Illumination Entertainment, the maker of Despicable Me and the upcoming Minions movie, has a new animated comedy in the works about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day. The first teaser trailer, embedded above, does a fantastic job of setting the scene featuring Illumination’s slick animation style and signature humor. An overarching plot isn’t being divulged just yet, but that doesn’t even matter–The Secret Life of Pets is sure to draw audiences of all ages to its adorable collection of cats and dogs and video game savvy birds. The stacked voice cast includes Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Jenny Slate, Bobby Moynihan, Hannibal Buress, and Albert Brooks.
Here we have the second teaser for AMC’s upcoming prequel spinoff Fear the Walking Dead. At a brisk 30-seconds in length, it stars Frank Dillane (young Tom Riddle from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) running away from…something. Of course, the first thing that should come to mind is WALKER! If that’s the case, this must be a fast sucker. Remember, Fear takes place during the early days of the zombie apocalypse, before the corpse’s have had time to properly decay. So for a walker chasing somebody at this pace in Fear, it makes sense. OR, it could be a crazy ex-boyfriend, or a dad. Notice how Dillane’s character’s shirt is completely unbuttoned and his pants are falling to his knees? All signs point to a quit exit from a bedroom…I’m just saying!
When Secrets and Lies returns for its second season next year, it will do so without Ryan Phillippe’s protagonist Ben Crawford. In fact, the entire cast from the ABC investigative thriller will not be returning for season 2, except for one. From the get-go, showrunner Barbie Kligman defined Secrets & Lies to be an anthology series in a similar vein to American Horror Story: each season will take place in a new location, with a new set of characters and a new crime to be solved by Detective Andrea Cornell. Juliette Lewis, who embodies the cold-as-ice investigator, reprises her role to bridge the gap between seasons.
Looking for intel on season 2? Deadline reports that Detective Cornell will be focusing on Eric Warner–played by Michael Ealy–and the investigation into his wife’s murder. “Smart, well-educated and hard working, Warner is at the top of his game — he’s the heir apparent to his family’s private equity firm in Charlotte, NC, newly married to “the one” and walking on air. Eric is attending a party to honor dad passing over the reins when suddenly tragedy strikes — his wife Kate is murdered, and life, as he knows it, is over.”
Ealy is fresh off his villainous turn in Fox’s final season of The Following; he played serial killer Theo. Or, you might remember him as compassionate synthetic Dorian from Fox’s short-lived Almost Human.
Secrets and Lies returns in midseason to ABC.
PS- If you watched the first season, you may have missed out on a juicy bonus scene that exclusively debuted online following the finale. It’s called “14 Months Later” and it stars Crawford’s best friend Dave and daughter Natalie celebrating her 18th birthday. Cornell, of course, makes a sizzling appearance.
As is tradition for Nintendo now, the house that built Mario did not commit to a stage for its E3 briefing but instead hosted its very own “Digital Event” on YouTube. Every year Nintendo has an obscene amount of fun with their E3 events, and this year’s hour-long showcase was no different. The theme this go-around was puppets. That’s right–company President and CEO Satoru Iwata, Nintendo of America’s President and COO Reggie Fils-Amie, and influencial Ninty game producer Shigeru Miyamoto all took the form of puppets for the 2015 Digital Event. If you fancy yourself a Nintendo fanboy or fangirl, you cracked up along with me when Fils-Amie was introduced by performing (Nintendo) 64 push-ups and proclaiming, “My puppet body is ready!”
The entirety of Ninty’s Digital Event was comprised of game unveilings and the introduction of some new amiibo figures. Fils-Amie let loose pretty early on that the company would not be discussing its next console codenamed NX; expect more information regarding it next year. 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros., so there’s more pressing game-related announcements at hand! For the full breakdown of games coming soon to Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, jump after the break. Continue reading E3 2015: Nintendo wields nostalgia factor to celebrate 30 years of Mario (also, Star Fox is coming!)→
Sony is second to show off its latest wares at E3 2015. Following Microsoft’s impressive lineup of first and third party games coming to Xbox One this year and beyond, was Sony about to keep up and keep the hits coming? Jump after the break for the full rundown. Continue reading E3 2015: Sony relies on classic franchises to invigorate the PS4→
It’s always fun when gamers attempt to recreate their favorite games in real life. But I haven’t ever stumbled across something like this before: special effects production house Digital Corridor has imagined what Grand Theft Auto would look like if that crazy happenings from the game went down in the real world. From stealing bikes and cars to a bloody gunfight in the street, “Real GTA” makes the game a surreal reality, tongue-in-cheek the entire time. Enjoyed the clip? Click here to see how they made it.
If you’ve been wondering about The Leftovers, you’re not alone. The gripping and sometimes downright depressing HBO drama premiered last summer, specifically on June 29. Up to this point there has been no word as to when season 2 would officially premiere. But now, thanks to this teaser, we now know that the show will return in the fall.
But why the wait? HBO hasn’t commented on that, but it’s easy to speculate. The first season of The Leftovers was based on Tom Perrotta’s book of the same name and it covered the events that unfolded in it all the way to the end. So now, Perrotta and fellow executive producer Damon Lindelof have to dream up all new source material for the series going into season two. In fact, it’s been made public already that the show is undergoing a major creative reboot: the location is moving from Mapleton, New York to a suburb in Texas; additionally, the cast is being gutted and lots of new faces are coming aboard. Confirmed to return include Justin Theroux (Kevin Garvey, Jr.), Amy Brenneman (Garvey’s wife Laurie), Margaret Qualley (Garvey daughter Jill), Chris Zylka (Laurie’s son Tommy), Christopher Eccleston (former reverend Matt Jamison), and Carrie Coon (Matt’s sister Nora Durst). Mysteriously missing like The Departed are Liv Tyler (Megan from the Guilty Remnant), Emily Meade (Jill’s friend Aimee), Max and Charlie Carver (the identical twins), Annie Q. (Holy Wayne’s groupie Christine), and the incomparable Ann Dowd (Guilty Remnant leader Patti).
In our first look at season two, this teaser introduces the town of Jarden, Texas–the one place on Earth where the Sudden Departure hasn’t claimed the lives of its residents…yet. Hence the major build-up of cars: everyone and their mother wants to reside in this place where loved ones aren’t mysteriously vanishing in thin air.
The mere fact that HBO is bringing The Leftovers back for more begs the questions again: Will Perrotta and Lindelof start delving into the overarching mysterious and answering the Big Questions: What happens to the Departed, and why were they chosen to go while others are forced to stay? Perrotta famously did not answer these questions in his novel, and season one obviously didn’t either. In a new place with a (mostly) new cast, perhaps The Leftovers will begin to satiate its intrigued fanbase with some answers.
Carlton Cuse’s vision for a five-season tale of watching Norman Bates become Psycho is right on track. Today A&E officially renewed its creeptastic drama Bates Motelfor two more seasons. Upcoming seasons 4 and 5 will each consist of 10 episodes, no change there. Cuse, along with co-showrunner Kerry Ehrin, have shared with critics and fans that they’d hope to tell this finite story across (at least) five seasons, and now that the network is fully on board with that plan, viewers don’t have to worry one bit about full resolution (er, evolution) come the series finale.
“The vision of our incredible creative team has exposed the steady breakdown of the relationship between Norman and Norma Bates,” said Rob Sharenow, Executive Vice President and General Manager of A&E, in a statement. “We are thrilled to bring fans two more seasons to witness the next stages of Norman’s transformation into the most notorious psychopath in cinematic history.”
Elsewhere at A&E, Cuse’s other drama The Returned has been cancelled and will not be coming back for a second season. Though the premise intrigued in its dealings with loved ones returning from the dead, it did so without the finesse and grace of ABC’s ill-fated Resurrection; that show went on to see a second season and then fizzled out.
As the “more 24” rumor mill continues to spin following the successful run of the franchise’s event series 24: Live Another Day, it’s about time we heard direct from the source regarding the series’ future. Star Kiefer Sutherland, who has played the iconic terrorist hunter Jack Bauer ten times now–across eight seasons, a TV movie, and LAD, is hanging up his gun. Or rather, he’s handing it off to young blood. In an interview with Deadline, Sutherland openly discussed where 24 may be headed in the not-so-distant future.
“I’m not coming back to do 24 because there are other things I want to do. And when they said limited-series run [re: Live Another Day], I meant it. But I’ve always felt, from Season 1 on, that 24 is such a great idea that this can go on forever. I think if you create a new cast or other characters in the telling of this story, it will bring a freshness. And let’s face it there’s only so many bad days one can have before the show becomes a mad comic. And what I don’t want it to be is a mad comic…it doesn’t rule out to one having a cameo.”
So! 24 will likely live to see another day, but this time around it will feature a new bad-ass leader at the helm. And, if we’re lucky, Sutherland will show up again as Bauer to literally hand the baton to his successor. But first, someone has to break him out of Russia firm grip! Also, can 24 exist without Jack Bauer fully involved in the day’s predicaments? Sound off! #BringTonyBack
Bringing “Bombshell” to Broadway was a Smashing success. After amassing a whopping $318,120 for the non-profit Actors Fund on Kickstarter, the short-lived NBC musical drama Smash brought its Marilyn Monroe musical-within-a-show “Bombshell” to actual Broadway for a one-night limited engagement.
Though the star-studded concert featuring songs from Smash‘s “Bombshell” was not recorded in full due to legal reasons, Broadway.com managed to capture bits and pieces from it. Above, see Christian Borle and Debra Messing introduce the score for the musical “they wrote” in the show as songwriting partners Julia Houston and Tom Levitt. You’ll see snippets of Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee belting out hit songs from “Bombshell” including “Big Finish” and of course “Let Me Be Your Star.” After you’ve finished with this clip, jump after the break for two more! And if you’re interested in getting a full breakdown of the night, check out EW‘s inside scoop.
Obviously there’s interest not only to bring Smash back but also to get “Bombshell” as a mainstay on B’way. Though the former is likely to never happen, the latter has a glimmer of hope. Musical co-writer and director Scott Wittman shared his enthusiasm with EW to possibly make that happen: “The songs have such a life, and [on YouTube there are covers by] everyone from a drag bar in Atlanta to a 14-year-old boy in his bedroom to high school choirs and marching bands. I know there’s a life out there for it somewhere.” He added, “Even though Smash didn’t have enough viewers to allow NBC to continue it, it was still millions of people. Millions of people were hearing these songs every week, and that’s a lot of people!”
Smash executive producer Neil Meron built on top of that: “Of course we’d love to see Bombshell have a life on the stage. But we’d also like to catch our breath and then see where everyone is at.” Even Debra Messing thinks, “There’s a real musical there” and Katharine McPhee says, “[Bombshell] would make a great Broadway show. You never know.” Continue reading ‘Smash’s “Bombshell” explodes on Broadway, see clips from the concert inside→
Looking to add to your TV series-inspired alcoholic beverage collection? Blue Ice Vodka has you covered with its brand new Breaking Bad inspired vodka appropriately and simply named Heisenberg. Three special edition bottles of Heisenberg by Blue Ice Vodka will be made available for a limited time this summer; the bottles will feature famous quotes from the AMC hit series including “The One Who Knocks,” “Tread Lightly,” and “Say My Name.” Gotta catch ’em all!
Blue Ice Vodka is handcrafted in Idaho and the company prides itself on its premium, all-natural ingredients and its patented five-stage filtration process “making it among the purest products in the marketplace.” Walter White would be proud.
Even Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan shared his excitement over this fun collaboration. “The Dude had his White Russians, the Blues Brothers had their Night Train… and now Heisenberg has his very own Blue Ice Vodka! I’m counting on our fans to use it in the creation of a great many delicious cocktails. I’m getting thirsty just thinking about it.”
If you don’t want to wait for Heisenberg to hit the shelves, you can order the special edition bottles online today at Reserve Bar; the bottles go for $27 a pop, or you can buy the bundle of three for $81. Watch the official commercial for it after the break; fans of the series will get a kick out of it since it borrows the animations and styling of the show’s iconic opening credits. ¡Salud!
