That Viral Alien Theatrical Play Is Coming Back

That Viral Alien Theatrical Play Is Coming Back

This year marks the 40th anniversary of sci-fi horror classic Alien, which has since inspired a slew of sequels, prequels and played a vital part in shaping the genre since. The blockbuster franchise was even the subject of a New Jersey high school’s theatrical production, titled Alien: The Play, last month. The play became the talk of the internet and even received praise from the 1979 film’s director Ridley Scott and star Sigourney Weaver.

Thanks to its viral attention, the students of North Bergen High School will be returning to the stage to reenact the space thriller for a special encore performance next week! Check out the announcement from the Alien Anthology’s Twitter below:

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never wanted to attend a high school production more! The encore performance will be returning to North Bergen, New Jersey on April 26, also known as Alien Day. That's the official day dedicated to the franchise for special releases and named after the moon that Aliens is set on, LV-426.

The general admission tickets went on sale this morning at 10 a.m. and have already sold out. However, there will be resident tickets made available in the next couple days on the North Bergen Theater and Arts Foundation website. Following the announcement on Twitter, fans have been asking for a livestream of the encore performance as well, but it’s unclear whether the production will opt for recording it so it can reach a wider audience for Alien Day.

When Alien: The Play went viral online after its initial performances on March 19 and 22, it caught the attention of Ridley Scott, who personally penned a letter to the students to show how impressed he was with their imagination and the production value on a small high school theater budget. He also included word that his production company Scott Free would be sending along some financial help for an encore performance.

Sigourney Weaver also showed her support for Alien: The Play with a video complimenting the production's amazing alien design. While the director and iconic Ripley star heard of the first performances after the fact, maybe this time they will make it out to go see it live… that is, if they can score tickets.

Proceeds from ticket sales are going back to future plays, art projects and student scholarships. The teachers involved in the production have also created a foundation to support the kids in light of all the attention Alien: The Play has been receiving.

Since the encore performance is being promoted by the Alien Anthology and 20th Century Fox, who knows, there may be more surprises to the New Jersey show come next Friday! There is still reportedly a sequel to Alien: Covenant on the way, though it looks to be still in early stages of development.

The 10 Best George Clooney Movies, Ranked

The 10 Best George Clooney Movies, Ranked

George Clooney is the perfect definition of a movie star. He’s a bit of a throwback to Old Hollywood, with his dashing good lucks and his undeniable charm. Before starring in huge hits like Ocean’s Eleven, Gravity and Michael Clayton, he found work as a humble struggling actor.

He started his career in the eighties, appearing in bit parts on sitcoms like The Facts Of Life and Golden Girls before his breakout role, as Dr. Doug Ross on NBC’s ER in the mid-nineties. Since then his star has only grown brighter.

George Clooney has won multiple Oscars, both as an actor (Syriana) and a producer (Argo) and starred in both big budget blockbusters and smaller indie films. He’s also had his fair share of misses in his career, most infamously, his turn as the Caped Crusader in Batman & Robin, a movie so bad, it killed the franchise for a while.

Yet his successes far outnumber his bombs, so we’ve put together a ranking of George Clooney’s 10 best movies, a couple of which you might have missed along the way. Take a look.

10. Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind (2002)

George Clooney directs this fantastic film about '70s game show host Chuck Barris (played by Sam Rockwell). Barris got famous by producing and hosting The Gong Show, a show so ridiculous, it’s amazing it was as popular as it was (its influence over TV is still evident today). Barris figured out that a lot of people in the world were desperate for their 15 minutes of fame, even the wildly untalented, and millions of people tuned in to watch those people fail on the small screen.

However, there was a whole lot more to Chuck Barris than being a simple game show host, at least Barris would have you believe anyway. Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind is based on Barris’ “unauthorized biography” of the same name written by the man himself. Sam Rockwell stars as Chuck Barris, who is portrayed as an alcohol-soaked jerk with delusions of grandeur. Clooney played CIA agent Jim Byrd, who recruits Barris to be an undercover agent.

Among the many outrageous claims Barris made about himself in the book was that he was a CIA hitman who used his cover as a game show host to travel the world and assassinate America’s enemies. Rockwell’s performance captures Chuck Barris’ erratic and sometimes insane behavior perfectly. If you’ve never seen it, you should. The film also stands out as Clooney’s debut as a director, something else he does very well here, and he'd continue with another movie that ends up on this list.

9. Michael Clayton (2007)

Michael Clayton came at a peak in George Clooney’s career. He was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, and it came in the midst of other award-winning films in the same time period, like Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck.

In this gripping story about a high-powered New York attorney who gets caught up in life-threatening controversy, we get a corporate cover-up over a cancer-causing weed killer and a fellow partner losing his mind ( and eventually being murdered) to keep the story out of the press.

George Clooney is left as the only person who can break the story open in a harrowing, classic tale of one man taking on big business and winning.

8. Three Kings (1999)

It’s easy to dismiss Three Kings today. Its style and its plot are both a little dated. For one, the film is a heist film set during the first Persian Gulf War and it was released three years before the second invasion of Iraq. So in terms of history, the perspective is very different today than it was 20 years ago.

The film’s style, driven artistically by director David O. Russell, was groundbreaking at the time, but it’s been so influential, it almost seems contrived today. With a heavy use of handheld steady cams and oversaturated colorizing, the movie’s look is like many other films today, but at the time, nothing else looked or felt like it.

As for George Clooney’s performance in Three Kings, it is masterful. In it, viewers can see the actor blossom into the movie star he was destined to become. Despite legendary arguments with Russell, George Clooney’s performance, alongside his co-stars Ice Cube, Mark Wahlberg and Spike Jonze, radiates with his trademark charisma.

7. Up In The Air (2009)

Up In The Air won’t change your life. It won’t make you question all your beliefs or inspire you change the world. What it will do is delight you and allow you a wonderful break from the heaviness of the real world.

Up In The Air, and George Clooney’s performance in it, is light and, pardon the pun, airy. That’s not a bad thing, it is a very good thing. The film, like Clooney himself, is undeniably charming.

It follows the story of George Clooney’s character as a downsizer who travels the country as a corporate consultant who specializes in laying people off. He travels all week, never spending more than a night or two in anyone place, living the high life on the road taking full advantage of his frequent flier status on American Airlines. He’s a man who never settles into a place called home, for him, home is on the road.

Up In The Air was nominated for a slew of awards, including George Clooney himself for his performance, as well as Anna Kendrick in a star-making role for her as a young apprentice to Clooney’s character.

6. Gravity (2013)

2013’s Gravity found George Clooney in full movie star mode. Maybe it was his portrayal of a cowboy-ish astronaut that did it, but it’s Clooney in full confidence of his abilities. Starring alongside another bonafide movie star in Sandra Bullock and directed by the brilliant Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity has all the components of a blockbuster.

Gravity was nominated for an astounding 10 Academy Awards and won seven, including Best Actress for Sandra Bullock, Best Direct for Cuarón, and most of the technical awards for its gripping story of two astronauts stuck in the vast emptiness of space.

It’s a movie that is beautifully shot and remarkably tense. While it is not the most demanding acting job George Clooney has ever had, it is worthy of inclusion on this list for being the incredible movie that it is.

5. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Can you take a devastatingly handsome leading man like George Clooney and put him in a movie where you never see his face and still have huge success? The animated masterpiece Fantastic Mr. Fox, directed by Wes Anderson, proves that you can.

The thing is, George Clooney’s irrepressible charm comes through even when it is just his voice. Although he’s playing an animated fox, viewers are keenly aware that it is, in fact, George Clooney.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is Wes Anderson’s first animated movie, but it reads just like live-action Anderson film, complete with the same perfectly balanced camera shots and an excellent soundtrack. It is as charming and as fun as any other of the best Wes Anderson movies and the same can be said about George Clooney’s performance. And yeah, it’s better than Up, the movie that stole all the awards that year in animation.

4. Good Night, And Good Luck (2005)

Good Night, And Good Luck marked a big change for George Clooney. It wasn’t the first feature film he directed, but it did establish him as a big time director as he was nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards.

Set during the Red Scare and with the backdrop of the infamous anti-communist hearings by Senator Joseph McCarthy, the film, shown in back and white, explores the early days of television news, focusing on CBS’ legendary news achor Edward R. Murrow, played by David Strathairn in a brilliant performance.

George Clooney’s directorial masterpiece took a lot of risks, not the least of which was to release the film in black and white and his talents really shine through in this dramatic retelling of a pivotal time for the country and for journalism in America.

3. Syriana (2005)

Syriana is a complicated film that requires the audience to play close attention. Because of this, it can also be a little confusing. In fact, in many of the (mostly glowing) reviews, this potential confusion is a recurring theme. But if you follow it, it’s brilliant.

George Clooney’s performance is one of the finest of his career and earned him his first, and to date, only, Academy Award for acting, when he won for Best Supporting Actor.

The movie follows multiple narratives through multiple locations throughout the Middle East starring George Clooney as a CIA agent trying to stem the flow of illegal weapons into the Middle East and also features excellent performance for an excellent cast, including Matt Damon, Christopher Plummer, and Jeffery Wright.

2. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? marks the first collaboration between George Clooney and the Coen brothers and it truly is a brilliant performance by the actor. Clooney plays a con man who has recently escaped from prison in order to get to a pile of money he buried before being arrested in an area about to be flooded with the building of the dam.

Based on Homer’s The Odyssey, George Clooney and his two accomplices, played by John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson, find themselves on an adventure through a Depression-era Mississippi, in a tale that twists and turns and finds them encountering all manner of weird and wonderful characters.

The actor's role as the hilarious con man with a “gift for gab” is simply wonderful. The audience hangs on every single brilliant sentence that the Coen brothers constructed and George Clooney flawlessly delivers. O Brother is a movie finds a whole bunch of really talented filmmakers and actors at creative peaks.

1. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

Ocean’s Eleven takes the top spot for one reason, in a movie filmed with the biggest movie stars of the day, including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Carl Reiner, Casey Affleck, Andy Garcia, and Julie Roberts, George Clooney is the standout star. It’s not easy to stand out in that crowd and Clooney does it with ease.

It’s hard to image anyone stealing the show, and yet somehow George Clooney, as the Danny Ocean, the leader of a first rate crew of thieves pulling of the heist in the vault of three casinos, does exactly that. His confidence and swagger as the leading man among leading men oozes through the character and his performance fits the movie’s fun vibe perfectly.

It is easy to see that Clooney and the rest of the brilliant ensemble had a blast making the movie and its success, along with the success of its two sequels truly established George Clooney as one of the biggest stars of his day and, indeed, of all time.

As you’ll probably note, there are a couple of movies that didn’t find their way onto this list, movies where George Clooney had stellar performances, like his role as the doomed captain of a fishing trawler in The Perfect Storm and his Golden Globe-winning performance in The Descendants.

It’s not that they don’t deserve to be on any list of George Clooney’s best films, but it is a testament to how many great movies he’s made and how many great performances he’s shined in over the years. George Clooney is a movie star’s movie star and he continues to prove it over and over again. Even if he was the worst Batman ever.

Millions Sent Back To Malaysia In Wolf Of Wall Street Case

Millions Sent Back To Malaysia In Wolf Of Wall Street Case

With one of the biggest financial scandals of all time linked to the funding of its production, The Wolf of Wall Street has come back into the public eye. As the trial against former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is proceeding in court, another part of the investigation into Red Granite’s alleged impropriety has proceeded, because Malaysia has been given several million dollars back from its raided 1MDB fund.

The United States government has returned $57 million to the Malaysian government, thanks to production company Red Granite paying $60 million in a recent settlement. The gap in funds returned, amounting to around $3 million, was due to the FBI and Department of Justice recovering funds for their investigative efforts.

While that’s a drop in the bucket when compared to the $4.5 billion that was taken from Malaysia’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, it’s a start to recovering the money that was funneled into Najib Razak’s high living lifestyle, which included funding fancy parties, large ticket purchases of artwork and luxury properties.

Razak also invested in the funding of films like The Wolf of Wall Street, Dumb and Dumber To and Daddy’s Home. Najib Razak was able to do so, courtesy of his step son Riza Aziz, who was one of the founders of the Red Granite company. The scandal was so huge that it's taken almost five years to work through the legal proceedings, and now it feels like justice is finally starting to be served.

The Hollywood Reporter also mentioned in its reporting on this recent development that $322 million has been recovered so far, with another $139 million in the process of being returned back to Malaysia’s government. While it didn’t take too long after the production of The Wolf of Wall Street and Dumb and Dumber To to start the investigation into Red Granite’s financing practices, we’re now finally seeing the concrete results of those efforts being paid back to the people of Malaysia.

Tommy Thomas, Malaysia’s attorney general, is confident that continuing efforts to recover the improperly channeled 1MDB funds will yield more payouts into the country’s investment fund. But for the time being, the $322 million recovered is the start of those promised recoveries.

Even Jordan Belfort himself couldn’t help but feel that The Wolf of Wall Street was being made with illicitly-obtained money, and if that’s not a sign of this entire enterprise being worth the effort, then we don’t know what is. Naturally, we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for any further developments in terms of the 1MDB funds being returned, and should any other updates come through on the matter, we’ll report back with the findings here at CinemaBlend.

The Wolf of Wall Street is currently available on home video and streaming platforms.

The Lion King’s Mufasa Is Barely Being Changed For The Remake

The Lion King’s Mufasa Is Barely Being Changed For The Remake

Disney is moving through the “circle of life” with its remake slate this year and using new talent to tell their familiar stories. However, for The Lion King, director Jon Favreau enlisted the original Mufasa, James Earl Jones, to voice Simba’s father among a fresh cast including Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé as Nala and Seth Rogen as Pumbaa.

While Jon Favreau recently promised that the remake won’t be a shot-for-shot of the original and will surprise audiences, when it came to Jones reprising his iconic voice role, fans should expect the Mufasa they know. In Favreau's words:

So many of his lines have not actually changed that much, because that’s the one role where it really didn’t feel dated at all. All of the speeches Mufasa makes during the film are timeless and apply to each age, whereas with the humor, the music, some of those other aspects, there were opportunities to update. But with him, that role stayed as close to the original as any.

Why would they? James Earl Jones’ Mufasa is perfection. It's a voice seared into many of our brains since childhood and holds up really well! There’s not much room for growth or change in a performance such as this. Just take a look and listen at this scene from the 1994 original and tell me what’s missing:

Chills! Jon Favreau made a good call casting James Earl Jones again for the role, but the director did admit in his Entertainment Weekly interview that he was surprised he agreed to take it on again 25 years later. Mufasa has the legacy of being one of the most recognizable and treasured cartoon character voices of all time and certainly brings in nostalgia from the ‘90s. The director felt this during their recording sessions too. Here’s what he said:

He would do a take and then he would ask me for direction and I honestly couldn’t give an answer! I was like, ‘You’re Mufasa.’ Far be it from me… Everything he said sounded perfect because it was him saying it.

How does one give notes to Mufasa? While fans can expect a lot of the same performance for Mufasa, perhaps there are a few extra lines here and there the “live-action” version builds upon before the character receives his fate from Scar.

On the other paw, it may feel off-putting to hear James Earl Jones’ Mufasa and not hear Jeremy Irons’ Scar, as this new version of the character will be voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Some have already voiced their distaste with the new take on the movie’s villain after the first full trailer dropped a couple weeks ago.

It looks like the new Lion King will tread the line between doing justice to the beats we all hold dear from the original and offering something fresh and new to the story that will hopefully make the movie’s existence feel earned. Jon Favreau is a huge fan of the classic animated feature who still feels like it holds up well, but wants to deliver on expectation on this version and astonish audiences when it comes to theaters on July 19.

Jumanji 3 Raises The Stakes For A More 'Risky' Adventure, Kevin Hart Says

Jumanji 3 Raises The Stakes For A More 'Risky' Adventure, Kevin Hart Says

In the world of Jumanji, one thing is certain: when you play the game, chaos and pandemonium will ensue. 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle saw the classic board game from the 1995 original being turned into a video game, with four teenagers being drawn in and turned into game avatars. That formula will be repeated for Jumanji 3 later this year, but returning star Kevin Hart says the threequel will raise the stakes even higher, resulting in a riskier adventure for the protagonists. In his words:

Back in the world of Jumanji, but the beautiful thing about the way we set it is through the video game atmosphere. In this particular case, we go back into the game and we’re in a new level. And the way we got back into the game is the way we didn’t want to get back into the game. The same people are there. Our same band is back together with this adventure on a much more risky adventure. The stakes have been elevated and raised. For a fan base, you want to give them the same family action adventure they fell in love with. So we just wanted to make sure we delivered. Jake Kasdan, our director and writer, he does just that.

As Kevin Hart alluded to, a good sequel retains the elements that made its predecessor(s) popular, while also giving audiences plenty of new material to chew on. We already knew Jumanji 3 would be delving back into the video game world, and while Hart can’t divulge any specific plot details just yet, evidently what the teenagers went through in Welcome to the Jungle will pale in comparison to what’s in store for them this time around.

Kevin Hart’s comment about a “new level” to Collider is particularly interesting, as it means that the main characters won’t have to deal with the same challenges they faced last time. Still, with rampaging animals, mercenaries on their tail and an assortment of other obstacles and problems, it’s not like the events of Welcome to the Jungle were a cakewalk. Fingers crossed we get a Jumanji 3 trailer soon so that we can learn what dangers lurk around the corner.

One thing that isn’t changing in Jumanji 3 is the avatars within the video game, as along with Kevin Hart reprising Moose Finbar, Dwayne Johnson’s Dr. Smolder Bravestone, Jack Black’s Professor Shelly Oberon, Karen Gillan’s Ruby Roundhouse and even Nick Jonas’ Seaplane McDonough will all be back, as will Rhys Darby’s Nigel Billingsley, the NPC who guided them in Welcome to the Jungle. As mentioned earlier, the same teenagers will also be playing the game again: Alex Wolff’s Spencer Gilpin, Madison Iseman’s Bethany Waler, Ser’Darius Blain’s Fridge Johnson and Morgan Turner’s Martha Haply.

As for new faces, Awkwafina, Danny DeVito, Danny Glover and Dania Ramirez have all joined Jumanji 3’s cast, although their characters haven’t been identified yet. Filming on the threequel began in January in both Atlanta, Georgia and Hawaii, and is expected to finish at the end of the month.

Welcome to the Jungle was definitely one of the surprise cinematic successes of 2017, receiving many positive reviews taking in over $962 million worldwide during its theatrical run. We’ll have to wait and see if Jumanji 3 comes close to reaching that same level of critical and commercial reception, but going off of Kevin Hart’s comments, director and writer Jake Kasdan has done his best to deliver a fresh story that will ideally put a lot of butts in seats again.

Jumanji 3 heads into theaters on December 13, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, look through our 2019 release schedule to learn what other movies are coming out later this year.

The Suicide Squad Has Found Its First New Actress

The Suicide Squad Has Found Its First New Actress

The new Suicide Squad team coming to the screen is going to look very different from the the one in the previous film. It's made up almost entirely of new characters, and now it appears it will include one brand new actress as well. Portuguese soap opera star Daniela Melchior has reportedly been tapped to play the role of the character known as Ratcatcher.

Melchior is joining the returning Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang. Additional new characters include David Dastmalchian as Polka Dot Man, John Cena, who is rumored to be playing Peacemaker, and Idris Elba, who is taking on an as yet unspecified role.

In the comics, Ratcatcher, who has the ability to train and control rats, has traditionally been a male role but the part has been gender swapped by writer/director James Gunn. Exactly why isn't clear at this point, though Variety is reporting that Ratcatcher will have some sort of a connection to Idris Elba's character in the film and it sounds like the switch is related to that story point.

Daniela Melchior has been a star of Portuguese film and television since 2014. Suicide Squad 2 will mark her debut in a major Hollywood film. With a cast that is otherwise made up of major stars, this is clearly a big move for Melchior, as, so far, the only major newcomer to the production. The movie could have almost certainly picked up another known star for the Ratcatcher role. Comic book movie parts are about as popular with Hollywood stars as they are with the audiences who watch the films.

While previous comments from the studio tried to argue that the new Suicide Squad movie was not a sequel to the previous film, it seems the truth of the matter is that, while the new film will follow the first chronologically, it will tell a very different story by virtue of having mostly brand new characters. The sequel will also follow a second appearance by Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, who will be starring in Birds of Prey before rejoining the Suicide Squad.

Reports are that at least one other major character, King Shark, will figure into the story. Unless it turns out that's the role Idris Elba is playing, then there is at least one other team member left to cast, assuming there aren't others that have not been revealed.

With casting well underway it looks like Suicide Squad 2, or The Suicide Squad or whatever it's called will be going into production this fall, ahead of a summer 2021 release.

Once the new Suicide Squad movie is completed, James Gunn will be crossing the comic demilitarized zone between DC and Marvel to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

The first Suicide Squad was a massive success bringing in almost $750 million at the global box office. With the new movie being so different from the first entry, the sequel may not be an obvious hit, but with a strong new cast it certainly is being given the best possible shot.

Sean Gunn Knew In Advance About James Gunn’s Reinstatement As Guardians 3 Director

Sean Gunn Knew In Advance About James Gunn’s Reinstatement As Guardians 3 Director

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a fairly well-oiled machine at this point, with 21 movies and a decade of filmmaking under its belt. The studio has especially hit its stride with Phase Three, as every single release has been a box office and critical success. But there were a few bumps in the road, especially James Gunn's firing and eventual reinstatement as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

James Gunn was fired in July after offensive tweets from a decade ago resurfaced, and Disney attempted to distance itself from that narrative. But considering how much of Gunn is infused with the Guardians franchise, it put the future of the threequel in jeopardy. James' brother Sean Gunn plays Kraglin and stands in for Rocket during filming, and therefore discovered the news early. As he tells it:

I was aware before it was announced, a little bit before. I know that they were, they wanted to get the timing right in terms of when the announcement was made. Like I was saying before, in Hollywood, things don't ever happen until they happen, you know? So I was aware that it was probably going to happen, but I was never sure until I actually saw it in the news. But I was pretty sure for, let's just say for a little while.

The public was shocked by James Gunn's return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it doesn't look like Sean Gunn was. He saw the plan in the works for some time before it was official, although he found out about the final decision in the news just like everyone else. I guess it pays to be related to the subject of such a major story.

Sean Gunn's comments to Comic Book show that the deal with James Gunn went back quite some time. It came out of nowhere for the public, but was likely a long process filled with red tape and legalese. It was certainly a bold choice for Marvel to do an about-face, and bring Gunn back into the fold. What's more, the director recently signed on to helm The Suicide Squad for DC, so there was probably extra contracts and scheduling issues as part of the deal.

It stands to reason that Sean Gunn would be privy to more information than most, as its his sibling who is the mind behind the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. On top of hearing about it from his brother, Sean is also an important cast member of the property. While he's not a bonafide member of the member, Kraglin has had a supporting role in the first two movies. What's more, Sean also does the motion capture work for Rocket on set, with Bradley Cooper eventually stepping into the studio to record dialogue, and extensive visual affects bringing the character to life.

Sean Gunn also played Rocket during Avengers: Endgame filming, with the blockbuster arriving April 26th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.