Movies

The Verge recaps:  There’s a new trailer for Star Trek Beyond out, and with it, Rihanna’s new single from the film’s soundtrack, titled “Sledgehammer.” And while there isn’t a lot of new information in the trailer itself (the Enterprise is still getting ripped to shreds; Idris Elba’s blue-faced reptilian villain is still representing the part of space where “the frontier …

Via the Hollywood Reporter: Universal’s Wicked is finally a go. The studio announced Thursday that the musical adaptation of the hugely popular Broadway show and book will open in theaters Dec. 20, 2019. That puts Wicked in direct competition with a yet-to-be-revealed live-action fairy-tale movie from Disney. Stephen Daldry has long been set to direct Wicked for producer Marc Platt …

German filmmaker Kai Stänicke’s heartwarming Golden made the rounds of LGBT film festivals last year and he’s posted the short to YouTube this week in response to the Pulse massacre. You’ll be glad you spent the three minutes on this.

From the Hollywood Reporter: Mel Gibson and writer Randall Wallace are working on a sequel to The Passion of the Christ that will tell the story of the resurrection of Jesus, Wallace tells The Hollywood Reporter. Wallace, nominated for an Academy Award for scripting Gibson’s 1995 best picture Oscar winner Braveheart, on Thursday (reluctantly) confirmed rumors that he has begun to …

A documentary on political correctness, as seen by comedians. Clip recap: In the age of social media, nearly every day brings a new eruption of outrage. While people have always found something to be offended by, their ability to organize a groundswell of opposition to – and public censure of – their offender has never been more powerful. Today we’re …

Via press release: Why are LGBT Superheroes missing or desexualised in hollywood blockbusters? Iceman, Mystique, Catwoman and many other well known superheroes are written as LGBT in the comic books, only to then appear as straight when they hit the big screen. Launching in partnership with MCM Comic Con today and following #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend trending last week, this trailer gives fans …

From Deadline: Starz has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Careful What You Wish For, the Nick Jonas starring thriller directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum. The film will bow theatrically in June, followed by a VOD release before it moves to Starz later this year. Isabel Lucas (Knight of Cups), Graham Rogers (Quantico) and Dermot Mulroney also star in the film …

Via Entertainment Weekly: How much do the folks at Disney want you to be their guest — or, at least, an extremely welcome paying audience member — when Beauty and the Beast is released on March 17, 2017? This morning, a teaser trailer was unveiled on Good Morning America for the live-action remake of the beloved animated film almost 10 …

Awful. Via Rolling Stone: Justin Timberlake isn’t the only artist tethering a new single to an animated film this summer: Sia has covered the Nat King Cole standard “Unforgettable” for the upcoming Finding Dory, the long-awaited sequel to the Pixar hit Finding Nemo. The “Chandelier” singer debuted her rendition of the classic Friday on Ellen; host Ellen DeGeneres provides the …

The Hollywood Reporter recaps: Columbia Pictures and Imagine Entertainment have released a teaser trailer for Inferno. Tom Hanks is back as symbologist Robert Langdon in the third onscreen installment of Dan Brown’s best-selling series, alongside Felicity Jones, Ben Foster and Irrfan Khan. In Inferno, Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia and teams up with Sienna Brooks (Jones), …

Earlier this week Variety reported that Will Ferrell would be playing a second-term Ronald Reagan beset by the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Not anymore: “The Reagan script is one of a number of scripts that had been submitted to Will Ferrell which he had considered,” Ferrell’s agent told The New York Post. “While it is by no means a ‘Alzheimer’s comedy’ …

A remake of the 1960 classic, which was a remake of 1954’s Seven Samurai from director Akira Kurosawa. Coming Soon has the plot: Sony Pictures and MGM have released the first trailer for the upcoming remake of The Magnificent Seven, which marks the third pairing of star Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua after Training Day and The Equalizer. With …

Empire recaps: After years working as a jobbing actor, Nate Parker has turned writer, director, producer and star for what is being praised as a storming debut behind the camera. The first teaser trailer for The Birth Of A Nation is now online. Following an incredibly successful premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the drama was quickly snapped by …

3.6M views already this weekend. The Verge recaps: The combined gross of Marvel’s superhero movies is in the billions of dollars. The Russian film industry wants to replicate that success, but money isn’t the only goal of such a film. A Russian superhero film has the power to speak to its nation’s values and history, the way Marvel superheroes have …

The A.V. Club recaps: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 was the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, and an ecological disaster. BP was ultimately held responsible by the U.S. justice system (well, as much as a huge corporation can be these days) but the first trailer for Peter Berg’s Deepwater Horizon offers …

Variety reviews the new trailer: Warner Bros.’ new trailer for “The Legend of Tarzan” lays out the origins of the iconic character, starting with the death of his father and glimpses of the feral child being raised by apes in the jungle. The story then shifts to Alexander Skarsgård’s Tarzan leading a gentrified life and being forced to return to …

Yet another remake. Via the Independent: What’s strangest of all is how unheralded the whole thing feels: with this year’s blockbuster talk focusing on Batman v Superman, Finding Dory and Star Wars prequel Rogue One, it almost seems a shame that a new Ben-Hur film has slipped under the radar as just another swords and sandal classic getting the Digital …

Deadline calls this a “filthy masterpiece.” They write: “What the [expletive] did I just watch?” That’s the first thing I tweeted after the credits ended on Sausage Party. The eight-years-in-the-making animated film — directed by Greg Tiernan (Thomas & Friends) and Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2, Monsters vs. Aliens) and written by Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen, Kyle Hunter, and Ariel Shaffir …

Clip recap: Ralph Richardson, Michele Morgan and the amazing child actor Bobby Henrey star in Carol Reed’s version of Graham Greene’s suspense classic “The Fallen Idol” (1948). Also starring Sonia Dresdel as the terrifying housekeeper Mrs. Baines, this story deals with the love between a butler and a little boy in an embassy in London and the complications that arise …

18 million views overnight. The Week recaps: The latest trailer for Captain America: Civil War has finally been released – and there is a new face in town. Hailed as this summer’s Marvel superhero battle royale, the film pits Captain America against Iron Man, with the other Avengers forced to choose sides. The trailer reiterates much of what we already …