Director Danny Boyle has championed some unique stories into films, including 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, and Trainspotting. His 2019 film Yesterdayfit into this grouping nicely, a very British story about a singer/songwriter named Jack, played by Himesh Patel (The Aeronauts), who encounters a miracle of sorts: a solar event that changes several aspects of the world. The key change? The world never knew a band called The Beatles. But the twist is only Jack can remember The Beatles. It’s a goodhearted drama with a dose of comedy and a bit of a love story. It’s also science fiction. Yesterday is now streaming on HBO Max, along with other digital streaming platforms.
A few big names are coming to theaters with throwbacks of a sort this summer, including Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway and Screen Actors Guild Award winner Lily James. This summer the second adaptation of the 1964 comedy Bedtime Story comes to theaters, followed by a comedic take on the alternate history genre featuring the music of The Beatles.
The Hustlefinds Hathaway taking on a role previously played by both David Niven and Michael Caine, with Rebel Wilson filling the shoes of a role played by both Marlon Brando and Steve Martin. Doctor Who and Veep’s Chris Addison directs The Hustle, remaking both 1988’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and 1964’s Bedtime Story. The comedy also stars Doctor Who‘s Osgood, Ingrid Oliver, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’Tim Blake Nelson, revisiting the story of a chance encounter between two con artists with strikingly different styles. It’s coming to theaters this May.
A month later Academy Award winning director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later, Trainspotting) releases his next film, Yesterday, starring Himesh Patel(EastEnders) as a struggling singer who awakens one day to learn he is the only person that has ever heard of The Beatles and their music. This parallel universe divergence allows him to introduce and become famous today for all of The Beatles songs as his own, to not surprisingly huge success. Yesterday co-stars Lily James(Baby Driver, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Downton Abbey),Ana de Armas(Blade Runner 2049),James Corden (Doctor Who, Ocean’s 8), Ed Sheeran(The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), and Kate McKinnon(Ghostbusters, Ferdinand).
Here are trailers for both The Hustle and Yesterday:
True Lies, Spies Like Us, Top Secret, Get Smart, Austin Powers, RED, Our Man Flint, Hopscotch, Central Intelligence, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, The Tuxedo, Kingsman, and the original Casino Royale. The history of movies is not lacking in the spy comedy mash-up genre, but there’s always room for another. Mila Kunis(Black Swan, Ted, Jupiter Ascending, That ’70s Show) and Kate McKinnon (Ghostbusters, Ted 2, Ferdinand, Saturday Night Live) star with the queen of spy fare, The X-Files’ own Gillian Anderson in director Susanna Fogel‘s Fall 2018 theatrical release, TheSpy Who Dumped Me. Lionsgate Films revealed the first full trailer for the film this weekend.
Producer Brian Grazer (Spies Like Us, Housesitter, Night Shift, Apollo 13, Splash, A Beautiful Mind) seems to have pulled out all the stops to give this the full look and feel of a serious spy movie, with cinematography by action and comedy veteran Barry Peterson(Central Intelligence, 21/22 Jump Street, Zoolander, Starsky and Hutch, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), production design by Marc Homes (Skyfall, Kick Ass, V for Vendetta, Aeon Flux, Prince of Persia, Game of Thrones, Robin Hood, X-Men: First Class, Prometheus, The Martian), art director Nic Pallace(24: Live Another Day, Mr. Selfridge, Broadchurch), and a musical score by energy-revving maestro Tyler Bates (John Wick, Deadpool 2, The Punisher, Guardians of the Galaxy, Watchmen, 300, Halloween, Sucker Punch).
A portion of the serving of big-screen badass from this movie will be dished out by Ukrainian actor Ivanna Sakhno(Pacific Rim: Uprising) as assassin/spy Nadedja (Kunis originally hails from Ukraine, too).
Here’s the first full-length trailer for the new spy comedy, The Spy Who Dumped Me:
A fantastic animated movie is heading to theaters this week that your family is not going to want to miss, and (assuming you’re already planning to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi) if you see only two movies over the holidays you’ll want to make sure this is one of them. Once referred to as the greatest children’s book since Winnie the Pooh, the 1936 internationally successful The Story of Ferdinand has finally been adapted into a full-length animated film. It is the real deal–a classic animated movie in the tradition of Pinocchio, Bambi, Snow White, The Jungle Book, Tarzan, and Beauty and the Beast, possibly the best film in decades to merit inclusion among these cinema greats, with a level of animation that may have you thinking of the Aardman stop-action films because of its quality 3D animation. The 32-page original story written by Munro Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson has been expanded into a larger story with new characters like many popular children’s books–think Dumbo the Flying Elephant, The Polar Express, and The Night at the Museum–remaining completely loyal to the original story.
Ferdinand tells the story of a rural Spanish bull (voiced by actor/WWE wrestler John Cena) who is not interested in growing up like other bulls to fight a matador in the giant arena in Madrid. He leaves his farm and is adopted by a man and his daughter, where he spends his days smelling (and caring for) flowers on the hillside. He eventually grows to be a giant bull, larger than any bull around, and a mishap bee sting lands Ferdinand back at the farm with the bulls he grew up with. They, too, have grown up: Valiente, a stubborn, angry bull (voiced by Ant-Man’s Bobby Cannavale), a small bull named Bones (voiced by Law and Order’s Anthony Anderson), Guapo, a show-off bull (voiced by NFL football player Peyton Manning), an engineered super bull named Machina, and a Scottish Highlander named Angus (voiced by Doctor Who’s David Tennant). Law and Order’s Jeremy Sisto provides the voice of Ferdinand’s father and Jerrod Carmichael (Transformer: The Last Knight) is the voice of the dog, Paco. Soon an ambitious goat (voiced by Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon) befriends Ferdinand as Ferdinand learns what it means to be seen by everyone as a “monstrous” bull again.
Ferdinand has it all, at its core a story about an individual who stays true to himself, beautiful scenery, some fun and familiar voice actors, a complex villain, an outstanding musical score with great songs, and powerful themes. Brazilian director Carlos Saldanha, who directed the Ice Age films and Rio, demonstrates his mastery of cutting edge animation, with a screenplay that creates several subplots that all get nicely tied up by film’s end. The soundtrack includes songs from Smash Mouth, Green Day, Shakira, Ed Sheeran, and many more. Prolific composer John Powell (The Italian Job, Shrek, The Bourne Identity, Paycheck, X-Men: The Last Stand, and next year’s Solo: A Star Wars Story) offers up a musical score that includes all you’d hope for in a Spanish story, incorporating a variety of styles and instrumentation.
This year one of the world’s best children’s books will come to life as author Munro Leaf and artist Robert Lawson’s 1936 book The Story of Ferdinand is adapted for the big screen as Blue Sky Studios’ Ferdinand. Life magazine once called Ferdinand, “the greatest juvenile classic since Winnie the Pooh”.The Story of Ferdinand even outsold Gone With the Wind to be 1938’s number one bestseller.
Ferdinand is a bull in rural Spain, a pacifist who only wishes to enjoy the idyllic life and smell the flowers in the pasture. But he is thrust into the world of bullfighting because he is seen as an enormous, fierce creature.
John Cena (Psych, Parks and Recreation) stars as the voice of Ferdinand, with co-stars Kate McKinnon (Ghostbusters 2016), David Tennant (Doctor Who), and Anthony Anderson (Law and Order). So far we’ve seen nothing but great films from Blue Sky Studios, like Titan A.E., the Ice Age series, Rio, and The Peanuts Movie. These are the same guys that created computer animation for Alien: Resurrection and Star Trek: Insurrection.
So here it is. Maybe not the sequel fans of the classic all hoped for, but with the passing of the great Harold Ramis any sequel with the original team in their original roles was out the window. Much has been written about this reboot, and many questions. Is it just a redux with women instead of men, complete with a nerdy glasses-wearing team member, a street smart African American fourth team member, and a hearse as the Ecto-1? Is there anything new that Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and current Saturday Night Live regulars Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones have to show us about this story?
Maybe it’s not going to be a movie for the loyalists to the original. But for fans of these comediennes it’s not going to matter. These actresses are putting on the proton packs, and they’re going to get slimed and have fun along the way, like all the actors who have donned costumes in recent reboots like JJ Abrams’ Star Trek and Star Wars. This new Ghostbusters will be no different than those attempts to blend the past and present.
Screen-used costumes and proton pack prop from the new film.
In the first full trailer from the studio, Melissa McCarthy looks like she’s going to steal the show. She always has that laugh-out-loud humor that leaves everyone rolling. For those loyalists, look for cameos in roles different than their originals for Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts, Sigourney Weaver, and Ernie Hudson. Rick Moranis took a pass on participating in this new venture.
Check out this new trailer for Ghostbusters from Sony Pictures:
