With the season two premiere of Empire set for September 23, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT, Fox and Columbia Records have released two new songs that will be featured in the new season and will be included on the second season soundtrack album. “No Doubt About It” is performed by Jussie Smollett (‘Jamal’ in the hit series) and Pitbull. The track was co-written by Ne-Yo and Pitbull, and Pitbull will be one of the season two guest stars.
“Ain’t About the Money” features Smollett performing with Yazz, Jamal’s brother Hakeem on Empire.
The season two plot: “The series will pick up three months after the shocking arrest and incarceration of Empire Entertainment head Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard). Knowing Lucious won’t be held much longer in prison, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) and her allies within the Lyon family make a desperate attempt to seize control of the company. But as the Lyons continue to battle each other, a bigger external threat emerges that could force them to unite.”
Flora Spencer-Longhurst as Baroness Lowry “Love” Ventris and Lee Jones as Wilkin Brattle in ‘The Bastard Executioner’ (Photo by Ollie Upton / FX)
FX’s The Bastard Executioner premieres on September 15, 2015 and in support of the show’s upcoming debut the network’s released two new videos. Up first is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the warbows that will be used in the series. The second video is titled Siege and offers up the description: “Fear the wrath of The Bastard Executioner.”
The Bastard Executioner was created by Kurt Sutter (Sons of Anarchy) and stars Lee Jones, Stephen Moyer, Katey Sagal, Flora Spencer-Longhurst, and Sam Spruell. The cast also includes Sutter, Darren Evans, Danny Sapani, Timothy V. Murphy, Sarah White, Sarah Sweeney, Elen Rhys, and Ethan Griffiths. The Americans‘ Matthew Rhys guest stars.
The Plot:
The Bastard Executioner is a blood-soaked, medieval epic that tells the story of Wilkin Brattle, a 14th century warrior, whose life is forever changed when a divine messenger beseeches him to lay down his sword and lead the life of another man: a journeyman executioner. Set in northern Wales during a time rife with rebellion and political upheaval, Wilkin must walk a tight rope between protecting his true identity while also serving a mysterious destiny.
Guided by Annora, a mystical healer whose seeming omniscience keeps Wilkin under her sway; manipulated by Milus Corbett, a devious Chamberlain with grand political aspirations; and driven by a deepening connection with the Baroness Lady Love, Wilkin struggles to navigate political, emotional and supernal pitfalls in his quest to understand his greater purpose.
The final film of the Paranormal Activity horror franchise – Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension – will be the closing night film at the 2015 Screamfest Horror Film Festival taking place in Hollywood. In addition to screening in RealD 3D at the largest horror festival in the U.S., cities that first embraced the Paranormal Activity franchise were chosen to host the first screenings of the final film of the series outside of the festival.
The 12 original cities that hosted Demand It screenings for Paranormal Activity back in 2009 will get special advance screenings of Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension on October 22, 2015. The cities with the advance screenings are Ann Arbor, MI; Baton Rouge, LA; Boulder, CO; Columbus, OH; Durham, NC; Lincoln, NE; Madison, WI; Orlando, FL; Santa Cruz, CA; Seattle, WA; State College, PA; and Tucson, AZ.
“We are thrilled to have the Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension premiere close this year’s festival,” stated Rachel Belofsky, Screamfest Founder and Festival Director. “We are so proud of Oren Peli and his success with the franchise. It’s great to have him back in the festival where it all began.”
Screamfest runs October 13th through October 22nd.
“It’s incredibly exciting, and somewhat surreal, to premiere the final installment of the Paranormal Activity series at Screamfest where the first film premiered eight years ago,” said producer Oren Peli, who directed, produced and wrote the original Paranormal Activity. “These films continued to be made because of the incredible fans that supported them from the very beginning, so I look forward to bringing the series back to its roots to honor them.”
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension was directed by Gregory Plotkin and stars Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Dan Gill, Ivy George, Jessica Brown, Chloe Csengery, Don McManus, Hallie Foote and Cara Pifko.
During the September 3, 2015 episode of The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon took on Jason Sudeikis in a brand new game called ‘Drinko.’ The object: drop two discs into cups filled with tea, tequila, wine spritzer, pea soup, and other liquids. Then, combine the two cups into one glass and whoever didn’t drop the discs has to actually consume the drink. No skills were involved in this particular game and there didn’t seem to be an actual winner. The point was just to not gag while drinking whatever concoction was created by the discs.
Netflix’s Beasts of No Nation has released a new two and a half minute trailer along with a poster featuring the film’s young star. Based on Uzodinma Iweala’s novel and directed by Cary Fukunaga (True Detective season 1), Beasts of No Nation stars Idris Elba (Luther) as a powerful warlord. The dramatic film will have a festival run (Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and London) prior to its debut in theaters and on Netflix on October 16, 2015.
Fukunaga, Elba, Amy Kaufman, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Riva Marker, and Dan Crown produced Beasts of No Nation, with Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King, Donna Gigliotti, Elizabeth Koch, Kristina Kendall, Bill Benenson, Laura Bickford, and Todd Courtney executive producing.
The Plot:
Beasts of No Nation is based on the highly acclaimed novel by Nigerian author Uzodinma Iweala, bringing to life the gripping tale of Agu, a child soldier torn from his family to fight in the civil war of an African country. Newcomer Abraham Attah gives a stunning portrayal of Agu, while Elba dominates the screen in the role of Commandant, a warlord who takes in Agu and instructs him in the ways of war.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood is adding the new Batmobile and costumes from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to the tour beginning September 4, 2015. The new Batmobile will be part of the Picture Car Vault, and Ben Affleck’s Batman, Henry Cavill’s Superman, and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman costumes will go on display alongside the other Batman movie costumes, marking the first time costumes and props from all eight films will be displayed together.
“The arrival of the new Batmobile from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will bring our Studio Tour guests closer than ever to the entertainment they love,” said Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood’s Executive Director Danny Kahn. “It’s the first time in our history we have the opportunity to showcase memorabilia from a film exclusively to our guests before its release. The new Batmobile, alongside the other iconic vehicles, is definitely a must-see.”
The Batmobile will remain on display in the Batman-themed Picture Car Vault through December 31, 2015, however, the costumes will only be featured on the Studio Tour through September 23rd. Fans will also be able to operate a Bat-Signal while on the tour.
The new Batman suit will be displayed next to the original suits worn by Michael Keaton, George Clooney, and Christian Bale. Other costumes in the exhibit include Robin, the Joker, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Catwoman, the Penguin, the Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Batgirl, and Alfred.
Season 11 of The CW’s Supernatural finds our favorite demon hunters Sam and Dean Winchester taking on a new big bad in the form of The Darkness. Executive producer Jeremy Carver’s excited about what the upcoming season has in store and about introducing this game-changing foe for the Winchester boys to deal with.
Season 11 will premiere on October 7, 2015 and at the San Diego Comic-Con, Carver shared a little of what’s in store for fans of the long-running show.
“I feel like the big bad, The Darkness, is us. We started to get into angels particularly and really twisting the Bible and all that stuff, and now we’re sort of like at the end of the season and we’re like, ‘What if we started going to this great unknown that everyone considered the earth came out of nothing and what if it was something?’ And that something is obviously The Darkness and the boys – and frankly not just the boys but angels and demons as well – are going to realize that with the return of The Darkness, they are stepping into a matter of great unfinished business that is going to be a very big threat and the boys are going to be right in the middle of that. It’s a very big sort of idea and I wish I could tell you all the things that are very relatable about it but I can’t. It’ll be very apparent,” said Carver.
“I think we’re all excited about that. I always like it when the boys do something and it’s not that they’re held accountable but they hold themselves accountable to it. There’s a great deal of a sense of, ‘We brought this. We did this.’ Furthermore, there’s a sense that somewhere along the way, maybe if you were to peel things, have we begun to save each other in spite of the greater good? You can certainly see that if you go to the season finale.
And then of course doing that causes a far greater drama for the next season. But I think they are more aware than ever and that means a return to, ‘We’re not going to ignore things. We need to go back to the very, very basics.’ It’s not just hunting things and saving people. They were things they did in the old days that somewhere along the way they sort of cut corners with, as it were. You’ll see them trying harder not to do that and quite frankly that’s a lot harder said than done, so it’s going to cause a lot more complications.”
A big question on the minds of fans of the show is whether the fact that Death died last season will be addressed. “It will to a certain extent. In the first batch of episodes, we’ll just start to address that. But, you can imagine that it causes some issues,’ explained Carver.
And asked if amid all the big action episodes there’s a possibility of a quieter episode with Sam and Dean maybe even taking a day off, Carver answered, “It’s funny you say that because some of my favorite things when I was just like writing the show were just like, you know they stay in all these motels, how come you’ve never seen Dean coming back from a swim in the motel pool? So, to that end, we are actually addressing just that and we are doing an entire episode in the Impala. That’s going to be episode four, and it’s going to touch on a lot of what happens in the moment when they agree to take a case and normally you cut to whatever Nebraska and they’re walking in. What if you stayed in the Impala for another five minutes? What are they talking about then? Of course, there’s a story – and a fun story – and we are directly addressing that because we all have a lot of fun with that.”
Sean Pertwee (‘Alfred’) says fans of Fox’s Gotham can expect a change in the pace of the episodes in season two now that the major players have been established. Fans also know that there’s a big change going on at Wayne Manor now that Bruce (played by David Mazouz) has discovered that special “secret” room. In addition, the relationship between Alfred and Bruce has evolved and the two will share an even tighter bond in the comic book-inspired show’s second season.
“I’ll give you a sense of it. There’s a marked change,” explained Pertwee when asked about Bruce’s continued steps toward ultimately becoming Batman. “[Alfred]’s got a sense that Bruce is an extremely driven and intelligent man, and that he’s a man. He’s growing into a man.” Pertwee also revealed that audiences will start to see there’s more of a genuine parental love from Alfred toward Bruce along with that already established sense of guidance. There’s also mutual respect between Alfred and Bruce and they may be a dysfunctional family but, as Pertwee says, “nevertheless it is a family.”
Are there secrets about Thomas Wayne that Alfred’s been keeping to himself. “That’s a very good question, actually. You know it’s funny because you always have your own theory, your own subtextual approach to anything,” replied Pertwee during roundtable interviews at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con. “I had a very definite idea and I was completely wrong. So, it’s interesting. I love the way our show runs. […]They run from a psychological approach. It’s sort of unravels like an onion and you feel like you’re doing a rather marvelous job of reaching these huge exclamation marks or bullet points, but actually it’s the gentle, guiding hand and the brilliance of our showrunners that push us there. They give us that moment.”
Alfred now realizes after being stabbed and nearly dying the real importance of him being there for Bruce. “It would be irresponsible of him to die, so he’s got to stick around,” said Pertwee. “He gets it wrong; he’s brass and he’s fallible, but there is a mutual acceptance that’s started to [form].”
Pertwee also told us he’s pleased there’s another good guy joining with Alfred and Bruce since Lucius Fox is a part of the series in season two. “We start to build a team of good guys. There’s a few more of us,” said Pertwee. And that’s definitely a good thing as the second season is subtitled: “Rise of the Villains.”
David Ramsey as John Diggle in season four of The CW’s ‘Arrow’
The CW’s unveiled the first photo of John Diggle (played by David Ramsey) from season four of Arrow. And, The CW also revealed that fans of the popular series will be able to see Ramsey in his new Diggle costume in the first episode of season four.
Arrow season four premieres on October 7, 2015 at 8pm ET/PT. Arrow stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Arrow, Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, John Barrowman as Malcom Merlyn, and Paul Blackthorne as Detective Lance. Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Sarah Schechter executive produce.
Jason Momoa’s confirmed to star in Braven, an action thriller to be directed by Lin Oeding from a script by Thomas Pa’a Sibbett (based on Mike Nilon’s original story). Momoa will also be producing the film along with Brian Mendoza, Molly Hassell, and Mike Nilon.
Other projects on Momoa’s slate include Justice League Part One, Justice League Part Two, and Aquaman. He recently finished work on Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Bad Batch, Sugar Mountain, and Going Under.
Commenting on Momoa’s involvement, Highland Film Group’s Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier stated, “Braven is the perfect addition to our growing portfolio. Lin Oeding’s background in stunts tied with Jason Momoa’s physical mastery assures us that the film will deliver heart-pounding action at every turn.”
Highland Film Group will introduce the project to foreign buyers at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
The Plot: When Joe Braven (Momoa), a humble logger residing along the U.S./Canada border, is confronted by a group of deadly drug runners in his secluded cabin in the mountains, he must do everything in his power to protect his family. Little do the elite drug runners know the unassuming man they’ve encountered has an impressive bite colliding with two dynamic forces – one fighting for the lives of his family, the other for the love of the kill.
