Although the actress no longer plays the Doctor's companion Clara Oswald, she weighed in on Whittaker taking over the lead role on Monday during the Television Critics Association press tour. She made it very clear that she supports the move, calling it "genius," according to Variety.
"Oh, I love it," Coleman said. "I think it's genius. I think she is brilliant and lovely, and I can't wait to hear her speak. I want to hear the voice. I think it's very exciting times."
As the latest TARDIS traveler, Whittaker is the first woman to fill the titular role, which caused a strong reaction on Twitter when it was announced earlier this month. There were cheers from many users, while some others had complaints and offensive comments instead. However, Steven Moffat, the departing showrunner, made it clear at San Diego Comic-Con that he felt there was no problem, with the positive reactions outweighing the negative ones.
"The story of the moment is that the notionally conservative 'Doctor Who' fandom has utterly embraced that change completely -- 80 percent approval on social media, not that I check these things obsessively," he said, according to Variety.
Count Coleman firmly among the 80 percent happily welcoming Whittaker. We'll see her in the TARDIS come 2018.
(If you haven't yet watched Season 7, Episode 3 "The Queen's Justice," be prepared for spoilers ahead!)
Sunday's episode saw van Houten's character check an item off her to-do list: bringing together Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). She only stuck around long enough to witness Jon's arrival, but before she left, she dropped a very interesting prophecy. Her parting words predicted not only her death but that of Lord Varys (Conleth Hill).
"I will return, dear Spider, one last time," she told him. "I have to die in this strange country. Just like you."
When asked about her prophecy in an interview with Elle magazine, van Houten confirmed that she does believe both characters will die before the hit HBO series ends. However, she expects their deaths will be very different.
Varys, the actress predicts, will fight to survive but eventually succumb.
"Some things, terrible things, have to happen in these last seasons!" she said. "It'll probably be one of those where he'll try run from it, but he'll get it in the end."
Melisandre, on the other hand, will be more open to death.
"I have a feeling that she's tired. She's old, man," van Houten told the magazine. "She knows what this world is about. That's what makes her powerful, but also more vulnerable in the end."
The actress suggests that her character is "afraid of dying before seeing for herself that everything ends all right" and will do her best to make sure it does -- "even if it means she has to sacrifice herself."
We all know that Melisandre's methods can be terrible (like, say, burning an innocent girl to death), but if van Houten is right, she will do some good in the end.
"Game of Thrones" Season 7 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
With "Arrested Development" Season 5 soon to begin filming, star Jason Bateman gave fans the first look at the set. On Sunday, he tweeted a photo of the Bluth apartment, teasing, "Here comes trouble." He also indicated that his fictional family will "move back in" on Aug. 8.
Bateman previously revealed in a Deadline interview from early July that "Arrested Development" Season 5 would begin shooting in the first week August, so the information isn't new, yet seeing the photo makes it more real; it offers proof that he and his longtime cast mates are ready to resume their characters' hilariously dysfunctional lives in a second season for Netflix. You know what that means: more insane antics to entertain us.
Although the wait between Season 4, which premiered in 2013, and the upcoming one is better than the seven-year absence fans had to deal with after the show was canceled by Fox in 2006, we're more than ready to reunite with the Bluths.
"Arrested Development" Season 5 is set to premiere on Netflix in 2018.
"Bumblebee" will be getting his turn in the spotlight next Christmas.
The "Transformers" spinoff has a new release date: December 21, 2018 (moved back from June). The movie is being directed by Travis Knight ("Kubo and the Two Strings"), who makes his live-action helming debut.
Paramount also announced the cast, headlined by WWE star John Cena and Hailee Steinfeld. Pamela Aldon, Stephen Schenider, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Jason Drucker, Kenneth Choi, Ricardo Hoyos, Abby Quinn, Rachel Crow, and Grace Dzienny also appear.
Here's the official synopsis:
On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.
The "Bumblebee" spinoff is the first in what Paramount hopes becomes a "Transformers" Cinematic Universe, in the vein of what Marvel and DC Comics have done. The recent "Transformers: The Last Knight" opened last month and has earned $568.9 million worldwide.
With the Dec. 21, 2018 release date, "Bumblebee" will now go up against Warner Bros. "Aquaman."
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MTV is reviving "TRL" aka "Total Request Live," a show that featured the day's top music videos as voted on by fans over the phone or online. The original series ran from 1998-2008 and was hosted by Carson Daly. Musical acts like Britney Spears, 'NSYNC, and the Backstreet Boys often appeared on the show, which overlooked Times Square in New York City.
Apparently, MTV is looking to reinvent itself by returning to its roots. Network president Chris McCarthy told The New York Times that "TRL" would return in October in a massive new studio again overlooking Times Square.
MTV has experienced falling ratings in the last few years. The network has reinvented itself several times since the heady days of "TRL." It brought in scripted programming, like "Teen Wolf." Now, it's refocusing on music content and reality fare.
The new show will run an hour a day to start, though it may expand to two or three hours. Daly will not return as host; instead, five relatively unknown co-hosts, including rapper/comedian DC Young Fly, will share duties. And the new "TRL" will create content for other platforms, like Instagram and Snapchat.
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After an appearance at AMC's panel during the Television Critics Association's fall TV season press tour, Kirkman -- the co-creator of the comic book series that inspired the television sensation, which he also executive produces -- huddled with reporters to add some extra dimension to the fan-wowing Season 8 trailer that debuted at Comic-Con -- including a still-cryptic nod to the apparent time-jump that featured a bearded, increasingly white-haired, cane-needing Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).
On the big picture on the upcoming season:
Robert Kirkman: It's a little early, but we all know it's the all-out war story. So, in Season 8, we're trying to do a more fast-paced season, a more action packed season, really focusing on momentum and we feel like over the first seven seasons we kind of set all of the characters into place and now it's kind of time to break them, to a certain extent.
On the surprising similarities between Rick and Negan:
We used to talk about how the Governor and Rick are two sides of the same coin, and I think Negan is probably a better illustration of that just because, or as Rick has advanced, Negan has advanced in the same way.
They're both very capable leaders, and they both have very strict world views and strict ideas about how it is they're going to keep their people safe. It's just that Negan has kind of shifted in a certain direction and gone down a dark path, but I think they are in their own way two people who are devoted to the people they feel are under their protection and under their leadership.
[Negan brutally punishes his own allies] to keep the other people in line. It's a very psychotic mindset but I think that Negan does truly believe that by doing that he's keeping people in line and keeping people protected.
On Daryl's lingering guilt that he may be responsible for Glen's death:
That will be a plotline for Daryl at some point in the next season. It's something that will be addressed.
On keeping the audience engaged going forward:
I think it's been all about an expanding scale for the last two season, and it's really hit its pinnacle this season. We've got all these different factions, all these different locations -- we've got the Hilltop, we have the Sanctuary -- and I think getting all these people together and kind of continuing to expand the scale in a cool way, but really using all these pieces to their fullest. We've spent a lot of time setting these characters up and now we're going to bash them against each other and see what happens.
But one of the things that really keeps "The Walking Dead" going is that every season feels like a different show and as we start to show more promotional material and you guys get to see episodes, you'll see this is another continuation of that. This is a very fresh take on the world of "The Walking Dead" and we're going to be breaking a lot of new ground this season.
That is an intriguing tidbit that we did throw out there on purpose, and we're hoping that people continue to question how that fits into the storyline and what it is. Comic book fans know where a scene that kind of looked like that would fall, but it also doesn't seem like we would be getting to that just yet if you were a comic book fan, so there is a mystery to that. You'll just have to see.
Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure you'll learn in the first episode what that image means. [Laughs] You're going to quote me on that!
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The actress is joining the cast of CBS' "NCIS: Los Angeles" as a series regular ahead of Season 9. She'll play Shay Mosely, the team's new executive assistant director, filling the void left by the previous assistant director Owen Granger. Granger had been portrayed by Miguel Ferrer, who died in January.
Mosely is a former Secret Service agent and Washington insider who brings an East Coast vibe to the L.A. branch of NCIS.
Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill said, "The character was created specifically for Nia to capitalize on her strengths and personality and we are excited about the new opportunities and dynamics she brings to the show," said "We couldn't be happier to have her join our family."
Long is a veteran actress who has appeared in television shows including "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "Third Watch," "Boston Legal," and "House of Lies." Most recently, she starred in the Lifetime remake of the movie "Beaches" and did an eight-episode arc on "Empire."
She is also an accomplished film actress, with roles in "Boyz n the Hood," "The Best Man," "The Best Man Holiday," and "Are We There Yet?"
"NCIS: LA" Season 9 premieres Sunday, Oct. 1 at 9:30 p.m. on CBS.
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"Deadpool 2" star Ryan Reynolds shared yet another image from filming on the movie's set, and this time, he released the first look at Zazie Beetz in costume as Domino. It's a tongue-in-cheek image (of course), with Domino laying on top of Deadpool's back. Looks like she's got him right where she wants him:
Domino's real name is Neena Thurman, and she's a mutant who can alter probability. She's also skilled at marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat, and often works as a mercenary. In the comics, she is a partner and love interest of Cable, who will be played by Josh Brolin. She becomes a member of the X-Men and Cable's militant group X-Force.
Not much is known about the plot of "Deadpool 2," or how Cable and Domino come into play. But with this reveal of Domino, it seems like we can expect to get a first look at Cable soon (other than Brolin working out in the gym).
"Deadpool 2" opens in theaters June 1, 2018.
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Jeanne Moreau, the French film actress who starred in notable classics like "Jules and Jim," died today at her home in Paris. She was 89.
President Emmanuel Macron confirmed her death and said in a statement: "We could say about Jeanne Moreau that a part of cinema legend is gone. But her whole work was precisely about never freezing her art into a mythology, and never locking herself into the respectable status of the 'great actress.' She had in her eye a sparkle that deflected deference and inspired insolence, freedom, the turbulence of life that she liked so much and that she will long make us like."
Moreau became the face of the French New Wave in the 1950s, starting with Louis Malle's "The Lovers," in which she played a housewife having an affair. Her depiction of an orgasm was scandalous at the time.
She went on to embody the French femme fatale in other movies, including Michelangelo Antonioni's "The Night" (1961), Francois Truffaut's "Jules and Jim" (1962), "Eva" (1962), "Diary of a Chambermaid" (1964), and "The Bride Wore Black" (1968).
Moreau rarely made Hollywood movies, though she appeared in four of Orson Welles' European productions. And she made cameos in "Ever After" and "Love Actually."
She also released several albums, performed on stage, and directed three movies, including a documentary about Lillian Gish.
Moreau is survived by son Jerome Richard, an artist.
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Actor and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard died at his home in Kentucky on Thursday, the New York Times confirmed, due to complications due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease). He was 73.
Shepard was Oscar nominated for his supporting role as test pilot Chuck Yeager in "The Right Stuff," and was most recently seen as the Rayburn family father in Netflix's "Bloodline." He was also a renowned playwright, winning the Pulitzer for drama in 1979 for "Buried Child."
Shepard and Jessica Lange met on the set of the 1982 film "Frances" and were together for almost 30 years before separating in 2009. They had two children together, Hannah and Samuel. He was married to actress O-Lan Jones from 1969 to 1984, and they had a son, Jesse.
Stars reacted to Shepard's passing, as the news broke on Monday, July 31:
Friends, go get yourself a copy of True West and read it. Read it out loud if you really want to know. Sam Shepard was a giant. https://t.co/IZl9tex3Qb
Sam Shepard is one of the greats. These eyes saw so much, and he wrote of what he saw with fearless, timeless honesty. RIP maestro. http://pic.twitter.com/pIY4FWxXtZ
"When you hit a wall — of your own imagined limitations — just kick it in." Sam Shepard was a brilliant artist who gave us all so much. #RIPhttp://pic.twitter.com/4REeI4pUjw
Sam Shepard. Whenever he came on-screen, you knew you were in good hands. A frame from "Days of Heaven." May he rest in love. http://pic.twitter.com/DQc0fy7EqN
On paper -- or maybe on a smart phone screen -- "The Emoji Movie" may have looked like a sure thing. It's a family-friendly cartoon based on the emoticons that every texting kid with opposable thumbs knows and loves. To attract parents, it has a voice cast of popular stars. And it's from the studio that turned a phone game into a cartoon smash ("The Angry Birds Movie") last summer.
In fact, "Emoji" did surpass the modest expectations held by both its studio (Sony) and box office experts. Most predicted a debut of around $20 million for the cartoon, yet it premiered with an estimated $2.7 million. Among new wide releases, "Emoji" beat Charlize Theron's spy thriller "Atomic Blonde," which underperformed slightly with an estimated $18.6 million and debuted in fourth place.
Even so, "Emoji" wasn't strong enough to overcome "Dunkirk," a week-old movie aimed at much older audiences, with no box office stars. The World War II drama finished first again with an estimated $28.1 million. Bad reviews and less-than-okay audience ratings lead to "Emoji" striking out. Here are a few more reasons:
1. Buzz Families can smell a bad movie, even a kid-oriented one, and stay away/not give it their box office. And the Friday to Saturday decline for "Emoji" looks like that's exactly what happened.
"Dunkirk" has some of the year's best reviews (with a 93 percent fresh score from critics at Rotten Tomatoes) and audience word-of-mouth (an A- at CinemaScore). Critics also liked "Atomic Blonde" (75 percent at RT), but audiences were less thrilled (a B at CinemaScore).
Viewers gave "Emoji" a B, which is a very weak grade for a cartoon. And critics absolutely hated it (8 percent "Rotten"). A kid-appeal movie like "Emoji" ought to be critic-proof, but the CinemaScore grade indicates that paying customers were as disappointed as reviewers were. And Sony must have known critics wouldn't like it, since it withheld the film from them until the last minute. Hollywood has been complaining all summer that low scores on Rotten Tomatoes are hurting sales, but having no score at all doesn't necessarily help.
2. Audience
Kids' movies are not the automatic gold mine they once were. Look at this summer's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul," which topped out at $20.7 million, or Sony's own recent "Smurfs: The Lost Village," whose $45.0 million domestic take is by far the lowest for the three "Smurfs" movies. The reason? Kids don't always make the ticket-buying decisions. Often, their parents do, and there was little about the film that appealed to grown-ups.
3. Female Appeal Still, to the extent that it's moms choosing which movie for the family to see, "Emoji" had a slight edge, drawing an audience that was 52 percent women and girls. Indeed female appeal has been the story of the summer, from "Wonder Woman" (at $395.4 million, it's the summer's biggest hit and the third biggest domestic hit of all time for Warner Bros., behind only Christopher Nolan's last two Batmanmovies) to "Girls Trip" (this weekend's third place finisher, with a strong $20.1 million in its second weekend).
4. Timing
"Atomic Blonde" took some advantage of the girl-power trend, though it had to settle for sharing the female audience with "Girls Trip" and the action audience with "Dunkirk" and several other holdover hits. It might have done better had it opened a week or two later, or it might have struggled against Stephen King fantasy epic "The Dark Tower" and Halle Berry's "Kidnap."
"Emoji," however, benefited from being released a full month after the last major kids' cartoon, "Despicable Me 3," so it pretty much had the marketplace to itself.
5. Star Power Is a Big Deal For the second straight week, the biggest name at the box office wasn't anyone in front of the camera; rather, it was "Dunkirk" director Nolan. Theron does well at the box office among ensemble casts -- like this spring's "Fate of the Furious," or recent hits "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Prometheus." She's much less a draw on her own or as the biggest name in a cast ("The Huntsman: Winter's War").
As for "Emoji," many of the comedy-credentialed names in the voice cast (T.J. Miller, Maya Rudolph) don't matter to kids and won't necessarily impress adults. Casting a beloved Shakespearean thespian (Patrick Stewart) as the poop emoji isn't going to fool grown-ups into thinking "Emoji" is a prestige picture.
6. Social Media
Of course, "Emoji" was made to be marketed on your kids' phones. Sony partnered with numerous apps to release "Emoji"-branded content. And "Emoji" stars like Christina Aguilera and Sofia Vergara were able to leverage their large social media followings into interest in the movie.
7. IMAX and Cool Fight Scenes > Emojis Style was part of the selling point for "Atomic Blonde," thanks to both its period setting and director David Leitch's ("John Wick") ability to stage inventive action scenes on a small budget ($30 million). "Emoji" was also low-budget ($50 million, a pittance by animation standards), but its cheapness shows. "Dunkirk," however, remains the current visual champ, with its wide-screen battle scenes. It's currently hoarding the nation's IMAX and large-format venues, resulting in a full $22 million of its $102.8 million earned to date coming from the giant screens and their ticket surcharges.
To the extent that it takes eye-grabbing, immersive spectacle to draw moviegoers out of their living rooms and into the theaters, "Dunkirk" has a clear advantage.
Adults may not be as fluent as kids are in the language of emojis, but a blank space at RT the day before a movie opens is a sign that smart, ticket-buying moms know how to read.
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Hacking is bad. But... some "Game of Thrones" fans are constitutionally unable to *not* look at leaks and spoilers, so if GoT intel is out there, it will be dug up like dragonglass.
HBO was recently hacked, Entertainment Weekly reports, with the hackers claiming to nab 1.5 terabytes of data. Upcoming episodes of "Ballers" and new series "Room 104" have been put online, EW claims, and "There is also written material that's allegedly from next week's fourth episode of Game of Thrones. More is promised to be "'coming soon.'"
A few reporters got an anonymous email Sunday previewing the hack. This morning, HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler confirmed the breach in an email to HBO employees (via EW):
"'As most of you have probably heard by now, there has been a cyber incident directed at the company which has resulted in some stolen proprietary information, including some of our programming. Any intrusion of this nature is obviously disruptive, unsettling, and disturbing for all of us. I can assure you that senior leadership and our extraordinary technology team, along with outside experts, are working round the clock to protect our collective interests. The efforts across multiple departments have been nothing short of herculean. It is a textbook example of quintessential HBO teamwork. The problem before us is unfortunately all too familiar in the world we now find ourselves a part of. As has been the case with any challenge we have ever faced, I have absolutely no doubt that we will navigate our way through this successfully."
"Game of Thrones" Season 7 isn't a stranger to leaks, since an entire rundown of the season was leaked months in advance. Based on the season so far, those leaks were accurate, which means they have a bigger problem on their hands than cyber hacks -- they have a mole leaking intel from production. It's probably Littlefinger, or maybe Lady Olenna, but there's nothing you can do about her now.
Seriously, though, "Game of Thrones" is a sieve. It's the most pirated show on TV every year. And in Season 5, the first four episodes leaked online in advance, based off the press screening DVDs sent out before the premiere. HBO doesn't send those out anymore, but it's clear leaks and spoilers are still getting out.
Those spoilers may anger HBO and the showrunners, but they haven't hurt "Game of Thrones" in the ratings. Far from it. Season 7 continues this Sunday with Episode 4.
The reason is to get HBO's attention about "Confederate," the recently announced series coming from the "Game of Thrones" showrunners, David Benioff, and D.B. Weiss, along with producers Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Malcolm Spellman.
HBO shared a new statement on Sunday in reaction to #NoConfederate (via Deadline):
"We have great respect for the dialogue and concern being expressed around Confederate. We have faith that Nichelle, Dan, David and Malcolm will approach the subject with care and sensitivity. The project is currently in its infancy so we hope that people will reserve judgment until there is something to see."
One of the organizers of #NoConfederate, April Reign, tweeted on Friday that they'd be rallying the realm during Sunday's "Game of Thrones":
We believe the time to speak up is now, before the show has been written or cast. Before @hbo invests too much money into #Confederate.
It sounds like HBO still plans to go ahead with "Confederate," but it's early days for that series. Meanwhile, GoT continues next Sunday at 9 p.m., and it's probable the #NoConfederate campaign will continue as Episode 4 plays out.
Angelina Jolie is understandably "upset" that her new Vanity Fair interview left readers believing she tricked starving orphans in a twisted money game to cast her new Netflix film.
The truth, Jolie said in a statement to The Huffington Post, is that the children were aware that it was a "pretend exercise" improvisation from an actual scene in the film, "First They Killed My Father," based on a survivor's memories of the Khmer Rouge killings in Cambodia in the 1970s. She added that she would be outraged herself if real money had been taken away from any kids, and the whole point of the film is to help protect children caught in the crossfire of war.
Rithy Panh, a Cambodian filmmaker and producer on the film, also called the criticism a "misunderstanding," and shared his own lengthy statement to set the record straight.
Here's the full statement from Angelina Jolie:
"Every measure was taken to ensure the safety, comfort and well-being of the children on the film starting from the auditions through production to the present. Parents, guardians, partner NGOs whose job it is to care for children, and medical doctors were always on hand everyday, to ensure everyone had all they needed. And above all to make sure that no one was in any way hurt by participating in the recreation of such a painful part of their country's history.
I am upset that a pretend exercise in an improvisation, from an actual scene in the film, has been written about as if it was a real scenario. The suggestion that real money was taken from a child during an audition is false and upsetting. I would be outraged myself if this had happened.
The point of this film is to bring attention to the horrors children face in war, and to help fight to protect them."
A source added to HuffPost that the children were aware they were improvising a scene, and no real money was involved.
Here's part of producer Rithy Panh's longer statement:
"I want to comment on recent reports about the casting process for Angelina Jolie's First They Killed My Father, which grossly mischaracterize how child actors were selected for the film, and I want to clear up the misunderstandings.
Because so many children were involved in the production, Angelina and I took the greatest care to ensure their welfare was protected. Our goal was to respect the realities of war, while nurturing everyone who helped us to recreate it for the film.
The casting was done in the most sensitive way possible. The children were from different backgrounds. Some were underprivileged; others were not. Some were orphans. All of the children were tended to at all times by relatives or carers from the NGOs responsible for them. The production team followed the families' preferences and the NGO organizations' guidelines. Some of the auditions took place on the NGOs' premises.
[...]
Great care was taken with the children not only during auditions, but throughout the entirety of the film's making. They were accompanied on set by their parents, other relatives or tutors. Time was set aside for them to study and play. The children's well-being was monitored by a special team each day, including at home, and contact continues to the present. Because the memories of the genocide are so raw, and many Cambodians still have difficulty speaking about their experiences, a team of doctors and therapists worked with us on set every day so that anyone from the cast or crew who wanted to talk could do so.
The children gave their all in their performances and have made all of us in the production, and, I believe, in Cambodia, very proud."
"First They Killed My Father" is scheduled for release on Netflix in 2017.
Jennifer Lawrence has most of the quotes, and screams, in the first tease for "Mother!" The clip doesn't tell us much about what's happening, but it does a great job of setting a dark, ominous tone. We know what's happening ain't good.
The full trailer for Darren Aronofsky's psychological thriller will arrive August 8. The movie was originally scheduled to open in October, but it got moved up to September 15, and it will now compete at the Venice Film Festival, and have its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
The teaser mostly shows Lawrence walking around a seemingly empty house as we hear her voice, and the voices of her co-stars, including Ed Harris, Javier Bardem, and Michelle Pfeiffer.
"What brings you to us," Lawrence is heard asking at one point. "He's a stranger," she adds later. "Did you know he had a wife?" "Who are these people?" Her unease escalates, with her character ultimately screaming, "You're insane," and "Murderer!"
Watch the teaser:The full trailer arrives in about a week on August 8. The movie opens in theaters on September 15.
"The Walking Dead" fans did exactly what The Powers That Be wanted after watching the Season 8 trailer: Question what's going on with old Rick Grimes. We have our theories, based on Robert Kirkman's comic book, and Kirman himself said we'll know what the Rick image means right in the Season 8 premiere.
Kirkman talked about the Old Man Rick (in bed, with a cane close by) trailer shot after the AMC panel at the Television Critics Association press tour. Kirkman was asked about the time jump, and immediately started trolling:
"Or was it the time jump? I don't know, maybe it was Rick waking up from his coma. Wouldn't that be weird?"
Sigh.
"[Showrunner] Scott Gimple will give me very harsh words if I were to comment on that in any way, but you're supposed to be talking about that, and that is an intriguing tidbit that we did throw out there on purpose. We're hoping that people continue to question how that fits into the storyline and what it is. Comic book fans know where a scene that kind of looked like that would fall, but it also doesn't seem like we would be getting to that just yet. You'll just have to see."
According to EW, when asked if viewers will learn more this season about what the Rick image means, Kirkman replied:
"I'm pretty sure you'll learn in the first episode what that means."
Kirkman is rarely so forthcoming, so there are probably more twists and confusion ahead. Is it a flash-forward that will be straightforward in itself, or leave fans with more questions? Will it be tied to the comic book storyline everyone expects (but expects later, like maybe in Season 9) or was that a red herring?
TWD premieres Sunday, October 22 at 9 p.m. on AMC. FYI, the Season 8 premiere is also the series's 100th episode, so it's meant to be a humdinger.
At a loss for what to watch this week? From new DVDs and Blu-rays, to what's new on Netflix and TV, we've got you covered.
New Video on Demand, Rental Streaming, and Digital
"Alien: Covenant"
Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" sequel is ready to terrify you at home with its Digital HD release this Tuesday, August 1. Two weeks later on August 15, "Alien: Covenant" will be available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD. Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, and Demián Bichir star in the sci-fi thriller, which comes with so many bonus features -- a making-of documentary, deleted and extended scenes, commentary by director Ridley Scott, an inside look at "David's Lab," crew fear tests, and more.
"How to Be a Latin Lover"
In this comedy out on Digital HD August 1, an aging Latin lover (Eugenio Derbez) is suddenly dumped by the older woman he married for money, so he moves in with his estranged sister (Salma Hayek) and her 10-year-old son (Raphael Alejandro), and tries to use the kid to meet a rich widow. Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell, Raquel Welch, and Rob Corddry co-star in the movie, which is out on DVD and On Demand August 15. Special features include two behind-the-scenes featurettes; deleted and extended scenes; and audio commentary with director Ken Marino, producer Ben Odell and editor John Daigle.
"Comrade Detective" (Amazon Original)
This one sounds crazy, Amzon Prime-ers, but it's worth trying. Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt dub the voices of the lead cops in this spoof based on a 1980s Romanian gritty police series. The show follows two detectives as they seek to uncover who killed a fellow officer. Played by real-life Romanian actors Florin Piersic Jr. and Corneliu Ulici, their lines will be dubbed by Tatum and Gordon-Levitt. The rest of the Romanian speaking characters will be dubbed by Jenny Slate, Chloe Sevigny, Jake Johnson, Jason Mantzoukas, Nick Offerman, Fred Armisen, Kim Basinger, Mahershala Ali, Tracy Letts, Bobby Cannavale, Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger, Mark Duplass, Katie Aselton Duplass, Jerrod Carmichael, Bo Burnham, and John Early. "Comrade Detective" premieres August 4 on Amazon Prime Video. Watch the trailer to get a feel for it.
"Fun Mom Dinner"
This has been a big year for moms gone wild, and "Fun Mom Dinner" follows suit. In this comedy -- in select theaters and On Demand/Digital HD this Friday, August 4 -- four moms whose only common ground is their kids' preschool class, decide to get together for a harmless "fun mom dinner" that begins in disaster but leads to an unforgettable night. The all-star cast includes Katie Aselton, Toni Collette, Bridget Everett, Molly Shannon, Adam Scott, Rob Huebel, Adam Levine, and Paul Rust.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
"The Circle" The dream cast of Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Karen Gillan, Bill Paxton, Glenne Headly, and Patton Oswalt united for this adaptation of Dave Eggers' best-selling book about the dark side of social media. The thriller arrives on DVD, Blu-ray, and On Demand August 1. Bonus features include three making-of featurettes, a look at the future of technology, and an interview with Tom Hanks and James Ponsdolt reminiscing about their work with the late Bill Paxton.
Check out this exclusive clip from the bonus features, with Patton Oswalt and Tom Hanks talking about Oswalt's character, Tom Stenton, co-founder of The Circle."The Lovers"
In this critically acclaimed romantic comedy, Tracy Letts and Debra Winger play a married couple -- both secretly cheating on each other -- who are sent reeling when they suddenly fall for the least likely person: each other. The film co-stars Aidan Gillen, Melora Walters, Tyler Ross, and Jessica Sula, and it's available on Blu-ray and DVD August 1. Bonus content includes audio commentary with writer/director Azazel Jacobs and two behind-the-scenes featurettes on the music and making of the film.
Watch this exclusive featurette clip with writer/director Azazel Jacobs talking about casting Debra Winger and Tracy Letts as the leads:"The Drowning"
Josh Charles, Avan Jogia, and Julia Stiles star in this psychological thriller based on the novel "Border Crossing," about a psychologist (Charles) who jumps into an icy river to rescue a young man (Jogia) from drowning, only to discover that he is the man who was convicted of murder 12 years earlier based on the psychologist's own testimony. Watch what happens when the film arrives on DVD and Blu-ray August 1, including a behind-the-scenes clip of the cast exploring their characters and the intricate details of the past, present and future.
"Colossal"
Anne Hathaway plays a hard-drinking party girl who is shocked to discover she's somehow controlling a giant monster who has been causing devastation across the globe in Seoul. At the same time, her friend and bar owner (Jason Sudeikis) seems to be causing a giant robot to appear in the same area. Pity South Korea and see what happens when the offbeat sci-fi comedy -- co-starring Dan Stevens, Tim Blake Nelson, and Austin Stowell -- arrives on Blu-ray and DVD August 1.
"Big Little Lies"
HBO is exploring options for a sequel to this star-studded Emmy-nominated limited series, led by Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, and Nicole Kidman. All seven episodes arrive on Blu-ray and DVD on August 1, along with six "Inside the Episode" pieces and an exclusive extended "About Big Little Lies" piece featuring new cast interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.
"Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later" (Netflix Original)Keep 'em coming, Netflix! "Ten Years Later" is the sequel to the 2001 cult classic comedy "Wet Hot American Summer," and also sequel to the 2015 prequel "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp." These eight episodes, set in the 1991 -- 10 years after the pivotal summer at camp -- star everyone under the sun (except Bradley Cooper?). Check out the full cast list in the trailer, and watch the magic this Friday, August 4.
"Icarus" (Netflix Original)Every week Netflix streams a new must-watch documentary, and this week it's "Icarus." Filmmaker Bryan Fogel sets out to learn about performance-enhancing drugs in sports, and ends up discovering a lot more than he ever imagined. Watch the trailer and deep-dive into the scandal this Friday, August 4.
There is no spoon, but there are three "Matrix" movies waiting for you to binge them on Netflix, starting August 1.
TV Worth Watching
"The Sinner" (Wednesday on USA at 10 p.m.) In USA Network's eight episode close-ended series, Jessica Biel plays a young mother who commits a shocking act of violence when overcome with an inexplicable fit of rage. That launches a crime thriller surrounding the "why" of what happened, as an investigator (Bill Pullman) finds himself obsessed with uncovering the woman's buried motive.
"Sharknado 5: Global Swarming" (Sunday on Syfy at 8 p.m.)
"Make America Bait Again!" If you could stand the others, you can probably stand this one, which is still giving paychecks to Ian Ziering and Tara Reid, plus Cassandra Scerbo, Masiela Lusha, Cody Linley, Fabio, Charo, and Gilbert Gottfried. Watch it with Twitter for best results.
"The Guest Book" (Thursday on TBS at 10 p.m.)Last week, HBO debuted "Room 104," with every episode following different guests in a hotel room. Now TBS is offering this comedy following the visitors of the vacation home Froggy Cottage. "While the house and cast of characters living in this small mountain town remain the same, each episode will feature a different set of vacationing guests." The series -- which stars Kellie Martin, Charlie Robinson, Aloma Wright, Carly Jibson, Garret Dillahunt, Laura Bell Bundy, Eddie Steeples, and a bunch of other stars you'll see in the trailer -- begins, appropriately enough, with "Story One."
"Swedish Dicks" (Wednesday on Pop at 8 p.m.)
Peter Stormare and Johan Glans star in Pop TV's procedural comedy about a pair of mismatched detectives who form the firm Swedish Dicks, solving some of the strangest and wildest cases L.A. has ever seen. Keanu Reeves never does TV, but he has a recurring role in this 10-episode first season, and you'll also spot Anthony LaPaglia, Eric Roberts, and Margaret Cho. Here's the synopsis for the first half-hour episode, which premieres August 2: "Ingmar (Peter Stormare), a former stuntman, is trying to get by as a private investigator. A private dick, as they used to say. One day, a case leads him to an incredibly annoying DJ, Axel (Johan Glans). But it's not just irritation that Axel awakens in Ingmar."
Dany and Jon who? "Game of Thrones" Season 7, Episode 3 included the long-awaited first meeting between Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow, but it was the end scene death that left fans cheering for "The Queen's Justice," with that queen being The Queen of Thorns.
There was more than one death-by-poisoning in Episode 3, but there's only one savage Queen of Thorns, and by the gods, Lady Olenna Tyrell's (Diana Rigg) death speech to Jaime Lannister cemented her place in GoT history as a legend. Only The Queen of Thorns could get the last word after being poisoned, revealing to Jaime that she was the one who orchestrated the death of his son, King Joffrey.
She calmly dropped that bomb after Jaime successfully led his army in a surprise takeover of Highgarden. She knew she'd be dying, and Jaime let her know that he decided to give her a painless death, unlike what Cersei Lannister had planned. Olenna appreciated that, then used the time between drinking the poison and death to reveal that she -- not Tyrion -- was to blame for Joffrey's death. She also wanted to make sure Jaime told Cersei.
It was an episode filled with vengeance, including Cersei orchestrating her own poisonous revenge against Tyene, as mother Ellaria Sand watched on, as helpless to save her daughter as Cersei was to save the poisoned Myrcella. That scene was powerful on its own, but it was clear by the end of Episode 3 that the title "The Queen's Justice" belonged to The Queen of Thorns.
GoT fans love a savage mic drop win, and they ate up Olenna's death scene like so many lemon cakes:
"Game of Thrones" will somehow continue without her. Next is Episode 4, and it looks like it will include another Stark reunion. Watch it Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO.
It may have been 30 years since the release of "The Lost Boys" (on July 31, 1987), but the teenage vampires, like their "Peter Pan" namesakes, never grow old. The film remains popular to this day, and no wonder. Its influence is everywhere, from its then-novel blend of horror and comedy to its trope of vampires who are young and sexy (thus paving the way for everything from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to "Twilight"). It also made stars out of Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Jami Gertz, and the twoCoreys.
As large as "Lost Boys" has loomed over the culture for the past three decades, there's a lot you may not know about it, from how radically different the original idea was from the final product, to who that shirtless, oily guy with the saxophone was. Here are all the Corey gory details. 1. Originally, the vampires were going to be a lot younger -- like pre-adolescent. "The Lost Boys" was going to be director Richard Donner's follow-up to his hit "The Goonies" and center on a "Goonies" like pack of bloodsucking fifth-graders. Donner ultimately decided to direct "Lethal Weapon" instead, but he remained the executive producer of "Lost Boys."
2. Fresh from "St. Elmo's Fire," Joel Schumacher landed the "Lost Boys" directing gig, but he took it only on the condition that the vampires be hormonal teenagers instead of young kids. 3. The movie was shot in the California seaside amusement park resort town of Santa Cruz. The locale was renamed "Santa Carla" for the film, which describes its setting as "the murder capital of the world."
4. Santa Cruz municipal authorities were skittish about the shoot, in part because Clint Eastwood had surprised them by filming a rape scene on their boardwalk in "Sudden Impact," and in part because several real-life serial killers had stalked Santa Cruz in the 1970s. Nonetheless, the filmmakers and the locals worked together without friction. It probably didn't hurt that the production hired thousands of locals as extras. 5. Many people know that Jason Patric, whose big career break was playing the bitten-and-smitten Michael in this film, is the son of the star of another horror classic, "The Exorcist's" Jason Miller. But did you know that Patric's half-brother, Joshua John Miller, starred in another 1987 vampire cult classic, Kathryn Bigelow's "Near Dark"?
6. Sutherland's David wears black gloves throughout most of the film. It wasn't just a cool look, but also a way of hiding his broken wrist, an injury Sutherland suffered when he was showboating on a motorbike during his down time. 7. One of the innovations of "The Lost Boys" was having its vampires look like normal people most of the time, only to see their faces contort monstrously when they feed and reveal themselves as vampires. Part of the effect was achieved via the use of eerie white-pupiled contact lenses.
8. The contacts were so painful, however, that the actors could wear them for only a few seconds at a time. When David nearly captures Corey Haim's Sam in the cave, only to be burnt by a beam of sunlight, Sutherland's lone tear of pain dripping down his cheek is real, prompted by those irritating lenses. 9. The bare-chested singer/saxophone player who performs a cover of The Call's "I Still Believe" was Timmy Cappello. The shirtless, oiled-muscle performing style was his real-life gimmick, but he was also a classically trained performer, one who'd played alongside Carly Simon, Peter Gabriel, and Tina Turner, with whom he toured for 15 years.
10. The movie cost a modest $8.5 million to make. It earned back a healthy $32.2 million in North America. 11. For years, Schumacher tried to get Warner Bros. to make a sequel called "The Lost Girls." "I said, 'Do gorgeous teenage biker chicks who are vampires. It'll be great,'" he recalled in 2007, "But they don't listen to me."
12. The chemistry shown by young vampire hunters Corey Haim and Corey Feldman led to the two becoming dual heartthrobs of the Tiger Beat set. They co-starred in several more movies together over the next few years, notably, "License to Drive" and "Dream a Little Dream." Two decades later, when both needed a career resuscitation, they made the celeb-reality series "The Two Coreys" about their comeback attempts. 13. Feldman made two direct-to-video sequels, 2008's "The Lost Boys: The Tribe" and 2010's "The Lost Boys: The Thirst." Plans for a fourth installment fell through.
14. The CW was planning to turn the film into an anthology TV series this fall, though the project has been pushed back until next year. Reportedly, the first season will be about a pack of vampires in San Francisco during 1967's Summer of Love.
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Looks like another Stark reunion is ahead! "Game of Thrones" Season 7, Episode 4 continues the action on Sunday, August 6, in an episode reportedly titled "The Spoils of War."
In the Episode 4 promo, we see the fallout from Team Dany's latest loss in Episode 3, "The Queen's Justice" -- with Dany appearing to be impatient with the "clever plans" gone wrong. "All my allies are gone. I'm losing."
We also see Cersei discussing her plans with the envoy of the Iron Bank of Braavos, Theon arriving on shore, Arya appearing to be right outside of Winterfell, Brienne and Pod back in play, Littlefinger up to something (with that catspaw dagger?), Sansa looking ready to send another raven, and a dragon soaring into action. Is that Dany on board? Can't imagine anyone else would be riding a dragon, but you never know.
GoT stars Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Aidan Gillen (Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Diana Rigg (Lady Olenna Tyrell), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark), Conleth Hill (Varys), Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane), Hannah Murray (Gilly), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand), Pilou Asbaek (Euron Greyjoy), Rory McCann (Sandor "The Hound" Clegane), and Richard Dormer (Beric Dondarrion).
"Game of Thrones" Season 7 has seven episodes, and Season 8 -- the final season -- will follow with just six episodes. GoT airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.
LOS ANGELES, June 25 (Variety.com) -- An unlikely battle emerged at the box office this weekend between "The Emoji Movie" and "Dunkirk." As of Saturday morning the animated feature and war epic seemed to be in a dead heat. But by Sunday morning, most of the dust had settled, and it appears "Dunkirk" will once again be the weekend's first place film.
Christopher Nolan's latest from Warner Bros. over-performed last weekend when it opened to over $50 million, showing that the director, combined with positive critical reception, still has a strong draw — even for a movie lacking movie star power, and at risk of being written off as yet another World War II movie. This time around it looks to take in $28.1 million from 3,748 locations, for a strong hold.
It's the first time that a movie has been first place two weekends in a row since the same studio's "Wonder Woman" in early June. Patty Jenkins' movie has had a phenomenal run since, and is currently closing in on $400 million domestic (right now it's at $395.4 million).
That means Sony's "Emoji Movie" is in second for the weekend with $25.7 million from 4,075 locations. The animated adventure took a lot of heat from critics — reaction ranged from meh to horrible, earning its current Rotten Tomatoes score of 8%. Its B CinemaScore is also quite low for an animated movie, meaning audiences aren't particularly enjoying the movie either.
T.J. Miller plays the central character, a "Meh" emoji who has "no filter," meaning his expression can change. The same cannot be said for the rest of the cast, which includes James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Christina Aguilera, and Sofia Vergara. Oh yeah, and Sir Patrick Stewart plays "Poop."
"We're thrilled," said Sony's marketing chief Josh Greenstein. "The audience has spoken and made the 'Emoji Movie' a family event."
That leaves this week's other major release, "Atomic Blonde" somewhat straggling. Focus Features and Sierra/Affinity is looking at a decent, but slightly below expectations launch for the Charlize Theron-starrer with $18.5 million from 3,304 locations. Earlier in the week "Blonde" was pegged at $20 million, but the opening weekend result is still solid considering its $30 million budget. It's also one of the largest launches for Focus, behind only "Insidious Chapter 3" ($22.7 million); "London Has Fallen" ($21.6 million); and "Burn After Reading" ($19.1 million).
The R-rated spy thriller has been compared to a female "Bond" or "John Wick." After all, it shares DNA with the latter in stuntman-turned-director David Leitch, who will next helm the "Deadpool" sequel. "Blonde's" launch is bigger than the first "Wick," which opened in Fall 2014 to $14.4 million, but less than its sequel ($30.4 million).
In "Blonde," Theron plays a hardcore action star — the type of character that knocked out audiences in "Mad Max: Fury Road" — named Lorraine Broughton. The rest of the cast includes James McAvoy, John Goodman, and Sofia Boutella.
"We're very happy with the opening. I feel this movie is going to have legs to it," said Lisa Bunnell, distribution chief at Focus Features.
Bunnell also pointed to Focus' commitment to putting women in and front and behind the camera with recent releases including "The Beguiled" and "The Zookeeper's Wife." "There's always a thought process behind 'Let's see some diversity,'" she said. "This is definitely a movie where Charlize takes center stage ... she can fight men, and she can beat men, so it's a really empowering movie to go see."
"Blonde" will land just below the summer comedy event that "Girls Trip" has become. Universal's release is posting $20.1 million during its second weekend from 2,648 theaters, for only a 36% drop from last weekend. Conversely, EuropaCorp and STX's "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" flopped last weekend, and is falling off fast. This weekend, Luc Besson's epic domestic dud should make $6.8 million from 3,553 locations.
Annapurna showed Kathryn Bigelow's "Detroit" at 20 locations before its wide rollout next weekend. From those theaters, the critically approved crime drama took in $365,455 for a per screen average of $18,273.
"We're seeing that first and foremost, people are really into the movie," said Annapurna's distribution head Erik Lomis, who pointed to strong exit information, including 71% of the audience marked "definite recommend." "It's a Kathryn Bigelow film, so it's for everybody," he added.
To treat the bigger picture, this weekend is not good news for the summer box office overall, which is now 8.1% behind last year.
"We have been in a major struggle to compare favorably with last year's summer season week after week and with yet another 'down' weekend on the books, the summer deficit just added another percentage point in the wrong direction," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore, who pointed out that this weekend's crop could not compete with 2016's "Jason Bourne" and "Bad Moms." Looking ahead, the first weekend in August seems to signal even more gloom and doom, as several films will be measured up against "Suicide Squad's" record breaking August 2016 tally.
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It seemed like just your ordinary, sweet, little, satirical, high school vampire horror comedy. Certainly when it was released 25 years ago this week, on July 31, 1992, no one could have imagined that the movie "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" would launch an empire.
A quarter-century later, we may all live in Whedon's world, yet we scarcely have a clue how it all started, an origin story that involves country music icon Dolly Parton, a ridiculously rushed production schedule, and some massive ego clashes among the filmmakers and stars. Here's how it happened. 1. "Buffy" was born when Whedon, then a 25-year-old second-generation TV writer with some "Roseanne" credits to his name, wrote his first screenplay. He sold it to Sandollar, Parton's film production company.
2.Fran Rubel Kuzui won the directing gig on the strength of her first film, "Tokyo Pop," a fizzy sensation at the Cannes Film Festival. 3. At the time the "Buffy" film was cast, its most famous name chose to play Buffy's male love interest, Pike. That was Luke Perry, at the height of "Beverly Hills, 90210"-mania. Trying to break into movies, the sideburned heartthrob wisely chose not to take a traditional leading-man role, but rather, to fill a supporting part, so that he wouldn't be responsible for carrying the movie and its box office prospects on his shoulders.
4. With Perry cast, the movie had to be rushed into production, as he had only a brief hiatus between "90210" seasons. And the studio wanted the film in theaters before the end of the summer. So the cameras had to start rolling in five weeks and wrap just six weeks after that. "It's a kids' movie that Fox wanted made quickly," Kuzui told Movieline magazine during the production. 5. Perry and star Kristy Swanson (of "Mannequin 2: On the Move" fame) weren't going to attract ticket buyers in overseas markets, so the filmmakers sought some internationally-known names for supporting roles. That's how Rutger Hauer became nemesis Lothos and Donald Sutherland became mentor Merrick.
6. The rushed schedule meant that, instead of dismissing the writer, as Hollywood directors usually do, Kuzui kept Whedon on hand for rewrites. One of her first requests was that Whedon give Lothos a female sidekick, to be played by "Twin Peaks" co-star Joan Chen. 7. Chen, however, turned out to be unavailable, so Kuzui had Whedon radically revise the part, for Paul "Pee-wee Herman" Reubens.
8. Other big stars whom Kuzui sought in vain to cameo as vampires included David Bowie, Mick Jagger, and Cary Elwes. 9. A 17-year-old Hilary Swank got her first big break in Hollywood playing one of Buffy's airhead friends. A 19-year-old Ben Affleck (above) also got an early career break, in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role as a high school jock.
10. Future "Buffy" series regular Seth Green was in the film, but his role was cut. You can still see the back of his head for a few seconds. 11. Whedon has famously disavowed the "Buffy" movie as a dilution of the dark, haunted parable of adolescence he perfected later in the TV version. He ultimately walked off the set after disagreements with Kuzui, whom he felt made his vision too sunny and cheery, and with Sutherland, whose penchant for changing his dialogue or important character details (he didn't want Merrick to die) drove Whedon crazy.
12. Over the years, Whedon fans made fun of Hauer's broad performance, but Whedon found his work less damaging to the movie than Sutherland's. "I have to give him credit because he was there. He was into it," Whedon said of Hauer in a 2001 AV Club interview. Of Sutherland, Whedon said, "He's a great actor. He can read the phone book, and I'm interested. But the thing is, he acts well enough that you didn't notice, with his little rewrites, and his little ideas about what his character should do, that he was actually destroying the movie more than Rutger was. So I got out of there. I had to run away." 13. Kuzui also clashed with Sutherland over his creative choices. "He was an enormous pain in the ass," she told Movieline, adding, "and so am I. I don't think I'll ever learn from any actor as much as he taught me."
14. Future "Avengers" star Robert Downey Jr. visited the "Buffy" set. "So you're the man in town now, the new guy," Downey said to newly-minted It Boy Perry. "Get over it." Of the ego-deflating incident, Perry told Movieline, "That was so funny, so cool." 15. The movie cost a reported $9 million to make. It earned back $16.6 million in North America, making it a cult success at best.
16. Five years later, of course, Whedon got a second crack at the idea, and his teen heroine suddenly became the center of a successful franchise, with the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV series, spinoff series "Angel," and a line of comic books. Still, in 2009, five years after "Buffy" ended its seven-season run, history nearly repeated itself. A big-screen "Buffy" reboot was announced, one that would involve neither Whedon nor the stars of the show. Whedon fans, including TV Buffy Sarah Michelle Gellar, loudly denounced the idea of a Whedon-free "Buffy" movie. By 2011, the stalled project lay dormant. But as "Buffy" fans know, the dead often spring back to life.
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