Cinema isn’t just about the latest Disney/Pixar project or Star Wars spin-off. Memorable storytelling is happening all over the film industry, from Hollywood’s box-office-busting superhero smashes to small, innovative indie experiments. The Verge’s film section is here to help you sort through the latest Hollywood news and reviews, from favorite genres like sci-fi, fantasy, and horror to the independent movies that matter.
The YouTube channel Emulated Vintage Gaming posted a nearly 10-hour video of Frodo walking from the Shire to Mordor in The Lord of the Rings Online. Parts of Andy Serkis’ reading of the audiobooks are interspersed throughout. This is amazing.
Mike Hill talks about working with Guillermo del Toro, and why Jacob Elordi was the right actor for the role.
For Godzilla Day 2025, Toho has revealed the name of its follow-up to the 2023 flick, Godzilla Minus One, a year after we saw the first teaser for the sequel.
All it seems to confirm is the name, Godzilla -0.0 (Godzilla Minus Zero), and the return of writer/director Takashi Yamazaki.
Update: Added English title reveal.
If you weren’t able to see Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein in theaters during its all-too-brief theatrical run, it’ll be on Netflix next week. The latest trailer, meanwhile, provides the best look yet at Jacob Elordi’s take on the creature.
Paramount has announced some of the creative talent behind the upcoming Call of Duty movie: Peter Berg (Battleship, Hancock) will write, direct and produce, while Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan is serving as a writer and producer. Still no word on when the movie might hit theaters, or if there’ll be a zombie mode.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ new dark comedy gets at the heart of what makes this era of conspiracy theories feel so bleak.
It has been two months since Skydance bought Paramount for $8 billion, and — shocker — the newly merged megacorporation has already begun the process of laying off thousands of its workers. It’s almost like these big media consolidation deals invariably end up harming workers.
[The Washington Post]
History tells us that Warner Bros. Discovery’s plan to sell itself is probably going to end in disaster.
Gkids is launching Shin Godzilla in 4K Blu-ray on October 28th. It’s the first 4K version of the 2016 film to come to the US, as well as the first 4K version with English subtitles. The three-disc steelbook is $34.99 to preorder at Amazon, and is packed with special features. It’ll hit HBO Max later this year or in 2026.
Bill Block, the former CEO of Miramax, has plans to build out his new micro-drama streaming platform called GammaTime thanks to a fresh round of funding from investors including Alexis Ohanian, Kris Jenner, and Kim Kardashian. Perhaps Quibi was just too ahead of its time.
The latest Predator: Badlands trailer features a bunch of new shots of the deadly planet a young Yautja and his synth companion will find themselves stranded on, but the strangest thing going on here is all that fancy finger work with what appears to be a laser bow weapon.
It has already gotten more than 325 million views, the company says. And get ready for more from the franchise: Netflix is partnering with Mattel and Hasbro on toys and products, and the company is looking at “opportunities” in “live experiences, publishing, beauty, lifestyle, and food and beverage.”
[Netflix]
The latest iteration of Frankenstein is excellent, but due to Netflix’s complex relationship with theaters, it’s also difficult to watch at the moment for many. But if you want to squeeze in a viewing ahead of its November 7th streaming date, the director posted this handy site for finding local screenings.
A crime movie about a guy who can’t charm his way out of trouble.
Weapons is set to make its HBO Max debut on October 24th, which might get folks intrigued about the spinoff prequel director Zach Cregger has in development.
[HBO Press Room]
The director builds on a familiar story with a new level of detail and heart.
Avatar actress Zoe Saldaña was just talking earlier this week about wanting James Cameron to make a documentary about how much human artistry goes into films made with motion capture. And now, there’s a new trailer for Disney Plus’ upcoming Fire And Water: Making The Avatar Films doc out on November 7th.
The Apple-produced Brad Pitt vehicle will stream on Apple TV Plus, which Apple has just quietly rebranded to Apple TV, available on the Apple TV app, which you can stream using your Apple TV hardware. Nope, not confusing at all.
This weekend, you can see a 4K restoration at select cinemas around the US. I revisited the film a couple years ago when it was on the Criterion Channel and guess what? The movie that inspired the Hunger Games, Fortnite, and countless other “battle royales” still holds up. It should still look awesome on a big screen, too.
One of my favorite movies out of TIFF this year was No Other Choice, Park Chan-wook’s surprisingly slapstick dark comedy about a man just trying to get a job. You can get a feel for it in the new trailer; it hits select theaters on Christmas before going wide in January.
The movie works as a Nine Inch Nails delivery system, but not much else.
It was already exciting to know that Rebecca Sugar is making a Steven Universe follow-up series for Amazon, but Annapurna just announced that Sugar has also signed onto a new Moomin feature that will adapt a number of Tove Jansson’s classic stories for the big screen.
In Bugonia’s latest trailer, Emma Stone’s pharmaceutical CEO character can’t fathom why her kidnappers think she might be from another planet. But the more she insists that she’s just a very rich and powerful executive, the more they’re convinced she’s, you know, not human.
The digital avatar’s rollout feels like a stunt meant to normalize gen AI’s creep into Hollywood.
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, which combines the two volumes of Kill Bill and adds a seven-and-a-half minute animated sequence, is hitting theaters on December 5th.
Fortnite wasted no time cooking up its KPop Demon Hunters collaboration that will see the Huntr/x girls squadding up to slay monsters in a movie-inspired version of the game’s Horde Rush mode running from October 2nd to November 1st. Naturally, Rumi, Zoey, and Mira skins will also be coming to the Fortnite Shop.
