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March 17, 1951 was a great day in history, because that’s the day Kurt Vogel Russell entered the world. And while he would go on to become one of the biggest icons of the eighties and nineties, many folks don’t know that Russell started as a child star for The Walt Disney Company, even acting opposite his future life partner Goldie Hawn in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968) – although they wouldn’t get together until Russell ended up in another movie starring Goldie Hawn, Swing Shift (1984). From the sixties into the seventies, he starred in Disney flicks like The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), but as the studio’s movies started to flop and Russell got older, a change of pace was needed. Arguably, Russell’s career took off when he began working with director John Carpenter, with the first movie being 1979’s TV movie Elvis, but what...

Will Smith Explained How His Race Almost Kept Him From Being Cast In A Significant Film. (Photo Credit – Instagram)

It’s wild to think about Independence Day without Will Smith as Captain Steven Hiller, right? But that almost happened. Back in ’96, when the movie was gearing up, director Roland Emmerich and writer Dean Devlin hit a massive roadblock with 20th Century Fox. The studio wasn’t keen on Smith for the role because they didn’t think he’d click with international audiences. They said, “You cast a Black guy in this part, you’re going to kill foreign [box office].” Like, really? That was the mountain they had to climb.

Emmerich and Devlin didn’t back down, though. According to Devlin, it was “a big war.” The studio thought Smith was “unproven,” and they were worried that his star power wouldn’t travel well overseas. But Emmerich wasn’t having it.

What do you do when the last spinoff of your favorite Canadian sci-fi show ended ages ago and you've worn out your DVD box set rewatching it? If you're as obsessive as I am about my favorite franchises, you might just want to catch up with all the show's stars in their most recent projects. Luckily, when it comes to the cast of "Stargate Sg-1," there are plenty of great post-series movies and shows to choose from.

The long-running "Stargate" saga, based on Roland Emmerich's 1994 movie, has fizzled out a bit in recent years, due in part to apparently complicated rights issues. At its height, the franchise included several TV shows and movies, plus novels, comic books, games, and a web series. None of them were quite as beloved as "Stargate Sg-1," which was nominated for nine Emmys and kick-started the careers of several of its stars. Others involved...

For a staggering ten seasons, "Stargate Sg-1" continued the story that began in Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich's 1994 "Stargate" movie that starred Kurt Russell as Jack O'Neill, a Special Operations colonel who oversaw a program allowing people to travel through wormholes to reach distant planets. Russell refused to reprise his role from the movie in the TV series, stepping aside so "MacGyver" actor Richard Dean Anderson could take over as O'Neill. Among the other actors who joined the show was Teryl Rothery, who played Dr. Janet Frasier on "Stargate Sg-1" for seven seasons and 75 episodes.

As Stargate Command's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Frasier tended to the wounded and became a nice, familiar face in the process. Despite the fact that Rothery technically appeared as a guest star on the show, the number of episodes in which she appeared helped audiences build a relationship with her over time, and after so many appearances,...

Benedict Cumberbatch, Rosamund Pike, and Anthony Hopkins have joined Guy Ritchie’s Wife & Dog for Black Bear.

Ritchie wrote the screenplay and will once again dive into the world of back-stabbing British aristocracy he explored in The Gentlemen film and TV series. Production is scheduled to begin in the UK in February 2025.

The filmmaker is producing alongside his producing partner Ivan Atkinson and Black Bear’s John Friedberg. Executive producers include Teddy Schwarzman and Michael Heimler for Black Bear, which launched sales on the project in Cannes.Black Bear and Ritchie have collaborated on The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare and In The Grey.

It's been a few years since sci-fi fans have gotten a new "Stargate" series, and much longer since the franchise was on the big screen. While the "Stargate" franchise originated with Roland Emmerich's 1994 film of the same name, it's now known primarily for its much-loved series "Stargate Sg-1." And while the saga has never reached the ubiquity levels of, say, "Star Wars" or "Star Trek," there are plenty of "Stargate" fans who would be happy to see "Sg-1" continue in movie form or otherwise.

In 2021, a journalist at Polygon asked "Sg-1" actor Christopher Judge what advice he would have for a big-budget movie reboot version of the property, specifically comparing it to J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek." Furthermore, Polygon asked Judge what advice he would give an actor taking over the role of Teal'c, the very funny fan favorite Jaffa warrior (and the character at the heart of a...

The "Stargate" franchise is a bit of a complicated one, starting with Roland Emmerich's 1994 film about ancient portals (the titular "stargates") that allow for travel between distant worlds. Just three years later, premium cable network Showtime launched a television series based on the movie, though star Kurt Russell did not reprise his role as commander Jack O'Neill, who was instead portrayed by Richard Dean Anderson. Despite moving from Showtime to the Sci-Fi channel (which became SyFy), "Stargate Sg-1" was rather successful and had a devoted fanbase that helped support not only the series but additional spin-offs like "Stargate Atlantis," "Stargate Universe," and "Stargate Origins." In fact, "Stargate Sg-1" broke a Guinness world record for the longest consecutive running science fiction series, taking over the spot from the hit Fox show "The X-Files." That record-breaking almost didn't happen, however, as the team behind "Stargate Sg-1" nearly cancelled the show after...

Touted as Hong Kong’s first radiation-disaster blockbuster, Anthony Pun’s Cesium Fallout chronicles the political and frontline responses to a national catastrophe as it unfolds on the outskirts of the city. Emulating the blockbusters of Irwin Allen and Roland Emmerich, the rampant urban destruction is complemented by a star-studded ensemble of some of the local industry’s most prominent talent. Andy Lau takes top billing as the scientist drafted to advise Karen Mok’s bullheaded politician when a fire breaks out in a landfill site riddled with illegal radioactive waste. As the leadership bickers over the appropriate response and who is to be reprimanded, it falls to the blue collar heroes of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department to tackle the inferno head on.

Yu Bai and Louise Wong are among the heroes in helmets putting their lives on the line for the sake of seven million innocent souls,...

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When you're young, your favorite movies can leave quite an impression on you. For a nine-year-old boy in New Zealand, it set him on the path towards becoming a filmmaker. Indeed, Peter Jackson's first viewing of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's 1933 epic "King Kong" on a tiny television screen inspired him to make movies. In a 2005 interview with NBC News, Jackson said the film had a "profound effect" on him and described its titular ape as "a very special little chap" who captured his heart. When he was 12, he even made a rubber Kong and cardboard model of the Empire State Building and tried to animate it using his parents' Super-8 camera.

What was it about "King Kong" that Peter Jackson loved so much? In an interview with Chud, he once described the film as "a wonderful piece of escapist entertainment.

Readers who regularly follow Gold Derby’s Oscar predictions may have noticed a movie quietly working its way up the ranks in various categories. That movie is “Conclave,” an adaptation of Robert Harris‘s best-selling 2016 novel, which was released nationwide by Focus Features on Friday, October 25. So now seems like a good time to look at which categories “Conclave” can thrive in.

Directed by Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front“), the movie follows Ralph Fiennes‘s Cardinal Lawrence, who has taken on the less than envious task of running the elections to select a new pope after the previous pontiff dies suddenly. Many cardinals are in the running, and some even want Lawrence to take on that lofty role, until someone lurking in the shadows begins revealing dirt on the candidates.

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When you have a movie do as...

“Independence Day” and “Those About To Die” director Roland Emmerich and Marco Weber are developing a live-action TV series based on “Space Nation Online,” the titular Web3 video game at the center of their new transmedia IP company, Space Nation Inc.

Per Space Nation Inc.,”The series will map out the origins of the epic story that began with the recent soft launch of Space Nation Online, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (Mmorpg) that sends players to a distant star cluster where humanity has settled following Earth’s destruction.”

The series will be developed and executive-produced by Emmerich and Weber.

When it comes to how the “Space Nation” show will be distributed, Weber says “we want to take an approach that fits into the overall philosophy of what we’re doing with the game, with our [in-game] economy” — meaning not developing it for a streamer or network. “We might sell...

"Stargate" was a tweener of a box office hit. Directed by Roland Emmerich from a screenplay he wrote with Dean Devlin, the film made $197 million globally on a budget of $55 million in 1994, which is very good but not the kind of runaway smash that automatically gets a sequel. Though Emmerich and Devlin had loose plans for a trilogy, several things got in the way, namely "Independence Day" and the opportunity to spend three times the budget of "Stargate" on a "Godzilla" remake and star-studded disaster movies. Did they choose wisely?

Fans of "Stargate Sg-1," the television spin-off that aired for five seasons on Showtime before moving over the SyFy for another five seasons, would emphatically state "No." Emmerich and Devlin might've had nothing to do with the series, but its dedicated fanbase didn't care. They got caught up in the galaxy-traversing exploits of Richard Dean Anderson and his Sg-1 crew,...

Out of all the big-budget blockbusters Jake Gyllenhaal has landed in his career, the 2004 sci-fi-action piece The Day After Tomorrow most certainly wasn’t one. Although it more or less received some fans’ appreciation, a majority of the critics were still as displeased by it as ever, even though it managed to become a considerable commercial success.

Jake Gyllenhaal. | Credits: Siebbi/Cca-3.0/Wikimedia Commons

Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, was rather disgruntled with the piece himself. While it was one of his initial experiences working on a big-budget project, the actor had quite a few issues with it. As he didn’t hesitate to let known to everyone, one of his biggest problems was his dialogue for the film, which he had a hard time translating to the screens.

Jake Gyllenhaal was Brutally Critical of The Day After Tomorrow‘s Dialogue

Even though it was one of his initial big-budget projects,...

Oliver Berben, who took the reins of German production and distribution powerhouse Constantin Film on March 1, faces a German media landscape that is “changing radically and quickly,” he says. In response, he is adjusting the company’s approach to the business.

He welcomes the government’s proposed reform of the German Film Law, which will change the country’s production incentives, including for television, and will introduce an obligation on broadcasters and streamers to invest 20% of sales generated in Germany back into European productions, 70% of which would have to be in the German language.

“You have stagnating funding of public broadcasters. You have declining revenues for the private stations. The question is: Is the model functioning altogether? It is not, if we just keep on doing the same thing again and again.”

He adds, “Everything is changing, and these changes, by the way, are good. Us, as producers, we need...

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"Stargate Sg-1" is an important show to a lot of people. Even for those who weren't necessarily fans of the film "Stargate," the series became a gateway (no pun intended) to a much larger universe and helped the franchise grow beyond what was originally intended. When the "Stargate" movie failed to launch a trilogy as desired, TV became the franchise's backup plan -- one that allowed this particular sci-fi universe to thrive. Even so, all great things must come to an end, and so did "Sg-1" after 10 seasons. Fortunately, once the show had been canceled, its writers had a lot of freedom to do as they pleased ... so much so that a gag one writer thought for sure would be axed ended up making it to air.

The gag in question happened in the "Stargate Sg-1" season 10 episode "Family Ties,...

Exclusive: Camilla Belle has signed with Buchwald for representation.

Most recently, Belle recurred on Law & Order: Organized Crime opposite Christopher Meloni. Opposite Gus Halper, they portrayed New York City power couple Pearl Serrano and Teddy Silas in the show’s third season. She also appeared in Hulu’s Dollface opposite Kat Dennings, Brenda Song and Shay Mitchell.

Belle’s acting career began with A Little Princess, where she worked with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón. She played the lead role in the remake of the 1979 thriller When A Stranger Calls from director Simon West. She also starred in the sci-fi thriller Push, with Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning, 10,000 B.C., directed by Roland Emmerich and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg.

More recently, Belle co-starred in the Korean action film Carter for Netflix and the Tubi romantic comedy feature 10 Truths About Love. She also starred opposite Daniel Day-Lewis...

Exclusive: Directing and screenwriting duo Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg have inked with Grandview for representation.

Cohen and Halberg directed Screen Gems’ Tarot this past spring which grossed $50M off an $8M production cost — 62% of that from offshore.

The twosome were the first selection for Screen Gems’ directing incubator, where they wrote, directed, and produced their short film / proof of concept, Blink, for the Sony label. This led to Tarot which they wrote and directed.

They most recently closed a deal to write and direct You Take Care Now based on their original short story for Universal with Atomic Monster and Blumhouse producing.

Their original spec script Distant was bought and made by Amblin and is currently awaiting a 2024 release; Will Speck and Josh Gordon directed with Anthony Ramos and Naomi Scott starring.

Cohen also wrote Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall starring Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry. Additionally, they have the...

Anthony Hopkins is attached to star in “Maserati: The Brothers,” an English-language biopic directed by Bobby Moresco about the family behind the high-performance automobiles that, along with Ferrari and Lamborghini, Italy is known for.

The legendary Oscar-winning actor will play an Italian financier who bankrolls the Maserati brothers. The “Maserati” movie is is produced by Italy’s Andrea Iervolino via his new film and TV outfit called The Andrea Iervolino Company.

Iervolino’s previous company, Ilbe Group – in which he was partnered with Monika Bacardi — produced the Bobby Moresco-directed biopic “Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend” and was also among the producers of Micheal Mann’s “Ferrari” starring Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz.

“Having Anthony Hopkins on board is a dream come true,” Iervolino said in a statement. “His unparalleled ability to embody complex characters will undoubtedly elevate our story, and we are eager to see how he brings depth to his role.

American Animals director Bart Layton is assembling a new Hollywood dream team as Halle Berry joins Chris Hemsworth for the filmmaker’s upcoming thriller Crime 101. Berry, also known as the Master of Dog Fu (watch John Wick 3 – Parabellum), is fresh off her buddy comedy with Mark Wahlberg, The Union, while her latest horror film, Never Let Go, is lighting up silver screens this month. The Amazon MGM Studios project takes inspiration from Don Winslow‘s short story Crime 101, with Layton planning to release the film in theaters next year.

While plot details remain mysterious, Deadline says Crime 101 contains Heat-like elements. According to the synopsis for Winslow’s novella, the story focuses on a string of high-level jewel heists up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. The crimes have gone unsolved for years, mainly because the perpetrator has lived by a strict code he calls “Crime 101”. Police...

It might not have as widespread and dedicated a fanbase as something like "Star Trek" or the cultural caché of "Star Wars," but the "Stargate" franchise is surprisingly expansive. Though it began with a single film directed by Roland Emmerich, the saga quickly grew to incorporate multiple TV series, direct-to-home-media movies, comics, video games, and books. Which for the uninitiated, must make it seem almost impossible to figure out the correct order to watch the "Stargate" franchise.

Thankfully, the best "Stargate" is early "Stargate," which is to say Emmerich's film and the very first TV spin-off "Stargate Sg-1." Envisioned as a sequel to the movie, "Sg-1" debuted on Showtime in 1997 and followed the same special operations team from the film as they traversed the universe via the titular artifact. Instead of Kurt Russell, who refused to return as Colonel Jack O'Neil for the show, "Sg-1" cast Richard Dean Anderson in the role,...

Roland Emmerich's "Stargate" was a moderate box office success when it hit theaters back in 1994, making almost $200 million on a $55 million budget. The movie was undeniably helped by the presence of Kurt Russell, who played Colonel Jack O'Neill, a U.S. Air Force Special Operations officer who's tasked with leading a team through the titular portal into unknown corners of the universe. Another thing working in the film's favor was its PG-13 rating, which enabled a larger audience to watch Emmerich's sci-fi stylings than if it had been hit with a full R-rating.

While there was talk of a sequel, and indeed an entire trilogy at the time, it seems "Stargate" wasn't quite a big enough hit to warrant such things. Instead, the film received a spin-off TV series starring MacGuyver himself, Richard Dean Anderson, in place of Russell, who refused to return as O'Neill. Thus, series co-creators Brad Wright...

Tadanobu Asano is set to receive The Hollywood Reporter’s Trailblazer Award at the upcoming 37th installment of the Tokyo International Film Festival next month.

The chameleonic screen actor has been a mainstay of Japanese cinema for nearly three decades while regularly appearing in prominent supporting parts in big Hollywood productions. But his swaggering recent performance as the irascible samurai Yabushige on FX‘s smash-hit series Shogun has given him an all-new level of global recognition over the past year. In the process of becoming an indelible fan favorite, Asano also received his first Emmy nomination for the part.

THR’s Trailblazer Award, whose recent honorees include six-time Emmy winner Jean Smart, David Oyelowo, Eva Longoria, Matt Bomer, Niecy Nash-Betts and America Ferrera, is given to artists whose work and careers illuminate stories and characters who have been traditionally marginalized in Hollywood. International editor Abid Rahman will present Asano with the award on Oct.

When "Stargate" debuted in 1994, it was a modest hit. Roland Emmerich's film made $196 million on a $55 million budget, turning a decent enough profit and establishing what would become a surprisingly long-running franchise. That franchise would not play out on the big screen, however. Instead "Stargate" spawned a slew of TV shows, which focused on Stargate command sending out various crews to explore forgotten and mysterious corners of the universe using the titular portals.

The first, best-known, and longest-running of these series was "Stargate Sg-1," which tapped MacGuyver himself, Richard Dean Anderson, to play Special Operations Colonel Jack O'Neil — the role played by Kurt Russell in Emmerich's movie. Show creators Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner also brought in Amanda Tapping to play the United States Air Force captain Samantha Carter — a member of O'Neil's crew tasked with exploring the universe and fending off assorted alien threats.

The Sci-fi channel, now "SyFy,...

Ridley Scott hinting at a third part to his Gladiator film has got fans worried. The filmmaker returns with a sequel to his Oscar-winning film on November 22. He recently revealed that he has ideas for a potential third film. Fans fear that Scott’s film may suffer a fate similar to that of Kevin Costner’s Horizon Saga.

Paul Mescal in Gladiator II | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Earlier, Costner announced four parts to his Western directorial venture Horizon. Costner had filmed and released the first part in June. Before the first film hit theaters, he announced the filming of a second and third part of the series. However, things went horribly wrong for the actor/director when Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 became a box office disaster.

Ridley Scott Already Has An Idea For Gladiator III Ridley Scott | Credits: Gage Skidmore, licensed under Cc By-sa 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Paul Mescal and...

Exclusive: Aaron Eckhart will star in the Jesse V. Johnson-directed action thriller Scorpion, written by Corey Large (Detective Knight trilogy) and Edward Drake (Gasoline Alley).

In the movie, a CIA assassin goes into hiding after he takes the fall for a failed mission. When he reappears on the grid so does his past to tie up loose ends, and the only way to protect his daughter is to take down the agency chief who set him up.

Scorpion is produced by Large through his 308 Enterprises. The film is executive produced by Arclight Films’ Gary Hamilton, Jordan Nott, Pia Patatian, Jamie Thompson and Jon Keeyes and financed by Pink 308. Arclight Films is handling global sales.

Eckhart received a Best Actor Musical or Comedy Golden Globe nomination for Jason Reitman’s Thank You for Smoking and received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance in...

It took Ridley Scott twenty years to return to the Roman Colosseum with Gladiator II, but he is already plotting his third trip to Ancient Rome.

“I’d rather get on into Gladiator III,” Scott told The Hollywood Reporter Thursday when asked about a different potential next project for the 86-year-old filmmaker. “There’s already an idea.” He added that he’s taking inspiration from The Godfather Part II for the next story.

The Gladiator 3 news first trickled out Friday after the French publication Premiere published similar comments from Scott.

Gladiator II opens Nov. 22 and arrives 20 years after Scott’s Gladiator, which won five Oscars, including best picture and best actor for Russell Crowe. Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn and Connie Nielsen star in the new film.

Scott remains one of the most prolific directors working in Hollywood, a filmmaker who at times release two films in a single year.

The "Stargate" franchise is surprisingly expansive. That fact, in and of itself, is impressive if only because Roland Emmerich's original 1994 film was a moderate box office success and didn't exactly wow the critics. ("Stargate" currently has a 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.) Such a middling start wouldn't usually suggest a particular franchise was primed for numerous spin-off TV series spanning multiple seasons. But that's exactly what happened.

For those needing a quick reminder of the correct order to watch the "Stargate" franchise, after the movie the very first TV show arrived in the form of cult hit "Stargate Sg-1," which proved popular enough that it birthed several other shows. The first of these was "Stargate Atlantis," which debuted in 2004 and followed Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) and his team as they joined other squads sent by Stargate command to explore the Pegasus Galaxy — home to the lost city of Atlantis in the "Stargate" universe.

We’re halfway through September, and while “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” has been the big winner of the month so far, we have a new potential fall blockbuster this weekend. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

Paramount Pictures has done quite well with Hasbro’s flagship Transformers toy line, to the tune of $5.3 billion worldwide, mostly thanks to the five movies directed by Michael Bay. Now, they’re returning to the animated realm that kicked the whole thing off in the ’80s with “Transformers One,” a prequel movie that explores the origins of the Autobots and Decepticons with Oscar-winning filmmaker Josh Cooley (“Toy Story 4”).

For this one, the filmmakers have put together a really impressive voice cast, including Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Jon Hamm, Keegan-Michael Key and Laurence Fishburne. Hemsworth voices the earlier version of Optimus Prime, Henry voices Megatron, and Key voices the younger Bumblebee,...

Roland Emmerich’s most recent project is the Roman drama series, “Those About to Die,” but it doesn’t look like the filmmaker is ready to leave TV anytime soon. He’s also sticking with a period setting for his next project, a remake of “Lawrence of Arabia.”

Read More: Fall 2024 TV Preview: 40 Must-See Series To Watch

According to a recent interview with THR, Roland Emmerich’s next project is a planned three-season TV series inspired by “Lawrence of Arabia.” The interview claims this is a passion project for the filmmaker, and he is about to shop it around to studios very soon.

Continue reading ‘Lawrence Of Arabia’: Roland Emmerich Wants To Remake Classic Film As A 3-Season Series at The Playlist.

In Roland Emmerich's "Stargate," Special Operations Colonel Jack O'Neil (played by a brilliant Kurt Russell) is as blunt as it gets. When linguist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) is invited to assist with the Stargate mission, O'Neil is frank about his disdain for an outsider involved in such a top-secret mission and exhibits little empathy when Jackson is forced to deal with an ancient civilization alone. However, when things go south, O'Neil is the first to dive into the jaws of danger, guns blazing, taking the initiative to save Jackson from the clutches of the malicious alien, Ra (Jaye Davidson). "Give my regards to King Tut, a**hole!," he yells before crushing an elevator on top of Ra's men to buy enough time for Jackson to get Sha'uri (Mili Avital) to safety.

Although "Stargate" does not offer anything novel in terms of premise, it is a fun sci-fi adventure that...

For decades, Hollywood has had a habit of revisiting classic films. While it has often led to mixed results, that has not stopped studios and directors from trying their hand at different remakes. However, not all of them have gone according to plan. Most recently, it was revealed that the Independence Day director, Roland Emmerich, would be turning a legendary film into a television series for the world to see.

Roland Emmerich at the Japan premiere of Independence Day | Credits: Dick Thomas Johnson via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

However, there is something about this rumored Emmerich remake that has put fans particularly on edge. And it might have something to do with the 68-year-old’s last failed project, Moonfall.

Roland Emmerich plans for a Lawrence of Arabia remake

In 1962, the world was introduced to the iconic film, Lawrence of Arabia. While Peter O’Toole’s stunning performance cemented his place...

Although Those About to Die was a success for Peacock, it remains to be seen if we’ll see season 2 of the historical drama, but that hasn’t stopped Roland Emmerich from dreaming about it.

Should Those About to Die return for a second season, Emmerich told THR that he’d like to take a little inspiration from The Godfather Part II and feature dual timelines. “We hope to do a little bit what Godfather II did,” Emmerich said, adding that the show would continue the story in the present timeline and explore The Year of the Four Emperors in the flashback timeline. The flashbacks would take place 10 years before the events of the series and begin with the suicide of Emperor Nero (Emmerich is already thinking of who could play the character). This event led to power struggles and rebellions, with Galba, Otho, and Vitellius each being proclaimed Emperor...

[This story contains spoilers from Those About to Die season one.]

Roland Emmerich traveled back to 79 Ad for season one of his gladiator drama Those About to Die. For season two, he has dreams of traveling back even earlier.

“We hope to do a little bit what Godfather II did,” Emmerich told The Hollywood Reporter of a potential season two. Emmerich says the show could tell dual stories using a “present timeline” and a “past timeline,” ala 1974’s The Godfather Part II, which explored the rise of Vito Corelione (Robert De Niro) via flashbacks and continued the story of his son Michael Corelione (Al Pacino) in the “present day” story.

In Those About to Die season two, the flashbacks would explore The Year of Four Emperors, which took place 10 years before the events of the show and included seismic moments, such as the suicide of Emperor Nero and the subsequent power grab amongst competing leaders...

Former Cinecittà Studios CEO Nicola Maccanico has been appointed to the newly created role of CEO of Fremantle Italy Group.

Maccanico, who is a former Warner Bros. and Sky Italia senior exec, had been spearheading the radical overhaul of Cinecittà for three years, but stepped down last June after Italy’s right-wing government decided to change the studios’ management team.

He had been instrumental to relaunching the iconic filming facilities, which lured big shoots last year such as Roland Emmerich’s gladiator series “Those About to Die” starring Anthony Hopkins and Netflix’s period soap “The Decameron.”

Maccanico will now oversee Fremantle Italy’s wide-ranging Italian operations that comprise labels Wildside, The Apartment Pictures, Lux Vide and Fremantle Italy. Their respective CEO’ Sonia Rovai, Annamaria Morelli, Luca Bernabei and Marco Tombolini will report to him. Maccanico will also join Fremantle’s gobal leadership team, according to a statement.

In separate news,...

Nicola Maccanico, the ex-ceo of iconic Italian studio Cinecittà, is heading to Fremantle to run its Italian division.

Maccanico resigned over the summer from the studio that hosted work from the likes of Roland Emmerich, Joe Wright, Edward Berger, Angelina Jolie and Luca Guadagnino during his tenure. He left after his three-year term at the government-owned facilities had ended. Past roles include EVP Programming at Sky Italia, CEO at Vision Distribution and Managing Director of Theatrical at Warner Brothers Italy.

At Fremantle he will oversee a portfolio that includes Wildside, The Apartment Pictures, Lux Vide and Fremantle Italy, with their CEO’s Sonia Rovai, Annamaria Morelli, Luca Bernabei, and Marco Tombolini respectively reporting into Maccanico.

The role is newly created. At the same time, France boss Bruno Fallot has been promoted to oversee Fremantle’s production biz in France, Spain, Portugal and Israel. Both will join Fremantle’s global senior leader team.

Roeg Sutherland, CAA’s co-head of the media finance department and co-head of the International Film Group, will be honored with the Game Changer Award for his “outstanding achievements and contributions within the film industry” at the Zurich Summit, which takes place in October during the 20th Zurich Film Festival.

FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner will host the Game Changer Award recipient conversation, where he is speaking with Sutherland about his career.

Zurich Film Festival artistic director Christian Jungen said: “Roeg is a passionate cinephile and industry leader, who has not only discovered, but also nurtured and developed the careers of countless artists. In the past several years, he has secured financing and sold some of the most important and critically acclaimed films, both domestic and international.

“His impressive client list includes Oscar winners, nominees, and auteurs like Nadine Labaki, who he signed by specifically flying to Lebanon to meet...

CAA’s Roeg Sutherland is set to be honored with the Zurich Film Festival’s Game Changer Award for his outstanding achievements and contributions within the film industry.

The co-Head of CAA’s Media Finance department as well as its International Film Group, will be presented with the award during the festival’s industry-focused Zurich Summit, which takes place in October within the framework of the 20th Zurich Film Festival (Zff).

As part of the recognition, FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner will host the Game Changer Award recipient conversation, in which he will speak with Sutherland about his journey.

“Roeg is a passionate cinephile and industry leader, who has not only discovered, but also nurtured and developed the careers of countless artists. In the past several years, he has secured financing and sold some of the most important and critically acclaimed films, both domestic and international,” commented Zff Artistic Director Christian Jungen.

There has been a dynamic shift in the world of blockbuster films over the years, with movies pushing boundaries of visual effects and storytelling, yet innovating and outdoing each other. Independence Day was released in 1996 and it quickly became a landmark film in the science fiction genre, especially for its set pieces and breathtaking special effects.

Independence Day (1996) | 20th Century Studios

It launched Will Smith’s career into superstardom and left a lasting remark on the industry. The movie has influenced many modern superhero films, and one director already foresaw this outcome.

The Independence Day Legacy: Steven Spielberg’s Prediction Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg (image credit: Gage Skidmore/Cc By-sa 2.0/Wikimedia Commons

It is challenging to create something original in an industry filled with sequels, reboots, and imitations. Yet, in 1996, Independence Day managed to accomplish the same with its groundbreaking CGI, large-scale destruction, and exhilarating narrative that reshaped the entire genre.

This side of "Star Trek" or "Doctor Who," it's hard to find a sci-fi TV show that had a more successful run than "Stargate Sg-1." The series, which is based on Roland Emmerich's 1994 movie "Stargate," ran for 10 seasons and more than 200 episodes, even switching networks along the way. For the actors involved, it was the sort of steady paycheck that is hard to come by in Hollywood. So, does Kurt Russell have any regrets about not reprising his role as Jack O'Neill? It sure doesn't sound like it.

In a 2006 interview with Dark Horizons, Russell was asked if he would like to return to the world of television in relation to the success of "Stargate Sg-1." The actor, who had previously starred in shows such as "The New Land" and "The Quest," made it crystal clear that he was far more interested in movies -- at least at that...

Summer is over and Autumn is here, which means Max has a whole new slate of movies falling onto the streamer in September.

Whether you’re into anime flicks, romance thrillers or an action-packed movie that keeps you on your toes, these films are worth adding to your watch list. While Max’s list of new films in September stretches way beyond these seven titles, TheWrap wanted to point your attention to the best ones on its lineup.

Check out our picks for the best new movies on Max in September 2024 below.

“Boogie Nights” (New Line Cinema) “Boogie Nights” (1997)

We had to start you off with a Hollywood classic that will give you some good ‘ole belly laughs while also giving. “Boogie Nights” follows the story of Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg), a teen growing up in 1977 San Fernando Valley, who makes a life pivot into the porn industry after being...

If you're going to give a Kurt Russell blockbuster the TV spin-off treatment without the involvement of your star, you better have some sort of trick up your sleeve. In the case of "Stargate Sg-1" — a continuation of the story that began in Roland Emmerich's 1994 movie "Stargate" — the showrunners brought in MacGyver himself to help lead the show and fill the hole left by Russell.

Richard Dean Anderson played the United States Air Force Colonel Jack O'Neill in "Sg-1," giving the character a more sarcastic edge than Russell in his big-screen performance. For the first eight seasons of the series, Anderson was the lead, heading up the special operations team that traversed the universe via the titular portal. But by the time his character was promoted to brigadier general at the start of season 8, Anderson had already begun to scale back his involvement in the series. That promotion meant...

When a beloved, long-running sci-fi series is abruptly canceled, like Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner's "Stargate Sg-1," it is natural for the fanbase to feel festering discontent. Premiering on Showtime in 1997, "Stargate Sg-1" aired its series finale in 2007, just a few days after its milestone episode — titled "200" — was released, which celebrated the show's tendency to swerve towards incredibly eccentric ideas that somehow always found a way to stick the landing. Of course, Roland Emmerich's 1994 sci-fi adventure film "Stargate" had sown the seeds for the franchise (despite plans for two more films falling through), granting fans the unique opportunity to unravel the mysteries surrounding the titular artifact through a spin-off series that ran for almost 10 years.

So, what was "Stargate Sg-1" about? The series picks up roughly a year after the events in Emmerich's movie, by which point the titular artifact has become common knowledge among the masses and...

Say what you will about big movies bypassing the theatrical experience, but this week's most-watched Netflix titles make one thing clear: star power still matters, even on streaming. Case in point: "The Union," a new Netflix Original movie starring Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg that's been climbing the viewership charts since its release last week, according to streaming chart data site FlixPatrol.

Action rom-com "The Union" is currently beating away the rest of the competition on Netflix's top 10 most-watched list, which as of publication time is mostly made up of family films like "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," "Migration," and "Trolls Band Together." Kids who demand a dozen rewatches of their animated favorites clearly have nothing on grown-ups who have been itching to see Berry back in action for the first time in a few years, though.

Berry's only appeared in two other films since 2019's "John Wick: Chapter 3,...

The blockbuster director talks his new docuseries, ideas for a potential new Terminator film and responds to Roland Emmerich’s claim that he’s ‘overbearing’

Earlier this month he was awarded Legends status by Disney with the likes of Angela Bassett, Harrison Ford and composer John Williams. Last week he turned 70, an age when most people are considering retirement. But James Cameron, the Oscar-winning film director and technological pioneer, has no intention of slowing down.

“Look, we all face finite time to get things done in this life,” he says philosophically. “I think you’re a little more aware of that and maybe you prioritise. I love the work that I’m doing right now and I have no complaints whatsoever. As long as I’m healthy and active and doing stuff that intrigues me creatively and intellectually, I’m a happy camper.”...

Australian Film Television and Radio School

Australia’s finest film and television school draws applicants from far and wide with its picturesque Sydney campus and many lecturers with deep ties to the Australian screen industry. Notable alumni include The Power of the Dog Oscar winner Jane Campion and Poor Things screenwriter Tony McNamara and a long list of accomplished craftspeople like Margaret Sixel (editing on Mad Max: Fury Road), David White (sound editing for Mad Max: Fury Road) and Andrew Lesnie (cinematography for The Lord of the Rings). In July, Aftrs also tapped Peter Noble, a local industry veteran of Indigenous background, to serve as director of the school’s First Nations and Outreach program, which develops training pathways for emerging and experienced industry practitioners from Australia’s culturally and racially marginalized groups.

Beijing Film Academy

The de facto USC of the world’s second-largest movie market, the Bfa was...

James Cameron agreed with director Roland Emmerich that he is, indeed, overbearing. The “Avatar” filmmaker pushed back on this being a criticism when asked by The Hollywood Reporter about Emmerich’s decision to drop out of directing a “Fantastic Voyage” remake in 2007, which Cameron wrote a draft of and remains attached to as a producer.

“How is this a headline?” he probed.

During Collider’s Directors on Directing panel at Comic-Con, Emmerich cited Cameron’s “overbearing” behavior in the development process of the remake as his reason for leaving the project.

“I’ve never said anything negative about Roland,” Cameron said. “But anyway: Yes, I’m overbearing. Damn right. When it’s a project where I’ve contributed to the writing, I might actually have an opinion on it.”

“I actually don’t even remember talking to Roland Emmerich about ‘Fantastic.’ I remember the other directors that we worked with...

At 69 years old, James Cameron is still one of the busiest filmmakers in Hollywood. This past weekend, new details about the third film in the Avatar franchise, Avatar: Fire & Ash, debuted at Disney’s D23 conference. The details teased what’s next for the Na’vi and what wonders fans can expect when the special-effects-driven spectacle takes cinemas by storm. Miraculously, Cameron found time in his busy schedule to engage in a rapid-fire chat with The Hollywood Reporter about upcoming projects, rumors, Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus, his tendency to be “overbearing,” and more.

Digging into a project that Cameron isn’t directly involved in but has his stamp of approval is Netflix’s Terminator Zero TV series. The series stars Timothy Olyphant, Rosario Dawson, Sonoya Mizuno, Ann Dowd, and André Holland. The show chronicles the rise of Skynet and Malcolm Lee’s mission to invent a counter-program to prevent the apocalypse.

You gotta love James Cameron when he’s the most James Cameron.

The Oscar-winning writer-producer-director got on the phone for precisely 15 minutes to talk about his new National Geographic documentary OceanXplorers, and from there we branched out to touch on a host of other Cameron-verse topics — like this week’s release of Alien: Romulus, Netflix’s upcoming animated series Terminator Zero, Avatar 3 aka Avatar: Fire & Ash, the recent 4K transfers of Aliens and True Lies, Roland Emmerich’s viral comments about a Fantastic Voyage reboot, and why Cameron doesn’t believe extraterrestrial life has visited Earth.

Cameron didn’t hold back. The 69-year-old demonstrated his immense passion and depth of knowledge for all things oceanic when discussing his upcoming series OceanXplorers (trailer below) — which follows a young team of researchers on a state-of-the-art ship exploring uncharted ocean territory. Cameron narrates the six-episode series, which has been dubbed “one of...

Dean Devlin is the credited director of the much-loved Geostorm, but says it’s not his film – yet he’d do his own cut, and possibly Geostorm 2.

I think I’ve managed to hide it well over the years, but I bloody love 2017’s Geostorm, the kind of goofy, muddled, deliciously enjoyable mad space film that we don’t seem to get anymore. In part because Geostorm cost an enormous amount of money, and didn’t make it back. See also: Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall, an intended franchise-starter, that also doubled up as a franchise-stopped.

The credited director of Geostorm, starring Gerard Butler, is Dean Devlin, but he’s not the person who finished the movie. Instead, the film was overhauled in post-production, and Danny Cannon came in to do extensive and really quite easy to spot reshoots.

Dean Devlin is now doing promotional work for his latest project, the TV series The Ark.

Roland Emmerich's 1996 blockbuster "Independence Day" wasn't incredibly well-reviewed when it was first released, with many critics citing its overblown melodrama, bad script, and clunky plotting as central flaws. Some also felt that the admittedly impressive visual effects were being wielded as a means to cover up how weak the alien invasion story was. Regardless, audiences showed up in droves and made "Independence Day" the highest-grossing film of the year; it cost a hefty $75 million to make, but raked in over $817 million worldwide. It was a legitimate phenomenon.

Between those who are fond of the film, and those who tend to sniff at it, a few things can be widely agreed upon. Firstly, yes, the film is quite silly and pointedly jingoistic, using an alien invasion as an excuse to repeat All-American platitudes. Secondly, it's exhilarating when the alien invaders blow up the White House. And thirdly, the cast is impressive,...