James Gunn. Cut his teeth at Troma; got his feet in the door as a scriptwriter for Scooby-Doo and the Dawn of the Dead remake; established himself with Slither and Super before becoming the saving grace in Marvel's starting-to-stagnate superhero slate with the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. Now, Gunn is the co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios and has grand plans for the DCU. His opening salvo for the DCU? Superman. And we have a teaser for it. (A teaser for the teaser was released yesterday, which shows just how hard the hype machine is functioning.)

Starring David Corenswet as Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as a war boy Lex Luthor, we see other familiar faces in the teaser like Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner and Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen. But there's one cast member that we are more than happy to open our hearts to: Krypto, Superman's superpet.

Inspired by Gunn's own dog (similar in appearance and breed), the teaser reveals the superpet heeding his master's call and dragging Superman by his cape to safety.

Not much is known about the plot of Superman but the storyline draws from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman run. The teaser painted with broad strokes and didn't yield much story-wise but when the John William's "Superman March" kicks in, my cold near-dead heart skips a beat. It captures that feeling when I first watched the first Superman (1978) film.

Is it nostalgia? Maybe. But it actually feels more like hope. Hope that this is a film that would turn the fortunes of DCU; hope that the superhero genre is getting a second wind.

Snyder and Donner left their marks on their own versions of the last son of Krypton; James Gunn is setting the stage for a DCU that can rival the MCU.

Look up. Superman will be released in theatres 10 July

Are you ready to play the game? In a new trailer for Squid Game season 2, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) is right back in the mix. He even has his old number! Season 1's winner knows the secret of the game that the other contestants do not, however, and he’s determined to save their lives by joining the life-or-death contest once again. Bold strategy! Let’s see if it pays off.

Squid Game season 2 kicks off on 26 December. According to Netflix, the second season picks up three years after Seong Gi-hun won the previous contest. “Player 456 gave up going to the States and comes back with a new resolution in his mind,” the streamer’s official description reads. “Gi-hun once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of 45.6 billion won.”

Recruiter (Gong Yoo) is set to return as well, alongside the Frontman (Lee Byung-hun) and detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon). “Just focus on getting out of this place,” Gi-hun tells the new contestants in the trailer. “I’ve played these games before!” For more about the future of the series (and the new killer 100-metre.

Who Is Returning for Squid Game Season 2?

Considering that (spoiler) 455 people die in the first season, the roster of human stars is a bit bare for a second outing. Miraculously, Netflix revealed at a recent Tudum showcase that many of our favourite stars will be back. Lee Jung-jae, aka winner Seong Gi-hun, will return, entering the game once again. Some new players were announced, too, including former K-pop star Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul (The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure), Park Sung-hoon (Into the Ring), and Yang Dong-geun (Grand Prix). race in the teaser), read on.

Back in June 2022, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk confirmed to Vanity Fair that yes... there will be more games. “Humanity is going to be put to a test through those games once again,” he said. As he noted elsewhere in an AP interview, “There’s been so much pressure, so much demand, and so much love for a second season, so I almost feel like you leave us no choice.... It’s in my head right now. I’m in the planning process currently.”

What Will Happen in Season 2?

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Hwang discussed how season 2 is going to be a natural evolution from the concluding events of the first run of episodes. The creator made it clear that for the new season, he isn’t tapping into fan theories or what viewers have asked to see from the series. Rather, he plans to pick up where it left off and carry the story on as it was originally intended. Here’s his quote, in full:

I’ve seen many reactions from people about the show, but I don’t want to make season 2 as a response to those reactions. The philosophies I put in season 1 all naturally extend to season 2. Instead of trying to meet the expectations of viewers, I just thought about the last moment when Gi-hun turned away from boarding the plane, and I thought about what he will do next. There will naturally be a flow of events that will lead all the way to the end of the season. I can’t share any details yet, but you know that Seong Gi-hun has become a totally new person by the end of season 1, so season 2 is going to be about what that new Gi-hun is going to do and how things will unfold with this new kind of character.

There is also the theory that the second season will go deeper into the backstory of the Frontman. In particular, the story would focus on his history as a police officer. As Hwang previously told The Sunday Times, “I think the issue with police officers is not just an issue in Korea. I see it on the global news that the police force can be very late on acting on things—there are more victims or a situation gets worse because of them not acting fast enough. This was an issue that I wanted to raise. Maybe in season 2 I can talk about this more.”

In a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hwang teased that he has a few other ideas about what season 2 could look like. As he said:

I’d like to explore that storyline—what is going on between those two brothers? And then I could also go into the story of that recruiter in the suit who plays the game of ddakji with Gi-hun and gives him the card in the first episode. And, of course, we could go with Gi-hun’s story as he turns back, and explore more about how he’s going to navigate through his reckoning with the people who are designing the games.

So, in short, there are various interpretations that he could explore. As for the the star of the show, Lee Jung-jae? He hinted what’s in store for Gi-hun in an interview with Esquire. Surprisingly, following his newly red-haired character’s decision to go after the creators of the Squid Game, he said we could see Gi-hun’s “humorous side” when the series returns.

“Because Gi-hun became more serious because he has to rescue these people, I’m thinking that he would become a more determined character,” said Lee. “But if he’s just too determined, that could be a little bit boring. So I’m guessing the fun parts of Gi-hun will also come out in the next season.”

Originally published on Esquire US

What's it like to be a second banana? The bit role player? The calefare? We get a peek at the life of the background actors with the Interior Chinatown trailer. In it, Jimmy O Yang plays Willis Wu, who feels that there's more to his station than meets the eye. When Chloe Bennet's Detective Lana Li enlists his help in her case, Willis sees this as an opportunity to break free from his "Generic Asian Man" role.

Based on Charles Yu’s award-winning novel of the same name, the 10-episode series trailer looks like it combines kung fu, noir, police procedural, some romance, and a whole lot of weirdness. Interior Chinatown also stars Ronnie Chieng, Tzi Ma, Archie Kao, and Lisa Gilroy.

While Interior Chinatown is filled with a mostly Asian cast that skewers the stereotypes that Hollywood loves to utilise, it is also about finding one's identity in a sea of tropes. The book was written in a screenplay format, which felt like the normal transition for an adaptation to the big screen... but the novel was perfect on its own. Can this series do it justice?

With the author, Charles Yu, acting as Interior Chinatown's showrunner (Yu was also the story editor for HBO's Westworld) and Taika Waititi directing the pilot, the odds for the show being a runaway hit look really good.

I guess, we'll find out when all episodes of Interior Chinatown are released 19 November on Disney+.

Is it Christmas already? Have we done good and now the karmic wheel has made a full revolution? Because soon after Longlegs, we are getting another film—The Monkey—from Oswood Perkins that's due in February 2025. And one that's produced by James Wan and is based on a short story by Stephen King.

The crib notes for King's short story is about a man called Hal who finds a cymbal-banging monkey toy and learns that whenever it clangs its cymbals, somebody close to him dies. In a bid to escape the monkey's curse, he tosses it into a lake and the tale ends with a newspaper article talking about the mysterious death of a school of fish from said lake.

Now, we haven't seen the film adaptation of The Monkey but if the trailer is anything to go by, the movie looks bananas. In the film, Theo James plays twin brothers, who found their father's toy monkey, who causes people to die in very gruesome ways. They discard the toy and live their separate lives until unexplained deaths suddenly occur and now the brothers are on a quest to rid this evil toy.

The trailer looks like it could be a black comedy. With the toe-tapping “Let the Good Times Roll” by Shirley and Lee playing in the background as the bodies pile up (electrocution; immolation; a lot of blood), it looks like fun for the whole (Manson) family.

Then again, it could just be a marketing ploy. After all, the distributor, Neon—who was also behind Longlegs marketing—is known for their unorthodox promotion. We'll only know if it's a straight horror when the film drops next year. The Monkey also stars other interesting actors like Elijah Woods (Master Frodo!), Tatiana Maslany (duplicates!) and Sarah Levy (Schitt's Creek!).

The Monkey will be released in theatres on 21 February 2025.

Finally, we get the teaser to the long-anticipated sequel to Joker (no article, please; that's how the film rolls) and it's something. Called Joker: Folie á Deux, the film takes place directly after Joker. We follow Arthur Fleck (played by Joaquin Phoenix), who is getting used to life behind bars. That is, until he sets his sad puppy dog peepers on Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga). Cue the fireworks.

Folie á deux is French for "shared madness" and it's inevitable that Arthur and Harley's fate might mirror that of another pair of loving maniacs (think Mickey and Mallory Knox from Natural Born Killers). What's interesting is that Harley isn't a playing a psychologist. Rather, from the teaser, it looks like she's a fellow patient at the asylum—wait, do people still say "asylum"? And it looks to have a lot of dancing and singing. In several sequences of a burst of colours and song, the cinematography is reminiscent of the musicals of the '60s.

Director Todd Philips, who is known for his The Hangover trilogy, Joker and his cameo in Old School that we will always bring up (see gif for reference), says in an interview at CinemaCon that this isn't a musical but "it’s a film where music is an essential element." He then adds that, "it’ll make sense when [we] see it." We are guessing, dream sequences that only Arthur and Haryley are privy to.

Other actors appearing in the sequel includes Zazie Beetz reprising the role of Arthur's former love interest; Leigh Gill returns as Arthur's clown coworker as well as Sharon Washington, Arthur's social worker. Seeing as how Robert De Niro's character ended up in the last instalment, we can rule out his appearance. Unless he appears in Arthur's imagination or something.

Joker: Folie á Deux is scheduled for theatres 4 October

The next Deadpool movie has been speculated to death. From the hearsay and scant images that we get from behind the scenes of the next Deadpool movie, all we gathered was that Hugh Jackman will reappear as Wolverine (in the blue and yellow suit natch). Other than that... nada.

That is until the recent Super Bowl LVIII, where the teaser was revealed, along with the official title: Deadpool & Wolverine. Here are three things that we took away from the teaser.

Time Travel

We know that Deadpool is prone to breaking the fourth wall but he's also not opposed to breaking the laws of time travel. Thanks to Deadpool's shenanigans, where he travelled back in time to right a few wrongs (see video below), it might incur the ire of the TVA (Time Variance Authority).

We first saw the organisation in the series, Loki, and while we didn't see Loki or Mobius, we saw Tom Wambsgans- sorry, the TVA agent, Paradox (played by Matthew Macfadyen). He's behind the kidnapping/recruiting of Deadpool for a mission. To give him a "chance to be a hero among heroes".

Familiar Faces

The third chapter of Deadpool will have a host of well-known faces. The teaser's opening shows a few well-known faces including Blind Al (Leslie Uggams); Shatterstar (Lewis Tan); Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and Peter (Rob Delaney).

The reappearances of Shatterstar and Vanessa—who died in the last instalment—are more proof that Deadpool's time-travel hijinks are what got the TVA's undies in a bunch. There are two other recognisable X-Men characters in the teaser.

There's the aforementioned Wolverine... but there's also Aaron Stanford's character, Pyro. Since this is a time-travel movie, we can expect to see other IP characters. Like 21st Century Fox's portfolio, after Disney acquired the media corporation in 2019.

Retcon Imminent?

Given the time-travel vehicle, it may not be out of the ordinary that Deadpool & Wolverine will retcon the MCU. Thanks to the various scandals (Joss Whedon; Jonathan Majors) and the pandemic (contrary to Kevin Feige's explanation), the MCU's Phase Four was delayed and had to be revised. Deadpool's devil-may-care antics can prune a few troublesome timelines. Adjustments to few narratives (mutants!) and swapping out Dr Doom for Kang the Conqueror could help the next MCU event.

It will be a huge overhaul. One that will impact numerous franchises. But it'll put Feige's grand plan for the MCU back on track. Maybe.

We'll find out when Deadpool & Wolverine lands in theatres on 26 July.

What do these two men have in common? One is an Irish MMA fighter and whiskey owner, known for brash tactics and putting people to sleep with his left hand; the other is an American actor who just seems like a really nice guy. So what gives? Well, the official Roadhouse trailer has been released, and if you’re a fan of sweaty dudes fighting in bars, then you’ve come to the right place.

The trailer looks like it’s going to give exactly what you pay for: minimal, and very cheesy dialogue, and a lot of testosterone.

This is also Conor McGregor’s first big screen debut, but this film was initially scheduled to star Ronda Rousey during her previous heyday as the most celebrated female athlete on the planet, but as the story of Icarus told us, sometimes you fly too close to the sun. During Rousey’s UFC championship reign she not only graced the cover of video games and was mentioned by Beyonce during her Coachella performance, but the fighter starred in the Fast & Furious part 87, The Entourage Movie, and one of The Expendables movies, and was slated to star in her own reboot of the 1989 Patrick Swayze classic, Roadhouse.

But that all came crumbling down when she took a head kick to the face, compliments to Holly Holm, and her sour pre-fight and post-fight antics quickly repelled most of her fans, along with movie deals, sponsorships, and star status. Can you believe that was almost 10 years ago?

Conor McGregor has seen a bit of a slump himself in his recent fights, but due to his unflinching brashness and take-it-or-leave-it personality, coupled with strategically endorsed sponsorships, whisky brands, and his tentative hints at a UFC return (against Michael Chandler), his star power has only barely waned, if at all. Conor is also a businessman, and one can’t help feel that, much like 1970s Arnold Schwarzenegger, he used prize fighting and charisma to get his way onto the Mt. Olympus of entertainment. If this film bodes well for the Irishman, the chance that we’ll see him return to 4am sprints, brutal weight cuts and bloodied fisticuffs seems rather slim.

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Upon the trailer release, director Doug Liman, who got his start with one of the defining films of the 90s and a personal favourite, Swingers, will not be at the Roadhouse premiere at the upcoming SXSW festival.

Why?

“When Road House opens the SXSW film festival, I won’t be attending,” Liman ensured. “The movie is fantastic, maybe my best, and I’m sure it will bring the house down and possibly have the audience dancing in their seats during the end credits. But I will not be there. My plan had been to silently protest Amazon’s decision to stream a movie so clearly made for the big screen. But Amazon is hurting way more than just me and my film. If I don’t speak up about Amazon, who will? When Amazon bought MGM, one of the few remaining studios making big commercial films for theatrical release (movies like Bond, Creed) they announced that they would put a billion dollars into theatrical motion pictures, releasing at least 12 a year. They touted it as “the largest commitment to cinemas by an internet company.” I can tell you what they then did to me and my film Road House, which is the opposite of what they promised when they took over MGM.”

Much like Christopher Nolan going full scorched earth on Warner Bros when they furtively released his very misunderstood, Tenet, on their own streaming platform instead of a full theatrical release, Liman isn’t the first to argue against the greedy streaming giants. Perhaps due to financial competition and desperation, they are unequivocally doing anything to keep people in their homes and away from movie theatres, determined to build their ‘content’ library.

Either way, Roadhouse looks sick. And based on the trailer, McGregor and Gyllenhaal are ready to do some damage.

Originally published on Esquire ME

Adaptation of a book can be a herculean task. And none more daunting than Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem. As the first instalment of a trilogy, Liu's Three-Body, it will take a deft hand to adapt it to a different medium. Our trepidations are allayed when news broke that David Benioff and DB Weiss—who were behind HBO's Game of Thrones—will handle Three-Body. (Hopefully, it won't falter like GoT's final season but that's another story.)

Joined by Alexander Woo, who co-created The Terror, Benioff and Weiss will use the suicides in the scientific community as a jumping point for 3 Body Problem. At least, according to the full-length trailer that just dropped (a teaser was shown at last year's Tudum event). With Liu's blessings, 3 Body Problem will have narrative tweaks to the adaptation. Stuff like chronological shifts and characters and the setting being in the present-day UK. The trailer has Radiohead's "Everything in its Place" playing hauntingly in the background. Benedict Wong, plays the detective assigned to the case. As the trailer progresses, he recruits a scientist, Auggie Salazar (played by Eiza González), to assist him.

But this premise of weird deaths soon explodes into something far-reaching. And something beyond the ken of human experience as we stand at the precipice of an extraterrestrial invasion. Netflix commissioned eight episodes of 3 Body Problem. With an average of USD25 million spent on each episode, this series will be Netflix's most expensive production to date. It will also be the second-most expensive behind Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

3 Body Problem premieres March 21 2024 on Netflix.

So we return, for a fifth time, to the strange, dusty dystopia of George Miller. The 78-year old director (who directed the crowd's favourites Happy Feet and Babe: Pig in the City) once again co-wrote the script, and has reportedly been planning this Furiosa-led prequel for years. To give you a sense of what to expect if the trailer somehow wasn't enough; the latest instalment is helmed by the same production team as Fury Road.

The Plot

"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."

—Warner Bros

The Cast

We're not too sure who looked at Charlize Theron and thought, "You know who would make a young Furiosa?" and landed on Anya Taylor-Joy. Not that we're complaining. The luminary certainly snatched us and some awards in the unforgettable The Queen's Gambit.

If the first glance wasn't convincing, you'd probably be singing a different tune by the time the trailer ends. Besides her obvious evolution into the character we acquaint with in 2015, it's also fun that we get a glimpse of the early variation of her prosthetic arm.

To refresh your memory, the last time we saws her, Furiosa was busy *spoiler alert?* stealing the war rig from Immortan Joe aaand his five wives. She later joins forces with Max against Joe's army, discovers that her hometown has become a swamp, then eventually emerges victorious in the Citadel. Thereabouts.

Taylor-Joy is most notably joined by Chris Hemsworth as evil warlord Dementus, complete with prosthetic nose, and later, a very Thor-looking red cape. There's no word yet on who plays young Immortan Joe, but Nathan Jones reprises his role as Rictus Erectus (Joe's son) and Angus Sampson as the Organic Mechanic.

Other names listed are Daniel Webber, Tom Burke, Quaden Bayels, Ayla Browne and Lacey Hulme.

Furiosa is set for release on May 24, 2024.

Given the popularity of the John Wick series and its mythos, is it any wonder there would be a spin-off? The trailer for The Continental was released. From the looks of it, it looks like it maintained the action-packed sequences the films were known for. Here's what we can infer from the trailer.

Set in the 70s, we follow a young Winston Scott (played by Colin Woodell). This is all before he became the owner and manager of the Continental New York. Tasked with finding his brother, Frankie (Ben Robson), Young Scott has to contend with some very bad people who are looking for him as well.

Set up as a three-part miniseries, we get to see a young Charon (Ayomide Adegun [RIP Lance Riddick!]), interesting characters like The Adjudicator (Katie McGrath) and—really to hammer home the fact that it's set in the past—the World Trade Centre.

Even more surprising is the appearance of Mel Gibson, who is playing Cormac the manager of the Continental New York.

A World Without John Wick?

Given that this is an expansion of John Wick, would we get a glimpse of the titular character? Given that this is a prequel, we may not see Keanu Reeves. But we didn't think there would be a John Wick: Chapter 5 but that has been greenlit so anything can happen.

Aside from The Continental, another spin-off that fans of John Wick can look forward to is Ballerina. Len Wiseman is attached to direct. As for the lead? Ana de Armas is rumoured for the lead. Another is a Sophia-led movie starring Halle Berry and that crossover with Nobody (starring Bob Odenkirk).

If you ask me, it looks like a world without John Wick (let the man retire) will do just fine.

The Continental comes out on Peacock (and maybe on other streaming sites?) on 22 September.

We've heard about the new Timothée Chalamet-fronted Willy Wonka film for a while now. As a teaser, the actor posted an image of himself back in 2021, where he's bedecked in the signature purple coat and brown top hat. The caption—"The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last."—accompanied the image. While reaction to the images was mixed, the actor was correct: the suspense is terrible.

But now we have the full-length Wonka trailer. We follow a young Willy Wonka before his candy empire as he tries to realise his dream of having a chocolate shop, he has to face off with the Chocolate Cartel. Although Chalamet displayed mannerisms and whimsy that millennials might reference Johnny Depp's portrayal of the 2005 version of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Wonka is actually a prequel to the Gene Wilder-led Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971).

Y'know, Gene Wilder. This face that launched a thousand Condescending Wonka memes.

While this isn't based on any existing Roald Dahl's work, fingers crossed that this prequel brings back the awe and wonder of the 1971 film. We spy musical numbers, that familiar tune of "Pure Imagination", the involvement of Keegan-Michael Key, the directing prowess of Paul King of Paddington and Paddington 2 (fight me, Paddington 2 is pretty great film). Oh, and... a (much smaller) Oompa Loompa; one that's played by Hugh Grant as he launches into a dance and the Oompa Loompa song.

The Wonka film comes out on Christmas Day in theatres.

Killers of the Flower Moon took a while to be adapted. The rights to adapt David Grann's book started in 2016 but like any other project, the development of the film was halted due to the global pandemic. Still, the film was finally finished. It made its premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2023 and received a nine-minute standing ovation.

While we have to wait a few months to watch it, Apple TV+ unveils the trailer of Killers of the Flower Moon today.

With stirring Native American pow wow chants spliced with dubstep ("Stadium Pow Wow" by The Halluci Nation née A Tribe Called Red), the trailer brings across the palpable tension of a community gripped with terror.

The American Western crime drama (that's a mouthful) is based on the real-life murders that plagued the Osage Nation. Set in the 1920s, the epic is directed and co-produced by Martin Scorsese and stars an ensemble cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone and Jesse Plemons.

Roping in the First Nation

Given the subject matter, Scorsese involved the Osage Nation during the film's development. In a press release, Scorsese said, "We are thrilled to finally start production on Killers of the Flower Moon in Oklahoma. To be able to tell this story on the land where these events took place is incredibly important and critical to allowing us to portray an accurate depiction of the time and people. We're grateful to Apple, the Oklahoma Film and Music Office and The Osage Nation, especially all our Osage consultants and cultural advisors, as we prepare for this shoot."

In light of the current book bans and revisionisms in America, we are glad that someone made use of the medium to spotlight America's "hidden histories". (Another example was HBO's Watchmen which featured the Tulsa Race Massacre.)

America's history may not strike a chord with Singapore audiences but the cast and the dramatisation of a real-life event should be enough to get butts in seats.

Killers of the Flower Moon is tentatively slated to be in theatres on 6 October and later for online streaming on Apple TV+.