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Gerard Butler kicked off 2025 by starring in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, but one action film from the star that’s more than 20 years old has resurfaced on streaming charts. Butler stars alongside Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life, the 2003 sequel to the 2001 film, which follows Lara Croft (Jolie), an explorer who sets out to prevent Pandora’s box from falling into the wrong hands. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - Cradle of Life is currently streaming for free on Pluto TV, and it’s one of the most popular movies on the platform in America, sitting at #5 at the time of writing. The film earned dual “rotten” scores of 24% from critics and 44% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, and it grossed $160 million at the box office against a $95 million budget.

After Simon West directed Angelina Jolie’s first Tomb Raider movie with a script from a host of names,...

Gary Oldman, the Hollywood legend who starred in films like Mank, The Fifth Element, and The Dark Knight trilogy, delivered one of his best performances ever when he played Count Vlad in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Oldman's Dracula was a game-changer in the vampire genre, as the actor fully embodied a monster suffering for love. It didn't matter if he was wearing heavy makeup, or playing the handsome Count that Mina Harker falls in love with, you understood that vampire's tragic story. It was all the work of the actor, who was convinced he had to be in the film after reading one line of the script.

Oldman appeared in the latest episode of Josh Horowitz's podcast, Happy Sad Confused, to talk about his career. The Academy Award winner recalled his time making the Batman trilogy, the sci-fi adventure The Fifth Element, and his role in the successful Apple TV+ series,...

Gary Oldman, the Academy Award-winning actor famous for films like Darkest Hour, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Fifth Element, had a supporting but memorable role in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. In the three entries based on the DC superhero Batman, Oldman played Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. As iconic as the character is now, it wasn't exactly an easy job for the actor because he was going through some personal issues when he made the first film, Batman Begins. He was inspired by Nolan's direction, but surprisingly, it was also jet lag that made Gordon the strong dramatic force standing between Batman and the chaotic city.

The Slow Horses actor was a guest on the Josh Horowitz podcast, Happy Sad Confused. Oldman spoke about his most important film roles, and some that he doesn't exactly celebrate (like The Fifth Element). He talked about his performance...

Exclusive: The Writers Guild of America East (Wgae) and FilmNation Entertainment have revealed the fellows selected to participate in the third New York Screenwriting Fellowship.

The 2025 fellowship class includes Emily Everhard, Fedna Jacquet, Aditya Joshi & Sid Gopinath, Alexandra Joyce, Thaddeus McCants, Zuri Rice and Naya James Sonnad.

“We congratulate the gifted writers accepted into this year’s New York Screenwriting Fellowship,” Wgae President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen said in a statement Wednesday. “The Writers Guild of America East is so grateful to have a partner in FilmNation, which — along with all the writing and executive mentors — shares our commitment to lifting up underrepresented voices in film.”

First launched in 2019, the New York Screenwriting Fellowship seeks to help develop early-career screenwriters from underrepresented groups in the New York City area. The fellows will have access to both a screenwriting mentor and an executive mentor, as well as seminars, receptions, and other introductions,...

This month, director Ryan Coogler gives the vampire genre some fresh blood with his absolutely fantastic action-horror-musical "Sinners." There have been several vampire movies released recently, and to be honest, the majority of them have been rather disappointing. Thankfully, "Sinners" changes all of that — it's one of the best movies of the year. In honor of "Sinners," this month's horror streaming column is rounding up some great vampire movies you can watch right now. So bust out your plastic fangs, tie on your cape, and get ready to suck some blood!

Read more: The 10 Best Stephen King Books, Ranked

Blacula

Streaming on Tubi, Kanopy, Pluto TV, Prime Video.

"Blacula" is one of those movies everyone knows about even if they've never seen it. I mean, it's called "Blacula," and that's the type of title you pay attention to. This blaxploitation horror flick begins in the late 1700s and introduces us...

Are you in the mood for a Gothic horror film favored by auteur director Guillermo del Toro? If you are, I’ve good excellent news for you. If you are somehow not in the mood for such an exciting proposition, plug your ears and close your eyes because I’m about to drop some essential knowledge on you!

GdT once shared his adoration for a certain ‘90s vampire film via the social media platform formerly known as Twitter (don’t even think of calling it X).

The Crimson Peak director’s post reads: “Film: Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Francis Coppola. A most beautiful, sensuous horror film. Imbued with Fairy tale atmosphere and images.”

Per Google Movies: Count Dracula, a 15th-century prince, is condemned to live off the blood of the living for eternity. Young lawyer Jonathan Harker is sent to Dracula’s castle to finalize a land deal, but...

Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of entertainment. He's created masterpieces such as Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Jaws, Schindler's List, Catch Me If You Can, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Saving Private Ryan and many more. His talents are endless, and his relatable and enjoyable tales have spanned generations of audiences, even today. However, not every filmmaker is perfect. A notable contender for Spielberg's most controversial or critically panned film, despite the magnificent storytelling and artistry the movie offers to audiences, is his adaptation of the book Peter Pan and Wendy with Hook.

Hook starred the talented Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Julia Roberts in a movie that would see the boy from Neverland all grown up, and long forgetting about the fantastical world. However, he returns after his children are kidnapped by the villainous Captain Hook, leading to a grand adventure of self-discovery and familial love.

The Valentine’s Day-set slasher movie Heart Eyes is set to reach theatres on February 7th – but that’s not the only horror movie that Cinemark theatres will be celebrating the holiday with. The cinema chain has revealed that they’ll be running a series called “Love You to Death” from February 1st through the 5th, bringing The Silence of the Lambs, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Midsommar, the 1981 slasher classic My Bloody Valentine, and Shaun of the Dead back to the big screen!

On the Love You to Death page, Cinemark writes, “Got a bleeding heart for horror? Our lineup of frightful flicks is swoon-worthy, with plenty of tortured love—and actual torture—to satisfy the most die-hard fans.“

The Silence of the Lambs will be showing in Cinemark theatres on February 1st. Directed by Jonathan Demme from a screenplay by Ted Tally and based on a novel by Thomas Harris,...

Most readers who enjoy the fantasy genre started consuming speculative fiction in childhood, and it's because of the books read during this period that they maintain a love for these stories. It's likely that the best fantasy books young readers pick up in their youth will hold up well in adulthood because they have universal themes and complex narratives that remain relevant no matter the audience's age. Tales of magic, adventure, and mystery never get old because they all reflect on the real world and communicate messages about how to leave the world better than you found it.

Many of these are part of the best fantasy book series for beginners and can be enjoyed by all readers interested in getting into fantasy. Most, if not all, of these novels have received screen adaptations because of how vividly the stories are and how universally beloved they are. One of the...

Exclusive: Stephen King short story Autopsy Room Four, about a man trapped in an autopsy room, is being made into a feature film with British director Ranjeet S. Marwa and veteran Hollywood exec Jon Levin, the former CAA agent turned producer and manager whose exec producer credits include Netflix’s King adaptation In The Tall Grass.

Horror maestro King has given the greenlight for the adaptation, which is to be written and directed by Marwa, who has been prolific in low-budget U.S. and UK genre fare to date. It is currently in development.

Autopsy Room Four delves into the mind of a man who, after a life-threatening accident, wakes up to find himself trapped in an autopsy room. As he confronts his own mortality, the story navigates themes of fear, survival, and the unknown.

The story was first published in King’s limited-edition collection Six Stories in 1997 and appeared...

Stephen King's It miniseries was one of the great horror releases of the 90s, and still terrifies audiences more than 30 years after release. Featured within In Search of Darkness 1990-1994, we have an exclusive clip with director Tommy Lee Wallace, who talks about the world's fear of clowns, and bringing Pennywise to life with Tim Curry!

Ready to explore the best of ‘90s horror films and TV? In Search of Darkness 1990-1994, a five-plus-hour documentary featuring brand-new interviews with the greatest line-up of horror icons and experts, is now available to pre-order exclusively at 90sHorrorDoc.com until Midnight Halloween (Pacific Time) on October 31st, 2024. Audiences will have their last chance to have their names alongside their favorite horror icons in the credits!

From Creatorvc, the creative minds behind the In Search of Darkness ‘80s horror trilogy and Aliens Expanded documentary, In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994 delves into an...

From the producers of the hit In Search of Darkness documentary franchise comes In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994, an all-new epic documentary that aims to be the ultimate celebration of the wacky world of 1990s horror. Horror icons John Carpenter, Heather Langenkamp, and Mike Flanagan lead the line-up of 40+ genre favorites who were interviewed for this in-depth re-assessment of the decade, and we’re debuting the official trailer this morning!

In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994, a five-plus-hour documentary featuring brand-new interviews with an incredible line-up of horror icons and experts, is now available to pre-order exclusively at 90sHorrorDoc.com until Midnight Halloween (Pacific Time) on October 31st, 2024. This is your last chance to have Your name alongside your favorite horror icons in the credits.

In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994 Purchase Options:

Isod: 1990-94 Blu-ray Package (including Blu-ray w/slipcase; 2 posters; sew-on patch; membership card; name in credits; digital...

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Nostalgia is something everybody experiences -- for better or worse. Most who grew up in the 1990s are very familiar with the feeling, in no small part due to the movie-going landscape at the time. From cartoon underworlds to apocalyptic dinosaur dimensions, and to a galaxy far, far away-- the 90s had a lot to offer. Effects were finally getting to a point where some higher concepts could be attempted -- which ultimately resulted in some big swings that didn't quite hit the pitch.

Despite that, however, many movies that didn't stick to the landing are revered as classics to this day. It's important to have fun with the movies one remembers so fondly, but it's also interesting to take a look at which adored movies ended up becoming duds as time rolled by.

Updated on August 11, by Robert Vaux: Time is...

To the world, Carrie Fisher is synonymous with Princess Leia from Star Wars, but she was more than just one role. The late actress was also a gifted script doctor, although this may be unknown to some of her fans because most of the time, she was uncredited.

Carrie Fisher in Star Wars / Lucasfilm

Simply put, Fisher helped in rewriting and improving movie scripts. In fact, she became so sought-after in this field that some filmmakers would approach her to ask for help or guidance.

Carrie Fisher On Why She Stopped Working As A Script Doctor

Speaking with Newsweek in 2008, actress Carrie Fisher talked about her unrecognized profession as a script doctor. She worked on the job for many years, but she never really got the appreciation she deserved in her lifetime.

Related“If you touch her…”: Carrie Fisher Had a 3-Month Long Romance With Harrison Ford After Her...

Steven Spielberg has been a leading figure in cinema since the 1970s, when he sent shock waves through the film industry through his first summer blockbuster, Jaws. Since then, the director has tackled everything from alien science fiction to epic war stories. At every turn, the director has left an indelible mark on whichever genre he has taken on, often raising the bar for the next generation of film-makers to overcome.

Often collaborating with John Williams, Spielberg's films typically encapsulate the peak of what cinema can accomplish, with some of his best standing out as examples of movie magic. Many of the director's best films have helped define a generation, becoming cultural touchstones for fans and setting new standards for fellow directors. Arguably the most copied and influential director since Alfred Hitchcock, Spielberg's epic approach to cinema continues to make a mark on culture.

Related Dune: Part Two...

Fisher's screenplays show her successful career as a Hollywood writer beyond her iconic role as Princess Leia in Star Wars. She was a sought-after script doctor, improving completed screenplays for big movies like Hook and Sister Act with her unique touch. Fisher's legacy includes her significant contributions to well-known movies like The Wedding Singer and even the Star Wars prequels.

Though she certainly reached iconic status for her role as Princess Leia in Star Wars, Carrie Fisher's screenplays show the surprising and successful career she had behind the scenes as a Hollywood writer. Fisher was cast as Princess Leia when she was still a teenager and went on to play the role over the course of the original trilogy before subsequently returning in Star Wars: The Force Awakens to kick off the new trilogy. When Fisher died in 2016, she left behind a wonderful legacy that included an amazing writing career.

Cinema covers a range of genres intended for all ages, but one of the most significant and entertaining is the family genre itself. These movies are designed to be child-friendly, but many also appeal to parents through exploration of themes and stories that highlight the importance of parenthood, love and learning. For this reason, these films maintain the love and respect of people across multiple generations, and some even appeal more to adults than to kids

Family movies are a treasured form of entertainment, thanks to their ability to unite generations around shared values, concerns and emotions. In fact, many of cinema's most emotional, touching and heartwarming moments come from these films.

Hook Is The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis Movie Close

Director

Year of Release

IMDb Rating

Steven Spielberg

1991

6.8/10

Steven Spielberg's Hook centers around Peter Pan, who is now a family man and lawyer too distracted by work to give his kids the attention they need.

Eric Roth wanted Robert Zemeckis to make a sequel to 1997’s Contact – but the conversation didn’t get very far.

In a very special episode of the Film Stories podcast, I’ve had the enormous pleasure of chatting at length to Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth. You can find the episode right here…

Early on in the conversation, he talks about working with director Robert Zemeckis, the pair of whom both took home Oscars for Forrest Gump. They’ve reteamed on another movie that’s due later this year by the name of Here, but Eric Roth told me he’d originally approached Zemeckis with an idea for something else.

“I called Bob actually to see if he’d be interested in me writing Contact 2 for him, because I really liked that. I really like that whole arena”.

Zemeckis, in Roth’s words, quickly declined the idea, with difficulties surrounding getting...

“The Last Voyage of the Demeter” is many things – it’s a cracking good horror movie that is set almost entirely on a doomed ship traveling from Transylvania to London; it’s a refreshing expansion of “Dracula” lore; and it also is a nice nod to Universal Pictures’ classic monster-filled past. It’s existence, though, feels like a bit of a miracle, especially if you had followed the project’s development over the past 20 – yes, 20 – years. That might be the blink of an eye to an immortal creature of the night like Dracula, but in moviemaking terms, that’s an eternity.

Let’s take a look at where “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” started, with a spec script that shook up Hollywood, and where it ended up, as a big studio movie from Universal, with commentary from the eventual film’s director André Øvredal.

Just be warned: there are choppy waters ahead.

Exclusive: The Austin Film Festival has set producer Lauren Shuler Donner, writer-producer James V. Hart and filmmaker So Young Shelly Yo as honorees of its 30th edition, taking place from October 26 – November 2.

Donner will receive the Polly Platt Award for Producing, with Hart claiming the the Heart of Film Award and Shelly accepting the New Voice Award.

Introduced in 2019 as a means of honoring producers with a keen sense of story and a history of fostering new talent, the Producing prize has previously been bestowed upon Dede Garner, Stephanie Allain and Sarah Green.

Coming in recognition of Hart’s contributions to film and television, as well as his service to the screenwriting community, the Heart of Film Award has also since 2013 been bestowed on the likes of Enchanted producer Barry Josephson and Beverly Hills Cop scribe Daniel Petrie Jr.

Also established in 2019 was the New Voice Award, recognizing unique and captivating new voices in film,...

It was Pride and Drag Queen picket day in Los Angeles, where around 300 people hit up Warner Bros. Discovery to highlight their issues as the strike marches into its second month.

The hundreds of writers attending the picket were provided glitter and stickers for their signs on the first day of Pride month. The event attracted the likes of Severance creator Dan Erickson to Yellowjackets star Liv Hewson.

“When queer writers are under attack,” chanted the crowd, “What do we do? Stand up, fight back.” Others added, “If we don’t get it, shut it down.”

Signs featured sayings such as “Protect All Queer Art” and “I’m Gay For Pay” as Whitney Houston’s I’m Every Woman blasted from a speaker system.

On the scene at the Pride Picket outside of Warner Bros. Studios in LA #WritersStrike pic.twitter.com/tyDgjgdAJx

— Deadline Hollywood (@Deadline) June 1, 2023

John August, a...

Longtime readers of Arrow in the Head will probably remember the article series The Test of Time. Now The Test of Time has been revived as a video series, and you can check out the new episode in the embed above! With this one, we’re looking back at director Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (watch it Here). To find out whether or not this one stands the test of time, check out the video embedded above.

Scripted by James V. Hart and based, of course, on Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has the following synopsis: Count Dracula, a 15th-century prince, is condemned to live off the blood of the living for eternity. Young lawyer Jonathan Harker is sent to Dracula’s castle to finalize a land deal, but when the Count sees a photo of Harker’s fiancée, Mina, the...

When closely examined, Hollywood history is a remarkably fickle thing. Not only have some major casting decisions almost been thwarted by circumstance but entire movies have been made (or not made) thanks to one key event.

One such movie is "Bram Stoker's Dracula," made by Francis Ford Coppola in 1992. The film became a landmark adaptation of the perennial horror novel (and character), ending up as one of the 10 highest-grossing films of '92 and influencing further versions of the Count and other vampire films that followed.

Yet it almost didn't happen — not with Coppola at the helm, anyway. The director was not on board from the beginning of the film's development, with screenwriter James V. Hart the one who was attempting to shepherd it to the screen for over a decade before star Winona Ryder attached herself to the film, saving it from being relegated to a cable TV movie.

Even with Ryder on board,...

Is a Francis Ford Coppola film the work of genius, or madness? Depending on who you ask, it could be either — or both — but whatever it is, it's responsible for some of the most ambitious, exhilarating films of all time. Coppola is, without a doubt, best known for the "Godfather" triptych; though the series ended on a less-than-triumphant note, the director bounced back in a major way just two years later with "Bram Stoker's Dracula." The film was a critical and commercial success when it premiered in 1992 — and it likely never would have happened without an infamous missed connection during "The Godfather Part III." Before Sofia Coppola stepped up to play Mary Corleone (and to rather mixed effect), Winona Ryder was slated for the role. But after filming three movies back to back, Ryder suffered from "nervous exhaustion" and was forced to withdraw, paving the way for Coppola's brutally-panned performance.

It's wild to consider, but there was a moment in Steven Spielberg's historic career when he faced a crucible, and he fell disastrously short.

The year was 1991. Spielberg had entered middle age and was still trying to segue from the escapist entertainment that had made him one of the most successful filmmakers of all time to dramas with loftier intentions. It worked at first. His 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" was a respectful, emotionally devastating tale of a Black woman's hard-won liberation in the segregated South of the early 20th century. It was a box-office smash that received 11 Academy Award nominations, but Spielberg was mystifyingly denied a Best Director nod. When the film won zero Oscars, it felt personal, especially after he won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.

His next serious film, 1987's "Empire of the Sun," based on J.G. Ballard's semi-autobiographical novel,...

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a film that, much like its protagonist, crosses oceans of time. Director Francis Ford Coppola, one of the filmmakers at the leading edge of the “film school” generation of the seventies, tapped into the talents of the young up-and-coming stars, both in front of and behind the camera, to tell a familiar story using very old techniques. Opting to avoid the rising tide of digital effects, expensive location shooting, and elaborate artifices in favor of “naïve” in-camera effects, stage-bound shooting, and lavish costumes as “sets,” Coppola and his collaborators created a thoroughly unique retelling of Dracula. The look of the film is simultaneously timeless and on the cutting-edge of innovation. Though it celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this year, it still feels as modern and transgressive as the day it was released.

Though Coppola is cited as one of cinema’s great auteurs, he is first...

The WGA East and FilmNation Entertainment announced that applications are now open for the second New York Screenwriting Fellowship, which is designed to support underrepresented, early-career screenwriters based in New York City.

The NY Screenwriting Fellowship is a weekly intensive that will run from early April through August 2023. Eight or more writers will be provided with both a screenwriting mentor and an executive mentor, as well as seminars, receptions and other introductions, as they develop a new feature-length screenplay throughout the length of the Fellowship. At the end, the Fellowship will culminate with table reads of the participants’ works, along with a dinner with leaders of the New York film industry. One of the main priorities of the Fellowship is to diversify the pool of writers who can have regular access to meetings and projects that offer them long-term career sustainability.

“The New York Screenwriting Fellowship, and our partnership with FilmNation Entertainment,...

The Austin Film Festival (Aff) has announced the 2022 Film Competition Jury and Audience Award winners alongside the Screenplay Competition winners. In the festival, writers are recognized for their contribution to film, television, theatre and new media. The competitions received over 5,000 film submissions and over 10,000 script submissions.

Film Jury Awards

Narrative Feature: Welcome, Violeta!, written by Fernando Fraiha & Inés Bortagaray, directed by Fernando Fraiha

Documentary Feature: With this Light, directed by Nicole Bernardi-Reis & Laura Bermúdez

Comedy Vanguard Feature: The Library Boys, written/directed by Zane Borg

Dark Matters Feature: The Domestic, written/directed by Brad Katzen

Narrative Short: One for Sorrow, Two for Joy, written/directed by Ana Yang

Student Short: Sammy, Without Strings, written by Will Henderson, III & Ralph Parker, III, directed by Ralph Parker, III

Documentary Short: Gina, directed by Kathryn Prescott

Animated Short: Rosemary A.D. (After Dad), directed by Ethan Barrett

Produced Digital Series: Serjan Bratan, written by Alisher Utev & Sergei Litovchenko,...

The first time I saw Bram Stoker’s Dracula on television, I hated it. But then, it could be argued, I didn’t really see the movie Francis Ford Coppola had made.

This irony rings true for a number of reasons. First, my introduction to Gary Oldman’s fright wig, and the luminous crimson cloak that accompanied it, came not at the theater or even on VHS. It was in the middle of a Saturday afternoon on a fuzzy TNT cable broadcast where much of the gore, and pretty much all the eroticism, had been edited out in case a younger viewer was watching. And to the basic cable censors’ credit, I was exactly one such viewer: a lad of 12 or so who had devoured Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel and was eager to watch what was credited to be “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” It was right there, in the title!

What...

From Fathom Events alongside American Zoetrope and Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and National Theater Live, several scary selections will be returning to the big screen in theaters nationwide, just in time for Halloween.

Returning to theaters October 1, in partnership with Universal Pictures, is a double feature of 1932’s The Mummy and 1935’s The Bride of Frankenstein – both starring legendary horror icon Boris Karloff, who has been memorialized on U.S. postage stamps and no less than two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Bride of Frankenstein, featuring villainous Dr. Pretorius’ immortal line “To a new world of gods and monsters,” is widely considered the career masterpiece of acclaimed director James Whale; in 1998, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Get ready to scream again when Fathom Events and Paramount present 25th Anniversary screenings of Scream 2...

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is now available on 4K Ultra HD here in the United States with a brand new SteelBook release coming next month, and we’ve learned that the film will also be returning to theaters in the United Kingdom for Halloween.

In celebration of its 30th Anniversary, Park Circus has announced that it will be screening a 4K restoration of Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic Academy Award®-winning film Bram Stoker’s Dracula in cinemas from October 7.

From American Zoetrope and Columbia Pictures, 150+ cinemas across the UK & Ireland plus selected international territories will screen the film, including Vue, Odeon and Cineworld.

Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins and Keanu Reeves star in director Francis Ford Coppola’s visually stunning, passionately seductive version of the classic Dracula legend, from a screenplay by James V. Hart. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Coppola returns to the original source of the Dracula myth,...

One can make a case that the genesis of horror onscreen was borne out of the Gothic literary movement in the 19th century. Crumbling castles; ghostly cries across the moors at night; fog so thick it can swallow the moonlight… and your will to live. These are all staples of some of the greatest works of Gothic horror on the page, and many of the greatest horror movies of the first half of the 20th century pulled directly from such iconography.

While Gothic horror has become rarer in recent times, as you can see from the below list, it yet beats like the telltale heart in the wall. Given the right direction, it can even thrive and escape from its cloistered hiding places. Hence we here have composed a list of not all the best Gothic horror movies, but enough to get you started in exploring the most alluring of shadows.

According to Vulture, Carl Sagan and his wife, Ann Druyan, spent the early '80s writing a film treatment based on Sagan's 1985 novel, "Contact." After cycling through a few different production companies, a slew of screenwriters, and two directors, the film finally made it to the big screen in 1997. Starring Academy Award winners Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey, the movie was a moderate success, but there were a lot of mixed feelings about the film's ending.

At the beginning of the movie, Ellie Arroway (Foster) is a hard-core skeptic about anything that can't be verified by science, so she spends all her time listening to the skies for proof of intelligent life. Towards the end of the film, she finally encounters extraterrestrials, but cannot provide proof of the experience. Ultimately, Arroway and the audience must choose between faith or science, and a lot of viewers didn't appreciate the ambiguous ending.

Dolby-Exclusive Nope Poster: "Oscar® winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us. Now, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope.

The film reunites Peele with Oscar® winner Daniel Kaluuya, who is joined by Keke Palmer and Oscar® nominee Steven Yeun as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.

Nope, which co-stars Michael Wincott and Brandon Perea, is written and directed by Jordan Peele and is produced by Ian Cooper and Jordan Peele for Monkeypaw Productions. The film will be released by Universal Pictures worldwide."

Genre: Horror Epic

Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, Brandon Perea

Written and Directed by: Jordan Peele

Producers: Ian Cooper, Jordan Peele

Nope – Only in Theaters 7.22.22

Purchase tickets at Dolby Cinema here: http://dolbylabs.co/Nope.

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Bram Stoker...

Rudyard Kipling’s “Kim” is set to get an animated feature adaptation by Indian filmmaker Ketan Mehta.

Mehta’s animation studio, Cosmos-Maya, will co-develop the film alongside Irish animation studio Piranha Bar. Mehta will direct.

“Kim” is a story by Kipling (pictured above) about Kimball O’Hara, Aka Kim, a savvy street kid turned child spy in colonial-era India who becomes an apprentice to a Shaolin monk. Kim is co-opted as a spy for the British Empire before embarking on an adventure of friendship, treachery and self-discovery.

Mehta, a recipient of France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, has co-written the screenplay with James V. Hart.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to announce our animated feature film version of the legendary text from none other than Rudyard Kipling,” said Cosmos-Maya CEO Anish Mehta. “Adapting this timeless tale, much beloved around the globe, is a true honor. With our co-production partner Piranha Bar,...

They are co-developing the film with Irish animation studio Piranha Bar.

Singapore and Indian-based animation company Cosmos-Maya will adapt Rudyard Kipling’s novel Kim into a feature-length animated film.

They are co-developing the film with Irish animation studio Piranha Bar.

Set in 1890’s India, Kim is a Kung Fu odyssey about the eponymous original child spy and his exploits.

Ketan Mehta will direct and has co-written the screenplay with James V. Hart and Jake Hart, whose previous credits include Hook, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Contact.

Comsos-Maya was founded by Mehta and Deepa Sahi in 1995. The company primarily focuses on...

Acclaimed writer/director David Lowery joins Josh and Joe to discuss the films that inspired The Green Knight.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Green Knight (2021)

Peter Pan & Wendy (2022)

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

The Old Man And The Gun (2018)

A Ghost Story (2017)

Pete’s Dragon (1977)

Pete’s Dragon (2016) – Glenn Erickson’s review

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2013)

Ghost Story (1974)

Sword of the Valiant (1984)

Gawain and the Green Knight (1973)

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014)

Masters of the Universe (1987) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Andrei Rublev (1966) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review, Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards blurb

War And Peace (1966) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Heaven’s Gate (1980)

The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (1928) – Charlie Largent’s Criterion Blu-ray review

The Devils (1971)

Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Conjuring (2013)

Jubilee (1978)

Benedetta (2021)

Dune (1984)

Dune (2021)

Hard To Be A God (2013)

Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)

Moby Dick (1956) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary,...

Former WGA East president Michael Winship, running unopposed, will be the guild’s next president, succeeding Beau Willimon, who’s not seeking re-election after four years in office. House of Cards creator Willimon led the guild through the WGA’s historic legal battle that reshaped the talent agency business.

Winship, an award-winning news and documentary writer, led the guild during the tumultuous 2007-08 writers strike, serving as president for five consecutive two-year terms – starting just before the strike and ending in 2017. He returned to guild politics in 2018, winning a seat on its Council. He won an Emmy and three WGA Awards writing for three different Bill Moyers shows, as well as the WGA East’s Richard B. Jablow Award for service to the guild.

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, who has served on the Council since 2016 — and was last year’s recipient of the Richard B. Jablow Award — will be the guild’s next vice president.

Here’s the latest episode of the The Filmmakers Podcast, part of the ever-growing podcast roster here on Nerdly. If you haven’t heard the show yet, you can check out previous episodes on the official podcast site, whilst we’ll be featuring each and every new episode as it premieres.

For those unfamiliar with the series, The Filmmakers Podcast is a podcast about how to make films from micro budget indie films to bigger budget studio films and everything in-between. Our hosts Giles Alderson, Dan Richardson, Andrew Rodger and Cristian James talk how to get films made, how to actually make them and how to try not to f… it up in their very humble opinion. Guests will come on and chat about their film making experiences from directors, writers, producers, screenwriters, actors, cinematographers and distributors.

The Filmmakers Podcast #193: How to Write Hook, Dracula and Contact with Screenwriter...

The day might be near when it will be news if an upcoming TV series doesn’t have a podcast to go along with it. For now, add Nat Geo’s “The Hot Zone” to the growing list of series enlisting some audio companionship. The story, which tells of Lt. Col. Nancy Jaax’s (Julianna Margulies) efforts to contain the Ebola virus after its first appearance on American soil, also will be addressed in “American Epidemics,” a Wondery audio series produced in conjunction with the TV show.

Lindsay Graham, the podcast host behind “American History Tellers” and the presidential-themed fiction series “Terms” and “1865,” will head up this new series, which will span three episodes. The second episode of “American Epidemics” will focus on the production of “The Hot Zone,” featuring interviews with Margulies and showrunners Kelly Sounders and Brian Peterson.

“American Epidemics” premieres May 10, with new episodes debuting every Friday.

Johnny Depp’s Infinitum Nihil has partnered with G4C Innovation’s Gudrun Giddings to produce The Secret World, a television series based on the globally successful Mmo game The Secret World and its recently released reboot Secret World Legends, reports Deadline. The TV adaptation, which is being written by James V. Hart (Hook, Crossbones) and Jake Hart, […]...

Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil has partnered with G4C Innovation's Gudrun Giddings to produce The Secret World, a television series based on the globally successful Mmo game The Secret World and its recently released reboot Secret World Legends. The TV adaptation, which is being written by James V. Hart (Hook, Crossbones) and Jake Hart, with former CSI: NY showrunner Pam Veasey on board as showrunner, will be based on the universe of the Secret World IP. It will center on…...

Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Francis Ford Coppola’s all-star take on the vampire tale, turns 25 this year, and the movie will be feted at this year’s CayFilm Cayman International Film Festival.

James V. Hart, who wrote the screenplay for the movie, will receive a lifetime achievement award from CayFilm, celebrating his contributions to not only Dracula but also to the film industry in the area of screenwriting. Hart also worked on such movies as Steven Spielberg's Hook, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Robert Zemeckis' Contact and the recent animated movie Epic.

The screenwriter will also be on hand to...

By Todd Garbarini

William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A., which opened on Friday, November 1, 1985 to lukewarm notices and underwhelming box office despite being championed by Roger Ebert’s four-star review, is a highly stylized, dark, and uncompromising crime thriller that boasts a then-unknown cast with a story and a pace that feels more suited to the 1970’s. It also contains what I consider to be the greatest car chase ever filmed and edited for a major motion picture, which took no less than five weeks to plan and shoot. Having seen Mr. Friedkin’s brilliant East Coast police thriller The French Connection (1971) on VHS in 1986, I made it a point the following year to catch up with his West Coast-based story of a Secret Service agent, Richard Chance (William Petersen), whose best friend and partner Jim Hart (Michael Greene) has been murdered by artist/currency counterfeiter Rick Masters...

The initial idea for the 1991 Steven Spielberg film “Hook” came when screenwriter Jim Hart’s young son Jake asked him an innocent question one day: “What if Peter Pan grew up?” “It happened at the dinner table one night when he was six years old,” Hart told TheWrap. It was a few years later until the film got made and 11-year-old Jake (pictured center, flanked by Robin Williams and Hart) got to be one of the Lost Boys. “He was in all of the battle scenes, trained with combat choreographers and played on that set all summer,” said Hart of.

Paul Bullock Dec 15, 2016

We continue to salute Steven Spielberg's 70th birthday, with a look at the decade that transformed his career: the 1990s

The 1990s delivered everything Steven Spielberg could have hoped for to enjoy a successful third decade in the film industry. He restated his position as Hollywood's King of the Blockbuster with Jurassic Park, he found critical and awards success with Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, and he used the platform the former offered to set up a charitable organisation (The Shoah Foundation) that’s gone on to become one of the most significant Holocaust resources in the world. By anybody's standards, that's a pretty solid ten-year stint. And yet, the 90s stands as arguably Spielberg's weakest period, a time of unqualified success and curious lethargy, a time of enriching experimentation and self-defeating regression. At times, Spielberg consciously seemed to take one step forwards and another backwards.

Special Mention: Battle Royale

Written and directed by Kinji Fukasaku

Japan, 2000

The concept of The Hunger Games owes much to Koushun Takami’s cult novel Battle Royale, adapted for the cinema in 2000 by Kinji Fukasaku. The film is set in a dystopian alternate-universe, in Japan, with the nation utterly collapsed, leaving 15 percent unemployed and 800,000 students boycotting school. The government passes something called the Millennium Educational Reform Act, which apparently provides for a class of ninth-graders to be chosen each year and pitted against one another on a remote island for 3 days. Each student is given a bag with a randomly selected weapon and a few rations of food and water, and sent off to kill each other in a no-holds-barred fight to the death. With 48 contestants, only one will go home alive. Yes, this has been often cited as the original Hunger Games; whether or not Suzanne Collins borrowed heavily...

The distributor has acquired all North American rights to the hit South Korean thriller and Cannes 2014 Directors’ Fortnight selection and will release in theatres this summer.

Seong-hun Kim wrote and directed the story of a corrupt police officer who commits a fatal hit-and-run en route to his mother’s funeral. Lee Sun-kyun stars.

A Hard Day grossed more than $26m in South Korea following the May release.

Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber brokered the deal with Judy Ahn, head of international business at Showbox.

A digital and home media release will follow the theatrical debut in the autumn.

Starz Digital Media has acquired all North American rights to 7 Minutes and will release theatrically and on VOD this summer. Jay Martin’s crime thriller premiered at the Austin Film Festival last October. Luke Mitchell, Jason Ritter, Leven Rambin, Kris Kristofferson and Zane Holtz star, while Jacob Aaron Estes, Jim Hart, Jacob Mosler and [link...

Jay Martin’s directorial debut also stars Luke Mitchell, Leven Rambin and Kris Kristofferson

Starz Digital Media has acquired all North American rights to Jay Martin’s crime thriller “7 Minutes” and will release the film theatrically and on VOD this summer.

“7 Minutes,” which premiered at the Austin Film Festival in October, marks the directorial debut of Martin, a veteran music video director who also wrote the screenplay.

Also Read: ‘Avengers’ Star Clark Gregg’s Comedy ‘Trust Me’ Acquired by Starz Digital Media

The film stars Luke Mitchell, Jason Ritter, Leven Rambin (“The Hunger Games”), Kris Kristofferson and Zane Holtz, and...

With the Ebola virus dominating news headlines worldwide, it was only a matter of time until Hollywood dug its heels in on turning the hot-button topic into a full-blown series. Recently, producer Lynda Obst (Interstellar) and director-producer Ridley Scott (Gladiator) announced that they’ll be creating a limited series for Fox TV Studios, adapted from Richard Preston’s 1994 nonfiction bestseller The Hot Zone.

Obst and Scott optioned Preston’s book two decades ago and never abandoned the project, tapping Jeff Vintar (I, Robot) to adapt The Hot Zone into what was originally envisioned as a film for Scott to direct. Now that the recent outbreak – the deadliest on record – has made the virus extremely timely, the pair feel that it’s high time to push ahead with the adaptation, though the project will now take the form of a TV miniseries. Obst said of the decision:

“A limited series is...