The 25th edition of the Canada’s Walk of Fame Gala took place last night at Metro Toronto Convention Centre, bigger than ever before. Nine new inductees were honoured spanning various disciplines including athletes, actors, Olympians, musicians, filmmakers, storytellers, humanitarians, astronauts, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, titans of science & innovation, and next generation of heroes.

Honourees this year include:

-The Honourable Rosalie Silberman Abella
-Michael Budman & Don Green, Founders of the iconic Roots Canada, inducted this year
-Tantoo Cardinal
-Avril Lavigne
-Rick Mercer
-Connor McDavid
-Linda Schuyler, co-creator of the 2023 inducted franchise, Degrassi
-Gary Slaight

Additional award recipients include:

Co-hosting this year were Deborah Cox (2022 inductee), along with television design superstars Drew and Jonathan Scott of The Property Brothers. In addition, a star-studded group of presenters came out to show their support for these national treasures including the likes of Victor Garber (2013 inductee), Jason Priestley (2016 inductee), Silken Laumann (2015 inductee), Wendy Crewson (2015 inductee), Chad Kroeger (2007 inductee) and more.

We had the pleasure of joining the Red Carpet and speaking to some of this year’s notables including Tantoo Cardinal, Rosalie Silberman Abella, Josh Alexander, Kardinal Offishall and more.

See the highlights:

A gallery of highlights:

The 2023 Canada’s Walk of Fame broadcast airs December 16, 2023 7 PM ET on CTV.

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

The epic battle continues! Legendary Pictures’ cinematic Monsterverse follows up the explosive showdown of “Godzilla vs. Kong” with an all-new adventure that pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence—and our own. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” delves further into the histories of these Titans and their origins, as well as the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.

Once again at the helm is director Adam Wingard. The film stars Rebecca Hall (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” The Night House”), Brian Tyree Henry (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Bullet Train”), Dan Stevens (“Gaslit,” “Legion,” “Beauty and the Beast”), Kaylee Hottle (“Godzilla vs. Kong”), Alex Ferns (“The Batman,” “Wrath of Man,” “Chernobyl”) and Fala Chen (“Irma Vep,” “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”).

The screenplay is by Terry Rossio (“Godzilla vs. Kong” the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series) and Simon Barrett (“You’re Next”) and Jeremy Slater (“Moon Knight”), from a story by Rossio & Wingard & Barrett, based on the character “Godzilla” owned and created by TOHO Co., Ltd. The film is produced by Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Eric Mcleod, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and Brian Rogers. The executive producers are Wingard, Jen Conroy, Jay Ashenfelter, Yoshimitsu Banno, Kenji Okuhira.

Once again, Wingard is collaborating with director of photography Ben Seresin (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” “World War Z”), production designer Tom Hammock (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” “X,” “The Guest”), editor Josh Schaeffer (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Molly’s Game”), costume designer Emily Seresin (“The Invisible Man,” “Top of the Lake”). The composers are Tom Holkenborg (“Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”) and Antonio Di Iorio (additional music on “Godzilla vs. Kong,” the “Sonic the Hedgehog” films).

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Present a Legendary Pictures Production, A Film By Adam Wingard, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” It is slated for release nationwide only in theatres and IMAX on April 12, 2024 and beginning 10 April 2024 internationally, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures except in Japan, where the film will be distributed by Toho Co., Ltd and in mainland China, where it will be distributed by Legendary East.

The Beyhive rule the Box Office this weekend with RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ taking top spot in its debut for AMC/Cineplex Pictures with $25 million from 2,539 theatres. The Concert Film gets 100% on the Tomatometer.

In second is THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES with $14.8 million for Lionsgate/Cineplex Pictures, a total gross of $121.5 million in its third weekend.

Japanese Action-Adventure GODZILLA MINUS ONE debuts in third with $10 million for Toho International from 2,308 theatres, garnering an impressive 97% on the Tomatometer.

Fourth goes to Disney‘s WISH with $7.6 million from 3,900 theatres, a two week total of $42.1 million.

Rounding things out is NAPOLEON with $7.4 million for Apple Original Films/Sony Pictures, a total $46 million.

No running. No diving. No lifeguard on duty. No swimming after dark.

Atomic Monster and Blumhouse, the producers of M3GAN, high dive into the deep end of horror with the new supernatural thriller, Night Swim.

Based on the acclaimed 2014 short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire, the film stars Wyatt Russell (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) as Ray Waller, a former major league baseball player forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, who moves into a new home with his concerned wife Eve (Oscar® nominee Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin), teenage daughter Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle, this fall’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) and young son Elliot (Gavin Warren, Fear the Walking Dead).

Secretly hoping, against the odds, to return to pro ball, Ray persuades Eve that the new home’s shimmering backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids and provide physical therapy for him. But a dark secret in the home’s past will unleash a malevolent force that will drag the family under, into the depths of inescapable terror.

Night Swim is written and directed by Bryce McGuire (writer of the upcoming film Baghead) and is produced by James Wan, the filmmaker behind the Saw, Insidious and The Conjuringfranchises, and Jason Blum, the producer of the Halloween films, The Black Phone and The Invisible Man. The film is executive produced by Michael Clear and Judson Scott for Wan’s Atomic Monster and by Ryan Turek for Blum’s Blumhouse.

Genre: Horror

Starring: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren

Directed by: Bryce McGuire

Written by: Bryce McGuire,

Based on the short film by Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire

Producers: James Wan, Jason Blum

Executive Producers: Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Ryan Turek

Today, Apple Original Films announced new documentary feature “Girls State,” directed and produced by award-winning filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine (“Boys State,” “The Mission”), and Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim’s Concordia Studio. After the widely celebrated, Emmy Award-winning documentary “Boys State,” also produced by Moss, McBaine and Concordia, made its buzzy premiere at Sundance in 2020, the inevitable question arose: what about Girls State?

The documentary follows 500 teenage girls from across Missouri as they gather for a week-long immersion in an elaborate laboratory of democracy, where they build a government from the ground up, campaign for office and form a Supreme Court to weigh the most divisive issues of the day. In “Girls State,” the country is now deeper into democratic crisis, with civil discourse and electoral politics increasingly fragile under ever more extreme political polarization. As questions of race and gender equality in a representational democracy reach a fever pitch, these young women confront the complicated paths women must navigate to build political power. Following a distinctly female perspective and filled with teenage insecurity, biting humour and a yearning for true friendship, the young leaders of “Girls State” win hearts and minds—not just elections.

“In these turbulent times, we were inspired and moved by the young women we met at Missouri Girls State, and the stories that emerged in one, eventful week. ‘Girls State’ is very much a ‘sibling’ – singular and surprising but also related to ‘Boys State’ in its prescient portrait of young people coming of age in this political moment,” said Moss and McBaine.

“Girls State” is a Concordia Studio presentation of a Mile End Films production.

Following its debut at Sundance, the ground-breaking documentary “Boys State” was broadly acclaimed, earning accolades including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special; two Critics Choice Documentary Award wins including Best Political Documentary; the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize; the SXSW Film Festival Louis Black/Lone Star Award; and a DGA Award nomination, among many other honours.

“Girls State” joins the award-winning slate of Apple Original documentary films, including Guggenheim’s “STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” also produced by Concordia Studio, which recently swept the Critics Choice Documentary Awards with five wins, after having been nominated for seven Emmy Awards, the most nominations for any nonfiction film or series this year. Other acclaimed Apple Original documentaries include Critics Choice Documentary Award nominee “The Pigeon Tunnel,” pulling back the curtain on the storied life and career of former British spy David Cornwell; “Stephen Curry: Underrated,” the remarkable coming-of-age story of one of the most influential, dynamic and unexpected players in the history of basketball; NAACP Image Award-winning film “Sidney,” honouring the legendary Sidney Poitier and his legacy as an iconic actor, filmmaker and activist; Emmy Award-nominated film “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me,” a uniquely raw and intimate documentary spanning her six-year journey into a new light; a new upcoming documentary film about the groundbreaking life and career of seven-time Formula One world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton; and many more.

Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all your favourite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have earned 402 wins and 1,674 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ted Lasso” and historic Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”

Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth star in Academy Award-winning mastermind George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” the much-anticipated return to the iconic dystopian world he created more than 30 years ago with the seminal “Mad Max” films. Miller now turns the page again with an all-new original, standalone action adventure that will reveal the origins of the powerhouse character from the multiple Oscar-winning global smash “Mad Max: Fury Road.” The new feature from Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures is produced by Miller and his longtime partner, Oscar-nominated producer Doug Mitchell (“Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Babe”), under their Australian-based Kennedy Miller Mitchell banner.

As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.

Taylor-Joy stars in the title role, and along with Hemsworth, the film also stars Alyla Browne and Tom Burke.

Miller penned the script with “Mad Max: Fury Road” co-writer Nico Lathouris. Miller’s behind-the-scenes creative team includes first assistant director PJ Voeten and second unit director and stunt coordinator Guy Norris, director of photography Simon Duggan (“Hacksaw Ridge,” “The Great Gatsby”), composer Tom Holkenborg, sound designer Robert Mackenzie, editor Eliot Knapman, visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson and colorist Eric Whipp. The team also includes other longtime collaborators: production designer Colin Gibson, editor Margaret Sixel, sound mixer Ben Osmo, costume designer Jenny Beavan and makeup designer Lesley Vanderwalt, each of whom won an Oscar for their work on “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, in Association with Village Roadshow Pictures, A Kennedy Miller Mitchell Production, A George Miller Film, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, in theaters only nationwide on May 24, 2024 and internationally beginning on 22 May, 2024.

Sofía Vergara stars in GRISELDA, a new limited series starring and executive produced by her, premieres globally on Netflix on January 25, 2024. Today we get a new Trailer.

About GRISELDA:

GRISELDA is inspired by the life of the savvy and ambitious Griselda Blanco, who created one of the most profitable cartels in history. In 1970s-80s Miami, Blanco’s lethal blend of unsuspected savagery and charm helped her expertly navigate between business and family, leading her to become widely known as “the Godmother.”

Series Credits:

Format: Limited Series, (6) 50-minute episodes
Executive Producer & Star: Sofía Vergara
Created by: Eric Newman & Doug Miro & Ingrid Escajeda & Carlo Bernard
Executive Producers: NARCOS and NARCOS: MEXICO showrunner and directing team Eric Newman and Andrés Baiz. As well as Doug Miro, Ingrid Escajeda, Carlo Bernard along with Sofía Vergara and Luis Balaguer with Latin World Entertainment.
Director: Andrés Baiz (all episodes)
Co-Showrunners: Ingrid Escajeda & Doug Miro
Starring: Sofía Vergara (Griselda Blanco), Alberto Guerra (Dario Sepúlveda), Christian Tappan (Arturo Mesa), Martín Rodríguez (Rivi Ayala), Juliana Aidén Martinez (June Hawkins), Vanessa Ferlito (Carmen Gutiérrez)

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

Prime Video today announce a new three-part true crime documentary series, Dead in the Water, from RAW, the award-winning producers of The Tinder Swindler and Don’t F**K With Cats.

Dead in the Water is a gripping global story of the long hunt for a brutal killer that spans four decades. The year is 1978, a young British couple embark on the trip of a lifetime through remote Central America. Chris Farmer and Peta Frampton set out on an exhilarating backpacking adventure, the letters they write and the tapes they sent home were filled with tales of exotic landscapes, cultural encounters, and the thrill of the unknown. But their dream soon turns into a chilling nightmare when they are brutally murdered and the trail for their killer goes cold. 

Four decades later, failed by law enforcement, their family take up the manhunt and begin the descent into an unknown world of online sleuthing and make a shocking discovery.   

This is the story of a gap year gone terribly wrong, and a tale of two families on either side of the Atlantic, united by grief and bound by a common purpose – the pursuit of a killer, even when it seemed untenable, decades after his heinous crimes were committed. 

The three-part series has been produced by RAW in association with All3Media International. Executive producers for RAW are Keeley Van Dyke and Liesel Evans. Series producer is Claire Goodlass and producer is Charlie Melville; the series is directed by Niamh Kennedy.  

Dead in the Water will be available on Prime Video in the UK and Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Nordics and the Netherlands. All3Media International has exclusive worldwide distribution rights for the series.  

Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win passes to an Advance Screening of MIGRATION.

Screenings take place as follows Saturday, December 16 at 11:00 am:

• Toronto: Scotiabank Theatre
• Montreal (EN): Cinema Banque Scotia
• Montreal (FR): Cinema Starcite
• Vancouver: Cineplex International Village

We’ve also just added two more cities:

• Calgary: Scotiabank Theatre Chinook 
• Edmonton: Scotiabank Theatre Edmonton Chinook 

Synopsis:

This holiday season, Illumination, creators of the blockbuster Minions, Despicable Me, Sing and The Secret Life of Petscomedies, invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, Migration. 

The Mallard family is in a bit of rut. While dad Mack is content to keep his family safe paddling around their New England pond forever, mom Pam is eager to shake things up and show their kids—teen son Dax and duckling daughter Gwen—the whole wide world. After a migrating duck family alights on their pond with thrilling tales of far-flung places, Pam persuades Mack to embark on a family trip, via New York City, to tropical Jamaica. 

As the Mallards make their way South for the winter, their well-laid plans quickly go awry. The experience will inspire them to expand their horizons, open themselves up to new friends and accomplish more than they ever thought possible, while teaching them more about each other—and themselves—than they ever imagined. 

From a screenplay by Mike White, the Emmy winning creator of The White Lotus and the screenwriter of School of Rock, the film stars a top-flight comedic cast led by Oscar^® and Emmy nominee Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick, Eternals) as anxious Mallard dad Mack and Emmy nominee Elizabeth Banks (Hunger Games and Pitch Perfect franchises) as Pam, the Mallards’ daring, quick-witted matriarch.

Caspar Jennings plays Dax, the Mallards’ confident and restless son, and, in her feature film debut, Tresi Gazal plays Gwen, the family’s innocent and lovable daughter.

Golden Globe winner Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) voices the scrappy leader of a New York City pigeon gang; Emmy winner and Oscar^® nominee Carol Kane (The Princess Bride) plays Erin the heron, the first friend that the Mallards make on their journey; Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key (The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Lion King) voices a homesick Jamaican parrot locked away in a Manhattan restaurant, and BAFTA winner David Mitchell (Peep Show) plays the yogic leader of a mysterious duck farm. Legendary Emmy winner and Oscar^® nominee Danny DeVito (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) co-stars as Mack’s curmudgeonly, adventure-averse Uncle Dan. 

Directed by Benjamin Renner, the Oscar^®-nominated filmmaker of Ernest & Celestine and The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales, Migration is a visual spectacle unlike any in Illumination’s acclaimed history, featuring elevated, expressionist artistry and Illumination’s signature subversive humor and authentic heart, unforgettable characters and joyful soundtrack. 

Produced by Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri, Migration is a film about overcoming your fears and opening yourself up to the world and its opportunities. The film is co-directed by Guylo Homsy (Head of Layout and Cinematography for Sing and Sing 2), edited by Christian Gazal (Happy Feet, Peter Rabbit) and the Production Designer is Colin Stimpson (The Secret Life of Pets 2).

Genre: Animated Action-Comedy

Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key, David Mitchell, Carol Kane, Caspar Jennings, Tresi Gazal and Danny DeVito

Screenplay by: Mike White

Directed by: Benjamin Renner

Producers: Chris Meledandri

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Re-Tweet this Contest Post from our “X” account for an extra chance.

Rules and regulations here.

Universal Pictures Canada release MIGRATION in theatres December 22, 2023.

(Photo/video credit: Universal PIctures Canada)

The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is pleased to announce that Netflix has returned as a lead partner for the Norman Jewison Film Program for the second consecutive year. This is CFC’s longest running and signature film program for emerging to mid-level Canadian filmmakers, which has helped launch the careers of some of the country’s most notable talents. Applications are now open here and close January 31, 2024.

“Seeing the success of the Norman Jewison Film Program never gets old, and we are honoured to play a part in it,” said Stéphane Cardin, Director of Public Policy for Netflix in Canada. “Supporting the vision of bold new stories is what we set out to do when we started this partnership, so we’re excited to continue working with CFC in doing exactly that.”

The Norman Jewison Film Program is an accelerated professional film program for new voices in Canadian film including directors, writers, producers and editors. Thanks to Netflix’s generous support, residents will have an opportunity to improve their narrative storytelling, grow their body of work, expand their creative community and build their career through workshops, industry sessions, collaborations, mentorships and more.

Many of Canada’s acclaimed storytellers are alumni of this program, which aims to support the next generation of talent and to help them become influential industry leaders. Past alumni include Sarah Polley (Women Talking), Clement Virgo (Brother) and Zarrar Khan (In Flames).

“We’re pleased that Netflix has renewed their partnership with the Norman Jewison Film Program, reaffirming the importance of supporting the next wave of homegrown filmmaking,” said maxine bailey, CFC Executive Director. “Their continued contributions to the CFC enables us to provide vital opportunities for bold, new voices in the industry who need an extra boost to progress in their careers. The future is bright for Canadian storytelling and we’re grateful for Netflix’s partnership.”

The participants of the 2024 Norman Jewison Film Program will be announced in early July, and the program will run from July 15 to Dec 13, 2024 at CFC’s campus in Toronto. Learn more about the Norman Jewison Film Program here.