It's been said that back in the '90s, one of the most popular television shows on the planet was Baywatch. That’s not too hard to believe considering that showcasing pretty people in swimsuits is the sort of thing that can transcend cultural and language barriers. It’s also the sort of thing that is eventually going to lead to a potential reboot.

A Baywatch reboot is on the way from Burn Notice creator Matt Nix and McG, who is set to direct the pilot episode of the new show. We can expect lots of pretty people in bathing suits. However, one thing that fans should not expect when the new series debuts is jokes at the expense of the original series. McG tells Variety:

Honestly, I love this. I’m not a big fan of Baywatch or anything, but I’m generally not a fan of reboots or remakes that seem like they’re laughing at, rather than laughing with, previous entries in the franchise. Was Baywatch corny? Sure, it was, but the show always took itself seriously, and it was incredibly successful as exactly what it was.

Matt Nix tells Variety that the new version of Baywatch won’t be campy either. Stephen Amell is set to play Captain Hobie, the now-adult son of David Hassellhoff’s character from the original series. Plus, actor David Chokachi, who played Cody Madison for three seasons on the original show, will be returning. Suffice it to say that the series is being written as a continuation of the original rather than a full reboot, so it makes sense that the tone would remain the same.

This also opens the door to plenty of Baywatch cameos from the original cast. While nothing has been announced, Amell is very open to that happening. It would be somewhat strange to have a show that pokes fun at the original series if it also trades on the star power of that cast.

This will, of course, be in direct contrast to the last time we saw something new from Baywatch. The movie adaptation that starred Dwayne Johnson and Zach Efron was a comedy first, and it absolutely did make jokes at the expense of the series. The movie did pretty well in theaters, but was absolutely destroyed by critics. The people who made the movie largely didn’t have a great time. Efron has called his body "stupid" and regretted the way he prepared for the movie. Alexandra Daddario has been critical of her experience, and even The Rock has made fun of it.

Not making fun doesn’t mean that the new Baywatch won’t have fun. Matt Nix’s most successful TV series to date was Burn Notice, a spy series that had plenty of action and intrigue, but wasn’t afraid to also have a sense of humor. Baywatch could certainly end up being something similar in tone.

Regarding upcoming book-to-screen adaptations, so many are coming out that it’s almost hard to keep track. From the Austin Butler-led The Bikeriders to the new adaptation of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, there is so much to look forward to. And now, another adaptation is finally on track to release – The Uglies, after being in production hell for years. 

But what else do we know about The Uglies movie? When might it come out? Who is going to star? Considering all your questions, here is what we know so far about The Uglies and what you can look forward to. 

What Is The Uglies Premiere Date?

The Uglies has no set premiere date as of writing this in October 2023, which is a little surprising. The movie, based on the book Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, was announced in September 2020 by Deadline, where it was also confirmed that Joey King would star (and produce). It was also reported that McG would direct, as we’ll get into later. 

Filming took place a while ago, which we will also speak on, so it’s surprising that we do not have a set release date. Also confirmed from that Deadline article was that the movie was to premiere on Netflix. 

The Netflix 2023 movie schedule has been packed with plenty of releases, but The Uglies is not one of them, at least not yet. If anything, keep an eye out for a possible date on the 2024 movie schedule, because the end of the year is approaching, and with no trailer yet, 2023 is looking less likely. 

Joey King Stars

As mentioned above, Joey King will star in the leading role of The Uglies. The actress even got the chance to talk about her upcoming role in the film with Deadline in August 2022, saying it was “a dream realized.”

King has undoubtedly made a name for herself over the last few years. She appeared in the great Hulu series The Act, which garnered her many award nominations, starred in the Netflix trilogy The Kissing Booth, and the Hulu release The Princess. 

The actress also had a co-starring role in 2022's Bullet Train, so she’s been on a roll. And I, for one, can’t wait to see what she brings to the table for The Uglies. 

Keith Powers, Laverne Cox, And More Co-Star

While Joey King is set to star in The Uglies, several other names have been confirmed as well. Announced in October 2021 by Deadline, Keith Powers, Brianne Tju, and Chase Stokes were all set to co-star in the film. 

In December 2021, Deadline announced that Laverne Cox had also joined the cast. None of their character names have been disclosed yet.

Every single one of these additions is a great add-on. Laverne Cox is primarily known for her role in the Orange is the New Black cast. Keith Davis appeared in the film The Tomorrow War. Brianne Tju was a part of the horror show on Amazon Prime, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Chase Stokes has been a part of the Outer Banks cast for several years. 

The Uglies Is A Dystopian Tale About A Society That Wipes Out Physical Differences So Every Person Looks ‘Beautiful’

As described in the Deadline article announcing the movie, The Uglies is based on the book of the same name and is a dystopian tale. 

The story takes place in a world with one set standard of beauty. At a certain age (16), everyone goes through a mandatory procedure where their features are altered to conform to this standard of beauty, making everyone “beautiful.”

This sounds like an exciting and intriguing movie – and one I’d love to add to our list of best dystopian films, but let’s wait for the movie to drop first. 

The Book Tackles Themes Such As Beauty, Humanity, And More

The book that the movie is based on, Uglies, is a great novel that focuses on several themes. With a premise like the above, the societal standard of “beauty” is a significant theme among the ideas of humanity, identity, conformity, and so much more. 

The novel, according to the publishing website of Simon & Schuster, won several awards and was a New York Times Bestseller for many weeks.  

McG Directed The Film

As announced above, McG directed The Uglies. The director is primarily known for several major movies, such as the 2000 adaptation of Charlie’s Angels and films like Terminator Salvation, This Means War, and more. He also directed the new Netflix film Family Switch, which will be released later in 2023. 

Filming Finished In December 2021

The last thing we know about The Uglies is that filming for the movie ended in December 2021. Joey King, in an interview with CinemaBlend in February 2022, talked about the upcoming film while promoting The In Between on Paramount+, stating that she had “just finished” filming before the holidays:

Hearing that news, a trailer for the movie might come soon, but one can only hope. With no updates besides a few from Joey King speaking on filming finishing, maybe we'll get to learn a little more soon. 

As we all wait for The Uglies, be sure to check out some movies based on books that are streaming for free. We all need something to pass the time. 

Long before director Elizabeth Banks put her unique spin on the most recent Charlie’s Angels reboot, the world saw Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu breathe new life into the ‘70s action series. Two successful movies with that team working alongside director McG still have people wondering if Charlie’s Angels 3 could happen with the cinematic OGs. While it’s not exactly a given, the helmer behind those movies does have some very specific thoughts on what it might take to get things off the ground. 

As he spoke with EW, the man whose real name is Joseph McGinty Nichol sounded enthusiastic to potentially return for another round of explosive antics. However, he did include some caveats with those sentiments, especially when it came to his opinion on Elizabeth Banks’ variant of Charlie’s Angels. Here’s what Nichol had to say: 

McG’s not wrong in his assessment of the situation, as it’s been 20 years since the release of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. So naturally, the schedules of the leading ladies of his incarnation are way different than they were back in those days. Contrary to popular belief, Lucy Liu and her co-stars actually got along, with claims of their feuding behavior being nothing more than gossip.

So there’s a chance that Liu, as well as Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, might be interested in getting the band back together. At the same time, McG isn’t possessive of his time on the Charlie’s Angels franchise, tipping his hat to the movie that unfortunately saw Elizabeth Banks bearing the brunt of its failure. Add it all up, and it spells an uncertain future for a potential Charlie’s Angels 3, which has Joseph leaving the matter with these final words: 

As one of the best movie adaptations of a ‘70s TV show, the '00s reboot to Charlie’s Angels clearly still has a devoted fan base buzzing over its potential return. It’s not impossible, but as McG laid out above, there are a lot of moving pieces that’d need to be put together to pave the way. 

Who knows, maybe there's room for a crossover between the 2000 reboot Angels and the newer generation from Elizabeth Banks' film. While the world of entertainment sorts itself out on these matters, you can kick back with the nostalgia of that first McG-directed entry, which is currently streaming free with ads on Pluto TV.

Over the past few years, the streaming wars have really picked up. In addition to its countless original TV shows, Netflix has put extra stock into film content lately. In fact, the streaming service already has a few bonafide franchises, including the McG's The Babysitter movies. Sequel The Babysitter: Killer Queen was released last weekend, and fans are already wondering if a threequel might be happening next. And now McG has answered those lingering questions.

The Babysitter hit Netflix back in 2017, so it was a number of years before Killer Queen actually became a reality. The sequel brought back the original cast and paired them with a set of newcomers for another mix of comedy and gore. But could this be a bonafide horror trilogy? Iconic filmmaker McG recently spoke to this possibility, saying:

Well, this is exciting. It looks like the narrative seeds for a third Babysitter movie have taken root in McG's mind. He's the mind behind the previous two movies, although the sequel Killer Queen will likely need to be a hit on Netflix. Luckily for the filmmaker (and fans), the second installment is currently streaming in the top 10 titles on the streaming service.

McG's comments come from his recent appearance on The Boo Crew podcast. While doing a deep dive into what it took to bring The Babysitter: Killer Queen to life years after the original, he also revealed that his vision does indeed extend into a third installment. Of course, his vision will depend on the second movie's success on Netflix, and whether or not the powers that be decide to bring a third installment to homes.

The Babysitter: Killer Queen picks up years after the events of the original movie, once again revolving around Judah Lewis' Cole. Unfortunately it looks like surviving a blood cult wasn't permanent, as the same group of killers are mysteriously brought back to hunt the protagonist down. That includes the likes of Bella Thorne, Robbie Ammell, Andrew Bachelor, and Samara Weaving.

Spoilers ahead for The Babysitter: Killer Queen. Don't read on if you haven't seen McG's second installment in the over the top slasher franchise.

Narratively, The Babysitter: Killer Queen does seem to leave some narrative threads for a third movie to pull from. The sequel saw Cole and newcomer Phoebe (Jenna Ortega) saved from the blood cult, as Samara Weaving's Bee got a redemption arc of her very own. And in the mid-credits scene, the opportunity for a threequel is teased.

During the credits for The Babysitter: Killer Queen, we're shown that the Devil's Book from the first movie was still very much intact. There's no telling who might get their hands on it and try their own sacrifice, or if it'll be another chance for the same group of ghosts to return for a third rampage. Either way, we can be sure that if The Babysitter gets a second sequel it'll once again focus on Judah Lewis' Cole. After all, McG has big plans.

The Babysitter: Killer Queen and the 2017 original are both streaming on Netflix. And be sure to check out our 2020 release list to plan your next movie experience.

Sequels are a tough nut to crack, as any chance to revisit and expand a story presents the possibility of those taking on the task screwing it up. As if that wasn’t difficult enough, making a sequel to either a comedy or a horror movie is another tier of struggle, as those genres depend on the freshness of their gags and kills and can suffer from the repetition often found in follow-ups. With two strikes against it from the word go, director McG’s The Babysitter: Killer Queen might strike fear into fans and newcomers for all the wrong reasons. Yet in a feat of true demonic magic, this sophomore installment is harder, bloodier, faster, and funnier than the movie that started it all.

Flashing forward two years into the future, The Babysitter: Killer Queen takes place in a world where Cole (Judah Lewis) is still traumatized from the events of the first film. No one believes his story of a demonic cult (Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Andrew Bachelor, and Hana Mae Lee) trying to sacrifice him in the name of achieving their inner most desires. Just when he’s starting to make moves towards getting over his life, and trying to win the heart of best friend/crush Melanie (Emily Alyn Lind), his would-be killers somehow arise to try and finish what they’ve started.

The Babysitter: Killer Queen knows the game it’s playing, making for a sequel that nods and winks to the history of follow-ups.

If you’re a sequel, it’s practically a killer’s kiss to invoke the name of a film like Terminator 2: Judgment Day, both in story beats and directly in your dialogue. The Babysitter: Killer Queen does both of those things, practically tempting fate to strike it down in its hubris. But surprisingly enough, this movie embodies that exact sort of sequel in every way.

The Babysitter: Killer Queen builds upon the foundation that The Babysitter laid out the first time around, bread crumbing information from the past to pave the way to a fast and furious future. With all of the background out of the way, there’s a clear path to execute bloodier kills, and fresher jokes – the cornerstone of any good horror-comedy sequel. The film doesn’t just make references that show it’s aware of follow-ups; it manages to use that knowledge practically as well.

The Babysitter: Killer Queen is a rare sequel that learns from its predecessor, and makes some much needed improvements.

As fun as The Babysitter was, there were a couple kinks here and there that felt weird. Despite the fact that it featured a babysitter and her high school freshman ward who happen to have bonded over Billy Jack, there were a lot of inventive kills and character dynamics introduced that spiced things up. But the fun in that first caper was definitely had by the villains, which is something that definitely repeats itself in The Babysitter: Killer Queen. With a much needed upgrade to the canon of ‘80s teen comedies, the nostalgia wave this second timer rides is more fitting, and a richer mine for material.

But in-between Robbie Amell’s shirtless menace and punchlines, and Bella Thorne’s over-the-top mean streak, there’s more room for Judah Lewis’ Cole to grow as a character. To its advantage, The Babysitter: Killer Queen uses Lewis’ developing skills to give him more exciting twists and turns to navigate. Not only do the characters from the original story get to expand, but the lore and twists further build a nice and cozy world in which to potentially set future adventures.

The Babysitter: Killer Queen is the horror-comedy we all need right now.

Halloween is started early this year, and Netflix just made sure it’s in on the ground floor with The Babysitter: Killer Queen. With a breakneck pace, the entire experience rides on greased rails, leaving the audience to enjoy the surprises around every turn. As Cole continues to grow into a man, this potential franchise finds itself becoming more confident and assured with what it’s good at. Not every sequel gets to know itself as well as The Babysitter: Killer Queen does in its second outing, but when they do, they become memorable romps that keep fans talking for a while to come.

Now is the perfect time and place to drop a horror-comedy that can distract viewers in the comfort of their own homes. And The Babysitter: Killer Queen more than fits the bill, with a sprawling adventure in the great outdoors, answering questions from the first film and seeding even more asks for the future yet to come. Even if The Babysitter wasn’t your thing, you just might believe a blood cult can’t die in this much improved mouse trap of murder and punchlines.

James Cameron likes to keep himself busy. Not only is he working on a bunch of Avatar sequels, but he's also been trying to resurrect his struggling Terminator franchise on the big screen. Evidently, Cameron still has room in his schedule because he's trying to turn one of his films into a TV show. Cameron's hit action comedy True Lies is about to make the transition into the world of television.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Fox is making a pilot commitment to a TV reboot of James Cameron's 1994 hit True Lies. Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim is writing the script, which will follow the basic story of the film: the relationship between a husband and wife changes when one of them is revealed to be a spy. 20th Century Fox, who produced the movie through its feature division, will also produce the reboot. McG will serve as executive producer and direct the pilot should the script move forward. Mary Viola and Rae Sanchini (who executive produced the film) will be executive producers.

Most tantalizing though is that James Cameron is on board as an executive producer. Cameron wrote, directed, and produced the original True Lies, so having him attached will no doubt be a big draw for fans of the original film. In a world where broadcast, cable, and streaming outlets are all competing for proven IP, having the original creatives attached becomes more and more of a necessity. This will be Cameron's largest television project to date.

For those who may be familiar, True Lies is a 1994 action comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film follows a stagnant married couple, who receive a new burst of energy when the wife (Curtis) discovers that her boring husband (Schwarzenegger) is secretly a skilled spy and they get roped into an adventure together. True Lies was a hit, grossing $378.8 million worldwide on a budget of $115 million. It's a really fun action movie, and we'll have to see how this story can play out over potentially multiple seasons.

Get a load of the trailer for True Lies. It doesn't do a very good job at all explaining what the actual movie is about, but I guess they felt showing Arnold Schwarzenegger with a flamethrower was enough.

There's no premiere date for the True Lies reboot yet, but stick with CinemaBlend and we'll keep you updated. Curious about more TV reboots? Well, there's certainly no drought. Amazon is working on a Starsky and Hutch reboot, while NBC is tinkering away at a live-action The Jetsons and a female-led Greatest American Hero. ABC also has a new adaptation of The Munsters in the works.

By the power of Greyskull! Legendary hero He-Man will soon make his way back to the silver screen for the first time in decades under the direction of filmmaker McG, and the development of the project seems to have looked to current box office giants for inspiration. As you can probably guess, that means Marvel. With a He-Man and the Masters of the Universe reboot very much on the way, McG recently addressed the distinct influence of the MCU on the project's development. He elaborated:

Director McG recently spoke to IGN about the upcoming He-Man and the Masters of the Universe movie, and explained the inspiration that Marvel Studios has provided for the upcoming adaptation. While obviously the He-Man movie will be its own entity in terms of story, they want to capitalize on the full spectrum of emotional and provocative entertainment that Marvel has executed so well over the course of the last decade. This means providing audiences with laughs, thrills, romance, and everything else we expect from a cohesive hero's journey, while making sure He-Man's original fans walk away wholly satisfied. In particular he cites the success of Guardians of the Galaxy, which makes sense when we consider that James Gunn's Marvel franchise most certainly capitalizes on the sort of 1980's nostalgia that a He-Man movie would also strive for.

Obviously Marvel didn't necessarily pioneer this type of filmmaking, as franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones have similarly produced movies with that tone and style, but they definitely perfected the process in recent years. Marvel movies have something for everybody; they can capitalize on nostalgia while giving audiences something fresh, and that's a direction that McG wants to take the He-Man film. Marvel proved that ridiculous concepts like a talking Raccoon have a place within the modern mainstream blockbuster, so the timing simply feels right for a proper He-Man movie.

The He-Man movie remains in the very earliest stages of development, but we will bring you any and all details related to the project as more information becomes available.

As though it weren't enough that Guy Ritchie's The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Antoine Fuqua's The Equalizer are getting set to make their big screen debut, now yet another old television series is getting the feature film adaptation. There have been reports out of Toronto saying that a new version of the Lee Major's 80s television series The Fall Guy is now getting ready for theaters, and according to The Hollywood Reporter the project may have already found both a director and a star. Both filmmaker McG and Dwayne Johnson are now in talks for the film, which is being put together by Hyde Park Entertainment and WWE.

In the original series Majors starred as Colt Seaver, a stunt man who moonlights as a bounty hunter during his down time. Teaming up with his cousin Howie and his protege Jody, they took down the bad guys are turned them over to the law. The series had a gimmick where the stunt that Colt was performing for a movie would somehow be included in his bounty hunter adventure. Presumably Johnson will be taking the role of Seaver, but the trade doesn't mention any actors who may be considered for the sidekick roles.

We've actually been hearing about a Fall Guy movie for years now, as Hollywood has repeatedly tried to turn the show into a feature. We first reported about the project back in 2010 when the movie was being prepped in similar vein to Joe Carnahan's The A-Team, and in 2011 it was even reported that Casino Royale director Martin Campbell had been in talks to direct (with Nicolas Cage in the lead role).

Johnson has become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood in the past couple years thanks to his ability to reinvigorate ensemble franchises (including Fast & Furious and G.I. Joe), but now seems to be setting up potential franchises where he is the central star. In addition to this new project, he is also working on Brett Ratner's Hercules, which is currently in production and aiming for a July release next year. The actor will also soon get started on James Wan's Fast & Furious 7, which will also be out next summer.

McG has been keeping busy since releasing This Means War in 2012 and has already completed production on his next film, the thriller Three Days To Kill. In the movie Kevin Costner stars as a dying secret service agent who is called on for a final job in exchange for an experimental drug that could save his life. It likely won't be long until we see the first trailer for the movie, as its set to be released on February 14th next year. He is also now attached to direct the submarine movie Hunter Killer, but at this point we don't know what his schedule looks like or how that project will be affected by The Fall Guy,

The submarine thriller Hunter Killerhas been getting passed around in Hollywood for years now. For some time it looked as though Phillip Noyce would be handling the project, but after only a few months decided to drop it. Antoine Fuqua was the next name attached, but he decided to make the "Die Hard in the White House' thriller Olympus Has Fallen instead. The film has spent the last few months still stuck in development hell, but now it appears that it may have found a new director to take the wheel.

Variety has learned that McG, known for movies like Terminator Salvation, Charlie's Angels, and This Means War, is now in talks to be the latest filmmaker to try and make Hunter Killer. The project would reunite the director with the producing company Relativity Media, which is behind his next film 3 Days To Kill (starring Kevin Costner). The project is an adaptation of the novel "Firing Point" by Don Keith and George Wallace and tells the story of a young submarine captain who must work with a Navy SEAL team to help rescue Russia's president and potentially stop events that could lead to World War III. Jamie Moss, John Kolvenbach and Arne Schmidt are credited with writing the script while Neal Moritz and Toby Jaffe (the Total Recall remake) will be producing.

While Gerard Butler was attached to star when Fuqua was in charge, that is no longer the case. McG is planning to have 3 Days To Kill in theaters this year, meaning that he could get to work on Hunter Killer very soon. Keep your eye out for casting updates.

McG already has his next directorial effort set up already, as he is getting set to make the Luc Besson-written and produced secret service action movie Three Days To Kill with Kevin Costner, but that doesn't mean the filmmaker is going to stop collecting potential projects for the future of his career. Wonderland Sound & Vision, the company owned by McG, is working with Red Crown Productions to make School of Fear, an adaptation of the first book in Gitty Danveshari's series for children.

While McG is currently only attached as a producer, he is keeping it as an option to direct himself also, according to Variety. The first book in the trilogy follows a group of phobia-striken teenagers who are brought to a very special school where they hope to finally conquer their deepest fears. But in order to graduate and be fully cured they must "survive a perilous final test. " The script is being written by Daniel Mackey, who the trade says was a writer on the second season of the webseries Aim High, which stars Twilight's Jackson Rathbone and Friday Night Lights' Aimee Teegarden.

Rights to the book were first purchased in 2007 by GK Films founder Graham King, who had the project set up over at Warner Bros. As you can probably guess - considering an adaptation hasn't been made yet - King's hold on the rights lapsed, allowing McG and his people to swoop in and pick them up. The film can't move into production until McG decideds whether or not he wants to direct (he has a first look deal), and if he does it means that the final cut could still be a few years away.

There were reports of talks a few months ago, but it seems that all of the “i”s have been dotted, the ‘t”s have been crossed, and the ink has dried: McG will direct the newest action thriller from writer/producer Luc Besson and Kevin Costner has signed on to star.

The project was formerly titled Three Days To Kill, and we learned in August that the director and star were interested, but now Variety has learned that they are officially signed on. The movie is currently untitled and there’s no explanation as to why they didn’t like the name that they had. The screenplay was written by Besson with Adi Hasak (From Paris With Love) and follows a dying secret service agent (Costner) who decides that it is time to retire so that he can spend his final days with his family. That’s when he is given options, however: the Secret Service is willing to give him access to an “experimental drug” that would save him, but he would have to go on one final mission. He then finds himself trying to balance the different sides of his life while also working to overcome the hallucinations that come as a result of the cure.

The project is one of two that Besson is currently working on under his two film deal with Relativity Media, the other being the movie Malavita, which stars Robert De Niro as a mob boss who moves to France after being put in the Witness Relocation Program. That film also includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones, Dianna Agron and Domenick Lombardozzi.

McG most recently helmed the action movie This Means War with Tom Hardy and Chris Pine. Costner, who recently won an Emmy for his performance in the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys, will next be seen playing Pa Kent in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.

Did you know that when the movie Clue was released in theaters, only one of the three possible endings was featured in a given screening? Only ever having seen the film on TV and video (VHS, not DVD), I always assumed the “That’s how it could have happened” set-up, which delivers three different endings, one of which is declared “what really happened,” was the way the ending was always designed to play out. Apparently not. While Roger Ebert called Paramount’s strategy to play each version of the film in a third of the theaters, “ingenious,” the tactic didn’t exactly pay off dramatically in the box office, which might explain why it hasn’t been used all that often since.

The subject of Paramount’s unorthodox strategy with Clue came up in an article MovieLine ran about This Means War. (Rest assured, neither ending is revealed in this article). The McG film, which is set to release in theaters on Valentine’s Day, stars Reese Witherspoon, who plays a woman who finds herself dating two men (Chris Pine and Tom Hardy). Unbeknownst to her, her new boyfriends both happen to be spies for the CIA and best friends. Who she ends up with is likely to be the big question as the two men battle it out to win her away from each other. McG discussed the movie at a press conference last week, and mentioned that the idea had been “tossed around early on” to release two different endings into theaters.

Gimmicky or not, as MovieLine notes, the tactic might have paid off in enticing those who liked the version they saw well enough to come back to see the alternate ending (assuming they were within proximity to a theater playing the other version).

The issue I have with alternate endings is that I feel as though it dilutes the impact of the chosen ending, assuming there is one final ending. It’s one thing for a director to reveal concepts they’ve toyed with to conclude the story they’re telling in a film before settling on a final version. It’s another to reveal on film what might have happened. Creating the image of another ending makes the hypothetical scenario feel a bit less hypothetical to me, even if it’s just tucked away as a bonus feature on a DVD. For me, it’s less about the gimmick, and more about preferring the story-teller conclude their story with the ending of their choosing. Make a choice and present us with the “real” ending. It completes the movie, for better or worse. Even an open ending is better than two endings.

A film like Clue might be a rare exception to the above, due to the theatrical, borderline goofy style of the comedy, which might lend some flexibility to the ending. While I think Ms. Scarlett's ending is the most entertaining, the final ending shown in most airings of the film is the most satisfying, and that may very well be because the movie tells us that this is how it really happened. In short, as fun as it might be to see a movie in the theater twice and have the ending change the second time, I’m not sure I’d feel quite as satisfied by it, not knowing which was the "real" ending, and that might also change my perception of the story.

More on This Means War can be found in our Blend Film Database.

This Means War, the spy comedy starring Chris Pine, Tom Hardy and Reese Witherspoon, marks the meeting of two great geek friendly franchises-- think of it as Captain Kirk vs. Bane if you so choose. More htan that, though, it's the first movie McG has directed since the misguided Terminator: Salvation, returning him to the goofy, glossy, action-heavy movies he did so well with the Charlie's Angels films. Is this going to be a return to form that's worth the time? Judge for yourself with the new trailer, which debuted at Apple and can be watched there in HD or embedded below.

Then again, Pine and Hardy are both very quick-witted, and it seems like the scenes between them will be the highlights of the movie. Coming out President's Day weekend next February, This Means War doesn't seem to be aiming for giant blockbuster status, but a diverting and pleasant action comedy starring three people you'd watch do just about anything. As silly as this trailer was, it does kind of seem to fit that bill. What do you guys think?

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The film industry’s still banking on audiences not being bored with board-game adaptations, sinking time and money into elaborate productions of Battleship, Risk and a rumored Monopoly movie. Now another Hasbro-by-way-of-Hollywood project is aligning its stars as it prepares for a future shoot.

Screenwriter Simon Kinberg, whose credits include X-Men: The Last Stand and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, has been hired by Universal to “polish” the existing script for a Ouija Board film, the L.A. Times reports. Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, who helped pen Disney’s Tron: Legacy, wrote the initial draft, which at the time drew comparisons to an Indiana Jones-style adventure with big action set pieces.

Hiring Kinberg, then, makes sense, as he brought that kind of large-scale thinking to Holmes and Mr. & Mrs. Smith with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It’s worth noting, too, that the Ouija feature is being mounted by McG and Michael Bay's production company, which doesn’t suggest a quiet character study about reserved board-game players. We’ll see what Kinberg brings to the table once Ouija moves a few steps closer to becoming a reality.

The McG-directed Ouija Board movie sounds like precisely the kind of intellectually bankrupt idea that would be mocked on Curb Your Enthusiasm or Entourage; while Michael Bay's Transformers movies have at least boasted impressive new technologies, and Peter Berg's upcoming Battleship seems to be aiming for something a little more interesting, the Ouija movie has every appearance of being a straight-up cash grab. Directed by the guy who brought you Terminator: Salvation! With a script from the guys who brought you Tron: Legacy!

Except, believe it or not, the script situation has gotten even more dire. According to THR another writer has been brought on to touch up the script originally from Tron: Legacy writers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis. That's pretty par for the course, but the writer is Evan Spiliotopoulos, a guy who has made a career writing direct-to-DVD movies you would only inflict on children: Lion King 1 1/2. Pooh's Heffalump Halloween. Oh, and he wrote the Wanted 2 that will probably never get made, which I guess is where they think he's up to the task of penning a would-be blockbuster? I don't want to discount the guy's abilities-- you don't have a long career by being a total moron-- but we've got nothing to go on but his past work, which doesn't give us much to work with.

I really try not to be automatically dismissive of a new project, and work hard to find the good in even the most inane sounding ideas. But really, you need to have at least one of these three things going for you: a talented director, a promising screenwriter, or a halfway decent idea. Ouija so far has none, and I'd rather just pretend it's not happening until the movie actually exists and I can't avoid it any longer.

Well, the long strange saga of Wonder Woman keeps getting a bit more bizarre. First, everyone and their brother surprisingly passed on the David E Kelley pilot, and then, out of nowhere, NBC swooped in and gave it a last second greenlight. Whether the original passes were a shot at the project itself, a nervousness over a possible big budget or fear of the declining superhero genre is anyone’s guess, but now that it’s once again in play, some important decisions still need to be made, starting with a director.

According to TV Line, David E. Kelley is apparently looking at We Are Marshall director McG. Far from a stretch, the helmer was responsible for the Charlie’s Angels flicks and perhaps more importantly, is also a heavy hitter in the television world. His production credits include The O.C., Supernatural and Chuck, the latter of which he directed the pilot for.

Nothing has been confirmed, but if this does come to fruition, expect a spectacle. McG is historically short on nuance and big on grandiosity. It could work, but if he goes big, Wonder Woman better be ready to make a sizeable splash.

Back in 1998, Fox set up a comedy called This Means War for Martin Lawrence. At the time, the actor's star was blowing up, having been in Bad Boys three years earlier and starring in the television show Martin for the last five. He was set for stardom. Now, twelve years later, Fox is still trying to get the film made, but what's Lawrence's involvement? He has no involvement.

New York Magazine reports that star-of-the-moment Sam Worthington is in talks to take over the role that was originally written for Lawrence more than a decade ago. Now being directed by McG and co-starring Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon, Worthington will play a veteran spy who, upon falling in love with the same girl as his best friend and fellow spy, engages in all out warfare to take his opponent out of the picture. The Australian actor is also considering a film titled Man on a Ledge, in which he would play a character who appears to be a suicidal ex-cop, but in actuality is a diversion to cover up the world's greatest diamond heist. The films would have conflicting schedules, meaning that Worthington can only choose one.

It's hard not to be of two minds about this potential casting. On the one hand, a visual match-up between Worthington and Pine just makes sense. They actually look like a duo that a) could actually be trained spies and b) could hold themselves together during an elongated battle. The problem? When has Worthington ever shown a funny bone? As the Looney Tunes-esque title implies, this is a comedy and I can't think of a single time the man has cracked a joke. But who knows? Maybe this will be his opportunity to finally show some range.

More Amanda Seyfried please. She brought us Jennifer’s Body in the fall, Dear John in February, Chloe hits theaters on the 26th, Boogie Woogie will see a limited release on April 23rd, Letters to Juliet follows on May 14th, Marmaduke is set for a June 4th premiere and then there’s the slew of projects on her to do list, one of which may be Catherine Hardwicke’s The Girl in the Red Riding Hood. But wait, there’s more.

Production Weekly just tweeted this: Amanda Seyfried & McG are attached to Lorene Scafaria's pitch based on the Rolling Stone article The Girl Who Conned The Ivy League. The piece comes from Sabrina Rubin Erdely and tells the story of Esther Reed, a young woman who conned her way into prestigious universities like Harvard and Columbia ultimately becoming the target of a nationwide manhunt. Funny thing is, she’s not wanted for having stolen wads of cash or other valuables, Esther stole identities.

While not a big McG fan, I am a fan of Seyfried’s. Anything with her name attached has potential. On top of that, this is an incredibly fascinating story perfect for the big screen. The only issue will be finding time to squeeze this one into her busy schedule. Last I spoke with Seyfried, she explained she has a packed calendar and is doing what she can to put everything in its proper place. She mentioned joining the cast of Rodrigo Garcia’s Albert Nobbs and I got the sense that that’s next on her shooting list.

McG has officially overdosed on CGI action and plans to go in a completely different direction with This Means War. Opposite of an effects-heavy thriller? Cliché title? It must be a romantic comedy!

Twentieth Century Fox has recruited the man behind Terminator Salvation to direct a cheesy love movie starring Bradley Cooper and Reese Witherspoon. Cooper will play one of two best buddies since childhood who both fall for the same woman (Witherspoon). From that point on, THR explains, “The two men's bond disintegrates and their ensuing battle escalates to mammoth proportions, with New York City demolished in their wake.” Er – like Cloverfield demolished?

There are a number of issues that would make any sensible person wary of this project. First, McG has never dabbled in the romcom genre. Second, the last time his stars dabbled in it, we ended up with Witherspoons’ Four Christmases and Coopers’ All About Steve. Lastly, this script was picked up way back in 1998 and has seen a number of directors and stars sign on and drop out. The fact that one of those actors was Martin Lawrence is a bit puzzling. This thing has to have problems.

McG was making enough enemies as it was this summer, having turned in a mediocre Terminator: Salvation after promising everyone he wouldn't ruin the franchise. He really didn't need to be messing with Bill Murray too, but apparently that's exactly what he was doing in a story I somehow missed. Did you hear that McG said that Bill Murray headbutted him on the set of Charlie's Angels?

And Murray, unsurprisingly, has a rebuttal. "That’s bullshit! That’s complete crap!" he said in an interview with The Times of London. “I don’t know why he made that story up. He has a very active imagination.”

He even saved his choicest words for a moment when he thought he'd regained composure. "No! He deserves to die,” he says, coldly staring, without breaking deadpan. “He should be pierced with a lance, not headbutted.”

Yikes. I guess now we know just how bad things had gotten before Murray was replaced by Bernie Mac for the second Charlie's Angels film. It doesn't surprise me at all that Murray and McG had their disagreements, but I definitely never expected Murray to come out swinging at him. I guess as McG makes his apologies for the manifold mistakes of Terminator, he can toss in an apology to Murray too.

Normally when you think summer movies, your mind almost certainly drifts to exploding building and flying men in tight leather outfits. You probably think high-octane car chases and yippee kai yay mother f… But not me. I know the truth about summer: It's all about lovin'. Summer 2009 was, like any other summer, all about romance. Love was in the air and Hollywood delivered lustful relationships with style, flair, and ridiculously over-inflated budgets. We loved them for it.

Now that another summer's over, we're looking back over the mega-movie season that was. In this case, it's my look back at summer's biggest romances. It was hot outside and it was even hotter inside. Whether it was silly, sweet, or heartbreaking… love was in the air!

Spock Loves Everything

Though once a being of logic and reason, in J.J. Abrams' re-imagining of Star Trek, Spock is reborn as a pointy-eared man of lusty passions. Spock was in love with pretty much everything. He loves his mommy. He loves his planet. He loves Uhura who seems to be suffering from hot for teacher syndrome. But most of all he loves James T. Kirk, and you can cut the sexual tension on the Enterprise bridge with a phaser. When he strands Kirk on that frozen planet it's the outer space equivalent of your wife forcing you out of the car in the bad part of town, during a heated interstate argument. Forget logic, Spock's love knows no bounds.

George Kirk Loves Winona Kirk

Less all-encompassing than Spock's scattershot romance with the universe, but far more touching, was Star Trek's romance between Jim Kirk's parents. They're never on screen together but George's sacrifice to save his family is by far the most memorable moment in a memorable film. In only ten minutes of footage Star Trek had us in tears, and as George dives guns blazing into certain death we know he does it not to save the lives of everyone on his ship, but for the love of his wife and newly born son. Splashy summer science fiction movies aren't supposed to be this moving, are they?

Michael Bay Loves Boobs

The infamous director's love affair with plastic explosives is no secret, but in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen we learned of a new Michael Bay obsession: Boobs. Megan Fox earned her part in Transformers by wearing skimpy clothes and washing Michael Bay's exotic car and this summer he put those driveway honed sexual assets to use by keeping his camera stuck to her cleavage. Megan's character serves no other purpose in the movie, she's just there to provide ass shots whenever Bay gets bored with blowing things up and wants to make sweet, visual love. This he does, over, and over, and over again. It must be love.

Tom Loves Summer

(500) Days of Summer is not a love story, but it is about a man in love. Tom is desperately in love with Summer, but is Summer really in love with him? Probably not. It's the ultimate one sided romance, the story of unmet expectations and the way love blinds us to the reality of what's going on around us. Tom misses all the little clues that tell him Summer isn't interested and Summer seems to be trying to talk herself into believing, against her better judgment, that Tom's the one. Tom loves Summer and in the process, even if Summer didn't, we fell in love with him.

Alan Loves Carlos

Ok so maybe Alan's affection for the baby he dubs “Carlos” in The Hangover isn't exactly of the maternal variety. Maybe it's more of the Paris Hilton and her Chihuahua variety. Whatever the nature of their relationship, Carlos soon becomes Alan's favorite accessory as the Hangover boys stumble their way through Vegas attempting to reconstruct the out of control events of last night. Maybe Alan has no idea what he's doing, but don't take that to mean he doesn't care. He'd breastfeed Carlos if he could and after all, they did crack a window for him.

Carl Loves Ellie

Carl and Ellie's life together is seen in Up only as a montage. In a few brief, wordless minutes we watch as they meet, fall in love, live a life together, and grow old. It's a beautiful and bittersweet beginning to a film driven almost entirely by love. Carl's love for Ellie pushes him to live out the dreams they never got to live together. It's his love for Ellie, whether she's there or not, which keeps him going, which defines who he is and what he does throughout the course of the film. Carl and Ellie's romance survives death and lives on, influencing the lives of everyone Carl touches.

McG Loves Himself

The real story in Terminator Salvation wasn't John Connor's fight to save the world from Skynet. It's a love story, a romance between McG and himself. The one-named director spent most of his time before the film's release publicly trumpeting his work as the best thing since sliced bread, inventing fake endorsements from the likes of James Cameron, lying about the film's plot, promising endless sequels, and positioning himself as the fan's best friend; all while turning the entire Terminator franchise into a flaccid turd. McG really thinks McG is cool, even if nobody else does.

Julia Child Loves Food

In Julie & Julia, when asked by her husband what she really likes to do, Julia Child's instant response is “Eat!” And so this lovable, Big Bird-like woman begins a new life devoted entirely to her love of food. She spends every moment immersed in it, celebrating it. Every bite is a delight to Julia and her obsession for food carries over to those around her, inspiring others to take up her cause of cooking or, as in the case of Julie Powell, to copycat her work as a means of gaining fame through blogging. Julia's passion for eating and enjoying inspired an entire generation of foodies here in America and on film as brought to life by Meryl Streep it loses none of its passion.

Tony Scott Loves Google Maps

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 was supposed to be about a face off between Denzel Washington and John Travolta, but instead director Tony Scott inexplicably fell in love with mapping. He punctuates his entire film with what can only be described as a Google Maps acid trip, every scene is followed by a jittery cut to an aerial view of the cityscape which sometimes zooms in on the current location of something unrelated to the main story between Washington and Travolta. I'm not sure what Scott was thinking. It must be love.

Hermione Loves Ron

It's the romance Potter fans have been waiting for, and it's off to a rocky start. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the kids are growing up, dealing with hormones, and getting hair where there was none before. In Ron's of the male persuasion and so that's sent him snogging his way through Hogwarts making out with whichever girls show him the most attention. But in the background there's Hermione, madly in love with Ron who remains utterly clueless as to her affections. So far it's been handled sweetly and with real emotion, leaving fans with plenty to look forward to in the next film when will Ron finally get his head out of his ass.

Me Loves Amy Adams

I've been in love with Amy Adams ever since she crawled across the table in Talladega Nights to unleash her inner wildcat. But even I've never been as in love with her as I was after A Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Her portrayal of Amelia Earhart, while not particularly accurate, is weirdly and unexpectedly sexy. Clad in ridiculously tight cargo pants which showed off one of her best er… assets she strutted around the screen shouting strange, flapper-era witticisms, and staring adventure in the eye with a wild, steely-eyed gaze. Even if you weren't already smitten with Adams, it's impossible not to fall in love with her at least a little here. Sure at midnight she'll turn back into a mannequin, but that's a mannequin I'd love to take out for dinner and a movie. Scratch that, let's just tongue kiss. Your lips taste like plastic baby.

Henry Loves Underage Girls

Every summer has at least one genuinely sappy romance movie and of the contenders this year The Time Traveler's Wife was the sappiest. It's also the strangest and if you think about it, wholly inappropriate. Henry meets Clare when she's a little kid and spend the next twenty years slowly brainwashing her to be the perfect time traveler's wife. By the time they meet as adults she's completely in love with him, saving him from having to go through all that boorish, dating crap guys so often have to put up with. He skips right over the flowers and candy to go straight to banging. Morally reprehensible? Maybe. But they are in love with each other in a weird, Big Love, sort of way. They're so in love they can't even cheat properly. Clare cheats on Henry with a younger Henry, which isn't really cheating at all, is it? Now that's love.

Chev Chelios Loves Life

Chev Chelios is the man who just won't die. Long past the point when he should be dead and lying in the ground he just keeps right on going in Crank 2: High Voltage. Partly he's driven by revenge but mostly, Chev Chelios just loves not being dead. Rip out his heart and he keeps right on living, running, jumping, and shooting people in the head. He's willing to do anything to keep right on living, from public fornication, to attaching jumper cables to his nipples, to the humping of old ladies. Chev Chelios is in love with breathing and he loves it so much there's literally nothing anyone can do to make him dead.

Can we finally throw McG in a bin with Brett Ratner? For months now we’ve all bought into this, whatever he is. We even felt sorry for him when he claimed that having one name didn’t really make him a douchebag, since it was a childhood nickname he’d always had. Of course no one put a gun to his head and forced him to put such a douchebaggie name on his resume, but look he was in charge of the next Terminator movie, we all loved Terminator, and we wanted him to do well.

Deep down we all knew he wasn’t going to do well. Or at least you did if you’d seen any of his previous movies. Charlie’s Angels, the first one, is sort of tolerable but pick anything else on the man’s resume and it’s flatly unwatchable. And now that Terminator Salvation is out, I think we’re pretty safe in lumping it in with his other abortions. It’s at least as bad as We Are Marshall, only more offensive since it took a big dump not only on a previously awesome franchise, but also on a previously awesome actor in Christian Bale.

What I’m getting at here is that we all have reason to be pissed off at McG. He’s earned our scorn. So I hope you’ll be with me in cheering on Bill Murray who, apparently gave this douchebag director exactly what he had coming. In an interview with The Guardian McG reveals that Bill Murray headbutted him on the set of Charlie’s Angels. Look I’m not endorsing violence against shitty directors, I’m not about to box Uwe Boll; but admit it, at least a couple of you stood up and clapped when you read that. Here’s the best part. Apparently getting beaten up by his cast is a pretty common phenomenon for McG. He says, “I don't think there's been a film I've made where there hasn't been some kind of physical fight.”

I’m not a director, but I have a hard time imagining Steven Spielberg getting punched in the nose by Tom Cruise. I’m pretty sure this isn’t the Hollywood norm, at least for directors who aren’t total douches. Christian Bale has taken a lot of flack for his blowup on the Terminator Salvation set, but maybe the guy deserves to be cut a little slack here. Apparently his director has a way of pissing people off, both his audiences and his actors. I mean at least he didn’t beat the shit out of anyone. Maybe Bale’s not such an asshat after all. People get pissed off, everywhere McG goes.