In Development

 

Unreasonable Doubt: The crime rom-com Unreasonable Doubt, led by Cristin Milioti and Channing Tatum, has completed its ensemble cast with the additions of Kim Matula (Sturday Night, The Finnish Line), JB Smoove (The Actors, Spider-Man: No Way Home), Iris Apatow (The Bubble, "Unstable"), Reid Scott ("Law & Order", The Idea of You), and Meredith Hagner (You're Cordially Invited, "Bad Monkey"). Andrew Fleming directs from a script by Walter McKnight.

Vultures: Last Resort Films will employ some fresh faces with the cast of Rob Zombie's latest directorial effort Vultures in the form of Fairuza Balk (Battle Scars, Hell Is Where the Home Is), Daeg Faerch (Josie, Bury Me), Lew Temple (Corsicana, Kidnap), and Bill Moseley (Stream, 3 from Hell). Clive Steinbeck penned the strippers vs. bikers horror film.

The Friend Zone: Chris Pratt and Anna Kendrick will have company in Michel Gondry's The Friend Zone as Kiefer Sutherland (Spider-Man: Requiem, The Crow: Wings of Isaiah) and Dakota Fanning (Connected, Blue is the Warmest Color) have signed on to join the cast. Sutherland will play the mayor of the "friend zone" while Fanning will play a potential love interest for Pratt. Joshua Collins wrote the original story.

Ghost Recon: Following adaptations of the Splinter Cell video game series and novels Without Remorse and Rainbow Six, Last Resort Films returns to the world of Tom Clancy with an adaptation of the video game series Ghost Recon. Jon Hamm (Supergirl: Power, Repeal and Replace) will top the cast as Scott Mitchell, the leader of an elite squad within the US Army - The Ghosts. Casey Affleck (Nomad, Death of the Artist) and Natalie Morales (The Cape, My Dead Friend Zoe) will play members of the team, David Foster and Alicia Diaz, respectively. Ben Affleck (Born in Brooklyn, Lowell) has been hired to direct the film - directing a film without also appearing for the first time in his LRF career. Dawson Edwards (Spelljammer, Assata) has penned the adaptation.

Rubicon Lies: Leonardo DiCaprio (Moon Knight, Caesar Part III) is set to reunite with director Martin Scorsese (Monaco, Sinatra) on Rubicon Lies - a fictional account of the CIA operations that eventually led to the JFK assassination. DiCaprio will play a CIA operative working in Cuba at the start of the story. Jason Clarke (The Lone Gunman, Booster Gold: Back in Time) and Jeremy Strong (One By One, Red Wolf: Wanderer) are set for major supporting roles as an FBI agent and a CIA handler, respectively. Jimmy Ellis (Coriolanus,  The Essence) wrote the story.

Behind Closed Doors: English filmmaker Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky, Hard Truths) is set to make his LRF debut with the drama Behind Closed Doors from writer Holden Abbott (Dust Saint, Exodus). Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Fatman, Hard Truths) will lead the cast a recently widowed woman, Damson Idris (Blade, Offside) will play her son who is going through a divorce, and Letitia Wright (Ghost Town, Halo: The Fal of Reach) will play her niece joining in on the family turmoil.

PREMIERE MAGAZINE #344

 

The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (Season 35 Round 4)

 

 I jinxed it. Here's The Roundup.... 

3. Scarlett Johansson

Her talents have not been on display since her voice role in The Banded Ants 3 and hasn't been seen on screen since Season 1's Creature from the Black Lagoon (not counting the more recent Director's Cut release), so it was great having her back in the fold.

2. Discovery

Based on its listed genres, I was expecting something very different than what I witnessed on the big screen. It really wasn't a thriller at all, but it was still entertaining.

1. Cooper Hoffman

The late Phillip Seymour Hoffman's son was easily the highlight of Discovery for me. He carried the moral weight of the story on his back and out-acted an ensemble of bigger named and higher priced talents.

3. The Letter Never Sent

While I was never 100% engrossed in the story, The Letter Never Sent fell apart completely for me with its ending.

2. Spelljammer

I think it was too much to try to create a blockbuster franchise out of such a niche IP. Mainstream D & D films have all failed before this one, so this wasn't too much of a surprise. Would it have fared better distancing itself from the source material? No way to find out now.

1. Profits

It's never when a round finishes in the red.

On Location (Season 35 Round 4)

 

Spelljammer

- Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The Letter Never Sent

- Yonkers, New York, USA

Discovery

- San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office Breakdown (Season 35 Round 4)

 

Spelljammer

Budget: $160,000,000

Total Box Office: $158,394,702

Total Profit: -$100,093,889

The Letter Never Sent

Budget: $26,000,000

Total Box Office: $29,417,143

Total Profit:-$17,099,333

Discovery

Budget: $64,000,000

Total Box Office: $167,267,665

Total Profit: $29,710,989

Box Office Facts

Spelljammer

Will Smith has now starred in three films for LRF: Blue Heat, The Beat Goes On, and Spelljammer. Blue Heat and Spelljammer were both colossal flops at the box office combining to lose $180 million. 

The Letter Never Sent

Scarlett Johansson has not worked with LRF since Season 8 and has not been on-screen since Season 1. Her three films - Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Banded Ants 3 - Showdown, The Letter Never Sent - have combined to gross over $1 billion at the box office.

Discovery

Director Damien Chazelle has a perfect record at the box office for LRF. He has now directed six films for the studio - all of which have been profitable.

Genre Rankings

Spelljammer

Action: #231

Sci-fi: #107

Comedy: #33

The Letter Never Sent

Drama: #314

Romance: #34

Discovery

Drama: #39

Sci-fi: #105

Thriller: #24

Season 35 Round 4

Total Box Office: $355,079,510

Total Profit: -$87,482,233

Season 35 Totals

Total Box Office: $1,578,533,936

Total Profit: $49,666,511

Season 34 Summary

1. ThunderCats : $372,054,861

2. The Punisher: Purgatory : $231,004,586

3. Zorro : $215,997,717

4. Discovery : $167,267,665

5. The Tick : $166,896,092

6. Spelljammer : $158,394,702

7. Tara's Wrath : $73,090,751

8. Man of God : $63,494,668

9. The Writer and the Film Star : $39,529,721

10. Thus Dreamed Zarathustra : $34,589,058

11. The Letter Never Sent : $29,417,143

12. Dust Saint : $26,796,972

LRF TRIVIA TIDBITS (Season 35 Round 4)

 

Welcome back for more LRF Trivia Tidbits! Season 35’s fourth round highlights the quieter forces that shape big films behind the scenes—personal loyalty, sudden tragedy, and the delicate chess game of casting that can redefine a project before release. From high-concept fantasy to intimate drama and ambitious genre blending, each title carries a story that never made it on screen.

Spelljammer

Gal Gadot nearly passed on Spelljammer due to the relatively small size of her role, but ultimately signed on out of loyalty to director Zack Snyder, who famously helped launch her career by casting her as Wonder Woman in his DC films. Writer Dawson Edwards also played a key role in securing her involvement, assuring Gadot that the character would take on a larger presence in any potential sequels.

The Letter Never Sent

In one of the more somber pieces of Season 35 trivia, actor James Ransone was originally cast in a supporting role opposite Scarlett Johansson but tragically died by suicide before his scenes could be filmed. The production moved quickly to recast the role, bringing in Ben Feldman at the last minute to step into the part Ransone was set to play.

Discovery

Discovery faced notable challenges assembling its ensemble cast, with both Michael Shannon and Lupita Nyong’o declining offered roles due to scheduling conflicts. Those parts were ultimately filled by Scoot McNairy and Renate Reinsve, while the film also marked Cooper Hoffman’s long-delayed LRF debut after he had previously turned down multiple offers from the studio.

Release: Discovery

 

Discovery

Genre: Drama/Sci-Fi/Thriller

Director: Damien Chazelle

Writer: Jimmy Ellis & Chad Taylor

Cast: Julia Roberts, Tom Holland, Cooper Hoffman, Josh O'Connor, Riz Ahmed, Scoot McNairy, Renate Reinsve, Colman Domingo

Budget: $64,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $79,038,110

Foreign Box Office: $88,229,555

Total Profit: $29,710,989

Reaction: For a film without flashy effects and action scenes, these are very respectable numbers - especially given the expensive ensemble cast.

"Discovery is intellectually ambitious and often gripping, even if its ideas occasionally outpace its emotional clarity. Chazelle’s direction is sharp and propulsive, but the film sometimes leans too heavily on talky confrontations and withheld revelations, blunting its sci-fi edge. Still, strong performances - especially from Hoffman, Ahmed, and Reinsve - carry it through as a thoughtful, if slightly overstuffed, meditation on ambition and betrayal." - Reggie Moreland, Baltimore Sun

"A sharp cerebral sci-fi thriller, balancing the giddy rush of discovery with the dread of how such power corrupts. Layering in messy human drama of betrayal, secrecy, morality and survival until you cant tell whose protecting science or themselves. While its a bit talky at times, it still leaves audiences unsettled in the best way, wondering as a classic character would say "just because we could, doesn't mean we should." - Dexter Quinn, Cinematic Observer Newsletter

"Damien Chazelle and his talented writing team deliver a taut, adult sci-fi thriller more interested in moral erosion than spectacle, and Discovery largely works because of its ensemble - especially Cooper Hoffman, who gives the film its emotional gravity. Julia Roberts is quietly devastating, while most of the cast brings a lived-in intelligence that keeps the ethical debates sharp. Tom Holland, however, feels miscast and comparatively thin, a weak link in an otherwise formidable lineup. Even so, the story's restraint and pacing elevates the material into something thoughtful and entertaining." - Dave Manning, Ridgefield Press

Rated PG-13 for language, violence, and thematic material.