News

Gone are the days when Westerns ruled the box office, with superheroes now filling the role that cowboys once played in the American consciousness. But fear not, the Western genre is far from dead (which you would have known if you had read our list of the 100 Greatest Westerns of All Time). The brutality of the American West, combined with the hope that many people found in it, continues to inspire some of the most exciting filmmakers working today. It also has one of the richest histories of any genre, which allows filmmakers with a passion for Hollywood history to engage with the classics of the 20th century while updating Western tropes for modern audiences. The genre is so versatile that Westerns can reflect almost any political sentiment, meaning that Western movies tend to be an interesting barometer of the era in which they were made.

In just the last few Oscar seasons,...

Eva Mendes would start off the new millennium with a breakthrough role alongside Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke in Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day. She would parlay that into a rising career with roles in films like 2 Fast 2 Furious, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Hitch and The Place Beyond the Pines. The latter film is where Ryan Gosling would enter her life and her priorities would eventually shift from her acting career to being a mother to her and Gosling’s family after tying the knot. Mendes has often been asked about unceremonious retirement, where she replies, “I got tired fighting for the good roles…There just was a point where I thought, ‘I’m going to create my own opportunities and become a producer on things and create my own material,’ but it just didn’t feel worth it to me.”

According to Deadline, Mendes explained...

Salma Hayek Once Revealed She Had To Beg For Her Audition In Desperado (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Salma Hayek is a renowned actress and a global star, best known for movies like Frida, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Eternals, and Desperado. But the actress once recalled begging for an audition for her role in the Antonio Banderas starrer movie Desperado. The studio was hellbent on casting another actress for the role. Keep scrolling for more.

It was released in 1995 and is part of director Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico trilogy. Naderas played the role of El Mariachi in this American neo-western action film, and Salma played the role of the Mexican bookstore owner, Carolina. Back then, Latino actors were not provided with many opportunities, and they were victims of racism in the industry. Salma also fell prey to it.

Desperado was Salma Hayek’s breakout role in Hollywood.

To Celebrate the release of The Mexico Trilogy: El Mariachi, Desperado & Once Upon a Time in Mexico – available now on Limited Edition 4K Uhd + Blu-ray, we are giving a 4K Uhd boxset away to a lucky winner!

A Tex-Mex tornado of fire and fury, writer-director Robert Rodriguez’s astonishing ‘Mexico Trilogy’ broke fresh new ground in American independent and action cinema, catapulting the filmmaker and his largely Hispanic cast and crew into the Hollywood stratosphere.

Rodriguez’s ingenious 1993 debut El Mariachi (infamously filmed for only $7000) sees a naive young musician entering a godforsaken border town and finding himself in the middle of a deadly case of mistaken identity. The major studio follow-up Desperado sees Antonio Banderas take up the mantle of the mysterious Mariachi, stalking the Mexican underworld with enough bullets up his sleeves for every bandito in his path. Finally, 2003’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico sees Rodriguez...

In the American indie explosion of the 1990s, few filmmakers had a more compelling story than Robert Rodriguez. The Texan communications major had spent his time in college crafting homemade shorts and parlayed his enthusiasm into a feature he funded by raising a paltry $9,000, most of it gained from signing up for pharmaceutical drug tests. Shooting in the northern Mexican town of Ciudad Acuña, Rodriguez managed to push El Mariachi past the finish line under budget, pocketing nearly two grand of his meager put-up cash. Initially aiming to release the neo-western action film directly to the Spanish-language VHS market, Rodriguez got up the chutzpah to submit it to major Hollywood studios, one of which, Columbia Pictures, bought the rights and secured festival and theatrical exhibition.

That story is so inspiring for wannabe filmmakers that the film’s quality may as well be a secondary concern, but El Mariachi’s most...

If you have Hulu (or Disney Star in Canada), you might have noticed that Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later is no longer available. Indeed, Disney lost the rights to the independently financed original film, with them now only owning the rights to the Searchlight-financed sequel, 28 Weeks Later. That’s why you can’t find it on streaming sites and why the Blu-ray Disc is out of print. Sony now owns the rights to the film, with it being part of the package they acquired when they bought the rights to finance the upcoming Danny Boyle/ Alex Garland sequel, 28 Years Later. So, presumably, Sony will be reissuing the film in the near future, and there’s a chance that when they do, it’ll look much better than it ever did before. But why?

28 Days Later (2003) was shot with primitive digital tech:

Yesterday, we ran a story...

Italian period drama “My Place Is Here” is being released in Italy by Adler Ent. on May 9, and is being sold at Cannes by Beta Cinema. Variety speaks to the film’s directors, Daniela Porto and Cristiano Bortone, and debuts its trailer (below).

“My Place Is Here” is set in the years following the end of World War II. Women have just been given the vote in Italy, but in Calabria, a conservative rural region in Southern Italy, men still rule the roost.

An unmarried single mother, Marta, who is deemed to have brought shame on her family, has been promised to an older farmer as his wife. While making preparations for the wedding, Marta meets Lorenzo, the village’s openly gay wedding planner. He encourages her to broaden her horizons and take typing lessons at the local Communist Party office as a means of finding work. Here she meets Communist activist Bianca,...

Beta Cinema has acquired international sales rights outside Italy to “My Place Is Here,” directed by Daniela Porto and Cristiano Bortone. They kicked off sales on the film at the European Film Market.

Set in rural Italy’s southern region of Calabria during the late 1940s, “My Place” is about the friendship between a single mother and a local wedding planner, who is the only gay person in their village. This friendship leads her to challenge the prejudices of the community and fight to find her place in the world.

“My Place Is Here” marks Porto’s feature film debut. Co-director Bortone is a helmer and producer known for “Red Like the Sky” (2005) and “Coffee” (2016), which was an Italy-China co-production, among other titles. The film is based on Porto’s eponymous novel that will be published in Italy in March.

The film stars Ludovica Martino, who has a fanbase in...

Beta Cinema has acquired international sales rights to My Place Is Here, directed by Daniela Porto and Cristiano Bortone.

Starring Cinema Paradiso’s Marco Leonardi and Ludovica Martino (Skam Italia), My Place Is Here is a drama with a strong friendship story at its core.

The film is set in the aftermath of WWII against the conservative backdrop of Southern Italy, just as Italian women have gained the right to vote. When single mother Marta accepts the proposal of an older farmer, she meets Lorenzo, the village’s openly gay wedding planner and forges an unlikely friendship with him. Lorenzo...

Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) and Antonio Banderas (Once Upon a Time in Mexico) lead the cast of the upcoming serial killer thriller Cult Killer, which Saban Films and Sony Pictures are teaming up to give a theatrical release this Friday, January 19th. With that release just hours away, we’ve gotten our hands on a violent Exclusive clip from the film that shows Banderas teaching Eve’s character some self-defense moves – which she also has to try to put to use in the clip. You can check it out in the embed above.

Directed by Jon Keeyes from a screenplay by first-time feature writer Charles Burnley, the film has the following synopsis: A Pi (Antonio Banderas) and his partner (Alice Eve) are drawn into a web of intrigue when they start tracking a serial killer targeting a wealthy family with a dark secret.

Eve and Banderas are joined...

The episode of ’20/20′ titled “Missing from the Mall” is set to be broadcast on Friday, January 12, from 9:01 to 11:00 p.m. Est on ABC.

This episode will delve into the tragic case of Dru Katrina Sjodin, born on September 26, 1981, who was an American woman abducted from the Columbia Mall parking lot in Grand Forks, North Dakota, on November 22, 2003.

What Happened to Dru Sjodin & Killer Alfonso Rodriguez Jr?

Dru Katrina Sjodin tragically met her fate when she was abducted from the Columbia Mall parking lot in Grand Forks, North Dakota, on November 22, 2003. At the time of her disappearance, she was a 22-year-old college student at the University of North Dakota and a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. Dru’s evening took a sinister turn after she finished her shift at the Victoria’s Secret store in the Columbia Mall at 4:00 p.m.

While walking to her 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass parked outside,...

As confetti twirls and fireworks paint the sky, ring in the New Year in style! Take your family for a sparkling journey through a curated selection of feel-good comedies, thrilling adventures, and inspiring stories. Escape into vibrant worlds where resolutions rise like champagne bubbles and every dream takes flight.

Binge start with Hotel Transylvania where Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) runs a monster resort for creatures like Frankenstein’s Monster (Kevin James) and the Mummy (CeeLo Green) where they can be themselves without humans bothering them, until his teenage daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) falls for a human backpacker named Jonathan (Andy Samberg).

The Woman King (2022), where Viola Davis stars as the fearless General Nanisca, who trains the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African Kingdom of Dahomey with exceptional skill and ferocity. Ghostbusters (2016), Directed by Paul Feig’s all-female reboot follows Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy), Erin Gilbert...

Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) and Antonio Banderas (Once Upon a Time in Mexico) lead the cast of the upcoming serial killer thriller Cult Killer, which Saban Films and Sony Pictures are teaming up to give a theatrical release on January 19th. With that release date right around the corner, a trailer for Cult Killer has arrived online and can be seen in the embed above.

Directed by Jon Keeyes from a screenplay by first-time feature writer Charles Burnley, the film has the following synopsis: A Pi (Antonio Banderas) and his partner (Alice Eve) are drawn into a web of intrigue when they start tracking a serial killer targeting a wealthy family with a dark secret.

Eve and Banderas are joined in the cast by Shelley Hennig (Obliterated), Paul Reid (Boy Eats Girl), and Olwen Fouéré (Texas Chainsaw Massacre).

When we first heard about this project, it was going...

November has arrived, and with it a bevy of exciting, engaging and fresh new movies to stream on your friendly neighborhood streaming service. As fall is in full swing, the tone and tenor of new movies is starting to shift in a more dramatic direction while studios begin to trot out their awards contenders. A few of those arrive this month, including true stories “Nyad” and “Rustin,” but it’s not all serious business — the Awkwafina/Sandra Oh comedy “Quiz Lady” and David Fincher’s take on a B-movie “The Killer” both arrive this month as well.

And that’s not to mention the cornucopia of library titles that are newly streaming this month, including a host of Christmas classics. Whether it’s Netflix, Prime Video, Max, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+ or Disney+, we’ve got you covered with our curated selection of the best new movies streaming in November 2023 below.

Exclusive: Vertical has picked up U.S. rights to Deadland, a thriller led by Roberto Urbina (TNT’s Snowpiercer), which world premiered at SXSW 2023. Marking the directorial debut of Lance Larson, the film is slated for a day-and-date release on November 3rd.

Urbina stars as U.S. Border agent Angel Waters, who comes across what would normally be a routine illegal crossing, but quickly spirals into his worst nightmare. In a tragic twist of fate, a detained immigrant is killed while being held at a remote border outpost. Days later, Angel is called back to the river where he is met with a terrifying sight — the same migrant that died is standing at the river’s edge. As strange phenomena begin to overtake his life, he soon learns that on this land, that which dies doesn’t always stay dead.

Starring alongside Urbina are McCaul Lombardi (American Honey), Julieth Restrepo...

Sunday Am: Writethru after Saturday Am Post Even though this weekend’s new entries – Warner Bros/DC’s Blue Beetle and Universal’s Strays – aren’t coming in at the top of their projections, with respective lower weekends of $25.4M and $8.3M, the overall health of the theatrical business is still in good shape. It’s being further bolstered by the fifth weekends of Barbie ($21.5M) and Oppenheimer ($10.6M), which are fueling an estimated $100.7M weekend that’s +28% over the same August frame a year ago. That was a dry spell, led by CrunchyRoll’s Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero ($21.1M).

It remains to be seen what the toll will be on today’s box office in Los Angeles from the onset of Hurricane Hilary. If it’s heavy rains, no one is going out. Blue Beetle is currently overperforming in LA.

Seriously, this weekend could have seen the subtraction...

Joan is Awful is the first episode of the sixth season of Black Mirror. It is written by Charlie Brooker, directed by Ally Pankiw and stars Salma Hayek, Annie Murphy, and Michael Cera.

This episode is more amusing than terrifying and features Salma Hayek (who mocks her own diction) playing an actress in a series that parodies itself. It is a charming and humorous episode that serves as an excellent appetizer for this sixth season.

Did you expect Charlie Brooker not to take AI beyond imagination? Wait until the end of the episode, where his idea of personalized content for Netflix is quite curious and, although comedic, also frightening.

Storyline

An executive of a tech company finds a program on Netflix that reflects her own life point by point.

Black Mirror: Joan is Awful About “Joan is Awful”

The first episode of this season contains many ideas, and it is a very good start.

Stars: Daniel Caltagirone, Adam Deacon, Lois Brabin-Platt, Max Lohan, Eric Roberts, Marco Leonardi, Georges St-Pierre, Lucas Aurelio, Elijah Rowen, Bentley Kalu | Written and Directed by Savvas D. Michael

Twenty-five years on from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels the British gangster revival is still going strong. Case in point Hitmen, the new film from writer/director Savvas D. Michael who has already made several contributions to the genre including The Bezonians, Smoking Guns and Original Gangster.

Luke and Lauren are having marital issues. But that doesn’t mean she’s thrilled when Jackie starts hitting on her and when she mocks him, hitting her. This leads to a beating which in turn leads to Jackie’s death.

That would be bad enough, but Jackie’s grandfather Michael is a wealthy CEO with some rather shady connections. When they’re acquitted by reason of self-defense he puts a million-dollar contract on the couple.

To mark the release of Hitmen available on DVD & Digital Platforms from 5th June, we have 3 DVDs to give away!

After accidentally killing the grandson of powerful CEO, Michael Hero (Eric Roberts), a married couple (Danny Caltagirone and Lois Braben-Platt) are forced to fight or flee for their lives when the vengeful businessman enlists the help of a mob boss (Marco Leonardi) to take them down. With a $1 million bounty placed on their heads, the chase begins as they attract the attention of the world’s deadliest assassins, who will stop at nothing to claim their prize.

Hitmen is the darkly comic British action-thriller from Savvas D. Michael, director of multi-award winning The Bezonians. Shot in London, and featuring exotic story locations from New York to Sorrento, the cast includes Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts, BAFTA-winner Adam Deacon (Anuvahood), legendary UFC champion Georges St-Pierre (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and Italian star Marco Leonardi.

Stars: Manolo Cardona, Dagoberto Gama, Adriana Paz, Fernando Becerril, Juan Carlos Remolina, Maribel Verdú, Carla Adell | Written by Gavo Amiel, Julieta Steinberg | Directed by Manolo Cardona

Death’s Roulette (Uno Para Morir) opens on a familiar note, a group of strangers wakes up to find they’ve been kidnapped and brought to an unknown but opulent location for an unknown reason by an unknown person.

In this case, it’s a cop named Simon. Armando who is a surgeon. There’s a stewardess named Teresa and Jose who is retired.

The only ones with an obvious connection are three members of a family, wealthy businessman Esteban, his wife Marta, and their daughter Lupe, a human rights lawyer.

Director Manolo Cardona (Rubirosa) and writers Gavo Amiel and Julieta Steinberg let things play out pretty much as we expect they will. Everyone introduces themselves, there’s speculation about why they’re here and...

Exclusive: Danny Trejo (Machete) and Veronica Falcón (Ozark) have boarded American Underdog, an indie drama set in the world of Mma that is now in production in Chicago. The film, marking the feature directorial debut of Peruvian-American filmmaker Gustavo Martin, will also star Vishy Ayyar and Andrew Gray.

Pic’s protagonist is Jai (Ayyar), an ex-con on a soulful path wrestling with personal redemption when outside circumstances pit him in the ring against the fierce opponent, Marcus (Gray). Trejo portrays Dennis, who reluctantly comes out of retirement to train his former student, while Falcón steps into the role of Marcella, a local gym owner and community legend shepherding Jai in his return to fighting.

A production of Peach Partners, in association with Mulberry Films, and MxW Ventures, American Underdog will also star Suleka Mathew (Your Honor), Taylor Treadwell (Big Little Lies), Omi Vaidya (3 Idiots), Ranjita Chakravarty (Never Have I Ever...

Johnny Depp has made out with many celebrities onscreen over the course of his career. Although many enjoyed kissing the actor, there was one co-star who was too nervous to lock lips with her idol.

Johnny Depp worked with actor Carey Mulligan in ‘Public Enemies’ Johnny Depp | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Actor Carey Mulligan teamed up with her onscreen idol Johnny Depp in the 2009 feature Public Enemies. Depp played infamous thief John Dillinger in the Michael Mann-directed thriller, and worked with an ensemble cast that included stars like Christian Bale.

An established star herself, Mulligan wasn’t completely new to working with movie stars. She’d been building up her filmography nicely in films like Pride & Prejudice, Brothers, and The Great Gatsby. But she admitted that working with her celebrity crushes could sometimes be challenging. Mulligan confided that she was barely able to maintain her composure around Great Gatsby co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.

Salma Hayek is an Emmy Award-winning Mexican and American actress, producer, and entrepreneur. Born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico on September 2, 1966, she is best known for her Academy Award-nominated performance in the 2002 film Frida. She has starred in numerous other memorable films throughout her career such as Desperado (1995), Dogma (1999), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Grown Ups (2010) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003).

Salma Hayek. Depostiphotos

Throughout her career she has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for playing Artemisa Tejada in Ugly Betty. Additionally, she has won a Daytime Emmy Award and several Alma Awards for her work on the series Ugly Betty. In addition to acting, she is also an accomplished businesswoman who serves as the founder of two production companies: Ventanazul and Seagal/Hayek Productions. Furthermore, Hayek was appointed by former President Barack Obama to serve on the Advisory...

Lionsgate offered up a new “John Wick 4” poster during their presentation at this weekend’s Ccxp (also known as the Brazil Comic-Con). The poster is just an extreme close-up of a suited-up Keanu Reeves. The appeal of the series, not discounting the relative quality of its predecessors, is the mere hook of watching Keanu Reeves going full “gun-fu” on a new batch of bad guys, random henchmen and upper-level adversaries. The appeal of “John Wick: Chapter 4” is quite simply that it’s another “John Wick” movie.

Perhaps “John Wick” was initially perceived as a knock-off of Liam Neeson’s “Taken”, with Keanu Reeves playing a retired hitman who leaps back into action after his wife dies and Russian mobsters murder his new puppy. However, its impact on the action movies that followed is akin to if “Speed” (which was a loose variation on the “Die Hard” formula) caused...

Action-comedy two-hander counts Akiva Goldsman among producers.

Netflix has acquired feature rights to the book Seesaw Monster from Bullet Train author Kōtarō Isaka and has attached Anne Hathaway and Salma Hayek Pinault to star and produce.

Olivia Milch, who co-wrote Ocean’s Eight starring Hathaway, will adapt the screenplau. Plot details remain under the proverbial wraps, however the streamer revealed Hathaway and Hayek Pinault will play rivals forced to work together in an action comedy two-hander.

Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind screenwriter Akiva Goldsman and Gregory Lessans are producing for Weed Road Pictures alongside Hayek Pinault for Ventanarosa Productions, Hathaway for Somewhere Pictures,...

Action-comedy two-hander counts Akiva Goldsman among producers.

Netflix has acquired feature rights to the book Seesaw Monster from Bullet Train author Kōtarō Isaka and has attached Anne Hathaway and Salma Hayek Pinault to star and produce.

Olivia Milch, who co-wrote Ocean’s Eight starring Hathaway, will adapt the screenplay. Plot details remain under the proverbial wraps, however the streamer revealed Hathaway and Hayek Pinault will play rivals forced to work together in an action comedy two-hander.

Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind screenwriter Akiva Goldsman and Gregory Lessans are producing for Weed Road Pictures alongside Hayek Pinault for Ventanarosa Productions, Hathaway for Somewhere Pictures,...

Hulu is ready for the holidays. New movies headed to the streaming service this November include “8 Mile,” “Aquamarine,” “Cast Away,” “I Am Number Four,” “Legends of the Fall,” “The Last Song,” “Julie & Julia” and many more. Christmas films galore will also make their way onto the platform before December even starts.

The seasonal selection includes “Deck the Halls,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Christmas,” “Black Christmas,” “A Merry Friggin’ Christmas,” “All I Want for Christmas,” “Christmas Child,” “Santa Games,” “Saving Chrismas,” “My Christmas Fiancé,” “Menorah in the Middle,” “Christmas on Repeat,” “Noelle,” and more.

Original arrivals include “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” “Death in the Dorms,” “God Fobid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty,” “Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne” and “Welcome to Chippendales.”

Also Read:

The 55 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now

Here’s what’s new on Hulu in November 2022.

November 1

God Forbid: The Sex Scandal...

Alright everyone, we’ve got all the spookies of October out of our system. Time to turn our eye to Hulu’s list of new releases for November 2022 to celebrate a new fall tradition of…hunky male dancers?

That’s right, Hulu’s biggest original title for November 2022 is Welcome to Chippendales on Nov. 22. This limited series stars Kumail Nanjiani (Eternals) as Somen “Steve” Banerjee, the real life founder of the original Chippendales club of exotic male dancers. After hits like The Dropout and Pam & Tommy, Hulu likely has high hopes for this one.

The other big original series of note this month is FX’s Fleishman is in Trouble on Nov. 17. This is based on a 2019 novel of the same name and stars Jesse Eisenberg as the titular Toby Fleischman in crisis. Before that, Hulu is teaming up with ABC for some true crime docuseries like Where is Private Dulaney?...

In February of this year Hulu unleashed the true crime limited series “Pam & Tommy.” The Emmy-nominated series prompted audiences to look at the nature of celebrity culture, misogyny, and complicity in the wake of the infamous 1990s sex tape that shaped the internet. This month Robert Siegel, one-half of the creative team that brought “Pam & Tommy” to screens, returns with a similar true-life story: “Welcome to Chippendales.”

“Welcome to Chippendales” follows Somen “Steve” Banerjee’s (Kumail Nanjiani) rise and fall in the adult entertainment industry. Matt Shakman directs the series, with Nanjiani, his wife Emily V. Gordon, co-showrunner and writer Siegel, co-showrunner Jenni Konner, and writer Rajiv Joseph among the executive producers.

Per the official synopsis, the sprawling true crime saga “Welcome to Chippendales” tells the outrageous true story of Banerjee, an Indian immigrant who became the unlikely founder of the world’s greatest male-stripping empire. The series...

As we all mourn the end of the Halloween season and brace ourselves for the seemingly unending parade of holidays based on familial obligations or gross displays of capitalism, November is here to serve as a little respite. Many of the horror movies that disappeared off streaming platforms to try and snag some extra Halloween funds in October are returning to their respective platforms, but the trickling in of cheesy Christmas fare is also coming in fast.

Fortunately, there's a massive amount of old favorites and exciting new titles trying to beat the holiday havoc, and we've got five between Hulu and Disney+ that you would be wise to check out. Action? Teen movies? Horror comedies? Musicals? Weirdly bleak arthouse film with surprising brutality? November has it all, baby.

Can't Hardly Wait (1998)

Before Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont would go on to make "Josie and the Pussycats" (the best movie...

After dropping the epic “Lord of the Rings” television series on Prime Video last month, it’s no surprise the streaming giant is taking it easy this October. They still have plenty of new shows and movies coming out, though none quite on the scale of their journey to Middle Earth.

That being said, they’re transitioning from the world of fantasy to science fiction with their new series “The Peripheral.” Touted as being from the creators of HBO’s “Westworld,” Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, the time-traveling series is based on author William Gibson’s bestselling sci-fi novel.

Per an official synopsis: “The Peripheral” centers on Flynne Fisher (Moretz), a woman trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family in a forgotten corner of tomorrow’s America. Flynne is smart, ambitious, and doomed. She has no future; until the future comes calling for her. “The Peripheral” is...

Despite modestly budgeted successes like Sony’s “The Woman King” and Warner Bros.’ “Don’t Worry Darling,” this September’s box office has sunk to the lowest levels in a quarter-century.

The overall total for the month is set to sink to 25-year lows, not counting 2020, when Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” accounted for nearly half the 86 million box office as most theaters remained shut down at the height of the pandemic.

With just 275 million grossed in North America to date, this will be the first September since 1997 with a monthly total of less than 350 million. To date, the running total for September 2022 is 20 behind last year’s pace and 52 behind the pace set this month in 2019.

Even last year, when theaters were still in a relatively early stage of their pandemic reopening process, September grosses reached 367.1 million.

Also Read:

AMC Stock Sinks 11 Amid Deal to Sell Up to 1.4 Billion of Ape Shares

And with Warner Bros.

The story behind the 1995 film "Desperado" is as interesting as the film itself. In 1991, 23-year-old Robert Rodriguez wrote and directed his first feature film, the Spanish-language Western action/thriller "El Mariachi," on a shoestring budget of around 7,000. The movie, about a mariachi who turns into a vigilante after being mistaken for a criminal, caught the attention of Columbia Pictures, who signed Rodriguez to direct the film's sequel, "Desperado." It was the second of the filmmaker's "Mexico trilogy" (the third being 2003's "Once Upon a Time in Mexico").

"Desperado" allowed Rodriguez to showcase his talents with the financial support of a big studio,...

The post Desperado's Love Scene Was Hard For Salma Hayek To Handle appeared first on /Film.

At the Hollywood Film Awards in Hollywood. Johnny Depp to try to stage a Hollywood comeback after winning defamation suit against Amber Heard. Johnny Depp is an American actor, producer and musician. He has appeared in films, television series and video games. He made his film debut in the horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984.[1] In the two following years, Depp appeared in the comedy Private Resort (1985), the war film Platoon (1986), and Slow Burn (1986). A year later, he started playing his recurring role as Officer Tom Hanson in the police procedural television series 21 Jump Street (1987–1990) which he played until the middle of season 4, and during this time, he experienced a rapid rise as a professional actor.] In 1990, he starred as the title characters in the films Cry-Baby and Edward Scissorhands. Throughout the rest of the decade, Depp portrayed lead roles in Arizona Dream (1993), What’s Eating Gilbert Grape...

Exclusive: Industry veteran Sandra Condito has joined Eva Longoria‘s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment as President of TV & Film. She succeeds Longoria’s long-time producing partner Ben Spector who will stay on for select projects.

Most recently, Condito served as SVP of International Production and Development at Sony Pictures Entertainment where she was responsible for overseeing the creative development and production of international local-language films.

Condito began her career in New York at Miramax/Dimension Films, executing publicity and marketing campaigns for films such as Kevin Williamson and Robert Rodriguez’s The Faculty; Halloween: H20, and the multi Oscar-winning Life is Beautiful.

She went on to work with Rodriguez and his producing partner, Elizabeth Avellán, helping to build Rodriguez’s Troublemaker brand which achieved over 1B in total box office with the success of the Spy Kids franchise, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sin City, and Grindhouse.

“For the past 15 years,...

Netflix has closed a deal with Skydance to produce a reimagining of the Spy Kids franchise, alongside Spyglass Media, LLC and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, who created the film series and directed all past installments.

The next film in the franchise, introducing the world to a new family of spies, will also be written and directed by Rodriguez. It will mark his second family film for Netflix, on the heels of the 2020 actioner We Can Be Heroes. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger will produce for Skydance, which is overseeing development and production, with Elizabeth Avellan and Racer Max also producing. Gary Barber and Peter Oillataguerre will executive produce for Spyglass, which owns the Spy Kids franchise.

Rodriguez’s original Spy Kids film, centered on kids saving their spy parents from an evil, high-tech enemy, was released 21 years ago today, with sequels Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams...

Stars: Mickey Rourke, Robert Knepper, Jackson Rathbone, Fredrik Wagner, Polina Pushkareva, Anna Paliga, Lou Stassen, Josh Burdett, Alex Mills, Elliott Wooster, Ben McKeown | Written by Mauro Borrelli, Reggie Keyohara III, Scott Svatos | Directed by Mauro Borrelli

From the early 1970s to the mid-1980s DC Comics published Weird War Tales which, as the title infers, added supernatural threats to the danger of combat. WarHunt feels like director Mauro Borrelli and co-writers Reggie Keyohara III and Scott Svatos (The Ghostmaker) sat down with a stack of them for inspiration when they came up with this tale of World War II GIs behind Nazi lines fighting a coven of witches.

In the film’s opening scenes a military transport flying over the Black Forest is attacked and brought down by crows who prove that a group of them isn’t called a murder for nothing. Major Johnson sends Sgt. Brewer and his...

This Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett article contains spoilers.

The Book of Boba Fett throws quite a few new characters into the mix in “The Streets of Mos Espa,” as the city’s new daimyo continues to deal with threats to his throne. A (final?) confrontation with Black Krrsantan and the Hutt twins ushers in a new band of angsty bikers now under Boba’s employ as well as a cameo by a rancor keeper you might recognize if you’ve followed showrunner and director Robert Rodriguez’s career. In fact, this cameo is tradition in Rodriguez’s movies.

Danny Trejo as the Rancor Keeper

You might know him best as Machete, Razor Charlie in From Dusk Till Dawn, or as one of the baddies in the latter two chapters of Rodriguez’s legendary Mexico Trilogy, but you’ve definitely seen him before in one of this director’s films.

HBO and HBO Max signed a two-year first-look deal with filmmaker Robert Rodríguez, founder of Troublemaker Studios.

As part of the collaboration, Rodríguez will first bring projects to the cabler and streamer for potential development as original series. His son Racer Rodríguez will serve as lead development executive under the pact. Projects could potentially be completed at the studio’s production facilities in Austin, Texas.

“Robert’s masterful, high concept productions are a perfect match for our HBO Max audiences. We are excited to jump into this partnership and work on brand-new, provocative stories,” said Joey Chavez, executive vice president of original programming, drama, HBO Max.

Rodríguez said of the partnership, “It’s intriguing to be able to tap into the wealth of iconic IP available across the WarnerMedia portfolio and explore new stories to tell. I’m looking forward to a meaningful collaboration with the high caliber creative talent...

HBO and HBO Max have signed filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and his Troublemaker Studios to a two-year first look deal.

Under the deal, Rodriguez will bring projects to the two WarnerMedia platforms for potential development as original series. His son, Racer Rodriguez, will serve as lead development executive on projects produced under the agreement.

“Robert Rodriguez and the team at Troublemaker Studios have created some of the most compelling projects in recent memory, pushing the boundaries of genre storytelling with humor and one-of-a-kind visuals,” Sarah Aubrey, HBO Max’s head of original content, said in a statement.

“Robert’s masterful, high concept productions are a perfect match for our HBO Max audiences. We are excited to jump into this partnership and work on brand-new, provocative stories,” added Joey Chavez, executive vice president original programming, drama, HBO Max.

“It’s intriguing to be able to tap into the wealth of iconic IP...

Eva Mendes is opening up about insecurities. In a post shared to Instagram on May 6, the 47-year-old actress revisited a photo of herself from almost two decades ago. The picture of Mendes appeared to be a shot from the movie Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which was released in 2003. "I remember seeing this photo back then and thinking my face looked 'weird' and that my bone structure was odd ...yadda yadda...you know all those insecurities that a 26-year-old can have," the star wrote. "Meanwhile 20 years later and now I wish I still had that 'weird' face and odd 'bone structure.'" So, what can her 2.4 million followers learn from her Throwback Thursday post?...

All products and services featured by IndieWire are independently selected by IndieWire editors. However, IndieWire may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Any seasoned filmmaker will likely admit that you’re never fully prepared to make your first film, but that’s part of the excitement. Getting started can be a huge part of the battle and those fears aren’t always technical. Sometimes that one thing stopping you from shooting your first film has nothing to do with the technical side and more with your confidence. That’s why we rounded up a list of the best books for first-time filmmakers that cover a range of topics including cinematography, how to get the right shot, the inner workings of the film industry, inspirational quotes from famed directors, and more.

Whether you’re a director,...

“You thought I wouldn’t notice,” cartel boss Elena Sánchez (Salma Hayek) demands of her loyal caporegime Ludo (a physically and emotionally imposing Benicio del Toro). The brutal and effective killer does not defend himself when the head of his family, and boss of bosses, slaps him with the force of a bull whip. He doesn’t even flinch. That would mean death. Oliver Stone’s Savages may not be his most renowned mob movie offering, but Hayek’s drug lord is one of cinema’s most groundbreaking gangsters.

Stone is no stranger to iconic gangsters. He wrote the screenplay for Brian De Palma’s Scarface, which brought Al Pacino’s coke-fueled Cuban political asylum seeker, Tony Montana, into celluloid’s perennial rogue’s gallery. For his 2012 cartel twist of a gangster film, Savages, Stone let Hayek reset the template. Her Elena Sánchez is street smart, tech savvy and a wiz at business.

Photo: 'We Can Be Heroes'/Netflix As far as filmmakers working today, Robert Rodriguez is one of the more interesting ones in how you can delineate his filmography into two different paths. On one end you have his edgier fare: his collaborations with longtime friend Quentin Tarantino, the ‘Mexico’ trilogy and the ‘Machete’ and ‘Sin City’ films. On the opposite end of the spectrum are his kid-friendly films: the ‘Spy Kids’ film series and ‘The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl’. One can make the argument that for a lot of us—specifically those who came of age in the 2000s—his family films were our first introduction to his oeuvre. And in the case of ‘Sharkboy and Lavagirl’, despite poor critical and commercial response, the film gained a cult following among younger viewers. Related article: Fact-checked Series: Priyanka Chopra Jonas – 15 Revelations About One Of The Most Powerful Stars In The...

Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, who scored an Oscar nomination for Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory,” no longer has coronavirus.

“After 21 days of disciplinary confinement I can say now that today I overcame the Covid 19 infection,” Banderas tweeted. “I am cured. My thoughts go to those who weren’t as fortunate as me, and to those who suffered more than I did. I also wish strength to the ones who are in the middle of the fight.”

After 21 days of disciplinary confinement I can say now that today I overcame the Covid 19 infection. I am cured. My thoughts go to those who weren’t as fortunate as me, and to those who suffered more than I did. I also wish strength to the ones who are in the middle of the fight

— Antonio Banderas (@antoniobanderas) August 25, 2020

The actor accompanied his tweet with a picture of him kicking representations of the virus.

“Pain and Glory” star Antonio Banderas revealed he has tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, his 60th birthday.

“I want to make it public that today, Aug. 10, I am forced to celebrate my 60th birthday in quarantine, having tested positive for the Covid-19 disease, caused by the coronavirus,” the star tweeted in Spanish.

Quiero contaros lo siguiente… pic.twitter.com/u579iBVLM0

— Antonio Banderas (@antoniobanderas) August 10, 2020

“I would like to add that I feel relatively good, just a little more tired than usual, and am confident that I will recover as soon as possible following medical instructions that I hope will allow me to overcome the infectious period that I am suffering, and that is affecting so many people around the planet,” the actor wrote.

“I will take advantage of this isolation to read, write, rest and continue making plans to begin to give meaning to my 60 years, to which I arrive full of enthusiasm.

Universal Pictures has debuted a new trailer for Sally Potter’s drama ‘The Roads Not Taken’ featuring Javier Bardem.

The film follows 24 turbulent hours in the life of father and daughter Leo (Bardem) and Molly (Fanning) as she grapples with the challenges of dealing with her father’s chaotic mental state. But as they weave their way around New York City, their ordinary but stressful day takes on a hallucinatory and epic quality, for Leo is seamlessly flowing in and out of two other parallel lives – a passionate marriage with his childhood sweetheart Dolores (Hayek) in Mexico a life of solitude on a remote Greek island, where a chance encounter with two young tourists unmasks some uncomfortable truths….

Directed by Sally Potter, the film stars Javier Bardem (Skyfall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, No Country For Old Men), Elle Fanning (The Beguiled, Neon Demon, Maleficent), Salma Hayek (Tale of Tales, Frida, Once Upon a Time in Mexico...

‘Battlin’ Mickey Rourke is at it again. Just over a week after he threatened to “embarrass severely 100%” Robert De Niro, he’s now turned his attention to Elon Musk. In the libel case that’s wrapping up in London now, text messages were revealed in which Johnny Depp accused Amber Heard of having an affair with Musk. In retaliation, Depp said he wanted to cut off Musk’s johnson. Hitting back, Musk challenged Depp to single combat in a cage fight.

At this point, Rourke’s ears pricked up. If anyone’s going to fight a billionaire in a cage, it’s going to be him. And so, to defend Johnny Depp’s honor, he put up his own fists. Over on his Instagram page, he said:

I just read that Elon Musk has challenged Johnny Depp to a fight. I have the better idea if Elon Musk is in...

Smoking more now but getting high less? The iconic comedy duo Cheech and Chong have always had a solution. The very names Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin are synonymous with weed culture. When The Simpsons ran an episode on dispensaries being legalized in Springfield, they referred to stoners as “Cheech and Chongs.” The pair won’t be selling out of the back of an ice cream truck, like they did in Nice Dreams. Cheech & Chong are doing it legal. They even got a license.

Together with Five Point Holdings, they will license the Cheech & Chong Brand to open dispensaries. Right now they’re going for licenses in California, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois and Washington. The dispensaries will feature cannabis products from both Tommy Chong’s Cannabis and Cheech’s Stash brands. The outlets will also be the first place to purchase Cheech and Chong clothing and memorabilia.

The duo goes back to the late 1960s.

Once Upon a Time in… Nevarro?

Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez — whose credits include El Mariachi, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sin City and Spy Kids — confirmed that he is among those who directed a Season 2 episode of Disney+’s flagship series The Mandalorian.

More from TVLineThe Right Stuff, With Patrick J. Adams, Jake McDorman, Colin O'Donoghue and James Lafferty, Moves to Disney+Rise of Skywalker Hitting Disney+ Early: Watch Trailer for Full Star Wars SagaThe Mandalorian Docuseries Trailer: Pedro Pascal, Baby Yoda and Inside Secrets of the Star Wars Spinoff

The news came on May 4 aka “Star Wars Day,” which...