IN DEVELOPMENT

 

The Chain: The final film of Season 36, Fleetwood Mac biopic The Chain from director Charlotte Wells and writer Diane Esposito, has officially rounded out its cast with the additions of Scott MacArthur (The Lone Ranger, Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Six), Holliday Grainger (Lancelot, Captain America), Joe Alwyn (Pocahontas, Paki), and Emile Hirsch (The Lights, Red Riding Blood). MacArthur and Hirsch will play studio engineers, Grainger will play Sara Recor, and Joe Alwyn will play Don Henley of The Eagles.

Pokemon: More classic Pokémon characters are set for the blockbuster film from the Duffer Brothers. Kevin Durand (Boba Fett, ThunderCats) and Oona Chapin (Martian Manhunter, Avatar: Fire and Ash) will play Pokémon Gym leaders Lt. Surge and Erika, Shawn Roberts (Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, XXX: Return of Xander Cage) will play the dragon-type master Lance, Georgia King (Constantine: The Hellblazer, The Lost Husband) will play Nurse Jenny, and David Dastmalchian (Magic, Desert Dreams) has an undisclosed cameo role that is expected to expand over potential sequels. Diane Esposito penned the adaptation of the global phenomenon. 

The Passageway: David Denman (Bigfoot, Ghost Rider: Damnation) and Alice Kremelberg (She Came from the Woods, "The Boroughs") have joined Rami Malek in The Passageway, completing its small ensemble. Sam Esmail is directing the project, while D.K. Moon penned the film based on the Bone Orchard Mythos graphic novel.

Deadline: Mark Duplass (The Hulk 3, Black Dublin), Tim Allen (Kill Zone, "Changing Lanes"), and John Goodman (Broadway Joe, Tomato Can) have all joined the upcoming political thriller Deadline, which depicts two rival news groups trying to beat each other on what could be the story of the century - if only someone could prove it's true. Tony Gilroy is directing the film from a script by Jimmy Ellis and Chad Taylor.

Metroid Prime: After Metroid earned over $350 million at the box office to open Season 33, it was only a matter of time until we saw a sequel. Jennifer Lawrence (Starlight, Metroid) is back to star as Samus Aran. Metroid Prime will see Samus forced to confront her past and destroy a spreading cosmic infection before it escapes into the galaxy. David Tennant (Metroid, Batman Beyond) is also back from the first film as the monstrous Ridley, while Jamie Foxx (Kill Bin Laden, E.P.) as Federation Commander Marcus Nemo. Cary Joji Fukunaga (Metroid, Unkempt Garden) is back to direct the video game adaptation once again from a script by Dawson Edwards (Ilvermorny: The Hidden School, Unkempt Garden).

Below the Surface: Jon Bernthal (Rodeo, Death in the Shadows) is set to headline the intimate drama Below the Surface as a Wyoming miner struggling to raise his daughter after the death of his wife. Brooklynn Prince (ThunderCats, New Christianity) will co-star as Bernthal's daughter in the project. Fran Kranz (Mass) is directing the drama, which was written by Sammy-Jo Ellis (Heartbeat, The House of Black).

PREMIERE MAGAZINE #359

 

The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (Season 36 Round 9)

 

This round we got another promising expansion of the Wizarding World, a horror film with a terrific lead pairing that never quite figured itself out, and one of the more frustrating historical dramas of the entire season. Here's The Roundup....

AN UNHOLY UNION

Before I criticize it — and trust me, that's coming — I want to acknowledge what this movie gets right. The concept is excellent. Take isolated horror, mix in psychological obsession, cast Elizabeth Olsen and Aubrey Plaza opposite one another, and you've immediately got my attention. On paper, this sounds like one of the season's strongest pitches.

And for long stretches, the chemistry between Olsen and Plaza justifies that excitement. They're very different screen presences, which is exactly why the pairing works. Olsen brings sincerity and emotional vulnerability, while Plaza's naturally off-kilter energy constantly makes you question her intentions. The movie ultimately doesn't capitalize on that potential.... but the potential was absolutely there.

WIZARDING WORLD

Building a cinematic universe is hard. Building one that audiences actually care about? That's even harder. While Ilvermorny: The Hidden School didn't capture me the way The House of Black did last season, I still came away encouraged by the larger picture. LRF is gradually constructing a version of the Wizarding World that feels willing to explore corners of the mythology we've barely seen before. That's exciting.

Not every entry has to be a home run if the franchise itself continues expanding in interesting directions. Exploring American wizarding culture through Ilvermorny gives the universe a distinctly different flavor without feeling disconnected from what audiences already recognize. Maybe this installment wasn't quite the magical experience I hoped for. The franchise itself still feels like it's heading in the right direction.

BEST ACTRESS

Let's be honest. The Best Actress race this season has been.... underwhelming. There have certainly been good performances, but very few that have felt like undeniable "this actress is winning the Golden Reel" moments. Compared to other years, the field has lacked obvious heavyweights. At least Round 9 gave the category a little life.

Elizabeth Olsen and Aubrey Plaza both receive substantial showcase roles in An Unholy Union, and whether either ultimately gets nominated remains to be seen, but the category desperately needed recognizable contenders entering the conversation. Sometimes awards races aren't defined by one transcendent performance. Sometimes they're simply waiting for enough credible candidates to show up.

BOX OFFICE

Well.... I think we can officially stop talking about the billion-dollar profit milestone. At this point, it would require something bordering on miraculous. Round 9 essentially broke even, which ordinarily wouldn't be disastrous. But Season 36 lost the luxury of "just okay" financial rounds months ago. The early bombs dug such a deep hole that every remaining release almost needs to overperform just to keep pace.

When I look at what's left on the calendar, I don't see the obvious billion-dollar rescue mission. This season isn't collapsing financially. It's just slowly running out of runway.

KILL BIN LADEN

This one frustrates me because I completely understand the movie Alex Conn wanted to make. A procedural thriller. A tense collection of meetings, intelligence briefings, and impossible decisions culminating in one of the defining military operations of the century. That should work.

Instead.... Everything that should've strengthened the concept seemed to weaken it. The historical accuracy often felt.... flexible. The characters rarely behaved like real people wrestling with extraordinary circumstances. Instead, too many of them came across as exaggerated caricatures, almost like political satire that never fully committed to being satire. At times I honestly felt like I was watching an SNL sketch stretched into a feature-length drama. And structurally, the movie never establishes momentum. It bounces from room to room, briefing to briefing, conversation to conversation, without ever generating the mounting tension a story like this desperately needs.

AN UNHOLY UNION

Yes.... It's in both columns. Because this might be the season's greatest example of wasted potential. The cast works. The concept works. The direction is... fine. Not spectacular, not disastrous—perfectly competent. The screenplay is where everything begins falling apart.

Rachel Hallett Hardcastle clearly had an idea she wanted to explore, and I genuinely appreciate the ambition behind it. But somewhere between the premise and the execution, the movie starts spinning its wheels. Scenes begin repeating the same emotional beats, the tension plateaus instead of escalating, and by the time the climax arrives, the film hasn't really delivered on the horror or psychological promises it spent two hours making. The result isn't a bad movie. It's almost worse. It's a movie that constantly reminds you how much better it could've been.

ON LOCATION (SEASON 36 ROUND 9)

 

Kill Bin Laden

- Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Ilvermorny: The Hidden School

- Montreal, Quebec, Canada

An Unholy Union

- Astoria, Oregon, USA

Box Office Breakdown (Season 36 Round 9)

 

AN UNHOLY UNION

Budget: $18,000,000

Total Box Office: $37,350,012

Total Profit: $790,000

An Unholy Union managed to land on the right side of the ledger, but only barely. Its $790,000 profit leaves the horror-thriller about as close to a true break-even result as a film can get, though that tiny victory carries considerably more significance for the writer behind it.

BOX OFFICE FACT

An Unholy Union is the first film from writer Rachel Hallett Hardcastle since Season 20's That Was Then, This Is Now to avoid a loss, ending a streak of seven consecutive box office flops.

GENRE RANKINGS

Horror: #127 

Thriller: #131

Supernatural: #35

KILL BIN LADEN

Budget: $50,000,000

Total Box Office: $56,735,938

Total Profit: -$29,221,700

The political thriller failed to translate its provocative subject matter into enough theatrical interest to justify its cost. The result is especially notable because it continues a surprisingly consistent pattern for writer Alex Conn's recent films centered on real-world political figures.

BOX OFFICE FACT

Writer Alex Conn has now penned four recent films built around real-life political figures — Repeal and Replace, Dean, Mises, and Kill Bin Laden. All four lost substantial amounts of money, combining for more than $131 million in losses, or roughly $32 million per film.

GENRE RANKINGS

Drama: #212

Thriller: #113 

Historical: #51 

ILVERMORNY: THE HIDDEN SCHOOL

Budget: $105,000,000

Total Box Office: $260,440,506

Total Profit: $30,044,424

LRF's second trip into the Wizarding World remained profitable, but the numbers suggest considerably less enthusiasm than greeted the franchise's debut. Ilvermorny: The Hidden School still earned enough to justify its investment, though its performance raises some questions about how much room the series has to expand beyond its initial success.

BOX OFFICE FACT

LRF's Wizarding World took a significant step backward with its second entry. Ilvermorny: The Hidden School suffered a 24% decline in worldwide box office compared with The House of Black — and an even steeper 70% drop in profit.

GENRE RANKINGS

Action: #182 

Adventure: #56 

Fantasy: #60 

Season 36 Round 9 Total Box Office:

$354,526,456

Season 36 Round 9 Total Profit:

$1,612,724

Round 9 finished about as close to neutral as possible. Ilvermorny: The Hidden School supplied just over $30 million in profit, only for nearly all of it to be erased by Kill Bin Laden. An Unholy Union's $790,000 contribution ultimately kept the round from slipping into the red.

Season 36 Total Box Office:

$4,886,846,939

Season 36 Total Profit:

$855,945,264

With only Round 10 remaining, Season 36 enters its finale needing roughly $144 million in additional profit just to reach $1 billion. Even if it gets there, that would still leave the season in decidedly mediocre territory by LRF standards. The top of the slate has produced several major hits, but a deep collection of bombs and disappointments has prevented those successes from translating into a stronger overall financial year.

SEASON 36 BOX OFFICE STANDINGS

1. Boba Fett — $763,673,771 👑

2. Donkey Kong Country — $720,434,668 👑

3. The Hulk 3 — $641,110,407 👑

4. Lobo — $480,893,956 🔥

5. Assassin's Creed: Eternal — $421,105,411 🔥

6. The Song of Roland — $263,839,608 💰

7. Ilvermorny: The Hidden School — $260,440,506 💰

8. Luke Cage: The Purple Man — $249,978,106 💰

9. Stretch Armstrong — $144,189,611 ☠️

10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 2 — $131,525,669 💰

11. Fletch — $123,159,160 💰

12. Echoes of Red — $82,814,137 💰

13. Double Date — $80,369,160 💰

14. The Bounty Hunter — $80,094,428 ☠️

15. Gray — $62,441,218 💣

16. Kill Bin Laden — $56,735,938 💣

17. Darkness — $43,316,174 💰

18. 1995 — $40,003,252 💰

19. Pirouette — $39,100,555 📉

20. An Unholy Union — $37,350,012 ⚖️

21. Three Rounds — $34,386,590 💣

22. The Quiet Between Us — $26,319,562 📉

23. Heartbeat — $25,404,407 💣

24. Fading Star — $23,730,087 💣

25. Voice — $23,437,788 💣

26. Diary of a Wimpy Kid — $18,000,669 💣

27. 1016 West Monroe — $12,992,089 💣

LRF TRIVIA TIDBITS (SEASON 36 ROUND 9)

 

Round 9 of Season 36 puts the spotlight on some familiar LRF patterns: heavily relied-upon stars, writers carving out distinct niches, and creators who keep returning to adaptation as their preferred playground.

AN UNHOLY UNION

An Unholy Union brings together two of LRF’s most frequently cast leading ladies in Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen. Between them, the pair have now appeared in a combined 22 films for the studio, making this horror-thriller something of a showcase for two of LRF’s most dependable recurring stars.

KILL BIN LADEN

Writer Alex Conn appears to be making a serious run at Lon Charles’ unofficial “Fact to Film” territory. Kill Bin Laden marks Conn’s 14th LRF screenplay based on a true story, further cementing real-world events and historical figures as one of the most recognizable recurring threads in his filmography.

ILVERMORNY: THE HIDDEN SCHOOL

Ilvermorny: The Hidden School is already Dawson Edwards’ 11th film for LRF despite the writer having joined the studio just four seasons ago. Even more strikingly, it is his seventh adaptation, revealing a clear early-career preference for taking established properties and reshaping them into LRF projects.

Release: Ilvermorny: The Hidden School

 

Ilvermorny: The Hidden School

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy

Director: Francis Lawrence

Writer: Dawson Edwards

Based on characters from JK Rowling's Wizarding World

Cast: Javon Walton, Elva Guerra, Mason Thames, Hilary Swank, Kyriana Kratter, Angela Bassett, Alexa Demie, Bob Odenkirk

Budget: $105,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $113,140,494

Foreign Box Office: $147,300,012

Total Profit: $30,044,424

Reaction: While not the blockbuster outcome most expect from the JK Rowling's Wizard World, and almost $100 million short of last season's The House of Black, Ilvermorny: The Hidden School still managed a decent little return on investment.

"Atmospheric, thoughtful, and genuinely interested in expanding the Wizarding World instead of remixing it. The Ilvermorny setting feels alive, the cast is refreshingly diverse, and the focus on memory, institutional erasure, and inherited trauma gives the story real weight. It can get very heavy and dense (sometimes to a fault), but unlike some recent spinoffs, it actually has something to say. More dark than fun, but purposeful; and that counts for a lot." - Dexter Quinn, Cinematic Observer Newsletter 

"Ilvermorny: The Hidden School deserves credit for trying something genuinely different within the Wizarding World, introducing intriguing mythology and a distinctly American magical identity. Francis Lawrence keeps the mystery engaging, and several supporting performances, particularly Hilary Swank and Angela Bassett, add welcome gravitas. Still, the film struggles to balance its coming-of-age adventure with its dense mythology, resulting in a story that feels more ambitious than satisfying."- Pierce Moore, London Post

"For a film introducing a new generation of young wizards, Ilvermorny: The Hidden School makes some baffling casting decisions. Javon Walton and Elva Guerra both feel noticeably too old for their teenage roles, creating a tonal disconnect that's difficult to ignore, while much of the supporting cast appears to be acting in an entirely different movie. Dawson Edwards' screenplay buries itself beneath convoluted mythology that rarely feels connected to the established Wizarding World, leaving Ilvermorny feeling less like a natural extension of Harry Potter than an unrelated fantasy wearing its robes. It's an ambitious swing, but one that never quite earns its place in the franchise." - Dave Manning, Ridgefield Press

Rated PG-13 for fantasy violence, thematic material, and some frightening images.