People are already questioning if the TikTok sale was worth it for Oracle after the Trump administration decided to step in to broker the deal, along with announcing that a cut for them would be ‘nice.’ Once Trump stepped in, it stopped being a traditional sale, and the ‘winning’ company may have some big regrets down the road.
Oracle was chosen over Microsoft as the American tech partner that could help keep the popular video-sharing app running in the U.S., according to a source familiar with the deal who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.
Microsoft announced Sunday that its bid to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations was rejected, removing the tech giant from the running a week before President Donald Trump promises to follow through with a plan to ban the Chinese-owned app in the U.S. over spying concerns.
Trump’s administration has threatened to ban TikTok by Sept. 20 and ordered owner ByteDance to sell its U.S. business, claiming national security risks due to its Chinese ownership. The government worries about user data being funneled to Chinese authorities. TikTok denies it is a national security risk and is suing to stop the administration from enacting the threatened ban.
“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas.”
TikTok and the White House declined to comment Sunday. Oracle didn’t return a request for comment but has previously declined comment.
Walmart, which had planned to partner with Microsoft on the acquisition, said Sunday it “continues to have an interest in a TikTok investment” and is talking about it with ByteDance and other parties.
Getting rejected from the deal by TikTok might be a huge ‘win’ for Microsoft for a few reasons.
For one, Microsoft can avoid putting a bulls-eye on itself, when it’s managed to keep a low profile and build strong relations in Washington even while continuing its long history of operating in China. But it’s quickly becoming clear that in certain businesses that there isn’t any way to stay on the good side of both governments. After all, Donald Trump’s trade adviser called Disney veteran Kevin Mayer, who was briefly TikTok’s CEO, an “American puppet,” while ByteDance has faced a wave of anger in China ever since it said it would accept a potential sale.
Secondly, managing a popular social media app amid fake news, disinformation campaigns backed by countries like Russia and China, and even just bouts of terrible judgment among its users, is another minefield. Even if Microsoft has more content moderation experience than Oracle, thanks to its platforms like LinkedIn, is it really ready for this?
Finally any deal will face sharp scrutiny from both Beijing and Washington, in the course offering the wooing company lots of opportunities to be penalized or just look excessively compliant with one government or the other (see how that’s worked out for Disney). China has already signaled it would rather see the app banned than allow a forced sale by issuing new tech export controls that cover the recommendation algorithms that drive TikTok’s success. ByteDance said it would abide by the new regulations. Beijing is now showing it could block even this far more limited arrangement, with the overseas arm of China’s state-run CCTV broadcaster reporting after the news of a possible Oracle deal that ByteDance “will also not sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to Oracle.”
Approval in the United States is not guaranteed, even though Trump is on good terms with Oracle founder Larry Ellison. If an arrangement is made that leaves TikTok’s inner foundation opaque or in ByteDance’s hands, this wouldn’t deal with the fear that Beijing could put pressure on the Chinese parent for access to all that app data. That would be one way it could work around the president.
“If Oracle merely acts as minority stakeholder and cloud provider, while ByteDance continues to run operations and share resources like moderation teams, it doesn’t really answer to any of the concerns of Chinese ownership and control,” said Daniel Sinclair, an independent social media researcher. “If the White House accepts bad terms, after igniting this chaotic process, [the administration] will surely face even more legislative scrutiny than an outright ban could face.”
The Trump administration has threatened to ban TikTok by Sept. 20 and ordered ByteDance to sell its U.S. business, claiming national-security risks due to its Chinese ownership. The government worries about user data being funneled to Chinese authorities. TikTok denies it is a national-security risk and is suing to stop the administration from the threatened ban.
It’s not clear if the proposed deal will only cover TikTok’s U.S. business, and, if so, how it will be split from the rest of TikTok’s social media platform, which is popular worldwide. ByteDance also owns a similar video app, Douyin, for the Chinese market.
Any deal must still be reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS, a U.S. government group chaired by the Treasury Secretary that studies mergers for national-security reasons. The president can approve or deny a transaction recommended by the panel, though Trump has already voiced support for Oracle as a “great company” that could handle the acquisition.
Microsoft said in a Sunday statement that ByteDance “let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft.”
Microsoft added it was “confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests.” The company said it “would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combating disinformation.”
TikTok, which says it has 100 million U.S. users and about 700 million globally, is known for its fun, goofy videos of dancing, lip-syncing, pranks and jokes. It’s recently become home to more political content such as the comedian Sarah Cooper, who drew a large audience by lip-syncing Trump’s own often-disjointed statements from public appearances.
But the app has also raised concerns because of its Chinese ownership. The White House has cracked down on a range of Chinese businesses, including telecom equipment makers Huawei and ZTE and messaging app WeChat, over worries that they would enable Chinese authorities to get U.S. user data. Republican and Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about censorship and children’s privacy.
TikTok denies that it has shared user data with the Chinese government or that it would do so if asked. The company says it has not censored videos at the request of Chinese authorities and insists it is not a national-security threat.
TikTok has sued to stop the ban, but not the sale order. The negotiations have been complicated by several factors, including Trump’s repeated demands that the U.S. government should get a “cut” of any deal, a stipulation and role for the president that experts say is unprecedented.
In addition, the Chinese government in late August unveiled new regulations that restrict exports of technology, likely including the artificial intelligence system TikTok uses to choose which videos to spool up to its users. That means ByteDance would have to obtain a license from China to export such technology to a foreign company.
The deal had come together rapidly after the administration ramped up its threats against TikTok this summer, despite TikTok’s efforts to put distance between its app and its Chinese ownership. It installed former Disney executive Kevin Mayer as its American CEO, but he resigned in August after just a few months on the job, saying the “political environment has sharply changed.”
Both Microsoft and Oracle are known more for their business software offerings than for those intended for consumers.
Oracle primarily makes database software. It competes with tech giants such as Microsoft and Amazon that provide cloud services as well as business-software specialists like Salesforce.
Some analysts see Oracle’s interest in a consumer business as misguided. Oracle should focus on enterprise-market acquisitions and not invest in a consumer app like TikTok that doesn’t fit with the rest of its business, said Jefferies analyst Brent Thill, who compares the idea to Delta Airlines buying a motorcycle company. “It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
Thill suggested that TikTok competitors like Facebook and Snapchat should be “cheering on Oracle” as a buyer, because Oracle wouldn’t “add a lot of value to the app.”
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison is unusual among tech executives for his public support of President Donald Trump, hosting a fundraiser for him in February at his Rancho Mirage, California, estate. The company also hired a former top aide to Vice President Mike Pence; its CEO, Safra Catz, also served on Trump’s transition team.
The president said on Aug. 18 that Oracle was “a great company” that “could handle” buying TikTok. He declined to state his preference between Oracle and Microsoft as buyers.
While many film festivals are going virtual or cancelling completely, the long-running Venice Film Festival pulled off a successful but slimmed down version. Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” a recession-era road trip drama starring Frances McDormand, won the Golden Lion for best film Saturday.
Zhao and McDormand appeared by video from the United States to accept the award, given virus-related travel restrictions made reaching the Lido in the Italian lagoon city difficult if not impossible for many Hollywood filmmakers and actors.
“Thank you so much for letting us come to your festival in this weird, weird world and way!” McDormand told the masked audience as the Italian marketing team for the film actually accepted the award. “But we’re really glad you let us come! And we’ll see you down the road!”
A favorite going into the awards season, “Nomadland” is screening at all the major fall film festivals in a pandemic-forged alliance involving the Venice, Toronto, New York and Telluride festivals.
Britain’s Vanessa Kirby won best lead actress for “Pieces of a Woman,” a harrowing drama about the emotional fallout on a couple after their baby dies during a home birth. Italy’s Pierfrancesco Fabino won best lead actor for “Padrenostro,” (Our Father), an Italian coming-of-age story that takes place after a terrorist attack in the 1970s.
“It’s the greatest honor of my life,” Kirby said afterwards from the red carpet, admitting that her knees were still shaking. “Cinema is everything to me, and so the fact that we’re all together, everybody, to support it and honor it is all I can ask for.”
Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa won the Silver Lion for best director for “Wife of a Spy,” while the Silver Lion grand jury prize went to Mexico’s Michel Franco for his dystopian drama “Nuevo Orden.”
The Russian film “Dear Comrades!” about a 1960s era massacre in the former Soviet Union, won a special jury prize while Chaitanya Tamhane won best screenplay for “The Disciple,” about an Indian man’s pursuit to be a classical vocalist.
That the 10-day Venice festival took place at all was something of a miracle, given that northern Italy in late February became ground zero for Europe’s coronavivrus outbreak. The Cannes Film Festival was canceled and other big international festivals in Toronto and New York opted to go mostly online.
But after Italy managed to tame its infections with a strict 10-week lockdown, Venice decided to go ahead, albeit under safety protocols that would have previously been unthinkable for a festival that has prided itself on spectacular visuals and glamorous clientele.
Face masks were required indoors and out. Reservations for all were required in advance, with theater capacity set at less than half. The public was barred from the red carpet and paparazzi, who would normally chase after stars in rented boats, were given socially distanced positions on land.
While it’s too soon to say if the measures worked, there were no immediate reports of infections among festival-goers and compliance with mask mandates and social distancing appeared to be high.
“We were a little bit worried at the beginning, of course,” said festival director Alberto Barbera. “We knew that we had a very strict plan of safety measures and we were pretty sure about that, but you never know.”
Hong Kong director Ann Hui almost didn’t make it after she couldn’t get on her flight because of virus border restrictions. In the end, she arrived to collect her Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award and to see her out-of-competition film “Love After Love” make its world premiere.
Movie lovers applauded Venice’s effort and the symbolic significance of the world’s oldest film festival charting the path forward.
“It’s a moment of rebirth for everyone, for the whole world,” said Emma Dante, the Italian director of the in-competition film “The Macaluso Sisters.” “This festival is really an important moment of encounter, of beginning to dream again and be together again, even with the norms and following all the safety protocols.”
Film writer Emma Jones said aside from “a few teething problems” with the online reservation system, the festival went off better than she expected.
“It feels safe in there, it feels socially distanced,” she said of the venues.
Jones noted that the lineup of films lacked the usual Hollywood blockbusters — think “La La Land,” and “The Shape of Water” — that have used Venice as a springboard to Oscar fame. While the festival featured films from Iran, India, Australia and beyond, it was heavily European.
“This is a COVID festival. There’s no use pretending anything else,” Jones said.
But she added: “It would feel really off-note, I think, to have had a red carpet with screaming fans and celebrities walking down it and people talking about who wore what. Twenty-twenty is not the year for those kind of discussions.”
Instead, she said, Venice focused on the integrity of the films and the diversity of the countries represented.
“We were lucky to receive a lot of submissions from all over the world, and apart from a few missing titles from the Hollywood major film studios, most of the countries are represented in Venice and the quality of the lineup is really very high,” said festival director Barbera.
As films are just beginning to eek their way into movie theaters around the world, many film festival programmers are still wondering how festivals can survive the coronavirus pandemic. Any filmgoer knows how tightly packed the events were just last January, but now, that’s an impossibility. Sure Donald Trump has no problem putting his supporters in harm’s way with his rally’s, but film festivals are being much more responsible with people’s lives.
While many are making changes, can film festivals survive another year of this?
This is normally the time of year when flashy premieres march down red carpets and proclamations of Oscar buzz circle the globe. An avalanche of new films topples onto screens. The movie houses of Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York shake with applause. The movies, more than ever, feel alive.
This year, three of the four major fall film festivals – all but Telluride, which had to cancel – are going forward despite the pandemic. But the movies are a sliver of what they normally are. Most premieres in North America will be held digitally or at drive-ins. For a season predicated on badge-wearing throngs and marquee movies, it’s meant rethinking what a film festival is. Or maybe just doubling down on a mission.
“A situation like this forces you to assess what is fundamental,” says Dennis Lim, director of programming for the New York Film Festival. “What do you really need for a festival to happen? You need films and you need audiences. It’s our job to select the films and put them in front of audiences in a meaningful way. If we can’t do that in a cinema, what can we do?”
The answers, for the programmers of the New York Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, will begin unspooling later this week. TIFF opens on Thursday with the premiere of Spike Lee’s David Byrne documentary “American Utopia.” New York follows Sept. 17 with Steve McQueen’s “Lovers Rock.” Venice, the world’s oldest festival, finished this past weekend.
Those in Italy acknowledge Venice hasn’t been anywhere near normal. Masked moviegoers sit in set-apart seats. A barrier walls off the red carpet to discourage crowds of onlookers. Greetings are kiss-less. A little bit of the romance of movies has gone out.
But not all of it. Jury head Cate Blanchett said it was kind of “miraculous” that the festival was happening at all. Pedro Almodovar compared months of lockdown to a prison. “The antidote to all this is the cinema,” he said.
Unlike the canceled Cannes Film Festival in May or the improvised virtual edition of SXSW, Venice has managed to host an in-person festival, albeit at a much reduced scale. Toronto and New York are aiming for hybrid festivals. New York has partnered with Rooftop Films to hold drive-ins in Brooklyn and Queens far removed from the festival’s home at Lincoln Center.
Toronto is doing likewise but also with indoor screenings (of just 50 people) at his downtown hub, the TIFF Bell Lightbox. The festival is currently mandating mask-wearing only when moving around a theater, not during the show. Even days before opening night, indoor screenings aren’t completely off the table for New York, should the state’s theaters be reopened.
Both New York and TIFF have, with the same provider, launched digital platforms to host virtual screenings. A limited number of tickets will be available, but the festivals’ reaches will actually expand. Anyone in Canada will be able to buy tickets to TIFF screenings, and New York Film Festival films will be briefly available nationwide.
Still, the major studios aren’t sending any films, nor is Netflix. The postponement of the Academy Awards to late April hasn’t helped. The normal calculus of Oscar season, in which buzz is often built first at the festivals, is on a different timetable this year.
Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, believes the race may have changed but the importance of festivals in it remains. The specialty label has several films heading to the festivals including the hit Sundance documentary “The Truffle Hunters” and “The Father,” with Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman.
“We’ve got movies that we’re certainty trying to put into the Oscar race. The festivals certainly do that because that’s been the brand of the festivals for a long time. That hasn’t changed,” said Bernard. “It gives our movies the distinction that rises them above anything that’s streaming and positions them for the theatrical experience, which will be coming back in the future.”
But it’s also unlikely the festivals — used to having the spotlight for a week or two — will attract the same attention in a year when many have far more pressing concerns than sneak peaks of upcoming films.
“We feel that even though there’s a very harsh reality right now, stories are more important than ever,” said Joana Vicente, executive director and co-head of TIFF. “We also need to think about all of the artists who have been affected who need festivals to really give them a platform. This will ensure that the culture stays alive.”
Many filmmakers don’t want to simply sit out the pandemic. They want to reach audiences however they can, and join conversations like those that have followed the death of George Floyd. McQueen, who has three films from his Small Axe anthology at the festival, called Lim a week after Floyd’s death.
“There was a reason they wanted to get this film out now,” said Lim who heads NYFF with festival director Eugene Hernandez. “He had dedicated the films to George Floyd and he wanted us to take a look.”
Tommy Oliver’s “40 Years a Prisoner,” about the face-off between Philadelphia police and the Black liberation group MOVE that led to a violent raid in 1978, had been planned for release next year but will instead debut at TIFF ahead of airing on HBO in December. Through Michael Africa Jr., the grown son of two incarcerated MOVE members, the film captures the long scars left on families and communities by police abuse. Helping audiences understand the history of today’s tragedies, Oliver feels, is vital.
“The thing that was the hardest was that Mike and his family wouldn’t get the experience of having an audience watch it at a festival. I’ve had it before and it’s an incredible thing,” says Oliver. “But Toronto is an incredible platform. Most of the time, we don’t get to do things exactly as we envision them. It’s about figuring out how to adapt and move with whatever comes up. Is this ideal? No. Will it work? Yes.”
The lineups at these festivals are still more than you might expect. TIFF boasts new work from Chloe Zhao, Spike Lee, Werner Herzog and Frederick Wiseman. New York has some of those, too, along with films from Sofia Coppola, Christian Petzold, Jia Zhangke, and Garrett Bradley’s acclaimed Sundance entry “Time.”
A common thread, festival leaders say, is that filmmakers want to help sustain this vibrant ecosystem of film culture — which on a normal festival night is seen in the teeming festivalgoers outside the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto or heard in the hum of chatter throughout Alice Tully Hall in New York. Typically, Vincente and her fellow co-head Cameron Bailey would be fighting traffic to hop from venue to venue to introduce films. This year, aside from a daily drive-in, they’re recording them.
“The funny thing is, we feel like the festival started last week or the week before,” said Vincente. “We’re prerecording so much.”
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for “The Boys,” Season 2, Episode 4, “Nothing Like It In the World.”]
“The Boys” continues its rollercoaster of a second season with Episode 4, which dropped yesterday on Amazon Prime, and brought some significant revelations. We not only got fascinating information about various characters’ backstories, but we also got a lot of what makes me love this show as a psychologist – some insight about what’s going on inside these characters’ heads. And oh, are these characters’ subconscious minds ever a feast!
On the Boys’ side, Frenchie and Kimiko are both in a dark place after the disastrous events of the last episode. Kimiko, whose entire story line is about trauma, is now more traumatized than ever after seeing her long-lost brother brutally murdered by Stormfront. Frenchie tries to bury his own emotions with cocaine, and with the impaired judgment that often brings, tries to kiss Kimiko in a misguided effort to comfort her. It’s pointed out to him that he thinks by saving Kimiko, he can make amends for the past — but she’s a human being, not a kitten up a tree.
“Leave her alone. Let her grieve,” isn’t necessarily bad advice, but it’s also not something Frenchie can do. When Kimiko sets out to take revenge on Stormfront at a rally (which would almost certainly have gotten her killed), Frenchie stops her. She tosses him off angrily, but he manages to thwart her at least temporarily. I still don’t have as much of a handle on Frenchie and Kimiko as some of the other characters, but I’m intrigued.
One of the things I teach my students is to get really good at reading nonverbal – they give us so much information about what people are really thinking and feeling. Karen Fukuhara does a wonderful job of conveying everything Kimiko is feeling through only nonverbal – and sometimes a sign language that no one else can understand, which is both a source of great frustration for her and a constant reminder that she’s lost the only other person would could.
Where’s Becca?
Meanwhile, the colonel feels guilty and tells Butcher where he can find Becca. I loved how that happened, after she had a dream about being in an auditorium with everyone who had lost someone to Vought staring at her, waiting for her to do something. What a perfectly plausible guilt dream – the kind we all tend to have when we’re feeling like we’re not living up to our own sense of responsibility.
Butcher does indeed reunite with Becca, with frantic face clutching and kisses and eventually sex in the back seat of her car hidden under a bridge. There are hints from the start, though, that while they clearly still love each other, they are not on the same page when it comes to Ryan. Becca is devoted to her son; Butcher sees him as Homelander’s child and a supe, one of things he loathes. There’s no way this could work, and I found myself wondering throughout the episode when Becca would realize that.
Inevitably, she does.
Becca: You don’t really want Ryan to come with us – you’ll find a way to get rid of him.
Butcher tries to deny it, then tries to convince her to leave Ryan behind, as emotions start to boil over and hard truths come out.
Becca: I have a son!
Butcher: He’s a fucking Supe freak!
It’s a hard scene to watch, but it rang very true. It also gives us more information about Butcher’s troubled past. When he says that she saved him, she disagrees.
Becca: I couldn’t save you. You were always one day away from pounding someone to death in a parking lot.
So, I guess these anger issues didn’t just appear when Butcher lost his wife. Hmm.
I’m still rooting for Hughie and Annie. Homelander attacks her on an elevator, trapping her and threatening to kill her, accusing her of being with Hughie. She insists that he broke her heart and they’re not together, and eventually he believes her (maybe?), but I reiterate – Homelander is terrifying! It’s hard to believe that Antony Starr is such a nice guy, because he invests his character with so much barely restrained violence.
Annie and Hughie meet up in the park and he realizes she’s the one at the end of her rope this time, so he invites her on a road trip with him and Mother’s Milk to see if they can find a 70s superhero called Liberty. That whole trip was my favorite part of the episode – we even got a brief moment of lightheartedness as they sang along to ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ in the car, with MM shaking his head – and eventually shutting it down. They stop at a diner and we get some backstory from both Annie and MM – her wistful memories of being with her dad and eating donuts, something her mother wouldn’t allow.
Annie: Weight gain in our household was a capital crime.
MM reciprocates with an equally touching story about his dad, who insisted on tasting all the flavors at Baskin Robbins as free samples.
MM: I’d give anything to see him one last time.
Annie: To fathers and sugar.
Annie’s childhood and her relationship with her mother are fascinating to me and I hope we find out more. We soon learn more about MM’s father and how he figures into MM’s motivation to bring down Vought. MM remembers his dad’s fight against Vought, written out every night as he pounded the keys of his typewriter.
MM: But Vought was not about to let this one black man put his foot on their neck.
They found him one morning dead at 55, hunched over his typewriter.
MM: His fight got passed down to me.
That makes so much sense, how committed MM is to this fight, and how he simultaneously values family above everything. They are one in the same; hence the dollhouse that he works on constantly. The symbolism in this show isn’t always subtle, but it always rings true. That line about putting a foot on a neck gave me chills.
Annie also points out MM’s OCD tendencies, which Hughie hasn’t noticed. I want to know if Kripke has a DSM on set at this point. (The manual used to diagnose psychological issues which has been a huge bestseller the past four years!)
Hughie and Annie have a late night rendezvous at the motel vending machine, banter about candy bars, and then tumble into bed together. Their relationship is as much friendship and banter as it is anything, but it also seems very genuine, so that made me smile. I’m sure that won’t last long!
[It didn’t. By the episode’s end, Annie tells Hughie that can’t happen again – that they can’t afford to feel good or safe or to let their guard down.]
It’s just not that kind of a show, is it?
Things are happening with the Supes too, and we’re getting a little more insight into them as well. A Train gets kicked out of the Seven, with Homelander assuring him “We’ll always be friends….etcetera…” with as much warmth as an ice cube. The Deep interviews possible wives from The Collective, attempts to choose the one who’s coming on to him the most, and finds out it’s not really his choice after all – if he wants their help in getting him back into The Seven, the creepy Collective guru is going to pick his wife for him.
It’s clearer and clearer that being in The Seven is what it’s all about for the Supes. They are all addicted to the power and celebrity, and fighting amongst themselves to hang onto it. Homelander confronts Stormfront after her social media savvy makes her message more effective than his thanks to “five guys manufacturing memes”.
Homelander protests that “they all love me” and Stormfront dismisses that.
Stormfront: This constant need to be loved by everyone is kinda pathetic.
I got chills again when she continued, saying that he didn’t need everyone to love him – he just needed five million people fucking pissed. That he has fans, but she has soldiers.
Does this strategy sound familiar to anyone? Sometimes “The Boys” gets a little too real.
When Homelander looks about to lose it, she backs down a little, telling him she’s only trying to help, but he says he doesn’t need or want it.
That’s the theme of two of the most memorable sequences in this episode, and the most disturbing. Early in the episode, Homelander visits a cabin in the woods – and there is Madelyn Stillwell! I was fascinated by that character and wanted more, so I had a brief moment of oh, she’s still….yeah, no, probably not.
She seduces him with a very messed up combination of mothering him with a glass of milk that he sucks off her finger and kissing him and feeling him up while murmuring “my good boy” and it’s all very confusing and Oedipal. Especially when it turns out to be Doppelganger — because of course it is. That this is the specific fantasy that Homelander has concocted for himself makes us as audience feel like we’ve landed in his Id and can’t get out. Squirm!
Oh, and that’s not all. Doppelganger, sensing that the Stillwell fantasy isn’t working anymore, later tries appealing to Homelander’s narcissism more….directly. By morphing into his own doppelganger, and then offering to suck his (own?) dick. Squirm!
To be fair, Homelander did insist “I don’t need anyone but myself”.
Doppelganger Homelander to Actual Homelander: And it’s not even gay if it’s with yourself, right?
For a minute, we think Homelander is definitely going to be seduced by himself, but then he grabs Doppelganger by the throat.
Homelander: You’re pathetic. I don’t need anyone, I don’t need you.
Snap goes his neck, and poor Doppelganger is no longer available for make-your-fantasy-come-true sessions.
There’s alot of squirming in this episode, in fact (on my behalf) – Homelander also outs Queen Maeve in the middle of a live television interview, after bristling from a reporter’s question about lack of diversity in The Seven, Hashtag #HeroesSoWhite. He insists he’s happy for her and that is somehow even more terrifying than him being angry.
Homelander is now completely isolated, and that makes him so much more dangerous.
We also get one more revelation about the Supes. Hughie, MM and Annie think they’re trying to track down a second tier Superhero from the 70s named Liberty. They find a woman who witnessed her innocent brother dragged from his car and killed by Liberty many years ago and heard him ask in shock, “Why are you doing this to me, lady, aren’t you supposed to be a hero?”
Liberty: I am a hero – for killing a black piece of shit like you!
The little girl (now a grown woman) never went to the police, accepting $2,000 from Vought to cover it up because, as she points out: A little black girl accusing a white superhero of murder??
Hughie, MM and Annie say they’re glad Liberty disappeared, and the woman’s eyes go wide. She points to a photo in the newspaper, saying “No, there she is, right there.”
It’s Stormfront.
And once again, this show is just a little too relevant.
Episode 4 is the halfway mark of “The Boys” second season, and things are getting very very interesting.
All that squirming isn’t always comfortable, but it’s always intriguing. I can’t help but wonder what revelations the next four episodes will bring – and then it’s on to Season 3.
A new episode of “The Boys” happens every Friday on Amazon Prime Video, so catch up if you need to and watch along! Just be prepared to squirm.
Hollywood attracts as many gamblers as casinos, but it doesn’t have as much luck as its long history of box office hits and bombs is as varied as Donald Trump’s twitter feed. The one main difference between Hollywood studios and casinos is that unlike casinos, where the house always wins, it’s not always the case with movie studios.
Trying to predict a box office hit is about as random as trying your luck with the lottery. At least with online casino games, your luck is often much much better. Sometimes you hit the big one, and that thrill in trying to get your big win is what gets the adrenaline pumping. Much like how those studio heads feel trying to determine that must-see box office smash in order to keep their job. Hollywood is littered with long-forgotten names of those that were sure they had a hit, and we’re digging into those along with those huge gambles that paid off bigger than anyone thought possible.
Gambles That Broke the Bank
“Kick-Ass”
Director Matthew Vaughn saw something in the genre-bending comic book movie that no one else did. In fact, he mortgaged his home to get it made while one studio after another said no. “Kick-Ass” was based on a comic-book no one had heard of because it hadn’t been completed, but the story of an average teenager who decides to become a superhero pushed Vaughn to take the huge gamble.
“They weren’t even intrigued,” Vaughn says. “Literally every person who saw it or read the script said, ‘No. No studio would touch it, so I had to mortgage my house in order to finance the film, which was scary, to be honest.”
“Kick-Ass” wasn’t just an in your face reimagining of comic books, it rewrote the formula on how comic book movies were made earning $96.2 million worldwide with a $28 million budget. The controversy it sparked helped build a bigger audience while also paving the way for future comic book films like “Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015, also directed by Vaughn) and Ryan Reynold’s “Deadpool” (2016).
“Avengers” Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
After making more than $18.6 billion worldwide at the box office, it’s hard to remember that the Marvel Cinematic Universe started as one huge gamble twelve years ago. It all began with 2008’s “Iron Man,” the first film in the MCU, and never having appeared in a movie or even TV show, it was far from a guaranteed hit. At the time, DC Comics “Dark Knight” trilogy was sweeping the box office.
To make things even more unsure, Marvel brought in Robert Downey, Jr. (who couldn’t be insured in the late 1990’s with all his personal issues) and director Jon Favreau, whose main experience was “Elf.” The studio decided to jump in with both feet and co-star Jeff Bridges let himself relax and view the chaotic productions as a “$200 million student film.”
“Iron Man” began the long journey as the first of this new series of Marvel-made movies. “I really don’t know how people are gonna react to this thing,” Favreau admitted shortly before the film’s release. “This could be anything from a flop to … something beyond people’s expectations. You never know.”
Kevin Feige’s Gamble
Marvel’s studio head Kevin Feige was all in on this major gamble by putting comic book superspy Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) into the final scene of “Iron Man”. With this simple addition, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was born, and this began the trend for postcredits scenes while setting the stage for more MCU superheroes to hit the big screen.
While “Iron Man” was a huge hit with critics and fans, the MCU wasn’t all smooth sailing. The second film in the series “The Incredible Hulk,” opened to a rather tepid reception as it still remains the weakest box office performer in the twenty-two film franchise.
Chris Hemsworth played the mighty “Thor,” while Chris Evans stepped into “Captain America: The First Avenger” tights in 2011. These were huge hits, but the studio was about to find out if their gamble would pay off with the first “Avengers” movie bringing the characters together into one film while also introducing others. It hit the big screen in 2012 in a big way and brought in over $1.5 billion worldwide. Seventeen more films were made ending with “Avengers: Endgame,” which smashed box office records.
“Titanic”
While many only know how big “Titanic” was at the box office, the studios at the time were terrified that the most expensive film of the 1990’s would sink them. While James Cameron was bringing in the hits with “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” and “True Lies,” his next film about the famous sinking ship cost more than both of this last two films put together. A recent bomb “Waterworld” (starring and directed by Kevin Costner), which cost $175 million taught studio heads to never shoot on water, but Cameron had three sound stages in use. Yes, and one of them was on water.
Back then, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were not well known which only made the studio more nervous. Soon, “Titanic” was the talk of Hollywood, but not in the good way. This only made Fox Studios nervous so they brought in Universal to pick up non-American rights in distributing the film. Fox studio chief Bill Mechanic was coming under pressure from his ultimate boss – Rupert Murdoch – to get results. As Mechanic would say of Titanic, “everybody thought the movie was nuts”.
When the Universal deal failed to pan out, Fox sold the American distribution rights to Paramount Pictures for a deal price of $65 million. Deal, you say? Yes, it was a huge win for Parmount as the U.S. box office take for the film was $659 million, making it one of the highest grossing films in the studios history.
Not to mention all those Oscar statues the film won along with the mint made on home video. This was easily one of the best gambles in Hollywood history.
“Tenet”
Christopher Nolan’s latest mind-bending thriller was put on the shelf when the Coronavirus pandemic hit, and the studio was at a loss on what to do. Did they go the Disney route and live-stream “Mulan,” or wait in hopes that theaters would re-open? The film was supposed to open in mid-summer, but the studio waited until the end of August, to see it hit the top of the box office charts worldwide. “Tenet” didn’t open as big as Nolan’s other films, but $20.2 million in North America is looking to be the new norm for 2020.
Gambles That Broke the Studio
Hollywood legend would have some believing that the biggest box office gambles of all time would be Elizabeth Taylor’s epic disaster “Cleopatra” or Michael Cimino’s 1980 flop “Heaven’s Gate.” Cimino’s easily holds it’s own in the top 10 as the shoot lasted ten months driving up the production budget to $171 million in today’s world. It only earned $3.5 million domestically forcing United Artists to take a $128 million hit. Yes, there have been even bigger disasters.
“Cutthroat Island”
One of the most famous box office flops as is was crowned the “largest box office loss” by Guinness World Records and led to the collapse and demise of Carolco Pictures. 1995’s “Cutthroat Island” was always in trouble and costs were out of control. The budget wound up going north of $125 million while earning only $15.7 million worldwide giving is a loss of $118 million.
“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword”
This film was most famous for featuring football star David Beckham, but Guy Ritchie’s attempt to kickstart a new franchise came with a huge budget and a stinker for Charlie Hunnam. The production budget rose to $175 million while “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” opened in America to just $15 million giving the studio a loss of $150 million.
“John Carter”
The buzz on Disney’s sci-fi epic “John Carter” was horrible long before it opened. When word got out that the budget was over $260 million, everyone was shocked. The live action fantasy film had no big stars, and it was based on a novel (Edgar Rice Burrough’s “John Carter of Mars”) that was mainly known only by hardcore geeks. Many assumed Disney lopped off the Mars from the title as they were still licking their wounds from their 2011 mega flop “Mars Needs Moms” which cost the studio over $100 million.
“John Carter” opened to horrible reviews and only $30 million in North America. Disney took another Mars hit to their bottom line for a $200 million write-down. That actual loss was $136.6 million.
“Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas”
Brad Pitt and Michelle Pfeiffer couldn’t save this 2003 Dreamworks animated movie from technology. While critics gave some positive comments to the film, audiences had been fixated by Pixar’s “Finding Nemo,” which had come out prior to this one. If you’d not heard of this one, don’t be surprised as many haven’t.
After this, Dreamworks abandoned their traditional hand-drawn movies and went headlong into computer-generated animation. “Shrek 2” more than made up for this loss.
Over the last few decades, there has been a significant transformation in terms of slot graphics. In the past, there was minimal technology, yet individuals had to fulfill their urge for gaming. As a consequence, providers in the gaming industry have steadily improved the visual aspects of the slots to provide a better experience.
Today, gamers can execute some incredible steps that could not be possible in the past. Nonetheless, old slots also had some thrilling storylines, but their presentation was somewhat compromised. Slot games today have taken the gaming world to another level. A huge percentage of gamers are now associated with slots because of the modernised aspect that spices up the whole gaming time.
Even in the 21st century, slot machines continue to improve as the aspects of gaming technology are very dynamic. The essence of casino gaming is to win some cash prizes and also to derive the entertainment aspect. While graphics have no direct impact on the amount of money, they keep the player glued to the screen. In the long run, they will place more wagers to earn money.
Below are some of the differences that exist between old slot graphics and the new ones:
Old Graphics
The idea of slot gaming was mooted in the 19th century, a time when technology was still in the introduction phase. The first game to be developed was purely mechanical and bore some poker concepts. All that gamblers could do was to shuffle some cards and create winning combinations.
The machine was so popular around 1895 that a better slot machine was in the offing. This machine was created by a developer known as Charles Fey. It was simplistic in nature, bearing just 5 symbols, it was built with a few reels that featured a bell. A player was said to have won a jackpot amount of 10 nickels if they matched 3 bells on a row. Back then, the amount was quite lucrative.
With time, gaming was regarded as an activity for children; hence, the creators changed the rewards from cigars, drinks, and money to gum and candy. However, this change did not deter adults from running the game because they had become fond of it and for the love of entertainment rather than money.
The 20th century saw a massive transformation in the game features. Initially, the game was played mechanically, where players could pull the lever to trigger the reels’ movement. Around 1960, the format was changed with the introduction of electricity. This meant that the reels were powered. At this time, casinos became interested and began to make orders for their facilities. This was the advent of the nightlife of gaming in popular casinos like Las Vegas. The games were powered, and they featured some sound effects, music, and lighting. What an experience it was to spend in such a glamorous and glitzy environment of that time.
Symbols
Still, in the 1960s, the cards were substituted by introducing new symbols, like Lucky 7 and fruit icons. However, the graphic concepts still had classical appeal despite the introduction of electricity. In 1970, Las Vegas took a huge step to introduce the first video slot. It was a landmark achievement that proved that gaming was on the upward trajectory. When compared to what exists today, the graphics at that time were not as outstanding. They looked simple, but during that time, they could only be described as phenomenal. As a result, the video slots gained popularity and were adopted by other casinos. The facilities abandoned their traditional ways of using the mechanized lever to adopt new graphic technology as well as themes.
There is no doubt that old graphics were not as impressive as what exists today, but they served their purpose. There was a poor visual impression, yet people appreciated them as the best during their time. For example, the cartoonish animations that could move slowly on the screens made the ultimate source of entertainment for first-time gamers in the Las Vegas casinos. There were no 3D aspects, and the camera effects were not as seamless as what exists today. The touch screen technology had not been invented, implying that video controls were majorly buttons. In some instances, the buttons could not trigger the desired command because of the limited memory of devices that were used.
Graphics in New Online Slots
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the internet has expanded tremendously. Today, almost every household can access the internet through a mobile device or computer. You can play a high-quality Jammin Jars demo game using only your smartphone. Providers have used this opportunity to design games that can run on the devices. Since the internet is the central component of technology, the providers have utilized its penetration to launch top-of-the-range graphics for slots that they offer. Compared to the old graphics, the latest developments are sleeker, dynamic, and intense.
In the past, technology was restrictive, meaning that animation quality in the current age is superior. Game symbols appear in 3D to improve visual ability. In fact, you could be mistaken for a real-life experience while running the games in this latest format. The screen resolutions for devices have also been enhanced to accommodate the camera effects of the slots. Audio quality is also another feature that has been refined to spice up gameplay in this era.
The modern age is full of movies, television shows, and music bands. There are also more performing events in terms of arts. Sporting activities exist in plenty, featuring games from all perspectives. As a result, many celebrities have emerged. In the same breath, developers have taken advantage of creating graphics that appeal to the audience by featuring animations of some of the popular figures. Some games are designed with concepts of movies and TV shows, and they follow the storylines. The movie characters are also animated to give players a nostalgic touch as though they were watching the movie.
Display Appeal
While a game may have the best bonuses and game features, it counts for nothing if the display does not appeal to the eye. Top providers like NextGen, IGT, NetEnt, and Microgaming have invested in graphic technology as a marketing strategy. They are the ambassadors of modern gaming. One of their attributes is that they take care of the micro-details. Since every player has their own preferences, these companies have incorporated card looks that fit on a wide range of incarnations. A player will have smooth gameplay, free of any lags because the graphics in the modern age are.
New slots of the 21st century are also designed based on the existing series of comic collections. Slots like Batman and Superman are just examples that will have you reeling in laughter while gaming. They also feature special add-ons, rapid gameplay, and crisp visual aspects.
HTML5
HTML5 technology in most slots has necessitated the incorporation of flash-based mechanics to give players speedy ability to command. Modern games might have too many symbols, and one needs to go through several steps to win a game. Speedy graphics help in quick decision-making.
Realism is another aspect of graphics in the latest slots. Even though you will be running the games on the screen, the symbols and design feel like you are in a physical casino. The movements are swift, and the symbols appear like real animals and people. When you press particular patterns to execute a command, the characters act as though they were real beings. Providers have identified very imaginative storylines, which are spiced up with musical tunes to provide wonderful experiences.
Microgaming, as a leader in the gaming industry, has focused on the aesthetic value of games. The provider recognizes that online gambling is not about monetary value alone. Most of their games may not have the best bonuses or multipliers, but no doubt that you will enjoy the beauty of the moment. For instance, characters in war games are clothed in colorful military regalia and fitted with heavy artillery. Before you even start spinning the reels, you get the connection of being in a warzone. Other characters like kings and queens are decorated with all the royal paraphernalia that you can imagine.
Final Word
Gaming is as ancient as man. Hence, the idea has been around for quite some time. However, the transition over the centuries has seen improvements in how games are played. Each era boasts of an invention, meaning every enthusiastic gamer had the best of experiences during their time.
All in all, there is a glaring difference between the old and new graphics in slot games. Technology and electricity are the biggest influencing factors. There was no electricity to power devices in the old age that could simulate games with good graphics. In addition, there was limited expertise to develop such games. Since the introduction of electricity, everything has changed. Today, technology continues to advance as new devices like smartphones are introduced in the market. The future looks even greater.
Christopher Nolan films usually bring in at least $50 million just in North America on opening weekend, but we are quickly learning that a $20.2 million opening is the new success. Even during a holiday weekend. This was Hollywood’s best domestic tally since the middle of March when the COVID-19 pandemic forces theaters to shut down.
As the coronavirus continues spreading throughout America, 93,908 new cases were reported on Friday and Saturday alone, “Tenet” was seen by many as a test for Hollywood. A huge test for big spectacle films like “Wonder Woman 1984” and the latest James Bond (and last for Daniel Craig) “No Time to Die.” With these numbers, the studios are scrambling to see if pushing these into 2021 could be a better bet. With all the confusion over a vaccine coming just in time for the election, many Americans are already stating they won’t take it fearing that Donald Trump has turned this into a political thing. There is also the possibility of streaming services, but big films are meant for big screens.
The result could be greeted as either the rejuvenation of U.S. cinemas — more Americans went to the movies this weekend than they have in nearly six months — or a reflection of drastically lowered standards for Hollywood’s top blockbusters given the circumstances.
David A. Gross, who runs Franchise Entertainment Research, a film consultancy, assessed the domestic turnout for “Tenet” as “fair.”
“Audience concern with theater safety remains a deterrent,” he said in an email. “‘Tenet’ is a strong release, and Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. deserve enormous credit for their effort. For now, this is as good as it gets.”He estimated that “Tenet” would have collected about $50 million over its first three days under normal circumstances. “Tenet” cost roughly $200 million to make, not including marketing costs. Ticket sales are typically split 50-50 between studios and cinemas, but Warner Bros. was able to negotiate a 65 percent share, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Warner Bros. chose to remain silent with just a news release stating it was “very pleased” with the initial domestic result, while stressing the $129 million it has made overseas.
About 70% of U.S. movie theaters are currently open; those in the country’s top markets, Los Angeles and New York, remain closed. Those that are operating are limiting audiences to a maximum of 50% capacity to distance moviegoers from one another. “Tenet” played in 2,810 North American locations, about three-fourths of what most major releases typically launch in.
Warner Bros. declined to split up U.S. and Canadian box-office receipts. Theaters in Canada, where COVID-19 cases are much lower than in the U.S., began showing “Tenet” a week earlier. The film debuted stateside with nightly preview screenings Monday through Wednesday, and the official opening on Thursday. Warner Bros. included all of the above in its estimated gross Sunday, along with expected returns for Monday’s Labor Day.
“Tenet” opened stronger in China. It debuted there with $30 million in ticket sales from Friday to Monday. Overall internationally, “Tenet” has exceeded expectations. In two weeks of release, its overseas total is $126 million, with a global tally thus far of $146.2 million.
Warner Bros. has emphasized that the usual opening weekend calculus is out the window. Few onlookers felt it was possible to gauge how “Tenet” would open. The film, which cost $200 million to make and at least $100 million to market, will need to get close to $500 million to break even.
In the film’s favor:
It currently has the big screen almost entirely to itself. Some multiplexes played “Tenet” as much as 100 times over the weekend. And with little on the horizon, Warner Bros. is counting on a long run for “Tenet.”
“Tenet” did not play drive-in theaters areas where indoor theaters remain closed, prompting some fans to fly out of state to see it. Warner withheld the film from certain drive-in cinemas to protect eventual ticket sales at indoor theaters in those markets. Concerns about piracy, keeping the plot under wraps and sound quality also played a role.
Not in the film’s favor:
Audiences didn’t love Nolan’s latest time-bender. Moviegoers gave the thriller, starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki, a “B” CinemaScore, the lowest grade for a Nolan release since 2006′s “The Prestige.”
Hollywood is watching closely. With the majority of the studios’ top productions delayed until next year, the industry is experimenting with how to release its most expensive movies in the COVID-era. The Walt Disney Co. this weekend also debut its $200 million live-action “Mulan” remake, but did so as a $30 purchase for Disney+ subscribers.
Disney on Sunday didn’t share digital returns for “Mulan” — a practice that’s been common among streaming companies and previous anticipated VOD releases like Universal’s “Trolls World Tour” and Disney’s own “Hamilton.” But “Mulan” is also playing in theaters in some overseas territories. It began with $5.9 million in Thailand, Taiwan, the Middle East, Singapore and Malaysia. Next week, it debuts theatrically in its more important market: China.
The release of “Tenet” was also hotly debated, given the health risks associated with indoor gatherings. Several prominent film critics said they wouldn’t review “Tenet” over ethical concerns.
Theater chains, meanwhile, are struggling to remain solvent. Exhibitors have argued that they need new films to survive. Last weekend offered the first significant opportunity for U.S. cinemas to convince moviegoers to come back. Disney’s “The New Mutants,” a long delayed “X-Men” spinoff, collected about $7 million in 2,412 locations last weekend. Its total is now up to $11.6 million.
IMAX said that “Tenet” provided $11.1 million in global ticket sales over the weekend — a new high-water mark for the chain for September, which is typically a sleepy month for visual spectacles. “It proves that there is a lot of pent-up demand,” Richard Gelfond, IMAX’s chief executive, said by phone on Sunday. “Where theaters are open and people feel safe, they want to go.”
In weeks since theaters have started to resume business, a handful of new releases, such as “The New Mutants,” Russell Crowe’s road-rage thriller “Unhinged” and “The Personal History of David Copperfield” starring Dev Patel, have debuted.
Disney and 20th Century’s “The New Mutants” is aiming to generate $3.5 million through Labor Day, taking its North American bounty to $12.3 million.
Searchlight’s “David Copperfield” is expected to pull in $470,000 from 1,550 theaters over the four-day holiday weekend. That should push its domestic tally to $1.13 million through Monday.
“Unhinged,” in its third weekend in theaters,” made $655,000 on Saturday and looks to collect $1.67 million over the weekend. Through Monday, the movie is projecting $11.67 million total.
United States Theaters Waken From Pandemic Slumber
With the previews about to start, a trickle of masked moviegoers made their way into one of the first U.S. screenings of “Tenet” at the Bow Tie Majestic 6 in downtown Stamford, Connecticut. They took their seats Tuesday night, eyeing the empty seats between each other and a little giddy at being back at the movies for the first time in many months.
Philip Scarante and Andy Flores, both 25, went every Tuesday religiously before theaters closed in March. “It’s just our thing,” Scarante said. Seeing Nolan’s latest mind-bending spectacle later on a smaller screen held no appeal. They sat down in center seats, up close.
“Everyone seems to have a mask on,” Scarante noted, looking around in the sparsely populated theater. “I didn’t expect that many people to show up.”
More Americans will make their way back to the movies this weekend than any since the pandemic shuttered theaters in March. After a few weeks of catalog films and minor releases, the $200 million “Tenet” is the first must-see main event of the pandemic, a mega-movie litmus test for how ready U.S. moviegoers are to return to cinemas.
At the same time, another $200 million movie, the Walt Disney Co.’s live-action “Mulan” remake is debuting not in theaters, as it originally intended to back in March, but on the streaming service Disney+. In an innovative, untested release, “Mulan” will be available for $30 only to Disney+ subscribers Friday.
Each movie could chart a new way forward for Hollywood in the COVID-19 era, and potentially beyond. “Tenet,” which grossed a hefty $53.6 million in 41 international territories last weekend, could prove that blockbuster moviegoing can be resuscitated with half-capacity theaters and safety protocols — or that people aren’t ready to sit in the dark with strangers. “Mulan” could open up a new premium on-demand window to the largest film franchises — or prove that big-time box office (“Mulan” had been projected to make around $750 million in theaters) can’t be replicated in the home.
Labor Day weekend, usually among the sleepiest days of the year in theaters, has turned into a dramatic showdown with maybe the fate of the industry at stake, as two high-priced experiments test the possibilities of a new reality.
“The world we’re in right now, the concept of releasing the film absolutely everywhere for everyone to go and see on the same weekend, clearly that’s absolutely not an option for the foreseeable future,” said Nolan in an interview. “So if that pushes the industry into different ways of thinking and some of them being older distribution models, that hopefully can work.”
Warner Bros. is rolling out “Tenet” where they can. After debuting in Europe, Canada and Korea last weekend, “Tenet” on Thursday lands in the 75% open U.S. theaters, along with cinemas in China on Friday. Some states, like New York, have kept theaters closed, though more are coming online just in time for “Tenet.” New Jersey and some California cinemas are to reopen Friday.
The strong international launch of “Tenet” proved that many people are eager to come back. The U.S., though, may be a different story. Though COVID-19 cases and deaths are declining, they are still far more elevated than in most parts of the world. Cases are approaching six million in the U.S., with deaths surpassing 180,000. Epidemiologists, most more concerned about school re-openings, remain cautious about any large indoor gatherings.
Meanwhile exhibitors are clinging to survival. New product, they’ve said, is essential to their making it through the pandemic. Connecticut’s Bow Tie Cinemas opened earlier this summer and then closed when major releases were again postponed. At the “Tenet” preview screening Tuesday, the married couple Trudy and Phil Davies, with a tub of popcorn between them, said they came for “the chance to do something different” but also to contribute to the recovery.
“We came here to help things get back up and running,” Trudy Davies said. “Not just for the movie businesses, for everybody. As long as it’s done in a sensible way.”
As difficult as the circumstances are, Warner Bros. also sees opportunity. “Tenet” has virtually no competition in cinemas and will play continuously for not just weeks but months. It has the big screen to itself. At one Boston AMC, “Tenet” is playing 86 times from Friday to Sunday.
Disney has released other, smaller films into theaters (Fox’s “The New Mutants” and Fox Searchlight’s “The Personal History of David Copperfield”) but it has thus far either postponed or sent to streaming its bigger movies. Like “Hamilton,” “Mulan” will be used to boost the 60 million-plus subscriber base of Disney+. Announcing the release plan last month, Disney chief executive Bob Chapek called it a “one-off.”
“We don’t see this as a new window, but it’s an opportunity to learn,” Disney’s distribution chief Cathleen Taff said. “The one thing about this pandemic we’ve learned is we can’t be set in our ways. We have to be fluid.”
The move didn’t please theater owners, but Wall Street has endorsed it. Benjamin Swinburne, an analyst with Morgan Stanley, said in a note to investors that he sees premium on-demand “as long-term structurally beneficial to film studios, and likely less cannibalistic to moviegoing than feared.”
Which way things break is anyone’s guess, but the releases of “Tenet” and “Mulan” may go a long way to redefining a movie business in the midst of technological and social upheaval. The movies lying in wait — “Wonder Woman 1984” (Oct. 2), Marvel’s “Black Widow” (Nov. 6), Pixar’s “Soul” (Nov. 20) — will be watching.
Settling in for “Tenet,” Jose Alvarez, a 20-year-old from nearby White Plains, New York, was thrilled to be back at the movies.
“Because movies are amazing. We’re saving a lot of money because now we’re at home,” said Alvarez with his mask pulled below his chin. “Not much to do there. Staying inside is not good for the health.”
The first three episodes of Season 2 of Amazon’s “The Boys” premiered Friday, and Amazon kicked things off with a pandemic-compliant outdoor drive-in viewing party in Los Angeles the night before, attended by some of the stars. Antony Starr, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Karen Fukuhara and more arrived at The Grove to celebrate the diabolical new season.
Guests arrived in their cars through Lucy the Whale, who makes a special and quite memorable appearance in the third episode of the critically acclaimed and fan-favorite series. Ahead of the drive-in special screening, guests were invited to a socially distant pre-party in their cars, where they had their pictures taken at the drive-through photo op activation, danced in their cars and enjoyed Umami Burgers, Popcorn, and Swedish Fish. Amazon always does a great job putting together ‘experiences’ and this one looked like it was no exception. Wish I was on the other coast!
Virtual Press Junket
I watched the first three episodes of Season 2 last month before “The Boys” virtual press junket, and chatted with the cast and showrunner Eric Kripke about Season 2. Now that the episodes have aired, I can share both my review and some of the more spoilery things that I talked to the actors about last month.
Based on the New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, Season One of “The Boys” introduced us to the characters and set up a world in which superheroes are not the good guys, but manufactured (literally) celebrities who exist to enrich the corporation that created them, the villainous Vought. I enjoyed the premise from the start – though I know people who take the superhero genre seriously who struggled with the parodies – and immediately was drawn to the chaotic mix of violence, humor and sociopolitical criticism that few shows could pull off as well as this. Season One was a wild ride and I appreciated every minute of it, even if I admit to having to close my eyes a few times when the gore factor exceeded my boundaries a bit. (Sorry, Kripke, I know you love those parts!)
I Was Hooked
By the end of Season One, I was hooked on the show, but I was only beginning to be hooked on the characters. It takes me a while to warm up to a show – fifteen years ago, another Eric Kripke show (“Supernatural”) premiered and I watched the whole first season as a casual viewer. In Season 2, “Supernatural” and Sam and Dean Winchester grabbed me by the heart and turned my entire life upside down as I fell in love with the characters, head over heels. Fast forward as that show comes to an end and I’ve published six books on “Supernatural,” several of them written with the actors. Let’s just say that once I fall, I fall HARD. So it’s not surprising that I enjoyed Season One of “The Boys” but didn’t fall madly in love quite yet.
It Was A Dark Season
Let’s face it, Season One was pretty bleak. The Supes were uniformly awful, especially Homelander, who Antony Starr managed to make absolutely terrifying. His slightly unhinged personality and unpredictable behavior, with that overly manicured veneer on top, made my blood run cold. I worried that he was about to murder Stillwell‘s baby every single time they were onscreen together! The other Supes were mostly unappealing too.
There was also A Train’s cold-blooded run-by-killing of Robyn, Translucent’s disregard of anyone’s boundaries (easy to do when you’re invisible) and The Deep’s callous sexual harassment and manipulation of new girl Starlight – yeah, nothing to root for there. By the end of Season 1, there were small indications of vulnerability in some of the Supes that made their characters a bit more complex – A Train’s addiction, The Deep’s banishment, even the revelation of Homelander’s traumatic “childhood” and the revelation that he has a son. It was enough to keep me interested, but still, no one there to root for.
Interestingly, “The Boys” weren’t exactly the heroes I wanted to root for either sometimes. I’m accustomed to the revenge-as-motivation story line from other shows (including Supernatural) but Karl Urban’s appeal aside, Butcher was hard to take in his single-minded mission that didn’t take into account collateral damage. Mother’s Milk and Frenchie seemed to have more humanity, but I didn’t feel like I knew them well enough to judge. Kimiko was still mostly an enigma. We see the events of Season 1 more through the eyes of Annie (Starlight) and Hughie, newcomers to each side, and those two characters were the only ones I felt drawn to for most of that season.
Season 2 Thus Far
Three episodes into Season 2, I can feel the characters taking hold of me – psychologically first, and then emotionally. Kripke has said many times that character is the driving force in his shows. In Season 2 we can see that shift. Now that the universe is established and the main characters are known, we’re getting into what I really want to know – what makes them tick? How did they become who they are, both the Supes and the Boys? (I’m a psychologist, I really can’t help it). To my great delight, that’s where Season 2 seems to be headed.
Since I’m still a “Supernatural” fan and always will be, I was happy to see Jim Beaver make an appearance in Season 2, still named Robert Singer in an homage to my other favorite show and its long-time director. When I rewatched the first episode yesterday, I noticed the mention of original supe Soldier Boy and might have squeed out loud now that we know that “Supernatural’s” Jensen Ackles will be taking on that role for Season 3.
In Season 2, Stillwell is gone, and Stan Edgar is in charge. Giancarlo Esposito manages to make Edgar simultaneously softspoken and yet entirely in command of the situation no matter how much it seems to be unraveling. Homelander and Edgar butt heads, both wanting to be in power – the confrontation never goes up in volume and yet manages to be so full of tension I was on edge the entire time. If the confrontation itself wasn’t chilling enough, Edgar enlightens Homelander (and us) about Vought’s founder, with his Nazi ties and his ‘ready supply of human subjects’ at Dachau before switching allegiances to the US with a full pardon. (Is everything in this show going to sound horribly familiar this season? Perhaps). Edgar takes Homelander down a peg by making it clear that Vought is in the business of pharmaceuticals, not superheroes.
If anything, the themes of media manipulation and celebrity influence over the frighteningly-easy-to-dupe masses rings even more true in Season 2 than when I watched Season 1 a year ago. News coverage of a woman protesting that “they can’t use fear to control us” made me shudder with its much-too-close-to-reality message.
Showrunner Eric Kripke put it this way at a virtual press junket last month.
Kripke: We’re living in the world’s dumbest dystopia and the only good thing is that it gives the writers an incredible amount of material in the room. I wish it didn’t – I wish I had no material, but I do. So there’s plenty to talk about where authoritarianism and celebrity combine. This year we’re actually not touching on many of the issues from last year because there’s so many. This year we’re taking a target at white nationalism, white supremacy, xenophobia, systemic racism, how the people that are trying to convey these hateful ideologies are using new forms of social media as wolves in sheep’s clothing to communicate old and hateful ideas in new ways. We get to convey that. I will admit that I’m pretty angry about the way things are and one advantage that I don’t take for granted is to have a show that to put some of my feelings into. Most fans would agree that there might be even a little more of it this season because I think the writers are frankly a little angrier this season.
And he’s right.
“The Boys” is not terribly subtle, in either its parodies or its depictions of its characters’ respective traumas, but that fits in with the style of the show. In Season 2, The Deep, banished and isolated, has a break down. That makes him vulnerable to being recruited by a weird and creepy cult (the Church of the Collective) that’s anti-therapy and great at putting words in people’s mouths and making them think they’re their own. They also have a creepy infatuation with Fresca, which I haven’t seen in real life since my childhood.
In Episode 2, at the encouragement of the Creepy Collective, The Deep does shrooms and has a conversation with his own gills, a weirdly effective way of looking at someone confronting their body dysmorphia. He’s forced to face the fact that he can’t accept his own body and is terrified of being ridiculed — so he acts out and violates women before they can violate him. He comes to this realization while singing “You Are So Beautiful To Me” to himself.
Chace Crawford manages to make it both disturbing and oddly touching simultaneously, which is no mean feat. Sometimes the quality of the acting gets overshadowed by the spectacle in this show, but quiet weird moments like this allow that to come through. I have to admit, The Deep’s empathy for the fish he can hear begging for their lives is a little bit relatable — and means I never want to eat seafood after I’ve watched an episode.
Chace Crawford said he was actually nervous about doing that scene and wanted to get it over with, but it turned out great because it was second unit so they had a ton of time to do it. They even had an actual Broadway musical singer in the background.
Chace: To help me at least get on key!
Even Homelander gets a little vulnerability added to his story in Season 2. His complicated feelings for Stillwell (who he murdered) leads to him drinking a bottle of her frozen breast milk – which, you get the feeling is what he always wanted to do anyway. But just when you start to think Homelander has a small streak of humanity after all, he manages to horrifically disable a potential new Supe named Blind Spot – hired in the name (and name only) of ‘diversity and inclusion’. (Again, not subtle). Apparently Stillwell was the only one keeping Homelander’s pursuit of complete power in check, and he’s even more terrifying without her modulating influence.
In Episode 2, Homelander’s attempts to connect with his son are both uncomfortable to watch and a little bit heartbreaking, because you are just waiting for the moment it’s going to go very very wrong. He clearly does want to connect with his son but he’s extremely dangerous in his wounded narcissism and every second he’s onscreen I’m anxious. Which turns out to be warranted by the third episode. Seems the kid can’t fly quite yet. Ouch.
The trauma awakens the boy’s powers, but also leads him to reject Homelander, who keeps murmuring “this is nice” every time he gets to be part of a domestic ritual like tucking his son in or eating pancakes together. I can’t help but feel bad for a man who never had any parenting, but at the same time I can’t help but relate to the terrified and enraged mother who does not want a psychopath sitting at her breakfast table or playing ball with her son.
Antony Starr: Up til now, we’ve never seen Homelander do anything without putting himself first. I think this is a challenge for him, because the kid is unpredictable (and tried to kill him) so he’s gotta try to tap into a different part of himself that he’s never really experienced before. He tries different tactics and has varying degrees of success, but ultimately like any relationship, it’s not a one way street. He can’t just bully this kid into loving him, so it does put him into an interesting position where he’s gotta really dig deep and do something he’s never done before. From my perspective it’s great because in Season 2 we’re still discovering new things. We’re lucky and the kid is great and we had a great time!
Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) becomes more humanized in Season 2 also, through continued exploration of her relationship with her ex-girlfriend, who she’s still pretty clearly hung up on. In fact, almost all of the Supes are humanized at least a little through their relationships. We see A Train with his brother, frantic to pull him away from his addiction, and get a glimpse of the man he used to be through his brother’s eyes.
Jessie T. Usher: I knew that when we met A Train that was not who he truly is. The money, the entourage, the status, the way he walks and talks, those are the things I’ve attached to him as dependencies, that you will see get stripped away. Then you’ll see who he is at his core. That’s the A Train that we’ll have to meet eventually, because the superstar, super rich A Train is not the most interesting version of him. I think the most interesting version of him will be peeled down to the core.
Season 2 also introduces the newest Supe and member of the Seven, Stormfront (Aya Cash) who is a lot more media savvy than anyone in the organization and who breezes in like a breath of fresh air to shake things up (and shows that Mr. Edgar is a lot more savvy than he appears).
Jessie: Stormfront and A Train don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. She’s not only the new member of the Seven, but she’s like a shiny new toy and A Train is starting to feel like the old worn out toy that might get thrown in the trash eventually. So there’s a little jealous, a little deceit, and A Train is figuring that out. They butt heads on a lot of different levels.
A Train isn’t the only one.
Antony Starr: I think they may be an even match and I think that’s interesting. There’s been no real threat to Homelander on the show really, not physically anyway, and then this person comes along who 1) is not afraid of him and 2) is not only a match physically, but mentally and emotionally. So she’s a very challenging person for Homelander to deal with. Homelander is a pretty unschooled kind of guy who doesn’t handle his own social media and doesn’t’ know his way around that world. He wants everyone to love him, whereas Stormfront is representative of that new breed of – what are they called? Influencers. Right. They’re savvy and she’s like that, so their worlds collide. Right, Aya?
Aya Cash: Yeah, I think that’s an accurate interpretation of how they start. I think their relationship develops and grows and changes quite drastically in terms of how they interact with each other through the season though.
Antony: I don’t think Homelander is a chauvinist, he’s an equal opportunity hater and killer. He’s not bigoted, other than anyone who challenges him needs to either join him or become one of his disciples or underlings – or die. Having Stormfront there adjusts the dynamic, which is more interesting. It’s not two men slugging it out, we’ve seen that. It’s great to have someone as feisty as Aya come in and it adjusts everything.
Aya: It’s not a dynamic like Stillwell. I don’t think Stormfront is interested in mummying him.
No sipping bottled breast milk then. Check.
There’s head butting amongst the Boys in Season 2 also. Hughie’s identity is changed by the time Season 2 is underway – he’s lost his job, his girlfriend, his family, and his identity is now wrapped up in the Boys mission – and wanting to be Katniss. In Butcher’s absence, Hughie comes into his own, and that causes some problems.
Jack Quaid: In terms of the group dynamic stuff, I found it interesting what role Hughie would step into now that the father figure of the group is gone. And I found it really rewarding to deepen Hughie’s relationship with every single team member. Outside Hughie and Starlight’s relationship, which has gotten deeper in many ways, I had a lot of fulfillment from playing scenes with Laz, who plays Mother’s Milk. Mother’s Milk is almost what Hughie wants to be, a guy who’s still pursuing justice but he cares about his team and won’t abandon them. Seeing that play out has been really fun for me.
Starlight/Annie proves she can be goal driven and pretty damn relentless herself, estranged from her mother and feeling betrayed – and determined to bring Vought down.
I’m rooting for Annie and Hughie, even though it’s heartbreaking that Hughie has to keep lying to her when she’s so hurt by her mother’s lies already.
Erin Moriarty: What I like about being able to return to a show is that in Season 1 I had no history with any characters on the show. In Season 2, I had a history with them that I could use to inform my performance and my dynamic with them in scenes. It was really fun to go into it like oh, I’ve lived out the history I have with each of these characters, and now I can just add to that. Now our interactions as a result are going to be all the more nuanced. I’m going to be scared shitless – pardon my French – every single second I’m around Homelander because he’s not the Captain America I thought he was. I’m going to be really cautious around A Train because he knows way too much about me and I know a lot about him. And that’s why Season 3 will be even more fun, because we just keep building on the history.
Perhaps the first episode’s most memorable scene is the Boys’ meeting with the deputy director of the CIA, who manages to tell them that the terrorist supe they’re after is a coup from the inside just before she….is dispatched. I won’t give it away just in case you haven’t seen it yet, but let’s just say I jumped a foot when I watched that scene the first time. Kudos, Kripke.
Ending that episode with the return of Billy Butcher and his iconic “Don’t you worry, Daddy’s Home” was perfection. As he did in “Supernatural,” Kripke uses music to great effect in The Boys, and Billy Joel’s “Pressure” plays as the credits roll. Episode 1 also includes a montage set to that song that follows Hughie and Annie (Starlight), both having trouble facing themselves in the mirror at this point, hiding under hoodies and threatening to crack under the pressure. That’s a pretty good description of how the first episode feels too!
Episode 2 and 3 see Hughie and Butcher repeatedly almost coming to blows (and sometimes not almost) and the introduction of the media blitz of “Girls Get It Done” for Vought with a distinctly unimpressed Stormfront, Queen Maeve and Starlight.
Stormfront: You wanna talk about girl power, let’s talk about getting some pockets!
Kimiko finds her brother, who unfortunately has also been turned into a Supe terrorist, and the two reconnect and clash simultaneously. Nobody does super intense sibling relationships better than Eric Kripke, and I was fascinated by these two and the backstory that we get about Kimiko’s traumatic past. It broke my heart to see them choose opposite sides and be torn apart when they clearly had so much love and loyalty to each other.
Butcher finally comes clean about Becca being alive and having a son with Homelander when the rest of the group sides with Kimiko as one of them, and he shows some vulnerability for the first time in asking for their help. He also punches Hughie in the face though, so not too much.
Psycho Killers is the ending song for Episode 2, and once again it’s perfect.
Episode 3 kicks off with more Billy Joel, and a lot of it takes place on a boat.
Starlight and Hughie manage to break the news about Compound V and Supes being manufactured, which gives “The Boys” a rare moment of celebration. It doesn’t last long, though, and the constant violence and roller coastering starts to take a big toll on Hughie, who seems about to lose it. He apologizes to Annie in a tearful phone message. Meanwhile, Butcher is planning to trade Kimiko’s brother in an attempt to get back to his wife and everyone is basically distrusting everyone else. While on a boat.
The scene everyone will be talking about happens near the end of Episode 3, when The Deep makes his move to rejoin The Seven riding on a whale named Lucy and the Boys – well, let’s just say, they refuse to be deterred. As often happens with me, I was kind of on the side of the whale, so I felt as demoralized and nauseous as Hughie did at the end of that scene. Sometimes I find it hard to root for the good guys, what can I say? When animals are involved, I always tend to root for the animals. (Although honestly, Deep, that was kind of a stupid plan).
It was a small moment after, but I’ve never hated Homelander more than when he told The Deep to cover himself up because his gills were showing, and it was “disgusting”. He’s like every toxic person who sabotages a client’s progress and makes me grit my teeth.
Of course, my sympathy for The Deep right now may end up being sadly misplaced. As Chace Crawford said at the press junket last month, “He would do anything anyone told him to make it right – like, what do I need to do? Apologize? In reality, he’s trying to do anything he can to make it LOOK right… I do think he’s genuinely close to rock bottom. He doesn’t know who he is and never really has known who he is, so I think he’s broken open enough to at least try some self-exploration.”
Time will tell if all that soul-searching leads to any actual change.
“The Boys” can be horrifically disturbing and yet terribly on point simultaneously and often takes a sudden turn that doesn’t give you time to psychologically prepare for the disturbing. A man paying money for what you initially think is going to be sex turns out to be a guy who gets off on chopping another guy’s arm off – he is literally euphoric doing it, and jumps at the chance to chop off the guy’s dick for an extra thousand. (Gecko’s limbs and other things apparently grow right back). The lust for revenge and violence in this scene with this nameless customer felt strikingly relevant right now – and made me sick to my stomach. “The Boys” will do that, and sometimes it feels right on the verge of too much, like the Lucy-the-whale-slowly-dying scene, but it also sticks with me long after I’ve walked away from the screen.
As much as I was amused by Stormfront for a while, Episode 3 ends with her ruthless pursuit of Kimiko’s brother after the siblings had just exchanged heartfelt ‘I love you’s.’ He comes back to save Kimiko from Stormfront, redeeming himself in the end – and then, of course, Stormfront kills him, as Kimiko watches in horror. That moment killed me, but it also cemented my investment in the show even more. Hey, I was invested in Sam and Dean Winchester for fifteen years.
Stormfront reveals herself as a racist as well as a sadist as she kills Kimiko’s brother. Homelander is not amused – he wanted to do the killing himself. And if all that isn’t horror enough, the real horror comes when we realize that even the revelation that Vought has been manufacturing Supes with Compound V has not brought down the corporation – Edgar spins it, and the public believes.
And isn’t that the most realistic and horrible thing of all?
Giancarlo Esposito was asked at the press junket, what is Vought really after, and what does Stan want?
Giancarlo: I don’t know because I haven’t discussed it with the writers. For me, I have a plethora of ideas about what he wants. All these analogies, many that I make are in regard to our politics and elected officials in the US because I see so many reflections in this playful but intense show that allow me to think that Stan wants what we all want in a certain point in our development. We want to be successful, we want to take over the world. Something else that he wants is about the science. What can the science do to elevate and extend us as humans without harming our vessel, without making us monsters? All of this is a very big investigation or a test of: will this work? Can we have a world where people are empowered physically, able to see through walls and move things and do all you can see in the show — is that a possibility to allow us to become a super race? Who knows, we’ll see.
We will. The first 3 episodes of Season 2 are available to watch now on Amazon Prime Video, and the season will continue with five more episodes released weekly and an after show with Aisha Tyler and cast each week to dig into the episodes more fully (Aisha can hold her own as far as fearlessness to ‘go there’, just sayin’!)
And what’s after that? Kripke said that the writing of Season 3 (with Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy) is already underway. They’ve been in the virtual writers’ room almost since quarantine began and are halfway through the season of scripts and breaks. Kripke allowed that the big challenge will be when they shoot it. They have a tentative production date of mid to late January, but obviously that depends on what happens with the pandemic.
Kripke: But we’re well on our way. I won’t, but I could tell you quite a bit about where the Season 3 story goes.
I learned as a “Supernatural” fan that Kripke always has a plan. And I can’t wait!
Christopher Nolan saw his “Tenet,” the first major Hollywood release hit the big screen since Covid-19 changed the world. Once again, America is watching from a distance as 41 other markets get to see the film before we do next week. As the pandemic is once again climbing back near the 50K per day, it’s hard to say how filmgoers will feel about going to theaters. Even though it’s a Christopher Nolan release, it will be hard to gauge the box office.
The first wave of big new movies released since the beginning of the pandemic, including Nolan’s mind-bending thriller “Tenet” and the long-delayed “X-Men” spinoff “The New Mutants,” arrived in theaters over the weekend, testing the waters of a radically different theatrical landscape.
Given the circumstances, it was difficult to forecast the performance of the $200 million “Tenet,” starring John David Washington Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki. But the result exceeded the expectations of most. Toby Emmerich, chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, called it “a fantastic start.”
“We are off to a fantastic start internationally and couldn’t be more pleased,” said Toby Emmerich, Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman. “Christopher Nolan has once again delivered an event-worthy motion picture that demands to be seen on the big screen, and we are thrilled that audiences across the globe are getting the opportunity to see ‘Tenet.’”“Tenet,” a twisty, time-bending thriller starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, was originally supposed to debut in July. However, its release was postponed numerous times after coronavirus started to spread across the globe. Given the better-than-expected opening weekend ticket sales, “Tenet” seems to be a promising sign for the viability of the movie theater business during the global health crisis.
“Given the unprecedented circumstances of this global release we know we’re running a marathon, not a sprint, and look forward to long playability for this film globally for many weeks to come,” said Emmerich in a statement.
Anxious Movie Goers
“People have been very anxious to get back to the movies,” said Imax Entertainment president Megan Colligan. “These results speak to that.”
Colligan pointed out that, in terms of Imax tickets, “Tenet” enjoyed stronger sales during the pandemic than “Dunkirk” and “Interstellar” — two recent Nolan films — did during normal times over the same period.
“It’s kind of mind blowing,” Colligan said. She attributes that metric to the increased amount of free time people have now, combined with pent-up demand to return to the movies. “There’s a massive reduction in the amount of things we’re doing, so you have much more flexibility about when you can go to a movie.”
Rollout Gamble
While many of Hollywood’s largest productions have postponed their release and others have rerouted to streaming platforms, Warner Bros. gambled that “Tenet” could roll out abroad first, and then gradually debut in the U.S.
So far, it seems to be working. The overseas opening for “Tenet” was greeted by some as proof that blockbuster moviegoing can be resurrected even while the virus continues to circulate and large indoor gatherings are considered higher risk. As part of their safety protocols, movie theaters are mandating mask wearing, cleaning cinemas in between showings and operating at 50% capacity to distance moviegoers usually crowded shoulder to shoulder.
“The strong international debut of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ is an emphatic statement that audiences around the world are ready to return to theaters where local guidelines allow,” said Rich Gelfond, chief executive of IMAX. The large-format exhibitor accounted for $5 million of the film’s box office.
Better Numbers Than Previous Films
In nine markets, including Ukraine and the Netherlands, “Tenet” did better than any previous movie directed by Nolan, including “The Dark Knight.” It was the largest opening yet in Saudi Arabia, which in 2018 ended its ban on cinemas. In the United Kingdom, “Tenet” accounted for 74% of ticket sales, Warner Bros. said.
“Tenet” will open this week in the U.S. and China, the two largest markets. In the U.S., the conditions remain far from ideal. About 60% of theaters are currently open. The largest chains, including AMC and Regal, reopened the week prior. Any new release is trying to coax moviegoers back to the movies — any movie — in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the U.S. over the weekend, the Walt Disney Co.′ “The New Mutants,” a critically panned horror riff for Marvel made by 20th Century Fox before the Disney acquisition, led the domestic box office with an estimated $7 million in 2,412 locations. Cathleen Taff, Disney’s president of global distribution, called it a success for times requiring recalibrated expectations.
“We continue to have faith and believe in the theatrical experience. We think consumers are ready to start having that experience with others sooner rather than later,” Taff said. “We’re encouraged. We’re very encouraged.”
‘Mulan’ Stream For Disney
Disney will next week release the live-action remake of “Mulan” for a $30 digital rental through its streaming service, Disney+. Originally slated for theatrical release in March, it’s the most expensive movie yet to go straight to the home. Taff, though, said she’s optimistic about upcoming releases coming to theaters.
“Of course, it’s not going to be a linear process. We’ve been upended for sure, along with many other industries. But we have to continue to pivot and adjust our approach in real time,” said Taff. “Right now we’re feeling pretty good.”
Theaters remain closed in several states, including New York and California. On Friday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom released guidelines that could allow county-by-country reopening of cinemas.
United Artists Releasing’ “Bill & Ted Face the Music” debuted Friday on video-on-demand. The company didn’t provide rental grosses Sunday, but it also put “Bill and Ted” in 1,007 North American theaters where it made just shy of $1.1 million.
Theatrical release may be harder for adult-skewing specialty fare whose audiences are historically harder to get out of the house. Fox Searchlight’s “The Personal History David Copperfield,” a Charles Dickens adaptation by Armando Iannucci (“Veep”), opened with $520,000 from 1,360 theaters.
“The results, while modest, signal a return to the cinema for moviegoers who are yearning for the majesty of the big screen,” said Frank Rodriguez, distribution head for Searchlight.
It’s easy to get lost in all the streaming platforms out there and just get used to what is considered premium quality content. As with anything, you just get used to what you’re seeing.
That’s where Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray discs will always have the advantage over streaming video. Many feared that physical copies of movies and tv show would disappear, but once you watch a movie on a trusty disc, you can see they will always be around.
Of course, you’ll have those that say 4K Blu-rays are too expensive and take up space. Plus, they might be damaged, and with streaming you can watch nearly any movie or show you want immediately. That is if you subscribe to a streaming service or rent from your cable company.
Here’s a surprise for those thinking discs are on the way out. A report recently showed that a whole lot of people are still buying Blu-ray discs and players.
Here are some very valid reasons why people still want to watch their movies and shows on Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray discs.
It’s all about audio quality
When it comes to movies, an audience will forgive a slightly messy picture, but if the sound is off, they will revolt. Have you ever been in a theater where the sound is too low and all of a sudden people start screaming at the projector operator? I’ve lived in New York City for many years now, and they do that gleefully here.
Willem DaFoe, Robert Pattinson in The Lighthouse: Must watch on 4K Blu-Ray
4K Blu-rays give you far superior sound than you’ll ever get from streaming, no matter how fast your connection is. I have the 1Gps, but when I compared “The Lighthouse” on my 8K television with streaming and then the 4K Blu-ray, there was no competition.
People are still buying vinyl records for both the sound and nostalgic analog experience. It’s purely visceral as there’s nothing like taking that disc out of the case and hearing it the system boot up to play your movie. Plus, we find ourselves more attached to tangible things. How often do you throw away books or a Blu-ray disc, but it’s nothing to delete a film you just saw off your favorites list?
Blu-Ray quality is guaranteed
The biggest difference with Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray with streaming is the quality. While streaming services are now offering 4K content, you must have a connection that’s extremely fast with plenty of bandwidth. If you live in a big neighborhood, it’s easy for your connection to get congested causing a major loss in quality. Plus, you need your cable provider to have a 4K box, otherwise you’re missing out on major visual quality.
This is not an issue with Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray as they don’t rely on the internet. You just pop it into your player, and you get the superior audio and visual quality you deserve to escape from today’s crazy world. Plus, the internet does go down from time to time, your Blu-ray player won’t.
Blu-Rays come with digital download
While many people feel that being able to stream a movie anywhere is the biggest advantage, this is still possible with a physical 4K Blu-ray copy. Most of the discs come with a code to download a digital copy to watch anytime, anywhere.
The beauty of this is no internet connection is needed once it’s downloaded. You can watch your film on the go or at home. The choice is yours.
One last thing. Don’t you hate it when that film you wanted to watch on one streaming service is suddenly gone? With physical copies, that’ll never ever be a problem.
During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump pretended not to know who David Duke was, and he’s tried the same with the group QAnon. The president actually took it a step further this time though.
Trump on Wednesday praised the supporters of QAnon, a convoluted, pro-Trump conspiracy theory, and suggested he appreciates their support of his candidacy. This has given the group more fuel to spread their beliefs which have put some in harm’s way. They have also been charged with domestic terrorism and planned kidnapping.
Speaking during a press conference at the White House, Trump courted the support of those who put stock in the conspiracy theory, saying, “I heard that these are people that love our country.” It was Trump’s first public comment on the subject and continued a pattern of president appearing unwilling to resoundingly condemn extremists who support his candidacy. “So I don’t know really anything about it other than they do supposedly like me.”
“QAnon conspiracy theorists spread disinformation and foster a climate of extremism and paranoia, which in some cases has led to violence. Condemning this movement should not be difficult,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League. “It’s downright dangerous when a leader not only refuses to do so, but also wonders whether what they are doing is ‘a good thing.’”
QAnon has ricocheted around the darker corners of the internet since late 2017, but has been creeping into mainstream politics more and more. The baseless theory centers on an alleged anonymous, high-ranking government official known as “Q” who shares information about an anti-Trump “deep state” often tied to satanism and child sex trafficking.
“QAnon is promoting political disinformation, medical disinformation and carrying on a legacy of anti-Semitic tropes,” Joan Donovan, the research director at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, said in an interview. “Attention from the president is only going to embolden these groups to grow their ranks.”
Trump insisted he hadn’t heard much about the movement, “other than I understand they like me very much” and “it is gaining in popularity.”
Trump has retweeted QAnon-promoting accounts, and shirts and hats with QAnon symbols and slogans are not uncommon at his rallies.
An FBI bulletin last May warned that conspiracy theory-driven extremists have become a domestic terrorism threat. The bulletin specifically mentioned QAnon. Earlier last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center warned that the movement is becoming increasingly popular with anti-government extremists.
Trump’s comments were condemned by the campaign of his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
“After calling neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville ‘fine people’ and tear gassing peaceful protesters following the murder of George Floyd, Donald Trump just sought to legitimize a conspiracy theory that the FBI has identified as a domestic terrorism threat,” said Biden spokesman Andrew Bates. “Our country needs leadership that will bring us together more than ever to form a more perfect union. We have to win this battle for the soul of our nation.”
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination in 2016, also criticized the president, tweeting: “Why in the world would the President not kick Q’anon supporters’ butts? Nut jobs, rascists, haters have no place in either Party.”
Pressed on QAnon theories that Trump is allegedly saving the nation from a satanic cult of child sex traffickers, Trump claimed ignorance, but asked, “Is that supposed to be a bad thing?”
“If I can help save the world from problems, I’m willing to do it,” Trump said.
Qanon supporters were quick to celebrate Trump’s comments on social media, with many calling them a validation of their views. Many have long contended he sends them coded messages of support, and on Twitter, one user claimed Trump’s choice of a pink tie on Wednesday was another signal of support.
Within minutes, dozens of Instagram users began celebrating Trump’s acknowledgement of the conspiracy theory at the White House podium, uploading videos of him.
“Well we’ve been waiting for this moment for a while, to put it mildly thank you @realDonaldTrump,” one Instagram user wrote to her 19,000 followers in a post of Trump’s exchange. The video was viewed more than 1,000 times in just 30 minutes.
“Holy Smokin Q,” another tweeted. “Our President was asked 2 questions about the Qanon movement TODAY!! We LOVE you President Trump.”
On Parler, a right-wing platform popular with some Trump supporters, one Qanon supporter posted a photo of Trump and a bald eagle.
Trump’s comments came a week after he endorsed Marjorie Taylor Greene, who won her GOP House primary runoff in Georgia last week. Greene called the QAnon conspiracy theory “something worth listening to and paying attention to” and called Q a “patriot.” Trump praised her as a “
Trump has a long history of advancing false and sometimes racist conspiracies, including last week, when he gave credence to a highly criticized op-ed that questioned Democrat Kamala Harris’ eligibility to serve as vice president even though she was born in Oakland, California.
Asked about the matter, Trump told reporters he had “heard” rumors that Harris, a Black woman and U.S.-born citizen whose parents were immigrants, does not meet the requirement to serve in the White House. The president said he considered the rumors “very serious,” but later he and his campaign indicated they were not making an issue of the claim. Constitutional lawyers have dismissed it as nonsense.
Facebook announced just hours before Trump’s statements that it was banning some QAnon Facebook groups and accounts.
But social media had already been used for years to fuel the conspiracy theory’s rise, with private and super-secret Facebook groups where members sometimes post hundreds of times a day. QAnon believers often peddle a number of conspiracy theories, from claims that John F. Kennedy Jr. isn’t really dead and is staging a public comeback to baseless speculation around celebrities who have secretly been arrested for trafficking children for sex.
Mentions of hashtags social media users to promote the QAnon conspiracy theory have spiked in public Facebook pages and groups since July, generating millions of interactions, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from Facebook-owned CrowdTangle.
The conspiracy theory gained a larger online following in recent weeks, when prominent QAnon social media accounts pushed a bizarre and baseless conspiracy theory that online retail giant Wayfair was trafficking children through pricey storage cabinets that are for sale on its site. Some of the social media users shared the names and photos of missing children from around the country as proof of the scheme, even though many of the children have since been recovered.
QAnon’s origins are murky. In October 2017, a post appeared on the 4chan message board from an anonymous account calling itself “Q Clearance Patriot.” This poster, who became known simply as “Q,” claimed to be an intelligence officer with access to classified information about a war Mr. Trump was waging against the global cabal.
According to QAnon lore, Mr. Trump was recruited by top military generals to run for president in 2016 in order to break up the cabal’s criminal conspiracy, end its control of politics and the media, and bring its members to justice.
It has also incorporated elements of other conspiracy theories, including claims about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the existence of U.F.O.s and the 9/11 “truther” movement.
For years, Mr. Trump and his campaign have flirted with the QAnon movement. Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, has interviewed supporters in her role as a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, creating footage that was later promoted to Mr. Trump’s supporters.“If you could say one thing to the president, what would you say?” Ms. McEnany said to a supporter outside a campaign rally in February as several attendees shouted, “Q!” The two talked about what it meant to be a “digital soldier” for Mr. Trump.
“Who is Q?” the man replied. Ms. McEnany said that she would pass the message along.
For his part, the president has often reposted QAnon-centric content into his Twitter feed. And QAnon followers have long interpreted messages from Dan Scavino, the White House director of social media, as promoting tongue-in-cheek symbols associated with the movement.
“I’m not surprised at all by his reaction, and I don’t think QAnon conspirators are surprised either. It’s terrifying,” Vanessa Bouché, an associate professor of political science at Texas Christian University, said in an interview. “In a democratic society, we make decisions based on information. And if people are believing these lies, then we’re in a very dangerous position.”
Last month, researchers at online misinformation firm NewsGuard found that the QAnon conspiracy theory is gaining traction in Europe, with Facebook users pushing it on Facebook and Twitter, too.
For those of you wondering what Jensen Ackles’ next project was going to be, it turns out that he will be moving from one Eric Kripke show to another. Both Ackles and Amazon Prime Video announced Monday that he’ll be joining the cast of “The Boys” in Season 3!
“I keep wondering what I’ll do….when @cw_supernatural finally ends this year,” Ackles wrote on Instagram. “Then it hit me.”
Ackles will portray Soldier Boy aka the original superhero in the streaming drama. After Soldier Boy fought in World War II, he became the first super celebrity and a mainstay of American culture for decades.
“When I was a child, I had a crazy, impossible dream — to provide Jensen Ackles with gainful employment,” said Kripke in a statement. “I’m happy to say that dream has come true. Jensen is an amazing actor, an even better person, smells like warm chocolate chip cookies, and I consider him a brother. As Soldier Boy, the very first superhero, he’ll bring so much humor, pathos, and danger to the role. I can’t wait to be on set with him again, and bring a bit of ‘Supernatural’ to ‘The Boys.’”
UPDATE:The final 7 long-awaited episodes of “Supernatural” will being airing on Thursday, Oct. 8 with a two-hour finale on Thursday, Nov. 19.(Finale special with Series Finale)
If you haven’t been watching Amazon’s “The Boys,” what are you waiting for? The show is a rollercoaster of a ride that’s both fun and strikingly irreverent. “The Boys” follows what happens when superheroes (who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians and worshipped like gods) abuse their superpowers instead of using them for good. That sends “the boys”, everyday people who realize what’s going on, on a quest to expose the truth about the superheroes known as “The Seven” and the multi-billion dollar corporation that “manages” and covers up for them, Vought.
“The Boys” is based on the best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson and was developed by Ennis fan Eric Kripke, who’s showrunner, writer and executive producer. (Kripke is also responsible for my favorite show of all time, “Supernatural,” which explains how I discovered “The Boys” in the first place and explains how over the moon I am about today’s announcement that Jensen Ackles is joining the show!!!!!).
Long time Supernatural director and producer Phil Sgriccia is also along for the wild ride). I binge watched Season 1 of “The Boys” and was thrilled when Season 2 was announced. The first three episodes premiere Friday, September 4, on Prime Video and then new episodes will drop each Friday with the season finale airing on October 9. At last year’s Comic Con in San Diego, I was able to chat with Kripke and some of the cast – this year, in the middle of a pandemic, Amazon put together a virtual press junket so we could hear more about the upcoming Season 2. Kudos to the organizers for coordinating a million zoom calls and ensuring that we all got to spend time with Kripke and the cast – it was an enjoyable afternoon even if we were all juggling curious pets or kids or dealing with technology challenges!
The Boys Homelander Season 2
We also got to see the first three episodes, and while I’m going to keep this article free of specific spoilers, let me just say that they were pretty mindblowing! When they say that Season 2 is more intense and more insane than Season 1, they are not kidding.
As we begin Season 2, the Boys are on the run, hunted by the Supes and trying to regroup.
In hiding, Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) try to adjust to a new normal with Butcher, the father figure of the group, (Karl Urban) nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) must navigate her place in The Seven as Homelander (Antony Starr) sets his sights on taking complete control. His power is threatened with the addition of Stormfront (Aya Cash), a social media savvy new Supe, who has an agenda of her own. On top of that, the Supervillain threat takes center stage and makes waves as Vought seeks to capitalize on the nation’s paranoia. The Supes of The Seven also include Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), The Deep (Chace Crawford) and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell). Recurring stars include Claudia Doumit, Goran Visnijc, Malcolm Barrett, Colby Minifie, Shantel VanSanten, Cameron Crovetti, Laila Robbins and Giancarlo Esposito returning as Vought boss Stan Edgar.
With that introduction, here are a few excerpts from each of our roundtable chats with Eric Kripke and the cast to whet your appetite for more of “The Boys.” I’ve purposely kept any spoilers for Season 2 out of my coverage, so you can be as gobsmacked as I was by those first three episodes.
It was wonderful to “see” Eric Kripke again, and we shared a nice virtual hello. He was asked how he and the writers find a balance between the very dark side of the show and the very present comedic side of the show. Eric said they try to think about what would be the most stringent reality if something as absurd as superheroes existed in the real world.
Eric: I try to keep from getting too broad with the comedy or too dark even, because the real world is a complicated messy place and if you were to throw superheroes into it, there really would be that kind of violence! Because they’re super strong and they really would be perverts (laughing) because they’d have unlimited access and power. I think that’s been the secret to the tone, because it does take these wild swings from social commentary to crazy dick jokes to really emotional character moments. I think that sort of helps hold it all together.
[He’s right. It’s one of the things that Kripke has always been good at. I was always floored by how Supernatural could be so dark and yet so funny, and at the same time could literally make me cry with the emotional character moments. He brings that to The Boys as well]
Kripke also gave some insight into Season 2 as compared to Season 1, saying that Season 2 is actually pretty stressful for him.
Eric: I walked into Season 2 fairly nervous actually because I was so happy with how Season 1 turned out and hitting that bar is stressful. The writers and I decided early on that the mistake that a lot of second year shows make is that they try to top the first season. Trying to go bigger and bigger every season is kind of unsustainable, so we wanted to try to go deeper. What is the worst position we could put every single character in? So we have Butcher knowing his wife’s out there and he can’t get to her. We have Huey apart from Annie. We wanted to corner all of them, because under that kind of pressure you reveal who you are and you reveal deeper facets of their characters when they’re in really tight spots.
Kripke was also asked if there were any hard lines that the show couldn’t cross of what they can and can’t do from Amazon, which frankly it’s pretty hard to imagine because they do so much!
TheBoys_June18_Ep102_D02_JT_0595.RAF
Eric: No I have to say, they’ve been great. They are putting up with all sorts of insanity from us. They question things, like in Season 1 they were like, does the dolphin really have to ask to be jerked off? And we would say yes, absolutely, it’s really important to the character. There was only one scene in Season 1 that they didn’t want us to show, which involved Homelander masturbating. But I will say, without giving away spoilers, that scene may be making a comeback…I was able to finagle a little sumthin sumthin. But you’ll have to tune in to find out!
I told Eric that one of the things I always appreciate about his shows, as a long time Supernatural fan and someone who has watched all his series, that there are always familiar faces from those other shows and little homages and in jokes. (Supernatural star Jim Beaver, who played Bobby Singer, a character named after real life director Bob Singer, makes an appearance at the end of Season 1 – playing a character named Robert Singer! Is that meta enough??) I wondered if there would be more of that homage, especially as the long-running Supernatural is finally bowing out?
(I was actually already wondering if maybe Jensen Ackles or Jeffrey Dean Morgan might be joining up, but at the time that would have been a BIG spoiler so he didn’t fess up)
Eric: Yeah for sure, there are Easter eggs. Part of it is just because me and Phil Sgriccia, the producer/director of the show, we’re both long timers not just on Supernatural but on Revolution, so we are just inherently putting in little jokes to amuse ourselves. There are little references, like you said, Robert Singer. In episode 8 of Season 2, pay attention to the name of his assistant. We even found a little internet cartoon – I won’t say when it happens – but the Impala makes a short fast cameo, blink if you miss it, but it’s there.
Lynn: Oh I will not miss that!
Eric: To me it’s like, when I find actors I love who are both talented and, just as importantly, good people, I go back to them over and over again. So Giancarlo from Revolution, and I have a lot of my Timeless cast this year – Claudia Doumit, Malcolm Barrett, Goran Visnjic. I love bringing back actors who I love to work with, and it makes it a lot more fun. So yes, there will familiar faces this year.
One of the things that sets The Boys apart is its social commentary. The show blends what it brings in from the comics with current cultural issues.
Eric: I’m a huge fan of the comics, Garth Ennis is the best writer in comics in my opinion. But there’s a lot in the comics, I think he would agree, that’s shocking to be shocking. At the time he wanted to sort of knock the superhero comic on its ass and that was his goal. I had a really clear notion that I did not want to do that. What I wanted to do was take some of those shocking things and modernize them and give them context in the world we’re living in now, because we live in this bizarre world where authoritarianism and celebrity are completely blended. And it turns out that this show happens to hit the sweet spot of talking about the exact moment we’re living in. For instance in Season 1 there was a moment of sexual assault in the comics that was shocking and probably played for shock value and we wanted to make it into a really thoughtful story about trauma and the #MeToo movement and how a character reacts throughout that.
Kripke went on to say that in Season 2 there’s a character who’s very famous from the books that they wanted to use to talk about issues that are happening in the world right now, like xenophobia and white nationalism (Stormfront).
Eric: So part of it is just about wanting to talk about the modern world that we live in and adjusting the comic to what’s happening right now. And then the other part of it is about the characters. Just because it’s streaming, the show is still serialized, and the comic is pretty episodic, so you sort of have to take a different format with it. We really start characters first. That’s always the rule whenever we break a story, we start with where are they emotionally and where do we want them to go and how do we learn something new? Only once we have that locked in do we even start to talk about, oh we can have some political satire here or a bloody moment there. It’s only ever layered on top of the character work, because we’re in TV and TV is the character business. TV shows work when you love characters and don’t work when you don’t. So that’s always the first part.
[This philosophy explains why I fell head over heels for Dean Winchester fifteen years ago and am still watching Supernatural – similarly, the characters in The Boys become more and more fascinating as time goes on and we find out more about their complexity]
One of the things I always love about Eric Kripke’s television shows is the music, which never fails to enrich the show. Eric was asked how involved he was in selecting the music for The Boys.
Eric: I’m super involved in that process. One of the things I really care about is the music in really all my shows. When I was writing Supernatural and certainly this, it’s a lot of long conversations with the editors and talking about the vibe that we want. They’ve learned at this point to rarely pitch a song that was recorded after 1980 (laughs). So they know my sweet spot. And then in terms of the score, Chris Lennertz, the composer who did Supernatural and a bunch of my stuff, we were college friends together, so he was scoring my short films back then and it’s a blast to work with him.
Eric also said that the idea to air episodes weekly for Season 2 came from him and the other producers, who lobbied Amazon to do it.
Eric: We found that in Season 1 there was such an overload of material so quickly that a lot of scenes that we loved and thought would be talked about on social media kind of just weren’t. Because everyone was only talking about the biggest craziest things. So we wanted to slow it down ever so slightly to let each episode land with the fans a little bit more so they could take a little more time obsessing and analyzing it before they moved on. Just because there’s so much crazy in Season 2, so we thought a slightly slower LSD drip felt like the right move for us creatively. We felt it was a little too rich for one binge meal! So we’ll see how it goes.
[In one of my very first chats with Eric now more than a decade ago, I realized that he totally got what being a fan is all about – because he’s a fan too. So when he says let’s give fans time to obsess and analyze, he gets it – because that’s what he likes to do too. It’s stood him in good stead throughout all this television shows]
I’m a psychologist by profession, so I was fascinated by what The Deep and A Train, two of the supes, had to deal with in Season 1. Their struggles made their characters complex and pulled for some empathy even as those two supes did some awful things in the first season.
So I was excited to chat with Chace Crawford (The Deep) and Jessie T. Usher (A Train). How did they move on from some of those things they’ve done in the past?
Jessie: They both have to deal with it, they’re not at a place in their lives when they can just move past things anymore. They both – excuse my language – they fucked up to the point where things can’t be covered up by Vought anymore or swept under the rug. A Train is figuring it out as he goes. It’s too much for him, because he’s kinda turned his back on everyone who had his back, so he’s got to do it alone. You’ll see him figure that out in Season 2.
Chace: I think he’s genuinely close to rock bottom. He doesn’t know who he is, and never really has known who he is. I think he’s broken open enough to have to at least try some self exploration.
Chace said he had really enjoyed seeing all the episodes and seeing everyone else’s work.
Chace: I like doing these crazy scenes.
[All I’m gonna say is Lucy the whale, someone said]
Jessie: (laughing) I have never seen a good idea go bad so fast…
Chace: And it turned out so well! I was like, how is this gonna turn out, this is crazy…
Jessie: That’s the thing about filming this show, you’re like, I don’t know how this is gonna turn out, then you see it and it’s like wow that was freaking amazing! Clearly they saw something that I had yet to see. I’ve been pleasantly surprised throughout this entire Season 2 and I know everyone else will be as well.
The Deep does some serious soul searching in the first episodes of Season 2, which involves some singing and some other….things….which I won’t spoil here. But suffice it to say, I was fascinated by the psychological themes that continue to be explored through both this character and A Train. Both of the characters are going through something that has a real world counterpart. For A Train, it’s sort of an addiction that is playing out with him very realistically and for The Deep we start to find out that he is struggling with his body being different (recall the memorable gill fingering scene in Season 1…), which reminded me a lot of what people go through who have body dysmorphia. I asked them if they were inspired by the real world parallels?
Jessie: Absolutely. The parallels that I made weren’t to the addiction to substance abuse necessarily, but the addiction to power and to fame that I see around me all the time with peers. You see how it tears people apart and tears them down and rips their morals from them because they become addicted to a lifestyle or a status or whatever it is, because they feel like that is who they are. That sense of self that comes from something external like that is really terrible to watch. I’m sure we all know someone who has become addicted to something and that’s not who they are, but there’s literally nothing you can do about it, there’s no convincing them of what we know they’ll find out eventually. A Train is in a place where you kinda have to watch him crash and burn, it’s the only way he’s gonna learn. We see that happen through the course of Season 1 and then we figure out what happens from the ashes in Season 2. It was interesting to play around with that and pull from different places of inspiration and apply them all to this character … a conglomerate of a lot of things I’ve experienced, to make him as complicated as possible.
Chace: For me, you said it right on, the body dysmorphia is what I keyed into. Even in Season 1, because the gills are, in his mind, the source of his complete embarrassment and shame. It’s shrouded in so much shame, he feels like a freak and that’s why he always is trying to overcompensate and assert himself and try to be this alpha type character.
[Without giving anything away, in a pivotal Season 2 scene, Chace said that The Deep confronts those feelings in a scene that is both comedic and heartbreaking, and that he tried to make it both funny and really vulnerable as well. Which he did! Also without spoilers, in Season 2 we see A Train begin to have the things he’s accumulated such as money and status be stripped away.]
Jessie: I knew that when we met A Train that was not who he truly is. The money, the entourage, the status, the way he walks and talks, those are all things I’ve attached to him as dependencies, that you will see get stripped away and then you’ll see who he is at his core.
Jack Quaid (Huey) and Erin Moriarty (Annie/Stargirl) were paired up for a chat next, which meant lots of questions about those two characters’ relationship. Everyone wanted to know, will Annie be able to forgive Huey for lying to her about who he is and what he’s been up to?
Erin: I mean, that’s the biggest question of Season 2. The answer is that I can’t really answer, but I will say that we all know Huey, and we know that despite everything he’s an exceptionally good dude and his moral compass is strongly intact. I would say that in the beginning she’s really resistant and skeptical of trusting him again but as the season progresses it becomes harder and harder for her to deny the solidity of his character, which might enable the trust to come back.
Meanwhile, Huey starts out Season 2 pretty much falling apart.
Jack: I don’t want to give too much away, but what I love about him this season is he’s lost everything at the start and being able to play him building back up was super fascinating. It isn’t just an upward slope, it’s peaks and valleys. Huey in Season 1 was a character who was enmeshed in other characters’ motivations, like Butcher’s crusade against the Supes. This season we’re seeing him come into his own more and ask himself, what do I want out of all this? If Season 1 was him grappling with anxiety, this is about depression, because he lost everything.
In the comics, Huey and Annie eventually end up engaged, so Jack and Erin were asked if the show would follow that trajectory.
Jack: That’s the million dollar question! We take liberties from the comics so I truly don’t know where Eric plans for us to go.
Erin: I have no idea because we try to strike this balance between honoring some of the comic and taking our own liberties. This is all speculation, but I’m pretty confident that if we don’t end up together, I think Annie and Huey would end on a good note that would imply they’d be really good friends forever. The thing about their romance that I love exploring and that makes it so intimate and deep is that they’re also best friends. So either they end up together or as solid best friends who will be connected forever. At this point, they’re pretty bonded
Jack: They have what we call a trauma bond. Hashtag #TraumaBond. They’ve both been through a lot.
I asked Erin about the impact of finding out about her mother’s betrayal on Annie. How did that fuel her anger that she’s now using as a motivator, and how did it impact her ability to trust?
E: I think a lot of Season 2 is her being angry not just heartbroken. Luckily she’s able to use it in a productive way and exert that anger onto Vought and her mission to make the world a better place and take them down. So that anger kind of accumulates and bubbles up in this really hardcore mission. And in addition to being angry, it manifests in the form of self preservation in terms of not letting anyone in. She’s not willing to let Huey in in the beginning so that’s a big impact on their relationship. I think it’s like any other person – she is in this case not very unique – when it comes to people having their hearts broken and their trust shattered by the person they love the most, it affects every single relationship in their life on a deeply profound level. In addition to a direct reason to mistrust Huey, because he did lie to her and break her heart, her mom’s situation just fuels that and makes her even more distant from him and anyone else.
Both Erin and Jack said they were excited for Season 2 because they now had so much backstory for their characters from Season 1 that the relationships between the characters could deepen in Season 2, and they can use what they know to continue to build that characterization.
Karl Urban (Billy Butcher) and Laz Alonso (Mother’s Milk) were the next roundtable pair. Someone noted that family plays a large role in both of their characters’ motivation.
Laz: Yes. MM has chosen his family, he’s chosen The Boys, but he has another family… which family do you really belong to?
Karl: At the end of Season 1, Butcher discovers his wife is alive, so his main agenda is to find her and reunite with her and rescue her. The issue that raises for him is how far is he willing to go to achieve that goal? We saw in Season 1 he was hell bent, driven, obsessed, prepared to do anything, and that didn’t work out too well for him. In Season 2 he’s on a quest – find out who is the main puppeteer of The Seven and how do you take them down?
As Season 2 begins, Butcher has left the Boys, which has a big impact on all of them.
Laz: When we start off Season 2, we’re all in the dark. We don’t know where Butcher is, we don’t know what we’re all doing, we’re almost individuals and no longer a team. What we’re missing is having that mission. In Season 1 we had a clear leader and mission, but that leader is gone. That’s what I felt was the biggest challenge, especially shooting scenes without Karl just didn’t feel right. It felt dark. In the episode where Butcher comes down the steps and uses what I think will be the catch phrase of Season 2, “Daddy’s home”, it reunites us and gives us somewhere to go. I love the fact that family became the focal point because through the dysfunction of our Boys family, we find out the backstory of all the characters.
Both Laz and Karl confirmed that while Eric Kripke was clear about not trying to make Season 2 bigger than Season 1, but instead making it more rich in character development, both believe he did that but he also went bigger as well.
Karl: Season 2 of The Boys is like Season 1 on V compound. Every week we’d be reading a script going Ohmygod I can’t believe we’re actually doing this! And we shot it old school. So in Episode 3 we’re in a speedboat speeding along a lake and jumping waves, and that’s actually us in the boat and driving. We had a helicopter hovering 100 feet in the air filming us and it was like old school big time movie making. I can’t wait for people to see it!
Laz: That boat scene wasn’t written until our hiatus between seasons when Karl was posting all of his boat fishing photos from New Zealand. I have a feeling whatever we post in this hiatus will end up in Season 3!
Karl: I’ll post footage of me driving stupidly fast around a race track and maybe we’ll have a car chase.
[I love the way this cast constantly banters – it’s clear there’s a great deal of camaraderie between all of them]
Both said that we learn more about their characters’ backstories in Season 2.
Karl: We learn more about his backstory and the darker aspects of his character. That hidden element was there long before he met Rebecca, his wife. This season is really about taking the element that’s most important to each character and ripping it away from them and seeing how they deal with it.
Laz: The backstory I’m a part of is actually Frenchie’s, but our stories and our pasts are intricately linked from when we were The Boys before and disbanded. It will answer the questions, why does my character treat Frenchie the way he does? Why am I so hard on him, why do I blame him for so much stuff?
They also talked about the challenge of making sure their characters, who are mere humans, come across as viable threats to the supes.
Karl: It’s in the genius of Kripke’s mind and his overall approach. His vision was he never wanted it to be like a macho mano o mano thing. The boys cannot physically take on the Supes, they’re in a different league. So it forces them to be smarter and to me that’s interesting. What’s even more of a challenge is when you put in the individual character dynamics and flaws – some are unreliable, some are unhinged, some cannot follow directions. You have this dysfunctional group of renegade vigilantes trying to achieve this goal and the thing I love is that they’re always scrambling, always on the back foot and out of their depth. Season 2 takes that to a whole new level.
Laz: What I love, to feed off that, it shows that you don’t need powers to fight back. You may win, you may lose, but as long as we’re united and together, we’re a formidable foe. I think that’s what shows true bravery, when you know you’re outgunned and outmanned but you do it anyway because it’s the right thing to do. That’s what I love about being on this side of our show.
[Shades of Supernatural’s ‘Always Keep Fighting’ mantra!]
One of the things that makes The Boys so unique is how relevant it (unfortunately) feels, holding a mirror up to our own society. We wondered, did that hold true for Season 2 also?
Karl: Arguably even moreso. While our show is set in a heightened reality where we imagine superheroes exist and are realistically imbued with faults and flaws akin to many celebrities in our society, it also gives us the opportunity to explore certain elements of our culture that are a little bit raw and topical. In the first season, there were definite parallels with the MeToo movement and sexual harassment. Season 2 touches on things like corporate corruption and greed, xenophobia, racism…I don’t know how Kripke does it because he wrote this script over a year ago and it’s almost like those issues we happen to be exploring have come to the forefront of modern society.
Laz: We haven’t gone into MM’s backstory yet but there’s a snippet in an episode when he reveals a very personal part of his motivation for being part of the Boys and you would think you were listening to some of the activists who have been marching in the streets this year. No one would think we shot Season 2 a year ago because it’s so timely with what we’ve seen in the last few months.
Next up were Antony Starr (Homelander) and new addition Aya Cash (Stormfront). How does Stormfront shake things up for The Seven?
Antony laughed and said that Homelander has been comfortable being at the top of the food chain, sort of like the mother and the father and the Seven are like his little kids, and then this new person comes along who really challenges that.
Antony: She keeps him on his toes. I think it’s fair to say she keeps every member of the Seven on their toes, she does not stop at Homelander in fucking with people, it’s pretty much The Seven, watch out!
Aya: I think she’s there to shake things up, from the social media perspective and the transition from traditional media into online and her talents there. I think that’s part of why she’s been brought in. She has very specific ideas about what should happen with the Seven and aspirations to lead, so she’s coming for Homelander a little bit. I think in her mind either she gets him on her side or he’s out! (laughing)
Antony: Or … she’s out!
Aya: We’ll see…
So, who’s the bigger psychopath?
They both laughed delightedly.
Antony: They’re both pretty psycho!
Aya: The reason I think Stormfront is a bigger psycho is that Homelander is coming from a selfish view. He’s doing bad to protect himself, so he does what’s best for him. Stormfront is thinking more globally and is less about self protection and more about the world. So, psycho!
Antony: So megalomania or narcissim?
Someone suggested their relationship was like petulant child versus arrogant teenager.
Antony: Who’s who?
Aya: You’re the petulant child, sweetie.
I suggested that Homelander seems like the poster child for what happens when there’s severe maternal deprivation (which we see playing out in Season 2 in quite….disturbing…ways). That gives him a vulnerability, and I wondered if he was aware of that.
Antony: It’s a vulnerability, you’re right, but I don’t know if he’s conscious of it. It’s definitely there to be exploited. It’s really about connection in general, because the deprivation he received wasn’t just from his mother, it was from everyone. He had a semi father figure sort of but that was a scientist. We saw frames of little Homelander alone with a little rag, so it’s not just about mummy, it’s mummy daddy sister brother friends everyone, a complete social isolation. And that is definitely a vulnerability that someone — oh I don’t know, like Stormfront — if they so desire could exploit.
Aya: The difference is that Stormfront is not interested in being his mommy. She might be interested in lifting him up and making him a better version of himself though, more like, I know you’re my equal and you better step up and be that.
Stormfront in the comics is male, but in the television show, she’s female.
Aya: The gender swap is done with intention. Because the comics are a good jumping off point, but written a while ago, and for our current moment, what we see is that there is darkness hidden in cute sweet very palatable packages and I think that having a woman come in and bring that was an exciting way to talk about the issues. I think also it’s always fun to see a badass woman come in and match the badass male. When you’re interacting with a woman coming at you versus a man, it’s a different kind of interaction.
Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko) and Tomer Capon (Frenchie) also made for a good pairing for our discussion. We wondered how their characters’ relationship evolves as we head into Season 2?
Karen: We see Kimiko become more a part of the Boys. They’ve all been living in this dingy location without a shower so they’ve created this bond. And then it progresses into something more. Deeper. Special.
Tomer: We’re on the run, hiding, and that puts them in a new kind of situation where they have to figure out how to survive. But during that time, they really figure out how to grow even more than what they were in Season 1. I think we’re going to find out about Frenchie this season that maybe he’s not into “getting the girl”. Frenchie is a free spirit and we get a glimpse of that in Season 2. He loves everybody, every kind, and it turns out that his relationship with Kimiko is so spiritual, it’s beyond the romantic. There’s a lot that goes on between those two in Season 2.
[I personally found this answer really intriguing and cannot wait to find out more!]
I asked Karen about the fact that Kimiko doesn’t speak, wondering if it’s because of her trauma and if it had occurred to Karen that it has a real life corollary in selective mutism?
Karen: That’s such an awesome question. That’s been something up for discussion from the beginning. It’s the big question, why can’t she speak? Is it genetic, is it trauma related? I love that Season 2 tackles that and makes it clearer. I did a lot of research after getting the script and speaking with Eric about it, about why she lost that ability, and childhood trauma is a huge thing that plays into it. I had a coach that gave me perspective, not about exactly selective mutism, but that world, and speaking with her has helped me immensely.
Karen went on to say that she got a lot of questions in Season 1 about how it felt to be an Asian character who is mute because that’s a stereotype in many forms of media.
Karen: In Season 1 and even more in Season 2, Eric has given Kimiko an important story line. At the core, she’s kinda the catapult, the one giving the Boys hope. Everyone has their own reason why they’re in the Boys, but in terms of plotline, she has a huge part. She’s not a throwaway character, which is something I take note of when reading a script. I love that Kimiko has a will of her own and as much as she’s mute, she still holds her ground and does what she wants. I like that.
[Me too.]
Tomer said that when he read Frenchie, he saw a teenager in front of him, and that it was all about trauma and running away from yourself and what was done to him by his father. He struggles with Kimiko’s evolution in Season 2.
Tomer: He sees himself in her, to get a chance to grow bigger from that. But then Season 2 comes and Kimiko grows up so fast. She becomes like this woman and I think he doesn’t know how to say goodbye to the teenager he is and accept the woman she’s becoming.
Sounds like it’s going to be an interesting evolution for both characters!
Finally, we chatted with Giancarlo Esposito (Stan Edgar), who had just been nominated for an Emmy. Without spoiling the scene, there’s a confrontation between Edgar and Homelander in Season 2 which made for some very powerful moments.
Giancarlo: I adore Antony, and he does genius work. What I love is that he’s a connected actor. In the moments we have when we connect, we have formidable scenes. Edgar is certainly becoming a character that we want to know better, and that’s interesting to me…. Homelander is a dangerous guy but there’s no way that Stan Edgar is afraid of him. Homelander reminds me of a guy we have in office in our country right now. He needs love, he wants to be liked, he has self esteem issues… I look at these superheroes and they’re all fallible, so Stan can manipulate and maneuver them.
I asked Giancarlo how he, as an actor, conveyed Edgar’s power in that scene, which comes across clearly even though he speaks quietly and appears very calm. Is that mostly choices he makes or was it something dictated to him?
Giancarlo: The choices were mine. I felt as if someone who’s powerful doesn’t have to put it on display. They obviously have to know everything that’s going on, which Stan does. And they have to make decisions about what’s right for the company and for the characters. This is like a theme park in a way. There’s a display of what the public needs to see from the heroes they’re invested in, which Stan respects. For me, it was not only to be soft spoken but to be a very clear communicator. Stan has a lot of information and he represents the company in an upstanding business like way, so part of that is to be understanding and maybe even have a little compassion for the pain that some of my associates may be reeling from. Maybe I show a little of that so you can see he is not just the lone and sole dictator but there’s something behind him. I always want to think there’s some power behind Stan that enables me to be the person who runs the personalities and emotions and the economics and morality of a company. But there’s big stuff here connected to your question which we’re going to find out little by little and I think it will be very exciting. I adore this character for the subtleties I’m able to bring to him. Kripke saw me doing that from the very first scene and they get a chance to watch me do it over and over again, and they go whoa, he just did something. I get inspired by what they write and figuring out how to play against a guy with power and they get inspired by what I do to bring out some of Stan’s humanity. And I think this is what makes a fantastic character.
Me: I so agree and you do it beautifully. Thank you so much.
After chatting with Kripke and the cast and watching some of Season 2, I am even more excited to see the rest of the season and find out more about these characters. The eight-episode Amazon Original series premieres on September 4 exclusively on Prime Video. Don’t miss it!
With Jensen Ackles now on board too, I’m going to be glued to my TV for Season 2 and anticipating Season 3 more than I can even put into words!
