Mike Sampson is the Editor-in-Chief of ScreenCrush. He studied to become a lawyer and worked as an architectural planner after graduating college but neither of these professions afforded him the opportunity to watch movies and TV for a living. He previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of JoBlo.com for 10 years. He lives in New Jersey and probably spends too much time playing video games and overthinking things.
Mike Sampson
Apple Expected to Launch Original Programming With iPhone 7
Every year Apple announces a new iPhone at a big keynote event. Sometimes it’s an incremental update, like the iPhone 6S announced last September. Other times, like this year when Apple will announce the iPhone 7, it’s a big leap forward in technology. While there have been many rumors around the upcoming iPhone 7 (including no more headphone jack and wireless charging), none will be as exciting to movie and TV fans as this news: Apple is expected to make their official foray into original programming when the iPhone 7 launches, competing with both Netflix and Amazon.
Chinese ‘Star Wars’ Poster Shrinks Black Lead Actor, John Boyega
Despite some early concerns, most would agree that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a diverse film. The three leads are a woman, a black man and a Cuban man. One of the main enemies is a woman. One of the major new characters is played by a black woman. Princess Leia is now General Leia Organa. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s a very solid step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it may have been a little too far in the right direction for some countries. A new Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster from China has been revealed and, despite being one of the two main stars of the film, they’ve shrunk down black actor John Boyega in half.
Tom Cruise in Talks to Star in Universal’s Mummy Reboot
There were not many ways to get me excited in a Mummy reboot, the first in a planned series of connected movies linking The Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein and more, but Universal has found a way. Tom Cruise is in talks to star in The Mummy and is expected to take a major role in developing the new monster universe.
‘Fantastic Four 2’ Officially Removed From Fox’s Release Schedule
Flame off? After Fantastic Four’s hugely disappointing opening earlier this year, Fox initially claimed they were still moving ahead with a sequel, keeping the planned June 9, 2017 release date. But, after a closer look at the situation and perhaps a good dose of common sense, Fox has removed Fantastic Four 2 from their release schedule.
Daniel Fleetwood, Terminally Ill ‘Star Wars’ Fan Behind #ForceForDaniel, Dies at Age 32
Back in October, Ashley Fleetwood, the wife of Daniel Fleetwood, a terminally ill Star Wars fan, started the #ForceForDaniel campaign to help her husband see Star Wars: The Force Awakens before he died. Daniel, a lifelong fan who camped out for tickets to see the prequel trilogy, was given only two months to live in July and both he and his wife knew he wasn’t going to be able to make it until opening day. On November 5, Disney, Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams made Daniel’s dying wish come true by bringing Star Wars: The Force Awakens to his home in Spring, Texas.
Daniel Fleetwood died last night, just five days after his Star Wars screening, at the age of 32.
J.J. Abrams Talks Luke Skywalker’s Absence From the ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Trailer
Disney and Lucasfilm are trying very hard to preserve the secrets of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. There are reports that the film won’t screen for critics until the day before it opens in theaters. And there are rumors that not only will there be no more trailers, but that the TV spots that run won’t use any new footage and everything you’ve seen so far, is all you’re going to get. But, even as they try to keep a carbonite fist on spoilers, J.J. Abrams has to leave his house. As much as Disney would like, they can’t keep him chained up in a Rancor pit until December 17. The dude has to go out in public. And that he did just the other day, and as people shouted at him “LUKE!!! WHERE’S LUKE!!!!” he was obliged to answer.
Netflix Negotiating With Disney For ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Streaming Rights
Back in 2012, Disney and Netflix struck a deal that would allow all of Disney’s films — including Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars properties — to stream exclusively on Netflix Instant, starting on January 1, 2016. As that date approaches, many have speculated openly about the Star Wars films finally coming to Netflix. There were even rumors recently that Netflix was prepping their database for the Star Wars movies, though Netflix denied those reports. While they have yet to comment specifically on the existing six films in the Star Wars library, Netflix did confirm that, as of now, they do not have the rights to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but are currently in negotiations to bring that title to their streaming library.
Sigourney Weaver Confirmed For a Cameo in the ‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot
Sigourney Weaver was the only one of the core actors from the original film (minus Rick Moranis who retired from acting) who was not going to be appearing in the new Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig version. But, as it turns out, Weaver will be appearing in the new Ghostbusters movie, alongside Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd and Annie Potts.
Disney Developing New ‘Mary Poppins’ Movie, Not a Sequel or Reboot
As they have grown rather fond of doing, Disney is looking back at one of their past hits in order to create some future success. After modern day versions of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland (not to mention, upcoming versions of Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book), Disney has hired Rob Marshall (Chicago, Into the Woods) to direct a new Mary Poppins musical based on P.L. Travers’ original children’s books.
Listen to Tom Hiddleston Sing as Hank Williams in ‘I Saw the Light’
We all know Tom Hiddleston as Loki, but aside from the Avengers and Thor movies, but American audiences haven’t gotten to see much else from the actor. That’s about to change as Hiddleston has a showy role in the upcoming Hank Williams biopic I Saw the Light. Musical biopics have traditionally been the road to awards and Oscar glory, but can the same be said for Hiddleston’s performance? The film doesn’t open until late November, but today we’ve got our first look, and listen, to the British Hiddleston sing country western.
Win a Sphero BB-8, One of the Coolest ‘Star Wars’ Toys Ever Made!
There were a lot of exciting toys announced yesterday during the epic 18-hour Star Wars Force Friday reveals, but none as exciting as the BB-8 toy from Sphero. We’ve been gushing about BB-8 since Star Wars Celebration and counting down the days until we could own one. And now that the day is here, it is perhaps even more fun than we imagined.
Vin Diesel Confirms ‘xXx 3′ Begins Filming This December
Fast and Furious 7 just made Universal over $1.5 billion and when you make people that much money, you can pretty much do whatever you want for your next project. Vin Diesel, the star of and producer of the Fast franchise, has that kind of clout now and has decided to use that clout to make…xXx 3?