Is this a disturbance in the Force, or at least a new way forward for the “Star Wars” franchise theatrically? Deadline reports that Lucasfilm and Simon Kinberg have a deal set for the “Star Wars: Rebels” co-creator to write and develop a new trilogy of “Star Wars” films. Kinberg will also co-produce the three films with Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy.

Continue reading ‘Star Wars’: Lucasfilm Taps Simon Kinberg To Write & Develop New Trilogy at The Playlist.

There are still quite a few questions when it comes to the “Star Trek” franchise on the big screen. Will Paramount be able to get the reboot cast back together for a fourth film? Will the studio go in a completely different direction? What’s up with the prequel film that seems to be moving forward? Honestly, it all just seems to lack a vision. But that might be changing.

Continue reading Simon Kinberg Might Produce New ‘Star Trek’ Prequel & May Take Over As “Steward” Of Franchise at The Playlist.

Whatever happened to actor-turned-filmmaker Olivia Wilde directing a “Spider-Man” spin-off, rumored to be a Jessica Drew “Spider-Woman” film? Well, it’s unclear if it will ever happen, and it’s clearly not anywhere on the release date schedule. But perhaps in a sign that she still intends to make some kind of superhero film centered around women, she’s signed a deal to partner with producer Simon Kinberg and Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap productions to make a live-action adaptation of Rob Liefeld’s “Avengelyne” comic series (via THR).

Continue reading Olivia Wilde To Direct ‘Avengelyne’ Comic Book Film Teaming With Simon Kinberg and Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap at The Playlist.

George Clooney‘s hints about a possible “Ocean’s 14” movie wasn’t the only heist film to make the news yesterday. Deadline reports that Netflix won out over seven other studio bidders for a Ryan Reynolds global heist comedy. The pitch doesn’t have a name yet, but “The Lost City” scribe Dana Fox will pen the script, with Simon Kinberg producing.

Continue reading Ryan Reynolds & Simon Kinberg Are Putting Together An ‘Ocean’s’ Style Heist Film For Netflix, Shawn Levy To Direct at The Playlist.

After a two-year wait, Apple TV+‘s “Invasion” returns for its second season on August 23. Created by Simon Kinberg and David Weil, the show is a character-driven sci-fi drama that follows an alien invasion through various characters from around the world from different perspectives. Golshifteh Farahani, Shioli Kutsuna, Shamier Anderson, India Brown, Billy Barrett, Azhy Robertson, Paddy Holland, and Tara Moayedi are all returning from the first season.

Continue reading ‘Invasion’ Season 2 Trailer: Apple TV+’s Sci-Fi Drama Returns On August 23 at The Playlist.

Film project auctions are some of the more interesting deals made in Hollywood, as you’ll see studios/streamers throwing around a lot of money to outbid each other if there is intense competition. Netflix, of course, has plenty of original movies cooking at any moment. However, they are still always putting out feelers to find just the right thing that could help coax considerable talent to attach themselves to support the marketing of it. A report from Deadline reveals that the streaming giant is closing in on a big deal to secure the film rights to a short story from Chris Hicks called “I Am Not Alone,” beating out its main rival Warner Bros.

Continue reading Jessica Chastain To Star In Director Misha Green’s Sci-Fi Horror ‘I Am Not Alone’ For Netflix at The Playlist.

We can’t wait to see Channing Tatum (“Logan Lucky“) in his third “Magic Mike” movie opposite Salma Hayek, and he’s also getting ready to make a big comeback to the action genre in the near future. A developing film package announced by Deadline that is going on the auction block will see Tatum team up with director David Leitch (“Bullet Train“) and longtime “X-Men” screenwriter/producer Simon Kinberg (“Mr.

Continue reading Channing Tatum, David Leitch & Simon Kinberg Team For Spy Thriller ‘Red Shirt’ at The Playlist.

Many people don’t realize this, but the “Fantastic Four” comic books predate almost everything in Marvel’s history. The superhero team is basically the foundation of all modern Marvel superheroes. Yet, “Fantastic Four,” as a film franchise, is one of the most troubled, with multiple failed attempts, with the most recent example being 2015’s oft-maligned iteration directed by Josh Trank.

READ MORE: Review: Josh Trank’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Starring Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, And Michael B.

Continue reading Toby Kebbell Says 2015’s Failed ‘Fantastic Four’ Reboot Is “A Victim Of Bad Leadership & Organization” at The Playlist.

Where to start with Universal’s female-led action spy movie “The 355,” a staggeringly ill-conceived effort on every level if we’re going to put it lightly and politely. From all accounts, “The 355” was born on the set of “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” (a terrible movie, to be candid), wherein co-star Jessica Chastain said to the film’s writer/director Simon Kinberg (paraphrasing), “why don’t we do an action espionage movie with all-women leads?” Kinberg immediately said yes, and Chastain went into her Rolodex of famous friends and quickly found a star-studded cast to be on board.

Continue reading ‘The 355’ Review: GirlBossy Action Spy Movie Is A Shallow, Pandering Female Empowerment Affair at The Playlist.

Writer/director/producer Simon Kinberg has got to be riding high at this exact moment. His Apple TV+ series “Invasion,” just got picked up for a second season and his new Universal spy movie, “The 355,” starring Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong’o, and more is due in theaters next month (it’s on our list of the 100 Most Anticipated Movies Of 2022). 

Continue reading Simon Kinberg Says He Didn’t Write A ‘Boba Fett’ Movie & Reveals His Lucasfilm Creative Group Era Before George Lucas Sold To Disney at The Playlist.

Writer/producer/director Simon Kinberg has been able to play in some truly massive sandboxes over the course of his career, with the biggest perhaps being his time working on 20th Century Fox’s ‘X-Men’ universe. Recently, Kinberg has co-created his own universe in Apple TV+’s series, “Invasion,” which recently got picked up for a second season and is airing its first season finale on December 10.

Continue reading Simon Kinberg talks ‘Invasion,’ Diving Into The World Of TV & The X-Men Joining The MCU [The Discourse Podcast] at The Playlist.

How is Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige going to introduce mutants and the X-Men, specifically, to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? We don’t really have any idea, at this point. And when you talk to famed ‘X-Men’ franchise producer-filmmaker Simon Kinberg, he’s not sure either, but he’s willing to bet it’s going to be great, regardless.

In an upcoming episode of The Discourse podcast, while promoting his new series “Invasion” on Apple TV+, Simon Kinberg talked about the future of the ‘X-Men’ franchise in relation to how it will be introduced in the MCU now that Marvel Studios has control of the rights.

Continue reading Simon Kinberg Doesn’t Know How The X-Men Will Join The MCU But Expects It To Be “Innovative & Wildly Satisfying” at The Playlist.

Apple TV+ keeps launching big-budget dramas in the hope that one of them will take hold of viewers with the same strength as its Emmy-winning “Ted Lasso.” This year alone, there have been massive, star-studded productions like “The Mosquito Coast” and “Lisey’s Story,” and the general response from the populous has been a shrug. The charming football coach may have brought people to the streaming service, but it feels like the company is racking up more misses than hits lately, which is probably leading to some late nights in Apple boardrooms.

Continue reading ‘Invasion’ TV Review: Simon Kinberg’s Sci-Fi Drama Is A Disjointed, Self-Serious Slog at The Playlist.

Shamier Anderson is an up-and-coming actor who you may recognize from the show “Wynonna Earp” and films like “Race” or  Netflix’s “Stowaway.” He’s been steadily building a following a is seemingly ready to break out over the course of the next year with some high-profile projects. In this episode of The Discourse, Shamier Anderson joins host Mike DeAngelo to talk about his role in the Apple TV+ series “Invasion” which hits the streamer on October 22.

Continue reading Shamier Anderson Talks ‘Invasion,’ ‘John Wick 4’ & Nearly Joining The DCEU [The Discourse Podcast] at The Playlist.

Work together or die alone, that’s the motto of “The 355,” an action thriller about a dream team of spies, played by a formidable group of female stars, that come together in a hard-driving original approach to the globe-trotting espionage genre. The film is jampacked with names, Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, Fan Bingbing, Sebastian Stan and Édgar Ramírez, all star.

READ MORE: Fall 2021 Movie Preview: 60+ Must-See Films

Here’s the synopsis:

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021

When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, wild card CIA agent Mason “Mace” Brown (Oscar®-nominated actress Jessica Chastain) will need to join forces with rival badass German agent Marie (Diane Kruger, In the Fade), former MI6 ally and cutting-edge computer specialist Khadijah (Oscar® winner Lupita Nyong’o), and skilled Colombian psychologist Graciela (Oscar® winner Penélope Cruz) on a lethal, breakneck mission to retrieve it, while also staying one step ahead of a mysterious woman, Lin Mi Sheng (Bingbing Fan, X-Men: Days of Future Past), who is tracking their every move.

Continue reading ‘The 355’ Trailer: Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong’o & Spy Femmes Have To Work Together Or Die Alone at The Playlist.

Alien invasions shows and movies aren’t exactly a rarity these days, but that hasn’t stopped Apple TV+ from offering a new take on the concept. “Invasion,” set to hit the streaming service this fall, hopes to find novelty in tracing the alien threat to human existence from a variety of perspectives that cuts across culture, class, and gender.

READ MORE: ‘Invasion’ Trailer: Hold On To Your Humanity In A New AppleTV+ Sci-Fi Drama Starring Shamier Anderson, Golshifteh Farahani & Sam Neill

Sounds like a sweeping and majestic take on a semi-tired trope?

Continue reading ‘Invasion’ Trailer: New Apple TV+ Series Charts An Alien Invasion From Multiple Perspectives In October at The Playlist.

The televangelist biopic “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” is in theaters now and generating Oscar buzz for actress Jessica Chastain. Doing the press rounds to help promote her Toronto International Film Festival-premiering film, the actress recently spoke with host Josh Horowitz on his podcast Happy Sad Confused (listen below). Topics ranged, and she did reveal the director and co-star of her upcoming Tammy Wynette limited series (John Hillcoat and Michael Shannon), but of course, she couldn’t help but field questions about superheroes and that milieu, given her various experiences.

Continue reading Jessica Chastain More Interested In Supervillains Than Heroes & Cagey About Discussing ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ at The Playlist.

At this point, we’ve seen a number of films and TV series tackle the idea of an alien invasion. It’s well-trodden land for filmmakers, for sure. But Apple TV+ is hoping there’s still plenty of interest in the sci-fi concept ahead of its upcoming series, “Invasion.”

READ MORE: Summer TV Preview: Over 40 Series To Watch

As seen in the teaser trailer for “Invasion,” the series aims to take a look at an alien invasion from multiple perspectives, as various people deal with the ramifications of the outsiders coming to Earth and fighting humanity.

Continue reading ‘Invasion’ Trailer: Hold On To Your Humanity In A New AppleTV+ Sci-Fi Drama Starring Shamier Anderson, Golshifteh Farahani & Sam Neill at The Playlist.

Earlier, I posted about the news that Cineworld (Regal Cinemas parent company) secured new funding to help the company survive for now, in hopes that 2021 will offer a new chance to reopen and attract customers to theaters. Well, about that. It appears that the exciting 2021 release schedule is already taking a hit, as Universal moves its new film, “The 355,” from January 2021 to January 2022.

Continue reading ‘The 355’: Simon Kinberg’s Action Film Starring Jessica Chastain Delayed From January 2021 To 2022 at The Playlist.

After becoming a cult classic and then an acclaimed rebooted series on Syfy, it was almost inevitable that “Battlestar Galactica” would eventually end up on the big screen. And though Peacock is developing a new TV series, it appears that Universal is ready to also work on a new film based on the sci-fi series.

According to THR, Universal has signed on Simon Kinberg to write and produce a brand-new take on “Battlestar Galactica” for the big screen.

Continue reading ‘Battlestar Galactica’: Simon Kinberg Will Write & Produce A New Film For Universal at The Playlist.

During the making of “X-Men: Dark Phoenix,” actor Jessica Chastain proposed an idea to director Simon Kinberg: what about a female-led spy film in the same spirit as the “Mission: Impossible” and “James Bond”? It didn’t take long for the idea to take hold, Kinberg agreeing to direct, Chastain to star and produce, and to grab many of her famous friends to star in the movie.

Continue reading ‘355’ Trailer: Jessica Chastain Leads An All-Star Spy Team With Penélope Cruz, Lupita Nyong’o & More at The Playlist.

It’s unlikely that Idris Elba will ever become James Bond, as the actor has pointed out a number of times before. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t see him suit up as a spy soon enough. You see, the actor has just signed on to produce and star in a new espionage flick over at Apple that might just scratch that James Bond itch for fans.

According to Deadline, Apple has won an auction to become the studio behind an upcoming, untitled spy film that will star Idris Elba.

Continue reading Idris Elba To Star In A New Spy Film From Producer Simon Kinberg & Apple at The Playlist.

Take it from Adam Sandler: if you do right by Netflix, Netflix will do right by you. That’s certainly the case with Jason Bateman. Bateman’s work on Netflix’s modern-noir series “Ozark” has earned the streaming giant several Emmy wins. It’s also pushed Bateman beyond his comedic roots as both a complex leading man and talented director-for-hire. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship, one that both parties seem prepared to extend beyond the conclusion of “Ozark.”

READ MORE: “Ozark” Will End With a Two-Part Season Four

According to Deadline, Bateman has been tapped by Netflix to direct “Here Come the Flood,” the new script from blockbuster writer-producer Simon Kinberg. 

Continue reading Jason Bateman To Direct Netflix Heist Film ‘Here Comes the Flood’ at The Playlist.

Two words capture the new season of “The Twilight Zone” with unfortunate clarity—overwritten and overdirected. Most anything Jordan Peele puts his name on, whether his own movies (“Get Out,” “Us”) or projects led by other talents (Nia DaCosta’s “Candyman” sequel) at least deserves consideration for quality of imagination and for the strength of vision.

Continue reading ‘The Twilight Zone’ Season 2 Is Well-Crafted Gloom Burdened By An Overabundance Of Ideas [Review] at The Playlist.

With the release of “The New Mutants” expected to finally be in August (though, we won’t believe it until it’s actually on a screen somewhere), the end of the Fox/X-Men film universe is near. And with that, fans will begin to look forward to whatever Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige have up their sleeve with the mutant superheroes. But before Feige was given control of the “X-Men” characters, Fox had some pretty ambitious plans, including the oft-delayed, much-discussed “Gambit” feature.

Continue reading ‘Gambit’: Simon Kinberg Says Mister Sinister Would Have Been The Villain In Channing Tatum’s ‘X-Men’ Film at The Playlist.