By Lindsey Bahr
Dwayne Johnson went a few steps beyond merely teasing his long-awaited "Black Adam" movie at Comic-Con in San Diego on Saturday.
Ever the showman, Johnson brought a new traile r for the DC Comics superhero film and some flashy technology, lighting up the biggest room at the annual fan convention all while in costume. But he had another big reveal too: Johnson told the 6,000-some people in the audience that they could see "Black Adam" in IMAX for free with the help of the ticketing service Fandango.
The character Black Adam has the powers of the ancient gods and has been entombed for some 5,000 years before being released into the modern world. In the trailer he says his powers are "a curse, not a gift."
Set for an Oct. 21 theatrical release, "Black Adam" reunites Johnson with his "Jungle Cruise" director Jaume Collet-Serra. It also stars Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, all of whom joined Johnson and Collet-Serra for the panel.
"Black Adam" was just one part of Warner Bros. return to Comic-Con, where audiences also got a glimpse at a new trailer for " Shazam! Fury of the Gods." Stars Zachary Levi and Lucy Liu were on hand to promote the sequel, which is due to arrive in theaters on Dec. 21 and continues the story of a teenager-turned-superhero who is feeling a bit like a fraud. The film sees the return of Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody and adds Helen Mirren and Rachel Zegler of "West Side Story" to the mix.
The studio stuck to its 2022 superhero releases, forgoing sneak peeks at films due next year. One of those is "The Flash," whose star Ezra Miller was arrested in Hawaii twice this year — in a disorderly conduct case and on suspicion of assault.
Miller plays Barry Allen in the Andy Muschietti-directed film, which has wrapped production and is supposed to open in June 2023. They have been credited as the first out LGBT person to play a lead role in a major superhero film.
Lindsey Bahr is an AP film writer
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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