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Revered French auteur Claire Denis is in advanced talks to direct cannibalistic crime drama “The Soap Maker.”

The project, being shopped around at Berlin’s EFM, is an updated remake of Italian director Mauro Bolognini’s 1977 cult movie “Gran Bollito,” which starred Shelley Winters as a serial killer who cooked the bodies of her victims into soap, cake and cookies.

The English-language film is inspired by the true story of Italy’s Leonarda Cianciulli, who in the late 1930s and early ’40s murdered three local women in the central Italian town of Correggio and disposed of their bodies with chemicals — using what was left to make soaps, candles, cookies and cakes that she shared with people in her community.

“The Soap Maker,” which is lead-produced by the Los Angeles- and New York-based Gerry Pass via his Chrome Entertainment shingle, is being packaged by CAA and has been pitched to prospective buyers at the EFM.

The 2000s and early 2010s were marked with a boon of young adult books getting adapted into the big screen. This could really be seen as starting with the runaway success of 2001's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" adaptation and its subsequent sequels. However, 2008's "Twilight" movie took things to another level, prompting studios to adapt pretty much any book that preteens were obsessed with. Some of these failed to launch, while others became cemented into the public consciousness, like "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games." but "The Maze Runner" series absolutely belongs in that latter category too.

Out of all the films to come out during the YA craze, "The Maze Runner" had the biggest bang for its buck, grossing $348 million against a relatively paltry $34 million budget. Two film sequels followed with "The Scorch Trials" and "The Death Cure," but it all began with that first story about a...

Cassandra is a 2025 German science fiction thriller series available on Netflix. The story centers on the Prill family, who move into Germany’s oldest smart home, only to find themselves at the mercy of its AI assistant, Cassandra. As the AI becomes increasingly manipulative, the family must navigate the challenges of their new, technologically dominated environment. Here’s a comprehensive guide to the main cast and characters of Cassandra.

‘Cassandra’: Complete Cast & Characters Guide of the Netflix series Lavinia Wilson as Cassandra

Lavinia Wilson voices Cassandra, the AI system embedded within the smart home. Designed in the 1970s, Cassandra was intended to manage household tasks and ensure perfection. However, upon the Prill family’s arrival, she becomes possessive and manipulative, striving to integrate herself into the family and prevent abandonment. Wilson, known for her roles in The Billion Dollar Code and Deutschland 86, brings depth to this complex character.

The Hunger Games movies remain some of the most bingeable of all time, and fans love them all these years later. However, even the most dedicated fans probably don’t know about everything that happened behind the scenes.

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, the franchise tells its story across four movies.

The original run was so successful that it spawned a spinoff movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which premiered in 2023. Another newly announced spinoff, called Sunrise on the Reaping, was recently announced. It will arrive in theaters in 2026.

We did some digging and rustled up facts from the franchise – including details about Jennifer‘s pay and the scene she hated to film, on-set injuries, roles that almost went to other actors and the moment that resulted in damage to a sacred site – that you probably weren’t aware of.

Take a look and let us know if anything surprised you!

Disney is not having the start to 2025 that it would have hoped for. It hasn’t been two months since the New Year and things have already gone haywire for two of the Studio’s highly anticipated projects – Captain America: Brave New World and Snow White.

While the former’s downfall might be characterized as symptomatic of MCU films as of late, the live-action reimagination of one of Disney’s most bankable projects was occasioned by many controversies. And it seems like it has run into another.

Rachel Zegler’s statements have hurt Snow White‘s chances Snow White has run into innumerable controversies || Walt Disney Studios

It was all the way back in 2016 when Disney officially made plans to create a live-action adaptation of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs. Since then almost a decade has passed, and a lot of water has flown under the bridge. But the movie...

Stars: Anna Jacoby, Josh Andres Rivera, Ana Auther, Todd Robert Anderson, Kevin Nealon | Written and Directed by Matt McClung

Inhabitants, not to be confused with The Inhabitant, is the story of Olivia and her boyfriend Francis have just started a new chapter in their lives. They’ve fallen in love, left their home in Nevada, and set up a new life together in California.

Despite their vastly different backgrounds, Olivia being a New Age girl who’s into crystals and sage and Francis being a lapsed Catholic with a conflicted past, they seem to make things work. They settle into their new home, trying to leave behind their families and their judgment of their choice to forgo marriage and simply live together.

Francis’ mother is still deeply religious and does not approve of this arraignment. She sends them nasty letters and postcards condemning their choice to “live in sin.” Meanwhile,...

El nuevo thriller de acción de Prime Video llega este abril. © Prime Video

Prime Video ha desvelado el primer tráiler y póster de G20, un thriller de acción dirigido por Patricia Riggen (Jack Ryan) y escrita por Caitlin Parrish, Erica Weiss, Logan Miller y Noah Miller en base a la historia creada por los propios Miller (White Boy Rick).

En G20, cuando una cumbre del G20 es atacada, la presidenta de Estados Unidos Danielle Sutton (Davis) se convierte en el objetivo principal. Tras evitar ser capturada por los atacantes, se ve obligada a ser más astuta que el enemigo para proteger a su familia, defender a su país y proteger a los líderes mundiales en este trepidante viaje lleno de acción.

La película está protagonizada por Viola Davis. Completan el reparto Anthony Anderson (Infiltrados), Marsai Martin (Black-ish), Ramón Rodríguez (Will Trent: Agente Especial), Douglas Hodge (Vivir el momento), Elizabeth Marvel...

Last year, an adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Long Walk (which was, like The Running Man and Thinner, published under the pen name Richard Bachman) went into production, with director Francis Lawrence, whose previous credits include Constantine, I Am Legend, Water for Elephants, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 and 2, Red Sparrow, Slumberland, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, at the helm. Now, Lawrence has confirmed to the folks at Collider that post-production work on the film is almost complete, and he’s “super happy” with it.

An adaptation of The Long Walk has been trudging through development hell for decades. At one point, the rights were in the hands of Frank Darabont, who made the King adaptations The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Mist. Then the rights passed over to New Line Cinema, where Scary Stories to...

Peter Dinklage is a game-changer in Hollywood especially in the aspect of casting actors. Back in the days, people with dwarfism are often hired to play the stereotypical dwarves and elves, which limited their opportunities at getting more significant roles. The actor has made the conscious decision to avoid this, which made it harder for him to get jobs.

Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones / Credits: HBO

His career experienced a major shakeup when he starred as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones. Not only did he gain worldwide fame, but he also became the voice of many people in the dwarfism community.

Peter Dinklage praised George R.R. Martin for creating Tyrion Lannister

Fans can say that Peter Dinklage was destined to play the role of Tyrion Lannister. In George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, he was described as a dwarf, half of Jaime Lannister’s height,...

The mystery and the tension in Cassandra, the new Netflix series, are given life by the diverse characters who come with their own varied motivations and energies. The monstrous robot, the female in crisis, and the emasculated men all find a thematic space in the series. In Cassandra, the children too have definite and considerable importance in the narrative. The film’s approach at world-building, one retro and the other modern, is an ambitious endeavor. The cast does a smooth job of presenting both worlds as convincing realities. In this article, we will acquaint ourselves with the cast of Cassandra and contemplate a little over what their characters bring to the narrative.

Lavinia Wilson as Cassandra

Cassandra, the AI system on a supposed murder spree, is made even more threatening by German actress Lavinia Wilson. Cassandra’s monotone robotic pitch, her thin arching eyebrows, and her pale skin establish her as the female monster,...

Disney’s long-awaited live-action reboot of its 1937 animated classic Snow White doesn’t open until March 21, however, box office forecasts are out on the Rachel Zegler-Gal Gadot starring movie.

Quorum reports a 3-day start for the Marc Webb directed movie of $63M-$70M while other sources believe $65M at this point in time is fair. As a comp, the 2014 Angelina Jolie Sleeping Beauty live-action spinoff opened to $69.4M back in early summer 2014. At that level, it would rep the highest domestic opening for the Golden Globe winning Zegler whose Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes ranks as the actress best opening at the B.O. with $44.6M.

Awareness is solid among women over and under 35. In regards to those who are willing to pay to see the movie in a theater, women under 35 are first, followed by women over 35, and then men under 35 per Quorum.

Per social media stats firm RelishMix,...

When Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, it meant that Marvel Studios, which is set up at Disney, regained the rights to Marvel Comics characters they had previously loaned out to Fox, like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. Almost six years have gone by since that acquisition deal was completed, but Marvel has taken their time working those regained characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Later this year, we’ll be meeting the MCU’s version of the Fantastic Four in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. A version of the X-Men character Professor Xavier appeared in the MCU movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (alongside a version of the Fantastic Four character Reed Richards), a version of X-Men’s Beast showed up in the end credits of The Marvels, and some of the Fox characters went on a multiverse-spanning adventure in Deadpool & Wolverine. Now, Marvel is ready to...

Losses at Lionsgate shrank during its third quarter, while revenue at the studio behind “Saw” and “The Hunger Games” dipped slightly. The entertainment company cited the box office success of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” as well as record earnings from licensing its library of movies and shows for the improved fiscal picture. It also noted that it had started to recover from the Hollywood labor strikes of 2023 that brought production to a standstill.

For the three month period ending in December, revenue was roughly flat at $970.5 million, down from the $975.1 million that Lionsgate reported in the year-ago period. Operating income topped out at $35.8 million compared to a loss of $43.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Net losses attributable to Lionsgate shareholders came in at $21.9 million or $0.09 diluted net loss per share. That compared favorably to the loss of $107.4 million that Lionsgate reported a year ago.

The company beat Wall Street estimates,...

The closest we've come to a solid update on Marvel Studios' X-Men reboot is a report from the trades revealing The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes scribe Michael Lesslie is penning the screenplay.

Who knows how much has changed since then but, as far as we're aware, no director is attached and Lesslie may not even be the current writer on the project.

Despite that, the casting rumours continue coming in thick and fast. Yesterday, we shared a breakdown of the actors who are supposedly in the running for X-Men. And today, we have possible Mister Sinister casting!

According to insider @MyTimeToShineH, Marvel Studios is eyeing Dune, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Skyfall star Javier Bardem to play the iconic X-Men villain in the MCU. You may recall that he was once said to be in line to play The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Galactus.

The MCU’s upcoming X-Men reboot is one of the most highly anticipated projects for fans, as it will officially introduce the mutant team into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, replacing Fox’s previous X-Men franchise.

While details about the film remain scarce, Marvel Studios aims to strike a balance between humor and drama while also introducing some mutants who have yet to appear in live-action.

Recently, it was revealed that Michael Lesslie has been tapped to write the script. Best known for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Lesslie brings a strong pedigree to the project, making him a promising choice for the reboot.

Related: The Best X-Men Members in the Long History of the Team

Reports suggest that Lesslie pitched a full X-Men ‘97-inspired roster for the team. However, rumors indicate that Wolverine won’t be included initially, as Hugh Jackman is expected to continue...

Many of you will no doubt recall the near-endless list of actors we saw suggested for Marvel's First Family in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. An official announcement was finally made but the rumours...well, they became a little exhausting. 

Marvel Studios' X-Men reboot is finally somewhere on the horizon and could be released in theaters as soon as 2027. It's incredibly important to get that franchise right after the damage done by Fox in those final few years and casting the best people possible will be essential. 

We fully trust in Sarah Finn, of course, and expect to be suitably impressed. In the meantime, quite a few names are already doing the rounds online and we figured it would be a good time to bring you up to speed with everyone rumoured to be in the running.

You can check out a full breakdown of the names by clicking the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.

When Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox brought the X-Men film rights back home to Marvel Studios, fans couldn’t wait to see their favorite mutants finally join the MCU. While many expected a full-blown reboot with fresh faces, Kevin Feige seems to be having a blast using the Multiverse Saga to revisit Fox’s X-Men era before hitting the reset button.

Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique in a still from Dark Phoenix | Credits: 20th Century Fox

And now the casting rumor mill is working overtime as usual. Though Jennifer Lawrence once brought Mystique to life, word on the street is that Feige has his sights set on a fresh face for the shape-shifting mutant, and it is none other than Hunter Schafer.

Hunter Schafer might be the next Mystique!

Jennifer Lawrence might still pop up as Mystique, given Kevin Feige’s habit of bringing back Fox-era X-Men for fun cameos.

As the X-Men casting rumors continue to swirl (we should start to see official announcements fairly soon), we're hearing that Mystique will be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot, and the studio might just have someone in mind to play the shape-shifting mutant.

According to scooper Mttsh, Hunter Schafer is being eyed to play Raven Darkhölme in the upcoming movie.

Whether this means Schafer is actually in talks for the part is not clear. All we've been told is she is being considered.

Schafer has become a highly sought-after talent since her breakout role in Euphoria, and has gone on to appear in the likes of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and recent horror hit, Cuckoo.

Mystique was played by Rebecca Romain in the 20th Century Fox franchise, and Jennifer Lawrence from X-Men: First Class on. The character was originally introduced as a villain,...

Exclusive: Coming off of Sundance buzz movie Together, Dave Franco is set to star with O’Shea Jackson Jr (Straight Outta Compton) and Peter Dinklage (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) in raucous comedy, The Shitheads, which is likely to be an in-demand project at next week’s EFM in Berlin.

Written and directed by Macon Blair, who collaborated with Dinklage on Brothers and The Toxic Avenger, the title will be selling at EFM with WME Independent handling international sales, and WME Independent co-repping domestic with CAA Media Finance.

Pic follows cynical degenerate Mark (Franco) and bumbling idealist Davis (Jackson) as they’ve both hit rock bottom. Paired for a job by a shady transport service, their task seems simple: transport Sheridan, a wealthy troubled teen, to rehab. But Sheridan has other plans and what starts as a simple road trip becomes an unhinged odyssey of drug-fueled disasters,...

Set and shot in his hometown of Syracuse, New York, with family members even making cameos, “Plainclothes” is clearly very personal to writer/director Carmen Emmi. It’s much more than its plot synopsis, which tells of a 1990s period piece about an undercover police officer luring gay men into the crime of indecent exposure. In reality, “Plainclothes” is a meditation on the process of accepting oneself even as society and loved ones deem it wrong.

English actor Tom Blyth, most recognizable from the MGM+ series “Billy the Kid” and “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” impresses as Lucas, the cop. Blythe’s performance is an interior one, where what Lucas does is not as important as how he feels inside. Capturing that is a special gift and Blyth delivers. Early on, it’s obvious that Lucas compartmentalizes his own desires with ease while performing his job.

There's been a lot of casting buzz surrounding Marvel Studios' X-Men reboot lately, with Stranger Things star Sadie Sink a supposed frontrunner for Jean Grey and The Bear's Ayo Edebiri potentially among those being eyed for Storm. We've also heard that Gambit and Kitty Pryde will be in the movie.

Today, we finally have some news on the team's leader, Scott Summers/Cyclops. While it's still early days for the project - which, last we heard, is being penned by The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes scribe Michael Lesslie - it does appear as if casting is slowly beginning.

According to scooper @MyTimeToShineH, "Jack Champion is being considered for the role of Cyclops in the X-Men reboot."

Champion's main credits include Miles "Spider" Socorro in Avatar: The Way of Water and Ethan Landry in Scream VI. He also shot a small role as "Kid on Bike" in Avengers: Endgame,...

As the LGBTQ community continues to face threats to their safety and rights as equal American citizens, the cast and creatives of “Plainclothes” were quick to admit that things feel “terrifying” right now. But that’s what makes their film so important for others to see, they shared.

Having its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year, “Plainclothes” tells the story of a promising undercover police officer assigned to lure and arrest gay men, who defies those orders when he falls in love with a target. Starring “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” star Tom Blyth, Russell Tovey, Maria Dizzia and others, the film is set in the 1990s.

But stopping by TheWrap’s Sundance Studio presented by World of Hyatt, Tovey said that it unfortunately doesn’t feel like a story of the past.

“The world moves in circles, and you would hope that,...

Tom Blyth may have starred in Francis Lawrence’s box office hit “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” but that doesn’t mean the British actor is moving on from independent film.

Case in point: “Plainclothes.” In writer-director Carmen Emmi’s feature debut, Blyth stars as Lucas, an undercover cop in 1990s Syracuse, N.Y., who falls in love with Andrew (Russell Tovey), one of his targets in a sting operation going after gay men for public indecency in a mall bathroom.

“There is just something really refreshing about the scrappiness of a smaller film like [“Plainclothes”],” Blyth tells me during a Zoom video interview for this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast from Senegal, where he is shooting Claire Denis’ “The Cry of the Guards.” “I’ve done a bunch of them this year and last year. I’ve gone back to that kind of on purpose.

Like “Cruising” for the 1990s New Queer Cinema set, Carmen Emmi’s feature debut “Plainclothes” features the most emotionally (and physically) naked performance yet from rising British star Tom Blyth. He plays Lucas, a rookie cop somewhere outside Syracuse assigned to post up in one of those bland, sad Malls of America, hoping to lure men into a toilet stall — and into exposing themselves or more.

This clandestine, bait-and-catch operation was the sort of problematic police procedure that got people like George Michael into trouble for lewd conduct. Here, it forms the basis of a thriller — and one with shades of romance when Lucas’ own secret attraction to men starts overtaking him. And especially in the form of Russell Tovey, sparking a hesitant hook-up and possible romance after Lucas catches Andrew (Tovey) in the bathroom, only to end up lingering too long.

IndieWire shares an exclusive clip for the film in the video above.

While a handful of MCU movies have been dated for the unknown - but likely "Mutant" - Saga set to follow Avengers: Secret Wars, there's been no word on exactly when we'll see Marvel Studios' X-Men reboot in theaters.

Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) is said to be penning the screenplay, but beyond that, updates have been few and far between. Unsurprisingly, social media scoopers have already begun dropping hints about who could play the McU's mutants.

Stranger Things star Sadie Sink has been named as a contender for Jean Grey, while Wicked star Cynthia Erivo and Jurassic World Dominion's DeWanda Wise are among those suggested for Storm. We say "suggested" because it seems highly unlikely Marvel Studios will cast actors in their late 30s or early 40s to play the McU's X-Men.

Regardless, insider @MyTimeToShineH is today reporting that The Bear star Ayo Edebiri...

Tom Blyth (“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”) will star in Claire Denis’ “The Cry of the Guards.” Blyth joins the cast of the four-hander, which also stars Mia McKenna-Bruce, Matt Dillon and Isaach De Bankolé.

The film, adapted from Bernard-Marie Koltes’ play “Black Battles With Dogs,” was written by Denis, Suzanne Lindon and Andrew Litvack. The story unfolds over the course of one night near a construction site in Senegal, where a group of workers are confronted by a man seeking justice for his brother’s death at the site.

The film is being produced by Curiosa Films and Vixens alongside Goodfellas and Saint Laurent Productions, with Senegal’s Astou Production and backing from Arte France Cinema.

Blyth recently finished filming as the male lead in Netflix, Sony 3000 and Temple Hill’s “People We Meet on Vacation,” based on the #1 New York Times bestselling novel written by Emily Henry.

Tom Blyth, star of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, has landed a role alongside Mia McKenna-Bruce, Matt Dillon, and Isaach De Bankolé in The Cry of the Guards, the forthcoming four-hander drama from renowned French filmmaker Claire Denis (Stars at Noon).

Character details are under wraps. Based on Bernard-Marie Koltes’ play Black Battles with Dogs, the story unfolds over the course of one night near a construction site in Senegal, where a group of workers are confronted by a man seeking justice for his brother’s death at the site.

Script was adapted by Denis, Suzanne Lindon and Andrew Litvack. Curiosa Films and Vixens are producing alongside Goodfellas and Saint Laurent Productions, with Senegal’s Astou Production and backing from Arte France Cinema.

Breaking out with his lead role as a young Coriolanus Snow in Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,...

Lucy Gray Baird, the protagonist in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is named after a poem from 1799. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was the first Hunger Games spinoff written by author Suzanne Collins. The novel was published in 2020, and the film adaption was released in 2023. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is one of the best Hunger Games movies, and successfully showcased a much less developed version of Panem, decades before the original films. The film proved that Hunger Games movies not featuring Katniss can still find success.

After watching Katniss rebel against the Capitol in four Hunger Games films, the spinoff film follows a new protagonist, Lucy Gray. In the film, Lucy Gray is portrayed by Rachel Zegler. In addition to Zegler, the cast of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes includes Tom Blyth, Jason Schwartzman, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, and Hunter Schafer. The...

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will cover the bloodiest Games in Panem's history — but despite Haymitch's prequel promising to be the bleakest book yet, it promises to continue the franchise's smartest romance trend. The Hunger Games books are known for their searing social commentary, but all of Suzanne Collins' books also feature memorable love stories. Indeed, the original Hunger Games trilogy became known for the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. And The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes emphasizes the connection between Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray.

Of course, romance is far from the point of The Hunger Games, but that's what makes Collins' books so incredibly clever. The author knows exactly how to hook readers with one aspect of her story, then deliver a message once she has their attention. And judging by the newly released excerpt of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, Haymitch's...

The upcoming Hunger Games book, Sunrise on the Reaping, may finally provide the definitive connection between Lucy Gray Baird and Katniss Everdeen. This will be the fifth of Suzanne Collins' novels in the series, though, like The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the newest installment will serve as a prequel. Sunrise on the Reaping is set during the 50th Hunger Games, for which Haymitch Abernathy was elevated a victor. Hopefully, this next book will provide further context to Katniss' story, perhaps even connecting her to Lucy Gray, victor of the 10th Hunger Games.

Katniss Everdeen (along with Peeta Mellark) was the victor of the 74th Hunger Games. Prior to this, there had only been two victors from District 12. The first had been forgotten by Katniss' day, but The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has revealed that her name was Lucy Gray Baird, a member of a nomad group of musicians called the Covey.

Long-running franchises often bring back characters from previous movies, and some ongoing franchise should consider reintroducing fan-favorites from the past. Bringing back minor characters is always a fun moment for hardcore fans who have been with franchises from the beginning, but it's often much more than pure fan service. A well-timed reintroduction can create a moment of reflection.

While some major franchises like Star Wars, James Bond and John Wick still have a few projects up in the air, it's a good time to consider how their futures could be best served by returning to their pasts. It's always a shame when a franchise introduces a fascinating character for a one-off, so bringing them back creates the oppportunity for more development. Just because a character is gone doesn't mean they're forgotten.

Mags The Hunger Games

Lynn Cohen plays Mags in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, but the prequel movies mean...

Suzanne Collins' upcoming Hunger Games prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping, is undoubtedly exciting, yet the novel has already proven that it is going to repeat one tragic element of Katniss's story, but even worse. In June 2024, it was announced that The Hunger Games would be returning with a new prequel novel called Sunrise on the Reaping. The book, which is already being developed into a movie, is going to be set during the 50th annual Hunger Games. Notably, those games were fought by Katniss and Peeta's District 12 mentor, Haymitch Abernathy.

The prospect of learning more about Haymitch's time in the Hunger Games is both exciting and daunting. Collins has already proven that she can successfully expand the world of Panem through her 2020 novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Thus, readers are expecting another riveting story. However, Haymitch's story is also concerning because there have already been hints within...

Tom Blyth is still relatively early in his career, but already has some impressive movies and shows in his filmography. Getting his start with small roles in Robin Hood and Pelican Blood in 2010, Tom Blyth has steadily made a name for himself, appearing in a number of films and shows including Billy the Kid, The Guilded Age, and Benediction. His biggest role, which is also one of his most recent, was playing Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the newest entry in the popular YA franchise.

Since his turn as Snow, Tom Blyth has become a rising star, and already has a handful of new projects in various stages of development. These include an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, Discussion Materials, the indie film Plainclothes, the Netflix film People We Meet on Vacation, an adaptation of the novel of the same name.

The 2025 box office has a new number one movie with Den of Thieves 2's debut, as the January 10-12 weekend figures are finalized. Lionsgate handled the domestic release of Gerard Butler's Den of Thieves sequel, with the movie expected to perform close to, if not below, the opening of the original 2018 action crime film. This came as Den of Thieves 2 marked the biggest new release of the weekend, followed by Universal's risky bet on Better Man and expansions for The Last Showgirl and Hard Truths.

The release of Den of Thieves 2 and others helped bring some new titles into the mix as the new year moves forward. Last weekend, it was Mufasa: The Lion King's box office and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 battling for the top spot. It was expected that Mufasa would stay atop the box office once more and hold off the action sequel,...

Yet another adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera is in development for Disney+, and the project may now be honing in on its female lead.

According to scooper Mttsh, Rachel Zegler is being eyed to play Christine, the object of the titular Opera Ghost's obsession. Whether this means she's actually in talks for the role or simply someone the studio is interested in is not clear.

Titled Phantom, this YA take on the classic novel by Gaston Leroux will be directed and executive produced by Kenny Ortega, who has led two major Disney franchises with High School Musical and The Descendants.

It doesn't sound like Ortega's version will be changing up the basic premise, with the story focusing on Erik, "a mysterious, disfigured musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opera House. He becomes obsessed with a young soprano, Christine, and manipulates events to make her the star of the opera.

With “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” opening at the top of the domestic box office and earning an estimated $15.5 million in its opening weekend, Lionsgate scored a major win. This is the studio’s first number-one debut since “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” in November 2023.

The crime movie features Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. It was shown in 3,008 theaters and had mostly male viewers, who accounted for 63% of the tickets sold. According to PostTrak data, 82% of the crowd was over 25. This opening weekend did a little better than the one in 2018, which made $15.2 million and ended up with a total of $44.9 million domestic.

Lionsgate has had a difficult 2024 with disappointing releases like “Borderlands” and “The Crow,” so the successful start is a much-needed boost. With a $40 million production budget, “Den of Thieves 2” needs to keep up its momentum to make a profit, but its...

Lionsgate bucked the trend of a difficult 2024 at the box office as Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera delivered the studio its first number one opening weekend since 2023 on an estimated $15.5m.

A solid if not spectacular debut did not appear to suffer unduly from the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, the number one market in the United States.

Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. star in the crime thriller buddy movie, which opened in 3,008 locations and reportedly carries a $40m budget. According to PostTrak, males accounted for 63% of the audiences and the over-25 crowd made up 82%.

This was a solid start...

Lionsgate bucked the trend of a difficult 2024 at the box office as Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera delivered the studio its first number one opening weekend since 2023 on an estimated $15.5m.

A solid if not spectacular debut did not appear to suffer unduly from the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, the number one market in the United States.

Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. star in the crime thriller buddy movie, which opened in 3,008 locations and reportedly carries a $40m budget. According to PostTrak, males accounted for 63% of the audiences and the over-25 crowd made up 82%.

This was a solid start...

Update: 2025/01/12 08:02 Est By Brennan Klein

Den Of Thieves 2 Holds Its Position At No. 1 With $0.5 Million Boost

This article was originally written Saturday Am and has been updated Sunday Am with up-to-date box office projections (in bold), a full chart, and further analysis.

The heist movie sequel Den of Thieves 2: Pantera has kicked off Lionsgate's 2025 with a bang, while the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, featuring the pop star as a CGI monkey, flounders in its wide expansion. Lionsgate, which is both a production company and distributor, released a string of notable flops into theaters in the second half of 2024, including White Bird, Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, The Crow, Borderlands, and The Killer's Game. While movies like November 2024's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever did make their money back, Lionsgate has not had a substantial blockbuster hit in some time.

Per Deadline, as of Saturday morning,...

Lionsgate’s “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” was the weekend’s biggest hit at the box office, taking in about $15 million in its first weekend. This crime thriller is Lionsgate’s first big hit in theatres since “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” in November.

Gerard Butler plays the brave police officer Big Nick again in this follow-up, showing that mid-budget action films are still popular. Audiences still enjoy this genre, as evidenced by the film’s success matching that of its 2018 predecessor.

While “Pantera” was doing well, wildfires in Los Angeles closed about a dozen theaters in a major movie market. Even so, some theaters, such as the AMC Americana in Glendale and the AMC Topanga 12, were able to return over the weekend.

The film had a diverse audience: 31% were white, 31% were Latino or Hispanic, and 25% were black. It was very popular with people ages 25 to...

Big Nick and his boys have heisted a No. 1 opening. Lionsgate’s crime sequel “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” debuted on top of domestic charts after cashing roughly $5.8 million on opening day from 3,008 theaters.

That’s pacing a touch ahead of the first “Den of Thieves,” which STX opened in January 2018 to a $5.6 million opening day and $15.2 million three-day total. It’s also going to be Lionsgate’s first opening on top of the box office since “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” bowed in November 2023.

While “Pantera” isn’t showing a significant uptick from its predecessor, Lionsgate is banking on the film being a steady draw through the typically lackadaisical moviegoing month of January. The sequel carries a modest $40 million production budget and the studio typically mitigates financial burdens by selling foreign rights to titles ahead of release. Reviews are just so-so (though more positive than...

Lionsgate is hoping to put a poor 2024 box office behind them starting with the release of “Den of Thieves: Pantera,” which is opening to a solid $15 million from 3,008 locations and the studio’s first No. 1 since “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” in November 2023.

That matches the unadjusted $15.2 million of the first “Den of Thieves” released back in 2018. The sequel, which stars Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr., has received somewhat positive reception with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 60% critics and 80% audience and a B+ on CinemaScore. The film carries a $40 million budget, though Lionsgate’s strategy of recouping some or all of the investment on their films through foreign presales should lower the break-even point.

Holiday holdovers fill up the rest of the top 5, starting with Disney’s “Mufasa,” which will cross $500 million worldwide with an estimated $12 million fourth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $187 million.

Paramount...

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes co-stars Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth reunited at Zegler’s Broadway production of Romeo + Juliet. Set during the 10th Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes follows a young Coriolanus Snow (Blyth) as he mentors Lucy Gray (Zegler), a traveling musician-turned-District 12 tribute. With a star-studded cast that included Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, and Jason Schwartzman, director Francis Lawrence's prequel revealed a younger, more vulnerable side to the man who would later become Panem’s ruthless president.

Blyth shared photos of the reunion on his Instagram story, showcasing the pair’s genuine camaraderie a little over a year after their film’s release. The photos offer a nostalgic glimpse of the two stars' bond, which helped to reinvigorate interest in Suzanne Collins' dystopian world. Check out the photos below:

What Rachel Zegler & Tom Blyth's Reunion Means Keeping The Hunger Games...

While a handful of MCU movies have been dated for after Avengers: Secret Wars, there's been no word on exactly when Marvel Studios' X-Men reboot will be released.

We know that Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) is penning the screenplay, but beyond that, updates have been few and far between. Unsurprisingly, social media scoopers are already dropping hints about who could play Marvel's Merry Mutants.

Stranger Things star Sadie Sink is supposedly being eyed for the role of Jean Grey and, according to scooper @MyTimeToShineH, Wicked's Cynthia Erivo is "one of the actors Marvel has been eyeing for Storm."

Sink is 22 and Erivo is 38, so that's a big age difference between the two team members. However, it's possible Marvel Studios is casting a wide net and has yet to decide whether we're getting an established team of Uncanny X-Men or a younger group of First Class-style mutants.

The Hunger Games’ Sunrise on the Reaping will show young Haymitch in a different light, and he will be the complete opposite of Coriolanus Snow in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. After Katniss’s story was completed in Mockingjay, the next installments in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games books turned to the history of Panem, with Snow being the protagonist in the first prequel. Five years after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was released, Suzanne Collins announced that she would be writing another Hunger Games prequel and Lionsgate confirmed that they would be adapting the book the very same day.

The Hunger Games movies give snippets about Haymitch’s past. However, the details of who he was when he was younger or how he came to be who he is aren't fully revealed. As Katniss and Peeta’s mentor, Haymitch has an interesting backstory that Sunrise on the Reaping is set to explore.

Director Francis Lawrence has opened up about the challenges of casting a young Haymitch Abernathy for the upcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. The longtime franchise director is returning to helm the highly anticipated prequel featuring the brutal second Quarter Quell, where twice as many tributes will battle in their district's favor. The story, adapted from Suzanne Collins’ forthcoming novel, will explore the traumatic events of the 50th Hunger Games that shaped a young Haymitch Abernathy. The film adaptation of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is set for a November 20, 2026 release.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, Lawrence opens up about the casting process for Haymitch. The character was originally portrayed by Woody Harrelson, whose distinct charisma and multifaceted portrayal will be a unique challenge for a younger actor to replicate. Lawrence likenes the difficulty of finding someone who could capture the drunken victor's complexity to the...

Germany’s film and TV industries will kick off 2025 with an overhaul to the country’s funding system for productions that, besides providing a local boost, is also good news for Hollywood.

The German parliament on Friday, in its last session before being dissolved, pushed through a watered down version of the country’s long-gestating new film funding law that will basically streamline the process through which local productions get subsidies that are financed by various levies, including on movie admission tickets.

The still partly provisional new law also raised Germany’s existing cash back production grant by 5% to 30%, which “makes Germany more competitive for incoming productions,” says producer Philipp Kreuzer, who is among the founders of Munich-based Penzing Studios and has been servicing Hollywood productions such as the second season of Nicole Kidman-starrer “Nine Perfect Strangers” and “Cliffhanger 2″ (pictured above).

The good news for Hollywood is that – amid...

Earlier this year, we shared updates as a cast was assembled for the Prime Video limited series Blade Runner 2099 – which is, of course, a continuation of the franchise that began with the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner and then got a long-awaited follow-up called Blade Runner 2049, which had Denis Villeneuve at the helm, in 2017. Now, Discussing Film has shared a short and simple update on the project: Blade Runner 2099 has wrapped filming!

‘Blade Runner 2099’, starring Hunter Schafer and Michelle Yeoh, has wrapped filming.

Coming soon to Prime Video. pic.twitter.com/gUUdDAon9o

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) December 29, 2024

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once) and Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) star in the series alongside Tom Burke (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), Dimitri Abold (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), Lewis Gribben (Somewhere Boy), Katelyn Rose Downey (The Nun II), Daniel Rigby (Renegade Nell), Johnny Harris...

Stars: Jaeden Martell, Tim Heidecker, Alicia Silverstone, Julian Dennison, Rachel Zegler, Fred Durst, Kyle Mooney | Written by Evan Winter | Directed by Kyle Mooney

At the end of 1999 humanity faced the first major crisis of the computer era, the Y2K Bug. For those lucky enough to be too young to remember, it was feared the fact most programs hard coded the “19” and only stored the last two digits of a year in memory would cause them to think the year 2000 was actually 1900 and plunge the world into chaos.

While there were some problems, it ended up being considerably less than the end of the world as we know it. The biggest problem I had to deal with was my copy of WWE 2K20 crashing until I could download and installed a patch. The characters in Saturday Night Live regular turned first-time director Kyle Mooney and co-writer Evan Winter’s alternate history...

L to R: Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and Ariana Grande is Glinda in Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu

Ring in the New Year with the grand cinematic triumph Wicked.! After setting the record for the biggest opening for a movie based on a Broadway show ever and nominated for four Golden Globes® including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, the thrillifying, must-have musical adaptation will be available exclusively on digital platforms to own or rent in time to celebrate New Year’s Eve on December 31, 2024, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Having cast a captivating spell on film audiences around the world, the film has earned Certified Fresh and Verified Hot designations on Rotten Tomatoes and a wickedly stunning “A” CinemaScore. Experience the magic of the spellbinding film with a dazzling bonus Sing-Along version, a 40-minute journey through Oz that celebrates the film’s transformative on-screen magic, deleted & extended scenes...