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Almost a decade ago, Universal Pictures released the follow-up to the critically panned horror film, Ouija, which was met with rave reviews from critics thanks to Mike Flanagan's brilliance. Directed and co-written by Flanagan, Ouija: Origin of Evilserved as a prequel to its 2014 predecessor and was not only a critical success but also made waves at the box office. The hit movie was released in theaters on October 21, 2016, and years later has found a streaming home in the U.S., where fans can finally revisit it for free.

Ouija: Origin of Evil will begin streaming on Tubi on August 16, reminding fans of Flanagan’s remarkable work, which is regarded as a significant improvement over Ouija. The film starred Elizabeth Reaser, Lulu Wilson, and Annalise Basso as Alice, Doris, and Lina, making up the unfortunate Zander who encountered a menacing spirit summoned from a Ouija board. Henry Thomas, a frequent Flanagan collaborator,...

Netflix is one of the primary sources of water cooler conversation in the streaming era. The platform is filled to the brim with binge-able content just waiting to be discovered. Thanks to a seemingly endless supply of content, the streamer became not only a source of conversation but also a source of comfort for many of us during the lockdown phase of the Covid pandemic. When everything was uncertain and scary, the Netflix lineup gave us the chance to shut off the outside world and escape into fantasy for a brief time.

It wasn’t just you or I who turned to Netflix for comfort during the pandemic, however. Even decorated filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino sought comfort and escape in the streamer’s content library. More specifically, Tarantino latched onto a horrifying Mike Flanagan series during lockdown.

In a 2020 conversation with The Jerusalem Post, the Kill Bill director expressed an enthusiastic appreciation for said program,...

Garrett Martin has made multiple documentaries in recent years: Unbounded, about a journey through the most rural and inaccessible natural areas of Chile; The River Runs On, about conservationists in the Pisgah and Nantahala forests; I Saw the Light, about an investigation into the elusive brown mountain lights in North Carolina; and Paradise, about the impressive garden cultivated by a mountain man who has been living off the grid for fifty years. Now, The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Martin has made his narrative feature directing debut – and he chose to get that part of his career rolling with a psychological thriller! His new project is called The Asylum (and I can assure you that this is not a documentary about the mockbuster-creating production company The Asylum). Martin assembled a strong cast for his narrative feature: Henry Thomas (The Haunting of Hill House), Julian Richings (Wrong Turn 2003), Willa Holland (Arrow...

Garrett Martin’s The Asylum has a roster of new residents.

Actors Cameron Cowperthwaite, Willa Holland, Henry Thomas, Julian Richings and Chaney Morrow have booked roles in the indie psychological thriller. Martin directed from his own script, which follows the events inside a sinister asylum where a dedicated counselor named Dr. Emmett Thompson (Cowperthwaite) is helping those with mental health issues.

He encounters a patient in need named Adam (Morrow) and sets out to help him. Meanwhile, Holland plays Angela, a woman with a complex relationship with Cowperthwaite’s counselor. Thomas stars as Axel, a detective who is investigating the asylum while Richings plays Dr. Raymond, the head psychiatrist at the asylum. Shooting has wrapped in Kentucky.

Martin produced the film through his Martin Motion Pictures alongside a team that includes Jeff Seemann, Davi Davis and Nicolaas Bertelsen.

Cowperthwaite is best known for his work on Fallout, Dahmer — Monster: The...

These days he might be one of the biggest names in the industry, racing his car around a track in Joseph Kosinski’s F1 and preparing for his return as famed stunt performer Cliff Booth in David Fincher’s highly-anticipated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel, but 30 years ago, he was still enjoying the early days of fame. That popularity came through his appearances in classics like Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise, Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It, Neil Jordan’s Interview with the Vampire, and Edward Zwick’s Legends of the Fall — the latter of which is now topping the charts over at Tubi. Right now, the free streamer is seeing an uptick in viewers checking out Zwick’s beloved Western drama, where it currently holds the seventh spot on the Top 10 list.

Transporting audiences backwards through time to Montana at the turn of the 20th century,...

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Remember those days? Back when you’d cruise down to the local movie theater, plop down with a big tub of popcorn, and just lose yourself in a movie? No deep dissections, no endless online debates – just pure, unadulterated fun, thrills, and maybe a little bit of magic. That, my friends, was the 80s. It was a time when Atari was king, arcades hummed with the glow of Pac-Man and Space Invaders, and our imaginations were fueled by pixels and silver screens. If you’re looking for a perfect slice of that cinematic pie, look no further than 1984’s Cloak & Dagger. This film perfectly captures that awesome feeling when your childhood dreams of being a secret agent collided head-on with real-world adventure. It stars Henry Thomas, who you’ll remember as Elliott from E.T., this time as Davey Osborne. Davey’s a kid...

Taylor Sheridan doesn’t take kindly to creative interference. The Yellowstone mastermind doesn’t suffer fools or meddling producers, gladly. Seventeen years after Harvey Weinstein chopped down the director’s cut of Billy Bob Thornton’s All the Pretty Horses, Sheridan is still simmering with resentment.

He calls out the Hollywood machine for turning masterpieces into “mediocre” products, lamenting how Weinstein’s meddling crushed what could have been a majestic Western epic. “For anyone to dedicate that amount of time and energy and passion… and then not be in control of the finished product, I think that’s the resistance,” Sheridan recently told Deadline. He penned and directed Wind River with The Weinstein Company and experienced firsthand the toxic fallout when Weinstein’s empire reportedly imploded amid scandal.

Sheridan’s powerful film risked being swallowed by Weinstein’s disgrace. But he refused to let the film and its vital message fade quietly.

‘The Life of Chuck’ Contains Multitudes ‘The Life of Chuck’, based on Stephen King’s 2020 novella, director Mike Flanagan crafts a reverse-chronological odyssey through the life of Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston). It is an elegiac meditation on memory, mortality, and moments of transcendence. The story begins at the end- amidst Chuck’s final moments and a world seemingly unraveling- then winds backward through three interwoven acts that explore his adulthood, childhood, and the threads that connect them. Tom Hiddleston leads a powerhouse ensemble, including Mark Hamill as Chuck’s loving but complicated grandfather Albie, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Marty Anderson, a kind and reflective teacher, and Karen Gillan as a tirelessly busy nurse- perhaps the film’s quietest reflection of our current climate of collective burnout and emotional fatigue. Tom Hiddleston plays Chuck with a kind of weary grace- a quiet, inward ache. His post-Marvel trajectory has been refreshingly unpredictable,...

If you've ever seen "Sling Blade," the 1996 directorial feature debut of Billy Bob Thornton, you know the man isn't just a phenomenal actor but a damn good writer and director, too. "Sling Blade" is old-school, smart, and sensitive — it's poetry in motion in a way that very few films are. It couldn't be made today for several reasons, but at the time, Thornton received the recognition for it that he deserved. It brought him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, but more importantly, he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

His career as a writer-director (in addition to being a busy actor) couldn't have had a better start. He was ambitious and creatively rich, having his own singular cinematic vision that had the potential to turn him into the type of actor-director that Clint Eastwood had become before him. But as it often happens in Hollywood, his next...

Children watching Pixar’s new animated sci-fi adventure “Elio” may be dazzled by the film’s science fiction concepts, wild alien characters and outer space adventures. Adults, however, might experience a sense of déjà vu. “Elio” may be an original story but it’s cobbled together from memorable pieces of other sci-fi movies, classics and cult classics alike, which makes it a perfect opportunity to introduce younger audiences to the wonderful, weird movies that inspired it. And also some other films which are remarkably similar and got unfairly overlooked.

So if you or your kids exit the theater wanting more films like “Elio” — despite the film’s many flaws — here’s your viewing list. Plop yourselves down on that couch and make a whole weekend of it. You’ll be glad you did!

David Rappaport and Craig Warnock in ‘Time Bandits’ (Handmade Films) ‘Time Bandits’ (1981)

Terry Gilliam’s sci-fi action-comedy...

As his second major theatrical feature, "Jaws" was one of the first times that Steven Spielberg worked with children, which would become one of his directorial hallmarks. His stories have frequently been told through the eyes of a child ever since, whether they're enduring a World War II prison camp, fleeing from aliens, encountering dinosaurs, or searching for the Blue Fairy to become human and earn a mother's love. Similarly, in "Jaws," 6-year-old Jay Mello and 12-year-old Chris Rebello play Chief Brody's (Roy Scheider) sons, Sean and Michael. They appear throughout the film initially enjoying the summer season of Amity island, especially since Michael got a little boat of his own.

Laurent Bouzereau's book "Spielberg: The First Ten Years" highlights a tiny scene from "Jaws" that features these adorable kids. (The book is a collection of film analysis and in-depth interviews that explores how the young director reinvented cinema in...

Most people know how the sausage is made. Feature films rarely shoot scene in the order in which they appear on-screen. Filmmakers typically have to arrange shooting schedules based on what sets or locations may be available, shooting scenes at hard-to-reach places all at once. Just as often, certain actors may only be available on particular weeks, so their schedules have to be accommodated. Then, of course, it's just efficient to film five, six, or even seven scenes on one set, allowing for minor changes in camera setups and/or lighting. An actor may film their death scene on one day and then their introductory scenes later. A movie is then assembled through the magic of editing. Most cineastes learn how filmmaking works early in their journey through the medium.

Some filmmakers, however, like to shoot their movies chronologically. That is, they like going through the script page by page...

Pixar's Elio, the latest from the beloved studio, is the latest in a fantastic line of films featuring children as Earth's representatives against mysterious universal forces. Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial centers Elliot (Henry Thomas), who befriends the extraterrestrial E.T. against a host of domestic threats on his way to reconnect with his species. The Last Starfighter saw a young man achieve a high video game score before being recruited for an interstellar war. Lost in Space features a pioneering family, the Robinsons, who try to survive deep space trips intact with the help of their brilliant, young son Will Robinson and the family's Robot (Bob May). The escapist ethos of a child to find their place in the galaxy fuels Elio.

Altogether, Elio is an uneven yarn. The types of film it's intending to replicate are clear, but it's missing overall narrative clarity. The worldbuilding...

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Willa Fitzgerald is one of the most talented and beautiful actresses working in the film industry right now. Fitzgerald began her career with a small role in the little-known 2007 film For the Love of a Dog, but since then, she has starred in several iconic films and TV shows, including the popular Scream TV series and her own leading role in the gripping thriller film Strange Darling. Most recently, she starred in the Netflix medical drama Pulse. So, if you love Fitzgerald’s performances, here are the 7 best movies and TV Shows starring Willa Fitzgerald, you shouldn’t miss.

7. Pulse (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Pulse is a medical drama series created by Zoe Robyn. The Netflix series is set in Miami on the premises of Maguire Hospital, and it revolves around the emergency and surgical residents as they deal...

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Jules is a sci-fi comedy-drama film directed by Marc Turtletaub from a screenplay by Gavin Steckler. The 2023 film follows Milton Robinson, an elderly man whose peaceful life is interrupted when a UFO crashes in his backyard. He soon befriends the alien, but things go awry when his neighbors and the government learn about the alien. Jules stars Ben Kingsley, Harriet Sansom Harris, Zoë Winters, Jade Quon, and Jane Curtin. So, if you loved the entertaining story and likable characters in Jules, here are some similar movies you should check out next.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Universal Pictures

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a sci-fi adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Melissa Mathison. The 1982 film follows Elliott, a young boy who comes across an alien and names him E.T.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial has long been one of movie history's most celebrated sci-fi films, widely considered to be among the very best from director Steven Spielberg. 43 years after the film's release, star Dee Wallace reflected on the iconic movie, recalling how she pushed back to make one of her scenes a tad less racy.

Wallace was one of the stars of E.T. with her role as Marty Taylor, a divorced single mother of three children whose son, Elliott (Henry Thomas), befriends the titular space alien. In a conversation with Steve Kmetko for the Still Here Hollywood podcast (per EW), Wallace shared how a subplot about E.T. having a "crush" on Mary would have been more heavily played up in the original version of the film, though "little bits of it" made it to the final cut. She went on to describe how one moment planned would have shown...

Chicago – The Dallas International Film Festival (Diff) wrapped up on May 1st, 2025. The World Premiere of a Texas Film took the spotlight during the fest, with the screening of “Due West,” co-written (with Hardy Janson) and directed by Evan Miller. The film is listed on Diff’s program page under its title Due West.

A small-town Texas woman (Adrianne Palicki) needs $700 from her estranged brother, much to the consternation of her sister-in-law. Once the funds are secured, the woman begins a journey to the purchase she seeks. Along the way, the local preacher Pastor Mike (Henry Thomas) is a supporter, but what exactly is he supporting?

Due West

Photo credit: DIFFDallas.org

The co-writer and director Evan Miller was interviewed by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com in the following Podtalk …

”Due West” continues on the film festival circuit. Follow them on Instagram @DueWestFilm. For an overview of the recently wrapped DIFF2025, click DIFFDallas.

The juxtaposition of the horror and Western genres is an unusual one, for sure. But there’s something rather enjoyable about seeing the two seemingly opposed genres skillfully fused. Organ Trail and Bone Tomahawk are just a couple of examples of the kind of magic that stems from the effective use of this unholy union. We recently noticed that a forgotten horror Western is streaming on Prime Video and that’s the kind of good news we cannot keep to ourselves. The film we’re referencing is Alex Turner’s Dead Birds.

Dead Birds didn’t make a huge splash upon release and still remains somewhat under-seen more than 20 years later. The film does, however, have a small cult following and even managed to win over a few critics. Perhaps some of the appeal comes from the creatives involved. You’re Next scribe Simon Barrett penned the script for this genre mashup.

Here’s A Look At Steven Spielberg’s Top 5 Highest-Grossing Films At The Box Office ( Photo Credit – Wikimedia )

Steven Spielberg is one of the most (if not the most) influential and successful filmmakers in cinema history. The three-time Academy Award winner is widely known for his impeccable craft of telling engaging stories across various genres, from science fiction to historical drama.

In this list, we look at the top five highest-grossing films directed by Spielberg, ranked by their worldwide box office earnings. These movies not only reflect his directorial brilliance but also highlight the impact he has had on global audiences over several decades.

1. Jurassic Park (1993) – $1.1B

At the top of the list, as many expected, lies Jurassic Park, when Spielberg brings dinosaurs back to life in an iconic fashion and in a groundbreaking adventure that changed the course of blockbuster filmmaking forever.

Trending How Aquaman Went From Meme Material...

Giancarlo Esposito will always be known for his role as Gus Fring in Breaking Bad, but the five-time Emmy Award nominee has a new show on Netflix that’s dominating streaming charts. Esposito stars alongside Randall Park and Uzo Aduba in The Residence, the latest screwball comedy/whodunnit mystery streaming on Netflix. The show follows White House staff workers and the lives they share with the First Family. All eight episodes of The Residence dropped on Netflix more than a month ago (March 20), and although it took some time, the series has infiltrated the Netflix top 10, sitting at #8 at the time of writing. It also stars Molly Griggs and Ken Marino and earned solid scores of 85% from critics and 77% from audiences on the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.

The Residence is inspired by the book The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Andersen Brower, and Paul William Davies...

The new iteration of Carrieis moving forward. According to Deadline, Prime Video has given a series green light to the project that will introduce a new generation of horror fans to Stephen King's unforgettable story. The show will consist of eight episodes, with Mike Flanaganserving as a writer, director, and showrunner for the highly-anticipated project. The series will once again tell the story of a young girl who has been kept at home with her mother over the course of her entire life. After tragedy strikes the family, Carrie (Summer H. Howell) is forced to attend high school while mysterious powers grow inside her.

Summer H. Howell was cast as the titular character after appearing in titles such as Time Cut and Spirit in the Blood. The young actress will join a legacy that began back when Sissy Spacek was cast as Carrie White fifty years ago. The adaptation,...

As a child actor, Henry Thomas starred in one of Steven Spielberg’s greatest films. Decades later, he hit a crossroads – spiral into alcoholism and divorce or write his way out. Luckily, he picked up a pen instead of a bottle.

Steven Spielberg at the 2017 Sdcc | Image by Gage Skidmore licensed under Cc By-sa 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Now, the E.T. star has traded Hollywood scripts for epic fantasy novels, proving his storytelling days were far from over. Spielberg launched his career, but this next chapter was all him.

From sci-fi icon to fantasy scribe: Henry Thomas’ unexpected chapter Henry Thomas in Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Credits: Universal Pictures

Some actors fade into Hollywood history. Others evolve. After decades in the industry, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial star Henry Thomas took an unexpected detour – into fantasy writing. Faced with long months on set in Romania, he saw two options.

Sisters Violet and Madeleine McGraw are escaping horror for their next joint project. Violet and Madeleine, best known for their work on genre films like M3GAN and The Black Phone, respectively, will collaborate on a holiday feature described as a mix of two legendary Christmas movies: Home Alone and Die Hard. Variety reports that the yet-to-be-named movie will begin filming in Las Vegas next month.

Madeleine, the older of the sisters, began her career with early roles in films like American Sniper before working on the series Outcast and voicing Bonnie in Toy Story 4. Her breakout performance as Gwen Blake in The Black Phone earned her critical acclaim. Madeleine's other credits include the Disney Channel's Secrets of Sulphur Springs and Ant-Man and the Wasp. Violet gained early recognition for portraying young Nell Crain in Netflix's critically acclaimed The Haunting of Hill House. She later appeared in Doctor Sleep and Black Widow,...

DC fans got a bit of a shock late last year when it was revealed out of nowhere that a Clayface movie was being put into development with a script by horror auteur Mike Flanagan. The movie wasn't even on anyone's radar, including DC Studios co-chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran, who had no plans to make a Clayface film until they saw Flanagan's script and couldn't resist. The movie recently found its director in Speak No Evil's James Watkins, but don't look for noted Clayface actor Alan Tudyk to take on the titular role in the live-action film.

Speaking with Variety, Gunn noted that he hopes Clayface "works as a pure horror movie for somebody who doesn't care at all about DC," but for those fans who have been following the DC Universe for quite some time, don’t expect Tudyk to appear in the film. Despite voicing...

Warner Bros. and DC have found a director for Clayface, and it's a filmmaker with plenty of horror experience. The news that James Gunn's Dcu was developing a movie based on the Batman villain certainly shocked many, though Mike Flanagan had been kicking around the idea for years. While Flanagan penned the script for Clayface, he is unable to direct the project due to his commitments to the upcoming Exorcist sequel. With Clayface being described as a horror movie set in the Dcu, genre fans were eager to find out which director would get to take a crack at the project.

Director James Watkins has signed on to direct Clayface for DC Studios, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Watkins recently directed the 2024 hit horror film Speak No Evil, and his previous credits include the horror films Eden Lake and The Woman in Black. Watkins had emerged as a front-runner...

Way back in 1986, when "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was still in development, the original casting sheets called for actresses to play a 15-year-old character named Leslie Crusher, the daughter of Dr. Beverly Crusher. "Her remarkable mind and photographic memory," the character rundown read, "make it seem not unlikely for her to become, at 15, a Starfleet acting-ensign. Otherwise, she is a normal teenager." As casting and development continued, however, Leslie was transformed into a teenage boy named Wesley, and more closely modeled after Gene Roddenberry's own 15-year-old self (Roddenberry's middle name is Wesley).

Wesley wasn't widely liked by Trekkies, as he seemed too much like a brown-noser. He was too eager to please the adults in his life, too well-behaved, and definitely too smart. Fans point to the instances wherein a teenage boy, working with the best and brightest in Starfleet, managed to be the only one to solve a massively difficult space conundrum.

The 1980s were filled with iconic and unforgettable moments in cinema. Whether it was watching Elliott’s (Henry Thomas) bike take flight in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial or John Cusack’s Lloyd Dobler take a shot at love with a boombox held high over his head in Say Anything…, the decade was filled with some truly historic sequences. On a list of those goosebump-inducing cinematic swells, one would undoubtedly find the final shot of John Hughes’ 1985 teen classic, The Breakfast Club.

Jon Voight will always be known for his Oscar-winning performance in Coming Home, the 1978 war drama starring Jane Fonda and Bruce Dern, but nearly 50 years later he's set to star in a new Western. Voight stars alongside Katherine McNamara (Shadowhunters) and Henry Thomas (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial) in High Ground, an upcoming action thriller set to be released on digital platforms on March 18. Republic Pictures, which operates under Paramount Pictures, has teamed up with Collider to bring you an exclusive look at the first trailer for the upcoming film, which follows a sheriff in a small town who must fight against a cartel that is after a mysterious prisoner in the local jail. The film features elements of a classic action thriller against the backdrop of a more modern Western.

For years, Antony Starr has drawn high praise for his chilling performance as Homelander in the hit superhero satire TV series The Boys. Now, he's managed to beat some stiff competition to earn a major acting award win for his work in the role.

On Feb. 2, the 52nd annual Saturn Awards ceremony was held in Los Angeles. At the event, Starr won the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series. It's a significant win for Starr, as the award isn't limited to superhero-specific projects. Previously, Starr won Best Actor in a Superhero Series along with Best Villain in a Series, both on two occasions, at the Critics' Choice Super Awards.

What a moment! Antony Starr just received Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series for #TheBoys ! Don’t miss the rest - stream it live on #ElectricNOW. Link in bio. pic.twitter.com/S8d1RGGotV— The Official Saturn Awards!

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ended up being more than just a movie, it was a cultural phenomenon. It made audiences both young and old laugh, cry, and probably wish they had a glowing-fingered alien best friend. It also proved that Steven Spielberg had the magic touch, delivering a sci-fi masterpiece that was as heartwarming as it was groundbreaking.

Henry Thomas in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial / Credits: Universal Pictures

And no doubt it was a hit, with its massive box office success, E.T. had all the makings of a billion-dollar franchise. Sequels, spin-offs, maybe even an E.T. cinematic universe, Hollywood was ready to cash in. But Spielberg slammed the brakes, here is why!

What was Steven Spielberg’s idea for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial sequel?

Steven Spielberg is no stranger to making box office gold, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was his first true juggernaut, a film that not only shattered...

One of the things about Sally Albright that drives Harry Burns crazy in the 1989 movie “When Harry Met Sally” is her picky food sensibilities. It takes her an hour and a half to make a sandwich, he tells her. In the sequel, she only has 30 seconds.

The characters, famously played by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, return to New York’s Katz’ Delicatessen for a reprise of one of the movie’s best-known scenes in which Sally pretends to have an orgasm while the pair dines. Now, they will also promote Hellmann’s mayonnaise in the Super Bowl.

With the movie recently reaching its 35th anniversary and being accepted into the National Film Registry, “it just felt like the perfect storm for us to get back together at the same table and have indigestion,” says Crystal, during a recent interview.

Hellmann’s, which is owned by the consumer-products giant Unilever,...

Steven Spielberg has revealed that he briefly thought about adapting the children’s book E.T.: The Book Of The Green Planet for a 1980s sequel.

The unexpectedly huge success of 1982’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial inevitably led to some discussion of a sequel, particularly from its studio, Universal Pictures.

As regular readers of these pages will probably be aware, a treatment was written in the 1980s called Nocturnal Fears, credited to Spielberg and Melissa Mathison, with whom the director wrote the original E.T. It pitched a much darker story than the 1982 film, with its cast of kids being abducted (and tortured) by evil aliens. The idea never got beyond that initial story stage, which is probably for the best.

In recent days, Spielberg talked a bit about that post-e.T. period of his career, and how at the time he didn’t have the clout to prevent a...

Sequels stemming from Steven Spielberg movies haven't had the best track record. Sure, the "Indiana Jones" films had two great movies after "Raiders of the Lost Ark," but the "Jurassic Park" films never captured the dino-mite magic of the original, and the less said about the "Jaws" sequels, the better. One sequel that never materialized, however, was a follow-up to Spielberg's 1982 gem, "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial." Thankfully, Spielberg fought hard to ensure the alien hoping to phone home never made a return call.

While appearing recently at the TCM Classic Film Festival: New York Pop-Up x 92Ny with Drew Barrymore (via The Hollywood Reporter), the Oscar-winning director explained how he stood firm regarding the little guy who made you believe a boy on a bike could fly. "That was a real hard-fought victory because I didn't have any rights. Before 'E.T.,' I had some rights, but I...

When E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial hit theaters in 1982, the movie was an instant hit. But when the studio floated the idea of a follow-up, director Steven Spielberg put a stop to it.

Spielberg recalled stopping a potential E.T. sequel while discussing the movie with Drew Barrymore during the TCM Classic Film Festival: New York Pop-Up x 92Ny event. "That was a real hard-fought victory because I didn't have any rights," the director said via The Hollywood Reporter. "Before E.T., I had some rights, but I didn't have a lot of rights. I kind of didn't have what we call 'the freeze,' where you can stop the studio from making a sequel because you control the freeze on sequels, remakes and other ancillary uses of the IP. I didn't have that. I got it after E.T. because of its success."

Related 10 Sci-Fi Movies That Aged Poorly

Like most media,...

Steven Spielberg says that his efforts to prevent a sequel to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial influenced his decision to secure “freeze” rights on his future projects.

The Oscar-winning director recalled stopping a follow-up to his beloved 1982 film, saying he has “no intention” of ever making a sequel, while discussing the movie with star Drew Barrymore on Saturday night as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival: New York Pop-Up x 92Ny event.

“That was a real hard-fought victory because I didn’t have any rights. Before E.T., I had some rights, but I didn’t have a lot of rights,” he told the crowd. “I kind of didn’t have what we call ‘the freeze,’ where you can stop the studio from making a sequel because you control the freeze on sequels, remakes and other ancillary uses of the IP. I didn’t have that. I got it after E.

Few directors know how to tap into the magic of childhood wonder as much as Steven Spielberg. In 1982, he once again solidified his reign as the king of blockbusters with his alien adventure "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," drawing in countless audience members — young and old — to gross nearly $800 million worldwide. They were swept away by John Williams' rousing score and touched by the power of E.T.'s glowing love, as well as the emotional performances from little Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore. "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" is now ranked as Spielberg's best movie on Rotten Tomatoes, and it's hard to argue too much with that.

But despite becoming a critical hit and cultural phenomenon, there was some overseas controversy surrounding its release. "E.T." was originally going to be a horror movie before Spielberg transformed the alien-meets-world story into more family-friendly fare. Be that as it may, Scandinavia felt the movie...

Despite releasing late in the year, Nosferatu has made a blazing entrance onto many fans and critics' list for top films of 2024. This adaptation of the 1922 silent film classic retells the story and elevates it with brilliant cinematography and a star-studded cast. Nosferatu has gotten rave reviews from fans and critics alike and smashed box office expectations.

Nosferatu has left fans wanting more vampires and other kinds of seductive scares. The film industry doesn't have a monopoly on these, and fans can sate their bloodlust with television shows similar to Nosferatu. From vampire period pieces to Southern Gothic horror, there are more than a few ways to satiate the thirst for more Nosferatu-esque content.

Midnight Mass Elevates Horror Television to a New Level

Midnight Mass is another masterpiece from the mind of horror maestro Mike Flanagan. The series finds its inspiration in religion and transforms it in a way...

As one of the most successful genres in fiction, horror has slowly worked its way into television, leading to a long list of brilliant and scary shows, from American Horror Story to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These series can range from compressed miniseries to long-running shows that lead the audience on a years-long journey with the characters. Regardless of format, some series maintain quality much better than others.

Television has seen some of its best shows of all time over the last two decades, and horror has helped lead the way in high quality stories for the 21st century, particularly the 2010s on. Although some well-respected and iconic horror shows had their share of hits and misses, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural, others maintained an impressive degree of consistency from beginning to end.

The Haunting of Hill House Adapted A Classic

The Haunting of Hill House tells...

Mark Hamill was and remains best known for playing Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy. He would reprise the role for the three Disney sequels from 2015 to 2019, but he's also played a de-aged Luke in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Outside of his time spent in a galaxy far, far away, however, Hamill has taken on a variety of roles big and small, across many genres.

In addition to Luke, Hamill is widely associated with the role of the Joker, a character he has voiced in various animated DC Comics projects and video games, including Batman: The Killing Joke (2016). Voice acting work, in general, remains a major part of Hamill's acting career, but he also continues to appear in front of the camera. One genre that Hamill has not worked very frequently in is horror, but that changed after he scored a meaty role in...

This article contains spoilers for the first two episodes of "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew."

Back in the day, "Star Wars" used to deal with the fear of the unknown quite a bit. "Episode IV -- A New Hope" alone has plenty of scary moments: Darth Vader (David Prowse, with James Earl Jones providing the voice) is a creepy, unstoppable monster. The Empire is a faceless force of oppression. Animalistic, screeching Tusken Raiders stalk the deserts of Tatooine and nearly end young Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) journey before it even begins. Homesteads and planets are destroyed, countless people die, heroes are trapped in a trash compactor with a monster ... you name it. The other two entries in the original trilogy also have their share of hair-raising moments, from Han Solo's (Harrison Ford) horrifying carbonite prison to the nightmarish fate that befalls anyone cast in the Sarlacc pit.

But all...

Brad Pitt's best movies feature him in a variety of interesting roles, from the chaotic Tyler Durden in Fight Club to the Nazi-killing soldier Aldo Raine in Inglourious Basterds. However, one of his most beautifully tragic portrayals comes in the form of Tristan Ludlow, the lead character in the 1994 Western epic, Legends of the Fall. Based on Jim Harrison's 1979 novella of the same name, the film follows Tristan as he and his brothers, Alfred (Aidan Quinn) and Samuel (Henry Thomas) enlist in World War I. The film explores the domino effect this decision has on Tristan's life.

Legends of the Fall is a drama film directed by Edward Zwick, starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Aidan Quinn. Set in the early 20th century, the movie follows the lives of the Ludlow family, focusing on the complex relationships between three brothers and their father against the backdrop of dramatic historical events.

Since 2002, two Hollywood heavyweights have had an illustrious — and productive — working relationship, and cinema as a whole is better off because of it. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio have been working together for decades now, with DiCaprio playing essential roles in some of Scorsese's best modern films, and what makes their relationship all the more touching is that DiCaprio has publicly revealed that Scorsese's movie "Taxi Driver" served as a major inspiration for his own acting career. Before these two joined forces, it may have felt borderline impossible to imagine that they'd become one of the most tightly-knit Hollywood duos in cinematic history; while DiCaprio was getting his start in projects like "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and "Titanic," Scorsese was already a directing legend thanks to "Taxi Driver" and other hits like "Mean Streets," "Raging Bull," "Goodfellas," "The Age of Innocence," and "Casino," just to name a few. Thanks...

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When we say that Netflix has something for everyone it is true for fans of all genres but especially true for the horror genre fans. With an incredible creator like Mike Flanagan who made brilliant horror shows and movies, Netflix has abundant peak horror content. So, today we thought of listing what we thought were the best horror shows on Netflix.

Hellbound Credit – Netflix

Hellbound is a South Korean supernatural dark fantasy horror thriller series created by Yeon Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok. Based on the webtoon of the same name by Sang-ho and Gyu-seok, the Netflix series is set in a world where unearthly creatures appear and condemn people to hell prompting people to create their own religious factions. Hellbound stars Yoo Ah-in, Kim Hyun-joo, Park Jeong-min, Won Jin-ah, Yang Ik-june, and Kim Do-yoon.

Interview With the Vampire...

Horror director Mike Flanagan has teased the potential for several familiar faces to appear in his upcoming Dark Tower, Carrie, and The Exorcist projects. Having previously concluded an exclusive five-year development deal with Netflix following the release of 2023s The Fall of the House of Usher, his time spent with the streamer would come to be characterized by his list of frequent collaborators. Dubbed the FlanaFam by Flanagans wife and most frequent collaborator Kate Siegel, the directors other regular faces have included the likes of Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, and Bruce Greenwood.

Speaking with CinemaBlend about his forthcoming projects, Flanagan was asked whether audiences could expect to see any more appearances from his extensive list of regular collaborators. Admitting that while he already has plans to approach actors for certain roles, he has yet to reveal his plans. Despite explaining that he wishes to avoid getting...

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Stephen King is one of the most legendary writers in the world, and in the horror genre he is basically a god and his work has been adapted endlessly in movies and TV shows. With Netflix having such a huge content library we though of picking out the best of the best Stephen King adaptations you should check out right now.

Stand by Me Credit – Columbia Pictures

Stand by Me is a coming-of-age drama film directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay co-written by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon. Based on the 1982 novella The Body by Stephen King, the 1986 film follows four friends who decide to go hiking to find the dead body of a local teenager who was hit by a train. Stand by Me stars Will Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, and Kiefer Sutherland.

Set in the tumultuous 1960s, The Curse of the Necklace follows the Davis family as they grapple with personal struggles and a sinister supernatural threat. Laura Davis recently separated from her alcoholic husband Frank, taking their daughters Ellen and Judy to start a new chapter. Still hoping to reconcile, Frank tries winning Laura back with a beautiful antique necklace. But little does the family know this “gift” harbors a dark secret with grave consequences.

The film immerses viewers in the unsteady period of the late 1960s through the lens of the Davis family’s upheaval. Sarah Lind delivers a grounded portrayal of Laura, a mother striving to shield her children from the fallout of her estranged relationship.

Violet and Madeleine McGraw similarly give authentic performances as sisters adapting to their changing family dynamic. Henry Thomas also turns in a compelling portrayal of Frank, conveying the complexity of a spouse torn between remorse and volatile tendencies.

Fact: E.T. is a Halloween movie. Make no mistake about that. The landmark Steven Spielberg blockbuster primarily takes place in October with the most iconic sequence — that being the moon-tinted bike ride, which has become the literal logo for Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment — goes down on All Hallow’s Eve. So, consider this episode a timely treat.

At last month’s Creep I.E. Aftermath in Ontario, California, Halloweenies executive producer Michael Roffman and Scare You to Sleep creator Shelby Scott presided over an E.T. reunion panel featuring stars Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, C. Thomas Howell, and Matthew De Meritt. Together, they share personal anecdotes on the film’s shoot and reflect on the way the film went on to shape modern Americana — seemingly overnight.

Stream our chat below or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch...

Vampires are some of the best monsters in movies and TV shows and the most popular. While they're terrifying and bloodthirsty in most media, the past several decades have delved into the magnetic and seductive qualities of the creatures that much of the original writings about vampires are in conversation with. There are many ways to interpret the popularity of vampires in media, as they're typically used as a metaphor for a taboo subject or hidden desires. This forbidden nature has made vampires the perfect romantic leads for many contemporary series and films.

However, the best vampire TV shows aren't just about romance or horror. They go deeper and attempt to comment on the larger nature of the world and what it means to be human. The most powerful vampires in movies and TV are so fearsome and iconic because the stories they inhabit are so vivid and lend themselves to imaginative world-building.

With a career spanning over half a century as the most recognizable name in horror storytelling, it's safe to say that Stephen King knows how to scare the pants off of you. But whereas most of his page-turning chillers are almost always as terrifying as possible, sometimes, the Hollywood adaptations of his work can miss the mark, fright-wise.

Due to the sheer volume of Stephen King adaptations made over the decades, not all of them are winners, but the ones that hit their target are some of the scariest movies of all time. In fact, if it wasn't for Stephen King, we might not have some of the most iconic moments in horror movie history.

Related Stephen King's 5 Best Heroines and 5 Most Terrible Female Villains

The master of horror, Stephen King, has written some powerful roles for women, both good and evil.

Gerald's Game Has an Unseen Third Player Who...

More than 40 years after its release, The Shining quotes prove that the scary horror movie is still as popular as ever for fans. Often regarded as a pioneering effort in the art-house horror movement that has come to define many modern releases in the genre, The Shining paved the way for increased narrative innovation and intellectual stimulation of horror at large. While Stanley Kubrick's film altered several aspects of Stephen King's novel, particularly The Shining's horrific ending, the acclaimed filmmaker, along with lead actors Shelley Duvall and Jack Nicholson, were able to create an original and captivating horror story in their own right.

Many iconic details in The Shining were crafted just before shooting or were improvised, including Jack Nicholson throwing a tennis ball and his most famous line in the movie. Kubrick was a known perfectionist and demanded a lot from his cast and crew, notorious...