emotion, or talks much about his personal life.
Of course, when things go awry, it’s left to the old pro and the steely professional to get things done, but the movie is careful to present everything that happened under the sea as a freak accident, with no real blame assigned to anyone. In fact, the film takes pains to show that while Liu and Harrelson’s characters were the ones who had to put themselves in physical danger to rescue their friend, the crew of the ship supporting them played a crucial role. A lack of selfishness and a team mentality ultimately prevented a tragedy.
While some may take issue with the meat-and-potatoes vibe of the film, I appreciated how lean it was. It gets the job done without any preamble and is so immersive that you actually feel like you’re in on the dive with them at times. It’s too bad this wasn’t shot with IMAX cameras, as that format would have lent itself well to the movie they’re making. It’s certainly one I regret having seen on a screener link, and it would no doubt play really well in a top-notch theatre.
The cast is terrific, with Harrelson bringing a lot of humanity to his role as the kind of old pro who doesn’t want his career to end with a tragedy. He’s ably contrasted by Simu Liu, whose character, while initially cold and distant, turns out to be precisely the kind of guy you want around when things go south. With his imposing physique and charisma, you really do wonder why Hollywood hasn’t made more use of him in movies, especially if you consider that Shang-Chi was a pretty solid performer for a movie that came out during the pandemic.
While Last Breath isn’t getting a massive build-up and comes out at a fairly dead time of the year, it’s well worth checking out theatrically if you want a realistic, fact-based thriller. It’s perfectly cast and well-directed by Parkinson, who clearly aimed to be as faithful to his documentary as possible.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is trying to calm rumors about her departure, which surprised the industry this week.
When it was announced earlier this week that Kathleen Kennedy would be stepping down as president of Lucasfilm – a position she has held since 2012 – the news was met in more or less the manner you’d expect. But there was also a lot of speculation: What happened? Who is taking over? What the hell species if Yoda anyway? Now, Kennedy is here to answer the questions – well, most of them…
Speaking with Deadline in what feels like an urgent interview, Kathleen Kennedy assured the industry that she isn’t retiring but simply stepping away from Lucasfilm. So where does that leave the position? “What’s happening at Lucasfilm is I have been talking for quite some time with both Bob [Iger] and Alan [Bergman] about what eventual succession might look like. We have an amazing bench of people here, and we have every intention of making an announcement months or a year down the road…”
Right now, much attention has turned to the likes of Dave Filoni, who serves as CCO at Lucasfilm and who has a strong relationship with Kathleen Kennedy. Expectedly, Kennedy is sidestepping such rumors at this point. “I can’t say who it is because there’s just an internal process that goes on inside a large corporation and a publicly held company, as to how we go about making deals, finalizing decisions and making announcements. There’s nothing unusual about that, and we’re in that process.”
Kathleen Kennedy also insisted that she would be sticking with the projects she is currently involved with at Lucasfilm, name-checking both The Mandalorian & Grogu and Shawn Levy’s planned installment in the Star Wars universe. Kennedy’s confirmation of this – as well as her unwillingness to say whether or not 2025 will be the year of her departure – points that she still has some time left at the company.
Kathleen Kennedy has no doubt been a vital figure in the world of Star Wars and there’s something to be said about more than a dozen years in the position. The issue many are trying to grasp right now is just how sudden it seemed, something even those that dislike her contributions were shocked by. But as Kennedy points out, she is not being forced out of Lucasfilm. “Is absolutely not the case. It could not be further from the truth. And everything that we do inside of Lucasfilm is in lockstep and in communication with Disney. We all know what’s going on. The communication has been completely collaborative as you would expect. This is a big piece of business for them, and they want to empower me to help them make that decision and that choice. I’m doing that.”
What do you make of Kathleen Kennedy’s exit from Lucasfilm? What is the most immediate impact the departure will make?
Two action titans throwing down both on screen and seemingly off in front of thousands of reporters; a director now known for tentpole disaster flicks working with a big budget for the first time; Replacing another director who couldn’t make it work; a script that dips its toes into at least four different genres; multiple required shots of Jean Claude Van Damme’s naked body; bullets, bombs, and a whole lotta killin’. This is what happened to Universal Soldier.
If you were a fan of action movies with a darker, sci-fi edge to their storylines in the 80s and 90s, Carolco Pictures was likely behind some of your favorites. By the time Universal Soldier darkened their desks around February of 1990, the company had already been involved with films like First Blood and They Live. This even before Terminator 2 and Total Recall. If you had a dark action flick, Carolco was the place to take it. Universal Soldier wouldn’t fully come to fruition until 1992. Originally, the studio hired Andrew Davis to helm the Christopher Leitch written project. The director had already been responsible for two of Steven Seagal’s best films in Above the Law and Under Siege. When it came to taking larger than life characters and formulating them into semi-believable films? He was the guy for the job. Until he wasn’t. It is said that Davis walked away due to budget concerns and creative differences. A little hard to imagine considering he once managed to keep Steven Seagal’s supersized, ponytailed ego in check. But alas, one man’s FUBAR situation is another man’s dream job. Enter Roland Emmerich.
Emmerich had been working on another messy film for Carolco at the time: A famously never made Ridley Scott sci-fi epic called Isobar. Where Sylvester Stallone would have fought off a genetic monster on a high speed train in the future. Like we said, Carolco had a type. And I miss it dearly. Frequent Emmerich collaborator and future Independence Day writer Dean Devlin was also working on the abandoned project before Carolco decided to scrap it entirely and put the pair on Universal Soldier instead. In the commentary, Emmerich explained that he took the movie to prove that as an up and coming director, he could handle a big movie and its accompanying budget. Devlin and Emmerich were brought on board to a project that had already cast its two leading men in Dolph Lundgren and Jean Claude Van Damme.
Van Damme was quickly becoming a star off the back of his amazing physical prowess in films like Bloodsport and Kickboxer. He also had the rare ability to be both larger than life and the sympathetic underdog simultaneously. A karate fueled mix of the two personas of Schwarzenegger and Stallone. Lundgren had found fame in his role as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV years ago and solidified himself not only as an amazing physical villain, but someone who could chew some massive scenery.
Though at the time Universal Soldier and its $23 million budget would be the biggest production Van Damme had ever worked on, he originally rejected the script. Citing that he thought it was “stupid” and that no one would believe in the half human storyline. After Emmerich and Devlin round-housed the script a few times, Jean Claude came around, praising their work as a “special concept”.
You always wonder with a concept like this how your two lead physical specimen’s were going to react to sharing the screen together. Lundgren had seen Bloodsport and kept hearing of what he called this “tough Belgium” before meeting him in person at the Carolco offices. His first impressions were that he was a smart and clever man. Not only when it came to filmmaking but with his personal image. The two also bonded over the fact that they weren’t fans of the first script they’d received before Emmerich and Roland came along. Both rejecting it.
In regard to how Emmerich and Devlin changed the script? They simply formatted around the actors they already had in tow. Playing up what they would call Jean Claude’s “sweetness” against the contrast of Lundgren’s darkness. Something they had to coax out of him the big guy a bit. But once Lundgren bought in, he went all out. We’d have to agree. Whether it was recency bias from Masters of the Universe or an aversion to appreciating the acting abilities of action stars, Dolph Lundgren has ever been fully appreciated for just how great of a villain he was in the film.
The finally complete script opened up with Lundgren’s Sargeant Scott and JCVD’s Luc Deveraux as human soldiers in Vietnam in 1969. Scott is literally crocheting himself a necklace made up of his victims ears like it’s a goddamn Taylor Swift bracelet swap in Hell. He’s lost his mind, murdering innocent people. When Deveraux attempts to stop him the two end up killing each other. The incident is covered up by the Army and they are cryogenically frozen Demolition Man style before being reanimated for the UniSol Program. Where they bring back the dead with super soldier abilities. They are given a neural serum to keep their memories suppressed like some sort of non-emo Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But Deveraux has a glitch, holding on to some of his memories and overall humanity. Which leads to his old Sargeant hunting him down along with a reporter he’s befriended in the desert.
The role of reporter Veronica Roberts went to the charismatic Ally Walker. Her and Jean Claude had a great relationship on the set which came across in their performance. Specifically in comedic scenes that included having to bathe his naked body down in ice cubes or cut out a tracking system in his calf while he’s bent over (again, naked) in front of her. There’s a ton of underrated comedy here that often ends up with JCVD naked. During the commentary, Emmerich joked about these scenes saying that they were required by law back then to show Jean Claude’s ass in every film. He joked that you would receive a fine if you didn’t but he also praised Jean Claude’s awareness of what his fans wanted and felt compelled to give it to them in a way it incorporated itself naturally in the story. If you’re wondering about semantics, Emmerich has you (and him) covered, saying, “he had like a little sock over it. Like a little thing.” Jesus, Roland take it easy with the word “little”!
Jokes aside, what critics mistook for unintentional comedy, Devlin would explain was actually very intentional. They were trying to make fun of action movies but be one at the same time. Which in my opinion adds an ahead of its time meta Kevin Williamson/Wes Craven element to the film. While there was darkness at times it was, like Scream, in contrast to some of the more comedic moments. For example, you have Dolph Lundgren’s character chewing scenery in a grocery store, delivering a dark monologue and shooting police. While somewhere else, Jean Claude hilariously learns how much he likes to eat while effortlessly kicking the shit out of a bunch of rednecks.
Going back and experiencing Universal Soldier in 4K in the year 2025, you also realize just how much of a visual cinematic achievement it is. From an opening fight scene in Vietnam (Filmed on a golf course in Arizona that also features future UniSol Michael Jai White), to a chase scene featuring large military vehicles across the breathtaking backdrop of the Grand Canyon. Amongst its endless action, the production featured no CGI and only one scene that included the use of a model. A scene that went back and forth between live action shots and a model of two large vehicles plunging from the top of a mountain and exploding in the desert. It’s a gorgeously shot, wide scope film from cinematographer Karl Walter Lindenlaub. Not to mention well-choreographed action scenes from Emmerich and crew, featuring UniSol’s careening face first and down the Hoover dam from 700 feet up. Or building a motel from scratch just to fire over 10,000 rounds of ammunition and drive a classic car through it. All this, bookended by two kickass throwdowns between two of the greatest action heroes to ever grace the silver screen. The latter of which was almost very different. In a bad way.
In the film’s original ending (which can be found on multiple physical media editions), Deveraux dispatches of Scott after he ruthlessly shoots his mother down on the porch. As Deveraux goes to reunite with Veronica, his supposed father shockingly shoots him before Jerry Orbach’s Dr. Gregor shows up with a bunch of dudes in trench coats. Gregor hastily explains that these aren’t actually Deveraux’s parents but merely plants meant to help capture him. His fake father and the henchman then start unloading their guns into him like he’s Michael Myers at the end of Halloween 4. We get a weird, T2 epilogue from Veronica about how Devereaux spent his last two months of life surrounded by his real family, rejecting all medical treatment and teaching her the meaning of life. Depression. Roland recalled the moment during the commentary admitting that everyone was excited, high fiving, and having a great time. Until the ending left them quiet, dismayed, and confused. They hated it. And all of this weirdly depressing Meet Joe Black nonsense was taken out of the film and replaced with an extended fight scene reshoot instead. The reshoots took place inside the barn over the course of a single day’s twenty hour long shoot, flawlessly edited into the original ending.
We still end the fight with Deveraux triple kicking Scott into the hay harvester and dropping, “You’re discharged, Sarge” before watching Scott’s remains fly ears-first out of the grinder. Only in this case, we’re treated first to an extended fight scene where Scott beats Deveraux’s ass all around the barn. Until Deveraux finds some super serum, jacks himself up, and delivers the kind of underdog ass whooping that the best action movies are made of.
The fight scenes were great and so was the relationship between the two leads. Dolph explained that at first there was some tension between the two on the first day because of their competitive natures; but that all dissipated rather quickly as the two spent the next three months beating the hell out of each other on set. Jean Claude would tell the story of how they kept a truck on the set full of training gear and mirrors. The two, along with the other UniSol actors (including Chuck Norris’ son Eric Norris and Gladiator actor Ralf Moeller) would constantly pump up in the truck before scenes. They eventually became afraid that the others arms would look bigger on screen. It even led to the point where they would often skip lunch, opting for a protein shake instead, so they could spend their lunch breaks out pumping each other. JCVD would later use this healthy competition as a marketing ploy when the two actors were at Cannes Film Festival. Ever the self-promoter, Van Damme knew the film was still in post-production and that they had no footage to promote. So, he called up Dolph Lundgren and the two staged a fake dust up in front of hundreds of members of the press at the event, thinking they were witnessing a real life scuffle between two action titans. The two exchanged some words and a few light shoves before they were harmlessly broken up. Mission accomplished. It was all anyone could talk about.
Universal Soldier released in 1992 to a worldwide gross of $95 million on a $23 million budget. That’s no Avatar of course and critics unfortunately weren’t quite capable of understanding its genius. But that didn’t stop it from becoming beloved. Spawning multiple sequels, a comic book series, and even a video game. Those involved with the film many years later seem happy with the result as well. Dolph Lundgren remembers it as a career boost for everyone involved. Writer Dean Devlin sees it as a fun and original film, and even Roland Emmerich, who hates watching his earlier work admits it was better than he thought originally.
Damn straight, Roland. And that is what happened to Universal Soldier.
A couple of the previous episodes of the show can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
We remember the great Gene Hackman by revisiting his Tony Scott thriller, Crimson Tide, which paired him with Denzel Washington.
Several years ago, Ethan Hawke said something interesting in an interview with Marc Maron. He admitted to having a lot of anxiety when he was cast in Training Day because he said that whenever he watched movies with Denzel Washington, he felt like his co-stars were blown out of the water by him. One exception that Hawke mentioned is Gene Hackman, who said the two played brilliantly off of each other in Tony Scott’s Crimson Tide, partly due to the fact that they were playing adversaries. Indeed, such was the power of Gene Hackman, who tragically passed away this week. While his career is loaded with classics, including The French Connection, The Conversation, The Royal Tenenbaums and so many more, one of his biggest box office hits was Crimson Tide, a movie that’s long overdue for a deep dive here on JoBlo!
When asked why he wanted to do Crimson Tide, Denzel Washington said it was because he wanted to be in there jousting with a master – referring to Gene Hackman. Indeed, Washington is probably the only living actor who one could compare to Hackman. If one were to remake Crimson Tide, it would be a no-brainer to cast him in the Hackman role and then put a young up-and-comer in the Denzel role – ah, but who could hold the screen like he did back in 1995?
The story for Crimson Tide has even more of a kick in 2025 than it did thirty years ago. It revolves around the crew of a nuclear submarine being deployed among instability in Russia. Gene Hackman plays Frank Ramsay, the soon-to-be-retired captain of the USS Alabama, with Denzel as Lieutenant Commander Ron Hunter, his executive officer. The movie revolves around the ship being ordered to launch its nuclear missiles, with conflict arising between the captain and his XO when a second message is cut off before they can receive it. Ramsay believes the orders were being confirmed; Hunter believes they were being told to stand down. With literally the fate of the world at hand, the two men go to war, with Hunter’s loyal officers committed to putting down an attempted mutiny. In contrast, Hunter and his men believe they are preventing nuclear war from accidentally breaking out.
The movie has sympathy for both men, and it couldn’t have been cast any better, with Hackman and Washington having a brilliantly adversarial relationship, albeit one tinged with mutual respect and a tiny bit of perhaps racial animosity – which gives the film some much commented upon, and juicy, racial subtext.
Indeed, there’s something so juicy about how Hackman and Washington go mano-a-mano, with both bringing out the best in each other. The late Tony Scott directed the film, and it kicked off a long series of collaborations between him and Washington, with Denzel always crediting him as one of his favourite directors. At the time, Scott was coming off of True Romance, a movie which was, at the time, critically reviled, even if it later became a huge cult classic, which is deservedly called one of his greatest films. Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer were the producers. Those two were the biggest producers of the eighties, but their careers, along with Scott’s, had largely imploded on the set of the Tom Cruise movie Days of Thunder, where tales of behind-the-scenes debauchery (which we went into HERE) became legendary. Crimson Tide put all involved back on top, with it being a juicy mix of a Hunt for Red October-style techno-thriller mixed with heavy-duty acting fireworks, which makes the film play out like a non-stop action thriller, even though there’s very little actual physical conflict in the film.
While Washington and Hackman are incredible, the movie also benefits from a terrific script, which is credited to Michael Schiffer, who would later work on the Call of Duty video games, but also had rewrites by the three best script doctors in town, Steven Zaillian, Robert Towne, and perhaps infamously Quentin Tarantino. Why do I say infamously? If you watch the movie, it’s very obvious where the Tarantino dialogue comes in, with an onscreen argument over who was the better illustrator of Silver Surfer, and other pop culture references having his distinct stamp on them. QT, of course, knew Tony Scott from True Romance, but when he was on set, Tarantino was infamously cornered by Washington, who loudly chastised him for the use of racial slurs in his scripts. In the years since, Washington has expressed regret for the incident and says he and Tarantino have since buried the hatchet, with Denzel’s daughter, Katia, actually working as a P.A on the set of Django Unchained.
The supporting cast in the film is similarly choice, with Viggo Mortensen playing a young officer whose loyalties are divided. At the same time, George Dzundza has a superb part as the ship’s ranking non-com, whose conscience forces him to be disloyal to his captain. Plus, there’s a young James Gandolfini as the most Die Hard of Hackman’s loyal officers, Ricky Schroder, Steve Zahn, and even the great Jason Robards in an unbilled cameo at the movie’s end. Tie it all up with a score by Hans Zimmer, and you’ve got the recipe for a classic thriller.
The movie was a blockbuster in the summer of 1995 and proved to be a major boost for Washington, with him having finally headlined a blockbuster of his own, and thirty years later, he’s still one of the most bankable leading men in the business. As for Hackman, it was just another in a long series of blockbuster movies he had roles in, but his performance is widely regarded as a highlight in his late career. The movie remained a favorite of Tony Scott’s until he died, with him rarely being photographed without him sporting the red U.S.S Alabama hat Hackman wears in the movie. Of course, watching Crimson Tide now is bittersweet, with Scott, Gandolfini, Robards, and Hackman all gone. If you haven’t seen it in a while, give it a watch and see all of these legends performing at the top of their game.
Netflix has unveiled a pair of teaser posters for the R.L. Stine adaptation Fear Street: Prom Queen, coming in May
Fear Street: Prom Queen, the continuation of the Fear Street film franchise that began with the release of the trilogy of Fear Street Part One: 1994, Fear Street Part Two: 1978, and Fear Street Part Three: 1666 on the Netflix streaming service back in the summer of 2021, made its way through production last year, and recently it was announced that the new film will be available to watch on Netflix as of May 23rd! With that date swiftly approaching, a pair of teaser posters have dropped online, and you can check them out at the bottom of this article.
Author R.L. Stine has written over 100 books that have been published under the various Fear Street banners. While the initial trilogy of films wasn’t directly based on any specific Fear Street book, the new movie will be telling a version of the story Stine crafted for his 1992 book The Prom Queen. Here’s the description: A spring night… soft moonlight… five beautiful Prom Queen candidates… dancing couples at the Shadyside High prom — these should be the ingredients for romance. But stir in one brutal murder — then another, and another — and the recipe quickly turns to horror. Lizzie McVay realizes that someone is murdering the five Prom Queen candidates one by one — and that she may be next on the list! Can she stop the murderer before the dance is over — for good? The official synopsis says Fear Street: Prom Queen takes us back to the town of Shadyside, Ohio, where prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.
The teaser posters are reminiscent of the cover of The Prom Queen book, so I have included that cover with the posters below.
Back in 2022, we heard that Chloe Okuno, who recently made her feature directorial debut with the thriller Watcher, would be directing the next Fear Street movie, but she left the street behind at some point in the last couple years. The film is actually being directed by Matthew Palmer, who made his feature directorial debut with the 2018 Netflix thriller Calibre. Palmer has written the screenplay with Calibre cast member Donald McLeary.
Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, and Kori Adelson of Chernin Entertainment are producing Fear Street: Prom Queen, with Yvonne Bernard, Joan Waricha, and Jane Stine serving as executive producers. Caroline Pitofsky is overseeing the production for Chernin Entertainment. The film recently secured an R rating for strong bloody violence and gore, teen drug use, language and some sexual references.
The cast of Fear Street: Prom Queen includes Katherine Waterston (Alien: Covenant), Lili Taylor (The Conjuring), Chris Klein (American Pie), India Fowler (The Nevers), Suzanna Son (Red Rocket), Fina Strazza (Paper Girls), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty), Ariana Greenblatt (Barbie), and Ella Rubin (The Idea of You).
Fan reaction has been incredibly mixed with the animation. While some don’t notice a difference, a number of people have complained about the update.
A fifth Shrek film has been officially in the works. It’s set for a December 2026 release date (around the 25th anniversary of the original film) , with original cast members Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy all confirmed. Murphy himself, in the press lead-up to Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, revealed that some recording had already been done for the film and that his character, Donkey, is set for his own spinoff movie. Yesterday, it was announced that Zendaya will be joining in on the next storybook adventure as she’s been cast as Shrek and Fiona’s daughter.
The studio revealed the news in an announcement teaser trailer that showed all the regular principal characters returning, as well as the addition of Zendaya’s character. Just like the Toy Story movies have evolved, many will notice that the animation in the new trailer has been updated with more modern effects. This, however, did not meet the satisfaction of many fans on social media as a number of accounts have complained about the new look and some call for a Sonic the Hedgehog-like redo.
One user posted, “Why does the animation look like an AI interpretation of what Shrek 5 could look like?” with a heartbreak emoji.
Another user posted, “can we bully dreamworks to change the shrek 5 animation like we did to paramount to change sonic’s animation?”
Another user on social media posted, “The animation for Shrek 5 is trash compared to Shrek 2 which came out over 20 years ago!”
One user would go into a bit of detail and compare the animation to a low-budget DVD-style in quality as they posted, “This new animation style for #Shrek5 is really bad. Looks really unfinished and clunky. Honestly gives the vibes of a low budget dvd sequel. Don’t understand the change from the prior movies.”
This new animation style for #Shrek5 is really bad. Looks really unfinished and clunky. Honestly gives the vibes of a low budget dvd sequel. Don’t understand the change from the prior movies. pic.twitter.com/pCFnQHs8wN
One person put the situation in a context that compares it to Puss in Boots, “Shrek has had a style and look that hasn’t changed since 2001. Now he’s in the puss in boots art style, and it triggered everyone’s fight or flight.”
Another user offered a similar own take, comparing it to Puss in Boots 2, “‘Shrek 5 Animation looks off’ I’d say its bc of the art style shift, Shrek films are known for it’s realistic look, Considering it’s been over 10 years since the last shrek movie, and switched it up to be more stylstic like they did in Puss in Boots 2”
“Shrek 5 Animation looks off”
I’d say its bc of the art style shift, Shrek films are known for it’s realistic look, Considering it’s been over 10 years since the last shrek movie, and switched it up to be more stylstic like they did in Puss in Boots 2 pic.twitter.com/A4g2pwIdpp
— ❄️Daniel Weber COMMISSIONS Open❄️ (@Danielfs2002_) February 27, 2025
About the Author
E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.
A trailer has been released for the Mickey Mouse horror film Screamboat, starring David Howard Thornton of the Terrifier franchise
On January 1, 2024, the earliest versions of Mickey Mouse – seen in the animated shorts Plane Crazy, The Gallopin’ Gaucho, and most famously Steamboat Willie – became public domain… which, of course, means we’re now going to get multiple horror movies that feature characters inspired by Mickey Mouse. Within the first three days of the year, we saw the short film The Vanishing of S.S. Willie, a trailer for the slasher movie Mickey’s Mouse Trap, and an announcement that Terrifier 2 producers Steven Della Salla and Michael Leavy and director Steven LaMorte, who previously made the Grinch-inspired horror movie The Mean One, were teaming up for a Steamboat Willie-inspired horror flick that we now know is titled Screamboat. The film had been aiming for a January 2025 release, but Iconic Events Releasing recently announced that they’ll be releasing it on April 2nd. With that date right around the corner, a trailer for Screamboat has now made its way online, and you can watch it in the embed above.
David Howard Thornton, who plays Art the Clown in the Terrifier films and brought the horror version of the Grinch to life in The Mean One, is playing the horror version of Steamboat Willie in Screamboat. Thornton is joined in the cast by Allison Pittel (Stream), Amy Schumacher (The Mean One), Jesse Posey (Teen Wolf), Jesse Kove (Cobra Kai), Rumi C Jean-Louis (Hightown), Jarlath Conroy (George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead), and Charles Edwin Powell (The Exorcist III). Filming is set to take place this summer, and the press release promises the movie will “feature a number of yet-to-be-announced cameo appearances.”
Screamboat will tell the story of a mischievous mouse that stalks a group of New Yorkers on a late night ferry ride, unleashing murderous mayhem on a relaxing commute. Can the ship’s motley crew of travelers find a way to stop a killer creature who has developed a taste for tourists? A previous press release told us LaMorte and the producers are “promising buckets of blood and unhinged chaos as their miniature mouse attacks a group of ferry commuters against the unmistakable backdrop of New York City’s iconic skyline. Screamboat will feature a mix of practical creature effects, miniatures, and cutting edge virtual production to showcase its very mischievous monster slashing his way through a ferry of fear.”
LaMorte is producing Screamboat with Amy Schumacher, Martine Melloul, and the previously mentioned Steven Della Salla and Michael Leavy. Kali Pictures, Sleight of Hand Productions, Reckless Content, and Julien Didon serve as executive producers. The director provided the following statement: “I’m thrilled to be working on Screamboat with such a killer cast from horror legends to comedy icons. David Howard Thornton is bringing our mischievous and murderous take on Steamboat Willie to life like never before. I can’t wait for audiences to laugh and scream with us onboard Screamboat!“ Thornton added: “I’m beyond excited to join this incredible cast and bring Steamboat Willie to life with a horror twist. Screamboat is going to be a horrific and hilarious big screen thrill ride that fans won’t want to miss.“
Speaking with Variety, LaMorte said, “I’m so excited to share our mischievous monster mouse with the world. Screamboat is my way of paying homage to Disney while putting a sinister, yet comedic twist on the classic. Watching David Howard Thornton bring Steamboat Willie to life with the magicians at Quantum Creation FX has been nothing short of amazing — he’s hilarious and murderously entertaining. I can’t wait for audiences to meet Willie and experience the chaos we’ve created.” Variety notes that the practical effects used to transform Thornton into the murderous mouse were designed by Christian Cordella and built by Quantum Creation.
Are you looking forward to Screamboat? Take a look at the trailer, then let us know by leaving a comment below.
The Marvel / Disney+ series Wonder Man will consist of 8 episodes, and those episodes have a wide range of running times
We know the Marvel series Wonder Man is supposed to be released through the Disney+ streaming service sometime in 2025, we just don’t know exactly when it’s going to arrive yet. When it does, Marvel’s Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation Brad Winderbaum says we’re in for a “very sincere, beautiful” show with an episode count of 8.
Wonder Man focuses on one of Marvel’s oldest characters, as title character Simon Williams was introduced back in 1964, in the pages of Avengers #9. “He began his comic book career as a villain but got reintroduced as a hero in the late 1970s. Wonder Man’s civilian name is Simon Williams, and he was a founding member of the Los Angeles-based West Coast Avengers. As an actor and stuntman, Williams’ look included wearing a turtleneck, a red jacket, and sunglasses. Wonder Man strongly relates to Marvel characters Vision and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch. The trio shared several adventures, with Wonder Man and Vision thinking of each other as brothers in action. After Vision was dismantled, the villain-turned-hero developed intense feelings for Wanda.”
MSN notes that Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Candyman) stars and is joined in the cast by Ben Kingsley, who reprises his Iron Man 3 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings role of actor Trevor Slattery; Demetrius Grosse, who plays Simon’s brother, Eric Williams, an Avengers villain from the comics known as the Grim Reaper, and Ed Harris as Simon’s agent, Neal Saroyan. Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton as a producer on the show, with Andrew Guest (Hawkeye) serving as the head writer.
Winderbaum told Collider that Wonder Man is “a very new flavor for Marvel. It’s straight from the minds of Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest. Honestly, it is one of my favorite things ever. I think it’s the best show no one’s ever seen, and I’m very excited to see the audience reaction to it. I think it’s a love letter to what we do as filmmakers. It’s a love letter to acting as a profession, and it’s a very sincere, kind of beautiful show.” Winderbaum went on to say that the episode runtimes range from 20-something to 40-something minutes.
Almost a year has gone by since Winderbaum updated Agents of Fandom on the status of both Wonder Man and another Marvel / Disney+ series, Ironheart. He said, “We’re editing both of those shows as we speak. They’re spectacular, they’re amazing, and they’re different… We’re able to explore corners of the universe that are really exciting. Riri Williams is one of them and I cannot wait for people to meet Simon Williams.“ We’ve since learned that Ironheart is going to premiere on June 24th. Wonder Man is expected to come along sometime in December.
Are you interested in Wonder Man? What do you think of the 8 episode count and Winderbaum’s description of the show? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
