News Around the Net: June, 2026
Last summer, when I first saw that “one year out” teaser for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, that seemed so far in the future! But now the movie is almost upon us. This phenomenal new trailer has me pumped:
This solid new trailer for Lanterns definitely has me interested in this show:
The duo of Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre looks fantastic. (Is Laura Linney playing Carol Ferris??)
This is a beautiful trailer for the fifth and final season of The Bear:
I love this show so much, and I don’t want it to end! I hope they stick the landing.
This trailer for Motor City, starring Alan Ritchson, Shailene Woodley, and Ben Foster, has my attention:
It’s been a long wait, but we finally got a trailer for the second season of the live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender:
That’s a fine trailer, and as a fan of the animated show, I’m interested to see how they’ve interpreted this part of the story. I thought the first season was enjoyable, even though I questioned why we needed a remake of the pretty-much-perfect original show. Making us wait two long years just to get eight new episodes doesn’t exactly fan the flame of my enthusiasm.
It’s also been a long two-year wait to get a second season of X-Men ’97, but I was so blown away by that first season that I’m more eager to see this:
I cannot wait to watch Barack Obama and Larry David’s crazy-seeming new TV show:
Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness is a great title! I hope this is good!
Netflix’s The Adventures of Cliff Booth — written by Quentin Tarantino, directed by David Fincher, and starring Brad Pitt — will be getting an IMAX run before it drops on Netflix?? Great idea!! Sign me up!
I’m glad that Matt Reeve’s The Batman: Part II is finally moving forward, with this announcement of the main cast. Fascinating that both Scarlett Johansson and Sebastian Stan are moving from Marvel into the DC universe!
Screw the haters: I’m excited for the upcoming Supergirl movie! Click here for an interesting interview with the Supergirl star herself, Milly Alcock.
I was intrigued to read last month about the screening of a much longer “assembly cut” of Joe Dante’s 1983 Gremlins, a movie that I loved dearly as a kid! I hope that is someday released on physical media — I’d love to watch it!
This is a good news/bad news situation: Matt Shakman has been tapped to direct the next Planet of the Apes movie. I’ve been waiting for news about the next Apes movie, and I think Matt Shakman (who directed Fantastic Four: First Steps) is great. BUT that article says this film will not continue the story from 2024’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which I think is a TERRIBLE idea. I thought Kingdom was terrific, and the film ended with an exciting tease for the next movie. I’d be very upset if they abandon that story.
I’m excited that Ryan Coogler’s X-Files reboot show is moving forward, with this announcement of a stacked guest cast. I can’t wait to see this.
I’m also excited that FX’s Very Young Frankenstein TV project is also moving forward! I hope this is great!!
Back to The X-Files: I’m gonna have to watch Chris Carter’s reworked version of the second X-Files movie, I Want to Believe. I’m fascinated that Mr. Carter is working with Disney to release this on streaming, so many years later. When it was released, I thought that film was an enormous disappointment. Is it possible this director’s cut is better? I highly doubt it, but I don’t think I can resist watching it, to find out. There was a time when I loved The X-Files more than anything. I’d love for those days to return, someday.
Boy, did my kids love Sofia the First back in the day; I’m happy for families with young kids that a new iteration of the show is coming.
I’ve enjoyed both seasons of Running Point (my review is coming soon!); if you’re a fan of the show, click here to read this interview with Brenda Song, who plays Ali.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is possibly my favorite Star Trek anything (movie/TV show/etc.), and I think the magnificent, dark score by Cliff Eidelman is a key part of the film’s greatness. So I thoroughly enjoyed reading Film Score Monthly’s look back at this phenomenal score!
I was sad to read of the death of Tom Kane, who so memorably voiced Yoda and the narrator of the opening montages on the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
I was also sad to read of the death of Marcia Lucas, who edited Star Wars and American Graffiti, among other achievements. I am glad that, in recent years, she’s begun to be acknowledged for how much of a critical impact she had on shaping the original Star Wars and making it the near-perfect film it became. (The recent series Icons Unearthed: Star Wars contained extensive interviews with Ms. Lucas that are well-worth watching.)
Anthony Head, who was so memorable in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Ted Lasso, has also left this world too soon. What a loss. (I’m so sad we won’t be able to see more of his character of Rupert in the returning Ted Lasso.)
Finally, before I move onto more pleasant subjects, let me mention the loss of Brown University history professor Gordon S. Wood. Mr. Wood was my favorite teacher at Brown University; his book The Radicalism of the American Revolution is a brilliant piece of work. Film-goers will know his name from the “how about dem apples” scene from Good Will Hunting. (I was in Mr. Wood’s class when that movie came out!!)
Happier news: Batman: Caped Crusader season two is finally coming, this summer! I loved the first season and have been waiting very impatiently for season two.
David Koepp is an incredible screenwriter, and I’d be interested in watching his take on a Westworld movie. Still, rebooting Westworld again, so soon after the HBO show? Seems sort of lame, to me.
In the same category: FOUR Fast and the Furious TV shows are in the works?? Sigh.
I’ve been reading about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desire to make a King Conan movie for decades. Is it actually going to happen?? We’ll see.
Apparently, there’s a Ghostbusters animated TV show coming, called Ghostbusters: Night Shift. It’s too early for me to tell if I’m at all interested in this.
I thought the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was mediocre, but I thought the second season was an improvement. The show isn’t everything I want it to be, but I’m enjoying watching it, and at this point I hope they’re able to tell this complete story. So I’m pleased that season three is finally coming this summer, and they’re apparently already prepping season four.
It’s both fascinating and frustrating to read about the parade of Star Wars movies that people have worked on for the past several years, but that never got made. The latest installment: Damon Lindelof has given some juicy quotes about the Rey movie he worked on for a while. I wish we’d gotten to see it!
I have a brand new comic book, SIGNAL FIRES, and it’s available for order NOW!
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