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Oppenheimer V Barbie: Comparing The Two Wildest Movie Casts In Years Paramount / Netflix By Lyvie Scott/April 27, 2022 2:00 pm EST The casting process for Greta Gerwig’s forthcoming “Barbie,” as well as Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” is not unlike the process of picking teams in middle school gym class. Gerwig and Nolan are not so much “casting” their respective films as they are assembling the most talented dodgeball league humankind has ever seen....

Pachinko Showrunner Soo Hugh On Adapting A Beloved Novel And Exploring A Generational Divide [Interview] Apple TV+ By Shania Russell/March 25, 2022 2:32 pm EST Adapting the beloved Min Jin Lee novel “Pachinko” for television came with a certain amount of pressure. The historical epic follows a single Korean family across generations as they leave their homeland and immigrate to Japan in search of opportunities to survive and thrive. Lee’s extraordinary novel quickly became a New York Times bestseller, in addition to winning the Medici Book Club Prize and other prestigious awards....

Paramount+ Gained 27 Million Subscribers In 2021 Paramount+ By Sandy Schaefer/March 8, 2022 11:49 am EST It seems that all those “Star Trek” series and “Yellowstone” shows (yes, for those unaware, the dads of the world now have a shared universe all their own) on Paramount+ are doing the trick after all. The streamer gained 27 million subscribers in 2021, which was far more than any other streaming service added over that same period of time, per Antenna’s Year in Streaming Report....

Production Suspended On Bill Murray And Aziz Ansari Movie Being Mortal Netflix By Sandy Schaefer/April 21, 2022 10:56 am EST We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Aziz Ansari’s feature film directing debut, “Being Mortal,” is hitting the brakes. Searchlight Pictures has formally suspended filming on the comedy-drama, citing a complaint that was filed last week. “After reviewing the circumstances, it has been decided that production cannot continue at this time,” wrote the studio in a letter issued to the “Being Mortal” cast and crew....

Remembering That ’80s TV Movie Where Thor Fought The Hulk NBC By Erin Brady/July 5, 2022 10:00 am EST “Avengers: Endgame” might be the most ambitious crossover of all time, but it did lack one important aspect of Marvel’s on-screen history; their low-budget television shows that aired between the ’70s and ’90s. Perhaps the most famous show from this era was “The Incredible Hulk,” which ran on CBS from 1978 to 1982....

Silverton Siege Trailer: A Tense Hostage Thriller Explores The Origins Of The Free Mandela Movement Netflix By Shania Russell/March 24, 2022 10:20 am EST Between film and TV, there are more than enough examples of hostage negotiations gone wrong. Just last week Netflix released “Windfall,” a prime example of how tense situations can bring out the worst in people. But every now and then, being cornered can be a source of great inspiration: so was the case for one infamous trio of South African freedom fighters....

So Much Yummier: The Fabulous Legacy Of Selina Kyle Warner Bros. Pictures By Lyvie Scott/March 11, 2022 9:00 am EST It makes sense that a character who’s been around for more than 80 years should be reincarnated every once in a while, and in “The Batman,” Selina Kyle has made perfect use of her nine (and counting) lives. Since debuting in 1940 in Bill Finger and Bob Kane’s “Batman #1,” Catwoman has been many things: first the jewel thief known only as “The Cat,” then eventually Selina Kyle, and even at one point — to everyone’s dismay — one Patience Phillips....

Conspiracy Theories XYZ Films “Something In The Dirt” is about two guys chain-smoking cigarettes and bouncing ideas off each other. Such a concept could’ve backfired wildly, but Benson and Moorehead have become so good at this that “Something In The Dirt” is fire on all cylinders. Sometimes you watch a movie and know right from the jump that you’re in for something special. That’s the case here; this movie is bursting with mad, frenetic energy, and constantly tossing out weird ideas almost immediately, and it hooks you, amuses you, draws you in, and catches you off guard....

Spider-Man: No Way Home Is Officially The Fourth Highest Grossing Movie Of All Time Marvel Studios By Jenna Busch/Jan. 19, 2022 10:29 am EST Spider-Man, Spider-Man! Does whatever a Spider-Man film can! Forgive my lame attempt at humor in song form, but this is pretty big news. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is now officially the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time, not adjusted for inflation, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film of many Spider-Men (Spiders-Men?...

The movie: Spider-Man Sony Pictures It is no secret that even before “Blade” helped make Marvel a bankable cinematic brand, Hollywood had some interest in turning “Spider-Man” into a movie franchise. James Cameron famously wrote a massive treatment for a radically different version of the film that would never come to pass. In the late ’90s, Sony Pictures had managed to secure the complicated movie rights (a move that is still benefiting them greatly to this day) and began putting together a version of the film that would actually get made....

The Magnificent Seven (2016) Columbia Pictures What if Antoine Fuqua’s “The Magnificent Seven” went by any other name? That’s the question that ran through my mind when I rewatched the movie. Approaching John Sturges’ all-time great Western is a daunting task, like playing a game on maximum difficulty from the jump. Even Denzel Washington can’t soften that. But if Fuqua’s Western was a blatant rip-off of the original masterpiece under a different name, it would likely be more appreciated....

The Halo TV Series Will Exist In A New Timeline Paramount+ By Sandy Schaefer/Dec. 17, 2021 12:13 pm EST Originally developed by Bungie in 2001, the “Halo” franchise has expanded well beyond video games to encompass novels, comic books, and now a live-action series. But for those who are curious about the “Halo” TV show despite having only a vague impression of what the property is even about (Me; I’m talking about people like me....

The Real-Life Inspirations Behind The Characters In RRR Variance Films / Sarigama Cinemas By Witney Seibold/June 24, 2022 4:33 pm EST S.S. Rajamouli has quickly become something of a household name in the last few months, thanks to the sudden success of his enormous — and enormously entertaining — “RRR,” a sprawling three-hour action epic that features fights, gun battles, wild animal attacks, superhuman feats of strength and stamina, and more than a few upbeat dance numbers....

The Witcher Season 3 Will Be Based On The Time Of Contempt Netflix By Joshua Meyer/Dec. 23, 2021 11:58 am EST “The Witcher” season 2 just hit Netflix last week, but if you’ve already binged all eight episodes, you may already be looking forward to season 3. There was a two-year gap between season 1 and 2 of “The Witcher,” thanks partly to the pandemic and an on-set injury that the show’s star, Henry Cavill, suffered....

The Wizard Of Oz Almost Premiered Without Its Signature Song MGM By Mike Shutt/Feb. 24, 2022 12:46 pm EST Look, it is no secret that some people in charge of making movies have very little sense about what makes a good movie. Sometimes they really want their son to be a movie star, and sometimes they just desperately want a giant mechanical spider in a movie. A lot of these big wigs are only thinking about how to get the most butts in seats and eagerly want them to return to those seats time and time again....

This Is The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power’s Biggest Departure From Tolkien’s Novels Shadows of the Past The Second Age is a seminal time period within the narrative ambit of “The Lord of the Rings,” as this stretch of time lasted for roughly 3,441 years and ended with the defeat of Sauron and his army, a century after the Downfall of Númenor. Of course, it’s important to note that the One Ring was forged, or rather, came into existence during this period, hence making it a critical rite of passage from a temporal perspective....

This Year’s Big Oscar Contenders Have Hardly Made A Dent In The Box Office Focus Features By Ryan Scott/Jan. 3, 2022 1:24 pm EST 2021 is in the books and, with the early months of any year largely devoid of big movies, it paves the way for cinema buffs to focus on awards season to kick off 2022. That will get going in a big way next month when the Academy Awards nominations are announced on February 8....

Burton wanted to cast Sammy Davis Jr. as Beetlejuice In a 1999 episode of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” Tim Burton appeared as a guest to promote the release of “Sleepy Hollow,” when he was asked to talk about the weirdest reaction he’d ever received from a studio executive. Burton chuckles quietly to himself, and then admits that his original choice for the titular role in “Beetlejuice” was Sammy Davis Jr....

Pro-military with a dash of sports Paramount Pictures The last movie to receive an A+ CinemaScore was the football film “American Underdog,” starring Zachary Levi, which opened last year on Christmas Day. Sports movies tend to fare well with CinemaScore audiences, as evidenced by the A+ for movies like “Remember the Titans,” “Cinderella Man,” “42,” “Woodlawn,” and “Ford vs. Ferrari.” “Top Gun: Maverick” does feature a beach football scene in place of the infamous volleyball game from the original 1986 film, and it’s also a film with a distinct military bent....

Two Hollywood Heavyweights Went Uncredited For Their Work On The Rock Buena Vista Pictures By Collier Jennings/April 7, 2022 12:31 pm EST I wouldn’t exactly call myself a fan of Michael Bay’s work — his “Transformers” saga will forever haunt my nightmares — but there are two films of his that I genuinely enjoy. The first is “The Island,” which in the tradition of great science fiction has a killer hook and a great cast (Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Sean Bean, AND Djimon Hounsou?...