Spidey is coming for an Endgame record
Spidey is coming for an Endgame record
And Sondheim's amazing letter to a South Park co-creator
What to know:
No Way Home headed for $200M opening weekend, Sony splits Spiderverse sequel into 2 movies, drops eye-popping trailer… It’s all Spider-Man news all the time around here. And well yeah, when a movie is tracking for a $200M opening, it’s going to take up a lot of air in the entertainment news space. That two-hundo mark would be a first for the domestic box office since Endgame. Meanwhile, Sony is capitalizing on spidey fever (spidey mania? spidey mayhem? I’ll workshop it) by dropping the trailer for the animated Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse Part 1! (Watch it below). Yes, it’s two movies. Yes, it has a Mitchells vs. The Machines easter egg.
Stephen Sondheim told Trey Parker he voted for Team America for Best Picture… Sondheim loved Team America so much he wrote Parker one of his famous letters. Besides spilling that he voted for the puppet movie “best movie of the year,” Sondheim asked if Parker would ever be interested in collaborating on a musical. Amazing! Nothing came of the gesture, but Parker would later embrace the form Sondheim perfected with The Book of Mormon. 🇺🇸
“FX on Hulu” is dead, long live FX on Hulu… Disney is killing the “FX on Hulu” branding. I understand the thought behind it, as FX is a Tiffany brand and its shows should have their own space in the streaming landscape. But I get how it was confusing, especially considering Hulu doesn’t have any other distinct brand features like that. 📺
Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton returning for sequel and mysterious Marvel Disney+ series… No surprise that Shang-Chi is getting a big-screen sequel, but will it also get a TV spinoff? Maybe! Marvel has SO MANY shows and movies in production — but Kevin Feige says they’re not announcing the ones that are too far out as it keeps the company and the hype focused on the immediate future. 💍
Tom Holland to play Fred Astaire in upcoming biopic… And if you’re wondering “can Tom Holland dance?” Remember that he’s a trained ballet dancer and played Billy Elliot on the West End. 🕺
WGA names Get Out the best screenplay of the 21st century so far… Fair pick. Now it just has to hold that title for 79 more years ☕️
Kennedy Center Honors Joni Mitchell, Bette Midler, Lorne Michaels, Berry Gordy, Justino Díaz, to air on CBS Dec. 22… should be a good one 🌈
Nick Offerman reportedly joining The Last of Us… If there’s anyone I’d like to have around in the apocalypse, it’s him. 🔥
The Boys getting animated spinoff… If Invincible wasn’t depraved enough for you, here’s this 🦸♀️
For more pop culture news, discussion, and what-to-watch recommendations subscribe to my pals over on the Kickball Friends podcast. 🎙
What’s new this week:
And Just Like That… — Dec 9 HBO Max Sex and the City sequel series | 🍅
Encounter — Dec 10 Amazon sci-fi film | 🍅 58%
Saturday Morning All Star Hits! — Dec 10 Netflix sketch comedy
West Side Story — Dec 10 in theaters musical film | 🍅 95%
What to watch:
Trailer: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part One — Oct 7 2022
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham, starring Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Issa Rae, Oscar Isaac, and Jake Johnson.
Holy shit. Sony surprise released this trailer Saturday night, as part of its genius ongoing Spider-Man press machine, and I gotta say, it’s incredible. The opening scene is a little slow, but when the action sequence kicks in — it’s beyond dazzling. The differing, eye-popping art styles look trippy and stunning! They took the bold visual template of the first Spider-Verse film and clearly asked, “how can we top this?” It’s a minor miracle that this type of stylistic experimentation is happening at a major studio with one of the world’s the most famous IP characters. It’s very exciting to see Soul co-writer and co-director Kemp Powers attached here as well as writing credits from Lord and Miller. Lord and Miller are great producers, but getting them back behind the keyboard together on this one (only Phil Lord has a writing credit on the first one) is cause for celebration.
For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!