Spoilers below for anyone who isn’t caught up with The Terror: Devil in Silver through its fourth episode via Shudder subscription, so be warned!

With Steven Spielberg seemingly tapping into his 1970s roots anew for the alien-centric Disclosure Day, the currently airing horror series The Terror: Devil in Silver is telling a story that (at least to me) has felt in several ways like Jaws set inside a mental hospital. Not merely from a “don’t show your monsters too early” perspective, but with the idea that the New Hyde psychiatric hospital is kind of a stand in for the island town of Amity.

Ahead of The Terror's long- awaited Season 3 premiere date, I spoke with star Dan Stevens, as well as co-showrunners Victor LaValle and Christopher Cantwell, about some of this show’s biggest literary and cinematic touchstones. Despite an all around lack of oceans and fins, I asked Stevens if he shared my take that Pepper and his fellow inmates have things in common with the residents and vacationers in Jaws, and he very much felt the same way, saying:

That whole quote would work magnificently as a public-rousing speech in a movie. Stevens could have legitimately convinced even Amity's most hardcore beachbodies to turn back and go home in the face of imminent sharp-toothed danger.

But to the point, The Devil in Silver does have its overarching antagonist entity in the same way Jaws has Bruce the shark, and both also have one or more human characters who count as "bad guys" for ignoring the horrors and/or allowing them to continue. Amity's Mayor Larry Vaughn matches up somewhat with Aasif Mandvi's Dr. Anand, in the sense that Anand continues to preach for New Hyde's success despite all the counter-evidence. Vaughn could also be John Benjamin Hickey's Dr. Walter, though that's a bit more complicated.

But while Jaws' shark can serve as a metaphor for any number of potential dangers, it absolutely fits for The Terror's third season as a larger-than-logic threat. But at least Quint knew what he was dealing with when he went on the hunt, the patients within New Hyde can't possibly conceive what happens behind the silver door. And yet they're still meant to stick around there without protest. Stevens continued:

When facing a seeming unknowable evil, it helps to have as many people in one's corner as can be, and Stevens notes that everyone at New Hyde is dealing with something terrible, and that the characters have to work through those personal issues if they want to have a shot at surviving Dr. Walter and the devil within. In his words:

I guess it would be too much of a leap to just plainly consider everyone in Amity to be mentally unfit, so this analogy should probably somewhere.

Speaking with Victor LaValle, who wrote the novel that this season is based on, I asked how important it was to keep the focus on the realistic state of the hospital's struggles as more and more supernatural elements were introduced, and he said there wasn't ever another approach to it. In his words:

Having a personal connection to this story likely made this a difficult project to work through at times, though not so much due to the content itself as much as painful memories of the past, and knowing that the "system" really hasn't changed all that much over time.

LaValle also pointed out that Devil in Silver wasn't inspired solely by his more dour memories of certain medical facilities. The camaraderie and friendships between the patients were also influenced with the author's experiences, as were the empathetic staff members. As he put it:

Let's bounce back to fictional projects that had an impact on The Terror's third-season creation, thanks to co-showrunner Chris Cantwell. As much as Jaws may have been a foundational connection, the creators were also obviously drawn to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, to the point where Ken Kesey's classic novel was legitimately quoted and read through as a book club topic.

But in some cases, the impeptus was to buck horror and subgenre expectations rather than leaning into them. As Cantwell told me:

I had to give Cantwell credit for bringing up Brad Anderson's highly unnerving 2001 horror Session 9, since it doesn't get nearly enough widespread attention. (David Caruso as its star notwithstanding.) To his grander point, though, the co-showrunners successfully grounded New Hyde's staff to differentiate them completely from whatever is behind the silver door. CCH Pounder's Miss Chris isn't exactly Pepper's BFF in this situation, but she and her colleagues are also not needlessly hateful to those in their stead.

Hell, it doesn't even seem like Miss Chris, Dr. Badger, Dr. Anand or any of the on-hand caretakers are truly aware of the threat that they've been housing for so long, and do seem to genuinely think that Pepper and others are lying and/or exaggerating their horrific experiences. (Nurse Ratched would have just sent them all into the monster's room, single-file only.) Can ignorance truly be considered evil?

Perhaps in another setting, such as Jaws' Amity, where the ignorance is intentional and fed into. That's right, I brought it all back around to that 51-year-old LEGO-inspiring blockbuster. But I'll be banana-boating my way right back to shore for the next episode.

New episodes of The Terror: Devil in Silver debut Thursdays on Shudder and AMC+. Catch up with Season 1 streaming via Amazon Prime subscription, while Season 2 is on Shudder.

With its $571.8 million worldwide haul, placing it as the eighth highest-grossing movie of 2024, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire did pretty well for itself. Picking up three years after the events of Godzilla vs. Kong, the fifth MonsterVerse movie introduced the moviegoing public to Dan Stevens’ Trapper, a Monarch veterinarian/dentist for the Titans. Well, for those of you who liked what you saw of Trapper in The New Empire (which can be streamed with a Max subscription), word’s come in that he’ll be back for the sequel, and I’m hoping this leads to him being partnered back up with another alum for last year’s blockbuster.

Dan Stevens Is In Talks To Appear In The Godzilla X Kong Sequel

Per THR, Stevens is in negotiations to reprise Trapper for the yet-to-be-officially-titled Godzilla x Kong sequel, which is set for a spring 2027 release. The New Empire was one of three movies the actor appeared in last year, the other two being Cuckoo and Abigail. His forthcoming features include The Ritual and Swiped, which are both debuting on the 2025 release schedule, and the not-yet-dated Onslaught, which teams him back up with director Adam Wingard.

This is the second piece of casting news concerning the Godzilla x Kong sequel that’s come in. Last week, it was reported that Booksmart’s Kaitlyn Dever is also being lined up to appear, although no details about the character she’d be playing were revealed. There also hasn’t been any plot information shared about Godzilla and Kong’s third go-around in the MonsterVerse besides that it will feature “several new human characters alongside the beloved and iconic Titans Godzilla and Kong as they face off against a cataclysmic world-ending threat.”

I Hope We See Trapper Paired With Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie Again

Assuming Dan Stevens comes to a satisfiable deal to reprise Trapper in the Godzilla x Kong sequel, which is being directed by Grant Sputore and written by David Callaham, I’m hoping we’ll see him spend more time with Bernie Hayes, Brian Tyree Henry’s character. He was introduced in Godzilla vs. Kong as a former Apex employee who started a podcast to share his conspiracy theories about the Titans. Bernie then returned in The New Empire to accompany Trapper, Ilene Andrews and Jia to Hollow Earth to locate the source of a signal being sent out.

Trapper and Bernie quickly formed a friendship during the events of The New Empire, and it would be great to see more of their dynamic together now that they’ve had a lot more time to spend with each other. It would also be nice for the MonsterVerse to finally feature a character for more than just two movies. That has yet to be accomplished in the franchise, but my fingers are crossed that Bernie will be bequeathed that honor if he and Trapper are hanging out again.

Since the Godzilla x Kong sequel doesn’t come out until March 26, 2027, it’s a good bet filming will begin sometime before the year is over. As such, ideally it won’t be long until Dan Stevens’ involvement is officially confirmed, but we shall see.

SPOILER WARNING: The following article gives away some crucial details about Cuckoo and a couple of other horror titles starring Dan Stevens, so be cautious as your read on.

It has been a truly wild and weird year for horror movies and I believe that Cuckoo is, easily, among the absolute weirdest. However, I would also call writer and director Tilman Singer’s thriller – about an American teenager wrapped up in a deadly, otherworldly situation after her family moves to a German resort – one of the best horror movies of the year, with a great deal of credit due to Dan Stevens.

The English actor is best known for period dramas like Downton Abbey and Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast remake, for instance. Yet, his performance in Cuckoo is only the latest just the last few years that make him deserving of the horror movie icon status that he, unjustly, he has yet to be recognized as. So, as a horror fan, I thought I would try to give Stevens a boost in notoriety by highlighting a few of his most notable, scene-stealing contributions to the genre in recent memory, starting with the magic he works in the 2024 movie.

Dan Stevens Plays A Brilliantly Eccentric Villain In Cuckoo

As many critics have said about Cuckoo, and I certainly agree, the perplexingly strange story is carried magnificently by Hunter Schafer’s lead performance as the angsty but resourceful horror movie character, Gretchen. Yet, critics and myself also believe the show is stolen right from underneath the Euphoria cast member by Dan Stevens.

He dons a German accent – which he previously adopted, along with relearning the native language, for 2021’s I’m Your Man – to play Herr König, the manager of a hotel in the Bavarian Alps that acts as a front for preserving a rare breed of half-human, half-bird creatures. His devilishly upbeat and shamelessly surreal approach to the role lends perfectly to the supremely odd thriller and, in my opinion, saves it from being almost too alienating by making it more fun.

I Also Think Dan Stevens Is The Best Thing About Abigail

Cuckoo is not the only new horror movie that Stevens lent his talents to this year. He also appears in Radio Silence’s star-studded vampire movie, Abigail, as “Frank” – one of six anonymous criminals participating in a ransom plot that involves kidnapping someone's young daughter, who is not quite what she seems.

While still considering the gloriously over-the-top, bloody gore and Alisha Weir’s astonishing work in the title role, I think Stevens is genuinely the best thing about the movie and easily gives the best performance. Even before he let out the big guns when Frank became the final act’s vampiric big bad, I was absolutely entranced by his ability to make his otherwise despicable role of a corrupt former police detective surprisingly charismatic.

His Cabinet Of Curiosities Role Was Really Something Else, Too

One of the strongest cases of Stevens’ genius as a horror scene-stealer is his appearance in one of the best episodes of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, “The Outside” stars Kate Micucci as Stacey, who grows so desperate to fit in with her coworkers that she compulsively uses a popular lotion called Alo Glo, despite its physically damaging effect on her.

However, it makes perfect sense why she was coerced into purchasing and continuing to use this dehumanizing product when you consider who told her to get it in the first place: Dan Stevens. His relatively brief turn as an eerily charming infomercial host who speaks to Stacey through the TV is one of the most brilliant and memorable performances in the inventive horror anthology TV show on Netflix.

These are only a few of the most notable and recent examples of how Dan Stevens’ unique approach to acting in horror movies has made his contributions to the genre more interesting. There are plenty more to seek out, such as his lead performance in 2014’s The Guest, and plenty more where those came from with his upcoming role opposite Al Pacino as a priest in The Ritual.

We’re still a couple of months away from the official start of spooky season, but there are plenty of upcoming horror movies and thrillers to keep you uncomfortable during your trip to the theater. Director Tilman Singer's Cuckoo is among those, and according to critics who have screened the movie ahead of its August 9 release date, it might be one of the stranger theatrical experiences you’ll have this year.

Cuckoo stars Hunter Schafer, who has accepted multiple other roles as we wait for the highly anticipated Euphoria Season 3. In this movie, she plays Gretchen, an angsty teen forced to move to the German Alps with her father (Marton Csokas), his new wife (Jessica Henwick) and their young daughter to live at a resort run by Dan Stevens’ mysterious Herr König. Let’s see what critics are saying.

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times rates it 3 out of 4 stars, praising Hunter Schafer’s first performance in a leading role as “funny, empathetic, powerful and resolute.” Of the movie overall, the critic says:

Adam Graham of the Detroit News gives Cuckoo a "B," calling the movie a “trippy, deranged, time-glitching mind-bender” that ratchets up the crazy and manages to keep viewers absorbed, even though it doesn’t always make sense. Graham continues:

Lindsey Bahr of the Associated Press gives it 2.5 stars out of 4, saying that while she finds the movie’s big reveals a little “underwhelming,” this project from writer/director Tilman Singer is well worth the watch. Dan Stevens especially impresses with a performance that’s described as “wonderfully sinister” and “off-kilter.” Rarely is it a bad thing when a horror leans into style, Bahr writes, and Cuckoo fully commits. The critic continues:

Reuben Baron of Looper rates the “supremely strange” movie 6 out of 10, with the critic struggling to decipher the film’s two big secrets to determine what happens and what it means (if anything). In the end, the critic is left with “mixed and neutral” impressions of Cuckoo, writing:

Travis Hopson of Punch Drunk Critics says Tilman Singer delivers on the title, with many different meanings of “cuckoo” making their way into the “wildly incoherent” flick. While the momentum stalls in the second act, according to the critic, the final stretch delivers “maximum freakishness.” Hopson writes:

While many critics express confusion and uncertainty about what exactly they experienced, their general impressions appear to be positive. Overall Cuckoo has been declared Certified Fresh with a 79% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

If you want to see what all the craziness is about, you can catch the film in theaters starting on Friday, August 9. Be sure to check out our 2024 movie release schedule to see what else is coming soon.

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Abigail. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!

The love that filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have for Netflix’s I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson is well-established. Following the references to the comedy series the filmmakers included in Scream VI (including a cameo by Robinson himself), they went as far as to let one particular sketch influence the hairstyle sported by Dan Stevens’ character in Abigail.

Recognizing this, you’d understandably think that the title of the show being namedropped at the end of their new vampire ballerina movie is also a special nod… but you’d be wrong. It turns out that its inclusion was entirely subconscious and not recognized by the directors as an easter egg until they rewatched the scene in post-production.

The scene in question features Abigail’s father a.k.a. Dracula (Matthew Goode) choosing to let Joey (Melissa Barrera) live, and he dismisses her from his estate by saying, “I think you should leave.” Fully believing that this was an intentional nod to the Netflix comedy series, I asked Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett about the line during the Los Angeles press day last week, and they explained that it wasn’t intended to be an easter egg. Laughing, Bettinelli-Olpin explained,

Or as Tyler Gillett put it,

Just because it wasn’t a purposeful reference to one of their favorite shows doesn’t mean that it wasn’t still an expression of love, however. I asked the duo if they felt that the “I think you should leave” line was at least a subconscious inclusion, and they have no doubt. Said Matt Bettinelli-Olpin,

It’s certainly not uncommon for artists to unconsciously include references to their favorite works in their creative endeavors – from bits of production design to particular camera angles – but this is definitely a funny and unique circumstance.

Starring Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kathryn Newton, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Alisha Weir and Giancarlo Esposito in addition to the aforementioned Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens and Matthew Good, Abigail is now playing in theaters everywhere – having earned acclaim from critics in the run-up to its release, including a four-star review from CinemaBlend’s Mike Reyes. Thanks to the gallons upon gallons of blood and gore, it’s a movie that’s certainly going to be fun to watch over and over, especially with a large crowd.

If you paid close attention watching Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s Scream VI, then you know that the filmmakers are big fans of the comedy series I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson. In an early scene, a character can be spotted at a party wearing one of the shirts from the Dan Flashes sketch, but Robinson himself has a voice-only cameo as one of Quinn Kirsch’s sexual partners. This influence on the slasher movie is a wonderful treat for fans of the brilliant Netflix show – and those same folks will be excited to know that they should pay attention for even more references in the directing duo’s next film, Abigail.

This fun detail about the upcoming horror movie was revealed last month when I joined a small group of other reporters for a virtual roundtable interview with Abigail star Dan Stevens. In the film, Stevens plays “Frank,” one of the criminals who is enlisted on a mission to kidnap the titular ballerina vampire, and while speaking about the development of the character’s look, he explained how I Think You Should Leave ended up being a reference point. He explained,

For those who don’t understand the reference, “slicked back hair” comes a sketch called “Baby Cries” from the second season of I Think You Should Leave. When a character played by Tim Robinson tries to pick up a baby and it starts crying, he is convinced that it is because said baby knows that he “used to be a piece of shit.” Specifically, he would slick back his hair, wear white bathing suits and enjoy “sloppy steaks” (which is when you order a steak at a restaurant and dump a glass of water on it before eating). It’s one of the show’s many beloved sketches, and you can watch it for yourself below:

So when you go see Abigail and note Dan Stevens’ slicked back hair, feel free to use it as a jumping off point for judging his character.

A week after the Dan Stevens interview, we also had the chance to do a virtual roundtable with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and I took the opportunity to follow-up about Dan Stevens’ comments. It turns out that the filmmakers really bonded with Stevens based on a shared love of I Think You Should Leave, and Gillett discussed their experience meeting Tim Robinson in the making of Scream VI:

If your curiosity is piqued about I Think You Should Leave, all you need is a Netflix subscription to watch the existing two seasons (and a third is on the way). And if you’re now more excited than ever for the extreme carnage of Abigail, all you need to do is exhibit a little patience, as the film will be in theaters everywhere next week on April 19.

Movie gore: it can be controversial and divisive among general movie-goers, but it’s a wonderfully multifaceted cinematic tool. It’s an inexpensive way to add production value to a low-budget project, and if applied skillfully, it can both be used for shock and humor. It’s a unique quality to horror filmmaking – and directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will be taking audiences to school on the art form with their new vampire-centric splatter fest Abigail.

This cinematic explosion of blood and guts is one that I got to witness up close and personal last summer when I joined a small group of journalists on a trip to Dublin, Ireland to visit the set of the upcoming horror movie when it was still in production at Glenmaroon House – a sprawling estate that was once owned by the Guinness Family and served as the film’s principal shooting location. The massive, maze-like manor was decked out in bold, disturbing production design, including Hieronymus Bosch-style paintings and freaky taxidermy, but the gorehound in me most appreciated what was described as the “Control Room.” It looked as though one, if not more people had burst like blood-and-organ filled balloons; watching one’s step was necessary as to not stain your footwear in the pools of red, and noticing a small intestine hanging from a light fixture distracted from the melted skull I spotted on the ground.

Abigail is the first original film from Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett since 2019’s Ready Or Not. The directors having spent the last few years making the last two Scream sequels, and they described this new flick on set as “a heist movie gets hijacked by a monster movie.” Scream/Scream VI star Melissa Barrera is joined by Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, William Catlett, Kevin Durand and Angus Cloud playing criminals who are offered a lot of money to execute the kidnapping of the titular little girl (Alisha Weir). The abduction goes smoothly, and they are told by their employer (Giancarlo Esposito) to hunker down for the night at the spooky Wilhelm Manor, but hunkering down becomes an effort to survive when they realize that Abigail is a literal bloodsucking monster.

What I got to see on set was the best kind of gnarly, but from what the movie’s stars and filmmakers told us on set and in follow-up interviews, the ridiculous levels of horror won’t be limited to just one small room. More than just puddles of blood, there are pools, and actors weren’t just spritzed with fake gore, they were doused in it.

Neither Melissa Barrera Nor Dan Stevens Have Personally Experienced So Much Cinematic Gore

Melissa Barrera and Dan Stevens are two stars who brought established genre cred to the production. Thanks to her two-film run as Sam Carpenter in Scream and Scream VI, Barrera is well on her way to establishing a terrific legacy as a scream queen, and Stevens’ filmography includes, among other titles, the excellent John Carpenter riff The Guest and the best episode of the Netflix anthology series Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. They’re seasoned performers when it comes to seeing filmmakers orchestrating terror… but they’ve never seen anything like Abigail.

In a virtual interview last month where she was paired with co-star Alisha Weir, Melissa Barrera did her best to sum up what kind of nasty mayhem audiences are in for when the film arrives in theaters later this month. She understands that moviegoers have seen movies with a lot of blood in them, but what’s coming with this film is new:

Admittedly, those who are familiar with the work of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett probably won’t be too surprised by this description. As part of the filmmaking collective Radio Silence, they cut their teeth early on in their partnership with their contribution to the gore-heavy anthology V/H/S, and Ready Or Not memorably ends with most of the characters spontaneously combusting. But those works are evidently tame by comparison.

In a solo virtual roundtable interview last month, Dan Stevens expressed a matching sentiment to Melissa Barrera’s as far as personal experience with on-screen gore is concerned, and he admired how it’s used for both extreme horror and extreme comedy. Said Stevens,

Abigail takes some big swings – and the directors attribute the choices to opportunity that comes from both the material and where they are in their careers.

With Abigail, A Ballerina Vampire Offers An Amazing Tonal Contrast, And Established Success Means Creative Opportunity

Different horror filmmakers have different tonal inclinations, and the works of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett tend to lean into the more “fun” side of things. Their feature debut Devil’s Due and their contribution to the 2015 anthology Southbound are exceptions, but their Scream movies carry on the tradition of meta winks to the audience, and Ready Or Not is as delightful as it is scary. Based on a script by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick (co-writer of Ready Or Not) Abigail is another demonstration of that sensibility, and the director’s really leaned in this time around.

Speaking about the movie’s wildness during a virtual set visit addendum interview last month, Tyler Gillett explained that he and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin wanted to push themselves with their work on the movie, and that the story being told allowed for that to work. Guts flying all over the place has a different taste when said guts are being tossed around by a pre-teen in a ballerina tutu:

The script permitted gratuitous exploration of vampire violence… but there’s also a little more to it than that. Having made three successful hits in a row, including two contributions to a beloved franchise, the directors have creative freedom and opportunity now that they didn’t have early in their careers, and they actually resurrected old ideas that couldn’t be properly pulled off when they were making smaller movies. Gillett continued,

The awesome work I saw from the Abigail production design team in Glenmaroon House was freaky enough, but adding a thick layer of blood to anything dials things up.

There Is A Point Where A Lot Of Blood Becomes Too Much Blood

It’s not just rooms, set decoration and props that get splashed in Abigail – it’s people too. Melissa Barrera spoke on this with authority. It was evidently a routine for her to leave the makeup chair covered in fake blood only to return to have more applied. Said Barrera,

The “less is more” concept is apparently foreign to Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett when it comes to covering their female lead in blood, though they did apparently learn in the making of Abigail that there is such a thing as too much. Barrera told us that there was one point where there was so much fake blood on her that her face didn’t properly register on screen:

Melissa Barrera didn’t describe the sequence that was being filmed at the time of this funny behind-the-scenes story, but it’s probably a scene that fans will be able to recognize when watching the movie.

On that note, it won’t be long until horror fans have that opportunity. Abigail arrives in theaters in the middle of this month – specifically on April 19 – and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend between now and then for a whole lot more stories from my interviews with the movie’s filmmakers and cast.

Warning: SPOILERS for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire are ahead!

With the exception of Rebecca Hall’s Dr. Ilene Andrews, Kaylee Hottle’s Jia and Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie Hayes, every human cast member in the Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire cast is comprised of new people, although only one character has as prominent a role as the aforementioned three. Dan Stevens’ Trapper is introduced as an old friend of Ilene’s who’s called in to replace Kong’s infected tooth. So as the Godzilla x Kong press circuit was happening, someone asked Stevens the hard-hitting question: how does one become a kaiju dentist?

It was Vulture that inquired on this aspect of Trapper’s backstory while speaking to Stevens ahead of Godzilla x Kong’s release on the 2024 movies schedule. Here’s what the actor had to say about how his character got into this unusual kind of work:

When we meet Trapper in the fifth MonsterVerse movie (the other four can be streamed with a Max subscription), Ilene Andrews mentions that this is just the latest job Trapper has undertaken, as following his years of experiences with “normal” animals, he decided to put his skills to good use as the world’s only veterinarian to treat Titans. Like Dan Stevens said, Trapper takes dealing with these gigantic monsters in stride, and all of those mentioned individuals from both real life and other movies meld together to make him one of the more colorful characters in this franchise. It’s also Trapper’s idea to later outfit Kong with the yellow gauntlet known as Project Powerhouse after his hand becomes frostbitten from an encounter with Shimo, an ice Titan being controlled by The Skar King.

Trapper manages to make it out of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire alive with Ilene, Jia and Bernie, and I don’t know about you, but I’d be interested to see more of him treating Titans… or at least the ones who are more open to human contact. Will that happen though? It’s hard to say, because although director Adam Wingard has teased plans for a third Godzilla/Kong movie, it hasn’t been officially greenlit yet. Also, as indicated earlier, the MonsterVerse usually only brings back a few established characters with each new movie, so there’s no guarantee that even if this next movie moves forward, Trapper will make the cut.

CinemaBlend’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire review rated the movie 4 out of 5 stars, so if you haven’t already, head to the theater to see it and determine if you agree with that score or not. Otherwise, just keep your eyes peeled for more updates on what lays ahead for the MonsterVerse.

Three years after Legendary’s MonsterVerse brought us Godzilla vs. Kong, the monsters are teaming up again for a kaiju sequel in Adam Wingard’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. New enemies threaten Hollow Earth in this film, which hits theaters March 29, per the 2024 movie release calendar, and critics are weighing in after catching early screenings. Almost everyone is talking about how fun this new monster movie is, but some are finding Godzilla x Kong lacking in the emotional department.

First reactions to the new kaiju offering had people excited for the “slobberknocker,” as they noted how colorful the movie is, with its ‘80s buddy cop vibes, thanks to Dan Stevens and Brian Tyree Henry. Critics are now able to expound on those views, and in CinemaBlend’s review of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, our own Mike Reyes says spring for the IMAX experience if possible, because this movie is so much fun, it’s hard not to want more. He rates it 4 out of 5 stars, writing: 

Aaron Neuwirth of We Live Entertainment gives it a User Rating of 8 out of 10, agreeing with Mike Reyes that it’s a great time to be a kaiju fan. While last year’s Godzilla Minus One may appeal more to the scholarly crowd, Godzilla x Kong offers “a rock 'em sock 'em blast.” The critic says: 

Jane Crowther of GamesRadar rates it 3 stars out of 5, agreeing that it’s a “fun, neon rumble,” but saying ii's lacking an emotional journey. However, if you’re just buying the ticket to see the big monster fights, you’ll get your money’s worth, Crowther says: 

The weakness of the human story seems to be the primary criticism among critics, which isn’t all that uncommon for monster movies. Owen Gleiberman of Variety posits that it’s bad luck that Godzilla x Kong is coming out so soon after Godzilla Minus One, which proved these creatures could carry an “emotional grandeur.” 

D. Hood of IGN gives the movie an “Okay” 6 out of 10, calling it a “visually stunning, sensory extravaganza” that's so electrifying the critic isn’t even all that mad that it doesn't quite add up and the audience is made to slog through the humans’ drama. Hood continues:  

The monsters are clearly the stars of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, so it sounds like anyone hitting the theater for pure kaiju action is going to be happy. Just keep your expectations tempered regarding any emotional stakes. You can catch this movie in theaters starting Friday, March 29. 

Downton Abbey may have ended as a TV show back in 2015, but this fictional world has lived on through the silver screen. The world has reunited with the Crawley family and their staff in two movies respectively released in 2019 and 2022, and earlier this month, Imelda Staunton, who played Lady Maud Bagshaw in both those features, revealed that Downton Abbey 3 is in the works. Keep in mind, this has yet to be officially confirmed, but Dan Stevens, one of the show’s original actors, has reacted to the news of the threequel, as well as shared his thoughts on why the franchise is so popular.

Stevens starred as Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey’s first three seasons, with the character dying in a car crash at the end of “A Journey to the Highlands,” the 2012 Christmas special. More than a decade after his departure, Matthew remains one of Stevens’ most well-known roles, and while speaking with ET at the Los Angeles red carpet premiere for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the 2024 movie release that sees him joining the MonsterVerse, the actor said the following about Downton Abbey 3 and this franchise’s enduring appeal:

Premiering in 2010 on ITV in the United Kingdom and as part of PBS’ Masterpiece Classic anthology in the United States, Downton Abbey quickly became a worldwide sensation. By the end of its six-season run, it’d won 15 Emmys and collected the most nominations of any international TV series in the award show’s history. But even setting aside all its accolades, as Dan Stevens explained Downton Abbey has built a dedicated fanbase over nearly a decade and a half, to the point that, as is the case with many shows, these viewers have a established a personal connection with these characters, as well as helped them grow closer to people in their actual lives.

So even though Stevens won’t reprise Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey 3, he’s clearly on board for another movie if is is indeed on the way. And since the cast of Downton Abbey: A New Era shared their ideas for what the third movie could be about back in 2022, they’re clearly game to reprise their characters. According to Staunton, Downton Abbey 3 will be the “final film,” meaning fans will want to brace themselves for finally saying goodbye to the Crawleys and those in their orbit… for real this time… probably.

On the other hand, it was rumored in February that filming had secretly begun on Downton Abbey Season 7, with the likes of Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern and Joanne Froggat set to reprise their roles. Allegedly this new season is expected to air by the end of the year, and if I had to guess, Dan Stevens would probably set some time aside to watch some, if not all of the episodes. Still, fingers crossed that the existence of either project is confirmed or debunked sooner rather than later, as many Downton Abbey fans would surely like the record set straight.

If you’re in the mood to stream the Downton Abbey saga, the series can be accessed with a Peacock subscription, Netflix subscribers can check out the first movie, and A New Era is over on Starz. Catch Dan Stevens playing Trapper in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire starting this Friday, March 29.

Following the success of last year's Godzilla Minus One, there’s another kaiju film headed to theaters, and this is one fans have really been looking forward to. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire — the fifth film in Legendary’s MonsterVerse franchise and a sequel to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong — is set to hit the big screen (including IMAX) on March 29, and those who have been able to catch an early screening are taking to social media with their first reactions.

Godzilla x Kong’s trailer shows the monsters working together against an even bigger, scarier enemy. Let’s see what people are saying about this movie, which has garnered a PG-13 rating. SlashFilm’s Ben F. Silverio calls the monsters’ tag-team action “terrific,” advising moviegoers to opt for IMAX if possible. He writes on X (Twitter): 

In the movie Godzilla sports some dangerous-looking, fiery pink spikes — which are reportedly Toho-approved — and the vibrant color was one quality of director Adam Wingard’s project that critics took notice of. Bill Bria writes: 

Griffin Schiller agrees that the ‘80s color palette makes for a fun experience, calling Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire “an absurdist romp.” The critic says: 

That ‘80s aesthetic seems to be exactly what Adam Wingard is going for, as he was inspired by the decade’s buddy cop movies. This is evident by the wardrobe of at least one member of the Godzilla x Kong cast, as noted by Creepy Kingdom’s Shannon McGrew. She writes: 

Brian Tyree Henry and Dan Stevens may be really funny in this monster movie, but make no mistake who the stars are. As Bernard “Beanz” Smalls says: 

Rafael Motamayor has high praise for the latest MonsterVerse offering, for one monster in particular, writing: 

While some enjoy the human actors, others think the movie is monster-centric to a fault. John Nguyen of Nerd Reactor says: 

Michael Lee agrees, writing that the human drama is pushed to the backburner in favor of more kaiju action. And that’s probably fine, as that’s what people want to see, he writes in a thread on X: 

It sounds like audiences are in for quite a bit of fun with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Catch this one in theaters starting Friday, March 29, and stay up to date on all the upcoming new releases with our 2024 movie release schedule. 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, it’s a good time to be a fan of kaiju films. As Godzilla Minus One continues to make the rounds with its Oscar nomination, the world of 2024 movies is about to get its own unique round of larger than life action. One can clearly see that in the latest trailer for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, as a very angry Godzilla is coming to the aid of Kong, and so is an hysterically charming Dan Stevens.

Warner Bros. teased the arrival of the latest footage from director Adam Wingard’s return to the MonsterVerse with an adorable Super Bowl spot that involved participants of this year’s Puppy Bowl XX. Oh, if this conflict were that simple, it'd be a lot cuter, and way less destructive. 

But as Kong is facing some challenges in the Hollow Earth realm, thanks to the villainous Skar King, things aren't going to wrap up so easily. Super mad Godzilla doesn't cool off easily, and as a result it looks like he's even gunning for Kong in some moments of this new footage.

I’ve still been sitting with what we saw in Godzilla x Kong’s first trailer, as there’s still quite a bit of mileage in examining what we saw there. Everything from G-Man’s theorized pink evolution to trying to figure out what the hell Kong’s B.E.A.S.T. glove does has been running through the minds of fans far and wide. 

While we don't exactly get answers addressing either of those concerns, we do get some more awesome looks at both in action. Not to mention, we're also given some prime looks at the humans involved in this destructive opus; including one very funny and very dreamy Dan Stevens. 

As you can see in the still below, it may be less of a mystery as to why the studio  saved this trailer for Valentine's Day. Because honestly, who doesn't love Dan Stevens?

On the surface, one would think that Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is trying to gun for a spot on the list of best sci-fi movies ever. At the same time, it sounds like the latest MonsterVerse caper has roots in trying to mimic one of the biggest action classics of the ‘80s: Lethal Weapon. 

That much was signaled by Adam Wingard’s latest remarks about the “buddy cop” influence this movie apparently draws from. Though I don't remember there ever being a scene where Riggs threatened Murtaugh with atomic heat rays. That sort of influence could mean wonderful things for the humans of Godzilla vs. Kong 2’s cast, as it looks like they're holding things down pretty well. 

In particular, it continues to be a delight to see Wingard and Dan Stevens reunite after making The Guest. As if seeing Stevens in the first Abigail trailer wasn’t enough of a delight, watching him wink and nod with returning cast members Rebecca Hall and Bryan Tyree Henry only promises even more of his delightfully chaotic energy. 

Throughout the Godzilla movie eras, we’ve seen pretty much any and every variant of the character come to pass. So anticipation for Godzilla x Kong is partially out of the curiosity towards how this next movie will change things in that regard. 

And on the other hand, if this next chapter continues to get the human side of things right, it could lead to a whole bunch of possibilities. All will be revealed when Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire tries to reign and ruin, with humanity in the crosshairs, starting March 29th. 

When I think about the fate of Universal’s Dark Universe — a franchise cancelled way before all planned installments were made — I am, admittedly, of two minds about it. On one hand, I find it sad that the studio which, essentially, invented the shared cinematic universe could not recapture the same magic with their classic monster movies line-up again amid the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, on the other hand, if not for the failure of 2017’s The Mummy, we would not have gotten more inventive and refreshing reimaginings of these characters and their iconic lore, such as with Abigail.

For a while, this upcoming horror movie was only known as “Untitled Universal Monsters Movie” and only so much was known about it — including Radio Silence being at the helm, Melissa Barrera leading the cast, and scant other behind-the-scenes details. Now, following the announcement of its official title and the release of its first trailer, there is much to discuss about the intriguing story that this thriller has to behold. So, let’s take things one step at a time as we sink our teeth into everything we know about Abigail so far.

What Is The Abigail Release Date?

Horror fans will be free to fly into their local theater to see Abigail when it opens on Friday, April 19, 2024. The thriller was given this spot on the upcoming 2024 movies schedule even before its official title was revealed. The film has already been screened for critics, who have been praising it as one of 2024's best horror movies so far.

The Abigail Trailer Teases A Darkly Funny Twist On Kidnapping Stories

For anyone who is still unfamiliar with exactly what kind of “Universal Monsters Movie” this is, fear not. That, and more about this new funny creature feature, is revealed in the first official trailer for Abigail, which you can check out for yourself right now below:

When the teaser starts, we are under the impression that this is just another simple story of a kidnapping, with a group of individuals tasked with holding a wealthy man’s young daughter captive for ransom in their employer’s mansion for 24 hours. Soon, however, they discover that they will be spending that 24 hours fighting for their lives against the girl, who not only turns out to be a vampire, but has excellent ballet skills which make her a force to be reckoned with. The clip suggests that Abigail will be the kind of horror film that has a dash of everything in it, based on the cheeky humor and intense action choreography seen throughout.

Abigail Reimagines Classic Monster Lore By Putting A “Young” Bloodsucker In The Spotlight

While the trailer answers the question of just what type of monster movie Abigail is, the question that remains is how it connects to Universal’s famous line-up of horror movies inspired by classic gothic literature. The answer to that lies in an early report by THR which says this project was, at one point, referred to as Dracula’s Daughter. That is also the name of a 1936 sequel to Universal’s original adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel starring horror movie icon Bela Lugosi in the title role.

So, by putting these clues together, we are led to believe that Abigail is not just any vampire and her very rich father mentioned in the teaser might be the most powerful one there is. If that turns out to be the case, even if the kidnappers do manage to survive a night trapped in a mansion with what appears to be a little girl (she could centuries old for all we know), they will still have to face the wrath of Dracula himself. This is the kind of clever expansion of a beloved horror movie classic that die-hard fans of the genre can get behind.

The Star-Studded Abigail Cast Includes Scream’s Melissa Barrera

I realize that I should probably avoid getting too attached to any of the human characters, but that does not have any bearing on how excited I am to see the stars of the Abigail cast come together. Let’s take a look at who plays the vampire ballerina and who plays her food one-by-one, below.

Melissa Barrera (Joey)

As the central human protagonist (who is identified as Joey and shows sympathy for her captor in the Abigail trailer) we have Melissa Barrera, who previously worked with Radio Silence in the last two installments of the Scream movies — a franchise that is set to go on without her following a controversial exit in late 2023. The Mexican-born actor is also known from the cinematic In the Heights cast, Netflix’s hit survivalist miniseries Keep Breathing, and the Starz original drama, Vida.

Alisha Weir (Abigail)

Irish actor Alisha Weir stars as the ballet-dancing, blood-sucking title character of Abigail, which is not her first foray into horror, having made her acting debut in Shudder’s 2018 thriller, Don’t Leave Home. This isn’t her first time playing a mischievous dancer either, having played the title role of Netflix’s musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda in 2022.

Dan Stevens

Not only is Dan Stevens already no stranger to horror — known for Adam Wingard’s The Guest, leading a Netflix original horror movie called Apostle, and starring in one of the best episodes of Cabinet of Curiosities, to name a few — he previously starred in an adaptation of Dracula for Masterpiece Theatre in 2006. The English actor is also known for Downton Abbey, Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast remake, and leading one of the best modern superhero TV shows, Legion.

Kathryn Newton

Yet another established Scream Queen starring in Abigail is Kathryn Newton, whose best performances include her lead roles in Paranormal Activity 4 and Christopher Landon’s body swap slasher, Freaky. She also earned raves from HBO’s Big Little Lies, joined the MCU as the new Cassie Lang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and starred in another modern take on a classic horror story in 2024 called Lisa Frankenstein.

Kevin Durand

Perhaps the most experienced vampire hunter in the Abigail cast is Kevin Durand, who was a main character on one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu, FX’s The Strain, for four seasons. He has also contended with zombies in Resident Evil: Retirbution, aliens in various titles, and even played a mutant (namely Fred “Blob” Dukes) in 2008’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Angus Cloud

Abigail marks one of the final acting credits of Angus Cloud, who passed away at 25 in 2023. The Euphoria cast member was also recently seen leading a thriller called Your Lucky Day and had a role in an upcoming coming-of-age drama called The Line.

William Catlett

William Catlett did not contend with too many strange things during his brief role in HBO’s Lovecraft Country, but played someone with a strange ability (reanimation) on Black Lightning. He also appeared opposite Samuel L. Jackson in an episode of Apple TV+’s The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey and is best known from the big screen so far for A.V. Rockwell’s acclaimed 2023 drama, A Thousand to One.

Giancarlo Esposito

Who better to play the brains behind Abigail’s kidnapping than Giancarlo Esposito, whose most acclaimed roles are all bad guys? For instance, the five-time Emmy nominee chilled us to our core with his riveting performance in the Breaking Bad cast as Gus Fring and, later, was a worthy adversary against Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin in The Mandalorian.

Abigail Is The Latest Movie From Radio Silence

As established, the creative force behind Abigail is Radio Silence — the acclaimed filmmaking collective comprised of directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and producer Chad Villella. The trio broke into the mainstream and earned the chance to take over one of the most beloved horror movie franchises with 2022’s Scream and Scream VI after releasing one of the best horror-comedy movies in recent memory, Ready or Not, in 2019. While this marks their first vampire tale, the first story they helmed (and also starred in) about criminals spooked by a supernatural encounter was their wraparound segment from the horror anthology movie favorite, Southbound.

The screenplay for Abigail is credited to two writers: Guy Busick and Stephen Shields. Busick is a frequent collaborator of Radio Silence, having co-written Ready or Not and their two Scream installments, but is also known for penning episodes of Hulu’s Stephen King-inspired anthology Castle Rock, and is working on the forthcoming Final Destination 6 at the moment. Shields’ best known work up to this point is 2019’s unsettling thriller, The Hole in the Ground, which he co-wrote with director Lee Cronin, who went on to revive another beloved horror franchise — the Evil Dead movies — on the big screen with Evil Dead Rise in 2023.

I can’t think of a group of creators better suited to contribute to Universal’s reinvention of their classic monster lore than Radio Silence. Thus, you can count me in on seeing Abigail when it comes out!

Rick and Morty is gearing up for Season 7, but the upcoming episodes of the long-running Adult Swim series are going to be a little different. Those keeping tabs on the show between seasons are likely aware that series co-creator and the voice of the title characters Justin Roiland was fired following charges of domestic violence. Roiland was ultimately cleared of the charges, but his animated projects, including Solar Opposites, have moved forward without him for reasons beyond that. 

As for how each show has handled replacing Roiland's voice, they have taken drastically different routes. Rick and Morty executive producer Steve Levy revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 that they intend to cast a soundalike voice actor for all roles Roiland did, while Solar Opposites replaced Korvo's voice by bringing in actor Dan Stevens. Personally, I think that Rick and Morty chose the better strategy for replacing Roiland, despite a difference of opinions around the web. Rick and Morty seems to have the definitively better overall strategy, and I think others will agree as time passes. 

A Noticeable Voice Change Is A Distraction

While I think it's hilarious that Solar Opposites has hired an actor to play Korvo who has such a radically different voice than Justin Roiland  (and has a good way of explaining it), there's no denying that it's a distraction.  Korvo having a British accent all of a sudden may play as a great comedy bit, but the viewer will need to adjust to this change no matter how warranted it is. Even for a show as silly as Solar Opposites, it's going to take some focus away and pull the longtime fans out of the early episodes of Season 4 a bit.  

It's part of why I believe that Rick and Morty made the right call by committing to a search for a soundalike rather than trying to find someone notable to replace them. Sure, it would've been cool to see stunt casting like Christopher Lloyd voicing Rick and Michael J. Fox voicing Morty, but eventually, the fun of it would fade. Once the fun has faded, then the show has a problem and may have to potentially recast the voice role all over again. 

I should add that it's not uncommon in the history of animation to recast classic character roles. Just about every original Disney character has had multiple actors playing the part, and the same is true for Looney Tunes. Rick and Morty is doing what dozens of animated shows before it have done, and while some may feel that's an affirmation of Justin Roiland's talent, it's just what is done in animation when someone needs to be replaced.  

It Switches Up The Vibe

CinemaBlend's Jeff McCobb went to San Diego Comic-Con 2023 and saw the first two episodes of Solar Opposites Season 4 with Dan Stevens as Korvo. One of his main takeaways he had was there was an undeniable vibe shift in the character of Korvo. Though it was only his voice that changed, Jeff noted that the entire character had changed as well. He even went so far as to say that the new Korvo isn't as funny, which feels like a problem. 

I will concede I think that's also an issue that Rick and Morty could run into as well, even with finding a soundalike. Justin Roiland constantly riffed in the sound booth as both Rick and Morty, and an incoming voice actor may not be able to fully match up. Having the voice of the character could also potentially feel empty in spirit, which is an unfortunate side effect that can't be ignored. 

Perhaps the big takeaway, though, is that there's going to be a vibe shift regardless of who steps in for Justin Roiland in either role. That being said, minimizing it as much as possible is the correct path foward. It's possible that Justin Roiland's riffing was overhyped and that there are people on the Rick and Morty staff who know his comedic style well enough to replicate it for the next actor to take his place. That remains to be seen, but the show has had a solid run of success so far, so I'm not about to doubt it now. 

Future Fans Who Notice The Voice Change Will Look Up Why It Occurred

This might be wrong to assume, given we're entering an era of streaming where services are purging original content, but I'm holding on to the belief that future generations will have access to Solar Opposites and Rick And Morty. And while the controversy surrounding Justin Roiland is still very big topic in pop culture today, there will come a time when it fades, and future generations will forget... right up until they look up why Korvo's voice changes in Solar Opposites Season 4.

With Rick and Morty, depending on who is hired, the changeover will be smoother. There are some convincing soundalikes on the internet who can do the characters pretty well – to the point that I think unaware viewers won't know anything has changed when Season 7 premieres. (Assuming the show doesn't directly acknowledge it, and given how the Adult Swim series loves to break the fourth wall, I'm not ruling that out.)

I ultimately believe the best path forward for both shows, especially after reading about the reputation Justin Roiland allegedly had while working on Rick and Morty, is to distance itself as far from him as much as possible. Entirely changing the voices he did for the characters on the shows almost grants more power to what he brought to the roles; casting a soundalike more sends the message that anyone can be Rick and Morty.

Ultimately I'll tune in for both Solar Opposites Season 4 and Rick and Morty Season 7. While I may have different opinions on how each show handled Justin Roiland's sudden departure, that's not a knock on the quality of each show and the work that has been done moving on. Here's hoping for the best for each in their new eras and to the overall health they provide to the genre of adult animation. 

Solar Opposites Season 4 will premiere on August 14th, so make sure that Hulu subscription is up to date. As for Rick and Morty, Season 7 will release on October 15, 2023.

If you’re a fan of Rick and Morty or Solar Opposites, you’ve likely heard that the series’ creator and Rick Sanchez himself, Justin Roiland, faced domestic violence charges and the ensuing backlash was significant. He's being recast for Season 7 of R&M, a matter that one producer just updated us on this week at San Diego Comic-Con, but he’s already been replaced by Dan Stevens as Korvo on Solar Opposites for the upcoming fourth season. Well, during the Solar presentation at SDCC 2023, fans were were treated to two episodes from said season, with Stevens’ turn as Korvo on display, and I have some thoughts.

Korvo Is Undoubtedly Different, But Solar Opposites Is The Same

I love the way Solar Opposites addressed Korvo’s voice change. They worked it into the Sci-Fi mayhem that we’re all accustomed to, and even mentioned it directly when Jesse said, “Wait, is his voice just gonna be like that from now on?” as you can see in the clip above. Who I disagree with is Yumyulack, who says, “No one’s gonna know the difference.” 

While that’s clearly a joke, I must clarify, it is very different. Fans on social media have been implying that the Legion actor embodies the spirit of Justin Roiland’s Korvo, but with a British accent, I simply disagree. It’s very different, it’s very noticeable and to me, it feels like a different character entirely. Having said that, the character's dialogue is clearly consistent with what we know about him, he has the same quirks and the show itself still carries the same overall vibes. This situation has really taught me how much a voice actor can shape their character and, while I personally feel like Korvo's vibe has changed significantly, the series itself has not.

Truthfully, Dan Stevens' Korvo Isn’t Quite As Funny

I like Dan Stevens, I always have. In fact, at this point in time, I like him much more than I do Justin Roiland. With that said, his version of Korvo just isn’t as funny. Don’t get me wrong, his performance is hilariously British, and the dude has notorious range. (He most recently includes balancing comedy and drama as a piece of the cast of Welcome to Chippendale’s.) But something about his vocal performance on the animated sci-fi show results in punchlines that just don’t quite hit as hard. Justin Roiland is known for a cadence that almost sounds as if he’s improvising, and that’s missing here. To reiterate, Stevens’ take isn’t bad, but it just doesn't generate as much laughs from this fan.

Justin Roiland Wasn’t The Funniest Part Of Solar Opposites Anyway

It could be argued that Rick is the funniest part of R&M, but Korvo certainly isn't the most humorous element within Solar Opposites. (Perhaps one of the things the show does better than Rick and Morty is ensuring that its characters get an equal share of the laughs.) Even if the casting change is an adjustment to the nonsense we’ve grown to love, the casting was never what made the show great. There’s still Gooblers, Shlorpians and a Pupa, with a series of other upcoming elements that are just as weird and amazing as what we’ve come to expect. I’m not going to spoil anything, but the upcoming episodes have some awesome voice cameos that will knock a fans' socks off.

Overall, my point is that while there’s nothing wrong with Korvo or Dan Stevens’ performance, the success of the show’s humor also isn’t hinged on it. After all, my favorite part of Solar is the drama that takes place within The Wall, which Korvo has almost nothing to do with.

So if there’s anything major you can take away from my ramblings, it’s that yes, you can expect a revamped Korvo but can look forward to a Solar Opposites season that feels similar to what we're accustomed to. I’m going to tune into Season 4 with utmost anticipation, and I suggest you do, too. The new episodes arrive on August 14 as part of the  2023 TV schedule, so be sure you have a Hulu subscription so you can check them out!

Back in January, shortly after he was fired from Rick & Morty, Justin Roiland was also let go from the Hulu shows Koala Man and Solar Opposites. While it has yet to be announced who will take over Roiland’s vocal duties on the former two pieces of programming, Hulu has announced that Downton Abbey alum Dan Stevens will succeed him as the voice of Korvo in Season 4. The streaming service shared this big news with a clip debuting Stevens as Korvo, and it’s hilariously British.

For the Hulu subscribers wondering if Stevens will be doing his best to sound like Roiland in the next season of Solar Opposites, that absolutely will not be the case. The man who played Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey’s first three seasons will be rocking his natural accent, but not to worry, as the show has come up with a reason for why Korvo will sound so different, as you’ll see below.

Who would have thought using the Cheers dartboard would have led to such a drastic status quo change on an animated adult comedy series? (Also, am I wrong for thinking $100,000 is too steep for that piece of classic TV memorabilia?) Luckily, it takes mere seconds to cure Korvo of his dart injury thanks to the voice-fixing ray, but rather than firing the ray again to try and get his voice back to normal, Thomas Middleditch’s Terry puts the kibosh on that, preferring the way his partner sounds now. Even better for the Dan Stevens fans out there, every time Solar Opposites includes a flashback, we’ll hear him as Korvo rather than Justin Roiland thanks to the use of “chronitons.”

As shared in THR’s original casting report, Solar Opposites marks Stevens’ second collaboration with 20th Television Animation, having previously lent his voice to two episodes of Apple TV+’s Central Park. The actor’s other major credits include The Guest, Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast remake, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga and Legion, and he’ll also be leading the cast of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, one of the slated 2024 movies. Along with Middleditch sticking around, Sean Giambrone, Mary Mack and Sagan McMahan will continue respectively voicing Yumyulack, Jesse and The Pupa in Season 4.

All 11 episodes of Solar Opposites Season 4 will be released Monday, August 14, and along with a Valentine’s Day special set for next year, Season 5 was greenlit last October. While fans wait for the round of shenanigans from this alien family, look over the other funniest TV shows on Hulu, or browse through the 2023 TV schedule to see what’s currently airing or arriving soon.

The events of Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters paved the way for the MonsterVerse’s first crossover event: Godzilla vs. Kong, which marked the first time these two title monsters crossed paths in a Hollywood production. While Godzilla and Kong started off as enemies, they eventually came together against a shared adversary: Mechagodzilla, which had been intended as Apex’s tool to wipe out the Titans, but was corrupted by the consciousness of Ghidorah. Upon defeating this robotic menace, Godzilla returned to Earth’s waters and Kong was moved to Hollow Earth.

Well, two colossal forces of nature like these can stay separated for only so long, because we now have what was originally just known as Godzilla vs. Kong 2, but was officially titled Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Per the official synopsis, along with Godzilla and Kong being pitted against “against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world” that challenges both their existence and our own, the sequel will “delve further into the histories of these Titans, their origins and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond,” as well as pull back the curtain on the “mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.” The first trailer for The New Empire dropped on December 3, 2023.

As with the other MonsterVerse movies, obviously Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s main draw is once again be giant monsters fighting each other, but humanity always factors into these stories somehow. As such, we should go over who will be comprising The New Empire’s cast, starting with its new lead character.

Dan Stevens

Adam Wingard is sitting back in the director’s chair for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire after helming its predecessor, and this time, he’s brought in an actor from one of his non-MonsterVerse movies, The Guest. Dan Stevens starred in that 2014 feature as a murderous U.S. soldier named David, and now he’s taken part in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire as Trapper, who, as Stevens told Total Film, is the man you call when you have a sick Titan. Many of you might know Stevens better for playing Beast in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast remake, Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey or David Haller in Legion.

Brian Tyree Henry

Our first returning MonsterVerse human character in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie Hayes, who, like the other announced familiar faces so far, was introduced in Godzilla vs. Kong. An employee at Apex Cybernetics and host of a conspiracy podcast centered on the Titans, Bernie teamed with Madison Russell and Josh Valentine to figure out what the corporation was up to and how this was affecting Godzilla’s behavior. Bernie is recruited by the next person on this list to help investigate a mysterious signal coming from Hollow Earth.

Rebecca Hall

While the Monarch organization as a whole didn’t get a ton of time to shine in Godzilla vs. Kong, one of its operatives was key to the plot. Rebecca Hall appeared as Dr. Ilene Andrews, the anthropologist linguist who studied Kong on Skull Island, and the adoptive mother of Jia, the island’s last Iwi native. Ilene accompanied the team that was transferring Kong to Hollow Earth and managed to make it out of that region alive with Jia and Dr. Nathan Lind in time to witness Kong’s battle with Godzilla in Hong Kong. Ilene is still working for Monarch during Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and she ventures even deeper into Hollow Earth to learn about the aforementioned signal.

Kaylee Hottle

Deaf actress Kaylee Hottle made her film debut in Godzilla vs. Kong as Jia Andrews, who also couldn’t hear and communicated in America Sign Language. With Kong also knowing ASL, as well as having protected the young girl from being killed by Skullcrawlers like her biological parents, the two formed a special bond. It’s unclear how much time will have passed between Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, but Jia is still by Ilene’s side and watching over Kong at the Hollow Earth outpost station. She's on hand to witness things like Mini-Kong (whose name is actually Suko), but along the way, Jia learns about a deeper connection she has to the Titans.

Fala Chen

Fala Chen has been acting in Hong Kong movies and TV shows for over a decade and a half, but she made a splash in the United States on two fronts during 2021 and 2022. First, she appeared in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as Ying-Li, the wife of Wenwu and mother of Shang-Chi and Xialing, as well as the Dweller-in-Darkness masquerading as Ying-Li. Then she recurred in HBO’s Irma Vep miniseries as Cynthia Keng. Now she's added another Hollywood movie to her resume with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, where she plays the Iwi Queen. That's right, to Jia's delight, it turns out there is a group of Iwi still alive and living deep within Hollow Earth.

Alex Ferns

Many United Kingdom TV viewers likely remember Alex Ferns for his run as Trevor Morgan in the soap opera EastEnders, and over a decade later, he recurred as Rick Harper in the Scottish drama River City. For those of you stateside, not to worry, as you’ve likely seen him in something recently. For example, Ferns appeared in The Batman as Commissioner Pete Savage, one of The Riddler’s victims. 2022 also saw the actor recurring in Andor as Sergeant Linus Musk, the Pre-Mor officer who followed the orders of Kyle Soller’s Syril Kari without question. Ferns plays a Monarch operative named Mikael who initially leads the expedition into Hollow Earth, but that, ah, doesn't last long, if you catch my drift.

Rachel House

If you’re a fan of Taika Waititi’s work, then you’re quite familiar with Rachel House. The actress starred in the filmmaker’s movies Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Thor: Ragnarok, appeared in a deleted Jojo Rabbit scene, and Next Goal Wins. You may also recognize House as the voice of Gramma Tala in Moana and Terry in Soul, and she also vocally reprised her MCU character Topaz in an episode of What If… ?. On the live-action front, she also played Mao in Netflix’s short-lived Cowboy Bebop series. She appears as Monarch director Hampton in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is now playing in theaters. Keep your eyes peeled on CinemaBlend for more news on upcoming MonsterVerse projects, including Netflix’s anime-style series Skull Island and Apple TV+’s live-action series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Stream the released MonsterVerse movies with your Max subscription.

There have been plenty of great scripted biographical miniseries in 2022. From the tumultuous story of Pam & Tommy to the The Dropout shining light on a business scandal, there’s so much from this year that we have gotten to see And now, we’re going to be getting another show in the form of Welcome to Chippendales, inspired by the book, Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders. 

The drama is about the founder of Chippendales, a strip club designed to please women, and the dark secrets that surround it. Arriving on Hulu, the Welcome to Chippendales cast is full of talent, and here, we are going to talk about where you might have seen them before. 

Kumail Nanjiani (Somen Banerjee)

First up on the list, we have Kumail Nanjiani, who plays the founder of Chippendales, Somen ‘Steve’ Banerjee in Welcome to Chippendales. Kumail Nanjiani has done so much in the movie and TV industry, and Welcome to Chippendales only adds onto that. 

You might know Nanjiani the most from his role as Dinesy on the HBO comedy, Silicon Valley, but the actor has done so much in television besides that. He’s appeared in shows such as Portlandia, Newsreaders, Veep, Community, Murderville, and most recently, he had a role in the Disney+ original series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Nanjiani has also offered his voice to several shows like animated adult comedy Big Mouth, The Simpsons and more. 

Nanjiani has also found success in the movie industry. He was a part of the Eternals cast, and starred in the film, The Big Sick (which he also co-wrote and was nominated for an Academy Award for). Other big roles in film include Dolittle, The Lovebirds, Stuber and more. 

Murray Bartlett

Next up on the Welcome to Chippendales cast list is Murray Bartlett. In 2021, Murray Bartlett was a part of The White Lotus cast for Season 1, but has shown off his talents in a variety of other television shows and films. On television, he’s had major roles in shows like The Secret Life of Us, Headland, Guiding Light, Looking, Tales Of The City, and more. He is also a part of the upcoming The Last of Us cast. 

In film, Bartlett was in movies like The Three Stooges, August, and The Stand In, among others. 

Annaleigh Ashford 

Moving on, we look at Annaleigh Ashford in the Welcome to Chippendales cast. Ashford is primarily known for her role as Betty DiMello on the popular Showtime series, Masters of Sex, but she’s appeared in several other big TV shows including Ryan Murphy-created Impeachment: American Crime Story, B Positive, The Good Fight and more. 

Ashford is also known very well for her musical talent, having appeared on stage on Broadway several times. Her most notable performances have been in Kinky Boots as Lauren, and You Can’t Take It With You, where she won a Tony Award for her performance as Essie Carmichael. 

Ashford has also appeared in a variety of movies as well, including but not limited to Better Off Single, Late Night, Second Act, Bad Education, and A Rainy Day in New York.  

Juliette Lewis

Juliette Lewis is on the cast of Welcome to Chippendales and has had quite the 2022 with her role on the Yellowjackets cast. Lewis has been around for plenty of time in both film and television. Some of her biggest film roles have include the iconic Christmas film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Cape Fear, Husbands and Wives, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Old School, The Switch, Ma, August: Osage County and more. 

Lewis has also had a lot of success in television. Some of her biggest roles have been in The Firm, the sci-fi horror series, Wayward Pines, and the Hulu original miniseries, The Act. 

Andrew Rannells

Honestly, I knew Andrew Rannells the most out of everyone on this list because I loved him during his Broadway days, and it’s so great to see him take on a role in a big miniseries like Welcome to Chippendales. Rannells got his start in show business through Broadway, with his most notable role being The Book of Mormon, where he played Elder Kevin Price, but he’s been in several other shows like Hamilton, Jersey Boys, Hairspray and more. 

In film and television, he’s made some strides in the industry. In television, he’s had roles in shows like The New Normal, Girls, Black Monday, and more. He’s also guest-starred on shows like How I Met Your Mother and Will & Grace, among others. 

Some of Rannells' film highlights include The Stand In, The Prom and A Simple Favor. 

Dan Stevens

Dan Stevens is a part of the cast of Welcome to Chippendales, and has been in the film industry for some time. Some of his biggest roles have included playing the Beast in the live-action Disney adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, The Man Who Invented Christmas, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, and Marshall. 

In terms of television, Stevens has appeared in a variety of shows. He played Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey, and had major roles in series’ such as Legion, Gaslit, and more. Stevens has also offered his voice talents in several shows, having guest roles on TV shows like the Apple TV+ original series, Central Park, The Prince, and SuperMansion, among others. 

Quentin Plair

Moving on, we take a look at Quentin Plair, who is a part of the cast of Welcome to Chippendales. Plair has guest starred on several TV shows, including Justice: By Any Means, Saints & Sinners, Dates, The Good Doctor, and more, but he’s had main roles on shows like The Quad, and on the show Roswell, New Mexico. 

Plair also had roles in movies like Burning Sands and Drumline: A New Beat. 

Robin de Jesus

Next up on the cast of Welcome to Chippendales is Robin de Jesus, another Broadway actor who has starred in several big stage shows like In the Heights, The Boys in the Band, and La Cage aux Folles, among others. However, de Jesus has been appearing more in both TV and movies. 

In television, he’s had roles in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as a guest role in Santiago of the Seas. De Jesus also has worked in movies, with his latest credit being a part of the Tick, tick…BOOM! cast, as well as parts in Milkwater, 11:55, Camp and more. 

Nicola Peltz 

Last but not least, we have Nicola Peltz, who has been in many movies and TV shows prior to her part in Welcome to Chippendales. Her roles include playing Katara in The Last Airbender film, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Our House, the Netflix Christmas film, Holidate and more. 

Peltz has also done some work in television. She portrayed Bradley Martin on Bates Motel, and had a small appearance in Inhumans. 

With such a talented cast, it’s no wonder you’ve seen several of them in different shows. And now maybe, you might have found something new to watch that features them. 

Watch Welcome to Chippendales streaming on Hulu.

When it comes to some of the best horror movies or the best fantasy movies, who is one of the first people you think of? For me, it’s always been Guillermo del Toro, an Academy Award winning director and screenwriter who has created some of the best films of the last twenty years, like Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, and so many more. And now, he’s returned to television with the release of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. 

This show features eight different horror stories written and directed by different people, and also features an entirely new cast in every episode. With that much talent, it might be hard to figure out exactly where you might have seen them before. If you’re wondering “where have I seen that actor before?”, this is Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities cast and why they look so familiar.

Cabinet Of Curiosities – Lot 36

“Lot 36” is written by Regina Corrado and is based on a story by del Toro himself, and directed by Guillermo Navarro. 

Tim Blake Nelson

Tim Blake Nelson has appeared in shows such as Watchmen, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidy, and the film, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, where he starred. 

Elpidia Carrillo

Elpidia Carrillo has had a role on the popular TV series, Mayans M.C., but also had an appearance as Sonia on the hit teen drama, Euphoria, as well as a role in the original Predator film from 1987. 

Demetrius Grosse

Demetrius Grosse has appeared in The Walking Dead universe show, Fear the Walking Dead, for several episodes, and has popped up in many TV shows like The Rookie, Swagger, Frontier, and more. 

Sebastian Roché

Last for “Lot 36” is Sebastian Roché, an actor who is most known for his role in The Young Pope but has appeared in many big roles in shows such as The Man in the High Castle, Genius, The Originals, and more. 

Cabinet Of Curiosities – Graveyard Rats

“Graveyard Rats” is based on a short story by Henry Kuttner, and directed by Vincenzo Natali. 

David Hewlett

The only leading star of “Graveyard Rats” is David Hewlett, who has appeared in several movies and shows, such as The Shape of Water, SEE, and Stargate: Atlantis. 

Cabinet Of Curiosities – The Autopsy

“The Autopsy” is based on a short story by Michael Shea and directed by David Prior. 

F. Murray Abraham

F. Murray Abraham won the Academy Award for his role in the film, Amadeus, but has appeared in many other movies, including several Wes Anderson films, as well as Star Trek: Insurrection, Inside Llewyn Davis, and currently stars in the Apple TV+ series, Mythic Quest. 

Glynn Turman

Glynn Turman has appeared in several movies and series. Most recently, in 2020, he had a role in Netflix’s film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and had had roles in shows such as Fargo and The Wire. 

Luke Roberts

Last but not least for “The Autopsy” is Luke Roberts, who had a lead role in the show Ransom, as well as appearing in many episodes of Black Sails on Starz. 

Cabinet Of Curiosities – The Outside

“The Outside” is based on a short story by Emily Carroll, a comic-book author, and is directed by Ana Lily Amirpour. 

Kate Micucci

Kate Micucci has done a lot of voice roles for shows like Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? as well as American Dad!, and more. She also appeared in the film Flora & Ulysses, as well as the TV series, Mom. 

Martin Starr

Martin Starr first came to prominence with his role in Freaks and Geeks, but then appeared in shows like Silicon Valley, Roswell, Revelations, Party Down, and many more. He also had a minor appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

Dan Stevens

The last big name for “The Outside” is Dan Stevens, who has been in shows like Gaslit, High Maintenance, Legion, Downtown Abbey, and more. 

Cabinet Of Curiosities – Pickman’s Model

“Pickman’s Model” is based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft and directed by Keith Thomas. 

Ben Barnes

Most recently, in 2021, Ben Barnes got lots of attention for his starring role as the Darkling in the fantasy series, Shadow and Bone, which is also going to be getting Season 2 very soon, but he's also appeared in shows such as Westworld and The Punisher. 

Crispin Glover

Crispin Glover has appeared in shows such as American Gods, Texas Rising, and more. He also was in the comedy film, Hot Tub Time Machine. 

Oriana Leman

Last for “Pickman’s Model” is Oriana Leman, who is mainly known for her role in the fantasy series, Locke & Key, where she plays Carly Miller. 

Cabinet Of Curiosities – Dreams In The Witch House

“Dreams in the Witch House” is based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, and directed by Catherine Hardwicke. 

Rupert Grint

You might know Rupert Grint from his time as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter film series, but he’s also currently starring on the Apple TV+ series, Servant. 

Ismael Cruz Cordova

Isamal Cruz Cordova has appeared in several TV shows, including the Amazon series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, as well as Berlin Station, The Undoing, The Catch, and so many more. 

DJ Qualls

DJ Qualls has had experience in television before, as he appeared in the popular CW show, Supernatural, as well as shows such as Z Nation, The Man in the High Castle, Fargo, and more. 

Nia Vardalos

Nia Vardalos got famous for writing and starring in one of the most successful romantic comedies of all time, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but also has appeared on the cancelled Love, Victor, as well as the miniseries, Station 19. 

Tenika Davis

Last but not least for “Dreams in the Witch House” is Tenika Davis, who’s biggest work was having a role in Jupiter’s Legacy, as well as Titans in 2021. 

Cabinet Of Curiosities – The Viewing

 “The Viewing,” features a stacked cast. The episode is written by Aaron Stewart-Ahn and Panos Cosmatos, who also directed. 

Peter Weller

Peter Weller has appeared in many TV shows before, including Longmire, MacGyver, The Last Ship, the popular FX drama, Sons of Anarchy, the Showtime series, Dexter, and many others. He also played the titular character in the original Robocop, and had a role in Star Trek Into Darkness. 

Eric Andre

Eric Andre actually has his own show, called The Eric Andre Show, but he’s been in other projects as well. He appeared in The Righteous Gemstones, and also voices one of my favorite cartoon characters, Luci, in the adult animated show on Netflix, Disenchantment. 

Sofia Boutella

Sofia Boutella is mainly known for her role in Kingsman: The Secret Service, but also appeared in Modern Love. She is set to premiere in the upcoming Rebel Moon. 

Charlyne Yi

Charlyne Yi has been in the business for some time and appeared in many movies and TV shows. Some of her biggest roles were in shows such as House M.D., Love, Jane the Virgin, We Bare Bears, Steven Universe, and more. She also appeared in movies like Always Be My Maybe, The Mitchells vs the Machines, and others. Most recently, she was in the film Block Party Juneteenth. 

Steve Agee

Steve Agee has had roles in many TV shows, such as D-Sides, New Girl, Fortune Rookie, Drunk History, American Princess, Twelve Forever and more. He also appeared in The Suicide Squad as John Economos, a role he reprised in the popular series, Peacemaker. He also portrayed Issac in Superstore. 

Michael Therrialt

If you want to talk about someone who has been in television for some time, Michael Therrialt is the person to bring up, as he has appeared in several TV shows. Some of his biggest roles have been in series such as Covert Affairs, Hemlock Grove, Heroes Reborn, The Girlfriend Experience, Damien, The Bagel and Becky Show, Reign, Alias Grace, and more. He also appeared in the horror film, Cult of Chucky. 

Saad Siddiqui

Last but not least for “The Viewing,” we take a look at Saad Siddiqui, who has been in many TV shows before, including The Art of More, Rogue, Incorporated, Slasher, October Faction, Coroner, The Hardy Boys, and more. He also had a minor role as Karan in Legends of Tomorrow. 

Cabinet Of Curiosities – The Murmuring

The last episode of Cabinet of Curiosities, called “The Murmuring,” is based on an original story by Guillermo del Toro and is directed by Jennifer Kent, known for her famed horror movie, The Babadook. 

Essie Davis

Essie Davis had a lead role in The Babadook, led the series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, and also appeared in shows like Lambs of God. 

Andrew Lincoln

Primarily known as Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead, Andrew Lincoln has also appeared in movies such as the classic holiday film, Love, Actually, and the television series, Afterlife. 

Hannah Galway

Hannah Galway is mainly known for her role in the TV series, Sex/Life, which is getting a Season 2, but also had appearances in shows like Under the Banner of Heaven and Good Sam. 

This cast for every single episode is truly stacked to the brim and features so many talented actors that I can hardly believe it. With such a creative lineup and spooky stories, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is sure to be one of the streaming platform’s best releases so far this year.

At the end of March 2021, roughly a year after it was originally supposed to come out, Godzilla vs. Kong finally arrived in both theaters and on HBO Max. A month later, it was reported that Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures were moving forward with a new MonsterVerse movie in response to Godzilla vs. Kong’s critical and commercial success, with Adam Wingard sitting back in the director’s chair. Today now brings word that what’s unofficially being referred to as Godzilla vs. Kong 2 has cast its first actor, and it’s someone that Wingard directed in one of his previous movies.

Dan Stevens, who worked with Adam Wingard in The Guest, has signed on to star in Godzilla vs. Kong 2. Stevens played David Collins, the 2014 thriller’s lead antagonist, and now he’ll get to team with Wingard again within a MonsterVerse setting. Unfortunately, Deadline didn’t share any details about who Stevens is playing in Godzilla vs. Kong 2, so we have no idea yet how his character will factor into the upcoming movie… well, besides being astounded at seeing these two Titans in the flesh, just like everyone else.

The Guest was one of of Dan Stevens’ earliest movies, and was met with critical acclaim. Three years after its release, Stevens’ fame skyrocketed when he played Beast in Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. 2017 also saw Adam Wingard delivering his live-action film adaptation of Death Note to Netflix. Prior to The Guest, Stevens was best known for playing Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey, and his other notable credits include Marshall, The Call of the Wild, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Legion and the currently-airing Starz limited series Gaslit. 

Taking place five years after the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and roughly five decades after what unfolded in Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla vs. Kong finally brought these two gargantuan creatures together in a Hollywood setting, as they previously clashed in the 1962 Japanese movie King Kong vs. Godzilla. Within the MonsterVerse, the Titans collided when Apex Cybernetics attempted to move Kong to Hollow Earth for two reasons. The first, Skull Island was no longer habitable enough for him to keep the towering gorilla there. Second, Apex was looking for a power source to use for a weapon capable of stopping Godzilla’s erratic rampages. However, as the story progressed, it became clear that Apex had wasn’t exactly the benevolent entity it presented itself as to the public.

Along with enjoying stronger overall critical reception than Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. Kong made over $468 million worldwide, ranking as the eighth highest-grossing movie of 2021. When it was originally reported that a fifth MonsterVerse movie was entering development, Son of Kong was thrown out as one of the story ideas on the table. However, now it looks like we’re going a more straightforward sequel route with Godzilla vs. Kong 2, meaning that something will go down that leads to the two title Titans coming to blows again.

Godzilla vs. Kong 2 doesn’t have a release date yet, but filming is reportedly beginning this summer in Australia, so evidently Adam Wingard will tackle this movie before he helms the Face/Off sequel. If you’re in the mood to any or all of the prior MonsterVerse movies, they can be streamed with an HBO Max subscription.

In another cinematic life, Dan Stevens undertook a huge acting challenge that he remains rather proud of: waltzing on stilts while wearing a Beast-ly mo-cap suit, for 2017’s Beauty and the Beast. As any actor will tell you, every film presents its own unique challenges, and in the case of Stevens’ role in director Maria Schrader’s romantic dramedy I’m Your Man, doing a whole film in the German language was the point of pride. So much so that even when compared to stilt-work that Stevens did in his Disney live-action break, dancing with German dialogue was the more daunting challenge.

This was another piece of information I learned during the I’m Your Man press junket, where Mr. Stevens and I talked about his role as the lovelorn android Tom. Eager to impress his human/study participant Alma (Maren Eggert), there’s no limit to the knowledge that Tom can draw from. So when one scene called for human and robot to meet at a dance club, the following moment was brought to life, putting Dan Stevens to the test:

Acting as one of the initial moments in I’m Your Man’s courtship between human and machine, Dan Stevens and Maren Eggert’s first dance sees Tom showing his prowess on the floor. It isn’t too long before the robot becomes a bit overwhelmed and ends up malfunctioning, which sends him in for some quick repairs. Thankfully, Mr. Stevens’ thought processes didn’t get overloaded in a similar capacity, but the scene was a challenge nonetheless.

Dan Steven's prior studies in German gave him a fluency that he claims roughly five English actors in total have, making him a perfect candidate for I’m Your Man’s rigorous linguistic challenges. With the film shooting during the summer of 2020, as an early production during the COVID-19 pandemic, these dance club scenes were subject to extensive testing protocols. Saved for the end of shooting, real life couples and quarantined dancers were all used as extras to make those scenes a welcome respite from the realities that productions of all sorts were enduring.

So when you run the whole story back, from top to bottom, Dan Stevens had to speak German, dance the rumba and adhere to the strict health and safety guidelines the entire cast of I’m Your Man was subjected to. And yet, when you watch him dance, as well as hear him speak, it really is a welcomed distraction from any cares in the world. Maybe if that potential Beauty and the Beast sequel ever gets off the ground, there can be a scene where Stevens' Beast gets to dance whilst reciting German poetry to Belle. Now wouldn't that be impressive?

I’m Your Man starts its limited run in theaters this weekend, so be sure to check your local listings for showtimes and availability. And if you unfortunately cannot find a showing of this endearing comedy, there’s plenty more available for you to enjoy on the 2021 release schedule.

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You can never tell which Disney live-action remakes are going to land and which ones are going to flop. However, even with all the confidence in the world that 2017’s Beauty and The Beast would find itself in the former category, no one could have predicted how massive it would eventually become. It’s gotten to the point where a Disney+ prequel series is in the works, and now fans are probably wondering: could this new series spark a renewed interest in a follow-up movie? The Beast himself, actor Dan Stevens, certainly has some thoughts on the subject.

I was lucky enough to ask Mr. Stevens about this subject when we sat down to talk about his latest film I’m Your Man. Playing a humanoid robot named Tom, this new character in Dan Stevens’ insanely impressive resume is a world away from the formerly cursed Disney prince. Between his own immense pride for partaking in the project and all of the talk surrounding Luke Evans and Josh Gad’s Disney+ prequel Little Town, it’s hard not to ask questions. In his answer about a hypothetical Beauty and the Beast sequel, Stevens provided the following musings:

The concept of a sequel to Beauty and the Beast’s flesh and blood retelling isn’t something that’s come out of the blue. The original ending to the 2017 remake would have actually seen Gaston cursed by the same enchantress that turned Dan Stevens into his hairier self. Though even if that idea is 100% scrapped, Emma Watson has provided even more ideas for a hypothetical Beauty and the Beast 2, which could focus on how the now-human Beast deals with his second chance at life, as well as Belle’s potential career as a schoolteacher. Ideas are not in short supply, should Disney want to wave its wand.

What’s even more interesting is the fact that Beauty and the Beast was budgeted, on the high end, at an estimated $255 million. Now granted, Disney might be a little shy to fork over that much cash to a sequel. That being said, in light of $1.26 billion the first film raked in during its box office run, and Dan Stevens’ fond memories of the project, you’d think there would be some sort of movement four years later.

The best hope for Beauty and the Beast’s potential sequel almost totally lies with how Little Town performs on Disney+. Though Dan Stevens certainly hasn’t written off the prospect of getting back into his beastly habits. So the future might truly bring anything, if the ideas are flowing, and the higher ups see the world still under the spell of that tale as old as time.

For the moment, the good news is that you can see Dan Stevens winning hearts through the rumba and the German language when I’m Your Man opens in theaters on September 24. Which is also a great reminder that the next movie you fall in love with might be on the 2021 release schedule right this very moment. And if you want to relive the magic of Beauty and the Beast, in either of its forms, check out The Disney Bundle, which grants you access to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for one convenient subscription.

If you’re a fan of Dan Stevens (and why wouldn’t you be?), his latest film may have you asking some questions. With I’m Your Man seeing the man known as a star of Downton Abbey, featured mutant on FX’s Legion and, of course, the latter half of Beauty and the Beast playing an ideal robot mate, that was a scenario bound to happen. But the largest question some may have is whether or not Stevens really learned German for his role in director Maria Schrader’s romantic dramedy. The answer is no, but only because as it turns out, Dan Stevens had already studied the language earlier in his life.

Speaking with Mr. Stevens during the press day for I’m Your Man, I admitted that after hearing him speaking German in the film, it made me want to speak it better myself. This was after learning through preparation that Dan Stevens had prior experience with the language, and he’s actually fluent in the language. Through words of encouragement, he also revealed that a little owl helped him brush up on the dialect while readying himself for I’m Your Man:

Though Dan Stevens’ character Tom is indeed an android, that doesn’t mean he’s speaking in the stereotypical stiff and halting sentences one would expect. The world of I’m Your Man has designed robots like Tom with a specific purpose: to provide romance and companionship for those who are lonely in life. His unit is one of several that are being tested, as his budding relationship with scientist Alma (Maren Eggert) is meant to provide vital feedback on an emerging technology.

Delivering dialogue in such a scenario isn’t easy in another language, as it really takes someone who understands the texture of that linguistic waltz to really stick the landing. Dan Stevens certainly accomplishes that in I’m Your Man thanks to his prior fluency and some handy help from DuoLingo. But the cherry on top of the whole experience has to be the fact that, as one might expect, Stevens kept his language settings set to German throughout pretty much the entire shoot:

After all of this talk about Dan Stevens playing a romantic robot who speaks perfect German with an English accent, you probably want to hear some of the finished product from I’m Your Man. That’s natural, as even his eccentric performance in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga can’t prepare you for what you might feel in viewing this very human film. Well, you can get a taste of what’s in store, thanks to the I’m Your Man trailer, included below:

You can boot up the beautiful romantic dramedy that is I’m Your Man when it hits selected theaters on September 24. Also, don't forget to check out the 2021 release schedule and see what else is arriving in theaters for the weeks to come. You never know where you'll find the next adventure with a lovable robot and their human companion.

Downton Abbey was the big break into pop culture for a number of the stars who hadn't yet made it into the spotlight on the American side of the pond, and Dan Stevens was a fan-favorite during his three seasons before Matthew Crawley's tragic death. Now, nearly ten years after Stevens left the show following the third season, the actor has explained why starring on such a hit show was actually somewhat distressing.

While it may be hard to believe considering that Downton Abbey is still very much a popular franchise with a second movie in the works, it premiered all the way back in 2010, when social media was a far cry from what it is today, and Maggie Smith was pretty much the only household name from the Downton cast for viewers in the United States. Speaking with The Guardian, Dan Stevens explained what was somewhat difficult about starring on the show in that particular time period:

Viewers live-tweeting and sharing their thoughts – often without much in the way of a filter – may be common nowadays, but it was still on the newer side of pop culture during Dan Stevens' time on Downton Abbey from 2010 - 2012. As fans will undoubtedly remember, Stevens' Matthew Crawley was killed off in the holiday special that followed Season 3, making it a much less merry Downton Christmas than the season before, when Matthew and Mary got engaged in a swirl of snowflakes.

And the fans weren't exactly thrilled about how Matthew was killed off, but based on Dan Stevens' comments, he also witnessed strong fan reactions to more minor elements of the series, like looks and outfits. That's not surprising from a lens of 2021, when Twitter is a popular platform for fans, celebrities, and even companies, but 2010 - 2012 was a very different time when it comes to online fandom. That said, Stevens also made it clear that it was "interesting and exciting" as well.

Plus, the Downton Abbey fans still haven't forgotten Dan Stevens or Matthew Crawley, despite how much time has passed and how much the story of Mary and the other Crawleys has shifted away from the events of those early years. While Stevens did make the decision to leave Downton, Matthew being killed off right after meeting his newborn son with Mary wasn't his call.

And Dan Stevens has gone on to find success in plenty of other projects, ranging from the live-action Beauty and the Beast opposite Emma Watson to FX's Legion on the opposite side of the fiction spectrum to the upcoming Gaslit, which Stevens joined to replace Armie Hammer earlier this year. He definitely hasn't just stuck to one genre, which may have been helped by the fact that there was no going back to Downton for Stevens in any significant way after being killed off.

If you want to relive Matthew Crawley's glory days on Downton Abbey before being killed off, you can find those first three seasons (as well as the final three before the first movie) streaming on Netflix now, as well as some other platforms.

Armie Hammer was just replaced in another project, an upcoming TV drama setup at Starz that also has Julia Roberts attached. This time around, however, well-publicized controversies including allegations he was into sexual cannibalism and separate allegations of sexual assault are not the reason why. In fact, Armie Hammer had left the project before any of the myriad allegations came to light just a few short months ago. Now, we’ve learned he’ll be replaced by Beauty and the Beast and Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens.

News broke today that Armie Hammer has exited an upcoming Julia Roberts and Sean Penn drama called Gaslit, which is expected to be a “modern take on Watergate” and is based on the podcast Slow Burn. In it, Hammer had been expected to take on the role of John Dean, a member of the White House Counsel dealing with conflict over whether to lie to protect the President. Dan Stevens will now occupy that role in the Starz series, per Deadline.

It’s been about two and half months since Armie Hammer dropped out of Jennifer Lopez’s upcoming movie. Shotgun Wedding (which is now shooting without him in the Dominican Republic) following allegations he allegedly was into sexual cannibalism (allegations he denied). In the time since, the news he’d left Gaslit also dropped -- though unlike Shotgun Wedding it was not directly related. The tide has not stymied either following separate reports of sexual assault and some comments from Armie Hammer’s ex-wife Elizabeth Chambers, who has publicly commented on the matter -- the couple had split last summer following a reported cheating scandal before any of these reports broke.

At the time of Hammer's exit from Gaslit he was expected to star in another project called The Offer, which is why he left the Starz series. As for The Offer, the actor has also left that project at this point, this time directly related to the allegations. Most recently Armie Hammer exited Billion Dollar Spy, a Cold War era movie that would have had him starring along with Mads Mikkelsen.

However, prior to all of this Armie Hammer had completed work on the hotly anticipated Death on the Nile, the sequel to Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express which had been pushed back earlier due to the pandemic. It now won't come out until 2022, but it's unclear if that movie will make any changes as it's already been filmed, Hammer's in it extensively, and it's in the can and ready to roll. The movie is a Hercule Poirot project and the first did well at the box office, so pushing it to February of 2022 kind of sucks from that standpoint, but we'll have to wait and see what Disney ultimately opts to do given the current circumstances.

Meanwhile, we'll let you know if any other news breaks related to the actor, who rose to fame with The Social Network in 2010. He currently has no upcoming projects (only a couple that are completed) in the works. Of course, Gaslit is likely going to be a weird one for Dan Stevens, too, as I'm sure this whole replacement thing will be a part of the dialogue about the project moving forward. We'll keep you updated regarding that too.

Many movies ask you to suspend your disbelief. Whether it's a story of superheroes or wizards or just science fiction that's a bit more fiction than science, the best films are able to absorb you in their story enough to keep you from asking too many questions about whether or not the story actually works. Such is the case for Blithe Spirit, the new film with Beauty and Beast star Dan Stevens, which hopefully will not have audiences asking how sex with ghosts actually works, because the actor admits he doesn't really know.

The film, based on the play by Noël Coward, tells the story of a man dealing with writer's block who enlists the help of a séance, and ends up bringing back the ghost of his dead first wife, who had been his muse. This is an issue for the man's current love. There is a scene where man and ghost get it on, at least as much as man and ghost can do so. Stevens recently spoke with Digital Spy and admitted that the story doesn't put a great deal of thought into exactly how that would work, and hopefully viewers won't worry about it too much either. Stevens explains...

I think, first off, we can all agree that "paranormal rumpy-pumpy" should be a phrase that enters into normal usage. And honestly, the topic of sex with ghosts is something that comes up around here far more often than you'd probably guess. It's something that actually happens if you believe the right people. Like, a lot. Apparently being engaged to ghosts you have sex with is also a thing. Even celebrities have done it.

Of course, at the end of the day Blithe Spirit is a comedy and so it tends to get away with a little bit more for that reason alone. When you're intentionally not taking too many things seriously from the outset, it's a bit easier for audiences to let things go, so there probably won't be too many people too worried about the mechanics of ghost sex if the movie is funny enough. And one can certainly see a scene of a person having sex with a ghost played for laughs. Just what exactly would that look like as a third party observer?

Blithe Spirit is set to release in the U.K. this Friday, but domestic fans of ghost sex will have to wait until February.

What a special guest we have for you this week! Dave Franco makes his directorial debut this week with The Rental, starring Dan Stevens, Alison Brie and Sheila Vand, available in select theaters, drive-ins and VOD July 24th.

He joins us for a discussion on the shift from acting to directing, and what he's learned from the directors he's worked with. He also dives into some of the behind-the-scenes details of making the film, and the wonderful collaborators he had handy to help pull it all off. Will there be a sequel? He confirms that if audiences take a liking to the film, he does have a "strong" idea for a follow up, and even still, he and Alison Brie are interested in working together again on a romantic comedy they've been cooking up in quarantine.

Also on this week's show, Tenet has been delayed (yet again). We dove into the prospects of nothing coming out this year on last week's show, so check out ReelBlend 126 for a larger discussion on that.

However, some major productions have resumed which has given us a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel that, at some point, there will still be major releases to help bring theaters back from the brink.

San Diego Comic-Con is taking to streaming their major events this year, obviously, so we give a quick preview on what's expected. JusticeCon, the fan-led event surrounding Zack Snyder's Justice League and that whole movement, is also streaming on YouTube this weekend, and our very own Sean O'Connell is attending as a panelist.

Sean gives us a good preview of what fans can expect from the convention, and even gives a rundown of his panel's special plans.

Finally, it wouldn't be ReelBlend without a BlendGame. Paul Greengrass has had a rather prolific narrative filmmaking career since branching away from his documentary roots, and so we went through our favorites from his filmography. Next week, we're taking a look at our favorite cliffhanger endings in cinema history. What's yours? Let us know on Twitter using #CliffhangerBlend.

Be sure to subscribe to the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube!

For the past decade, Disney has been producing some astonishing live-action remake versions of its classic animated films. Just behind the record-breaking box office success of last summer’s The Lion King lies Beauty and the Beast’s $1.2 billion in worldwide earnings, which has undoubtedly inspired the upcoming productions of The Little Mermaid and Peter Pan & Wendy. Ahead of the remake's warm reception, Dan Stevens admitted he was “terrified” to take on the iconic role of the Beast.

Thankfully, it's Dan Stevens’ fear that often propels his decisions to take on high-profile roles in projects such as Beauty and the Beast. As he explained to IndieWire, “calibrating the right amount of terror” is how he ended up under the motion capture suit of the Beast alongside Emma Watson’s Belle, and that remains his method today. In his words:

And it's not incredibly difficult to see this formula reflected in Dan Stevens' work. The Beauty and the Beast actor returned to his love of music for Netflix’s Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga to play the scene-stealing role of the fictional Russian singer Alexander Lemtov alongside Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams. But in between, he took on the trippy FX Marvel show Legion, horror cult flick Apostle and the villain in Call of the Wild earlier this year.

Dan Stevens’ role in Beauty and the Beast was a particularly demanding one, not only because he’d be following a beloved animated character, but he also wore a motion-capture suit and sang some major notes for Alan Menken’s new song “Evermore,” which added dimension to Beast’s character. Stevens reflected:

There was a sequel in the works for a different incarnation of this Disney character at one time, but it doesn’t look to be the studio’s long list of developing live-action features. However, it was announced earlier this year that a Beauty and the Beast spinoff TV show about LeFou and Gaston is coming to Disney+.

Dan Stevens' next role will be in a horror film directed by Dave Franco called The Rental. The movie is coming to VOD and select drive-ins next Friday, July 24. The next live-action Disney movie hitting theaters will be Niki Caro’s Mulan, which greatly diverts from the studio’s typical remake formula. It will be a martial arts epic that does not rely on the original music or many characters from the original animated movie.

Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more news on Disney releases.

By now, audiences have had the chance to see Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams in the amusingly titled Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Fire Saga being the name of the band fronted by the two comedians who enter into the wildly popular European song competition, mainly because every other act from their home country of Sweden… er, can’t make it. (Watch the movie. You will see.)

Because Fire Saga is such a badass name for a band, CinemaBlend’s own Jeff McCobb played a game with the cast during the recent press day. He hit Eurovision Song Contest cast members Ferrell, McAdams and Dan Stevens with a series of names that could either be a band, of a fantasy novel. Watch this now and see how they did:

Yeah, this was a lot harder than I would have assumed. Mainly because there are so many fantasy novels out there. And they all sound exactly like the names of possible bands. Some of them are so bad, though, that even as Will Ferrell points out, they should be changed. No band should ever be called Iced Earth.

Want to know what Iced Earth sounds like? Of course you do. Here’s their track “Anthem,” which has 4.1 million views on YouTube. Take that, Will Ferrell.

They rock. The movie, however, isn’t as much of a slam dunk. Our own Eric Eisenberg criticizes the movie for forgetting to be a comedy, and acting more like a commercial for the actual Eurovision song competition. The movie does work in some legitimately entertaining musical cameos. But the second half of the film is more about the musical competition, even though Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams and Dan Stevens aren’t professional singers who’d ever compete on a global stage. Click here to read Eric’s full review of Eurovision Song Contest.

But it’s good for a streaming service like Netflix to bring entertainment options to its streaming service while the world waits to get back to the movies. Ferrell and McAdams absolutely remain bankable stars who can lure audiences to multiplexes for new comedies. Without theaters, Netflix, Apple, Disney+ and more are stepping up their games to bring buzzworthy content to streamers. Speaking of, when does Hamilton drop? July 3? Cool. That’s appointment television.

Over the past few years, moviegoers have noticed a clear horror renaissance, with the genre producing unique films that are being widely celebrated. And there are a slew of exciting projects coming down the pipeline, including IFC's The Rental. Helmed by actor-turned-director Dave Franco, The Rental focuses on a group of people who rent a beautiful remote home for a weekend, but soon suspect that the owner is out to get them.

Dave Franco is coming out as a bonafide filmmaker with The Rental, which he directed, produced, and wrote. The movie features a small but strong cast including GLOW's Alison Brie, Beauty and the Beast star Dan Stevens and Halt and Catch Fire's Toby Huss. The plot seems pretty simple, as the group of friends realize they're being watched, and things slowly descend into chaos. Check out the trailer for The Rental below.

Honestly, sign me up. This looks like a good old fashioned slasher movie, with the cast likely being picked off one by one. And if the trailer for The Rental is any indication, Dave Franco has a ton of scares in store for his big directorial debut. Let's break down exactly what we're being shown in this awesome first glimpse.

The trailer for The Rental begins by setting up the movie's titular location. Two couples stumble upon an isolated, picturesque Airbnb to vacation in. The house itself is gorgeous, but the owner Taylor (Toby Huss) is a bit of an oddball. His creepiness is evident from the jump, but is quickly dismissed as the group settles in to enjoy themselves, including some recreational drug use. Anyone who has ever seen a horror movie knows sex and drugs usually result in characters being killed, and that seems to be exactly what will occur throughout The Rental's runtime.

Following a few weird things like dirt falling from the ceiling, the crap hits the fan. In a new take on the classic horror shower scene trope, Sheila Vand's character Mina discovers a small camera hidden within the shower head. Plenty more creepy things happen within the house, and it soon becomes clear that the group isn't safe within their rental home.

Where The Rental's plot goes from there is a mystery, but it looks like the movie will feature a mixture of psychological horror and more traditional kills and jump scares. The group's apparent lack of safety weighs on them, likely fracturing some of the relationships in the process. And through it all, the movie's villain seems to have the upper hand.

Dave Franco first worked with Alison Brie back in 2013, when he directed and starred alongside the actress in a Funny or Die short. It looks like that work relationship has bloomed into a more extensive project, with Brie playing The Rental's protagonist Michelle. Smart money says she's the final girl, although I have to wonder what twist and turns Franco has in store for audiences.

The Rental currently has a release date for July 24, assuming theaters are open at that time. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

One thing that director Chris Sanders has shown throughout his career is an interest and an ability to tell compelling stories of man and beast. He did it as co-director of Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon, and he will next bring that talent to perhaps the most beloved story of the bond between man and animal of all. Chris Sanders directs the latest cinematic adaptation of Jack London’s iconic literary classic The Call of the Wild for the newly dubbed 20th Century Studios.

The Call of the Wild tells the story of Buck, a domesticated dog who finds himself unexpectedly transported to the Yukon during the gold rush of the 1890s. In a year with Tenet, The Eternals and Dune, this might go unnoticed, but The Call of the Wild sports a sneakily awesome cast as well. Actor Terry Notary, who has portrayed Rocket in the modern Planet of the Apes trilogy and Kong in Kong: Skull Island, plays Buck via motion capture, and he is surrounded by a great cast of actors. Here’s who is in the film:

Harrison Ford And Omar Sy

If there was ever an actor who needed no introduction, it is Harrison Ford. But the star of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises steps into some fairly large shoes here. In The Call of the Wild, Harrison Ford plays an outdoorsman who Buck befriends in the Yukon by the name of John Thornton, a character who has previously been portrayed by, get this, Charlton Heston, Clark Gable and Rutger Hauer. That is some seriously esteemed company that Harrison Ford fits perfectly among.

Harrison Ford is joined in The Call of the Wild by Omar Sy. The French actor, who has previously been seen in huge movies like Jurassic World and X-Men: Days of Future Past, here seemingly plays either Perrault or François. These two are couriers for the Canadian government and some of Buck’s masters in the film.

Karen Gillan And Dan Stevens

We last saw Karen Gillan in the wilds of Jumanji via Jumanji: The Next Level, and in The Call of the Wild the actress will be in a very different kind of wilderness, playing a very different kind of character than the rough and tumbled Ruby Roundhouse. She stars in The Call of the Wild as Mercedes, a spoiled woman who is the sister of Hal.

Legion and Beauty and the Beast’s Dan Stevens plays Hal, who, along with his sister Mercedes and her husband Charles (played by Colin Woodell), are Buck’s owners at one point in the story. Going off Jack London’s story, Hal is an arrogant and violent character who does not treat his animals well and someone you will surely want to punch in the face.

Bradley Whitford And Cara Gee

The always busy and entertaining Bradley Whitford, who appeared just this month in The Last Full Measure, as well as last year’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, stars in The Call of the Wild as Judge Miller. The judge is Buck’s original owner in California where the dog lives in comfort, in stark contrast to where the story takes him.

The story will of course take Buck into the wild and the person who will join him there, to the delight of Beltalowdas everywhere, is Cara Gee. The actress who plays the badass Camina Drummer on Amazon’s The Expanse may be playing a character named Françoise in The Call of the Wild. There is no Françoise in Jack London’s text however there is a François, so the film may be making a gender swap here. Based on the trailer, the indigenous Canadian actress is playing a Native American character who befriends Buck and John Thornton.

The Call of the Wild races into theaters on February 21. Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to keep track of all this year’s biggest movies.

Marvel has had an incredible run in Hollywood in the past decade, with its heroes finding commercial success and acclaim in the world of film and television. This is thanks in no small part to the exhaustive work into the shared MCU, which has occasionally been referenced in the world of television.

Legion is one of those shows that hasn't been so lucky to get a connection, although -- if it did -- Dan Stevens is completely ready to bring Legion to the MCU. The actor explained how he thinks his character would work into the massive universe, and how he imagined what could go down if Legion did appear.

It would seem Dan Stevens has yet to see Avengers: Endgame, otherwise he'd realize Thanos isn't exactly around for David Haller to take on. With that said, it's entirely possible Legion exists in its own separate multiverse, and that his world is entirely separate from the one seen in the MCU. If the MCU establishes in Phase 4 that characters can travel through dimensions, David could appear in a future movie much like how Dan Stevens expressed to Variety.

That's of course assuming David will survive Season 3 of Legion, which is touted to be the conclusive arc to this graphic novel-like series. David was sort of established as the villain at the conclusion of Season 2, so one would think that unless he does something drastic, this series may not end with the character being available for future MCU cameos.

One thing that may work in Legion's favor, in reference to appearing in the MCU one day, is the fact that it has also been disconnected from the cinematic X-Men universe, which appears officially on track to be rebooted. Legion is even more disconnected than Deadpool, so if Disney is committed to keeping Deadpool around in the chance of an X-Men reboot, then odds are Legion is an option as well.

If one really wants to get hypothetical, it's possible David has already taken on Thanos and defeated him in the alternate future in which Earth is a wasteland he has near total control over. The future revelation caused David's friends to turn against him, and release Legion's former big bad the Shadow King in order to receive his help in containing David. David is one of the most powerful telepaths in the Marvel universe, but is haunted by mental illness.

As of now, it appears the odds of Legion's David Haller appearing in the MCU are slim to none, but we can't really say for sure until we know Marvel's official plans for Phase 4 (and Disney+). Legion Season 3, the final season, premieres Monday, June 24 on FX. Stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest television and movie news.

Bond... James Bond. It's a sought after role that many will chase, but few get to call their own. With Daniel Craig sending his tuxedo to the cleaners for good after Bond 25, it's, obviously, time to find a new super spy to protect the world in the name of the British crown. There's no shortage of names for the position, and thanks to some recent betting activity, there's a good list of folks that seem to be front runners and long shots. Though there are some surprises that don't have any money riding on them just yet.

Richard Madden

Madden is the apparent favorite in the betting world right now, and why wouldn't he be? Folks mostly remember him as the ill-fated King of the North, Robb Stark, from Game of Thrones, or his turn as Prince Charming in Kenneth Brannagh's live-action Cinderella. So, he can fight, as well as handle himself at a party.

Though, most recently, his name has been flying around as part of a hit British action/drama, Bodyguard, where he plays a law enforcement agent sworn to protect the Home Secretary. With a background in action, and a current gig that more than likely invokes Bond-ian comparisons on a regular basis, this could be a really good fit.

Sam Heughan

Sometimes, all you need to do is put on a tuxedo, and people will start saying you're the next James Bond. And that's exactly what happened to Sam Heughan, after he played a facsimile of 007 in this year's comedy, The Spy Who Dumped Me.

Best known for his role as Outlander's dreamy Jamie Fraser, he was even asked about playing the role at this year's New York Comic Con panel. Naturally, nothing definitive was said, but you could see in his face that Heughan has definitely thought about the possibility.

Idris Elba

Perhaps one of the most famous names attached to the next potential James Bond has been Idris Elba. A fixture of British television, thanks to the BBC's Luther, as well as an actor who's been in films far and wide, his is a name that's still hotly debated as next in line for a franchise martini.

While there haven't been any talks between Elba and Sony, with the actor even pegging himself as too old for the role, there's always been a fan contingent in his corner. If the right offer came along, we wouldn't blame him for never saying never again.

Tom Hiddleston

Tom Hiddleston's courtship with the role of James Bond was a sort of twofer. Not only did his lead role in The Night Manager land him notice as a possible replacement for Daniel Craig, it also gave series director Suzanne Bier some attention as a possible helmer for the franchise.

His participation may be dependent on whatever sort of Marvel contract Hiddleston has left. But, even if he was free and clear, he might be too typecast as the baddie (courtesy of his long-running stint as Loki in the MCU) to get that far in the running.

Tom Hardy

It wouldn't be a bad thing if Tom Hardy found himself cast as the next 007. The man has a wide breadth of credits and experience that would suit him well, should he ever want to pursue the role of James Bond. However, Hardy's tastes in his roles do run rather eclectic, and the success of Venom more than likely ties him up for the next couple of years.

So, even if he could play Bond, there's no guarantee that he'd even want to. Though should he need a reference, former 007 Pierce Brosnan has backed him in the recent past.

Henry Cavill

Of course Henry Cavill's name would come up as a candidate for James Bond. This is exactly what happened when Pierce Brosnan was shown the door, and Cavill was apparently really close to getting the iconic role in Casino Royale, strong off of his work in Showtime's The Tudors.

While Daniel Craig won out that round, Henry Cavill has still expressed interest in playing the role. So, maybe his recent roles in both The Man From U.N.C.L.E and Mission: Impossible - Fallout were more than just a fun distraction from the imploding mess that is the DC Extended Universe.

Dan Stevens

While not as concretely mentioned as others on this list, Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey and Legion fame has had his name thrown into the ring as well. Though he's admittedly one of the more oddball picks, as he's not on the official betting odds list.

Stevens could be a good last minute contender for James Bond. The only problem is, the buzz surrounding him possibly getting the role would have to grow a bit more for serious contention, much like the rest of the contenders we're about to consider.

Aidan Turner

You wouldn't think playing a love sick dwarf would be a big credit towards someone wanting to slip into the role of James Bond. Apparently, the competition to be the most lethal British spy opens itself up to some interesting competitors in that way -- just ask Aidan Turner.

His most high visibility role in the movie world was of Kili in The Hobbit trilogy, the dwarf who longed after Evangeline Lily's Tauriel. TV-wise, though, it's easier to see why he'd be in the running, as he's well known as the strong-willed romantic lead of the Poldark series.

Jack Huston

Through his role on Boardwalk Empire, Jack Huston built up quite a bit of capital as the strong but mostly silent war veteran turned enforcer Richard Darrow. It was enough to land him the lead in the defunct reboot to The Crow, and apparently, it's enough to land him in the back half of the field to become Bond.

Huston has not only enough experience with drama of all stripes, he's also classically handsome in the way that Bond fans are accustomed to. Throw in his relatively unknown, but exceptionally strong resume, and he's a prime pick.

Orlando Bloom

Even in his prime years in the Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Orlando Bloom has always been a name tangentially mentioned in connection to James Bond. His intense fan base, and action chops, put him there without question.

In recent years, Bloom hasn't been as active in his film career, which may be why he's further back in the pack. That being said, there's obviously something about him that keeps fans hoping he'll get the call to save us all.

Robert Pattinson

While Robert Pattinson is a name that may send some running for the hills, due to his Twilight affiliation, let's not forget the amazing work he's done since his time as a love struck vampire. Films like The Rover and Good Time have kept the man in the game, rehabbing his career something fierce in a very short time.

While his tastes in roles have run a bit more experimental in recent times, the hiring of director Cary Joji Fukunaga for Bond 25 might be the sort of sign that he's just the person to bring Bond into a new era. He's a lower tier candidate for now, but we'll see how that changes after this next film releases.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Some might feel that Benedict Cumberbatch is an odd choice, while others could see him as a natural fit. It's a bit of a toss up, to be sure, but what's also certain is the role of James Bond would truly be interesting in his hands.

Unfortunately, Cumberbatch has already made a name for himself as the BBC's Sherlock, as well as Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange. So, between those two franchises, their similar archetypes of brash genius, his scheduling, and public opinion, the role of Bond may not end up being in his favor.

Christian Bale

Pondering Christian Bale as James Bond is something that has been tempting to fans for over a decade at this point. Rumored to have been offered the role during the Casino Royale scrum that Henry Cavill saw himself a part of, Bale himself dispelled those rumors a couple of years ago.

But, even after playing Batman in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, the opportunity is still one that more than a couple of folks would like to see. However, his recent niche as a prestige player is probably what has him on the lower end of Sky Bet's betting pool (which we saw via The Sun.)

Jude Law

Jude Law has never had strong odds in the way of playing James Bond, which has always been a shame. Another candidate of range and distinction, Law has had experience in pretty much all corners of filmdom, most recently becoming the young Dumbledore for the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

While he's on the older side of the candidates mentioned, Jude Law does have something that fellow whisper candidate Sam Heughan has: he's played a parody of Bond. You can thank Paul Feig's Spy for both Law getting to send up 007 in proper fashion, and his possible hiring as Bond himself, should things play his way.

Liam Neeson

Buckle up folks, because this isn't the first time Liam Neeson has been tipped as playing James Bond. That distinction goes to a project from back in the late '90s entitled Warhead 2000, which would have seen Neeson playing the super spy in a non-canon remake of Thunderball.

While that was at least 20 years ago, that hasn't stopped Neeson from still finding himself in the betting pool for Bond 26. Though he's one of, if not the, oldest candidates out there, you have to admit the man would be a hell of an ass kicker in her majesty's secret service.

This poll is no longer available.

Up until now, director Gareth Evans' name has been linked with The Raid and its sprawling sequel, The Raid: Berandal. That's what happens when you reinvent a time-tested genre like the action-thriller: the world NEEDS to know what you are going to do next. For Evans, the answer is Apostle, a bloody mix of faith and fear that will reach Netflix in October. Before that, we have the first trailer, which you can watch right now:

In the press notes for Apostle, it's stated that Gareth Evans takes cues from The Wicker Man, and damn, is that ever obvious. Plunging into the sordid debate around organized religion and cult-like behavior at the turn of the century. Apostle follows mysterious stranger Thomas Richardson (Dan Stevens, The Guest and Beauty and the Beast) who embarks on a journey through 1905 London to reclaim his sister, who has joined a cult. On an island off the coast, Thomas encounters the captivating leader of this organized sect, Prophet Malcolm (Michael Sheen), who of course has nasty motives for wanting to form this new religion.

I would belly up to Apostle if it was simply a camera pointed at Michael Sheen and Dan Stevens, in a test of wills. These two are incredible actors, and this material should be ripe for them to explore some dramatic territories.

But when you bring Gareth Evans into the fold, it elevates Apostle to a new playing field. Yes, there is a quick shot of what could be Dan Stevens in a fight sequence involving poles and sticks. When you hire the guy behind The Raid, you turn him loose. But in truth, I'm more excited to see what tricks Apostle brings to the table in a new genre: that of psychological horror. You saw this little dude, right? Because I'm going to see him again in my nightmares this evening, that much I can guarantee.

Before Apostle makes its way into people's homes via Netflix, the producers plan to swing it by Fantastic Fest in Austin, which is an ideal launch pad for a genre film like this. Expect the buzz coming out of Austin to set the tone for the reception. But the beautiful thing about Netflix is that, so long as you are a subscriber, the only thing that it will cost you -- should you decide to check it out -- is some of your time.

When can you check it out? Apostle will begin to stream on Netflix globally on October 12. Written and directed by Gareth Evans, Apostle co-stars Dan Stevens, Michael Sheen, Lucy Boynton, Mark Lewis Jones, Bill Milner and Paul Higgins. What do you think of the new trailer? Do you think you will check this one out?

It's finally happening! A few weeks ago we learned that the Downton Abbey movie had officially gotten off the ground. This has meant we've already gotten some cool confirmation about returning cast members, including Michelle Dockery. Over the weekend, former Downton Abbey cast member Dan Stevens also shared an image featuring Dockery and fellow cast member Allen Leech. He has an impressive mustache in the image, and the note underneath seems to indicate he might be back for the next installment, as well. Take a look.

At the time of the movie announcement, we also learned that the "original principal cast" would be coming back, although I assumed this didn't include Dan Stevens, who was killed off of the Masterpiece and ITV series years ago, well before the show had wrapped up its run. Stevens' character, Matthew Crawley, had been killed off the show because he wanted to pursue other opportunities and his death allowed Lady Mary to move on in her romantic life. The actor later stated that he was often in situations where he felt the need to apologize to people for the way Matthew Crawley was killed off the show, so a return for the character might be welcome, should it make sense. The image in question was shared by Stevens on Instagram and it is asking fans to take a poll on the mustache ahead of the Downton Abbey movie, but what exactly does that mean?

There's a chance Dan Stevens is just messing around, but if he does return for the Downton Abbey movie, what does that mean? Will he appear in a flashback or dream sequence? Is Downton Abbey actually going to be set in a time period way earlier in the show's history than where we last left off?

Details about the upcoming movie aren't exactly scarce. We know Julian Fellowes is involved and that the script was penned by the writer and producer. Brian Percival will direct. Fellowes will also produce along with Gareth Neame, Liz Trubridge and Nigel Marchant. The principal cast will be back. However, all of these are backend facts about the movie. We don't know what year the flick will be set in or what the main storyline will be. We don't know exactly how the cast members will factor in. These are all things that should be answered in the coming months, but for now, the Downton Abbey movie will likely leave us speculating about who is in and who is out and for what sorts of scenes.

For now, we know Dan Stevens will premiere in Season 3 of Legion, which was recently renewed by FX. You can also take a look at what is heading into theaters with our full schedule.

Will Patrick Stewart ever show up on Legion as Professor X? It's a question few know the answer to. Here's what Dan Stevens said at Legion's panel at SDCC in which our own Nick Venable was present for:

The rumors started shortly after Patrick Stewart swore off playing Professor Charles Xavier following a screening of Logan, only to change his mind shortly after when Dan Stevens asked him to be on Legion during a talk show. Since then, the series has teased his connection to main character David Haller, and it looked like Season 2 of Legion might feature Professor X in some way. Dan Stevens did a great job of giving more information, but it doesn't sound as though we're going to get a solid answer for the time being.

Perhaps Dan Stevens is playing coy, although if ever there were a time to make a major announcement regarding Patrick Stewart joining Legion, one would imagine San Diego Comic Con is the place to do so. With Season 2 of Legion still without a solid release date, it could legitimately be Stevens doesn't know, or that talks are still happening. With the Shadow King still in the world (and with a new actor) it seems as though there will be plenty of time for Stewart to officially make up his mind on whether he'll be present to take on his old foe, provided he's not already on board. Those not familiar with the comics might be interested to know Amahl Farouk (Shadow King) is one of the first mutants Xavier ever met in his travels, and has psychic abilities comparable to that of Xavier.

With or without Patrick Stewart, it does appear that sooner or later Legion will have to bring in the character of Charles Xavier in some way to complete its story. The show really teased his existence in later episodes of Season 1, and the crazy finale only furthered speculation that the X-Men were watching David Haller as he worked out his issues. Maybe if not Stewart, James McAvoy is down to throw on some makeup to look a little older?

Legion is expected to return for Season 2 on FX sometime in 2018. Those curious as to whether or not those subtle X-Men references will keep on going when the series returns should pop over to this article or perhaps this one where Channing Tatum appears really optimistic about his Gambit movie he's been trying to get made. For more information regarding the great shows of the summer and where you can find them, visit our summer premiere guide.

Even though Disney's latest interpretation of Beauty and the Beast is considered "live action," obviously a lot of CGI was poured into making the enchanted castle inhabitants look unusual. However, when it came to The Beast himself, other effects were primarily used, as Dan Stevens acted out his scenes while on stilts and wearing a 40-pound suit, and his facial expressions were later recorded through motion capture. Stevens has since put his beastly days behind him, but he didn't walk away from the Beauty and the Beast production empty-handed, as he was given the horns used during filming to bring home. According to Dan Stevens:

When asked if he was given anything from the Beast costume after Beauty and the Beast wrapped up, Dan Stevens gave the above answer. So if you are ever fortunate enough to go into Stevens' home, be on the lookout for some horns presumably hanging on the wall. The only thing better than the horns would have been if the prosthetic people had somehow been able to mock up an entire Beast head and given that to the actor. That would have provided the perfect opportunity for Stevens to get a leather armchair, take up smoking a pipe and enjoy a good book and glass of brandy while sitting underneath the head like he was the one responsible for this creature's demise. Okay clearly I've put way too much thought into this, but still, having those horns is certainly cool.

While Dan Stevens was appreciative of this gift from the Beauty and the Beast set, it appears that the horns were also a big hit with his wife. When asked if she's okay with the horns hanging in their home, Stevens added in his interview with Variety:

Even though Beast wasn't tackled with the same all-CGI approach like the new Beauty and the Beast movie's other transformed characters were, his overall look has received varying reactions from moviegoers. Fortunately for Dan Stevens' character, he doesn't have to worry about having to live with horns anymore. Just like in the 1991 animated original, the remake ended with the spell over him and the others being broken after Belle admitted her love, and now they're all back to being regular humans. Having some horns mounted on plaques in one thing, but having them on your head isn't a great look when you're a prince in 18th century France...or any time period and location for that matter.

You can see Beauty and the Beast in theaters now, and feel free to also check out what other Disney remakes are coming up.

Beauty and the Beast is a live action movie that is still able to work a lot of magic thanks to the wonders of special effects. One of those wonders involved transforming former Downton Abbey actor Dan Stevens into the Beast, which meant he had to be a whole lot taller than he is in real life. In order to perform plenty of scenes, including that major waltz scene with other Beauty and the Beast lead Emma Watson, Dan Stevens had to learn to move completely on stilts. Recently Dan Stevens spoke out to explain how proud he was to accomplish that waltz scene, as well as to not maim Emma Watson in the process. Here's what he had to say.

Speaking out about the making of Beauty and the Beast, Dan Stevens earlier revealed his costume included stilts. If you know much about stilts, you may know they can be difficult, even when you aren't dancing. However, the actor also had to endure learning the steps to the waltz--a dance that requires you to be graceful--and then performing those steps with the clunky accessories on. There was presumably more of the movie to film after the stilts scene, so it's not really a shock that that he was worried about moving the wrong way and injuring his dancing partner.

Dan Stevens also told People that he had three months of pre-production to prepare for the big box office movie, so it's not as if he got thrown in to practice for the waltz them one day and perform it the next. He got good at them after he broke the stilts in, and Stevens laughingly revealed that moving around is key to stilts preparation.

If you caught the Beauty and the Beast already, but weren't really paying attention to Dan Stevens' feet, we have you covered, thanks to a full body photo from Disney, which really makes it apparent what the stilts did to help the actor gain height.

A lot of actors do end up with costumes that can be constricting or difficult to move in. These items can range from suits that add fat to corsets to costumes that require cooling units and much, much more. Stilts may be among the most surprising, but it will certainly be a task that Dan Stevens will be proud of accomplishing for some time. Who wouldn't want to be that towering, even if it's just for a brief moment? I'd give it a shot.

He's next to impossible to recognize in Beauty and the Beast, but Dan Stevens plays The Beast in Disney's live-action adaptation of the 1991 animated classic. While Stevens does get some screen time in human form, he mostly appears as the wolf-bear-buffalo monster we've all come to love. Rather than just provide a voice, Stevens did all the motion capture for the role himself, a process that's a lot harder than it sounds. Throughout his scenes as Beast, Stevens wasn't just wearing dots and a gray tracksuit, but also a 40 lb. suit -- on stilts, no less!

Dan Stevens isn't the first actor to give his all in a motion capture performance, but he may have had one of the most physically taxing roles. Stevens laid out the process for portraying the Beast on set to People and revealed that in order to provide the Beast's massive frame, a muscle suit needed to be constructed. On top of that, Stevens also had to learn how to walk on stilts, too. He said:

In case you're wondering, yes, Stevens did have to do the famous waltz scene on stilts. One wrong move and Emma Watson's foot would be under steel, so Stevens had to become a master with his equipment. The former Downton Abbey actor would first have to perform his scenes while wearing the 40 lb. body suit on stilts and then again for the visual effects team to capture his face. As Stevens explains, every couple of weeks he would have to go into a special booth, which he called the Tron cage, and would be sprayed in the face with 10,000 UV dots. Then whatever it was that he had been doing the last few weeks on set -- be it sleeping, talking or roaring -- he would have to do again in the Tron cage. Not exactly your average performance is it?

Beauty and The Beast is directed by Bill Condon and stars Emma Watson and Dan Stevens in the central romance. Based on the classic Disney animated movie, the film follows Belle, an intelligent girl tired of her provincial life in a small French village. When her father is held prisoner by a ferocious Beast, Belle takes his place and becomes the key to unlocking the curse placed on the Beast and his servants.

So. if you're seeing Beauty and the Beast this weekend, take a moment to appreciate what Dan Stevens went through. Andy Serkis' back probably wasn't feeling too good after a day as Gollum, but at least he wasn't moving around in a 40 lb. muscle suit.

As great as Walt Disney Animation's Beauty and the Beast is, there is one significant flaw in its storytelling. Lumiere establishes in "Be Our Guest" that the curse has lasted for 10 years -- but since the curse is meant to end on the Prince's 21st birthday, that means that he was only 11 when the spell was initially cast (and that he was totally justified in not letting a stranger into his house while alone during a storm). This is an issue that the new live-action adaptation avoids by both removing both the 21st birthday plot point and the "10 years we've been rusting" lyric... but this still leaves the question of how long the curse has lasted in the new film. Fortunately, it was a query that I was recently able to pose to both star Dan Stevens and director Bill Condon.

I sat down with both men earlier this month at Beauty and the Beast's Los Angeles press day, and used the opportunity to dig for details about the fantasy film's timeline of events. First sitting down with Dan Stevens -- who was paired with co-star Emma Watson -- I asked if the production had established a definitive history of the curse to study in his character work. While he did remember that they had set a number during filming, he was fuzzy on the details -- but with a bit of support and suggestion from Watson he settled on an odd number. Said Stevens,

Later that same day I asked Bill Condon about his thoughts on the matter -- and not only did he admit to not firmly answering that question within Beauty and the Beast, but also supported the inquiry and pointed out a funny benefit that the Prince gets from the witch's curse:

Funny enough, this idea of the curse essentially pausing time for the Prince and everyone else in the castle occurred to me while talking with Dan Stevens as well, and you can watch his funny reaction and realization in the video below:

In the coming days I have plenty more fun pieces coming from my time interviewing the cast and filmmakers behind Beauty and the Beast -- and it won't be long until you have a chance to see the film for yourself. Look for the blockbuster in theaters this Friday, March 17th.

While Dan Stevens takes a titular role in Beauty And The Beast, we don't actually get to see too much of his face in the romantic adaptation. That's because the extensive technology used to turn him into the hideous character makes him unrecognizable. But not everyone was so convinced that the technology was in place to do the film justice. In fact, after Dan Stevens revealed to Mark Ruffalo that he would be starring in Beauty And The Beast, The Avengers actor insisted that the film would be impossible to do.

Mark Ruffalo was so dismissive of Beauty And The Beast because he has used a CGI with a digital face mesh to portray The Hulk in both The Avengers and Avengers: Age Of Ultron, and he'll do so again in Thor: Ragnarok and the upcoming Avengers sequels. Because of these experiences, Mark Ruffalo knows firsthand just how difficult a process it is, and he wasn't optimistic it could be done on such a huge scale. However, Dan Stevens pushed back these concerns, as he insisted that he was always convinced it could be achieved throughout the film's production. That's mostly because if he hadn't been so enthusiastic, then he wouldn't have able to make Beauty And The Beast. Dan Stevens explained:

It says a lot about Dan Stevens' character, and Disney's expansion of the technology, that they were able to do such a good job with the Beast in the film, especially after the former Downtown Abbey actor sat down to chat with both Andy Serkis and Mark Ruffalo. It also says a lot about his chat with both of them that he referred to his discussion with Serkis as "great," while it sounds as though he originally left his chinwag with Ruffalo a little despondent.

However, as Dan Stevens makes clear, he was able to use Mark Ruffalo's dismissive remarks to spur himself, and the film, on. With Beauty And The Beast now on the cusp of release, Stevens admitted to Uproxx that he is very eager to actually hear what Mark Ruffalo has to say on their achievements with the technology. Stevens declared:

Hopefully Mark Ruffalo will duly oblige Dan Stevens' request in the very near future, or he'll take to his Twitter account to let people know his thoughts. Either way, you'll be able to draw your own conclusions when Beauty And The Beast is finally released on March 17th.

A few years ago, ITV built an entire series around a changing world. That series was Downton Abbey, an early 20th century drama about the lives of people with wealth and those who lived belowstairs in the same household. One of the biggest draws of Downton Abbey was always the epic romance between Lady Mary and Matthew Crawley... that is, until it wasn't. Recently, actor Dan Stevens, who played Matthew on the popular show, revealed why he is still apologizing for the way everything went down on Downton Abbey.

If you can remember back to just a few short years ago, you should know that news pretty well broke that Dan Stevens was leaving in advance of his departure. Still, it was extremely shocking when Downton Abbey killed the character off, in a car accident no less. This left Mary to run the estate and be a single mother and it killed off any chance that Dan Stevens could appear on the series down the line. Dan Stevens told The Mirror that even though four years have passed since the momentous TV moment, he's still having to apologize to people as the decision was extremely shocking for TV viewers.

Personally, I'm not sure what Downton Abbey could have really done but kill off Matthew Crawley. This was post-WWI Britain, but divorces were still uncommon, and totally not in keeping with where Mary and Matthew were at in their relationship. I suppose he could have taken a long business trip to India or some other faraway locale and simply been referenced on occasion, but really his death was the only thing that made sense and the only thing that could allow Lady Mary to move on and to eventually look into other suitors. Plus, adding mourning sequences certainly upped the drama for the few episodes after the Christmas special in which Matthew Crawley died.

Dan Stevens has gone on to have a pretty successful career after Downton Abbey. He's appeared in movies like The Fifth Estate, Night at the Museum 3 and the upcoming Beauty and the Beast film, where he plays the titular Beast. He's also broken into American TV as the star of the FX series Legion, so it's not as if leaving Downton Abbey totally halted his career. However, I think there's some feeling out there that he could have stuck with the show and then taken another TV series, as Michelle Dockery, who played Lady Mary, did with TNT's Good Behavior. Perhaps it's that feeling that has led Dan Stevens to continue apologizing for the way things went down, even if he wasn't the person who penned the scene that killed off his character.

You can catch Dan Stevens in Beauty and the Beast, out on March 17. (Learn more about the movie here.) To find out what else is headed to television, take a look at our midseason TV premiere schedule.

Disney's been on a roll lately with the live action remakes of their classic animated movies, and the next remake up on the slate is Beauty and the Beast. While we've already seen how Lumiere and Cogwsworth will look in the re-telling, many have been waiting for a clear look at the two eponymous protagonists: Belle, who was obscured in the teaser trailer earlier this year, and the creature that was once known as Prince Adam. Well, wait no longer, as we finally have our first official image of the two of them together recreating a scene fans of the 1991 animated version know all too well.

Beauty and the Beast will be spotlighted in the latest EW issue, and as a treat, the magazine's cover has been released, showing the movie's two main characters in their memorable ballroom dance. Emma Watson's Belle looks amazingly similar to her animated counterpart, wearing the yellow gown, though lacking the gloves. Dan Stevens' Beast is also dressed in similar attire as his predecessor, but one can't help but look more closely at him to see how closely he matches up to the original Disney Beast. Overall he looks decent, although that face will definitely take some getting used to. The production also did a good job recreating the ballroom, where the two characters danced as "Tale as Old as Time" played. We'll have to wait until the actual movie comes out to see how this scene fully unfolds (unless another trailer provides a glimpse), but for now, these versions of Belle and Beast look impressive.

Like the live action versions of Cinderella and The Jungle Book before it, Beauty and the Beast will directly re-explore the animated tale that came out decades before, albeit with a few changes here and there. The first teaser trailer showed the main setting of the movie, Beast's castle (including the rose responsible for cursing all of its denizens), but aside from Emma Watson's obscured Belle, the only characters who "present" were Lumiere and Cogsworth, who could be heard arguing with one another. Now that this picture of Belle and Beast has been released, we can expect the proverbial floodgates to open on more images and previews.

Following the same plot as its 1991 animated namesake, Beauty and the Beast will tell the story of Belle, a young woman who is taken prisoner by Beast in his castle, but over time, the two of them fall in love. Along with Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, the cast includes Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Luke Evans as Gaston, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Kevin Kline as Maurice and Josh Gad as LeFou.

Beauty and the Beast will be released in theaters on March 17, 2017. Don't forget to let us know what you think of how Emma Watson and Dan Stevens look as the main characters in the comments below.

Disney's next live-action fairy tale adaptation is a full musical retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Disney has been forcing us to wait for the least detail, having only given us a teaser trailer that didn't include any real footage of the film. We're still waiting for a proper trailer, but a brief glimpse at an upcoming Blu-Ray extra does give us an idea of what both Beauty and the Beast will sound like. Check it out.

Fans who want to get a first look at the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast will need to pick up the 25th-anniversary edition of Disney's classic animated version. This brief trailer for it gives us a moment from the table read, featuring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast. The scene isn't anything that comes directly from the animated feature, instead, it would appear to be a scene from the latter portion of Belle's imprisonment, as it includes the Beast reading a book, something that we'd guess comes exclusively from Belle's influence.

In addition to seeing this brief moment, we also get Beauty and the Beast's director Bill Condon asking the most important question that Disney fans likely have. Why mess with perfection? The original animated film was so good it was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It's also one of the favorites among animation fans.

The answer to the question appears to be, that modern technology will allow Disney to make a movie that can do some visually spectacular things, which would have previously only been possible with animation. This echo's comments that Josh Gad made to me when I interviewed him earlier this year. He told me that the musical numbers would be something, unlike anything, that we've seen in modern cinema.

We also get a look at a couple of the film's set's including the famous ballroom, although this appears to show the room while it is still sitting in a state of disuse. It does imply that dance between the two characters will be a major part of the film.

Following Disney's successful remake of The Jungle Book the bar for these remakes has been raised a great deal. Beauty and the Beast may be the only choice for Disney to try and make something even grander.

The 25th's anniversary Blu-Ray of Beauty and the Beast will be out September 20, but will be available for digital download September 6. The live-action version will hit the screen on March 17, 2017.

The live action Beauty and the Beast remake released its first trailer this past May, and while the preview provided an excellent tour of the castle setting and the quickest of glances at Emma Watson's Belle, none of the movie's anthropomorphic characters made an appearance. The closest things we got to that was hearing Ewan McGregor's Lumiere and Ian McKellen's Cogsworth speaking about the "beauty" who entered their humble abode. Three months later, now we finally have our first taste of what the human-like candelabra and clock will look like in this re-telling.

Producer Jack Morrisey posted this concept art on his Facebook page of the live action versions of Lumiere and Cogsworth (passed along by Twitter user macondom). This comes from one of the special features on the original Beauty and the Beast movie's upcoming 25th anniversary Blu-ray/DVD release. Morrisey notes that these designs may not be exactly how they look in the final product, but they're close. Perhaps this "sneak peek" at the new Beauty and the Beast movie will also include artwork at some of the other transformed characters, like Emma Thompson's Ms. Potts or Stanley Tucci's Cadenza. As for Lumiere and Cogsworth, this is definitely a less cartoonish look than what we're used to, which was to be expected given this is a live action movie and how advanced CGI technology is nowadays. I like how Lumiere doesn't seem to have a face in the artwork, whereas Cogsworth's clock face works as an acceptable substitute for his human visage.

This look at Lumiere and Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast certainly provided a good idea about how the Beast's other servants might look like in their walking and talking inanimate object forms, but the fun isn't over yet. Head to the next page to get the first look at the live action Beauty and the Beast's Gaston and LeFou!

Along with the first image of Lumiere and Cogworth, producer Jack Morrisey also posted an image of Josh Gad's LeFou and Luke Evans' Gaston in what looks like them in the middle of a musical number at the local tavern. A new version of "Gaston," anyone?

Unfortunately, this isn't quite as clear as the previous image. LeFou is far away belting out a lyric, while Gaston's back is facing the camera. Hey, at least the latter is still wearing his trademark red coat, and the townsfolk still seem to have a lot of misplaced love for him.

Finally, head to the next page to see how actor Dan Stevens will look in the feature.

As anyone who's familiar with the Beauty and the Beast tale knows the Beast didn't always look like a monster. He and his house staff were turned into their unusual forms by a curse, but they're eventually reverted back to being humans. Here we see Dan Stevens back to looking normal, and if the live action movie is following in the footsteps of the 1991 animated classic, then we'll know him here as Prince Adam.

Unlike the previous two images, this is from behind the scenes, but at least he still has that long hair and white tunic his animated counterpart had. It just goes to show how closely this remake will be inspired by the animated movie, albeit with some changes here and there. Now that these images are out, it'd be great if we got a clear shot of Belle (preferably in her iconic yellow gown) and see Dan Stevens in his beast form. If those aren't on that special feature, ideally the next trailer will provide those looks.

Beauty and the Beast will be released in theaters on March 17, 2017.

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re starting to see a flood of epic live-action film versions of famous children’s tales popularly adapted by Disney. Angelina Jolie sort of started this trend by playing the flawed fairy antagonist in the Sleeping Beauty adaptation, Maleficent. But the studio’s Cinderella and The Jungle Book adaptations packed theaters, meaning the craze has no signs of slowing down. (In fact, here are 23 Live Action Fairy Tale Adaptations In The Making!) Next year promises a possibly more intriguing iteration with Beauty and the Beast.

The more we learn about this live-action "interpretation" of the 1756 French tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, the more intriguing it’s beginning to sound. Bill Condon will direct this take on the classic tale, and he has assembled an eye-popping cast. Here are the confirmed cast members, and who they will be playing in Beauty and the Beast when it opens on March 17, 2017.

Emma Watson as Belle

Lately, former Harry Potter series star, Emma Watson has been making more headlines for her work with the United Nations and her gender-cultural call to arms than her cinematic resume. While she has some notable projects lined up in the near future, none will be more notable than this starring role as the "beauty" herself, Belle.

While the role of Belle may come as a bit of typecasting that looks to recall Watson’s bright, bookish, and sometimes obstinate attributes from her days as Hermione Granger, it’s also perfect. Disney’s famous interpretation depicted a bright, big-eyed beauty, but Watson carries a certain dignity to her demeanor that should come across effectively as a real-life version of the famous character. Rather than being some dainty dame who floats through life singing with cute whimsy, she’ll likely give us a deeper, insightful interpretation.

Dan Stevens as The Beast

Dan Stevens, the former star of TV’s Downton Abbey and films like The Fifth Estates, could find himself a household name with this co-starring role as the one and only Beast, himself. While the role is certainly open to interpretation and has been reinvented in every way, shape and form over the last few decades on television, it could be the case that Stevens may want to channel the spirit of his recent heroic role as Sir Lancelot in the recent Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb as things are expected to be more adherent to the Disney interpretation of Beauty and the Beast.

Standing at 6 feet tall even, he may not be the hulking hunk of fur we saw in the Disney film, but, with the magic of CGI and prosthetics, anything is possible. The Brit actor has some other projects lined up until then with this summer’s Criminal Activities opposite John Travolta and Oppenheimer Strategies opposite Richard Gere and Steve Buscemi.

Luke Evans as Gaston

Coming off his crucial role as the dragon-slaying Bard the Bowman in The Hobbit sequels and as the villainous Shaw in Fast & Furious 6, Luke Evans may have been forced to take a mulligan with the recent fall’s Dracula Untold, but it hasn’t slowed down his career momentum at all. He will take the role as the Beauty and the Beast story’s crimson-coated conniving narcissist, Gaston.

While, just as with Stevens, the Welsh actor doesn’t exactly exude the physical attributes one would immediately envision when it comes to the character, Evans seems to have enough experience to play a more pathological interpretation of the demented douchebag desperately desiring to steal away the lovely, thoughtful Belle, despite the romantic affections not being reciprocated. He should be THE villain of this film and it should be interesting to see how the over-the-top character from the cartoon translates into a deeper live-action medium.

Josh Gad as Le Fou

The comedian may not exactly be an A-lister in the eyes of the layman, but to millions upon millions of children, he’s known as the voice of Olaf, the clumsy, neurotic, uber-affectionate talking snowman from Frozen. He has recently been announced to join the cast of Beauty and the Beast as Gaston’s short-statured toadie of a sidekick, Le Fou. While it is a supporting role, it should give Gad a chance to showcase an array of his skills as a performer somewhat similar to the already-iconic Olaf, except in a live-action capacity and with a sinister vibe. With that said, we could probably take this casting as a sign that the film may not be all that gloomy and serious, since Gad, thus far, is not particularly known for deeply dramatic work.

While Gad has spent the majority of his acting career doing television appearances and voice work, he will head to Beauty and the Beast by way of a summer comedy called Pixels. The film, about an alien attack caused by footage of vintage video games, has Gad co-starring with Adam Sandler amongst an impressive ensemble of Peter Dinklage, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Jane Krakowski and Sean Bean. (Who will probably find a way to die.) However, look for Beauty and the Beast to possibly serve as a breakthrough role for Gad as the opportunity as Le Fou for stolen scenes are there for the taking.

Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts

Buried in the news that the live-action Beauty and the Beast will open on March 17, 2017 is the confirmation that Emma Thompson will lend her talents to the robust role of Mrs. Potts. Which means that there will be at least one show-stopping moment in the film for her, as she croons the signature tune for this tale as old as time.

We’re still trying to figure out how Bill Condon is going to approach the inanimate roles in the classic fairy tale. I mean, Mrs. Potts spends the bulk of Beauty as a tea pot. So far, the other roles cast have been for humans (like Belle) or beasts (like, er, Beast). How will Thompson – recently seen in Disney’s own Saving Mr. Banks – portray a ceramic character in live-action form?

Ewan McGregor as Lumiere

This problem (issue? concern?) continues as we got through the rest of Beast’s cursed companions. As many of you know, the items in Beast’s castle are alive, and they speak to Belle (Watson) as she gets settled in her new "home" and learns to accept her surroundings. We have talking tea pots, candle sticks and clocks… and in this live-action version, they all will have amazing voices.

Ewan McGregor hasn’t shown up in a major movie in far too long, though his ,voice (ironically) was heard ever so briefly in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (during Rey’s flashback dream sequence). He’s an inspired choice to voice the charming candlestick. Now we’re just dying to know if he’s going to have lit candles for hands.

Sir Ian McKellen as Cogsworth

We heard the gruff tones of Sir Ian McKellen in the teaser trailer for Beauty and the Beast, and while he wasn’t bellowing "You shall not pass," there was no doubt that it was the two-time Oscar nominee lending his voice to the angry clock, Cogsworth. In the animated version of the classic tale, Cogsworth is one of the objects who’s deadly afraid that they will run out of time before the Beast falls in love, meaning that he will be trapped as a clock forever. We’re excited to hear what McKellen does with that urgency.

This will be a reunion of sort for McKellen with his director, Bill Condon. Back in 1998, Condon hired McKellen to play film director James Whale in the spectacular Gods and Monsters. The role earned McKellen his first Oscar nomination, and their new collaboration is just another reason why I’m excited for Beauty and the Beast.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette

Plumette is a feather duster in the original Beauty and the Beast. If I’m being honest, I didn’t remember that. I had to look it up. I remember Lumiere and Mrs. Potts, mainly because they had standout parts in memorable songs like Be Our Guest, which should be a showstopper in the new movie. Does Plumette have a song in Beauty and the Beast? If she does, I can’t recall it. Let me know in the comments.

I won’t have any troubles remembering Gugu Mbatha-Raw, though. The powerful actress has commanded our attention with breakout roles in Beyond the Lights and Belle (not a Beauty and the Beast spinoff). She starred opposite Will Smith in Concussion, and has a part in Matthew McConaughey’s Free State of Jones. But Lights proved she can sing, so we expect a few memorable moments in Beast.

Kevin Kline as Maurice

Also joining the ensemble will be the incomparable Kevin Kline in the supporting role of Maurice, Belle’s father. It’s a modest role, and one that disappears from the story for long passages as Belle stays locked away in the Beast’s castle. But it will be important for Kline to establish good chemistry with Emma Watson early, so we are compelled to root for this distraught father while he searches the land for his lost lass.

And man, is Kevin Kline that old now?! Look at Maurice in the animated version. He’s a grandpa. I guess I’m surprised that the distinguished and undeniably funny Kline can play a role that age. But the Oscar winner is in his late 60s (67, to be exact), and has matured into the position of an elder statesman. He’ll bring class and dignity to a production that already had plenty. Adding Kline to your cast always qualifies as a good thing.

Stanley Tucci as Cadenza

Don’t remember Cadenza? Don’t feel bad… he’s a new character! Variety reported back when Tucci was added to the cast that he’d be playing a grand piano, who is being described as "a neurotic maestro." That sounds like he’ll fit right in alongside the likes of Ewan McGregor, Sir Iran McKellen, Emma Thompson and more.

Tucci’s probably looking for his next franchise, now that the Hunger Games movies have drawn to a close. Yes, he had a strong supporting turn in the Best Picture-winning Spotlight, but we’re willing to bet that Beauty and the Beast will play before three-times the amount of people who check out that brilliant drama, so hopefully Tucci will be recognizable, and not buried under makeup the way that he was playing Caesar Flickerman.

A teaser trailer for Beauty and the Beast recently dropped. Want to see it? We have it for you on the next page.

The upcoming X-Men-based TV project Legion has been in development for quite some time over at FX. But there has only been a little movement in terms of what characters will be in the FX pilot and who will be signed on to play those characters. That is, until today, when FX announced a slew of actors who will be joining the potential drama. Aubrey Plaza, Dan Stevens, Jean Smart and the already-cast Rachel Keller will all star in the upcoming project.

All these names are actually pretty heavy hitters, but Aubrey Plaza is having a bit of a moment thanks to appearing in a recent episode of Criminal Minds playing a messed up love interest to Spencer Reid, not to mention nabbing a role in the movie Dirty Grandpa. In Legion, the actress is set to play Lenny, a likable and optimistic character who has an alcohol and drug problem and is friends with the main character, David, on the show. I’m used to different adjectives than "optimistic" usually being used to describe Plaza's characters, so this change of pace for the actress should be interesting.

Dan Stevens was a huge heartthrob on Downton Abbey before he left the period drama to pursue a film career. Now, he’s back to TV work with Legion, and he’ll play the aforementioned David, a young man who is dealing with schizophrenia and the problems it brings to his daily life. FX says the character is pretty depressed, until he “meets the girl of his dreams.” He’s also the lead on the series, playing the character who will become the titular Legion. In the comics, David is also Professor X's son.

Jean Smart is sticking with FX for Legion. The actress was only very recently in the second season of Fargo, a role which landed her a Critics Choice Award. In Legion, she’ll play Melanie, a smart therapist who is innovative in her field and willing to take chances on up-and-coming methods for doing things.

If you aren't up on Keller's casting, which happened a short while ago, Rachel Keller was also in Fargo, but had guest starred in episodes of The Mentalist and Supernatural before landing the FX gig. In the Legion pilot, she’ll play Syd, a street smart young lady who “believes in happily ever after.” Earlier reports indicated that she will probably have powers related to human touch.

The Noah Hawley-produced and written pilot is expected to begin production in March, and we should be hearing whether or not Legion is good enough to move forward soon after. Considering Hawley is the guy behind the critically acclaimed Fargo TV series, I’m very hopeful, indeed. We’ll keep you updated as Legion continues to move forward.

When you say things like Anne Hathaway is going to star in a giant monster movie directed by Nacho Vigalondo, you already have my undivided attention. That’s as a appealing a combination of cinematic elements as I’ve ever heard, but they just added a male lead and love interest for Hathaway that cranks the handsomeness factor of the movie way, way up into the stratosphere.

Variety reports that Dan Stevens has signed on to star opposite Anne Hathaway in the upcoming creature feature Colossal. The 33-year-old British actors is best known for his role as Matthew Crawley on Downton Abbey, but has gradually been building his profile and showing his range in the gritty A Walk Among the Tombstones, tense horror thriller The Guest, and even Night at the Museum 3. He also plays the Beast in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, a role that is sure to be a launching pad to even bigger things.

There isn’t a ton known about Colossal at the moment, but the story follows a young woman, played by Hathaway, who returns to her home town after her life takes a head-first dive down the crapper in New York City. After losing both her job and her boyfriend, a giant creature appears over Seoul, wrecking up the joint, and she discovers that, low and behold, she has a strange connection to the monster and the destruction may be linked to her mental breakdown. Stevens will no play the ex who, though he originally dumps her like week old trash, fights to win back the young woman’s affections.

This is going to be Nacho Vigalondo’s biggest movie to date, and if you’re not familiar with the Spanish director, do yourself a favor and watch a couple, they’re damn fine times. He likes to play with genre conventions, usually with delightful results. Timecrimes is a twisted, horror-leaning time travel thriller, and his Extraterrestrial is a romantic comedy about an awkward one-night stand that just so happens to take place on the eve of an alien invasion. He also helmed the Elijah Wood-starring Open Windows, contributed to the ABCs of Death anthology series, and has been talking about making a throwback style giant monster movie for years. This should be a total blast.

In addition to Anne Hathaway and Dan Stevens, Colossal also stars funny man Jason Sudeikis, frequent Coen Brothers collaborator Tim Blake Nelson, and Austin Stowell, who recently showed up in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies and TNT’s Public Morals. All in all, this isn’t a half bad cast.

Right now there is no word on when we might get to see Colossal, but it is currently filming in Vancouver, BC, and you can bet your ass that we’ll be keeping a close eye on this one as it develops.

Disney's live action remake of Beauty and the Beast has put together a rather stellar cast, and today we are lucky enough to see a whole bunch of them grouped together for the first time. Check out the selfie group photo below!

In case you couldn't tell, this image was posted by Josh Gad on his personal Instagram account, featured on the left side of the image alongside the rest of awesome castmates. From from left to right, the actors and their roles in Beauty and the Beast are as follows:

• Josh Gad as Lefou - Gaston's bumbling sidekick
• Dan Stevens as The Beast - The movie's titular cursed romantic male lead
• Emma Watson as Belle - The beautiful young woman who finds herself living in The Beast's castle
• Luke Evans as Gaston - The showboating antagonist of the story
• Kevin Kline as Maurice - Belle's crazy, old inventor father

Or you can look at them in comparison to their cartoon counterparts below:

You'll notice that Emma Watson is the only actress pictured, surround by a group of male co-stars - but it should be noted that all of these actors merely comprise the live-action cast of Beauty and the Beast. There are also many fantastic actors who are attached to the film in key voice-over roles, who apparently weren't available or didn't make it into this selfie. This special group includes Emma Thompson as the teapot Mrs. Potts; Sir Ian McKellen as the small desk clock Cogsworth; and and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the feather duster Plumette. It doesn't appear that the movie is finished adding talent to the cast either, so be sure to stay tuned for more updates about the production.

Stephen Chbosky, best known as the author of The Perks of Being A Wallflower, has penned the script for this new version of Beauty and the Beast, and it will be Bill Condon running the show, coming off of making the new drama Mr. Holmes (which also stars Sir Ian McKellen. If the cast is already starting to come together, you know that means production isn't far off, and it's likely that we'll hear about the start of filming within the next few weeks. Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to take a long, long time for this movie to be put together - what with all of the beast makeup and talking furniture. Because post-production is going to take a while, Disney doesn't have plans to release the project before March 17, 2017 - almost two years to the day after the studio's blockbuster hit Cinderella (not a coincidence).

The leading roles of Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast movie were only recently filled out, but these folks are already proving to be a delightful ensemble. Harry Potter’s Emma Watson, who’s playing Belle, welcomed newcomers Dan Stevens and Luke Evans into the fold with a series of charming tweets.

Watson is thrilled that Stevens will play the Beast to her Belle, and so are we! He’s been slowly riding the wave of stardom since his days on Downton Abbey. You might’ve seen him in A Walk Among the Tombstones or Night At the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, but he impressed critics with his performance in The Guest. Ryan Gosling was rumored for the male lead in Beauty and the Beast, but Stevens is a much more interesting choice and the film will no doubt prove to be the vehicle he needs turn become a mainstream sensation. And he’s pretty pumped about it, too.

As for Evans, the actor has been making headlines with prominent roles in Fast and Furious 6 and Dracula Untold, and he’s doing so again with as the new Gaston. Watson also gave him a cutesy shoutout.

Gaston is the devilishly handsome, misogynistic bachelor of Belle's town. He seeks to woo and marry the maiden by flexing his muscles and flashing his pearly whites. But when he finds that she's refusing him in favor of the Beast, this doesn't sit well with him and his douchebagery. Evans certainly has the abs, charm and looks to pull off the role, and he's already getting into the part with his Twitter response to Watson.

Beauty and the Beast will be a live-action adaptation of the classic fairy tale, taking elements from the original animated movie. As Watson revealed on social media back when she was announced as Belle, it will include musical numbers, such as "Be Our Guest" and "Something There." These three are already having a blast together and principal photography hasn't begun yet. This banter can only mean good things to come.