Press for the upcoming Matt Reeve’s The Batman is growing and the folks over at MovieMaker had a chance to talk to Colin Farrell about his take on Oswald Cobblepot aka the Penguin. While not his first comic book villain, Farrell played Bullseye opposite of Ben Affleck’s Daredevil, the actor believes the inspiration for this take on his new villain comes from a classic film. "There’s a certain amount of brokenness in Oz that, I think, as a reference, not for me performance-wise, but just emotionally, as a reference for Matt -- I think Fredo from The Godfather was a bit of a reference." Fredo Corleone, played by John Cazale, was considered the weakest brother in the crime family and he eventually betrays his brother Michael and is killed for it. Farrell continued:  "Matt was just talking about somebody who had very real and very lofty ambitions, but never really had the opportunity or the chance to explore them, and was maybe looked upon as someone who was handicapped, whether it was psychologically, intellectually -- Fredo was frowned upon as less than the other brothers, and maybe Oz as well, in his life, was looked upon as somebody who wasn’t capable. And so that’s one of the things that fuels Oz." According to the actor, his character is only in five or six scenes with Paul Dano’s Riddler being the main antagonist. But Farrell is already set to reprise the role in a Penguin-centric spinoff series on HBO Max. The Batman makes it theatrical debut on March 4th.    

Saban Films has acquired U.S. rights to the Mel Gibson thriller On The Line, in which the Oscar winner portrays a radio host confronted by a hostile caller, Deadline reports.

In the film, the anonymous caller threatens to kill the host’s entire family while he is on air. To save loved ones, the radio host has to play a survival game over the course of one night and the only way to win is to find out the identity of the criminal.

It is film director-writer-producer Romuald Boulanger’s second feature following his 2020 debut Connectés.

On The Line also stars Kevin Dillon (Entourage), Enrique Arce (Terminator: Dark Fate), William Moseley (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe), and Nadia Farès (Luther). The film is currently in post-production, with Saban Films planning a November 2022 release.

Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” and Kid Cudi’s “Entergalactic” are among the titles that will be teased at Netflix’s inaugural Annecy International Animation Film Festival showcase next month, Variety reports.

The streamer is also bringing masterclasses and the world premiere of Chris Williams’ sea monster adventure “The Sea Beast,” starring Karl Urban and Dan Stevens, to the festival, which takes place in France.

Netflix’s showcase will offer an exclusive first look at del Toro’s upcoming stop-motion adaptation of “Pinocchio,” with the filmmaker attending in person to discuss the project, as well as the first look at “Entergalactic,” the adult animated project from Kid Cudi (AKA Scott Mescudi) and Kenya Barris, which is based on Cudi’s album of the same name.

The showcase will also include a behind-the-scenes look at David Fincher’s “Bad Travelling,” which will be included in vol. 3 of Tim Miller’s series “Love, Death + Robots” as well as glimpses of “The Sea Beast,” Henry Sellick’s “Wendell & Wild,” “My Father’s Dragon,” “The Magician’s Elephant,” Hiroyasu Ishida’s “Drifting Home,” “Nimona,” “Spirit Rangers” and Everett Downing and Patrick Harpin’s “My Dad The Bounty Hunter.”

Netflix also has a number of projects screening as part of the festival’s competition: “Arcane,” “The Cuphead Show!,” “The House,” “Human Resources,” “Robin Robin” and “We the People” are all Official Selections.

AMC has released a new teaser for its upcoming Interview With the Vampire series.

The new teaser was shared to the series' official Twitter account.Interview With the Vampire is expected to debut on AMC and AMC+ this fall and stars Sam Reid as Lestat de Lioncourt and Jacob Anderson as Louis de Pointe du Lac from the novel by Anne Rice of the same name.

Teaser: https://twitter.com/i/status/1528915644208537600

Author Neil Gaiman has responded to the backlash surrounding the casting of Lucifer Morningstar in Netflix's adaptation of his graphic novel series, The Sandman, and revealed why it was never in the cards to bring back Tom Ellis.

After a fan on Twitter quizzed Gaiman as to why the Ellis hadn't been brought back to reprise his role, writing: "And you couldn't have asked Tom Ellis why?" the creator explained all.

In response, he wrote: "Because his Lucifer, while inspired by the Lucifer in Sandman, is so far away in terms of Sandman continuity by the end of Lucifer, that it's easier on everyone to go back to the version in the [DC] comic.

"And this way, you don't know what our Lucifer is going to do," he added before concluding his post by stressing that there was no love lost between him and the Brit actor. "Tom's is lovable."

Gaiman's reply should put to bed the debate over Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie's casting as Lucifer in the upcoming Sandman adaptation, which has been raging on ever since the actress was first announced back in October 2021.

She will make her debut on the series alongside stars Tom Sturridge, Jenna Coleman and David Thewlis when the show makes its debut on Netflix later this year. (via Hello Magazine)

Bruce Wayne is going to come to blows with his son, Damian Wayne, in a new limited series this fall.

Batman vs. Robin is a five-issue series from writer Mark Waid, artist Mahmud Asrar, and colorist Nathan Fairbairn debuting in September. The event spins out of Waid's current run on Batman/Superman: World's Finest with artist Dan Mora, while also tying into the concluding "Shadow War" crossover between Joshua Williamson's Batman, Robin, and Deathstroke series. Each part of Batman vs. Robin features five oversized issues, and also involves the Devil Nezha from World's Finest.

"What I can say is that the first arc of World's Finest is, was, and always has been, designed deliberately to lead into what is going to be Batman vs. Robin," Waid teased. "What I was trying to do with Batman versus Robin was try to take them into a realm that I'm not used to seeing them in, which is dark magic sorcery, rather than science, rather than logic and detective stuff. We've seen Batman and sort of peripheral magic, but I want to get into the down and dirty of it."

Mahmud Asrar is a former Marvel Young Guns artist – now known as Marvel Stormbreakers – who is making his return to DC after nine years at Marvel. Waid and Asrar collaborated on 2015-2016's All-New, All-Different Avengers. (via ComicBook.com)

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” actor Celeste O’Connor has been cast in “Madame Web,” an upcoming installment in Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters.

O’Connor’s role has not been announced. They will appear in the comic book adventure alongside Dakota Johnson, who is playing the title character, as well as Sydney Sweeney of “Euphoria” fame.

The movie will serve as an origin story for Madame Web, a clairvoyant whose psychic abilities allow her to see within the spider world itself. In the Marvel comics, Madame Web is a paralyzed, elderly woman with myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune disorder requiring her to connect to a life support system resembling a spider web. Her supernatural abilities prove to be greatly beneficial to Spider-Man and his fellow arachnid allies, like Spider-Woman. Given her condition, though, she’s never battled villains herself.

“Madame Web” is Sony’s first modern comic book adaptation to feature a woman in the headlining role. It is one of several Spider-Man-related spinoffs in Sony’s pipeline, including “Kraven the Hunter,” featuring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ariana DeBose. (via Variety)

Mutantkind is set to send shockwaves through the Marvel Universe yet again in this year’s HELLFIRE GALA! A night overflowing with heavy drama, surprise guests, and game-changing revelations, the event will take place in July’s X-MEN: HELLFIRE GALA #1, a giant-sized one-shot will be written by current X-Men writer Gerry Duggan along with an all-star lineup of artists: Kris Anka, Russell Dauterman, Matteo Lolli and C.F. Villa. A Marvel Comic of such magnitude wouldn’t be complete without an incredible variant cover from artist Stanley “Artgerm” Lau! The mega-popular cover artist depicts Jean Grey in her now iconic Hellfire Gala outfit from last year, ready to announce the new team of X-Men!

At last year's gala, mutants changed the face of the solar system, terraforming Mars and claiming it for mutantkind. Don’t dare miss this issue to see what comes next! Check out the cover below and stay tuned for more news about X-MEN: HELLFIRE GALA #1, including an exciting sneak peek!

Fire up the jets.

After two years of being grounded by the coronavirus pandemic, Top Gun: Maverick is finally flying into theaters over Memorial Day weekend following a headline-grabbing, global marketing blitz that saw a tireless Tom Cruise transform into the showman of the moment as he made stops at a world premiere in San Diego, the Cannes Film Festival, a Royal-sponsored screening in London and another premiere in Japan.

The release of the long-awaited sequel to the iconic 1986 movie is poised to be a defining moment for the box office recovery, which so far has been largely fueled by superhero fare.

Top Gun 2 is easily headed for the biggest opening of Tom Cruise’s career at the domestic box office, with a four-day gross of at least $92 million, according to official tracking. And that’s a conservative estimate. Many pundits believe the critically acclaimed sequel could soar well north of $100 million domestically, but tracking — one of Hollywood’s favorite pastimes — has become fraught in the pandemic era. Exhibitors are especially bullish on the pic, and are even thinking $125 million-plus.

Part of the problem in this instance: there’s no way of knowing whether older consumers will set aside their caution and rush out to see the $170 million-plus movie on the first weekend. And while Top Gun 2 certainly hopes to play to younger audiences, it is nevertheless a follow-up to a 36-year-old property. (via THR)

Samuel L. Jackson is set to join Chris Pratt in Alcon Entertainment’s upcoming animated theatrical motion picture based on the iconic comic strip Garfield, THR reports.

Jackson will play a brand-new character, Garfield’s father, Vic. The veteran Hollywood actor is best known for movie hits like Jurassic Park, the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Goodfellas, Coming to America, Menace II Society and Pulp Fiction.

Pratt was earlier announced to voice the lasagna-loving, Monday-hating comic strip feline Garfield in the new animated movie based on a script written by David Reynolds and directed by Mark Dindal. Sony Pictures is distributing globally (excluding China).

Created by cartoonist Jim Davis, the Garfield comic strip debuted in June 1978 and follows the cynical and lazy orange cat and his interactions with his owner, Jon Arbuckle, and fellow pet Odie, the lovable dog.

Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight almost had a brutal end for Episode 1 that was cut so that Marvel could continue to be safe under Disney’s “family-friendly” umbrella.

While the whole series is now available to watch on Disney+, fans were really excited to see what Isaac would do with the relatively unknown super hero. Moon Knight was Marvel’s first big focus on mental health as Moon Knight struggles with Dissociative Identity Disorder. In the series, Isaac plays three roles — Steven Grant, Marc Spector, and Jake Lockley — who is guided by the Moon God, Khonshu.

While the series does delve a bit into Egyptian mythology and gives fans some great action, something that was lacking from the series was the brutal fights that were promised by Marvel. Some fans have wanted the MCU to get bloody for a long time and be like the Netflix Marvel shows, but it seems that Disney can’t fully commit to doing this just yet.

Even with Parental controls now on Disney+ and testing out censorship on some graphic scenes, reports Inside The Magic, Marvel decided to remove any trace of the brutal fights that were promised. Beforehand, fans would’ve thought that there were no crazy fight sequences in Moon Knight, but the stunt double for Moon Knight revealed that the first episode originally had a large fight between the Jackal and the caped hero.

Some fans are reportedly finding this disappointing with worries of this policy ruining Jon Bernthal’s Punisher and Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool by playing it too safe.