Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was on hand and said titles that debuted in theatres led to a better audience on Max than the titles debuting on Max first. And as an example of the company’s commitment to theatrical, Evil Dead Rise was supposed to have been a streaming title but was made a theatrical release.
The Color Purple musical is moving to silver screen and director Blitz Bazawule and producer Oprah Winfrey, who co-starred in the original 1985 movie as Sofia, were on hand to offer a first look. Set for Christmas Day, the film looks cinematic. I don’t know the songs but it appears they have assembled a talented cast. Danielle Brooks (Sofia) and Fantasia Barrino (Celie) previously played their roles on Broadway.
Barbie stars Margot Robbie (also a producer), Ryan Gosling, and America Ferrera along with co-writer/director Greta Gerwig appeared to promote the film set for release on July 21. Gerwig spoke of being inspired by technicolor musicals, The Wizard of Oz, and disco. Seen in the footage, Barbie breaches the real world, at the suggestion of weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), joined by Ken (Gosling). This causes quite an upheaval in the real world, especially at Mattel.
Set for release on December 15, the Wonka extended trailer shows the candymaker (Timothée Chalamet) wanting to open his own shop but before coming into his own, he has to go up against the chocolate cartel that runs. I was admittedly indifferent to the idea of a prequel to the classic film, but once I heard it was to be directed by Paul King, who made the Paddington films, I am very eager to see it. Hugh Grant plays an Oompa Loompa through effects wizardry.
Meg 2: The Trench comes out August 4 and Jason Statham is back for more shark shenanigans and the number of megalodons increases. But might there be dinosaurs as well? Or was just a throwaway scene in the trailer? Seems like a nice bit of silliness to beat the heat for fans of the first movie.
The Nun is the biggest worldwide hit in the Conjuring franchise. The Nun II, coming out September 8, offers more spooky, scary stuff. In the scene shown, a group of young Catholic students play a game where they sneak around the attic of an old French church at night and make one girl standing alone in a room until an evil presence manifests, which I presume is the Nun but I know nothing of the previous film. I did look a way when the scenes got too intense and creepy for my tastes.
Director Denis Villeneuve is joined by Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet to talk about Dune: Part Two. Coming November 3, the story picks up right from previous film and Paul becomes a leader. Villeneuve says this film is the main course, an action-packed, war epic. The whole thing was shot in IMAX. In the trailer, we see Paul attempting to ride a sand worm.
The final slate of DC Extended Universe films roll out this year before James Gunn’s 10-year plan of DC comic characters commences. In reverse release date order, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s director James Wan and star Jason Momoa appeared by video to trumpet the film. The former talked about “beautiful strange new worlds” and “interesting new characters” while the latter called it a bromance between the Atlantean brothers. The villain Black Manta returns and he is more powerful now that he is in possession of an artifact called the Black Trident, which he uses to attack Atlantis. The trailer offers the multicolored mayhem of a typical superhero film.
DC Films Co-CEO Peter Safran and director Angel Manuel Soto wanted all in attendance to know that Blue Beetle is not just for Latinos but for all audiences. In an extended version of the already-available trailer, a magical scarab chooses Jamie to bestow its abilities, but he doesn’t want them nor understand how to use them. This occurs in front of his family, who serves as his team. Set for release August 18.
The Flash, which is set to preview this evening, is opening June 16. Not a surprise star Ezra Miller didn’t appear, so director Andy Muschietti was left to present on his own. He talked about getting Michael Keaton back for the role and having to figure out where Bruce Wayne would be 30 years later. He also talked about having to recreate stuff from the ’89 film. He then showed the new trailer which shows the Flash altering the timeline leading to the character meeting Supergirl (Sasha Calle) both Batmans (Keaton and Ben Affleck), and General Zod (Michael Shannon). Looks to be a big, bold crossover.
