In Development

The Child Martyr: Rounding out the cast of Jean-Marc Vallee's latest drama are Noah Schnapp ("Stranger Things", Bridge of Spies) and Elsie Fisher (Despicable Me, McFarland, USA). They have been cast as Brie Larson's children from a previous marriage.

101: Rising stars Hailee Steinfeld (Pitch Perfect 2, The Edge of Seventeen) and Ezra Miller (Justice League, Perks of Being a Wallflower) have signed onto to co-star in 101 from writer Mo Buck and director Denis Villeneuve. They will play a young couple held hostage during an incident at their high school.

Mona Lisa: Sami Gayle (Detachment, "Blue Bloods") and Kaitlyn Dever ("Justified", Short Term 12) will finalize the cast of Antonio Campos' new film Mona Lisa. Sami Gayle will play a friend and colleague of Penelope Cruz's, while Dever will play Mickey Rourke's daughter that wants to reconnect with him.

And Then There Were None: The impressive cast of And Then There Were None continues to get more impressive with the additions of Ben Whishaw (Skyfall, The Lobster) and Matthew Goode (Watchmen, The Associate). Whishaw will play Philip Lombard, a soldier of fortune. Goode will play William Blore, a former police inspector turned private investigator.

Dino Crisis: Following the huge success of Creature from the Black Lagoon, director Matt Reeves (War for the Planet of the Apes, Creature from the Black Lagoon) has been hired to direct this video game adaptation from writer Billy Cruder. Frequent blockbuster scene-stealer Karen Gillan (Splinter Cell, Guardians of the Galaxy) has been cast in the lead role, a memberf of a special forces team that must survive a government facility that is overrun with time-displaced dinosaurs.

Velvet: Last Resort Films has optioned Velvet, a script by writer Lon Charles that will reteam director David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises, Cosmopolis) and actor Robert Pattinson (Roanoke, The Lost City of Z). Pattinson will play a US diplomatic employee in Russia that gets caught up in drugs, sex, kidnapping and extortion.

Now Showing: American Psycho the Musical

American Psycho the Musical
Genre: Thriller/Musical
Director: Rupert Goold
Cast: Benjamin Walker, Jennifer Damiano, Colin Donnell, Helene York, Kristen Bell, Steven Pasquale, Cheyenne Jackson, Andrew Rannells, Grant Gustin, Raul Esparza

Plot:  Patrick Bateman (Benjamin Walker) is an investment banker living in New York City at the end of the 1980s. Bateman documents his morning routine, which involves fastidious grooming, tanning and carefully selecting a designer suit, before travelling to Wall Street ("Opening (Morning Routine)"/"Selling Out"). He arrives at Pierce & Pierce, the elite bank for which he works, and is greeted by his secretary, Jean (Jennifer Damiano) ("Everybody Wants to Rule the World"). He inquires about the Fisher account, an exclusive account that is highly sought after by Patrick and his colleagues. Later, Patrick has lunch with his coworkers: Tim Price (Colin Donnell), Craig McDermott (Cheyenne Jackson), Luis Carruthers (Andrew Rannells) and David Van Patten (Grant Gustin). They exchange fashion tips and critique restaurants before another colleague, Paul Owen (Steven Pasquale), enters. Patrick learns that Owen has secured the Fisher account as well as reservations at Dorsia, New York's most exclusive new restaurant. Patrick attempts to save face by showing everyone his new business card, which leads Owen to show his ("Cards"). Owen mistakes Patrick as Marcus Halberstam, another coworker of Bateman's. Patrick then invites him to his birthday dinner, thrown by his girlfriend Evelyn Williams (Zosia Mamet) and Courtney Lawrence (Helene York), her best friend and Luis Carruthers' girlfriend. Patrick calls Evelyn, telling her about Owen coming to the party. Evelyn hates the idea of having an odd number at her table, so Patrick also invites Jean to appease her ("You Are What You Wear").

Patrick and Price arrive at Evelyn's townhouse late, which irritates Evelyn. Over dinner, the party blandly pontificate about social and political issues. After dinner, Patrick and Price go to a club, where they dance and do cocaine. Suddenly overcome with despair and an awareness of the hollowness of his existence, Patrick leaves the club and angrily vows to never go clubbing again. ("True Faith"/"Killing Time"/"In the Air Tonight"). Patrick meets a homeless man on the street, offering him money before taunting him and killing him.

At the gym, Patrick's coworkers work out and comment on the physiques of their female instructors. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Patrick is having an affair with Courtney. After having sex, Courtney decides to end the affair, telling a dismissive Patrick that they are betraying their respective partners. He meets his friends at the gym and attempts to strangle Luis in the steamroom. Luis misinterprets Patrick's actions as a sexual advance. Patrick flees. During the intermission of a showing of Les Misérables, Evelyn broaches the subject of marriage with Patrick.

Patrick heads to the Meatpacking District and picks up a prostitute named Christine, introducing himself to her as Paul Owen. He hires another prostitute named Sabrina and pays the two to engage in violent, sadistic sex with one another and with him ("Not A Common Man"). Patrick escorts his mother to Evelyn's Christmas party, where he binges on drugs and alcohol ("Mistletoe Alert"). He runs into Paul Owen at the party and invites him back to his apartment. The two dance to "Hip to be Square". Patrick spikes Owen's drink, puts on a raincoat and begins a long one-sided analysis of the artistic and commercial merits of the band Huey Lewis and the News. Patrick then beheads Owen with an ax.

Patrick takes Owen's body to an apartment he owns anonymously and dissolves it in a bathtub with a bag of lime. Afterwards, he lets himself into Paul's apartment and stages his disappearance by resetting his voicemail and packing many of his possessions into a suitcase ("Clean"). Months pass, during which Patrick murders several people ("Killing Spree"). One afternoon, Detective Donald Kimball (Raul Esparza) calls on Patrick to question him about Owen's disappearance. Uneasy, Patrick tries his hardest to evade questioning and asks Kimball to keep him updated about the manhunt. Patrick calls Evelyn and suggests a holiday, and so the two take a short break in the Hamptons. The idyllic setting cannot heal Patrick's psyche, however; while Evelyn flourishes amid garden parties and Pilates classes, Patrick's grasp on reality loosens further ("At The End of An Island"). He promises Evelyn that if they return to New York he will marry her. On his return, he appropriates Paul Owen's apartment as a place to host and kill more victims, beginning with Sabrina and Christine ("I Am Back").

Luis runs into Patrick at a Barneys store and begs Patrick to run away with him. Patrick responds aggressively, assaulting Luis. With his appetite for murder now totally unchecked, Patrick targets Jean, offering to take her to dinner at a restaurant of her choice. His sense of inferiority is piqued once again when she suggests Dorsia, where he is still unable to get reservations. Patrick gives Jean the rest of the day off and she wonders about her feelings for Patrick ("A Girl Before"). At Patrick's apartment that night, the pair discuss her hopes and aspirations. As he is preparing to murder her, Jean tells Patrick that she is in love with him. Her confession causes him great distress and he implores her to leave. He leaves a long voicemail for Kimball confessing to the murder of Paul Owen and countless other people.

The next morning, Jean apologizes to Patrick for what happened the night before. He forgives her and tells her that he will be recommending her for a junior executive program. Tim Price unexpectedly arrives at Patrick's office, having been AWOL from Pierce & Pierce since Bateman's birthday. Patrick asks him where he's been; Price responds by saying that he's been in New York the whole time, but their paths haven't crossed. He also asks Patrick about Paul Owen's disappearance.

Patrick and Evelyn have their engagement party at Tunnel nightclub ("Don't You Want Me"). Patrick is noticeably ill at ease and is desperate to go to dinner. Price says he is able to get reservations at Dorsia, which impresses the guests. Patrick sees Kimball at the bar and approaches him, asking him about the voicemail confession. Kimball breaks into laughter, stating that he found Patrick's joke hilarious, despite Bateman's protestations that the confessions were genuine. Kimball tells Patrick that his narrative of what happened to Owen is impossible, as Owen is in fact in London; Kimball allegedly had dinner with him there twice. The next day, Patrick goes to Paul Owen's apartment, expecting it to be full of decomposing bodies and cordoned off by the police. Instead, he finds the apartment vacant and in pristine condition; the real estate agent, Mrs Wolfe, deflects all of Patrick's questions about Paul Owen and the bodies that were left in the apartment, before asking him to leave and never return. He marries Evelyn and resigns himself to a pointless existence in which the punishment and notoriety that he craves will forever be denied him. ("This Is Not An Exit").

Release: Lucky Luke and the Daltons

Lucky Luke and the Daltons
Genre: Western/Comedy
Director: Taika Waititi
Writer: Harry Wright
Based on the Lucky Luke comic series by Morris
Cast: Paul Rudd, John Cusack, Zach Galifianakis, Charlie Day, Peter Dinklage, Diana Rigg



Budget: $43,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $79,919,024
Foreign Box Office: $88,662,991
Total Profit: $179,712,217

Reaction: The comedic genre hasn't especially worked out for us as a studio so far, and the western genre is well past its peak in worldwide popularity, but thankfully the all-star cast of this film put butts in the seats.

"While the film is well-shot and features a highly talented cast, it ultimately isn't very funny. And isn't that the point of a comedy?" - Jeremy Raren, RottenTomatoes.com

"All the pieces of a good movie are on and behind the screen, but it really just falls shorter than Peter Dinklage's character." - James Tubbs Jr., Vice Magazine

"While light on the comedy, this western farce delivers family-friendly yucks from an all-star cast." - Jeff Stockton, Deseret News

Now Showing: Lucky Luke and the Daltons

Lucky Luke and the Daltons
Genre: Western/Comedy
Director: Taika Waititi
Writer: Harry Wright
Based on the Lucky Luke comic series by Morris
Cast: Paul Rudd, John Cusack, Zach Galifianakis, Charlie Day, Peter Dinklage, Diana Rigg

Plot: The Dalton brothers: Joe (John Cusack), William (Zach Galifianakis), Jack (Charlie Day) and Averall (Peter Dinklage), are notorious bank robbers all over the far west. They have numerous bounties on their heads. Everything looks to be working for them, except for one thing : they can't beat the famous Lucky Luke (Paul Rudd), the man who shoots faster than his shadow. No matter where they are, they can't seem to be able to get rid of Lucky Luke. He always wins against them. One day, as they were trying to rob the biggest bank in the west, Lucky Luke came and threw them in jail unceremoniously.

After many shenanigans, the Daltons managed to escape. With nowhere to go, they ran to their hometown, somewhere far away from the prison and that damn Lucky Luke. A peculiar old lady (Diana Rigg) was waiting for them as they arrived. She reveals to them that she was their long lost mother. Together, they prepare their big comeback : they want to rob the town's saloon.

They go to the saloon on a Monday morning, to avoid the weekend folks and to steal all the money they made over the course of the last two days. However, they're unable to rob the saloon because of their clumsiness and because of that damn Lucky Luke who was able to find them and ridicule the Dalton brothers again. They go back to their mama to heal their broken egos.

Back home, Ma Dalton suggests to her boys that she, of all people, at 80 year old, should take care of Lucky Luke. She reminds them about their bad outing at the saloon and they reluctantly accept her offer to join them in their next robbery : the local grocery store.

At the grocery store, Ma takes control of the situation and she manages to get all the money in the store be herself. When they try to get out, Lucky Luke's waiting for them, but Ma Dalton's able to send him away. The Daltons then start to rob all kinds of stores with the unexpected help from their old mother. They make their way up the robbery chain and they start to gain more and more money from bigger stores and shops, with Ma Dalton coming with a plan to get rid of good old Lucky Luke each and every time.

The Daltons somehow managed their way to the same bank that started all the events of the past few weeks, only this time, Lucky Luke was more ready than ever to finally catch the Daltons again. The small group of robbers started their usual business without a single sign of Lucky Luke. However, he takes them by surprise as they were getting out and he managed to get all the Daltons, except old Ma who managed to get away. The Daltons curse as they see their old mother ride away with all their money.

Release: Trigger

Trigger
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Peter Weir
Writer: Jack Ryder
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Naseeruddin Shah, Adrien Brody, Aasif Mandvi, Sakina Jaffrey, Anupam Kher, Chadwick Boseman


Budget: $50,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $67,769,094
Foreign Box Office: $63,727,597
Total Profit: $31,468,808

Reaction: Strong box office for an American film with a primarily Indian cast. It was a substantial budget increase over our last film, a bit more than we wanted to spend on the film, frankly. But we trusted Peter Weir behind the camera, especially considering he has five Academy Award nominations over his last six films.

"While cast is hit-or-miss, and some struggle with their English in certain scenes, Peter Weir's direction holds everything together more than adequately." - Allen Poole, AV Club

"Not even a strong comeback performance from Adrien Brody can rescue Trigger, which explores complex issues in woefully simplified terms." - Mark Rawls, Seattle Times

"Peter Weir reminds everyone that he is an expert craftsman of a director. He manages to keep things moving swiftly, which helps distract from Suraj Sharma's dull lead performance. Was Dev Patel busy?" - Gillian Donaldson, Variety

Now Showing: Trigger

Trigger
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Peter Weir
Writer: Jack Ryder
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Naseeruddin Shah, Adrien Brody, Aasif Mandvi, Sakina Jaffrey, Anupam Kher, Chadwick Boseman

Plot: Asif Zubair (Suraj Sharma) an engineer was looking forward to his life in the future with a doctorate in mind but after multiple rejections from his desired colleges. He is shown the dark side of the life by the peace loving I organization he works at which was run by Salim (Naseeruddin Shah) and Yousuf (Adrien Brody). They subjected him to see an biased side of hate towards Muslims from the westerners, they offered him to join the Jihad against them and fight this hate. Asif's life turned upside down after this revelations and he was not the same.

After another terrorist attack in some other country Asif had a furious debate with his parents and uncle, Rashid (Aasif Mandvi), Razia (Sakina Jaffrey) and Uzair (Anupam Kher). He was confused was he is in the right side or the wrong side. After the debate he accepts the offer from Salim and Yousuf.

After months of training on different aspects like guns, bombs and stealth in hills in the third world. He returns back to America where he was included in a plan for the biggest attack from the terrorist organization on the American soil. He is going to be the suicide bomber that will trigger a chain of actions.

Asif decides what I organization is offering is wrong and before he accepts the offer they gave, he talks with FBI Agent Joseph (Chadwick Boseman), with him who hatched a plan to know about their hide outs, training centers and their mission. With continuous communication between Asif and Joseph, Agent Joseph was successful in leading the biggest attack against terrorism.

Breaking News

Following the breakout success of Blue Beetle, Last Resort Films has been snatching up comic book and superhero pitches left and right. The studio already has another DC Comics adaptation on the way this season with The Question, but they could release (at least) three big-budget superhero films during Season 3. Jack Ryder (The Banded Ants, Share) has been developing a film based around Marvel Comics' Inhumans, while Phil Dolan has greenlit a Silver Surfer movie from Without Remorse scribe Mark Newton, and the studio is working on a Hawkman film with Blue Beetle writer APJ. Needless to say, Last Resort Films is betting big on superheroes for the next couple of seasons.