News

Emma Thompson found more creative fulfillment in Nanny McPhee, which she had a personal connection to, than Harry Potter. Thompson wrote and starred in the Nanny McPhee films, defining them as handmade and close to her heart. While Thompson may have teased not enjoying large studio films, she continued to excel in big-budget movies post-2014, when she made the comment.

Emma Thompson plays a memorable character in the Harry Potter franchise, yet the actor has never felt particularly attached to the beloved franchise, instead choosing another series of movies as "hers". The Harry Potter movie franchise is beloved as the adaptation of J.K. Rowling's groundbreaking fantasy novels and of the many good decisions the filmmakers made over the series, casting an ensemble of legendary British theater actors helped give the "kids'" movies a creative heft and signaled their importance to more mature audiences.

Thompson was cast as the Divination...

There’s a lot to watch on Prime Video in October and, as you may have guessed, there’s spooky stuff galore in amongst Prime’s usual rotation of extensive library content.

In the movie Totally Killer, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina star Kiernan Shipka travels back in time to the 1980s to stop a serial killer. Then there’s Make Me Scream, a Halloween special that challenges celebrities to “a gruesome game of terror.” Renfield will also be streaming on the service for anyone who’s been dying (muahahaha!) to catch the Nic Cage Dracula film.

Outside of Prime Video’s more creepy fare, Shazam! Fury Of The Gods will debut, Upload will be back for a third season, and new film Awareness should scratch your sci-fi itch. Meanwhile, for Frasier heads – those who consider themselves utterly Frasier-pilled – all eleven seasons of the Cheers spinoff show will be streaming at the touch of a button.

If you’re looking for a complete list of every new movie and TV show coming to Amazon Prime Video in October, you’ve come to the right place. This month kicks off with a slew of great library additions, from James Bond films to relatively new releases (“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and the Nicolas Cage Dracula movie “Renfield”) and beyond.

There are also some high-profile originals landing in October. The third season of the sci-fi comedy series “Upload” arrives on Oct. 20, while Oct. 6 marks the release of the Prime Video original film “Totally Killer,” a fun slasher set in the 1980s that stars Kiernan Shipka.

Check out the full list of what’s new on Amazon Prime Video in October 2023 below, followed by a complete list of new arrivals for Freevee in October as well.

Arriving October 1

Frasier, Seasons 1-11 (1994)

Hit, Season 3 (2020)

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

A Guy Thing...

With its list of new releases for August 2023, Prime Video is relying on a heaping dose of fun library movies.

The first of the month brings a big influx of worthwhile flicks, including Galaxy Quest, Saw, F9: The Fast Saga, and Jurassic Park (the last two via Amazon’s Freevee free streaming option). Then some other recents hits arrive later on like the appropriately titled Cocaine Bear on Aug. 15 and the Chris Pine-starring Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves on Aug. 25.

August also sees the arrival of a major Amazon Original movie in the form of Red, White & Royal Blue. Based on a New York Times bestselling book, this LGBTQ romance follows a U.S. president’s son and a British prince. Over on the TV side of things, Prime Video subscribers can check out the Sigourney Weaver project The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart on Aug. 4 and Harlan Coben’s Shelter on Aug.

As we creep towards summer, Netflix has a hot new list of fresh content, including the final season of “Never Have I Ever,” the sophomore season of ‘Human Resources” and the highly anticipated sixth season of “Black Mirror.”

Kicking off the start of the month on mega streamer are lots of family-friendly goodies like both “Nanny McPhee” and “Nanny McPhee Returns,” “Kicking and Screaming,” “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” and the “Angry Birds Movie.” But the adults won’t be left out of the conversation, as more mature flicks and series like “Jarhead,” “Funny People” and “We’re the Millers” are also hitting the platform this month.

And it wouldn’t be Netflix without its originals. “Take Care of Maya,” “Extraction 2” and the Sarah Snook-led “Run Rabit Run” will land on the site in June. And even if this isn’t enough to get you watching, Netflix will be streaming its Tudum festival on Saturday,...

The 2005 movie Nanny McPhee was a surprise hit that even spawned a sequel in 2010, but will there ever be a Nanny McPhee 3? Based loosely on the classic British book series Nurse Matilda by Christianna Brand, the first movie was penned by its star Emma Thompson and concerns a governess who uses her magical abilities to rein in her unruly charges. Remembered for its British sensibility and cheeky sense of humor, Nanny McPhee was an obvious passion project for Thompson, and the film was rewarded by a positive critical response (via Rotten Tomatoes). A franchise began to blossom when Nanny McPhee Returns five years later.

Nanny McPhee was something of a sleeper hit when it was released in 2005, and it managed to gross an impressive $120 million (via Box Office Mojo) against a much smaller budget. In 2010, Nanny McPhee Returns attempted to capture the magic of the original and was met with...

Hulu’s list of new releases for April 2023 don’t feature many blockbusters, but if we dig a little, I’m sure we can find some gems.

Perhaps the most promising items are on the TV side of things. Tiny Beautiful Things premieres on April 7 and stars Kathryn Hahn as “a floundering writer who becomes a revered advice columnist while her own life is falling apart.” That will be followed by comedy Am I Being Unreasonable? on April 11 and two documentaries: high school football story Algiers, America (April 19) and Tupac Shakur piece Dear Mama (April 22).

The best TV candidate this month, however, is probably Saint X on April 26. This series, told via multiple timelines, “explores and upends the girl-gone-missing genre as it explores how a young woman’s mysterious death during an idyllic Caribbean vacation creates a traumatic ripple effect that eventually pulls her surviving sister into a dangerous pursuit of the truth.

One of the most anticipated television releases of April is coming to Hulu on April 7. “Tiny Beautiful Things” stars Kathryn Hahn as troubled writer Clare. Ironically, she becomes a great advice columnist as her life falls apart. Her marriage is in trouble and her teen daughter hates her. Plus, her writing career is going nowhere. Based on the best-selling collection by Cheryl Strayed, the limited series explores the author’s journey toward healing herself and others.

Check out the “Tiny Beautiful Things” trailer:

Also arriving on Hulu in April is the series adaptation of the best-selling novel “Saint X.” The series is based on Alexis Schaitkin’s novel of the same name and follows a woman’s dangerous pursuit of her older sister’s disappearance on an idyllic Caribbean vacation. Through multiple timelines, the series explores all the traumatic ripples the mystery created for countless people. The series will star Alycia Debnam-Carey,...

Even if you’ve signed up for every streaming service out there, it can feel monumental when a title moves from one to another. In April, Netflix mainstay “New Girl” moves to Hulu; still streaming, but not where fans are used to finding it — like rearranging the furniture in your apartment and waking up surprised every day that the couch is over there now.

But what’s important is that “New Girl” lives on, now joining Hulu’s own TV and movie library and originals from Freeform, FX, National Geographic, and more. Later in the month, Leila Gerstein’s “Saint X” — based on the novel by Alexis Schaitkin — premieres with three episodes, recounting the story of a young girl found dead during a family vacation and the sister piecing it together years later. Alycia Debnam-Carey, Josh Bonzie, West Duchovny, Jayden Elijah, Bre Francis, Kenlee Anaya Townsend, Betsy Brandt, and Michael Park star.

Don’t mess with Emma Thompson. Even back in the day, when the Cambridge grad made her way as a London comedienne, she knew how to stand up for herself. She came from a family of actors and “I was also a bolshie individual,” she said. “I managed to stop people from taking advantage of me when I was young — not to say a lot of people didn’t try. But I wasn’t having any of it, because I was too aware of the position of women in society early on. By the time I started to act, I would react with huge obstreperous rage if anyone tried to take advantage.”

Few actresses are willing to discuss how aging affects their looks. This January, her no-holds-barred performance as an AARP-aged woman who hires a sex worker for her first orgasm in “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” was the talk of virtual Sundance.

Prime Video’s list of new releases for June 2022 features the one superhero show this season you’re not gonna want to miss.

That’s right: The Boys are (almost) back in town. The Boys season 3 premieres its first three episodes on June 3 and its cast and crew have promised spectacle beyond your wildest dreams. How will Homelander adapt to life after Stormfront? We’ll get to find out soon.

Read more TV The Boys: How Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy “Shakes Things Up” in Season 3 By Alec Bojalad TV The Boys Season 3 Trailer: There’s Something Wrong With Homelander By Alec Bojalad

Aside from that one very big hit, it’s a relatively light month for Prime Video originals of note. June 17 sees the arrival of two light and breezy summer projects. The Summer I Turned Pretty is a movie adapted from a trio of beloved YA novels. Meanwhile The Lake...

Exclusive: Rhys Ifans (Spider-Man: No Way Home) has signed on to star alongside Annette Bening and Jodie Foster in the Netflix film Nyad, which marks the narrative directorial debut of Oscar, BAFTA and Emmy winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin.

Pic is based on Diana Nyad’s bestselling autobiography Find A Way. It follows the remarkable true story of the marathon swimmer, who, at the age of 64, became the first person to complete the “Everest of swims”—executing a 53-hour, 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida, through dangerous open ocean, without a shark cage.

Ifans is playing John Bartlett, the Florida-based boat designer and captain of the catamaran that accompanied Diana as she swam. Bartlett strategically and meticulously planned and navigated Nyad’s swim though the Florida Straits, keenly aware of the impact of weather and ocean currents on her journey.

Emmy winner Ann Biderman...

Renée Zellweger has lined up another TV role with NBCUniversal. Variety has learned exclusively that the actress is set to star in the drama “Avenger Field” that is in development at Peacock.

The one-hour drama series, which hails from MGM Television, tells the story of those that established a clandestine all female US Airforce program called the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) to battle Hitler from home. Inspired by the true story of Wasp leader Jackie Cohran (Zellweger) and the diverse group of women who fought the system, skeptics and even sabotage to bring everyone home safely.

Felicia D. Henderson is attached to serve as writer, showrunner, and executive producer via WaterWalk Entertainment. Susanna White will direct and executive produce. Zellweger will executive produce with Carmella Casinelli under their Big Picture Co. banner. Steve Stark and Stacey Levin of Toluca Pictures, Emily Rose and Jill North of North Rose Pictures,...

Exclusive: Searchlight Pictures has closed a deal around $7.5 million for U.S. rights to Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. the Sophie Hyde-directed film that stars Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack (The Wheel of Time & Peaky Blinders).

Deadline reported yesterday that Searchlight was poised to win the film that was bid on by several distributors, and the plan is to wage an awards-season campaign for Thompson in a standout turn. Searchlight will release through Hulu, in a deal similar to the pre-emptive one it made for another Sundance film, Fresh.

Hyde directed 52 Tuesdays and Animals. The new film is scripted by Katy Brand, whose credits include Nanny McPhee Returns, which starred Thompson, and Walking on Sunshine.

In Leo Grande, Nancy Stokes (Thompson) has led a full life. A retired schoolteacher and widower, she finds herself yearning for the one thing that has eluded her: a satisfying sexual experience. She...

“Sex Education” star Asa Butterfield and “Stranger Things” actor Natalia Dyer are set to take the lead roles in high concept horror thriller “All Fun and Games.” The movie follows a group of siblings who find themselves in a game with a demonic twist.

Anton, whose credits include “Greenland,” “The Night House” and “Curs>r,” is producing with Anthony and Joe Russo’s Agbo, best known for “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame,” and will present the film to buyers at the virtual European Film Market in Berlin next month.

It will be co-directed by Ari Costa, whose credits include “Extraction,” “Avengers: Endgame” and “The Internet Kills,” and Eren Celeboglu, who worked on “The Internet Kills” and “Scrubs,” in their directorial debuts. It will be written from a script they co-wrote based off J.J. Braider’s original spec that sold competitively to Agbo. Principal photography is set to begin at...

Producer and financier Anton, whose credits include “Greenland,” “His Dark Materials” and “The Night House,” has announced that its latest production, the feature film “Curs>R,” has wrapped principal photography in the U.K. A dark twist on the ‘80s gaming obsession, the horror thriller stars Asa Butterfield, Iola Evans and Eddie Marsan.

Anton will oversee world sales and introduce the project to buyers at the upcoming Cannes virtual market later this month, in association with Endeavor Content, which is co-representing the U.S.

The film also features horror maestro Robert Englund, who played Freddy Krueger in “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Rounding out the cast is Angela Griffin, Kate Fleetwood, Ryan Gage,” and Joe Bolland (“The Trial of Christine Keeler”).

In pursuit of an unclaimed $125,000 prize, a broke college dropout (Evans) decides to play an obscure, 1980s survival computer game. But the game curses her, and she’s faced...

Wait a minute. Are we somehow half way through the year already? That feels impossible but here comes month number five all the same. With its list of new releases for May 2021, Amazon Prime is highlighting some of its more intriguing original series in awhile.

The first original of note is The Underground Railroad. This series from Barry Jenkins tells the story of one woman’s desperate bid for freedom in the Antebellum South and arrives on May 14. After that comes Solos. This intriguing anthology has one hell of a cast including Anthony Mackie, Dan Stevens, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Constance Wu, and more. The project will premiere on May 21 and each of its seven episodes promises to be quite different.

Read more TV Does The Lord of the Rings Series Have a Hidden Title? By Joseph Baxter TV Who is the Villain Teased in The Lord of the Rings TV Series Synopsis?...

We might not be getting any new episodes of The Walking Dead until next year, but AMC is supplying us with a holiday treat to tide us over. As part of the network’s Best Christmas Ever schedule, The Walking Dead is receiving a Christmas special this December that’ll see the cast of the hit zombie drama coming together virtually for a festive tease of what’s headed our way when the show returns in 2021.

Hosted by Talking Dead‘s Chris Hardwick, the holiday special will unite several fan favorite stars of the long-running series as well as its spinoffs Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond. It’ll stream exclusively on AMC+ – the network’s new premium on-demand platform offering early access and ad-free viewing – on Sunday, December 13th. That’s one week after World Beyond wraps up its season 1 finale.

The Walking Dead Holiday...

When filmmaker Susanna White was growing up in gray-skied England, the “Woman Walks Ahead” director was obsessed with Westerns, though she always felt there was something missing. “I’d grown up loving Westerns as a genre, whether that’s John Ford movies, or Sergio Leone movies,” White said in a recent interview with IndieWire. However, “there was a level at which I didn’t connect to them,” she added, “because they were such a man’s world.”

For her latest film, the “Nanny McPhee Returns” director was able to do something she’d always wanted to: retrofit a genre she loved, while also staying true to the time period it portrayed. It certainly helped that her lead actress, Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain, is also a Western-loving cinephile who agreed that the genre could use a feminist touch. “Woman Walks Ahead” addresses that, with Chastain cast as Catherine Weldon, a painter...

"Don't close the door, I cannot be alone with you." Fox Searchlight has debuted a second trailer for the new romantic thriller My Cousin Rachel, starring Rachel Weisz in a period piece based on Daphne Du Maurier's novel of the same name. Weisz plays the alluring cousin of a young Englishman, who falls for her as he attempts to seek revenge on her for supposedly murdering his guardian. Sam Claflin co-stars, along with Holliday Grainger, Iain Glen, Andrew Knott, and Poppy Lee Friar. There's some impressive cinematography in this, thanks to Dp Mike Eley (Nanny McPhee Returns), but as for the rest of it I'm not sure if it's for me. There is a great deal of sexual tension and confusion and all that good stuff. Take a peek. Here's the second official trailer for Roger Michell's My Cousin Rachel, direct from YouTube: You can still watch the...

Smartly elegant; the fantastic cast makes it worth your time. But it does feel as if it belongs on the small screen spread across six or eight hours. I’m “biast” (pro): love the cast

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

A holiday in Morocco doesn’t seem to be working to respark the romance between mild-mannered professor Perry (Ewan McGregor: Jane Got a Gun) and high-powered lawyer Gail (Naomie Harris: Spectre), but maybe a bit of international intrigue will do the trick? Perhaps it’s rather implausible that Russian mobster Dima (Stellan Skarsgård: Avengers: Age of Ultron) would recruit Perry to act as a go-between for him with MI6 — Dima wants to defect and bring a crapload of info about shady dealings in London’s financial centers — but it’s just plausible...

facebook

twitter

google+

Ewan McGregor makes his claim for the James Bond role in thrilling John le Carré adaptation Our Kind Of Traitor...

Within the first few scenes of the new John le Carré-inspired espionage thriller Our Kind Of Traitor, Ewan McGregor is rejected by incumbent Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), befriends a Russian gangster, and winds up chatting to an exotic seductress at a snazzy mafia party. Some called Bastille Day Idris Elba’s Bond audition tape, but this 007 application from Mr McGregor is much more blatant.

The good news, since two hours of Bond-aping could get boring, is that this isn’t what the film is all about. McGregor’s character Perry isn’t actually suave, sophisticated or even a spy. He’s a teacher who’s merely stumbled into this world by accident. It’s a neat starting point for an unpredictable narrative, which serves up plenty of...

We’re all peculiar here, no? Well, maybe not as peculiar as some of Miss Peregrine’s menagerie of children. But we’re Monster Kids at heart.

So, having reveled in Ransom Riggs’ best-selling trilogy of Peculiar novels, I’m beside myself in anticipation of the film adaptation of the first in the series, Miss Peregrine’S Home For Peculiar Children. The talent involved is more than enough for hopefulness! It’s got Tim Burton at the helm! And it stars one of the best character actresses of our time, Eva Green, playing a particular movie-star-beautiful version of the titular Miss Peregrine, along with Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Nanny McPhee Returns), Kim Dickens (Fear The Walking Dead, Hollow Man), six-time Emmy winner Allison Janney, Oscar winner Judi Dench and workhorse Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers, Robocop, 1408, practically everything else filmed in the last three decades). That’s a lotta onscreen talent!

Jessica Chastain is in negotiations to star in the 19th century America-set drama "Woman Walks Ahead" for Im Global and Black Bicycle Entertainment.

Chastain will portray Caroline Weldon, a woman who moved from Brooklyn to the Standing Rock Reservation in Dakota Territory to help Sioux chieftain Sitting Bull keep the land for his people.

Weldon penned letters to the federal government on behalf of Sitting Bull and lived on the land for several years with her son.

Susanna White ("Nanny McPhee Returns," "Generation Kill") will direct from a script by Steven Knight ("Eastern Promises," "Peaky Blinders"). Ed Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Rick Solomon and Erika Olde will produce.

Source: Variety...

The Martian and A Most Violent Year star Jessica Chastain has opened negotiations to topline upcoming Native American feature film, Woman Walking Ahead.

Deadline has the scoop, reporting that the Oscar-nominated actress is circling the role of Catherine Weldon, a real-life Brooklyn artist and activist who marched resolutely to the Standing Rock Reservation in the late 19th century to express solidarity with Sitting Bull, a “Hunkpapa Lakota holy man who led his people during years of resistance to United States government policies.” At the time, Dakota Territory was the topic of heated debate between the government and the tribal resistance. However, despite her best intentions, Weldon was ironically banished from the camp, and the Standing Rock people were pushed into signing away their land.

Lambasted by the American press, Weldon was referred to as “Sitting Bull’s white squaw,” though Chastain’s character stood firm in the face of adversary.

Avengers: Age of Ultron introduced fans to several new characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but perhaps none were more unique than Vision. After portraying the voice of Tony Stark's A.I. assistant J.A.R.V.I.S. for years, Paul Bettany finally got a chance to shine in front of the camera, coming to life before our very eyes as Vision. Ahead of Avengers: Age of Ultron's debut on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD, I recently had a chance to speak with prosthetics supervisor Nik Williams, who helped bring Vision to life, designing the intricate makeup that Paul Bettany wore on set.

Nik Williams first got his start in animatronics, working on Little Shop of Horrors, How to Get Ahead in Advertising and Frankenstein throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He started working in prosthetics in the 2000s on Stardust, Eastern Promises and Ninja Assassin, while serving as...

Ender's Game star Asa Butterfield has signed on to star in the sci-fi adventure Out of This World for Relativity Media. Relativity Studios is behind the project, which has Peter Chelsom (Hector and the Search for Happiness) set to direct. The story begins with a billionaire entrepreneur's mission to colonize Mars, which results in a female astronaut becoming pregnant on the planet.

The astronaut died during childbirth, but her infant son was raised in secrecy on Mars. 16 years later, after returning to Earth, the teenage boy (Asa Butterfield) enlists the help of a mission specialist and connects with a young woman he has been communicating with. They both set off on a road trip across America to find the father he never knew.

Allan Loeb (21, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, The Dilemma) wrote the original screenplay, with Peter Chelsom and Tinker Lindsay (Hector and the Search for Happiness) providing the most recent revisions.

Screen International has teamed with BFI London Film Festival and British Council to present the UK Stars of Tomorrow – one of several industry events unveiled today.

The first Screen International UK Stars of Tomorrow at Lff dinner is to be held on Oct 14 during the BFI London Film Festival (Oct 8-19).

The event will bring together a selection of this year’s Stars of Tomorrow, including Aimee Ffion-Edwards and Phoebe Walller-Bridge, with casting directors, packaging agents, festival programmers, producers and financiers.

It will be preceded by a masterclass led by Us casting agent Deborah Aquila, whose credits include The Shawshank Redemption and TV series Dexter and The Shield.

The event is supported by British Council and Casting Society of America (Csa), and will be held in association with We Are UK Film.

The dinner is by invitation only and is not an open event.

Lff industry events

The 58th edition of the festival has restructured its industry...

Screen International has teamed with BFI London Film Festival and British Council to present the UK Stars of Tomorrow – one of several industry events unveiled today.

The first Screen International UK Stars of Tomorrow at Lff dinner is to be held on Oct 14 during the BFI London Film Festival (Oct 8-19).

The event will bring together a selection of this year’s Stars of Tomorrow, including Aimee Ffion-Edwards and Phoebe Walller-Bridge, with casting directors, packaging agents, festival programmers, producers and financiers.

It will be preceded by a masterclass led by Us casting agent Deborah Aquila, whose credits include The Shawshank Redemption and TV series Dexter and The Shield.

The event is supported by British Council and Casting Society of America (Csa), and will be held in association with We Are UK Film.

The dinner is by invitation only and is not an open event.

Lff industry events

The 58th edition of the festival has restructured its industry...

With Eva Green already set to play the title character in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ender's Game star Asa Butterfield is circling a pivotal role. The actor doesn't have an official offer at this time, but The Wrap reveals that he is director Tim Burton's choice for the role.

If his deal comes together, Asa Butterfield will play 16-year-old Jacob Portman. Jacob goes on a quest to seek the truth about his grandfather's past, after he is murdered by a "hollow," an evil creature that Jacob only thought to be imaginary. He meets up with a young girl named Emma, who has the ability to control fire, and introduces Jacob to Miss Peregrine and other children with extraordinary abilities.

Tim Burton is directing from an adapted script by Jane Goldman, based on the best-selling novel by Ransom Riggs. Shooting is scheduled to begin in February, with 20th...

Tim Burton’s pending adaptation for 20th Century Fox, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, may have found its lead in Ender’s Game star, Asa Butterfield. According to The Wrap, the actor is being strongly considered for the lead role:

While Butterfield has not received an official offer yet, insiders say one is expected to materialize soon, as he’s Burton’s choice for the coveted role.

Based on the novel by Ransom Riggs, the film has already snagged Eva Green (Sin City: A Dame To Kill For) for the titular role. If Butterfield bags the part, he’ll play 16-year old Jacob Portman, “who seeks the truth about his grandfather’s past after he’s murdered by a “hollow,” a vicious creature that Jacob had thought to be imaginary. He quickly meets a young girl named Emma who can control fire, and via a time loop, she...

Summer movie season is a magic time of year when Hollywood traditionally rolls out its most appealing merchandise. It’s true that some summer movie seasons are better than others. This is our ranking of all the summer movie seasons since 1980 from worst to best.

On January 20th, 1975, Steven Spielberg and Universal Studios released Jaws. The movie landscape would be forever changed from that date. Jaws is widely credited as being the first blockbuster film because it was the first movie to make over $100 million (non-adjusted). The fact that the film had a meager $8 million budget meant that it was a huge cash cow for the studio and rocketed Spielberg to the the forefront of a new generation of filmmakers for a new era of movie mass-consumption. George Lucas and Spielberg followed up in 1977 with Star Wars, which became a sensational and very profitable hit. It helped to convince production...

The sequel to Alice in Wonderland has started filming in England; the sequel will be directed by James Bobin (Muppets Most Wanted, a lot of Ali G stuff), and is officially called Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass. The first Wonderland excursion took in over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, so I’m surprised it took this long.

As per the press release, Through the Looking Glass “revisits Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories with an all-new new tale that travels back to Underland—and back in Time.” The confirmed new cast includes Sacha Baron Cohen and Rhys Ifans. The returning cast includes Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mia Wasikowska and voice performances by Stephen Fry, Toby Jones, Alan Rickman, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall.

Hit the jump for the press release, which includes the full cast and who they’re playing. Alice in Wonderland:...

Disney’s “Alice In Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass” begins principal photography this week, featuring an award-winning production team and all-star ensemble cast, including Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen. James Bobin (“The Muppets,” “Muppets Most Wanted”) helms the film, which revisits Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories with an all-new new tale that travels back to Underland—and back in Time.

“Alice In Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass” is produced by Joe Roth (“Maleficent,” “Alice in Wonderland”), Jennifer Todd (“Alice In Wonderland,” “Memento”), Suzanne Todd (“Alice In Wonderland,” “Memento”) and Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” “Frankenweenie”). John G. Scotti (“Muppets Most Wanted,” “The Muppets”) is the executive producer; Linda Woolverton (“Maleficent,” “Alice In Wonderland,” “Beauty and the Beast”) penned the screenplay. Shooting on location and at Shepperton Studios in England, the film is slated for release on May 27, 2016.

The all-star ensemble...

At long last, the sequel to Disney’s massively successful, if narratively weak, Alice in Wonderland is starting to roll cameras, with James Bobin replacing Tim Burton in the director’s chair. It took a suprisingly long time for this next chapter of the planned franchise to get off the ground, considering the first film broke $1 billion at the box office, but a press release indicates that filming is now underway.

Officially titled Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass, the follow-up finds the original actors returning to their roles, with a bevy of new stars joining both the live-action and voice casts. What the sequel is exactly about is still foggy, but the story is said to “revisit Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories with an all-new new tale that travels back to Underland—and back in Time.”

Check out the official press release below:

Disney’S “Alice In Wonderland...

Disney met with some success in their live-action version of Alice in Wonderland (with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter), and since the film released, talk of a sequel has been on-going. Now, it's finally moved into production as the cast and crew have gathered together in anticipation of it's May 2016 release. Disney announced cameras have started rolling with a new cast list confirming both old and new members of the cast coming to the production.

I wasn't all that thrilled with Alice in Wonderland when it released. Not that it was a bad movie, I just didn't find it all that special or great. So it's tough to muster up much enthusiasm for this sequel, despite the impressive cast coming back for it. From the press release:

Disney’s “Alice In Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass” begins principal photography this week, featuring an award-winning production team and all-star ensemble cast,...

Disney’s Alice In Wonderland: Through The Looking Glass begins principal photography this week, featuring an award-winning production team and all-star ensemble cast, including Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen.

James Bobin (“The Muppets,” “Muppets Most Wanted”) will direct.

The Disney movie revisits Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories with an all-new new tale that travels back to Underland—and back in Time.

Alice In Wonderland: Through The Looking Glass is produced by Joe Roth (“Maleficent,” “Alice in Wonderland”), Jennifer Todd (“Alice In Wonderland,” “Memento”), Suzanne Todd (“Alice In Wonderland,” “Memento”) and Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” “Frankenweenie”). John G. Scotti (“Muppets Most Wanted,” “The Muppets”) is the executive producer; Linda Woolverton (“Maleficent,” “Alice In Wonderland,” “Beauty and the Beast”) penned the screenplay.

Shooting on location and at Shepperton Studios in England, the film is slated for release on May 27, 2016.

The all-star...

DVD Release Date: Aug. 26, 2014

Price: DVD $20.99

Studio: Ketchup Entertainment

The romantic crime caper comedy The Love Punch stars Emma Thompson (Nanny McPhee Returns) and Pierce Brosnan (The Ghost Writer).

Gthe movie concerns Richard (Brosnan) and Kate (Thompson), a divorced couple who, after their pension is stolen by an unscrupulous businessman, reunite to steal it back. This sets them on a whirlwind journey into a caper involving the embezzling of bankrupt employees’ pension funds. Along the way, the couple finds themselves in French, where they re-discover the love they thought they had lost.

Written and directed by Joel Hopkins, the French production also stars Timothy Spall (Life is Sweet), Celia Imrie (Nanny McPhee), and Louise Bourgoin (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec). And keep an eye open for Marisa Berenson (Barry Lyndon) as a sexy hotel receptionist.

The PG-13-rated film received a limited release to U.S. theaters in May,...

Studiocanal, Film4 and The Ink Factory, in association with Potboiler Productions, have announced the start of shooting in London of Our Kind Of Traitor.

Susanna White directs this adaptation of John le Carré’s novel from a script by Hossein Amini, with a cast headed by Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, Damian Lewis, Naomie Harris, and Jeremy Northam.

An English couple, Perry (McGregor) and Gail (Harris), are taking a holiday in Marrakech. By chance they bump into a Russian millionaire called Dima (Skarsgard) who owns a villa and a diamond-encrusted gold watch. He also has a tattoo on his right thumb, and wants a game of tennis.

What else he wants propels the couple on a tortuous journey through Paris to a safe house in the Swiss Alps, to the murkiest cloisters of the City of London and its unholy alliance with Britain’s Intelligence Establishment.

Our Kind Of Traitor is...

• Meryl Streep is reportedly attached to star in Ricky and the Flash about a woman trying to repair her broken relationships with the family she abandoned to be a rock star decades earlier. Diablo Cody (Juno) penned the script and Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) is attached to direct. All are Oscar winners. According to the report, Universal and Fox 200 are interested in the movie. [The Wrap]

• Corey Stoll (House of Cards) is reportedly in early talks to join Marvel’s Ant-Man. The Edgar Wright-directed pic stars Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas and is set for a July 31, 2015, release. No...

With an Emmy and Golden Globe now under his belt thanks to some excellent work on Homeland, Damian Lewis is looking to beef up his film resume. Taking a step in the right direction, the actor has just joined Our Kind of Traitor, which Susanna White is set to helm.

Already set to star Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard and Naomie Harris, the Hossein Amini (Drive) scripted project is an adaptation of John le Carre’s novel of the same name. It follows an “English couple vacationing in Antigua who become entangled in the dealings of a Russian mobster desperate to defect.” Though no specifics were given on Lewis’ role, we do know that he’ll be playing a member of the British Intelligence.

Given how superbly the results were the last few times that Hollywood adapted one of le Carre’s novels (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the upcoming A...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 18, 2014

Price: DVD $29.99, Blu-ray $36.99

Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Saving Mr. Banks tells the contentious history of one of the most jolly children’s musical movies.

Tom Hanks (Road to Perdition) stars as Walt Disney, who’s pulling out all the stops to fulfill a promise he made to his daughters: to adapt the book Mary Poppins into a movie. The problem is, the book’s author, P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson, Nanny McPhee Returns), isn’t too thrilled about a Hollywood version of her work, and she does everything she can to stop it.

Along the way, the two must learn about each other’s childhoods to find a way to meet in the middle.

Rated PG-13, Saving Mr. Banks also stars Colin Farrell (Horrible Bosses), Paul Giamatti (Barney’s Version), Bradley Whitford (The Cabin in the Woods), B.J. Novak (TV’s The Office) and...

New figures from the British Film Institute suggest a "breakthrough" over the past three years for female screenwriters, while the number of women directing UK independent films remains low. How well are women represented in this industry?

• Get the data

Under-representation of women in key creative and production roles in the film industry has been well-documented for many years. The latest figures from the British Film Institute (BFI), looking at female screenwriters and directors of UK independent films, provide a varied set of results.

According to the BFI, there has been something of a "breakthrough" over the past three years with the representation of female screenwriters in the top 20 UK independent films reaching 37%.

The BFI also break this figure down by profitable films, with profitability estimated from an indicator developed by the BFI research and statistics unit. Of the profitable UK independent films over the same period, 30% had a female screenwriter.

Saving Mr Banks star to talk on stage about her career on stage and screen.

BAFTA and Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson is to discuss her craft and career at a BAFTA A Life In Pictures event on Nov 24. The event will take place at BAFTA’s headquarters in London’s Piccadilly.

Thompson received her first BAFTA at the British Academy Television Awards in 1988 for her work on Tutti Frutti and Fortunes of War, and gained a British Academy Film Award in 1993 for her performance in Howards End, for which she was also awarded her first Oscar and Golden Globe.

In 1996 Emma Thompson took home her third BAFTA for Best Actress for Sense and Sensibility, and her BAFTA-nominated script for the film also earned her the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and a second Golden Globe.

She was also BAFTA-nominated for her roles in The Remains of the Day and Love Actually, and won an...

My soul was never stirred. My spirit did not soar. My intellect did twitch a bit in ways that made my heart ache disagreeably, however. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m a big science fiction geek

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

The book is better.

I haven’t even read the book, and I know this must be the case, because there’s little here that can account for how highly fans rate the 1985 novel. For the book and its preteen hero, Ender Wiggin, to be as beloved as they are, there’s gotta be some heart lurking in there somewhere. My soul, alas, was never stirred by this film adaptation. My spirit did not soar. My intellect twitched a bit in ways that made my heart ache disagreeably, however. This Ender...

Director Justin Kurzel has begun pre-production in London on Macbeth, which stars Michael Fassbender as the ambitious Scottish king and Marion Cotillard as the conniving Lady Macbeth.

Kurzel is working with two of his collaborators from his debut film Snowtown, cinematographer Adam Arkapaw and production designer Fiona Crombie.

The producers are See-Saw Films. Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, whose credits include Tracks, Top of the Lake, Shame, Dead Europe and The King.s Speech.

Crombie has just finished the production design on Julius Avery.s Son of a Gun. Snowtown was her first feature, which she followed with Dead Europe and Top of the Lake.

The daughter of director Donald Crombie and former South Australian Film Corp. CEO Judith Crombie, Fiona graduated from Nida and was the resident designer at the Sydney Theatre Co. before she embarked on short films and TVCs.

Transmission will release Macbeth in Australia. StudioCanal is...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Nov. 5, 2013

Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $40.99

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

White House Down is the second movie showing the Capitol under siege for 2013.

Like Olympus Has Fallen, White House Down tells the story of a man (Channing Tatum, Side Effects) who’s denied his dream job of protecting the President (Jamie Foxx, Django Unchained) then ends up being the one person who can save the country.

Tatum’s John Cale is a Capitol Policeman, and when he takes his daughter on a tour of the White House, he ends up being in the right place at the wrong time. When a heavily armed paramilitary group takes over the complex, Cale’s the only one who can save the day.

Directed by action movie guru Roland Emmerich (2012), White House Down also stars Maggie Gyllenhaal (Nanny McPhee Returns), Jason Clarke (The Great Gatsby), Richard Jenkins (Killing Them Softly...

After originally turning down the offer, Sandra Bullock is once again in early talks to appear in the remake of the beloved musical Annie. Bullock was approached to play Miss Hannigan, the drunken manager of the orphanage. In the ’82 original the role was filled by Carol Burnett.

Sony and Overbrooks Entertainment are working with producers Will Smith and Shawn Carter (better known as Jay-z) for the Will Gluck-directed remake. In the titular role is Quvenzhane Wallis, the spunky tyke everyone adored as Hushpuppy in Beasts of the Southern Wild. Will Smith’s daughter Willow was originally slated for the part but was replaced by Wallis.

As an alternative to the Daddy Warbucks character Jamie Foxx will be playing Benjamin Stacks, a candidate for New York City mayor. Sony was searching for a globally known actress with comedic capability for Miss Hannigan and Bullock has been proving herself lately as...

The man who brought the world the Academy Award-winning Tsotsi and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Gavin Hood, has a big challenge on his hands in adapting a much-loved series of sci-fi novels with Ender's Game, but at least he's passed the first challenge: the teaser poster test.Doing exactly what a teaser poster should - i.e. tease you, but not in the playground bully way - it shows young Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Nanny McPhee And The Big Bang) as the film's lead, Ender Wiggin, squaring off in space against another ship.No look at his face, no mention of his big-name co-stars like Harrison Ford or Ben Kingsley, no guns or blades or anything stereotypically postery. Just... him. And an awkward and somewhat blunt tagline, sure, but if you leave that to one side for a moment it's a pretty impressive piece of postering.Ender’s Game, drawn from Orson Scott Card’s novel,...

Johnny Depp is producing a new magician adventure film called Mortimer Wintergreen, and playwright and scribe Jack Thorne was just hired to write the script. Susanna White (Nanny McPhee Returns) is attached to direct the movie which is based on the 1987 novel The Magic Hat of Mortimer Wintergreen, written by Myron Levoy. There's a possibility that Depp will also star in the film if he's got the time. 

The story is set in the 1890s, and it "follows a brother and sister who run away from their mean aunt and cross paths with a traveling magician named Mortimer Wintergreen. The man possesses a magical hat with a mind of its own, and the three find themselves on a series of wild adventures." 

The film is set up at Warner Bros. where they were previously developing it and according to THR that version of the story followed a con man who stumbles across a magical hat,...