Spielberg is back! And Tom Cruise is there for it.
Cruise, who starred in Spielberg’s early 2000s movies Minority Report and War of the Worlds, threw a Disclosure Day watch party for himself and some of his pals Thursday night, as the movie held preview screenings across North America.
Cruise, being Cruise, held his at the Steven Spielberg Theater (of course) on the Universal Studios lot, inviting his Spielberg co-stars Colin Farrell (Minority Report), Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds) and Neal McDonough (Minority Report), plus some Mission: Impossible cohorts such as Pom Klementieff, Greg Tarzan Davis, and Shea Whigham. Top Gun: Maverick's Danny Ramirez was also there, while Phil Lord, Cruise's Collatoral director Michael Mann, the Duffer Brothers and Coyote vs. Acme director Dave Green were among the filmmakers in attendance.
Before the screening, Cruise was a consummate host, milling around guests and striking up conversations with many. In front of the crowd, he explained he hadn’t yet seen the movie and wanted to see it, because a Spielberg blockbuster is one of the hallmarks of summer. He then recounted how when he was young, he convinced his family to go see Jaws on the Fourth of July weekend and how the movie impacted his life.
Well, as we swing into the weekend, let's bring news on a franchise that impacted a younger generation's lives... —Aaron Couch and Borys Kit.
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THE LIVE-ACTION LILO & STITCH sequel has found its director
And it's a familiar name.
Chris Sanders, who co-wrote and co-directed the 2002 animated original, will step behind the camera for the sequel to the $1 billion grossing 2025 movie. Sanders, who voices Stitch, was already on board as the writer.
It's a homecoming for Sanders, who did not write or direct the previous installment. Those duties went to director Dean Fleischer Camp and writers Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes.
Sanders is a major name in animation, and most recently helmed The Wild Robot. He's developing a sequel, The Wild Robot Escapes.
Ohana means you get to come back for the sequel.
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BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES is getting some fresh talent.
The cute and cuddly serial killer comic from creator Patrick Horvath will expand with a Halloween anthology from talents such as James Tynion IV, the author of hits Something Is Killing the Children and Exquisite Corpses; Tony Fleecs, creator of cute animals run amok title Feral; and Absolute Catwoman co-writer Che Grayson, among others.
Artists enlisted in the endeavor include TMNT drawer Dave Wachter and cartoonist Jared Cullum (Usagi Yojimbo).
Beneath the Trees, with its Dexter meets Richard Scary tones, centers on a brown bear named Samantha Strong, a seemingly mild-mannered hardware store owner who is actually a serial killer, living in a bucolic suburban town of Woodbrook.
While details for the new comic are being kept under the counter, the story is set in the years after Strong infamously left the town (see the recent volume 2 for all the grizzly, I mean, grisly details). In that time, her legend has only grown, and more and more horrific murders have been tied back to her. Some are her doing, others mere folklore.
Beneath the Trees' new dark passengers.
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➤ Congrats to Heat Vision's Richard Newby, who wrote and supervised an audio drama adaptation of his horror short story "Madge, the World Spider and One Last Drink." Hororr maestro Larry Fessenden backed the endeavor as part of his Tales from Beyond the Pale series. Listen here.
➤ Finally, The Batman: Part 2 begins filming (!)
➤ Oh hell no: Jason Momoa has exited Sony's Helldivers movie.
➤ Lord Miller to produce high concept sci-fi comedy I Promise We're Cool.
➤ Somebody call a Doctor: Who is a mess. That's not a question. Doctor Who is a flailing mess right now.
➤ Sabretooth actor Tyler Mane announces he has breast cancer.
➤ Have Gunn, will orchestrate: Michael Giacchino reunites with Brad Bird to score Netflix's Ray Gunn.
➤ Roll out: It: Welcome to Derry writer Jason Fuchs tackling a Transformers movie for Paramount.
➤ Who says the 1980s are dead: Hasbro's Jem and the Holograms is getting the live-action series treatment via Amazon MGM and the folks that brought you Fallout, Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan.
➤ The fat lady sings: Stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow ending its Broadway and West End runs.
➤ The sound of music: Movie scores are taking over orchestra halls as live-to-film performances grow in popularity.
➤ Have you seen that Whalefall trailer yet? Did you shed a tear watching Brad Pitt save his German shepherd (and vice versa) in the Heart of the Beast trailer? More of a cat guy? Try Pixar's Gatto.
Who the heck are The Doomies?
Catch up on these Heat Vision interviews...
➤ Whalefall director Brian Duffield had to protect star Austin Abrams from himself during underwater stunts: "You cannot do this because you'll die."
➤ Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen star Camila Morrone twice auditioned for Florence Pugh's role in Midsommar.
➤ Bonus newsletter tidbit leftover from Brian Davids' Wonder Man feature from last week: showrunner Andrew Guest says that despite reports, Ed Harris was never in the mix for the role of Simon Williams' agent.
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MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE HEADS into its second weekend overshadowed by Disclosure Day and Obsession (again). There’s been a lot of consternation from certain quarters (read: middle-aged males) who have to concede that their favorite toy from the 1980s was not as popular as they thought. And that’s okay. Enjoy what you had.
But you know what else you can enjoy? A drawing by Earl Norem, the painter who was key into mythologizing He-Man, Skeletor and all those other funky characters.
Norem, who passed away in 2015, worked for a host of magazines in the 1960s and then in the 1970s began doing covers for Marvel’s black-and-white magazines, notably the ones involving horror monsters and Conan the Barbarian.
Then came MOTU with its magazines, read-along books and lunchboxes, all of which were graced by Norem’s artwork. His illustrative style brought out a realism in contrast to the world seen in the cartoons. His sword-and-sorcery fantasy approach made the ludicrousness of the toys imaginatively thrilling. It was fuel to youngsters playing on their family room floors.
In a comic art and illustration auction, Heritage is gaveling a painting preliminary for one of those pieces. (Prelims, as they are known, are often done by painters and cover artists before tackling the actual piece.)
With an image area of 8.25" x 9.25", the piece shows He-Man as he rides is steed Battlecat, with Castle Eternia in the background. Current bidding is at a quite reasonable $262.50 but there is still five days to go.
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