Disney and Marvel unveiled a new teaser trailer along with a poster for the comic book-inspired Doctor Strange. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, the much-anticipated drama’s new trailer debuted during Jimmy Kimmel Live! and quickly made its way online along with a new poster featuring Mr. Cumberbatch as the title character. Directed by Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Deliver Us From Evil), the cast also includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg, Scott Adkins, Amy Landecker, and Mads Mikkelsen. Doctor Strange opens in theaters on Friday, November 4, 2016.
The Plot: Doctor Strange follows the story of neurosurgeon Doctor Stephen Strange who, after a horrific car accident, discovers the hidden world of magic and alternate dimensions.
A scene from box office blockbuster ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’.
How well did movies perform in theaters in 2015? The question was answered at 2016’s CinemaCon when National Association of Theatre Owners President John Fithian and MPAA Chairman Chris Dowd presented the numbers to the convention during the State of the Industry Address. 2015’s box office revenue totaled a record $38.3 billion, increasing by more than 6% over 2014’s numbers.
Dodd made a point of stressing those numbers are a reflection of the strength and importance of the international box office. Only $11.1 billion of the total came from North American box offices and Dodd predicted China will soon be bigger than the North American market.
Crediting diverse moviegoing audiences, Fithian confirmed teenagers are helping to drive the market. Although teens turn to their iPads and other mobile devices to watch videos, they’re still turning out to movies in healthy numbers. “Teenagers remain the strongest segment of moviegoers,” said Fithian. “Last year per capita ticket sales for Americans aged 12 to 17 was 7.3, with the highest growth rate of any age demographic.”
Fithian also said that teenagers tend to spend more in theaters and will pay the premium price for watching films in 3D and IMAX more than any other demographic does. However, according to Fithian teens just aren’t that interested in television.
Speaking to the diversity issue, with international cinema selling tickets in record numbers, Dodd said, “One issue that our country continues to face is the need to do a better job reflecting and cultivating diversity.” He does believe the film industry is working toward being more diverse and is taking “productive steps” in that direction.
Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark and Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden in ‘The People v. O.J. Simpson’ (Photo Credit: FX Networks)
FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story not only drew rave reviews from critics, it also turned out to be the most watched new cable series of the year. The series was a behind-the-scenes look at what was dubbed the Trial of the Century: the People versus former NFL star O.J. Simpson. Simpson was accused of the brutal murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman but was found not guilty by a Los Angeles jury.
According to FX, the series averaged 12.6 million viewers over its first eight episodes, and the network expects that figure to rise after the final two episodes are added in. The 10 episode limited series was in the top 10 in adults 18-49, with more than 143.9 million hours spent watching the series.
In addition to ranking first among new cable series, The People v. O.J. Simpson is #2 among all (new and returning) cable shows with only AMC’s zombie apocalypse series The Walking Dead surpassing its numbers. It’s also FX’s most watched new series in the network’s history.
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story Plot:The People v. O.J. Simpson is a limited series that takes you inside the O.J. Simpson trial with a riveting look at the legal teams battling to convict or acquit the football legend of double homicide. Based on the book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin, it explores the chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and maneuvering on both sides of the court, and how a combination of prosecution overconfidence, defense shrewdness, and the LAPD’s history with the city’s African-American community gave a jury what it needed: reasonable doubt. From Executive Producers Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski and Brad Falchuk, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story stars John Travolta, Cuba Gooding Jr., Sarah Paulson, David Schwimmer, Courtney B. Vance, Sterling K. Brown, Nathan Lane, Kenneth Choi, Christian Clemenson and Bruce Greenwood.
Tituss Burgess and Ellie Kemper in ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ season 2 (Photo by Eric Liebowitz/Netflix)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt returns for its second season on Netflix April 15, 2016. Ellie Kemper stars as the title character, survivor of a cult trying to make a new life for herself with her roommate Titus Andromedon (Tituss Burgess) and her employer Jacqueline Voorhees (Jane Krakowski). We got to sit in a roundtable with Burgess and Krakowski to ask them questions about the new season.
Season one actually ended with a lot of cliffhangers. A former wife from Titus’s past returns, and Jacqueline moves back to her adopted family’s Indiana reservation after her divorce. Season two picks up right where they left off, and all episodes of season two are available to binge on the 15th.
Jane Krakowski and Tituss Burgess Interview:
Do you feel pressure to top season one?
Tituss Burgess: “I don’t ever feel pressure to top myself on anything. I do feel an obligation to be as invested and not just go, ‘Oh, well, people like us now, we don’t have to worry.’ But the material is so funny. There’s really not even much time to really think about that I suppose. And also, you can’t control it. Either they’re going to like it or they’re not.”
Jane Krakowski: “I think I felt more of a curiosity of where they were going to bring all of our characters the second season. It’s also a very different feeling to make a show, do all 13 episodes and then present all of them completed. We had no idea whether people would like it or not when it first came out, and we were so thrilled and thankful for the reaction that the show got, especially with the story of us not going to NBC and coming to Netflix. It was so exciting to get that reception and then I think I felt curiosity where now that we were fully making a show for Netflix would take us. I actually think season two is even richer than season one for all the characters.”
Tituss Burgess: “I do too. You go further down the rabbit hole of everyone’s journey and backstory so there’s a lot of answered questions and a lot of new questions. It makes it easy and fun to act because we have such great writers. I trust them completely.”
What did you think when you found out the backstories for season two?
Jane Krakowski: “In episode 13 they had so many cliffhangers. It was wonderful that we start with all of the cliffhangers. We answer all those questions in the first episode, which was amazing for us. This is great for us to be together today because we’re never together. I’m always like, ‘What’s happening in Titus’s storyline?’ When I watched episode one, I actually thought your story with your wife was so beautiful. It was one of the most charming moments we’ve made when they dance. I don’t want to give anything away. I think there’s a lot more heart in these episodes.”
Tituss Burgess: “We’re a lot more vulnerable, that’s for sure.”
Jane Krakowski: “[Jacqueline] really is dealing with not being Mrs. Voorhees anymore. I’m not Jacqueline White. I’m thrilled that we’ve spent a lot of time actually learning about her early years and her childhood and her fighting for her family’s rights, which was a surprise to me that we would grow that storyline so fully this season but we really do. The outcome of that, they try to go Jacqueline into more of a fully formed human being which has been lovely. I feel like Jacqueline grew a lot and learned a lot.”
Tituss Burgess: “I think Jacqueline has to get her money back though someday.”
Jane Krakowski: “I’d like that. I don’t know if it will happen and I also think watching the episodes, they really go into depth for all of the characters. I think all the characters really grow so much through season two which is what you hope for really when you take on a series. You don’t want to stay the same person. I think we also have our continuing humorous throughline but I think they’ve helped us all grow quite a bit.”
How are things in Titus and Kimmy’s apartment?
Tituss Burgess: “They look exactly the same but the dynamic has tightened, I think. They need each other a lot more this season I think than they did last season. I think the lovely thing about Kimmy and Titus’s relationship is that Kimmy really teaches Titus, particularly in that first episode [of season 2] how important it is to be kind and to not be so self-absorbed. It’s a lesson that has been a long time coming. Titus has a hard time being open or letting himself be really seen or considering someone else’s feelings. I think this season a great deal, as you’ll find out in terms of the relationship, he cares about other people and puts other people’s needs before his own and I think that’s lovely. And he’s still as sassy and flowery as he was last season but it’s nice to see him not be so self-involved.”
Since you’re playing a character named Titus do people ever mistakenly think that’s really you, or is it maybe closer to you than we realize?
Tituss Burgess: “I don’t think I’m — do you think I’m like him?”
Jane Krakowski: “No. I mean, I think there’s adorable elements of you. There’s a clear difference.”
Tituss Burgess: “I’m certainly very much an introvert and I don’t enjoy attention as much as people may think I do. I think some people, when they meet me, are expecting him, but he’s fake. He’s not real life. I think the only thing we might share is our sense of humor and a love for theater, but I very much care about people, unlike him.”
Are Titus’s ambitions the same this season? Does Jacqueline have new ambitions?
Jane Krakowski: “I think Jacqueline definitely, through the influence of Kimmy, and I think all the characters do try to grow to care more about others than just themselves, which is a big leap for Jacqueline. Absolutely, I think she’s trying to stand on her own two feet this season and trying to not only have her own identity but to use her identity to help others. I think in her humorous way, she succeeds in a few ways, and also fails with a little heartbreak. She tries and I think that’s the biggest growth we can get. Love is in the cards for a lot of the characters as well.”
Tituss Burgess: “I don’t know that Titus set out to find that but to have a successful relationship is probably the biggest ambition on this season that he has. He also still really wants to be famous. There is a one man show that he does.”
Jane Krakowski: “It’s unbelievable.”
Tituss Burgess: “So he’s still pursuing that and he gets a job, you’ll find. He’s still very much desirous of that life but then you see him at odds, because he’s so comfortable in this new relationship so it’s actually quite interesting to watch that play out. He’s at a little bit of a crossroads by the end of the season so that’s interesting to see what he chooses.”
Jane Krakowski: “I think also one of Jacqueline’s biggest ambitions this year, instead of running away from her family roots and to change, is to help them. To make change if she can for them.”
Jane Krakowski in ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ season 2 (Photo by Eric Liebowitz/Netflix)
What did the Emmy love mean to each of you?
Jane Krakowski: “It was crazy awesome!”
Tituss Burgess: “This is the honest truth. My dream was to be on a comedy, a series regular on a TV show whose writing I respected. Awards season was not something that I had factored into the realm of possibility. I was and still am reeling from having this beautiful job that I get to go to and work with all these wonderful people that I just wasn’t even thinking about that. When it was time to do the Emmy campaign, I was like, ‘What are you talking about? What does that mean?’ When I got the call, I was just in shock. A larger dream was dreamed for me outside of myself obviously. Winning a Tony is something I felt much closer to than even being nominated for an Emmy award so it really blew my mind. Very exciting, and if it never happens again, it happened.”
Jane Krakowski: “I also think the release and the reception we got for the show granted us season two. So we’re all so thankful and I think the Emmy nominations for the entire show gives you more time on the air. That’s the best that we could ask for and it means we all got to come back and we get to play these great characters that I know we all love so much that we get to make it longer. So the day I think we got the call, it was like not only do people like the show but this kind of reception and now we’ll definitely have another season, hopefully even longer. I think that stuff really does help for the longevity of your show. We’re so thankful for that. It was so wonderful to come back for season two, because a lot of that had all happened after we had finished filming, and just high five the crew and all the creative teams and give them hugs and say, ‘Oh my God, people got it. We made this and people liked it.’ That’s a wonderful thing to get to do.”
What do you think they got?
Jane Krakowski: “I think it’s Ellie Kemper’s, Kimmy’s optimism. Happiness through adversity. I think when you describe the show to people before it came on, people were like [Makes crazy noise]. Then when people saw it, they saw what was in the creative genius minds of Tina and Robert Carlock. What was lovely is that they gave us the chance. They didn’t just go, ‘Oh, that doesn’t sound like what I want to watch.’ They gave us a chance. What I find really lovely is that we found that one of our largest audiences is young girls, preteen and teenage girls. I actually quite like, even though she has had the 15 years of tough times, coming out of it she’s such an optimistic character for young girls to look up to. And I think that’s amazing that we still have that. There’s a great innocence in Kimmy. To see that girls are reacting to that is lovely. It makes me sort of hopeful for our future generations of girls. They’re happy to have a light and happy role model.”
What has it meant to you, Jane, to have three successful comedies, with this, 30 Rock and Ally McBeal?
Jane Krakowski: “Again, a little bit like Tituss, maybe I would do more in the theater and I don’t know how I’ve been on TV for almost 15 years now and I couldn’t be more thankful. I get teary eyed because I still say it to Tina and Robert now, I don’t know what good luck bestowed on me the day I went to Broadway Video to audition for the role of Jenna. I’ve had 10 years of employment from them and comic moments and comic expansion of just me as an actor that I never thought I would have in my life. I’m just so thankful.”
Jay Baruchel as Jay, Fred Armisen as Jesus Christ, and Rosa Salazar as Rosa (Photo by Michael Gibson/FX)
FXX wants another season of the adult comedy series Man Seeking Woman, renewing the show for a third season. Season two recently wrapped up, increasing its ratings over season one by 2%. The ratings were high enough to warrant another 10 episode season which will air in early 2017, according to the network.
Man Seeking Woman was created by Simon Rich and stars Jay Baruchel, Eric Andre, and Britt Lower. Rich wrote the short stories the TV series is based on and serves as the showrunnner and executive producer. Jonathan Krisel, Andrew Singer, Ian Maxtone-Graham and Lorne Michaels also executive produce.
“Man Seeking Woman had another great season this year and continues to offer one of the smartest and funniest takes on dating and relationships on TV today,” said Presidents of Original Programming for FX Networks and FX Productions Nick Grad. “We are excited to move forward on a third season of Man Seeking Woman with Simon, Jonathan, Andrew, Ian and Lorne, and thank Jay, Eric and Britt for keeping the show so enjoyable.”
The Plot:Man Seeking Woman follows “Josh Greenberg” (Jay Baruchel) as he soldiers through the life-and-death stakes of dating. The series also stars Eric Andre (The Eric Andre Show) as “Mike,” Josh’s confident and daring best friend; and Britt Lower (Sisters) as “Liz,” Josh’s intimidating older sister.
Hi, Ed,” says Gordon (Ben McKenzie) to Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) hoping that his friend will help him figure out who it was on the GCPD who framed him for murder, still unaware that it was Ed all along in episode 17 of season 2 of FOX’s gritty comic-book inspired crime thriller series, Gotham.
As the episode begins, Bruce (David Mazouz) and Selina (Camren Bicondova) are being chased up on the rooftops after stealing some money from a third rate thug. Selina gets her jacket arm caught on something during the chase and rips it free but drops the bag full of money and makes a fast dash to jump across to the other rooftop. Bruce goes back for the bag, despite Selina yelling at him to leave it, and is able to grab it and also jump to the other rooftop leaving the overweight, exasperated thief out of breath and furious.
Bruce, who has obviously gotten much faster and more athletic, just smiles and tells the thug he’s a terrible thief to let two kids steal from him. He dumps his share of the money onto the ground. Selina gets upset with Bruce for doing it, but he reminds her that he’s not following her and living on the streets to steal but to understand criminals. “It’s research,” he says. Selina tells Bruce this whole research thing is getting old – clearly she wants him to become her partner in crime and on the streets – and walks off in a huff to which Bruce turns to her and says, “I kept enough for burgers.”
Meanwhile, the manhunt is on for Jim Gordon with Captain Barnes (Michael Chiklis) confronting Bullock (Donal Logue) trying to get him to tell him where Jim is. Harvey plays it off saying he doesn’t know, but Barnes is convinced Bullock knows more than he’s saying. The two men argue and Barnes threatens Bullock, telling him that he and the Captain owe it to the citizens of Gotham to be impartial to Jim’s plight of clearing his name and bring him in. Harvey replies, “The citizens of Gotham can eat my socks,” as he leaves the police station.
At Harvey’s place, he and Jim are going over the case and realize that only someone at the GCPD could have set up Jim because whoever it was knew too many details and the inner workings of the cases. Jim remembers that IA records all tips that come in, so Harvey reaches out to a lady friend he has in IA and after lifting her keys, Gordon is able to get his hands on the tape in hopes it will lead to the identity of the person who framed him for the policeman’s murder. While walking down a dark alley Jim comes across a woman yelling for help while two men try to mug her. Being the good guy that he is, Jim can’t just walk on. He fights off the two would-be muggers while the woman runs off screaming. Jim is about to go on his way when a cop shows up and tries to arrest Jim, first mistaking him for one of the muggers and then realizing he’s just found Gordon. Jim uses his fighting skills and disarms the officer. “Don’t kill me,” yells the cop. Jim replies, “I’m innocent,” and runs off into the night.
In another part of town, Oswald (Robin Lord Taylor) is attending his birth father’s funeral and is told immediately after by Grace (Melinda Clarke) that he can’t live with them anymore because she wouldn’t be comfortable living with a criminal. Oswald assures her he’s changed and couldn’t hurt a fly. He pleads for her to change her mind, telling her he’s willing to do anything. Grace decides to keep Oswald around as their servant which will also keep him away from any lawyers who might get him to challenge the Will.
Over at Arkham, Barbara (Erin Richards) seems to be recovering very well after waking from her coma. Dr. Hugo Strange (BD Wong) decides to release Barbara back into the real world, telling her she is no longer mentally ill. Even Barbara is nervous about the idea of leaving but Hugo insists she’s ready. Hugo tells his number two that Barbara’s release is a “beautiful experiment” as they will monitor her actions while she is out in the world.
Back at Harvey’s car, Gordon plays the tape but the voice is disguised and the sounds of the background noise might be a bird but it’s not clear enough to tell. Gordon decides to go see another friend and tells Harvey he’s done more for him than any partner could ever expect but to stay away since Barnes is watching Bullock so closely. It’s clear Jim doesn’t want his partner to get jammed up because of him. So Gordon drops in on Ed for help.
Ed, realizing Jim still doesn’t know he set him up, offers to help him by cleaning up the tape. While waiting for the results of the cleaning, Ed and Jim talk about the case and Ed makes the mistake of debating if the person who framed Jim is a psychopath, getting a little too defensive and engaged in the conversation. Gordon begins to suspect for the first time that Ed might be the one who set him up. Ed plays back the cleaned tape which now makes it clear it IS Ed’s voice on the tape calling in the tip about the murder. Gordon pulls his gun on Ed but unfortunately is sitting in a chair wired to shock him, which it does, and he’s knocked out.
Nygma drags Gordon’s unconscious body through an alley to dispose of it, but when he goes to open the trunk of a car to put Jim in he sees Jim trying to escape through a window. Ed fires the gun he took from Jim and hits him in the leg. Jim makes his way through the old building and comes across where Selina and Bruce have set up house. Bruce runs over to help Gordon and leads him to the couch where Jim quickly collapses and passes out on. “Great, I’ve got a dead cop in my crib,” says Selina to a concerned Bruce.
Gordon wakes up on the couch in the study at Wayne Manor. It seems Bruce called Alfred (Sean Pertwee) and had him come and take Gordon, Selina, and himself back to Wayne Manor. During a few moments alone, Gordon admits to Alfred he failed to protect Bruce from the hardship of hunting who killed his parents and feels bad about it. When the gang is all together again, Gordon tells Bruce and Alfred his plan to set up Ed. He needs someone to go into the GCPD and tell Barnes that he/she has seen Gordon and wants to collect the reward. Jim says in order for it to work it has to be someone Barnes would believe would betray Jim. Bruce, Alfred, and Jim all look right at Selina who’s eating and only half-listening. When she realizes they are looking at her, she asks, “What?”
Back at the Van Dahl mansion, Oswald has been made to be the family’s cook and maid and they enjoy picking on him and putting him down. Through the insults and taunts, Oswald is still able to maintain his demeanor and never loses it until he discovers the decanter of alcohol that was used to murder his father. He tests it on the dog and sees it die just as quickly as his father died. Oswald’s step-siblings enter telling him to make a roast for them and he lets out an insane creepy laugh… The Penguin is back!
Selina enters the GCPD looking for the reward as planned and it works. She tells Barnes, with Ed listening in, that she saw Gordon and he’s looking for Penguin because he knows where the body is buried. This causes Ed to believe that Jim knows where Kringle’s body is and he goes off to dig her up and move her body. Of course, Jim follows Ed and catches him digging up Kringle. Ed turns and points Jim’s own gun at him and Jim asks what happened to Ed, reminding him that they were friends. Ed reveals he murdered Kringle and he set Jim up to get rid of him investigating. As Ed talks, more and more of his insane personality comes out and Jim realizes the old quirky, smart, and likable Ed is no more. Just as Ed is about to shoot Jim, Barnes yells for him to drop the gun and give up. Seems Jim had Barnes and Harvey, along with about 30 other cops, out in the woods listening to their conversation. Ed makes a feeble attempt to run away but is quickly captured.
Back at the GCPD Barnes almost apologizes to Jim and says he’s happy he’s in the clear and that he owes him one. Jim asks him not to go too hard on Harvey for all his help. Barnes asks Jim when he can start back to work but Jim says he’s not coming back right away; he needs to solve the Waynes’ murder case for young Bruce first. He asks Barnes for the file which Barnes gives him along with Lee’s number, telling him to call her. Later in private Jim does call Lee, hears her voice and hangs up.
At Wayne Manor, Bruce tells Alfred he’ll be going back to the city with Selina when she’s ready to head back. Alfred finally has a chance to tell Bruce that Lucius fixed his father’s computer and his work can now be continued. Alfred also tells Bruce that Selina has been a good friend to him and cares about him and she doesn’t deserve to be put in danger over what got Bruce’s parents killed. Alfred says he can pursue this with him and say goodbye to Selina or go back to living in the city with her but he can’t have both, for her sake. Selina enters ready to leave and asks Alfred if they can get a ride back into the city. Alfred excuses himself and leaves the room.
Bruce tells Selina he’s not going with her and that he’s grateful for everything she has taught him. Selina becomes upset, mistakenly taking Bruce’s actions as a rejection of her, her life, and their relationship. “After all we’ve been through,” says the Cat, holding back her emotions as best she can. She leaves out the same window she almost always uses to enter the Wayne study and Bruce tries his best to hold back his tears.
Back at the Van Dahl mansion, Oswald has prepared two different roasts for Grace for her dinner. After she has tried both he reveals in true classic Penguin form that he knows she killed his father with the poison and she just ate some of her own children. Before the true horror of what is happening registers in Grace’s mind, Penguin kills her with a big knife.
Jim Gordon is at his place looking over the Wayne file when there’s a knock on his door. He goes over and opens it and is shocked to see Barbara standing there. “Hi, Jim,” she says.
Gotham season 2 episode 17 review:
Dark, action-packed, and smartly written, episode 17 titled “Into the Woods” finally has Gordon clearing his name and discovering the truth about Ed Nygma while also having the long-overdue rebirth of The Penguin and his homicidal ways. The two stand-out performances in this episode go to Ben McKenzie and Robin Lord Taylor for their wonderful portrayals of two characters who go through an emotional and intellectual revelation. McKenzie is great in the scene in the woods where Jim confronts Ed and discovers his suspicions are true about him being the one who set him up. It’s not anger or fear he shows but genuine sadness as he asks Ed why he did this, they were friends. It’s a brief but fantastic moment from McKenzie as Gordon shows he’s actually hurt that one of the few people in his life who he considered a friend has betrayed him so completely.
Robin Lord Taylor brings back the murderous, evil psychopath The Penguin in glorious over-the-top chilling form as he murders the Van Dahls for killing his father. Truly, it’s nice to have the real Penguin back.
With Jim, Bruce, and Alfred looking into the conspiracy that killed Bruce’s parents, Nygma getting locked up in Arkham, The Penguin now taking over his birth father’s fortune, and Barbara showing up at Jim’s door, it looks like things are really heating up and getting even more dangerous in Gotham as the show heads towards its season finale.
Hanna Mangan Lawrence called working with her Containment co-stars like being in a school camp in Atlanta. Mangan Lawrence said the big ensemble cast of the new The CW dramatic series really bonded, hanging out after shooting episodes, and going to dinner or drinks. “We, as a whole cast and everyone who worked on the show, we just all kind of straightaway meshed,” said Mangan Lawrence during our interview at the 2016 WonderCon held in downtown Los Angeles. She also talked about her character on the series and what audiences can expect when they tune in to check out Containment on April 19th.
Hanna Mangan Lawrence Interview:
Some members of the cast say they’re germaphobes after doing the show and some aren’t. What about you?
Hanna Mangan Lawrence: “It has me more aware. I notice it. I notice when someone coughs or when someone shakes my hand, but I would like to think that I’m not playing into it. I used to always be weird on shaking hands because I have like clammy hands…only sometimes! Not always. I don’t know why I said that! There’s nothing worse than you feel like you’ve got a clammy hand and they want to shake. You’re like, ‘I don’t know…’ Anyway, that’s another story.”
Can you talk about your character and what your storyline is for the season?
Hanna Mangan Lawrence: “I play Teresa Keaton who is a young pregnant girl on the show. She has this love story with her partner, Xander. They’re quite young but they’re madly in love although the baby wasn’t really a decision. Like, they probably didn’t decide to have the baby but it’s happening and they’re going to give it all the love they can and raise the baby. But my mom isn’t so keen on that and she wants me to adopt it out, give it up for adoption. And so we’re actually at the start of the pilot where I’m about to run away with Xander and they’re going to go away and raise this child. And right before I get on the train to go meet him – he’s outside what becomes the quarantine area – I’m about to go on the train and the train stops and I can’t get on. Like, the train comes into the station, train stops, but the doors don’t open. At that stage nobody knows what’s going on. Is it just a train glitch or whatever? So that’s the kind of a conflict is that for me the love of my life is outside the quarantine area and I’m inside very pregnant.”
How will the fact she’s younger and more impulsive play into how much danger she’s in?
Hanna Mangan Lawrence: “You know, they are young but they’ve got level heads on them. They’re quite mature for their age. The thing is that there is this disease outbreak happening and that is so scary and that’s on your mind all the time. But our number one goal is to keep this child safe inside me, to get me out, to keep it safe. The thought of giving birth in a diseased section of the city isn’t one that I think of favorably.”
Does this kind of scenario make you wonder how you would react?
Hanna Mangan Lawrence: [Laughing] “I mean, just if I was pregnant how would I react?! That’s what I kept thinking. I was like could you imagine you’re in this part of the city and it’s sectioned off, you can’t get out and not just that but I am about to give birth, already scared because I am so young and having a baby this young and running away… You’ve got all these things on your mind. I don’t really know how she’s coping as much as she is.”
Being in Atlanta where it was so hot, how was it wearing that pregnancy prosthetic?
Hanna Mangan Lawrence: “It was quite good because I’m always wearing clothes so it didn’t have to be a full prosthetic, so it wasn’t as heavy which didn’t make me as hot. But it was kind of like this really sexy leotard with a massive belly, just kind of pillow material. But I did have a cute bellybutton that had popped. I had ice packs on my back and when I would take it off at the end of the day, it was just drenched in sweat.”
What was your reaction the first time you saw yourself in the pregnancy belly?
Hanna Mangan Lawrence: “I guess I was like when I do become pregnant I hope I don’t put weight on anywhere else like my character did. I was like, ‘That’s great. It’s just there and not anywhere else.’ It’s probably not a realistic view of what’s going to happen.”
Will we see her bond with anyone that outside of the quarantine she might not have connected with?
Hanna Mangan Lawrence: “Yeah, and I think that’s something that’s really interesting about our show is that me being an 18 year old pregnant girl and then interacting with people who are completely different from all walks of life. You would never meet them; you would never interact and you do, which creates such interesting drama, interesting stories. I’m really excited for everyone to see that.”
What do you think it is that makes Containment stand out?
Hanna Mangan Lawrence: “I think the special thing about our show is that, yes, it is a disease show but ultimately you’ve got these really strong characters and strong stories. It’s really about that. It’s about love. It’s about common and normal everyday things put into an extraordinary situation. I think that is just going to really grip people.”
Jack Huston from ‘Ben-Hur’ at the 2016 CinemaCon (Photo Courtesy of Paramount Pictures)
Paramount Pictures’ presentation at the 2016 CinemaCon in Las Vegas had plenty of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, new clips from Ben-Hur, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, and even a little Baywatch. But, surprisingly, the studio did not show off any footage from Star Trek Beyond even though there were posters promoting the film and the goodie bags given to attendees had Star Trek Beyond emblazoned on them.
Simon Pegg and J.J. Abrams were on hand for the Showman of the Year award presentation, however, the studio didn’t offer up any footage from the upcoming Star Trek film which Abrams is producing.
Kicking off the annual gathering of the National Association of Theatre Owners in Las Vegas, Paramount Pictures began their presentation by confirming Transformers 5, 6, and 7 are heading to theaters in June 2017, June 2018, and June 2019. Then after calling the new Turtles film – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows – explosive, Paramount Pictures’ Vice-Chairman Rob Moore brought Megan Fox and Will Arnett to the stage at the Coliseum in Caesars Palace to promote the film. Arnett took the stage pretending to be on the phone and then joined Fox at the podium to joke about who were the real stars of the film.
Fox said the Turtles are definitely the leads while Arnett, of course, claimed it’s all about him. Then a pizza delivery arrived which led to one of the most bizarre CinemaCon moments in recent history, with Arnett and Fox delivering it to some guy named Adam in the audience. The crowd wasn’t into the bit, mostly because it felt like a private joke that we weren’t let in on. Back on the stage after making the pizza delivery, Arnett munched on a piece while saying the new film’s action is bigger this time around. That was followed by a lengthy collection of clips that focused on the action and showed off more of Arrow star Stephen Amell’s character, Casey Jones.
Next up was the presentation for Ben-Hur and although Morgan Freeman wasn’t at CinemaCon, he voiced the introduction to the clips and to the film’s star, Jack Huston. Huston said the upcoming epic is a story of betrayal, redemption, survival, acceptance, and compassion, and he believes the film will work well with modern audiences because of its themes. The audience seemed to be into the clips shown which featured chariot races, harrowing stunts, and scenes with Huston, Toby Kebbell, and Morgan Freeman.
Tom Cruise wowed the CinemaCon audience in 2015, however, this year Cruise wasn’t available but did record a video message for the annual theatre owners gathering. Cruise said he’s currently in London and that he’ll begin shooting Mission: Impossible 6 this fall. He’s busy working on Jack Reacher: Never Go Back now with Edward Zwick (the two worked together previously on The Last Samurai) directing and Cobie Smulders co-starring.
Cruise revealed Smulders’ character has Reacher’s old job and that the new film will have more twists and turns – as well as Reacher once again warning people about things that are about to happen. Cruise said it’s a privilege to work on the film series based on the bestselling books, calling Jack Reacher an “analog character in a digital world.” Never-before-seen clips were screened, showing Cruise once again doing incredibly difficult stunts.
Paramount then proceeded to show off their potential Oscar bait, confirming Denzel Washington will direct and star in Fences alongside Viola Davis. Washington and Davis are reuniting for the dramatic film after winning Tony Awards for their performances on stage. The previously untitled World War II spy movie from director Robert Zemeckis is now officially known as Allied and will arrive in theaters on November 23, 2016. Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard star, and the studio showed off a brief clip of footage from the film which was absolutely gorgeous. Last in the Oscar bait category is Florence Foster Jenkins releasing in theaters on August 12th, pushing Ben-Hur to August 19th.
Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner were the next stars to take the CinemaCon stage, there to promote a film that is now on my must-see list following the screening of some incredible footage. Renner and Adams star in Story of Your Life from Sicario director Denis Villeneuve, and Renner won over the audience by saying he did the film because of Amy (the two also worked together on American Hustle).
“It’s Amy’s story and there’s not enough cinema in Hollywood with a strong, badass, intelligent female lead,” he said. Adams returned the compliment, calling Renner amazing and saying he brings so much to the film. The footage screened set up the story of Adams’ character as a linguist brought onto a team to try and figure out what aliens who’ve just landed on earth are trying to say and figure out their intentions.
Vin Diesel, another popular guy with the CinemaCon crowd, couldn’t make it to Vegas but sent a tape from the set of xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. Diesel is very proud of the film and is having fun reprising the role of Xander Cage.
Last but not least, Paramount showed a video of Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, and Kelly Rohrbach in bikinis/briefs. The Baywatch stars joked around about the appeal of the film, with Johnson saying the team kicks ass on the beach. The footage screened had a lot of skin, a lot of action, and Zac and Dwayne talking about their testicles in a clip from the film.
J.J. Abrams and Simon Pegg at the 2016 CinemaCon (Photo by Todd Williamson/Getty Images for CinemaCon)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams was named CinemaCon’s Showman of the Year and the busy filmmaker took the stage on April 11, 2016 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to accept the award from his good friend and frequent collaborator Simon Pegg. Abrams was named Showman of the Year by the National Association of Theatre Owners, and Paramount Pictures Vice-Chairman Rob Moore called him a visionary and a dreamer before bringing Pegg to the stage to finish Abrams’ introduction.
Pegg joked that while most moviegoers know Abrams as a writer, director, and producer, he’s also an actor. But, added Pegg, if you didn’t catch Abrams in Six Degrees of Separation you should consider yourself lucky. There’s apparently a good reason Abrams isn’t widely recognized as an actor. Labeling his friend an epoch defining filmmaker, Pegg described Abrams as a man, a dad, a husband, and a friend – only one of which applies to Pegg and Abrams’ relationship, joking that the two were recently married in a top secret ceremony.
Accepting the award, Abrams said movies have always been an important part of his life. Conceding that he was never athletic or popular, Abrams recalled how films were an escape and how some of his favorite experiences have happened in theaters. He’s living his dream now, being able to stand on the bridge of the Enterprise and take a seat in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, and he’s even embraced 3D technologies after initially being resistant. Abrams urged NATO members to accept new possibilities in the way movies are viewed by audiences, saying, “We have to do everything we can in this age of piracy to adapt.” He added, “There’s nothing better than going to the movies, and there never will be.”
Finishing up his acceptance speech, Abrams thanked both Paramount – the home of most of his films – and Disney. He also said the upcoming Star Trek Beyond, which he’s producing and Justin Lin is directing, will be the most thrilling Star Trek yet.
M Night Shyamalan and Blake Crouch from Fox’s ‘Wayward Pines’ at WonderCon (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Fox returns to the bizarre world of Wayward Pines for season two beginning on May 25, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT, and at WonderCon executive producer M. Night Shyamalan and author Blake Crouch promised the new season will answer questions left lingering about the ‘abbies’ (short for aberrations). Teaming up to discuss the second season, Shyamalan and Crouch also revealed they plan to finish the story over three seasons, if Fox renews the show following season two.
The Wayward Pines Season 2 Plot: The second season will pick up after the shocking events of Season One, with the residents of Wayward Pines battling against the iron-fisted rule of the First Generation. Dr. Theo Yedlin (Jason Patric) – a new resident of Wayward Pines – awakens from suspended animation and finds himself in the middle of this rebellion, as he tries to understand what Wayward Pines really is and help preserve the endangered human race.
M. Night Shyamalan and Blake Crouch Interview:
What was the appeal of making the books into a series?
M. Night Shyamalan: “I love all stories that are contained but there’s something giant going on outside, whether it’s like Signs where it’s the end of the world but from a family’s perspective. This is that. The idea that Blake came up with is exactly that vibe. I wish I’d come up with it. [Laughing] I take credit for it as much as I can when Blake’s not around. Blake’s not real – that’s my pen name. But, I do like the contained feelings of what the human beings like. I’m not the big spectacle guy. ‘Add more space ships, add more space ships, add more…’ It’s more sound effects and keep it insinuated. Blake’s ideas are always insinuated. For so long in the whole first novel you don’t even know what’s going on. It falls in line with that thinking so we’re always telling the writers, ‘Slow down. Slow down. Yes, you’re going to reveal that but wait. Wait.’ They’re like, ‘How long?’ We’re like, ‘Maybe four episodes.’ ‘What?!’ ‘Slow down.'”
Are there any new sets we visit this season?
M. Night Shyamalan: “Well, it is Wayward Pines…there’s not a lot of land.”
Blake Crouch: “Not a big annex. Wayward Pines West.”
M. Night Shyamalan: “But we are outside the fence a little bit. This season we learn about the abbies so that’s the big exception.”
Blake Crouch: “There was much more time outside the fence this season.”
With all of your projects, how much time do you actually get to spend with Wayward Pines?
M. Night Shyamalan: “You know what? That’s a great question. I would say right now too much time. You agree?”
Blake Crouch: “I agree!”
M. Night Shyamalan: [Laughing] Always on the phone. You can’t get out of Wayward Pines! Literally, my hotel room is just Wayward Pines stuff, like piles. When I’m on the plane ride I’m organizing what I’m going to read and watch for Wayward Pines. It’s addictive, you know? The fun part, I guess maybe you’re the same way, I very much need to have that buzz all the time, a creative buzz. The outline from 207 is there and then you can watch the dailies from 204. You can call the actor about the 205 notes that he had. It’s always [something]. It’s fun. My wife would say it’s terrible, like a crack addiction. And I’m sure the writers are like, ‘Night’s on the phone again.’ I should put a camera on that side so when I’m calling from Philly and they’re like [rolling their eyes].”
This was originally planned as an event series. How did the fact season one was so popular affect the way you approached the story?
M. Night Shyamalan: “Well, you know, it was a very serious thing what you’re talking about. For me, I get really hyped about not taking advantage of opportunities to reduce the quality of storytelling. Say they say, ‘We guarantee you and Blake you can have 10 seasons of this,’ that’s a no. We came together and we said this was fantastic and for me I said to him, ‘Your premise is so powerful, I want to finish talking about what it means, the implications.’ We actually just got to do in the first season is just present the premise and didn’t actually get to talk about what that means to be the last town, what are the abbies, all the Biblical stuff that I love. So we sat together and…”
Blake Crouch: “We approached it a little bit like Jurassic Park. There’s a line where Jeff Goldblum’s like, ‘Just because you can do something, should you do it?’ and that was like the related conversation that we had over the summer as we’re realizing that people are very much responding to this. I think we both went in very skeptical that we would do a second season. We wanted to just kind of sit for a few days and talk in the broadest of terms about why we would continue this story and did we have something very important to say in a finite structure. We walked out of those days feeling like, ‘Yes, we have something very big to say.’ Bigger even than the first season. That’s why we did it.”
M. Night Shyamalan: “We went and kind of thought of the end and then said, ‘How many episodes would it take to tell that story?’ So I think the beauty of where we are now with television is you can fit the format to the story now, and you don’t want it to suddenly… It had such a structure to it, the first season had a structure like what was holding up the tent – the poles – and we wanted it to have the same kind of thing where you could tell we’re aiming towards them. I love the analogy but just finding more people on the island, you’re aiming toward a thing and we’re letting you in on it one episode at a time to where we’re going.”
Blake Crouch: “That’s why it consumes our lives right now because it’s inventing the wheel every new episode. I’m so jealous of the procedural model because that seems like – I know it’s not easy but you kind of know what you’re doing where this is hard every single time. You want to make sure you’re leaving nothing on the field. Each episode is a revelation of what this idea is and where the characters are.”
Is Tales from the Crypt going to be a new story each week or would you consider the American Horror Story model?
M. Night Shyamalan: “I can’t say 100% but I’m thinking it’s more…right now where I am, if you would have asked me this six months ago I would have had a different answer but where I am right now is more individual Black Mirror type of stuff.”
Will there be a crypt keeper?
M. Night Shyamalan: “Yes.”
Does this give you an additional outlet a lot of authors don’t necessarily have to be able to continue working with your creation but in a new media that you’re involved with?
Blake Crouch: “Yeah, it does and it’s really exciting and fulfilling. When I finished The Last Town I was and still am 95% sure I’m not going to write another Wayward Pines book. That was like five years of my life doing that and I’m doing new things now. I feel like I’ve said everything in that medium that I’m going to say about this town and I would rather leave people wanting more than they’re full of this meal and let’s move on to the next thing. So, yeah, it’s amazing to get to explore it in a different medium.”
Without any spoilers, how much of the second season is going to be outside of the walls?
M. Night Shyamalan: “It’s a very contained piece. We can say the second season is about the abbies. It seems at the end of the first season you have a primitive understanding of what that is, what an abby is but that’s actually not what an abby is.”
Are you going to leave the end of the second season open?
Blake Crouch: “I mean I think we have an idea for how the show would end and it’s a question of are we fortunate enough to get to tell that story beyond season two.”
M. Night Shyamalan: “Yeah, we’re – I think we can say, I think we’re allowed to but I’ll just say it anyway – it’s a three season story. If we get the opportunity to tell the third and final season, then we finish the story. [Laughing] If we didn’t, we don’t and I guess we’re all screwed.”
It has to end after three?
Blake Crouch: “Absolutely.”
M. Night Shyamalan: “Not with us. It won’t be with us.”
How does it feel to see your town realized?
Blake Crouch: “It’s amazing. It’s even crazier to go up and actually walk through the sets in Vancouver. The first image I ever had of the books of Wayward Pines was a little snow globe on Sheriff Pope’s desk. It’s in the books and it’s a whole thing of it because it’s the model of the town. It’s a town in glass. They had recreated that snow globe and when I went up there I was like, ‘That’s so cool!’ The neatest thing when they wrapped production on season one they’re like, ‘Do you guys want anything?’ I was like, ‘Can I have the snow globe? That’s all I want.’ Now the snow globe sits on my desk.”
