Movies to look out for at Sundance 2023; Wonder Woman 3 has been scrapped, according to a new report; the trailer for the new sci-fi horror film Infinity Pool starring Mia Goth, Alexander Skarsgård, and Cleopatra Coleman is out, as is the trailer for Scott Cooper’s The Pale Blue Eye starring Christian Bale and Harry Melling. All in today’s Movie News Rundown.
Sundance Picks: The lineup for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah has been revealed, and the highlights include three documentaries to keep an eye out for. The first two are Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields and Little Richard: I Am Everything, both of which explore the joys and pitfalls of fame and being sexualized by the masses. And then there’s Judy Blume Forever, which also focuses on sexuality and how the author’s books influenced so many adolescents and lead to censorship battles.
Continued: In the fiction space, some really exciting movies in the lineup this year include William Oldroyd’s 1960s psychological-thriller Eileen starring Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie; the future sci-fi picture The Pod Generation directed by Sophie Barthes and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Emilia Clarke, and You Hurt My Feelings directed and written by Nicole Holofcener, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a novelist who overhears her husband criticizing her writing. Then there’s Brandon Cronenberg’s sci-fi horror movie Infinity Pool — more on that below.
Wonder Woman 3 Scrapped: Patty Jenkins’ treatment for the third installment of the Gal Gadot-led superhero franchise is not moving forward “in its current incarnation” at James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Studios, according to an exclusive report from The Hollywood Reporter. Weird timing, considering Gal Gadot just tweeted about how excited she is about the third movie the day before the report came out.
Avatar “on Steroids”: In a new featurette with cast interviews, Zoe Saldaña describes the Avatar sequel as “the experience of the first movie, but on steroids.” Sigourney Weaver says she’s “never seen anything like this in a movie.” And Sam Worthington says that director James Cameron is “trying to create very truthful, very emotional and grounded tales” about “a family trying to survive.” I cannot wait to see this movie when it comes out on Dec. 16. Watch the featurette below.
Oh, Yeah: Don’t think for a second that the pressure of following up the highest-grossing movie of all time with a second over a decade later is making James Cameron worried about a potential flop. “I don’t worry about it. I don’t think anything one does artistically in life should be determined by the trolls and the naysayers. You just go where you think it makes sense,” he recently told Variety.
Infinity Pool: The trailer for Sundance pick Infinity Pool is out from A24, starring Mia Goth, Alexander Skarsgård, and Cleopatra Coleman as vacationers who fall into a hideous predicament: After venturing outside the resort, they find themselves facing the country’s zero-tolerance crime policy where the rich either face execution or pay a steep price for a body double to die for them. Watch the trailer below.
Can I Just Say? Mia Goth is, in my opinion, one of the greatest actresses of our generation. Okay, carry on.
The Pale Blue Eye: Here’s one more trailer for you, and I’m afraid it’s only slightly less gruesome. It’s for Scott Cooper’s screen adaptation of Louis Bayard’s 2003 novel The Pale Blue Eye, and it stars Christian Bale as a detective in 1830 who must solve a heinous murder in which a young cadet’s heart has been cut from his chest. Oh, and Edgar Allen Poe is there to lend a hand, played by the fabulous Harry Melling. Watch the trailer here and stream it on Netflix on Jan. 6.
Harry & Meghan Reactions: The first three episodes of the Netflix docuseries about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are out, and the reactions are already pouring in on the internet. “If you watch the first episode of #HarryandMeghanNetflix and feel nothing for Harry and his situation, then you have a heart of stone,” journalist Kirsty McCormack tweeted. Some are clamoring for more drama, while others are already defending the couple against more hate. A new episode drops next week.
Main Image: Mia Goth in Infinity Pool. Photo Credit: A24