Another franchise gets a stage play
And Tom Cruise leaves "Part 1" dangling
What to know
The Hunger Games play headed to London fall 2024… The trend of major IP going to the stage continues, but what’s interesting here is that the producers won’t be telling a new story a la Harry Potter and the Cursed Child or Stranger Things: The First Shadow, instead this play will adapt the first book of Suzanne Collins’ series. Fair enough. It happens to be a great story. I hope this comes to the states, as I’d love to see how playwright Conor McPherson (The Girl from the North Country) and director Matthew Dunster pull off some of the more fantastical and violent aspects of the story. Can they make the arena believable on stage? 🏹
Next Mission Impossible delayed a year, getting title change… This is so funny to me. The follow up to Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 will not be called Part 2, instead it’s getting an entirely different title, leaving that Part 1 just dangling in the wind. Considering Part 1 was a disappointment at the box office, they probably don’t want to associate the next one with that and make people think they need to have seen Part 1 in order to see Part 2. I just hope they finish the story of Part 1, because the villain and the mission was actually pretty compelling. 😆
Bill Burr’s raunchy coemdy Old Dads tops Netflix charts with 13.3 million views… But what’s really fascinating here is the stark divide between critics and audiences. It currently has 23% from critics on RottenTomatoes, but 88% with audiences. That might be one of the biggest divides in RT history. It’s not surprising a raunchy comedy such as this is connecting with audiences rather than critics, but it does make me wonder if reviewers should be more open to different genres. 🍅
Five Nights at Freddy’s eyes $50M+ debut even with simultaneous Peacock release… Horror plus beloved IP will do that. I’m just wondering with such strong tracking, are Universal and Blumhouse kicking themselves for even offering the movie day and date on streaming? Maybe it will help Peacock gain some subscribers, but could the movie’s opening weekend have been higher if it was “only in theaters?” 🐻
James Wan says Aquaman 2 only had 8 days of reshoots, calls out negative narrative around production… The number of reshoot days is kind of irrelevant, because the reported story is really in how test screenings were going (not good). I had the displeasure of seeing the trailer recently in theaters, and it plays like a limp fish. 🐟
Rumor: Spider-Man 4 will shoot in late 2024… Should be interesting to see how they pick up Tom Holland’s Spidey story after the reset ending of No Way Home. 🕷️
Jennifer Lawrence’s No Hard Feelings is now on Netflix… And I bet it’s going to be a big hit for the dominant streaming platform. 🍿
You can now read and download the Oppenheimer script… Tis the season. 💣
Good Omens eyes season 3 renewal… A good omen indeed. 👼
What’s new
Life on Our Planet — Oct 25 | Netflix doc series | Ⓜ️
Pain Hustlers — Oct 27 | Netflix drama film | Ⓜ️ 43
Five Nights at Freddy’s — Oct 27 | Horror movie in theaters & Peacock | Ⓜ️
Anatomy of a Fall — Oct 27 | French drama in theaters | Ⓜ️ 86
Returning: The Gilded Age s2
For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!