Showtime has unveiled a wintry poster for Yellowjackets season 2, which will premiere next month. Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis star

Nearly a year has gone by since Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, the showrunners of the Showtime series Yellowjackets, told Variety that they were calling season 2 of the series “The Winter of Their Discontent.” Yellowjackets season 2 is now set to begin airing on March 26th (or you can catch it streaming and On Demand two days earlier, on March 24th), and a poster has arrived online to offer a preview of this crazy winter. You can check it out at the bottom of this article.

Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis star in Yellowjackets, which is is described as “equal parts survival epic, horror story, and coming-of-age drama.” The story centers on a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the Ontario wilderness. The series will chronicle their descent from a complicated but thriving team to warring, cannibalistic clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over.

Created, written, executive produced by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, the series also stars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Ella Purnell, Sammi Hanratty, Sophie Thatcher, Steven Krueger, Amy Okuda, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Courtney Eaton, and Liv Hewson.

New cast additions in Yellowjackets season 2 will include Elijah Wood (the Lord of the Rings trilogy), Lauren Ambrose (Servant), Simone Kessell (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Nicole Maines (Supergirl), François Arnaud (The Borgias), Nia Sondaya (Truth Be Told), and guest star Jason Ritter (Freddy vs. Jason).

Ricci and Hanratty play the present and teenage versions of Misty, “the Yellowjackets’ equipment manager. Eager to please and easy to overlook, Misty’s abundance of team spirit belies a hidden dark side.” Lewis plays the present day version of a character named Natalie, with Sophie Thatcher playing the teenage Natalie. “Despite her natural talent, Natalie’s punk rock spirit and habit of finding trouble make her the unlikeliest member of the team. As an adult, Natalie struggles to quiet the demons that still haunt her from her time in the wilderness.” Purnell’s character is Jackie, “the Yellowjackets’ magnetically charismatic, effortlessly popular, occasionally entitled team captain.” Lynskey and Nelisse are the present and teen versions of a character named Shauna. “25 years later, Shauna is on a mission to reclaim her agency — her life — while doing everything in her power to keep her darkest secrets safe.” Krueger plays Ben Scott, “the assistant coach and the object of many an unrequited crush.” Okuda is Cat Wheeler, “a history teacher recruited to bolster the female presence on the coaching staff, despite knowing literally nothing about soccer.” Cypress and Brown are both playing the character Taissa, “the star player on the Yellowjackets squad; now, 25 years later, her political ambitions threaten to derail the survivors’ pact of secrecy.” Hewson and Ambrose play Yellowjackets team member Van. Eaton and Kessell play team member Lottie, who was forced to go off her anti-psychotic medication after the plane crash. Maines is playing Lisa, “an associate of Adult Lottie, who is trying to recover from past trauma”. Arnaud is playing Paul, “a New York writer and secret boyfriend of Coach Scott who reminds Coach Scott of what might have been”. Sondaya replaces Keeya King as Teen Akilah. Wood’s character is Walter, “a dedicated Citizen Detective”.

Are you looking forward to Yellowjackets season 2? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Here is the wintry poster:

Uncork’d Entertainment has released a trailer for the documentary Back to the Drive-In, coming to digital and VOD next month

I love going to see movies at the drive-in theatre – in fact, if given the choice between going to an in-door theatre or a drive-in theatre, I’d choose the drive-in most of the time. It’s very difficult to beat the option of getting to watch two movies for the price of one from the comfort of your car. And given my appreciation for the drive-in experience (and for drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs), I’m glad to see that Uncork’d Entertainment will be giving a drive-in tribute documentary called Back to the Drive-In a digital and VOD release on March 14th. You can watch a trailer for the documentary in the embed above.

Directed by April Wright, Back to the Drive-In has the following synopsis: BACK TO THE DRIVE-IN takes viewers behind the scenes to visit eleven unique family-owned drive-ins across the country – including L.A’s Mission Tiki, the Field of Dreams Drive-In, and the Wellfleet in Cape Cod – to experience their passion and determination to keep their theaters alive. It’s a story of human resilience.

The documentary previously had a theatrical release, during which it played at many drive-in theatres and racked up some rave reviews. Interviewees in the documentary include D. Edward Vogel, Dwight Grimm, and Leigh Van Swall.

What did you think of the Back to the Drive-In trailer? Will you be watching this movie when it reaches digital and VOD next month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Also let us know if you have ever been to a drive-in theatre – and if you have, share some of your favorite drive-in experiences. While I enjoy going to see newly released movies at the drive-in, I have also been able to attend some all-night classic horror movie marathons at drive-ins as well, and those were really fun to sit through. Especially since the drive-ins I went to would allow customers to bring their dogs, so I was able to watch awesome movies from my car and enjoy some delicious food from the concession stand, with my dogs relaxing in the car with me the whole time.

Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t have to work again for the rest of his life. The star has cemented his legacy and financial security with the Marvel juggernauts that he had partook in. However, outside of the Tony Stark character, Downey also brought a classic franchise into a modern retelling with the action comedies of the Sherlock Holmes movies. The films were also brought to life in a fresh way thanks to the stylistic take of director Guy Ritchie. The last film, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, was released just over a decade ago. Ever since then a third film has been in an out of development, and if you want an update about when (or if) we can expect a third film, Guy Ritchie says you have you ask Downey.

Collider recently asked Ritchie about Sherlock Holmes 3, and he says it will happen if Robert Downey Jr. wants it to happen.

“Well, honestly, I left this up to Robert [Downey Jr.]. So Robert wanted to be in charge of this. The ball’s in his court, so he’s in charge of the script. He’s in charge of the whole thing. I’ve moonwalked out of that until there’s a time for me to get involved.”

This first Sherlock Holmes film was the biggest box office success of Guy Ritchie at the time of release, with $209 million grossed in North America while it made $524 million worldwide. The second film surpassed the global total with $543 million worldwide, although it grossed only $186 million in North America. A third movie is usually a sweet spot for rounding out a character and story arc, as well as giving fans a good length of movie series that feels epic enough without delving into too many unnecessary sequels. In the meantime, Guy Ritchie has the long-delayed Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre finally hitting theaters this weekend.

Downey had settled into life-after-Marvel with the not-so-well received Dolittle after concluding the story on his Iron Man alter ego. Recently, the actor released a documentary on his father simply titled, Sr. And just recently, a Marvel exec was stated as saying that are no plans to bring Downey back in any capacity to the future MCU. Could that be a ruse?

A batch of images from Anna Camp’s supernatural horror movie From Black have been revealed as Shudder shifts the release date

Last month, we heard that a supernatural horror movie called From Black, starring Anna Camp of the Pitch Perfect films, the HBO television series True Blood, and A Creepshow Holiday Special, would be available to watch on the Shudder streaming service on April 13th. Now it’s being reported (by Deadline, among others) that Shudder has pushed the release of From Black back a couple weeks to April 28th – and along with the new release date news, a batch of images from the film have also arrived online! Our friends at Bloody Disgusting got their hands on several From Black images, and a select few of them can be seen at the bottom of this article.

The narrative feature debut of Thomas Marchese, who previously directed the documentary Fallen, From Black will tell the story of what happens when a young mother, crushed by guilt and shame after the disappearance of her young son five years previously, is offered a bizarre opportunity to learn the truth and set things right. The movie asks whether she is she willing to pay the terrifying price for a chance to hold her boy again.

Camp is joined in the cast by Jennifer Lafleur (Big Little Lies), John Ales (Euphoria), Travis Hammer (Godless), and Richie Montgomery (Ozark).

Marchese wrote the script with Jessup Flower and is producing the project for Dark Room Films. Vincent Cardinale and K7 Entertainment’s Kelly Frazier are also producing. Camp serves as executive producer alongside Cesar Mercado, Humberto Carillo, and Amp’s James Norrie, Bob Portal, and Inderpal Singh. Amp is handling the world sales.

Marchese previously told Deadline the idea behind From Black was to “take a dark police procedural and cross it into a flat-out terrifying supernatural horror story. And I really feel we have nailed the tone and hit that mark in a big way.“

Filming took place in Natchez, Mississippi. Speaking with The Natchez Democrat, Frazier said that watching From Black is meant to be a very emotional experience for viewers, as “it shows us the lengths a mother will go in order to find her missing child.” Cardinale informed the newspaper that Camp’s character Cora is a recovering drug addict who is “desperate for closure and saddled by crushing guilt after the disappearance of her young son.”

Are you looking forward to From Black? Check out the images, then let us know by leaving a comment below. I will definitely be watching this movie on Shudder at some point.

New images from the horror comedy Renfield feature cast members Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, and Nicolas Cage (as Dracula!)

Universal Pictures will be releasing their Dracula comedy Renfield, starring Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as his titular lackey, on April 14th – and with that date just over a month away, a few new images from the film have arrived (thanks to Total Film) and can be seen at the bottom of this article. These images feature Hoult’s Renfield, Awkwafina as traffic cop Rebecca Quincy, Shohreh Aghdashloo as a feared crime lord named Ella, and yes, Cage’s Dracula.

Based on a treatment written by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, Renfield was directed by Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War) from a screenplay by Ryan Ridley (Rick and Morty). In Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, R.M. Renfield was an inmate at a lunatic asylum who was thought to be suffering from delusions but actually is a servant of Dracula.

In this film, Renfield has been serving the bloodsucker for centuries, and now he has grown sick and tired of his centuries as Dracula’s lackey. The henchman finds a new lease on life life and maybe even redemption when he falls for feisty, perennially angry traffic cop Rebecca Quincy.

The actors mentioned above (and seen in the images below) are joined in the cast by Adrian Martinez as Rebecca’s traffic cop partner Chris, Bess Rous as “people in toxic relationships” support group member Caitlyn, and James Moses Black and Ben Schwartz in unspecified roles.

While Universal is developing several monster projects, they were excited to get Renfield into production first. According to Deadline, the story’s “mix of humor and action was something the studio was looking for because so many of the other properties have more of a horror element to them.” 

Kirkman, who has described the film as “a violent comedy”, is producing Renfield with David Alpert, Bryan Furst, and Sean Furst of Skybound Entertainment, alongside McKay’s producing partner Samantha Nisenboim.

Renfield has been rated R for bloody violence, some gore, language throughout, and some drug use.

Are you looking forward to Renfield, and what did you think of the new images? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Tom Cruise recalls getting emotional reuniting with Val Kilmer on the set of Top Gun: Maverick; “He instantly became Iceman again.”

Top Gun: Maverick was one of the biggest successes of the last year, with Steven Spielberg even saying that the film “might have saved the entire theatrical industry,” but it wasn’t all big-screen action and death-defying stunts. There was plenty of emotion to be had in Top Gun: Maverick, particularly when Pete “Maverick” Mitchel (Tom Cruise) shared the screen with Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer).

Tom Cruise recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and revealed that the scene between Val Kilmer and himself in Top Gun: Maverick was just as emotional behind-the-scenes as it appeared on screen, if not more so. “I just want to say that was pretty emotional,” Cruise said. “I’ve known Val for decades, and for him to come back and play that character… He’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again. You’re looking at Iceman… I was crying. I got emotional. He’s such a brilliant actor, and I love his work.“

In a film filled with thrilling flight sequences, there’s something to be said for one of the most powerful scenes in the film consisting of two men standing in a room together. Val Kilmer spoke last year about reuniting with Tom Cruise on the set of Top Gun: Maverick, saying that “it was like no time had passed at all… We blew a lot of takes laughing so much. It was really fun… special.”

Given Val Kilmer’s health struggles, you would understand why he didn’t appear in the movie, but Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski has said that there was never any question whether Val Kilmer would return as Iceman. “That was a requirement from Tom, from Jerry [Bruckheimer], from myself,” Kosinski said. “You had to figure out a way to bring Iceman in. We met with Val. He had the idea of how to integrate Iceman in a really authentic way.” Once it came time to shoot the scene, it was obviously emotional for all involved. “[We] spent a lot of time on that scene, writing it, getting ready,” Kosinski explained. “I wasn’t sure how it was going to work. Chris McQuarrie put the final touches on the scene and really convinced me that that scene was going to work. And he was right. It’s a really beautiful scene. We shot it in Los Angeles in a really beautiful house up on a park. Very special to see not only Val and Tom, but Maverick and Iceman back on the screen together.“

In addition to the box-office success of Top Gun: Maverick, the film was also a massive hit when it debuted on Paramount+.

Vincent Cassel says that David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises 2 isn’t going to happen, seemingly the final nail in the coffin of the sequel.

It’s been over fifteen years since the release of David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises and despite rumours of a sequel for over a decade, it seems that Eastern Promises 2 is well and truly dead.

Eastern Promises told the story of Anna (Naomi Watts), a midwife who delivers the baby of a young teenage prostitute who dies in childbirth. After learning that the teen had been forced into prostitution by the Russian mafia, she crosses paths with ruthless crime boss Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and his menacing driver Nikolai (Vincent Mortensen). The film also starred Vincent Cassel as Kirill, Semyon’s drunk and ruthless son, and he told The Independent that Eastern Promises 2 isn’t happening. “[Cronenberg] had a wonderful script,” Cassel said. “We were ready to do it and I don’t know why it collapsed. Now I don’t think it will happen any more.“

The Eastern Promises sequel was supposed to have picked up where the first film left off, with Kirill and Nikolai inheriting Semyon’s crime syndicate, with Kirill unaware that Nikolai is secretly working as a double agent. Both Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel were expected to return for the sequel, but Cronenberg spoke with JoBlo back in 2012 to say that the project had fallen apart and was “pretty much dead.” Despite that death, Eastern Promises 2 was revived with original screenwriter Steven Knight in 2019, who said that a script had been written and even claimed that production could get underway that year. “It went through permutations in the sense of, how do you follow Viggo?” Knight said. “We’ve been through that and we’ve moved on and now we’re in a position where I will say, ‘watch this space,’ we’re close to getting into production.” The sequel transformed into Small Dark Room, a thriller set in the same Russian mob world with Jason Statham tapped to star, but it’s been a while since we heard anything about that project.

David Cronenberg said that the original plan for Eastern Promises 2 would have involved Viggo Mortensen’s character in Russia. “I really wanted to see Nikolai go back to Russia, because one of the things I wanted in the first movie was that you see a bunch of Russians in London, but you never see them in Russia,” Cronenberg told IndieWire. “In other words, you experience their exile, and they are trying to recreate some of Russia within London.“

Vincent Cassel is currently starring alongside Eva Green in Liaison, a high-stakes, contemporary thriller series for Apple TV+ exploring how the mistakes of our past have the potential to destroy our future, combining action with an unpredictable, multilayered plot where espionage and political intrigue play out against a story of passionate and enduring love.

Guy Ritchie says that they’re kicking some ideas around for Aladdin 2 and would very much like to return to direct the sequel.

After Disney’s live-action adaptation of Aladdin made over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, it came as no surprise that the studio quickly began developing a sequel. But four years later, we’ve heard very little about the project moving forward. Collider recently sat down with Guy Ritchie and asked him if he will be returning to direct Aladdin 2.

“I’d very much like to,” Guy Ritchie said. “I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed that experience. It was a great experience. That whole Disney thing, as you can imagine, is such a professional outfit. Just from that perspective, it was so much fun. I would very much like to, we’ll wait and see.” The director added that they’ve “been kicking some ideas around for some time now, but it’d be great to do, it would be great to go back there.“

Mena Massoud, who played Aladdin in the live-action movie, offered an update on Aladdin 2 last year. “I don’t know that there is movement,” Massoud said. “There was a change with the writers, and they are working on a brand new draft. That’s all I know. If Aladdin 2 happens, that’s fantastic. I think it should happen. Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich of Rideback Productions, who did the Lego movies and Aladdin, want to make sure they get this right. So if we do see Aladdin 2, it’s not going to be based off the animated version at all. This is going to be a brand new original story.” The original Aladdin was followed by two direct-to-video sequels, The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves.

As for whether Will Smith will return as the Genie for Aladdin 2, Guy Ritchie has said that he wouldn’t hesitate to ask the actor back, despite the whole Oscar slap controversy. “I’ve never met a more lovely man, and working with him was one of the most wonderful, great experiences I’ve ever had,” Ritchie said. “I never saw anything other than the consummate, generous gentleman. I wouldn’t have any issue casting Will Smith in anything because, as I say, he was just the fucking perfect gentleman.”

Are you down for Aladdin 2, and would you like Guy Ritchie to return as director?