Amazon MGM Studios is continuing to lock up its cast for the forthcoming comedy feature Judgment Day from director Nicholas Stoller.
Heidi Gardner and golfer Bobby Ray have joined the cast for the movie that is set to star Will Ferrell and Zac Efron. Other previously announced castmembers include Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jimmy Tatro, Michael Peña, Fortune Feimster, Bill Camp, Billy Eichner, Tyler Lofton, Rachel Hilson, Rory Scovel, Bobby Cannavale and Regina Hall.
Judgment Day focuses on a young convict (Efron) who gets out of prison and takes an unscripted TV courtroom hostage, as he blames the egomaniacal judge (Ferrell) for the ruling that destroyed his life. Details regarding Gardner and Ray’s roles have not yet been shared for the movie that had previously been untitled. A release date has not been announced.
Stoller reunites with Amazon MGM after directing Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon for the studio’s You’re Cordially Invited, which began streaming earlier this year. Producers for Judgment Day include Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum and Alex Brown for Gloria Sanchez Productions and Stoller for Stoller Global Solutions.
Gardner will complete her eighth season on Saturday Night Live later this month and can also be seen on the final season of Netflix’s You. Additionally, she is known for such series as Apple TV+’s Shrinking and the Netflix features Otherhood and the Adam Sandler-led Hustle, along with voice roles in Leo and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
Ray is ranked 10th in the world in the sport of long drive. He is also known for broadcast appearances and YouTube content centering on golf and was the winner of the Fox dating series Paradise Hotel in 2019.
Gardner is represented by CAA, OPE, and Melissa Fox at Hansen Jacobson.
Considering that the route of the Los Angeles Marathon traditionally runs through Hollywood Boulevard, along which the Oscars red carpet is annually laid out in front of the Dolby Theater, it was a pretty big problem that the L.A. Marathon and the Oscars were both scheduled to take place in 2026 on the same day, Sunday, March 15.
Fortunately for all parties concerned, an agreement has been reached between the organizers of the L.A. Marathon, the McCourt Foundation and the organizers of the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, that will avert such a collision.
LA Mayor Karen Bass announced the agreement on Friday, although sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that it was largely resolved in direct talks between the two parties. The end result: the Oscars will remain on Sunday, March 15, while the L.A. Marathon will move to another date in March 2026 that will be announced in the near future.
All parties have also agreed that, moving forward, the L.A. Marathon will take place on the third Sunday in March (on which it has often but not always been held in recent years), and the Oscars will take place on a different date.
The backers of the L.A. Marathon and the Oscars have also agreed to establish a partnership to promote each other’s events, although details were not immediately available.
Some of the most striking textures on the Thunderbolts* score came from an unconventional source: The wood planks of a discarded shipping pallet. An unusual stylistic choice for some composers, this is not unusual for the score’s Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated composers Son Lux whom the film’s director Jake Schreier tapped to craft a distinctive, experimental sound that would match the film’s antiheroic spirit.
Son Lux’s Ian Chang was on his way to toss the wood planks when he knocked on them and realized that when struck, they sounded “dope.” He brought the planks to the studio where they became the foundation for some of the score’s driving rhythms—an ideal response to a question Schreier had posed early in the process: “What does it sound like to be propulsive and yet small?”
“Discarded treasures,” Son Lux’s Ryan Lott says of the wood planks, “which is like the Thunderbolts*, on their way to being discarded.”
For Son Lux, Thunderbolts* is the group’s first film score since their work for the music in Everything Everwhere All At Once, which was nominated for an Oscar for best original score. The film’s script landed in Lott’s inbox on May 1, 2023 — two years and one day before Thunderbolts* hit theaters Friday. Lott, who previously worked with Schreier on 2015’s Paper Towns, was joined by bandmates Chang and Rafiq Bhatia for weekly meetings with the director to pitch ideas leading up to principal photography.
“We were lucky to be involved before anything was shot,” says Lott. “It felt like having a sound for this film was critical to [Schreier’s] process of discovering what it was.”
Schreier offered three key musical references: the emotionally resonant orchestration of The Hudsucker Proxy, the tense bank robbery scene from Heat, and Dumbledore’s death scene in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
“Jake mentioned early on that this film was grounded in reality,” says Chang. “From the music perspective, he was very against defaulting to bombast and huge heroic energy — even though that does happen in the film. He was pushing us to make things feel more minimal or intimate.”
Son Lux are among the more recent in a line of recording artists who’ve also established careers as composers, joining the likes of Trent Reznor and Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh. The trio’s experimental approach contrasts Marvel’s grand orchestral compositions from heavy hitters like Alan Silvestri and Michael Giacchino, who’ve scored some of the franchise’s biggest films like The Avengers and Spider-Man films.
Son Lux focused on four recurring melodic themes and a set of modular sonic ingredients, which they manipulated to suit different scenes throughout Thunderbolts*. But the trio deliberately avoided crafting character-specific motifs.
“By not focusing on character, it allowed us to focus the energy on points of development in the story, which, arguably, are more important than what’s happening on a person-to-person basis,” says Bhatia.
As with Everything Everywhere All at Once, the film features an almost continuous score — 72 cues adding up to 99 minutes of the 124-minute runtime, including the credits, which feature bespoke music from Son Lux.
“We could swing in different directions because the film does,” Lott says. “Emotionally, action-wise, it demanded such a variety of color and attitude. That’s what we can’t help doing every time we make a [Son Lux] record. We’re always like, ‘This, but also the opposite of this.’ That was the [Thunderbolts*] score for sure. Everything Everywhere All at Once was also very satisfying in that way. We hope to be prismatic musicians. To be offered an opportunity to be just that on a big stage, like a Marvel film, was really cool.”
Thunderbolts* afforded Son Lux the opportunity to record their music at Abbey Road Studios with the full London Contemporary Orchestra, a first for the trio. “They’re literally the sound we hear in our heads when we imagine an orchestra,” Bhatia says.
Still, their process remained rooted in the same experimental techniques they use when making records: Capturing fragments from musicians, refining them through improvisation, and developing them into complete arrangements. Working with the orchestra in real time, Son Lux guided players through prompts to extract textures that became the foundation of the score.
“It’s a tall order and a very experimental approach, and it really paid off,” Bhatia says. “We worked with the players to find ways to say ‘play what’s on the page like it’s a whisper, so we can only hear the clicks of your keys. Now play it like you’re getting drunk, and it’s getting worse and worse sounding. Now play it like the conductor’s going to point his baton at you, and when it gets to you, you freeze on whatever note you’re on until everyone’s frozen like a giant cloud. And when he comes back to you, start playing your part again.’”
Marvel supported their unorthodox, try-and-see method, which the trio calls “a big leap of faith.”
“It allows us to start from the particular and build outward to the general,” says Bhatia. “When you do that, there are results you cannot imagine arriving at if you worked the other way around.”
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are reuniting to star in a new feature film.
The actors, who famously starred in 1990s action classic Speed as well as romantic drama The Lake House, are attached to star in an untitled romantic thriller being developed at Amazon MGM Studios.
Noah Oppenheim, who wrote the 2016 Jackie Kennedy Onasis biopic Jackie and is one of the co-creators of the Robert De Niro political thriller Netflix series Zero Day, is penning the script. Plot details are being kept at the back of the bus, but it is described as “propulsive.”
The project is more than just a Reeves and Bullock reunion. The duo are also reteaming with Mark Gordon, who produced Speed. Gordon and Oppenheim brought the idea for the project to Reeves and Bullock, who went on to develop the film with them.
Producing are Bullock via Fortis Films, Reeves, Gordon and Bibby Dunn via The Mark Gordon Company, as well as Oppenheim and Sarah Bremner via Prologue Entertainment.
Speed is considered one of the key films that defined the 1990s and one of the decade’s top action movies. The 1994 Fox movie was famously labeled as “Die Hard on a bus,” and one of the movie’s keys to success was the chemistry between Reeves and Bullock. Speed grossed over $350 million that summer, which is over $750 million adjusted for inflation.
Reeves most recently voiced the video game character of Shadow in Paramount’s hit Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and last appeared on the big-screen with 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4. He is repped by WME, Range Media Partners and attorney Scott Sims.
Bullock last starred in The Lost City, a romantic adventure thriller that made almost $200 million at the worldwide box office as a pandemic release in 2022. She also was a producer on the movie. Bullock is repped by is represented by CAA, and attorneys Cliff Gilbert-Lurie and Logan Clare.
Gordon is a veteran producer whose credits include Saving Private Ryan and The Day After Tomorrow. He is currently in prep for Narnia, Greta Gerwig’s take on C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.
Prologue is a nascent banner founded by industry veterans Lloyd Braun, Bremner and Oppenheim. The company is partnered with Jeff Zucker and RedBird Capital with the goal to produce premium scripted series and films. Oppenheim and Prologue are repped by CAA, Entertainment 360, and JSSK.
Gal Gadot and Matthias Schoenaerts are looking for justice in their World War II feature Ruin.
Niki Caro is directing the thriller movie from a script by Kaz Firpo and Ryan Firpo (Eternals) that topped the Black List in 2017, with Gadot and Schoenaerts set to star. Principal photography is aiming to begin in early 2026, with The Veterans overseeing international sales rights and taking the project to Cannes buyers this month. UTA Independent Film Group, WME Independent and CAA Media Finance are handling U.S. rights.
Ruin is set in the rubble of Germany following World War II, with a newly released camp prisoner (Gadot) forming an alliance with a German soldier (Schoenaerts) as they both seek revenge on a Nazi Schutzstaffel unit.
Caro serves as producer alongside Marc Butan for MadRiver Pictures and Gadot and Jason Varsano for Pilot Wave Motion Pictures. Executive producing are Gillian Hormel for Ludascripts and Mary Aloe for Aloe Entertainment, in addition to Kaz Firpo and Ryan Firpo. Evan Powell oversees the film for MadRiver.
Also part of the forthcoming Cannes slate for The Veterans are James Gray’s Paper Tiger and Christian Gudegast’s Gerard Butler-led Empire State. The company’s 2024 Cannes projects included Emilia Perez and I’m Still Here.
Caro’s latest feature credits as a director include the Jennifer Lopez action vehicle The Mother, the live-action Mulan and the Jessica Chastain-led Holocaust drama The Zookeeper’s Wife.
Gadot is currently filming MGM Amazon Studios’ The Runner and wrapped production last year on Julian Schnabel’s Hand of Dante. She starred opposite Rachel Zegler earlier this year in Disney’s Snow White.
Schoenaerts is currently shooting Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and can soon be seen in The Old Guard 2 and Terrence Malick’s The Way of the Wind. The Firpos are creating the Amazon series Butch & Sundance that is set to star Glen Powell and Regé-Jean Page.
Gadot is represented by WME and Sloane Offer. Schoenaerts is repped by CAA. Caro is repped by UTA. The Firpos are repped by CAA and Untitled.
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Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick reunite as frenemies Emily Nelson and Stephanie Smothers — this time in Capri, Italy — in Another Simple Favor, the sequel to director Paul Feig’s hit 2018 film, A Simple Favor.
After premiering at SXSW in March, Another Simple Favor is now streaming online exclusively on Prime Video. The comedy-mystery takes place in the lead up to Emily’s lavish wedding to a wealthy businessman in Italy. Henry Golding returns as Stephanie’s now-ex-husband Sean Townsend and Bashir Salahuddin reprises his role as Detective Summerville.
At a Glance: How to Watch Another Simple Favor Online
As seen in the trailer below, Another Simple Favor takes place five years after “Stephanie sent Emily to prison.” Now a free woman, Emily shows up unexpectedly to ask Stephanie to be her bridesmaid and manages to convince Sean to attend the nuptials.
“I got to figure out what she’s up to,” Kendrick’s mystery-solving character says in the trailer, which also introduces Emily’s long-lost aunt Linda (Allison Janney).
The cast also includes Andrew Rannells, Michele Morrone, Elizabeth Perkins (who replaces original actress Jean Smart as Emily’s mother), Alex Newell, Elena Sofia Ricci and more.
Kendrick recently told The Hollywood Reporter that she was excited to return for Another Simple Favor but questioned her character’s willingness to see her murderous best friend again. ”On this one, I thought, if I am going with her into certain peril, that I guess she wouldn’t take any of it that seriously,” said Kendrick. “And I had just rewatched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang where Robert Downey is like, ‘There is murder and mayhem but I’m fine!’”
Watch the trailer below, and keep reading to find out how to stream Another Simple Favor (including for free) and the original film online.
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How to Watch Another Simple Favor Online: Streaming and Theatrical Release Dates
Another Simple Favor premieres on May 1 exclusively on Prime Video and will not be released theatrically.
A subscription is required to stream Another Simple Favor online, and eligible subscribers can watch the show for free with a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime or Prime Video.
Amazon’s standalone Prime Video streaming service is $8.99 per month and Prime membership is $14.99 monthly or $139 annually. Both services include access to Amazon original series and films, including new fashion makeover series Wear Whatever the F You Want (a spinoff of What Not To Wear), Emmy-nominated show Fallout, Viola Davis thriller G20, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Reacher, The Wheel of Time, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and more.
Amazon Prime members get Prime Video for free with their membership, which also includes exclusive same-, one- or two-day shipping; access to sale events such as Prime Day and Black Friday; discounts on Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods groceries; and more perks. Subscribers between the ages of 18 to 24 can get a discounted rate on Prime memberships with the Prime for Young Adults program, which is free for six months; after that, pay only $7.49 per month or $69 per year.
Learn more about Prime and Prime Video’s 30-day free membership trials and sign up online here.
Where to Stream A Simple Favor Online
Released in 2018, A Simple Favor hit cult status and is available to stream on Netflix until May 18; after that, it will be available for free on Prime Video with a subscription or Prime membership. You can also buy or rent the film on digital at Apple TV, Prime Video (on sale from $3.79) and other VOD platforms.
