Franchise: Last News

Star Wars actor Liam Neeson has spoken out against the explosive growth of the Lucasfilm franchise, expressing the belief that it’s been damaged by the constant churning out of spin-offs.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount and Spyglass Media’s Scream VI hit tracking today with what looks to be a franchise opening record of $37M stateside. The previous highest opening for a Scream movie was Scream 3 back in 2000 which debuted to $34.7M stateside.

The tentpole drought, created by the pandemic’s post-production logjam, is officially over this weekend as Disney and Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opens the flood gates on what is a consisted flow of event movies from this Friday until early September.

Filmmaker Peyton Reed badly wants to make a “Star Wars” film. We know this because he’s already spent a lot of time directing Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars” spin-off series “The Mandalorian,” and because his new ‘Ant-Man & The Wasp’ film, ‘Quantumania,’ is essentially a big-budget “Star Wars” movie.

Zack Sharf Steven Spielberg is in the running for another best director Oscar thanks to “The Fabelmans,” an autobiographical drama about the filmmaker’s childhood that also wrestles with the choice artists must make between family and art. In a recent interview with “RRR” director S.S. Rajamouli, Spielberg said that a real-life conflict between art and family hit him later in his career when he had to decide between raising his children in Los Angeles or going to London to direct Warner Bros.’ first “Harry Potter” movie. “The personal meaning about [how the conflict between] art and family will tear you in half happened to me later, after I had already established myself as a filmmaker, as a working director,” Spielberg said. “Kate [Capshaw] and I started raising a family and we started having children. The choice I had to make was taking a job that would move me to another country for four or five months where I wouldn’t see my family every day…That was a ripping kind of experience.”

Mattel is doing a full overhaul in relaunching Barney the dinosaur with a new animated preschool TV series set to debut worldwide in 2024, along with a comprehensive revitalization that will span film, YouTube content and music and a full range of kids’ products including toys, books, clothing and more. Apparel and accessories for adult fans, featuring classic Barney, are also part of the mix.The new animated TV series will center around the ubiquitous purple dinosaur and friends,introducing new audiences to the world of Barney through music-filled adventures centered on love,community and encouragement. The series will be produced by Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana andexecutive produced by Fred Soulie and Christopher Keenan for Mattel Television and by Colin Bohm andPam Westman for Nelvana.Recently relaunched Mattel properties include its Monster High property and 1980s Masters of the Universe franchise, both with new content and consumer products programs.“Barney’s message of love and kindness has stood the test of time,” said Josh Silverman, Chief FranchiseOfficer and Global Head of Consumer Products at Mattel. “We will tap into the nostalgia of the generations who grew up with Barney, now parents themselves, and introduce the iconic purpledinosaur to a new generation of kids and families around the world across content, products, andexperiences.”

BreAnna Bell Mattel has announced plans to relaunch the Barney franchise with a new slate of content as well as toys and merchandise. The relaunch will kick off with a reimagined animated series, which is set to debut globally in 2024. Produced by Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, the show promises to reintroduce the famously friendly purple dinosaur to a new generation of preschool kids with lessons on “love, community, and encouragement” told through music-filled adventures. Fred Soulie and Christopher Keenan will executive produce for Mattel Television alongside Colin Bohm and Pam Westman for Nelvana.

The trailer for Fast X, the penultimate chapter in the Fast & Furious film series, came out on Friday. Franchise regulars such as Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez and Jason Statham appeared in the nearly four-minute-long clip alongside some new additions to the series. Noticeably absent from the film was Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson who played a character in several movies but has a long standing feud with Diesel. Fast X's trailer begins with Diesel's Dominic Toretto surrounded by his surrogate family of fighters and racers. His grandmother, Abuela Toretto (Rita Moreno) rises from the table and congratulates her grandson on building the family in spite of so many obstacles.  New trailer: The trailer for Fast X, the penultimate chapter in the Fast & Furious film series, came out on Friday Full of stars: Franchise regulars such as Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez and Jason Statham appeared in the nearly four-minute-long clip alongside some new additions to the seriesToretto's wife Letty (Rodriguez) asks Dominic what he's thinking, and he explains he's worried about losing someone he loves, especially his son Brian (Leo Abelo Perry). The film then cuts to a message for Toretto from Dante (Momoa), the son of one of Toretto's former adversaries. 'You're about to learn all about fear,' he says before blowing up a Humvee on a cobblestone street. The trailer then takes the viewer back to the events of Fast Five when Dante's father was killed by Dominic and Brian O'Conner (the late-Paul Walker). As he tells Dominic he stole his family and future from him, he also threatens him by saying he's going to 'break' Toretto's. Dante then blows up a huge portion of a populated city, raising his

Passing on his wisdom? Captain Kerry got some meaningful advice from Captain Lee before he was picked to take over on Below Deck.

The Teen Mom franchise kicked off with 16 and Pregnant in 2009 and has since evolved into numerous iterations — and numerous feuds among the cast.

Channing Tatum is back as the magic man, and Stephen Soderberg returns to direct Magic Mike’s Last Dance. Written by Reid Carolin, this stripper story has a feminist edge  as it introduces a new character played by Salma Hayek  who’s at the center of the story. Like the other two films, Last Dance has some electric dance numbers (choreographed by Alison Faulk and Luke Broadlick), with Tatum being as charming as ever. But something is missing from this one and its rushed conclusion makes those ending moments appear random and out of place.

Amber Portwood is done with the Teen Mom franchise.

EXCLUSIVE: Yellowstone, TV’s top-rated drama, may end in spectacular fashion. 

As we’ve reiterated more times, we care to count in print and on our Yellowstoners podcast, its writer/director/showrunner/exec Taylor Sheridan’s world, and we’re just living in it. At least when it comes to the world of Paramount+, which is the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter turned TV-dynasty-empire-mogul’s domain.

EXCLUSIVE: Yellowstone, TV’s top-rated drama, may end in spectacular fashion. 

Witchy woman! Andrew Walker gushed over his Curious Caterer costar Nikki DeLoach for manifesting their Hallmark Movies & Mysteries franchise.

Since Dexter: New Blood was such a success for Showtime, there has to be some kind of killer sequel in the works, right?

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Teen Wolf: The Movie. 

A Paisley filmmaker says his award-winning movie has helped put Renfrewshire and the Scottish film industry “in the international spotlight”.

The end of an era? Eddie Redmayne seemingly confirmed that the Fantastic Beasts franchise won’t be moving forward after last year’s The Secrets of Dumbledore.

A couple of Star Wars alums are responding to whether they'd be open to reprising their respective roles in the epic space opera franchise.Emilia Clarke and Daisy Ridley, who both wrapped up their characters' stories in the films that they starred in, were presented with the question while attending the 2023 Sundance Film Festival that kicked off on January 19.For Clarke, she didn't mince words when she shot back with a quick 'no', while Ridley had a different answer when she confessed she would definitely consider returning.  Star Wars alums: Emilia Clarke and Daisy Ridley responded to the question of whether they would consider reprising their roles in the Star Wars franchise while attending the 2023 Sundance Film FestivalClarke, 36, played the role of Qi’ra, Han Solo's childhood friend and romantic interest, in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).While promoting the new science fiction romantic comedy film The Pod Generation at Sundance, the British actress was asked if her interest in doing more genre films would extend back to a galaxy far, far away. 'I mean… no,' she said with a laugh, according to Indie Wire, adding, 'That would be lovely, that would be very nice.