Jordan Peele-produced sports horror movie, ‘Him,’ gets a trailer
Universal
The new trailer for the Jordan Peele-produced sports horror film Him leaves it all on the field.
Marlon Wayans stars as a championship quarterback who offers to train a rising football star played by Tyriq Withers. But as we see in the teaser, his means of achieving success may have sinister consequences.
“If you want to transcend the game, you have to dig deep,” Wayans’ character says in the trailer. “Your mind and your body have to be in sync. Talent is how hard you’re willing to work. No days off. No sleep. We grind. I’m never good enough … that’s how great people think.”
He continues, “So you’re gonna have to ask yourself: what am I willing to sacrifice?”
The film, directed by Justin Tipping, also stars Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies, Akeem Hayes and Tierra Whack. It hits theaters Sept. 19.
Hacks has been renewed for a fifth season. The comedy series has scored the renewal for season 5 on Max ahead of the season 4 finale, which debuts on Thursday. The show won the Emmy for outstanding comedy series for its third season and has garnered 48 Emmy nominations overall. Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky created the show, which stars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder …
Peacock has announced the season 3 cast of its reality competition series House of Villains. The show, which is hosted by JoelMcHale, brings 11 reality all-stars together to compete for the chance to win $200,000 and the title of America’s Ultimate Supervillain. Tiffany “New York” Pollard returns for her third season, this time joining Tom Sandoval, Christine Quinn and more …
Season 2 of The Gentlemen has officially begun production. The Netflix series, which is inspired by the Guy Ritchie film of the same name, follows Theo James‘ Eddie. Season 2 follows Eddie as he has just become the new Duke of Halstead. KayaScodelario and Daniel Ings also return for season 2, which has yet to announce its release date …
A New York judge has declared a mistrial on the third-degree rape count in Harvey Weinstein‘s sex crimes retrial on Thursday, after the jury foreman refused to return to deliberate.
The foreman had told Judge Curtis Farber on Wednesday that he was afraid to be in the same room with fellow jurors after he claimed they yelled at him to try to change his mind.
Asked if he would be willing to go back to the deliberation room Thursday, the foreman said, “No, I’m sorry.” Farber then dismissed the remaining jurors.
The former movie mogul was accused of sexually assaulting three women over a decade ago in New York City.
The mistrial comes a day after the jury convicted Weinstein on one count of criminal sex act involving Mimi Haley and acquitted him of another count of criminal sex act involving Kaja Sokola.
The third count related to an alleged assault on aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013.
All three women have publicly come forward and testified during the trial.
Farber said he spoke to the remaining jurors, who told him they were “disappointed” they did not get to render a verdict on the third count.
“I will say they were extremely disappointed that deliberations ended before they reached a verdict,” Farber said.
The judge also said the remaining jurors did not describe anything like the discord and threats recounted by the foreman.
“They all thought they were involved in a normal discourse, and they don’t understand why the foreperson bowed out,” Farber said.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office immediately signaled it is ready to try Weinstein again on the rape count.
An attorney for Weinstein, Arthur Aidala, said they plan to appeal the conviction in the retrial.
“We have very powerful evidence that there was gross juror misconduct at this trial,” Aidala told reporters outside the courthouse. “None of us have ever heard of that where a jury is so intimidated a grown man who was in good physical shape in his late 30s saying, I’m afraid to go back into the deliberating room.”
“If that doesn’t cast doubt on the verdicts here, I don’t know what would. This is not over,” he said.
Aidala further alleged jury misconduct, saying they found out that jurors were considering evidence not admitted at trial.
The foreperson told the judge on Monday that jurors were discussing Weinstein’s past, according to a transcript of the closed encounter in the judge’s chambers. When the judge summoned the entire jury that day, he reminded them to discuss only the evidence presented at trial and to be cordial.
Weinstein was being retried for sexually assaulting Haley and Mann after his earlier conviction was overturned on appeal. He was also charged with sexually assaulting Sokola, who was not part of the first trial.
Prosecutors said Weinstein “preyed” on the three women as “he held unfettered power for over 30 years” in Hollywood, while the defense countered the producer did not coerce the women and claimed they were using him for his connections.
Weinstein, 73, pleaded not guilty and has said his sexual encounters were consensual. He did not testify during the trial.
If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.
“Final Destination is such an amazing treat for directors, because really at the end of the day it’s the filmmaking that comes for these characters,” says co-director Zach Lipovsky.
The series adheres to a strict formula: a group of characters survive a near-death experience, then must contend with death itself as it comes back to finish the job.
“There’s no personified antagonist, there’s no man with a knife or a monster or anything like that,” Lipovsky tells ABC Audio.
Final Destination is known for elaborately staged kills, often triggered by something as benign as condensation on a paper cup, or a load of logs on a tractor-trailer.
“We often start with this idea of what it is that we can ruin for people,” says Lipovsky. “What are objects that we all experience throughout our daily life that we could put into the film in a way that will horrify people to no end every time they see that object in the rest of their lives?”
Many of Bloodlines’ gory effects are done without the help of computer effects, which star Kaitlyn Santa Juana says helped her performance.
“It’s so much easier when there are literally limbs flying everywhere!” she says.
Bloodlines marks 25 years since the first Final Destination hit theaters, and in that time the franchise has garnered a rabid fanbase.
“I was a little bit nervous to do right by them because that was really important to me — that we make a film for the fans,” says star Teo Briones. “And I think we achieved that.”
The film also features one of the final performances from horror legend Tony Todd, who’s appeared in nearly every FinalDestination film. Todd passed away last year, and Bloodlines is dedicated to him.