Charles Bramesco
It’s Official: ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ Is Titled ‘The Last Jedi’
We’ve got 11 long months to go before anyone will get a look at Star Wars: Episode VIII, so Lucasfilm has tried to pace itself with leaking details of the hotly anticipated upcoming release. Today, however, they dropped a big one: on the official Star Wars web site, a new announcement revealed the subtitle for the eighth installment in what the site refers to as “the Skywalker saga.” The post declared, “We have the greatest fans in this or any other galaxy. In appreciation of the fans, we wanted them to be the first to know the title of the next chapter in the Skywalker saga: STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI.”
Shocking Video Leak Reveals Animal Abuse on Set of ‘A Dog’s Purpose’
Forcing audiences to watch a movie in which a dog lives, finds true happiness, and then dies over and over again would’ve been an act of sadism all on its own. But the crew of the upcoming family film A Dog’s Purpose have recently been outed as sadists of another, more stomach-churning sort. TMZ posted a shocking video from a second-unit shoot for the film in which an animal handler forces a reluctant German Shepard into rushing waters, the dog begins drowning, and handlers rush to retrieve the animal amid cries of “cut it! cut it!” PETA has already called for a boycott of the film, with the most shame heaped upon the industry supplier Birds & Animals Unlimited, and the rest of the fallout has been swift.
It’s Morphin’ Time in the Official ‘Power Rangers’ Trailer
Superheroes don’t have to come from the brightly-colored pages of American comic books; the Power Rangers series that captivated youngsters during the ‘90s and early 2000s had roots in Japan, stemming from their tradition of kaiju films. It’s a powerful bridge between cultures, the universal desire to watch a team of teenagers with extraordinary abilities team up to beat the stuffing out of gigantic monsters, And now it’ll connect generations, too, as the official trailer arrives today with the promise of the same spirit of teamwork and towering-menace-fighting that made them an unlikely cross-Pacific sensation two decades ago.
Emma Watson Thinks Belle Is a Better Role Model Than Cinderella
Emma Watson’s continuing media blitz in promotion of the upcoming Beauty and the Beast remake found her on the cover of the latest issue of Total Film (h/t E! Online), where she spoke about the moral underpinnings of the movie and her character Belle. In one quote in particular Watson declared that the film’s heroine Belle makes for a better role model than fellow Disney princess Cinderella.
Smartphones Become Superpowers in Trailer for Maisie Williams’ Netflix Movie ‘iBoy’
The broad-strokes version of Netflix’s unfortunately titled new film iBoy — “mild-mannered nerd acquires unlikely superpowers, which he then uses to fight crime” — may sound like a take on a story we’ve already heard a dozen times. But could Spider-Man intercept text messages? Could Batman hack into secret computer servers using only his brain? Does Superman have a charming British accent? The answer to these questions is no, no, and no. All will be rectified, however, when the new action picture comes to Netflix on January 27.
John Legend and Ariana Grande to Team Up for ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Theme Song
Because we tend to think of him more commonly as “slick neo-soul songbird” or “La La Land’s chief threat to the integrity of jazz” or “husband of Chrissy Teigen,” it can be easy to forget that John Legend’s got an Oscar under his belt. The musician and composer took the golden statuette for Best Original Song with his original tune “Glory” from Ava DuVernay’s thunderous Martin Luther King biopic Selma, and ever since, he’s been Hollywood’s go-to guy for poppin’ fresh (is that still what the kids are saying?) theme music. And today, a new announcement from Disney reported by Deadline lines up Legend’s next big gig.
Joseph Fiennes Goes Michael Jackson (Gulp) in New ‘Urban Myths’ Trailer
When noted British actor and confirmed Caucasian male Joseph Fiennes announced last year that he’d play Michael Jackson for an upcoming TV series called Urban Myths, the public had an understandably adverse reaction. Though Fiennes confirmed that he’d portray the King of Pop after he got his controversial skin-whitening procedure, the fact remains that a white man would be playing an African-American man in a confusing sort of blackface without a literal black face. The Fiennes’ credit, he’s confessed to The Hollywood Reporter that he understands “why people are up in arms,” but hopes that audiences will be a little more understanding when they see that the show takes all sorts of liberties with the personal lives of historical figures.
‘Moana’ Sailing Back Into Theaters with Special One-Day Sing-Along Version
Among the most difficult aspects of parenting is the matter of simply filling the hours in a day. Kids become bored after approximately twenty unstimulating minutes, so moms and dads have to constantly plan out diversions to keep their offspring occupied. Disney just did the parents of America a real solid, however. Animated movies have long been a go-to option for parents hoping to run out the clock, and they’ll be able to go back to Moana for seconds later this month, when the film re-enters theaters for a one-day sing-along engagement.
Lionsgate Considering Bringing ‘La La Land’ Onstage with Live Musical Show
It’s the inevitable question money-minded executives must ask when an original movie musical starts to gain traction with the general public: “So,” he asks, bitten-down cigar chomped between his teeth, “we taking this thing to Broadway or what?”
Everybody Showed Up for the Newest ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Poster
The Emma Watson-led Beauty and the Beast will come to theaters in a couple months’ time, but the cover version of the song as old as time needs to keep anticipation high until then. Watson did her part on Twitter earlier today by posting the first look at the latest theatrical poster for the live-action adaptation of Disney’s landmark animated film, perhaps the high-water mark of the Second Coming in the ‘90s. The new poster acts as an informal roll call for the new faces of this classic tale, including all the famous faces lending their likenesses to the film in one splashy design.