Starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, the 1997 film Men In Black was a huge hit upon its release, earning critical and commercial success, which was followed by two sequels along with a stand-alone fourth installment. However, crafting the intricate world of aliens and secret agents proved a formidable challenge for the creators.
Men in Black | Credit: Columbia Pictures
In a 2022 oral history of Men In Black discussion, director Barry Sonnenfeld, production designer Bo Welch, and screenwriter Ed Solomon reflected on the process of making the movie and revealed how they spent close to $1 million on an animatronic bug, ultimately abandoning its use in the final cut.
Men in Black Spent $1 Million in an Unused Giant Animatronic Bug
The first film in the Men in Black franchise follows Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent J (Will Smith) as they investigate a series of alien-related incidents, and across a dangerous...
Men in Black | Credit: Columbia Pictures
In a 2022 oral history of Men In Black discussion, director Barry Sonnenfeld, production designer Bo Welch, and screenwriter Ed Solomon reflected on the process of making the movie and revealed how they spent close to $1 million on an animatronic bug, ultimately abandoning its use in the final cut.
Men in Black Spent $1 Million in an Unused Giant Animatronic Bug
The first film in the Men in Black franchise follows Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent J (Will Smith) as they investigate a series of alien-related incidents, and across a dangerous...
- 5/18/2024
- by Laxmi Rajput
- FandomWire
Update, 3:08 Pm: Apple CEO Tim Cook’s X post on the much condemned “Crush” ad for the new iPad Pro has been viewed around 53 million times and the in-house produced promo is still on the tech giant’s YouTube page, but Apple is now saying sorry.
“Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad,” Apple marketing kingpin Tor Myhren told Ad Age today as the backlash intensified. “We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”
Well, maybe not that sorry – as after two days they still haven’t taken the literally and figuratively destructive ad down.
Previously May 8 Am: Apple’s new iPad Pro isn’t hitting the shelves for another week, but the self-described “thinnest Apple product yet” is already being crushed because of a new ad.
Released yesterday at a virtual...
“Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad,” Apple marketing kingpin Tor Myhren told Ad Age today as the backlash intensified. “We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”
Well, maybe not that sorry – as after two days they still haven’t taken the literally and figuratively destructive ad down.
Previously May 8 Am: Apple’s new iPad Pro isn’t hitting the shelves for another week, but the self-described “thinnest Apple product yet” is already being crushed because of a new ad.
Released yesterday at a virtual...
- 5/9/2024
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
We will probably never get to see Ryan Gosling or Steve Carell in any superhero movies, but the reason for it may be the fact that they already had that experience.
Before both found projects that eventually skyrocketed their careers and set specific directions for their acting paths, both actors appeared together in a short superhero film — and their opposition is everything we need.
If someone ever thought that 1999’s Unbelievables was an early Marvel-ish attempt, such a view needs to be immediately debunked — the film, directed by Ed Solomon who had released Man in Black before in 1997, is more about a suburban version of a superhero team that pretends to fight with the evil forces while nobody really asked for it.
Ryan Gosling, who at the time was only 18, got to portray one of the team’s members Josh, the son of Action Armstrong who, in his turn, is...
Before both found projects that eventually skyrocketed their careers and set specific directions for their acting paths, both actors appeared together in a short superhero film — and their opposition is everything we need.
If someone ever thought that 1999’s Unbelievables was an early Marvel-ish attempt, such a view needs to be immediately debunked — the film, directed by Ed Solomon who had released Man in Black before in 1997, is more about a suburban version of a superhero team that pretends to fight with the evil forces while nobody really asked for it.
Ryan Gosling, who at the time was only 18, got to portray one of the team’s members Josh, the son of Action Armstrong who, in his turn, is...
- 4/20/2024
- by benjamin-patel@startefacts.com (Benjamin Patel)
- STartefacts.com
As Hollywood agencies and production companies increasingly turn to artificial intelligence to evaluate screenplays, a group of writers and creatives have come together to design a so-called barrier against the incursion.
Shane Black (“Iron Man 3”), Jim Herzfeld (“Meet the Parents”) and Akela Cooper (“M3GAN”) are among two dozen industryites who collaborated on the development of a new tech platform, dubbed the Gauntlet, in an effort to keep humans assessing screenplays at the gate-keeper stage rather than AI.
ScriptHop, a Hollywood tech company founded by former UTA story department head Scott Foster and tech entrepreneur Brian Austin, is launching the Gauntlet Tuesday with 30 freelance script analysts from such high-profile companies as HBO and Lucasfilm, becoming the largest organized group of professional readers in the industry.
ScriptHop advisory board member and screenwriter Herzfeld came up with the idea that sees screenwriters pay a $380 fee to run their script through a “gauntlet” of professional story analysts.
Shane Black (“Iron Man 3”), Jim Herzfeld (“Meet the Parents”) and Akela Cooper (“M3GAN”) are among two dozen industryites who collaborated on the development of a new tech platform, dubbed the Gauntlet, in an effort to keep humans assessing screenplays at the gate-keeper stage rather than AI.
ScriptHop, a Hollywood tech company founded by former UTA story department head Scott Foster and tech entrepreneur Brian Austin, is launching the Gauntlet Tuesday with 30 freelance script analysts from such high-profile companies as HBO and Lucasfilm, becoming the largest organized group of professional readers in the industry.
ScriptHop advisory board member and screenwriter Herzfeld came up with the idea that sees screenwriters pay a $380 fee to run their script through a “gauntlet” of professional story analysts.
- 2/27/2024
- by Tatiana Siegel
- Variety Film + TV
2020’s Bill & Ted Face the Music felt like a fitting enough way to bid a bodacious farewell to the titular time traveling rockers. But if Alex Winter aka Bill S. Preston, Esquire, is to be believed, the pair may be partying on yet again for a Bill & Ted 4.
Appearing on The Sarah O’Connell Show, Winter said Bill & Ted 4 is already in the preliminary stages of being planned, citing trilogy writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. “The gang…we’re tinkering with a fourth movie idea that all of us like… and the guys are going to write, so we’ll see. I mean it takes us time to get these things going, and we never want to do them unless they’re great.” He went on to call the writers “super talented” but noted that “they feel the same way: it has to be right…We love [the movies] because...
Appearing on The Sarah O’Connell Show, Winter said Bill & Ted 4 is already in the preliminary stages of being planned, citing trilogy writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. “The gang…we’re tinkering with a fourth movie idea that all of us like… and the guys are going to write, so we’ll see. I mean it takes us time to get these things going, and we never want to do them unless they’re great.” He went on to call the writers “super talented” but noted that “they feel the same way: it has to be right…We love [the movies] because...
- 1/17/2024
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
The core creative team are ‘tinkering’ with an idea for Bill & Ted 4, reveals Alex Winter.
It’s far from assured, but it seems that the creative minds behind 2020’s Bill & Ted Face The Music are playing with the idea of revisiting the series’ beloved characters once more.
Alex Winter forms one half of the titular duo, and while out on the press tour for Destroy All Neighbors, he spoke on The Sarah O’Connell Show about the prospect of re-teaming with co-star Keanu Reeves for another turn as Bill S Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan, the beloved pair of slackers who are eternally on the verge of actually doing something meaningful with their lives.
Apparently, Winter and Reeves are working with the series’ writers Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson to figure out if there’s another story to tell… and it looks like that might possibly be the case.
It’s far from assured, but it seems that the creative minds behind 2020’s Bill & Ted Face The Music are playing with the idea of revisiting the series’ beloved characters once more.
Alex Winter forms one half of the titular duo, and while out on the press tour for Destroy All Neighbors, he spoke on The Sarah O’Connell Show about the prospect of re-teaming with co-star Keanu Reeves for another turn as Bill S Preston Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan, the beloved pair of slackers who are eternally on the verge of actually doing something meaningful with their lives.
Apparently, Winter and Reeves are working with the series’ writers Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson to figure out if there’s another story to tell… and it looks like that might possibly be the case.
- 1/17/2024
- by Dan Cooper
- Film Stories
Writers of nine limited series ranging from “A Murder at the End of the World” to “Tiny Beautiful Things” traded shop talk and stories of how they crafted muscular worlds to tell extended, standalone stories.
Ed Solomon of Max’s “Full Circle” astounded the crowd at Variety’s A Night in the Writers Room at Hollywood’s NeueHouse with the origin story of his 586-page spec script for the twisty thriller. “And then Steven [Soderbergh] decided to direct it and that led it to be great.”
Andy Breckman, of Peacock’s “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie,” explained to moderator Jazz Tangcay, Variety’s senior artisans editor, how he had to pad the original 2002 pilot for the detective franchise into a USA Network TV movie – because star Tony Shalhoub was contractually prohibited against starring in a competing pilot. “I had to fatten up the animal and get it to 90 minutes...
Ed Solomon of Max’s “Full Circle” astounded the crowd at Variety’s A Night in the Writers Room at Hollywood’s NeueHouse with the origin story of his 586-page spec script for the twisty thriller. “And then Steven [Soderbergh] decided to direct it and that led it to be great.”
Andy Breckman, of Peacock’s “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie,” explained to moderator Jazz Tangcay, Variety’s senior artisans editor, how he had to pad the original 2002 pilot for the detective franchise into a USA Network TV movie – because star Tony Shalhoub was contractually prohibited against starring in a competing pilot. “I had to fatten up the animal and get it to 90 minutes...
- 12/1/2023
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
Following the resolution of the writers’ strike, Variety’s “A Night in the Writers’ Room” returns Nov. 30 in-person, featuring three panels moderated by Variety’s esteemed journalists, Michael Schneider and Emily Longeretta, with this year’s Emmy-contending writers in the drama, comedy and limited series categories.
An invite-only audience of industry voters will attend the event which features a cocktail reception prior to the panels.
The Comedy panel features:
Duffy Boudreau, “Barry” Michele Fazekas, “Gen V” Justin Halpern, “Abbott Elementary” John Hoffmann, “Only Murders in the Building” Chris Harris, “Frasier” Bill Lawrence, “Shrinking” Judah Miller, “Bupkis” Migizi Pensoneau, “Reservation Dogs” Boots Riley, “I’m A Virgo”
The Drama panel features:
Debora Cahn, “The Diplomat” Michael Dinner, “Justified: City Primeval” Craig Mazin, “The Last of Us” Charlotte Stoudt, “The Morning Show” Sonja Warfield, “The Gilded Age”
The Limited Series panel features:
Andy Breckman, “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie” Lee Eisenberg,...
An invite-only audience of industry voters will attend the event which features a cocktail reception prior to the panels.
The Comedy panel features:
Duffy Boudreau, “Barry” Michele Fazekas, “Gen V” Justin Halpern, “Abbott Elementary” John Hoffmann, “Only Murders in the Building” Chris Harris, “Frasier” Bill Lawrence, “Shrinking” Judah Miller, “Bupkis” Migizi Pensoneau, “Reservation Dogs” Boots Riley, “I’m A Virgo”
The Drama panel features:
Debora Cahn, “The Diplomat” Michael Dinner, “Justified: City Primeval” Craig Mazin, “The Last of Us” Charlotte Stoudt, “The Morning Show” Sonja Warfield, “The Gilded Age”
The Limited Series panel features:
Andy Breckman, “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie” Lee Eisenberg,...
- 11/20/2023
- by William Earl
- Variety Film + TV
Barry Sonnenfeld's 1997 film "Men in Black" was the highest-grossing film (domestically) of 1997. Derived from then-hip urban legends about alien abductions and the suit-clad mystery men called in to cover up the evidence, "Men in Black" hit a sweet spot with audiences, blending sci-fi mayhem, quirky special effects, and the sheer overwhelming star power of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones to create one of the decade's defining blockbusters. Although the more significant cinematic advances of the decade were being made within a growing, robust indie scene, over on the studio side of the fence, audiences were in the mood for high-profile sci-fi. 1996 saw the ultra-success of "Independence Day," and films like "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and "Armageddon" made almost half a billion between them.
Geeks were also at the beginning of an ascendency, as proven by the 1997 release of the "Star Wars" Special Editions. Filmmaker George Lucas, armed...
Geeks were also at the beginning of an ascendency, as proven by the 1997 release of the "Star Wars" Special Editions. Filmmaker George Lucas, armed...
- 10/8/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
In 1989 Orion Pictures, along with Nelson Entertainment released Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. The film was widely loved, and still is, to this day by both critics and fans alike. Because the film was so popular, spawned tons of merchandise and even had two spinoff shows…a sequel was inevitable.
This isn’t just any sequel, it’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. At the time regarded as a love it or hate it film and was considered a box office failure. So let’s go to hell, visit heaven, build some evil and good robots and face off in the Battle of Bands as we check out Bill & Ted’s bonkers follow up on this episode of Revisited.
As stated earlier, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure was released in February 1989 and became a huge success. People couldn’t get enough of the two brain dead yet incredibly...
This isn’t just any sequel, it’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. At the time regarded as a love it or hate it film and was considered a box office failure. So let’s go to hell, visit heaven, build some evil and good robots and face off in the Battle of Bands as we check out Bill & Ted’s bonkers follow up on this episode of Revisited.
As stated earlier, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure was released in February 1989 and became a huge success. People couldn’t get enough of the two brain dead yet incredibly...
- 10/7/2023
- by Ric Solomon
- JoBlo.com
Film fans talk about the 1990s as another Golden Age of cinema. Not only is there the jam-packed year of 1999, which gave us classics such as The Matrix, Toy Story 2, and The Talented Mr. Ripley, but the 90s also saw the rise of new auteurs, including Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, and Guillermo del Toro. Hollywood turned its attention to indie and foreign films, enriching a moviegoing experience that still featured fan-favorite blockbusters.
But to really see how good the 90s were, we can’t just look at the hits. Rather, the flops tell us the true tale of the decade’s quality – the movies that audiences skipped at the time but have proven their worth in the years that followed. Here are the best flops of the 1990s; films that couldn’t find a wide enough audience upon release, but still deserve attention today.
Mom and Dad Save the World...
But to really see how good the 90s were, we can’t just look at the hits. Rather, the flops tell us the true tale of the decade’s quality – the movies that audiences skipped at the time but have proven their worth in the years that followed. Here are the best flops of the 1990s; films that couldn’t find a wide enough audience upon release, but still deserve attention today.
Mom and Dad Save the World...
- 10/7/2023
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
We love rock & roll, and so do most moviegoers, which is why cinema is filled with heroes who get together with their friends to pound out some numbers. Whether they do it for fame and fortune or to just hang out with buddies, pop bands are inherently cinematic, tying together moving images and sound to create something spectacular. That’s particularly true of fictional groups, who often draw from real-world inspirations and transform them into moving protagonists or hated villains.
This list covers ten of the best fictional bands in cinema history. The key word here is “bands,” as we ignore solo acts, even from really good films. So Mac Sledge from Tender Mercies won’t show up, nor will Noni Jean from Beyond the Lights. Also, we’re looking at fictional groups here, so the Ramones from Rock & Roll High School don’t show up, nor do Talking Heads,...
This list covers ten of the best fictional bands in cinema history. The key word here is “bands,” as we ignore solo acts, even from really good films. So Mac Sledge from Tender Mercies won’t show up, nor will Noni Jean from Beyond the Lights. Also, we’re looking at fictional groups here, so the Ramones from Rock & Roll High School don’t show up, nor do Talking Heads,...
- 9/26/2023
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
With TV and films stalled due to the ongoing writers and actors strike, director Judd Apatow and filmmaker J.J. Abrams sat down for a virtual conversation with Ed Solomon on Tuesday evening to talk in-depth about their writing process and working alongside filmmaker Matt Reeves as teenagers. During the 11th episode of The Black List’s Word by Word, the trio steered clear of conversations about the double strike.
At the start of the conversation, Solomon shared that Abrams and Apatow were eager to jump on the episode when learning...
At the start of the conversation, Solomon shared that Abrams and Apatow were eager to jump on the episode when learning...
- 9/6/2023
- by Kalia Richardson
- Rollingstone.com
On June 10, 2023, screenwriter Ed Solomon ("Men in Black," "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," "Full Circle") tweeted the following:
"Wanted to gauge interest on something. If I were to do a series of Zoom workshops during the strike (was thinking Q & A sessions on various parts of the craft of writing), would anyone show up?"
Within minutes, he received a Dm from The Black List founder Franklin Leonard, who, along with his team, including the company's senior vice president Megan Halpern, was offering to help facilitate the types of conversations Solomon wanted to have. A couple of weeks later, Word By Word was officially up and running.
With its title taking inspiration from Anne Lamott's writing book "Bird By Bird," which Solomon calls "the best book [he's] ever read on writing," the weekly Zoom sessions are free and open to the public, feature major figures from the world of screenwriting as guests,...
"Wanted to gauge interest on something. If I were to do a series of Zoom workshops during the strike (was thinking Q & A sessions on various parts of the craft of writing), would anyone show up?"
Within minutes, he received a Dm from The Black List founder Franklin Leonard, who, along with his team, including the company's senior vice president Megan Halpern, was offering to help facilitate the types of conversations Solomon wanted to have. A couple of weeks later, Word By Word was officially up and running.
With its title taking inspiration from Anne Lamott's writing book "Bird By Bird," which Solomon calls "the best book [he's] ever read on writing," the weekly Zoom sessions are free and open to the public, feature major figures from the world of screenwriting as guests,...
- 9/1/2023
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
Making a top ten list of your favourite movies can be difficult, but is it any easier when you narrow that list down to a single decade? IndieWire asked dozens of filmmakers to put together a list of their favourite 80s movies, and the results are as widely varied as the decade itself. Which 80s movies does Bill Hader hold dear to his heart? What are some of Nia DaCosta’s favourites? Can Edgar Wright actually contain himself to just ten movies? What horror movies of the 80s top Eli Roth’s list?
Bill Hader’s (Barry) Favourite 80s Movies:
Thin Blue Line Road Warrior Blood Simple Evil Dead 1&2 Raging Bull Naked Gun The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On The Hit Raising Arizona Crimes and Misdemeanors Blue Velvet Where is the Friends House Pee Wees Big Adventure Midnight Run Come and See Do the Right Thing My Neighbor Totoro Die Hard Paris,...
Bill Hader’s (Barry) Favourite 80s Movies:
Thin Blue Line Road Warrior Blood Simple Evil Dead 1&2 Raging Bull Naked Gun The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On The Hit Raising Arizona Crimes and Misdemeanors Blue Velvet Where is the Friends House Pee Wees Big Adventure Midnight Run Come and See Do the Right Thing My Neighbor Totoro Die Hard Paris,...
- 8/18/2023
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
You know the difference between Will Smith and any other young star of the mid-90s? He makes alien policing look good. As new recruit Agent J, Smith brought perfect energy to bounce off of crusty veteran Agent K, played by Tommy Lee Jones. With those two in the lead, Men in Black became an instant classic, brimming with buddy chemistry as the titular agents hunt down a rogue bug alien played by a transcendent Vincent D’Onofrio.
And yet, it took one of the most powerful men in Hollywood to get Will Smith on board. The rapper-turned-actor was a known quality during the long pre-production of Men in Black, having transitioned from sitcom star of The Fresh Prince of Bel–Air to blockbuster star with the back-to-back hits of Bad Boys and Independence Day. So when he was pitched a role in a Barry Sonnenfeld-directed adaptation of a little-known comic book,...
And yet, it took one of the most powerful men in Hollywood to get Will Smith on board. The rapper-turned-actor was a known quality during the long pre-production of Men in Black, having transitioned from sitcom star of The Fresh Prince of Bel–Air to blockbuster star with the back-to-back hits of Bad Boys and Independence Day. So when he was pitched a role in a Barry Sonnenfeld-directed adaptation of a little-known comic book,...
- 8/3/2023
- by Joe George
- Den of Geek
Javier Grillo-Marxuach, a veteran of the TV space who has most recently served as both a writer and EP on Netflix’s The Witcher — prior to the start of the dual strikes — has come forward to address accusations of “scabbing” prompted by his posts on social media.
Grillo-Marxuach joins a growing list of guild members, between WGA and SAG-AFTRA, that have faced harsh rebukes from peers of activity that is, in fact, guild-approved. Inciting this particular incident were social posts promoting the aforementioned fantasy drama, which as he notes, were made with WGA dictates in mind.
“Today i was accused of scabbing for posting about, and showing the title card and promo for #TheWitcher – which i did of my own volition and not at the request of my corporate overlords – and for engaging with fans of the show,” wrote Grillo-Marxuach. “While my actions are completely within the guild’s strike...
Grillo-Marxuach joins a growing list of guild members, between WGA and SAG-AFTRA, that have faced harsh rebukes from peers of activity that is, in fact, guild-approved. Inciting this particular incident were social posts promoting the aforementioned fantasy drama, which as he notes, were made with WGA dictates in mind.
“Today i was accused of scabbing for posting about, and showing the title card and promo for #TheWitcher – which i did of my own volition and not at the request of my corporate overlords – and for engaging with fans of the show,” wrote Grillo-Marxuach. “While my actions are completely within the guild’s strike...
- 7/29/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
With Hollywood largely in lockdown due to two historic strikes and studios digging in their heels for what’s increasingly looking like a many months-long war of attrition, sensitivities amid the union ranks have never been higher.
So when an executive producer and writer for Netflix’s The Witcher tweeted about the show’s new episodes, it’s perhaps unsurprising the comments received blowback.
“Today i was accused of scabbing for posting about, and showing the title card and promo for #TheWitcher – which i did of my own volition and not at the request of my corporate overlords – and for engaging with fans of the show,” wrote TV veteran Javier Grillo-Marxuach. “While my actions are completely within the guild’s strike rules as you can see below, i can also understand how they can offend others and appear as a lapse in solidarity … so i’m taking my posts down.
So when an executive producer and writer for Netflix’s The Witcher tweeted about the show’s new episodes, it’s perhaps unsurprising the comments received blowback.
“Today i was accused of scabbing for posting about, and showing the title card and promo for #TheWitcher – which i did of my own volition and not at the request of my corporate overlords – and for engaging with fans of the show,” wrote TV veteran Javier Grillo-Marxuach. “While my actions are completely within the guild’s strike rules as you can see below, i can also understand how they can offend others and appear as a lapse in solidarity … so i’m taking my posts down.
- 7/28/2023
- by James Hibberd
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
[This story contains spoilers from Max’s Full Circle.]
Max’s Full Circle garnered interest even before it premiered due to its star-studded cast. But while viewers may have originally tuned in to see Claire Danes, Dennis Quaid, Timothy Olyphant, Zazie Beetz and Jim Gaffigan, those who stayed with the limited series saw a story take center stage of two Guyanese teenagers stuck in New York and desperately trying to get home.
This “bait-and-switch aspect” is part of what appealed to director Steven Soderbergh when writer Ed Solomon presented the project to him. Soderbergh helmed all six episodes of the series, about the fallout from a botched kidnapping.
“You think it’s about this group of well-off white people being victimized. And then over the course of the show, the whole thing starts to tilt,” Soderbergh told a group of reporters in a June roundtable discussion. “By the end of it, we’re in a very different place than where we started.
Max’s Full Circle garnered interest even before it premiered due to its star-studded cast. But while viewers may have originally tuned in to see Claire Danes, Dennis Quaid, Timothy Olyphant, Zazie Beetz and Jim Gaffigan, those who stayed with the limited series saw a story take center stage of two Guyanese teenagers stuck in New York and desperately trying to get home.
This “bait-and-switch aspect” is part of what appealed to director Steven Soderbergh when writer Ed Solomon presented the project to him. Soderbergh helmed all six episodes of the series, about the fallout from a botched kidnapping.
“You think it’s about this group of well-off white people being victimized. And then over the course of the show, the whole thing starts to tilt,” Soderbergh told a group of reporters in a June roundtable discussion. “By the end of it, we’re in a very different place than where we started.
- 7/28/2023
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Full Circle” came to an exceptionally satisfying end July 27, as director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon elegantly pulled together the varied storylines and themes that comprised its sprawling, penetrating narrative while leaving just enough unanswered questions to tantalize the viewer. Soderbergh looked back on the making of the Max limited series in a wide-ranging roundtable interview that touched on a number of subjects both directly and indirectly related to “Full Circle,” from why he likes to shoot quickly to what he learned from the New York cop movies of the 1970s. Here are some highlights from the conversation.
On the influence of William Friedkin and Sidney Lumet.
While preparing for “Full Circle,” Soderbergh looked at William Friedkin’s “The French Connection” and Sidney Lumet cop movies like “Serpico.” “There can be something compelling and arresting about an approach that’s really direct and doesn’t have a lot of filigree in it,...
On the influence of William Friedkin and Sidney Lumet.
While preparing for “Full Circle,” Soderbergh looked at William Friedkin’s “The French Connection” and Sidney Lumet cop movies like “Serpico.” “There can be something compelling and arresting about an approach that’s really direct and doesn’t have a lot of filigree in it,...
- 7/28/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Editor’s note: The following article contains spoilers for “Full Circle” Episodes 5 and 6.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind — even if it brings things full circle. The final episodes of Max’s “Full Circle” from Steven Soderbergh and Ed Solomon reveal a broken cycle of violence, greed, and secrecy that does not ultimately heal from retaliation, but resolution/healing/absolution.
“Full Circle” stars a large ensemble, but the Mahabir side especially spotlights key players at different times. If Episodes 1 and 2 belonged to Aked (Jharrel Jerome), then 3 and 4 were focused on Louis (Gerald Jones) and 5 and 6 spotlight Xavier (Sheyi Cole). Each member of the young crew tasked with doing Savitri’s (Cch Pounder) bidding experiences degrees of panic, fear, and regret after the kidnapping, the specific cocktail of these determining their actions in the final hours. 3 and 4 depict Louis trying to right his wrongs, to return Nicky...
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind — even if it brings things full circle. The final episodes of Max’s “Full Circle” from Steven Soderbergh and Ed Solomon reveal a broken cycle of violence, greed, and secrecy that does not ultimately heal from retaliation, but resolution/healing/absolution.
“Full Circle” stars a large ensemble, but the Mahabir side especially spotlights key players at different times. If Episodes 1 and 2 belonged to Aked (Jharrel Jerome), then 3 and 4 were focused on Louis (Gerald Jones) and 5 and 6 spotlight Xavier (Sheyi Cole). Each member of the young crew tasked with doing Savitri’s (Cch Pounder) bidding experiences degrees of panic, fear, and regret after the kidnapping, the specific cocktail of these determining their actions in the final hours. 3 and 4 depict Louis trying to right his wrongs, to return Nicky...
- 7/28/2023
- by Proma Khosla
- Indiewire
Spoiler Alert: This interview discusses the final episode of “Full Circle,” now streaming on Max.
It’s fitting that everyone ends up back where they started at the conclusion of “Full Circle” – well, everyone that’s not dead or in police custody.
Things comes crashing into each other before those final moments, though. Parallel storylines reach a shared — and complicated — dramatic climax when Louis (Gerald Jones) sneaks into the Browne family’s spacious New York apartment to snag an expensive painting that can give him and his sister, Natalia (Adia), enough leverage to return to their home country Guyana, away from the Mafia war in which they’ve become entangled. But Samantha (Claire Danes) is on the premises, pulling a gun on Louis and demanding that he leave. The two are strangers, but a key exchange sparks a realization for Sam: Louis says he is from Essequibo, a riverside area...
It’s fitting that everyone ends up back where they started at the conclusion of “Full Circle” – well, everyone that’s not dead or in police custody.
Things comes crashing into each other before those final moments, though. Parallel storylines reach a shared — and complicated — dramatic climax when Louis (Gerald Jones) sneaks into the Browne family’s spacious New York apartment to snag an expensive painting that can give him and his sister, Natalia (Adia), enough leverage to return to their home country Guyana, away from the Mafia war in which they’ve become entangled. But Samantha (Claire Danes) is on the premises, pulling a gun on Louis and demanding that he leave. The two are strangers, but a key exchange sparks a realization for Sam: Louis says he is from Essequibo, a riverside area...
- 7/27/2023
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
In the final two episodes of Full Circle, a mystery of sorts is solved, though it's more like the final few layers of an onion are peeled. Director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon didn't set up some grand whodunit, nor have they laid out bread crumbs or red herrings in order to encourage the audience to try to figure it out. There are things we didn't know headed into the finale that we now know. But the real surprise comes via a final rapprochement between two characters who, up to this point, really couldn't stand each other.
[Editor’s Note: This post contains spoilers for Full Circle through Episode 6, "Essequibo."]...
[Editor’s Note: This post contains spoilers for Full Circle through Episode 6, "Essequibo."]...
- 7/27/2023
- by Joe Reid
- Primetimer
When screenwriter Ed Solomon says that putting together “Full Circle,” a mystery-driven Max limited series directed by Steven Soderbergh, was the hardest work he’s ever done, he well and truly means it. Not just because the story of “Full Circle” was so intricate — chronicling a botched kidnapping from the perspectives of the perpetrators, victim, law enforcement and all manner of individuals tangentially connected to the crime — but also because the project started as a sprawling branching narrative like his first project with Soderbergh, HBO’s “Mosaic.”
The ”branching narrative” of “Mosaic” allowed viewers to choose which narrative path they followed after every scene via a now-defunct app, and hasn’t been replicated since. Solomon and Soderbergh planned to make “Full Circle” as both a linear limited series and a branching narrative, using different cameras and aesthetics for the branching narrative portion. But six months before production, Solomon said they decided to refine their approach.
The ”branching narrative” of “Mosaic” allowed viewers to choose which narrative path they followed after every scene via a now-defunct app, and hasn’t been replicated since. Solomon and Soderbergh planned to make “Full Circle” as both a linear limited series and a branching narrative, using different cameras and aesthetics for the branching narrative portion. But six months before production, Solomon said they decided to refine their approach.
- 7/25/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
Note: This interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Steven Soderbergh’s Max series “Full Circle” throws its viewers into a tangled web of moral ambiguity faced by a slew of characters, including Jharrel Jerome’s Aked, a young man whose familial obligation tasks him with kidnapping a teenage boy.
The series, the first four episodes of which are now streaming on Max, parses together bits and pieces of a revenge kidnapping plot orchestrated by Guyanese matriarch Savitri Mahabir (Cch Pounder) — which goes sideways under the watch of her nephew, Aked, when the group picks up the wrong kid — and again when Aked’s girlfriend and her brother, attempt to save him.
With the reasoning for the kidnapping — and its subsequent botching — kept hidden from Aked, Jerome only read through the script for the six-episode limited series once and promised not to do so again.
“It would definitely interfere with...
Steven Soderbergh’s Max series “Full Circle” throws its viewers into a tangled web of moral ambiguity faced by a slew of characters, including Jharrel Jerome’s Aked, a young man whose familial obligation tasks him with kidnapping a teenage boy.
The series, the first four episodes of which are now streaming on Max, parses together bits and pieces of a revenge kidnapping plot orchestrated by Guyanese matriarch Savitri Mahabir (Cch Pounder) — which goes sideways under the watch of her nephew, Aked, when the group picks up the wrong kid — and again when Aked’s girlfriend and her brother, attempt to save him.
With the reasoning for the kidnapping — and its subsequent botching — kept hidden from Aked, Jerome only read through the script for the six-episode limited series once and promised not to do so again.
“It would definitely interfere with...
- 7/21/2023
- by Loree Seitz
- The Wrap
Editors note: the following article contains spoilers for “Full Circle” Episodes 3 and 4.
Nothing is as satisfying as a big TV twist — a jaw-dropping finale or midseason moment that reinforces why the audience gravitated to an exceptional show to begin with, and why they’ll either come back for more or forever crave it.
Max’s “Full Circle” isn’t dealing in excessive convolution — not yet anyway — but Episodes 3 and 4 meter out small twists in just the right dosage, counteracting some slow plot development with clarity about past and current events. Written by Ed Solomon and directed by Steven Soderbergh, “Jared’s Body” divulges more about Nicky (Lucian Zanes) and his connection to the Brownes, while “Safe in the Circle” peels away at the link between the McCusker and Mahabir families.
Episode 3 is the slower of the two for most of its runtime, redeemed toward the end by the reveal that Nicky is Derek’s son.
Nothing is as satisfying as a big TV twist — a jaw-dropping finale or midseason moment that reinforces why the audience gravitated to an exceptional show to begin with, and why they’ll either come back for more or forever crave it.
Max’s “Full Circle” isn’t dealing in excessive convolution — not yet anyway — but Episodes 3 and 4 meter out small twists in just the right dosage, counteracting some slow plot development with clarity about past and current events. Written by Ed Solomon and directed by Steven Soderbergh, “Jared’s Body” divulges more about Nicky (Lucian Zanes) and his connection to the Brownes, while “Safe in the Circle” peels away at the link between the McCusker and Mahabir families.
Episode 3 is the slower of the two for most of its runtime, redeemed toward the end by the reveal that Nicky is Derek’s son.
- 7/21/2023
- by Proma Khosla
- Indiewire
Editor’s Note: In solidarity with the WGA strike, Ed Solomon is not participating in Max-generated promotional events or press for “Full Circle,” only in interviews arranged through personal connections like this one.
The Max series “Full Circle” is one of the most ambitious, audacious, and satisfying thrillers to hit streaming in years, an intricately structured and consistently surprising ensemble piece that’s as broad in its scope as it is deep in its insights. The botched kidnapping at the story’s center brings together a wide array of fascinating characters from different backgrounds, ranging from the struggling to the wealthy and from criminals to law enforcement agents working for the U.S. postal service, all of whom are rendered with precise journalistic detail and profound empathy. It’s remarkably complex and complicated — but according to writer Ed Solomon, it was even more complicated in its original conception.
“This began...
The Max series “Full Circle” is one of the most ambitious, audacious, and satisfying thrillers to hit streaming in years, an intricately structured and consistently surprising ensemble piece that’s as broad in its scope as it is deep in its insights. The botched kidnapping at the story’s center brings together a wide array of fascinating characters from different backgrounds, ranging from the struggling to the wealthy and from criminals to law enforcement agents working for the U.S. postal service, all of whom are rendered with precise journalistic detail and profound empathy. It’s remarkably complex and complicated — but according to writer Ed Solomon, it was even more complicated in its original conception.
“This began...
- 7/17/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
The first season of Christopher Miller’s “The Afterparty” put a twist on the ageless murder mystery by having each episode take the form of a unique film genre that corresponded to the personality and perspective of the person being interrogated. The Apple TV+ show (which arguably should have been nominated for Best Music and Lyrics for the original songs in the musical episode), is back for a 10-episode second season that revolves around a murder at a wedding and utilizes several new genres to figure out whodunnit.
Sam Richardson, a two-time Emmy nominee for “Ted Lasso,” returns as Aniq, while Zoë Chao is back as his now-girlfriend Zoe. After the groom, who happens to be Zoe’s new brother-in-law, is murdered on his wedding night, the two begin their own investigation, eventually calling in Tiffany Haddish’s detective from Season 1 to assist. With a cast that includes everyone from...
Sam Richardson, a two-time Emmy nominee for “Ted Lasso,” returns as Aniq, while Zoë Chao is back as his now-girlfriend Zoe. After the groom, who happens to be Zoe’s new brother-in-law, is murdered on his wedding night, the two begin their own investigation, eventually calling in Tiffany Haddish’s detective from Season 1 to assist. With a cast that includes everyone from...
- 7/15/2023
- by Kaitlin Thomas
- Gold Derby
HBO has been known for bringing out some groundbreaking television shows over the years. Television shows in the mafia genre like The Sopranos were HBO’s flagship stories, which remain cult classics. Full Circle, created by Ed Solomon and directed by Steven Soderbergh, gives us a glimpse into a Guyanese family living in New York City and the mafia ring they have been running for some time. The crimes they are committing and who they are targeting is what the first episode is all about.
Spoilers Ahead
The Guyanese mafia
The opening credits’ begin with a picture of a rich family, and from the shot, it is clear that the plot of the show will revolve around this family. They would either be the target of some crime, or part of a crime syndicate. The show kicks off with a person being murdered, and the killer runs off with a bag of money.
Spoilers Ahead
The Guyanese mafia
The opening credits’ begin with a picture of a rich family, and from the shot, it is clear that the plot of the show will revolve around this family. They would either be the target of some crime, or part of a crime syndicate. The show kicks off with a person being murdered, and the killer runs off with a bag of money.
- 7/14/2023
- by Smriti Kannan
- Film Fugitives
Leave it to Steven Soderbergh to celebrate the release of his compelling, complex mystery noir series “Full Circle” by announcing the release of another show he made in secret just a few days later. On Friday, the trailer for “Command Z” was released, announcing that the sci-fi comedy series starring Michael Cera will be streaming exclusively on Soderbergh’s website on Monday, July 17.
“I think by now you’re used to me describing the somewhat mercurial behavior of our boss, Mr/Dr Soderbergh, but this most recent development is next level and can’t be kept to myself for reasons you’ll soon understand,” a letter from one Fabrizia del Dongo reads. “This very morning, our fearful leader explained that in three days (July 17th for those who don’t want to do the math) we will be “dropping” a series of some sort called ‘Command Z.’ If I seem hedgy,...
“I think by now you’re used to me describing the somewhat mercurial behavior of our boss, Mr/Dr Soderbergh, but this most recent development is next level and can’t be kept to myself for reasons you’ll soon understand,” a letter from one Fabrizia del Dongo reads. “This very morning, our fearful leader explained that in three days (July 17th for those who don’t want to do the math) we will be “dropping” a series of some sort called ‘Command Z.’ If I seem hedgy,...
- 7/14/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
[Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers for “Full Circle” Episodes 1 and 2.]
If you find yourself, during the first two episodes of Max’s “Full Circle,” pointing excitedly at the screen when you see the literal circle for which the show is named, you are not alone.
Ed Solomon and Steven Soderbergh’s limited series follows the interconnected lives surrounding a kidnapping in New York City, but those threads are still obscured during the first two episodes which premiered Thursday on Max. Here’s what we know: Savitri Mahabir (Cch Pounder) wants revenge for her brother’s death, and that revenge will be exacted by kidnapping and possibly killing the child of a wealthy white family. Doing this will break the cycle (complete the circle) of her family’s luck and free them of unwanted negative energy. All of that is set up in Episode 1, along with a dizzying number of character introductions. It’s a credit to...
If you find yourself, during the first two episodes of Max’s “Full Circle,” pointing excitedly at the screen when you see the literal circle for which the show is named, you are not alone.
Ed Solomon and Steven Soderbergh’s limited series follows the interconnected lives surrounding a kidnapping in New York City, but those threads are still obscured during the first two episodes which premiered Thursday on Max. Here’s what we know: Savitri Mahabir (Cch Pounder) wants revenge for her brother’s death, and that revenge will be exacted by kidnapping and possibly killing the child of a wealthy white family. Doing this will break the cycle (complete the circle) of her family’s luck and free them of unwanted negative energy. All of that is set up in Episode 1, along with a dizzying number of character introductions. It’s a credit to...
- 7/13/2023
- by Proma Khosla
- Indiewire
With “Full Circle,” Steven Soderbergh once again immerses us in a multi-character crime caper. Typical of the director’s work, it’s intricate, obsessed with money, cognizant of sociopolitical realities and astute about human nature (if not super illuminating). This six-episode Max limited series is on the more serious end of the Soderbergh spectrum, “Traffic”-like rather than an “Ocean’s” romp, mousetrap-plotted as opposed to experimental. The overall effect is one of the smart, showy filmmaker doing donuts, but spinning the wheels of a well-tuned Escalade.
Written by Ed Solomon, who also provided the scripts for Soderbergh’s earlier mystery projects “Mosaic” and “No Sudden Move,” “Circle” transfers the basic idea of Akira Kurosawa’s procedural “High and Low” to a contemporary New York City with a much denser population of key characters. A scheme to kidnap the son of a wealthy family gets royally and morally screwed up...
Written by Ed Solomon, who also provided the scripts for Soderbergh’s earlier mystery projects “Mosaic” and “No Sudden Move,” “Circle” transfers the basic idea of Akira Kurosawa’s procedural “High and Low” to a contemporary New York City with a much denser population of key characters. A scheme to kidnap the son of a wealthy family gets royally and morally screwed up...
- 7/13/2023
- by Bob Strauss
- The Wrap
Midway through Steven Soderbergh’s new thriller miniseries Full Circle, Sam Browne (Claire Danes) asks her brooding husband Derek (Timothy Olyphant), “Is there something else going on?” The query comes as the Brownes are dealing with a kidnap threat against their son, an apparent murder, and someone targeting the corporate empire that the couple runs on behalf of Sam’s celebrity chef father, Jeff McCusker (Dennis Quaid).
“You mean more than all this?” an incredulous Derek replies.
So, yes, the Brownes are dealing with a lot. And Soderbergh and writer...
“You mean more than all this?” an incredulous Derek replies.
So, yes, the Brownes are dealing with a lot. And Soderbergh and writer...
- 7/13/2023
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
Since his “retirement” from filmmaking in 2013, director Steven Soderbergh has never fully backed away from the world of features: He has eight movies to his name in the past decade — more than some of his peers have produced in their entire careers. But Soderbergh did subsequently branch out into the world of TV, a medium he’s approached with the same enterprising, experimental spirit as he does his latter-period films. First came 2014’s “The Knick,” the Cinemax period medical drama helmed entirely by Soderbergh at a time when marquee directors were just starting to dabble in TV; then “Mosaic,” a project released in 2017 as both an interactive app and an HBO series, showing the same interest in new technology that’s led Soderbergh to shoot multiple movies on an iPhone.
“Mosaic” was a collaboration with screenwriter Ed Solomon, who also penned Soderbergh’s 1950s noir “No Sudden Move.” The new...
“Mosaic” was a collaboration with screenwriter Ed Solomon, who also penned Soderbergh’s 1950s noir “No Sudden Move.” The new...
- 7/11/2023
- by Alison Herman
- Variety Film + TV
At a time when overall deals are getting the side-eye, no disapproving stares need be sent toward Steven Soderbergh. The Oscar- and Emmy-winning director signed a three-year deal with WarnerMedia in 2020, when Max was still HBO Max and HBO still had exclusive rights to its original library, and he’s continue to deliver throughout the streamer’s tumultuous transition — one film per year, including the third in his trilogy with Channing Tatum (“Magic Mike’s Last Dance”), a buzzy thriller starring Zoë Kravitz (“Kimi”), and a little movie featuring the one-and-only Meryl Streep (“Let Them All Talk”).
For an artist who once thought he was done with filmmaking for good, Soderbergh has become the portrait of reliability. People can quibble over quality — none of his films have garnered the awards attention seen in his early career or the critical adoration of, say, HBO’s “Behind the Candelabra” — but he’s produced thoughtful stories,...
For an artist who once thought he was done with filmmaking for good, Soderbergh has become the portrait of reliability. People can quibble over quality — none of his films have garnered the awards attention seen in his early career or the critical adoration of, say, HBO’s “Behind the Candelabra” — but he’s produced thoughtful stories,...
- 7/11/2023
- by Ben Travers
- Indiewire
With the presumptive demise of physical media, there’s nothing I’m going to miss quite so much as DVD commentary tracks. It’s less the banal puffery and hagiographic nostalgia of 95 percent of them and more the occasional recording on which somebody would unload with two hours of candor, whether it’s Ben Affleck talking Armageddon or the delicate dance performed by Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Lem Hobbs discussing The Limey.
That Limey commentary track is a spectacular illustration of how great movies can still be made even if two key creative forces aren’t on the same page regarding much of anything. It’s also a reminder of how often the things that Soderbergh does behind the camera aren’t always aligned with whatever might have been the initial goals of whoever wrote the screenplay — and nor need they be, necessarily.
Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon have what...
That Limey commentary track is a spectacular illustration of how great movies can still be made even if two key creative forces aren’t on the same page regarding much of anything. It’s also a reminder of how often the things that Soderbergh does behind the camera aren’t always aligned with whatever might have been the initial goals of whoever wrote the screenplay — and nor need they be, necessarily.
Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon have what...
- 7/5/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
From the word go, Steven Soderbergh’s crime caper Full Circle works furiously to introduce us to all of its relevant players. Derek (Timothy Olyphant) and Sam (Claire Danes) are a wealthy couple who enjoy a life of luxury thanks to the success of Sam’s father, Jeff (Dennis Quaid), a famous chef. But while everything seems like the picture of perfection inside their lavishly remodeled New York apartment, dark family secrets are dragged, kicking and screaming, into the light when their teenage son, Jared (Ethan Stoddard), is kidnapped.
The abduction plan is put into motion by a Queens-based crime syndicate headed by Cch Pounder’s enigmatic matriarch Savitri Mahabir. She believes that the actions of her late husband have left her family cursed for years, and after consulting with a spiritual leader back in Guyana, she concludes that capturing young Jared is the only way to remove it.
Mahabir...
The abduction plan is put into motion by a Queens-based crime syndicate headed by Cch Pounder’s enigmatic matriarch Savitri Mahabir. She believes that the actions of her late husband have left her family cursed for years, and after consulting with a spiritual leader back in Guyana, she concludes that capturing young Jared is the only way to remove it.
Mahabir...
- 7/5/2023
- by Ross McIndoe
- Slant Magazine
Full Circle is heading to Max later this month, and the streaming service has now released a trailer teasing the new drama series from Steven Soderbergh and Ed Solomon.
Starring Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Jim Gaffigan, Jharrel Jerome, Timothy Olyphant, Cch Pounder, Phaldut Sharma, Adia, Sheyi Cole, Gerald Jones, Suzanne Savoy, Ethan Stoddard, Lucian Zanes, and Dennis Quaid, the six-episode Max series takes viewers into a kidnapping case that brings to light long-held secrets in New York City.
Read More…...
Starring Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Jim Gaffigan, Jharrel Jerome, Timothy Olyphant, Cch Pounder, Phaldut Sharma, Adia, Sheyi Cole, Gerald Jones, Suzanne Savoy, Ethan Stoddard, Lucian Zanes, and Dennis Quaid, the six-episode Max series takes viewers into a kidnapping case that brings to light long-held secrets in New York City.
Read More…...
- 7/3/2023
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
Summer is heating up on Max.
Back in May, Max added programming from TLC, HGTV and Food Network. That means Discovery’s popular Shark Week will be available to stream when it kicks off on July 23, with programming to be announced soon.
For fans of unscripted series, Season 3 or “90 Day Fiancé: Love in Paradise: Pillow Talk” (July 4) and Season 5 of “90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way” (July 10) are both streaming, as well as the series premiere of “90 Day Fiancé: UK.”
Home renovation fans will want to catch Season 16 of “Barnwood Builders” (July 6) and the special “Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge” (July 16), hosted by Ashley Graham, just in time for the feature film.
Also Read:
Here’s What’s New on Amazon Prime Video in July 2023
“Project Greenlight” (July 13) returns, with executive producer Issa Rae along with Kumail Nanjiani and Gina Prince-Bythewood serve as mentors throughout the season.
Finally, the six-episode Max Original limited series “Full Circle,...
Back in May, Max added programming from TLC, HGTV and Food Network. That means Discovery’s popular Shark Week will be available to stream when it kicks off on July 23, with programming to be announced soon.
For fans of unscripted series, Season 3 or “90 Day Fiancé: Love in Paradise: Pillow Talk” (July 4) and Season 5 of “90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way” (July 10) are both streaming, as well as the series premiere of “90 Day Fiancé: UK.”
Home renovation fans will want to catch Season 16 of “Barnwood Builders” (July 6) and the special “Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge” (July 16), hosted by Ashley Graham, just in time for the feature film.
Also Read:
Here’s What’s New on Amazon Prime Video in July 2023
“Project Greenlight” (July 13) returns, with executive producer Issa Rae along with Kumail Nanjiani and Gina Prince-Bythewood serve as mentors throughout the season.
Finally, the six-episode Max Original limited series “Full Circle,...
- 7/2/2023
- by Lawrence Yee
- The Wrap
Apart from its original series and exclusive streaming titles, Max is set to feature a selection of the most beloved movie franchises on its platform in July. Director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon collaborate on the Max Original limited series Full Circle, releasing July 13. The series revolves around an investigation into a failed kidnapping and stars Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Jim Gaffigan, Dennis Quaid, and many more. On the movie side, Max will have access to the Rush Hour and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trilogy starting July 1, alongside all the Lethal Weapon films. However, the Mimic trilogy and some James Bond movies will leave the platform later this month. Here, check out what else is coming and going. Titles Coming to Max in July: July 1 300, (2006) 17 Again, (2009) 20th Century Women, (2016) A Life Less Ordinary, (1997) A Walk in the Woods, (2015) American Sniper, (2014) Angels Sing, (2013) Ballet 422, (2014) Barbershop, (2002) Barbershop 2: Back in Business,...
- 6/30/2023
- TV Insider
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.
Summer has traditionally been a time for television to take a little break while everyone enjoys a little outdoor time (and maybe heads to the movies), but that’s hardly the case this year. This July is short on splashy debuts but long on old favorites on everything from Prime Video to Hulu and beyond.
You’ll find a few of the more unexpected releases (both theatrical and on your TV screen) below,...
Summer has traditionally been a time for television to take a little break while everyone enjoys a little outdoor time (and maybe heads to the movies), but that’s hardly the case this year. This July is short on splashy debuts but long on old favorites on everything from Prime Video to Hulu and beyond.
You’ll find a few of the more unexpected releases (both theatrical and on your TV screen) below,...
- 6/30/2023
- by Keith Phipps
- Rollingstone.com
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.
It’s a big season at the streaming service formerly known as HBO Max. June 2023 marked Max’s first full month as “Max,” after changing its name from HBO Max on May 23, a little over three years after it first launched. (Get a Max 7-day free trial through Prime Video Here.)
So how does Max look so far? So far it looks a lot like HBO Max but...
It’s a big season at the streaming service formerly known as HBO Max. June 2023 marked Max’s first full month as “Max,” after changing its name from HBO Max on May 23, a little over three years after it first launched. (Get a Max 7-day free trial through Prime Video Here.)
So how does Max look so far? So far it looks a lot like HBO Max but...
- 6/30/2023
- by Keith Phipps
- Rollingstone.com
Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey starring together in a TV series? We can get behind that.
X-Files vet Anderson has joined Game of Thrones alum Headey in Netflix’s forthcoming Western action-drama The Abandons, from Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter.
More from TVLineSquid Game Season 2: Sweet Home Duo, Iz*One Alum and 5 Others Join CastBreeders Sets FX Return for Fourth and Final Season - Get Premiere DateTVLine Items: The Bear Season 2 Ratings, Book Club Sequel on Peacock and More
The series centers on a group of “diverse, outlier families as they pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon,...
X-Files vet Anderson has joined Game of Thrones alum Headey in Netflix’s forthcoming Western action-drama The Abandons, from Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter.
More from TVLineSquid Game Season 2: Sweet Home Duo, Iz*One Alum and 5 Others Join CastBreeders Sets FX Return for Fourth and Final Season - Get Premiere DateTVLine Items: The Bear Season 2 Ratings, Book Club Sequel on Peacock and More
The series centers on a group of “diverse, outlier families as they pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon,...
- 6/28/2023
- by Vlada Gelman
- TVLine.com
Max has released the official trailer for its upcoming Steven Soderbergh-helmed limited series Full Circle, which features a star-studded cast including Claire Danes, Timothy Olyphant, Dennis Quaid, Zazie Beetz, Jharrel Jerome and Cch Pounder.
The six-episode series, premiering July 13, centers on an investigation into a botched kidnapping that uncovers secrets and connects people from different backgrounds and cultures in New York.
The trailer teases connections between the abduction and Guyana, with Beetz’s investigator asking if the man who called Danes and Olyphant’s wealthy couple to say he had kidnapped their son had a Guyanese accent.
The preview also shows Cch Pounder in Guyana as she opens up a piece of paper with the family’s photo on it.
Amid comments about loyalty and scenes from the abduction scheme, including siblings saying they plan to save the boy, Pounder’s character is heard saying, “You do exactly what...
The six-episode series, premiering July 13, centers on an investigation into a botched kidnapping that uncovers secrets and connects people from different backgrounds and cultures in New York.
The trailer teases connections between the abduction and Guyana, with Beetz’s investigator asking if the man who called Danes and Olyphant’s wealthy couple to say he had kidnapped their son had a Guyanese accent.
The preview also shows Cch Pounder in Guyana as she opens up a piece of paper with the family’s photo on it.
Amid comments about loyalty and scenes from the abduction scheme, including siblings saying they plan to save the boy, Pounder’s character is heard saying, “You do exactly what...
- 6/28/2023
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Max is lifting the veil on its upcoming limited thriller series “Full Circle,” the latest collaboration between director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon, and the sinister family secrets are about to spill out following a botched kidnapping.
In the trailer, released Wednesday, Claire Danes and Timothy Olyphant frantically respond to an alarming phone call that informs them, “We have your son.” As the couple cooperates with law enforcement, an officer (Zazie Beetz) presses them if the caller perhaps had a Guyanese accent — a suggestion that sends Danes spiraling.
“Does that mean something to you?” Beetz asks Danes at the hint of Guyana.
The trailer then lays eyes on Cch Pounder, who appears to be operating a tight ship in an upcoming plot devised for a specific intention, saying “You do exactly what I’ve instructed you to do and the balance will be restored.”
Whatever happens next in the kidnapping,...
In the trailer, released Wednesday, Claire Danes and Timothy Olyphant frantically respond to an alarming phone call that informs them, “We have your son.” As the couple cooperates with law enforcement, an officer (Zazie Beetz) presses them if the caller perhaps had a Guyanese accent — a suggestion that sends Danes spiraling.
“Does that mean something to you?” Beetz asks Danes at the hint of Guyana.
The trailer then lays eyes on Cch Pounder, who appears to be operating a tight ship in an upcoming plot devised for a specific intention, saying “You do exactly what I’ve instructed you to do and the balance will be restored.”
Whatever happens next in the kidnapping,...
- 6/28/2023
- by Loree Seitz
- The Wrap
Everything comes full circle with Steven Soderbergh’s return to TV.
The “sex, lies, and videotape” auteur helms six-episode limited series “Full Circle” for HBO’s streaming platform Max. Soderbergh signed an overall first-look deal with HBO in January 2020.
“Full Circle” follows an investigation into a botched kidnapping that uncovers long-held secrets connecting multiple characters and cultures in present day New York City. Claire Danes and Timothy Olyphant star as affluent parents whose teenage son goes missing.
Zazie Beetz, Jim Gaffigan, Jharrel Jerome, Cch Pounder, Phaldut Sharma, Adia, Sheyi Cole, Gerald Jones, Suzanne Savoy, Ethan Stoddard, Lucian Zanes, and Dennis Quaid appear in the series, which premiered at 2023 Tribeca.
Ed Solomon wrote the series, with Soderbergh directing and executive producing. Fellow executive producer Solomon also penned Soderbergh’s previous series “Mosaic” starring Sharon Stone; Soderbergh additionally helmed show “The Knick” as well.
“Even by Ed’s standards this is a...
The “sex, lies, and videotape” auteur helms six-episode limited series “Full Circle” for HBO’s streaming platform Max. Soderbergh signed an overall first-look deal with HBO in January 2020.
“Full Circle” follows an investigation into a botched kidnapping that uncovers long-held secrets connecting multiple characters and cultures in present day New York City. Claire Danes and Timothy Olyphant star as affluent parents whose teenage son goes missing.
Zazie Beetz, Jim Gaffigan, Jharrel Jerome, Cch Pounder, Phaldut Sharma, Adia, Sheyi Cole, Gerald Jones, Suzanne Savoy, Ethan Stoddard, Lucian Zanes, and Dennis Quaid appear in the series, which premiered at 2023 Tribeca.
Ed Solomon wrote the series, with Soderbergh directing and executive producing. Fellow executive producer Solomon also penned Soderbergh’s previous series “Mosaic” starring Sharon Stone; Soderbergh additionally helmed show “The Knick” as well.
“Even by Ed’s standards this is a...
- 6/28/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Max announces programming coming to the platform this July, including the debut of the Max Original limited series Full Circle (7/13), from director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon, which tells the story of an investigation into a botched kidnapping that uncovers long-held secrets connecting multiple characters and cultures in present day New York City. The six-episode limited series stars Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Jim Gaffigan, Jharrel Jerome, Timothy Olyphant, Cch Pounder, Phaldut Sharma, Adia, Sheyi Cole, Gerald Jones, Suzanne Savoy, Ethan Stoddard, Lucian Zanes and Dennis Quaid.
The third and final season of the HBO Original docu-comedy series How To With John Wilson (7/28) follows documentary filmmaker and self-described “anxious New Yorker” John Wilson as he continues his heartfelt mission of self-discovery, exploration, and observation as he films the lives of his fellow New Yorkers while attempting to give everyday advice on six new deceptively simple and wildly random topics. Building upon season two,...
The third and final season of the HBO Original docu-comedy series How To With John Wilson (7/28) follows documentary filmmaker and self-described “anxious New Yorker” John Wilson as he continues his heartfelt mission of self-discovery, exploration, and observation as he films the lives of his fellow New Yorkers while attempting to give everyday advice on six new deceptively simple and wildly random topics. Building upon season two,...
- 6/24/2023
- by TV Shows Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid - TV
Exclusive: Ed Solomon, film and television writer, has teamed up with the Black List to host Word by Word. The show will broadcast live on Zoom starting Thursday, June 29.
“During a strike years ago, I took some writing classes in order to challenge the way I was approaching my work,” Solomon said in a statement. “This time, I wanted to open it up for others who maybe felt the same. This led to the idea of making a space for creatives at every stage of their practice and career to ask questions and hear others talk about things that aren’t in writing books or better taught elsewhere–in particular, things about the inner process.”
He continued, “I want this series to be casual, accessible, personal, honest, and (hopefully) interesting… but most of all, fun. I’m truly looking forward to learning from the many incredible guests who will be participating.
“During a strike years ago, I took some writing classes in order to challenge the way I was approaching my work,” Solomon said in a statement. “This time, I wanted to open it up for others who maybe felt the same. This led to the idea of making a space for creatives at every stage of their practice and career to ask questions and hear others talk about things that aren’t in writing books or better taught elsewhere–in particular, things about the inner process.”
He continued, “I want this series to be casual, accessible, personal, honest, and (hopefully) interesting… but most of all, fun. I’m truly looking forward to learning from the many incredible guests who will be participating.
- 6/21/2023
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
Claire Danes, Zazie Beetz, Timothy Olyphant, Dennis Quaid and more of the cast of Max’s Full Circle hit the red carpet in New York City on Sunday to celebrate the premiere of their upcoming series.
One thing the entire cast agreed on was how great it was to work with director Steven Soderbergh and how he was a big part of why they wanted to join the thriller in the first place.
“It was really special,” Olyphant told The Hollywood Reporter of working with the Oscar-winning filmmaker on the project that launches July 13. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’ve never seen anything like him. … I don’t take this lightly, he really just does it in a way that I’ve never seen anyone do it.”
He continued, “Anytime you’re around someone you’re like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you could do it that way.
One thing the entire cast agreed on was how great it was to work with director Steven Soderbergh and how he was a big part of why they wanted to join the thriller in the first place.
“It was really special,” Olyphant told The Hollywood Reporter of working with the Oscar-winning filmmaker on the project that launches July 13. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’ve never seen anything like him. … I don’t take this lightly, he really just does it in a way that I’ve never seen anyone do it.”
He continued, “Anytime you’re around someone you’re like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you could do it that way.
- 6/12/2023
- by Christy Piña
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Steven Soderbergh isn’t losing sleep over the rise of artificial intelligence in Hollywood.
The “Full Circle” limited series director told Variety during the Tribeca Festival that A.I. can “absolutely not” finish a full script on its own.
“I may be the Neville Chamberlain of this subject, but I am not afraid of A.I. in this specific context. It has no life experience,” Soderbergh said. “It’s never been hungover. It’s never made a meal for anybody it loved. It’s never been scared walking home late at night. It’s never felt insecure because somebody that it went to high school with 20 years ago has become incredibly successful. I’m not afraid of it. It’s just another tool.”
The “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” director added, “If it helps you finish a first draft of a script, great. But can it finish that thing and make it great on its own?...
The “Full Circle” limited series director told Variety during the Tribeca Festival that A.I. can “absolutely not” finish a full script on its own.
“I may be the Neville Chamberlain of this subject, but I am not afraid of A.I. in this specific context. It has no life experience,” Soderbergh said. “It’s never been hungover. It’s never made a meal for anybody it loved. It’s never been scared walking home late at night. It’s never felt insecure because somebody that it went to high school with 20 years ago has become incredibly successful. I’m not afraid of it. It’s just another tool.”
The “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” director added, “If it helps you finish a first draft of a script, great. But can it finish that thing and make it great on its own?...
- 6/12/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
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