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Hollywood has seen quite a few spoiler-spillers over the years in various shapes and sizes, and as of late, Tom Holland seemed to be the one raging at the top of the list.

But it sounds like there used to be someone even worse than him when it came to keeping secrets: Alan Cumming, the very actor who used to be a part of the X-Men universe, which is now counted under the MCU.

Alan Cumming. | Credits: The Good Wife / CBS.

As surprising as it may seem, the Nightcrawler portrayer from the original X-Men film series actually knew the show’s most shocking secrets while working on the hit drama series The Good Wife. But instead of keeping a secret, he ended up spilling the beans in front of everyone, though it remains a mystery how it all didn’t get ruined before anyone noticed!

Alan Cumming almost ruined The Good Wife...

David Fincher was the most sought-after commercial and music video director in the world in 1992 when he followed the example of his predecessors Alan Parker, Ridley Scott, and Tony Scott by segueing into the unpredictable world of film production. Pulling a Ridley, so to speak, with "Alien 3" might've felt like a propitious move, but it turned into a nightmare production that resulted in the compromising of Fincher's dark vision and the damaging of a valuable studio franchise. The fledgling filmmaker took close to 100 percent of the blame, at which point it looked like he'd get kicked back down to videos and commercials for the foreseeable future.

As we know, he soared brilliantly out of the ashes three years later with "Se7en," and cemented his geek god cinema bona fides in 1999 with "Fight Club." Suddenly, Fincher was the Generation X Stanley Kubrick, a visionary of the now who didn't...

Filmmaking undeniably requires craft, but it also requires something additional that is less easy to teach, harder to pin down, and impossible to replicate. In short, it requires a kind of magic, an alchemy between the collaborators, the material, and the time period in which the movie is made. Sure, most creative people who make films as a career learn little tricks and shortcuts in order to help facilitate this, but ultimately (and to the continual annoyance of the studio bean counters), it happens or it doesn't. Just as the right actor can elevate a character and the wrong sound effect can ruin a scene, a film's original score is a key ingredient in making this alchemical mixture of cinema. While the covenant between a composer and a director tends to produce just the right kind of score the film needs, sometimes the balance is off.

While it isn't all that common,...

Stanley Kubrick, a filmmaker renowned for his exacting precision and deep thematic exploration, delivered one of his most visually stunning and narratively subtle works with “Barry Lyndon” (1975). Based on William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon, the film traces the rise and fall of an ambitious Irishman, Redmond Barry, as he navigates the 18th-century European aristocracy. Though “Barry Lyndon” is often overshadowed by Kubrick’s more famous works like “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “A Clockwork Orange,” it stands as an intricate study of human nature, societal ambition, and the consequences of vanity—all wrapped in a visually arresting package, and is my personal favorite of Kubrick’s work.

The plot of “Barry Lyndon” revolves around Redmond Barry, a young man from rural Ireland with dreams of climbing the social ladder. After a series of events—including a duel, a stint in the military, and a marriage...

Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance explores society’s obsession with youth and beauty. The filmmaker uses every tool at her disposal to portray the theme effectively to her audience. It also meant that she used inspiration from places that the viewers would be familiar with. Some of the notable references or easter eggs in the film paid homage to Stanley Kubrick’s films.

Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle in The Substance | Credits: Mubi

The Substance follows Elisabeth Sparkle, a career-best performance by Demi Moore, an aging actress who resorts to mysterious serum to regain her youth. The film touches upon themes of bodily autonomy, the duality of self, and the artificial norms of beauty and feminity.

The Substance pays homage to Stanley Kubrick’s films Demi Moore in Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance | Credits: Mubi

Coralie Fargeat appears to be a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick‘s filmography as true...

Filmmaker George Lucas created the Star Wars universe, a multi-billion-dollar pop culture juggernaut that continues to enjoy reverence long after the creator took his exit. The franchise saw a drastic turn after Lucas decided to sell the rights to Disney, which has since gone on to produce a mixed bag of projects in the space opera saga.

A promotional still from the Star Wars universe (Credit: Lucasfilm).

In the past few years, the brand has been significantly diluted, with fans often criticizing most of the creative choices made under Disney’s control. As a result, a few fans took to social media to ponder whether the franchise’s state would’ve been better under Lucas. The answer might surprise you because Star Wars was likely always doomed with or without Lucas at the helm, and here’s why.

Star Wars fans debate whether its current state would be better with...

George Lucas had no time for a young Han Solo cameo in Revenge of the Sith, calling the idea outright stupid. At one point, Star Wars almost introduced a kid version of the galaxy’s most famous smuggler, but Lucas scrapped it before it could ruin the character’s legacy.

George Lucas | Left image by Kevin Payravi, licensed under Cc By-sa 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Turns out, even the mastermind behind the prequels knew when to say no to unnecessary fan service.

George Lucas dodged a Han Solo cameo in Revenge of the Sith and it was the right call Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo in A New Hope | Credits: Lucasfilm Ltd

Han Solo almost had a prequel cameo, but George Lucas wasn’t feeling it. While developing Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Lucas toyed with the idea of a young Han helping Yoda on Kashyyyk.

President Donald Trump’s military and intelligence leaders irresponsibly texting in an unsecured group chat about upcoming air strikes in Yemen. Dangerous, yes, and likely illegal. But more than anything, it was plain stupid in the vein of dark farce. The evolving saga, including predictable defenses of the breach from administration loyalists, rivals the hallmarks of that well-established Hollywood trope: the idiot plot.

Historians, psychologists, sociologists and economists have sought to explain the present U.S. situation. Yet it’s the satirists who, as ever, may understand it best. Their specialization’s output, at least, is the most entertaining.

The idiot plot requires every character involved to be too foolish to stop it. Signature elements include shortsightedness, conceitedness and ineptness. Think of the Farrelly brothers’ Dumb and Dumber, or Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain. The subgenre limning the heights and depths of American power runs from Stanley Kubrick’s Dr.

Disney’s “Snow White” took the crown at the U.K. and Ireland box office over the weekend, debuting with a strong £3.8 million ($5 million), according to Comscore. The reimagining of the classic fairy tale led a competitive field of new releases and set the tone for the upcoming Easter holiday period.

In second place, Trinity Filmed Entertainment’s animated fantasy sequel “Ne Zha 2” earned $1.6 million. The Chinese blockbuster, which continues the mythological story of its 2019 predecessor, became one of the highest openings for a Chinese film in the territory. It has earned more than $2 billion worldwide and is the highest-grossing animated film of all time and the fifth highest grosser ever.

Universal’s “Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy” continued its remarkable run in third place, earning $1 million in its sixth weekend. The romcom sequel has now grossed $57.6 million, solidifying its position as the highest-grossing U.K. release of the year so far.

With 65 novels, over 200 short stories, and over 400 million copies sold, Stephen King is one of the most prolific authors in modern literature. King has dabbled in numerous genres, including thriller, science fiction, fantasy, and most notably, horror. Some of his best books have been brought to the screen, and his responses have ranged from endorsing them to being deeply critical of them, most notably with Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of "The Shining." Many filmmakers have had the opportunity to bring King's stories to the big screen, the most recent filmmaker being Oz Perkins, director of "The Monkey," which is based on the short story of the same name originally published in a November 1980 issue of the adult magazine "Gallery" and featured in King's "Skeleton Crew" short story collection, published in 1985.

Fresh off of directing "Longlegs," the biggest indie horror film at the box office this decade, Perkins' sharp filmmaking techniques were on display again,...

Nearly 45 years later, The Shining remains a celebrated masterpiece of cinema and holds a place among the greatest movies of all time. Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of the Stephen King novel highlights the director's unique style and is full of bizarre visuals and disturbing moments. It has long been examined by film students and critics and is still re-watched by fans hoping to pick up new clues or find a new interpretation of the material. All of this attention has, understandably, led to the development of lots of theories regarding The Shining and its meaning. Some of these theories are intriguing and others are simply weird, but they're all fun to think about.

From secret messages hidden in the movie to larger themes that are being communicated, there's no shortage of ideas about The Shining and how it should be viewed. Some are supported by experts on film and some...

Long before Stanley Kubrick made waves with book adaptations like The Shining and A Clockwork Orange, he directed one of the most powerful anti-war stories of all time. Based on Humphry Cobb’s book, Paths of Glory is a powerful anti-war drama that explores the futility of battle. But, in true Kubrick style, the film condemns war by creatively dissecting the power structures that sustain it.

Paths of Glory is less about the battlefield and more about the forces pulling the strings behind the scenes: the generals who see soldiers as disposable, the bureaucratic system that turns life-and-death decisions into calculated operations, and the ethical compromises made in the name of victory. Kubrick shifts the spotlight from combat to corruption, making a war film where the real enemy is the system itself.

Paths of Glory Explores the Machinations Behind War

In 1916, during the First World War in Northern France, French...

I was pretty bummed to read earlier this week that Wings Hauser had passed away. While often written off as a C-level action star thanks to a long line of eighties and nineties direct-to-video flicks, the fact is Hauser was beyond talented, and when he put the effort in, he could be unforgettable. Such was the case when Michael Mann cast him against time as a slimy lawyer for big tobacco in The Insider where, in one ninety-second scene, he and Bruce McGill all but walk away with what, for the rest of the 158-minute running time, is ostensibly a star vehicle for Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.

Such was the power of Wings, who could be great in the right role. I also vividly remember him being terrific as a slimy bounty hunter hired by Luke Perry’s Dylan in an atypically action-packed episode of Beverly Hills 90210, while...

Given the amount of money that Star Wars rakes in in today’s day and age, it might be easy to forget that the film had very humble beginnings. While there was money being thrown around that produced some very expensive films, Star Wars was pretty much a fixer-upper throughout its production, which had George Lucas employing every trick in the book to make his spectacle as budget-friendly as possible.

A still from Star Wars || Credit: Lucasfilm

When it came to the time period when Lucas made Star Wars, and to some extent even today, it is easy to compare the franchise with Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece space opera, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Star Wars creator opened up about what he thought of the comparison and how it might almost always favor Star Wars.

The difference between Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey comes down to how much...

Nicole Kidman became the love of Tom Cruise’s life back in 1990 when they married. Although the couple enjoyed 11 years of togetherness, they divorced each other in 2001.

Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut | Credits: Stanley Kubrick Productions

There were several reports, rumors, and allegations that tried to address the issue in the couple. However, it wasn’t conclusive. When Kidman married Keith Urban in 2006, the actress revealed that Urban felt like an ocean to her!

When Nicole Kidman Married Keith Urban

It was the 5th of February in 2001 when the couple’s spokesperson announced that they had separated. Cruise filed for divorce two days later and the couple was officially divorced some months later in that year.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban | Credits: Keith Urban via Instagram

Staying single for 4 years, Nicole Kidman met Keith Urban and the two started dating in 2005. They were married in 2006 and...

Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most prolific directors of all time. He made a name for himself with such suspenseful thrill rides as Rear Window, The Birds, North by Northwest, and Vertigo. While these movies are gripping, there's no doubt that The Master of Suspense is best known for being behind the camera for Psycho. He was briefly in front of the camera as well when his recognizable profile can be seen right outside of the window.

Psycho, released in 1960, follows a man named Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) who goes on a murder spree at the Bates Motel. He's been driven to insanity by killing his mother and lover and, as a result, creates an alter ego he refers to as "Mother." The iconic shower kill in Psycho is now in the pantheon of most famous scenes in cinematic history. Because this scene is so impactful, viewers may have...

Over the last four decades, few figures in the world of film have given as much to the form as Thomas Cruise Mapother IV — or, as we know him best, Tom Cruise. Across 47 films and counting, cinema's real-life action man has run, jumped, climbed, flown, cycled, dived, danced, danced some more, fought, and even breathed his own carbon dioxide, all in service of making the big screen experience as big as it can possibly be. Now, in recognition of his years of service to cinema, both as an actor and producer, the BFI have today announced they'll be celebrating Cruise by awarding the star their highest honour — the BFI Fellowship.

The official press release from the BFI announces that "The Fellowship recognises Cruise’s achievements as an extraordinary, versatile actor whose career has spanned everything from critically acclaimed dramas and romances to dark thrillers and high-octane action films." What's more,...

I’m old enough to remember when Jacques Rivette films were the domain of dark-web networks and substandard DVD rips, a conspiratorial network worthy of his cinema. It’s still a little strange seeing that April will feature a 10-film, one-short Criterion Channel program that combines of his canonized masterpieces with decidedly lesser-seens––plus Va Savoir, which I really hope is the recently unearthed four-hour cut for which there’s no substitute. Penélope Cruz is also subject of a retrospective in April, which––more than making me pine for a Rivette collab that never was––will include both Abre Los Ojos and Vanilla Sky, some Almodóvar, and another in the Channel’s ongoing let’s-add-a-Woody-Allen-movie campaign, Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

For themed series, J. Hoberman has curated a series on the dangers of ’60s and ’70s New York that runs from Michael Roemer’s recently restored The Plot Against Harry and...

Tom Cruise is set to receive the British Film Institute’s highest honor, the BFI Fellowship.

The Hollywood star — currently in the U.K. shooting Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s as-yet-untitled film for Warner Bros. and Legendary — is being recognized for both his “achievements as an extraordinary, versatile actor,” according to the BFI, and his “huge contribution to the UK film industry.”

Indeed, alongside Iñárritu’s project, Cruise has spent a large proportion of the last few decades living and working in the U.K., where he has shot numerous “Mission: Impossible” films on location around the country. He famously broke his ankle while filming “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” in London, while much of the final installment, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” rumoured to be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May, was shot in the U.K. at both Longcross Studios and in the Lake District.

Outside of the spy franchise,...

Tom Cruise is expressing his gratitude after it was unveiled on Thursday that he’ll be awarded the British Film Institute’s (BFI) highest accolade, the BFI Fellowship.

The Fellowship recognizes Cruise’s achievements across a decades-spanning career, as well as his contribution to the U.K. film industry as a producer who has shot numerous projects in Britain. This includes his Mission: Impossible films, which have been filmed on location in London, Birmingham, and Yorkshire.

Cruise’s support of the British film industry has therefore cultivated a wealth of talent in the country, bringing jobs, skills, and training to citizens across the U.K. BFI Film Academy and BFI Future Skills programme alumni have worked on the last two Mission: Impossible movies.

“I am truly honored by this acknowledgment,” the actor said. “I’ve been making films in the U.K. for over 40 years and have no plans to stop.

Tom Cruise is to receive a BFI Fellowship, the highest honor bestowed by the UK’s lead organization for film.

The award will be presented to Cruise at the BFI Chair’s dinner in London on Monday 12 May, hosted by BFI Chair Jay Hunt. The day before, Cruise will take part in an onstage In Conversation session at the BFI Southbank where he will discuss his decades-long career.

The Fellowship presentation will be the centerpiece of a month-long retrospective of Cruise’s film career at the BFI. A season of 27 films featuring Cruise will screen at the BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX throughout May 2025.

“I am truly honored by this acknowledgment,” Cruise said in a statement. “I’ve been making films in the UK for over 40 years and have no plans to stop. The UK is home to incredibly talented professionals — actors, directors, writers, and crews, as well as some...

Chris Farley’s friends and collaborators have shared a lot of great stories about the late comedian over the years, but even casual acquaintances have some funny anecdotes about the Tommy Boy star, it seems.

The hilarious Ike Barinholtz, who has starred in shows like The Mindy Project and The Afterparty, recently guested on David Spade and Dana Carvey’s Fly on the Wall podcast. In addition to discussing his time as a Mad TV cast member and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, Barinholtz also revealed that he once had a memorable encounter with Farley.

“I got to meet (Farley) a couple times,” Barinholtz told Spade and Carvey, “and he was like my idol, I loved him so much.” While working as a busboy at Second City in Chicago, Barinholtz saw Farley on more than one occasion. “He would come in once in a while, and he was always so nice,...

With cinema thrilling audiences worldwide for well over a century, plenty of iconic male actors have graced the silver screen in the medium's most celebrated films. Whether it's playing comedic silent performances or fiery dramatic roles, a great actor helps define the medium as a true movie star. These thespians embody the art of big-screen acting, with their performances serving as a masterclass in the craft all in itself. And even when appearing in lesser projects, these actors still light up the screen whenever they appear in a scene, as a testament to their undying dedication.

In assembling this list of actors to recognize and celebrate for their contributions to cinema, we're looking at individuals whose performances and hard work continue to resonate. There are countless actors currently delivering memorable films at their prime, but if they and their movies will endure remains to be seen. Maybe they'll make future versions of this list,...

Not only is Stephen King one of the most venerated working authors, but adaptations of his work have become among the most iconic horror films. Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, which adapts King's 1977 novel of the same name, is continually cited as one of the most formative and impactful horror films of all time. The same is true of movies like Carrie.King's non-horror novels have notable and respected adaptations, including Stand by Me and The Green Mile.

In addition to their critical acclaim, many King adaptations have become box office darlings. The 2017 adaptation of It made over $701 million worldwide, and its successor, It: Chapter Two, made a still-impressive $467.5 million. Other box office hits include The Green Mile, which made $290.7 million and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. As the list of notable King movies continues, 2025 has added another impressive title, which has just crossed an important box office milestone.

Indie Rights has acquired worldwide distribution rights to “Vincent,” the atmospheric arthouse dark comedy from Australian filmmaker Alan King, it was revealed on the sidelines of Hong Kong FilMart.

The film, which King both directed and stars in as the troubled writer Vincent Tremblay, follows a protagonist who retreats to an isolated location to complete his first novel, only to encounter a mysterious powerful force that disrupts his solitude.

“With ‘Vincent,’ it was my intention for the line between reality and fantasy to be never clearly defined,” King explains. “Many of the events and themes in the film’s narrative serve as metaphoric representations of addiction, isolation, mental health, friendships, family, social prejudices and concepts of identity.”

The film features a cast including Christopher Kirby, Mercia Deane-Johns (“Last Cab to Darwin”), Greg Fleet (“Wolf Creek”) and Zoe Bertram (“Under the Lighthouse Dancing”), with newcomers Bill Evans and Paree Brar rounding out the ensemble.

The worlds of The Shiningand Super Mario Bros.collide in a trippy new crossover video that turns the Overlook Hotel into a video game level. Released in 1980, Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name is now a horror classic, chronicling Jack Torrance's (Jack Nicholson) descent into madness while looking after a haunted hotel with his family. The film couldn't be any more different from the child-friendly Super Mario franchise, which includes dozens of Nintendo games and multiple movie adaptations, including The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023).

Now, Mark Cannataro Films on Instagram imagines what a crossover between The Shining and Super Mario Bros. would look like, and the result is quite strange. The video opens with Mario defeating Bowser before hacking his way through the door of Overlook Hotel room 237, with the scene edited together with shots of Shelley Duvall screaming and cowering in the bathroom as Wendy Torrance.

The directors that popular culture considers to be the greatest of all time — Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, for example — are almost always men. While female directors have spearheaded successful films across genres like superhero, action, and horror, it is men who typically receive the funding, global attention, and prestige projects that cement their legacy in film history.

There have only been 10 women nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards, and it wasn't until 2021 that more than one woman was nominated in the category: Chloé Zhao for "Nomadland" and Emerald Fennell for "Promising Young Woman." In the 95-year history of the Academy Awards, only three women have won the Best Director prize: Chloé Zhao, Jane Campion, and Kathryn Bigelow.

There are so many incredible films made by visionary female directors, even ones that haven't received Oscar attention. Many of these films appear on Metacritic's highest-rated list. Metacritic celebrates...

The stories of Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, and the film of Judy Blume’s Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret in this podcast episode.

It had taken five years for Stanley Kubrick to go from 1975’s Barry Lyndon to 1980’s The Shining. The gap to Full Metal Jacket would be longer, but it’d mark the first in a three picture deal that Kubrick signed with Warner Bros. A deal that would never be completed.

Full Metal Jacket was, though, but the making of it was exhausting and exhaustive. And a disused gasworks was just part of the problem.

Much-loved novelist Judy Blume was always reluctant to sell the film rights to her books. It took several decades – and a very special letter – before she’d do so. But the challenge of Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret was just beginning.

Stories of both are told in this episode…...

Science fiction has long provided audiences with a means of escapism into new worlds and civilizations and epic struggles that exist between the forces of good and evil. Among the directors who have been instrumental in the modern age of cinema in bringing new worlds to life has been director Denis Villeneuve. Villeneuve, director of Blade Runner 2049 and the newest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune, has been critical of the Star Wars franchise. In particular, the direction and tone the films took following the release of Return of the Jedi in 1983, citing that the franchise became geared toward children.

I find that there is some validity to Villeneuve’s comments about the franchise. After all, the intense battle on Hoth between rebel forces and Imperial walkers in The Empire Strikes Back and the Ewoks bringing down a legion of what Emperor Palpatine refers to as “his best troops...

Throughout its three and a half-decade run, "The Simpsons" has seemingly managed to parody pretty much every aspect of popular culture. From major developments in political history to iconic movie scenes, the show's ability to recreate historic moments was always part of its charm, and "The Simpsons" acted as a way to showcase the animators' talents (at least in the golden age).

The "Raiders of the Lost Ark" parody from the opening of season 3 episode, "Bart's Friend Falls in Love," stands as one of the best examples. The hand-drawn recreation of Indy's escape from the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors, reimagined as Bart escaping his home while being chased by an enraged Homer, was a genuinely impressive demonstration of the animators' abilities, and aside from being funny, proved that the show was being made by true craftsman.

As the show has gone on, the movie parodies have remained a consistent element,...

Wednesday star and executive producer Jenna Ortega is hyping up the highly anticipated second season, teasing even more ambitious horror-inspired moments. The Netflix series follows the iconic Addams Family character's journey at Nevermore Academy as she investigates supernatural mysteries. Season 1 became a massive hit, with Ortega's portrayal earning widespread acclaim and the show breaking streaming records. With Wednesday season 2 now in production, Ortega is promising an even more ambitious approach that leans more into the horror aspects of the show, teasing bigger and more elaborate sequences.

In a recent interview with Collider while promoting her new A24 movie, Death of a Unicorn, Ortega talked about season 2 and how the creative team has taken the show to another level visually and thematically. The star revealed that one particular scene involving Pugsley reminded her of Stanley Kubrick's 1987 psychological war drama, Full Metal Jacket. Ortega also teased an entire episode inspired by slasher films.

It’s hard to believe now but before taking 12 long years to follow 1987’s Full Metal Jacket with Eyes Wide Shut in 1999, the famously meticulous Stanley Kubrick was comparatively prolific — in the ’60s alone he released four of his 13 features. In these days of instant gratification, a director taking longer than three years is either deemed to be M.I.A. or about to pop up with a secret film made entirely under the radar. But absence does make the heart grow fonder, and these five directors can expect a warm welcome in 2025.

Kathryn Bigelow

Back with: Untitled. Last film Detroit (2017) Kathryn Bigelow directing ‘Zero Dark Thirty’

Kathryn Bigelow made history in 2010 when she became the first woman ever to win the Oscar for Best Director (she won Best Picture too), but the California...

Vincent D’Onofrio is now having a career renaissance thanks to his return to the role of Wilson Fisk on the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again, which has allowed him to reprise the part that he played to such perfection in the original 2015 Netflix series. One of the reasons that seeing D’Onofrio do such continuously excellent work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that he has been a compelling character actor for years, as it was a breakout role in Stanley Kubrick’s brutal anti-war film Full Metal Jacket that kicked off his career. While he’s often called upon to play ruthless villains and anti-heroes, D’Onofrio showed his romantic side in the coming-of-age drama Mystic Pizza, which Roger Ebert famously referred to as a film that would “become known for the movie stars it showcased back before they became stars.”...

The Monkey is one of the biggest horror movies at this moment, as everyone is talking about the highly-praised adaptation of Stephen King’s story. Osgood Perkins took it upon himself to bring the cult story to the screen and based on the reactions, he’s done a pretty good job.

And while The Monkey will not surpass Perkins’ previous films, Longlegs, at the box office, the numbers we have confirm that it has just surpassed arguably the best Stephen King adaptation of all time and a true classic of 20th-century cinema.

The film in question is, as you might have guessed, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, a classic of horror cinema and one of Kubrick’s best and most famous films. And while the psychological horror starring Jack Nicholson is now regarded as a classic, it had a very rough start, earning just over $47 million with a roughly $20 million budget.

The Cold War may have ended in 1991, but its effects are still felt today. The constant anxiety left an impact on people, and it made itself known in countless films. Today, some of the most famous “retro” movies are obvious reflections of this troublesome period. Everyone knows about Stanley Kubrick’s dark comedy, Doctor Strangelove, but there are so many more time capsules to be found. After all, the Cold War spanned almost fifty years, from 1947 to 1991. One of the hidden gems of the era is a BBC “documentary” named Threads.

As a 1984 release, it fell near the tail end of the Cold War. Its debut came 21 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, but it retains the same sense of creeping dread. Its almost two-hour runtime is permeated by an underlying anxiety. The feeling manifests as an unpleasant buzzing sensation that could easily classify Threads as a thriller film. That said,...

As fans wonder who the future of Star Wars will be handled by, it may be time to give respect to the original creator, George Lucas. The filmmaker wrote and directed the first film in 1977, triggering one of the most profitable and largest cinematic universes. The space opera began as a tribute to some of the serials he watched as a kid.

Originally intended for children, Lucas reportedly was a fan of fantastical sci-fi stories and did not want to get into the hard science aspect of it like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. One of his biggest inspirations and his initial idea was reportedly to adapt the campy comic book series Flash Gordon.

George Lucas was initially inspired by the Flash Gordon comics to make Star Wars George Lucas | Credits: YouTube/Star Wars

While Star Wars is one of the most popular sci-fi franchises in the world,...

Killer dog tale Cujo, by Stephen King, is getting a new telling, backed by Netflix money. More on the story here.

There’s an old maxim that suggests that there’s always at least three Robin Hood films in development at the same time. Given the never-ending glut of Stephen King adaptations that are pumped out, it would probably be more accurate these days to replace Sherwood Forest’s rogueish outlaw with the prolific novelist who always seems to have a take on his work in cinemas, or just around the corner.

Case in point: while Osgood Perkins’ take on The Monkey is still in cinemas, 2025 will also bring us Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck and Edgar Wright’s The Running Man. On the small screen, there’s also HBO’s Welcome To Derry and MGM+’s The Institute debuting this year too.

Naturally, there are more King adaptations in the pipeline,...

Stephen King is one of the most frequently adapted authors in film and television history, with these projects garnering wide acclaim for several decades. Brian De Palma’s adaptation of King’s debut novel, Carrie, created a legendary horror sequence in 1976 when Sissy Spacek was drenched in pig's blood. In 1980, Stanley Kubrick directed The Shining with a visually stunning yet off-kilter take on King’s novel. Ten years later, Misery won Kathy Bates an Academy Award for her chilling performance as an obsessed literary fan, with other successful King adaptations including Stand By Me, Green Mile, and The Shawshank Redemption.

Recent years have seen a resurgence in King adaptations, with Andy Muschietti's It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019) revitalizing the horror franchise as Bill Skarsgård took on the role of the killer clown Pennywise. Despite its box office struggles, Doctor Sleep (2019), a sequel to Kubrick's 1980 film, received positive reviews...

After the erotic drama Baby Girl, Nicole Kidman continues her divisive streak with a certified Rotten thriller. Kidman began acting in the 1980s with Australian films like the action-comedy BMX Bandits and the critically acclaimed Dead Calm before achieving international stardom. Her Hollywood breakthrough came in 1990 when she starred opposite Tom Cruise in the NASCAR love-story Days of Thunder, spawning a variety of leading performances from Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut to the black comedy To Die For.

In the early 2000s, Nicole Kidman's performances continued with back-to-back Oscar-nominated roles from Moulin Rouge! to The Hours, the latter scoring the actor her first Best Actress win with her portrayal of Virginia Woolf. In 2017, she delivered her first Emmy-winning performance in HBO’s drama series Big Little Lies. A few years later, she received another Oscar nomination for her performance asLucille Ball in Being the Ricardos. Kidman's career spans over three decades,...

It takes some cojones for a first-time filmmaker to take on the spirit of Stanley Kubrick. But Jack Huston does just this for his directorial debut Day Of The Fight, not only invoking the title of the Kube’s 1951 documentary but also appropriating its premise, following a New York boxer in the run-up to a big middleweight battle. As well as squaring up with Kubrick, Huston is also sparring with Scorsese’s Raging Bull — Day Of The Fight is in black and white and features a rare modern appearance by Joe Pesci (also an executive producer) — and his own grandfather John Huston, who made his own terrific pugilist picture Fat City. If Huston Jr never scales the heights of this heavyweight trio, Day Of The Fight still shows signs of his promise as a director, if not a writer.

In Kubrick’s version, which is only 12 minutes long, the day...

While vampires are known to turn into bats in fiction, British actor Robert Pattinsonis probably the only person known to have done just that in real life, making his initial breakthrough as vampire Edward Cullen in the Twilight franchise before capping off his ascendance to stardom by becoming the latest actor to take on the eponymous hero in the Batman franchise. His latest role is as the down-on-his-luck protagonist in Bong Joon-ho's sci-fi dark comedy, Mickey 17 (2025); it's the director's first film since his brilliant, Oscar-winning satire Parasite (2019).

But devoted fans of Pattinson will know that Mickey 17 is not the first sci-fi film in which he portrays a destitute man forced by a dystopian government into embarking on a mission that he is unlikely to survive. Nor is it his first time collaborating with an acclaimed director from outside the US and the UK. Indeed, Pattinson already satisfied both...

“Companion” is a darkly comedic sci-fi horror thriller that doubles, as TheWrap’s review notes, as a heightened commentary on one-sided relationships. It is also the rare film featuring artificial intelligence that chooses to take the side of its android character, Sophie Thatcher’s robot companion Iris. Movies have been warning audiences of the dangers of AI since, well, practically the dawn of cinema. Now, as AI becomes an increasingly real part of daily lives, cautionary tales about the boundary-pushing technology have only become more common.

“Companion” is not the only film that paints AI in a semipositive light, though. Here are five others that treat their robot characters with a more sympathetic hand.

“Ex Machina” (A24) “Ex Machina” (2015)

Writer-director Alex Garland’s “Ex Machina” follows Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), a low-level coder who is invited by the genius, reclusive CEO (Oscar Isaac) of the tech company he works at to...

Although Stanley Kubrick was well-respected in his time, he didn't win as many Oscars as you'd probably think. Sure, he received Best Director nominations for "Dr. Strangelove," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "A Clockwork Orange," and "Barry Lyndon," but he didn't win any of those. One of his most acclaimed movies, "The Shining," didn't even receive any Oscar nods at all.

Kubrick's only Oscar win was for Best Special Visual Effects for his 1968 sci-fi film, "2001: A Space Odyssey." The movie competed against "Ice Station Zebra," an espionage thriller starring Rock Hudson that released to mixed reviews and a middling box office performance. If the Academy had some sort of grudge against Kubrick, as some fans of his suspect, they still couldn't deny that "A Space Odyssey" deserved the win here; even more than half a century later, the movie looks fantastic.

What must've sealed the movie's win in this category...

Like Alexandre O. Philippe, Rodney Ascher is a director who pushes the interpretive limits of what a documentary can do, something he made abundantly clear with his 2012 film Room 237. Named after the mysterious hotel suite in The Shining, this festival favorite gave a platform to some of the most bizarre readings of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror imaginable. The theories raised ranged from the esoteric to the ridiculous, but Ascher’s straightforward, non-judgmental approach proved surprisingly effective; though it has long been debunked, the fanciful thought that Kubrick made the film to exorcize his guilt about faking the moon landing footage in 1969 is enticing and still hard to shake off.

Ghost Boy contains some of that, being such an unbelievable true story that it’s almost impossible not to wonder how such a thing can happen, and just how many people have been affected by it: in very real terms,...

While he enjoys the success of his latest movie, the adaptation of Stephen King's short story The Monkey, Osgood "Oz" Perkins still finds the time to share his hot takes. The director went on a quick Q&a with fans who were eager to know a bit more about the visionary director and his unique horror career. However, opening up the floor to questions from the public is always going to throw a few curveballs, and one of those was the question whether Perkins would be interested in directing a movie in the James Bond franchise.

Through a session on Reddit, Perkins took the mic to answer several questions about his career, his inspirations, and… directing James Bond? A user known as jokermobile333 asked Perkins the following question: "Are you open to directing a bond movie/trilogy? If so, who would you cast as your version of bond?" For the most part,...

There isn’t another director in film history more acclaimed than Stanley Kubrick, as he made bold, experimental choices that still feel exciting today. Although Kubrick became known for his highly exacting nature and incredible attention-to-detail, his films earned unanimous praise because of how utterly unique they were; never one to be confined by a singular genre or style, Kubrick made an all-time great science fiction classic, two subversive erotic thrillers, one of the darkest comedies ever made, a terrifying post-apocalyptic satire, several amazing historical epics, and a few of the most memorable war films of all-time.

When a beloved film doesn't make enough money at the box office, or even make back its budget, it's always a sad reality. Especially when that movie happens to be a classic in the making. Many different films every year unfortunately don't live up to financial expectations.

While the numbers are never certain, as there are so many factors involved in making a budget, the financial disappointment of a film should never interfere with the audience's feelings. The quality of a film does not always have any indication or connection to the box office.

There Was No Honor Among Thieves Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Despite much audience appreciation for an incredible Dungeons & Dragons film, Honor Among Thieves bombed at the box office. The film failed to garner mass audience appeal despite the name recognition in the title. Despite earning more than its budget, the film needed much more to break even.

Mickey 17, Warner Bros.’ expensive auteur sci-fi feature from Parasite Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho, finally arrives in theaters this weekend with a global outlook around $45M.

The Robert Pattinson movie carries a net production cost after UK tax credits of $118M before P&a. It will take turnstiles in overdrive for Mickey 17 to break even which, sources say, exists between $240M-$300M.

On the upside, U.S. tracking has improved for Mickey 17 from the teens to the point where a $20M+ domestic opening could be possible. Original sci-fi is a hard nut to expand an audience for; typically, it’s a cold genre aimed at older men. The gist of the campaign has been making Pattinson’s space cog worker — an “expendable” who sacrifices himself only to be “reprinted” or reborn again — relatable to general moviegoers. The comp among sci-fi movies is Denis Villeneuve’s 2016 Oscar winner Arrival,...

Stephen King can easily be considered the king of the horror genre, having written several chilling stories. His novels are filled with eerie and unforgettable details and characters. But what many might not know is that one of the scariest villains in It was actually inspired by someone from Star Wars.

Stephen King | Credits: Kevin Payravi | Cca 4.0/Wikimedia Commons

This character was none other than Mrs. Kersh, and while both movies are quite different from one another, the author has a very special Star Wars connection that he used to name the It villain.

How Star Wars inspired one of the most scariest It villains out there?

When it comes to crafting some of the most eerie and scary books out there, Stephen King reigns supreme. King has penned some of the most terrifying stories out there and can easily be one of the most celebrated authors of our time.

Osgood Perkins may be an indie horror master, but the filmmaker has “No Time to Die” for a James Bond film.

“The Monkey” auteur Perkins wrote in a Reddit Ama that he would not be willing to join the 007 franchise as a director because of its MGM/Amazon ownership. Longtime Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson announced in February 2025 that all creative control for the IP will go to Amazon MGM Studios, with the reported deal being for $1 billion. Upon the announcement, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos asked his social media followers who should play Bond next.

While no actor has been confirmed yet to take over the role (Daniel Craig was the most recent 007 after a decade-long tenure), we at least know for sure that Perkins will not be directing.

A Reddit user asked Perkins, “Are you open to directing a Bond movie/trilogy? If so, who...