Now Showing: Neuromancer

Neuromancer
Genre: Sci-Fi
Director: Joseph Kahn
Writer: Mark Newton
Based on the novel by William Gibson
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kristen Stewart, Ethan Hawke, Justin Timberlake, Selena Gomez, Corey Hawkins, Aubrey Plaza, Ludi Lin

Plot: Henry Dorsett Case (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a low-level hustler in the dystopian underworld of Chiba City, Japan. Once a talented computer hacker, Case was caught stealing from his employer. As punishment for his theft, Case's central nervous system was damaged, leaving him unable to use his brain-computer interface to access the global virtual reality dataspace called the "Motherboard". Unemployable, addicted to drugs, and suicidal, Case desperately searches the Chiba for a miracle cure. One night, Case is saved by Molly Millions (Kristen Stewart), an augmented mercenary for the shadowy ex-military officer named Armitage (Ethan Hawke), who offers to cure Case in exchange for his services as a hacker. Case jumps at the chance to regain his old life, but Case and Molly don't know what Armitage is really planning. Case's nervous system is repaired using new technology that Armitage offers the clinic as payment, but he soon learns from Armitage that the poison that first crippled him have been placed in his blood vessels as well. Armitage promises Case that if he completes his work in time, the poison will be removed, if not they will burst, disabling him again. He also has Case's pancreas replaced and new tissue grafted into his liver, leaving Case incapable of metabolizing cocaine or amphetamines and apparently forcibly ending his drug addiction.

Case and Molly develop a close personal relationship and Molly suggests that Case begin looking into Armitage's background. Meanwhile, Armitage assigns them their first job: they must steal a ROM module that contains the saved consciousness of one of Case's mentors, legendary cyber-cowboy McCoy Pauley, nicknamed "The Dixie Flatline." Pauley's hacking expertise is needed by Armitage, and the ROM construct is stored in the corporate headquarters of media conglomerate Sense/Net. A street gang named the "Panther Moderns" are hired to create a simulated terrorist attack on Sense/Net. The diversion allows Molly to penetrate the building and steal Dixie's ROM.

Case and Molly continue to investigate Armitage, discovering his former identity of Colonel Willis Corto. Corto was a member of "Operation Screaming Fist," which planned on infiltrating and disrupting Soviet computer systems from ultralight aircraft dropped over Russia. The Russian military had learned of the idea and installed defenses to render the attack impossible, but the military went ahead with Screaming Fist, with a new secret purpose of testing these Russian defenses. As the Operation team attacked a Soviet computer center, EMP weapons shut down their computers and flight systems, and Corto and his men were targeted by Soviet laser defenses. He and a few survivors commandeered a Soviet military helicopter and escaped. Everyone was killed except Corto, and Corto himself disappeared into the criminal underworld.

In Istanbul, the team recruits Peter Riviera (Justin Timberlake), an artist, thief, and drug addict who is able to project detailed holographic illusions with the aid of sophisticated cybernetic implants. Although Riviera is a sociopath, Armitage coerces him into joining the team. The trail leads Case and Molly to a powerful artificial intelligence named Wintermute, created by the Tessier-Ashpool family. Control of the clan's fortune alternates among the family members, who spend most of their inactive time in cryonic preservation inside Villa Straylight, a mansion located at one end of the Freeside L5 O'Neill cylinder space habitat, which functions primarily as a space resort for the wealthy.

Case discovers that Wintermute is actually one-half of a super-AI entity planned by the family, although its exact purpose is unknown. The Turing Law Code governing AIs bans the construction of such entities, to get around this it had to be built as two separate AIs. Wintermute was programmed by the Tessier-Ashpool dynasty with a need to merge with its other half, Neuromancer. Unable to achieve this merger on its own, Wintermute recruited Armitage and his team to help complete the goal. Case is tasked with entering cyberspace to pierce the software barriers using a powerful icebreaker program. At the same time, Riviera is to obtain the password to the Turing lock from Lady 3Jane Marie-France Tessier-Ashpool (Selena Gomez), an unfrozen daughter clone and the current leader of Tessier-Ashpool SA. Wintermute believes Riviera will pose an irresistible temptation to her, and that she will give him the password. The password must be spoken into an ornate computer terminal located in the Tessier-Ashpool home in Villa Straylight, and entered simultaneously as Case pierces the software barriers in cyberspace — otherwise the Turing lock will remain intact.

Armitage's team attracts the attention of the Turing Police, whose job is to prevent AIs from exceeding their built-in limitations. As Molly and Riviera gain entrance to Villa Straylight, three officers arrest Case and take him into custody. Wintermute manipulates the security and maintenance systems, killing the officers and allowing Case to escape. The Armitage personality starts to disintegrate and revert to the Corto personality as he relives Screaming Fist. It is revealed that in the past, Wintermute had originally contacted Corto through a bedside computer, eventually convincing Corto that he was Armitage. Wintermute used him to persuade Case and Molly to help it merge with its twin AI, Neuromancer. Finally, Armitage becomes the shattered Corto again, but his newfound personality is short-lived as he is killed by Wintermute.

Inside Villa Straylight, Molly is captured by Riviera and Lady 3Jane. Worried about Molly, Case tracks her down with help from Maelcum (Corey Hawkins), his Rastafarian pilot. Neuromancer attempts to trap Case within a cyber-construct where he finds the consciousness of Linda Lee (Aubrey Plaza), his girlfriend from Chiba City, who was murdered by one of Case's underworld contacts. Case manages to escape the construct after Maelcum gives him an overdose of a drug that can bypass his augmented liver and pancreas. Freeing himself, Case takes Maelcum and confronts Lady 3Jane, Riviera, and Hideo (Ludi Lin), Lady 3Jane's ninja bodyguard. Riviera tries to kill Case, but Lady 3Jane is sympathetic towards Case and Molly, and Hideo protects him. Riviera blinds Hideo, but flees when he learns that the ninja is just as adept without his sight due to extensive practice while blindfolded. Molly then explains to Case that Riviera is doomed anyway, as he has been fatally poisoned by a bad batch of drugs. With Lady 3Jane in possession of the password, the team makes it to the computer terminal. Case ascends to cyberspace to find the icebreaker has succeeded in penetrating its target. Lady 3Jane is induced to give up her password and the lock is opened. Wintermute unites with Neuromancer, fusing into a greater entity. The poison in Case's bloodstream is washed out, and he and Molly are handsomely paid for their efforts.

In Development

Fevre Dream: The talents of Rory Cochrane (The Outsider, Black Mass), Jill Marie Jones (Hear No Evil, "Ash vs Evil Dead") and Christopher Eccleston (Thor: The Dark World, Legend) will round out the cast of Cary Fukunaga's Fevre Dream, based on a novel by George R.R. Martin. Cochrane will play a man with dealings with Walton Goggins and Benedict Cumberbatch's characters, Jones will play a slave, and Eccleston will play the leader of a Civil War militia.

Sinkhole: Finn Wolfhard (Welcome to Paradise, Salem's Lot), Rooney Mara (Purgatorio, Carol) and Angourie Rice (The Nice Guys, Welcome to Paradise) have joined Derek Cianfrance's latest drama, Sinkhole, from writer Chad Taylor. Wolfhard will play a troubled teenager, Mara his young single mother, and Rice his love interest.

Detective James: Tia Carrere (Showdown in Manila, Gunshot Straight), Kaiwi Lyman-Mersereau (Hickok, Den of Thieves), Angelique Cabral ("Life in Pieces", Friends with Benefits), Keiko Agena ("Gilmore Girls", Transformers: Dark of the Moon) and Keahu Kahuanui ("Teen Wolf") have all been cast, opposite Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk, as natives of the island the two TV actors find themselves shipwrecked on. Colin Trevorrow directs from a script by Jack Ryder.

Halo: ODST: Liev Schreiber ("Ray Donovan", Goon: The Last of the Enforcers), Laurence Fishburne (John Wick: Chapter 2, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) and Alan Tudyk (Trumbo, Welcome to Me) have joined Halo spin-off Halo: ODST as veteran members of the troop of soldiers at the center of the story. David Yates directs from a script by Dominic Wilkins.

Ringer: Bradley Cooper (Mass Effect: Cerberus, Burnt) is set to star in an upcoming sci-fi thriller from director Scott Derrickson (Dracula Lives, Share). Cooper will play a scientist working on teleportation technology for the government who accidentally clones himself. Bryan Cranston (Batman: Gotham Knight, Blood Meridian) has also been cast in the film as Cooper's military superior.

Hellraiser: Golden Reel Award winner John Malone has surprisingly written a remake/reboot of the Hellraiser series. Alice Englert ("Top of the Lake: China Girl", The Lovers), Sarah Paulson (The Post, "American Horror Story"), Matthew Goode (Allied, The Imitation Game) and Sean Harris (Macbeth, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation) have all been cast in the film. Englert will play Kirsty Cotton, the protagonist. Paulson will play her stepmother. Goode will play her uncle Frank, who seeks out the mysterious puzzle box that acts as a gateway to a hellish dimension. Sean Harris, meanwhile, has been cast as Captain Elliott Spencer, who becomes the famous Hell Priest, better known as "Pinhead". French horror director Pascal Laugier (Martyrs, The Tall Man) has been set to direct the film.

Release: To the White Sea

To the White Sea
Genre: Thriller/War
Director: Andrew Dominik
Writer: John Malone
Based on the novel by James Dickey
Cast: Alden Ehrenreich, Cameron Monaghan, Garrett Dillahunt




Budget: $54,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $71,154,033
Foreign Box Office: $100,552,253
Total Profit: $73,908,222

Reaction: We at the studio absolutely love it when a smart film aimed at adults does well at the box office. This was a hard-R rated period piece with almost not dialogue, but people still showed up, and that makes it easier for us to justify other darker, more adult-oriented films in the future.

"This brutal tale of survival features both its young leading man and its talented director in tip-top form, with both delivering their best work to date." - Michael Wilmington, Rolling Stone

"Alden Ehrenreich is a real surprise here. He truly excels at playing a man of VERY few words. Most actors want to deliver their performance through dialogue and interacting with the other actors, but Ehrenreich here barely speaks and puts forth an amazing physical performance, acting each scene with his whole body." - Glenn Howard, Total Film

"To the White Sea is the rare war film that doesn't have 'good guys' or 'bad guys' or big battles full of heroic acts. This is a film about people trying to survive war, not necessarily fight it. It's a bold choice that works in spades." - Desmond Rogers, TIME Magazine

Now Showing: To the White Sea

To the White Sea
Genre: Thriller/War
Director: Andrew Dominik
Writer: John Malone
Based on the novel by James Dickey
Cast: Alden Ehrenreich, Cameron Monaghan, Garrett Dillahunt

Plot: Tinian Island - March 8, 1945

A colonel (Garrett Dillahunt) gives a speech to a crowd of khaki-clad airmen. He explains that after tonight they're done using ammo and gunners, that now is the time to go all-in on bombs. Tonight, they'll stick with frags and ammo, with the target being Tokyo. Sitting front and center is Muldrow (Alden Ehrenreich).

Muldrow cleans the gunner bubble of a B-29 bomber. He lowers an ammo belt into a feed box, snaps the tail guns together, tapes a parachute down to the side of the airplane near the bulkhead. He tapes a sharpened bread knife to his side underneath his flight suit. Later, Muldow lies in his bunk, fully clothed in his flight gear. He approached by another airman, Red (Cameron Monaghan), who asks him how many kills he has. Muldrow tells him seven. Red introduces himself and tells Muldrow that he's been assigned to his flight crew, and tells him it's an honor to fly with him. Red asks Muldrow for advice. Muldrow tells him to not waste his ammo, make every round count, and just get up there and do what you know.

That night, a squadron of B-29 bombers fly in tight formation. Muldrow begins to fire into the darkness, destroying an obscured enemy plane with a huge explosion. The plane is rocked with a barrage of small explosions as anti-aircraft fire speeds at them from the ground. The twelve droning B-29's open their bomb-bay doors as the docks of Tokyo become visible immediately ahead. The bombs drop dead away. Muldrow watches as the bombs land. A split second later the cabin is rocked by enormous boom. The plane starts to plummet down. Muldrow makes is way to his parachute, wrestling it onto his back. Half of the cockpit has been blown away. Muldrow manages to escape the plane into the night air in a vortex of debris. He parachutes down toward the fires of Tokyo.

Muldrow as boy rides a dog sled through the Alaskan wilderness. He steps off the sled and goes to a frozen carcass of a beaver. Muldrow removes it from the trap that killed it, resets the trap, and takes the beaver to the sled. With the click of a tongue, he mushes the dogs forward over a frozen river. Suddenly the line harness snaps and the sled stops. Muldrow inspects the harness, finding a strap that has frayed in half. He pulls a length of rawhide line out from the back of the sled and starts tying it. Before he can finish the line is whipped out of his hands as two dogs in the middle have started fighting, with a third do soon joining in. Muldrow grabs a whip from the sled and slaps the dogs apart to restore order. He tries to tie the line, but his hands are now too cold and his mittens were lost while dealing with the dogs. He tries to start a fire with a set of flints, but his hands continue to not cooperate. He cuts free one of the dogs and wrestles it to the ground. The dog tries to bite into Muldrow's arm, but Muldrow takes out his knife and plunges it into the dog's throat. He rolls the dog onto its side, cuts open its belly, and sticks his frozen hands into the dog's belly. Later, he sits in front of a fire.

Muldrow's parachute is gets caught on the gantry of a crane at the docks of the Tokyo harbor. Muldrow grabs his line and starts climbing up. At the top, Muldrow gathers his chute. Below him he sees two Japanese soldiers. An American airman hauls himself out of the water, only to met by the Japanese soldiers who begin beating him to death. Muldrow climbs down toward the crane cab. He sits down and empties his pockets to take an inventory. He has: his knife, a .45 pistol, two clips for the pistol, a small packet of fish hooks, a length of twine, a tin of rations, a chocolate bar, two flints, a compass, and a map of Japan. Muldrow traces his finger north from Tokyo, all the way to the Aleutians.

In the morning, a man enters the crane. Muldrow slits his throat. Muldrow changes into the man's clothes and puts on his straw hat. Muldrow exits the crane, reaches the crane and starts walking. When he gets to the end of the docks he notices a large drainage pipe and climbs in. He looks behind him and watches as the harbor is bombed in a mass of explosions. He exits the pipe at another mouth, giving him a view of Tokyo, burning. People run past him, away from the city. Muldrow follows the beach toward the city. A man runs right into him, his eyes widen as he looks at Muldrow, who quickly pulls out his .45 and shoots the man in the face. Muldrow pulls the body into an alleyway. Muldrow wipes soot on his face to disguise his appearance and continues to make his way through the city.

Muldrow trudges along a road on the outskirts of the city in an almost rural area. He notices that one house has a fighter plane parked in front of it. Muldrow makes his way behind a row of houses. He takes out his compass and figures out that north is pointing toward a range of hills. Muldrow has a look around, then climbs into the cockpit of the fighter plane. The controls are all in Japanese. Resigned, he hoists himself out of the cockpit.

Walking through the hills, Muldrow comes across a stream. He attaches a bit of foil of his chocolate wrapper to a fish hook that he ties to his length of twine. He uses his makeshift fishing line to catch a fish. He carefully guts and cleans it before cooking it over a fire. Suddenly, Muldrow hears rustling from the nearby brush. A gaunt dog emerges. Muldrow gives the dog the fish head and entrails, observing that the dog has a collar and tags. Muldrow crests a hill, finding a place to sleep behind a large boulder. He starts walking again in the morning. Muldrow follows a path to some kind of park or preserve where he sees an old man crouching near a pond, feeding the swans. Muldrow sneaks up on the man, grabbing him from behind and forcing his head into the water, drowning him. Moments later, Muldrow clubs several swans to death. In the caretaker's cabin, Muldrow plucks the feathers from the swans and cooks one for dinner.

In the morning, the flock of swans have returned to the pond. Muldrow walks through a grove of trees with a bag of feathers slung over his shoulder. Muldrow comes across a house at the edge of the grove. Inside the house are a blind man and a woman. The woman eventually leaves. Muldrow enters the house. The old man is eating. Muldrow searches through drawers in almost complete silence. He turns to look at the blind man, but he isn't there. Muldrow pulls out his knife and makes his way silently down the hall. One board groans under Muldrow's weight. Suddenly, the old man lunges toward the sound, swinging a sword. Muldrow stumbles back. The old man stops swinging his sword and listens. Muldrow has been cut on the shoulder. The old man explodes into motion again, slicing the air in front of him. Muldrow escapes into an open room. The old man turns and attacks again. Muldrow rolls out of the way of the sword and rises to his feet next to the old man. Muldrow has his opening and stabs the man in the neck. The woman returns, and Muldrow kills her with the sword. Muldrow pours the swan feathers into the lining of his jacket and sews it back shut. He then looks through the house for anything of use. He finds a detailed topographic map of Japan and compares it to his small map. He places himself midway up the main island from Tokyo. He notices a railroad line nearby that heads north. Muldrow takes several books from a bookshelf, tears the pages out and sets fire to them with his flints. Muldrow leaves the house, flames engulfing the house as he walks away.

Muldrow finds the railroad and sits next to the empty tracks until he hears a distant whistle. A train pulling flatcars of timber approaches. Muldrow hops onto one of the flatcars, laying between to long humps of wood. The train moves north as snow begins to fall. The train makes it to its destination and begins unloading the timber. Muldrow vaults down and treks away from the cars across the snow.

A Japanese army truck passes by Muldrow as he walks north along a road. He keeps his head down as it passes, but he can't help looking behind him. When he looks back forward, an old woman in black is in front of him. She screams and the truck stops and starts to turn around. A few soldiers hop out of the back of the truck, the truck then accelerates toward Muldrow. He sprints into an alley and tries to open house doors. Two soldiers trot toward him, shouting at him. They corner Muldrow and one swings his rifle stock up into Muldrow's face, knocking him out.

Muldrow wakes up in the back of the truck. His face is battered. His arms are tied behind his back. One of the soldiers, noticing that Muldrow is awake, stands up and kicks him a couple of times. Muldrow is taken out of the truck and forced to kneel down beside other prisoners. A Japanese officer draws a sword and begins decapitating the prisoners. Muldrow is abruptly hauled to his feet and shoved back into the truck with one soldier. Muldrow tries to break free from his ties. A soldier gets up to kick him, but Muldrow kicks him as hard as he can. There's a loud crunch, as the soldier's knee gives out. He aims his rifle at Muldrow, who kicks again, knocking him down. Muldrow stands up and begins kicking the soldier's repeatedly, as hard as he can. Muldrow manages to cut free from his ties. Muldrow grabs the soldier's rifle and aims it toward the cab of the truck. He fires and the truck breaks. The two soldiers from the cab get out to investigate. Muldrow shoots the first in the face, and then hurriedly shoots the second in the chest. Muldrow climbs into the cab. He grabs his bag, and checks to make sure his belongings are still inside. He then drives off in the truck.

Muldrow drives through morning, but hits traffic in the center of a small city. He takes out his map. It shows that he is in Morioka. He turns to continue north, but finds himself surrounded by other military vehicles in a convoy. Lacking an alternative, he drives on. The other military vehicles pull over, but Muldrow continues on.

Muldrow treks along a small gravel beach. Two men drag a small boat into the water and clamber in. After they leave, Muldrow finds a small fishing boat. He drags it into the water. Muldrow heads out to sea, paddling the boat north. The waves grow bigger and Muldrow beaches his boat.

Muldrow tracks and kills a goat, and hears a human scream. Muldrow finds a hunter being attacked by a herd of goats. Muldrow stabs at the goats. The horn of one stabs him in the leg. Muldrow manages to scare the goats off. Muldrow and the hunter stare at each other. After a long staring beat, the hunter simply turns and walks off through the snow. Muldrow sits and eats meat from the dead goat. The deep puncture in his leg is still oozing blood. He packs the wound with snow and passes out.

Muldrow awakes, finding himself being led into a village on a litter dragged by a horse. The villagers look at him curiously. The horse stops and a man helps Muldrow up and into a hut. Inside the hut are dancers celebrating something. Muldrow notices the hunter from earlier. Two bear cubs are brought in in a cage. One of the cubs is freed and quickly lassoed. A dancer shoots an arrow at the cub's chest. Other begin clubbing it.

In the morning, Muldrow wakes early and gets dressed. He encounters the hunter. Muldrow walks up to him ad plunges his knife into the man's neck. He then frees the other cub and ushers it outside. Muldrow enters the next hut in the village and silently kills the four men sleeping inside. Muldrow then walks towards the woods.

Muldrow eventually sees the sea at the end of the main island. He hears a dull crack and stumbles backward down into the snow. He has been shot in the chest. He sees men starting to materialize in the snow, walking towards him. They carry guns, they are soldiers in white winter gear. The nearest man draws a sword and cocks it high over his head. He brings the sword down with a great whoosh.

Premiere Magazine #45

Release: Lucky Luke and Calamity Jane

Lucky Luke and Calamity Jane
Genre: Western/Comedy
Director: Taika Waititi
Writer: Harry Wright
Based on the Lucky Luke comic series by Morris
Cast: Paul Rudd, John Cusack, Zach Galifianakis, Charlie Day, Peter Dinklage, Gwendoline Christie, Sam Elliott, Diana Rigg



Budget: $62,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $90,385,079
Foreign Box Office: $96,242,912
Total Profit: $119,777,131

Reaction: Clearly the Lucky Luke franchise has a pretty consistent fan base at this point. This film grossed slightly more than the first entry, but has drastically lower profits due to increased talent costs and a smaller home video haul.

"This sequel addressed and corrected many of the flaws from the first film, namely the comedy and plotting. Skip the first and one and start with this entry." - Paul Onkean, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"While Lucky Luke and Calamity Jane is much funnier than its predecessor, the comedy is still inconsistent and sporadic."" - Michael Van Patten, Slant Magazine

"I was all ready to get my Paul Rudd fix, but he's drastically under utilized in this film, despite playing the title character. It's like a Bond film if the Bond Girl had more to do than the titular secret agent himself." - Stephen Anderson, Entertainment Weekly

Now Showing: Lucky Luke and Calamity Jane

Lucky Luke and Calamity Jane
Genre: Western/Comedy
Director: Taika Waititi
Writer: Harry Wright
Based on the Lucky Luke comic series by Morris
Cast: Paul Rudd, John Cusack, Zach Galifianakis, Charlie Day, Peter Dinklage, Gwendoline Christie, Sam Elliott, Diana Rigg

Plot: Ma Dalton (Diana Rigg) is riding, alone in the sunset, with a huge chunk of money she got away with after the robbery with her four sons turned sour. She invented a backstory in case she was caught. As she bares no resemblance at all to her four sons, she would say she was attacked by the Daltons and had time to get away with all her money when her dog attacked the robbers. The thought of that situation made her laugh. She arrives in a small town and rides towards the hotel, hoping to get a room to put all her cash, so Lucky Luke wouldn't find her. As she enters the hotel, she bumps into a woman, who presents herself as Calamity Jane (Gwendoline Christie), although Ma's pretty sure she's in fact a man pretending to be woman, she never saw a woman that tall. When Jane asks where she took all that money, Ma tells her the story she made. Jane told her she believed her but, in fact, she had her doubts.

Joe (John Cusack), William (Zach Galifianakis), Jack (Charlie Day) and Averell (Peter Dinklage) Dalton were once again in custody thanks to Lucky Luke. The old sheriff guarding their cell was asleep almost all day, so Averell made a plan to try to escape, but he would have to cooperate with his brothers, not an easy task. They would have to a human ladder to get Averell out of the cage, so he could open the door from outside, with the keys. Joe in the base of the ladder and William gets on top of him. He lifts Jack who has to lift Averell. He was almost out, when William gets out of the ladder, because his foot hurt. They all fall, producing a loud noise, but the man doesn't wake up. They try again and they manage to get it this time. Joe, William and Jack all start to celebrate loudly, to the disappointment of Averell.

Lucky Luke (Paul Rudd) is riding on his horse, Jolly Jumper, singing, when he gets interrupted by the sight of an upcoming rider. Once the rider gets closer, he recognizes Calamity Jane, his nemesis. She always claim she could shoot faster than him and it pissed Lucky Luke off. She asks him if he could help him find the Daltons. He says yes, but on one condition, she had to prove that she could shot faster than him. They get in position for a duel. Lucky Luke is full of confidence, Calamity Jane is nervous. Luke's pistol jams when he's about to shoot and Calamity Jane turns around and shoots way to soon, the bullet missing Lucky Luke. They start again, and Luke's pistol jams and Jane misses. They go at it a couple more times and Luke's pistols keep jamming, until Jane shots at him, directly on his hat. Luke isn't harmed, as his hat is way too big. With a hole in his hat, Luke and Jane ride together to go get the Daltons.

Ma Dalton appreciates Sheriff Dunne's (Sam Elliott) company. He was asked by Calamity Jane to look after Ma while she was gone, but he fell in love with her.

The Daltons are trying to escape from the prison. They sneak right pass the kitchen, but William's hungry and goes straight in to eat as much food as possible. An employee notices them and the Daltons now run for their lives. They're able to find three horses and a rope. To punish William, they attach him to a horse and the three others start riding away with the sheriff after them. They're able to get away, but as soon as they stop to check on poor William, they are arrested again by Calamity Jane and Lucky Luke. They take them to the town where their mother is hiding.

Calamity Jane wants them to tell if Ma Dalton, who still hasn't said her name, is their mother or not. They take them one by one and shows them Ma. Joe and Averell immediately say it's their mother, still bitter that she left them after the robbery, while Jack and William say it's not their mother, to try to protect her. Sheriff Dunne, then locks them in separate cell. He hears Jane and Luke talk about what will happen to Ma if they're able to find out she's Ma Dalton, because Lucky Luke has never seen her at any of the robberies, only her sons, so he can't tie her to the Daltons at all.

Dunne goes to see Ma and tells her that they should ride away with all her money, because he's in love with her. Ma has a feeling things aren't going well with Lucky Luke and Calamity Jane in town, so she accepts. Before she leaves, she frees her sons without anyone noticing.

The following morning, Calamity Jane goes to see to check on Ma, only to find a letter by Sheriff Dunne, saying he's naming her, Calamity Jane, as Sheriff of the town, while he retires, going away to marry the woman his life, Lucky Luke can't believe it either. They notice the Daltons are gone too. The film ends with Ma Dalton marrying Sheriff Dunne with only the Daltons present at the ceremony, with their huge bags of cash.

Breaking News

Booster Gold has clearly given screenwriters superhero fever as several writers are now working on several different superhero projects for the studio. Last Resort Films president Phil Dolan has put together a writer's room to develop and write a currently untitled DC Superhero Team-Up film, with Booster Gold writer Chad Taylor, The Question writer D.R. Cobb and DC wunderkind APJ tackling the project. Last Resort Films has also already announced that APJ's next DC superhero project will be Plastic Man starring Glenn Howerton ("It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", "A.P. Bio"), now set for a Season 7 release. Mo Buck is now also developing a DC superhero project of his own - one based on the Captain Atom character. Hawkeye writer Jack Ryder has another Marvel project in development, and has started developing his own original superhero project. Clearly, Last Resort Films is not planning on stepping away from the superhero game and, based on their future release slate, is showing no signs at all of slowing down.

Release: The Life of the Party

The Life of the Party
Genre: Biography/Drama
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Lon Charles
Cast: Eric Stonestreet, Rhys Darby, Elizabeth Gillies, Joshua Jackson, Jesse Plemons, Lara Jean Chorostecki, Richard Dreyfuss, Cristin Milioti, Stephen Root, Amelia Warner, Ari Graynor, Clark Gregg



Budget: $48,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $44,412,008
Foreign Box Office: $59,651,181
Total Profit: $13,591,585

Reaction: Very rarely does a drama gross more overseas than domestically, especially a film with no big names, but the draw here is Spielberg as director. Spielberg has now directed two risky (on-paper) films for the studio, both making a profit, and this time without the benefit of a big name like Tom Hanks in the lead.

"Eric Stonestreet, long well-regarded for his comedic work on "Modern Family," delivers a career-making performance here as the tragic Fatty Arbuckle. He succeeds at showing Arbuckle's comedic stylings as well as the pathos in the courtroom." - Geoff Bray, Slant Magazine

"A new Spielberg film used to be an event, even when he made a smaller dramatic film. It's hard to get excited about his more recent work though. While there is some good work here in front of the camera, one can't help but be a bit disappointed. His recent output - films like War Horse, Lincoln and Ready Player One - has mostly felt uninspired and bland." - Chris Mears, Slashfilm

"While the film seems far more interested in the court case than the lead character, there is so much here that works - especially in regards to the casting - that it is really hard to not recommend the film." - Matthew Ellis, USA Today

In Development

The Beatles: Grace Gummer ("Mr. Robot", "Extant"), Isaac Hempstead Wright ("Game of Thrones", Closed Circuit) and Lisa Vicari ("Dark", Luna's Revenge) will round out the cast of Ron Howard's upcoming Beatles biopic. Gummer will play Linda McCartney, Wright will play original Beetles bassist Stu Sutcliffe, and Vicari will play Sutcliffe's love interest Astrid Kirchher. Chad Taylor wrote the film.

Resident Evil: Alexander Ludwig ("Vikings", When the Game Stands Tall), Ben Barnes ("Westworld, "The Punisher"), Frank Dillane (Paradise Lost, "Fear the Walking Dead") and Josh Stewart (The Finest Hours, The Mummy) have all joined James Wan's Resident Evil reboot from writer Carl Flimmer. They are all members of the STARS police team that find themselves at odds against a zombie outbreak.

Fevre Dream: Emily Blunt (Bride of Frankenstein, And Then There Were None) and Walton Goggins (Blood Meridian, Death and All His Friends) will join the already star-studded cast of the vampire film Fevre Dream. Blunt will play a powerful and alluring vampire, while Goggins will play a human servant to the vampires. Cary Fukunaga directs the film.

Detective James: Jason Momoa (Justice League, Braven) and Jorge Garcia (Steins Gate, "Hawaii Five-0") have joined Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk in the comedy Detective James. They will play two men native to the island the TV actors played by Fillion and Tudyk are shipwrecked on. Colin Trevorrow directs the film in a return to comedy based on a script by Jack Ryder.

Sinkhole: Adam Driver (Logan Lucky, Blood Meridian), Jessica Chastain (Blood Countess, The Prisoner) and Sarah Gadon (Halo 2, "Alias Grace") will star in Sinkhole, a new drama from director Derek Cianfrance (Femme Fatale, The Place Beyond the Pines) and writer Chad Taylor (A Farewell to Arms, Booster Gold). Driver will play a man who rescues a busload of kids following an accident, while Gadon will play his pregnant wife. Chastain plays a journalist sent to interview Driver who uncovers secrets about his past.

Halo: ODST: First there was a Mass Effect spin-off, now there is a Halo spin-off set to hit the big screen. Halo: ODST will follow an elite group of Marines with a cast led by Kit Harington (And Then There Were None, Lancelot), Amber Heard (Justice League, I Do...Until I Don't) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (The Job, Dino Crisis). Writer Dominic Wilkins will make his debut with the film which will be directed by David Yates (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Legend of Tarzan).

Now Showing: The Life of the Party

The Life of the Party
Genre: Biography/Drama
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Lon Charles
Cast: Eric Stonestreet, Rhys Darby, Elizabeth Gillies, Joshua Jackson, Jesse Plemons, Lara Jean Chorostecki, Richard Dreyfuss, Cristin Milioti, Stephen Root, Amelia Warner, Ari Graynor, Clark Gregg

Plot: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (Eric Stonestreet) is the talk of Hollywood. His silent comedies are all huge hits, leading him to sign an unheard of 3 year, $3 million dollar contract with Paramount. In order to fulfill the contract, he signs over controlling interest in his own film company over to his friend Buster Keaton (Rhys Darby).

Arbuckle begins to feel burned out by making so many films over the years. One day while on set, he suffers second-degree burns to both sides of his ass during an on-set accident. Following this, he decides to take a break. He and two friends, Lowell Sherman (Joshua Jackson) and Fred Fishback (Jesse Plemons), hop in Arbuckle's car and drive to San Francisco. They get three adjoining rooms at the St. Francis Hotel, 1219 for Arbuckle and Fishback to share, 1221 for Sherman, and 1220 designated as a party room.

Several women are invited to the suite to party with Arbuckle, still one of the biggest movie stars in the world. One of the women is aspiring actress Virginia Rappe (Eliabeth Gillies), who is very eager to rub elbows with such Hollywood elite. The party is complete blur, with the "party room" getting completely trashed.

Rappe is found unconscious in 1219, and the hotel doctor is called, who concludes her symptoms are caused merely by intoxication and gives her morphine. When she does not get better, her friend Maude Delmont (Lara Jean Chorostecki), demands an ambulance is called to take Rappe to a hospital. At the hospital, Delmont tells the doctor that Rappe was raped. The doctors examine her, but find no evidence of rape. The next day Rappe dies from a ruptured bladder.

After Rappe dies, Delmont tells the police that Rappe was raped by Arbuckle. She tells them that he had used a piece of ice to simulate sex with her and that must have led to her death. The newspapers go crazy with word of the case, even going so far as to say that instead of ice, a champagne bottle was used to rape Rappe. Arbuckle denies any wrongdoing, but his life falls to pieces. Buster Keaton is one of the few to defend him publicly. Nobody will hire him following his arrest and Paramount decides to terminate his contract.

The case lands on the desk San Francisco District Attorney Matthew Brady (Richard Dreyfuss), who is in the midst of planning a run for governor. Before even looking at the evidence, Brady makes a public pronouncement of Arbuckle's guilt. During the indictment hearing, Brady calls Delmont to the stand as his star witness. Delmont's story continually changes, and Arbuckle's lawyers show the judge (Stephen Root) a letter from Delmont admitting to a plan to extort money from Arbuckle. The judge says there is no evidence of any rape after hearing from Rappe's doctor at the hospital. Zey Prevon (Amelia Warner), one of the guests from the party, testifies that Rappe told her that Arbuckle had hurt her. Following Prevon's testimony, the judge decides that Arbuckle should be charged with manslaughter, disappointing Brady, who wanted to seek the death penalty on a first-degree murder charge.

Arbuckle is taken to jail for three weeks, until he finally arranges bail. Arbuckle hires well-regarded lawyer Gavin McNab (Clark Gregg) to lead his defense. When the trial begins, Arbuckle tells his estranged wife, Minta Durfee (Cristin Milioti), that he did not harm Rappe, she believes him and comes to court to support him. Brady calls Prevon to the stand and she tells the court the same thing she had told the judge during the indictment hearing. Brady calls another party guest, Betty Campbell (Ari Graynor), to the stand, who testifies that she saw Arbuckle with a smile on his face in the hours following the alleged rape. A nurse from the hospital testifies that it was likely Arbuckle raped Rappe, bruising her body in the process. A local criminologist claims that he found Arbuckle's fingerprints smeared with Rappe's blood on the bathroom door in Room 1219. When McNab cross-examines Campbell she admits that Brady had threatened to charge her with perjury if she did not testify against Arbuckle and that she had no idea if Arbuckle raped Rappe or not. McNab calls the hotel maid to the stand, who tells the courts that she had cleaned the hotel room before the investigation even took place and there was not any blood on the bathroom door. McNab is further able to get the nurse to admit that Rappe's heavy jewelry could have easily caused the bruising found on Rappe.

Arbuckle finally takes the stand as the defense's final witness. Arbuckle claims that Rappe came into the party room during the day. Another guest had asked Arbuckle to take them for a drive around town and that Arbuckle had found Rappe vomiting when he went into his room to change his clothes. He and Fishback had then called the hotel manager and doctor.

When Brady cross-examines Arbuckle, he aggressively accuses Arbuckle of not calling a doctor when he found Rappe sick and that he had known of a chronic illness, cystitis, and that Arbuckle had used the opportunity to rape and kill Rappe. Arbuckle remains calm, denying any knowledge of Rappe's illness and maintains that he never physically hurt or sexually assaulted her.

The jury is unable to come to a unanimous decision, coming to a 10 to 2 not guilty verdict. Brady gets the judge to declare a mistrial. A second trial starts just a few months later with the same legal teams and judge, but a new jury. The same evidence is presented by both sides, but this time Zey Prevon testifies tht Brady had forced her to lie. McNab tells the jury that Rappe had a history of promiscuity and heavy drinking. The criminologist takes back his earlier testimony about the fingerprints, testifying that it was faked. McNab is so sure that the case will result in acquittal that he doesn't have Arbuckle testify and makes no closing argument to the jury. Some jurors interpret this as a sign of guilt, and the trial results in another 10-2 not guilty verdict, resulting in another mistrial. The judge sets a date for a third trial.

Arbuckle's films are all banned by movie theaters, and the newspapers continue to publish stories of alleged Hollywood orgies and continue to smear Arbuckle's credibility. Delmont starts touring the country performing one woman shows as the woman who signed the murder charge against Arbuckle.

When the third trial starts, McNab is far more aggressive than in the second trial, completely tearing apart the prosecution's case with long and aggressive examination and cross-examination of each witness. It is revealed that Zey Prevon has fled the country in order to avoid a perjury charge for her testimony in the first trial. The trial is a quick one, and the jury only needs six minutes to return with a unanimous not guilty verdict. Five of those minutes are spent writing a formal apology to Arbuckle for the ordeal he has gone through.

Despite finally being completely cleared of all charges, Arbuckle still can't get an acting job in Hollywood. Six days after his acquittal he is banned by the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America from ever working in US movies again. The ban is soon lifted, but everybody is still afraid to hire Arbuckle. Buster Keaton visits Arbuckle at his home and tells him that he is giving him 35% percent of all future profits from his movie company, and offers him work as a writer for his films. Arbuckle begins drinking more and more.

After several years of not appearing in any movies, but working behind the scenes as a writer and director under pseudonyms, he is finally offered the chance to appear in two shorts for Warner Bros in 1932. Pleased with the work he has done on the shorts, Warners offers Arbuckle a contract to star in a feature-length film. Arbuckle ecstaticly signs the contract and goes out to celebrate with friends and family. That night, Arbuckle dies in his sleep from a heart attack.

Release: Mass Effect: Cerberus

Mass Effect: Cerberus
Genre: Action/Sci-Fi
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Writer: Seth Overton
Based on the Mass Effect video game series
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Will Yun Lee, Ken Watanabe, Fatima Ptacek, Mike Colter, Andre Braugher, Martin Sheen



Budget: $178,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $240,555,129
Foreign Box Office: $261,900,647
Total Profit: $148,442,002

Reaction: While the foreign box office, and in-turn the profits, are much lower than the first Mass Effect film, Cerberus still performed very well - well enough to continue exploring the other side stories in the Mass Effect Universe.

"The film's story may lack the draw of the storylines and characters of the main Mass Effect film, it still manages to tell an interesting sci-fi story with its charismatic lead actors." - Roger Taggart, Chicago Tribune

"I honestly had no idea how expansive the world of Mass Effect was going into this film. I was pleasantly surprised that the film never feels forced and these characters deserve a film - even if they weren't attached to the Mass Effect brand." - Ben Bernard, New York Times

"Did this story need to be told? It felt like a whole film of exposition for the main series, which is a shame since there was definitely an interesting film to be made with these actors." - Charles Yost, Oregonian

Now Showing: Mass Effect: Cerberus

Mass Effect: Cerberus
Genre: Action/Sci-Fi
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Writer: Seth Overton
Based on the video game series
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Will Yun Lee, Ken Watanabe, Fatima Ptacek, Mike Colter, Andre Braugher, Martin Sheen

Plot: A bearded and unkempt Paul Grayson (Bradley Cooper) sits in a bar with a glass of whisky in front of him. He spikes the drink with red sand (drug created by criminal triads on Mars from refined element zero). His eyes have a red tint, one of the symptoms for prolonged use of the drug. As he gets ready to down another glass, he is stopped by a man putting an envelope with the CERBERUS logo in front of him. The man storms out before Grayson is able to make out his face. He opens up the envelope.

The scene transitions to a clean-shaved Paul Grayson now looking visibly healthier and wearing a Cerberus outfit. He is there to ambush a deal between a quarian and a batarian, trading an essential technology, a computer virus that could allow control of the Geth. However, his phone rings, alerting the two of his presence. The quarian manages to escape in a rover, but Grayson keeps the batarian on gun point. He answers the phone - it's the school principal. His daughter Gillian (Fatima Ptacek), who is a biotic, has been getting in trouble with the other students once again and might get expelled. The batarian sees a window of opportunity and tries to make a run for it, but Grayson trips him over, all while maintaining a casual tone over the phone. He hangs up and apologizes to the batarian: "Sorry about that! My daughter's been having a hard time adapting at her new school. It's the third one actually. We've been moving out a lot. Which I guess contributed to it, now that I think about it. Well, that and me not being around having to work most of the time... You know how it is, right?" The batarian gets up and tries to escape, but Grayson trips him once more. After interrogating him, it becomes clear that it was the quarian who escaped with the geth virus. On his way home, he reports on the phone back to the Illusive Man (Martin Sheen) and even tells him about his problems with Gillian. Through their conversation, it is revealed that it was the Illusive Man who gave Gillian to Paul Grayson for adaptation, as a means to give him meaning and get him on the right path once again.

Elsewhere, Kahlee Sanders (Cate Blanchett) wakes up in a bed near her lover, Dr. Jiro Toshiwa (Ken Watanabe) who is still asleep. She goes through her morning routine, getting ready for work at the Ascension Project, a human biotics training program, based at the Jon Grissom Academy. At work, she is greeted by Paul and Gillian who were waiting for her at her office. Paul wants to sign his daughter up for the Project. Kahlee gives Gillian a tour of the Academy and makes her acquaintance with the other staff present, such as Dr. Jiro and the Chief of Security, Hendel Mitra (Mike Colter).

During her first months at the Ascension Project, Gillian learns not only how to "tame" her powers, but also receives philosophical and moral guidance on the responsibilities that come with using biotics, as well as history lessons regarding the origin of biotics, and how all biotics were children of the victims of three element zero 'accidents' across the Systems Alliance in 2170, on four separate colonies. Although these industrial accidents were in suspicious circumstances, no link between them was ever found. However, during the night, a strange man is seen coming into Gillian's room and injecting her with substances while she is asleep.

Meanwhile, Grayson has some intel on the location of the quarian who escaped with the geth virus. He catches him after a high speed chase through the slums and then convinces him at gunpoint to take him to the hide-out where he keeps the geth technology. However, at the hide-out, he is ambushed and has to take cover and gun down all the quarians in a tense action sequence. He finally retrives the geth virus and reports back to the Illusive Man.

Back at the Ascension Project, Gillian Grayson is eating lunch when she is confronted by another student. When the student teases her and biotically knocks her milk over, Gillian retaliates with a full biotic storm, until she is finally stunned by Hendel Mitra and hospitalised. After spending the night with Jiro, Kahlee goes to see Hendel, who is despondent over his ’failure' in the cafeteria. During their talk, Kahlee suddenly realises that Jiro mentioned her relationship to Jon Grissom—something known only in classified Alliance documents—and discovers both Jiro and Gillian have disappeared from the hospital. Hendel catches up with them in the atrium, where Gillian—having just received a cerebrospinal dose of the strange substance from Jiro—is suffering a seizure. Jiro stuns Hendel, but is caught by Kahlee, while Hendel saves Gillian's life with CPR. Later, in an integoration, Jiro admits he had been working undercover for the Illusive Man from the beginning, which comes at a great shock to Kahlee who feels betrayed.

Hearing that Jiro's cover has been compromised, the Illusive Man sends a team of undercover Cerberus operatives led by Kai Lee (Will Yun Lee) to retrieve all the data on biotics from Jiro's experiments, as well as relocate Gillian to one of his facilities. The operatives take over the academy, with Kai Lee shooting Hendel in the leg when he tries to stop them. Kai Lee approaches Hendel to finish him off, but is stopped by a biotic blast that throws him across the room. As Gillian helps Hendel get up, he apologizes for stunning her in the cafeteria. She assures him he was only doing what he always does - trying his best to protect the students of the academy. They are later joined by Kahlee who knows of a secret passage below the Academy that leads into the sewer system. However, just when they are about to enter the sewer system, they are stopped by Jiro, who tranquilizes both Kahlee and Gillian, disarms Hendel and takes the girl. Still hurt from the gunshot, Hendel is unable to run after them. He manages to wake Kahlee up who comes up with a plan.

Meanwhile, Kai Lee recovers the data pads, but is greeted by Grayson outside, who is not happy. During their fight, Kai Lee reveals that now that Gillian has reached her biotic potential, The Illusive Man needs to take her back, and that he only gave her for adoption temporarily. He then receives confirmation from Jiro that he got the girl, so he shoots Grayson and leaves. Jiro and Kai Lee leave with Gillian in a tinted Cerberus car heading for the spaceport. However they are ambushed by an Alliance vehicle and have to stop in a nearby warehouse. A man gets out of the Alliance vehicle and takes off his helmet - It's Admiral David Anderson! (Andre Braugher) He was called in by Kahlee. Also in the car were Hendel Mitra and a wounded Paul Grayson who managed to put a tracking device on Kai Lee during their fight at the academy and then lead Anderson to them.

In the aftermath of the warehouse fight, Gillian wakes up and becomes enraged when she sees the wounds on his father and on Hendel. She blasts Kai Lee and then approaches Jiro. In a plead for his life, Jiro reveals to her that she was adopted and that she was one of two girls that the Illusive Man gave away, the other one being her sister. The thought of someone out there that could understand what she is going through leaves her off-guard and Jiro manages to escape.

In an epilogue montage, she and Hendel Mitra are seen packing their bags and setting out on a mission to find her missing sister. Paul Grayson gives up his Cerberus uniform and throws it in a fire, along with his phone.

The scene transitions once more to the bearded Paul Grayson drinking whisky and red sand at the bar. He reads the letter from the Cerberus-signed envelope. It is a check from Cerberus for his mission retrieving the geth virus. He throws it in the nearest bin. On the television, there is a report on how  the various Council races are left stunned at the attack on the Citadel—which is officially described as an attack by a rogue Spectre leading an army of geth. Grayson puts two and two together and concludes that Saren was able to control the geth using the technology from the Illusive Man and that he was simply a pawn in the Illusive Man's mission to challenge the status quo of the Council.

Post-Credits Scene
The Illusive Man is seen trying to call Paul Grayson once more, but then gets distracted by other news: They recovered Jack Shepard's body - he is clinically dead, but can be revived.

In Development

Neuromancer: Aubrey Plaza ("Legion", Ingrid Goes West) and Ludi Lin (Power Rangers, Monster Hunt) will round out the cast of Joseph Kahn's Neuromancer. Plaza will play Case's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) ex-girlfriend while Lin will play Lady3Jane's (Selena Gomez) bodyguard.

The Beatles: Liam Neeson (The Commuter, The Prisoner), Domhnall Gleeson (Into Thin Air, Missoula) and Karen Fukuhara (Suicide Squad) have joined Ron Howard and Chad Taylor's Beatles biopic. Neeson will play an older George Harrison, Gleeson will play The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein and Fukuhara will play Yoko Ono.

Resident Evil: Logan Marshall-Green (Without Remorse, White Jazz) and Ella Purnell (Churchill, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children) have been cast in James Wan's upcoming Resident Evil reboot. Both will play members of the STARS team, Marshall-Green as the veteran Barry Burton, and Purnell as the rookie Rebecca Chambers.

Death and All His Friends Part II: Christoph Waltz will have some new henchmen this time around with John Turturro (True West, Transformers: The Last Knight) and Ron Perlman (The Job, Inferno) joining the cast of this sequel to Quentin Tarantino and Mo Buck's Death and All His Friends.

Fevre Dream: Hugh Jackman (101, Logan), Paul Bettany (And Then There Were None, Avengers: Infinity War) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Jack the Ripper, Cape Torment) have signed on to star in an adaptation of George R.R. Martin's vampire novel Fevre Dream. Jackman will play a steamboat captian, Bettany will play his mysterious business partner and Cumberbatch will play a master vampire. Cary Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation, Atlas Shrugged) will direct the film from a script by Seth Overton (Mass Effect: Cerberus, American Outlaws).

Detective James: Nathan Fillion ("Castle", Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters) and Alan Tudyk will bring their real life friendship to the big screen in this story of TV actors who end up shipwrecked on an island. Colin Trevorrow will direct his first film for the studio on the film written by Jack Ryder (Hawkeye, Dishonest).

Breaking News

To coincide with the release of Booster Gold, Last Resort Films president Phil Dolan has decided to announce one particular DC superhero that will make his live-action debut for the studio in the future. The script was just recently completed by APJ (Alan Wake, Batman: Gotham Knight) and no director is currently attached, but the studio head is gushing about the film and particularly the leading man the studio just signed to star. Glenn Howerton ("It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", "A.P. Bio") has been cast as Patrick "Eel" O'Brian, better known by his heroic alter-ego Plastic Man. The solo film is still a ways away, but Dolan just could not help himself and is reportedly doing everything in his power to fast-track the film (when it was first discussed it was being penciled in for Season 11 or 12, but now the studio is reportedly looking to get it on the big screen as soon as Season 7). Much like Jake Gyllenhaal did with Batman: Gotham Knight, Howerton has signed on for multiple DC films and will also serve in a producer capacity on Plastic Man, helping the studio find a director who shares Howerton, APJ and Dolan's vision for the character. This is the third time Dolan has announced a project and its star well in-advance of production, following Gyllenhaal as Batman and Hailee Steinfeld as Huntress (currently still set for a Season 8 release).

Premiere Magazine #44

Release: Booster Gold

Booster Gold
Genre: Action/Superhero/Comedy
Directors: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Writer: Chad Taylor
Based on DC Comics characters
Cast: Billy Magnussen, Scoot McNairy, Emmy Rossum, Natalie Dormer, Lee Pace, John Travolta, Kumail Nanjiani (voice)


Budget: $179,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $614,374,021
Foreign Box Office: $511,002,243
Total Profit: $496,759,746

Reaction: Amazing numbers! Booster Gold has become our highest grossing film, as well as our third most profitable film (our most profitable film not starring Tom Cruise with it coming in just behind the two Splinter Cell films). You can definitely expect to see more of Booster Gold in this studio's future.

"While Han Solo may not have been a tonal match for Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directors are the perfect fit here. They bring the energy and comedic action of their 21 Jump Street films and take it to superheroic heights." - Perry Manson, CinemaBlend.com

"Easily the funniest and most fun superhero adventure since Guardians of the Galaxy. It's hard to not get caught up by Billy Magnussen's goofy, aloof charm as the time-traveling wannabe superhero." - Michael Carthage, Associated Press

"There are definitely elements that work, and it's humor plays better than a lot of other superhero films that try to be funny, but the film has some critical flaws. There are no stakes for the characters. Perhaps a strong villainous presence could have fixed that. Superhero films can only be as good as the villain making things difficult for the hero - and this film doesn't have anyone to do that." - Janet Donnelly, Empire Magazine

Last Resort Films Jukebox: Booster Gold

1. "MMMBop" - Hanson

2. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana

3. "Sell Out" - Reel Big Fish

4. "Walking on the Sun" - Smash Mouth

5. "Lovefool" - The Cardigans

6. "My Heart Will Go On" - Celine Dion

7. "Fly" - Sugar Ray

8. "How Do I Live" - LeAnn Rimes

9. "Semi-Charmed Life" - Third Eye Blind

Now Showing: Booster Gold

Booster Gold
Genre: Action/Superhero/Comedy
Directors: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Writer: Chad Taylor
Based on DC Comics characters
Cast: Billy Magnussen, Scoot McNairy, Emmy Rossum, Natalie Dormer, Lee Pace, John Travolta, Kumail Nanjiani (voice)

Plot: Metropolis, 2262. Michael Jon Carter (Billy Magnussen) is the back-up quarterback on the local professional football team. His nickname in sports is “Booster Carter”. Explicitly a jock, everyone makes fun of Carter’s arrogance and ego behind his back – a running theme throughout the film. He is also obsessed with the 20th century superheroes, who have grown to be mythic legends. Since their parents died while they were in their teens, he and his twin sister Michelle (Natalie Dormer) have had to look after each other and developed a deep bond. Michael is cornered by two henchmen that reveal that he is neck-deep in gambling debt and if he doesn’t pay up by the next day, his career (and possibly life) will be over.

That night, he decides to break into Metropolis Hero Hall – a local museum dedicated to the superheroes of the past – and steal value items that he can sell on the black market. He worked there as a tour guide for a couple of years and thus knows the ins and outs. He is relieved to find that his favorite security bot Skeets (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani) - a round-shaped floating bot that knows all yet is also endearingly naïve – is on duty. Michael, who developed a friendship with Skeets back in the day, convinces the robot he still works there. He contemplates stealing Superman’s cape but ultimately decides against it since that’s his idol. When Michael asks Skeets what the most valuable item in the collection is, he is surprised that he is led to the storage archives. It is a large glass sphere-shaped pod that Skeets calls The Time Sphere – a glass shaped time machine created by a man named Rip Hunter.

He suddenly drops his concerns about the present and views this as a potential escape. He has Skeets lead him through the archives to assemble a superhero outfit of various parts. He wants to be as flashy as possible so he ends up with a shining blue and gold suit with a big star on the chest and a golden visor. While technically not having any “powers”, the state-of-the-art suit enables him to fly, produce high amounts of energy and be resistant to offensive attacks. Michael calls his sister but she doesn’t answer so he leaves a voicemail telling her he loves her. Skeets tells him he can go anywhere he wants. “Anywhere?” “Anywhere.” “Skeets...send me… to the 1990s.”

MUSIC CUE: ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. Metropolis, 1991. It’s dark, gloomy, and raining, almost like a spitting image of its sister city Gotham. The people of Metropolis look bummed out. In a district resembling Times Square, Michael watches a news broadcast featuring stories about the heroic deeds of The Metropolis Kid and Steel. Michael turns to Skeets, “Ohhhh no, Superman’s still dead, isn’t he?”. Skeets confirms. “Send me to the REAL 90s. Like…when Ska was cool again.”

MUSIC CUE: ‘Sell Out’. It is now Metropolis, 1997, and slightly less gloomy than before. Michael has two goals: 1.) Become famous & 2.) Meet Superman. He uses Skeets as a police scanner so he can make his superhero debut. Skeets uses the police radio waves to locate a robbery at a small gas station. When they arrive to stop the thug, another hero arrives but it is not Superman. Distracted by this goofy looking man in a blue suit with big yellow goggles, the thug starts to make his escape out the back but it is apprehended by the other hero. Still dumbfounded, Michael asks who is this guy and why isn’t Superman here. The man explains that Superman cannot cover every crime in the city, so it is up to people like him to tidy up the smaller disturbances. He offers his hand for a handshake and introduces himself as the Blue Beetle (Scoot McNairy).

Moments later, Michael is still laughing about the name Blue Beetle as they walk along a rooftop. When Beetle asks what amazing name he goes by, Michael puffs out his chest and calls himself Goldstar. He explains his futurisitic backstory, to Beetle’s disbelief. Goldstar is then incessant that he is basically a superhero historian from the future and he even HE has never heard of the Blue Beetle. Beetle, able to weather Goldstar’s constant teasing, gets an alert for another crime and asks if Goldstar wants to tag along. After hesitation, Goldstar admits that he kinda like this guy and accepts his offer.

There is a montage of Beetle and Goldstar fighting criminals, using unconventional methods given the 200-year gap in their technological capabilities. After one of the rescues, the clerk (Emmy Rossum) thanks them both for saving her. Goldstar is blushing with goo-goo eyes, clearly smitten by her. He whispers to Beetle and asks if it is inappropriate for a hero to ask out someone they saved. After Beetle starts to stammer his answer, Goldstar asks Skeets (who he knows would give him the answer he’s looking for) who starts with “Well actually sir…”. Goldstar makes a quick turnaround before Skeets can finish his answer and asks the girl for her name and if she wants to go on a date. She makes a quick glance at Beetle shrugging his shoulders and then breaks a smile and introduces herself as April.

Clearly intelligent and bit socially awkward, Beetle acts as the perfect counterweight to Goldstar’s airhead antics. Goldstar does seem a bit heartbroken when he finds out that Beetle is Ted Kord, a struggling single father (daughter is six) and lives in a run-down apartment. It’s not the glorious superhero life he expected from this era. He comes up with the idea of using Skeets for stock market and sports betting information and getting rich off of this future knowledge. Ted is morally opposed, claiming he doesn’t want to be Biff Tannen – a reference that goes right over Michael’s head. He then offers to do the betting himself and “lend” the money to Ted. Still torn, Ted looks back at his daughter watching TV and her less-than-ideal surroundings and tells Michael maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. Michael, clearly joyous about getting to cheat the system, has a big stupid grin on his face.

In a well-secured government facility, a man in a suit (Lee Pace) is going over confidential files with his set of assistants. They are reviewing various security footage on small monitors when one of the monitors catches the man’s eye and he tells them to pause it. Zooming in on the screen, we see it is footage of a Goldstar/Beetle rescue mission with Goldstar flying above. Puzzled, the man looks at his assistants and asks who these guys are.

Michael goes on his date with April, dressed to the nines. At dinner, Michael doesn’t reveal that he is from the future and instead asks to the go the restroom anytime she says a phrase or reference he doesn’t understand and Skeets is waiting for him there to feed him answers. April suggests they go see Titanic, everyone’s talking about it. She is shocked to find out that he has never heard of the movie or the story and right before she explains what it is, Michael cuts her off and says “NO SPOILERS!”

CUT TO: Michael huddled up in April’s arms in the theater, them both crying their eyes out (him more than her) as “My Heart Will Go On” plays in the end credits.

The next day, Skeets picks up a radio frequency seemingly out of nowhere, and Michael listens in as they learn of a planned assassination attempt on President Clinton’s life. Michael asks Skeets if he’s related to any of the nine Clintons that have been President since then and Skeets confirms. In a moment of selfish arrogance, Michael decides that he wants to go on this mission alone and not tell Ted as this will be an opportunity to really shine in the spotlight.

President Clinton (John Travolta) is making a speech in St. Louis with the Gateway Arch as a backdrop. Goldstar decides he is going to save Clinton instead of capturing the assassin. Goldstar, after ensuring that there are plenty of TV cameras in the area, starts to fly near the action but is almost immediately shot down by Secret Service agents and apprehended. The authorities take Skeets from him as well. Rendered powerless and authorities turning a deaf ear to his pleas about the assassination, Goldstar must try to sweet talk his way into getting out. He gets Skeets to tell the agents all of their personal information and he begins to tell them about their future as well. Dumbfounded by the scary accuracy, the men huddle together to talk amongst themselves when Goldstar is able to get Skeets to re-activate his suit and make his escape.

Goldstar, wanting to avoid being shot at again, sprints through the crowd toward the podium. Just as he reaches the President and shields him, a window breaks from a gunshot at a nearby hotel. The crowd is in panic as Goldstar is surprised to find that no bullet hit anywhere near the stage. He flies to the hotel and into the broken window, where the assassin is already tied up. Waiting for him is Blue Beetle, who reveals that Skeets informed him of Goldstar’s arrest. Using the intel Skeets received from the rogue radio signal, Beetle got to the room right before the gunmen shot, grabbed the gun and pointed it towards the sky, and then tied him up. Goldstar is amazed, but Beetle tells him to take the tied gunmen to the authorities himself and be the celebrity hero he’s always wanted to be. When asked how he got to St. Louis so fast, Beetle summons “The Bug” – a flying beetle-shaped aircraft – and gives Goldstar a big goofy grin of his own.

At the televised awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom weeks later, Clinton thanks Goldstar for his life-saving heroics. While Goldstar (in full costume) is clearly itching to bask in all his glory during his own speech, he actually takes the moment to turn around and thank the real hero of the moment – Blue Beetle. Ted, slightly embarrassed, says into the mic that it’s a working title. When Clinton asks for Michael’s name, he responds “Booster---uh---Goldst-“ “To Booster Gold!” The whole place erupts in applause as Ted smirks at Michael for botching the name announcement.

As they are walking out, Ted shares a brief flirtatious look with a young White House aide – name tag reading Lewinsky. Booster says Beetle should totally ask her out, but he is too nervous and keeps on walking. They are approached by the man examining the monitors from earlier, who introduces himself as Maxwell Lord – senior executive in the Small Business Administration. He shakes the hands of both heroes and thanks them for their service. He informs them that they may be hearing from him in the near future, but when they inquire for more, he says that nothing has been finalized and so he cannot speak on it just yet.

While Michael and April watch Con Air on VHS cuddled up on her couch, she mentions how she can’t wait to introduce him to her sister – who is also basically her best friend. This hits close to home with Michael, as he suddenly faces the question about whether or not he should stay in the past or go back to his own period to be with his sister. He then realizes his moral obligation to tell April the truth about his origins. Clearly shocked, she tells him she needs some time of clarity and asks for him to leave. She is more upset about him lying than anything else.

While talking with Ted, Michael becomes enthused by a new idea. Since his sister is the only thing he cares about in the future, he is going to take her back to 1997 with him and leave the rest behind. When he arrives back in 2262, he tells Michelle about the Time Sphere and asks her to go on this adventure with him. After much reluctance, she finally accepts when she knows what kind of danger he is in. On their way out, they pass through Hero Hall – where Blue Beetle is now prominently featured amongst Metropolis icons. While Michael has the chance to see the date of Ted’s death, he passes up on the opportunity and heads back to the past.

Back in 1997, Michael introduces Michelle to this new era. He raves about the music and plays her ‘MMMBop’ – which she does quite enjoy. When they visit Ted’s apartment, he answers the door and immediately asks who they are. Michael tenses up into a cold sweat, suddenly realizing he may have erased his old 1997 journey by going back to the 25th century. Ted smirks and says he was just messing with them and hugs Michael (who is both relieved and pissed that he let Ted get one over on him). In private, Ted jokingly mentions that Michelle is cute but this time Michael shakes his head no and says that’s weird. He tells both Ted and Michelle that he has some work to do and before he leaves, tells Ted not to make any moves on his sister. Michelle laughs, taking it as a harmless joke, while Ted immediately blushes in deep embarrassment.

Michael arrives outside of April’s home. Skeets asks Michael “Do I really have to do this?” and Michael tells him he has no choice. He then grabs Skeets by both of his hands and lifts him in the air. Skeets acts as a stereo and starts to play ‘My Heart Will Go On’. Michael stops him seconds in and says he has an even better choice: “play the song from Con Air.”

CUT TO: Michael singing along to the chorus of ‘How Do I Live?’ wildly out-of-key. April comes outside, clearly embarrassed at first but it doesn’t take long for her to crack a smile.

In the near future, there is a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Goldstar Inc., a holding company/creative agency with Booster Gold and Blue Beetle as the main clients and Michelle as CEO. April is also at the ceremony at Booster’s side. Afterwards, inside the business, Michael is informed of a movie offer from a major Hollywood studio. He accepts before even hearing the plot, director or even the title. Maxwell Lord arrives at Goldstar, flanked by two bodyguards, and asks to speak with Michael and Ted. In a private meeting, Lord extends an offer for them both to join his new upstart initiative: Justice League International. Ted is skeptical and starts to ask if this is any relation to the well-known Justice League of America. Before he can finish, Michael interrupts “HELL. YES. We accept! Now, is THIS when I get to meet Superman?!”. Lord smiles.