Month: July 2024

Although it’s not a sequel that anyone was particularly expecting, Gladiator 2 has become, in its own right, one of the most anticipated movies of 2024. Directed once again by Ridley Scott, it is one of the highest bets in historical cinema in recent years. Now, the film’s first images have just been revealed, and it couldn’t look more spectacular.

The images mostly feature Paul Mescal. The lead character of Aftersun will play the role of Lucius Verus, the nephew of Emperor Commodus and son of Lucilla, whom we already saw in the first movie. In this film, Lucius will have to face very important decisions and, ultimately, step into the colosseum to confront great enemies.

The return of Gladiator will come in a big way

In the first images we also have a first look at Pedro Pascal, who will be Marcus Acacius. From what we’ve seen so far, he will face a fierce battle against Mescal’s character. Furthermore, we can also get a glimpse of Denzel Washington, who in Gladiator 2 will play a nobleman named Macrinus. Finally, we will see Joseph Quinn, whose character will be Emperor Caracalla.

There’s no question that Gladiator 2 features a star-studded cast, which helps explain why Ridley Scott, at 86 years old, has chosen to embark on a film of this magnitude. The filmmaker behind Blade Runner and Alien has already made it clear that he’s far from retiring. Instead of slowing down production or lowering the level of his ideas, he is only getting better and gaining more control over them.

Gladiator 2 will actually be the 30th film of his career. Considering that the original Gladiator was his 12th film, it has certainly been enough time for him to return to this world that brought him so much joy at the time. We’ll see it in theaters November 22nd.

M. Night Shyamalan, the famous filmmaker behind The Sixth Sense, Split, and Glass, has been conquering Hollywood since he was considered a young promise with The Sixth Sense. Now, after several years of decline, he has made a triumphant return with such interesting proposals as Old or Knock at the Cabin. And his next feature film promises to raise the stakes.

Trap, starring a recovered Josh Hartnett after his surprise appearance in Oppenheimer, tells the story of a father and his teenage daughter. Both attend a crowded pop music concert, but soon discover that they are trapped in a dark and sinister event from which they cannot escape. After a first trailer, we get its new preview that makes it clear that it won’t be a walk in the park for anyone.

When will Trap be released in theaters?

The movie Trap will be released on August 2nd in cinemas worldwide. The film, in addition to featuring Harnett, will also feature the director’s daughter, Saleka Shyamalan, as the concert singer. His other daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan, is now a film director, so it’s clear that they are a family of great artists.

For fans of musicals, Wicked has been one of the world’s most beloved works since its creation in 2003. Now, the story about the witches of The Wizard of Oz will finally come to theaters in a film directed by Jon M. Chu and starring Ariana Grande. The film will be released as “Part One”, since there will be a second part, and despite having a previously set release date, it has finally been changed.

Although Wicked was supposed to arrive in theaters on November 29th, it’ll now be released on November 22nd, one week earlier. That way, it won’t have to compete against Moana 2, although it will arrive alongside Gladiator II. But these two don’t seem to be targeting the same audience.

What is the musical Wicked about?

Wicked: Part One is described as the story of how a woman with emerald green skin becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. It’s a feature film based on the Broadway musical and will therefore be filled with songs. The second part will arrive sometime in 2025.

Hellboy returns once again to the big cinema screens with The Crooked Man. This new installment, which finished filming in May, already has a teaser that, as you will see later, is somewhat… peculiar.

Brian Taylor, director of Crank and Gamer, is the one in charge of the film, which is based on the comic of the same name, “The Twisted Man“. On this occasion, Taylor has wanted to bet on low-budget horror, a choice that certainly will not leave anyone indifferent. However, this reboot has a very important addition: it is co-written by Mike Mignola himself.

From what we can see in the teaser, it maintains a fairly faithful essence to the comics, probably thanks to Mignola’s own involvement. As for the cast, the role of Hellboy falls on Jack Kesy (The Muse, Deadpool 2), Jefferson White (Yellowstone) will be Tom Ferrell and Adeline Rudolph (Sabrina) the rookie agent of the BPRD Bobbie Jo Song, among many others. Below we leave you the teaser, which still has a look closer to a fan-made short film.

Until now, the last film in which the character of Mignola had starred was released in 2019 and its reception was not precisely good. David Harbour’s great work as Hellboy was not enough to lift a film that became one of the biggest failures of 2019. Its production was so disastrous that even its director, Neil Marshall, describes it as “the worst professional experience of my life”, according to ArsTechnica.

Although The Crooked Man doesn’t seem very promising, we promise not to be pessimistic and keep an open mind. We will have to wait until the next August 30th of 2024 to be able to speak about it properly.

Within the American sports field, there are few voices as recognized and beloved as that of Al Michaels. The veteran commentator will be part of the Olympic broadcast, but not in the way many expect. For this occasion, NBC has decided to use AI to synthesize Michaels’ voice and use it to narrate the daily summaries of the Paris Games.

The long-awaited Paris Olympic Games will begin on July 26. After that, we will have a month full of 24-hour competitions, which makes live streaming very challenging. This is where artificial intelligence and Michaels’ artificially recreated voice will come into play.

The American network NBC proposed to the commentator to recreate his voice using this technology, something he accepted not without showing some skepticism first. However, after listening to the AI imitate his voice, he was amazed. The synthetic Michaels’ work was so good that he didn’t hesitate to describe it as “terrifying” in Vanity Fair.

Rick Cordella, president of NBC Sports, described Michaels as the “perfect choice” for this role. He also praised the presenter for “embracing this technology with such enthusiasm.” With Your Daily Olympic Recap, accessible through Peacock, we will be able to enjoy a personalized summary of the sports we choose.

Artificial intelligence continues to make its way. This time, the destiny of this technology has been to replicate the voice of a famous American commentator. However, it is not the first time it has been used to recreate the voice or face of a person in the audiovisual world. On social media, we have cases like that of @yoursisbillie, a character created by Meta and powered by AI that uses the appearance of Kendall Jenner.