He’s gone on to find superstardom and Academy Award-winning accolades with roles like “Joker,” but actor Joaquin Phoenix’s path to the A-list was arguably paved with the help of filmmaker M. Night Shylaman, who cast him in 2002’s “Signs” and 2004’s “Signs” almost back to back. The two haven’t collaborated since, but it’s not for lack of trying.

Continue reading Joaquin Phoenix Almost Starred in M. Night Shylaman’s ‘Split’ & Dropped Out 2 Weeks Prior at The Playlist.

Universal’s chilling terror/horror remake, “Speak No Evil” is in theaters this weekend and seemingly already doing well in Thursday night previews. Based on the 2022 Danish film of the same name, this new English-language version stars James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, and Scoot McNairy in a story about a couple invited to stay at another couple’s country house for the weekend, but things soon escalate menacingly.

Continue reading James McAvoy Says He Was Almost In J.J. Abrams’ ‘Star Trek,’ & ‘Harry Potter’ at The Playlist.

English-language remakes of international films are typically not as good as the original. You could argue that most remakes aren’t as good as the original. But in the case of “Speak No Evil,” it’s difficult to imagine a way the Blumhouse remake could come close to the original version.

READ MORE: ‘Speak No Evil’ Review: Christian Tafdrup’s Deranged Horror Film is a Masterful Exercise in Tension [Sundance]

As seen in the trailer, “Speak No Evil” tells the story of an American Couple who visits a British family that they vacationed with earlier.

Continue reading ‘Speak No Evil’ Trailer: James McAvoy & Mackenzie Davis Star In New Blumhouse Thriller at The Playlist.

See no evil. Hear no evil. Written for the screen and directed by James Watkins, the writer-director of “Eden Lake” and the award-winning gothic ghost story “The Woman in Black,” “Speak No Evil” is a new psychological thriller with a terrific cast. From Blumhouse, the producer of “The Black Phone,” “Get Out” and “The Invisible Man,” comes an intense suspense thriller starring BAFTA award-winner James McAvoy (“Split,” “Glass”) as the charismatic, alpha-male estate owner whose untrammeled hospitality masks an unspeakable darkness. 

Continue reading ‘Speak No Evil’ Trailer: James McAvoy & Mackenzie Davis Starring Psychological Thriller Hits In September at The Playlist.

Filmmaker Jeymes Samuel exploded on the scene last year with the release of his star-studded Western, “The Harder They Fall.” The film might have served as his feature directorial debut, but Samuel is no stranger to the world of art, having a long career in music as the artist known as The Bullitts. Now, as an established filmmaker, Samuel is hoping his next film, “The Book of Clarence,” continues his rise in the world of film.

Continue reading ‘Book Of Clarence’: Benedict Cumberbatch, David Oyelowo, James McAvoy, Alfre Woodard & More Join Jeymes Samuel’s Biblical Story at The Playlist.

Following in the footsteps of the iconic performance by Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, leader of the X-Men in the superhero film franchise, there was a lot of pressure on James McAvoy, who took over the role for the prequel films, starting with “X-Men: First Class.” However, McAvoy is a great actor and was able to excite fans and earn the respect of everyone with his performance over the course of four films.

Continue reading James McAvoy Says He’s “Definitely Not Got The Call” About Returning As Charles Xavier In The MCU & Isn’t Sure He’d Want To at The Playlist.

The “X-Men” franchise, alongside “Blade,” were the first big box office hits for superhero films featuring characters pulled from the pages of Marvel Comics, sort of the precursor to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s launch with “Iron Man” in 2008. You might remember that Kevin Feige got his start working for The Donner Company, the producers of the “X-Men” films, and was directly involved with those first couple of installments before leaving to run Marvel Studios.

Continue reading James McAvoy Says He Won’t Appear In ‘Doctor Strange 2’ & Doesn’t Miss His Old ‘X-Men’ Role at The Playlist.

James McAvoy spent a good chunk of his acting career playing a young version of Patrick Stewart‘s Professor Charles Xavier in the string “X-Men” prequels starting with Matthew Vaughn‘s “X-Men: First Class.” The British actor is currently promoting the “Sandman” podcast and revealed to Collider that he’s still itching to play “Star Trek” captain, Jean-Luc Picard.

Continue reading James McAvoy Keen To Play The Young Version of ‘Star Trek’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard at The Playlist.

“My Son” is a gimmick in search of a movie. Co-writer/director Christian Carion (“Joyeux Noel”) adapts his own 2017 French film of the same name, which was unexpectedly dropped to Peacock after forgoing the theatrical or VOD route (it will also be on The Roku Channel in December, making this deal even stranger). Coming seemingly out of nowhere, the thriller boasts two undeniably talented stars, one of whom was reportedly not given a script or dialogue in an attempt to capture the confusion and panic of his protagonist—the same technique Carion used the first time with stars Guillaume Canet and Melanie Laurent to very mixed reviews.

Continue reading ‘My Son’: An Exciting Film Experiment Yields A Depressingly Dull Thriller [Review] at The Playlist.

As if a new film starring James McAvoy and Claire Foy wasn’t enough to make an audience intrigued, the new Peacock film, “My Son,” adds an entirely different, experimental layer to the equation—improvisation.

READ MORE: ‘Together’: James McAvoy & Sharon Horgan Talk About The Difficulties Of Marriage & Love In Lockdown In Stephen Daldry’s Latest [Interview]

As seen in the new trailer for “My Son,” Peacock wants everyone to be well-aware that this crime thriller isn’t like most other films you’re going to watch.

Continue reading ‘My Son’ Trailer: James McAvoy & Claire Foy Star In A Completely Improvised Thriller Coming To Peacock at The Playlist.

In Stephen Daldry’s latest, the “Billy Elliot” director tackles life in quarantine and the rhythms of lockdown during COVID-19 with “Together.” The film is immediately bolstered by clever and enlightening dialogue and committed and passionate performances from Sharon Horgan and James McAvoy. The two play a couple who have been together for over a decade but have only remained in a quasi-relationship for the sake of their son.

Continue reading ‘Together’: James McAvoy & Sharon Horgan Talk About The Difficulties Of Marriage & Love In Lockdown In Stephen Daldry’s Latest [Interview] at The Playlist.

One of the more fully formed portraits of life during lockdown, Stephen Daldry and Dennis Kelly’s rapid-fire, fourth-wall-breaking, two-hander “Together” trades the overt sentimentalism of Daldry’s previous film work—“The Reader,” “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” etc.—for a darkly comedic study in the ups and downs of a single couple as they contend with the fracturing of their relationship amidst the pandemic.

Continue reading ‘Together’: Stephen Daldry’s Lockdown Relationship Drama Is Darkly Comedic & Riveting [Review] at The Playlist.

The pandemic has produced a number of films over the past year-and-a-half. Most of them include small casts, limited locations, and reduced budgets. And many of them actually try to tackle the idea of the COVID pandemic through another lens, whether that’s horror (“In the Earth”), a heist (“Locked Down”), or even a futuristic pandemic outbreak (“Songbird”). But Stephen Daldry tackles the idea of a pandemic film in the most obvious (and hopefully hilarious) way in “Together.”

LISTEN: Ben Wheatley Talks ‘In The Earth,’ Why He Is Directing ‘The Meg 2’ & The Video Game Films Would Love To Make [The Playlist Podcast]

As seen in the trailer for “Together,” the film follows the story of a British couple that is being forced to quarantine indoors during COVID.

Continue reading ‘Together’ Trailer: James McAvoy & Sharon Horgan Team With Stephen Daldry For A Lockdown Dramedy at The Playlist.

Over the past year, we’ve seen quite a few attempts from studios to create timely films about the COVID pandemic. Sometimes, they’re great, like with Shudder’s underrated “Host.” Other times? Not so great, as we saw with “Songbird.” But when you combine the acting ability of James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan, along with the directing ability of Stephen Daldry, you have to assume that the new film, “Together,” is going to be good, right?

Continue reading ‘Together’ First Look: James McAvoy & Sharon Horgan Star In Stephen Daldry’s Pandemic-Inspired Drama at The Playlist.

Depending on your thoughts about English-language remakes, you’re either going to love or hate this news. According to ErosSTX, the production company is set to make an English-language remake of the French thriller, “My Son.” But there is some hope, as the cast and crew of the feature seem to point to a worthwhile retelling.

STXFilms will produce and distribute a new version of the French film “My Son,” with the original film’s director, Christian Carion returning to direct.

Continue reading ‘My Son’: James McAvoy & Claire Foy To Star In Improvised, Real-Time Thriller at The Playlist.

Following the success of Peter Jackson’s monumental cinematic achievement of filming the unfilmable in the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Hollywood attempted for years, in vain, to capitalize. Sub-par movie versions of C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” were rushed to picture palaces, as well as an attempt to bring Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy to life in the form of 2007’s “The Golden Compass,” which was released to mixed reviews and disappointing box office numbers.

Continue reading ‘His Dark Materials’ Is A Mechanically Muted Fantasy Series That Won’t Capture Your Imagination [Review] at The Playlist.

You could throw a rock in Hollywood and hit a TV series based on a popular fantasy book series. With the rise of “Game of Thrones,” as well as the success of films such as “The Chronicles of Narnia” and ‘Lord of the Rings,’ studios all around are trying to snatch up the rights for popular fantasy novels and turn them into sparkly new TV series.

Continue reading ‘His Dark Materials’ Trailer: Philip Pullman’s Classic Novels Come To Life On HBO In November at The Playlist.

While the festival season has really only just begun—Telluride is over, we’re in the middle of Venice, and the Toronto International Film Festival just beginning—there are plenty of films being released in September that have already earned some well-deserved buzz or promise to entice audiences based on the trailers alone. And with all due respect to titles like “Blinded by the Light,” “The Farewell,” and “Ready or Not,” things are certainly looking up from the rather abysmal last two months.

Continue reading 10 Films To See In September: ‘Goldfinch,’ ‘Ad Astra,’ ‘Dick Long’ & More at The Playlist.

Hot on the heels of the official teaser comes a full trailer for HBO’s highly anticipated fantasy series, “His Dark Materials.” Based on Philip Pullman‘s wildly popular book trilogy of the same name, “His Dark Materials” follows Lyra Belacqua (“Logan” star Dafne Keen) as she travels across a multiverse fraught with danger, daemons, and Dust (explained below). The show’s premiere is predicted to rival the success of the recently-ended “Game of Thrones.” The first series finished filming in December 2018 and will premiere later in 2019.

Continue reading ‘His Dark Materials’ Trailer: A War Rages In HBO’s New Epic Fantasy Series [Comic-Con] at The Playlist.

Immediately following the runaway success of the 2017 “IT” remake, it stood to reason, then, that a sequel would surely follow. And this September, we’re getting one. Andy Muschietti directed the film, working from a script by “Annabelle Comes Home” writer/director Gary Dauberman. “IT: Chapter Two” follows the Losers’ Club members as adults who’ve been separated for decades.

Continue reading ‘It: Chapter Two’ Trailer: Evil Resurfaces & The Losers Club Face Off Against Pennywise Again [Comic-Con] at The Playlist.

Director Andy Muschietti is faced with a very unique problem for a horror sequel. After the massive success of his “It: Chapter One,” he had to return with a new sequel that hopefully built upon the box office success of the first one, but with an entirely different cast. Through the very nature of the story, the fan-favorite cast from the first film was shoved aside to make room for the adult versions of their characters.

Continue reading James McAvoy Explains Exactly When You’ll See The Kid Actors Return In ‘It: Chapter 2’ at The Playlist.

Imagine the story about a vulnerable young woman who discovers her entire life has been built on a lie, who learns a dark emotionally cataclysmic secret about her past and feels irrevocably betrayed by a manipulative man she once saw as her savior and compassionate father figure. Apply a viscerally triggering event that unearths a great, once-buried trauma—and a remarkable power— and exacerbate it further with mysterious outsiders looking to exploit this anguish for their nefarious purposes and you have all the trappings of a very explosive and intriguing melodrama.

Continue reading ‘Dark Phoenix’: Gaslighting, Bad Men & Ideas Of Identity & Destiny Can’t Save This Clumsy ‘X-Men’ Movie [Review] at The Playlist.

Is everyone ready to camp out Thursday night to be the first in line to see “Dark Phoenix?” No? Well, considering Disney/Fox is expecting a franchise-low opening weekend at the box office, you’re probably not alone in your general apathy towards the dwindling, lame-duck superhero franchise. But maybe a new, extended clip will show you that writer-director Simon Kinberg is ready to send the X-Men off in style.

Continue reading ‘Dark Phoenix’ 3-Minute Clip: Mystique Says The Team Should Be Called “X-Women” Due To The Women Always Saving The Men at The Playlist.

Recently, due to comments made by writer-director Simon Kinberg, the internet exploded with preemptive disgust with Fox’s upcoming ‘X-Men’ swansong, “Dark Phoenix.” This fervor stemmed from the filmmaker divulging that he reshot the entire third act of the superhero film, removing the final space battle and replacing it with a fight scene on a train. Many fans saw this as an immediate downgrade, especially given the subject matter of the film.

Continue reading James McAvoy Says Ending Of ‘Dark Phoenix’ Was Reshot Due To “A Lot Of Overlap & Parallels” With Another Superhero Film at The Playlist.

If you’re a fan of Philip Pullman’s famous novel series “His Dark Materials,” you’re probably familiar with the ill-fated attempt to adapt the series for live-action in 2007’s “The Golden Compass.” Produced at the height of ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Narnia’ buzz in the film industry, “The Golden Compass” failed to turn into a franchise and was ultimately disappointing for fans of the novels.

Continue reading ‘His Dark Materials’ Trailer: HBO/BBC Fantasy Series Stars Dafne Keen, James McAvoy, Lin-Manuel Miranda & More at The Playlist.