All My Friends Are Dead, a slasher directed by Marcus Dunstan and starring Jade Pettyjohn and JoJo Siwa, is now filming

At one point, Saw VI director Kevin Greutert was on board to direct a slasher movie called All My Friends Are Dead… but then Greutert got busy working on the upcoming sequel Saw X and ended up handing the helm over to Marcus Dunstan – the director of The Collector and co-writer of Saw VI. All My Friends Are Dead is now filming in Vancouver with Dunstan at the helm, and the first image from the film has been unveiled. You can take a look at this image, which features star Jade Pettyjohn of the School of Rock TV series, at the bottom of this article.

John Baldecchi is producing All My Friends Are Dead with Kirk Shaw and Stephanie Rennie, while Dominic Ianno, Sarah Donnelly, Jason Resnick, Suraj Gohill, Dan Rubin, Chris McGurk, Yolanda Macias, and Brad Miska serve as executive producers. Scripted by Josh Sims and Jessica Sarah Flaum, the film will tell the following story: A group of close college friends get a steal on a killer Airbnb for the biggest music festival of the year. A weekend of partying quickly takes a turn for the worse, as the group is murdered one by one. They soon discover that each one of their deaths directly corresponds to one of the seven deadly sins.

Pettyjohn is joined in the cast by JoJo Siwa, Jennifer Ens, Ali Fumiko Whitney, Justin Derickson, Julian Haig, Cardi Wong, Jack Doupe-Smith, and Michaella Russell.

All My Friends Are Dead is being financed by Banc of California and Budding Equity, among others. Distribution deals have been secured in multiple territories, with Cinedigm holding the North American rights.

Miska, Managing Director of Bloody Disgusting and Cinedigm, had this to say about the project: “Scream has revitalized the ‘90s slasher and All My Friends Are Dead delivers all the gory fun of those classic films with modern flair. It’s going to deliver all of the gory goods that horror fans expect to see when Marcus Dunstan gets behind the camera.“

Sarah Donnelly, Head of Production at Roundtable, added: “This is a landmark moment for the highly-anticipated Roundtable and Cinedigm collaboration, as All My Friends Are Dead is the debut thriller that launched this exciting partnership. Production in Vancouver is going beautifully, thanks to the skilled work of producers Kirk and Stephanie, the dedicated local crew, and the incredibly creative direction of Marcus Dunstan. Fans of the genre are not going to want to miss this one.“

I’m very interested to see how All My Friends Are Dead is going to turn out. Are you interested in this one? Let us know by leaving a comment below… and check out the first image while you’re scrolling down.

It’s not great quality, but it’s something:

Disney’s The Little Mermaid remake has a couple of winning performances, but ultimately feels unnecessary.

PLOT: Young Ariel (Halle Bailey) yearns to explore the world beyond the sea but is forbidden by her father, King Triton (Javier Bardem). When she meets a handsome prince (Jonah Hauer-King), she hitches a plan to explore dry land but makes a deadly bargain with the evil Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), which could imperil the undersea kingdom.

REVIEW: I’ve never really been down with Disney’s decision to take all their best-animated films and make them into live-action. To me, it’s never made sense. Would you make Toy Story live-action? What’s worse is that, typically, these live-action movies run at least half an hour longer than their animated counterparts and are bloated with extraneous musical numbers and plotting, making them an altogether less fun experience than the classics we grew up with. Have any of them been good? I suppose Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book comes the closest. Still, I must admit to preferring Andy Serkis’ more provocative (and demented) take on the material for Netflix – Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.

Despite two inspired bits of casting, The Little Mermaid is more of the same. Running a whopping fifty or so minutes longer than the original, it’s padded out with Lin Manuel-Miranda songs which, while good, aren’t as catchy as the late Howard Ashman originals. In a poor bit of timing, Disney Plus almost scuttled a documentary on his life only to reverse course. The people behind this movie treat him with more respect, leaving most of his classic tunes intact. Directed by Rob Marshall, who made Mary Poppins Returns for Disney, like the other live-action versions, this is a decent movie. Still, it’s unlikely to replace the animated original in anyone’s heart.

However, I will give them this – two main roles have been inspiringly well cast. Halle Bailey was a controversial (for some) choice to be Ariel, but it’s hard to imagine even the most reluctant critic not being won over by her charming performance. She plays the part very much in the tradition of what was done in the animated movie. Many people thought this version of The Little Mermaid would be too modernized, but Ariel is just how she was in the cartoon, naive, headstrong and lovable.

Melissa McCarthy was the other smart choice, with her having a whale of a time as Ursula. She brings just the right amount of camp to her portrayal, and she can belt out a show tune with the best of them, doing a terrific job with “Poor Unfortunate Soul.” When McCarthy and Bailey are on-screen, the movie works.

The rest of the cast is more of a mixed bag. Javier Bardem’s King Triton winds up being a pretty thinly conceived part, and he’s probably too grounded of an actor for it. McCarthy injected her role with a ton of camp, and Bardem should have done the same. Leading man Jonah Hauer-King, while handsome (his shirt tends to get ripped open by waves regularly), doesn’t have the charisma to make us believe Ariel would give up her undersea kingdom for him. However, the same was arguably true of the cartoon…

Of the animated critters Ariel calls her friends, I did find how photo-realistic they were a touch creepy. I loved Daveed Diggs’ voice work as Sebastian, but he looked too real. I wish they had made him more cartoony – and the same goes for Jacob Tremblay’s Flounder. The character who’s the least faithful to the cartoon, Awkwafina’s Scuttle, actually fares the best, as the actress has a great voice for roles like this. But there’s one bizarre scene where Scuttle eats a fish in front of a Flounder, and it’s laughed off. Wouldn’t Flounder be terrified? Why is he the only fish that can talk? Again though, that’s the problem with going the live-action route and still using the cartoon critters.

I also found the film way too dark in the underwater moments. While I was lucky and saw the film on a premium format screen, the “poor unfortunate souls” that see this on a conventional screen may have a rough time deciphering what’s happening underwater. It’s in vogue to make things dark, but does The Little Mermaid need to look so murky?

Overall, Rob Marshall and Disney’s The Little Mermaid remake is decent enough, thanks to Bailey and McCarthy, but like Aladdin, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and other live-action remakes, it feels unnecessary. The animated version holds up fine, but if they had to give it a live-action upgrade, they did a decent enough job.

6

While Sly is settled at Paramount+, Arnold Schwarzenegger has his chips on Netflix as the streamer pumps up action content.

Netflix wants audiences to know they’re serious about getting into the action game. And what better way to prove it than to appoint one of the biggest names in action movie history, and one of the longest actor names in general, as the Chief Action Officer of the platform. A new video released by Netflix is promoting the upcoming slate of action titles that the streamer is eager to blow your socks off with. And this video is hosted by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger as he starts his first day at his new position with the company.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was famous for being the first to use a military Humvee as a commercial civilian vehicle and this video quite appropriately begins with the former Governor of California crushing a Mercedes Benz with a tank. Was there a stunt driver for this shot? Hell no. It was Arnold-freakin’-Schwarzenegger. “Was it really me driving? Of course it was. I wasn’t going to let someone else have that fun. And yes — it was as easy as it looked.” And according to Netflix, the Terminator star “performed the stunt in just two takes, bulldozing over two different cars with the support of the stunt team he’s worked with for 30 years.” 

He adds a little fun fact about the tank. “I drove this exact tank when I was an 18-year-old in the Austrian army, and many years later I was fortunate enough to be able to bring it to the US. So when Netflix wanted to name me as CAO, I jumped at the opportunity to have a little fun with the tank,” Schwarzenegger says. He restored the antiquated vehicle and now uses it to raise money for charity.

Schwarzenegger is looking forward to a new resurgence with a few projects about to be released, including a new show, a new action film in which he’ll be the star, a new documentary, and a new book. As Netflix promotes the upcoming action comedy FUBAR, which will be starring Arnold and Top Gun: Maverick‘s Monica Barbaro as a father and daughter secret agent duo, the streamer also headlines a smattering of other action titles that will be heading your way shortly this year.

The video which shows Arnold working at Netflix Headquarters, has their new Chief Action Officer pumping iron as he watches Chris Hemsworth fight people in Extraction 2, as well as promoting Jennifer Lopez’s new action vehicle, The Mother, and the upcoming Gal Gadot actioner, Heart of Stone. Of course, he also plugs his own show, FUBAR, which will be streaming this week on May 25th.

The Free Movie of the Day on the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel today is the psychological thriller Definition of Fear

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every other day throughout the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. The Free Movie of the Day we have for you today is the psychological thriller Definition of Fear. You can watch it over on the YouTube channel linked above, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

Written and directed by James Simpson, Definition of Fear has the following synopsis, provided by Simpson himself: Four beautiful girl friends spend the weekend at a holiday cabin by a lake, under the pretense of a ‘girlie weekend away’ organised by Sarah Fording. Sarah has a hidden agenda to secretly film her three friends as part of her PHD Thesis in Psychology. She has set up the weekend to carry out her experiment and secretly film it using hidden cameras. The friends find a Ouija board which has been planted by Sarah, and when they start to play the board, strange paranormal experiences start to happen. They discover that maybe they are not alone, and what turns out to be a girl’s weekend away, turns out to be a weekend from hell.

Katherine Barrell, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sean Tucker, Mercedes Papalia, Matthew Stefiuk, Michael Mancini, Stacey Martin, Blythe Hubbard, Ryan Maisey, Mardy Men, and Gavin Ridgeway star.

Definition of Fear was Simpson’s first and to date remains his only directing credit. Most of his work in the entertainment industry has been done as a producer, starting with an executive producer credit on the thriller Five Moons Plaza in 2003. Over the last twenty years, he has earned over a dozen more producing credits. He does have a few more directing projects in the works: a documentary called Hope, which is said to be in production; the “feel good” movie Love & Pride, in pre-production; and a mysterious project called The Boy Who Said Nothing, also in pre-production.

So take a look at Definition of Fear – it’s free! – then let us know what you thought of it by leaving a comment below or on the YouTube page. After you’ve seen this one, will you be watching the sequels?

The movies that have previously been featured as the Free Movies of the Day can be found at THIS LINK, and also on the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel.

Paul Schrader is one of the most iconic voices in cinema today. From his brilliant script that created a legend with Martin Scorsese’s classic Taxi Driver, to the thought-provoking First Reformed with Ethan Hawke, he’s a true master. His latest effort is a thoughtful and intriguing tale about a man with a secret past who embarks on an unexpected love triangle. Yet this is a Paul Schrader feature, so you will find several layers with these characters. Master Gardener features an incredible cast including Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, and the terrific Quintessa Swindell. And not surprisingly, it features a sharp script from the writer/director himself.

I recently sat down with Sigourney Weaver and Joel Edgerton to discuss their latest. And while my camera took a moment to click, once it did, it was a fascinating chat. Both of these incredible talents opened up about living in this world, and working off of a Paul Schrader script. In fact, it was refreshing hearing them talk about working with such a legend. For Ms. Weaver, this is a very different role than we’ve seen her in before. It’s the type of role that she’s avoided, until now, for very good reasons. As for Mr. Edgerton, he talked at length about bringing such a layered character to life. Master Gardener is currently in theaters, and worth checking out for fans of Mr. Schrader.

Master Gardener has the following synopsis: A meticulous horticulturist is devoted to tending the grounds of a beautiful estate owned by a wealthy dowager. When he’s told to take on her troubled great-niece as an apprentice, his life is thrown into chaos and dark secrets from his past emerge.

A new Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny 4DX poster offers a stylish look at the hero’s return to the silver screen.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is taking theaters by storm on June 30, 2023, and Dolby Cinema is celebrating with an outstanding new poster featuring key players from the cast. The latest promo harkens back to the Indy posters of old, using a light film grain effect to give the image a classic feel. The Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny 4DX poster depicts Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones, Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena Shaw, Mads Mikkelsen as Jürgen Voller, Boyd Holbrook as Klaber, Antonio Banderas as Renaldo, John Rhys-Davies as Sallah, Toby Jones as Basil Shaw, Sahunette Renée Wilson’s Agent Mason, and more!

You can check out the new Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 4DX poster below:

“We’re thrilled to showcase the exclusive Dolby Cinema artwork for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” said Jed Harmsen, Head of Cinema and Group Entertainment at Dolby. “The breathtaking visuals of Dolby Vision and the immersive sounds of Dolby Atmos will have you on the edge of your seat, as you’ll feel right at the center of the film’s heart-pounding chase sequences and treasure hunting escapades. There is no better way to experience this chapter of the iconic Indiana Jones series than at Dolby Cinema.”

Tickets for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny are on sale now at Fandango.

Oddly, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the lowest-rated film in the series on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 52% rating from 31 reviews. However, it’s essential to consider that this number hails from a small handful of critics. Public perception has yet to weigh in, which is a more measured test of a film’s quality. Some reviewers say Dial of Destiny makes an admiral attempt at recapturing the magic of Indy’s adventuring but ultimately comes across as stale and uninspired.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny stars Harrison Ford as the legendary hero archaeologist, as well as Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Mads Mikkelsen (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore), Toby Jones (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), Shaunette Renée Wilson (Black Panther), Thomas Kretschmann (Das Boot), Olivier Richters (Black Widow), Ethann Isidore (Mortel), and John Rhys-Davies (Raiders of the Lost Ark). James Mangold directed and co-wrote the script alongside Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth.

What do you think about the new Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 4DX poster? Will you see Ford’s final turn as the intrepid archaeologist in theaters? Feel free to let us know in the comments below.

Sigourney Weaver hasn’t been asked to reprise the role of Dana Barrett in the Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel

The sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife (watch it HERE), which is scheduled to reach theatres on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, has been filming for a while now – and while cameras are rolling on that project, Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II star Sigourney Weaver, who had a quick cameo in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, is doing the press rounds for the film Master Gardener. (You can see our own Weaver / Master Gardener interview at THIS LINK.) While talking to the folks at Collider about the film, Weaver revealed that she hasn’t been asked to come back for the Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel.

When asked if she’s returning to the world of Ghostbusters, Weaver said, “No, I mean, I wasn’t asked to be in this Ghostbusters, and I think, you know, a little of us goes a long way.”

Ghostbusters: Afterlife stars Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace are back for the sequel, reprising the roles of Trevor and Phoebe. They’re joined in the cast by Carrie Coon, playing Trevor and Phoebe’s mom Callie; Paul Rudd as his Afterlife character Gary Grooberson; Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore, one of the original Ghostbusters; William Atherton as Walter Peck, the antagonistic EPA inspector from the first Ghostbusters film; and new additions Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Patton Oswalt (The King of Queens), James Acaster (Hypothetical), and Emily Alyn Lind (Doctor Sleep).

At first, Afterlife director Jason Reitman was expected to take the helm, once again directing from a screenplay he was writing with Gil Kenan – but then it was revealed that Kenan will actually be directing the new film. He previously directed the animated movie Monster House, the live-action films City of Ember, A Boy Called Christmas, and the remake of Poltergeist, and an episode of the Scream TV series.

When he took the directing job, Kenan said, “It’s an absolute honor to pick up the proton pack and step behind the camera for the next chapter of the Spengler family saga. I just wish I could go back to 1984 and tell the kid in the sixth row of the Mann Valley West that one day he was going to get to direct a Ghostbusters film.“

Reitman added, “A few years ago, my father (Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II director Ivan Reitman) handed me the keys to Ecto-1 and together we made Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Words will never express how grateful I am to have made a film with my father by my side. It’s now time to hand those keys to my creative partner and fellow Ghostbuster Gil Kenan, a brilliant director who will keep the Spengler spirit alive. I can only hope to provide him the same producorial care and support that my father showed me.“

Were you hoping to see Sigourney Weaver in the Ghostbusters: Afterlife sequel, or are you fine with Dana Barrett sitting this one out? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Ron Perlman and Rosanna Arquette are in the cast of the horror thriller Succubus, which is now filming with R.J. Daniel Hanna at the helm

Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction), Brendan Bradley (A Tale Told by an Idiot), Rachel Cook (The Hack Job), Olivia Applegate (Love & Death), Derek Smith (What/If), Emily Kincaid (Hard Miles), and Finley Rose Slater (Playing with Fire) make up the cast of the horror thriller Succubus, which is currently filming. This one is coming our way from Shout! Studios and Convoke Media, and Shout! will be distributing the film in North America.

Written and directed by R.J. Daniel Hanna (Hard Miles), Succubus centers on a new father going through a marital separation who joins a dating app and matches with a beautiful but mysterious young woman… whose powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in a mystery more horrifying than he could have ever imagined.

Todd Slater of Convoke Media is producing the film with Ari Novak and Anna Elizabeth James. John Rhodes, Jennifer Ambrose, and Braden Duemmler serve as executive producers with BondIt Media Capital, the company handling the financing.

Jordan Fields, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Originals at Shout! Studios, provided the following statement to Deadline: “My favorite horror thrillers are ones that have something to say about human beings, and in Succubus, Daniel has crafted a chilling metaphor for the clutch that screens have on us. This will disturb and resonate, like the best of the genre.“

Hanna added: “Succubus is a first-and-foremost a wild and brazen mystery-horror film about the most terrifying series of events that could ever befall a guy who let his nether regions do the thinking for him. But beyond the body horror, which is ample, it also comments on the very real vampire that’s sucking us all dry — our screens. As our hero is drawn by an online siren into her dark yet enticing world, he’s forced to face all he’s left behind, his whole real, meaningful life beyond the glowing rectangle he keeps in his pocket, and try to find a way back to it.“

And Slater had this to say: “Daniel has crafted a story like none that this genre has seen before. He is an incredible storyteller and has created something that I know will make an impact when audiences watch. I’m thrilled to be a part of his vision and the amazing ensemble cast on this one.“

Succubus had my attention as soon as I read that Perlman and Arquette were in the cast, but the filmmaker really sold me when he described his story as “the most terrifying series of events that could ever befall a guy who let his nether regions do the thinking for him”. I look forward to seeing how the movie is going to turn out, and to watching those series of events.

Does Succubus sound interesting to you? Let us know by leaving a comment below.