Welcome back to our film newsletter! This week we’ve got a diverse range of film trailers for your consumption, from comedy satire, to biopic drama – with other news sprinkled in throughout! Scroll down to read all the latest film news spinning out of the fourth week of July (July 22 – 26).
Trailer: Zombieland 2: Double Tap
Exactly ten years after the first film came out and filmmaker Ruben Fleischer is bringing the gang back for a second installment of Zombieland! The sequel, comically titled Zombieland 2: Double Tap, brings back the original cast comprised of Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin, along with some other surprise additions to the cast. Watch the trailer for Zombieland 2: Double Tap below:
The Batman Finds Cinematographer
Matt Reeves’ highly anticipated take on the Batman mythos seems to be moving full steam ahead on pre-production/production, as the film has just found its Director of Photography! Oscar-nominated DP Greig Fraser, most famously known for his work on Lion, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, has joined the crew of The Batman. This will be Fraser’s second collaboration with Reeves, as he served as DP on Reeves’ horror flick Let Me In nine years ago. The Batman is still on track for the targeted release date of mid-2021.
Trailer: Jojo Rabbit
Acclaimed director/actor/writer Taika Waititi is back with another comedy, this time in the form of an “anti-hate” satire called Jojo Rabbit. The film centers around a young German boy who’s forced to confront his blind nationalism after he discovers his single mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. Along with directing the comedy-war satire, Waititi will also be starring in the flick as the young boy’s imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler. This one doesn’t sound controversial at all, does it? Watch the teaser trailer for the film below, along with a look at the first official poster. Jojo Rabbit will have its world premiere at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in September.
Ridley Scott to Direct The Last Duel; Matt Damon & Ben Affleck to Star
Iconic filmmaker Ridley Scott has announced that he’ll be directing Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in The Last Duel, a 14th century revenge story based on a novel by Eric Jager. If successful, Scott will be directing from a script that was written by Damon, Affleck and Nicole Holofcener.
The grisly plot centers around two best friends, Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris (who’ll be portrayed by Damon and Affleck). Carrouges goes to war and returns to accuse Le Gris of raping his wife. As events escalate we find that Carrouges and Le Gris are ordered to fight a duel to the death as decreed by the Count Pierre d’Anencon, who favored Le Gris in the situation. If Carrouges loses, his wife is to be burned at the stake for punishment for her false accusations. If the film enters into production soon, this will mark Scott’s first film since 2017.
Trailer: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
This Thanksgivings will re-introduce us to Fred Rogers (portrayed by Tom Hanks) and his ‘Neighborhood’ which changed many people’s lives back when the children’s program originally aired. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is based on real-life events as a cynical journalist is tasked with interviewing ‘Mister Rogers’, and finds that his outlook on life is slowly changing for the better. Hank has already been garnering talks of an Oscar for this role ever since news broke that he was stepping onboard the project. Watch the trailer below and see for yourself Hank’s transformation into Fred Rogers:
TIFF ’19 Lineup Unveiled; Joker, The Lighthouse, Ford v Ferrari, and More
As we enter into the latter half of 2019 film festivals are gearing up to showcase the next potential award winning films of the year. This year’s Toronto International Film Festival will kick off in September, and they’ve unveiled the lineup for attendees to see. As the lineup is pretty extensive we won’t list all of the films being shown this year, if you want to see the whole lineup you can head over to TIFF for that.
Gala Presentations
- A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, directed by Marielle Heller
- Ford v Ferrari, directed by James Mangold
- The Goldfinch, directed by John Crowley
- Joker, directed by Todd Phillips
Special Presentations
- Jojo Rabbit, directed by Taika Waititi
- Knives Out, directed by Rian Johnson
- Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho
- The Lighthouse, directed by Robert Eggers
Trailer: Harriet
Oscar season is officially kicking in, as Focus Features has debuted the first official trailer for their upcoming film based on the life of the iconic American freedom fighter, Harriet Tubman (portrayed by award-winning actress Cynthia Erivo). The film is a re-telling of Tubman’s extraordinary life as she escapes from slavery and becomes one of America’s greatest heroes. Watch the trailer below along with a look at the simple but stunning poster:
That’s all for week four of July! Make sure to follow us on Twitter at @PopCultureRevs, and turn on notifications for the latest in film and television news!
Missed out on the previous weeks? Click the links below to catch-up on all the film news: July 1-5, July 8-12, July 15-19.