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Putting aside the terrible sequel, the ridiculous video game tie-in and the awkward fan conventions, the original 1980 film The Blues Brothers is still very good, mostly thanks to the performances from true music legends like Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Cab Calloway.

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Plus, there’s that iconic car chase through an Illinois shopping mall, which, admittedly, is a lot less fun to watch if you know that the mall in question was being used by a school until Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi trashed the place and didn’t bother to clean their mess up.

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Interestingly, the version of the movie that we’ve all seen is a lot different than how it was originally conceived.

According to director John Landis, The Blues Brothers was going to be an epic “roadshow movie with an intermission.” But when he screened the lone 70mm print of the nearly three-hour cut...

This past weekend saw the return of one of the most oddly-specific fan conventions in existence: Blues Brothers Con.

Fans of the classic 1980 comedy gathered at Chicago’s Old Joliet Prison, where Jake Blues was famously incarcerated, to watch Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi (or “Elwood” and “Brother Zee”) shambolically cover classic songs to a crowd of die-hard fans… who Aykroyd made sure to avoid eye contact with at all costs.

The second Blues Brothers Con will also reportedly be the last. Staging these events hasn’t exactly been a smooth process. The first concert was supposed to happen back in 2020, in order to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the film, but had to be delayed because of the pandemic. The follow-up was scheduled for 2023, but was ultimately pushed back due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Dedicating this year’s belated con to the late Judith Belushi Pisano, John Belushi...

Steve Lawrence, the singer who teamed with his wife Eydie Gormé to form one of the most popular nightclub and concert duos of their generation, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease today. He was 88.

His son, the composer and performer David Lawrence, said in a press statement, “My Dad was an inspiration to so many people. But, to me, he was just this charming, handsome, hysterically funny guy who sang a lot. Sometimes alone and sometimes with his insanely talented wife. I am so lucky to have had him as a father and so proud to be his son. My hope is that his contributions to the entertainment industry will be remembered for many years to come.”

Popularly know as Steve and Eydie, the couple achieved nationwide recognition in the mid-1950s after appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Steve Allen. They continued performing together until Gormé’s retirement...

Steve Lawrence, a king among easy-listening crooners who rocketed to fame in the ’50s and ’60s as half of the duo Steve and Eydie, died Thursday at age 88. Lawrence died at home in Los Angeles, and the cause of death was complications from Alzheimer’s disease, according to a spokesperson for the family, Susan DuBow.

Lawrence’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis had finally put an end to his touring career in 2019, after a run in the public eye that spanned six and a half decades.

Lawrence was preceded in death in 2013 by his wife, Eydie Gormé, with whom he enjoyed nearly unparalleled success as a performing couple during their heyday as touring artists and TV stars in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. The couple had continued to tour together through 2009.

His colleagues began to weigh in Thursday. “Steve was one of my favorite guests on my variety show,” Carol Burnett said,...

Some movie sequels have been overlooked but offer insight into the characters and stories from iconic movies. While some sequels, like The Next Karate Kid and Halloween III, were not well-received upon first release, they have gained cult followings due to their connections to the original movies. Other movies, such as The Rescuers Down Under and Gremlins 2 serve as underrated continuations to the stories seen in the original movies.

In Hollywood, many successful movies have received sequels, but some sequels don't get as much attention as others. Movie sequels are used to continue the originals' stories and also offer something new to audiences. The success of a sequel depends on its connection to the original, casting, production, and the perception of viewers.

Some movie sequels receive high recognition for their faithfulness to the originals, screenplay, and ability to continue their stories convincingly. Others are infamous for their lack of...

The Conners is a successful spinoff of Roseanne, with the original cast (excluding Roseanne Barr) and new additions, bringing the story of the family to a satisfying conclusion. John Goodman's portrayal of Dan Conner has been a mainstay of both Roseanne and The Conners, earning him multiple awards and establishing him as a household name. The Conners cast features talented actors such as Laurie Metcalf, Sara Gilbert, and Michael Fishman, who have been part of the show's journey since the start and have continued to deliver memorable performances.

In 2018, The Conners premiered on ABC as a direct continuation of Roseanne, with the cast of The Conners remaining almost completely in place from the parent show. ABC fired Roseanne Barr from the series following a string of controversies, moving on with the rest of the cast for the spinoff The Conners. While it seemed unlikely to succeed, the show did...

Inga Swenson, the two-time Tony-nominated singer and actress who as the dictatorial German cook Gretchen Kraus sparred with Robert Guillaume‘s character on the 1980s ABC sitcom Benson, has died. She was 90.

Swenson died Sunday night of natural causes in hospice care in Los Angeles, her son, Mark Harris, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Swenson also sparkled in two critically acclaimed 1962 films released seven weeks apart — as the mother of Helen Keller (Patty Duke) in Arthur Penn’s The Miracle Worker (1962) and as the wife of a U.S. senator with a dark secret (Don Murray) in Otto Preminger’s political thriller Advise & Consent (1962).

On the strength of those performances, the Nebraska native — no, she was not born in Germany — was cast in 1963 as the spinster Lizzy in 110 in the Shade, based on N. Richard Nash’s play The Rainmaker. She received a Tony nomination for best actress in a musical for that performance,...

For a decade or so now, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito have been very seriously trying to make a sequel to their 1988 hit comedy "Twins." They even had a title picked out ("Triplets"), with Tracy Morgan of "Saturday Night Live" fame on board to play the third, long-lost brother. Unfortunately, Schwarzenegger has confirmed that the project is dead in the water, and he's not afraid to point us in the direction of who to blame: Jason Reitman.

Schwarzenegger was speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in anticipation of his new Netflix series "Fubar," which drops later this month. During the conversation, the subject of the "Twins" sequel came up. The 75-year-old action star explained that "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" director Jason Reitman, the son of "Twins" director Ivan Reitman, shut the whole thing down after his father passed away. Here's what Schwarzenegger had to say about it:

"Jason Reitman f***ed it up!

If you thought the original The Blues Brothers didn’t warrant a sequel–especially after John Belushi’s death–then you undoubtedly don’t think 1998’s illogically titled Blues Brothers 2000 does. Still, that hasn’t stopped ideas for another Blues Brothers sequel from popping into star Dan Aykroyd’s head, something he has pestered Belushi’s younger brother, Jim, about for some time now.

In a new interview, Jim Belushi revealed that Dan Aykroyd has several ideas as to how to turn The Blues Brothers into a full-blown trilogy. “[Dan Aykroyd] actually, you know, he’s always got ideas. I mean, he’s got this whole thing about, you know, ‘I find Jake’s brother in Albania, you know. I find out there was another brother, a Blues Brother. And I go to Albania and I find him and I bring him out. He doesn’t speak English.’” This additional brother...

The long-long-long awaited sequel is a dicey enough proposition; remember “Independence Day: Resurgence”? “Blues Brothers 2000”? “Zoolander 2”? But it’s particularly sticky when it comes to Bill and Ted, whose inaugural efforts – 1989’s “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and 1991’s “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” – were so decidedly of their moments, rooted in the metal-dude doofery of the end of the ‘80s.

Continue reading ‘Bill and Ted Face The Music’: The Long-Awaited Third Installment Is A Cheery Delight [Review] at The Playlist.

Whether it’s because of endless delays, fan demands, a director’s passion project or a cash grab reboot that seemingly no one ever actually wanted, Hollywood has produced an enormous amount of sequels to beloved films full decades after they originally hit theaters. Some of them have been wildly successful with critics and audiences, and others we’re just pretending never existed. Here are some of the sequels that took forever to hit the screen.

“Bad Boys For Life” (2020)

There had been talk for years about getting the boys back together, and the reunion finally happened this year, with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence teaming up for one last ride. This time however Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are taking over directing duties from Michael Bay.

George Miller took nearly 30 years to follow up “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” with the Tom Hardy-Charlize Theron thriller “Mad Max: Fury Road.

All the stars are coming to ABC. The network just announced their upcoming "Cast from the Past" week will featuring reunions for the stars of Cheers, Castle, Charmed, and more.

The theme week will begin on October 7th and feature new episodes of The Goldbergs, The Conners, Bless this Mess, The Rookie, Grey's Anatomy, The Good Doctor, and more that feature cast reunions from several TV shows and movies such as The Drew Carey Show, House, Blues Brothers 2000, Think Like a Man, Wet Hot American Summer, Girlfriends, and Crazy Rich Asians.

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In today’s TV news roundup, Jenny Slate’s first Netflix comedy special “Stage Fright” premieres Oct. 22, and Netflix also releases the first trailer for its upcoming comedy “Living with Yourself,” out Oct. 18.

Dates

Jenny Slate‘s first full-length comedy special “Stage Fright” will launch on Netflix Oct. 22. In it, the comedian and actress shares intimate aspects of her life on-stage as she delves into stories about her visit to a midnight Catholic Mass and the ghosts that haunted her childhood home.

First Looks

Netflix has released the first trailer for its forthcoming comedy “Living With Yourself,“ premiering Oct. 18. The eight-episode series stars Paul Rudd as a struggling man named Miles who finds himself transformed into an improved version of himself after undergoing a novel spa treatment. Aisling Bea stars as Rudd’s wife as he deals with the consequences of his actions. Told from multiple perspectives, the show is...

Worlds from TV and film will collide starting October 7 when ABC will present a week of reunions within its primetime lineup. “Cast from the Past” Week will feature reunited cast members and creative teams from iconic TV series and films on the network’s current shows.

Actors from and behind-the-scenes talent from the likes of Crazy Rich Asians, Girlfriends, Blues Brothers 2000, Cheers, Charmed, Wet Hot American Summer, House, Castle and The Drew Carey Show will be involved.

In an upcoming episode of Black-ish, for example, Tracee Ellis Ross reunites with her Girlfriends co-stars Golden Brooks, Jill Marie Jones and Persia White, while Ken Jeong will return to Fresh Off the Boat and be reunited with his Crazy Rich Asians co-star Constance Wu.

John Goodman will reconnect with his Blues Brothers 2000 co-star Dan Aykroyd as they play poker buddies in an episode of The Conners, while Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman,...

There will be a lot of reunions on ABC this October.

The broadcast network has revealed that it will be running a special "Cast from the Past" week which will find several stars and behind the scenes talent reuniting across the network's roster of TV shows.

Of those reunions, Charmed's Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs will be stopping by an episode of Grey's Anatomy, bringing them back together with Krista Vernoff and Andy Reaser, who were writers on Charmed.

It's certainly an exciting direction for ABC because it's a whole week dedicated to talent from the past coming aboard special episodes of the network's shows.

Cast Members and Creative Teams From Blues Brothers 2000, Castle, Cheers, Crazy Rich Asians, The Drew Carey Show, Girlfriends, House, Think Like a Man, and Wet Hot American Summer will all be featured.

Confused?

Here's ABC's press release revealing all the comings and goings.

ABC is going all-in on nostalgia this fall, with a “Cast from the Past” week of stunt casting set to reunite the stars of “Charmed,” “Cheers” and more across the network’s programming.

Beginning on Oct. 7, actors and behind-the-scenes talent from “Blues Brothers 2000,” “Castle,” “Charmed,” “Cheers,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “House,” “Think Like a Man” and “Wet Hot American Summer” will make appearances on the network’s dramas and comedies.

The news builds on the announcement last week that “black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross will be joined by her former “Girlfriends” co-stars on an upcoming episode of the family sitcom.

Also Read: Tracee Ellis Ross to Reunite With 'Girlfriends' Cast on 'Black-ish' This Season

Among the week’s biggest stunts is the reunion between “Cheers” stars Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger and George Wendt on the Oct. 9 episode of “The Goldbergs.”

“Charmed” stars...

Dan Conner is singing the blues again.

The Conners has tapped Dan Aykroyd — who starred opposite John Goodman in 1998’s Blues Brothers 2000, a sequel to the 1980 cult classic — to make a guest appearance this fall.

More from TVLineDancing With the Stars Premiere Recap: Who Soared in Week 1? Who Stumbled?Stumptown Is This Fall's Most Anticipated New Show -- TVLine PollCharmed, Castle and Cheers Stars to Reunite on ABC This Fall -- Get Details

The SNL vet will turn up in the third episode of the ABC comedy’s upcoming third season playing a poker buddy of Dan’s (check...

John Landis celebrates his 69th birthday on August 3, 2019. Despite his many career ups and downs, the director has created a number of classics across several different genres. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 10 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1950, Landis made his filmmaking debut with the micro-budget creature feature “Schlock” (1973), in which he also starred as an apeman terrorizing a Southern California suburb. It was the first collaboration between him and makeup maestro Rick Baker, who went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Makeup for the director’s “An American Werewolf in London” (1981).

SEEDan Aykroyd movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best

Landis had his greatest successes with comedies, starting with the sketch compilation “The Kentucky Fried Movie” (1977), written by the “Airplane!” trio of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker. He went on to helm...

John Landis celebrates his 69th birthday on August 3, 2019. Despite his many career ups and downs, the director has created a number of classics across several different genres. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 10 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1950, Landis made his filmmaking debut with the micro-budget creature feature “Schlock” (1973), in which he also starred as an apeman terrorizing a Southern California suburb. It was the first collaboration between him and makeup maestro Rick Baker, who went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Makeup for the director’s “An American Werewolf in London” (1981).

Landis had his greatest successes with comedies, starting with the sketch compilation “The Kentucky Fried Movie” (1977), written by the “Airplane!” trio of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker. He went on to helm the box office smashes “National Lampoon’s Animal House” (1978), “The Blues Brothers...

Tony Sokol Jun 6, 2019

New Orleans musician Mac Rebennack conjured the best mojo in Dr. John the Night Tripper.

"They call me Dr. John, The Night Tripper," New Orleans voodoo pianist Mac Rebennack sang on the 1969 song "Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya." With his sizzling Gris-Gris his hand, he lived and breathed New Orleans. The last of the best, Dr. John the Night Tripper, died of a heart attack "toward the break of day" on Thursday, June 6, according to the New York Times. Like Leon Redbone, who died last week, there is some dispute over Dr. John's age, various reports have him listed as 77 or 78.

"The family thanks all whom have shared his unique musical journey, and requests privacy at this time," a statement from the musician's family said. They did not say where he died, though he reportedly was resting at his Lake Pontchartrain area home, not too far from New Orleans.

Six-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Dr. John has died. His death was announced on his official Facebook page by his family.

“Towards the break of day on June 6, 2019, iconic music legend Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr., professionally known as Dr. John, passed away of a heart attack,” said the post. “As a Rock N Roll Hall of Fame inductee, six time Grammy winner, songwriter, composer, producer, and performer, he created a unique blend of music which carried his home town, New Orleans, at its’ heart, as it was always in his heart. The family thanks all whom have shared his unique musical journey, and requests privacy at this time. Memorial arrangements will be announced in due course.”

Dr. John, once a constant tour presence, had cut back drastically on public appearances in the last two years. He was honored in 2017 by the New Orleans City...

Aretha Franklin may have been the Queen of Soul, but she never made the transition to movie star. In fact, she acted in a grand total of two films in her whole career, 1980’s The Blues Brothers and, 20 years later, its sequel, Blues Brothers 2000. The director of both those films, John Landis, talks to THR about working with the legendary diva, who, although “delightful,” did have some issues with lip-syncing. “The only complaint Aretha made was that there were too many takes,” he says. “But she pulled through. I knew she’d ...

Aretha Franklin may have been the Queen of Soul, but she never made the transition to movie star. In fact, she acted in a grand total of two films in her whole career, 1980’s The Blues Brothers and, 20 years later, its sequel, Blues Brothers 2000. The director of both those films, John Landis, talks to THR about working with the legendary diva, who, although “delightful,” did have some issues with lip-syncing. “The only complaint Aretha made was that there were too many takes,” he says. “But she pulled through. I knew she’d ...

In 1980, the blockbuster film The Blues Brothers featured cameos from a bevy of musical titans, including James Brown, Ray Charles, Cab Calloway and John Lee Hooker, but it was a five-minute show-stealing scene starring Aretha Franklin that proved both memorable and pivotal.

Franklin by then was more than a quarter century into her illustrious and influential career, but the tide was turning for the established Queen of Soul with her late Seventies albums – 1977’s Sweet Passion, 1978’s Almighty Fire and 1979’s La Diva – failing to reach the commercial success of some of her previous output.

Update with full family statement: Aretha Franklin, known worldwide as the Queen of Soul and universally ranked among the greatest, most influential singers of the 20th century, died this morning at her home in Detroit. The music, cultural and social icon was 76.

Her death at 9:50 Am Et from pancreatic cancer was confirmed by her publicist to the Associated Press. A family statement said Franklin’s “official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin’s oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute” in Detroit.

“In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart,” the family statement reads. “We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family.”

Read the full statement below.

News of Franklin’s most recent decline in health surfaced over the weekend,...

Long-gestating followups include blockbusters like “Jurassic World” and famous flops like “Blues Brothers 2000” George Miller took nearly 30 years to follow up “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” with the Tom Hardy-Charlize Theron thriller “Mad Max: Fury Road.” “The Odd Couple II” is among the sequels with the biggest gaps between films. Twenty-nine years after the 1968 original, Jack Lemmon returned as Felix Unger and Walter Matthau was Oscar Madison in their last film together. “Tron: Legacy” came 28 years after the original, and featured Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner. Shot in 3D, the film featured extensive visual effects and a score by.

Legendary writer-director John Landis can be a divisive figure, but when it comes to ‘monster movies,’ his expertise is beyond reproach. Not only is he a world authority on the subject, but he also has a long-standing professional association with Universal, which is currently building its Dark Universe around monster movie remakes and re-imaginings. So, when John Landis says these films are disrespectful to their monsters, it’s time to sit up and take notice.

In his younger days, Landis worked his way up from the 20th Century Fox mailroom to become a director in his own right – making his debut in 1973 with Schlock, which was an homage to ‘monster movies.’ His long association with Universal began in 1978, with National Lampoon’s Animal House, and went on to include titles such as The Blues Brothers, Into The Night, Amazon Women On The Moon, Blues Brothers 2000 and An American Werewolf In London.

Wayne’s World, the blockbuster comedy starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey based on the now-classic Saturday Night Live recurring sketch, turns 25 on Tuesday, Feb. 14 -- Happy Valentine’s Day! -- and we’re still in love.

It’s one of the best of the feature films to spin out of the long-running NBC sketch comedy series, but each has its own charm that could be worth revisiting or seeing for the first time. Do note our suggested binge-viewing order -- from best to worst -- if you want your party time to be excellent.

More: 'Wayne's World Turns 25' -- How Mike Myers and Dana Carvey Found Their Inner Rock Stars

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Why you should see it now: The first Saturday Night Live feature film is second only to Wayne’s World in worldwide box office revenue and is considered a comedy classic. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd remain the quintessential SNL duo who...

Long-gestating followups include blockbusters like “Jurassic World” and famous flops like “Blues Brothers 2000” George Miller took nearly 30 years to follow up “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” with the Tom Hardy-Charlize Theron thriller “Mad Max: Fury Road.” “The Odd Couple II” is among the sequels with the biggest gaps between films. Twenty-nine years after the 1968 original, Jack Lemmon returned as Felix Unger and Walter Matthau was Oscar Madison in their last film together. “Tron: Legacy” came 28 years after the original, and featured Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner. Shot in 3D, the film featured extensive visual effects and a score by.

Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) Director: John Landis Stars: Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, Joe Morton A lot of hate is being thrown around this weekend's Ghostbusters remake, even with its good reviews, but Awfully Good Movies is here to remind you that if Dan Aykroyd made an actual Ghostbusters 3, you might get something as bad as the 1998 stinker Blues Brothers 2000! Yes, John Belushi may... Read More...

I still haven’t seen Independence Day: Resurgence, and there’s a good chance I won’t. When 20th Century Fox made the decision not to screen the film for Us press in advance of the film’s opening, they sent a very clear message to anyone paying attention, and it’s a message that I believe more and more studios would love to send to critics, especially on their giant event films: not only do we not need you, but we don’t want you. At all. And it’s true. Studios don’t really need to screen movies for critics. It’s a professional agreement that we all participate in, but more and more often, studios screen later and almost begrudgingly. I am amazed how many times this year alone I’ve had to basically beg to even find out when or if a screening is happening. The...

When the news of the Ghostbusters reboot broke, I worked at a company that has a notoriously terrifying comments section; in the entire history of my time there only one article required that comments be shut down: the announcement of an all female Ghostbusters. Contained within that comment section were some of the most violent assassinations of the female gender that I’ve ever seen. No one could have predicted the firestorm that would haunt this film. On the surface, Ghostbusters is merely a new addition to an old franchise that general audiences may -- or may not -- be familiar with. So how has this little comedy ignited an international firestorm? I was one of those not much interested in a reboot, remake, or sequel in the franchise. Dan Aykroyd had been teasing the prospect for so many years that eventually it felt best to just leave well enough...

Dan Aykroyd and Judy Belushi, widow of John Belushi, are rebooting The Blues Brothers as a primetime animated series, which they'll begin to pitch to networks and TV platforms this month, Deadline reports.

Aykroyd and Belushi co-created the series with original Saturday Night Live writer Anne Beatts, while the animation is being handled by Bento Box Entertainment (Bob's Burgers). Episodes will focus on the adventures of Jake and Elwood Blues and their band, and feature a bevy of soul, blues and R&B hits performed by the Blues Brothers, along...

What’s old is new again…whether you want it or not. Bento Box Entertainment announced today that it’s developing the movie classic The Blues Brothers as an animated series. The company that produces such cartoons as Bob’s Burgers and The Awesomes will be creating the show alongside Dan Aykroyd, Judy Belushi (John Belushi’s widow) and writer/producer Anne Beatts. In a statement, Aykroyd said, ”The show will be the Blues Brothers living in America and utilizing all new technology to make and promote their own records, seek out and record new artists and avoid law enforcement – and all while fighting for truth, justice and a better breakfast sandwich.” Producers promise that the series will feature no shortage of music, both R&B classics as well as new performances made just for the show. This is not the first attempt at a cartoon reboot for the R&B band.

Even though legendary comedian John Belushi died back in 1982, that didn’t stop The Blue Brothers from getting revived for the unnecessary sequel Blues Brothers 2000. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that a lack of John Belushi isn’t stopping his partner in comedy crime, Dan Aykroyd, from developing a Blues Brothers animated series […]

The post ‘The Blues Brothers’ Animated Series in the Works, Because Nothing Is Sacred appeared first on /Film.

Shady

Sequels are big business in the movie industry. There are no fewer than eight thousand of them being released over the course of this year alone. That might not even be an exaggeration.

But, for whatever reason, this phenomenon isn’t usually transferable to music. It appears that not enough listeners are interested in what happened to Father Mackenzie after he gave Eleanor Rigby’s eulogy. But that lack of interest hasn’t always stopped songwriters from continuing the stories that they feel have some unfinished business. It does, however, tend to stop listeners from caring.

Most of these sequels have simply been lost to time, with only the original remaining in the public consciousness. Make no mistake, there isn’t a T2: Judgement Day to be found in the bunch. No, these are the Caddyshack 2’s of the music biz. They’re Blues Brothers 2000 on the music charts,...

Films based on recurring Saturday Night Live skits run the gamut in terms of quality. For every Blues Brothers, we get Blues Brothers 2000. 2010.s MacGruber exists somewhere off the spectrum altogether. Will Forte.s MacGyver spoof didn.t exactly make a huge impression at the box office, but has since gone on to become a modern comedic cult classic. Fans of the action parody have wanted to see the maniac ex-soldier return to the silver screen, and now it seems that the creative forces behind the film share their passion.   In a recent interview with EW, Forte discussed his passion for bringing MacGruber back to the big screen, as well as the sheer absurdity that the creative team would bring to the sequel.s opening scene: We have this idea for a cold open, which we just don.t know if we have the balls to do. And we...

Does Hollywood try to remake/sequelize/franchise-extend every single one of its successful movies? Sometimes it feels that way, but there’s a little more nuance to studio practices than that. If you’re looking for meaning in this summer’s blockbuster season – not always easy – you could call it Dr. JurassicMax or How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Reboot. Rebooting franchises isn’t as common, well-received, or lucrative as you might think. Today let’s look briefly at the history of the reboot – and how this summer changed it.

First, what technically counts as a reboot? One school would say that anytime the cast shuffles, it’s a reboot, meaning we’re now on the second reboot (and third iteration) of Spider-Man films. That’s pretty rare; far more often, duration between films is the deciding factor, and it just doesn’t feel right to slap...

It is hard to believe that creator Lorne Michaels’s legendary late night variety show Saturday Night Live has been kicking around the American airways for four decades and still remarkably standing on its hind legs even until this very day. No doubt that SNL has shaped the pop cultural minds of its avid viewers for forty-plus years on the small screen. Importantly, SNL gave birth to the careers of some of Hollywood’s major top stars in the realm of film, television and stage.

Sure, SNL is an immense institution in television. In fact, NBC-tv will acknowledge the iconic late night program when it broadcasts the 40th anniversary highlighting Saturday Night Live’s on-air staying power with many of the show’s luminaries returning and paying retrospect to the classic sketch comedy that became one of America’s most enduring and long-lasting laughfests.

Unfortunately, SNL has never had the...

At the movies, idiocy never goes out of style.

Twenty years after the 1994 original, Dumb and Dumber To opened with $38.1 million at the weekend box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Universal sequel debuted almost exactly two decades after the Farrelly brothers first introduced the Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels low-iq duo.

Dumb and Dumber To edged out the animated Disney adventure Big Hero 6, which took in $36 million in its second week. Christopher Nolan's sci-fi epic Interstellar slid to third in its second week with an estimated $29.2 million. The film continues to blast off overseas, where it took in $106 million over the weekend, with sales particularly boosted by a strong opening in China.

The top three films took up the lion share of the box office, with the no. 4 film, the romance Beyond the Lights, opening with a distant $6.5 million. In a Hollywood constantly updating, rebooting and sequalizing old properties,...

I had a whole rant plotted out in my mind, but when my fingers hit the keyboard I decided against it. Perhaps I’m mellowing in my antiquity. I hope not, as being not-mellow is how I make my living. Maybe it’s because I’m going to this weekend’s Baltimore Comic Con, always a wonderful event, and I’m awash in breathless anticipation.

Well, either way, I’ve got a deadline and ComicMix’s editor-in-chief is an asshole (not to be confused with this column’s editor, Adriane Nash, who is not an asshole) and I’ve got all these Sin City thoughts attacking my brain like anti-bodies at a clown orgy and I’m willing to share. Let’s see how long it takes for me to become non-mellow.

Fellow ComicMixer Martha Thomases and I saw Sin City: A Plot To Kill With last week. I...

Top 10 Ryan Lambie 4 Apr 2014 - 06:26

From Francis Ford Coppola to George Miller, we take a look at 10 directors who made belated returns to the franchises they created...

There's nothing new about directors returning to the stories and characters they first brought to the screen years before. Director Fritz Lang directed his first film featuring the mesmeric master of disguises Doctor Mabuse in 1922; he then returned to make The Testament Of Dr Mabuse in 1933, before heading back one final time for The Thousand Eyes Of Dr Mabuse in 1960 - the director's last film.

In recent years, however, it's become increasingly common for directors to return to the film series they began years earlier. It's an attempt, perhaps, to return to themes that still interest them, or to tell a new story in the same landscape as before, or maybe because of a Hollywood deal too lucrative to turn down. As the selection below proves,...

File this under, to paraphrase the great band C&C Music Factory, things that make you go awwwww: an Essen, Germany nursing home restaged classic moments from a variety of movies (everything from "Easy Rider" to "Titanic"), with their residents posing as famous actors in those scenes. If your heart isn't warming already, then you're probably a robot or some kind of gargoyle brought to life via black magic.

The residents of the Contilia Retirement Group, who range in age from 75 to 98, spoke to Der Spiegel magazine about the photo shoot (via Gawker), and described it as "tremendously fun." They probably also would have described whoever edited the photos as "marginally proficient in Photoshop."

Why are you still reading this? Just take a look at the photos, which also include nods to "Rocky," "The Blue Brothers" (what, no love for "Blues Brothers 2000?"), "Mary Popppins" and "Cabaret" (amongst others). It's...

There's obviously a market out there for sequels — just look at the summer movie release schedule and you'll find at least one a week. And hey, sometimes a film leaves us wondering what happens next.

But sometimes there are films that had no need for a part two, where audiences left the theater the first go-round and said, "I'm good." And in the case of these ten films, we've got the numbers to prove it!

Hollywood, heed our wisdom: Sometimes it's best to just leave well enough alone.

10. 'Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights' (2004) — Sequel to 'Dirty Dancing' (1987)

• "Dirty Dancing": $62,811,299

• "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights": $14,140,215

So you had the time of your life in 1987? Big deal. You can't relive the magic 17 years later by conceiving a half-hearted retread set against the backdrop of revolutionary Cuba. Really, this film has nothing to do with the original, save for a brief Patrick Swayze cameo.

Bad news for Star Wars game fans: Disney, which purchased the LucasFilm empire late last year for a cool $4.05 billion, has announced that it is closing its LucasArts game-making subsidiary.

The Mouse House will no longer develop LucasArts games internally and will instead license its brands, including Star Wars and Indiana Jones, to external developers.

“After evaluating our position in the games market, we’ve decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games,” LucasFilm said in a statement released to EW.

So many people are excited about the new Star Wars trilogy. Geek auteurs are excited. Boys and girls across America are excited. Harrison Ford is not entirely anti-excited. One person, however, is definitely not invested in the latest extension of George Lucas’ star-hopping franchise. At last night’s Britannia Awards at the Beverly Hilton hotel, EW asked honoree Quentin Tarantino if he was interested in the quickly-developing sequel trilogy. “I could so care less,” he responded. So he’s not fan? “No, sorry. Especially if Disney’s going to do it. I’m not interested in the Simon West version of Star Wars.

If all goes as planned, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill will reunite on the silver screen in 2015 for Star Wars: Episode VII, a movie set in the hours, days, years, decades or eons after Darth Vader’s torchlight funeral near the piney stomping grounds of the Ewoks. But when they reach the set next year, the actors will be 30 years removed from Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. A new generation of heroes and villains will clearly be needed to move the franchise on to Episode VIII and beyond, but how to accomplish that?

We’ve zeroed...

Millions of words have already been dedicated to criticising Hollywood’s obsession with remaking, rebooting and releasing sequels in preference to creating anything new, because though the past couple of years has seen successful reboots of Spider-Man and the X-Men, a mega-selling sequel to Nolan’s Batman franchise and a fantastic new Bond movie, for every success there are a number of crashing failures.

Unfortunately, when it comes to established franchises and properties, critical failure doesn’t always mean commercial failure, and the studios inevitably churn out the next addition, banking on the brand instead of the quality of the films. So we end up with yet another Paranormal Activity sequel, or some other sequel that over-extends the original and either threatens to destroy the legacy of the film or franchise through inevitable poor quality (think Indiana Jones and Star Wars) or appears to have completely missed the point that...

Moviefone's New Release Pick of the Week "Marley" What's It About? "Last King of Scotland" director Kevin Macdonald delivers a comprehensive documentary look at the life of global music icon, Bob Marley. See It Because: By tackling everything in between his birth and death -- including his Jamaican upbringing, his early recordings and his enigmatic personality -- Maconald, along with Marley's family and bandmates, offers perhaps the best, most thorough account of Bob's life that we'll ever receive. Watch an Exclusive Clip from "Marley" - (Also Available on Amazon Instant Video) Moviefone's Blu-ray Pick of the Week "Full Metal Jacket" 25th Anniversary Edition What's It About? Stanley Kubrick tells an intense and harrowing story of young Marines in the Vietnam War, from their days in boot camp to surviving on the battlefield. See It Because: "Full Metal Jacket" has been transferred to the high-def Blu-ray format before, but this...

This week: "The Lorax," the latest Dr. Seuss animated adaptation, features the voices of Zac Efron, Taylor Swift and Danny DeVito as the titular character whose crusty disposition masks a real love for the environment.

Also new this week is the documentary "Marley" about reggae legend Bob Marley, plus anniversary Blu-ray editions of "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" starring Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow, Stanley Kubrick's harrowing war drama "Full Metal Jacket" and Mel Brooks' silly "Star Wars" spoof "Spaceballs."

'The Lorax'

Box Office: $214 million

Rotten Tomatoes: 55% Rotten

Storyline: In this animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss' children's story, 12-year-old Ted (voiced by Zac Efron) tries to impress his next-door crush (voiced by Taylor Swift) by searching for a special tree, only to discover that the natural world is in need of some TLC as well. Danny DeVito voices the grumpy, orange-furred Lorax while Ed Helms...