Tom Cruise Hangs On For Dear Life in “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” Trailer
The official trailer for Tom Cruise’s potential last mission as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt has arrived, giving us a fresh look at the lengths Cruise has been willing to go to keep this action franchise at the extreme edge of what’s possible to do on camera. The new look at Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning takes us on a brief trip down memory lane, to Cruise’s very first mission as Ethan Hunt,
Val Kilmer Passes Away, Leaving Behind a Legendary Career & Admirers Far and Wide
“I’m your huckleberry.”
In 1993, director George Cosmatos’ Tombstone came out, starring Kurt Russell as the legendary lawman Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer as his drunken, decidedly decent and invaluable partner Doc Holliday. By then, Kilmer was already a legend, having played Ice Man, the ying to Maverick (Tom Cruise, of course)’s yang in Tony Scott’s 1986 film Top Gun, and Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s 1991 film The Doors,
No More Games: “September 5’s” Oscar-Nominated Writers on the Day Terror Took Center Stage
The thriller September 5, directed and co-written by Tim Fehlbaum, revisits the day the Palestinian militant group Black September took nine Israeli athletes hostage during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, the script, which Fehlbaum wrote with Moritz Binder, is a tightly-paced journalism procedural centered on the ABC Sports studio’s broadcast of the attack as it happened.
Peter Sarsgaard stars as Roone Arledge,
“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” Launches Tom Cruise Into the Super Bowl
If this is Tom Cruise’s last mission as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt, he chose an auspicious time to unleash a furious new look—in the midst of the Philadelphia Eagles prime time demolition of the reigning champs in the Kansas City Chiefs during the Super Bowl. The game wasn’t close, but Ethan’s hunt (pun intended) to secure a rogue AI and save the world is balanced on a knife’s edge.
The fresh look at Cruise’s 8th mission in the decades-old franchise,
Rihanna Has Entered Her Blue Era in First “Smurfs” Trailer
Ladies and gentlemen, Rihanna has entered her blue era.
Director Chris Miller’s Smurfs has the most potent possible Smurfette leading the new movie—yes, Rihanna—and she’s front and center in the first trailer for the film.
While Rihanna is undoubtedly the biggest star in just about any room or scene she’s in, animated or not, the heart of the Smurfs is the entire village of characters created by the Belgian comic artist and writer Peyo.
“September 5” Production Designer Julian Wagner on Recreating the 1972 Olympic Attack From the Inside Out
Named after a day that will live in infamy, September 5 (in theaters now) recounts the terrorist attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics, as told from the perspective of ABC Sports broadcasters led by Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) and Geoff Mason (John Magaro). Confined largely to their studio control room, purpose-built just a few yards from Olympic Village, journalists watched the attack in horror, scrambling to capture the tragedy with now-antiquated gear yoked to then-new satellite technology.
Super Bowl Trailers: Marvel’s “Thunderbolts,” “Jurassic World: Rebirth” and Tom Cruise’s Latest “Mission: Impossible” Expected
The Super Bowl is the most-watched television broadcast in the United States every year. In 2024, the Kansas City Chiefs clash with the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII (58 for the Roman numeral illiterate) drew an average of 123.7 million viewers across linear and streaming services in the U.S. alone. The big game is also broadcast in over 130 countries in more than 30 languages worldwide, and it functions not just as the year’s biggest TV draw but as a bonafide cultural event that includes a raucous halftime show with a rotating cast of musical icons.
“Better Man” Director Michael Gracey on Monkeying With Robbie Williams in Bold Bio-Pic
Australian director Michael Gracey skyrocketed to success after releasing his debut feature, the 2017 Hugh Jackman-led musical The Greatest Showman. For his second narrative feature, Better Man, which is also a musical, he has tackled the life story of English pop singer Robbie Williams. There’s a twist, though. For the entirety of the film, Williams is portrayed as a CGI-animated chimpanzee. Gracey co-wrote the film and has a producing credit,
Best of 2024: Maximus Effort: “Gladiator II” Production Designer Arthur Max on Creating Colossal Constructions
This interview was selected by measures having nothing to do with science as one of our standouts from 2024. Arthur Max was absolutely crucial to Ridley Scott’s vision of creating a completely unhinged, dementedly decadent Rome. To that end, Max delivered, creating not one but two Colosseums for Scott’s epic.
Oscar-nominated production designer Arthur Max has worked on 16 of Ridley Scott’s films. These include some of American cinema’s most indelible cinematic spectacles,
How “Gladiator II” Editors and the VFX Supervisor Shaped Three Ferocious Scenes
Gladiator II picks up fifteen years following the events of Russell Crowe’s portrayal of Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator (2000), an epically visceral film from Ridley Scott that not only won five Oscars, including Best Picture at the 73rd Academy Awards but is considered one of the greatest action films in movie history – a notion underpinned by its quotable dialogue that has become part of the public lexicon.
“Gladiator II” Costume Designers Janty Yates and David Crossman on Lunatic Emperors & Blood-Splattered Warriors
She won an Oscar for outfitting the first Gladiator, and 20 years later, costume designer Janty Yates once again teamed with Ridley Scott to cloak ancient Rome’s ruling class in bespoke finery. Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal as a slave who fights his way to freedom, with Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, and Fred Hechinger in featured roles. Yates and military expert David Crossman, who costumed the downtrodden gladiators,
“Gladiator II” Cinematographer John Mathieson on Capturing Robotic Rhinos & Colossal Carnage
If you’re in the mood for a visually stunning film with gladiators battling to the death in a flooded Colosseum and a very ripped Paul Mescal going head-to-head with a rhinoceros and a baboon, Ridley Scott’s pulse-pounding period actioner is the movie you’ve been waiting for. Twenty-three years after his first Oscar nomination for the original Gladiator, British cinematographer John Mathieson (Logan, Mary Queen of Scots) is back with the long-anticipated sequel,
“Gladiator II” Production Designer Arthur Max on Rebuilding a Decadent, Debased Ancient Rome
In the first installment of our conversation with Gladiator II production designer Arthur Max, he talked about making Ridley Scott’s sequel on an even bigger scale than the original film and staging a naval battle sequence in the desert of Morocco for the opening sequence. Now, let’s find out what it took to flood the Colosseum to recreate the mock naval battle in the third act.
Did you use mostly local crew on the sequel?
Maximus Effort: “Gladiator II” Production Designer Arthur Max on Creating Colossal Constructions
Oscar-nominated production designer Arthur Max has worked on 16 of Ridley Scott’s films. These include some of American cinema’s most indelible cinematic spectacles, such as the original Gladiator (for which Max scored his first Oscar nod), Black Hawk Down, and The Martian. Despite the impressive body of work between them, Max thinks that the Roman epic actioner, Gladiator II, is their most ambitious yet.
“Gladiator II” Screenwriter David Scarpa on the Herculean Task of Writing a Worthy Sequel
It’s been a long time coming, but the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2000 epic, which won the Oscar for Best Picture, opens in theaters nationwide on November 22. Starring Oscar nominee Paul Mescal (Aftersun), Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), the iconic Denzel Washington, and original cast member Connie Nielsen, Gladiator II finally came to fruition thanks to the script from David Scarpa, who’d previously penned Scott movies All the Money in the World and Napoleon.
“Gladiator II” Enters International Arena With a Powerful Opening Weekend
Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II burst into the international arena this past weekend with a very strong start. Scott’s sequel to his 2000 Best Picture Winner opened across 63 markets, earning a massive thumbs up from audiences and boasting an $87 million dollar start. This makes Gladiator II Scott’s overseas debut in his long, illustrious career.
Gladiator II also conquered $7 million on IMAX across 453 screens, another formidable opening salvo.
“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” Trailer Finds Tom Cruise on Last Epic Mission
Now we know the title of the 8th Mission: Impossible movie, which carries the weight of the franchise’s history and the possible final mission for Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning’s first trailer is an action epic through and through. The film’s logline reads, “Every choice has led to this.”
The trailer has many hallmarks of a classic Mission: Impossible movie: Cruise’s Hunt sprinting on foot always toward danger or the hope of saving somebody (or everybody).
“Smile 2” Horror Auteur Parker Finn on Crafting a Sequel About a Haunted Pop Star in New York
Writer/director Parker Finn has been enjoying a whirlwind victory lap in the days since his Smile 2 opened number one at the box office to become the year’s top-grossing horror film. “It’s been very surreal and exciting,” Finn told The Credits, speaking from his Los Angeles home. In fact, the past four years have unspooled for Finn with the kind of momentum young filmmakers dream about, thanks to his mastery of nightmarish scenarios.
“Smile 2” Prosthetic Makeup Designer Jeremy Selenfriend on the Sequel’s Gruesome, Grinning Details
Editor’s Note: The story contains spoilers to the movie Smile 2.
Prosthetic makeup designer Jeremy Selenfriend is no stranger when it comes to creating blood-curdling horror. He grew up watching Freddy Kruger films and turned an interest of the spooky into a career of conjuring some of the most terrifying dread imaginable. “It’s a weird thing to say, but when I was eight years old, I was in love with the Nightmare on Elm Street films,” he tells The Credits.
Prime Directive: “Transformers One”‘ Writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari on Crafting an Epic Origin Story
When it comes to toy-inspired movie franchises, Hasbro’s Optimus Prime beat Mattel’s Barbie to the punch by several decades. The franchise includes a 1986 cartoon feature, five Michael Bay movies, and two spinoffs. The seemingly never-ending battle between Autobots and Decepticons finally gets its backstory in the animated prequel Transformers One. Featuring the voices of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, and Keegan-Michael Key, the movie follows a young Optimus Prime (Hemsworth) and Megatron (Henry) before they become arch-enemies.