A breakdown of the biggest movie news from the last week (22 November – 28 November).
NEW RELEASES
Encanto (24 Nov)
Disney’s Encanto hit theaters this week, and early reviews are predominantly positive. Encanto tells the story of a Colombian family who are imbued with magical powers by their magical home – although the only powerless member of the family, Mirabel, is tasked with saving her family home when the Encanto is in danger.
House of Gucci (24 Nov)
Ridley Scott’s biographical crime drama was also released this week, featuring an impressive cast led by Lady Gaga and Adam Driver.
Telling the story of the Gucci fashion dynasty, House of Gucci follows Patrizia Reggiani (Gaga) and Maurizio Gucci (Driver) as they fight for control of the brand.
House of Gucci has so far been met with mixed reviews, praising the cast’s performances but criticizing the film’s screenplay and tone.
The Humans (24 Nov)
A24’s adaptation of Stephen Karam’s play of the same name was released this week, written and directed by Karam in his directorial debut.
Starring an ensemble cast of Richard Jenkins, Beanie Feldstein, Amy Schumer, Steven Yeun, Jayne Houdyshell, and June Squibb, The Humans release has been met with positive reviews.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (24 Nov)
The reboot of the Resident Evil franchise – Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City – also hit theaters this week.
Welcome to Raccoon City takes a more faithful approach to adapting the Resident Evil video game series, putting an emphasis on action-horror and more accurately adapting the franchise’s characters.
While Welcome to Raccoon City has so far received mixed reviews, its faithfulness to the games has been cited as a point of praise.
TRAILERS
Jurassic World: Dominion – Prologue Trailer (23 Nov)
Universal Pictures has released a trailer for Jurassic World: Dominion that acts as a prologue to the upcoming film. The prologue trailer shows dinosaurs that will be key to Dominion‘s story as they were 65 million years ago, then cuts to a T-Rex rampaging through a drive-in movie theater.
Jurassic World: Dominion is currently set for release on 10 June, 2022.
DC League of Super Pets (23 Nov)
The official trailer for the upcoming DC League of Super-Pets was also released this week ahead of the film’s May 2022 release.
DC League of Super-Pets will feature the voice talents of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnion, John Krasinski, Diego Luna, Ben Schwartz, and Keanu Reeves.
The Tragedy of Macbeth (25 Nov)
Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth‘s official teaser trailer was also released this week ahead of its 25 December theatrical release date.
Starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Corey Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, and Harry Melling, The Tragedy of Macbeth will be released by A24, and marks the first film directed by one of the Coen brothers without the other’s involvement.
CASTING
Laurence Fishburne & Casey Affleck – Slingshot (24 Nov)
Upcoming sci-fi thriller Slingshot has seen its cast expand this week, as news broke that Lawrence Fishburne and Casey Affleck have joined the production.
Slingshot will follow an astronaut manning a mission to Saturn’s moon, Titan, who struggles to maintain his sanity while fulfilling his task.
Production is scheduled to begin on 1 December. Slingshot will be directed by Mikael Hafstrom, of Netflix’s recent action sci-fi Outside the Wire and Escape Plan.
Ridley Scott Blames The Last Duel’s Box Office Failure On Millennials (23 Nov)
Ridley Scott’s Medieval drama The Last Duel recently flopped at the box office, and the legendary director believes that millennials are to blame.
The Last Duel stars Matt Damon, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer in a retelling of the story of France’s last judicial duel which took place in 1386.
The film was a box office disappointment, and in a recent appearance on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast, Scott attributed its failure to millennials and their cell phones.
“I think what it boils down to — what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these f–king cell phones. The millennian, [who] do not ever want to be taught anything unless you told it on the cell phone. This is a broad stroke, but I think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook. This is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think.”
Episode 1281 – Ridley Scott – WTF with Marc Maron Podcast
Scott’s placement of blame might seem misguided, but it’s seemingly born of a frustration with current box office trends. Still, that doesn’t stop him from sounding like someone’s angry grandfather.
Hayao Miyazaki Coming Out Of Retirement For One Last Film (24 Nov)
Widely known and celebrated as the founder of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki has made a massive mark on animated cinema over his career, and it seems that he’s not finished yet.
Miyazaki announced his retirement in 2013, but in an interview with The New York Times, Miyazaki confirmed that he’ll be returning to create one more movie. The film is based on a novel by Genzaburo Yoshino, and is described as “fantasy on a grand scale“.
Not much more is currently known about the film, but Miyazaki’s involvement has already begun building massive anticipation for its release.
Stephen Sondheim Passes Away Aged 91 (26 Nov)
Legendary musical composer Stephen Sondheim passed away this week at the age of 91. Sondheim was credited with reinventing the American musical, with such credits as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sunday in the Park With George, Into the Woods, and West Side Story.
Sondheim’s passing was marked by an outpouring of tributes from members of the Broadway and Hollywood communities. His death comes shortly before the 10 December release of West Side Story, Stephen Spielberg’s adaptation of perhaps his most famous work.