The CW’s The Outpost continues its first season with episode eight titled “Beyond the Wall.” After taking a week off, the series will return on September 11, 2018 with the new episode written by Jason Faller and Kynan Griffin and directed by Clare Neiderpruem.
The cast is led by Jessica Green (Ash vs Evil Dead) as Talon. Season one also features Jake Stormoen as Garret, Imogen Waterhouse as Gwynn, Anand Desai-Barochia as Janzo, Philip Brodie as Everit dred, Andrew Howard as Wythers, and Robyn Malcolm.
Kynan Griffin and Jason Faller created the series and serve as executive producers along with Dean Devlin (The Librarians), Marc Roskin, Rachel Olschan-Wilson, and Jonathan Glassner (Stargate SG-1). Faller and Griffin wrote all 10 episodes and John Lyde directed four, including episode one.
The “Beyond the Wall” Plot: THE SEARCH FOR THE BOOK OF NAMES – Talon (Green), Janzo (Barochia) and Garret (Stormoen) venture into forbidden territory in search of the Book of Names. An army is led to the Outpost gates.
The Series Plot:The Outpost follows Talon, the lone survivor of a race called “Blackbloods.” Years after her entire village is destroyed by a gang of brutal mercenaries, Talon travels to a lawless fortress on the edge of the civilized world, as she tracks the killers of her family. On her journey to this outpost, Talon discovers she possesses a mysterious supernatural power that she must learn to control in order to save herself, and defend the world against a fanatical religious dictator.
Blake Jenner at the premiere of The Orchard’s ‘American Animals’ (Photo by: Kristina Bumphrey / StarPix)
Blake Jenner is joining the cast of Netflix’s What/If, a new series described as a social thriller. Jenner joins Renee Zellweger (Same Kind of Different As Me) and Jane Levy (Castle Rock) who were previously announced to star in the series. What/If marks Oscar winner Zellweger’s (Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Cold Mountain) first starring role in a television series.
The series was created by Mike Kelley (Revenge, Swingtown). Kelley will serve as the showrunner and will executive produce along with Melissa Loy, Alex Gartner, Charles Roven, Robert Zemeckis, and Jack Rapke.
According to Netflix, the first season will consist of 10 one-hour episodes. Netflix hasn’t announced when filming will get underway or when we can expect the series to premiere.
The What/If Plot: Social thriller What/If explores the ripple effects of what happens when acceptable people start doing unacceptable things. Each season will tackle a different morality tale inspired by culturally consequential source material, and the power of a single fateful decision to change the trajectory of an entire life.
The series stars Renée Zellweger (Jerry Maguire, Chicago, the Bridget Jones movies) in the role of Anne. Blake Jenner will play Sean.
Details on Blake Jenner, Courtesy of Netflix:
“Jenner most recently starred in the indie heist film American Animals starring alongside Evan Peters, Ann Dowd and Barry Keoghan. Jenner starred in the critically-acclaimed feature The Edge of Seventeen opposite Hailee Steinfeld and Woody Harrelson for legendary producer Jim Brooks. He also appeared alongside Logan Lerman and Elle Fanning in Sidney Hall for Academy Award-winning director Shawn Christensen. Jenner was the lead in Richard Linklater’s nostalgia comedy feature Everybody Wants Some!!.
Television credits include playing series regular, Ryder Lynn, on the hit comedy Glee and a recurring role on the hit Supergirl. Jenner first broke out on the second season of The Glee Project where he was selected as one of fourteen contestants to compete and ultimately won the competition, landing him a role on Glee. This weekend, Jenner finished out a run as Christian to Peter Dinklages’s Cyrano in the Goodspeed Musicals’ Cyrano, a new take on the Edmond Rostand classic Cyrano de Bergerac adapted by Erica Schmidt in collaboration with members of the Grammy Award-winning indie alternative band The National.”
20th Century Fox released the final red band (restricted and not safe for work or kids) trailer for 2018’s The Predator. The new trailer arrives just days prior to the film’s screening as part of the Midnight Madness collection at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The cast of the sci-fi action thriller includes Boyd Holbrook (Narcos), Trevante Rhodes (If Loving You is Wrong), Jacob Tremblay (The Book of Henry), Keegan-Michael Key (Friends From College), Olivia Munn (Office Christmas Party), Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us), Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones), Thomas Jane (The Expanse), Augusto Aguilera (Chasing Life), Jake Busey (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series), and Yvonne Strahovski (The Handmaid’s Tale).
The Predator was directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3) from a script he co-wrote with Fred Dekker (Tales from the Crypt, RoboCop 3). Black’s behind the scenes team includes director of photography Larry Fong, editor Harry B. Miller III, production designer Martin Whist, and costume designer Tish Monaghan.
20th Century Fox is unleashing The Predator in theaters on September 14, 2018. The action thriller’s rated R for strong bloody violence, language throughout, and crude sexual references.
The Plot: From the outer reaches of space to the to the backwoods of southern Georgia, the hunt comes home in Shane Black’s explosive reinvention of the Predator series. Now, the universe’s most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before. And only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and an evolutionary biology professor can prevent the end of the human race.
A scene from ‘The Predator’ (Photo Courtesy of 20th Century Fox)
Author J.K. Rowling admits to feeling quite sentimental going back to Hogwarts for the upcoming second Fantastic Beasts film, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. In this new video from behind-the-scenes of the much-anticipated sequel, cast members including Eddie Redmayne, Zoe Kravitz, and Jude Law talk about their experiences shooting the film.
“Those names, the stories, the histories that have sit in the back of our mind from the Potter series begin to weave their way into Beasts,” says Redmayne in the latest Fantastic Beasts featurette.
“It’s like the ultimate childhood fantasy to play witches and wizards,” admitted Zoë Kravitz who plays Leta Lestrange.
Jude Law, Fantastic Beasts‘ Albus Dumbledore, commented on being at the movie version of Hogwarts. “It was a slightly odd out of body experience because I’ve watched with everyone else those classes and suddenly to be in it… You’re in there doing it but then you look back as yourself and realize how special it was.”
The film’s ensemble also includes Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Callum Turner, Claudia Kim, William Nadylam, Kevin Guthrie, Carmen Ejogo, Poppy Corby-Tuech, and Johnny Depp.
Harry Potter veteran David Yates directed Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling. Rowling, David Heyman, Steve Kloves, and Lionel Wigram produced the film, with Tim Lewis, Neil Blair, Rick Senat and Danny Cohen executive producing.
Warner Bros. Pictures will release the PG-13 rated film in theaters in 2D, 3D and IMAX on November 16, 2018.
The Plot: At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Redmayne). But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.
In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore (Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.
The 2018 San Diego Comic Con marked Melissa Roxburgh’s first visit to the sold-out pop culture fanfest and she enjoyed herself as part of the cast of NBC’s new dramatic series Manifest. Roxburgh participated in her first Comic Con panel as well as roundtable interviews in support of the series which has been compared to Lost.
Manifest focuses on a plane full of passengers who take off on an ordinary flight only to discover five years have passed by the time they land. The passengers are the same ages they were when they boarded the plane, and they don’t have any knowledge of what happened or where they’ve been for that five year period which to them only felt like a couple of hours.
Roxburgh discussed her character, the premise, and what viewers can expect when they tune into Manifest on September 24, 2018 at 10pm ET/PT.
Melissa Roxburgh Manifest Interview
What was your first impression of the script?
Melissa Roxburgh: “Manifest was actually the first script that I read for pilot season. I read it and I was blown away. It was something that I had not read before in a script, but I was still kind of attached to another show. I was like, ‘Whoever gets this they’ll have a blast. I wish them all the luck.’”
Can you talk about your character?
Melissa Roxburgh: “I play Michaela Stone. She is Ben’s younger sister. She has gone through a bit of a tragic past. She accidentally killed her best friend in a car accident and through that has dealt with an onslaught of self-loathing and feeling worthless. So when the plane comes back, she’s kind of forced to face those things and deal with it, which she doesn’t feel like she’s ready for.”
What drew you to the role?
Melissa Roxburgh: “She’s a tragic character but she’s also really strong. She’s knows who she is. She’s just dealing with a lot. What I liked about Michaela is that she’s not a victim. She definitely has stuff that she’s dealing with, but she’s a very strong person through that.”
Are we going to flash back to the accident and will we see why she blames herself?
Melissa Roxburgh: “Yes, you do. You get to see why she’s made the decision that it’s something that she’s taken on so heavily and feels the need to take responsibility for.”
The show is being compared to Lost. Is that fair?
Melissa Roxburgh: “Yeah. I mean it’s got the same thing where it’s a plane drama and it’s a mystery as well, so I really do hope people who liked Lost like our show. It’s pretty different in a lot of ways and to be quite honest I haven’t seen Lost. (Laughing) I’ll have to check it out.
I think our show is a bit more centered on family characters, the relationships between the characters.”
How much do you know about what happened during the five years the plane was missing? Are you finding out the same time as the audience?
Melissa Roxburgh: “I’m finding out at the same time, which I kind of want to keep it that way. That way I’m not like, ‘I know what’s going on.’ But, the mystery behind it I like it because it can go a million different directions. It can be spiritual, it can be science-based, it can be some weird wormhole. It can be anything, really. I want to be surprised the same time everyone else is.”
Do the characters have differing opinions of what happened?
Melissa Roxburgh: “I think what Jeff (Rake), our showrunner, does a really good job of is with everyone on the plane, everyone has a different idea of what it could be. With my mom being so religious, I’ve kind of taken that on like, ‘Maybe it’s God.’ Then Ben who’s very scientific he’s like, ‘Absolutely not. It’s got to be based in facts. That’s what it is. So, I think as more characters are brought in, it will bring in a different perspective of what happened to us, which is cool.”
Melissa Roxburgh as Michaela Stone and Josh Dallas as Ben Stone in ‘Manifest’ (Photo by David Giesbrecht / NBC / Warner Brothers)
In some of these mystery shows, the mystery is not fully explained. Is it going to be that kind of show or will we know what happened?
Melissa Roxburgh: “I don’t know. I don’t know. We’ll find out. I actually don’t know how it ends.”
Is there a moment or a scene that you’ve shot those far that you can’t wait for viewers to see?
Melissa Roxburgh: “I mean, the coming home scene is pretty cool. When I read it and when we shot it, it felt real. You know, the guy who plays my dad – Malachy (Cleary) is his name – I looked into his eyes and felt like I hadn’t seen my dad in five years. That was pretty cool. That one I can’t wait for you to see.”
What would you say is the theme of the show?
Melissa Roxburgh: “I think the overarching theme of the show is what would you do if you got a second chance at life. What decisions would you make? Who would you treat differently? Who would you run to if you got that second chance to make amends or to fix something? All these characters have gone through something before the plane and when they land they get that second chance to deal with it.”
Do we learn why it’s five years as opposed to some other time period?
Melissa Roxburgh: “I think that we will. Again, I’m going to be surprised by whatever that reason is. But I’m pretty sure it’ll all be explained by the end.”
If you had a second chance, what would you do?
Melissa Roxburgh: “You know, just the people that you go, ‘I’ll catch up with you later,’ and then you don’t. Grandparents, for one. I saw them at Christmas and I’ll call them in another year. Time is precious.”
How do you get into the mindset of your character since she has a tragic past?
Melissa Roxburgh: “You just think about all the people who have left your life. Like, my mom. She’s off in Vancouver right now and if she were to leave the world tomorrow I’d be devastated. You just kind of think of it like that.”
Are we going to learn about each of the passengers?
Melissa Roxburgh: “Absolutely. There are 191 of them so by episode two and three we’ve already kind of delved into two of the other people. I think each episode will split off into other passengers, which I think is really cool.”
Can you talk about working with the cast? What’s it like on set?
Melissa Roxburgh: “Sure. Josh Dallas is pretty much my older brother in real life now. He’s taken that on. Everyone gets along really well. We’ve kind of created the family dynamic that’s happening on screen as well.”
The cast of ‘Downton Abbey.’ (Photo Credit: Nick Briggs @ carnivalfilms)
Filming is just about to kick off on the much-anticipated Downton Abbey movie. Focus Features and Carnival Films confirmed production’s about to start and revealed the list of actors who’ll be joining the returning principal cast members for the feature film.
New cast members include Academy-Award nominee (Vera Drake, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Pride), Geraldine James (Anne with an E, Beast), Simon Jones (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Brideshead Revisited), David Haig (Killing Eve, Penny Dreadful), Tuppence Middleton (War and Peace, The Imitation Game), Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, The Crown), and Stephen Campbell Moore (History Boys, Lark Rise to Candleford).
Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) created the series and penned the movie’s screenplay. Fellowes is producing with Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge. Brian Percival (The Book Thief, About a Girl) continues his association with Downton Abbey as executive producer. (Percival directed the show’s pilot.) Nigel Marchant is also on board as an executive producer. Michael Engler (30 Rock, Sex and the City) directed four episodes of the series and will direct the feature film.
“We are excited that photography is about to start on the long awaited film and that the beloved main characters will be joined by such exceptional actors playing new roles unique to the movie,” said producer Gareth Neame, Carnival’s Executive Chairman.
Downton Abbey is a Carnival Films production, with Focus Features and Universal Pictures International distributing.
Downtown Abbey earned 69 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning 15 times during its six season run. It holds the record as the most nominated non-US television series in Emmy history. Over its six seasons the series also picked up three Golden Globe awards and a special BAFTA award. In addition, Downton Abbey the series holds the Guinness World Record as the “highest critically rated TV show.”
Poster for ‘The Sisters Brothers’ (Annapurna Pictures)
Annapurna Pictures just unveiled the new official poster for The Sisters Brothers, an upcoming Western based on the popular novel of the same name written by Patrick deWitt. The film adaptation’s described as a dark comedy and was directed by Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone, A Prophet) from a script he co-wrote with Thomas Bidegain.
The official poster arrives just days before the film will make its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. After premiering in Venice on September 2, 2018, it will screen as part of the Toronto International Film Festival. Moviegoers will be able to catch it in theaters when it debuts in New York and Los Angeles on September 21st.
The cast includes Joaquin Phoenix (Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot), John C. Reilly (Kong: Skull Island), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nocturnal Animals, Stronger), and Riz Ahmed (The Night Of). The cast also features Carol Kane (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and Rutger Hauer (Channel Zero).
The Plot: “From acclaimed director Jacques Audiard, and based on the novel by Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers is a reimagining of the cinematic Western as a dangerous, witty, and emotionally cathartic exploration of what it means to be a man.
It is 1851, and Charlie and Eli Sisters (Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly) are both brothers and assassins, boys grown to men in a savage and hostile world. They have blood on their hands: that of criminals, that of innocents…and they know no state of existence other than being gunmen. The older of the two, introspective Eli (Reilly) rides hard with his younger sibling yet dares to dream of a normal life. The younger of the two, hard-drinking Charlie (Phoenix) has taken charge with gusto as lead man on the duo’s assignments. Each increasingly questions, and quibbles with, the other’s methods.
The Sisters brothers find themselves on a journey through the Northwest, bringing them to the mountains of Oregon, a dangerous brothel in the small town of Mayfield, and eventually, the Gold Rush land of California – a journey that will test the deadly family ties that bind. But, can it also be the path to rediscovering what remains of their humanity?
The Sisters Brothers also stars Jake Gyllenhaal as learned scout John Morris, and Riz Ahmed as fugitive chemist Hermann Kermit Warm.”
There have been two extraordinary, original, innovative, character-driven thrillers released theatrically this year and Searching is one of them. The other is A Quiet Place which opened in April 2018 and garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews. Strong word-of-mouth catapulted the $17 million drama to a worldwide $332 million box office. If the movie gods are fair, Searching should equal A Quiet Place’s box office success.
Searching’s difficult to write about as any detail of the story could lead to the unintentional reveal of a spoiler. What Searching is, without giving too much away, is the riveting tale of a dad, David Kim (John Cho), raising his daughter, Margot (Michelle La), by himself following the death of his wife. David’s a decent guy and a good dad, though it becomes obvious he hasn’t spent as much time listening to Margot as he should.
Margot goes missing and David, understandably, initially believes she’s off with friends. It soon becomes evident it’s not simply the case of Margot forgetting to touch base with her dad and instead the 16-year-old high school student has truly disappeared.
The police become involved and Detective Vick (Debra Messing) heads up what’s now a missing person’s case. David continues to do his own detective work and discovers his daughter’s world is nothing like he imagined.
Written by first time feature filmmaker Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian, and directed by Chaganty, Searching is an engaging whodunit with twists that aren’t telegraphed in advance. It’s not often a film is able to take an audience completely by surprise, and judging by the reaction of the audience at the screening I attended, Chaganty’s rookie effort accomplished that. I’m not a fan of people who make noise during screenings, but watching Searching is such a collective experience the audience seemed to bond via simultaneous gasps and signals of encouragement unheard by John Cho playing a father terrified for his missing child.
Cho delivers an incredible performance in a film that allows us into the story via the lenses of laptops, cell phones, and even the news cameras following the missing person’s story. David explores Margot’s world by delving into her social media, her texts, her emails, and videos. It’s striking how much he was unaware of leading up to her disappearance, and Cho’s performance makes us feel every ounce of pain, every bit of frustration, and even at times the anger he goes through as he frantically pieces together clues to his daughter’s whereabouts.
Debra Messing, Michelle La, and Joseph Lee (as John Cho’s brother) are equally terrific in bringing this captivating story to life on the screen.
Writer/director Aneesh Chaganty scores a knockout with his first feature and with Searching announces himself as a filmmaker to keep an eye on. An intense thriller that will keep you guessing to the end, Screen Gems’ Searching is a fresh, relevant take on the genre that pulls off telling a story in a new manner yet never stoops to gimmickry or tricks to enthrall the audience.
GRADE: A
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for thematic content, some drug and sexual references, and for language)
Sony Pictures has just released a full trailer and new poster for The Front Runner starring Hugh Jackman. Jackman plays disgraced presidential candidate Gary Hart in this drama based on true events.
Given the timing and subject matter, Sony Pictures has got to be hoping Americans aren’t completely exhausted by politics come November 2018. Sony’s set a November 7th limited theatrical released followed by an expanded release in select cities on November 16th. The film will then open in wide release on November 21st.
Four-time Oscar nominee Jason Reitman (Up in the Air, Juno) directs and co-wrote the screenplay with Matt Bai. The film’s based on Bai’s book All the Truth is Out. Reitman, Helen Estabrook, and Aaron L. Gilbert produced.
In addition to Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables), the cast of the 2018 drama includes Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), Oscar winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), and two-time Emmy nominee Alfred Molina (Feud, The Normal Heart).
The behind the scenes team includes director of photography Eric Steelberg, editor Stefan Grube, production designer Steve Saklad, and costume designer Danny Glicker, with music provided by Rob Simonsen.
The Plot: “Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman stars as the charismatic politician Gary Hart for Academy Award-nominated director Jason Reitman in the new thrilling drama The Front Runner. The film follows the rise and fall of Senator Hart, who captured the imagination of young voters and was considered the overwhelming front runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination when his campaign was sidelined by the story of an extramarital relationship with Donna Rice.
As tabloid journalism and political journalism merged for the first time, Senator Hart was forced to drop out of the race – events that left a profound and lasting impact on American politics and the world stage.”
Poster for Sony Pictures’ ‘The Front Runner’ starring Hugh Jackman.
A revamped version of CBS’s classic TV show Magnum P.I. has made its way onto the network’s fall 2018 primetime schedule. The original series ran for eight seasons (1980-1988) and starred Tom Selleck in the title role. The 2018 version finds Jay Hernandez (Scandal, The Expanse) taking over the role of a Hawaii-based former Navy SEAL who works as a private detective.
Magnum P.I. was shot in Oahu, Hawaii and will premiere on September 24, 2018. Season one fills the Mondays at 9pm ET/PT time slot.
In addition to Jay Hernardez as Thomas Magnum, the cast of the show’s first season includes Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins, Zachary Knighton as Orville “Rick” Wright, Stephen Hill as Theodore “TC” Calvin, and Tim Kang as Detective Gordon Katsumoto. Peter M. Lenkov, Eric Guggenheim, Justin Lin, John Davis, John Fox and Danielle Woodrow serve as executive producers.
The Plot:Magnum P.I. is a modern take on the classic series centering on Thomas Magnum, a decorated former Navy SEAL who, upon returning home from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator. A charming rogue, an American hero and a die-hard Detroit Tigers fan, Magnum lives in a guest cottage on Robin’s Nest, the luxurious estate where he works as a security consultant to supplement his P.I. business. The “majordomo” of the property is Juliet Higgins, a beautiful and commanding disavowed MI:6 agent whose second job is to keep Magnum in line, with the help of her two Dobermans.
When Magnum needs back-up on a job, he turns to his trusted buddies and fellow POW survivors, Theodore “TC” Calvin, a former Marine chopper pilot who runs Island Hoppers, a helicopter tour business, and Orville “Rick” Wright, a former Marine door-gunner-turned-impresario of Oahu’s coolest nightclub and the most connected man on the island. Suspicious of Magnum’s casual attitude and presence at his crime scenes, Detective Gordon Katsumoto finds that he and Magnum are more alike than either of them care to admit. With keys to a vintage Ferrari in one hand, aviator sunglasses in the other, and an Old Düsseldorf longneck chilling in the fridge, Thomas Magnum is back on the case!
