A breakdown of the biggest movie news from the last week (13 December – 19 December).

TRAILERS

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – Official Trailer (13 December)

The first official trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was released this week, and it shows that the threequel will be taking the series in a slightly new yet remarkably familiar direction.

Not only does it reveal that Jude Law’s Dumbledore will feature in a much larger role than in previous Fantastic Beasts movies, but it promises a return to Hogwarts, too.

The Secrets of Dumbledore is currently set for release on 15 April, 2022.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (14 December)

One of Corner of Film’s most anticipated movies of 2021 was The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, an action-comedy starring Nicolas Cage as, well, Nicolas Cage.

After its original release date was postponed, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has finally received its official trailer this week.

With Nic Cage playing a (slightly) fictionalized version of himself attending the birthday party of an eccentric billionaire super fan (Pedro Pascal) for $1 million, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent seems to be the perfect vehicle for Cage to showcase his particular brand of entertaining insanity.

Everything Everywhere All At Once (14 December)

The trailer for A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once was also released this week. Starring Michelle Yeoh and directed by Daniels (that’s Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, of Swiss Army Man), the upcoming film will explore the idea of the Multiverse.

The release of Everything Everywhere All At Once‘s trailer is particularly timely, with the MCU beginning to explore a multiversal narrative in its recent and upcoming releases.

Everything Everywhere All At Once is currently set to open the South by Southwest festival on 11 March 2022.

The Bad Guys (15 December)

Universal also dropped the trailer for The Bad Guys this week – an animated film based on the children’s book series of the same name by Aaron Blabey.

With a voice cast of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, and Alex Borstein, The Bad Guys follows several anthropomorphic animal villains as they attempt to become good.

The Bad Guys is currently set for worldwide release in April 2022.

The Lost City (16 December)

This week also saw the release of the official trailer for The Lost City, an action-adventure romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, and Brad Pitt.

Bullock stars as Loretta Sage, a romance novelist, who is kidnapped from a book tour by an eccentric billionaire (Radcliffe) in order to help him find the titular lost city. Channing Tatum plays Sage’s cover model, Alan, who believes he can embody the heroic character he poses as.

The Lost City is currently set for a 25 March, 2022 release.

RELEASES

Spider-Man: No Way Home (15 December)

The long-awaited Spider-Man: No Way Home released this week to critical and commercial success.

With the second-biggest opening day box office ever – beaten only by Avengers: Endgame – No Way Home has earned a staggering $121 million on its first day of release, and has also received an A+ CinemaScore from audiences.

For added context, No Way Home‘s opening day alone broke pandemic records: Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which earned $90 million on its opening weekend.

Ben Schwartz Joins Cast of Renfield (16 December)

The cast of Universal’s Renfield has grown again, with Ben Schwartz now set to appear in the film alongside Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, and Awkwafina.

Schwartz is perhaps best known of late for voicing the titular character in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and his comedic talents will surely be put to good use in Universal’s monster movie, which is currently billed as a lightly comedic take on the source material.

Spike Lee Signs Deal With Netflix (17 December)

Acclaimed director Spike Lee has signed a multi-year movie deal with streaming giant Netflix this week.

Following the success of Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, which was made in collaboration with Netflix, Lee has entered a creative partnership with the company. Speaking about the deal, Lee said:

“There Is No Better Way For Me And My Company 40 Acres And A Mule Filmworks To Begin The New Year Than Renew Our Partnership With Ted, Scott And Tendo-Da Fearless Leaders Of NETFLIX. Besides My Joints, We Together Will Focus On The New Diverse Storytellers. YOUTH MUST BE SERVED. And Dat’s Da Truth, Ruth. YA-DIG? SHO-NUFF.”

Kevin Feige Confirms Spider-Man 4 Now In Active Development (18 December)

After the resounding early success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige has confirmed that Spider-Man 4 is in active development with Sony and Disney.

This news comes after comments Holland made casting doubts over his return to the role, which prompted follow-up comments from No Way Home producer Amy Pascal announcing her intention to create another Spider-Man trilogy starring Holland.

While speaking with the New York Times this week, Feige confirmed that another Spider-Man movie is in early development. Feige said:

Amy and I and Disney and Sony are talking about — yes, we’re actively beginning to develop where the story heads next, which I only say outright because I don’t want fans to go through any separation trauma like what happened after “Far From Home” [the previous Spider-Man movie, in 2019]. That will not be occurring this time.