It’s not all that often you see Ben Stiller star in a film. Lately, he’s mainly stayed behind the camera as a filmmaker. But for “Nutcrackers,” we see Still return to comedy as a leading man.

As seen in the trailer, “Nutcrackers” tells the story of a work-obsessed man who finds himself having to take care of his four rambunctious nephews, who are dealing with the loss of their parents.

Continue reading ‘Nutcrackers’ Trailer: Ben Stiller’s David Gordon Green-Directed Christmas Comedy Hits Hulu In November at The Playlist.

Andrew Haigh has his next movie after “All Of Us Strangers” lined up, and it’ll be a reunion with Colin Farrell. Deadline reports that Farrell will co-star with Ben Stiller in “Belly Of The Beast,” a true-crime thriller based on the problematic friendship between novelist Norman Mailer and convict Jack Henry Abbott. Stiller will play Mailer in the film, with Farrell as Abbott.

Continue reading ‘Belly Of The Beast’: Andrew Haigh’s Next Film Is A True Crime Thriller Starring Ben Stiller & Colin Farrell at The Playlist.

Notice to all Lumon employees: it’s time to return to the office. Taking audiences by storm in the winter of 2022, Apple TV+’s acclaimed Emmy and Peabody-winning series, “Severance,” finally returns for a second season in early 2025. Hailing from director and executive producer Ben Stiller and creator, writer, and executive producer Dan Erickson, “Severance” stars Emmy Award nominee Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman, Emmy Award winner John Turturro, Academy Award winner Christopher Walken and Academy and Emmy Award winner Patricia Arquette.

Continue reading ‘Severance’ Season 2 Trailer: The Lumon Staff Returns To Work On Jan 17, 2025 at The Playlist.

For a long while, you couldn’t find Ben Stiller in front of the camera for a project. That doesn’t mean he has avoided Hollywood, as he has really grown into being more of a filmmaker at this point. But now, it appears Stiller is really ready to act more, as he has just signed on to star in a film called “The Dink.”

READ MORE: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch

According to THR, Ben Stiller is on board to produce and star in a new comedy film, “The Dink.” The film is directed by Josh Greenbaum and will co-star alongside Jake Johnson, Mary Steenburgen, and Ed Harris.

Continue reading ‘The Dink’: Ben Stiller To Star Opposite Jake Johnson In Josh Greenbaum’s Pickleball Comedy at The Playlist.

At the world premiere of “Nutcrackers,” director David Gordon Green subtly acknowledged that he’s been ‘immersed’ in the horror genre for too long, though some might call it ‘slumming.’ After his recent stint with the “Holloween” and “The Exorcist” franchise, he’s far away from his celebrated debut “George Washington.” He posited “Nutcrackers” to be a palette cleanser, a means to get his creative juices flowing again.

Continue reading ‘Nutcrackers’ Review: David Gordon Green’s Rote Family Drama Drowns In Clichés & Schmaltz [TIFF] at The Playlist.

In the winter of 2022, as the pandemic had trained many to stay indoors during the cold season, Apple TV+’s “Severance” soon became a huge hit and eventually a big Emmy player, earning 14 nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series (read our season one review).

And now, the series, from director and executive producer Ben Stiller and creator Dan Erickson, comes “Severance,” season two, which is now revealed to be arriving in January of 2025.

Continue reading ‘Severance’ Teaser Trailer: Season 2 Finally Returns January 2025 at The Playlist.

Earlier this week, comedy writer/director Judd Apatow ended his 30-year relationship with his agency UTA, Deadline describing it as a “magical run” (lol). Trades run lip service-y pieces like this all the time: actors, filmmakers, and talent-changing agencies as a way to generate press for these companies and as tacit understanding for staying in good favor with agents who are the ones often feeding them leaks, exclusives, and scoops.

So, other than Apatow leaving an agency he loyally stuck with for 30 years, there’s no real story there.

Continue reading 3 Judd Apatow Projects Apparently Couldn’t Get Greenlit, Including A Cancel Comedy Starring Zach Galifianakis [Report] at The Playlist.

Colin Farrell is on a bit of a hot streak in the wake of “The Banshees Of Inisherin” with his recent series “Sugar” and his upcoming MAX spinoff gangster series, “The Penguin,” debuting later in the year. The Irish actor is lining up some impressive feature projects alongside those TV roles, including a new drama based on the Jerome Loving novel “Jack & Norman: A State-Raised Convict & The Legacy of Norman Mailer’s ‘The Execution’s Song’” according to a report from Deadline. 

Continue reading ‘Belly Of The Beast’: Colin Farrell & Ben Stiller To Star In Andrew Haigh’s True-Crime Drama at The Playlist.

While Ben Stiller has seemingly shifted into filmmaking full-time, he directed most of the hit sci-fi psychological thriller series, “Severance,” for Apple TV+; he’s obviously known for a celebrated comedy career. Directing and starring in hit comedies like “Zoolander,” “Tropic Thunder” and “The Cable Guy” (though only a tiny part in the latter), the comedian has reflected on the failure of “Zoolander 2” in a new interview with Fail Better podcast.

Continue reading Ben Stiller Was Shocked By “Blindsiding” Failure Of ‘Zoolander 2’: “I F—ed This Up” at The Playlist.

Let’s not beat around the bush—2023 has been a pretty shitty year for a lot of folks. But without getting in the weeds politically, let’s focus on one of the film stories of the past year that shows how 2023 hasn’t been kind to a filmmaker who was seemingly on top of the world. Basically, let’s talk about David Gordon Green’s latest career move—making a family drama film with Ben Stiller, titled “Nutcrackers.” 

According to Deadline, David Gordon Green is already currently in production on “Nutcrackers,” a new drama starring none other than Ben Stiller.

Continue reading ‘Nutcrackers’: Ben Stiller To Star In David Gordon Green’s Upcoming Non-Horror Film at The Playlist.

Is all well over at Apple TV+‘s “Severance“? Not according to Puck News, who report that Season 2 of the hit show has run into some roadblocks, including scrapped scripts and showrunner who hate each other. That’s not exactly what Apple wants from a show that nabbed 5 Emmy noms in its first season.

READ MORE: The 70 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2023

Here’s what Puck News says is the issue: Dan Erickson, who wrote the original “Severance” pilot, and Mark Friedman, hated working together on Season 1 so much that Friedman planned to leave the show before S2.

Continue reading ‘Andor’s Beau Willimon Added To ‘Severance’ Season 2 & 3, Amid Reports Of Delays & Production Troubles at The Playlist.

Patricia Arquette and Ben Stiller already have something good going on at Apple TV+ with “Severance.” Will they catch lightning in a bottle twice with “High Desert“? Arquette stars in the dark comedy series, set for a premiere next month, about a down-and-out addict who decides to become a private investigator. Both her and Stiller serve as executive producers on the series.

Continue reading ‘High Desert’ Trailer: Patricia Arquette & Ben Stiller Team Up For Another Apple TV+ Series On May 17 at The Playlist.

For the past several years, Ben Stiller has focused almost completely on his filmmaking career. The acting roles have dwindled to almost entirely bit parts in films or quick cameos. But it appears that Stiller is ready to take on a brand new starring role in what might be one of the most challenging film gigs of his career.

READ MORE: Justin Long On Vince Vaughn’s ‘Dodgeball 2’ Pitch: “It’s A Great Idea” But Ben Stiller Needs To Get On Board

According to Variety, Ben Stiller is set to star in the upcoming TV series, “Three Identical Strangers,” based on the documentary of the same name.

Continue reading ‘Three Identical Strangers’: Ben Stiller To Star In New Series Adaptation Of Acclaimed Documentary at The Playlist.

Nearly two decades have passed since “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” hit theaters. And for teens of the early ‘00s, Rawson Marshall Thurber’s sports comedy remains a classic. In the film, Vince Vaughn faces off against Ben Stiller in a dodgeball tournament over the ownership of Vaughn’s gym. It’s a silly premise, but Stiller plays it up well as deranged Globogym owner White Goodman, and the supporting cast of Christine Taylor, Justin Long, Rip Torn, Alan Tudyk, and Stephen Root put the movie over the top.

Continue reading Justin Long On Vince Vaughn’s ‘Dodgeball 2’ Pitch: “It’s A Great Idea” But Ben Stiller Needs To Get On Board at The Playlist.

Apple TV+‘s critical hit series “Severance,” led by Adam Scott (“Parks & Recreation“), ended this week on a cliffhanger, don’t worry, no spoilers here. The surreal, strange show, something of a post-Charlie Kaufman-esque series about “work-life balance,” was renewed this week for a second season following the finale (which makes sense after that ending). Concept heavy—about employees at a company called Lumon who have undergone a severance procedure, which surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives—the series already felt like an extended movie mini-series.

Continue reading ‘Severance’: Creator Dan Erickson Says Apple Series Could Have Somewhere Between Two-To-Six Seasons at The Playlist.

Actor/filmmaker Ben Stiller is no stranger to examining the rigors of the American workplace. Ever since he shined a light on everyone’s favorite cable guy in, well, “The Cable Guy,” Stiller has spent some time dwelling on the relationship we have with our work and those who work with and for us. Jim Carrey‘s slapdash, stalky cable installation man is less an ugly caricature of a hapless blue-collar weirdo and more a dark dive into the delicate void of friendship, professionalism, and obsession that comes when we connect with people who we didn’t choose.

Continue reading ‘Severance’ Review: Ben Stiller Crafts A Fascinating, Eerie Meditation On Work Culture at The Playlist.

In these seemingly unending days of COVID, the boundaries between work and life haven’t just blurred; they’ve dissolved altogether to make a morass of our waking lives. Now, what if that boundary was not only back in place but also induced by a medical procedure, so our professional and personal lives remain permanently divided?

READ MORE: The 70 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2022

That’s the crux of “Severance,” a new series coming to Apple TV+ next month.

Continue reading ‘Severance’ Trailer: Adam Scott & Patricia Arquette Star In A Trippy “Work-Life-Balance” Series For Director Ben Stiller at The Playlist.

People always say that you shouldn’t bring your work home with you. The strict boundaries between your work life and personal life are vital for happiness. In the new Apple TV+ series, “Severance,” that idea is taken to the extreme.

READ MORE: ‘The Champions’: Ben Stiller & Cate Blanchett To Adapt The ‘60s Series Into A Feature Film

“Severance” reunites the duo of director Ben Stiller and actress Patricia Arquette, who previously worked together on “Escape at Dannemora,” in a story of a group of people who undergo a procedure that makes them forget their work-life the second they go home.

Continue reading ‘Severance’ Teaser: Patricia Arquette, Adam Scott, John Turturro & More Star In Ben Stiller’s Apple TV+ Series at The Playlist.

A decade ago, the idea of Cate Blanchett teaming up with Ben Stiller to remake a somewhat silly ‘60s spy series into a feature film would have sounded ludicrous. However, over the last decade, Stiller has become a director that people really respect, especially when it comes to more dramatic fare, and Blanchett has been known to take roles that allow her to stretch her acting muscles in a different way than the typical prestige drama allows.

Continue reading ‘The Champions’: Ben Stiller & Cate Blanchett To Adapt The ‘60s Series Into A Feature Film at The Playlist.

Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the finest actors working today. There’s no question about that. He’s fully capable of doing any sort of role that is thrown his way. While many know him for his award-winning dramatic work, he’s also very capable of doing comedy. (I mean, check out this clip from “The Sack Lunch Bunch,” it’s fucking hilarious.) And apparently, in his younger years, he auditioned for a role that could have made him a premier comedic actor in “Zoolander.”

LISTEN: Jake Gyllenhaal & Antoine Fuqua Talk ‘The Guilty,’ Directing Over Zoom & Challenging Streaming Viewers [The Playlist Podcast]

Speaking to Esquire as part of a 20th-anniversary celebration of the comedy film, “Zoolander,” director and star Ben Stiller talked about how a young Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned for the role of Hansel in the film.

Continue reading ‘Zoolander’: Ben Stiller Says Jake Gyllenhaal Auditioned For Owen Wilson’s Hansel Role at The Playlist.

This was probably not the Golden Globes ceremony that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Dick Clark Productions, and NBC were dreaming of just weeks ago. And, no, we’re not even referring to the controversy over the HFPA’s lack of Black membership or questionable practices within the organization itself (which was mentioned numerous times by the hosts, nominees, and winners). No, despite the fact we’re almost 12 months into television programs having to use multiple zoom interfaces to pull of interviews or remotes due to the COVD-19 pandemic the Globes telecast started off with more embarrassing gaffes than you’d catch in a local high school homeroom newscast.

Continue reading Best and Worst of the 2021 Golden Globes: Chadwick Boseman Win, Kids Crashing the Zoom & Tech Issues at The Playlist.

One of the first novel concepts introduced in Doug Liman’s tossed-off, super slight, and interminably paced “Locked Down” pandemic-set heist/relationship movie that tells you a little bit about the central couple’s status is the “confession avalanche.” The rather unpleasant Linda (Anne Hathaway) and disagreeable, perhaps vaguely mentally-unwell Paxton (Chiwetel Ejiofor) are weeks into the pandemic in London (circa April, at the height of people losing their minds), both are in the throes of existential self-annihilation and have decided to part ways after the COVID-19 epidemic is over.

Continue reading ‘Locked Down’ Is Like A Pandemic Birthday Do-Over From Doug Liman We Should Pretend Never Happened [Review] at The Playlist.

Apple is the biggest company on the planet, full stop. If the tech giant wanted to, it could wake up today and purchase Disney and still have enough money to start talking to Netflix. So, it makes perfect sense Apple would have no qualms about spending huge amounts of money on top film talent to make sure its Apple TV+ streaming service is a hit. And that’s what the company has done with the forthcoming film from Andy Samberg and Co.

Continue reading Apple Lands Sci-Fi Film From Andy Samberg, Noah Hawley, Ben Stiller & ‘Palm Springs’ Writer at The Playlist.

As the world enters a second year under the sway of COVID-19, it’s just about the last topic anyone wants to see featured in a new movie release. Hollywood has a history of taking advantage of lousy situations for the sake of a timely story, however. Why should 2021 be any different? 

READ MORE: ‘Lockdown’: Doug Liman’s Pandemic Thriller With Anne Hathaway, Ben Stiller & More To Debut on HBO Max

“Locked Down,” previously titled “Lockdown” and the first of what will likely be many COVID/pandemic-themed films in the next few years, debuts in just two weeks on January 14 on HBO Max.

Continue reading ‘Locked Down’ Trailer: Anne Hathaway Stars in Doug Liman’s Rom-Com Heist Movie Set During COVID-19 Pandemic at The Playlist.

Recently, it was revealed that Doug Liman is taking a moment before he ventures off into space with Tom Cruise to work on a pandemic-inspired heist film, “Lockdown,” starring Anne Hathaway. And while the film is said to have a fairly modest budget, especially when you consider Liman’s usual blockbusters, “Lockdown” is still going to have quite an all-star cast.

READ MORE: ‘Lockdown’: Doug Liman To Direct Anne Hathaway In A Low Budget, Pandemic-Era Heist Film

According to Deadline, Hathaway is set to be joined by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ben Stiller, Lily James, Stephen Merchant, Dulé Hill, Jazmyn Simon, and Mark Gatiss in the ensemble cast of Doug Liman’s upcoming heist film, “Lockdown.” The film is said to tell the story of a sparring couple (Hathaway and Ejiofor) that are willing to put their differences aside for one more heist, this time targeting the world-famous Harrods department store, which houses plenty of expensive jewelry.

Continue reading ‘Lockdown’: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ben Stiller, Lily James & More Join Anne Hathaway In Doug Liman’s Pandemic Heist Film at The Playlist.