The plans for an It Takes Two movie appear to be solidifying. Deadline and Variety sources claim Amazon Studios and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions have taken up the game-to-movie adaptation alongside Sonic the Hedgehog production company dj2 Entertainment. There's even a chance Johnson could star in the movie, the insiders said.
We've asked Amazon for comment. The Prime Video operator's involvement would make sense when dj2 has a "first look" deal with Amazon, as do the movie's executive producers (and writers) Pat Casey and Josh Miller. It Takes Two developer Hazelight Studios' Josef Fares and Oskar Wolontis will also executive produce.
It's still not certain when a movie might launch. The project might stand a better chance of succeeding than some big-screen game adaptations, though. Casey and Miller are widely credited with the success of the two Sonic the Hedgehog movies. Moreover, It Takes Two's plot could be well-suited to a movie format — it sees a couple on the brink of divorce embark on a fantastical journey that helps them rediscover each other. It's just a question of whether or not Amazon, dj2 and Seven Bucks can translate the co-op game's concept to a passive entertainment format.
A movie version of Mojang Studio’s Minecraft is starting to come together. Action hero veteran Jason Momoa is in talks to star in an upcoming film adaptation of the popular worldbuilding game, reportedThe Hollywood Reporter. While no contract has been signed yet, the possible addition of Momoa is an encouraging sign of life for a film that has been on Warner Bros’ backburner. Warner Bros originally planned to release the film in March 2022, but it was shelved due to production delays related to the pandemic, according to THR. The film’s troubles pre-date Covid-19; its original director and screenwriters quit the movie in 2014 due to creative differences with Mojang.
Napoleon Dynamite’s Jared Hess has now reportedly signed-on to direct the film, and Dune producers Mary Parent and Roy Lee are also on board. It’s unclear what role Momoa will play in the film, as it’s still unknown what elements of the 2011 game will appear in the film and whether we’ll see fan favorites like Minecraft Steve. The film’s storyline, released by Mojang Studios in 2019, is pretty straightforward: “The malevolent Ender Dragon sets out on a path of destruction, prompting a young girl and her group of unlikely adventurers to set out to save the Overworld.”
But fans should expect more movement on the film in the near future. The Anklerreported that Warner Bros.’ lease on the rights to Minecraft expires in January 2023, so production on the film will need to start before then.
Sega Genesis’ Streets of Rage franchise is reportedly coming to the silver screen. Sources toldDeadline that John Wick creator Derek Kolstad wrote a script adaptation on spec. Also to be involved are Sonic franchise producers dj2 Entertainment and Escape Artists. While no deal has been signed yet, it’s likely to soon be in motion.
Widely known as one of the most popular Sega franchises from the early 90s, the original Streets of Rage trilogy still has an enthusiastic fanbase drawn to its vintage aesthetic and EDM soundtrack. The beat-em-up games feature ex-cops who take on underground criminal gangs. The franchise finally got a long-awaited sequel in 2020 with the release of Streets of Rage 4, which sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide. The games offer very little as far as storyline, which gives the film a lot of liberty, but also very little to work off of.
A Streets of Rage film adaptation has serious potential to draw crowds, given that there’s no shortage of nostalgia for games from the 80s and 90s. Both Sonic films were box office successes. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 earned $72 million in its opening weekend at the domestic box office this month, an especially high figure during the pandemic era.
You probably didn't get to watch Nintendo's first anime movie when it premiered in Japan in 1986, but you now have your chance — at quality you would never have experienced in theaters. Polygonnotes Femboy Films has released a 4K remaster of The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach on both YouTube (below) and the Internet Archive. You can not only expect clean, color-corrected visuals based on a rare 16mm print, but new English subtitles and a fresh two-channel Dolby Surround audio capture from the VHS release.
The story isn't exactly revolutionary, but it's an intriguing peek at the Super Mario Bros. franchise at a time when the canon was far from settled. Mario and Luigi travel from the 'real' world into the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Peach after briefly escapes into their realm and is captured by King Koopa (Bowser). You can expect many references to the original Super Mario Bros. game, but you'll also find unusual deviations from the now-established premise. Mario and Luigi work at a grocery store, and they're compelled to save Peach thanks to a Dumpling Dog character. And did we mention Luigi drinks sake?
Whatever you think of the plot, this is a significant film preservation project. Great Mission was only officially released in Japan, and there was just one run of VHS tapes. If it weren't for the restoration, the anime might have been lost to modern audiences. The remaster should ensure that younger gamers have a glimpse of early Super Mario culture beyond emulated games or the not-so-stellar American movie from 1993.
Apple is looking to build on the success of TV+ by locking in Tom Hanks' production company to an exclusive multi-year deal. The agreement with Playtone covers series, documentaries and unscripted projects.
Hanks is also set to star in a sequel to World War II movie Greyhound. The thriller was one of the most-watched projects on Apple TV+, according to Deadline. Apple scooped up distribution rights to the film in 2020. Greyhound was supposed to be released theatrically, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented it from being released in theaters. There was a similar situation with Finch, a post-apocalyptic survival film in which Hanks' character is accompanied on the road by his dog and a helper robot. That movie hit Apple TV+ in November.
Apple has had a working relationship with Playtone, which was founded by Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman, for a few years. It was announced in 2019 that the two companies and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television were working on Masters of the Air, a follow-up series to Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Production of the show has wrapped, but a release date hasn't been announced.
Adding more shows and movies from Playtone to the library will bolster Apple TV+, which is on a great run. It just became the first streaming service to win the Best Picture Oscar (for CODA) while sitcom Ted Lasso enjoyed huge success at last year's Emmys. Recent shows like Severance and Slow Horses have earned acclaim as well.
There’s a big difference between merely liking a show and it being your all-time favorite. Netflix’s recommendation algorithm will now be able to distinguish between the two. The streaming service is adding a “Two Thumbs Up” option to its rating system. Viewers will notice the new option starting today, right next to the traditional “Thumbs Up and “Thumbs Up” icon across all devices.
How do you know whether a show or movie deserves one or two “Thumbs Up”? If you liked the genre or style of a show and want to see similar titles, a single thumb is a safe bet. For example, giving a single thumbs up to a show like Russian Doll means you'll see more mystery or dramedy shows with a woman as a leading character. Liking a show like Midsomer Murders means Netflix will serve you up even more British detective dramas.
But when you throw out a “Two Thumbs Up”, Netflix’s suggestions will become even more tailored to actors or specific creators. “...A Two Thumbs Up tells us what you loved and helps us get even more specific with your recommendations. For example, if you loved Bridgerton, you might see even more shows or films starring the cast, or from Shondaland," said Christine Doig-Cardet, Netflix's director of product innovation in a blog post.
Netflix’s thumbs-based rating system has had its fair share of critics in recent years. The platform replaced its five-star rating system in 2017, much to the chagrin of armchair movie critics everywhere. As one Redditor points out, it's hard to know what to rate a mediocre film from a director you normally love. Viewers worried that giving a “Thumbs Down” to a less-than-stellar show from a favorite genre could throw off Netflix’s algorithm. One example could be zombie fans who don’t like the movie Zombieland, or fans of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy who didn’t care for Waking Life. Hopefully the new addition to Netflix’s rating system will lead to more well-tailored suggestions. Or at least less bad ones.
Sonic has done it again. With a $71 million debut at the domestic box office, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has set a new record for the US film debut of a video game adaptation, beating out the previous high watermark set by its predecessor in 2020. The first movie in what now Paramount plans to expand into a cinematic universe made $57 million during its opening weekend.
Before the pandemic shut down theaters throughout the US and other parts of the world, the first Sonic film went on to gross $319 million globally. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is currently on track to beat those earnings having grossed approximately $141 million globally.
As with the first movie, timing appears to have been a significant factor in Sonic 2’s early success. Its main competitor at the box office was Sony’s much-maligned Morbius, which saw a drastic 74 percent drop in ticket sales from its opening weekend last Friday. It only earned $10.2 million in additional domestic revenue after a $39 million debut. What we can say, people love Idris Elba.
A24 has shared the first trailer for Marcel The Shell With Shoes On, a film adaptation of the viral YouTube series of the same name. If you’re not among the millions of people who have watched the shorts (the first entry has more than 32 million views), they were co-created by Zootopia and Obvious Child actor Jenny Slate. In the new film, Slate returns to voice the titular Marcel, an anthropomorphic seashell in search of their family. Co-staring alongside Slate are Rosa Salazar, Thomas Mann, as well as series and film director Dean Fleischer-Camp. The film also features cameos from the likes of Conan O’Brien and Lesley Stahl.
A viral YouTube series more than a decade old may seem like unusual source material for a theatrical film, but then A24 is no stranger to backing such movies. Last year, the company released Zola, a film inspired by a 148-part Twitter thread from 2015. Marcel The Shell With Shoes On arrives in US theaters on June 24th.
If there was ever a Star Trek film that needed a do-over, both artistically and reputationally, it was The Motion Picture. Dismissed by critics as boring and sterile when it came out, its nickname inside Trek fandom has long been “The Motionless Picture.” In 1997, director Robert Wise started the process of re-examining the film, with a Director’s Edition being birthed at the dawn of the DVD era in 2001. For a couple of reasons, the altogether better version of that movie fell into obscurity, unavailable for most people to see. Now, twenty years after Wise’s amended film made its debut, the film has been given a second do-over in the form of a 4K remaster for Paramount+.
The Abandoned Picture
You can buy a shelf’s worth of books discussing the troubled production of The Motion Picture, and its creative failures. Paramount wanted a new Star Trek TV series, until the money men balked at the cost and potential disinterest from advertisers. The pricey show got crunched into a single movie-of-the-week, right until the moment that Star Wars (and Close Encounters) swallowed 1977 whole. Bosses wanted a slice of that late ‘70s sci-fi movie pie and upgraded the Trek project to a big-budget movie. Except none of the already-made material was movie quality, and the effects house wasn’t up to the task at hand.
The Motion Picture was directed by Robert Wise, a footnote in a career that started in 1934 and ran through 2000. Wise got his big break as Orson Welles’ editor on Citizen Kane and, more controversially, The Magnificent Ambersons. He’d won enough Academy Awards that The Motion Picture wouldn’t be in the top ten of his most notable achievements. The special effects were eventually completed by the recently-departedDouglas Trumbull and John Dykstra; both could point to 2001 and Star Wars as the highlights on their own resumes. Even so, Wise was battered by the process of making it, hand-delivering the prints to the film’s premiere and declaring it to be a rushed, unfinished job.
Length was a problem for the film, a 90-minute TV pilot expanded to more than two hours, bloated with too many special effects shots. Paramount would subsequently produce an even longer cut of the film, letting ABC screen a super-sized, 143-minute TV version which included deleted and unfinished scenes. (There is a rumor, apparently tied to this forum post from 2016 (via Memory Alpha), which suggests that Wise re-cut the film in 1980 to be 12 minutes shorter, but producer David C. Fein doesn’t believe it to be true.)
The Director’s Edition
Paramount
In 1997, Wise, through his company Robert Wise Productions, enlisted the help of producers David C. Fein, Michael Matessino and Daren R. Dochterman to help fix the film. They examined the original storyboards, fixed some of the more egregious effects choices and tightened the editing. While the runtime was longer, a snappier edit (more or less) helped contextualize some of the choices made back when the film was shooting. It also helped to kickstart the reappraisal of the film as something more valuable than the big-budget catastrophe it was treated as.
Part of that work was to broaden the visual palette, especially in some of the key sequences which weren’t fully-realized in ‘79. The inconsistencies during Spock’s first scene – which were shot in broad daylight but painted on a matte implying darkness – are fixed. Many sets that were constrained even with matte paintings were broadened out and CGI – by pioneers Foundation Imaging – used to fill the gaps in the action. The film remained, more or less, like it had two decades prior, but was a much more joined-up experience on screen.
But this edition, while considered “definitive,” was never re-released beyond its original 2001 DVD printing. According to Memory Alpha, it’s because Paramount never kept its own archive copies of the CGI files for its projects. And when Foundation Imaging went under after the death of its founder, Ron Thornton, it was believed that those files were gone forever.
The Re-Remaster
Paramount
“Completely untrue,” said David C. Fein who produced both the first Directors Edition and its 2022 successor, to Engadget. “Everything was designed to be able to go to film, but the resolution [in those original files] wasn’t there, [...] so it couldn’t just be re-rendered,” he said. “It had to be recreated by people who knew what we were going for, because we’re now able to put the detail in for it to be full-size.” “We re-did all the visual effects, not from scratch – the setups [from 1999] were there – then we worked in all of the new levels of technology and information,” said Fein.
Fein says that the project, which was announced in July 2021, is “not a restoration,” and that his team wasn’t just “polishing this film,” but working to tweak it to improve the overall storytelling. That meant scanning the raw material and re-compositing everything to make a fresh, 4K scan off the original 35mm live-action footage. (Douglas Trumbull, to avoid detail loss, would shoot on 65mm film, and so his material was scanned in at 8K, while Dykstra’s VistaVision material was scanned in at 6K.)
The project is, if we’re being a little too honest, long overdue, since Paramount opted to offer the theatrical print of The Motion Picture for all of the Blu-ray releases. “Unfortunately, when the hi-def [versions of the Star Trek films] came out, Bob [Wise] got to watch the fact that it was the original theatrical version,” explained Fein. “And he sat me down in his kitchen and said, ‘I need you to promise me something Dave’ – ‘I don’t care how long it takes, I need you to finish the director’s edition and it needs to be finished,’ meaning film quality.” But Fein says that the lag time was down to a need for the technology to improve, and also for the “guardian angels” at Paramount+ to greenlight the work.
There are a number of small tweaks to the film, designed to smooth out even more of its visual rough edges. Keen-eyed fans will enjoy spotting the additions and changes, an early highlight is the addition of Shuttle Pod 5 to the exterior of Starfleet’s orbital office. “Just about every shot [in the film] has been touched in some way, there’s a lot of subtlety added to shots,” he said. “There’s [also] at least one clearly new shot in the film that helps continuity, and I hope no-one else notices it.”
One sequence that Fein spent lots of effort on, both then and now, was when the V’Ger probe attacks the bridge. The original film sequence was projected through a bent mylar filter with intentionally harsh lighting to create the alien effect. “The way that it looked, was almost like [our] film stopped and another one started,” he explained, looking at the washed-out colors, high grain and poor continuity. Fein credits the power of HDR which enabled his team to create a harsh overexposure of the probe without dulling the rest of the film.
And a less obvious change – unless you’re like me and watched multiple versions side-by-side – is a vastly improved color grade. Because the film was so rushed, Fein explained, the process of color grading, which can take months, was crunched down to four days. He said that the crew’s opinion, at the time, was “just ‘let’s get it done as flat [as we can] so everything matched, and [get it done] as quickly as it could.” The film’s colors are, traditionally, washed out, leaden with that ‘70s sci-fi beige that makes even the actors look like pieces of furniture. “Now that we’re working from negative scans, we’re able to do what [Robert Wise’s] real intention was.”
The final task Fein had to oversee was to ensure that The Directors Edition is no longer a rare curio. Fein explained that, having worked with the digital negatives and produced a new print designed for theatrical distribution, the film is now “future proof.” That should ensure that it never again becomes the sort of film you have to actively seek out to watch. Not to mention that Fathom events will offer a handful of screenings (in select theaters) for viewers to see the film on the big screen once again.
Give me a Good Time
I don’t want to be facetious when I say that The Motion Picture is less of a film and more of an experience. For all of the complaints that the film was slow, antiseptic and cold, it also offers something a little more heavyweight than you may expect from a franchise movie. The team behind the film may not have been making Solaris, or 2001, but those influences are keenly felt through much of the movie. It’s not dumb noisy fun, and it’s not as clever as it thinks it might be, but it’s trying to deal with some weighty issues around what it means to be human. A computer looking to understand if there’s any meaning beyond its existence is something fiction has come back to again and again – it’s always been a fascination for Star Trek, too.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to watch the 4K transfer in all of its glory, since previews were capped at 1080p (I know). What is obvious, however, is that the new version is a whole lot brighter, with much more detailed CG models and much better sound, in most places. The new color grade makes a huge difference, with actors no longer blending into the background of their own film. There are only a few moments where the transfer seems less kind than you may expect, and that’s mostly when you go looking for matte lines. You can clearly see some of that hand-cut wonkiness in the more detail-heavy sequences, like the drydock scene.
(While we’re on the subject; the Drydock sequence is considered, by non fans, as the ne plus ultra of pointless fan service. Yes, it’s a six-minute scene in which Kirk stares, milky-eyed at the refitted Enterprise, well-known enough that even nü-Trek repeatedly tipsits hat to it. But let’s be honest, if you wanted to spend six minutes staring at a model, you might as well make it the most beautiful model ever to be created.)
And as much as it’s Wise’s name on the film, in these modern eras, I think we should also offer kudos to Trumbull and Dykstra for their contribution. The effects sequences are, for their age, some of the best ever put to film and the trippy late ‘70s sci-fi visuals during the spacewalk sequence are on a par with anything 2001 offered. I can’t not also say that, without Jerry Goldsmith’s score, one of the best ever written, much of this film wouldn’t hold together nearly as well as it does. While the finished product is not to everyone’s taste, you can tell it is the product of a number of virtuosos all working to produce their very best work.
It’s funny, because I’d say that I’ve seen this film more times than I should probably admit, especially the first 40 minutes. Something that only occurred to me during this rewatch is how Wise’s direction, and the acting, loosens up as things go on. Kirk, Spock and McCoy all start this film stiff and stagey, acting like they’re all trying to act under the effects of a sedative. But once they’ve returned to the Enterprise and you see Kirk visibly relax into his chair, Spock and McCoy start bantering, and you could almost frame this as a deliberate choice to make the film a form of origin story.
While researching this piece, I went hunting for critical reviews of the film back when it first debuted in 1979. (The best modern essay on the film, and the best modern essays on any of the Star Trek films, is Darren Franich’s 2016 retrospective, which I urge you to read.) Weirdly, Roger Ebert wrote the smartest take on the film back then, and I reckon the conclusion of his review is probably the most elegant way anyone could discuss it. He wrote, “Some of the early reviews seemed pretty blase, as if the critics didn’t allow themselves to relish the film before racing out to pigeonhole it. My inclination, as I slid down in my seat and the stereo sound surrounded me, was to relax and let the movie give me a good time. I did and it did.”
Three years and three days after it was first unveiled, Apple TV+ has captured the first ever Best Picture Oscar for a streaming service with CODA. The film also took a historical win for Best Supporting Actor, as Troy Kotsur became the first Deaf male actor to win an Oscar. Writer and director Sian Heder also won for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The film, with a mostly Deaf cast, follows Ruby (played Emilia Jones), a high school student who navigates life as the only hearing member of a Deaf family in Gloucester, Massachusetts. "This is a really big moment for the Deaf community. It’s a really big moment for the disability community," said Heder in a backstage ABC interview, via an ASL interpreter, as Variety reported. "Marlee Matlin won an Oscar 35 years ago, and not that much has changed in Hollywood, so I want to thank the Academy for making that change. Let this one be the first of many, many films to come out of this beautiful community."
Apple paid $25 million for the distribution rights to the film, which made a limited theatrical run and is currently streaming on Apple TV+. It beat out Netflix's The Power of the Dog, which was another favorite in that category.
After a record 27 nominations, Netflix didn't go away empty-handed, though. Jane Campion took a historic Best Director Oscar for The Power of the Dog, becoming only the third woman to win the award. (Chloé Zhao took the prize last year for Nomadland, while Katheryn Bigelow previously won for The Hurt Locker.) The Power of the Dog was nominated for 12 Oscars, including in the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor/Actress categories, but Campion was the only winner.
Brian Snyder / reuters
Sci-fi fared particularly well at this year's Oscars. Dune, released simultaneously in the US on HBO Max and in theaters, won no less than six Academy Awards. The highlight was Greig Fraser's win for Best Cinematography, presented live during the telecast (above). However, the film's other awards were presented prior to the ceremony for the first time in Oscar history, something decried by several attendees including Steven Spielberg. They include wins for Best Production Design (Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipod), Best Film Editing (Joe Walker), Best Sound (Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, Ron Bartlett), Best Visual Effects (Paul Lambert) and Best Original Score (Hans Zimmer).
Dune doesn't count as a streaming release, though, nor do others like Disney's Encanto, which won Best Animated Feature. Overall, streaming films fared poorer than last year, taking four statues compared to seven at the 2021 Oscar ceremonies.
