Michael Bay produces the sci-fi action thriller Project Almanac (formerly known as Welcome to Yesterday) coming to theaters on January 30, 2015 and showing off a new trailer and poster. The time-traveling film centers around high school friends who find a photo that leads them to believe going back in time is possible. But once they figure out how, their use of the time-traveling device puts everyone in danger.
Directed by Dean Israelite, Project Almanac stars Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Sam Lerner, Allen Evangelista, and Ginny Gardner.
Elizabeth Lail and Georgina Haig in ‘Once Upon a Time’ (Photo by Jack Rowand / ABC)
ABC aired a two-hour Once Upon a Time on November 16, 2014 and with all that was revealed, it did in fact warrant a special two-hour block. Titled “Smash the Mirror,” season four’s eighth episode continued to examine the Snow Queen’s obsession with finding replacement sisters to fill the void left by her now long-gone sisters Helga and Gerda. “Smash the Mirror” also found Emma (Jennifer Morrison) attempting to keep her family at a distance because she’s unable to control her powers.
Meanwhile, romance continued to blossom again for Regina (Lana Parrilla) and Robin (Sean Maguire), both of whom continue to feel guilty about Marion yet are unable to put their relationship behind them and move on.
For those who need a refresher course on what happened to who and why, here’s a detailed recap of “Smash the Mirror:”
The deck’s stacked in Ingrid’s favor: Ingrid (Elizabeth Mitchell) freezes the gold box containing the Sorcerer’s hat and then hides it in a cave. Following that, she pays a visit to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice who refuses to help her. She demands an audience with the Sorcerer but is told no. However, Ingrid has an ace up her sleeve and tells the apprentice to make a deal with her or never see the hat again. In exchange for turning over the hat, Ingrid wants true happiness in the form of two new sisters born with magic, like her. She’s told by the apprentice that it could take time and she says she’s fine with waiting as long as it takes.
Emma issues a warning: Henry (Jared Gilmore) finds Emma hidden in the woods but she warns him away because she can’t control her powers. He won’t listen and a jolt from Emma’s hands results in a wound on his neck. Emma’s completely freaked out and sends him away with another jolt of her power. The Snow Queen then shows up (her timing is always perfect) and tells Emma she knows exactly how she feels. Emma races away in her car and refuses to accept Ingrid’s offer of help.
Two little love birds sitting in a tree: Robin and Regina are in a disheveled state following a night spent together! They’re obviously in love and both look incredibly happy, and Regina reminisces about how she should have listened to Tinker Bell when the “stupid fairy” told her decades ago she was destined to be with Robin. Regina whips out the storybook and shows it to Robin for the first time, and he says it’s all about the past.
“You’re not the evil queen anymore,” says Robin, but Regina says the author believes she’s not meant to have a happy ending. She tells him about her search for the author and, thankfully, he wants to help. She says no, and that they can not let another wild night of happiness happen between them. He decides the way to fix that is by never leaving the room!
The search continues: Hook (Colin O’Donoghue), Elsa (Georgina Haig), David (Josh Dallas), and Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) are frustrated because they can’t find Emma. They’re also exhausted and need to regroup, and David suggests they get some rest. Henry arrives and explains what happened, leaving everyone with the impression that anyone close to Emma will just set her off. Hook suggests they send one of the dwarves she despises, but Elsa says she will ultimately realize she needs the people she loves close by.
Back in Arendelle…: Elsa’s setting up a feast for Anna (Elizabeth Lail) and Ingrid arrives and informs her that Anna’s withholding secrets and that she thinks both Ingrid and Elsa are monsters. Ingrid confesses that it was Elsa’s mom who put her in the urn and she was hoping Anna would be different but it didn’t turn out that way. Ingrid’s locked Anna away in the dungeon to be dealt with however Elsa sees fit.
Emma turns to an unlikely ally: At Rumple’s shop, all the appliances and toys are acting on their own and it’s because Emma’s there. Rumple (Robert Carlyle) knows everyone is searching for her, but Emma tells him she needs help and thinks he’s her best option. She hurt Henry and needs to have her powers stopped. Rumple shows her an ancient spell that would take away all of her magic forever and she, without even stopping to think, tells him to do it. He’s fine with her decision but says that it would destroy everything within a city block because magic doesn’t go away quietly. He arranges to meet her at sundown in an abandoned building, and they both promise not to tell anyone.
And the Oscar goes to…: Elsa marches down to the dungeon and Anna looks happy and relieved to see her. Anna says Ingrid’s lying about everything, but now Elsa is siding with Ingrid because Anna did in fact keep the hat which could strip her of all of her magic powers. She tells the guards to leave which they immediately do. Once they’re gone she reveals that it’s all a ruse. She does believe Anna and is not on Ingrid’s side. She gives Anna back her snowflake necklace and Anna assures Elsa she’ll never take it off again. Elsa says she has a plan to get rid of Ingrid that involves trapping her in the urn, and Anna says she’ll help search the castle for where it could be hidden.
Never smile at a crocodile: Elsa comforts Henry and says Emma hurt him only because she was trying so hard not to hurt him. Regina barges in and wants to see Henry, and Mary Margaret tells her first she might want to finish buttoning up her shirt. Regina’s brought with her the locator spell they’re going to use, but Emma calls Mary Margaret and tells her it will all be over soon and that she has a way to fix everything.
Emma tells her mom that she’s getting rid of her magic forever, which immediately sends up warning flags to Hook. He’s worried and wants to know how it will happen. Pretending he left his phone in David’s truck, Hook leaves the room and dials up Emma. He leaves her a voice mail to call him ASAP or else it’s possible she’ll never make it out of this magic removal thing alive. After hanging up, he whispers he hopes she didn’t trust the crocodile.
The urn is found: Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff (Scott Michael Foster) go looking for the urn in the East Wing where Anna was forbidden as a child to explore. Elsa wonders what turned the sisters against Ingrid, and a frozen man leads Elsa and Anna to the discovery of the urn.
You just know they’re up to no good: Ingrid and Rumple meet and Ingrid wants to know why he’s there. They exchange barbs and Rumple tells her he’s about to take away Emma’s powers. Ingrid gets upset about that but soon turns furious when she discovers Rumple’s trapped her. He has the remnants of the urn and he’s used them to draw a circle around her made up of its dust. It’ll last long enough to get him whatever he wants, without having to betray everyone in Storybrooke. The only people he has to betray are Ingrid and Emma.
Tick-tock finally went the clock: Will Scarlet’s adding liquor to his coffee at the diner when Robin sits down opposite him. Robin tells Will (Michael Socha) that Regina needs to know who wrote the book. Will says he’s been in the town longer than Robin and knows a thing or two about its magical history. For 28 years the hands on the clock tower didn’t move; time stood still and then one day they did move. The clock tower’s where the magic first appeared. “Do you know what’s under that magical clock tower? A library,” says Will.
We love you just the way you are: Elsa and Anna are sneaking through the palace trying to keep away from Ingrid when all of a sudden Elsa stops and stares at the portrait of her parents. She wants to know if it’s true her parents wanted to take away her powers. Anna says they were only human and they made mistakes, and if they could see her today they would never ask her to give up a part of themselves. Anna doesn’t want her any other way.
Elsa’s a tad bit sneaky: Elsa secretly grabs the bottle with the locator potion along with Emma’s scarf. While David and Mary Margaret are reminiscing about everything they love about Emma and hoping she’s happy if she chooses not to keep her powers, Elsa sets out to find Emma using Regina’s magic potion.
A rare moment to bond: Regina and Henry sit on his bed, and Henry doesn’t want to talk about what happened with Emma. Regina magically takes away his injury. “It must be nice to have magic and be useful,” says Henry. He thinks he couldn’t help Emma because he’s ordinary. Regina tells him never to think he’s ordinary. Emma’s a hero and she’ll end up winning, says Regina.
Hook’s on the hunt: Hook goes looking for the Crocodile and sees Emma’s handprint burnt into a book at Rumple’s shop. Hook calls Emma again and leaves a message telling her that Rumple only wants to help her remove her powers so that he can have them, and that once he does he’ll pull her into the Sorcerer’s hat. Hook also tells Emma that Rumple’s been lying to everyone and that the dagger he gave Belle is a fake. Hook admits he knows this and that Rumple’s blackmailing him into helping him because he loves Emma so much and that he needed to be a better man for her. After leaving the message, Hook sees a map with ‘Manor’ circled.
It’s a hologram! From her prison, Ingrid watches Emma drive through the forest and smiles. Emma’s car is screwing up and suddenly the Snow Queen is standing in the middle of the road. Emma swerves, crashes, and knocks herself out.
Ingrid’s one step ahead…again: Elsa and Anna sneak around, with Anna set to hide out in the dungeon again with the urn. The plan is to send Ingrid down to the dungeon where Anna will act scared and then suddenly pull out the urn to capture Ingrid. After Elsa locks her in, the smoke turns into shackles, and then Ingrid shows up.
Back at the car crash: Emma comes to and Ingrid tells her to stay away from Rumple. Ingrid says not to trust him and that he’d kill her to get whatever it is he desires. Emma says she’s going anyway, and then discovers Ingrid’s not really there and it’s all an illusion. She’s even more determined to get to Rumple after that discovery.
Regina’s got a point: Mary Margaret and Regina discuss Henry, and Regina thanks her for warning her to button up before she went in to see him. Mary Margaret says she shouldn’t be ashamed to be with Robin, but then David shows up and Regina is furious neither is out looking for Emma and that both are fine with Emma losing her powers. Regina says her biggest regret is that she didn’t support Henry when he realized he was special. Mary Margaret and David agree with Regina and are ready to set out looking for her when they realize Elsa took the locator potion and is gone.
The magic of the mirror: Anna and Ingrid argue over whether Anna will turn on her sister. Ingrid describes the story of how the enchanted mirror came to be and then whips out a small portion of the mirror, which alarms Anna who’s worried Ingrid will cast the spell of Shattered Sight over the kingdom. But Ingrid has other plans…she only wants to cast it over Anna.
Mary Margaret and Regina have a heart-to-heart: Regina, Mary Margaret, David, and Henry search for Emma, find her car, and take off on foot. Regina and Mary Margaret have a little time to talk and Regina says she and Robin won’t work out. Regina says it’s easy for Mary Margaret to work things out because she’s a hero while Regina’s wishes are all crushed. Mary Margaret says Regina should have a chance to be redeemed and that it’s not all black and white. No one is either all good or all evil. “Free will be damned…it’s all in the book,” says Regina. But Mary Margaret says it’s all about choices and that if she stays the course, Regina can find happiness.
The Merry Men hit the books: Will tries to break into the library, but it’s actually unlocked and open. Once inside, Will and Robin search for clues about the book. Robin wants Regina to be happy, even if she thinks that’s impossible. Robin sees a note in his bag that wasn’t there before, and he thinks Regina needs to see it immediately. He calls her up and she leaves the search party to head to the library with Mary Margaret’s blessing.
The hat is primed and ready: Unfortunately, Emma arrives at the meeting place without listening to her voicemails. Rumple has the spell all prepared before she arrives, activating the hat and pointing it toward the door which Emma will stride through when she’s ready to get rid of her powers forever.
Rumple says he’s already cast the spell and all she has to do is step through the door. She tells him the Snow Queen said she shouldn’t do this because Rumple’s trying to hurt her. She asks if it’s safe and if she’ll be okay, and he says no magic is without risks. She just wants to stop hurting people and asks him what he would do if he were in her shoes. Without hesitation Rumple says he wouldn’t go in there for anything, but adds that he always makes the wrong decision.
Belle thinks he can change and Rumple thinks she’s wrong. He tells Emma she always does the right thing and she turns toward the door. She turns around and thanks him, and he walks away. She faces the door again. Inside the hat is ready to suck her in.
Hook and Rumple square off: Outside, Hook and Rumple tangle, with Hook yelling for Emma. “I’ll die fighting before I let you use that bloody hat on Emma!” Rumple gets the best of him physically and ties him to the fence, joking that he’s treating him to a front-row seat where they can both watch Emma use that hat on herself. Rumple also shows Hook Emma’s phone, so Hook’s well aware that Emma knows nothing about what’s going on. Rumple tells him he’ll get over Emma and that Hook will once again have a taste for vengeance after this is done. Rumple says he wishes he didn’t have to do it but he needs her powers. Hook begs him not to do it since she’s the mother to his grandson, but Rumple won’t listen. Meanwhile, Elsa arrives after following the locator spell.
Anna turns into a mean girl: Anna is free from the dungeon and totally changed. She sees Elsa’s banquet and isn’t impressed. She’s angry at Elsa and the sister bond has been shattered. She throws the snowflake pendant into the fire, breaking the bond. Ingrid shows up and Elsa knows Anna’s had a spell placed on her. Anna is furious with Elsa, but Ingrid says she won’t listen to her and Ingrid screams at Elsa to use her powers on her. Anna puts Elsa in the urn and Ingrid is about to strangle her when Kristoff bursts in. She freezes both Anna and Kristoff as well as the entire palace. Taking the urn with her, she looks over her frozen kingdom. She tells Anna inside the urn that they will find their third sister no matter how long it takes.
Elsa saves the day: Elsa bursts into the room and tells Emma she won’t let her do it. Elsa won’t give up on her and she knows everything she’s going through, but Emma’s convinced she needs to give up her powers. Elsa says she was wrong, it wasn’t just Anna’s love that saved her. She thought she was doomed because she landed in a strange town without Anna but she was able to get control of her powers without her. She didn’t know how she did it until today when it happened to Elsa.
It’s not only the love of their family that can save them, it’s inside themselves. “You have to love yourself, Emma, the good and the bad,” says Elsa. She tells her the magic is who she is and extends her hand. “It’s time to stop being afraid,” explains Elsa. Emma’s frightened of touching her but does so anyway, which places her powers under her own control!
Hearts are now in play: Outside, Rumple and Hook see that Emma didn’t go through with it. Rumple needs to fill the hat with power but there’s a secret ingredient he also needs. He needs the heart of someone who knew him before he was the Dark One and only one person fits that bill. Rumple grabs Hook’s heart and tells him he will do everything he says because he’s now his puppet. He’ll find someone with the magic he needs and then Rumple will kill Hook.
Once more to Arendelle: In Arendelle, Ingrid clutches the urn while Rumpelstiltskin inspects her frozen handiwork. Rumpelstiltskin wants the hat but Ingrid won’t give it up. The deal: an urn for a hat. Once she finds the hat, all she needs to do is say his three times and Rumpelstiltskin will come to her once she has the hat in her possession.
Hook’s starting down a dark path: Hook rushes in and hugs Emma and tells her they’ll find another way to defeat the Snow Queen together. He’s relieved she’s fine and still has her powers and tells her to go outside to the worried people who will be glad to see her. He then goes into the room and picks up the gold box and hides it under his jacket.
Regina’s future is yet to be determined: At the library, Robin thumbs through the book. Regina wants to know what’s up and Robin tells her he’s been looking for clues. He actually found something…pages ripped from the book showing them kissing. It’s page 23 and yet there’s a page 23 intact in the book. Robin thinks that it means her future isn’t set and that it’s a sign there are other possibilities and other possible endings to her story. Her fate isn’t sealed.
This is about to get very, very scary: Ingrid’s entrapment ends and she waves her hand over the three yellow ribbons. She pulls up her sleeve and she’s now wearing one of them.
The deal closes In Arendelle in the past, Ingrid digs up the box and says Rumpelstiltskin twice before the Sorcerer’s Apprentice stops her before she says it a third time. The Sorcerer located a third magical sister who hasn’t been born yet, and Ingrid will need to be patient. If she delivers that hat to the Dark One, she’ll never have a happy ending. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice shows her a door that will lead her to her happy ending in a new land. He gives her a scroll and says when the time comes it will lead her to her third sister. Ingrid steps through the door and ends up in our world in 1982. She doesn’t seem confused, but it’s definitely a brave new world for her to explore.
Those yellow ribbons are bad news: Mary Margaret and David tell Emma not to change and they love her the way she is. She hugs Henry and tells them she can control her magic again. She’s even able to shoot off fireworks into the sky from her hands in celebration. Henry points out the yellow ribbon now circling her wrist and Elsa sees she has one too. Both women feel something inside is being harnessed and Emma has a pretty good idea of where it’s coming from.
A devastating turn of events: Rumple visits Ingrid and asks her if she had a hand in Emma deciding not to go through with the removal of her powers. She says she didn’t and that it was Elsa who saved her. Ingrid says all three have embraced their powers and they’re now all bonded. She’s able to harness the power of her sisters and says at this point she’s strong enough to even defeat Rumple. She warns Rumple not to underestimate her. She looks into the mirror, shatters it, and explodes it into the Shattered Sight spell.
The Bottom Line:
Well, that was sure one jam-packed episode, wasn’t it? There’s no better way to leave the audience on the edge of their seats than to put Hook in jeopardy, and “Smash the Mirror” definitely finds our favorite sexy pirate in peril. On the lighter side, how great was it to see Regina and Robin get back together and to hear Robin tell Regina she isn’t an evil person anymore? Emma also learned to accept herself, magic and all, with only Hook getting the short end of this stick in this episode.
“Smash the Mirror” was well-paced and didn’t include any ‘filler’ scenes. One of the season’s best, “Smash the Mirror” took the story in an unexpected direction that could shift the focus off of Arendelle and Anna for a while and onto Hook and Rumple. And as anyone who’s been reading my recaps knows, I’m all for any storyline that serves up more of Hook.
20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios have revealed the official trailer for the 3D animated comedy movie Peanuts (the teaser hit the web back in March). The new trailer features Woodstock and his family/friends decorating Snoopy’s dog house for Christmas. It also shows Snoopy battling the Red Baron and Charlie Brown getting picked on when he disrupts a movie.
Peanuts opens in theaters on November 6, 2015.
The Plot: In Peanuts, Snoopy, the world’s most lovable beagle – and flying ace! – embarks upon his greatest mission as he and his team take to the skies to pursue their arch-nemesis, while his best pal Charlie Brown begins his own epic quest back home.
Charlie Hunnam as Jax Teller in ‘Sons of Anarchy’ (Photo by Prashant Gupta / FX)
Episode 10 of FX’s Sons of Anarchy’s final season was a doozy, with the final jaw-dropping scene between Abel and Jax (Charlie Hunnam) a pivotal moment in the series as a whole. Will episode 11 be the one in which Jax finally confronts the murderer of his wife? With only a few episodes left to go in the series, the body count in “Suits of Woe” could include at least one key character. Which one? I’m betting it won’t be Gemma quite yet.
The Plot of “Suits of Woe:” The SOA organization bears down on SAMCRO and Jax comes face-to-face with an ugly truth.
So there’s a prophecy, a seventh son, Jeff Bridges doing an accent, and Julianne Moore in gorgeous lighting… The new international trailer for Seventh Son has arrived with more action, more dialogue, and more CG creatures than any previous trailer. Shot way back in 2012 and delayed a few times, Seventh Son will be heading to theaters on February 6, 2015 with Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore, Beau Bridges, and Djimon Hounsou in starring roles.
The Plot:
In a time of enchantments when legends and magic collide, the sole remaining warrior of a mystical order (Bridges) travels to find a prophesied hero born with incredible powers, the last Seventh Son (Barnes). Torn from his quiet life as a farmhand, the unlikely young hero embarks on a daring adventure with his battle-hardened mentor to vanquish a dark queen (Moore) and the army of supernatural assassins she has dispatched against their kingdom.
Diamond Strawberry and Cisco Rosado (Photo Courtesy of VH1)
VH1 has set a December 15, 2014 return date for the fifth season of Love & Hip Hop: New York which will feature a mix of new cast members as well as the return of some fan favorites. The series focuses on hip-hop hopefuls who are following their dreams, focusing on the music careers and personal lives of the show’s cast.
Here are the details on who fans of Love & Hip Hop will be following in this upcoming season five, courtesy of VH1:
Love & Hip Hop: New York New Cast Members:
Chink Santana is a talented music producer who has worked with artists such as Ashanti and Keyshia Cole. His girlfriend, Chrissy Crastanda, would like to solidify their relationship, but Chink’s commitment to his family and work may prevent them from moving forward.
Chrissy Crastanda is a NYC socialite and owner of a modeling agency. She is ready to start a family with her boyfriend Chink but his other commitments and delayed divorce are putting her wishes on hold.
Cisco Rosado is a well-known producer who has worked with Tank, Jim Jones, and Uncle Murder. His “don’t ask, don’t tell” relationship with his girlfriend, Diamond Strawberry, takes a turn for the worst when she decides to move to NY to be closer to him and later finds out he has been dishonest.
Diamond Strawberry, daughter of New York Mets outfielder Daryl Strawberry, has moved to NY from L.A. to start her career as a model and build her relationship with her boyfriend Cisco, but her decision backfires when she finds out her boyfriend has betrayed her.
Precious Paris, formerly signed to 50 Cent’s label G-UNIT, recently signed a management deal with Dollaz Unlimited. But when another artist is added to her manager’s roster, she is disappointed to find out that she may be sharing her spotlight.
Returning Fan Favorites:
Yandy Smith has her family back – Mendeecees is home and ready to rebuild his life. The couple is expecting a daughter and are raising their son together but with his pending trial looming over their heads, will it jeopardize their happily ever after?
Peter Gunz continues to struggle managing his love triangle with his wife, Amina, and his longtime girlfriend, Tara. Now, Amina and Tara are turning the tables on Peter, and secrets that were still in the dark will be brought to light.
Erica Mena has recently gotten engaged and has begun to make her way as an entrepreneur, but will she be able to keep it together if her ex-girlfriend Cyn Santana teams up with her ex-lover Rich Dollaz?
Rich Dollaz is infamous for blurring the lines of business and pleasure, and now he has found his way in between two new female artists. Will he be able to overcome his temptation, stick to business and make them stars?
The dance competition series So You Think You Can Dance has been given a 12th season order by Fox. Season 12 will debut next summer with a new ‘Stage vs Street’ twist which, according to series co-creator Nigel Lythgoe, will make it even more difficult and demanding for the dancers.
“So You Think You Can Dance is a rare jewel. It combines high art with mass entertainment in a seamless, sophisticated and hugely satisfying way,” said Simon Andreae, Executive Vice President, Alternative Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company, announcing the renewal. “It’s produced and consumed with tremendous passion and it’s developed one of the most deservedly loyal followings in all of unscripted television. We are immensely proud to be returning it to the schedule with a thrilling new twist that will bring it up to date and introduce a whole new set of rooting opportunities.”
Here’s the details on the new Stage vs Street format that will be put into place beginning with season 12:
Throughout the auditions, the dancers who advance will be placed into two teams – the STAGE dancers, featuring those trained in styles such as contemporary, ballet, jazz or tap; and the STREET dancers, hopefuls skilled in hip-hop, animation or breaking. As the auditions continue, the judges, along with each team’s All-Star Mentor, will eliminate dancers until only the Top 20 – 10 Street Dancers and 10 Stage Dancers – remain. When the competition goes “live,” the Top 20 will be challenged weekly to perform a variety of styles, working with world-renowned choreographers. One dancer from each genre will be eliminated each week leading up to the Season Finale. Who will win…a dancer from the stage or the street?
HBO’s confirmed they’re definitely moving forward on a Westworld series inspired by Michael Crichton’s Westworld film. The one hour drama will be written, directed, and executive produced by Jonathan Nolan, brother of Christopher and co-writer of Interstellar, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight Rises. Writer Lisa Joy is also on board as an executive producer along with J.J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, and Bryan Burk.
The original 1973 sci-fi Western starred Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, and James Brolin. The HBO series has Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Miranda Otto, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Angela Sarafyan, and Simon Quarterman attached to star.
HBO’s released this official description of the series: “Westworld is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin.”
Constantine‘s executive producers David S. Goyer (the Dark Knight trilogy, Da Vinci’s Demons) and Daniel Cerone promise the NBC series will continue to be accessible to both fans of the source material as well as those who’ve never heard of the character John Constantine. Cerone and Goyer realize it’s a fine line they have to walk, but with Constantine they believe they’ve found the right approach to the material. Teamed up for a conference call to discuss season one, Goyer and Cerone explained their approach to laying out the story and their plans for introducing more characters from the comics into the series.
Daniel Cerone and David S. Goyer Constantine Interview
What made this the right time and the right platform to be involved in a Constantine project?
David S. Goyer: “The genesis of the project is that I had a meeting with Warner Bros. Television. This is sort of right after Man of Steel had come out and they asked if I would be interested in doing a television show based on a DC property. And so we just started having a general conversation about which one made most sense.
I asked about John Constantine. I’ve always been a huge fan. I was reading Swamp Thing when he was introduced. And, in fact, I have a letter printed in one of the early issues that he was introduced as a fan, I think when I was in high school or something like that. And there were some sort of legal things to sort out initially and then we start talking about other characters. But eventually Constantine became free and I was really excited.
And the reason for why is the right time, I’ve done, obviously, The Dark Knight films [to] Superman, but one of the reasons why I always like John Constantine is he didn’t have superpowers, he didn’t have a costume. So it was refreshing for me to tell a story about an antihero as opposed to a hero. He is someone who was really damaged and I just feel like he’s one of the great characters of modern literature and it was a different change of pace, you know?”
What can you tell us as far as how far are we going to go into the Constantine mythos early on?
Daniel Cerone: “We’re digging as deeply into the Constantine mythos as we possibly can. I mean, in fact, it really is inspiring much of our storytelling. […] ‘Feast of Friends,’ that’s a story that’s literally ripped from the pages of Hellblazer. It is the first story from the Hellblazer issue and it brings back Gary Lester, who is one of John’s friends from Newcastle. It’s a fantastic story that translated so well to screen and […] ‘Feast of Friends’ it’s our show at its pinnacle and it just sort of really kind of set a bar of everything that we hope this show can be and can do.
But in a broader sense, over the course of the season – we’re breaking up 17 right now and we have a fantastic ride ahead. Before the end of the season, you’re going to meet and get to know every one of John’s friends from Newcastle that were involved in the sort of faithful exorcism of Astra that led to the external torment of John’s soul. You’re going to meet them all. Papa Midnite, I think we have now in four episodes. Jim Corrigan comes back for a couple of more. I’m reading an outline right now for Episode 16 that includes 16 that includes Terence Thirteen with…”
David S. Goyer: “With Dr. Thirteen from Felix Faust.. “
Daniel Cerone: “We have Felix Faust. We have this incredible source material and we want to honor it and dig as deeply into it as we possibly can and, at the same time, we’re a weekly network show and we have weekly stories. We’re trying to present the best of both worlds in terms of ongoing mythology with the Hellblazer and DC world but wrapped around weekly stories the viewers can hook into.”
Are we going to be getting any more episodes that might focus on Chas and his backstory at some point?
Daniel Cerone: “Yes. Chas is an interesting character because in terms of when David and I developed the show and sat down to figure out what characters do we want in a continuing basis. On one hand, Chas was a natural because he’s sort of the most constant companion and long living companion…maybe the only living companion of John Constantine’s. But really he’s not much more than the muscle and he’s the driver, you know? He’s been a cab driver and John didn’t drive a lot. I don’t think he drives at all in the comic book. And so we want to include Chas and he is definitely the strong, silent type, very laconic kind of character we wanted to roll out slowly.
I know there’s been a couple of issues where they dig into his backstory but there’s not a lot there. So, we’ve really enjoyed Chas. We’ve really enjoyed opening him up. We will open him up deeper in Episode 10. You know, we came up with this idea, this notion because Chas is… Let’s put it this way: in the pilot episode you see that Chas comes back to life. For some reason, people started translating that to the idea that he’s immortal. We promise you he is not immortal.”
David S. Goyer: “He’s not immortal.”
Daniel Cerone: “There’s a very good reason that he’s coming back to life and the only spoiler I will give is that those lives are not on the internet. And we do have an episode that involves flashbacks where we basically tell that story and we get to know more about Chas. We can meet Renee and his daughter, Renee’s wife, ex-wife or they’re separated right now and his daughter and we kind of dig into that story and figure out what makes Chas tick.”
David S. Goyer: “And I would add to that that I think even when the first 13 episodes are done, people will be surprised at how much kind of background we filled in on various characters and even in terms of the relationship with John and Manny and Zed’s backstory and it’s not just taste of the week.”
How difficult of a decision was it for you not carry on with Liv’s and is there a possibility that she’ll ever pop up again?
David S. Goyer: “You know, honestly, it really wasn’t that difficult. I mean, it became apparent to us and, look, we’re glad you like her. I think she did a fantastic job. But I think that the character was flawed in its conception. And, you know, obviously we’re to blame for that. She was the only major character in the pilot that wasn’t from the comic books. Sometimes you make these concessions when you’re trying to get a show up and running and one of the benefits of doing a pilot is you’ve got this initial downtime after the pilot before you’re filming again in which you can think about retooling some aspects. And once we saw the character in action and we started breaking Episodes 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, we felt like we were just running into a lot of dead ends. That’s when we decided to go back to the source material and talking about the character Zed. I will say I feel like that the vast majority of the audience seems to have felt that the Zed character was a better match for John and seems to have supported our decision.”
Daniel Cerone: “David and I received a lovely e-mail from Lucy Griffith, the actress who played Liv, right before we aired and in terms of whether she’ll be back, she’s part of the foundation of the show. I mean, the millhouse in which John is crashing and is full of all kinds of magical antiquities – that’s her father’s place. Listen, as we dig deeper into the season, as we start talking about possible arcs for next season, I would say there’s an opening there. Whether it’s an opening we’ll step through or not, it would have to be organic, it would have to feel right and not feel like a device. But if there’s an organic reason to bring her back into the story, we’d love to.”
How does the fan base help you develop the storylines you want to produce?
David S. Goyer: “Well, I mean, it’s interesting. I’ve adopted quite a few comic book properties now and it’s tricky because I think you have to be really attentive to the fan base. [Like] Steve Jobs said, you can’t give the market what they say they want. You want to give them something that they haven’t even thought of. If you give them exactly what they want, they become disappointed by the same token. The way that we’ve always tried to measure it is that we’ve tried to dip in with the fans and be aware of what are the issues that are most important to them, what are the core concepts that are most important, with the characters that are the most important. But we’re also cognizant of the fact that if the show is going to flourish and broaden its audience, we need to be able to respond to an audience greater than just the core comic book fans. And so it needs to work for both audiences.”
Daniel Cerone: “I know I speak for David in this, too. David and I came at this as fans of the show. That’s really the bottom line. We fell in love with all the things about John Constantine that the fans did – or at least based on what I’ve read of the fans. But we needed that smartass, wisecracking, just gallows humor, scruffy blonde-haired, trench coat-wearing, cigarette-smoking with a fatalistic attitude and this deeply humanist point of view for reasons that he doesn’t even understand. I mean, we like that character. That was someone that just appealed to us, so we’re going to be true to that no matter what.
We wanted to stay true to the world and the characters. And then you take that foundation and you have to figure out, ‘Okay, how can we pour that into a show that can last and sustain itself on a weekly basis.’ NBC had certain desires for the show. They wanted stories that were told every week. So as David mentioned before, this is a bit of a hybrid. I mean, for us, it was, ‘Okay, how do we figure out how to both as fans, tell the story we want to tell about the evolution of this character and his relationships as well as some closed-end stories to broaden out the fan base?’ So, yes, we came out of it as fans.
David S. Goyer: “To build on what Daniel said, because we were fans of the character, when we first met with NBC we said, ‘Look, we know that the movie is out there and it wasn’t British and he didn’t have blonde hair.’ I think that that movie had a lot of great attributes but because we had fallen in love with the John Constantine as depicted in the comic books, it was our mission to try to bring to life the character that as accurately reflected the character we had fallen in love with as possible. So when NBC says, ‘Well, does he have to be British? Does he have to wear a skinny tie and a trench coat? Does he have to be blonde? Does he have to smoke?’ We said, ‘Yes.’ And they said, ‘Why?’ And we said, ‘Because that’s the character we fell in love with.'”
Daniel Cerone: “And I’ll say there every step of the way, they did ask those questions, too. They were very open and accepting and loving and they wanted to embrace the fans, too, but at a certain point, like when it came to casting, Matt Ryan does not have blonde hair. And initially they’re like, ‘Do we really need to lighten his hair?’ And we’re like, ‘Yes, we do.’ They got the first draft of the script and they saw sort of all of the kind of British euphemisms and colloquialisms written into his dialogue and they’re like, ‘That might be off-putting. Does he really need to be British?'”
David S. Goyer: “We said, ‘Yes.'”
Daniel Cerone: “So at every step of the way, we fought for that. And to their credit, they were very open and they understood our passion and I believe the fans’ passion for the character.”
How do you make your antihero the hero?
David S. Goyer: “First of all, I would say there are heroes and there are antiheroes and they’re both a lot of fun to write. But in some ways, writing antiheroes are more fun to write for because they’re not bound by the same moral code that the heroes are. In some ways, antiheroes are more human because most of us have variables. Most of us are imperfect and he’s doing what he’s doing for fundamentally noble reasons, but he doesn’t really have a code of conduct.
I do think that audiences also like antiheroes. If you look at House, if you look at Luther, if you look at Sherlock, I would categorize these characters more properly antiheroes than heroes. They can be fun. People want to be them and people want to be Superman. I don’t think people want to be Constantine because he’s kind of a miserable [guy]. But he’s also fun. It’s irreverence and it’s just a different way to go.”
Daniel Cerone: “A lot of characters that are out there are doing what they do because it’s their job or because I have a badge or because I have a calling. As David said Constantine is doing the right thing but he’s doing it for totally humanist reasons, you know? It’s one of those fascinating aspects of the character to me is if you ask him why he’s out there helping humanity, I’m not even sure he can tell you. Is he doing it because he wants to save lives? Is he doing it because, frankly, chasing demons is a bit of a fix for him and he’s just challenging for the next kill? Is he doing it, as he said early in his career, for the women and to get laid? Is he doing it because it’s kind of self-empowerment? You know, it’s just never really clear.
What’s great about him is I don’t even think he’s clear. But yet he keeps doing it and he keeps fighting this fight. And yes, as David said, one of the funnest things is that there’s no code of conduct that he operates by. He’s doing the good things that all the cops and lawyers and whatever kind of other heroes are out there doing. But there’s no checks and balances for him, and that’s where he often gets into trouble.
I think when you ask what makes him relatable, I think that’s it because he has a self-sense to himself and he frequently goes over the line and he frequently makes bad calls. And the fact is that Constantine…anyone who gets close to Constantine dies. I mean, that has proven itself true for years in the comic books. Very early in our series you’re going to see that, too, where he makes the hard calls and he loses friends over it, sometimes literally. So that’s kind of his curse and hopefully that’s what makes him [relatable]. It’s easy to root for him.”
David S. Goyer: “I would also add that I think that these things are cyclical and I think that they come in waves and maybe it’s a broader commentary on where we are in society right now. But the television landscape right now is flourishing with the really flawed characters. And for whatever reason audiences are responding and fascinated by these flawed characters. I think if you look at the television landscape now it used to be that the black cats were the black cats and white cats were the white cats and it was very clear who is who. But there are a lot of shades of grey right now and that seems to be kind of what’s happening with the right guys, in terms of the role.”
Miss Piggy and Michael Buble (Photo by: Peter Kramer / NBC)
Michael Bublé’s hosting his fourth annual Christmas special on NBC, with the network setting a December 17, 2014 at 8pm ET/PT air date for the music-filled holiday special. This year, Michael Bublé will be joined by special guests Barbra Streisand, Ariana Grande, Miss Piggy, and The Rockettes for the hour-long Michael Bublé’s Christmas in New York special.
According to NBC, Buble and company will be helping to celebrate the holidays with an array of classic holiday tunes that includes “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas,” “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” “Cold December Night,” and “Blue Christmas.”
“I could not be more excited to celebrate the Christmas holidays in New York with such a fantastic array of talented women. I think my 4th holiday special for NBC may be the very best yet. I can’t wait for everyone to see it,” stated Bublé.
Filming of the holiday special took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
