News

It's time for Mark Wahlberg to Play Dirty. Prime Video has released the first trailer for the upcoming action movie, which is based on the bestselling Parker book series by Donald E. Westlake.

Wahlberg headlines Play Dirty as professional robber Parker, with Lakeith Stanfield co-starring as Grofield, Westlake's other prominent thief character he wrote under his pseudonym Richard Stark. While it had initially been reported that Play Dirty would be an adaptation of Westlake's first Parker novel, The Hunter, it has since been revealed that the action movie will feature an original story by Shane Black, Charles Mondry, and Anthony Bagarozzi. Black also directed Play Dirty, marking his first directorial effort since 2018's The Predator.

Kobe Bryant is up next in Hollywood’s sports biopic genre. The Insneider first broke the news on August 22, 2025, about the spec script that had been picked up by Warner Bros. Legendary NFL quarterback, Tom Brady, has also pitched in, with his company, Religion of Sports, set to produce the film.

Insiders familiar with the script described it to Variety as Moneyball meets Air. Both are astounding films in the sports drama genre, with the former even getting nominated for 6 Oscars.

Here are 6 potential actors who can play the late Lakers legend in the upcoming biopic:

1. Michael B. Jordan

The most obvious choice for the Kobe role has to be,...

Frank Grillo has deemed Captain America: The Winter Soldier the best Marvel movie, in which he stars as Crossbones. Speaking with GQ, the actor, although acknowledging Marvel’s triumphs, urged the MCU to revert to its grounded approach of The Winter Soldier‘s approach, rather than solely relying on spectacle.

Winter Soldier is the best Marvel movie. I love them over at Marvel, and it’s so great to see how successful everybody’s become, but I hope that they can get back to the glory of where they were and not just be spectacles that are there to make a lot of money from.

Not only does Grillo’s...

Shane Black is back in action with a new crime thriller that featuresMark Wahlbergand Lakeith Stanfieldas a pair of criminals who embark on a heist of a lifetime. The action caper hails from Amazon MGM Studios, which has decided to release the upcoming film exclusively on streaming later this year.

Collider has unveiled the first look at Amazon's Play Dirty, which is set to premiere on Prime Video on October 1. Wahlberg and Stanfield are featured as a pair of elite thieves, who will be joined by Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel) in the film. Stanfield is playing a con artist named Grofield, while Wahlberg is set to portray Parker, who is based on the protagonist of Donald E. Westlake's crime novels. As the first look teases, Parker will be working closely with his partner-in-crime, Grofield, to pull off the heist of his career and take revenge on those who double-crossed him.

Mark Wahlberg's upcoming crime thriller has opted to forgo a theatrical release and will release on streaming later this year. The heist film hails from the creative mind behind The Nice Guys, who is set to release his first movie in seven years sinceThe Predator flopped in theaters. Wahlberg is set to portray a fictional criminal that has been played by several notable movie stars over the past few decades.

According to The InSneider, Prime Video is preparing to release Play Dirty on the platform on October 1. Shane Black's new crime drama stars Wahlberg, Lakeith Stanfield (Atlanta) and Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel). The film follows a thief and his crew who come across a major heist that, per reports, pits them against "a South American dictator, the New York mob and the world’s richest man." Wahlberg will portray Parker, the main character from the Donald E. Westlake novel The Hunter,...

After all the speculation about who John Malkovich would be playing in Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the actor has since been cut from the film. Despite being featured in the initial teaser trailer for First Steps, Malkovich will not appear in the MCU reboot. He was reportedly set to play a classic Marvel villain created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in an early action scene, one that appears to have been cut because it did not tie into the film's larger plot.

Variety confirmed that Malkovich had been cut from the film, as well as the character he was set to play. He was reportedly set to play the villain Ivan Kragoff, also known as the Red Ghost, in an opening scene that would have featured the characters' superpowered apes. Director Matt Shakman said that Malkovich "was brilliant in it, and gave it his all," but...

Imagine John Waters at the helm of a Terminator 2 remake and you have an inkling of just how wild a pivot M3GAN 2.0 is from its predecessor. If anything, writer-director Gerard Johnstone’s sequel has more in common with the last two Mission: Impossible films than the original M3GAN. Even then, it’s doubtful we’ll ever see Tom Cruise trapped in a sentient smart speaker telling the Imf to “hold onto their vaginas” before taking off in a futuristic sports car after a murderbot at 235 miles per hour while the Knight Rider theme plays.

Yes, M3GAN has gotten an upgrade from horror to sci-fi action, and the sequel also has a lot more on its mind. Understandable, really, since in only three short years since the original film’s release, A.I. has infected nearly every facet of our lives, and even the first film now has moments...

Mahershala Ali has broken his silence on the future of Blade, a project that has been stuck in production limbo since 2019. Originally announced alongside Phase four’s other major entries, including WandaVision and Loki, the project’s fate has remained uncertain amidst numerous creative shakeups and reported delays.

When asked about the movie’s status, Mahershala Ali, despite maintaining an optimistic tone through his words, seemed a bit defeated in his demeanor, which might be a reflection of the movie’s troubled status.

Mahershala Ali’s body language casts doubt on Blade‘s fate

Unlike most MCU projects in the multiversal era, which are heavily studio-driven, Blade has long been a passion project for Mahershala Ali, who approached Marvel after nabbing an Oscar for Green Book.

Mahershala Ali in a still from Alita: Battle Angel | Credit: 20th Century Fox

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor once...

Mahershala Ali’s Blade was one of the most anticipated movies in the MCU until Marvel Studios decided to cut the project loose for reasons that still haven’t been made public.

David S. Goyer, who is the writer of several iconic superhero movies like The Dark Knight trilogy and the original Blade movie, even offered his help to Marvel Studios for help with the reboot; however, Marvel simply stated that they had figured out the problem and that they didn’t need Goyer’s help. That was several months ago, until Blade was still in production!

The Blade problem that Marvel was too shy to ask for help David S. Goyer is the writer of Blade | Credits: New Line Cinema

Despite Mahershala Ali’s Blade being completely done for, fans still have a faint flicker of hope that the MCU might start working on the project sooner or later in the future.

James Cameron's Alita: Battle Angel, the cyberpunk film based on the anime and manga series, will have a new streaming home next month. Cameron wrote the screenplay and produced the film, with Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids) directing.

Hulu's press schedule shows Alita: Battle Angel being added to the streamer on July 1. The film stars Rosa Salazar as Alita, a young cyborg girl who is found in a scrap heap and awakens in a new body, unable to remember her past. As she sets out to discover her identity and destiny, she learns more about the dark history of the Earth and its mysterious city in the sky called Zalem. The film is based on Yukito Kishiro's manga series, Battle Angel Alita, which was published from 1990 to 1995.

Alita: Battle Angel Had a Troubled Box Office Run Image via 20th Century Fox.

When it was released in 2019, Alita: Battle Angel...

Alita: Battle Angel remains without a sequel six years after its theatrical release. The 2019 cyberpunk action film, based on the manga series Battle Angel Alita, was directed by Robert Rodriguez from a screenplay co-written by James Cameron.

The good news is that fans of Alita: Battle Angel will soon be able to stream the action epic on one of the biggest streamers available in the United States. Beginning July 1, Hulu will add Alita: Battle Angel to its platform, allowing its subscribers to revisit, or perhaps watch the movie for the first time, whenever they'd like. Rosa Salazar stars as the title character, Alita, a cyborg who awakens in a new body without memory of her past and sets out to uncover her destiny. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley and Keean Johnson appear in supporting roles.

While Alita was a hit with audiences, with review...

This summer, Dinosaurs rule the Earth.

With the global press tour getting underway today, Universal Pictures have debuted a brand new 90-second trailer that offers an extended look at two key sequences from the upcoming Gareth Edwards-directed dino sequel, specifically a terrifying sequence with the Mutadons and another look at that Spinosaurus encounter, which looks like it won't be going so well for one member of the cast...

Over the next two weeks, the global press tour will take the principal cast, including our new lead trio of Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey to London, Berlin, New York, Shanghai, and Seoul.

The London premiere is today, June 17, so be wary of spoilers as it's very possible they will start to surface online as early as tonight.

Universal has also debuted a new 16-bit game for the film, where you can also join the hunt for Dinosaur DNA!

Ahead of tomorrow's eagerly awaited new theatrical trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth, Universal has released another action-packed new TV spot, this time spotlighting some of the dinos that'll be at the center of the blockbuster sequel: the Titanosaurus, Quetzalcoatlus, and Mosasaurus.

As far as why Scarlett Johansson and her team will be seeking out these three monumental beasts, the synopsis revealed that she'll be tasked with retreiving DNA samples from the three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air, who in their DNA, hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.

It's expected that the new trailer will be attached to screenings of Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning and Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch this weekend, meaning it'll get maximum eyeballs as it kickstarts its full-fledged marketing blitz in June.

Despite stiff competition from superhero entries Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps,...

Watch out, all you budding, recreational paleontologists out there: there are a few new dinosaurs on the block. And by the looks of the new Jurassic World: Rebirthteaser — priming us all for the official trailer drop on Tuesday — the movie's stars, Scarlett Johansson,Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali, are in for a wild journey to the birthplace of Jurassic Park. Because this new teaser (titled "Alert") has given us a few terrifying glimpses at the two new mega-reptiles set to terrorize our hopeful heroes.

With the film set to release this 4th of July weekend, the latest cinematic return to author Michael Crichton's iconic creation is being given the best chances possible at becoming a major summer movie blockbuster. And that means we need more dinosaurs than ever before. Scarier, bigger, wilder, and more unruly than ever before. It also means that fans of the Crichton novel can get...

Exclusive: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania actress Kathryn Newton and Coyote vs. Acme star Lana Condor are headlining Amazon MGM Studios’ Devil’s Mouth, from director Jeff Wadlow.

The survival thriller, a co-production with Lionsgate, follows college friends who on a trip to get to Thailand who get trapped in an underwater cave system with a bull shark. Old tensions and power struggles resurface as they fight to survive.

Aja Gabel and Myung Joh Wesner wrote the script, which was featured on the 2019 Black List, with latest revisions by Wadlow.

Producers include Thunder Road Films’ Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, and Wadlow. Thunder Road is natch, behind the John Wick movies. Carsten Lorenz will executive produce. Chelsea Kujawa will oversee for Lionsgate. Helen Lee-Kim and Michael Meyer negotiated the deal on behalf of Lionsgate.

Newton most...

As part of their summer movie previews, Entertainment Weekly, ScreenRant, and Empire have shared new stills from Jurassic World Rebirth, offering a killer new look at the franchise's newest leading lady Scarlett Johansson, who plays covert operations expert Zora Bennett, doing her best to survive all kinds of dino carnage.

Aside from a handful of brief glimpses, the early images from the film reveal remarkably few dinosaurs—likely because the production is keeping the Distortus rex and any other mutant dinos on the island tightly under wraps, so we'll just have to strap in this Fourth of July for all kinds of mayhem.

With How to Train Your Dragon due out in theaters in June, it seems highly probable that a new trailer for Rebirth will be arriving online sometime before the end of this month as they begin to ramp up the marketing campaign for an epic Jurassic June.

There are many reasons why some movie projects never get made, and in a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Robert Rodriguez revealed his planned trilogy of Conan The Barbarian movies was scrapped for the most frustrating reasons. Rodriguez recalled pitching his epic remake of the classic comic book legend to Netflix only to have them allow their hold on the franchise rights to lapse and kill the project. To make it worse, Rodriguez had also convinced Hollywood heavyweight James Cameron to be part of the project.

According to Rodriguez, who worked with Cameron on Alita: Battle Angel, plans for the project originally started many years ago, before the filmmaker believed technology could match his vision. He told Rogan:

"I almost did a Conan movie. I even roped James Cameron into wanting to do it. We were going to do [something similar] to what we did with [Battle Angel] Alita.

The whispers have begun. Cause when an acclaimed director speaks, the world listens. That’s exactly the level of impact James Cameron is hinting at for Zoe Saldaña’s performance in Avatar: Fire & Ash.

According to the Titanic director, Zoe Saldaña is set to deliver a performance so powerful that it may even surpass her award-winning role in Emilia Pérez. As the fires of a new Na’vi clan rise, so too does Neytiri’s transformation – both emotionally and physically, making the visionary himself believe that it soars beyond the boundaries of the saga.

Is Zoe Saldaña’s Neytiri better than Emilia Perez?

Zoe Saldaña has recently swept the award season with an emotional and exceptional performance in the 2024 film Emilia Pérez, taking home an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.

James Cameron | Credit: Gage Skidmore/Cc-by-sa-2.0/Wikimedia Commons

The role earned her praise for her range,...

During a revealing chat on the Joe Rogan Experience, Robert Rodriguez (director of Sin City and Alita: Battle Angel) shared some ambitous plans to resurrect Conan the Barbarian for a new generation.

The director revealed an intriguing vision of an epic three-part saga that sadly never materialized.

Rodriguez disclosed that he had mapped out a trilogy based on Robert E. Howard's legendary warrior and even successfully sparked the interest of cinematic titan James Cameron.

"I almost did a Conan movie. I even roped James Cameron into wanting to do it," Rodriguez stated, beginning the conversation around the 1:44:00 mark of the podcast (video below).

He elaborated on their vision, explaining, "We were going to do [something similar] to what we did with [Battle Angel] Alita. I said, 'Let's do a Conan movie and we'll make it look like the paintings.' Technology wasn't there yet and I ended up doing Sin City instead.

James Cameron’s upcoming movie Ghosts of Hiroshima promises a haunting portrayal of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Well, it’s not new that we are getting another historical movie set in the horror of the nuclear bombing in Japan. Now Cameron wants us to believe that his movie will finally do justice to the atomic bombing on the two islands.

But let’s not kid ourselves. This movie isn’t about reckoning with history. It seems yet another example of Hollywood’s grotesque obsession with glorifying nuclear annihilation in the name of empathy.

James Cameron’s new movie is following Hollywood’s peculiar obsession with Nuclear bombing James Cameron | Credit: Gage Skidmore/Cc-by-sa-2.0/Wikimedia Commons

According to the Deadline report, James Cameron, the acclaimed director of the Avatar franchise, has announced his next feature will be Ghosts of Hiroshima. The movie will be a dramatic retelling of the atomic bombing of Japan.

James Cameron met a survivor of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, which has made him fast-track his first non-Avatar film since Titanic. The very subject of the film puts him in direct competition with Christopher Nolan. The Interstellar director narrated the tale of the nuclear bomb from the American side of things.

As a first step towards the film, Cameron purchased the rights to Charles Pellegrino’s book Ghosts of Hiroshima. The book will be available to readers soon, but Cameron is already working on releasing an audiobook that will have a familiar voice narrating it. Cameron has tapped Martin Sheen to narrate the audiobook.

James Cameron’s new project is Ghosts of Hiroshima James Cameron with Sam Worthington in a BTS still of Avatar | Credits: 20th Century Studios

After Christopher Nolan‘s take on the nuclear bomb, we now get to see James Cameron tackling the subject from the perspective of the victims.

Everyone remembers 2019’s Alita: Battle Angel. The cyberpunk movie with boundless action and a badass heroine captured everyone’s attention. While the initial audience reaction was less than encouraging, the movie gained massive attention and praise for its visual excellence afterward.

The CGI was fantastic, and people wanted to see more of Alita and Iron City. 6 years later, and we are yet to get a sequel for the film. While this explanation may sound crazy, the reason for this massive delay is James Cameron’s love for Avatar’s Pandora and its inhabitants, the Na’vi.

Delays are hindering Alita’s untapped potential Ido wipes Alita’s tears and asks her to eat something | Credits: 20th Century Fox

Alita: Battle Angel, adapted from Yukito Kishiro’s Battle Angel Alita (Gunnm), is set in a future where the upper class dominates the underclass by abandoning them in a Scrapyard while they...

It has now been six years since audiences were introduced to the cyberpunk world of director Robert Rodriguez’s action outing, Alita: Battle Angel. After waiting patiently, the filmmaker has now revealed the news that fans want to hear.

Appearing recently on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the director declared that he is still fighting to return to the Iron City and get Alita: Battle Angel 2 made. While he was short on details regarding where they are in the production process, if they are anywhere at all, Rodriguez did reveal that one of the main sets is still standing, and he’s eager to bring the next chapter in the Alita saga to the big screen.

“Yeah, we want to do another one for sure.

You gotta come to my studio. That whole city is still in my parking lot. 20-foot ceilings, seven streets. It's like the largest standing set in the country,...

The cyberpunk world of ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ still has stories to tell. Director Robert Rodriguez recently shared his excitement about returning to Iron City for a sequel. He believes Alita’s journey is far from finished, and I can’t help but agree. The 2019 film left us with a cliffhanger, and the idea of diving back into that gritty, futuristic universe feels thrilling.

Rosa Salazar brought Alita to life as a cyborg with no memory, pieced together by Dr. Ido, played by Christoph Waltz. The story, based on Yukito Kishiro’s manga ‘Gunnm,’ follows Alita navigating the dangerous streets of Iron City. She discovers her past as a skilled warrior while battling foes and mastering Motorball, a brutal cyborg sport. The movie earned over $405 million worldwide, making it Rodriguez’s biggest box office hit, despite a mixed critical response.

Rodriguez has been vocal about wanting to continue Alita’s story.

It's been six years since Alita: Battle Angel was released in theaters, and it has been a few years since James Cameron announced that a sequel is in the works. While a release date has yet to be revealed, its director, Robert Rodriguez, shared his thoughts on the project's progress.

In an interview with Joe Rogan, Rodriguez emphasized that Alita's journey in the Iron City is far from over and said he wanted to make another movie based on Yukito Kishiro's manga series. The filmmaker has previously stated that he was doubtful that a sequel would come to light due to Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox. But his mindset changed when he saw more Fox films coming out. If a follow-up feature were to be made, he and Cameron would have enough material to make two more movies.

It's not just Rodriguez who wants an Alita: Battle Angel sequel.

Five years after Criminal Minds ended on the network, Matthew Gray Gubler is returning to CBS. The Hollywood Reporter has the news that the actor's new procedural series, Einstein, has been ordered to series at the Tiffany Network, and will likely premiere in the fall. Rosa Salazar co-stars in the new series, which will center around a crime-solving professor. The series was previously given a pilot order, and has now assured its place on the network's schedule.

Einstein stars Gubler as Lewis Einstein, a fictional great-grandson of legendary physicist Albert Einstein. Lewis is a brilliant professor at Princeton, but his life lacks direction until he finds himself on the wrong side of the law. To keep himself out of jail, he has to work with a police detective to solve the department's thorniest crimes. The series is based on a German series of the same name that premiered in 2017 and...

Universal Pictures has released a brand new featurette for their upcoming summer blockbuster Jurassic World Rebirth, featuring some never-before-seen new footage and revealing how the new film is more connected to the original than any of the previous sequels.

Outside of the main cast of characters returning to Isla Nublar - the island where the original film takes place - the most prominent way the film connects back to the original is by bringing back Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park scribe David Koepp.

In the new featurette, Koepp teases the T-Rex riverboat sequence, which promises to be one of the upcoming film's most thrilling moments and a scene that has has essentially been thirty years in the making.

The cast features Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation; Marriage Story; Black Widow), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight; Green Book; True Detective), Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton; Fellow Travelers; Crashing), Rupert Friend (Homeland; Anatomy of a Scandal...

This summer, get ready for a whole new dino-filled adventure with Jurassic World Rebirth, a film that promises to take the franchise in a bold and terrifying new direction as new dinos and monsters descend on humanity, causing unprecedented mayhem.

During their CinemaCon presentation, Universal Pictures brought out director Gareth Edwards and stars Scarlett Johansson ("Zora Bennett") and Mahershala Ali ("Duncan Kincaid") to introduce their never-before-seen new footage from the upcoming blockbuster.

With all three of the previous entries topping $1 billion, it's a pretty safe bet that Rebirth will likely also reach those heights, especially with fans eager to see this bold and scary new direction as well as box office superstar Scarlett Johansson leading the charge.

Johansson is a longtime Jurassic superfan, telling the CinemaCon audience, “It has been a lifelong dream to be in a Jurassic movie.," before adding how she did everything in her power to be cast in this film,...

There’s a certain hint of pain when an announced project turns out to be indefinitely shelved forever. Millions of fans around the world might be feeling that pain right now because the MCU did just that.

Although unconfirmed, it is almost a guarantee that Mahershala Ali’s Blade has been put on ice for an indefinite time. However, that doesn’t mean it’s the end for an amazing character.

Mahershala Ali in a still from Alita: Battle Angel | Credits: 20th Century Fox Mahershala Ali’s Blade will not see the light of day

Well, it had been quite a long time since the world had heard any updates about the previously announced Marvel film Blade. Announced back in 2019, the world waited patiently and excitedly for the action-packed jam.

Blade was announced way back in 2019 | Credits: Marvel Studios

A while ago, it was revealed that Mahershala Ali’s Blade...

Many Marvel fans are confused about whether the Blade project is still in active development at the studio. Mahershala Ali’s Blade was first announced in 2019, but it has remained in status quo for a long time. Kevin Feige once promised that the project would definitely be made. A recent report suggests that the studio has hired a new director for the film.

Now, the new rumor is surely exciting for fans of the action genre like me. It was reported that Chad Stahelski of John Wick fame might be attached to the project. I am excited to see Stahelski collaborating with Ali for an action-packed Blade film, but there’s just one problem for me.

The official logo of Marvel’s Blade | Credits: Marvel Studios Is Mahershala Ali too old to film John Wick-like action sequences in Blade?

We have some insider info from Jeff Sneider regarding Marvel’s Blade film,...

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The Electric State is a sci-fi adventure comedy-drama film co-directed by Anthony and Joe Russo from a screenplay co-written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Based on the 2018 illustrated novel of the same name by Simon Stålenhag, the Netflix film is set in the aftermath of a war between robots and humans, and it follows an orphaned girl who teams up with a mysterious robot and a smuggler to find her lost brother in the dangerous America West. The Electric State stars Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Jason Alexander, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, Giancarlo Esposito, and Stanley Tucci. So, if you loved the inventive story, intricate world-building, and entertaining characters in The Electric State, here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Alita: Battle Angel (Rent on Prime Video...

When picking the next show to cover, I always ask myself: what’s something I used to watch that people either loved or completely forgot about—but should still love? This time, it’s Dark Angel. When I mentioned Dark Angel to someone, they immediately assumed I meant a different show. “No,” I said, “the one with Jessica Alba.” She was great in Idle Hands, but Dark Angel? That was something else. Honestly, I’m a little surprised I even watched it back then.

James Cameron—who needs no introduction—teamed up with Charles H. Eglee to make Dark Angel his first big project under his production company. Eglee, of course, is best known for Piranha 2… sure, he’s done other things, but for the sake of this episode, that’s the only credit that matters. The two cooked up Dark Angel while Cameron was, as always, on a quest...

Guillermo del Toro is one of the most celebrated movie directors, who still does not get enough credit for his unique vision. But apart from being a great director, del Toro has impeccable taste because he is also a well-known appreciator of Japanese pop culture.

Alita from Alita: Battle Angel [Credits: 20th Century Fox]

So it is only natural that he will also recommend something of quality to his friends as well. Thankfully, he did just that for another great director, and this is how James Cameron came across the manga of Battle Angel Alita or Gunm by Yukito Kishiro.

Needless to say, del Toro went on to help Cameron with its adaptation, bringing the masterpiece of a manga to a wider audience. Thus, it is not an exaggeration to claim that Guillermo del Toro is indeed a God of cinema, and he proves it through his impeccable filmography.

Guillermo del...

Many subgenres of anime are defined by specific entries, and that's definitely the case with cyberpunk anime. Ghost in the Shell is the premiere cyberpunk anime franchise, having inspired countless other anime and even several Hollywood movies. While it might be the first name in the subgenre, it's far from the only one worth watching.

Many cyberpunk anime showcase the genre even better than Ghost in the Shell, particularly when it comes to exploring the societal impact of the genre's tropes. Some of these anime have the same basic concepts as Ghost in the Shell, while others go in wildly different directions.

Ergo Proxy Is Very Similar to Ghost in the Shell Stream Ergo Proxy on CrunchyrollImage via Manglobe

Ergo Proxy bears a lot of resemblance to Ghost in the Shell, namely due to the presence of humanoid cyborgs and androids. The story involves Re-l Mayer, who inspects the sudden self-actualization of the android populace.

Captain America: Brave New World is not lighting the world on fire with its box office, but audiences are still finding enjoyment in the latest MCU film. However, the one complaint that keeps arising is the obvious amount of re-tooling that was done with the Captain America sequel. From the new Serpent Society crew to the anti-climactic final battle, Brave New World is the product of extensive additional photography, and it's not afraid to show it. That said, the most glaring reshoot came well after the credits began to roll, an ambiguous Avengers tease that barely scratches the surface of what's to come. Spoilers ahead, of course.

In the post-credits scene for Brave New World, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) visits the now-imprisoned Samuel Sterns aka the Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) on the Raft. The meet-up is an obscure reference to the upcoming Avengers films, as the green-headed villain teased...

Captain America: Brave New World featured a covert criminal organization named Serpent Society in the opening action sequence of the film. Giancarlo Esposito plays their leader, Sidewinder, who goes head-to-head with Sam Wilson aka Captain America (Anthony Mackie) throughout the Marvel sequel. However, the villainous group was supposed to look a lot different before reshoots made them look indistinguishable from any other generic crime syndicate. Among those removed from the final version of Brave New World is WWE star Seth Rollins, who was supposed to be a lead member of the Serpent Society.

During an interview with the Phase Hero podcast (via ThatHashtagShow), Brave New World director Julius Onah was asked about the elephant in the room in regards to the Serpent Society. The filmmaker confirms that they tinkered with the group until they found a version that best matched the tone of the movie. This included adding Esposito as Sidewinder,...

Edward Norton is reportedly friends with filmmaker James Cameron, but they've only worked together on a film once: "Alita: Battle Angel," which Cameron wrote and produced and in which Norton made a cameo. Cameron also offered Norton a chance to be in "Avatar: The Way of Water" — so why did Norton pass up the chance to visit Pandora?

I still hold out hope for an "Alita" sequel — me and the entire so-called "Alita army." The first film was a pleasant surprise and there's plenty more of Yukito Kishiro's "Battle Angel" manga to adapt. The film teased that Alita (Rosa Salazar) would finally come face-to-face with Desty Nova (Norton's character), her flan-loving mad scientist nemesis.

In 2019, "Alita" director Robert Rodriguez discussed Norton's casting in an interview with Digital Spy: "[Cameron and I] both knew Ed. Neither of us had worked with Ed. But Ed's really smart. Like Jim, he's very, very smart." While...

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is set for a massive year in 2025. Audiences will be treated to three original films, including Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Several Disney+ series will also bridge the gap between each theatrical release, with Daredevil: Born Again standing out as one of the most highly-anticipated Marvel projects of all time.

With each new project, fans can expect to meet brand-new characters as they make their MCU debuts. While there will be plenty of heroes joining the McU's ranks in the coming months, everyone loves a good villain. Several all-new villains will make their first appearances in the long-running superhero franchise this year, running the gamut between low-level street criminals and larger-than-life supervillains with designs on destroying the world.

RelatedThe Most Exciting MCU Projects Coming Out in 2025, Ranked

2025 will be a major year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it...

Making a film often has the objective of showing it to people, but what if you make a movie that no one alive today is ever going to get to see? Whatever it may be, it’s still a banger of a marketing campaign, as was the case with 100 Years, a film made to promote Louis Xiii, a cognac that takes a century to make as well.

Robert Rodriguez || Credit: Charles Ramirez Berg, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

The film is directed by Robert Rodriguez of The Mandalorian fame. Made in 2015, the film is not set to be released until 2115, starring an international cast with the likes of John Malkovich, Shuya Chang, and Marko Zaror.

100 Years currently resides in a high-tech safe, behind bulletproof glass A still from “100 Years: The Film You Will Never See” Featurette || Credit: Rémy Martin

There are a lot of interesting things that have been done for the film,...

After nearly ten months, the third installment of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita manga series has returned, seemingly ushering in the final phase of this iteration of the cyberpunk classic. While the return of the manga series is undoubtedly good news for all fans of the story, it may be particularly beneficial for fans of the 2019 live-action adaptation who are still hoping for a sequel.

As reported by Anime News Network, in a post to @Anime, their official X account, January 8, 2025, marks the long-awaited return of Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle to regular serialization with the release of Chapter #52 on Kodansha’s Comic Days app. This is the first new content since March 2024, giving fans plenty to celebrate. Furthermore, the series is set to continue with uninterrupted publication through Chapter #56. According to Anime News Network, creator Yukito Kishiro has previously stated that Chapter #56 will serve as the final installment...

Battle Angel Alita creator Yukito Kishiro has been working on his manga Mars Chronicle for years now and after a 10-month hiatus, the manga is finally back! A new chapter was released today on the Comic Days app, by Kodansha, marking a return for the manga after a long wait.

Chapter 52 marks the first new release since March 2024. Earlier, in January 2024, Kishiro announced on his blog that he had completed chapters 47 to 51. Kodansha published those chapters between January and March of last year.

In November 2024, Kishiro revealed that the manga’s 56th and final chapter is now done. But there’s more—he also mentioned that the story would continue under a new name later this year.

The manga first launched in Kodansha’s Evening magazine back in 2014. The 10th compiled volume of Mars Chronicle will be released in Japan in April 2024.

The story focuses on Gally (known as Alita...

Captain America: Brave New World underwent what many have said were significant reshoots last year. If the usual suspects are to be believed, Marvel Studios has either completely cut or significantly reduced the role played by the Serpent Society.

At least two members of the group have been spotted filming: Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel) and WWE Superstar Seth Rollins. To leave them on the cutting room floor seems extreme and we can only theorise that something about the Society's inclusion in the movie wasn't working.

However, with Giancarlo Esposito cast as the group's leader, Sidewinder, we expect to see something of the Serpent Society in the next Captain America movie.

In a piece about Salazar joining the cast of NBC's Einstein, Variety confirms, "[she] is set to appear in the upcoming Marvel film 'Captain America: Brave New World' in the role of Rachel Leighton, a.k.a Diamondback,...

Osamu Tezuka reshaped Japanese pop culture with his manga "Astro Boy." In a future world, Japanese science minister Dr. Tenma loses his son Tobio in a car accident. He recreates Tobio as an android, Astro (known as Atom in the original Japanese). The manga is a futuristic reimagining of "Pinocchio" that becomes a superhero story.

You can trace Japan's love affair with robots to "Astro Boy" — modern mecha and shonen manga/anime wouldn't exist without it. Despite being foundational in Japan, Astro Boy isn't much of an icon in the United States. One attempt to import him, a 2009 CGI animated "Astro Boy" picture from Imagi Animation Studios, failed and left Imagi underwater.

Imagi was founded in Hong Kong in 2000, first producing the 2002 CGI cartoon series "Zentrix." In 2007, they secured a three-picture distribution deal with Warner Bros — the first fruit of that deal was the 2007 animated "Tmnt" film. "Tmnt" was a success,...

Marvel Studios has been in chaos for these past two years because their timeline got messed up due to some… unforeseen circumstances. Well, it seems that Mahershala Ali’s Blade might be getting some advantage in this chaotic show.

Mahershala Ali in a still from Alita: Battle Angel | Credits: 20th Century Studios

The world was ready and waiting for Ali’s take on the iconic role of Blade in the upcoming MCU film Blade. However, Disney announced that the film was put on an indefinite hold. Well, it seems that that might no longer be the case.

Mahershala Ali’s Blade might be getting the advantage here

Mahershala Ali sounds like a boxer’s name so naturally, a film where he is in the lead role will definitely have an advantage over others. Jokes aside, it seems that after getting put on an indefinite hold, Ali’s Blade might be getting pushed in front.

Many a time, we come across the race-swapping phenomenon in movies and shows. With Dandadan jumping on the bandwagon, things have gotten a bit out of hand. But it has more to do with a certain fanart that had several fans foaming at the mouth.

With a fanart signaling the reimagination of the main characters as black, it didn’t sit well with the fandom. Several fans called out the blackwashing aspect of the illustration. But the art garnered support and solidarity as well.

Ken Takakura and Momo Ayase in a still from the anime | Credit: Science Saru

A.J Beckles and Kari Wahlgren who voiced Momo and Okarun extended their support to the artist. However, Beckles’ support and his strong opinions garnered further criticism.

And while it may seem too blown out of proportion, it points to a growing debate between two vocal sides within the global anime community – hypocrisy.

From the director of Independence Day, Roland Emmerich's Midway is an underrated recent war film with an unbelievable cast of recognizable movie stars. Based on real-life events from World War II, including the attack on Pearl Harbor and the titular Battle of Midway, the 2019 film explores the lives of numerous characters fighting in the Pacific Theater. Like many of the best war movies of all time, Emmerich's film boasts an immensely talented list of names in its cast, from superhero franchise stars to actors from popular TV shows.

Roland Emmerich's Midway isn't the first movie to tackle the famous WWII naval battle, following up the 1976 film of the same name that starred Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Toshiro Mifune, and more. Despite having to compete with such legendary names, the 2019 film boasts higher reviews, including an impressive 92% score from over 10,000 audience members on Rotten Tomatoes. Screen Rant's Midway review praises the cast,...

When James Cameron’s Alita: Battle Angel hit theaters in 2019, it brought Yukito Kishiro’s beloved manga to life in a dazzlingly ambitious way. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by Cameron, the film delivered a high-octane, cyberpunk adventure, complete with cutting-edge visuals and a story that fans fell in love with. Fans especially loved Rosa Salazar's portrayal of Alita, a cyborg getting through the dangerous Iron City, and the story left audiences hungry for more. But, five years later, the long-awaited sequel remains a "what if".

Despite its moderate box office success, Alita: Battle Angel has found a new surge in popularity on Netflix, where it climbed to the platform’s Global Top 10 charts in November 2024. The renewed interest shows that Alita's story still has many fans who love it. But with no concrete sequel plans on the horizon, fans are left wondering why Hollywood's best anime adaptation remains incomplete.

No part of the anime fandom is more universally disliked than live-action adaptations. Most live-action anime have ruined their source materials thanks to poor visuals and terrible mishandlings of the original stories, and in the case of projects like Cowboy Bebop and Dragonball Evolution, they’re regarded as not just terrible adaptations, but some of the worst movies and TV shows ever made, in general.

Live-action anime adaptations more than deserve their poor reputation, but that has improved in recent years. Between the visual spectacle of Battle Angel Alita and how effortlessly Netflix’s live-action One Piece handled its source material, some live-action anime adaptations have at least something that makes them worth watching, and because of that, there’s still plenty of reason for people to hope that live-action adaptations of their favorite anime will do their source material justice. That would really only apply to a select few anime,...

A quietly influential manga is continuing its ruminations on AI as Battle Angel Alita's mangaka Yukito Kishiro confirms a new series to debut in 2025. Emerging from the booming fascination with cybernetics and AI futures during the 1980s and 1990s, Battle Angel Alita is a dystopian journey in a distant future about an amnesiac cyborg who wakes up only remembering a form of martial arts instinctually, called Panzer Knst. Alita becomes a bounty hunter and joins up with different allies as part of a quest to discover her past.

Best described as a work of cyberpunk existentialism, Battle Angel Alita might ring most true with fans of Nier: Automata and its anime adaptation. Regarded as one of the best manga about AI, Battle Angel Alita was actually fairly short at only 124 chapters. However, it spawned a franchise set within the same universe which has been running strong (albeit with some...

James Cameron has been behind many legendary films, whether as a director, writer, or producer. In 2019, the James Cameron-produced Alita: Battle Angel premiered and is now finding new success on streaming.

Per Netflix, Alita: Battle Angel won the fight for the fourth spot in the Global Top 10 charts for the week of Nov. 11 and Nov 17. The cyberpunk film received 6.2 million views, with 12.7 million hours viewed. The numbers are even more exciting this week because Alita: Battle Angel entered the charts last week in sixth place with 4.2 million views and 8 million hours viewed.

Related Dark Comedy Horror With 89% Rotten Tomatoes Score Hits the Charts on Netflix 5 Years After Its Release

The popular comedy horror will receive a sequel.

Based on Yukito Kishiro's manga series Battle Angel Alita, the post-apocalyptic film follows an abandoned cyborg found by scientist Dr. Ido, who names her Alita, after his late daughter. As she wakes up,...