We get bombarded with teasers, trailers and promotional clips relentlessly – each Saturday Steve Newall sorts through the best of the week for you to check out and get excited about.
Wonka
Paul King, director of the Paddington films and The Mighty Boosh, teams up with Timothée Chalamet for this prequel tale about the rise of the iconic chocolate kingpin. The suitably large cast includes Keegan-Michael Key, Matt Lucas, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman and more. As for the small, the trailer reveals Hugh Grant as a singing, dancing Oompa-Loompa…
Napoleon
Speaking of shorter chaps, did you know Napoleon Bonaparte was actually of above-average height? With that trivia out of the way, enjoy Joaquin Phoenix embodying the French military leader and eventual emperor for Ridley Scott. Dead Reckoning‘s Vanessa Kirby joins the pair’s Gladiator reunion as Empress Joséphine—their volatile relationship described as the prism through which Napoleon’s origins and ruthless climb to emperor is viewed. Also, the battles look mint.
Physical
Rose Byrne’s Sheila Rubin is back in the third and final season of deliciously dark comedy Physical. As Rubin’s aerobics empire continues to grow from its humble beginnings, season three sees TV become with battleground as Zooey Deschanel join the cast, playing a network sitcom star who decides to make their own foray into the exciting, lucrative world of fitness and Reagan-era capitalist empowerment.
The Witcher
Henry Cavill is back for his final episodes as mutated monster hunter Geralt of Rivia (before Liam Hemsworth takes over the role from season four). As the trailer for these final three episodes, dropping July 27 indicate, Cavill is going out swinging, in an action-packed farewell.
Command Z
Releasing via Steven Soderbergh’s website Extension 765, his new comedy/sci-fi series sees a team in the future time-travelling into people’s minds in the present day, trying to fix a broken future in odd, low-budget, but curiosity-engendering fashion. If that’s not enough, their boss is a projection of Michael Cera’s disembodied head, so…
How to With John Wilson
“Don’t be sad that it’s over, just be glad that you felt anything at all,” John Wilson tells us in this trailer for the final season of his unique, brilliant show. Obsessively filmed and edited documentary comedy, I guess you could call it—a wry, observational and exceptionally singular look at topics that include the likes of how to find a public restroom, how to work out, and how to clean your ears.
Medusa Deluxe
It’s not often (ever?) you see a “Hair by” credit in a movie trailer, but it makes sense when (a) you have a film about murders at a competitive hairdressing competition; and (b) when the legendary Eugene Souleiman is the stylist. Set in this very specific world, a community is shocked by the murder of a contestant during one of their biggest events.
Minx
Season two of Minx gets a red-band trailer to match its content (body parts are blurred, but some of the language might surprise your office colleagues, so proceed with caution). In season two of this 70s-set comedy series (rescued by Starz after its cancellation by HBO Max), the world’s first erotic mag for women continues cranking out the centrefolds, and looks to eye up a move into motion pictures.
The Retirement Plan
“The old guy… he keeps killing everybody. Everybody!” Ron Perlman says unhappily after a gray-haired Nicolas Cage wipes out a bunch of dudes. As movies’ latest older-chap-reveals-killer-past, Cage shakes off his beach bum persona to take on the criminals threatening his estranged daughter. Things get.. Cage-y—plus, Ghostbusters‘ Ernie Hudson shows up!
