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Lord of War has gotten a major sequel update. The 2005 movie, which was written and directed by Andrew Niccol, stars Nicolas Cage, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan, Ian Holm, and Ethan Hawke. The Lord of War story is based on true events, following Yuri Orlov as he goes from being a restaurant owner to an arms trafficker. The sequel Lords of War has been announced, with Nosferatu's Bill Skarsgård reportedly set to executive produce the movie and star opposite Cage as Orlov's son, but it missed its planned Fall 2023 filming date.

Josh Horowitz recently interviewed Bill Skarsgård on an episode of Happy Sad Confused. During their wide-ranging conversation, the topic turned to Lords of War, which Skarsgård said is probably "happening next year," referring to 2025, as the interview was conducted in late 2024 during the Nosferatu press tour. He reflected that his character is "charismatic" but also a "f**king a**hole,...

When considering modern warfare, most Americans don't imagine an air-conditioned box in the middle of the Nevada desert, in which a soldier operates a drone from 7,400 miles away. That's because, thanks to technological advancements in weaponry, monitoring and destroying 'enemy' targets has become as easy as pressing a button on a video game controller. The 2014 war drama Good Kill, written and directed by Andrew Niccol, draws audiences into this world of drones and dread, presenting a labyrinth of moral dilemmas that are, frighteningly, all too real.

Ethan Hawke stars in the lead role of Air Force Major Tommy Egan, a far cry from his recent mastery of villainous characters. Egan is a pilot who has been reassigned as a drone operator during the War on Terror. At nighttime (daytime in Afghanistan), Egan travels from his suburban home with a wife and two kids to an isolated area where he pilots unmanned armed Mq-9 Reaper drones.

Directed by William Eubank from a script written by him and David Frigerio, Land of Bad provides an explosive approach to the war-action genre. The new war movie stars Liam Hemsworth as rookie Sergeant JJ "Playboy" Kinney, who joins a Delta Force team on a mission in the Philippines. But when the soldiers step into battle, the plan goes haywire, and it's up to drone pilot Captain Eddie "Reaper" Grimm (Russell Crowe) to get a stranded Kinney out from behind enemy lines. Land of Bad also stars Milo Ventimiglia, Ricky Whittle, and Luke Hemsworth.

Cbr met up with Eubank to discuss his latest film and how it took over a decade for it to materialize. The filmmaker discussed how the movie managed to pair up the Hemsworth brothers for the first time on the big screen, and how it was more challenging for them because of the familiarity of their relationship.

In late 2011, William Eubank took a job as second unit director of Allen Hughes’ Broken City. Hughes hired Eubank off of early footage from his feature directorial debut, Love (2011), which is a Kubrickian arthouse film that he made in collaboration with Tom DeLonge and his band Angels & Airwaves. The second-unit gig was especially meaningful because it not only landed Eubank his DGA card, but it also marked the beginning of his career-long trajectory with Broken City’s co-lead, Russell Crowe, who’s now leading his action-thriller, Land of Bad.

In 2016, while Crowe was on the promotional trail for Shane Black’s The Nice Guys, Eubank met up with him to discuss his now long-gestating fantasy actioner, World Breaker, however, despite Crowe’s interest at the time, the filmmaker was pulled away when Underwater got the green light from 20th Century Fox. A handful of years later, when Eubank revisited his...

There’s a particularly intense scene early on in the new war movie Land of Bad. A young soldier is faced with a difficult choice when it comes to breakfast: Fruit Loops or Frosted Flakes. He stares at the two boxes intently, turning them over to compare their nutritional content (or lack thereof). It’s practically a metaphor for the choices facing moviegoers at their local multiplex these days.

A prime example would be William Eubank’s action-thriller, which feels like a Michael Bay film if he faced budgetary restraints. But for all its familiar aspects, Land of Bad does have a few things going for it, namely the presence of not one but two Hemsworth brothers (sadly, though, Chris isn’t one of them) and Russell Crowe, who spends most of the movie sitting in a chair staring at a screen and manages to completely steal it anyway.

The...

The thoroughly dark world of Boston Teran comes to life in an exclusive God is a Bullet clip. The crime thriller centers on quiet and devout detective Bob Hightower as he embarks down a vicious rabbit hole to find the satanic cult that kidnapped his daughter after murdering his ex-wife and her new husband. Hightower has to turn to the sole escapee, Case, in the hopes of finding them before they disappear for good. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Maika Monroe lead the movie's star-studded cast that also includes Karl Glusman, Jamie Foxx, Jones, Ethan Suplee and Jonathan Tucker.

Ahead of its digital and on demand premiere, Screen Rant can present an exclusive God is a Bullet clip.

The video, as seen above, introduces audiences to Jones' Maureen Bacon, the unhappy wife of Paul Johansson's John Lee. The God is a Bullet clip picks up with the two in the midst of an argument,...

Nicolas Cage's true-story-based arms dealer is returning in Lords of War with a twist. Cage led the cast of the original 2005 crime drama as Yuri Orlov, loosely inspired by real-life smuggler Viktor Bout, as he finds himself confronted with the complicated morals of his work by his wife as well as an Interpol agent keen on bringing him down. Also starring Jared Leto, Ethan Hawke and Bridget Moynahan, Lord of War scored mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, who admired its subject matter, but found its execution to be scattershot.

While speaking exclusively with Screen Rant to discuss The Truman Show's 25th anniversary, Andrew Niccol shared some insight on the in-development Lords of War. The Oscar nominee acknowledged that the Nicolas Cage sequel is still in the early stages of development, but did share some insight for what's to come from the movie, namely the father-son dynamic to come from...

Almost 20 years after its theatrical release, “Lord of War” is getting a sequel. Vendôme Pictures (“Coda”) will reunite writer/director Andrew Niccol and Nicolas Cage for “Lords of War,” with Cage reprising as arms dealer Yuri Orlov. Bill Skarsgård, recently Pennywise in the two-part “It” adaptation and the heavy in “John Wick: Chapter 4,” will play his son.

Principal photography will begin in late 2023, with FilmNation Entertainment representing the international sales rights while introducing the film at the Cannes Film Festival. CAA Media Finance will handle the domestic rights. Philippe Rousselet and Fabrice Gianfermi, who produced the original, are producing under their Vendôme Pictures banner. Nicolas Cage, under his company, Saturn Films will also produce while Skarsgård is executive producing.

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In “Lords of War,” the infamous weapons merchant discovers he has...

Nicolas Cage will return to the shadowy world of illegal weapons sales, but this time, it’s become a family affair.

The Oscar-winning star will reunite with writer and director Andrew Niccol on “Lords Of War,” the sequel to their 2005 crime thriller, “Lord Of War.” Cage will reprise his role as morally compromised arms dealer Yuri Orlov with “It’s” Bill Skarsgård co-starring as his son, who is a chip off the old block. Vendôme Group is backing the project, which is set to begin principal photography in the fall of 2023.

FilmNation Entertainment will represent the international sales rights and introduce the film at the Cannes Film Festival, while CAA Media Finance will handle the domestic rights. Philippe Rousselet and Fabrice Gianfermi who produced the original are producing under their Vendôme Pictures banner, alongside Cage under his company, Saturn Films. Skarsgård is executive producing.

“Lords of War” finds Orlov (Cage...

Nicolas Cage and Bill Skarsgård are set to star in Lords of War, the sequel to Lord of War that reunites Coda producer Vendome Pictures with director Andrew Niccol.

Niccol will write and direct the sequel to his 2005 crime thriller Lord of War, with Cage reprising his role as arms dealer Yuri Orlov, and Skarsgård on board to play his son. In Lords of War, Orlov discovers he has a son, Anton, who is trying to top his father’s wrongs rather than stop them as he launches a mercenary army to fight America’s Middle East conflicts.

The sequel will shoot in fall 2023, with FilmNation Entertainment representing the international sales rights starting at the Cannes Film Festival. CAA Media Finance will handle the domestic rights.

Philippe Rousselet and Fabrice Gianfermi, who produced the original, are returning in the same role for Lords of War under their Vendôme Pictures banner,...

Nicolas Cage (Renfield) and writer-director Andrew Niccol (Anon) will reteam with Vendôme Pictures, the Academy Award winning studio behind Coda, on Lords of War — a sequel to the 2005 crime thriller Lord of War, which starred Cage as Yuri Orlov, a composite character based on numerous arms dealers.

Bill Skarsgård (John Wick: Chapter 4) is also on board to star as Orlov’s son, with FilmNation Entertainment to rep international sales and introduce the film at Cannes, and CAA Media Finance to handle domestic rights.

In Lords of War, Yuri Orlov (Cage), the world’s most notorious gunrunner, discovers he has a son, Anton (Skarsgård), who isn’t trying to right his father’s wrongs — he’s trying to top them. Not only selling guns but the “trigger pullers” too, Anton is amassing a mercenary army to fight America’s Middle East conflicts. This is the story of Yuri and Anton’s...

January Jones took aim at virtual auditions on Saturday, writing on her Instagram story, “Note to Hollywood: It’s time for casting directors to come back into the office like everyone else. To audition actors in person.”

The “Mad Men” star continued, “And if anyone asks for a Fee to audition please know that this is criminal and Pathetic. I personally have had to self tape several times since the pandemic began and there is zero benefit to it for anyone involved. It’s time consuming, expensive, and a drag to whomever you have to drag in to read with you (sorry Mom), and is often done with zero direction/notes.”

Since the pandemic, self-tapes have remained a common way for actors to audition for roles, rather than auditioning live in front of casting directors.

“I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for an actor just starting out...

Michael Cudlitz and Jake Abel and have signed on to star alongside Zhang Hanyu and Vivienne Tien (Be Yourself) in Unspoken, a dramatic feature from writer-director Daming Chen that is now in production.

Unspoken tells the story of Xu (Zhang), an estranged father separated from his deaf daughter and her new life at an American university, whose murder reunites them in a way neither could have foreseen. The tragedy pierces Xu with grief and guilt that he couldn’t be present to protect his child. An ex-cop himself, he becomes convinced the local authorities are pursuing the wrong suspect – and that racism is compromising the investigation.

With a young Chinese translator in tow (Tien), who is navigating her own challenging path as a young immigrant, Xu sets out to learn what really happened to his daughter.

Terrace Martin has announced the release of his new album, Drones, which arrives on Nov. 5 via Sounds of Crenshaw/BMG; it’s available for preorder. The set features Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Leon Bridges, Cordae, Ty Dolla $ign, among other artists.

Martin sings, plays saxophone, keys, and more instruments on the album. Additional collaborators include Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, Yg, James Fauntleroy, D Smoke, Channel Tres, Smino, Celeste, Malaya, Kim Burrell, and Hit-Boy. The lead single is “Leave Us Be.”

“There are touches of R&b, touches of jazz, touches of hip-hop,...

The planned film “They Are Us,” starring Rose Byrne as New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and centered on the Christchurch mosque shootings that took place in 2019, has been put on hold following unauthorized distribution of the script. Director Andrew Niccol shared a statement with New Zealand outlet Newshub that development would be paused after criticisms that the script, which he also wrote, was insensitive. (Via The Guardian.)

“I am deeply saddened by the pain caused to the families of the victims, due to the wrongful distribution of our draft script for ‘They Are Us.’ The script is far from final, and never intended to be shared with the affected members of the Muslim community at such an early stage,” Niccol said, adding that pre-production wouldn’t continue until there is “full consultation with New Zealand’s Muslim community has taken place.”

“The sole purpose of the script, which was released without permission,...

Exclusive: We have just learned that Zev Foreman has extended his contract as Entertainment One’s President of Production, Film. He will continue to oversee the day-to-day development and production of eOne’s global film slate and report to Nick Meyer, eOne’s President, Film. Foreman joined eOne in September 2018.

“Zev’s knowledge and trusted ability to work with filmmakers and talent have been an integral part of eOne’s success and the team and I are appreciative of his leadership of the department,” said Meyer. “As we continue to expand the scope, scale and number of films we develop and produce, Zev’s vast skillset will continue to be an important foundation in those efforts.”

Added Foreman: “I am proud to continue overseeing film production at eOne/Hasbro as we build out the rich Hasbro IP into branded film universes, while also celebrating unique stories and artists in making a diverse slate of films.

Angelique Kidjo, Yo La Tengo, Bill Frisell, and Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart are among the artists featuring on a 50th-anniversary musical tribute to beat poet Allen Ginsberg’s The Fall of America: Poems of These States 1965-1971.

Sonic Youth bandmates Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo, Andrew Bird, Devendra Banhart, Gavin Friday & Howie B, the Fugs’ Ed Sanders, and more also appear on the album, which boasts musical interpretations of poems from Ginsberg’s 1971 book; some tracks feature the late poet reciting his works accompanied by the new music.

“In...

Exclusive: Mad Men alumna January Jones is set to play a lead opposite Kaya Scodelario in Spinning Out, Netflix’s upcoming drama series set in the world of competitive figure skating.

Created by Samantha Stratton (Mr. Mercedes), a former competitive figure skater herself, Spinning Out centers on Kat Baker (Scodelario), an up-and-coming, high-level single skater who’s about to turn in her skates after a disastrous fall took her off the competition track. When Kat seizes an opportunity to continue her career as a pair skater with talented bad-boy partner Justin (Evan Roderick), she risks exposing a fiercely kept secret that could unravel her entire life. On and off the ice, Kat and Justin will face daunting odds, injury to body and soul, financial sacrifice, and even potential mental breakdown on their way to realizing their Olympic dream.

Jones will play Carol Baker, Kat (Scodelario) and Serena’s (Willow Shields) mother.

Zev Foreman, whose credits include executive producing “Dallas Buyers Club,” has joined Entertainment One as president of film production.

Foreman will oversee the day-to-day development and production of eOne’s global film slate. He will report to Nick Meyer, eOne’s president of film.

“Zev’s industry experience and understanding of where the global filmed entertainment marketplace is going will be a key component as we continue to expand our film financing and producing footprint,” Meyer said. “I look forward to integrating Zev into the eOne team and tapping into both his taste and leadership to help us continue to position eOne as a prime destination for talent and content creators.”

Foreman also has credits on “Killer Joe,” “Good Kill,” and “Colossal.” He was president of production at Voltage Pictures, where he oversaw a slate spanning more than 20 titles for eight years. As a director at financier Grosvenor Park, he...

Credits include Dallas Buyers Club, The Hurt Locker, Colossal.

Former Voltage Pictures production chief Zev Foreman has joined eOne as president of production.

Foreman will report to eOne’s president of film Nick Meyer, who himself recently joined the company as president of film when it acquired the remaining stake in Meyer and Marc Schaberg’s Sierra Pictures earlier this summer. The new structure integrates Meyer’s team and what was formerly known as The Mark Gordon Company and Sierra Pictures.

At Voltage Pictures, Foreman oversaw a slate spanning more than 20 titles for eight years, among them Killer Joe, Dallas Buyers Club,...

Arrow Films’ Tom Stewart leaves the company after eight years.

Tom Stewart, the acquisitions director of Arrow Films, has made a surprise exit from the company.

Arrow is understood to be re-thinking its strategy and moving away from high-end TV drama and theatrical releasing.

Stewart had spearheaded the company’s push into theatrical distribution after joining the company eight years ago when it was primarily a specialist video outfit relying on catalogue titles.

He oversaw the release of independent arthouse pick-ups including David Mackenzie’s Perfect Sense, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, Susanne Bier’s Love Is All You Need,...

Arrow Films’ Tom Stewart leaves the company after eight years

Tom Stewart, the acquisitions director of Arrows Films, has made a surprise exit from the company.

Arrow is understood to be re-thinking its strategy and moving away from high-end TV drama and theatrical releasing.

Stewart had spearheaded the company’s push into theatrical distribution after joining the company eight years ago when it was primarily a specialist video outfit relying on catalogue titles.

He oversaw the release of independent arthouse pick-ups including David Mackenzie’s Perfect Sense, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, Susanne Bier’s Love Is All You Need,...

If you’re a fan of cinema, chances are, you’re also a fan of Ethan Hawke. The multi-hyphenate actor/writer/director has made a career out of exploring interesting avenues. As stated once before in a look at the man, there seems to be almost nothing that Hawke can not do. He’s directed films (including a documentary), written novels, starred in tiny indies, large scale movies, and everything in between. He’s likely best known for his collaborations with Richard Linklater, but they hardly define the man. A four time Academy Award nominee, he’s a perfect candidate for a Spotlight piece. After all, if he ever gets to a fifth Oscar nomination without a win, he’ll be hugely overdue for a statue. Hawke’s new film is, of course, First Reformed, which pairs him with filmmaker Paul Schrader. The movie is described cryptically as follows on...

MaryAnn’s quick take… This sci-fi riff on the end of privacy is not as provocative as it would like to be, and its mystery completely falls apart in the end. But its visual worldbuilding is fascinating. I’m “biast” (pro): love Clive Owen; love some of what Andrew Niccol has done; big science fiction fan

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto) women’s participation in this film

(learn more about this)

In the not-too-distant future, privacy has been eliminated via neural implants that absolutely everyone has. Your “Mind’s Eye” records everything you see and hear and stores it in “the Ether” for you to revisit later or share with friends; the system also offers a kind of mega-augmented reality that layers pop-up IDs over everyone you see, as well as, naturally, advertising on many surfaces and shopping links...

Technology and social issues are no strangers to writer/director Andrew Niccol, a filmmaker who has dabbled with these issues previously in Gattaca, Good Kill even The Truman Show. Niccol visits the themes of privacy and security with a stylistic tone adding a modern crime thriller noir element to smooth out the edges; no matter how slick it looks to the eye there is no glossing over the fact this low budget offering is cold-heartedly flawed.

Set in a future where digital information on each individual is readily available at the blink of an eye. Clive Owen takes on the role of Sal Frieland, a sharp-suited, divorced, hard-drinking detective with his own deep-seated issues surrounding the loss of his son. In Niccol’s future, every minor move we make, thought we have, memory we create and crime we commit is digitally stored in The Ether, a data storage system we access through our own being.

Exclusive: Dayo Okeniyi, best known for his role in The Hunger Games as well as NBC’s Shades of Blue, has been tapped as the lead in Emperor, a Civil War-era historical drama from Sobini Films. Former Lionsgate exec and Sobini founder Mark Amin is directing the pic.

Written by Amin and Pat Charles, the screenplay is inspired by the story of Shields Green who, in 1859, escaped from a plantation and made a daring journey north where he met Frederick Douglass and John Brown. With the opportunity to continue to freedom in Canada, Green instead chose to fight to end slavery. The raid at Harpers Ferry is considered one of the sparks that led to the Civil War.

Reginald Hudlin is producing the project via Hudlin Entertainment alongside Amin and Cami Winikoff for Sobini, while Tyler Boehm will serve executive producer. Filming is expected to commence in June in Savannah,...

Netflix has released a trailer for Anon. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol (In Time), the upcoming thriller takes place where anonymity and privacy have largely vanished, and you can get all the info you need from someone by just a glance. Clive Owen plays a Sal Frieland, a detective whose eyeball tech gets hacked and must rely on the help of a young woman known only as the Girl (Amanda Seyfried). Watching this trailer, it looks like Niccol made a lazy, half-assed Black Mirror episode. Like his recent film Good Kill, it seems like Niccol only rides on …...

“Gattaca” and “In Time” director Andrew Niccol is sticking with the science-fiction genre in his upcoming feature, “Anon.” The high-concept thriller is set in a world where the government has eliminated privacy, which has resulted in total government surveillance on the public and de facto self-censorship. Clive Owen plays a police officer who becomes the target of a hacker named The Girl (Amanda Seyfried).

“Anon” marks a reunion between Seyfried and Niccol after “In Time” in 2011. The director’s last release, “Good Kill,” starred Ethan Hawke and premiered at the 2014 Venice Film Festival. “Anon” made headlines at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival when Netflix purchased U.S. and some foreign rights to the title for $4 million.

The streaming giant has not issued a release date for the film, but Altitude Films will be opening “Anon” in U.K. theaters May 11. The distributor has released an official trailer below.

The first trailer has been released for Andrew Niccol's upcoming sci-fi thriller Anon and it looks great! For those of you who aren't familiar with Niccol's work, he previously brought us films such as Gattaca, Lord of War, In Time, and Good Kill. I've enjoyed the films that he's made and this could be one of his better movies. The story is set in the near-future, there is no privacy or anonymity, where even private memories are recorded in an effort to cut down on crime. The movie stars Clive Owen and Amanda Seyfried and this is the synopsis:

The story is set in a Soviet-style near-future where the government is trying to fight crime by eliminating privacy, thus creating total surveillance and de facto self-censorship. A police officer named Sal Frieland (Clive Owen) is a tough cop who is doing his best to fight crime in his city.

"Anonymity is the enemy." A trailer has launched from Greece for the new sci-fi film Anon, the latest from one of my favorite sci-fi filmmakers - Andrew Niccol, who last made The Host and Good Kill. The film is about a near-future where there is no privacy or anonymity, where even private memories are recorded in an effort to cut down on crime. Clive Owen plays a cop investigating a series of unsolved murders, who meets a hacker woman known as "The Girl", played by Amanda Seyfried. She has no identity, no history and no record. What he learns from her changes everything. Also starring Colm Feore, Sonya Walger, Mark O'Brien, Joe Pingue, Iddo Goldberg, and Sebastian Pigott. Why does Seyfried look so like anyone but herself? This seems to be a slick sci-fi neo-noir. I'm always curious about Niccol's films, will be watching it. Here's the first international trailer for Andrew Niccol's Anon,...

Ryan Lambie Feb 28, 2018

Gattaca director Andrew Niccol has a new sci-fi movie on the way: Anon, starring Amanda Seyfried and Clive Owen...

Great news everyone: Andrew Niccol has a new film on the way. If the name doesn't sound familiar, then he's the filmmaker behind The Truman Show (which he wrote) and the wonderful Gattaca - a film we absolutely do not go on about at tedious length whenever we get the chance.

See related Voltron season 5: first trailer

Not all of Niccol's films strike box-office gold, but there's always something interesting going on in them. In Time wasn't in Gattaca's league, but it still made for a diverting sci-fi twist on Bonnie And Clyde. The writer-director's most decent film, Good Kill, was a quite underrated thriller about drone warfare - Ethan Hawke's leading performance alone made it good value.

All of which explains our enthusiasm for Anon: Niccol's next movie which,...

Roger Deakins, Asc, Bsc claimed the coveted Theatrical Award for best cinematography in a motion picture for his work on “Blade Runner 2049” at the 32nd Annual American Society of Cinematographers (Asc) Awards for Outstanding Achievement. Mart Taniel, Esc was given the Spotlight Award for “November.” In the TV categories, winners included Adriano Goldman, Asc, ABC for “The Crown;” Boris Mojsovski, Csc for “12 Monkeys;” and Mathias Herndl, Aac for “Genius.” The awards ceremony took place tonight in the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland. The complete list of winners and nominees follows: Theatrical Release Category (presented by Emmanuel Lubezki, Asc, AMC and Matthew Libatique, Asc) Roger Deakins, Asc, Bsc for “Blade Runner 2049” – Winner Bruno Delbonnel, Asc, Afc for “Darkest Hour” Hoyte van Hoytema, Asc, Fsf, Nsc for “Dunkirk” Dan Laustsen, Asc, Dff for “The Shape of Water” Rachel Morrison, Asc for “Mudbound” Spotlight Award Category (presented by John Bailey,...

“Game of Thrones” has never won an Emmy for its lensing, but it has won three awards from the American Society of Cinematographers, which shares members with the cinematographers’ branch of the TV academy. This fantasy series is a two-time nominee at this year’s Asc Awards, which will be handed out on Feb. 17. Click through our gallery of screenshots from all 15 episodes nominated in the three television categories this year, supplemented with each nominee’s awards history and odds to win.

“The Crown” contends for the same episode that was in the running at last summer’s Emmys. It lost then to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which was snubbed by the Asc, despite being eligible in an additional category: Best Movie/Mini/Pilot Cinematography.

“The Crown” and “The Man in the High Castle” are the only dramas that were nominated for their cinematography at the most recent Emmys that...

“Game of Thrones” has never won an Emmy for its lensing, but it has won three awards from the American Society of Cinematographers, which shares members with the cinematographers’ branch of the TV academy. This fantasy series is a two-time nominee at this year’s Asc Awards, which will be handed out on Feb. 17.

“The Crown” contends for the same episode that was in the running at last summer’s Emmys. It lost then to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which was shut out by the Asc, despite being eligible in an additional category: Best Movie/Mini/Pilot Cinematography.

“The Crown” and “The Man in the High Castle” are the only dramas that were nominated for their cinematography at the most recent Emmys that are also up for Asc Awards this year; all seven series were eligible. The omissions of popular Emmy nominees like “Stranger Things” and “Westworld” cannot quite be counted as “snubs,...

A few weeks before movie goers are immersed in Christopher Nolan’s recreation of one of the greatest World War II battles with Dunkirk, and a few days before a certain Amazonian princess and her sisters join the fight in the previous world war, this new film takes a look at modern warfare. Much as with the recent films like 2014’s Good Kill and last year’s critically lauded Eye In The Sky, this new work focuses on a way of combat that’s, for want of a better word, impersonal. You don’t have to breathe in the same air as your enemy, you don’t ever have to set foot on the battlefield. You can sit in an air-conditioned office or cubicle, sip a cool drink while watching a near silent video transmission on your monitor. Killing is much more civilized (?), when you’re pushing a few buttons and command a Drone.

War may indeed be hell, but for some people, it’s considerably less hellish than others. That’s the moral of “Drone,” a new thriller about a white collar drone pilot who lives a comfortable life far away from the violence he rains down on other countries. Part psychological thriller and part military drama, “Drone” joins Andrew Niccol‘s 2014 film “Good Kill” among a new wave of movies discussing the morality of modern warfare.

Continue reading Sean Bean Contemplates The Morality Of Modern Warfare In The First ‘Drone’ Trailer at The Playlist.

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

The Bfg (Steven Spielberg)

CGI loses the day in Steven Spielberg’s The Bfg, a partly motion-captured, eco-minded adaptation of Roald Dahl’s adored children’s book that leans so heavily on green-screen trickery that even Mark Rylance’s kind eyes — squinting out from that computer-generated abyss — can’t save it from mediocrity. The plotline of a friendly, dream-blowing giant who takes an orphaned girl under his wing has...

Helen Mirren is formidable in a smart tale of modern warfare, but Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt are the only good thing about a flaccid fantasy sequel

Last year, Ethan Hawke and director Andrew Niccol thoughtfully took on drone warfare in Good Kill and audiences shrugged. Similar in scope and sentiment, Gavid Hood’s Eye in the Sky (eOne, 15) was a grown-up hit this spring. It’s not appreciably a better film, but call it the Helen Mirren effect: her brisk gravitas is a brand in itself and she’s on familiarly formidable form here as a British colonel commanding a missile attack on a Nairobi terrorist safehouse. Mirren’s character is merely one cog, however, in the heaving, not wholly effective international machine of modern remote warfare. From the American drone pilot (Aaron Paul) in Nevada to the Kenyan field agent (Barkhad Abdi) on the scene to a distracted...

Much like Good Kill before it, Gavin Hood served up a pulse-pounding and, crucially, thought-provoking thriller in last year’s Eye in the Sky, placing Helen Mirren in the shoes of a conflicted Colonel who is thrust into a moral conundrum upon overseeing a drone strike in Kenya.

Joined by a stellar supporting cast that boasts Aaron Paul, the late, great Alan Rickman, Barkhad Abdi, Jeremy Northam, Iain Glen and Phoebe Fox, Eye in the Sky is part of a growing trend of drone warfare movies in the works, with the Anne Hathaway-fronted Grounded still to come.

But long before that adaptation zooms into theaters, Eye in the Sky will be launching across Blu-ray and DVD on June 28. To celebrate its arrival, We Got This Covered has one Blu-ray copy of the thriller to give away.

And so, to be in with a chance of winning, simply subscribe to...

Jason Bourque’s upcoming political thriller Drone has found its two leading stars in Patrick Sabongui and Game of Thrones alum Sean Bean, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Pulled from the same creative well as Good Kill, Eye in the Sky and even the Anne Hathaway-fronted Grounded, Drone is pitched as a new, contemporary drama revolving around drone warfare in the States and overseas, delving into moral dilemmas and pertinent, button-pressing questions in the process.

With Myriad Pictures already poised to introduce Bourque’s movie to buyers later this week at Cannes, the wheels are already in motion on the director’s awards-friendly feature. Penned by Bourque himself along with screenwriter Paul Birkett, Drone sees Bean play the role of a “high-level private drone contractor who spends his workdays flying covert missions then returns to a family life of suburban mediocrity. Not even Neil’s wife or his son know about his secret life.

Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) is planning on bringing her most recent stage success to the big screen, in a film adaptation of the George Brant play, Grounded. Having headlined the theatre production in New York to great acclaim in 2015 – under the direction of Julie Taymor (Frida) – Hathaway has snapped up the rights to the material, and will produce and star in the movie version.

It is a topical story, that has yet to have a director attached – but it will see the playwright, George Brant, adapt his own script. It tells the tale of a female fighter pilot and veteran of the Iraq War, and the drastic change that occurs when she is grounded due to her pregnancy. Reassigned to sit in a trailer day after day, piloting remote-controlled drones to drop bombs on anonymous targets overseas, the unnamed woman lives a life of two halves. One is her day job,...

Calling for a national conversation that we ought to be having on the use of lethal force, National Bird considers all sides of the program, from those pulling the trigger from remote facilities to the collateral damage on the ground. Directed by Sonia Kennebeck, National Bird tells three interconnected stories, some of which are linked by defense attorney Jesselyn Radack, famed for her work with whistleblowers including Edward Snowden.

Heather is a combat vet and drone pilot who finds herself in an uncomfortable position: unable to get the help she needs, she speaks out, finding herself branded a traitor when she makes certain unclassified information public about the drone program. Suffering from Ptsd, she finds herself in an unfortunate maze when she seeks mental health services. She can only talk to a counselor with a security clearance and she can only talk with one of those approved for services through the Va.

Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman star in Gavin Hood’s tense thriller exploring the ethics of drone strikes

The peculiarly disengaged nature of modern warfare has been explored in several recent dramas, from Rick Rosenthal’s 2013 thriller Drones to Andrew Niccol’s more celebrated 2014 drama Good Kill. Here, the South African director Gavin Hood assembles an A-list ensemble cast (including Alan Rickman in his last on-screen role) for a provocatively tense thriller that negotiates the moral minefields of its thorny subject matter in crowd-pleasing fashion.

The premise finds geographically disparate players, linked by phones and video screens, arguing the pros and cons of an ongoing drone operation that is unfolding in what feels like real time. While the set-up may be melodramatically contrived, weighing the cost of collateral damage – in this case, an innocent girl’s life against the prospect of multiple terrorist deaths – the result is still impressively ambivalent...

Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman star in Gavin Hood’s tense thriller exploring the ethics of drone strikes

The peculiarly disengaged nature of modern warfare has been explored in several recent dramas, from Rick Rosenthal’s 2013 thriller Drones to Andrew Niccol’s more celebrated 2014 drama Good Kill. Here, the South African director Gavin Hood assembles an A-list ensemble cast (including Alan Rickman in his last on-screen role) for a provocatively tense thriller that negotiates the moral minefields of its thorny subject matter in crowd-pleasing fashion.

The premise finds geographically disparate players, linked by phones and video screens, arguing the pros and cons of an ongoing drone operation that is unfolding in what feels like real time. While the set-up may be melodramatically contrived, weighing the cost of collateral damage – in this case, an innocent girl’s life against the prospect of multiple terrorist deaths – the result is still impressively ambivalent...

As entertaining on an escapist level as it is irrefutably engaging on a level that is essential for citizens who are players in our political environment. I’m “biast” (pro): love the cast

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

This is warfare today. It’s a colonel in a bunker in outer London (surrounded by computers) and a general in an office building in Whitehall (surrounded by politicians) and a drone pilot in Las Vegas (flying a robot armed with missiles and also, more importantly, with cameras, from thousands of miles away) and a facial-recognition technician at a workstation in Pearl Harbor and an agent of the Kenyan military on the ground in Nairobi collaborating in an operation to capture most-wanted terrorists in a civilian suburban neighborhood in a country that neither the Us nor the UK is at war with.

Eye in the Sky, starring Helen Mirren, London Has Fallen and Good Kill explore the mayhem unleashed by military drones. But can Hollywood navigate the issues without fetishising the weapons?

The missile met the newlyweds on the dancefloor. It killed dozens of their guests, but it was invited by only one: Aamir Barkawi, the father of the bride, who was targeted by an American Uav – an unmanned aerial vehicle (Aka a drone). Barkawi is a Pakistani arms dealer and a ruthless terrorist. He’s also the capital-b Baddie of London Has Fallen, the Gerard Butler action flick in which debate about the ethics of drone warfare is the first casualty.

Gung-ho, dumb and determinist, London Has Fallen rips its inspiration from the real world. In November 2008, a Us airstrike on the Taliban in Wech Bagtu, in the southern province of Kandahar, killed 37 civilians at a wedding party, while 12 were killed...

• only 22% of 2015’s movies had female protagonists

• best and worst representations of women on film in 2015 (and the average Watw score for the year)

• critics are slightly more likely to rate a film highly if it represents women well

• mainstream moviegoers are not turned off by films with female protagonists

• movies that represent women well are just as likely to be profitable as movies that don’t, and are less risky as business propositions

The Where Are the Women? project was designed to drill deep down into the films of 2015 in order to determine how well — or how poorly — they represented women. The project has now come to its end, and you can examine the final ranking here. The ranking includes 270 films released in the Us, Canada, and the UK, in both limited and wide release (including every wide-release North American film and most of the UK wide-release films). The...

Gavin Hood’s Eye in the Sky is not the first film to have studiously scrutinised over the role of the pilots in charge of drones, dropping bombs and nullifying targets across the world during the war on terror. Good Kill, starring Ethan Hawke, was the other – but it’s this latest exploration that is the

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Helen Mirren and the late Alan Rickman star in the superb drone drama, Eye In The Sky. Here’s Ryan’s review...

If the nuclear bomb was the great fear-inducing topic of the 20th century, then drone warfare is surely its equivalent in the 21st. Movies as mainstream as Captain America: Civil War and Jose Padhila’s RoboCop remake have dealt with the subject in a sci-fi context; Andrew Niccol’s claustrophobic Good Kill, starring Ethan Hawke, explored the psychological impact of remote strikes on the American pilot tasked with pulling the trigger.

Directed by Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ender’s Game), Eye In The Sky is an ensemble drama-thriller which ambitiously tries to tackle drone warfare from multiple angles: the various levels of politicians, generals and soldiers who authorise the use of missile strikes on targets thousands of miles away, and the spies, would-be...

Cara Delevingne and Chronicle breakout Dane DeHaan are ready to cross the City of a Thousand Planets in today’s first action shot of Luc Besson’s big-budget science fiction flick, Valerian.

Donning futuristic battle suits, the pair are primed to headline the 2017 tentpole as Laureline (Delevingne) and Valérian (DeHann), tasked with defending “a utopian 28th century Earth and its neighboring planets from bad guys, with the pair’s adventures rooted in space opera and time travel themes.”

Much of Besson’s space opera will orbit around the planet of Syrte, where Delevingne and DeHaan’s space agents find themselves caught between intergalactic unrest. Deep down, their mission involves safeguarding the interests of the human species – be that in the form of space rescue missions or negotiating strange aliens from far-flung planets – though Valerian‘s real mission will be to craft a compelling universe, lest it go down as 2017’s Jupiter Ascending.