Funko drops, trailer reveals, and panel buzz — Pop Culture brings you entertainment news and fandom updates from across the media universe.
There’s still eight months before the next episode of the Star Wars saga hits theatres, but this weekend is Star Wars Celebration Orlando so fans could be sure they were going to get a sneak peek of the upcoming chapter. And they weren’t disappointed. Lucasfilm and director Rian Johnson released the teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which opens December 15, 2017
A truly great trailer entices viewers to watch a soon-to-be-released film without revealing too much of the story — particularly not the narrative’s key twists, best jokes or scares, or the entire film’s trajectory. These skillfully ambiguous trailers are no longer the norm as it’s not uncommon to finish watching a preview for a movie and feel as if you’ve just seen the whole thing; but occasionally a studio finds this balance of creating temptation through vagueness that convinces moviegoers to head to the theatres once it’s released. Fox Searchlight appears to have done so with the trailer for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
It’s been four years since the mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth) starred in a standalone film and he made his last big screen appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron two years ago. His absence from the Captain America: Civil War team-up has been explained via a couple of amusing YouTube videos. But Thor’s Australian vacation has ended and he’s returned to Asgard where he’s needed — and the teaser trailer for Thor: Ragnarok shows just how much.
The definition of “family-friendly programming” was different a few decades ago. We thought Looney Tunes was great entertainment for kids (when’s the last time you saw someone get flattened with a mallet on Saturday morning?) and didn’t have a problem with shows that objectified people’s bodies coming on at any time of the day. Of course the networks still received complaints from far-right conservatives, but the majority of audiences and executives didn’t see the problem. Things have changed a lot since then, but that’s emboldened some big screen revivals of small screen hits to push the boundaries even more than the originals. One of the most anticipated of these re-imaginings is the Baywatch movie.
Cable and streaming networks have been gradually diversifying their programming, featuring not just shows focused on one ethnicity but actually casting people more reflective of our multicultural spaces. Moreover, many of these shows are being driven by the minority stars. One of the most lauded original series to meet these standards is Netflix‘s Master of None. The brainchild of former Parks and Recreation star Aziz Ansari, the breakthrough comedy deals with typical sitcom themes; but they also address issues of being a minority actor in Hollywood or just being a woman anywhere.
It’s been a long-time since fans watched a new episode of Rick and Morty — 18 months to be exact since the season two finale aired on October 4, 2015. At the Sundance Film Festival in January, creator Dan Harmon spoke to IndieWire and took full responsibility for the delay… though he couldn’t really explain why it was taking so long. A month later, season three began production and released a YouTube video promising the opening scene from a new episode. Instead, creators “Rick-rolled” fans with a cruel but awesome video compilation of scenes put together to comprise the lyrics of Rick Astley’s hit, “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
When rising horror master James Wan introduced audiences to Annabelle in 2013’s The Conjuring, it instantly rose to the ranks of Good Guy (a.k.a. Chucky) and the Poltergeist clown on the list of all-time creepy movie dolls. This film was immediately followed by a standalone prequel — the second film set in the universe of Ed and Lorraine Warren — which began with the same tale related about the doll in the first picture and an origin story involving Satanists. And now we have Annabelle: Creation, the fourth set in the universe and a prequel to the prequel.
Television shows have been regularly challenging theatrical films in terms of providing audiences quality entertainment. Networks like HBO, FX and AMC have dominated awards ceremonies in recent years by delivering exceptional content and notable visuals. Moreover, an increasingly popular model built on independent seasons that feature new characters and storylines connected by an overarching theme has renewed audience’s interest in TV dramas. One of the advantages of this template has been the ability to attract Hollywood actors to key roles since the commitment isn’t any more demanding than a film shoot. It’s been applied numerous times now but one of the most popular instances has been in FX’s Fargo, which recently released its season three trailer.
The remake of Stephen King’s It hit a significant roadblock in 2015 when writer/director Cary Fukunaga left the project due to differences regarding the film’s vision and budget. His departure delivered a major blow to those intrigued by his take on the story about a tightknit group of friends who take on an alien devourer as children — and then adults — in their small New England town. But New Line was determined to move ahead with the production. A couple of months later, they tapped director Andrés Muschietti, who made waves with his horror feature Mama, to take over the two-part film adaptation. This announcement was followed by the casting of Bill Skarsgård in the title role, a.k.a. Pennywise, which was originally played by Tim Curry. Recently, a series of disturbing photos featuring the otherworldly, evil clown were released. And now finally, the first trailer has arrived.
With DC and Warner Bros. establishing a solid foothold in the comic book/superhero market, it was only a matter of time before they would release an Avengers-style team-up. Promotion for Zack Snyder‘s upcoming Justice League movie has been ramping up over the last week with new teasers and posters, but the big announcement was the first full-length trailer. With two-and-a-half minutes of footage, fans definitely have a better idea of what to expect from the November release.
In June 2016, director Adam Wingard began principal photography on a Death Note feature film for Netflix. Less than a year after the announcement, the streaming network has released the first teaser for the movie, which appears to be set in an American high school (though it was shot in Canada and U.S.).
With Paramount Pictures and Michael Bay preparing to release the director’s fifth Transformers movie in 10 years, they’ve decided to change up the marketing a little. The most recent trailer for Transformers: The Last Knight was distributed via teen star Isabela Moner’s Facebook account and is screening in theatres before the recently released live-action Beauty and the Beast.
