News

Taron Egerton has joined Charlize Theron in Apex, a thriller that Baltasar Kormákur is directing for Netflix.

Details are being kept deep in the woods but the script centers on a rock climber and adrenaline junkie, played by Theron, who finds out that nature isn’t the only dangerous element out to get her when she sets out on an expedition in the wild.

Egerton will play a psychopath stalking his human prey (Aka, Theron).

Jeremy Robbins wrote the script, which Netflix picked up as spec project, before bringing on board Theron and Kormákur (Everest, Adrift).

Theron is producing the feature along with Dawn Olmstead, Beth Kono and Aj Dix via their recently-launched Secret Menu banner. Other producers include Ian Bryce; and Chernin Entertainment’s Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and David Ready.

Egerton broke out on the big-screen with Matthew Vaughn’s comic book adaptation The Kingsman: The Secret Service...

Exclusive: Gal Gadot has been set to star in The Runner, a London-set action thriller that will be directed by Kevin Macdonald. Amazon MGM Studios has acquired worldwide rights to the film which was developed and will be produced by David Kosse under the veteran exec’s new venture, Rockwood Pictures.

Prolific award-winning filmmaker Macdonald is directing from a script by Mark Gibson.

Gadot plays a high-powered attorney who must race through London, following the cryptic commands of a mysterious Caller, as she fights against time to save her abducted son.

Wonder Woman star Gadot’s recent credits include Netflix’s Red Notice and Heart of Stone. She will next be seen starring as the Evil Queen in Disney’s live-action Snow White which is due for domestic release...

Forget about “The Magnificent Seven”: It’s time for The Magnificent Six, competing for the Nordic Council Film Prize this year.

The nominees – consisting of four fiction and two documentary feature films and each representing one of the Nordic countries – were announced by Nordisk Film & TV Fond at the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund.

Denmark is represented by “The Son and the Moon,” directed by Roja Pakari and Emilie Adelina Monies. Written by Pakari – documenting her own struggle with cancer – and Denniz Göl Bertelsen, it’s produced by Sara Stockmann for Sonntag Pictures.

“Twice Colonized” by Lin Alluna, hailing from Greenland, was written by Aaju Peter and Alluna. Pic is produced by Emile Hertling Péronard for Ánorâk Film, Red Marrow Media and EyeSteelFilm.

“I’m extremely happy about the nomination and the fact that Greenland is now, for only the second time, represented at the Nordic Council Film Prize.

At their best, political documentaries make sense of complex issues. But getting them seen has become more challenging than ever given Hollywood’s preference for celebrity or true-crime nonfiction offerings over anything grappling with thorny, complicated issues or figures.

This hasn’t stopped top documentary filmmakers from tackling such topics. Errol Morris’ “Separated,” a look at Trump administration immigration policies on the U.S. border, will debut at the Venice film festival. Docs about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, gun control and antisemitism are also in the works and could end up at fall festivals. There is also chatter about a doc focusing on Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

It’s not at all clear who might distribute these films, which follow in the footsteps of political documentaries like Michael Moore’s record-breaking “Fahrenheit 9/11” and Amazon Prime Video’s 2020 offering “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” directed by Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés,...

Will “The Old Guard 2” ever hit Netflix? As the sequel’s future remains uncertain, star Charlize Theron puts a different thriller on her schedule with the streamer. Deadline reports that the actress is in final talks to star in “Apex,” a buzzy survivalist thriller, with Baltasar Kormákur negotiating a deal to direct. And Kormákur is a solid choice to helm this one: after “Everest,” “Beast,” and “Adrift,” he knows his way around the singular tension of this kind of movie.

Continue reading Charlize Theron Joins ‘Apex’ & Says ‘Old Guard 2’ Post-Productions Was “Shut Down” By Netflix At One Point at The Playlist.

Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur is a rare sort these days. Here is a director who has built a successful, decades-long career making solid, genre-heavy programmers while often returning to Iceland to put in solid work. There was a time that this kind of output was the lifeblood of the industry. His type nearly extinct now, Kormákur beats on, telling stories for adults.

His new film, Touch, fits right into the mold. Talk about a relic: a mid-budget romantic drama released in theaters! Written by Kormákur and Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson (based on Ólafur’s 2022 novel of the same name), it tells the story of Kristófer (Egill Olafsson), an older widow who shuts down his restaurant in Iceland and travels to Japan in an attempt to find Miko, the love of his life from half a century ago.

It’s the beginning of 2020 and Covid-19 is swiftly shutting the world down. We...

Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur made a handful of smaller films before bursting into mainstream Hollywood with the Mark Wahlberg action flick "Contraband" in 2012. He's stayed steadily busy ever since, cranking out the Denzel Washington/Mark Wahlberg actioner "2 Guns" in 2013, the ensemble mountain climbing thriller "Everest" in 2015, the Shailene Woodley/Sam Claflin survival movie "Adrift" in 2018, and the "Idris Elba fights a lion" movie "Beast" in 2022, plus directing a couple of television shows in between. As those credits indicate, Kormákur is primarily known to American audiences for his high-octane filmmaking style. His latest project, however, marks a significant change of pace.

"Touch," written by Kormákur and Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson (based on a novel by Ólafsson), tells the story of Kristófer, an elderly Icelander whose wife has passed away. Spurred on by some health issues of his own and sense that he's running out of time, Kristófer sets out to find a woman named Miko,...

The One Who Got Away is a romantic notion that’s been widely propagated by pop culture cinema. And for good reason, as heartfelt drama and compelling conflicts arise authentically from these confrontations with fate. Director-co-writer Baltasar Kormákur’s “Touch,” based on Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson’s novel of the same name, expands on this swoon-worthy idea, elegantly crafting an achingly poignant story centered on an elderly man searching for his true love amidst a time of uncertainty. This gentle, unfussy romance contains a heart-clutching finale that’s as classically restrained as it is emotionally resounding.

Kristofer (Egill Ólafsson) lives a lonely life on the chilly seaside of Iceland since the death of his wife years prior. His days consist of singing in a men’s choir, chatting on the phone with his overbearing daughter Sonja (Harpa Elísa Þórsdóttir), owning a restaurant in his sleepy village and returning to the sad,...

Glasgow-based Momentum Films, led by producer Rakasree Basu (“Iqbal and the Jewel of India”), has officially launched at the Cannes Film Festival’s market.

The company is focusing on developing original stories by converging the Scottish and the South Asian cinematic landscapes across feature films, high end television and narrative documentaries.

Momentum has an under-production film “Adrift,” which was shot in Tamil Nadu, southern India, and is currently in post-production. The Tamil-language film explores the underlying complexity of the idea of identity through the story of a young man growing up in an orphanage in India when his quest for freedom become an endless pursuit. It marks the debut feature for director Ponselvam Karthi. The cast includes M.R. Netaji, Harishankar and Thamira.

“Adrift” is produced by Momentum Films as a minority co-production partner along with Yellow House Pictures and Raging Films, India and A.K. Studios, U.S.

Karthi said: “Through this film,...

Shailene Woodley, Ben Foster and Pablo Schreiber will join the previously announced Alan Ritchson in the action thriller “Motor City.”

Potsy Ponciroli will direct the picture. Production begins July 10 in New Jersey and AlUla, Saudi Arabia as part of Stampede Ventures’ 10-picture slate deal with Film AlUla.

Greg Silverman and Jon Berg will produce for Stampede Ventures, alongside Rohini Singh, Paramdeep Singh and Manmeet Singh of Astro Lion Pictures, and Cliff Roberts and Chad St. John, who also penned the script. Mike Tadross Jr. and Eric Hedayat will executive produce.

Black Bear represents international rights with WME Independent co-representing domestic rights with Stampede, and Sacker Entertainment Law overseeing production legal.

“Motor City” follows John Miller (Ritchson), a Detroit auto-worker whose life and girlfriend (Woodley) are taken away from him when he’s framed by a local gangster (Foster) and sent to prison. On his release, Miller unleashes a maelstrom of...

Baltasar Kormákur is back directing — but this time it’s not a survival drama, it’s a romance.

The “Adrift” and “Everest” filmmaker directs Focus Features’ “Touch,” based on the bestselling novel by Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson. The film tells a romantic and thrilling story that spans several decades and continents, with one widower trying to find his first love who disappeared 50 years ago.

Director Kormákur co-wrote the screenplay with novelist Ólafsson. The original Icelandic novel was published by Ecco/Harper Collins in the U.S. in August 2022. The film was shot in Iceland and Japan.

The ensemble cast is led by Egill Ólafsson, Kōki, Pálmi Kormákur, Masahiro Motoki, Yoko Narahashi, Meg Kubota, and Tatsuya Tagawa, with Charles Nishikawa, Sigurður Ingvarsson, Benedikt Erlingsson, Kieran Buckeridge, Ruth Sheen, María Ellingsen, and Masatoshi Nakamura also starring.

Writer/director Kormákur produces along with Agnes Johansen and Mike Goodridge. Kormákur most recently directed 2022’s “Beast...

To the surprise of just about everyone, production company Story Kitchen has announced a film adaptation of Black Salt Games 2023 indie horror title, Dredge. While Dredge was a critical hit and relative commercial success, it’s not the kind of game you’d expect to receive a film adaptation so soon after its release. Then again, it sometimes feels like every video game out there is currently being turned into a movie or TV show.

We know very little about the Dredge adaptation at the moment, but it’s being described as “The Sixth Sense on the water” and “a grounded atmospheric cosmic horror blend of Hp Lovecraft and Ernest Hemingway.” That certainly sounds promising, and Story Kitchen’s past and future projects show that they certainly have an eye for the best video games across a variety of genres.

Without getting into heavy spoilers, Dredge sees you play as...

Shailene Woodley was famously arrested for advocacy towards environmentalism in 2018. Her very brief experience in handcuffs posed little threat to her career. However, the inconvenience did postpone Woodley getting a major film role.

Shailene Woodley was famously arrested for protesting at ‘Standing Rock’ Shailene Woodley | Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

Woodley has always been very passionate about protecting the Earth. Her status as an actor has definitely helped her crusade for a much greener planet. Still, she confided that even if she wasn’t a celebrity, it wouldn’t affect her activism one bit.

“It’s not that I want to use my platform to do it — I’d be doing it even if there was one person following me or if I didn’t have a platform,” she once told Green Matters.

She asserted that she had more than one reason behind her mission.

“What makes me want to do...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Exclusive: The Dtla Film Festival has set the full feature lineup for its 15th edition, taking place at Regal L.A. Live from November 1-5, announcing the Jack Huston starrer Hail Mary as its opening night film.

Also starring Angela Sarafyan, Natalia del Riego, and Benny Emmanuel, the film from Rosemary Rodriguez is described as a genre-bending retelling of the Mary and Joseph story following an undocumented, pregnant migrant’s journey to make it safely across the U.S. border.

Nicki Micheaux’s Summer of Violence will serve as Centerpiece film for the fest, being put on in accordance with SAG-AFTRA strike guidelines, with Deborah Attoinese’s Women in Fire to close it out. Additional feature highlights include the sci-fi rom-com Molli and Max in the Future starring Zosia Mamet, Aristotle Athari, and Okieriete Onaodowan; Maxim Pozdorovkin’s animated doc The Conspiracy featuring voice actors like Mayim Bialik, Liev Schreiber,...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Multimedia Music has closed a deal to acquire the music publishing rights from the film music library of Millennium Media, which includes titles such as “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” “London Has Fallen,” “Angel Has Fallen,” “Hitman Wife’s Bodyguard,” “Hellboy,” “The Outpost,” “Mechanic: Resurrection,” “Rambo: Last Blood,” “Blackbird,” “Acts of Vengeance” and “The Expendables 4.”

The deal follows Multimedia Music’s recent music partnership with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, and its acquisition of STX Entertainment’s music library.

The Millennium Media library includes music from leading composers including Brian Tyler, Atli Orvarsson, Mark Isham, Trevor Morris, David Buckley and Benjamin Wallfisch.

Multimedia Music will co-publish the catalog with current co-owner and administrator Kobalt Music.

James Gibb, who founded Multimedia Music with colleague Phil Hope, said: “Millennium Media consistently produces high caliber, commercial films made for the big screen that have earned over $2 billion at the box office. We are thrilled to have secured this catalog,...

Neon is climbing into the passenger seat of Michael Mann’s Ferrari, a new film from the celebrated director starring Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz. Ferrari looks to premiere at the Venice Film Festival at the end of August, with Neon acquiring the rights in North America in a competitive situation. According to Deadline, Ferrari is racing into theaters on Christmas Day 2023. STX Entertainment, who helped get the film onto the pavement, is actively involved with all the Neon negotiations (which are still being determined as of this posting). STX set up and provided most of the financing to produce the movie. With Robert Simonds, Sam Brown, and Noah Fogelson executive producing, Ferrari will be distributed internationally through STX Entertainment and its partners.

“Michael Mann, one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema, was moved by the power of this intensely dramatic story to persist for years...

Survival horror Fall (which is now on Netflix UK) sees two extreme sports enthusiasts climb up a 2000 foot tower in the middle of the desert and get stuck at the top. It’s high-concept in every sense as the two women teeter on a tiny ledge impossibly high up while the audience feel (pleasantly?) sick and anxious the whole time.

Fall is effective and efficient. The girls are likeable, capable and make good choices (other than climbing up a 2000 foot tower in the first place…). There’s real peril, enough back story to round the characters out, but ultimately it’s girls vs tower, with some pesky buzzards thrown in for good measure. This kind of survival horror – and by that in this instance we mean a film where characters are pitted against nature or a circumstance, rather than a person, or a supernatural entity – works viscerally when it’s done well.

Shailene Woodley may be famous, but she lives life on her own terms. The actor has adopted a lifestyle that many would find atypical. From hunkering down in a crowded Rv for months in her 20s to living in a remote cabin without cell service in her late teens, Woodley has always done what works for her. And despite her millions of followers, she knows how to stay out of the spotlight. In fact, she once lied about backpacking in New Zealand for months, only to hide out in LA.

Shailene Woodley | Michael Tran / Afp via Getty Images Shailene Woodley has plenty of experience backpacking and camping

For someone like Woodley, going on a backpacking trip is pretty on-brand. The Endings, Beginnings actor is actually a great survivalist. She forages a lot of her own food and has a keen understanding of the environment. In fact, her survival skills helped...

After pitting a knife-wielding Jennifer Lopez and a submachine gun-armed Jennifer Coolidge against a pack of wedding-crashing pirates in the rom-com/action mashup "Shotgun Wedding" (you can read our review of the film here), Prime Video is slowing things down a little in February. That month will see the release of the second and final season of the streamer's fantasy neo-noir series "Carnival Row," which is dropping nearly three and a half years after the first season launched in August 2019, in case you find yourself wondering (much like /Film's Valerie Ettenhofer), "Wait, so I didn't imagine the show where Orlando Bloom solves crimes and hooks up with pixie Cara Delevingne?" No, no you did not, but hey, at least now it has a proper ending!

In the absence of too many major new releases beyond that, Prime Video and Freevee viewers might want to spend February catching one of the...

Major spoilers ahead for "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" season 1.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" has wrapped up season 1 and is currently shooting season 2. The Prime Video series is based on author J.R.R. Tolkien's supplemental lore for Middle-earth, and is set thousands of years before the Peter Jackson film trilogies. This is the story of how the rings of power were formed, the secret return of Sauron after his mentor Morgoth's defeat, and the destruction of the island nation of Númenor. It's a sweeping epic that has us traveling all over Middle-earth and beyond and almost to the western lands where the elves go to rest. And in the final episodes of season 1, it also shows us the rise of Mordor. 

Emmy-nominated writer and executive producer Gennifer Hutchinson, who wrote the finale with showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, as well as the episode "Adrift,...

The great fantasy show face-off of 2022 ended weeks ago, with Prime Video's "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" and HBO's "House of the Dragon" each concluding their first season in October. However, we're still talking about both shows and how their streaming numbers matched up, among other things. Ratings don't mean as much, of course, when you're a franchise prequel with a built-in fanbase and a second season that has already been written and already began filming even before the first season concluded.

"The Rings of Power" was actually renewed as far back as 2019, and Prime Video invested almost half a billion dollars in the first season alone, so its immediate future was never in doubt. This put the show's writers in the unique position of not having to wonder whether they would be able to continue the story beyond the first season.

One of those writers was Gennifer Hutchinson,...

The filmmaker was in conversation with Japanese director Akio Fujimoto.

Vietnamese director Bui Thac Chuyen waited five years for his lead actress to be ready to star in his latest feature Glorious Ashes, he told Japanese filmmaker Akio Fujimoto at Tokyo International Film Festival today (October 25).

The two were in conversation as part of TIFF’s Lounge talks the day after the world premiere of Bui Thac’s rural drama, which plays in the festival’s Competition section – the first time a Vietnamese film has been selected for the competitive strand.

“When you’re casting, you sometimes have those moments...

Click here to read the full article.

Three women living in a small village on the Mekong Delta struggle to contend with the men they’re bound up with in Glorious Ashes, a thoughtful if somewhat heavy-handed ensemble piece from Vietnamese writer-director Bui Thac Chuyen (Adrift).

Premiering in competition at Tokyo, the film provides an intriguing look at a part of the world where the old ways, whether in farming, fishing or wives being completely subjected to their husbands’ every last whim, still dominate daily life. But the two-hour drama never quite rises above its earnest and weighty message, which makes it more of a thoughtful pedagogical item than a movie with serious market potential.

This is not to say that Glorious Ashes isn’t, at least in its conception, a probing and rather dark depiction of the quotidian struggles faced by its trio of heroines, all of whom have...

(Warning: Major spoilers ahead for the "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" season 1 finale.)

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" season 1 has ended, and much has been revealed. After weeks of speculation, we know the identity of Sauron. We have a pretty good idea of who the Stranger (Daniel Weyman) is from some contextual clues and lines. We've seen Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) tested, and we've lost a harfoot. So much happened in the final hour of the season, including the forging of three rings of power for the elves. Instead of a giant battle at the end, we were taken back to characters and relationships.

I got a chance to chat with Gennifer Hutchison, who wrote this episode alongside showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Hutchison talked about balancing the information for fans with knowledge of J.R.R. Tolkien's work and those who are new to the lore,...

After scaring up 56 million in theaters worldwide, the Idris Elba-starring creature feature Beast is next headed to the Peacock streaming service, we’ve learned this morning.

Beast, which you can currently rent or buy on VOD, claws into Peacock on October 7!

Peacock will be the Exclusive streaming home for the 2022 film.

Beast is the latest addition to Peacock’s growing library of iconic films, including Jurassic World Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Vengeance, Brian and Charles, The Black Phone, The Bad Guys, Downton Abbey: A New Era, and The Northman.

In Beast, “A recently widowed man (Idris Elba) and his two teenage daughters travel to a game reserve in South Africa. However, their journey of healing soon turns into a fight for survival when a bloodthirsty lion starts to stalk them.”

Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, Adrift) directed Beast for Universal Pictures. Based on an idea by Jaime Primak-Sullivan, Ryan Engle (Rampage) wrote the script.

So far, most of the episode titles for "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" have been pretty self-explanatory. In "Adrift," Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) is adrift at sea. In "The Great Wave," Míriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) dreamt of a great wave. Sure, most of the show's titles also have more metaphorical double meanings, but on the surface, they've been quite obvious. The meaning behind the title of the latest and darkest episode of the show, "Udûn," is a little bit less transparent — and has a more loaded history — than most.

Though it has a long history in J.R.R. Tolkien's texts, the word Udûn isn't mentioned on screen until nearly the end of this week's hour. When it is, it's by a lineup of captured orcs, who begin chanting the word when the eruption of Mount Doom begins. Adar (Joseph Mawle), the mysterious villain who's also currently a prisoner of Galadriel and Míriel,...

Released in theaters just last month, the Idris Elba-starring action/horror movie Beast is now available at home. The Premium VOD offering can be rented for 19.99, purchased for 24.99.

Watch Beast via Amazon or your favorite VOD platform tonight!

To date, Beast has clawed its way to 48 million worldwide, with 27 million of that number scared up here in the United States. The film will next be coming to Peacock at a later date.

In Beast, “A recently widowed man (Idris Elba) and his two teenage daughters travel to a game reserve in South Africa. However, their journey of healing soon turns into a fight for survival when a bloodthirsty lion starts to stalk them.”

Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, Adrift) directed Beast for Universal Pictures. Based on an idea by Jaime Primak-Sullivan, Ryan Engle (Rampage) wrote the script.

Meagan Navarro wrote in her 3-star review for Bloody Disgusting (read it here), “Beast...

In this second episode of The Rings of Power, Elrond tries to mend an old friendship, Galadriel makes for land and Nori builds a rapport with the mysterious meteor man. This is also the first episode where we meet some dwarves and also encounter some very well-designed monsters that our heroes will be doing battle with.

We first see the Harfoots, who are at the edge of a smoldering crater where a man just landed from, seemingly, outer space. Nori shows some serious courage as she approaches the man to rouse him, and he displays some apparent telekinetic abilities before passing out again. Nori and Poppy set The Stranger up to recover in hiding.

Galadriel paddles her way through The Sundering Sea. An intimidating shadow in the distance turns out to be a raft of shipwrecked humans. They are suspicious of Galadriel, and even more so when they realize she is an elf.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power A Shadow of the Past and Adrift — Prime Video‘s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 1, Episode 1: A Shadow of the Past and Episode 2: Adrift TV Show Review. Fans of fantasy in general, and of Tolkien in [...]

Continue reading: TV Review: The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power: Season 1, Episodes 1-2 [Prime Video]...

[Warning: The following contains Major spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 2, “Adrift.”] Orcs are nothing knew to J.R.R. Tolkien fans. Knowing this, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power team devised a way to refresh the fear the beastly creatures produced upon first watch of The Fellowship of the Ring in its premiere episodes. The Rings of Power orcs were seen in brief snippets in the Episode 1 prologue — first in gruesome battle with Galadriel’s brother, Finrod, and the rest of the elf army, and then in a short moment set in the aftermath of the war. In what felt like a shout-out to Gollum’s first Fellowship appearance, one orc pops its head up to show its eery, beady eyes through the trees of a hazy, shrouded forrest. The first up-close-and-personal encounter with an orc came in Episode 2, “Adrift,” when Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) and teen son Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) ...

Heitor Dhalia, one of Brazil’s foremost and most ambitious movie auteurs, director of “Drained,” “Adrift” and “Bald Mountain,” is teaming with Netflix to make “DNA do Crime,” a banner title for the U.S. streaming giant in Brazil, one of its largest international markets.

Described by Dhalia as “one of the biggest series ever produced in Brazil,” the eight-part scripted skein, which goes into production on Oct. 31, turns on a heist of epic proportions, which takes place on the Brazil-Paraguay border.

When federal police officers are called in to investigate, they discover “the beginning of a thread that unravels, like no other, the construction of crime in the country,” the synopsis runs.

“The series will try to open a new paradigm for the genre,” Dhalia told Variety. “It also talks about the tragic flaws in all of us, our deep nature,” he added.

Inspired by true events, “DNA do Crime” is created by Dhalia.

A friendship left dormant for too long prompted Elrond the elf to invoke the Rite of Sigin-tarâg in “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s” second episode, forcing him into a battle of endurance with Prince Durin IV.

(Spoiler alert! This article contains discussion of plot details from “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 1, Episode 2 – “Adrift.”)

As viewers came to learn in the second episode of the season, Robert Aramayo’s character, Elrond, had insulted his friend, Prince Durin IV of the dwarves, by not visiting him in two decades – a more significant amount of time for a dwarf than for the almost eternal elves. So, after he was refused entry to the Dwarves’ home, Khazad-dûm, Elrond invoked the Rite of Sigin-tarâg, a rock-breaking endurance test that if he lost, would leave him banished from their kingdom forever.

Also Read:

‘Lord of the...

Spoiler Alert: Do not read unless you have watched the first two episodes of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

That sound you just heard is neither drums, drums in the deep nor the roar of a Balrog. It was actually a collective sigh of relief emanating from countless “Lord of the Rings” fans who just watched the first two episodes of “The Rings of Power” and realized that it is, in fact, a compelling expansion of the Middle-earth mythos. The episodes, titled “Shadows of the Past” and “Adrift,” both premiered tonight, while the remaining six will air weekly. The Second Age of Middle-earth is fairly technologically advanced, all things considered, but it would seem they haven’t yet developed the means to drop an entire season of prestige television at once.

“Shadows of the Past” begins, as the movies did,...

Dir: Baltasar Kormákur. Starring: Idris Elba, Iyana Halley, Leah Sava Jeffries, Sharlto Copley. 15, 93 minutes.

A shot of Idris Elba socking a lion in the face isn’t just the dramatic denouement of Beast – it’s the film’s entire raison d’etre. No one’s here for the scenes of Elba’s well-intentioned patriarch attempting to heal his fractured family, or the vague sentiments about nature’s karmic vengeance. Audiences will turn up because a trailer promised to show them one of our most charismatic A-listers in a boxing match with a roided-out kitty cat. Everything that comes before is just the warm-up for the main event.

In that sense, it’s impossible to argue that Beast doesn’t live up to its promise, because the only promise was another piece of recyclable pop-culture imagery. Beast is the latest entry in the man vs arbitrary animal Hall of Fame, filed...

Over the weekend, Universal’s creature feature Beast gobbled up 11.5 million at the domestic box office, but when will you be able to watch Idris Elba fight a lion at home?

Peacock sent out a press release teasing their upcoming arrivals for Halloween – including Halloween Ends on October 14! – and it’s worth noting that Beast is included in that list.

From Peacock’s press release this afternoon…

“Peacock’s Halloween Horror destination will feature more thrilling film arrivals leading into Halloween including new movies The Black Phone and Beast coming straight from theaters along with other horror films streaming on Peacock including original film They/Them from Blumhouse along with You Should Have Left, Separation from director William Brent Bell, and some of the most iconic horror franchises of all time including Chucky, Saw, Halloween, Tremors, and Phantasm, plus many more titles to be announced.”

The new streaming window for Universal...

Photo: 'Beast' Idris Elba is also universally known as the actor who stars in blockbuster and franchise films like ‘Hobbs and Shaw,’ and his past roles of Heimdall, a sole guardian and Thor’s best friend in the ‘Thor’ movies. Additionally, he has been well-known for being an actor who would be willing to work on personal films by portraying Nelson Mandela in ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Fame’ and acting as a commandant in ‘Beast of No Nation’ – a war drama that focuses on a boy who is child soldier of a civil war that takes place in an African country. Now, Idris takes the challenge of starring in an adventure-horror film ‘Beast.’The movie is directed by Baltasar Kormakur. In the past, Baltasar made the survival drama film ‘Adrift’ which focused on a couple (played by Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin) who are far adrift in the...

Pitting Idris Elba up against a bloodthirsty lion, Beast was released alongside Orphan: First Kill in theaters this past weekend, finishing in the #2 spot on the domestic box office charts.

From 3,743 theaters here in the United States, Beast roared its way to an 11,570,000 opening weekend, with the film’s current worldwide total now sitting at 21,852,000.

The downside for Universal Pictures on this one is that the production budget for Beast was a reported 36 million, meaning the film still has a long way to go to break even.

Beast will have to hit roughly 100 million to start being profitable in theaters, once you factor in the marketing spend and the cut of the profits that theaters will be given.

No word yet on an at-home release. Stay tuned.

In Beast, “A recently widowed man (Idris Elba) and his two teenage daughters travel to a game reserve in South Africa. However, their...

Idris Elba in Beast. Pic credit: Lauren Mulligan/Universal Pictures

Beast as a premise could be as ridiculous as Snakes on a Plane. Idris Elba fighting a lion sells itself as an over-the-top idea in the same vein as Jason Statham fighting a shark in The Meg.

To this writer’s surprise, Beast is an unexpected thrill. Director Baltasar Kormákur is mostly known for throwaway action movies like 2 Guns and Contraband. He also directed the forgettable survival true story Adrift. With Beast, audiences will ask themselves where this director has been hiding.

With all this said, is Beast worth a trip to the theaters? Here is our full review of the man versus nature survival movie starring Idris Elba.

The film centers on Nathan Samuels (Idris Elba), a widowed father who decides to return to South Africa with his daughters after the death of his wife, a native of the country.

(from left) Nathan (Idris Elba), Martin (Sharlto Copley), Mare (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Sava Jeffries) in Beast. Image: Universal Sometimes the simplest pleasures are ones most worth pursuing. Simple does not necessarily mean stupid, incoherent, or lacking in craft, as an entire history of B-movie cinema (much less late-summer box office distractions) has proven,...

No animals were harmed in the making of “Beast.” Frankly, it doesn’t look like any animals were even used in the making of “Beast,” but if you can get past the idea that the two-ton lion threatening Idris Elba and his family in the movie is a singularly frightening combination of ones and zeros, not killer instinct and claws, then “Beast” is a blast.

A white-knuckle “When Animals Attack!” movie in the tradition of “Jaws” and “Anaconda,” this big-budget, big-screen release features A-list actors — Ok, actor, singular — and a director who knows what he’s doing: Icelandic ace Baltasar Kormákur, who cut his teeth on such nightmare-inducing man-against-nature films as “Everest” and “Adrift.” Here, the threat is a very big, very angry African cat, understandably agitated after a group of poachers slaughtered his pride, that has decided to kill every human that crosses his path. Seriously, the body count...

“Beast,” a survival thriller starring Idris Elba, is expected to debut to 10 million over the weekend. But those ticket sales likely won’t be enough to lead domestic box office charts.

Instead, the Universal Pictures release looks to be defeated by “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero,” a manga adaptation from Crunchyroll, a company that specializes in Japanese anime movies and television. The PG-13 “Super Hero” is targeting 13 million to 15 million in its opening weekend as it touches down in 3,900 North American theaters. It marks the widest release ever for Crunchyroll.

Anime films have been increasingly popular in the United States, and Crunchyroll, which is mostly owned by Sony Pictures, has been at the forefront. Earlier this year, the studio’s PG-13 “Jujutsu Kaisen 0” notched a remarkable 17.6 million in its debut, while the company’s 2021 release “Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train” nabbed 21.2 million to start, a huge result at...

This week may be lacking in quantity when it comes to horror releases but two big new films are leading the pack, one of them bringing back a horror villain over 10 years later.

The other, well, it pits Idris Elba up against a bloodthirsty predator…

Here’s all the new horror releasing August 16-August 21, 2022!

First up, the supernatural revenge movie When I Consume You is now available on VOD outlets today, director Perry Blackshear’s latest released by 1091 Pictures to kick off the week.

The Breakout Festival Sensation is now available in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Watch the official trailer for When I Consume You below.

“This gritty, urban folktale follows a woman (Libby Ewing) and her brother (Evan Dumouchel) as they hunt down a mysterious stalker hellbent on their destruction, testing the limits of love and loyalty in the face of ultimate evil.

Idris Elba fights for his life when a hungry predator comes knocking on his car door in Universal’s survival horror movie Beast, which will be releasing into theaters on August 19.

We’ve been provided with four new clips from Beast today, the first of which lays out the law of the jungle. From there, the action-horror ramps up, culminating in an intense final clip that sees Idris Elba fending off a lion attack while hiding underneath a car.

Think Cujo… with a bloodthirsty predator even more vicious than a dog!

Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, Adrift) directed Beast for Universal Pictures. Based on an idea by Jaime Primak-Sullivan, Ryan Engle (Rampage) wrote the script.

In Beast, “A recently widowed man (Idris Elba) and his two teenage daughters travel to a game reserve in South Africa. However, their journey of healing soon turns into a fight for survival when a bloodthirsty lion starts to stalk them.

Predator and prey will do battle once more this summer in Universal’s survival horror movie Beast, pitting Idris Elba up against a hungry lion and releasing into theaters on August 19. Check out a brand new image gallery below, while you wait! Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, Adrift) directed Beast for Universal Pictures. Based on an idea by Jaime Primak-Sullivan, Ryan Engle (Rampage) wrote the […]

The post ‘Beast’ Image Gallery – Idris Elba Battles an Apex Predator in Theaters Later This Month appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Tuesday that it is inviting 397 artists and executives to join the Oscar organizer’s membership ranks. The prospective 2022 class includes 71 Oscar nominees and 15 winners, with 44 of the invitees women, and 37 of the group belongs to underrepresented communities.

See the full list below.

Among this year’s Oscar winners on the list are Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur, and Kotsur’s Coda writer-director Siân Heder, who has been invited into both the Directors and Writers branches. Among those invited into multiple branches, the new member must pick one. There are a total of 17 AMPAS branches, along with 25 who today received members-at-large invitations.

Others on the list include this year’s Oscar Original Song winners Billie Eilish and brother Finneas O’Connell; actors Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Jesse Buckley, Michael Greyeyes, Olga Merediz, Jesse Plemons, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Anya Taylor-Joy; writers Zach Baylin,...

Anya Taylor-Joy, Billie Eilish, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan and Disney exec Dana Walden are among the 397 artists and executives invited to join the membership of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. If all of this year’s invitees accept membership, it will bring the total number of Academy members to 10,665, with 9,665 eligible to vote for the 95th Oscars set to take place on March 12, 2023.

The 2022 class is 44 women, 37 belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 50 are from 53 countries and territories outside the United States. There are 71 Oscar nominees, including 15 winners, among the invitees. Some of the big names invited are recent winners Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”) and Troy Kotsur (“Coda”), and nominees Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”), Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”). Also invited are a slew of global artists and artisans such as actors Robin de Jesús, Olga Merediz...