News

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.

White Bird: A Wonder Story has received a near-perfect audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie acts as both a prequel and a sequel to Julia Roberts' 2017 Wonder, based on the R.J. Palacio novel of the same name, which grossed $315 million at the worldwide box office. White Bird's story, based on Palacio's White Bird graphic novel, follows Julian Albans (Bryce Gheisar) after he has been expelled from Beecher Prep and as he learns about the experiences that his grandmother (Helen Mirren) had as a Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied France.

Per Rotten Tomatoes, White Bird has a 99% audience score based on more than 250 verified ratings. The critical score is not as high, but it is still fresh, at 72%. Critics generally preferred Wonder to White Bird, with the 2017 movie receiving an 86% critical score. General audiences, on the other hand, overall prefer White Bird, as Wonder's audience score only reached 88%. White Bird's...

In 2024, a historical coming-of-age film called White Bird was released as a prequel to the 2017 movie, Wonder, yet most of the original cast did not return due to the new release's unique setting. For context, Wonder is a book-to-movie adaptation that tells the story of Auggie, a young boy with a facial deformity who finds love and friendship in his new school. The movie was a major success, earning $315 million at the box office and 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. Now, the story is continuing through White Bird, a Wonder prequel.

Because White Bird is part of the Wonder universe, many viewers may be expecting to see members of Wonder's original cast in the movie, such as Jacob Tremblay, Julia Roberts, and Owen Wilson. However, none of these actors make an appearance in the 2024 film. In fact, the only actor from Wonder who reprises his role is Bryce Gheisar as Julian. Instead,...

White Bird has earned a solid Rotten Tomatoes score. The movie is both a sequel and prequel to 2017's Wonder, which starred Julia Roberts and was adapted from the R. J. Palacio novel of the same name and grossed $315 million against its $20 million budget. The new movie follows expelled bully Julian learning about his grandmother's (Helen Mirren) youth in France during World War II. The White Bird cast also includes Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Gillian Anderson, Patsy Ferran, Ishai Golan, Jem Matthews, Stuart McQuarrie, Olivia Ross, and Jo Stone-Fewings.

Rotten Tomatoes has now calculated an official Tomatometer score for White Bird. Compiled from 37 different critics' reviews, the movie has earned a solidly Fresh score of 73%. This is just 13 points shy of the original movie, which is Certified Fresh at 86%. This score could fluctuate as more reviews are added, but at the time of writing it is the best score for...

Some of the most compelling moments in White Bird, Marc Forster’s mostly slushy adaptation of R.J. Palacio’s graphic novel of the same name, take place during flashbacks to the 1940s. These are the recollections of an aging grandmother trying to teach her grandson lessons about kindness. They’re also stories of survival, and Forster, with Dp Matthias Königswieser, films them in a way that avoids the trappings of sentimentality.

In them, the German-Swiss helmer behind Monster’s Ball, Quantum of Solace and more recently A Man Called Otto reaches for a specificity and a clear-eyed honesty that liberates parts of this young adult film from narrative contrivance. Unfortunately, too much of the rest of Mark Bomback’s screenplay tends toward saccharine manipulation.

White Bird functions as both a prequel and a sequel to Wonder, another Palacio work adapted for the big screen. That story followed Auggie Pullman, a 10-year-old...

The past decade has seen the release of countless films transparently designed to launch a cinematic universe. From superhero movies littered with crumbs of parallel I.P. at the expense of narrative depth to toy adaptations that attempted crossovers based on little more than shared corporate ownership, virtually every filmmaker of a certain budget was asked to make a few compromises in pursuit of building a lucrative franchise. But even in an era of filmmaking defined by world-building, few could have predicted that “Wonder” would be the genesis of a multi-pronged film series.

If anyone walked out of Stephen Chbosky’s 2017 film — which starred Jacob Tremblay as a middle schooler with facial disfigurement, learning how to navigate the endless cruelty of pre-teens in a story about the importance of kindness — wondering what happened to Julien (Bryce Gheisar), the bully who was ultimately expelled from Beecher Prep, you’re in luck.

It's been over 7 years since Jacob Tremblay's Auggie Pullman reminded his family, classmates, and viewers alike about choosing kindness in the book-to-screen adaptation of Wonder. The character's facial features lead him to be a target in school, with his bully Julian (Bryce Gheisar) getting suspended by the end of the film for his behavior. Although one would think that the expulsion would've resulted in a change of heart for the teenager, White Bird proves otherwise. The next R.J. Palacio bestseller to get the screen treatment functions as a far-removed Wonder spin-off, since it briefly picks up on what happened to Julian after he switches to a new school, shifting focus to a riveting cautionary tale told by his grandmother (Helen Mirren) over tea. Although her experience of surviving the Nazi occupation isn't as distinct from others depicted in war dramas that came before it, Marc Forster's latest directorial...

In 2017, Julia Roberts starred in the box office hit, Wonder, and now the coming-of-age movie is getting an unexpected sequel starring Helen Mirren. Based on a book by R.J. Palacio, Wonder tells the story of Auggie, a young boy with a facial deformity who enters a new fifth grade class at his local public school. Auggie's peers must come to terms with his differences and become compassionate, seeing the bright young boy he truly is. The movie not only earned an impressive $315 million at the box office, but it also has a Certified Fresh 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Because it has been seven years since the movie's initial release, Wonder has gone somewhat under the radar in recent years. As mentioned above, the movie was incredibly successful, but has somewhat ebbed away in favor of other heartwarming children's movies. Notably, the star-studded cast has moved on to other big projects. For example,...

The 2017 coming-of-age drama Wonder was a major hit when it first released, drawing attention not only to the works of director Stephen Chbosky, but also to R.J. Palacio, who wrote the 2012 novel the film is based on. Palacio also went on to develop a graphic novel spinoff in 2019, titled White Bird: A Wonder Story. Now, a film adaptation of White Bird will be arriving in theaters. Directed by Marc Forster, the movie elevates a somewhat predictable story with strong performances and an emotionally resonant tale.

White Bird

Director Marc ForsterRelease Date August 25, 2023Studio(s) Mandeville Films, Participant, LionsgateDistributor(s) LionsgateWriters Mark BombackCast Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Bryce Gheisar, Helen Mirren, Gillian AndersonRuntime 120 MinutesGenres Drama, Adventure

Picking up after the events of Wonder, the story of White Bird follows former school bully Julian Albans (Bryce Gheisar) who isolates himself at his new school, not wanting to stand out following the previous film.

Set in wartime France, White Bird is the moving tale of Sara, a young girl hiding from Nazi occupiers, and Julian, the classmate who protects her. Adapted from R.J. Palacio’s acclaimed graphic novel, director Marc Forster crafts a story that shines light on humanity’s resilience in even our darkest of times.

Much like Palacio’s earlier work Wonder, which explored a boy learning to accept himself despite bullying, White Bird finds the power in treating others with compassion. This time the setting is German-occupied Alsace in 1942, where Jewish teenager Sara must go into hiding after Nazis raid her town. When her friend Julian offers shelter in his family’s barn, an unlikely bond forms that helps Sara and Julian endure the months-long ordeal.

Forster skillfully brings this nuanced story to cinematic life. Newcomers Ariella Glaser and Orlando Schwerdt anchor the film with moving portrayals of Sara and Julian,...

White Bird: A Wonder Story tells a heartfelt story against the backdrop of World War II, and there are different options for where to watch the movie. Entering development in 2019, the movie is a prequel and sequel to 2017's hit movie Wonder, starring Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson. White Bird's cast includes bringing back Bryce Gheisar as Julian, a former school bully to Jacob Tremblay's Auggie, as he lives in Paris. White Bird's story is told from the perspective of his grandmother, played by Helen Mirren, as she remembers her childhood as a Jewish girl in World War II.

The release of White Bird comes seven years after Wonder made $315 million, received very positive reviews to get an 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and got an Oscar nomination for Makeup and Hairstyling. This was not the original plan, as White Bird was delayed multiple times even though filming was already complete.

As Neil Young once sang, the now shuttered Participant is gone, but not forgotten.

Some of Tinseltown’s leading talents like Regina King, George Clooney, Ava DuVernay, Daniel Dae Kim, Martin Sheen, Regina King, Alfonso Cuaron, Matt Damon, Diego Luna and more have joined up with the National Domestic Workers Alliance to express “gratitude and pride” in the work put out by the Jeff Skoll-created shingle over the last two decades. At the same time, the A-Listers are imploring the ever increasingly conglomerated industry to keep their eyes on the social impact prize.

“As we say goodbye to Participant, we must underscore that values-based storytelling is needed now more than ever; to expand the room for debate, to open our hearts to experiences vastly different from our own, to immerse us in the beauty of humanity’s complexities,” the star-studded letter says. “And in the face of unprecedented change and uncertainty,...

White Bird.The repeatedly delayed film White Bird, based on the 2019 graphic novel by R.J. Palacio, follows an elderly Jewish woman looking back on her youth in France during World War II, particularly the time she spent hiding from the Nazis. The framing is odd: She is telling this tale to impart a lesson to her grandson, a bully character from a different, earlier novel by Palacio, Wonder. Both stories are part of a wider fictive universe authored by Palacio, the “World of Wonder,” which comprises spinoff books, film adaptations, and merchandise, all branded with the poptimistic slogan/hashtag “Choose Kind.” A friendly schoolmate refusing to persecute White Bird’s protagonist for being Jewish is implicitly an example of “choosing kind,” divorced from any historically based understanding of solidarity or resistance to fascism. More problematically, White Bird has as its epigraph George Santayama’s famous quote “Those who can’t...