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Exclusive: Producers Lou Arkoff (George Of The Jungle) and Donna Arkoff Roth (Grosse Point Blank) are teaming up with The Wonder Company (Sacramento) to develop modern reimaginings of vintage genre films from their family-owned catalog of American International Pictures (Aip) movies.

Founded by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson in 1954, Aip was a pioneer in independent filmmaking, helping foster the careers of legendary filmmakers such as Roger Corman, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and John Milius. The Aip library hosts original IP that inspired modern franchises such as The Fast and The Furious, Mad Max and The Amityville Horror.

Arkoff, Roth and The Wonder Company—led by producers Eric B. Fleischman and Chris Abernathy—plan to breathe new life into a curated selection of the films. The partnership will focus on ten titles from Aip’s catalog, such as Day the World Ended, The Undead, and Jailbreakers.

Also joining...

Lights, camera, royalty. Minnie Driver, the Oscar-nominated star of Good Will Hunting, is stepping into the chic world of Emily in Paris Season 5 as Princess Jane, a glamorous friend of Sylvie who married into a royal family. Announced on May 14, 2025, Driver’s magnetic charm promises to sprinkle some Hollywood sparkle onto Netflix’s frothy rom-com.

With behind-the-scenes photos from Rome showing her alongside Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu and Raoul Bova, it’s clear Driver is ready to steal scenes and elevate the show’s signature mix of drama, fashion, and fun.

Minnie Driver: A star with a serious pedigree gets cast in Emily in Paris Minnie Driver as Skylar in Good Will Hunting | Credits: Miramax Films

Minnie Driver is no stranger to stealing the spotlight. With a career spanning cult classics like Grosse Pointe Blank and Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress,...

One of our first introductions to Trevor Lefkowitz (Asher Grodman) on Ghosts sees him frustratedly attempting to explain what a movie is to his dead companions in the pilot. Jump to the most recent episode of Season 4, and now Trevor is trying hard to get his hands on some choice movie memorabilia — the ice skates worn by Moira Kelly in his all-time favorite movie,The Cutting Edge, an early ‘90s figure skating rom-com. When Flower (Sheila Carrasco) rightfully calls him out on being a little creepy about the skates, Trevor defends himself by claiming that he’s not like those other foot fetish freaks; he’s a cinephile.

I recently sat down with Asher Grodman to discuss Trevor’s big upcoming episode, in which he finds out that he’s been a dad all this time. During our conversation, I had to ask what he thought Trevor’s Letterboxd top four might be,...

From what we understand, writing a movie or sitcom back in the day was basically a paint-by-numbers operation. You plug in some stock characters, give them a roadblock, throw in a complication or two and cash your paycheck made of cocaine. That’s a lot harder to do nowadays, and not just because cocaine has become so unfashionable. The facts of modern life have simply rendered a lot of classic plot devices obsolete.

5 Phones

The complexities of the telephone were all but a weekly feature in the storylines of sitcoms until about 2005. Siblings fighting over its use, members of multi-phone households listening in on each other’s conversations, the comical limitations of the corded telephone — all solved by Steve Jobs. There are entire episodes of Seinfeld that never happen if they have mobile phones.

4 Getting Lost

Every road trip episode or movie would inevitably find our heroes on the side of the road,...

The following contains light spoilers for Ludwig Series 1, Episode 1, now streaming on BritBox.

David Mitchell has carved out his space in British television by playing charmingly strange characters, and that trend continues with Ludwig, the new detective comedy-drama coming to BritBox after its successful outing on BBC One. Mitchell is neither creator nor writer on Ludwig -- that would be Mark Brotherhood -- but the show feels like it was tailored to him. It's a mystery series, but at its heart, it's a workplace comedy that's just got some dead bodies in it.

Ludwig is titled after the nickname of John Taylor, a reclusive character who crafts newspaper puzzles. But when John's straight-laced twin brother James goes missing, his wife Lucy recruits John to pose as James and look for clues about his disappearance. Naturally, this half-cocked scheme spins out of control, and what follows will be immediately addictive to...

Exclusive: The Mediapro Studio US & Canada has joined as a co-producer of the documentary about the life story of Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, the iconic mixed martial arts fighter who introduced the sport to the world.

Production on the as-yet-untitled movie is now officially underway under the direction of Emmy-nominated sports documentary editor-turned-filmmaker Jennifer Tiexiera.

Keanu Reeves and Fisher Stevens will serve as producers, along with Maura Anderson and Zak Kilberg of Highly Flammable, John Scalise and his Faya Project, and Laura Fernández Espeso of The Mediapro Studio. Jc Acosta and Pam Healey are the Executive Producers for The Mediapro Studio. Executive Producers will also include Nancy Weisler, Sol Tryon, Brian Maya, Tiexiera under her Lady & Bird shingle and Chris Quintos Cathcart and Tyler Boehm of Unapologetic Projects.

“The Mediapro Studio team is thrilled to be collaborating with these brilliant creative partners to shine the spotlight on a remarkable athlete...

Just over a week ago, we had to share the sad news that director George Armitage, best known for bringing the world Grosse Pointe Blank and Miami Blues, had passed away at the age of 82. Armitage got his start in the entertainment industry at the start of the 1970s, writing the film Gas-s-s for producer Roger Corman and then going on to write and direct Private Duty Nurses and write Night Call Nurses, also for Corman. By the end of the ’70s, he had written and directed the films Hit Man and Vigilante Force, as well as the TV movie Hot Rods, and wrote the scripts for the film Darktown Strutters and an episode of the TV series Monty Nash. Oddly, he did not earn any writing or directing credits in the 1980s – but, of course, this was not for a lack of trying. In fact, Kevin Tenney, the writer...

Beloved director of such iconic films as Grosse Pointe Blank and Miami Blues, George Armitage, has died at 82. A popular director in the '90s and Roger Corman protégé, known for his dark comedies, he also helmed the 1972 Blaxploitation film called Hit Man. The news was confirmed by his son, the writer-producer Brent Armitage.

Born and briefly raised in Hartford, Connecticut, Armitage's family moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s. His first job in the industry was in the mail room at 20th Century Fox, which led to him getting into production on television shows. He worked as an associate producer on the soap opera Peyton Place starting in 1967, and leveraged that experience to get in with the folks at Roger Corman's New World Pictures. Corman was a revolutionary in the industry, creating an entire ecosystem of micro-budget films that gave many Hollywood mega-talents their start.

RelatedWhy Grosse Pointe Blank...

George Armitage, the director of Grosse Pointe Blank and Miami Blues, as well as a close collaborator of Roger Corman’s, has died. He was 82.

George Armitage entered the business in the ‘70s but it took a while to find his footing. That came with 1990’s Miami Blues, which starred Alec Baldwin as a criminal fresh out of prison posing as a cop with a stolen police badge. Armitage would develop his mixture of crime and comedy later that decade with 1997’s Grosse Pointe Blank with John Cusack and Minnie Driver.

Even though he was a buddy of Corman’s, it does feel like George Armitage is too rarely mentioned in the list of notable directors who got their start working under him. But we can’t ignore where he got his start. George Armitage met Roger Corman at just the right time in the 1960s. In 1971, Corman hired him to write Gas-s-s,...

Armitage was also responsible for the 1972 blaxploitation remake of Get Carter, made during his time working for Roger Corman

George Armitage, director of 90s indie hits Grosse Pointe Blank and Miami Blues, as well as Hit Man, the 70s blaxploitation remake of Get Carter, has died aged 82. Variety reported he died on 15 February in Playa del Rey in California.

Armitage started out in TV, working on the celebrated TV soap opera Peyton Place, then broke into features via Roger Corman’s micro-budget studio New World in the late 1960s. He subsequently specialised in crime films: Grosse Pointe Blank, which starred John Cusack and Minnie Driver, was his biggest commercial hit, and his final directorial credit was the Elmore Leonard adaptation The Big Bounce in 2004.

George Armitage, the filmmaker behind Miami Blues and Grosse Pointe Blank, has died at the age of 83. His son, Brent Armitage, confirmed that he passed away on February 15 in Playa del Rey, California.

Armitage’s career in Hollywood began in the 1960s and spanned decades. He directed and wrote films that combined crime, action, and humor, earning a reputation for his approach to storytelling.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1942, Armitage moved to Los Angeles in 1957. He studied political science at UCLA while developing an interest in filmmaking. His first industry job was in the mailroom at 20th Century Fox, leading to a role as an associate producer on Peyton Place in 1967.

His transition to feature films came after connecting with producer Roger Corman. Armitage wrote Gas-s-s-s or It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It (1970), a satirical youth comedy. This led to more work with Corman,...

George Armitage, who co-wrote and directed the Alec Baldwin-starring Miami Blues and helmed another 1990s black comedy, Grosse Pointe Blank, starring John Cusack, has died. He was 83.

Armitage died Feb. 15 in Playa del Rey, California, his son, Brent Armitage, announced.

As was the case with many others, Armitage got a big career boost in the early 1970s from legendary B-movie producer Roger Corman at New World Pictures.

Armitage also wrote and directed MGM’s Hit Man (1972), starring Bernie Casey and Pam Grier, and United Artists’ Vigilante Force (1976), starring Kris Kristofferson and Jan-Michael Vincent. Both those films were produced by Roger’s brother, Gene Corman.

Miami Blues (1990), based on the series of Hoke Moseley books by author Charles Willeford, featured Baldwin as Frederick J. Frenger Jr., who steals the badge and gun of a veteran cop (Fred Ward as Moseley) and embarks on an outrageous crime spree with a hooker...

George Armitage, the film director best known for the 1996 crime thriller/comedy “Grosse Pointe Blank” and the 1990 neo-noir “Miami Blues,” died Saturday, his son announced Friday. He was 82; no cause of death was made public.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1942, Armitage moved with his mother to Beverly Hills at age 13 and attended UCLA. He began his career in entertainment working in the mail room at 20th Century Fox and, rising quickly, became an associate producer on “Peyton Place” in 1966 when he was still only 23 years old.

He made the jump to films later in the decade, writing the script for the 1970 Roger Corman film “Gas-s-s-s” before making his directorial debut with “Private Duty Nurses” the same year. He wrote the script for a sequel, “Night Call Nurses” in 1972 and that same year also wrote and directed “Hit Man” starring Bernie Casey.

Other films he wrote and directed include “Vigilante Force...

George Armitage, who directed, wrote and produced films including “Grosse Pointe Blank” and “Miami Blues,” died Saturday in Playa del Rey, his son Brent confirmed. He was 83.

Raised in Hartford, Conn., Armitage started out in the 20th Century Fox mailroom before becoming associate producer on the long-running series “Peyton Place” in the 1960s. He met Roger Corman on the Fox lot and moved into feature films, writing the Corman-produced 1970 comedy “Gas! – Or – It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.”

He continued making films for Corman and his brother Gene Corman, moving into directing with “Private Duty Nurses.” The 1972 Blaxploitation film “Hit Man,” which he directed and co-wrote, starred Pam Grier and Bernie Casey. Next up was “Vigilante Force,” with Kris Kristofferson and Jan-Michael Vincent, and the TV movie “Hot Rod.”

“Kaplan, Demme, Dante, Arkush and me… We were making little 45 Rpm rock ’n’ roll movies.

George Armitage, the director known for Hit Man (1972), Miami Blues (1990) and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), has died. He was 82.

The writer, director and producer died last Saturday, Deadline has confirmed with his former agency Gersh. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

Born Dec. 13, 1942 in Hartford, Connecticut, Armitage moved to Beverly Hills with his family as a child. After majoring in political science and economics at UCLA, he found himself breaking into the film industry, working in the mail room at 20th Century Fox while waiting for his real estate license to come through.

Within a year, Armitage was an associate producer on the ABC soap Peyton Place. “It was an incredible experience,” he recalled in 2015.

“There was a producer there named Everett Chambers who would work on a number of films with John Cassavetes, he was usually helpful,” said Armitage. “This was just at the time when the fortysomething...

As strange as it is, moviegoers are fascinated by the assassin. Paid handsomely for their skills of stealth, marksmanship, martial arts, and general wanton violence, these contract killers have been the focus of some of the most thrilling and emotionally provocative films ever made.

Maybe it's because many of these hit-people share many viewers' relationship to their own work -- a disdain for the spiritually emptying but financially necessary professions that command much of their life. Maybe it's because a criminal mastermind of this nature -- so devoid of humanity that they reduce human lives to zeros in a bank account -- reveals more about the world around them than any other character type.

Or maybe it's because we just like watching people fight with guns and swords. In any case, we've put together our own hit-list of flicks featuring them, ranked based on their quality, legacy, and depiction of these captivating killers.

Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino are set to return for Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion 2 – and there’s been script progress.

The back end of the 1990s saw a pair of high school reunion comedies hit the big screen, both of which remain worth seeking out. On the one hand, there was John Cusack playing a hitman returning for his school reunion in Grosse Pointe Blank. On the other, Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow headlined the wonderfully offbeat Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion. Neither fully ignited the box office, both though found their fans.

It’s been a couple of years since we first heard word of a possible Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion 2, a nice surprise that sprung up relatively recently. Now, Lisa Kudrow has given a promising update, in which she reckons there’s a working script in place.

She was a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show,...

Martial arts sequences in films are often impressive, but they take a lot of work behind the scenes, with a few actors putting in the work to learn martial arts to pull off such scenes. Many of the iconic martial arts films and scenes that come to mind are carried out by martial arts legends like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, but these actors had already trained in martial arts years before they got their start in films.

Other actors such as Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, and Michelle Yeoh learned martial arts in preparation for a particular project, with only a few continuing to be known for their other martial arts films after the fact. The commitment to the physicality that comes with a martial arts role isn't always necessary. Still, it adds an appreciated layer to the actor's performance, improving the overall believability of the film's fight scenes.

When it comes to politicians showing courage, the bar has been on the floor over the last decade. In a system where confrontation is rewarded over competence or cooperation, it’s a rare thing to see leaders putting their ideals to the test, especially if it costs them their elected position. Leave it then to Steve Pink, the director behind the sublime Hot Tub Time Machine and scribe of Cusackian masterpieces, Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity, to tell the story of former congressman Adam Kinzinger in The Last Republican with the breeziness of a comic book film and the impact of a deep journalistic dive. The epithetic irony of his last name – Pink’s politics lay quite left of center – makes for a perfect dynamic duo of differing ideologies, coming together to tell this unique, powerful, and sometimes ridiculous story of contemporary America.

While now considered a cult classic, one of John Cusack's more underrated movies nearly ended in disaster, as recalled by his co-star in it. The Golden Globe nominee first broke out in the world of coming-of-age films in the '80s, featuring in everything from John Hughes' Sixteen Candles to his breakout leading turn in the teen romantic dramedy Say Anything.... The years since have seen Cusack expand his talents to a wide variety of genres, including the Nicolas Cage-co-starring action thriller Con Air, the adaptation of Stephen King's 1408 and the blockbuster disaster thriller 2012.

In addition to this on-screen work, Cusack has often been a key figure behind the camera on his movies, including co-writing and producing a number of his projects. Some of his more notable include the 2000 film adaptation of High Fidelity, which earned him his Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor — Motion Picture Musical or Comedy,...

Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2024, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.

Reflecting on the past year in film, I find myself at an interesting crossroads where my alignment with the consensus is back off the axis. After 2022 left me feeling a bit out in the weeds regarding cinema culture, last year I was more in tune with the overall vibes––several favorites picked up Academy Awards, including Best Picture. This year is similar to 2022 for me, in that I won’t be surprised if not a single one of my top ten even gets a nomination.

But that doesn’t mean it was a poor year in my eyes; quite the contrary. From massive big swings by long-dormant auteurs or those recently bursting on the scene, to quiet dramas with volumes to say, to a bevy of formally...

Exclusive: Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) and Billy Magnussen (Roadhouse) have been set to star in Steve Pink’s out-there horse racing comedy Chariot.

This sounds a fun one. The synopsis reads: “Paul Rovia, an oversized jockey, seeks redemption after causing a major racing accident that gets him suspended from the sport for two years. Desperate to compete in the Grand National again, Paul teams up with Kate O’Leary and her wild Centaur named Chariot. Paul and Chariot clash at first but eventually form an unstoppable duo, taking the racing world by storm.”

Pink is known for writing Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity and directed Hot Tub Time Machine, About Last Night and most recently The Wheel.

The Exchange is launching worldwide sales on the movie at the upcoming American Film Market. The sales deal was negotiated by Brian O’Shea on behalf of The Exchange and by Lastine Entertainment Lawon behalf of the filmmakers.

Chad A. Verdi of Verdi Productions and Anthony Gudas and Aaron Kaufman of Public School Productions have partnered with producers John Scalise, Keanu Reeves and Fisher Stevens to produce “The Jet,” a documentary on the life story of Benny “The Jet” Urquidez.

The film is currently in production from director Jennifer Tiexiera. Verdi, Gudas, and Kaufman will join Reeves, Maura Anderson, Zak Kilberg and Scalise as producers.

Urquidez is known for his influence on martial arts in mainstream culture as an actor, fight coordinator, and trainer to the stars. He held a total of six world titles in five weight divisions and remained undefeated throughout his more than 20-year kickboxing career.

Urquidez is also known for his contributions to martial arts cinema, appearing in numerous action films during the 1980s and 1990s. Some of his film credits include “The Octagon,” “Road House” and “Grosse Pointe Blank.” Over the years, he...

The Sixth Sense may have been a monster hit, but it inadvertently killed its own studio brand! Here’s how Disney’s mega-hit ended Hollywood Pictures!

Twenty-five years after its debut, much has been written about The Sixth Sense and its impact. One thing overlooked is how almost no one in Hollywood expected this supernatural thriller to make an impact. Indeed, in their annual Summer Movie Preview issue in 1999, Entertainment Weekly didn’t even mention Sense.

Sure, it had a big-name star in Bruce Willis, but it was an odd film from a completely unknown writer/director being released in August, traditionally the dumping ground for bad movies. It debuted to $26.6 million, then the highest August release. Thanks to good reviews, strong word of mouth and, of course, that now-famous twist ending, Sense became the second highest-grossing movie of 1999, $672.8 million worldwide. It earned multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and director,...

Minnie Driver is an accomplished British actress and singer-songwriter known for her roles in Good Will Hunting, The Phantom of the Opera, and Circle of Friends, sparking curiosity about her net worth. Her breakout role in Good Will Hunting earned her an Academy Award nomination, and propelled her Hollywood career. Driver has since appeared in a range of films and TV shows, including The Riches, Speechless, and the fan-favorite Anne Bonny in Our Flag Means Death. As a singer, she also released three albums.

Born Amelia Fiona Jessica Driver in London, England, the actress' older sister Kate is the one who dubbed her with the nickname "Minnie". Driver has been acting since the early 1990s and has had romantic relationships with some prominent celebrities, including her Good Will Hunting co-star and Josh Brolin, to whom she was briefly engaged to. Driver shares a son with her former partner, television producer and writer Timothy J. Lea,...

“The Last Republican” arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival over the weekend, and the documentary marks a surprising turn from Steve Pink, co-writer of “High Fidelity” and “Grosse Pointe Blank” and the director of both “Hot Tub Time Machine” movies. The film centers on Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger, who broke with his party in an effort to hold Donald Trump responsible for the Jan. 6 insurrection. Kinzinger was among 10 Republicans who voted to impeach the president for instigating an insurrection, later serving on the Congressional committee to investigate Jan. 6.

Why choose Kinzinger as the subject of this documentary, which sees the right-wing lawmaker open up to a left-wing documentarian? “I’m a comedy director, right?” Pink told TheWrap editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman at TheWrap’s 2024 TIFF Studio sponsored by Moët & Chandon and Boss Design. “My whole life has been the subversion of expectation and surprise. And Adam was probably engaged...

To say that Ryan Reynolds and Disney might have seemed like odd bedfellows when the studio inherited the R-rated Deadpool franchise following the Fox merger is an understatement.

Reynolds — who wears many hats, including actor, marketer, branding expert and entrepreneur — was at the heart of the audacious marketing campaigns for the two first films (look no further than the poop emoji billboard for the first Deadpool movie that went viral, or Deadpool re-enacting Burt Reynolds’ iconic Cosmopolitan centerfold). How far would Disney go in pushing the boundaries, considering it isn’t in the habit of releasing R-rated movies, at least in modern times? (Its division Marvel Studios never has.)

It turns out Disney’s Asad Ayaz, chief branding officer for the entire conglomerate and president of marketing for the film studio in addition to Disney+, and his team were all in. The mash-up of Disney’s expertise and reach and Reynolds’ marketing savvy,...

My favorite version of the Penguin remains the one that scared me when I was seven years old. He had webbed hands, spewed black bile from between his teeth, and had a penchant for biting off the noses of insufficiently servile yes men. He was, of course, Danny DeVito’s Penguin in Tim Burton’s still bafflingly original Batman Returns, and he had absolutely nothing to do with his comic book counterpart other than a name, a monocle, and a penchant for fancy cigarette filters.

I’m reminded of my initial revulsion—and disappointment that he had nothing to do with the character I saw first on Batman: The Animated Series and as played by Burgess Meredith in the 1960s’ Batman camp classic before that—while predictably seeing the initial online criticism of the news that Minnie Driver has been cast as Oswalda Cobbeplot in a revisionist interpretation of the...

Actor and comedian Dan Aykroyd has had a long and steady career ever since he first began doing improvisational comedy with the famed Second City troupe in both their Chicago and Toronto theaters.

Fame came to Aykoyd when he was hired for what seemed like a low expectations comedy/variety show NBC was beginning for late Saturday evenings. “Saturday Night Live” became a bit of a phenomenon launching all the original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” (as the cast was called) into stardom. Aykroyd along with Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman and Garrett Morris suddenly found themselves among the most talked about television stars working in the business.

Aykroyd and Belushi became especially close friends during the series run and began working in films together such as “Neighbors,” “The Blues Brothers” and potentially “Ghostbusters,” but Belushi’s overdose at the age of 33 caused Bill Murray...

Richard Linklater is a filmmaker who has succeeded by adding a level of emotional authenticity to his projects that is rarely seen in mainstream Hollywood films. Movies like Boyhood, the Before trilogy, and even Dazed and Confused reject the standard narrative arcs that audiences have come to expect; rather, these films feel like slice of life projects that focus on realistic conversations between characters that feel like real people. While Linklaters latest film Hit Man has its roots in the noir caper genre, it certainly offers a more intimate understanding of the world of assassins compared to stylized films like John Wick or Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Its refreshing to see such a confident reworking of a popular genre, but the assassin film was flipped on its head already by the 1997 romantic comedy thriller Grosse Pointe Blank.

Exclusive: Teton Ridge Entertainment has picked up the rights to adapt bestselling author Louis L’Amour’s novel Fallon and will develop a screenplay based on a pitch by writer Peter Chiarelli (Crazy Rich Asians).

The old west-set Fallon follows Macon Fallon, who is on the run and in need of fast cash. Fallon sets out to con an idealistic group of pioneers, but when a young woman catches on, things take an unexpected turn.

Jonathan Glickman is attached to produce and has been developing the film prior to his recent appointment as CEO of Miramax. Teton Ridge Entertainment’s EVP of Production Jen Gorton and Creative Executive Madeleine Moore will oversee the project. Beau L’Amour will serve as EP.

Run by President Jillian Share, newly formed Teton Ridge Entertainment produces scripted and unscripted films, television series, podcasts and new media content that explores Americana stories and highlights the themes, ethos...

Netflix and Richard Linklater certainly make for peculiar bedfellows. Where every other Netflix exclusive feels like it was concocted by an algorithm and designed to have maximum appeal, Linklater has been perfectly happy to direct films for a niche market these past 30-plus years. Even at his most commercial, with a film like "School of Rock," you get the sense the eccentric Texan auteur is making movies that speaks to his interests first and foremost.

Yet, somehow, Linklater has now found himself releasing back-to-back films for the streaming giant. The first of them, 2022's "Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood" — a rotoscope-style animated feature where segments inspired by the filmmaker's real childhood in 1960s Houston are seamlessly integrated with a fictional story about a young boy being recruited by NASA for an off-the-books space mission — reads like the opposite of what studios feel constitutes an easy sell. It plays that way,...

Richard Linklater and Glen Powell love movies. Making them and talking about them. In a recent promotional video posted by Netflix on X, formerly known as Twitter, the “Hit Man” screenwriting duo went through some of their favorite films for any given situation. When asked of his favorite Scorsese film, Linklater said, “‘Raging Bull’ was in that top slot for a couple decades before ‘Goodfellas’ kind of knocked it off.”

Later, when asked of films he can quote every line of, the director again referenced “Goodfellas,” saying he could recite “some version of it” and “can act every role.”

When thinking of films they’re embarrassed they hadn’t seen, Powell referenced a recent screening of their film “Hit Man.” He said, “I feel like we discovered this the other night when people were asking inspirations for the movie and they say ‘This kind of feels like ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’ and I was like,...

Hit Man is a new action comedy with a twist, inspired by a true story and reminiscent of a John Cusack movie from 1997. Unlike Grosse Pointe Blank, Hit Man adds an intriguing twist where the woman Gary falls for may actually be a killer. The potential Maddy twist in Hit Man promises conflict and depth, raising questions about morality and the nature of their relationship.

Glen Powell's much-anticipated action comedy, Hit Man, finds its way onto screens next month, and the Netflix original movie has a lot in common with a John Cusack box office bomb from 27 years ago. Hit Man is inspired by a true story and revolves around a police officer posing as a hitman whose situation becomes complicated when he develops feelings for a woman. The movie's premise is not dissimilar to a certain 1997 John Cusack movie. However, the recent trailer for Hit Man implies the...

And while the Black Widow prequel movie wasn’t one of Marvel’s best or most lucrative movies, it did conclude the story of Natasha Romanoff in the MCU, and introduced us to some new characters we are going to see in some of the upcoming movies. But, this article won’t be about the movie itself, as it is going to be about the complex creative process that led to the final product, as IndieWire had a talk with one of the story co-writers Ned Benson, who joined the production at a later date, rewriting the original pitch, but even his version did not end up being the final one.

Ned Benson had a short talk with IndieWire about a potential return to the MCU, seeing how his original collaboration with the large cinematic project didn’t turn out to be the best, but it seems that the filmmaker...

Jonathan Glickman has been appointed Miramax CEO, effective immediately, co-owners beIN Media Group and Paramount said on Tuesday.

Glickman, a former president MGM’s motion picture group, arrives from Panoramic Media, the company he founded in 2020 and where he produced Creed III and The Underdoggs for Amazon MGM Studios, and served as executive producer on Netflix’s Wednesday.

Under the terms of the hire Miramax has acquired select Panorama film and television projects as it seeks to build original content alongside its exploitation of the company’s storied stable of film and television.

Former Miramax CEO Bill Block departed last October.

Deadline reports a new sports documentary is being planned for kickboxing champion and martial arts movie star Benny “The Jet” Urquidez. The names associated with the production almost seems like a bingo announcer called out randomly drawn names from my favorite childhood movies. Keanu Reeves, who himself is no stranger to the martial arts world and action genre, has partnered with Fisher Stevens, who is known for projects like Short Circuit 1 & 2 and Hackers, to produce the documentary on Urquidez, whom I’ve talked about before on my Dragons Forever retrospective.

The documentary, which is titled The Jet, is currently in production with the Emmy-nominated sports documentary editor turned filmmaker, Jennifer Tiexiera, directing the film. Tiexiera has most recently also directed a three-part series for HBO called Unveiled: Surviving La Luz del Mundo, which has also recently been nominated for an Emmy in the catagory of Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary.

Exclusive: Action megastar Keanu Reeves has partnered with Academy Award winner Fisher Stevens to co-produce a documentary on the life story of Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, the iconic athlete who introduced mixed martial arts to the world.

Titled The Jet, the film is currently in production under the direction of Emmy-nominated sports documentary editor turned filmmaker Jennifer Tiexiera. Its financiers are Chris Quintos Cathcart and Tyler Boehm of the newly formed Unapologetic Projects, a company dedicated to working with underrepresented creators. Maura Anderson and Zak Kilberg of Stevens’ recently launched production company Highly Flammable will also serve as producers along with John Scalise and his Faya Project. Nancy Weisler, Brian Maya and Chris Quintos Cathcart & Tyler Boehm of Unapologetic serve as executive producers on the project slated for release in 2025.

Nicknamed for his explosive spinning back kick, Sensei Benny “The Jet” Urquidez had a profound impact on martial arts in mainstream culture,...

Mira Sorvino confirms that she and Lisa Kudrow are finalising contracts for Romy And Michele’s High School Reunion 2. More here.

It was all the way back in 1997 that out of the blue, Hollywood gave us a pair of impressive high school reunion movies. First up, in the UK at least, was Grosse Pointe Blank, starring John Cusack. That had the better reviews and initial response at the time. Yet since then, it’s Romy And Michele’s High School Reunion that’s come far more to the fore.

Starring Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow, and directed by David Mirkin, the original film – as discussed in an old Film Stories podcast episode here – was penned by Robin Schiff. She based it on a 1988 stage production called Ladies Room, and it was revealed a little while back that she was cooking up a Romy And Michele’s High School Reunion 2.

Both Mira...

You Were My First Boyfriend offers a personal and emotional take on the high school reunion genre, resonating with viewers. The documentary delves into the filmmaker's haunted childhood past, with nightmarish recreations that add a unique twist. Through unpacking her hardships, the filmmaker is expected to experience personal growth and a brighter outlook on life by the end of the documentary.

One woman's high school reunion is an emotional rollercoaster in an exclusive You Were My First Boyfriend trailer and poster. Hailing from acclaimed documentarians Cecilia Aldarondo and Sarah Enid Hagey, the movie centers on the former as she gears up for her high school reunion, causing her to confront many of the trauma she faced during those years and question why she's let it affect her into her adulthood. After premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival, You Were My First Boyfriend is set to premiere on HBO...

Jermaine Fowler, who recently had a role in the horror comedy The Blackening, has just finished up his work on a psychological thriller from Hot Tub Time Machine director Steve Pink, Deadline reports. The untitled project was able to get through production in the midst of the SAG strike by securing an interim agreement.

Written by Sam Johnson and Connor Diedrich, the thriller sees Fowler taking on the role of Allen Perkins. The story follows Allen through various twists and turns on a descent into darkness as he hosts his old college pals for the weekend.

Fowler is joined in the cast by James Morosini (I Love My Dad), Pauline Chalamet (The Sex Lives of College Girls), Edy Modica (Jury Duty), Rob Yang (Succession), and Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso).

Pink said this thriller is “one of the coolest films I have ever had the opportunity to direct in my career.

Exclusive: Jermaine Fowler (Sorry to Bother You) has wrapped production on a new psychological thriller directed by Steve Pink (Hot Tub Time Machine).

Rounding out the cast of the pic, shot under a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement, are James Morosini (I Love My Dad), Pauline Chalamet (The Sex Lives of College Girls), Edy Modica (Jury Duty), Rob Yang (Succession), and Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso). The production companies involved are Hurley/Pickle Productions (The Wheel), Phiphen (Butcher’s Crossing), Range Media Partners, and Gummy Films (What Doesn’t Float).

Written by Sam Johnson and Connor Diedrich, the film follows Allen Perkins (Fowler) through various twists and turns on a descent into darkness as he hosts his old college pals for the weekend. Producers included Josh Jason and Molly Gilula of Hurley/Pickle Productions, along with Molly Conners of Phiphen, Aj Bourscheid & Austin Lantero of Range Media Partners, and Chalamet, Rachel Walden, and Luca Balser of Gummy Films.

Max’s show Our Flag Means Death had a very successful first season. From its sharp humor to its wonderful characters, the pirate comedy was a flash hit. Season 2 is set to be even more ambitious, with cast additions including Minnie Driver.

In a first look from Vanity Fair, it was revealed that the Britsh-American actress is joining The Revenge, the boat captained by Stede Bonnet (played by Rhys Darby). Driver is famous in part for appearing in Good Will Hunting, where she played Skylar, Matt Damon’s love interest in the film. She starred in 1977’s cult classic, Grosse Pointe Blank, voiced Jane in Disney’s animated Tarzan – which is notorious for its wonderful Phil Collins-composed soundtrack – and provided the voice for Laady Eboshi in Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke. She has also had a lengthy stage and TV career, appearing in productions like Phantom of the Opera, and...

Who’s ready to feel old? School of Rock is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this September with the School of Rock 20th Anniversary Steelbook Blu-ray! Paramount Home Entertainment is pulling out all the stops for this glorious presentation, packing the release with more raised horns than a sold-out Metallica concert at Madison Square Garden!

Initially released in October 2003, Richard Linklater directs School of Rock from a script by Mike White. Jack Black stars in this heartfelt, laugh-out-loud comedy with Joan Cusack, Sarah Silverman, Mike White, Miranda Cosgrove, Rivkah Reyes, and more!

In School of Rock, Black’s struggling musician character, Dewey Finn, poses as a substitute teacher at a prestigious school where he convinces his students to form a rock band for an upcoming Battle of the Bands. Finn doesn’t take long to forge an unbreakable bond with the kids, as their love for rock and roll leads to...

San Marcos, Calif – There was an Alan Arkin for every generation. Post World War Two adults may have seen him at Chicago’s “The Second City.” Baby Boomers remember his films “Wait Until Dark” and “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians are Coming” and Gen X saw him in “The In-Laws”, “Glengarry Glen Ross” and his Oscar winning turn in “Little Miss Sunshine.” He even did a Netflix series, “The Kominsky Method.” For every generation, for every form of acting, there was Alan Arkin. He passed away on June 29th, 2023, at the age of 89.

Alan Wolf Arkin was born in Brooklyn, and started acting at age 10. After not graduating from two colleges he joined The Second City in 1960 Chicago, one year after it was founded. His feature film debut was the musical “Calypso Heat Wave” (1957), he debuted on Broadway in a Second City revue and did episodic TV during the 1960s.

The first time I saw Alan Arkin onscreen, he scared the hell out of me.

The veteran Academy Award-winning actor, who died Thursday at the age of 89, is best known these days for his wittily avuncular presence in films like Little Miss Sunshine and such television shows as The Kominsky Method, his last great acting role. But my first exposure to him came in middle school, where for some inexplicable reason the powers that be decided that treating the entire student body to a screening of the film Wait Until Dark was a good idea.

In that classic 1967 thriller, Arkin played Harry Roat, the most sadistic member of a trio of villains terrorizing a blind Audrey Hepburn because they think she possesses a doll filled with heroin. In a climactic scene set in almost near-darkness, a seemingly dead Roat suddenly jumps into the frame and grabs Hepburn by the leg.

Alan Arkin, an acclaimed actor whose career spanned over seven decades and who garnered multiple Oscar, Tony and Emmy nominations over the years, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 2006's Little Miss Sunshine, has died at age 89.

Born in Brooklyn, Arkin moved with his family to Hollywood after World War II as his father got a job as a set designer. His parents were accused of being Communists during the 1950s, and Arkin's father, David, was fired after he refused to cooperate. Arkin began acting at a young age, but it wasn't until a brief sojourn as a musician," the same year that Harry Belafonte had an even bigger hit with a different arrangement of that song) that he began acting in earnest, becoming one of the earliest members of the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago. It was with the Second City that Arkin made his...

Martin McDonagh’s cult hit man feature comes to 4K looking extremely good: fans of low-key black humor and droll sentimentality, kinda-like-the-Coens, kinda-like-Tarantino, love this picture. Cute characterizations from Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson & Ralph Fiennes bring light to a ‘killers with a heart’ story. It keeps us watching to see what happens next, that’s for sure. And when’s the last time that 13th century European art and architecture figured so heavily in a mob saga?

In Bruges

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

2008/ Color / 2:39 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date September 27, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95

Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clémence Poésy, Thekla Reuten, Ciarán Hinds, Zeljko Ivanek, Jordan Prentice.

Cinematography: Eigil Bryld

Production Designer: Michael Carlin

Art Director: Chris Lowe

Film Editor: Jon Gregory

Original Music: Carter Burwell

Produced by Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin

Written and Directed by Martin McDonagh

How can we fairly...

The tale of the young, star-crossed lovers known as "Romeo & Juliet" has been told and retold for centuries, but Hulu and 20th Century Studios have a whole new perspective to bring to the table. In a comedic twist on William Shakespeare's classic romantic tragedy, the tale of "Romeo & Juliet" is being retold through the lens of Rosaline, the gal Romeo was exclusively dating before he ran into Juliet at a party and completely turned his entire life (and family) upside down. Rosaline is devastated when she learns that her boyfriend has left her for someone new, and goes on a mission to break the two of them up and win back the man of her dreams.

"Rosaline" looks to be taking the anachronistic approach of Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet" and inverting it, with classic period garb and set dressings injected with contemporary language and sensibilities.

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[This story contains spoilers for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s second episode, “Superhuman Law.”]

Apparently, the fourth time’s a charm for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law head writer Jessica Gao.

Marvel Studios’ latest Disney+ series, centering on Jen Walters’ (Tatiana Maslany) transformation into She-Hulk, was the executive producer’s fourth pitch at Marvel. Of the three previous rejections, one of them, for Black Widow, was basically Natasha Romanoff’s version of Grosse Pointe Blank. But those previous misses were actually the best thing that could’ve happened to Gao.

“I just figured, ‘What’s a fourth [rejection]? I’ve got the armor. I don’t care anymore. I’ve got nothing to live for except for this project.’ So the [She-Hulk] show that I pitched to them that day is basically the show that we made,” Gao tells The Hollywood Reporter.

In She-Hulk’s second episode, “Superhuman Law,” the MCU finally acknowledged the Bruce Banner/Hulk recasting that took...