Matthew Monagle
Chadwick Boseman Has 7 Days to Kill in the Red Band ‘Message From the King’ Trailer
It isn’t always easy for Marvel actors to work on other projects after they’ve committed themselves to several years of blockbuster movies and marketing appearances. That’s why it’s so nice to see Chadwick Boseman in a movie where he doesn’t just play another superhero. After having its world premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, Boseman’s neo-noir Message From the King finally has a trailer (via /Film) to go with its intriguing premise. It’s nice to get a reminder of Boseman’s acting chops and why Marvel wanted him so badly in the first place.
Emily Blunt Shines in These New ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ Set Photos
When word got out that Emily Blunt had been cast as the title character in Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns, the overwhelming response from most people was, “Well, sure.” Blunt has proven herself to be genre agnostic over the years, as likely to wow audiences in a science-fiction or action film as she is in a light-hearted comedy. That alone would make her an ideal candidate for Mary Poppins — as the rare actress capable of convincing audiences that she’d do justice to an iconic character — but she also bears a physical resemblance to Julie Andrews to boot. You couldn’t ask for better casting.
Tom Cruise Is Still Screaming Weird in the Second ‘The Mummy’ Trailer
To understand why I’m more excited than most for The Mummy, it’s important to make a list of all the things that I’m a sucker for. Tom Cruise movies? Check. Trailers or commercials that use the Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint it Black’ as a musical cue? Check-check. Movies where soldiers fight monsters? Check-check-check. In fact, if you do the math, the only thing on my Hollywood wishlist that the second The Mummy trailer doesn’t deliver is a John Wick-style gunfight, and there’s still time. One of those might still find its way into the final movie.
Annabelle Is Aliiiiiiive in the First Trailer for ‘Annabelle: Creation’
Would the horror genre work as the basis for a cinematic universe? It’s an interesting question. While horror films are certainly no strangers to sequels and prequels — there are eleven Friday the 13th movies, after all, and most of them are pretty much unrelated outside of their central villains — they are fairly reliant on individual characters to support the weight of new movies. There’s not enough depth to the Friday the 13th franchise to make a movie thatdoesn’t feature Jason Voorhees; for a horror film to truly inspire its own cinematic universe, you’d need a B-roll of characters who could each terrify audiences in their own right.
You’ll Never Travel Abroad Again After Watching the ‘Berlin Syndrome’ Trailer
Every year, it seems like someone makes an argument that horror films are better than they’ve ever been in the past. And while the incredible success of Get Out means that 2017 is off to a great start for horror movies, the truth is, horror movies have been pretty darn great for a while now. The last decade has seen innovative filmmakers — even filmmakers not known for horror movies — use the genre to make inexpensive films with a few buckets of blood and something smart to say. Why waste time trying to figure out which individual year was the best when we could just watch some movies?
Behold, the Pulp Masterpiece That Is the Final ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’ Trailer
Popular culture travels in waves. A decade or so ago, when every studio was trying to copy The Matrix and start their own action franchises dripping with self-serious stylization and slow-motion fights, I would’ve killed for a summer movie that took a grounded approach to heroes and villains. Now, after several years of Marvel movies and grimdark blockbusters, the pendulum has swung back the other way. It’s not that Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword looks like a good movie, per se. It’s just that I’m in a place where I can really appreciate its goofiness.
Javier Bardem Vows Revenge in the Latest ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ Trailer
Disney
The smartest thing that the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise ever did was introduce a revolving door of ghost pirate enemies. I don’t really care why Javier Bardem’s character hates Jack Sparrow, nor do I think for a moment that this is the film that will permanently kill Johnny Depp’s character off for good, but those plots points are secondary, the franchise’s equivalent of a ghost McGuffin (a McGhostin?). All I really care about is seeing charismatic actors like Bardem play campy villains.
Nicole Kidman Is Searching for Adventure in This ‘Queen of the Desert’ Trailer
If you read up on the life of explorer Gertrude Bell, it’s abundantly clear that this is a woman whose story should be told. In 2003, The Guardian devoted an entire article to the influence her cartography had on the modern Middle East, with Bell practically drawing the country border of Iraq by her lonesome. And now audiences will be able to explore her legacy with Queen of the Desert (via Deadline), a new film starring Nicole Kidman and both written and directed by the legendary Werner Herzog.
Watch the ‘Justice League’ Come Together in the First Theatrical Trailer
When we last left the caped crusader, things weren’t looking all that bright. Sure, he had a new super-friend in the form of Diana Prince, but Superman — the complete-stranger-turned-mortal-enemy-turned-best-friend in Batman’s life — has sacrificed his life to protect Earth (or something) and now the weight of protecting our planet rested heavily on the shoulders of Bruce Wayne. If Wayne could organize others like him, then maybe Earth could stand a fighting chance.
Rocket Plans a Disgusting Revenge in This ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Clip
If the first batch of trailers and clips have shown us anything, it’s that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is going to be Drax show. Dave Bautista famously cried when he was told that he would be playing Drax in Marvel’s new franchise; the direct-to-video market is littered with the work of former professional wrestlers who tried their hand at becoming action stars, and playing Drax meant that Bautista would escape the same outcome of some of his peers. As a result, Bautista poured his heart and soul into this character. It definitely shows.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Kong: Skull Island’ Climbs to the Top of the Charts
While the giant ape in Kong: Skull Island may not climb any New York skyscrapers this time around, he certainly did climb the box office charts. The latest Warner Bros. monster movie shot all the way to the top spot in its opening weekend, with Logan and the surprising hit Get Out both shifting one spot down to accommodate him.
A New ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ Clip Shows Humanity’s Dark Future
With Michael Bay hanging up his transforming robot spurs after this summer’s Transformers: The Last Knight, a lot seems to be hinging on the success of his final outing. Paramount already has plans to create a Transformers cinematic universe with a series of movies based on individual characters from the series; should Bay’s final film trip coming out of the gate, it could throw a wrench into a pretty expensive set of gears. And while no one would confuse me with the world’s biggest Transformers fan, the hint of time travel and goofy historical retconning at least makes this one seem kind of fun.