The wait is almost over. Batman fans across the Philippines have a chance to be one of the first people in the world to see The Dark Knight’s next big screen adventure.
Warner Bros. Philippines has just announced that tickets to the nationwide midnight screenings of “The Batman” on March 2 at 12:01AM are now available. Fans may check the social pages of Warner Bros. Philippines for updates on participating cinemas.
Advance ticket selling for dates after March 2 has also started. The public may buy their tickets now.
Watch the film’s latest trailer below:
From Warner Bros. Pictures comes Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” starring Robert Pattinson in the dual role of Gotham City’s vigilante detective and his alter ego, reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne.
Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies—Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright)—amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.
When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.
Starring alongside Robert Pattinson (“Tenet,” “The Lighthouse”) as Gotham’s famous and infamous cast of characters are Zoë Kravitz (“Big Little Lies,” “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”); Paul Dano (“Love & Mercy,” “12 Years a Slave”); Jeffrey Wright (“No Time to Die,” “Westworld”); John Turturro (the “Transformers” films, “The Plot Against America”); Peter Sarsgaard (“The Magnificent Seven,” “Interrogation”) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Jayme Lawson (“Farewell Amor”) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; with Andy Serkis (the “Planet of the Apes” films, “Black Panther”); and Colin Farrell (“The Gentlemen,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”).
Reeves (“The Planet of the Apes” franchise) directed from a screenplay by Reeves & Peter Craig, based on characters from DC. Batman was created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger. Dylan Clark (the “Planet of the Apes” films) and Reeves produced the film, with Michael E. Uslan, Walter Hamada, Chantal Nong Vo and Simon Emanuel serving as executive producers.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents a 6th & Idaho/Dylan Clark Productions Production, a Matt Reeves Film, “The Batman.” The film is set to open in Philippine theaters on March 2; it will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Join the conversation online and use the hashtag #TheBatman
Hollywood always returns to tried and tested formulas with the hopes of bringing the audience to the theaters and scoring a hit in this very unpredictable landscape of movies. With comic book adaptations cornering the theaters – pushing comedies and non-Oscar bait dramas straight to streaming – the old checklists of ensuring a hit in the theaters is completely gone. This has led to some unappealing remakes and reboots of some “classic” IPs. There was Tom Cruise’s ‘The Mummy’ and ‘Men in Black: International,’ who had a great cast but a hollow script, ‘Terminator Genisys,’ and a few others. Appealing to nostalgia is a difficult juggling act as you have to introduce new audiences to the material while trying to satisfy the fans of the original but still delivering something new and refreshing.
It’s why I was wary of ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ because what if this is just another appeal to nostalgia? Another cash grab of a famous IP, especially since ‘Ghostbusters: Answer the Call’ was met with some mixed reviews and was not the big hit it was expected to be.
I shouldn’t have worried. From the very start, ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ felt refreshing and new. Sure, there were rampant Easter Eggs left and right at the beginning but the focus of the film is on the new characters that they bring in. We are introduced to Callie (played by the very versatile Carrie Coon), who is struggling to make ends meet and she has to uproot herself and her whole family – Trevor (played by Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (McKenna Grace) – to Oklahoma to a farm her estranged father had left her. The house is a wreck and they don’t know anyone in town but having no choice, the dysfunctional family has to try and start a new life here.
Director Jason Reitman and screenwriters Reitman and Gil Kenan take their time to really establish the family dynamics. Trevor is rebelling (as all teenagers do) and Phoebe, who displays antisocial tendencies but is truly gifted with science and machines, and both have a tenuous relationship with their mother. Callie is at her wit’s end and she now has to face her unresolved feelings with her father as she deals with the legacy he has left behind.
And this is where the story begins to tether into Ghostbuster lore. Because, as hinted by the opening scene, Callie’s estranged father was a Ghostbuster. Slowly and organically, as Trevor and Phoebe discover who and what the Ghostbusters are (showing clips from the old movies as news footage) the worlds of the original film and this sequel start to collide.
As the trailer shows us, the little town of Sommerville in Oklahoma is about to be run over by ghosts, and Phoebe and new friend Podcast (the hilarious Logan Kim) must take the mantle that was left behind at the old house and stop the ghosts with the help of Trevor, his love interest Lucky (played by Celeste O’Connor) and Phoebe’s science teacher Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd).
The film really takes its time to develop characters, relationships, and then the discovery of who and what the Ghostbusters are, and while all these elements are being brought up, Reitman weaves them into each other so that the film never feels scattered and all over the place. There is heavy use of elements from the first two movies but it’s never self-referential. It’s the story that was chosen to be told and it connects it directly with the first two installments of the franchise and this makes it feel like it’s doing something new with the IP.
The story is fast-paced and there’s quite a great number of funny moments and tense scenes, and at the very heart of it is a sensitive and touching story about a family that needs to embrace – not just their history and legacy – but their weirdness.
‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ is a fun movie that can be enjoyed by people who loved the first films or who’ve never seen it. There’s space in the filmmaking for both audiences. McKenna Grace manages to carry the film with the strength of her performance (and with a lot of help from Logan Kim, whose comic timing is impeccable) and I will always watch any movie with Carrie Coon in it. I shouldn’t have worried. This is how you make a new installment out of a thirty-year-old franchise.
‘West Side Story’ first debuted on stage in 1957 and is considered one of the greatest musicals of all time. It takes the Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers plotline and gives it a distinctly American flavour by transporting the narrative to then-present New York with the warring families represented by White Americans and Puerto Rican immigrants. It was turned into a film in 1961 and has been revived over and over again, even coming to the Philippines in 2017 courtesy of a British touring cast.
It is that touring production back in 2017 that made me very afraid of this new revival. ‘West Side Story’ has some of the most beautiful music and songs of musical theater. The score of Leonard Bernstein and the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim are legendary and so many of these songs are ingrained into many of us, even if they aren’t musical aficionados.
The 2017 touring production presented the show as is and it failed to capture the depth that the show can reach. After all, it’s a story about racial war and gangs. There’s a scene where a woman is ganged up on by a group of men and the Latin community finds the portrayal of the Puerto Ricans in both the original play and the 1961 movie to be problematic.
What made me still want to see it despite my fears is that it is directed by the great Stephen Spielberg, a master storyteller who is well-versed in the nuances of a story’s humanity. I was later overjoyed to discover that Tony Kushner wrote the screenplay for their adaptation and what a powerhouse these two make.
This new remake manages to keep all of the songs but make significant changes that only serves to really highlight the elements in the story that really make ‘West Side Story’ such a timeless story.
In this version, Spielberg and Kushner allow the women to be much stronger in their portrayal in this film. It is still set in the 1950s but the women seem to have a stronger voice to make repeated calls for the two gangs – The Sharks, the Puerto Rican group, and the Jets, the American gang – to stop fighting. In this version, the women have hopes and dreams and even the lead character, Maria, who is usually so naive and innocent in the stage and the previous films, has a little more fire. Rachel Zegler’s performance gives her version of Maria a conscious choice to be with Tony (played by Ansel Elgort) while knowing full-well what this could mean. It makes the character, and the love story, so much more poignant.
There is also a backstory that is given to Tony that adds a stronger redemption arc to the character and adds weight to events that unfold in the story. This new backstory makes Tony someone you want to root for because there’s a goal for something that is worthwhile and meaningful for the character other than love.
The new changes also elevate what was once a love-at-first-sight story into an attraction born out of their surroundings. With Tony’s new backstory, seeing Maria is like seeing the purity and innocence of his new goals (of a more peaceful life) come to life. He is attracted to her because she’s a breath of fresh air. For Maria, Tony is a newcomer. He’s not one of the Jets that she knows of (though she later finds out he is) and he’s not one of the Puerto Ricans her older brother is forcing on her. For Maria, she’s looking to be free of her brother’s oppression and to enjoy the liberation that living in America promises. Tony becomes that for her. And in the process, they fall in love.
Spielberg, ever the master storyteller, expands the world of ‘West Side Story’ and makes the city – the territory that the Jets and the Sharks are fighting over – as a character. Everyone is on the brink of eviction and some buildings have already been demolished in preparation to build the Lincoln Center. This tough neighborhood that is becoming a ruin becomes symbolic of the brokenness of the country. The city is a battleground and the fact that the discrimination is not addressed by the government and the police in any realistic and practical way bears weight to the story.
Because unlike previous revivals, there is no painting of gray areas in this version. The Jets are a gang. The film doesn’t make any excuses for their racism. The song ‘Gee, Officer Krupke,’ which is usually sung and performed with a bit of humor in former performances becomes a scary insight in how some groups use the failure of the system as an excuse for their bad behaviour. Here, the Puerto Ricans have jobs. They’re in a gang to protect the neighborhood. In this film, the Puerto Ricans are in the right.
And you can see it subtly even in the choreography. A big, wonderful dance number at the gym where Tony and Maria first see themselves is a showcase of fantastic dancing and camera work and editing. But in my perspective, the Americans – as good as they are – are not as impressive as when the Puerto Ricans burn the dance floor. Ariana DeBose (who received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in this movie) is a powerhouse. Her dancing and singing skills is equally matched by her spirited performance of Anita. She kills each number she’s in and like many wonderful actresses who played Anita before, steals the show by juggling the different textures of the character.
It is also a brilliant choice of Stephen Spielberg to not use subtitles in all the Spanish parts of the film. There’s quite a number of long stretches of conversation in Spanish that you understand contextually from the sheer clarity of the filmmaking. It’s a powerful move because it puts the Puerto Ricans as equal to the Americans. Spanish is not second to English.
Boasting some amazing set pieces, great choreography that is pretty to look at but always bursting with violence and rage, and some truly wonderful new renditions of beloved songs, ‘West Side Story’ is a marvel of filmmaking. It has the grandeur and sweep of a classic movie musical but it has all the energy and spirit of a contemporary movie. It’s only drawback is the many allegations that have come out about Ansel Elgort’s offscreen activities. He does a good job as Tony, though he’s not the strongest in the group. He delivers a sincerity that we’ve seen in films like ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ but it’s a heavy burden to see him there knowing what he’s done outside.
But I won’t let that one piece of casting ruin what is otherwise a wonderful remake that corrects a lot of the dated portrayals of the original and the conservative approach to some of the themes. By fully committing to the story and its themes, Spielberg’s and Kushner’s ‘West Side Story’ is truly marvelous.
She recently starred in New Line’s Annabelle Comes Home and in the hugely successful Captain Marvel opposite Brie Larson. Now, Mckenna Grace stars budding scientist, Phoebe in Columbia Pictures’ new action-adventure Ghostbusters: Afterlife in Philippine cinemas on February 16.
At the center of Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a small family: single mom Callie (Carrie Coon), her 15-year-old son Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), and her 12-year-old daughter Phoebe (Mckenna Grace). After they are evicted from their Chicago apartment, the family moves into a ramshackle Oklahoma homestead where they begin to discover their connection to the original ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind.
“Phoebe is brilliant and could only be played by an actress who is as intelligent as she is,” director Jason Reitman says. “Mckenna is exceptionally smart – she’s probably read more books than I have – very thoughtful, and very funny. She’s perfect for Phoebe –a young, misunderstood woman who finds herself in ghostbusting.”
“In Phoebe, I wanted the audience to meet a young girl who is a genius and who feels like an outsider,” says Jason, “someone who is looking for friends in the moment that she discovers she’s just like her grandfather. She is a scientist. She is someone who can make things, who wants to fix things. She is the kid who wants to break open the toaster and see how it works, but instead of a toaster, she gets a proton pack.”
Grace says she feels blessed to play this role. “I get to be the character that unravels her grandfather’s life and discovers their family tree. She’s not at all like other kids her age. She’s incredibly smart. She’s very into science experiments. When we are first introduced to her, she is pulling cords through a giant hole in the wall and causes a power outage in the whole house. She’s very inventive and resourceful,” Grace concludes.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Use the hashtag #Ghostbusters
Today Marvel Studios debuted a brand-new trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that took viewers on a mind-blowing whirlwind through the Multiverse. In addition, Marvel Studios also released a new poster for the supernatural adventure—available now.
In Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams.
The film is directed by Sam Raimi, and Kevin Feige is the producer. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Eric Hauserman Carroll and Jamie Christopher serve as executive producers. The screenplay was written by Michael Waldron.
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” releases in Philippine cinemas May 2022.
Bullock. Tatum. Are they taken? Are they took-en? Find out in Paramount Pictures’ new comedy adventure The Lost City, starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum & Daniel Radcliffe. Check out the film’s newly launched Big Game Spot and main poster below. The Lost City opens exclusively in Philippine cinemas April 22.
Brilliant, but reclusive author Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has spent her career writing about exotic places in her popular romance-adventure novels featuring handsome cover model Alan (Channing Tatum), who has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, “Dash.” While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient lost city’s treasure from her latest story. Wanting to prove that he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her. Thrust into an epic jungle adventure, the unlikely pair will need to work together to survive the elements and find the ancient treasure before it’s lost forever.
The Lost City is directed by Adam Nee and Aaron Nee, with screenplay by Oren Uziel and Dana Fox and Adam Nee & Aaron Nee, story by Seth Gordon. The film is produced by Liza Chasin, Sandra Bullock, Seth Gordon; executive produced by JJ Hook, Dana Fox, Julia Gunn, Margaret Chernin.
The cast is led by Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar Nuñez, Patti Harrison, Bowen Yang.
The Lost City is distributed in the Philippines by Paramount Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. Connect with #TheLostCity and tag paramountpicsph.
Experience the epic conclusion to the Jurassic era as two generations unite for the first time in Jurassic World Dominion when it opens in Philippine cinemas this June.
In Jurassic World Dominion, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are joined by Oscar®-winner Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill in Jurassic World Dominion, a bold, timely and breathtaking new adventure that spans the globe. From Jurassic World architect and director Colin Trevorrow, Dominion takes place four years after Isla Nublar has been destroyed. Dinosaurs now live—and hunt—alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history’s most fearsome creatures.
Jurassic World Dominion, from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, propels the more than $5 billion franchise into daring, uncharted territory, featuring never-seen dinosaurs, breakneck action and astonishing new visual effects.
The film features new cast members DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have It), Emmy nominee Mamoudou Athie (Archive 81), Dichen Lachman (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Scott Haze (Minari) and Campbell Scott (The Amazing Spider-Man 2). The film’s returning cast includes BD Wong as Dr. Henry Wu, Justice Smith as Franklin Webb, Daniella Pineda as Dr. Zia Rodriguez and Omar Sy as Barry Sembenè.
Jurassic World Dominion is directed by Colin Trevorrow, who steered 2015’s Jurassic World to a record-shattering $1.7 billion global box office. The screenplay is by Emily Carmichael (Battle at Big Rock) & Colin Trevorrow from a story by Derek Connolly (Jurassic World) & Trevorrow, based on characters created by Michael Crichton. Jurassic World Dominion is produced by acclaimed franchise producers Frank Marshall p.g.a. and Patrick Crowley p.g.a. and is executive produced by legendary, Oscar®-winning franchise creator Steven Spielberg, Alexandra Derbyshire and Colin Trevorrow.
Another Stephen King thriller is being revived on the big screen!
Stephen King’s Firestarter which was adapted into a film in the 80s is getting revamped for another big-screen treatment this year. The first trailer for the new movie has just been revealed, featuring a fiery pyrokinetic kid trying to control her inhuman powers.
Watch it below:
From Blumhouse comes Firestarter which tells the extraordinary story of Charlie. For more than a decade, the young girl’s parents have been on the run, trying to keep Charlie’s pyrokinetic powers hidden as a shadowy federal agency wants to harness it and use it as a weapon of mass destruction. When a mysterious operative is deployed to hunt her down, the girl must learn how to use her power and fight fire with fire.
Photo: Firestarter Movie website
The film stars Zac Efron, Sydney Lemmon, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Michael Greyeyes, Kurtwood Smith, John Beasley, and Gloria Reuben. It is directed by Keith Thomas from a screenplay by Scott Teems. Firestarter premieres in theaters and streaming via Peacock this May 13.
Ex Machina and Annihilation director Alex Garland is set to release a new horror film titled Men. Produced by A24, the studio that brought us Lamb, The Lighthouse, and Midsommar, this new flick has just revealed its brief teaser trailer that already offers us a glimpse of the film’s chilling and ominous tone that A24 is known for.
Watch the teaser trailer of Men below:
The film centers on Harper, a woman who retreats alone to the beautiful English countryside after suffering from a personal tragedy. But her hopes of healing are cut short when someone– or something– from the surrounding woods begins to stalk her, turning her quiet retreat into a full-blown nightmare.
Written and directed by Garland, the film stars Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear, and Paapa Essiedu. It is set for release on May 20, 2022. For more information, visit the A24 website.
For millions of PlayStation gamers, Nathan Drake and Victor “Sully” Sullivan are favorite characters whose stories they have lived out through their consoles in the “Uncharted” series of videogames. Now, in Columbia Pictures’ new action-adventure feature Uncharted, moviegoers will see for the first time how the two joined forces and how a young Nathan Drake became the famed treasure hunter.
Watch the film’s latest trailer below:
Director Ruben Fleischer (Venom, Zombieland) says it’s no secret why the “Uncharted” games have connected with millions of players and sold more than 44 million copies over six games: it plays like a movie, he says, and not just any movie – the kind they don’t make anymore. “Uncharted truly captures all of the magic of what I love about film,” says Fleischer. “I’ve dreamed of making a treasure-hunting, globe-trotting adventure since I was a kid. That kind of movie gave me a passion for history and antiquity – I even went to college thinking I was going to be an archaeologist. As soon as I read this script, it captured that magical quality of escapist adventure. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be asked to be part of something special.”
Mark Wahlberg stars as Victor “Sully” Sullivan and Tom Holland stars as Nathan Drake in Columbia Pictures’ UNCHARTED. Photo by: Clay Enos
Tom Holland has been a fan of the games ever since he first got his hands on them with “Uncharted 4” in 2016. “I was shooting Spider-Man™: Homecoming, and one of the benefits of working with Sony is they outfitted all of our trailers with the newest PlayStation. One of the games they gave us was ‘Uncharted 4,’ so between setups, my best mate Harrison and I would be playing. We played the game backwards – once we fell in love with the fourth, we bought the other games and caught up.”
Sophia Taylor Ali, Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg star in Columbia Pictures’ UNCHARTED. photo by: Clay Enos
Fleischer says that Tom Holland was the perfect person to lead the adaptation as Nathan Drake. “He’s endlessly creative, as collaborative as you could hope for, and such an avid fan of the games,” says the director. “He had a real commitment to the character and the franchise that even exceeded my own, because he’s such an ardent fan.”
Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg star in Columbia Pictures’ UNCHARTED. Photo by: Clay Enos
Pairing Holland with Wahlberg brought out everything that Wahlberg excels at as an actor, Fleischer continues. “He can do incredible dramatic work, he’s one of the world’s funniest actors – for which I don’t think he gets the credit he’s due – and he’s obviously beyond physically fit. He has great heart, and can disguise that in layers of wiliness, untrustworthiness, and intriguing mystery. Sully features all of those different aspects of Mark at once – his portrayal of the character is spot-on.”
“The great thing about having the games as source material to base the film upon is that the tone is so well-established,” says Fleischer. “The humor, the relationship – there was a template to follow. But when you’re making a film and not a videogame, you have to make it your own. It was really important to distinguish our story from the games, to show a different aspect of it. For any fan of the games who’s had the experience of playing it – viscerally immersed in it – I wanted to give them a movie that worked as a film first.”
In Philippine cinemas February 23, Uncharted is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Use the hashtag #UnchartedMovie
