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Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images(SeaPRwire) -   In the past, not all screens held the same cultural weight. By 1996, Mystery Science Theater 3000 had established itself as a cherished late-night cable fixture with a passionate cult audience. Its seventh season (or eighth, counting the KTMA episodes) had recently concluded on Comedy Central. However, in the era before streaming, television lacked the prestige of cinema.Mystery Science Theater 3000 originated on public access television in Minnesota, placing it about as far from Hollywood as possible for a show airing on a major network like Time Warner. For those unfamiliar, MST3K pioneered the movie-riffing format. It featured a cast of sarcastic puppets and an everyman host—creator Joel Hodgson for the first five seasons, then Mike Nelson, Jonah Ray, and current host Emily Marsh—who is trapped on the "Satellite of Love" and compelled to watch bad B-movies for a mad scientists' mind-control experiment. The show famously introduced trash-cinema aficionados to Manos: The Hands of Fate and countless other oddities.The series and the films it mocked were both products of the fringe, an underdog spirit deeply embedded in the creative team. Talk of adapting the show for the big screen began almost as soon as it was apparent, as writer-performer Kevin Murphy noted in 2021, that Mystery Science Theater 3000 "was going to be around for a little while." Not everyone was eager to chase mainstream success, however. In that same retrospective, Hodgson stated, "the reason I left the show was because of the feature. There were creative differences."Nevertheless, director Jim Mallon remained convinced MST3K belonged in theaters, believing "the more people that are in the room watching Mystery Science with you, the more fun it is." The show's humor heavily relied on references, many quite esoteric. Ranging from hyper-local Midwest jokes to allusions to high-art icons like Jacques Tati and Philip Glass, Mystery Science Theater 3000 never dumbed itself down or compromised its identity to gain wider appeal. That changed when Universal Pictures entered the picture.While Hodgson had met with Paramount before his 1993 departure, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie ultimately ended up at Universal. The studio redirected the team from an initial concept that would have expanded the host segments into a feature-length story, settling instead on what was essentially a regular episode enlarged for the silver screen. (Ironically, at 78 minutes, the movie is shorter than a typical episode.)Universal also insisted the MST3K team mock a film from its own library. Their final choice was This Island Earth, a 1955 sci-fi feature starring Jeff Morrow, Rex Reason, and Faith Domergue. Unlike most targets on the show, it was initially well-reviewed by critics. In hindsight, though, its flying saucers and neon green rays proved suitably silly for riffing.Mike, Tom Serve, Crow, and Gypsy may have never become household names, but Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was still an important part in deciding the franchise’s legacy. | Best Brains/Universal/Kobal/ShutterstockNotably, only about 55 minutes of the 86-minute source film were used in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. The jokes themselves were also watered down, trimmed by studio executives worried about confusing viewers less versed in pop culture trivia than the average MST3K devotee. A reference to Parliament-Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins was cut, along with several host segments and the script's original ending. "We were not used to justifying or having to explain jokes," writer and co-star Mary Jo Pehl remarked in 2021. "I think that was really frustrating for us because we have the sensibility that if you got it, great. If you didn’t get it, you’ll get the next joke. I don’t think we were used to it being so under a microscope."Consequently, despite a turnout from fans on opening weekend, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie did not propel MST3K into the mainstream. It was neither purely for existing fans nor entirely accessible to newcomers. Universal also provided minimal promotion, diverting its marketing focus that week to the Pamela Anderson film Barbed Wire—precisely the type of movie the MST3K team built its reputation on lampooning.The endeavor was not a total loss, however. While Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is seldom ranked among the series' best episodes—which is essentially what it is—it did attract a fresh wave of fans. Future host Jonah Ray was among them, recalling in 2021, "I loved all the shows, but the movie is such a solid memory of mine." So, although the film failed to make Mike, Tom Servo, Crow, and Gypsy household names, it contributed to the show's enduring legacy, guaranteeing that VHS copies would be passed around for years.Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is now streaming on Tubi. This article is provided by a third-party content provider. SeaPRwire (https://www.seaprwire.com/) makes no warranties or representations regarding its content. Category: Top News, Daily News SeaPRwire provides global press release distribution services for companies and organizations, covering more than 6,500 media outlets, 86,000 editors and journalists, and over 3.5 million end-user desktop and mobile apps. SeaPRwire supports multilingual press release distribution in English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Russian, Indonesian, Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese, and more.

Syfy/Universal(SeaPRwire) -   Adapting Terry Gilliam’s classic film 12 Monkeys into a television series for SyFy was always a daunting task. However, after creators Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett transformed their initial concept, Splinter, into a reimagining of 12 Monkeys in 2015, the show’s narrative quickly diverged from the movie’s established canon. Today, fans consider the SyFy series not only a standout sci-fi production but arguably one of the greatest time travel shows ever made. While the original film is a cinematic masterpiece, its approach to time paradoxes is relatively straightforward compared to the complex, "timey-wimey" nature of the broader genre. With its second season, which premiered on April 18, 2016, the series demonstrated a scope far exceeding that of the film, subtly expanding its premise in ways that weren't immediately obvious.While suggesting that a newcomer start with Season 2 might seem unconventional, it wouldn't be entirely unreasonable. The season premiere, "Year of the Monkey," opens with a thorough recap of the first season, narrated by Madeline Stowe—who portrayed Dr. Kathryn Railly in the 1995 film, a role reimagined as Cassandra Railly (Amanda Schull) for the series. This narration served as a helpful refresher for viewers and foreshadowed a pivotal cameo by Stowe later in the season, a performance that fundamentally shifted the show's trajectory.The defining aspect of Season 2 is that "Year of the Monkey" set the series on a new course, moving beyond the singular time-travel objectives of the original movie. Season 1 mirrored the film, following James Cole (Aaron Stanford) as he traveled through time to stop a plague that decimated humanity by 2043. Every event in the first season, including jumps to the 1980s and Cole’s own childhood, was tied to this mission. Furthermore, the first season operated on a closed-loop paradox model, where the characters' efforts to alter the timeline only served to solidify the one already in place.Season 2, however, marks a significant departure. Although not immediately apparent in the premiere, the events triggered by "Year of the Monkey" lead to the following episode, "Primary," where the team successfully alters the timeline, delaying the virus's outbreak. Essentially, the original timeline is replaced, allowing the show to move past certain Season 1 mysteries. Because the characters have been altered by time travel on a cellular level, they remain aware of these timeline shifts, setting the stage for a more ambitious concept that transcends the simple goal of preventing a plague.In essence, Season 2 transformed 12 Monkeys into an expansive conflict across time between the Army of the 12 Monkeys and the Project Splinter team. While predestination paradoxes remain, the new stakes involve both sides actively manipulating time, leading to massive temporal ruptures and storms. The plague becomes just one element of a much larger puzzle, freeing the series from the constraints of merely emulating the film.Cassie (Amanda Schull) isn’t messing around in 12 Monkeys Season 2. | SyFy/Universal The increased scope and stakes also allowed for a shift in aesthetic. Where the first season often felt bleak, Season 2 adopts a brighter tone, aided by more varied physical settings. The major showdown in New York City during the premiere provides a welcome change from the utilitarian laboratory environments of the future. By the third episode, the team establishes a new base at the Emerson Hotel, a location that introduces its own paradoxes while adding visual vibrancy to the show."Year of the Monkey" establishes the groundwork for these developments without contradicting the established canon of Season 1. For viewers who found the first season too dark or slow-paced, Season 2 represents a significant escalation. The episode is filled with hints and dialogue that pay off as late as the show’s fourth and final season. If you are looking for the moment 12 Monkeys evolved from good to great, it begins here, making it well worth revisiting a decade later.12 Monkeys streams on Prime Video. This article is provided by a third-party content provider. SeaPRwire (https://www.seaprwire.com/) makes no warranties or representations regarding its content. Category: Top News, Daily News SeaPRwire provides global press release distribution services for companies and organizations, covering more than 6,500 media outlets, 86,000 editors and journalists, and over 3.5 million end-user desktop and mobile apps. SeaPRwire supports multilingual press release distribution in English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Russian, Indonesian, Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese, and more.

Ben King/ Netflix(SeaPRwire) -   If there’s one thing to say about Thrash, it turns Crawl into a work of genius by comparison. Back when Alexandre Aja’s 2019 alligator horror flick came out, plenty of people—myself included—wrote it off because it’s set in a Florida basement, and let’s face it, Florida homes rarely have basements. But looking back, that’s a tiny issue next to the countless logical gaps and obvious contradictions in Thrash. There are so many, it’s hard to list them all, but a couple stand out: “Why are these houses flooding at such wildly different speeds?” and “Did she actually use a piece of damp wood to cut her own umbilical cord?”Naturally, hoping for logic from a movie that includes the line “Mommy’s gotta fight some f*cking sharks” — which, by the way, comes right after that umbilical cord scene — is a fool’s errand. The same goes for having high expectations for a film that was initially meant to hit theaters via Sony Pictures but was quietly moved to Netflix once filming wrapped. The only real shock is that it was ever planned for a theatrical release in the first place, since Thrash’s flaws start with its script. Just like long-time coastal Carolina residents who stay put during a Category 5 hurricane without even boarding their windows, those studio execs should have seen the disaster coming.Honestly, it’s pretty tough to feel bad for these idiots. | Ben King/NetflixEven though it was filmed in Australia, Thrash is set in Annieville, a made-up town in South Carolina. Most folks there are smart enough to load up their cars and evacuate when warned. But this setup always presents a problem for movies like this: How do you keep enough characters around to fill the story without making them look like fools for staying? In Thrash, the characters’ decisions to stay are explained by a mix of agoraphobia, vague “work commitments,” and a cruel, drunk foster dad who keeps saying “it’s just a little rain” right up until a tiger shark eats him.But let’s backtrack a bit. The agoraphobic character here is Dakota (played by Whitney Peak), who hasn’t been able to step outside without panicking since her mom died a few years ago. Her uncle, Dr. Dale Edwards (Djimon Hounsou), who just so happens to be a shark expert—conveniently enough—stops by to check on her early in the movie. But for the most part, Dakota is totally unready for the approaching hurricane as she hides out in her mom’s house watching Dance Moms (which is currently on Disney+, another clue that the film was sold to Netflix after it was finished).I guess that’s one perk of having a marine biologist in the family. | Ben King/NetflixThat makes sense—grief can make people do strange things, even those who know how to use a spear gun. But Lisa (Phoebe Dynevor), who’s nine months pregnant and driving a small blue Fiat like the city transplant she is, has no such reason: “I’m from New York! We don’t get hurricanes!” she argues at one point, which is completely false. This is another detail that was in the script and could have been fact-checked way before filming, editing, color grading, test screenings, and finally sending it straight to streaming. Writer-director Tommy Wirkola is Norwegian, sure, but that’s no excuse—excuses, excuses.The actual reason Lisa is late to leave, or why the three siblings (played by Ayla Browne, Stacy Clausen, and Dante Ulbadi) are trapped in a flooded kitchen for most of the film, is so Wirkola can include over-the-top moments like Lisa giving birth in the water (total sepsis risk, gross) or the siblings blowing up sharks with dynamite wrapped in T-bone steaks. Even though these scenes are better (or at least more skillfully) set up and filmed, they never quite reach the level of absurdity seen in movies like Sharknado.Mommy’s about to go take on some fucking sharks. | Ben King/Netflix This is Thrash’s contradiction. It’s too silly and illogical to be a good film, but it’s also too polished and professionally made to be genuine B-movie schlock. It does have its highlights, though: The scene where sharks first arrive, lured by blood from a crashed meat truck, and eat three people who were trying to help, while Lisa screams in her flooded Fiat, gives the kind of giddy fun that makes people watch cheesy creature features like this.But those moments aren’t the same as the big, intentional campy scenes that are supposed to be highlights—all of which fall surprisingly flat. Even Lisa’s iconic line gets lost like roof tiles in a storm; I had to pause and rewind because I thought I misheard it the first time. All shark movies have some built-in fun—who doesn’t love watching hungry sharks rip off someone’s arm, especially if they had it coming?—so Thrash is worth watching if you know not to take it seriously. And if you like feeling smarter than the movie you’re viewing, this one makes it easy with such a bad script.Or you could simply watch Crawl instead.Thrash is currently streaming on Netflix (and Crawl is available on Pluto TV). This article is provided by a third-party content provider. SeaPRwire (https://www.seaprwire.com/) makes no warranties or representations regarding its content. Category: Top News, Daily News SeaPRwire provides global press release distribution services for companies and organizations, covering more than 6,500 media outlets, 86,000 editors and journalists, and over 3.5 million end-user desktop and mobile apps. SeaPRwire supports multilingual press release distribution in English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Russian, Indonesian, Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese, and more.

Lucasfilm(SeaPRwire) -   Three years have passed since we last saw Din Djarin and Din Grogu, the two-person bounty hunting clan that won over audiences across the globe in The Mandalorian. Fortunately, our long wait is nearly at an end. This May, Mando and Grogu will make their first appearance on the big screen in The Mandalorian and Grogu, a feature film that follows the pair as they take on an assignment from a New Republic commander. During Disney's official presentation at CinemaCon, Star Wars debuted the final trailer for the upcoming movie. But the most thrilling element of the preview was not the lead title characters — instead, it was a split-second shot of an unidentifiable creature, a subtle tribute to the filmmaking technique that helped turn Star Wars into the iconic franchise it is today. You can view the full trailer below: A large portion of this trailer expands on footage we have already seen in earlier previews: Din agreeing to take on a mission from Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver), spending time with Zeb from Rebels, the Hutt Twins from The Book Of Boba Fett, and tiny Anzellans who react to meeting Grogu by exclaiming “Bad baby! Horrible baby!” Roughly one minute and 30 seconds into the trailer, one of the Hutt Twins threatens Mando with “monsters,” right as a group of terrifying creatures surrounds him. Unlike other Star Wars creatures such as the Basilisk shown earlier in the trailer, which move with smooth, fluid motion, these robotic creatures have a very distinct movement style that feels far more similar to Laika Studios productions like Coraline or Kubo and the Two Strings. This is because the creatures have the instantly recognizable visual style of stop-motion animation. The droid creatures featured in the final trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu are animated with stop-motion techniques. | LucasfilmStop-motion has been used in Star Wars productions from the very beginning for elements including AT-AT walkers, holochess pieces, and Tauntauns. Industrial Light and Magic collaborated with stop-motion legend Phil Tippett again in 2017 to create a number of stop-motion creatures for Solo, so the technique has never fully fallen out of use. At this year's CinemaCon, The Mandalorian and Grogu director Jon Favreau officially confirmed that stop-motion will be featured in the new film. According to reporting from Deadline, he shared that the movie will include “practical sets, stop-motion animation for creature work, motion control miniatures, and more.” While stop-motion is a common special effects technique, its use in The Mandalorian and Grogu is particularly notable due to its large scale. In Solo, stop-motion was only used for the holochess scene, so the characteristic stop-motion visual style was not very obvious to viewers. But in The Mandalorian and Grogu, the stop-motion creatures tower far above Mando. It may not be the most seamless special effect available in the modern production toolkit, but it shows that Star Wars still remains aware of its origins and the artistic methods that first brought the franchise to life decades ago. The Mandalorian and Grogu will debut in movie theaters on May 29, 2026. This article is provided by a third-party content provider. SeaPRwire (https://www.seaprwire.com/) makes no warranties or representations regarding its content. Category: Top News, Daily News SeaPRwire provides global press release distribution services for companies and organizations, covering more than 6,500 media outlets, 86,000 editors and journalists, and over 3.5 million end-user desktop and mobile apps. SeaPRwire supports multilingual press release distribution in English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Russian, Indonesian, Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese, and more.

20th Century Studios(SeaPRwire) -   Certain filmmakers become inseparable from specific genres, even if their work spans various styles. John Carpenter is synonymous with horror, M. Night Shyamalan is known for his twist endings, and Ridley Scott is the master of science fiction. Although he has directed acclaimed epics like Gladiator and dramas like Thelma and Louise, his impact on sci-fi is undeniable, ranging from Alien and Blade Runner to The Martian.At 88 years old, Scott continues his prolific career. His upcoming project, The Dog Stars, is a post-apocalyptic adventure based on Peter Heller’s novel of the same name. During CinemaCon 2026, 20th Century Studios debuted the first trailer for the film, which stars Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley, and Josh Brolin. The trailer is available to watch below:“What did you do before the world collapsed?” Cima (Qualley) asks Hig (Elordi). “I spent time with my wife and played with my dog,” he answers. “I felt incredibly lucky every day.”However, the current world is far more grim. After a flu pandemic decimated the population, Hig, Cima, and a former Marine named Bangley (Brolin) join forces to seek a better life, traveling in Hig’s Cessna aircraft. The film’s cast also features Guy Pearce as Cima’s father, alongside Allison Janney and Benedict Wong.The Dog Stars marks Scott’s first science fiction film since 2017’s Alien: Covenant, and it may be his last for some time. While he is linked to several upcoming projects, most are thrillers or historical dramas, making this a rare genre return. The screenplay was written by Mark L. Smith, the writer behind The Revenant and Twisters, who also has sci-fi experience from writing the 2020 George Clooney film The Midnight Sky.There will be a massive outcry if Hig’s dog, Jasper, does not survive until the end. | 20th Century StudiosPeter Heller’s novel is highly regarded within the post-apocalyptic literary genre, and with Ridley Scott’s legendary direction, this adaptation could be a major career milestone. The film is currently set for an August 2026 release, marking another chapter in one of Hollywood’s most respected and varied filmographies.Though many details are still unknown, one major question arises from the trailer: will the dog, Jasper, survive? Many genre films use the death of a pet to heighten emotional stakes, but since “dog” is featured in the title, there is hope that Jasper will reach the better world his owner is searching for.The Dog Stars arrives in theaters on August 28, 2026. This article is provided by a third-party content provider. SeaPRwire (https://www.seaprwire.com/) makes no warranties or representations regarding its content. Category: Top News, Daily News SeaPRwire provides global press release distribution services for companies and organizations, covering more than 6,500 media outlets, 86,000 editors and journalists, and over 3.5 million end-user desktop and mobile apps. SeaPRwire supports multilingual press release distribution in English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Russian, Indonesian, Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese, and more.

Apple TV(SeaPRwire) -   Since 2019, the sci-fi alternate history series For All Mankind has centered on a space renegade—Ed Baldwin, portrayed by Joel Kinnaman. But Season 5 shifts the spotlight away from Ed; instead, his grandson Alex Baldwin (Sean Kaufman) is stepping into the show’s focal role. The timeline has moved from 1969 (where we first met Ed) to 2012, making Alex the new central figure.As Alex finds his footing in For All Mankind and uncovers a Mars secret that upends everything, Inverse sat down with Kaufman to learn how he navigated the intimidating legacy of the series and the moment he realized he was taking on a major role.Spoilers ahead for For All Mankind Season 5, Episode 4, “Open Source.”Three generations of the Baldwin family: Kelly (Cynthy Wu), Ed (Joel Kinnaman), and Alex (Sean Kaufman) in For All Mankind Season 5. | Apple TVIn Episode 4, after Ed Baldwin’s death, Mars residents are trying to move forward—but tensions are rising. Alex’s close friend (and potential girlfriend) Lily Dale (Ruby Cruz) is ramping up her efforts for the Free Mars movement, while Alex takes a job with Helios, an aerospace firm run by Dev Ayesa (Edi Gathegi), an old family friend and tech tycoon. However, Alex soon uncovers a secret: Helios and another company, Kuragin, are plotting to replace Mars’ human workers with automation. This revelation sparks Alex’s rebellion, aligning him with the footsteps of his mother Kelly (Cynthy Wu) and grandfather Ed.“It’s a changing and passing of the guard, but this is also extreme,” Kaufman tells Inverse. “I am a firm believer that it is on the younger generation's shoulders always to create a revolution. These 18-year-olds on Mars are saying f*ck the system. And they’ve got good reason.”Kaufman notes that For All Mankind stands out because Alex’s views align with his late grandfather’s. This isn’t a Mars-based “OK Boomer” generational clash; instead, Alex’s generation—equivalent to millennials in the show’s timeline—aligns with Ed’s (a Boomer-like figure) ideals. Dev, a Gen X character, is the exception in this conflict, but Kaufman adds that the show includes unique elements: Alex respects his family’s legacy but also feels overwhelmed by it.Kelly Baldwin (Cynthy Wu) and her son Alex (Sean Kaufman) in For All Mankind. | Apple TV“I felt like I came onto this show with a historic legacy, just like the Baldwin name, and all these great actors like Ed. I was so nervous and scared, but I realized that this is how Alex feels. So I decided to use that,” Kaufman explains. “Alex and I are very much in the same situation. It’s an arc, he’s finding himself, but you can still go back and forth on how you feel.”Episode 4 marks a critical turning point for Alex: it’s when he realizes Helios and Dev are betraying not just his generation but all Mars residents. With Ed gone, the episode confirms the show’s intergenerational focus—and positions Alex as the new lead.“No pressure!” Kaufman jokes, but does note that there was one specific moment where he felt Joel Kinnaman sort of pass the baton to him in a subtle, meaningful way. “I remember there was a scene where Joel and I were working together, and we were just talking about my nerves or whatever, and it was like a close-up of me. And he was like, ‘You got this,’” Kaufman says. “And at the end of the scene, he looked at me, and he’s in his old-man makeup, he looks at me like the Godfather, and nods his head and gives me a thumbs up and just... walks away. I got his approval. I was like ‘let’s go!’”Ben Nedivi, Coral Peña, Sean Kaufman, and Matt Wolpert promote For All Mankind in Atlanta in February 2026. | Robby Klein/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty ImagesTalking about aging makeup, For All Mankind often requires young actors to portray older versions of their characters in later seasons. Kinnaman, 46, plays an 80-year-old this season; Cynthy Wu, 27, portrays Alex’s 46-year-old mother in Season 5; and Kaufman, 25, plays 18-year-old Alex—meaning his on-screen mom is just two years older than him in real life. Is Kaufman ready for Season 6’s time jumps, and does he know what’s next for Alex?“I have never played older than my actual age in my life or in my professional career. And the chance when I heard that I could play like a 40-year-old man, I was like ‘Sign me up!’ I love the way that Coral and Cynthy do it, because it's not as pronounced,” Kaufman says. “But no. I don’t know where this character is going. [The showrunners] have kept me totally in the dark. You’ll probably find out before I do.”For All Mankind streams on Apple TV. This article is provided by a third-party content provider. SeaPRwire (https://www.seaprwire.com/) makes no warranties or representations regarding its content. Category: Top News, Daily News SeaPRwire provides global press release distribution services for companies and organizations, covering more than 6,500 media outlets, 86,000 editors and journalists, and over 3.5 million end-user desktop and mobile apps. SeaPRwire supports multilingual press release distribution in English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Russian, Indonesian, Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese, and more.

Albert L. Ortega/Shutterstock(SeaPRwire) -   The Marvel Cinematic Universe has spent nearly two years preparing for the decade's biggest villain reveal: Robert Downey, Jr., formerly Iron Man, taking on the role of Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. Until now, audiences have only caught brief glimpses via concept art or the post-credits sequence of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. However, the full grandeur of this supervillain had remained unseen—until a select group received a preview. At CinemaCon, during Disney's showcase, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige joined Robert Downey, Jr. to unveil a new teaser for Avengers: Doomsday. Although the footage isn't currently accessible online, descriptions of the scenes have emerged, along with fresh information regarding the film's theatrical distribution. Robert Downey, Jr. and Kevin Feige present a look at Avengers: Doomsday at CinemaCon 2026. | Rob Latour/ShutterstockReports indicate the teaser featured an unmasked Dr. Doom with a scarred visage, as well as a confrontation between Doom and Thor. However, Doom is not the only highly anticipated return in Doomsday. Excitement is also building for the X-Men's official entry into the MCU, following their previous cameos in Deadpool and Wolverine and The Marvels. Variety reports that the footage includes a battle between Gambit and Shang-Chi, as well as a scene where Mystique shapeshifts into Yelena Belova for a mirror match reminiscent of the Steve vs. Steve fight in Avengers: Endgame. Regarding Steve Rogers, his comeback served as the centerpiece of the previously released Doomsday teaser—a cryptic scene showing him dismounting a motorcycle while holding an infant. His presence was the teaser's major revelation. Additionally, in another nod to Endgame, the clip shows Steve extending his hand to summon Thor's legendary hammer, Mjolnir. The CinemaCon teaser for Avengers: Doomsday included a callback to an iconic Endgame moment. | Marvel StudiosThe footage also features The Fantastic Four and The New Avengers, the two superhero teams recently introduced in The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts. According to DiscussingFilm, the groups are seen convening with Thor, who describes Doom as “the scariest threat he has ever seen.” Given the film's significance, one might expect Doomsday to be released in IMAX. However, it is set for a December 18 release, the same date as Dune 3, which holds a three-week exclusive IMAX window. To address this, Disney revealed a new format at CinemaCon called InfinityVision. This large-format certification guarantees the highest quality picture and sound, serving as a premium alternative to IMAX (likely comparable to Dolby Vision). Disney appears to be aggressively marketing the film, though currently only to those in attendance at the event. With just over six months remaining until release, the true test of its reception is still ahead. Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to hit theaters on December 18, 2026. This article is provided by a third-party content provider. SeaPRwire (https://www.seaprwire.com/) makes no warranties or representations regarding its content. Category: Top News, Daily News SeaPRwire provides global press release distribution services for companies and organizations, covering more than 6,500 media outlets, 86,000 editors and journalists, and over 3.5 million end-user desktop and mobile apps. SeaPRwire supports multilingual press release distribution in English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Russian, Indonesian, Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese, and more.

HBO(SeaPRwire) -   When people think about Game of Thrones, chances are they're thinking about the dragons. The later seasons of the HBO series were all about Daenerys Targaryen's three fire-breathing dragons, and the ongoing spinoff House of the Dragon has plenty of draconic action, too. Even when Dany wasn't going all "dracarys," late-era Game of Thrones was often about spectacle — the biggest battle or the biggest twist (not to mention the biggest budget and the most CGI). That's not how Game of Thrones began, though. On a Sunday night 15 years ago, the most epic fantasy series announced itself with another genre: horror.The first episode of Game of Thrones, "Winter Is Coming," premiered on April 17, 2011, and it begins much the same way that the first book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series does. It's a cold open (literally), as three members of what we'll later learn are the Night's Watch venture beyond the relative safety of the Wall. Will, the youngest, stumbles upon a grotesque arrangement of chopped-up icy body parts and the frozen corpse of a child pinned to a tree. He runs back to tell his superior officer, who dismisses his fear. It's only when they return to the site that the White Walkers, blue eyed ghouls who we see only fleetingly, emerge to cut down Will's compatriots and command the dead to rise — including that little girl. The scene ends with Will surrounded as it slowly, ominously fades to black.As a standalone work of horror, this seven-minute opening is extremely effective. Will is our naive protagonist and his commander Waymar Royce is the snotty sort of horror victim viewers want to meet a gnarly end. The pacing is deliberate and the dialogue is sparse. Instead, "Winter Is Coming" lets the images and Will's terror at what he's seeing largely speak for itself. Those images are indeed haunting. One of the first visuals in HBO's big new series is the frozen body of a child, who rises from the dead minutes later with cold blue eyes. Game of Thrones was not playing around.Rather than begin this extremely knotty and complex fantasy tale with a voiceover explaining the history of Westeros like how Galadriel opens The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones dumps viewers right into a short horror film. We don't even get much in terms of explanation of what's happening, as terms like "wildlings" or "the Wall" don't get defined until later in the episode. Instead, we are shown that there is a dark force that confident men with their swords are unfamiliar with and unprepared to deal with.The rest of "Winter Is Coming" is not like this opening scene — not much of the first season is, in fact. After the title sequence, the first episode catches up with a shellshocked Will, who fled south of the Wall after somehow surviving the White Walkers. Ned Stark doesn't heed his warnings about dead men up north; he executes him for deserting the Night's Watch. Ned has more mundane things to worry about, like a conspiracy that one of Westeros' royal families is behind the demise of the Hand of the King. With the exception of this opening scene, most of the first episode of Game of Thrones is about setting up the pieces for the titular Game of Thrones. The Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons, and Targaryens are all focused on the same metal chair.Game of Thrones pointedly doesn't begin with this pointy throne, though. It's these frozen undead, looming and lurking while the rest of Westeros is unaware or willfully ignorant, that the series is really about. There are large stretches of Game of Thrones, especially in the first several seasons, that all but forget about this opening scene. The supernatural ice zombies north of the Wall do come up again in the first season when a dead member of the Night's Watch rises and attacks the Lord Commander in Episode 8; the White Walkers themselves don't appear again until the final episode of the second season. The White Walkers might be out of sight and out of mind for the soldiers and schemers vying for the Iron Throne, but because Game of Thrones began with a demonstration of how scary they are, the true stakes and the genre at the series' heart is well established.A White Walker makes his shadowy first appearance in the first episode of Game of Thrones. | HBOGame of Thrones would more openly return to horror off and on throughout its eight-season run, like with the zombie-like stone men in the ruins of Valyria or Ramsay Bolton, wouldn't be out of place in a Saw or Hostel film. Most often, though, true horror was reserved for the White Walkers. Sam's encounter in the sophomore season finale or the "Hardhome" episode, which mixed high-octane action with terrifying undead dread, come to mind. Sadly, the opening Game of Thrones only underscores how underwhelming the ending of the show was. By the final couple of seasons, the horror of the White Walkers was no match for our protagonists' plot armor. Although there were more decaying zombies and imposing White Walkers than ever during the penultimate season's mission beyond the wall or the Battle of Winterfell, the impact wasn't the same. A creepy little girl with blue eyes standing there is much scarier than legions of undead surrounding Jon Snow and the other heroes, only for them to emerge unscathed. The series even ends the White Walker threat several episodes before the finale with the Iron Throne being the ultimate prize.It's likely that Martin's original plan for A Song of Ice and Fire ends with the Iron Throne rather than the White Walkers (or the Others, as they're known in the books). And yet this being the finale that relegates the undead ice zombies to a sidequest feels like a betrayal of Game of Thrones' opening and core theme. Perhaps it would've been easier to accept had the execution of this final season been less rushed. Or maybe if the popularity and sheer scale of the series hadn't caused it to make the scary parts so epic and outsized that they lacked the tangible horror stakes of earlier White Walker appearances.What would happen to Game of Thrones was not the concern of a first-time viewer 15 years ago when they watched the first episode for the first time, however. And even knowing what we know now, if you head to HBO Max to start a re-watch, you won't have a problem refinding the horror in that opening scene. Will — that scared, overwhelmed young member of the Night's Watch — had no idea what was going to happen, either. He was just lost in the chilly terror of Game of Thrones at its truest.Game of Thrones is available to stream on HBO Max. This article is provided by a third-party content provider. SeaPRwire (https://www.seaprwire.com/) makes no warranties or representations regarding its content. Category: Top News, Daily News SeaPRwire provides global press release distribution services for companies and organizations, covering more than 6,500 media outlets, 86,000 editors and journalists, and over 3.5 million end-user desktop and mobile apps. SeaPRwire supports multilingual press release distribution in English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Russian, Indonesian, Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese, and more.