Lionsgate’s released the final theatrical trailer and poster for the action comedy American Ultra starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart. American Ultra was directed by Project X‘s Nima Nourizadeh from a script by Chronicle‘s Max Landis, with Connie Britton, Topher Grace, Tony Hale, John Leguizamo, Bill Pullman, and Walton Goggins co-starring.
American Ultra opens in theaters on August 21, 2015.
The Plot: “American Ultra is a fast-paced action comedy about Mike (Eisenberg), a seemingly hapless and unmotivated stoner whose small-town life with his live-in girlfriend, Phoebe (Stewart), is suddenly turned upside down. Unbeknownst to him, Mike is actually a highly trained, lethal sleeper agent. In the blink of an eye, as his secret past comes back to haunt him, Mike is thrust into the middle of a deadly government operation and is forced to summon his inner action-hero in order to survive.”
Series creator and executive producer Scott Gairdner describes Moonbeam City as a “sexy animated superneon ’80s cop adventure.” Got that? Rob Lowe provides the voice of Dazzle Novak, an incompetent yet handsome detective. Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth) voices Rad Cunningham, Dazzle’s obnoxious rival.
The new series will debut on Comedy Central on September 16, 2015 at 10:30pm ET/PT, immediately after South Park‘s season 19 premiere.
Gairdner and Lowe teamed up at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con to discuss the animated comedy during roundtable interviews. Gairdner said he didn’t write the characters with anyone in particular in mind, but Dazzle has a Rob Lowe/Don Johnson/Marty McFly look. Lowe was the first actor they thought of, and Gairdner’s thankful he signed on. “Thank god he said yes and ever since then it’s been getting to write for him and his voice. It’s been so fun to do knowing that he’s going to perfectly deliver some of these insane lines.”
“It is insane,” agreed Lowe. “I get the scripts and it’s like a little Christmas gift every time I get one. I never know what it’s going to be but I have a suspicion it’s going to be funny, and it always is. Stuff I’ve gotten to do as Dazzle Novak, I could live 500 lifetimes as an actor and never get to do.”
Lowe says what he enjoys the most about providing a voice in an animated project is that it’s possible to do anything. “Almost anything is within the reality of an animated television show, which is why that brand of comedy is always so great when it works. In live action, it’s real so you’re forced to live within the boundaries of human nature, the laws of physics, stuff like that. Not so much in animation.”
As for the appeal of setting the show in the ’80s, Gairdner admits it’s an obsession of his. “I’ve just come to enjoy anything that’s sort of ’80s but futuristic from the ’80s. It’s come to strike me that that is an esthetic that you see in movies and you see in music. It’s kind of what Daft Punk is doing. But you haven’t really seen a very stupid comedy done with this neon esthetic that I’ve been so fascinated by.”
“And the sensibility of what we thought the future was going to be in the ’80s is just really funny,” added Lowe. “I remember when I was 13 my parents were like, ‘Listen, when you’re old enough to drive we’re going to give you the Volvo.’ I remember thinking, ‘F*ck that, I’m getting a flying car! What’s wrong with you people? Volvo?’ I still don’t have flying car.”
Asked the origin of Moonbeam City, Gairdner replied, “It sort of came from me wanting to explore that world of ’80s retro-futurism and neon and pastels and all that fantastic stuff. I knew the world but I didn’t necessarily know what happened, exactly. There was a moment where it was about something else. It was about fashion photographers and models, and that just made more sense to me for sort that angular chic esthetic. Our executive producer Richard Schwartz had the idea, ‘Wait a minute. You’re very close to Miami Vice here. Why not make this a cop show? Give them guns.’
That made Comedy Central happier now the show’s for dudes. It made it so much easier to write because police officers can go anywhere. We can go anywhere in this bustling metropolis because police officers have access to everywhere. Now we’re so not limited. We can explore any world in the show. We’ve seen drug dealers and the mafia. Dazzle goes undercover in the world of the dolphins and poses as a dolphin himself in a robotic dolphin suit.”
Watch the full interview with Rob Lowe and Scott Gairdner:
The first teaser trailer for Fox’s hit series Empire teases new music, new money, and new power. The short video doesn’t give away much about the much-anticipated second season, but it does show Cookie (Taraji P Henson) is in charge while Lucious (Terrence Howard) is locked away in jail.
Season two will premiere on September 23, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT.
The Plot: “The series will pick up three months after the shocking arrest and incarceration of Empire Entertainment head Lucious Lyon. Knowing Lucious won’t be held much longer in prison, Cookie 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.
Paul Wesley says this upcoming seventh season of The CW’s The Vampire Diaries will see a shift in dynamics, which makes sense as season six saw the exit of the show’s lead actress, Nina Dobrev. Dobrev opted not to return to the popular series, and during roundtable interviews at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, Wesley discussed how things will change now that Elena’s no longer in the picture.
“I think it’s cool that, obviously, it’s a different sort of theme, Elena’s going so there’s going to be a natural shift. The original triangle of Damon, Stefan and Elena is what made the show such a big hit and what brought in the fans. But Nina wanted to leave and the show sort of needs a fresh spin, so it’s almost like a fortuitous opportunity to create something new. We might really botch it, but we’ll do our best not to,” explained Wesley, laughing.
Wesley also filled us in on what’s in store for Stefan this season. As far as his relationship with the Heretics, Wesley’s pretty sure he won’t be getting along with them anytime soon. “I had to Google ‘heretics’. Is that a common thing? I consider myself average in intelligence, but I didn’t know what that was and they use that word so much. I think like we need a little thingy that says: ‘Heretics – definition.’ But, no, he doesn’t get along with them. Nobody does. They’re sort of like the baddies of season seven.”
What’s the relationship going to be like with Damon and Stefan’s mom back in the picture? “There’s definitely a sense of abandonment and they’re hurt,” said Wesley. “But then it’s also like that natural maternal thing. You just naturally want to forgive your mom and assume that she’s a great person and she really did love you. It’s a natural thing. I think Stefan is going to be prone to forgiveness and naiveté, as opposed to Damon, who’s cynical, suspicious, and wary.”
Rumor has it there will be a Stefan and Damon flashback to before they were turned in this coming season, but it seemed to be news to Wesley. “That would be dope. I didn’t know,” admitted Wesley. “I have scripts one, two, and three on my iPad, but I’ve only read one. I’m in the middle of filming one and haven’t had the chance to read season two.”
As for the romance that some fans are rooting for, Wesley had some good news to share. “I think [Caroline] gets her life in order pretty quickly. By that I mean I think she gives him the green light. I can’t guarantee that, but that’s what I hear.”
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The Vampire Diaries premieres season seven on October 8, 2015.
Lana Parrilla at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Going into the fifth season of ABC’s Once Upon a Time, Lana Parrilla is still in love with her character, Regina. Regina’s had one of the more complicated arcs over the seasons, from the Evil Queen to a complex woman who’s one of the strongest defenders of Storybrooke’s colorful residents. Catching up with Parrilla at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, she talked about how far Regina has come and how playing the character has affected her life.
In season four, Regina was able to find a little of that happiness she had been so desperately searching for. “She did find happiness toward the end. She realized that happiness did not come from a man or a person, woman or a child,” explained Parrilla. “It came from within. It’s a credit to her who has the bravery and strength to look within herself and really confront these demons and try to do the right thing, try to change the patterns, which is very courageous. I mean, who in real life can do that? So, I’m proud of Regina.”
In fact, Regina was even able to find a way to accept the news that Zelena is having Robin’s baby. “She’s very handling this very well. There was a slight moment in the second to last episode of last season where she could have easily destroyed Zelena, and she chose not to. It was remembering that moment when her mother was doing something very similar. Whether her mother was being genuine or not, she doesn’t want to be like that and manipulate situations.
I think she’s starting to be really comfortable leaving her destiny in the hands of the universe and letting things unfold as they’re meant to and dealing with the challenges as they arise. And, she’s a pretty awesome character,” said Parrilla. “I never thought she would come this far. She’s an inspiration to many; she’s an inspiration to me. I learned a lot from her. I love her. I’m really excited to see where she goes this season. However, I must say I do really miss the Evil Queen. I do miss her being bad, of course. That’s fun to act.”
Regina’s a fascinating character, but Parrilla does say there are challenges in taking on the Once Upon a Time fan favorite. “I would say making sure I don’t bring her home. Sometimes that’s a challenge. If you think about it, nine months out of the year I’m there anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day. Not always Monday through Friday, but sometimes. And so it’s like I almost live her life more than my own. It’s kind of tricky.
You have to hang that hat, but not fully. You can’t put it away. You just kind of hang it, and then just walk home to my three kids and my husband. That’s a challenge sometimes. I had to learn how to sort of compartmentalize, even though I’m a stepmother to three kids and married. I spent 17 years living alone so it was like, ‘Oh my god…’ I had to learn how to sort of, ‘Okay, I don’t have to bring her home.’ There is no room in my house for the Evil Queen anyway,” said Parrilla, laughing.
Tom Ellis at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Tom Ellis says the script for Fox’s Lucifer was the funniest he read all pilot season. At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con to discuss the new series, Ellis described the script as “punctuated with moments of real hilarity all of the way through” during our roundtable interview.
Ellis said the script immediately grabbed him, making him actually laugh out loud during the first reading. “It was an hour drama, but it was funnier than most of the half-hour comedies, in my taste,” said Ellis.
When director Len Wiseman (Underworld, Live Free or Die Hard) was brought on board, they met, talked, and Ellis says the resulting decision to star in Lucifer was a no-brainer. Ellis, in person, is a charmer, and it’s easy to believe that as Lucifer he’ll be able to talk a saint into being a sinner.
“Fun is a word I keep hammering home about this because the project as a whole is fun. But I think he’s wont to have fun and encouragement to have fun and just kind of live a little. He’s just kind of gently persuading people just to let go,” said Ellis, laughing.
The script was funny, but what was it about the character that Ellis found so enticing that he couldn’t wait to play? “Tom Kapinos wrote the pilot originally and the way that he had written this character was set in the modern world but the character didn’t speak in a modern way. It felt like he was from another time,” explained Ellis. “It was written with a sort of fluid and a grace and an air about it that was this foppish Noel Coward-esque character that had a swagger about it. He loved classic British rock music, and he talked about the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and all these bands that he loved. So I had this kind of stencil in my head of, ‘Well, if you’ve got Noel Coward and Mick Jagger, that’s where I’m starting.'”
The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” seems like a natural fit for the show, but unfortunately it won’t be showing up on the soundtrack. “Rolling Stones tracks are notoriously expensive. And, also, not just the tracks. We tried to have a line in there – I think I can say this – we had a line in there where he came up to someone and said, ‘Allow me to introduce myself. I’m a man of wealth and taste.’ We had to pay if we wanted to use that line something stupid, like $50,000, as it was written in prose,” revealed Ellis. “I like to create playlists whenever I’m working on anything. Music is a big thing for me and I like the sound, the tone, the energy of the piece, and attitude. So I had this playlist with loads of stuff, Bowie and The Who, Hendrix, and some more modern stuff on it as well. I think music will be a big part of the show. It certainly helps us deliver the attitude.”
Chris Wood’s now part of his third The CW series with a starring role in Containment. The Vampire Diaries and The Carrie Diaries actor takes on the role of Jake, a character far different from fan-favorite Kai in the network’s The Vampire Diaries, a series that also comes from Containment‘s writer/executive producer Julie Plec.
“He’s quite different. Jake is a good guy, first of all, that’s the biggest difference,” explained Wood during roundtable interviews at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. “He’s something of an introvert. He’s very guarded. He keeps to himself. He’s tough. Guarded is the best word to describe him, I think. Whatever he’s been through in his life has led him to a place where he doesn’t like to open up to people. He doesn’t say more words than he has to. He keeps to himself. He’s got a bad temper, but he hides it most of the time.
When he’s stuck inside, he’s forced to either step up to the plate or run and defend himself. He’s very conflicted. He’s not a leader by nature. He’s a really good guy; he’s a really good person but his first instinct is to protect himself. He sort of wants nothing to do with leadership, but that’s sort of been thrust upon him. There’s no other law enforcement inside, so he has to find a way to do what’s right and what he feels he can do while still protecting himself and staying alive.”
Wood says he actually shot the pilot for Containment while still working on the last two episodes of The Vampire Diaries. “I would be on set as Jake one day and the very next day go and shoot as Kai. It was a little disorienting. I never got them mixed up – it was never confusing in that way. But just the characters are so different and the styles of the shows are so different, it was sort of fun, though. It felt a little crazy for a couple of weeks. Getting to jump from one character to another that’s so far removed from what I’d been doing, that’s the greatest challenge. Part of why I love acting is getting to try on different personas and how do you feel as somebody else? Having people be so different, so drastically different, that’s the best thing you can have.”
Wood’s fully aware of the strong fan base for Kai and that they were devastated when the character left the show. He also admits to feeling traumatized by Kai’s death in season six of The Vampire Diaries. “[Kai’s] the best,” said Wood. “He’s nuts. I had a blast playing Kai. He’s so entertaining to me. Just his sense of humor is so unique and so funny. He could just sit around and make himself laugh just locked in a room. He literally did that for 18 years by himself. He’s a very special kind of person. He’s so interesting, and the season arc too. After the merge I got to play a character who totally changed personalities. There’s no other story like when someone’s personality, especially a sociopath, suddenly gets feelings. It’s very unique. I had a blast.”
Getting back to his new show, Wood explained a little bit about what viewers can expect from season one of Containment. “A disease breaks out and we lock down the city in order to prevent the spread of the disease. It’s very clinical. It’s very scientific. It’s a law enforcement situation that we’re assessing the best political moves. But what the story is really about is humans,” explained Wood. “You get really extreme responses out of these people as they’re put in life-threatening situations. It’s a nice world to live, and the characters are so vivid and so unique.”
Sony Pictures has released a new, lengthy trailer for Spectre along with an updated synopsis of the latest James Bond film. Sam Mendes returned to direct, working from a script by John Logan, Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade.
Daniel Craig’s back for his fourth outing as Bond, with Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, David Bautista, Monica Bellucci, and Ralph Fiennes co-starring.
Spectre opens in theaters on November 6, 2015.
The Plot:
A cryptic message from the past sends James Bond on a rogue mission to Mexico City and eventually Rome, where he meets Lucia Sciarra (Bellucci), the beautiful and forbidden widow of an infamous criminal. Bond infiltrates a secret meeting and uncovers the existence of the sinister organisation known as SPECTRE.
Meanwhile back in London, Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott), the new head of the Centre for National Security, questions Bond’s actions and challenges the relevance of MI6, led by M (Fiennes). Bond covertly enlists Moneypenny (Harris) and Q (Whishaw) to help him seek out Madeleine Swann (Seydoux), the daughter of his old nemesis Mr White (Jesper Christensen), who may hold the clue to untangling the web of SPECTRE. As the daughter of an assassin, she understands Bond in a way most others cannot.
As Bond ventures towards the heart of SPECTRE, he learns of a chilling connection between himself and the enemy he seeks, played by Christoph Waltz.
Phoebe Tonkin at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Although The Originals fans are aching for news on the relationship between Hayley and Klaus, Phoebe Tonkin says Hayley’s main concern has never been her love life. “I don’t think Hayley’s priority is or ever has been her love life. Hayley, all she ever wanted was family and even if it happened in a quite unusual situation by getting pregnant and having her child she finally got the one thing that she’s wanted her whole life which is that – which is family. So really Hope is the only important thing in her life right now,” said Tonkin during our interview at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con.
That said, Tonkin isn’t ruling out a Klaus and Hayley relationship in the future. “I just think it has to happen in an organic way. I don’t think right now it makes sense for Hayley and Klaus to be together through so much and Klaus has done some really awful things to Hayley,” explained Tonkin. “This show hopefully will be on for a long time and we can really tell stories and not just throw out storylines to appease people. The payoff needs to be worth it at the end. Whether that’s with Elijah or Jackson or Klaus, we’ll see.”
Season three’s been described as a reboot, and Tonkin agrees with that assessment. “Season two was definitely about family which can create kind of a bit of a restriction in the dynamics whereas this season we’re introducing all of these new characters [who] are unrelated to most of our characters which creates different dynamics, whether it’s romantic or physical or violent. It’s not just about siblings and the behavior between them. So, I think it’s going to create some really interesting love triangles, some really interesting alliances between people, and people are going to play people in different ways. Besides the Mikaelsons, no one is tied in any way. Whereas with siblings, they all have this bond. So you have all these new players – they have no ties to the originals. So, either they are foe or friend. That’s what I think is going to be really different about this next season.”
Tonkin’s also hopeful that the audience will get to see more of Hayley’s backstory, although she isn’t sure it’ll happen in season three. “I think so. That’s what’s been promised. There’s so many detailed descriptions of Hayley’s childhood, and I think that they’re there for a reason otherwise they wouldn’t be there. I think the intention has always been to have a long-running show and so I don’t think, hopefully, that the writers are in a rush to tell that story. But I do think it’s a story that will be told and needs to be told. I think the planting of little things about her being adopted and the way that she turned is a little suspicious. Was that really the way that she turned or was there something weirder and darker that happened? So I think that’s something that they do have up their sleeves and they have ideas for. I don’t know if it will be this season that it plays out.”
Tonkin also provided details on the status of the pack in the upcoming season. “Where we kind of find Hayley and the pack in the beginning of the third season, once a month they are human. Elijah has been coming to Hayley every full moon and bringing Hope, bringing clothes, filling her in on what’s been happening in New Orleans and in the compound, and with Klaus and everything. That’s kind of her one not ‘human’ tie…but you know what I mean. Her tie with the outside world. I do think the pack in their wolf form has been getting closer and stronger, and learning to kind of be who they are a little bit. But I do think that when they eventually become human, that’s going to follow them – that kind of animalistic mentality. I think they’re going to be a little bit more feral which I think is really cool. If you’re stuck as a werewolf for months on end and you’re only human once, you end up becoming what you are mentally. You’re living in the woods and you’re not showering. You’re having to find dinner. So, yeah, I think that’s going to be really cool,” said Tonkin.
FX’s Fargo set the bar high with its first season, picking up three Emmy wins, three Critics’ Choice Television Awards, two Golden Globes wins, and a Producers Guild award. Critics loved it and so did audiences, but will season two live up to season one? The new official trailer for the series certainly looks interesting and well worth checking out.
The cast for this second visit to Fargo is led by Patrick Wilson and Kirsten Dunst and includes Ted Danson, Nick Offerman, Jesse Plemons, Bokeem Woodbine, Jeffrey Donovan, Kieran Culkin, Angus Sampson, and Jean Smart.
Season two arrives this October.
The Plot: The all new “true crime” case in Fargo’s latest chapter takes you back to 1979 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Luverne, Minnesota. “Lou Solverson” (Wilson), a young State Police Officer recently back from Vietnam, investigates a case involving a local crime gang, a major mob syndicate and a small-town beautician “Peggy Blumquist” (Dunst) along with her husband “Ed” (Plemons), the local butcher’s assistant.
Helping Lou piece things together is his father-in-law, “Sheriff Hank Larsson” (Danson). The investigation will lead them to a colorful cast of characters that includes “Karl Weathers” (Offerman), the town lawyer of Luverne, Minnesota. A Korean War vet, Karl is a flowery drunk blessed with the gift of gab and the eloquence of a true con artist. Three-time Emmy winner Brad Garrett will play “Joe Bulo,” the frontman for the northern expansion of a Kansas City crime syndicate. The new face of corporate crime, Joe’s bringing a Walmart mentality to small-town America.
His number two is “Mike Milligan” (Woodbine). Part enforcer, part detective, Mike is always smiling – but the joke is usually on you. Bulo and his crew have their sights set on the Gerhardt crime family in Fargo, currently led by matriarch “Floyd Gerhardt” (Smart). With her husband at death’s door, Floyd takes over the family business, frustrating her eldest son, “Dodd Gerhardt” (Donovan). An impatient hothead with a cruel streak to match his ambitions, Dodd can’t wait for both his parents to die so he can take over and expand their business from kingdom to empire.
“Bear Gerhardt” (Sampson) is the middle son, an intimidatingly large man who, although inarticulate, is the most decent of his clan. “Rye Gerhardt” (Culkin), the youngest of the Gerhardt clan, views himself as a big shot, but in reality he’s just a small dog with a loud bark.
