ITV

Tag: Angela Bassett

  • Cruise control kicks In as Mission Impossible ignites summer box office

    Cruise control kicks In as Mission Impossible ignites summer box office

    MUMBAI: Theatre owners have one mission this May, pack in the crowds. And thanks to Tom Cruise, it looks like they’re already winning. With Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning just days away from its theatrical release, the high-octane franchise is already breaking ground. Over 11,000 tickets were sold within 24 hours of advance bookings, and as of Tuesday, that number has soared past 38,500 across national chains, setting the tone for what exhibitors are calling a “Hollywood summer revival.”

    Venkat Prasad of Prasad Multiplex (Hyderabad) shared his perspective on the current buzz, noting the shift in audience sentiment and said, “The numbers truly prove this, as does the incredible buzz and global response to the Tom Cruise film. The appetite for theatrical experiences in the South has been rejuvenated, and this high-octane offering is perfectly timed to tap into that demand. For us as exhibitors, and more importantly for audiences, 2025 is a blockbuster year for Hollywood in every sense, and we will see this unfolding as we now go along, starting with Mission: Impossible releasing on 17th May.”

    Echoing the sentiment AMB Cinemas director Sunil Narang emphasized the strength of the upcoming slate and its impact on local audiences, saying, “With Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning leading the charge, Hollywood’s May line-up is one of the best summer slates we have seen in a while offering a thrilling mix of nostalgia, action, and exhilaration this summer. The response from our audiences in the South has been phenomenal, with the region witnessing advance sales in good numbers solely for seeing Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in action; reaffirming the pull of such big-ticket releases for the big-screen experience.”

    Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the film stars Cruise alongside an ensemble cast including Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Angela Bassett. The latest instalment promises heart-stopping action, emotional stakes, and high-speed stunts that have come to define the franchise.

    Releasing in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu on Saturday, 17 May, The Final Reckoning brings back Ethan Hunt for one last, dangerous mission across languages and generations.

    In a post-pandemic world where streaming had momentarily taken the front seat, Cruise’s return to cinemas isn’t just a movie moment, it’s a mission to reignite the magic of the big screen.

  • Navot Papushado on collaborating with Michelle Yeoh for Gunpowder Milkshake

    Navot Papushado on collaborating with Michelle Yeoh for Gunpowder Milkshake

    Mumbai: Oscar winners are just built differently! Lionsgate Play is all set to stream Gunpowder Milkshake on 22 September. With a stellar star cast in tow, including two Oscar winners, the film sees Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett and Carla Gugino as highly trained assassins. When Sam is faced with the consequences of a high-risk job going wrong, she reunites with her mother to save an innocent eight-year-old’s life. Packed with action, thrill, and guns, Gunpowder Milkshake puts some of the best showrunners on the front lines. So get ready to cheer on this fierce group of slightly unethical ladies!

    Talking about working with Michelle Yeoh, director Navot Papushoda said, “We really worked the actors hard, but they just wanted more. I remember the day Michelle came on set. Everyone was in awe of Michelle. A lot of the action scenes were inspired by her before we even knew she was going to do the film, so it was like we were getting a visit from the queen. You don’t cast Michelle Yeoh just to hold guns, although she does that too. We gave her chains and had her use her fists in fight scenes. She’s incredible, she jumps from a balcony after strangling someone with the chains, lands perfectly and flicks one of his teeth out of her hair. She trained with the stunt people who are her biggest fans. She brought so much experience and really enriched the movie in ways we did not anticipate.”

    Gunpowder Milkshake to stream exclusively on Lionsgate Play from September 22nd.

  • Halloween comes early on Star World Premiere HD

    Halloween comes early on Star World Premiere HD

    Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition and it seems to have arrived early on Star World Premiere HD. The channel that takes pride in bringing the biggest and most critically acclaimed shows to India is set to premiere the two spookiest shows of television – Ryan Murphy’s Horror Anthology series American Horror Story Season 6 and Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s horror drama The Strain Season 3.

    The vampire drama The Strain is set to return for its third season on 3 September at 11 pm in India and stars Corey Stoll (House of Cards), David Bradley (Argus Filch in the Harry Potter film series and Walder Frey in Game of Thrones) and Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings) in the lead roles. The Strain comes from a trilogy of novels written by Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, Hellboy) and Chuck Hogan, who wrote the novel, Prince of Thieves that Ben Affleck used as the basis for The Town.

    Regarding the concept, del Toro sought to de-romanticize vampires, which have been humanized and turned into love interests in recent years. During the launch of the series, del Toro had said: “Vampires have been romanticised. We’ve kind of de-fanged them. I wanted to do this not as a movement, but as an alternative. It is gory, but not gory for the sake of being gory. I would say it’s biologically curious. But the way the vampires breed is truly brutal.”

    The thriller started with an investigation into a mysterious viral outbreak in New York City with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team and his team wage war for the fate of humanity itself. The season three begins with New York City being written off by the federal government, leaving the remaining residents fighting for survival on their own in this battleground.

    Next in the line-up is the much-awaited Season 6 of American Horror Story that will mark its debut on 18 September at 11:30 pm in India. Each year, Ryan Murphy gives television it’s most bafflingly and sinister hour of television with American Horror Story and this year seems even more intriguing as the show creators have kept the theme of forthcoming Season 6 a closely guarded secret. However, the cast-members Evan Peters, Matt Bomer, Leslie Jordan, Cheyenne Jackson, Lady Gaga, Sarah Paulson and Angela Bassett have confirmed their involvement for season6.

    Ryan Murphy had hinted on the Season 6 during an interview last fall, “We’re doing something we’ve never done before on a show where we’re doing two different groups of writer’s rooms. Some of our writers will be bouncing around, but a whole different group is coming in late August. The next thing we’re crafting up is very, very different than [Season 5]. Not smaller. Not just not opulent. More rogue and more dark.”

    This year also marks many firsts for the series as it is the first time that the series is making a debut outside of October in its history and it is the first season to not release a subtitle, before the premiere, since its launch!

  • Halloween comes early on Star World Premiere HD

    Halloween comes early on Star World Premiere HD

    Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition and it seems to have arrived early on Star World Premiere HD. The channel that takes pride in bringing the biggest and most critically acclaimed shows to India is set to premiere the two spookiest shows of television – Ryan Murphy’s Horror Anthology series American Horror Story Season 6 and Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s horror drama The Strain Season 3.

    The vampire drama The Strain is set to return for its third season on 3 September at 11 pm in India and stars Corey Stoll (House of Cards), David Bradley (Argus Filch in the Harry Potter film series and Walder Frey in Game of Thrones) and Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings) in the lead roles. The Strain comes from a trilogy of novels written by Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, Hellboy) and Chuck Hogan, who wrote the novel, Prince of Thieves that Ben Affleck used as the basis for The Town.

    Regarding the concept, del Toro sought to de-romanticize vampires, which have been humanized and turned into love interests in recent years. During the launch of the series, del Toro had said: “Vampires have been romanticised. We’ve kind of de-fanged them. I wanted to do this not as a movement, but as an alternative. It is gory, but not gory for the sake of being gory. I would say it’s biologically curious. But the way the vampires breed is truly brutal.”

    The thriller started with an investigation into a mysterious viral outbreak in New York City with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team and his team wage war for the fate of humanity itself. The season three begins with New York City being written off by the federal government, leaving the remaining residents fighting for survival on their own in this battleground.

    Next in the line-up is the much-awaited Season 6 of American Horror Story that will mark its debut on 18 September at 11:30 pm in India. Each year, Ryan Murphy gives television it’s most bafflingly and sinister hour of television with American Horror Story and this year seems even more intriguing as the show creators have kept the theme of forthcoming Season 6 a closely guarded secret. However, the cast-members Evan Peters, Matt Bomer, Leslie Jordan, Cheyenne Jackson, Lady Gaga, Sarah Paulson and Angela Bassett have confirmed their involvement for season6.

    Ryan Murphy had hinted on the Season 6 during an interview last fall, “We’re doing something we’ve never done before on a show where we’re doing two different groups of writer’s rooms. Some of our writers will be bouncing around, but a whole different group is coming in late August. The next thing we’re crafting up is very, very different than [Season 5]. Not smaller. Not just not opulent. More rogue and more dark.”

    This year also marks many firsts for the series as it is the first time that the series is making a debut outside of October in its history and it is the first season to not release a subtitle, before the premiere, since its launch!