Booksmart’s Female-Driven Story Isn’t Just For Women, According To Director Olivia Wilde

Booksmart’s Female-Driven Story Isn’t Just For Women, According To Director Olivia Wilde

High school movies come in all shapes and sizes. There’s the decidedly male-oriented, like Superbad, and there’s the equally female-oriented, like Pretty in Pink. Tron: Legacy actress Olivia Wilde is about to dive into the genre by making her directorial debut on the film Booksmart, and while the film will focus on a friendship between two young women, Wilde opened up to CinemaBlend and other outlets during a visit to the Booksmart set earlier this year to make sure we all knew that it wouldn’t be an exclusively female story. Wilde said:

It's certainly not a specifically female story. It's a story that's relatable in all ways, to people of all ages. Which has been great. All the guys on our crew love this story and feel connected to it, as well as the women. I wanted to tell an authentic story about female friendship and create a buddy comedy about young women that I don't think I've seen before.

So yes, there is a story about female friendship at the core of Booksmart. That said, the friendship element is a bit more important than the female element, with a universal message about the pains of growing up anchoring the whole thing. There’s a female focus, but there’s plenty in there to get male audiences onboard with the Booksmart story as well.

Of course, a big reason why Booksmart aims to have such universal appeal is the sheer number of classic high school properties that it has drawn from in the development of its story. The presence of Beanie Feldstein on the movie’s cast will likely draw comparisons to Lady Bird, but during our visit to the set of the film earlier this year, we learned a lot about the other high school movies that have provided DNA to this one. In particular, it should be noted that Booksmart is drawing heavily from Superbad, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Freaks and Geeks – in addition to a number of John Hughes movies. Put all of these elements together, and you’re left with a film that definitely doesn’t feel like it’s specifically designed for any gender or type of audience.

As previously mentioned, Booksmart centers on the story of two young women on their last day of high school. Realizing that they have focused solely on education and not enough on fun, they embark on one wild night to live it up before finding themselves forced to say goodbye to the high school life forever

Make sure to keep it here for more updates related to Booksmart as further details about the movie are made available to us. Until we have more information about Olivia Wilde’s upcoming directorial debut, you can also head over to our movie premiere guide to read up on all of the films that are set to premiere on the big screen on May 24.

Dave Bautista Is ‘Still Processing’ Avengers: Endgame

Dave Bautista Is ‘Still Processing’ Avengers: Endgame

Spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame. If you haven't seen it yet, check out one of our other stories!

It's been nearly a week since Avengers: Endgame arrived in theaters, and moviegoers are still recovering from the movie's unpredictable events. The Russo Brothers crafted a complicated story that was truly the cumulation of the last 21 movies, rewarding the hardcore fandom for consistently running to theaters and shelling out cash for each new release.

The Russo Brothers threw everything and the kitchen sink into Avengers: Endgame, so there's plenty to unpack from the action-packed blockbuster. While moviegoers' heads are understandably still spinning, that's a feeling that extends to even the cast and crew. Guardians of the Galaxy standout Dave Bautista took to social media following Endgame's release, check it out:

Same, Dave. Same.

Dave Bautista's Tweet makes a great deal of sense, especially considering he was probably kept in the dark regarding quite a bit of Avengers: Endgame's contents. Drax was largely absent from the blockbuster, after he and most of the Guardians faded to dust as a result of Thanos' finger snap of death. So while he was privy for the final battle and the Guardians' ultimate fate, Bautista was likely just as delighted and surprised over Endgame's contents as the rest of us.

The Guardians of the Galaxy were hit hard by Thanos' assault in Infinity War, with only Rocket and Nebula managing to survive the snap. Luckily, the dusted Guardians popped back up in Endgame's final battle with Thanos. After Hulk managed to snap everyone back into existence, all of the galaxy's forces untied against Thanos and his army. Drax and Mantis were one of the first Guardians to appear, and they were a sight for sore eyes.

The Russo Brothers crammed so much into Avengers: Endgame, that the blockbuster is basically begging or a rewatch. This might be exactly what Dave Bautista needs, as he's processing the events of the movie as well. And in the end, Endgame did seem to tease the future of his team of intergalactic heroes.

Related: Why Thor Changed So Much In Avengers: Endgame, According To The Writers

Once reassembled, the Guardians of the Galaxy ended up heading back to space in Endgame, with Thor in toe. Star-Lord is shown searching for the 2014 version of Gamora, who joined the final battle against Thanos before vanishing. The search for Gamora will likely be a major plot point for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and it should be interesting to see if Thor ends up actually joining the team. It's a character pairing that worked great in Infinity War, but Chris Hemsworth has also come to the end of his Marvel Studios contract.

Avengers: Endgame is currently in theaters now, and Guardians 3 is rumored to begin filming in 2020. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

New Avengers: Endgame Trailer Goes In On Spoilery Content

New Avengers: Endgame Trailer Goes In On Spoilery Content

Massive spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame. If you haven't seen the movie yet, look away!

Avengers: Endgame is going into its third weekend in theaters, and just continues to make insane box office numbers. The blockbuster has surpassed the gross of Titanic, and is currently the second highest earning movie in history. Endgame is showing no signs of slowing down, as the dense narrative warrants multiple viewings, especially from the hardcore fandom.

Co-directors The Russo Brothers officially lifted the Avengers: Endgame spoiler ban this week, after the film had two full weekends of showings. As such, the cast and crew have gotten a bit more chatty about their experience on set. And a new TV spot for Endgame is going ham on spoiler content, revealing tons of clips from the epic final battle. Check it out.

Holy HD footage. To this point, the only way you could watch Endgame's insane final battle against Thanos at the theaters. But this new TV spot will likely get tons of views, as it offers brief glimpses at the biggest battle in Marvel history.

The new Avengers: Endgame TV spot boast the film's wild success and killer reviews. As praise for The Russo Brothers' (final?) Marvel movie is shown in big letters, the audience is treated to exclusive footage from the lat conflict with Thanos. It's a scene that brought every character imaginable, and some of the epic new team-ups appear in the new TV spot.

This latest Endgame commercial starts with familiar footage: we see the Avengers in their Quantum Suits, and assembled around a table at the Compound. But then the new clips start arriving, and they seriously deliver. To start, we see a clip from the moment where Marvel's most badass female characters teamed up on the field. It's a mind-blowing moment in the film, one that has erupted more than a few theaters into thunderous applause.

There's also some brief shots from Avengers: Endgame's time heist. The survivors' quest to assemble the Infinity Stones by stealing them throughout the MCU's timeline was super ambitious, and one of the most fun and cameo-laden moments in the movie. Specifically, the new Endgame trailer shows some footage of the team who traveled back to the Battle of New York. We see Hulk's confrontation with Tilda Swinton's The Ancient One, as well as the two Captain Americas facing off. Luckily, they both have America's ass.

Related: The Story Behind Captain America’s Butt In Avengers: Endgame

The latest Avengers: Endgame TV spot also includes some of the most epic shots of the entire film. After the dusted heroes are revived and joined the Avengers on the field, there's an insane few moments of Earth's forces running toward Thanos' army. That shot and the battle itself are a big selling point in this new trailer, encouraging moviegoers to see it on the big screen one more time.

You can catch Avengers: Endgame in theaters now, and help it gain even more box office success. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movie.

Margot Robbie Reveals Filming Has Wrapped On Birds Of Prey

Margot Robbie Reveals Filming Has Wrapped On Birds Of Prey

It’s been a while since we were introduced to Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad, but she’s finally making her grand return to the DC Extended Universe next year in Birds of Prey. Granted, that is still a ways off, but for the cast and crew behind the film, they’ve just crossed a huge milestone, as filming has officially wrapped. Here’s how Robbie commemorated the big occasion.

Finishing principal photography is a big deal for any movie, especially blockbusters. Birds of Prey began rolling cameras in January in Los Angeles, and there was also filming conducted in Georgia. Now, after three months, this stage of the creative process, and while there’s still a lot more work to be done until Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (yes, that’s still a mouthful) is completely finished, as far as the performing side of things go, Margot Robbie and the other actors have done their part.

Granted, there’s the possibility that Margot Robbie and others might have to come back later this year for reshoots, but those usually aren’t anywhere near as grueling as the main shoot. In any case, Robbie made sure to have her new Harley Quinn outfit on in the picture she shared on Instagram, so that was nice.

Thus far, all we’ve officially seen of Birds of Prey is a video titled ‘See You Soon’ showing the main cast members in their current costumes, with Margot Robbie getting the most attention, no doubt because we’re already familiar with Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad. She’s definitely rocking a look significantly different than during her first outing with Task Force X and even in the comics, but that just lines up with her changed status quo in the eighth DCEU movie.

When we last left off with Harley Quinn at the end of Suicide Squad, she was broken out of Belle Reve by The Joker and his goons, and the two were clearly still head over heels for one another. However, just like what’s happened in the comics, Birds of Prey sees Harley breaking up with The Clown Prince of Crime and embarking on her own in Gotham City, which is now unprotected due to Batman’s mysterious disappearance.

It’s in this environment that Harley Quinn will cross paths with Cassandra Cain, a young girl who’s being hunted by Roman Sionis, a.k.a. Black Mask, because she’s come across a diamond belonging to the crime lord. Harley will team up with Huntress, Black Canary and Detective Renee Montoya to protect Cassandra from Sionis, although given that Harley is usually fond of lawlessness and chaos, just because she’s working with some good guys doesn’t necessarily mean she won’t complicate this already dangerous situation.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) opens in theaters on February 7, 2020. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on how it’s coming along, and don’t forget to look through our DC movies guide to learn what else this superhero franchise has coming down the pipeline.

That Time C-3PO Stole Oscar Isaac’s Thunder Wrapping Star Wars Episode IX

That Time C-3PO Stole Oscar Isaac’s Thunder Wrapping Star Wars Episode IX

The public still has to wait another nine months for Star Wars: Episode IX, but for the movie’s cast and crew, the journey is over. Episode IX’s principal photography concluded last month, and for most, if not all of these actors, this could their final on-screen appearance in the Star Wars universe given that this movie is the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Unfortunately for Oscar Isaac, his last day of shooting Episode IX was the same as Anthony Daniels’, meaning that Poe Dameron’s thunder was stolen by C-3PO. Isaac recalled:

It was such a milestone. What was particularly special was the day that I finished on these three massive movies that for me have been such a huge part of my life, right after it was like, ‘Okay, Oscar’s done.’ And then I said a few words. ‘And it’s also Anthony Daniels’ last day on set!’ Way to take the thunder.

Look, Oscar Isaac is one of the main actors in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and there’s no question that Poe Dameron has gained a lot of fans over the last several years. But looking at the entire Star Wars franchise, Anthony Daniels is definitely the heavier hitter. He’s been playing C-3PO since the beginning, with the golden protocol droid being present for many of the galaxy far, far away’s biggest events over the last century. So while Isaac may be the more famous actor, when looking through a Star Wars lens, I can’t say I’m surprised that Daniels got more attention on that last day of filming for the two performers.

Nevertheless, Oscar Isaac didn’t have any hard feelings about this, acknowledging during his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that Anthony Daniels has been part of the franchise since A New Hope and that George Lucas originally envisioned the Star Wars saga as a story about C-3PO and his partner, R2-D2. Isaac continued:

[Daniels] was super emotional about it and hanging up the golden cowl. And I think, really, and I mean this, this time he kept saying this was the most fun he’s had ’cause he had so many fun things to do and we got to work a lot together. It was just amazing to see that piece of history close.

The Star Wars franchise is keeping its big screen run going in the coming years with Rian Johnson’s trilogy and the trilogy from Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, but Episode IX truly marks the end of an era. In Anthony Daniels’ case, it sounds like this could be the final time he ever plays C-3PO, although he probably felt the same way when the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies concluded too, so there’s always the possibility he might don the gold suit again.

For now, Daniels is the only actor to appear in every Star Wars movie, because along with playing C-3PO in most of them, he also appeared in Solo: A Star Wars Story as a freed slave on Kessel. Daniels has also voiced C-3PO on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, and even in projects set outside of this strange galaxy like The LEGO Movie and Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20, so stay tuned for CinemaBlend for more coverage. In the meantime, look through our 2019 release schedule to learn what other movies are coming out later this year.

6 Insane Us Easter Eggs That Appear To Have Much Deeper Meanings

6 Insane Us Easter Eggs That Appear To Have Much Deeper Meanings

The following contains significant spoilers for Us.

Based on the weekend's box office results, it appears that a lot of people went to see Jordan Peels's new movie Us. It's a movie that has a lot going on. It has so much happening that it's very possible you didn't catch many or everything worthy of note -- especially if you only saw the movie once.

There are lots of easter eggs and references hidden inside Us, but rather than simply existing within the film so that the audience might catch them, many -- if not all -- of these little moments seem to be clearly chosen by Jordan Peele to help build on the larger themes of Us and foreshadow the story to come. Here are just a few my favorites.

Those Video Tapes

Us opens with a very odd sequence in which we watch a small child watching television in the 80s. Specifically, she's watching a promotion for Hands Across America, the fundraising stunt that was designed to bring attention to homelessness and poverty. Why we're seeing this is far from clear, but what's even more interesting than this dated advertisement is the collection of VHS tapes surrounding the television.

Among the tapes on display are The Goonies, a movie about kids who go exploring through a collection of hidden tunnels under the ground, and C.H.U.D., a horror film about monsters living in the sewers. We also see the box for The Man with Two Brains. While the movie itself doesn't necessarily connect to the concepts behind Us, the idea of two minds being connected is certainly key to understanding Us.

Thriller

Us opens in the 1980s, more specifically in 1986 at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. It's there we meet Adelaide for the first time. She's a young child watching her father compete in carnival-style games where he's able to successfully win her a prize, a Michael Jackson t-shirt specifically, one promoting Thriller, one of the biggest albums ever made.

Bringing up Thriller isn't simply an easy reference to make it clear you're watching a scene from the 1980s. Instead, we're talking about a song that created one of the most memorable music videos of all-time. In the video, Jackson's character shows that he has a dark side. He is both a man and a monster in the same way that the actors in Us play both roles. We also see a horde of zombie-like characters come up from underground, the same place they live in Us.

The Lost Boys

One of my personal favorite references in Us comes just after Adelaide gets her Michael Jackson T-shirt. The family is looking for something else to do at the boardwalk and Adelaide's mother makes a throwaway reference that there is a movie shooting down the boardwalk, and maybe they should try to get in the movie as extras.

This isn't just a random comment. The scene we're watching is taking place in 1986, which would have been exactly when the '80s classic The Lost Boys would have been filming in Santa Cruz, as it was released in 1987. The movie, which takes place in a fictionalized version of Santa Cruz, called Santa Carla, supposes there is a world full of vampires that exists alongside the world that we know. They've always been there, we just didn't know they were there, just like the tethered.

The Shining

For many there is no creepier horror movie than Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Us pays its own sort of tribute to the classic by borrowing and re-purposing one of its most iconic images, a pair of creepy twins. The Wilson family is friends with another family, the Tylers. Husband Josh is played by Tim Heidecker and wife Kitty by Elizabeth Moss. Like the Wilson family they have two children, but in this case they are twins Becca and Lindsey.

Everybody in Us has a twin of course, but we don't know that at this point in the story. Of course, these twins, like everybody else in the film, have evil duplicates too. In fact, it's them that commit the first killing of "normal" characters when they rush their opposites from either side with knives drawn. Clearly, twins are just evil.

Jaws

The beach sequence when the Wilsons go to Santa Cruz owes more than a little to the classic Steven Spielberg film Jaws. If you needed that explained, there's the fact that son Jason is actually wearing a Jaws t-shirt to the beach in the scene. In both cases we see a seemingly idyllic beach town fall into terror and violence.

However, beyond that, the end of the scene plays out in much the same way as a key sequence in Jaws. Adelaide is sitting on the beach and not really listening to Kitty when she realizes Jason has disappeared. She begins to look around for him and the tension builds to panic as Adelaide tries to cut out all the ancillary noise and find her son. Roy Schneider goes through a nearly identical sequence in Jaws. Although, things actually turn out OK for Jason, at least in that moment.

Alice in Wonderland

While most of the references in Us are front and center (even if their meanings aren't always clear), this one is a bit less obvious, but the implications are certainly there.

Rabbits are an important symbol in Us. We look at them as the opening credits run, and we learn they were the primary food that the tethered had to eat. We also see daughter Zora sporting a t-shirt with a rabbit on it early in the film. When Adelaide finds herself back in the hall of mirrors and she first opens the door into the tunnels, the first thing she sees is a rabbit coming out, and then down the rabbit hole she goes, as in Alice in Wonderland. Once again, we're dealing with the idea that an entirely new world we weren't aware of has existed beneath us all this time.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of the references in Us. It seems that Jordan Peele left little to chance and nearly everything that we see is there for a reason. What Easter eggs or references did you catch in Us that you thought were especially telling? Let us know in the comments below.

Captain Marvel Is Well On Its Way To Hitting A Billion Dollars

Captain Marvel Is Well On Its Way To Hitting A Billion Dollars

Captain Marvel has been putting up impressive box office numbers since it opened and it's not done yet. The movie has been open for all of 13 days and while we don't have official totals for yesterday's box office yet, it's all but guaranteed that the movie cleared the $800 million mark, putting it well on its way to do doing a billion dollars before it's all said and done.

Through Tuesday of this week Captain Marvel had brought in just short of $797 million in total global box office. Even if the film did half as much business yesterday as it did on Wednesday of last week, which is how the numbers appear to be tracking, it will still do well over $4 million, putting the movie over the $800 million mark in total.

While the box office is clearly slowing down for Captain Marvel, it's doing so much slower than your average blockbuster. The film only saw a 55% drop in sales from its opening weekend to its second weekend, which is actually a pretty small number when compared to other major superhero movies. This weekend's big release is Jordan Peele's horror movie Us, which, while one would expect it will have a big weekend, is still in a genre, and with a rating, that isn't going to bring in the widest possible audience, meaning Marvel is still in a strong position to have a nice weekend of its own, even though it likely won't take first place.

In actuality, while the official numbers, according to Deadline, still put Captain Marvel behind $800 million, it's probably already past that numbers. We don't have perfect reporting up through this week in all foreign territories where the film has opened, and as such it's probably got a lot of foreign dollars that need to be added to the total. The film has done two-thirds of its total business overseas and that's where it will likely still continue to do a lot of business.

If Captain Marvel is able to hit the billion dollar mark it will become the seventh Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to do so. This will happen just ahead of Avengers: Endgame hitting the same mark, which the film is fully expected to do.

Even if Captain Marvel doesn't quite join the billion dollar movie club, it's still a massive hit that has done some incredible numbers. We can fully expect to see Brie Larson's Captain Marvel returning to the MCU beyond Avengers: Endgame as the character is clearly popular.

2019 is almost guaranteed to be a banner year for Disney at the box office and Captain Marvel has gotten the studio off to an epic start. Now we just wait to see how many billions the studio will bring in before the year comes to an end.