Mike Sampson is the Editor-in-Chief of ScreenCrush. He studied to become a lawyer and worked as an architectural planner after graduating college but neither of these professions afforded him the opportunity to watch movies and TV for a living. He previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of JoBlo.com for 10 years. He lives in New Jersey and probably spends too much time playing video games and overthinking things.
Mike Sampson
For Some Reason Kids Are Wearing T-Shirts With the Entire ‘Bee Movie’ Script Printed on Them
Bee Movie, the 2007 DreamWorks animated comedy starring Jerry Seinfeld as am anthropomorphic bee named Barry B. Benson who may or may not be in love with a human woman, is not a good movie. Even Seinfeld himself has admitted as much. But THE KIDS THESE DAYS. There is no bad movie they will not fully embrace and turn into a thing. Such is the case with Bee Movie which, over the past few months, has taken on a new life on Tumblr. Back in November, someone posted the entire script of the film on Facebook in text form, and it was shared over 4,000 times. This peculiar obsession has been taken to a new level as now a young girl had the entire text from the Bee Movie script printed on a t-shirt and her Tumblr photo has over 100,000 notes.
A Yoda Cameo Was Cut From ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’
Though Star Wars: The Force Awakens takes place over 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, director J.J. Abrams still found a way to work on some classic characters who had long since passed on. Kylo Ren has a conversation with Darth Vader’s helmet. Obi-Wan speaks to Rey during her Force vision. And, there was one additional cameo that ultimately was cut from the film: Yoda.
Apple Expected to Launch Original Programming With iPhone 7
Every year Apple announces a new iPhone at a big keynote event. Sometimes it’s an incremental update, like the iPhone 6S announced last September. Other times, like this year when Apple will announce the iPhone 7, it’s a big leap forward in technology. While there have been many rumors around the upcoming iPhone 7 (including no more headphone jack and wireless charging), none will be as exciting to movie and TV fans as this news: Apple is expected to make their official foray into original programming when the iPhone 7 launches, competing with both Netflix and Amazon.
Director Colin Trevorrow Wants to Shoot ‘Star Wars: Episode 9’ in Outer Space
Just recently, Star Wars: Episode 9 director Colin Trevorrow attracted some attention when he said that he wanted to shoot the finale of the current Star Wars trilogy on film rather than digital. But, what’s more interesting perhaps, isn’t what he wants to shoot it with, but where he wants to shoot it. Namely, in outer space.
Counterpoint: Scooby-Doo Is Not Dumb
My colleague, “esteemed” film critic Matt Singer, thinks Scooby-Doo is dumb. I know this because he wrote an article about it. You can read that article here, though I suggest you don’t — you’ll just be wasting your time, because Scooby-Doo is not dumb...
Watch the First Trailer For ‘Pee-wee’s Big Holiday’
Since the Judd Apatow produced Pee-wee Herman movie made its move from movie theaters to Netflix (Universal passed on the film and Netflix quickly picked up the rights), we’ve been anxiously awaiting more from the first Pee-wee movie in over 25 years...
Warner Bros. Casts Connie Nielsen as Wonder Woman’s Mom
Though Wonder Woman is currently filming in Italy, the upcoming DC Cinematic Universe (DCCU?) film still had one important part to fill. The role of Wonder Woman’s mother, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Some may have assumed that Robin Wright was playing that part, but it turns out she is not and Warner Bros...
J.J. Abrams Knows Who Rey’s Parents Are Because Duh, He Wrote the Movie
One of the biggest questions following Star Wars: The Force Awakens was that of Rey’s parentage. She could be a Skywalker a Kenobi, a Hutt…we just don’t know. Well at least we don’t know. There’s one guy that knows: J.J. Abrams. Which shouldn’t be a surprise because, duh, J.J. Abrams wrote the movie.
Colin Trevorrow Responds to Fan Petition to Have Him Replaced as ‘Star Wars’ Director
Earlier this month a group of enterprising Star Wars fans started an online petition to … wait, where are you going? I know, I know, it’s the same tired old tale of bemoaned fans trying to rally together to raise support for a fruitless cause, but stay with me. So these Star Wars fans got together and created a Change.org petition all with the purpose of getting Colin Trevorrow booted from his position behind the camera on Star Wars: Episode IX in favor of George Lucas. This will never in a million years ever happen, but that’s not why this is notable. It’s notable because this petition, which almost 25,000 people have signed, got back to Trevorrow himself, who was forced to comment on it in the most awkward of fashions.
Quentin Tarantino Reportedly ‘Serious’ About Bringing ‘The Hateful Eight’ to Broadway
So far, audiences haven’t flocked to Quentin Taratino’s latest film, The Hateful Eight, as they have with his last two films. Both Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained grossed over $120 million, but The Hateful Eight looks like it will be lucky to get to $50 million. This despite the 70mm roadshow version that encouraged audiences to see the film in theaters. A large part of the disappointing box-office take so far, is due in no small part to opening up against Star Wars: The Force Awakens, aka the Biggest Movie of All-Time, but Tarantino is not backing off his latest movie, instead doubling down and moving forward with plans to mount a stage production of his latest movie in London and New York.
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Now Has an Official Music Video and It’s Horrible
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has dominated almost the entire world at this point with over $1.5 billion at the worldwide box-office after just 20 days. But, there’s still one country where the film has yet to open: China. To “help” celebrate the release of the film, Lucasfilm has named LuHan, a former boy-band singer from Beijing, as the “official China Ambassador for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” This means LuHan, a self-described “social media star,” has recorded a brand new Star Wars theme song with the requisite music video, complete with cameos by R2-D2 and BB-8.
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Passes ‘Avatar’ to Become Biggest Movie of All-Time
As was widely expected, Star Wars: The Force Awakens passed Avatar as the highest grossing movie of all-time on Wednesday morning. It was a record many, including George Lucas, thought would never be broken; The Force Awakens did it in just 20 da
Sylvester Stallone Reveals the Plans For a ‘Creed’ Sequel
Creed has been something of a surprise success for Warner Bros. The rare film that is both audiences and critics love and makes money. And you know what that means: SEQUEL TIME!
Here’s Oscar Isaac Playing Bass in a Ska Band in 1996
Before he was Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Oscar Isaac was Oscar Hernandez, a high school kid growing up in Delray Beach, Florida who, like many high school kids, played in a local band. Being the mid-90s, ska-punk was making a resurgence (anyone remember Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake?) and Isaac, a singer, guitarist and bassist, was a big part of the local scene with his bands, The Worms and Blinking Underdogs. Whereas video of most of our crappy high school bands remains buried forever, Oscar Isaac is in the new Star Wars movie, so we did some digging and found video from 1996 of one of his sets at Ray’s Downtown Blues in West Palm Beac
‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’ Looking to Cast Kurt Russell as Peter Quill’s Father
After Matthew McConaughey reportedly turned down a major role in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Marvel and director James Gunn went back to the drawing board, looking to attract a big star for the upcoming sequel. It turns out they may have found their man...
Chinese ‘Star Wars’ Poster Shrinks Black Lead Actor, John Boyega
Despite some early concerns, most would agree that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a diverse film. The three leads are a woman, a black man and a Cuban man. One of the main enemies is a woman. One of the major new characters is played by a black woman. Princess Leia is now General Leia Organa. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s a very solid step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it may have been a little too far in the right direction for some countries. A new Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster from China has been revealed and, despite being one of the two main stars of the film, they’ve shrunk down black actor John Boyega in half.