Why Making Little Woods Was A Huge Step For Tessa Thompson

Why Making Little Woods Was A Huge Step For Tessa Thompson

In the years since she made her professional acting debut in a 2005 episode of Cold Case, Tessa Thompson has seen her star rise to incredible heights. Recurring roles on television shows like Veronica Mars, Heroes, and Detroit 1-8-7 eventually led to leading parts in impressive features, and now she's at a point where she is concurrently starring in three different major franchises. Thanks to years of dedicated and outstanding work, her name now carries a significant amount of clout in the industry – and it’s something of which she’s not only aware, but using responsibly.

This brings us to her new film, Little Woods: the feature debut from writer/director Nia DaCosta. It’s an example of a smaller production that’s garnered more attention because of the cast involved – the ensemble also including Lily James, Lance Reddick, and James Badge Dale – but it should also be noted that Tessa Thompson’s involvement goes beyond just her part as the story’s protagonist. The movie also sees her credited as an executive producer for the first time, and as I recently learned during an interview, it’s a reflection of her desire to become more hands on with the projects that she chooses. Thompson explained,

[Nia DaCosta and I] got on and had a familiarity really quickly, and she was very generous because I was sort of at a point where I wanted to be more than just a cog in something moving. If I was going attach myself to projects and I was passionate about them, I'm someone that sort of looks at the whole picture and thinks really macro. So it became clear to me that I wanted to start producing, and really be integral to the project.

Following its world premiere last year at the Tribeca Film Festival, Little Woods will be getting a limited theatrical release this week, and in advance of the screenings I recently had the immense pleasure of sitting down with Tessa Thompson and Nia DaCosta together to talk about the film. Through our conversation I learned that Thompson was actually one of the first people to sign on to be a part of the movie, and what started as a simple leading role opportunity eventually expanded and led to her debut as an executive producer.

Continuing, Tessa Thompson acknowledged that she is currently at a place in her career where she can help support projects that might otherwise not have the opportunity to be made – and that very much includes movies like Little Woods, which is a dark, original indie drama with a female lead that tackles many prescient issues and themes (I can guarantee there aren’t too many of those currently playing at your local cineplex). At the same time, though, she also noted how important it was to let Nia DaCosta make the movie she wanted to make and not invade the creative process too much:

Particularly when you get to a place where you can help finance a thing, then you want to be able to talk about what the thing is in real robust ways. So [Nia DaCosta] and the producers were really generous letting me come on as an EP, so we continued to work through that. It was really cool through the cut, and at a certain point I was like, 'It's yours.' I can't give notes. It's not my movie, and I see myself and I'm like, 'I don't know - just do another take where I don't have a double chin.' Like, ‘I can't talk about this movie in an intelligible way, so it's yours now.’ (laughs)

Obviously that’s dripping with humorous self-deprecation, but Nia DaCosta followed up by stressing the reality of Tessa Thompson’s impact as a collaborator on the movie – particularly when it came to her specific role. The filmmaker noted that she puts a lot of stock in the perspectives of her actors, and through the production relied on Thompson to make the character as authentic and consistent as possible. Said DaCosta, talking directly to her star,

You also asked lots of questions, and there's always a moment for me personally where you kind of hand the character over because it's like someone checking your work, you know what I mean? It's asking questions like 'What's this?' and tracking the character - who this person is, who this person was before, and who they might be afterwards.

Based on an original screenplay by Nia DaCosta, Little Woods tells the story of two sisters, Ollie (Tessa Thompson) and Deb (Lily James), living in North Dakota trying to make ends meet and take care of the people they love. Unfortunately, things start to snowball in a bad way when they learn not only that their mother’s house is facing foreclosure, but that Deb is pregnant. While Ollie is still on probation following a past arrest, she finds herself forced back into the business of illegally running pills across the Canadian border in order to make the money that she needs, and in doing so risks everything that she has and wants in life.

Distributed by Neon, Little Woods will be playing in limited theaters starting this Friday, April 19th – and you can be sure that we’ll be hearing a lot more about Tessa Thompson productions and new Nia DaCosta movies in the years to come.

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Cast Can't Stop Debating The Monster's Sex

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Cast Can't Stop Debating The Monster's Sex

For those with less free time on their hands, it may come as a surprise to hear that Godzilla’s sex is actually the source of much speculation and fierce debate. Is the monster that has been gracing cinema screens for 65 years male, female, or perhaps something else entirely? With Godzilla: King of the Monsters now in theaters, it is only natural that the cast of the latest film weighs in on this important topic and you’ll see that Vera Farmiga and Kyle Chandler had differing views.

Farmiga: Hands down it’s a male. I know the ‘A’ at the end of the name throws it. But he’s King. He’s not Queen of the Monsters. Mothra’s Queen.

Chandler: I’m saying those are semantics. I have a different view on it. I think it’s possible it’s a woman. I don’t know, I’m just not sure yet. Where did Baby Godzilla come from? This is something my wife and I had a full conversation on this morning. It’s a possibility, but it’s not a certainty.

Farmiga: But you know what? He’s sort of a hybrid himself. He’s amphibian and reptile.

I love that these two have such strong opinions on the topic of Godzilla’s sex and have actually given it some thought. Like Jason Lee’s Brodie Bruce discussing superhero sex organs in Mallrats, people want to know what parts this fictional monster has and how they work. Kyle Chandler and Vera Farmiga both make valid points too.

Vera Farmiga applies Occam’s Razor, opting for the simplest answer, which is that king is usually a title given to a male monarch or sovereign and because Godzilla is the King of the Monsters he is therefore male. If he was a female he would be Queen of the Monsters. But since that position is taken by Mothra, and there aren’t two queens, the logical assumption is that Godzilla is a dude-monster.

Kyle Chandler, however, views this argument as dealing only in semantics. And he isn’t allowing labels like ‘king’ and ‘queen’ to narrow his understanding of Godzilla’s sex. Instead he thinks there’s a solid chance that Godzilla is a girl, but he isn’t willing to deal in absolutes and is still puzzling out the question in his head.

The ever-relatable Kyle Chandler even told Yahoo Entertainment that he had a whole conversation with his wife about the subject. Which is quite hilarious to think about Emmy award-winning actor Kyle Chandler having a conversation with his wife over breakfast about the sex of a fictional giant lizard. Celebrities folks, they’re just like us.

He makes an interesting point about where baby Godzilla came from. Now if he’s talking about 1967’s Son of Godzilla, the creature Minilla was adopted by Godzilla and was not his actual progeny.

But the question can be viewed another way, as in where did the Godzilla in the film come from? If Godzilla had a mother it is possible that Godzilla too is female. These are titans and their evolution and biology are not fully understood, so it isn’t necessarily as simple as, to paraphrase Jurassic Park’s Dr. Ian Malcolm, just pulling up Godzilla’s skirt to check.

There’s also the possibility that Godzilla isn’t strictly male or female. Maybe he’s asexual like dragons in Game of Thrones are suspected to be, and he can be whatever he needs to be. Vera Farmiga raises this possibility by mentioning his amphibian traits.

So maybe Godzilla uses asexual reproduction like the parthenogenesis seen in some frogs and salamanders. Or maybe he can spontaneously change his sex like some frogs. There are also slugs with both sex organs, and some rare instances of birds and butterflies born half male and half female. Basically there are lots of possibilities if you want to apply real world biology to a fictional creature.

King of the Monsters actor Ken Watanabe refers to Godzilla as a ‘he’ and director Michael Dougherty also says that the monster is a boy-- so Vera Farmiga seems to be in the majority. For what it’s worth, the original Japanese films referred to him as an ‘it’ and the original actor who played him, Haruo Nakajima, said he had no idea of the creature’s sex.

Male or female, Godzilla makes the case for his kingship in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, now playing. Check out what ticket to buy and our 2019 Release Schedule for all of this year’s biggest movies. For the latest movie news and further deep dives into the sexuality of fictitious creatures, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

So, The New Pet Sematary Ending Makes A Major Change To The Book

So, The New Pet Sematary Ending Makes A Major Change To The Book

Warning: SPOILERS for Pet Sematary are in play. If you haven’t seen the new adaptation of the same-named Stephen King novel, come back later once you’ve caught up.

Pet Sematary is one of those stories that has such a built-in fanbase, they practically know the basic beats by heart. The big scares, the great heartbreaks and the chilling final moments are all etched in to the minds of those who read the 1983 novel, and that sort of knowledge sits in a book fan’s mind pretty tightly. So obviously, whenever there’s a change to the source material, be it the Creed family being from Boston instead of Chicago or Ellie dying instead of Gage, it’s going to stick out in the mind of those who really liked the source material.

Except in the case of Pet Sematary, there’s a change so great that it alters the outcome of the book to a major degree. And much like with Frank Darabont’s adaptation of The Mist, it all results in an ending that’s absolutely chilling. If you’re still reading, and you haven’t seen the new film currently in theaters, now’s a good time to leave. Otherwise, let’s exhume the film’s ending and do an autopsy of what changed and why it works.

The Ending

Much like both the novel and the previous film adaptation of Pet Sematary, all of the trouble comes down to Louis Creed resurrecting the family cat and a departed child. Only this time, Ellie Creed is the child who dies at the hand of an Orinco oil tanker, and with this switch comes an entirely different set of problems. After burying Ellie in the sour earth that brings the dead back to life, she comes back to her father, but she’s not quite the same. Much like Church the cat, something evil’s come back with her, and it’s not long before it unleashes itself upon the Creed family.

After racing home with little Gage, who saw the spirit of dead patient/portent of doom, Victor Pasgow, Rachel and the young one are surprised that Ellie is back in the house. Louis tells his wife tearfully that he needed more time to say goodbye to her, and urges Rachel to accept her and hug her tight. But his wife cannot accept her, to which Ellie merely replies that it’s ok, she doesn’t want her mother here either. And she’s does something about that rather quickly.

While Louis leaves the house to search for Ellie, his daughter is really at home, terrorizing her mother with a vision that preys on the guilt of her ill sister’s death. After snapping out of that vision, Rachel is attacked by Ellie and eventually stabbed with a kitchen knife. Running from her daughter, with Gage in her arms, she breaks a window when she sees Louis returning to the house. Dangling Gage out of the window, she pleads that he catch the baby and drops Gage as she’s stabbed in the back by Ellie. After locking Gage in the car, Louis rushes up to the room where his wife was attacked, and before she dies, she begs not to be buried in “pet sematary.”

The final moments of the film run totally against Rachel’s wishes, as not only does Ellie knock Louis out in order to bury her mom, Rachel then kills Louis before he murders Ellie’s undead form and buries him in the soil. At the very end of the film, we see little Gage waking up in the car, with his now resurrected family coming to see him. As we cut to Gage, Louis clicks the car unlocked, and we fade to black.

How It’s Different

A huge chunk of the original third act of Pet Sematary is changed from the initial intent of the novel, as well as the first adaptation. While Rachel did die, and Gage was the child terrorizing the family, Ellie was nowhere near the conflict as she was still with her grandparents in Chicago. So originally, the final act of the story was Louis squaring off with the resurrected Gage and Church, the eventual result being that Louis kills both of them in a combination of a morphine overdose and a housefire. Which leaves the classic final hook that Stephen King’s novel and the eventual screenplay for director Mary Lambert’s adaptation would play to end the film.

Louis, no wiser than he was when he buried Gage, thinks that since he’s burying Rachel quicker than he did any of his other loved ones, it’ll work this time. So he puts his wife in the ground, only for her to return just as screwed up as the rest of the family did, and as she approaches him with a kitchen knife, we cut to black and hear a screaming Louis reaping what he’s sewn. Now while that ending is a classic, and pretty chilling in both classic versions of Pet Sematary, this new ending works quite a bit better, and if Stephen King’s reaction to the film is any indication, he probably agrees.

Why The New Ending Works Better

Pet Sematary is ultimately a meditation on death and how grief clouds our minds. Of course, this being a Stephen King story, that grief happens to go hand in hand with a supernatural entity. In this case, the Wendigo is what haunts the woods of Ludlow, Maine, and just as the textbook definition of this creature says, it possesses anything buried in that sour earth and turns them into an unnatural killing machine. But it lures people into dying, as we saw with Church luring Ellie into the middle of the road, as well as baiting them into burying their loved ones.

In this new ending, the call of the Wendigo isn’t merely something that people hear and heed out of grief; it’s downright psychotic. We see it in Louis’s behavior, right up to Rachel’s death, following a pattern of delusion that all started with his resurrection of Church. Part of it is, indeed, the Wendigo, but Louis’ belief that there’s nowhere to go to in death shakes him to his core. So instead of just grieving for a dead child, he’s dealing with his own feelings on the subject of mortality, and this change digs into deeper, scarier waters. Ellie gets to put the final nail in the coffin when she tells her mother that she technically wins in the argument of if there’s an afterlife or not, but it’s not the type of place you’d want to go.

The best part about Pet Sematary’s new ending though is that it’s a subversive gut punch to audiences old and new, and the proper steps taken to set it up. Every move seems to counter the standard expectations from an adaptation of Pet Sematary. The audience expecting Gage to die gets a shock when they see Ellie get taken out by the tanker truck, provided they haven’t seen the film’s later marketing materials. But even if you’ve had that spoiled for you, when Rachel tells Louis not to bury her in order to trigger a resurrection, seeing Ellie knock him out and do it anyway is a pretty big jaw dropper. From that point on, we’re really in new territory, leaving the big turn where the undead Creed family comes to claim Gage as a cold, haunting finale for all to digest mentally.

It’s a new ending to Pet Sematary, with new quirks thrown in to modernize and update the story for current audiences. But the end, the message is the same: if we’re not careful while grieving, we’re likely to make mistakes that might take everything away from us, especially if there’s a Wendigo involved. In the world of Ludlow, Maine, if you aren’t done with grieving before long, you just might find out that what you grieve isn’t done with you. The Creed family learned this the hard way, as being consumed by grief eventually turned them into literal monsters, and their youngest member is as doomed as he was in that original ending.

Pet Sematary is in theaters now, ready to live its life again as a new haunt for the old crowd.

Charlize Theron Reveals She Was Once Harassed By A Hollywood Producer

Charlize Theron Reveals She Was Once Harassed By A Hollywood Producer

Over the past few years, the world of filmmaking has seen a seismic shift. The Harvey Weinstein scandal and #MeToo movement put a spotlight on sexual harassment in the workplace, and how female members of the community have been suffering in silence. Plenty of major actresses have used their voice in the years since the dam broke, and now it looks like Oscar winner Charlize Theron had her own harrowing experience.

Charlize Theron is currently promoting her upcoming comedy Long Shot, including an appearance on the famous Howard Stern Show. Stern eventually brought up the subject of the #MeToo movement and the behavior of Hollywood execs, when Theron revealed she experienced harassment early in her career. She said:

I had just turned 19, I might have still been 18. I had never been out for an audition. I asked this modeling agent if she’d heard of anything … She said, ‘Yep. Go to this guy’s house. It’s on Saturday at 9 p.m.'

While Charlize Theron is a well-known working actress with an impressive career, there was a time when she was still trying to break into the industry. And when asking around for a possible audition, she ended up being convinced to meet a prominent Hollywood producer in his home. And when he answered the door, Theron was surprised to see the unnamed exec was in his pajamas.

In her conversation with Howard Stern and Long Shot co-star Seth Rogen, Charlize Theron went on to speak about her harrowing experience, and the red flags she noticed throughout her first "audition." She went on,

He had a very healthy ego, he felt very good about himself. There was some kind of muzak playing in the house. He sat very close to me. That was strange. The drinking bothered me. I was like, ‘This doesn’t feel right.'

Charlize Theron didn't name names when recounting her past on Howard Stern, she did reveal that he's still a powerful man in the industry. That fact makes her story even more disturbing, although you can't blame her for not revealing her harasser's identity on the air. But she went on to reveal that she got away from the situation, and that her feelings about the incident have evolved over time. Theron revealed:

And then at one point, he put his hand on my knee. You just go blank. Like you don’t know what to do, but I left. I don’t even know how I got out of the house, but I left. It would have ended really badly. I was driving my Ford Fiesta, that I was renting, up Laurel Canyon and I was so angry with myself that I didn’t say something. I was like, I’m not that kind of girl. Why did I not tell him to go fuck himself? It made me so angry.

Charlize Theron's comments echo what other survivors have said about the guilt and anger that can accompany #MeToo incidents. But while it may be difficult to share, Theron's honesty adds to the many voices addressing the issue of sexual harassment, especially as it relates to show business.

While there are many #MeToo stories from within Hollywood, it does look like the conversations and minds are changing over the past few years. One can only hope that the world will be a safer place, as sexual harassment is certainly not a problem exclusive to showbusiness.

Charlize Theron can be seen in Long Shot on May 3rd. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Shazam! 2: Why The Filmmakers May 'Move Quickly' On A Sequel

Shazam! 2: Why The Filmmakers May 'Move Quickly' On A Sequel

DC’s latest superhero blockbuster is here and it looks to be another step in the right direction for the studio once playing catch-up in the shadows of the phenomenon that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Shazam! is a different kind of comic book adapted flick for the DCEU, as it centers on a 14-year-old kid's refreshing perspective when he has incredible powers bestowed upon him.

Having a story that features a primarily young cast comes with one concern: They’re constantly growing up. That's one reason why a sequel for Shazam! may need to come sooner rather than later. Collider asked the film’s producer Peter Safran if they'd want to jump right back in for a sequel, since the "kids" will probably look very different a year from now. Here's Safran's response:

They're going to look like Zach does today. So we've got to move quickly with the sequel, for sure.

Per his comments, you can’t exactly keep a story going about a kid who turns into the adult superhero played by Zachary Levi if his younger counterpart is already an adult himself. Asher Angel, who plays young teen Billy Batson in Shazam!, is already 16-years-old right now. So if the studio waits even two years to give the sequel a greenlight, he’ll already be inching on adulthood by the time filming gets underway.

Having a 20-year-old switch into Zachary Levi’s Shazam -- who will be in his 40s a couple years from now -- wouldn’t have quite the same effect on audiences as the age difference introduced to audiences this weekend. There is always room for creativity in superhero films, though, so the filmmakers might be able to find a way to work around this without seeing the franchise lose its charm.

The plus side of this logistical complication is that if Shazam! does well, the studio may feel more compelled to get going on a sequel from the lightning-powered hero before pursuing other pending projects. This would be great news for fans of the recent DC release -- and considering the producer himself recognizes this, it might just be in the works already.

During another recent interview, Peter Safran and director David F. Sandberg both showed their interest in returning for a sequel, so the stars just might align with more ease for Shazam! 2 than other DCEU projects being considered to move forward into production.

This is a problem that Tom Holland’s new Spider-Man franchise is also facing, as the actor plays a 15-year-old boy in Homecoming. As Far From Home nears release, Holland is now a 22-year-old stuck in a role of a high-school student. The second movie was fast-tracked behind the first for this very reason, and they will be release just two years apart.

Shazam! certainly looks to be a success thus far, as it exceeded expectations on opening night with a $6 million haul and has a certified fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 93%.

Who’s already in for a Shazam! sequel? Stay tuned with us here at CinemaBlend!

Zachary Levi Explains Why Batman Is Cooler Than Superman

Zachary Levi Explains Why Batman Is Cooler Than Superman

In Shazam!, Billy Batson doesn’t know much about superheroes, but his new foster brother Freddy Freeman is an obsessive fan of the DCEU’s heroes like Superman and Batman, both of whom exist in the world of the film. Freddy, like so many kids, debates which superhero is the coolest and those debates don’t stop when you grow up. Shazam! director David F. Sandberg and star Zachary Levi both believe that Batman is cooler than Superman, with the latter explaining why, saying:

Yeah, like a playboy. The whole Bruce Wayne thing is really cool and he’s a billionaire. Yeah, he’s got issues. I mean, Superman’s got issues too but Superman is the ultimate boy scout.

Zachary Levi hits on one of the many points about Batman that makes him cooler to you as you get older, even surpassing Superman despite having none of Big Blue’s powers. Batman has that Tony Stark quality, he’s a billionaire and a playboy and although he doesn’t enjoy that lifestyle as much as Stark, he still has the means. Despite most of us not being billionaires, we can all say with 100% certainty that being one is definitely not not awesome.

Just consider the scene in Batman Begins where Bruce Wayne rolls up in a Lambo with a model on each arm and proceeds to buy a hotel. That playboy lifestyle tends to look more appealing than Clark Kent’s Smallville upbringing or journalist career. Of course, with his powers, Superman could be rich whenever he wanted if he were willing to bend on that boy scout morality. As Zachary Levi also mentions to Fandango, Batman has issues.

The Dark Knight is a notoriously brooding individual but that lends him a cool, dark, almost anti-hero vibe. The older you are the more you appreciate the flawed heroes and although Superman has issues too, he isn’t as broken as Batman and deals with them much better. That results in Supes looking like a bit of a boy scout though and that can seem lame at times. Zachary Levi further elaborated on The Man of Steel, saying:

He will always choose good and he also has that almost like Spock meets boy scout. Because he’s an alien so he sees things much more logically and less emotionally than humans do. But, that also kinda makes you a bit of a square, right?

Sadly, Superman does sometimes get branded as a bit of a square, a definition that he’s had a harder time shaking than Captain America. That definition may not always be fair, but he does seem more even-keeled as his humanity is nurture, not nature. He’s more likely to rescue a cat from a tree while Batman is busy using his fists to let out his no parents rage on some criminal’s face.

As cool as utility belts and Batmobiles are though, Superman still wins hands down when it comes to powers. Not only does he actually have some, but he has the best powers, including flight. In a new video from the film, Freddy Freeman tells Billy Batson that he’s “almost as cool as Superman” so clearly Superman is the be all end all superhero for the kids in Shazam!

Shazam! tries to show why he’s cooler than both The Dark Knight and The Man of Steel when David F. Sandberg’s film opens in theaters on April 5. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all the year’s biggest movies and let us know in the poll below who you think is cooler.

Could Little Beat Hellboy At The Box Office This Weekend?

Could Little Beat Hellboy At The Box Office This Weekend?

The movie season is starting to heat up and almost every week there's at least one major release heading to theaters. Last week, that movie was Shazam!, which went on to claim a nice $53.5 million at the box office. This weekend, Hellboy and Little are stepping up to the plate to get that No. 1 spot, but it looks like neither film will top Shazam!

Current box office tallies have Hellboy and Little battling for second place, with neither expected to top $15 million. (Pray for Missing Link, which isn't even expected to top $6 million.)

Based on late Friday estimates, per Deadline, Hellboy will gross around $12.3 million for the weekend. It's a disappointing number for the comic book movie, which was projected to open in the range of $16 million to $20 million. The film was made on a $50 million budget. Comparatively, the first Hellboy movie opened with $23 million in 2004.

Fans of Hellboy have long awaited the release of a third installment, but the new film is a reboot that ignores the continuity of the previous films. Guillermo del Toro was not involved with the reboot, which was directed by Game of Thrones alum Neil Marshall. Coming out of the gate, Hellboy received largely negative reviews, currently sitting at a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes. Additionally, the film reportedly wasn't widely available to the press prior to release, which is typically not a good sign. Hellboy also has a "C" CinemaScore from polled moviegoers.

Meanwhile, Little, the body-swap comedy that stars Regina Hall and Marsai Martin, is currently sitting at an estimated $14.9 million opening. That falls much more in line with initial opening projections of $14 million to $18 million for the film. Little has gotten mixed reviews, but not so drastically that it's affected audience turnout at the theater. The comedy sits at a solid CinemaScore of B+. The movie cost $20 million to make, so things are looking positive for the comedy.

On the other end of the box office spectrum, the stop-motion-animated Missing Link is almost completely missing in action. Box Office Mojo suggests its opening weekend is unlikely to top $6 million. What the heck happened there?

When the weekend box office reports come out tomorrow, Little may end up in second place while Hellboy opens in third place. However #2 and #3 turn out, Shazam! is expected to stay the No. 1 movie at the box office. The fun superhero movie, which scored positive reviews, is expected to make about $23.4 million this weekend, based on Friday projections. That would brings its total domestic box office run up to just over $93 million. The worldwide total is currently just over $200 million. With a sequel already in the works, this is another win for the DCEU, though perhaps not as extreme as Aquaman was.

We'll see if Shazam! can hold on to first place for three weeks in a row because, after that, Avengers: Endgame hits theaters. That would be the single greatest upset in cinema history if Shazam! beat that film.

You can check out all of these movies in theaters right now if you want to share a little support. For everything else arriving this year, check out our handy 2019 movie release guide.