With its vast tapestry of knights, orcs, and mages, the World of Warcraft franchise was always going to be a tricky one to adapt. As fans of the MMORPG (I can't claim to be one of them, though I did some research before heading into the pic) know well, there's so much packed into the series' lore that it inarguably lends itself better to encyclopedias than films.
Given what a bang-up job she did on the second film, it was disappointing to all fans of the Pitch Perfect franchise when Elizabeth Banks revealed that she'd be stepping out of the director's chair for Pitch Perfect 3, letting another filmmaker take the reins. But Banks will still be involved in the production, and she's recently gone on record to explain exactly what happened behind the scenes that led her to walk away.
Whether you like it or not, Transformers is expanding into a full-blown cinematic universe on the level of Marvel and DC, with upcoming fifth entry Transformers: The Last Knight serving to introduce some key players in the series' extended mythology while planting seeds for potential spinoffs or even prequels.
Most of us were thrilled when Ex Machina actress Alicia Vikander, an Oscar winner for her role in The Danish Girl, landed the highly coveted role of Lara Croft in a big-budget remake of Tomb Raider, and now she's gone on record to add yet another reason why she's likely going to be a terrific fit for the part: Vikander's a life-long fan.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has so many moving parts that it can be difficult to stay up to date on each individual project, but one that's been particularly interesting to keep an eye on throughout development has been Thor: Ragnarok.
James Franco is one of those actors smart enough to know a good thing when he's got it - the star's seen massive returns on his comedies with Seth Rogen, and so there's no reason to expect that he'll stop making them, and he's been met with significant acclaim for playing nastier characters in smaller, darker indie fare, which might explain his recent roles in everything from Spring Breakers to True Story.
Over the past few weeks, two things have become exceedingly clear about the future of James Bond. Firstly, Spectre was considered such a creative whiff that very few of those involved, including director Sam Mendes and star Daniel Craig, are all that interested in coming back for another outing. Secondly, there have been early discussions with a few actors about the possibility of one of them coming aboard to fill Craig's shoes, taking on the role of 007.
Thanks to American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, Penny Dreadful, and dearly departed Hannibal, small-screen horror is at the epicenter of the "peak TV" era. It's a genre that, once thought untenable on a continuing basis, has instead birthed some of the most narratively gripping, artistically ambitious series of the past 10 years, while simultaneously proving itself to be one of the most versatile groups of programming out there. While AHS has commodified the genre's garish, gory excesses and ostentations, Hannibal and Penny have plumbed the depths of its psychology. Elsewhere, The Strain, The Walking Dead, and its spinoff are busily weaving modern terrors (bioterrorism, systemic governmental breakdown, power vacuums) into crackerjack entertainment.
In this summer blockbuster season of franchise overkill and souped-up CGI decadence, it's not hard to crave the more understated, yet still electric thrill that can be found in watching two performers encircle one another, building in intensity with every exchanged snatch of dialogue, exploring their respective ranges through mere interaction.
When it first unfolded across viewers' screens in 1977, Roots dug deep, reaching into 85 percent of American households over the course of its run and radically redefining "event" television with its gripping, grim saga of an American slave. There's no escaping or denying the miniseries' impact; its ratings, and ensuing discussion around its thorny subject matter - brought this nation's greatest shame out of the shadows.
