Netflix removed most of the films in its “Palestinian Stories” collection. In Israel, however, the entire landing page was nuked.

Sammo Hung is a legend in martial arts and kung fu cinema, playing many different roles as an actor and also producing, directing, and choreographing fight sequences, setting the trend on many aspects of the genre overall. He was a pivotal figure in the Hong Kong New Wave movement, creating some of the best kung fu films of the 1980s, popularizing the kung fu genre to a larger, international audience with his focus on clever stories, dramatic narratives, and more Western-style action and special effects, as well as other technical aspects, like synchronous sound and filming movies on different locations.

Whether in front of the camera or behind it, Sammo has left his mark on the culture of martial arts cinema. Films like The Prodigal Son and Pedicab Driver are landmarks in their genre, with stand-out acting, storytelling, and fight scenes that are as iconic today as they were back then. Even 50 years later, Sammo's work is still held in high regard, and his ability to mix comedy and action blazed the trail for many future stars to come. An icon of kung fu cinema and cinema in general, Sammo's influence has created some of the best action films of all time.

1. The Prodigal Son (1981)
2. Pedicab Driver (1989)
3. Warriors Two (1978)
4. Painted Faces (1988)
5. Project A (1983)
6. IP Man 2 (2010)
7. Dragons Forever (1988)
8. Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1988)
9. Knockabout (1979)
10. Eastern Condors (1984)

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19132374

Filming has already wrapped on Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later, the long-awaited sequel to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later that intends to launch a brand new trilogy. In fact, Ralph Fiennes spills the beans in a chat with IndieWire that the first TWO movies have been shot!

Fiennes also served up some plot details for 28 Years Later that were previously under wraps.

He tells the outlet, “Britain is 28 years into this terrible plague of infected people who are violent, rabid humans with a few pockets of uninfected communities. And it centers on a young boy who wants to find a doctor to help his dying mother. He leads his mother through this beautiful northern English terrain. But of course, around them hiding in forests and hills and woods are the infected. But he finds a doctor who is a man we might think is going to be weird and odd, but actually is a force for good.”

That doctor, you might have guessed, is played by Ralph Fiennes.

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28 Years Later arrives in theaters on June 20, 2025 from Sony

One of Martin Lawrence's biggest hit movies as a solo star is going to get a sequel, with Sony announcing Blue Streak 2 is in the works.

There is another disturbance in the Force. Screenwriter Steven Knight has departed the “Star Wars” movie set to follow Daisy Ridley’s Rey after the events of 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”

In March 2023, Variety exclusively reported that Knight had signed onto the project, replacing original screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson. Lucasfilm is actively talking with potential writers to take on the story, which has been said to chronicle Rey’s efforts to start a new Jedi Academy, but the delay likely means production won’t start until well into 2025 at least.

Warner Bros. Motion Pictures Group has won the feature film adaptation package of Saltburn filmmaker’s Emerald Fennell take on Wuthering Heights.

Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are attached to star in the feature project, which hails from MRC and generated intense interest from streamers and studios and a bidding war. Warners won out partially due to its commitment to launching Heights theatrically worldwide.

Interview highlights (Speed 3 comment was just a joke.)

Alien: Romulus was supposed to go straight to streaming, but that changed right before filming. So what prompted that change?

It was started as a streaming movie because we started development when we were in COVID and it wasn’t clear what our strategy was going to be theatrical or streaming. At the time we had different sorts of budget categories for streaming, which we were always circumspect about not wanting to spend too much money on streaming movies. We didn’t know quite yet how they would perform based on the metrics. And the truth is we started it hoping that theatrical would return to some measure of normal. But we made that film and, frankly, every other film we’ve made for streaming, with the same care and curation as we do our theatrical movies.

What’s the next step for Alien?

We’re working on a sequel idea now. We haven’t quite closed our deal with Fede [Alvarez], but we are going to, and he has an idea that we’re working on. The two survivors, Rain and Andy, played by Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson, were real highlights of the film. And so I always think of it like, “Wow, where do people want to see them go next?” We know there’s going to be aliens. We know there’s going to be great horror set pieces. But I fell in love with both of them and I want to see what their story is.

A Master and Commander prequel?

I’m trying so hard. It’s the first movie I worked on at Fox twenty years ago. We have a great script. It just needs the right director.

Here’s a big one. Will the next Predator movie get a theatrical release? [Editors note: this conversation took place before Disney dated Predator: Badlands for a 2025 release in theaters.]

Yes. And no.

You’re killing me here.

Yes, a Predator movie will have a theatrical. I’ll tell you very simply. After Prey became a success, Dan [Trachtenberg] came back and said he didn’t want to do Prey 2. And we’re like, “What do you want to do?” And he rattled off a bunch of ideas that were really crazy but really cool. We’ve actually done two of them. Two are coming out next year. One I can’t talk about yet, but the other one is the live-action Predator film with Elle Fanning that just wrapped in New Zealand. That’ll be out theatrically sometime next year.

You’re blowing my mind. Let’s tackle this one at time. One Predator movie is coming out theatrically?

It’s titled Badlands and it is an absolutely bonkers idea. It is a sci-fi thing, but it’s not what everybody thinks it is. And I mean, it’s awesome. It is so nuts. But in Dan, we trust.

Now you said there’s a second Predator movie.

There’s a second Predator movie that we have different plans for. Dan has actually directed both.

So there’s a secret Predator movie—

There’s a secret Predator movie that will come out before the theatrical one but I can’t say anything about yet.

Fine. Will we eventually see another Alien vs. Predator?

Probably.

Not sure how I feel about that.

It wouldn’t be in the way you think. That’s the thing. Not in the way that it will just be called Alien vs. Predator or anything like the original movies. If we do this, they’ll be organically created out of these two franchises that we’ve continued with characters that we fall in love with and those characters will combine…perhaps. But we haven’t gotten to that point. And we’re not just going to bang it out.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19076778

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi is going to be filming soon. The upcoming Dawn of the Jedi, a prequel set earlier than any other movie in the franchise, is set to be directed by James Mangold from a screenplay co-written by Mangold and Beau Willimon (Andor, House of Cards). Mangold has been nominated for two Oscars, once as a screenwriter for 2017's Logan and once as a producer on his directorial effort Ford v. Ferrari, which was nominated for Best Picture. Other franchise efforts helmed by Mangold include The Wolverine and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

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During an interview promoting his new Timothée Chalamet-led Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, Mangold revealed that once his work on the project - which comes with quite a bit of Oscar buzz - is over, he will be shooting the new Star Wars movie. Thus, the movie could potentially kick off production by the end of 2025.

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This is the firmest update that has come from one of the upcoming Star Wars movies, other than the Disney+ series follow-up The Mandalorian & Grogu, in some time. While Lucasfilm recently recommitted to three movies from the franchise coming between 2026 and 2027 while at D23, the previously announced movies on the roster had not received any updates in some time.

In addition to Dawn of the Jedi, the upcoming titles that have previously been announced include the New Jedi Order movie, which is set to feature the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey. That project is also seeing some movement, as Ridley teased at a recent Collider event that "things are evolving." These two updates have come over the course of the same week, which would seem to indicate that the franchise is indeed preparing to make good on that D23 promise.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19065770

You have to hand it to Godzilla – he doesn’t look 70. The greatest movie monster of all time continues to age oh-so-gracefully. And given the Oscar success of the astonishing Godzilla Minus One, and the gleefully colourful carnage of Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, you could even say the radioactive lizard is at the peak of his powers right now. Since the original Godzilla was released back in 1954, it’s now officially been seven decades since he first stomped his way to big-screen glory – and to celebrate, Japanese studio Toho has released an epic tribute montage to the big guy, spanning several decades and eras of kaiju storytelling. Give it a watch here:

Video

Tom Holland revealed that 'Spider-Man 4' has set a production start date for next summer.

As Marvel fans get some bad news, Predator fans get some great news. Disney has dated the next installment in the long-running sci-fi franchise.

Per Deadline, the officially titled Predator: Badlands will hit theaters on Nov. 7, 2025, taking the release date of Marvel Studios' Blade reboot, which has been delayed indefinitely. Badlands, which was first announced in February 2024, will be the first Predator movie to receive a theatrical release since 2018's The Predator. The previous entry, 2022's Prey, was released straight to Hulu, much to the chagrin of the Predator franchise. Badlands reunites the creative team of Prey, with Dan Trachtenberg and Patrick Aison back as director and screenwriter, respectively.

While plot details remain under wraps for Badlands, which reportedly began filming in August in New Zealand, the movie is said to be set "sometime in the future," focusing on two sisters who are put to the ultimate test as they pursue divergent paths and missions. No cast members have been officially announced for Badlands, although The Great star Elle Fanning was previously reported to be in negotiations for a lead role back in June.

A prequel anime feature is also currently in development, and it will finally show at least some of John’s storied “impossible task” that permitted him to retire for love.

"Right now, we’re knee-deep in development on a feature anime about John Wick. It’s a prequel to the movies, which is awesome. It’s fun that it’s in a different medium."

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19011163

This biopic of The Beatles‘ manager Brian Epstein ends with a famous quote from Paul McCartney: “If anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian.” It’s both the raison d’être for this moderately entertaining but hollow film and, perhaps, the reason for its downfall. Midas Man is so busy hitting the familiar beats of the Fab Four’s incredible rise that it never really burrows beneath Epstein’s skin.

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As the Beatles’ popularity explodes, Midas Man follows Epstein and the band to America while paying lip service to other Merseybeat acts he managed, most notably Gerry And The Pacemakers. Director Joe Stephenson steers the story with brisk efficiency – no small feat given this film’s bumpy production. Shooting took place in fits and starts across nearly two years following the departure of two previous directors, Jonas Åkerlund and Sara Sugarman.

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The result is passable retro fodder with a glaring hole: a lack of Beatles songs. Presumably because these were impossible or too expensive to wrangle, we have to make do with snippets of Black’s biggest hits and the Fab Four covering Barrett Strong’s ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’. John, Paul, George and Ringo did indeed record the soulful rocker in 1963, but it’s hardly in their top-tier. Midas Man has some empathy for its subject and a warm performance from Emily Watson as his mother Queenie, but no real curiosity about what made him tick. For this reason, it ultimately does a disservice to both Epstein the manager and Epstein the man.