Nine Perfect Strangers: Michael Shannon Joins Nicole Kidman in Hulu Series

Nine Perfect Strangers: Michael Shannon joins Nicole Kidman in new Hulu miniseries

According to Deadline, Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water) has signed on for one of the leading roles in Hulu’s forthcoming limited series adaptation of Nine Perfect Strangers. The 45-year-old actor is set to portray the role of Napoleon, a character in the novel who had lost a twin son. He will be joining the miniseries’ growing ensemble led by Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy.

Shannon is best known for his roles in films such as Revolutionary Road opposite Leonardo DiCarpio and Kate Winslet; and in the psychological drama Nocturnal Animals starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal. Both films have earned Shannon two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He most recently starred in Rian Johnson’s whodunit film Knives Out and the mystery thriller The Quarry.

RELATED: Kelly Marie Tran Joins Hulu’s Horror Anthology Series Monsterland

Based on author Liane Moriarty’s latest novel, Nine Perfect Strangers takes place at a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation as nine stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living. Watching over them is the resort’s director Masha (Kidman), a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies, but these nine strangers have no idea what is about to hit them.

Pick up a copy of the book here!

The star-studded cast will be led by Oscar winner Nicole Kidman (Big Little Lies) as Masha, Emmy winner Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, The Kitchen) as Frances, Luke Evans (The Alienist) as Lars, Manny Jacinto (The Good Place) as Yao, Melvin Gregg as Ben, Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) as Jessica, and Tiffany Boone (Hunters) as Delilah.

RELATED: Nicole Kidman To Star In and Produce Amazon’s Pretty Things

Nine Perfect Strangers is expected to debut on Hulu in 2021. Executive producers also include Papandrea, Steve Hutensky, and Casey Haver for Made Up Stories, Kidman and Per Saari for Blossom Films, Moriarty, Kelley, and Butterworth.

The series is the latest project from Blossom Films, Made Up Stories, and Endeavor Content.  Blossom Films executive-producing season one of HBO’s Big Little Lies, which garnered eight Emmy nominations and five wins, including Best Actress for Kidman and Best Miniseries or Television Film. Made Up Stories was founded by Papandrea, the award-winning producer of the HBO series Big Little Lies and feature films Wild, Gone Girl, Warm Bodies, and Milk. Endeavor Content’s recent TV slate includes Damien Chazelle’s musical drama The Eddy, hit series Killing Eve, and Apple’s See, which stars Jason Momoa.

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Steve McQueen’s Small Axe First-Look Photo Features John Boyega

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Steve McQueen’s Small Axe first-look photo features John Boyega

The first official photo from Steve McQueen’s forthcoming anthology drama series titled Small Axe has been released through Deadline, featuring Star Wars alum John Boyega portraying real-life Metropolitan Police officer Leroy Logan, who wanted to make a change within the force after his father got assaulted by two policemen. Set to make its debut sometime this year, you can check out the full photo in the gallery below!

Boyega’s episode titled ” Red, White, And Blue,” was co-written by Courttia Newland and McQueen. Joining Boyega are Steve Toussaint along with newcomers Tyrone Huntley, Nathan Vidal and Jaden Oshenye.

RELATED: John Boyega is Done With The Star Wars Universe

The series revolves around London’s West Indian community between the 1960s-1980s. It is said to be comprised of six parts that tell five different stories. The title comes from a Jamaican proverb that reads: “If you are the big tree, we are the small axe,” meaning that relatively marginal or small voices of dissent can successfully challenge more powerful ones. It is also the title of a Bob Marley song from his album Catch a Fire.

Small Axe stars Letitia Wright (Black Panther) and John Boyega (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) along with Malachi Kirby (Roots), Shaun Parkes (Lost in Space), Rochenda Sandall (Line of Duty), Alex Jennings (Victoria), and Jack Lowden (Mary Queen of Scots).

RELATED: John Boyega, Felicity Jones & More Join New Thriller Film Borderland

Small Axe was created by McQueen alongside Alastair Siddons and Courttia Newland. Alex Wheatle is serving as a writing consultant. McQueen will also executive produce along with Tracey Scoffield and David Tanner for Turbine Studios. Turbine Studios is producing with Lammas Park, alongside Anita Overland and Mike Elliot for EMU Films. The series will premiere on BBC One with BBC Studios handling international distribution while Amazon has acquired the U.S. rights.

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The Tax Collector Review

Rating:

5.5/10

Cast:

Bobby Soto as David

Shia LaBeouf as Creeper

Written and Directed by David Ayer

Click here to pre-order The Tax Collector for August 7!

The Tax Collector Review:

Ever since his 2001 breakout hit Training Day, David Ayer has frequently shown a love and devotion of Los Angeles-based storytelling harking back to his teenage days growing up in South Central and after exploring more fantastical tales in Suicide Squad and Bright, the latter of which is still in LA, The Tax Collector sees the writer/director seeking to return to more grounded and real storytelling, but mostly dropping the ball as he tries to tap back into a world he’s been out of for over five years.

David and Creeper work as “tax collectors” for a crime lord named Wizard, collecting his cut from the profits of local gangs. But when Wizard’s old rival returns to Los Angeles from Mexico, his entire business is upended, and David finds himself desperate to protect what matters most to him — his family.

The opening 20 minutes or so of the film is a fairly intriguing setup for the rest of its story, showing a criminal underworld far more expansive and organized than normally portrayed for the Southern California city, and offers a few interesting characters in comparison to to most cardboard gangster portrayals of crime thriller’s past. By putting audiences in the passenger seat with David and Creeper as they tour Los Angeles acquiring taxes, we tap into the buddy tropes Ayer frequently throws into his films, but it doesn’t feel like an uninteresting retread but rather a fun introduction to our protagonists and their world.

But once the film continues past its first day and expands into a more tempered gangster epic akin to The Godfather, it begins to lose some of its luster as it proceeds to move both too fast and too slow. For a film that’s supposed to be about a family man racing against time to protect himself and his family from the darkness of his work, all in the time frame of roughly 95 minutes, we’re not treated to a fast-paced story or meditative character exploration but rather a weird middle ground that fails to captivate.

The film takes its sweet time getting to the pin dropping and even once it does, it doesn’t feel like there’s any sense of urgency on the part of the villains in reclaiming the city nor in the “heroes” in trying to get rid of those threatening their comfortable lives and families. For a film as short as it is, it spends too much time setting up its characters and their impending dooms in no unique or compelling fashion, only getting truly interesting in the final 30 minutes or so when the proverbial shit finally hits the fan for David and Creeper. There’s even a number of scenes that feel more like padding and deliberate foreshadowing rather than subtle setups for character moments that when they do pop up later on, we’re not only groaning at the predictability of these moments, but also felt as though we’re being talked down to as we’re treated to dreamy flashbacks as though we forgot what happened 20 minutes prior.

Be it the smaller budget or a desire to keep things as grounded as the story, Ayer’s direction feels rather simplistic and even underwhelming, delivering a large plethora of scenes with shaky camerawork and quick edits that make it hard to keep up with the plot’s progression or even just conversations in a scene. Ayer does revisit the slow-motion technique utilized in Bright and Suicide Squad for a sequence that does prove rather thrilling, but it’s unfortunately cut short before audiences can truly appreciate the style on display in the scene.

The performances from Bobby Soto and Shia LaBeouf do prove to relatively involving and captivating to watch, as both wholeheartedly commit to their roles of the family man with a dangerous side and reckless cartel muscle who thinks he has it all figured out. There are a few bizarre elements of LaBeouf’s performance and character, namely a latino accent that seems to fade in and out randomly and distracting cauliflower ears without any explanation to their origin, but he still proves a charming supporting player to Soto’s intense and arresting leading turn.

With a story that can never find a proper pacing or a unique path, mostly cardboard characters and uninspired direction from Ayer, The Tax Collector‘s only real bright lights are a couple of well-executed action sequences and strong performances from Soto and LaBeouf, resulting in another disappointing venture from a once-undervalued writer/director.

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Andrew Lloyd Webber Throws Shade at Tom Hooper’s Cats Movie

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Andrew Lloyd Webber speaks out on Tom Hooper’s Cats movie

Since the theatrical release of Tom Hooper’s Cats in December, the film adaptation has garnered harsh reviews from critics and audiences, mainly attributed to its weird CGI effects. Because of this, it instantly became a popular subject of memes and jokes. Now, in a recent interview with The Sunday Times (via Deadline), Oscar and Tony-winning composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who is the original composer of the Cats stage musical, has finally broken his silence about the 2019 film, revealing that the fantasy failed because of Hooper’s decision to not involve the creators of the original musical.

“The problem with the film was that Tom Hooper decided that he didn’t want anybody involved in it who was involved in the original show,” Webber said. “The whole thing was ridiculous.”

Webber’s only contribution to Hooper’s adaptation was its soundtrack, including a new song titled “Beautiful Ghosts” which he co-wrote with fellow Grammy winner Taylor Swift. Despite the criticisms, the song earned the film a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song.

Click here to purchase Cats and judge it for yourself!

RELATED: Andrew Lloyd Webber Musicals to Stream on YouTube for Free

The film starred Tony- and Emmy-winning actor and host James Corden (One Man, Two Guvnors, The Late Late Show with James Corden), Academy Award-winning actress Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love), multi-platinum-selling singer-songwriter Jason Derulo, Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actor Idris Elba (HBO’s The Wire, BBC One’s Luther), Academy Award, Golden Globe and Grammy Award-winning artist Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), Academy Award-nominated actor Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters), Emmy and ten-time Grammy-winning global music icon Taylor Swift, comedy superstar Rebel Wilson (the Pitch Perfect franchise) and introduces Francesca Hayward, principal dancer with The Royal Ballet.

Adapted for the screen by Hooper and Lee Hall (Billy Elliot), Cats was produced by Hooper and Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, as well as Debra Hayward (Les Misérables), who brought the idea to Working Title. The film was produced by Working Title Films in association with Monumental Pictures and The Really Useful Group and executive produced by three-time Oscar winner Steven Spielberg, musical theater legend Lloyd Webber, Angela Morrison (Les Misérables) and Jo Burn (Annihilation).

RELATED: CS Sings: Our Singing Cats Movie Review!

One of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, the London stage production of Cats received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981—where it played for 21 record-breaking years and almost 9,000 performances. Based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, the show won the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. In 1983 the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and ran for an extraordinary 18 years.

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Patty Jenkins Says Wonder Woman 3 Might Be Her Last One

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Patty Jenkins says Wonder Woman 3 might be her last one

In a recent interview with German Magazine Geek (via @DCMovieNews2), Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins had addressed the possibility of a third installment to her Gal Gadot-led DC movie. She revealed that if Warner Bros. Pictures would again give her the opportunity, Wonder Woman 3 might potentially be her last Diana Prince movie that she’ll get to direct.

“[Wonder Woman 1984] gave me a chance to do a lot of things that I couldn’t accommodate in the first movie.” Jenkins said. “I was so happy to tell the Wonder Woman origin story. It was almost her birth, but we really haven’t seen what she is capable of. It is exciting for me to show her at the peak of her strength. But it is also very important that she fights an internal struggle: she is a Goddess and tries to help humanity. She is not only someone who fights evil, she tries to show bad people how to improve. It’s an interesting dilemma.”

“The next one is probably my last Wonder Woman movie,” She continued, “so I have to put everything I want to show there. We have to think carefully.”

RELATED: Patty Jenkins Offers New Details on Wonder Woman 1984 & Future

Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big-screen adventure finds her facing an all-new foe: The Cheetah. As previously announced, the film stars Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Kristen Wiig in the role of the Super-Villain The Cheetah, as well as Pedro Pascal. Chris Pine also returns as Steve Trevor.

Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman, Monster) returns to direct the sequel, while Jenkins, Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Stephen Jones, and Gal Gadot are producing the film. Rebecca Roven Oakley, Richard Suckle, Wesley Coller, Geoff Johns, and Walter Hamada are the executive producers.

Haven’t seen Wonder Woman yet? Check out our Amazon link to the original.

RELATED: Wonder Woman 1984 Trailer!

Originally set to open in theaters on December 13, 2019, Wonder Woman 1984, which is based on the character created by William Moulton Marston, appearing in comic books published by DC Entertainment, was moved up to November 1 before being delayed to June 5 and a fourth time to August 14 before its current date of October 2. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

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Shang-Chi Production Gets Ready to Resume in New Set Video

Shang-Chi production gets ready to resume in new set video

As production continues to get back on track for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, a brand new video from the Australia set of Destin Daniel Cretton’s upcoming MCU movie has arrived online through an Australian news station 7News. The video, which you can check out below, gives us a glimpse of one of the film’s big sets which seems like a replication of a China setting.

It’s not Asia and it’s not Hollywood; it is Western Sydney, home to the newest addition of the @Marvel movie franchise. The 7NEWS chopper captured these scenes today as work resumed building the set for the upcoming production, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/pvDbMyRHlb

— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) August 2, 2020

RELATED: Natalie Portman Reveals Thor: Love and Thunder Shooting Start Date

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will be led by Canadian actor Simu Liu (Blood and Water, Taken), who is set to take on the titular hero in Marvel Studios’ first Asian superhero-led movie. Joining Liu are Golden Globe-winning actress Awkwafina (The Farewell) and renowned Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, who is portraying the role of The Mandarin. It was also reported that Crazy Rich Asians star Michelle Yeoh was in talks for a new MCU character with Creed II star and professional heavyweight boxer Florian Munteanu also rumored to have joined the film as the secondary villain.

Dave Callaham (Wonder Woman 1984, Zombieland 2, Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse 2) wrote the script and Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) is attached to direct the project. Marvel’s goal with the film is to introduce a hero who blends Asian and Asian American themes, crafted by Asian and Asian American filmmakers.

Filming began in Australia earlier this year but was temporarily suspended due to the ongoing global pandemic. Originally scheduled for a February 2021 release, the film has now been pushed back to May 7, 2021.

RELATED: Tom Holland’s Spider-Man 3 Release Pushed Back

Shang-Chi, also known as The Master of Kung Fu, was first introduced in the pages of Special Marvel Edition #15 back in 1973 after they’d failed to obtain the rights to the then-popular TV series Kung Fu, which starred David Carradine. A master of fighting, Shang-Chi eventually gains the ability to create an infinite number of replicas of himself. After Special Marvel Edition changed its name to The Hands of Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu, the character went on to appear in issues of Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-in-One. He’s also been a member of The Avengers and Heroes for Hire, the latter alongside fellow kung fu masters Daughters of the Dragon.

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CS Recommends: Criterion Collection Sale, Plus TV Shows & More!

CS Recommends: Criterion Collection Sale, Plus TV Shows & More!

Stuck inside? Don’t know what to watch/read/play/listen to? ComingSoon.net has got you covered. In this week’s CS Recommends our staff gives you solid tips on the best media to consume during your downtime, including The Criterion Collection and more! Check out our picks below!

RELATED: July 28 Blu-ray, Digital and DVD Releases

MAX EVRY’S RECOMMEND: The Criterion Collection 50% Off Sale

Click here to browse the discounted selection!

Are you a nut for Criterion DVD and Blu-ray like me? Well then it’s that time of year again where Barnes & Noble throws most of the available titles in the beloved film lovers’ label up for half price! With some single titles retailing for over $40, that’s a great way to stock up and save. Even though I have a great relationship with Criterion through my weekly Blu-ray column I don’t always get sent every title, so this time I stocked up on the classic Preston Sturges comedy The Lady Eve (which I’ve never seen, despite being a big fan of Sullivan’s Travels) and the classic POW flick The Great Escape. If you’ve never seen Great Escape then you are missing out on truly one of the most riveting and undeniably enjoyable World War II films ever made, with an awe-inspiring cast including Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence and James Coburn.

KYLIE HEMMERT’S RECOMMEND: Teen Wolf The Complete Series

Click here to purchase the complete series!

MTV’s Teen Wolf was a largely underrated series outside of the fanbase the teen supernatural comedy/drama show garnered over its six seasons. Sure, sometimes the CGI didn’t always hit the mark, and there may have been a time or two too many of cheesiness that didn’t always mesh quite right with the show’s specific style of humor. The series never lost its heart, though, and it featured some of the best characters, performers, heroes, and villains you could ask for. Led by Tyler Posey, Teen Wolf is equal parts fun, scary, goofy, heartbreaking, romantic, violent, hilarious, and smart, all while staying completely grounded in themes of friendship and family. Bonus: Dylan O’Brien’s Stiles Stilinski is one of the most memorable characters on TV and watching him grow up over the course of six seasons (and getting to go dark during a certain fan-favorite arc where he played arguably Teen Wolf‘s best villain ever) is just icing on the cake.

GRANT HERMANNS’ RECOMMEND: Thir13en Ghosts

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While there are plenty of more elevated horror films from the past decade I would quicker recommend than this, sometimes a good old-fashioned and schlocky haunted house ride is what’s needed for a fun movie night and with 2001’s Thir13en Ghosts having just received a special Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Shout! Factory, now is as good a time as any to revisit this underrated gem. A remake of the 1960 William Castle classic, the story centers on a widowed and impoverished college professor and his family who inherit a mansion from his adventurer uncle, only to learn his uncle was a ghost hunter and the mansion is full of violent spirits and must find a way to get his family out in time. Its story is a simple setup and a fairly faithful recreation of the original film and though it plays out pretty formulaic, its production design and visual effects are hyper kinetic and haunting and its pacing is nice and quick, making for an absolute thrill ride. If those don’t float your boat, it also has an unhinged and R-rated Matthew Lillard as a psychic who’s trapped inside the mansion with the family and helped the uncle capture the ghosts, and that alone should be your selling point to check this film out in glorious Blu-ray quality.

MAGGIE DELA PAZ’S RECOMMEND: Hotel Del Luna (South Korean Drama Series)

Click here to purchase!

Directed by Oh Choong-hwan from a script written by acclaimed South Korean writing duo The Hong Sisters, Hotel Del Luna revolves around a mystical and supernatural hotel which only accepts wandering ghosts as guests with the staffs catering to their every need and helping them with their unfinished business before they can truly pass on the afterlife. The titular hotel is headed by long-time owner named Jang Man-wol, who is neither a ghost nor a human and was bound to the hotel by the deity Mago due to her mysterious past. When the time has finally come to hire a new general manager, who will handle the human affairs needed for the hotel, Man-wol has decided to collect a debt she made years ago with a man who mistakenly stole something from her. In exchange for his life and wealth, his only son must work for her after 20 years. That’s why, the smart and capable Gu Chan-sung has no other choice but to become the new general manager while trying to face his fear of ghosts.

Hotel Del Luna is a 16-episode fantasy drama series which was one of last year’s highest rated Korean dramas. I highly-recommend this series because it offers a unique and charming storyline that will definitely get viewers hooked through every scene. In addition to its intriguing main storyline, each episode also features a side story centering on a different spirit which covers many different topics concerning societal problems.

What I like the most about this series is its visually stunning cinematography and high-quality sets. K-Pop superstar Lee Ji-eun, better known as IU, has yet again proven her acting prowess and has successfully led another beloved drama with Hotel Del Luna. Through her character’s fierce personality and iconic wardrobe, IU will no doubt captivate viewers with her strong and memorable performance as Jang Man-wol.

JEFF AMES’ RECOMMEND: Zodiac

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David Fincher’s Zodiac is a perfect film. Released in 2007, the crime drama about the search for the Zodiac killer arrived and left theaters without much fanfare and was completely ignored by the Academy in truly baffling fashion. Which means wonderful performances by Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. (exactly one year before he became Iron Man) were overlooked, as were the astonishing visual FX of the film and Fincher’s fabulous direction. And while the crime drama lacks the visceral intensity of, say, Seven, or Gone Girl, it works as a hypnotic police procedural thriller and a fascinating character study about the nature of fear and obsession. If anything, Zodiac serves as a quasi-prequel to Fincher’s own Mindhunters Netflix series in that the purpose of the story is not to shock the audience with silly theatrics, but, rather, dazzle them with real-life drama involving living, breathing monsters.

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