Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher in ‘Daredevil’ (Photo by Patrick Harbron/Netflix)
Fans asked for it and Netflix responded by ordering up Marvel’s The Punisher starring Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead). Bernthal joined the cast of Marvel’s Daredevil for season two of the series and proved to be so popular with viewers that Netflix and Marvel have given The Punisher spin-off a full season order.
Hannibal‘s Steve Lightfoot is writing the first two episodes and serving as executive producer/showrunner. Netflix and Marvel also have Marvel’s Luke Cage, Marvel’s Iron Fist, and Marvel’s The Defenders in the works, with Marvel’s Daredevil and Marvel’s Jessica Jones currently streaming.
“We want to thank the fans who are clamoring for more of Jon’s stunning and powerful performance as Frank Castle from Marvel’s Daredevil,” said Executive Producer/Head of Marvel Television, Jeph Loeb, “Now combined with Showrunner Steve Lightfoot’s compelling writing, we’re thrilled to bring Marvel’s The Punisher to Netflix.”
“Jon hooked our global audience with his performance as Frank Castle from the moment he stepped on screen in Marvel’s Daredevil, and we are looking forward to seeing more of him in this role under the vision of Steve Lightfoot,” said Cindy Holland, Netflix Vice President of Original Content.
“For me, the complexity and unpredictability of Frank Castle make him an incredibly compelling character and I couldn’t be more excited to dive into his world,” said Executive Producer and Showrunner, Steve Lightfoot. “After watching Jon’s performance in Marvel’s Daredevil I could not be more excited to be working with him to further develop and progress the story of this anti-hero in a show of his own.”
The Mystery Writers of America have voted and this year’s Edgar Award winner for Best Novel is Lori Roy’sLet Me Die in His Footsteps. Let Me Die in His Footsteps is set in the 1950s in a small Kentucky town and centers on two families touched by evil. Roy’s novel was chosen winner in a very competitive category that included nominees The Strangler Vine, The Lady From Zagreb, Life or Death, Canary, and Night Life.
The annual Edgar Allan Poe Awards recognize the best in non-fiction, mystery fiction, and television.
2016 Edgar Award Winners
BEST NOVEL Let Me Die in His Footsteps by Lori Roy (Penguin Random House – Dutton)
BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Grove Atlantic – Grove Press)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
BEST FACT CRIME Whipping Boy: The Forty-Year Search for My Twelve-Year-Old Bully by Allen Kurzweil (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper)
BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins Publishers – HarperCollins)
BEST SHORT STORY
“Obits” – Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)
BEST JUVENILE Footer Davis Probably is Crazy by Susan Vaught (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books)
BEST YOUNG ADULT
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis (HarperCollins Publishers – Katherine Tegen Books)
BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“Gently with the Women” – George Gently, Teleplay by Peter Flannery (Acorn TV)
ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
“Chung Ling Soo’s Greatest Trick” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Russell W. Johnson (Dell Magazines)
GRAND MASTER
Walter Mosley
RAVEN AWARDS
Margaret Kinsman
Sisters in Crime
ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
Janet Rudolph, Founder of Mystery Readers International
THE SIMON & SCHUSTER – MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD Little Pretty Things by Lori Rader-Day (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)
National Geographic has greenlit its first scripted series, Genius. Based on Walter Isaacson’s Einstein: His Life and Universe, Genius will be executive produced by Oscar winner Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo, Gigi Pritzker, Rachel Shane, Sam Sokolow, Jeff Cooney, and Noah Pink. Ron Howard will direct the first episode and Noah Pink is adapting Isaacson’s critically acclaimed book for the series. The anthology series, which will focus season one on Albert Einstein, is a Fox 21 Television Studios, Imagine Television, OddLot Entertainment, and EUE/Sokolow production.
According to National Geographic Channel, filming will take place in Prague this summer. The series will air in 171 countries in spring 2017.
“Genius is perfectly emblematic of our vision to create premium, distinctive and highly entertaining content that fits the National Geographic brand,” said National Geographic Channel’s CEO Courteney Monroe. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the exceptional teams at FOX 21 TVS, Imagine Television and OddLot to tell rich, provocative and powerful stories that celebrate human ingenuity.”
“We couldn’t be happier to be working with Imagine and OddLot to bring our spirit of creative adventure and passion for great storytelling to Nat Geo as they embark on their first scripted series. And to have Ron direct the first episode is incredibly exciting,” stated President of FOX 21 Television Studios Bert Salke. “Genius is a franchise with infinite possibilities. We think this installment that tells the fascinating backstory of the man who articulated the theory of relativity is just the beginning of a long and successful partnership between our companies.”
“Having already worked with National Geographic on Breakthrough and currently in production on Mars – our exciting unscripted and scripted hybrid series that tells of our journey to colonize Mars – I look forward to their support as we tell this ambitious but intimate and revealing human story behind Einstein’s scientific brilliance,” said Ron Howard. “I hope that his story, as well as those of other geniuses, will both entertain and inspire the next generation of Einsteins.”
“We have been patient in our search for the perfect partners to help bring Walter Isaacson’s incredible book on Einstein to life in a unique, thought-provoking and entertaining way,” added OddLot’s Gigi Pritzker. “After cultivating the project for many years, we are ecstatic that Genius will be OddLot’s first foray into television and that this remarkable story will be realized with Ron Howard at the helm and with the support of our great partners at Nat Geo, FOX 21 TVS, Imagine and EUE/Sokolow.”
The Genius Plot: The series will uncover how an imaginative, rebellious patent clerk named Albert Einstein – a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn’t get a teaching job or a doctorate – unlocked the mysteries of the atom and the universe. Each episode will explore the iconoclast behind these extraordinary scientific achievements, including his political activism, family life and volatile and complex personal relationships.
Commenters on Youtube seem to be in two camps after viewing the new trailer for Me Before You. Camp one is full of people who claim to be brought to tears from the emotional trailer. Camp two is squealing with glee over the fact the film features Emilia Clarke, Charles Dance, Sam Claflin, and Jenna Coleman, otherwise known as Game of Thrones‘ Daenerys Targaryen and Tywin Lannister, The Hunger Games‘ Finnick, and Doctor Who‘s Clara. Based on Jojo Moyes’ bestselling novel, Me Before You was directed by Thea Sharrock (Call the Midwife) and features Matthew Lewis, Vanessa Kirby, Stephen Peacocke, Brendan Coyle, and Janet McTeer. New Line Cinema and MGM are releasing Me Before You in theaters on June 3, 2016.
The Plot: Oftentimes you find love where you least expect it. Sometimes it takes you where you never expected to go…
Louisa “Lou” Clark (Clarke) lives in a quaint town in the English countryside. With no clear direction in her life, the quirky and creative 26-year-old goes from one job to the next in order to help her tight-knit family make ends meet. Her normally cheery outlook is put to the test, however, when she faces her newest career challenge. Taking a job at the local “castle,” she becomes caregiver and companion to Will Traynor (Claflin), a wealthy young banker who became wheelchair bound in an accident two years prior, and whose whole world changed dramatically in the blink of an eye. No longer the adventurous soul he once was, the now cynical Will has all but given up. That is until Lou determines to show him that life is worth living. Embarking together on a series of adventures, both Lou and Will get more than they bargained for, and find their lives—and hearts—changing in ways neither one could have imagined.
Do you have to be a cat lover or be a fan of Comedy Central’s Key & Peele to enjoy Keanu? Absolutely not. Even those who believe dogs rule and cats drool will get a kick out of this R-rated comedy that centers around the rescue of an adorable spiky-furred kitten.
Directed by Peter Atencio, director of 50+ episodes of Key & Peele, Keanu starring Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele doesn’t quite live up to the expectations set by the film’s trailers, but close is good enough in this case.
We meet Keanu the kitten in the middle of a shoot-out between rival drug gangs. The warehouse ends up looking like a slaughterhouse by the time the last bullet’s fired, but fortunately for our furry hero the two gangsters left standing have a soft spot for squeaky-voiced kittens. Keanu escapes the shoot-out intact, wanders the streets, and ultimately ends up at the door of Rell (Peele) who’s depressed – and stoned – after being dumped by his girlfriend. Rell falls madly in love with the kitty he names Keanu, forming an immediate, even slightly unhealthy, attachment to his new furry family member.
Rell’s obsession with Keanu takes a bizarre turn when, after spending the evening at the movies with his cousin Clarence (Key), they return home to find his place ransacked and Keanu missing. The search for Keanu takes Rell and Clarence to a strip joint that’s the headquarters of the 17th Street Blips (a gang made up of former Bloods and Crips). Rell and Clarence are forced into masquerading as cold-blooded gangstas in order to rescue Keanu who’s now been adopted by Blips leader, Cheddar (Method Man). Quickly coming up with new names – Techtonic and Shark Tank – and new backstories, the suburbanites are so over their heads that Keanu’s not the only one in danger of becoming a gang-related crime statistic.
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele are immensely likable and in their first feature film as the leads, they don’t just stick with what their fans already appreciate and expect – comedy riffs on current events, race, and pop culture – but instead go into full-on action hero mode. Key and Peele have an incredible knack at knowing just how far to push a joke and how long they can continue to poke and prod one target before they need to move on. It doesn’t hurt that they’re working alongside one of the cutest kittens ever. I’m a diehard dog person and I left the theater wanting to adopt a meowing ball of fur.
Keanu’s one of the best buddy comedies to come along in years, and even Keanu’s namesake, Keanu Reeves, realized this film’s a cut above, agreeing to lend his voice to a brief but memorable scene after seeing the trailer. Keanu even makes George Michael and Wham! seem cool again, and Will Forte in cornrows is one of those things you have to see to believe. For their first comedy movie as headliners, Keanu sets the bar high. Will they be able to top it with their second film? I’m sure these two have already moved on to something original and equally as entertaining, but I do have a Corgi they can borrow if they want to stick with the animal theme.
GRADE: B+
MPAA Rating: R for violence, language throughout, drug use and sexuality/nudity
Alicia Vikander at the Toronto International Film Festiva (Photo by Eric Charbonneau / Invision for DreamWorks Pictures / AP Images)
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Alicia Vikander has snagged the starring role in the reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise. Vikander will play Lara Croft in MGM/Warner Bros’ new prequel to the popular franchise based on the bestselling video game series. The Wave‘s Roar Uthaug is attached to direct the upcoming action adventure film which has been in the works for years and which most recently was rumored to have Star Wars‘ Daisy Ridley in consideration for the starring role.
Vikander won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar earlier this year for her performance in The Danish Girl opposite Eddie Redmayne. Her film credits also include Ex Machina (which should have earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination), The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Burnt, Seventh Son, Son of a Gun, and Testament of Youth (with Game of Thrones‘ could-be-but-probably-not-dead Jon Snow, Kit Harington), as well as Anna Karenina, The Fifth Estate, and A Royal Affair. Vikander recently completed work on Justin Chadwick’s Tulip Fever with Cara Delevingne, another actress rumored to be in the running to play Lara Croft, and The Light Between Oceans with Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz. She also joined the Bourne franchise and will be seen in Jason Bourne which marks Matt Damon’s return to the series. And, Vikander’s currently at work on Wim Wenders’ romantic drama Submergence with James McAvoy.
It’s been 15 years since the first Lara Croft movie, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, opened in theaters with Angelina Jolie in the title role. Directed by Simon West, the first Tomb Raider movie opened to $47 million domestically and grossed $274 million worldwide before exiting theaters. Jolie reprised the role for 2003’s Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. The sequel didn’t fare as well during its theatrical run, ringing up a total of just $156 million overall.
Ewan McGregor provides a behind-the-scenes look at Broad Green Pictures’ Last Days in the Desert in a new video featuring the actor talking about tackling the role of Jesus. Cast member Ciaran Hinds and writer/director Rodrigo Garcia (Albert Nobbs, Mother and Child) also discuss the story, the characters and the world of this dramatic movie in the short Making Of featurette. Heading to theaters on May 13, 2016, the cast of Last Days in the Desert includes Ayelet Zurer (Daredevil) and Tye Sheridan (Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse).
The Plot:Last Days in the Desert follows Jesus (Ewan McGregor) in an imagined chapter from his forty days of fasting and praying in the desert. On his way out of the wilderness, he struggles with the Devil, also played by McGregor, over the fate of an ordinary family in crisis, setting for himself a dramatic test with distinctly human conflicts.
Blink-182 announced they’ll be touring in support of their new album California which is scheduled for release on July 1, 2016. The North American Summer Tour will kick off on July 22nd in the band’s hometown, San Diego, hitting cities including Dallas, Nashville, and Denver before finishing up on October 1st at The Forum in Los Angeles. The punk pop group will be joined on the road by A Day to Remember, All American Rejects, and All Time Low.
California, the band’s seventh album, is the first with singer/guitarist Matt Skiba (of Alkaline Trio) and the band’s “Bored to Death” single is the first single from Blink-182 written by Skiba. Skiba made his on-stage debut with Blink-182 in March 2015 at the MusInk Tattoo and Music Festival.
Tickets for the upcoming North American tour will go on sale at LiveNation.com on May 7th.
Blink-182 North American Summer Tour Dates
Friday, July 22, 2016 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena*
Saturday, July 23, 2016 Las Vegas, NV The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas*
Tuesday, July 26, 2016 El Paso, TX Don Haskins Center*
Thursday, July 28, 2016 Oklahoma City, OK Chesapeake Energy Arena*
Friday, July 29, 2016 Dallas, TX Gexa Energy Pavilion*
Saturday, July 30, 2016 San Antonio, TX AT&T Center*
Sunday, July 31, 2016 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion*
Tuesday, August 02, 2016 Atlanta, GA Lakewood Amphitheatre*
Wednesday, August 03, 2016 Greenville, SC Bon Secours Arena*
Friday, August 05, 2016 West Palm Beach, FL Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre*
Saturday, August 06, 2016 Tampa, FL MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre*
Monday, August 08, 2016 Nashville, TN Ascend Amphitheater*
Tuesday, August 09, 2016 Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center*
Wednesday, August 10, 2016 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center*
Friday, August 12, 2016 Camden, NJ BB&T Pavilion**
Saturday, August 13, 2016 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach**
Sunday, August 14, 2016 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center**
Tuesday, August 16, 2016 Virginia Beach, VA Farm Bureau Live**
Friday, August 19, 2016 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center**
Sunday, August 21, 2016 Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre**
Tuesday, August 23, 2016 Syracuse, NY Lakeview Amphitheatre**
Wednesday, August 24, 2016 Darien Center, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center**
Thursday, August 25, 2016 Scranton, PA The Pavilion at Montage Mountain**
Saturday, August 27, 2016 Hershey, PA Hershey Park Pavilion**
Sunday, August 28, 2016 Pittsburgh, PA First Niagara Pavilion**
Tuesday, August 30, 2016 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theater**
Friday, September 02, 2016 Hartford, CT Xfinity Theatre**
Saturday, September 03, 2016 Bangor, ME Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion**
Sunday, September 04, 2016 Saratoga, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center**
Thursday, September 08, 2016 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center*
Friday, September 09, 2016 Tinley Park, IL Hollywood Casino Amphitheater*
Saturday, September 10, 2016 Noblesville, IN Klipsch Music Center*
Sunday, September 11, 2016 St. Louis, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheater *
Tuesday, September 13, 2016 Denver, CO Pepsi Center*
Thursday, September 15, 2016 Boise, ID Taco Bell Arena*
Friday, September 16, 2016 Spokane, WA Spokane Arena*
Saturday, September 17, 2016 Seattle, WA Key Arena*
Sunday, September 18, 2016 Vancouver, BC Abbotsford Centre*
Tuesday, September 20, 2016 Portland, OR Sunlight Supply Amphitheater*
Thursday, September 22, 2016 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre**
Saturday, September 24, 2016 Phoenix, AZ Ak-Chin Pavilion**
Sunday, September 25, 2016 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater**
Wednesday, September 28, 2016 San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheater**
Thursday, September 29, 2016 Irvine, CA Irvine Meadows Amphitheater **
Saturday, October 01, 2016 Los Angeles, CA Forum**
* – with A Day To Remember and All American Rejects
** – with A Day To Remember and All Time Low
Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas will be taking the stage to perform on the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. Lovato’s confirmed to perform her hit single “Cool for the Summer” and Jonas will be joined by Tove Lo on “Close.” Previously announced performers include Justin Bieber, DNCE, The Go-Go’s, Shawn Mendes and P!nk.
Ciara and Ludacris will be hosting this year’s Billboard Music Awards set for May 22nd. ABC will air the awards show beginning at 8pm ET / 5pm PT, marking the first time the West Coast will be able to watch the show live. The 2016 show will take place in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena.
Jonas’ first solo album was released in November 2015 and featured the hit singles “Jealous,” “Chains” and “Levels.” He’ll be releasing his new album Last Year was Complicated on June 10th and the first single “Close” hit the charts in March. Lovato’s fifth album Confident hit stores on October 16, 2015, with “Cool for the Summer” hitting #1 on iTunes in 35 countries.
Jonas and Lovato are partners in Safehouse Records, described as an “artist-centric” label. They will also be touring North America together with the Future Now: The Tour kicking off on June 24th in Florida.
Bleecker Street just released the new poster and trailer for Captain Fantastic starring Viggo Mortensen. The film screened to mixed reviews at the Sundance Film Festival, with the New York Post calling it “an amusing and useful cautionary table” while Screen International says “a lot of the script strains credibility or doesn’t completely cohere.” Audiences will be able to judge for themselves when the R-rated drama opens in theaters on July 8, 2016. Written and directed by Matt Ross, the cast also includes Frank Langella, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Shree Crooks, Charlie Shotwell, Ann Dowd, Erin Moriarty, Missi Pyle, Kathryn Hahn and Steve Zahn.
The Plot: Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, isolated from society, a devoted father (Viggo Mortensen) dedicates his life to transforming his six young children into extraordinary adults. But when a tragedy strikes the family, they are forced to leave this self-created paradise and begin a journey into the outside world that challenges his idea of what it means to be a parent and brings into question everything he’s taught them.
