The teaser trailer for Hulu’s new murder-mystery series Only Murders in the Building asks us to consider how well we really know our neighbors. What goes on behind closed doors? Could your neighbors actually be cold-blooded killers?
Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez lead a cast that includes Amy Ryan and Aaron Dominguez. Martin and John Hoffman (Grace & Frankie) created the series and serve as writers and executive producers. Short, Gomez, Jamie Babbitt, Dan Fogelman, and Jess Rosenthal also executive produce.
Hulu has set an August 31, 2021 premiere date.
The Plot:
From the minds of Steve Martin, Dan Fogelman, and John Hoffman comes a comedic murder-mystery series for the ages. Only Murders In The Building follows three strangers (Martin, Short, and Gomez) who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth.
As they record a podcast of their own to document the case, the three unravel the complex secrets of the building which stretch back years. Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another. Soon, the endangered trio comes to realize a killer might be living amongst them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it’s too late.
Poster for ‘Only Murders in the Building’ (Photo Courtesy of Hulu)
Kate Mara (A Teacher) and Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta) will star in Class of ’09, a limited series just ordered by FX. Class of ’09 comes from executive producer/writer Tom Rob Smith (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) and executive producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson (American Crime Story, Pose).
“Class of ’09 brings together an incredible team of artists who have contributed to several of FX’s most distinctive and successful series from American Crime Story and Pose to Atlanta and A Teacher,” said Gina Balian, President, Original Programming, FX. “With a story from Tom Rob Smith, produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson and starring Brian Tyree Henry and Kate Mara, Class of ’09 is primed to reimagine the course of justice in this unique and timely thriller.”
The eight-episode limited series will be produced by Nellie Reed (Y: The Last Man). The FX Productions drama will air on FX on Hulu.
FX released the following description of the limited series and the characters Mara and Henry will play:
Class of ’09 is a suspense thriller following a class of FBI agents set in a near future where the U.S. criminal justice system has been transformed by artificial intelligence.
In Class of ’09, a group of FBI agents who graduated from Quantico in 2009 are reunited following the death of a mutual friend. Spanning three decades and told across three interweaving timelines, the series examines the nature of justice, humanity, and the choices we make that ultimately define our lives and our legacy.
Brian Tyree Henry will play “Tayo Miller,” one of the most brilliant and unorthodox Agents ever to join the Bureau, a man who seeks not merely to make his mark on the institution but to remake it entirely. Kate Mara will play “Amy Poet,” a woman who never imagined joining the world of law enforcement and finds herself at the center of its most pivotal moment of transformation.
Incredible as it may seem, there is in fact another Transformers movie in the works. Paramount Pictures isn’t about to let that cash cow retire peacefully and have announced the upcoming seventh film of the franchise will be called Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
The title confirms the upcoming live-action film will introduce characters from the Beast Wars toy line and cartoon.
The franchise launched in 2007 with Transformers followed by 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Transformers: Age of Extinction arrived in 2014 with Transformers: The Last Knight premiering in 2017.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a reboot of the franchise and will be set after the events in Bumblebee. And speaking of Bumblebee, that 2018 spinoff/origin story is one of the franchise’s best-reviewed entries, currently sitting at 90% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Filming has begun on the new Transformers film with Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II) directing. “There are different breeds of Transformers,” explained Caple during a start-of-production event. “In our particular film, they are prehistoric animals who travel through time and space, and we find them here on Earth.”
The humans mixing with the CGI robots will include In the Heights‘ Anthony Ramos and Judas and the Black Messiah‘s Dominique Fishback. Paramount’s targeting a June 24, 2022 theatrical release.
Michael Bay’s involved as a producer along with Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy, Mark Vahradian, and Duncan Henderson. Steven Spielberg, Brian Goldner, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Brian Oliver, Bradley J. Fischer, and Valerii An serve as executive producers.
Paramount issued the following description of the 2022 film:
“Returning to the action and spectacle that first captured moviegoers around the world 14 years ago with the original Transformers, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ‘90s globetrotting adventure and introduce the Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons to the existing battle on earth between Autobots and Decepticons.”
Terry, Korvo, Yumyulack and Jesse work together to steal a bear from the zoo with hilarious consequences in ‘Solar Opposites’ season 1 (Photo courtesy of FOX)
Solar Opposites season three isn’t set to premiere until 2022, however, Hulu’s so confident it will continue to attract viewers that they’ve given the series an early season four renewal. The animated comedy about aliens who live among us features a voice cast that includes Justin Roiland, Thomas Middleditch, Sean Giambrone, and Mary Mack.
The adult animated comedy series was created by Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan. Roiland, McMahan, and Josh Bycel serve as executive producers, with McMahan and Bycel co-showrunning.
Season one, which premiered in 2020, kicked off with an episode that became the streaming service’s most-watched original comedy premiere that year. The first two seasons were made up of eight half-hour episodes. Seasons three and four will consist of 12 episodes each.
Solar Opposites is a 20th Television Animation production.
The Plot, Courtesy of Hulu:
Solar Opposites centers around a team of four aliens who escape their exploding home world only to crash land into a move-in ready home in suburban America. They are evenly split on whether Earth is awful or awesome. Korvo (Roiland) and Yumyulack (Giambrone) only see the pollution, crass consumerism, and human frailty while Terry (Middleditch) and Jesse (Mack) love humans and all their TV, junk food and fun stuff. Their mission: protect the Pupa, a living super computer that will one day evolve into its true form, consume them and terraform the Earth.
The official trailer for Annette teases the musical’s “as dangerous, as intense, as love.” The two-minute video takes us through the different stages of a relationship between a singer (played by Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose) and a stand-up comedian, ending with the comedian (played by Oscar nominee Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman, Marriage Story) in custody and facing trial.
Annette was directed by Leos Carax (Holy Motors) from a screenplay by Pop/rock band Sparks’ Ron Mael and Russell Mael. Ron and Russell also composed the score and wrote the film’s original songs. Charles Gillibert and Paul-Dominique Win Vacharasinthu served as producers.
The R-rated dramatic musical will screen as the opening night film at the 74th Cannes Film Festival. Amazon Studios is planning an August 6, 2021 theatrical release followed by the film’s arrival on Amazon Prime Video on August 20th.
The Plot, Courtesy of Amazon:
“Los Angeles, today. Henry (Driver) is a stand-up comedian with a fierce sense of humor who falls in love with Ann (Cotillard), a world-renowned opera singer. Under the spotlight, they form a passionate and glamorous couple. The birth of their first child, Annette, a mysterious little girl with an exceptional destiny, will turn their lives upside down. A film by visionary director Leos Carax, with story & music by Ron & Russel Mael of The Sparks, this original musical is journey of passion, love & fame.”
MGM’s released a lengthy behind-the-scenes video for the upcoming Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect, starring Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls). “We know her as this legend but there’s a story to everyone. Her life had so much depth to it and it came through the music,” says Hudson, discussing the Queen of Soul.
The three-minute video also features interview snippets with director Liesl Tommy and screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson along with actors Forest Whitaker (“C.L. Franklin”), Marlon Wayans (“Ted White”), Hailey Kilgore (“Carolyn Franklin”), and Mary J. Blige (“Dinah Washington”).
Respect also stars Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Kimberly Scott, Saycon Sengbloh, Heather Headley, Skye Dakota Turner, and Tate Donovan.
Harvey Mason Jr., Scott Bernstein, Jonathan Glickman, and Stacey Sher produced, with Hudson, Tommy, Sue Baden-Powell, Aaron L. Gilbert, and Jason Cloth executive producing.
MGM has set an August 13, 2021 theatrical release date.
The Plot:
Following the rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom, Respect is the remarkable true story of the music icon’s journey to find her voice.
Filming is now underway on the upcoming third season of His Dark Materials, based on the bestselling trilogy by Philip Pullman. The third—and final—season will bring to life the last book of Pullman’s trilogy, The Amber Spyglass.
According to the official HBO and BBC One announcement, season three will consist of eight episodes.
“It has been a joy watching audiences embrace this incredible journey of self-discovery, friendship and purpose with Lyra over the past two seasons. Jane, Dan, and everyone on the Bad Wolf team have done such a tremendous job bringing Philip’s beloved world to life, and I cannot wait for the fans to get a front-row seat to all that is in store in this gripping and poignant final chapter,” stated Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming.
Dafne Keen will reprise her role as Lyra, Amir Wilson returns as Will, Ruth Wilson is back as Mrs. Coulter, and Simone Kirby returns as Mary Malone. Returning cast members also include Will Keen as Father President McPhail, Jade Anouka as Ruta Skadi, Ruta Gedminstas as Serafina Pekkala, and James McAvoy as Lord Asriel.
New to the series for the third and final season are Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Suicide Squad) as Commander Ogunwe, Amber Fitzgerald-Woolfe as Ama, and Jamie Ward (Tyrant) as Father Gomez. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Zack Snyder’s Justice League), Simon Harrison (No Man’s Land), and Chipo Chung (Into the Badlands) play the rebel angels Balthamos, Baruch and Xaphania.
Season three directors include Amit Gupta, Charles Martin, and Weronika Tofilska. Bad Wolf’s Jane Tranter, Dan McCulloch, Joel Collins, and Julie Gardner executive produce along with New Line Cinema’s Deborah Forte, Toby Emmerich, and Carolyn Blackwood. Philip Pullman, Jack Thorne, and Tom Hooper also executive produce as well as BBC’s Ben Irving.
“The Amber Spyglass is the most gloriously complex of Philip Pullman’s novels to adapt for TV but with our world-class creative team in Cardiff no challenge is too daunting. This season is both an epic adventure and a story about love and truth. Jack, Francesca, and Amelia’s scripts capture the brilliance of Philip’s worlds, and we are joined by our much-loved existing cast and some exceptional talent new to the series,” said Jane Tranter, Bad Wolf Founder and Executive Producer.
The series is a Bad Wolf in association with New Line Cinema for BBC One and HBO production.
“The moment we started season one of His Dark Materials, we had mapped out all three novels to know the direction in which where we were heading,” said executive producer Dan McCulloch. “Every detail and character within this incredible work of fiction has been analyzed and discussed for four years now, and to finally arrive in the many worlds of The Amber Spyglass is thrilling.”
HBO and BBC One confirmed filming is taking place at Wolf Studios Wales stages and on location throughout Wales and England.
The Season 3 Plot:
Season three will see “Will” (Wilson), the bearer of The Subtle Knife, and “Lyra” (Keen), the prophesied child, travel through multiple worlds to find and protect each other.
Red describes his story as full of ambition and hope in the trailer for The Blacklist‘s season eight finale. Airing on June 23, 2021, the season eight episode 22 teaser video seems to indicate we’re about to learn well-kept secrets.
The cast of The Blacklist is led by James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington and Megan Boone as Elizabeth Keen. Diego Klattenhoff plays Donald Ressler, Amir Arison is Aram Mojtabai, Hisham Tawfiq is Dembe Zuma, and Harry Lennix stars as Harold Cooper.
“Konets” Plot: Reddington makes a disturbing request to Liz in exchange for the truth about his identity.
Season 8 Description, Courtesy of NBC:
With his back against the wall, Raymond Reddington (Spader) faces his most formidable enemy yet: Elizabeth Keen (Boone). Aligned with her mother, infamous Russian spy Katarina Rostova, Liz must decide how far she is willing to go to find out why Reddington has entered her life and what his endgame really is. The fallout between Reddington and Keen will have devastating consequences for all that lie in their wake, including the Task Force they helped to create.
Hisham Tawfiq as Dembe Zuma and James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington in ‘The Blacklist’ season 8 episode 22 (Photo by: Will Hart/NBC)Megan Boone as Liz Keen in the season 8 finale (Photo by: Will Hart/NBC)James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington and Hisham Tawfiq as Dembe Zuma in season 8 episode 22 (Photo by: Will Hart/NBC)Hisham Tawfiq as Dembe Zuma and James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington in the season 8 finale (Photo by: Will Hart/NBC)James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington in season 8 episode 22 (Photo by: Will Hart/NBC)Amir Arison as Aram Mojtabai in the season 8 finale (Photo by: Will Hart/NBC)James Spader as Raymond “Red” Reddington and Jose Febus as Pascual in the season 8 episode 22 (Photo by: Will Hart/NBC)
Annette Bening as Marge Selbee and Bryan Cranston as Jerry Selbee in ‘Jerry and Marge Go Large’ (Photo credit: Jake Giles Netter/Paramount+)
Oscar nominee Bryan Cranston and four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening have signed on to star in the Paramount+ original film, Jerry and Marge Go Large. Oscar-winner David Frankel will direct the comedy, which draws inspiration from a true story of a Michigan couple who won the Massachusetts lottery.
Filming is expected to begin in July in Georgia.
The couple’s story originally gained attention following an article by Jason Fagone written for The Huffington Post. Fagone’s article about the lottery hackers appeared in 2018 and described in great detail how Jerry Selbee was able to figure out how and when to buy tickets to increase his odds of making more than he spent. Levantine Films’ Gil Netter, Tory Metzger, and Renee Witt developed and packaged the Selbees’ story into a film, with Emmy nominee Brad Copeland (Arrested Development) writing the screenplay. Producers include Netter, Levantine Films, and MRC Film’s Landline Pictures’ Amy Baer. Kevin Halloran (Ford v Ferrari) executive produces.
Paramount+ released the following brief synopsis:
Jerry and Margo Go Large is the remarkable true story of how retiree Jerry Selbee (Cranston) discovers a mathematical loophole in the Massachusetts lottery and, with the help of his wife, Marge (Bening), wins $27 million dollars and uses the money to revive their small Michigan town.
Paramount Pictures just released a new trailer for Snake Eyes, the upcoming action thriller based on the G.I. Joe character. The nearly two and a half minute trailer focuses on the bond between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow that was cemented when Snake Eyes saved Storm Shadow’s life.
The trailer arrived along with a video featurette with Henry Golding (Snake Eyes) and Andrew Koji (Storm Shadow) discussing the film and their characters’ relationship along with G.I. Joe comics writer Larry Hama. “Larry Hama being on board gave us the stamp of approval,” says Golding. “We’ve all loved his work for an entire generation.”
“When I did the comic it was completely character-driven,” explains Hama. “The readers would come back to spend more time with characters they liked. I came up with the backstory about Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow being comrades.”
Koji adds, “It’s very yin and yang – the ninja in black and the ninja in white.”
Robert Schwentke (Insurgent, RED) directs from a screenplay by Evan Spiliotopoulos, Anna Waterhouse, and Joe Shrapnel (story by Spiliotopoulos). In addition to Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) and Andrew Koji (Warrior), the cast includes Úrsula Corberó as Baroness, Samara Weaving as Scarlett, Haruka Abe as Akiko, Takehiro Hira as Kenta, Peter Mensah as Blind Master, and Iko Uwais as Hard Master.
Paramount is set to release Snake Eyes in theaters, Dolby Cinema, and IMAX on July 23, 2021.
The Plot:
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins stars Henry Golding as Snake Eyes, a tenacious loner who is welcomed into an ancient Japanese clan called the Arashikage after saving the life of their heir apparent. Upon arrival in Japan, the Arashikage teach Snake Eyes the ways of the ninja warrior while also providing something he’s been longing for: a home. But, when secrets from his past are revealed, Snake Eyes’ honor and allegiance will be tested – even if that means losing the trust of those closest to him.
