While he’s obviously famous for his celebrated acting career, Ethan Hawke is still a notable writer/director, as well as an author, stage actor, and more. Having just finished up the docuseries, “The Last Movie Stars,” in 2022, Hawke’s latest narrative directorial effort is “Wildcat,” based on the short stories of writer Flannery O’Connor. The period film set during the 1950s stars his daughter Maya Hawke (“Asteroid City”) as O’Connor with a supporting cast that consists of Laura Linney (“Ozark”), Steve Zahn (“8-Bit Christmas”), Vincent D’Onofrio (“Full Metal Jacket”), Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”), Rafael Casal (“Blindspotting”), Phillip Ettinger, and Levon Hawke.

Continue reading ‘Wildcat’ Trailer: Ethan Hawke Directs Daughter Maya Hawke In Flannery O’Connor Drama Coming This May at The Playlist.

Grossing $858.8 million worldwide and finishing its theatrical run as the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2015, Pixar’s “Inside Out” was a smash sensation for the company, with glowing reviews from audiences and critics. While there was a time when Pixar insisted it would not just churn out sequel after sequel for many of its properties and perhaps not make any at all for certain properties, the allure of doing “Inside Out 2” proved too tempting for the studio.

Continue reading ‘Inside Out 2’ Teaser Trailer: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke & More Power Pixar’s Animated Sequel About Big Teen Feelings at The Playlist.

Maya Hawke is a young actress on the rise, but is she a leading lady yet? “Wildcat” will change that, as Hawke plays novelist Flannery O’Connor. But “Wilder & Me” will solidify the position for the actress, arguably her biggest role yet. As Hanway Films starts sales for the picture, the package for “Wilder & Me” should get people’s attention fast.

Continue reading Christoph Waltz, Maya Hawke & More Join Billy Wilder Film ‘Wilder & Me’ From Director Stephen Frears at The Playlist.

After a string of movies that did poorly at the box office, Pixar looks to a critical hit from last decade to change their fortunes. But is “Inside Out 2” up to the challenge of righting the animation studio’s ship? The 2015 film did very well with critics, but wasn’t as big a hit as “Finding Dory,” “The Incredibles 2,” or “Toy Story 4.” So will the upcoming sequel fare as well as those other franchises in theaters next summer?

Continue reading ‘Inside Out 2’ Teaser Trailer: Pixar’s Sequel To Its 2015 Hit Arrives In Theaters Next June at The Playlist.

You could cinematically memorialize the life and works of Southern writer Flannery O’Connor in two ways, either by making a biographical drama or by adapting her work to the screen. Actor Ethan Hawke, however, directing a dramatic feature film for the fourth time, says, “Why not both?” and gives us a mélange of the two. Scenes from O’Connor’s stories alternate with scenes from her life—blending so thoroughly as the film proceeds that it is difficult to tell which is which.

Continue reading ‘Wildcat’ Review: Director Ethan Hawke’s Portrait Of Writer Flannery O’Connor Blurs Her Truths & Fictions [TIFF] at The Playlist.

Can a relationship be art? “Maestro” offers a bold look at the complicated and compelling story of Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein; the new film delves into the legendary conductor’s life, focusing on his unique connection to Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. Through it all, they found a way to support one another in a world judgemental of anything that didn’t fit the period’s societal norms.

Continue reading ‘Maestro’ Trailer:  Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein Romantic Epic Premieres In Venice, Opens Theatrically In November at The Playlist.

Maya Hawke already worked with her dad Ethan Hawke on the Flannery O’Connor biopic “Wildcat.” Now it’s time for her to star in something alongside her mom, Uma Thurman. And that something would be “The Kill Room,” a crime comedy about a money-laundering scheme that accidentally turns a hitman into an overnight avant-garde sensation.

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2023

Thurman stars in “The Kill Room” as Patrice, a NYC art gallery owner who hatches a scheme to launder money with mobsters Gordon (Samuel L.

Continue reading ‘The Kill Room’ Trailer: Crime Comedy With Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson & Maya Hawke Hits Theaters On September 29 at The Playlist.

Already in limited release, Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” opens in a wider release this weekend, Friday, June 23. Essentially split into two parts, the film centers on a grieving father (Jason Schwartzman) who travels with his tech-obsessed family to a small rural ‘Asteroid City’ to compete in a junior stargazing event, only to have his perspective on life— his cosmology as it where— disrupted forever by world-altering events.

Continue reading ‘Asteroid City’: Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, Jeffrey Wright & More Talk Uncertainty, Meaning & Wes Anderson’s Stargazing Creation at The Playlist.

It’s been nearly five years since Ethan Hawke has gone back to directing a narrative feature. Now, it appears the actor/filmmaker is not only planning to helm his next narrative feature soon, but he didn’t have to look very far to find the lead, as his daughter, Maya Hawke is joining her dad in the upcoming film, “Wildcat.”

According to Variety, Ethan Hawke is set to direct “Wildcat,” a biopic following the story of writer Flannery O’Connor.

Continue reading ‘Wildcat’: Ethan Hawke To Direct New Film Starring Maya Hawke, Laura Linney & More at The Playlist.

Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s delicious and devious “Do Revenge” takes place firmly in the larger-than-life high schools of movies, cleverly established here by its grossly-rich prep school and their uniforms of light pink, mint green, and purple. Every party scene is a shiny extravaganza with a dress code, looking more like junior “The Wolf of Wall Street” than what you probably experienced. It’s all cosplaying the lavishness and lasciviousness of being an adult, which sets the stage for its wilder drama of manipulation, a year-long bully scheme hellbent on humiliation.

Continue reading ‘Do Revenge’ Review: Maya Hawke Is A Mean Girl In Delicious & Devious High School Comedy at The Playlist.

Netflix and The Duffer Brothers haven’t even hit the green light yet for “Stranger Things” Season 5, but fans can’t wait for the show’s fifth and final season. And after the thrilling conclusion of Season 4, the stakes against the citizens of Hawkins, Indiana, have never been higher. So, who will live and die in the final showdown against Vecna?

READ MORE: ‘Stranger Things’ Volume 2 Review: Season 4 Ends With A Bloated Bang

If Maya Hawke gets her way, then Robin Buckley is on the way out.

Continue reading Maya Hawke On ‘Stranger Things’ Season 5: “I Would Love To Die And Get My Hero’s Moment” at The Playlist.

What happens when you cross Hitchcock with high school? When you mix budding friendships crossed with grand gestures of revenge? Well, you get Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s “Do Revenge” starring “Stranger Things” actress Maya Hawke and “Riverdale” star Camila Mendes.  Robinson, along with co-writer Celeste Ballard, planned to make a thrilling high school comedy, taking inspiration from movies such as “10 Things I Hate About You” and “Jawbreaker.” 

READ MORE: ‘Someone Great’: Gina Rodriguez Shines Brighter Than Neon In The Hilarious Netflix Comedy That Is Doomed To Be Forgotten

The American director is best known for movies such as co-writing the recent Marvel hit “Thor: Love and Thunder,” and the 2019 movie “Someone Great” starring Gina Rodriguez.  “Do Revenge” will see popular sweetheart Drea (Camila Mendes), whose sex tape was leaked by her boyfriend, and transfer student Eleanor, who was outed in her last school, come together to deal with each other’s bullies and dish out some much-deserved revenge. 

Speaking to ELLE.com, Robinson said: “I think there are different points where everyone’s the villain, and everyone’s the hero in this story.

Continue reading ‘Do Revenge’ Trailer: Maya Hawke And Camila Mendes Star In A Hitchcock-ian High School Revenge Dark Comedy at The Playlist.

Even knowing that the final two episodes of “Stranger Things 4” would be downright epic in length, there was a sense that the Duffer Brothers had bitten off a bit more than they could chew this year, sending their characters on separate arcs that made this chapter feel more bloated than the previous three. How could they possibly wrap all of this up in two remaining episodes, dropping today on Netflix?

Continue reading ‘Stranger Things’ Volume 2 Review: The Fourth Season Ends With A Bloated Bang at The Playlist.

Over the years, many actors have made the pivot to feature film directing: Ben Affleck, Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Olivia Wilde, and more. Another high-profile example is Bradley Cooper, who saw his directorial debut, a remake of “A Star Is Born,” land eight Academy Award nominations, eventually walking away with Best Original Song for Cooper’s co-star Lady Gaga.

There is finally a casting update on Cooper’s next directorial project that will keep up the exploration of the world of music.

Continue reading ‘Maestro’: Maya Hawke Joins Bradley Cooper’s Next Directorial Effort About Leonard Bernstein at The Playlist.

For a film that is 99.9% unlikely ever to be made, there is always a lot of talk about “Kill Bill 3.” And most of that discussion seems to come from none other than Quentin Tarantino. This time, however, he’s talking about who he would like to cast in the film…if he were to make the sequel, of course.

Tarantino started by explaining the appeal of a potential “Kill Bill” sequel by speaking on the Joe Rogan podcast.

Continue reading Quentin Tarantino Says If He Made ‘Kill Bill 3,’ Maya Hawke Would Be Cast As Uma Thurman’s Daughter at The Playlist.

By now, you’ve likely heard. This summer, Netflix is releasing three “Fear Street” films based on R.L. Stine’s best-selling horror series. One of the more interesting elements of the trilogy of films coming up is that they’re all connected and all directed by one filmmaker, Leigh Janiak. Janiak broke out with the 2014 horror indie “Honeymoon” starring “Game Of Thrones” star Rose Leslie that was met with much acclaim.

Continue reading ‘Fear Street’ Part 1: 1994′ Trailer & First Five Minutes: The Horror Begins In Shadyside, 1994. at The Playlist.

For those that grew up in the ’90s, R.L. Stine and his “Goosebumps” book series are ubiquitous with grade school, book fairs, and a young reader’s first toe-dip into the horror genre. Nearly twenty years after the series’ heydey, “Goosebumps” made it to the big screen in 2015, with a sequel following in 2018. Stine’s other, earlier, and just as popular horror book series for teenagers, “Fear Street,” gets the cinematic treatment with “The Fear Street Trilogy,” coming to Netflix in July.

Continue reading ‘Fear Street Trilogy’ Trailers: A Trio Of Horror Films From The Mind Of R.L Stine Hit Netflix In July at The Playlist.

Three films, three weeks, one “killer” story. So Netflix is trying to attempt something bold in the horror film genre. In a first for the streamer, Netflix announces that the upcoming “Fear Street Trilogy” will be released as an epic summer movie event over three consecutive weeks this July. Here are the release dates, and all three films are directed by Leigh Janiak, the director of the 2014 critically-acclaimed indie horror “Honeymoon.

Continue reading ‘Fear Street’ Trilogy Teaser Trailer: Netflix Dates 3 New Films For July All Directed By Horror Filmmaker Leigh Janiak at The Playlist.

In director Gia Coppola’s latest film, “Mainstream,” her first since 2014’s coming of age indie, “Palo Alto,” the filmmaker once again chronicles the story of disillusioned youth looking for outlets of validation. This time she targets social media and current influencer culture obsessions via her protagonist Frankie (Maya Hawke). Frankie is swept away by the enigmatic YouTube influencer Link (an uninhibited Andrew Garfield), and they quickly amass a sizable online following after a recording of him goes viral.

Continue reading Gia Coppola Talks ‘Mainstream,’ The Perils Of Social Media, Working With Andrew Garfield & More [Interview] at The Playlist.

Social media and YouTube have shown our culture that they are new avenues towards fame and sometimes fortune. But there’s a dark side of celebrity that’s explored in “Mainstream,” the latest directorial effort from Gia Coppola (“Palo Alto“). Coppola, the niece of Roman and Sofia Coppola, obviously comes from filmmaking royalty roots, but she really impressed with her 2013 coming-of-age film “Palo Alto.” “Mainstream” has a major cast too, including Maya Hawke (“Stranger Things,” “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood“), Andrew Garfield (“Silence,” “The Amazing Spider-Man“), Nat Wolff (“Paper Towns,” “Home Again“) and Jason Schwartzman (“Moonrise Kingdom,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel“).

Continue reading ‘Mainstream’ Trailer: Gia Coppola’s Satirical Social Media Riff Stars Andrew Garfield, Maya Hawke & Nat Wolff at The Playlist.

Maya Hawke is about to become a victim of Beatlemania. Well, not literally, but she will play a teen obsessed with the rock band in the upcoming film, “Revolver.”

According to Variety, Maya Hawke is set to star opposite her father, Ethan Hawke, in the new coming-of-age film, “Revolver,” directed by Andrew Stanton. As teased above, the film follows the story of a teen girl that lives in Anchorage, Alaska in 1966.

Continue reading ‘Revolver’: Ethan Hawke & Maya Hawke To Star In ‘Finding Dory’ Director’s New Beatlemania Film at The Playlist.

The age of social media is a trap for contemporary writers and filmmakers eager to Say Something. From fusty old Facebook to Instagram to platforms most people over 25 couldn’t even name, it presents all manner of topical ironies and iniquities in society at large, all too easily open to commentary and critique by artists who needn’t look further than the device in their hand for research. The catch, of course, is that social media shifts and changes faster than the weather: a script that begins life as an urgently of-the-moment meditation on the Twitter/TikTok/Tinder era is liable to be a time capsule once the finished film reaches theaters.

Continue reading ‘Mainstream’: Gia Coppola’s Slender YouTuber Satire Misses a Cheap Target [Venice Review] at The Playlist.

After a surprising breakout performance in season 3 of “Stranger Things” and a small but memorable role in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,” Maya Hawke is now leaning into her musical talents with the upcoming release of her full-length debut album, titled “Blush.” In anticipation of the album’s release, the actress/singer has released a music video for her new single, called “By Myself.”

READ MORE: ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4: New Teaser Promises A Wintry Russia & The Return Of Hopper

The music video, directed by Amanda Kramer, seems like it was made specifically for these self-isolation times that we live in.

Continue reading ‘Stranger Things’ Star Maya Hawke Is A Space Cowboy Angel In New Music Video at The Playlist.

Selective amnesia is an essential part of the “Stranger Things” experience, as a viewer and a character in the series. Why the hell else would you still live in the monster-infested Hawkins, Indiana, also home to a shadowy government agency who’s repeatedly demonstrated no regard for human life? As “Stranger Things” repeats the same tired, Stephen King-inspired sci-fi-y story each season—supernatural creatures crawl back from the Upside Down into Hawkins in the 1980s and the same group of kids and adults fight them back, including one girl with psionic abilities —audiences are expected to hold their suspension of disbelief and buy into the same increasingly-dubious concept.

Continue reading ‘Stranger Things’ Doesn’t Wanna Grow Up & Its Overstyled ’80s Nostalgia Is Running On Fumes [Season 3 Review] at The Playlist.

At what point will there be just too many big names in the cast of Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?” We’ve been commenting in our articles that Tarantino’s latest is turning into his version of “Avengers: Infinity War,” but at this point, Marvel Studios would probably pump the brakes on signing more recognizable faces.

THR is reporting that Lena Dunham has now joined the cast of Tarantino’s upcoming film.

Continue reading Lena Dunham Joins Cast Of Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ at The Playlist.