Killer-doll movie M3GAN opens Jan. 8
JAMES Wan, the filmmaker behind the highly-successful Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring franchises, and Blumhouse, producer of the Halloween films, The Black Phone, and The Invisible Man, returns with the new horror film M3GAN, which opens on Jan. 8. Designed by brilliant toy-company roboticist Gemma (Get Out’s Allison Williams), M3GAN is a marvel of artificial intelligence, a life-like doll programmed to be a child’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally. When Gemma suddenly becomes the caretaker of her orphaned eight-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw, The Haunting of Hill House tv series), she decides to pair her M3GAN prototype with Cady in an attempt to resolve both problems — a decision that will have unimaginable consequences. Mr. Wan said, while visiting the Philippines for the film’s world promotion tour, that M3GAN began with the conversation that there are not enough killer-doll movies. “That led me to say, ‘It’s funny. There is a perception that I make those kinds of films. Strangely enough, none of my dolls kill anyone. They are a conduit for a supernatural entity or a demonic force that lives within. For example, in the case of Saw, Jigsaw has a puppet that he talks through as a mouthpiece. Wouldn’t it be cool if we did a killer-doll movie that was Annabelle meets The Terminator.”
Big stunt featurette
PARAMOUNT Pictures has released an extended behind-the-scenes look for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One in which Tom Cruise is attempting the biggest stunt in cinema history. The featurette can be viewed on YouTube (https://youtu.be/YGrrrdwF9yk). Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One opens in Philippine theaters in July 2023. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is directed by Christopher McQuarrie, and stars Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Hayley Atwell, Shea Whigham, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Henry Czerny, Rob Delaney, Cary Elwes, Indira Varma, Mark Gatiss, Charles Parnell, Greg Tarzan Davis, Frederick Schmidt.
New movie on Whitney Houston
COLUMBIA Pictures releases a biopic, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, which opens in Philippine theaters on Jan. 8. “We sought to make Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody a rich, beautiful, moving, and very human tribute to a great talent — one of the greatest we will ever see,” says director Kasi Lemmons, who helms the film, joining forces with much of the creative team that brought the worldwide hit “Bohemian Rhapsody” to the screen, including screenwriter/producer Anthony McCarten. “She has a complicated story, in the way that all humans are complicated. We can relate to her and the struggles she went through, the pressures she faced, and we get to understand her.” The film stars Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston, and Stanley Tucci as Clive Davis.
Simple Plan coming to PHL
MULTI-PLATINUM rock band Simple Plan is bringing their The Harder Than It Looks Tour in Southeast Asia 2023 to Metro Manila and Davao. The Canadian band will perform on March 11 at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City and on March 13 at the SMX Convention Center Davao. Simple Plan’s chart-topping hits in the Philippines include “Perfect,” “I’m Just A Kid,” “Welcome To My Life,” “Jet Lag,” “Addicted,” “I’d Do Anything,” “Shut Up!,” and “Untitled (How Could This Happen To Me?).” Tickets to Simple Plan’s The Harder Than It Looks Tour in Metro Manila will go on sale on Jan. 15 via TicketNet.com.ph and TicketNet outlets nationwide. Tickets for the Davao show also go on sale on the same day via SMTickets.com and SM Tickets outlets nationwide.
