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Halle Berry and Djimon Hounsou are to star in the trafficking thriller Red Card.The duo have signed up to feature in the Africa-set movie that is being directed by Rust helmer Joel Souza from a script written by Bad Boys creator George Gallo and Green Book scribe Nick Vallelonga.Djimon plays Max Elmi, a veteran ranger battling poachers in Kenya, who teams up with Dane Harris - a tenacious special agent and a member of a team led by FBI supervisor Amanda Bruckner (Berry) working with international law enforcement to combat trafficking rings overseas.When Max's son, a talented footballer, falls prey to a deceitful sports agent and vanishes into the North African criminal underworld - he will stop at nothing to find his child, leaving Dane to decide how far he is prepared to go.The pair's odyssey takes them from quiet villages in Kenya to the simmering...

Halle Berry and Djimon Hounsou are heading to Africa. The two actors are set to lead the upcoming thriller Red Card.

According to Deadline, Joel Souza has been tapped to direct Red Card. The filmmaker's previous credits include Christmas Trade, Crown Vic, and Rust, the latter of which became notorious for a fatal shooting accident involving actor Alec Baldwin. Unlike Rust, which Souza also wrote the screenplay for, Red Card was written by George Gallo and Nick Vallelonga (Green Book) from a story by Ava Roosevelt, Robert Menzies, and Michael J. Hershman, who were, in turn, inspired by real events out of Africa.

"Red Card is a fantastic script, from writers who have created film classics, and Djimon is an actor of uncommon power and depth," said Souza in a statement. "Together, we all look forward to telling a thrilling story we truly believe will grip audiences worldwide."

In Red Card,...

Halle Berry and Djimon Hounsou are booking a trip to Africa for Red Card, the upcoming thriller written by Bad Boys creator George Gallo and Green Book screenwriter Nick Vallelonga. The newly announced project finds Berry and Hounsou traveling to the sprawling grasslands of Kenya’s Maasai Mara and the Moroccan port city of Casablanca. The National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children backs the project, which the Soloviev Foundation also supports.

Rust and Crown Vic helmer Joel Souza directs Red Card from Gallo and Vallelonga’s screenplay. The film is based on an original story inspired by real events in Africa by Ava Roosevelt, Robert Menzies, and Michael J. Hershman.

According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, Hounsou plays Max Elmi, “a veteran ranger battling poachers in Kenya who joins forces with Dane Harris, a tenacious special agent and part of a team led by FBI supervisor Amanda Bruckner (Berry) working...

Exclusive: Djimon Hounsou and Halle Berry have signed for Africa-set trafficking thriller Red Card, taking its protagonists on a journey from the rolling grasslands of Kenya’s Maasai Mara to the Moroccan port city of Casablanca.

Joel Souza will direct the movie from a screenplay written by Bad Boys creator and Midnight Run writer George Gallo as well as Green Book Academy Award winning screenwriter Nick Vallelonga.

The original story, based on real events out of Africa, comes from Ava Roosevelt, Robert Menzies and Michael J. Hershman.

Hounsou will star as Max Elmi, a veteran ranger battling poachers in Kenya who joins forces with Dane Harris, a tenacious special agent and part of a team led by FBI supervisor Amanda Bruckner (Berry) working with international law enforcement to fight trafficking rings abroad.

When Max’s son, a talented soccer player, falls prey to a deceitful sports agent and disappears into...

Bad Boys Tetralogy At The Worldwide Box Office (Photo Credit – Netflix)

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s Bad Boys films helped shape the action-comedy genre of the ’90s and early 2000s. Their dynamic chemistry is widely regarded as the driving force behind the franchise’s appeal. Their fourth installment, Ride or Die, helped the franchise move past a huge milestone globally. Keep scrolling for the deets.

The buddy cop action comedy films revolve around Will’s Mike Lowrey and Martin’s Marcus Burnett. They are two detectives in the Miami Police Department, and the series was created by George Gallo. The franchise began in 1995, and Michael Bay was the first film director. He returned for the sequel as well. However, Adil & Bilall took over from the third film, which also directed the 4th installment last year.

According to reports, Bad Boys: Ride or Die had an estimated budget of $100 million,...

The franchise created a bromance for the ages, with this first outing featuring gunfights and wisecracking – and an at-the-time more established Lawrence pulling focus

Back in the day when Martin Lawrence had top billing over Will Smith, this movie landed in cinemas in all its gun-wielding, vehicle-exploding, post-shootout-wisecracking humungousness. Now rereleased for its 30th anniversary, it was the first in a franchise featuring the squabblingly bromantic Miami cop partnership, created by screenwriter George Gallo, directed by Michael Bay and produced with towering unsubtlety by the legendary action duo Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, one of their final films before Simpson died of a colossal drug overdose.

Lawrence plays Marcus Burnett, a married man with kids, partnered up with Mike Lowrey (Smith), who is supposed to be a single guy and ladies’ man. Oddly for a cop, he’s also supposed to be rich, with family money, which explains his smooth...

Men in Black's Tommy Lee Jones leads a star-studded Western that delivers a gripping tale of survival, now set to stream for free this April.

Starting April 1, 2025, Western fans can revisit The Homesman, Jones’ star-studded frontier drama, as it arrives for streaming on Tubi. Directed by and starring Jones, this 2014 Western received critical praise for its compelling storytelling and strong performances, earning an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film, based on Glendon Swarthout’s novel of the same name, tells a harrowing tale of survival and redemption in the unforgiving landscape of the American frontier.

A Gritty Tale of Survival in the Old West

The Homesman follows Mary Bee Cuddy, played by The Next Karate Kid's Hilary Swank, a determined and independent woman who takes on the dangerous task of escorting three mentally ill women across the harsh Nebraska Territory. Realizing she can’t make the journey alone,...

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This March, Prime Video is bringing you a lot of entertainment, from the return of beloved shows like The Wheel of Time and Bosch: Legacy to the much-anticipated thriller drama film Holland. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Prime Video this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 9 best films that are coming to Prime Video in March 2025 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

12 Angry Men (March 1) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100% Credit – United Artists

12 Angry Man is a legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet from a screenplay by Reginald Rose. Based on Rose’s 1954 teleplay of the same name, the 1957 film follows twelve men selected to serve as jury members on a murder case where the suspect is a Latino teenager.

In 1974, the screen comes alive with a distinctly charged atmosphere, one where the fading echoes of the old studio system mix with the bold experiments of an emerging cinematic era.

The film unfurls against a backdrop steeped in the aesthetic and ambitions of that time—a period marked by a seismic shift in filmmaking techniques and narrative approaches. The industry, in a state of quiet revolution, offers a stage where the rules of traditional production are questioned and redefined.

At the heart of the narrative lies a desperate producer who devises a plan to secure an insurance payout by engineering a fatal mishap on set. This risky plot centers on the production of a Western, interweaving peril with the delicate art of staging an “accident.” The story’s momentum is driven by a carefully orchestrated gamble, where each attempt to tip fate into the producer’s favor adds layers of tension and dark humor.

Not unlike an attentive bird who spots a smidgen of sustenance in a pile of cattle dung, director George Gallo and co-scripter Josh Posner’s new comedy retrieves a viable comic premise in the deservedly obscure and irredeemably wretched 1982 comedy “The Comeback Trail.” Unfortunately, their hugely enjoyable remake, in name only, was stuck in distribution limbo for the better part of five years, despite a stellar cast that includes Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones and Morgan Freeman. At long last, the movie recently received an extremely limited U.S. theatrical run and is now available on digital platforms.

Speaking as someone who viewed a screener of the new and improved “Comeback Trail” back in 2020, and has puzzled over why it remained more or less shelved ever since, I am happy to report after a second viewing that the indie production is every bit as funny as I...

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Netflix has the biggest content library of any streaming service, and for that reason, many movies from the past are available on it. So, we thought about all the fans of old brilliant movies that are now characterized as classics and decided to compile a list of the best classic movies on Netflix that you should check out right now.

Scarface Credit – Universal Pictures

Scarface is a crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma from a screenplay by Oliver Stone. Based on the 1930 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail and its 1932 film adaptation, the 1983 film follows Tony Montana and his close friend Manny, who build a ruthless and successful drug empire in Miami. However as Tony’s power grows so do his enemies, but the biggest threat to his empire is his own paranoia. Scarface stars Al Pacino,...

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Brothers is an action heist comedy adventure series directed by Max Barbakow from a screenplay by Macon Blair. The 2024 film follows the story of two twin criminal brothers and while one is trying to reform the other is trying to pull him in on a dangerous heist. With legal troubles, gunfights, and family drama they must reconcile their differences before they lose out on the score of a lifetime. Brothers stars Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage in the lead roles with Glenn Close, Brendan Fraser, Marisa Tomei, Jennifer Landon, M. Emmet Walsh, and Taylour Paige starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the hilarious comedy, dangerous thrills, and compelling characters in Brothers here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Logan Lucky (Netflix & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Bleecker Street

Logan Lucky is a...

John Ashton, the legendary character actor who played the curmudgeonly (but ultimately heroic) Taggart in the Beverly Hills Cop movies, has died. No news yet on the cause of death, but his passing was confirmed by his manager to Variety. In addition to his role as Taggart, Ashton had a long and distinguished career on screen, with him also playing a memorable foil to Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin in Midnight Run (directed by his Beverly Hills Cop director Martin Brest).

Ashton was also a favourite of the legendary John Hughes, who cast him in a small role in She’s Having a Baby before giving him a big part (as Eric Stoltz’s father) in Some Kind of Wonderful. He also showed up in Hughes’ Curly Sue. Ashton was one of those guys who was just everywhere, with him excellent in Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone, the underrated George Gallo movie Middle Men,...

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Wolfs is a buddy action comedy thriller film written and directed by Jon Watts. The Apple TV+ film is inspired by a real-life Hollywood fixer Paul Barresi and it revolves around two professional fixers who like to work alone but both of them are hired individually for the same job, they must team up to avoid some deadly consequences. Wolfs stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the lead roles with Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, Poorna Jagannathan, and Zlatko Burić starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the buddy comedies aspect, a bit of action, and two magnetic leads in Wolfs here are some similar movies you should check out next.

The Nice Guys (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Warner Bros.

The Nice Guys is a neo-noir buddy action comedy thriller directed by Shane Black who also...

Morgan Freeman is surely one of the most recognizable actors working today — and work he does. While the man has an Oscar to his name and several truly memorable roles in his filmography, that filmography is ... extensive. Freeman churns out movies at about the same rate as, shall we say, Samuel L. Jackson or John Travolta, often lending his significant talent to projects other stars of his caliber wouldn't even consider.

That's not to knock the now 87-year-old, either. Often Freeman elevates these lesser titles simply by being a part of them. But there are a few movies that even the great Morgan Freeman can't save. Yes, for every "Million Dollar Baby" or "Shawshank Redemption" there's a truly bewildering stinker in the Freeman oeuvre that simply couldn't be rescued by the man's gravitas. 2014's "Transcendence," for instance, currently sports a shameful 19% on Rotten Tomatoes, while the "Has Fallen" trilogy can't...

The Rookie is definitely one of the most fun and thrilling procedural series of recent times. Created by Alexi Hawley, the ABC stars the always wonderful Nathan Fillion in the lead role of John Nolan, a middle-aged small-town man who decides to become the oldest rookie in the LAPD after a life-altering incident. The Rookie recently concluded its sixth season and has been renewed for a seventh season. So, if you love the compelling characters, grounded action, and thrilling stories in The Rookie here are some similar shows you should check out next.

The Rookie: Feds (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – ABC

The Rookie: Feds is a police procedural action crime-drama series created by Alex Hawley and Terence Paul Winter. The ABC series serves as spin-off to The Rookie and it follows Simone Clark, a former school counselor as she becomes the oldest rookie in the FBI Academy at the...

This September, Netflix is bringing you a lot of entertainment with the highly anticipated Nicole Kidman drama series The Perfect Couple, a Netflix original drama film starring Elizabeth Olsen, and the brilliant new animated series Twilight of the Gods. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Netflix this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 5 best films that are coming to Netflix in September 2024 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Jaws (September 1)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

Jaws is a classic survival thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay co-written by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb. Based on a 1974 novel of the same name by author Peter Benchley, the 1975 film revolves around Sheriff Martin Brody as he teams up with a marine biologist and a local fisherman to hunt down a giant white...

Four years after Bad Boys original author George Gallo first went to court over copyright to the lucrative Will Smith and Martin Lawrence franchise, the scribe and Columbia Pictures have settled their differences.

“Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), and in light of a settlement between the parties, Plaintiff Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. and Defendants George Gallo, Sweet Revenge Productions, Inc., and Robert “Bob” Israel hereby stipulate to the dismissal with prejudice of this action. The parties shall bear their own attorney’s fees and costs,” said the three-page filing today in federal court in LA (read it here).

While details of the deal are confidential, both sides are happy with the outcome, I’m told. They better be, By the definition of the “with prejudice” designation, this matter cannot be refiled.

Author of the 1985 “Bulletproof Hearts” story that was the basis for the first Bad Boys...

Columbia Pictures and George Gallo, who wrote the story that was developed into the 1995 action hit Bad Boys, have settled a lawsuit over the rights to the movie franchise.

Both sides, in a joint court filing on Friday, notified the court of a settlement. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Bad Boys, which marked Michael Bay’s first feature and starred Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, has spawned three sequels and a TV spinoff. A fourth installment to the franchise debuted last week to strong box office numbers.

Columbia Pictures argued in a lawsuit filed last year that Gallo can’t exploit a provision in copyright law that allows authors to claw back ownership of their works after a certain period of time. It asked the court for a declaration that Gallo penned the story as a work made-for-hire, which would make it ineligible for termination.

When word of Bad Boys 4 broke out,...

“Let’s face it, I had a bad script,” director Michael Bay said on the commentary track of his debut feature film, Bad Boys. Bay isn’t wrong. Bad Boys relies on buddy comedy tropes already established in 1974’s Freebie and the Bean and 1982’s 48 Hrs., complete with nonsense plot points. “But I had real comic talent in my two stars.” Bay of course means Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. Drawn from the popular sitcoms Martin and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Lawrence and Smith saved the movie from the clunky script with their easy chemistry and comic timing.

At one point, however, Bad Boys had two very different stars in mind with a comic chemistry unlike that of Lawrence and Smith.

Live From Miami, It’s Saturday Night!

In the 1980s, there were no greater kingmakers than Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. Not only did the super producers turn...

The original Bad Boys debuted nearly 30 years ago, and even with a first-time director, two stars untested at the box office and a scramble to finish the script, nothing could handcuff the film’s success.

After a string of hits that included Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop and Top Gun, producing partners Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer began developing a buddy-cop script from George Gallo (Midnight Run) called Bulletproof Heart. Saturday Night Live standouts Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz were eyed to star, but Will Smith and Martin Lawrence ultimately landed the leads. (In 2013, Arsenio Hall told The Hollywood Reporter about his regret over having turned down Smith’s part: “Sometimes I made bad choices.”)

At the time, Smith and Lawrence were starring on the sitcoms The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Martin, respectively, and neither had led a studio movie. Making his feature directorial debut was Michael Bay, known for music videos and commercials.

“Freeze mother bitches!” What’s the all-time best buddy cop movie ever made? 48 Hrs? Lethal Weapon? Beverly Hills Cop? Rush Hour? The Nice Guys? In terms of story and dramatic action, any one of these titles warrants serious consideration. But when it comes to the onscreen rapport and natural chemistry between two stars in a buddy cop movie, it’s hard to beat 1995’s Bad Boys – the directorial debut of the divisive filmmaker Michael Bay. Sure, Bay has earned a rightful rep as a bold and boisterous music-video director turned filmmaker who favors big, dumb, pyrotechnic excesses over quality cinematic storytelling.

However, Bay does deserve at least a modicum of credit for pairing the comedic talents of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence together as Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett – two immensely likable Miami narcotics officers who trade crackling banter and witty one-liners whose onscreen partnership drives the engagement and entertainment level.

Watch the Bad Boys franchise in release order starting with the original film from 1995 to follow Mike and Marcus' action-packed adventures. The chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence has kept the series going strong for nearly three decades, with intricate timelines. Explore the buddy cop world of Bad Boys through four feature films and a TV spin-off, finding the best order to enjoy all the action.

The Bad Boys franchise has been going strong for nearly three decades, but what is the best order in which to watch these action-packed movies (and their short-lived TV spin-off)? Created by George Gallo and shepherded to the screen by producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, Bad Boys is a buddy cop franchise revolving around the partnership of two Miami detectives and lifelong friends. Will Smith plays carefree bachelor Mike Lowery opposite Martin Lawrence as family man Marcus Burnett. These characters have headlined a total of four movies,...

This Summer, the world’s favorite Bad Boys are back with their iconic mix of edge-of-your seat action and outrageous comedy but this time with a twist: Miami’s finest are now on the run.

https://www.badboys.movie

#BadBoys: Ride or Die – exclusively in movie theaters June 7.

The St. Louis advance screening is Monday, June 3, 7pm at St. Louis Galleria 6 Cinemas (5:30Pm or earlier Suggested Arrival)

Pass Link: https://events.sonypictures.com/screenings/unsecured/main/screeningInfo.jsf?code=IU8T0B51F6

Please arrive early as seating is not guaranteed.

This film is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for the following reasons: strong violence, language throughout and some sexual references.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence star in Columbia Pictures Bad Boys: Ride Or Die. Photo by: Frank Masi

The cast includes Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Nuñez, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Jacob Scipio,...

When I first moved to New York in 2017, I made a work friend who quickly became a close friend. One of the many things we bonded over was a shared love of John Travolta's lesser known movies. More specifically, I was impressed at how much joy my new friend was able to derive from the actor's career. I'd be lying if I said that joy stemmed from a genuine appreciation of the man's work, but I think he harbored a strange kind of respect for Travolta, as if any man who could put out "Look Who's Talking Now" or "Gotti" and still maintain some sort of career was deserving of admiration. As such, we planned a massive Travolta marathon which we sadly never got around to.

But if we ever did get around to taking a journey through the dregs of Travolta's career, Rotten Tomatoes might be a decent guide.

Veteran US independent producer Cassian Elwes and Chinese tech entrepreneur and NextG founder Edward Zeng are launching a $100m fund to invest in five to eight features over the next three years.

The pair are in Cannes to meet with potential partners on their Next Generation Media Fund and are talking to buyers on the first project on the slate, the crime biopic Gambino.

Elwes, whose credits include The Butler, Precious and Mudbound, is lead producer on the story of the Mafia boss who led the Gambino crime family in New York until his death in 1976.

Nick Vallelonga, the Oscar-winning...

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence star in Columbia Pictures Bad Boys: Ride Or Die. Photo by: Frank Masi

This Summer, the world’s favorite Bad Boys are back with their iconic mix of edge-of-your seat action and outrageous comedy but this time with a twist: Miami’s finest are now on the run.

Watch the final trailer for Bad Boys: Ride Or Die.

In theaters on June 7th, The Bad Boys franchise has grossed over $840 million worldwide. The first film, released in 1995, made $15.5 million in its opening weekend, and the second, Bad Boys II, made $46.5 million in 2003. The third film, Bad Boys for Life, released in 2020, made $426.5 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film in the franchise and the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2020.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence star in Columbia Pictures Bad Boys: Ride Or Die. Photo by: Frank Masi

The cast includes Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig,...

“Ma’am, I’m 10 years old, you think I could write this alone? I don’t think so.” The age demographics in Hollywood are about to skew a lot younger because a pre-teen has pitched an idea that is soon enough going to be written for the screen – and it’s a wonder it hasn’t been made yet. Here we have Home Alone meets The Godfather, in which we imagine one scene where Kevin McCallister jumps on his parents’ bed, only to find a decapitated horse head at the foot of it. The title? Little Wiseguy.

But the pitch doesn’t come from a desperate studio suit but rather a 10-year-old named Connor Esterson, who you may actually be familiar with, as he co-starred in last year’s Spy Kids: Armageddon. And while Esterson has very likely seen Home Alone numerous times around the holiday season, he admits he...

Hollywood is proof that talent has no age bar, and 10-year-old Connor Esterson is a testament to that. The 5th grader who made his presence felt on screen in Spy Kids: Armageddon has now turned his attention to writing. Esterson has been in talks with bigwigs in the writing fraternity, namely Nick Vallelonga and George Gallo, to pitch a screenplay featuring a young boy’s relationship with a gangster.

Connor Esterson in Spy Kids: Armageddon

The veteran writers were extremely impressed with the aspiring screenwriter’s idea and are now in talks to find ways to get his narrative up and running. While this is a big achievement for someone so young, Esterson’s story is being criticized by netizens for its uncanny similarity to a 1993 Robert De Niro film.

Fans Connect Robert De Niro’s Film And This Young Writer’s Script

Apart from being an aspiring actor, young...

In another installment of “What the heck are we doing with our lives?” A 10-year-old Connor Esterson is developing the script for a “Home Alone–meet-The-Godfather”-esque movie titled Little Wiseguy. Working alongside the preteen are Hollywood Oscar winner Nick Vallelonga and Bad Boys writer George Gallo, gearing up to pitch it to studios around town soon enough. Esterson however has many talents up his sleeve, he is not only a budding actor but also aspiring to become a director in Hollywood.

Marlon Brando in The Godfather Oscar Winner Nick Vallelonga Teamed with 10-Year-Old for this New Movie!

As soon as The Hollywood Reporter reported this, the internet was stunned by news of 10-year-old Connor Esterson, who had prepared a 6-page script for a film that instantly captivated Nick Vallelonga and George Gallo.

Suggested“The good, bad, and the ugly”: Michael Jackson Biopic Set To Finally Shed Light on...

Oscar Parties Are Full of Phonies (But They’re Getting Kicked Out)

Winning an Academy Award opens a lot of doors, especially at Oscar-night afterparties. One of Hollywood’s sacred red carpet rules is that merely holding an Oscar can be a golden ticket to just about every swell soiree in town. But in recent years, some gate-crashers have been exploiting that loophole by turning up with ersatz trophies or, as happened this year, an actual Oscar that didn’t belong to them. Rambling has learned that one non-invitee who arrived at Vanity Fair’s ultra-exclusive fete hauling a vintage 1986 Oscar quickly found himself kicked to the curb. The person was not the award winner, a rep for the magazine confirms to THR, adding that the trophy was confiscated. “Our head of security is working on tracking down its rightful owner.” It’s unclear how the crasher got his hands on the golden boy,...

Exclusive: Nick Vallelonga, the writer, producer and actor whose work on Universal’s Green Book brought him a pair of Oscars and Golden Globes for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture, has signed with Independent Artist Group for representation.

Directed by Peter Farrelly, the film co-written by Vallelonga was inspired by the true story of his father, Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), a tough-nosed nightclub bouncer who took a job as the driver and bodyguard for celebrated pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) during the 1960s, cultivating an unexpected bond with the eccentric musical genius while on tour with him through the racially charged Deep South.

Released in November 2018 after world premiering at TIFF, where it won the People’s Choice Award, the DreamWorks title grossed more than $321M worldwide.

Vallelonga is fresh off success with international sales at AFM for his new film That’s Amore, a rom-com that he wrote...

In the upcoming musical romantic comedy “That’s Amore!,” audiences will have their chance to see John Travolta doing what so many of his fans love to see him doing — singing and dancing with a smile on his face.

The star’s enduring popularity certainly isn’t lost on writer-director Nick Vallelonga, who won two Oscars for writing and producing the 2018 hit “Green Book,” and is thrilled to be finally getting the film off the ground. “I’m constantly writing and developing scripts, and I’ve always had Travolta in mind for the role. I got to work with John on a George Gallo film [“The Poison Rose”] and I was his stand-in for a week on ‘Staying Alive,’ so I’ve always been a big fan of his work. He just makes you happy when you see him on screen, and I’ve always dreamed of making this movie with him.

Exclusive: Established Artists has joined forces with Steven Salisbury of Revenant Entertainment.

Salisbury built Revenant Entertainment from the ground up in 2019 and now represents a diverse list of international clients including Murielle Hilaire (George Gallo’s The Ritual Killer), Ciara Baxendale (Neil Burger’s Inheritance), Wasé Chief (Kevin Costner’s Horizon), Fernanda Romero (Wolf Mountain), Edward Fletcher (HBO’s True Detective), Dominique Druckman (HBO’s Fake Famous) and Keli Price (HBO’S Rap Shit).

Salisbury started at APA in 2008 and transitioned to management in 2010 working under Sandra Chang, then at Industry Entertainment, and later Evan Hainey at Untitled Entertainment.

“I could not imagine a better teammate than Patrick Havern. He is one of the most authentic people in this industry and I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to work with him again,” said Salisbury. “Patrick helped show me the ropes when I first started at APA and has...

The Ritual Killer, directed by George Gallo, had an intriguing premise that promised to explore human psychology, culture, power, and morality. Excited for the cinematic journey, I looked forward to discovering the characters of Randoku and Mackles and delving into the ritualistic killings, cultural clashes, and the battle between darkness and morality. Unfortunately, the execution fell short. The film struggled to turn its concept into a coherent narrative. Some plot twists and developments felt illogical, diluting the suspense and leaving the viewers unsatisfied. Despite having strong characters, their depth wasn’t fully realized. The experience made me wish for a more logically paced and thought-provoking story, showing that a promising premise alone isn’t enough—skillful storytelling is crucial for cinematic satisfaction.

Spoilers Ahead

Who Was The “Ritual Killer?”

Randoku (played by Vernon Davis), the eponymous ritual killer is a complex and disturbing character that plays a central role in the plot of the movie.

Columbia Pictures is suing George Gallo, who wrote the story that was developed into the 1995 action hit Bad Boys, to reassert its rights to the movie franchise.

In a complaint filed in California federal court on Friday, the studio argues that Gallo can’t exploit a provision in copyright law that allows authors to claw back ownership of their works after a certain period of time. It’s asking the court for a declaration that Gallo penned the story as a work made for hire, which would make it ineligible for termination.

Bad Boys, which marked Michael Bay’s first feature and starred Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, has spawned two sequels and a TV spinoff. Sony is reportedly eyeing a fourth installment to the franchise with the duo expected to return.

When word of those plans broke, Gallo served the studio with termination notices that purported to terminate the...

Columbia Pictures on Friday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court as part of a dispute over rights to the original Bad Boys movie. The 1995 Will Smith-Martin Lawrence buddy comedy was a hit that spawned a franchise, with two sequels and a third in the works, that has grossed more than $840 million at the global box office.

The breach-of-contract suit (read it here) filed in the Central District of California, Western Division, is in response to copyright termination notices filed in 2020 by George Gallo, who co-wrote the story on which the first film was based, and Robert Israel.

Columbia argues that Gallo’s story, written in 1985 and called “Bulletproof Hearts,” was a work for hire via his company Sweet Revenge. Works for hire “are not subject to termination under Section 203 of the Copyright Act,” the studio says.

Gallo says the work was not work for hire and...

Morgan Freeman is back to hunt down another brutal serial murderer in The Ritual Killer. The film revolves around a struggling detective who must turn to a local anthropologist with his own dark secret to help solve a string of ritualistic murders in the area that seemingly link back to similar deaths overseas.

Alongside Freeman, the cast for The Ritual Killer includes Cole Hauser, Vernon Davis, Peter Stormare, Brian Kurlander, Mayumi Roller, Murielle Hilaire, and Julie Lott. Hailing from comedy vet George Gallo, the film is a chilling and fun ride for those that enjoy a tense murder mystery.

Related: 10 NFL Players Who Became Well-Respected Actors

In anticipation of the film's release, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with director George Gallo and star Vernon Davis to discuss The Ritual Killer, their initial reservations about the murder thriller, the joys of working with Morgan Freeman, and more.

George Gallo & Vernon Davis on...

Tuesday’s iTunes chart saw a surge for two A24 Oscar-winning films. However, neither of the winning Netflix titles saw its winners reenter the top 10 chart. This week also saw three different films lead the top VOD charts, which is unusual, but even weirder is none placed on all three.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” ($19.99) and “The Whale” ($4.99) jumped to #1 and 2 at iTunes, a platform that’s typically quick to reflect increased interest. The films also climbed to second and third at Google Play, more likely reflecting weekend pre-Oscars interest.

Google Play has “Dragon Ball Hero: Super Hero” on top, while Vudu showed “80 for Brady” as #1. Among the chart leaders, “Everything” and “Dragon Ball” made one other list, while “Brady” is only on Vudu’s. These differences can be accounted for by various factors: Vudu elevates PVOD releases with its revenue-based rankings, Google Play lags a few days behind,...

The Ritual Killer is a thriller movie directed by George Gallo starring Morgan Freeman and Cole Hauser.

One of those movies that make us appreciate other good murder thrillers: simplistic, incoherent and only made to bring in money.

Movie Review

A movie written from clichés and which hopes that those clichés, all stuck together, work. They have worked a thousand and one times, and in addition, we have a starring actor who specializes in thrillers. But, no – it doesn’t work and it doesn’t work in the slightest, with its telefilm photography and its unimaginative scenes, and a script which is quite simply incoherent and created from chunks grabbed from other, more intelligent, offerings in the genre.

We love Morgan Freeman and celebrate each of his performances, but the films he appears in have not always been the best and nor have they flattered his brilliant resumé either. This...

Shout! Studios presents The Magic Flute by Florian Zigl, executive produced by Roland Emmerich, at 325 theaters with expansion likely. A reimagining of the Mozart opera, it follows a present-day teen sent from London to the Austrian Alps on singing scholarship at the legendary Mozart boarding school. There, he discovers a century old forgotten passageway into the magical world of Mozart’s famed opera.

This Harry Potter-ish adventure fantasy stars Jack Wolfe as Tim Walker, who passes from school into the world of the opera and its many adventures as hero Prince Tamino. Wide releases may be picking up steam and Scream, but in terms of new specialty, and family fare, these isn’t much new competition this weekend.

Melissa Boag, EVP of Family Entertainment at Shout! Studios, hopes it will play with fans of magical adventure, Harry Potter, and classical music. Wolfe is a star of Netflix YA series Shadow & Bone.

(l-r) Morgan Freeman and Cole Hauser in The Ritual Killer. Courtesy of Screen Media

Any time Morgan Freeman is in the cast, a film is going to be worth considering. In the Ritual Killer, he’s second banana but still key to the proceedings. The crime drama opens with a grisly killing and dismemberment in Rome before an immediate switch to the Southern U. S. of A., where similar slayings start occurring in what may be some sort of occult ritual style. Cole Hauser stars as , Detective Boyd, the lead detective on the domestic cases, soon turning to a nearby professor of African cultures and historical practices, Professor Mackles (Freeman) who might understand why the bodies are piling up. Not because he’s the prime suspect. It’s just that aspects of the murder scenes seemingly relate to his slice (inadvertent pun) of academia. Hauser is right, and Freeman starts...

Plot: A detective teams up with a professor of African studies to stop a serial killer who has been making ritual sacrifices of local youths.

Review: The story and screenplay for The Ritual Killer were cobbled together by a writing team of five different people: Bob Bowersox, Francesco Cinquemani, Luca Giliberto, Jennifer Lemmon, and Joe Lemmon. Director George Gallo then endeavored to bring their work to the screen as a film that really feels like it wants to live up to classic, gritty serial killer crime thrillers of the past. They even got a dash of Seven in there by casting Morgan Freeman in a supporting role. The film just wasn’t written quite well enough to reach the heights of the classics, and at times it seems like the script was assembled by having each of the writers contribute their favorite elements from past movies.

You’ve got the detective on the edge,...

Screen Media's The Ritual Killer arrives in select theaters and On Demand this week, and Screen Rant is pleased to present an exclusive clip from the film. Starring Yellowstone's Cole Hauser and unforgettable screen legend Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption), The Ritual Killer follows a detective on the brink of retirement who teams up with an anthropology professor in order to find a serial killer practicing the ancient magic of Muti.

Aside from its two powerful leads, The Ritual Killer also stars Peter Stormare (Fargo), Murielle Hilaire, Brian Kurlander, Luke Stratte-McClure, and former NFL player Vernon Davis. The mystical thriller was directed by George Gallo (who famously penned the story for Bad Boys), and it plays with the line between reality and madness as Detective Boyd (Hauser) is forced to step inside the mind of the serial killer to hunt him down.

Related: The 10 Best Thriller Movies Of All Time,...

Can you imagine a world without "The Dana Carvey Show?" To be fair, you probably can, as the ABC series only lasted for a meager eight episodes during the spring of 1996. While the show itself has gained a cult status over the decades, the real legacy of the series isn't about the show's impact on pop culture, but rather its bringing together of talent that would soon go on to impact pop culture.

Consider this staggering list of names involved: Robert Smigel, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Spike Feresten (writer for David Letterman and "Seinfeld"), Robert Carlock (future showrunner of "30 Rock"), Dino Stamatopoulos (future writer of "Community" and Starburns himself) and Charlie Kaufman were all among the people helping Carvey bring his surreal sketch comedy show to the small screen.

Yet the series may not have happened at all had Carvey not been smarting after a short-lived career as a...

The Bad Boys are coming back. A fourth installment in the “Bad Boys” action franchise is in pre-production at Sony Pictures, it was announced Tuesday.

The series’ original stars, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, announced the new installment in the franchise via posts on social media, which showed the two reuniting for filming on the project. The currently untitled film will see Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who directed 2020’s “Bad Boys for Life,” return as directors, with Chris Bremner writing the script. Series producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Doug Belgrad, and Chad Oman return to produce along with Smith for Westbrook. Lawrence, James Lassiter, Mike Stenson, Barry Waldman, and Jon Mone will executive produce the project.

Created by George Gallo, the “Bad Boys” action franchise focuses on Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence), two detectives in the Miami police department’s narcotics division, as they take on major cases and fight drug rings.

Exclusive: George Gallo (The Comeback Trail) is teaming with Green Book Oscar winner Nick Vallelonga to produce The Accidental Gangster, a new thriller based on reformed gangster Orlando ‘Ori’ Spado’s bestselling autobiography of the same name. The former will also direct from a script by the author’s son Anthony Spado and David Steenhoek.

Prior to leaving the mob, Ori Spado was an associate of NYC Colombo Crime Family underboss Sonny Franzese, as well as Los Angeles Family underboss Jimmy Caci, and Joey Pyle, who led the London-based criminal organization known as The Firm. He worked as a fixer in both Hollywood and New York and went on to pull off numerous jobs and heists during his time with the mafia, after working for a time as an insurance salesman. In 1997, one particular FBI Agent told Spado, “I will see the day you are chained, shackled and put on...

Exclusive: Oscar-winning screenwriters Bobby Moresco (Crash) and Nick Vallelonga (Green Book) have partnered with Midnight Run scribe George Gallo and John Gotti Jr. to develop the series Betrayal examining John Gotti and the Fall of La Cosa Notra.

The New York gangster—otherwise known as the Teflon Don, the Dapper Don—was a Caesar, an Emperor… a King. His flamboyant lifestyle and frequent public trials as the head of the Gambino crime family, which controlled New York’s largest organized-crime syndicates, made him not only a prominent figure in the 1980s and ’90s, but also one of the most well-known organized crime bosses in American history. Gotti’s rise from a loyal soldier to Boss of Bosses, and ultimately to his sentencing to life imprisonment after being betrayed by his underboss, Sammy Gravano, is legendary.

The story being packaged as a limited series will differ from past incarnations of Gotti...

Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”

When the announcement came that “Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” the third movie in Channing Tatum’s male stripper franchise, had the greenlight, it was revealed the film would premiere directly on HBO Max. However, director Steven Soderbergh says a theatrical run is still on the table. “We’re talking about it,” Soderbergh told me recently while promoting the “Magic Mike Live” tour, which makes its North American debut in Miami in October. “It’s certainly hard to argue that this isn’t a movie that’s best seen in a theater, because we have the data. People, primarily women, were going in packs, in large groups, to see the ‘Magic Mike’ movies.”

Soderbergh returns as director after helming the first “M.M.” (the second was directed by Gregory Jacobs). “That’s the discussion with Warners right now — can we eventize this?...

Author and Tfh Guru Dennis Lehane joins Josh and Joe to discuss a few of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review, Tfh’s Mogwai Madness

Home Alone (1990)

Mystic River (2003)

Shutter Island (2010)

Live By Night (2016)

Gone Baby Gone (2007)

The Drop (2014)

The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary

Apocalypse Now (1979) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Apocalypse Now: Redux (2001)

Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (2019) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Crying Game (1992)

Diner (1982)

Sweet Smell of Success (1957) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

American Graffiti (1973) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Body Heat (1981) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary

Blue Velvet (1986) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Raging Bull (1980) – Dan Perri’s trailer commentary

Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)

Star Wars (1977)

Star Wars: The Special Edition (1997)

Manhunter (1986) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Public Enemies (2009)

Last of the Mohicans (1992)

Miller’s Crossing (1990) – Josh Olson...