Ready for some chills down your spine? Check out these two new teasers for season two of The Following. Above, Ryan Hardy and a bearded (so he’s not dead?) Joe Carroll fight for supremacy; cool camera trick, huh? After the break, James Purefoy’s Carroll still haunts Kevin Bacon’s Hardy who is on a mission of revenge next season.
The Following returns to FOX this January. Continue reading Joe Carroll still haunts Ryan Hardy in season 2 of ‘The Following’
Chris Evans is back as Steve Rogers aka Captain America in the sequel The Winter Soldier. Above Cap looks ready to jump off a S.H.I.E.L.D. “bus” and into action. In my opinion the first film was the weakest in Marvel’s Phase One batch; thankfully the movie’s premiere trailer kicks things into high gear with some fantastic, big budget action sequences featuring lots of Cap, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, and Samuel L. Jackson’s omnipresent Nick Fury. Joining the cast are Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Anthony Mackie as Falcon, Emily VanCamp as Agent 13, and Robert Redford as Agent Alexander Pierce, a senior leader within the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization. The latest synopsis follows.
After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” finds Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier.
Jump after the break to watch the new trailer. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is out April 14, 2014. Continue reading Marvel drops new ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ poster + trailer
Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arndt has dropped out of penning the upcoming Star Wars movie from director J.J. Abrams. Taking over screenwriting duties for the film are Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan. Kasdan, who was the co-screenwriter for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and who also wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, had already been serving as a consultant on Episode VII.
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy commented on the behind-the-scenes changes, remaining positive as production on the highly anticipated franchise reboot is already underway.
“I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script,” Kennedy said in a statement. “There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. J.J. of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right. Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production.”
Location scouting, production design, casting, and costume design for Star Wars Episode VII has begun and shooting is scheduled to begin in spring 2014 at Pinewood Studios. The film’s expected 2015 release remains firm.
[Via Star Wars]
The music video for “Gorilla,” a strong track off Bruno Mars’ second record Unorthodox Jukebox, has been let loose into the wild and it stars Slumdog Millionaire‘s Freida Pinto stripping in a club and later pounding Mars’ chest like bang-bang gorillaaa. Actor Luis Guzman pops up too, for good measure. With that, enjoy.
Eminem’s ninth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (aka MMLP2) will include 16 tracks, featuring singles “Berzerk,” “Survival,” and his latest release “Rap God” (listen to the third single after the break, along with them music video for “Survival”). Skylar Grey, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, and Nate Ruess round out the record’s guest artists. Click after the break to view the tracklist. Above, eye the album artwork that is similar to 2000’s MMLP cover art–it features an image of Em’s now-boarded up Detroit home he grew up in.
Eminem performs on SNL November 2 and this will lead into MMLP2‘s November 5 release date. Continue reading Eminem’s ‘MMLP2’: new single + tracklist inside
Kid Cudi is riding high on his Cud Life Tour and during his stop in Dallas he dropped some major news regarding his next release. He announced that there will be a prelude EP that will lead into Man on the Moon III, still due out in 2015. “When I give you the release date it will be 24 hours before it’s released.” Interesting marketing move here; fans will feel a surge of anticipation and then hours later they’ll be listening to the new EP. I like it. He went on, “You don’t know when it’s gonna happen but it’s definitely gonna happen in the next three months.” Cheers to that!
Cudi says he’s been working on this EP with his WZRD collaborator Dot Da Genius and it will most certainly feature King Chip aka Chip tha Ripper. In a string of tweets he spilled that the track “Going to the Ceremony” will be on the record along with a never before released remix of his breakout single “Day N Nite” that he made with Dot the day after the original was cut. To hear a snippet of it he says to “Play the intro to A Kid Named Cudi and listen reaaaal close;” see if you can spot it here.
The untitled EP serves as a gap between Cudder’s last album Indicud and the third and final installment in the Man on the Moon trilogy. He says, in fact, that the EP will begin right where Indicud leaves off with “The Flight of the Moon Man” and it will serve as a “seamless connection” to MOTM3 when that comes out in the distant future.
Watch Cudi discuss his grand plan in a video embedded after the break.
[Via DatNewCudi] Continue reading Kid Cudi announces ‘Man on the Moon III’ prelude EP coming soon
Paramount is not releasing Paranormal Activity 5 this Halloween season; it’s being held until October 2014. Taking its place, however, is a PA spinoff called Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. The found-footage spinoff, written and directed by franchise vet Christopher Landon, is a departure from the movies that come before it as it takes place in Oxnard, California and features a mostly Latino cast. This was done on purpose; the studio is targeting PA‘s Latino audience here. Fans of the franchise, though, will pickup clues sprinkled throughout the official trailer that tie this movie directly to the other ones: the Katie & Kristi tapes are mentioned, Kristi’s step-daughter Ali Rey (played by Molly Ephraim, last seen in PA 2) aids the new protagonist, and that demon-summoning triangle symbol is rampant throughout. The trailer, embedded above, says “this is only the beginning;” could this mean fans should expect more PA spinoffs set in the same demonic, found footage universe in the future?
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones hits theatres January 2.
What does the FOX say? It says Brooklyn Nine-Nine is getting a full season order bringing its season 1 tally to 22 episodes. Though the Andy Samberg/Andre Braugher sitcom has been landing so-so-to-low ratings since debuting to 6 million viewers and a 2.5 demo rating, the network sees its potential to grow into a bonafide hit by not only granting it a full season but also giving it the plum post Super Bowl slot. When Super Bowl XLVIII ends on Sunday, February 2 it will lead into a “special one-hour comedy event” with new episodes of New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Ratings are guaranteed to spike and with any luck these FOX comedies will retain a chunk of its new viewers when things go back to normal after the Super Bowl.
B99 has had a string of fine half-hours since opening in September. Samberg’s wacky Jake Peralta and Braugher’s deadpan Captain Holt is a match made in comedy heaven, as is the supporting cast anchored by MVP Joe Lo Truglio.
Expect a season 2 renewal next; Fox entertainment head Kevin Reilly is a fan: “It’s exciting to see that both critics and fans love Brooklyn Nine-Nine as much as we do,” he said. “With Andy and Andre out in front of this incredible ensemble, it feels like this show is going to be around for a long time.”
CBS also made some major announcements this week. A trio of new comedies–The Crazy Ones, The Millers, and Mom–have all been picked up for full 22 episode seasons. The three shows, in that order, ranks as the top three freshman comedies on TV. David E. Kelley’s The Crazy Ones with Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar averages 13.71 million total viewers and a 3.6/10 in the adults 18-49 demo; Greg Garcia’s The Millers with Will Arnett and Margo Martindale averages 12.41 million viewers and a 3.2/09 rating; and Chuck Lorre’s Mom with Anna Faris and Allison Janney averages 7.98 million viewers and a 2.6/06 rating.
“We’re proud of CBS’s leadership position in comedy and excited to build on it with the back nine pick-ups of these three new comedies,” said Nina Tassler, CBS Entertainment President. “These series are creatively distinct, continue to improve each week and are led by strong showrunners, writing and production staffs, and feature amazingly talented casts.”
Unlike FOX and CBS this week, NBC was forced to clean off its axe and kill not one but two shows. Drama Ironside with Blair Underwood and comedy Welcome to the Family have been cancelled. Ironside will air its fourth and final episode this Wednesday and Welcome to the Family has been pulled from the schedule effective immediately. In their most recent airings, Ironside and Family produced meager 1.1 and 0.9 demo ratings in 18-49, respectively.
To fill in Ironside‘s Wednesdays at 10PM void NBC will air original episodes of Dateline and various specials until Dick Wolf’s Chicago Fire spinoff Chicago P.D. premieres January 8. Filling in Welcome to the Family‘s Thursdays at 8PM void are episodes of The Voice, SNL, Parks & Rec, Sunday Night Football, the live telecast of The Sound of Music, and The Sing Off. Dan Harmon’s Community returns to NBC’s schedule Thursday, January 2 with two new back-to-back episodes. Click after the break to view the full breakdown of the network’s Wednesday & Thursday plans.
And lastly there’s ABC. Though the alphabet network didn’t make any major pickups or cancellations this week, they did show support for struggling in the ratings but widely buzzed about sitcoms The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife. Both freshman comedies have received an order for three additional scripts each, a sign of confidence from the network. These shows deserve a full season order, and hopefully this move brings them one step closer to that goal. In their most recent outings, The Goldbergs attracted 5.1 million total viewers and a 1.6 demo rating and Trophy Wife landed 4.1 million viewers and a 1.3 demo rating. Like FOX did with Brooklyn Nine-Nine, let’s pray ABC can see past the low ratings and embrace the relatable creativity these shows have been producing. Continue reading Fall TV updates: ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’, ‘The Crazy Ones’, ‘The Millers’ & ‘Mom’ get full season orders, ‘Ironside’ & ‘Welcome to the Family’ cancelled
After successfully adapting Hannibal from the Red Dragon novel by Thomas Harris, NBC is looking to reimagine another classic monster previously made famous in the movies and originally by Bram Stoker in a book. Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars in Dracula, a 10-episode limited series set to debut on Friday, October 25 at 10PM.
The series introduces Dracula as he arrives in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who maintains that he wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he hopes to wreak revenge on the people who ruined his life centuries earlier. There’s only one circumstance that can potentially thwart his plan: Dracula falls hopelessly in love with a woman who seems to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.
Nice setup, yeah? You’ll definitely want to jump after the break to watch a couple trailers and a behind-the-scenes look at the new drama; from the lineup of primed British actors to the elaborate sets, time-period wardrobe, and finely tuned choreographed action sequences, Dracula looks to be a fun, engaging, and highly stylized twist on the classic fanged Count. Continue reading TV reminder: Jonathan Rhys Meyers as ‘Dracula’ premieres Friday, October 25 at 10PM on NBC
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are locked in to host the next two Golden Globe Awards. Following their magnificent performance (which resulted in a ratings boost) at the 2013 show it’s no surprise that NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association would ask for them back. Relive the magic here.
“Tina and Amy are two of the most talented comedic writer/performers in our business and they were a major reason the Golden Globes was the most entertaining awards show of last season,” said NBC’s alternative programming president Paul Telegdy in a statement. “We’re elated they wanted to host together again and that they committed for the next two years.”
The 2014 Golden Globe Awards airs Sunday, January 12 on NBC.
This week Ryan Murphy announced that the next season of Glee, the show’s sixth, will be its last. And with the unfortunate death of star Cory Monteith, Murphy and his writing team are forced to come up with a new ending for the musical dramedy.
“The final year of the show, which will be next year, was designed around Rachel and Cory/Finn’s story,” Murphy told the press at a Paley Center event honoring the FX network. “I always knew that, I always knew how it would end. I knew what the last shot was–he was in it. I knew what the last line was–she said it to him. So when a tragedy like that happens you sort of have to pause and figure out what you want to do, so we’re figuring that out now.”
Murphy says he has “a good idea” as to how he plans on properly ending the series. “I’m going to tell the studio and the network how after Cory’s unfortunate passing we can end the show that I think is very satisfactory. And kind of in his honor, which I love.”
When Glee returns with new episodes starting November 7, things get punched back into high gear and high energy; the new episode back is called “A Katy or a Gaga” and “it’s about the kids trying to figure out who they are as artists,” reveals Murphy. Following the Finn tribute episode, Murphy says he “wanted to do something that was maybe a little more inspirational, because that was so hard on the cast,” Murphy explains. “So we did something that [features] a lot of costumes, a lot of great set pieces.” Preview the new episode after the break.
Glee airs Thursdays at 9PM on FOX.
[Via TVLine 1, 2; EW] Continue reading Ryan Murphy says ‘Glee’s sixth season will be its last, previews Katy/Gaga hour
NBC’s Broadway musical drama Smash is getting a new lease on life, but not in the way you might expect. No, NBC is not bringing the show back from the dead (it was cancelled after two seasons); season 2 showrunner Joshua Safran, along with Julia Brownell, Jennifer Ashley Tepper, and musical director Benjamin Rauhala are bringing the show’s fictional Broadway show Hit List to New York’s club 54 Below.
In December many of Smash‘s stars will bring Hit List to life, namely Jeremy Jordan (he played Jimmy Collins), Andy Mientus (Kyle Bishop), and Krysta Rodriguez (Ana Vargas); additional performers will be announced at a later date and here’s to hoping the show’s main star Karen Cartwright (aka Katharine McPhee) will be one of them. Watching Jordan and McPhee truly bring Hit List to life will be a boon for fans.
And here we have an actual logline for the seven time Tony-winning Broadway show within a show: “HIT LIST, a modern fable about identity and the price of fame, tells the tragic love story of a wannabe pop singer who transforms herself to become a star and the hidden songwriter she uses to get there – but at what cost?”
NYC’s 54 Below is hosting two performances on December 9 and the shows will include original songs made popular in Smash as well as additional songs from the drama’s composers (Drew Gasparini, Joe Iconis, Andrew McMahon, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman, and Lucie Silvas) that were intended for Hit List but never made it to air. Tickets for the show were on sale at the venue’s website but unfortunately they sold out in minutes. I don’t know about you, but I’m keeping my eyes peeled for added performances.
[Via NYT]
