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‘Missing Link’ Animation Studio Laika To Keep Staff On Payroll Amid Coronavirus Crisis By Hoai-Tran Bui/April 10, 2020 3:30 pm EST In the past month, Hollywood ground to a halt amid the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, leading movie theaters to shutter, feature films to be delayed, and major studios to furlough or lay off their employees. But Laika, the independent animation studio behind Oscar-nominated films like Coraline and Missing Link, intends to keep all its employees on payroll even as the Portland, Oregon-based studio remains closed....

‘Mr. Mayor’ Trailer: Ted Danson Is The Mayor Of Los Angeles In New Series From ‘30 Rock’ Creators By Ethan Anderton/Nov. 25, 2020 2:00 pm EST The line-up of new shows for the 2020-2021 television season isn’t much to write home about thanks to the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on television production workflow. But there is one new show that we’re keeping our fingers crossed for since it hails from 30 Rock creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, and the first trailer for it has finally arrived....

‘Raya And The Last Dragon’ Producer And Screenwriter On Creating A New Kind Of Disney Hero [Interview] By Hoai-Tran Bui/Jan. 27, 2021 10:00 am EST When the rumblings for the project that would become Raya and the Last Dragon first began at Disney roughly five years ago, producer Osnat Shurer (Moana) was brought on board to spearhead the House of Mouse’s next animated epic. The general ideas were there: a fantasy world based around the Asian dragon, usually a symbol of water and harmony, and a “kick-ass warrior” to lead the adventure....

‘Space Invaders’ Movie Still Developing At New Line, Finally Has A Writer By Ben Pearson/July 12, 2019 5:00 pm EST Warner Bros. has been trying to make a Space Invaders movie for almost ten years. We first wrote about the project back in 2010, when producer Jason Blum was one of a few people in talks to make it happen. Blum went on to become one of the most prominent, successful producers in Hollywood, but all the while, Space Invaders was still on a back burner somewhere at WB....

By Ben Pearson/Dec. 3, 2019 11:00 am EST It was only a matter of time before we got a Star Wars game show, and that time is nearly at hand. Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, a new game show that sounds similar to the classic Nickelodeon series Legends of the Hidden Temple, is heading to Disney+ in 2020. And Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks in the prequel trilogy, is going to serve as the host....

‘Synonyms’ Review: A Chilling Examination Of Masculinity And Nationalism [NYFF 2019] By Caroline Cao/Oct. 1, 2019 11:00 am EST A penetrating vacancy haunts the expression of Yoav (Tom Mercier) as he twirls a postcard rack at a French tourist stop. His soul had gone AWOL ever since he deserted his military training in Israeli for Paris. He seems to be making up his own initiation process along the way. Pulling from director Nadav Lapid’s grappling with his Israeli identity, Synonyms is an off-kilter feature about the uneasy metamorphosis of identity, disillusionment, and masculinity when settling in a new homeland....

‘The Babysitter’ Sequel Coming Next Month To Give You More Of That McG Horror You Crave By Chris Evangelista/Aug. 12, 2020 12:00 pm EST The Babysitter is back, baby! Well…sort of. Samara Weaving played the titular babysitter in the 2017 horror-comedy from director McG, but since she’s kind of a big deal now – winning raves for her work in Ready or Not and appearing in the upcoming Bill and Ted Face the Music – she’s not returning for the questionable sequel....

‘The Stranger’ Featurette: Quibi’s Latest Looks Like ‘Collateral’ Meets ‘Red Eye’ By Chris Evangelista/April 24, 2020 5:00 pm EST If you’ve ever watched a random double-feature of Michael Mann’s Collateral and Wes Craven’s Red Eye, and said: “Hey, someone should combine these two movies into one thing!”, Quibi is here for you. The Stranger, the latest original from the short-form streaming service, appears to be heavily influenced by both of those movies, as rideshare driver Maika Monroe finds herself targeted by a crazed killer, played by Dane DeHaan....

‘Women In The Castle’: Daisy Ridley & Kristin Scott Thomas To Star In Film Adaptation Of Bestseller By Ben Pearson/Sept. 3, 2020 5:30 pm EST First Marianne rescues six-year-old Martin, the son of her dearest childhood friend, from a Nazi reeducation home. Together, they make their way across the smoldering wreckage of their homeland to Berlin, where Martin’s mother, the beautiful and naive Benita, has fallen into the hands of occupying Red Army soldiers....

AMC Theaters Plans To Open More Than 100 Locations In U.S. Starting August 20 By Hoai-Tran Bui/Aug. 13, 2020 7:30 am EST AMC Theaters has released its plans to reopen theaters in the U.S., with an aim to open two-thirds of its locations by the date of Tenet’s U.S. theatrical release. Starting August 20, AMC plans to open more than 100 theaters, and continue opening locations “such that about two-thirds of our theatres across the country should be open no later than September 3....

Concept Art: Walt Disney World’s Cinderella Castle Is Getting An Upgrade By Ben Pearson/Feb. 17, 2020 5:00 pm EST Walt Disney World’s most iconic building is getting a facelift. Cinderella Castle, the centerpiece of Disney’s Magic Kingdom park in Florida, is getting “a bold, shimmering and royal makeover” to celebrate Cinderella’s 70th anniversary and the upcoming 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World. Check out some concept art of the new enhancement below....

Daily Podcast: Reacting To Joe Biden’s Presidential Inauguration By Ben Pearson/Jan. 20, 2021 10:45 am EST On the January 20, 2021 episode of /Film Daily, /Film senior writer Ben Pearson is joined by /Film managing editor Jacob Hall, weekend editor Brad Oman, and writers Hoai-Tran Bui and Chris Evangelista to talk about the presidential inauguration. Opening Banter: In the News: Joe Biden is officially the President of the United States, and we’ll be back tomorrow!...

Exploring The Many Genres Within The Superhero Genre By Evan Saathoff/Nov. 13, 2020 10:00 am EST Mortal, the new film from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and The Autopsy of Jane Doe filmmaker André Øvredal, is out now and tells the story of a young man discovering his own set of abnormal powers. You might even call them superpowers. But is it a superhero film? It’s hard to say....

Idris Elba And ‘Stranger Things’ Star Caleb McLaughlin Are Becoming ‘Concrete Cowboys’ By Ethan Anderton/Aug. 9, 2019 10:30 am EST Idris Elba can currently be seen taking on Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham in the sci-fi boosted Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and Caleb McLaughlin can be seen dealing with more monsters in the third season of Stranger Things on Netflix. But now the two are entering much different territory as a pair of urban horseman in the drama Concrete Cowboys, inspired by the novel Ghetto Cowboy and the real Fletcher Street Stables, an urban horsemanship community in Philadelphia....

James Wan Boards ‘Gideon Falls’ Comic Adaptation As Executive Producer By Ethan Anderton/Oct. 3, 2019 4:00 pm EST James Wan is currently at work on his return to the horror genre with a movie called Malignant, but that’s not the only horror project he has in the works. The filmmaker and his Atomic Monster production company are joining Hivemind in executive producing an adaptation of Gideon Falls, the Image Comics series created by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino....

LOL: ‘Jason And Friends’ Imagines The ‘Friday The 13th’ Saturday Morning Cartoon We Never Knew We Needed By Ethan Anderton/Aug. 7, 2020 2:00 pm EST There was a time when tons of movies from the 1980s and 1990s were given their own animated series. Beetlejuice, Back to the Future, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Ghostbusters, Dumb & Dumber, Police Academy, RoboCop, The Mask, and many more all got their own shows....

New ‘Star Wars’ Blu-Ray Releases Coming Next Month, See The Cover Art Here By Ben Pearson/Aug. 9, 2019 11:30 am EST When The Walt Disney Company’s new streaming service, Disney+, debuts this November, subscribers will be able to access an entire Star Wars section of that service and watch all sorts of Star Wars content (including The Mandalorian) until their hearts are content. But for those who still prefer physical media, a new Star Wars Blu-ray rerelease is coming next month where fans will be able to purchase every live-action Star Wars film so far – and they all come with a digital copy, too....

Pop Culture Imports: ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ An Uruguayan Political Drama, A Throwback Video Game Anime, And More By Hoai-Tran Bui/Jan. 10, 2019 12:00 pm EST (Welcome to Pop Culture Imports, a column that compiles the best foreign movies and TV streaming right now.) New year, new foreign movies and shows to add to your ever-growing queue! If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to become more cultured, then look no further than Pop Culture Imports, where I recommend all the best titles you can watch with subtitles....

Pop Culture Imports: A Gorgeous Bollywood Epic, Two Heart-Wrenching World War II Films, And A Quirky Korean Variety Show By Hoai-Tran Bui/April 6, 2018 9:00 am EST (Welcome to Pop Culture Imports, a column that compiles the best, wackiest, and weirdest foreign-language movies and TV shows streaming right now.) We’re a week into April, which means it’s time for your biweekly dose of Pop Culture Imports. And if you’re bitter at the sudden waves of warmth outdoors (not to mention the allergies), make yourself comfortable to watch some sobering and stunning foreign-language movies....

Sean Penn Will Somehow Not Play Spicoli At The ‘Fast Times At Ridgemont High’ Table Read By Hoai-Tran Bui/Aug. 18, 2020 8:30 am EST Sean Penn is returning to Ridgement High for a charity table read of the classic 1982 high school comedy that helped launch his career. But somehow, he won’t be playing his iconic teen slacker, Jeff Spicoli. Penn will, however, be joined by a star-studded cast for the Fast Times at Ridgemont High table read, including Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Shia LaBeouf, Matthew McConaughey, and Morgan Freeman, for a live virtual event that will benefit emergency relief nonprofit CORE’s work in the fight against COVID-19....