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With the trailer for Bill Hader’s animated The Cat in the Hat crashing its way to the web, we can expect just the sort of calamity shown in Dr. Seuss’ original book. But the story behind 2003’s The Cat in the Hat – wherein Mike Myers played the titular nuisance – is a bit more chaotic than anything the feline could inflict. Seriously, how in the hell did Mike Myers get sucked into starring in The Cat in the Hat? The answer lies with Saturday Night Live and a series of lawsuits.

Not every SNL character deserves a movie, but Mike Myers was pushing for one that centered on Dieter, the host of West German talk show Sprockets. Set up at Universal during his post-Austin Powers bump, the movie would have been Myers’s third SNL tie-in after the Wayne’s World flicks. However, Myers was completely dissatisfied with his own screenplay and pulled the plug,...

Bill Hader presta su voz al gato antropomórfico con sombrero de copa. © Warner Bros

Warner Bros ha compartido el primer tráiler y póster de la película El gato con sombrero, dirigida y escrita por el tándem formado por Alessandro Carloni (Kung Fu Panda 3) y Erica Rivinoja (guionista de la secuela de Borat) y basada en el célebre personaje de Dr. Seuss.

«¡Te presentamos a un Gato con Sombrero que no conoces!», promete el estudio, que anticipa «una nueva y épica aventura con un toque especial, donde reinan las travesuras, la magia y el caos». En la película, el Gato – al que pone voz Bill Hader (Barry)–, con su estilo hilarante, inconfundible e irreverente, se enfrenta a su misión más difícil hasta la fecha para el I.I.I.I.: animar a dos hermanos, Gabby y Sebastian, que intentan adaptarse tras mudarse a una nueva ciudad. Conocido por llevar las cosas al extremo,...

Dr. Seuss’s “The Cat in the Hat” came back.

The popular children’s book, originally published in 1957, is getting a new animated adaptation from Warner Bros. Pictures Animation early next year, with Bill Hader providing the voice for the impish feline. And you can watch the new trailer below.

“The Cat in the Hat” looks visually stunning, with the eye-popping animation provided by the talented team at Dneg Animation. The movie was directed by Alessandro Carloni (a veteran of all three “Kung Fu Panda” movies among many others) and co-directed by Erica Rivinoja, with the pair also co-writing the new adaptation.

Beyond Hader, the voice cast includes America Ferrara, Xochitl Gomez, Quinta Brunson, Bowen Yang, Matt Berry, Paula Pell, Tituss Burgess and Giancarlo Esposito.

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, now under the leadership of Bill Damaschke, has another Seuss adaptation in the works, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!,” directed by...

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation has unveiled the first trailer for its first full-length feature, The Cat in the Hat, an animated adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss story starring Bill Hader.

In the film, the Cat — voiced by Bill Hader — spreads joy to kids in his hilarious, signature and singularly irreverent way, transporting them and audiences on a fantastical journey through a world they’ve never seen before. Our hero’s toughest assignment yet comes from the I.I.I.I., which asks him to cheer up Gabby and Sebastian, a pair of siblings struggling with their move to a new town. Known for taking things too far, this could be this agent of chaos’ last chance to prove himself…or lose his magical hat!

Directed by Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja, the film will hit theaters and IMAX across North America on February...

It's not easy to make a name for yourself in the world of film and television, especially when everyone else is trying to do the same thing. Some talent, whether they be actors, writers, or filmmakers, get lucky in their first few projects, while others won't get to see the fruits of their industry labor until much further down the line. Clint Eastwood technically made his big screen debut in 1955 in an uncredited role in "Revenge of the Creature," yet kept finding himself in bit parts over the next few years. Even "Rawhide," the television western career gig that got his foot in the door, would take up seven and a half years of his life on CBS. But not only would the experience of starring in those eight seasons serve as a testing ground as for his directorial sensibilities, it would also prompt him to travel to Spain, where...

“You can’t always get what you want… but if you try sometimes, you just might find—you get what you need.” — The Rolling Stones weren’t talking about Schitt’s Creek, but boy, does it hit home.

When we first stumbled on this Canadian TV sitcom, we thought it was just another fish-out-of-water sitcom. But by the time it bid adieu in 2020, it had carved a place in pop culture with the precision of a jeweler setting a rare gem. Created by the father-son powerhouse Eugene and Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek turned Emmy-slayer, flipped the script on what small-town stories could be.

Eugene Levy once told The New York Times, “Isn’t that the perfect way to go?” when they chose to end the show after six stellar seasons. But let’s not cry over spilled milk—every cast member has been busy sprinkling their magic elsewhere. Let’s peel...

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice was a big success for Warner Bros., grossing over $451 million worldwide. I’m pretty sure you know what that number means — sequel. While speaking with Deadline, Warner Bros. CEO’s Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy revealed that Beetlejuice 3 is in the works.

However, it’s not quite official just yet. “Imminently,” De Luca said. “The ink might not be dry on the deals yet, but imminently.“

During the London premiere of Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, director Tim Burton didn’t seem optimistic about the chances of another sequel due to the amount of time it took to get the first sequel off the ground. “Well, if [the same] time frame goes on, I’ll be about 100,” Burton said. “So maybe. I doubt it.” It seems that things are moving a little bit faster this time around.

Related Beetlejuice Beetlejuice begins streaming on Max next week

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was praised as a return to form for Burton,...

Jason Momoa and Adria Arjona walk the purple carpet together while attending the SNL50: The Homecoming Concert held at Radio City Music Hall on Friday night (February 14) in New York City.

The couple, who have been dating for almost a year, marked their first red carpet appearance together at the big concert event!

Also making their red carpet debut was Miley Cyrus and her beau of three years, Maxx Morando, as they were also joined by her mom Tish Cyrus-Purcell.

Keep reading to find out more…

Miley was actually one of dozens of musicians who took the stage during the concert, performing her hit “Flowers” and a rendition of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” with Brittany Howard.

Coming up on Sunday (February 16) is the SNL50: The Anniversary Special, which will see many current and past SNL cast members returning for the big special event!

Keep browsing below to see...

This post contains spoilers for "Nosferatu."

What better way to celebrate the festive season of 2024 than with a supernatural horror nightmare. With "Nosferatu," director Robert Eggers resurrected a vampire classic in the form of a scary fever dream just in time for Christmas of last year, reimagining the original 1922 film as a stylish horror with a sort of perverse fairy tale at its center. In Eggers' film, the titular vamp, played by Bill Skarsgård, lusts after Lily-Rose Depp's Ellen Hutter, eventually traveling from his decaying castle in the mountains of Transylvania to her hometown of Wisburg, Germany. There, he feeds on her blood in a pseudo-sexual embrace that ultimately results in his death when the sunlight interrupts the pair's perverse tryst.

If upsetting vampire love affairs aren't your thing, Eggers made sure to do what he does best by constructing a world that absorbs you so fully, you genuinely...

Writing TV is a collaborative process, which often means that seeing a writer's credit on top of a TV episode isn't as strong an indicator of their writing style as you'd think. They may have written most of the script, sure, but a lot of what happens is often decided by the showrunner and the other staff writers. Throw in the general chaos that comes with trying to make a career in Hollywood, and the result is you sometimes get writers who veer off in a surprisingly different direction after a major project is finished. 

For example: Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Jeff Schaffer were all writers for the hit sitcom "Seinfeld," which went on for nine seasons and became one of the most critically acclaimed and popular shows of all time. When the series wrapped up in 1998, did these writers continue writing for Emmy-nominated, boundary-pushing sitcoms? Well, sort of,...

One of the most beloved names in children's literature has always been Dr. Seuss. Theodor Geisel was one of the most remarkably creative minds of the 20th century, with stories and images of his that resonate with audiences young and old. His "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" is a standby for any graduation ceremony from middle school through college. Stories like "The Lorax" hit just as hard today for their direct commentary on the world at large as reflected through a fantastical prism. And his delightfully offbeat "The Cat in the Hat" is a wonderful depiction of youthful troublemaking for a pair of kids being overseen by the eponymous goofball, who's not exactly the world's safest babysitter.

But while "The Cat in the Hat" (the book) is beloved, and while the book has inspired a few different adapted takes, the 2003 film version is pretty widely reviled. And it's for good reason,...

1992's "Batman Returns" was initially met with a reaction somewhere between confused and concerned, mostly due to it being a much darker affair than audiences and critics had expected. But it has since firmly established its standing as one of the great Batman interpretations. Even as Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy mostly dominates conversations about the greatest Batman movies, "Batman Returns" remains an inspired and beautiful expressionist nightmare that represents a full realization of director Tim Burton's artistic vision.

But it wasn't just Burton's direction and production designer Bo Welch's Art Deco-meets-Fascism set design that made "Returns" such an immersive and unforgettable experience. Danny DeVito's performance as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin stole the show — which, considering this was a movie that also starred Michael Keaton, Christopher Walken, and Michelle Pfeiffer, is a pretty impressive accomplishment. While Colin Farrell hated his costume for 2024's "The Penguin" series,...

From the title character to the mix of living and deceased Beetlejuice characters, the movie has an amazing cast that contributes to its success as a classic. Tim Burton's sophomore feature established the director's signature gothic style, aided by Bo Welch's macabre production design, the Oscar-winning makeup of Ve Neill, Steve Laporte, and Robert Short, and Danny Elfman's eerie but iconic film score. However, Tim Burton also deserves credit for choosing just the right actors for his films, often against type.

Beetlejuice is one of Tim Burton's best horror movies, but it wouldn't work as well as it does with just any cast. Released in 1988, Beetlejuice was a surprise hit, owing a lot to its distinct visuals and unique supernatural premise. Beetlejuice also features several of the best performances from Burton's movies, including Michael Keaton in one of the defining roles of his career. Here is...

The prevailing wisdom on Tim Burton is that the filmmaker lost his touch somewhere between 1996's "Mars Attacks!" and 2003's "Big Fish." Especially in the post "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" years, when he really embraced CGI, the general consensus is that Burton became somewhat of a parody of himself. But with "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" it seems the filmmaker has gotten his mojo back, reviving his love of practical effects and the subversive element of his earlier films to deliver a movie that proves the now 66-year-old has still got it.

For me, Burton will forever be one of, if not my favorite filmmaker, simply because his earlier movies set my young imagination alight in a way no other film, TV Show, or any media has. Specifically, his 1992 "Batman" sequel "Batman Returns" remains my most transporting movie experience. The world created by Burton and production designer Bo Welch felt so immersive...

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has been blowing up the box office, having already grossed over $264 million less than two weeks after its release. It’s a much-needed win for Warner Bros., which makes it all the more surprising that the studio had originally planned to give the Beetlejuice sequel a streaming release on Max.

It’s been a long road for the Beetlejuice sequel, and according to a New York Times report, Warner Bros. didn’t have a lot of faith that the project would be a success. They still wanted the film but were pushing for it to be released exclusively on the Max streaming service. Director Tim Burton wasn’t a big fan of that idea. “That was never going to work for Tim,” said studio co-chair Pamela Abdy. “You’re talking about visionary artist whose films demand to be seen on a big screen.“

When Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca...

Well, it’s only taken thirty-six years, but we’re finally, Finally getting a sequel to Beetlejuice, with Tim Burton and Michael Keaton returning for Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice (read our review here). With the sequel bound to introduce a new generation to the Tim Burton classic, now’s the perfect time to look back at the movie and figure out why it stands the test of time. So, here are 10 Reasons Why Beetlejuice Is Still The Ghost With the Most!

10. A Timeless Tale:

There’s a reason why Beetlejuice still resonates all these decades following its initial release. From the time we mere mortals realize that our time on earth is limited, we become preoccupied with the afterlife. Beetlejuice tackles the theme with unusual aplomb, imagining the afterlife as just another stop in our soul’s journey to its final resting place, with our heroes, Alec Baldwin’s Adam and Geena Davis’s Barbara,...

Update: According to Deadline, the Friday numbers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice are coming in much higher than anticipated. With a $42 million gross, Tim Burton’s sequel should be able to blow past $100 million for the weekend. The news is less rosy for the weekend’s other new release, A24’s The Front Room, which grossed a poor $600k on course for a $1.5 million opening. The controversial Reagan biopic starring Dennis Quaid seems to be performing surprisingly well, with it on track for a weekend in the $5 million range.

Original: So often, long-belated sequels wind up as disappointments, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Arriving 36 years after the release of the original, the sequel has been receiving positive reviews, and it’s already become a box-office success, taking in $13 million in Thursday night previews. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is poised to have a wonderful opening weekend as well,...

While Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to become a major success, its writers, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, are setting up their next project. THR reports that the writers of the Beetlejuice sequel are set to produce a movie adaptation of Ice Cream Man, the horror anthology comic written and created by W. Maxwell Prince.

Screen Gems recently acquired the rights to Ice Cream Man and is in early development on the movie. Gough and Millar will produce through their Millar Gough Ink banner, and Aaron Schmidt will also produce for the company. The search is currently on for a writer. The comic tells a series of loosely connected horror stories which typically share the common link of Rick, an ice cream man whose motives are mysterious. Sometimes friend, sometimes foe, Rick uses his inexplicable powers to string together tales of woe and wonder. The series is illustrated by Martin Morazzo with colours by Chris O’Halloran.

And thus begins the start of spooky season! Halloween is next month, but fans of ghosts and ghouls are able to start getting their fix with the release of Tim Burton‘s long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which was 36 years in the making. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was in development hell for decades before it finally got made. In 1990, Jonathan Gems was hired to write a sequel that was going to be titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. Burton considered having Daniel Waters rewrite that script. Pamela Norris did rewrite it, and Warner Bros. offered Kevin Smith the chance to do another rewrite. He turned it down. Seth Grahame-Smith was hired to write and produce a new version of a sequel in 2011. Mike Vukadinovich was brought on to rewrite his script in 2017.

With all the numerous script revisions that went into making sure the sequel could lovingly match the original, Tim Burton would admit he...

Plot: After the death of her father, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) returns to her family home in Winter River with her daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega) and stepmother, Delia (Catherine O’Hara), in tow. Once there, she becomes plagued by visions of a certain “ghost with the most,” who has problems of his own.

Review: For a while there, you couldn’t have been blamed for thinking Tim Burton had maybe lost a bit of his touch. He had a long run of mediocre movies that climaxed with Dumbo, a movie the director hated so much it almost made him quit the business. However, watching Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, it can’t be denied that returning to his old stomping grounds by making a sequel to his first mega-hit, Beetlejuice, might have been just what the doctor ordered, with it his most energetic, playful, and creative film in years.

In it, Burton is wise...

Justin Thereoux gets support from his new fiancee Nicole Brydon Bloom at the U.K. premiere of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice on Thursday (August 29), shortly after announcing their engagement.

The couple confirmed that they were tying the knot after Nicole revealed her engagement ring on the red carpet at the movie’s premiere during the 2024 Venice Film Festival this week.

They posed together for photos at the Cineworld Leicester Square in London, England for the movie’s latest premiere.

Keep reading to find out more…

Justin and Nicole weren’t the only couple at the event.

Costar Catherine O’Hara was joined by husband Bo Welch, and Winona Ryder‘s husband Scott Mackinlay Hahn was also present.

Other costars who attended the premiere included Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci, Amy Nuttall, Burn Gorman and Arthur Conti. Director Tim Burton was also present. We’ve got photos of everyone in the gallery!

Films have become a lot more closed curtains about their sets as easter eggs and secret cameos and surprise co-stars have become all the rage in Hollywood. Thanks to films like those produced by Marvel Studios (even if they weren’t the first to do so), superhero films often run a very tight production when it comes to leaking things to the public.

Danny DeVito as the Penguin || Credit: WB

When it came to the production of Batman Returns, Danny Devito as Penguin was revealed in all his cinematic glory to tabloids when the film was just halfway through its production. While Devito in Penguin regalia was plastered on every entertainment newspaper worth its ink, WB got on figuring out who was the leak.

Warner Brothers hired a Pi firm to deduced who had leaked the image of Danny DeVito As till from Batman Returns || Credit: WB

Ironic, that the...

The Cat in the Hat movie, starring Mike Myers, was so bad it led Dr. Seuss' widow to ban live-action adaptations of his stories. Despite reflecting Seuss' bizarre style, the film came off as creepy with Myers as the Cat. Critically panned and a box office flop, the movie caused a shakeup at the Seuss estate and led to a ban on future live-action adaptations.

The 2003 Cat in the Hat movie starring Mike Myers is now trending on Netflix and its the reason why Dr. Seuss widow wont allow any more live-action adaptations of his books to get made. The Cat in the Hat was directed by Bo Welch, the production designer behind Beetlejuice, The Lost Boys, and Men in Black, in his directorial debut. Myers plays the titular talking cat, who arrives on two bored childrens doorstep to make their lives a living hell.

Although The Cat in the...

After the success of Ron Howard's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (a hit so big even the 2018 animated remake broke box office records), it was a no-brainer for Hollywood to look to other Dr. Seuss books for inspiration for its next success. DreamWorks quickly set its sights on "The Cat in the Hat" and greenlit a live-action adaptation with a budget over $100 million, tapping another Canadian-born comedic A-lister to star in the film -- in this case, Mike Myers, an actor who was at the peak of his career, starring in both the "Austin Powers" trilogy And "Shrek" at the same time. The 2003 film also starred Spencer Breslin and Dakota Fanning, the former a popular actor with kids at the time thanks to "The Santa Clause 2" and the latter a phenomenal young actor too good for this disappointing project.

And yet, the film was so hated that Dr.

Alec Baldwin shines as a villain in The Cat in the Hat, displaying his talent for unbridled arrogance and comedic sneezes. Despite its poor reception, the film has gained a cult following, with audiences embracing its wacky slapstick world. Mike Myers' mischievous portrayal of the Cat adds an unforgettable element to the film, making it worth watching on Netflix.

Whilst Alec Baldwin will not be reprising his role as Adam Maitland in the upcoming Beetlejuice, audiences are able to catch him in an equally bizarre fantasy world, in The Cat in the Hat, now streaming on Netflix. The 66-year-old actor is best known for his roles on 30 Rock, the Mission Impossible franchise, and his voice as the eponymous Boss Baby. Beyond this, however, Baldwins career has taken him to some even stranger places.

In 2003, Baldwin starred in The Cat in the Hat, as Larry Quinn, the villainous next-door neighbor of the Waldron children.

Starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, the 1997 film Men In Black was a huge hit upon its release, earning critical and commercial success, which was followed by two sequels along with a stand-alone fourth installment. However, crafting the intricate world of aliens and secret agents proved a formidable challenge for the creators.

Men in Black | Credit: Columbia Pictures

In a 2022 oral history of Men In Black discussion, director Barry Sonnenfeld, production designer Bo Welch, and screenwriter Ed Solomon reflected on the process of making the movie and revealed how they spent close to $1 million on an animatronic bug, ultimately abandoning its use in the final cut.

Men in Black Spent $1 Million in an Unused Giant Animatronic Bug

The first film in the Men in Black franchise follows Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent J (Will Smith) as they investigate a series of alien-related incidents, and across a dangerous...

There's no one way to play Batman. With "Batman Returns," star Michael Keaton cut more than half his lines, making for a broody, mysterious Dark Knight that fit perfectly among the more outlandish freaks that populated Tim Burton and production designer Bo Welch's nightmare fairytale landscape. For his Dark Knight trilogy, however, Christopher Nolan wasn't afraid to let Christian Bale's Batman bellow multiple lines using his now-famous guttural growl.

Both approaches worked, but there's no doubt Nolan's trilogy presented a much more quotable Dark Knight. Several of Bale's most striking Batman lines have now been solidified in pop culture history, with perhaps his infamously overwrought "Swear to me!" from "Batman Begins" being the most salient example. But Bale's Batman wasn't the only part of Nolan's trilogy that proved infinitely quotable. The director's scripts were a treasure trove of meme-able lines, many of which found their way into mass culture almost immediately.

Sometimes, when actors find themselves the focus of a particularly passionate fandom, they reject it. Look at Harrison Ford constantly playing down the importance of "Star Wars" or Robert Pattinson and his open disdain for the "Twilight" series. Which is why it's nice when an actor shares in fans' joy for a particularly beloved performance. Case in point: Danny DeVito and his role as Penguin in "Batman Returns."

Tim Burton's 1992 expressionist masterpiece remains the best Batman movie ever made, and DeVito is a big part of that legacy. The "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" star delivered a stunningly committed performance as Oswald Cobblepot aka the Penguin, managing to make the deformed "penguin man of the sewers" so wretchedly evil and yet, at times, sympathetic. The abandoned son of a well-to-do couple commits some truly heinous acts throughout "Returns" and yet you still feel a pang of sadness for the old boy.

Something is going Bump at Warner Bros. Animation, with President Bill Damaschke looking to turn the studio’s reputation around with an exciting announcement. A new animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat wants to play at WB, and cast members are already creating chaos and giving nervous fish a panic attack. Saturday Night Live and Barry star Bill Hader plays the Cat, with Quinta Brunson, Bowen Yang, Xochitl Gomez, Matt Berry and Paula Pell starring as primary cast members.

Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja direct the new feature version of The Cat in the Hat from a script they wrote. Hoping to cause family-friendly havoc in theaters on March 6, 2026, The Cat in the Hat focuses on an imaginative cat trying to cheer up a pair of siblings who’ve moved to a new town. As the adventure unfolds, the Cat introduces the children to his friends,...

“Saltburn,” “Oppenheimer,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Barbie,” “Poor Things,” and “Asteroid City” all earned nominations from the Critics Choice Awards for Best Production Design. That bodes well for each film’s Oscar chances this year. But before we get too ahead of ourselves by predicting who might win this category, let’s take a look back at the last 10 Oscar winners for Best Production Design.

We’re going to take a look at the academy’s tastes here to see what type of films in what type of setting they nominate most. Then, we’ll try to apply those findings to this year’s race as we scrutinize the movies hoping for a nomination in this design category. Here we go.

These 10 winners seem like totally different movies but a closer look does show some similarities. Firstly, seven out of the 10 are set in the real world. “The Shape of Water...

You might say it's a miracle that Tim Burton's "Batman" was ever made, considering the director's unusually dark vision and the multitude of issues faced by the production. Indeed, Burton referred to the process of making his 1989 blockbuster as "torture," citing all manner of hurdles, from rewrites to grueling all-night shoots, and even a fall out with Carl Grissom actor Jack Palance, who evidently felt the young filmmaker was in no position to give any authoritative direction.

But at least Burton was somewhat shielded from the surprisingly virulent backlash that followed Michael Keaton's casting in the lead role. Thankfully, the movie was shooting at the UK's famed Pinewood Studios, and thus Burton and co. weren't subjected to the full force of the furor that was brewing stateside. Pinewood also offered more than shelter from controversy. The Buckinghamshire studio's giant backlot allowed Burton and production designer Anton Furst to...

Below-the-line categories at the Oscars just don’t get the attention they deserve. The artistry on display helps to bring to life a movie. Visual effects are such a key part of the storytelling of “A New Hope.” Costume design is vital to the storytelling of “Phantom Thread.” And production design is so key in “Parasite,” “Avatar,” and “The Lord of the Rings” in so many different ways.

With that in mind, let’s take a look a closer look at some of the below-the-line categories, starting here with Best Production Design. We’re going to look at the last 10 winners in this category to work out if there is a pattern in the way the academy awards certain winners. They love biopics in the acting categories, for example, so what are they partial to in Production Design? Take a look at the below chart.

These 10 winners seem like totally...

In our nostalgia-mad culture, there's a particular legacy sequel that we're not entirely unexcited about. "Beetlejuice 2" has basically been 35 years in the making, and as of early 2023, it looked set to be a worthy follow-up to Tim Burton's 1988 classic — especially since the director and star, Michael Keaton, were back onboard.

It also helped that Burton and Keaton were in agreement that the movie should be made in as close a way as possible to the first one, including shooting exteriors in the same small Vermont town of East Corinth. But perhaps the most important aspect for the duo was making use of practical effects, or as Keaton put it, "literally handmade stuff." Part of the charm of the original was Bo Welch's production design and the delightfully creepy practical effects employed throughout the film, and it seems we'll be getting a lot more of that when "Beetlejuice 2" finally arrives.

The Oscars for design — Costume Design, Production Design, and Makeup and Hairstyling — are often awarded together to reward movies that have excelled in their costume creations, set building, and distinct makeup work. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” won all three while “Black Panther” won both Costume Design and Production Design. Those two are fantasy films, which is a leading genre in the design categories. But period pictures, historical epics, sci-fi flicks, and even distinct contemporary films have also done well in these races.

With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of the eight films we expect to be the strongest contenders across the three categories.

“Barbie”

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. The trailers have flaunted pretty pastels and plastics in both the sets and the costumes and the full film does not disappoint. The legendary Jacqueline Durran is in...

Over 34 years since its release, Michael Keaton's Batman movies still hold up for a variety of reasons. The Batman franchise is WB and DC Comics’ most mainstream and profitable property, with Batman himself being perhaps the most malleable superhero in the genre, making his films an exciting opportunity for any filmmaker to create their own unique interpretation of the mythos. Tim Burton and Michael Keaton’s iteration of Batman has had many successors over the years, but theirs continues to endure the test of time.

The 84-year Batman comic mythos has portrayed the Caped Crusader, his allies, and his iconic rogues gallery in a variety of ways, with as many reimaginings as the myriad of film adaptations. Some of the films choose to adapt different eras of the Batman comics, with Joel Schumacher’s films drawing from the whimsical Silver Age stories and Ben Affleck’s Batman being accurate to darker Modern Age comics.

The Bat, the Cat, the Penguin…the Brick. Lego has announced they will be releasing a Batcave set this June modeled after the one featured in Tim Burton’s 1992 classic Batman Returns, itself designed by the great Bo Welch. And at nearly 4,000 pieces, it will definitely be one to flaunt when you flush–we mean finish–it.

As per Lego’s website, “this Batcave tableau contains an assortment of authentic details, including movable items that can be controlled from the rear. Users can turn the chair, change the computer screen and open and close the tool store and illuminated Batsuit vault.” Also housed within is the Batmobile, which, really, no Batcave is complete without. The set is a shadow box design in the shape of the bat-symbol, making it a fantastic display for bat-fans of all ages. The 3,981-piece Lego Batcave set measures 11 inches high and 20 inches wide and is...

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Bee–ah, that was a close one! A massive success upon release, Beetlejuice went through a strange and unusual production that saw multiple rewrites and firings, not to mention the dodging of some seriously questionable casting choices. But through the terrific performances by its cast and creative skirting around a small budget, the movie became one of the best horror-comedies ever, worthy of a sequel that has been in development hell for over three decades.

So let’s open up the handbook for the recently deceased and shake, shake, shake senora because it’s showtime! Let’s to find out…Wtf Happened to this movie?!

Following the massive success of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, which pulled in $40 million on a $7 million budget, Tim Burton had his pick of what his next project would be. One thing he knew, it wouldn’t be talking horse movie Hot to Trot.

If the Joker is the most fun Batman villain to play, The Penguin has to be a close second. If you look at actors who've portrayed the legendary rogue, the character seems to bring out some genuinely novel and committed performances. Colin Farrell had unbridled fun playing the Penguin in "The Batman," telling Total Film, "It overtook me [...] I started moving and talking and gesticulating with my hands and it felt like being a kid in the sandbox, man."

Before Farrell and makeup geniuses Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine put their stamp on the Penguin, Stan Winston and Danny DeVito had a go at it for Tim Burton's 1992 effort "Batman Returns." And in much the same way Farrell was able to disappear beneath his prosthetics, DeVito was a little too committed to the role of the Penguin. In a making-of featurette, Winston, who'd designed DeVito's prosthetics, recalled seeing the actor on set,...

Christopher Nolan is known for shooting as much in-camera as he can. In a behind-the-scenes documentary, Zack Snyder praised the director's Dark Knight trilogy and its practical approach, saying, "It's a craft, it needs craftsman to do it. There's a tactile feeling about the movies, that's really palpable, you feel it when you watch them."

No more is that obvious than with the first entry in the trilogy, "Batman Begins." In general, "The Dark Knight" is thought of as the best of Nolan's three Batman movies, helped immensely by Heath Ledger's incredible performance as The Joker. But for me, "Batman Begins" is the standout. Nolan has spoken about how each of his Dark Knight movies has a genre, the first being a "hero's journey," the second being a "crime" film, and the third being a "war" epic. But whereas "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises" felt...

Since 1989, we've had eight live-action "Batman" movies (not counting the Dceu films) and have yet to see as good an on-screen representation of Gotham as the city from Tim Burton's first movie about the Caped Crusader. At least, that would be true if it wasn't for Bo Welch's elegant expressionist nightmare from "Batman Returns." Still, "Batman" production designer Anton Furst created an indelible version of the Dark Knight's home turf that holds up to this day.

As the designer told Time magazine in a 2001 interview, his "riot of architectural styles," erected at England's Pinewood Studios, led director Tim Burton to refer to his Gotham as a city where "hell erupted through the pavement and kept on going." So effective was this foreboding, oppressive, New York-gone-wrong aesthetic that Furst nabbed the Oscar for Best Art Direction in 1990. It was a well-deserved win for the British artist, who had...

In recent years "Batman Returns" has been getting the recognition it always deserved, and honestly, it's about damn time. There'll always be a contingent of bat-fans who hate depictions of Batman killing, alongside those that feel "Returns" is too much of a Tim Burton movie and not enough of a Batman movie. But as the growing love shows, Burton's nightmare fairytale remains the most engrossing, haunting, and darkly beautiful Batman movie, dare I say even just movie, I've seen. Bo Welch's production design remains the best on-screen Gotham yet (closely followed by Anton Furst's industrial hellscape from 1989's "Batman"), making for an all-enveloping atmosphere that has stayed with me since I first saw the film on my parent's rented Crt. It's no wonder Burton remains proud of his "weird experiment" 30 years on.

But there's more to what makes the movie great than the beautifully crafted Gotham set, which...

Beginning with the publication of Whitley Streiber's book "Communion: A True Story" in 1987, alien abduction lore began to spread in earnest through the minds of the public. Streiber's book, and the growing popularity of alien imagery, were part of a cultural obsession with extraterrestrial kidnappings which broke open in earnest with the debut of "The X-Files" in 1993. Embedded in the wave of pop alien lore were tales of Men in Black, sinister government agents who wore black suits, ties, and hats, and who would arrive at the doorsteps of alien abductees, hypnotically intoning that they needed to keep their abduction a secret.

By 1997, when Barry Sonnenfeld's hit film "Men in Black" was released in theaters, such previously staid and hushed lore was transformed into broad comedy. "Men in Black" was about, essentially, Earth's immigration office, assembled to document space alien immigrants visiting or moving to our planet. Agents K...

This year has seen many acclaimed auteurs add a new movie to their already impressive résumé, from Sam Raimi to Jordan Peele to Robert Eggers to Taika Waititi to Ti West to the Daniels. But not every filmmaker gets to round out their oeuvre with a few directorial efforts.

Some directors, from Charles Laughton to Herk Harvey, have only taken the helm of one movie in their careers. Actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Eddie Murphy each tried their hand at directing once, as did playwright Tom Stoppard.

Arnold Schwarzenegger – Christmas In Connecticut (1992)

Arnold Schwarzenegger has played a wide variety of action heroes, from commandos to barbarians to reprogrammed killer cyborgs. Unlike fellow A-list action movie legend Sylvester Stallone, Schwarzenegger never directed any of his explosive starring vehicles.

But he did direct one movie back in 1992: a made-for-television remake of the holiday-themed romantic comedy Christmas in Connecticut, which was poorly received by critics.

“It’s story and daydreaming,” says “Severance” production designer Jeremy Hindle about his favorite part of the creative process. “Literally daydream everything that you could possibly daydream first without any budget or any other conversation. Just be free.” We talked to Hindle as part of our “Meet the Experts” panel of Emmy-nominated production designers along with Francesca Di Mottola (“The Great”), Bill Groom (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), Gianna Costa (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) and Bo Welch (“Schmigadoon!”). Watch our exclusive group discussion above. Click each person’s name to view their individual chats.

For Costa, the joy of production design is “going on deep dives, which is very easy for me to do.” She loves “finding very interesting things to pull into a set … I have so many folders of images, it’s ridiculous, but I could spend hours upon hours finding cool references.” Groom is also partial to the early...

“Schmigadoon!” is an homage to musicals of the 1940s and 1950s, and it’s the first musical for veteran production designer Bo Welch, but “I hope it’s not my last because I loved it,” he says of the experience, for which he earned an Emmy nomination for Best Production Design for a Half-Hour Narrative Program for the premiere episode. We talked to Welch as part of our “Meet the Experts” panel of Emmy-nominated production designers. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

SEEMaking of ‘Schmigadoon!’: Lively roundtable panel with 5 cast members and creator Cinco Paul [Exclusive Video Interview]

The Apple TV+ comedy series follows a couple (Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong) at a crossroads in their relationship when they stumble on the title town where the townsfolk spontaneously break into song. “I had a very sort of shallow understanding of the musicals of the ’40a and ’50s,” Welch admits, “but our...

The creators of the music, design and choreography for Apple TV+’s musical series Schmigadoon! drew on classic stage and screen musicals.

Co-creator Cinco Paul, production designer Bo Welch, composer Christopher Willis and choreographer Christopher Gatelli each shared their musical influences on a panel for the Apple TV+ series at Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees awards-season event.

Contenders TV: The Nominees — Deadline’s Complete Coverage

Paul said he first conceived of Schmigadoon! 25 years ago, but it took the streaming content era to find it a home on Apple. He had the idea of a modern couple finding a town like Brigadoon that was always a musical, so he could satirize the musicals he loved.

“It’s kind of like you feel about your parents,” Paul said. “You love them so much but occasionally they say things that make you cringe. A lot of love towards these musicals but we...

Television content is booming. According to Nielsen’s most recent State of Play report, between February 2021 and February 2022 more than three-quarters of a million TV shows can now be watched on streaming and traditional television platforms. That makes the feat of capturing an Emmy nomination all the more impressive, and each of these nominated programs participating in today’s Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees award season event deserve their accolades.

The livestreamed presentation begins today at 8 a.m. Pt.

Click here to sign up for and watch today’s livestream.

This year, we have 31 shows from 16 networks and streamers joining us to discuss their creations and what it took to bring them to the screen. Again, Emmy history is being made: Netflix’s Squid Game marks the first non-English-language series to secure a Best Drama nomination. Will it follow in Parasite’s footsteps from the 2020 Oscars and secure a win?...

Six top TV production designers will reveal secrets behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022 Emmy Awards nominees. They will participate in two video discussions to premiere on Thursday, August 11, at 4:00 p.m. Pt; 7:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Daniel Montgomery and a roundtable chat with all of the group together.

RSVP today to our entire ongoing Emmy contenders panel series by clicking here to book your free reservation. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.

This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2022 nominees:

The Great (Hulu)

Synopsis: A royal woman living in rural Russia during the 18th century is forced to choose between her own personal happiness and the future of Russia, when she marries an Emperor.

Bio: Francesca di Mottola...

“Batman Returns” has always had a hard time.

The sequel to Tim Burton’s 1989 sensation “Batman” was criticized, upon release, as being too dark and violent. Some parents were outraged that a movie where black goo oozes out of Danny DeVito’s mouth for the entire running time also inspired a McDonald’s Happy Meal.

It’s certainly a more outwardly “Tim Burton” movie than the first film – every character is a weird freak; the production design by Bo Welch is even more dramatically Gothic; and there are undercurrents of kinky sadomasochism to the relationship between Batman (Michael Keaton) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfieffer). Still, Warner Bros. clearly took the backlash to heart and didn’t invite Burton back to do another Batman film. And, 30 years later, Burton is still sore about it.

Speaking to Empire on the anniversary, Burton said: “[Back then] they went the other way. That’s the funny thing about it.

“Schmigadoon!” burst onto Apple TV+ to deliver musical comedy heaven during a time in the pandemic where live performance was still impossible to find. With Broadway temporarily shuttered, a cast of seasoned theater performers instead stormed our TV screens. They sang songs that were a heart-warming homage to classic musicals of the 1940s and gave a weary world a much needed boost of joy.

To celebrate this love letter to musical theatre, watch our special 40-minute “Making of” roundtable discussion with six key creatives – actors Jaime Camil, Kristin Chenoweth, Ann Harada, Jane Krakowski and Aaron Tveit, plus co-creator, executive producer, writer, and showrunner Cinco Paul. The host is Gold Derby contributor Sam Eckmann for a lively Q&a. Watch the exclusive video interview above.

SEETish Monaghan interview: ‘Schmigadoon!’ costume designer

“Schmigadoon!” was created by Paul and Ken Daurio, about two jaded New Yorkers Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Paul (Keegan-Michael Key...