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The obsessives' guide to contemporary cinema via film discussion, news, reviews, features, nostalgia, movie music, soundtracks, DVDs and more.

Interviews

'Iron Man 3' Writer Drew Pearce To Pen 'Mission: Impossible 5,' Filming To Kick Off In The Fall

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 15, 2013 8:59 AM
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0 Comments

News

Want to know the secret to becoming Hollywood's hottest screenwriter? It turns out all you have to do is write a British superhero sitcom that no one watches. At least that's how U.K. scribe Drew Pearce broke through; he was behind the excellent but little-seen ITV2 show "No Heroics" a few years back, and now he's seemingly writing every blockbuster in theaters.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 6, 2013 6:17 PM
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4 Comments

Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

News

While the varying results of "Rock Of Ages," "Jack Reacher" and "Oblivion" may suggest that Tom Cruise isn't always a guaranteed box office draw, at least within the franchise of "Mission: Impossible" he's unstoppable. "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol" was the highest grossing of the bunch, reaching nearly $700 million worldwide, almost $150 million more than the next most successful effort, "Mission: Impossible II." Naturally, Paramount didn't waste any time in putting a sequel into development, and while that was over a year ago, the project is now beginning to come back to life.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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February 6, 2013 11:42 AM
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2 Comments

News

It's probably safe to say that "Jack Reacher" didn't quite do the business that Paramount was hoping for. After Tom Cruise took "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol" to nearly $700 million worldwide, we can't blame anyone for thinknig that the actor had rebounded from bad publicity and middling efforts like "Knight & Day." So he was put in the lead of "Jack Reacher," a potential franchise starter that will likely wind up with nearly $200 million worldwide. Profitable for sure, but with Asian audiences essentially deciding if the series lives or dies, it's not the outing everyone involved was hoping for. Which brings us to Christopher McQuarrie...

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 26, 2013 9:55 AM
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9 Comments

News

Happy New Year, J.J. Abrams! As January winds to a close, the events of the past week have basically suggested that Abrams is essentially the new Steven Spielberg. Last night, Disney officially confirmed the news that J.J. Abrams has signed on to direct "Star Wars: Episode 7" (see press release below). But of course the big question is what becomes of Abrams' relationship with Paramount?

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 14, 2012 12:35 PM
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1 Comment

News

The last few years have marked something of a comeback for writer-director Christopher McQuarrie. He was the toast of the town after penning one of the more acclaimed screenplays of the 1990s with "The Usual Suspects," winning an Academy Award for his trouble. But he found it tricky to follow that success; his directorial debut, 2000's "The Way of the Gun," wasn't nearly as well received, and finding it difficult to get his work greenlit, was on the verge of quitting the business. Still, he got there in the end, reuniting with 'Suspects' director Bryan Singer for 2008's "Valkyrie," and that turned everything around.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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April 18, 2012 10:00 AM
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11 Comments

Features

Early this week, Brad Bird confirmed, via an interview with Crave, what many had long-assumed: despite "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" being the most successful of the franchise to date, the Pixar veteran wouldn't be returning for another crack at the Tom Cruise-led spy series, saying that "I think that one of the things that’s fun about the series is that they always pull in a different director and try to get a different kind of take on the premise."

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 9, 2012 12:23 PM
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1 Comment

News

With the absolutely monster success of "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" proving with its $679 million worldwide gross (the best of the series so far) that there is still plenty of fuel left in the tank, it did not take long for sequel talk to start. In fact, it was only a few days after the opening weekend that word first started being kicked around about a potential new installment, and indeed more official confirmation reveals that is definitely the plan.