State Champ Radio Movies
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Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty / Wendell Pierce
Legendary actor Wendell Pierce is excited about the summer, and he should be because he will be in two of the biggest films this year.
The Wire star is the textbook definition of “booked and busy” these days. You can’t turn on your televisions and not see Pierce’s face in one of your favorite television shows.
This summer, the same can be said about the big screen as well. Pierce will star in James Gunn’s highly anticipated Superman reboot, which is set to jumpstart Gunn’s newly created DCEU. He also popped up in the trailer for the upcoming Marvel Studios film Thunderbolts*.
Speaking alongside his girlfriend and Power Book III: Raising Kanan co-star, Erika Woods with CASSIUSLife’s Bernard “Beanz” Smalls, Pierce expressed excitement about being a potential summer blockbuster and being in a rare space because he will be in both comic book movie universes.
Pierce Says He’s Looking Forward To This Summer
“I’m looking forward to this summer. It’s going to be a great summer, ” Pierce said to CASSIUSLife. “As an actor, you tried to build a body of work. And while you’re doing it, you’re not conscious of it. You want to build a body of work where you can look back and then appreciate how many different things you did and how diverse and eclectic your body of work is. It shows your range and how one of the things you want to be as a character actor is an actor of character that has the ability to do a multitude of things, and still bring something to it, and it affects people.
Pierce Reveals He Didn’t Realize How Big The Comic Book Movie Universe Was
Pierce continues, “I did not know how big the comic book world and the movie universe world was until I was shooting these movies. And so I’m looking forward to the response. Good and bad, is going to come from all sides. The affinity that people have for the material and the worlds, I really appreciate it. I was not of the world. I wasn’t the comic book guy, but the thing I love about the fandom is the fact that you see the fervor that people have, and if you don’t have it, you’re envious of it.
“You want to be a part of it. It’s infectious. And that’s the thing that I love about it. It’s so infectious that even though I may not have been a part of that fandom, I am drawn to it and now want to know more and to now be a part of that, a small part of that is going to be exciting. And actually it’s been really interesting being in both of the worlds. I’m one of the few rare people who have gotten to be in both, so I’m looking forward to that as well.”
We hope Mr.Pierce keeps that schedule clear, he’s going to be in a lot of comic book movies.
Universal Pictures Content Group announced on Friday (March 14) that it has begun production on a documentary chronicling heavy metal icons Iron Maiden‘s 50-year career. The currently untitled film is slated for release internationally in the fall, with U.S. theatrical distribution details to be confirmed later.
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According to a release, the long-awaited doc is an “emotive journey through Iron Maiden’s 50 Year history told from the perspective of both the band and some of their most devoted followers – from longstanding superfans to established names from the worlds of film and music such as Javier Bardem, Lars Ulrich and Gene Simmons.”
In addition, the doc is slated to feature exclusive interviews with key band members and the final interview with original vocalist, Paul Di’Anno, who died in October 2024 at 66 from a tear in the sac around his heart. In addition to rare archival footage of the group, the doc will also include all-new animated sequences with Maiden’s fan-favorite ghoulish grin zombie mascot Eddie, who has appeared on all their album covers.
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“We’re proud Universal Pictures Content Group has chosen to share the unique story of Iron Maiden with the world,” said Maiden manager Rod Smallwood in a statement about the film that will be directed by Malcolm Venville (Churchill At War). “We have given them unrestricted access to the band, our fans and musical peers. We trust that they will excite not only music fans but also anyone who loves a story of an underdog beating the odds to become and remain one of Britain’s biggest musical exports since our first record released 45 years ago.”
The movie description continues, “The film offers a unique visual experience that highlights Iron Maiden’s widespread impact and the strong connection between the band and their truly global army of fans. The film also explores the cultural movement Iron Maiden has helped shape and their enduring legacy in both music and fan culture, challenging common perceptions of the wider significance of rock music and heavy metal.”
Iron Maiden formed in East London in 1975 and helped spearhead a resurgent wave of British metal on their way to selling more than 100 million records worldwide thanks to such hard-charging hit singles as “Run to the Hills,” “The Number of the Beast,” “Aces High,” “Flight of Icarus,” “The Trooper” and “Hallowed Be Thy Name.”
“We’re thrilled Iron Maiden have entrusted us to bring their legacy to cinemas around the world,” said Universal Pictures Content group executive vice president Helen Parker. “Working closely with the band and their passionate fans has been an unrivalled experience allowing us to tell their story in a unique way and celebrate their incomparable fearless creativity in their 50th anniversary year.” The film will be produced by Dominic Freeman (Spirits in the Forest – a Depeche Mode Film), with Parker serving as executive producer.
Iron Maiden will launch their 50th anniversary Run For Your Lives tour in Budapest on May 27, with 32 other dates currently scheduled throughout Europe through August 2.
Director Ezra Edelman spent nearly five years meticulously piecing together his sprawling, nine-hour documentary about Prince. In an appearance this week on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, the Oscar-winning director of O.J.: Made in America called the decision by Netflix and the Prince estate to pull the plug on the film a “joke.”
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“The estate, here’s the one thing they were allowed to do: Check the film for factual inaccuracies. Guess what? They came back with a 17-page document full of editorial issues — not factual issues,” Edelman said. “You think I have any interest in putting out a film that is factually inaccurate?”
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The Yale-educated director known for his deep-dive process, spent years developing and meticulously editing his six-part The Book of Prince doc for Netflix — after being hand-picked for the project by former Netflix VP of independent film and documentary features Lisa Nishimura — only to have the Prince estate object to the way the late singer was depicted in the film; the estate announced last month that the project would never be released and that it was working on its own documentary featuring “exclusive content” from the archive of the singer who died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in April 2016 at age 57.
“This is reflective of Prince himself, who was notoriously one of the most famous control freaks in the history of artists,” said Edelman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame icon known for fiercely protecting his name, image and likeness. “The irony being that Prince was somebody who fought for artistic freedom, who didn’t want to be held down by Warner Bros., who he believed was stifling his output. And now, in this case — by the way, I’m not Prince, but I worked really hard making something, and now my art’s being stifled and thrown away.”
Before the public saw even a frame of the film, it was in the headlines last September when a New York Times magazine profile described elements of the project that touched on Prince’s alleged physical and emotional abuse of his partners, as well as allegations that the singer had suffered abuse as a child. At the time, the two companies that control Prince’s assets, Primary Wave Music and Prince Legacy, said that they were “working to resolve matters concerning the documentary so that his story may be told in a way that is factually correct and does not mischaracterize or sensationalize his life.”
Following the shelving of the film, Edelman said that he believes Netflix is “afraid of [Prince’s] humanity.” Torres, who has seen the movie, said he came away with the takeaway that “this is one of the most impressive artists that has ever lived.”
That sentiment appeared to confirm Edelman’s feelings about the project. “This is the thing that I just find galling. I mean, I can’t get past this — the short-sightedness of a group of people whose interest is their own bottom line,” Edelman said.
“The lawyer who runs the estate essentially said he believed that this would do generational harm to Prince. In essence, that the portrayal of Prince in this film — what people learn about him — would deter younger viewers and fans, potentially, from loving Prince,” the director added. “They would be turned off. This is, I think, the big issue here: I’m like, ‘This is a gift — a nine-hour treatment about an artist that was, by the way, f–king brilliant.’ Everything about who you believe he is is in this movie. You get to bathe in his genius. And yet you also have to confront his humanity, which he, by the way, in some ways, was trapped in not being able to expose because he got trapped in his own myth about who he was to the world, and he had to maintain it.”
Though neither Netflix nor the Prince estate have detailed what specific issues they have with the doc, among the controversial allegations reportedly featured in the project are claims from one of the singer’s former lovers, Jill Jones, who allegedly describes a night when Prince slapped and punched her in the face. Another former paramour, Susannah Melvoin — musician and twin sister of Prince and the Revolution guitarist/singer Wendy Melvoin — reportedly told the director that after she moved in with Prince he would not let her leave the house, monitored her phone calls and tried to keep her from seeing her sister. It also reportedly featured accounts of Prince asking Wendy Melvoin to renounce her homosexuality as a prerequisite for getting the Revolution back together.
“The whole point of it is the journey. And the whole point of it was actually reflecting a journey that he went through,” Edelman told Torres. “Prince’s whole thing was that he was a Gemini and so this sort of push-and-pull of who he was in all these facets, male/female, black/white, artist/businessman, it goes on and on. In terms of this binary in his head was this idea of good and evil, which, sorry, God and sex, and that was another basic dichotomy of his art. He was always sort of weighing his moral account of how he was going through the world and he believed in karma in terms of how he treated people.”
The movie also reportedly features an interview with Prince’s ex-wife, Mayte Garcia, in which she alleges that he left her alone after the couple’s son died six days after his birth due to a rare genetic disorder. At press time it did not appear that Netflix or the Prince Estate had responded to Edelman’s interview; at press time a spokesperson for Prince had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.
“The image I’ve had in my head is the last show of Raiders of the Lost Ark, of just a huge warehouse somewhere in Netflix. A crate and just like put away,” Edelman said, noting that viewers will never see his work because he doesn’t “feel like getting sued.”
Watch Edelman discuss the doc’s cancellation below.
Taylor Lautner has no time for your body-shaming hate speech. The Twilight actor posted an Instagram Story on Wednesday (Feb. 26) in which he hit out at recent cruel comments about Selena Gomez that were re-posted influencer Alex Light. The British podcaster and body positivity advocate shared a before-and-after shot of the singer/actress that included harsh internet comments about Sel’s weight alongside her own statement about the “impossible” beauty standards society puts on women in the spotlight.
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While Light’s caption leaned into the theme of “out bodies are ours, not up for public discussion,” the inclusion of a round-up of unkind online statement’s about Gomez’s fluctuating weight appeared to set Lautner off.
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“It’s a cruel world full of hate out there,” wrote the actor, who in 2023 opened up on his podcast The Squeeze about how the focus on his physique during his Twilight years has had a lasting effect on his body image. “You can never please everyone nor should you have to. In my experience it doesn’t make the words sting less, it just refocuses you onto what matters,” Lautner continued. ” And it sure isn’t the shape, color or appearance of your body. Daily reminder to all of us to not forget how beautiful you are inside and out…and be a little bit nicer.”
Lautner’s post was cued to the 2011 Selena Gomez & the Scene song “Who Says,” which features the empowering lyrics: “I wouldn’t want to be anybody else/ You made me insecure/ Told me I wasn’t good enough/ But who are you to judge?/ When you’re a diamond in the rough.”
Gomez has repeatedly knocked down body shaming comments during her career, including speaking about her “weight fluctuation” following a 2015 lupus diagnosis and a kidney transplant in 2017 in a 2023 TikTok Live post addressing critiques of her body.
As a result of the diagnosis and other health struggles, Gomez explained in the Live that her medication causes her to hold on to water weight. “And that happens very normally,” she said at the time. “And then when I’m off of it I tend to kind of lose weight.” She also shared a positive message with her fans about their inner beauty and her focus on health first.
“I just want people to know that you’re beautiful and you’re wonderful,” Gomez told fans. “And yeah we have days where maybe we feel like s–t but I would much rather be healthy and take care of myself and my medications are important and I believe they are what helps me. So, yeah, not a model, never will be. And I think they’re awesome, mind you, I just, I’m definitely not that.”
You can see Light’s original post here.
Pink Floyd‘s beloved 1972 live film, Pink Floyd at Pompeii — MCMLXXII — will return to movie theaters worldwide beginning on April 24. The film directed by Adrian Maben, will also be screened on IMAX in a digitally remastered, 4K version taken from the original 35mm footage, with enhanced audio that has been newly mixed by Steven Wilson, representing what a release said is the “definitive version of this pioneering film.”
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“Since 1994, I have searched for the elusive film rushes of Pink Floyd At Pompeii, so the recent discovery of the 1972 original 35mm cut negative was a very special moment,” said Lana Topham, Floyd’s director of restoration in a statement. “The newly restored version presents the first full 90-minute cut, combining the 60-minute source edit of the performance with the additional Abbey Road Studios documentary segments filmed shortly after.”
The movie’s re-release will be accompanied by a Legacy Recordings release of the live album on CD, digital audio and for the first time in Dolby Atmos and on vinyl on May 2, featuring performances of the songs “Careful With That Axe, Eugene,” “Something Else,” “Syncopated Pandemonium,” “Storm Signals” and “Echoes – Part II,” among others.
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The film preceded the release of the psychedelic warriors’ landmark 1973 Dark Side of the Moon album, with the band setting up in the ruins of the ancient Roman Amphitheatre in Pompeii, Italy in October 1971 for a gig without an audience. It was the first live concert set in one of the oldest surviving amphitheaters in the world, built in 70 B.C.
According to a release, the movie “documents what Pink Floyd did before they became giants of the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic – where their music remains celebrated to this day. Set in the hauntingly beautiful ruins of the ancient Roman Amphitheatre in Pompeii, Italy, this unique and immersive film captures Pink Floyd performing an intimate concert without an audience… The breathtaking visuals of the amphitheatre, captured both day and night, amplify the magic of the performance. Additionally, the film includes rare behind-the-scenes footage of the band beginning work on The Dark Side of the Moon at Abbey Road Studios.”
Former Floyd drummer Nick Mason said in a statement that Live At Pompeii is a “rare and unique document of the band performing live in the period before” Dark Side of the Moon. The original has been hand-restored, frame-by-frame from the original 35mm cut negative, which was discovered in five “dubiously labeled” cans in the band’s archive and scanned in 4K using “advanced techniques to ensure the finest, sharpest detail.”
Detailing the new 5.1 and Dolby Atmos mix — intended to match how the band sounded on those “scorching hot days in 1971” — Wilson said, “Ever since my dad brainwashed me as a kid by playing The Dark Side of the Moon on repeat, Pink Floyd has been my favourite band. They are my ‘Beatles,’ deeply ingrained in my musical DNA. I first saw Pompeii from a grainy print at a local cinema. It made an incredible impression on me with its untethered and exploratory rock music made by four musicians that seemed to epitomise the notion of intellectual cool. It was an honour to remix the soundtrack to accompany Lana Topham’s incredible restoration of the film, which looks like it could’ve been filmed yesterday.”
Tickets for the film will go on sale beginning March 5 at 9 a.m. ET here.
Check out the album tracklist and a preview of the band’s “Echoes – Part 1” performance below.
Side A
1. “Pompeii Intro”
2. “Echoes – Part 1”
3. “Careful With That Axe, Eugene”
Side B
1. “A Saucerful of Secrets”
2. “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”
Side C
1. “One of These Days”
2. “Mademoiselle Nobs”
3. “Echoes – Part 2”
Side D
1. “Careful With that Axe, Eugene – Alternate take”
2. “A Saucerful of Secrets – Unedited”
Apple Original Films announced that the documentary Bono: Stories of Surrender will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on May 30. In addition, the “lyrical, bold exploration” of the U2 singer’s one-man show of the same name based on his 2022 memoir, Surrender: 40 Songs One Story, will also be the first feature-length film available on […]
Janelle Monáe will explore the art of the con in the upcoming Universal Pictures adaptation of Tanya Smith’s 2024 memoir, Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System – and Pocketed $40 Million. According to Variety, Monáe will star in the film and also produce through her Wonderland Pictures company.
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Smith — who saw herself a modern-day Robin Hood after figuring out how to wipe out her relatives’ debt by manipulating the banking system — will be an executive producer on the movie. The gripping story is described as a heist thriller that provides a “powerful examination of systemic prejudice and economic inequality,” following Smith’s journey from mischievous teenage hacker to a master manipulator of the U.S. financial system.
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The book’s publisher, Hachette Book Group calls the story a riveting tale of an “unsuspecting woman who creates an ingeniously clever white-collar scheme that manipulates the Federal banking system out of millions — who eventually loses everything that is most important to her.”
The story follows Smith as she begins her life of deception as a teenager with an interest in technology, figuring out how to acquire the phone numbers of stars including Michael Jackson and other celebs, before moving on to stealing and depositing $5,000 into her grandmother’s bank account, and, by 18, confiscating $40 million dollars in cash, gold, diamonds and commodities from banks using hacked wire transfers.
“The FBI is hot on her tail and hauls her in for an interview, demanding Smith let them know who she’s working for, ‘as these are not the kind of crimes Black people are smart enough to commit,’” reads the book synopsis. “Their words, indicating that intelligence was determined by race, severely offended Smith. Up for the challenge, she proves the FBI wrong and over time steals $40 million dollars, while securing diamonds, gold bars, and other commodities. Her lifestyle attracts the wrong kind of people, even those who set out to kill her.”
The investigators hot on her trail, Smith is tagged as “one of the single biggest threats to the entire U.S. banking system,” earning her the longest prison sentence ever (13 years) for white-collar crimes, only to be released after mounting her own “brilliant defense.” Along the way, Smith escaped from prison two years into her sentence by disguising herself as a lawyer and gave birth to two children while incarcerated.
Monáe latest starring role will follow up on her well-received roles in the films Moonlight, Hidden Figures, Harriet, Antebellum and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
If you are on a hunt for more clues about The Weeknd‘s upcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow film, the first trailer for the Trey Edward Shults-directed thriller won’t provide much clarity. The two-minute first look at the movie inspired by the singer’s album of the same name dropped on Tuesday morning (Feb. 4) and unlike many contemporary trailers it leaves more questions unanswered.
The action opens with a vertigo-inducing helicopter shot of an upside down cityscape as co-star Jenna Ortega’s character Anima intones, “Death is nothing at all. It does not kill,” over a shot of the Weeknd submerged in a bathtub up to his eyes.
Then, things start to get a bit weird. As we get our first glimpse of Anima, her voice appears to merge with Abel’s as they say, “everything remains exactly how it was. Whatever we were to each other that we are still.” Keoghan’s character, Abel’s manager, Lee, then pops up with a weary look on his face as a ghostly voice announces (not for the last time in the tailer), “call me by the old familiar name.”
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According to EW, in an interview conducted before the trailer dropped, Shults said it was “absolutely” possible that the movie is the vehicle by which Tesfaye will lay his long-running artistic alter ego to rest. “I tried to make the movie in a way where, for his fans and people who want to approach it at that level, I hope it’s very satisfying and you get a good meal out of it,” Shults said. “And for people that aren’t his fans and don’t know anything about him or even care about the final capping of the Weeknd, I think you still have a great movie to go through.
Speaking to Variety last month, Tesfaye confirmed that he was planning to retire his enigmatic Weeknd persona following last month’s release of the Hurry Up Tomorrow album, the conclusion of a trilogy that began with 2020’s After Hours LP and continued on 2022’s Dawn FM. “It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he said of his stage name. “You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it.”
The movie follows insomniac Abel as he’s pulled into an “odyssey with a stranger [Anima] who begins to unravel the very core of his existence.” Fans will recognize the by-now-familiar gold leaf-decked hooded robe in the trailer that Tesfaye has been wearing in recent performances in a bit where the bleary-eyed singer is hoisted on a lift up to a stage at a packed arena.
As a techno track bubbles up, we see Keoghan’s Lee trying to hype up Abel — “stop self-doubting, you’re f–king invincible!” he says — whose performance appears to make Anima tear up in the audience. She assures the singer, “this is all very intense, but I’m not trying to hurt you,” adding, “I’m really sorry about this. I really am,” as she sits next to a seemingly dazed and confused Abel on a bed.
The finale 45 seconds are a headlong rush of hectic imagery, including Anima pouring gas in a home as if to torch it as Abel gets more and more freaked out by the chaos around him. In keeping with the album trilogy’s visual presentation of an often-battered, spun-out singer, Shults told EW that the film is about an artist “on the verge of a mental breakdown,” explaining that he meets a woman [Ortega] and they “go on this odyssey together. It’s a mix of psychological thriller and drama. I honestly feel like I’ve never seen a movie quite like it.”
Ortega added that she thinks her character is another version of the singer, “a side of him that the persona the Weeknd doesn’t show as much.” The Hurry Up Tomorrow film — co-written by Shults, Tesfaye and The Idol co-creator Reza Fahim — will premiere in theaters on May 16.
Watch the trailer below.
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Source: YouTube / Briarcliff Entertainment
Jonathan Majors may no longer be King The Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the man is looking to make a comeback after domestic assault charges derailed his promising career something crazy.
Hoping to get his film career (and reputation) back on track, Briarcliff Entertainment released the first trailer for Major’s first comeback film Magazine Dreams, which stars the embattled actor as bodybuilder Killian Maddox who dreams of becoming the next Mr. Olympia and being the face of the body building community. Seemingly set in the ’80s or ’90s, Maddox’s obsession with body perfection leads him down the dangerous road of steroids, which leads to roid rage, violence and possible suicidal tendencies.
Still, Maddox tries to ground himself and is even open to an interracial relationship with a white woman. That probably won’t end well though as the trailer features Maddox dealing with racism and racial profiling from police officers.
Magazine Dreams was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival back a few years ago and according to Variety, multiple studios wanted in on the film, but things went left once allegations of domestic abuse became public and it never came to be.
Variety reports:
While “Magazine Dreams” was met with buzz after its debut at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, sparking a bidding war that led the film to find a home at Searchlight Pictures for a reported mid-seven figures, the distributor dropped the film in January 2024 after Majors was accused of domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari.
Majors was arrested in March 2023 in Manhattan, which then led to him being charged with several counts of assault and aggravated harassment against Jabbari. After going to trial in New York, he was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of harassment and assault. Jabbari also sued Majors for assault and defamation, but the suit was settled in November 2024.
They must feel that it’s safe now to place some bets on Jonathan Majors in 2025.
Check out the trailer to Magazine Dreams below, and let us know if you’ll be checking it out when it hits theaters on March 21 in the comments section.
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Source: Courtesy / Warner Bros. Pictures
It may be a few years before we get to visit Ryan Coogler’s Wakanda in the Marvel Cinematic Universe again, but we can’t wait to see what he’s got in store for us when it comes to the supernatural South during the Jim Crow-era in America.
On Tuesday (Jan. 28), Warner Bros. released their latest trailer for Coogler’s upcoming film Sinners, which stars Michael B. Jordan (twice) as he takes on the tole of twin brothers who venture home to the South only to find that racism has taken on a new and terrifying form. Yup, white racist vampires. Makes sense if you think about it but that’s neither here nor there.
Looking to live their best lives, the white vampires look to ruin the happiness and peace that the twin brothers are looking to establish in their home but find quite a resistance as the good people of the small town aren’t going to take to blood-sucking colonizers too lightly.
While we can only imagine the kind of undead snow bunnies these vampires will use to tempt the good men of this community (Dr. Umar would be safe under those circumstances), we can’t wait to see how Killmonger goes about protecting his people and their home. Best believe heads will roll.
Check out the trailer for Sinners below and let us know if you’ll be checking for it when it hits theaters on April 18.
