A true cult classic turns 30 this year, and Paramount has gone all-out on a new physical release to celebrate the occasion. The Crow, Brandon Lee's grunge-noir comic adaptation, has been beloved by movie fans for three decades, and that love is finally being rewarded with a brand new 4K restoration.

Paramount released The Crow 30th Anniversary 4K Blu-ray on Tuesday, delivering a long-awaited restoration for a unique film that has desperately needed it. Fans will be happy to learn that the team behind this restoration knocked it out of the park. Let's break it down, shall we?

The Movie

The Crow is the definition of a cult classic film. It was made for a small budget in 1994 and was appealing to a pretty niche audience, but that appeal has widened quite a bit over the last 30 years. The Alex Proyas film, based on James O'Barr's comic series, seems to get more and more love as time goes on. Whether people have a connection to the film from their adolescence or see it as a beautiful snapshot of the grunge era, folks can't get enough of The Crow. Why else has Hollywood been dead-set on rebooting the property?

The story at the center of The Crow is a bittersweet one, made even more gut-wrenching by the real-life tragedy that took place on set. Star Brandon Lee, who was on the cusp of a massive film career, was killed by an gun-related accident during a take. His performance as a resurrected rocker with thirst for revenge is exceptional, and his legacy will forever be tied to the film's.

The Crow isn't for everybody, but those who like it absolutely love it. There was never anything quite like it prior to 1994, and there certainly hasn't been anything like it since.

The Disc (and Steelbook)

The Crow's 30th anniversary release is a native 4K transfer in 2160p with a Dolby Vision/HDR10 presentation and a DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track. It wouldn't take a lot for this release to become the best The Crow has ever looked, considering the frustrating presentations on the DVD and Blu-rays, but this new disc from Paramount really goes above and beyond expectations to create something special.

Remastering The Crow is a tricky thing because of the style of the film itself. This is an incredibly dark, grungy movie made on a minimal budget. The style of the city and the noir elements of the story keep most of the film in the shadows. You can only brighten things up so much before you begin taking away from the intentions of the filmmakers and delivering something that isn't honest to what The Crow should be. This 4K restoration does an exceptional job at giving life and depths to the blacks and darker colors. The lights themselves get brightened instead, creating a contrast with those deeper colors that allows you to see the images a lot more clearly without sacrificing the noir style.

With those choices, every detail in The Crow is made finer and more pronounced. From the opening fly through the model city to the close-ups of Eric Draven in the shadows, you can see everything more clearly and more well defined than ever before. What's even more impressive is that The Crow maintains a natural grain structure throughout. The clarity and lighting fixes didn't come at the cost of looking overly smooth or scrubbed.

Part of what makes The Crow such a lasting film for so many is that the filmmakers and design team never wavered from the unique vision they had when they set out to make it. The low budget, grunge aura of the film is part of its charm, and this restoration allows that to be on full display. The flyover scenes and rooftop chases only make the fact that the city is a model with VFX fires layered on top all the more obvious, but that just adds to its beauty. It feels like this disc came out of a time capsule, allowing fans to watch The Crow exactly as it was intended for the first time since 1994.

If you're curious just how big a difference this 4K release is compared to the previous Blu-ray, In Search of Physical Media over on YouTube put together some side-by-side screenshots to compare the two discs. The difference is night and day.

As far as the audio goes, the track was the strength of previous releases. It remains strong with this 30th Anniversary print. The dialogue is crisp and clean, and the soundtrack hits exactly as hard as it needs to.

Bonus points to the The Crow's 30th presentation for a phenomenal steelbook. The outer slipcover shows the outline of a crow with Brandon Lee's face shining through. Pulling the cover off reveals the full picture of Lee as Eric Draven. There's some great artwork featured on the back and inside the steelbook as well.

The Features

The Crow 30th Anniversary 4K comes with quite a few special features, most of which are legacy features carried over from previous releases. Despite the fact that diehard fans may have seen a lot of these before, they're great features to keep around for this release. The disc includes not one, but two different feature commentary tracks -- one from director Alex Proyas, the other from producer Jeff Most and writer John Shirley.

The two new features one the disc are an interview with late producer Edward R. Pressman from 2021 and a set of featurettes about the design process behind the film. The interview with Pressman is a decent addition but the Designing The Crow trio is far and away the highlight of the special features. All three videos in the featurette focus on an in-depth, retrospective interview with production designer Alex McDowell. Throughout the videos, McDowell gets into the nitty gritty of what it took to make The Crow look as memorable as it does. And unlike a lot of other featurettes on these home releases, the McDowell interview doesn't feel like a puff piece about the film itself. He really takes a dive into the process of designing sets and offers a ton of insight into how The Crow got made. It's definitely worth your time.

You can check out the full list of special features on the disc below.

• Shadows & Pain: Designing The Crow - NEW!
• Angels All Fire: Birth of the Legend
• On Hallowed Ground: The Outer Realm
• Twisted Wreckage: The Inside Spaces
• Sideshow Collectibles: An Interview with Edward R. Pressman - NEW TO DISC!
• Audio Commentary with Director Alex Proyas
• Audio Commentary by Producer Jeff Most and Screenwriter John Shirley
• Behind the Scenes Featurette
• A Profile on James O'Barr
• Extended Scenes:
• The Arcade Bombing
• The Funboy Fight
• The Shootout at Top Dollar's
• Deleted Footage Montage
• Trailer

The Verdict

The Crow is probably my favorite 4K disc of the year so far. If you're a fan of this movie, it is without question a must-own release. If you can get your hands on the steelbook that's even better, but those were already selling out at some stores shortly after preorders began.

If you're only moderately into The Crow, or you've never seen it but have a love for great physical media, this release is still worth picking up. This had to be a difficult restoration, and to pull it off as well as they did is certainly an accomplishment.

The Crow 30th Anniversary 4K is now available to purchase in stores. A copy was provided for the purposes of this review.

Across its first season, X-Men '97 has been remixing the Marvel mythos to great effect. That has especially been the case for Magneto (Matthew Waterson), who has had some poignant and surprising moments throughout the episodes thus far. With X-Men '97 existing in its own place in the Marvel multiverse, and occasionally featuring cameos from other animated Marvel characters, fans have wondered if and how certain crossovers could become a reality. In an exclusive interview with ComicBook's Phase Zero podcast, Waterson revealed which Marvel crossovers he would most like to explore with Magneto -- and went so far as to argue that his character probably could have stopped Thanos from snapping his fingers and destroying half the universe in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War.

"I mean, there are the obvious ones. If you're looking in terms of what Marvel has been doing recently, there's fun ones. Magneto might have been an interesting addition into the Thanos thing, because the glove is metal. Magneto might have been able to solve that relatively quickly. I don't know what it was actually made out of. It looked metal. So, there's things like that, where you can have a lot of fun with it, starting to say, 'To what extent does this person's powers actually give them an ability to manipulate whatever that is? What could you do with that, or what can you do with this?' The interactions between Magneto and Wolverine have always been so much fun, because Wolverine has such a 'I don't care' attitude. And then, Magneto is always just looking at him, going, 'I can literally disassemble you, because you're made of what I manipulate.' That's always been a fun interaction, going through the entire first series, and even in the movies, and in comics, and everything like that."

"The person in the X-Men IP that I've always really, really liked, and just found fascinating, is Sebastian Shaw. He's already been in the show a little bit. I think that there's a lot of fun, just because of his personality, and the way his powers work and things like that. I think there's a reason why, in a lot of the comics, he's gone in and out as a major force on both sides. I've always just found that character fascinating. So that's one where, if there was more stuff coming up that interacted with him, yeah."

"Could Magneto have just solved Endgame much more quickly? Obviously, narratively and dramatically, is not as useful, [since] it's like, 'Oh, we're all fighting this thing. There's this one guy who just [uses his powers once] and it's done, negates it. But yeah, there's a lot of fun things that you can go, 'Ooh, how will that work?'"

Is X-Men '97 Renewed for Season 2?

Work has already begun on a sophomore season of X-Men '97, which was already renewed by Marvel Animation prior to the show's premiere.

"We're working on season two. But we haven't started yet. I know a little bit of the storylines and characters," co-composer Taylor Newton Stewart explained in a recent interview. "It's always upping the ante. I mean, it's pretty intense what happens. Yeah, immediately when I was told, I was just like, 'Oh my gosh, what's happening? This is incredible.' So, just as a fan alone, I am very excited."

New episodes of X-Men '97 debut on Wednesdays exclusively on Disney+. If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

The Planet of the Apes franchise is returning to theaters this weekend, with the first new film in the series since Matt Reeves completed the Caesar trilogy in 2017. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, from director Wes Ball, picks up the story hundreds of years after Caesar's rule. That changing of the guard, however, doesn't look like it will have a major impact on the film's performance at the box office. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is eyeing an opening weekend in the same realm as War for the Planet of the Apes.

According to the latest projections from Deadline, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is looking at a $50M+ debut in North America this weekend, and a worldwide haul of over $130M. That puts it just behind the $56.2M opening of War for the Planet of the Apes, which arrived on the heels of the franchise's biggest hit (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). Kingdom pulling a similar total out of the gate would definitely be a win.

New Planet of the Apes Trilogy?

If all goes according to plan, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes could launch a new trilogy within the long-running franchise. The chances of that, of course, hinge on how well the film performs in theaters.

Ahead of Kingdom's debut, Ball talked with ComicBook about how the story could unfold into a three-film set.

"It'll take as long as it takes," Ball revealed. "Fortunately because this franchise is important to the studio we'll get it right like we did this one, took our time and got it right. Hopefully, people think that...It takes time, the development itself and my big thing is I do not want to go into prep when the script is not done. I've had to do that in the past. Nothing good comes from that. That's one of the biggest things that movies could be doing right now is to stop doing that. We'd save a ton of money... I think on this one that we are in a good, good shape. Fortunately, we were thinking a lot about these questions when we were developing this script, so we have an idea where we wanna go and there's lots of room for great drama. Literally doors have opened at the end of this movie that hopefully reveal a much larger world that we get to explore in this movie, full of drama, full of conflict, all that kind of stuff. Fingers crossed. We'll see."

Green Book and Ricky Stanicky director Peter Farrelly is set to take audiences behind the scenes of one of the most iconic movies of all time. According to The Wrap, Farrelly has signed on to direct I Play Rocky, a Sylvester Stallone biopic that will tell the story of the making of Rocky. Farrelly will direct from a script written by Peter Gamble. He is also set to produce, along with former Warner Bros. studio chief Toby Emmerich and Christian Baha. Casting for the biopic is currently underway.

Here's how I Play Rocky is described: "A struggling actor with a partially paralyzed face and a speech impediment writes a script that a big movie studio wants to buy, but he refuses to sell it unless he gets to play the lead. Turning down an offer of life-changing money, he instead works for pennies to get the movie made with himself in the starring role. The movie becomes the biggest box office hit of 1976, garnering 10 Academy Award nominations and winning Best Picture."

"I've been a fan of Peter Farrelly as both a filmmaker and a person since getting to work with him on the music for Dumb and Dumber," Emmerich said in a statement. "But it was Green Book that made me think of Pete for this inspiring screenplay. Christian Baha and I feel blessed to have Pete at the helm for this movie. And like the unknown Stallone starring in Rocky, Pete will be conducting a worldwide search to discover another actor who just needs one shot -- in I Play Rocky -- to show the world what he can do."

Baha added: "When I first read Peter Gamble's energetic and poignant script, I knew it captured something very special. The story of I Play Rocky is as unique as Sylvester Stallone himself, a seeming Everyman with an undeniable gift who needs to share it with the world and refuses to take 'No' for an answer. And like the hero of our film, Baha Productions needed grit and determination as we fought for years to make this project into a reality. We are so fortunate to have teamed up with Toby Emmerich and Peter Farrelly, two legendary talents who not only share but enhance our vision of the film."

What is Rocky About?

Released in 1976, Rocky is a sports drama that tells the story of Rocky Balboa, a small-time club fighter and loan shark debt collector in Philadelphia who gets a shot at the world heavyweight boxing championship held by Apollo Creed. The film stars Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith. The film was a massive success and is considered by many as one of the greatest films of all time. It went on to start a full franchise which includes sequels Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Rocky V, and Rocky Balboa, as well as the Creed series, Creed, Creed II, and Creed III. Creed IV was confirmed to be in the works last November.

Godzilla Minus One is considered to be one of the greatest movies ever to feature the king of the monsters and for good reason. Not only did the film have amazing visual effects, which is the reason it won an Oscar at this year's Academy Awards, but its story was both riveting and terrifying for the characters and the audience watching. While Godzilla has had many looks over the decades, director Takashi Yamazaki had his own vision and the first concept art for the new take on the lizard king has hit the internet.

Godzilla has had quite a few forms since first making landfall in 1954. In many ways, Minus One felt like a return to the kaiju's roots as the beast was dead set on wiping out Japan and had no other giant monsters sharing the spotlight. While humanity was ultimately able to claim victory against the King of the Monsters in the latest Godzilla movie out of Japan, director Takashi Yamazaki was clearly setting the stage for a sequel as he laid the seeds for the idea that the kaiju king might not be dead. In the final moments of the film, what was left of Godzilla's body was shown to be regenerating, meaning humanity isn't out of the woods yet.

Godzilla Minus One's First Appearance

While this initial take on the king of the monsters for Minus One doesn't look exactly like the one we would witness on the silver screen, it captures the terror and intensity of the world's most popular kaiju. Should Yamazaki's dream come true of introducing more giant beasts to this universe, we imagine that they will take similar approaches in streamlining their design to use what works about each. Here's hoping that Godzilla MInus One is only the first of many movies in this new universe.

Takashi Yamazaki's initial concept art for Godzilla Minus One pic.twitter.com/pGfBUEx9K6

-- Kaiju No. 14 (@14_kaiju) May 4, 2024

2024 has been a big year for the lizard king, as Legendary Pictures' Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has become one of the biggest kaiju movies of all time. While there are no other projects focusing on the king of the monsters this year, Apple TV+ is working on a new season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and spin-offs further focusing on this Western take on kaiju.

Want to learn more about Godzilla Minus One? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest on kaiju and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the MonsterVerse.

While Chris Pine's filmography has gone on to include major franchises such as Star Trek, Wonder Woman, and Dungeons & Dragons, many fans still fondly remember him from his work in the Princess Diaries series. Pine made his theatrical debut in 2004's The Princess Diaries: Royal Engagement, which saw him play Nicholas Devereaux, the eventual love interest of Anne Hathaway's Mia Thermopolis. In a recent interview with Sunday Sitdown With Willie Geist, Pine revealed that getting cast in Royal Engagement changed the course of his life for the better, in part because he was in dire financial straits at the time.

"It was the height of summer and I was getting off at Magnolia. I was on my little Verizon tiny little flip phone, my silver one and I got a call from my agents that I booked the job," Pine said. "I pulled over onto the side of the freeway and they said, 'You're getting paid $65,000,' and it was like they had just told me I'd made $50 million. It was absolutely earth-shattering."

"I had an overdraft in my bank account, it was like $400 over. I was gonna have to ask my parents for money, and I got that $65,000 and I just remembered distinctly knowing in that moment that my life had changed somehow," Pine said. "That lasted no time at all, and I owed my parents rent money. But that is a wild feeling. I'll never forget that."

Will Chris Pine Return for Princess Diaries 3?

In recent years, the prospect of another Princess Diaries movie has begun to pick up steam, leading to the question of whether or not Pine will return as Nick. In a 2023 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Pine revealed that he is definitely on board with the possibility, if the film becomes a reality.

"Yeah, I'm here! I'm here for it," Pine revealed. "Give me give me a phone call or an email."

Will there be a Princess Diaries 3?

In 2022, reports indicated that Supergirl and Reacher writer Aadrita Mukerji is writing the script for a third The Princess Diaries, which would be a direct continuation of the franchise. Debra Martin Chase, who produced the first two Princess Diaries films, is also returning to produce Princess Diaries 3. Earlier this year, Hathaway told V Magazine that work on the threequel is "in a good place", but could not confirm more details beyond that.

"We're in a good place," Hathaway revealed. "That's all I can say. There's nothing to announce yet. But we're in a good place."

After starring in Ti West's The House of the Devil in 2009, actor Jocelin Donahue has been a fan-favorite star of a number of genre films, ranging from Insidious: Chapter 2 to Doctor Sleep to Offseason. When genre fans see she's starring in a picture, not only do we know we'll get to see a layered performance from the actor, but we'll also be given an unconventional exploration of a familiar formula. Donahue's latest film, The Last Stop in Yuma County, takes a premise that could tick all the boxes of a neo-noir and still make for an engaging experience, but instead elevates the narrative and takes it into unexpected directions. The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is described, "While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty -- or cold, hard steel -- to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune."

ComicBook caught up with Donahue to talk her interest in the project, the challenges of filming in an isolated setting, and the possible future for one of her fan-favorite characters.

ComicBook: When indie, horror, sci-fi, and Western fans, when they see that you're involved in a project, they're excited. We love seeing you in these projects. As a performer, whether it is horror or sci-fi, Western, neo-noir, what is it about genre storytelling that really excites you and offers you opportunities that aren't available in other arenas?

Jocelin Donahue: There's so much. I think it's about the high stakes. It's about the atmosphere. When you're playing in a world where there's a constant threat of violence, those are fun worlds to play in. Whether it is neo-noir or Western, horror, they have something that keeps you guessing the whole time. And so, as a character, when you get to discover this world as the audience is and be an avatar for their fears and vulnerabilities, whatever the genre is, if you get to do that, it's cool for an actor.

This is Francis Galluppi's feature film debut. He's made a few shorts, so this isn't entirely his first rodeo, but as far as features are concerned, it is his first rodeo. What was it about collaborating with Francis, what was it about his vision for this feature that you knew you could put your trust in him as a first-time feature director?

It's so highly impressive what he has accomplished with this and how he executed it. The script, as soon as I read it, it keeps you guessing. It has all these super colorful characters and punchy dialogue and it's funny and it's scary and it's fast-paced. There was so much to love about the script itself. The script is also very visual. You could tell from the set pieces that he was putting together that he had a really strong vision for it, almost in this Hitchcock kind of way where it's ratcheting up the tension the whole time.

Then when you talk to him, he is just so exuberant about films and passionate and knowledgeable, and I loved all his references and we had shared a lot of love for the same types of films. And then it's the team that he put together, because he attracts people that are like that, as well. Just super lovely to be around and also great crafts people.

I just feel like he has this eye for detail and he was very prepared. And I knew, also, he was going to be working with Mac Fisken, who I got to work with on Offseason, our DP, who's just one of the best DPs I've ever worked with. And I also knew that Richard Brake was going to be involved and then Jim Cummings and all of these elements coming together, it was just an easy yes.

With your character, what was it about her that most personally resonated with you that really grounded you in her outlook? Was there any major shift along the way, a suggestion or collaboration that you brought to Francis that impacted how you brought her to life?

You used the word grounded, and that's what Charlotte's role is in this film. She grew up in this diner, it's her family diner. It's basically her home. So when it becomes a hostage situation, it's almost like she needs to defend her homestead. And I just love that she's a salt-of-the-earth-type character. She's probably seen it all, she's been at this road-stop diner her whole life and seen all kinds of characters come in. So she is observant and resourceful, and I think she becomes a really good match for Beau.

We just talked about that, that while she presents as a vulnerable character, that I just wanted to make sure she goes down fighting and that's something that we added. She's looking for ways to alert her husband, the sheriff, played by Michael Abbott Jr. wonderfully. But then I think once she realizes that she's on her own, I was like, "She needs to grab a knife." So yeah, Fran was wonderful and we added a little bit of that, which was great.

You get the distinction of really being one of the only characters who gets to move around in this diner. Speaking just to the contained, pot-boiling sense of the story, you get to physically move around in this location. With it being filmed over the course of three weeks, in one diner, in what I assume was maybe a warm environment, I'm just wondering how that tension, how that contained setting, how that constricted location, how does that impact you as a performer? Does that mean you approach every day on set with awareness of the restrictions on what you can physically do so you can go through it much more quickly or does that take a toll on you negatively or as motivation for your character due to the restrictions of that contained setting?

The setting is huge, the location, it's something you don't even necessarily have to think about because you're just living in it and, like you say, the sweaty claustrophobia and you're just getting backed into a corner the entire film, it just helps so much. It really felt like a stage play. So it was really cool to have the geography of the space, to know where all the characters are, to, yes, have prescribed movements, but all within a tiny location. It just really adds to the pressure-cooker situation, and that was just something I loved immediately, as well. This simple nerve-wracking setup where everyone is held hostage until the gas arrives, which the audience knows it never will.

I know it has been 15 years now since House of the Devil and with Ti doing his trilogy of X movies, which I don't think anyone saw him doing sequential movies, I don't know if you've thought about this before, but I can't help but think back on how we left Sam in House of the Devil. Not that there's ever been any talks to do a sequel to that 15 years later, but what did you see for Sam's future, either just personally over the last 15 years, or actually talking about with Ti? Is that an experience that she ever came out of, or is it just that the open-ended nature of that story is what is so enjoyable and that's just where you leave it?

I guess it could go either way. I mean, I feel like there are good ideas of if she had the baby, then the baby grows up and all of that. Yeah, but I don't know. I don't think he ever really had plans for a sequel for that film. But it's been amazing to watch this trilogy, as a fan of his work. And, of course, he's just so good at playing time traveling and doing these period pieces and really capturing the nostalgia of each era of filmmaking. So yeah, we'll see. But I mean, he has told me that he has had some good ideas for it. So we'll see.

The Last Stop in Yuma County lands in theaters and on Digital on May 10th.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

Deadpool & Wolverine's director talked about the various cameos in the movie and how they came to be. Entertainment Weekly had the chance to catch up with Shawn Levy as he's getting ready to unite Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in the same MCU movie. A lot of the online discussion surrounding this movie has revolved around the idea of multiple former Marvel actors reprising fan-favorite roles from the 2000s X-Men franchise. Levy argues that all of these Easter eggs and appearances organically occur within the story.

A big example of Aaron Stanford's return as Pyro in the trailer. Expect more stuff like that. But, also believe that Reynolds, Jackman and Marvel Studios are poised to really swing for the fences this summer. Take a look at what the filmmaker had to say.

"I'll say we didn't start off with a wishlist," Levy smirked when asked about the Internet frenzy over cameos. "From the day we started devising this Deadpool and Wolverine story, we let the story dictate the characters, not the other way around. Aaron and his return as Pyro was an outgrowth of that, and that applies to pretty much all the characters you'll see in the movie."

Deadpool & Wolverine Has No "Marvel Homework"

One of the biggest stumping points for this movie in the early days of its marketing campaign has been the lack of "homework." Levy told The Associated Press that fans could feel free to roll in for Deadpool & Wolverine without feeling like they'd need to see every single piece of Marvel content out there to understand it. (It's a neat marketing trick, but the movie is built off a lot of the Fox X-Men Marvel universe and undoubtedly being familiar with some of those movies will enhance the experience.) Still, fans are over the moon with the declaration as they're going to make this the biggest Marvel movie since Spider-Man: No Way Home.

"I was a good student in school. I'll do my homework as an adult. But I am definitely not looking to do homework when I go to the movies," Levy told the Associated Press in a previous interview. "I very much made this film with certainly a healthy respect and gratitude towards the rabid fan base that has peak fluency in the mythology and lore of these characters and this world. But I didn't want to presume that. This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research."

What's your most-anticipated cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

Iger Makes Massive MCU Announcement

During a panel at Liverpool Comic Con this week, Lord of the Rings stars Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, Sean Astin, and Dominic Monaghan took to the stage to celebrate Bernard Hill, the Titanic and Lord of the Rings actor who passed away over the weekend. Hill was a consistent presence on stage and screen for decades, but is best known for two roles in absolutely massive films that came very close together: in 1997, he played Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron's Titanic. Then, just a few years later, he joined the Lord of the Rings trilogy as Theoden, the King of Rohan.

Hill first broke out in Boys from the Blackstuff as the actor portrayed Yosser Hughes. During the show's run, Yosser became a fan-fave character as they showed the highs and lows of unemployment in Liverpool. And from there, Hill's career continued to rise. He would work on a number of high profile projects over the years and became the kind of character actor whose name you might not know, but whose face was instantly familiar.

Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings, began the tribute by saying: "So we lost a member of our family this morning, Bernard Hill passed, King Th?oden. So we want to take a moment before we walk off the stage to honor him. We love him. He was intrepid, he was funny, he was gruff, he was irascible, he was beautiful."

Boyd, who played Pippin, added, "I don't think anyone spoke Tolkien's words as great as Bernard did. The way he grounded those words in a realism. He would break my heart. He will be sorely missed."

You can see it below.

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"Bernard Hill blazed a trail across the screen, and his long-lasting career filled with iconic and remarkable roles is a testament to his incredible talent," BBC Drama director Lindsay Salt said on Sunday. " From Boys from the Blackstuff, to Wolf Hall, The Responder, and many more, we feel truly honoured to have worked with Bernard at the BBC. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this sad time."

Fans of the beloved Friday the 13th slasher series have been without a Jason Voorhees movie for 15 years, and that stretch will continue into the foreseeable future. There has been a glimmer of hope for the franchise's immediate future, however, as Peacock and A24 have been developing a Jason-less prequel series called Crystal Lake. That show, which comes from executive producer Bryan Fuller and was announced back in 2022, has been the subject of some conflicting reports over the last couple of days.

Chatter surfaced on Monday night that A24 had pulled the plug on Crystal Lake, effectively cancelling the series while it was still in development. According to Bloody Disgusting, that's not actually the case.

A report from Bloody Disgusting on Tuesday claims Crystal Lake is still very much in development. The site claims that sources indicate A24 has not axed the project and confirm that it is still moving forward, but there are some changes and retooling happening behind the scenes. There is no concrete information regarding those changes at this time.

Peacock made a big commitment to Crystal Lake back in 2022 when the show was first announced. The NBCUniversal streaming service won a bidding war for the property by making a substantial financial commitment, ordering it directly to series and agreeing to a hefty penalty if the show didn't get a second season. So Crystal Lake received what is essentially a two-season order, without even casting stars or rolling cameras.

Hannibal's Bryan Fuller was set to serve as showrunner, writer, director, and executive producer on the series, but there's no telling if his involvement could be part of the behind-the-scenes shakeup Bloody Disgusting alluded to. When the series was first ordered, Fuller spoke to Fangoria about bringing it to life at Peacock.

"One of the things that is super exciting and one of the many reasons that we went with Peacock is that they blew every other competitor out of the water," Fuller said. "There was a bidding war on this, and they came in strong and gave us a full-season commitment with a huge penalty if we don't do a second season. So it's kind of a two-season commitment, but really just the first-season commitment. We're going to have roughly five times the per-episode budget that we had on Hannibal."

"It will absolutely be recognizable for the hardcore Friday the 13th fans, but will also have an appeal to people who are simply interested in top-shelf TV storytelling," he added.

Even Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy is willing to admit that the Marvel Cinematic Universe isn't what it once was.

"You'd have to live under a rock not to know that the last few Marvel movies have failed to ignite the world in the way that so many did," Levy says in the latest issue of Empire Magazine. However, Levy wasn't throwing shade at the MCU so much as trying to explain the challenge (and lofty fan expectations) that Deadpool & Wolverine needs to meet: Not just delivering another successful Deadpool movie, but also rekindling hype for the MCU franchise as a whole.

"We do come along at an interesting time," Levy said. "And we are decidedly something different. Whether it is of Messianic proportions, time will tell."

Like everything in Deadpool's world, the idea of Deadpool & Wolverine being the 'MCU's savior' is a notion that the film is having some meta fun with. In one scene, Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool outright declares himself to be "Marvel Jesus," and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige had to admit, there's a kernel of truth in that joke: "Some of the lines that Ryan and his writers and Shawn worked on have taken on more of a meaning."

Feige found himself inundated with MCU content production as the 2020s began under the new leadership of Disney's former CEO Bob Chapek. Now that Chapek is out and Bob Iger is back at the head of the company, Disney is committing to producing less MCU content every year - something Feige is grateful for.

It's nice to be able to rally behind one feature project this year. I'm much more comfortable being the underdog. I prefer being able to surprise and exceed expectations. So it does seem like the last year, which has not been ideal, has set us up well for that."

What Is Deadpool & Wolverine About?

The trailer and early synopsis for Deadpool & Wolverine have teased the story of Wade Wilson (Reynolds) being detained by the TVA and sent on a mission. Wade recruits an emotionally-broken Wolverine variant from a dark timeline where the X-Men died, and their mission takes them to the multiversal wasteland the TVA has been using as a dumping ground, and where the beast Alioth (as seen in Loki) roams. Somewhere in that mix is Cassandra Nova (Emma Corin), a villain with deep ties to Charles Xavier, and a malevolent history in X-Men comics.

There have been teases of former Fox-Marvel movie stars coming back en masse for cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine - and even mega-star Taylor Swift appearing in the film as an iconic X-Men character. Despite there being a menagerie of cameos appearances expected in Deadpool 3, Shawn Levy has promised MCU fans are not required to do any "homework" to enjoy the film:

"I was a good student in school. I'll do my homework as an adult. But I am definitely not looking to do homework when I go to the movies," Levy told AP. "I very much made this film with certainly a healthy respect and gratitude towards the rabid fan base that has peak fluency in the mythology and lore of these characters and this world. But I didn't want to presume that. This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research."

Deadpool & Wolverine has a release date of July 26th - the 11th Anniversary of The Wolverine's release.

Actor Richard Brake has quite an impressive rap sheet when it comes to genre projects he's been a part of. Whether it was as the Night King in Game of Thrones or his many collaborations with Rob Zombie, Brake brings an intensity to any role that is both evocative and menacing. The same can be true of his character in Francis Galluppi's The Last Stop in Yuma County, and while some of Brake's sinister characters are inherently malicious, the intensity he brings to this project is due to his character's desperation. The Last Stop in Yuma County lands in theaters and on Digital on May 10th.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is described, "While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty -- or cold, hard steel -- to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune."

ComicBook caught up with Brake to talk the new project, developing an unexpected take on the character, and future projects.

ComicBook: The Last Stop in Yuma County comes from first-time feature director Francis Galluppi. What was it about his vision for this project that you knew you could put your faith in this first-time feature director?

Richard Brake: The longer I act, the more I realize how important it is to have faith in your director. I really do think it's very, very important, so it's a good question.

I met him early on in his process. I think it was pre-COVID, it was about a month before COVID kicked in and we spoke on the phone. He sent me the script. His producer happened to be somebody who I knew personally, so he got him in touch with me, sent me scripts, sent me a lovely letter, said he'd written this character with me in mind. I read the script and immediately knew this guy knows this stuff. It was an incredible script. And when we spoke, we must've spoken for hours about film. His knowledge of film, his love and passion for film, were so clear that I knew this guy knew what he was doing. Something in my gut told me this is going to work out. And it continued. We took a couple of years to get it finally made and then, right before production, we had some discussions about the character.

We completely changed the character about two weeks before in terms of the direction we were going with it, and that was because both of us had the same idea simultaneously: basically to make the character far more terrifying. We got on a Zoom together and we both had something to tell each other, both thinking that the other person would be disappointed, and it turned out both of us had the same thought, that we wanted this character to be terrifying and to really be controlled and conniving as he is. I knew then, this guy, well, I knew before then, but then I was like, this is incredible we're on the same wavelength like this. The experience of shooting, it was the same. Every moment, I just trusted this kid. To me he was a kid, he's in his 30s, probably. I'm so glad I did because the results have been amazing.

With this character being written for you and you having a long roster of, I would say, some menacing characters in your past, what was it specifically about this character that really appealed to you that you felt that this character really stood apart from some of the other villain characters that you might've been offered?

I think first and foremost was the movie as a whole appealed to me, the script as a whole and the way that it was so unexpected, how I didn't know from moment to moment as I read it, I could think I knew what was going to happen, but then when it came about, I didn't, especially the last 20 pages I did not see it coming. I think that appealed to me more than anything, initially.

And the character, I think as we developed him ... What initially appealed to me, to go back to my other story, was that we were going to make him a lot more out of his depth, that Bo wasn't going to be a controlled killer at all. He was going to be a man that was trying to figure it out moment to moment. That appealed to me. Because Francis was worried that when we'd come both to the conclusion that Bo needed to be terrifying and very much in control, that I wouldn't be wanting to do it.

But the truth was that what then excited me was that his role in the film was to be absolutely terrifying and to be terrifying in a very, very still way. I play a lot of characters that are not still, that are way out there, and it was really lovely to bring this down to as minimalist a performance as I could do, while at the same time, still maintain that terror. It was a real collaboration between the two of us because I have to really trust him when I do that, that he's going to let me know if maybe it's a little too underplayed. And I did, I just trusted him and I'm so glad I did because I'm very, very proud of the film and very, very proud of the performance, if I say so myself. And that's because of Francis, I had trusted Francis.

It's definitely a performance you should be proud of. It's terrifying and very chilling in a way that really helps motivate the overall story with all these characters who seem to be a little bit in over their heads and you seem to be the only one who has a very clear vision of what your goal is in this situation. When the character evolved a little bit in those weeks ahead of shooting, did that have much of an impact on the script or was it really just about tweaking the way you delivered those lines to evoke an entirely different vibe for the story?

It didn't change the script, maybe I cut a line or two, but no, I don't even think so. I think it was more all the preparation that I do. I usually do everything, prepare as much as I can before I go into a film. So it was really more about changing the character, the lines remain the same. It was suddenly realizing that he isn't out of his depth, he's actually completely into his depth. He's in his world and he's in his element. And then once I shifted the character, I completely, obviously, changed everything of all of my thinking. Then the performance changes dramatically. So, luckily, it happened two weeks before we started shooting and not two weeks after we finished shooting, but it worked out.

Also, it helped a lot because Nick Logan, who plays Travis, he was really developing his character in the direction that he went, where he's very much a loose canon, to say the least. The more that I saw, "Oh, Travis is going there, really, if this is Bo and this is Travis, the two of them together are really terrifying." You don't know what Travis is going to do, just so out there, and you know that Bo, he's completely in control here. Those two together really create tension amongst the other characters. That's what's so great about the film is there's so many different characters that are so well performed by the cast. I think that's what makes it a great film.

When you have someone, even just Barbara Crampton as the receptionist, literally everyone in the movie is a heavy hitter, no matter how limited their screen time might be.

She's fantastic. And you know he got her right at the end because he's like, "I want Barbara Crampton." Everybody's like, "You'll never get Barbara." And then she joins it. I know Barbara and she's such a great actor and obviously Jacob's Wife. I was so excited she was in there because we've never been on the same film together. And Michael Abbott, Jr. I know he came in, he just knocks it out of the park. I remember he came in late because his stuff was shot towards the end. He had all of that, the scene where -- I don't want to give anything away, but he had to be very emotional, shall we say, some traumatic things happened to him, his character. He came in and just, I'm in the scene and I was like, "This guy's amazing." And he just came in that day, I think the first time he met everyone.

Gene Jones, it was a masterclass watching Gene and Jim Cummings. Another reason I really wanted to do it is he was talking about Jim Cummings. I love Jim Cummings, just an incredible filmmaker and actor. I'm so glad that Jim did do it. Jim was so very involved in the film, also producing it as well, and just a really important part of the whole production in so many ways. Just an incredible artist himself and an inspiring man. So it was great to work with him and to watch his work. I loved it. It was one of my favorite all-time experiences.

I've really loved your collaborations with Rob Zombie from 31 to 3 From Hell, and The Munsters getting to show some more comedic skills. Since he has a habit of collaborating with people pretty regularly, are there any talks of you two reuniting for any future projects, whether it's something brand new or maybe more of the background of your 3 From Hell character?

That's called fishing for a scoop. No, I'm kidding. I love Rob, obviously, he's my all-time favorite director. I worked with him four times and I absolutely adore him. It's an incredible experience working with him and so inspiring.

I'll never know the answer to that because all I ever get is a text, "Are you busy because I'm doing a film?" I'm like, "Of course I'm not busy, Rob, not for you, at least. That's for sure." So who knows, there's nothing I've heard. I'm just waiting, the little text goes, and then if Rob has something that he feels I'm right for, he'll let me know.

The Last Stop in Yuma County lands in theaters and on Digital on May 10th.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

Marvel Studios is two months away from its lone theatrical release this year. Deadpool & Wolverine represents the first time that either famed 20th Century Fox character will operate within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a move that was first made possible when Disney acquired the company in 2019. The movie brings back Ryan Reynolds to cap off his trilogy in grand fashion, as he reunites with Hugh Jackman for the first time since X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While that story's depiction of Deadpool was panned by fans and critics alike, there were shades of promise in Wade Wilson's opening scene alongside Logan. That charm and chemistry is being set to maximum effort in Deadpool & Wolverine, a reunion 15 years in the making.

New Deadpool & Wolverine TV Spot Highlights High-Octane Action

The ultimate X team-up is dialing up the action.

The latest TV spot for Deadpool & Wolverine sets itself to Phil Collins's "In The Air Tonight" and recycles prior trailer footage in a way that emphasizes the slicing and dicing of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman's excellent adventure.

"I don't know anything about saving worlds," Deadpool lectures Wolverine. "But you do."

The frenemies battle TVA agents in an Avengers: Age of Ultron-esque setting and a menagerie of misfits in The Void's wasteland as Collins sings that he's been "waiting for this moment, for all [his] life."

You can watch the new TV spot below...

?Nuevo spot de 'DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE'! pic.twitter.com/3DM8w8trco

-- QuidVacuo (@QuidVacuo) May 7, 2024

That action is largely thanks to Jackman's Wolverine, complete in his comic-accurate blue and yellow suit for the first time in live-action.

"From the moment I put it on here, I was like, 'How did we never do this?' It looked so right," Jackman said. "It felt so right. I was like, 'That's him.' There are different sides of Wolverine we haven't seen before in the movies. It was exciting for me."

"I just felt privileged every day because you're talking about two massive movie stars in their most iconic roles," director Shawn Levy said in a recent interview. "It also gave me an opportunity. It's the third Deadpool movie, but it's not Deadpool 3. It's a different thing that's very much Deadpool & Wolverine. And it's not trying to copycat anything from the first two movies. They were awesome, but this is a two-hander character adventure."

Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters on July 26th.

47 Meters Down 3 is in the works - and it already has its official title.

47 Meters Down: The Wreck will bring back series creator Johannes Roberts and 47 Meters Down 1 & 2 screenwriter Ernest Riera as co-writers on the threequel. Filmmaker Patrick Lusser (Dracula 2000, My Bloody Valentine 3D, Drive Angry) will direct. Franchise producer Byron Allen of Allen Media Group Motion Pictures (AMGMP) will produce alongside James Harris and Mark Lane's Tea Shop Productions. Byron Allen, Carolyn Folks, Jennifer Lucas, Chris Charalambous and Matthew Signer will serve as executive producers.

According to Deadline, 47 Meters Down: The Wreck will "follow a father who is determined to rebuild his relationship with his daughter as they bond during a scuba diving in beautiful tropical waters while exploring a famous shipwreck. But soon after their descent, their master diver has an accident leaving them alone and unprotected inside the labyrinth of the wreck. As tensions rise and oxygen dwindles, the pair must use their newfound bond to escape the wreck and the relentless barrage of bloodthirsty great white sharks."

"47 Meters Down: The Wreck is the perfect continuation of our shark-filled franchise," said Byron Allen in a statement, "This film will once again have moviegoers terrified and on the edge of their seats."

"We can't wait for audiences to be trapped underwater with us again," added Johannes Roberts. "47 Meters Down: The Wreck is going to be the biggest, most-intense film of this franchise."

What Is 47 Meters Down About?

The 47 Meters Down series is a horror movie franchise the follows unlucky divers that end up in dire survival situations.

The first film, 47 Meters Down (2017) was a simple concept made on a $5.3 million budget. It told the story of two sisters who go shark watching in Mexico, only for their diving cage to get trapped 47 meters down on the ocean floor. The film made $62.6M of that minor budget, and its dark twist ending made it a cult-hit with many horror fans.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019) got its budget doubled to a modest figure of $12M, and expanded its premise with a bigger cast and setting: a group of divers getting trapped undersea in some sunken Mayan city ruins, pursued by hungry sharks. It made $47.6M, which was less than its predecessor - but admittedly the sequel didn't have the kind of twist that made the first film a cult hit.

47 Meters Down: The Wreck is set to go into production this fall.

Chris Pine says he was "stunned" to discover that Warner Bros. had decided to change course on the Wonder Woman franchise, cancelling the planned third installment in the series. The first film in the franchise remains one of the most beloved comic book movies of the last 20 years, and the best-reviewed movie in the DC Extended Universe franchise, which ran from 2012's Man of Steel up through last year's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The second movie in the franchise, Wonder Woman 1984, was not nearly as popular with fans and critics, and due to its 2020 release date also only managed to bring in $169 from the global box office.

Even after the disappointment of Wonder Woman 1984, Warner Bros. and Patty Jenkins were both talking about working together on a third installment. That seemingly fell off the schedule around the time Warners brought in James Gunn and Peter Safran to reboot the DC Universe.

"I'm stunned that they said no to a billion-dollar franchise and decided to pivot elsewhere," Pine told Business Insider. "I don't know what the reasoning was behind that; it's above my pay grade, but Wonder Woman is an incredible character; Patty is such a thoughtful director."

Regardless, it seems Pine had already assumed he wasn't returning. After all, he had died twice over the course of about 75 years by that point.

"It would be ridiculous to try to bring me back," Pine admitted.

Jenkins won't be involved, but DC is developing a new series set on Paradise Island. An Amazons spinoff was also planned while Jenkins and the old management team was in charge, but that's not the same project as the one currently being developed. Jenkins has said that she doesn't think she will be coming back to the franchise, and original Wonder Woman TV series star Lynda Carter has said the same. At the start of the new DC Universe, Gal Gadot teased the idea that she might still return in the new universe, but that feels pretty unlikely from the few things we know so far about James Gunn and Peter Safran's new universe.

You can get the first two Wonder Woman movies on disc and digital now.

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron was announced in December of 2020 and, with its intended release date having come and gone, many fans have assumed the project was scrapped entirely. Filmmaker Patty Jenkins, on the other hand, recently claimed that she owes Lucasfilm a draft of the script and pointed out that one reason there hasn't been significant progress on the project is due to last year's writers' strike. Lucasfilm has a habit of announcing projects long before they have been developed in substantial ways, resulting in those projects being shelved indefinitely, so fans might be surprised to learn that the Star Wars spinoff could be revived at some point.

"When I left Star Wars to do Wonder Woman 3, and I started working on that, we talked about, 'Well, maybe I'll come back to Star Wars after Wonder Woman 3, so we started a deal for that to happen," Jenkins confessed to HBO's Talking Pictures podcast. "When Wonder Woman 3 then went away, Lucasfilm and I were like, 'Oh, we've got to finish this deal.' We finished the deal right as the strike was beginning, so I now owe a draft of Star Wars. So we will see what happens there. Who knows?"

Just over a year ago at Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm announced three new movies it was developing for the franchise, which joined the ever-growing list of movies that were supposedly being developed yet haven't earned promising updates since the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. With Disney having secured a number of release dates for unnamed Star Wars movies, Jenkins expressed her empathy over the challenges the studio currently faces.

"They have a hard job in front of them of, 'What's the first movie they're going to do?'" Jenkins expressed about the situation. "They have other directors who have been working, but I am now back on doing Rogue Squadron. We'll see what happens. We need to get it to where we're both super happy with it."

Even though Rogue Squadron earned an announcement video in which Jenkins expressed wanting to make the greatest fighter-pilot movie of all time, the project isn't officially greenlit. The filmmaker went on to express her passion for the franchise and desire to make the movie happen.

"The emotion of Star Wars and what it stands for is something so beautiful in this world," Jenkins confirmed. "If I can do something beautiful and do something that serves that audience, I would love to do it."

Stay tuned for updates on Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

Are you hoping the movie gets made? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Prepare for the rise of the Mega Minions in a new trailer for Despicable Me 4. The movie charts a new era for the popular franchise, and has the distinction of being the first Despicable Me movie in seven years. Of course, that doesn't count the release of the prequel movie Minions: The Rise of Gru, which earned almost $1 billion worldwide. Oscar nominees Steve Carell and Kirsten Wiig are back as Gru and Lucy, respectively, with their girls Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Madison Polan), as well as a new addition to the family: Gru Jr. But as the Despicable Me 4 trailer demonstrates, there's a new threat on the horizon that will take all of their combined efforts to defeat.

Will Ferrell and Sofia Vergara join Despicable Me 4 as the villainous couple of Maxime Le Mal and Valentina, respectively. The most entertaining portion of the trailer comes when five Minions are recruited for a Captain America-level super soldier program, where they are turned into the Mega Minions team. Each Minion is given incredible powers like strength, flight, heat vision that can pierce through the Earth, rock-hard skin like The Thing, and more.

What Is Despicable Me 4 About?

Illumination describes Despicable Me 4 as follows: "Following the 2022 summer blockbuster phenomenon of Illumination's Minions: The Rise of Gru, which earned almost $1 billion worldwide, the biggest global animated franchise in history now begins a new chapter as Gru (Oscar nominee Steve Carell) and Lucy (Oscar nominee Kristen Wiig) and their girls --Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Madison Polan)--welcome a new member to the Gru family, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad.

"Gru faces a new nemesis in Maxime Le Mal (Emmy winner Will Ferrell) and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Emmy nominee Sofia Vergara), and the family is forced to go on the run.

"The film features fresh new characters voiced by Joey King (Bullet Train), Emmy winner Stephen Colbert (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) and Chloe Fineman (Saturday Night Live). Pierre Coffin returns as the iconic voice of the Minions and Oscar(R) nominee Steve Coogan returns as Silas Ramsbottom."

Despicable Me 4 is directed by a co-creator of the Minions, Oscar nominee Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets), and is produced by Illumination's visionary founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and by Brett Hoffman (executive producer, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Minions: The Rise of Gru). The film is co-directed by Patrick Delage (animation director Sing 2 and The Secret Life of Pets 2), and the screenplay is by the Emmy-winning creator of White Lotus, Mike White, and the veteran writer of every Despicable Me film, Ken Daurio.

Despicable Me 4 opens in theaters on July 3rd.

When Kung Fury first arrived online, fans were delighted by the weirdness of the movie. Funded via Kickstarter, the movie was written and directed by David Sandberg (not the same one who did Shazam!, no), and starred Sandberg in the title role alongside Jorma Taccone, Leopold Nilsson, and a cameo appearance by David Hasselhoff that was all the rage back in 2015. The next year, the crew started work on a sequel, this time with the help of some heavy hitters including Pride and Prejudice and Zombies scribe Seth Grahame-Smith. It went into production in 2019, with Arnold Schwarzenegger on board to play the President of the United States.

Originally intended for release in 2022, the movie was delayed until 2023 -- and that's the last anyone has heard of it. Now, Taccone says he has seen it and calls it "a crime" that the movie hasn't seen the light of day. Speaking with ComicBook in support of Knuckles on Paramount+ -- Taccone directed the series' fourth episode -- he called Kung Fury 2 an "instant cult classic."

"I truly hope that it comes to fruition and it gets out of legal jeopardy, or whatever has happened in the legal mumbo jumbo, because honestly, the 10-minute promo piece that I saw, I was like, 'At the very least, this is an instantaneous cult classic,'" Taccone said. "'This is so special. It is so funny and off the rails.' I mean, Fassbender's hilarious in it. I get to fight Arnold Schwarzenegger. That it doesn't exist, it is so heartbreaking to me. It's really like a crime. It's a total crime that it hasn't been released yet. I was so bored on set doing it, because I'm not used to being an actor, and so I made 10 vlog posts as Hitler, just talking. He was just being kind of emotional about a lot of things that were difficult in his life, and blah, blah."

The boredom apparently led to at least one hilarious misunderstanding, when "Hitler" decided to make some FaceTime calls.

"When I was shooting in Bulgaria, I would occasionally just FaceTime friends to just be like, 'Hi!'" Taccone told us. "And the funniest one I did was, I FaceTimed Seth Meyers. He picked up at an airport, and just immediately hung up on me. And he was like, 'No. You cannot do that. I am in the public. I cannot have a Hitler on my f---ing phone.'"

Kung Fury takes place in '80s Miami, where a hero named "Kung Fury" and his team of Thundercops (a police force made up of historical figures) try to stop an evil-doer named the "Kung Fuhrer" (aka Adolf Hitler). When a Thundercop falls, Kung Fury must go on a quest through time and space to stop the Kung Fuhrer from obtaining the ultimate weapon and destroying the Miami Kung Fu Academy.

That all changes when one of the Thundercops dies. The Thundercops disband. A new villain allies with Kung Fuhrer. All seems lost and it's up to Kung Fury to travel through time, protect his friends, defend the Miami Kung Fu Academy, and stop Kung Fuhrer for good.

Kung Fury II: The Movie also stars Michael Fassbender as Kung Fury's partner Colt Magnum; Alexandra Shipp as Rey Porter, a reporter close to Kung Fury; Jorma Taccone as Adolf Hitler; Leopold Nisson as Hackerman, a computer expert able to transform into a "Hackerbot"; and Eleni Young as Barbarianna, a Viking warrior who wields a minigun while riding a giant wolf. David Hasselhoff lends his voice to Hoff 9000, a Thundercop who transformed into a car.

Knuckles is now streaming on Paramount+.

Disney could start licensing more of its content over to other streamers. CEO Bob Iger talked about the possibility of getting other streaming platforms like Peacock, Paramount+, Prime Video and others involved with their content. The executive was asked about the current licensing landscape with Netflix getting some Disney programming back in recent months. Across the entertainment landscape, this has become more prevalent as companies scramble to recoup some easy money by licensing shows and movies to competitors. In honesty, this is how things used to run before the streaming explosion in the later half of the last decade.

"We're already doing some licensing with Netflix, and we're looking selectively at other possibilities," Iger said during the earnings call this morning. "I don't want to declare that it's a direction we'll go more aggressively or not. But we certainly are taking a look at it and being expansive in our thinking about it."

Disney+ Incorporates Hulu Content

Iger has been folding brands back under the Disney+ umbrella as fast as possible. The last Investors Call of 2023 saw the Disney CEO heralding the arrival of Hulu onto the mainline streaming brand this year. That promise ended up coming true as earlier in 2024, a lot of Disney+ users awoke to the Hulu tab being present on their devices. It's been a long time coming for Disney as they've gotten their streaming ducks in a row. Now, it might be a moment where there's a reverse course to the old Netflix and Hulu era where there's much more availability across the board.

"Speaking of Hulu, we were pleased to announce last week that we will acquire the remaining stake in Hulu held by Comcast, which will further Disney streaming objective," Iger said back in 2023. "We remain on track to roll out more unified one app experience domestically, making expensive general entertainment content available to bundle subscribers via Disney+."

"We expect that Hulu and Disney plus will result in increased engagement, greater advertising opportunities, lower churn and reduced customer acquisition costs, thereby increasing our overall margins," the CEO argued "We will launch a beta version for bundle subscribers in December, giving parents time to set up profiles and parental controls that work best for their families ahead of the official launch in early spring 2024."

Iger Makes Massive MCU Announcement

Today has been a busy one for Iger as he talked about Marvel Studios' future as well. During the Investors Call, the Disney CEO talked about walking down the studios output to 2-3 films a year at maximum and capping the TV shows at around 2-3 as well. Some fans have asked for these changes over the last two years and they're going to get them. Sure, that means Deadpool & Wolverine this year and virtually nothing else. But, let's see how the public responds to some of these adjustments. Of course, in the bean-counting corners of social media, this will be applauded. But, it's an interesting tack to take with Avengers: Secret Wars on the horizon.

Iger told shareholders, "We're slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three. And we're working hard on what that path is."

"[Marvel has] a couple of good films in '25 and then we're heading to more Avengers which we're extremely excited about," Iger would gesture towards 2025's slate and beyond. "Overall, I feel great about the slate. It's something, as you know, that I've committed to spending more and more time on. The team is one that I have tremendous confidence in and the IP that we're mining, including all the sequels that we're doing, is second to none."

Which other streaming service will get other Disney content first? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

It's official! Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is gearing up for a home release. Following its launch in late March, the new MonsterVerse movie is ready to wind down its theatrical run. Today, Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures shared Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will hit Blu-ray and DVD on June 11th.

According to the schedule, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will hit digital on May 14th, so fans will be able to access the movie in just a week's time. The film will then roll out its 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD options on June 11th. So if you want a taste of what these home videos will cover, you can check out an exclusive peek in the video above!

For those wondering about pricing, the digital version of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will land at $24.99 USD. If you would rather rent, your options are a bit cheaper. Services like Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video will have the digital title available for 48-hour rental at $19.99 USD.

This MonsterVerse release is not the only one on the radar. As it turns out, an anniversary collection is being planned for the titan franchise. The six-film set will collect the MonsterVerse on 4K UHD. "The 6-disc collector's edition will include Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), along with a disc of special features including the new "Directors of the Monsterverse" featurette with Monsterverse directors Gareth Edwards, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Michael Doughtery and Adam Wingard," Warner Bros. Pictures shared.

If you cannot wait to see Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire at home, the movie is still screening in theaters across North America. The movie has grossed more than $520 million to date, making it the second top-grossing MonsterVerse movie to date. So for those wanting more info on the title, you can read its official synopsis below:

"The epic battle continues! Legendary Pictures' cinematic Monsterverse follows up the explosive showdown of "Godzilla vs. Kong" with an all-new adventure that pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence-and our own. "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" delves further into the histories of these Titans and their origins, as well as the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond."

Are you ready to bring Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire home? Let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy talked about how Hugh Jackman signing on changed the sequel. Entertainment Weekly has a big feature about the Marvel Studios movie this morning. Of course, the questions about Jackman's biggest return to action in years persist. Interestingly, it seems as though the plot of Deadpool 3 was very different before Ryan Reynolds called his friend up for one last ride in the saddle. Chances are doubtful that we'll ever know exactly what Levy had on the table for Deadpool & Wolverine in its previous state. However, fans probably won't care too much, as long as the movie released this summer proves to be amazing.

"Everything changed radically on the day that Hugh called Ryan," Levy told EW when they asked about the Wolverine actor. "We had been workshopping a lot of ideas about possible stories for a third Deadpool movie. Those were story ideas that were more sequelly to the first two Deadpools, but None of them imagined such a seismic shift. I can safely say that the story completely changed and, in fact, came to us very, very quickly starting that day."

Getting Jackman Into Deadpool & Wolverine

Jackman's involvement in Deadpool & Wolverine is just one of many ideas that Reynolds had for the sequel. In a recent Empire Magazine interview, Kevin Feige looked back on those paths not taken. One thing he was resolute about was the idea of not usurping the ending for Wolverine that Logan provided. A lot of fans also hold that entry in the X-Men movie franchise as almost sacred, so his intentions have been mostly correct there. However, viewers still don't know much about this version of Wolverine that "failed his reality" in Deadpool & Wolverine. Feige and company are really excited for whatever's coming in the summer blockbuster.

"The truth is, I wasn't even sure how to incorporate Deadpool yet," Feige shared recently. "I was very much thinking about how to bring mutants and the X-Men into [the MCU], and I thought it needed to be more than just playing the hits. But the truth is, Ryan is an idea machine. So he may have pitched that to me, but he also pitched 25 other thoughts and ideas."

Deadpool & Wolverine Evolved A Lot Over Time

From all of these statements, a clear picture emerges. Deadpool & Wolverine is a movie that has changed multiple times during the long road to production. One event that also shaped this film was the writers and actors strikes. Levy previously told The Associated Press that all the time on the sidelines gave him time to find perspective. Then, when the writers got their contract, the fine-tuning began in earnest.

"The impact was real," Levy revealed. "For me as the director, and the producer, the multi-month pause happened right in the middle of filming. All I could do was edit and review the footage. But it taught me about my movie, and it really revealed what was working and what the movie wanted to be."

"It really focused our work and I think improved our work in the second half," Levy continued. "That's not a luxury we ever get in live-action filmmaking."

What do you think Deadpool 3's story was at first? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

The Marvel Midas touch has minimized in recent years. After early risks like Iron Man and Captain America: The First Avenger paid off, Marvel Studios cemented itself as a bonafide box office juggernaut. Nine figure opening weekends were the norm. Billion dollar worldwide grosses became the measuring stick. Net profits were high enough to finance multiple future films alone. There was such an obsession with the Marvel Cinematic Universe that audiences were going out in droves and turning even the most obscure characters on the page into cultural phenomenons. It wasn't until Marvel experimented with a new medium that this stretch of unfazed dominance began to show cracks.

Marvel Studios expanded to streaming shows in 2021. While the first couple of releases, like WandaVision and Loki, were smash hits, the sheer volume of what the MCU was dropping became overwhelming for the average fan. 2021 alone had four theatrical movies, four live-action streaming shows, and an episodic animated installment to boot. Nonetheless, the overall quality of 2021's releases came close to Marvel's gold standard. The same could not be said for 2022 and 2023, which dropped divisive projects like Thor: Love and Thunder and completely critically-panned installments like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Marvel Studios Decreasing Annual Output

Less is more with Marvel Studios moving forward.

Speaking during Disney's earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the House of Mouse is shifting its focus on quality over quantity, and that that strategy is "particularly true with Marvel."

"We're slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, or a maximum of three," Iger said. "And we're working hard on what that path is."

As of this writing, Marvel Studios has just one theatrical release this year in the form of Deadpool & Wolverine. It is the first time that Marvel is sending one film to the box office in a calendar year since 2010 (Iron Man 2).

"[Marvel has] a couple of good films in '25 and then we're heading to more Avengers which we're extremely excited about," Iger added, alluding to blockbuster 2025 projects Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four. "Overall, I feel great about the slate. It's something, as you know, that I've committed to spending more and more time on. The team is one that I have tremendous confidence in and the IP that we're mining, including all the sequels that we're doing, is second to none."

Marvel Cinematic Universe fans will soon be introduced to Dogpool, Deadpool's loveable four-legged canine companion. While Deadpool & Wolverine will focus on the titular characters, played by Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, respectively, there will be tons of additional guest stars, familiar faces, and even surprises galore in the multiversal adventure. One character fans may have been surprised to see in behind-the-scenes photos was Dogpool, a dog dressed up in Deadpool's classic red-and-black costume. While details on Dogpool's involvement in Deadpool & Wolverine have been kept hush-hush, we now know the doggie is the winner of a rather prestigious award.

"It's love at first sight," Ryan Reynolds told Empire when discussing Dogpool. "He loves Dogpool." He then talked about how Dogpool, whose real name is Peggy, won the Ugliest Dog award in Britain. "Her real name is Peggy, and she won the award for Britain's Ugliest Dog," Reynolds said. "The reason why I was a huge proponent for her was because she feels like the animal manifestation of Wade Wilson."

How Dogpool factors into Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool and Wolverine are obviously the headliners of a movie titled Deadpool & Wolverine, but according to Ryan Reynolds, Dogpool's role grew unexpectedly during the writing process. "It was, just like many things during the writing process, a tiny little afterthought, and it grew," he explained. "It was one of those things where you just keep listening to the movie, and Dogpool became a staple."

Reynolds then joked about how and where Dogpool might relieve itself. "Dogpool's a Pool, so probably has some moral flexibility about where she wees and poops," Reynolds said.

Who is returning for Deadpool & Wolverine?

The Deadpool & Wolverine cast features returning Deadpool stars Morena Baccarin as Wade's ex-fianc?e, Vanessa; Brianna Hildebrand and Shioli Kutsuna as Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Yukio of the X-Men; Stefan Kapi?i? as the metal-skinned X-Man Colossus; Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Wade's roommate; Karan Soni as cabbie Dopinder; and Rob Delaney as Wade's co-worker Peter. Emma Corrin plays the villain Cassandra Nova, the evil twin sister of Professor Charles Xavier.

"I always wanted Hugh to come back," Reynolds explained in a previous interview with Collider. "My first meeting with Kevin Feige when Disney bought Fox years ago, maybe three years ago, or three and a half, four years ago, I'm not sure, was about doing a movie with the two of us, a Deadpool/Wolverine movie. And that was not possible at the time. And then Hugh just happened to call at that perfect moment and express that he'd be interested in coming back and doing this one more time. And the contents of that conversation, I'll let Hugh, because I know it's only inevitable that you and Hugh are going to speak at some point soon, I'm sure. I'll let Hugh answer that on his own. But he expressed interest in coming back, and then it was my job to take that to Kevin Feige one more time and sell it."

Deadpool & Wolverine opens in theaters on July 26th.

https://comicbook.com/movies/news/deadpool-wolverine-trailer-rob-liefeld-feet-easter-egg-mcu/#

Furiosa: A Mad Mad Saga director George Miller has provided a few more details about the process by which he decided to recast the role, originally played by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road. Not for the first time, he blamed the CGI de-aging technology, saying it wasn't where it needed to be in order to tell a story that took place 20+ years before the previous film. The original plan was for Theron to reprise her role in the prequel, but it didn't take long before that idea was off the table. Instead, New Mutants star Anya Taylor-Joy will play the role in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Not long after Mad Max: Fury Road hit theaters, filmmaker George Miller was pressed for a follow-up. The box office phenomenon had landed some Academy Award nominations in big categories -- a rarity for a tentpole blockbuster -- and it was clear that the movie's breakout star was Furiosa, the antiheroine played by Theron.

"So, everyone read a script a few years ago, the concept art and everything, and everyone read the screenplay in order to do Fury Road, not just the actors but everybody," Miller told ComicBook. "[Charlize] read it about six months before, and she said 'We've got to do this first.' I said, Charlize, we've been trying to do this movie for almost a decade and we're all prepared to do this one. We have to do it, but she was very excited about it."

"My intention was that we do it, we do it next," Miller added. "But then we've now gone through the third parent company of Warner Bros. -- there's about four different regimes.That settled down by the time we got to actually do Furiosa, but the best part of a decade had gone by. And then I thought, 'OK, we could still do it with Charlize.' Then I saw these other movies like The Irishman, where they made people younger and particularly I saw Gemini Man. I was looking at was the technology; I wasn't looking at performance. I thought, 'We can't do it.'"

That was back to the drawing board, with Miller admitting that he had no ready second choice after Theron, so the search was on to find a replacement.

In Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, as the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is set to hit theaters on May 24th.

The Speed duo of Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are determined to make at least one more movie together before their careers come to an end. Despite their wonderful chemistry and the profound trust they have in one another, they only appeared on-screen together once since Speed was released. Reeves didn't return for the oft-maligned Speed 2, and they wouldn't reunite until The Lake House in 2006. 18 years after that film hit theaters, the pair still want to find something else to do together.

Talking on the latest episode of the 50 MPH podcast, Bullock and Reeves both insisted that they want to come together for at least one more project, even if it is some kind of third Speed installment.

"There's no formula, it just is," Bullock said of their chemistry. "Before I die, before I leave this planet, I do think that Keanu and I need to do something in front of the camera. Are we, you know, in wheelchairs or with walkers? Maybe. Are we on little scooters at Disneyland?"

"It does feel like there is a siren call to it, like there's something that wasn't done," added Reeves. "I would love to work with you again before our eyes close."

The duo went on to talk about the on-screen chemistry that they share, and what makes them work so well together in any kind of project.

"We had an affection," Reeves explained. "And the characters themselves have an affection. I think Jack and Annie's is different than Sandra's and Keanu's, but I think we played off each other and I think it was just fun. I think, also, we kind of trusted each other, right?"

"Yeah. I mean, people have full-blown affairs in movies, and you don't feel something between them," Bullock added. "And then people can hate each other in movies and you go, 'That was electric.' We didn't really look at each other in this movie except for maybe three or four times, because we were constantly battling the elements. And I think that's what made it so electric, too, that is, watching it, I guess you want them to connect. That was a really clever setup, to sort of keep people apart. Foreplay, I guess.

"But I felt very comfortable with Keanu. There was nothing that I couldn't try or do or say that he wouldn't have, I felt, fought for me to do or say or try, and that kind of trust is very rare with actors. Anytime I threw something his way, he swatted it right back and you just go, 'Okay, there's my partner.'"

It has been nearly two years since Elvis debuted in theaters, bringing to life Baz Luhrmann's one-of-a-kind biopic about the life of Elvis Presley. The Oscar-nominated film has continued to be part of the public conversation, especially amid speculation that Luhrmann might release a four-hour extended cut of the film. While the timeline for that has yet to be confirmed, Luhrmann just revealed another project that might be on the horizon. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Luhrmann confirmed plans to cut together a concert film of previously-unseen footage of the real-life Presley. The footage, which was originally filmed for the 1970 documentary That's the Way It Is and the 1972 documentary Elvis on Tour, had languished in the archives for decades, until it was unearthed by Luhrmann in the prep for Elvis.

"The fans really want to know if all that footage we found in the vaults is going to become a concert film and I'm here to say I think it's gonna happen," Luhrmann revealed.

Baz Luhrmann teases that he may make a concert film out of all the unearthed concert footage he found when making #Elvis pic.twitter.com/kbK1ehEu5F

-- The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 6, 2024

Will There be an Extended Cut of Elvis?

As Luhrmann previously explained to ScreenRant, a longer cut of Elvis could eventually arrive -- but after he takes a small break from the project. He has also voiced a desire to potential turn the Elvis extended cut into a television series, similarly to how his extended version of Australia became the Hulu miniseries Faraway Downs.

"Not now, and not probably next year," Luhrmann explained. "But I don't close my mind to the idea that in the future, there might be a way of exploring another [cut]. I've got to be really careful here, because the moment I put it out there... I tell you what, all my tweets are nothing but, 'We want the four-hour version! We want the four-hour version!' I think people are at my gates with pitchforks saying, 'We want the four-hour version!' But I don't close my mind to the idea that there would be an extended cut. Right now, with how long it's stayed in the theaters and how well it's done, it's crossed the line. But it's done so well on HBO Max over the weekend, so it's about the parent company going, 'Wow, it's really worth spending the money.'"

"Because it isn't just like I've got it, and you just put it out there," Luhrmann continued. "Every minute in post-production, you have to do visual effects, grading, cutting, refining, and ADR sound. It's not like it's just sitting there finished, and I can just push a button and it comes out. You'd have to get back in and work on it. To do an extended cut, you'd be working on it for another four or six months something. I'm not closed to it, but not now. I'm a little bit on the tired side."

By the time Mad Max: Fury Road finally got in front of cameras it was with a new actor in the title role. Tom Hardy took on the part, taking over from Mel Gibson after his time as Max in the original trilogy of features. It wasn't until recently, as the press cycle kicked into full gear for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, that filmmaker and franchise creator George Miller revealed that there's an idea floating around for yet another movie focusing on Mad Max himself that he might just end up making. Would he need to hire yet another actor for the part though?

Speaking at press round table for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, ComicBook asked Miller this very question. It's been over a decade since Mad Max: Fury Road wrapped production, and Tom Hardy's profile as an actor has only gotten bigger, not to mention this planned project is set before the events of Fury Road, so bringing back Gibson seems out of the question (for a litany of reasons). In response to our question, the director replied: "We'll have to see. I'm not even sure we'll be doing it."

As Mad Max fans know, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is arriving nine years after Fury Road, but the script for both movies was completed at the same time and had been in Miller's possession for years prior to production on that movie even starting. Miller revealed that the script for Furiosa was done so long ago that original Furiosa actress Charlize Theron read it before filming began on Fury Road and wanted to make it first.

"Everyone read the screenplay in order to do Fury Road, not just the actors but everybody," Miller said. "And (Charlize) read it I would say about, I'm just guessing about six months before. And she said 'We've got to do this first.' I said, 'Charlize, we've been trying to do this movie for almost a decade and we're all prepared to do this one. We have to do it.' But she was very excited about it. And my intention was that we do it next."

Miller revealed that he intended to keep Charlize Theron in the role after the many changes of the guard that happened at the Warner Bros. parent company, but then he saw several high profile films that de-aged their actors like The Irishman and Gemini Man. After seeing them however he noted that he knew he would after re-cast the part.

"All I was looking at was the technology. I wasn't looking at performance. I thought we can't do it. This is someone who goes from 10 to 18, but I had no idea who, who could play it."

Anya Taylor-Joy steps into the role of Imperator Furiosa for the film, starring in the film alongside Chris Hemsworth as Warlord Dementus. The cast of the film also includes Tom Burke, Lachy Hulme, Nathan Jones, John Howard, Angus Sampson, Charlee Fraser, and Daniel Webber.

In Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers, young Furiosa falls into the hands of a great biker horde led by the warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel, presided over by the Immortan Joe. As the two tyrants fight for dominance, Furiosa soon finds herself in a nonstop battle to make her way home.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga arrives in theaters on May 24th.

A new snack item has won the heart of Garfield. The notorious lasagna-loving feline is the focus of a new feature film, appropriately titled The Garfield Movie. Chris Pratt voices Garfield in the movie, with fans discovering Garfield's origin story as an adopted cat to everyone's favorite orange kitty cat. Eagle-eyed viewers of The Garfield Movie trailer may have noticed Garfield is shown chowing down on Popchips Nacho flavor snacks. This is part of a collaboration between Columbia Pictures/Alcon Entertainment and Popchips, with the latter releasing a limited-edition Nacho bag featuring Garfield just in time for the movie.

The Popchips Nacho Garfield bags are rolling out at select retail locations of Walmart, Aldi, Sprouts, Stop & Shop, Giant Eagle, Redner's, Fresh Thyme, Cub Foods, Hy-Vee, Festival Foods, and more. Shoppers can look for these limited-edition bags in the large orange display shippers stamped with cat paw prints and stripes, evidence of Garfield's love for the nacho-flavored chip.

"Coming in with the big cheesy energy, Popchips Nacho is the perfect snack for Garfield to munch on and feel the freedom of finishing the whole bag," says Marshall Osborne, Chief Growth Officer of Our Home, Popchips' parent brand. "The amusing movie scene wonderfully captures the chip's satisfying flavor and crunch that you just can't stop eating. Garfield loves it, and we know snackers everywhere will too."

Garfield hosting a hometown screening

To celebrate Garfield's new favorite snack, Popchips is hosting a Hometown Screening Sweepstakes, available for entry now through May 19th at 8 pm EST. One lucky grand prize winner will receive a year's supply of Popchips and a hometown screening of the movie for 150 people. Fifty winners will also receive VIP prizes of two movie tickets and Garfield licensed merchandise. Eligible participants can enter online or find the link to enter on Facebook and Instagram. Moreover, Popchips offers fans a chance to engage with Garfield on TikTok and Instagram through augmented reality filters and games, like Popchips' new Catch the Chip filter in which users strategically toss Popchips into a lazy Garfield's mouth.

Starting May 3rd, Angelenos can get in on the fun by viewing the larger-than-life orange Popchips wall located at 8201 Melrose Ave in Los Angeles. The mural wall will feature a hungry Garfield with a knife and fork peering over a colossal Popchips Nacho bag and ready to dig in. Orange pawprints on the sidewalk lead viewers to the ideal spot to take photos alongside the mural. Popchips will also transport passersby inside the chip bag to become Garfield's favorite snack via an augmented reality filter.

"We wanted to bring this collaboration to life and allow Popchips fans to interact with Garfield in a fun way," continues Osborne. "We created an augmented reality filter for Instagram that transports users inside the Nacho bag to get a fun, unique view and get their mouths watering for the new movie."

The Popchips mural wall will be on display throughout May. Angelenos can find the Popchips team handing out Nacho samples and swag during the weekends of May 4-5 and May 11-12 to get their first taste of the bold, cheesy goodness and also snag an extra bag to snack on while watching the movie in theaters.

What is The Garfield Movie about?

In the new movie, Garfield (voiced by Chris Pratt), the world-famous, Monday-hating, lasagna-loving indoor cat, is about to have a wild outdoor adventure! After an unexpected reunion with his long-lost father - scruffy street cat Vic (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) - Garfield and his canine friend Odie are forced from their perfectly pampered life into joining Vic in a hilarious, high-stakes heist.

The Garfield Movie opens in theaters on May 24th.

Horror fans were both shocked and thrilled when filmmaker Ti West revealed at the world premiere of X that he had secretly filmed the prequel Pearl, and while the announcement of a third film, MaXXXine, seemed more like a given, fans were no less excited to hear about the follow-up. With MaXXXine hitting theaters this summer, fans have wondered if that narrative will continue in some capacity, and while West has confirmed that he might have found a way to further expand this compelling world of characters, he offers fans the disclaimer that any continuation of the concept will likely be something that deviates from fan expectation. MaXXXine lands in theaters on July 5th.

"I do have one idea that plays into these movies that could maybe happen," West confirmed to Entertainment Weekly. "I don't know if it'll be next. It might be. We'll see." He also confirmed that MaXXXine "will probably be the end of the Maxine era."

In X, a group of friends got together to make an adult movie at a Texas farmhouse they rented, only for the farm's owners to kill them off, leaving only Maxine to survive. The prequel Pearl explored the murderous origins of the Texas killers, namely the young Pearl, with Mia Goth playing both Maxine and Pearl.

MaXXXine is described, "In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past." Joining Goth are Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon.

West previously delivered fan-favorite horror movies The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers, and The Sacrament, with these latest films marking his first sequels. The filmmaker went on to express how, once he wraps MaXXXine, he will likely take some time to figure out what project could be next, whether it's an entirely original experience or an unconventional continuation of this world.

"Then hopefully I can just put this in a box under the bed, take a breath, and figure out what's next," West pointed out. "I'll say that, if there's more to be done in this X franchise, it's certainly not what people are expecting it to be. It's not just picking up again a few years later and whatever. It's different in the way that Pearl was an unexpected departure. It's another unexpected departure."

MaXXXine lands in theaters on July 5th.

What do you think of the filmmaker's remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

From modern classics like The Devil Wears Prada to recent fare like Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt has been involved with some some pretty captivating stories. But as the actress recently explained, there has been one unexpected downside to her career -- particularly where kissing scenes are concerned. During a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show to promote her new film The Fall Guy, Blunt revealed that she sometimes has a negative reaction to kissing her onscreen co-stars, with the actress even going so far as to confirm that she has wanted to throw up afterwards.

"I wouldn't say it's sort of extreme loathing, but I've definitely not enjoyed some of it...I have had chemistry with people who I have not had a good time working with them," Blunt revealed. "Sometimes it's a strange thing. Sometimes you could have a rapport that's really effortless, but it doesn't translate onscreen. Chemistry is this strange thing. It's an ethereal thing that you can't really bottle up and buy or sell. It's like there or it's not...It's just easier when you have a natural rapport with someone."

What Is The Fall Guy About?

In The Fall Guy, Colt Seavers, a battered and past-his-prime action choreographer, finds himself working on a film set with Tom Ryder, a famous actor for whom he had doubled long ago. When Tom goes missing and the film, which is being directed by Jody Moreno, Colt's ex-girlfriend in her directing debut, is in danger of being shut down, Colt volunteers to find Tom and save Jody's debut film.

Loosely based on the 1980s series of the same name, The Fall Guy also stars Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Winston Duke, Hannah Waddingham, Stephanie Hsu, and Teresa Palmer. The film is directed by David Leitch, with a script from Drew Pearce.

Will Emily Blunt Play a Superhero?

Over the years, Blunt has addressed the idea of joining some sort of superhero franchise, after briefly being offered the role of Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and subsequent years of being fancast as characters like Captain Marvel and Sue Storm. In a 2021 interview on The Howard Stern Show, Blunt acknowledged the fervor around wanting her in those kinds of parts, but admitted that it might not be for her.

"It's not that it's beneath me," Blunt revealed. "I love Iron Man and when I got offered Black Widow. I was obsessed with Iron Man. I wanted to work with Robert Downey Jr.--it would've been amazing...but I don't know if superhero movies are for me. They're not up my alley. I don't like them. I really don't. It's been exhausted. We are inundated--it's not only all the movies, it's the endless TV shows as well. It's not to say that I'd never want to play one, it would just have to be something so cool and like a really cool character, and then I'd be interested."

The Fall Guy is now playing exclusively in theaters.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe stood still on December 17th, 2021. Since Spider-Man: Far From Home swung into theaters in Summer 2019, speculation ran rampant that the next installment would feature Tom Holland's Spider-Man uniting with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's preceding web-slingers in a multiversal affair. Years of cross-examining stunt doubles and hyper-analyzing set photos were proven true when Spider-Man: No Way Home hit theaters, as Maguire and Garfield's Peter Parkers popped up late into the second act to help Holland's Peter fight off a quintet of villains from the Spider-Man franchise's past.

While the guns were blazing for that third act showdown, Maguire and Garfield's first scene came in a much quieter environment. In an attempt to find his friend, Jacob Batalon's Ned Leeds uses a Doctor Strange sling ring to open a portal for "Peter Parker." Rather than Holland answering the call, the portal instead summons Maguire and Garfield's Peters.

Speaking to ComicBook.com ahead of Reginald the Vampire Season 2's premiere, Batalon reflected on that historic day on the Spider-Man: No Way Home set.

"I think everyone on set knew it was really special. It had never been done before. I feel like everyone understood the gravity of the moment, but we also kept it really light," Batalon said. "At that point in filming, because we were working during the pandemic, we were just all grateful to be there."

Some set photos of Maguire and Garfield slipped through the cracks ahead of the film's release, but nothing from Batalon's scene specifically was seen until the threequel arrived in theaters.

"Working on that scene specifically was such a delight because Andrew and Tobey are super great. I remember thinking that it was probably one of those moments where people will probably be talking about it for a long time," Batalon continued. "It was really fun. I feel like that was probably the time where I kind of got to know them the most."

Batalon's MCU future moving forward is uncertain. Holland has confirmed that there are plans for a Spider-Man 4, but considering how No Way Home ended, it's unclear just how much of the trilogy's ensemble will return for future films.

Batalon stars in Reginald the Vampire Season 2, premiering on May 8th on SyFy.

Production on an entire trilogy of The Strangers reboot films commenced in an extended shoot, and while we know that The Strangers: Chapter 1 is set to hit theaters later this month, fans have been left to wonder about when we'll get official looks at or a release date for the next two chapters. Director Renny Harlin recently offered an update on possible release dates, teasing that Chapter 2 could be released in time for Halloween while the third entry would likely be unleashed early next year. The reception the first film earns will likely have at least some impact on how to release the next two chapters, in that if it is received poorly, studio Lionsgate might be more interested in rushing out subsequent chapters to get the underwhelming outing over with. The Strangers: Chapter 1 is set to hit theaters on May 17th.

While speaking with Variety, Harlin teased the next chapter could arrive as early as September or October, before then hinting the trilogy would conclude early next year.

The filmmaker also expressed what drew him to the project, noting that getting to spend three films with characters as opposed to merely remaking one movie is what inspired his excitement.

"If it had been a straight remake or a sequel, I wouldn't have done it at this point of my life," he says. "I have such respect for the original film and am somewhat intimidated by the quality of it. Simply doing a sequel or remake didn't appeal to me, but this was such an opportunity to have four and a half hours of a case study of victims of a violent crime and the perpetrators and what makes them tick and how it affects a person who goes through this."

The original 2008 The Strangers did earn the follow-up film The Strangers: Prey at Night in 2018, though the narratives were only loosely connected, in that both films featured masked maniacs.

The movie is described, "From master director Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Die Hard 2, The Exorcist: The Beginning) comes a new trilogy of terror. In Chapter I, Madelaine Petsch (TV's Riverdale) stars as a young woman starting a new life with her fianc?. Suddenly, during a road trip stop in a remote vacation rental in the woods, they become the prey of a mysterious gang of masked strangers who attack without warning or reason. What begins as a fight to stay alive becomes one woman's journey of courage and cunning in this horror series bridging three compelling films."

The Strangers: Chapter 1 is set to hit theaters on May 17th.

Are you looking forward to the trilogy? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has been taking over the box office around the world, and the newest update has clinched its spot as the currently second highest grossing film in the MonsterVerse! Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has been doing very well for itself ever since it first hit theaters earlier this Spring, and that success has only continued even further thanks to its release across international territories. Still making bank at the box office as of this latest weekend, it turns out that it's now become one of the most successful MonsterVerse releases yet and might even go on to be the most successful.

According to the newest update from Box Office Mojo, the current international box office total for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is now up to an estimated $358,800,000 million, bringing the current worldwide estimated total to $546,867,009 million USD. This makes it second to Kong: Skull Island (which is currently on $568,652,812 million USD) and surpassing Godzilla 2014's $524,976,069 million USD. There's a chance that Godzilla x Kong will surpass this total to become the highest grossing MonsterVerse film before long if this success continues.

MonsterVerse Box Office Totals, Ranked

The current worldwide box office totals for the MonsterVerse films break down as such:

1. Kong: Skull Island - $568,652,812
2. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - $546,867,009
3. Godzilla - $524,976,069
4. Godzilla vs. Kong - $470,116,094
5. Godzilla: King of the Monsters - $387,300,138

Directed by Adam Wingard (who returns from Godzilla vs. Kong) with Simon Barrett writing the script, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will be available for purchase on digital platforms beginning on May 14th. As for what to expect from the story of this newest entry in the Monsterverse, Legendary Entertainment teases what to expect from the new film as such:

"This latest entry in the Monsterverse franchise follows up the explosive showdown of Godzilla vs. Kong with an all-new cinematic adventure, pitting the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence - and our own. The epic new film will delve further into the histories of these Titans, their origins, and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever."

The 2008 horror movie The Strangers is being revived as a trilogy of films by director Renny Harlin, who filmed all three films during one extended production. In honor of the sprawling nature of the core storyline, the filmmaker recently confirmed that there have been talks of developing a massive, extended cut of the experience that will unite all three chapters of the nightmare, though these talks haven't been solidified. Given the evolving nature of the home video market, if that complete trilogy doesn't earn a theatrical release, the story could be unified for a home video opportunity. The Strangers: Chapter 1 is set to hit theaters on May 17th.

In Variety's preview of the new films, the outlet noted, "For fans who want the four-and-a-half-hour director's cut, there's a very real chance it could happen once the trilogy finishes," while Lionsgate's Geobert Abboud detailed that there is "some version of that we've discussed at a high level that we'd like to see at some point."

Harlin himself added, "It's in our heads. This is definitely what we want to do. We want to cut together the full arc. We know exactly how to do it, then we'll create a movie and see who are those diehard fans who will come to the movie theater for four and a half hours. I don't know if we need to have an intermission so people can get some food and go to the bathroom, but I definitely want to have that event and see if people take four and a half hours of dread and fear and terror and despair."

Production on the trilogy has been completed, though it's currently unknown when the next two chapters in the series could be released.

The movie is described, "From master director Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Die Hard 2, The Exorcist: The Beginning) comes a new trilogy of terror. In Chapter I, Madelaine Petsch (TV's Riverdale) stars as a young woman starting a new life with her fianc?. Suddenly, during a road trip stop in a remote vacation rental in the woods, they become the prey of a mysterious gang of masked strangers who attack without warning or reason. What begins as a fight to stay alive becomes one woman's journey of courage and cunning in this horror series bridging three compelling films."

The Strangers: Chapter 1 is set to hit theaters on May 17th.

Are you looking forward to the trilogy? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

The ComicBook Nation crew reviews The Fall Guy, new horror film Tarot and Jerry Seinfeld's directorial debut with Netflix's Unfrosted. We also say farewell to Star Wars: The Bad Batch after its Series Finale, and get into part 1 of X-Men '97's finale arc.

PLUS: Breakdowns of the new trailers for Mufasa: The Lion King, the Batman: Arkham Shadow game - and a preview of WWE's Backlash event!

The Fall Guy Review

Critic Patrick Cavanaugh gave The Fall Guy 3 out of 5 stars, writing that:

The Fall Guy is perfectly palatable summer fare featuring attractive movie stars being charming, with the romance occasionally being broken up by more thrilling scenes. For better or worse, the scope and scale of both the storyline and the stunts themselves feel more like an extended episode of the source material as opposed to an opportunity to take a core premise and elevate to new heights. Given the more humble origins of the Mission: Impossible franchise and the ways Brian De Palma tapped into the core components of the TV series and revived them in unexpected and exciting ways and just how bombastic that franchise has since become, we can't rule out The Fall Guy becoming a franchise that can more fully push the effective elements to further heights in subsequent installments, especially after this entry lays a solid foundation of talent involved in the overall experience. Leitch is no De Palma, however, so while all of the core pieces come to life relatively cohesively, there isn't much to elevate The Fall Guy to be anything more than the sum of its parts.

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The long-awaited third installment in Disney's fan favorite Tron franchise is now one step closer to completion. Tron: Ares continues the story from the first two films, with director Joachim R?nning taking over behind the camera and Jared Leto set to play the lead role. While the movie doesn't hit theaters until 2025, R?nning and the crew have officially finished the filming stage of production.

R?nning took to Instagram on Monday afternoon to share an update on the film and a message to the cast and crew. In the post, he confirmed the filming wrap, which means the movie is on the a length post-production process.

"That's a wrap on TRON: ARES," R?nning wrote. "Thanks to an incredible and tireless crew, I really believe we pushed the filmmaking limits on this movie. Even through six weeks of night shoots you never slowed down. Also, a big thank you to our wonderful cast for leaving everything on screen. I can't wait to show the world what we've done."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joachim R?nning (@joachimronning)

In addition to Leto, Tron: Ares stars Evan Peters, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Cameron Monaghan. The property is a hot one for Disney, especially after the recent opening of the Tron Lightcycle Run attraction debut at Walt Disney World last year.

"Yeah, I'm a producer on whatever the upcoming film becomes, and hopefully we'll get to make it one day soon, but we're still in development on it," producer Justin Springer told ComicBook. "And there's not much that I can say about that just because we want to get everything in order and we want to make sure we have a movie that feels like it meets the ambition of the things that have come before it. So I would love to do it. And I think now the ideas that we've explored in Tron and where you would imagine those ideas evolving to are more relevant than they've ever been. So it feels like the right time. And there's a giant ride here now, and there's one in Shanghai, but we have to get it right. We have to get the story and we have to get the team right. And so there's still stuff to do before we have much to say about the movie."

Steven Lisberger, the director of the original Tron, isn't fully involved in the new franchise entry, but he is offering some advice and guidance on bringing another Tron to life.

"I play the Obi-Wan role, where less is more," Lisberger told ComicBook.com. "Ideally, I could give them three sentences, that's all they would need. But I'm not down to three sentences yet."

Having previously delivered the independent productions Thunder Road, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, and The Beta Test, filmmaker and actor Jim Cummings knows a thing or two about bringing to life a compelling story on a limited budget, both in front of and behind the camera. With his latest film, The Last Stop in Yuma County, Cummings only had to worry about his on-screen contributions to the project, which required him to both honor the more thrilling elements of the narrative but also required him to emphasize the ways in which his character was in over his head to more fully realize writer/director Francis Galluppi's vision. The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is described, "While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune."

ComicBook caught up with Cummings to talk preparing for the new film, the challenges of filming, and collaborating with the rest of the acting ensemble.

ComicBook: This is such an interesting movie in that it weaves between these different themes and tones, and sometimes it's more drama, other times more thriller, this neo-noir story. With Francis being a first-time feature director, what was it about his vision that really excited you and really appealed to you?

Jim Cummings: He sent me the script, and I guess his buddy Scott from middle school, his best friend, heard me on a podcast saying that nobody asked me to act in anything. They've probably seen my movies, they have good reason why they don't ask me to act. But Scott reached out to Francis and said, "You should ask him, he'd be very good. I think he'd be very good for this part." So thank you, Scott Holmes. And then Francis reached out and said he wanted me to play the lead. He came over to my house and we talked about it, read the script. It felt, in reading it, it was very dry, there's no comedy to it, you're just reading the script and it felt like a Paul Newman/Jimmy Stewart, bag-of-money-in-the-desert movie. I was like, "Oh man, this would be so much fun. It feels like a throwback, this could be a lot of fun to do." He came over and we just talked about South Park for four hours, and I was like, "Oh, this is going to be a great film. This guy has a great sense of humor."

We talked about Criterion movies, we talked about the history of noirs and Westerns. I'm a cinephile. He's a cinephile. The majority of our time together is spent just talking about the history of movies. I knew I was in good hands, and that was the reason that I signed on. I had seen his short films and even he was like, "I want to do something different. This is going to be its own thing. It's going to be this big, fun feature. I think I'm ready to do it." I've seen that a million times, doing it myself, going from short to feature. And then also we run a lab that helps filmmakers go from short to feature, and I could see this ambition in him, and that was really the thing that got me on board.

Speaking of acting and also comedy, with this being a neo-noir and a thriller, it is tense, but there are some more lighthearted, comedic moments. Your character especially, I feel like really is in a tonally interesting place.

Oh, I'm an idiot. I'm a coward in this movie.

Honestly, that's all I was trying to say. This wasn't even a question.

"You came across like an idiot."

This was me trying to politely say, "By the way, you're a coward."

Thank you, Patrick. Thank you.

How do you find that balance? Do you find that you approach this character organically, the way that you would approach any character, whether it's drama, horror, humor, and then you leave it up to the filmmaker to find that tone? Or do you intentionally heighten your reactions, heighten your befuddlement?

Oh, no, no. When Francis and I were talking, we talk about filmmaking as a whole, a feature film being an equation. It's not just this amalgamation of scenes in a boxcar that gets chopped up. You're on this roller coaster and you have to weave the audience's attention throughout.

I always say, "If you don't make jokes throughout your films, your audiences will." I always grew up with very harsh critics as friends, and we would just make fun of the movies that we were watching, so much so that I would be like, "Oh, my movies need to be bulletproof so that John Silva doesn't make fun of me." And Francis grew up with that experience with me, so really the goal is to make something very austere, like Richard Brake's performance that is very frightening. But then to have me be a coward watching him, the audience is laughing at this very serious thing. You have to tap many lobes of the brain at once through this storytelling.

Tone is very complicated. Bong Joon-ho does a very good job of making all of his films everything; it's a romance, it's a horror, it's a noir, it's a thriller, it's everything. We try to do the same, to be genre-fluid, because I feel like audiences these days are media-literate enough that if you were to see this film ... Just that generic, noir Western, I feel like you'd get bored. We're trying to make movies for audiences that get the jokes so that if Faizon Love is saying the title of the movie and you cut it off halfway through, the audience is ... You should have been there at Fantastic Fest, they were rolling in the aisles. It was such a risk to do that. But that tonal shift is the stuff that I love to see in the cinema anyway.

When it comes to your own career, when I think of something like Wolf of Snow Hollow, where you're acting and you're directing that, there's so much more, I don't want to say you are independently creating that movie, because the cast, the crew all contribute, but you personally have so much more invested in bringing that story to life. And with this, you have all these characters who are in the same room pretty much the entire time. So what was that collaborative effort like? Was it putting complete faith in Francis and just being one of his instruments that he was playing with?

Yeah, Francis is much better at ensemble work than anybody I've ever met, certainly me. When I make a movie, it's like ... Almost all three of my films, the main character's in every scene, and that's not the case with this. In an ensemble, you're pairing off different people, you're seeing how the equation works with these conversations. There's different locations that then add to the story. It really does feel like this wild, thriller ensemble, and Francis had to navigate that constantly. He's a big fan of Hitchcock. You see something like Rope and it's multiple different conversations that take place in the same room, but the tension is escalating constantly, who's in the know, who knew what, when, that stuff. This one was a pleasure to work with because I didn't have to think about that.

Francis was so meticulous that he would measure with our production designer, Charlie Texter, how much coffee was in the pot because he was keeping track of how much Charlotte was pouring for each person, which is crazy. You're watching the film, you're like, "Who cares about that, it doesn't matter at all?" But he was so forensically in the world and thinking about each of the characters and loving each of the characters in a way that I don't. I see characters as like, "So they've got to say something to keep the plot moving," in my movies. They're much simpler, my movies. This one was like a real, can I say clusterf-ck? I can't imagine what it must have been like to write and direct this thing and keep all of these things in the air while making this thing.

Even though we just talked about the collaboration, your role specifically, even compared to some of the other actors, you are sitting at a table by yourself for a majority of the film.

For the majority of the film. He sent me the script and I was like, "You want me to sit in a booth for three-quarters of a month? You want me to sit in a booth for three weeks? All right, great." In the ugliest outfit possible. In the hottest outfit possible. In fact, that was the one improv that I suggested, that I ripped the jacket off at the end of the film because I could not wait to get that suit off of me after a month in the desert.

Well, no, that's a great point. I couldn't help but have sympathy for you as a performer of what that experience is like, is getting to watch Jocelin [Donahue] and Richard have these tense encounters and you're just sitting there. Honestly, every day, is it like you're doing Sudoku just to pretend to be invested? How do you not get wrapped up in these incredible performers doing this film?

Oh, constantly. And jealousy, and you get to see Nick Logan being Bugs Bunny with the gun in his ass and running around. There was so much fun, and, really, it was very easy for me, I just had to track where things were on the table with Kyle, the art director. We had to make sure continuity was perfect, but then I just had to sit and then react to some stuff, so it wasn't that difficult for three weeks. And then things get crazy, the guns come out, and then I'm up on my feet and running.

That was shot interspersed throughout production. I was on my feet for most of it. I didn't really feel lethargic in sitting in this booth for a long time because there was so much tension. You still have to be stressed out if Richard Brake has a gun on you. Really, Francis was like, "Hey, get up and do 50 pushups," and he and I would do pushups against each other so that I would be sweaty in this nervous diner seat being stressed out. We still found ways to keep it tense. I don't know if Hitchcock was doing that to Jimmy Stewart, but it was fun to have little pushup competition throughout.

You had your werewolf movie with Snow Hollow. You were in Halloween Kills, a pretty integral component of the momentum of that overall storyline. Now Francis is jumping into Evil Dead next. As a fan of films and genre films, do you have a favorite franchise of yours that you would like to dip your toes in and experiment with? Whether you're going to be Francis' Ash Williams or if you'd like to stay behind the camera?

I'm honored by the comparison. I really like the Alien movies. My wife Julia is a filmmaker, and we watch those the second they're available. I think that those do a really good job of the roller coaster. I think Ridley [Scott]'s still got it, even the latest one, [Alien:] Covenant, I love more than the last two. Michael Fassbender is so good. Performance-driven horror intention is my favorite.

But no, I really love original work. I think the reason I like Alien is because it was original and the same with Francis. Francis is coming on to helm Evil Dead, but he's perfect for it because he grew up with Evil Dead. He was born with the Necronomicon in his hands, basically. I can say that it is his favorite thing, it would be his dream project, and Sam [Raimi] and Bruce [Campbell] both agreed that he was right for the part. But I don't know, I'm really enjoying being original, creating original content. I think there's real creative value and personal value to that for audiences. So I'm going to do that for a minute, I think.

The Last Stop in Yuma County lands in theaters and on Digital on May 10th.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

James Gunn released a first-look promo image from his Superman movie, featuring actor David Corneswet making his official full-fledged debut in the new Superman costume. However, Gunn only makes chess moves when it comes to promoting his new DC Universe, so the image for Superman contained some choice Easter-egg details for fans to analyze.

The New Superman Suit

Superhero movie costumes are always a big deal - and no suit's a bigger deal than the Superman suit. Fans always have serious feelings toward just about every detail of the iconic Superman look (or deviations from it) and David Corenswet's Superman is no different.

The suit that James Gunn is going with for the DC Universe looks like it has the high-collared design of Superman's "New 52" costume - and the same could be said for the line patterning on the blue and red portions of the costume, as well as the cuffs of the boots and shirt sleeves. That said, the Superman insignia on the costume looks like a mix between the classic and new-age designs, and the photo doesn't make a pronounced point about it but in close-up it's clear that Corenswet's Superman will be wearing the red briefs on the outside - the epitome of a classic look for the character. However, the location of this scene is questionable: floor-to-ceiling windows in a downtown apartment, on a reporter's salary? Hard to believe.

The biggest point of curiosity right now seems to be the state of Superman's costume in this photo. The suit has definitely seen better days than the scorched mess we see in the upper-right chest area. Obviously, Superman's been in some intense battle, and the appearance of a giant, floating, ocular-shaped energized object in the background seems to be the culprit.

What Is The Glowing Orb In James Gunn's Superman Photo?

We can only speculate at this point, but DC fans have theories about what James Gunn is teasing with the deadly orb in the sky over Metropolis.

DC's Solaris Explained - The most compelling guess from fans is that James Gunn is teasing the DC villain "Solaris," who was created by Grant Morrison in the 1998 event series DC One Million, and had a key role in Morrision's now-classic limited series All-Star Superman.

Solaris is a sentient artificial sun that was created through a temporal paradox effect, in which Solaris of the 853rd Century used the Future version of Hourman to travel back in time travel and infect the 20th Century with a virus that ensured its creation. Solaris can infect and consume stars, and through his battles with present-day Superman (or "Superman Prime"), Solaris becomes obsessed with battling Superman and all his descendants, in a feud that lasts from the 20th Century all the way to the 853rd.

In All-Star Superman (which is the source material James Gunn originally hinted at as inspiration for his film), it turns out to be Solaris who is the secondary villain of the story. Solaris teams with Lex Luthor in a plan to take down Superman by tinting the sun to a red color (de-powering Clark Kent), while Lex Luthor had a Superman serum giving him strength. Solaris went so far as to poison the Earth's sun (betraying Lex), forcing Superman to sacrifice his own life to re-power the sun.

While the creature in the background of the image could, in fact, be some creation of Brainiac's (another frequent cohort of Luthor's), or some threat made by Lex, it feels more likely that Gunn is sticking to his guns and is adapting All-Star Superman in some form.

Vin Diesel is officially returning to one of his most surprising franchises. On Monday, it was announced that the fourth Riddick film, titled Riddick: Furya, will begin production later this year. Diesel is expected to reprise his role as Richard B. Riddick in Riddick: Furya, and also produce via his One Race Films banner. Production on Riddick: Furya is slated to begin on August 26th, and will shoot in Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The new film does not currently have a North American distributor, or a release date.

Riddick: Furya is the latest installment in the sci-fi franchise, which has already encompassed 2000's Pitch Black, 2004's The Chronicles of Riddick, and 2013's Riddick. The first three films became cult classics, earning a combined total of $267 million at the global box office. Riddick: Furya will be directed by David Twohy, who has helmed all of the franchise's previous installments. The character of Riddick is created by Ken and Jim Wheat, who co-wrote the script for Pitch Black alongside Twohy.

What Is Riddick: Furya About?

In Riddick: Furya, Riddick finally returns to his home world, a place he barely remembers and one he fears might be left in ruins. But there he finds other Furyans fighting for their existence against a new monster. And some of these Furyans are more like Riddick than he could have ever imagined.

"Our legion fans have demanded it for years, and now we're finally ready to honor their call to action with Riddick: Furya," Twhoy previously saiid of the project. "My collaboration with Vin and One Race has spanned 20 fruitful years, as together we've created three movies, two video games, an anime production, and motion comics for the internet. This new big-screen event will see a return to Riddick's homeworld, where we finally get to explore Riddick's genesis."

Will There Be a Riddick Spinoff?

The Riddick universe has included a handful of offshoots over the years, including multiple motion comics, novels, and video games. Diesel has repeatedly expressed a desire to return back to the Riddick universe, previously announcing that there were plans not only for a fourth film, but for a spinoff television series starring him. Updates surrounding Furya have been gradually coming out since 2016, with Diesel previously indicating that it could be an origin story for the character.

"David Twohy, he wrote a great script," Diesel previously told GamesRadar. "It's just a matter of timing when we get that opportunity to shoot that. But I believe we're shooting that in Australia. And it would be the fourth chapter in that series, which would be awesome."

"We did have great success with Escape From Butcher Bay," Diesel added. "It feels like an eternity ago now. But, I imagine that we would take advantage of the gaming space and add an extra chapter, but definitely, the [movie's] script is already written. So it's safe to say that we are moving towards filming the fourth chapter of Riddick."

Abigail, Melissa Barrera's newest horror movie, is set to release on digital tomorrow, just two weeks after premiering in theaters on April 19th. The film, from Radio Silence (the filmmakers behind Scream and Ready Or Not), centers on a young girl who is kidnapped -- but her captors are in for a bad time when it turns out she's actually a vampire. The movie received generally positive reviews and earned around $35 million at the box office -- just a hair over its reported $28 million budget. That means it's probably not in the black just yet, but horror movies tend to do well on home release, and the popularity of Radio Silence certainly can't hurt in that department.

You'll be able to buy the movie as of 3 a.m. ET/midnight PT tonight on all the major video on demand platforms, including Apple, Prime Video, Fandango at Home, and Google Play. No word yet on when it will be available for rental (sometimes that comes at the same time as the digital release, but other times it's a couple of weeks later). It's likely to stream free on Peacock at some point, but that hasn't been officially set yet, either.

In addition to Barrera (Scream franchise, In the Heights), Abigail stars Dan Stevens (Godzilla x Kong: The New EmpireGaslit, Legion), Kathryn Newton (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Lisa Frankenstien), William Catlett (Black Lightning, True Story), Kevin Durand (Resident Evil: Retribution, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), and Angus Cloud (Euphoria, North Hollywood) as the kidnappers and Alisha Weir (Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical, Darklands) as Abigail.

The film is produced by William Sherak (Scream franchise, Ready or Not), Paul Neinstein (Scream franchise; executive producer, The Night Agent), and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, Scream franchise) for Project X Entertainment, by Tripp Vinson (Ready or Not, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island), and by Radio Silence's Chad Vilella (executive producer Ready or Not and Scream franchise). The executive producers are Ron Lynch and Macdara Kelleher.

Here's the official synopsis:

From Radio Silence -- the directing team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett behind the terrifying modern horror hits Ready or Not, 2022's Scream, and last year's Scream VI -- comes a brash, blood-thirsty new vision of the vampire flick, written by Stephen Shields (The Hole in the Ground, Zombie Bashers) and Guy Busick (Scream franchise, Ready or Not).

We've got confirmation that David Corenswet's Superman will indeed wear trunks on his costume. Superman has one of the most iconic costumes in superhero comics, with the suit sticking close to its original design over various iterations. One of the most hotly debated topics concerning the Man of Steel's costume always comes down to trunks or no trunks. Some fans like their Superman to have his red trunks, while others prefer a more "real-world" approach to having the trunks underneath the costume. As we approached the start of filming on James Gunn's Superman, the anticipation for the big costume reveal only intensified. With the Superman costume officially revealed, we also can see there will be trunks as well.

James Gunn shared a photo of David Corenswet in his Superman costume, slipping a pair of boots on his feet with the caption, "Get ready. Superman 7.11.25 @dcofficial." Though it may be hard to make out, you can see Corenswet does have red trunks on. It's also worth noting that it appears Corenswet may also have on a black belt, which would be a nod to Superman's Kingdom Come suit. You can take a look at the photo below.

New Superman costume also has New 52 connection

Along with the trunks, David Cornswet's Superman costume also brings back the neck collar that debuted during DC's New 52. When DC rebooted its comic book universe, it brought with it updated costumes for some heroes like Superman. This Clark Kent was much younger and inexperienced at being Superman, and while his first costume was kept simple with a t-shirt and jeans, the Man of Steel's Justice League costume famously had no trunks and a collar.

The collar displayed in the new Superman photo isn't exaggerated, but you can definitely see it. Perhaps it's meant to be a merging of the trunks/no trunks brigade, with the trunks visible from the outside of the costume, but also a real-world appearance of the costume having a collar on it.

What is Superman about?

Per DC Studios, Superman tells the story of Superman's journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and a better tomorrow, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.

"We got James Gunn and Peter (Safran) working very hard on DC, which is going to be a very big growth driver for this company," Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav explained last year. "We are very bullish on DC. The Superman script first draft is done. Gunn is on a mission from god. It is a really good moment to prove out on DC what we got and how strong it is globally for long-term sustainable growth."

Superman will also star Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Terence Rosemore as Otis, Mar?a Gabriela de Far?a as Angela Spica / The Engineer, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt / Mr. Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason / Metamorpho.

Speaking with ComicBook recently about his career in geek media, The Walking Dead and Avengers: Infinity War star Ross Marquand revealed that the way he brought the Red Skull to life in Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame was inspired by Star Wars. Specifically, it came from a note, with Joe Russo telling him to infuse the ancient and somewhat doomed feeling of Yoda into the character -- something Marquand understood and responded to right away. Prior to that, Marquand said, he was trying to do his best to mimic what Hugo Weaving had done in the character's first screen appearance -- but the directors wanted him to lean into the ancient, troubled, cosmic being that the Skull had become.

Marquand, who also plays Charles Xavier in X-Men '97, told ComicBook that it took him a while to dial in the new voice, but that once he figured it out, it felt totally at home. Ironically, he also pointed out to us that Cedric Smith, who played Xavier in the original '90s X-Men cartoon, also voiced Red Skull at some point.

"They were great, and they gave me the best direction, because once I figured out what it was, I was thinking, 'I gotta do a straight voice match to what Hugo [Weaving] did in [Captain America:] The First Avenger,' which is very pitched," Marquand told ComicBook.com. "And the Russo brothers really stopped me, quickly, and they said, 'No, no, no, no, this is a broken version of that character. He's 80 years older but he's cursed with infinite knowledge, and now he can fly and he's got all these other powers, kind of like a phantom.' So they said, I think it was Joe Russo, he said, 'I want you to infuse a bit of Yoda into this character, not voice-wise, but a creature that had been around for over a thousand years,' and I thought, 'Ah, okay.' And that's what brought the high-clipped, nasally, German tone down into something of this creature that had been alive and seen everything and just cursed with all this pain and knowledge, but could do nothing with it. Like Atlas holding up the Earth, he wants the [Infinity] Stones so badly but he can't attain them now."

You can see our full-length interview with Marquand on YouTube here.

Writer/director Francis Galluppi had a handful of shorts under his belt before he found himself with the opportunity to make the jump to feature directing, with The Last Stop in Yuma County becoming that debut. Filmmakers can take a number of approaches to set themselves up for success when it comes to making that jump, and despite the number of challenges that could be presented by developing a neo-noir that unfolds almost entirely within the walls of one diner, Galluppi managed to enlist a talented group of veteran performers to bring his expertly crafted and tense script to life, marking for an impressive first foray into features. The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is described, "While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty--or cold, hard steel--to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune."

The film stars Jim Cummings, Jocelin Donahue, Richard Brake, Sierra McCormick, Nicholas Logan, and Michael Abbott Jr.

ComicBook caught up with Galluppi to talk the development of his film, collaborating with his cast, and future projects.

ComicBook: When you have all these shorts in your career, was this project always considered as, "Well, when I do jump to feature directing, this is the movie I want to get made," or was it that you had a few ideas that were out there and it just so happened that this was the first one to come to fruition?

Francis Galluppi: I did the two short films, High Desert Hell and Gemini Project. I don't know, man. It seemed like I never really thought I would be able to make a feature this quickly. I got very lucky when I met [producer] James [Claeys] and stuff, so I didn't have a script for a feature lying around.

It was really about when that opportunity came up, it was like, "Okay, I need to write something really contained." So this was never ... Maybe some ideas that were implemented in the script, I can't say for sure, but they probably were just there in my brain somewhere. But yeah, it was really when it was, "Okay, I have an opportunity to make a feature," this is what I wrote.

You're making the jump to this really interesting genre in that it's a thriller, it's a noir, it's a little bit of a Western, it's a drama. Were there certain filmmakers or certain films that you looked to for inspiration as touchstones of not only wanting to borrow some things from but also how you wanted to deviate from expectations in this genre?

No, nothing that I specifically kept going back to. It was always a film noir in my head, and the past week I've been revisiting a lot of my favorite noirs and I'm like, "Oh, sh-t. Maybe I got that from this movie," or, "Maybe I got that." And not knowing at the time, but re-watching The Killing, Stanley Kubrick's The Killing, and seeing that ending with all the money flying around, I was like, "Oh, maybe that's where I got it from."

I just re-watched Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole, and Kirk Douglas gets stabbed in the stomach at the end and just falls on his face. And I was like, "Maybe that's where I..." I can't say for sure, but it was always a noir in my head. Aesthetically, I talked to my cinematographer, we watched Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and these Don Siegel, Sam Peckinpah, really grimy looking '70s films, and that was, aesthetically, maybe what we were going back to. I mean, we shot digitally, so a lot of it was emulating that look, too.

The cast for this is so good. To sell this material where everything is so contained and so limited to this diner, once you got this cast involved who have so many genre credits to their names, what was that collaboration like? Did that collaboration change much from how it was originally scripted or was it still pretty authentic to that original vision?

It was a lot of meticulous planning, so it was very much what was on the page and what was planned for, but this cast obviously elevated this story. You get actors like that in there and you can't help but just [know] they're going to make it better. And that's with the whole process from beginning to end, right? You write, it's just a complete evolution. You write the script and then you cast, and then things start to change, and then that actor gets in wardrobe and makeup, and then that changes things. And then they get their scene partner and that changes things. And then you get the edit and you start playing with timing and it's all part of the process.

If you looked at the first draft of this script compared to what the movie is, I would say yeah, it was a huge, huge improvement of what they brought to the table. In my head, it was always a dark comedy, as well, but a lot of people didn't see that. But then once you get somebody like Jim Cummings and Nick Logan and Connor Paolo, once you get those types of actors in the movie, it really brings out those comedic elements. So it was like, "Ah, this is the thing that was in my head, and now it's actually happening."

What do you think was the biggest unexpected challenge of this project? Obviously jumping from shorts to a feature, you anticipate, "Okay, these are going to be some big hurdles that I have to get over," but what was the thing that you thought, "Oh, nobody told me it was going to be like this,"?

It was the opposite. Everyone was like, "Oh, it's going to be really hard to direct 15 actors in a room." And I was like, "It was great." I had a blast. Honestly, all the hurdles were the same hurdles that I dealt with on all the short films. Old cars f-cking never work, and so anytime you see a car driving in Yuma, it's somebody pushing it, which happened on High Desert Hell, which happened on Gemini Project. And this time I was like, "I know that's going to happen, so let's get a full-time mechanic on set." It still happened, and we still had to push cars.

And then weather was something that really f-cked things up and slowed us down. It's like, it's supposed to be really hot, and it's pouring rain and windstorms, which is just the typical bullsh-t. It's just like, cars don't work. Weather sucks. But yeah, other than that, when you're working with this caliber of talent, it makes things go a lot smoother.

I think I most appreciated how you get about an hour into this movie, and then it completely shifts gears from what you thought it was going to be. It's something similar, but an entirely new direction for some of the characters. Were there versions in this script or of this story where that shift happened?

No, this was always the idea, was to have this thing happen an hour in. From the beginning, I always thought of it as a film noir, so it's like it really is the knife salesman's story. It was always about getting him to that situation where he has to make that decision: does he take the money and run?

I always knew it was going there. I got a lot of notes saying otherwise, when I was sending the script around, where it was like, "Oh, this should be the end of the movie," or, "This should happen way earlier on," and I didn't listen. It's weird because I try not to read people's reviews and comments. I try to stay out of it, but it's like some people say, "Oh, the movie really falls apart after this part," or whatever. Then some people say, "Oh, no, it gets better." You're not going to ever make everybody happy, and I think, if anything, people do not expect what happens to happen.

Well, lastly here, congratulations on Evil Dead.

Oh, thanks, man. Thank you.

That's got to be insane, and I'm sure super exciting and super overwhelming.

Yeah, it's very insane.

It's funny because I just spoke with S?bastien [Vani?ek] two weeks ago and, even though that movie was probably a little bit more further along, he still couldn't talk about it. I know you can't talk about it, anything that is written down is not something that you can really get into right now, but I still wanted to at least touch upon what is so exciting for you about the Evil Dead franchise. What is it about your entry into this world that you're like, "Okay, well, you've seen the cabin in the woods, we've seen a high-rise," what is the excitement about how you're going to be able to put your own stamp on this franchise that has expanded over the years?

Yeah, all I can really say is how much of a fan I am of Evil Dead and how much I really care about this franchise. It truly is one of the movies that made me want to make movies. I'm not just saying that. I grew up watching Back to the Future and Indiana Jones and these huge spectacles and spent most of my life playing music because making movies seems so unattainable, and there's something about the original Evil Dead that you could just tell that [director] Sam [Raimi] and Bruce [Campbell] were out there having so much fun making the thing they wanted to make. It was so innovative, and that's really the thing that inspired me to go pick up a camera and get my friends together and go out and make a horror short. My office is covered in Evil Dead stuff ... It's just very exciting. I'm really excited. Everyone at Ghost House is just really, they're just great to work with.

Without tipping your hand too much, there's a difference between the original Evil Dead and then Army of Darkness versus Fede ?lvarez's reboot of the property. Do you have a particular favorite entry into the saga?

I like them all. I'm dead serious. I think that it's a perfect ... They have not f-cked up any of the movies. They're all great, and I love them all for my own reasons. Obviously, Army of Darkness came out at a time, a perfect age for me, so I watched that a lot growing up, and Evil Dead had a huge impact on me when I was 18. And I love Fede's. I love Lee [Cronin's Evil Dead Rise]. They're all great. I really can't tell you ... I feel like I always go back to the original Evil Dead. It's just a comfort movie for me. But with that said, I watch them all.

You can't really go wrong with any Evil Dead.

Even the show. The show is great.

The fact that we got three seasons of Bruce Campbell fighting Deadites and people are still like, "Wow, why isn't Bruce coming back?" You've got 15 hours of him fighting these monsters.

Yeah, I know, man. And it's so good. When that show was on, it was like, that was the one show where we always had a f-cking weekly party at my house. And everyone came over and we got pizza, and we all were watching the new episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead, and I miss it.

The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You can contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter.

Superman is easily one of the most iconic fictional characters of all time, with the Man of Steel's story being told across comics, movies, television, and so much more. Next year, the DC character is headed back onto the big screen with a new live-action portrayal, as David Corenswet as been cast in the titular role of James Gunn's Superman. With production on the film underway, Gunn previously revealed a glimpse of the emblem on the Superman costume -- and now, we have the best look yet at the suit in all of its glory.

Today, Gunn officially unveiled the first full look at Corenswet in costume as Clark Kent AKA Superman on Threads. You can check it out below.

What Is Superman About?

Per DC Studios, Superman tells the story of Superman's journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent of Smallville, Kansas. He is the embodiment of truth, justice and a better tomorrow, guided by human kindness in a world that sees kindness as old-fashioned.

"We got James Gunn and Peter (Safran) working very hard on DC, which is going to be a very big growth driver for this company," Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav explained last year. "We are very bullish on DC. The Superman script first draft is done. Gunn is on a mission from god. It is a really good moment to prove out on DC what we got and how strong it is globally for long-term sustainable growth."

Who Will Star in Superman?

Superman will also star Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Wendell Pierce as Perry White, Sara Sampaio as Eve Teschmacher, Terence Rosemore as Otis, Mar?a Gabriela de Far?a as Angela Spica / The Engineer, Isabela Merced as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Michael Holt / Mr. Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan as Rex Mason / Metamorpho.

"We've been having a lot of great conversations, David and I, with James Gunn, the director," Brosnahan revealed in a recent interview. "We've been talking a lot about where this project fits into the canon of the Supermans that we know. So hopefully, this'll be... we'll be putting our own stamp on things."

What Is on the DC Universe Slate?

As Gunn and Safran revealed back in January of 2023, the initial DC Studios slate for "Gods and Monsters" will include movies for Superman, The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Swamp Thing, and The Authority. It will include the HBO Max television shows Waller, Booster Gold, Lanterns, Paradise Lost, and an animated Creature Commandos series.

An animated Jurassic League movie and a live-action Teen Titans movie are also reported to be in the works, but neither have been officially confirmed by DC Studios.

What do you think of the latest behind-the-scenes look at Superman? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Superman is currently scheduled to be released exclusively in theaters on July 11, 2025.

The 1994 film The Crow starring Brandon Lee is on the verge of getting a reboot, but the fandom for the original is still going strong. If you are one of those fans, you'll be happy to know that the movie is finally getting a 4K Ultra HD release for its 30th anniversary that will arrive on Mat 7th.

Unfortunately, the limited edition SteelBook 4K UHD is tough to find at the moment, but keep tabs on Amazon for a restock. The same goes for the Walmart exclusive 4K Blu-ray SteelBook. However, the standard 4K version is still available to pre-order on Amazon right here. Just remember, studios can't take physical media away from you! Besides, you'll also get a code for a digital version. You can check out an exclusive featurette right here, and bonus features include the following:

• Shadows & Pain: Designing The Crow - NEW!
• Angels All Fire: Birth of the Legend
• On Hallowed Ground: The Outer Realm
• Twisted Wreckage: The Inside Spaces
• Sideshow Collectibles: An Interview with Edward R. Pressman - NEW TO DISC!
• Audio Commentary with Director Alex Proyas
• Audio Commentary by Producer Jeff Most and Screenwriter John Shirley
• Behind the Scenes Featurette
• A Profile on James O'Barr
• Extended Scenes:
• The Arcade Bombing
• The Funboy Fight
• The Shootout at Top Dollar's
• Deleted Footage Montage
• Trailer

The Crow was based on a 1989 graphic novel by James O'Barr. Eric Draven was originally portrayed by Brandon Lee, the son of legendary martial artist Bruce Lee, who tragically lost his life in an on-set accident just days before filming on The Crow was expected to wrap. Though his promising career ended before it truly began, Brandon Lee's legacy is a film that has developed a devoted following over the years. That, combined with the recentl popularity of superhero films and reboots, has made The Crow an attractive project that has had a number of names attached to it over the last 15 years or so. However, a reboot is finally on the way.

The Crow reboot is slated to hit theaters on August 23rd.

While there's much delight to be had in experiencing a bright, colorful, and whimsical comic book adaptation, this aesthetic is only appropriate for more lighthearted fare, which is exactly why director Alex Proyas embraced a much darker color scheme for his 1994 adaptation of James O'Barr's The Crow. In a new 4K Ultra HD release of the film, audiences can see the movie in a higher quality than ever before, with a new featurette about the moody look of the experience diving deeper into the motivations of the filmmaking team. You can check out the featurette above before The Crow lands on 4K Ultra HD on May 7th.

Per press release, "Originally released on May 13, 1994, The Crow entranced audiences and critics alike with its gothic aesthetic, breathtaking action, and Brandon Lee's soulful performance at the center of director Alex Proyas' revenge fantasy. A sleeper box office hit, the film developed a passionate cult following that spawned three sequels, a television series, a video game, toys, and novels. Based on the comic book saga of the same name by James O'Barr, The Crow delivers an action-packed thriller bursting with hypnotic style and dazzling visuals."

"Newly remastered, The Crow will be available nationally on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc with new and legacy bonus content and access to a Digital copy of the film. In addition, there will be a limited-edition SteelBook with a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc and access to a Digital copy of the film, featuring an o-sleeve with a cutout of a crow that lifts to reveal a portrait of Brandon Lee with his guitar.

"Both releases include a brand-new three-part documentary created for the 30th anniversary entitled 'Shadows & Pain: Designing The Crow.' The new piece is a fascinating deep dive with legendary production designer Alex McDowell, who discusses all aspects of designing the 1994 classic, as well as his experience working with visionary director Alex Proyas and the film's late star, Brandon Lee. Also, for the first time on disc, the releases include a conversation with the late Hollywood legend Edward R. Pressman who discussed his prolific career on the occasion of Sideshow Collectibles' release of a limited figure for The Crow."

New and legacy bonus content included on all three 4K Ultra HD releases is detailed below:

• Shadows & Pain: Designing The Crow - NEW!
  
• Angels All Fire: Birth of the Legend
• On Hallowed Ground: The Outer Realm
• Twisted Wreckage: The Inside Spaces
• Sideshow Collectibles: An Interview with Edward R. Pressman - NEW TO DISC!
• Audio Commentary with Director Alex Proyas
• Audio Commentary by Producer Jeff Most and Screenwriter John Shirley
• Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
• A Profile on James O'Barr
  
• Extended Scenes
• The Arcade Bombing
  
• The Funboy Fight
• The Shootout at Top Dollar's
• Deleted Footage Montage
• Trailer
  

The Crow lands on 4K Ultra HD on May 7th. Details about your Blu-ray options can be found here.

Will you be adding the film to your collection? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

News emerged earlier this year that an all-new Evil Dead spinoff was on the way from filmmaker S?bastien Vani?ek, and while this was exciting enough for fans of the franchise, last month saw the unexpected reveal that filmmaker Francis Galluppi was also developing an adventure for the series. In promotion of his new film The Last Stop in Yuma County, Galluppi addressed his love for the Evil Dead franchise and, while he avoided offering significant details about his new film, he expressed his love for all corners of the franchise and his enthusiasm for the new opportunity. The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

"All I can really say is how much of a fan I am of Evil Dead and how much I really care about this franchise. It truly is one of the movies that made me want to make movies. I'm not just saying that," Galluppi confirmed with ComicBook. "I grew up watching Back to the Future and Indiana Jones and these huge spectacles and spent most of my life playing music because film, making movies seems so unattainable, and there's something about the original Evil Dead that you could just tell that [director] Sam [Raimi] and Bruce [Campbell] were out there having so much fun making the thing they wanted to make. And it was so innovative, and that's really the thing that inspired me to go pick up a camera and get my friends together and go out and make a horror short. My office is covered in Evil Dead stuff, so I have, it's just very exciting. I'm really excited. Everyone at Ghost House is just really, they're just great to work with."

As far as which entry might influence his own spinoff, he detailed, "I like them all. I'm dead serious. I think that it's a perfect ... they have not f-cked up any of the movies. They're all great, and I love them all for my own reasons. Obviously, Army of Darkness came out in a time, a perfect age for me, so I watched that a lot growing up, and Evil Dead had a huge impact on me when I was 18. And I love Fede [?lvarez's]. I love Lee [Cronin's]. They're all great. I really can't tell you if ... I feel like I always go back to the original Evil Dead. It's just a comfort movie for me. But with that said, I watch them all. Even the show. The show is great."

After the 2013 remake of Evil Dead failed to revive the franchise in a significant way, Raimi and Campbell, along with original producer Rob Tapert, developed the TV series Ash vs. Evil Dead, which continued the events of the original trilogy and ran for three seasons.

"When that show was on, it was like, that was the one show where we always had a f-cking weekly party at my house," Galluppi gushed. "And everyone came over and we got pizza, and we all were watching the new episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead, and I miss it."

The Last Stop in Yuma County is described, "While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty--or cold, hard steel--to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune."

Stay tuned for updates on Galluppi's Evil Dead. The Last Stop in Yuma County hits theaters and Digital on May 10th.

Are you looking forward to the new Evil Dead? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

Jeannie Epper, one of Hollywood's great stuntwomen, has died. She was 83 years old. During her long career, Epper doubled Lynda Carter on Wonder Woman, Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone, and more than 100 other movies and TV shows. According to The Hollywood Reporter, who first reported her death, Epper passed away at her home in California due to natural causes. She represents the second generation (of four) of Epper to act as stunt performers on film, beginning with her father, John Epper. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg has called the Eppers "the flying Wallendas of film," a reference to a family of circus daredevils and acrobats.

Epper, whose career spanned nearly 70 years, was the first woman ever to receive a lifetime achievement honor from the World Taurus Awards, a yearly award that celebrates stunt performers in film. Epper worked consistently until 2015, with her final film credit being Hot Pursuit. In 2021, at age 80, she got her final credit, doing stunts for the video game Ground Zero Texas: Nuclear Edition.

Epper is one of the best-known women to work as a stunt performer and, by her own recollection, rose to prominence in part because Hollywood finally stopped using men to double women for stunts in the 1970s.

"It wasn't until sexy ladies like Linda Evans and Lynda Carter said we didn't want hairy-legged boys doubling for us anymore," Epper is quoted as saying in the THR piece. "They said, 'These girls are just as good as the guys, only they have shaved legs and don't have hairy armpits.'"

During the course of her long career, Epper appeared in some of the biggest hits in Hollywood. She also cultivated relationships that gave her opportunities to work with the same people again and again, from Spielberg -- she worked for him on Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), 1941 (1979), Poltergeist (1982), Catch Me If You Can (2002), Minority Report (2002), and others -- and Linda Evans. Epper doubled Evans in both The Big Valley, which ran on ABC in the 1960s, and Dynasty in the 1980s.

Other notable roles include Romancing the Stone, in which she famously leapt across a gorge while holding onto a vine; Earthquake (1974), The Towering Inferno (1974), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), Blade Runner (1982), Road House (1989), Total Recall (1990), The Fugitive (1993), Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995), Con Air (1997), Rush Hour 2 (2001), The Italian Job (2003), Kill Bill: Vol 2 (2004), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).

Our condolences go out to Epper's family, friends, colleagues, and fans.