Warner Bros Pictures has released the official trailer for The 33, based on the incredible true story of 33 men trapped deep underground for 69 days in a Chilean mine. According to the studio, the film was shot with the cooperation of the actual miners and is based on the book Deep Down Dark by Hector Tobar and Jose Rivera’s screen story. The cast is led by Antonio Banderas and includes Rodrigo Santoro, Juliette Binoche, James Brolin, Lou Diamond Phillips, Bob Gunton and Gabriel Byrne.
Patricia Riggen (Under the Same Moon, Girl in Progess) directed the dramatic thriller which was shot in Chile’s Atacama desert near where the actual disaster took place.
The 33 opens in theaters on November 13, 2015.
The Plot:
In 2010, the eyes of the world turned to Chile, where 33 miners had been buried alive by the catastrophic explosion and collapse of a 100-year-old gold and copper mine. Over the next 69 days, an international team worked night and day in a desperate attempt to rescue the trapped men as their families and friends, as well as millions of people globally, waited and watched anxiously for any sign of hope. But 200 stories beneath the surface, in the suffocating heat and with tensions rising, provisions—and time—were quickly running out.
A story of resilience, personal transformation and triumph of the human spirit, the film takes us to the Earth’s darkest depths, revealing the psyches of the men trapped in the mine, and depicting the courage of both the miners and their families who refused to give up.
Abigail Breslin is a huge fan of horror movies and when the opportunity arose to join the cast of Fox’s Scream Queens from American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy, Breslin knew she’d found the perfect TV series to be a part of. Breslin keeps busy with work in feature films, however during our roundtable interview at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, Breslin talked about why she was willing to commit to a series.
“I have thought about it because I feel like TV is so strong right now, especially, and I feel like there are so many good things going on television-wise. But I knew that I wanted to do something that would be the right thing and something that I would feel really happy about doing and a character that I felt I could play all the way through,” explained Breslin. “And so, when I got the call that Ryan [Murphy] wanted to meet with me about a TV show I was immediately, ‘Okay, this is the person that I want to work with.’ I’m a huge fan of his; I’m a huge fan of American Horror Story anyway.”
“When I met with him he was just like talking to me for an hour just about nothing, and I was just telling him about my friends, my life. He’s like, ‘Hey, I’m doing this show called Scream Queens. What kind of character do you want to play?’ I was like, ‘I want to play a mean girl because I’ve never done that before.’ He was like, ‘There’s a group of girls called the Chanels and you can be Chanel #5.’ I was like, ‘Okay, cool,’ and then the meeting was over and I was like, ‘Wait. I don’t know if that went well.’ We barely spoke about it. And so once I got the call saying, ‘You’re coming to New Orleans. You’re doing the show,’ and I was like, ‘Yes!'”
Self-professed horror movie fanatic Breslin went on to explain what sets Scream Queens apart: “I am one of those people who will watch something and then get angry about it if it’s not right. I’m intense, so I can totally relate. That’s what I love about this is I feel like horror and comedy are both genres that have super, super strong followings and super strong fan bases. It’s kind of cool that we have…it’s a perfect mixture of both on our show and so I feel like a lot of different people can relate to it and get into it.”
The series also offers Breslin a chance to play a mean girl, something she loved being able to sink her teeth into. “I’m Chanel so I’m in KAPPA. I’m one of Emma’s minions. I play Chanel #5, and so she is horrified that the new pledges are being let in. She’s a little bit crazy, a little bit intense,” explained Breslin. “It’s been really fun to play her. I’ve never gotten to play a mean girl, so that was something I was really excited about doing.”
Breslin also appreciated the fact the show keeps the audience – and, actually, the actors – guessing as to who is the killer. “I think that that’s kind of the reason that the show is so interesting is because no one knows who the killer is and everybody has a reason why they could be the killer, and everyone has a reason why they couldn’t be. For me, I’m reading the script and I’ll be like, ‘Hmm, okay, maybe she’s doing this.’ And then I flip the page and like, ‘No, she couldn’t, because that.’ And then I’m like, ‘But wait…she could.’ It’s crazy. The way that they’ve written it is so smart in the sense that you really don’t know. You’re thrown off completely all the time and it’s been fun to play with,” said Breslin.
It’s also been fun to hang around with her fellow Scream Queens cast members. “I think that it’s interesting because people are like, ‘Would you ever join a sorority?’ And it’s like, ‘No,’ but I kind of feel like this is kind of – I’m not in college right now because I’m working and so I feel like I’m having the college experience and we’re all kind of sorority sisters. It sounds lame, but it’s true,” said Breslin, laughing. “We’ve just all become really close. Mostly our conversations are about boys and drama and friends.”
The series also gives Breslin the opportunity to work with Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis, an actress who knows her way around the genre. Asked what it’s been like to work with Curtis, Breslin replied, “You know, it’s always intimidating when you go to work with somebody you’ve always seen in films and you’ve looked up to and admired. It’s definitely nerve-wracking, but she is just the coolest, chillest person. She’s just so nice. She’s always giving us little gifts and writing us little notes. She’s so chill. She really wrangled us and takes care of us, and it’s really nice.”
Syfy is revving up Blood Drive, a new grindhouse genre series from executive producers John Hlavin and David Straiton. Syfy and Universal Cable Productions just announced the series and revealed it will consist of 13 episodes.
“This highly stylized roller coaster ride is a throwback to 1970s grindhouse cinema. With its fast-paced thrills and indie feel, Blood Drive will make an exciting and edgy addition to Syfy’s growing slate of original scripted series,” stated Syfy and Chiller President Dave Howe.
“The grindhouse cinema style remains largely untapped in television. The combination of gritty action and dark humor can push the envelope in some fun and unexpected ways,” stated Jeff Wachtel, Chief Content Officer, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment and President, Universal Cable Productions. “Blood Drive has all these elements and more. We’re excited to partner with John Hlavin and David Straiton to bring this cool, action-packed series to life.”
In addition to executive producing, Straiton (Bates Motel, Hemlock Grove) will direct the series. The pilot was written by James Roland.
The Plot: “Set in a near-apocalyptic future, the 13-episode series centers around LA’s last good cop who is forced to join a twisted, gory cross-country death race — with cars powered by blood and a dangerous femme fatale partner who sees people as fuel.”
Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff and Bailey Chase star in ‘Longmire’ (Photo by Cathy Kanavy / Copyright 2013 / A&E)
Netflix revived Longmire for a fourth season following its cancellation on A&E and now we know when we’ll get to see the new season. The streaming network confirmed Longmire, starring Robert Taylor, Bailey Chase, Katee Sackhoff, and Lou Diamond Phillips, will arrive on September 10, 2015.
The ten new episodes will also feature Cassidy Freeman and Adam Bartley, with Gerald McRaney and Ally Walker guest starring.
The Plot: “Based on the novels by bestselling author Craig Johnson, the fourth season premiere of Longmire picks up moments after season three’s exciting finale. Walt Longmire (Taylor), having found out who was behind the murder of his wife, succumbs to his darker impulses and takes off in pursuit of the killer with murder on his mind. Meanwhile, Branch Connally (Chase), the deputy who Walt fired for erratic, violent behavior, believes he has already figured out who the real culprit is. But during his confrontation with this suspected killer, a gun goes off. Now the audience will finally learn what happened, and whether Walt can be stopped before he makes a fatal choice.”
Netflix also announced Aziz Ansari’s Master of None will be available to subscribers beginning November 6, 2015. Ansari co-created the series with Alan Yang and stars in the comedy alongside H. Jon Benjamin, Eric Wareheim, Lena Waithe, Noel Wells, and Kelvin Yu.
The Plot: “Based on the comedic viewpoints of Aziz Ansari, the show follows the personal and professional lives of Dev (Ansari), a 30-year-old actor in New York who has trouble deciding what he wants to eat, much less the pathway for the rest of his life. Ambitious, funny, cinematic, and both sweeping in scope and intensely personal, Dev’s story takes him through subjects as diverse as the plight of the elderly, the immigrant experience, and how to find the most delicious pasta for dinner.”
In other news, Netflix hasn’t yet given a premiere date to With Bob and David, the four-episode comedy starring Better Call Saul‘s Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, or to Marvel’s Jessica Jones starring Krysten Ritter and David Tennant. However, we can expect to see those two shows along with Sofia Coppola’s A Very Murray Christmas starring Bill Murray sometime in the fourth quarter of 2015.
So what if it’s a little early to be thinking about Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other winter holiday you choose to celebrate? Sony Pictures apparently wants to put us all in the holiday mood with a restricted trailer for the bro-centric comedy The Night Before. Directed by Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies, 50/50) from a screenplay he wrote with Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter, and Ariel Shaffir, The Night Before finds 50/50 co-stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen teaming up with Anthony Mackie to play three BFFs who are allowed out for one final wild Christmas night of partying before they have to move on with their adult lives and family responsibilities.
The cast also includes Lizzy Caplan, Jillian Bell, Michael Shannon, and Mindy Kaling.
The Night Before opens in theaters on November 25, 2015.
The Plot:
Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) have been friends since childhood, and for a decade, their yearly Christmas Eve reunion has been an annual night of debauchery and hilarity. Now that they’re entering adulthood, the tradition is coming to an end, and to make it as memorable as possible, they set out to find the Nutcracka Ball – the Holy Grail of Christmas parties.
Paramount Pictures has unveiled the first official trailer for 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi as well as a restricted trailer for the action drama. Directed by Michael Bay, 13 Hours: The Secret of Benghazi is based on a true story and stars John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, and Toby Stephens. Mitchell Zuckoff’s nonfiction book 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi inspired the film which focuses on the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi.
13 Hours will open in theaters on January 15, 2016.
Queen Latifah and Mary J Blige (Photos by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
NBC’s live musical event The Wiz Live! has just added Grammy winners Mary J. Blige and Queen Latifah to the cast. According to NBC’s official announcement, Queen Latifah will be playing the Wiz, “the mysterious and powerful wizard who holds the keys to the Emerald City, but whose metamorphosis from ordinary to extraordinary is itself a hoax. She rose to her lofty position after being transported by accident to Oz in a hot air balloon during a snowstorm.”
Blige has been cast as “Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West, who holds sway over the Winkies and the Winged Monkeys that do her bidding. She captures Dorothy and her friends to avenge the unintentional murder of her evil sister, Evvamean, and to get back the powerful silver slippers given to Dorothy by the Good Witch of the North.”
The Wiz Live! will also star Stephanie Mills as Auntie Em. Mills previously played Dorothy in The Wiz‘ original Broadway production.
The Wiz Live! will be directed by Kenny Leon, and Harvey Fierstein is working on new written material. Neil Meron and Craig Zadan are executive producing, and Fatima Robinson is on board as choreographer. NBC’s airing the live special on December 3, 2015.
“We are so happy reuniting with Latifah,” stated Zadan and Meron. “We’ve been friends for a long time, and we’ve had quite a lot of success together. To see her play the iconic role of the Wiz and make it her own is going to be one of the joys of producing this event.”
“I can’t wait to watch Mary bring the badness that is Evillene,” added director Kenny Leon. “Her talent range is off the charts and I know audiences won’t be able to take their eyes off her.”
Ruben Blades and Mercedes Mason star in ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ (Photos by Frank Ockenfels 3 / AMC)
Fear the Walking Dead star Ruben Blades is a huge, life-long comic books fan and Mercedes Mason is so into The Walking Dead that she leaped at the chance to be a part of the new spin-off series coming to AMC in August 2015. Both teamed up with executive producer Gale Anne Hurd at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con for roundtable interviews to talk about Fear the Walking Dead, their characters, and the world that this new zombie apocalypse series takes place in.
As an actor, what’s the appeal of doing a show like this about a zombie outbreak?
Mercedes Mason: “I’ll jump in on this one because I’m so passionate about the original show. I was such a big fan that when this came into my life, I spent about four minutes screaming. And as I was watching the original, I had all these questions. What happened? What happened when Rick Grimes…I mean, Rick Grimes wakes up from this coma and it’s depletion. There’s nothing in the city. He’s walking aimlessly. He’s like a man alone.
I had a million questions as a fan. So I love that this show is coming about. There’s sort of a peek into the world from a different area, obviously – we’re going to be placed in L.A. – of what happens amongst the people? And how do we learn that these are the bad guys when they still look human? They don’t look monstrous in our version. So it’s nice to see that slow burn into okay, now this is our new world. How do we cope? I loved it.”
Ruben Blades: “Everybody remembers October 12th, 1492. You were born in the 1500s, you wouldn’t know what happened. Who knows what happened October 11th. Who wrote about that? Where’s the testimony of what happened? You know what it is. You get up in the morning and have an everyday normal day. And then the next day, you have all these things happening to you that you have no clue what it is. You have these strange people, strange animals, strange language, diseases and your world is destroyed forever. Who wrote about October 11th? Nobody. So this is October 11th.”
In The Walking Dead you see Daryl, who’s equipped for this world, had a terrible life before but he can shine. Will we see who’s going to shine in Fear the Walking Dead?
Gale Anne Hurd: “Absolutely. We have no police officers in this. We have average people. We have an English teacher. We have a guidance counselor. We have a barber. We have people with everyday professions, many professions that interact with people but they’re not in charge. They have to cope with what’s happening and they have to bring their family together because as with most of us, we’re not all going to be in the same place if something like this were to happen. Some people will be in school, some will be at work, some will be wherever.
You also have the denial factor. You have the denial with characters Alycia [Debnam-Carey] and Mercedes [play] that’s like, ‘I have this bright future ahead of me. Things are going to get better.’ That’s what we believe in the American dream. It’s going to be better, especially as we launch into adulthood. On The Walking Dead, we’ve never dealt with teenagers or young adults at all.
That is sort of a whole missing section, and we’ll see what happens. We’ll see what happens with Alicia who’s headed off to Berkeley as a top student and has dreams and ambitions. We’ll see what happens with a kid who’s troubled and is dealing with drug addiction and how that tears apart a family. We’ll also deal with the immigrant experience that we meant to come here for a new life and what they want for their children, to have a better life than they did. That has all been changed irreparably.”
What do we learn about your characters? Can you give us a little of your characters’ backstory?
Ruben Blades: “Daniel Salazar is from a Central American country. He’s been in the United States for a decade and a half. Came to the country like many Latinos come to the country, because of political issues in their countries of origin, set up a new life with his wife who is played by Patricia Spindola, very excellent Mexican actress. She and my daughter are part of the Salazar family. I’m a barber. I have a barber shop. Like Gale was saying, trying to reinvent your life, basically. Having the opportunity to do so, most people that are immigrants go to New York or Los Angeles. Los Angeles being preferred because I guess of the climate, you don’t have any snow, by Central Americans. So when this happens, again you’re forced to deal with the issue. Some people are better prepared than others and don’t know this.
It’s interesting. I hope I can say this but it’s interesting that the first person that realizes what’s going on is a drug addict. I thought that was very interesting. It wasn’t the schoolteacher. It was the drug addict, the first one who understood what was going on or had an inkling what was going on. And everyone begins to discover that their past, sometimes things that you’re trying to put behind you, all of a sudden acquire a relevance that allows you to deal with a situation that you hope and wish you’d left behind.”
Mercedes Mason: “Ofelia is a daughter of immigrant parents so there’s a lot of allegiance to her parents. She’s definitely a bit of a daddy’s girl. She loves her parents, obviously, wants the best for them. I come from immigrant parents but I know even growing up you feel like you have to cater to them and take care of them because English isn’t their first language. So, you’re defending them a lot and you want to protect them. Even as a kid, I remember thinking, ‘I’ve got to make sure my parents are okay.’
Ofelia’s absolutely the same way, so when this happens, the tables start turning. She doesn’t know who she can rely on because she also starts discovering things about her parents that she had no idea, that they maybe aren’t exactly who they said they were and maybe some of the reasons they had left El Salvador, she was unaware of. So she’s sort of stuck in this world now where yesterday, October 11th, she had every opportunity and hope and a bright future and now she’s literally questioning everything that she knows.
Her world is crumbling and she’s grasping for straws trying to figure out who she is. It’s almost like going through puberty again. You are figuring out exactly what’s happening to you and what you’re capable of and who you can rely on. So for Ofelia especially initially, it’s very, very scary until she has to find herself.”
Is having no source material for this show scary, liberating, or exciting?
Gale Anne Hurd: “It’s exciting. It’s something that, from the very beginning, Robert Kirkman wanted to do. So because he feels unrestrained and there’s not expectations from a fan base who’re saying, ‘You didn’t do the panel from the comic book exactly the way it was in the comic book.’ There is none of that but at the same time, there’s no road map. But it allows us to really surprise the audience because there are no expectations about where we’re going, where we’re headed. We won’t get the questions, ‘When’s Meghan going to show up?’ If I hear that one more time, I may go crazy.
I’m hoping it actually spawns a comic book so there can be a complete turnaround. I don’t know if you know this, but Ruben’s a huge comic book collector from way back.”
Ruben Blades: “When it was about comics, I used to come to the Con.”
At the same time, we know what will happen, so you have a pit in your stomach.
Mercedes Mason: “It’s amazing that the audience knows more.”
Gale Anne Hurd: “I mean, it’s very Hitchcockian when it’s like, ‘Don’t go down the stairs, don’t go in the basement. Don’t go down that dark hallway and open that door.’ But then we really actually want you to go there but no, we don’t. It’s that push/pull.”
How would you describe the characters central to Fear the Walking Dead?
Gale Anne Hurd: “These are characters with no roadmap as Mercedes was saying. When Rick Grimes woke up, two things. He was a police officer. He already had a skill set. You’re trained in keeping the peace. You’re trained in being an alpha male. And you’re good with firearms. There’s a skill set that’s automatic. We do get to see, there are a few flashbacks in the show, what really happens as people who don’t know what’s going on have to contend and survive or not, with what’s going on in an urban population in a world that we haven’t seen on television before.
It’s not an East L.A. that’s just gangs. These are normal, average people. First we get to find out who they are in normal life. That’s another thing that we haven’t seen before, and really get into problems that average families throughout the world will be facing and relating to. You blend different family units and you have everyday problems. We’ve just never seen before compounded by what the hell is going on?”
Ruben, you have a long, distinguished career. How did you get attached to this?
Ruben Blades: “I was unemployed. That was the first thing. No, really. I asked. I asked. I said if they saw something in me that would help develop the character. The character is very, very complex which is why I decided to do this. My band is very upset because I’m the singer and while I’m doing this, I’m not singing with the band but they have another singer so they’re working. They allow me to do this too. It’s a very complex role.
It’s one of the most complex roles I’ve had because of the background and the stuff that happens. And AMC’s a quality group. If you think about AMC, 15 years ago they were just maybe on the way out, God knows, become like Blockbuster. All of a sudden, they’ve got the right amount of people. I don’t know how it happened but it wasn’t luck. They had Mad Men, boom! Then they had Breaking Bad, boom, boom, boom! Then they have The Walking Dead, again. So it’s a quality group, very smart people, very nice people to deal with. So I said sure. It was a no-brainer.”
Helen Mirren and Bryan Cranston in ‘Trumbo’ (Photo Courtesy of Bleecker Street)
New photos have arrived for the dramatic film Trumbo starring Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, Diane Lane, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Alan Tudyk, and Michael Stuhlbarg. Directed by Jay Roach, Trumbo‘s set to have its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival as part of the festival’s Special Presentation lineup. Following its world premiere at TIFF, Trumbo will arrive in theaters on November 6, 2015.
The Plot:
The successful career of 1940s screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Cranston) comes to a crushing end when he and other Hollywood figures are blacklisted for their political beliefs. Trumbo tells the story of his fight against the U.S. government and studio bosses in a war over words and freedom, which entangled everyone in Hollywood from Hedda Hopper (Mirren) and John Wayne to Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger.
Bryan Cranston and Diane Lane in ‘Trumbo’ (Photo Courtesy of Bleecker Street)
Grammy nominee Meghan Trainor has recorded a new, original song for the animated film The Peanuts Movie directed by Steve Martino (Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!, Ice Age: Continental Drift). The upcoming film from Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox Animation is based on the classic, iconic comic strip created by Charles Schulz and which is considered one of the most influential comic strips in history.
Charles Schulz’s son, Craig, and his grandson, Bryan, are producers of the feature-length film along with Cornelius Uliano, Paul Feig (director of Spy and Bridesmaids), and Michael J. Travers.
“I was thrilled to be offered the chance to see an early version of The Peanuts Movie – and to then be inspired to write a song that captured the film’s spirit, energy and sense of joy. It was a pleasure to work with director Steve Martino to make sure the song did right by the incredible characters that the team is bringing to the big screen,” stated Trainor. “I can’t wait for everyone to hear the song!”
The Peanuts Movie soundtrack will be available on October 23, 2015. The film will hit theaters on November 6, 2015.
In addition to Trainor, The Peanuts Movie cast members chimed in on the new original song news. Snoopy and Woodstock issued a joint statement commenting on the news: “’/’’!’”/’/’!/’!’”
The Plot:
In The Peanuts Movie, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the beloved “Peanuts” gang make their big-screen debut, like they’ve never been seen before, in stunning state of the art 3D animation. Charlie Brown, the world’s most beloved underdog, embarks upon an epic and heroic quest, while his best pal, the lovable beagle Snoopy, takes to the skies to pursue his arch-nemesis, the Red Baron. From the imagination of Charles M. Schulz and the creators of the Ice Age films, The Peanuts Movie will prove that every underdog has his day.
