Opening this weekend
View a guide to this weekend's new theatrical releases including Everest, Hotel Transylvania 2, The Intern, and 99 Homes.
New trailers and updates for upcoming films
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The Big Short stands tallAdam McKay’s adaptation of Moneyball author Michael Lewis’ book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine follows four outsiders who bet against the banks before the housing crash of 2008. Based on a true story, the film stars Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt (all with very distinct hair) as the central characters, plus Karen Gillan, Marisa Tomei, Melissa Leo, Selena Gomez, Hamish Linklater, and Rafe Spall in supporting roles. The Big Short will close the AFI Fest on November 12th before hitting select theaters on December 11th and expanding nationwide December 23rd.
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Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford look for the Truth
The directorial debut of Zodiac screenwriter James Vanderbilt is an adaptation of Mary Mapes’ memoir Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power, an account of her 2004 60 Minutes report about President George W. Bush’s National Guard service that resulted in CBS firing both her and Dan Rather (played here by Robert Redford). The film received good reviews when it premiered at TIFF, with some critics wondering if Blanchett should be nominated for this performance rather than her star turn in Todd Haynes’ upcoming Carol. With a supporting cast that includes Topher Grace, Bruce Greenwood, Elisabeth Moss, and Dennis Quaid, Truth opens in New York and LA on October 16th.
Don’t steal from Robert De Niro
When Vaughn (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Cox (Dave Bautista) attempt to rob a casino owned by Pope (Robert De Niro), their getaway driver flees, leaving them only one option: hijack a bus. But all is not what it seems in this action-thriller from director Scott Mann. Vaughn has a few ideas on how to evade Pope's right-hand man, Dog (Morris Chestnut) and the police, led by Officer Bajos (Gina Carano). Also starring Kate Bosworth, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, and D.B. Sweeney, Heist plays in theaters and On Demand beginning November 13th.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes a walk
The story of Philippe Petit’s daring (and illegal) tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers in 1974 has already been chronicled in James Marsh’s Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire. But director Robert Zemeckis, who last directed Flight, has re-imagined the insanely high balancing act as an IMAX 3D experience with Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Petit. Here’s the new IMAX trailer for The Walk, which premieres tomorrow at the New York Film Festival before hitting IMAX screens on September 30th and expanding nationwide on October 9th.
Nasty Baby
After having two films (Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus and Magic Magic) play the Sundance Film Festival in 2013, writer-director Sebastian Silva returned this year with Nasty Baby, the story of a gay couple (Silva and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe) who try to help their friend (Kristen Wiig) have a child. Alia Shawkat, Mark Margolis, and Reg E. Cathey also star in this film that has earned generally positive early reviews. See it in select theaters beginning October 23rd or get it on iTunes or VOD October 30th.
Two animated titles
Animated films are inspired by all kinds of material, but Angry Birds (May 20, 2016) and The Peanuts Movie (November 6) are based on very different sources. One comes from an iOS game released in 2009, the other from a classic comic strip that began its run in 1950. Which will be more successful as a film? Well, this is the first outing for Angry Birds (but it definitely won’t be the last if it’s a hit), while Peanuts has an established track record from its beloved TV specials and hand-drawn feature films from the '60s and '70s, though this is the first time Charles Schulz’s beloved characters have been rendered in 3D animation.
Mustang
Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s directorial debut about five sisters in a village in northern Turkey won the Europa Cinemas prize in the Directors' Fortnight at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Co-written with Alice Winocour (Augustine), Mustang is France’s submission for the best foreign language film Oscar and will come to select theaters beginning November 20th.
Short takes
Takashi Miike’s gonzo Yakuza Apocalypse hits theaters and VOD October 9th. Fans of the director’s work (13 Assassins, Ichi the Killer) will probably enjoy this one as well, but critics were split at its premiere in Cannes.
Meadowland stars Olivia Wilde and Luke Wilson as a couple who cope with the loss of a child in very different ways. This debut feature from cinematographer Reed Morano (who recently signed on to direct Ellen Page in Lioness) hits select theaters October 16th.
Coming to iTunes and VOD on October 6th, Manson Family Vacation stars Jay Duplass as Nick and Linas Phillips as his Manson-obsessed brother Conrad. This debut feature from writer-director J. Davis earned good reviews when it premiered at SXSW this year..
Olga Kurylenko must evade a skilled assassin played by James Purefoy in Momentum, coming to select theaters, On Demand and iTunes on October 16th.
News and notes
- Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film Junun, a documentary following Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and composer/poet Shye Ben Tzur to India, where they made an album with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, will be available on MUBI on October 9th, following its premiere at the New York Film Festival on the 8th. - Variety
- Jake Gyllenhaal and Benedict Cumberbatch are in negotiations to play George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison in The Current War. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) is in talks to direct from a script by Michael Mitnick (The Giver) that chronicles the battle of AC vs. DC electricity. - THR
- Brie Larson will play Billie Jean King opposite Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs in Battle of the Sexes. - Variety
- Emma Stone, Kate Winslet and Olivia Coleman are in talks to star in The Favourite, director Yorgos Lanthimos’ follow-up to The Lobster. Based on a script by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, the film chronicles the reign of Queen Anne (Coleman) at the end of the 17th century.- Deadline
- A24 announced a deal with Blue Ruin and Green Room writer-director Jeremy Saulnier to release his next film, an adaptation of William Giraldi's novel Hold the Dark. The story follows a hunter searching for a child who has been stolen by a pack of wolves.
- Kristen Bell has joined husband Dax Shepard plus Michael Peña, Adam Brody, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Rosa Salazar, in the Shepard-directed big-screen adaptation of CHiPs. - TheWrap
- Chris Evans and Jared Leto are in talks to join Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, and Haley Bennett in Tate Taylor’s adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ novel Girl on the Train. - Variety
- Liam Neeson will star in the suspense-thriller The Commuter. - Deadline
- Lionsgate is developing a sequel to Sicario. - Variety
- Lara Pulver (Irene Adler in BBC’s Sherlock) has joined Kate Beckinsale and Theo James in Underworld 5. - Deadline
- Michael Shannon and Nick Kroll have joined Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Jon Bass, Bill Camp, and Marton Csokas in Jeff Nichols‘ Loving, an interracial marriage drama based on a true story that takes pace in 1958. - TheWrap
- Patrick Heusinger (A Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce) will play the villain in Jack Reacher 2. - Variety
- Felix van Groeningen (Broken Circle Breakdown) will direct the adaptation of David Sheff's memoir, Beautiful Boy: a Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction. - The Playlist
- Nobody wants to direct Furious 8. At least no one Universal wants. - THR
- Prometheus 2 will be titled Alien: Paradise Lost (yes, it’s a reference to Milton’s epic poem), but it will not connect to the Alien franchise. For that, viewers will have to wait until Prometheus 3 or 4. - HeyUGuys & FilmFutter
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