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Fans picked Deadpool & Wolverine star Ryan Reynolds as well as Adam Sandler as some of the most overrated stars in Hollywood. In a vox pop by a popular page, common folk in the UK were asked about who they think are the most overrated stars in Hollywood, and Reynolds, Sandler, and Timothée Chalamet seemed to dominate the list.

While some members of the list may deserve it, others such as Chalamet have proved why they are at the top. Even actors like Adam Sandler and Dwayne Johnson, who were featured in the list, seem to be taking on roles that are not of their usual style. The jury is still out, however, on these stars.

Ryan Reynolds And Adam Sandler Dominate Fans’ Picks For Overrated Hollywood Stars Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool & Wolverine | Credits: Marvel Studios

Ryan Reynolds delivered the second highest-grossing film of the year with Deadpool & Wolverine.

Bollywood star Aamir Khan and Oscar nominee Emily Blunt will be honored at the opening night of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival this week, alongside previously announced honouree, Egyptian actor Mona Zaki.

Khan and Blunt will also participate in the festival’s starry ‘In Conversation With’ strand, for which Eva Longoria, Andrew Garfield and Ranbir Kapoor are among the speakers to have already been announced.

India’s Khan is one his country’s most successful actors and filmmakers with a string of hit films under his belt including the 2016 female wrestling drama Dangal, which remains one of the highest grossing films in the territory to this day.

Other notable credits include hits with Ghajini, 3 Idiots, Dhoom 3, Pk and 2002 Oscar-nominee Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India.

A Quiet Place and Sicario star Blunt was Oscar-nominated in the 2023-24 awards season for best supporting actress for her...

Brendan Fraser’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) is no less than a classic family adventure. While the critics may have polarizing opinions on it, you can’t disagree that it was an entertaining watch at least. A few years later, Journey returned to the theatres, only this time, there was no Brendan Fraser in sight, only Dwayne Johnson. Along with Josh Hutcherson and Vanessa Hudgens, the group made their way to a mysterious island to carry out a rescue mission.

Brendan Fraser in Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) | Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island faced a similar fate to that of its predecessor when it came to the critics’ reviews. It made more money than Brendan Fraser’s Og film and left the fans wondering if there would be more coming from the Journey franchise. While the future is hazy, one thing...

Up on Variety about a year ago, there was an interesting interview with the German distributor of the Expendables and John Wick movies. Fred Kogel, who runs Leonine Studios, noted that all the top action heroes now, Keanu Reeves, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruise, and Harrison Ford, are the same ones we had in the eighties and nineties. But with Stallone and Ford in their late seventies, who will be the new action stars when the icons are done with the genre? Liam Neeson’s action career can’t go on forever, and Bruce Willis has, sadly, had to retire. For his part, Kogel doesn’t believe distributors and studios have done enough to build up a new crop of action heroes, noting that for the older stars, there was “a great deal of identification with the type of the actor, with the physicality of the actor so that you could relate to that.

Ever since Red One hit the theatres, Dwayne Johnson has been on a roller coaster ride. While Moana 2 is turning out to be a major success, making this Thanksgiving one of the most successful in history when it comes to movies.

On the other side of the spectrum though, the grass isn’t as green. Weeks before the Disney animated flick began its theatrical venture, The Rock was already being derided by detractors around the world for the abysmal failure of the Jk Simmons starrer, a movie which was being billed as one of the biggest for this year. The result? Voices have begun to clamor for putting The Rock out of action.

Red One failed to live upto expectations Red One has been a colossal failure || Amazon MGM Studios

Red One had everything it takes to be a success. After all, who wouldn’t love to see a story about Christmas,...

Dwayne Johnson is one of the biggest, most bankable powerhouses Hollywood has to offer. He went from dominating the wrestling ring to becoming a superstar overnight but let’s be honest – the man needs more diversity in his portfolio. Sure, he has the face of a typical action hero but Dwayne Johnson can be so much more if given the chance. His upcoming films are good examples of that.

Dwayne Johnson in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) | Credits: Columbia Pictures

With the sequel and the live-action version of Moana plus The Smashing Machine, Dwayne Johnson has the chance to prove to the world that he can take up roles that don’t rely heavily on his brawn. Will he finally be able to break the bounds of typecasting?

Dwayne Johnson’s Wasted Potential A still from Pain & Gain (2013) | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Dwayne Johnson is one of the most charismatic...

Dwayne Johnson’s latest project has hit theatres, a Christmas film that takes the urban fantasy approach for its narrative, called Red One. The film stars Hollywood heavyweights like J.K. Simmons, Chris Evans, and Lucy Liu. Red One has garnered some interest from audiences, but there is one particular aspect of the film that has grabbed the attention of Dana White.

The Krampus and Callum Drift || Credit: Amazon MGM Studios

While Red One celebrates the various holiday spirits that are usually associated with Christmas, there is also a part of the narrative that sees the Krampus engage in a game that is pretty reminiscent of Dana White’s Power Slap.

Red One’s Krampusschlap is pretty similar to Power Slap Chris Evans and Dwayne Johnson in Red One || Credit: Amazon MGM Studio

Krampusschlap, as revealed in the Red One trailer, is a game that is very similar to Power Slap.

Just as we predicted earlier this week, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s mega-budget Christmas action-comedy, Red One, is set for one of the star’s lowest debuts. While the $30 million Deadline is predicting isn’t quite as bad as the $25 million we called earlier this week, given the movie’s $250 million price tag, this has to be seen as an embarrassing failure for The Rock. When all is said and done, he hasn’t had a legitimate box office smash since Jumanji: The Next Level back in 2019.

The one glimmer of hope for Red One is the fact that the movie has a surprisingly excellent CinemaScore, with the A-minus rating suggesting those who are going to see the movie are actually enjoying it. While I slammed it in my review, even if the movie fails theatrically, it will likely be a solid hit once it hits streaming, with it set...

The principals of Seven Bucks Productions –Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia – are between The Rock and a hard place.

The 12-year-old film and TV shop was one of the earliest prototypes for a modern production company built around a megastar. These were businesses created to give more control and equity to figures like Johnson and his contemporaries. But as Hollywood struggles with consolidation and a cash crunch, scaling past the big name behind the brand may be essential for their long-term survival.

Some celebrity-backed companies have chosen to move into ancillary businesses beyond the movies and shows that made an actor an A-lister. Witherspoon, for instance, has become more consequential to book publishing than anyone might have predicted when Hello Sunshine launched. And Robbie and her partners at LuckyChap haven’t just made projects for the “Barbie” actress. Guided by great taste, they’ve partnered with cutting-edge creatives...

The box office doldrums seem set to continue this weekend, with Dwayne Johnson’s mega-budget Christmas comedy, Red One, on track to deliver one of the star’s worst opening weekends ever. When the movie was announced, it certainly seemed like a no-brainer. After all, The Rock and director Jake Kasdan had a pair of mega-hits under their belts with their Jumanji movies, and the idea for this movie seemed to be that it would marry that formula to the holidays and possibly kick off a new franchise.

So what happened?

Initially, Red One was meant to be a streaming play for Prime Video, and had it been kept in that lane, it likely would have proven to be a hit for the streamer in the same vein as Johnson’s previous Red Notice, which still ranks as Netflix’s biggest movie ever. Yet, somewhere along the way, the decision...

There was a time when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson could do no wrong. Having conquered the world of pro wrestling, he quickly established himself as a Hollywood A-Lister and was widely credited with saving the struggling Fast & Furious franchise.

Few of Johnson's movies have been critical darlings, but the vast majority have been crowd-pleasing box office hits. In 2022, Black Adam was meant to launch a new Dceu revolving around the actor; instead, it flopped, and things haven't gone particularly well for him since.

His missteps range from the XFL's struggles to Young Rock's cancellation and the way he was rejected by many WWE fans this year.

The Rock is still incredibly successful, of course, and plans to take on his first true serious role with A24's The Smashing Machine. However, his latest big budget effort, Red One, has proven to be another critical and commercial let-down.

Perhaps...

Dwayne Johnson, despite being a super famous brand nowadays, has tried his hand at different kinds of roles in the past, even as he was being pegged as the next Arnold Schwarzenegger. While there are no shortage of “safe bets” where he got to play a role he was at home with, his resume will still included films like Southland Tales, Be Cool and Snitch, where his size was a factor, but he wasn’t an all-out badass. Johnson would even dabble in family movies. He will next be featured in Red One, which comes from his Jumanji director Jake Kasdan and puts an action twist on the holiday.

Recently, GQ profiled Johnson and spoke with him, Benny Safdie and Emily Blunt on his upcoming dramatic turn in The Smashing Machine. The story of Mark Kerr deals with an athlete who faced depression, and Safdie mentions that he knew Johnson...

The fundamental principle behind Dwayne Johnson’s rise as one of the biggest WWE wrestlers and movie stars in the world can be summed up in 2 words: “Audience first.” Inside the ring, he listened to his audience, gave them the spectacle they deserved, and elevated the sport to one of the most celebrated in the world. In Hollywood, he did the same.

Dwayne Johnson in Red Notice [Credit: Netflix]

The 6 ft. 4 in. tall Samoan action figure carved a niche for himself in the movie industry by tapping into a relatively unexplored field of the explosive action genre. The genre that The Rock likes to play with can’t be placed in a similar sandbox as the one where Hans Gruber or Agent Smith like to operate.

Dwayne Johnson’s visions are bigger, more explosive, and far more festive than the action flicks that birthed Bruce Willis and Will Smith.

Dwayne Johnson...

Yes, you’ll still see Dwayne Johnson in action films and the upcoming Moana live-action — but you might also see him in some film projects that are much “deeper.” When speaking to GQ, the Rock reacted to a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone where he said he would prefer not to act in “darker” films.

“I don’t know who the fuck that guy is,” Johnson told GQ for their cover story. “I feel like I’ve evolved and grown. What’s evolved and changed, and I mean this respectfully because I love people,...

Dwayne Johnson might be the most physically recognizable movie star in the world. But his turn as Mma fighter Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie’s upcoming A24 film “The Smashing Machine” could see the wrestler-turned-actor do something that has evaded him until now: disappear into a role.

In a new interview with GQ, Johnson reflected on the intense makeup process that allowed him to alter his appearance for the role. He explained that losing the distinctive tattoos and bald head gave him the freedom to be somebody other than himself.

“I look what I look like,” Johnson said. “I am what I am. There is no: ‘Oh, Rock is just gonna disappear.’ You know what I mean? However, to be able to do that in ‘Smashing Machine,‘ with the greatest of makeup artists — in a way, it was really freeing for me.”

Safdie recalled that Johnson’s transformation was so...

It wasn't all that long ago that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was one of the few A-list stars in the world that seemingly everyone liked. Right alongside a small list that includes people such as Tom Hanks, Johnson had gone from pro wrestler to biggest movie star in the world and developed a wild amount of good will with the pop culture consuming public along the way (so much so that he was even teasing a possible run for President of the United States at one point).

Things have changed a bit over the past couple of years, however. Johnson hasn't had an outright hit movie in theaters since the pandemic began, with "Jungle Cruise" and "DC League of Super-Pets" disappointing theatrically. More notably, his DC superhero movie "Black Adam" failed to start a new franchise, even though Johnson seemed to be gunning to make himself the center of the DC Universe.

So, the whole being late to set and peeing in bottles thing?

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says a report about his disrespectful behavior on the Red One set was partly true, but he and his collaborators are denying certain aspects and insisting it wasn’t nearly as bad as it all sounds.

In a new GQ profile, Johnson was asked about being frequently late to set (a story in The Wrap said he was late an average of seven-to-eight hours per day, and missed several days of shooting, which inflated the cost of the $250 million production by $50 million).

“Yeah, that happens,” Johnson replied. “But not that amount, by the way. That was a bananas amount. That’s crazy. Ridiculous.” He added that the controversy overall was “bullshit.”

Jake Kasdan, who directed the film, was quoted as saying that Johnson “never missed a day of work ever. He has a lot going on.

Relatively speaking, A24 is still a young studio. It doesn’t have the history of a Disney, Universal, or Paramount. It also isn’t known for films that break the bank. However, that is changing a little, as the studio has two films seemingly coming in 2025 that will be the most expensive in the studio’s history.

Read More: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch

According to a report from Deadline, A24’s “Marty Supreme” and “The Smashing Machine” both carry $70 million budgets, which is, by far, the largest in the history of the studio.

Continue reading The Safdie Brothers’ 2 New A24 Films Are The Most Expensive In Studio History at The Playlist.

It’s never a harbinger of good tidings when the critics’ embargo for your $250-million Christmas franchise launcher is 9 p.m. Pt on Election Day. But here we are.

Amazon MGM Studios’ bid at a Marvel-level action-comedy spectacle, the ho-ho-horrible “Red One” is a blockbuster-sized cinematic lump of coal, driven as if by narcotized reindeer on a sleigh of hideous CGI and charmless stars with only dancing dollar-shaped sugar plums on the mind. Directed by “Jumanji” reboot filmmaker Jake Kasdan and written by longtime “Fast & Furious” scribe Chris Morgan, here is a level-four naughty-lister that will make you wish Christmas were canceled altogether, a cynical, depressing holiday adventure about the abduction of a swoled-up Santa Claus from the North Pole.

We know that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who plays St. Nick’s personal security detail, can open any movie. “Red One” should expect to earn a decent bag of cash in theaters,...

Exclusive: A24’s Timothée Chalamet movie Marty Supreme, about ping-pong prodigy Marty Reisman, is one of the few blue-chip movies on offer at this week’s American Film Market in Las Vegas. It’s also shaping up to be the most expensive.

Word from buyers this past week has been that the movie — which is filming in New York — comes with an eyebrow raising $90M budget. We hear that’s exaggerated, however, and that $70M gross is more accurate.

That still makes the project the most expensive new package on sale at this year’s AFM and makes it A24’s joint most-expensive production to date alongside Dwayne Johnson starrer The Smashing Machine, which is in post-production (and is another ‘sports biopic’ that doesn’t obviously scream big-budget). Both movies are directed by a Safdie brother: Marty Supreme by Josh, and Smashing Machine by Benny. Both previously teamed on A...

Apple TV+ series’ Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters and Neuromancer, and a feature from Tokyo Vice director Josef Kubota Wladyka are among the latest projects to be granted funding from Japan’s location production incentive programme.

The second season of action-adventure series Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters will qualify for the incentive as it is set to film on location in Japan for several days in November. The series, based around Japanese icon Godzilla, is largely shooting in Australia, having relocated from Canada’s British Colombia where season one was primarily filmed.

Japan’s Toho Co. licensed the rights to Legendary Entertainment...

Sony has announced a release date for the Jumanji threequel with Dwayne Johnson and the old team returning. The project will see another collaboration between Johnson and Jake Kasdan, who will release their long-awaited Christmas film, Red One, next month. The Rock has quite a few exciting projects up his sleeve for the next year or two, but the one fans are most invested in is The Smashing Machine.

Dwayne Johnson in a still from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Credits: Sony Pictures Releasing

Johnson is taking on the role of UFC wrestler Mark Kerr in the film. The film is written and directed by Uncut Gems fame Benny Safdie in a solo venture for A24. It could be the film that could finally land Johnson a nomination for the Academy Awards.

Forget Jumanji 3, Dwayne Johnson Has Another Exciting Oscarworthy Project Coming Up Dwayne Johnson in a still from...

In Josh and Benny Safdie's 2019 panic attack "Uncut Gems," Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a fast-talking jewelry store owner with several terrible habits. For one, he's been having a long-term affair with his mistress (Julia Fox) and his bitter, angry, soon-to-be-ex-wife Dinah (Idina Menzel) can't wait to be rid of him. Howard is also is a gambling addict with an unusual way of perpetuating his habit. He loans gems to celebrities and athletes, but takes their existing jewelry as collateral. He then takes the jewelry across town to a pawn shop and pawns it for a pile of money before betting the money on a sporting event. If he wins, he can get the jewelry out of hock and return it to the original owners with cash in his pocket, and no one is the wiser. If he loses ... well, he actually loses a lot.

"Uncut Gems" grabs you...

Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” is a live-wire comedic drama that follows the 90 minutes that directly preceded the airing of the very first episode of “Saturday Night Live” back in 1975. As dramatized in the film, it’s a calamitous combination of faulty equipment, jittery performers and looming executives who were ready to cut the broadcast at any moment.

The movie is funny and dramatic but it really has the beating heart of a thriller, as the cast and crew race against time to get the show on the air. And there is a bit of a mystery there, too, at least when it comes to some of its casting. While a bunch of cute young actors are playing the various performers and behind-the-scenes principals (also Willem Dafoe is there as an antagonizing exec and J.K. Simmons shows up as Milton Berle), there is one casting choice that might have you a little puzzled.

Following his Rebel Moon films, Zack Snyder is going smaller – and a UFC movie looks to be his next choice. More here.

Over the last couple of decades, Zack Snyder has become synonymous with effects-driven films. 2006’s 300 really pushed him into a career that would includes lots of heavily-stylised superhero and action movies.

With the release of his two Rebel Moon films for Netflix, though, there seems to be a growing line of thought that the filmmaker has pushed his house style to its limits and it feels like both he – and his audience – are ready to try something else.

That doesn’t mean that we’ll never see Zack Snyder use high contrast lighting or slow motion again. When Netflix recently cancelled his planned Army Of The Dead prequels, Snyder said he would be heading back to the ‘insanity’ of that style of filmmaking at some point, but...

A new film incentive and the weak yen are attracting more international productions to Japan, according to the Japan Film Commission (Jfc).

The incentive, which launched in 2023 following an earlier pilot programme that helped finance projects such as HBO series Tokyo Vice, offers a cash rebate of 50% to selected productions whose direct production costs in Japan exceed $3.3m (¥500m) or whose total production costs exceed $6.7m (¥1bn) and whose direct production costs in Japan exceed $1.3m (¥200m ). The upper limit for subsidies is $6.7m (¥1bn).

The incentive has been awarded to six projects this year, including Brendan Fraser vehicle Rental Family...

Tyler, the Creator is set to make his feature film acting debut in Marty Supreme, the Timothée Chalamet A24 movie from Josh Safdie.

Safdie will direct the feature from an original screenplay he co-wrote with Ronald Bronstein. Plot details remain under wraps, but while it was previously rumored to be loosely inspired by a pro ping-pong player, the movie is said to be a fictionalized original film.

Gwyneth Paltrow is set for the feature, her first onscreen feature role since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.

Marty Supreme will be produced by Eli Bush, Anthony Katagas, Bronstein, Safdie, Chalamet and A24. The project reunites Safdie with A24 after the company produced his two most recent films, Good Time (2017) and Uncut Gems (2019), both of which he co-directed with his brother Benny Safdie.

Tyler, the Creator is best known for his music career as one of the members of the Odd Future music collective. His...

As Dwayne Johnson breaks from his usual big-budget blockbusters and attempts to show off his more serious side in Benny Safdie’s upcoming film, The Smashing Machine, Johnson says that Maui, his character from Moana, has a story arc in this November’s Moana 2 that helped him to reflect on his own vulnerabilities and his own insecurities. At this year’s CinemaCon, he would announce how personal this sequel was for him. “It’s so much deeper of a movie to me, and it’s so much deeper of a movie to Disney as well,” Johnson said. “We are so excited to welcome back audiences all over the world to a new adventure.”

In Entertainment Weekly‘s preview of the new Disney film, Johnson elaborates on how he reflected on himself through Maui’s journey in this new story. In the movie, Maui has to set pride aside and...

Shakespeare in Love Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow is returning to the big screen.

The Goop founder will join Timothée Chalamet in A24’s Marty Supreme, to be directed by Josh Safdie from an original screenplay he co-wrote with Ronald Bronstein. Plot details remain under wraps, but while it was previously rumored to be loosely inspired by a pro ping-pong player, the movie is said to be a fictionalized original film.

Paltrow’s most recent movie credit was five years ago in Avengers: Endgame, and she’s also starred in Sliding Doors, Proof, Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, David Fincher’s Seven, the Farrelly brothers’ Shallow Hal and Alfonso Cuarón’s Great Expectations during her long career.

Marty Supreme will be produced by Eli Bush, Anthony Katagas, Bronstein, Safdie, Chalamet and A24. The project reunites Safdie with A24 after the company produced his two most recent films,...

The planned baseball movie that Adam Sandler was to headline, from director Josh Sadfie, sounds a little less certain.

It’s been a few months since we heard anything regarding this particular project, which seems to be taking an age to get in front of cameras. The film in question is Josh Safdie’s untitled baseball film which will star Adam Sandler, marking the pair’s next collaboration following the excellent 2020 film, Uncut Gems.

That film was a riveting drama that was bought to us courtesy of Netflix and was directed by Benny and Josh Safdie. The Safdies are no longer directing together, with Benny having moved on to helm A24’s The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne Johnson.

The film is said to focus around baseball and as such, needs to shoot during the sport’s season. Last year’s strikes meant that couldn’t happen and as such, the project seems to have stalled.

It was only a few short weeks ago that we shared word that Josh Safdie is gearing up to make his solo directorial debut with Timothée Chalamet starring ping-pong flick Marty Supreme. But as something begins for one Safdie, something has just finished for another. Per Deadline's reporting, Josh's brother Benny Safdie has just wrapped production on his A24 Mma movie The Smashing Machine with Dwayne Johnson, and scored a load of international distribution deals to celebrate. And good news for us UK cineastes — Entertainment Film Distributors have snapped up distribution rights for the film here in Blighty!

Written, directed, and produced by Safdie, The Smashing Machine — which takes its name from a 2003 HBO documentary about Mma fighter Mark Kerr — will see Dwayne Johnson take on the role of UFC legend Kerr. Fitting well within Safdie's milieu of high-pressure, high-intensity character studies of men on the edge, the fighting drama...

Exclusive: Dwayne Johnson’s trip to the Cannes Film Festival in May to support A24’s sales launch of Mma fighting drama The Smashing Machine has paid off.

A24 has unveiled a raft of deals on the movie starring Johnson as legendary Mma fighter Mark Kerr as the biopic wraps production in Japan this week, ahead of a U.S. release in 2025

The movie has sold to key partners in the UK (Entertainment Film Distributors), Canada, Australia & New Zealand (Vvs), France (Zinc & Bac), Germany & Austria (Leonine) Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Latam, Spain & South Africa ( Sun), Scandinavia (Nordisk), Benelux (The Searchers), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), China (iQIYI) South Korea (The Coup), Cis (AMedia), Cee (Unicorn), Ukraine (Top Film), Middle East (Front Row), Israel (Lev), Baltics (Acme), Turkey (Filmarti) and Portugal (Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais).

The Smashing machine is written, directed and produced by Benny Safdie, under his Out for the Count banner, with A24 producing and financing.

The drama follows legendary fighter Kerr from the no-holds-barred era of the UFC at the peak of his career, as he questions himself and struggles with life and relationships.

Emily Blunt co-stars as Kerr’s then girlfriend, later wife and ex-wife, Dawn Staples as she struggles to find her place in the champion fighter’s chaotic and contradictory world.

Producers alongside Safdie include Johnson, Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia for Seven Bucks Productions, David Koplan and Eli Bush.

Johnson took time out from the shoot in May to travel to Cannes to discuss the movie with buyers.

International travel strategy tip...

Qatari beIN media group and Dubai-based film distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment have renewed an ongoing first run deal for another three years until 2027.

Under the accord, beIN has secured exclusive pay one window rights to up to 300 movie titles for its linear and subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services across the Middle East and North African region.

Titles covered by the deal include Better Man, Priscilla, Anatomy of a Fall, The Night of the Zoopocalypse, La Cocina, Ezra, Mother’s Instinct, Bad Genius, Riddick: Furya; The Smashing Machine, Parthenope, and the upcoming Cliffhanger reboot, on which Front Row is a backer.

“Front Row Filmed Entertainment has been an important partner ever since beIN expanded its portfolio to include entertainment content, so we are very pleased to be continuing this relationship,” said Esra Altop, Chief Entertainment Content Officer at beIN.

“The partnership with Front Row Filmed Entertainment aligns with beIN’s continued strategic...

Dwayne Johnson first garnered fame from his professional wrestling career, earning The Rock persona. He garnered further acclaim with his transition into the entertainment industry, cementing himself as one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.

Dwayne Johnson as John Hartley in Red Notice | Netflix

However, the actor, who was synonymous with success and blockbuster movies seems to be grappling with problems, as a UFC challenger, Curtis Blaydes, turned down a significant role in his upcoming movie, The Smashing Machine.

Curtis Blaydes Turns Down a Major Role in Dwayne Johnson’s New Movie

In the glamour world of Hollywood, Dwayne Johnson is a prominent figure who is often seen as an invincible figure, tackling obstacles with ease. However, the reality is otherwise as the actor too faces moments of vulnerability and hardship.

Suggested“I get mistaken for him a lot”: Bob Newhart Once Revealed He Wanted Dwayne Johnson to Play...

You are reading an exclusive WrapPRO article for free. Want to level up your entertainment career? Go here for more information.

World Wrestling Entertainment has been on a hot streak, with WWE grabbing headlines heading into its signature WrestleMania event earlier this year with an ongoing storyline featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson making a months-long comeback. While Johnson’s been off the board since shortly after Mania, leaving to film ultimate fighting biopic “The Smashing Machine” before an expected return leading into next year’s WrestleMania, flagship show “WWE Raw” on USA is up 9% so far this quarter in the key 18-49 demographic versus 2023, according to Nielsen ratings figures.

Meanwhile, WWE’s “SmackDown” on Fox is up an impressive 17% vs. its 2023 third quarter average. “Raw” tallied an average of 776,000 viewers in 18-49 so far this quarter as “SmackDown” drew 886,000 viewers in the demo.

The promotion holds its “SummerSlam” premium event...

Sound the Steven Spielberg movie news klaxon! Just last month we brought you the exciting news that in-demand Oppenheimer and The Fall Guy star Emily Blunt is in talks to lead the legendary American filmmaker's mysterious new UFO movie, currently slated for release in May 2026. And now we're getting word of another big British name who could be boarding the project. According to the latest issue of Production Weekly, Challengers' Josh O'Connor may yet be the second hand in Spielberg's very vaguely described 'two-hander', though it is important to note at this time that Universal have yet to confirm any major casting news on the hotly anticipated project.

Precious little is known about what Spielberg is cooking up for his big return to blockbuster territory so far, but we have already learned that the filmmaker is reteaming with his Jurassic Park scribe David Koepp for this one, whilst fellow...

Speculation regarding a 2024 release for The Smashing Machine featuring Dwayne Johnson has ramped up now that the film’s production has wrapped.

You might have come across some of the speclation that has been swirling around of late regarding The Smashing Machine's potential release date. Despite A24 denying it, stories have continued to emerge that claim the film is coming late this year, complete with the kind of awards campaigning that A24 should probably attached to last year’s The Iron Claw (but didn’t).

Dwayne Johnson is the lead in The Smashing Machine, a film about the successes and tragedies of Mark Kerr, a mixed martial arts champion who certainly did not live the ultra-squeaky clean life that we’ve come to expect from most of Johnson’s characters.

This career swerve of Johnson’s is adding extra zest to the film story behind this one, not least...

Dwayne Johnson has successfully dabbled dual careers as a professional wrestler in WWE and is one of the A-list movie stars in Hollywood. The actor’s star power and large fanbase made him a bankable name in the industry. Audiences recently got to see an unhinged version of The Rock leading up to WrestleMania Xl.

Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds in Red Notice | Netflix

Johnson is known for his extensive training at the gym and has a massive physique. The man is always physically ripped in every project and has a towering presence in every frame he appears in. His bulky physique caused a real problem for the costume designer for his Netflix film Red Notice, who had to arrange multiple suits, especially for him.

Dwayne Johnson’s Herculean Physique Led To A Special Costume Arrangement On Red Notice

Dwayne Johnson played FBI profiler John Hartley in Red Notice | Netflix...

May thy ping pong paddle chip and shatter! Whilst his brother and fellow filmmaker Benny is busy shooting Mma movie The Smashing Machine with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, Josh Safdie is also hard at work and recruiting for his own solo directorial debut. As reported by Variety, Dune star Timothée Chalamet is set to star in and produce Safdie's new A24 joint Marty Supreme, written by the Uncut Gems co-director alongside regular writing partner Ronald Bronstein. Check out A24's ping pong ball featuring movie announcement post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, below;

Details about the film are scarce thus far, but Variety reports that whilst sources close to Marty Supreme indicate the movie presents a fictionalised story, it will be one at least inspired by legendary American ping pong star Marty Reisman. Affectionately known as "the wizard of table tennis", Reisman — who won 22 major ping...

Dune star Timothée Chalamet goes from sand to sport in the upcoming ping pong film Marty Supreme, made by the co-director of Uncut Gems.

Timothée Chalamet will star in Marty Supreme, a ping pong movie that is set to be directed by Josh Safdie. After starring in two epic Dune movies (and with Dune: Messiah set to come), Chalamet has chosen a change of pace and scale with his latest film, a biopic of a table tennis hustler turned champion.

Although the Safdie Brothers are no longer a fillmmaking duo, they’re still connected by a seeming love of sports biopics. After making Good Time and Uncut Gems together, the duo split and are now working on separate sports biopics for A24. Benny is directing The Smashing Machine, an Mma drama featuring Dwayne Johnson, while Josh now has Chalamet signed up for this ping pong drama. Let’s not also...

Timothée Chalamet is eyeing the lead role in Josh Safdie’s next film.

The actor is in final negotiations to star in A24’s upcoming feature Marty Supreme, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Plot details are under wraps, but the movie is said to be a fictionalized original work.

Safdie is set to helm the film from a script he co-wrote with Ronald Bronstein. Producers include Safdie, Chalamet, Bronstein, Eli Bush and Anthony Katagas.

The project reunites Safdie with A24 after the company produced his two most recent films, Good Time (2017) and Uncut Gems (2019), both of which he co-directed with his brother Benny Safdie. The Safdies are no longer planning to co-direct projects but continue to produce together through their company Elara Pictures. Bronstein has writing credits on both the Robert Pattinson-led Good Time and the Adam Sandler-starring Uncut Gems.

Marty Supreme is reported to involve ping-pong, and...

Timothée Chalamet could be perfecting his backspin, Chop, and lob while in final talks to play ping pong professional Marty Reisman in Josh Safdie’s A24 film Marty Supreme. Safdie wrote the original movie alongside Ronald Bronstein, who produced it with Eli Bush and Anthony Hatagas. A24 confirmed the project by sharing a social media post with a black-and-white photo of the film’s title printed on a ping-pong ball.

Reisman passed away in 2012, but not before leaving behind a legacy of mythical proportions in the ping-pong community. Variety reports that the table tennis star began his career by hustling others in the lightning-fast game of paddle warfare. He won 22 significant ping pong titles from 1946 to 2002 and five bronze medals at the World Table Tennis Championships. Variety also notes that at 67, Reisman played in the United States National Hardbat Championship and became the oldest player to win an open national competition in a racket sport.

Parting from the brother with whom you could make literally any film either wishes, only to both end up directing sports biopics for A24––a tale as old as time. While Benny Safdie works with an unrecognizable Dwayne Johnson on The Smashing Machine, Josh Safdie has been prepping Marty Supreme, a biopic of ping pong legend Marty Reisman for which Timothée Chalamet is in final talks to lead and produce. [Variety]

From a script by co-written with regular collaborator Ronald Bronstein, Marty Supreme tells of Reisman’s career as a ping pong champion and, because this is a Safdie production, hustler who’d regularly win off bets. His astonishing career spanned 22 major titles between 1946 and 2002, five bronze medals at the World Table Tennis Championships, and the distinction of being “the oldest player to win an open national competition in a racket sport.” Although the thought of Chalamet in old-man make-up is nearly impossible to conjure up,...

With Timothée Chalamet next playing Bob Dylan, he’ll next be trading singing for ping pong slinging.

The actor, who is portraying Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown,” is in final negotiations to star in and produce Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme” about a professional ping pong champ, A24 announced on Monday.

The movie is a fictionalized, original film written by Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, and official plot details are being kept under wraps.

Though as Variety is reporting, the film may be loosely inspired by the life of Marty Reisman, a ping pong champion who won 22 major ping pong titles from 1946 to 2002, and five bronze medals at the World Table Tennis Championships across his career. He also made history as the oldest player to win an open national competition in a racket sport while competing in the United States National Hardbat Championship. He died in 2012.

Reisman...

When Dwayne Johnson isn’t clowning on Kevin Hart, drinking tequila, or crushing weights at his portable gym, he’s granting wishes for young people worldwide. While continuing to heal from an elbow injury he got on the set of his upcoming A24 film The Smashing Machine, Johnson received a “rush wish” from the Make-a-Wish Foundation. This organization makes miracles happen for young people with life-threatening illnesses. They’ve worked with Johnson on various requests before. Still, a recent request from 4-year-old Lily is making the rounds online. Speaking with his followers on social media, Johnson shared a video of Lily’s wish fulfillment, which is for Johnson to sing ‘You’re Welcome’ from the Moana movie soundtrack.

Lily’s parents asked Johnson to share his performance on social media so others could hear about her story, fight, and bravery in the face of dire circumstances.

“I received a request...

A24 has received an influx of cash from Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital that now values the indie studio at $3.5 billion (enterprise value), a source with knowledge of the investment told IndieWire. The studio’s new valuation is 40 percent higher than it was for the last round of funding: 2022’s $225 million investment at a $2.5 billion valuation.

That doesn’t mean Kushner threw $1 billion into the pot — far from it. Existing investors from the previous round have also upped their financial support for this new round, A24 said on Wednesday. Additionally, the A24 brand has just organically grown its valuation with its successes in recent years, including “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022), “Talk to Me” (2022), and this year’s “Civil War.”

But still, it must have been substantial. The Financial Times reported Kushner’s investment was $100 million, which we understand to be in the ballpark.

It is not just Kushner’s...

Film and TV studio A24 has secured a new round of funding led by Josh Kushner’s investment firm Thrive Capital.

In connection with the investment, Kushner will join the board of directors for A24, best known for such films as “Civil War,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Moonlight” and “Uncut Gems,” and TV series “Euphoria,” “Beef,” “Ramy” and “The Sympathizer.”

Financial details and exact figures were not disclosed by A24 and Thrive Capital, but sources confirm to Variety the investment from Thrive Capital gives it a valuation of about $3.5 billion — a 40% increase since A24’s most recent round of funding in 2022, which was $225 million at a $2.5 billion valuation.

Kushner’s New York-based investment firm has previously backed Instagram, Spotify, Stripe and other companies, and together with his wife, Karlie Kloss, leads Bedford Media (which owns i-d Magazine and is planning to relaunch Life magazine). He is younger brother of Jared Kushner,...

A24 has closed an investment round led by Thrive Capital, the New York investment firm of Josh Kushner, who will join the indie distributor’s board of directors.

The company also received increased support from existing investors who participated in the previous round including Ken Fox’s private equity firm Stripes, and investment fund Neuberger Berman.

There was no dollar figure given in the announcement of the fund raise, the company’s second. In 2022, it secured a $225 million equity investment led by Stripes that valued A24 at $2.5 billion. Deadline hears the investment announced today reps an increase in valuation of 40% since then, valuing it at just over $3.5 billion.

Nor did the company behind Civil War and Beef specify how it will use the funds. Deadline hears it will invest in and expand production and distribution and continue work on initiatives beyond the screen from music and publishing to consumer products and live theater.

A24, the Oscar-winning indie studio that has become an edgy brand name unto itself, is getting a big vote of confidence — and an influx of cash.

The studio said Wednesday it has closed on an investment round led by Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Thrive invested $75 million into the indie studio based on a $3.25 billion pre-money valuation. A source close to A24 with knowledge of the investment notes that the company’s enterprise valuation now sits at $3.5 billion, suggesting this round of funding will net the company a roughly $250 million total investment.

As a part of the investment, Thrive founder Kushner will join the A24 board of directors.

The news of the A24’s new valuation and Thrive’s investment comes as the studio pushed into more commercial projects, with bigger budgets and A-list talent. There was a period, not too long ago, when...

Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans are starring in their own spin on “Guardians of the Galaxy”….meets the North Pole.

Johnson plays the North Pole’s Head of Security who, aside from coaching Santa (J.K. Simmons) to get shredded, enlists the world’s most infamous bounty hunter (Chris Evans) to help save Christmas. The highly-anticipated holiday heist film “Red One” is directed by Jake Kasdan and is written by Chris Morgan, with the script based on a story by Hiram Garcia.

The official synopsis reads: After Santa Claus – Code Name: Red One – is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security (Johnson) must team up with the world’s most infamous bounty hunter (Evans) in a globe-trotting, action-packed mission to save Christmas.

Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Kristofer Hivju, Nick Kroll, and Wesley Kimmel also star.

Johnson, Kasdan, Garcia, Morgan, Dany Garcia, and Melvin Mar produce the Amazon MGM Studios feature.