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It's very strange that it took so long for Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan to break out in North America. He was a massive star in Hong Kong throughout the 1970s, and his films are exciting and fun. For some reason, though, that success didn't translate very well to American audiences, despite a few tries by major American studios.

In 1980, for instance, Warner Bros. and Golden Harvest teamed up to make "The Big Brawl," a.k.a. "Battle Creek Brawl," an American production that was meant to bring Jackie Chan stateside. "The Big Brawl" starred Chan, playing a gentle restaurateur in 1930s Chicago, who runs afoul of the mob. It co-starred Kristine DeBell, José Ferrer, Mako, Rosalind Chao, and wrestler Hard-Boiled Haggerty. The film was actually a hit, but Warner Bros. was disappointed that it wasn't as big as the recent Bruce Lee film "Enter the Dragon." Chan was...

Four years after bringing the world the high speed comedy classic Smokey and the Bandit (and three years after their stuntman comedy Hooper and one year after Smokey and the Bandit II), director Hal Needham and star Burt Reynolds teamed up again for another high speed comedy, the goofball ensemble film The Cannonball Run. The film was a big hit, the sixth highest-grossing domestic film of 1981, and it was followed by a pair of less successful sequels, Cannonball Run II (1983) and Speed Zone (1989). Even though the follow-ups aren’t highly regarded, The Cannonball Run is still a well-known title, which is why we’ve been hearing rumblings of a remake for years. Now, industry scooper Jeff Sneider of The InSneider reports that Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan is likely to be the one to finally bring The Cannonball Run back to the screen, as his production company, Bosque Ranch, is developing...

The cast of the 2025 spy thriller Black Bag includes two former James Bond cast members (including Bond himself) and two popular contenders for the role of 007. For the most part, the Bond actors have managed to avoid typecasting and work outside the spy genre. Sean Connery appeared in everything from war movies to romantic thrillers. Timothy Dalton played a sadistic supermarket manager in Hot Fuzz. Daniel Craig is getting Oscar buzz for his turn in the surrealist love story Queer.

But Bond is such an iconic property that any actor who appears in one of its movies will be forever associated with it. Connery essentially played an older Bond in The Rock, directed by Michael Bay. Roger Moore played the self-parodying 007-esque role of Seymour Goldfarb in the ensemble cast of the car chase comedy The Cannonball Run. There are a lot of great action movies starring Bond actors. An...

In 1981, Burt Reynolds seemed unstoppable as a leading box-office superstar in America. The laid-back sex symbol of the ‘70s had a string of hit action comedies, often involving fast cars, with movies such as Smokey and the Bandit, Hooper, and The Cannonball Run. Though he carried that winning charm in lighter comedies like Starting Over and Semi-Tough, Reynolds surprised his fans when he broke away from his freewheeling Bandit persona to play a hardened Atlanta vice cop in Sharky’s Machine.

From Grease in a brawler to Kindergarten Cop in a classic survival horror, movies had a habit of unexpectedly popping up in 80s and 90s videogames.

There’s long been a link between movies and videogames. There were the earliest licenced games, such as Atari’s groundbreaking Star Wars cabinet or the same company’s slightly less successful E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial console tie-in.

Then there are games that take inspiration from the themes, production design or plot points of movies; Technos coin-op Renegade, when reworked for its western release, drew on the urban malaise of Walter Hill’s 1979 movie The Warriors, for example. Then there are all the games that have borrowed from the look of the Alien franchise, which are too numerous to mention.

Every so often, though, films used to make unexpected cameos in 1980s and 90s videogames. In some instances, their appearance was so brief,...

Casting is such a crucial component to crafting a great film that last year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rightly deemed the profession worthy of Oscar recognition. There will now be a Best Casting trophy handed out every March, which has avid Oscar viewers wondering what films would've won the top prize each year prior to 2025 –- and whether that winner would've had to be in the running for Best Picture. Would this have been a way to make sure star-studded romps like "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Casino Royale," or "The Cannonball Run" were represented on Hollywood's biggest night? Would a critical misfire like "Heartburn" have been acknowledged just for bringing together the heavyweight acting duo of Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep for the first time? Could films like "The Outsiders" or "Stand by Me" (which should've been a Best Picture contender) have taken...

Brothers follows a reformed criminal who is trying desperately to stay that when. He finds his plans turned upside down when he reunites with his unpredictable twin brother for one last heist. What comes next is a chaotic cross-country adventure filled with shootouts and family tension.

Peter Dinklage and Josh Brolin star in the film, playing the twin brothers. Both Dinklage and Brolin have extensive acting careers, and this is not the first film they have been in together. The two were in the McU's Avengers: Infinity War with Brolin portraying Thanos, and Dinklage playing Eitri. Brothers comes to select theaters on October 10 and starts streaming on Prime Video on October 17.

Related Brothers Trailer: Josh Brolin & Peter Dinklage Are Criminal Twins Looking To Do One Last Job

Prime Video has released the trailer for Brothers, giving a look at Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage in their roles as twin criminals doing a final job.

A stunt choreographer tries to recapture his 80s and 90s youth in a movie that pays tribute to Hong Kong action cinema. Our Stuntman review:

Exploring similar territory to this summer’s The Fall Guy, but made with less noisy bombast, Stuntman is a heartfelt ode to the golden age of Hong Kong action cinema. It opens with what looks strikingly like the climactic set-piece in Jackie Chan’s 1985 masterpiece, Police Story – a bruising fight in a shopping mall, with hoodlums being side-kicked down escalators and sent crashing into glass display cases. This, we later learn, is the set of mid-90s martial arts crime movie Operation Vulture, on which Sam (Stephen Tung) was at the height of his powers as a stunt choreographer.

During the making of that film, however, a high-wire stunt involving a leap from a bridge and a moving truck went catastrophically wrong, almost fatally injuring...

Animated feature films are hard to make. Incredibly expensive and time-consuming, the financial risk of making a full-length animated film has scared away investors since the 30s, and many a studio has bankrupted itself trying to achieve the near impossible. While some have tried and failed, like Upa (owners of the Mr. Magoo IP) and the famed Fleischer Studios, only the Walt Disney Company saw anything that could be considered maintained, widespread success in the field for almost 50 years. It wasn't until Ralph Bakshi's adult, counterculture-influenced films of the 70s and the gradual exposure of the rest of the world to Japan's anime features that non-Disney, feature-length animation found any real, continued the success. However, it took until one Disney animator left the company in frustration on his 42nd birthday in 1979 and founded a studio for a major competitor to Disney's long dominance to emerge.

That animator was none...

A collection of retro games for PC and Switch that includes The Last Ninja and Ik+ has broken its minimum goal on Kickstarter.

The Last Ninja Collection, which is set to offer a compendium of fighting-based retro videogames from the 80s and 90s, has passed its £10,000 minimum Kickstarter goal within a matter of hours.

In development for Nintendo Switch and PC, the compilation brings together a number of hit titles from British publisher and developer System 3, including The Last Ninja and its sequels, and the one-on-one fighting games International Karate, Ik+ and Bangkok Knights.

The project is the work of Mark Cale, System 3’s founder who also co-designed The Last Ninja and its follow-ups; as Cale himself explains in the campaign video below, the collection will include the various ports of the games, as well as some unfinished, previously unseen titles as bonuses, including Last Ninja 4 and Ik++.

For the uninitiated,...

It may not be easy to stream these days, but whether you've seen it or not, "Maude" remains an important cornerstone of the sitcom house Norman Lear built. Premiering in 1972, "Maude" was originally conceived as a spinoff to the ever-in-the-zeitgeist sitcom "All in the Family," but it soon took on a life of its own. The show starred a pre-"Golden Girls" Bea Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, well-to-do liberal feminist with a knack for telling everyone around her what's what.

Maude was also a middle-aged woman, a reality that was never more apparent than in the show's most famous, controversial episode. The 1972 two-parter "Maude's Dilemma" saw Maude contemplate –- and ultimately choose –- abortion after finding herself pregnant in her late '40s. Released before the establishment of Roe vs. Wade, "Maude's Dilemma" was a lightning rod for heated conversations about reproductive rights, and remains an enduring part of the show's legacy today.

If the 1970s and ’80s represented a golden age of kinetic but grounded stunt work by pioneers like Hal Needham, Buddy Joe Hooker, and Vic Armstrong, the 2020s are proving to be a seminal moment for stunts in television. The urban action that used to be the bread and butter of Walter Hill, Richard Donner, and Peter Hyams has migrated from the big screen (now dominated by more visual effects-oriented set pieces) to network procedurals and streaming series where stunt coordinators have become adept at creating spectacular moments on tight schedules — all while keeping the performers and crew as safe as possible.

Since its 2020 debut, Dick Wolf’s CBS series “FBI: Most Wanted” has consistently showcased some of the best stunt work on television, with expertly choreographed action sequences that are realistic, thrilling, and heavily slanted toward practical effects. Season 5 included some of the show’s most dynamic set pieces to date,...

Nearly 30 years later, we now get Twister 2, cunningly entitled Twisters. But you know what? There’s more to this than a bit of wind.

When, in 1983, Anthony Perkins reprised the role of Norman Bates for a sequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Psycho, there was much scoffing. On the one hand: a sequel to Psycho! Are you mad? On the other, it’d been – get this – 23 years since the first film came out. What kind of gap between a first and second film was that? Further madness.

Twisters, then.

Twenty eight years after Jan de Bont’s weather-em-up Twister threw cows at the screen and had the brilliant duo of Helen Hunt and the much-missed Bill Paxton chasing tornados, Hollywood has spat out a sequel.

Why? Well, money.

It’s clearly a project that follows the sequel template, as the title tells you. You got one twister in the first film,...

Albert S Ruddy, the Hollywood film and television producer who earned best picture Academy Awards for both The Godfather and Million Dollar Baby, has died peacefully following a brief illness. He was 94.

Born in Montreal and raised in New York City, Ruddy began his entertainment career as creator, with Bernie Fein, of sixties TV sitcom Hogan’s Heroes. He produced features including Robert Redford drama Little Fauss And Big Halsy before being brought in by Paramount as sole producer of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, for which he won his first Oscar in 1973.

Ruddy later served as executive producer on The Offer,...

Hollywood is reeling from the death of Al S. Ruddy, the Oscar-winning producer of such iconic films as The Godfather and Million Dollar Baby. Ruddy passed on May 25 at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center after a brief illness. The multi-hyphenate filmmaker was 94.

“Al was truly one of the great Hollywood mavericks,” The Offer director Dexter Fletcher said in a statement. “One of the last Mohicans who created great movies which still influence and inspire to this day. From humble beginnings to the highest of Hollywood accolades. His was an incredible journey. Achieved through the sheer power of his determination, strong will, irrepressible energy and charm and a rarely matched love for the art of film.”

Fletcher’s Paramount+ miniseries The Offer chronicles the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. It stars Miles Teller as Ruddy and immortalizes the visionary producer’s meticulous work on the 1972 classic.

For his feature debut,...

Al Ruddy, two-time Oscar winner for producing “The Godfather” and “Million Dollar Baby,” died May 25 at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Ruddy was also co-creator of “Hogan’s Heroes” and of “Walker, Texas Ranger.” He was 94.

After the success of sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes,” Ruddy went on to produce “Little Fauss and Big Halsy” and “Making It” before coming on to Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather,” which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.

Al Pacino said in a statement, “Al Ruddy was absolutely beautiful to me the whole time on ‘The Godfather’; even when they didn’t want me, he wanted me. He gave me the gift of encouragement when I needed it most and I’ll never forget it.”

After “The Godfather,” he produced his own story treatment for “The Longest Yard.”

Ruddy went on to produce notable films including “The Cannonball Run.” Other features he produced included “Matilda,” “Coonskin,...

Albert S. Ruddy, who earned two Best Picture Oscars for producing The Godfather and Million Dollar Baby and co-created TV shows including Walker, Texas Ranger and Hogan’s Heroes, died May 25 at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center after a brief illness, a family spokesman said. He was 94.

Ruddy is one of nine producers ever to earn two or more Best Picture Oscars, and has the distinction of winning them with the largest interval in between — 32 years.

He recently was portrayed by Miles Teller in the Paramount+ miniseries The Offer, which chronicles Ruddy’s experience making the 1972 film that Coppola directed and adapted with Mario Puzo from the latter’s bestselling novel.

Related: Peter Bart: ‘The Offer’ Spins A Mafia Tale About ‘The Godfather’ That’s Really More Fiction Than Fact

“Al was truly one of the great Hollywood mavericks,” The Offer director Dexter Fletcher said in a statement. “One of...

Al Ruddy, who co-created the famed CBS sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, then captured Academy Awards for producing the best picture winners The Godfather and Million Dollar Baby, has died. He was 94.

Ruddy, also credited as one of the creators of the long-running CBS police drama Walker, Texas Ranger, died Saturday following a brief illness at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, a publicist announced.

On the heels of The Godfather (1972), Ruddy produced another box-office hit with the original The Longest Yard (1974), the prison-set football movie that starred Burt Reynolds. The pair then reteamed for the action road films The Cannonball Run (1981) and its 1984 sequel, both directed by stuntman-turned-helmer Hal Needham.

The personable Ruddy also produced such films as Bad Girls (1994), the first Western with all female leads (Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie MacDowell and Drew Barrymore); the baseball comedy The Scout (1994), starring Albert Brooks and Brendan Fraser; and Matilda (1978), a comedy...

In 99% of Hollywood movies, the goal is to make the stunt work invisible. Audiences are supposed to believe that the star — or better yet, the character he plays — put his own life at risk jumping off buildings, blowing up cars or duking it out with squads of bad guys. In “The Fall Guy,” the stuntman gets to be the hero (of an insanely overcomplicated story), while the star is a prima donna who claims to do all his own stunts but needs his double to step in when things get tough.

“The Fall Guy” is funny, it’s sexy, and it features the boy’s-toy version of “Barbie” scene-stealer Ryan Gosling — which is to say, after playing a Ken doll, now he embodies the ultimate action figure. This is the charisma-radiating side of Gosling audiences love (as opposed to expressionless “Only God Forgives” Gosling), and though his character doesn’t have much depth,...

John Carpenter's "Escape From New York" is a cult classic for a reason — it rules. Released in 1981, "Escape From New York" is a down-and-dirty sci-fi action pic in which New York City has become a giant maximum security prison. As bad luck would have it, an attempted hijacking of Air Force One forces the President (Donald Pleasence) to eject from the plane in an escape pod. Guess where he ends up? Yep — NYC, baby! The Big Apple! The militarized government wants to save the President and retrieve a top-secret briefcase he has cuffed to his wrist, but New York is too dangerous to simply enter for your average rescue mission. So the powers-that-be strike upon a simple plan: they force criminal Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) into doing the job.

Snake, a cool dude with an eyepatch and a whispery voice, has no real choice in the matter: a device...

Months ago, we here at JoBlo started writing about an issue near and dear to the hearts of film fanatics everywhere – the resurgence of physical media. After being shocked by how difficult it was to find the Ron Howard movie Cocoon, I decided to make a list of 10 movies that were difficult to find, but the comments on the article clued me into the fact that the issue of out-of-print classics is far more widespread than I assumed. Last week, I did an article about how movies like The Cannonball Run and Dogma are missing, and in that vein, here are five more cult classics that are surprisingly tough to find.

Ricochet:

This 1992 action film was an early attempt to turn Denzel Washington into an action star. Despite stylish direction by Russell Mulcahy and an unforgettable turn by John Lithgow as the movie’s villain, it was only a modest success.

On January 10, 2013, The New York Times published a story by Stephen Rodrick titled “Here Is What Happens When You Cast Lindsay Lohan in Your Movie.” The article was a detailed account of what happened when director Paul Schrader, writer Bret Easton Ellis, and producer Braxton Pope teamed up to make “The Canyons,” a low-budget feature starring troubled former child star Lindsay Lohan and porn actor James Deen that was in danger of falling apart nearly every day thanks to Lohan’s erratic behavior. The piece was thorough, well-researched, and extremely entertaining. It also had nothing to do with the actual movie that emerged from the chaos.

Nevertheless, by the time “The Canyons” was released in August 2013 it was clear that the article and the gossip had created a sense that Schrader’s film couldn’t possibly be any good — how could the conditions described by Rodrick lead to anything coherent?...

Clockwise from upper left: Superman II (Warner Bros.), Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (Paramount), Gremlins (Warner Bros.), The Last Airbender (Paramount), Twister (Warner Bros.), Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time (Disney)Graphic: AVClub

What we think of today as summer blockbuster movies arguably began in 1975 with Jaws.

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: Clint Might Be Complicit in an Orangutan Date Rape

By 1978, Clint Eastwood had starred in Sergio Leone’s Man With No Name trilogy, headlined three “Dirty Harry” movies, and directed six feature films. He could have pulled an Alexander the Great and wept because there was nothing left to conquer. Instead, he teamed up with a monkey.

Against the advice of his agent and manager, Eastwood used his Hollywood clout to force a weird little comedy script called “Every Which Way But Loose” into production. He stars in the film as Philo Beddoe,...

Since “Jury Duty” debuted on Amazon Freevee in April, love has poured in for the hidden camera comedy — in particular for its do-gooder hero Ronald Gladden, who was the only person on the show not to know the whole court case was fake and the jurors were actors. Though Gladden was initially in shock when he learned the truth, he’s since said he would be interested in expanding his on-screen career to other projects — and castmate James Marsden has one in mind for his newfound friend.

“I’d like to see Ronald in a remake of the ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ franchise,” Marsden told TheWrap in a recent interview. “I’d love to see him grow a mustache and play the Burt Reynolds role. I think he’d be good in that.”

Also Read:

‘Jury Duty’: What If a Real Person Was Put in the Middle of a...

Warning: Minor Spoilers for The Offer

In The Offer, a star-studded cast plays the real-life filmmakers who produced The Godfather. One of the most legendary films of all time, The Godfather celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022 and The Offer was timed to release the same year to tell the behind-the-scenes tale of how Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece was made. A 10-episode series streaming on Paramount+, The Offer is "based on the experiences" of Albert S. Ruddy, The Godfather's producer (and also a producer on The Offer), and it's written by Michael Tolkin, who wrote another famous behind-the-scenes Hollywood film, The Player. The Offer is set between the years 1965 to 1972, with The Godfather's production taking place in 1971 before it was released in March 1972.

The making of The Godfather is almost as famous as the film itself. Based on the best-selling novel by Mario Puzo, Paramount Pictures' head of...

The headline of this column is doubtlessly unfair. I’m judging a movie before I’ve seen it, before it has even been made. Given the vast volume of junky indifferent product that now slides through the megaplex, and the streaming ocean, on a weekly basis, why not settle in for an ambitious remake of “Vertigo,” Alfred Hitchcock’s romantically kinky and voluptuous dream thriller of 1958? At least it’s not “Texas Chainsaw Xviii” or another “Minions” movie. At least it will be interesting (right?).

Robert Downey Jr., who is in talks to produce and possibly star in a remake of “Vertigo” at Paramount (home of the original film), is a great actor. But once he became a box-office superstar, 15 years ago, with “Iron Man,” he got sucked into the escapist vortex of Marvel and “Sherlock Holmes” and duds like “Dolittle.” Downey, who is about to turn 58, needs to rediscover himself as an actor.

Smokey and the Bandit was one of the biggest surprise hits of the 1970s, and its cast was packed with superstars and future icons of the screen. Released in 1977 to decent reviews, the film's real power came from its cultural impact and overwhelming popularity with audiences. The movie was non-stop action that found a way to blend its car-centric narrative with a fair amount of humor and character as well. The cast of the film was really what helped it shine, and Smokey and the Bandit quickly became a favorite in the Southern United States.

Its lead, Burt Reynolds, was already a household name for his work in other notable redneck-exploitation films, but his turn as the Bandit elevated him to the level of superstardom. It was the first of several Reynolds and Hal Needham films, and the director helped create some of Reynolds' most iconic characters. Besides established stars,...

Donn Cambern, the film editor who used his musical background to help make Easy Rider a masterpiece and 15 years later shared an Oscar nomination for cutting Romancing the Stone, has died. He was 93.

Cambern died Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank of complications from a fall three weeks ago, a family spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.

The Los Angeles native edited Blume in Love (1973), Willie & Phil (1980) and Tempest (1982) for Paul Mazursky, Twins (1988) and Ghostbusters II (1989) for Ivan Reitman and worked on five Burt Reynolds starrers, including Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and The Cannonball Run (1981).

Cambern also received an editing credit on The Last Picture Show (1971), though Peter Bogdanovich insisted that he was the editor on that.

He was honored with a career achievement award from the American Cinema Editors in 2004, and three years later, he became the first recipient of the Motion Picture Editors Guild’s Fellowship and Service Award.

Jackie Chan's first attempt to make a name for himself in Hollywood was The Big Brawl. The kung fu legend has been a household name for decades, but it took time for him to develop the huge international following that he currently enjoys. Though Chan has been starring in films since the mid-1970s, he didn't begin making waves in Hollywood until the 1990s.

Several of Chan's most well-known movies are tied to the time he spent in the United States. In the span of a few years, Chan played the lead role in a number of high-profile American action movies, with 1998's Rush Hour being one of his biggest box office hits. In addition to continuing his work in the Hong Kong movie industry, Chan followed up Rush Hour with a string of American films, including Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Knights, two Rush Hour sequels, The Tuxedo, and Around the World in 80 Days.

Ah, the buddy cop action sub-genre. No other type of movie is more manly and more action-packed, at least outside of an Arnold Schwarzenegger flick. In the 80s, the genre was kicked off with hit movies like 48 Hrs. starring Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte along with Richard Donner’s Lethal Weapon led by Danny Glover and Mel Gibson. As soon as the mid-90s rolled in, a couple of franchises sent the buddy cop genre straight into the damn stratosphere!

In 1995, after directing music videos for a number of years, Michael Bay made the big leap to the silver screen with his directorial debut, Bad Boys, starring comedian Martin Lawrence, who was riding high off his TV sitcom Martin, and who better to team him up with than the man, the myth, the legend — Will Smith. The future megastar was coming off his impressive music career as well as headlining...

The legendary Jackie Chan built his early career in the Hong Kong film industry, but he has also been part of many great and not-so-great Hollywood action movies, the latter of which deserve a ranking of the worst to the best. Jackie Chan transitioned from stuntman to leading man in the late 1970s with his breakout hits Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master. While Jackie Chan became a huge star in the East with hits like the Police Story series, his ultimate goal was to achieve the same success in Hollywood.

After some failed attempts in the mid-1980s, Jackie Chan finally became a household name in the West with the 1998 buddy comedy hit Rush Hour. Jackie Chan followed that up with other popular action comedies like Shanghai Noon and Shanghai Knights, as well as his long-awaited team-up with Jet Li in 2008's The Forbidden Kingdom. Though Jackie...

Every kid of a certain age grew up wanting to be Jackie Chan. A legend in Hong Kong and most of the world from the late-seventies on, Jackie Chan also, at long last, became a superstar in North America after the release of his 1996 classic Rumble in the Bronx. Supercop, First Strike and more dubbed versions of his Hong Kong movies would follow, but it was 1998’s Rush Hour, which paired him with Chris Tucker, that made him a phenomenon in the United States. It was as if, at long last, the United States was let in on a secret the rest of the world already knew.

Jackie Chan emerged in the late nineties after a failed attempt to make him into a Bruce Lee clone. Never wanting to be a typical martial arts star, Chan opted to mix comedy and martial arts in a way that made him a...

After subtly but unmistakably transforming himself into legendary Hollywood producer Al Ruddy for The Offer, chronicling the myriad and fraught battles to make the revered classic film The Godfather, Miles Teller says he and real-world role will be “connected forever.”

Appearing onstage at Deadline’s Contenders TV event with the Paramount+ series’ executive producer/showrunner Nikki Toscano and co-star Giovani Ribisi, Teller explained how his in-person meetings with Ruddy — long celebrated for his seemingly unflappable confidence and persuasive deal-making abilities — added that much more nuance to his performance.

“I met with Al at his house before I had officially [joined the cast]. I mean, I knew I was going to do the project, but I hadn’t officially signed on,” recalled Teller, who like Ruddy also serves as an executive producer on the series. “Al, the producer that is, he wanted to make sure that he got some face time with me because...

Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" is one of the all-time classic mob movies, and it's frequently cited as one of the greatest movies ever made. The making of "The Godfather" was notoriously tricky, as Hollywood was skeptical about gangster movies in the 1970s and the Italian-American community was fighting back against some of the unsavory depictions seen in mob films. That's the premise behind "The Offer," a new 10-episode limited series coming exclusively to Paramount+. Miles Teller stars as Al Ruddy, one of the Oscar-winning producers of the film who also made "The Cannonball Run," "Million Dollar Baby," and more. Ruddy is also a producer...

The post The Offer Trailer: The Making of The Godfather is a Story You Can't Refuse appeared first on /Film.

Burt Reynolds is one of the most prolific movie stars in Hollywood history. From hilarious comedic performances in Smokey and the Bandit and The Cannonball Run to compelling dramatic turns in Deliverance and Boogie Nights, Reynolds consistently captivated audiences with lovable, interesting characters.

Related: The Most Memorable Quotes From Smokey And The Bandit

But for all the roles he played, he turned down just as many. In his memoir But Enough About Me, Reynolds recounted all the major roles he was offered over the years but rejected for various reasons. These stories were later chronicled by Variety.

Late Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds has finally been laid to rest over two years after his death. The Associated Press reports that a small, private memorial ceremony was held Thursday morning at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery with relatives participating via Zoom. On the day that would have been his 85th birthday, Reynolds's cremated ashes were placed in a grave next to a lake that now serves as his final resting place.

At this time, Burt's gravesite is marked with a simple headstone brandishing his name. Mourners have also adorned the grave with flowers, a wreath, and even a model of the Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit. The grave marker is temporary, as Hollywood Forever president and co-owner Tyler Cassity says that a bronze or stone bust of the iconic actor is being commissioned with the hopes of unveiling it to the public in September on the third anniversary of his death.

Warren Berlinger, a busy character actor whose numerous roles made him one of TV’s most familiar faces from the Kraft Theatre golden age through the Grace and Frankie streaming era, died Wednesday at the Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, California. He was 83.

His death was confirmed by daughter Elizabeth. A cause has not been announced.

With a cherubic face that could seem simultaneously amiable and, along with the hint of an accent from his native Brooklyn, mischievous, Berlinger was a go-to actor for supporting and sidekick roles for decades, both in film, and television.

After the Bishop show,...

Trinity Cine Asia has acquired, from Golden Dragon Pictures, Vanguard, the ninth collaboration between director Stanley Tong and actor Jackie Chan, produced by Shanghai Lix Entertainment, Stanley’s Tong production outfit.

At a time when studios are reluctant to release films due to the pandemic, Trinity Cine Asia will release Vanguard in UK, Ireland and Russia Cis, with theatrical exhibition starting in Ukraine, on 2nd October, on a strong 163 footprint, and in Russia Cis on 15th October, and UK and Ireland late in the year Tbc.

“We are delighted to be part of the golden duo that is Jackie Chan and Stanley Tong” enthused Trinity Cine Asia director Cedric Behrel. “Vanguard is their reunion, a glorious nod to their classic collaborations like Rumble in the Bronx and Supercop. We are grateful to Golden Dragon for entrusting us with this priceless mission!”

The mission? A wildly ambitious hostage rescue that takes place,...

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ben Stiller, Lily James, Stephen Merchant, and Mark Gatiss have all joined the queue to join Doug Liman’s latest, the pandemic heist thriller ‘Lockdown’.

Dule Hill and Jazmyn Simon have also joined previously announced name Anne Hathaway on the cast.

The film tells the story of how a couple, Linda (Hathaway) and Paxton (Ejiofor) who are constantly at each others’ throats, agree to call a truce and attempt a high-risk, high-stakes jewellery heist at the world’s most exclusive department store, Harrods.

Steven Knight wrote the script, and P.J. van Sandwijk is producing with Alison Winter. Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios is fully funding. CAA Media Finance arranged the financing and is co-representing worldwide rights with AGC.

Filming began on the project this week on location in London.

Also in news – Netflix drop first look images from ‘The Crown’ Season 4

Liman, best known for working alongside Tom Cruise,...

Anne Hathaway has entered into final talks to join the cast of the Doug Liman directed pandemic movie ‘Lockdown’.

The film is said to be a heist, romantic comedy hybrid set during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Steven Knight wrote the script, and P.J. van Sandwijk is producing with Alison Winter. Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios is fully funding. CAA Media Finance arranged the financing and is co-representing worldwide rights with AGC.

Producers are aiming to begin shooting by the end of September.

Also in news – 64th BFI London Film Festival full line-up announced

Hathaway was last seen in the Mark Ruffalo led ‘Dark Waters, The ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ gender swap remake ‘The Hustle’ and ‘Serenity’. Her upcoming films include Dee Rees’ ‘The Last Thing he Wanted’ and Robert Zemeckis’ ‘The Witches’ remake for Warner Bros., which is set to be released in 2021.

Liman, best known for working alongside Tom Cruise, with...

Rad (1986) is available on Altavod and VOD this July and it is now available on Blu-Ray through Vinegar Syndrome. Check out this new trailer:

Originally released in 1986 during the rise of the BMX bike craze, this powerful piece of pop cultural nostalgia is finally coming to disc, newly restored in 4K from its original negative by Fotokem. The film follows Cru Jones (Bill Allen), a small town kid determined to win an infamous BMX race set on a nearly impossible course known as Helltrack. A sleeper hit upon its initial release, Rad has become one of the iconic cult films of the 1980s and amongst BMX professionals, spawning fan clubs and repertory film screenings for decades.

“This is a very personal project for me. My Father produced the film, my brother John filmed the opening and closing credits, my Mother plays Cru’s Mom; my family grew up in and...

Utopia announced today that the company will be re-releasing the 1986Bmx cult classic Rad for the first time on DVD and On Demand this summer. The film, which was scheduled to have a 4K Restoration World Premiere at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, will launch across all Tvod and On Demand platforms on Friday, July 24th, with a ‘special edition’ premiere on new digital streaming platform Altavod on Friday, July 10th and now available on Blu-ray directly through Vinegar Syndrome.

Originally released in 1986 during the rise of the BMX bike craze, this powerful piece of pop cultural nostalgia is finally coming to disc, newly restored in 4K from its original negative by Fotokem. The film follows Cru Jones (Bill Allen), a small town kid determined to win an infamous BMX race set on a nearly impossible course known as Helltrack. A sleeper hit upon its initial release, Rad has become one...

Car-racing films have provided audiences with a theatrical adrenaline rush for decades.

In the 1960s, moviegoers were dazzled by the effects in Grand Prix and charmed by lovable race cars like Herbie the Beetle in The Love Bug.

Le Mans, The Cannonball Run and Days of Thunder put big stars behind the wheel in Steve McQueen, Burt Reynolds and Tom Cruise, respectively.

In the 21st century, Disney and Pixar reimagined the racetrack for its Cars franchise, complete with a determined talking automobile and many motor-themed puns; Universal's The Fast and the Furious revved up a winning series of films featuring Vin Diesel and the late ...

Car-racing films have provided audiences with a theatrical adrenaline rush for decades.

In the 1960s, moviegoers were dazzled by the effects in Grand Prix and charmed by lovable race cars like Herbie the Beetle in The Love Bug.

Le Mans, The Cannonball Run and Days of Thunder put big stars behind the wheel in Steve McQueen, Burt Reynolds and Tom Cruise, respectively.

In the 21st century, Disney and Pixar reimagined the racetrack for its Cars franchise, complete with a determined talking automobile and many motor-themed puns; Universal's The Fast and the Furious revved up a winning series of films featuring Vin Diesel and the late ...

Tony Sokol Aug 16, 2019

Peter Fonda was a counterculture film icon who gave John Lennon a bad trip but a great song.

Actor and director Peter Fonda died of respiratory failure due to lung cancer at his Los Angeles home on Friday, Aug. 16, his manager, Alan Somers, announced via Variety. The Oscar-nominated screenwriter and star of Easy Rider was 79.

“It is with deep sorrow that we share the news that Peter Fonda has passed away at his home in Los Angeles surrounded by family,” the Fonda family said in a statement. “In one of the saddest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our hearts. And, while we mourn the loss of this sweet and gracious man, we also wish for all to celebrate his indomitable spirit and love of life. In honor of Peter, please raise a glass to freedom.

Family says, “In honor of Peter, please raise a glass to freedom.”

Peter Fonda, a symbol of 1960s counterculture who co-wrote and starred alongside Dennis Hopper in the iconic Easy Rider, has died at his home in Los Angeles following a battle with lung cancer. He was 79.

Fonda, the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda, earned two Oscar nominations in a career defined by Easy Rider – 50 years old this year – which celebrated the free-wheeling ethos of the 1960s as the United States careened into a darker odyssey in the decade that followed.

Family says, “In honor of Peter, please raise a glass to freedom.”

Peter Fonda, a symbol of 1960s counter-culture who co-wrote and starred alongside Dennis Hopper in the iconic Easy Rider, has died at his home in Los Angeles following a battle with lung cancer. He was 79.

Fonda, the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda, earned two Oscar nominations in a career defined by Easy Rider – 50 years old this year – which toasted the free-wheeling ethos of the 1960s as the United States careened into a darker odyssey in the decade that followed.

Peter Fonda, the two-time, Oscar-nominated star of “Easy Rider” and more recently films such as “Ulee’s Gold” and the remake of “3:10 to Yuma,” has died, his manager confirmed to TheWrap. He was 79.

In a statement to People magazine, his family said that Fonda passed away of respiratory failure on Friday morning due to complications from lung cancer. Fonda was part of a family of Hollywood royalty, the son of Old Hollywood star Henry Fonda and the brother to Jane Fonda, as well as the father of Bridget Fonda.

“In one of the saddest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our hearts. As we grieve, we ask that you respect our privacy,” his family said in the statement to People. “And, while we mourn the loss of this sweet and gracious man, we also wish for all...

Consider the oeuvre of Clyde Anderson, or as he’s known in the real world, Claudio Fragasso: Monster Dog. Beyond Darkness. Troll 2, fer chrissakes. Now imagine a slasher/psychological thriller with one foot on Elm Street, one in a Skinemax extravaganza, and no ties to reality and you have Night Killer (1990), Fragasso’s opus on memory loss and murder. And if you guessed that Severin Films has a brand spanking new Blu-ray out to document this insanity, you’d be right.

Originally released in Italy in August, Night Killer was sold as Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 in the grand Italian tradition, although it has nothing whatsoever to do with that franchise (in the same grand tradition). What it does offer is a mixture of misdirection, insanity, bloodshed, and expected sleaziness. What it does not proffer is boredom.

How could it when it opens during a dance rehearsal in which...