Emma Stefansky
This Year’s ‘Harry Potter’ Death Apology From Rowling Was Pretty Controversial
J.K. Rowling, otherwise known as the lady who wrote those books about the wizard school, has an annual tradition, started in 2015, where she apologizes for a particularly unjust death that has saddened die-hard Harry Potter fans. 2015’s apology was for Fred Weasley, one half of the Weasley twins duo that throughout the series had seemed to be inseparable. Last year’s apology was for Remus Lupin, the werewolf and one-time Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who’d ended up a close ally and friend of Harry’s. Both deaths were tragic, and yet fit with Potter’s theme of victory through self-sacrifice. The apologies both garnered mournful tweets from fans who talked about what great characters they were, and how they miss them. This year’s apology, however, split the fandom right down the middle.
Amazon Prime Instant Video and TV Releases for May Announced
Amazon released their list of what to look forward to streaming on their instant video service next month, and May has some absolute winners. Not only did the site nab Oscar nominee Manchester by the Sea, they’ll also have available to stream last year’s Best Picture winner Moonlight, their new Original Series Dino Dana and I Love Dick, and a ton of classic James Bond movies.
‘Jurassic World 2’ Taking a Cue From ‘F8’ for an ‘Epic’ Submarine Scene
It’s as if Oprah burst through the doors of Universal Studios and started screaming, “YOU get a submarine, and YOU get a submarine, and YOU get a submarine!!!” Actor Kevin Layne recently revealed that the upcoming Jurassic World sequel, much like The Fate of the Furious, is going to have an “epic” submarine sequence. And I’m willing to bet it features at least one dinosaur.
Adam Sandler Teaming Up With Chris Rock, Because Sandler’s Netflix Era Isn‘t Over Yet
Because Adam Sandler’s tyrannical reign on Netflix is far from over, he’s already working on his next movie. This time, he and his Grown Ups co-star Chris Rock are reteaming for a wedding comedy, titled The Week Of.
Luke Skywalker’s Rumored Bling in ‘The Last Jedi’ Could Be Very Important
When we last saw Luke Skywalker, he had just flipped the gray hood of his grayer robes off of his head with a flourish to reveal his extremely gray wise man beard and to fix Rey with his piercing gray eyes. Word on the street is he’ll definitely have more lines in The Last Jedi, and probably at least one more outfit. A new rumor also suggests he has some new jewelry that might have something to do with his past and Darth Vader. [Be advised: this gets into some kindaaa spoilery territory, so if you want to go into The Last Jedi blind, run away!]
The Alternate Endings to ‘The Blair Witch Project’ Were a Lot Weirder
When it comes to horror movies, it’s always interesting to learn how the moviemakers came up with their endings — especially endings as ambiguously terrifying as that of The Blair Witch Project. An ending can make or break a horror movie, and the directors recently revealed how they thought up theirs, as well as all the alternate ones they shot which were a lot weirder, but maybe less scary.
New ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ Trailer Trailer Teases a Centuries-Old ‘Secret History’
The Transformers have always been sneaky little miscreants. Their whole thing is that they’re “robots in disguise,” masquerading as cars or trucks or dinosaurs to better blend in with their surroundings. We know that they’ve been coming to Earth for a while now, and the new Transformers: The Last Knight promises to tell us why. The new tease for a trailer coming on Wednesday shows us that Anthony Hopkins may know the answer.
Michael Bay Says ‘Bumblebee’ Is a Prequel, and It’ll Start Production This Year
Who is the best Transformer? Correct, it’s Bumblebee. The trusty little Camaro who communicates half in speech and half with the assistance of sound bites from his radio is getting his own spinoff, and Paramount is looking at a release date sometime in 2018. Michael Bay, who is now in the process of choosing which Transformers story to do next, recently revealed that Bumblebee is going to be a prequel.
Vin Diesel Says ‘The Fate of the Furious’ Is Going to Launch a New Trilogy
With the eighth on the way and two more planned sequels after that, it seems like the Fast & Furious franchise will never end. And you know what, if Vin Diesel, The Rock, and Jason Statham want to keep making movies where the good guys win by driving quickly and angrily, more power to them! Diesel himself revealed during CinemaCon on Wednesday, after an emotional tribute to the late Paul Walker, that The Fate of the Furious is the first in a new trilogy of films.
The ‘Annabelle’ Sequel’s Official New Title Is ‘Annabelle: Creation’
2014’s Conjuring spinoff Annabelle was a runaway box office hit, presumably because dolls will always be scary and people will always love being scared by them. Because any B.O. success warrants a sequel these days, David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) is hard at work on a new one, which released a teaser last fall. Today we’ve learned that the Annabelle sequel’s official title is Annabelle: Creation.
Audiences Want More R-Rated Superhero Movies, According to a Recent Survey
In the superhero movie business, ratings have until now seemed like a pretty simple business. The way to get the biggest audience while also keeping in as much fantasy violence and perilous situations to stay true to the comics was to shoot for the middle ground, a nice, nonthreatening PG-13. No full-on nudity, no blood splatter, and relegate your one allocated f-word to Wolverine. But the times, they are a-changin’, and superhero movies are changing right along with them, starting with shooting for the more mature, edgier R-rating. As it turns out, this is exactly the direction audiences want them to go.
LeFou Talks Up Gaston’s Many Skills in New ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Clip
This year’s Beauty and the Beast promises that we will see every iconic shot and dance number from the original, but now in glorious live-action. Actors whose faces we recognize will bring timeless characters to life, and sing all of the songs we loved as kids. There are a few great songs in the original movie: “Tale as Old as Time” is a classic, and “Belle” has plenty of fake French accents to try to copy, but the best scene, and the scene yours truly is anticipating the most, is “Gaston.”