Good fiend films

David F. Sandberg ’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods was released and the director is opening up about the heavy criticism against the DC film. Sandberg took to Twitter to note that he had just gotten his “lowest critic score” on Rotten Tomatoes which stood at 52% at the time of this post. The filmmaker also noted that the superhero sequel had the “highest audience score on the same film” with 88%. “I wasn’t expecting a repeat of the first movie critically but I was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good film. Oh well,” he tweeted . For comparison, Shazam! got a 90% from critics and an 82% from audiences for the film released in 2019. Although audiences gave the sequel a high score, that number is not translating to the box office. Shazam! Fury of Gods opened to $30.5M this weekend , below the projection of $35M, which was already on the low side. Sandberg also revealed that after the DC film, he was taking a step back from more superhero movies and … [Read more...] about ‘Shazam! Fury Of The Gods’ Director “Surprised” With Film Criticism, Reveals He’s “Definitely Done With Superheroes”

EXCLUSIVE : Rising comedian, writer and actor Mary Beth Barone is set to exec produce and star in Good Girl , an indie erotic thriller to be directed by Lauren Garroni , in her feature debut. The feature scheduled to launch production in April watches as an enterprising Sugar Baby, offered ten grand to move in with her Sugar Daddy, comes to discover the dark secrets trapped within his home. Pic is described as part biting dark comedy, part erotic thriller — but above all, a story about sex work through a feminist and queer lens. Bree Essirig and Garroni penned the script, with Kelly Parker’s Mary Ellen Moffat to produce. Additional exec producers will include Garroni, Essrig, Simon Brook and Brook Productions. The New York-based Barone landed her feature script You’re My Best Friend on the 2022 edition of The Black List and is currently developing a half-hour comedy series titled Dicks with Jax Media and Fox. She has appeared on That Damn Michael Che for … [Read more...] about Mary Beth Barone To Exec Produce & Star In Indie Erotic Thriller ‘Good Girl’

Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell will soon be back to work at Good Burger . Nickelodeon Studios and Paramount+ have officially confirmed the greenlight of Good Burger 2 , an original movie sequel to the iconic feature film, based on the recurring sketch from comedy series All That . Thompson and Mitchell are set to reprise their classic roles as Dexter and Ed, respectively. The movie will follow Dexter Reed (Thompson) and original cashier, Ed (Mitchell), as they reunite in the present day at fast-food restaurant Good Burger with a hilarious new group of employees. Production will begin in May, with a premiere slated for later this year exclusively on Paramount+. The news was revealed tonight on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In Good Burger 2, Dexter Reed is down on his luck after another one of his inventions fails. Ed welcomes Dex back to Good Burger with open arms and gives him his old job back. With a new crew working at Good Burger, Dex … [Read more...] about Kenan Thompson & Kel Mitchell To Reprise ‘Good Burger’ Roles As Sequel Movie Gets Greenlight

EXCLUSIVE: The Black List and Women in Film said Monday that they have set the participants for their 2023 Episodic Lab, with seven television pilots from eight writers selected. Now in its seventh year, the lab focuses on preparing women writers and writers of underrepresented genders for careers in writing for TV. More than 40 scribes have participated since its launch in 2016, with the organizations saying half currently have jobs in the industry. This year’s list features Bev Chukwu, Deanna Esposito, Eudie Pak, Laura Malatos & Helen Sun, Katherine Ruppe, Lorin Williams and Thea Rodgers. The lab, supported by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Shivhans Pictures, meets twice a week in March for sessions that include masterclasses, pitch workshops and lectures from guest mentors. This year’s mentors list includes Monica Beletsky ( Parenthood ), Jane Becker ( Ted Lasso ), Glen Mazzara ( The Dark Tower ), Sono Patel ( The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ) … [Read more...] about The Black List And Women In Film Set 2023 Episodic Lab Writers

EXCLUSIVE: A ban on drag performances in public places has been enacted in Tennessee, and more than a dozen other states may follow suit, a movement predicated on the fear that children who might glimpse such a show would be scarred by it. But an upcoming documentary defies that demonization by portraying drag performers as a force for good in their community. Emmy-winning media company World of Wonder ( RuPaul’s Drag Race , The Eyes of Tammy Faye ) and Gatekeeper Productions today announced they have wrapped production on The Little Pageant That Could , a feature documentary that chronicles the journey of L.A.’s Best in Drag Show to support the Alliance for Housing and Healing. “The event, which started as a spur-of-the-moment spoof of Miss America thrown by a few twenty-something friends in a tiny West Hollywood apartment in 1990, grew to become L.A.’s longest-running drag benefit including appearances by A-list actors, playing before thousands of people … [Read more...] about Drag Is A Force For Good, Shows Upcoming Documentary ‘The Little Pageant That Could’ From World Of Wonder & Gatekeeper Productions

Michael Winterbottom has devoted much of his filmmaking career to revisiting real-life events through works blurring the boundaries between documentary and drama to various degrees. The filmmaker shed light on his approach in a recent Doha Film Institute (DFI) masterclass, going behind the scenes of Welcome To Sarajevo , 24 Hour Party People , In This World , The Road To Guantanamo , A Might Heart and Eleven Days In May . “It’s a continuum, even if you’re filming a fantasy film in a studio on a green screen there is an element of document to that. You’re recording that moment of the act of performance,” he said when quizzed on his attitude towards documentary versus fiction. “Equally, even in a documentary like Eleven Days … you’re trying to shape that story, so it a continuum,” he added, referring to the 2022 documentary commemorating 68 children killed in Israeli bombing raids over Gaza in May 2021. Winterbottom elaborated on this idea through his … [Read more...] about Michael Winterbottom Talks Blurring Of Lines Between Documentary & Fiction; Appeals For UK Film Funding Rethink – Qumra Masterclass

Today’s eagerly awaited DGA nominations are out and there are no surprises in the bunch. Gravity’s Alfonso Cuaron , Captain Phillips’ Paul Greengrass , 12 Years A Slave’s Steve McQueen , American Hustle’s David O. Russell and The Wolf Of Wall Street ‘s Martin Scorsese were all odds-on favorites to make the five — and they did. Some might have questioned Scorsese’s chances since the film has become a lightning rod for controversy and was the last major release of the year, meaning the 15,000-member guild voters would have to see it in time to cast their ballot. But c’mon, he’s Martin Scorsese. There would be no denying this achievement among his fellow directors. He has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the guild and 10 other nominations with 3 wins in 3 different categories ( The Departed in film, Boardwalk Empire in TV a nd George Harrison: Living In The Material World in documentary). He’s a god to this guild. Greengrass, McQueen and … [Read more...] about No Shockers Among DGA Awards Film Nominees: Cuaron, Greengrass, McQueen, Russell, Scorsese

Ratification of the new three-year WGA film and TV contract has been overwhelmingly — almost unanimously — approved by members of the WGA East and West, bringing to a close Hollywood’s most contentious contract struggle in a decade. Of the 3,647 valid votes cast there were 3,617 “yes” votes (99.2%) and 30 “no” votes (.8%). There were 9,441 eligible voters. The term of the agreement is from May 2, 2017 through May 1, 2020 . “Our success in these negotiations was due to a highly engaged and dedicated membership, working in tandem with a tireless and informed Negotiating Committee and an extraordinary Guild staff. We achieved new and significant gains that will help today’s writers even as they benefit the next generation,” said WGAW President Howard A. Rodman and WGAE President Michael Winship. “Our thanks go out to all of those who contributed to the process and to the thousands of our fellow writers who participated in the strike authorization and ratification votes.” … [Read more...] about WGA Ratifies New Film & TV Contract

Getty Elizabeth Banks ' looks over the years are aca-awesome! Here is a fresh 27-year-old version of the "Pitch Perfect" star gracing her natural beauty at a UNICEF For Fashion event in Los Angeles back in 2001 ( left ). This was just a couple of years before she played Marcela Howard in the film "Seabiscuit." And, 22 years later, the actress and filmmaker looked picture-perfect and dressed to the nines at this year's Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California. She learned how to be quite critical during her "Pitch Perfect" days as Gail the commentator, so the imperative question here is ... Elizabeth Banks ... Something Went Wrong … [Read more...] about Elizabeth Banks — Good Genes Or Good Docs?!

Imagine not only believing the world is coming to an end, but wanting it to happen. Eagerly. Then, take it a step further and imagine people with such a mentality engineering American politics and foreign policy to bring about the very thing they seek — the apocalypse. It may sound outlandish, but there are many well organized fundamentalist Christian leaders and their followers working hard to make this doomsday scenario a reality, an alarming movement explored in the documentary Praying for Armageddon . The film directed by Norwegian filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei and co-directed by Michael Rowley makes its world premiere Monday night at the prestigious CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen. “What they are really pushing for is the destruction of our civilization. It’s quite outrageous and mind blowing, really,” Schei tells Deadline as we sit at a café in Copenhagen. “And I don’t think a lot of Americans realize that the sort of hidden end time Armageddon lobby… that … [Read more...] about New Documentary Shows How American Evangelicals Are ‘Praying For Armageddon’ And Pulling The Levers Of Power To Achieve It – CPH:DOX