The next De Niro and Pacino are here
And what happened to Mia Wasikowska?
What to know
Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors plan to collaborate like De Niro and Pacino after Creed III… And they should. Speaking of which, Creed III is a massive box office success, bringing in $58.7M domestic and $100.4M globally. It’s the biggest Rocky/Creed franchise opening ever, the biggest sports movie opening ever, Amazon’s biggest opening, and the biggest opening for a Black director’s debut film. Jonathan Majors also pulls off the rare feat of having the #1 and #2 movie in theaters. Theater owners are also thrilled as this is a really promising sign for movies that aren’t superheroes. The positive reviews and word of mouth definitely helped Creed III blow away its expectations, so I guess the lesson for Hollywood is make good movies? (With recognizable stars, that are also sequels?) 🥊
Charlie Kaufman goes off on studio execs in WGA award speech… Another person who’s not wrong. The Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine writer reminded all the scribes in the room that “[Studio execs] tricked us into thinking we can’t do it without them, but the truth is they cannot do anything of value without us.” Straight fire. He went to explain that the writer’s job is not to make money, hit box office numbers, or even please the audience, it’s to “reflect the world” and say what is true “in the face of so much lying.” Yo. And this is subtly a rallying cry, as a writers’ strike is looming. 😮
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Everything Everywhere is still winning everything, everywhere… The Best Picture favorite took the top Writers Guild Award as well as 7 Film Independent Spirit Awards. (My favorite being Stephanie Hsu for Best Breakthrough Performance.) Women Talking, Severance, The White Lotus, Better Call Saul, and Hacks also got honors from the WGA, while Emily the Criminal and Aftersun picked up some Indy spirit love. Of note, the Independent Spirit Awards went with gender neutral acting categories this year, and most of those awards went to women. 🏆
What ever happened to Mia Wasikowska?… Remember the teen star of Alice in Wonderland, Crimson Peak, and The Kids Are All Right? It seemed like she was poised for a Hollywood takeover, but then disappeared around 2019. IndieWire caught up with the actress and learned that burnout led her to flee from Hollywood and return to her home of Australia. She’s still acting in indie movies and character roles, but leading studio films isn’t for her and she doesn’t see herself returning to that life. Good for her, follow your passions! 👏
Mark Ruffalo says Marvel should be “sweating” over losing James Gunn to DC… He’s not wrong. Gunn is an immense talent and knows what makes comic book stories work. Marvel’s loss is a massive gain for DC. That said, Gunn has been great as a writer-director (Guardians, Peacemaker), but having oversight of and planning for a massive multi-film/series canon is a different beast. Will his skills translate? 🦸🏽♀️
Mike Rowe and Seth Rogen’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem lines up killer cast, drops stunning teaser trailer… More on this tomorrow in the “what to watch” segment, but Rowe (Mitchells vs the Machines) and Rogen are cooking up something special. The turtles are being voiced by actual teens, and then you’ve got Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, John Cena, Ice Cube, Ayo Edebiri, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, and Rogen himself pitching in. Cowabunga. 🐢
Wall Street analyst suggests Disney could trade Hulu to Comcast for Hulk and Namor solo movie rights… It’s an interesting idea, but Hulu has to be worth way more than Hulk and Namor film rights. Disney remains in Hulu pickle, but I’d guess it will take more than Hulk and Namor to wrest the streamer away from the Mouse. 🤔
Eugene Levy says Christopher Guest’s “mockumentaries” are probably done: TV shows have picked up that form and just destroyed it”… Brutal but true. The mockumentary is so omnipresent now, especially on TV, there’s not much for Guest and company to say or do that would feel new. Still a bummer though. 😔
Ant-Man 3 falls another 61% at the box office… It’s not looking at a $500M total, which is below the previous two installments. This is a worrying trend for Marvel, that is being fueled by bad word of mouth. Time to turn it around, Feige. 📉
Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, Michael Fassbender and Owen Wilson in talks for Nancy Meyers pic at Netflix… That is reportedly going to cost more than $100 million — cause all those stars ain’t cheap. 🍿
R.L. Stine updating some Goosebumps novels to remove insensitive language… Are the critics going to cry “censorship” when it’s the author himself making the changes? 📕
Warner Bros. Discovery is going to give its execs bonuses if they can reduce the company’s debt… You know what else reduces debt? Not giving execs bonuses. 🧐
January Jones slams virtual auditions, says casting directors should come back into the office… Look, another person who is not wrong. 📹
Lenny Kravitz will perform during this year’s Oscar “In memoriam” segment… Making sure everyone feels that awkward mix of sad and horny. 🪦
What’s new
History of the World Part II — Mar 6 | Hulu sketch comedy series | 🍅 78%
Rain Dogs — Mar 6 | HBO comedy series | 🍅 100%
A Spy Among Friends — Mar 10 | MGM+ drama miniseries | 🍅 91%
Scream VI — Mar 10 | Horror film in theaters | 🍅
65 — Mar 10 | Action sci-fi film in theaters | 🍅
The Oscars — Mar 12 | Award show on ABC
Returning: Perry Mason s2, You s4 part 2, Top Chef s20, Luther: The Fallen Sun movie
What to watch
First-time director Michael B. Jordan has a lot to do inside Creed III’s two-hour runtime. He’s got to reintroduce the audience to the world and its characters, catching everyone up on where Adonis Creed is at in his life as champ right now. He has to establish and shade a new foil in Jonathan Majors’ Damian “Dame” Anderson. He has to maintain, explore, and enrich Adonis Creed’s home life consisting of Phylicia Rashad’s Mary Ann, Tessa Thompson’s Bianca, and their daughter Amara, who is deaf (and played spectacularly by deaf actress Mila Davis Kent). Then on top of it all, Jordan has to stick to the “Rocky” script, so to speak, with its sports movie formula of rivalries, training montages, and climactic final matches.
In other words, there’s a ton to juggle here and he absolutely nails it, balancing the familiar with his own artistic flourishes. The end fight, in particular, is stunning. Without spoiling it, there’s one anime-influenced segment of the fight (Jordan is a big anime fan) that is both jaw dropping and chills inducing — and that’s not a figurative statement. He leans on the characters’ journeys, built up to that moment, as the fuel for a surreal yet satisfying and meaningful set-piece. In general, the movie flies by as Jordan displays a mastery of economic filmmaking. There’s no fat on this bone, it’s all perfectly sculpted and toned muscle.
Speaking of which, Jonathan Majors. If you weren’t convinced that Majors is one of our finest young actors, you will be now. He brings nuance and charisma to a role that could have come off as cliché or worse, stereotypical, in the hands of a lesser performer. Together with Michael B. Jordan, they explore issues of masculinity, survivor’s guilt, male friendship, betrayal, and respect. Those things are in the script, but Majors and Jordan play levels not easily found in films like this.
The movie is just excellent, and all the more impressive that it’s a trilogy capper and a directorial debut. Michael B. Jordan is going to have a long and successful directing career. If there were no more Creed movies after this, that would be totally fine — but we better get more collaborations between Majors and Jordan.
For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!