By David Baldwin

Oscar-nominated Writer/Director Alex Garland is best known for his critically acclaimed sci-fi/horror films Ex Machina and Annihilation. This weekend, he takes on an entirely different beast with CIVIL WAR, a relentlessly paced, breakneck thriller involving a group of journalists traveling across the war-torn countryside of the former United States in hopes of interviewing the third term President before he surrenders to invading factions. The cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemons and Nick Offerman.

We had the chance to chat virtually with Garland about the film and his process. Here’s what we learned:

Can you speak about the importance of sound design in CIVIL WAR? Did you always intend for the film to be shown in IMAX?

Garland: I never dreamed we’d be able to show this in IMAX. And I was really pleased, and the people I worked with were extremely pleased, that that’s where we ended up. It’s a great environment to show a film. It’s not just the screen, it’s as you said, the sound system.

In terms of the evolution of [the sound design], I think what I should really say first and foremost is that I work and have worked for more than two decades with a really great sound designer [named] Glenn [Freemantle]. I’ve never not worked with him actually. And a lot of what you hear is not my work, it’s his work and it’s his thoughtfulness and it’s his understanding of the tone of the film. What I do is I cut the Film with an editor and then Glenn will take it away for a few weeks [after] we have a discussion, we talk about some of the ideas. In CIVIL WAR, a lot of that was about reality and it was about a mixture of silence and attack…Then Glenn takes it away and he just works on it and really what happens is I arrive a few weeks later to see what he’s done. Then we go through another process which is modulating and trying out little experiments and stuff. But the bulk of that is him working with his team in quite an autonomous way. So I just want to give the credit where it’s due.

Sound is extremely important. People kind of know [that] because if you watch a Horror film and it’s creeping you out and you’re at home, mute it, and suddenly it’s just not scary anymore. You take away the sound design and you take away the score and suddenly it all seems kind of empty. It might even become instantly a bit silly. It becomes the opposite of frightening almost immediately. So sound is hugely, hugely important in cinema.

Your previous films live in the science fiction/horror genres but CIVIL WAR does not. What made you decide to write this film?

Garland: The genre flows from the subject matter. The genre I saw this as was a war movie, but it could have been a Sci-Fi movie. I could have set it for example on a distant planet, and it would be [an] allegory…But it didn’t feel right because part of the currency of this film is about how much of this is real? How much of the dangers that are being offered up, how much are they real dangers? What would it take to get there? What are the behaviour patterns and thought patterns that could actually lead either America or my own country [the United Kingdom] or other countries around the world into this space?

Your films centre around strong female protagonists. Why do you gravitate towards a female point-of-view versus male?

Garland: In some ways I don’t really differentiate that much between a female point-of-view or a male point-of-view, which means I don’t ask – in some ways – too many questions of it. But I think it’s less political than it might seem. It doesn’t really contain a statement of any sort. I’m in my mid-’50s and I grew up watching films through the ’70s and ’80s and into the ’90s…a lot of them I absolutely love but in almost every movie, it would be a male lead. That’s just how films worked back then. And what that means is when I sit down to write a film, on some level I find it internally just slightly more boring if it’s a male lead because I feel like I’ve inhabited those stories so much. I find it just slightly more interesting [to write a female lead]…It’s like a 49 percent, 51 percent thing. It’s not a huge sort of urge. It doesn’t have an agenda. It’s got more to do with familiarity actually I think.

Is SPOILER dead at the end of the Movie?

Garland:*nods* [They are] brown bread as we would say in the UK, yep. *chuckles*

Elevation Pictures release CIVIL WAR in theatres on Friday, April 12, 2024.

Review here.

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Country Singer-Songwriter DASHA is on the verge of something big. Her current single “Austin” already has amassed 86 million streams on Spotify, propelled further by a whopping 700k videos using it on TikTok. Moving to Country is the best decision she ever could’ve made! And she’s just released her debut album, WHAT HAPPENS NOW? via Warner Music Canada.

Dasha has had a busy week, filming the Music Video for her viral hit and also appearing at the 2024 CMT Music Awards. And then her first visit ever to Toronto where she will appear at Rock ‘N’ Horse Saloon for a special appearance!

So awesome getting to meet Dasha quickly. She was absolutely sweet and so smitten by beanie! And we are just as smitten with her!

Some Snaps:

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong/Warner Music Canada)

Following POOR THINGS’ Oscar-winning success, Yorgos Lanthimos is back with KINDS OF KINDNESS and today we get an official Trailer, hot off the news it will premiere at Cannes!

Synopsis:

In select theaters June 21, 2024. KINDS OF KINDNESS is a triptych fable, following a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader. Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer

(Photo/video credit: Searchlight Pictures)

Warner Bros. Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want to give Readers in Montreal a chance to win passes to an Advance Screening of Luca Guadagnino‘s CHALLENGERS!

Screening takes place Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

SYNOPSIS

From visionary filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, “Challengers” stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy-turned-coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Married to a champion on a losing streak (Mike Faist), Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick (Josh O’Connor)—his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend. As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win?

Oscar and BAFTA nominee Guadagnino (“Call Me By Your Name,” “I Am Love”) directs from a screenplay by Justin Kuritzkes. The film is produced by Amy Pascal, Guadagnino, Zendaya and Rachel O’Connor, with Bernard Bellew serving as executive producer.

Golden Globe winner Zendaya (the “Dune” films, “Euphoria”) stars alongside Golden Globe and SAG Award winner and BAFTA nominee Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”) and BAFTA nominee Mike Faist (“West Side Story”).

Guadagnino’s creative team includes such frequent collaborators as director of photography Sayonbhu Mukdeeprom, production designer Merissa Lombardo and editor Marco Costa, as well as costume designer Jonathan Anderson. The film’s score is by Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“Soul,” “The Social Network,” “Bones and All”). 

Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Presents a Why Are You Acting? / Frenesy Films / Pascal Pictures Production, Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers.” The film opens in theatres April 26, 2024 and will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK.

Rules and regulations here.

Warner Bros. Pictures Canada release CHALLENGERS April 26, 2024.

(Photo/video credit: Warner Bros. Pictures Canada)

Canada’s Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy and James McAvoy star in SPEAK NO EVIL and today we get a brand new Trailer for this upcoming Horror, in theatres September 13, 2024.

Synopsis:

When an American family is invited to spend the weekend at the idyllic country estate of a charming British family they befriended on vacation, what begins as a dream holiday soon warps into a snarled psychological nightmare.

From Blumhouse, the producer of The Black Phone, Get Out and The Invisible Man, comes an intense suspense thriller for our modern age, starring BAFTA award-winner James McAvoy (Split, Glass) in a riveting performance as the charismatic, alpha-male estate owner whose untrammeled hospitality masks an unspeakable darkness.

Speak No Evil stars Mackenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate, Halt and Catch Fire) and SAG award-winner Scoot McNairy (Argo, A Quiet Place Part II) as American couple Louise and Ben Dalton, who, along with their 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler; The Good Nurse, Riverdale), accept the weekend-holiday invitation of Paddy (McAvoy), his wife Ciara (Aisling Franciosi; Game of Thrones, The Fall) and their furtive, mute son Ant (newcomer Dan Hough).

Written for the screen and directed by James Watkins, the writer-director of Eden Lake and the award-winning gothic ghost story The Woman in Black, Speak No Evil is based on the screenplay of the 2022 Danish horror sensation Gæsterne,written by Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup. That film earned 11 Danish Film Awards nominations, the Danish equivalent of the Oscars.

Speak No Evil is produced by Jason Blum (Five Nights at Freddy’s, M3GAN) for Blumhouse and by Paul Ritchie (McMafia, The Ipcress File) and is executive produced by Beatriz Sequeira for Blumhouse, Jacob Jarek and Christian Tafdrup.

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Cast: James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Aisling Franciosi, Alix West Lefler, Dan Hough and Scoot McNairy

Written for the Screen and Directed by: James Watkins

Based on the screenplay by: Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup

Producers: Jason Blum, Paul Ritchie

Executive Producers: Beatriz Sequeira, Jacob Jarek, Christian Tafdrup

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

Today, Netflix and Shondaland released the official trailer, key art, and new images for Bridgerton Season 3. The trailer teases the longing friends-to-lovers romantic beginnings of Nicola Coughlan’s Penelope Featherington and Luke Newton’s Colin Bridgerton. The photos offer another look at some of the members of the ‘ton. Bridgerton returns for its third season in two parts with Part 1 (301-304) premiering on May 13, 2024, and Part 2 (305-308) premiering on June 13, 2024.

Bridgerton S3
Premiere Dates:
Part 1 on May 16 (Episodes 301-304)
Part 2 on June 13 (Episodes 304-308)

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

IF IS ONLY IN THEATRES ON MAY 17, 2024 via Paramount Pictures, the latest from the genius that is John Krasinski! Today we get the official Trailer!

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

From writer and director John Krasinski, IF is about a girl who discovers that she can see everyone’s imaginary friends — and what she does with that superpower — as she embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten IFs with their kids. IF stars Cailey Fleming, Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Fiona Shaw, and the voices of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr. and Steve Carell alongside many more as the wonderfully unique characters that reflect the incredible power of a child’s imagination.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY

John J. Kelly, George Dewey, Kimberly Nelson LoCascio

PRODUCED BY

Allyson Seeger, p.g.a., John Krasinski, p.g.a., Andrew Form, p.g.a., Ryan Reynolds

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY

John Krasinski

STARRING

Cailey Fleming, Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Fiona Shaw, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr., Alan Kim, Liza Colón-Zayas and Steve Carell

(Photo credit: Paramount Pictures Canada)

Sphere Films today confirmed David Cronenberg’s highly anticipated The Shrouds will have its world premiere in the Official Competition at the Festival de Cannes in May. The film starring Vincent Cassel (La Haine, Irréversible, Black Swan), Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds, In the Fade), Guy Pearce (Memento, LA Confidential, The Hurt Locker) and Sandrine Holt (Daredevil: Born Again, House of Cards) will open in theatres across Canada later this year.

The Shrouds is written and directed by David Cronenberg (Crimes of the Future, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, Crash) and produced by Martin Katz for Prospero Pictures (A Dangerous Method, Cosmopolis, Maps to the Stars), Saïd Ben Saïd (Elle, Maps to the Stars, Last Summer) and Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent (Strange Way of Life, Trailer of the Film That Will Never Exist: “Phony Wars”). This is the seventh time that a David Cronenberg film has been selected to compete in Cannes. His films have previously won a Special Jury Award (Crash) and Best Actress Award (Maps to the Stars). ​ The Shrouds also reunites Cronenberg with Cassel, who previously collaborated on Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method.

“Being selected for the Cannes Film Festival is an immense honour, but to return for the seventh time is incredibly humbling. I look forward to sharing this film with the world on such a prestigious stage,” said David Cronenberg.

Shot on location in Toronto in 2023, The Shrouds tells the story of Karsh, 50, a prominent businessman. Inconsolable since the death of his wife, he invents GraveTech, revolutionary and controversial technology that enables the living to monitor their dear departed in their shrouds. One night, multiple graves, including that of Karsh’s wife, are desecrated. Karsh sets out to track down the perpetrators.

“The Shrouds is an audacious and human film, so apt for our times,” said Martin Katz of Prospero Pictures. “It also marks our fifth collaboration with David Cronenberg and our second collaboration with Saïd Ben Saïd, both lasting relationships and deep friendships of which we are very proud.”

The Shrouds is produced by Martin Katz for Prospero Pictures, Saïd Ben Saïd, and Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent in association with Telefilm Canada, Ontario Creates, Eurimages, and Canal +.

ABOUT SPHERE FILMS

One of Canada’s foremost distributors, Sphere Films serves both the local and international markets with premium content across all genres. Sphere Films delivers the best of Canadian and international cinema, including the Academy Award-winner for Best Picture, Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite. Other recent releases include the critically acclaimed films Crimes of the Future and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Academy Award-nominated The Worst Person in the World, the Quebecois produced Arsenault et fils and Maria Chapdelaine. The Sphere Films brand belongs to Sphere, a Canadian film and television industry leader with offices in Montréal and Toronto.

ABOUT PROSPERO PICTURES

Prospero Pictures is the film and television production company founded by Martin Katz, whose credits include Hotel Rwanda, which was nominated for three Academy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. For over two decades, Prospero has produced films with celebrated director David Cronenberg, including A Dangerous Method, which had its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival, Spider and Cosmopolis which premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and Maps to the Stars, for which Julianne Moore received the Best Actress Palme d’Or at Cannes. Prospero’s television projects include Ice Road Truckers, one of History Channel’s highest-rated documentary series and Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…, an award-winning music and performance series hosted by Elvis Costello with appearances by Bono, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Herbie Hancock, Rufus Wainwright, Renée Fleming and Diana Krall, co-produced with Rocket Pictures’ David Furnish and Sir Elton John.

ABOUT SBS PRODUCTIONS

SBS Productions was founded by the French-Tunisian film producer, Saïd Ben Saïd, in 2010.

SBS is driven by a commitment to produce authors internationally renowned and finds its unity through the advocacy of a cinema that is both demanding and accessible. Its most recent productions received awards throughout the world, among which Paul Verhoeven’s Elle which won the Best Foreign Picture at the 2017 Golden Globes, Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms which was awarded with the 2019 Golden Bear at the Berlinale and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Bacurau which received the 2019 Jury Prize in Cannes, Ira Sachs’ Passages which was selected at Sundance festival in 2023 and Catherine Breillat’s Last Summer, which premiered in the Competition at Cannes 2023.

ABOUT SAINT LAURENT PRODUCTIONS

Saint Laurent Productions is a registered subsidiary of the house, marks the first fashion house to count the full-fledged production of films among its activities. The division, envisioned by Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent, is in line with Vaccarello’s assured steering of the brand into the future, while echoing the cinematic breadth and nuances of his collections.

A mysterious shipping container has been spotted in Toronto with a larger-than-life installation that will stop the city in its tracks! Fall into the future and enter the world of Fallout to find out more… with a special guest appearance by series star Ella Purnell! Purnell, who stars as Lucy MacLean, will appear 2:30 PM ET (time subject to change) at the activation Friday, April 12, 2024.

To celebrate the premiere of the highly anticipated new series Fallout, Prime Video is creating a bold and immersive pop-up on 18 York Street that will be open to the Toronto public on April 12, 2024 from 12:00-8:00 PM. For this experiential stunt, Prime Video pulled creative insights directly from the Fallout series, showcasing a massive 10-ft “Radroach” bug overtaking a large shipping container with branded elements signature to the world of Fallout. The shocking design and immense scale of the roach is unlike anything the city of Toronto has experienced and will surprise and engage curious locals to venture further inside the container where guests will be given a one-of-a-kind photo opportunity to immerse themselves in a Toronto wasteland. Special-edition Fallout posters will be gifted to visitors on a first come, first serve basis.

The live-action series is set in a future post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, presenting a distressed landscape to introduce viewers to the world of Fallout. The series is an original story based on the best-selling video game franchise of the same name, but it’s not just a must-watch for fans – this is a bingeworthy story for newcomers too. The premise follows the inhabitants of luxury fallout shelters, who emerge two-hundred years after the apocalypse and are left to navigate the horrific aftermath. The wasteland landscape they are faced with is an eradicated, violent world, crawling with Radroaches and other unsavoury challenges. The installation is heavily inspired by iconic imagery from the video game and encourages both fans and passersby alike to immerse themselves in the Fallout world. The one-day pop-up invites visitors to experience a wasteland in the middle Toronto’s bustling Maple Leaf Square.

What: Prime Video’s Fallout Pop-Up

When: April 12 – 12:00 pm – 8:00pm ET

Where: 18 York Street at the corner of York Street and Bremner Street.

Admission: FREE!

Please support by sharing on your event listings and posting to social. Please reach out if you need any additional details, full assets of the pop-up will be shared on Thursday, April 11, 2024 for further promotion.

Prime Video’s Fallout will premiere on April 11 with all eight episodes available to stream.

Running now through April 21, 2024 at Toronto’s CAA Theatre, Mirvish Productions present HYPROV! The innovative stage show brings together the talents of comedy legend Colin Mochrie and world-renowned hypnotist Asad Mecci for twisty, unpredictable and wildly-entertaining time!

Each show 20 volunteers go up on stage and are placed under hypnosis by Mecci, and from there Mochrie joins on-stage, guiding them through a series of improvisational sketches. You just never know what you’re going to get and the results that ensue are bound to be hilarious. It’s so magical what the mind can do when uninhibited!

A reel of highlights from last night’s Media and Influencer preview:

Tickets here.

(Photo/video credit: Ryan Emberley/Mr. Will Wong)