Tribeca Film Festival’s lineup is announced; Northman co-writer Sjón lists the traits of a proper Viking Saga; Jason Momoa is set for Minecraft, and the project’s director might surprise you. Also, we examine The Ringer‘s best rom-com list and Julia Roberts explains why she took a 20-year break from the genre that made her famous. All in today’s Movie News Rundown.
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The Northman Roots: Director Robert Eggers, co-writer Sjón (who also co-wrote Lamb), and cinematographer Jarin Blaschke share what went into the intense research and more-intense production of their bloody Viking Saga, The Northman. Sjón lists a few key touchstones of the Nordic genre. These include “at least one good encounter with the undead,” a body mutilation, and “a good proper betrayal.”
Tribeca Lineup: This year’s just-announced Tribeca Film Festival lineup includes 110 features and 43 shorts, and the 12-day festival, which begins June 8, opens and closes with documentaries. Up first is Halftime, which “offers an intimate peek behind the curtain revealing the grit and determination that makes Jennifer Lopez the icon she is,” according to Tribeca. Loudmouth, a documentary on the Reverend Al Sharpton, closes the festival on June 18. Here’s the full lineup.
Dracula Killed: Karyn Kusama was working on a Dracula movie with Blumhouse and Miramax, but The Hollywood Reporter says the project is no longer moving forward. “Miramax is said to have exited, torpedoing what would have been a modern take on the mythos,” THR reports. The modern-day take on the centuries-old vampire was to take place in Los Angeles, where Kusama’s last film Destroyer was set. Robert Eggers empathizes.
From the Computer Monitor to the Big Screen: My niece’s favorite video game is getting a film adaptation, The Hollywood Reporter says. Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess is set to direct Minecraft, with Jason Momoa starring. Warner Bros. has been working on an adaptation of the extremely popular game for years now.
A Brief History of Minecraft: “Minecraft debuted in 2011 and allows players to use blocks to create structures and worlds. The game became a sensation, reaching 100 million users just a few years after launch and helping spark Microsoft to acquire Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014,” THR writes. I knew the game was popular but, Wow.
Julia Roberts’ Return: It’s been four years since the A-list movie star starred in Ben is Back and the Amazon series Homecoming, but she returns in a few days in the Starz mini-series Gaslit. For the occasion, she sat down with the New York Times for a charming, illuminating interview. This fall, Roberts will return to the rom-com genre for the first time in 20 years with Ticket to Paradise, which co-stars George Clooney and is directed by Ol Parker. On her conspicuous absence from the rom-com genre, Roberts is candid: “People sometimes misconstrue the amount of time that’s gone by that I haven’t done a romantic comedy as my not wanting to do one. If I had read something that I thought was that Notting Hill level of writing or My Best Friend’s Wedding level of madcap fun, I would do it. They didn’t exist until this movie that I just did that Ol Parker wrote and directed.”
Roberts Also Says: “What I’ve learned is that you always want to do what you’re not doing. Whenever I’m in a comedy, I think I just want to be at a table with a cup of tea sobbing over something. Then you’re doing that, and you think, ‘Oh to be wearing a pretty dress and laughing.'”
Best Rom-Coms: Speaking of rom-coms, The Ringer has published its list of the 50 best romantic comedies in movie history. Before you get riled up about the list’s lack of older films, lack of Black rom-coms, and peculiar declaration that Annie Hall winning four Oscars was one of “five undeniable tentpole moments” in the genre, even though Annie Hall isn’t on the final list… just know that Twitter got there first.
What’s Your Favorite Rom-Com? Let us know in the comments. I don’t know if I’d consider Groundhog Day a traditional “rom-com,” but it made The Ringer‘s list and would be my pick.
Main image: Jason Momoa, star of the forthcoming Minecraft, in London in 2017. Courtesy of Shutterstock.
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