Geek News February 12, 2024: Winning Super Bowl Movie Trailers Include ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ ‘The Fall Guy,’ ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,’ ‘Twisters,’ and More

In between watching the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers to win Super Bowl LVIII, millions of viewers got sneak peeks at some winning trailers for upcoming wannabe blockbusters. 

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, here are some movie trailers that aired during the Super Bowl and are now available on YouTube:

Deadpool & Wolverine: Well, now we know it's not titled Deadpool 3. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman reprise their superhero roles in this R-rated team-up that is Marvel's best chance at recalibrating the MCU's multiverse mess.

The Fall Guy: See Ryan Gosling weep as he sing's Taylor Swift's “All Too Well” in this trailer for the David Leitch-directed action movie based on the 1980s TV series of the same name.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: The fourth movie in 20th Century Studios' rebooted Planet of the Apes series follows 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes stars Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Peter Macon, Eka Darville, Kevin Durand, William H. Macy, and Dichen Lachman and is set “several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows.”

Despicable Me 4: The official synopsis for the first Despicable Me movie in seven years reads: “Gru, the world’s favorite supervillain turned Anti-Villain League agent, returns for an exciting, bold new era of Minions mayhem, along side his wife and fellow Anti-Villain League agent Lucy, their three adopted girls —Margo, Edith, and Agnes — and the newest member to the Gru family, Gru Jr., who is intent on tormenting his dad. The family is forced to go on the run when they become targeted by escaped criminal Maxime Le Mal and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina.”

Twisters: This stand-alone sequel to the 1996 disaster movie Twister stars Glen Powell.

Other movies that debuted new trailers during the Super Bowl include Kung Fu Panda 4, A Quiet Place: Day One, Wicked, Monkey Man, Inside Out 2, and IF.

Beyoncé Announces Country-Flavored ‘Renaissance Act II’ Album in Super Bowl Ad

Beyoncé teased her country-flavored new album Renaissance Act II during the Super Bowl. The new album drops on March 29.

According to Variety, “Fans have eagerly been anticipating a new project from Beyoncé, who initially released Renaissance in 2022. At the time, she revealed on her website that the album would be the first of a ‘three-act project.' Rumors circulated that she had recorded both dance and country songs for the set, and it was unclear if the latter would be included on Renaissance or as a separate album.”

Click here to check out her new song “Texas Hold ‘Em” and here for “16 Carriages.” Yeehaw, y'all!

‘Argylle’ Tops Box Office in Slow Super Bowl Weekend, ‘Lisa Frankenstein’ DOA 

Super Bowl weekend is typically a snore at the box office, and this year was no exception.

Argylle took the top spot for the second weekend in a row, but it's a hollow victory since the spy movie cost so much to produce and will never make back its money theatrically. The Diablo Cody-written “coming-of-rage” horror-comedy Lisa Frankenstein starring Cole Sprouse came in second place with an estimated $3.8 million but unless it gets a second lease on life, it will struggle to reclaim even its modest $13 million budget at the box office.

Coming this Wednesday are Madame Web and Bob Marley: One Love, neither of which are tracking well enough to save the box office from its annual Super Bowl slump.

Cher, Mariah Carey, Jane's Addiction, and the Late Sinéad O’Connor Among 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

A day before the Super Bowl, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its crop of 2024 nominees, including Cher, Jane's Addiction, Mariah Carey, Dave Matthews Band, and the late Sinéad O’Connor.

According to NBC News, the other nominees include Mary J. Blige, Ozzy Osbourne, Sade, A Tribe Called Quest, Lenny Kravitz, Eric B. & Rakim, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & the Gang, and Oasis. Per usual, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominated some undisputed rock legends along with others who have made questionable contributions to what most music lovers would consider rock and roll… or even rock-and-roll adjacent.

In a press release, Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation John Sykes said, “This remarkable list of nominees reflects the diverse artists and music that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honors and celebrates. Continuing in the true spirit of rock and roll, these artists have created their own sounds that have impacted generations and influenced countless others that have followed in their footsteps.”

NBC News continued, “Now that the nominees have been announced, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will send its ballots to an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, historians, and members of the music industry.” We'll found out which artists made the cut and who the 10 inductees are in April.

Michael Chaves To Direct Final ‘Conjuring’ Movie

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It director Michael Chaves is in talks to direct the fourth and final movie in the mainline The Conjuring franchise starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as self-professed demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Chaves was discovered by Wan and his Atomic Monster execs off of his award-winning horror short The Maiden, which got into the New Line door with his feature directorial debut, 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona. The movie did well and his work impressed, which led to Wan handing him the keys to the Conjuring franchise with Devil Made Me Do It.  He then moved to The Nun II.”

Wilson and Farmiga are expected reprise their roles for the tentatively titled The Conjuring 4, set to begin filming in Atlanta this summer. David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who cowrote The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It with franchise creator James Wan, penned the screenplay for the final chapter.

‘The Bear’ Comes Out of Hibernation in June for Season Three

The Bear returns for its third season this June on Hulu. The Emmy-winning series stars Jeremy Allen White as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto — an award-winning New York chef who returns to Chicago to revive his late brother's struggling restaurant.

As reported by Variety, FX chairman John Landgraf indicated that Hulu would drop all of the episodes at once for binge watchers instead of releasing one episode every week. “It wasn’t lost on me or anyone who worked on the show that it was anxiety-inducing, so we made a decision to drop the whole thing because it has a beautiful, uplifting ending,” said Landgraf.

In an interview with Variety in December, The Iron Claw actor White said the although he had not read any scripts for season three of The Bear, he was still getting prepared. “I do know in January I’m going to spend a fair amount of time getting together with some chefs,” said White. “There’ll be a menu set, I believe, that’s going to be for the restaurant in the third season. And I know that I’m going to start putting together that menu with different chefs. We all did a lot of preparation before the first season. I went to culinary school and I spent a lot of time in restaurants. And then, for the second season, so much of it was about putting the restaurant together, so there wasn’t that much cooking. But now, in the third season, I think we’re going to go back to that functioning kitchen atmosphere that we had in the first.”

Mads Mikkelsen Okay With ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ De-aging Process So He Didn’t Look Like an ‘Old Woman’

Mads Mikkelsen — who played German scientist Jürgen Voller in two different time periods in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny — is OK with CGI de-aging when necessary in movies.

In an interview with Business Insider, the interviewer asked Mikkelsen how he felt about having his own face de-aged on-screen like Harrison Ford's mug was in the fifth and final Indiana Jones movie. “They de-aged me as well, but with a different technique,” said Mikkelsen. “In the beginning, they thought it was enough just to dye my hair completely black. And then I told them, ‘You know what? My hair's black, but I look like an old woman now. So let's just do a little thing.' I mean, we had to jump 25 years, right? They did something, but not the same technique.”

Mikkelsen continued, “The idea of us having to be forever young, I'm not a fan of that. I don't think anyone is a fan of that. But once you can control it like that, jumping back-and-forth, I think it's absolutely worth using. You have to be ethical about it.”

Gillian Anderson Plays British Journalist Emily Maitlis and Rufus Sewell Plays Prince Andrew in Netflix's ‘Scoop'

The Netflix film Scoop re-creates the infamous 2019 Newsnight interview of Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell) by British journalist Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson). The movie is based on Sam McAlister’s book Scoops: Behind The Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interview.

The official Netflix Scoop synopsis says that the movie will “provide behind-the-scenes insight into the jaw-dropping, forensic showdown with the prince. It will take viewers inside the story with the women who would stop at nothing to get it.”

According to Indiewire, “Scoop centers on the behind-the-scenes flurry to land an interview with Prince Andrew after the royal was listed in court papers as part of a U.S. civil case against convicted trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. During the Newsnight broadcast, Prince Andrew addressed the allegations made by Epstein and his victims. Prince Andrew alleged that he only knew Epstein through socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later convicted on trafficking charges in December 2021.”

Scoop premieres April 5 on Netflix. Click here to watch the teaser trailer.

Ben Wang Cast in Next ‘Karate Kid' Installment

Sony Pictures has cast American Born Chinese actor Ben Wang as the lead in the next installment of The Karate Kid franchise.

According to Deadline, the upcoming Karate Kid movie will also star Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio reprising their roles from previous Karate Kid movies. Macchio also plays Daniel LaRusso on The Karate Kid spin-off series Cobra Kai.

Although plot details about the next Karate Kid movie are murky, it is reportedly set on the East Coast of the United States where a Chinese teen gets mentored in martial arts. Jonathan Entwistle will direct the movie written by Rob Lieber.

The as-yet-untitled new Karate Kid movie chops its way into theaters on December 13. The sixth and final season of Cobra Kai returns on Netflix sometime this year, too. Click here to watch the Cobra Kai cast back in action.

Kate McKinnon's Debut Novel Aimed at Middle Schoolers

SNL actress Kate McKinnon's debut novel, The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science, is aimed at middle school readers. The story and characters are reportedly based on McKinnon's own childhood.

As posted by Deadline, here is a summary of The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science: “Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee Porch do not belong. They don’t belong in the snooty town of Antiquarium, where all girls must go to etiquette school and all dogs must be bichons frises. They don’t belong with their adoptive family: their uptight Aunt Desdemona, their materialistic Uncle Ansel, and their seven snide cousins, who are all named Lavinia. And they certainly don’t belong at Mrs. Wintermacher’s etiquette school—they’re far more interested in machines and slugs than posture and little forks. After Mrs. Wintermacher expels them for insubordination, the girls expect to be sent away for good… until they receive a mysterious invitation to a new school. Suddenly, the girls find themselves under the tutelage of the infamous Millicent Quibb—a mad scientist with worms in her hair and oysters in her bathtub. At 231 Mysterium Way, the pizza is fatal, the bus is powered by gerbils, and the dean of students is a hermit crab. Dangerous? Yes! More fun than they’ve ever had? Absolutely! But when the sisters are asked to save their town from an evil cabal of nefarious mad scientists, they must learn to embrace what has always made them stand out and determine what side they’re on—before it’s too late!”

“I wanted to write the kind of book that I would have loved reading when I was younger, when I was eating honeysuckle on the playground and collecting bugs and falling in love with the natural world—I hope young people read about the adventures of the Porch Sisters and are inspired to get out there and have their own adventures,” said McKinnon in a statement. “I started playing with the idea of these characters and this world over a decade ago and am so thrilled to finally bring them to an audience.”

The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science debuts on October 1.

‘The Matrix' Codirector Lilly Wachowski Makes Her Solo Feature Debut With ‘Trash Mountain'

The Matrix codirector Lilly Wachowski (pictured left in 2012) will make her solo feature directorial debut with the queer comedy-drama Trash Mountain. Caleb Hearon will reportedly star as a young gay Chicago man who returns to his hometown in Missouri following the death of his hoarder father.

Trash Mountain represents Wachowski‘s first feature film since 2015's poorly received sci-fi opus Jupiter Ascending. “When my pal Caleb Hearon sent me Trash Mountain I leapt at the chance to direct it. So beautiful and sad and funny!” said Lilly Wachowski said in a statement first reported by Collider republished by Variety. “Queer representation and stories are vital at this time as we are being shoved further into the margins. Our amazing writers, Caleb and Ruby [Caster] are a shining light in all this dang darkness.”

Wachowski has worked in television in recent years as the cocreator of Netflix's Sense 8 and the executive producer, showrunner, and writer of Showtime's Work in Progress, which also guest-starred Hearon.